On the thirteenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…
THE THIRTEENTH CHAPTER O' VULNERABLE.

Two quick notes, though. (Or three?)

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-ooo-

"Carlisle!" Esme rushed to him, throwing her arms about her husband. Almost grudgingly, the blond wrapped an arm around her waist. It wasn't like he hated her; he'd just begun to find Jacob so much more intriguing and – to put it bluntly – warm. Still, Carlisle held her tight as she murmured about being worried.

He looked around, honestly curious. Edward was watching his father, so golden eyes lock with gold as the younger man tried to read his mind. Nothing was there, save for the slight worry Carlisle had allowed to slip by. He was talented at blocking his thoughts off after a century of practice.

"Victoria," the younger Cullen stated, "Alice had a vision that she was near Forks, so we chased after her." Carlisle's eyes flicked from Edward to the others, taking in the defeat written across their expressions.

"She escaped?"

"She ran off into their lands," she replied with a solemn nod, "Emmet tried to follow, but one of them stopped him…she was alone, but…"

"But so was I, and you all worried about me?"

"Well I-I couldn't see into your future. It was just…blank. Were you around one of the wolves?" Carlisle allowed neither an expression nor a loose thought to show itself, keeping up his façade perfectly.

"No, we were a little overwhelmed at the hospital and even though my shift had ended, I couldn't decide on whether to stay or go. I chose to stay, obviously, but then there was the matter of choosing patients and such…everything's been a last minute decision for the past few hours. But that was then. I'm fine, now, so we should continue the search for her." he finished, finally dropping his arm from Esme's waist. The others agreed and all seven of the Cullens dashed out to the forest, following the faint scent of a certain redhead...

About a Week Later, Right After Forks High Graduation

"They'll be here in four days," Alice said. The Cullens knew what her vision had foretold and the way Edward held Bella entirely too close assured the wolves that whoever "they" were, they were a force to reckon with.

"This could turn into a bloodbath," Carlisle frowned, feeling a mild sense of panic begin to rise through him. Their family would be futile against an army of freshly made vampire. Jacob could see the concern and fear flick across his boyfriend's face and strained to keep his thoughts away from comforting the blond.

"By the way, the army's coming and there aren't enough to protect the town," Jasper pointed out. Not only would they lose their lives, they would risk the lives of the entire town.

"Hold up," Jacob stopped them, his interest having been piqued, "What damn army?"

"Newborns. Our kind." Though Carlisle had responded, he wanted Jacob to stay out of this. He couldn't bear it if something happened to the teenager. No, he needed to calm himself and keep his thoughts in line.

"…what the hell does this mean?" he finished once the doctor focused in.

"It means an ugly fight, with lives lost." The few seconds seemed an eternity as gold hues met brown in a pleading attempt to convince him to back down.

"Alright," the werewolf answered without looking away, "We're in."

"No, you'll get yourselves killed. No way, "Bella insisted. Carlisle would have sighed in relief had it not given him away. Instead he nodded slightly, as if respecting the girl's decision. Jacob wouldn't dare to defy her, no matter how he felt about her nowadays.

"I wasn't asking for permission," he all but growled. His man was going to be in danger. The teen would let hell freeze over before he let Carlisle get hurt. Golden eyes watched him steadily, wearily. Why couldn't Jacob simply understand that it was too dangerous? No, he had to jump in without thinking. It was in his nature, as the vampire leader was all too aware of.

"Jacob, do you believe Sam would agree to an…understanding?" If his mate was going to fight, then he had better get the entire pack involved. There would be no stopping the younger man though, that was for sure.

"So long as we get to kill some vampires," he said, though he immediately felt ashamed. Carlisle would be disappointed in him for such a lie. In reality however, he was proud of him for keeping up the appearance that he still hated all vampires.

"Jasper?" Now relaxed, even hopeful, he turned to the youngest vampire.

"They'll give us the numbers," Jasper nodded, "and newborns won't know they even exist. It'll give us an edge."

"We'll need to coordinate." He'll be damned if he doesn't prepare Jake to fight what could be his most difficult opponent ever.

"Carlisle, they're gonna get hurt!" Bella objected with wide, panicked eyes.

"We'll all need some training," the blond continued, practically ignoring her now futile attempts at logic, "Fighting newborns requires knowledge that Jasper has. You're welcome to join." His eyes were still locked with those of his lover and he swore he could see excitement jump across those chocolate hues.

