Seth hadn't been the same since he'd come back to camp from talking on the phone with Leah. Guess that meant that this Emily chick was actually dead, not that James was surprised Murdock was right, Murdock was always right, but his timings weren't precise. It could've been a warning of something yet to come, yet it would've come, no matter how much anyone tried to stop it from happening. As soon as the words had left Murdock's lips, this Emily chick's fate had been sealed. Seth didn't know Murdock like James did, so the vampire didn't blame the wolf for his non-belief, for his hope, but he didblame him for the depression clearly wafting off of him.

They were far from… that place… by now. James had wanted to put as much distance between them and it as possible. He hadn't looked for Garrett or Riley, those two were on their tail, trying to stay downwind, and if it wasn't for Murdock's telling James they'd be there for the final showdown with Laurent (and the fact that James was just way too good at tracking - and knew those two better than to believe they'd just give up) well, he might've missed their scent. Might've. Probably wouldn't have. But might've.

It all depended on just how distracted he'd allowed himself to get with Seth's mood. This was not the wolf he was used to. Sure, James didn't know Seth all that much, but he knew him enough. The kid was nice and enthusiastic and, damn it, sweet. Seth had put up with a lot of bullshit from James, a lot, and nothing had broken him. Not his ex pack. Not temporary banishment from Forks. Not dealing with James' attitude. Not anything he'd seen in that place. Not… not what James had done to him.

Nothing.

Nothing affected him like the death of this Emily chick.

James broke the twig he'd been holding as he stared at Seth.

Just who was this Emily chick anyway? And yes, he probably didn't need to keep calling her 'this Emily chick' but he couldn't think of referring to her any other way. He didn't know who she was, what she looked like, or what sort or relationship she'd had with Seth. She was just 'this Emily chick' to him.

Whoever she'd been, she'd obviously meant something to Seth, the wolf had been unbalanced ever since Murdock had announced her death, and now that Leah had no doubt confirmed the news he looked very much like an empty shell. He hadn't cried, but he really hadn't done anything.

Unlike the chatterbox who'd annoyed James with his constant conversation, Seth now stared in front of him at nothing, in total silence. He'd been doing this far too long now. It unnerved James. It upset him. Sure, the vampire had prayed to any unholy god all the other nights for Seth to just shut up, but now that he'd gotten his wish he was surprised at how much it bothered him.

"You didn't Imprint on her," was out of James' mouth before he even realized he was speaking.

Seth's gaze jolted up from the ground to stare at him in obvious confusion. "What?"

"This Emily chick was your old Alpha's girl, wasn't she?" When Seth nodded wordlessly, James continued. "So that means he Imprinted on her, which means you didn't." He stabbed the ground with the jagged ends of his sticks. "Which means you shouldn't be this torn up about some girl's death."

"She wasn't 'some girl''," Seth whispered, a hint of menace in his tone.

It really irked James. He'd purposely provoked the wolf for ages during this trip and had gotten no form of reaction from him, and yet now that he was actually trying to help he was getting lip from him?

What was so special about this Emily chick?

"Was she pretty?" James didn't really want to know yet couldn't keep from asking. "I'm imagining some tiny cutesy girl."

"Why do you want to know?" Seth was apparently not going to answer. Since when had he become the asshole out of the? "You don't even care that she's dead."

"Why should I?" James wanted to know. "As far as I can tell she was always going to die so Sam can some day bone some poor vampire. No use crying over spilt milk. Or blood, in this instance."

"James," Seth whispered softly. "Shut the hell up."

Normally James wouldn't take that shit, but there was something in Seth's voice, in the flicker in his eyes, that warned him he was on thin ice and to tread slowly. Something in James reacted to that, strongly, and his instinctual reaction pissed him off even more.

"Go home."

"What?" Seth looked up at him, once more in confusion, his voice croaking with the question, with emotion.

"You're no use to me the way you are, all emotional and depressed, distracted," James muttered despite the inner voice telling him to shut the hell up - that voice sounded a lot like Seth. God James really was a sonofabitch to this particular werewolf, and he didn't understand why. That was the worse part, he couldn't rationally explain his reactions when it came to the shifter, and it annoyed him further, frustrated him. "All you're going to do is get us both killed."

"I'm not—-."

