A/N: In this author's note, I included a part of the lyrics from the song "Miles Away" by Memphis May Fire instead of a quote. I am absolutely in love with this song, and it fits well, especially for Seth. In the last chapter, I threw another curve ball: Sera is being controlled emotionally by an anonymous vampire who just likes fucking shit up for her apparently. Please tell me what you think about it! And I'm sorry I throw out more plot twists than an M. Night Shyamalan movie, but it's all for the effort! ;)

-Chels. xo

Chapter Song: Miles Away, by Memphis May Fire.

Really I'm so thankful for the people I meet

The places I've been

And the things I've seen

But when she's not here it doesn't feel like I'm living my dream

I know they say that no one is perfect

But I swear she's perfect for me

And that makes it so much harder to leave...

How am I suppposed to be

Everything they expect me to be

When I feel so alone

'Cause I left my heart at home

She needs me but I know they need me too

So God, give me the strength to do what you created me to do

If you miss me, I'm just a phone call away,

Please be strong

Be strong for me

I need you to show me

How to change the inside of me

For my heart

For their sake

Be strong

Be strong for me

How am I supposed to be, everything they expect me to be when I feel so alone?

So alone...

~ Memphis May Fire, excerpt from "Miles Away"

P.S. I am sorry these author notes are always so fucking long. ;P

Seraphina POV

"Duke, we can't do this."

He had me pinned up against the wall (not by my choice, I assure you), and he was sucking on my neck. One second, we were talking about my relationship with Jesse that I was adamantly wanting to end, and Duke was trying to convince me that I shouldn't...the next, he was making his move on me. Had he always been like this? So...forward?

And why was I being an idiot?

I couldn't do this, at all. It made me feel sick to my stomach, and I was fighting the feeling of giving into Duke with all my might.

And I didn't even know why, which scared me.

Was I just a natural whore? I didn't have any real feelings for him. It felt like some strange version of myself was trying to conquer me, mess me up, destroy any sanctity I had. Well, I wasn't having it. My sheer will power could outmatch anything, I knew that for a fact.

"Stop, Duke." He didn't stop. Instead, he put his hand over my mouth. And his blood smelled so good. What would it be like to taste?

Let me reiterate, and start from the beginning...

*One Hour Before*

I ran out of the house with the intention of tracking down Jesse. I needed to find him and demand answers from him. I wanted to know why he kept coming back for more when I was clearly no joy to be around, and why he did what he did to me that night. I was a virgin; why didn't he stop? I know that I had brought it on myself, asked him to just do it, but any quality person would have stopped to make sure I was all right. And Jesse didn't seem completely evil, just a bit of an asshole, quite frankly. I was going to demand answers from him.

And then I was going to end it with him.

I was done being depressed. I needed to get over it as quickly as possible. Seth was another story all together, but for now, I wanted to cut all my ties to Jesse and have a fighting chance. Nothing to weigh heavily on my shoulders while I tried to, hopefully, understand what was going on with me and Seth.

Thankfully for me, I had no real love for Jesse or his group of friends. The closest I came to caring about was Duke, and even then, I didn't care enough to stick with him while I ditched the others.

Jesse was a distraction. He didn't mean anything and he surely didn't care about me. I had no idea if we were dating or not. Probably not though. I was just a toy to him.

And suddenly, that bothered me a lot.

I wouldn't have said otherwise before, but I felt relieved when I admitted that it bothered me now. It felt like a skin being shed off of me, and suddenly, I had more control over what I was feeling. I could see a speck of light.

I had to fight through my depression, not wait for someone to pull me out. Because if I waited for that, I could count the centuries of darkness that would lay before me.

I was never that girl, that waited for a person to come along and help me out. I needed to help myself first before I turned to Seth and ask him what was going on with us.

Oh god, I was going to talk to Seth.

Maybe.

Stop being a coward, Seraphina, I scolded myself. I had to, no exceptions.

Possibly.

I sighed. I couldn't stop adding the uncertainty aspect to whatever I was trying to convince myself of.

I just decided to focus on the task at hand for now. I tried to work out a plan, to figure out what excuses I needed to tell Jesse, concerning how I got to his house and how I would get back, for one.

I didn't want to say any of my family drove me, but that seemed like the obvious choice. I know the situation wasn't as desperate, but I just didn't want to get them involved where they didn't need to be. Jesse also knew I didn't drive. I could just say I walked, but the distance between Renesmee and Jake's house and his house was over twenty miles. So maybe not.

The run over would take me less than thirty minutes, closer to twenty-five if I picked up my pace more. I could just say that I had someone drive me over...

A face suddenly popped into my head. I could actually make it happen, if I wanted to.

I had ran about four and a half miles at that point. I stopped and decided a change of course of action was necessary. It would look weird if I just showed up on his doorstep and had no excuse as to how I got there, right? That's when I decided to pull out my phone and call Duke.

