I thought this would be finished ages ago, but this one was a doozy. I hope you like the end.

Disclaimer: If I was Stephenie Meyer, I would be too busy riding in my golden spaceship to write.

Jacob POV

"So what do werewolves do?" Gwen asked. The four of us were sitting on the sand. Paul and I were answering Adrian and Gwen's questions. We had been going for a while, but it felt like we'd barely scratched the surface. The moon was still high in the sky.

"We're supposed to kill vampires," Paul answered, "But Jakey here has shaken things up a bit."

"The pack has had a treaty with my family for decades," I said, "It's only the bad vampires we get."

"Are there a lot of vampires out there?" Adrian asked.

"We don't stumble across them daily or anything, but your hometown has a bad leech infestation," Paul answered.

"It does?" Adrian exclaimed, not trying to hide the fear in her. She sat up straight and looked at me for confirmation.

"They'll be damned if they come near you," I said with a growl at the thought.

"So there are a lot of vampires in Seattle?"

"The murders going on, they weren't caused by any gang. Someone's been creating a lot of vampires. When they're newborn, they are especially dangerous," I explained

"How so?"

I chewed my cheek. I had been excluding details so not to scare her. "Blood is their only thought, and they are much stronger." She made a sound that resembled a whimper. I moved closer to her and put my hand over hers.

"I won't let anything hurt you," I promised solemnly. She looked at me and nodded, but she was still scared.

"I'll stand outside your window every night," I said, "I'll do whatever it takes to make you safe."

She quirked her lips just a little, "If my brother catches you, you'll have bigger worries than vampires."

"Whatever it takes," I repeated but with a bit of a smile and a kiss to her forehead.

"They'll be gone soon anyway," Paul said nonchalantly.

"Why is that?" Adrian asked.

"Well, that's what the fight is for. All those newborns are coming here for a battle."

"Why?"

"You met Bella, right? For some reason, they're after her. A vampire went into her room. We're thinking it's probably to get to the rest of my family. We're a big coven," I explained.

"You're going to fight them? Are you going to win?" she asked.

"Yeah. We'll be fine. Jasper's going to teach us about how to fight them. He used to train newborn armies."

"Wait-what?" Adrian asked. I was confusing her.

"I have a lot to tell you," I said with a little chuckle. She nodded.

"Jake?" Paul asked.

"Yeah?"

"When we going to tell Sam how he's spending 3 AM tonight?"

"Uh. Now's a good time," I said. We scrambled up, and I checked the time on my cellphone. It was near eleven pm. We should have told him hours ago. Paul and I carried our imprints piggyback in a rush back to the car.

{0}

We took Gwen, Adrian, and the car back to my house. They would rather stay the duration of the party then hear pack business. Bella was grateful they returned. She already knew Gwen some and really wanted to get to know Adrian. I hope the whole me being in love with Bella doesn't come out. I hadn't got to most of the things I should tell my imprint, some of them purposely.

Quil answered the door when Paul and I got to Sam and Emily's house. He had been spending a lot of time at there since he imprinted. Claire had been sick this week, and he'd been watching her and taking care of her.

We didn't wake them up, but I wish we had. When we told him it was important for the pack, Emily said she was going to bed. Paul and I filled Sam in on the incoming newborn invasion. I waited for him to say that this is something the pack should take care of before I told him about the teamwork. I told him that divided, we won't all make it, but if we work together, it will be an easy fight. He agreed that he didn't want any kids' lives on the line, but he was reluctant about teaming up with vampires.

Except for maybe Leah, no one gives me a hard time about living with my family. Some think it's too weird to mess with. Others get that nothing they say is going to sway me. Paul seems the most fine with it seeing how he's come to my house willingly. But we're kind of each other's only friends. He's got to be okay with a lot of me, and I have to be okay with a lot of him. Sometimes I forget that even though they don't show any hate towards me, my brothers have a long-standing prejudice towards vampires.

I was reminded of that again when I told Sam about the strategy meeting tonight. My uncle was going to be showing my family how to fight newborns. For persuasive sake, I layered on about how newborns had a different nature that made them harder to kill, and there were a lot of things that could factor life and death. Again, Sam reluctantly agreed.

Sam told us the pack needs to step up patrols until the fight, and I agreed wholeheartedly, remembering my promise to Adrian. I asked if I can do the patrols during the day so I can watch Adrian's building at night. Sam was worried that I would exhaust myself, but he understood how it feels when your imprint is in danger so he said that would be fine. But he told me to bring someone along in case a vampire did show up at her door in Seattle.

