Quirk of Fate

Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.

A/N-thank you for the kind reviews, Nikki

Part Twenty-Fight to the Death

Sam's body was as badly broken as Jake's had been after the newborn battle. This time however there was no Carlisle to help mend his bones to make sure they were setting right. When Leah and Seth had found him comatose not far from the treaty line, they had been forced to drag his heavy body through the forest toward safety resulting in more injuries. Sam had been unconscious the whole time, but now his body was trying to heal itself and he was jolted awake, forced to feel every bit of his pain and hurt. Sue Clearwater had done a quick assessment of his injuries, but she was no doctor, and there was no way they could get any type of medical help from the hospital.

"He has several broken bones; his left leg is the worst. From what I can feel I think it is broken in at least three places. He has broken ribs and it seems as if someone or something has slammed into his back, he has heavy bruising there and I'm worried about damage to his internal organs." Sue told Jake, Billy and Charlie in low tones. "I wish I could help him, I can give him painkillers and try my best to shore up his injured leg, but it may not heal right." She glanced worriedly behind at her daughter. Leah was by Sam's side; she was holding onto his hand and trying to wipe the sweat away from his forehead which was rolling into his eyes. He was in absolute agony, but his pride made him keep his groans to a minimum.

"I can't believe this has happened." Jake ran a hand through his hair. He was so tired he was having trouble seeing straight. "The smell of vampires is all over him. He must have been attacked by several, Sam is a strong fighter, they must have overwhelmed him. Bastards!" He swore.

"Keep calm Jake." Charlie warned him. The atmosphere in the room was tense and he didn't want to Bella to see her husband falling apart. "Is Sam conscious enough to talk?" Charlie asked Sue.

"Yes, but I would like to get some painkillers into him first. Let me set up a drip and we'll see." Sue hurried over to Leah and whispered in her ear. Leah instantly tightened her hold on Sam's arm; Seth came over to press down on his shoulders as Sue began to work on Sam's body, doing her best to make him more comfortable. As she moved his leg, Sam couldn't stop a painful cry from slipping out. Jake glanced at his father and Charlie before he went to help the others minister to Sam.

It was a good two hours before Jake was able to talk to Sam. Sue had strapped Sam's leg and pumped some strong meds into his system. It did little to ease the pain but doped him up enough to be able to find rest. Jake hunkered down by his side and looked into his pain filled eyes. "What happened?"

"I was ambushed on my way back here." Sam gasped. Perspiration beaded his body and he clenched his teeth to stop himself groaning. He saw an anxious Leah hovering nearby and he gazed at her sadly. It had hurt him to know that she had been the one to find him; it was ironic in a way. Sue had asked him quietly whether he wanted her to contact Emily but he had steadfastly refused. He was in no condition to face his imprint just yet. He kept his eyes on Leah as he continued to tell Jake what had happened. "There were five of them; they were experienced fighters, not like the newborns we fought in the past. Their leader Jake, his smell reminded me of Shannon. He wasn't like the other vampires. He had human blood in him, but he was the most vicious of them all. When he couldn't get any information out of me, he made the others hold me down before stamping on my back." Sam winced at the remembered pain and the vicious look on the white face of his assailant. His blue eyes had a touch of insanity shining in them as he attacked.

"God." Jake had to force himself to contain his wolf. This was proof, proof that Shannon's vision was coming to pass. The hybrid that attacked Sam had to be Nahuel, Shannon's sire. Bella had been told a lie, or maybe the Cullen's hadn't known the truth either. Vampires were devious, especially with each other, and lied constantly. "I'm sorry this happened to you, Sam. Rest now." He stood up and Leah quickly took his place.

Even though exhaustion was overwhelming him, Jake couldn't rest until he had spoken to the rest of the pack and put a plan of action in place. The threat was now close to home, and they all needed to be ready.

Another two days passed, two days spent in turmoil. Fear and anxiety dragged everybody down as the waiting continued. Sam slowly began to heal, his ribs knit back together and the bruising and cuts on his skin faded. But it looked like his leg would be permanently damaged. The bones had not healed correctly, just as Sue Clearwater had feared. She tried several times to re-strap the leg but to no effect. By the third day, although still in pain, Sam tried to use his injured leg, only to snap the same bones for a second time. He tried to contain his frustration as there was already so much going on, it was only Leah's presence which seemed to ease his vexation.

