Marshall was lying down in a field of long grass dotted with wild tulips. There was a calm breeze smelling of baked pie which came from a nearby stone cottage. A half hidden sun enveloped the world in a warm embrace composed of radiant golden light. The sky was a mix of pink, orange, and purple. Occasional clouds passed by in random forms, appearing fluffy enough to actually hold someone and lull them into a peaceful trance.

With arms pillowed behind his head, Marshall jolted as he felt a tug on his shirt. When looking down, he caught sight of a pale, bloody, dirty hand growing out of the earth itself. Gangly fingers clutched at his abdomen, attempting to hold him down. Moving to release its grip caused more limbs to sprout from beneath him. They took hold of his arms and legs. As he thrashed, more hands came alive.

Disembodied voices called out to him, screeching his name. Each one sounded like...a member of his old coven.

They were begging, pleading for him. Words were spoken so frantically, it was impossible to make out full sentences.

Every time a voice spoke, he was pulled in the same direction.

Another hand burst out of the ground, grabbing him by the face.

Marshall used all of his strength to pull one of his arms free.

*

He only woke up when his body darted upward into a seated position. Short, frantic breaths tore through his tense body. Strands of longer hair pooled around his eyes, shielding part of his vision. Out of instinct, both hands fumbled with the sheets, wordlessly searching.

The object of their desire appeared in the doorway, a frown marring handsome features. "I was about to come wake you, but I heard you panicking a bit in your sleep, Honey Bun. Everything okay?"

Marshall let out a trembling breath. "I...I'm fine. Just had a- a stupid nightmare."

At least, that's what he wanted to convince himself.

After leaving the Cullen coven, Marshall wasn't plagued by bad dreams or night terrors as often as he was before. Cutting unnecessary stress out of his life gave him an opportunity to rest in a healthier way. If he did have nightmares, they were pretty tame in comparison to his old ones which usually focused on his death, his transformation, or losing someone of importance. Nowadays, his negative dreams composed of more human interactions, like falling from a building in slow motion, having his teeth fall out, or being chased by a disgusting monster straight out of a horror movie.

He hadn't experienced something so frightening, so real, in a while.

A small voice in his head told him his strange dream was a sign. A warning. Unconscious intuition coming to play to prepare him for...something he couldn't grasp right now.

Marshall was hardly ever one to ignore gut instincts.

A sense of foreboding clung to him as he got out of bed. Trying to hide nervous jitters by putting forth a brave face was deemed unsuccessful when strong arms pulled him into a tight hug. Warm fingers brought gentle tingles to Marshall's head and waist. Both areas were cradled like delicate gems. Soothing caresses helped to bring immediate relief by physically placing him in a safe space.

One where demons of the past couldn't sink their claws into a fragile soul damaged by familial betrayal.

"Are you gonna be okay to keep our plans for the day?" Paul asked with a certain inflection, giving the option to cancel at a moment's notice.

"I'm fine, Tiger. Really. I think it'd do me better to get out of the house and run all this adrenaline off. Besides, you know I'll never say no to spending time with you."

Paul nodded in understanding. He offered one more kiss to the forehead before allowing their bodies to part. A routine handhold kept them partially tethered together, however, for the simple pleasure of feeling the other person's touch.

Paul continued on into the kitchen to finish prepping a few items for himself.

Marshall took the opportunity to procure his footwear. They were slid on in a lazy manner, fabric bunching beneath his heels. Plastic nubs smacking against rubber followed him outside where he settled down on the last step of three wooden ones. Black waves were pushed back to reveal his forehead, making it easier to actually focus on his task of tying the laces of a brand new pair of purple high-top Chuck Ts.

A scent similar to his own erupted in Marshall's nose. The owner's footsteps were careful and cautious while skulking across the porch, purposely trying to remain silent to not inform of a certain person's arrival. Delicate jangling from a belt chain gave away more of their presence, but the sound was quickly halted after the accessory was grabbed.

Marshall rolled his eyes, smiling. 

His body shivered when soft arms glided across his midsection. Skin to skin contact was made because of his crop top's short length. Slightly smaller hands clasped together over his stomach. A light weight settled along his back with brunet curls hanging over his shoulder.

