Author's Note

See, wasn't that fast? Hmmm…who's POV should we start this out with…? I know, let's use Alice! Mmkay, sounds bueno. Onward!

Chapter 9
APOV

Sitting on Esme's spectacularly white sofa in the living room with my beloved Jasper, I'm not expecting the blurred images passing in front of my eyes. I probably should have been expecting something. After all, ever since Bella became a part of our lives, nothing has been peaceful or normal, or anything resembling normal.

I suppose that seeing the blurred images themselves were not actually the surprising part. The shock is that they are blurred. I think I'm seeing a tiger running through the woods near our house. But how is that possible? And if it is, why am I seeing it at all?

Jasper of course notices the unusual stiffness of my stone cold body always accompanied by a vision. "What's wrong, Alice?"

"I had an unusual vision, that's all."

"What did you see?"

"A tiger. I think. It was very blurry."

"A tiger, Alice? Seth Clearwater said something about a tiger running around the Quileute reservation." Edward enters the room with Bella tucked into his side. They had recently returned from their honeymoon to visit Bella's father Charlie, and so had of course seen the pack as well.

"Yes, at least I think that's what it was. Should we go look for it?"

"Perhaps we should." Carlisle has joined our group assembling in the living room. "If it has come from the reservation to this side of the town, then there is a chance it will hurt one of the townspeople."

"Do we kill it?"

"I certainly have no problem with that."

"Awesome!" Emmet has entered with Rosalie trailing behind him from the garage. He of course is excited about the idea of facing up against a tiger.

Emmet, Jasper, and I leave the house, the others opting to stay busy at home. I don't have to be psychic to know how this will turn out.

EdPOV

With my arms wrapped around my sweet Bella, I laugh as Emmet, Jasper, and Alice leave the house; Emmet practically bouncing up and down with excitement.

I begin to walk with my Bella, headed for the stairs. I can sense her urge to check on Renesmee, and I am happy to oblige. We stroll to the stairs, fast for humans but slow for immortals, and I hear a strange and unfamiliar voice complaining in my head.

Ugh could these guys stink less?

My head involuntarily jerks up and I look outside through the wall of glass windows facing the north. The voice definitely came from the woods in that general vicinity. Who would be foolish enough to be wandering around our home alone? Unless it's one of the wolves. That would certainly explain why they can smell us. Quickly I run through Alice's vision, trying to discern something from the blurred figure running faster than any normal creature possibly could. A sick feeling of dread settles in my stomach as I realize that Alice, Jasper, and Emmet have just gone looking to kill a tiger that might not be a tiger at all. It could possibly be one of the pack.

I rush to the door, explaining myself to Carlisle as I run, gaining farther ahead of him with every few steps, Bella following after. I certainly hope that none of them attack before they realize that a new wolf has shifted. What other explanation could there be, after all?

A few minutes later, I hear Emmet's thoughts a few seconds away from me. I listen to him as he pounces on the animal, hitting its head and knocking it unconscious before it has a chance to defend itself. When I reach him, he is staring dumbfounded at the ground, a shocked expression contorting his features, and I glance down to see what has surprised him so.

I feel my own jaw drop as I look at the girl laying prone, naked on the dirt floor surrounded by a bed of leaves with her long hair framing her face. My Bella wraps her arm around my own, and I look to her to see her own surprise. Carlisle arrives a few seconds later; disturbed, I'm sure, at all of us for simply standing around staring at the poor defenselessly naked child lying before us.

Though in my own defense, I'm only staring because she's human; not because she's naked.

At least that's what I tell myself. After all, I am still male.

Carlisle strips his jacket from his shoulders and covers her with it, lifting her in his arms and running back to the manor. The rest of us follow closely behind him, with the exception of Emmet who goes to retrieve Alice and Jasper. They are awaiting us at the mansion when we arrive, and I see Jasper smirking at Carlisle's condemnation and Emmet's admiration for the girl's nudity. I may have to mention that to Rosalie later, if only for entertainment value.

Carlisle takes her to his office to make her comfortable while the rest of us stay downstairs. I can hear almost everyone pondering over the situation, including Emmett whom I pay the most attention to as he replays the events of the last fifteen minutes or so in his mind.

So the girl being a shapeshifter is not in doubt; she had in fact been feline when Emmett had attacked. I only hope now that when she awakens, she can understand that as easily, and hopefully have a reason as well for provoking the wolves as I'm assuming she has been.

I ponder why the girl would be venturing so close to our home when she obviously knew what we are, and I find it disconcerting… unless she had a death wish. If this has all been some elaborate plan to kill herself, I'd say the girl's plan has backfired as she'll soon be waking with nothing to show for her acts but a very large bump on the top of her head and, if her thoughts from before are to be any indication, a need for noseplugs.

