Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Seth woke up from a shallow slumber. He had been out with the pack for most of the night, and the few hours of sleep he got were not very restful. Though, for most members of his pack, sleep was never an easy or well achieved task anyway. He forced himself up out of bed and towards his faded bedroom door. He emerged and entered the kitchen to the familiar sight of his mother, sitting at the kitchen table and staring out the window. She didn’t really do much other than look out of that window nowadays, not since Leah left. Seth wondered if his mother looked out that window so often because she was hoping to see Leah’s truck pulling up the driveway.

Seth hovered in the entrance way of the kitchen for a little while, just watching her watch the outside world. Eventually he cleared his throat to get his mother’s attention.

“Oh,” she said turning to face him, “Good morning, Seth. I didn’t even notice you standing there”

“How’d you sleep?” he asked his mother as he walked towards the kitchen table, though he already knew the likely answer to his question.

“Same as usual.” She replied, turning to look back out the kitchen window.

Sensing the end to his attempted conversation, Seth made himself and his mother fried eggs and toast, before silently eating across from each other. This is how days usually went for them, Seth making sure his mother had everything she needed, that she was still hanging on to her threads of sanity, before leaving to go to Emily’s for the day.

Their household never used to feel this empty, so drained of life. When Seth was younger, his father was always cracking jokes around the house, making everybody laugh. Leah would be wandering around singing to herself, it just felt right. After his father’s death they tried to keep the spirit of the house alive, even with the horrifying change to their lives of Leah and Seth phasing. But as the years of Leah being gone passed, the spirit of the household slowly faded away. The first few years of her disappearance Sue held on to hope of Leah returning home, so they could talk things out and fix the rift that had come between them. Just before five years had passed Sue became angry, she felt cheated out of her daughter’s future and saw Leah as ungrateful and selfish. That idea didn’t last long because after that, Sue just went quiet; not happy, not sad, just quiet.

It didn’t take long for Seth to walk to Sam and Emily’s house, and when he arrived the house was full of lively energy mixed with the smell of bacon and muffins. Most of the pack was sitting around the table, Jared and Paul fighting over the larger muffin, Quil and Embry quietly chatting amongst themselves, and the newest member of the pack, Chase, politely eating the breakfast being provided for him. On the couch, Rachel and Kim, Paul’s and Jared’s partners, sat together talking while Rachel was attempting to feed her one-year-old. Seth noticed Emily kneeling next to the highchair of her toddler, Amara, while appearing to negotiate with her into eating her cereal instead of throwing it.

“Morning Em.” Seth said as he sidled past her towards the plate of fresh muffins.

She turned and smiled when she saw who was speaking. “Morning Seth, how’s your mom doing?”

Seth hesitated for a second before answering, debating whether or not to answer truthfully. “She’s doing okay.”

It was the safest answer for questions like that, implying neither good nor bad change. As Seth sauntered towards the table, he sidestepped around Talia, who decided the best place to practice her dancing at nine in the morning was in the middle of the kitchen, and sat himself down across from Chase, next to Paul.

This is what had become Seths family, his pack, their partners, and eventually, their children. After the narrowly avoided battle with the Volturi, the pack had simultaneously gone back to normal and changed drastically. The original plan was for Seth and Leah to remain in Jacob’s pack, but after Jake imprinted, the siblings had to reluctantly return to Sam. Jacob had not been around much after that, and not long after Leah left, the Cullens, along with Jacob, moved on as well. Jake still came back to visit every now and then, but it wasn’t the same. Since the Cullens left town, there was not much reason for the entire pack to continue phasing and remain frozen in time, so most stopped with a select few volunteering to remain as the tribe protectors. Embry, Quil, and Seth remained phasing, but not long after Seth decided to begin his aging process once again. So, though Quil and Embry were technically twenty-nine years old, they were still at the visible age of sixteen. The bulked-up werewolf version of sixteen.

A couple of years ago, the pack gained an unexpected new member when a younger boy from the reservation ran into a rogue vampire in the woods. It triggered him to phase. Since then, Chase has begun joining Quil and Embry on their protective rounds, choosing to stay a werewolf for at least a little while.

Seth spent the whole day at Sam and Emily’s house, hanging around with the pack, playing with Amara so Sam could have a break, and helping Emily around the house. Around late afternoon, Sue pulled up in her old beaten minivan and came inside to greet everyone. She spent some time speaking to the individuals in the house, before she and Seth left to head home to work on some chores and go shopping. Emily insisted before they left that Sue take a fresh plate of baked goods home with her, and though she tried to decline at first, Emily made sure she left the house with that plate in her hands.

As Sue and Seth made the climb up their porch steps, they were met with the sight of their front door, sitting slightly ajar.

“Did you leave the door open when you left?” Seth asked his mom quietly, not wanting to alert any possible intruders of their presence.

“No, I’m absolutely positive that I shut and locked it.” She replied.

