The Bond had failed.

I groaned as pain shot through my whole body. "Ok…ouch. That hurt."

I managed to slowly sit up as Dad came over to check on me. Wyatt held the back of his head as he winced. "Fucking hell, man…" he muttered under his breath.

Jared and Sam rushed over to their sons. "Jesus, are you ok, son?" Jared asked Wyatt while Sam tried to help Nate as he popped his dislocated shoulder back into place. Jared looked at Dad then Mom. "What the hell just happened?"

"Something went wrong," Mom shook her head, confused.

Dad sighed as he held me steady. "I don't get it. We researched this thing for weeks."

"Maybe…maybe we got the chants wrong?"

"It wasn't the chants, Aunt Leah," Wyatt said. His voice was dripping in frustration. I tried to catch his eye so he wouldn't say what I was thinking and what I was sure Nate was thinking. Wyatt pulled on his shorts as he stood up.

"Wyatt, don't," I warned. The sky was still dark and getting darker by the second. It was almost pitch black again, ominous clouds covering every inch.

"No, Ace, I just got struck by lightning for the second time in my life and thrown back 20 feet by some fucking supernatural shit. I'm pissed," Wyatt said.

From across the way, Nate shook his head. He stepped into his shorts too "I knew this was a mistake," he said with a dark chuckle. "This whole fucking idea was a mistake."

"Guys, please don't start this right now," I was almost begging. Remember the last time Wyatt and I got into an argument? The downpour? The lightning striking in the same place? Looking down at my hands, I saw the exact same crescent shaped scar in the middle of both of my palms. I would still feel the sting of the electric bolts.

"A mistake?!" Wyatt yelled. He pushed away from his father to get closer to Nate. "Are you kidding me?!"

"I don't think that's what he meant," Sam tried to step in. "Come on, Wyatt, give him some space."

"It would have worked, if it wasn't for him!" Wyatt was getting angry, which very rarely happened. He had incredible resolve over himself and his wolf. But even from way over here, I could see the small tremors wracking through his hands. "You could have just said no to the Bond instead of picking a fight with Hadley and causing all of this goddamn disruption."

Sam's face hardened. And he stood up straighter. "Watch your mouth, son," he said through a clenched jaw. I watched Wyatt size him up quickly.

I jumped up right as I saw the shaking getting worse in Wyatt. "No," I said to him. "We're not doing this right now. Don't do or say anything that you'll regret."

I wish I could say that he was hearing me. He wasn't. And Sam wasn't making it any better. "Bringing back the Cullen's was a mistake. Waiting this long to take out the Volturi was a mistake. Trusting a bunch of kids to lead this battle was…a…mistake." Sam looked over to the Council. "I told you it was going to end up like this."

"Watch your mouth, motherfucker. I don't like what you're implying," Dad growled.

"With all due respect, Sam, this isn't even your fight," Wyatt said. "Nate, do you need your daddy to fight your battles for you?"

"I don't need anyone to fight for me," Nate snarled. He addressed his father, "Especially not you."

"Then call it what it is, Nathaniel! Because shit's about to get real and we just fucked up our one chance to do this before we go to fucking war!"

"Stop!" The Alpha order rippled out of me before I could stop it. "You both are being ridiculous."

Wyatt and Nate were standing off on either side of me. This felt…bigger than our petty argument about the Cullens. But I couldn't quite figure out what it was.

Then I said, "Look, we may not be seeing eye to eye right now, but we're still pack. You're still brothers. Like it or not, we're on the precipice of something bigger than all of us. And if we lose sight of why we're doing this, we might as well just hand ourselves over to the Volturi guard right now."

Wyatt shook his head. "My brother would never act like this," he said. "My brother knows the value of our team."

"He also knows when something doesn't feel right," Nate argued.

"But he would never put all of us at risk this way!" Wyatt roared. "You knew coming up here that the Bond would fail and you did it anyway! You had an out; you could have said no!"

I looked at Nathan with sad eyes. Because Wyatt was right. "Why didn't you?" I asked quietly. "You could have told us if you weren't ready, Nathan…"

Nate's eyes softened at me a little before they cut to his father. "I tried," was all he said. Thunder rolled overhead. "I'm out."

"Nathan, no…" I whispered. He shook his head in defeat and started to walk away. "Nate!" I called again, louder.

