Disclaimer: I do not any of the characters original to Stephanie Meyers. They are hers, I only borrowed them. I'm not out for profit and there is no harm intended in my writing.
Authors Note: The setting is after New Moon and just about around the time of Eclipse. I'm taking a few liberties with the story line so just know that some things might not follow with cannon closely. This is my fic so you'll probably not see as much Bella. If you don't want to read a fic where the new OC is an integral part of the story then don't continue reading
Otherwise here is my fic, I hope you enjoy and I look forward to hearing your thoughts both good and bad.
Chapter 1:
The moon had hidden behind a cloud and no light penetrated the dark forest. The pack chased the scent of the vampire through the dense forest. The scent was still strong, the red head had been through here not long ago. The keen ears of the wolves picked out the sounds of a fight up ahead. Only the scent of the vampire wafted through the trees but unmistakably there were the sounds of fighting. The pack drew to a halt and approached more slowly. In the dark Jacob could make out the silhouettes of the two combatants. It was the red head vampire, Victoria, fighting another woman even without the aid of the moon illumination that unnatural red of her hair stood out. The other woman was someone they had never seen her before. The clouds cleared momentarily. In the silvery moonlight Jacob watched transfixed as the deadly battle of skill played out under its translucent rays. The woman fighting against Victoria held a lethal looking blade in one hand.
In his head Sam gave the signal for them to approach the battle cautiously. He warned them to watch out for the other unknown female until they could determine if she was an enemy. She didn't smell like a vampire, for that matter there was no scent from her, but she moved with the speed and deadly efficiency of one. Victoria was concentrating solely on the other woman, this was a golden opportunity to attack and Jacob could finally see Bella Swan safe from this leech. Thoughts of Bella momentarily took over the human part of Jacob's emotions. His relationship with her was confusing in the best of times.
As one accord the pack attacked, the two women were clearly startled. Victoria took the opportunity to swipe her clawed hand across the other woman's arm leaving a large gash of blood in its wake before she turned and ran as fast as she had ever moved. In their unified consciousness of the pack Sam directed Jacob and Jared to remain with the unknown woman as the others followed to track Victoria. The woman, he couldn't tell if her hair was black or brown in the light from the moon, glared at them.
"I don't know who the hell you are but I have to assume you don't know what you just allowed to get away. I've been tracking that bitch and her mate for months now. This was the first time she's ever been in one place long enough for me to get a chance at her. You, whatever you are, just lost me valuable time." She moved her arm in a small circle gingerly, "Damn this hurts." She started to carefully remove her jacket to reveal the injury to her arm.
Jacob hadn't seen when she put the blade away but her hands were now empty. The three lines from the vampire's nails were oozing blood down the girls arm. She would need stitches at the very least. Jacob watched her as she used her ruined jacket to dab at the blood. She eyed the two wolves from the corner of her eyes. She was still tense and Jacob and Jared both knew if they showed any signs of aggression she was ready to fight, injured or not. He felt as the other members of his pack drew closer. She tensed as if she knew it too.
"I wonder if your friends had any better luck than I did?" Jacob wished she would move out into the shaft of moonlight. He wanted to see her more fully. In the dim shadows all he could pick out of her features were the dark wash of her jeans and the white tank top gleaming. Sam stepped out from the forest naked. Jacob's pack mates formed a perimeter around Sam ready to defend him in an instant.
"Interesting." Was the girl's only comment on Sam's arrival.
"Who are you?" Sam didn't waste time. He was standing with his arms at his sides his muscles tensed in anticipation of her attack.
"Crys. Who are you?" She questioned right back.
"What are you doing here?" Sam said, ignoring her question.
"Would you believe me if I told you I was out hiking? No? I guess then you could say that I'm doing the same thing as you."
Jacob watched as the woman finally moved out into the moonlight. He instantly felt as if the breath had been knocked from him. He couldn't tell the finer details of her face but he felt the instinctual pull towards her. His brothers felt his pull due to the unified consciousness. They eyed him with their animal eyes briefly. Sam didn't feel any of this as he was in human form.
"You are on tribal land." Sam paused unsure how to go on. She was not a vampire, the only sworn enemy of the pack, but she wasn't human exactly either. They had never encountered someone who defied explanation. "You will have to come with us. Our elders will need to know of you presence."
"Look, I didn't know that I was on your tribe's land. I only wish to get on with tracking James and Victoria." She started backing towards the forest her whole body gathering to run. Her eyes darted to her pack lying on the ground. They could all see her eyes calculating her chances of grabbing and getting away from them. With only a flick of his hand Sam signaled to the pack to keep her from running.
"You have to come with us. While you seemed to be holding your own with one vampire, I don't think you are ready to take on the pack of us." The sounds of the growls came from all directions. Crys looked directly at Sam. A smirk spread pulled at her lips.
