Chapter 25

"Seven." Edward called out.

I huffed and stopped what I was doing. "Come on Ness, choose a harder number, he could have guessed that." I said, annoyed at the outcome of what was happening.

"Come on Bella, give it another try." Jasper encouraged me as Emmett, Carlisle, and Rosalie moved away from me and back to their 'starting positions'.

A week had passed since our first training session with the wolves. During that time we had managed to gain more vampires for our side. The Denali clan came as promised, albeit with a bit of difficulty. As much as they wouldn't like to be in the presence of the Volturi after what they did to their sister, Irina, I'm positive that they would like to have their revenge.

The Romanian duo, Stefan and Vladimir arrived eagerly. Once they were told that we were up against the Volturi…again, they accepted eagerly and arrived just a few days after we had called them.

As more people arrived earlier, the easier it helped us to train with them and for the wolves to trust them. Jacob's previous memories of last time helped them cooperate with us more though.

After our first session, our training mainly consisted of some group work, special defensive techniques, and then finally, when the wolves returned to La Push, Jasper focused on helping me improve my ability.

Well it wasn't necessarily for it to be improved, just worked upon so I could keep using it, even when under attack.

He usually had Renesmee standing to one side. I was to shield her mind so Edward couldn't read her thoughts. Then, maybe two or three others go against me, and I would see how long I could cope without removing my shield from Nessie.

Unfortunately, my very first time I tried this, Edward could read Nessie's thoughts almost instantly, and I was only one-on-one with Emmett.

With practise, I managed to keep hold of my shield for longer and longer. However, each time Edward would eventually hear Nessie's thoughts, and a small amount of hope within me died with each go.

Occasionally I tried it with Kate. As her power was more of a threat, I was hoping it would help motivate me more to keep my shield up. But like with Edward, I failed each time.

As the week passed, I managed to successfully shield one person whilst under attack without fault. So Jasper wanted to see how I faired against more opponents.

Like now, I was to try and defend myself against Carlisle, Emmett and Rosalie (Edward still didn't like seeing me as a 'target' so he didn't go against me). With these group attacks, I varied between losing focus and dropping my shield, or focusing too much on my shield and I 'lose' the fight.

"Ready?" Carlisle asked.

I extended my shield around Nessie and nodded my head to the three of them.

At once, they all started to charge at me.

When I first went against Emmett, well, to be honest I was quite scared. I had always seen him as a big softy, so when he first charged at me, it was scary to see that side of him; and he was only messing around.

I focused on Emmett as he reached me first, and dodged his first few attacks quite easily, and checking to see the shield was still in place. Rosalie and Carlisle quickly joined in, attacking me from my sides. I defended a few attacks, but in turn I still managed to get hit.

I lasted for a few minutes, and I still knew my shield was still covering Nessie.

Rosalie attacked to my right, and I quickly dodged her, manoeuvring myself so I was behind her. With a swift kick to behind her legs, and a push, she fell to the floor. I crouched down quickly, and 'pretended' that I had snapped her head off.

By pretending, it in ways created a more lifelike situation. It showed that as well as protecting everyone else, I could also attack and defend, successfully killing someone without losing focus. It also meant I had to face fewer opponents whilst practising, makes it easier for me.

Rosalie knew she was out as soon as she hit the floor, but suddenly I was knocked from behind. Whilst against Rosalie, I forgot that I had turned my back against Emmett and Carlisle. As soon as I was hit I knew that I had made a vital mistake.

I was knocked to the floor, and within a second, Emmett was trying to get a firm grasp on me.

For training purposes, we decided that it would help if whilst training, that only one person goes for the kill. That was why Carlisle wasn't helping Emmett. Obviously at the real thing, as many people can go to kill one person as they wish. But for now I think it was just another technique to see if we could escape a situation like this.

Emmett's strength was a difficulty for me. I couldn't get out of his hold, and also avoid some of his smaller attacks on me. I focused on what he was doing, and pushed myself harder on getting out, when suddenly I heard him.

"Four million, six hundred and fifty-seven thousand, three hundred and twelve…" Edward said, "…point five."

I huffed and before I even realised it, Emmett's hands were at my neck.

"Bam! You're dead." He said cheerfully, glad he had won the fight.

Unfortunately for me however, I heard it as 'bam! Everyone else is dead'. I knew Emmett didn't intentionally want to dampen my spirits, but that's all I could think about when this happened. I looked to the day of the fight, and what my failures today would do to affect then.

