Hello my dears. So I took a little break from writing, been super busy then come back to find I have nearly 200 reviews! Thank you all so much, especially jharv241 – it must have taken you so long to review each chapter and I can't tell you how much I appreciate it! Thank you so much! Anyway, realised I'd been a bad authored, so hurried to finish this chapter off, and will upload the next as soon as possible. Enjoy!
"There are about twenty of them, two kilometres from here. They're camped in an abandoned cabin for now, and there's no scent of Victoria around at all." Carlisle paced the clearing as he spoke. "So far they haven't made any moves to attack, so –"
"We're not waiting," Jacob interjected. "I understand why you are unwilling to ambush your own kind but these newborns were created with the intention to kill. We must destroy them."
Carlisle didn't look happy but eventually he nodded. "Now, they're going to want to go for Bella –"
"Excellent, a distraction," someone muttered from behind me. I recognised the voice as Leah's, but she was quickly put in her place by a snarl from both Jacob and Edward.
"What I was going to say," Carlisle continued calmly, "is that we'll need to find a safe distance for Bella to wait. Plus, she'll need someone to protect her there, just in case a few newborns slip past us."
"No!" I protested. "No way, they outnumber you as it is, I'm not going to let you weaken yourselves further just to baby-sit me. I'll be fine."
"Bella, we're still counting on Victoria to join them, but what if she doesn't? What if she gets around us and finds you?" Alice looked fearful at the thought, and I hung my head, hating that I couldn't do anything to help.
"And besides, it will be more fun if we have a couple more newborns each. I've already got a bet going with Jasper that I'll get five of them, and I can't manage that if I have a whole bunch of wolves in my way now can I?" Emmett winked at me. A few of the Quileute boys growled in irritation, but said nothing.
"I'll stay with her," Jacob volunteered, squeezing my hand.
"No, Jacob," Sam said quietly from his place on Jacob's right. "You're going to be needed out there."
Jacob looked at him pleadingly. "Can't you?"
Sam just shook his head and said nothing.
"Seth then," Jacob said finally and the younger boy scowled. Clearly he didn't want to miss the battle but he didn't seem outspoken (or stupid) enough to defy his Alpha's instructions.
"And I'll stay too," Edward said quietly. "It makes sense. That way I can converse with the wolves and I will be able to hear if anyone is approaching."
I smiled gratefully at him and he returned it with a warm smile of his own.
"Good. Now there's an excellent spot about a kilometre south of here. If we leave Bella against the rocky cliff face there, the wind won't reach her and her scent won't be blown north."
I felt like a child. I hated being so helpless and yet there was nothing I could do here. I would forever be a weak human, never being able to fully contribute to anything. For the first time, I felt like an outsider.
"I'll carry her," Edward began but I cut him off before Jacob had a chance to protest.
"No, my truck's just down the road. If we take that there'll be less scent right?"
Hesitating, Edward nodded.
"And Seth, if you could ride in the back?"
He looked grumpy but agreed all the same.
"We'd better get going then," Edward said. "Keep the wolves informed, I'll be able to see if anything happens." He turned to leave but Jacob grabbed his arm.
"Thank you," he said quietly. The two boys shared a significant look before Edward nodded and walked away. I wondered what words had gone unspoken. "Be careful," Jacob instructed me, glaring hard into my face. "Whatever happens, don't go playing the hero, Bella. Please."
I cupped his cheek in my hand and kissed him gently, but he pulled me flush up against him, deepening the kiss so it was fierce, almost desperate. He clung to me briefly then let me go, kissing me on the forehead as I left.
I could just make out the words he mouthed before I turned and followed Edward into the awaiting darkness. "I love you too," I whispered back, knowing Jacob would hear.
Neither Edward nor I said much in the car ride to our hiding spot. I was sure he'd rather be with his family and Josie right now, fighting, than stuck here with me, but I didn't say anything and neither did he. I parked my car off of the highway, partly concealed between some trees.