Paul and I volunteered to wake up the rest of the pack since we forgot to tell Sam about the meeting. It was basically going into the woods and telling the guys who were running patrols to howl with us. Everyone knows there are wolves in the forests so the sound is nothing new, but the meaning will be clear to the ones we're looking for.

The meeting wasn't anything new to me. Everyone agreed to wake up again, and we were going to meet up in a familiar clearing before. I could tell a lot of the wolves were uneasy about having a civil meeting with vampires. They decided to stay in wolf form, and I decided I would stand with them. It wouldn't be right if one of us were hanging out with the people freaking out the others.

Paul came in late. He had been taking Gwen home. Adrian came with him to say good night to Gwen and ended up coming here. I hope it wasn't because my family scared her. That was going to complicate things later on, specifically tonight.

I heard the two of them talking outside so I went out on the porch. She ran over, and I pulled her in tight, realizing how much a few hours away had strained me. How was I going to survive when she went back to Seattle? That detail was insignificant when I thought how was she?

"Hey, baby," she said, "It's only been like an hour. Is it crazy if I missed you?"

"If so, then we're both lunatics," I said. I cradled her tiny face in my hands and kissed her. She smiled, and her eyelashes fluttered. I took her under my arm and went back inside the house.

"Aren't you tired?" I asked.

"You told me that werewolves and vampires are real. I doubt I'll ever sleep again. By the by, I'm coming to your meeting thing. It would be weird I stayed at your house and slept."

"Don't you think a Killing Leeches 101 meeting is a weird place for a date, Cullen?" Leah sneered from across the room and out of the conversation. She made my last name sound like an explicit.

Adrian surprised me by turning to her and saying without pause, "I'm choosing to come. I'd rather watch vampires I know fight than vampires I don't know draining me of blood."

I hid my proud smile by pulling her in and burying my head in her hair. She puts her hand on my arm and cuddles close. Cuddling is awesome.

"Can we take a nap before our 3 AM date?" Adrian asked quietly.

I very much loved every part of that idea. "That's why I like you, Stacey." I lifted her up, and she wrapped her legs around my waist. She was so tiny compared to me. I felt like I was carrying a little kid.

{0}

I think being a doctor is really a waste of my grandfather's skills.

The man's silver tongue somehow convinced Kyle to allow us to return Adrian to him in the morning.

"I still can't believe that worked," Adrian said before yawning. She was lying across the white couch in our living room. Her feet were in my lap.

"You should sleep," I said.

"I'm just in so much shock. What a night. Supernatural monsters being real are one thing, but then you convinced my brother to let me stay the night? Hand me that blanket. Don't they give people blankets for shock?"

I handed her a blanket. She put it over her shoulders and looked at me with a frightened expression. I roared with laughter. She put on a small smile and lay down on the couch, closing. Then she sat up again.

"Now I really can't sleep. I'm scared."

"What's wrong, babe?" I asked, from good-humored to immensely worried in a second.

"What about Kyle? He's alone in the apartment with vampires on the prowl!He"

Before I could think of a solution, Mom came down the stairs. Everyone in the family was on the second floor or above (or in Bella's bedroom) to give us some privacy.

"I'll go stand guard," Mom offered.

"Really? You would do that?" Adrian asked. She and my mom hadn't interacted much, but Mom knew how important she was to me and half her life story from what I told her. I'd gotten around to telling Adrian about my real family situation or most of it. There's a lot of information. She told me that Rosalie as a mother wasn't much of a stretch from Esme.

"Sure. He's basically family. Besides, I don't need Jasper to tell me how to kill. I'd bring Emmett with me, but he'd never forgive me for missing tonight."

Adrian smiled and poured on more "thank you's" while my love for her grew because she ignored her new mother-in-law's comments about her experience with murder.

"Okay, maybe now I can sleep," she yawned. Then she curled up her legs and fell asleep in the blink of an eye.

Something we share, I thought as unconsciousness threw itself over me just as quickly.

{0}

Adrian POV

I was probably going to have a mental breakdown soon. It must be coming.

I had been disbelieving at first, but tonight I had learned that the real world was not so ground in reality. That magic was real. And that monsters lived among me. Some good, but others thirsty for my blood.

I must really love this guy, I thought. I had had crushes before, but the L word? Nope. I had never even had a boyfriend before Jacob. Like a cliché teenage girl, I felt in the depths of my heart that I would not feel this way again. But I think after tonight I can say that I am no longer the cliché girlfriend.