Jake and the pack continued to patrol, this time they stayed closer to home and patrolled in pairs. He made sure that a more experienced wolf was paired with Brady and Colin as neither of the youngsters had really seen battle like the others. Bella never left Shannon's side. Her daughter's fever was worrying everybody, it didn't dissipate as Bella's had and Sue began to wonder whether they had suffered from the same virus. This illness reminded them both of the last time Shannon's temperature had reached dangerous levels. It had been just prior to the attack by Jane and the Volturi guard. They wondered if there was a connection. Was the nearness of the new threat the reason behind the little girl's inability to recover? Neither of them knew for sure, but their worry increased with each passing hour that Shannon lay listlessly in the bed, not eating and barely drinking.

On the fourth day the wait came to an end. A howl went up from the furthest corner of the reservation. Paul and Colin had come across the remains of some unfortunate hikers who had crossed paths with the vampires. While they were preoccupied examining the immediate area they were suddenly set upon by the same group who had attacked Sam. The other pack members rushed to the scene, leaving Seth and Leah to guard the Black's house. Jake was the first to arrive on the scene. He was shocked at the number attacking Paul, and how he was even managing to stay on his feet as he whirled this way and that, his huge jaws snapping, his eyes alight with anger and rage as his sharp teeth bit into the flailing limbs of his assailants.

Colin was on his side, already beaten down by a huge ferocious looking vampire with a bald head and gleaming red eyes. He had broken Colin's back and the youngster was whimpering in pain. Jake let out a loud roar as he attacked the bald vampire, his teeth sinking into the cold one's neck and ripping the head from his body. He didn't have time to see where the head rolled, he was immediately set upon by others and he became caught up in a fight for his life as he ducked and dived, trying to avoid the fatal hold which he knew would be the end of him.

Everyone else stayed in the Black's house. The tension was rife. Seth was phased and guarding the outside while Leah remained in her human form inside. She couldn't bear to leave Sam when he was in such a vulnerable position. Seth could see the fight playing out in his head and he longed to join his brothers in ripping the interlopers apart. They were all on the scene now, fighting and battling the cold ones. There seemed to be more in number than Sam had told them about. He must have run into a small group of them. At the head of the fight was Jake and Paul, they made an amazing team as they battled the more ferocious fighter's, tagging each other and urging each other on. Nowhere in sight was Shannon's sire. Seth couldn't see the hybrid among the attackers and he began to wonder just where he was.

Bella sat on the bed, cuddling Shannon in her lap. The little girl was distraught. She had woken from a fitful sleep yelling that they were here, they were here! Bella had picked her up and tried her best to soothe her. Charlie burst into the room and joined his family. He looked helplessly at Bella as Shannon continued to scream over and over. In the end he embraced them both and they all rocked together as they waited desperately for news.

A smell wafted Seth's way. It wasn't something he immediately recognised. It was human, mixed with something else, something too sickly sweet. He was on the alert at once and left his post, creeping around the side of the house on silent paws, his nose quivering as it tested the air in front of him. Whoever was there was now very close. Why couldn't he hear them? Had they some special ability that kept them cloaked? His thought was brief as someone landed on top of him as they leapt from the roof, a cold pair of hands squeezed around his throat, essentially cutting off his airway. Seth began to choke as he gasped for air, his tongue lolled out of his mouth, saliva dripping from his jaws. His vision began to darken as his assailant put more pressure on his neck. After a few moments of desperate scrambling to get the person off of his back, Seth fell to the ground unconscious.

Shannon stopped screaming. Her vivid blue eyes widened as she threw Bella a look full of despair. "He's here." She whispered.

Bella and Charlie exchanged a worried glance. They got up from the bed, Charlie shielding Bella and Shannon with his body as they backed toward the door. Bella called out for Leah, but before the she-wolf could respond the bedroom window was kicked in. A blast of cold air rushed inside taking their breath away. Shannon began to scream again as she recognised the man from her nightmarish vision. His face was a mask of anger, insanity radiated from his eyes. Charlie kept in front of his family, but his frail human strength was no match for Nahuel. Shannon's sire smashed a fist in Charlie's gut sending the older man reeling. He then grabbed Bella by her hair and wrested Shannon from her grasp, before dragging Bella after him, Shannon wedged under his arm as he left the house through the broken window.