Before I did that, I read the message that Jesse texted me earlier, finally. It read:

Thats too bad. I really wanted to c u all dolled up for me today.

I snarled under my breath. Maybe it was my inner feminist, spurned from my mother, that was bubbling over, but just the fact that the only reason he wanted to see me dolled up because he wanted to have sex with me was completely ludicrous, and quite honestly, rude.

And just like that, I regained a little more of myself. I become more Seraphina again.

Break in Seraphina's POV – Unknown #2 POV (Unknown #1 was the previous person – this now is the aforementioned sister)

Things were not going well anymore, and as I watched this little cunt from the shadows, I fought the urge to rip off her head.

But that's not what he would have wanted, so I controlled myself.

Instead, I watched her through the trees, because my sister commanded me to. And my orders were if Seraphina gained self control back, I was to rip it to shreds.

I tried to shape her will. I tried to mold it to mine, trying to tap into her inner emotions and allow an endless sea of depression wash over her pathetic little body.

But perhaps I underestimated her. She was strong, and her imprint was stronger. Trying to control the way this pathetic little halfling saw her own imprint was no easy task. It was hard enough making that dog kiss that little girl. But getting her in a position to where she saw the kiss unfold so that I could make my strike was tough work. But to keep her that way, in this depressive state, was proving to be near impossible.

This little bitch was too connected to that mongrel for her own good. I had succeeded in eluding her family, covering my scent, making their senses dull so that I could watch her, as I have been for quite a while. I made her second guess herself time and time again, I made her visions lackluster, I made her emotions practically unbearable to herself and her family. I had trapped her, isolated her from her family. I had found her a little group of pathetic friends that would destroy her will even more, almost without my help.

But things were not going to plan. One by one, Seraphina Cullen was taking back her life.

Her subconscious knew the foreign invasion and was rejecting it. I had experienced this problem a few times before, but I always got the upperhand and succeeded. Little Seraphina would join our fold nicely.

But she made the initial error of coming alone this time, and I would make sure I would take advantage of it. I would be sure to make this trip unforgettable for my little Seraphina.

In a desperate strike, I decided to launch another attack on this little girl, to see what she was really made of.

Seraphina POV

On that whim, I called up Duke.

"Hello?" he asked into the phone.

"Hey Duke, it's Nia," I responded.

"Oh, hey gorgeous. What's up?" Gorgeous. I couldn't help but be flattered.

"I was wondering if you could give me a ride to Jesse's. I hate to ask, but...I don't know. It's not really working out – with me and him, I mean." I furrowed my eyebrows and chewed on my lip. It came out worse than I had expected. Seraphina, you are so incompetent! Duke is Jesse's best friend; why the hell would he give you a ride so that you can break up with him?

"Not working out?" he asked, shocked.

I cringed a little bit. "Uh, yeah. I don't know. I feel really stupid right now. Nevermind..." I mentally slapped my forehead. I didn't think this through at all, and now I just seemed like a narcisstic hussy.

"No, no, Nia. Don't hang up the phone." Duke wasn't quiet on the other end, like I had been expecting.

He started breathing hard, sighing to himself, pursing his lips (from what I could hear) for a good three minutes. I started to feel exposed out in the forest by myself. I could protect myself from many things in this world, but I could not protect myself from a vampire, which ironically happened to be the problem at the moment.

"Fine," he finally responded.

I was shocked. "Really?" I asked, genuinely surprised. I wouldn't have even held it against him if he had made some excuse to not help or even hung up on me. Anything other than this.

"Yeah, I'll give you a ride. Anything for you. Where are you?" he asked.

"I'm standing on the side of the highway that leads to my house. You know which one it is?" It was a pretty abandoned highway until you got closer to Boise. No one had a lot of reason to go back in these parts, which is why my family chose it.

"Yeah..." He sounded confused. "What are you doing on the side of that road?"

I got a little nervous. "Uh, I was out here in the forest for a run. I like running. I got about four and a half miles and a bout of heavy thinking, and then I thought about you." That seemed a little...serious, more serious than what I was going for. Why was I being a bad communicator right now? I never had this problem. I could always say exactly what I meant. That was more or less the case when I started getting nervous and hormonal around Seth for the first time, but definitely before that.

Seth...

I kept the sadness and anxiety at bay. I was doing the right thing, breaking it off with Jesse. I knew it.

But who would I turn to then?

I shook my head to clear it a little.

"Really?" He sounded surprised. Not in a bad way, just...surprised.

"Yeah."

He was quiet for a few more moments, and then became exuberant again. "Well, I'll be there in fifteen!" he said excitedly, "Bye, Nia."

"Bye, thanks so much." I clicked the phone off, wondering what could possibly go wrong. Life took that as a challenge, clearly.