"Yes, you are." James cut in as he clenched the twigs tighter. "Look, you're right, I don't care that this Emily chick is dead, but you do. You care a lot. So go back to Forks and mourn her with your sister and the others who do care. I don't need you to stay."

"Laurent—."

"You heard what Murdock said, Riley and Garrett will be there when I face Laurent, I don't need you to be there too. They are more than enough to finish what I've started." James rested his forearms against his knees, refusing to look at the wolf because he knew he was being a hugeasshole right now yet couldn't stop himself for some reason. "You've done good, Seth, you came this far, way farther than I thought you would, especially given how I've been treating you. But it ends here. The next town we get to you're getting on a bus back to Fork."

"No, I'm not." That was said very low, very growl-like. "I'm your pack, James, not them. Just because you're away from Jacob and are around your old buddies doesn't mean you're allowed to conveniently forget that."

"Look, I haven't forgotten anything." James wasn't exactly sure how this conversation had turned on him so quickly. "I'll come back once it's done. So just go back."

"Sure you will," Seth chuckled darkly in a way James had never thought he could. "Now that you know you don't have a chance in hell with Jacob I'm sure you'll be rushing to come back and - what did you call it - watch the love of your life be forever happy with someone else?"

Damn it, that hit a nerve. "That's none of your business."

"Really?" Seth smiled, it was way too cynical a smile to be on Seth's face. It looked wrong on his face. "How I see it, I've been shoved face-first into your damned business, so yeah, it's become my business by default."

Huh? What the hell was he talking about?

Ahhh. Right. Because of everything going on Seth had been sent on this adventure, hadn't he? Jacob had made this potential suicide mission Seth's problem. The wolf was right. If it wasn't for Jacob, and for James, Seth would've been back home, and in his mind he probably would've been able to do something to save Emily. In the least he'd be able to properly mourn. It made sense now.

"Well, I'm doing what I should've done the second Jacob partnered us together," James informed him, feeling even more guilty about the whole situation and that made him pissed off even more. "I'm vetoing your participation." He slammed the jagged ends of the twigs into the ground before looking up and finally meeting Seth's gaze. "Go home, Seth. I mean it. Go home."

"No."

James blinked at the calm behind the word. "What?"

"I said: no." Seth stared at him with wolf eyes, his hands clenched at his sides, both shaking with the force with which he held them closed. "You do not get to throw some sort of tantrum just because I can't take the news of my cousin's death like some emotionless zombie. I'm doing my best here, I'll get myself under control and—-."

And then James realized just how much of an asshole he truly was.

He groaned, instinctively covering his face with his hands as he lowered his head.

"…James?" Seth asked in a confused yet wary tone.

"Cousin." James trailed the hands covering his face up, running his fingers through his head. "She was your cousin."

"Yes." Seth stared at him in wary hesitation. "Emily is, was, my second cousin."

"And you two were close." James closed his eyes tightly.

"Since childhood."

"Oh for crying out loud!" James clenched his fingers through his own hair while tilting his head up to glare at the sky. "I didn't realize she was your family."

There was a pause. "Would it have mattered?"

"Yes." James let out a groan as he finally let go of his own hair and lowered his gaze to meet Seth's, which was less closed off than it had been the last time he'd looked at him. "If anything happened to Victoria…" He let out a deep breath at the very thought as he met those wolf-eyes. "I'm sorry for your loss."

Seth just stared at him, as if unable to believe it, before he let out a soft sigh, a sad smile on his face as he lowered his head and shook it for some reason. His hair fell in his face, hiding his expression from the blonde.

Honestly, just how many times was James going to do wrong by Seth? He was surprised the wolf didn't hate him by now. Or, well, maybe he did. Maybe Seth really hated him but was just that loyal to Jacob to act on his feelings.

James wouldn't blame him if that were the case.

He really wouldn't.

He wouldn't like it, but he wouldn't blame Seth at all.

"Why does it matter that she was my family?" Seth wouldn't look up, his face covered by his hair.

James opened his mouth and then closed it. He did it again, and again, before he groaned once more. Just what the hell was wrong with him? It was a simple question!