"Boo."

"Ah. You got me. My heart- it can't take the fear. Ahh..." Marshall slumped forward with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

A light snort escaped Brad. "I think you've been away from the theater for too long, cabrón. That was terrible."

"Fuck you, my acting is immaculate, pendejo."

"Sure, sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night."

Marshall wrapped his fingers around his friend's wrist. "Those are some mighty confrontational fighting words. You trying to start something?"

"And if I am? What're you gonna do about it-"

Brad squealed as he was flipped onto his back. His legs were straddled to prevent him from kicking or escaping. Both arms were deemed useless when they were pinned above his head by a single hand. 

Marshall gave a sadistic chuckle before allowing the other one to attack. 

Brad tried to squirm free. "Ah- stop, stop! I'm- ay dios- I'm ticklish!"

"Oh, I know. And I also know exactly where all your weak spots are. Your body might be different, but I still have enough strength to wear you down like I used to."

"No- not there!" He attempted to bend to shield his highly sensitive tummy. "Hahaha- you're so cruel!"

Marshall let out a convincing evil laugh, a maniacal grin coming to life and enhancing a crazed look in his eye. "Is my acting still bad?"

"Ay, ay- it's shit! You hear me? Shit- ahh!"

"Then I'll have to take imperative measures."

"Don't you dare, you heathen-"

"You asked for this."

Marshall released his hold, only to use both hands to tickle Brad's sides.

He pushed his arms out to try and separate their bodies, but Marshall put up as much resistance as possible to keep from doing so.

A camera shutter caught their attention. Bright smiles and scrunched eyes were pointed toward the house's entryway.

Paul stood on the porch with his phone held up. "I left you guys alone for five minutes."

"Yes. As someone who shares our one and a half braincells, though, you know that's all it takes for us to assume the role of Moron Number One and Moron Number Two."

Marshall gave one last soft poke before relenting. Standing to his full height, he grabbed Brad's outstretched hand to help him do the same. They worked together to clear his clothes of stray grass pieces and bundles of fluff from fragile lawn weeds. Flimsy stems were also picked out of messy curls further disarranged by fast ruffles.

Paul walked down the steps, pulling his housemates in for a quick, tight hug. Then, he handed over a small leather bag full of clothes. His phone was also surrendered for safekeeping since he wouldn't be able to hold it in a moment.

Backs were turned to give him a chance to phase in private. 

Marshall swayed in his spot, happily. "I'm really excited for the three of us to have another perimeter run together. It's always too quiet when doing it alone. Maybe we can stop by the beach once everything is clear. And then, when we get back, I can finally show you guys how to make those Korean recipes I told you about! Japchae, Dakgangjeong, and Mandu should be simple enough to make. You're really gonna love the taste, Tiger."

'...You're so cute when you're happy. Would be even cuter if you blushed again.'

"Yeah, I'm sure you'd think that."

Brad looked at his friend, eyebrows pinching in confusion.

'What? Honey- you can hear me?'

"Of course I can, why wouldn't I-"

Marshall turned around, coming face to face with Paul.

Who was already done shifting.

Scarlet eyes nearly popped out of their sockets after widening so much. "Say something else."

'Uh...hi?'

"...Well, okay then." He scratched at his head in disbelief. "I can hear your thoughts in wolf form. This is a thing now. Awesome. That was totally on my bingo card for stuff I thought would happen today."

While wholeheartedly unexpected, Marshall pieced together this newfound development was probably another effect of drinking Paul's blood. Feeding daily meant it was constantly in the vampire's system. He was already capable of blushing again—who was to say greater changes couldn't happen with more consumption?

This was definitely a useful ability to have because now they could actually communicate without having to rely on gestures alone.

'I wonder if you'd be able to hear the others through me too.'

"Only way to find out is to try."

A gentle rumble accompanied a quick shake of the head, ruffling silver toned fur. 'From someone who's gone through this before, I'm warning you now that all the new feedback can be a bit much to handle at first. Making yourself available to take everything in might even hurt. If it gets to be too unpleasant, let me know, and I'll close myself off right away.'