"Hey Nia!" I lifted my head from my knees, since I had been sitting on the tree most visible to the road. For some reason, he had no shirt on – oh, nostalgia, what I would do to be in La Push right now – and was sitting in the driver's seat with an easy grin on his face. He looked like he had no problems concerning him driving me to go break up with his best friend.

I hopped in quickly and he pulled a U-turn in the direction of Boise. We were awkwardly quiet for a few minutes.

"Soooo..." he started, raising his eyebrow at me. I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding.

"Gonna break up with Jesse today, awesome." My voice was heavily laced with sarcasm, so much so that I sounded like Embry. I shook my head.

Duke grimaced. "Yeah, that."

I furrowed my eyebrows and looked down. "I need to get my life together, and well, he's not really helping," I admitted. "To be quite honest, I don't even think we're dating. I'm just a, well, fuck for him." Curse words still felt strange coming out of my mouth, even after everything.

Duke sighed and pursed his lips. "Why don't we wait for a discussion about this when we get to my place, if that's all right with you? I'd rather focus on driving and not killing us than the beautiful girl sitting next to me."

Beautiful.

He thought I was gorgeous and beautiful.

I peeked sideways at him, taking in his figure. He wasn't as muscular as the guys in La Push, but Duke also didn't transform into a werewolf. He had the same russet skin, but a few shades lighter, and had the same short haircut that they all cut their hair in (when they weren't being lazy about it). You could see the light definition of his abs when he was sitting down, and I knew that when he stood, they would be clear to see. I tried not to think to hard about that though.

But I couldn't resist asking about it.

"Duke, why are you shirtless?"

He chuckled. "I had just got out of the shower when you called. And I had no clean shirts. Story of my life. But...I figured you wouldn't mind, at least not right now." At the last part, he turned to give me a cheeky grin. I rolled my eyes but smiled too.

After that had been cleared up, we sat in companionable silence until we got to his house. His body kept coming up as a mental picture in my mind, and I had no clue why.

He parked in the driveway, the tell-tale smell of pot leaking from the house. He scoffed a little to himself and muttered, "Demi can't do one fucking thing for me."

I felt the inevitable question I had in his words pop into my head as he lead me into the house.

Demi wasn't here; I could discern that by the absence of heartbeats, except for, of course, Duke's and mine.

I went to slide my hands into my back pocket and realized, in horror, that I was still wearing the oversized shirt. No pants.

I immediately crossed my arms over my chest self-conciously and winced. No bra either.

If I could have been more fashionably-stunted in that moment, I might as well have been wearing a potato sack.

He raised an eyebrow at me. I blushed as a deeply as a pale half-vampire could.

"Nice outfit." He clearly tried to hide it, but his eyes wandered down to my bare legs.

Oh god, make it stop, I moaned in my head. I smiled awkwardly. "Yeah, and this was me just realizing that I look really frumpy." And practically naked.

He chuckled a little bit, and let his eyes wander for a split second longer before offering me a drink. I waved him away, and crossing my arms tighter over my chest, I went to go sit down at the sofa while he went to go get a beer for himself.

When he came back, he began the conversation. "So Nia, what's going on?"

I sighed and looked away, out the window. Where to even begin?

"Well, uh. I met Jesse about a week ago – "

"He told me about the party. He told me that this pretty girl was trying to get drunk and was putting a lot of vodka back."

I laughed nervously. "Um, yeah...I was trying to."

Duke scooted closer. My stomach tightened as I felt his scent wash across me, and realized in horror that he smelled better than most humans I come across do. I kept myself from inhaling too deep, because the ache in my throat started a little bit again, and I had only hunted yesterday. "Why did you feel the need to get drunk, Nia?" he asked quietly.

Because I was losing my best friend and imprint and possibly the love of my life. "Because everything was falling apart," I whispered, looking wide-eyed at him. His dark eyes took on a darker shade with this revelation.

I couldn't tell him that I had been imprinted on by a werewolf when I was only a day old, or that I was a hybrid. I could never tell him how Seth had been there every day of my life, watching me grow at an unatural pace, while he stayed perpetually the same. I couldn't tell Duke that the connection that Seth and I had formed on the first day of my life gave me an automatic brother and best friend, or that he was always so understanding when I saw visions that disturbed me, always knowing exactly what to do to fend them off. I couldn't tell Duke that Seth smelled like rising bread and honey and life.

A fresh wave of despair washed over me. I had ruined it all, and it had all been taken away from me as punishment.

I blinked tears back as he spoke. "When I first met you, my first thought was, 'This girl looks like she has been through hell.'" Hee said this like it was a tough admission. I laughed without humor.

"It wouldn't be a lie."

Duke scooted even closer to me, putting an arm around my shoulders. His heat seemed to be pouring off of him and straight into my nostrils, which I was attempting not to breathe out of. "Will you tell me about him?"

