Lunar Ascension

Chapter 13 - Unexpected

Disclaimer: All things in the Twilight universe belong to Stephenie Meyer and her publishers. The song and lyrics belong to the band and their representatives. Any other copyrighted material included in this story belongs to their rightful owners. Cheers ma dears! Rated M.

Let's drown underneath the stars.
Let's drink with our weapons in our hands.
Let's sleep in this trance.
Guns. Razors. Knives.
(Fuck with me)
Guns. Razors. Knives

Rocket Skates by The Deftones

It was official. I was now a fully integrated member of the Cullen family. I still wasn't sure whether it was a good thing or not, but I was sure it wasn't terrible. Whether I liked to admit it or not, I enjoyed their company. Sam couldn't understand it, but considering it was probably one of the very reasons there was a divide in the packs, it didn't surprise me. My happiness seemed to be enough to placate him though, and I was sure part of that was Emily's doing.

I was happy. Ecstatically so. Now I had given into the imprint, my life felt somewhat in order. If it hadn't been for the rogue vampires running through our lands, I think I would have upgraded to blissfully happy, but that was out of my hands. It was now two vampires a week, and all of them had a talent of some kind.

There was no rhyme or reason to their appearances, there was no set day or time, and they never ran the same route. The only similarities seemed to be them pushing the boundaries of the Cullen's land. Alice wouldn't always see them coming, she would disappear into the forest with Jasper and try to search for them, but with Jacob and I so close it was just impossible for her.

I was so worried about these nomads, I was finding it harder and harder to leave Travis when I went to college. Not that it wouldn't have been hard anyway, but when there was a threat close by, I felt like I was losing my damn mind. After the third fail in a row, I knew I had to put my education on hiatus or just quit altogether. Of course, no one else seemed to see my logic and it was turned into a family discussion.

"No," Travis said, crossing his arms over his chest in an attempt to project a finality to his statement. "Babe, you love going to class, you love learning this crap. You can't just dump it, I'm surrounded by vampires all day, I think its suffice to say I'm well protected."

"That's not how it works," Jacob replied for me. "You could be in Fort Knox, completely wrapped in bubble wrap and she'd still worry. It's what we do, our lives are tied to yours. If she loses you, we lose her."

"Wait, what?" Travis asked, dropping his arms. "What's that supposed to mean?"

I could feel the tick of anger in me, and I could see the sudden shock in Travis' face as the words were thrown out there as though they were nothing. It was one of the things I hadn't got around to explaining yet.

"If you die, she loses half of herself, including the will to live."

"Don't put it like that, Jake," I sighed, picking up Travis' hand. "It's not that cut and dry."

"Sounds about right to me," Emmett piped up, making me glare at him.

Travis turned to me, both hands brushing my hair back from my cheeks as he caught my eyes with his. I could see he didn't like the implications of the statement. We'd already discussed things like mortality and life span, but I'd omitted this little peach. I could see his mind working overtime behind those beautiful blue eyes of his. He was putting it all together.

"It's not relevant to this conversation," I said. "It's not what I'm worried about."

"Oh come on, Leah," Rosalie laughed gently. "It all comes back to that in the end. We all understand, we're in the same boat as you. All of us are tied to someone, and we know what could happen if we lose them. I think we all learned our lesson when Edward thought he'd lost Bella."

Bella looked down at her hands, and I could almost see the blush that would have been there if she'd been human. Edward's arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her into his side. I don't think either of them relished the reminder of what almost happened when he'd thought she'd died.

"We're talking about whether I should put classes on hiatus or quit, that has nothing to do with my mortal status."

"Have you considered a correspondence course?" Carlisle asked. "You could get most of your classes out of the way, and when you're ready, the credits will transfer to the college of your choice. It's how Edward got his third doctorate."

"It's much easier," Edward agreed. "You obviously need more practical hands on for some of the classes, but if you're able to pass all the standard classes online, all you would have to do is attend one lecture a day, at most."