"Victoria and I killed our father once we turned," James found himself saying, surprising not only Seth but himself. He didn't know why the hell he was telling the werewolf this, he really didn't want to tell Seth this, and yet he couldn't stop himself. "He was a real sonofabitch. He was the cause of all our suffering from childhood, either first hand or by proxy. Because of our father I was murdered, Victoria—she was worse than murdered. She would've preferred to have been murdered. It's why her special vampire ability is to hide herself, to keep from being found, because the only moments of peace she had were when she could remain hidden." James clenched his fists. "I kept finding her, no matter what he did to her, where he took her, who he sold her to. Maybe that's why my ability is tracking."

Seth was incredibly silent, his face expressionless yet his eyes incredibly wide.

"I know what it is like to have shitty family, and to have beloved family," James sighed as he broke eye contact with Seth and stared up at the stars in the sky. "If you are this broken up about her, Emily was the latter, and I am sorry you had to not only lose her, but that you had to find out about it the way you did, especially given how much of an asshole I am."

There was more silence before Seth cleared his throat. "Thank you."

"I never told Garrett or Riley about what happened to my sister and I while we were still human, no one in my old coven knew about this, only Victoria and I," James added, not sure why he needed Seth to know that. "I know what pack I belong to, Seth."

More silence, then a very emotionally charged: "Good."

"So you should go back home."

"I will punch you, you know."

Despite it all, James chuckled as he faced Seth once more. This was more like the cheeky wolf he knew. "Go home and mourn with your family, Seth. You're allowed this, Jacob wouldn't think any less of you for going. He'd understand. If anything had happened to his sister he would've gone back too. He won't hold it against you."

Seth's face darkened almost instantly. "What does Jacob have to do with any of this?"

"Excuse me?" James blinked, surprised that thiswas what had annoyed the wolf again, especially when he was trying to be considerate of his feelings. Why was it that whenever he tried to be nice he always seemed to tick Seth off?

"You keep bringing him up, over and over again, no matter the topic," Seth whispered angrily as his gaze lowered to the ground once more. "I'd just like one conversation with you where you didn't talk about him!"

James blinked, and then blinked, and blinked again, because, what the hell? Why would talking about Jacob bother Seth? They were both in Jacob's pack, he was the one thing they actually had in common, it made sense to talk about him. So why did it bother Seth? Especially since Sethhad been the first one to mention Jacob's name! Not James! So why was he pissed at him for it?

'I see all, you see nothing.'

Murdock's words had confused James back there, but he'd brushed them off for now as there'd been more pressing matters to attend to, but they came back with full force now. There was obviously something else going on here, something James hadn't picked up on yet. It had to have been important, otherwise Murdock wouldn't have brought the issue up in the first place.

'How does the puppy put up with you?'

Okay. So. Obviously James was at fault here for something. But what? Sure, he knew he was a pain in the neck, that was his character on default, but this had to be more than normal annoyance, right?

What had the puppy on his last nerve? Sure, his cousin was dead, but James had noticed him acting off from before that news had been known. At what point had Seth started acting odd?

Around the time Murdock mentioned I'd been a candidate for Jacob's Imprint.

Now that he thought about it, Seth had gotten more and more angsty as the conversation had gone on. And then he'd made that speech about James and his feelings for Jacob being real, that feelings not being reciprocated didn't make them any less real or valid. James had never really seen Seth in the way he had until he'd heard that speech, and it'd touched him, nothing touched him much nowadays but Seth…

…Seth sounded like he understood what it meant to be in love with someone who wasn't in love with him.

And then it hit James.

Oh gods. How had he not even thought of it as a possibility?

Seth had done the impossible and broken away from his Alpha to join Jacob's pack despite the fact that there were vampires - his sworn enemies - in it. He hadn't even blinked or questioned Jacob's command for him to go with James, and he'd fought going back home no matter how much James had tried to bully him into it. He was coming on this (possibly, but not) suicide mission, wouldn't return, had pushed himself to do things, allow things, so that he could be an equal to James (not only in the mission but in life) and refused to go home despite everything the was going on. He'd reacted defensively to Murdock's story about Jacob, Edward and James - as well as the mention of the possibility of James and Jacob being together. That reaction had only doubled when Murdock hadn't thought much about James' one-sided feelings for Jacob. Seth didn't want James talking about Jacob.

How could I have been so blind?

James hung his head low with a groan, unable to believe he'd missed what had been so obvious.

Puppy's in love with Jake.

"I think I understand you a bit better now," Seth muttered, softly, still unhappily though.