Emmett jumped up and I reluctantly pulled myself from the ground, cleaning some of the dirt that had got on my clothes. I looked up to everyone, and I could tell they saw the disappointment on my own face. I was disappointed that I couldn't do this right. I had less than a week left to sort it out, otherwise everyone would die on that day, and it would be because of me.

"Do you want to give it another go?" Jasper asked, unsure of what my reaction would be.

"No, I'm exhausted. I'll try again tomorrow." I said, hating the fact that actually using my shield like this and putting so much effort in using it had an affect on me, and I would be mentally exhausted by the end of it.

Jasper nodded in understanding, and telling all the vampires who had stayed, along with our own coven, that they could head back since we were finished. I trudged away from the centre of the clearing and towards the edge of the forest, not even bothering to run this short distance. I didn't meet any of the other vampires' gazes as well. I know some of them were alright with me, but I could tell that there were an odd few who were getting worried at my failures, worried that my power wouldn't work when it needed to.

There was a sudden breeze beside me, and then I heard another set of footsteps walking along with me. I could tell immediately that it was Edward, and my thoughts were confirmed when I felt his hand hold my own. I sighed and stopped walking, so I could turn to face him.

Without even reading my mind and knowing what I was thinking about, he stepped forward and hugged me, comforting me in a way only he could do. I wrapped my arms around him and leant my head against his chest.

"I'm so worried that I'm going to screw this up." I whispered, peeking my head out from his chest and looking over the field. Nessie and Jake were messing around, and Caitlin and Jordan were going against Emmett, their laughter being carried by the wind. Having fun and being a family. I didn't want to ruin that.

"You shouldn't be taking so much of the pressure." He said back quietly, his hand moving up and down my back.

"I can deal with the pressure." I replied, "It's just knowing that each time I fail, then it could possibly mean another one of their lives lost." I nodded towards where they were still messing around, and felt an uncomfortable feeling in my chest as I thought about if anyone died.

"You're getting better." Edward reassured, "That final time you lasted for almost 10 minutes."

"Ten minutes isn't going to help if the fight lasts longer than that." I said unhappily.

He moved me so that he was still holding me, but he could look into my eyes. "That's not the point, the point is you're getting better, and I have no doubts that when that day comes, and you're walking around with our family after the fight, you'll know that you helped save them all. You don't need to doubt yourself."

His eyes held my own as he spoke, and once he finished, I leaned up and pressed my lips softly to his. It was short, but I hoped it showed what I was feeling after what he said.

"Let's head back." He whispered when he leaned back, and I held his hand as we ran back through the forest towards our house.

We slowed to a walk as we made our way to the back door, and as we got closer we heard voices from inside that were familiar, but I was sure they weren't here before.

We entered the house and made our way towards where I could hear the voices. There was maybe two or three of them, and they were talking to the Cullens.

I stepped into the room and saw two tall figures dressed wildly in animal skins. Immediately, I knew who the two vampires were.

They seemed to hear us when we entered, and they turned around from their animated conversation with Alice to look at us. They smiled at us and walked over to greet us.

"Zafrina, Senna, hey!"

The Amazonian duo came over to greet us, saying hello and hugging us both.

"Where's Kachiri?" Edward asked after Senna hugged him.

"She's outside talking to Carlisle." Zafrina answered, "She'll be coming in soon."

"It's so great that you came." I said to them both happily. Their presence as witnesses for Renesmee had been wonderful, and I was glad that they didn't turn their backs from us just because there was more of a chance the Volturi would turn this into a fight.

"Well we wouldn't have left you." Zafrina said, and then was quickly interrupted by a squeal from behind me.

"Zafrina!"

Zafrina looked over my shoulder and I saw her eyes widen for a split-second before she smiled.

"Renesmee!" She called out as she moved to hug her, and then she stepped back and looked at her from head to toe, obviously taking in the difference from when she last saw her. "Wow look how grown up you are, and so beautiful." Ness blushed from her compliment, but hey, it was true. "Looks like that Nahuel kid was right, finally stopped growing."

"Yeah, ages ago actually. There's so much I have to show you." She exclaimed, and I remembered back to when she was younger, and how fascinated Ness was with Zafrina's gift, how close the two of them were.

"Of course, but first," she said, and she turned her body so that she was facing all of us, "what's the main reason why were here?"