If it was anybody but him, I wouldn't be standing in a field with vampires on my right, and gigantic wolves in the woods beyond me. They were as tall as horses and thick with visible strength that made me shudder just a bit. Paul was bigger than most of them, but a few managed to surpass he who had given me one hell of a fright when he came out of those trees earlier tonight. I had a bizarre sense of pride when I noticed that my red-brown wolf was among the biggest. I was in love with the color of his fur. I longed to run my fingers through it. It was so rich and so perfectly him. I might buy a sweater in that color. Or paint my room with it.

Jake's eyes often strayed from the demonstration to me. His uncle had probably taught him this stuff already. If that's what you do in that sort of relationship. I was squinting in the darkness, but sometimes I saw that familiar glint in his eyes or possibly a wink. I had to admit that as long as it was him, I wouldn't mind getting up close. I trusted his promises that no harm would ever come to me if he was there. Not even those sword-like teeth or domineering size could make me fear my wolf.

I pondered over my repeated us of the word mine. I had never been particularly possessive, but I felt ready to take down any barrier between him and me. It must be part of dating a werewolf. Jacob had explained a bit of their mating system to me, how it was stronger than human bonds, even for me. How a wolf losing their love is a fate worse than death, and that our relationship is highly respected by the pack as any of the other wolves' would be. I was surprised by the how serious these guys were about their girlfriends. It was a good surprise though. It made me trust him a lot more and fall for him even harder.

I was quite enjoying my silent conversations with Jacob. I was squinting the whole time to see him, but it was still very wonderful. He'd grunt or yawn or put his big head in his big paws, and I'd giggle or raise an eyebrow or just send him a look. Some of his family glanced at me with amused expressions when they take their eyes off the action. Better amused than thinking I'm a loony bin.

I was standing next to Bella who looked far more interested in this than I was. Jacob told me she wants to be a vampire to be with Edward forever and ever. Maybe she was trying to pick up tips in case this happens again after she's been changed. I was partially listening. Maybe if I'm ever mugged (a far more likely scenario than whatever Bella's preparing for), I can use this.

While Jacob and Bella looked right at home, the other wolves had wariness in their eyes. I knew not all of them were pro-vampire. Some of the vampires had the same look about the wolves which is weirder since they have one living under their roof.

At the moment, Jacob's dad, Emmett, and Jasper are going at it, the tall blonde eluding the far larger Emmett's attacks.

The tiny Alice whom I bonded with eons ago went against him next. He moved at her, and she danced around him with twists and true finesse. It was like watching the ballet. I was more impressed by how she twirled out of Jasper's reach than the muscles on Emmett or the wolves.

They all moved like blurs so it was a bit hard to see what was going on, but when they followed Jasper's directions, whoever that person was always won.

Every family member sparred with Jasper. I hoped the lack of practice didn't hurt Rosalie in the fight. The wolves also abstained although a few looked like they would make eager volunteers. Before he left, Jacob told me Sam asked him to sit out so the others wouldn't fight. He was worried some would forget who the allies were in the excitement.

Even though I had napped earlier, I felt ready to pass out. I found myself yawning more and more. Bella was practically sleeping standing up as she leaned into Edward's side. I tried to keep from swaying. It would be really embarrassing if someone had to catch me, and then Jacob would have to break away from the row of dark eyes across the field.

I knew the night was over when the wolves came over to where I was standing with the Cullens. They had to smell them so in the fight, they don't kill them by accident. Jacob hung back. He was familiar enough.

I could see them better now, and I try matching the people I met tonight to the giant lupines. The big black one was Sam, and the silver one who winked at me was Paul. There was another gray one with a slimmer, more feminine face and smaller stature that I assumed to be Leah. Also, she had the biggest scowl of the bunch. The two comparatively tiny ones must be Brady and Collin. I guess the one having only a slightly bigger and ganglier one must be Seth. Even when we woke him up at midnight, he had a big grin on his face. He looked uneasy here though, almost scared.

Jacob was obviously the most relaxed, like we were all in his living room talking about sports. Paul was the same. He wasn't much for seriousness. It was hard to read the rest. Jasper and Alice looked like they had to stand there naked, they were so uncomfortable. Esme and Carlisle were composed, but not as relaxed as say, Emmett. He had moved next to me after his sparring, and

The wolves disappeared into the trees when they were done. Jacob left as well, and my heart dropped. Did he have some wolf thingy to do? Or was he just going? After-meeting martinis with the guys?

