What exactly had been used to reinforce this house? It was being assaulted on every side by a pack of werewolves, and yet while the walls and the panels over the windows shook (the glass on the other side breaking loudly) the walls were holding up. The pack outside didn't seem close to giving up though, if anything their attacks were getting stronger and stronger. They'd get inside eventually, and what exactly would happen then?

Chelsea couldn't affect the bonds of the werewolves, not with Leah so close. And she was trying, she really was. If she could just break free of whatever hold Leah's presence had on her powers the vampire would be able to start working on breaking apart the Rez Wolves' pack. It wouldn't stop the attack, but it might cause some to leave – or at least weaken the attack, disorient the wolves outside and give those inside the advantage they sorely needed.

Maybe if she put some distance between her and Leah she could get enough control over her own power to be able to - and yet as soon as she shifted to move away Leah grabbed Chelsea's arm and yanked her protectively behind her. The vampire gulped and remained where she was, both cursing Leah's apparent protective nature, and reveling in it. She glanced over at the redheaded vampire to smirk her with superiority, only to notice the amusement on the redhead's face as she gave Chelsea a thumbs up.

Okay, apparently the bond Chelsea had felt was platonic. It was still strong though, so while she wasn't going to make enemies of the redhead she'd still keep a close eye on her.

A particularly loud thud hit the door, causing a small crack to appear.

It was starting.

They were going to get in.

Suddenly Edward looked up, eyes wide. "Jake."

"Yeah?" The Alpha asked from his side, standing right in front of the cracking door, preparing to take on whoever broke it down and came through first.

"It's James and Seth," Edward quickly explained.

Leah turned to Edward in horror. "TELL me my little brother isn't-!"

And then a wolf cried out in pain, and then another, and another, and a fight broke out outside the door.

"Stay in here!" Jake snapped as his clothes and skin tore away, revealing the wolf beneath, and yet he wasn't the only one, Leah had shoved Chelsea away and was in the middle of shifting as well.

This was the first time Chelsea had seen Leah's transformation. It was awesome.

Edward undid the locks and opened the door, allowing Jacob and Leah to race out, quickly followed by Victoria, Embry and Quil (also in wolf form) – it would seem none of Jacob's pack were obeying his order to stay behind because suddenly the door was shut closed, and the Volturi vampires – as well as Colin and Brady – were the only ones remaining.

"We need to help them," Colin whispered as all out war broke out behind the door.

Jane, who had been petting that rabbit, reached out and grabbed him by the nape of his neck. "No." She sounded as if she was speaking to a badly behaved puppy.

Chelsea felt Leah's ability to shut down her powers weakening, and the second it did she raced up the steps and yanked off the boards protecting the windows in the bedroom which smelt of Leah. The vampire ignored the sounds of Jane and Colin arguing down below and instead peered down at the pack below. Leah's pack was outnumbered, even with the newcomers, it was an unfair fight, so Chelsea was going to have to do something about it.

Time to even out the odds.

Narrowing her eyes, she leaned as far out of the window as she could while letting her weakened power work, targeting the wolves that did not belong to Leah's pack, and working on breaking their allegiance to their Alpha and to each other. Normally she'd be able to do this quicker, but with Leah still around Chelsea was forcing every little speck of her power out.

Another wolf, this time younger, raced out of the house and into the fray.

Despite never having seen Colin in his wolf form Chelsea was more than sure that this was him, partly because the arguing had stopped downstairs, and partly because Jane now stood next to her, glaring down into the battlefield. A huge wolf turned on the much younger wolf but didn't manage to pounce on him because he was suddenly rolling on the ground whining.

Jane's stone silence dared Chelsea to comment on what she was doing, but to be honest Chelsea really didn't care, she had her own wolf to look out for. Demetri appeared behind them, and peeked down at the battle with mild interest. He was also smart enough not to comment when he realized that any wolf that came after Colin ended up rolling around in the ground in pain. It wasn't to the degree that Chelsea knew Jane capable of, so that meant Colin had to affect her powers like Leah did Chelsea's – which only confirmed her suspicion about the vampire x werewolf Imprinting being true.

Below, another young wolf – most probably Brady – jumped on top of one of the other newly changed wolves who'd been about to pounce on Victoria from behind.

Chelsea and Jane didn't acknowledge each other's presence or activities as they stood at the window, protecting their wolves.

