Leah's POV

John looked at me then pointed to the house before his eyes darted to the woods. That was usually a sign that his sister was in trouble, but Embry should be done and on his way here. Sam had kept me up to date about what was happening, and he should be here any minute. I knew he would have found out about what we were eating for dinner. Charlie had gotten a few veggies but when she had only seen steak there, she huffed and became more quiet than usual.

I glanced around again, Alex was gone. The girl had been staring at Charlie the entire night so knowing Charlie she has probably vacated to her room or maybe the kitchen table to read a book or work on a school project that was due later this month.

I nudged my head towards the door which would lead us into the kitchen at Birkoff's place. Walking in right behind Birkoff and Michael. My eyes met Embry's as he was within seconds of phasing but with Charlie this close, I doubted he would. However, right now I needed some back up. I pulled out my phone and dialed Sam, he could go get Jake, but Sam needed to be here to help solve this. It took him two rings before he picked it up.

"Sam, you need to get Jake and make your way over here. Something is happening, I walked into the house where Charlie lives to Embry being very close to exploding."

'Hold tight. If Charlie goes to leave let her but use whatever force you have to in order to make sure the only one who follows her is Embry.'

I nodded before hanging up the phone. When Embry turned to leave, and Charlie tried for the back door Michael tried to get in her way. I had seen Charlie's temper go off at school once and only once, the only result I heard was that the girl transferred to another state it was that bad. I held Michael's arm stopping him in his tracks earning me a nod of thanks from Charlie before she left the house.

"Sam will be here soon, so I suggest you lot get your story straight as to what happened tonight. Because I know very well that there were mistakes made." I yelled out to the crowd.

I knew I would have to tell Sam and Jake about the argument we had heard last night coming from down the hallway. Even John had heard Nikita and Owen arguing about the situation to do with talking to Charlie. I walked for the table picking up her sketch book and looking to Birkoff, "where is Charlie's room?" I asked. Snapping a picture of the cards on the table before pulling them up into a pile for her for later.

"Up the stairs down the hall second last door on the left. Though the last door is her bathroom so you could put it in there." He answered looking a little frazzled.

I shrugged it off taking her stuff up to her room and placing it on her bed. Before going back downstairs doors started slamming in the kitchen. When I made it back down fully, I walked into the kitchen to find that only Birkoff was still there. "Where did everyone go?"

He looked up at me. "Nikita took off next door with Alex. Mikey has just gone to the bathroom. Owen and Ryan have just gone outside to chat for a bit. And John I think he went home, he mumbled something about homework and to get you to come over after you are done dealing with Sam here and us."

I nodded as there was a knock at the door, and someone walking in.

Sam was furious to say the least, but it was Jake I could feel more. True he was my alpha, but Sam still got a say in pretty much everything. So really nothing had actually changed, but Jake had said it would be useful to have two alphas in a pack as long as they got along with each other. Just as they made it to the kitchen Michael came out of the bathroom.

"Where is Embry?" Jake asked me.

I nodded. "He left actually before Charlie tried to leave. Took the container he had sitting beside him on the table and took off out the front door."

He nodded for a second before turning to Sam.

Sam straightened letting the full force of his alpha power flow making me shrink down slightly from it. "I would like to know what happened here."

Birkoff shook his head. "I thought Charlie had come inside to call Embry. She had disappeared without saying anything. Next thing I know there is this force pulling us into the house."

Sam nodded turning to Michael. "Do you know anything else or were you compelled by this force too?"

Michael looked at Birkoff. "Ryan had told Alex where the bathroom was and then she had gone around the front, so I was coming inside to see what was up."

He turned to me. "What did you walk into?"

"When I got in here, Charlie was at the table. Her sketch book was open and her que cards that she uses to do her essays were all over the table. Embry was by the front door as if he had just walked into the house. Alex was standing in the doorway between the dining room and the front entrance."

Jake was jumpy he could feel when one of us was close to turning, which means he probably felt what was happening. "Who chose what to cook for dinner tonight?"

Michael blinked a few times before answering him. "Nikita picked it. What does that have to do with this though? Charlie took off, shouldn't we be out there looking for her?"

