"Hey," I swooned as Wyatt wrapped his arms around my waist. I was pulling my hair into a ponytail in the bathroom when he approached. He smiled slightly at me before kissing my mark. "You alright?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" he asked.

"That's not an answer."

"It's not not an answer," he quipped. My eyebrow drew up instantly. He shrugged before turning to leave the bathroom. We were about to go to my parents' house for an emergency pack meeting; we'd told my parents already about the new Volturi guard and I told them that I already had a plan in place to take care of it. It took a lot of back and forth, but I finally convinced Nate and Wyatt that it was for the best. I even called Travis to see if he could come back a few days earlier than intended so he could come with us. The more muscle, the better. When I asked, he chuckled deeply and said, "You know what, darlin', I'm down for one last venture with y'all."

I followed Wyatt out of the bathroom and into the bedroom where he sat on the bed, feeling his freshly shaved face. "Ready?" I asked. He nodded and we both went to the kitchen where there were a pair of hair cutting scissors on the counter.

The past couple of days have been about building trust. Not that I felt like they didn't trust me, but I could see with my own eyes that everyone was still walking on eggshells around me. I would wake up early, go spend time with my family, slip in some pack business to let them know that I was still all in, and then go home to Wyatt just in time for Montana, Cass, and Nate to show up for dinner. The boys had agreed to try to Bond again, but only when we were all sure and ready that it was the right time. I couldn't tell if they were just saying that to appease me; Nate had assured me that he'd had nothing but time to think about what went wrong the last time we'd attempted to Bond.

Wyatt ran a hand through his curls with a big sigh as he sat down in a kitchen chair. I crouched in front of him to look at what I was working with, even though I already knew. I'd memorized everything about him. His eyes were soft as he watched me study him. I smiled at him, "What?"

"You know you don't have to do this. I can cut my own hair," he said. He didn't mean it though; I could hear the lightness in his tone.

"Where's the fun in that?" I kidded before standing up.

His hair was so soft between my fingers; it fell in perfect tendrils onto the floor as I cut it down. I had told him I didn't want to cut too much because it was too beautiful. He made some comment about imagining all the sticks and leaves that would get stuck in his fur. And all I said was, "I'll pick them out every time."

I wanted to get Wyatt back to his normal warm, sunshine self. And I was starting to see it, but it was still under so much reserve. Like I said, these days were about building trust. It would take a while each morning for Wyatt to wake up and realize that I was right next to him. That it wasn't just some sick dream and that I was still gone. And then when he would open his eyes, he'd be my Wyatt again.

So, I cut away at the inches, the split ends, the dead parts that hadn't been taken care of. I cut away the uncertainty, the sadness, the lack of purpose and motivation. All of it fell at both of our feet, ready to be swept away as we walked into our next phase. By the end, the weight had been lifted off of his shoulders—and his hair was brushing just over them. I ran my hairs through his luscious curly locks again to get rid of anything lingering, walking around to the front of him and crouching again. A little giggle escaped my mouth as I got a full look at him. "What's so funny, my love?" he asked.

I shook my head. "You just…" I started, "I always loved your hair long; you look like you did right before you phased." Then I squished his cheeks together with my hand. "Like a little baby," I cooed.

He swatted my hand away playfully and chuckled. Then he caught it and kissed the top before standing up. He dusted himself off before taking a look in the mirror. "Well, shit, look at that. I know that guy."

"Isn't he cute?" I said, gazing after him. "I fell in love with that guy."

"He's alright," Wyatt smirked. He caught my eye in the mirror and winked.

I could tell that he was antsy to put all of this to bed for good. We all were. The fact that we even have to address another Volturi guard in this short amount of time is actually kind of ridiculous. But I really thought I had just the right way to put make this issue go away. Their presence was enough to disrupt what little bit of peace we finally had on our piece of land.

Not even just our land, but everyone else's. Everyone deserved peace. And it's about fucking time that we get it.

After a quick breakfast on the porch, Wyatt and I took the long way to my parents' house where everyone would be gathered for a pack meeting. It was a beautiful day on the reservation; every day, the sun felt a little nicer on my skin.