"I mean it's not that we're complaining," Senna added, "it's just…"

"…What happened this time that have caused the Volturi to want to kill you all again?" Finished Kachiri as she stepped into the room infront of Carlisle.

Nessie opened her mouth to answer when we heard four voices, talking loudly as they came in through the back door.

"You totally cheated!" Emmett boomed as I heard his footsteps through the house. "If you wouldn't have distracted me by blowing up that rock I would have won hands down."

"Excuses, excuses." I heard Caitlin call to him.

"Yeah you just keep telling yourself that Em." Jordan said as well, as they all rounded the corner, along with Jacob, and stopped when they saw we had visitors.

"Hey guys!" Emmett said enthusiastically as he moved to greet them in an Emmett-group-hug.

Jacob nodded to them, and they were surprised that he hadn't aged either, but they must have quickly connected it to being a wolf as they didn't question him.

Caitlin and Jordan stayed by the door. When they first see the vampires that we previously knew, especially the ones with the blood-red eyes, they become slightly shy and just a bit wary.

The Amazon coven noticed them standing by the door, but I could see in their expressions that they were confused on whether they were related, changed, or was a friend from the pack.

Nessie seemed to notice their confusion. She moved over to Jacob, leaning into him and holding his hand within her own. "Zafrina, Senna, Kachiri, I'd like to introduce you to Caitlin and Jordan…" She said smiling, "…my children."

All three of their heads turned to look at Caitlin and Jordan.

"But…how?" Zafrina asked. I could see how they were still confused. A lot of them were when they realised they were related, yet so different. Their different skin tones; Caitlin's white porcelain complexion compared to Jordan's darker, earthier skin tone. Apart from the fact both hearts were beating, I'm sure they could make out the vampire characteristics with Caitlin, that weren't present with Jordan.

"It's a very long, complicated story." Nessie explained. I noticed some of the other vampires in the room got up to leave, already hearing this story.

"Basically, to sum it up, they're half and half. One's part vampire, the other's part shape shifter."

The three of them nodded their heads at the same time as they started to understand.

"Wait a minute," Senna quickly added, "so what, the Volturi want to kill you because of your children? They don't look like there's anything that the Volturi see as a threat" She asked sceptically.

"Not exactly." Jacob answered.

"We both have abilities." Caitlin explained for them as she stepped forward. Jordan followed her since he was part of the explanation too.

"Both of you?" They asked surprised, especially towards Jordan. "Again, how?"

"It's a genetics thing." Jordan answered simply.

"Well what can you do?" Zafrina asked.

"We can…sort of…blow things up." Caitlin said timidly, awaiting the usual reaction to when they found out about their power.

"Sort of!" Emmett snorted, "They can turn anything to dust, vampires included." He said, and then he shuddered at a memory in which I'm sure was the one from a few weeks ago.

"Really? You've actually done this to a vampire?"

"Not exactly…" Caitlin said, glancing over to Emmett.

"Well I have." Jordan stated, but then he looked to the three vampires infront of him. "I mean, he was killing someone so I had to." He clarified, stepping back a little.

"Their powers are extremely dangerous, especially Jordan's." Carlisle added.

"But wait, I thought they both had the same power." Kachiri asked, looking between the two of them.

"It is…" Jordan assured, "…except mine has a little bit of a difference to it."

They all looked at him expectantly and he sighed, "I burn them as well."

"You can see how Jordan's is more dangerous to us." Carlisle explained to the three now shocked, and slightly confused faces.

"Again, it's all to do with genetics and the whole vampire versus werewolf past, like mum said, it's complicated."

"Wow," Zafrina said after a while, "that's a lot to take in."

"So this is why the Volturi are returning, because they see your abilities as a threat." Senna stated, and everyone in the room nodded.

"I understand now why we can't be witness for anything. The Volturi won't stand down will they?" Zafrina said.

Carlisle shook his head sullenly, "We're going to try our best to avoid a fight, however after last time, I'm sure that the Volturi will be glad that there is a suitable reason for them to wage war against us."

"Well it doesn't change anything Carlisle; we will still stand by your family." Zafrina said strongly, and Senna and Kachiri nodded in agreement besides her.

"Thank you, we're all grateful."

"Sooo…" Zafrina started, "…can we see it?" She asked, nodding towards Caitlin and Jordan.

Jordan shrugged. "Sure, but we have to go outside, I don't think Esme likes it when I burn the stuff in her house."

