Chapter Twelve

Sam

When Harry hit me with the news I was staggered, the leeches had now infiltrated Charlie's life and stolen away his only family. As if that weren't enough they had somehow gotten hold of two human children, for what purpose we couldn't fathom. We knew the penalty for turning children into vampires was death and the Cullens were far too clever to try that but there had to be some nefarious reason for them to hold onto human children. Charlie had told Harry that his grandnephew wasn't Jasper Hale's kid. Well that wasn't a surprise, I doubted that the leeches could procreate anyway and certainly having sex with a human would only result in the murder of the female. So, who was the father? Or should the question be what was his father? If Paul had been right and the scent in Charlie's house was a strange one then either one or both of the children were the product of a mating between a human female, Bella, and some other creature but we couldn't imagine what.

The pack were angry and spoiling for a fight but before we did anything I wanted to know more about what we were dealing with. Charlie hadn't said the other child, a female, was his niece's too so who was she? What was the relationship and which of the leeches was holding her? Could it be that they wanted to mate the two children once they were adults? Perhaps they, meaning the doctor, had found what he thought might be a way to create some kind of mutant, anything was possible when you were dealing with monsters like him.

"We do as I said and watch Charlie's house. Find out as much as we can about the children and their relationship to the Cullen family which means keeping hidden and quiet and listening and watching, is that clear?"

Paul and I had taken the first watch but Charlie was alone and deciding after he went to bed for the night we would attempt to get inside and check the place for scents we entered through an open window in the basement and made our way silently up into the kitchen.

"Do you smell it?"

I nodded in response to Paul's silent question, being able to speak to the pack silently was useful in such a situation.

"It's like leeches but...fainter, as if it's diluted in some way. The other scents I recognize are Leah's, Charlie's, Harry's, Jasper Hale, and two human scents that must be his niece and one of the kids. So one kid isn't human but isn't vampire either. What the hell is going on?"

"I don't know Sam but I don't like it. We can't leave those kids with the leeches, it's not right."

"I understand how you feel Paul but I won't act until I have more information. We wait and we watch, at least for a few days. I'm going to ask Harry to visit with Quil and Jared, make sure there is plenty of the pack's scent in the house. We need the Cullens to accept the scent as normal, it will cover any actions we take, like tonight. In fact you visit with them. Charlie told me he was thinking of holding a barbecue so we could meet his niece, you can offer to set it up for him."

"You think I'm attending a barbecue to meet a leech lover?"

"None of us are, but it gives an excuse to have our scent in the house without causing any suspicion."

Paul didn't like it, neither did Quil but with Harry and Jared they did as they were told the next day before he left for work. Charlie was touched by the offer and promised to get back to them once he had decided on a date. After that we continued to watch, or the pack did. I had another problem that needed dealing with, Leah Clearwater, my ex, had phased for the first time. No girl had ever phased before and I had no idea what to do with her. She automatically became a member of the pack but no one else wanted her with us. I felt sorry for her, the lone female in an all male organization but there was nothing to do but allow her to join us.

I noticed she hated the Cullens even more than we did and while she wouldn't speak to me she did eventually confide in Jared who came to tell me.

"Leah blames the Cullen's return for her condition, that's why she's so angry at them."

"Yeah but she's pissed at us too and it's not our fault."

"True but I can understand. Who would want to be the odd one out? She makes it difficult for the rest of us, we phase, we're naked, no sweat. She phases alongside of us, it's awkward all round. Besides she's your ex and you dumped her for Emily, how is she supposed to feel being subservient to you after that?"

My head was reeling and I gave up on the conundrum for now.

We watched Charlie's place for two weeks and the niece and kid or kids visited at least four or five times. Charlie even took the boy fishing and Paul watched ready to snatch him then but I vetoed the idea, I wanted both children together or we would lose one. If we snatched the boy the Cullens would be alerted and we would never get our hands on the little girl then. We had discovered one shocking thing though, or Leah had, much to my astonishment.

"The boy is a hybrid."

The words were clipped and strained, she hated talking to me directly but the report was important.

"A what?"

She rolled her eyes and grimaced,

"I think that leech impregnated the girl. The boy is part vampire, that's why the scent is different, he's a half breed."

That got me thinking, I hadn't been aware vampires could breed, it was a worrying development. All the stories of half breed kids had ended badly and had been just that, stories, myths, and legends but if it were true?

"Maybe the doctor found a way to make it possible, who know what he's doing in that house."

"It's possible I guess Leah. OK, I'll have to talk to the elders and you'd better come with me."

She pulled free of my hand on her arm, her words forced between clenched teeth,

"Don't touch me. You may be my Alpha but that does not give you the right to put your hands on me."

I held my hands up knowing just how touchy she was and how much she hated me for breaking her heart. I hadn't mean to, I was in love with her, we were planning our wedding and then I met her cousin Emily and everything changed. I imprinted and there was nothing I could do about it but I did understand how much I had hurt Leah and wished I could make things right. I tried to keep my distance and that had worked to a degree, until Leah phased. Now I couldn't keep my distance, all I could do was hope Leah would settle down and find her place in the pack but I doubted it, none of the guys welcomed her, or wanted her in the pack, she was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Something stopped me from speaking to Harry and Old Quil, they knew we were watching Charlie and the Cullens but I was worried they might refuse to take any action. Along with the rest of the pack I felt we had to act but I wasn't at all sure the elders would agree. Their hands were tied by the treaty they signed with Carlisle Cullen while mine were not. So long as they did not order me to stand down I was free to act as I saw fit so I needed to keep as far from them as possible until I decided what to do for the best. Charlie was getting closer and closer to his niece and grandnephew and I feared the Cullens might try to draw him in, might even turn him against us. The Quileutes, his oldest friends. The weight of decision making rested on my shoulders and I needed to make that decision and soon.