Previously on A Brave New World
During the fight with Victoria and the newborns, Edward disappears and is presumed dead. Three years later, he appears in Vancouver as a human with no memory. Along with his return to humanity, the Spanish influenza which nearly killed him has returned infecting anyone who comes in contact with him. The Cullens and Bella discover his location and break him out of the hospital, worried that someone might discover that he is other than human. In order to avoid the authorities, the Cullens, Bella, and Jacob take him to a lake deep in the woods where they can't be found. During their time there, Edward and Bella fall back in love even without his memories. He even learns to trust the Cullens again. However, their happiness is short-lived as Edward begins to show signs of changing and everyone is concerned that he is losing his humanity. Along with these changes he starts to remember his missing time. He remembers a monster named Oscar who tortured him, injecting him with a multitude of things. To everyone's shock, Jacob has met Oscar before. He is a werewolf, the kind from horror movies and he wants Edward back. Dangers start to close in on them. The influenza is spreading at a rapid pace and after making love with Edward, Bella's body is going through changes. Carisle and Esme have been taken by Oscar and his pack, and Oscar has bitten people close to the Cullens and the Quileute, but will only tell them when Edward is turned over to them. Edward who is feeling the change more and more, volunteers to go through with Oscar's plan if it means saving Bella. While Edward is being passed on to Oscar's pack, he listens to the thoughts of Oscar's pack members. He learns about three of the victims that Oscar has bitten and also some clues to the location of Oscar's compound. Then, just as he's being taken away by the Oscar's pack, he hears Paul's thoughts which tell him that Sue is one of the bitten victims. When Edward hears that Sue is one of the bitten, he loses all control and lets the monster out in fear for Bella. Meanwhile, Bella is kidnapped by Sue and is being taken to Oscar's compound in the forest. Bella escapes, but by that time the bitten people have changed under the full moon. She is hunted down by Oscar and Sue in their werewolf forms. On the verge of being killed or bitten by Oscar, Jacob appears and pushes Bella out of harm's way. He takes on Oscar and Sue, but he is outnumbered. Just as he's about to be killed, Edward appears and attacks Sue. Viciously he attacks, looking more like an animal than human. Once he has defeated Sue, he turns on Jacob. Jacob worries that the Edward that they all know is gone for good and that he will kill him. So, he uses the one thing that may awaken Edward's humanity, Bella. Sending his thoughts to Edward, he tries to remind him of his love for Bella. At the image of Bella in his head, Edward shifts his focus to finding his mate.
EMMETT
I watched helplessly as the three mutts dragged my brother into the forest. I wasn't angry, I felt hollow. I felt like one by one I was losing my family—Esme, Carlisle, and now Edward.
As we'd driven closer and closer to the meeting place with Oscar's pack, I felt the anger that had been brewing inside of me for days begin to deaden, as I tried to accept that I had to let Edward leave with the mutts.
When we got out of the car, I took a hold of Edward's shoulder and told him how much he meant to me. It just didn't feel right to say nothing. We'd lost him once already, so I was damned sure I wasn't going to let him go without telling him.
Once they'd completely disappeared into the forest, I felt Jasper watching me for any signs that I was going to sink into a zombie-like state again.
Three years ago when I'd found out about Edward's disappearance, I'd been so angry. I ripped the forest apart looking for him, but when I didn't find anything I felt so damn helpless. There were no signs of a kidnapping, just a single lock of singed bronze hair that told me something that I didn't want to accept.
Once I'd come to terms with the fact that Edward was truly dead, I sunk into a deep depression. I didn't want to eat, to think, I just wanted to lose myself.
Losing my brother had changed me and I knew it terrified Rosalie, but I couldn't pull myself out of that sense of helplessness. I'd always felt like I was the protector of the family, so the reality devastated me.
Sometimes, I would wander away from the family, letting myself get drawn in by things that had always hypnotized me as a newborn. As a human, I'd always loved the outdoors. I'd spend days and sometimes weeks in the forests and mountains living off only what I could hunt and gather. People might not know it, but I have a quiet side. Yeah, I can joke and play better than the rest of them, but there's something to be said for the peacefulness of nature. That's why I'd been in the woods the day I'd been attacked by the bear. The day that Carlisle changed me.
