Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer, not me.

Author/Note 1: This story is the sequel to Our Dawn 5. For the ones who don't know anything about Our Dawn Series, you can always read Our Dawn 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, and Our Dawn Series Specials but if you don't want to bother I have a resume on my profile page. As it would be expected this is a next-generation story and as such, it's focused on Jake and Leah's children.

A/Note 2: A huge thank you to everyone who reviewed Our Dawn Series so far.

A/Note 3: I'm not a native English speaker so I'm sorry for my grammar and spelling. Thank you for reading.

Alpha

Book IV – The Matriarch

Interlude

Leah Clearwater

91. Turning Point – part 3

I wanted to kill someone when I got to Verena and Rhea's house. Verena had called me on her daughter's phone asking for help and now there was a police car parked on her driveway and two police officers on the porch.

We had to be careful to involve the police in our businesses. Long gone were the days when we counted on the Chief of the Forks Police Department to help us keeping the law enforcement agents off our case. Charlie was now retired and the new chief Clifford Bates didn't know about the existence of vampires or shapeshifters.

Caleb Lowrey, an ex-wolf was now the assistant chief which gave us privileged access to the Forks Police Department however he couldn't control everything going on in the station, so I found two young junior officers interviewing a nervous Verena White. Fortunately one of the officers was a Quileute. Besides Caleb, there were three more Quileute officers in the Forks Police Department.

Junior Officer Tyrone Mace was one of them. He was about twenty-two years old and his partner was even younger. That gave me the opportunity I needed to control the situation. First I told Verena to go inside and get her daughter's cell phone and when she was out of sight, I asked the police officers what was going on.

"Mrs. White was arriving home from the store when she saw her daughter being forced into a car by a man. She first thought that it was a friend but then she realized she had never seen him before in the Reservation. Then she called us. She thinks her daughter was kidnaped." Tyrone explained.

"Verena is such a drama queen… I just came here to tell her that Rhea is fine. I'm sure you've heard about the wedding, right?" I asked Officer Mace who nodded. Everyone knew about Rhea and William's upcoming wedding. "Then you probably know that Verena and her family don't like my boy very much."

"Yes, I do," Tyrone confirmed with another nod.

"William is forbidden to see his fiancée before the wedding so he sent a friend over to pick her up. He misses her a lot."

Both officers didn't look surprised.

"I was just coming over to tell Verena not to worry about Rhea," I added.

Tyrone placed his notebook back in his pocket again. A girl who had left her house to go see her soon-to-be husband wasn't a kidnap. And they probably had better things to do than to listen to a hysteric woman.

"Aunt Jodi always said the Whites aren't… reliable." Tyrone whispered. "Let's go, Officer Brooklyn."

Jodi Mace was Justin's wife and Justin was a former wolf. Besides I was married to the next tribal chief so the moment I told the police my version of the story, Tyrone didn't have any reason to believe Verena's version over mine, on the contrary, he now believed that Verena was just trying to keep my son and her daughter apart.

"Give my best to your aunt and uncle, will you?"

"Of course, Mrs. Black."

Verena returned as soon as she heard the patrol car leaving.

"Hey! What happened? Why are they leaving? They need to find my daughter!"

I pushed her inside the house again and closed the door behind us.

"Didn't I tell you to stay put and wait for me?" I growled. She recoiled against the wall. "Was that too much to ask?"

"Rhea's gone… I'm worried." She staggered nervously. "Besides, I don't understand why I had to call you of all people."

"Because your daughter trusts me and we're about to be family," I said with a hint of annoyance. "Now, tell me what you saw, every detail."

"I've just told officers Mace and Brooklyn."

"And now I'm telling you to tell me!" I pressed. "And make it quick, Verena, I've got things to do."

"I was coming from the store when I saw a man pushing Rhea into a black Chevy. I tried to approach them but Rhea just told me to get her phone and call you."

"So, your daughter told you to call me and you called the police? Nice one, idiot."

"I called you first." She defended herself.

"What did he look like?"