I froze. He said him.

"Seth," I whispered.

"I see," he said gruffly.

"He...he was my best friend." It felt like a dagger using it in the past tense.

Duke didn't say anything, so I continued. "I had known him practically all my life. I...I grew up with him. He knows me, or knew me, better than anyone. And, well, we went to John's party...and at that time, I was so in love with him, I didn't know what to do with myself. I got all dressed up and everything for him, and for a split second, I thought that maybe we could have a chance. He just...looked at me differently. I went to go get drinks when we got there, and a bunch of guys were intercepting me, so it took awhile to get back to where he was. But when I got back..." I drew in a shuddering breath, about to admit to the killing blow. "He was kissing this blonde – he was kissing her, and I felt everything...crumble. And then I tried to get drunk but I don't get drunk very easily, and Jesse found me. I didn't feel like I had much to lose after that, so we...well..."

"You don't have to say the rest," Duke said in a strangled voice.

We were quiet. How do you even respond to something like that?

Retelling the events for the first time was more painful than I had expected. I felt like it was ripping me open, delivering the final blow. Insult to injury.

"Nia, I think you're pretty amazing," he admitted finally.

"Or pretty pathetic." I couldn't stop myself from saying it out loud. It was just easier to admit things to Duke. Maybe it was because he looked like home. He didn't feel like it though.

He shook his head at me. "No, no. You're in pain, but you're not pathetic."

I tried to feel that connection with Duke. I really did. I tried to think that maybe, for once, I could imagine a life without Seth. Maybe Duke would be that distracting fold, that special factor, so if Seth decided he didn't want me, I had something to fall back on.

But the thought of never seeing Seth again, no matter how much things were messed up between us, was too much to bear.

And I didn't want to make Duke my Plan B. That wasn't fair, especially since he was helping me now.

I closed my eyes tightly. He was right; I was in pain. It was the hot, searing kind, coursing its way through my body right now.

One step forward, two steps back.

"Nia, can I ask you something?" he asked after a moment.

I turned to look at him, but I didn't say anything. I nodded for him to continue. He seemed bothered by something, and my mind immediately wanted to begin deciphering it.

"What's so bad about Jesse? I mean, I know his normal style is to just to hit-it-and-quit-it, and I know that sounds cheesy, but it's the truth. But he stuck with you. Obviously you're something different to him – "

"I don't see why," I mumbled.

His lips mashed into a tight line before continuing. " – because you're clearly something different to a lot of people. There's something special about you." His eyes got even darker.

"Maybe he can't resist the downtrodden?" I offered unhelpfully, wondering why I came here in the first place. I should have just called Jesse and broken up with him then.

Duke rolled his eyes. "Definitely not that." I shrugged. At least he was honest.

"Whatever it is, Jesse really isn't that bad. It might be worth keeping us around," he added sadly.

I sighed. He had figured out my plan to leave everyone. It was the hardest for me to leave Duke, but I hated to disappoint my family and they were number one, without question.

"Don't go," he muttered, when I began to pull away and stand up. His hand latched onto my wrist.

"Maybe I should just call him instead," I offered.

"No!" he said a little too loudly. It was my turn for my lips to mash together.

"Nia...please."

I groaned internally. "What do you want me to say, Duke? I can guarantee, without a shadow of a doubt, that Jesse and I will never work out. Ever. The situation is too wrong – "

"I wasn't talking about Jesse that time," he said quietly, and still gripping my wrist, he moved closer. "I was talking about us."

I blinked. "What about us?"

"Don't leave."

What shocked me the most was that he said it as a command. Cold and vicious and hard. And it came from Duke.

What the hell?

I opened my mouth to protest, but he closed the distance between my mouth and his instead. We had been standing after I decided to move away, but after a blur of grabbing on his part, I was against the wall with his hot breath pouring into my mouth.

And it just felt wrong.

My hands were on his chest, trying to create some form of space between me and him. He was trying to kiss me, trying to make my mouth work with his, but I wouldn't allow it. Not at all. Not after what happened a week ago, when I saw my imprinted wolf kiss another girl. It was all too close to home.

And too wrong.

Yet, some part of me was trying to fight the wrongness. There was a sliver, a little nestling that attempted to plant a seed in my head, trying to convince me that something about this was all right.

But why? Why me? Why right now?

"Duke, I don't think we should do this," I said breathlessly. I could easily push him off of me, and trust me, I would do that as a last resort, but for now, I focused on not exposing my nature. His lips moved to my neck after I refused to make myself work with him. I was shockingly calm and collected, more so than I could say for him. His erection was pressed against the inside of my thigh. I realized that I had been lifted off the ground, and I didn't know how I felt about that.

