Jacob POV
There were few things that I knew of that could scream "something's wrong here!" louder than running through the forest and not smelling anything.
My nerves were already overtaxed when I halted by Nessie's side, and this new development was not helping. Only twice before had I known the forest to go so completely quiet. And both times, our way of life had very nearly gone straight to hell.
"Where is everything?" Nessie abruptly asked, her sweet voice ringing in the silence.
I grunted, and glanced pointedly at Edward. They've run off scared.
"If they all ran scared, then what did they run from?" Edward asked. His stance was almost as tense as I felt.
I shrugged, feeling a nervous shiver raise the hackles on my spine as I glanced around. There was nothing that seemed out of the ordinary here, if one discounted the quiet. There was no more a smell of a strange predator than there was of prey.
"Have any of the others gone hunting today?" Edward asked.
No. I added a short grunt for Nessie's benefit.
Suddenly, there was a low hiss from behind us. I twisted around to stare at the blonde, who stood shaking and tensed by Emmett's side.
What…? I started to Edward, but before I could say anything more, I realized the winds had shifted, and the smell that had alerted Rosalie reached me.
Deer blood was the most prominent new smell, but it was accompanied by a scent that distinctly said 'predator'. Sharp and bitter, but not too much unlike my own or any of the pack.
What's up, Jake? Seth was running a line far to the south, but his tone reflected the same confusion and nervousness I was getting off the strange smell. And he wasn't the only one whose attention I had gotten.
Jacob? Sam was still close to the village, and his wariness was growing. What is…
Quileute?
My head snapped up so fast I could almost hear the bones in my neck pop. At the same moment, Edward let out a growl, and I knew he had heard the same strange, echoing voice. Strange, but not unfamiliar. The same voice the entire pack had spent almost the last three weeks on edge over.
Only this time, it was much louder. Much closer.
We're on our way. Sam declared. I could hear him coming towards us, the members of both our packs that had also heard it turning from their patrols to follow.
"Back to the house," Edward said, and I glanced towards him to see that he already had Nessie in his arms.
Get her out of here. I growled loudly, every particle of my body vibrating as I unconsciously remembered everything Carlisle had said the first night after we had heard the voice.
Edward, Nessie, Emmett, and Rosalie were gone in a matter of seconds, and I was off at a dead run a second later. Sam was organizing his pack, arranging them in a wide arc that would surround the source of the voice as we converged. I could sense Seth running towards me, but he was a long way off. Leah, on the other hand…
Leah, do not confront the werewolf alone! She was the closest to it of all of us. Hold your ground and wait for us.
I'm not going to confront her, came Leah's scathing reply. I just want to see what she looks like.
Leah's outlook on life had changed since the evening she had first heard the werewolf's voice. Well, all of ours had, really. Ever since we had learned that we were not true werewolves, we had been sharing curious thoughts on what we would do if a real so-called "child of the moon" appeared. Most had ultimately considered the possibility interesting.
It was only when the possibility became real that we all remembered just how dangerous true werewolves were known to be.
Werewolves weren't just average humans with the unfortunate affliction of turning into a bloodthirsty wolf every full moon. The "infection" turned average humans into rabid animals. Wild and uncontrollable, unable to tolerate civilization, and driven almost completely by instinct.
The biggest mystery, however, was how we had been able to hear her. That evening, when the first whispers of her voice reached me, I hadn't registered them. They had been so faint, so indistinct. I had been lounging on the Cullens' back porch, distracted with listening to Nessie's laughter, and I was so used to hearing the voices of my pack with absolute clarity. I had just ignored the strange whispers.
Until Leah spoke.
What?
I had flicked an ear in irritation. Leah had been running a wide perimeter at the time, and I had just assumed she was speaking to someone else. Until she had spoken again.
Quileute what?
Leah, what are you going on about? I had demanded.
Quileute?