Seth motioned for his mom to wait where she was, as he slowly approached the swinging door and poked his head into the entryway of their home. The front door opened into the living room, so Seth was met with the sight of two strangers rummaging around the drawers and shelves of their home. Just before he rushed in to confront the intruders, he paused, as he noticed that they were both incredibly short. He kept his eyes on the smallest of the two, a boy it seemed, as he climbed onto the couch to reach the table sitting behind it. Seth watched the boy sweep his arm across the table and knock all the photos forward onto the couch. The other intruder turned towards the sound, and Seth finally got a look at their faces. They were children, young children, and it appeared as if they hadn’t even taken anything and were only looking around. The second intruder was a girl, who approached the couch quickly and began looking through the photos with the young boy. They were whispering to each other, but Seth couldn’t make out what they were saying. Suddenly they both celebrated, and grabbed at one of the framed images, though which it was he couldn’t quite make out. Finally, Seth fully opened the door and stepped into the living room.

The two children whipped around and met eyes with him, both frozen on the spot waiting to see what would happen. Seth waved his mother towards the house with his hand, and she joined him in the doorway taking in the scene before her. Suddenly, both the kids jumped up and made a break for the back door, one of the framed photos still in hand. Seth chased after the two and caught them quite quickly, which wasn’t surprising considering how much longer his legs were compared to theirs. He grabbed the younger boy by the arm and tried to snatch the photograph out of his surprisingly sweaty hand. The girl saw her partner in crime being grabbed and all but launched herself towards Seth.

“Let go of my brother!” she said as she began whacking Seth in the side as hard as she could.

“Hey! Chill out kid, jeez.” Seth said as he dropped the boy’s arm.

Sue moved to stand with her back against the backdoor, blocking the kids between herself and Seth. The girl pulled her brother towards her and wrapped her arms around his shoulders like some kind of protective layer. Seth now held the framed photo in his hand, but he didn’t even bother to check which it was before he acknowledged the children.

“So,” Seth said as he kneeled in front of them, “What exactly were you two planning to achieve here?”

He meant the question honestly, worried they were unable to get food or something and were searching for a way to survive. The girl’s shoulders slumped at his question and all the fight seemed to leave her body. She grabbed her brother’s hand before she started speaking.

“Well...” she started,

Suddenly, she took off around Seth, dragging her brother behind her and escaping out the front door before Seth could even get back on his feet. Sue rushed towards the door after them, and watched as the two booked it down the driveway and away from the house.

Chapter Text

Seth started after the kids and realized that they were headed straight for Emily and Sam’s house. He slowed his pace a bit to make them think they had a chance of getting away and subtly steered them in the direction he wanted them to go. As they got close to the house, Seth began yelling mixed versions of “Stop right there!” and “Get back here now!” hoping the house full of people with super hearing would get the message. Just as they entered the clearing that housed the humble home, Seth saw Sam and Paul appear on the covered porch in front of the house. They each grabbed a kid as they tried to run by, which ended with Paul getting a kick from the girl to where the sun don’t shine.

Seth finally got to stop running and took a second to catch his breath. He had no idea how those kids had managed to run for that long at that speed.

“What’s all this about?” Paul asked as he was hunched over trying to recover.

“Kids broke into our house” Seth said, still panting slightly.

“It’s not like we took anything!” The girl responded angrily to Seth, still trying to get out of Paul’s grip.

Seth glanced towards the covered porch and realized a small crowd was gathering, the whole pack plus Emily had gathered to see what was going on.

“You didn’t take anything because I took it back from you.” Seth replied as he waved the framed photo in front of them. He hadn’t even realized he was still holding it until then.

He flipped the photo over so he could see what had been so important for them to take, and his breath caught in his throat. It was one of the last photos they had of his dad, preserving him in the happy and joyful mood he was known for. Seth remembered when this photo had been taken, it was just a week before he and Leah had phased. Harry had wanted to take Seth and Leah fishing, an activity he immensely enjoyed, in hopes of cheering Leah up from her semi-recent breakup. He had managed to catch not only his favorite kind of fish, but one of the biggest he had ever seen. His happiness is forever displayed in the large smile Harry had on his face when Leah snapped this photo of him.

Seth raised his gaze back towards the children with a new kind of anger filling his eyes.

“What the hell do you want with this?” Seth asked them, his ire clear in his tone.

Sam, aware of Seths changed mood, tried to step in and mediate the conversation. Old habits die hard, I guess.

“Why don’t we all just take a breath and figure out what’s going on here.” Sam said putting a warning hand out towards Seth.

Emily piped up from the doorway of her house, “Why don’t we all come inside. Maybe some food will make them feel more comfortable.”

“Oh yeah cause their comfort is so important.” Seth muttered to himself, still upset by the attempted robbery of one of his most precious items.

Emily ushered everyone off the porch and into the house, then motioned for the children to follow them. The little boy seemed perfectly content, climbing up the stairs and into the house without a care in the world. The girl was more hesitant but slowly followed her brother inside.

“Are you ok Seth?”

