"Seth." Leah blinked as she tried to digest the news. "Seth?"
"Seth," Victoria assured her. "I saw it with my own two eyes."
"Seth Clearwater?" Leah stressed the last name, and when the redhead merely nodded her head with a mischievous smile on her face, Leah still couldn't believe it. "My baby brother?"
"It might look like James was in charge there, but Seth is clearly topping from the bottom," Victoria informed her, apparently not at all shocked by this revelation. "When James said Seth was the one who seduced him I found it hard to swallow, but after seeing them together? Seth definitely knows what he's doing."
Leah's eyes narrowed. "He was in mint condition when he left, your brotheris the one who—-."
"—-is being dragged around by his cock?" Victoria snickered. "Yes. Yes he is."
"I don't want to hear about your brother's stupid penis," Leah muttered as she covered her face with her hands in utter horror. "You could've seen things wrong."
"Nope." Victoria's voice was devilishly amused. "I've been keeping an eye on them since they came back smelling of each other and James told me what he did. Seth's been glaring nonstop at the fact that James has been a real coward sticking around Jake and giving him all his attention, when, come on, Edward's amusement and lack of jealousy should've been enough to let everyone realize that James wasn't trying to actually get with Jake!"
Leah hadn't thought of that. She hadn't noticed Seth's reaction to James' behavior either. She'd just been busy with her work, busy mentally cursing James, and making sure she kept Chelsea in her line of vision at all times. With how things were it wasn't safe for the vampire to be anywhere by herself. The only reason she was in this room chatting to Victoria was because, well, this was about her little brother - and about Victoria's brother - and there was a sisterly code of honor.
Also? She could smell Chelsea and knew she was very close. Like real close. Like, almost outside the door close.
"And the second he could get James alone, Seth was there, like the roadrunner," Victoria continued on, not seeming to realize just how confused and scarred she was leaving Leah, who refused to believe her baby brother was anything but a pure little cinnamon roll in desperate need of his big sister. "And then he used James' out of character mental breakdown to steer him away from the others to a more secluded spot on the other side of the house. He also kept either touching James or moving closer to him, and when James kissed him he backed into the wall and pulled James with him. Also? He's the one who undid James' pants and shoved his hand inside to—-."
"Okay!" Leah covered her ears with her hands as she tried not to whine yet knew she failed. "I don't know what happened! I raised him better than that!"
"Clearly James' belief that Seth is in love with Jake is way off," Victoria declared with a snort.
"Wait." Leah frowned as she removed her hands from her ears. "He thinks what?"
"Yeah." The redhead made a face as she tilted her head. "He told me all about it earlier too. He thinks Seth has unrequited feelings for Jake which he's using James to rebound from, and it kind of made sense to me too until I actually saw them together. Also, Riley and Garrett keep referring to Seth as 'Mama Seth' amongst themselves, which really just means the reason Seth was so sure Sam Uley didn't Imprint on my brother is because he had." Her golden eyes met Leah's. "I dare you to deny it."
Leah's mouth opened and closed multiple times before she groaned. "Don't tell your brother, okay? I promised Seth when I didn't kill James that I'd let him be the one to tell him!"
"Oh, I have no plan on telling James," Victoria assured her. "Let this be a lesson that his instincts have gone dull. I mean, for crying out loud! He's usually smart enough, and in control enough, to know it is not a good idea to screw someone out in the open when there are a crapload of supernaturals on the other side of the house! He's distracted by Seth! He should've sensed me or Brady before we arrived, but clearly his tracking skills are affected by Seth, probably overwhelmed with Seth's smell or something like that. A tracker's mind and sense are his sharpest asset—and I think they've both been clouded over and dulled by overloading on Seth or something like that."
"Talking about that - Edward's ability to read minds only got stronger when he got with Jake so what gives?" Leah wanted to know curiously. "When will that change for, you know, Chelsea, Jane, James—-?"
"I've been wondering that myself," Victoria admitted. "I think it happens after the connection does."
"Huh?" Leah blinked in confusion.
"Well, Jake and Edward used to screw all the time right? And nothing big changed. But after Jake and he got back together and truly got togethersomething changed. That was the first time Edward ever slept." Victoria tapped her fingertip against her lips. "I think it has to do with both partners truly claiming the other or accepting them as their soulmate without reservation or something like that."
"I guess that makes sense," Leah muttered softly to herself, wondering how that would apply to her and Chelsea. They still barely knew each other. How exactly would things proceed from here? At least, well, Chelsea didn't seem to mind the whole being mates thing, and Leah mightn't admit it out loud but she really didn't mind it either - but she wondered how long it would take for them to reach the point where Chelsea magically slept again.