Seth had changed into his large wolf form, and he trotted ahead of us in the darkness setting a fast pace. Branches and tree roots seemed to jump out at me from the dark surroundings and Edward had to pull me to my feet so many times that eventually he gave up and took my hand, leading me carefully through the thick forest. It was strange, feeling his icy cold fingers wrapped around mine when I was so used to the burning warmth of Jacob. Finally we reached our location. Before us, a vast expanse of rock sheered vertically into the night sky, looming menacingly above us.
The night air was getting colder and colder and I'd had the sense to bring some matches from the glove compartment and set about collecting dry pieces of wood in order to make a fire. When my work was done, and small flames licked at the dead branches, I settled down against the cliff to wait. Edward had been watching me work and smiled at me over the fire.
"What's wrong?" he asked, reading my face easily.
"I hate feeling like this," I confided in him. "I feel useless Edward. I hate being such a burden."
"You're not a burden," he said sternly. Seth nudged me with his shoulder, clearly trying to argue with me also. I lent against him gratefully, glad for the extra warmth.
"Sorry you can't be out there fighting as well," I said, stroking his shaggy head. "I don't know why, but you all seem to think it's fun." Seth merely yawned in response.
We all sat in silence for a while, watching the branches crackle and burn in the flames. My stomach grumbled and I tried to remember when I'd last eaten. The hot dog at the beach. It felt like years ago, although it had only been a matter of hours. It amazed me how life could change so suddenly. How a beautiful evening could be turned into a fight to the death.
Cold light began to filter through the trees as dawn arrived, and I yawned, not feeling sleepy but clearly exhausted after the night's events.
"I'm sorry for losing my temper on Saturday," Edward said quietly, breaking the silence. "It wasn't my place."
"It's fine," I assured him, a little embarrassed to be discussing this.
"I suppose I still see you as this fragile person who needs protecting above everything else." He looked ashamed. "That was my biggest downfall I think. Trying to protect you from everything including myself. Including yourself sometimes."
"Well, you didn't exactly protect me from myself," I said with a smile. "I was my worst enemy for a while after you left."
His eyes were filled with remorse as he looked at me. "I am glad you have Jacob now. He treats you as his equal. You're his best friend."
I smiled. "And he's mine. We just kind of get each other, you know?"
He laughed and nodded. "Strangely enough, yes. I've been able to see you through Jacob's eyes lately and he understands you much better than I did. To me you were perfection. To him you're…Bella."
I noticed his use of past tense and I would be lying if I said it didn't hurt a little bit.
"And what about Josie?" I asked, not sure whether I really wanted to know.
He looked down at his hands. I was sure if he'd had any blood, he'd be blushing. "She's quite unique. She seems so kind-hearted and pure, but at the same time she's so headstrong and…how to describe it…mischievous maybe. You should see the jokes she plays on Emmett and the seemingly effortless way she has just slipped into our lives."
"It sounds like you're in love," I mused, not meeting his eyes, but gazing into the dying embers of the fire. I wasn't sure what I wanted to hear in response. I wanted him to be happy, and it sounded as though Josie made him happy. But loving someone other than me? My inner-narcissist didn't like that.
"We kissed the other day," he confided in me quietly, and I grinned in spite of myself.
"Yes?"
"It was strange. She's only the second person I've ever kissed, and it was so different. We didn't have to hold back."
I raised my eyebrows and he shot me a withering look.
"Get your mind out of the gutter, Bella, we're not quite at the same stage as you and Jacob."
It was my turn to blush. "I thought you couldn't read my mind."
"I do still know you well." He sat up straight then, as did Seth, and his face turned serious. "It's starting."
He gazed off into the distance, no longer seeing the forest around us, but focusing in on the thoughts of the others. "The newborns are leaving the house. They've just walked out. Jacob is directing his brothers in from the West. My family's coming from the East. They're wrapping around to form an ambush. Oh here we go, the newborns smell something. They're afraid. Ok, it's started! Emmett and Jasper took the first hit. Oh three down. The wolves are running. No, Embry and Quil from the left, go for the big one."