The question caught him off guard, he had disappeared almost completely back into his own memories. He turned towards Sam and saw him looking at him with pity.

“I understand why you’re upset,” Sam said attempting to comfort him, “But remember that they’re only children.”

Paul had followed the children into the house, so Seth and Sam were the last to enter the open kitchen space. The children had sat themselves down at the table with the boy devouring one of the leftover muffins from breakfast, while the girl sat with her arms crossed and her eyes down. The pack had gathered, standing at one end of the table, slightly confused and waiting to see what would happen. Seth glanced over the open space and saw no sign of Rachel and Kim; he assumed they must have left in the short time he was gone.

“Alright,” Sam started, realizing he had to start the conversation one way or another. “What were you two doing in my friend’s house?”

The girl opened her mouth to reply, but her brother got to it first.

“We needed a picture.”

The girl slapped her hand to her forehead as if it was supposed to be some big secret, while the boy just went back to happily chewing his muffin.

“A picture?” Seth questioned, becoming even more puzzled. “You broke into someone’s house because you needed a random picture?”

The boy opened his mouth to answer again but this time his sister saw it coming, placing her hand over his mouth while keeping her eyes on Seth.

“You’re right, our mistake, why don’t we just go and try the local library instead.” The girl lifted herself out of the chair as she spoke, but Sam motioned for her to sit back down.

Emily, sensing the girl’s nervousness, came forward and sat across from the children.

“Why don’t we just take a few steps back before we get into the details. What are your names?” Emily asked them softly, trying to appear as kind and nonthreatening as possible.

“I’m Joseph!” the boy replies, standing up on his chair and pointing to his chest, apparently very proud of his introduction.

“Susannah” was all the girl answered the question with.

Susannah appeared to be growing less uncomfortable, but almost more confused as she looked around. She was watching Emily’s face closely now that she was right in front of them, but she didn’t appear to be looking at her scars, as most usually do. She was examining her face almost as if she knew her, and her eyes flicked over to Seth to examine him as well.

“Do you remember that guy Joseph from our school?” Seth heard Quil whisper to Embry.

“Yeah, wasn’t he a total dick or something?” Embry whispered back.

“Hey!” Sam interrupted sternly, one because they were delaying the conversation, and two because they just swore in front of the children.

Quil and Embry raised their hands in apology before allowing the conversation to go on.

“Well Joseph and Susannah, I want you to know that we don’t mean any harm to you, and we don’t want you to get into trouble, we just want to figure out why you did it. Are your families struggling, were you trying to find a way to get money?” Emily questioned, searching for a peaceful tone of conversation.

Susannah, seeming to warm up to Emily slightly, said, “No it’s nothing like that, our family is doing fine.”

“Then why’d you try to take his photo?” Paul said, waving a hand towards Seth, clearly annoyed at the lack of clear answers.

“We just-“ Susannah started, before being interrupted by the opening of the front door.

Sue appeared from behind the door and let out a breath when she saw the children sitting at the table.

“Oh good, you managed to catch up with them.” She said as she moved to stand next to her son.

Seth raised his hands in a slightly offended motion, upset at the implication that he wouldn’t be able to catch two small children in a foot race.
Seth turned his attention back to Susannah hoping she would continue what she was going to say, but she seemed to have gone paler, and had an expression on her face that looked like every question of hers had just been answered. Seth still didn’t know her exact age, but every now and then he noticed that the emotion the little girl displayed on her face seemed way ahead of the average child.

Emily noticed the look on Susannah’s face, but motioned to her to finish her sentence anyway by saying, “What were you going to say dear?”

Susannah looked as if she were still trying to recover from some kind of shock, so Joseph, oblivious to the whole situation, continued her story.

“We’re getting a present for our mommy.” He started. “She’s been sick, so we wanted to get her a nice present to make her feel better.”

“So you went for a random person’s photograph?” Jared chimed in, before he was given a shove by Embry.

“Nooo,” Joseph slurred matter-of-factly. “We- “

Once again, their story was interrupted by Sue speaking suddenly to Susannah.

“Have we met before?” Sue asked, her eyes boring into the young girl.

“I doubt it.” Susannah replied, seemingly recovered from her initial shock. “We’ve never been here before.”

“You’ve never been to La Push before?” Emily asked them, deepening the mystery of their existence.

“We’ve never been to Washington before!” Joseph stated, eyes gleaming with excitement. He seemed unaware of the tension in the room and was just enjoying his apparent vacation.

“What!” A mix of voices echoed across the room.

The adults were suddenly much more concerned, these weren’t some local kids causing trouble, they were two children seeming unaccompanied in an entirely different state to where they live.
“How did you end up here, where are your parents?” Emily asked them, her stress level seeming to have risen significantly in the past ten seconds.

“Like my brother said, our mother is sick right now, she’s at home.” Susannah reported to the baffled adults in the room.

“What about your father?” Emily asked again, clearly very concerned for them.

“He’s also at home; he’s taking care of mommy.” Joseph voiced, as he began picking at the petals of Emily’s table centerpiece.