"Huh?" James looked up at him, trying to wrap his head around what Seth must be going through. Sure, James wasn't happy with the situation between Jacob and Edward but he could accept it. He'd had heartache and pain in his life, he was used to it. But Seth seemed to be getting all the blows lately and he didn't deserve it.

"I think I get why you hunted humans after turning," Seth replied, apparently having decided to change the subject from Jacob. Not that James could blame him. He must be hurting something fiercely knowing Jacob had chosen Edward. "Your father was human, and while I don't know the extent of what he put you and Victoria through, from the little you've told me - he was a monster. He got you killed. He hurt your sister. I get why you killed him, I understand why you killed him, and why you wouldn't see anything wrong with continuing to kill humans." He frowned. "I don't like it, I don't like any of it, but I understand it."

James just stared at Seth. This was definitely not where he'd seen the conversation going, especially not after the way Seth had snapped at him earlier. Honestly. He'd thought he'd had the cute, kind Native American pegged but he really didn't. Seth was a whole bag of mysteries.

"That first time you came to Forks I could smell you all the way from LaPush, you know that?" Seth ran his fingers through his long hair in clear agitation. "And then the aftermath - the killings - the disappearances - I couldn't get how someone who'd once been human could do something like this to others. It kept me up all night. I was distracted all the time wondering how someone who smelt like you could do the things you did."

The vampire didn't get the correlation between scent and actions, but he didn't interrupt, fascinated by this view into Seth's psyche.

"I think I get it now, a little," Seth mumbled softly. "And I also get why you wouldn't want to talk about it with anyone, but if you want to, need to, get anything off your chest I'm here." He took in a deep breath and raised his wolf-eyes to meet James'. "You can talk to me about anything, tell me anything, and I won't judge you, James."

It was hard to breathe. James didn't need to breathe, but it helped with tracking so he did, which was why he noticed how hard it was to breathe all of a sudden. He didn't get it. Didn't get Seth. Why in the world was he such a nice person? James had never met anyone like this wolf before. Even Jacob had hesitated to help James and Victoria at first. But not Seth. Seth never hesitated. Seth threw himself in head-first no matter the situation.

He laughed darkly, unable to hold that gaze as he lowered his own to the ground. "Don't be so nice, puppy. You'll only get used and taken advantage of."

Seth let out a deep breath. "I won't get taken advantage of."

"You're too nice to realize guys like me aren't decent, you seem to think I am, but I'm not." James smiled darkly, self-depreciatingly. He didn't want Seth to excuse his behavior before. Sure, James and Victoria had been hurt, but they'd had decades of hurting others as well, many of which he knew weren't monsters of their own making. He didn't want Seth to think he was a monster, but he couldn't let him think he was just some misunderstood vampire with a sad past. He'd done horrible things to innocent people, he'd become a monster. He'd lived as a monster for many years. It was just something he'd have to come to terms with. "I'm not a good guy, Seth, don't think I am. I might be trying to be better, but deep down inside I'm still the same monster I once was, I just have to fight my desires now." He tilted his head with a sneer. "You were so nice, pouring your heart out and being so accepting, so forgiving of my past misdeeds, not at all knowing that your doing so just made me want to push you down again."

Seth froze, eyes wide.

"So, don't get me wrong, I'm not a good guy, and you should just keep your guard up when you're around me from now on," James muttered as he shifted so he was lying on his back, gaze on the stars.

"Is the magic still affecting you?" Seth asked oddly.

James should've just kept his mouth shut, shouldn't he? "No. We're long out of its reach."

There was more silence, and then: "But you still want to…"

"I'm apparently gayer than I realized," James muttered, still trying to wrap his own head around it. He'd thought it was just Jacob, but after, with Seth, he, uh, he really wouldn't mind doing that again - doing him again. And that just pissed him off even more. This was Seth Clearwater! Puppy! Leah's brother! Jacob's Omega! He should not be imagining shoving the wolf down and having his wicked way with him!

"Then why don't you do it?"

James didn't quite understand that at first, and then he did, and he jolted up, leaning up on his elbows as he stared at Seth in perplexity, sure he'd misheard that. "Excuse me?"

"We're both guys, alone, and in need of, uh, distraction." Seth cleared his throat, his breathing odd as he finally met James' gaze. "If you—I wouldn't mind—I mean—I could use a distraction."

Wait, was the puppy saying what he thought he was saying?

