Author's Note: I have a pretty good feeling you guys just want my head on a golden dish. I'm sorry! The story isn't flowing so well, and I have seriously thought of permanently deleting the whole account here, but I knew I couldn't do that to you - you've been there since the very first words, and you've been very supportive. So, I'll do my best with this one until I finish it, and that's it. No more FF stories for me, I'll just enjoy being a reader.

And btw, I'm having my finals these days (don't even ask) and their results are what determines whether or not I'm going to the university of my dreams, so they've been pretty stressful. Plus, I'm working on a Sci-Fi/Fantasy that's taking so much research. So, yeah.

Anyway, a huge thank you to everyone who has reviewed the last couple of chapters. Love you all.

-Language rating warning here. Nothing out of the usual, though. The plot just needed it.-

ALISON ANDERSON

Something was off this morning. I couldn't quite put my hand on it, but I knew it was. The atmosphere was choking at school; murmurs filled the teachers' parking lot, everyone was practically staring at me and, most importantly, Colby was there. I wasn't ignorant - I could feel him there, and, seriously, how many Ferrari's parked in front of the school? He was there, and he surely made it obvious.

I still couldn't figure out what to tell him. I knew it was for the best that we grow apart, that we continue our paths without each other, at least until that new vampire threat was over. I needed him close, but at the same time, I couldn't hurt him, or myself, by doing so. It was a golden rule - whenever someone threatens you, and you have no power over him, just obey whatever he says.

"Where are you, Colby?" I mumbled, knowing that wherever he was at the moment, he would hear me.

Stay where you are. Don't go inside just yet. I've got Jemma right in front of me, and, judging by scent, no one else is there.

"No fighting. Not worth it. We should stay away like she said."

Shut up, Allie. I seriously don't want to get angry at you.

"Can she hear me?"

No. She's a hybrid, her senses aren't that high. We're a mile away.

Oh. Wow.

"Is anyone there with you?"

I'm at least double as strong as her in my human form, I can rip her apart with the back of my paw now.

"Concentrate, then. Really hard."

"And she finally loses her mind!" Jarrett chirped, punching my cheek. "You talking to your imaginary boyfriend or something?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Shut the f-"

Allie, Allie, Allie.

"Shut up, Jarr."

Better.

"Will you please just concentrate for heaven's sake?"

"What?"

"Not you, Jarrett."

"'Morning, guys."

Oh, shit.

I looked up at Jarr (yes, I was that short and he was that tall), and I was glad he looked as uncomfortable as I was in Nate's presence. I highly doubted that kid ever liked me, but, hey, who's complaining here? I am, kind of. It was endlessly annoying to be approached by someone you didn't even like. And he plays CrossFire. I hate CrossFire.

"'Morning, Nate," Jarrett replied, "Let's get to class; Mrs. Andrews hates it when we're late."

He sighed and nodded. "Nice to meet you, too, Anderson," he said as he walked away.

Did I mention I hate him? Oh, and seriously way too much at the moment.

"Colby, how is it going?"

No answer.

"Colby?"

None.

"Tommy?" I squeaked.

At all.

And 'freaking out' couldn't quite describe what I was feeling.

"Allie!" someone called from behind. I turned to see who it was and was actually surprised to find Uncle Embry. Before I could say anything, though, he grabbed my hand. "We need to get you out of here right now."

EMBRY CALL

I didn't know what to tell her - how do you tell someone that young and that nervous that she's wanted? How do you tell Allie that the bloodsucker - the other one, the French dude from the last encounter, Frederick - is now after her? How do you tell her that her stupid imprint (who happened to be, by some miracle, a Black) ruined it all when he killed his mate, Jemma? How do you tell her she was the third victim of the vampire/mate chain in less than a decade? How?

I had no idea.

I was cut off by her voice. "Hello?"

I turned to her questioningly, frowning. "Who is it?"

Her face lost a few shades as she spoke. "N-No, I-" she paused, "Look, Dad, I don't know-"

I held out my hand for her, and she willingly gave me the phone. I pressed it to my ear, pushing a little harder on the gas pedal. "Mr. Anderson, this is Embry."

I was pretty sure I was the only Embry he knew.

"Where are you taking my daughter?" he yelled, "I swear this won't end the-"

I was trying to be as calm as ever possible. "Mr. Anderson, you have to understand this is an emergency. I have to get her somewhere safe as soon as possible."

"What are we talking about here?"

Damn, Colby was right when he said that man, if he was a werewolf, wasn't a new one. No young wolf could control his anger that strongly. "We're talking about a vampire - male, looks about twenty-something, brown hair, red eyes, slight French accent - and a possible female - blonde, old, red eyes if not wearing contacts, relatively tall -"

"After Allie?"

I sucked in a deep breath. Were I him, I wouldn't want to hear what I had to say. "Yes."

"Where are you taking her?"

"The Cullen mansion in Forks."

"Will they be there?"

"Yes, definitely."

"I'm on my way."

