Chapter 16 is finally here. Sorry it keeps taking me so long to update this time around. I just have so many ideas for this story and the next one. Possibly a fourth. Heck if I know. But I am also working on other things. Other fanfics and some original stories. But anywhozzle, here it is! :)

*Disclaimer*

Please Enjoy!

ShelbyPOV

Shutting the door quietly behind me, I let my breath leave just as silently. Seth was standing across the hall, eyes sad and worried.

"How are they?" he asked in a whisper.

I shook my head and went into his open arms to cuddle against his big body. "He's raw. He'd never admit it, but he is."

Seth's hands moved slowly up and down my back. "Of course he is. Nessie was clearly projecting. Her mental block couldn't have withheld against all that. Jacob saw and felt firsthand a fraction of what she had. When she and Caden had done their run-through of what had happened, Jake had been wicked vicious. But this time? He experienced it. Any male's female going through something like that is likely to raise his hackles. If it doesn't then there's something wrong with that relationship."

"And we all know there's nothing wrong with theirs."

"Absolutely."

"God, Seth, what the hell is going on? Our closest friends and leaders are being fucked with. I can't lose her."

Seth's arms tightened around me, pulling me close. "I know, baby. I can't lose either one of them. I mean, I know I can take care of stuff for Jake for a couple days or so, but I can't just completely take over like he does. Not to mention, I don't even know who the Alpha position would pick to go to. It's kind of like the imprint. It chooses, not us."

"Which is a good thing, but I see your point."

Both of us would be lost if something happened to Nessie and Jacob. Not to mention the pack would be lost without its rightful leader and his mate. No other wolves in the pack could care for us, but none of them could be Jake and Nessie.

"Come on. Why don't we go downstairs and I'll make you something to eat. It's been a rough day already."

"Amen to that," I said, patting my gurgling stomach. "I could go for a sandwich."

As I let him lead me down the stairs, I thought about what was under my hands. I couldn't see the difference, but Seth swore up and down that he could see the subtle swelling when I stripped at the end of the day. And yes, it scared me, but one look at his glowing face erased that fear. He was so excited and happy that I couldn't hold onto any negative emotions around him when he looked at me like that. He'd also been badgering me to go see his mother. Apparently she was getting antsy.

Sighing, I wished that things were easy, that we'd have our happily ever after. Surely nobody in this family had gathered this much bad karma in their life to justify the shitstorm we'd been having lately.

The moment my feet hit the hardwood floor, the front door opened up. Morgan came through first followed closely by a very large and tall shadow. At first I thought it was Jacob, but then my memory reminded me that he was upstairs passed out around his mate. It had to be-

"Lucas, how'd everything go?" Seth asked as he subtly moved in front of me, blocking my view of the newest member of the pack.

"He's fine, Seth," Morgan said. "We practiced phasing in and out. And I made sure he had his temper under control before bringing him here."

Peering around Seth's shoulder, I placed a hand on his arm and stepped around him. He didn't like it but allowed me to stand beside him. Lucas closed the door behind him and took a look around. He'd probably heard the stories about the house, but he'd never been in here. He hadn't been privy to any of the info about the Cullens. Now, he had insider access, a pass, if you will, for both the rez and Forks. A low whistle left his pursed lips.

"Wow, this place is awesome." He frowned, putting his hands on his hips. "What's that sound?"

"What sound?" Morgan asked.

Lucas frowned harder to listen. "It sounds like…a fluttering? A bird, maybe?"

That made me laugh. "That's probably me."

Morgan laughed, making Lucas stare at her. Hell, all three of us stared. Normally her laugh was like steeping on broken glass, hard on the ears. But this one was a true laugh, like she found joy in what was being said. But I what made me pause was Lucas, the way he looked at her. It was more than the imprint. He was in love with her and still learning her moods. They'd mated, that was for sure. Their scents were flaring and mingling the way that Jake's and Nessie's scents did. The same was for all the other couples in the big family.

Morgan realized we were staring and tried to hide her smile, unsuccessfully. It turned into a grin with a few giggles. She actually giggled.

"Sorry. It's really not that funny."

"What isn't?" her mate asked.

Morgan looked at me for the first time with warmth. True, feminine warmth. "A baby's heartbeat."

Pleasant surprise shot across his features as he turned to look at me and Seth. "A baby?"

