Chapter 4
Cover Your Tracks
"So you're a real werewolf?"
Paul shot him an incredulous look, "Real? Does that mean were fake?" Embry rolled his eyes, "You know what I mean." I exhaled softly and moved in towards them to familiarize myself with their strange scent.
"Well, to answer your question, I guess I am a real werewolf...although we prefer the term 'children of the moon.' It's a bit raunchy if you ask me, but it's sufficient enough."
I found it unsettling that the name had been given to us by none other than the man who sought our extinction, Caius Volturi. But the term 'werewolf' also sounded a bit too feral for my comfort, although that is exactly what we are. Feral. Untamed. Uncontrollable. And absolutely unpredictable.
"Children of the moon...," Paul muttered to himself, "I'm not sure we're familiar with that legend. Did we ever hear about them?" He looked over at Embry who frowned and shook his head. I remained silent though their exchange but began to feel my nerves shifting. It made me uncomfortable to reveal myself to others, especially since Caius believes all 'real' werewolves are extinct. All but one.
My eyes hardened.
"You should come back with us," Embry announced, "The rest of the pack will want to meet you, and I'm sure you could enlighten us on all this moon-child stuff." I'm not a witch, so the term 'moon-child' made me want to growl, but I refrained from doing so. Pissing off a pack of wolves wasn't on my agenda for the day. On the contrary, nor was meeting some, but...
Fate was unpredictable and irrational.
Or at least my fate was.
I looked back at them and nodded. "Do you think you can keep up?" Paul asked, all too sincerely. I glowered at him and watched their eyes widen."Oh please," I huffed and then took off like a bullet.
Obviously I hadn't a clue where I was running, so I let the now-phased wolves pass me as I trailed behind them. I could start to smell the meager traces of more wolves and felt my footing slow slightly. Was this the right thing to do? Meet more wolves? What exactly was I trying to gain out of this? Friends? Surely not. I think curiously got the better of me. But we all know the saying, 'curiosity killed the cat.'
Let's hope it doesn't come to that.
Embry and Paul slowed upon nearing their pack. Paul looked back at me and I immediately understood that they were going into the woods to morph back. I nodded my head and waited shortly, only a few moments later did they come back in their human forms. "Don't worry, Isabella," Paul said with a wry smirk, "we don't bite."
"Speak for yourself," Embry retorted as he ducked under a tree branch and walked out of sight.
All of my senses seemed to go into overdrive, but I knew it would be too late to turn back now. I was already here, and I bet the others could smell me as well. So with a long, lingering inhale, I strode forward through the forest brush and came face to face with the rest of the pack and their elders.
Every set of eyes landed on me.
Each boy had a tattoo of a tribal sign on their upper bicep, dignifying their loyalty. A few of them looked rigid meanwhile the others appeared to be curious. The elders were sat around a roaring bonfire with looks of precaution and awe on their faces. Paul and Embry looked a bit smug as they walked forward to a tall man with an intense stare. "Sam," Paul began, "we met Isabella a few miles north of here. She was just trailing around and at the time we believed her to be a mortal. But she didn't appear afraid of us. Instead, she revealed that she is similar to us in ways we didn't think possible. Have you ever heard of the children of the moon?"
At that, Sam's eyes flashed with an undetectable emotion and I grew unsettled by the way his day eyes bore into mine. However, before he could answer Paul and before my mind could process an escape, one of the elders spoke up. "It appears we have an old friend with us tonight. Please, Isabella, come join us."
Sam appeared baffled and outraged by his openness, but I quickly took the opportunity to get as far away as possible from his unforgiving glare.
I walked cautiously towards their elders, feeling the intense, warning stares from the pack as I made my way towards the one who spoke. I smiled kindly at him and sat on the log when he motioned me to. The pack slowly made their way towards us and angled themselves protectively towards their elders. "Now, now. Behave," the same man scolded them. They reluctantly relaxed but kept their eyes on my every motion.
I fought the strong urge to flash them my teeth.
"Hello, Isabella. My name is Harry Clearwater," he introduced himself and the other members of the council and pack. I politely smiled at them but the wolves didn't let their walls down just yet. "I've never mention the legend before because I believed them to be extinct, but I guess it's time you boys knew about children of the moon," Billy Black said directly to the pack. I noticed Jacob's eyes shifting towards me.
"Before our king existed, there was another protector roaming around Earth. They're very much like us, able to form into wolves, incredibly speed, strength, and endurance. The only thing different is that they can only morph into a full wolf during a lunar phase, and meanwhile they can change half way at their will." All eyes once again glanced towards me, and I waved to show my long talons. Sam narrowed his eyes at me but Jacob just appeared to be shocked. Billy continued, "There kind, however, possessed a great deal of strength far more powerful than any other being. Their diet consisted of regular human food, animals, and...blood."
