Seth awoke to the sound of battle plans being drawn and his human body sprawled butt naked on the back lawn of the Cullens' new home. He groaned, squinting against the weak morning sun.

Wrapped in an oversize satin robe, Annaliese stirred next to him and rolled, her arm smacking him across the head as she curled into herself. Seth cursed and picked his face out of the grass.

Better be glad you're cute, he grumbled.

Seth looked over his shoulder in time to roll onto his back and catch the pants Edward Cullen threw his way. His face warmed as he pulled them on. "Why didn't anyone wake me up?"

Edward laughed. "We tried, but your…imprint wouldn't let anyone go near you. I believe her exact words were, 'Battle plans be damned. You're gonna let him sleep 'til he wants to wake up.'"

He cringed, both at Edward's horrible Mississippian accent and the idea of having his goods on full display.

"You phased in the last few minutes. Besides, we are more concerned about what to do next."

Seth sighed and let his head fall back into the grass next to Annaliese's. Weeks ago, after bleeding out in his bathtub, she'd told him her past was bad, had implied it would catch up to her sooner rather than later. Maybe he was as naive as everyone thought. Part of him thought they'd have months or even years.

"Has Alice seen anything?" He asked. He knew when to not question life's sense of humor, but whatever train they were on was going too fast for his comfort. First an imprint, then discovering a new pack — of coyotes at that — and now in a battle against a coyote cult run by a mass murderer on the brink of collapse.

Edward's laugh caught a nasty side eye, to which the vampire held up his hands defensively. "It's just nice to not be the one causing trouble for a change."

"Ha. Ha." He sat up. "How'd you do it, man? Years of it?"

Edward leaned against the back of the house and crossed his arms over his chest, eyes watching the sun peek through the clouds. "You get accustomed to it."

Well, that sucks.

Chuckling, he nodded. "It does 'suck.' Eventually, you get tired and decide to make a stand. With the Volturi, a show of force and numbers was enough to make them retreat, but rogue vampires aren't so easily swayed. You can imagine what a spectacle we were, a random vegetarian coven, against centuries-old vampire royalty, who lived to tell the tale." He glanced at the back door. "And Renesmee's high-profile existence in our world has brought its own set of challenges. It's worth it in the end, for me. For all of us."

Is it worth it for you? The question didn't get asked, but Seth felt it lingering in the air.

"To answer your question, no, Alice hasn't seen anything. Carlisle thinks it's a similar block as what used to happen with your pack. We knew there were true werewolves, and Carlisle was aware of the possibility of other species of shapeshifters, but to have it confirmed...and since Alice hasn't been exposed to her kind…If we had more time, perhaps…"

Seth rubbed the back of his neck. This is so fucked. He dropped back into the grass with a huff and watched the dense clouds pass overhead.

"Now that you're awake," Edward cleared his throat. "Perhaps you can wake her. The rest of us quite like our limbs attached to our bodies."

Yeah, yeah. He thought to his old friend and waited for the sound of the back door to slide shut again. He dropped his arms over his eyes and let his ears soften against the noise from inside the house. The rustle of wind through the trees gave him something else to focus on as did the slow breaths from Annaliese.

He wasn't aware of when he'd fallen asleep during their little experiment, but his dreams had been too vivid for his mind to rest. Visions of the compound he'd seen in Annaliese's memory, Yara, the two guards escaping. The chaos of Damian's mind. The same information was being dissected inside the house today, so his theory must have worked.

"Let's ride into town for a quick bite."

Annaliese's voice barely registered before the sound of a car engine sprang to life. Seth rose to his feet and took the long way around the house to avoid the crowd.

"Leah let you drive her car?"

Annalise winked and smiled. It didn't take a genius to see it didn't reach her eyes. She tossed him a shirt and pulled on the street. When the sound of the Cullen house melted into the noise of the city and the movement of town gave way to neighborhoods, Annaliese turned into a parking lot hidden by trees.

He looked around the empty park, suspicious. For a second, the scene felt familiar in a way that twisted his gut.

Angela. The silence, the fake smile, the tension. The only difference is they weren't sitting on a park bench with the sun shining down on them. Seth steeled himself for the bomb drop.

Annaliese sighed and closed her eyes. "Finally, a peaceful moment."

Seth said nothing.

The silence went on for so long his skin started to crawl. "What—"

"—So I —"

They both paused, awkward, and looked out their respective windows.

"When did you learn to drive?" He asked.

Annalise raised an eyebrow. "I have a license, Seth. But running was more convenient for what I was up to."

"Oh."

She nodded and, after another tense moment, turned in the seat to face him. "I lied."

His stomach dropped. "About…what?"

"About your pack. About them taggin' in on this fight."

"What are you saying?"

