Pairing: Jacob(/Bella), OC (Elijah)

Rating: T, just to be safe

Genre: family

Word Count: 500 (My third or fourth one in a row to hit it on the money. Suck on that, squirrel brain!)

A/N: I'm baa-aaack... ^_^ And I'm rusty as fuck, obviously. Just trying to get my feet back under me after emergency surgery earlier this month and get my head back in the game.

Prompts:

Quote: "I don't need to be saved" Prompt #21, from the Weekly Flashfic Challenge on Tricky Raven.

Song: "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perry (I was reading a snarky list the other day about the only good things to come out of the Twilight series and this song was on the list. It was the first time I'd heard it in ages. I wanted to put a little wolf pack spin on it, so y'all get this!)

Passing on the Mantle

Alpha Jacob Black stood on the cliffs overlooking First Beach, reminiscing about times gone by.

A thousand years of time.

The homey scent of family, pup, wafting on the breeze heralded the arrival of Elijah Jacob, his grandson.

Many times over, but his grandson just the same.

"Granddad?"

Jacob turned, a smile lighting his features as he took in the man's face, so much like his own, but a little more mature.

Elijah had never phased.

It was Jacob's greatest accomplishment.

A thousand years after the curse of the Cold Ones had irreparably changed the lives of his pack, they'd continued to phase, every single one of them. Their mates ceased aging with them. With this blessing, they had made the decision together to continue phasing so their curse would never ruin the lives of another Quileute—no childhoods stolen by demons who walked the earth in the guise of men.

They'd had children and their children had made them grandparents, and their children as well.

Thirty generations had come and gone.

Jacob missed his boys, but he wouldn't begrudge them their humanity.

It was a gift he'd been grateful had been his to give.

This most recent grandson of his, though … was as stubborn as Jacob himself had once been.

Jacob knew the children had been having meetings quietly. A group of thirty-four of the pack's descendants had come to a decision.

"You know why I'm here?" EJ asked.

"I have my suspicions," Jacob confirmed.

"It's time to lay down your arms, Granddad. You've carried this burden for so long, I think you've gotten lost in your purpose. Gran—"

"Don't attempt to tell me what my Bella needs, EJ. She knows my mind on this," Jacob growled.

"And I know hers. She'd never questioned your decision, but she deserves to live out her human life and so do you. So do Uncle Embry and Uncle Quil and all the others. Let us help you, Granddad."

"Goddamnit, boy! I don't need to be saved from my wolf! Nor do your aunt and uncles!"

"You have it all backwards, Granddad. It's us, all of us, who don't need to be saved from our destinies. I'm thirty-two years old, twice the age you were when you phased and stopped aging. My children are nearly grown. I understand better than any why you made this choice, except that I have twice as many reasons to phase—my children and you, your pack. You've shouldered this burden for far too long without respite. I don't know why the others never offered, so it's for me to do. I'm your descendant. This is no longer your responsibility. It's time to let us bear that burden, and for you and Gran Bella to go live your lives."

"I only ever wanted to spare my sons this curse."

"And you have. You have your whole lives ahead of you. It's time to pass on the mantle."

"You'll make a good Alpha." Jacob was pleased.

"I'll do my best."

E/N: Thanks for reading and apologies for my long absence!