Following the moon – Chapter 7

The worry of the past two weeks showed on everyone. Carlisle had been tracking down anyone new in the area and looking for anyone acting aggressively, Edward had been doing the same and the wolves had been watching all the walkers in the area.

Alice had been watching her visions for anything unusual, but as no decisions were being consciously made and with the proximity of Jake's pack, it was a remote possibility that she would see anything.

Jasper had been researching more about the power of werewolves but it seemed to vary so much that a reasonably accurate picture was hard to make.

A few days before the full moon was due, there was another meeting to discuss any news, this time held at the wolf camp.

"We don't know anything more than we knew before!" Jake said venting his frustrations

"We have learned that there have been a few groups of drifters in the area recently, any of these people could be a pack. It is most likely to be one of the groups that we've seen in the area. They are being watched. Nor have we seen any major changes in behaviour from anyone we know of, there has been no increase in the reports of violence through the hospital either. Edward has been talking with the police in the area"

"They have not seen anything unusual either other than reporting a couple of minor disturbances with the drifters and as Carlisle said, they're being watched."

"What does all this mean, what do we know? Can we deal with the problem or not?" Jake almost shouted

Edward made a pointed reply "We know that we need to calm down and think about this. The werewolves are unlikely to be known in the area and that we need to be very careful if we find them"

Carlisle nodded "As you all know, I don't agree with the taking of a human life, whether they are aware of what they do or not, in this case there is too much risk to all of us to let them continue."

Leah had been ominously quiet during the short but heated confrontation, a situation she would unusually have turned to her advantage, or at the very least used to make a sniper like attack on the Cullens. This was not lost on Jake when she actually spoke "Carlisle, how does the virus spread. We've all heard the stories about being bitten etc etc but as the world is not overrun with them I assume this is either wrong or grossly exaggerated?"

Carlisle looked at Jasper "I think Jasper can answer this one better than I, he has been doing most of the research on this."

Edward heard Jasper's mind muttering that he would never be as knowledgeable as Carlisle. He was obviously uncomfortable with everyone watching him. Edward moved closer to Jasper and patted him encouragingly on the shoulder. "Go ahead Jasper" he said softly.

Jasper cleared his throat and spoke in a low soft voice "the stories seem to be accurate, well, consistent at least. The reason the world hasn't been overrun as you put it Leah, is because there are very few attacks which do not result in the death of the victim, these are so rare that most of the werewolves are thought to have the virus passed to them hereditarily".

"So what happens if one of them bites one of us?" asked Leah looking engaged in the conversation

"Well, there has only ever been one account of a vampire being bitten by a true Lycan, none of shape shifters being bitten. In your case we can only assume that the effect would be comparable to a shape shifter being bitten by a vampire, basically, not very nice, rather painful actually and without a happy ending, again, judging by the rare accounts of it happening. Bearing in mind most of those stories were passed down verbally by your clan for a number of generations before being committed to paper".

"And the vampire? What happened to it?" Leah asked

"Well, again, an assumption based on what was recorded and what we now understand, the viruses from the werewolf and the vampire fought within his body, neither was strong enough to win, in his case. From his view point, it was like being turned into a vampire, over and over again. Eventually he killed himself as the pain became too much to bear, even for his vampire body"

The vampires in the room looked bleakly at Jasper, the wolves looked almost disinterested, all except Leah. "Well, we'd better not let that happen then!" Leah said jovially, apparently trying to lift the mood in the room.

Jasper looked at his adopted family and with a single thought pushed out calming emotions, the faces around him lightened a little, enough. "Thank you Jasper" Carlisle and Bella whispered almost in union. Edward just nodded.

"We know where they'll be, or at least have a good idea of their routes. We should have the advantage in numbers, we know this thanks to Seth's dedication in tracking the scents from the area..." Seth smiled like he'd just won the lotto at being picked out and praised. "we have a good idea of numbers, either four or five, certainly no more than that. Armed with this information I think we have enough to set up a plan of attack. I've been to the area and there is a lot of good places to ambush them as they come past."

"What if they don't come, or only one comes, that's not a plan, it's a recipe for a disaster. Back to square one, but with a bunch of these things running around the area and none of us anywhere Renesmee, or anyone else for that matter" Jake said

"It's the best I can come up with, other ideas would be welcomed." Jasper replied openly staring pointedly at Jake.

Jake sighed, knowing he had nothing else to offer but hating himself for not being more prepared for this. He hadn't even been to the clearing since he talked to Carlisle. The past two weeks had been filled with a need to be near Renesmee, whether she knew it or not he had been within a hundred yards of her every moment for the last two weeks.

