Harry Clearwater's funeral had been beautiful.

The service had been held outside, on the bank near the forest on the Clearwater property. It had been a place that Harry had once loved, with people that had loved him.

Alex didn't think it could have gone better—despite not knowing the man for long, even she shed a tear or two at the beautiful speeches from Sue, Seth, Billy and Charlie. Leah hadn't spoken, which Alex also understood. People dealt in different ways.

It was in the service afterwards that Alex found herself seated beside her brother. Jordan had come to the funeral for support of Alex and the pack, he had become fast friends with the majority of the wolves. Alex didn't realise how much that support meant to her until he sat beside her.

A lot had happened in between the time of Harry's death and the funeral. Bella Swan had pretty much rejected Jacob and gone to retrieve Edward Cullen from near death. Along with his return, came the return of the rest of his family. The Cullen's were back in town and that meant the pack had less work to do—they only had to protect their forest from Victoria now, the Cullen's had taken their side back.

Victoria hadn't shown her face since the day that Harry died. Alex had no doubt that she would come back though, but at least the Cullen's were back to hopefully take the brunt of it all. They started it, and that meant they should be the ones to finish it.

"Thanks for coming today," Alex said to her twin. The pair were seated together on the outskirts of the gathering, a lot of the pack were mingling and comforting the Clearwater's. Alex didn't think that was entirely her place—she didn't know Harry or his family that well. She was happy to just be there for Paul, and sit with her brother.

"I'm always here when you need me, Lexi," Jordan's eyes weren't on the girl as he spoke, but rather focused on the wolves in the middle. Specifically on Embry. Alex watched as his eyes roamed over him, not in a materialistic way but as if he was making sure he was okay. Alex figured he didn't even know he was doing it, but it made her smile nonetheless.

Alex chewed on her bottom lip as she watched Jordan now. There was no way she could let him go back to Ohio—not with how unhappy it had made him. Ever since he had told Alex everything, she had noticed Jordan was back to his usual self. She wouldn't let him lose that again.

It didn't matter whether she had to find another football scholarship for her brother, or whether she had to lie her ass off—Alex would do it. She would do anything for Jordan.

"You can't go back to Ohio," Alex's voice was low as she spoke. Even the slightest whisper got Jordan's attention however, as he turned back to his twin sister.

Jordan seemed to contemplate her words for a second. There was a silence between them.

Before Alex got ready to speak again to fill the void, Jordan grabbed one of her hands in his. "I love football, Lexi—like it's the one thing in the world I truly enjoy. The place is awful, the people are awful, but if I get to play football in a prestigious school then maybe it's worth it?"

"You can play football anywhere," Alex answered back quickly. Her hand squeezed Jordan's. "I'll help you apply to other scholarships, I'll get in touch with scouts and trainers, an—"

"Okay," Jordan was smiling down at his shorter sister now. A grin beamed off his face at her words, at the persistence of them. "I get it. You'll do anything."

"Anything," Alex reiterated to stress the importance. She truly did mean it, and she needed Jordan to know that.

Jordan squeezed Alex's hand that was in his. "Thank you, hermana. It means a lot. If we can find another team or club that'll take me, I'll move. But for now I stay here, alright?"

Alex knew that this wasn't an easy decision for her twin to make—not only because he loves football, but because of the pressure their parents had placed. It was unknowingly in their defense, but like Jordan had said they were very proud of him making this team and they always said so. They would be slightly disappointed, Jordan knew that, but he was putting himself first. Putting his happiness first. Someone as selfless as Jordan didn't do that very often.

Alex moved under her brother's arm so that she could hug his torso. Her arms wound around his muscly abdomen and squeezed—tight. Because this meant a lot to her, she needed him to know that.

And the pair sat like that—together, and happy that for once it seemed like things were going right.

---

In trying to locate Paul to tell him that she and Jordan were about to leave, Alex had run straight into Bella Swan.

As in the pair bumped shoulders—well Alex's shoulder bumped Bella's chest. She was a lot shorter than the girl.

"I'm so sorry," Alex spoke as they collided. The brunette had been so focused on finding Paul that she wasn't really looking where she was going. Alex tried to blame it on the imprint bond, but really it was just her eagerness to see her boyfriend.

"It's okay," Bella waved off Alex's apology quickly.

Alex realised that was the first conversation the pair had actually had. Despite going to Forks High together for a small amount of time, Alex hadn't ever tried to talk to Bella when she was the new girl. Well, back then the brunette would probably have never talked to anyone but Jordan if she could. So much had changed since then.

"Hey," Bella was the first once to fill the silence between the two. She looked slightly uncomfortable, Alex presumed she looked the same. Two rather shy people together was always hard when they didn't know each other. "I should apologise for punching your boyfriend. That wasn't my smartest move."

"Punching Paul or punching a werewolf?" Alex said with a smile, which Bella laughed slightly at. "Seriously, don't worry about it. He probably deserved it."