That was the first time I had clearly heard the whisper for what it was. A distinct source, so faint that it was nearly inaudible. I had leapt to my feet, rendered speechless in a wave of surprise that had alerted not only the Cullens, but Seth and Embry as well. They had appeared in the corner of my vision from the trees just as Leah responded, her tone tripping with supreme irritation.
Yes! Who the hell are you?
Jacob, who is that? Embry had asked.
I hadn't had an answer for him.
Sam? I had called, wanting another opinion. I knew he was running patrol south of La Push. Sam, can you hear that?
Yes, he had replied. It has to be another wolf.
I felt shock yet again. But before I could respond, the voice echoed once more.
Quileute…please. Help…me…
Even so faint, I could hear the agony in her tone. She was in pain. A growl had escaped me, soft and toneless, my surprise echoed in every other mind I could hear.
That was the last time I had heard the whisper. Sam had gotten the source to speak directly to him—a fact which had pissed off Leah even more when she had realized why she could no longer hear it either—and had held her long enough to hear a name. And then she had vanished completely.
The following weeks had been spent in planning among both the packs. There had been a lot to consider, especially after getting the rundown on werewolves from Carlisle and Edward. It had ultimately been decided that if the werewolf ever did appear we would give her the benefit of the doubt—after all, she had called to us for help. And we had agreed that Sam and his pack would deal with her. My pack was too close to the Cullens. It was safest to keep the werewolf away from any evidence of their presence until we were absolutely sure of her intentions. I well remembered how many weapons true werewolves had that made them a deadly threat to vampires. I hadn't wanted anything like that anywhere near Nessie, or Bella.
Leah had been the only one not pleased with the packs' decision. She had the same picture of the werewolf as the rest of us, but she had stubbornly maintained a disbelief that the werewolf was as wild as Carlisle and Edward said she would be. And I had to grudgingly admit that I understood why. Leah was secretly hoping that the werewolf would be someone she could relate to. Another female wolf to prove that she wasn't alone in her "abnormality."
I was getting nearer to the source of the voice now. The smells were pungent in the air, which had now become still. The breeze had died, and the resulting absolute silence was deeper than I had ever heard before. I forced myself to focus on Leah, who now had the figure of the werewolf in her sight. My desire to shout at her to get back faded as I realized she was not getting any closer, and that she had positioned herself in a way to prevent the werewolf from picking up any hint of her smell. I slowed my pace, curious despite my nervousness. Leah was getting our first good look. And Seth and I felt her shock at the same moment she did.
She…she…Leah seemed at a loss for words. She was sending me and Seth what she was seeing. I passed it along to Sam as I came to a halt.
Is that really her? Sam sounded just as bewildered as I felt. What Leah was seeing was not what any of us had been expecting.
She can't be more than eight years old! Leah exclaimed.
I concentrated on the images Leah was providing. It was strangely easy to overlook the gruesomeness of it in favor of the central figure. A small mule deer lay in pieces underneath the crouching form of a little girl. But it was a little girl only to the first barest glance. Everything about her was inhuman, unnatural. Hell, downright horrifying.
Her arms and legs were long and lean, skeletal in some places and laced with muscle in others. Scraps of what might have been some sort of long shirt or maybe even a hospital gown hung from her torso, but it was so torn and bloody it was little more than a scattering of useless rags that left nothing to the imagination. I could count her ribs, but also see the makings of a six-pack on her abdomen. A layer of short black fuzz covered her head—remnants of a recent buzz cut. The lack of hair emphasized her unnatural wild eyes and her horrifically scarred face. Pale white lines crisscrossed her features, her left eye seemed unable to open fully, and the right side corner of her mouth was split up her cheek an extra inch, revealing far too many of her yellowing teeth. Her right ear was missing. Deer blood was dribbling down her chin, the chunk of meat dangling from the split corner of her mouth slowly disappearing as she chewed.
What happened to her? Seth asked suddenly, his tone tremulous. She looks…
Seth trailed off. He too had come to halt, though he was still a little over a mile from where I was. I forced myself to turn a portion of my attention to him.