"Like a certain television you owe me." Emmett reminded, looking to Jordan.

"Sure sure, in time." He said rolling his eyes behind Emmett's turned back. "Come on."

The three of them followed Caitlin and Jordan out towards the back garden. I followed behind, actually curious to what Jordan's power actually looked like since I hadn't even seen it. The first time he used it he decided to head to La Push so he wouldn't risk anyone's safety, and since we've been back I haven't seen him use it. Not even at training.

"How about we make this interesting?" Jordan suggested to Caitlin as they stepped onto grass.

"What were you thinking?"

"How about a little bet?"

"Okay, what are we betting for?"

Jordan stayed thoughtful for a minute, and then he clapped his hands together and pointed at Caitlin. "You have to buy me my new guitar today, and get it so it's super-quick delivery." He challenged.

Caitlin considered it for a moment, "Alright then, but if I win then you have to be my slave until the fight."

"Come on you two, you'll end up arguing."

"Too late Ness," Emmett boomed from besides me, "the bet has been made, no backing out." He smirked at Caitlin and Jordan, and then moved quickly to Jasper. "Care to make things interesting?"

Jasper smirked but stayed facing the front. "Twenty on Caitlin."

Caitlin smiled at her place and turned it into a grin when she faced Jordan.

"Anyone else?" Emmett asked. "Alice?" He said, creeping to her with a persuading smile on his face.

"No point, I can't see anything." She huffed unhappily, and Emmett moved away with the same expression, probably hoping to use Alice's vision as leverage.

"I'll bet ten on Jordan." Edward said, nodding to Jordan, and then looking down to me.

"Well I'll say ten on Caitlin." I said going against him, and we shook hands between each other. I was pretty confident with this. Caitlin has had her power for longer than Jordan, so I'm guessing she would have more control over it, unlike with Jordan. Even if he did use it a few times whilst he's been in La Push, I've seen Caitlin use hers about four or five times, and she had perfect aiming. Guess being part vampire might help edge this bet more to my side.

Soon, vampires were betting either side of me, and the ones who had left the room earlier had now returned to make a bet and see how this turned out.

"Alright then, so how are we going to do this?" Jordan asked.

Emmett stepped forward with a basket with something inside. I hadn't realised he had gone to get it. He placed it down on the floor by his feet and I could see what was in it. CD's?

"Hey they're mine." Edward objected.

"Shh Eddie, I'm trying to create a game here."

Edward scowled at him and I wrapped an arm around his waist, hiding the smile that was threatening to break out over Emmett's antics.

"Anyways you can replace them. It's not like they're well known anyway, I mean…" he bent down and picked up a CD from the basket and looked at it, "…who the hell are these guys? I've never even heard of them."

Edward growled and I had to stop myself from laughing at the two of them. "Maybe because you need to educate your taste in music."

"Whatever, besides, you've got all of this on that iPod Bella gave you, so no worries." He finished cheerfully and then turned back to Caitlin and Jordan.

"Okay, you will both stand side by side, backs to me. I'll stand behind you so you can't see when I'm about to throw. Using Edward's random CD's, I will throw them and the first one to destroy it gets a point. First to ten wins. Deal?"

"Deal." Caitlin and Jordan both said, moving into position infront of Emmett.

Emmett picked up one of the CD's, "Say goodbye to Edward." He teased in a baby voice, and waved his hand with the CD in. Edward just ignored him.

"Powers at the ready." He called out.

Caitlin and Jordan both looked at each other evilly and competitively, before they each faced the front and opened their hands. Both had the same orange orb hovering over their palms, and their arms twitched in preparation to let loose.

Emmett didn't give them a signal, instead he stepped back a few steps and then stepped back into them to give him more power for the throw.

The small square CD case zoomed over Caitlin's and Jordan's heads, and I watched with fascination as they concentrated on the direction, the speed it was flying at, and then almost instantaneously, pulled back their arms and released the small sparks.

Each spark looked identical, and I knew if they got closer together or hit at the same time it would be difficult to distinguish which spark was which.

The spark on the left reached the CD first, and within a second it turned into a pile of dust, causing the other one to go straight through and continue in the air.

"One nil to Caitlin." Emmett called out, pulling out another CD, and preparing to throw it.

Caitlin took the lead for a while, winning three points without Jordan winning one, but then Jordan hit his first one and he started to catch up.

