Disclaimer: I own nothing of the world of Twilight.

AN- Thanks for reading XD

Chapter 9

I woke up the next morning feeling a bit determined. I was going to avoid Embry for good. I mean—I didn't want to potentially hurt the guy (as if I, someone he had known for a few days, would even have any effect on him anyways) but he was transforming me into a completely new person. I liked my old self! What was wrong with the old me? I've had to deal with enough change already when I ran away from my home in order to keep from becoming some bloodthirsty vampires' next meal.

Biting back a feeling telling me that my problem really ran deeper than I expected, I crawled out of bed and shuffled across the hall to Renesmee's room.

I needed to run off my frustration. Last night (or morning technically since she tiptoed into the house at 3 AM), she had promised me we would go for a run together.

She was oud cold like a rock. Practically in a sleep coma.

"Wake up" I prodded as I gently shook her shoulder. I was usually the one to sleep in the most and I found it rather odd that she was still fast asleep. Jake must have tired her out.

"No…" she moaned. I pulled the blankets off of her in one swift motion, but she just curled up in a fetal position. She was not going to get herself up easily. I resorted to another tactic…

I poked her forehead repeatedly and made beeping noises.

"What time is it?" she grumbled, covering her head with a pillow.

"Already after twelve. Congratulations Nessie, you've officially slept in longer than me"

Her eyes bolted open and she sat up abruptly. "Oh gosh! I totally forgot about our jog!" I doubted we would do much jogging. I needed to full out sprint for a long while to clear my head.

She rolled off of the mattress and trotted over to her closet. She pulled a few hangers off a rack and then rifled through her drawers. I became confused when she started tossing some garments of clothing at me.

"What are these for?" I inquired.

She didn't pause her actions and just mumbled a reply in my direction "You can use those clothes to run in until you can buy your own." She took some more clothing into her bathroom and shut the door. I could her the rustling of fabric and knew that she was changing.

I looked down at my hands and found a light turquoise sports bra and black shorts. Both pieces of clothing appeared far too small to cover any body part. I frowned at them distastefully. "Renesmee, I am not going to be running through the woods half naked! Especially with wolf-shifters patrolling the area!"

She opened up her bathroom door and sighed, "The fabric stretches easily. You'll be appropriately covered. Trust me." She tossed a pair of plain white sneakers my way. I noticed that she seemed to have the same outfit on now as the clothes I held in my hands. Hers were purple and black rather than my blue and black ones.

I grumbled my way down the hall to my room and changed into the scraps of clothing. I figured that if we just 'happened to accidentally' run into the wolves, AKA Jacob, she wouldn't mind being caught looking the way she was…and neither would he. I slipped on the blue bra and was thankful that it had built in padding and under wire—I would have felt even more naked without them.

I soon found myself gliding through the dense forest with a giggling Renesmee not far behind.

We weren't far from her house, just a few yards from seeing the tree line actually. We sprinted in a wide arc, circling the property. The terrain was a bit bumpy and we had to jump over fallen trees and logs every now and then, but it provided the challenge we needed as half vampires anyways.

The first few laps were a breeze. Easy. However, after twenty laps I could now feel my muscles working hard to push my body. A dull ache was building in my legs and thighs and I welcomed the feeling. We both ran for just over an hour and I was pleased with the results. Running took all the stress from my body and left me spent with sore muscles, quivering as the adrenaline and endorphins coursed through my veins.

We trudged back to the house, breathing heavily and murmuring plans to go for long runs at least once a week.

As we strode into the kitchen, we discovered that the whole family had returned during our venture in the woods. Renesmee and I sat on the barstools and huffed in attempts to catch our breath. Esme placed a pitcher of ice cold lemonade on the counter in front of us. I gladly gulped down a tall glass while the family moved about.

Rosalie and Emmet went upstairs after murmured 'Hello's. Jasper, Edward, and Carlisle dispersed into the living room. Alice, Esme, and Bella were the only ones left in the kitchen.

"So May, would you care to inform me why I had a vision last night of you acting distant and awkward to a particular someone, a wolf perhaps? Hmmm?" Alice prodded. She obviously meant Embry.

I sighed as I poured myself some more lemonade and then held it to my forehead. The cool condensation on the glass felt nice on my skin. "Not really, but I suppose you wont let it go until I finally tell you" I grumbled. She just smiled innocently at me like a little child.

Setting the glass back on the counter, I spun around in my seat to face her. "I spilled ice water all over his crotch!" I blurted. Emmet roared out a laugh upstairs and I frowned. Bella looked at me with understanding and murmured how it was okay to be nervous. She explained how exceptionally clumsy she was as a human while she dated Edward.