I nodded and patted my growing tummy. "Yep. That's what you're hearing, the heartbeat. Everyone else can hear it but me. I just come up with my own."

"Wow, that's great, you guys. The two of you are going to be great parents."

"You think?" I asked.

"No question to it. You're going to be amazing." He stepped up close as if he wanted to give me a hug.

With a glance at Morgan and Seth, I shrugged and went into his arms. I didn't know him really except for the times I was with Seth and Jake at the shop and Lucas would come by to say hi. He was good kid as far as I knew. Hell, we were the same age. I just felt so much older than him, like I'd been through more and he was still wet behind the ears.

"Congrats, Shelby, really," he said in a low voice. "You're going to be the coolest mom. I can almost guarantee it."

"Yeah?" I pulled back a little so I could see his face. "How?"

He shrugged with his arms still around me. "You've only met me a handful of times and already hug me like I'm family. As soon as that baby is in your arms, you'll be the cool yet protective mother that every kid wants."

I wasn't sure what made me tell him what I did next, but I said, "My mother left me and my dad when I was ten."

He shrugged again. "And? That was her. You're you. I fail to see a similarity."

I grinned and my eyes watered. "Do you have any faults at all?"

He opened his mouth to say something but Morgan beat him to it. "None that I can find…yet," she said in a grumpy tone.

Again, I was startled when Lucas pulled back and Morgan took his place, wrapping her arms around my shoulders, pulling me into her body.

"He's right, though. You and Seth are perfect. And I'm sorry if I've ever been cold toward you."

Pulling back, I saw that her eyes were watering. She swiped at the tears. "Sorry. Love brings out my inner girl."

We laughed at the same time.

"Trust me, I know what that's like." Playfully, I knocked my shoulder into hers. "Love after a week, huh?"

She shrugged. "Imprinting sucks."

"Tell me about it."

"Ok, ok, stop with the girl talk," Seth said, cutting between us. He playfully pulled me away from Morgan. Lucas came up behind his mate and wrapped her in his arms. The kid really was almost as big as Jake. "But really, Morgan, it's good to see a little warmth."

She grimaced. "Blame him."

I patted Seth's arm. "Clearly it's situational."

"You got that right," Morgan huffed, crossing her arms over her stomach.

The three of us around her laughed.

"So, where's Jacob? And everybody else?"

Seth and I shared a look. "A lot has happened, Morgan. You might need to catch Lucas up."

"Oh, I did that on the way here. He knows everything I do."

Seth's eyebrows shot up. But then he nodded. "Ok, well, we figured out the mess with Caden's and Nessie's memories." When Morgan gave him a go-ahead bug-eyed look, he continued, "It was the Volturi all along." Morgan and Lucas let loose vicious growls. Growls that Seth had to talk over. "Jane and one other, one that has the gift of erasing memories. They erased themselves from Nessie's and Caden's memories but left the wolves. And Caden figured out the scent at the sites of the killings. Her name is Nyla."

"Why is her scent different from the others?" Morgan demanded.

"Apparently when you're born to two lycanthropes, the disease scent isn't as prominent."

Morgan wrenched herself out of Lucas's arms so that she could pace. "Great. So they're back. Are we going to go back to personal guards?"

"Adam and I are sticking to Nessie whether Jake likes it or not," a voice came from the direction of the stairs.

We all turned to find Derek and Adam walking toward us. Though they were the only gay couple in the pack, they didn't show it much except for the way they looked at each other. Both of them were men's men, but just happened to be in love with each other. And we all accepted that. Half of us were convinced that they'd imprinted on each other, especially the wolves of the rez because of the thought-sharing process.

Out of the two, Derek was the wet dream, all broad and t-shirt straining muscle. Adam was more like the swimmer or basketball player, lean muscle. And even though the two of them had black hair, Adam's seemed to be a shade darker, adding purple and blue highlights in the right light and was cut short in the back and long on top, slashing across his forehead. Derek's was full of brown and auburn highlights, and a shaggy mop.

Though Derek had the brawn, Adam was the scarier of the two, the more dominant. And he was very protective of his mate. Not to say that Derek was weak or soft. He wasn't. But whereas Derek would just brush off nasty curses from gay-haters, Adam would more than likely rip the haters apart…with his teeth.

"He's right," Adam said. "Now that Jacob and Nessie are a complete mated couple, she's our official alpha female. We're taking it upon ourselves to appoint ourselves her guards."