Her hands reached out for his, hazel eyes bright. "Letting you think this was going to be some big all-for-one stand was the only way to make sure your tribe was safe. With everyone here with these bloodsuckers, Damian can't trace anyone's scent any further south. He can't hit the rez, Seth. Not with Tony dead, anyway."

"Annaliese —"

She kissed him, holding his face between her hands like she was afraid he'd run. He kept his eyes open, afraid to get lost, afraid of whatever was going to come out of her mouth next.

"If you're with the Cullens, you're safe," she whispered, his face still in her hands. "That is my first priority. With you surrounded by people who would die to protect you, I can focus on what I have to do next."

"You mean get yourself killed," Seth snapped, pulling away from her. "I don't need you to protect me, Annie. I need you to trust me."

She sat back with a sigh. "Seth —"

"— Don't 'Seth' me, Annaliese. I saw what he did to you, what he did to his own son — in your old pack's memories, or did you forget that fast?" He hopped out of the car, letting the door slam shut behind him. Annaliese was in front of him in seconds.

"I can handle this."

"You said yourself that we should protect our own. But the rules don't apply to you, do they?" He caught the slight shift in her gaze, the sadness in her scent, and nodded. "Got it. You patrol with us, live with us — with me — and you hear our stories, but it's not enough for you."

"It's only been a month, Seth!" She threw up her arms. "What do you expect me to do here? Abandon my pack, my pack, completely?"

"Your pack sat back and watched him try to break you. They let him run rampant, murdering whoever got in the way. You said that. You, Annaliese. Not me."

"What part of 'no free will,' don't you get?"

"You made the choice to leave." Seth said flatly. "Yara chose to leave, just like Harlen and Wate."

"They were lucky!" Annaliese's body shook. "But their luck came with a price. Silas, Jordie, and all the others who tried to leave and defy Damian. You don't know them, so you can't possibly understand what I mean. They are dead. I should be dead and thank the gods that I'm not, because now —" She laughed, hysterical. "Now I can do what I was too afraid to do before. And I - I -"

Annaliese looked away from him, arms wrapped around her body to hold back the tremors.

"I told you I've had to lie, cheat, and steal to fend for myself and to help my pack survive in a world that isn't meant for things like us. I told you I tried to slit Damian's throat, that I tried to poison him. You saw my fear, but you haven't lived it, Seth. You feel bad for every bloodsucker you kill — even those two sons a' bitches we caught on the reservation. The others might not have felt it, but I did. Deep down, you wanted to save them, but you did what you had to for the safety of your tribe." She crossed her arms and exhaled. "You know, the fucked up thing is, I say I want Damian dead for my pack, but deep down, I want it for myself. It's personal and - and - ah, fuckin' hell."

Annaliese spun around and brought her hands to her eyes with an exasperated groan.

Seth sighed and pulled her backwards into his arms, biting his tongue. The last thing they needed was for her to phase in broad daylight, no matter how empty the park was.

"— I don't feel bad about it one bit," she choked out, "I just don't want you to see it, okay? You need to see me like this, like I'm - I'm human who uses witty one-liners and flirting to avoid all this touchy feely shit."

"You are human. We are human." Seth said.

Annaliese shook her head. "No, baby, you are human. I might have started out that way, but this skin is so fucking limiting. It has to be clothed and the food has to be cooked a certain way or you get the bubble guts. You can't even scratch yourself or sleep outside without someone trying to call the cops." She fell slack in his arms and let her head drop backwards. "Have you ever tried to take out a tick in this body? They'll break your neck before you know what's even happenin'."

Seth thought back to the vampires he'd killed over the years, the close calls with death, the fury he felt after his father's heart attack when Leah phased, the realization that the death around them was due to a creature he'd gone his whole life thinking was just a story his parents told him to keep him in line.

He laid his head on top of hers and sighed, careful to keep his own anger beneath the surface.

"Two things can be true at once, you know," he said after a long moment. "As a kid, I got a reputation for being the optimist, the one always happy, the kind one. I was, like, 14 or 15 when I phased for the first time, and I loved everything about it after awhile. I could hear what everyone thought of me, but I could also hear how stressed out everyone seemed about being a wolf."

Seth went silent for a long moment, considering his words.

"When shit started to go left, it felt like everyone expected me to be this beacon of hope or comedic relief or something. People started dying, the pack broke apart, and then my new pack was suddenly leaderless; I had to bottle everything up for years, getting small breaks here and there in human form where my thoughts were mine again…but even then, we're all so close that everyone still knew and still expected me to bounce back like nothing happened. That's when I started going off on my own, taking trips when I could to just run without having to chase something."

Annaliese rubbed his arm, sniffling.

"I met Angela — " He chuckled at her rigid posture, the jealousy rippling off her skin. "— right when the trips stopped working. Looking back on it, I think I used her as a distraction. When you're so busy trying to make someone else happy, it's easy to forget about your own shit. We just traveled. Everywhere, made plans, and she was actually interested in our tribe's history — beyond the wolf stuff."