I let out a groan, "That's the point! I'm never clumsy. At all! He made me all nervous and I couldn't stop thinking about how completely absurd the whole situation was. I mean, I was only here in forks for about a week and someone here" I shot daggers at Renesmee with my eyes "tries to set me up with her boyfriend's best friend and everything goes to crap!" I wailed.

Renesmee winced "Sorry about that. I mean, your only gonna be here for a month and I thought I would try to push things along to speed them up." Her words hit me like a giant semi truck…I was only going to be here for a month.

I sighed "Yeah, a month! What's the point of talking to some guy for one month, huh?" Recognition flashed over her features as my words set in. She didn't know that I hoped to stay here in town longer and get a job and apartment. Why would she try to get me interested in a guy if she thought I would only be here for a few more weeks?

"Look, I appreciate you trying and all, Renesmee, I really do. Embry is a nice guy to talk to and I get that—but I don't want to try to start a relationship this fast. I'd really like to spend my time here getting any help I can in my situation with those crazy vamps out to get me. I would also like to focus on my new friends here" I added gently as I nudged Nessie with my shoulder. Bella smiled our way as she saw that her only daughter was finally building ties with someone other than family or pack members.

My plan from yesterday afternoon crossed my mind at that moment and all thoughts of Embry lost my attention. "Hey Jasper?" I called out and he instantly flitted into the room.

"Do you think you could train me how to fight? Just a few moves here and there, some blocking skills, evasion techniques. I'd really like to be able to protect myself more efficiently against those creeps. Renesmee had told me that you helped teach her some things?" I left out the part where I planned to find a way to stay here in town after the month was over.

I figured that I should wait to tell them I wanted to get an apartment and job here. If I learned enough from Jasper by that time, I hoped to prove to them I wasn't weak. If I was going to be building a life in their town, possibly attracting malicious vampires to the area, the least I could do was hold my own against them instead of being a burden to the original family here.

He pondered my idea for a millisecond, all the time a quick vampire mind needed to mull thoughts over, and then he gave a curt nod. I beamed happily in my seat. Just then, Edward then flashed into the kitchen.

"May, this is a serious thing you're thinking about here." My eyes grew wide as I realized he could have heard all of my intentions. Would he disapprove?

He shook his head and went on "Fighting. It's a serious thing. You're only half vampire."

Jasper piped in "We can try to find your limits. Your strengths and weaknesses we can help you discover, but be careful. We don't want you to think you can handle rouge vampires if you really can't. We'll be honest with you when we find everything out. Okay?" I nodded.

"Okay. So, how about in an hour? We can start then and you'll have sixty minutes to recover from your run earlier" Jasper offered.

A large smile appeared on my face and I bolted upright from my seat, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" I squealed happily. I hugged him and then ran up to my room to change into more appropriate clothing to train in.

XXX

Sure enough, an hour later I stood in the backyard of the property in pants and a t-shirt with my hair in a high ponytail. Renesmee Sat in the grass off to my right with Bella and Edward.

Jasper and Alice were in front of me and they displayed different hits, blocking, and evading moves. I watched silently and filed away in my mind how the movements looked. Sure, for my eyes they were probably moving a lot slower than they normally would. Alice ducked, spun, and kicked Jasper in his chest but her grabbed her foot and pulled her to him. It was a move he would have definitely seen coming. He placed a kiss on her neck and murmured "I win".

She giggled, wriggled out of his grasp, and took a step back, "I knew you would have caught me" and then she moved back a few more paces to give him plenty of room to teach.

"Okay, so those were very simple moves, just to give you an example of what we can start with" he stated and I simply nodded, excited to learn. "We can start with defensive movements for now, I'll teach you how to block my hits."

He bent down and patted the sides of my ankles, telling me to move my feet farther apart. He then grabbed my shoulders gently and moved them back and to the side so I was upright and facing to the left slightly. Walking behind me, he nudged the backs of my knees with his feet so that they were bent a little.

"There, that is a more secure stance. If someone is coming at you from a side, you just twist slightly at the waist to face them better. If they're too far to a certain side, you move whichever foot is on that same side back a bit farther to accommodate. If they're coming at you head on, whichever foot is on your dominate side…I'm assuming it is your right side…you keep that foot behind you more."

I tried to memorize the feeling of the stance. It felt more grounded and easy to stay upright in an attack.

"Now", he said as he moved my right arm up in front of me "keep one arm blocking your neck. The other blocks your stomach." He moved my left arm in front of my torso. "Adjust your arms accordingly to fit your situation, but that position is a basic one."

