EPOV

I was bent over the garden, throwing up what felt like my entire insides. My legs had buckled at some point and now all I could feel was the damp earth seeping through my jeans. The image of that jerk climaxing on top of Leah ran through my head. The five seconds on continuous play felt like I had been standing there for hours. My memory was now in slow motion, elongating each syllable as he screamed her name. Lightening fast reflexes be damned, it still took me what felt like an eternity to close the door on the scene. When I turned around I saw the faces of the other party goers. Some were amused, some were stunned and some, like Sam's, were angry. He and few others left then and there. I would've gone with them but the room started to spin as the stale scent of beer and sex began to smother me. I burst outside craving the fresh air and took refuge in a quiet part of the garden. My body was trying to purge the scene from my mind as my stomach emptied below me.

Quil was at my side although I had no idea how long he had been standing there for. He began hitting my back awkwardly as a show of support. I knew he wasn't going to hug me and tell me it was alright but this really wasn't helping. I took the glass of water he offered and swirled it around my mouth before spitting it out. His face was trying to be sympathetic but I could see a hint of I-told-you-so in the way he furrowed his brow.

"Yeah I know. I bring this shit on myself" Well I did. There was no point in pretending. Leah made the rules clear and if she wanted to hook up with someone else then she could. I don't know why she chose Jared of all people. I had liked him before. We weren't any closer then pack brothers but I had respect for the guy and all. Now everything that made him who he was had my skin crawling. His loud voice, his annoyingly friendly attitude and even the time he gave me girl advice added to my nausea. I was being petty and stupid but I didn't care. Quil helped me up as he gripped my shoulder.

"You really need to find a normal girl Em, I know she keeps it loose so if you imprint you guys can just cut it off but you've gone way too far with this. I..I don't like what its doing to you." He was just being a good friend but it was about the last thing I wanted to hear. It wasn't his fault though so I tried to summon my best "I'm ok" half smile as I removed my shoes.

"You going for a run?" I took it as a statement rather then a question. I needed to be out of this body. I started walking towards the woods removing my clothes as I went. Once they were secured around my leg I phased and ran through the night. I tried to think of anything but Leah and occasionally I succeeded. The fresh air after a recent rainfall intensified the scent of the woods which helped me to focus on what was around me. I concentrated on the sound of my melodic footsteps and ran using all the negative energy that I could.

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As quickly as the morning broke the evening soon followed. With another morning fast approaching I knew I couldn't keep this up for long. Trying to block out my thoughts of Leah made my head feel like it was in a vice. The fact that mom would be worried sick at my sudden disappearance didn't help either. I began the return home, having no idea where I now was. All I knew was I was at least a day away so I doubled my pace. I was exhausted and had stopped only to drink. My paws hit the ground with enough force to leave a dust trail behind me. Regardless my stamina was depleting and I could feel my legs shake slightly as I ran. An early sign of fatigue. Had I been in my whole mind I would've stopped to rest but I was afraid of what would happen if I did. I wasn't ready to return to the instant replay yet so I scanned my mind for something else to think of.

My pack brothers had made no attempt to follow me which was proof they knew more then they let on. Only Quil knew the specifics of my relationship with Leah as I was careful to suppress any memories or thought of us. My emotions however were a lot harder. I often felt jealous when Sam assigned her to run with Jacob and I would feel worried when he put her in any kind of danger. She would snarl at me so I could get it under control but by then it was too late.

I was well into nightfall now but I knew I was close when the familiar scent La Push hit my nose. And then, confirming this, I heard Sam.

"Embry, are you alright?" He was using his alpha voice. I must have been far if he couldn't drop in to check on me.

"Yeah I'm fine. I just needed some time…." That train of thought was dangerous so I left it there.

"I thought as much. We've been waiting for your return. I have an announcement and I need the whole pack present. Gather anyone you can and meet me at the Cliff tops as soon as possible" He stopped but started again "actually don't worry about gathering anyone, I'll handle it. You should check in with you mom first". Sam definitely knew more then he let on. "Oh and make sure you're all human when I get their. I need you all out of my head when I make my announcement". Then he was gone. I decided to head straight for the Cliff tops. If I saw my mom she probably wouldn't let me leave the house for the rest of my life so I phased and put my jeans on. My human body felt more of the fatigue then my wolf one did and I had to concentrate on which leg went into which hole of my jeans.

I was the first there. Jake and Paul were next, both no doubt coming from the Black house. Paul and Sam were the only ones in the pack to imprint and Paul often stayed with Jakes sister Rachel. Jacob was indifferent to the whole situation but then Jacob was indifferent to life. He walked over to stand by my side.

"Hey Em. Glad to see you back" he said casually. He was in his own world most of the time so I wasn't surprised that he didn't realise the gravity of my small meltdown. The confrontation with Leah at the party was the most emotional I had seen him towards someone other then Bella since her death. I watched it from afar partly wanting to stand up for Leah, partly wanting him to put her in her place. I had felt a little guilty about it at the time but not anymore. She got what was coming to her.

Quil came running up next. His face was full of relief when he saw me and he grabbed my hand while leaning in for a short hug. That was the equivalent of a girl squealing and hugging her best friend after a year long absence in guy language. He stood at my other side and punched me in the arm. Again the equivalent of 'glad to see you're back but don't you EVER do that again'. I gave him the best smile I could muster.