"What's that, like an hour and a half. I could come with you so you won't freak out," Travis offered, his hands sliding down my hair to my neck. "I don't want you giving up your future for me."

"You are my future," I smiled, offering him a wink. "But I appreciate what you're saying. Let me do some research and see what I come up with."

Eleazar and Carmen had been entertaining Nessie while we talked, so when Nessie came barreling into the room, they followed. I smiled at first, but the distressed look in Renesmee's eye's put an end to that. For a second I thought she was headed to Bella, but she ended up tangled around my leg. I was honored, but a little bit confused.

When I crouched in front of her, she wrapped one arm around my neck, and the other hand to the side of my neck. Through her, I saw the dogs take off into the woods. She'd assumed they would come back, but when they didn't, she followed them into the forest. There was no sign of them, she couldn't smell them or even sense them and she was heartbroken about it. Carmen had stopped her venturing any further which was when she'd come to me.

My eyes flickered to Edward's, he was the only other person in the room that would have heard the conversation between Nessie and I. He almost looked as troubled as I felt, this wasn't Nessie's doing. She was good with the animals and they loved her. Through her vision, I could only assess that something had called Greg and Steve, they'd both pointed long before they'd taken off. Whatever it was, had appealed to their sense of curiosity.

"It's okay sweetheart," I whispered into her ear. "I'll find them."

She nodded into my neck as she wrapped her other arm around me, so I picked her up and gave her a gentle squeeze. I could hear the sniveling and smell the salt of her tears, and it broke my heart.

"Can I come with you?"

"I don't think that's a good idea," I replied quietly. "I don't know what it was that called them out there. I would much prefer you to stay here with your mom and stay safe. Can you do that for me?"

"Uh huh," she wept, hugging herself tighter to me. "I'm sorry, Leah."

"It's not your fault, Ness. Go over what you saw again. Do you see the way their paws are lifted as they look into the forest?"

She nodded in confirmation.

"That's what's called pointing. They heard something they were interested in. Whatever it was wanted Greg and Steve to come to them."

"What if they get hurt? I love them, and Travis would be so sad."

I sighed into her copper curls as I walked toward Bella. Edward had already whispered to her in warning, Explaining the situation so he'd be prepared.

"I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that doesn't happen."

I gave her another hug before I handed her to Bella. Her arms seemed to close around Bella's neck even tighter as the weeping became heartbreaking sobs of sadness. I could see that Travis was confused, he wasn't sure what it was all about, and I was hoping that I could fix it so when I told him it would be a non issue.

Will you come with me? I asked Edward, hoping he'd say yes. I wasn't sure how I was going to react if something happened to the dogs. Travis loved them like they were his kids. When he inclined his head I exhaled in relief.

Knowing I needed to say something to Travis, because lets face it hiding this from him wasn't a good idea, I made my way over to him and pulled him into the corner. It was a pointless exercise, because everyone in the room could hear what I was saying.

"Don't freak out, but the boys took off into the woods. Edward and I are going to find them, Ness is breaking her heart and blaming herself, but she showed me what happened, just stay calm and I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Leah . . ."

"I don't know, I couldn't tell much from her vision." I said cutting him off. I knew he was going to ask if they were in danger, if they were alive, but I didn't know. It could have been anything, I just knew that they'd taken off and hadn't looked back when Nessie had called out to them.

"I love you," he whispered, kissing the side of my mouth. "Be careful."

"I love you too," I replied, turning to step away, but he gathered me in his arms and held me close.

"It's the first time you've said that."

"But not the last," I grinned, offering him another kiss and escaping his grasp.

The moment I stepped away and headed to meet Edward at the door, Jacob approached Travis with a clap on the back. I felt better knowing he wouldn't have to sit alone dwelling on it. The family had accepted him as easily as they had me, and I felt confident that he'd ease Nessie's heartbreak. She'd managed to wrap him around her little finger just as much as she had with the rest of us.

"You going to shift?" Edward asked, as we jogged down the stairs of the back porch.