"I can only hope that the rest of your people are so easy on the eyes as well." She looked Sam up and down with a lingering look before she bent to the ground to pick up her backpack that had been slung to the ground during the fight, a long tube was strapped across the bag. Jacob watched the outline of her body in the dark as she moved. He hated the lingering look that she had given Sam even as he noticed it was liberally laced with contempt.
He had heard of others of his kind imprinting but he had never expected it to happen to him or that it could happen so completely and so quickly. Only a few minutes ago he thought that his love for Bella was the strongest emotion he would feel. He only knew that he had to have this stranger with him in his life. This complicated things so much, his brain was able to rationalize the situation and knew that this was not a good thing happening to him, but the other part of him the part of him that relied purely on instinct was howling out to be near the woman.
He wanted to smell her scent, to memorize it with his wolf senses. Why didn't she have a scent? She looked human but she didn't smell human. She gave off no scent at all. Sam shifted back to wolf form in front of her and her only reaction was to raise an eyebrow. Immediately Sam understood what had happened to Jacob in the few short moments that he had been in human form. He huffed his displeasure. Jacob growled in response it wasn't like he could prevent the process.
Crys followed the group of about five giant wolves for a few miles. She had never seen or heard of anything like them before. She had fought a werewolf in the past and he had been nothing like these creatures. He had been a walking contradiction of man and animal rolled into a reeking mass of killer instinct. These had to be some form of shape shifter.
She had read about them in the myths of course but never thought that they could be real. Of course that was naïve of her, since she knew firsthand how many of the myths were actually true. The wolves were taller than her even on all fours. If they stood on their hind legs she didn't even want to know how big and menacing they would be. The biggest one of the pack was a golden brown. She couldn't seem to keep her eyes from darting to the huge animal from time to time. It seemed that the wolf tried to keep as far as possible from her.
She didn't exactly feel threatened by these beings but she wasn't taking any chances either. She willed her body to remain in hunting mode. It was difficult since the presence of the vampire was fading further away and her instincts to blend in became harder to ignore. She had to remain vigilant though. If she let her guard down her reflexes would slow and she might miss a crucial moment to react that would save her life. However, this state was costing serious amounts of energy. She would need to find a safe place to hole up and sleep for a couple hours once she got out of this mess. She was going to be completely worn out. She had never kept herself in this state so long.
She watched as they approached a house that materialized out of the woods. There were lights on inside and it looked welcoming. Once again the black wolf materialized into a man in the nude and Crys watched as he strode into the door. He was really very nice to look at. Crys tried not to let those kinds of thoughts intrude. She hadn't given herself the luxury of finding men attractive since that day so long ago now.
"Follow me. I will summon the elders." She did as she was asked and followed him into the house. She felt as the other wolves dropped back and one by one their scents changed and became more human. Crys walked into the brightly lit house and was greeted by the unsure smile of a scarred woman. Crys took in her surroundings, calculating all the possible escape routes and possible dangers, as she had trained herself to do over the last few years.
Behind her she felt the presence of the other four wolves, now in human form, step up the steps behind her. She could feel the heat their bodies that radiated like a wall behind her. She stepped further into the house allowing them to walk inside without having to touch her. One of them in particular stood out in her senses when he stepped nearer she literally felt like she was being electrocuted in every nerve ending. It wasn't exactly painful or unpleasant but it was a feeling she couldn't quite ignore. She turned slightly and out of the corner of her eye she looked at him covertly. He had to be in his twenties. He was wearing a pair of tattered shorts only without a shirt. She appreciated his sculpted body. His black hair was cut short and he sported a tribal tattoo on his right bicep. Upon looking at all the others she noticed they all wore the tattoo. She noted subconsciously that each of them were easy on the eyes but she kept sneaking glances back to the one who projected the electric shocks to her being. He unnerved in an alarming way. Men were forbidden to her. She couldn't ever risked getting someone she cared about hurt when the inevitable happened and another vampire or other monster came after her. She had to be alone. She had to hunt.
"The elders will be here soon. Would you like to sit down while we wait?" The man who was the black wolf and apparently the leader of the pack walked back in the room dressed, if a pair of shorts was considered dressed. None of the other shape shifters wore anything more than a pair shorts either.
"Thank you," Crys replied as she sat at the kitchen table in front of her. He sat across from her. As he sat his eyes settled briefly on the man behind her, he looked concerned. She hated the tense silence around her. "I don't suppose I could get a glass of water could I? I didn't stop long in town before I got the trail of Victoria and started after her. I could really use a drink." She watched as he signaled the woman to get her a glass. She returned quickly with a cold glass of water. She stretched her senses and smelled the water to be sure it was only the water in the glass. It smelled fine. She drank deeply. "Thank you."