Half of these wolves must've Changed while he and Seth were on the road, because James didn't recognize most of them. He didn't get what was going on – why they were attacking his home and pack given that the last he'd heard they were supposed to be in alliance, but honestly he didn't really care. These assholes had hurt Seth, and the idea of not getting back at them and giving them the same treatment once he got back had really rubbed him the wrong way. So he was more than glad that he was able to fight and get some of his pent up aggression out.

DON'T KILL THEM!

Somehow he'd heard Jake's command in his head, which was freaking weird and unexpected, but he had heard it, which was why he'd been forced to just hurt the wolves yet keep from actually killing them. That sucked.

Suddenly the wolves started to run away (or limp away in some cases). It was all sudden and incredibly unexpected. James looked around him, wondering what could've prompted it, but Garrett, Riley and Victoria all looked just as confused as he felt. Edward though? He looked shocked.

"You're amazing!" Brady told Victoria breathlessly, eyes wide, clearly in awe of her. "You're a thing of nightmares on the battleground."

"Are they getting more reinforcements?" Riley asked in confusion as he ran his hands through his hair.

All around them, the Black Pack (which also seemed to have grown since James and Seth went on their road trip) slowly began to morph back into their human bodies.

"What happened, Edward?" James asked instead. "What did you hear?"

Edward cleared his throat. "I think-."

Suddenly James had an armful of Victoria, who hugged him tightly for a second before pushing away and slapping him.

"What kind of idiot are you?" His sister snapped, apparently very pissed. "You were clearly outnumbered! You don't attack wolves when you're clearly outnumbered!"

"I would like to point out that I said the exact same thing when he pitched the idea to us," Garrett muttered, the traitor.

"Garrett! Riley!" Victoria grinned and hugged them both. "I'm glad you two are safe."

James rolled his eyes and turned to Edward, about to ask him, once more, what exactly he'd heard-when suddenly a wolf barreled into James' chest and knocked him down. His eyes widened in horror, unable to believe he'd forgotten about Leah, who was now standing on his chest and snarling down into his face, teeth showing and very ready to tear his neck out. James closed his eyes tightly and readied to meet death-again.

Suddenly the weight was gone and he opened his eyes in time to see Leah hit the ground next to him. She'd apparently been thrown off of James by Seth, who was not only still in his wolf form, but was standing over James' body and growling at his sister.

Leah hurried to her feet and snapped her teeth at her brother, growling and barking,

Seth's hair stood on end as he snapped/barked/growled right back at her.

Leah snarled.

Seth growled.

Leah went still, eyes wide. She turned her eyes on James for the longest time before looking up at Seth and whining.

Seth huffed, sounding tired and defeated.

Edward's eyes were wide, and as usual, the useless mind reader wasn't sharing anything of what he was gleaning with the rest of them.

"Leah?!" A female voice could be heard asking as a vampire James didn't recognize hurried towards Leah's side, clearly confused and worried.

Leah huffed and sat on her hind-legs, motioning with her head towards the girl who was currently running her fingers over Leah's pelt in worry, clearly looking for injuries.

Seth wagged his tail before sitting down on top of James.

Edward bit his bottom lip, clearly amused.

"Seth." James tried pushing the wolf off of him to no avail. "You're reallyheavy in this form!"

"Seth, honey? Can I have my brother back please?" Victoria asked in a sickeningly sweet tone, which proved she was up to no good. She smiled with the purity of a Disney princess to Seth when he got up from James, and that smile belied the strength of her grip as she grabbed James by the back of his jacket and not only yanked him to his feet, but dragged him behind her as she stormed into the house.

"What the hell, Vicki?" James complained as Victoria yanked him to her room and turned on the volume on her music ridiculously loud.

The second she was sure no one could hear them, Victoria turned on him and punched him, hard. "How dare you?"

James had expected the punch from Leah, not Victoria. "What the hell-?"

"SETH?" Victoria through her hands in the air. "How could you?" She didn't allow him time to defend himself. "I get it, you were on the rebound from Jake choosing Edward, I get it, but why in the world would you be this stupid? Riley has always been more than willing so why the hell couldn't you have just made his dream come true? Instead, my stupid brother went and messed with my best friend's pure, sweet, innocent little brother!" She swung at him again and he only just managed to avoid it. "Just how dumb are you? Leah had every right to kill you! Your scent is all over him! ALL over him! Seth left with you in beautiful, mint condition you bastard!"

Best friend?! "I thought Bella was your best friend," James squeaked in confusion.

