Seth Clearwater

"Alex," The rapist said with a smug smile.

"Connor," My mate replied wintrily. "Surprised to see you back in Oakland Woods."

"You missed me?" He had the nerve to reply.

"You wouldn't be a passing thought on my mind even if you were across the galaxy." He chuckled arrogantly.

"Looks like you haven't changed. Takes me back to the awesome times we spent together, don't you think?" He questioned, taking a slight step forward.

I was surprised I held it together all this time but the second he took a step forward, that was the final straw for me. I suddenly took a protective stance in front of my mate and gave him a menacing look.

"Close enough," I snarled.

The boy took one good look at me and started recoiling back. I could sense the fear blistering off of him as his eyes widened for a split second. He covered it up by laughing hysterically, moving his eyes slightly away from me and onto my mate who stood hidden behind my back.

"Looks like you got yourself a bodyguard." Connor, the dead meat, uttered out.

"I'm much more than that you incompetent punk!" I said viciously. Man this kid better stop talking or else imma need restraint!

The punk chuckled, looking up at me. "You're mouthy! Is he your boyfriend?" He glanced back at Alex. I could tell he was slightly afraid of the answer because I could hear his heart beating increasing.

I couldn't help but smirk just a little bit.

He looked to be in his early to mid-twenties but that didn't matter to me. He wasn't intimidating at all to me, no human was but he seemed like a special case. His numerous tattoos and piercings couldn't overthrow his emaciated stature. It would be like breaking celery stick quick and easy.

"What are you doing here, Connor? What do you want?! I thought you were still serving your time in prison." Alex said. I could sense that this guy's presence made her anxious.

For over a year since I've been with Alex, I knew one thing for sure. She was never easily intimidated or afraid. She was fearless, I've never seen the slightest hint of fear in her but now it's like being around someone totally different. And it was all because of one stupid guy.

Anything that endangered my mate…I'd endanger it!

"I'm out on a probationary basis, testing whether or not I can slip back into society. Turns out I've been good for the past three years and I couldn't wait to celebrate it with the girl who made these past three years possible!" He said, gesturing towards her but the good thing he did was stay on his lane or else it wouldn't have been pretty.

"Well I'm glad I could help." Alex replied with a sense of sarcasm in her voice.

"You know how hard it is to get jobs in this town? Since my name is now basically 'Sex Offender'!" The asswipe stated.

"Well it's a good look on you. Since you're basically a disgrace to the male race." I snarled.

The wimp gulped but managed to cover it up with a sneer as he turned to Alex.

"How's your family?" He asked her.

Alex just kept quiet which seemed to satisfy him and he abruptly laughed.

"Trouble in hell?" He said in such a way that made me realize there was a hidden message behind it.

"Does your dad know you're screwing around with a much older guy? I mean I think you know how that turned out before. You don't want a repeat, do you?" He chuckled.

I could feel my mate's uneasy state increase rapidly and her heart began beating like crazy as she dropped her head to the ground.

That was it to send my blood to boil like crazy.

This punk better shut up or disappear before I break his neck with my bare hands and then phase and finish him off.

I could feel the heat rising as my fists clenched together. I felt my throat grumble and a low, vicious growl erupted through my grinded teeth. My mind was prepared to do something I never thought I'd do.

To kill.

"Seth." Just one soothing, pleading voice from my mate and one touch of the arm brought me back to my conscious state.

"Please, just calm down and let it go. It's not worth it okay! I can tell you're about to phase so just breathe and let it go, okay?" She whispered, imploring me to calm down.

I didn't reply, although, I could feel my bloodlust decreasing but I still stood my firm ground.

The cowardice boy noticed all of this and you'd swear he was just about to piss his pants out of terror.

"Just go, Connor! And never come back." Alex warned him with eyes of scrutiny and admonition.

He glimpsed at her before setting his eyes on me, widespread. His heart was beating heavily as he began backing away.

"Tell your mom I said hi, Alex." He said, attempting to sound sinister but it came out as a terrified yelp.

He finally walked away and jumped into his truck before quickly disappearing.

"Seth!" Alex called. I growled. "Seth! Please, look at me!" She pleaded, pulling my face to look at her.

The moment I laid eyes on the hazel eyes I fell in love with the minute I met her, I visibly calmed and was brought back to earth.

"Alex! What the hell was that?" I demanded, my voice in immense anger. Not at her but at the situation. "Who was that?"

"Seth, calm down!"

"How can you drop a bombshell like that and expect me to calm down? He raped you!" I yelled. She stared at the group. "And I'm about to rip that guy to shreds." I growled menacingly as I began charging for him.

I locked his scent. I know where he'd be going.

"No! No!" Alex stopped me, gripping my arm.

I glared at her.

Why the hell not?

"He already got what he deserved in prison for three years!" She tried to reason with me.

I scoffed. "Three years is not enough! He deserves eternity. In hell! Dead!" I stated.

"Seth, do not do something you'll regret! You don't endanger human life. It's not you." She said.

"I can't live up to that code when it threatens the reason for my entire existence!" I expressed.

She pressed her lips together. For a brief second, she had her eyes on the ground before forcing herself to look into my eyes.

"Alex! Tell me what's going on. Tell me exactly what happened." I spoke.

She looked away from me for a while, gathering all her thoughts before giving in with a sigh.

"Okay, um…" She whispered shakily, uncertain. "Why don't I just show you?" She suggested.

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

… ….

Alex and I were currently standing on the soft sand of the beach, watching the waves of the crystal blue waters of the ocean and the sun setting in the east with the wind grazing our skin.

Alex took me here to explain things to me but for the past five minutes, she hadn't said a word. She just stared out into the horizon without a blink of the eye as her perfectly long, sleek raven followed the direction of the breeze.

