2019.02.18 - Cutscene: Into the Black Lodge--Alpha and Omega

**Emitter:** Jacob

*Jacob Black ventures into the Black Lodge.*

January 4th, Year Unknown; Evening

The Black Lodge

It was all a haze. For a minute, there, Jacob had thought he was wandering through a strange place of hazy perceptions, rooms and corridors with red curtains, jaggedly striped floors, weird music and people speaking in strange voices. Then, things became clearer. He was in wolf phase, running on all fours with the pack--the La Push pack, his brothers and even sister. They were acting as one, as they always did. Sam Uley led them with the certainty an alpha should have, and all was well.

Or was it? What were they doing? It was important, dangerous--but it felt wrong, and not because of the danger. Why did it feel like Jacob was being torn at, pulled impossibly forward and backward, as though Sam's alpha command were telling him to leave behind the ground, defy gravity, float off past the moon and into--what, the void, oblivion? It was dizzying, and even the words of his thoughts hardly felt natural.

*Jake*, Embry warned. *Keep your head in the game.*

Jacob could feel his leaden feet move, but they were slow on the path, as if resisting the puppet strings of Sam's will.

*There's no point fighting it*, Embry whispered again. Jacob knew his friend was right. Sam could compel him freely if he so chose, and Jacob could feel that compulsion now. But why?

There was a good reason for an alpha's authority. Even a strong pack would be ineffective without a solid leader. A pack had to move together, to think together, in order to be effective. The body had to have a head. But what Sam was doing now--it was wrong. Jacob knew it was wrong. Then, with sudden clarity, the order flashed through his mind.

*They're outsiders. They come here and wear titles like "lord," and they think they can take our land. We won't let them, not now. We will drive them off.*

Jason. Sam had meant Jason. Jason was from European werewolf royalty, lord of the Children of the Moon, and the Quileutes had very good reason to reject lords and empires. Empires, old and new, had destroyed so many before. They had to defend their home.

But Jason wasn't an invader. Jacob knew that. Sam should know it! Jason had come with single-minded purpose, but he had changed. He showed the tribe respect, never sought to challenge their own sovereignty. And he was Jacob's mate. Why would Sam treat Jason like an invader? Was it because of the Cullens? Because they'd become friends with Alice, Carlisle, even Edward? They'd had to. Something--he couldn't remember--about a mirror? A broken mirror? Sam didn't understand. Sam was wrong this time--but no one could challenge his decision.

Except.

There it was--a thought Jacob had never, ever wanted to contemplate. But there was an exhilaration to it, a thrill of wild exultation. No one could dispute the alpha's decision--except for Jacob. It was a blood birthright, inherited rather than earned, but it was there for him to claim, all the same. He had never wanted to lead the pack, and he still didn't. Sam was better suited to it. But he was wrong tonight.

And Jacob had not been born to kneel to him.

The moment he embraced that birthright, he felt the alpha's compulsion fade. He was free. With the power came the shock of emptiness and loss, being severed from the pack. He was now an omega, a lone wolf, but he was strong, made stronger by his conviction, even as the others rounded on him, baring their teeth in outrage.

*No.*

Sam heard. He felt it. He growled back, *Jacob? What have you done?*

 *I won't follow you, Sam. Not for something so wrong.*

Sam stared. *You would? you would choose your enemies over your family?*

*They aren't--* Jacob shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. *They've never been our enemies. He isn't our enemy. He's my mate. You shouldn't even be asking this. We have laws. You know the laws. He's my imprinted mate. Not even you can violate that.*

*This isn't about the law*, Sam snarled. *This is about--*

*I don't know what's wrong with you, Sam. But you don't decide for me, not anymore.*

*Jacob--you can't turn your back on the tribe.* He was trying the alpha command again, trying to force Jacob's obedience, but the power could not touch him.

Jacob stared into the fury of Sam's eyes. *Ephraim Black's son was not born to follow Levi Uley's.*

*Is this it, then, Jacob Black?* Sam was ready to fight, and Jacob knew, suddenly, that this really *was* it. He wasn't sure entirely what that meant, but this was the moment, the true moment, when everything mattered. Reclaiming his power had been easy--it almost felt like he'd even done it before, somehow--but now that power called to him, demanded to be used. Demanded that he end this sudden isolation by claiming the pack for his own.

*Even if you can defeat me, the pack will never follow you!*

And despite everything, Jacob wanted to--or, rather, the alpha instinct wanted him to. The air thickened with tension, with the blood they threatened to spill. Or was it blood? It smelled burnt, wrong, corrupted. The whole situation smelled of something twisted, evil. But when he pushed past all of that, Jacob already knew the only answer he could give.

*Defeat you? I'm not going to fight you, Sam.*

*If you order them to follow you--*

It was true. If Jacob ordered the others to follow him, his will was strong enough that he could tear them away from Sam. He didn't even have to fight, not to take the power. Sam didn't have to be an obstacle. He could be an ally, a subservient pack member. All Jacob had to do was raise his alpha voice and command it, and the pack would be his. No blood would be spilled. No harm would be done. They would be reunited, and--and, all he had to do was force them. Force them, just as Sam had tried to do, to turn on the ones Jacob loved most. And then, despite the howling of his own blood in his ears, Jacob once again knew his answer.

*I'll never take anyone's will away from him.*

Sam's growl deepened, his tail whipping back and forth, at the judgment in Jacob's words. Taking a step forward, Sam stood almost nose to nose with Jacob, his exposed teeth just inches away. *There cannot be more than one alpha!*

*There is only one alpha for this pack. I'm not contesting that. I'm just choosing to go my own way.*

*Do you belong to a* royal court *now, Jacob?*

Jacob felt a cold stab at the idea. It wasn't just the idea of royalty, which was uncomfortable enough in its own way, but the implicit accusation of being a traitor, an outsider in his own way. One last twist of the knife, or one last chance to come home and let it all be forgiven, all be okay.

*I don't know, Sam. But I do know this--* Jacob felt the power of his alpha blood flowing through him, still felt the sure knowledge that he could make Sam serve him if he wanted to. If Sam wanted to accuse him of being royal, Jacob could show him wht that would really look like. But, sweeping such strange thoughts away, Jacob knew he'd already decided. Why change his mind, now?

*I know my mate needs me. I know my family needs me. I know even you need me, now, to do what I have to do. I came here to do a job. Even if it tears me apart, Sam, I'm going to do it. Now, get out of my way.*

**Due credit is given, here, to Stephenie Meyer's *Breaking Dawn*, Chapter 11, on which this cutscene is directly based. Much of the dialogue and some of the description is cited from the text.**