Unfortunately this chapter was planned to be far longer with much more happening, but I have been called away for work for the rest of the week and won't be able to write. I decided you would prefer to have this chapter now instead of waiting longer for it to be completely finished. I'll add what was supposed to be in this chapter into the next. That is why this one isn't as fast paced, mostly just a chat haha!

Lackofbetterchoice

xxxx

Chapter 10

They weren't too far ahead of me but even so I sprinted as fast as I could so I didn't miss what they were planning to do with Laurent. After a few minutes I could hear roars and what felt like crumbling rock and falling trees. I stopped and thought for a moment, deciding that a view from above might be slightly safer.

I climbed the nearest tree almost up to the top, just high enough so the leaves, branches and night would easily camouflage me. I started to skip lightly from branch to branch. I was careful to make as little noise and visible movement as possible as I slowly crept closer to the fight.

By then I had missed the majority of the fight but it was very clear what had happened and who had one as I could see familiar limbs twitching and moving on the ground. One of the wolves had dumped Victoria's body on the ground; teeth had clearly sliced through her torso. None of the wolves seemed hurt and simply stood in a circle looking at each other from time to time.

Even in wolf form I could tell what they were doing, the silent looks and gestures showed me that they were having a conversation in their minds. I'd seen Angel do this and then later I saw Edward do the same. These erasers could be mind readers. The thought made me freeze on the spot, wondering if they could read my mind. But I had been watching them for a little while and surely if they could hear my thoughts they would have acknowledged my presence by now.

Suddenly one of the wolves began to transform. My eyes widened as I watched dark brown fur recede into its body and tanned skin appeared to replace it. The body became smaller and less threatening as claws and teeth almost disappeared in a matter of seconds.

I didn't hear the usual cracking and melding of bones struggling to change and pop into place, nor did I see veins and skin bulging painfully in places they weren't supposed to. Unlike the eraser transformations that haunted my childhood, this shift was finely tuned, smooth and seemingly painless. The outcome was a tanned, muscled with dark hair and a wolf tattoo on his arm.

Sam.

Automatically I started to turn my head away, as he was also completely naked. I forced myself to get over my slight discomfort and concentrate on figuring out what was going on.

"I'm going to search the woods, try and find the girl and see what she knows. She can't have gotten far." Sam suddenly said to the rest of his pack.

It took me a moment to realise that they were talking about me. They didn't know who I was and obviously didn't know what I could do since apparently I 'couldn't have gotten far'. Ha, that's what you think wolf boy, I thought.

One of the wolves seemed to protest, swinging his head from side and a small growl forming in his throat.

"I know she has a history with bloodsuckers but..." He shrugged, "We can't just leave her in the forest scared to death. She won't know what saved her and I'll just pop along as a hiker and help her out."

One of the other wolves with grey fur turned and walked over to the tree. I froze, not even daring to breath and my mind started debating my fight or flight options. But the wolf stopped at the bush at the base of the trunk and fished around in it with his nose. A moment later he delicately pulled out a pair of grey tracksuit bottoms and with a flick of his head, threw them over to Sam. Even though it was obvious they didn't know I was here, I didn't dare relax until the wolf had returned to the rest of the pack, his back turned to me.

Sam slipped into the trousers, "Good forward thinking, I owe you one. You guys take care of the bodies and we'll meet tomorrow night. We also need to pay a visit to Jacob soon and see how he is doing."

Jacob's name set my heart racing once again. What the hell was going on? Suddenly I couldn't watch anymore. I had to get out and try to make sense of what had happened.

I left before Sam did, turning gently and hoping once again from branch to branch. The further I got away from the group the faster I went until eventually I dropped to the ground and started to sprint. I wanted to fly away but my wing still throbbed and I didn't want to risk hurting it more in case it was sprained.

They didn't know who I was. They just thought I was an ordinary girl. What were they? A new generation of erasers? Or something else? Something stronger? They obviously knew about vampires so did they know the Cullens? And what about Jacob? Why the interest in him?

These questions plagued me as I ran and by the time I reached the house I still couldn't answer them all. The first rays of sun were beginning burst over the black horizon to slice through the darkness and make my dew soaked surroundings gleam. Dawn had come; I had been gone for hours.

Although the sun was here, I couldn't feel any warmth from it. My skin was like ice and soaked with dew and sweat. I comforted myself in the fact that at least I wasn't bleeding but you know it's been a rough night when that is your only comfort.

