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 I – The Third
Interlude
Sarah Black
98. Brothers' Management - part 1
I walked alongside the water at First Beach. Every time one of us had problems we'd choose the cliffs or the beach to clear our head and our dark thoughts and right now things couldn't be darker for our family. Things had been going from bad to worse these last few days.
Just a few yards ahead of me, my brother was battling a war he knew he had lost. He wasn't the first to be hurt like that and he wouldn't be the last.
Yesterday morning he had woken up with his girlfriend next to him. Once they were both awake, they had probably kissed or done other things that couples do when they're alone together. Then they had gone downstairs to have breakfast but by the time they reached the table to join everyone else, everything changed because of a simple glance.
"I was wondering who they were going to send," Isaac said once I reached him. "I didn't think it would be you though. I was kind of expecting Will."
"He's trying to set a new date for his stupid wedding though I wouldn't be surprised if he told the Whites to piss off and took Rhea to Las Vegas."
"That would certainly take less time." He said. "Still, Will's wedding is the last thing on my mind right now."
"I know that. I'm here to tell you that Harry accepted, Isaac. We're doing the ritual."
He nodded. The insane plan he had prepared with the vampire child was going to be put into practice. Harrison's wife was going to be the Vessel to the soul of a vampire. It had taken Harry several hours to accept that plan.
"Things are going to be alright thanks to you," I added trying to get a response from him, but Isaac's eyes never left the horizon. I could tell he was pleased that his plan had been approved but he was not happy.
"Nothing's going to be alright, Sarah. If you think that way, you're fooling yourself."
"Marcus will be able to speak to his wife. He will learn the truth about how she died and at the same time, Season will be able to recover faster and the Romanians won't turn her into a vampire, therefore we won't need to go to war."
"We have to be prepared because things may not happen like that. There are too many people involved and too many possible scenarios."
"Like what?"
"Why do you think we suggested that Season was the Vessel of Scarlett's soul and not Didyme's?"
I shrugged.
"Because Marcus will try anything to keep Didyme here and we still don't know how to reverse the situation once we do the ritual."
That's why the plan was to put Scarlett's soul in Season's body, and Dydime's soul in Scarlett's. Because if somehow Marcus left with Didyme, she would be inside Scarlett's body and not Season. All of a sudden I realized that Isaac was right. Things could go terribly wrong.
"Does Harry know about this? Or anyone else for that matter?"
"No. Scarlett is trying to contact someone who may be able to help us."
"You should've told everyone."
"Harry wouldn't agree with the plan if I did, would he?"
"Then, you're willing to sacrifice Season for this?"
"Don't patronize me, Sarah. You were willing to sacrifice your entire family and friends not so long ago and for what? To mate with an imprinted wolf!"
"You're still angry at me for drugging you. I thought you had forgiven me."
"I forgave you but I didn't forget what you tried to do. Besides... I'm not asking for a sacrifice. Season is... she's not going to wake up anytime soon."
We remained in silence after that. I wanted to call him an asshole but deep inside I knew his harsh words held some truth and I knew he was hurting as much as I did.
"I know how it feels," I said.
"No, you don't!"
"When Jay imprinted on Ella, I felt exactly like you're feeling now."
"It's different, Sarah. This is nothing like you and Jay!"
"Different how?"
"It's different because you are not friends with Ella. You never were because she left La Push and she only returned a few months ago. But in my case... somehow in these last few weeks, I learned to trust EJ, to see him as a friend, a pack brother... Besides, you and Jay... you never..."
"You don't need to sleep with a person to love her or him, asshole!" I cut my brother off. "You don't love Sophia more than I loved Jay just because you slept with her and I never slept with Jay!"
"I'm not saying I love her more, I'm just saying that it makes a difference." Isaac looked at me again. "She was the one, Sarah. She's funny, gorgeous, she has a good and gentle heart. I could see myself marrying her, having kids with her, having a good and normal life with her by my side after this mess was over. And now... it's all gone."
"Jay was the one too," I stated confidently. I too had dreamed of a future with Jay and it included marriage, kids, a life together until one of us died. And my dreams had also been destroyed by the imprint.
"The moment you phased that possibility was gone, Sarah. The moment you became a wolf, Jay was out of your life forever. Especially after you entered the mating season. You're no longer in control. Your wolf is and she doesn't want Jay, that's for sure. She won't accept a low-ranked wolf like him. But I had an option. I could've stopped phasing. I could've left with Sophia. Now it's too late."
"Maybe you'll find your soulmate too."
"I'm an alpha. I won't imprint. I'll need a female wolf to mate with, to be my alpha female but in case you didn't notice we're kind of short on female wolves. As for you... sooner or later your wolf will choose a mate. You have plenty of males to choose from."
"I don't want to choose a mate!" I retorted.
"Your wolf definitely wants one."
Isaac was right. My wolf had entered the mating season sooner than expected. Lately, I had been battling my wolf for control. She felt attracted to Levi Uley but I didn't want to give in. The last time we had spoken he had accused me of being an immature child.
