Purple Haze
The first time I had brought Bella to my house, I had told her of my past. I'd told her that I had killed and fed on humans. True, it had been long ago, and I no longer drank human blood, but the fact remained: I had done it. I had chosen to do it. And today, I had killed again. I had done so to save my life as well as the life of the girl I loved, but that didn't matter. Killing was wrong. That I had just killed in front of her only made it worse.
The body I held in my arms wasn't dead quite yet. Although her head lay several feet away from me, Victoria was still twitching and writhing in my grip, fighting to get free. Her hands were clasping my arms, pulling at them, and in spite of the fact that both of her shoulders were broken and one of her arms had nearly been ripped off already, I had to strain against her in order not to lose my own arms. Emphasizing the fact that she wasn't dead, I could hear a steady stream of cursing from Victoria's mind and felt a burning in my neck - the echo of pain from her mind where I had torn her head off. I could hear Riley, too, though his thoughts were less coherent than his partner's.
…onononononononononooooooo!
Setting my mouth, knowing that it was necessary, I took a firmer hold on the arms that held mine and twisted. The horrid sounds of breaking metal that every vampire I'd ever killed had made when ripped apart filled the small space, nearly drowning out their mental voices. In disgust, I flung the arms down, away from where the head lay, and tore at her torso, ripping it in half before twisting off each of her legs and throwing them aside, as well. Now scattered on the ground, Victoria's twitching body was in pieces, and could threaten neither Bella nor myself for the moment. My work wasn't finished, though. Even from her current state, it was possible for Victoria to put herself back together. Indeed, I could see the fingers of one of the hands twitching in the grass as it tried to pull itself back toward the rest of her. If I waited long enough, I knew that she would be whole again, and even more dangerous than before. The only way to truly kill a vampire was to burn it.
My fight with Victoria had splintered and toppled several trees, and I walked over to the nearest one and began breaking it into pieces so that it would be easier to burn. I couldn't bring myself to face Bella. The sounds of her ragged breaths and her pounding heart were louder to me than the screams from our enemies' minds, and I was terrified of what I would see were I to look into her eyes. In the tent, she had just insisted that she wanted every part of me, but now that she had seen me kill, how could that still be true?
Even in this rainy forest, there were patches of dry wood and pine needles often buried under the lowest bushes and branches. Fighting back my revulsion, I arranged Victoria's body into a pile, carefully separating the torn pieces so that no adjoining parts touched. For some reason, I remembered the sound of a child singing, "…the leg bone's connected to the hip bone…" while I positioned her so that she couldn't reconnect herself. The quivering, twitching pieces didn't want to stay in a neat pile, no matter how quickly I worked, but I threw pieces of the broken trees and dry pine needles over her, regardless.
…um… a little help here? I can't carry him all by myself…
Hearing Seth call to me from where he had torn Riley to pieces, I hastened to his side. The body on the ground at the wolf's feet bore little resemblance to the young man who had entered our camp not even an hour previous. His head was gone, the arm I'd torn off and the one Seth had bit through were elsewhere in the woods, and his torso looked like he'd been caught in a brush chipper. Despite the violence of the act, I'd separated Victoria's head from her body with very little damage done to her, other than that tear. Seth, on the other hand had ripped and clawed and torn at Riley in his attempt to fully incapacitate the young vampire, and there were glittering pieces of him that were catching the scant light from where they lay, scattered all around us on the floor of the forest.
I ached and itched and stung all over, and had to fight not to rub or scratch at the places on me that corresponded to the damage we'd inflicted on the attacking vampires. I set my teeth and ignored the unimportant echos of their pain. It wasn't real, and as soon as their heads were ashes, the strange phantom sensations of pain would be gone.