"I'll keep that in mind, Tiger."

Paul closed his eyes to focus on mentally opening up to extra communication.

Marshall could feel a sort of wall coming down in his own head. The image of a reservoir opening its floodgates came to mind. Tiny particles of mist swarmed through. After a few seconds, they became weak spurts which progressed into a steady stream.

A warm, hazy sensation settled behind his temples. His ears twitched in preparation for new stimuli to attack him.

Blissful silence was interrupted by a horde of familiar voices tumbling in all at the same time.

'Once we're finished with this zone, we'll head on over to-'

'Done over here. Let's see if we can meet up with-'

'Area's all clear. Maybe we can take a small break before-'

'The other group should be starting soon. I want to see if we can-'

Having so many conversations ricochet throughout his brain was difficult to comprehend. Certain people who spoke with more energy were louder than others. A few pack members spoke faster to get in a quick remark to whoever they were partnered up with. Bouts of laughter assaulted him when sounds of roughhousing could be picked up as well. Hyperactive cheering picked up in volume to make playfighting more entertaining.

Noises couldn't be silenced or amplified. Nor could certain individuals be filtered out without cutting connection to every separate consciousness joined at a single source.

Marshall smacked his hands against his skull, overwhelmed.

Brad was quick to pull his friend in, permitting his shoulder to be used as a place of recovery.

Paul whined, ears pressing down in worry. 'Guys, shut up for a second, please.'

'Oh, hey, man!'

'Hi, Paul!'

'What's up, dude?'

'Is something wro-'

'I'm being for real. Stop talking. This is serious.'

All of the voices did as told, giving Marshall some time to get accustomed to what was happening. "Sorry, Tiger."

'There's nothing to be sorry about, honey,' Paul answered with a reassuring tone. 'I know this is really random, but we just found out Marsh can hear me when I'm in wolf form. He can hear you guys too by listening in. Because of that, he's...not doing too hot right now.'

Sam's gruff yet equally softened voice answered, ' Oh, jeez- sorry. If that's the case, though, we'll be slow in easing him in. Can he speak to us like this too?'

Marshall doubted it.

Being able to hear Paul happened because of his supernatural blood actually getting absorbed into the vampire's body. Even though ingesting minor traces of venom from specific places was possible because of staggeringly different levels of potency, it wasn't like Paul's biological makeup was the same. His necessities for survival didn't warrant a need to feed off of his husband's bodily fluid in place of a meal. 

Their trade off was one sided; so even though listening to Paul was now a reality, responding to him in mind most likely wasn't.

Marshall watched his husband's reaction to see if he'd heard his nonverbal conclusion.

A tilt of the head proved the formulated hypothesis to be correct.

'No, he can't. But that's fine. As long as he can hear you guys, he can talk through me.'

'Mm, noted. I'm assuming you guys are about to head out. When you're finished with your run, let's meet up at my house to discuss this further.'

'Sure thing, boss.'

Voices continued speaking to one another, but they were now mere whispers out of courtesy for their vampire.

Marshall sighed in relief.

'Are you sure you're good to run, my love?'

"Yeah. Just give me a minute to-"

A distressed howl rang through the air. It was distant, but the sound was loud enough to frighten several animals. A few species of birds took flight in large masses out of fear of meeting the source of said noise.

"That's Jake," Brad noted. "Something must be wrong. C'mon- let's go see what's up."

*

Jacob's memories played out like fragmented scenes from a blurry movie.

They were of several members of the Cullen family standing around a clearly emaciated Bella. Her eyes and cheeks were sunken in. Any visible bones, like her clavicle, fingers, and wrists, protruded against her skin in a way that couldn't be healthy. Her lips were dry, nearly cracking since the ability to wet them was taken by fierce dehydration.

She stood up from the couch in a well-known family room. Doing so caused a blanket to fall from her lap, revealing a swollen, bruised stomach. When focusing hard enough, onlookers could see something was actually moving inside of the dome-shaped mass.

