Vendetta

Jasper's snarl ripped through his teeth and echoed through the small room. He turned Alice to face him and held her bony shoulders in his firm grasp, "Where are they?"

Alice's eyes seemed like giant chasms in her tiny face, she answered in a defeated whisper, "I don't know. I can only see them when they talk to Bella".

So they were going to talk to me? "Where do I see them?"

"I think it's near the cottage, I could see rocks and trees", Alice's voice increased an octave, "I'm not sure! It's too fuzzy!" she nuzzled her face into Jasper's chest and he rubbed her spiky black hair lightly. Edward appeared at the door a fraction of a second later, followed by a trembling Jake and a composed Carlisle.

Carlisle spoke with total concentration, "Edward told me about the wolves, about the Alpha's 'gift'. He says the others could have their own gifts-"

"I couldn't read their minds exactly, but I could hear random thoughts; the girls seem to think in unison and the others weren't thinking about anything but destroying Nessie", Edward glanced once towards the room where Nessie was, a look of anger etched onto his face.

Carlisle continued, " If they plan to come here, we should meet them before they get too close; we don't want them getting near Renesmee again".

I frowned, deep in thought, and then darted out of the first story window, landing lightly on the soft grass beneath. Edward followed. Jake looked down from the window, "What are you going to do?" he was trembling more than before and the window frame was shuddering; I hoped he wouldn't smash it.

I answered as quickly as I could, "I'm going to meet them"

"Then I'm coming too!" Jake moved away from the window and I could hear his loud footsteps bounding down the stairs, he was beside me in three seconds.

"You can't come Jake, you have to take care of Nessie" I touched his cheek with my pale hand and pushed him slightly, urging him to go inside. He moved away and stood next to Renesmee who was standing in the doorway. I spoke quickly with no pauses, gathering my thoughts, "Carlisle should come with us", Edward nodded slightly at my side, "and Jasper too, he can calm them down if they get too annoyed. Esme should stay here, and Emmett. Rose too", I knew they could all hear me as I planned out my confrontation with the dogs that wanted to murder my daughter. I dashed to Renesmee's side and touched her cheek as I had with Jake; she shuddered slightly and replayed the scene at the beach earlier, I could tell that she was worried about me.

"Don't worry love, we'll be back soon", I kissed her forehead once and ran towards the stream. I was about to jump when a tiny, bell-chime voice sounded from behind me,

"What about me?" I turned to see Alice standing in the doorway with her arms folded across her chest, her eyes were dark and if she could, she would have looked ill, "Do you want me to stay?"

I deliberated for a moment, I didn't want to put her in harms way but maybe if she was near the wolves she would be able to see them better, "No, you should come". Alice darted to Jasper's side and he clasped her porcelain hand in his. Edward moved in front of our small group and spoke with a rushed voice, "These are not the wolves that we know, they are true werewolves, children of the moon. They think erratically and I can only determine a few of the things that they play through their minds. They are irrational and will act on instinct alone. Adam seems to have some sort of telekinesis; Carlisle said that it was rare, but he has heard of werewolves possessing gifts like ourselves. He also says that the others may have abilities of their own; we should be quick and careful and, if possible, pleasant. We don't want a fight on our hands"

Jasper spoke up, "And if it comes to a fight?"

Edward's answering tone was severe, "Then it is to the death. They cannot be allowed to reach Renesmee". I ground my teeth together at the thought of those strange teenagers ripping Nessie apart.

We ran through the forest towards our usually tranquil home. I wasn't even concentrating on the trees as they flew past with unimaginable speed, I was only concentrating on my husband rushing ahead of the group, towards the smell of dog.

We arrived at the cottage a minute after we had set off, although it still felt like too long; I needed to be doing something, to be spitting venom at the wolves, I hoped that my venom was like poison to them as it was to Jake. Edward stopped to the right side of our small home and Jasper and Alice followed; I trailed behind slightly, sniffing the air for any scent of the filthy wolves. They appeared then, this time only four of them, one of the girls was missing, I only hoped she wasn't planning on attacking us from behind. They stood in the shadow of the tall, thick trees, all with masks of what seemed to be amusement on their faces. I couldn't help the snarl that ripped through my tight lips. Jasper pushed the confused-looking Alice behind him slightly and crouched into a ready position, their emotions were obviously unstable.

Adam, the leader, stepped forward, his hands out in front of him as if showing us he was unarmed, "Why do you protect her?" he sounded genuinely confused, as though the safety of my daughter would not be high on my list of priorities, "You know that we will find a way to destroy her"

Alice hissed and Jasper edged forward, Edward moved a restraining hand in front of him, "Jasper please. We mean them no harm"

"So you have rethought your original view? You no longer protect the child?" Adam's voice echoed through my skull.

Edward's reply was a low growl, "No, we have not. I only mean that if you move on now, we will not have to harm you, if you wish to stay, however-"

"We wish to stay", Adam smiled, showing his gleaming teeth.

My vision went red; I was unable to think clearly anymore, I needed to attack him, to kill. I watched as his heart raced, the blood beneath his skin rippled slightly and his veins undulated with the extra pressure; the burning in my throat became unbearable, I needed blood, his blood, I would do anything to destroy him, to protect Renesmee, even murder.The need to dive forward and tear the young man apart was unbearable, I clenched my fists and prepared to launch at him. It was then that I noticed the blonde male, Elliot, staring at me with a wry smile on his smooth face. He looked amused, as if he was in on a private joke that nobody else was allowed to share. I instinctively threw my shield up, covering the four of my family that were present; at that exact moment my need to kill subsided, it was as though the fire in my throat had been extinguished somehow. I exhaled slowly and kept my shield up around us.

Elliot grinned widely, "I am sorry Miss. I just was just curious to see what yours was"

"My what?" was he talking about my ability?

"Your deepest desire", he rolled his eyes, clearly I wasn't understanding what he was trying to explain, "yours seems to be your need to kill, to protect your family", he was chuckling to himself when the leader spoke again,

"We are here to respond to our duty, and nothing is going to prevent that", Adam bowed his head in a gentlemanly manner, "we will do what is necessary to kill the girl"

"I won't allow it!" Edward crouched forward, his teeth bared, as did I. We would protect Nessie, no matter what.

Jasper spoke up, his skin shimmering oddly in the setting sunlight, "You cannot win, our family is large, we will all protect Renesmee", he snarled loudly when Adam simply smirked. That was it. Jasper sped forward like a runaway train towards Adam, his teeth bared and his fists clenched, he was almost on top of Adam when he suddenly slowed to a halt; he stood between the two groups looking back and forth and then he disappeared. He ran off into the trees, in the opposite direction to the house, without a word he was gone. Alice gasped once and then turned and ran back towards where the rest of our family were. I had no idea what was going on but somehow, I knew that Elliot was involed.