His hand grazed the top of my rips, just under my left breast, and I shuddered. His warmth was driving me insane more than anything; the smell of his abnormally delectable blood. The saliva pooled in my mouth before I could conquer the thirst, and I swallowed quickly, pushing that beside me.

I felt like some foreign body was trying to take me over. This wasn't me. Seth was, in Cathy Earnshaw's words, "more me than I was myself." Duke just felt wrong. Everything was wrong about this.

"Duke, stop," I said more forcefully. He didn't stop; he was still peppering my collarbone with kisses and sucking on my neck, probably giving me hickeys that I would have to explain later. As I tried to squirm from his grasp, he pressed on me harder and put his hand over my mouth.

His blood. His blood.

What would it be like to taste?...

I realized a horrific truth as reality slapped me in the face. His blood was another story, but what if I hadn't been a hybrid?

I considered the position I was in, with him forcefully pushing me against the wall, with his hand over my mouth, and my ignored protests to stop. What would this be if there had been no possible way that he could win against me? What if I was actually as weak as I looked?

I could think of one thing: rape.

Pressing even harder against me with his one hand still over mine, he made a move to unzip his pants.

My eyes widened in horror. Okay, now I was getting nervous.

Had he been like this all along?

I would have to make a move fast. I wasn't going to be a victim if I could help it.

I easily grabbed his wrist that was connected to the hand on my face, and pulled lightly, which was enough. My grip was loose, so his hand qucikly slipped free and found its way back over my mouth, with a forceful growl added on his part.

His erection was free and was poking hideously right where my exposed panties were.

He was planning on raping me.

This time, I wasn't so gentle. I grabbed his wrist and squeezed.

He screamed and let me go immediately. I felt a couple bones crack. On one hand, it was shocking that I could do so much damage with a simple squeeze. On the other, I really didn't care.

"What the fuck?" he yelled, cradling his wrist to his chest. I was zeroed in on the wrist he cradled, planning on making another grab for it and causing more damage. That's why I didn't see the sudden move he made.

He pulled his good hand back, and slapped me across the face.

I didn't hurt, of course. But I stood there, absolutely dumbfounded and shocked. He hit me.

He hit me. He actually hit me.

I was overcome with such a startling sense of anger that my lips pulled back from my teeth, and I snarled, long and viciously.

I've never seen a human turn that shade of white.

"Nia...? I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean it..." He started quaking with fear, his heartbeat picked up, and he began to back away from my slow advance. I started stalking him like the predator I was, knowing that if I choosed, I could kill him with a single blow of my hand.

"You hit me," I snarled. How many other girls had he done this to? How many defenseless girls did he take advantage of? Was he like this the whole time?

I felt like a complete fool. I had let him in a little bit, thought he was a great guy. Just the thought of it made me feel sick.

I felt another little sliver creep into my mind, and I growled fiercely. I attacked it mentally, ripping it to shreds and sinking my teeth into it, destroying it into nothing.

I realized about halfway through the significance of me doing this.

I was Seraphina Marie Cullen-Whitlock, half-vampire, half-human. I was the imprint to Seth Henry Clearwater, and Seth was mine.

And just like that, I was back. I was really back.

And I needed Seth, now.

With the most genuine grin plastered on my face, I closed the distance between Duke and I, grabbing the collar of his shirt and dangling him at an angle where he would have fallen otherwise. Now that I was in the best position, I got really close to his face, feeling his once delicious breath get shallow. My grin got wider.

"You were more of a help than I bargained for," I growled triumphantly, "Tell Jesse never to call me again. Also, if I find out that you hurt another girl again, like you attempted with me, I will rip out your testicles and toss them in a blender."

I watched him turn slightly green. I moved my lips to be next to his ear. "It's better if you don't tell anyone about this...encounter, are we understood?"

He nodded quickly, turning an alarming shade of white. I released him, watching him fall to the floor.

I crossed the room confidently and opened the door. He was on his knees, dry heaving. He shuddered when he saw me looking at him. "Remember what I said," I threatened, throwing an insolent wink in his direction before walking out the door.

I laughed the whole way home.

I got to Nessie and Jake's after running for about thirty minutes. The run was great. Everything made sense again. There was only one thing missing – and it was Seth Clearwater.

When I walked into the threshold, multiple people were pacing, clear visions of worry. They saw me and erupted into sighs.

My mother came marching up to me with an angry expression on her face. I didn't leave her like that for long though. I ran to her and gave her the biggest hug I think I had ever given her.

She stood stock still, obviously not knowing what to do. I smelled heavily like someone else and a little like sex and weed. And I was hugging her. A lot. I felt more like myself, except even stronger. I was definitely stronger.

I pulled back and gave her a small smile. Her eyes got wide.

"Nice to see you too, Mom," I said when she didn't say anything.

Her mouth fell open.

"Seraphina?" she whispered.

