Author's Note:..

Grr... sorry about last chapter; it sounded way too weird and disconnected - zero flow. That's one thing that sucks about FF: you update the very first draft. Excuse me, please!

Thanks for all the lovely reviews! I seriously appreciate it. *Balloons with all colors for my reviewers!*

ALISON ANDERSON

I watched him as he ran towards the woods, towards something I couldn't see. Beside me, Cloe raised an eyebrow.

"Where are they going?"

I shrugged. "I have no idea," I said, "But they'll probably ph-"

Shit.

"-come back soon," I finished slyly.

"They'll probably ph-come back soon? Awesome," Jarrett mocked, rolling his eyes. I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes.

From my peripheral vision, I could see how the pack members were gradually excusing themselves, and I knew they were all going to join Colby, Paul and Jacob in the woods. My palms were so sweaty I had to rub them on my jeans; what was so urgent and so sudden that they all had to leave? Did it have to do with the note I received?

Why did you go now, Colby, and leave me alone?

"How's the cake, kids?"

Emily's voice was even, confident; it wasn't like her son (who had just phased three months ago) had just run after (what probably was) a vampire. Maybe the years gave her a little too much faith in the pack. If that vampire could make me unconscious - could make me lose my breath - with all those wolves around, then it could do much more, and I wasn't even ready to imagine that.

"Delicious," Cloe answered and Jarrett simply swallowed the rest of his piece in one bite as proof.

Emily smiled kindly. "Would you mind if I borrowed the birthday girl for a minute?" They shrugged and she held a hand on my back, guiding me towards Sam, Nessie and Rachel.

"Sweetie," Nessie started, "We need to get you out of here as soon as possible."

I stared at her. "Why? Did something go wrong? Who are they-"

"God, you're just like Paul," Rachel groaned, "Can't you just take the word-"

"Rach," Nessie and Emily warned before Nessie turned to me, "Colby wants you as far from her as possible at the moment. Could you do that for him?"

"But, why?" I insisted, "Is he okay? Is everyone okay?"

"They're all fine," Sam reassured, "It's just a...request from Colby."

Before I could respond, Nessie spoke. "I'm going to take you and your friends to the Cullen mansion in Forks - my family's there, so it's pretty much safe."

"Safe?"

Something was wrong.

Just. Plain. Awesome.

COLBY BLACK

The grass beneath my paws almost burnt with the speed as I chased Jemma. She was definitely faster than last time, and a million times more cunning, but I wasn't letting her go anywhere tonight, not after what had happened to Allie.

Sarah and the rest of the pack were a couple of steps behind me, the leech never tired from the continuous chase, even though I knew she needed air to breathe. As if on cue, she stopped, climbing high on a tree, knowing we couldn't follow her up there in our forms, but I was at least double as strong as that bitch in my human form. I was just going to phase back when I heard her speak.

"Enough with the running, eh?"

I growled.

"I'm just here to tell you one thing, Black. Remember the offer back in California? It wasn't an option," she said, "And I heard the only way the power of the imprint can be broken is death. We wouldn't want to go that far, would we?"

I wanted to fuckin' drink her blood.

Calm down. It's exactly what she wants. Dad thought.

But I wonder what she would taste like, Sarah said, please, Daddy?

Sal, you're not helping, Randy warned.

"Meet me tomorrow at 7 a.m. in front of Forks Middle School. It's either you or the little girl, Mr. Alpha."

I dug my palms in the ground, unable to attack, bound by my loyalty to my pack. Just one, quick lick.

Colby!

I almost rolled my eyes at Quil's urgency. It's not like I'm actually going to bite her. No matter how tempted I was.

It's not that. Allie's freaking out, you might want to phase back.

Is she breathing well? I couldn't care less about anything else at the moment, not even the half-breed on the tree.

Yeah...yeah, I guess. She's just...well, freaking out.

Oh, God. What was happening to my mini-girly-Paul? Be right there.

Would you please just stop comparing her to me? It's weird.

I tried my best not to provoke Paul a little more, pushing all the voices to the back of my head, trying to concentrate on my way to Sam and Emily's, phasing just before I was in their line of vision. I ran towards her scent only to find her, arms crossed over her chest, stomping her foot angrily on the ground.

She spoke without even attempting at any eye contact, looking at her feet instead. "Why'd you leave?"

"Um-"

She didn't even give me a chance to explain. "It's that vamp, isn't it? We need to set this straight."

I exchanged a meaningful glance with Mom, and they left us alone quietly. "Set what straight, Al?" I asked softly, aware of the amount of stress she must be under.

She took a sharp breath. "Well, it's either you...go back wherever you are. Or-"

I sighed, cutting her off, kneeling in front of her, but she wouldn't look at me either ways. "I'm not going anywhere this time, Allie. I promise."

She winced. "It's out of your control now, Tommy; you'll leave because you'll have to, right? Because of those attacks I have."

I patted her arm. "We'll consult the Cullens - we'll figure it out."

She huffed, closing her eyes. "But you'll end up leaving me again anyway, right?"

I frowned. "No, Al. I won't. I told you-"

"Bec-Because you're afraid I might phase and you're just being ridiculous and this is just way too much," she struggled through the words I barely made them out.

My patting turned to full-blown comforting rubbing. "Shh...relax, sweetie. We'll talk this through later. D'you want to go now? You don't want to be late, do you?"

She shook her head over and over, a silent tear running down her cheek. Instinctively, I dragged her to my embrace, holding her tight. "Sometimes I wish I never met you, Colby."