As a newborn, I found myself bouncing between extremes. One minute I was enjoying my new found strength, jumping from tree to tree, toppling them with a jab of a fist, but then I would have moments when I'd get lost in the nature around me. I would spend hours focused on simple things—the grainy texture of the bark on a tree, the starburst pattern of the veins of an oak leaf, the intricate patterns of interlaced threads of a spider web. But mostly, I couldn't tear my eyes away from the way the sunlight or moonlight filtering through the leaves of trees cut swatches of light across the ground, expanding and retracting with every gust of wind. I guess it was my very own version of a lava lamp.
Yeah, I know. I'm a poet.
"Emmett…" Jasper said cautiously.
At his voice, I yanked myself back to reality.
With a deep breath, I forced myself to think positively. I hadn't lost Edward, Carlisle, Esme, or Bella. I just had to fight for them.
I tried to get back the feeling of anger and frustration that had slowly dissipated in order to get my edge back.
"What do we do-" I began, but was cut off by a desperate cry from Edward that echoed through the forest.
"SUE'S ONE OF THEM! SHE'S THE FOURTH!"
At Edward's shout, four snarling wolves poured out of the woods towards us.
"Jasper, take the two on the left," I snarled.
I crouched low before throwing myself at the larger one using my fists and fangs to tackle it to the ground.
It snapped and kicked at me with its hind legs trying to get out from under me, but I used my right forearm to push it into the ground while I punched and clawed at it with my left.
I heard the sounds of growling and snarling from the forest in Edward's direction. But after a moment of concern for Edward, I was pulled back into the fight as the shifter under me got enough leverage to throw me off.
I rolled to my feet and launched myself at it again only to feel the other shifter land on my back and try to bite into my neck. Letting out a roar, I threw myself backwards, falling to the ground with the shifter under me. As my full weight fell on top of it, I heard a satisfyingly loud crunch. It struggled briefly letting out a strangled whimper and then went limp.
I had no time to gloat because the other had leapt on top of me as I lay on the ground and began to savage my shoulder as it dug its claws into my chest and stomach. I put both hands against its chest and with full force launched it into the air, but not before it was able to pull a good chunk of my shoulder with it.
As it landed agilely on its feet, it sounded like it let out a guttural chuckle.
I growled at its cockiness and threw myself at it again. But at the last second the shifter twisted away, landing a good swipe at my side. As I felt it tear the skin, the excruciating pain caused me to stumble. Most people think that vampires don't feel pain, but when we are faced with a supernatural opponent we can definitely feel the pain of our injuries.
It was at this moment that I felt a twinge of worry. This shifter wasn't going to be as easily beat as I'd originally thought. Up until that very moment, I'd never actually considered that another creature could best me. Cocky? Yes. But with my strength and my brothers at my side, I'd always felt invincible.
But I didn't let the pain or worry sway me. Instead, I spun around just in time to grab its tail, yanking it back towards me. But again the shifter twisted its body around enough that it was able to grab a hold of my leg, yanking it out from under me.
I fell to the ground, but I did not let go of the shifter, trying to get it in a bear hug. I knew that my strength was my advantage, so I hoped that I'd be able to get it in a tight enough grip that I could crush it before it was able to bite into anything vital.
But again, the beast twisted at the last minute so that when I pulled it into my arms its jaws were facing me. It lunged down at me, fastening its jaws in the crook of my neck.
For the first time in a very long time I felt fear. I had a flash of Rosalie's face as she heard the news from Jasper that I was dead. I saw her crumple to the ground in despair and it nearly broke me.
Angrily, I squeezed as hard as I could, but it did nothing to loosen the shifter's jaws which were tearing at me.
I growled and thrashed, trying to dislodge it, but the shifter's teeth only sunk deeper and deeper.
Then, suddenly, the shifter was ripped away from me, its blood spraying my face and chest.