I looked down bit my lip. I heard someone growl but they stopped abruptly when Harry shushed them. I decided to speak up before they could continue. "This is true. But I don't feed from humans, considering I live amongst them." Billy looked confused for a moment before he spoke, "You live near the mortals? I could tell from your tame behavior that you aren't a blood drinking wolf, but I didn't realize you attributed with the mortals of Forks."
"I go to school at Forks High," I stated simply. That was the wrong thing to say.
Suddenly, everyone was on alert. I felt my own conscience screaming at me to run. My senses were incredibly heightened and I felt my mouth water with the need to tear at something with my teeth. The tension was getting to be too much but I concentrated on not lunging at someone. This was why I couldn't be close to people. I was far too dangerous for even people remotely close to my kind.
I was the world's most dangerous predator.
"Have you met them?" Same demanded, rising from his spot with balled fists. I frowned and hesitantly shifted, "Who?" My answer wasn't good enough. He snarled, "The Cullen's! The filthy bloodsuckers that associate themselves with the mortals!" I froze. My mind seemed to slowly process what he had said. I knew that there were vampires in Forks, but it didn't occur to me that the wolves knew about them. And why did Sam react that way? I hate vampires with a passion, but I didn't even think to consider their hatred for them. "Sam! Control yourself," Harry scolded. Sam's ire didn't dissipate. "How do we know she's not associating herself with them? She could be their spy for all we know!"
It was my turn to become furious. I shot out of my seat and marched towards him with fire in my eyes. "You don't know anything about me so I'd suggest you shut up and let me tell you just how much I loathe vampires. After all, they killed off my family, or did you forget that part?" Sam's eyes widened and the crease in his brows softened. I felt the deathly silence slice through my heart, and all I could hear aside from the crackle of the fire was my shuddering exhales.
"Isabella, please forgive him, he meant nothing by it," Billy said softly, glancing at the two of us with concern. I nodded and bit my lip, looking shyly at the now shaken Sam. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't realize-," I cut him off with a sad smile. "It's fine. I'm sorry for lashing out at you...I have a horrid temper." A really, really horrific one...
But we weren't up to that part yet and I wanted a few moments to relieve myself from the pent of tension before I divulged into that chapter of my long, lonely, and pathetic life.
Sighing, I looked back at our small audience and decided to begin where Billy left off. "My kind can drink from the blood of humans, yes, but that is also the reason why my kind is now extinct." Now for the hard part. All I needed to do was spit the words out, then wallow in my misery once I returned home.
Home...
But I was already here, so why did it feel like I was world away?
"There's a large group of vampires that reside in Volterra, Italy called the Volturi. They're the rulers of their kind, and from the stories I've heard, they're ruthless monsters with an endless amount of power and strength. Aro, Marcus, and Caius are the masters of the coven, and Caius is the one who led the hunt for my kind. As you can tell, he was very successful. He had a traumatizing encounter with one of my kind when he was simply a few centuries old, and once he found out that we shared similar diets, he figured there wasn't a better excuse for him to kill us off. It wasn't until a century ago that he ran into my family. He was appalled to see our kind still alive, so he attacked on the spot." I paused as my words sunk in, painfully slow and slicing through my lips like knives.
"...my brother, Landon, helped me escape. We were so close to the Pacific boarder that all we had to do was swim and our scent would be washed away. But the vampires were relentless, and had found us before we could jump. I still remember to this day the look on his face when he knew we wouldn't make it. The last words he said to me were 'cover your tracks' and then he shoved me off the cliff and sacrificed himself to the vampires."
By now I was sobbing and I felt the world around me turn into a blur as the memories swarmed me. Two strong, warm arms wrapped hesitantly around me and I froze momentarily before resting into the embrace and crying out the anguish I'd held back for years. Jacob rubbed my arm comfortingly as I soiled his shirt with my waterfall tears. I rested my cheek against his chest and saw the pack looking sympathetically at me, and Sam looking strangely...determined.
"You never have to go through that again, Isabella. We'll be here for you," he whispered against my hair. I looked up at him and saw the hard set determination; the same determination mirrored on Sam's face, and realized what all this meant. I felt more tears spring to my eyes as I offered a weak, watery smile. "Thank you, all of you, so much...but I don't think I can ever be the same. I've been broken once too many times, and my kind isn't easy to coexist with."
"Why is that?" Embry whispered softly, his eyes shining with a familiar concern.
I felt my heart race up and my face must've turned shades paler. I gently removed myself from Jacob's brotherly grasp, and turned to look at them. "My kind can only morph into an actual wolf during a full moon. However...this isn't by choice. It's an uncontrollable transition that leaves us with absolutely no conscience and no control whatsoever. It isn't similar to you sustaining anger, nor is it similar to a newborn vampire resisting their thirst. We literally have no control. And sometimes...we don't even remember what we did the next morning. I once woke up covered in blood near a small creek and had no recognition of what happened the night before."
Paul and Embry looked astounded, Leah, Jared, and Quil looked wary, and Jacob and Sam shared another look as if something passed through their minds directed to each other. But it was their youngest one, Seth, who asked me a question I feared their reaction to. "So what do you do during full moons?"
