A/N: Thanks a lot for all of your reviews! You guys are awesome! I hope that you'll like this chapter!
A huge 'Thank you' to the wonderful don'tcallmeLeeLee who is an amazing pre reader! I wouldn't had managed to finish this chapter without her.
Oh! I've almost forgotten: I don't own Twilight or its characters. If I did, shape-shifters would rule the world and Leah would be a deity!
Enjoy your reading !
Jacob was pacing back and forth into his cottage. Nessie told him she would be there in an hour, and she was usually very punctual – that was the least a half vampire could do. He had a bad feeling and the bond that was tying him to Renesmee was pushing him outside to find her.
Since Lindsey's death, he'd tried to warn his imprint that she shouldn't wander off as she used to do – at least not without him – but she didn't listen to him. Much to his dismay, Renesmee had inherited her stubbornness from her mother, along with her bad habit of being a danger magnet.
That was the main reason why he had ordered his pack brothers not to phase. He wasn't proud of himself for doing that; he didn't like to deprive them of their free will and he wished he could do otherwise, but there wasn't any other solution to protect his imprint. Seth would be more than happy to torture Renesmee and Embry would gladly help him because they all blamed her for Lindsey's death.
But she wasn't to blame. It was just a bad combination of circumstances.
The Cullens were as affected as the pack by Lindsey's death. They all liked Seth like he was a part of their family, and seeing him that broken was heartbreaking. They wanted to attend her funeral but Seth had gone berserk before the ceremony, saying that 'no Alpha-command would prevent him from killing any of them if they showed their faces at the burial'.
Jacob could understand him. He would probably lost his mind if something happened to Renesmee. He had been disappointed with her when he learned what she had done at the hospital, but he had found her some mitigating circumstances when she tried to explain her gesture.
She was a vampire, she needed blood and she thought that killing animals was as cruel as killing humans. Jacob was proud of her convictions, even though he felt uncomfortable with her still wanting human blood. He gave her the possibility to bite him, which she did more than often, and he thought she was satisfied with that arrangement until he'd heard about her little 'slip'.
From that day, Jacob was literally split in two. His wolf side was sick of the hybrid and wanted to follow his primary instincts – which wouldn't be good for the Cullens at all – but his feelings for his dear Nessie and for Bella were overcoming and restrained the animalistic part of him.
While he was still debating whether he had to stay or not, Renesmee finally appeared in front of him. His heart skipped a beat and he let out a heavy sigh of relief.
"You got me worried sick!" he said as he pulled her into a bear hug.
"I'm sorry," she sniffled. "Am I late?"
Jacob narrowed his eyes and stared intently at his imprint's tear-streaked face.
"What's going on, Ness?" he asked, still worried.
"I – I saw Leah… and Seth."
"Did – Did they try to hurt you?"
"No. I mean – Seth was angry and Leah… She hates me…"
Jacob cringed mentally, unable to lie about those facts. He couldn't stand to see her cry and he debated about what he should do to ease her pain.
"Do you want me to talk to them? I can tell them to leave, if you want –"
"You would do that for me?" Renesmee murmured hopefully with a childish voice, all trace of sadness miraculously vanishing over her face.
For a moment, he thought about her sudden change of behavior. Was she pretending to be sad so that he would fall for that and send his pack members away from La Push? He hadn't been so suspicious since Leah's runaway. Her Beta's status – and her constant reminding of what they were born to do – had kept him grounded while Renesmee's presence was mind-blowing. He didn't like the fact that the she-wolf had still such an influence on him when he had an imprint waiting for him to be only devoted to her.
Every time he was looking at his lovely Nessie, he couldn't help but think for a fraction of second that Leah was right. He remembered each argument they had over the half-breed diet or his involvement within the pack's business, and his heart constricted as he thought about the way he'd treated his former friend the last time he'd met her before she left.
He'd hurt them both in a way he couldn't describe, but he'd felt his loss more than he'd ever told anybody.
Leah was more than his second-in-command; more than a friend to him. He wasn't in love with her, he couldn't be; but she had a special place in his heart from the moment he'd given her the Beta position. It was his first decision as an Alpha and also the most meaningful he had taken.
He could have let one of his best friends be Beta, or Seth for that mattered, because he'd been the first who'd followed him when Jacob had separated from the original pack; but the wolf inside him knew that Leah was destined to achieve a great deal for their tribe as the first she-wolf in their history. He trusted her when the others didn't and somehow their relationship had grown past the 'friendship' point. The more she was embracing her role, the more his wolf's side was feeling drawn to her.
A loud growl from outside, followed by Renesmee's panicked voice, brought him back from his daydreaming.
"There's a wolf outside!" she screeched as the door flew open, bringing a whiff of a scent Jacob would recognize anywhere.
Fear spread through his veins when a light grey wolf appeared in front of them, smashing a wall in the process, and his heart stopped as he followed her gaze pointed directly at Renesmee.
She knows, and she's there to kill.
Instinctively, he grabbed his imprint's hand and shielded her with his body, without taking his eyes off of Leah. The hatred and the disgust that he could see in her black eyes sent a shiver down his spine.
"Leah, don't do anything stupid," he said as calmly as possible, but the growl he earned made him know she wouldn't listen.
"I know you're upset, but I – I can explain –"
Leah's fury seemed to increase and he didn't need to be in her head to understand what she was thinking.
I've warned you two years ago that it would happen and you've banned me.
"She didn't do anything wrong," he pleaded. "Please, phase back and hear me out."
