Lunar Ascension

Chapter 23: Piece of Mind

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

And you, you knew the hand of the devil
And you, kept us awake with wolves teeth
Sharing different heartbeats
In one night
Heartbeats by Jose Gonzalez

By the time the Cullen's had done their thing and we'd cleared some of the debris from the streets, Travis was dead on his feet. On more than one occasion I'd told him to go and sleep in the Jeep, but he'd refused, his need to protect me was still alive and well even in his human form. I remembered how that first phase was, I'd slept for hours as my bones ached painfully from the shock. It was the first and last time it would happen with the pain, but I knew he had to be hurting like a bitch. The small cuts from losing his brow ring and viper bites were healing as though they'd never been.

The ride home in the Jeep was quiet and he couldn't fight his body any longer, he impossibly curled up in the back seat with his head in my lap and his heavy eyelids finally clamping closed before we'd even left the street.

"So, Leah," Emmett asked quietly. I hadn't thought Emmett could do anything quietly so this was definitely new. "Any idea's how your man wolfed out?"

"Not a clue," I whispered, trying not to disturb him. "I'm just hoping that we can get some answers when we get to the house."

"You think Zach knows more?"

I gave him an incredulous look in the rear view mirror.

"My bad."

"It was so bizarre, he was Travis, then he was running toward the opening and he was a huge white wolf. Everyone was screaming in the hall, it was like they'd never seen a wolf before," Rose said, half turned in her seat to look at me.

"He's not Quileute, I'm sure that was the last thing they expected."

I ran my fingers through the head on my lap and let my eyes move to his peaceful face. I tried to see something of our people in him, but it was impossible with his light hair and blue eyes and fair skin. I couldn't see beyond those things to find anything Quileute. It didn't make me love him any less, in fact, if it were possible I loved him more. This way we weren't limited to just one lifetime together.

I had a lot of unanswered questions, as did everyone, including a very confused Jacob. Yet that hadn't stopped him clamping his hand on my shoulder and telling me that he expected nothing less. Only a wolf could ever protect me the way I deserved to be protected. I almost smacked him for his effort, but inexplicably gave him a hug instead. Most of the conversation was being put off until we got to the house and Zach could be included.

I knew a lot of the pack wanted to be there as well, but they were hesitant to leave the reservation after what had just happened, so once again Jacob would be in wolf form and Edward would translate.

It didn't take us long to get to the Cullen house, especially with Emmett driving and poor Travis was woken by the barking of the dogs, which was more than loud enough with his new and improved hearing.

"Is everything this loud now?" he asked, his voice thick with sleep. I looked down and met his blue eyes with a smile.

"You'll get used to it," I replied as the two in the front climbed out and met with others that had been in the car train back to the house. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been hit with a Mack truck. This goes away right?"

"It's just the first time, your body has been through a lot, but it shouldn't be there the next time you phase."

"I had no idea, Leah, you have to believe that," he said groaning as he sat up. "If I'd known I would have done this a lot sooner."

"I know," I grinned smoothing the side of his face lovingly. "Apparently it was your instinct to protect me though." I dropped my hand onto his and gave it a squeeze. "Let's go see Zach and see if he has any answers. Then we'll do some digging, see if we can't find out what happened."

It took him a second to climb out of the back seat behind me, I knew he was aching which only seemed to make it harder for him to bend. By the time he managed it, Zach was stood on the porch with a blanket wrapped around his body, his nose turned up like he was smelling something foul.

"What is that smell?" he mumbled, his toes curling over the first step.

"That's us," Emmett laughed, slapping him on the shoulder. "Believe me, you don't smell like a spring bouquet either."

"Duly noted."

Travis looked up at his twin, without his piercings they looked so alike it was almost disorientating.

"Please say you have some answers, bro," Travis grumbled as he climbed.

"I called dad, after I woke up here."

"And?"

"Then I called Grandma."

"Guys, everyone has questions, lets do this inside."

We all congregated in the living room, and Jacob phased into his wolf form, hanging out by the door yet again. I knew we would all be more than happy to just go to bed and crash, or in the vampires case, snuggle. We hadn't asked anyone to stay, but there were questions about how this had happened the way it had.

