Disclaimer: We do not own Twilight or any of the copyrighted stuff.
A/N: Lyn: Whee! We write more!
Reneey: Even though I've only read the first book so have no idea what's going on! XD
Lyn: Well, I've read them all, so I can make up for that. XD
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Chapter Two – To Kill or Not to Kill
"Alice, I'll be fine," Jasper hissed through his bared teeth, eyes never leaving Reneey. "Would you rather walk away and let it butcher the human?"
Reneey let out a snarl as all of her werewolf features clawed their way out of her and into the open. Letting out a howl, she lunged for Lyn. True werewolves being both faster and stronger than vampires, she was there before Jasper or Alice could interfere and almost before Lyn could even register the movement.
Then something happened – Reneey stopped right about an inch from Lyn's face, her snout directly lined up with Lyn's nose, her eyes boring into Lyn's. Snarling, she went to turn away for some reason that no one could explain. That is, until she felt Jasper's nails sink into her side.
Reneey let out a howl of pain, one that shook the trees and carved itself into Lyn's memory.
Before Lyn could take all of this in enough to move, a huge, sandy wolf raced into the clearing. Its wide brown eyes were human, like Reneey's – probably more so since some of Reneey's humanity was lost in the transformation, not like the wolves of La Push.
I found them! Seth reported to the pack, sending mental images of where he was to Sam and the others. Five other wolves altered course and hurried to catch up with him but Paul, Quil, and Embry were on the other side of the reservation. Sam and Jacob were closing fast, Sam from the north and Jacob from the south where they had been running their own sweeps of the border.
"Jasper, we're on the treaty line!" Alice cried when she saw the shapeshifter.
"We haven't crossed it," Jasper growled. "And this hardly counts as killing a human."
Reneey recovered a second later and threw Jasper off of her – and straight through several trees. But as soon as he stopped flying backward, Jasper was on his feet again, back in place to attack her.
Before he could though, Seth jumped onto Reneey's back and sank his teeth into her neck – not enough to kill, but to knock her out. Reneey screamed in pain and tried to shake him off her.
"Get off that thing, stupid mutt!" Jasper ordered, snarling. "You and your friends have never encountered the likes of a true Child of the Moon before – it will kill you!"
"Get the freaking heck off her – she didn't do anything!" Lyn finally managed to insert into the debate over whether her friend lived or died.
Putting on bursts of speed at the same time, Sam and Jacob broke through the trees simultaneously. Already aware of the situation, Sam ordered, Seth, get the human girl out of here – take her back to La Push, it's too dangerous here.
The tiredness was already wearing Reneey down. The transformation took a lot out of her and though she healed quickly, she couldn't produce blood any faster than anyone else. Her movements went slower with every second; her face slowly went back to normal and soon there was a girl with pale skin, a haystack of black hair, long scars, and a sandy wolf on top of her – keeping her warm and licking the wounds he and Jasper had given her.
Sam understood as he saw the girl through Seth's eyes. Of course Seth would not obey him now, and now there was absolutely no question about letting the bloodsucker kill her.
I'll take the girl, Jacob said quickly, darting forward and, without giving Lyn a choice in the matter, grabbing her sweater in his teeth and tossing her onto his back before heading off in a dead run toward La Push.
"Good, it's out," Jasper said, looking satisfied as Reneey reverted back to her original form. "Strike now, before it heals."
Seth bared his teeth at Jasper as he stood protectively in front of her as if saying, "Try it – I dare you."
Reneey let out a low, pained moan as her eyes opened in slits; then all she saw was blackness.
Sam took a defensive stance beside Seth, his hackles raised, and so did Embry, who ran into the clearing a second later. Jasper stared in disbelief.
"What is wrong with you mutts?! Do you not know what that thing is?! What it can do?!"
Alice bit her lip as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Jasper; it's taken care of. We have to go now. There won't be trouble for another month."
Jasper snarled at the wolves. "You would protect that – thing?!"
Seth's answering growl was more than enough answer. Quil and Paul showed up at that moment too, taking their places with their brothers.
Jasper growled too. "Fine. When it infects everyone in your tribe, we'll be back. All of us."
He and Alice disappeared into the trees and Sam sighed before instructing Seth to phase back so he could carry the werewolf – it would be much easier that way, anyway.
Seth didn't like the way Sam said 'werewolf' – like she was any worse than them?! – but changed back, slipped on his shorts, and picked her up.
The wolves looked at each other and sighed collectively. Just what were they going to do?
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Jacob got back to La Push in no time, Lyn clinging to his back since she had no other choice unless she wanted to kill herself trying to roll off at sixty miles an hour. When he finally stopped a short distance from the nearest building, just to make sure no one would be around in case she freaked out, Lyn instantly leapt off him, rolling once to break her fall. By the time she was on her feet again, Jacob had retreated into the trees to phase back and had returned in human form, wearing a pair of jean shorts.
"So… um… you're probably wondering… what happened, right?"
Just how was he supposed to explain this?
"I'm not blind or stupid," Lyn shot back, seemingly unfazed by his change. And apparently recognizing him despite the lack of shaggy brown fur. "I don't think you need to tell me what I just saw – I want you to tell me why the freaking heck you're letting my best friend get killed and dragging me off somewhere!"
Hm. Well, that definitely wasn't the response Jacob had been expecting. Not only was she not completely terrified by the realization that monsters were real but she was also either brave or stupid enough to be snapping at someone she knew could turn into a giant wolf. Forcibly reminded of Bella, Jacob inwardly winced.
The resemblance between the two girls ended with that attitude toward mythological beings, though, he comforted himself by noticing. This girl was a lot taller than Bella though of course still significantly shorter than him. Her build was different, too – Bella was small and thin but this girl's body was wired with lean muscle that made her look like an athlete of some sort. Her hair was a darker shade of brown, so dark that it was almost black, and the eyes she was currently using to glare at him with were green and full of fire.
Green eyes were a sign of Irish ancestry and he seemed to remember his dad saying something about Irish tempers. Actually, that might explain a lot about this girl.
"Are you even listening to me?!" Lyn interrupted his thoughts by smacking him in the shoulder. Very ineffectually, but still. "Answer the dadgum question!"
Jacob stared. "No one's killing your friend – the pack is making sure of that. And what is with you? How are you not completely freaked by this?"
"So she's okay," Lyn said with a soft sigh, looking relieved.
"Look, it'll be okay," Jacob assured her, his voice getting softer too as he realized she had been acting tough to hide the fact that she had been worried about her friend. She was definitely a better actress than Bella, anyway.
"Yeah, I'm sure," Lyn muttered darkly, her gaze flicking back toward the trees. She figured it would be no use to make a run for it, since he could outrun her anyway. She would just have to trust the others to keep her best friend safe.
Dang it, she hated feeling so useless.