"She's Jake's best friend," Victoria informed him immediately in a huffy tone. "Leah is my best friend."

"Since when?" James asked, utterly confused.

"Since we've become bonded worrying about our idiotic brothers!" Victoria balled her fists, which warned him not to continue pissing her off because she was very close to hitting him again. "I didn't think even you were capable of something like this! That poor boy! If I had known you would take advantage of-!"

"I didn't take advantage of him!" James snapped, far more annoyed at that assumption than he was at the blows. "If anything it was mutual consolation, okay?" He cleared his throat. "Seth's in love with Jake."

Victoria blinked, some of her ire now visibly confusion. "What is it with Jake? Does he have super-powered pheromones or something?" She ran her fingers through her red curls. "At least that answers my many questions as to why Seth would give up what he had in the Rez to spy for Jake and our pack. It didn't make any sense before now." She sighed heavily. "So he's in love with Jake and you both rebounded on each other while out on the road." She made a face. "It doesn't make it better, but I can understand it a little more now." She groaned tiredly. "Is this going to be a problem? I mean, you both being all unrequited for Jake while watching him and Edward be all lovey-dovey and mushy with each other?"

"Not for me," James assured her with a sigh as he leaned his back against the wall. "I gave up on Jake when I left for the mission – I wasn't even sure I'd survive it so I wasn't going to let something like that distract me."

Worry and conflict brewed on her face as she whispered softly: "As if you'd have the balls to die on me."

He couldn't help the small smile on his lips at that. "I'm never going to be Edward's best friend, but I've accepted his place in this pack as Jake's mate. I'm good with this."

Victoria's worry showed a little more. "Are you sure?"

James nodded, not blaming her for her doubt. "I had a talk with Murdock and it really helped me see things a bit clearer." He thought back to his conversations with Murdock, and couldn't help but feel a little blind, and stupid. "My feelings for Jake were never supposed to end in he and I being together, they were supposed to help mold me into what I'm supposed to be, readying me for something else." He sighed. "Maybe… someone else." He really had a feeling Murdock might've been trying to tell him that he was going to get Imprinted on, but he really hadn't made the connection until Seth had realized that more wolves would Imprint on more vampires.

"You're really taking this well," Victoria declared with visible shock. "I mean, when you left I was half worried your depression would be the death of you but, well, you look-."

"I feel like it cheapens my feelings for Jake," James admitted, hating that. "I was so sure what I felt for him was love, but I guess I've never been in love before so I didn't know the difference. I guess the fact that I didn't immediately kill Edward when he returned should've been a big clue, huh?"

"You do not like to share," Victoria admitted with a nod. "Knowing this… why would you seduce Seth?"

"I didn't seduce-!" James huffed as he let out a sigh. "I'll tell you things more in depth later, but I didn't actively seduce Seth. If anything, heseduced me."

Victoria blinked. "He seduced you?" When James nodded, Victoria blinked again. "Seth seduced you?"

"Yes," James replied testily at her utter disbelief that he could be the seduced and not the seducer. "I don't regret it, but I didn't start it."

Intrigue built on her face as she eyed him. "I want the details later." She then cleared her throat. "I'm still annoyed at you, but-."

The door flew open to reveal Embry. "Demetri escaped during the commotion, he's probably headed straight to the Volturi." He let out a deep breath. "We need to prepare for their retaliation once he tells them what happened here."

"You're saying Jane stuck around?" Victoria asked in confusion.

"I think she's been too busy insulting Colin to realize she's missed a prime opportunity to escape," Embry admitted.

"So the two Imprints stayed behind like Edward thought they would," Victoria muttered before turning to James. "Leah Imprinted on Chelsea and Colin Imprinted on Jane."

That poor boy.

"We also have to prepare for when the Rez Wolves return," James reminded, trying not to imagine the horrifying future that boy had awaiting him as Jane's Imprinter.

"No, we don't," Embry countered in confusion before his eyes widened. "Right! You weren't there!" He straightened. "The Rez wolves won't attack again."

"How can you be so sure?" Victoria asked as she made a face. "Their alliance has been wishy washy at best lately."

"Yeah, but something changed, something monumental," Embry informed them. "Sam's Imprinted on one of the newly arrived vampires, Edward couldn't tell who it was, just that Sam Imprinted and reacted really badly to it, calling a retreat. There's no way he can deny it now that it's actually happened to him. Even if he doesn't want to admit to it for now, Sam won't sanction a hit on this pack anymore because of the danger an attack could pose to his Imprintee."