Renesmee sobbed, pressing against Jacob's back, while Leah was taking her anger out with his furniture. The Alpha couldn't stand the overwhelming rush of emotions. He wanted to phase and to protect his imprint at all cost, but he also knew that phasing that close to Renesmee could be harmful to her.
He was stuck and he didn't like that.
He tried to find a way for Renesmee to get out of there before Leah lost her mind and tried to attack them and he was relieved when he finally noticed Embry outside.
"Embry, take Renesmee with you and bring her back to her family!" he commanded.
Leah let out a warning growl at her friend who was trying his hardest to resist the command. Jacob felt his power growing weaker, probably because of his concern for Renesmee's safety.
"Embry!" he insisted. "She's going to break the treaty. We can't let this happen!"
"Speak for yourself!" Seth snarled with a predatory smirk. "I can and I will definitely let this happen."
Jacob was about to reply when a yelp made him focus on Leah again. He gasped as he looked at his ravaged living-room with no trace of the angry she-wolf.
He glanced worriedly at Seth whose smirk had vanished from his face, replaced by a murderous scowl and Jacob found himself looking at the same spot as his former friend.
His blood ran cold as he spotted Bella being pinned down by the huge grey wolf which seemed ready to tear her head off from the rest of her body.
"Jacob, do something! She's going to kill my mother!"
Renesmee's words worked as fuel for Jacob frozen body. She'd only just had time to finish her sentences when he felt the tremors presaging his imminent phasing, reaching his entire body. He ran towards the fight and exploded before slamming his entire body against Leah's wolf form.
The impact made them both roll away from Bella, enough for her to stand up, grab her daughter and leave the battlefield.
As soon as he knew that Renesmee was safe, Jacob straightened and faced his former Beta, ready to pounce on her if she made a single move to reach his imprint.
"From now on, you are not allowed to lay a finger on Renesmee or her family. Am I clear?" he commanded her, knowing that she wouldn't be able to resist his order in her wolf form.
Leah was trembling in front of him and the darkness of her intense gaze made him shudder. It reminded him of the last time they'd talk, in that same place; the day he had told her that she wasn't needed anymore. He could still feel her growing grief when he had said those hurtful words to her.
"You're a jealous freak immune to happiness. No wonder you're still alone. You're spoiling everything you touch and nobody can stand your bitchiness anymore. Your mother quickly tied the knot with Charlie so that she wouldn't have to deal with your attitude more than she should. Emily no longer invites you to the packs' gathering because you always kill the mood and ruin all of her efforts to include you in our world. Even Seth wants to move away from you to live peacefully with his imprint. You're an outcast, Leah, and an outcast doesn't fit here. As long as you can't understand that, you're not welcome in my pack."
He remembered the look she'd given him, similar in every aspect to the one she was giving him at that moment, and the words she had said to him when she had phased back rang into his mind.
"To think I believe you were worth following… You're no Alpha, Jacob Black, and one day, people will see who you really are; a coward ruled by his illusions of living in a perfect world. Mark my words: no matter how many times you'll say otherwise, real life is not a fairytale. Neither is imprinting. You'll see it one day, and when this day comes, I hope you'll be ready to take responsibility for the consequences of your actions. As long as you won't, I don't want to be part of your pack."
He'd thought she wasn't serious; that she'd said those things to hurt him as much as he'd hurt her, but as he found himself unable to talk to her through their minds' link, he knew she had crossed a line two years ago.
She'd separated from his pack, as she'd claimed she would. She was a rogue wolf.
And there was nothing more dangerous than a rogue wolf seeking revenge.
…
Seth was growing impatient while watching his sister facing his Alpha. They hadn't budged since Jacob had pushed Leah away from her first victim and Seth could sense the wolves' urge to submit the other. Strangely, it seemed that the she-wolf was dominating the Alpha. She was alert, her tail holding higher than Jacob's, and she was taking an aggressive stance while her former Alpha was adopting a more defensive position.
Seth didn't know if they were talking or if they were trying to find a weakness into the other's posture, but he couldn't stand the silence anymore.
"Now, Lee! Make this bastard pay for each promise he'd made that he hadn't fulfill! You're the only one who can do it –"
"Seth!" Embry yelled. "Do you realize what you're asking her? You want her to kill Jake!"
"He deserves to die!" Seth replied sharply. "He's the one who sentenced my Lindsey to death! She died because of him; because of all of them!" he added, pointing to the Cullens' house.
"So what, you're going to sacrifice Leah's life so that Lindsey will be avenged? What if she gets herself killed?" Embry insisted.
"Stop underestimating her. If anyone could take Jacob down, that would be Leah."
"She's your only family left, Seth; the only one who still cares about you and who will pick your side no matter what. Don't risk her for revenge, bro. They don't worth it."
Seth shivered while thinking about his life if Leah wasn't there anymore. He would probably blame himself to death if something happened to his sister, especially if he was the one who pushed her to defend his honor.
His heart stopped as he saw the scene playing in slow motion in front of him. The two wolves were walking in a circle, slowly closing the gap between them without taking their eyes off of each other.
Seth was fully aware of his responsibility in their change of attitude. A part of him was glad to know that his sister would fight for him, but he also knew that he couldn't let her get into this fight. Embry's words made him realize that even though Leah was strong enough to defeat Jacob, he had too much to lose if Jake got the upper hand.
He was about to tell his sister to phase back and to leave Jacob wallowing in his own guilt, but he wasn't fast enough.
A loud snarl echoed in the air, paralyzing both Seth and Embry as they felt the tenseness of the moment suffocating them, and Leah finally broke the circle to jump on Jacob, her bared teeth showing her deadly motives.