"Yeah, it'll be easier to pick up their trail that way."

"Emmett will be pleased, Ness had him build something for you." He nodded to a cluster of trees where there was a lumber wall stood like a U, the missing wall was backed onto the forest. "It's a phasing room. You can leave your clothes there and phase without a gawking audience."

"You do spoil me," I teased, and jogged toward the wall.

Stood in the small alcove, I stripped and hung my clothes on a peg, amused at how it felt like some kind of dressing room from the mall rather than an open room at the tree line of the forest. It was convenient though, I phased into my wolf body and trotted out from behind the structure feeling as though I had at least some of my modesty intact.

'Very nice, remind me to thank Emmett and Nessie when we get back.'

"I will," Edward laughed, and swept his hand in from of him, indicating that I should lead the way.

Getting back down to business, I immediately started looking for the scent of the dogs, it was easy to pick up amongst the sweet smell of the vampires, and I headed in the direction they'd taken off in. It fit perfectly with Nessie's vision, so I followed the trail deeper into the forest, constantly aware of Edward's presence as he followed me.

When I reached the spot Nessie had lost their scent, I pushed out my senses. She had been right about the trail coming to an end. I could barely pick up a slight au de dog that headed north, but I wasn't sure. It was almost too faint to follow.

'What do you think?' I asked Edward, my feet trampling the spot in anxiety. I wanted to get the dogs back, but my inner alarm was ringing enough to have my hackles up on end. It felt like a set up to me.

"I think your right about the set up. I'm going to call Emmett and Jasper to join us, I think back up would be good."

My front paws shifted in the soft, damp earth of the forest floor, my nails digging in as I tried to hide my surprise. I'd been expecting him to tell me to let it go, that they were dogs and weren't worth it. I'd even ben formulating a response to that in my head. So I was alarmed by his response. Of course he'd just followed all of that in my head.

"Nessie," he said simply. "I am concerned for the dogs safety, and I realize how important they are to you and Travis, and that alone would have had me come to the same resolution. But Nessie was heart broken, she only showed you part of her reaction. She loves those animals and they've been very good for her."

'I get it. Either way, I just want to thank you for helping me with this.'

Edward nodded and pulled out his phone. I didn't listen to his conversation, instead I threw my senses out into the forest, I concentrated on the dying trail of the dogs leading north and listened.

"They're on their way," Edward said quietly, his hand ruffling the fur on my neck before he stood almost shoulder to shoulder with me. "You got any ideas?"

'Yes, but you laugh and I will have to hurt you.' I said, before ripping into a barking frenzy. I ended it with a howl and I tipped my head and eyed Edward suspiciously as I waited for a response. There was no smile on his face, just intense concentration as he listened. It took a while, but the return barks finally came.

"That has to be at least a hundred miles north,"

'Heading northwest,' I added. 'Edward, they're heading right into LaPush.'

"Why?"

I didn't know, I had no answers. What did they want with the dogs and why were they taking them to La Push? I tried to put it all together but my head was a tangle of thoughts, it didn't make sense. What were they trying to prove?

'Edward, turn around. I'm going to phase and call Sam. We need backup from the north.'

He did as I asked without hesitating, His hand that held the phone was behind his back as I phased back into my human body. I took the phone from him and dialed Sam and Emily's home number. It was the only one I could remember.

"Hello?" Emily answered.

"Em, it's Leah, is Sam with you?"

"Hey, yeah he's here, is everything . . ."

"I'm sorry, I need to talk to him."

She didn't stop to ask questions or chit chat, I knew she heard the urgency in my voice. It only took a second until Sam's deep resonating voice came on the line. It was his no bullshit, business voice.

"What's going on, Lee?"

"Vamps, two as far as I can tell, they're headed straight for La Push, and they have Greg and Steve. I don't know why, or what they're trying to prove, but they're half way between us and you."

"Greg and Steve?"

"Travis' dogs. They called them into the forest and took off with them. They somehow knew they were important, I can't shake the feeling that they're luring us out. I'm with Edward and Jasper and Emmett are on their way. We're going to follow the trail."