"You're telling me that the rival alpha Imprinted on Riley or Garrett?" James didn't know whether to snicker or wince.

"Yeah." Embry nodded before suddenly eyeing James curiously. "Then again, it could've even been on you for all we know. It's not like you two have ever met before."

James froze as horror flooded into him at the realization that the werewolf could be a hundred per cent correct. Oh dear gods. Was that what Murdock had been trying to tell him in the cave?

Victoria's eyes were wide as her head swung in James' direction, her curls bouncing all around her. "Do you think this is what Murdock meant?"

It would make sense! He'd fallen for an Alpha in order to be prepared to be the Imprint of a different Alpha! It made all kinds of horrible sense!

"He did say things would work out as long as I made it back before the Volturi attacked," James muttered queasily.

Embry seemed to realize they were having a mini breakdown because he left immediately, leaving them together in the room.

"I don't want to be a part of the Rez Pack!" Victoria whined almost immediately.

"I don't want to be Imprinted on by that guy!" James snarled at the very same time. "Do you even know the crap he put Seth's family through? I mean, first he's with Leah, then he's with her cousin, then he's their alpha – and a shoddy one at that – and then he used his Alpha Voice to force Seth to do things he didn't want to! And when Seth finally tried to make things right, he made his minions attack Seth! And then because of him and his careless actions Seth's cousin died and Seth had to find out about it through Murdock!"

Victoria eyed James curiously.

Realizing his temper was rising when he caught a glimpse of his reflection to see his eyes jet black, James exhaled deeply and tried calming himself. "Seth might be ready to forgive Sam and the other assholes, but I'm not." He breathed in and out slowly. "He's a far better guy than I am, clearly."

"There was never any question about that," Victoria informed him with slight amusement in her tone.

"I wanted Sam to Imprint on Carlisle," James bemoaned as he covered his face with his hands.

"What?" Victoria laughed at the very thought.

"Seth and I talked about who should imprint on who, my bet was on Sam and Carlisle," he admitted.

"It would cause the most chaos between the Rez Pack and Cullen Coven," Victoria acknowledged, proving they did think alike. "Who did you want for Esme?"

"The one that's always betting and misbehaving," he confessed.

Victoria threw her head back and laughed, all her previous negative emotions completely gone. "You deserve this Imprint, you beast!"

"Shut up," James muttered, yet couldn't help but feel deep down inside that yes, he deserved the horrible fate of having Sam Imprint on him.

What had her brother ever done to deserve the horrible fate of having Imprinted on James Hunter?

The question dogged Leah as she helped the others try and fix the damage done to the Hunter home. At least her Imprintee was useful, and helpful, and nice. And not hung up on someone else! James, on the other hand? Ever since he'd returned from wherever he and Victoria had disappeared to he'd stuck to Jake like a leech. Well, he is a leech. But that didn't excuse him for his behavior! If he was her brother's Imprintee then, damn it, he should be sticking to Seth like Chelsea did Leah (and Jane did to Colin to a lesser, more judgmental and controlling, degree)! Leah hadn't even found the right way to tell Chelsea she was her Imprintee but the brunette was still acting the part! So why couldn't James?

Stupid, undeserving leech.

"The Volturi would never just stroll into this town and massacre you," Jane declared in disgust at the very thought as she rolled her eyes. She was seated upon the seat Colin had brought out for her to sit in the shade cast by the roof. "That is not how it's done. We operate in the shadows – keeping the knowledge of vampires' existence from humans is one of the core principles we live by." She petted her rabbit thoughtfully. "They'll send a liaison, most probably my brother, to either keep everyone out of commission until you can be taken somewhere more remote and killed in private – or to get information out of me."

"Would he use his ability on you?" Colin asked, eyes narrowed, clearly unhappy with that thought.

"I don't know," Jane admitted in a curious tone. "Will you, Alec?"

Leah's eyes widened and she turned with the others to see the bushes move and for a young male vampire to emerge from the bushes. He had dark hair, scarlet eyes, and had been turned very young, like his sister had.

Colin growled as he turned to stand between the newcomer and Jane protectively.

"When Demetri said you chose to stay behind I did not believe him, sister," Alec declared as he straightened his clothes and brushed leaves from himself yet kept the hood over his head still in place. "And yet you look far too comfortable to be a prisoner." His scarlet gaze took in the house's condition and the people in the front yard. "Am I to assume Chelsea is also here of her own free will?"

