Something isn't right. I pace around in my kitchen, nervously twitching. Something is wrong, very, very wrong. Jessie and David are fine. Jessie just got back about an hour ago from work and David's been home most of the night. So who else could there be?
Embry. No! Stop thinking about him! I scream to myself. My knees give out and I curl up into a ball, clutching my hair with hysterical fists. I grind my teeth together, trying desperately to stop thinking of the man that's constantly been in my mind all day and night. Everything I think about or do some how ties back to him though. He's invading my thoughts and it's only stressing me out. Is he alright? Is he eating? What's he doing now? Is he thinking about me too? So many stupid questions that just wont leave my mind. What do I have to do to get my sanity back? I've been through so much shit that one person shouldn't deal with, and here I am, a single man infecting my mind and body, stressing me out like the world's about to end. What the hell is going on with me?
What if something is wrong? I always have had pretty good instincts, wolf or not, and I've always listened to them. Something could be seriously out of place, or someone in danger. Embry, my mind screams. I shake my head frantically and my eyes squeeze shut. Not just Embry though, what about the other wolves? I did make a pact to be allies, and I will keep up my end of the deal. Even if I don't want to.
I climb back to my feet and release my hair. My eyes lock on the sliding glass door and I move silently from my kitchen to the door handle. I purse my lips together and slide the door slowly open. The sky is dark and cloudy. It's always cloudy and it's night, so it should be dark and cloudy, but something's just off. I zero in on the sky, looking for what's out of place. It's dark. Too dark. Almost like it's warning something dangerous and foreboding.
I step out into the Autumn air and slide the door shut behind me, never losing contact with the sky. I inhale deeply and something faint is in the air. Strange and familiar, and unsettling. I know this scent from somewhere, but it's too far away for me to really say for sure. One thing is for sure though; it's setting me on edge. Just a quick patrol around the perimeter of the lake, maybe stop by the La Push boarder too.
I set off into the forest, not bothering to check if anyone's looking. It's late and Jessie and David are asleep-no one should be up and if they are they wont be able to see me. So I just explode off at an inhuman speed, weaving in and out of trees, ducking over branches, and jumping fallen logs and boulders. The smell though, the smell is still there. Still annoying me and lingering in the air. It's more concentrated now and it smells like something's burning.
I hit the boundary and skid to a stop, latching onto the branch to keep me still. I scan my eyes over the trees and through the darkness. Something is definitely wrong here, I can feel it. It's like a vibrating in my gut and goose bumps lining my spine. I inhale deeply, and analyze the scents in the air. Sweet maple trees, minty evergreens, earthy dirt, sweetness that faintly burns my nose. My body runs cold and my fingers crush through the bark and into the splintering wood. Shit. Vampires. And from the smell of it, a lot of them.
I brake off into a run and howl as loud as I can. I don't know if they know that the leeches are near, and I don't care. They know now and they know that so do I.
Answering howls echo in the air, edgy and frantic. They know about the blood sucker, that's for sure. I sprint through the trees, trying desperately to meet up with them. I haven't killed any vamps lately and my body's anxious to rip them apart. My face contorts into a snarl as the smell intensifies and I can faintly hear the snapping of wolf jaws out in the distance.
My heart stops as I hear pounding feet flying through the forest to my left, sweet bleach burning my nose. No! They broke through! How the hell did they break through? I dig my feet into the dirt hard and pivot to my left, exploding towards the disgusting leeches. I swear to you, if they even think of doing anything stupid with the natives I'm going to rip him to - . It's not just one. Shit. Fuck. Not now! I inhale again and press harder. There's two of them. Two freaking vampire broke through the other wolves. What the hell? They have to be gifted or something to break through the entire La Push pack.
Faint traces of wolf hit my nose and I can hear three heartbeats beating off in the distance. I snarl and snap my human jaws together. I can hear the vampires zoning in on the house with the three heartbeats. All girls. Two adults and a child. My mind flicker to Emma and I race through the trees at a blinding speed.
I brake through the trees into the large yard of the house and everything slows way down. Sitting on a small porch are two women, probably in their twenties, and a young girl, about nine or so. The girl is holding a mug with something steaming inside it. Their faces are all turned towards my left, eyes wide with confusion and slight fear. My head snaps to the left and I snarl as the two leeches come into view, ragged and wild, eyes darker then the sky. I jump between the girls and the leeches and take up a defensive stance.
The vampires stop fluidly and stand in a relaxed manner, like I'm not a threat. Well they're about to be proven wrong. The guy on the right smirk and his teeth glisten in the dark yard. His eyes are pitch black and his hair a sandy blonde. His jaw line is squared and his features sharp. It's disgustingly beautiful. And of course the scent that they're both exuding. Sweet bleach that burns my nose.
"Well, well. What do we have here, Alex?"
The man beside's him smirks as well, making me snarl at them warningly. They look the same except this one has long black hair pulled back into a low pony tail. "I'm not sure, Mark. Looks like the little puppy wants to play," he jokes, taking a step farther.
The girls behind me gasp and the mug shatters against the wooden porch. I growl and flex my fingers. "If you want to play," I snarl quietly, trying not to scare the girls more then they already are, "Then play with me."
The leeches look at each other and burst out laughing, doubling over and grasping each other's shoulders for support. I bite back a snarl and keep my ground, eyes focused on them.
"Oh, God! She's a funny one, Mark!"
The blonde smiles and stands back up tall. He nods at his friend and looks at me from the corner of his eyes. "To bad we aren't here to play." I stiffen and feel the tension build up in every muscle in my body. The bastards are going to pay if they even touch the girls. "We aren't here to cause any unnecessary trouble."
