Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer. She messed up the story when she made Jake imprint on Nessie. Fortunately for us there's always the world of fanfictions.

Author/Note: This is a Leah/Jacob story with all the normal pairings and the events in Breaking Dawn never happened, because just like my cousin said, Breaking Dawn shouldn't even be considered a book.

Translation to English of O Nosso Amanhecer 2. This version was subjected to a few changes from the original in Portuguese.

This translation was a request by FantasyLover74.

I'm not a native English speaker so I'm sorry for my grammar and spelling. Thank you for reading and thanks the people who reviewed, FantasyLover74, She-Wolf Heiress, brankel1, Chick, Piper9004, Jo Harv, JacobLeah, CallyGreen, Mariaxxx, RobertForLife, Darkmaster of the arts, BenitaxoxoCastiel, mehr03, AllieBlack16, ItsCuzOfTheFame, brezzybrez, teamtorettosupporter, running with wolves, Blackwater Crazziii, DressageQueen14, Krizglass.

Alert: the characters in this story curse a lot.

Our Dawn

Part II

Leah Clearwater

18. Reinforcements

Things had become quite chaotic since Jacob and Paul's fight two days ago. Paul was recovering well at home. Rachel was with him most of the times. Old Quil was disappointed once again and Billy and my mother were completely shocked.

Billy wasn't really worried about Jacob kicking Paul's ass, he was just worried that Jacob had lost control and attacked me too. But because he was a Council member he had to scold his son harshly and Jacob ended up spending the last two days at Embry's.

We all knew there would be consequences to Jacob's actions and he was expecting a punishment. Actually when he first entered Old Quil's house that morning, Jacob knew he was in deep shit, especially after seeing my mother's face.

My mother was beyond pissed off. She wanted to kill him and refused to listen to his apologies.

"You almost killed my daughter!" My mother yelled at him. "If my son hadn't arrived in time Leah would be dead! What kind of an alpha are you?"

I wanted to believe that he would've stopped before that but I honestly didn't know if he would able to do that. I had never felt that kind of rage from a pack brother before.

"I understand what you did but you overreacted. Paul imprinted on Rachel and we can't change that." Old Quil stated. "Besides you hurt Leah and you can't afford to distract yourself from the battle you're about to face."

"I know I shouldn't have done that…I just couldn't control myself." He tried to control the damages but it was too late now.

"You know what Jacob? If it depended on me you wouldn't be the alpha anymore. Ephraim Black deserved a better descendent. I even pity the poor girl who's going to be stuck with you after you imprint!" That one was low, but my mother was indeed Jacob's most terrible enemy inside the Council and she always spoke her mind no matter what.

"Come on Sue…What if it was Seth in my place and Leah in Rachel's?" Jacob questioned. He also knew how to play the game but there was something he needed to learn about my mother. If you corner her she'll kick you even harder.

"My son isn't a jerk who can't even control his own hormones! Seth thinks before he reacts and you Jacob…You don't think!"

"Easy there Sue." Billy said alarmed that both Jacob and my mother were a bit out of hand. "Jacob had his reasons and he recognised he was wrong, right son?"

Jacob nodded.

"And I'm sure he feels bad about hurting his pack brothers." Billy continued. "The question is how can we know that this won't happen again?"

"It won't." Jacob declared firmly. "I promise."

"Promises…You promised to be responsible before and look what happened. First you bring my son home completely drunk and now you try to kill my daughter." My mother's words were harsh and Jacob didn't answer this time. It was a good move.

"Let's just think about a punishment to end this." Old Quil suggested. "Jacob is the rightful alpha and he can't be discharged."

"There's no need to punish Jacob." Sam said, speaking for the first time. "I understand why he did what he did and although I think he shouldn't have done that I think Jacob knows better than anyone else that the consequences of his actions are going to remain forever."

Jacob lowered his head. He was obviously ashamed of what he'd done.

"What do you suggest, Sam?" Billy asked.

"An apology. A sincere apology to Paul, Rachel and Leah." Sam said.

It wasn't that bad. Sam was going soft on Jacob and I wondered why.

"Ok. I guess that makes sense. You'll apologise to your friends and your sister and you'll help Paul during his recovery." Old Quil declared. "Understood?"

"Yes." Jacob replied.

He then turned to me but he couldn't look into my eyes.

"Look carefully to my daughter and see what you've done." My mother said fiercely.

Jacob finally met my gaze.

"It's healed now." I stated. He had hurt me, he had even scared the shit out of me, but for some reason I didn't blame him.