Travis didn't waste anytime in starting the conversation, and everyone seemed happy for him to take the lead.

"So, what did Grandma say?"

"It took a while to get her to talk, but she finally started singing like a bird when I told her I was in La Push."

"You mean she recognized the name?" Edward asked, and I imagine it had been echoed from Jacob's thoughts. I was certain Edward already knew the answer. The way Zach was drawing this out I could almost see the story cycling through his head over and over again.

"Did she ever," Zach laughed bitterly. "She had me repeat it three times. Apparently her grandmother had a secret that was supposed to die with her, but when she heard the legends, she had to make sure that they weren't true. So she passed down the Quileutes legends and her shame to keep her descendants in the know. It's just typical of our family Over privileged bastards that they are."

"Wait, what are you saying?" Travis asked. "What shame? You suck at telling stories."

"Whatever, Trav. You need it spelled out? Well here it is. Dad's great, great, great grandma had an affair with a Quileute."

"Wasn't that kind of taboo back then?" I asked. "I mean that was what . . . mid eighteen hundreds? Especially with a Native American."

"Yeah well apparently not for our descendants. Some time around that period, our family were determine to start a good life for themselves. They were part of the first settlers in the pacific northwest, most of our families money came from the development of the city. Alfred was the Major of the small town they started with. There was a story that Vivienne, his wife, went missing for a couple of months when she went on a hunt with Alfred. Vivienne had claimed she'd been kidnapped by the natives to anyone who would listen, but she told her children the truth; she'd fallen in love with a Quileute gentleman. It was said that he'd saved her from a vampire and imprinted on her. They spent months together, but the village was attacked. A few of the other wolves wives were killed, they weren't imprints because it was rare back then."

"What?" I said sitting up. "How could that be if she found her way home?"

"She said he'd let her go, because there were too many dangers for her to stay there. He loved her too much to risk her life. If she was back among her people, he'd been certain she would live a long happy life. It was only once she became pregnant, they saw one another occasionally. They loved each another deeply, even though Vivienne was married to Alfred. Alfred couldn't produce children so he overlooked her indiscretions, apparently they hooked up every time they met. No one really questioned the children's olive colored skin because they spent so much time outside, and Vivienne kept them close. She knew the dangers and what they'd have to face if they were caught by a vampire. She couldn't give away the wolves secret, she knew they'd be hunted. Alfred was discreet about the lineage of his children and loved them as his own, but he married them off to blue eyed, blonde haired partners and made his children swear to do the same for their children."

"To breed us out?" I asked, a little insulted.

It seemed like some sick kind of joke to me that these people knew all of our deep secrets and hid them away like it was something disgusting. I was proud of my heritage, I'd listened to our history time and time again with a profound gratitude of being a part of something bigger than myself.

Seemingly understanding, Travis wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into him. Being that close to him, I knew I could never give him up and I wondered if he felt the same way. Sure, times were different back then, but I couldn't understand how she could have walked away from the one person that was her world. Everything in my life now revolved around Travis and the family we were about to have. To think about giving that up, and never seeing him or my children hurt.

"Yes, but it wasn't her decision. She did it for her husband, for propriety. They had a fucked up sense of right and wrong back then. She did try to do the right thing though, she made sure to tell her children that there was no shame in loving who they were. She also warned them that they carried the genes to become something more, that they had an immense gift and they should never be fearful of it. She kept her imprint alive through her stories of him and the insistence of passing it down through her lineage, but our dad refused to acknowledge any of it and cut her off."

"That's why he refuses to visit with her?" Travis asked, his fingers playing with the ends of my hair. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"Because he's arrogant. To think that there's something bigger out there scares the shit out of him. I called him back to ask him about it and he hung up on me. When I called back again I got mom, I told her that if he doesn't believe in this then he no longer has sons, because we're living it."

"Please tell me she had no idea."

"Don't be so naive, bro."

"Enough you two," I sighed, shifting in my seat. "What happened to you, Zach?"

"When the vampires grabbed me from my car, I started freaking out. I knew what they were because I met the Cullens. Their pale skin and red eyes were a dead giveaway. I got a fever and sick, and my body started pounding while I was the cabin they were holding me in. The vampires freaked out thinking they'd done something wrong. They kept repeating that Aro was going to punish them, when the next think I know I'm ripping them limp from limb."