"Isaac, I didn't come here to talk about the mating season, or about alpha males and alpha females. I'm here because you're my brother and I wanted to make sure you were okay. I know you're hurting now. You feel betrayed by EJ, by Sophia, by the entire world, but you still have me. I'm on your side, alright?"
Isaac nodded.
"Do you remember when we told each other everything?" I asked. There was a time when we were just like Will and Harry. Always together, confidants, best friends. When he moved to Arizona to go to the University, I nagged our parents for a week until they bought me a mobile phone so I could call Isaac whenever I wanted to.
"Yes, of course, I do."
"Well, look at us now," I said and Isaac finally looked me in the eyes. I could see his pain written on his face. He knew I wasn't criticizing him, I was just telling the facts.
"I guess now we can be miserable together." He said with a hint of irony in his voice.
"I think our family is cursed. I mean... Look at us. The Black brothers. Harry fell in love, got married, and now his wife is in a coma and he's probably going to have to raise his kid on his own. William also fell in love, his wedding day was ruined and he's probably going to have to raise his kid with not just his wife but her whole family too. And me... I fell in love, got married, got my marriage annulled, and watched the man I loved imprint on my cousin. Now history repeats itself and you watched your cousin imprinting on your girlfriend. I wonder what fate has stored for JJ? I feel sorry for him already."
Isaac looked at the sea in front of us and then closed his eyes.
"When I heard about how mom turned into a vicious harpy and tried to kill herself after being dumped by her boyfriend, I always thought those stories were overrated. How could someone want to die just because of heartbreak at such a young age? But I get it now. It hurts like hell, doesn't it?"
"It does." I conceded and for a second I thought about what everyone had told me from the beginning.
Being a wolf was not that great.
xxxxxxxxxx
I put the cup of coffee in front of my brother and he reluctantly took it. Harry was a mess, though he was making progress lately. He had showered and was not confined in his bedroom anymore.
A few hours ago, Season's body had started functioning again, she woke up, ate and drank, slept for a few more hours again, and then she started talking and walking around. The problem was that Season was no longer Season. It was Scarlett who was inside her body now. And that was killing my brother inside.
"How's life?" I asked, trying to get him to respond. He just glared at me and said nothing. "You have to start talking any day now, you know?"
Another glare.
Outside Isaac and Scarlett were petting the dogs. She was smiling and probably having fun.
"What are you going to do with so many dogs?"
Sasha, Duke, and Zane had joined Gunnar, Beaver, and Hunter and against all odds, they all got along fine from the first minute. But now we had six dogs in our backyard and my parents were still reorganizing everything after having the floor all replaced due to a termite problem. They were not going to keep six dogs for sure.
"Are you really going to give me the silent treatment, Harry? I brought you a coffee..."
"I don't want to talk." He finally said.
"You should talk. You're not okay."
"Of course I'm not!" He raised his voice. "I'm watching my pregnant wife laughing and flirting with my brother in the backyard of our family house!"
"She's not your wife anymore, Harry. And you agreed to it."
"I didn't agree with that!" He pointed outside.
I guess that Harry had expected the ritual performed by Dana, with the help of Danny and Sophia to fail. We all had actually. Scarlett had spoken to an old man, a member of the Quinault Indian Nation who had been a former Healer of his tribe, and he had mentioned that such ritual should only be made by experienced people.
Dana was an aspiring Healer, Sophia had never wanted her gift and she didn't know what to do with it, and Danny, although he knew what to do, was no expert in guiding souls. But in the end, the Soul Summoning Ritual worked: first Scarlett's body was left empty, like a seashell, while her conscience was transported into Season's body. Then the second ritual began and Marcus' wife, a vampire named Didyme took Scarlett's body.
Everyone was expecting her to answer the questions Marcus had about how she died and who was responsible for her death, but she remained in silence. We thought she needed some time, after all, she was supposed to be dead, and having a body again should feel weird.
Didyme was taken to the Cullens to recover. The next morning both vampires were gone. There was a letter on the kitchen counter saying "We're sorry".
"Isaac is not flirting with her and Scarlett is certain that this situation can be reversed," I told my brother.
"How? Her body is gone! That vampire took it!"
Okay, so my brother did have a reason to be angry and worried. Without Scarlett's body, it would be hard to put things back to how they were.
"They're not coming back." He added. "Why would they? They have what they wanted. A second chance to be together."
I agreed with him but I didn't say it out loud. To acknowledge it wouldn't make the problem disappear and it would make my brother even more desperate. Right now he needed hope.
"After we're done with the Romanians, we'll find them and bring Didyme's back so we can perform another ritual."
Harry looked at me emotionless. Both of us knew it would be hard to track down two vampires who didn't want to be found. I hated seeing him suffer like this.
"I should've never agreed with this." Harry lamented. "Season's gone!"
"No, she's not. She's not gone, she's just not here for now." Isaac said getting inside the kitchen with Scarlett right behind him.
"Come on! You heard Carlisle yesterday!"
We all had. Doctor Cullen had made a full check-up on Scarlett once she woke up. He realized that Season's body was having the benefits of being possessed by another person. It was healing faster and the baby was also getting stronger. In the interest of the child, he had suggested that Scarlett should stay as much as she could in Season's body. Harry was not pleased when he heard that. He wanted his child safe but he also wanted Season back.