Sam nodded. "We are looking into that. In fact, Leah why don't you go see John, I'm sure he is freaking out about this entire situation right now. Make sure he isn't feeling too heated from it." He gave me a funny look as his eyes flashed to his wolf's for a second then entered my brain. 'There are vamps floating around, mostly just Cullens we haven't caught sent of others. But the fever should be starting to pull at him.' He winked at me.

I breathed a sigh of relief, that is why every attempt I had to imprint on him hadn't worked. Well, that and the fact that on his birth certificate there was no father listed. If he was going to be part of the pack, then hopefully Jake could help sort him out.

I left with Jake on my tail. "Which way did they go, do you know?"

I shrugged. "Michael tried to follow Charlie; I was too busy trying to keep him from going after her to really pay attention to that sorry." I put my hand out for a second. "Last night, when Owen came back here, he and Nikita got into an argument over him talking to Charlie over Alex talking to her. Then at dinner tonight all Alex did was stare at Charlie, you know how sensitive she is about that stuff. It isn't like you could actually see any of the scars or anything, but it was after that she went inside. You know she doesn't like crowds, but this could have made the entire thing worse."

He nodded taking off for the woods. I went over to John and to see how the night was going for him.

Birkoff's POV

I stood there looking between Sam and Michael. I had spoken the truth to Sam when I told him it was an unknown force that brought me into the house. I knew there would be a problem with dinner when I seen what Mikey had on the grill. Ryan had even questioned him on the fact that there was only steak for meat.

"So, what happened?" Sam asked crossing his arms over his chest.

Mikey looked at him. "We don't know what happened in here before we came in. Because I am assuming you mean that and not what happened with dinner tonight."

I shook my head. "Mikey, I told you the other day. Charlie won't eat steak, unless it is on pizza. I explained to you that if Niki was going to pick up dinner that she had to get chicken or to let me know and I would have gotten out a burger for Charlie to eat tonight."

Sam shook for a second. "So, you know about her eating habits?"

I nodded. "Embry explained some of them to us. Said they have been going on for years. Charlie had a bit of fun with different things about them during part of a conversation about them. She seemed really cool about talking about them and even did it while we were shopping."

Sam nodded before turning back to us, as Jake walked back into the house. He looked at Sam and whispered something to him before turning to us. "In case you are wondering Charlie is somewhere safe and she is eating the food that Embry had brought to the house for her."

I breathed a sigh of relief, at least she was eating. "Where is she?"

He shook his head. "I know she is safe, because that is what Embry has said. I do fortunately know where they are, but I can't say. Embry won't risk bringing her home tonight, he said he couldn't deal with the situation here."

Sam gave him a look before he nodded. "Now what happened in here between Charlie coming inside probably to work on some schoolwork and Embry getting here?"

Owen's POV

Ryan and I were just sitting having a drink on the back deck when I heard Sam, or I think it was Sam ask again what happened. I got up placing the drink on the table and walking in the door.

"Sorry to interrupt but maybe I could help?"

The two guys turned to look at me. The younger one came over putting out his hand. "You are?" he asked.

I took his hand and shook it. "I'm Owen. A friend of Ryan's and Nikita's, I travel with Alex usually, but I know what happened in here."

The younger one nodded. "I'm Jake, and this is Sam." He gestured to the other one in the room. "I remember Embry mentioning you. You had dinner and video games with him and Birkoff and Charlie last night."

Michael turned to me. "You did what? Is that what took you so long to come back last night?"

I gulped. "Well Charlie offered to let me play, it seemed like innocent enough fun. Though we lost badly like really badly."

Birkoff nodded. "Those two together are unbeatable." He scratched the back of his head.

Jake laughed. "Oh, they can read each others minds that is for sure. But all this aside, what happened in her between Charlie coming in and her leaving."

I sighed. "I came in cause she seemed really quiet outside and I had thought she was just coming in to see where Embry was but then she was working on something at the table. So, we started talking about the school assignment she had lay out all over. Really cool debate she gets to write about too though she is swaying between the two sides."

Jake nodded. "She is good at that stuff the essay isn't due for another 2 weeks. But go on with the story she was working on the essay and you two were discussing it."