Maybe it was just so much time up with my ancestors watching my family from above, but my childhood home seemed so much smaller now. Watching the old pack and the new pack pile into our tiny living room, I really felt the size. That had never happened before. I shook it off as I squeezed between Uncle Paul and Wyatt. Uncle Paul immediately threw an arm around my shoulders and placed a kiss on the side of my hair. "Now it's a party," he grinned. I laughed, leaning into him.

Mama and Dad came down the stairs with a very serious look on their faces. I could tell they were projecting back and forth to each other because Dad's eyebrows kept scrunching together. But one thing was for sure: Jacob and Leah Black were always, always a united front.

Will came down the stairs too, quietly, with his hands buried deep in his pockets. I glanced at Wyatt who looked a little shocked. Oh, this was no ordinary pack meeting.

"Alright, guys," Mama started. "Let's settle down."

She wrung her hands nervously. I watched Dad rub her back supportively before stepping up to speak for the both of them. "Uh, Leah and I want to thank you all for coming out. I know this is off our normal pack meeting schedule, but we have some news," he said.

My entire body relaxed at his words. I had heard them talk about this countless times over the last year, but never wanted to ask them about it. It was too important for it to not come from them.

"So…obviously this past year has been nothing short of a roller coaster. The highs have been out of this world," Mama said, looking right at me with soft eyes, "and the lows were the lowest we have ever been. And, frankly," she sighed, "we're so fucking tired."

Just say it. Say the thing. Everyone was so quiet in the anticipation. "After a lot of frustrating conversation, I think we both have some clarity. We went to the Council for their blessing," Dad continued.

"Jacob and I will be stepping down at the end of the summer," Mama finally said. There was a lot of commotion, mostly from the younger pack. Uncle Paul looked unsurprised; I know he'd been thinking about doing something similar. Mama waved her hands to get everyone to quiet down. "I know this is a shock. We've been doing this for a lot of years, we've brought in three beautiful children into this pack, and we've also lost a child in our time as Alphas. We owe so much to all of you for being such an incredible team, but it's long overdue for someone," she paused, looking at me again, "or should I say a few someones to step into our place and lead this pack."

"We trust that our legacy rests well with Hadley, Wyatt, and Nathaniel," Dad said, his voice always so full of authority. "Leah and I will be taking a small hiatus and then we'll take our places on the Council, as is the natural progression of these things. So, we'll still be here,"

"We'll still be in your business," Mama joked.

"And we'll still be serving our people and our land."

"But we won't be phasing anymore. We will be growing, just like our babies. That's where we need to be right now."

I couldn't help but to clap for my parents. Not for the fact that they're trusting me and the boys enough to take their positions, but because I felt so proud of them for honoring themselves and their bodies to know when it was time to stop. This past year was hard on everyone, but I can't imagine what it would be like to be in charge of a pack of supernaturals while dealing with loss like that.

The rest of the room started to clap for Mama and Dad too, and the old pack started to go up to them to say congratulations. Uncle Paul and Uncle Seth went up to Mama while Uncle Embry and Uncle Quil went up to Dad to talk.

Wyatt let out a big breath beside me as Nate walked up to us. "Whoa…" Wyatt said.

Nate looked down at me. "Did you know about this?"

"I had a feeling," I told him.

He sighed. "I can't say I'm too surprised. I just thought…"

"That we'd have more time?" I finished for him.

"Something like that," he shrugged.

"Well, Nathan…we did have more time. Just not in the way we were expecting," I reminded him.

"We're ready," Wyatt declared. Nate and I both reared a little at his words; he was so sure. He shrugged. "Why waste time? Life is short, right?" he said, looking pointedly at me, before going over to talk to his dad.

I followed suit and went to my parents to give them a hug. Mama rubbed my back as she said, "I hope that was alright; we meant to talk to you all about this before today, but…"

"You don't have to worry about us," I told her. I held her gaze. "I'm so happy for you guys."

Mama smiled big. "Thank you, baby." She kissed my forehead. "Do us proud."

"Always," I promised. I scanned the room quickly to make sure no one was listening. "Can we talk to you guys though? Maybe outside?"

She nodded. "Jacob," she called as we walked to the back door.

"Guys," I called too, waving for Wyatt and Nate to follow. Alphas to Alphas, we came together for one last strategy for how to handle this problem once and for all.

