𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬. sam uley

𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲-𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

Now, it aches him from the inside out, hollowing him out as he thought of his small pack being no more. He never wanted to be the Alpha, but now that he is, the sense of security, the comfort of taking care of his pack, was something he had gotten used to. Running with them, howling, and having dinners. They had been through so much, Sam's and Jacob's packs alone.

He can't believe he forgot about that conversation with the council. Sam had been distracted by a lot back then, too consumed by the rage and sadness that had taken him from Leah and his friends. It had just been a fleeting, almost nonexistent thought since he had left town hall on that dreary day.

But he thinks every shifter had that talk. Saving humans and the ones they love is all they care about--all they want to protect. To go against that is to go against what the ancestors gave them.

Sam's pack give him questioning gazes when he stands in front of them in his tiny kitchen. He had asked them to meet him here with Jacob's pack, and both packs are cramped into his tiny living room with Sam overlooking them from the kitchen. Something twists in his heart, but Sage's unveiled grin pops into his head and he shoves his hesitance away. All will be well in a couple of hours, if not days.

"Why are we all here?" Paul asks scathingly, leaning up against the wall by the television.

"Because--" Sam swallows, a new wave of grief rolling over him, completely unrelated to the crushing hollowness Sage left behind. "Because I need to talk to you all about something."

And Seth's eyes sharpen because he is the only one that really knows--if he hasn't told anyone, that is.

Seth snarls, "You're not."

Sam frowns back. "Of course I am."

The packs are confused, Sam can tell, so he hurriedly explains, "There's a way to bring Sage back."

"No fucking shot," Paul snaps, eyes wide, posture tensing as though excited.

Leah perks up, too. "Seriously?"

Sam nods. Seth looks irate, shaking as though he's a moment away from shifting. He glares at Sam. Sam stares back blankly, and they share a moment before Seth glances away.

"Sam's killing Aro to do it," Seth says, spitting out the words like a sharp knife laced with poison. It makes Sam wince, the malice in Seth's otherwise cheerful voice.

Silence blankets the room, suffocating in the heat. Sam can hear someone mowing their lawn a couple yards down, the wind rustling through the open windows. It's dreary, windy and cool for a summer's day, the kind that indicates autumn swiftly following behind. Sam averts his gaze to a scuff on the island.

"You're. . . what?" Jared asks, shocked more than anything. His eyes are blown wide, long hair falling out of his braid and into his face. "But Aro's--"

"A human," Sam says. They all know it, all have seen when he rose out of the ashes like something grotesque being reborn.

It's why he's not surprised when Paul shouts, "Absolutely fucking not!"

"Are you out of your mind?" Jared asks, his usually calm demeanor wrecked with nerves and anger.

Sam bites his lip, thinks of Sage's cool hands, her fingers twitching as they carded through Sam's hair. He thinks of her laughter, her smile, and decides he has to be doing the right thing. This hollow, horrendous ache in him needs to disappear. He needs to see her again, if only to see her live without the shadows of her past chasing her.

"Maybe," he relents. Then, he hardens his resolve. "But I need her, and Aro needs to die anyway."

"While that might be true," Jacob says, looking exasperated and too old to be seventeen, "does it have to be you to kill him?"