"Let him go, Ace," Wyatt said. The irritation was crashing over me in overwhelming waves. Rain started to pour harder the further Nate walked away. "It's not up to us to change his mind. If he doesn't want to be a team anymore, that's on him."

"He'll come around," Sam chimed in as he gathered what remained of Nate's clothes. "He knows how important this is to everyone. He wants this; he'll come back."

"If he chooses to," I corrected him. "I don't know what you could have possibly said to him to make him risk a failed Bond, but I will remind you: his feelings are more important than your legacy."

Grandpa spoke for the first time in god knows how long. He looked perturbed by everything that had just happened. And he was getting more and more soaked by the second. "This clearly didn't go according to plan," he sighed. "But there's no use in fracturing our relationships with each other further."

"Billy's right," Grandma chimed in. "We may not know what's going on with you guys, but you have very little time to work it out. And we can try the Bond again when everything is cleared up."

"This is unbelievable…" Wyatt murmured under his breath.

"Let's just all go home and get some rest," Mom suggested. "This isn't our only shot. The Bond is only to enhance your powers and it's not the only one that we have, so, if we need to fight without the three of you Bonded, that's ok. It'll be fine."

It felt like she was trying hard to assure all of us that it would be fine. But even she didn't sound convinced. She looked concerned. "Leah's right," Dad doubled down. "You guys are still the strongest we've got. We'll do just fine." He sounded more convincing.

Wyatt shook his head and started walking down the hill. Grandma started to prepare to push Grandpa in his wheelchair, agreeing with Mom and Dad that tomorrow was another day. A better day. "I'll go check on Nate," Sam said, turning to follow his son.

"Sam," Mom said in a stern voice. "Leave. Him. Alone."

"You've done enough," Dad finished. Then he cut his eyes toward me, Go find Nate if you can, bug. I nodded before jogging down the cliff in the pouring rain.

When I made it back to our little house, I noticed immediately how quiet it was. It was exactly how we'd left it almost three weeks ago. There hadn't been a soul in here since we left. Not even the boys. The clock on the wall read 6:43. Where are you? I projected to Wyatt.

I almost didn't expect him to answer. I'm at the beach. I just need some time to recoup, he said. I love you, ok? I'll see you in a bit.

The rain usually felt comforting, like a fresh shower of good intention and cleansing. But something about the heavy downpour was daunting, heavy…unsettling. I tried to shake the feeling as I made my way back to the main road and channeled Nate all the way to Cass's house. What was he doing there?

It wasn't until I spotted a curly headed girl climbing out of the sensible blue Camry that I realized why he was at Cassie's. In fact, Nate was already sweeping Montana up in an embrace before she could even close the passenger side door. She gasped in pleasant delight before hugging him back. She took his face into her hands with a smile and said something so quiet, only he could hear. He grinned so wide. It was the first time I'd seen him smile in days.

I started to jog over right as Reese tentatively opened her door next. She'd piled her strawberry blonde hair on top of her head and pulled her jacket over her shoulders apprehensively as she looked around. "This place is exactly the same," she said to me quietly. Her eyes closed as she welcomed the rain, but only for a second. Her head whipped over to the house right as Cassie and Aunt Bianca stepped onto the porch, donned in pajamas. Cassie was stunned to silence as her eyes locked with Reese's. "Cass," Reese breathed.

Cassie swallowed hard. She slowly wrapped her arms around herself as she tried to think of something to say…or do. Then she shook her head before whispering to Bebe, "Excuse me," and rushed back into the house.

Reese bit her lip to stop from calling out to her. Instead, she turned to me and said, "This was a mistake."

"Let me handle it," I told her. "Trav is at the old house, if you're more comfortable there."

"Comfortable," she rolled her eyes. "Be real, Hadley."

I pursed my lips. "Look, none of this is comfortable. Everything is weird, everything is complicated, and I just got struck by lightning. Again. It's not even 8 am, so your options are to either go to the old house where Travis is or wait inside with Montana and Nate to see if maybe Cassie will come downstairs while my aunt makes breakfast."

Reese looked mildly amused as she listened to me rant. Then she nodded. "Fine," she said.

"I'll handle it," I reassured her before looking to the other side of the car with a smile. "Hi Montana."

"Hi honey! Did I hear something about breakfast?"

"Just give me a sec to get you guys settled and I'll get some food for you ASAP." I noticed how Nate was mostly avoiding eye contact, but he looked more guilty than angry with me. Which counted for something. I ushered the two guests toward the house. "Let's get you guys out of the rain."

