Lunar Ascension

Chapter 20: Circle The Wagons

Disclaimer: All things in the Twilight universe belong to Stephenie Meyer and her publishers. The song and lyrics belong to the band and their representatives. Any other copyrighted material included in this story belongs to their rightful owners. Cheers ma dears! Rated M

I trust in you, Way too fast
Didn't think you'd do me like that
I put my trust in you, Way too fast
You didn't even say goodbye
Way Too Fast by Active Child

"Wait," I said quietly as the voices in the room all spoke over one another. "Guys?"

They continued their battles of wisdom as Travis and I stood to the side, watching with confusion, they were all talking so loud and so quickly, the words were beginning to blend into the same sound. It was just a murmur of noise that made no sense.

"CULLEN'S!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. When all of them went silent at the same time, my ears rang with it. "Thank you! Shit you guys get loud. Listen, I didn't catch anything of what you just said, it was like the fucking dictionary projected itself into a tornado of vowels and consonants. But you're all forgetting something here."

"What's that?" Carlisle asked, stepping toward me, curiosity clearly written on his features.

"You want the pack to fight with you, you're going to need them all, and with the threat on me, and while they know that the Volturi are after the kids, they won't be willing to leave their mates in La Push. We all know Aro is greedy, but he's not stupid. Leaving the reservation unmanned is going to put all of the mates in danger."

"This complicates things," Jasper said rubbing his head. I could imagine the glut of emotions in this room would be enough to make him sick.

"My dad's down there," Bella piped in.

"So is my whole family," Jacob added with concern.

"They have my brother," Travis finally said, and in that one moment all of my attention was on him.

My hands cupped his cheeks and directed his aimless gaze on me. It was the first time throughout all of this I wished things like my pregnancy could have been put off. My vengeance and anger all made me wish for a moment alone with the red eyed freak so I could shred him into a thousand pieces, burn his ass and piss on the ashes.

"We'll get him back."

"There's no guarantees," he said quietly. "I did this, I told him to come here, Leah. This is my fault."

"No, baby, they thought he was you, that Luciano guy alluded to the fact they'd been watching him for a while. If it's anyone's fault it's mine. I'm the one that brought all this on you two."

"If we're playing the blame game," Edward said gently as he approached us and put a hand on each of our shoulders. "Then we were the ones that put you in the Volturi's path, they wouldn't have known you existed if you hadn't have stood behind us."

"And . . ." Bella added, but I put up my hand to stop her.

"This is Aro's fault, his greed extends long beyond most of your timelines," Carlisle said quietly. "It was only a matter of time before he came after us as a family, we'd grown too large and he saw it as a threat. He knew of our gifts and he coveted them for his dreams of grandeur. He is the sole blame for this, and he will not make it out of the confrontation in anything other than ashes. Marcus has been waiting for this for centuries."

It was the most sense anyone had made yet, but it still didn't answer the question of how to protect everyone at the same time. Aro wanted an army of lupine shape shifters, and if he had us distracted it would leave them open for the taking.

"Let me shift and get Sam involved," Jacob said backing away from the group after handing Renesmee to Bella. The poor kid looked terrified, and as she cupped Bella's neck with her hand, I could only assume she was relaying that very statement to her mom.

We only had six hours to find a resolution, and the clock wasn't going to stop moving because we couldn't circle the wagons. We had to formulate a plan and fast.

"We could bring all the mates and children here," Esme said. "We have plenty of space and the shutters should keep them safe."

"Unfortunately it's going to be more than just the mates, Esme," I responded respectfully. "Whoever these spies are, there's no chance they would have been able to get close enough to the reservation to know who is a mate and who isn't. They may have managed to hide from your talents, but there's no hiding from these noses. The whole place has to be protected."

"Do they have somewhere big enough to hold everyone?" Jasper asked thoughtfully. "Because our only option is to head down there ourselves and hunker down until the Volturi come to us. If the reservation is being watched from a distance, they'll know immediately."