I nodded. "Then I noticed her sketch book, Embry and I had chatted, and he had said if it is out, and I open it to take my ques from her if she is willing to talk about anything in it. Turns out she was more so focused on the essay; nothing could really pull her attention away from it for longer than a few seconds at a time." I took a breath. "When Embry got here, he yelled from the doorway. Alex had been standing there listening to the conversation happen. Charlie in the few seconds of explaining a few of the sketches had said a few things about them."

Sam turned to Jake before leaving the house. "How much did Alex hear?"

I shrugged. "My full attention was on the book and Charlie. I didn't see her walk in, if she had grabbed my attention, I would have said something or done something to tell Charlie she was there."

Jake put his head in his hands and shook it for a second. "She is hurt, and until those emotions level off it isn't the best idea for her to be around people who don't know how she is dealing with things." He turned to Birkoff and Michael. "Do either of you understand how dangerous this may have been if Leah hadn't been here?"

Michael looked at him. "Leah only stopped me from following Charlie."

Jake shook his head. "No Leah kept Embry on an even enough scale that he didn't do something drastic in here. Yes, she stopped you from following Charlie, cause if you had followed her, it would have ended really bad as soon as she got free from the house. Do everyone a favour and if she decides to walk away from a situation again let her."

I looked at him. "Ryan had asked me to talk to her about her life, because what I have lived through. He thought it would be a good idea, you know two people who have shared experiences."

He took a step back for a second. "Ryan knows Charlie and you. Having someone outside the profession of counsellor might be a good idea. I will allow it." He turned for the door but turned to look back at me with a grim smile. "But just leave it for tonight. What happened has Embry feeling very protective over Charlie. I want to see what exactly happened from both of them. Sam does not like getting those calls asking him to come over due to a situation as someone is about to explode."

I nodded to him. "Sure. We can get burgers on Thursday or Friday next week for dinner. I heard there is a diner in Forks."

He nodded leaving on a jog down the road.

Michael looked at me. "You know what you have done isn't fair to Alex? We promised her a fair try to be able to talk to Charlie, now you have gone over our heads to the head of the reservation and his second in command I think."

I just shrugged. "I never agreed to any terms. It was you and Nikita who decided that it should be giving Alex a fair try to talk to her. But I think we need to find out why she left the bar-b-que tonight before we start worrying about it."

Ryan came in looking around. "What's happening in here?"

Michael waved his hand at me and Ryan. "Michael thinks me talking to Charlie tonight was unfair. Because he thinks that Charlie should get to choose between me and Alex, but Alex hasn't had a chance to get to know Charlie."

Michal walked away from the group pulling out his phone, I could only guess who he was calling but I would be betting that my guess was right. When he came back, he took a seat at the kitchen table, before turning to Birkoff. "You might want to put on some coffee, Nikita and Alex are on their way over to discuss the idea of who gets to talk to Charlie."

I huffed. "Is there any point in discussing it? I already have permission to from the council here on the reservation." Though knowing Michael trying to convince that I was right was going to be hard enough, but I had something on my side, Charlie has met me, and we have spent time together. "Fine we can discuss it, but we all know that it will be Charlie who actually get to decide."

Birkoff came back with coffee and his phone in hand. "Jake is on his way back here because if we need to discuss this Sam says it is his decision in the end." Michael smirked. "But we aren't going to be involved in the discussions other than keeping the two sides from getting pissed at each other too much. Mikey you being Jake's teacher won't come into play here."

Nikita walked in the door with Alex having a seat at the table grabbing a coffee for each of them from the tray that was set there. Jake walked in shirtless looking around.

"Charlie's room is upstairs right?"

Ryan nodded. "Second last door on the left. Why do you ask?"

He smiled. "Embry has a few shirts here; I'll just grab one of those then return it to him later."

As he turned Ryan glanced at his arm. "If you will excuse me for a second." He ran after Jake for a few seconds, calling after him.

When they returned, they were talking about something really quietly.

Alex looked up as they walked back into the room. "See Ryan is already trying to go behind our backs and make it be Owen who gets to talk to Charlie."

Ryan glanced at her. "No, I was talking to him about something else."

Jake nodded. "We were not discussing anything to do with this. Though Alex I am glad I have a chance to get to meet you. We are just waiting for Quil to get here before we begin, he is my second in command and frankly someone I know will have Embry's best in mind as we discuss this."