"I would choose my words carefully if I were you." My mother continued. "What do you say to someone who tried to help you and almost got killed?"

"I know I messed up, alright?" Jacob yelled and he stormed out of house.

xxxxxxxxxx

The next day Jacob had become some sort of Paul's personal slave being always supervised by Rachel. Since Paul's leg wasn't totally healed yet we were waiting outside the Cullen's house for Jacob and Paul to arrive by car. The leeches wanted to have a word with us. Besides now that Bella and Edward were back from their little journey, we were finally going to meet the vampires staying at the Canadian border. They didn't know all the details about our current situation and Edward wanted to tell them.

I watched as Jacob pulled over the Rabbit and helped Paul getting out. Jacob had apologised to Paul already but that didn't mean they were best friends.

"Is everyone here?" Jacob asked Seth avoiding me.

"Yes."

"Good."

We walked in and Bella came to greet us. Then she told us to wait a few seconds and pulled Jacob to the kitchen to have a chat with him as if that would give them privacy. We had super hearing powers, hello!

"Alice told me everything Jake. How could you hurt Paul like that?" She asked. As if she was worried with Paul's condition, she was back for three days and she didn't even call us to know how he was.

"We've been training." Edward said reading my thoughts.

I shrugged and turned my attention to Jacob and Bella's conversation again.

"Bella…no one died. I apologised and he accepted. Everything is fine."

"We are about to go into a war, Jake. Your pack needs you. We need you."

"It won't happen again." I could picture Jacob smiling innocently at Bella.

"What if Paul or Leah had actually died? Do you have any idea of what would that do to you and to the pack?"

"Yes. I understand. That's why I promise you it won't happen again."

"Ok. Just remember that they need a responsible alpha, alright?"

"Sure, sure…"

Bella didn't sound convinced.

"Is that the idiot who beat the crap out of his sister's boyfriend or my best friend talking?"

"It was just me Bella. You have to take it or leave it."

Jacob's answer surprised me. Usually he was always nice to Bella and now his voice was sounding a bit cold. Maybe he was angry to know that Bella and Edward's journey was a mini-vacation to Seattle to have more privacy and some "husband-wife" quality time in a five star hotel.

The mind rapist was going to comment on my thoughts when Bella and Jacob returned.

"We waited enough time…" Alice said. "We have three weeks."

The silence filled the room.

"They want to surprise us but they know I'll be able to see them." She continued.

"How many?" Jacob asked.

"Sixty."

No words could describe the feelings that assaulted us.

"Sixty!" Paul half yelled. "How many of them have powers?"

"A few."

Alice was being a bit too evasive. She probably didn't want to freak us out even more.

"The Elders are coming." Jasper said. "Aro, Caius and Marcus. That means they are interested in solving the problem completely. Jane and Alec are coming too but they're not the only members of the Volturi Guard."

"Not all of them have offensive powers though." Edward declared.

"Will we be able to handle them?" Jacob asked.

"Maybe." Alice said.

Maybe wasn't good enough.

"We'll tell you more once we get to Canada." Edward announced. "We have to meet our reinforcements and tell them the truth."

"Do you call nine vampires reinforcements?" I inquired.

"Thirteen." Carlisle informed. "And yes…we call them reinforcements."

The Cullens wanted us to meet the vampires and so we left immediately. We left Paul with Esme because he couldn't phase and Carlisle, Rosalie and Emmett would patrol Forks and La Push while we were absent. Anyways we would be back in less than four hours.

During the journey to Canada I had millions of thoughts in my head. We were twenty wolves sharing minds after all and the pups had the weirdest thoughts ever. Some of them kept on thinking about my brother's stories of our fight against Victoria, Riley and the newborns.

I was quite shocked to know that almost all of them would like to be either in Seth's shoes or Jacob's. I guess Seth was the one who had the most difficult job at the time because Riley was a good fighter and my brother faced him on his own. Seth had proved himself that day. I was proud of him.

As for Jacob…he had saved me and everyone saw him as a hero. I guess the pups liked that a bit too much. The Knight-in-the-Shinning-Armour complex, as I called it. I knew for sure that I would've been able to get rid of the leech who attacked me and I had been so angry at Jacob for stealing my chance to be a hero that I had never thanked him properly.

Maybe that was why he wasn't talking to me since his fight with Paul. He probably thought I was fine and he didn't owe me anything.