"Sam says they can use the community center," Edward answered for him looking to Jacob who was stood at the door. "It's going to be a tight squeeze, but it should work."

"The place is a shack," I cried, turning to Jacob. "Sam that's not going to hold anything out."

"He said no one will get close enough, he's more concerned with keeping people in," Edward translated. "He's requesting that we head down that way now so we can discuss tactics."

"We'll get what we need together and head your way, Sam. Thank you for trusting us enough to let us come."

"He said we entrusted our lives to them and they are asking for a return in the favor."

"We're in this together. Whether or not we have our differences, we need one another to survive."

"Jacob said we are family and that's what families do," Edward responded with pride.

It took us an hour to get things together. The Cullen's sent a text out to all those who were willing to help telling them where to go, it made me wonder what they did without technology. I knew the wolves weren't going to be thrilled about the non vegetarians on our land, but they were there to help and we needed all the help we could get.

I took the Jeep with Travis, and Rosalie and Emmett insisted on riding with us, which I was grateful for. I relinquished the drivers seat to Emmett, he would move us faster than I could and he knew the Jeep like the back of his hand. He managed to veer around corners swiftly, throwing Travis and I around the back seat as minimally as possible.

Of course it stood to reason the nausea would hit in almost the exact spot it had last time, but there were only three words and they were shouted at me with force.

"Your brother's mate."

"Oh shit, fuck," I cried, scrambling for the phone in my back pocket. Anna lived in Forks, she was a senior in Forks high that were, unfathomably still in session. They didn't know a thing about all of this, but I should have know she'd be watched.

I dialed the number on Seth's cell phone. "Stop the car. Stop the fucking car now."

The tires screamed on the asphalt, echoed by the cars that were following us. When the phone was picked up Seth's voice seemed oddly calm for the situation.

"Seth, where's Anna?"

"In school . . . Oh shit, Leah, they'd know who she was, I . . ."

"Stay where you are, we'll go get her."

The Jeep was in motion again before I could even request it. Emmett had understood and had started turning around at the sound of Anna's name. He called out the window to the other cars as he passed and they moved on without us. We barreled toward Forks with the same energy we had been headed toward the reservation. The moment we jerked to a stop, I scrambled out of the space Rose had made for me and sprinted toward the front office.

The woman behind the desk looked up in shock as the door hit the wall and vibrated. Her scowl wasn't enough to deter me though, I was on a mission and she would give me the answers I needed.

"Anna Gallaway, where is she?"

"I'm sorry young lady but . . ."

"I'm sorry too. I don't have time to argue. I don't have time to explain but there's an accident and I was sent to get her. She doesn't have long to say goodbye."

I felt terrible for lying out of my ass, but I'd given no names, any assumptions she made was her business. I could see that my lie was working it's magic when she started tapping away on the keyboard.

"Building four . . ."

That was all I needed. I could figure out the rest when I got there. I took off out the door, slamming the door behind me as I sprinted toward building four. Taking her out of this place wasn't just saving her life it would save them all. I had no doubt they would slaughter every human here so they wouldn't remember, they had no qualms about following orders, and killing innocent school children to keep their secret wouldn't even cause them to blink.

I slid to a stop outside the building marked with the four and stormed my way inside, following the scent of wolf I knew would linger on her. Seth would have marked her in some way so it was easy to find the room I needed. I barged in without knocking and let my eyes scan the rows of wide eyes.

"Anna, you have to come with me," I barked out. I had the full attention of the room.

"Leah?" she asked, her cheeks turning pink.

"No time. I'll explain in the car."

"Is Seth . . ." she trembled, but I couldn't let her finish. The clock was still moving, the hour of the fight was moving impossibly closer.

"Now! There's been an accident."

"Excuse me, Miss, but this is a school . . ." the teacher said from behind me. "If you don't . . ."

"If I don't what?" I snapped turning around. "Do not test me, you have no idea the favor I just did all of you so back off."