I looked up in shock as I pressed my hand to the missing flesh in my neck.
Jasper looked down at me with wide eyes, the body of the shifter still clutched in his arms. I climbed to my feet, not able to look away from him. I could see in his eyes that he was just as shaken by my close call as I was.
My shock and fear quickly turned to rage at the thought that I'd nearly let one of these mutts destroy me.
"I'm going to kill them all," I growled.
"We need to keep our heads," Jasper said in a firm voice, but I knew that he was just as angry as I was.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to me that pulled me out of my lust for revenge.
"Where's Edward?" I blurted out.
We both sprang into action, dashing in the direction that the mutts had dragged him.
What we saw shocked us.
Two of the shifters that had taken Edward lay sprawled on the ground, each with their throats ripped out.
I lifted my head, smelling the air expecting to smell one of Sam's pack. However, the only other scent was Edward's. But the human scent that I'd come to associate with him was faint. Now it was something else.
As we took off in the direction that Edward was headed, I wondered what we'd find when we caught up with him.
As we were running, Rosalie suddenly appeared at my side.
Jasper filled her in with the information that Edward had given him about the location of Oscar's compound and the victims that he'd bitten and asked her to get in touch with Sam.
She hauled out her phone and called Alice, quickly giving her the run down. We knew that Sam would be in wolf form, so we had to rely on Seth to give him the information.
It had begun to rain again, going from a light misting to a downpour, which made me worry that it would eradicate any chance of finding a trail.
We spread out trying to cover more ground before the rain destroyed it.
After about a half an hour, I pulled up short as the stench of what I could only think of as werewolf hit me.
"Jasper. I've found something," I bellowed.
There was so much anger and adrenaline coursing through my veins that I couldn't stop myself from slamming my fist against the nearest tree, toppling it to the ground.
Rosalie was next to me in a matter of seconds and then Jasper.
"Is that one of the shifters blood?" she asked as she sniffed the air.
"No. It's not shifter. It must be werewolf. Their stench is even worse than a shifter. Can you tell who it is Jazz? Is it Oscar?" I growled.
"I can't tell. I guess once a person's transformed into a werewolf their body chemistry changes. It could be Oscar, but there's just no way to tell," Jasper explained.
He crouched low to the ground, inhaling more deeply.
"But there are actually two trails here. Edward's heads off in that direction and the werewolf in the opposite," he said, pointing East and West.
"Let's go before the trail gets cold," I demanded impatiently.
But Jasper held up his hand, disappearing into the woods only to return a second later.
"I've caught Bella's scent straight ahead along with another werewolf. I think that the werewolves are trying to corral her."
Without another word, he spun around and flew back into the trees with Rosalie and I close behind, praying that we'd reach Bella before it was too late.
When we burst into a clearing, a multitude of scents hit me.
Edward. Bella. Two werewolves. Jacob. Shifters.
"What happened here?" Rosalie gasped.
I looked around, wondering myself- trampled grass, upturned earth, and dark splotches of blood soaking into the ground.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an indentation in a patch of overgrown ferns.
Thinking it was someone or something lying in wait, I spun towards it with a snarl.
It was the humped shape of what I could only guess of as a werewolf. I'd never seen one before, but it wasn't a shifter. And from what I could see, underneath the fur its body was human-like.
I ran towards it growling, hoping that it was still alive so that I could kill it.
But just as I was about to reach the werewolf, a shifter jumped in front of me growling.
I was just about to attack when Jasper shouted out.
"Stop Emmett! It's Leah!"
I pulled up short and looked at Leah who aggressively positioned herself between me and what I could only assume was her werewolf mother.
Leah growled again, taking a step closer to me.
"What are you up to, mutt?" I snarled, readying myself for an attack.
She snarled back at me and I saw her coiling for an attack.
But before she got the chance, Sam, Embry, and two other shifters surrounded us.
Sam stepped forward, letting out a series of guttural barks, but instead of backing down Leah seemed to get more agitated.
"We don't have time for this," Jasper snarled in frustration.
Almost as if he understood us, the lead wolf, Sam, jerked his head towards us, telling us to go.
