As the tension thickened in the air, Kiara could feel the weight of the unfinished business between herself and Paul. She had spent countless nights replaying their last interaction in her mind, dissecting each word and inflection, trying to make sense of it all. She was convinced that Paul would have killed her in that fight if she hadn't been stronger.

Even now, she could see the conflict raging within him, the war between duty and desire etched upon his face. Almost as if he didn't know whether to speak to her or rip her throat out where she stood.

"Paul," she said, her voice steady but laced with a hidden warning only he could detect. Rachel was tense in between them, her body the only thing that was stopping Paul from launching forward and attacking Kiara on her own front doorstep. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"I was on my way to see my imprint," he replied, his tone betraying a mix of anger and intensity. Rachel's eyebrows raised at his wording, but Kiara knew why he was displaying the possessiveness over her sister. It wasn't for Rachel's benefit - it was for Kiara to know that she was the only thing keeping him from going on the offensive. "Then I smelt leeches. Makes sense that it's just you."

Rachel stepped back as she noticed Paul tremble ever so slightly, sensing the intensity of their exchange, leaving Kiara and Paul to face each other alone. The weight of their history hung heavy in the air, every unsaid word echoing between them. Kiara broke the gaze, turning her head to look at her sister with a look in her eyes that only sisters could understand.

"Rach, go inside, it's okay."

"Don't fucking speak to her," Paul snapped, the veins on his neck prominent as he growled at Kiara. Rachel ignored him, going to tell him to calm down before noticing the look her younger sister was giving her and turning on her heel and entering the house instead. "Don't you dare even..."

"She's my SISTER PAUL!" Kiara yelled back, annoyance flickering through her as her tolerance dropped as soon as Rachel was safely inside. "You really think I'd hurt her? All because you tried to kill me, and then kill my imprint too? I'm not like you Paul, I have morals and loyalty and I thought you did too!"

Paul went to take a step towards her but she continued.

"Listen to me, Paul," she said, her voice firm and unwavering. "I am done with this endless cycle of anger and hostility. You literally tried to kill me, yet here I am asking you to just fucking get over it all. For Rachel's sake, if not my own."

Paul's eyes bore into hers, searching for any trace of doubt or weakness. But Kiara held her ground, revealing nothing but determination. The air crackled with tension as they stood face to face, the weight of their broken connection palpable in the space between them.

"What do you expect me to do?" he finally spat out, frustration lacing his words. "You walked away from us—walked away from me... FOR THEM! For those bloodsuckers!"

"And what good would it have done if I stayed?" Kiara snapped, moving from the deck and storming closer to Paul, until they were chest to chest and screaming in each others faces. "Bella would be dead - hell, my own imprint would be dead too!"

Paul's expression twisted into a mix of anger and pain, the intensity of the situation finally hitting him.

"You think THIS is easy for me?" he growled, his hands gripping Kiara's upper arms tightly. "You think I wanted to kill you? To kill my own family? You're the closest thing to a sister that I've ever had Kiara - and you think I just woke up and thought, 'oh hey, you know what would be fun? Killing Kie today!'?"

Kiara's breath caught in her throat, her heart pounding in her chest. So he really had tried to kill her. She'd convinced herself that she had just been imagining that he would have killed her, but here her once best friend was, standing in front of her and admitting that he had planned to kill her that night.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Kiara said, tears now streaming down her face. "I would have NEVER thought about killing you if the roles were reversed - and you know that Paul Lahote. NEVER."

"But that's the thing," Paul said, his voice trembling with emotion as he continued to tremble. "I'm not you! I'm me, and I make my own choices and I had to protect my pack and my imprint - whether you liked it or not. I'm not perfect, and sure maybe I made a mistake. A huge mistake. But I'm not a monster, Kiara. I'm not like the monsters you play pretend families with!"

"You really think Rachel would see you as a hero?" Kiara spat, knowing she was talking the low road now and meeting him at his energy. "That she'd come skipping down the path with a grin on her face because you saved her from the big bad wolf that is her own fucking sister? You make me sick, Paul."

