Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer not me.

Author/Note 1: Sequel from Our Dawn 2

A/Note 2: I'm not a native English speaker so I'm sorry for my grammar and spelling. Thank you for reading.

Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed: teamtorettosupporter, FantasyLover74, Teagann, Jada91, cinnamin, Cracker679, Blackwater Crazziii, Jacobleah, brankel1, Cherryx3Cat, Blackwater101, piper9004, BlacksWerewolfa, RobertForLife, o0FLAM3S0o, cyrusnjonas, Chica219, Sentinel10, wolfman inc, YoGurlBl, Jeakat, CallyGreen.

Alert: the characters in this story curse a lot.

Our Dawn

Part III

Book 2 – Confidence & Vulnerability

Jacob Black

11. Invitation

Bella picked up the call with confidence. It was obvious that Alice had instructed her about what to say when that happened.

"Edward! Are you alright, honey? Where are you? What about William, is he alright?"

We're fine Bella. Calm down…We're safe.

I wouldn't call it safe, but I couldn't argue semantics right now.

"You're in Volterra, aren't you?"

Bella was quite an actress these days. She was pretty convincing. It almost sound like she didn't know what was happening.

Yes, we're in Volterra.

"I can't believe this! Aro agreed that we would only go to Italy by the end of the century…" Bella complained.

Demitri thought I was going to turn Will into one of us and brought us here. Aro already apologised about his impulsive behaviour.

"Apologies shouldn't be given but avoided. What am I supposed to say to Leah? How am I going to explain to her that her six-year old kid, who should be playing and having fun skiing, is in Italy?"

Tell her we wanted to give Will a special birthday present.

"She won't fall for that."

Bella…listen to me…William and I are going to stay here a little longer.

"What? They can't do that!"

Aro says we can go as soon as Carlisle, Alice, you and Jasper come here to pick us up.

"Why can't you just leave?"

I guess he wants talk to all of us first.

"Are they taking good care of William?"

He's alright. He's stronger than you think. Sulpicia's being very sweet to him.

"I'm going to talk to the others and we'll be there as soon as we can. We'll probably get there by nightfall. Hang in there."

I will.

"I love you Edward."

I love you too.

When Bella hung up the phone I let out the oxygen I had been keeping in my lungs.

"What do we do now?" I asked.

Alice sat comfortably on the couch watching the morning sun through the window. She was, obviously waiting to have more visions to help her decide what to do.

"Aro invited us to his house so we can't turn down the invitation." Carlisle said.

"But you have to stay here and this time don't mess up." Bella warned me. "We're going to get William back."

"I'm his father." I stated sternly. I hated to be there waiting for them to solve this mess. I wanted to do something to save my son.

"I know that Jake." She sighed, annoyed by my insistence.

"We all know you're the father of the year Jacob but you need to trust us." Alice announced.

"I think we're missing something here." Jasper said worriedly.

"What do you mean?" Carlisle asked.

"I don't know. I think Aro wants something from us, thus the invitation. He's going to use our concern for William's safety to make sure we don't go against him."

"What can he possibly want from us?" Bella inquired pacing around.

"Maybe he'll ask us to stay here." Jasper suggested.

"It would be easier to call and tell us he wanted us here now." Bella clenched her fists. She did not like Aro at all.

"Aro is known for his generosity. He won't force you to be here but he will try to persuade you using every dark plan we can think of." Carlisle explained. "Now that Jane is back, we need to be extremely careful."

"I'm going to be there, Carlisle. Jane won't do anything." Bella grinned.

"No, you're not going to be with us." Alice said suddenly and we all realised she had seen the future.

"What do you mean?" Bella asked.

"I saw us speaking to Aro. Jane was with him and you weren't in the room with us."

"Great." I said sarcastically. "You know what? This sounds more like a trap every second."

"Calm down, Jake. Don't you dare to phase in here!"