“It was supposed to be a surprise,” Susannah revealed. “We were hoping to get the gift and get back in time before they got really worried.”

“So, your parents have no idea where you are right now?” Seth questioned, looking outside to the dusky sky.

They both just shrugged their shoulders at the question, seemingly unaware of the panic they’d caused.

“Ok can we please just back up a second.” Paul interjected. “I get it, you were looking for a gift for your mom cause she’s sick, but why come all the way to Washington? Couldn’t you steal a photograph closer to home or something?”

“No, we couldn’t,” Joseph replied, almost offended at Paul’s lack of understanding. “We needed that photograph.”

He gestured towards the image still in Seth’s grip, and Seth raised it to show his mother which photo it was.

“Why this photograph?” Seth asked them for what felt like the thousandth time.

“Because” Joseph reported, “Our mommy’s photo of him broke.”

Sue’s breath caught in her throat, sounding both crushed and full of joy. She took the framed photo out of Seth’s hands and approached the children, kneeling down beside the two of them.
“Your mother had a photo of this man?” She asked them quietly, barley daring to breathe until she got an answer.

“Yeah, she tells us stories about him all the time.” Susannah stated, looking at Sue’s face with confusion.

“Can we stop talking now?” Joseph wined, laying his head on the table in front of him.

He seemed to be getting frustrated and was letting out inconceivable moans and cries as the chatter in the room continued.
The ringing of the phone made everyone in the house jump, and Emily left her seat to go and answer it.

“Hello,” she greets the mystery caller.

“Hey there Emily,” The familiar voice of Billy Black reaching through the phone. “I just got a call from old John up the road from you saying he saw Seth chasing two kids down the road, you know what’s going on?”

“Yeah, they’re here now actually” she responded. She continued to fill Billy in with all the information they had as she wandered out the room, while Sue tried to continue her conversation with the children.

“Do you know why your mother had a photo of him” Sue desperately questioned, wanting answers to all her burning questions.

“No No No No No!” Joseph cut in, his patience suddenly at his end. “No more questions!”

He hopped down from his chair and began stomping his way around the room.

“Questions, Questions, Questions” he continued, his Q’s sounding more like T’s in his toddler-esc language.

“I haven’t had a nap since we woke up, I haven’t had ANY apple juice since breakfast, and all I hear is talk, talk, talk”

He continued his rampage around the room, having a full-on tantrum in the middle of the kitchen.

Emily returned, no phone in her hand, as she took in the scene happening before her. Quickly, with the clear experience of having toddlers, she scooped him up from the ground and brought him to eye level.

“Hey,” she said to the boy, forcing him to look at her. “What’s going on?”

Joseph was sobbing now, having a meltdown due to his lack of rest.

“I want apple juice!” He replied in his cries, cheeks stained, eyes red, and nose running.

“We can get you some apple juice, do you want to have a nap while I grab it for you?” Emily asked him, already walking back towards the bedrooms in her home.
The promise of apple juice was enough for Joseph, who just nodded his head and rested against Emily’s shoulder.

All eyes fell back to Susannah, who looked just as exhausted as Joseph. She was sitting with her head in her hands and her eyes drooping shut.

“Can I have a phone?” She asked suddenly, as if the task had brought her out of her attempted nap.

“I’ll go try and find the house phone Em was just using.” Sam responded as he exited the same way Emily had.

“Are you going to call your parents? Cause that’s something that should definitely be at the top of your to-do list.” Seth commented, mimicking a list with his hands.

“Yeah, I’m just gonna tell my dad that we’re on the way back and that our plan didn’t work.” Susannah replied, shifting around in her seat.

How long did it take you to get here? Sue asked, still kneeling next to Susannah.

She shrugged her shoulders in response, clearly not having paid attention to the trip there.

“Where do you live?” Sue questioned her again, desperately trying to make progress.

“The reservation” was Susannah’s only words as she began picking at her nails.

“But you said you’re not from here” Quil interjected, clearly confused. What reservation are you from?”

“Apsáalooke” Susannah answered in a native language.

There was a pause in the room as people took the time to translate and process the new information.

“So… you’re Crow? Paul asked

Susannah nodded her head as Sam walked back into the room holding the same phone Emily had.

“But honey,” Sue started, “If you live on the Crow reservation, that’s six hours away. You won’t make it home today even if you left right now.”

The color left Susannah’s face when she heard that. Though both children meant the best for their mother, they had not properly thought through their plan before they attempted to execute it.

“I’ll be right back. Susannah stated suddenly. “I gotta go get my backpack.”

She hopped down from her chair and walked out the door before anyone had managed to process what she said. Sam was left standing confused, phone still in his hand.

“Hold on!” Seth exclaimed as he followed her out the door and down the porch stairs. “What backpack?”

She turned to look at Seth before explaining, “I brought a backpack of supplies for the bus, since we’re stuck overnight, we could do some kind of camping I guess.”