It was as if Edward was reciting Seth's trail of consciousness, repeating what he heard, seeing what the wolves could see. I sat up straight, my hands gripping my knees tightly, waiting to hear that someone had been hurt.
Newborn after newborn was taken down. Jacob, Sam and Paul were all involved in bringing down an older vampire, one they believed to be the leader. But still no sign of Victoria.
Surely she would arrive once she knew her army was being attacked? Or would that make her run? Was she even now making her way back to Seattle?
My questions were answered when Seth suddenly snarled and shot to his feet. I followed his gaze and found what had started him. Between two trees, glaring at me with a furious vengeance, stood Victoria.
My heart skipped a beat.
"As I expected," Victoria said with a sneer, her eyes flicking from Edward to me. After all of this time fearing her I had expected her voice to be that of a monster but instead it was light and melodic. "And here I find you, hiding away from the fight, letting others do that for you."
"Look who's talking," Edward said, rising to his feet and positioning himself in front of me. "Created an army lately?"
She sneered. "And look how well that worked. Now your family's distracted and I have the two of you all to myself."
Seth snarled to my right and we all turned to look at him. Clearly he didn't want to be forgotten.
"Get out of here, Seth," Edward said. "I can take her, just get out of here."
He shook his head, glaring determinedly at the red-eyed vampire, a rumbling growl building within him. Victoria ignored him.
"Look at her, so pathetic, cowering behind you like the coward she is."
I moved to step around him, but he knew me too well and shot a hand out to stop me. "Do you really think your words are going to make a difference now, Victoria? Look what you've done. Do you honestly have no humanity in you? Is this what James would have wanted?"
Her beautiful face twisted into a mask of rage. "Don't you dare say his name. You have no right! You took him from me, and now I'm going to take her. And I will enjoy watching you suffer as I torture her."
I laughed – a completely irrational and maybe hysterical thing to do. "You've got it wrong," I said. "Don't you understand? Things have changed since you've been around here. I'm not his mate, Victoria. Killing me isn't going to torture him. Your whole plan was for nothing."
She glared at us, then smiled. "You're lying."
"No, she's not." Josie walked out of the tree line, her hands clasped gently together, her eyes focused on Victoria. "I'm his mate. So if you want to hurt someone, it should be me."
"No!" I screamed as Edward's hand shot out towards her, clearly torn between protecting me and protecting Josie.
Victoria turned her attention away from us to look at Josie, her mouth opening incredulously. And in that split second when her attention wavered, Seth attacked. He flew threw the air, launching himself at her, and tackling her to the ground, his teeth flashing in the morning light. She struggled to wrap her arms around his body but he'd pinned them down. Instead she used her legs, flicking them upwards, catching them under Seth's huge body and kicking him hard. He flew through the air towards us, and I stumbled out of the way, tripping over the ground as I did so, bashing my own head into the jagged rock. Seth hit the cliff face only feet away from me and fell to the ground, where he lay, still as death.
Simultaneously, Edward had already rushed forward and there was an almighty crash as their bodies collided. I knelt beside Seth's body, trying to look for injuries. His chest was moving, his breathing slow. But he was at least breathing. I pushed my sweaty hair away from my eyes and drew my hand away and it was wet with blood, not sweat. I had obviously hit my head harder than I realised.
There was a sharp, piercing ripping sound from behind me, as though a sheet of metal had been torn in two. I turned to see Edward biting into Victoria's neck, ripping her body apart. I couldn't watch and instead looked for Josie.
She was standing a hundred metres away, her eyes fixed on me, all trace of humanity gone from her face.
She'd smelt my blood. And she wanted it.
Ah the cliffhangers...how I love them. Please review and let me know what you think! xx