"I wouldn't worry too much about it if I were you," Victoria assured her with a hand to her shoulder. "With the way Chelsea is stalking you around, and spying on us like some psycho, I don't think you're going to have any problems on her front." She snickered. "You can come in, Chelsea." She turned to the door. "And for your information, I am super straight. Leah is as sexy to me as corn on the cob."
"Hey," Leah gasped.
The door opened and Chelsea had the grace to look contrite. "I wouldn't exactly call it stalking."
"Reconnaissance?" Victoria offered up the word.
Chelsea nodded.
"Now that you know for a fact that I would rather hump a groundhog than Leah," Victoria began.
"That's pushing it!" Leah cried out.
"What do you think about the situation you no doubt found out about while doing your recon?" Victoria motioned Chelsea in and for her to shut the door. "Seth is totally more in control there than James, isn't he?"
"I'm sorry, Leah," Chelsea whispered apologetically as she closed the door behind her. "But have you noticed the way your brother's been sticking around her brother? Especially while around your Alpha? I mean, he keeps scent marking him, too."
"See!" Victoria crowed. "And I'd forgotten to say that part! He totally is touching or rubbing against James subtly."
"Not too subtly," Chelsea corrected. "If your brother does one more flirtatious thing to someone else her brother might just hump him in front of them all."
"I would pay money to see that!" Victoria snickered and shared an evil smile with Chelsea which proved that Chelsea would no doubt also pay to see that horrifying spectacle. It proved to Leah that she was surrounded by weird and terrifying people. Not even her brother was sweet and innocent anymore!
There and then, as she realized Victoria and Chelsea were on the way towards friendship, Leah understood the meaning of true fear.
…
The Hunter House was filled to the brim, which was partly why Jacob was outside by himself, staring out into the forest. It was a good thing most of those inside were vampires and didn't sleep (except Edward, of course) because there was no place for everyone to actually get some rest. It only drove home the realization that things needed to change. Jake was the leader of a pack now, one that was growing at a ridiculous pace, and that meant he had to provide for others. How exactly could he do that when he wasn't even able to provide for himself?
Ever since the Rez had kicked him out he'd been living with Charlie thanks to his kindness, but with graduation soon coming what exactly was he going to do? He couldn't expect to live off of Charlie's charity forever! And how could he take care of his pack? Where would they stay? How could they afford—-?
"Jake, don't borrow tomorrow's problems," Edward whispered as he wrapped his arms around Jake was behind and held on tightly. "Right now let's concentrate on the fact that Alec says the Volturi will be arriving tomorrow, and I've read his mind, it's the truth. Let's get through this, then we can think about the Sam issue, and then we will figure out the rest of it, together." He nuzzled his forehead against Jake's ear. "You might be the Alpha, but I'm your mate, you know. I'm here so you don't have to worry about these things by yourself, so you have a support."
Despite the thousands of worries in his mind, Jake couldn't help but smile as he turned around to wrap his arms around his boyfriend's waist, pulling him closer. "I like it when you refer to yourself as my mate."
Edward's lips twitched. "I liked it when James referred to me as your mate." He shook his head. "I didn't think it would be this easy, or quick."
"And here I thought you two were classy," James groaned as he turned the corner, expression clearly queasy as he eyed them.
Edward rolled his eyes as he pulled away and turned to face the newcomer. "Did you have to interrupt right now?"
"No, but while I accept you're Jake's mate, I still love messing with you," James replied truthfully with a smirk as he moved towards them. "Anyway, Eddie, this will only take a second." He reached inside his jacket and pulled something out of his inner pocket, which he held out to Jake in his clenched palm. "This is something I should've given back to you a long time ago, Jake. I'm sorry for keeping it hostage as long as I did." He looked uneasy yet a little embarrassed. "We both know I'm not the one who should be wearing this."
Curiosity bubbled inside Jacob as he held his hand out and blinked when the necklace with his wolf totem fell into his palm. "You're giving this back?" He asked in surprise. James had never explained how he'd gotten the necklace in the first place, or why he'd never given it back, and just when Jake had gotten used to the fact that he probably would never know, James went and surprised him again.
"How I see it, letting some other vampire wear your totem is disrespectful to your missus," James snickered with a glance towards Edward. "Especially when I'm clearly the better looking vampire."
Edward folded his arms over his chest, eyebrow raised.
James shook his head and turned his attention back to Jake. "So I'll leave you two to get back to your thing. I just wanted to give that back to you before I forgot. Jake." He nodded to Edward. "Missus." And with that he strolled away, apparently happy as a clam.