Flashes of Bella's worn down figure were then accompanied by frenzied declarations:

"I can do this, Jake-"

"You'll die before you can even-"

"If I have to fight until my dying breath for them to live, I will-"

"The fetus isn't compatible with her body. We can't monitor it or stop its growth without hurting Bella-"

"Jake, please, stay-"

"I know how this ends for you-"

"Don't you even care that it's killing her!"

*

The entirety of the Uley pack members all arrived at a secluded lakeside area. Everyone questioned Jacob, asking if what he showed them was true. If there was any possibility of him knowing any further details. Because, as surprising as Bella's pregnancy was, it was just as dangerous to not know what her condition fully entailed. Deciding to keep the unborn child left a lot of gray space where no one had any answers.

Only a handful of statements were given as factual: the fetus was fast-growing; it was capable of harming Bella to the point of forcing her to die a slow and painful death; and if the child, a hybrid, was able to kill its mother while still in utero, who's to say what it could do once it was finally born.

There were too many uncertainties for anyone to tread carefully.

And while Marshall disagreed with intervening on a woman's birth rights, he knew his tethers to the pack put him in a tight spot.

He knew, just as well as anyone, for the sake of making sure innocent lives weren't lost by the hands of a bloodthirsty, uncontrollable child, they were going to have to kill it.

Which meant they were going to have to kill Bella first.

'We can't kill Bella! She's human- we're supposed to protect humans!'

'It's not like it matters! Either we kill her, or the fetus will! May as well deal with the problem before it gets worse-'

Jacob tackled Leah in retaliation for her controversial words. 

Marshall grabbed Brad's arm to keep him from possibly running forward to aid her. Not because he didn't care about her possibly getting injured, but because he knew anyone else trying to intervene in such a tense situation would be met with nothing except blinding hostility.

Brad's safety was more important than breaking up a squabble between members.

Marshall was caught off guard, however, when a similar gesture was done to him simultaneously.

Brad understood his friend well enough to know he'd step in to protect his pack mates himself if it meant ensuring no one else got involved.

'Enough!' Sam ordered, climbing down from his elevated perch. 'We have actual enemies to deal with tonight! And you. Will. Fight with us, Jake.'

The alpha's tone dropped, giving off a wave of intimidating superiority.

Marshall attempted to ignore a festering cloudiness building up in his head when hearing Paul whimper beside him.

Unfortunately, Sam used his status as supreme leader to cause his members slight pain in the name of keeping them compliant.

Since Marshall was still connected to his husband's consciousness, he was bombarded by all of their mental anguish as well.

Steady hands braced against his shoulders, lessening the harsh impact of his knees hitting the ground. Marshall proceeded to double over, burying his head in his hands in an attempt to stave off what could only be described as a series of sharp nails jabbing into his skull. He caught wind of Jake's desertion of their pack, yet feelings of heartbreak were temporarily cast aside to aim on calming down.

"Block them out," Brad demanded.

Marshall acquiesced by putting up mental walls the way he did to keep Edward from reading his mind in the past.

And just like that, his pain stopped.

By the time Marshall was able to gather himself, everyone else had already cleared out, Paul was redressed in his regular form, and both he and Brad were giving their own forms of comfort by offering tender back rubs.

Marshall panicked when realizing they'd been left behind.

"Fuck- I didn't mean to waste time. I'm sorry-"

"No, baby, I'm sorry," Paul cut in, misplaced guilt washing over him. "I didn't think something like that would transfer to you too- I should've never asked you to connect with the others. Please, take whatever time you need to rest. Sam told us not to step in until you're ready. He already went ahead with the others to set everything in motion. I'll fill you in on what the plan is later. For now, you should-"

"Brad!"

Leah appeared from behind one of numerous giant log piles surrounding them. She ran forward with haste. Her eyes were wide, and her skin was red from exertion.

Both vampires could hear her racing heart.

Brad walked forward, arms circling around her waist. "What is it? Did something happen-"

"There's no time! Seth went to join Jake in protecting the Cullens! I can't make sure you're safe if we're not together, so I'm bringing you with me to-"

"What? No."

"W- what do you mean, 'no'?" Leah asked, pulling back to see her imprint's face clearly. "We don't have time to play games. Hurry up, we need to go before Sam-"

"I'm not playing games, Leah. I'm staying where I'm needed, and that's here. With Marsh and Paul."