"Well," Derek added. "Both of them, but to Jake, just her. He'll take a hit to his ego if we tell him we're watching him like hawks as well."

Seth nodded. "That's a good idea." He turned to the newer couple. "Morgan, Lucas, you guys think you can handle Claire?"

"Absolutely," Lucas said. "What about Sam and Emily?"

"Christa and Jared." He looked pointedly at Morgan. "I know you and Christa have your issues, but this isn't a time for that kind of drama."

Morgan nodded. "Roger that. She and I have shit to work on, but we know how to take care of business first. Don't you worry."

"Good. Quil and I will be on my mom and Charlie."

Oh, god. Panic rushed through me. Our little slice of bliss was over. It was time for Seth to go back to work protecting Forks and the rez, which meant he had to put himself in danger. My hand went to my stomach and I prayed like I never had before that whatever good karma I had went to Seth and our unborn child.

"Shelbs? You ok?"

Opening my eyes, I found that the room was empty except for me and Seth. Grasping for his hand, I gripped it so hard that had he been human, I'd have broken it.

"Can I be honest?"

"I prefer it."

"I'm terrified."

SethPOV

Hearing Shelby tell me she was scared made the male protector in me puff out as I took her into my arms. "It's ok, Shelby. I'll be as careful as I can." Stroking her hair, I rocked her back and forth as she wrapped her arms around me and held on with every ounce of strength she had.

I could promise her all day long that everything would be ok, but the reality crushed us down. Before all of this was over and we came out the other side, one or the other of us could very well not make it. I wasn't so naïve as to think that after the baby was born, she wouldn't want to fight. Hell, something could still happen to her before the birth. I'd lose them both. Not to mention that something could happen to me, leaving my family behind to lean on our extended families to keep them up.

Both of those thoughts scared the shit out of me. But I couldn't just lock us away in the cabin and leave all of my responsibilities to the pack, throwing all of that on Jacob, who also will have to face the possibility of death or of losing his mate, or both. And with Nessie being who she was, she'd want to stand next to Jacob on the frontline, facing whatever was coming for us.

"Seth?" Shelby lifted her head so that she could look me in the eye.

"Yeah, sweetie?"

"I love you. I know that sometimes I can be a bitch. And that you don't believe that I'm happy about the baby. God knows that I don't act like it. But I am. I'm very happy to have a piece of both of us growing inside of me. It's the most amazing feeling to know that my body is both a sanctuary and protection. I'm just scared of doing this without you."

When I opened my mouth to say something, anything, she shook her head.

"No, I need to say this. Please." I nodded and let her talk. "When I first had the feeling that I was pregnant, I told myself and Nessie, that if anything happened to you that I wouldn't want to live, not even for the baby. But I was wrong. I am already so in love with this child that I'm scared to even move wrong so that I don't lose it. I couldn't bear that." She smoothed her palm up my chest and stared at my neck. "You are my world, my life. You changed the way I saw everything. And I want so badly to ask you not to go out there and risk not coming home to me. But I can't do that. I love you, and that means that I love who you are. Protecting the pack and your home, and me, is part of who you are. I just wanted you to know that even though I don't like it, you are the father of my child and he's going to need a good, brave man to look up to. His father, even if you might not be there to watch him grow up."

After all of that, there was just one thing I could think to say. "He?"

That made her laugh and the tears that were unshed in her eyes fell down her cheeks. "Mother's intuition, I guess. I just feel like it's going to be a boy."

Tightening my arms around her, I leaned down to kiss the tears away. "Shelby, I can't promise that we're all going to come out on the other end of this, but I can damn sure promise you that I will fight come home to you every night. And as for the baby, whether we have a son or a daughter, whether I'm physically here or not, I will always be with him or her. His or her mother would never allow him or her to grow up without knowing who I am or was. I know you, Shelby. You'd never allow my child to not know me. You'd make sure that he knew that I didn't just up and leave you, that I fought my hardest to get back to you. And I will fight with everything inside of me, every last ounce of strength. Nothing of me will be left unused to get back into your arms. Do you understand me?"

She'd started crying in earnest, the tears rushing up and bubbling over. Her hands had fisted themselves in my shirt, fingers clawing at me. Nodding frantically, she buried her face in my chest and wept.

"Everything ok?" a soft voice asked.

Opening my eyes, I found Jasper at the end of the stairs. His expression was that of empathy as he looked at Shelby.