You could see the difference in Jordan's gift, even from our places on the ground. Once Jordan's spark made contact with the CD, it would break into pieces, and then a soft orange glow would appear before a small wisp of smoke floated in the air, showing that it had burned to ash.

It continued with neither team getting a lead of more than two points, without the other one catching up, and before we knew it, it was nine-all.

The spectators were tense, myself included, bearing in mind there was money to gain with this final point.

"Game point." Emmett whispered to the two competitors. "What will it be? A new shiny guitar or enslavement for a week."

"Just get on with it Emmett, I want to win my twenty bucks." Jasper called out, smiling encouragingly to Caitlin.

"Hey, you're disheartening the other team by saying that." He exclaimed, pointing to Jordan.

Jasper just smiled at him whilst Jordan just asked for the CD to be thrown.

Emmett tossed it between his hands before he finally threw it into the air.

Everyone held their breath as the two sparks headed towards the CD on a destructive collision course. Both were going at the same speed, and both angling towards the case at the same time.

"It's going to be a close one." Emmett said, but all our eyes were on the orange flashes, as they got closer and closer to the CD.

Then the CD exploded, but the orange flashes were so close together, that there was a chance they may have crossed over when the other one continued through the sky.

"Who won?" I heard myself whisper as everyone continued to look at the sky.

"Wait for it."

We all waited, and then a soft orange glow appeared, so small that it would have been undetectable to anyone else, that along with the small wisp of smoke, clear signs to show that Jordan won.

Jordan cheered, and was quickly scooped up by Emmett who hugged him enthusiastically. He put him down and then danced his way to Jasper, a huge grin on his face. "Pay up loser." He smirked, as he held out his hand for the money.

There were a few murmurs as people exchanged money around me, and I sighed when I turned to Edward who had his crooked grin in place. I grabbed the ten dollar bill from my pocket and placed it into his waiting hand.

"I'll be looking forward to having my new Gibson Les Paul with me soon." Jordan teased Caitlin as they made their way towards us. Caitlin wasn't really bothered about the fact she lost, just accepted it gracefully.

"That was amazing." Zafrina exclaimed to the two of them as they reached us all, "You two are exceptionally talented. But one question. I thought your abilities were shaped according to what your parents abilities were like, you know, like Nessie."

"Again, genetics, vamps versus wolves, it's all very complicated."

...

After the little bet had taken place, I couldn't help but think about how much fun we were having as a family. With the day of the fight looming, most of the happiness was clouded by the dark and unhappy reminders of the Volturi and what they planned to do.

We had less than a week left, and with all the training that was going on with the wolves, and the various vampires that were returning - which recently included Carlisle's friends from the Irish coven, who had arrived an hour or so after the bet – I couldn't help but want this time to be with family.

Not that I didn't like the others, but just knowing what was going to happen in a few days time, it just made me want time with our family. And with the possible chance of me dying on that day, but without anyone apart from Alice actually knowing this, I wanted to say my goodbyes to each of them, but without making it too obvious.

I knew it would be harder for different people, such as Ness, Jacob, Edward…

I was still conflicted on just telling Edward the truth. What he, and most of the vampires and wolves believed, that with so many talented vampires (and wolf) on our side, this fight was in the bag, so to say. They thought it would be easy, and we wouldn't have to do much. Yet Alice and I knew better, and I knew without a doubt that I needed to say some sort of goodbye to Edward, whether I die on that field or not.

"You look troubled, what's wrong?" Edward asked from besides me, as I was curled up into his side as we sat on the couch.

I looked up to see him looking down on me, slightly troubled that he couldn't hear what I was thinking.

"Just thinking about a few things, mainly the fight." I sighed, "Nothing to worry about." I assured him.

He nodded and bent down to kiss my hair as I leaned into him more.

Emmett walked in and sat in the chair opposite us, sulking. I playfully pouted, "Aww, what's the matter with Emmett?"

"I lost my money back to Jasper in another bet, and no one wants to come hunting with me. Rosalie can't be bothered and Alice and Jasper are doing…stuff."

"Emmett?"

"Yeah." He answered unhappily, and I could feel the smile forming on my lips as I spoke to him.

"Do you want me to go hunting with you?"

"Yes, finally." He said exasperated. "Thank you, can we go now?" He asked eagerly, jumping from his seat and pulling me away from Edward. "Eddie do you want to come?"