Anna was beside me, her bag slung over her shoulder and her head down as all eyes watched her. I'd always fucking hated school and it was because of shit like this. I wrapped my arm around Anna's waist and swept her from the room, slamming the door behind me. As I shuffled us down the hall, Anna tried to hinder our progress, her feet sliding on the linoleum.

"Is Seth all right?"

"He's fine. You're the one in danger. There's an army of vampires coming at us and they know you're involved. If we'd left you here you would have been taken and all of your friends slaughtered."

"Holy shit."

"Yeah, that was about my reaction too."

"So does Seth . . ."

"I told him to stay where he was or he'd be here. Now please pick up your feet or . . ."

"Excuse me, but you can't just walk into a school and grab a student," the security guard blocking our exit said, cutting me off. Fortunately, Anna was in the know, and she knew how to swing it. God love her, she was a better actress than I was.

"This is my cousin, there's been an accident and you're not stopping me from leaving," she wailed, even forcing out fake tears.

"Now look what you did," I snapped, pulling her into me and petting her hair. "You people are just so insensitive."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know . . ."

"Of course you didn't, now could you step aside so I can get her to the hospital?"

He did as he was asked, and Anna and I sprinted past him and out into the rain that was now falling in sheets.

"Drama?" I asked.

"I have a flare for the dramatic, Leah, you should know this. Hi, Emmett, Rose, guy I don't know," she sang squeezing through the gap Rose had made. It never ceased to amaze me how cool she was with all of this. Of course Seth's befriending the Cullen's had made all of this easier.

As she settled in her seat, I followed her in and practically fell into my space as Emmett took off with the tires screaming. I didn't have a chance to complain, a cloaked figured stepped out of the tree line and came at us as Emmett tore off toward La Push.

In a blink Rose and Emmett had swapped places without so much as a swerve and Emmett was out the door and on the vampire in a crack of sound as they rolled into the trees. Anna screamed, and Travis wrapped his arms around her in a reflex action, his eyes wide and on me.

"Rose," I said, leaning forward to pull closed the door Emmett had left open.

"There's just one," she said calmly. "Emmett will catch up."

"I feel useless," I mumbled under my breath, but she gave me a piercing look.

"You're anything but. I know you'd be out there helping him if you could be, but you need to look after yourself."

"Thanks, Rose," I mumbled as Travis rubbed my back gently around Anna. She's calmed down a bit since the keening noise of vamp on vamp had died down.

"Who are you?" she asked looking up at Travis from under her long lashes.

"I'm Leah's imprint, Travis."

"That makes me feel better, at least I know you'll be my brother in law one day."

Travis looked over her confused. I would have been amused at her method of deduction had it been any other time than in the middle of a war.

"She's my brother's imprint," I clarified for Travis. He nodded with a look of understanding and continued the gentle circles he was drawing on my back.

We drove in silence for a while. My eyes stayed on the trees looking for another assault, but it never came. There was no movement, no billowing of capes lining the road to La Push, and no creepy red eyes following us. I could only deduce he was in charge of grabbing Anna when the time came.

"Brace yourself guys, Emmett's coming in," Rose said and took her foot off the gas.

The door opened and closed and within a breath Emmett was driving again and Rosalie was picking leaves from his shirt.

We flew past the treaty line as though hell itself was at our heels, and Emmett didn't stop until he reached the community center where the Cullen's cars were lined around the outside giving it an extra barrier of protection. Emmett slid in to the one open spot and we all collectively took a breath.

"That was intense," Anna rationalized cupping her head with her hands and pushing her hair back into a tail. I couldn't help but break into a smile as she looked up at me. If we lived through this, I swore i would spend more time getting to know her better.

We all made our way out of the Jeep, and as soon as Anna's feet hit the dirt she was swept up into Seth's arms. He held her close and checked her for injuries as she relayed her latest adventure. She was good for him, and relatively unfazed with the way he was fussing over her. I was actually impressed with how she'd taken it all in her stride.