"Could you work some of your magic?"

I didn't have to ask twice. Immediately, a wave of calm blanketed us. Her sobs started to die down into hiccups and her body released its tension making her fall against me. I caught her, swinging her up into my arms.

"Thanks, Jasper."

"Take her home and love her. Even with my wife able to see the future, we are all so very blind right now. And Shelby needs you now more than ever."

I nodded as he went ahead of me to open the front door. "Thank you. Will you-,"

"Absolutely. Now go home."

With that, he solidly shut the door behind me. Looking down, Shelby was tucked against my chest still quietly crying and clutching my shirt. She needed this. Though I loved her strength, she had the tendency to think that strength meant hiding and bottling emotions. Sure, letting it out hurt, but at least she was allowing herself to feel. It always scared me when she tucked herself away. Even with the dormant wolf in her, she was human with human tendencies and emotions, and she needed to feel them. I was scared, too, but my main priority was her. I'd lose it later.

With her in my arms, I scanned the woods as I walked. A crunch behind me brought my head around only to find Embry. Jasper must have sent him out. I was grateful. If something attacked, I'd have to drop Shelby and that I wasn't willing to do.

"Hey, man. Want some company back up?"

"Sure. Thanks."

"Not a problem."

The rest of the trip back up to our new home was passed with me whispering low to Shelby as she continued to cry. When we got up to the cabin, I managed to pull the key out of my pocket. As I went to open the door, Embry reached up to take the key from me so that I wouldn't have to juggle Shelby. After he unlocked and opened the door, I expected him to come in after me. Instead he just started to close the door and kept my key.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Embry looked down at the key in his hand. "Well I expect you to lock this door, which means that if you need something, I'm going to need to get in here, hence me keeping the key."

"Embry, you can't mean that you're going to stay outside-,"

He cut me off. "Look, you didn't assign yourself or Shelby any guards." He shrugged. "I'll be outside. Take care of your female."

"But-,"

A finger got shoved in my face. "No 'buts'. Get your ass in there, take her down to your room, and take care of her. You'd do the same for me if I had a woman. You and Jake need down time, too. Sometimes it has to happen at the same time, and that's where the rest of us step in. You forget that the original pack that started with us is closer to a family. We've been together since the beginning of this whole mess. Now, get in there and lock this door."

With a final nod, I kicked the door closed. Shelby reached out to lock it. Once the bolt slid home and the security system beeped, heavy footsteps crossed the wooden porch and down the steps. Embry was probably going to work the patrol routine around the cabin.

"He's sweet. I wonder why he hasn't imprinted. He always went to those meet-n-greets," Shelby said.

It was a valid question. Embry wasn't desperate for a mate but he always went because girls were always asking him out. He just didn't want to get involved with someone and imprint on someone else. Nobody needed a repeat of the whole Sam-Emily-Leah thing going on. And as much as Embry liked to joke around and be a typical guy, he didn't want to hurt anyone, to leave some poor girl with a broken heart while he lived in bliss with his imprint. So we all left him alone in the joke department. In return, he looked after the imprints, male and female.

"I don't know. Maybe she's an outsider. Hopefully, they'll meet up someday."

"Hopefully."

Standing in the middle of the spacious living room with her in my arms, the house was silent, except for the ticking of a clock in the kitchen.

"Seth?"

"Yeah, baby."

"Let's go to our room."

When I looked down at her, I knew there was another meaning in her words. She wanted me to take her to bed. She wanted me to make love to her, to help her forget, just for the rest of today and tonight, that we were surrounded my danger.

"Shelby-,"

"Please, Seth. Just make love to me. Soft. Gentle. That's what I want. No games or playing around. I want my mate to make love to me."

The pull of the imprint tugged at me. There was no way I could deny her anything. Sure, we'd fight about things, but in the end, even with negotiations, she always won.

Sighing, I leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead. "Ok, baby. Let's go downstairs."

Her sigh of "thank you" was the best reward ever.

RPOV

Waking up in Jacob's arms confused me a little. Disoriented was a good word for how I felt as I looked around the room that used to be Seth and Shelby's. Looking over my and Jacob's shoulders, I saw between the part in the curtains that night had fallen. We'd been out for hours.

Jacob was still out cold, snoring softly into my hair. Watching him sleep, I thought back to the last thing I remembered. We'd been next door with Caden in the hospital bed. Images played through my head of a red-eyed blonde nightmare causing pain and fear.