Bebe was waiting patiently on the porch with her arms crossed over her chest. I was silently pleading with her to understand as I walked up to her. "What is she doing back here?" Bebe asked when she was at least trying to be quiet enough that Reese couldn't hear.

"Bebe, be nice," I lightly scolded. "It's been a long time; we're all different than how we were back then."

"Yes, but what is she doing here?"

"She's here to help. I'll work on finding room for them; I'm sure the boys and I can make room for them. Can you just help me out? I promise things are different now. And she doesn't want to bother Cass if Cass doesn't want to be bothered."

"I think that'll be for the best." She was a mother first, I get it. But she also knew how important it was to be all hands on deck.

"If that's what she wants," I emphasized. "I've been around this Reese; she's changed. But she's still that girl looking for her village. Maybe that sounds familiar to you?"

Bebe was concerned. It was fair. But our families had been Bianca's village when she didn't have one. I knew she understood. "I don't know about this…"

"It's still early," I nodded. "There's time."

There wasn't much time. I'm just going to tell you that now.

XXXXXXXXX

The entire pack—junior and senior—poured into the Call house to meet the girl who turned Nate's world upside down. Nate was the first of our pack to imprint so it was a big deal. And Montana took it in stride, all smiles and Southern charm. She fit right in and didn't even think twice about it.

I ended up upstairs with Cass as everyone mingled downstairs. She was pacing. Reasonably so. "She looks really good," she whispered, glancing at me for a second. "You said she's sober?"

I nodded encouragingly. "She's been a completely new person since we got to Meridian. Very thoughtful, at peace."

Cass smiled a little before it fell and she dropped her face into her hands. "Oh my god…" she groaned.

"Cassie, it's ok," I assured her. "She knows that you need some time. You don't have to talk to her."

"But I want to," she exclaimed. I was about to respond when we heard some thumping noises coming from the side of the house. Then Wyatt effortlessly climbed through the window. Cass jumped in surprise when he appeared. "God! Wyatt, you know I hate when you do that."

He chuckled. "Sorry, Cass. I just heard you and Ace and figured it was easier to come through the window than…" he trailed off.

"Than to see Nate and deal with the mob downstairs," I finished for him. I ran a stressed hand over my face. "I'll talk to him tonight; I'll fix it."

Wyatt gave me a puzzled look, but didn't say anything. Cass continued to pace right as a quiet knock came to her bedroom. Reese was drying her hair with a hand towel when Cassie opened the door. They stood there for a beat, just taking each other in. "Uh…sorry," Reese said. "I'm not here to bother you. I just…wanted to see if you or Hadley had some extra dry clothes for me and my sister?"

"Oh…sure." Cassie walked over to her closet to grab a couple of hoodies and sweatpants. I watched as she took a big deep breath to compose herself. She managed to put a friendly smile on her face before handing the clothes to Reese. "Here. You can keep them."

Reese smiled back. "Thanks, Cassidy." She started to turn around when she stopped short. She cursed under her breath as she scratched her forehead. She faced Cassie again. "Hey, I know I said I wouldn't bother you, but…"

"Yeah?" Cass asked, expectantly.

Reese bit her lip. "Maybe you'd be up for a walk later?"

"Yes," Cassie answered immediately. "Now?"

"Now?"

"Now."

Reese blinked in shock. "Uh, sure! Yeah. Now is fine. Just give me a second to change."

Cassie closed the door behind her and pressed her back against it. She sighed heavily. I could see she was trying not to smile. "Fuck," she whispered. Wyatt and I sat quietly as Cass started readying herself, brushing her hair and putting on a little bit of makeup. She shook the nerves out of her hands. "I feel nervous like I did in high school. Is that stupid?"

"No," I giggled, leaning back on her headboard. "It just means you care."

"Go get your girl back, Cass," Wyatt said with a soft smile. "You both deserve to be happy."

She held up crossed fingers before leaving out the door. So then it was just me and Wyatt, listening to all the noise downstairs. Hiding away. He sat down on Cassie's bed next to me and I immediately leaned into his body. I could practically visualize the wheels turning in his head as he tried to think of what to say. "I'm sorry," was what he settled on. "I'm sorry I lost my cool earlier."

I met his gaze. "It's not your fault."

"I think I'm just feeling the pressure. We all are, I know that. I guess I'm just confused how we got here," he told me. And then he paused for a second as if he was wondering if he should say what he was thinking next. "But you know you can't fix everything, right?"

