A/N: So my Australian/NZ friends ask me why I use so much American terminology and I've had an American criticise my spelling on a Blackwater fanfic post. Most of my readers are American so I try to avoid the metric system and I use words like "mom" instead of mum. It's just a little thanks-for-reading and getting through all the "spelling errors" which are really just the Aussie way of spelling. Hope it doesn't distract too much from the story!! Just felt I needed to justify that for some reason :p

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LPOV:

The rest of the boys were in wolf form as I stood and watched from the outside. At first I was too afraid to join them, surrendering the thoughts of Embry that I was trying to suppress. I had been too tired to pretend I wasn't happy to see him due to my recent stress induced insomnia. Quil told me that he took off after throwing up during the party. I couldn't remember Em having more then two beers and it bothered me more then it should. Sam had forbidden any contact with him while he was M.I.A so I waited, too afraid to sleep in case he tried to get in touch. My motives weren't selfless though. Sure I was worried about him running off but I also needed to know if he was the one who had walked in on Jared and me. His uncharacteristic attack tonight was all the confirmation I needed and I had fought hard to keep the tears of shame from spilling down my face. Now, in a matter of minutes, all of that was at the back of my mind.

I stood in shock, trying to process what was going on. Embry had run away. From an alpha order. The more I thought about it the more unbelievable it seemed. It would be easier to peel of your own skin with a butter knife then to defy one of Sam's orders. I wasn't alone in my confusion. The boys all moved closer into the circle as each set of eyes motioned franticly to indicate they were deep in conversation. Sam and Jared leapt in front of Jacob suddenly and were standing to his left and right. Jacob let out a deeply pained cry as I realised they were actually crouching into their attack positions. I mentally slapped myself across the face and forced myself to phase. The flood of voices in my head was overwhelming but I tried to pick out a few of the louder sentences.

...but it could only mean

NO IT DOESN'T, There is NO way. Billy wouldn't....never

Jacob I'm sorry but the only person that can break away from an alpha order....

The weight of the packs combined thoughts was too heavy and my front legs buckled causing me to kneel on the ground. The voices were all blending into one stream of incoherency. Emotions were easier to follow so I went with the strongest one. It was coming from Jacob and it was anger. Pure, burning anger.

SAM, Billy would NEVER, NEVER cheat on my mom

Jake, Embry phased before you did. It makes sense if you think about it. Only a descendant of Ephraim Black would....

HE IS NOT MY...

I gasped. His mind wouldn't say the last word but we all knew what it was. Brother. Embry was Jakes half brother. Embry had no idea who his father was but this was as good as a DNA test. The only way he was able to defy Sam was if he was of alpha decent, Ephraim Black's in particular. I could see where Jakes anger was coming from now. Sarah, his late mother, had meant the world to him. It was hard to imagine there was a time that Billy wasnt madly in love with her. Embry was barely older then Jake which made it worse. They were conceived within weeks of one another.

SHUT THE FUCK UP LEAH

He turned on me now, his eyes ablaze. He was out of practice when it came to keeping his emotions under control. My instincts had me crouched down, ready to put him in his place if I needed to. My head was trying to convince me he was a threat and not the Jacob I knew.

You talk so tough all the time hey Leah, well you don't know shit. Why don't you just go fuck Embry? You two both deserve each other.

My mouth was suddenly dry as I tried to swallow. I learnt along time ago to replace hurt with anger and now I just wanted to tear his face off with my teeth. I began to push my body weight on my hind legs, ready to spring forth, when I saw his eyes move to the left of me. His nose was in the air as he scanned for Embry's scent. I felt the pack unite in their concern now. Jacob needed an outlet for this emotional overload and Embry was still close by.

Jacob, its not his fault. Quil came to the defence of his friend. You need to talk to Billy about this, its not like Embry had any say in who his father was.

If one more person says it's Billy I will fucking kill them, I swear. His voice was slow to indicate the sincerity of his threat. We needed to get him under control. Now.

I started to walk backwards. The rest of the boys looked at me as we were careful to keep our plan out of our heads. It was made with eye contact and the hope that we were all on the same page. Jacob leapt forward and the plan was in action. I saw the rest of the pack launch for him as I turned towards the forest. The collision was deafening as howls of pain and crashing bodies all met at once. I was gone before they hit the ground. Relying on Embry's scent to guide me I let my head wander as I tried to absorb the fact that Jacob and Em were brothers. I heard a whimper and a distressed howl as pain ripped through me. I couldn't pin point who it was but it made me quicken my pace.

I found him then, not far at all. If Jacob managed to take down the rest of the pack he could be here within minutes. I tried desperately to wake him. At first I yelled then I nudged, then I stomped, hard. Nothing. He was out cold. I was in too much of a panic to know how the fight was going. I could still feel Jacobs hate but it was mixed with a lot of physical pain. I bit into Embry's neck, careful not to break the skin, as I dragged his body away. We weren't far from his house now and I set him down outside his window.

EMBRY, EM...wake up!!