"I really don't like him," Edward announced with not heat in his tone, if anything he was a little amused yet very obviously against his own will. "I feel sorry for Seth."
"Why do you feel sorry for him?" Jake asked curiously as he attempted to put back on his necklace, only to have Edward snatch it away and put it on instead.
"Being stuck with an Imprintee like James is going to be a pain in the—-tellme you realized they were Imprinted!" Edward gasped halfway through his sentence.
Jake just stared at his boyfriend. He'd realized that Seth and James had been intimate during their time on the road, their scent had made that more than obvious, but with the way James was acting Jake had dismissed the idea of Imprinting. Look at Edward, Chelsea and even Jane for crying out loud! And then look at James! His beta had barely said two words to Seth since they'd come back! That was not standard Imprintee behavior!
"Jake?" Edward looked worried.
"So that is why Leah didn't kill him," Jake realized as he let out a deep breath. "That makes sense now."
Edward chuckled and nodded as he drew closer, trailing his finger over the buttons on Jacob's shirt. "So. Now that we know for a fact that we don't have to worry about the pack or Volturi for tonight… how about we slip away for a little?"
"We still have a lot to plan though," Jake said, yet could definitely hear the temptation in his own tone. "You heard Alice's visions, tomorrow's going to be—-."
"We'll come back afterwards, obviously," Edward assured him as he began to kiss his way down Jacob's neck. "But it's precisely because we don't know what will happen tomorrow that I want to spend a little time alone with you."
"How little?" Jake asked as his hands lowered to the vampire's hips, bringing him closer.
"Maybe not too little," Edward whispered before racing out into the forest.
Deciding to be a little selfish and steal some time away with his mate, Jacob smirked and took chase.
…
"Hey, do you have any idea where Jacob is?" Embry asked as he glanced around. "His sisters have been calling him like crazy."
"He was outside last I checked, but I don't think he's there anymore," Quil answered with a shrug from where he was watching Leah and Chelsea with a little smirk, clearly enjoying the view of them together. "He'll see the missed calls when he gets back."
"Should we answer?" Embry wondered. "Take a message or something?"
"Dude, we're still on probation, let's not get in hot water by answering the Alpha's phone without his permission," Quil responded immediately, finally tearing his gaze away from Leah and Chelsea. "Do you think my vampire will be super hot like Leah's?" He grinned. "Or she might be one of those cutesy types."
"Or she may be a guy," Embry countered immediately. "Other than Colin and Jane, same sex pairings seem to be dominating this vampire and werewolf imprinting thing."
Quil made a face. "I'm a hundred per cent heterosexual though."
"I'm sure Leah and Jacob would've said the same thing before Edward and Chelsea came along," Embry pointed out.
Quil flinched, clearly never having even considered that to be a possibility, and visibly shaken.
Embry, looking far less bothered by the prospect, sat down next to him and patted the devastated werewolf's back.
…
Everyone were either preparing for tomorrow or doing their best to put it (and what was to come) out of their minds. James, on the other hand, had escaped the company and gone to the roof to just relax and think about everything that had happened in what seemed like a ridiculously short amount of time. He'd changed, a lot, the old him would've never allowed Laurent to live, and yet now that he'd proven to everyone that he wasn't weak and to be hunted, James was very happy to just let Laurent live his unlife never quite sure whether James was still after him or not.
The old him never would've given back the totem either, even if only to spite Edward. And yet he'd done so without even thinking of it. Why? Because it bothered Seth.
And now that he really sat down and thought about it, a lot of his changes had to do with Seth in one way or the other. Being on the road, and hunting Laurent, and then worrying about getting back in time to help his pack - they hadn't given him much time to really think, and now that he had, he was a little uneasy at just how much the runt had affected him.
Like, right now? He wanted Seth there. He'd nearly turned to him a couple of times now to comment about something or the other like they would on the road, and had felt twinges of disappointment every time he realized he was up there alone. He was acting like some stupid, lovesick little girl. Hell, he was acting like Edward. And he'd never—-.
James froze in horror as he went over everything once more and realized that, yes, he was acting like Edward. He sat up quickly and breathed rapidly, going over Seth's cryptic words and actions, and his own behavior, and… and Seth's absolute surety that Sam Uley had not Imprinted on James.
He thought back to the cave, to the way his ability had stopped working for a couple of minutes.
The vampire ran his fingers through his hair in utter shock as suddenly everything made so much sense.
It was almost as if he'd needed to be away from Seth to be able to put everything together, to follow the clues and hunt down the truth.
Seth Imprinted on me.
It made sense. IT MADE SO MUCH SENSE! Much more sense than all of his other hypotheses!