"He was tall and slim."

"You have to give me more than that." I insisted but she shook her head. "I didn't have a good look at him."

"License plate?"

Verena gave me a paper. She had the license plate. For once she had done something right.

"Rhea's going to be fine. I'll bring her home. You stay here and if you so much think about calling your sister or your parents, I'll make sure you regret it. Do you understand?"

Verena nodded.

"I'm serious. Stay put."

One phone call to Caleb and it took me three and a half minutes to learn that the car that had picked Rhea up belonged to Peter Millson, Hannah Marsh's ex-boyfriend, and the father of her unborn daughter. He was also Tom Harding's nephew and I couldn't wait to find him.

I wanted to find Peter Millson and kick his sorry ass back to the Makah Reservation. But I couldn't do that for more reasons than one. I was a respected person, at least in the eyes of some people, in our community, and couldn't simply assault someone on the spot even if said person was an asshole and an abusive boyfriend.

I had to play by the rules and that meant that if he didn't attack me, I couldn't attack him. Fortunately, things were different when you had no witnesses and Rhea had made my job a lot easier by taking Peter to the Vacant House.

Josh and Hannah had lived there until the previous week. Now that his house had been remodeled after the fire that destroyed almost all of it, they had moved back in again. The Vacant House was now occupied by Isaac's pack but they were training with Jared and Paul during the day.

I tried to have a calm and decent conversation with him when I arrived, but he threatened Rhea with a gun, so I had no other choice but to knock him out.

"I guess Jacob is right. William did inherit his bad temper from me." I said watching Peter Millson's limp body on the floor.

"I'm sorry I asked my mother to call you, but I didn't know what to do," Rhea said with her eyes stuck on the man at her feet.

"You did the right thing. Don't worry about it."

"What are we going to do now?"

"We? We're not going to do anything. You're going home and I'll solve this mess." I couldn't have Rhea involved in this. William would know and he wouldn't appreciate it.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course."

"And what am I going to tell my mom?"

"Tell her you were helping out a friend."

I tied Peter down and put him a blindfold. I had hit the man so hard he would be out for a while but I didn't want him to recognize the place I was taking him to. Then I put him in his car and drove him to Will's recently bought house. It was the perfect place to put my plan into action. After waking up, he would find himself unable to see and tied to a chair. I was sure he wouldn't be happy about it.

That's how I found him hours later when the sky was turning orange and the stars were starting to shine brightly. And like I had predicted, he was scared but also furious.

When he heard my steps he asked for help but my lack of response told him I wasn't a friend but most likely his captor.

"Who's there?" He had screamed for help for so long that his throat was sore.

"Mr. Millson," I said forcing water into his mouth. "I can't say it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Let me go and I promise I won't hurt you and your family!" He said.

"How charming…" I whispered. "And how exactly are you planning on hurting me and my family? With the gun that's in your car?"

"You bitch! Untie me right now!"

"I was hoping we could have a little chat first," I said keeping my cool which was difficult for someone like me. I did have a bad temper. I wanted to slap that insolent and stupid man so bad that I had to count to ten and breathe slowly to make sure I didn't do anything rash.

"A chat?" He almost laughed.

"I would like to know why you're here in La Push, Mr. Millson. I mean you live in the Makah Reservation, don't you? Why are you in here?"

"It's none of your business, bitch. It's a free country, I can go wherever I want to."

"You're right it's not my business but it's in your best interest to answer my questions otherwise I won't be able to let you go." I smiled at him. "And if you call me bitch one more time, you'll regret it!"

"You can't keep me here and I'm not scared of you, ma'am."

"Are you sure about that?"

He growled more insults at me.

"Okay, since you don't want to collaborate I'm going to try and guess. I guess you're here looking for someone. An ex-girlfriend, maybe? You want her back because now that she has proved that she no longer needs your sorry ass, you decided that you want her and you want to show her that you've changed. You want another chance to make things right. Is that it? Am I close enough?"

"All I want is to take her with me. She doesn't belong here. I have rights!"