I was tempted to smile. "But, sir, more humans there will complicate things."

"Let's just leave it at...things aren't going to get any more complicated."

And bingo. We have a winner!

"Oh," I 'stupidly' said, "Oh. Then, we'll be waiting."

"What is it?" she asked as soon as I hung up, "Is he coming?"

I nodded. "Have you noticed anything...weird about your father lately?" I asked, "Anything abnormal?"

She frowned. "Like what?"

"Like...I don't know," I lied, "Something out of normal - supernatural, if you may."

She sighed, looking out of the window. "Like shaking when getting angry?"

How frequently did he get that angry around her? And he was worried we would hurt her. "Exactly."

"Then, yeah. Only recently though. Do you think he's...?"

I shrugged. "That's a pretty good chance, but to be honest, if he is, then he's an old one."

"Old?"

"Like, this won't be his first time to phase, if you know what I mean."

"Mm," she mumbled, "How's Mary doing?"

I could see how she and Mary were related; they both thought people were so short-sighted they couldn't see how they kept alternating subjects. "She's fine." And safe with three pack members right at her doorstep (at Sam and Emily's, where everyone else was staying).

Mary had always been super vulnerable, and now that she was pregnant, I needn't be reminded of how worried I was; she'd always had this pressure condition - whenever she was just a little nervous or excited, she would faint. Unless, of course, if she took her medicine, then she would only get dizzy without actually fainting. I was no medical genius, but with a baby on their way I couldn't help but worry about her own health, let alone the baby's. Her doctor said she'd be okay, but, well, I needed a little more evidence than one sentence.

It's just that you don't discuss that with a thirteen-year-old girl.

But my lovely pack brothers knew all about it, and it sucked to no end.

In less than five minute (thanks to Black Jr.'s Ferrari), I parked in front of the huge mansion where Colby was waiting. Needless to say, Allie jumped out of the car and to his arms within three seconds.

"Are you okay? Why weren't you answering me?"

COLBY BLACK

"I chased her farther and couldn't locate you to answer you, sweetie. I'm just glad you're fine."

She broke our brief hug to stare at me. Hard. "Why did you bring me here?"

I grimaced, guilt washing over me. "There's a vampire loose - and he's looking for you."

She frowned. "He?"

"Yeah - a French dude."

"Oh," she said, "The one Embry was telling Dad about."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what? Does your father know?"

What the fuck, Embry?

"Tune your thoughts down, Colby. Thank you," Grandpa said, walking outside, "Now, would you all please come inside? Frederick's disappeared from Alice's visions, so that means either he's on the right track, that he guessed where you are, or-"

"He's on the Rez," Dad continued, staring at me, "Embry - go back there. Get the rest of the pack on the borders, combing every inch there for any trail."

Embry nodded. "What about you?"

"He's probably not that dumb; he won't come attack with a full coven and four werewolves present."

"Should I go then?" I asked.

He shook his head. "There's still a fifty percent chance he is that dumb. And do you really want to leave her here and go?"

She squeezed my hand. "No. Of course not. Only if I absolutely have to."

"Alison," Esme called softly, emerging out of the door, "Your room's ready."

She frowned. "My room?"

"It used to be Nessie's spare room here," Edward explained, "Colby, if you may?"

I nodded automatically, not really paying attention to them as much as I was trying my best not to break Allie's hand as I squeezed it reassuringly, taking her up to 'her room'. I knew it was temporary, until I got that bastard's limbs on fire; it was my fault I got her in this situation. True, now I wouldn't have to worry about how we could be apart because of that leech I killed, but at the same time, this was a lot worse.

"Tommy," she whispered in a small voice as she sat on the bed, "I'm sorry for the mess. If I-"

"Don't." I shook my head, sitting down beside her. "Just don't."

"But it's my fault," she insisted. "Totally mine."

"Allie, for God's sake..."

She snuggled close to me, leaning her head on my forearm. "I'm just confused," she said, "Why did all of that happen to you when I show up in your life? It can't be a coincidence, you know."

I caressed her soft cheek gently. "Believe me when I tell you this: this has been going for a long time. You're just here to witness it."

"Did something like that ever happen before?"

I laughed humorlessly. "Yeah. The biggest was about twelve years ago, when Sarah and I were three," I began, "The same vampire worked with a Romanian coven against the Volturi-"

"The Volturi?"

"Yeah," I said, "They were, like, vampire royalty back then," I paused, watching her expression turn to that of amusement. I was honestly glad someone like Allie didn't witness the Volturi back when they were 'glorious'; she would've joined the bastards in a heart beat. "And they kind of tricked me and Sarah into going to Europe - it was their version of kidnap."

"Wow."

Shit.

"We ended up fighting, and one of the Volturi almost killed Sarah - she came home with ten broken bones."

"That must've hurt," she mumbled.

"Very, very much," I answered exaggeratedly.

She chuckled. "But I bet it was one hell of a fight, wasn't it?"