Chelsea smiled and waved at Alek in hello. "The reports are true, Alec. The werewolves are Imprinting on the vampires." She reached out and grabbed Leah's hand. "This is Leah."

Leah fought the blush on her face as she glanced down at Chelsea. How had the vampire worked it out so easily? Leah had been trying to figure out a way to break the news!

Alec's gaze shifted immediately to Jane and the human growling at him while in front of her.

Jane let out a heavy sigh, as if the world were on her shoulders. "Will you stop that already, Colin? You've giving me a headache."

Colin glanced behind him at her and stopped growling, stepping aside so she didn't have to glance around him at Alec.

Jane met her brother's gaze and rolled her eyes. "That's Colin. He's a work in progress. Definitely a long-term project."

"I don't know how to feel about that," Colin muttered to himself.

"Are you saying-?" Alec looked between Colin and Jane, eyes widening in horror.

Jane sighed, once more clearly put-upon.

Alec turned to Chelsea, voice accusing. "Are you doing this to her?"

"No." Chelsea shook her head, expression blank as she met his gaze. "I've been unable to truly control my powers since Leah and I-so if anything I've stopped using my powers to influence Jane-and all you guys-like I've been doing all these centuries for Aro. I'm sure you must've felt something different, off, these last couple of days since I haven't been around to strengthen the artificial bond. "

"You've been using your abilities on us for him?" Alec asked in a slow, dangerous tone.

"Just like Corin was using her ability on us for him as well," Chelsea responded.

"It's true," Jane muttered. "I've felt the withdrawal associated with Corin's power."

"Jane, if they haven't done anything to you since you've been here why are your eyes purple?" Alec wanted to know as he turned to his sister once more.

Jane sighed, stood, and trailed her hand up Colin's shoulder to pull down the neck of his shirt and reveal her bite mark against his skin, surprising Leah and everyone else. "Because, unlike Chelsea, I don't like the taste of animal blood." She tilted he heard. "Other than wolf blood, which is muchbetter than human blood." She tilted her head, expression curious. "Or maybe it just tastes that good because it is his."

Colin beamed proudly despite blushing.

"But I've seen vampires die from ingesting wolf blood during the Werewolf Wars, it's toxic to our kind-unless-," Alec's eyes widened. "You've let her drink from you of your own free will?" He stumbled back a step when Colin nodded. "So freely giving the blood must make it non-toxic-or maybe it's like vampires in which our venom isn't toxic to our mates." He stopped breathing in his shock. "It has to be true." He looked a little lightheaded before shaking his head once more, taking in a deep, unnecessary breath, and then smiling as he finally yanked off his hood. "Hi, I'm Alec."

Colin eyed the hand held out towards him and warily took it, blinking when Alec shook it vigorously.

"My emotionally stunted sister and I are a package deal," Alec assured him with a huge grin, revealing then and there to everyone that he was the charismatic one of the two siblings. "So, welcome to the family."

"Uh, thanks. I'm Colin, and I've always wanted a brother." Colin beamed at him before frowning and turning to Jane. "Wait - if you knew vampires who died from ingesting wolf blood why would you still drink mine?"

She shrugged, apparently apathetic with the topic. "I was hungry." She eyed him. "Plus, you kept going on and on about us being mates, and I figured, if it was true, your blood wouldn't be toxic to me, the same way vampire mates are immune to each other's venom."

"You couldn't have known that for sure though!" Colin squeaked.

Jane shrugged halfheartedly in response.

"She's a handful," Alec sighed tiredly.

"So it's not just with me?" Colin looked utterly relieved.

Alec snorted. "Gods no, even as a human-."

Considering everything was working out on this front, Leah decided to ignore Alec, Jane and Colin as she turned to Chelsea. "So, uh, you knew?"

Chelsea smiled sheepishly. "It wasn't hard to figure out once I was given enough pieces to the puzzle." She tightened her grip on Leah's hand. "And the good news is that – not to brag or anything – but Alec, Jane and I are kind of the Volturi's top guns, so even though they will no doubt outnumber us whenever they arrive, they're going to think twice about actually starting a fight with us."

"Us." Leah tried not to show just how much she liked the word.

Chelsea smiled and blushed. "Us."

Leah couldn't help but smile like an idiot, completely forgetting whatever had had her in such a poor mood mere moments ago.

James wanted to puke.