"Let them fight it out themselves. We need to find Edward and Bella," I said.
We circled around the impending battle to continue the hunt.
SAM
Be careful boys. She's not just warning us to stay back. I think she might be out for blood.
Embry's comment didn't surprise me. I'd always known that Leah's loyalty to the pack was more out of necessity than anything else. Once I'd imprinted on Emily, Leah tried to focus all of her love and devotion on Sue and Seth but I knew that if she'd had the choice she would have struck out on her own. And now Sue had been taken away from her.
This was serious, but I was also concerned by the fact that I hadn't heard Jacob's thoughts for the last couple of hours. I prayed that this meant that he was in human form and not dead.
Embry, we have to get control of Leah. You circle in behind her while I—
Sam! I know where Oscar's compound is. Do you remember Jake's lake? The compound is in that area. Seth suddenly shouted in my head.
An image appeared in my head of Jake's secluded lake. It had been his own personal oasis.
We'd hunted in the area, looking for new game in the mountains. The area with the three peaked mountain wasn't exactly close to Jake's lake, but it was in the area.
Jesus! We can't spread ourselves too thin! I snarled in frustration.
I thought for a moment, trying to come up with a strategy.
I thought about Jake, but I knew my focus had to be on taking out the threat to my people which was Oscar and his pack.
Seth, I need you to contact the Cullens. Let them know where the compound is. Tell them that there help would be greatly appreciated.
Already on it! Alice is going to let them know. Then, she's going to join them. Also, she wanted me to tell you that Edward and Bella are out there in the woods. And Edward has changed. He killed three shifters, so be on your guard.
I was relieved that Seth had missed our thoughts about Leah and his mother. I didn't know what he would do if he knew what was happening.
Once I was sure that Seth had shifted back to human form, I talked to Collin.
Okay. Collin, stay here. Keep your distance from Leah, but watch where she goes. We'll have to deal with her later.
EMMETT
"His compound is where?" I shouted. "How the hell did we not see it? We were all over that area!"
But before the words were even out of my mouth, I knew how it had happened. We'd always stayed near the campsite when we hunted. We'd been too afraid to leave Bella and Edward alone. Over three years ago we'd left Edward and Bella so that we could fight Victoria and her pack of newborns and in the process we lost Edward. We knew that as humans, they were even more vulnerable, so we all vowed that the two of them would never be out of our sight or at least hearing distance.
"So, do we follow Edward's trail, Bella's trail or take down Oscar's compound so that he has nothing to return to?" Rosalie asked.
I was torn. I wanted to be the one to protect Edward and Bella, but I also knew that strategically we had to take care of the compound and its inhabitants.
"I'll go after Edward and Bella. They're trails seem to be heading in the same direction, east. This may mean that they're heading to the compound as well. Since we know where the approximate location of the compound, the two of you should stop following a trail and head on a more direct route there. Maybe you can get there ahead of anyone. Alice has already left the reservation, so she'll meet up with me soon," Jasper responded.
"What about the two werewolves?" I asked, worriedly.
"Don't worry. I'll wait for Alice before engaging them unless Edward or Bella are in imminent danger. My plan is to protect the two of them, not destroy the enemy. At least not now," he said, menacingly.
I let out a long breath in frustration.
If no one dealt with Oscar's cronies at his compound, then all of us would still be in danger. Sam, Embry, and Jared couldn't take them on alone.
With a grunt of anger, I jerked my head in a nod and dashed into the woods with my mate at my side.
SAM
Do we have a game plan for once we find it, Sam? Embry asked.
We'll first do a little reconnaissance. We need to know what we're up against. Then, we wait. We need reinforcements or we won't make it out alive, I responded.
Moving slowly, we searched the area thoroughly, knowing that it must have been well-hidden for us to never have seen it on our hunting trips.
We almost missed it during our search because it was hidden behind a thicket and only a little bit of the wall was above ground. Circling the area, I looked for any weaknesses, but because it was mostly buried in the ground it looked practically impregnable. The doors into it were like those of a storm cellar which would lead down a set of stairs into the ground.