"I don't wanna hear about how great your ex was," Annaliese snapped.

"Just listen," Seth gave her a gentle squeeze. "It's quick, I promise. She was human, but she didn't treat me differently because of what I was. Until she did. Whether it was my parents, Sam, Jacob, Angela, Leah — everyone had a version of me in their head that I tricked myself into believing was the real me. To my parents, their baby boy who could do no wrong; Sam and Jacob, I was the annoying kid they got saddled with, and then I was the one who kept their heads on straight when they wanted to get murdery. With LeeLee, I was too naive, too trusting. And, ah, Angela," Seth cleared his throat. That one still left him clueless, but he had a guess. "I was too loyal to my pack, to my community, to grow up and chase 'bigger and better' dreams."

"Should I break her legs?"

"Uh, no," Seth turned Annaliese around and cupped her face, his thumb trailing over the high planes of her cheeks. She looked away, attempting to hide the flush in her cheeks, the redness of her eyes. "My point is: I do trust people, even the Cullens. I am loyal to my community, and I do help my pack stay sane. But no one is all good all the time."

Annaliese squinted her eyes. "I just can't picture you being intentionally bad. Like actually bad, not bad-for-the-greater-good kinda bad."

Seth leaned against the car, taking her with him. While it was true he'd never wanted to slit anyone's throat with his bare hands — aside from the people-eating cold ones anyway. The last few weeks told him he could do it. If he had to. If someone lifted a finger against her. He'd probably do it for Leah and his mom, too. He tightened his hold on Annaliese.

"You're right that I wish the evil vampires could be like the Cullens." He also wished he didn't know that, at one point, even the Cullens had been just as bloodthirsty as the rest. "But, I'm also happy they're dead."

Annaliese turned in his arms and sank against him, nestling her face into his neck. "Sweetness, I don't know how to tell you this, but that ain't the same thing."

He rolled his eyes. "You sure? When we fought that army of newborn vamps, I was glad Victoria suffered when she died because it meant she couldn't hurt anyone else — and that, maybe, just maybe, she felt what she'd inflicted on those innocents." He nodded, seeing the past laid out before him in a haze of blinding white snow, of muddy forests and the clash of stone bodies against his. "Riley, the Volturi, all their deaths would make me happy because my people's lives would be that much safer. You want Damian dead for the same reason. It doesn't matter that part of your justice is also retribution. At least, not to me. You can want both and it doesn't make you a bad person."

She picked her head up. "You mean that?" she asked, searching his eyes for something he couldn't place.

He nodded. "You do what you have to do, but I know I can't just sit back and do nothing just because you tell me to. Even if you are my imprint." He grimaced. "I know we skipped straight to the L-word, but I still have an obligation to protect my tribe and my pack — which is also yours, you know — and if the worst happens…if - if I lose —"

He looked away, hating the sudden tightness in his throat. He cleared it and stared up at the sky, avoiding eye contact.

"If you go down, not only will I lose my shit, but I'll also have no choice but to take as many of those assholes down with me. I can't let them get close to the Cullen house."

"Well, if you won't stay behind, we both can't go in thinking we're gonna die," she grumbled. "Which means I can't just go in guns blazin' on any and everyone who tries to stop me."

Seth snorted. "Yeah okay, Kill Bill. And what about Yara?"

"Oh, she was never gonna come with us. The second we stepped out of Cullen earshot, I was sendin' her ass as far east as she could get with what's left of the cash I got on me...and maybe a couple hundred bucks skimmed off your vamps for good measure. They seem like they keep a safe full of cash for quick get-aways." Annaliese shrugged at his surprise. "S'not like they're gonna miss it anyway. I figured once she was safe and squared away, Wate would probably bail and Harlen would stop listening to his brother long enough to do what he wants — avenge Jordie's death — and then he and I'd ride into the compound like bats outta hell."

Seth shook his head and held her out at arm's length, disapproving. "That settles it. There's no way in hell I'm letting you —" He backtracked as her eyes flashed and dropped his hands from her sides. "— no way that not-plan of yours is going to work. Let's see what the pack's come up with first and go from there, okay?"

"Fine," she snapped. "But that doesn't mean I'm gonna listen."

"Of course it doesn't," he laughed. He looked around. "You ready to head back now or is there some other earth-shattering thing you need to tell me?"

Annaliese paused, head tilting in either direction as she listened. "We can head back now," she said slowly, a devious smile pulling at her lips. "…But this little heart to heart's got me feeling a little…" Her eyes trailed down his body before meeting his gaze again. "…restless. I don't think they'll be hurting if they wait just a little longer. Do you?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, aware of the sudden heat rising to his face. "I-I mean, yeah…?"

She knotted her hair into a ponytail and approached him, hungry. "Good. Glad we're in agreement."