"Rights? The fact that you were once her boyfriend doesn't give you the right to hit her or starve her children!"

"You know Hannah." He stated matter-of-factly, finally realizing that I was trying to protect the Makah girl.

"I do know Hannah. We're not friends or anything." I said. And it was true. I had been with Hannah Marsh only a couple of times but she seemed a decent person. She had been struck with bad luck from a very young age and things were now changing for the better. Hannah and her children deserved it and so did Josh and his young girls. Cristine was gone and they needed a mother figure in their life and who better than Josh's new imprint? So I was going to protect them the best I could. "She's not leaving La Push, she's here on her free will and she doesn't want to be with a scumbag like you."

"She's pregnant with my baby."

"If you want to be a part of your child's life one day, you'll leave Hannah and her family alone. You'll go to a rehab clinic, and then hire a lawyer. After that, if you accept to pay for the child's support maybe she'll let you see the baby once a month."

"Fuck you! She's coming with me, today!"

"She's happy here. She has a job, she has a place to stay with her children and she's found someone who is a better boyfriend than you'll ever be. So… that said and unless you turn into a better person in this very instant, I think you better forget about Hannah Marsh. Do you understand?"

"Or what?" He growled.

"I thought you'd never ask," I whispered in his ear. "If you leave Hannah and her family alone, I'll let you go. If you don't… I'll make sure your family won't have a body to put in the earth."

"You're bluffing."

I wasn't going to kill him but I wanted him to think otherwise. Fear is always a good motivator.

"Am I? Do you know me enough to say that?"

"You can't kill me, lady. You don't have the balls to do it. No pun intended." He laughed.

"Oh, I don't plan on killing you myself. I don't want any trouble with the police, but I have some friends. They are killing machines. Literally. They'll cut you open with their teeth and claws. They'll eat your flesh, drink your blood, and feast on your entrails. And only then, they'll kill you and it will be a very slow and painful death. It's your choice, Peter. Make the right decision."

"Fuck you!"

"Are you sure? I won't give you another chance."

"You'll regret this, you bitch." He laughed. "When I get out of here, I'll find you and I'll kill you and your whole damn family. I'll kill them first and I'll make you watch it."

"Let's go. My friends are outside waiting for us." Then I punched him in his face, breaking his jaw. "And I told you not to call me bitch again."

He spat blood on the floor and tripped when I forced him to stand.

I was hoping he would come to his senses, but he didn't. So I took him to his car and untied his hands. Then I went to hide in the woods where I took off my clothes and assumed my wolf form.

I watched Peter take off his blindfold and kick the car, frustrated about what had happened. He was still dizzy from the punch.

"Are you still there, bitch? There's no one here! Where are your friends?" He screamed. "I'm going to find out who you are and after I drag Hannah back to my place, I'll come and get you too!"

I started to growl. He heard it and probably thought that there was a dog nearby. I watched him searching the area with his eyes.

"You think I'm scared of a dog?"

I growled again. Louder this time.

Peter opened the car door searching for his gun but he didn't find it. The .22 caliber revolver was lying at my feet.

It was almost completely dark. I walked forward, rustling the bushes to call his attention, and then Peter saw me. Or at least part of me. I let him see my eyes and my teeth and he almost pissed himself right there. He entered his car quickly and turned it on but it wouldn't start.

Partially hidden in the bushes I approached the car, making Peter's heart race. I kept on growling to scare him. When he was finally able to start the car, he stepped on the pedal and drove away as quickly as he could. That's when I took off after the car. I heard him scream like a scared little girl and when I felt that he was scared enough, I abandoned the pursuit.

I was going to return to my human form when a huge russet wolf came to me. His eyes told me he was not happy with me but I couldn't help a grin of satisfaction.

'You better have a good explanation for his, Leah.' I heard Jacob thinking. 'Because with your little stunt you've just broken the most important rule of our pack.'

xxxxxxxxxxx

It had been a while since I'd been lectured by my alpha. But I guess I had deserved it.