"We both got bad news tonight, didn't we?" Seth shifted onto his knees and crawled towards James until he was right there in front of him, and then, with only a second's hesitation, he straddled James' body. "I can't—when you—my mind went blank." He took in a deep breath as a blush began to climb its way up his neck. "I would really like not to think for the rest of tonight."

James' breath caught in his throat, his eyes wide on Seth despite the chuckle he heard escape his own lips. "The rest of tonight? You really think you could keep up, puppy?"

That blush darkened on his skin as Seth unbuckled James' pants to free him. "How about you, gramps?"

A snorted laugh escaped James' lips, the pup tearing all sorts of reactions from him. "You're socute."

A glare darkened the blush. "I'm not cu—-!" His eyes widened and a gasp tumbled from his mouth as James ripped his shorts from the waist all the way down to its seat. "Did you just—-?" He twisted slightly to look back, no doubt seeing the huge tear down the back of his shorts.

"I'll buy you new ones," James promised as he pulled Seth down to claim his lips. The vampire swallowed Seth's whimpers as he cold hand trailed teasingly slow down his spine to the territory now exposed by the torn shorts. Seth's skin was boiling to the touch, it was divine. James hadn't felt warm since he'd turned, but the heat wafting off of Seth more than heated him up. It was new, it was pleasant, and it made him shiver for some reason.

"James," Seth whimpered against his lips as he arched his back, raising his hips into the vampire's touch.

The blonde's throat went absolutely dry. He might've snapped a little, because before he even new what he was doing he'd torn at the remainder of the shorts until it was completely separated, two bits of material gathering at Seth's knees, the wolf bare for him. It didn't hit him that Seth seemed to have lost his underwear somewhere, that the wolf was bare under the shorts. He'd think about it later while reminiscing on what had happened, for right now he was way too lost in the desire burning deep within his stomach.

Despite the fire coursing itself through his veins, James was still cogent enough to worry. Sure, Seth had that werewolf healing factor, but still, his first time hadn't been that long ago. He would still be sore, this could hurt him. The vampire found Seth's quivering core and slid his thumb down and over it, surprised to find it still slick with some of his essence. He'd thought Seth would've used the swim back to wash himself properly.

He tested, slipping his finger inside of Seth slowly.

Seth's body nearly gave out on him. Like before, he let out a sound that made James hurt as he tore his lips from James' and instead hid his face in the vampire's neck. This new position left his body further arched, his thighs further parted. When James shifted his finger inside, and eased another with as well, Seth let out a low whine as he further slid his thighs apart.

"You're so cute, Seth," James praised into his hair, admittedly a little overwhelmed at the wolf's instant submission and his own reaction to it.

"Shut… up." Seth's voice was muffled, guttural, and when James twisted his fingers the wolf's hips trembled in response. "M'not… cute."

"But you are," James persisted as a third finger teased around the entrance to Seth's quivering core. "So cute." He nibbled on Seth's ear through his long, messy hair, feeling the wolf clench around his fingers instantly in response. "Soft skin, pretty hair…" He slowly eased that third finger inside Seth, loving the sound the wolf made as he did so. "You smell so good." Has Seth always smelt this good? James couldn't remember, all he knew was Seth smelt good, he smelt really good. "And the sounds you make? Those little breaths? Those little whimpers?" He groaned, his cock straining with need just at the thought. "You're so cute." He twisted his fingers, spreading them inside him.

Seth sobbed breathlessly as he gripped James' shoulders, a shudder violently and visibly racing through his body. "I'll only—!" He gasped and squirmed, arching and curling his back instinctively, moving against James' fingers.

"You'll only what?" James was desperate to cling onto anything to buy himself time to ease Seth open and not just take him like he had before.

"Compromise," Seth breathed out desperately, his face somehow hotter than the rest of his body as he hid it in the curve of James' neck. "You can only… call me that… while you're… inside… me."

Something snapped inside of James. It was physical. He could feel it, hear it, snapping. He had no idea what the hell it was, but damn it, it freaking snapped.

Slipping his fingers out of Seth, James grabbed the wolf and pulled him downwards, ready to direct him further down his body, to lower him onto his cock and claim the right given to him through Seth's willingness to compromise.

James' phone rang.