"You all right," Travis asked, his arms circling my waist as he pulled my back against his chest. I felt safe in his arms like that and let my head rest against his shoulder as the flurry of activity continued around us. Both packs were shepherding people toward the center, ignoring questions and picking up stragglers along the way.

"Yeah, I just needed a breath. We should talk to Sam, Jacob and the others, see what we can do. How are you holding up?"

"I'm freaking out," he admitted with a short laugh. "But as long as I'm with you and I know you're safe, I'll be fine."

"Leah? Leah." Embry's voice was loud across the din of people being herded into the community center. He was hopping up to see whether he could find me, and when his eyes finally caught me, he made his way through the crowd toward me.

"Hey," he sighed, obviously relieved to see me. "Hey man," he nodded at Travis.

"What's going on?"

"Sam and Jacob are talking about where they want everyone. Jacob sent me to get you, Sam's being persistent about you staying in his sights, Jacob told him you weren't fighting, so Sam's got his panties in a twist. I think it's time you broke the news."

"Shit, this is not how I planned on doing it."

I was out of time and out of luck. Gripping Travis' hand, I followed Embry through the crowd to where Jacob and Sam were leaned across the porch almost nose to nose with one another. The Cullen's were stood awkwardly watching the situation, thankfully the others were busy directing the Quileutes to the Community Center.

"Enough you two," I said, immediately breaking them apart. I approached Jacob and put my hand on his arm in a form of thanks. "Sam, you and I need to have a talk. Emily, this concerns you too so you can stay."

"Why aren't you fighting, Lee? That's all we need to get out right now."

I scrubbed my fingers through my hair feeling awkward. This was not how I'd envisioned this going down. It was like a battle station around us, people chatting and complaining, people panicking, children crying, and I couldn't get my head straight.

"There's no easy way to say this, so I'm just going to say it. I'm pregnant, and my body won't shift because of the baby."

Emily launched herself at me, her arms cradling me against her chest as she sang her congratulations. I couldn't stop the smile from hitting my lips or the squeeze to Travis' hand that was still in mine. I knew it wasn't the way he would have done it, but considering the fight we were about to take on, he couldn't possibly understand why I'd delivered it the way I had.

Emily released her grip on me and threw her arms around Travis, which only made Sam's stormy expression darker. I looked to Jacob, but he was glaring at Sam.

"Sam," he said quietly enough that only I could hear him, Emily and Travis were oblivious to the conversation. "This is good news. Sure, she can't fight, but you know how much she's always wanted this. She can keep the people inside calm."

"And I'll stay with them," Rose said stepping forward. "No one can get through us."

Sam sighed, and hung his head. Taking a deep breath he leaped from the porch and folded me in his arms.

"I'm happy for you. I am, but I can't help being worried. Knowing you can't protect yourself makes me uneasy."

"I know," I whispered back, patting his back. "But we can still win this. You just have to trust us and the Cullen's. We're all a family, and you're the only one that is fighting that."

"Baby steps, Lee Lee," he chuckled, releasing his grip, and offering his hand to Travis.

I looked at the clock that was just visible from Billy's wall. We had two hours before we were out of time, and we needed to get things done. As much as I would have loved to stick around and celebrate we had a battle plan to commence, and before we did that we'd have to hide our humans from the red eyed allies.

A/N: Not exactly the way she would have planned any of that, but it's done, and now they have to fight for their lives.

Thank you so much to all of you who read, alert, favorite and review. You're all amazing and I want to thank you again for your support. I know not everyone is a fan of Leah, but you guys have been amazing! Thank you! I hope you all have a brilliant Christmas holiday.

Sabi'sSookie, and Hev99, Thank you for being amazing friends. You truly are amazing and I don't know what I would do without you! PinkIndeed, thank you for being you and for regaling me with your funny stories. Love you guys!

MWAH!