I hadn't realised I was shaking from head to toe. Jasper glanced at me and I immediately relaxed. That was a pretty useful power to have around wolves actually. I wouldn't mind if one of my kids had it, that way I could ask them to calm Leah down every time she got angry at me.

"I want to go." I said.

"You can't." Alice stated immediately. "I would be unable to see the future if you're involved and your presence would put all the vampires on red alert."

I muttered a few profanities and left to get something to eat. After a few minutes Bella joined me on the restaurant's table. She smiled weakly and I rolled my eyes. I knew what she was going to say. She was going to give me the "serious talk" about how important it was that I'd stay in the Hotel like a good puppy and how important it was for me to trust them.

News flash: if I hadn't trusted them none of this would've happened and my son wouldn't be in a damn underground infested with leeches with Edward Cullen.

"It's not that we think we're better than you Jake." She said.

"I know. And you aren't better than us. We have the same strength…the only difference between us is that I'm William's father. It's my responsibility to take care of my son and you're denying me that."

"We're not denying you that Jacob. If you go, you'll put everyone in danger including William."

"If anything happens to him…I won't be able to face Leah."

"I won't let that happen. I know you blame yourself for what happened. I know that right now, you and Leah don't trust us either, but our friendship should be able to pass through this test."

I laughed slightly.

"We're family, Jake and I want things to stay that way. Edward is protecting William right now and I really want to make up to you. We'll bring your son home."

"Don't expect Leah to treat you like heroes even if you succeed."

"I wouldn't dare thinking about that."

"I believe you and the others are going to try your best to get William and Edward home safely, but that doesn't mean I'm alright with the way you're going to do it."

"I know."

Bella got up and took a minute to look at me.

"You've changed, Jacob." She said. "I used to be scared that you'd change but I guess this would have to happen eventually. You're not the same Jake I knew."

"You've changed too, Bella. You don't depend on others anymore. "

"But we're still friends, aren't we? That didn't change, right?"

"Yeah, we're still friends."

"Will you entrust William or Harry's lives to us again?"

Right now I wouldn't but I couldn't tell her that for the sake of our new but more fragile friendship.

"I trust you to bring William to me. I trust you to do the right thing to protect my son's life."

I didn't know if Bella had realised I had changed the issue but if she did, she didn't mention it. She just left in silence. It was a good thing we didn't talk more because I didn't want to disappoint her. The truth was I had finally realised that our relationship was now different. Too much had changed since Bella had walked into my life but the real changes in me had only happened after I started to develop feelings for Leah.

When I fell in love with Leah I wasn't expecting anything in return. Leah was still in pain after what Sam and Emily had put her through and I was sure she would never return my feelings. To fall in love again was unexpected but it made me believe that I still had a small chance to be happy. Even if Leah would deny me, I could always try to move on and fall for someone else. I knew there were a lot of girls interested in me in the Reservation.

The thing was, I was happy to know that I had been able to move on from Bella, but soon I realised it wouldn't be that easy with Leah.

Unexpectedly, Leah was everything I needed and more. She wasn't a substitute for Bella, she wasn't just a crush and she definitely wasn't just a "wolf thing". I had accepted Carlisle's interpretation about me and Leah being the alpha pair because there was no way to deny that we were meant to be together, I mean it made sense in every kind of way but my feelings for her were beyond the pack's dynamics. It had started before my sudden realisation that I wanted her to be mine.

My relationship with Leah had evolved rapidly and before we knew, actually…before I knew it, she was having my children. I had no regrets about that and now, after six years of marriage I still loved her and the kids with passion.

The only thing I had failed to understand was my relationship with Bella and the Cullens. Apart from the mortal enemies' issue, Bella was my former love and I always knew she had some sort of a power over me. I had always given her the benefit of the doubt for the sake of your friendship. I also had, maybe stupidly, thought that things between us would never change.

I was wrong. How could I be so naïve to the point of thinking that I could just conciliate my old friendship with Bella and my new love for Leah? I should've known better. I should've realised that things would have to change. Bella and Leah had nothing in common. They were complete opposites.