"You should've told me. We could think about a plan together. Why do you have to be so damn impulsive?"

"It's fine, Jacob. He was so scared he'll never come back. That was my plan all along. I wasn't going to kill him. I just wanted to scare him and make sure he would leave that poor girl alone."

"I'm still going to have a word with Josh as soon as we talk to the boys. He deserves to know what's going on."

"Sure." I nodded. Hannah was Josh's imprint so he did have the right to know what had happened.

I had told Jacob everything about Peter Millson and even though he hadn't approved my plan because it had involved a kidnap and violence, he ended up telling me that he would have probably done the same just to see the guy pissing his pants.

We were now at the Vacant House where Isaac's pack was having a well-deserved rest after an intense training session. To promote the boys' bonding, they were all living together. Things hadn't been easy though.

They all had different personalities and some were quite immature, especially EJ. He was a younger version of Paul, only ten times more stubborn. It took us a while to gather the five of them inside the same room.

"I was fucking busy, you know…" EJ started complaining.

"We promise it will be quick," I said.

"Oh shit… it's going to take hours."

Isaac glared at his cousin who simply shrugged.

I watched the boys before me. They were good kids. Even EJ at some point had been a good kid. He was rebellious and had gotten himself involved with the wrong people but he was slowly abandoning his old habits.

"As you know difficult times are approaching," Jacob started. "And it's important that you understand what's going on and what may happen in a few weeks. We need to be ready to face…"

"Yeah, yeah, the bad guys." EJ interrupted. "We've heard all about it, Uncle Jake. We know everything and we are ready."

"You don't know anything." I opposed it. "And you're not ready."

"The Italian Vampire Mob is pissed off because the Romanian Vampire Club stole their women, plus they want Harry's girl dead. The RVC wants to end with the IVM and they also want the girl alive because she can wipe out the powers of the Elite Volturi Guard, and we're stuck in a middle of a stupid war of supernatural creatures who want to rule the world. What's more to know?"

"That was a good recap, EJ. Thanks." Jacob said glaring at his nephew. "Now shut up and listen."

"I killed a vampire on my own! I'm ready!" He insisted.

"I said, shut up!" Jacob raised his voice and all the boys recoiled. "You were lucky. Stop thinking you're invincible because you're not. Vampires are immortal. You can rip off their head or their limbs and they will not die. But you… if you let your guard down you can end up crushed, mangled, or dead! The vampire you killed had no battle training. She was a pawn, a dispensable pawn for the Romanian. If we face them again, they won't send pawns. They also have elite guards. Trained to kill and they will kill whoever is in their way. Do you understand?"

They all nodded.

"Is Season safe?" Isaac asked from his seat.

"Right now Season is the least of our problems," I explained. "Her power is temporarily disabled and the Volturi have other things to worry about."

"The last time we fought, the Romanians realized that you were the pack's weakest link and they were ready to kill you if we hadn't agreed on giving them what they wanted. So, it's up to us to show them that we don't have the weaknesses anymore."

"We're training hard every day, Mr. Black," Quinn said. "We get up at 6 in the morning and we spend the whole day training."

"It's not enough. Training with other wolves won't give you the experience you need to take out vampires in a decisive battle. We need to be sure that whoever is called to fight, doesn't have weaknesses."

"What do you mean?" Danny asked.

"I mean not all of you will fight," Jacob stated.

"You're leaving us behind?" EJ questioned getting up violently.

"Yes, we're leaving some of you behind," Jacob admitted. "It's the best chance we have plus we need wolves here to protect the Reservation. Years ago we left Brady and Collin here to protect La Push and they did a great job."

"So, who's going?" EJ asked defiantly.

"Isaac will go with us," Jacob said.

"Of course… baby alpha has extra points because he's your son."

"That's not why I'm taking Isaac," Jacob said. "I'm taking him because he's the only one who's ready to take this job."

While Jay, Danny, and Quinn's eyes went to the floor, EJ kept his challenging stance.