Paul's face twisted in pain, and for a moment, Kiara saw a reflection of her own anger and hurt in his eyes. But then, as if a switch had been flipped, Paul's expression hardened, his gaze becoming cold and distant.

"You know what, Kiara?" he said, his voice low and dangerous. "It doesn't matter what Rachel thinks. What matters is what I think. And I think you're a fucking liar. You're a coward, hiding behind your lies and your so-called morality. You and I both know that if you hadn't imprinted on Rosalie, you'd have been first in line to rip that demon-spawn from Bella. I know you thought about it - I know you wanted to kill it before Jacob imprinted. Don't sit on your high horse and pretend you didn't, because I can see right through you."

Kiara's eyes blazed, her hands curling into fists at her sides. She had never felt so betrayed, so hurt, as she did in this moment. She knew he was right - she had wanted Renesmee killed as soon as Bella had given birth. But she never would have allowed them to kill Bella before Renesmee had been separated from her. Never.

But Paul wasn't finished. "And let's not forget the way you threw everything away, Kiara. Your pack, your family, your home. All for a life with those abominations. A life with those filthy, so-called vampires. I didn't want to kill you. I didn't want to kill Rosalie. But I had no choice. I had to protect my pack, my family...my imprint."

"You think you know me, Paul?" she said, her voice shaking with anger and pain. "You might think you do. But you don't. You don't know what I'm capable of, or what I'm willing to fight for."

"Maybe you're right, but all I know is you're pathetic and I don't want you anywhere near my imprint," Paul spat, rolling his eyes.

Paul turned and started to walk away, feeling Kiara's eyes boring into her back with anger and frustration. Just as he almost reached the front of the Black cabin, he heard Kiara yell out in anger and without a second thought, he was on four paws and slamming into the wolf that had shifted and charged towards him.

Kiara howled in pain as she hit the ground, her body writhing in agony as Paul's canines sunk deep into the scruff around her neck, slamming her head repeatedly into the gravel beneath them. Once he was sure her point had been made, Paul leaped off her, panting heavily from the exertion. The wolf on the ground scrambled to stand back up, thick blood now coating Paul's grey fur as he snarled back at the alpha in front of him.

His eyes burned with anger and pain, as he glared at Kiara standing in front of him. He could feel the agony of her words, but he was still alive. And more than that, he was still absolutely furious and seeing red as he looked at his once best-friend. He threw himself forward once more, having the advantage of heavier bodyweight and slammed Kiara into the side of Emmett's jeep, leaving a large wolf-shaped indent on the body that Kiara knew the vampire was going to be absolutely furious about.

Kiara yelped out as Paul's teeth latched on her own ankle, attempting to rag-doll her in the dirt as she twisted and writhed to try and get him off her. She was sure that his canines were scrapping against the bone in her back leg, a feeling that almost made her feel sick as it happened.

She struggled to breathe, her vision blurring as she fought against the pain. She could feel the weight of Paul's entire body bearing down on her, and she knew she needed to fight it. But Kiara was the same person she had always been, and no matter what had been said and what had happened between them - Kiara Black could never kill Paul Lahote. She would never even try.

"STOP IT, BOTH OF YOU STOP!"

Like he'd been shot, Paul's teeth instantly detached from Kiara and flung himself backwards as he looked at the bleeding wolf that was now rising to its feet. His muzzle was dripping red, her blood smeared across it as Kiara used the side of the jeep to lean against and support her weight. He could see it in her eyes in that moment - she wasn't going to have fought back. She'd have let him kill her if that's what he wanted.

Not to show him that he was powerful, but to show him that he was weak compared to her. She had given him mercy, and instead he was going to kill her for it.

Paul turned to look at Rachel, who was clutching her phone to her chest and staring at the scene before her with wide, heartbroken eyes. She rushed down the steps, going straight passed Paul without a single glance and instead running to stand beside the wolf that she knew was her younger sister.