He scowled at his nickname, but Emmett just smiled brightly. "Alright then, just me and Bella." He pulled my arm so that we were making our way outside. Once at the door he broke into a sprint in which I followed, slightly behind as his strength kept him a few paces ahead.

As we were running, just Emmett and I, I thought about what I had wanted to do, and I guess now would be a good time. Even if it was a week away, I knew the best way for me to do it was doing it like this, having fun, doing something we enjoy.

"Hey Em?" I called out, "Want to make this hunt a little bit more interesting?"

"I always want to make a hunt more interesting, what's the bet?"

I smiled as I ran, "See who can get the most carnivorous animals."

"Sorted. Wager?"

"Loser has to eat the human food in the fridge, and earn bragging rights." I could hear the disgust in my own voice just considering eating that stuff.

"Deal, meet up here in two hours."

I looked down to my watch, "Okay, see you in two hours." I said, and then took off in the opposite direction, eager to find myself some lions or bears.

...

Emmett was taking a while to get back to our starting position, and I was starting to suspect that he was going to cheat. It was Emmett after all; he'd do anything to win a game, or a bet. But right now I was fairly confident with my numbers, hopefully it would beat Emmett. I didn't want to eat that human food. Ugh.

I heard some heavy footsteps and I turned to see Emmett running back to me, his eyes as brightly gold as I'm sure mine were. I pushed myself off the tree I was leaning against and walked slowly to him.

"Afraid you're going to be eating dirt Bella?" He teased.

"Oh no, I'm pretty sure all that food will be for you." I smirked back at him, "You go first."

"Alright. I got two bears, a lion and two little bobcats to finish off. So five altogether."

I swallowed. "Five. Wow." I said, bringing a little bit of worry to my voice. Emmett noticed this and smiled to himself. In reality, even though we could run exceptionally fast, it took a while to catch onto the scent of an animal and then track it down to kill.

"So what did you get?" He asked smiling, almost as if he knew he was going to win.

"Well let's see. Bearing in mind you stole that bear from me."

"Too slow Belly-bean. Got to act faster. Now what did you get?"

I sighed. "A bear, two bobcats…oh well that's three."

His smile widened even further and just when he was about to celebrate I quickly added, "Oh wait, I forgot to add the lions." Purposely forgot more like it. Emmett's face faltered slightly. "There was that male, and the three lionesses from his pride. That gives me another four…do you want to do the math Emmett?" I asked innocently.

His face fell altogether and he scowled at me as I started to laugh at him.

"Wow it feels good to win. I haven't beaten you in anything since those arm wrestles all those years ago."

"I did eventually beat you though." He reminded, and I couldn't help but smile at him.

He really was the perfect brother. As much as I loved Jasper, he was more calm and collected, unlike Emmett who was more outgoing and…mad. He almost always brightens up the mood when you're with him, and you can't help but laugh at the things he gets up to, even if he does tease me over my love life.

I went over to him and quickly held him in a hug. His big arms wrapped around me and this was another thing I loved. His big build may intimidate others, but times like these it just showed him how much of a teddy bear he is, rather than a grizzly bear that others may see.

"What's this for?" He asked.

I sighed, remembering why I had this sudden amount of emotion for my brother. He may not realise it, but this would be part of my goodbye to him.

"I'm just happy that I have an oaf of a brother like you."

"I will take that as a compliment."

"Good because I don't think there's any other complimentary word to describe you."

"Oh, I can think of a few." He teased and I shoved him playfully.

"Thank you Emmett." I said to him as I hugged him again, knowing I couldn't outright say goodbye without him asking a question.

"No problem Bells." He replied holding me tighter, "Come on, I have a fridge of dirt at home that I've got to endure."

I laughed and then started to run back to the house, only taking a few minutes before we arrived.

Edward was waiting at the door for me, and he pulled me into a kiss as I arrived at the door. "Hey Love."

"Hey." I smiled.

His eyebrows furrowed as he listened to something I couldn't hear, likely to be someone's thoughts.

"It was just a talk I had with Emmett." I explained, guessing what he was hearing.

"Yeah, she admitted her underlying love for me…" Emmett said as he walked past us, "…so at least now you'll know she'll be fully satisfied." He finished with a wiggle of his eyebrows, and then jumped back so he avoided Edward's swipe.

I sighed shaking my head to him to just leave it. "Rosalie?" I called out.

"I got it." She called back before I heard the unmistakeable sound of Rosalie smacking Emmett at the back of his head.