Jane.

She'd been behind this crap. Her and the other pack. How the hell was this happening? Had Aro or Caius sent her, them?

From downstairs, the piano sent soothing notes up through the stairs and the hallway. Jacob's song. Dad had written it back when Jacob had had to leave me to go north to make those useless negotiations. It was to let me know that he'd missed Jacob, too.

Gently, I wriggled my way out from underneath Jacob. He reached for me but I hopped out of the way so that he landed face-first into the pillow. With it being the pillow that I had been sleeping on, he buried his nose in it and pulled into his chest. Smiling, I leaned down to press a kiss to his temple. God, I loved him.

Quietly, I made my way out of the room and down the hall. Jacob's snores got louder and louder as if his body knew that it could be loud now that someone else wasn't next to him trying to sleep.

I found Dad sitting at the piano with a soft smile on his face. Sitting next to him, I rested my head on his shoulder as he played, the way I used to do back when I'd suddenly grown up.

I love you, Daddy. Since Jacob had told me that he hated it when I blocked him, I decided to keep it down unless it was necessary, so Dad was able to hear me.

He leaned over without missing a beat to kiss my hair. "Love you, too, sweetheart. How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been violated," I said honestly.

"I'm sorry, Renesmee. Carlisle wants to call Aro and talk with him."

I sat up to stare at him. "No! You can't. She isn't here. Right now it's that other pack."

"Nessie, if Caius planned behind Aro's back, he needs to know."

"Dad, listen to me. Jane is one of Aro's prized possessions. We need proof first."

He stopped playing and turned to me. "The proof is in your and Caden's minds, your memories."

I shook my head. "No, it's not us. We need proof from somewhere else."

I didn't need to say anything else. He saw the thoughts in my head, thoughts of travelling over to Europe to gather witnesses, but not of the vampire kind. We needed witnesses of the lycanthrope kind.

He shook his head. "No, Nessie. I won't let you go over there. And don't argue with me. I am still your father, and I know the dangers a lot better than you do. Caden is a good man, a good wolf, but Tristan is just the tip of the iceberg. There are worse animals out there, soulless beasts that would rip you apart."

"Not if one of their kind was with her," a British accent said from the doorway.

Dad turned to reveal Caden. The man looked terrible, but better than he had when I'd seen him in that bed. His dirty blond hair was dark brown, still wet from the shower. Dressed in sweats and nothing else, his skin was golden brown over smooth, lean muscle. Scars, both light and deep, crisscrossed over his chest and stomach. He looked like he still needed rest and a lot of food. But those amber eyes were focused and dead serious.

Dad shook his head. "No. My daughter is not going over there."

"But she's right. Witnesses of the Volturi's crimes would help build the case."

"You know," a very different voice drawled from behind me in the doorway to the kitchen. "This is starting to sound a lot like what happened after Nessie was born."

Turning, I found Paul leaning against the jamb.

"Hey, Paul," I greeted him smiling. "Long time, no see."

"Amen to that." He nodded toward me. "How're you feeling?"

I lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. "Ok, I guess. Jake's still upstairs, passed out."

He nodded. "I heard about what happened. Look, I agree that witnesses are necessary, but we gotta know if Aro was involved or not."

Dad shook his head. "He wasn't. Alice would have seen it. She's been watching him for years, back around the time that Bella saved me from…" his eyes flicked to me. "From my run-in with them."

Your suicide, I said in my head. He flinched. Sorry.

Paul's eyes flicked between us as if he sensed that we were talking. "Ok, so it wasn't him. The blond was the one that seemed to be the more aggressive of the other two."

"Caius," Dad and I said at the same time.

"Right, him."

"It very well could have been him. In fact," Dad said. "It's my theory that he made plans with Jane long before they came here that first time. They came that day to destroy us. After Alice showed Aro what would happen if he chose to keep that decision, he changed his mind because he knew that he'd have severe casualties, including himself. Aro may care about his fellow rulers, but he's a selfish creature. Caius was furious. He didn't understand the change."

Sliding off the bench, he started pacing.

"Caius and Jane must have had their Plan B ready long before they made the decision to come, though. It must have been a Plan A at some point before Aro had made the decision to come for us. Caius then told Jane to hold back. If the battle did work out, then Jane was free to work her magic. She used Caius's enemy against us, knowing that he couldn't be involved in the planning part. He'd have to be separated from all of that and Quileute wolves had lost the element of surprise."