Suddenly I felt that I had to put my mind back into other things. I didn't want everyone to know that I was actually disappointed in Jacob for his lack of interest after attacking me.

I focused on Bella and Alice's conversation about how well the Cullens were working with the pack. It was true. Even the pups didn't feel weird around them anymore. No one called them "leeches" or "bloodsuckers" since we had started to work together, except for me. Some of them even liked Esme's cooking better than Emily's.

"There are things that fit perfectly…" I heard Alice saying. "Like me and Jaz…you and Edward…other things we just have to make them fit."

"Such as?" Bella asked.

"The sun and the moon…water and fire…" Alice said poetically.

"Vampires and Wolves." Bella observed.

"Exactly. But I think it will work out fine."

The pixie was an optimistic by nature. God blessed her. Vampires and wolves? That was so unnatural that it made me itch.

"Maybe you have fleas…" Edward said. Why was he always reading my mind? Damn fucking mind rapist.

"I kind of like you." He confessed and I felt I could throw up my lunch.

Jacob growled and Edward turned back his attention to their conversation again. Something about battle strategies.

When Jasper stopped running we all followed him closely and quietly.

"You can phase back to human." Jasper said.

A few minutes later we reached a clearing. There were a few tents and a small camping fire. When they sensed our presence the vampires gathered in the middle of the clearing and Edward walked forward to introduce us.

Jacob was right. They smelled horribly. Suddenly I wondered if those tents were bought because they needed to keep up the appearances in case someone found them, or if they belonged to their victims. That thought made me start shaking and then I felt a warm hand squeezing mine.

"Calm down Leah." Jacob whispered to me. Slowly I let myself calm down. Edward was telling them our names and then they allowed us to step closer and we all sat down in a circle around the small fire. Their names were easy to remember.

They were indeed thirteen leeches: Alistair, Charlotte, Peter, Randall, Garrett, Mary, Charles, Makenna, Liam, Siobhan, Maggie, Vladimir and Stefan. There were four more than we thought and that was probably the reason why Edward had been in Canada a few times before. Some of the vampires were a bit disturbed about our smell but we could say the same about them.

We watched them closely. It was easy to recognise Charlotte and Peter. They were the only ones who were actually relaxed around us. The others were suspicious until Edward began to talk.

"I want to thank all of you for being here." He started. "I know you've been making questions about the situation and today we're here to tell you the whole story."

"Finally." The vampire named Garrett said. "I'm really curious about all of this."

He pointed out to us and the pups growled slightly.

"We've told you about the Volturi coming to take us to a trial. We also told you they want to destroy our family and now we're going to tell you why."

Many pairs of red eyes were focused on the mind rapist while Jasper was holding Alice's hand and his face was completely numb. I realised that he was using his power to calm us and the vampires. If it weren't for him we wouldn't be able to have a rational talk with a bunch of bloodsuckers. It was a good thing that Paul wasn't there.

"Some of you already met Jared and Jacob and you probably noticed they aren't ordinary humans." Edward continued. "The Quileutes have a special talent. They morph into wolves."

I guess that being a vampire made them more open minded about the magical world we lived in so most of them were just surprised with Edward's words and not completely shocked.

"You brought werewolves here?" a vampire with dark hair asked visibly angry.

"Not werewolves, Alistair. Wolves. As in shape-shifters."

"So they're not werewolves?" he insisted.

Edward nodded negatively.

"Werewolves are supposedly extinct. The Quileutes transform into wolves and work as a pack in order to protect their people from us."

"So they want to kill us?" Charles asked.

"No. Many decades ago when we decided to stay in Forks for a few years, we met the pack. It was another pack with only three elements. Carlisle and their leader, Ephraim Black, celebrated a treaty. We wouldn't hunt on their lands and they wouldn't hunt us down or tell other people the truth about us. Things worked out pretty well and when we returned to Forks another pack was formed, this time Jacob is the leader."

They all looked at Jacob.

"So they only morph because vampires are around, right?" Charles questioned.

"Exactly. We still follow the treaty and now the Volturi found out and want to exterminate the pack and punish us."

No one spoke for a while. I guess they weren't particularly interested in our story. So what if the Volturi killed us all? We were just a pack of wolves.

"When Bella, my wife, was still human, she was attacked by a vampire. His name was Laurent and he used to travel with Victoria and James before he went to live with the Denali Coven. He then became Irina's mate." Edward explained.

"I'm sorry but we really don't know who those vampires are." Mary said.

