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Chapter 4: Battle

2006: Claire three-years-old

Quil's POV

Yeah, so remember how I said shit about harmony in the pack and everything going back to normal?

I was wrong. So, so wrong.

It was all going fine for around two months, perfect in fact. Sam was totally fine about Embry and I joining Jake's pack, he said he even expected it since the moment Jake imprinted on Nessie. Bella completed her transformation and was so good with her thirst that she was seeing Charlie again. I was spending almost every weekend with Claire thanks to her parents wanting "alone time" a lot. Jake, Embry and I were hanging out during patrols like it was the old days again, meaning Jake wasn't depressed. Embry and I had even met Nessie and I could finally see what Sam meant. Apart from the whole being able to show people what she's thinking and growing more than twice as fast as she should, she was pretty normal. It was preposterous to even think of her as a devil child like we had been before. She was apart of the pack now.

In fact, things were going so good Paul and Rachel were even planning their around the world adventure and Paul was being taught how to control his anger better.

Then, like everything these days, shit hit the fan.

Irina, some woman from the "Denali coven" had saw Bella, Jake and Nessie hunting and assumed Nessie was an immortal child. Irina had run off to spill to the Volturi before Bella even had a chance to chase after her and explain. Alice had a vision the Volturi were going after Nessie, then Alice and Jasper fucked off into the woods leaving the Cullen's and the wolves to train for a full our war against a bunch of stinking Italian vampires.

All the happiness we had been feeling just stopped. Everyone started to freak out about our impending doom. Jake, who had already been fretting about Nessie's rapid growth, was now worrying about the possibility of the pack fighting, Renesmee being hurt and the Cullen's being killed protecting her. The Black pack were set against the Volturi and we started to train the day we found out about them coming. Sam had been told by Embry and I the next day and after talking it over with the guys, they also agreed to join us as Nessie was now apart of the pack. The imprints were mostly worrying about their beloved being killed, meaning there was a lot of crying coming from Emily, Rachel and Kim.

Claire, being the innocent angel she was, didn't have a clue what the hell was going on. She didn't suspect anything was going on with us and continued blissfully cutting off the heads of her Barbie dolls. I tried to spend as much time with her as I could, but between training, sleeping and eating, it was proving hard to spend time with her. And even when I did I couldn't help but wonder how she was going to cope without me. The older imprints said that they hated being away from their imprinter and that, after a while, it started to physically and mentally take a strain on them.

Would Claire have the same effect? Would she feel pain for the rest of her life? Would she even remember me? Would it be different for a younger imprint?

I had so many questions that couldn't be answered. The very thought of leaving Claire made me want to throw up, but the thought of her being in pain for the rest of her life was indescribable. I just hoped that she would find happiness if I did leave the world. All I wanted was for her to be happy with her life and that would make me happy.

The Cullen's began to ring in some favours and allies from all around the world. This was good and bad, good because it meant we had more people on our side, and bad because it meant more vampires were coming to the area and making wolves phase.

By the middle of December seven new wolves had phased, all fifteen or younger. We all had our hands full trying to calm them down, explain everything and then train them for fighting. Most of them had taken at least six hours to phase back to human and one of them, Aiden Winters, had freaked out so bad he had smashed Paul into a tree and snapped it in half. To give it to Paul, he didn't even attack the guy but simply rolled his eyes and muttered something about stupid newbie's ruining his mood.

Christmas came around and I had to spend the actual day with my mom and grandpa, though I itched to know if Claire was happy down in Makah. She and her family were coming down to La Push to next day to visit Emily and Sam but I was having a hard time waiting. I got some money, clothes and some posh trainers I had asked from before I had turned into a wolf. I was sure to shred them one day, but I didn't mention that.

The next day came and I ran around Emily's for one o'clock, the exact time Emily had asked us to be there for. Emily, Sam, Kim and Jared were cooking in the kitchen when I got there, the delicious smells off all the different foods made my mouth water. Jake was at the Cullen's with Nessie so he wasn't there, but the rest of the pack was.

"Hey, have a beer," Embry chucked me a bottle as I sat on the couch. "How'd yesterday go?"

"Fine, I suppose, you?"