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What?"

"You said to Cass that you would talk to Nate and you would fix it."

"Yeah…so?"

"Hadley," he sighed. "It's not up to you to patch up every single problem. Nate needs to be an adult, open his mouth, and tell us what's wrong. There's nothing for you to fix."

"I didn't mean it like…" I trailed off. What did I mean it like?

He shifted until he was facing me. His gaze was soft as he moved hair away from my face. "How long have you been up here with Cassie listening to her vent about Reese?" I didn't know how to answer. "And I'm assuming you talked to Bianca to convince her that, hey, Reese being here won't be like last time." When I still didn't speak, he gave a tight smile. "Did your parents tell you to come find Nate?" I swallowed as I nodded. "You can't fix everything."

"I…I didn't realize I was trying to," I admitted.

He chuckled. "You never do," he shrugged. "It's one of the millions of reasons why I love you."

I bit my lip as I smiled. "Millions, huh?" I wrapped my arms around his neck to pull him closer. "That's a lot."

"And there will be millions more in the future," he said.

I kissed him quickly as I thought about what he said. "I just want to help," I decided to say. "I want for everyone to be happy—to be taken care of."

He nodded in understanding. And then he said, "And who are you going to let take care of you?"

My heart lurched at his question. I broke our eye contact, feeling like I had my tail between my legs. He was always so patient. I can't imagine how many times over the years he'd heard me say, "don't worry, I've got it" or "I'll take care of it" or "I'm working on it." And he just always understood. He never questioned me, he didn't try to influence me one way or another. And I don't know if it's because he worried about upsetting me.

Wyatt tenderly grabbed my face to tilt my head down and kiss me on the forehead. "It's ok," he reassured me. Was it?

XXXXXXXXX

Impending war makes you feel a little stir crazy. Wyatt and I were laying in bed very quiet and still. There's not much to be done over than to stare at the ceiling and wait for anything. It didn't take much for me to realize that Wyatt wasn't asleep. I kept waiting for his breath to even out—because he deserves the rest after the Bond failed—but it never did.

The news had reported 15 more people in the area had gone missing. They're calling it the biggest mystery of the Pacific Northwest. There were no leads as to how or why so many people were going missing all over the state. Almost 300 people missing from here to Spokane. Almost all of them between the ages of 15 and 25. Wyatt and I sat and watched the news in horror before finding any will to try to go to bed.

Nate had come home sometime just before midnight; he tried to be quiet, but there were very clearly two sets of footsteps creeping through the house. They talked for over an hour about everything: what we were doing here, what's coming, what he would do to protect her…and why. He told Montana about the imprint. I could hear how nervous he was, and then how relieved he sounded when she said, "I knew there was something special about you."

I turned on my side to Wyatt. "Are you sleeping?" I whispered, knowing the answer.

"No," he whispered back, his head falling to the side to look at me. "What's up, Lee?"

I moved until our noses were practically touching. "Are you nervous like I'm nervous?" I asked. "I keep worrying about a sneak attack. They haven't made a move yet, but I can't figure out why. They have to know there's an uptick in shifters around here."

Wyatt sat up in bed and turned on his bedside lamp. "Uh oh, that brain of yours is running a million miles a minute."

I was worried that we were sitting ducks. If I was Jane, I would be shitting myself that there were hundreds of my enemy in one space. She could have, at any second, set up a sneak attack. But she didn't. Why?

My worst fear was that I just set everyone up for a massacre.

I got out of bed. "I might do a quick patrol," I decided.

"Cam and Hunter are on patrol right now," Wyatt told me. I was throwing my hair into a messy bun on top of my head, not paying attention to Wyatt. He climbed out of bed and came to wrap his arms around my waist. "Come back to bed."

"I'll be quick."

"Ace, stop," he said with a tiny bit of authority in his voice. I huffed a little. "Think for a second. How will patrol help right now?"

"I need to make sure that I didn't just put 200 people in jeopardy by bringing them here," I said. The desperation was dripping from my voice.

He looked shocked at the admission, but he understood immediately. Wyatt nodded. "Alright, let's go."

Before we left the house, we both stared at Nate's door as we tried to decide if this was something to bother him about. Wyatt shook his head at me. Nate's with his imprint; he needs this time to himself.

I wasn't expecting Travis to be coming up our walkway when we got outside. "Trav? Are you ok?" I asked.