“First of all, where did you leave this backpack?” Seth inquired. “Second, you don’t actually think that you’re just going to get kicked out to spend the night on the street, do you?”

“Oh, I guess not.” Susannah replied with a shrug of her shoulders. She began walking back towards Seth’s house, with him right alongside her. “I left it in the woods next to your house, I figured it would be too heavy to sneak around in.”

She seemed perfectly content with Seth now, skipping alongside him as they made their way back to the quickly escaped home. Seth shook his head with a smile, chuckling to himself about her thought-out robbery.

“You got experience breaking into houses or something?” Seth joked, turning his eyes down to look at her.

She laughed in response, “No, I just learned how to pick locks. The rest is kind of common sense when sneaking around.”

“Aren’t you a little young to be knowing all this stuff?” Seth asks, realizing that he doesn’t know either child’s age. “How old are you both?”

“I’m seven, Jojo’s five.” She explained with a grin. “My mom always says that knowledge is one of life’s greatest weapons, so I guess I just learned it at some point.”

They continued the rest of the walk in a comfortable silence, with Seth secretly admiring the intelligence of the young girl. He felt no ill will towards the children anymore, he knew they were just doing something for their family. He still had a few more questions before his brain could be left to any kind of rest.

“You said you brought supplies for the bus; how did you manage to pay for it?” Seth queried, doubting that any seven-year-old has enough money for a bus fare from Montana to Washington.

She hung her head in shame as they approached a rather large tree near Seth’s house. She reached into a small opening in the tree and pulled out a light blue backpack, unzipped it, and pulled out a large dark green wallet.

“I took mom’s wallet.” She whispered to Seth, as if her mom was listening.

“Ooh you’re really gonna be in trouble.” Seth stated as he motioned for them to begin moving again. “Come on, it’s starting to get dark.”

They walked back to Emily’s house, just beating the setting sun by a minute or two. As they made their way back up the porch steps they were met by Sue and Emily standing in the doorway.

“If you’re going to call your parents you really need to do it now.” Emily said, handing the phone to Susannah. “You know their number, right?”

“Yeah, thank you” she answered politely as she began punching in the numbers.

The three adults watched as she held the phone to her ear, and almost immediately heard a voice coming through the receiver.

She listened to the frantic sounding voice before quietly saying “Hi dad.”

The voice on the phone immediately began speaking again, seeming to lecture Susannah who just stood there for a while and listened. Susannah explained the situation, how they had got there, what they were doing, and why it went wrong. Eventually she asked, “How are we going to get home?”

Emily motioned for Susannah to hand her the phone and Susannah reluctantly gave it over.

“Hello, my name is Emily Uley, I’ve got your kids at my house right now.” She began, attempting to break the ice with the parent over the phone. “I understand how worried you must be, I have two young kids myself, but I just want to start by letting you know that every second they’re with me they will be taken care of. Anything you need I would be happy to help you with to make you or them more comfortable.”

She was thanked by the man over the phone, and she realized she must be speaking to the children’s father. She asked him what he would like to do about getting the children home, as it was already getting late.

“I’m just stuck on what to do about actually getting them here.” They mystery man stated over the phone. “My wife is still recovering from a stroke, and I really can’t leave her and the baby alone that long.”

Sue, listening close to Emily’s ear, interrupted by saying: “I can drive them tomorrow.”

Seth looked at her with surprise, wondering where her sudden desire to do this had come from. Emily looked at Sue with a level of understanding that Seth couldn’t interpret, before passing the message along to the man on the other side of the phone.

They spent a few more minutes going back and forth over the details before they exchanged numbers and eventually hung up.

“Alrighty” Emily said, crouching down to Susannah’s level. “Your dad said he feels comfortable with you staying here with us tonight, so why don’t we come inside and have dinner so you can get some rest.”

Susannah nodded her head and followed Emily into the house, Sue and Seth close behind. Sam and Embry were in the kitchen, working on dinner Emily had begun, with Joseph greeting them as they came in, risen from his nap. The rest of the pack was spread across the living room and kitchen, with Talia and Amara having emerged from wherever they had been in the house previously. The newcomers joined the fray as Emily returned to working on dinner, and eventually everyone gathered around the table to eat.

Extra chairs were added from across the house to accommodate all the extra people, and everybody settled nicely into the hearty meal.

“Is this Secret Stew?” Joseph asked, silencing the comfortable chatter that had formed over the table.

Sue put her hands over her mouth and looked to Emily in disbelief, while Emily looked as if she were deep in thought.

Quil, oblivious to the impact of that question commented, “Jeez nice guess kid, how’d you know that?”

“Our mommy makes it.” Joseph announces proudly.

Emily and Sue locked their eyes and just stared at each other, sharing so many thoughts in just a short amount of time.

“Your mother makes this stew, and she calls it Secret Stew? Sue asks them at almost a whisper.

Joseph nods his head and goes back to happily eating his dinner, while Susannah watches Sue and Emily as they silently communicate with each other.

“You said your mother had a photo of that man over there.” Sam interjected, pointing towards where the stolen photograph of Harry that had been placed on a shelf. “Do you know why she had it?”