He would get to spend more time with Carlisle – yes, even if he had to pretend they hardly knew each other and he had to constantly keep his mind in check. He would get to see him work, see him fight, see him take down his enemies. Perhaps it was a wolf thing, but Jacob thought that such a sight would be incredibly hot. He panicked for a quick second and glanced over at Edward. Good, he was focused mainly on Bella. He probably hadn't heard the thought, but he could definitely tell Carlisle later. In the meantime…

"Alright…Name the time and place."

Towards the end of their practice session thing…

"No," Jasper huffed, "Jacob why don't you go sit with Bella if you won't do this right?" The teenager, in his werewolf form, growled and stood his ground. The vampire shook his head with a sigh, but attacked again. Rather than going easy on him and slapping his paw, Jasper hoisted him up and threw him against a tree – although that was incredibly kind compared to what the newborns would do to him.

Upon impact, Jacob whimpered and thought about transforming back to give this man a mouthful, and maybe a good punch to the face. But no, he couldn't. He had no clothes to change into and they'd all see him naked. Completely naked…

"Carlisle," Edward sighed, "He's doing it again." The blond held back the smile that twitched at his lips. All throughout his training, Jacob would allow his mind to slip and excused it as his adrenaline rush getting the better of him. This upset Edward greatly, as he could hear and see everything the werewolf was thinking. The pack may have been used to it, but he certainly wasn't – and the particular image of Jacob standing "majestic and proud" in the buff was fairly disturbing to him. Carlisle had been chastising the wolf, obviously intending to be a sort of leadership figure.

"He doesn't mean to, I'm sure. Do you, Jacob?" he flashed over, patting the creature's haunches. Jacob nodded, wishing the man would pet him. As a wolf, he had certain weaknesses. If someone started rubbing his stomach, then he was sure to surrender any dignity or dominance he had.

"See? He just needs to learn to curb his energy, I'm sure."

"Really? 'Cause I'm sure there has to be some sort of medical condition about it," Emmet laughed, "The guy must be nuts."

"Do you think it warrants some examination?" Carlisle frowned, feigning concern.

"If it gets his mind off of his own nudity, then fine," Edward sighed, obviously exasperated. Bella laughed slightly at him. This all would normally embarrass the teenager, but he was too excited by the aspect of seeing his man alone and too busy trying to keep from thinking about it.

"Then I'll check it out tonight. Come to the hospital, Jacob, and we'll see what we can do." He offered him a flawless smile, one faced only towards him.

At the Hospital

"Come in," Carlisle called, leaning against his desk. Now fully clothed, the werewolf strode into his office casually. Without a word, he shut the door and locked it with a calmness that the blond had never witnessed; frankly, it scared him. But as soon as the teen turned around, he saw the hunger he'd been waiting for all day. As Jacob rushed over to him, He moved back to sit on his desk, legs spread for the younger man to stand between.

With a ferocity never before seen, Jacob shoved his lips against the vampire's chilled ones, working quickly. His tongue forced itself into his mouth, ravaging everything from the roof of it to the underside of his tongue. His hands slid up the man's thighs to his hips, then as quickly as his werewolf speed could allow, he ripped Carlisle's shirt open, sending the unfortunate buttons spilling onto the floor. The doctor realized how heated this was getting and tore his lips away, though the warm ones tried to follow.

"No," he murmured as the desperate lips moved to kiss and nip at his neck, "Calm down, Jacob. This can't get out of h-hand." His voice quivered when hips and a rather blatant, forming erection ground against his groin.

My, he thought, one would think he was in heat.

"Seeing you…fight like that…I couldn't help it…I wanted you so badly…Carlisle," he whispered among his rain of kisses as they travelled back up to the lips. Carlisle found it impossible to resist, as he'd missed this boy for the past week and a half. They had been too busy preparing their clans for the attack to go on their dates.

"…just keep our pants on, then," he conceded, his own hands finally finding something to do by lifting the t-shirt off of tawny skin and across the room among a few of his lost buttons. The werewolf smirked and pushed Carlisle down so that his back was against his desk. It wasn't the most comfortable of positions, but with the way Jacob was lavishing love and lust onto him, he was sure he could manage.

-ooo-

Happy Holidays, you guys~!