Go back to the village and get Quil and Embry, I said. Then go to the Cullens and show Edward everything Leah is seeing. We have to know if the werewolf being a child changes anything.
I couldn't stop thinking of immortal children now, the creatures the Volturi had forbidden, the reason the host of them had come to try and destroy us all. Immortal children could not be taught, could not control their killer instincts. Were child werewolves the same way?
I can hear Sam's pack approaching, Leah said suddenly, and I turned back to her. I didn't have to check to know that Seth had turned around and started back for the village. And she can too…
Sure enough, the werewolf had risen to her feet, every part of her completely tensed and alert. Her eyes had grown wide, and she turned her head back and forth, scanning the trees.
Quileute? I heard her call.
Sam must have responded, because the werewolf suddenly turned around and fell into a crouch. Through Leah, I could hear the strange, undulating growl she unleashed. But her eyes were filled with a weird sort of eagerness.
She's excited, Leah reported. There was a level of eagerness in her tone too. I think she's happy that we've come.
Leah, stay where you are, I warned sharply. Let Sam handle it.
Leah let out a low disgruntled growl, but she did not move. A few seconds later, Sam appeared in her line of vision, his massive black form tensed and alert as he slowly approached the werewolf. I knew he was speaking to her, by the way her head cocked to one side. She looked almost bite-sized compared to Sam, but there was no fear on her face.
Holy crap! Came Embry's voice suddenly. I had not noticed when he and Quil had phased. That's the werewolf?
I'm almost at the Cullens' now, Seth reported. I think Edward's waiting for me. There was a pause. Yep, he's there.
Everyone's there, Quil clarified. Except Carlisle, but I heard Esme say he's on his way home.
Bella's home now? I could remember something about Bella being taken by Alice and Jasper to get a wedding present. Good. They're safest that way.
The wedding. For a moment, my thoughts were distracted. Up until the werewolf's abrupt appearance, that had been the big news, the big excitement. Charlie and Sue. Well, that had been inevitable. They had started spending almost every day together after the confrontation with the Volturi. And after Bella had moved out, Charlie had really needed a lady's touch around the house. Sue had not only filled the void there, she had helped him adjust to the new ways of things, how different the Cullens were from normal people. And of course, those giant wolves that were still occasionally sighted in the area. Sam had his work cut out for him getting the youngest members of his pack to keep from being accidentally spotted by tourists.
Embry and Quil often teased Seth and Leah with the prospect of soon becoming Bella's step-siblings. Seth loved the idea, and I knew through Nessie that Bella was happy about that as well. Leah was prone to biting the offender every time someone reminded her.
The wedding itself was going to be a big event for the pack. Sam and I had mutually agreed to allow the Cullens to be involved. There simply was no stopping Alice, and Charlie and Sue had been unable to deny her a fair share in the organizing. It was Bella that had reined in Alice's enthusiasm and kept her from taking control of everything. Still, before a half hour ago, I had been prepared to bet that Alice was going to have me, Sam, Edward, and Emmett back on the decorations for the rest of the night.
But my attention was drawn away from the impending wedding as fast as it had been reminded of it. Mostly because Leah had taken that moment to put in a very irritated retort.
Aren't we supposed to be focusing on the werewolf, Jacob?
Silence settled among us after that. Leah continued to be the pack's restless eyes to the inaudible conversation between Sam and the werewolf. Although it was easy enough to sense that almost every member of Sam's pack was watching from the trees, only one other, Jared, had stepped out into the open to stand with Sam. From the calm expression on Sam's face, this seemed to be premeditated. And I understood why. No point running the risk of spooking the werewolf by showing the full strength of the pack all at once.
Still, it was unnerving not to be able to hear what Sam was saying, and he was too distracted to keep up a running commentary. Seth, Quil, and Embry were also nervous, unsettled by the quiet.
Finally, something changed. I felt Leah's surprise as the werewolf abruptly stood and approached Sam, her filthy hands outstretched. Her small size was even more magnified now; Sam towered over her. But he seemed pleased, and lowered his head to allow the werewolf to settle her hands on either side of his muzzle. She leaned closer and sniffed him, her eyes alight with curiosity.