It was the time for their regular 'daily debriefing call', as Seth called it when he was at his most sulky (which usually happened after he'd argued with Leah on the phone for like an hour or so). They both knew who the caller was: Jacob.

Seth tensed immediately and turned to look in the direction of the phone. His face scrunched up and he lowered his head. White teeth were clenched in what was almost a growl. His hair hung in his face, bathing it in further shadow and somehow accenting the near golden glow in his eyes as his inner wolf manifested itself in those orbs.

The reaction was really shocking and jolting, until James remembered Seth's feelings for their Alpha. He was shocked at how kicked in the stomach he felt at that second.

"The ring's annoying," Seth whispered softly as he closed his eyes tightly. "Just answer it already."

"Ignore it," James found himself saying.

Seth's eyes flew open, confusion and frustration were visible there. "What—?"

And then James tightened his grip on Seth's hips and pulled the unsuspecting wolf down, connecting their bodies as one.

Seth's whole body reacted, his back tensing, his thighs spreading, his head thrown back and his hands gripping at James' body for balance as he was speared. That flush was back and darker than ever, his eyelids half closed, his lips parted, his breathing accelerated as he stared down at James in open confusion.

James trailed one hand slowly up Seth's body to cup the side of his burning face. "You so cute, Seth." And with that he thrusted up into the wolf's lean, quivering body. "You're so cute."

Something happened on Seth's face but James didn't have time to really inspect the flitter of emotion as Seth leaned into James' palm and shifted so as to nibble it, his tongue and teeth playing a game against James' skin, one which sent shivers of delight down his stomach.

Seth wasn't cute, he was fucking adorable!

The ringing played out but honestly seemed drowned out in James' ears. By what? No clue. Once they were done he'd call their Alpha and assure him they were fine, but nothing, no phone call, would interrupt right now, not when pleasure coursed down through James' body like lightning. He'd been inside of Seth before but somehow, while that had been great, this felt different. This felt better. This felt, this felt amazing. Intoxicating. This was something James would want to feel again, something he could very easily become obsessed with.

The thought terrified him, especially given the fact that he was incredibly obsessive, it was his nature. If he wasn't careful—.

"Oh g-gods," James stuttered as Seth rolled his hips, slowly, torturously slowly. That lightening was catching fire and burning James from the inside with each movement.

"You like that?" Seth asked softly, almost timidly.

Adorable. Painfully adorable.

"Show me what you like," Seth gasped in a deep breath and shivered as he leaned into his knees, shifting his rolls into a more circular motion that allowed James to carve him out inside.

"What I like…" James shifted his arm under his own head to prop it up so he could better see the werewolf writhing on top of him. "I like watching you blush all over your body, even here." He reached down and trailed his fingertip upwards underneath Seth's shaft. "I like that sound you just made, and how you're dripping even more now. I like how hard you are just because I'm inside you, how your cock trembles with just the barest of touches."

"Touch it more," Seth nearly begged.

"So fucking cute." James took Seth in hand, savoring the sobs that escaped the wolf at his touch. He stroked him, slowly at first, gaining momentum, watching as Seth very quickly unravelled on top of him, losing all control and momentum until he'd lost track of his movements and was merely reacting, his body jerking uncontrollably as goosebumps rippled over his flesh.

And with one last tug Seth was suddenly shivering and sobbing as warmth spurted all over James. The wolf didn't seem to notice, his eyes screwed shut, his body still moving beyond his control.

Not adorable. Sexy. As. Hell.

James grunted as Seth's body clenched around him, clearly begging for him to join in release. His hand shot up and grabbed a fistful of that silky hair, yanking Seth down, surprising the unprepared werewolf by kissing him, hard. Just as hard as he was now thrusting into him.

Seth shifted above him, basically lying on James' body, as he returned the kiss. He arched his back, opened his body as best he could in that position, and took each thrust with a guttural sob which James eagerly swallowed.

The vampire let go of Seth's hair to instead grab his asscheeks, spreading them as his thrusts grew quicker, more urgent.

Seth must've misunderstood somehow because he snarled warningly against James' lips. "Don't cum outside."

James came. He freaking came. The vampire slammed inside of Seth, aching to be further inside, fully inside, deep inside. Pleasure rippled throughout his body like an explosion, leaving him lightheaded and his ears ringing as he filled Seth's body with his seed. Even as he shuddered in aftershocks of toe-curling pleasure he wanted more, more. He wanted it with the same intensity he craved the hunt.