He looked stressed. "I can't sleep. I'm freaking out."

"Me too," I agreed. "I'm thinking we widen the perimeter, just to make sure we're not being watched."

They both agreed. I wondered if Travis had the same strikes of intuition that I had. More and more, I saw similarities between the two of us. The way we fought, we felt the same stresses, we liked the same things. Even looking back when we were all here the first time, we felt restless at the same time. Maybe this is good. We were on the right track so we could all finish this together. Like a team.

We ran around just the outside of Forks, getting soaked by the rain every step. And nothing. At least nothing supernaturally out of wack. How is that possible? I met with Wyatt and Travis in the woods, right at the treaty line. "There's no one out here, Ace," Wyatt said.

"There has to be something we're missing," I sighed heavily as I put my hands on my hips. We were protected from the rain by the tall trees, but I still felt a drop hit me every so often. "I don't understand."

"I feel it too. It's sitting right in the pit of my stomach. Hadley's too, probably," Travis said. I nod

"That's because you need to think a step ahead of them," I heard behind me.

I whipped around to see Nate walking toward us. He looked tired but focused. "Nathan," I breathed. A smile threatened to break onto my face. "What are you doing out here?"

He shrugged. "I couldn't sleep after you guys left," he admitted. "I was thinking it too. This feels too easy."

"What are you guys seeing that I'm not seeing?" Wyatt said, frustrated.

"What does Paul always say?" I reminded him. "Vampires don't play fair. The fact that we managed to bring all of these shifters here and nothing has happened—that's not a coincidence."

"Jane and her cronies are crafty, they're strong, and they're smart," Nate added. I was trying not to show in my face how excited I was that he was here. "They're not waiting around. They're hiding out."

"Hiding?" Travis repeated. "Where exactly is there to hide around here?"

"Somewhere where vampires have hid before," Nate hinted.

It took me a second to catch up. Then I gasped and felt myself jump as I realized. "Cullen manor! They're at the old Cullen house!"

Nate raised his hand which I met enthusiastically to high five. Wyatt looked impressed, but quietly reserved. "Alright," Travis drawled. "So where is this old house then?"

Wyatt pointed north. "It's this way," he said as he started to walk.

We all started to follow him when I gently grabbed Nate's hand. "Does this mean…?" I started to ask.

"I'm not committing to anything yet," he told me firmly. "But I figure we end this thing together like we talked about."

I couldn't help myself; I pulled him into a tightest hug I could manage. This wasn't a pack hug. Or even something to remind him that we were a team. Nate is my brother. My guardian. My family. Human first. And I think maybe for a minute, we lost sight of that. I knew he knew that I care about him, but it's more important to show him than to assume. "I love you, Nathaniel," I muttered into his shoulder. "You know that, right?"

He nodded as we broke apart. "I love you too, Lee," he said, rustling my hair. "I'm just…figuring some stuff out."

"I know…" It was an impossible situation for him to be in. Take the safe road for his imprint or take his place on the team like we'd always talked about.

XXXXXXXXX

The closer we got to the old Cullen house, the more every sensor in my body was ringing like the loudest alarms sounding in a small space. The place was crawling with vampires; their stench was oozing out of every crevice of the place.

We stayed just out of smell reach. Nate was right. It was the perfect place for them to hide. The Cullens had been hidden in plain sight for years; what better place to place your evil headquarters?

"God, it reeks," Nate commented.

"Look at them, they're pouring out of that house," Wyatt said in disbelief.

"How many do you think there are?" Travis asked.

"Too many to count," I said with wide eyes. I let out the breath I was holding. "Stay here."

Wyatt and Nate stopped me immediately. "You've lost your mind," Wyatt glared at me.

"I have a plan," I told him. "Just give me 20 minutes."

"We'll give you 10," Nate argued.

"15 then," I stood firm. "Jane won't hurt me. She would have already if she wanted to."

"Hadley—" Travis started.

"Trust me? Please?"

It took a little more convincing, but they finally let me get closer to Cullen manor by myself. With every step, instead of the usual dread that I expected, I almost felt confident. It wavered only slightly when I was spotted coming up the drive. Seeing a dozen or so newborn vampires start to crouch in a defensive position would have had me shitting my pants five years ago. Or even a month ago. But I just kept approaching with my hands in the pockets of my jean shorts and a cool demeanor. "Cool it," I told them. "Where's Jane?"