EmPOV

I'm restless, twitching; not the angry shivering usually proceeding an involuntary phase, but shaking nonetheless. My wolf side is begging me to stand and shift, to run through the trees at a breakneck pace, just for the hell of it.

My human side disagrees, knowing that to change now would be a mistake, especially knowing that the pack would catch wind of my plan the second I phased knowing how nervous I am.

Erin wouldn't change her mind, would she? Can I blame her if she does? I am asking her to leave everyone and everything she knows for the sake of keeping a secret. Is it worth it?

Of course it is! With Sam being as volatile as he has been lately, and Jake still unsure of his role as Alpha-but-not-quite-Alpha, who knows what would happen if other shapeshifters were discovered. The least possibly damaging thing that could happen would be to have another treaty drawn, which would affect our northern borders. The worst possible thing would be for the council to put shapeshifting tigresses on their extermination list.

Bam Bam Bam Bam Bam

"Embry are you in there? Embry, if you're inside we need you to come out, now! There are vampires at the northern border, and they aren't of the friendly neighborhood variety."

I'm up and running to the front door before he finishes speaking, and I speed through, locking it as I go. When I'm out, Quil and Jared run with me through the town until we reach a small residential street that backs out into the forest. We race through the trees and phase, attaching our shorts to our ankles, before heading to the northern borders.

I can hear Quil and Jared running slightly behind me, and Leah outpacing us by miles coming from farther back. Paul, Jake, and Sam are facing the northern border, growling and barking at the two approaching vampires. The vampires, in turn, seem not to notice, or at least not to care. They continue toward the pack at a deliberate pace, not even pausing at the sight of the giant and obviously territorial wolves. A human follows closely behind them, keeping a pace the same as her immortal comrades.

Through Paul's eyes, I can see Leah join them at the front line, crouched low and ready to spring at them at any second. They do pause at the sight of a fourth wolf, or perhaps because she is female. At any rate, it does not slow them for long and they continue to amble closer.

Only a few feet left before we can dispatch them; only a few feet left until they are officially off Makah lands. My heart shudders and skips a beat, thinking of Erin alone and unprotected. She isn't defenseless to be sure, but definitely not trained for killing bloodsuckers.

Brady, Colin, and Seth are at Emily's place, watching over Emily and Kim. Their worry pans over me, and I can feel the adrenaline pushing me even faster, rushing me to get to the crossing line.

The two leeches, one male and one female, probably a mated pair, continue to approach the wolves snapping and snarling at them.

Leah is obviously looking forward to killing them the most, seeing as she is the wolf most enthusiastically licking her chops and grinning a very wolf-like smile as she barks and growls, bearing her teeth as a sign of warning. Not that she really cares about warning them, but it is a standing order for all of us to do so. I don't really understand why, but Alpha's orders…

Paul is almost as enthusiastic as Leah, chomping at the bit like a dog on a leash, whining and pawing the ground, wanting them to hurry up so that he can sink his teeth into one of their necks and rip out the throat.

Jake and Sam merely bark and snarl, set to their duty and unwilling to hesitate or appear too eager to fight. I am within minutes of reaching them, Quil and Jared maybe a few minutes behind me when I hear Sam's voice in my head.

Quil, I want you to patrol the rest of the border; make sure there aren't anymore coming in. If you see anything or smell anything, let us know. Take Seth with you; the two of you can cover more ground that way. I'd send Leah, but seeing as how she's already exposed herself… We all hear the censure in his voice, even as Leah lets out another bark and swishes her tail angrily. Her every muscle is tensed and ready to spring.

Embry and Jared, stay hidden in the trees. A show of force is important, but we don't want to show them all of our power yet. With these wimpy leeches, it could mean they run North and we don't get the chance to kill them. I hear Paul let out a very high pitched whine at that, and the human girl looks at him closely, still walking directly to him. Suddenly, my world narrows, and I stare at her, perplexed. I realize that I am still looking at her through Paul's eyes, and I glance at her from Sam's perspective. Nope, no world-narrowing conflicts going on there. So…did Paul just imprint on the girl?

I arrive at the clearing, staying hidden by a conveniently planted bush, I see for myself the three figures coming out of the fog, as though from some creepy mystical dream. The woman to the far right looks above us all, somewhere in the trees.

This complicates things a bit.

Jared and I pace back and forth in short circles, hidden from view by the tall brush. The leeches stop just at the boundary line, amazing because they couldn't possibly know where it is. They stand there and stare at us, making great statue impersonations. For minutes they refuse to so much as twitch, and my nerves, already electrified, now stand up and shout at me, urging me to do something.

The male positions himself in front of the females, looking over the four wolves in sight and smirking. Finally, just when I'm about to break, the man starts to converse with the woman on his right.

"Vat do dey feed the vildlife here in the peninsula, eh Gretchen?"

