FORKS HAD BEEN IN CHAOS FOR THE PAST FIVE DAYS. Jacob was managing the complete mess his imprint had become after the news of the attack on River. He'd needed to contact his father to make sure he was okay, that Collin and Aunt Connie were okay. His relief was tinged with anger as he'd learned of the awful things that had really been said. His father, a man who usually did not like to get involved in anything, was so disgusted that he said that he wouldn't be surprised if the Volturi requested their help, and he would give it because of exactly what had been done to that poor girl.

According to his father, the girl was a kind woman who had welcomed him into the Ball and even directed Collin towards a group of young vampires. He made Jacob promise he wouldn't tell Chrissy of exactly what had been done to River because it was horrifying. He'd seen her face from the front and had nearly thrown up from the distortion. She was on the floor, motionless with her mouth hanging open. The cracks had been nothing he'd seen before.

Jacob had been shocked when they'd gotten home and his father pulled him aside.

"That man is a danger to us, Jacob," his father expressed with a firm expression on his face. "He came for River, he will come for Chrissy too. He is on a path of revenge, son. A man like him will do anything to get what he wants."

The way he described it reminded Jacob of the stories he'd been told as a child about revenge. About what would happen if you took that path. You would die, people would die, and nothing would change. You can't change the past, only the future.

Of course, when he brought his father's feelings and firsthand accounts up with the pack, people were up in arms. Sam in particular shouted about what would happen if they went to war with the vampires and what that would do for them. His imprint Emily was actually against him, saying that if what Billy said was true, Chrissy was not safe in Forks and that she would not be leaving her behind. Their fight had been serious, with Emily deciding that if he wanted Chrissy put somewhere else, she would not let him in their house.

That wasn't what Jacob had been trying to do. So far he had quite a few people on his side. Collin, Leah, and Paul were staunchly for joining the war efforts due to the fact that at the end of the day, Chrissy was family and they needed to protect her and put an end to Andrei. Quil was on the fence, knowing that his imprint was only a child and he wanted to be there for her since her father had left her before she was born and he felt it was his job to be her father now. The only people who were truly against going to war were Sam and Brady, who never wanted anything to do with vampires in the first place.

Jacob had hated vampires for a long time. With the introduction of Chrissy into his life and knowing what she went through at the hands of one, that hadn't changed. What had changed was that Chrissy still loved River platonically. She cared deeply about what happened to her and was now in their bed, refusing to leave because she wasn't there to protect her. Chrissy, despite her barbs and her comments and everything, loved people forever in some way or another. For River, that bond that they shared wasn't going away, even if they were thousands of miles apart. He understood that and as her bond mate he was desperate to make her feel better and get rid of the evil that kept her up at night.

He couldn't accept that Sam didn't see that. It wasn't even about the vampires.

It had never been about the vampires.

That man was evil, end of. If he were human Jacob would be going about this the same way. He'd aid in any police investigation, do anything to protect her.

Leah felt the same way and she hated the vampires a lot more than Jacob did. It was the Cullen Coven who had a connection in her father's death, who made her little brother turn so early and be forced to be young forever. She was even sharper than Chrissy, stubborn to the core, and she would kill anything to keep her imprint safe. She had become Jacob's best friend, the one person who really understood what their situation was like.

Chrissy had been broken by that man twice before and it seems like he could break her a third time.

"I don't give a fuck what Sam says," Leah snaps into the phone as she taps her foot on the ground, "Emily is allowed over here but he is not. It's bad enough that he threatened to hand her over, but he's being a bitch about Emily separating from him over his comments. I did not make her leave him. Quil, you can stay the fuck over there but don't expect any help from us when that fucker tries to kill your imprint. Oh, yeah, I'm going there. DO YOU THINK HE'S GOING TO LEAVE ANY OF US ALONE, QUIL? HUH? DO YOU THINK HE'S STOPPING AT ONE OF US? HE'S NOT."

Jacob was glad she wasn't mad at him. She hadn't been mad at him in months. Leah was mellowing down before all of this. Being all lovey dovey with Chrissy and finally enjoying her life as a Shifter instead of being in denial over what happened. Now everything they'd worked on was going down the drain. He supposed their lives were just that way, fragile and easily influenced.

Leah was a lot more sensitive than she liked to make herself out to be, after all.