I let myself in quietly through the back door into the kitchen. Jeb always told me off for leaving it unlocked but I always replied that if someone really wanted to get in then a glass door wasn't going to stop them.

The clock on the wall told me it was half past six. I threw myself down on a chair at the table and allowed myself to finally relax. The newspapers were still laid out all over the table, the headlines clearly visible in the growing light. I realised that this story was only scraping the surface of something far bigger and more complex than a rogue wolf.

I shrugged myself out of my hoody and stretched out my wing. It ached and throbbed but I could still move it, so nothing was broken. I decided it was just slightly twisted and in a few days it would be fine.

I put two chocolate pop tarts in the toaster and poured myself a soup bowl of cereal. My body almost went on auto pilot as my mind still mulled over the events of tonight. I didn't even notice Total slip through the door until he spoke.

"Busy night?" he asked, eyeing my clothes and my large breakfast almost suspiciously, as if debating whether he wanted to know the answer.

"You have no idea." I replied.

It was almost half eight by the time I had explained everything to Total. He barely interrupted my story but was clearly as shocked as I was at what had happened. When I was finished, I felt spent and in need of a cold shower.

"Okay, so first of all let's forget about the eraser, wolves, whatever they are and focus on the vampires."

I had pretty much forgotten them for most of the night and it was only now that my attention was properly brought to them. "They weren't alone, that's for sure. They were way too confident and kept referring to their 'leaders'."

"You should have tried 'take me to your leader'." Total said trying to throw in some humour but neither of us managed to laugh.

"I don't think this new coven of vampires want me dead." I paused and sighed, "Yet, but it's only a matter of time to be honest. I have a feeling that killing their members is not going to go down well."

"So what do we do? Leave town?"

Both Total and I stayed silent for a while. On the run again, never settling, bringing death to those around us. Neither of us wanted that for a life anymore.

"If we stay here more vampires will come and the town folk might suffer because of it." Total pointed out.

"Then we stop them, we go meet them or do something or..."

"That could be suicide." Total cut me off sharply. "You have no idea how many are after you and even if there wasn't that many it doesn't matter. You need allies, you can't do this alone."

I snorted. "Where the hell do expect me to find allies?"

"We could find the Cullens," Total mumbled in response, as if I wasn't supposed to hear it.

I gave him a steely look. "Not a chance, Total. Don't even think about it."

"You said the group were looking for them as well,"

I didn't reply. I didn't want them here, I didn't need them.

Total sighed, "Fine, what about these erasers then?"

"They aren't erasers." I replied. The more I pictured them and the more I thought about it, the more sure I was. They weren't erasers, not in the School sense anyway. These were very different werewolves.

Sam was obviously the leader of the pack and it was definitely him I saw the night the Cullens left, which means that there have been werewolves around for a while. The attacks only started a little while ago, so I decided to put the responsibility of the hikers deaths on the vampires not the wolves. So if Sam was the leader then the rest of the pack...

An image of the 'gang' Jacob and I met flashed into my mind and Jake's words floated into my head.

"There's a lot of legends of where our ancestors came from but the main one claims that we descended from wolves, or men who could turn into wolves."

The gang is the pack. The legends are true.

"Max? Are you listening to me?" Total's voice broke my train of thought. I had completely zoned out on my thoughts.

"Nope,"

"Well I'm glad you're taking the situation seriously. I was saying that-"

"They are real werewolves. Like from the Quiluete legends." I cut off.

Total just stared at me in response.

"Proper werewolves," I repeated. "Not even related to erasers."

"You've got to be kidding me," Total rolled his eyes.

"Why is that hard to believe? After all we've been through with vampires, werewolves aren't exactly a huge leap of faith."

"I don't find it hard to believe, I just wish it wasn't true, that it didn't make almost perfect sense. We can't just have a normal explanation for things and live a normal-ish life."

"We are mutants Total...I don't think we're allowed."

Total sighed, "Well what now?"

I thought for a moment, "I think I need to pay a visit to Jake and Billy. The pack clearly wants Jake to join them and even if he doesn't know anything about werewolves I have a sneaking suspicion that Billy might."

"What do you think will happen to Jacob?" Total asked hesitantly.

My hands clenched into fists as I thought about our conversation at the café. "He's made it clear that he doesn't want to join them and I won't let Sam force him into joining their little pack. I'll protect him."