"OK then, if we don't have anything else to add I suggest we all head out to the clearing where they seem to travel in order to get our bearings. We'll do this once, and once only so be alert for everything. There is rain for the next few days which should dull most of our scents but we can't risk them knowing we've been there until we want them too."

Leah nodded quickly and Jake moved the pack toward the door. "We'll meet you there" he said as he pounded out of the door still showing signs of his frustration. The last view from the kitchen window was five phasing shapes hitting the forest about six feet above the ground.

"Let's go" Edward said shortly. "I suggest we take the cars there to mask the scent we leave in the surrounding area".

Carlisle nodded "They'll need to be heavy duty"

"Got it covered" replied Edward.

The six of them split into the two off road cars Edward had had the sense to buy, one was a Jeep the other a Toyota pickup truck. Bella was reminded of the first trip her and Edward had made, out into the middle of nowhere to meet his family and play baseball.

The car was almost identical, usually the family would have travelled there by foot but in this case, there were reasonable roads which would reduce the time taken in the cars but more importantly it would reduce the scent in the area and there was a possibility the smell of the trucks would mask any scent left over from their visit. Edward, Bella and Jasper rode in the Jeep while Carlisle, Esme and Alice rode behind in the Toyota.

They quickly made their way to the clearing, negotiating the off road terrain easily, the bouncing of the trucks through the forest somehow added to the urgency of the trip but gave the family a chance to slow down to collect their thoughts.

They arrived at the clearing the springs of the trucks bouncing as they came to a stop in the centre of the field. They were aware of eyes following them, assuming they belonged to the pack the hopped out of the cars without a second thought. Five shapes bounded out of the forest running quickly toward them growling and bearing their teeth.

Edward stopped, looking at the large red brown wolf "Stop Jake, calm down. It's us, you know it is". The large wolf shook out his fur and snorted, the hackles of the other wolves lowered. And they resumed their tracking slowly moving away from the cars.

"Edward, what was that?" Bella asked in a hushed tone still stiffened from the shock encounter.

"It's alright Bella, Jake and the pack have been here a while, they were so intent on getting as much information as possible they had given over almost completely to their instincts. It took a moment for them to get back to normal."

"What does that mean Edward, they were like the werewolves?"

"No, Bella" said Carlisle "they were still able to control themselves, they stopped before Edward and Jasper calmed them. A werewolf would have made no such move, they would have stalked us then attacked instantly. This is the difference, the understanding that no one could have hearing the story, you need to have faced one to truly understand."

Bella looked questioningly at Carlisle raising an eyebrow "No" he answered "but I have read enough to understand that words alone could not bring across the experience. Besides the pack, werewolves are our only real physical equal in the world, they are to be respected."

"Respected, I really don't think so Carlisle" Bella spat

"Respected, not for what they do, but what they can do"

"He's right Bella, we must not underestimate this situation, anyone of us could be hurt and we don't know what the effect of even being bitten by one really is"

Bella looked at Edward and he felt the barrier rising again. He made no move to calm her this time. If they were to fight this they had to know the truth and they had to respect their enemy.

"Let's go, we need to look around and remember the area for next week, we'll be at a disadvantage if we don't and that's the last thing we need" Carlisle said, taking charge of the moment.

The Cullens nodded and moved out, looking at the surrounding area from every conceivable angle. They took to the trees and saw the clearing below, found rocky outcrops that they could use to their advantage.

They were all careful to stay reasonably clear of the pack as they went about a similar exercise. Understanding the area could be the key to winning the battle which was rapidly approaching.

The groups looked around the area for over an hour before believing that they knew the area well enough to get around under the stress of a fight.

Edward called Jake over, he lopped over without any hint of the previous hostility and Edward wondered if anyone in the pack would remember what happened later. "We need to clean the area, you guys head off and we'll meet back at the house"

Jake nodded and his eyes showed he understood. He and the pack moved as if one, melting into the forest. Edward could hear their progress for a short while, he looked at Jasper and smiled. "Time for some fun Jasper!"

The others looked on confused as Edward and Jasper rev'ed the trucks and launched over the clearing, swerving like maniacs, almost hitting each other more than once. After a few minutes as if choreographed they both drove toward the others and pulled hard on the handbrakes, sliding to a halt a mere meter in front of Carlisle and the ladies.

Bella tossed her head once tutting "you having fun? We've got problems here remember, we've got more important things to do than fulfil your need for a testosterone fix."

Edward stepped down from the cab of the Jeep "take a whiff" he said simply. Bella tuned her senses, the overwhelming smell of exhaust fumes fill the clearing, she could only just make out their faint scent under the torn up sods of grass but even then it was mingled with the smell of rubber and petrol fumes.

"OK then smart ass, lets go"

The Cullens climbed back into the trucks and headed home leaving the clearing for the last time before the full moon.