Even when I told Bella off and tried to make her understand that I had chosen Leah, I really never imposed my will because Bella knew how to handle me, because she would always try to claim me, if not romantically then she would invoke the loyalty between us.

And that was my mistake. Sure Bella was a friend but she wasn't my best friend anymore, she wasn't the woman I wanted to be with or the woman I wanted to have children with. We were even from different "species" now. She was a vampire, I was a wolf. I wasn't sorry for keeping the treaty between the packs and the Cullens intact but I should've never accepted them to be so close to us or to be present in our lives for so long. Friends could live apart from each others. Actually families often did it. Becca and Rachel were good examples of that and if it weren't for the imprint pull they would've never come home.

After this was over I would have to take a stand. I knew well that the Cullens could not be blamed for what had happened to Harry and William. They hadn't provoked the Volturi in any way and Edward had even protected both of my sons risking his own "life". But by having such a close relationship with the Cullens, we would always be in danger and if that wasn't such a big deal in the past, now things were different because I had two children to protect.

I had been stupid thinking that the Cullen's place was in La Push, with us. I had been naïve thinking that one day we would all be a big happy family. I had been stubborn and blind not realising that from the moment Bella's heart had stopped beating, things would never be the same again. I had failed to comprehend that I didn't need Bella and she didn't need me either.

I didn't love Bella for a long time but I had kept myself chained to her friendship and now I didn't want it anymore. I had finally understood why Leah could sometimes still bitch about Bella. I could now understand why Leah still felt threatened by Bella's presence even knowing that I would never cheat on her. I had been a moron for over the past six years and Leah had always been right.

Sure I had proved Leah that I was over Bella. Sure we were married and I was still completely in love with my wife but now I knew why every time Leah and I made love, there was still a strong will on her part to prove herself to me, to make me see that I made the right choice. I didn't want her to feel that way. I didn't want her to doubt me.

I wasn't going to put my family in danger again because of Bella's friendship. After this I was going to prove Leah that all I ever needed and wanted was her.

After I had decided to make some changes in our lifestyles as soon as we could go back home, I returned to the hotel's room where Alice, Jasper, Carlisle and Bella were talking about the different scenarios they could find as soon as they entered the "Hell Cave". They talked for ages while I sat there listening to them and wishing I could do something to help.

"Jacob, if we don't come back immediately don't panic. We don't know if Aro will meet us right away." Carlisle said a few hours later. "But if we don't come back after a week, take this money and go home. We'll contact you as soon as we can."

I accepted the envelope with money from Carlisle's hands and looked at them attentively. That perspective didn't make me feel better. I knew they were confident that the Volturi would let them go once Aro talked to Carlisle. They were old friends after all but the truth was that Aro had all the cards in his hands. Our only hope was to follow the old saying: "In Rome do like the Romans." Carlisle and the others would have to behave, smile, be nice and try to convince Aro that everything was fine.

I knew they wouldn't put my son's life in danger and I trusted Carlisle's experience dealing with the Volturi but there was something inside of me saying that this could go wrong.

"Keep your eyes on your cell phone." Bella suggested pulling me out of my thought. I nodded.

A few minutes later the sun was gone and they finally left the Hotel. Now all I could do was waiting for their return.

As an alpha I was used to take immediate action whenever something was wrong. My nature didn't allow me to be passive and patient. I was used to be on the front line, fighting and leading my pack. Today I was staying on the background and I hated it.

A/Note 3: I know you all want William to be rescued soon but it will take a couple more chapters. There will be more action starting next chapter and the Volturi Guard will make an appearance too. I don't really know why but I like the Volturi quite a lot. Except for Marcus...he's creepy. I even like Jane and Alec. I believe they're the most powerful vampires ever and I will try to focus on their story a bit in later chapters. Jane and Alec are a bit like Harry and Will. They're unique, special and have a strong bond between them.

Thanks for the feedback.

Karisan