SIX

"That was the story of the spirit warriors," Old Quill began. "This is the story of the third wife's sacrifice…"

"Many years after Taha Aki gave up his spirit form, when he was an old man, trouble began in the north, with the Makahs. Several young women of their tribe had disappeared, and they blamed it on the neighboring wolves, who they feared and mistrusted. The wolf-men could still reach each other's thoughts while in their wolf-forms, just like their ancestors had while in their spirit forms. They knew that none of the number was to blame. Taha Aki tried to pacify the Makah chief, but there was too much fear. Taha Aki did not want to have a war on his hands. He was no longer a warrior to lead his people. He charged his oldest wolf-son, Taha Wi, with finding the true culprit before hostilities began."

"Taha Wi led the five other wolves in his pack on a search through the mountains, looking for any evidence of the missing Makahs. They came across something they have never encountered before – a strange, sweet scent in the forest that burned their noses to the point of pain."

I noticed Bella shrink into Jacob's side, I partly wanted to roll my eyes at her. She wouldn't be 'scared' so long.

"They did not know what creature would leave such a scent, but they followed it."

He didn't have the same rhythm of Billy's voice, but there was a fierce edge to it. It caused the blood to pump in my veins a little quicker.

"They found faint traces of human scent, and human blood along the trail. They were sure that this was the enemy they were searching for. The journey took them so far north that Taha Wi sent half the pack, the younger ones, back to the harbor to report to Taha Aki. Taha Wi and his two brothers did not return. The younger brothers searched for their elders, but only found silence. Taha Aki mourned for his sons."

I felt sadness wash over me.

"He wished to avenge his sons' death but he was old. He went to the Makah chief in his mourning clothes and told him everything that had happened. The Makah chief believed his grief, and tensions ended between the tribes. A year later, two Makah maidens disappeared from their homes on the same night. The Makahs called on the Quileute wolves at once, who found the same sweet stink all through the Makah village. The wolves went on the hunt again. Only one came back. He was Yaha Uta, the oldest son of Taka Aki's third wife, and the youngest in the pack. He brought something with him that had never been seen in all the days of the Quileutes - a strange, cold, stony corpse that he carried in pieces. All who were of Taha Aki's blood, even those who had never been wolves, could smell the piercing smell of the dead creature. This was the enemy of the Makahs."

Although no one said it outright…we had an idea of what it was, and though I was hot blooded due to my wolf blood, my blood ran cold.

"Yaha Uta described what had happened: he and his brothers had found the creature, who looked like a man but was hard as a granite rock, with the two Makah daughters. One girl was already dead, white and bloodless on the ground. The other was in the creature's arms, his mouth at her throat. She may have been alive when they came upon the hideous scene, but the creature quickly snapped her neck and tossed her lifeless body to the ground when they approached. His white lips were covered in her blood, and his eyes glowed red. Yaha Uta described the fierce strength and speed of the creature. One of his brothers quickly became a victim when he underestimated that strength. The creature ripped him apart like a doll. Yaha Uta and his other brother were more wary. They worked together, coming at the creature from the sides, outmaneuvering it. They had to reach the very limits of their wolf strength and speed, something that had never been tested before. The creature was hard as stone and cold as ice. They found that only their teeth could damage it. They began to rip small pieces of the creature apart while it fought them. But the creature learned quickly, and soon was matching their maneuvers. It got its hands on Yaha Uta's brother. Yaha Uta found an opening on the creature's throat, and he lunged. His teeth tore the head off the creature, but the hands continued to mangle his brother."

I shivered, I knew only too well how quick they could be. My mind flashed to the intruder, is shivered recalling the night so vividly.