"Mom got me a diary and said I should try and let all my anger out in it," he chuckled bitterly. "I still don't get why she wouldn't just accept that I can't tell her what's going on."

"You should, Em, she'd understand."

"Are you joking? She'd freak. Plus, she's a gossip, one day she'd 'accidentally' let it slip and then the whole damn world will know in about a year." Brady and Collin sat down as he finished speaking and Embry eyed them. "Should you be drinking that?"

Brady looked down at his beer. "Why not? We can't feel the effects anyway."

"It's like drinking beer flavoured soda," Collin added, nodding. "Which actually sucks when you think about it."

"We can't even get drunk now?" Timmy questioned in an outraged voice. "What the hell am I meant to do on a Saturday?"

"Study?" Ivan smirked, sitting on the floor and leaning against my chair. "That's always a good thing to do."

"Boring," Timmy scoffed, pushing Sean over so he fell to the ground on his ass, Timmy laughed and took his place on the arm of Embry's chair.

Aiden, the guy that had thrown Paul into a tree, shoved Timmy onto the floor, helped Sean to his feet and then let him take his original place on the arm. Timmy got up and glared at him, but when Aiden raised his eyebrows threateningly Timmy took a seat on the floor next to Ivan. I grinned at Aiden afterwards and he shrugged, disappeared into the kitchen and I heard him ask Emily if she needed any help.

About an hour after I had arrived I felt the constant tug of the imprint get stronger and stronger. I got to my feet and sat at the dining table with Declan and Ethan for a while until I heard the Young's car pull up into the drive.

"Qwil!" Claire beamed, thrashing in her mom's arms until she put her onto the floor and she could run into mine. She dropped a kiss on my chin and I laughed.

"Hey, Claire-Bear. Did you have a good Christmas?"

She nodded, making her ponytail bounce. "Yep! I got new dress," she announced happily. "And new toys."

Nora grabbed onto my leg and squeezed. "Hey, Nora, what did you get?"

"I got a new doll house," she smiled widely. "And some new sparkly shoes. Auntie Emily!" she screamed, running into Emily's arms. Jasmine and Oliver went over to greet Emily and Sam, leaving me and Claire to talk about her new baby doll she had gotten called Sally-Marie.

"Hey, Claire," Embry greeted, ruffling her hair.

She giggled. "Hi Unca Em!" she held her hands out for hands and tightened her fists impatiently.

Embry whipped her onto his hip and grinned at me. "I still say she likes me better, Quil."

I rolled my eyes. "Shut up, Embry."

Oliver still eyed me warily as I crammed as much hanging out with Claire time as I could into the few hours she was here. Jasmine basically ignored us though she looked over every few minutes to check that Claire was okay. Nora split her time between every member of the household, even the new guys who looked thoroughly awkward dealing with a six-year-old. Claire was basically stuck to my side all night, giggling and chatting away as we built a lego house near the backdoor. Seth, Sue and Leah popped by around seven, Sue went straight over to Emily and Sam, Leah went to talk to Aiden, and Seth came over to Claire and I to build the house with us.

I left Claire with Seth for a minute as I rushed to the toilet. On my way back I overhead some people muttering to each other in the kitchen in hushed voices that were easily washed out by all the noise coming from the living room.

"All I'm saying is that it's weird he spends so much time with her," I recognized Oliver's voice hiss harshly.

"Oliver," Sam's deep voice sighed. "Honestly, he's just trying to be nice."

"Yeah, too nice if you ask me. What kind of sixteen-year-old wants to hang out with two girls? It's weird, Sam."

"It's not that weird. Quil started out babysitting because he needed to money and now he sees Claire and Nora like his sisters," Sam said. "He wouldn't hurt them, Oliver, you have to know that. Quil would rather jump off a cliff than let anything happen to your girls."

"I suppose..."

"And if I thought something was wrong with him do you think I would have let him hang around Claire and Nora in the first place? Quil is one of the best kids around, Oliver, you wouldn't find a better person to protect your children."

