Thanks to everyone who is reading. As always, I don't own Twilight, etc...
Sam POV
The training was more informative that I had anticipated. For one thing, I had greatly underestimated the Cullen family in the aspect of fighting. I had always been confident we could take them out easily, with no serious injury to any of the pack. Now, however, I wasn't so sure. They were all impressive fighters, even the prissy blond girl who looked like she belonged in a mall somewhere, picking out 200 dollar shoes, not fighting on a battlefield. I was particularly impressed by Jasper. Carlisle wasn't lying when he had said his son had experience. He wasn't the biggest of them, or the fastest, but he knew what he was doing.
After several hours, the only member of the Cullen family not to practice fighting was Kira. She sat quietly next to Bella, her eyes only half open, like she was falling asleep. But she wasn't, I was sure of it. She watched every move they all made. Every motion was being carefully analyzed and remembered. You could tell by her eyes, they were so focused, even with them being only half open. Jasper waved in Kira's direction.
"Your turn, darlin'." He said in a southern accent I hadn't noticed before now.
Kira jumped up like a kid who had been sitting in the corner of the room in a time out and had suddenly been told she could go out and play. Her eyes sparkled as she made her way to Jasper. I still couldn't get over how massive she was. I was betting she wasn't the fastest animal around, but she made up for it in sheer size and brute strength.
As it turned out, I was wrong.
Kira charged Jasper, faster than I had thought possible. She wasn't as fast as the wolves in my pack, but it was still impressive considering her size. Jasper darted out of her reach, but not by much. They did a similar dance as the other fights we had witnessed this evening, but it was more like what happened when one of the pack was fighting a vampire. She kept to his side, never really charging face to face, staying out of his reach. Suddenly, she snagged one of his legs with her teeth and flung him several feet away. She followed the flying vampire and was instantly on him, her sharp claws pinning down his arms and her teeth around his throat, not quite touching the skin. After a few seconds she removed her mouth from his throat, licking the side of this face like a dog would do when greeting his master, which caused all the vampires to laugh.
"Take note of what she did, guys..." I thought to the pack. "That is how you're gonna want to fight the newborns. You can't let them get a grip on you."
I heard a number of agreements and saw a few nodding heads, then returned my focus to the field. By this time, Kira had shifted back to human, offering a hand to her father, not that he needed it. It was interesting. Her clothes shifted with her.
"Excellent take down, sweetie." Jasper complimented, taking her hand and returning to his feet.
"What can I say, I learned from the best." Kira replied. The two returned to their family, arm in arm.
At this point the sky was starting to lighten. Dawn was near. I stood from where I had been laying, stretched, then approach the group of vampires, Jacob close by my side. Jacob was annoyed with the newcomer, since she spent the entire evening sitting next to Bella. Apparently, he had planned to sit next to her during the training. Personally, I think it was a good thing for him to stay away. It allowed him a better view of the training. If he had sat next to Bella, he wouldn't have paid any attention at all. He can still sit by her tomorrow, since I planned to have only 2 or 3 wolves participate. With the newborn vampire army getting closer each day, I figured it would be safer for the rest of the pack to either be patrolling or resting up. The vamp with the visions could be wrong, after all.
I approached Edward. "We need everyone in the pack to get the scent of everyone in your family. It will prevent any accidents during the fight." I thought to him.
"That's a good idea." Edward turned to the Doc and explained my request.
The vampires lined up and the pack each took turns getting the scent of each vampire. I was at the end of the line of wolves and I stopped in front of Kira.
"I'm fairly certain you don't need my scent to recognize me from the other white tigers slated to be there." She joked. smiling down at me.
I chuckled and shook my head.
"He would like to invite you over to the reservation tomorrow." Edward translated. "You are the only other shapeshifter he has ever met outside of his pack. He is curious about you."
"I don't know..." Kira deliberated, turning to look at Jasper and Carlisle.
"I will personally guarantee your safety." I thought to Edward and he translated.
Jasper just shrugged his shoulders. "It's up to you. You're a part of this family, so the treaty holds true to you as well as any of us. If he invites you over, he's obligated to ensure your safety as long as you don't start anything."
"He is correct." I confirmed.
Kira looked down at me, obviously considering my request carefully. I expected nothing less. It was true, I was very curious about her and the Elders would surely be curious too. As far as I knew, no one had ever met another shapeshifter. And this Kira wasn't like us. She didn't shred her clothes when she phased. They just disappeared when she was a tiger and reappeared when she changed back to human. I also noticed her transformation seemed to be far more peaceful that that of my pack. Our phasing was violent and painful if you tried to prevent it. This was just a few of the million questions I had. Many of which I got from the thoughts of the rest of the pack.
"Well, in that case, I accept your invitation. Where and when." She asked, a hint of excitement showing in her eyes. She seemed to be just as curious about us and we were of her.
"Around 1pm. There is a place between the territories where I met up with Carlisle yesterday. Your family can show you the way. I will have one of the pack waiting to bring you in." I looked at her while Edward translated.
"Sounds like a plan. I should be awake by then." She smiled. "I'll have someone run out there and let you know if I'm not awake in time. I have been up for almost 2 days, ya know."
I nodded my head, then turned to join my pack. We headed back towards the Reservation.
There was various jibber jabber on the way back. Some were excited about the coming fight, while others were curious about the new shapeshifter in town. I noticed a few were still sulking about having to sniff all those vampires. I couldn't blame them. Vampires had that sickly sweet smell that you just couldn't get out of your nose. Then there was Jacob. He was sulking about the Bella and Edward situation. He was hopelessly in love with the girl, but it was obvious she was just as hopelessly in love with Edward. Sometimes I just wished Jacob would imprint already and move on. Not that I thought of such things when I was phased.
When we arrived home, I told everyone to phase back to human and to go get some rest, except Jacob and Embry, who would be patrolling. I also stopped Seth before he could follow behind his sister.
"Seth, I want you to go out and bring Kira in tomorrow."
Seth did a little salute. "You got it boss."
"I'm not your boss, kid."
"You got it all mighty Alpha, sir" Seth saluted again and headed off home.
I could only roll my eyes as I watched him walk away. He was a good kid. Since his father died, he had gained an exuberance and loyalty towards the pack...particularly Jacob. I kinda admired his enthusiasm. That's one of the main reasons I asked him to bring Kira in. He was one of the most expressive wolves I had ever seen. The others in the pack had a way of relaxing around his happy antics and I hoped he would be just as soothing to Kira. I wanted her visit to be relaxed. Even though she wasn't a vampire, she was still a member of the 'enemy'. For some reason, however, I got a feeling that she was important to the pack in some way.
I sighed and made my way home, where Emily was waiting. I hoped she'd be OK with company for lunch tomorrow...
To be Continued...