"Yaha Uta ripped the creature into unrecognizable chunks, tearing pieces apart in a desperate attempt to save his brother. He was too late, but, in the end, the creature was destroyed. Or so they thought. Yaha Uta laid the reeking remains out to be examined by the elders. One severed hand lay beside a piece of the creature's granite arm. The two pieces touched when the elders poked them with sticks, and the hand reached out towards the arm piece, trying to reassemble itself. Horrified, the elders set fire to the remains. A great cloud of choking, vile smoke polluted the air. When there was nothing but ashes, they separated the ashes into many small bags and spread them far and wide - some in the ocean, some in the forest, and some in the cliff caverns. Taha Aki wore one bag around his neck, so he would be warned if the creature ever tried to put himself together again."

Old Quill looked over to Billy, and Billy had pulled out a leather necklace and from its end was a small bag, blackened with age. A few people gasped, I was able to hear a few people swallow hard too. If they didn't believe the legends now…well...here was living proof.

"They called it The Cold One, the Blood Drinker, and lived in fear that it was not alone. They only had one wolf protector left, young Yaha Uta. They did not have long to wait. The creature had a mate, another blood drinker, who came to the Quileutes seeking revenge. The stories say that the Cold Woman was the most beautiful thing human eyes had ever seen. She looked like the goddess of the dawn when she entered the village that morning; the sun was shining for once, and it glittered off her white skin and lit the golden hair that flowed down to her knees. Her face was magical in its beauty, her eyes black in her white face. Some fell to their knees to worship her. She asked something in a high, piercing voice, in a language no one had ever heard. The people were dumbfounded, not knowing how to answer her. There was none of Taha Aki's blood among the witnesses but one small boy. He clung to his mother and screamed that the smell was hurting his nose. One of the elders, on his way to council, heard the boy and realized what had come among them. He yelled for the people to run. She killed him first."

I saw it in the fire, and winced at the sight.

"There were twenty witnesses to the Cold Woman's approach. Two survived, only because she grew distracted by the blood, and paused to sate her thirst. They ran to Taha Aki, who sat in counsel with the other elders, his sons, and his third wife. Yaha Uta transformed into his spirit wolf as soon as he heard the news. He went to destroy the blood drinker alone. Taha Aki, his third wife, his sons, and his elders followed behind him. At first they could not find the creature, only the evidence of her attack. Bodies lay broken, a few drained of blood, strewn across the road where she'd appeared. Then they heard the screams and hurried to the harbor."

"A handful of the Quileutes had run to the ships for refuge. She swam after them like a shark, and broke the bow of their boat with her incredible strength. When the ship sank, she caught those trying to swim away and broke them, too. She saw the great wolf on the shore, and she forgot the fleeing swimmers. She swam so fast she was a blur and came, dripping and glorious, to stand before Yaha Uta. She pointed at him with one white finger and asked another incomprehensible question. Yaha Uta waited. It was a close fight. She was not the warrior her mate had been. But Yaha Uta was alone - there was no one to distract her fury from him."

"When Yaha Uta lost, Taha Aki screamed in defiance. He limped forward and shifted into an ancient, white-muzzled wolf. The wolf was old, but this was Taha Aki the Spirit Man, and his rage made him strong. The fight began again. Taha Aki's third wife had just seen her son die before her. Now her husband fought, and she had no hope that he could win. She'd heard every word the witnesses to the slaughter had told the council. She'd heard the story of Yaha Uta's first victory, and knew that his brother's diversion had saved him. The third wife grabbed a knife from the belt of one of the sons who stood beside her. They were all young sons, not yet men, and she knew they would die when their father failed. The third wife ran toward the Cold Woman with the dagger raised high. The Cold Woman smiled, barely distracted from her fight with the old wolf. She had no fear of the weak human woman or the knife that would not even scratch her skin, and she was about to deliver the death blow to Taha Aki."

I had gooseflesh on my skin, as I waited for him to continue.

