Chapter 14

Anti-climatically, they stopped two blocks over and piled into 3 vans. The wolves changed and grabbed some shorts (Amy Call and Faith Garwood obviously grabbed more than that. Andrew had never been so happy to see the irritating girls who used to pursue him in his life.) And they all hit the gas.

Jacob drove at the head of the vans, obviously. He winced constantly at the sounds coming from the venom infected girls. Renesmee, Clara and Andrew tried to talk to them but found out there wasn't much you can say to a person burning inside out.

Clara was tired. She was still suggesting to Emmi's soul to sleep. (Emmi had been carried by Christian to the vans and was in one with solely Temecula shape-shifters. Adam and Christian were in the third van with more Temecula wolves.) But she tried to shake it and said, "Let me try…"

"You're too tired," Andrew said immediately.

"You can't stop me."

"Clara—"

It was too late. Clara was gone, off in a trance.

"Will it work?" Renesmee asked Andrew.

"I don't know. Probably." Andrew collapsed against the van's wall. "Mom… how did you find us?"

"Andrew, we've been in France the whole time. Dad and I. We called the pack out a couple days ago."

"So that's why you didn't answer the phone."

"Grandma and Grandpa kept us in the loop," Renesmee reached over and mussed up Andrew's hair. "You're so brave."

"We're proud of you," Jacob added quietly from the front seat.

Andrew looked at the floor. "I.. I love you guys," he whispered. They had come so close to who knows what. Death, mostly. Becoming Volturi pawns. Whichever was worse.

"We love you, too," Andrew's mom hugged him tightly. When she let go, Andrew realized the screams had turned to whimpers.

Clara came back.

"Clara! Are you okay?"

"I'm tired," Clara said, her words slurred. Her eyes wouldn't focus. Andrew pulled her into him and she rested her head on his shoulder. "Need to sleep…"

"Sleep," Andrew said softly. "You deserve it." He listened as Clara's breathing changed slowly as she lost consciousness. He felt an odd twang in his soul, like another steel cord had fixed itself there, attaching him to the sleeping girl.

Hours later the vans stopped. It was past noon. Everyone clambered out into the sunlight (except the Twins, obviously, and a still passed out Clara).

"So, how are we going to handle two newborns?" Seth asked casually. All the wolves looked to him and Jacob. The Beta and Alpha.

Jacob sighed heavily. "One day at a time, I guess. Hopefully they'll be like Bella. They knew beforehand, too."

"But they were forcibly changed."

"But they aren't screaming."

"They're thrashing around."

The debates went on like this while Seth called home to fill everyone in. As soon as he hung up it went silent.

"It's like Alpha wolf says, guys and gals, one day at a time."

So that was the end of that.

The next discussion was Adam and Christian.

Adam was interrogated. Christian was mostly left alone as he hadn't even gone through his first full moon yet. Finally Jacob stepped in to stop the pack's onslaught of questions.

"So to be perfectly clear, what's your plan with Christian and are humans going to be hurt?"

Adam pondered this. "While it's true Children of the Moon are the human-flesh-eating werewolves, I'd honestly rather not live like that. It never occurred to me to try something else. Well, once I tried a stag but it tasted horrible."

"Try a carnivore," Jacob said dryly. "They taste better. No more humans. Our job is to protect humans and we can't get on with you so as to protect you from the leeches if you eat humans."

"Done," Adam said simply. "I'll simply have to be more careful with preparations."

"Speaking of that, what's going on tonight?"

"Christian and I will go to the mountains. The French Alps are too far away but we'll find some and stay far from humans, and find some carnivores," Adam shrugged. "It shouldn't be too hard but you might want to watch the closest towns just in case. We keep our minds but as wolves we naturally get nastier and less likely to be complying."

"Noted," Jacob snorted. "That's it for you then. Now what am I forgetting?"

"That'd be Emmi," Seth said.

Everyone looked at her. She was still sleeping. Like she had been shot with several tranquilizers. Could she get immune to Clara's soul suggestions like a person could supposedly become immune to tranqs?

"Is she going to be all right?" Adam said anxiously.

Seth looked to Jacob. Jacob looked to Andrew. Andrew looked to the van where Clara was sleeping. "I don't know," he admitted. "Clara didn't think so."

"It's been a long time since then."

"I know," Andrew said. "We won't know until Clara wakes up. And no, we aren't waking her," he added stonily at the look on Adam's face. "Now, we need to get moving if you and Christian are going to be far enough into the Alps to not be a danger to humans."

"You heard him," Jacob said. "Let's move!"