Edward looked back down to me, "We were about to head to the clearing again for some more training. Jasper wants to change some things, especially now that we have the Irish and Amazonian covens with us."

I nodded my head, but I knew I wasn't looking forward to letting myself down.

We both turned to run when I heard a knock on the front door of the house.

"You go." I told Edward, "I'll answer the door."

He leant down to give me a quick kiss before he turned and ran across the garden and into the forest.

I quickly ran to the door and opened it, my nose immediately scrunching up from the unexpected smell I received when I opened the door. It was no vampire, yet the pungent smell of a werewolf smelt familiar to me as I stared at the tall man standing at the doorway. He looked to be in his mid-thirties, yet although this person had aged, there was something recognisable about him.

"Wow, my egos crushed seeing you all young Bella." He said in a deep voice, but I now knew who he was.

"Seth?"

He smiled at me and I looked at him up and down. He looked so different from the young teenage boy I knew all those years ago.

"I heard you were having a bit of trouble, thought I'd offer you my services."

"How did you hear?"

He shrugged. "Friend of a friend of a friend who lives in La Push. Thought I could come down and help, haven't seen you lot for years."

"Thank you Seth, come on in."

I stepped aside so he could walk in, and I had to tilt my neck up pretty high he had grown so tall.

"So when did you decide to stop phasing?" I asked, as I took in his build.

"About twenty years ago." He answered, ducking his head under the doorframe so he could get into the living room. "We were planning on moving away from the reservation. Leah had had enough of pack life, and wanted to see if she wasn't completely frozen, if you know what I mean."

I nodded, knowing that Leah was worried that she wouldn't be able to have children, bearing in mind her body couldn't change due to being a shape shifter.

"Anyways I still wanted to grow up with my sister, so I stopped too. Leah managed to imprint on someone, which was pretty surprising but I guess we pretty much broke every myth our history claimed so it wasn't such a shock." He sighed then, and there was a change in his tone. "I asked her to come, but she can't."

"Oh, alright."

"It's not that she doesn't want to," He quickly defended, "it's just she literally can't."

Seth must have seen the confusion on my face. "It was another thing I was going to tell you. Leah's pregnant; I'm going to be an Uncle." He said proudly.

"That's fantastic Seth."

"Yeah, it is pretty cool."

"But do you have anyone Seth?"

"Oh that's right I forgot." He said, hitting the heel of his hand to his forehead, "I really am keeping you guys out of the loop aren't I. I'm married, and I have two kids."

"Seth that's wonderful."

"It was a good thing I had stopped phasing, because when we met we were both in our twenties so it was pretty lucky."

I quickly frowned at something. "Seth, do they know that you're here?"

"Well yeah, of course. I just figured it would be something like last time, so no biggy."

"Seth you shouldn't have left your family." I said shaking my head, feeling bad that he didn't know how much danger he has just put himself in.

"It's alright; I wanted to help you guys out."

"I know Seth, but this is far more dangerous. It won't be fair if your family lose you."

"How bad is this Bella?" He asked, his voice taking a more serious tone.

"Very. There's going to be casualties. We would completely understand if you want to back out and stay with your family."

He started to shake his head. "No, I'm staying, and if you remember, you're my step-sister, Jacob is a pack brother. You're my family too."

He smiled at me and I couldn't help smile back. "Come on, we're all training out in a clearing not to far from here. You can say hi to everyone, oh and there are two people you need to meet." I said, making my way back through the house to the back door.

"I haven't seen anyone in ages. Oh and Bella." I stopped walking and looked at him, and he had a sad expression on his face. "I'm sorry about Charlie. Leah and I felt really bad that we couldn't make it to the funeral, but we couldn't risk it because we had barely aged. He really helped our mum pull things together after she lost dad, but I'm glad she had him."

"I'm glad too." I said back, and we started to walk again.

"You know I was worried I wouldn't phase when I found out about this fight. My wife knew about me of course, I kind of forgot I hadn't told the kids. I tried to phase in our back garden, and it gave them one hell of a fright when they saw a big wolf in the garden, screaming bloody murder." He chuckled at the memory, "Then it took me the next couple of hours to convince them it was me, and then another load to convince them I could shape shift. They thought it was pretty cool though to have there dad as a werewolf."

"What are they like?"

"Crazy." He joked. "A boy and a girl, four and six. They're called Harry and Rachael."

"That's sweet."

"Sometimes they are, but crazy as hell still." He answered back smiling as he most probably thought about his children.