Oliver grumbled something and I heard him stomp out of the kitchen and back into the living room. My ego had been peeked thanks to Sam's praises. At least my former Alpha knew I wasn't some weirdo. He trusted me and if people were going to listen to anyone, it was going to be Sam. He was highly respected in La Push, along with the rest of us, thanks to the elders making up some story about us being tribe protectors. It was true, though I don't think many of the inhabitants considered the fact that we fought vampires on a daily basis to keep them safe. They probably thought we beat up drug addicts and made struggling youths become helpful teens.

Oliver sent me strange looks for that rest of the night, a mix between confusion, distrust and wonder. When Jasmine announced it was time for them to go Oliver all but ran over and snatched Claire from the floor and into his arms. He looked really put out when Claire started to cry about not being able to say goodbye to me. In the end Jasmine had to run in and get me to say goodbye to her in the car because she wouldn't settle down until she had hugged me. I hugged her extra tight and long because, even though she didn't know, it might have been the last time she ever saw me.

The next couple of days I spent training to fight and running down to Makah to catch a glimpse of Claire before I fell asleep in the woods outside her house. Each time I mentally said goodbye to her, hoping and praying that she would one day find happiness with someone in her later life.

On the 31st of December the Volturi came to Forks with the intention of destroying us all. I stood with the Cullen's, their allies and my pack brothers and sister wondering what our fate was going to be and memorizing everything I could about each of them just in case someone died in battle. I couldn't hear any of the new wolves' heads, thanks to the tranquillity of Jake's small pack, but by the frightened looks on their faces I could guess what they were thinking.

Leah and Seth were thinking about their mom while saying goodbye to each other, Jake had said his farewells and good-lucks only moments before and then his mind turned to keeping Renesmee safe, Embry just thought about his mom and La Push, while all I wanted was for Claire to be happy.

I'll make sure she is, Quil, if you go, Embry thought just as Edward stepped forward to be touched by Aro.

Me too, Seth agreed quietly. Leah murmured her agreements, too, and Jake was so wrapped up in keeping Nessie safe he didn't know what the hell any of us were thinking or doing.

I gulped, Thanks.

Renesmee was taken up afterwards and we all growled at the sight of one of the imprints being handled by a bad vampire. Jake was in turmoil, he didn't want to anger the bad vampires, but he didn't want Renesmee to be out of his safety. When she was handed back to Jake relief washed over not only him but us all. I was on constant guard and just as I started to see a fight coming along, Alice Cullen appeared with her mate.

There was a whole thing with a half-vampire named Nahuel explaining about himself, how he lived and how Renesmee would turn out as she grew. His Aunt backed him up and I could see the Volturi getting more disgruntled with each passing second. Then there was something about a vampire named Joham, Aro said something and then Carlisle snapped back. With their noses stuck in the air, the Voltrui left.

Was that it?

Nobody moved for a long moment and I didn't relax my stance.

Bella whispered to Edward, he said something, and then Alice laughed loudly and said. "Seriously, people. They're not coming back. Everybody can relax now."

There was another beat of utter silence.

"Of all the rotten luck," a vampire a little ways down muttered.

Then it hit.

The vampires started to cheer and scream, the wolves howled in delight. Seth jumped up and down on all fours and grinned, showing off his sharp white teeth. Leah tackled him a second later, her tail wagging and she was growing playfully. Bella, Jake, Edward and Nessie were locked in a funny looking embrace and Embry nudged me with his nose.

It's over, man, we're free again.

I quaffed loudly and whacked him in the side with my paw. Slowly, the celebrations died down and people began to leave. After two guy vampires ran out of the clearing, I nodded at the Cullen's and joined Sam and his pack as they ran back to La Push. Sam, Jared and Paul made a beeline for what I was sure was their imprints, Embry went home to get some steak, Jake went back with the Cullen's and the Clearwater's went to tell their mom the good news. I ran to Makah and didn't stop until I was in my usual spot near Claire's window. I could hear her gentle breathing as she had her afternoon nap.

Happiness burst in me when I realized that I would get to see Claire happy again. I could watch her grow up and choose her path throughout life and see all her happy moments. All I wanted from the world was for Claire to be happy, and I was going to get to see that for the rest my, and her, life.

Thoughts?

Thanks for the reviews, favourites and alerts! It's a bit late because I went on holiday for a week. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please don't be afraid to ask questions!

-Laylax