The silence stretched around them. Only she and the leader were sitting. The others stood as muscled pillars around the room. She passed the time assessing each of them. She plotted who she would take down first in the event of a fight. The woman was obviously human and Crys would take care not to hurt her, but the others would all prove to be excellent fighters she was sure. Given the size of their wolf form Crys knew she would have the advantage as long as they remained in the tight quarters of the house for the fight.
Crys tested her arm covertly. It felt like the healing was nearly complete. The blood had dried on it so it was hard to tell visually but it felt like the skin had mended cleanly. Once she was able to wash the gore off she would know if the bitch had managed to leave a scar or not. For the first time she wondered what the human thought of the stranger with the bloody arm sitting at her table. She felt the presence of four more humans as they approached the house. The men in the room stirred as they felt their arrival as well.
"Guess the meeting can begin now?" She asked the room in general with a smirk, just as her sentence tapered off the knock sounded on the door and her smile grew as the shifters looked at her again. Clearly they were shocked that her senses were as acute as theirs.
They all moved as a group to the living room. The room was dwarfed by the hulking bodies of the shifters and became more so as the four elders came into the room as well. She was shown to a lounge chair and sat down. She was immediately flanked by the leader and another of the shifters. Clearly they wanted her to know that she was not trusted at all. She really couldn't blame them for that either. She was the only person that she knew of like herself. If she were in their shoes she would have been even harsher.
"Tonight as we were patrolling we came across the scent of the same vampire that keeps returning to this area. We began tracking her and came upon the vampire and this…woman…fighting. The vampire ran and we gave chase. We lost her as she skirted around the Cullen property and headed across the mountains."
The eyes of the elders were on her. "You were fighting the vampire?" A kindly looking man with silver hair asked her.
"Yes. Until these guys came and crashed my party." She tried to joke.
"What are you? You aren't vampire." This came from a man with black hair who despite the wheelchair he was in seemed to radiate power.
"I am not vampire, no. I've been hunting vampires and other things since I was 15. I am not one of the bad guys." She was wearing down. She needed to drop her shields soon or risk passing out. Soon she was going to have to decide if these guys were friend or foe. Every enhanced sense that she had been given when she changed were telling her that these beings were not her enemy.
"Why are you here?" A kind looking woman asked her.
"I have been tracking down two vampires for months now. They have always managed to stay ahead of me. They are deadly. They enjoy the kill but don't stay in one place too long. I was in Canada a few weeks ago when I caught the scent of Victoria. I tracked her here. I thought I had missed her since her scent was fading again but then she kept on returning. I have been waiting for her to return for two days. I haven't gotten a sign of her mate, James."
"He is dead. He was taken care of some months ago." The leader wolf said from beside Crys. She smiled at him. He was so tall she had to crane her neck.
"Good." She heard a few of the big guys behind her chuckle quietly.
"What worries us is what to do with you. We have to decide if you are a threat to us, to our people. Sam has told us that you do not even smell human. If we don't know what you are how do we trust you to roam free?" The woman said to her. She felt the big gold wolf-man shift restlessly behind her. Her skin sizzled as he moved closer. He was agitated and all the eyes of the other men shifted to him. Sam left her side to walk to the elders to speak in their ears. Her hearing was exceptional but she was getting tired and hearing him was difficult. She caught their looks at her and then back behind her and the word imprint but nothing else. The leader returned to her side. There was a new tension in the room.
"This is unprecedented in our long history. There has only been us and the vampires that we fight against. It has never occurred to the pack that there might be others out there that would come to hurt our people." The man in the wheel chair said looking deeply into her grey eyes.
"I am not here to hurt your people. I want to protect people from things like the vampires. I don't hurt innocents. I don't know what you people are exactly but I know you are not werewolves. I don't feel any of the feelings I get from the monsters I have fought before." She paused and took a deep breath, she was getting to the point of exhaustion. "I am getting tired of going around about this. I am not here to hurt you. I would be happy to move on out of your way if you might just give me a quiet place to rest for a few hours and regain my strength. I am human. I was as normal as any other human until I encountered my first vampire when I was 15. I am going to trust you and your people. Please know that I would like your trust as well." Crys was fading fast, she needed to make a decision but either way she couldn't keep her power up much longer.
She concentrated and let herself relax. Every instinct she had told her that there was not threat here among these people so she trusted those instincts they had kept her alive for the past three years. She felt the fresh air of the room surround her as she dropped the shield. The electricity from the man behind her faded to a warmth on her skin. She knew without having to look that she could still pinpoint his position behind her. It was a very odd sensation. The nostrils of the wolves flared around the room. They could now smell her.
"What?" The dark man in the wheel chair asked when the humans noticed the change in the wolves.