One newborn—a college girl with platinum blonde hair and a septum ring—narrowed her blood red eyes at me. "What are you doing here, dog?" she hissed.

"Looking for your boss," I snapped at her. Then I repeated slowly, "Where. Is. Jane?"

She came into view from a balcony upstairs. Jane leaned on her forearms as she cocked an eyebrow me, smirk present. "Hadley Black," her velvet voice was an assault on my ears. "I want to say I'm surprised, but…I knew it was only a matter of time before you found our quaint little spot."

"Can we talk?" I asked.

Her smirk deepened. "Anything for you." She didn't even break eye contact when she said to her newborns, "Let her through."

The house was completely destroyed on the inside. Not only was it destroyed—it was a fucking horror show. Broken furniture, the art on the walls was ripped down.

There were literal body parts littering the ground.

Every newborn snarled and hissed and growled at me as I walked through the house, up the stairs, and onto the balcony. Jane kept her back to me as she looked out at the tree line. "You're alone," she observed. "Where are your little K9s? How many do you keep with you now? Three?"

"How would you know that?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"I know a lot of things, Hadley Black." Jane turned to me. Her normally red eyes were almost pitch black. "I'll say, I'm very impressed with your little cross country stunt. I didn't think you could pull it off."

"I don't need your accolades," I reminded her.

"Well, you just continue to impress me," she grinned evilly. It sent a shiver down my spine. She scanned me, head to toe. "What can I do for you?"

"Call off your hunt."

"Hunt?"

"15 more people went missing last night. You've built a big enough army. It's enough."

Her eyebrows twitched upward, but her eyes never blinked. She leaned against the railing of the balcony and didn't speak. I watched Jane still herself to intimidate me. Vampires knew that not behaving like a human made people uncomfortable. And when I didn't fidget where I stood, she finally spoke again. "It's not too late to call off this little duel that's brewing. You know what you have to do to make this all go away."

"It's never going to happen," I snapped. "Snow has a better chance in hell."

"Didn't you know? We're already in hell." She turned her back to me again. She let out a manufactured sigh. "The Cullens were really onto something when they picked this spot. I can see everything that's coming and still stay in the shadows. I can enjoy the sun and the rain and not have to encounter a single soul. Even with this downpour, it's still peaceful in a way."

I rolled my eyes. "Can we skip the monologue?"

To my surprise, she let out a little chuckle. "If you insist," she said. "Since you're obviously not here to tell me that you're taking me up on my proposition, I'm a little unsure why you're even here at all."

"I figured I'd give you a chance to call this off before it gets worse," I told her. "We can walk away clean. We don't have to put people's lives at risk."

"That's your problem right there," she said in a nasty tone, whirling to me again. "You care so much about people," she spat the word, "when you should care about power. We're not that different, Hadley. I've seen real power; I've felt it. You have so much of it at your fingertips and you've wasted your upper hand by pleading with me about people and feelings."

I shook my head. "I'm not like you, Jane. I will always care about people first."

"And it'll get you in trouble every single time," she said. "Did you really think through bringing your two guard mutts and a Child of the Moon?" I froze. She turned her nose up. "You should have told them to keep their distance. All it would take is one word and my newborns would be all over them."

"You wouldn't," I whispered.

Jane rolled her eyes. "Are you dumb enough to believe that I'm here to fight in good faith, Hadley? Don't be naïve. This is business, not personal." I didn't say anything. She smirked at me. "You don't believe me?"

"Jane, don't."

She looked down the balcony. "Go."

Five newborns took off in a full sprint into the tree line. "No!" I yelled, turning to run out of the house. Jane blurred in front of me, her eyes were playful now. "Get out of my way."

"I will when you give me what I want."

A lupine howl came from the woods. I bounced on the balls of my feet as I watched for an exit plan. This place was crawling in vampires; if I could get out without a ruckus, I'd be golden. The only way out was down. So I pivoted back around to jump from the second story balcony, landed on my feet, and ran back toward Wyatt, Nathan, and Travis. I didn't have time to shed my clothes so they shredded as I phased.

I made it right as Wyatt wrapped his jaws around one of their arms. Pouncing, I found that weak point right in the neck of the vampire and felt the icy crack as it disconnected from its body.

Something snapped in me, for lack of a better word. Five more vampires showed up and I was tearing them apart one by one. Legs and arms and heads were flying everywhere. It was like I blacked out…or I slipped into some part of me that felt fully predator.