Alex spotted Paul from over Bella's shoulder, and he gave the brunette a confused glance at seeing her talking with the Swan girl. She wondered whether other people were looking at the pair the same way.

"I'm sure I'll see you around, Bella," Alex smiled at the girl genuinely now. She didn't have a thing against her, except maybe how she had been stringing Jacob along. Alex was sure Bella was nice, and that they no doubt would have more conversations in the future. "Tell your dad that I'm sorry for his loss—I know he was close to Harry."

The girls said goodbye and kept their conversation short. That was probably safe for Alex, it gave her less time to say something stupid and regret it for the next week.

"I should have taken a picture of that," Paul said as soon as Alex came up to him. His hands easily grazed over her hips. "Because you two are the weirdest pair for me to see talking."

"I wasn't that weird," Alex denied, and ignored the look of knowing that Paul gave her. Her hand came to push his chest away from her, although the push didn't even make the strong wolf budge.

"J and I are leaving," Alex said what she had found Paul for. "Just thought I would let you know."

The service had been beautiful, but it was definitely time for the twins to leave. The guests were becoming scarce and Alex didn't want to crash the wolves deep talks about the man that meant a lot to them. It was time to leave them to themselves, to grieve.

"You want me to come with?" Paul asked easily, and Alex knew that he would ditch this place in a second if she asked. But she didn't want that, not now when his brothers needed him more.

Alex shook her head adamantly. "You stay here, with the pack. We'll be fine—the walk is what? Five minutes tops."

Paul seemed reluctant, but with a quick glance over to where Sam and Jared were in a deep conversation with Sue Clearwater, Paul knew this was where he needed to be. The boy leant down slightly to leave a light kiss on Alex's lips. "Okay. Stay safe."

"Always do," Alex commented before she ran off back to Jordan.

She was eager to leave and start their search for a new football team that needed players, getting her twin brother away from the people that had hurt him.

With a few goodbyes to her friends, Alex and Jordan were out the door.

---

"Honestly, telling Mom and Dad is going to be the worst part."

"They won't care as long as you're happy."

Jordan seemed to look at Alex now with a look that said he knew she was lying, which she wasn't entirely doing. Maybe stretching the truth slightly would be a better term. Their parents wouldn't be mad, maybe slightly disappointed but other than that they would be fine. Since Jordan didn't want to tell them about the bullying, they just had to simply say he wanted to quit.

Alex knew they would have liked to know about the bullying, but this was Jordan's life. It wasn't her place to tell him what to do.

"Okay, they might be a little disappointed. But it'll be—"

The pair both squinted their eyes at the same time, trying to catch a better glance at the woman that stood on their porch. Both of the twins came to a pause as she began to approach them.

Alex's stomach dropped. Her fiery orange hair stood out like a sore thumb. If it was who she thought she was, then the brunette had no clue what to do.

As if confirming exactly what Alex had been asking herself, the girl sped over to stand right in front of the twins in a matter of a second. Alex let out a shaky breath at how close she stood, a sickening smirk on her face.

Victoria. Only a vampire could move that fast.

Jordan's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head. Alex had to ignore the looks he was giving her—she had to come up with a plan and it had to be quick.

"I have been watching you two for a while," Her voice was sweet, way too sweet for someone who had killed people so easily. Someone who wanted Bella dead, who had killed Harry Clearwater. "I can see you both mean a lot to those dogs."

"What the hell are you—"

Jordan's assertion of speech came to an end rather quickly when Victoria reached over and grabbed him by the neck. As quickly as she could the girl moved a few meters back from Alex, with Jordan's neck exposed to her mouth. The smirk she had on her face said all she needed to.

"Please, let him go," Alex's voice pleaded. Her words came out shakily as she tried to breathe. She didn't think she could though, not when Jordan was in the hands of a killer—her twin brother, her best friend, the other half of her.

"Your wolf friends killed Laurent," Victoria spoke bitterly. Her hands tightened on Jordan visibly when the boy tried to move, Alex's teeth clenched as she watched her brother wince in pain. "And Edward Cullen killed my James. This is a message for them both. You have to warn them that I'm coming, Alex."

Before Alex could even beg the girl to let go of her brother, Victoria had her teeth plunged into the side of Jordan's neck. It was quick, the draining and bite. Only a few seconds.

Those few seconds were spent with Alex's body running as fast as it could towards the two. She didn't care that she was a vampire, that she could kill Alex in the blink of an eye. All that mattered was Jordan, that he was safe.

As fast as the red head had come, she left. Leaving a screaming Jordan on the dirt covered ground in front of the Santiago household.

Alex finally got to Jordan and grabbed the boy's head, placing it in her lap. She couldn't stop the sobs that escaped her throat as his screams died down, his eyes clamped shut.

And all Alex could do then was scream.

---

oops. sorry not sorry hehehehe.

only the epilogue left of this story!!!!