Previously: "What are we going to do now that we don't have a leader or a home?"
Chapter Twenty
Jacob's POV
Everyone was stunned into silence. I guess our plan makers had forgotten about that part when they set out on this journey. To be honest, all I was focused on was getting the kids back and seeking justice for their kidnapping. I didn't much care what happened to the other experiments.
We can't just leave them here.
Why not? No one would know the difference.
We would know.
Yeah, but its not like we really signed up for this.
He's right; we had a mission and we fulfilled it. Now lets get back home…I'm starving.
Ooh, I could totally go for some of Emily's spaghetti.
Yeah, with those meatballs…
Having the added wolves in my head was driving me crazy so I ordered most of them home. Anyone under the age of eighteen and who had an imprint was allowed to leave. My pack decided to stay though since their imprints were here. That left Brady, Jared, Seth, Leah, and Embry other than myself. Now we could actually strategize.
"We've decided to bring them with us until Esme can set up a house for them." Edward informed us. "They aren't any threat to us and they don't know that you guys are werewolves, so they won't be a liability. Well, obviously, Two-Two knows, but she is just like Angel when it comes to things like this."
They think we're guard dogs? Ugh, this is demeaning. Brady whined.
What about the whole 'vampire' thing? I thought, ignoring Brady's comment.
"Max explained to them that we're sort of experiments too. And since they believe that, it won't be hard to keep up the charade." Edward explained.
Angel walked over to our group and put on her serious face. "We need help transporting them back." She stated. "Annie and the clones aren't great flyers for this long of a distance and the others aren't meant for running…well, other than Denver. He's decided to run along side you."
The horse kid thinks he can keep up? More power to him. Seth thought, his eyes trained on Angel as he thought it.
"Okay," Angel addressed us in an ordering voice. "Jacob, you have to take Will and Annie since they're both little. Brady, you take Two-Two because she's the next smallest. Seth, you take Kirby. Embry, you get Nuala. And Leah, you can carry Serenity when she gets tired of running. She says she can run with us, but I know she'll get tired in a few hours."
Various "okays" and "fine by mes" rung in my head and Angel nodded.
She joined the Flock in the air a few minutes later and Edward brought the children to me. He placed them on my back but I barely noticed the weight difference.
"Hold on to Will to keep him steady, okay Annie?" Edward asked. I felt her nodding with her movements. "It's a big responsibility…but I know you'll be able to handle it."
The three and a half year old held my now two month old son as if she were meant to do it. Guess the kid took pride in having a responsibility.
Edward's eyes twinkled as he went to join the other vampires, along with Serenity and Denver.
I know that look. I thought to him with worry. You know something that I don't know.
"Its not my place to tell." He murmured but I could hear him nonetheless.
I waited to take off until Nessie came and gave me a kiss on my wolf nose. It was our tradition since she was a young girl.
She walked over to me and buried her head in between my shoulder blade and inhaled deeply. "I thought we had lost him." She mumbled before leaning over to kiss Will's cheek. She smiled shyly at Annie before leaning forward and kissing me on the tip of my nose. "I love you."
I licked her face in response. She knew that I was just agreeing with her.
"Ew, dog slobber." She joked as she wiped her face.
"Hurry up, Nessie, we want to get home." Rosalie yelled from where the Cullens were waiting.
After Nessie joined them, it seemed like a minute before we were home again. Though it had actually taken the better part of a day to cross back over to the Washington border, it felt much shorter than the trip there.
The entire ride, Annie clung to Will and the fur on my back. It was comforting to feel a little girl on my back since it had been so long since Nessie was that age and my daughters were too independent already.
"They're home!" Collin yelled as we neared the Cullen Mansion.
We had an anxious waiting party by the time we actually entered the house.
Seth was the only wolf that stayed, as the others had other things to do, and soon it was just family and the new experiments left.
Bex had grown during the day we had been gone and looked nearly thirteen. That Double Hybrid thing was kicking in quickly and I worried for our seven month daughter. She was looking more and more like her mother everyday, though her skin was still dark like Nuahel's. Hopefully, it won't be long until she stops growing or else she'll be older than the rest of her family soon.
Emma, too, had grown and she looked two years old instead of two months. Her straight bronze hair had grown a fraction of an inch, but we would have to start monitoring her like we did to Nessie since they were both normal hybrids.
"Did Allie phase again?" I asked Ella, who had been watching the children with Collin. "She looks bigger." I added when she frowned.
"Yeah, just once." Ella admitted, Collin's arm wrapped around her. "She was outside with Bex when she thought she smelt something…I swear, that kid is the cutest puppy wolf."
Allison looked six months already and I cursed my werewolf gene. It seems like none of my kids would be normal. Even Will look a month older than he actually was, so I wondered if it was an accidental phasing or if his vampire traits were to blame. And here I thought I had one 'normal' child.
"You don't mind more house guests, do you?" Esme asked the whole Cullen/Flock/Black family. The experiments, who decided to call themselves the Crew since everyone else had a clever name, were standing around nervously.
"We should have a house set up for them in two days." Carlisle stated confidently.
"It took us that long to make the Black Mansion on La Push/Forks border and three days to make Edward and Bella's cottage." Rosalie added when everyone looked doubtful.
"Ooh, I already have an idea about what to do for the bedrooms…" Alice trailed off.
It was weird that she could see anyone from the School so much clearer than anyone in my family; mostly due to the fact that they were only 2% of whatever animal they were spliced with.
Alice's eyes snapped up to look at Max and she nodded. "I would looove to decorate your house too." She added, startling everyone.
"No, uh, that's not what I…" Max stuttered, before shaking her head. "I was actually wondering if Fang, Arian, and I could just make our room bigger. I love the Flock and all, but I need a little time with my family; especially after almost loosing them."
"Of course!" Esme nodded happily. She really was like a mother to everyone. "Do you want to put Anastasia in your room too? Angel mentioned something about her coming to live with the Flock instead of the Crew. I assumed that meant you wanted her."
"What?" Max asked in disbelief. "Why would we want to adopt her?"
"She is sort of yours…" Fang stated quietly, earning himself a glare from his wife. He held his hands up defensively. "All I'm saying is that Annie is your clone's daughter. Technically that makes you her mother since you have the same DNA as Maria."
"You can't be serious!" Max screeched. She seemed to calm down when she saw the truth and sincerity in Fang's eyes. "Do you…is this okay with you?" Max asked in a whisper.
"She has to go somewhere…" Fang stated. "might as well be with family."
"Jake," Nessie whispered to me, "lets go home."
I gathered Bex, Allie, Emma, and Will up and helped Nessie load them into my Rabbit that was still here since I had phased earlier.
It was hard to drag Will away from Annie and even Allie was crying when she was taken away from Arian. The children had been playing with colored blocks and seemed to be having too much fun to be separated from their playmates.
I also noticed that Bex seemed to be avoiding the Gasman. That I felt bad about. Until she grew so rapidly, the two had been the best of friends. Now that she was closer to Nudge and Ella's age, she didn't seem to want to have a guy friend even if they were the same age now.
That was exactly what happened to me and my sisters. The second they found friends their own age, they quit paying attention to me.
Entering our house, I felt a little spooked by the darkness of it. After being at the Cullen house, which was full of life, being alone with just my family was eerie. Now that my wife had been kidnapped, and my son too, it felt like danger was lurking on every corner.
AN: This was a bit of a filler chapter, but it was needed. Did anyone catch the foreshadowing?