Seth's comments! His reaction to James talking ill about Imprinting - to James wearing Jake's totem - to his refusal to allow James to go to that place without him! There'd been his extremely convincing behavior in the tunnels as well when they'd first met Garrett and Riley, and his behavior ever since.
How did I miss it? James couldn't understand it. I'm sharper than this! I'm MUCH sharper than this!
And yet it hadn't ever even been a possibility in his mind until right now!
That's why Leah didn't kill me!
How had THAT not tipped him off immediately?
"Since when am I an idiot?"
"Is that a trick question?"
James jumped and stretched around to see Seth climbing up the small trellis up to the hidden little semi flat space on the roof. If his heart beat it would've skipped once or twice from the sheer shock. "Hey."
"I was wondering where you were," Seth admitted as he finished climbing and glanced around. "The view is great from up here!"
"Yeah. I figured I could get away from the mob downstairs and act as a lookout all at the same time," James admitted.
Seth's smile slipped. "Should I go? If you wanted to be alone—-."
"No!" James hated himself for how quick that had slipped for his lips. "I, uh, I keep turning to the side to tell you something and keep forgetting you're not there." He shrugged, feeling very lame. "I guess I got used to having you around all the time during our road trip together. It was weird not having you next to me."
"Oh. I see." And yet Seth was grinning ear to ear as he came to sit down next to the vampire, but his smile disappeared almost as soon as his butt hit the ground. "So… Alice says that the Volturi coming is going to end in her coven's destruction… so that means there's going to be a fight with casualties tomorrow, doesn't it?"
"According to Jake, Alice's visions aren't certainties, she sees decisions or something like that," James tried to explain, but he really didn't get it himself. "So tomorrow's fate - or that of the coven - isn't fixed."
Seth nodded silently as he hugged his knees to his chest and gazed towards the shadow covered forest.
The blonde took the opportunity to actually look at Seth. He'd seen him millions of times up to this point but he'd never actually allowed himself time to really study the younger male. Seth was very attractive, very, his body slender yet well defined, his hair long and lustrous silk, and his eyes were pools of darkness. Moonlight bathed him in an ethereal glow which only made him even more alluring.
James usually had a high self-worth and self-regard, but even he could admit that Seth was way too pretty and too nice of a guy to be stuck with an asshole like himself. He hadn't been joking when he'd said that Seth wouldn't deserve to be stuck Imprinted to him, and he hadn't even realized that had been the case at the time! Now, as he thought about it, he honestly felt like he'd cheated the brat. Seth was the nicest person he'd ever met, everyone liked Seth - hell, even Riley liked him - so why in the world had he gotten saddled with someone like James? What had the brat ever done to deserve that?
"Not all Imprintees and Imprinters have to be romantic, right?" James forced himself to ask for Seth's sake. "I mean, they could be friends, and it would free the Imprinter to be in a romantic relationship with someone who deserved him more."
"You are not Imprinted to Sam!" Seth rolled his eyes and threw his hands skyward.
"I wasn't asking because of that," James muttered.
"Is that what you've been doing up here? Looking out at the woods and wondering when Sam's going to come for you?" Seth gripped at his hair tightly, glaring at the woods as if they were to blame in all of this. "He's not coming. Not for you at least."
"I know that."
"Because he didn't Imprint on you." Seth's voice was stony.
"I know that," James repeated just as calmly as he had the first time.
"You're just saying that to appease me." Seth's voice was frustrated as he finally turned to face James, his face betraying he was two breaths away from a sulk.
"I'm just saying that because you Imprinted on me," James responded calmly once more, eyeing Seth's face for any reaction.
"No, you don't get it! I—-." Seth's eyes widened. "Wait. What did you just say?"
He'd be amused if this wasn't so serious. "It's what I realized while I was up here thinking." He shifted to face the wolf. "You Imprinted on me, didn't you?"
Seth stared at him in wide-eyed shock before he lowered his head with a groan and covered his face, but not quick enough that James hadn't caught the red blossoming on his cheeks. "I was supposed to be the one to tell you!"
So. It was true.
James took in a deep, unnecessary breath. "You should've told me."
"When exactly?" Seth asked sulkily from behind his hands. "While you were pining after Jake? Or while you were fighting for your life?"
"How about while I was fucking you?" James snapped despite not having planned to. He tried to force himself to calm down but it was really hard when his emotions were haywire like they were right now. "Didn't that seem like a fucking appropriate time?"
Seth flinched as his hands fell from his face, which was impassive. "I wanted to tell you when you actually started to care about me. I didn't want you to feel forced into being with me because of the Imprint. I wanted you to like me for me so that when I told you it wouldn't freak you out as much as it is right now."