I nodded, blushing a little bit. I couldn't say I felt like myself yet, because there was still a huge, overwhelming piece of me missing.

But I was definitely there.

"You're..." She trailed off, looking over me like I had just myself transformed into a werewolf. This was the point when she realized that she was supposed to be mad at me. Her eyes automatically narrowed. "Where did you leave to just now?" she hissed.

I winced and stepped back, automatically abashed. "I had to deal with some pressing issues," I told her.

"Pressing. Issues?" she hissed again, and I cowered a little bit. "There is a bit of a pressing issue right now! Seraphina, you could have been killed! Why do you insist on being so reckless? There happens to be a vampire that wants to possibly kill you, and you're out by yourself, dealing with your own pressing issues!"

"I know Mom, I'm really sorry," I said quietly.

She sighed, her anger ebbing a little bit. She stared at me for a long moment, genuinely concerned about me. I didn't blame her.

No one else got involved, not even my dad. Everyone knew that Alice angry was more than enough.

"Where did you go?" she asked finally.

I pursed my lips. This would be the hard part. I caught eyes with Grandma, who looked immensely guilty. I gave her a small smile to ease some of it.

"Well, uh, I went to go take care of some people I met that were, well, bad influences this week," I admitted.

"Take care of?" Dad pressed, "What did you do?" Aw...he caught onto that.

I couldn't hide the guilt that came forth, which he surely picked up on. He cocked an eyebrow – all ears.

"Well, I told them I didn't want to be friends with them." Not a lie.

"Seraphina," Dad said sternly. Looked like things were almost back to normal.

I looked down at my feet and furrowed my eyebrows. "Well... I might have scared one."

Everyone bristled as expected, and my mom and dad's reaction were something like: !

I held up my hands. "No you guys, I have it under control! I took care of it."

My mom and dad exchanged a look before, without wasting a moment, hustled me out to Jake's suburban. They were both flanking me, my mother steering me by my elbow. They were never rough, but I could feel the worry seeping from my dad over the possibility of me ruining the secret of our nature. "In," Mom instructed.

I was in trouble. I got in the backseat quietly as my dad went around to the driver's side and peeled out of the driveway.

"Explain," Mom instructed. Oh crap oh crap oh crap...

"His name is Duke and he's an incorrigable twat and he tried to rape me but then I pushed him off of me and I snarled at him and he got really frightened and I think he might have passed out when I left because he was so scared," I blurted out nervously in one sentence. It may or may not have been my dad's doing.

Speaking of my loving father, he slammed on the brakes right in the middle of the road and twisted to face me with a mask of the blackest Hell on his face. "He. Did. What?" he snarled.

I cowered again. My dad let out a string of profanities I've never heard him use as he pulled out his phone and dialed a number – Emmett's.

He put it on speaker as he hit the gas again, pushing 120 miles per hour. Emmett answered on the first ring. "Jasper," he greeted.

"Follow our trail," he snarled, "I'm going to need back up, because I'm going to kill this fucker."

"What happened?" Emmett asked, all business and concern.

"He tried to rape my little girl."

And that was it. The growling I heard on the other end, from my entire family, was enough to know that Duke had no idea how big of a hole he was in. "Rose and I are coming right now," Emmett snarled, and hung up.

If there was one thing worse than Emmett, it was Rosalie.

Usually my mom would be trying to calm my dad down in this situation, but my mother, a face of perfect elfin features, looked like an avenging angel. She was to be sure that there would be no sign of him after he was gone.

"Address," Dad forced out, his fingers starting to crush the steering wheel. With a slightly shaky voice, I responded, also telling him that it was a suburban neighborhood so we couldn't make too much of a scene. I didn't think he heard me.

We eventually got to Duke's house. It was still just him inside, I could tell that much by the absence of heartbeats. My dad looked immensely impatient waiting for my aunt and uncle to arrive, but in reality, it was only about thirty seconds later did they arrive in Nessie's Mercedes. They must have figured out that Duke lived in a suburban neighborhood and they couldn't just run up to the house.

I was surprised with who got out of the car. Yes, it was Emmett and Rosalie, but Allegra also emerged, without Embry or her parents.

"What are you doing here, Allie?" I asked, shocked, as my family made their way up to the front doorstep.

"They thought that my gift would be useful," she said quietly, hanging in the back with me. Of course, Allie was a physical shield! Her shield operated close to that of an indestructable steel wall. That was smart of them to bring her.

Rosalie got in front, knocking on the door a couple times with a barely-restrained hand. I could tell that she was having a hard time not clawing the door open.

Duke was slow to answer the door. But eventually, the door did open.

And they didn't waste any time.

Mom and Dad burst through the fold, and I was genuinely scared for a moment that they were going to kill him. Duke fell onto the floor and started sobbing, and my dad grabbed him by the hook of the arm and dragged him onto the sofa.