For the next forty-five minutes Jasper aimed slow, deliberate hits in my direction. I knew he was going easy on me…by a lot, but we were just starting off slowly. Eventually I learned to block kicks, punches, and various onslaughts at a slow pace. Every once and awhile he would shout out "Bend your knees more!" or "Be aware of where your attacker's hands are at all times!" and the most occurring "Keep your feet firmly planted!"

His speed picked up slightly over the next hour—as did mine. He got in a few hits that I was unable to block and they stung a little, but I needed the motivation. My shoulders and the sides of my ribcage took the most blows. The more frequently he hit me, the more drive kicked in to my muscles. And the harder I tried, the faster Jasper's onslaughts got because my endurance would rise and he figured we would more on to a higher level of quickness and strength.

It was challenging.

By late afternoon, I was beat. My limbs felt like jell-o and a thin sheen of sweat covered my body. Bella and Edward had left long ago to the cabin and Nessie was at Jacob's house. Alice was the only one left of our audience and she would point out things to me that Jasper couldn't pick up on.

"Okay, you look like you were hit by a train. I think it's time our session ended for the day" Jasper stated lightly. He still held the perfection of a vampire. Not a hair was out of place on his head while my hair probably looked like a bird's nest.

I laid out on the grass and closed my eyes. My breathing was shallow and came out in loud huffs. My chest rose and fell quickly as I came down from my adrenaline high. I managed to nod in agreement.

"We can do this every day, or every other day if you need. We'll start off slow and work our way up in speed. I can keep teaching you to block, then eventually we can move on to escape tactics and minor attacking moves" he suggested. Right, minor attacks. I was beginning to realize just how weak I was compared to full on vampires.

"Jasper, please be honest with me", I murmured with my eyes still closed "could I ever actually hold my own against them" implying those creeps that came after me.

His silence was all the response I needed.

Was I fooling myself? How could I think I actually had a reasonable option in all of this? Fighting vampires! He must have felt my despair because he offered an answer "Maybe not now, you don't. But perhaps with more training, you'll be able to escape another attempt on your life and buy just enough time to get help…" I just nodded weakly.

"Would you like to come inside for something to eat, Dear?" Esme called to me. I mumbled out a "No thank you, Esme" and then I heard Jasper and Alice leave the yard to enter the house. I just stayed put, laying on my back with my eyes shut. I tried to get my mind off of how hopeless I felt and instead focused on the sounds of birds chirping cheerily and the dry autumn leaves rustling in the wind.

I should probably head inside for a shower, but I didn't trust my legs to carry me all the way up to my room just yet. The weather wasn't too chilly for Fall and I enjoyed laying in the grass. The longer I stayed, the more I put off thoughts of going inside. With a sigh, I found myself slowly drifting off into that place between sleep and consciousness.

I could still clearly hear the surrounding noise around me, but my thoughts were muddled and thick with exhaustion. I don't know exactly how long I stayed like this, but I suddenly picked up voices coming my way.

One voice was Nessie's and I assumed the deep voice I heard was Jacob's. He must be dropping her off from his house.

A third voice came out of nowhere. It was paired with a rich, warm laugh. I knew that laugh anywhere.

My eyes snapped open and I abruptly sat up from my place on the ground. My gaze landed on those light brown eyes of Embry Call's. He strode up to me, calm and collected. A lazy grin was on his face and he breathed out a "Hey, May!"

I stood up quickly and dusted off the dirt from my pants. "Hey, there Embry" I said slowly. Dismissively, I just turned to Nessie and asked her how her day went, focusing on her instead. She went on happily about how her and Jake had visited Billy (whom she explained was Jacob's dad) and they all watched TV together. Then later they walked around the reservation and eventually ran into Embry. I don't understand why he had to come back over here to the Cullens' place though and I became confused.

Speaking of Embry, he cleared his throat and spoke up "So, Ness tells me that you're training with Jasper?"

I glared at Renesmee and then turned back to him. "Yeah, just hoping to learn a few things. No big deal"

He nodded. "Well, if you ever feel like you need a break from all the training, you're welcome to come over to the Rez and visit the pack…" By the pack he probably meant himself. A part of me wanted to take him up on that offer, but I reminded myself that I had bigger things to focus on.

I decided to turn down the suggestion lightly "Sorry, I really need all the training I can get right now. I don't think I'm gonna have much time to go anywhere soon." I shrugged.

He frowned slightly and looked confused. Rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, he mumbled "Yeah, I understand. Just…just let me know if you need any help. Talk to Ness, she can spread the message to Jake and then he can reach me." I pressed my lips into a hard line and gave one curt nod.

He and Jacob turned to head back to La Push and I linked my arm through Renesmee's. I was about to step into the house when I heard my name once more. "May…" I looked back at Embry over my shoulder. "Be safe, okay?"

"Sure thing Embry."