"Al, to tell you the truth," I swallowed, "You scare me."

She laughed, rolling on her back to face me. "I'm telling you the truth here - I would very much like to be able to phase or something like that."

And I spent three months away from you, afraid that you might phase with me around. Why did I even bother?

"Don't even try to think about it, okay?"

She raised an eyebrow. "And why not?"

"Because - because," I huffed, "That's not something I'd choose for myself." That's not something I'd choose for you.

"You are such a liar, Thomas." She crossed her arms. "You love what you are."

"But you can't be-"

"Is it because I'm a girl? Or because you think I'm just way too vulnerable?"

"Neither," I said, shaking my head, "It's just not right - it'd ruin your life."

She rose to her feet. "What life?" she exclaimed, "The one where I have to be surrounded by a dozen vampires and four werewolves just because some vamp's on my trail?" Is it that simple? "The one where I had to choose which parent to live with? The one where my own father wouldn't even get what I need the most? Or is it the one where I have to be the scared little girl while everyone else is fighting for me? Huh? What life?"

I stared at her, unable to react to her little outburst. Faintly, a sparkle of tear formed in her eyes. "Or the one where I have to give up on you in order to fuckin' breathe?"

"Do you really expect me, even if you were some wolf or mythical creature yourself, to let you fight off a vampire yourself?"

"Yes!" she said, "Otherwise, that would be your problem."

"Listen, Allie," I started, trying my best to control my temper. Jasper's presence was helping me, too. "I appreciate the fact that you're...fond of what we all are; it made explaining this whole thing to you and getting you to accept it much easier than it was with anyone else. But you have to understand how dangerous this whole world is - you just don't get it, do you?"

She shook her head. "You're just as dangerous as a human, Tommy."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "If you haven't already noticed: I'm definitely not."

Rolling her eyes, she explained. "You won't hurt me, right?" she asked, tilting her head sideways, "Right?" I nodded. "Because you're a good guy, and you love me. Now if you weren't and you didn't, you could hurt me, true?"

"That's exactly my p-"

She held out her hand. "Let me finish," she said, "And if you hurt me - you could kill me, right?" I closed my eyes and reluctantly nodded. She's theoretically speaking. She's theoretically speaking. "Same with humans - if you're a good guy and you love me, you won't hurt me, and if you weren't and you didn't, you could kill me. Believe me when I tell you: I'd rather get killed by some vampire than by a rapist."

I stayed silent, staring at her.

"And I'd rather get hurt than watch you fight for me."

"That's something you're gonna have to learn because even if you could defend your self, little girl, I will never let anything lay a hand on you."

She put her hand on her chest. "Flattered, but still."

"Still?"

"When this is over, Colby, I'll do whatever it takes to-"

I covered my ears with my hands. "Don't."

"-phase."

"And he's after my daughter because...?"

Carlisle grimaced briefly, Allie fidgeting on my lap (when three overly sized wolves (plus Sarah) try to sit on one couch, away from the glares of that guy, you can't just 'find a place for your imprint'), Jasper almost going crazy with all the emotions. "Some vampires are just born to chase. Alison being surrounded and protected by a large group of wolves definitely presents a wonderful challenge for a hunter."

He was being very vague and very general. This wasn't why Frederick was after Allie, but in order to maintain any possibility of any kind of relationship between me and that poor girl on my lap, Carlisle (the Dr. Carlisle Cullen) had to lie a 'white lie' for me.

"And if she wasn't surrounded by the pack?"

"There'd still be a great chance he'll want to chase her as Colby's imprint," Emmett very kindly elaborated.

Her father's eyes widened considerably, turning his glares at me. "You imprinted on my baby girl?"

I stayed silent; any response would tick him off further.

"Mr. Anderson," Edward cut the silence, "Frederick should be here in less than three minutes. Now, if you will, Jasper will take you back-"

"Back where? I can help."

Edward smiled cunningly. "Really? How?"

The old grandpa was tricking him into speaking his thoughts.

"I'll phase."

"What?" Allie snapped, "You - what the hell, Dad! You're not even as warm as them!"

Quicker than lightening, his eyes turned from anger to pleading sympathy. "I phased again a couple of days ago. I wouldn't touch you."

Al was practically shaking. I ran my hand up and down her arm soothingly. I wasn't surprised; I just had my suspicions confirmed. "Again? You mean-"

"Yes. I phased for the first time back when I was sixteen."

She stared at him before turning to me and burying her face on my shoulder, hints of tears soaking their way through my shirt. "Sorry, kiddo," I whispered in her ear and she just shook her head.

"I didn't believe it when Embry told me," she breathed, "I thought - I thought-"

"Shh, honey. It'll be okay."

He took a couple of steps towards her and was about to speak when our most-anticipated 'guest' arrived.

"Cutting some family moment here?"

Author's Note: So this is nowhere as short as the last chapter. And, hopefully, it's better flow and grammatical wise. Thank you all so much for bearing with me! You're the best!

Make me a little happier and review :)