To show he was being serious, Brad took several steps back toward his friends. He stood in front of them with fists clenched at his sides and his head held high. It was a pose which presented him with an air of confidence, along with a great stability in terms of his unwavering determination.

Brad positioned himself with his back facing his housemates, a sign of utmost trust, while facing Leah head on, a sign of wariness toward someone who could soon be a threat.

"I can understand why you're doing this, but you need to understand why I won't," he announced, arms crossing over his chest. "Wanting to be there for your brother is one thing. Asking me to go with you- expecting me to protect the people who made Marsh's life Hell is something else. I don't care about who's right and who's wrong when it comes to this whole vampire-hybrid-baby issue. I'm concerned about being there for people who actually deserve it. I'm not about to stab my best friend in the back just because you want to keep me close. I'm sorry, but it's not happening."

"Brad, I-" Leah's hands raked through her hair. "Don't put me in a position where I have to choose."

"I'm not putting you in a position to do anything. I don't need you to protect me. I can do that on my own. Plus, it's not like I'm by myself if something actually happens."

"Please- you don't understand. I can't just abandon my brother."

"I'm not asking you to. But you need to understand that I can't abandon Marshall."

"It's not the same-"

Leah slammed her hand over her mouth.

Their newfound attachment was still fresh. While only donning the label of friends, both people were well aware of time inevitably pushing them to become more. Each prior interaction with each other showed their willingness to have a platonic relationship turn romantic at some point. Along with their ability to let hidden walls down, however, came a slight reluctance to move forward too quickly.

Her reaction was a big indicator as to why.

Brad could only stare in disbelief.

Within seconds, though, his expression morphed from completely baffled to utterly disappointed. 

"...If you don't want to make a choice, fine. I'll make it for you." He expanded the distance between them, golden eyes filling with animosity. "Go."

"You..."

Leah's shoulders dropped. A freezing icepick jabbed itself into her heart.

She couldn't fathom what she was hearing.

Her imprint was...rejecting her..?

"So- what, you're casting me aside? Like Sam did?"

Brad clenched his jaw. "Leah, I'm not casting you aside. I gave you my terms. For us to ever have a chance at being together, I told you what I expected out of you. You've known for a long time now where my loyalties are. And how that's never going to change. Don't try to paint me as the bad guy or someone out to hurt you just because I refuse to go against my values and morals for the sake of making you happy. I've already had someone try to tell me who I can and can't be. I'm not about to give you the opportunity to even try."

"Brad-"

"I can't control your actions, Leah. If you need to leave to protect Seth, then go. I'm not faulting you for putting family first. It just would've been nice to get the same respect back."

"This is insane!" Leah took a confrontational step forward. Her body shook as sadness melted into anger. "My bond with my brother isn't like your bond with Marsh-"

"And it's exactly that mindset which proves to me that we're not compatible!"

Brad didn't mean to yell. He really didn't. But he wasn't being heard by the person who needed to listen.

Refusing Leah's pleas hurt him. Legitimately.

Having her not take his relationship seriously was a hundred times more painful.

"...I wanted to give you a chance. To really open myself up to you. But you've just proven why I can't and probably never will. If you can't get it through your head how much Marsh means to me, then I don't see a point in trying to explain it to you again."

"Brad, it- it doesn't need to come down to all that. Just-" Leah huffed in desperation. "I take it back. Let me fix this. Tell me what you want me to do-"

"I want you to leave, Leah. Understand that I'm not asking you to choose between me and your family. But until you're able to make up your mind about the things you want out of life, I don't want you to come near me again. Now, go."

Leah's strong emotions snatched away her ability to think clearly. 

She was angry at Brad for not bending to her will. She was angry at Marshall for getting in the way of her bond with her soulmate. She was angry at herself for not being able to accept a condition that, although serious, wasn't an actual threat to a wonderful future with her imprint.

She was just enraged at everything.

Shifting back into her wolf form, Leah growled at her old pack mates and ran off in the direction of the Cullen household.

Brad didn't bother to watch her go.