It began to rain heavily. The water churned up the mud as Nahuel ran fast across the open plains as he headed toward the forest. He knew the private army he had managed to raise were probably dead by know. He knew from the Cullen's what dirty fighters the pack were. The other nomadic vampires he had paid were just a means to an end. He needed this child; he needed this child's blood. That she was born of his flesh made no difference to him. He wanted one thing, and one thing only. To resurrect the mate that he loved beyond life, beyond death. Years he had spent being tortured by the Volturi demons after he had fled to Volterra to ask for their help in healing Serena. He knew how old they were, he knew they had hidden knowledge that they shared with no one. They had to help, they had to. He wouldn't, couldn't exist in a world that Serena didn't grace. He hadn't factored in the Volturi leaders sickening hatred for half breeds. They had used him, experimented on him, while Aro forced him to reveal the whereabouts of the other hybrids, forced him to show every single memory and thought he had ever possessed. Aro had learned about his daughter and the Cullen's deception. The Volturi leader's anger had known no bounds at the betrayal by one of his favourites. It had all kicked off then. The Cullen's were summoned to Volterra and Nahuel had been thrown into the dungeons until after months, years of torture he had escaped.

While he had lurked in the darkness, Nahuel had learned much. The other vampires thought he was nothing but a dumb animal and treated him as such. No the only use he was to them was the blood running though his veins. He was an anomaly. They took samples from him as well as from the baby that the Cullen's were invited to bring with them. Aro was very sneaky he didn't reveal to his former favourite Carlisle what he intended to do with the child. Not until they were in his clutches and they couldn't leave. Aro had managed to draw one vial of Shannon's blood before the pesky women in the Cullen coven had managed to pass the child to their human pet and allow her to escape with his daughter.

After much testing the Volturi found that Nahuel's blood was practically worthless, but his child, his only daughter, now hers was the miracle they were looking for, a miracle they wanted to keep from the rest of the vampire world. His daughter's blood could heal, it could heal not only humans but it had the propensity to give life back to those who were dead. When he had heard this news whispered amongst his guards in his dank dungeon, Nahuel had felt hope flare in his deadened heart. He had lost his sanity months ago, but in his darkened mind he began to plot and plan. He would get out of there and when he did he was going to find the demon child who had killed his beloved Serena, then he would use her to bring his mate back to life, and after that, he would kill her.

The rain lashed down on Nahuel and he roared at the angry sky as it matched the adrenaline surging through his veins. He had everything within his grasp. The pesky human who had stolen what was his had lost consciousness after he had beat her around the head to keep her quiet, she was a heavy burden he no longer needed to carry. He dumped her face down in the mud. Shannon wriggled in his arms, screaming for her mother, hearing her ragged voice only enraged him more. Nahuel forced Shannon to look into his cold eyes. "She is not your mother. My wife was your true mother, that woman is an imposter." He shook Shannon a little. "You know me child, you know who I am?" He demanded as he watched the frightened child shake her head. "I am your father, child. I have come back to claim what is mine." Nahuel roared in her face.

They were the last words he ever uttered. A large shadow appeared behind him, he dropped Shannon to the ground as he faced down the largest wolf he had ever seen. Its jaws were wide as it lunged toward him, its sharp teeth biting deep into his neck. The red fur along its back glistened, the large muscles tensing as it shook Nahuel like a rag doll and wrested his head from his body. Nahuel's head rolled along the muddy ground, his blue eyes wide in shock. He was dead.

Jake phased back into his human form. Paul had come with him and was holding a confused and frightened Shannon in his arms. "You're safe, chica. You're safe." He nodded at Jake as he began to jog back toward the Black's house. Bella had already been taken back there by Embry and the others.

Jake was now standing alone in the rain, the water dripping down his back, sliding between his muscles which bunched as he picked up Nahuel's head and turned it to face him. "She is my daughter." He growled. "Mine, you son of a bitch." With these parting words he slung the head on top of the body and set light to them both.

A/N-thanks for reading!