Joseph opened his mouth to answer again, but Susannah stopped him, suddenly defensive.

“Why do you want to know?” She asks them suspiciously.

“Because you are growing up on a Crow reservation, yet your mother has a photo and stories to tell about my husband.” Sue says directly, a rough look on her face. “I want to know how your mother knew him.

Susannah looked uncomfortable as she replied, “Our mother isn’t Apsáalooke, but I don’t really want to talk about this stuff anymore, I’m tired.

The rest of the meal was spent as comfortable as it could have been, with the members of the pack doing their best to lighten the mood and bring some humor to the table. Talia and Susannah seemed to be getting along well, both enjoying dancing, and were discussing how to choreograph a certain style of dance. Joseph took a real liking to Quil and Embry, laughing at their jokes and playing with them throughout the meal. The only truly distraught one at the table was Sue Clearwater, who sat behind her since untouched meal with tears in her eyes, and Emily watching her closely.

After dinner was over, the pack was set on dish washing duty, and the short evening downtime began. Most activities remained the same as they did during dinner, with Talia and Susannah working together to choreograph a dance routine and Quil, Embry, Joseph, and Amara playing together. Not long after dinner Emily announced that it was bathtime and got all four kids fresh and clean. Knowing what a long day they’ve had, Emily read a group bedtime story, then tucked every child into bed, with Talia and Susannah sharing a bed, and Amara and Joseph sharing another.

She wished them all sweet dreams before softly closing the door and leaving them to rest.

Chapter Text

Emily reentered the living room to find the pack spread out across the furniture, but the one that caught her eye was Sue. She had sat herself in one place on the couch after dinner, and nobody has seen her move the slightest bit since. Emily approached her cautiously, as if she were a wounded animal she didn’t want to frighten. She carefully sat next to her and attempted a conversation.

“Are you alright?” She asks her softly, placing her hand over the distraught woman’s.

“I’m not going crazy, am I?” Sue asks her, turning to look into her eyes. “You see it too, don’t you?”

The rest of the room stopped to listen to the conversation, many not having connected the dots that Sue, Emily, and partially Sam had managed to connect.

Emily hesitated to answer, worried that if she were wrong, it might break Sue completely.

“Yes, I see it too.”

That was too much for Sue who broke down into tears in Emily’s arms. Seth moved to comfort his mother, though he wasn’t quite sure what had caused her so much distress. Paul went to the kitchen to get her a drink, while many others put their eyes to the ground unsure of what to do.

“What do you two see?” Seth questioned, desperate to be let in on the secret that was causing his mother so much pain.

“Leah.” It was all Sue had to offer before breaking into cries once again.

Time seemed to stop in the house, everyone taking their own time to process this bombshell that had been dropped. Chase, who was not a part of the pack when Leah had left, had heard enough of the story to understand why this was significant, even though he had no personal connection to her. He felt sympathetic towards Sue, wishing there was something he could do to make the poor woman feel better.

“How can you be sure?” Seth questioned, not daring to believe it was possible.

“There are too many similarities for it to be just a coincidence Seth.” Emily commented, still cradling Sue in her arms. “They know about the Secret Stew, they know about your father, have seen a picture of him, heard stories of him. Susannah seemed to recognize some of us when we first met, I wouldn’t be surprised if they’d have heard about us too.”

“I think Susannah has figured out who we all are.” Sam interrupted, “She seems very intelligent, and appeared to fully connect everything when I asked her about the photo of Harry at dinner.”

Many eyes had widened around the room, with different members of the pack thinking through all the information they had, and seeing the lines begin to connect as they put it all together. Paul had returned with the water for Sue and got a quick debriefing from Jared about what had been discovered.

“I’m supposed to drive them home tomorrow.” Sue whispered, sipping on the water she had been given. “What if I show up and it’s not her, and I made it all up out of hope.”

“But what if you show up and it is her?” Quil asks quietly, making Sue look up to consider his words.

“I think right now, the most important thing for everyone is to go home and get some rest.” Emily interjected. “Everyone has had an incredibly busy day today, and it seems like tomorrow will be the same.”

The whole room agreed, saying their goodbyes as they headed off to their respective homes. Chase left to go on a solo patrol, while Quil and Embry returned to the small house shared between the three of them. Paul and Jared returned home to their partners, and Seth drove his mother home in the mini van she had arrived in many hours ago.

Seth took the house keys out of his mother’s hand and led her up the front steps, unlocking the hastily locked door during the chase earlier in the day. He made sure his mother had gotten settled in her room before he finally got to collapse on his own bed. He wondered if it was really true, could those kids really be his niece and nephew? Could he and his mother see Leah tomorrow, for the first time in thirteen years? He went to sleep, questions still circling his brain.

