First of all, apologies for this chapter taking so long. I had several weeks of real life not giving me enough time to type a sentence out.

For anyone feeling that they need a recap, then hopefully this chapter will jog your memories.

I'm hoping that I'll be able to keep the updates a little closer together again now.

Thanks for checking back in with us, Jake flashes his abs to say thanks ;o)

Chapter 24

Nahuel PoV

I'd learnt of Nessie's impending return home from a conversation I'd overheard outside as I'd delivered Rosalie's car back to the Cullen house.

All I'd wanted to do was say my goodbyes. I'd given everything a lot of thought on the journey back from Emmett & Rosalie's house, thinking back beyond the events of the evening that had changed things so dramatically. I remembered how Renesmee had shown me her devotion to Jake and his to her. How was it my place to stand in the way of such love? I was aware that she was angry with him following the revelations about her mother, but if I was honest with myself, I knew that their relationship would find its way back on course again, their connection was too strong for it not to.

I knew that the Cullens would have heard the car being returned, so before they came out to look for me, I ran for the trees that surrounded their property to find somewhere nearby to await Renesmee's homecoming. I moved away from the house, staying parallel to the driveway so I'd know when they were approaching. I moved far enough away so that they wouldn't hear or smell me from the house. If Edward was there, then of course he'd in all likeliness here my thoughts, but he'd also then know what my intentions were.

I waited patiently on the ground, my back resting against an old tree stump. My stillness disguised the fact that my brain whirred inside my head. I recognised that the time I'd spent getting to know Renesmee at Rosalie's house had changed my feelings for her. From a pre-occupation with a being the same as myself that I didn't know, I'd found myself falling in love with the sweet, intelligent, but often naïve girl that I now waited to say goodbye to. My heart ached slightly in my chest, but I knew that it was the right thing to do for her and that was enough for me.

As I heard the sound of a car and a motorcycle approaching, I knew that it was time. My heart began to thud more loudly in my chest, but I was unsure whether it was at the prospect of seeing my Ayun, or the apprehension at what the werewolf might do when he saw me again. I knew for sure that being out in the open would mean that he wouldn't have to hold onto his self-control as tightly for fear of hurting Renesmee.

I raced for the house and planted myself firmly outside, determined to speak to her and say goodbye in person. I'd just caught a glimpse of her in the back of Emmett's SUV, when out of the corner of my eye I noticed the motorcycle swerve around it and head straight for me. Jake jumped off the bike as it slid to a halt on the ground in front of me. He ran to stand menacingly in front of me, but before he could even warn me off, Renesmee was out of the SUV and standing between us, her face close to mine.

"Nahuel, this isn't a good idea, you need to leave. Now!" she hissed at me. I turned to look at the girl I loved but had resolved to leave, fighting to keep my feelings buried deep down. I suspected I was going to have enough of a problem with Jacob, without him seeing sparks shooting between us. Even with the look of determination on her face from trying to persuade me to leave, she was still beautiful. I gritted my teeth, but suspected she could still see the adoration in my eyes.

"Please," she asked, her eyes pleading with me as much as her voice.

I prepared myself to tell her that I'd only come to say goodbye, and automatically reached out to take her hand. Her eyes flickered to my arm as it began to move, and flying back up to mine, they widened in warning and she shook her head, so slightly that I wondered if I'd imagined it.

"Jake? Do you think I could have a minute with Nahuel? Alone?" she asked, turning to look up at him. He looked down at her. I had no idea what she'd seen in his eyes, but she suddenly looked terrified. I felt the anger begin to build in me. How dare he frighten her?

He stepped away and pulled her with him by her arm.

"Nessie, what the hell are you doing? Don't you ever learn?" He sounded so angry with her, and I could see his body trembling. "I can't believe—"

"I'm sorry, Jake, I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking."

I thought my heart might break for her as I saw her tears begin to fall. Promptly the sadness gave way to an overwhelming rush of anger.

"HEY! Let go of her!" I yelled. His head came up quickly, and he stared at me.

"With pleasure," he growled, letting go of Renesmee and pulling off his jacket and t-shirt. I panicked slightly as I realised that he was planning on phasing for this. I knew that I stood no chance against Jake the wolf, but if I could fight him man-on-man then I may not win, but I had a chance of not being killed too.

"Yeah, that's right, go wolf. You afraid of a fair fight, dog?" I goaded him, knowing that his pride could save me. He stopped, but then he launched himself at me without phasing.

The next few minutes flew by in a blur of blows. We were fairly evenly matched, but I was managing to maintain the upper hand. As soon as I managed to pin him down below me, I leaned and whispered in his ear.

"If you ever hurt her again, I'll be there waiting."

I pushed back slightly and watched as his eyes narrowed, then a split second later I was airborne without even knowing why. I crashed back into the ground and pushed myself up on my elbows, as the huge wolf with the red fur paced slowly toward me. My breath was still coming in laboured gasps thanks to the exertion of the fight, but now yet more adrenaline was coursing through my veins because of the very real danger that I was in.