XXXXXXXXX

These are the jokers that have been following us? Hunter asked. He was leaning against a tree, phased, scratching the back of his ear with his leg. Once again, we were camped out in front of the old Cullen manor because vampires are getting less and less inventive these days. Except they had boarded up all of the windows from the endless amount of broken glass that the newborn army had caused. But they were there. I could smell them. And if I could smell them, I was banking on the fact that they could smell us.

I kicked at Hunter's leg. Can you focus please? I scolded.

While I was gone, I was tracking the new guard. I watched their every move for a month. I know when they hunt, I know how they hunt, I know how much they'd been trying to stay incognito since they've been here. They're a lot subtler than Jane and her cronies, but I was chalking that up to inexperience. They were much more the types to lure a lonely mortal, usually the homeless, into the woods and then drag them back to the manor to be killed. It was inhumane, but, hey, what can you really expect from a bunch of vampires?

Alright, Ace, you run it from the back; we'll wait for your cue, Wyatt said. I was the only one not phased, for a reason. I nodded at him before jogging around the back of the house, while the boys waited in the clearing. I stayed out of sight in the trees, keeping my breath quiet and my moves stealth.

From the inside, I could hear the guard chattering. "God, those fucking mutts are everywhere. I stopped breathing so I didn't have to bear that stench anymore," one of them said.

"That doesn't even matter. All we need to do is get back to Aro to tell him that she's really gone," another one hissed.

"Those dogs don't stand a chance without the Descendant. I give them a month before Aro and the others take over." I jumped onto the roof, sure to make a big thud. Their conversation ceased in an instant. "What was that?"

My steps were purposeful, moving toward the balcony that faced the wood line. You know the one. The same balcony I had to jump off of when Jane sicced her newborns on my boys. The door to the balcony burst open and I heard them rush outside. One of them took a deep breath in. "I can smell you, dog. Show yourself!" a male voice barked.

It almost felt like a game. For funsies, I threw myself into a handstand on top of the roof before dropping onto the balcony railing with ease. The three guards immediately fell into defensive stances, barring their teeth with bloodred eyes. I sighed contently as I settled on the railing into a sitting position. "Hi," I waved with a knowing smile.

One of their eyes widened in fear. "You're…" she stuttered. "Y-you're…"

"It's impossible," another gasped.

"Oh, it's possible," I shrugged. "So you're the ones that have been watching my pack while I was away. Why is that?"

"We don't have to explain anything to a mutt." There was only one male who wasn't cowering. In fact, he looked about ready to pounce at any second.

Say the word, Ace. We'll take them out, Wyatt said, his serious voice present. "You are absolutely right," I told the male. He had dark brown hair that was sweeping his shoulders. He almost looked like something out of Interview with a Vampire in the most unironic way. "You don't owe me anything at all. I just figured I'd give us a chance to talk it out before…well, before we take you out."

"I heard you died trying to kill Jane," the male said with almost a smug tone.

"'Trying'?" I repeated, feigning surprise. I looked to my left and my right. "Do you see Jane around here? Wouldn't you three be out of a job if Jane was still here?"

I know, I know, I'm egging them on. But let's be real: Jane was a presence. She was unpredictable, and the look of evil in her eyes was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. These clowns in front of me barely had the chops to try to pull of what Jane wanted to. They were worker bees. Bottom of the barrel.

"Here's my proposition," I said, hopping down from the railing. "I could let the three of you go right now with the idea that you would live totally normal vampire lives and abandon the Volturi and whatever they're planning. Or—"

"We will die before we abandon the Volturi, dog," the woman with jet black hair hissed. "Your threats mean nothing."

"Yeah?" I shrugged again. "Alright then, I guess we'll have to duke it out, but I was really hoping we wouldn't have to."

"There's only one of you and three of us. Do you really think this is in your favor?" the male asked.

"Oh gosh, you're right," I said sarcastically. I hopped back up onto the railing before free falling backward. "Catch me if you can then."

XXXXXXXXX

You know…Volterra was not that hard to break into. I thought it would be this fortress with boundless security, vampires out the ass monitoring every single inch of it. That's not it at all. It was all about living in plain sight for the Volturi.