Susannah knew who they were as soon as she got a proper look at Sue’s face. She looked just like the photos her mother had showed them, like she had walked straight out the frame. Susannah knew there was a risk of running into them since they were breaking into their house, but her mother had also told her that half the time on this reservation people sit in houses that aren’t even theirs. When they got caught, she had tried to get away, just in case they were who she thought they were. Of course, by her and her brother’s luck, they ended up in a house full of their mother’s past.

Susannah didn’t even know what had happened between her mother and the people here, she was just told that they couldn’t meet anyone until they were much older since their mother couldn’t go with them. All she heard about them were past stories, which all sounded fun and exciting, but if her mother couldn’t or wouldn’t come back, she felt nervous being here. Susannah also knew her mother was a wolf, many close to their family did. She warned Joseph as soon as she knew who they were to not mention anything about wolves, in case they gave themselves away. She didn’t know if they knew who their mother was, but either way she had a feeling they wouldn’t be happy with them knowing their big secret.

She lay in bed next to Talia, trying her best to stay awake and think, but the eventful day caught up to her and she fell into a deep sleep.

When Emily awoke, she got herself dressed and ready for the likely draining day ahead. It was earlier in the morning, when most would still be sleeping, but Emily wanted to get a head start on breakfast for everyone. She began working on the upcoming meal, deciding that waffles for the children would be a nice surprise. Time went on as she worked, with people slowly trickling into the kitchen both from in the house and out of it. Chase arrived just after Emily awoke and laid himself down for a nap on the couch. Amara awoke next, being set up near Chase to watch cartoons to keep her entertained. More and more joined the fray as the morning progressed, until the only person missing was Susannah.

“Joseph, could you go wake your sister up please?” Emily asked, as she set the table for the meal.

Joseph left the room but returned far too quickly.

“She’s not there.” He replied, shrugging his shoulders but looking unbothered.

“What do you mean she’s not there?” Sam questions walking up to the boy. “Where is she?”

Joseph simply shrugged his shoulders again and went to take a seat at the table.

Just before the adults started panicking, thinking they lost a kid, Embry stopped everybody.

“Does anyone else hear that?” He asks, motioning for everyone to be quiet.

All the noise in the house stopped as people listened for whatever Embry was hearing. Faintly, way off in the distance, the sound of music could be heard.

“Found her.” Joseph stated, hoisting himself up on the table seat.

“You’re sure that’s her?” Jared asked him, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, that’s her singing. Plus, I can hear the song she’s singing which is our mommy’s.” Joseph responded, playing with one of Amara’s toys that was left on the table.

“It’s your mothers’ song?” Emily questioned, confused at what he meant.

“Yeah, she and our aunts and uncles wrote it.” Joseph said, beginning to get cranky at all the questions so early in the morning.

The adults, sensing his worsening attitude, stopped asking him questions. Emily, Seth, and Sam went outside to try and locate Susannah, following the sound of her voice to a clearing behind the house. All adults that had heard Josephs explanation were once again very confused. They thought the children’s mother was Leah, but then they mentioned aunts and uncles, which they wouldn’t have known on Leah’s side. As they came around the side of the house, they were able to properly pick out the tune being sung.

Susannah was swaying and spinning in circles in the clearing, lost in her own world. She seemed to know the song very well, as if she’d been hearing it for a long time.

The three adults stood at the edge of the house, silently watching her sing. She was incredibly talented, and no doubt enjoyed it, but there was something about the way the words were being sung that struck the three of them. Leah used to sing all the time before she broke up with Sam, quite like Susannah, wandering around in her own world as she did it. If Sue had seen the sight happening in front of them, she likely would have started to cry again because of how much it reminded her of her daughter.

“Susannah!” Emily called, gaining the girls’ attention. “It’s time for breakfast.”

Susannah stopped singing and turned to look at them. She didn’t look upset at being interrupted, only disappointed she had to stop singing. The four of them walked back around to the front of the house and joined everyone else at the breakfast table. They sat in a comfortable silence, with quiet chatter popping up around the table every now and then. Sue showed up partway through the meal, having slept in longer than usual and preparing herself for the trip she was about to make. As everyone was clearing up the dishes and beginning to get the kids ready for the ride, the sound of a car driving up the dirt driveway appeared.

Chapter Text

A white Jeep appeared through the trees as everyone gathered on the front porch, confused about the unfamiliar vehicle. The Jeep ground to a halt in front of the whole group and the engine was quickly cut off as the driver’s side door opened. A woman, appearing to be in her late 20’s early 30’s, emerged from the car and turned to face the confused and curious group that had assembled on the porch in front of her. She wore large sunglasses and had her dark hair tied up in a braid and walked with confidence that many struggled to portray outright to anyone.

“Aunt Malina!” both Joseph and Susannah yelled excitedly as they flew off the front porch and into her arms.

“Well look who it is!” said the woman, Malina it seemed, as she scooped both children up into her arms.

She hugged them, but as soon as she put them down her face became serious.

“Now what exactly were you two thinking taking a bus to Washington?” she questioned, hands on her hips.