Travis and I were taking out two when I heard the unmistakable sound of a bone breaking and then the subsequent scream of pain in my head. My heart dropped into my stomach. Nathaniel! I called out.

"Alright, that's enough," Jane said, but I couldn't see her. All of a sudden the feral growls and attacks from her monsters stopped. She strolled out until she was standing in front of me. "That was quite the show," she smirked.

I phased back and immediately grabbed her by her cloak, slamming her against a tree. She didn't look mussed. "This is such a fucking game to you and you have no stakes in it," I growled. "Call. It. Off."

"Why would I do that?" she asked as if it was the simplest thing to understand. "Come work for me and I will. It's easy."

Behind me, I could hear Nathan gritting his teeth in pain. Wyatt was speaking to him quietly while Travis was still phased, barring his teeth next to me. "If you think your threats are enough for me to walk away from my family, from my life, my dignity—my autonomy—you're even more delusional than I thought."

Jane coolly wrapped her icy fingers around my hands and pried me off of her cloak. "Then we'll keep going," she concluded. Then she smiled in that creepy way she does. "And because I like you, I'll give you time to rally up your troops. Consider this your 12 hour notice."

She snapped her fingers and the few newborns that were left followed her back to the Cullen house. When she was out of sight, I ran over to Nate, panicking at the pain in his face. He was lying on the ground, covered in sweat. "Oh god, Nathan," I whispered.

"They broke his shin clean. You have to rebreak it and reset the bone," Wyatt told me.

"Ok, ok…" I nodded frantically. I'd never done it on someone else before. Just myself.

"You're the strongest we've got, Hadley, come on," Wyatt pressed.

"Alright!" I shouted at him. Travis appeared on the other side of Nathaniel, crouching down. He held Nate's head up and made him bite down on his t shirt. I took a deep breath as I found the break in his leg. I made myself look at Nathan as I whispered, "I'm so sorry."

I'll never forget how loud he screamed as the bone snapped again like a twig.

XXXXXXXXX

Everyone was trying to grapple with what was coming. Parents hugging babies, husbands holding wives, friends comforting friends.

I was holding Melody while she cried. "I'll be back so fast," I promised.

"But you just came back," she pouted. "Why do you have to do this?"

"I know," I sighed as I brushed the hair out of her face. She was almost 10, but she felt things so deeply. These situations were always so hard on her. "But you know what? You're going to go have so much fun with Cassie and Holly and Audrey. Aunt Kim is going to make cookies and I bet Cass will paint your nails if you ask her nicely. You won't even notice I'm gone."

Wyatt sat down on the couch next to me. He smiled at Melody. "Can I get a hug too?" He held out his arms and she immediately jumped into them. "You be a big girl while we're gone, alright?"

She nodded against him. When she let Wyatt go, she let him wipe her tears away from her cheeks. "Ok, Mel, go get a bag packed," I told her softly. "We'll walk you over to Bebe's house."

Wyatt relaxed against the back of the couch when Melody left the room. "I think we've got everything covered," he told me.

"Refuge in the Call house and the Cameron house. Bebe has keys here in case something happens. Food, water, shelter, all covered," I listed out loud. "I was thinking we have a couple of the boys stay behind to run patrol. Just to keep everyone here safe."

He agreed. "Nate's feeling better," he told me. "He's with Montana right now, getting her settled."

"How much time do we have?"

He looked at his watch. "2 hours."

I swallowed the small lump in my throat. Mel came out of her room with her pink sparkle duffel bag slung over her shoulder. "Alright, let's go," I said.

Right as I was about to follow Melody out the door, Wyatt grabbed me by the waist and spun me around. I relaxed against his body and felt the tension melt away. "We're almost done, Ace. We did it," he said as he kissed the top of my head. My eyes fluttered shut as I breathed him in. "When this is all over, we'll go somewhere just the two of us."

"Promise?"

"Cross my heart—," he started.

"Don't finish that sentence," I stopped him. I kissed him on the lips once before walking out the front door of my childhood home.

People were starting to pour into the center of the reservation. I looked at every single one of their faces. These shifters that we'd brought here to fight with us, I'd come to really care for. I was proud of the work we'd done, the community we built. And I just hoped it was enough to end this once and for all.