The realization terrified him.

No! No! He had to stop while he still had reason - while he could still control himself! He had to push Seth off of him while he—.

Seth rolled them over so James was now on top of him, nestled between his thighs, still anchored deep inside of the wolf's body. The blush from before was scarlet now as he wrapped his legs around James' body, pulling him deeper within.

That feeling rippled blindingly through James as he lost all control or reason, and leaned down to kiss Seth.

…

"He's not answering." Jacob listened to James' voicemail and decided at the last second not to leave a message. He hung up the call, texted James a quick message to call them back when he had a chance, and turned to find Edward, Leah, Victoria and Bella all watching him oddly. "What?"

"I'm just surprised he let the call go to voicemail," Victoria muttered from where she lounged on the loveseat next to Bella. "Usually he picks up your calls immediately. I can see him ignoring anyone else, me included, but not you."

Edward glanced away, clearly annoyed yet not saying anything.

"Maybe they're in danger," Leah muttered as she nibbled on her thumbnail, her eyes still pink from the tears she refused to admit to anyone that she'd cried.

"I'm sure they're fine," Bella whispered in her soft voice. "Alice would've seen something otherwise and let us know. I—I asked her to keep an eye out for them."

"But you said she's blind to wolves," Leah countered worriedly as she looked up at Bella from where she sat on the ground with her back against Victoria' legs. "Maybe Seth's being there is blinding her to what's happening."

Bella cleared her throat and lowered her gaze to her hands.

Edward looked up at her in surprise. "Really?"

Bella blinked and looked at him. "I thought you couldn't read my mind!"

"I—uh—-," Edward faltered as he blinked. "I couldn't. I—I don't know why—-." He stopped, concentrated, and then his eyes widened. "I can hear every thought. Before it was really muddy, like there was some sort of shield keeping me from really getting a read of you, your dad's like that too… but now… it's like a door's been open. I hadn't even realized it until you mentioned it."

Bella blinked. "How long do you think it's been since your ability's gotten stronger?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "I know I couldn't read you when I first returned." He ran his fingers through his hair. "Maybe, if I had to pick when, I'd say…" He then went absolutely red, which was shocking given the fact that vampires usually went paler when they blushed. Just what the hell was going on here? What was happening to Edward?

"What is it?" Jacob sat down next to his Imprintee and placed his hand on his, squeezing tightly. "Whatever it is we'll get through it together."

Edward cleared his throat. "I think it started the night James left. You know—the first night I've slept since I turned."

Jacob's eyes widened, understanding what Edward wasn't saying. That was the night they'd—-that was when the matching golden symbols had appeared on their bodies. Ever since then things had changed between him and the vampire, they'd thought the whole sleeping-vampire thing a weird side effect of whatever this version of the Imprint was, but had it also enhanced Edward's ability to read minds? If so, what else was changing? And why?

Was Edward okay? Would any of these changes harm him?

"I'm okay." Edward shifted his hand so that he was squeezing Jacob's as well. "And anyway, if Bella's right, I'm not the only vampire changing."

"What does he mean, Bellsy?" Victoria wanted to know.

Bella cleared her throat. "Alice is starting to see glimpses of the wolves. It's not strong like when humans and vampires are involved, but she's starting to see them nonetheless. They get a little clearer, last a little longer, every time." She bit her bottom lip, clearly wondering just how much she should reveal about what Alice had seen. "She'd know if they couldn't handle what they were going up against."

"The fact that a vampire can actually see our future based on our decisions is terrifying," Leah muttered as she leaned back harder against Victoria's legs. "But thank you for asking her to keep an eye out on them. You didn't have to do that."

Bella suddenly smiled. "You guys are part of our pack, of course I'd want to make sure they were both safe!"

Leah sighed and eyed Bella before finally smiling at the other girl for probably the first time ever.

Bella practically beamed in response.

Jacob smiled as he witnessed Leah finally accepting Bella. He knew how much his best friend actually needed that acceptance from the female werewolf, and he was relieved to finally see her get it. That didn't take away from his curiosity and apprehension about what was going on though. Why were vampires changing? And were wolves changing as well?

He needed answers but who could give them to him?

The Alpha stared down at his phone and sighed.

You two better be safe, and getting along.

If only he knew.