"I am not sure, but I tink they vould make great pets, no?"

"I tink dey might. Should vee try to capture von of dem? It vould of course need to be housebroken."

"That vould be von-der-ful! Could I have de small grey one dere? It looks so charming."

Charming? Just try to pet me, and I'll damn well show you 'charming'.

Calm down, Leah.

"Of course, my dear. And you Staci? Vould you like a pet?"

I see her eyes connect with Paul's for just a second, before she looks away and glances at the man to her right.

"No, Vlad. I don't want a pet. If you don't mind, I think I'll sit over here while you and Sweetie play roundup."

At least Paul's imprint isn't into slavery. That's something, right?

I can almost hear Jake rolling his eyes.

Her accent is different from the other two. While their accents sound European and leave me thinking of that Dracula movie with Hugh Jackson, hers reminds me of old John Wayne movies.

Sam chokes on a bark, an image of the Gretchen woman with wings playing the redhead from the movie dancing around in his head.

The male, Vlad, turns his attention to Sam and smiles evilly. "I tink I vant dat von der."

"Excellent…May ve keel dem now?" The redhead asks her question in an unnaturally high pitched voice, gesturing to Paul and Jake.

"Absolutely my dear. You keel de von standing closest to your pet, and I vill kill de scruffy von. Alright, Sveetie?" I cringe at his words, waiting for Sam to give the order to kill them.

Alright, here's the deal. Jared, when they attack, I want you to go after the female with Leah. Paul, go guard your imprint; make sure she doesn't escape. Embry help Paul. Whatever you do guys, don't get killed.

Everyone agrees, and just in time because the two leeches jump suddenly, crossing the border, and with it their only chance of escape. Stupid leeches.

I jump to follow orders, helping Paul keep the one woman cornered by a tree. She seems unconcerned, watching her friends being torn to pieces by the same wolves now keeping her in place.

When the vamps are sufficiently torn to bits, Jared shifts back to human. When he does, the remaining vamp lover finally gains some interest. When he lights the remains of the two leeches on fire with the lighter he keeps in his pocket she gains some fear in her eyes.

Normally, I would relish her obvious sudden comprehension, but all I seem to be able to focus on is Paul's unsurity about how to proceed.

Jared finally puts some shorts on, much to all of our relief (especially Paul's). He turns to the last girl and says: "So you're name is Staci?"

"Yes." Her voice like melted honey, I watch her eyes shift and her tongue dart out to lick her lips as she glances at all of us wolves, narrowing her eyes on Paul and myself.

"Let me just say, you are probably the luckiest wannabe bloodsucker to ever walk the Earth."

"If you're refferin to yer performance of a few minutes ago, I certainly don't think that would qualify to make me the luckiest anythin. I've seen better."

Jared blushes bright red, and Jake laughs in his wolf's body, sounding as though he's choking to death. I would be worried if I couldn't hear his huge guffaws in my head as well. Staci apparently understands that he finds her amusing, because she graces him with a smile, and her ethereal beauty enchants me for a second, before I shake it off. Damn, if I didn't know Erin…

I'll be sure to let her know you said that, Embry.

Something drifts up to my nose, probably dust particles, and I shut my eyes, trying to breathe through my mouth instead of my nose. Too late, I sneeze, saliva shooting from my snout and spraying Staci with dog snot. Leah cracks up at this, and Staci does not look amused.

"I was referring to the fact that as of this second in time, you are not going to die. Congratulations."

Her eyes confused, she tilts her head as if to question him, but he's already stripped his pants and returned to wolf form.

Jared, watch your smart mouth.

Yeah, boss.

Paul, phase with me. Embry and Jake, guard her on the way back to my house. Leah and Jared, go run the perimeter; double check Seth and Quil's line then meet up at my house with them. Everybody understand?

Nods of agreement bob up and down the disconfigured circle we are standing in, and Leah and Jared dart off into the trees while Sam and Paul transform to speak with Staci. Jared and I move in close to guard her, and Sam interrogates her. Good to know someone has a plan I suppose…

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-three years."

How long have you been staying with the vampires?

"Staying with them? I suppose that's one way to consider it. I've been their prisoner for the past two months."

Paul simply stands and stares at her, practically drooling all over himself. Maybe he should have stayed a wolf so that it would at least look normal.

For her part, Staci's eyes return to him after every question, only leaving his body when she gives a monosyllabic answer.

Author's Note: For all of you peeps who are sticklers to sticking to what actually happened in the story- yes, I'm aware that Paul has actually already imprinted on Rachel. I get that. Moving on... Please review and please tell me what you did/did not like so that I know if I need to work on something. Good news? I'm already typing up chappy 10 so check back in a week or two for it! Also, add Erin Kerzaih on Facebook (you know you want to!)

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