"The gene must have been dormant, passed down from generation to generation," Carlisle finally piped in seeming pleased with the news.

"But that doesn't explain Travis," I said. "He's been around you guys for months with nothing."

"It could be something as simple as being threatened that triggered it. Who knows what chemicals go off when you're around vampires. If it all became too much to their systems and they believed their lives and their families were in danger, it could have all come together to trigger the first shift."

"That makes some sense. Does she know the name of the Quileute?" I asked, Zach out of curiosity.

Zach shook his head.

"Sam said he'll ask Sue and Billy to do some research in the histories."

"Thanks, Sam," I said at Jacob. It wasn't important to know, but I was curious as to who Travis and Zach could possibly be related to.

"Wait, I thought that wolf was Jacob?" Zach said, looking between Jake and I.

"It is, but the wolves have a mental connection they can communicate through," Edward said. "You haven't aligned yourself with either of the Alpha's so you don't have that ability, and they never knew to look for you."

"I have a question," Bella said quietly. "Sam's theory has always been that the imprints are to produce the perfect offspring. If that's accurate, how can Seth have imprinted on Anna? Do you think that there could be similar lineage in that situation? Aren't most of you imprinted on other Quileutes?"

"He says he's not sure, but they'll look into that too. He also asked whether you can tell something like that with DNA samples, Carlisle."

"I don't see why not, now that we know about Zach and Travis, maybe I can find something in their bloodline that will tell me."

It was times like these that I got the most frustrated. There were so many questions able to be answered by a small piece of DNA or blood and genes, yet there was never any answer to why I was the only female to phase. It wasn't that I minded so much anymore, but there was still this huge question of why.

Everyone started talking among themselves while I stayed still and silent. It was like the whole world had gone on without me and I was frozen in place. Even Zach and Travis were engaged in a conversation about their phasing experiences. The impossible had suddenly become possible and it had a reasonable explanation. What did this mean for me?

"Leah?" Carlisle said from beside me. He was speaking low enough that only I could hear him above the other conversations. "We will get answers. I'm confident that your pregnancy will answer some questions for us."

I replied with a nod. As much as I would love to know, there was a part of me that knew it wasn't important. Everything I'd thought it had taken from me hadn't been, I had imprinted and I was pregnant. Maybe the why wasn't as big of a deal as I'd let myself believe.

Travis eventually passed out on the couch as the afternoon went on, and as the pairs began to leave to spend time together, or get some sleep, and the room thinned out considerably. All too soon, it was only Zach, Travis and I sat side by side on the couch, with Travis' gentle snore filling in the silence.

"Didn't you want to talk to me about something?" I asked when the silence became too much. Zach looked at me over his brother, his eyes lingering on the spot where my fingers were twined with Travis'.

"I did," he said, grinning up at me. "You know what's weird, I think I got my answer already."

"In what way?"

"I met someone, she's amazing, a tiny little thing with a killer sense of humor that just seems to get me. She's visiting from the UK, and her name's Alison."

"I'm happy for you, Zach. You deserve to find someone like that." I meant it as well. I was happy that he hadn't had to harbor that resentment as long as I had. I'd thought I would have felt something at him moving on, that there would be some residual left over emotion that would have made it awkward, but all I felt was joy and relief.

"Yeah but, before all this happened I had this pull to her that reminded me of the way you described your need to be with Travis. I wanted to ask you about it, it was how I felt about you but tenfold."

"You imprinted on her?"

He laughed and shrugged his shoulders, and I found myself smiling at him. Even though I hadn't given him as much thought as I had over these past couple of weeks, I knew that I was happy for him. He deserved that kind of love.

"I really didn't know, it's what I was hoping to ask you about. Then when I wolfed out, it kind of just made sense."

"You answered your own question then, see you didn't need me at all," I teased.

Zach rolled his eyes and shook his head. It was nice to be able to talk like this without any hard feelings between us. I actually felt as though there was a chance for us to be friends when it was all said and done. After all, he was, essentially, my brother-in-law.