I didn't take my eyes from the wolf, but was aware of some movement off to the side. Three women suddenly dashed across and stood in front of me, but it took me a moment to realise that it was my sisters. I simultaneously thanked their bravery and cursed their foolishness for putting themselves at risk to try and shield me. Through their legs I could see that Jake was still approaching us, their appearance hadn't deterred him in the least. I rose quickly to my feet, prepared to fight to the end, which I suspected would be quick when it came. As I watched, the wolf crouched into a position which looked as though he were about to pounce on us. I prepared to push through my sisters as soon as he moved, knowing that they would try to protect me again if I stepped forward now. My muscles were bunched tightly in preparation, when I was distracted momentarily by the sound of Nessie screaming. I moved my head fractionally, and spotted another large wolf, sand coloured this time, racing toward us. I knew it was over now, I could try to distract one wolf long enough to hopefully protect my sisters, but there was no way that any of us could escape from two of them.

I swallowed nervously, but stood firm nonetheless. As the second wolf drew closer, I braced myself for the impact, wondering which direction it would come from. Suddenly, the sound of snarling resonated all around. It took me a moment to realize that the impact hadn't happened and that the wolves were snarling at each other as they stood nose to nose in front of our little group. A moment later, Jacob had raised his head and was letting out a gut-wrenching howl. Silence followed and I remained on edge as I stood, confused at what was going on. The atmosphere around us was tense, and I knew that everyone was as puzzled as I was by the turn of events.

Jacob looked away from the other wolf, over to where Renesmee sat with Edward hovering next to her. She turned to him, and although he spoke quietly, we all heard what he said.

"Seth imprinted on one of Nahuel's sisters."

Of course, I knew exactly what this meant thanks to my knowledge of Renesmee and Jacob's relationship, but in front of me, my sisters looked at each other, confused by his words. So the wolf standing before us – who had just almost without doubt saved our lives – was Seth. I knew the name, Renesmee had spoken a little of him and his closeness to her family and to Jacob. No wonder Jake had sounded so tortured when he howled; this was certainly an unexpected complication. I wondered briefly which of my sisters it was that he'd imprinted on. Not that it mattered, regardless now it looked like my own family was tied to my Ayun's for the foreseeable future. And there I'd been, hoping for a more or less clean break when I left.

Jake turned and walked steadily away toward the trees. He looked at Renesmee and she stood, flashing me a disapproving look before hastening to his side, then they disappeared from view together. I sighed, aware of the pained expression on my face. If only she knew my real reasons for coming here; I hadn't wanted trouble at all, just the opposite. I was leaving to make things easier for her.

I moved forward to stand side by side with my sisters. As I did, the Seth wolf whimpered and turned. I noted that his eyes fell on Lican, and following his gaze, I saw her face suddenly colour slightly under the intensity of the look. He turned away again and set off after Jacob and Renesmee, his steps faltering at first, until an extra burst of effort seemed to push him onward.

I was aware of voices babbling all around me, but my brain wasn't registering the words. My sisters were talking quickly together, over and around me. I looked up and saw Edward and Carlisle making their way over and I broke away, moving to meet them.

"Nahuel," Carlisle greeted me, his tone giving nothing away about his feelings toward me after this latest incident.

"Carlisle, Edward." I nodded at each of them. "I'm so sorry, I only came to say goodbye. It's my intention to leave and let Renesmee be, I know what Jacob means to her and I'm aware that my continued presence here will only cause more problems for her."

Edward nodded stiffly.

"I see that you're speaking the truth, Nahuel, and I thank you for your consideration toward Renesmee. I'm sure that given time and space, she and Jacob will find their way back onto the path that they're destined to follow."

I understood the message hidden behind his words: There's no place for you in my daughter's life.

He read my recognition of the fact and nodded so slightly that a human would have missed the action.

"You have my assurance that I'll leave as soon as I can. It seems we've now got something else to resolve before I go though." I turned toward my sisters who were still huddled together. I wondered what would happen given this new turn of events. This time it wasn't a decision that was down to me; whatever happened with my sister and Seth, I was leaving for home today. I'd head home and make amends with Huilen; I'm sure she'd be interested to hear that she was right about the inevitability of the whole situation.

"Ladies," Carlisle called out to my sisters, bringing me back to the present. "Why don't we go into the house? I'm sure that you're all wondering what's going on right now."

I smiled gratefully at him, he knew more about imprinting than I did and I was sure that his explanation would be much better than whatever I could offer.

As we made our way across the lawn, a dark-haired semi-naked man appeared at the edge of the trees.

"Seth! Just in time. We're heading in for a discussion on imprinting, care to join us?" Carlisle smiled as Seth grinned, before looking down at the ground with some degree of embarrassment, the smile still plastered across his face before he cast a shy glance over at Lican again.