What do we do now, Sam? We won't have the element of surprise if there is only one entrance. And they must have surveillance of this area. Why else would they put it in a wide open field? Jared commented.
We need to get closer, I said. We'll circle around again and approach it from the east where that patch of ferns and overturned tree almost reaches it.
It was a risk because the ferns weren't very thick. Exposed to the sun after the tree next to it had collapsed, the leaves were wilted and brittle. We would have to be extra careful so that we didn't cause too much rustling.
Leading the way through the ferns, the three of us inched forward on our bellies, but stopped just close enough that we could get an unobstructed view.
Then, I smelt it. Werewolf.
Jesus, what is that horrible smell? Do you smell that? Embry thought.
When Oscar had been around the reservation, I had made sure that the pack had kept their distance during the full moon. I hadn't been able to control Paul, but I tried as best as I could to protect the rest of my pack.
However, during one of their excursions I followed Oscar and smelled the stench of werewolf when Oscar changed.
It's werewolf… Can you tell where it's coming from? I asked, scanning the field for any movement.
It smells like it's coming from the building, but I can't see it. Aren't werewolves pretty big? Jared asked.
Don't you remember hearing Paul's thoughts? When Oscar changed, he was still the same size as he was as a human. So, if a werewolf is around here, shouldn't we be able to see it. Embry asked.
I had no answer for them, so instead we decided to stay where we were and see if the werewolf appeared.
I also smell Paul. Can you guys smell him? Jared thought sadly.
I had smelled him earlier, but I had not said anything because I knew my pack would notice eventually. It was hard to accept that Paul had joined our enemies.
Yeah… I can't believe that he betrayed us. He was like a brother to me… Embry responded.
We need to keep our head in the game. Paul doesn't matter now. We need to locate that werewolf and look for any way to get into that compound. I told them both.
We stayed there for a really long time, as still as we could, waiting for something to happen.
When we heard the commotion in the woods, I tensed.
A shifter stumbled from the trees covered in blood, and with his arm hanging limply at his side.
He was cursing a blue streak and clutching the side of his neck where the blood seemed to be pumping out of him. When he got closer to the compound, we heard a loud growling from what seemed to be the compound.
"Shut the fuck up!" he yelled in the direction of the building. But the growling only intensified.
Before getting to the building, he walked over to a rock covered in moss. Hearing a click, I realized that it wasn't a rock at all, but a concealed box. He pulled out what looked like a long hooked crowbar before shutting it. Keeping his distance from the door, he used the bar to hook onto the handle. Yanking it open quickly, he picked up the crowbar like a weapon.
I whipped my eyes back to the door, just in time to see a huge creature climb out of it.
It was a werewolf, but not Oscar. I would know his scent.
The monster was connected to a heavy silver chain that tethered him to the building. Snapping and growling at the man, it stood up and lunged at him with arms oustretched.
Jesus. If we'd gone in guns blazing, we would have come face to face with that thing. Embry said, voicing our thoughts.
Oscar chained one of his own kind like a guard dog… Jared gasped.
The man clearly knew the length of the werewolf's reach because he didn't seemed concerned. He stepped back towards hidden box and opened another, which looked a lot like a cooler. He yanked out what looked like a slab of beef and chucked it at the werewolf, drawing him away from the door.
That's not going to work, is it? Embry said. It's not a dog.
But the werewolf did follow the meat, yanking it to its mouth and tearing into it viciously.
That's good to know… I thought.
Knowing that this creature thought more like an animal than a human could work to our advantage.
While the werewolf was distracted, the man dropped his weapon and dashed past it and down the stairs.
A few moments later, the werewolf was dragged backwards towards the stairs, clawing and howling.
We were just about to move back into the woods to figure out our game plan, when we heard sounds coming from the trees on the other side of the compound.
A man strode out of the woods and straight to the cellar doors only stopping to pick up the crowbar. Gingerly he stepped closer to the doors and using the crowbar, hooked the door and slammed it shut as the werewolf howled in anger.
There's another entrance… I thought with satisfaction.