As Rachel reached out to touch Kiara's muzzle, Kiara's eyes locked onto hers, a silent plea for understanding and forgiveness. Paul stood frozen, his actions undoing all the years of camaraderie they had shared. He felt a pang in his chest, knowing that this was all his fault. He had pushed her too far, and he had seen too much of himself in her. The way that Kiara and Rachel were looking at him now was a mirror image of what he'd seen too much growing up... it was the way he had looked at his father as a child.

"I don't even recognise you," Rachel said to Paul, no anger in her voice. Nothing but disappointment and disdain. "The Paul I know would never have done this to his best friend. My baby sister."

Paul's eyes welled up with tears, his heart breaking at the realisation that he was losing the two things in the world that he had cared most about: his best friend, and his imprint. As Kiara shifted back and Rachel helped her throw on the spare clothes while supporting her still-bleeding ankle, he couldn't help but feel empty inside.

His heart shattered. He couldn't believe how far things had gone. He had always known Kiara was different, but he had never imagined he would do something like this to her. It was clear now that it wasn't just Kiara that had been changed by the Cullens, but that he and his hatred for them had warped him into something that he had promised he would never become. Heck, he hadn't even hated Rosalie - he had thought she was good for Kiara.

He looked at the two girls in front of him, the bond between them as strong as ever. Kiara looked at him, the look in her eyes making him want to curl up and die right there. He had lost her and now potentially Rachel too, and there was no going back.

"You were the one person that I knew would always have my back," Kiara whispered as she leaned against Rachel, now fully clothed as Paul shifted back and pulled on the shorts that Rachel had angrily thrown at his feet. "I would never have done this to you, Paul."

"And you know what? I'm sorry," Paul forced out, his voice hoarse with emotion. "I never meant for any of this to happen. I was just... scared. It hurt me to see you like that, Kiara. I didn't know what else to do."

Kiara's expression softened slightly. They had been through so much together, and Paul knew that deep down, Kiara understood his pain. But it didn't matter, because she hadn't gone there to have a fight. She hadn't approached Paul with the intention of killing him. She hadn't pinned him down with the intention of ending it all.

"What's next, huh, Paul?" she asked, her voice small and defeated. "I leave, and you try to kill me the next time I come back to see my family? I stay, and you try to kill the Cullens while I have my back turned? I'm tired of this Paul... I'm so fucking tired."

"I don't know what to say, Kiara," he admitted, falling to his knees as the weight of everything he had just done suddenly came crashing on to his shoulders. "I can't undo what I've done."

Kiara sighed, the energy now clearly having left her body as she looked down at him in what he would almost describe as pity. He had just tried to kill her - again - yet here she was, pitying him once more.

"I don't care, Paul," Kiara said, her voice so soft he almost missed it. "Right now, all I know is I can't trust you. And because of that, I'd really like you to just fuck off now."

Paul felt a pang of sorrow as she spoke those words, knowing that he had lost her trust forever. Rachel refused to meet his gaze, the act from his imprint making him feel like he was being ripped in half and having salt poured on his wounds. He nodded silently, slowly standing up and offering a small, last glance as he turned away.

Kiara said nothing as she watched him walk away. There was nothing more she had left to say.

_____

A small cloud of dirt billowed behind the jeep as Kiara Black pulled up the gravel drive to Sam and Emily's cabin abode nestled among the towering pines. The engine's growl died down to a gentle purr before silence took over, save for the whispering leaves and the soft anxious breaths of Kiara as she tried to mentally hype herself up. She stepped out after a moment, Rachel's old converse on her feet crunching softly on the gravel, her heart still pounding with the remnants of her argument with Paul.

"Kiara," Sam's voice rolled out from the porch, calm and deep like the distant ocean tides. His silhouette was a familiar comfort against the warm glow of the house, but his posture was tense, shoulders rigid beneath his flannel shirt.

"Sam," she replied, forcing a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Her fingers curled involuntarily into fists at her sides; a habit when nerves got the better of her. She knew she should have called him first, asked permission to come so close to his house. She hadn't even considered how the other alpha would feel at her turning up un-announced at his family home... that she had once been a frequent visitor at.