Jacob! Seth declared suddenly. Alice got her sight back! She says she can see the rest of the family again.
Good. I breathed a low sigh. It must mean the werewolf won't be going near them.
More of Sam's pack was appearing, showing themselves to the werewolf, who looked at each one with the same wide-eyed curiosity. She approached and sniffed them as they stepped forward.
Jacob. I stood alert as I finally heard Sam's voice. This is going to be more difficult than we thought.
Why?
Because she's a wild animal.
Sam paused. I focused on Leah, seeing that the werewolf was now standing at Brady's shoulder, her dirty fingers picking and digging through the thick fur of his neck. I could tell the other pack members were teasing him about it, for there was a highly embarrassed look on his face. No doubt flea jokes were running rampant.
And she hates vampires, Jake. She's terrified of them. All those scars she has came from one that's been chasing her for months.
Chasing her? My hackles stood on end again, and I could not suppress another growl. In the back of my head, I felt the rising tension in the others. Is it still chasing her?
She claims she hasn't seen it since she jumped off a cliff a few weeks ago.
A cliff? Where did she come from?
She doesn't know exactly, but from what she described to me, it sounds like she was in Alaska when we first heard her. She said something about swimming across stormy waters to get there. There was a pause. I think she swam the Bering Sea to get away from whoever was chasing her.
At that moment, Sam was distracted. The werewolf had jumped up onto Brady's back, and whatever he had said in reaction had made most of the pack let out barks of laughter. I felt Leah's rising irritation.
Well? she asked grumpily. What did Sam say to her? Is she going to stay, or is she just going to pick off the rest of Brady's fleas and run?
Sam? I asked. What's the plan?
She claims she's happy she found us. But I had to speak to get her to focus long enough. Sam emphasized the word 'speak' with the recognizable Alpha's double-timbre. I understood that Sam had had to use an Alpha command to get the werewolf to stay focused on him. I think she genuinely respects me as Alpha, since she runs so much on instinct. She wants to stay with us, to learn from us. She feels safer now.
There was a long pause again. I gritted my teeth, on edge as to what this silence meant.
I told her about how we fought the newborns, and she wants to learn how we did it, Sam said at last. There was a tone in his voice that hinted regret. She says that's how she got her name…the werewolf that created her wanted her to be the vampires' bane.
So she's a wannabe vampire killer? I mentally cursed. The rest of my pack reacted, but I ignored them for the moment. What are we going to do about the Cullens? About Nessie?
I have already told her that she is not allowed to come within ten miles of La Push or Forks until we can trust her more, and she seemed agreeable. That restriction should keep her clear of the Cullens' territory.
There was another pause. Through Leah's eyes, I saw that Sam had turned to look at the werewolf again. She had returned to the destroyed mule deer, and glanced warily at Sam before she started ripping into the carcass once more.
She will be under constant watch. And maybe, the longer she stays with us, she will start snapping out of...whatever it is that makes her think like this. He trailed off, for the werewolf had just broken apart the deer's ribcage with unnatural ease. She's just a little kid, Jake. It's hard to think that she might force us into the alternative.
I know, Sam. I'll go back and ask Carlisle if there's anything more we can do.
And I'll keep in touch. We're gonna have to decide what to do about the wedding.
I turned my full attention away at last. Leah was the first to interject.
So is she staying, or what?
She's staying, Leah. Sam and his pack will keep an eye on her. She's going to stay out here in the forest.
What? But she's naked, and filthy, and a little girl!
She's a werewolf, Leah. You can see what she's doing now. She can take care of herself. I paused, sighing. I am sure Sam will get some new clothes for her. Now come on. We have to get back to the Cullens'.
I heard Leah growl, but after a few minutes she turned away from the clearing and started following. I focused now on Seth, Quil, and Embry.
Well? What does Edward think?