"So how about you and Trav? You still holding out on him?" he smirked playfully, and I leaned across his brother to smack him in the arm rousing Travis from his deep sleep.

"No. Definitely not holding out," I mused, smiling at Travis as his eyes fluttered open. "In fact, I think there's something Travis has to say to you. Don't you?"

"Now?" Travis yawned, stretching his arms over his head.

"Yes, baby now."

As he let his arms fall, he folded them around me and pulled me into his side with a smile like a cat that literally just got the cream. I could see him trying to get a read from his brothers expression, and it occurred to me he hadn't been included in our last conversation.

"Listen man, I know there was something between you and Leah . . ."

"Which is a moot point considering he just told me he imprinted," I added helpfully.

"Wait, you did? On who?"

"Dude, we'll get you caught up but you're killing me," Zach laughed, punching Travis in the arm. I was getting the feeling we were starting to look like the three stooges with the way we were smacking one another.

Travis shifted around me, his hand squeezing my hip in anticipation. He took a deep breath and finally formed the words he needed.

"Bro, you're going to be an uncle."

The silence that followed the statement, resembled something I would compare after an elephant wandered into the room. Zach sat with his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open.

"Say something, man," Travis prompted.

"I'm trying to picture you two with twin Leah and Travis' running around."

Travis' mouth fell open.

"Why does everyone keep saying twins?" I demanded, rolling my eyes. "You do realize it skips a generation right?"

I looked to Travis, but he was smiling apologetically. I suddenly felt as though I was falling my gut slamming into my spine. There was something they weren't saying. That smile made me more nervous than words could have.

"Spit it out."

"Our dad was a twin," Travis said.

"His mom was a twin," Zach followed.

"Son of a bitch."

The two of them laughed, but it was Travis that swept me up into his arms and pressed a kiss to my lips.

"Don't try and butter me up, you impregnated me with duplicates."

Both of them laughed harder, while all I could do was roll my eyes and think about how I was supposed to walk around with double the kid. Two for one, buy one get one free, two of everything. I was going to make sure both of them would feel the pain I had to go through the moment I was able to phase again. It was then something else occurred to me.

"You'll join Jacob's pack right?" I asked them both.

"We can do that?"

"Well yeah, you just have to associate yourselves with him and I'm sure he'll be more than happy. Once you recognize him as your Alpha, you'll be able to communicate with the pack, and me. Well when I can phase again anyway."

"You can't phase?" Zach asked.

I pointed to my belly and smiled. "My body wants to protect the baby, so it's on hiatus."

"That sucks," Zach laughed. "It means that my brother and I will only have one another to compete with. You game, Trav?"

Rather than answer, Travis kissed me and stood up from the couch pulling off the sweater he was wearing as he headed toward the door, Zach was up in a flash and dropping the blanket as he followed his brother to the door. I followed them to the porch and watched as the identical snow white wolves took off toward the trees like hell was at their heels.

I picked up Travis' clothes and Zach's blanket and folded them, leaving them in two piles on the porch steps for when they returned. Leaning against one of the uprights on the porch I listened as the gentle pants of the brothers faded the further they ran.

It was amazing to me that my life had changed so much in less than a year. Some people never had that much change in a lifetime, but in months everything I had ever believed had changed, and I was left in awe that things had ended the way they had.

I still had an adventure stretching out in front of me, and I had a wolf by my side, which meant I was ready for whatever fate threw at me next.

A/N: I hope that helped to explain how Zach and Travis came to be wolves. Apparently it was just lack of vamp action that had them dormant. I guess the Cullens weren't threatening enough! I hope this explains it all to you, if it doesn't I will be more than happy to answer questions if you have them. All that's left now is the Epilogue. :( Bittersweet!

Thanks to all of you who read, alert, favorite and review. You guys are so amazing! I was so happy to hear that I was able to surprise most of you with the revelation of Travis and Zach's wolf genetics.

Thanks as always to Sabi'sSookie and Hev99 for being amazing friends, I love you both so much! Thanks also to PinkIndeed for being so supportive you rock chick!

After the next chapter I am going to start posting my next fic. It's my first attempt at third person and it's Bella and Jasper. If it sounds interesting, the title is Rekindled Ashes! Thanks so much for all the support you guys!

MWAH!