"Rest of the pack's out running the perimeter." He descended the steps, each footfall measured and deliberate. "Heard about your spat with Paul."

The air seemed to thicken, suffused with unspoken words and the scent of pine and earth. Kiara's throat felt tight as she searched for something to say – an excuse, an explanation, anything. She knew that she had shifted first - she'd set Paul off. She'd played the victim a little when she told him to fuck off, but she knew that it was inevitable that they'd fought. She could see in Sam's eyes that he knew that too.

"Paul and I... that's not why I'm here," she eventually managed, her voice carrying a hint of her usual sarcasm even as it wavered. Her heart raced a staccato rhythm, betraying her calm exterior. Why was it so hard to just spit it out?

Sam's gaze never wavered, his eyes reflecting a mix of concern and leadership that had once made her feel protected, guided. Now, they only reminded her of the divide between them.

"Look, I'm here because..." Kiara trailed off, her resolve waning under Sam's expectant look. She exhaled slowly, feeling the weight of her new role as alpha pressing down on her. "I don't want this... animosity, to define us."

"Us," Sam echoed, pondering the word as if tasting it for the first time. When they had talked about 'us' previously, it had always meant her and the pack. Now it meant her pack and his pack. A family torn in half by his own actions. He nodded slowly, understanding dawning in his eyes. "Come on in. Let's talk."

Kiara followed him, her footsteps softer now, almost hesitant. The doorway loomed before her like a threshold to a new beginning or perhaps an end. With each step, she wrestled with the ghost of her former self, the one who had been content to follow, to be part of the pack under Sam's lead. That Kiara was gone, replaced by someone stronger, surer, someone ready to stand on equal footing.

"Talking's good," she murmured, mostly to herself. "We've done too little of it recently..."

"Let's change that," Sam said, glancing back at her with a warmth that momentarily melted the frostiness between them.

Kiara stepped across the threshold, her eyes adjusting to the cozy interior of Sam and Emily's home. The aroma of cedar wood and something sweet baking in the oven enfolded her, a stark contrast to the tension that clung to her like a second skin. It felt... it felt like she was truly coming home for a moment. Kiara couldn't help but wonder if she was the one breaking the packs apart - would Seth and Leah and Jacob just want to come back? Was it her holding them back?

"Sorry about the mess," Sam said, gesturing vaguely around the living room where a flannel shirt lay draped over the back of a chair and a stack of t-shirts teetered on the edge of the coffee table. "We haven't had much time to tidy up recently." 

She followed him to the table, taking a seat at one end while he settled at the other, creating a respectful distance between them. She could hear gentle clattering in the other room - a sign that Emily was home. 

Sam leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. His dark eyes were earnest, searching for understanding in hers. "You know this isn't easy for any of us. We're navigating uncharted waters here."

"Tell me about it," Kiara replied, allowing a wry smile to play on her lips. She picked at a loose thread on her own t-shirt, her mind racing. "I just want what's best for the pack. For both packs. Look, I didn't come here to fight. I came because..." She hesitated, collecting her thoughts. 

"Because it's time we figure out how to move forward without stepping on each other's toes every five minutes," Sam replied as she trailed off. Kiara looked back up at the other alpha, swallowing a lump in her throat and nodding with a small smile.

"Or worse," Kiara agreed.

They sat in silence for a moment, the weight of their shared history pressing down on the room. Kiara could feel the shift in the air, the subtle realignment of old alliances into something new and fragile. It would take work, patience, and a willingness to see beyond past grievances.

"I want peace. Real peace."

"And how do you suppose we get there?" he asked, his tone more curious than confrontational. Sam's eyes, dark pools reflecting years of responsibility, seemed to search her own. Weeks before, Kiara would have looked away from his intense gaze, muttering under her breath and saying it didn't matter. Now, she matched his eye contact as she sat up a little straighter.

"Renesmee," she replied, feeling the name roll off her tongue with an unexpected ease. "You need to see her, Sam. Really see her. She's just a child, not the threat we feared."