"I gave Jake back his totem for you!" James couldn't shut his damned mouth apparently. "Doesn't that seem like I fucking care about you?"
Seth's impassive mask dropped away to reveal his shocked expression, his eyes wide. "You—-you actually gave it back?"
"I told you I would, didn't I?" James muttered, a little taken aback by Seth's open vulnerability.
"Yes, but I didn't—-I figured you'd wait a bit to—-I don't know—you gave it back." Seth glanced downwards, seeming lost in his thoughts and completely unaware of just how wide he was smiling.
He's so happy he can't even hide it.
James felt all kinds of conflicting emotions - the strongest being his need to talk this situation through versus his need to push the werewolf down and have his way with him. Honestly, this was the wrong time to be aroused for crying out loud! This was a conversation that desperately needed to be had, so even if he had to beat his penis with a stick to get it to go down he would.
"Look," Seth finally said as he raised his dark gaze to meet James'. "I get that this is weird, and it's something we both have to come to terms with, but I'm all in. I want this. I've wanted you before I could even stand you, and now that I know for a fact that not only are we very sexually compatible but you care enough about me to give Jake his totem back - I'm not backing down."
"Excuse me?" James choked out.
"I want you," Seth informed him in utter seriousness. "You can try and fight it saying we wouldn't work or I deserve better or some crap like that, but one way or the other I'm going to have you. I've worked far too hard to get you to notice me to stop even if I could. And now that it's out there I am not going to hide what I want or feel anymore."
James didn't know whether to laugh or scoff or just gape at Seth Clearwater. "You sound like the villain in some old movie telling the damsel in distress she's marrying him whether she likes it or not."
"The difference is, you like it," Seth responded immediately before a slight blush touched his cheeks. "You like me." The corner of his lips twitched into a smile he couldn't quite erase. "And soon you'll like me more and more until I'm what you like most in the world, I'll work very hard to make sure of it."
James just stared at him. "You're incredibly manly right now."
The wolf beamed. "I don't think anyone's ever told me that before."
James continued to stare at him before he cleared his throat. "Look, let's live through tomorrow and then… and then we really sit down and talk about what this means going forwards. How about that? Because I feel like once we get started this conversation could last for days."
Seth nodded rapidly. "Yes. I'd like that." He opened his mouth to say something else, but a huge commotion broke out downstairs. The wolf sighed as he peered down. "We should probably go see what's going on, shouldn't we?"
James nodded and watched as Seth got up and made his way towards the trellis… only for the werewolf to turn around, storm back towards him, and straddle James' lap. Before the vampire could react, Seth gripped his hair and held him tightly in place as he kissed him.
The vampire held out for merely a second before his hands disappeared up the back of Seth's shirt, the wolf's skin pleasantly hot against the touch. James' hips moved of their own volition, rubbing against the seam of Seth's pants, his previous erection raging hard. His mouth found the wolf's neck, his lips sucking and his teeth nibbling, quickly getting lost in the taste.
This wasn't the time, this wasn't the place, but just like earlier James was quickly finding all reason fleeing. All he knew was that Seth was in his arms, and making such cute sounds while touching him just right. All he wanted was to kiss him harder, to tear the barriers between them and sink inside Seth's willing body. A part of him realized Seth really wouldn't have to work all the hard because the second he touched James, all the vampire wanted was to be buried inside of him.
"You're so cute, Seth," James whispered into his ear.
Almost immediately Seth's skin raised in goose bumps as he groaned and rubbed his ass against James' cock. He kissed James harder, his grip on the blonde's hair tighter, his breaths slowly growing erratic. His skin was burning against James' contrasting cold.
James trailed a hand down before slipping it past the waist of Seth's pants, his fingertips brushing against the wolf's entrance. He rubbed that puckered entrance slowly, enjoying the way Seth melted into him, gripping him tightly and pressing back with his hips needily. His middle finger slipped in, and he was surprised to find Seth moist within.
Seth's back arched as he groaned, reaching behind to stroke James' hand as James added another finger inside of him.
"How are you this wet?" James whispered in bliss, imaging his cock replacing the fingers he now had scissoring inside Seth, preparing him for what would follow.
"I don't—-," Seth's voice broke as his whole body trembled when James' fingers brushed against something inside of him.
A howl sounded in the forest, followed by another, and another.
Seth rested his forehead against the vampire's shoulder. "Oh for crying out loud!"
James was right there with him when another howl could be heard close by. Apparently Sam's pack were coming back, and were letting those in the house know in advance.
Great.
Just great.