Bella's POV

I pressed a light hand onto my stomach as Jacob helped me out of the passenger's side of the car.

"So, you sure you don't mind? I'll just be a few minutes." Jacob asked anxiously, wanting to please me in any way.

I laughed and stroked my husband's face. He had a little stubble coming in.

"Oh I'll be fine. Claire and Quil are great. I'm sure they remember what it was like when they were pregnant." I reminded him,

Jacob scrunched up his face. "I still don't like how they put it. It's like they're both...well, preggers. But the dude's not."

I shook my head as we slowly made our way to the porch.

"You are such a child sometimes Jacob Black."

Jacob smiled and he seemed to light up from within like the sun. My personal sun.

And then I felt like crying again. Darn it!

"Bella! I can stay, really!" Jacob tried to reassure me, alarmed. "Please don't cry."

I shook my head and hiccupped. "Seriously, I-I think I can blame this one on the hormones."

Jacob sighed and rang the doorbell twice.

Fast feet ran towards the door and suddenly we were greeted with a huge smile.

"Hi Elias, honey!" I exclaimed, my tears all dried up.

Elias bounced excitedly.

"Come in Auntie Bella! You too, Uncle Jake!" Elias grinned and pulled us in, wasting no time.

Elias slammed the door shut and called up the stairs.

"Daddy wake up! Our guests are here!"

Claire came from the kitchen and into the foyer. She frowned at Elias and put her hands on her hips. Elias instantly put on an innocent 'who me?' face.

"Elias, what did we say about yelling?" Claire raised an eyebrow.

Elias sighed. "Inside voices are used inside. Yelling is for outside. Sorry. I'm just glad they're here."

Elias proceeded to give his mom a hug and pecked her on the cheek before running away towards the TV.

Claire rolled her eyes while I worked hard at not choking on my tears. I was really emotional around children now. Jeez Louise!

Claire smiled sympathetically at me and Jacob.

"Sorry Bella. I'll try to get Elias to tone down the cuteness a bit."

We laughed at that and went into the kitchen. Then Jacob got a weird expression on his face.

"Um, sorry ladies but I have to cut this short. My pack has something to tell me apparently." Jacob scowled.

Oh yeah. Jacob had his own pack from the olden days. No one really turned into a wolf anymore though. They could still sense each other in human form.

I pouted but nodded my head. I was in good hands, me and little somebody.

"OK Jake. I'll see you later." I pecked him on the lips and he left.

"Hey Alpha wolf!" Quil came thundering down the steps just as Jacob slammed the door shut.

Elias poked his head out of the living room. "You just missed him Daddy."

Quil rolled his eyes behind his son's back. "Thanks E."

Claire slapped Quil's arm when he entered the kitchen. He smiled sheepishly at his wife and then turned to me.

"Well well well. Vampire girl. Looks like you've been busy." Quil said to me.

I shrugged, ignoring the nickname. "Yeah well, we have a great sex life of course. There's something about having an Alpha for a husband..."

"Bella if you weren't pregnant and human, then I'd so tackle you right now." Quil interrupted, his eyes sparkling with humor.

OK, so Jacob had put me up to it. But I couldn't resist. Quil was great fun when we were younger and despite the craziness that had ensued, he hadn't changed much. He got a little fatter and older but that was about the only changes in him that I could detect.

Claire was giggling at her husband as he stared incredulously at her face.

"You're supposed to be on my side! She just insulted our sex life Claire!"

"Your sex life." She corrected him. "Mine is just fine, thank you."

"CLAIRE!" Quil exclaimed his eyes huge and his face turning darker.

Claire and I busted up laughing. It felt good. I hadn't laughed so much like this in weeks. Or months, actually.

We all gravitated towards the living room and kicked Elias off the couch. Quil threw him into the master bedroom where there was a smaller TV but would suit Elias' needs.

"Oh man, this is great. Thanks you guys," I said gratefully as I stretched out and glued my eyes to the screen.

Yep. We watched the Oprah Show.

Alix's POV

I wrapped my arms around myself as I listened to the lone iPod plug in my left ear. I decided to leave one ear clear so that I could listen for any potential intruders, not that I expected any.

I still thought this was stupid.

I glanced at my book with a disgusted look. Yeah, I wasn't going to touch it. But I was also disgusted with myself. My boyfriend and I have a great night together and I reward him for it with a smack in the nose the next morning.

And break it.

I wanted to bury myself away from him after I did that. I had never been so embarrassed.