Sam appeared with Jared at his side now and my fists started to shake at the sight of him. His eyes refused to meet mine and Sam shot a look at Quil. He had obviously asked him to keep me under control. Seeing Jared again brought back the show in my head and I didn't have the strength to fight it.

"Not the time Em" Quil said out of the corner of his closed mouth. I controlled my shaking as I concentrated the anger into my balled fists. I could feel the nails almost breaking the skin on my palms.

Then the air became tense as the last two pack members came into sight. Seth was standing protectively in front of his sister who had her eyes down. She looked terrible, almost as bad as I felt. As they joined the group, standing as far from Jacob and Jared as possible Leah lifted her head. No doubt to scan for Jacob as she did each time. But her eyes fell on me and her face instantly changed. Her scowl turned into that radiant smile that I kept forgetting she was capable of. I had only seen it once or twice but it was never for me. The permanent crease between her eyebrows disappeared taking with it my anger towards her. I wasn't prepared for this. Yelling, screaming, mocking, even physical violence I was prepared for but this threw me and I turned right back into the idiot that I was. Did she actually miss me? I wondered. Sam moved forward as soon as the group was formed keen to get the meeting underway.

"As you know Emily and I have been married for a few months now. As my pack brothers I wanted to share my news with you before anyone else. It is with great honour that I announce I am going to be a father" Sam's voice was full of pride but he held back for Leah's benefit. Everyone congratulated him but not without looking over to see Leah's face while they did. She wasn't a great actress and although she had managed a faint smile her eyes were clearly tearing up. I wanted so badly to comfort her but I stood frozen in place as my alpha spoke again.

"Due to this I have decided that I need to make my growing family my number one priority and it is with great sadness I announce my resignation as pack leader." We all had the same stunned looks on our faces followed by shallows gasps. All but Jacob and Jared. Sam continued. "I have offered the position of alpha to the packs rightful heir and he has once again declined so Jared, as beta, will be taking over the role as your new alpha." Sam's eyes darted between Jacob and I. Jake was looking down. I was staring at Jared. No way in HELL was he going to be my alpha the words dripped with venom as I thought them. My eyes squinted as the crease in my brow pushed my eyebrows together. Quil seemed to move towards me as my legs carried me to Sam. Before my brain caught up to me I was now standing inches away from his face.

"I will NEVER follow an order from him." The words were heavy with hate but it was pure. My mind was too tired to censor for the sake of Jared's feelings. I was now running on autopilot.

"I'm sorry you feel that way Embry but this is an alpha command. You don't have a choice" His words sounded like he had prepared them earlier no doubt predicting this very confrontation. The alpha weight behind them was strong and my weakened state of mind had me walking back to where I was originally standing. Leah was staring at me like she had just pieced together part of a puzzle. No doubt she had figured out that I was the one who had walked in on them. She was blinking her eyes furiously now, refusing to let a single tear spill.

Paul motioned to congratulate both Sam and Jared. Jared accepted all the while watching me out the corner of his eye. He seemed confused, no doubt assuming I had a childish crush on Leah and nothing more. Not enough to warrent my little outburst. Jacob's face seemed to be concentrating hard as he looked between Jared, Leah and I. Leah was refusing to look at anyone and Seth chose to stand by her rather then congratulate the new father to be. As I watched Jared I became overwhelmed with anger. He had my girl, he had head position in the pack. He had it all. He looked over at me finally, meeting my eye contact as I began to shake once again.

"Do you have something to say to me Embry?" He started.

"Just leave it Jared" Sam moved between us now.

The autopilot had my body running on instinct, wolf instinct. I lost control and phased as I leapt at Jared. He phased just before I got to him and he kicked me back to my original position. I ran for him again knowing I had no energy to be any real competition and he tore into my side with his teeth.

"ENOUGH" Sam commanded. Most of the others had phased as well forming teams of loyalty. Leah remained human as she watched on in horror. Sam continued to talk.

"Embry you will respect and honour your new alpha, do I make myself clear?" I nodded as I fought to shake my head.

"And you will apologise to him this instant. You will accept your place in this pack and dedicate yourself to it completely"

For some reason that was the final straw. I already had no control of the part of me that was devoted to Leah now the rest of me was to go to the pack? My life would be spent dedicating my everything to others. To Leah, to Jared, to my Mom and to my pack. I was like a puppet trying to please everyone else. I just wanted to be my own person, to finally make my own decisions without worrying who would be affected in the long run. I still don't know where the strength came from but my legs kicked in and I ran. I felt like I was kicking off the shackles that were holding me to my previous obligations. Sam's howl ripped through my ears but aside from that it was quite. Very, very quite.

My body only took me a short distance away as I collapsed into the forest floor. Every last bit of my energy had been used fighting Sam's order and I began to drift to sleep. As I did I was overcome with the feeling that something life changing had happened, that I had accept part of a birth right I didn't know existed.

Suddenly I shot up. I ran away? I ran away from an alpha order? The reality didn't have time to set in though and I fell into a deep sleep.

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A/N: I know, long Chapter. But it had to be done. For those of you that get where I'm going with this the original title of my story was going to be sibling rivalry.