As I was about to say something, Alex's sigh cut me off.

"Three years ago, I met Connor right here on the beach. I…I got into a fight with my parents and I came here to console my thoughts or keep my composure, I'm not really sure. Heck, I don't even know what the fight was about but I used to always come here when that happened. It was also around that time my grandfather died, someone I was really close to. I came here all the time just to think. Being around water always seemed to calm me down." She said, exhaling a heavy sigh as her voice cracked.

I followed her gaze onto the streaming waters of the ocean. I could see what she meant by it calming her down, the sound of water had a soothing feel to it. Especially when the sun was setting and no one else was around. It's just you, the water and the birds chirping as they flew by. It reminded me so much of the beach back in La Push. I used to always visit the beach after my dad died.

"So…I met Connor here, smoking some pot or marijuana or whatever with a bunch of his friends. It was like being around a bunch of Pearl Jam/Headbanger people." She chuckled non-humorously as she used one of her least favorite bands as an analogy.

"He approached me and asked if I wanted to sit and smoke with some of his friends. Mind that I was in my most vulnerable state at the time and I just succumbed to my emotions and gave in. I thought having the rush of being around the 'bad boys' was what I needed, you know? Connor was what I thought I needed. I was fifteen and he was nineteen. It was all wrong but I thought it was right."

"After a couple of months of heavy drinking and smoking, I realized something. That I hated myself." She said. "Honestly, I was in depression and I wanted to literally throw my life away. Connor was always the person who opened me up to new different things, and I thought I liked it. It was actually to the point where I needed it." She expressed, her voice emotionally unstable.

"But then he pushed me into something I wasn't ready for and when I said no. He got angry and began beating me." Alex stated.

Blood began rushing through my veins as Alex said all of this and I could feel it boil yet again.

"I thought I was going to die that night until a bunch of police in squad cars appeared and him and his friends bolted the scene. I thought about just lying there, waiting for the police to come save me but I knew that would only lead me into trouble so I picked myself up and ran north. I actually ran away from the only people that could save me from this mess."

"After that dreadful night, all I wanted to do was get home and fall into the arms of a mother but sadly I didn't get that. I got someone who instead gave me a lecture on why did all of this and deserved to get beaten because I was too foolish. I think that's when I actually really hated my mom." She said.

"Alex…" I tried to comfort her, even though I was so livid inside.

"That's not where it ended, unfortunately. My mom thought of a brilliant idea to teach me a lesson and got into contact with Connor when I had a dance lesson one day. She gave him the address to the studio and…" She stopped herself as she glanced at the ground. I could smell the tears threatening to leak from her eyes.

"I made one colossal mistake that day. My dance teacher left me to lock up when I left as I was trying hard to perfect a routine for the dance championship a couple days away. So as I was about to leave, Connor showed up out of the blue and talked to me for a moment. I was shocked and scared because I kind of knew with the look in his eyes what was going to happen next." She said.

"I started running back up the stairs of the studio, thinking of heading out the backdoor but he was too quick for me and when he got his hands on me, he threw me to the ground and started ripping my clothes open –"

"Alex." I whispered, placing my hand on one of her crossed arms.

She stared at the contact for a while before inhaling a gust of air.

"So much for first times, right?" She said with a weak chuckle.

I felt my own tears brimming in my eye sockets, on the verge of falling out as I felt the pain my mate had to endure. That feeling had to be the most horrible thing I had to witness her feel.

"You see why it was hard for me to let you in!" She was now sobbing. "I knew that if I let you in that I'd be taking the biggest risk of my life. I know now that you'd never hurt me. I've never told anybody about this, not even Nessie because it was always hard to trust anyone but I trust you. I got lucky with finding a good guy but…this is something that will live with me till the day I die. I can never step foot in a dance studio without feeling naked…unworthy."

"Alex! That is no pain anybody in this world should ever go through. It's sad and sickening that there are such disgusting people out there." I said to her, trying hard to fight the tears.

"You should have never went through that. You don't deserve it. You never did! Hurt like that can never be taken back and I'm sorry I wasn't in your life to let you avoid going through that but I'm here now. And I promise you, I will never…I will never ever hurt you in anyway. I won't strip you from making your own decision. I won't be that guy. I can't!" I assured her as much as I could.

She turned her body to me, sniffling as she wiped away the tears leaking from her eyes. She nodded.

"Yeah, I know that." She smiled. "You'll never hurt me, Seth."

Her hazel eyes suddenly met mine and it was like looking into someone totally different. Someone vulnerable but so precious.

"I love you, Seth." She muttered, locking her fingers through my hair.

That was the first time she actually ever uttered those three words to me without a hint of teasing of any kind. I knew she loved me, just as much as I loved her but to hear them actually fall from her lips literally was the best thing ever.

"And I know I've been so selfish and unfair in not saying those words to you because I was afraid. But most of all, I've been selfish because I love you so much. And I know how much you love me and I don't know…it scared me to think that I could someday lose you." She said.

I suddenly gripped her face in my hands.

"You will never lose me and I will never lose you. I've got you, Alex. You've got me." I assured her.

She grinned widely, resting her warm hands on my sides.

"We've got each other." She added.

I smiled, nodding my head and laid my lips on her forehead, leaving them there for a while before pulling her to my chest. I felt her arms wrap around me as her head lay on my beating chest.

Nothing and no one in this world could break us apart.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed!

I'm currently creating a Setting Dusk trailer that will probably be uploaded in a couple of weeks so be on the look out!

Fun Fact: Initially, Alex and Seth weren't supposed to be imprinted. My plan a couple of years ago was to have Alex be matched with Embry and Jennifer with Seth but I'm honestly glad I changed my mind.

REVIEW PLEASE!