Jane had Colin wrapped around her little finger, and from the way Leah was goofily smiling at Chelsea they were in the same boat.

Blegh.

At least Jake and Edward were classy about it – and he'd never thought he'd ever think that in his life.

"So, uh, who would've thought this would be the day's outcome?" Seth asked from behind James, surprising him into jumping.

James had intentionally been busying himself so as to avoid Seth, and he fought the urge to suddenly 'remember' he had something to do, because, damn it, that was running away, and James Hunter did not run away!

Seth cleared his throat. "You okay? You look a little weirded out."

He was trying to imagine himself smiling besottedly at Sam Uley… and the idea made him want to puke even more. He very vaguely remembered the Alpha from his and Victoria's reconnaissance missions, and while Sam was in no way unattractive, the idea of being with him seriously, honestly, made James nauseas.

"James." Seth touched his arm, concern clearly sketched over his features. "Are you okay?"

"Uley Imprinted on a vampire," James informed him, even though he was sure Seth knew by now. "That means the guy who just tried to kill us will soon be at our door looking to rut."

Seth made up his face. "I'm sure he'll be more tactful than that."

"He doesn't seem like the most tactful person," James countered. "I'm sorry to be an asshole, but that's the asshole who cheated on your sister by saying Emily was his Imprintee, only to scar Emily and then get her killed by his actions, all for it to be proven that she actually wasn't his Imprintee." He shivered at the realization that he was close to seriously hating Sam. "If he Imprinted on me I'd tell him to go and die."

Seth flinched. "I don't think anyone would want to hear that, especially from someone they've Imprinted on."

Oh. Great. So Seth thought Uley might've Imprinted on James too.

"What's the appeal of Imprinting anyway?" James wanted to know, not exactly sure why he was so pissed. "Everyone I know who has Imprinted or been Imprinted on act like idiots."

Seth paused, his gaze lowered to the ground before he cleared his throat. "I think the appeal is in knowing without any bit of uncertainty that not only does your soulmate exist, but you get to be with him or her for the rest of your immortal lives."

James did not feel that way at the idea of being mated to Sam Uley. The idea was not only terrifying, but repellent. "Or you could just be stuck with someone you not only don't care about, but are disgusted with. Someone you end up being forced to be with even if that's the last thing you'd ever want because some damned wolf instinct says you have to."

"You wouldn't get someone who disgusts you, there's no way someone so fundamentally wrong for you could ever be your soulmate," Seth responded in an oddly hurt tone.

"Look, I don't give a shit whether Sam Uley shrivels up and dies," James snapped at him. "But I'm not going to be his mate!"

Seth's pained expression quickly turned into obvious shock as he stared up at James with wide eyes. "You think Sam Uley Imprinted on you?"

"Maybe? It's a distinct possibility given everything!" James stormed away and somehow wasn't surprised when Seth caught up with him in time for him to start venting – and possibly hyperventilating. "Murdock said some stuff back there on how I was supposed to care for Jake to prepare me for what was coming, right? What if it's because I'm supposed to be mated to a different Alpha?" He shivered in disgust. "It makes terrifying, creepy sense. I hate it. I hate it."

"You haven't been Imprinted on by Sam Uley," Seth assured him as he somehow kept in pace with the taller, longer-legged male.

"You have no way of knowing that!" James snapped, definitely closer to hyperventilation now.

"Yes, I do."

There was such certainty in those three words that James turned on his heel to stare Seth down. "How?"

Seth's eyes widened as he stumbled to a stop, clearly not having expected this change of events. "B-because I-," he hesitated, mouth opening and closing. "I-I-."

Disappointed at the obvious truth in the stammering, James sighed. The guy clearly didn't know what he was talking about. "Oh gods, I've been Imprinted on by Sam Uley."

A little growl escaped Seth's lips as he bristled. "No. You haven't. He wasn't even looking in your direction when he called a retreat."

James felt hope peek its head at that. He grabbed a surprised Seth by the shoulders and held on tight. "Tell me you're not just saying that to make me feel better."

Those brown eyes rolled in annoyance before meeting his gaze. "James, I swear to you on my mother that Sam Uley did not Imprint on you."

"I could kiss you!" So, he did. It probably wasn't the smartest thing considering Seth had only just managed to keep Leah from killing James, but the vampire really wasn't thinking very straight at all. Relief spread through his body like liquid fire, and before he even realized what he was doing, he'd backed Seth against the house's wall.