The alarms were loud though. They blared through the halls with bright flashing lights. The throne room was big and cold, the sounds echoing through it. I was still a little sensitive to the loud sounds, but I didn't let it phase me too much. Wyatt and Nate sat phased on their side of me, looking strong, proud, and fierce. And I was sitting in the middle seat of the three thrones with my legs crossed at the knee. I was twirling the dagger they left at Meridian before the war.

You see, I was going to just stop with the guard. In my head, I figured if we got rid of the second round of guards they sent for us, then they'd leave us alone. And then I found the dagger in the old Alpha house; Wyatt and Nate had given it to my mom for safe keeping. I knew what needed to be done. This whole thing had gone on for too long. The threats, the Cold War between us and them, the need to be on guard at every single second. Hell, I couldn't even be dead without the damn Volturi lingering in the shadows.

I thought my death—and Jane's—would have been enough for them to leave us alone. Stupid, I know.

Eyes up, Ace, Wyatt said. We could hear people running through the hallways, frantically. "Find them!" an order barked. "Find them right now!"

I picked up the dagger and very calmly looked down to prick my finger. Just enough to draw blood. What did I tell you before? Fresh enemy supernatural blood is a goldmine.

"Where are the guards?"

It can't be that hard to find a bunch of shifters in a castle, Nate joked. I'm this close to barking like a little yap dog.

Then we'd just be playing Marco Polo with the Volturi and that's a dark thought, Wyatt laughed.

When the doors swung open, it was like a scene out of a movie. Three aggressively palely white men marched into the throne room with the burning intensity of a thousand suns. They were dressed to the nines in all black three-piece suits, shiny black loafers, and the glitziest gold watches on their wrists. The man in the front, with his long jet-black hair slicked away from his face, held his arms out to halt the others from moving forward. His eyes were pitch black. And curious. "What is this?" his voice sounded like jingle bells.

I waved the dagger a little. "I hope you don't mind that we made ourselves comfortable," I started. "These thrones could be much cozier though. Or do you not have to worry about that because you're dead and all?"

His righthand man, standing tall at six feet tall with almost translucent skin, narrowed his eyes and hissed at our presence. Wyatt growled low in his chest, menacing. Black Eyes's eyebrows tweaked up a little. "Who are you?"

I scoffed. "Aro," I shook my head, "how could you not know who I am? You've been hunting me my whole life."

His face slacked for a second before he straightened up, his eyes now playful. "The Quileute Descendant," he whispered, stepping forward.

"You don't have to call me that," I rolled my eyes, blithely. "You can call me Hadley, if you're feeling nice." I stood up from the seat and we met in the middle. His vampire stench was burning my nose. "I got your note; I'm sorry I'm a little late responding to it."

He didn't say anything. He was standing so perfectly still, just watching me. So, I started to pace around him.

"To Hadley Black," I recited, "We know who you are. We know you're here. We know what you're planning. If you join our treasonous guard in attempt to overthrow us, we will send armies to destroy your kind once and for all. This serves as your only warning." I twirled the dagger in my hands. "I was trying to figure out how you did it. In hindsight, it took me way too long to figure it out. And then, while all of you were running around trying to find us just now, I realized I was hearing the heartbeat of your secretary. I didn't know exploiting mortals was part of your MO."

Aro's other hand was a man with hair white as snow; you almost couldn't tell where his hair ended and his face began. "Any mortal present is here of their own volition," he said sternly. "Aren't you supposed to be at the bottom of the ocean, mongrel?"

I looked at him from the top of his head to the tips of his shoes. "Caius…right?" I asked before turning to the other. "And Marcus. Nice to meet you guys. Looking sharp."

Stop playing with them, Ace. They won't hold this resolve for long, Wyatt advised.

"Fascinating," Aro breathed. He spun around until we were face to face again. It was his turn to study me. He circled me slowly, and then picked up my hair and breathed my scent in deep. "Absolutely fascinating. You're just a girl."

"Uh, thank you?"

He let out this giggle that sent a small shiver down my spine. "Curiouser and curiouser," he commented. "I've heard so much about you, but you're nothing that I expected."

"She's also meant to be dead, Aro," Marcus pointed out with an edge.