Alex looked around. "Who's Embry?"

I laughed for a second, pulling everyone's attention over to me. "Embry is a guy that Charlie likes; he also happens to be the one who caught you spying on us."

She huffed crossing her arms and sitting back in the chair as the door opened again.

"Jake." He yelled from the doorway.

"In the dining room, Quil."

How did they tell each other apart they sound so much alike. I figured I would ask Charlie that later when we managed to chat later this week.

"Embry is back at Sam's with Charlie. He says they are sleeping in the spare room there tonight cause Sam doesn't want to let Embry get too far until this conversation is done." He put a piece of something into his mouth with a smile. Emily must have been baking Charlie had commented that she always has muffins there. "I was supposed to save one of those for you, but Charlie was helping with them, and they were warm and yummy. Too good to resist." He licked his fingers before turning to see everyone sitting at the table.

Jake looked at him. "I will tell Charlie about that later. However, we are here to discuss the matter that I was under the impression it was all settled but apparently it isn't. Sam had asked that Ryan and Birkoff come up with a plan to help Charlie talk to someone about what has happened in her life. You know as well as I do how little she enjoys chatting with Sue." Quil nodded but gave Jake a funny look. "So, I'm guessing from what Leah told me that Nikita here thinks that Alex would be a better choice and Ryan thinks Owen would be the better choice."

Quil scratched his head for a second. "If Sam asked Ryan and Birkoff to come up with a plan, shouldn't it be those two making the decision not Nikita?" He shrugged for a second. "I mean it seems pretty logical here Jake."

Jake sighed and looked at his friend. "It would but it would seem that these 6 discuss things similarly to how we do it with council. Though this time because it involves Embry and Charlie this needs to be discussed out in the open."

Nikita looked at them. "How did Leah know that I wanted it to be Alex?"

Jake blinked a few times at her as he waits for her to get the idea but when it didn't happen, he huffed at her. "Leah and John heard you getting upset at Owen last night when Owen got back to your place after losing at the video games."

She blushed turning away from the group.

I coughed bringing everyone's eyes to me. "Shouldn't this be Charlie's choice who she wants to talk to. As if there is someone, she finds it easier to talk to then she is more likely to do it. I know Embry will have his say but he will have it with her."

Alex glared at me. "You only want that because you cheated. You got to talk to her last night coming over here for dinner and games with her. Then tonight you followed her inside and struck up a conversation with her. We agreed even ground, both times should not be counted."

Michael looked at Jake. "You have known these two for years I suspect. Even lived with Charlie for a while between her parents dying and us getting here. Can we make this a fair ground or is that something that is impossible now?"

Jake leaned back then looked a Quil for a minute. The two of them seemed to have a conversation between them that only they could hear or understand. "I want to hear something first." He turned to Alex. "Why were you spying and listening in on the conversation between Owen and Charlie?"

Alex's mouth dropped open. "I wasn't spying on them." She turned to Michael. "I came inside to use the washroom and heard voices."

Jake nodded. "And chose to stand there and listen to the voices talk?" He questioned her. "Embry seen you standing there before he walked in the door. How long were you there? Michael said you had been inside for a bit before he came inside looking for you, only to find the situation Leah walked into happening."

"I had tried to talk to Charlie at dinner. But every time I attempted to, she walked away or turned away from me, going off to talk to Birkoff or Owen or Michael. Beyond the introduction she didn't say anything to me. So, when I came in and heard her talking, I thought she might say something that would help open the door for me to chat with her. Birkoff said she had only come inside to call Embry to find out where he was."

Quil looked at her. "So, you want to talk to Charlie, there is a reason why we are all so close. Jake, Embry, Charlie and me, we all grew up together. Leah hung out with Sam and John but when Sam hooked up with Emily, John and Leah grew closer. Charlie doesn't let others into her life very easily, and staring at her through dinner wouldn't have helped the matter."

"So, you have already made up your mind because Owen beat me over here yesterday. I won't get a chance to try and get her to pick me to talk to. I am a girl I can explain a lot more and relate to her a lot more than Owen can." Alex spat out at Quil.