I was relieved when he came back out in person form, running towards me with only a pair of cutoff sweats on. That woke me up quite a bit.

"Hey," I said dreamily. He wrapped his arms around me, and I fell into him. It was like now that he was here, I could close my eyes.

"You're a trooper," he said.

"Yeah, I am. You know how watching vampires fight can bore me to tears."

"Thank you for coming," he said, choosing to ignore my sarcasm.

"No problem," I said, my response more yawns than words, "It was fun." I pressed my cheek into his muscled chest. The warmth was so pleasant, and he had an amazing smell of him like the earth and my kitchen's spice rack. I kept taking deep inhales through my nose. It filled my body with contentment.

"There is a way you can make it up to me though," I added, smiling.

"That is?" he asked. I liked the way my cheek felt the words he spoke when it was pressed to his chest.

"You can carry me all the way back," I said. He grinned and swept me off my feet-literally. I burrowed my head into the nook of his neck and shoulder. We moved tranquilly through the dark.

{0}

Volterra, Italy

So many years, so many people, so many thoughts. It was a wonder Aro was still sane. But he is a god, although one unbeknownst to the world of men. Among his kind though, he sat on top of Mount Olympus.

With hundreds of thousands of people met and millions of their life stories told through every thought he had collected from them, it is perfectly understandable that fifteen years could go by without a dear friend being remembered.

My, my, it had been a decade and a half since he last heard of his former brother. Leave it to Carlisle, always the unique one, to make a splash after hundreds of years of little correspondence from the New World. Aro's guard had been in New York, eliminating a man crazed by loss, after his public show which threatened the secret of the immortal world.

In exchange for a quick death, he told members of the guard that Carlisle's family was keeping a human baby as part of their coven. The Volturi are nothing if not just. It would be wrong if they chose not to investigate this ridiculous claim because it was made about a dear friend to the law.

Alas though, it proved true. They had not broken the laws pertaining to the dreaded immortal children, but this went against the Golden Rule of this life which was to uphold the secret. At the moment, the child was no threat; his memories would never survive long enough to tell a soul whom he was living with.

It seemed simple enough. Kill the child, right? But Carlisle had always had an unhealthy fondness for humans. There were billions of them, and most of them were never important enough to gain any power. He told the guard that they planned to change him when he was mature enough to be frozen forever. Aro permitted this. He trusted Carlisle, a longtime friend to the law. Honestly, he didn't really care about what he did with his precious little humans.

The guard had also informed Aro of the large size of Carlisle's coven. Of course it was no threat to the Volturi, but it could still result in tiny losses. Even one was too big of a number for the Volturi to lose without mortification. They had to be untouchable.

Also, the ones reporting to Aro and his brothers said they were almost certain that there were gifted ones among the Cullens, including the human. The babe had a shield against certain powers.

Aro was very much intrigued by this, and he did not want that gift being thrown away. Perhaps the gratitude for sparing his life and (if planned carefully) some proximity with Chelsea could persuade this boy into the folds of the guard, as well as the other gifted Cullens if valuable enough to be worth bringing in.

How foolish Aro was! It was a few years later when a nomad visited Afton at Volterra. He regaled them with stories of meeting the Cullens and their strange little human and of the powers within their group.

Aro never imagined what he could have gained if they had seized the opportunity that had fallen in their laps! The empath and the mind-reader were valuable but somewhat dispensable. But a psychic! When Aro heard about that female's power, he was overcome with longing. He knew he would do anything to have her under his control. He could have persecuted the Cullens for their little pet and gotten all of them! But he had no idea what he was losing when he let them go!

He still grits his teeth in anger over his foolishness. He had a hundreds of different possible plans strung through his mind to acquire those wanted, but none were sure to work. He needed to be sure.

But this morning a lower member of the Guard, one who had to keep an eye on the "above ground," dropped a report of several news stories about a crisis in Seattle. Newborns, many of them. Another army was being created.

"Young one," Aro asked of him, "Pertaining to the Cullen tabs, they are living in Washington, United States, correct?"

"Yes, Master," he answered, eager to give the ancient vampire anything he needed.

"I wonder why they have not taken care of this problem," Aro thought aloud.

"Perhaps they are waiting in the tall grass," my brother Marcus suggested.

"Shall we send the Guard out to solve the problem?" Caius said from Aro's left.

"Yes, but let's give our old friend Carlisle and his coven the chance first to solve this on their own. They will have eight of them if they got around to changing the boy. The Guard can intervene if it proves too much for them. I want to see what they can do."

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