"Seth, are you sure about this?"

"Absolutely." He said, peeling of his shirt and I averted my eyes from him.

"Bark or something when you've phased." I said as I turned around to give him some privacy to take his clothes off.

Eventually I heard a bark, and turned around to see Seth in his sandy-wolf form, a lot bigger from the last time I had seen him. Perhaps just a bit smaller than Jake. I noticed he has his pants tied to his back leg as well, so he must be thinking of changing back when we get to the clearing.

"Just follow me." I told him as I took off running, and I could hear his heavy padded steps behind me.

Just as we were about to break through the trees into the clearing, Seth barked from behind me, so I slowed down and turned around to see what he wanted.

He wasn't behind me, and I couldn't see him, but then he stepped out from behind a tree in his human form with his pants on, and then jogged quickly to my side before we started walking again.

"You know you could have stayed as a wolf. Jacob and Jordan do."

"Jordan?"

"Oh, right. You'll see in a minute."

We both walked into the clearing; most of the vampires were caught up in group attacks as practise, and the wolves were to concentrated on their fighting techniques to see us get closer.

Edward was the first to notice, smiling to me before looking to Seth, confused at first, but then recognition filled his face and he smiled and nodded to Seth before making his way over to us.

"Seth, it's been a while." He said in greeting, and I noticed over Edward's shoulder that Jacob's wolf head perked up at hearing Seth's name.

"Yes it has, but when I heard you guys were in trouble I thought I could give you a hand."

"Anyone else from the old pack?" He asked, and I turned to him as well, quite interested if anyone else would be coming back. Quil, Embry, Jared, Paul maybe? Even though some had imprinted and would have likely to have grown with their loved ones, I wondered if they would come back.

But instead Seth shook his, and his face turned quite sad. "There's only really Leah and I who are still relatively young, and still able to be strong when we transform. Most of the others are pretty old right now; even Sam and Emily are a strong, elderly couple."

Even though it was sad to hear my old friends growing old and living their life, knowing that they were living it with their loved ones, and hearing that Sam and Emily were still alive and happy also, it made me smile.

"Seth is that really you?" A voice called out, and Seth looked over Edward's shoulder to see Jacob jogging towards him in human form and with his pants on; Jordan, Caitlin and Nessie were following him.

"My ego is wounded once again now seeing that Jake looks younger than me." Seth whispered to me and I snickered. "Jacob!" He called back, moving so he could greet Jake.

"How's it been man, I haven't seen you in…god I can't even remember."

"Well you kept moving about, and so did we for a bit so I guess we could never really visit at a suitable time. Sorry about that by the way."

"Hey, it's no problem; it's just great to see you." He patted his arm and Nessie, Caitlin and Jordan reached us then.

"Hey Seth." Nessie said as she went forward to hug him.

"Ness! Glad you recognise me even though I've grown old."

She scoffed. "You're not old, you've barely changed. Oh, there's someone I'd like to introduce you to Seth." She motioned for Caitlin and Jordan to step forward. "Seth, these are my children, Caitlin and Jordan. Seth used to be in the first pack with your dad."

They both shook his hands, but the confusion was evident on his face.

"Can you both shape shift?"

Caitlin shook her head. "I can't, but he can." She said nodding to Jordan.

"That's strange, Leah could shift, why can't…"

"It's not like that Seth." Nessie cut in. "It's just the vampire genes and the werewolf genes have been split into each child."

"Oh alright, like the skin tone, I get it now. I'm kind of glad my two don't have to deal with all this wolf stuff anyway, so you vampires keep away." He warned in a teasing tone.

"Kids?" Jacob asked. "You imprinted then?"

Seth nodded. "There's a lot I've got to speak to you all about. I feel stupid that I haven't visited more often."

"We'll talk later, but we have to fill you in on what's happening, the fight's in less than a week and we've been training every night, so it's best if you know as much as possible quickly." Jacob said, leading Seth to the large group infront of us as we followed. The Cullen's had known Seth had arrived, and nodded to him in greeting as he moved forward.

"Oh damn!" I heard Seth call out infront of us. "I'm physically older than Carlisle! Forget it, my ego is now a tiny little thing on the floor."

We all broke into laughter, and as much as I, and I'm sure most of us were enjoying reunions such as this, the dark part in my mind had to remind me that there would be a fight with tragic consequences. How many of our friends will we be reunited with in the end?