"Fight fire with fire," Caden said, nodding.

"Exactly. But Nessie's right. No sightings or scents of Jane have been found. There's no proof that she hasn't abandoned the plan of attack. If Aro found out, he may have called her home."

"He has been thinking of Jane lately," Aunt Alice said from behind Paul. He moved to let her through the door. "I doubt he's found anything out, though. Maybe he's just wondering where she is. He's seen Alec but not Jane."

"Of course."

I stood up. "So that means we need to go to Europe."

"No," everyone said collectively.

I just stared.

"Nessie," Caden said. "Edward is right. You going over there is a bad idea."

"But-,"

"Renesmee." Mom's voice was sharp and gentle at the same time. When I turned to look at her, she came forward. "Nessie, you are not going over there. We're all right in this. Please. You might be alpha female here, but this place is friendly. But from what Caden has said about where he comes from, that place is not where I want the most precious thing in my life to end up. If Caden wants to go, then that's his choice. However, nobody in this house is going to let you go over there. You've been through a lot, and it's made you strong, but you're still safe. There, you won't be. And Jacob can't protect you. He's as lost in that world as you would be."

Looking around the room, I found that everyone agreed with her. So I nodded in defeat. It was time to take Jacob's advice. Pick my battles. I'd lost this one. And they were right. I knew nothing about the kind of wolf Caden was. I wanted to know, but not at the cost of Jacob's life for first-hand experience.

"Ok, let's stop on this topic for now. We're all tired and on-edge. And Caden looks like he's about to fall over," I said with a sympathetic smile.

"Speaking of looking like hell-," Paul started.

"I didn't say he looked like hell," I said back at him.

He shrugged. "Same diff. Anyway, why does he look worse than Nessie?"

"Because I had a nastier shock to my system than she did. Nyla's back, which means that the whole pack is back in the area. When Jacob or Seth wakes up, we need them to make an order to up the patrols again. They're sending us messages with those deer. The last time they were here, they nearly killed Nessie three times. They won't just be going after her now. Now, they'll go for whoever gets near them."

"Why us, though?" Paul asked.

"Because they've been brainwashed," Dad said.

Caden shook his head. "Actually that's not true. I've known that lot for years. All of them are pretty much soulless. Here, in America, it's harder for them to be in charge. But where we come from, we outnumber the humans. Tristan is used to being leader and scaring the humans. Here, he's got to be careful. That's why he hasn't done anything to show his sociopathy. Nyla is just as bad. And more than likely, she'll want Nessie more than Tristan will. He'll want me. And more than that, his prize would be Jacob."

"Then I'd give him the fight of his life," Jacob's voice said from behind Caden. We all turned toward him, the authority in his voice drawing all of us. "And that bitch better not touch my mate. Female or not, I'll put her in the ground."

He held his hand out to me in a way that told me he expected me to obey the silent command. The pull of him made my feet move, shuffling over the hardwood floor. Once my hand was in his, he tucked me to his side and brought my fingers to his lips.

"Are you ok?"

I nodded.

"Hungry?"

Again, I nodded.

There was something different about him now. Some hardness was there in his eyes, the way he held himself, the way he held me to him. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but he was different than he had been. A shift in him had taken place.

"Then let's get you fed. That's most important right now." He raised those dark eyes to everyone in the room. "We'll talk about all this later." His stare landed on Caden. "You're right about the patrols. Why don't you take charge of those? You know what to look for in attempts to get past our lines."

Caden nodded. "Of course."

"Good."

For a moment we all stood there. And then Mom went for the kitchen. "Esme and I will get dinner started."

With that, everybody left the room to take care of their own bits of business, leaving me with my male.

JPOV

"Jacob?" Nessie said. "Are you ok?"

I sighed. "I'm done, Nessie. I'm done being leader in name. Morgan was right."

"About what?"

"That I've been in pansy-land since you and I got together."

She pulled back as if she were startled. "What are you saying?"

I pulled her over to the bench of the piano. "What I'm saying is that I've been so busy chasing you and getting you between the sheets and my body that I haven't been leading or paying attention to my pack." She tried to pull back again, but I held her to me. "I'm not blaming you for anything. It's all me. I couldn't balance. But I am now. Your memories scared me, Nessie. You are my life, my mate, my wife. I couldn't protect you then, but I will damn sure protect you now. Derek and Adam are back to guarding you. They'll stay in the cabin with us and rotate out with Patrick and Alana. No more chances. All of those that don't fight or run patrols get guards. We have more than enough wolves to get both done. Seth and I will sit down with Caden and Edward to figure things out, to come up with a plan."