I found my mom in the crowd of shifters, imprints, and families, and then found my dad. Mel was next to me. The entire pack was huddled together in the middle of this mass of people. Travis, Reese, and everyone from Meridian were in their own little corner. "Where's Will?" I asked Mama. He and August had been MIA for days.

"Right behind you," I heard my brother's voice for the first time in way too long. "Like always."

When I turned around, Will was walking down with August…

And a massive load of people were following behind him. My eyes widened as he shrugged his shoulders. August smiled at me, pride wearing all over his face. "We figured you could never have too much reinforcement,"

"Holy shit, what did you do?" I gasped as I ran to hug him tight. To my surprise, he let me. He even hugged me back. Wyatt did the same to his brother.

Mama walked up to us. "These little troublemakers snuck off without telling anyone," she said with a faux stern look.

August shrugged. "Will and I got tired of just waiting around," he explained.

"So we took the original list of everyone you reached out to and went out on the road on our own," Will finished. He gestured behind us. "H, meet Willow. The Alpha Female from Ontario."

Willow stood at 6'3" with cropped brown hair and a freckled face. She smiled and nodded at me. "Pleasure to finally meet the Quileute Descendant," she said.

"We hit Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Alaska," August kept going, excitement rolling off of him. Every shifter from each area waved as he listed them. "And they were ready to roll as soon we gave them the lowdown on what was going on."

I looked at my brother in disbelief. He shrugged again. "Sorry we took so long," he said. A smile threatened to appear before he settled into his cool expression again. "We grabbed a little over 100 shifters. It's your show now."

As everyone gathered into the crowd, I stayed facing them with Wyatt, my parents, and my brother. I urged Nate and Travis to stand with me too. Mama put a hand on my back. "You should say a few words," she whispered in my ear.

She pushed me forward and then I had the attention of the entire crowd. I opened my mouth to speak and found myself rendered speechless. Fiddling with my fingers, I allowed myself a deep breath and cleared my throat. "For those of you I haven't had the pleasure of speaking to one-on-one yet…I'm Hadley. I'm 22 years old, I've been hunted for most of my life because of what I am, and…I'm terrified of what's about to happen," I started earnestly. "And it's not for lack of faith or any doubt in any of your abilities to take on the Volturi guard, but because I've gotten to know so many of you or have known you for so long that I can't imagine anything happening to you.

"Over the past month, my boys and I—," I waved a hand back at Wyatt and Nate, "my partners and I have personally spoken with you and pleaded with you to stand with us in battle. And you didn't have to say yes. You could have turned us away at any second. But instead, you welcomed us into your homes, you shared your stories with us, you listened to us, you heard us. And that's all I've ever dreamed of.

I took a second to breathe. "What I want is for everyone to feel that they have a larger community to turn to when they're in need. We are all shifters and we all know what that entails. Never again will we have to endure isolation and alienation from each other for the sake of protection against vampires. We are the only people who can protect each other from harm. If—no—when we all walk away from this, I hope you all know that you are the most valiant, most valuable, most fierce and ferocious and powerful human beings on this earth." There was applause. I waited until it died down. "And yes, I said human beings.

"My parents have always had to remind me that I'm human first. That means that my feelings, my ambitions, my life—it matters way more than being the Quileute Descendant, whatever that means. Every single one of you matters. And it doesn't matter if you're a natural shifter, a turned shifter, a mirror, or anything else. Your purpose isn't just in the fact that you have this ability. It's in the heart of why you do what you do. You're leaders, all of you. Protectors. And this world, our world, is in desperate need of protection right now. Now we are minutes away from the hardest fight of your life. But when we fight, we win! So let's do this!"

The cheers was so loud, you could probably hear it in Port Angeles. Mama and Dad came to pat me on the back as I took it all in. I glanced back at Wyatt and Nate; they both looked so impressed. Wyatt winked at me. We were this close. It's almost over.

I knew Jane would find us. That's why I purposefully led us to the furthest corner, away from any humans, any from everything. And we waited patiently.

You can always smell them before you see them. When my parents battled with newborns all of those years ago, the vampires traveled through water to mask their scent. Jane's army was so unhinged, they didn't even bother. They came swinging out of trees, blurring past us from all sides, whooping and hollering. Ready for a fight.

Jane came strolling out of the tree line, casually, with her accomplices, Alec and Chelsea. They stood in front of their army. Jane and I locked eyes as we started moving toward each other. "Last chance to join our side, Hadley Black."

I smirked at her as I leaned in close to her face. "Not a chance in hell."