It should've hurt. It should've made me feel bad about myself - maybe even bring out my insecurities, my flaws. It should've made me re-think what I had done ever since I'd met her. But, no. I knew exactly what made her feel that way, and I felt it deep in my soul; if she'd never met me, she would've avoided a whole lot of trouble. Maybe if she'd never met me, she'd never know, or bother herself with, who her ascendants were.

If we'd never met, a vampire wouldn't want to hurt her. Not on planned, cruel purpose anyway.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, "But it's all going to be just fine, Al. Everything will turn out great, you have to trust me on this."

"I do, but-"

"Shh..." I said, "Don't worry about a thing, Allie. Have some faith in us, will you? She'll be dead by tomorrow."

I wished.

I ran another time around her house on all fours, doing my best to concentrate on every voice out there; before, we mainly depended on our super sense of smell when we were on the hunt, but with Jemma present in the equation, we had to use everything else we've got.

But as I tried to concentrate on the voices, I heard her in her room, mumbling in a low voice, accompanied with soft, keyboard clicking. I didn't really mean to pry on her, but curiosity was killing me. The day would come when I'd apologize to her, I thought.

"Colby,

You came yesterday after such a long time. I didn't want to do that, but I welcomed you back. You see, you (or that imprint magic stuff) make it super impossible for me to be mad at you, or decide to be hostile to you without a very good reason, which I didn't have twenty-four hours ago. But now I do.

I'm not suicidal, Tom. Every attack, I thought I might just die. I don't want to. Really, I don't. I'm not into that self-hurt issue and I'll never be; I'm not masochistic. I need you close, so close. I need to see you, to listen to you, to talk to you, to have someone to go to when I'm mad or just in need of a talk - someone to be there for me when Mom's not here and Dad's acting all weird, someone to listen to me nag over and over and yet still listen. I need you.

But I can't let this go on. I might not tell you right away, and I don't know if you were out there right now, fighting the vamps off...

Wouldn't it be much easier with us apart? I mean, you wouldn't have to worry about 'the little girl' you're leaving behind, and I won't get those attacks again. How could a vampire do that to me, though? Even the Cullens had absolutely no idea. Figures.

Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for what I'm going to do. I really am. But I think we'll both be better off that way, and I could always write to you here, right? Okay, that would have to stop, too. I'll find a way to stay sane; I'm not some sort of a clingy imprint who'd just die without her wolf there - I survived very well without you for three months, and I could survive for as long as I please.

Sorry again, Tommy-Wolf.

Al."

I stayed in my place, frozen. I couldn't believe my ears. I couldn't comprehend it, not at all; I felt like a ten-year-old B-student in a college grad pure mathematics class - absolutely baffled. Why did she think that way? How could she do that?

But I couldn't object to one syllable she'd pronounced; after all, vampire or not, it was her choice, and her health (even though not seriously affected) was at stake. I was sure she felt double as bad as she seemed during her 'attacks', so I couldn't open my mouth. If she decided to do that, I would let her.

"Allie?" her father suddenly called, "Are you awake?"

She took a deep breath, and I heard her mouse click twice before she answered him. "Yeah, Dad."

A door opened (probably hers) and her dad spoke again, softer this time. "How was your outing today?"

"Fun," she replied icily, her voice dripping venom. Whether it was at her father or at the situation itself I couldn't tell.

"What'd you guys do?"

I heard her laptop click. "They had a late surprise birthday for me," she explained, "Lots of cake and, er, presents. But I forgot them in, uh, Cloe's mom's car."

More like left them in my car. But she'd never actually tell him that.

"Aha, I see," he mumbled, "Who was there?"

Why?

"My friends." Mostly, yes.

"Mhhmm," he said, "Who, exactly?"

I wished I could see her face. "Jarrett and Cloe."

"Only?"

"What is it, Dad?"

He paused, and I heard her mumble a small "Oh God". "Did or didn't you go to the Reservation, Alison?"

"I- I-"

"Answer me, right now."

He was speaking slowly, trying to control his anger. My paws yearned to drag me in there, but I kept my discipline. "Yes," she whispered.

"Didn't I tell you not to go there or see any of the wolves? Don't you know how freakin' dangerous it is?"

Aw, come on. No one would dare touch a hair of Alison's.

"Ye- Yes, Dad. But I didn-"

"What'd they do to you, huh? Why didn't you call?"

He was getting angrier by the second and this was just not good. She was too close.

"They didn't do anything to me. I'm completely fine!"

"Then why did Elizabeth call and tell me you needed to see a doctor? Why'd you go to the hospital?"

"What hospital?" she said, "Oh. Oh."

From the speech between Jasper and Cloe's mother, I figured that was her.

"Oh what?"

"I just wasn't feeling so well. I had an...attack, I think. Asthma. Yeah, he told me it was asthma."

You're a suck-y liar, but I hoped he would believe her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his tone calmer. If he was going to phase, this definitely wasn't his first time. A first-timer could never control his anger like that.

First-timer or not, it was a good thing she wouldn't have to witness it. "I'm fine, now, Dad," she breathed, "Very."

"Just don't go there again, okay? And when something like that happens-"

"I'll call."

"We have a deal then," he said, "Sleep tight, sweetie. And keep the door open so I'll hear you if you call."

"'Kay, Dad."

"Love you."

She paused. "Yeah, okay."

What was going on in her mind? I had no idea. "Humans - they lose their phones so easily."

I turned around, growling. What does Jemma want now?

"Good idea - you patrolling around her. Like that would protect her, Stupid. Let go of her already!" she whined, "Oh," she said, "I'm not supposed to talk to my...future master that way, am I? Hm, I should keep my discipline."

I wanted to rip her into teeny tiny little pieces.

And I would.