"I would like to have a little talk with you," he snarled viciously, "I hear that you tried to rape my little girl."

"You're Nia's f-father?" he stuttered out, obviously taking in the fact that my dad didn't look anything close to being my father.

But my dad was so angry and serious in that moment that he looked like he had aged years over Duke, as well as me.

"Yes," Dad snarled, getting into his face. I could feel the effect of my dad's gift on Duke. I was surprised Duke hadn't had a heart attack yet.

"I could quite easily kill you right now, but that'd be too difficult to cover up," my dad said rather evenly.

Duke would be an idiot if he didn't believe every word.

"Funny how things work, Duke," I muttered from the back of the group, giving him an easy glare. "You thought you were scared of me. You're quite wrong about that. Yes, you were right to be scared of me, but in fact, my family is much, much scarier. Perhaps you should have thought of the consequences when you tried to cover my mouth with your hand and force yourself into me against the wall."

I didn't know that it was possible for my dad to get angrier than he already was, but it was possible. Definitely possible.

"You did what?" my father screeched. His hand formed a claw, and was about to bring it down onto Duke's head.

Allie chose that time to use her power, god bless her. Maybe I shouldn't have provoked my dad, but Duke tried to rape me, and he could do it to other girls, easily. I guess in my mind he deserved it. Allie stopped my father's hand right in its tracks.

Knowing that he had made a mistake, he curled his hand into a fist and slowly lowered it, giving Duke the blackest expression of hatred I had ever seen.

My mother stepped forward and got right in his face. "I'm the mother," she said gleefully, giving him a snarl. He cowarded away from her, just as he did with my dad. Duke was sobbing uncontrollably. It was clear we were something more than human at that point.

Dad, with Allie standing really close, moved in on Duke. "I don't give a damn if this was a rare occasion, or that you've never attempted that with a girl before. But let me give you a clear warning: if you ever so much as say a disrespectful word towards a girl again, I will crush your skull – " my dad let his fingers trail on Duke's head, " – and rip out your heart." Dad's fingers went to Duke's chest.

Duke nodded fiercely.

"This encounter never happened," Dad told him forcefully, adding an extra amount of fear into his punch. Duke's heart was stuttering as he nodded again.

"I think he's had enough," Rosalie said, putting an arm on Dad's shoulder. Dad relented, backing away slowly, never taking his glare away from Duke.

I could say beyond a shadow of a doubt that Duke would never say anything about us to anyone.

We decided to leave the house then. Emmett added the extra brawn to my dad's enormous threat, and gave him one of his own: "I will fuck you up, I promise you that."

Duke passed out after Emmett's threat, and Rosalie threw him on her shoulders to go put him in his bed. By the flop we heard upstairs, it wasn't gentle. That's when we decided it was time to leave, and never return.

Seth POV – Five Hours Later

I was in Boise.

I was in Boise.

I could practically feel Sera at this point. I was close enough to know that she was feeling better, which was good. Really good.

Then maybe I'd have a chance of getting her back again.

Slow down Clearwater, that's a bit too optimistic.

I wasted no time in running the rest of the way home though. I had to start begging to her now.

I let my mind shut down, curiously blank after all the time I had spent thinking while I was away. I could only see her beautiful face in my mind, but as a side-by-side. One from a week ago; happy, healthy, gorgeous. The comparison was the image from Jake's mind, the Sera that my betrayal had caused. Hollow. Sad. Cold. Pale.

I hoped to never see Seraphina like that ever again, or to ever cause that pain for her in the way that I did.

I could possibly be the dumbest imprinted wolf alive.

And there it was – home. The house that the Cullens had bought for the wolves, but was only inhabited by Embry and I. No lights were on at the house. That would be nice, to just be the only one for now.

I went around the backway and phased to a human form. It had been a long time since I had stood on two legs, and I promptly fell to the ground and groaned.

I tried to stretch my limbs as I stood up, wobbily at first. But just like riding a bike, I caught on fast.

I grabbed the spare key from under a potted plant, and let myself in. I immediately went to my room to grab some clothes, when I passed by the mirror in Embry's room.

I was covered in dirt, but I could have told you that. My hair was shaggy, and a beard was starting to grow. I looked homeless. But I was shocked by how hollow and pale I looked.

I looked like a wolf that had just lost their imprint.

I closed my eyes tightly and turned away from my reflection. I could care about the details after I had Sera back.

I decided that it would be a good idea to take a shower first, at least feel a little better. And as I stepped into the cold stream, I let the water run over me, but not really feeling.

Feeling was too hard.

I quickly washed myself and got out. It was true, I felt ten times better, but it didn't erase the pain.

I shaved my face for good measure, but I didn't do anything about the shaggy hairstyle I was now sporting. I didn't think it mattered.

I threw on the first pair of shorts I could find before I picked up the phone to dial Jacob.