It was painful and very cruel, but I couldn't find another way to keep myself from harming the mortals. My method of precaution can be seen as inhumane, but that would make sense, now wouldn't it? It pained me to speak of the times when I felt nothing but darkness, but then again, when did I ever feel the light? "My coven...we've lived here for a long time. Before your chief elders resided here, and before the Cullens moved to Forks. We had- still have- a house deep in the woods near the back of Forks. We didn't want to hurt the mortals, but we were unsure of how to keep ourselves in place during a full moon. So...we built a sort of...jail in the basement of the house. We kept chains and hooks down there, attached them to the floor for the suspension and to the walls to keep us in place during our transitions. The nights were long and painful, but we woke with a peace of mind when we accomplished remaining in the woods."
I could still hear the roars and snarls echoing off the stone walls. The sweaty faces and loud cries as bones shifted. The blood splattered walls when we tried in vain to escape the thresholds. But although those nights we drowned in pain, we still had each other. We still had some sort of solace that kept us grounded and comforted through the darkness. Now...the transitions were unbearably terrifying.
"What!" Jacob shouted, vibrating with anger. I flinched at his tone. "Isabella, surely there are other ways to do that," Sam sounded so distressed and it warmed me to know that some people cared. Although, I doubt it was enough to save me from myself. I'd always be buried in my misery at the bottom of a lake, looking up at the glistening sunlight and knowing I can't be a part of that world.
Night passed us by and I found myself listening intently to the stories the elders spoke of. It was fascinating and eerie all at once, but as I glanced at them and noticed the way their eyes lit up as they laugh with each other and teased like real siblings...I felt the light I had been longing for. No matter how tiny the flicker was, I felt as if I was defrosting.
But the embers of the kindle didn't do much for the tragic pain I was frozen in.
I would forever be lost.
"Why don't I walk you back to your place" Jacob suggested as we all rose from the drift wood. I smiled kindly up at him, "that's okay, my house is a bit far from here."
"No problem, I'm very fast," he grinned cockily and I laughed, a real sound of happiness. "He's not that vast," Paul muttered as he passed me and Jacob shot him a teasing glare. "Oh really? Well then why don't you come with us? I mean...if you're up for it."
"A race?" Jacob asked, excitement creeping out from his tone. "Bring it, moon-child," Paul reached out to ruffle my hair but I growled and moved passed him in a blur. Both he and Jacob were wide-eyed as they sought me out, and I cleared my throat to gain their attention. I smirked at their devious grins. "Follow me, pups."
"Hey! You're a wolf too," Jacob pointed out. I glanced back at Paul, "actually, I'm a moon-child," and then they morphed into wolves as I rushed off into the woods, waving bye to the rest of them. The elders nodded and the pack laughed as Jacob and Paul shoved each other to get a head start.
I heard the tearing of clothes behind me and looked back to find a large silver wolf flanking a russet one. I jumped over a large fallen tree and landed near a river, rushing across and dodging every branch and tree root in my path. The exhilaration of the speed made a tiny laugh bubble from my throat, and I heard a wolfy howl from behind me. I let loose a piercing howl of my own and watched as they barked in what appeared to be laughter.
As we neared my house, everything seemed to change.
As if a wall was placed in front of us, Jacob and Paul came to a short halt and I turned around in confusion. Their hair stood on end in a predatory way, and they crouched low as animalistic growls rumbled darkly through their bared teeth. I panicked slightly as my worst fear came true. Had they been playing me all along just for this moment? To get me alone and then attack me when I was vulnerable?
But then I sensed what had made them freeze. I smelled what they had already been alerted too, and felt my own fury evade my being. The sickeningly sweet aroma filled my lungs and made my entire body stiffen reflexively. Immediately, I knew.
Vampires were nearby.
But they weren't just any vampires. The scents were all mixed and there had to be about five of them, but then I smelled two very familiar aromas and felt myself grow numb. "The Cullens."
A/N: Sorry to leave you at such a cliffie, but I couldn't help myself and I didn't want to overwhelm my wondrous readers! Thank you to everyone who reviews, followed, and favorite my story! I absolutely adore feedback, and I hope to hear from more of you...because I know your reading this! Hahaha. See all my pack mate's next chapter!
-Victoria
IMPORTANT: I use the term 'cover your tracks' in this chapter, and it has a very important meaning. It goes along with the song from Breaking Dawn 2, so it's also why I named the chapter after it.
Lyrics to 'cover your tracks'-
Heart, cover your tracks
The blood that you spill will wash what you lack
Soul, sew up your wounds
Test out your engine
Give it some room
Mind, pick up your pace
Capture the thoughts you always chase
Soul, open your wings
Lift this cage higher than any dream
Cover your tracks
Sew up your wounds
Pick up your pace
Open your wings
Heart, flesh out your webs
The past that was tangled will unwrap & shed
Soul, sing out your songs
Clear out your throat. Belt it out strong
Cover your tracks
Sew up your wounds
Pick up your pace
Open your wings