Before the children had a chance to answer, her eyes moved above the children’s heads and to the crowd of people in front of her. Her eyes fell on each of them one by one and left the pack feeling nervous in the way she seemed to recognize every single face. Her eyes landed on Sue last, and many noticed the narrowing of her eyes at the sight of the exhausted woman.

Emily was the first to step forward and greet the mysterious woman who had just arrived. The woman returned the greeting politely with a tight-lipped smile and quickly turned her attention back to the children who were tugging on her arms.

“Well, if you both have all your things we better get on the road.” Malina said to the children, as she turned back towards her car.

‘Wait,” Sue said quickly descending the porch stairs, “I was supposed to be the one to drive them back.”

Malina turned back to the woman with a blank expression displayed on her face, yet she took a deep breath almost in annoyance. She responded, “Their parents appreciate your offer, but when they found out I was in LA we figured it would be easier if I drove them home instead.”

“Who even are you?” Jared interjected, earning him a warning glare from Emily for his rude tone.

The woman removed her sunglasses and stated, “I’m their aunt. Well, not technically by relation but I’m very close friends with their parents.”

“I was hoping to get to meet their parents.” Sue interjected as the woman finished her sentence, clearly growing desperate to take the children home.

Malina sighed again as she raised her hands and said, “look, we all appreciate you taking care of them, and I mean that, but it’s probably easier if we all just go our separate ways and back to normal.”

“You don’t understand.” Sue tried again, as Emily placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort.

“Enlighten me.” Malina replied with a shrug of her shoulders, leaving the pack confused about where her obvious dislike for Sue came from.

There was a momentary pause as Sue searched for the right words, and both the pack and the children stood waiting tensely for the answer.

“I think I might know their mother,” Sue started cautiously, “and I’d like to know if it’s who I think it is.”

Joseph, who had been completely oblivious to the possibility of them knowing his mother, looked around in confusion, with his eyes resting on his sister as she signaled to him not to ask now.

Malina stood silently for a moment, clearly deciding what to say next. Finally, she spoke. “I think you already know that you do.”

Sue, being too overwhelmed with emotion to respond, leaned on Emily’s shoulder as Sam took over the conversation.

“How can you be so sure?” he asks the woman, angered at the state she’s managed to put Sue in.

The woman turned towards the two children standing beside her and asked them to go and wait for her in the car. Though reluctant, both trudged over and hoisted themselves into the backseat of the vehicle. Malina faced the crowd of people before her and took a deep breath, and the pack noticed the look in her eyes shift to something like sympathy.

She began her explanation, her voice much softer than before, almost as if she realized the impact she was having.

“It’s like I said, I’m best friends with their parents. When they got the call from you all last night, you identified yourself as Emily Uley.” She said, gesturing towards Emily. “I called to check in on how Leah was doing, and she told me about what was going on. Since I was in LA, I just drove during the night so I’d be able to get them by morning. How do you think I knew the address they were at? Leah told me.”

At hearing the name of her daughter Sue had silent tears streaming down her cheeks as she listened to the woman in front of her.

“So it really is true,” Emily whispered, “they really are Leah’s kids.”

Malina nodded again before saying, “I don’t want to say anything more. I’ve heard the story of what happened, so I don’t feel I have any say in telling you anything.”

The group nodded back in joint understanding. It wasn’t Malina’s battle to fight, it was theirs and Leah’s.

“I have to see her.” Sue sniffled suddenly, all heads turning towards her.

“I really don’t think that’s a good idea….” Malina began, but was cut off abruptly by Sue.

“Don’t tell me whether or not I can see her!” Sue yelled, quickly losing her temper.

Malina’s mouth snapped shut in surprise, and her eyes narrowed in the hysterical woman’s direction.

“Her condition…” She tried again but was quickly shut down by the irate woman.

“You have no right to tell me whether or not I can see my own daughter!” Sue screamed as Seth and Sam desperately tried to calm her down and usher her towards the house.

“I have every right to say that because I took care of her when you wouldn’t!” Malina snapped back, her temper short and hot.

That statement was enough to cause everyone to freeze, and Sue remained silent but still had tears staining her face.

“Please”

It was a simple phrase. Short, to the point. But Seth put his whole soul into that word, trying his best to convey just how badly he and his mother needed this, and how he secretly hoped Leah needed it too.

Malina’s temper seemed to have cooled as quickly as it appeared, though she remained more reserved, and had taken a subtle step back from the group.

“I genuinely don’t know” she said, waving her hands trying to show her predicament. “She’s recovering from a stroke right now, I don’t know if that extra stress is a very good idea for her.”

“She had a stroke?” Embry asked, concern lacing his voice.

“During childbirth a few months ago.” Malina answered, “Had some complications through the birth and it caused a mini stroke. Like I said, I don’t know what is mine to tell.”

She began pacing back and forth in front of the group, at odds with herself. Should she bring them back to see Leah? Or should she leave them and allow her more time to recover? But would it help her recovery if it went well?

She finally stopped and turned towards the group who were all waiting with bated breath.

“Fine, you can come to see her.”