"Hello?" he answered warily. It was coming from the house phone, so it would have to be me or a really dumb burgalar.

"Hi."

I heard him drop the phone before picking it up again. "Hold on," he whispered, and snuck out of the room.

He talked at a normal voice this time. "Seth, man, you're home," he said excitedly.

"Yeah, I'm here...where's Sera?"

"Seraphina is in the other room. We're back at the big house."

"She's not living with you guys anymore?" I asked.

"No, she moved back today. Dude, it was the weirdest thing. Esme let Seraphina go off on her own even with the vampire threat and everything, and everyone was freaking out because they couldn't find her. And then like two hours later she returns with like a complete attitude change. She looked hopeful. But that was before we found out – " He cut off suddenly.

"Found out what, Jake?" I said, suddenly on edge for this revelation.

"I think we should save that for another time," he said quietly.

"No Jake, I want to know – "

"Not right now." His voice had the undertone of the alpha, and I immediately cursed him.

"Are you coming over?" Jake asked suddenly.

My heart broke into double time, and the knot I had in my stomach was wound so tightly that I thought I might puke.

"Should I?" I whispered feebily.

"She's in a pretty okay mood right now – "

"Time for me to mess it up," I said miserably.

Jacob chuckled. "No, I don't think she'd be opposed to you, actually. She's been just as lost without you as you have without her."

That invigorated me with a new sense of hope. She might not even be opposed to me.

"Oh, and Seth?" Jake added.

"Yeah?"

"Call her Seraphina. Not Sera. She's been a bit touchy about that since you left, since you gave her that name and all."

There went my hope. She changed her name because of me.

"Are you sure I should come over?" I made myself force out. I was actually scared of Jake saying no rather than yes. I just had to see her face – once.

"Yes. We'll be here," Jake promised gently.

I hung up the phone, feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders again.

I finished my outfit with a shirt, a blue shirt. It was Sera's favorite shade of the color.

I tried to shut down my brain again, but it wasn't as easy now that I was in human form again. There was no other side to give myself over to, no animal instinct. Just me.

As I hopped into my car and peeled out of the driveway, I thought about how much had changed since the last time I saw Seraphina. The side-by-side comparison was enough for me.

My hands started getting jittery and nervous as I closed in on the house. Honestly, I didn't know why I was driving, because I could have easily ran over here in probably a shorter time frame. Maybe I wanted to give myself time to think, maybe I wanted to give myself something to focus on. I wasn't quite sure.

All I knew was that in a shorter time frame that I was ready for, I arrived at the Cullens, with Sera inside.

I could hear the sound of her magnificent voice coming out of the window. She was chatting easily with what sounded like Jasper, and she seemed to be brighter in spirits. But I could tell by the sound of her voice, the voice that I could pick out of a loud room, that something was off. She still sounded better than the last time I heard her voice, when she was yelling at me to leave her...

I shut my eyes tightly, but I couldn't avoid the small tear that leaked out of the corner of my eye. I was in so much pain.

I started to breathe heavily. My vision seemed a little blurred around the edges.

I didn't realize how nervous I was to talk to her until now.

I tried to focus on the connection that we had. I could feel it tugging harshly at me, telling me to move my ass and fix everything because I was an idiot.

I slowly slid my body out of the car, feeling as though I weighed 800 pounds. The knife in my heart wouldn't go away.

I just had to see her first.

I didn't close the door. I didn't want to notify her anymore that I was here than what was needed. I just had to see her before I could do anything else.

Silently, I crouched down and ran swiftly up the the front window. I stayed like that for a few minutes before I dared to look up at her. My hands were shaking violently.

One...Two...Three...

I peeked my head ever-so-slightly over.

My legs almost gave out.

She was sitting sideways from me, with her dad and mom flanking both of her sides. Her hands were crossed dilligently in her lap, and she was listening to something her mom was saying without really looking at her. I had no care over what Alice was saying. I couldn't peel my eyes off Sera's face.

I could see the sapphire blue in her eyes from here. Her hair was tied away from her face to reveal the perfection in her small features – her suprisingly full lips, her small nose, her big eyes, that creamy, luscious skin...

It felt like I could really see again. I could breathe easier. It felt like I had a sense of purpose renewed in me. Everything just made sense.

My heart lurched when I saw that she was wearing one of my old black shirts.

That gave me the confidence I needed.

I moved away from the window, and made a move to the front door, almost considering a grand entrance.

But never in my life will I forget what happened next.

As I walked up the porch, the door opened for me.

And the person on the other side?

You guessed it. Seraphina.

Her beautiful eyes met mine and I felt the planets realigning, just as they should.

"Hello, Seth."

A/N: Oh god, I'm a horrible human being for stopping right there. Comment and subscribe? (:

I will update soon.

-Chels.