"Ah, yes," Aro whispered. "I admit I was worried when Jane went off to find you for her frivolous reasons, but once I heard she was gone—and you—I realized how much more we could have been…together. May I?" He held out a hand, waiting for me to grab it. "Only one other person has been able to thwart the abilities of our kind. I must know."

I swear to God…Wyatt started.

It's fine, I told him. I steeled myself to any nerves and placed my hand in his. He trapped it between both of his and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath in and then froze. His eyes lifted to meet mine. "I hear…nothing," he admitted. "Immune to Jane's powers, immune to mine—you're quite the anomaly, Hadley Black."

It wasn't his business to know that Jane's powers had worked on me when I was at my weakest. But at my normal, at my peak, at my strongest, there was nothing these vampires could do short of drowning me again that would make me susceptible to their mind game nonsense.

I took my hand away from his icy cold grasp and took a step back. "We have some things to discuss, don't we?"

"Do we?" Aro asked.

"Do we not?"

"What would you like to discuss?"

"Call off your plan," I told him.

He didn't even flinch. "And why would I do that?"

"Because I'm asking you to."

"And you asking means what to me?"

"It's my way of asking for peace between our two people. Actual peace." I said. "Your idea to eradicate the world of shifters won't work out in your favor. And, as you can see, your guard isn't here to protect you; they were up in smoke before I could even catch a breath. Aro, I'm on your territory, in your home. I gained access to you much quicker than you've ever had access to me. Your plan will not work," I emphasized.

Caius scoffed behind us. "This is ridiculous. I'm ending this." He grabbed me by the shoulder, but before he could do anything, a ferocious growl sounded through the room and a phased Travis soared overhead to pin Caius to the wall by his throat. Caius began to panic as Trav's hot breath closed around his throat. "It's not possible! This cannot be happening again!" he roared.

"That's my friend, Travis," I grinned, pointing the dagger to Trav. "Children of the Moon, they're so rowdy, right?"

Wyatt and Nate walked on all fours to flank either side of me; they were itching for a fight. Aro and Marcus just watched in horror at the scene around them.

"So, here's the thing—I put in a lot of time and effort to bring shifters together. My boys did too, didn't you?" I looked at Wyatt and Nate. Wyatt raised his head in pride while Nate kept a low growl in his chest. "And something really beautiful happened where we all started to understand how important it is to stand by each other. I just can't have you messing with that, you know? Because then we'll have to rally together…again; and go to war…again; and tear you all to shreds and burn the pieces like we did with Jane and Alec and Chelsea."

"What do you want, Hadley Black?" Aro asked, his voice tight as he spoke through clenched teeth.

"I don't want anything," I told him. "What I want is to go home and for you to leave my family alone. Any and every shifter now falls under our jurisdiction; you come after any of us, you will have me to deal with." I stepped to Aro until we were practically nose to nose. "This is me being reasonable. Do we have an understanding?"

Caius hollered again as he tried to fight Travis off of him without losing his head. Aro broke eye contact with me to look at Caius then at Marcus, at Travis, at the boys, then at me again. His nose flared in anger as his black eyes darkened. "We have an understanding," he resigned.

I smiled triumphantly. "Travis, you can let him go." Travis growled a little before stepping away from Caius, who immediately went to hold his throat and drop to his knees. "You know, I'm glad we had this discussion. I figured it was long overdue that we meet."

The men in front of me, the ones I had been afraid of my whole life, seemed so small to me now. Maybe it was because they couldn't hurt me any worse than I'd already been hurt. It was definitely because I understood how many people were on my side when I needed them. The Volturi could only be as big of a threat as we allowed them to be. I knew how strong I was and how strong my pack is and how strong my bonds with an entire community of shifters was now. We would no longer cower down to a bunch of pale white dudes in suits just because of what they once represented. They only had power because we gave them power.

So, as we walked out the door, all I could do was stand tall and stand strong. I flipped the dagger into the air and caught it. I jammed it into the wood of the door. "This belongs to you, by the way. We won't be needing it," I said, before truly walking away from the dark cloud that's loomed over my head since the day I was born.

And you know what? It was the most powerful I'd ever felt in both of my lifetimes.