"She smells like a human now. She doesn't feel the same anymore. She doesn't feel like a predator anymore." The leader said beside her.
"You can smell me now because I'm in my natural state. I am not shielding myself anymore. I am not hunting anymore. This is me, just Crys." The room was silent. She waited a moment before speaking again. "I know that you are not quite ready to trust me and I can understand your plight, but I wasn't kidding if I could have a quiet place to rest I would appreciate it. I can rest while you and your people debate my outcome." She was so close to passing out and she really didn't want that happening. She was reasonably sure that these people weren't naturally her enemy but they didn't understand her and people who were afraid were unpredictable.
"Sam please show your guest to a room. We will continue when you return." The lady instructed the leader. She had a name to use now at least. She felt the man behind her move to follow them but Sam looked to him sharply.
"No, Jacob. You stay here." Sam told him firmly. Crys took the moment to fully look at him for the first time. Her first true long look. He was simply the most beautifully made man she had ever seen. His eyes bore into hers. Her heart thudded in her chest and she felt an irresistible and unexplainable tug towards him. She felt as if she had to be near him. She shook off the feeling with some effort and followed Sam up the stairs to the second floor. The effort of climbing the stairs seemed like she was climbing a mountain instead. Two of the wolves followed quickly behind, she knew they would stand guard outside her door. If they were smart they would have the others patrol outside to prevent any escape. Not that she would be going anywhere without a few hours of rest. She wouldn't allow herself to sleep but she would let her body have the time and quiet to heal and recharge. Sam showed her to a room. It was small and had a small window that let in the moonlight.
"Thank you. Sam is that right?" She asked and he nodded his answer. "I'm not here to hurt anyone Sam. I do promise you that." He turned and shut the door behind her without answering. Crys set her bag on the bed near where she would lay in case she needed any of her weapons. Without another thought she lay on the bed and began her breathing exercises to relax.
Sam went back downstairs. He immediately noticed that Jacob had taken the chair that the stranger had just vacated. The whole situation was not good. His people didn't always imprint but when they did it was for life. It was unfortunate that Jacob had now imprinted on a stranger to his people. The other wolves had left the house and were now patrolling outside the house to prevent the woman's escape.
"Is it true Jacob? Have you imprinted?" Jacob's father asked him with concern in his eyes.
"Yes. I am being dawn to her, even now. Every instinct in me says that we can trust her."
"Son, we can't trust those instincts right now. You might not be thinking clearly, the imprinting may make you blind to things."
"I don't feel any threat from her either. She doesn't feel the same as a vampire to us. While we are in wolf form she feels like any other predator in the forest. She feels like a kindred of sorts. I don't think she can be allowed free though. We have to know more about her and now that Jake might have imprinted on her we have to walk even more carefully." Sam crossed the room to Emily and wrapped an arm around her waist. He knew what Jacob must be feeling and couldn't think of a way to help the younger man.
Sue sat back and thought. She looked around at her fellow elders and opened her mouth to speak. "She must be kept under guard at all times. Until we know more about it. Jacob, you have to stay away from her. If she becomes a threat and we have to eliminate that threat the less attached you are the better."
"I understand what you are saying, Sue, and even agree but I don't think I can do that. I feel as though I have to be near her. I can't explain it." Jacob looked at the elders that included his father, none of them had turned in their generation and therefore had never imprinted before. They wouldn't understand what he was talking about. His glance slid to Sam and Emily. He would know. "I am burning for her." His eyes bored into Sam's.
"As Alpha, Sam, you are going to have to order him to stay away." Older Quil was saying.
"I will not." His eyes never left Jake's. He could only imagine what it would feel like if he had been told that he could not ever be near Emily. He would tear the world apart to get to her.
"Thank you. I will try to keep my distance until the council has made a decision." Jacob vowed.
"She'll have to remain here under your supervision, Sam." Billy was saying. None of them were very happy about the present circumstances but she knew about them now and she had to be a trusted friend of the pack if she was to be allowed to live with her knowledge. The elders all began to leave Sam's house one by one. Sam, Emily, and Jacob were all that were left in the living room. Emily walked over to Jacob and gave him a quick hug before she left the room silently and headed to her bed to wait for Sam to join her. They would have a lot to talk about.
"I can't assign you a patrol, Jake."
"I understand. I'm just going to stay here for the night if that's okay? I promise I won't go anywhere near her."
"I'm sorry this had to happen like this. I would never deny you a mate, but I wish it could have been one of our own kind. Try to rest. We'll see what the morning brings." Sam clapped him on the back and went towards his room.
Jacob was left alone in the now dark room. The sun wasn't far off from rising. He stretched his senses out. Her scent was easy for him to pick out now. Her scent was fresh like the woods during a rain storm. It calmed him. He knew she didn't sleep, that she was only resting.
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