Sam's smile immediately dropped from his face. Kiara was sure the sun outside dipped behind the clouds at the suggestion, as the light in the room dulled for a moment. She continued to stare back at him, waiting for him to say anything. She knew it was a risky suggestion - hell, she knew that the Cullens and Jacob would be furious once they found out she even offered it. 

"Letting me meet her is a big step," Sam said, slowly nodding. "A gesture of trust."

"It's not about trust," Kiara murmured, her voice earnest. "It's a chance for you to realise why we couldn't let you hurt her. Yeah, she might be Jacob's imprint - which I do agree is fucking weird, but it's not like you and Emily or me and Rosalie - but I don't think I could have killed her even before he imprinted. Blood runs through her veins, Sam. She bleeds. She eats. She sleeps... she isn't like them."

"But she's not like us," Sam pointed out, and Kiara laughed a little.

"Sam, no one is like us."

The man smiled too, knowing she was right. 

"Kiara, look at you," a new voice broke out, the younger girl turning in her seat to see Emily leaning against the door. She had her arms crossed with a soft smile on her face, no anger or conflict in her eyes as she looked at the teenager. "Being an alpha suits you."

A laugh bubbled up from Kiara's chest, genuine and light, like a release valve for all the pressure she'd felt since taking on her new role.

"Thanks, Emily. I'm just making it up as I go."

"No," Sam replied, her gaze flickering to his once more. "It's more than that. It's in your blood, Kiara. You and Jacob told me that before, and I really see it now. Being an alpha has shown you what you're capable of." 

His own experience bled into his words, a shared kinship neither could deny. Kiara nodded slowly, feeling almost validated for the first time since she'd branched off from the others.

"Exactly," Kiara confirmed, a small smile tugging at her lips. The role had carved out something raw and new inside her, a space she was still learning to navigate. "I didn't mind you as my alpha, Sam. You were fair, strong, a father when I needed one, a brother that I didn't want but needed. But now..." 

She paused, her eyes focused on the grain of the wood on the table in front of her, watching as the light danced upon it. Emily moved, placing a soft hand on her shoulder as she looked across the table at Sam.

"Go on," Sam urged gently, sensing her hesitation.

"Being an alpha myself, leading my part of the pack – it's given me a sense of purpose I didn't know I was missing. I feel like... with everything that keeps happening... I can keep Rosalie safe like this. And I can't step back from that. Not even for you." Her gaze lifted, locking onto his with fierce determination.

"Kiara, I don't expect you to," Sam admitted. There was respect in his eyes – a warrior's acknowledgment of another. "We are two alphas, and our packs can thrive separately, but that doesn't mean we can't work together. We can find a balance."You know, I always thought it would be you. As soon as you phased, I hoped it would be you and not your brother... not that he needs to know that."

Kiara looked at Sam, her eyes filled with a mix of emotions. She was grateful for his understanding and acceptance, but also a little wistful. 

"If I asked you, and they wanted to, would you take them back?"

Sam's eyebrows shot up in surprise at that. He hadn't expected Kiara to turn around and try to rejoin the packs - especially not after she had just admitted that she'd never be able to step down from being an alpha. 

There was a moment of silence as they both processed Kiara's question. Sam's eyes scanned her face, trying to understand the emotions behind her words. Then, he gave a small nod.

"I would do everything in my power to bring the packs together," he finally said.

"Thank you, Sam," Kiara replied, nothing but honesty in her voice. "I miss you all, but I can't come back as a beta."

"You wouldn't have to," Sam replied. "We can still be one without you becoming a beta."

"What?" Kiara asked, confusion spreading across her face as she looked at Sam as he flickered his gaze to Emily who shot him a proud look. He smiled gently at his imprint before looking pack to Kiara with admiration in his eyes.

"Kiara... I'm saying, that if you want it, the packs... they can both be yours. We can be one again - and you can be the alpha."

____

pls no hate for paul, we all make bad choices under pressure sometimes - and kiara isn't innocent too! she tried to attack him first this time!