Nothing. He was out cold. I grabbed the hose, careful not to wake his mom, and poured it over his head. It took a good minute before he came out of his deep sleep and I told him to phase back. He did so and climbed into his window. Not 30 seconds later I could hear the sound of his deep breathing as he fell back into a clueless sleep. I needed to watch for Jacob though so I spent the rest of the night outside his window.

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Dawn broke and Embry was still out cold. It took him fourteen hours to wake up. That morning I had spoken with Kathrine his mother. I explained that Em now knew about Billy and used that as the excuse for his running away. The real reason still made me cringe but I pushed the thoughts of my lacklustre experience with Jared to the back of my mind. I personally didn't know Katherine very well although I suspected she knew about Embry and I. Sometimes I couldn't control my volume when I got carried away. She took the news like she had been preparing for it and her face looked relieved that it was finally out. She wanted to stay but I forced her to go to work. I didn't need her around if Jake managed to attack although I was pretty sure the guys had him under control.

Taking advantage of the empty house I was laying at Em's side now. I managed to catch about an hour of sleep broken up into 10 minute increments. It was enough for now though and I enjoyed the familiar closeness of Embrys body against mine as we shared the tiny bed. I ran my fingers over his burning forehead, moving some stray hairs back in place. His face was so peaceful that I didn't have the heart to wake him. I let him enjoy this time before I overwhelmed him with the news of his new family. His breathing began to change as I felt him stir.

"Leah?" He asked as he slowly opened his eyes. They were a gorgeous caramel brown and they made me melt when he used them the right way. His hair was dirty and he needed a good shave but I liked the stubble. It took away the remaining traces of adolescence from his face. I placed my hand on his cheek and ran my fingers tips over the coarse hair. He put his hand on mine and I snapped myself out of it. We had more important things to deal with.

"Em, I need to talk to you. You have to be fully awake and ready for this conversation" He looked self-conscious for a minute.

"Give me a sec." He said. He returned 10 minutes later after the worlds fastest shower and shave. He had minty fresh breath and was carrying a plate of food. I was sitting on the edge of his bed as he sat at my side.

"Ok, shoot" he said, downing a bread roll in only 2 bites.

I procrastinated, biting my nails while I figured out how to start this conversation. I had been planning it while he was a sleep but for the life of me I couldn't remember any of that now.

"Or....you can just stare at me some more?" His eye brow was raised now.

"Embry, shut up ok. This is pretty big news. I'm having trouble getting it out" He looked down now as his face became serious.

"Em. Do you remember going against Sam's alpha order?" Now he looked confused, as if he was expecting a different subject. His empty plate was set down and he nodded while swallowing his last mouthful.

"Ok, so...You know the only person that can do that is the rightful alpha right?"

He said nothing as he starred at me with a blank expression. The colour drained from his face.

"And in order of hierarchy the next alpha has to be a descendent of Ephraim..."

"No...." He finally pieced it together. His mouth was open as his eyes fixed on a patch of wall paper behind me. We sat like that for a good five minutes before he spoke again.

"Billy?" He asked

"Yes"

"So, Jake? And Rachel and Rebecca?"

"Yes again."

There was an urgent banging at the front door now, not that Embry had noticed. I tried to ignore it but the visitor was persistent. I walked over, looking back at him as he sat in a trance.

As I opened the door I saw Seth standing in front of me. Relief washed over me at the sight of my seemingly whole brother. I gave him a quick hug only to have him break out of it.

"Ahhhh, Lee I'm pretty tender here." His shirtless body revealed a few claw marks that were still healing. If they were still visible the original mark would need to be pretty deep. I refrained from pulling out the concerned elder sibling act as I was keen to hear what happened to the other boys. One in particular.

"Where are the others? What happened after I left" I tried to keep my voice low, not wanting to upset Embry.

"Sam took the worst of it. He and Quil are in hospital. We didn't want to admit them but there was just so much blood Lee..." The poor kid looked so upset. As hard as I tried I couldn't help myself, I had to know. I leaned in closer, my voice a faint whisper.

"And Jake?"

"That's why I'm here" Oh god I felt my breath catch. I forced my head to nod, encouraging him to continue.

"Jakes in pretty bad shape. He's also in the hospital but they pumped him full of normal blood and he's not healing as fast as he should. He woke up about an hour. Rachel's at his side. He's been asking for you Lee. Rachel was about to drag you over there herself" My mouth felt dry again and I realised it was hanging open. Why would he ask for me, of all people? We hadn't exactly parted on good terms. Seth's eyes darted up over my shoulder now.

"Embry! Good to see you're ok. How are you bro?" I couldn't hear what they were saying as my mind was stuck on Jacob. Thoughts of him in that hospital bed, then asking for me....it was too unexpected for me to get my head around it. I felt Embry behind me as he put his hand on my shoulder. I turned to face him and met his anxious eyes.

"Lee, I need to see Billy. I'm going over there now. I'd really appreciate if you would come with me" My heart dropped. He was scared and it was all over his face. But Jake was waiting. I turned to look at Seth as if he would help me figure out which way to go. But I already knew.

I would go with the wrong one, because I was an idiot.