But I played it off and ended up having him flustered.

I wondered how long it'd be before I had to leave the basement for food or the bathroom. I thought it was going to be soon.

I buried my head in my arms and quietly fell asleep.

Jake's POV

I wanted to throw up.

What the hell was Sam doing? She'd practically tried to rape me! Is that possible? And I had to sit there like an imbecile and endure it.

I wanted to wrap my hands around her throat and squeeze.

How she was the great Sam Uley and sweet Emily Uley's daughter, I will never know. Maybe she was adopted or dropped on her head at birth. Or maybe Emily started drinking when she was pregnant.

I tried to hold back a shudder when Sam smiled at me. I could hear the others finally coming now. Good. I wasn't to be alone with this witch for long. She freaked me out as much as vampires did, actually.

Not a good sign when this person is your Alpha leader, let me tell you.

Sam looked around the room and nodded at each person. Sam was the only girl in the room yet everyone respected her mostly.

"Alright, I believe you're all here. So we want to know..."

Quil burst through the door, red in the face. No wait. That was blood!

"Quil?" I halfway stood.

He waved me back down with a grin. I sat. Apparently, he was fine.

Everyon else just ignored Quil like this happened everyday which, in retrospect, was a little bit true. Quil always was in a fight or some trouble. But I just thought that now he was with my sister, which I still don't completely accept, things would have calmed down for him.

Oh wait. This was Alix, my evil little sister I was talking about.

She must have busted his nose.

Ha.

I looked back at Quil and he trudged over to sit next to me. I frowned at him, wanting nothing more than to question his ass.

Quil gave me that 'later' look and we both turned to pay attention to Sam.

"OK, like I said. Everyone's here now except the lone wolf which I intend to hunt down. Does anyone have any leads?" Sam frowned angrily, mad at herself for not finding this one werewolf, shape shifter as the vampires called us now.

Most people either shook their heads or ignored Sam altogether. She sighed, seeing that she was getting nowhere.

"Jake?" Her voice suddenly called me.

The hairs on the back of my neck prickled.

"Yea?"

"Tell me if you know anything." Sam stared at me as her Alpha voice released its full power on me.

It seemed to be crushing my whole being, forcing me to open my mouth.

But the words that came out weren't what she wanted to hear.

"I know nothing about this lone wolf." I spoke. The weight lifted off of my shoulders, grudgingly it seemed, and allowed relief to trickle throughout my body.

"Oh man I'm screwed. Dad's going to hate me for not figuring this out." Sam moaned into her hands.

We could care less.

I could feel Quil's stare boring holes into my back.

I shook my head almost imperceptivity.

I didn't know how to answer his unspoken question. I had no clue as to how I was able to lie to the voice of the Alpha. I just did and it hadn't killed me.

I was so doing it again.

Jacob's POV

I raced to the car and gunned it. I was driving to Leah's house. I knew that Seth would be there or nearby. He never was good at leaving his big sister even though he was grown now with kids.

But Leah was still single and I guess that Seth felt a little guilty for having sort of a family life.

If anyone should be guilty, it should be me.

I had it all: wife, kids, a sense of security and family. Plus, my dad didn't mind dropping in on us from time to time.

All Seth had was Leah and his four kids. He had two sets of twins, two identical little boys and a boy and girl. He had his hands full especially since Morgan Berry passed five years ago from cancer. She had barely just had her last two twins when she found out that she'd be forever barren because of the cancer. It took her as fast as the news had come. Seth barely had time to grieve before he turned to the full time job of being a single dad.

She hadn't been his imprint though. Seth had loved her like a normal person loves another. He had never found someone to imprint on. So he had married Morgan out of pure love and boom boom they have two sets of twins one year apart.

I had been so happy for him. So happy that someone out of my old pack had gotten to choose their fate, rather than blindly sit by while it was chosen for them.

I parked the car easily in the narrow driveway next to Seth's minivan and walked to the door. I rang the doorbell and Leah answered with a smile.

"Jake."

"Hey Leah." I stepped inside the house.

It smelled like freshly baked sugar cookies. Yum.

The kids must be here then. There was no way that Leah would bake for me or her baby brother.

Yeah, I thought she had issues too.

"Jacob! It's great to see you!" Seth entered the hallway and I gave him a one armed hug.

"You too. How've you been?" I smiled at him.

I thought I saw a flash of weariness in his eyes but it left has quickly as I noticed it.