Jake settled everything down for a minute. "I understand you want a fair try here. But we have to try and convince Embry to let you have one. At this point it isn't Ryan and Birkoff you have to convince to let that happen it is Embry. But you are the one who hurt your chances here. I understand that you might think someone cheated, though there was a very good chance that last night Embry and Charlie may have been somewhere else for dinner. It was just a fluke that they were at home together, and before you question that, Charlie had mentioned about having to go to the library to get more books." He ran his hands through his hair. "So, in light of all this. I am going to grant you one more chance. Monday after school Charlie is going grocery shopping with Birkoff and Ryan. This means that Embry will be free for a chat with you. I will get him to the park across from the school so you two can talk, either Quil or I or maybe even both of us will be there to make sure it goes down okay."

Alex shook her head. "Owen had video games and dinner, but I get one conversation how is that fair to me?"

Quil laughed. "You're joking right? Us getting Embry to agree to this is going to be hard, probably take most of the weekend and to do it behind Charlie's back is going to be even harder. Jake said he needed me here to make sure Embry's wishes are looked after. You stared at her all through dinner and made her feel uncomfortable."

Nikita looked at him. "Why would you have to do it behind Charlie's back?"

Quil started laughing. "You are kidding right?" he walked away for a few minutes as all eyes followed him before he came back. "If Charlie knew it was going to be happening, she would sway Embry to turn down the meeting the second it started. She would convince him to go in order to get something out of it from either Sam or Jake but to end it almost as soon as it starts." He shook his head for a second. "You did say you wanted a fair chance, right?"

Alex nodded. "I want a chance to explain myself, but I want him to be willing to listen to me."

Jake nodded. "Which is why we have to keep this quiet until Monday. Charlie won't be home until Sunday night. She will probably have dinner with us at Emily's then come over here. Embry isn't going to be too keen on letting her be alone with you. So, I am going to suggest maybe Sunday night you come over and join in on some video games with Birkoff, Embry and Charlie. That way it would be fair it would be an open atmosphere for you to maybe start a conversation with her. Then on Monday he might be more than willing to listen to you."

Alex just shrugged before Quil whispered something to Jake with a shrug.

Birkoff looked between them. "You have another idea?"

Jake nodded running his hand over his chin. "It is an idea, not one I would have thought of myself, but it would be a completely clean start for Alex kind of."

Nikita smiled. "What do you mean by kind of?"

Jake shook for a second. "Paul and Jared. Are two completely, well almost completely, unbiased individuals in this. They aren't working with Embry all weekend and we can keep them apart from him until after Sunday. If Embry is at all worried about the video games, they can help be willing to come over and give it a try. We can send them over; I can chat with Sam, and he would agree to them coning over to chat with Alex here. She could explain herself to them, then Owen could do the same thing. Then as they both know Charlie, they can give their thoughts to Embry before a final decision is made to Charlie as to who she should talk to."

Birkoff smiled. "It is an idea. They both have girlfriends who know Charlie and Charlie does enjoy spending time with both of those guys when these three aren't around."

Alex nodded. "Guess that is the best option we have," she looked at me. "Are you okay with this?"

I leaned back for a second. "I can have a chat with them. Just let me know when and where we have it set up for."

Unknown POV

We had been talking for a while. Chelsea had explained who she was to me. She was a vampire; in fact, she was a very powerful vampire. She could see connections between individuals. Afton was her mate; it was the closest thing to a husband that they have as they are dead.

She had explained to me that I was a vampire as well. The red juice as they have been calling it was blood that they had been using to keep me from getting too thirsty. Though she had also explained that I still needed to eat regular food. Something about the way I had been turned into the vampire. Apparently, there was someone who could complete the process, but they didn't know exactly where they were. Caius who happened to be one of the heads of the vampire world had almost driven the moon children extinct way before he knew about this. Now according to Chelsea, they were trying to find just one or possibly a set of twins. Though they don't know where they are or even have a way to start tracking them down.

"So, you are telling me that there is a way to get back with Alex and live out my life possibly turn her into a vampire too?"

Alec walked into the room. I had learned that he was the younger male who had seemed very nice though he hadn't said much more. "Since Chelsea and Afton are deciding to explain everything to you Caius has asked that I come and make sure you know everything." He settled down on the bed pulling his legs up sitting cross-legged at the bottom corner. "So, you are a special type of vampire. Long ago an ancient witch put a spell on the Volturi just as they were about to take over power. The witch though they tried to kill her managed to walk away promising that she would curse a line within the moonchildren as well as a way to break this curse.