For a moment, she just sat there and stared at me. It was easy to understand her confusion. I'd made so many promises to everybody to become the Alpha or her man, and I had yet to make good on those promises. What brought on this change now was waking up without her in my arms. Every day, I was the one who woke up first out of the two of us. Without her there this time, my panic was so complete I'd had problems breathing. Waking up with her in my arms every morning was my way of keeping the proof that this life wasn't a dream, that she was real. My reality could have been taken away from me because I had taken for granted that we would always be together. Her memories and visions from earlier had changed all of that. I'd seen how close she and Caden both had come to being taken away from me and Leah. In one fell swoop, Jane would have taken away the lives of two wolves whose hearts would have still beat with a broken rhythm.

I fully expected Nessie to be angry with me for what I'd said because it had sounded like I was blaming her. But I wasn't. I was just being honest with her the way she'd made me promise. And it was time that I become my own person again, not who she expected me to be. I had decisions to make and sometimes those decisions had to be voiced as bluntly as possible.

And of course, she surprised the hell out of me by squeezing my hand and meeting me in the eye. "Fine. Then I want to be in those meetings. I am alpha female of this pack, and I have to be strong. As strong as my mate."

"Absolutely. I can't do this without you."

"You'll never have to. All you have to do is ask."

Leaning in, I planted a kiss to her lips that she returned. Then we just sat back and stared at each other, her fingers playing over the ring that she'd given me. After however many minutes had passed, Bella poked her head into the room to tell us that dinner was ready.

It wasn't until I sat down at the table that I realized Seth and Shelby weren't here. Usually they stuck around to make sure that we were ok when one or the other of us went into crisis mode.

"They went back up to their cabin," Edward said. "They had a moment and needed some time together. Embry's with them."

"Another wolf needs to be up there," I said reaching for my phone.

Emmett came in from the living room. "I need a good run. I'll go up there."

"Thanks, man." We bumped knuckles just before he took off out the kitchen door. I turned to Nessie. "When we're done, you wanna head up to the house?"

She nodded, eyes not meeting mine like she didn't know if she was allowed to. Pressing my finger under her shin, I lifted her face so that her eyes met mine.

"I'm no different, Ness. It's just me." I gave her the most Jacob-y grin I could find and shoved a forkful of food into my mouth.

She giggled and tried to hide it. "Yes, you silly dog. I wanna go home."

I grinned again with my cheeks stuffed, making me look like a squirrel.

"Good. I'll pack up the leftovers for you two to take back," Esme said through her own laugh and head shake. "I swear, the two of you are so cute it should be a crime."

"I know, right?" I said still staring at my mate.

SethPOV

Shelby met me upstairs in the kitchen after she got out of her bath. I smelled her before I saw her. She smelled like lemon and ginger. It was a nice clean scent. I pictured her in her pajamas, her hair spiky from being towel-dried.

But what I got when I turned around was a whole lot of wet skin and puffy lips. I nearly dropped the glass I was holding.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

For a moment I just stared at her stupidly, but then I remembered the glass that I had just nearly dropped but had managed to hold on to. I cleared my throat. "Uh, needed some water. You ok?"

She nodded. "Yeah. You coming back to bed?"

"Absolutely." Quickly chugging the water down, I wrapped my arms around her waist, picking her up off the floor and went for the stairs.

Once we were down into the bedroom, I gently laid her on the mussed bed. Stepping back, I just had to stare at her. Her lips were puffy from…certain activities. Breasts were heavy and warm, heavier than they had been due to the pregnancy. And though she couldn't see it yet, there was a slight bump to her stomach. What surprised me was that her core was swollen and glistening even though I'd just made love to her not twenty minutes ago.

She held her arms out to me. "I want you, Seth."

"You just had me…three times."

She blushed. "Oh, right. Um, well, I guess we can go to sleep, then. You must be tired."

Leaning over, I placed my hand on her cheek. She spread her legs so that I could stand between them. "It's not that I don't want to, Shelby. I'm just worried about the baby. Two months isn't that far along."