"I've been working my ass off training, and now you're telling me, I'm not ready to take this shit?"

"Are you?" Jacob questioned. "Because it seems to me you're here just because you like to play games. You're always late, you don't pay attention, you've been selling homemade drugs to kids, and buying booze… and you've been taking advantage of your new looks to impress girls. We're not stupid, EJ. Nor blind."

"I'm trying to make a living, Uncle Jake," EJ said defiantly again. "Plus nobody said we can't have sex or go out with girls. You only said we can't tell anyone about the pack."

Jacob and I rolled our eyes. This boy was a piece of work.

"Is there any other option for us? Do we have time to make you change your mind?" Jay asked politely. Things between Jacob and Jay had slightly improved after the boy imprinted on Sam's daughter but Jacob still held some resentment towards him for what had happened with Sarah.

Jacob sighed. We had rehearsed this part a couple of days ago while preparing a plan to convince the young wolves to work harder during their practice sessions.

"Maybe." He said. "It depends on all of you."

"What do we have to do?" Jay insisted.

"You'll have to pass the trials."

"Trials?" They all asked together.

"We're going to test you. If you fail, you'll stay here. If you pass, you'll fight with the rest of us."

"What the fuck! Are we going back to school?" EJ complained.

"Are you in?" I asked, ignoring EJ.

"Yes." Jay and Quinn said at the same time. They looked motivated enough to have good performances at the trials.

"Yeah, I'm in." EJ rolled his eyes and sat down again. "I'm going to show you what I'm capable of."

Danny hesitated before nodding affirmatively, and then Jacob explained to them what would happen in the next few days.

We had never made a training schedule like this before. Our goal was only one: make sure none of them was easy prey for a goddam vampire. For that, we had prepared a routine that included mental and physical training with Sam, Brady, and Collin; battle training with Quil and Embry; medical training with Seth and Carlisle; sleep deprivation training with Paul; night training with Jared and Denis; and real-life combats with Jacob, Emmett, Jasper, Edward, and Rosalie.

I was going to teach them how to morph and phase back to humans almost instantly, while Bella, Alice, and Esme would teach them everything they had to know about the vampires we were going to face.

The Cullens had also called some friends to help. Peter and Charlotte, Jasper's long-time friends had arrived yesterday morning to participate in the pups' training. And soon the Denali Coven would join us too.

"Do you think this is going to work?" I asked Jacob when we were leaving the Vacant House.

"All they need is competition, a better sense of responsibility, and something to fight for," Jacob said. "Jay will fight to protect Ella; Quinn is a responsible kid who just found his biological father so he'll give his best too. EJ and Danny are the ones who worry me the most."

"EJ's competitive enough. He'll try to overcome everyone just to prove that we were wrong and that he's ready." I announced.

"It's not EJ's strength I'm worried about. I know how strong he is. The problem is his lack of maturity. I don't feel comfortable taking him with us because we can't trust him. Not entirely."

I nodded. Jacob was right. EJ was strong. He was probably the second strongest wolf of Isaac's pack but he wasn't reliable.

"And Danny?" I asked.

"He's scared. Really scared."

"We were all scared in the beginning."

"Yes, I know. But in a case like this… fear can get him killed." Jacob said sadly. "And I can't have my nephew be killed in a battle that it's not even his to fight. He's just a kid."

"I know. And we're doing the right thing."

Jacob held my hand and we walked together to Billy's house. He was watching his favorite show on TV.

"Haven't you seen enough of old cars in your backyard, old man?" Jacob said playfully.

"I sure did but they fix these cars ten hundred times faster than you ever did,"

"Well, I had other things to do besides fixing cars. Like taking care of my father, running a pack of wolves, making sure my second-in-command didn't get herself killed."

"Very funny, Black."

"I'm sure you didn't come here to watch me in front of the TV," Billy said.

"No, we didn't," I admitted. "Jacob?"

Billy was still our Chief, and he had to know our plans for the upcoming events, so Jacob sat down next to his father and told him everything.

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