I scoff and my lips twitch. The black hair blood sucker raises his hands in the air, mockingly. "We aren't! We just want to have a quick meal and we'll be on our way." He flashes into motion and tries to pass me. I grab his arm as he passes my side and dig my fingers into his stoned flesh. He snarls in pain and annoyance and I fling him over my shoulder into the trees. I twirl around just as the other jumps into action. I pounce onto him and we wrestle for dominance.
A shrill scream shatters my mind and I phase on the spot, ripping into the vampire randomly across his body. I jump to my feet and jump blindly at the leech as he make another try at the girls. I dig my teeth into his shoulder and bite down hard. His head snaps back and he screams out in pain. Suddenly a heavy weight crushes my shoulder and pushes me onto my side. I dig my teeth deeper into the leech, not letting him escape even as I fall.
I roll over till my feet are beneath me and jump back up. My eyes lock onto the blood sucker, his eyes narrowed and his mouth pulled up into a snarl. I charge at him, dragging the leech in my mouth with me. We all collide and a loud booming noise goes off, like thunder striking in a storm. I release the leech and jump back. I take up my defensive stance between them and the girls.
They both jump up to their feet and growl at me, locking eyes with mine. I growl back, lowering my head slightly. The blonde snarls and wipes dirt off his shoulder. "I think we're gonna have to take out the she-pup before we have dinner."
"With pleasure," the leech snarls in response. I snap my jaws at them both. I failed to protect my pack. I'm sure as hell not going to fail twice. I will protect these girls. "Let me go first, my dear friend. She's starting to piss me off."
"Just leave some for me."
"Fine." He crouches low and explodes forward at me. I jump to meet him and we collide and tumble to the ground. I pin him down under my side, crushing one arm and legs into the dirt. Before I can even consider moving, the leech starts swiping at my back with his claws, ripping away at fur and flesh. Flesh burning I jump to me feet I fall to the ground as the other blood sucker jumps me. He pins me like I did with the other blood sucker and he constricts his arms around my shoulders as best he can. I whip my head around and clamp my jaws around his neck and jaw. He lets go like he's been burned and claws on top my shoulder. I release him and he jumps back, snarling and snapping his jaws like an idiot. I jump to my feet and whirl around just as the other vampire tries to jump on my back. I dodge his attempt and pin him on his stomach with my paws. Without even thinking, I lean over and bite through his neck and shoulder, severing his head completely from his body. He screams out in pain and his body, though in two pieces, struggle beneath me.
An angry roar catches my attention and I fling the head at the vampire to my right as he charges. He dodges, not quite expecting to have a flying head shot at him. But dodging was the wrong move to make. I whirl around and my jaws clasp tightly where his shoulder is. I snap down and his body falls to the ground with a heavy thud. The arm still twitching in my mouth. I toss it to the side and feel the wind knock out of me ass the armless vampire punches my ribs, cracking a few.
I fly back and land to the ground, shaking from the pain in my ribs and fighting down a painful howl. Instead, I roll back to my feet and stagger for a second. I snarl and snap my teeth loudly-anything to keep their attention on me and not the defenseless humans. Anything, even my own life.
The headless body wonders around aimlessly across the yard, trying to desperately find it's head and the armless leech snarls in rage and his eyes glisten with murder. I'm guessing they never had their head or arm missing before.
The armless leech attacks me again, but his rage and pride are making him sloppy. He flings his arm around like a rag doll and I just skirt away slightly, leading him farther away from the girls. Missing me only puts him into a greater rage and he screams in frustration. I snarl back and pounce at him. My front paws digging in painfully into his chest. He falls back to the ground and my head snaps up towards the other vamp. He's still wandering around the yard, but he's dangerously close to the girls. Digging my claws one last time for a good measure, I propel myself forward and sink my teeth into the vampire again, down through the center where the neck once was and just below the arm. I bite down and the arm falls off and I fling the body back over my shoulder. I pick the arm quickly up and toss at the body.
I look at the girls and I lock eyes with one. He face is horrified and frozen, three large scars on the side of her face. Deeply tanned skin with dark hair. I bark at her anxiously and she breaks free of her trance. Please understand what I need. Please oh god, I need something to burn these stupid leeches. What I would do for a fir right now. I bark again and I twirl around, not checking if she understands.
I jump over to the pile of vampire parts and continue biting and crushing with my paws and teeth. I can't have them putting themselves back together again and having to fight them all over again. It's practically impossible to fight vampires when you're out numbered, but they aren't very good at working together. If they just stopped to think, I could have been dead in under a minute. If they just worked together and double teamed me, I wouldn't even know where to start. But no, and thank goodness they aren't that smart.
I smell gasoline and a small match sparking to life. I bite down on the closest part of leech I can get and twirl around just as the scarred face woman tosses the match into the gasoline, a large flame erupting. She falls backwards from shock and the two girls scream.
I toss the piece in to the flames and begin working on the other pieces.
"Emily!" The younger of the girls scream, running over to her, the other woman hot on her feet.
"I'm fine, Claire, I'm fine," I sobs, not sounding fine at all. "Kim, just, just help me up please."
"Alright," the girl sobs. Claire, Emily, and Kim are their names. I toss another two pieces into the flame and I match the names to the faces. Claire is the youngest, probably around nine, with a long, dark braid behind her. She his large eyes and wet, thick lashes. Kim is probably in her early twenties with long straight hair. She, like the rest of the girls, is tanned and has dark hair and eyes. Emily is the easiest. The scars on her face and her slightly wavy hair make her stick out. She looks like she's in her late twenties, early thirties. They all have tears streaking and staining their faces and all look horrified.