"I'll get the boys together and set up a defensive line. Keep your eyes open, Lee, we're going to need your guidance."

"You got it. Be safe, Sam."

"You too."

I put the phone back in Edward's hands before phasing back to my wolf self. I was itching to get started, but we were still waiting for Emmett and Jasper to join us. They were less than thirty seconds away but it still felt like too long.

The moment they crashed through the trees I dug my claws into the dirt and took off north, without blinking they followed and Edward filled them in. Jasper was pensive about the situation, I knew he was trying to figure out the why behind it, while Emmett seemed to take the dog-knapping personally and was plotting revenge.

"What are Leah's thoughts on the situation?" Jasper asked as we banked west and ran parallel to the one-oh-one. I could smell the ocean on my left as we pushed forward as fast as we could.

"She feels as though we're being lured," Edward answered, ducking under a low branch.

'Yeah, but whether we're being lured into a situation or away from the house is what's troubling me. Something is not right and I feel anxious. I wanna take care of these two and head back to the house. Edward, could you call and tell Jacob to keep an eye out?'

Edward relayed my message to the other two before calling Jacob. He was shouting over the wind, but had to slow and fall back in order to be heard over the roar of the wind he was creating through speed. Jasper sped up so he was by my right shoulder, while Emmett took my right as we ran and I tried to not let my competitive side take over.

"I think Leah's right," Jasper said thoughtfully as we veered to the east slightly as the trees thinned. The faster we ran, the more potent the smell of vampire mixed with dog was.

"About?" Emmett said back.

"It feels like a set up."

I snapped my teeth to remind them I was right there, and without Edward couldn't actually tell them what I thought.

"Sorry," Jasper prompted as he hurdled over a fallen tree in his path. "I just keep thinking about who would have the resources and motivation to do something like that."

Since we'd eradicated a lot of the threats to us, I could only think of one, and it was enough to get my fur on end, even in the force of the wind I was creating with my speed. I just couldn't figure out why, or what they were after.

Edward managed to catch up with us as we crossed the one-oh-one and into the wildlife refuge that would give us a straight shot into La Push. I could hear Sam and the others silently listening into the conversation and they seemed to have their own theories. Only it was Embry's that made the most sense.

I looked over to Edward, I could see he didn't like the odds either.

"What?" Emmett asked, looking between us. I knew he hated being left out of the loop and he never missed the passing of comments between minds.

"Embry has a theory," Edward replied. "I think he might be right."

"And the theory is?" Jasper prompted.

"The Volturi."

"Considering they're the only people with any kind of grudge against us, I don't think they would move on the offensive without a reason."

"Oh if Embry is right, they have a couple of reasons."

"Cut the shit and spit it out would ya," Emmett growled. I think it was the first time in a while I'd actually seen him pissed off.

"Think of the two things we surprised them with," Edward finally said, torn between going forward and the call to run back home. I knew that was his problem because I was right there with him.

"The wolves and Renesmee," Jasper finally shouted. "But which one?"

I wasn't exactly sure of the answer, but I would bet my Jeep on the fact that it was both.

A/N:So they're finally coming up with theories about why the vampires are infiltrating their lands. Leah's not happy about being lured into a trap and it's obvious the others are just as torn. I know it seems silly that they're risking so much for two dogs, but it's surpassed that because they want to get to the bottom of what's going on and who is behind it all.

Thank you for reading, alerting, add the story to your favorites and the reviews. You guys are truly amazing and I am loving your theories. You inspire me! I wish there were more words to thank you.

As always, A huge thank you to Hev99 for trying to catch up with me beta wise, and for being an amazing friend! I get to see her in three weeks! how exciting is that! As always a huge thank you to Sabi'sSookie for being an amazing best friend and twinnifer, her prereading keeps me sane. And to PinkIndeed, for trusting me and reading the non canon even though it's against her nature lol! Love you guys! MWAH!