"I killed James to save Bella a few years ago. Victoria, his mate, tried to kill my wife to get her revenge. She created a newborn's army and we were forced to ask for the pack's help."

This sure caught everyone's attention.

"Newborns?" Several of them asked quite shocked.

"She dared to create an army?" Peter inquired. "That's forbidden."

"And dangerous even for us." Mary said.

"Yes." Alice confirmed, speaking for the first time. "They were about twenty and we managed to control them all. The fact that we worked together with the pack made it clear that we are not really enemies."

"What happened to Victoria?" Makenna asked.

"We killed her before the Volturi arrived." Edward said. "But that time they didn't find out about the pack's existence. As for Laurent he was killed by the wolves that were protecting Bella."

"Your wife sure attracts a lot of troubles…" Randall said amused. "But I guess that's normal since she is quite beautiful…"

Bella half smiled trying to be nice to the leech.

"Irina tried to attack the pack last year but they're too many and because she's obsessed with revenge she decided to go to the Volturi." Edward informed.

"The Volturi don't interfere in personal matters." Alistair stated.

"They will in this case because they want to recruit us and destroy the pack." Alice announced. "I've seen it in the future."

"She's telling the truth." Maggie said. Everyone looked at the childish-like vampire with freckles and red hair.

"The Volturi collect vampires with abilities such as Bella, Alice, Jasper, Maggie, Charles, Alistair, Siobhan and myself." Edward informed.

"I don't have a power, Edward." Siobhan stated matter-of-factly.

"I believe you do." He smiled at her.

"They'll charge us of treason because we have a treaty with the pack. They'll also accuse us of plotting something against them and they will try to separate our family." Alice explained. "That's why we need you to be our witnesses because we do have the right to remain together as a family and have a treaty with who we want."

"I guess you're right." Makenna said. "They shouldn't interfere."

"Will you stay?" Edward asked.

"If you're going to face the Volturi, we'll stay for sure." Stefan said and his friend Vladimir agreed.

"We'll stand by your side too." Peter said holding Charlotte's hand.

"For the old times." She declared with a smile.

"If it's witnesses you want, we'll stay but we won't fight." Siobhan said.

"We're not asking you to fight." Edward reassured her.

"I would certainly fight for someone as beautiful as Bella." Randall confessed.

Edward rolled his eyes and Bella thanked him for the compliment.

"Fortunately I don't need protection anymore." Bella said proudly.

"That's too bad." Randall sighed.

"What about you darling? Do you need protection?" Garrett questioned.

I initially thought he was talking to Alice but his eyes were on me. I had been through a lot of weird things over the past few years but having a leech flirting with me was beyond bizarre.

My brother growled and Garrett smiled with amusement.

"Seth…" Bella whispered. "He's only joking."

If he was only joking, two could play that game.

"Do you honestly think you can handle me, leech?" I asked with a grin.

"Of course I can. You have a sweet face, great lips, a sexy voice, awesome legs and a really nice…"

Jacob's loud growl startled everyone and Garrett shut up immediately. I was surprised to see Jacob standing up for me that way.

"Too bad you have a mate already. But I don't mind sharing." Garrett picked up his line when Jacob calmed down thanks to Jasper's powers.

"They're not mates." Sam said coldly.

"Really? Isn't he the leader?" Garrett asked.

"Yes, I'm the leader. So what?" Jacob asked aggressively.

"What are you waiting for? If she's the only female…as the leader you should take her. It's your right." Garrett kept saying. He made me feel like a piece of meat or something.

"My sister isn't for anyone to take!" Seth groaned.

"Seth, it's alright." I tried to calm him down.

"No, it's not! We're not animals!" Embry agreed with Seth.

"I like you more by the second." Garrett said visibly amused by my pack brother's reactions. "If she's not anyone's mate I can show her a good time."

"We don't mate, we have imprints." Quil pointed out.

"I don't think Leah's interested, Garrett." Edward said quietly.

"You don't have a boyfriend, do you?" He asked me playfully.

"No…But you're not my type either." I retorted.

"Maybe you should start telling them about the Volturi…" Bella suggested. A change of subject was probably a good thing.

"There are sixty of them coming. They'll bring their wives, Sulpicia and Athenodora to preside the trial and the whole Volturi Guard to protect them." Edward announced.

"What do you mean by the wives?" Sam asked.

"The wives only leave Volterra to preside the important trials. The final decision will be made between the five of them." Edward informed us.

"Shouldn't it be six?" Quil asked.