"You see Caius use to have some substantial powers only they have been dormant since being cursed and this cycle began. For centuries long before me or my sister came to him, they have tried to end it from coming back. A few years back though we got lucky, on a trip to Forks, Washington we came across a group of shifters. Now the best place to hide a cursed line of moonchildren would be with a group of shifters. They could protect and teach similar to their methods. It would seem that if one or both of the twins are there, they haven't been able to shift yet."

"Do they have to shift for me to be able to do what I need to in order to be free?" I asked focusing on his face. I had been right that he was really young. He couldn't be older than 18 which means this was done to him before he was legal. "Also physically how old are you and your sister?"

Alec laughed for a second. "Yes, they do have to be able to shift in order to do what needs to be done for both or all three of you to be free. Though from the news we are getting we suspect that it is only one of the twins managed to make it through the first few hurdles after birth." He squirmed uncomfortably for a few second before continuing. "Physically both Jane and I are only 17. We stopped aging just before our 17th birthday."

He got up walking over to the fridge and putting something in the microwave. Just standing there watching it spin.

"I'm sorry if I hit a nerve." I admitted to him.

He shook. "You didn't Sean." Chelsea and Afton had backed away. "It is not something I like discussing though I guess it would be something that you would be curious about." He turned around seeing Chelsea and Afton. "Would you two stop it or if you are that afraid leave." He yelled at them as if annoyed that they would be backing away from him.

After they had left, he brought over the food that he had placed in the microwave. "Eat, though the blood will deal with the thirst you still need food."

I nodded starting to eat what he had grabbed for me. We sat there in silence while I ate. "What if someone could help you locate the one or two we are looking for?"

He looked up. "You know someone in Forks?" He asked with a smile.

I shook my head. "Honestly, I don't know where any of my friends ended up. But I do know someone who worked for the CIA he might be able to track them down. Though he was more of a patterns guy usually."

Alec nodded seeming deep in thought. "We have someone in Forks who might be able to help though it would be tricky we have managed to burn a lot of bridges with what happened last time, though if that was your friend you could be a joining force for us." He thought and spoke out loud for a few minutes about different ideas.

"Why were Afton and Chelsea backing away from you when you were up making me food?" I asked. For the most part I wasn't afraid of Alec. He didn't scream all powerful vampire to me.

"Very few people aren't afraid of me. It is because of my abilities the gift I was given when I became a vampire. It also happens to be the reason why Caius has asked me to be here to help you. The gift you were given when you became a vampire is very much like mine, almost opposite but not in the way Jane's power is."

I nodded. Great something else to look forward to. "So, a vampire died well half vampire died causing me to become what I am. How long between the two?"

He smiled at me. "We figure about 2 or 3 years. Though Collet would have known she would have been able to see the shadow of him in your eyes when you took your helmet off. Her husband would have said something too when he seen you. Though the torture they endured was not necessary the group of people who did it and the ones that hired your unit were the same people."

I put my head into my hands shaking it. "Why? That makes no sense, why torture them and send us in to get the same thing? What was even in their bags that was so important?"

Alec just shook his head. "They figured the key to stopping you. Or rather slowing us down. In theory there would have been instructions left for when the moonchild turns 18 and they come into themselves completely. Though the instructions weren't in with the adults, nor could they convince either one to give them up."

"Do they need the instructions?" I asked worried that if they could not be found this would all be for nothing.

Alec shrugged. "We don't know. You are the first one we have been able to recover in over 200 years, well recover before you went mad. We have never been this close. And with the others hunting you Caius is finally ready to allow us to move forward and explain all of this to you." He placed a hand on my shoulder gently. "Get some rest. Tomorrow I will grab Demetri and Benjamin, and we will take you for a way and show you what we can do."

"Alec" I called out to him before he left. He turned looking at me. "If I am the first one you have recovered, how do you know all of this?"

He sighed. "That is a bit of a longer story. And one that is much easier explained after you meet a few people and see what they can do. It won't be tomorrow I can promise you that but before we have you meet the moonchild, we will explain to you how we know all this and what we know."