Before The Storm | J. Hale & A. Cullen

0.5

The icy wind nipped at Michael’s exposed skin as he and Jacob rode down the highway. They were on Jacob’s Harley-Davidson Spirit, Michael sitting behind the raven-headed male as he drove the brunet to the Quileute’s reserve. The two men had agreed that it was best if the other pack met him before they faced the Volturi, as it was decided between the two that Michael would remain with Renesmee and Jacob throughout the event as extra protection.

Even though Michael had been alive for many years, he had never been one who was comfortable with riding on motorcycles while someone other than himself drove. That was precisely why he was clutching onto the male in front of him. His arms were wrapped tightly around Jacob’s waist as he buried his face between the other male’s shoulder blades. Michael knew that the raven-headed male found it amusing as the brunet could feel his shoulders shake with his laughter every time he held onto him tighter, especially whenever he made sharp turns on the way.

He felt his body slowly start to relax as the bike decelerated, but he didn’t remove his face from Jacob’s shoulder blades until he felt the bike completely stop. Suddenly realizing just how close to Jacob he had been and how much he had been touching him, the brunet male cleared his throat while quickly pulling back and getting off the bike. He heard Jacob laugh at him and he glared at the slightly taller male with rosy cheeks, but the male couldn’t tell if it was from the cold or embarrassment. When the brunet looked away with a huff, Jacob decided that it was most likely from embarrassment.

Michael pulled his leather jacket closer to his frame, trying to keep as much heat as possible; cold from the icy wind that continued to nip at his skin. He subconsciously walked closer to the taller male as Jacob led him towards the small cabin in front of him, trying to get as much heat that the wolf provided for the time being. Noting how Jacob didn’t knock as he walked straight into the house, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He didn’t dwindle on the fact for too long, following him inside.

He let out a sigh of relief as the warmth of the house enveloped him, glad to have a wall between him and the frigid wind outside. He looked up as the chatter he had heard walking in suddenly stopped, his face immediately flushing as he saw them all staring at his shivering body.

His eyes immediately scanned through all of the males until his eyes fell on the familiar boy, chocolate brown eyes once again meeting sky-blue. The brunet suddenly felt a wave of calmness pass over him at the familiar face, but the boy with the chocolate eyes -Seth, if Jacob had told him correctly- frowned when he saw the brunet shivering. His look turned to that of a silent question and, with a brief nod from the brunet who somehow understood the look, Seth immediately came over and pulled Michael into his side to help warm him up. The younger male led him past all of the other males into the living room, sitting him down on the floor in front of the lit fireplace.

Michael leaned into Seth’s smaller body more, subconsciously resting his head on his shoulder as he took in his warmth. As his shiver slowly started to subside, the brunet looked up at the rest of the males without removing his head from Seth’s shoulder. They had all sat down and were now talking amongst themselves, trying not to focus on the brunet that only Jacob and Seth seemed to know. After the talking started to calm down, Jacob spoke again to get everyone’s attention.

“There have been a couple of new developments within the plan. For starters, Michael,” He gestured to the brunet, “Will remain with Nessie and I when everything starts. None of you -other than Seth, but that’s because he comes to the house- have met him. He’s sort of like Nessie, but still somehow a different species. I don’t really get it but that’s beside the point.”

“Great, another little leech to protect and look after. As if we won’t already have our hands full as-is when we’re there.” Paul muttered with a sneer.

Sam went to speak as he sent Paul a look, but was cut off by the brunet speaking.

“As if, I don’t need anything from any of you except for one thing; for you to stay out of my way. I am older than all of you combined and I have lived through many wars, participating in most of them.” He sat up fully, no longer leaning against Seth as he ignored the boy's small whine.

“So, if you still want to have a problem with me just because of who my parents were and what that biologically made me, why don’t we head outside so I can beat your damn ass?”

Several of the younger wolves started snickering, but quickly stopped when both Sam and Jacob sent them glares. Paul’s eyes had become steadily darker as his body started to shake, signaling Mykie that he was going to shift. He got up, ignoring Seth as he grabbed onto his shirt to try to stop him. Getting out of the smaller boy’s grip, Michael walked straight over to Paul. He grabbed him by the back of his neck, forcefully pushing him out of the house so Paul didn’t risk hurting anyone or breaking anything when he shifted.

Being manhandled by a “leech” finally pushed Paul over the edge and he shifted just as they made it off the front porch. Michael, not having expected the wolf to shift so soon, was still too close when it happened and the momentum behind the hit brought him to the ground. The rest of the pack had already followed them out of the house and were currently on the porch. The second Seth saw his new friend get hit by Paul, he moved to go to him. He was stopped before he could even make it off the porch, Jacob and Jared both holding him there while Embry stood close by in case he slipped through their hold.

Paul seemed to pause as he saw what he had done to the man on the ground before him. He looked over at his pack, hanging his head slightly when he saw Emily hiding behind Sam and when he saw the pain and betrayal in the youngest Clearwater’s brown eyes. His gaze immediately shifted back over to the brunet when one of the lowest growls he had ever heard reached his ears.

Michael had sat up, blood soaking through his ripped shirt. He raised his hand, touching the side of his face. When he pulled it back, his eyes darkened to a charcoal black as he saw his black blood covering his hand. One second, he was sitting on the ground. And the next, well, he was tackling Paul’s giant wolf to the ground.

Animalistic growls left both men as they wrestled on the ground. Seth was letting out whimpers as he struggled in Jacob and Jared’s hold, trying to go help Michael who seemed to get more and more hurt by the wolf that was on top of him. Most of the pack flinched when there was a sickening crack, the wolf letting out a howl of pain as his body dropped to the ground, crushing the brunet underneath him. The brunet managed to get the wolf in a headlock, squeezing with just enough force to make it uncomfortable as he addressed the wolf.

“I don’t want to break you, Paul. There’s plenty of chances for that to happen when the Volturi get here. Drop the shit and we can be done with all of this.”

Paul let out a wolfish noise, but he no longer struggled against the brunet. The silver wolf shifted back to his human self and Michael finally let him go. Lahote got up, putting the majority of his weight on his right leg as he was mostly sure the brunet broke one or two bones in his left leg. He held out a hand to the brunet, who took it and pulled himself up, letting out a wince under his breath.

The second Jacob and Jared let Seth go, he was off the porch and was throwing himself at the brunet, who caught him in a hug while suppressing another wince. The sixteen-year-old boy pulled back from Michael and his eyes widened in shock when he saw the blood that covered the majority of Michael’s chest and the right side of his face. The boy went to lightly touch the claw marks, but his hand immediately dropped when he saw Michael flinch away from the touch. The smaller of the two glared at his packmate, anger and hurt visible in his chocolate brown eyes.

Moving one of Michael’s arms over his shoulders, the boy let the older male lean on him as he guided him to the silver Volvo that just pulled in. Bella got out of the car and immediately went over to help her friend. She briefly nodded her head to Emily since the female had called her to tell her what was happening. She helped Michael into the back seat before getting in the front, not saying anything to Seth as he got into the back with the brunet. With one last glare at Lahote, Bella pulled out of the lot and started to drive them back to the Cullen’s residence.