"It's temporary, Harry. I promise." Isaac said although I didn't know who he was trying to convince.
"When we were in Italy, you said you missed being human... you said you wished you could have a normal life again... maybe you planned this from the beginning." Harry turned to Scarlett.
"She didn't," Isaac said and now he was convincing enough.
"How do you know?" Harry asked angrily.
"Because I asked Edward to read her mind." Scarlett looked at him surprised. "I needed to know if I could trust you." He told her apologetically.
"What did Edward read?" Harry asked.
"She anticipated this but she didn't plan anything."
"I've known Marcus for years. I wasn't expecting him to leave us like this, but I knew this could happen. They planned their departure in a last-minute decision. Marcus and Didyme were apart for centuries, but their love was true and it survived. They realized they could still have a happily ever after."
"What about me? My wife? My child?" Harry got up from his chair.
"People in love are selfish," Scarlett whispered. I agreed.
Harry walked away but he stopped and turned back. He stood in front of Isaac. He whispered something in his ear and the next thing I knew Isaac was pushing him against the wall.
"You say something like that again and I'll punch you in the face!"
I had to put myself between them to avoid Harry to fight back.
"Just remember what I told you, little brother." Harry grabbed his cup of coffee and left the kitchen.
"What the hell was that all about?" I inquired.
"Nothing!"
"You almost punched Harry."
"He was being an asshole."
"You have to cut him some slack, he's having a rough time."
"So am I! And nobody gives a damn!"
Isaac stormed out of the house and into the woods. I heard his clothes being torn apart and then I faced Scarlett who was still watching the door as if she was expecting Isaac to come back any second.
"He went to clear his head." Knowing Isaac I would say he was going for a long run.
She nodded.
"It's all my fault."
"No, it's not," I said even though she carried some of the responsibility for the situation. After all, it was her idea to do the rituals. "Do you want to have breakfast?"
"Sure."
I cooked and she watched me. I didn't know if she was watching because she was hungry or because she wanted to learn how to cook. When she was a vampire Scarlett was hard to read. She was a 19-year-old girl inside the body of a child. It was weird. And now she was going to pass as my sister-in-law which was even weirder.
"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" I asked giving her a plate with bacon and eggs.
"No." She nodded negatively. "I lived in a small town. My parents had great expectations for my future. They wanted me to go to college in London, so they were saving money. Another child would mean less money for my great future."
"I see."
"I would've liked though. It would've been good to have a brother or a sister."
"I can borrow you one of mine," I said playfully. "Which one do you prefer?"
Scarlett blushed. If she were a vampire I wouldn't have noticed her heartbeat but now that she was in a human body it was clear as water that she had feelings for one of my brothers.
"Is it weird to talk to me when I look like your sister-in-law?"
"I can't say it isn't."
"I apologize for that."
"You don't have to apologize."
She shrugged.
"This is temporary. After getting rid of the Romanians, I'll find a way to... leave your sister-in-law's body."
"What will happen to you then?"
"I will cease to exist, I guess..."
It wasn't fair. Even as a vampire, Scarlett wasn't so bad.
"I want Harry to have his wife back even if she's in a coma. I'll just try to make the most of it while I'm in her body... In a good way, of course. It's really good to be able to eat human food again."
"Why did you stay with the Volturi? I mean you're not like them. Isaac said you don't... didn't agree with how they fed, luring humans into their underground palace and killing tourists."
"They evolved now... but yes, I opposed to that. I fed on a human once. Aro wanted me to prove that I was a part of the coven and that I was loyal to him. After that day I refused to hunt ever again and that's when they realized that killing tourists from time to time was no longer enough to feed the growing coven so they arranged other ways to bring people inside the palace."
"Illegal immigrants, beggers, people nobody cares about. They put them inside trucks and then they take them to the palace where they are locked up until it's feeding time... right?" I recalled Harry's words.
"Your brother told you?"
"Yes." I nodded. Suddenly I wasn't hungry anymore.
"I don't... I didn't feed like that. I couldn't change their mind about the way they arranged their 'food' but I refused to do the same so I asked a special favor. The blood I consumed came from blood banks. Jane was furious when Aro agreed." She paused to drink her coffee. "I stayed with them because I knew what Aro would do if I left. Hurt my friends... my surviving family."
"Have you ever thought about siding with the Romanians?"
"No. They are no better than the Volturi. Aro is a smug and authoritarian leader, but he's not stuck on an old vengeance. His coven has evolved over the centuries while Vlad and Stefan just want to go back to the old times. Besides I would never side with the vampires who killed my protectors."
"Sarah!" I heard my youngest brother calling me from the front door. "I'm late for school, come on!"
"Shit, I forgot I promised mom I'd take JJ to school this morning." I cursed.
"You can go. I'll just wait here."
"Or you can come along." I invited. "I mean, we're family, right? Besides, it's just one more brother to manage."
Scarlett smiled and we left with JJ.
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Take care,
Karisan.