"Marcus' wife, Didyme, died." Alistair announced.

"The Volturi have many special vampires…Renata is a shield, she protects Aro from physical attacks. Demetri is a tracker, Chelsea can manipulate emotions, Afton, Heidi and Corin also have powers, not to mention the twins Alec and Jane." Alice stated.

Vladimir and Stefan growled when they heard the twins' names.

"The question is…do you still want to be our witnesses?" Edward questioned.

All of them agreed except for Alistair.

"Maybe I'll stay, maybe I won't. I'll decide later." He said with a brood expression.

What an asshole.

"When will they arrive?" Peter asked Alice.

"In three weeks."

"We'll stand by and wait your orders." Charlotte said turning to Jasper.

"Thank you." He said.

After a few seconds we saw some of the vampires leaving. We realised soon enough they were going to hunt and Edward made us prepare to leave. When we left we knew that people in Canada were in danger and there was nothing we could do about it.

When we finally arrived to the Cullen's mansion Esme informed us that Paul had gotten bored and Emmett had taken him home.

I didn't have a single clue how I ended up going back to La Push with Jacob in the Rabbit. I remembered vaguely hearing the mind rapist suggesting something about me being tired and that Jacob could give me a ride. Fucking leech. I would kill him the next time we'd meet.

I wanted to talk to Jacob but I couldn't find the right words. Basically I only needed to know why he wasn't talking to me for three days. Was he still angry about me telling Edward that Bella had asked for his help to learn how to fight? Was he annoyed because even knowing the truth Edward and Bella were still together? Did he think it was my fault that we had caught Paul and Rachel kissing in the forest? Or was he blaming me for his punishment?

"I'm sorry." He spoke quietly almost making my heart stop. Was he was apologising?

"What?" I asked surprised.

"I said that I'm sorry about the other day…I never meant to hurt you."

He was indeed apologising and that sure warmed my heart a bit.

"It's fine. You were out of control. I understand."

"I could've killed you easily. You shouldn't have protected him."

"I didn't want you to kill Paul and have to live regretting that for the rest of your life."

"But I could've killed you too."

"I don't think that would be such a tragedy."

Jacob hit the brakes and stopped the car.

"Don't say that!" He scolded me.

"Come on Jacob. Stop pretending you care."

"I do."

"How can you say that if you're still angry at me because I told Edward about you and Bella?"

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"I just wanted Bella to realise she was making a mistake by coming to me." He confessed.

"It's fine, you don't need to make up excuses. You wanted to be with her. I kind of understand…" I tried to remain calm and ignore the jealousy.

"You were right…Edward had the right to know."

"If that's the case why have you been avoiding me?"

"I thought you wanted me to avoid you. I hurt you badly…I mean I had a reason to attack Paul, but you…I don't have any excuse for what I did to you. If Seth wouldn't come up you'd be dead by now."

"You weren't thinking straight. I was inside your head and your thoughts were all confused."

"Don't try to make things better for me. I was an asshole. I tried to kill two of my pack brothers…I hurt you and I'll regret it forever."

"Paul and Rachel forgave you didn't they?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Then it's fine."

"I can let you hit me to balance things…what do you think?" He suggested. "You can hit me as hard as you want."

"I'm not going to hit you."

"Please, Leah."

"Maybe another time."

"I just want to put things right."

"Everything is alright, Jacob. No harm done."

"Except for this." Jacob leaned on and brushed my hair away from my neck. My heart skipped a beat when his warm hand touched my skin.

For a second all I wanted was to push him away from me and yell at him but then his touch became an addiction, at least during those couple of minutes.

"I'm really sorry." He whispered inspecting the marks that his teeth had left on my skin. His face was dangerously close to mine and I knew if our eyes met I would be lost.

Again I felt like the oxygen on my lungs was running short and if he kept on touching me like that I would kiss him but my brain refused to acknowledge the physical effects that Jacob Black had on me and started giving me warning signs.

He was not interested in me. He still loved Bella. I would ruin our friendship or whatever it was going on between us.

I snapped out of it and pushed him away from me.

"It's fine." I repeated.

"It's going to leave a mark."

I smiled at those words. His teeth would leave a mark on my neck but that wouldn't hurt as much as the mark he had already inflicted in my heart. That one would be even more painful than Sam's because Sam was my first love. I had spent time with him until fate made us break up. But with Jacob it was different. I could never be with him. I could never tell him my feelings.

"Yes, it definitely will." I whispered while he started the car again heading to La Push.