We gathered in the Cullen's spacious living room, my sisters and me on one large sofa, Carlisle, Edward, and Bella facing us on the other, and Seth sprawled in the large armchair off to the side between us all. I could hear the rest of the family moving around in the other rooms of the house, but they were staying tactfully away from where we were gathered.

Carlisle proceeded to explain all he knew about imprinting. It was obviously a subject that he found fascinating, and the scientist in him had driven him to do a great deal of research on the subject, especially when his own granddaughter had been imprinted on as an infant. Carlisle was a gifted speaker, and I listened intently as he explained all about the subject, comparing in my head the facts that he presented with the experience itself as Renesmee had shown me through her memories. My new understanding further deepened my resolve to leave her and Jacob alone to follow the path of their destiny.

Whilst Carlisle was speaking, I kept one eye on Seth and Lican, intrigued to see the process unfold in front of me. Seth now had his whole body angled toward her. He had one leg crossed over the other with his foot pointing in her direction, and his arm was resting on the arm of the chair with his open palm upward and oriented toward her.

He was bolder in his gaze now, seeming almost unable to tear his eyes away from her. I'd watched the change in my sister too as we'd sat here. To begin with, she'd appeared embarrassed by the intensity of Seth's obvious attraction to her, her cheeks reddening slightly, her eyes cast downward, flashing brief glances back at him from time to time, and her hair falling in front of her face so she could hide behind it. Now though, she sat straight, her gaze meeting his as fully as his did hers. She was completely focused on him, her cheeks still pink, but with a different kind of flush now, and her lips were parted slightly.

I exchanged an incredulous look with Malen and Yaima, before they began giggling at our sister. As Carlisle completed his explanation, Seth got to his feet.

"Want to take a walk?" he asked Lican, extending a hand in her direction. She nodded, never moving her eyes from his face as she stood, stepped toward him, and reached her hand out, allowing him to wrap his considerably larger one around it. We watched them leave the room. I looked around and saw that everyone was smiling but me and Edward, who had read my thoughts.

"I understand your concern, Nahuel," he told me. Carlisle looked at him questioningly. "Nahuel is worried about how this will impact on his plans to leave," he informed him. Carlisle looked at me, his face assuming a kindly, reassuring expression.

"My family and I will be more than willing to help and support your sisters in any way we can if they choose to stay when you leave. We're still indebted to you for your help with the Volturi, and our bond with the wolves is a strong one. They will be well looked after here."

"But Jacob…" I began, voicing one of my greatest concerns.

"Do you think Jake would allow anyone to hurt Nessie or any of us?" Bella asked me.

"And so the same is true now for Seth and your family. You really don't need to worry about your sisters, I doubt there could be any place on earth where they'd be safer," Edward informed me.

I knew without a doubt that he was speaking the truth. I nodded, eager to be away from here now before I drove myself crazy with how things had turned out between me and Renesmee.

"Very well." I offered a tight smile, and then cast an anxious look through the window. "I don't mean to be rude, but I really feel that I should be going, I have a few things to attend to at the apartment before I leave." I stood, turning back to Malen and Yaima. "I'm going to head back, I'll see you both and Lican before I leave."

"We'll be there as soon as Lican returns," Malen reassured me. I nodded and made to leave the room, suddenly remembering my manners as I reached the doorway.

"Thank you, for everything. I'll be in touch as soon as I arrive home."

"You're welcome, Nahuel. We'll look forward to hearing from you. And please, don't worry about things here," Carlisle told me.

I smiled and offered a brief wave, before I left the room.

****

Back at the apartment I was restless. I'd packed all of my things away and left a list for my sisters of things they might need to know. Most of the details for our stay here had been organised jointly by Malen and me, so I knew that she'd be more than able to cope without me.

A sudden sound made me spin around toward the door. It flew open and my sisters stumbled through, giggling. They stopped short when they saw me, the smiles falling from their faces. Lican stepped forward immediately. She stood in front of me, took my hands in hers, and looked into my eyes.

"Nahuel, I'm sorry, I—" I could see in her face how heartfelt the apology was.

"Sssh, Lican. It's fine." I smiled at her. "Are you staying?"

She bit her lip and nodded, looking at me nervously. I continued to smile and surprised myself that I actually meant it. Despite this, I didn't want to hear any details and suspected that I might if I prolonged this further.

"Be happy," I told her and bent to kiss her head. I released her hands and embraced my other two sisters in turn. "I'll be in touch soon. If you need anything at all before then, get in touch with the Cullens."

I picked up my duffle bag, slung it over my shoulder, and was out of the door before anybody had a chance to say anything more to me. I didn't know whether to be relieved or terrified to be alone with my thoughts, as I started out on the return journey south.

A/N Has Nahuel done the right thing do you think? Please review!