Between grief and the bond, Jacob wasn't surprised by anything she said anymore.

"I do not want to meet up with Sam." Jacob hadn't realized that Leah had gotten off the phone and entered their room. "He's never been this bad before but he's always been such a dick. We need a new pack."

That had been one of the many things they'd been talking about. Pack divides were not exactly common, but Jacob was technically supposed to be the pack leader and had rejected that for so long because the thought of managing his studies, Bella, and a pack was unbearable. Now he was graduated and Bella was not an issue. Now there was just a war that had to be fought.

He'd been alive for only so long, but he had a history class and he had his father's stories. War was not good. It hurt people who didn't deserve it, who didn't start it. Jacob could rationalize that neither Chrissy nor River started any of this. It was the selfish acts of pure evil from a man such as Andrei who did and it was them who ultimately paid the price.

"We do," Jacob agreed, "and we have to fight this for her. Vampire powers don't work as well on us, we are clear assets here."

He wished they weren't, but what he wished didn't actually matter. His resolve weakened whenever he thought of how he met her. She'd been kidnapped for a second time from a place that was supposed to be safe for her. Even if they were keeping her captive, Chrissy admitted that she was not making things easy for them.

The whole thing was fucked.

Fucked.

"I hate them," Leah admitted as she sat down next to him, "yet we can't do it alone and neither can they. I don't know how many vampires there are around the world, but if the Volturi can bring them together, fuck, good for them."

"River didn't even ask to be a vampire," Jacob quietly reminded her, "some woman attacked her while Chrissy was in the room. The Volturi had done what they could but she'd already been bitten and it was too far along."

She'd been a victim of this whole thing to, Jacob had to remind himself. He did not like vampires, but he wondered how many of them had been made against their will. Bella seemed to be the only one who was desperate to become one. He wondered what she'd been doing before realizing that she and Edward would likely ignore all of this because she hated River for some fucking reason. He'd never met the woman but God, Chrissy cared about everything happening in her life, so he did too.

"She doesn't eat good people," Jacob said with a joking tone, "only the bad."

Leah gave a hum of understanding. If they had to eat people, wasn't it better that they be the worst of the worst?

"If we make this new pack, I want to be your right hand. I don't want any more comments about me being a woman to be tolerated," Leah suddenly insisted. "We have to be the better pack. Seth is sick of them and he's already willing to join you. Collin hates being picked on by the big guys and I hate that Quil's ideas get shut down in favor of Brady's. You have the bloodline, an imprint that people like, and your father is well-liked."

He'd wondered a few times if it would have been better for Leah to be second-in-command. She had the build, the stamina, and the ideas that had kept them safe from Victoria's attacks. Which the Volturi had helped with, but beyond that, most of it was Seth and Leah. They were willing to do what it took to keep them safe, always had. It was horrible that Sam's pack did not see that and just saw her as a nag who questioned them at every turn. She wasn't submissive, she didn't enjoy being told what to do when she knew her idea would have been accepted had it come from another person.

It was a shame that before Chrissy he hadn't seen her for her full potential. Jacob was willing to make it up to her.

Give her what she deserves.

"Enough of them are willing to engage, but some of us shouldn't," Jacob admitted as he shook his head, "Seth and Collin are too young to handle all of this. We can't be worried about sheltering them from the reality of war when we're fighting. They shouldn't be fighting this in the first place. This is for adults, plain and simple."

"They aren't going to like that, Jake."

"Wouldn't you feel better if Seth wasn't on the front lines? It doesn't mean they can't be on guard. He can watch over Chrissy with Collin if he wants." Jacob didn't even want them to be doing that job, but he knew that they wouldn't listen even if he was their pack leader. "I'm not going to be the one who tells your mom that her little boy wants to go off to war. She's already grieving your father, she can't lose her 15 year old son."

There had to be rules around this. Jacob wouldn't allow anyone who wasn't capable of making that decision leave just because they're a good fighter.

"Nobody who hasn't graduated," Jacob insisted. "No sacrificing education or their life. If they're mad, I don't care. It narrows it down so the reservation is still guarded with those who stay. If Sam wants he can stay too, I don't give a fuck, but he can't claim I'm getting us all killed."

Jacob wouldn't have that pain on his shoulders. Not ever.