"You've been gentle with me all night, Seth. Just once more. Please. And then we can sleep."

She was right. Tonight, we'd been gentle. Instead of crashing thunder for orgasms, we'd been more like coasting waves on the beach with them gently rolling over us. No hard thrusting or vigorous movement. In fact, she'd stayed beneath me all night.

"Ok, but this time, you're on top. I want to watch you."

Her grin was radiant. "Deal."

Using my hand on her face as leverage, she pulled me down beside her so that she could fling a leg over my hip and roll us. The only article of clothing I had on was a towel from my shower. She made quick work of it, throwing it in the direction of the hamper.

She was slow in her attention to me, lips roaming over mine and my skin. But she was also in no mood for foreplay. It wasn't that she just wanted the sex and be done. She was after the closeness. Shelby always hated to separate when we finished because she liked the feel of the connectedness. Her hands roamed down my chest and stomach to find the hard length of me that was resting on my lower stomach. Reaching under herself, she used her wetness on my shaft to get me ready to enter her. Though she was wet, the feeling of entering her dry always felt like sandpaper.

A few soft but firm strokes, she was satisfied with her work. I knew this because her goal was always to get me to press my head back into the pillow and grip the sheets. I also knew she was ready because her weight came up off my pelvis just long enough for her to stand me up and slide her body over me.

The feel of her body like this was always sharp and deep, which caused a momentary panic for me. What if I went too deep inside of her and caused problems?

"Seth, baby, it's ok. The baby's fine. This is ok for now. We just can't let it get too vigorous."

Opening my eyes I found that she was smiling at me. "How'd you know what I was thinking?"

Leaning down over my mouth, she whispered, "Because it's you. You always worry about things like that. But I'm telling you that it's ok."

When I didn't argue, just pressed my lips to hers, she started to move. Which was pure heaven. We fit together perfectly, her body arching, rising, and falling in all of the right places to meet all my dips and valleys. As she moved, her newly heavy breasts swayed right along with her hips. But I knew I couldn't be rough. She was sensitive there for now.

Gently, I sat up so that I could capture one of her darkened nipples, lapping at it reverently as she married our bodies completely, dancing sensuously above me. But watching her move without being able to touch her was not going to work this time. I loved when she was on top of me, dominating me. She showed me that I belonged to her, which was hot as hell.

As she picked up her rhythm, my hands snaked back so that I could grip her ass, and eventually, I was the one making her dance. Kneading with my fingers, she moved and arched into the feeling until her upper body collapsed on top of mine. That was fine. I was willing to do the rest of the work.

"Oh, god, Seth. Please."

Planting my heels on the bed, I gripped her ass, dipped my hips down and then forced the two to meet. Pushing down on her body and up with my hips, I joined us, going in to the hilt of me. She gasped, digging her nails into my skin.

I had to control myself to that I didn't get too rough with her, but a subtle slapping of skin on skin was still audible as I took us both higher. She was hot, wet, and slick as she slid over me. Her core gripping me as she slid further and further into the land of orgasms and dark chasms of lust and power.

We came at the same time with me pulling out to come on her thighs so that I didn't pull one of those orgasmic hard thrusts and hurt her. She gasped my name as she came, her nails digging into me. I gritted my teeth against the pressure. This wasn't the same as coming inside of her, but it was the best I could do for now.

Once we were both wrung out, I scooted us back onto the bed, pulling the blankets with me. Though I was seriously sensitive, I made sure to sink back into the sheath of her body so that she could have me as close as possible. She was terrified that she was going to lose me, and if she wanted me close tonight, then close was what she would get.

"Seth?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you. Thank you so much for everything you've ever done or given me. I will owe you for the rest of my life."

Stroking my hands up her back, I kissed her hair. "Just stay with me, Shelby. That's all I want. Just stay here. With us."

Sighing, she snuggled lower down on my chest and under the blankets.

"Always, Seth. I will always stay with you, both of you."

Sleep sucked us both down soon thereafter. No doubt our dreams were full of our baby that was currently cocooned safely between us.

So? Yeah I know, not much of a lemon for these two at the end, but to be honest, I just don't know how pregnancy sex goes. Never been pregnant. However, I am rather pleased with the two of them, so please nobody give me details about something like that lol. And of course, Seth is always the worrier. He'd rather be cautious with something like that. Anyway, love you guys. Hopefully the next update with present itself faster. xoxoxoxoxo