"And then the third wife did something the Cold Woman did not expect. She fell to her knees at the blood drinker's feet and plunged the knife into her own heart. Blood spurted through the third wife's fingers and splashed against the Cold Woman. The blood drinker could not resist the lure of the fresh blood leaving the third wife's body. Instinctively, she turned to the dying woman, for one second entirely consumed by thirst. Taha Aki's teeth closed around her neck. That was not the end of the fight, but Taha Aki was not alone now. Watching their mother die, two young sons felt such rage that they sprang forth as their spirit wolves, though they were not yet men. With their father, they finished the creature. Taha Aki never rejoined the tribe. He never changed back to a man again. He lay for one day beside the body of the third wife, growling whenever anyone tried to touch her, and then he went into the forest and never returned."

"Trouble with the cold ones was rare from that time on. Taha Aki's sons guarded the tribe until their sons were old enough to take their places. There were never more than three wolves at a time. It was enough. Occasionally a blood drinker would come through these lands, but they were taken by surprise, not expecting the wolves. Sometimes a wolf would die, but never were they decimated again like that first time. They'd learned how to fight the cold ones, and they passed the knowledge on, wolf mind to wolf mind, spirit to spirit, father to son. Time passed, and the descendants of Taha Aki no longer became wolves when they reached manhood. Only in a great while, if a cold one was near, would the wolves return. The cold ones always came in ones and twos, and the pack stayed small. A bigger coven came, and your own great-grandfathers prepared to fight them off. But the leader spoke to Ephraim Black as if he were a man, and promised not to harm the Quileutes. His strange yellow eyes gave some proof to his claim that they were not the same as other blood drinkers. The wolves were outnumbered; there was no need for the cold ones to offer a treaty when they could have won the fight. Ephraim accepted. They've stayed true to their side, though their presence does tend to draw in others. And their numbers have forced a larger pack than the tribe has ever seen."

My mind flittered to the Cullen family, they were the coven that made the treaty with Ephraim Black.

"Except, of course, in Taha Aki's time, and so the sons of our tribe again carry the burden and share the sacrifice their fathers endured before them." He finished with a sigh.

There was much sadness in everyone's eyes. Save for one.

"Burden," Quill scoffed in a low voice. "I think it's cool."

Seth nodded, his eyes wide with pride. Billy chuckled and the atmosphere changed and soon it was just a circle of friends, the conversation light and teasing. It was amazing how things changed. Thinking it over someone in my family was directly related to the elders. Meaning I was related in some way, shape or form, with Sam, Quill, or Jake. I didn't stay too much longer, Jake gave me and Bella a ride back to the treaty line. Edward was there in all his shiny Volvo owning glory. He paid me no attention and went straight to Bella. I said a goodbye to Bella, but honestly I don't think she heard me. I sidestepped around the pair and the car and began my trek home. The air was chilly and wintery, whether it was from the stories or the weather I wasn't cold per say, there was a chill in my blood. The Third Wife's sacrifice echoed in my mind, she was brave, and selfless. However when I looked over at Bella, she seemed to be mulling the stories over in her own mind a different light. I was no mind reader, but I could see the clogs turning.

Shaking my head, I kept my sense around me sharp. I had a sinking suspicion that Edward had failed to tell his brother that the bonfire was done. It began to drizzle as I came up the road where my house sat. I glared up at Bella's bedroom window where I'm sure she and Edward were cuddling as I walked by their house. My house, was dark, but the living room light was lit, as I came in the kitchen door I noticed a letter on the coffee table. It was from mom, the gist was that she missed me and was sorry we missed each other. She was actually getting ready to go down to the bonfire when she had received a call from Seattle. They were desperate for more help, and although we weren't desperate for the money, money was tight. So she headed back up to Seattle. I shivered slightly and locked up the house, vaguely musing that a locked door or window wouldn't deter anyone who truly wished to come in.

I changed into my pajamas, warm pajama bottoms and a thin-long sleeved shirt and huddled into my covers. While I hadn't been home in a while, the familiarity soothed me. Looking around in the darkness of my room…I had a strange sense of foreboding over me. Something didn't settle right, and honestly I didn't like that even here, I didn't feel safe.

Something was coming.