Prologue

The forest was silent; the only noise being that of the werewolves guarding the perimeters of their territory and the hunting vampires towards the center. A thick layer of dirt and dust lingered in the air, left over from the last battle that had been fought between the two clans. This battle had been worse than any of the others, losses being suffered on both sides. Jasper Cullen, Edward's 'older brother' being killed by Sam Ulley, the alpha male of Jacob's former pack. Seth Clearwater, the only wolf that Jacob agreed to stay in contact with had been injured while defending his sister. Jacob looked down to the forest floor below, looking for any sign of Seth to fill him and his mate, Edward, on what was happening in the war. He usually came right after dawn, but he was running late and this made the werewolf begin to worry about the health of the younger male. The stress of the feud and being unable to do anything tore him apart. The anxiety made him begin pacing around the small treehouse that he shared with his vampire mate, Edward.

"Jacob, honey, you need to relax. All that pacing isn't good for you or the babies, and you know that." Edward warned, giving his nervous and heavily pregnant a stern look, telling him that he was serious. He didn't mean to be so short with his mate, but he was not only worried about both of their families dwindling in numbers each day, but he was also very concerned about the stress that it was causing Jacob in his delicate condition.

Jacob didn't blame Edward for his concern, he knew very well that his mate was going through just as much as he was. The only difference however, was that Edward was not the one carrying a litter of vampire/werewolf babies. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he had done a lot for Edward in the time that they had been together. He went through morning sickness, hormones, cravings, and the worst part of the whole pregnancy, in his opinion, the weight gain. His stomach protruded far, almost a foot and a half in front of him, when he was in his human form and he had gained a total 92 pounds throughout the whole of the pregnancy. Now he only hoped that he would go into labor soon, so he could welcome their children into the world and be done with everything until they decided whether or not they were going to try to have more kids in the future. But, he felt that that was a bridge that they would cross when they came to it.

"Edward… You know that Seth is all I have left in my pack… He's the only one I can trust to relay information back and forth between me and Sam, when necessary. So, if anything happens to him, I'll always blame myself and I'll never be able to forgive myself if he gets himself killed in all of this." The stressed wolf growled out, shifting to his human form in order to be at eye level with his beloved. He leaned his head against Edward's cold chest, now used to not feeling it rise or fall since he knew well enough the vampires didn't need to breathe to live. He wanted to cry, he wanted to scream, he wanted for it all to end. He began crying into Edward's chest, his mate responding by running a hand through his hair and around his stretched stomach.

"Seth will be fine. He's a strong young man and wouldn't let anything get in his way. He'll be here." The vampire knew that attempting to reassure his hormonal mate was no use, but he knew that if he did nothing that things would get much worse. Just when Jacob was about to have a complete breakdown, Seth climbed into the treehouse, breathing heavily, clearly out of breath from the climb and perhaps something else.

"Seth! What happened to you?" Jacob asked, practically jumping on the younger werewolf, caught up in his excitement to see that he was ok. He couldn't help but notice that he was covered in dirt and grass, however, and had a large cut down his arm. "What the hell happened to you?" He asked, beginning to tend to the open wound in silence.

"It's nothing Jake, I got caught in the midst of another fight between the vampires and werewolves, just a little to the south of here. It got pretty ugly. I don't know how so many of them are still alive." He admitted, wincing as Jacob began wrapping gauze around the wound on his arm.

"That's what we've been afraid of… If they can't even stop fighting… How are they going to accept mine and Jacob's relationship? Let alone our children?" Edward questioned, becoming worried and angry at the growing conflicts between the clans. Jacob noticed Edward's reactions and moved over to try and relax him.

"Edward, please. For me. For the babies. Please don't overreact to what's going on right now. We've been safe up here, we could survive as long as necessary, even after the babies are born." He said, taking the vampire's hand and placing it on his stomach again, wanting him to feel the life growing inside of him. "After all, it's not like any one has died. Seth's face immediately sank.

"Actually… That's not quite true, Jake." Seth warned, in an attempt to let him be more prepared for the news that he was about to give him.

"What the hell do you mean, Seth? Who died?" He asked, beginning to growl softly at the younger male, not because he was angry at him, but because he was worried and confused as to who had died.

"It's Sam… He was mauled to death by a pack of vampires. They appeared to be Voltori, but I couldn't get a good enough look." He said, not able to make eye contact with the heavily pregnant wolf, already sensing the sorrow in his thoughts.