Seth didn't seem to be complaining if the way he was pulling James closer by his jacket was anything to go by. The wolf groaned into James' mouth, his back arched, his mouth open, and his tongue dancing with James'.

That liquid heat warmed James and caused shivers of delight to trail down his spine as he pressed Seth harder into the wall and straddled his thigh between his. He rubbed his body against Seth's, delighting in the soft moans this elicited from Seth's mouth, the moans James hungrily devoured, refusing to let anyone else hear Seth make those sounds. They were sounds only he knew.

His cock throbbed at the reminder that he was the only one who'd ever heard Seth make those sounds. Seth kept making those sounds as his hands found James' jeans and began unbuckling them, yanking down the zipper enough to shove his hand into James' underwear and grab him.

James now made the sound as he kissed Seth harder, his tongue battling the wolf's as Seth took him in hand and showed him how much better he'd gotten. Despite not truly needing to breathe, James quickly found himself breathless. He tore his lips from Seth's to whisper against his ear: "Do you think anyone will notice if I fuck you right now?"

A squeak sounded loud to their right.

James pulled away from Seth and peeked to his right to see one of Seth's friends, Brady, staring at him with wide eyes. The dude had clearly turned the corner and had unexpectedly walked in on them. Screw you Brady, screw you. Sure, it was their fault for doing this just around the corner, but still, the guy had really messed with James' fun!

Brady glanced down at James' crotch (and the hand Seth still had stuck inside James' underwear gripping his cock) and gulped, loudly.

Anyone else would be embarrassed at having been caught, but James was more evilly amused at the fact that Brady looked like he'd forgotten how to breath. The guy's eyes were wide like saucers, his lips parted, and the whiff in the air proved he didn't exactly feel disgusted with what he was seeing.

Just to tease the dude further, James winked at him.

Seth snarled, causing his friend to jump and finally look up from James' crotch area at him.

"I, uh, I should, uh, I—-." Brady turned and ran.

James snickered and rested his forehead against Seth's shoulder. "You have no idea how relieved I am that he wasn't your sister." He sighed and pulled away out of Seth's grip as he buttoned back up his pants, unable to look at Seth. "I'm sorry, I got carried away. It's not like we're on the road anymore so those rules don't apply." His mouth was dry and it was surprisingly hard to say this while smirking. "I won't jump you like this anymore."

"You might've kissed me, James, but I'm the one whose hand was down your pants," Seth declared in an odd, surprisingly annoyed tone. "If anyone did jumping, I jumped you." A muscle ticked in his cheek as he leaned hard against the wall. "And stop acting as if you're forcing me into something. I followed you back here. I let you push me against the wall. I - and I can't stress this enough here - shoved my hand down your pants. If I didn't want to touch your cock I wouldn't."

James felt, surprisingly enough, a little embarrassed yet amused at this whole thing. "I see."

"Do you?" Seth asked testily. "Because I really don't think you do." He groaned and ran a hand down his face. "Although, that's my fault, isn't it? I should've just spelled things out for you the second things started happening between us, just like any normal person would've. Because you're clearly not getting any hints."

Okay, Seth must really be sexually frustrated right now because he was being super testy all of a sudden.

"No, I get it," James declared with a smirk as he leaned with his forearm on the wall right above Seth's head. "You want to be friends with benefits."

Seth let his hand fall from his face as he eyed James in what seemed like utter consternation.

James' assurance from two seconds ago floundered. "You don't?"

Another voice cleared his throat. "As much as I absolutely love the entertainment you two bring to my life," Garrett declared from where he was leaning against the side of the wall, "Your Alpha's asked me to call you two over, apparently something is going on and they need you both." He turned his amused gaze on Seth. "Mama Seth." And with that he chuckled and left.

Mama Seth? What the hell was Garrett going on about?

Seth sighed before his eyes narrowed on James. "Before this day is over, you and me are going to have a very long conversation." And with that he stormed away.

James looked after him with a flinch.

Nothing good ever came from those words.

Jasper looked up from where he was sitting at Bella's bedside and smiled tiredly at his wife. "Everything okay?"

"I just had another vision about the Volturi," Alice sighed as she sat down next to him and rested her forehead against his shoulder. "I couldn't understand it very well, there were a lot of different images vying for center stage, but I do know one thing."

"What?" Jasper as softly as he brushed her hair tenderly.

Alice let out a shaky breath. "The day they arrive in Forks is the day our Coven ceases to exist."