"Oh I'm fine. The kids are great too. Aina and Haydn are taking a nap in the guest room right now. Um, Kane and Blaise are hopefully eating cookies while watching TV and not fighting again." Seth rattled off.

I shook my head, feeling sorry for him. Poor guy. But he did seem to be happy despite the circumstances. I just hoped his kids weren't too troublesome for him.

"So I'm guessing cookies are off limits?"

Leah nodded. "Obviously. Unless one of the angels pass one off to you."

Right.

I trudged through Leah's house and found the guest room. Seth followed me. It was empty.

"Apparently the munchkins have escaped their cell. You check the closet, I've got under the bed." I crouched quickly and searching for something more than dust bunnies.

Seth sighed, shaking his head.

"They're not there Jake. Let's check downstairs."

Seth and I quickly went back to the TV AKA living room.

Leah stopped us with a sleeping Aina in her arms.

"They're all here and accounted for. Haydn and this one sneaked down for some cookies and eventually passed out in the living room. Kane and Blaise are glued to the TV, no worries." Leah said with one of her rare smiled.

Aina shifted slightly in her aunt's arms. She and Haydn were four; Kane and Blaise were six.

"Aunt Lee-lee?" Aina whispered sleepily, rubbing her eyes.

"Hmm?"

"That uncle J.J.?"

"Yup pumpkin." I answered.

Leah handed Aina over to me. Aina opened her bright blue eyes and smiled softly at me. I gently touched her long sandy brown curls.

"But Uncle JJ, I'm not a pumpkin!" Aina squealed and buried her face into my shoulder.

I laughed and handed her back to Seth.

"Of course not Aina." I responded to Seth's only girl.

Aina demanded to be put down and Seth obliged. She ran into the kitchen and came back a second later with three cookies in hand.

I grinned at Aina then smirked at Leah. Leah rolled her eyes.

"Aw that's very nice of you Aina." Seth smiled at his daughter.

Aina giggled, pressed the three cookies into my hand, and then skipped off to join her brothers in the living room.

When she left, I stuck my tongue out at my pack.

"Nah nah! I got three cookies! She likes me better!" I sang until Seth socked me in the arm.

"Business as usual?" Leah raised an eyebrow.

Ow. Oh. Right.

"Um, let's move this to the kitchen, shall we?" I said, glancing at the twins in the living room. They were either sleep or staring at the TV. It was kind of scary to watch their intense concentration. I hoped that Seth got them to do stuff outside of watching TV.

We sat at the table close to the screen door and I sighed.

"OK, so the new pack with Sam's daughter is not working out. There is a new werewolf who has not stepped up and joined the pack. They're worried and confused and will begin searching for it soon." I laid it all out.

"So what does this have to do with us?" Leah asked, examining her nails.

I looked her in the eye. "The new wolf, shape shifter, whatever is my daughter, Alix."

Seth closed his eyes and Leah's widened considerably.

"I'm sorry Jake." Seth said softly.

I smiled wryly at him. "It was cool at first. But then I realized that she's going to have to fulfill the prophecy sometime. I had just hoped it was someone else...but she's already stronger than Quil and Jake."

Leah shook her head slowly. "Another girl, one who might not be insane to begin with." She murmured, thinking of Alix compared to Samantha. There was such a gigantic difference.

I laughed a little at that. It was very true. Well, except for the fact that my daughter imprinted on the son of one of the biggest buffoons I knew and loved.

"Oh, and she imprinted on Quil a while ago." I dropped that little tidbit in.

"So we can't hide her forever." Seth spoke.

"Or kill her." Leah added.

I rolled my eyes. "I'd kill you first obviously."

Leah glanced sideways at me. "I know, I know. Either you or Bella would claw me to pieces."

Seth sighed and gripped his head.

"What's wrong man?" I asked.

Seth glanced at me with burning blue eyes. "I just...when we heard the prophecy...I thought that it'd be one of mine, you know? I mean, I've got four who all or none could easily be a werewolf in the future. It'd wracked my brain for the longest time Jake..."

I leaned back in my chair and looked away. "So you're glad it's not your kid."

"Yes." Seth admitted. "But I'm not glad that it's Alix either!" He added hurriedly.

I stopped listening to him. There was nothing we could do by just talking.

I stood up quickly.

"I've got to get to Alix. She's in hiding and I really don't feel so great about it now. Can I bring her here, Leah? Maybe you could give her some girl wolf tips or something." I muttered absently.

Leah shook her head. "That's the worse werewolf phrase I've ever heard. Bring her to me."