"How… Why… What do you mean, Sam is dead!? He… He can't die!" Jacob shouted, beginning to pace about the small room, unsure of what to do with himself. Cry, Scream, or Run. Edward grabbed Jacob, trying to hold the furious werewolf down.

"Jacob, stop. You need to relax. If not for yourself, for our babies." He warned, holding the struggling werewolf tightly, trying not to loosen his grip so he wouldn't try to run agina.

"Let me go, damn it! Sam! How?! Why?! How could you – " He cut off, exhaling sharply as he felt a sharp, contracting pain in his abdomen, his stomach tightening around his full stomach, the pups beginning to kick against the tightening muscles. Edward grabbed Jacob before he collapsed, shocked at the sudden change in behavior from Jacob.

"Jacob, are you ok? What's going on?" The vampire began asking questions, panicking at Jacob's sudden, painful expression his face as he clenched his tightening stomach.

"No, no. It's nothing… I'm FINE!" He groaned, the pain increasing as his stomach tightened more, making his whole torso feeling like it was cramping up. He could feel the pups moving lower as the muscles contracted, beginning the laboring process that would quickly lead to the birth of his pups.

"Bull shit! Something's wrong, and you need to tell me, Jacob!" Edward found his voice elevating in volume without intention, making Jacob flinch in his arms. The vampire could feel the abnormal movement in his mate's stomach as Jacob leaned onto his shoulder, panting and wincing through pain.

"I think I'm having contractions." He said, his breathing slowly returning to its normal pace as the contraction passed, the muscles in his stomach loosening once more so he could breathe easier. He did notice that his stomach now hung lower than it did before he felt the contraction. Instead of seeing the same, round globe shaped stomach that he had become used to, he now saw an oval-like, watermelon shaped stomach that stretched more as it made room for the pups to pass through to the cervix.

"Oh shit… ok we've got to get blankets, we need to get you comfortable, we need to-"

"Edward, relax. That was my first contraction, I'm sure it'll be awhile before we really have to get going. After all, my mother always told me that she labored for almost three days when she gave birth to… me." He groaned softly at the end of his comment, already feeling the beginnings of another contraction, not even two minutes after the first one.

"Another contraction?" Edward asked, Jacob nodding in response, because he found it hard to speak when he had to pant through the increasing pain. This one felt much worse than the previous. He felt like his pelvis was on fire, the pressure of the pups being forced down to the cervix becoming almost unbearable. He screamed as the contraction peaked, Edward running to begin making the bed where Jacob would give birth.

"Oh God…" Jacob moaned as he felt a large release of fluids from his anus, soaking the sweatpants he was wearing and splattering to the floor that he was sitting on, waiting for Edward to make the bed.

"What the hell is that?" Seth asked, a disgusted look on his face at the fluid seeping across the floor towards him, making him step back.

"My water just broke, Seth. That's what the hell that is!" Jacob snapped, panting heavily as he felt one of the pups trying to make an entrance, Jacob fighting as hard as he could to stop it from happening.

"Edward!" Jacob screamed, grunting and screaming as he fought the urges to push that made his anus burn with overwhelming pain. The vampire didn't speak a word, he lifted his laboring mate from the soaked ground and placed him onto the bed, removing his soaked sweatpants and boxers. Seth turned away as Edward did this, because Jacob was now completely naked, his legs spread wide open, leaving nothing to the imagination. The younger werewolf couldn't help but notice Jacob's member swelling in size.

"Are you really getting a hard on from this? Sick!" Seth gagged, looking away from the panting, sweaty werewolf.

"The pups are going by his prostate, Seth. That's why he's getting an erection…" Edward said, wiping the sweat from Jacob's forehead as he screamed, complaining that it was time to push, that one of the pups was coming. Edward didn't protest, and before he could tell Jacob to push, Jacob was screaming in agony, forcing his chin into his chest as he pushed with all of the strength that he possessed.

"The head's crowning Jacob… Jacob?... Jacob!?" Edward shouted, immediately rushing to the werewolf's side, telling Seth to take over. Jacob was unconscious, his breathing slow and fading away.

"Shit… No… Jacob!" Edward began screaming, beginning chest compressions, trying to get the blood pumping again. He didn't even look back when he heard the squeal of their first pup coming into the world. He was too busy counting.

"1… 2… 3… 4…" The noise faded around Jacob as he slipped deeper into his unconscious state, oblivious to Edwards cries for him to wake up, and the wails of their first born child. Nothing…