Chapter 5

Luke

The boys have gotten me out. I've ran before, but I usually do it alone, and when the least possible amount of the guys are phased. The trail with Kate's last human scent has long since disappeared in the air, but I know the path by heart, and only torture myself more when going on it.

Today, the boys are running a routine scout, trying to get me back in the hang of things. Gerard understands my pain, but he's irritated with me from being out so long. Robert is with them, and has more or less taken my spot. He had first phased last summer, shortly after Kate left. Of course, I wasn't there to help ease him into it, so we're not as tight as I am with my other brothers. He's still a noob in many respects, since he turned at age thirteen. He knows everything about Kate from everyone's thoughts.

Welcome back, Luke, Howard greeted warmly, being careful of what he thought.

Yeah, nice to have you again, so can we start protecting now? Gerard asked hotly.

Sure, boss! Robert piped in enthusiastically.

Robert was very young, so this whole werewolf thing was hard for him to control. He hadn't learned to control most of what he thought around everyone, so we caught some random, sometimes private things. Of course, Kate was on my mind, so it led to Robert thinking about her, and in a way I did not like.

I snarled and swiped out at him, catching his shoulder and causing him to stagger back and whimper.

Luke! Peter scolded.

Keep Kate out of your thoughts, pup, or you'll get more than a swipe next time, I warned Robert.

He's young, calm down, Gerard ordered.

Luke's right. He should keep his thoughts contained, Kevin added sourly.

Ever since the morning Kate was taken, Kevin and Howard had grown the closest to Kate, and become almost as sensitive to the subject of her as I had. Their time spent with her as Gerard and Peter were with the male vampire had softened them towards her more than any of the other boys, and they took it personally when the females took her away from us.

And we seek revenge, Kevin added to my thoughts.

Sorry, Luke, Robert thought quietly. I heard underneath his initial thought that he was sorry for more than just thinking about Kate in the wrong way. He was inexperienced, but I had to admire his sincerity.

Let's get a move on, Gerard prompted, running faster through the forests.

Do you smell that? Robert asked as he sniffed the air.

Everyone slowed their paces, sniffing the air just as Robert did.

Indeed there was a faint scent there, as if it were blown in from the ocean. It was definitely a fragrant vampire scent.

Let's go check it out, Peter suggested.

We all moved into formation, angling towards the ocean and following the scent.

"God, it stinks here," we heard faintly through the trees from a distinct vampire voice.

The guys moved slower, crouching low to the ground, their hackles raising on end. Finally, we broke through a line of trees, spotting a male vampire not far off by the shore of the ocean.

His head snapped up immediately, and crouched low, a hiss escaping from his lips.

The boys crouched lower, growls rumbling in their throats. But I didn't.

Gerard started to pounce, unaware of what I was thinking, and just before he did, I leapt in front of him, almost reflexively and growled. Gerard gave me a look of confusion.

What the hell are you doing? Gerard snarled to me in his head.

We can't kill him, I told him.

Why not? he questioned me, and I could feel and alpha order coming on.

I took a defiant step forward. This is Kate's brother, I told him.

Every wolf looked towards me, standing a little bit straighter.

A vampire? Howard asked, his head tilting to the side in confusion.

It must have happened recently, I speculated. He was human not a few months ago.

You know what this means, Gerard told me. Kate…

Let's not go too deep into it, I interrupted.

Look at his eyes, Robert added, his own eyes squinting.

We all looked to Adam, who seemed confused that we had broken our hostile stance. He stood motionless, his hair dripping from a swim in the ocean. His eyes, as I gave them a closer examination, were a muddy color. They weren't completely red, although not yet golden, but in between. The golden tints were brighter than the red ones, indicating that he had been feeding "vegetarian" for a while. He was making the transition, but who was the one who informed him of the decision? Adam didn't peg me as the type to voluntarily eat vegetarian if he didn't know from the start that he could. Maybe he had met up with someone else… someone who had been previously informed about a more humane lifestyle that some vampires led… someone like Kate.

Exactly. I'm sure Kate has found him, Gerard started again.

We don't know that yet.

Returning my attention to Adam, I lowered my head to him and inched closer, trying to convey the message that I wouldn't attack. He stood a fraction straighter, but angled his chin upward, still untrusting.

Should I phase back? I asked the others behind me.

No. That's an alpha order. He may be Kate's brother, but we still can't trust him.

If I couldn't communicate verbally, I could try to communicate in other ways:

Adam stood straighter, catching on that I was going to try to talk to him. I lowered my head to the ground, scratched the dirt with my paw and snorted.

"My scent?" Adam asked.

I nodded. Stand up straighter, I told the others. As they obeyed I nodded back towards them, telling more to Adam, who narrowed his eyes back at them.

"Your territory?" he guessed.

I nodded again, then bore into his eyes, hoping he would understand that I wasn't giving second chances. I then started to throw my head in the direction of the edge of our territory line, away from La Push and Forks.

Adam held my eyes. "You want me to leave? That won't be so easy. You see, I'm up for a little territorial dispute…"

At that moment, each wolf stepped closer in one big stride, emitting nasty snarls at him.

Cocky bastard, I thought to myself.

Adam, concealing his step down, angled his chin up again. "Fine. I'll leave. This place reeks anyways."

So do you, Robert retorted, even though Adam obviously couldn't hear.

Adam gave me one last look, and then disappeared in the direction I told him to go.

Follow his trail, Luke. The others and I will scout deeper in and make sure he did go out of our boundaries.

Got it, I said, taking a step towards the trees, and new strength in my steps. Seeing Adam didn't hurt like I thought it would. Seeing him gave me a sort of reassurance. It was hard to explain, and everything definitely wasn't back to normal, but it was nice to have a change.