Despite the fact that we had already killed the only two vampires who had come to our mountain, I didn't feel safe leaving Bella standing – bleeding – all alone by Victoria's body. By the time we returned, Victoria's venom had leaked from her body into the pile of mostly dry pine needles. I knew I was right not to hesitate when I saw that one of the hands had a hold of the stump where that arm was once attached. Putting her body into a pile had only made it simpler for her to reassemble herself. Aside from my desire to end her pain - more for my sake than hers - I knew that I shouldn't wait until we had all of Riley gathered before starting the fire.
Seth added the torso that he carried onto the quivering pile and turned to collect more of Riley. I tossed the head and legs I held on top of Victoria's body and pulled out the lighter I had stashed in my pocket. Since finding out that the army was after Bella, I'd kept a lighter with me at all times, just in case. Trying hard to close my mind to Victoria and Riley's remaining senses, I held the flame to the venom-soaked needles and watched as they quickly caught, sending up an unnatural purplish cloud of smoke.
The flames caught the highly flammable venom that was leaking from their broken bodies and quickly spread, burning them from the inside out. Thankfully, I only briefly experienced their deaths. Their thoughts were loud with violent screams for only a second before the two vampires were silenced forever. The echo of an unpleasant tingling warmth rapidly spread over my face and skull before vanishing, leaving me feeling strangely numb.
Through Seth's mind, I saw my family and the wolves engaged in a similar activity, cleaning up the remains of the army they had killed. I was grateful to be able to see each and every member of my family standing straight and tall, all of their limbs were whole and undamaged, though I thought I smelled an extra-pungent odor coming from Jasper and decided that his skin had been broken. He'd have some new scars to go with the ones he'd acquired in Maria's army, but I doubted that would bother him. This time, he'd been fighting for a much better reason than protecting his coven's killing territory.
...gonna just stay a wolf for now. ...change from human to wolf and back again with Bella there...
I caught an uncomfortable embarrassment from him and held back a chuckle. Seth was a young teenager and surely not eager to run around naked in front of Bella. Even though he had brought clothes with him, changing back and forth would have been pointless and time consuming when I could hear him perfectly fine as he was. At any rate, we both wanted his connection to the pack, and that would have been lost if he took his human form.
...still lots of him back there... made a bit of a mess with him, blech...
"Get every piece," I said in a low voice. Except for the chunk I had bit off, I hadn't left any pieces of Victoria; my destruction of the ferocious vampire having been more direct than Seth's shredding of Riley. I could smell bits of him scattered about the clearing and tracked down his hand, the arm I'd thrown, and slivers of his skin Seth's teeth had scraped off, as well as the one piece I'd bit from Victoria's shoulder. Seth brought back all of the larger pieces in the clearing, adding them to the fire, while I tossed in the parts I found.
Soon, we could smell no more of either vampire except for the stench of the purple smoke that was billowing from the fire.
...hahaha! Totally kicked their butts! Who's too young now?
Seth laughed, and I could feel the desire in him to leap about the clearing in excitement. He restrained himself, feeling that such a display was not worthy of an Official Vampire Killer.
I felt my lips twitch in an attempted smile, but Bella's frozen silence had me terrified. Still, the young wolf had saved Bella's life, and mine, too. Without his assistance, I was sure I would be the one whose body was sending up the purple smoke. I wondered briefly if anything would ever grow in the toxic circle of scorched earth where the vampires burned.
"Nice teamwork," I told him, extending my fist to him. He bumped his nose against it, laughing before he turned away to watch the fire. His lips were parted in a wolfish grin, exposing all of his teeth, but his ears were up and his eyes were bright.
I stared at the fire for a moment longer, listening to the only sound in the world that mattered to me: Bella's steady, rhythmic heartbeat. It was even and calm, and after my fight with Victoria was music to my ears. No matter how often over the past year since I had met her that I had wished I could hear her thoughts, my desire to do so had never been stronger than in that moment. My family had forgiven my murders of Maria, of the predator I'd killed in Seattle, and of the newborn I'd killed in Phoenix, but they had done their share of killing in the past, too. Carlisle had not, it was true, but it was in his nature to be forgiving.
Bella had just watched me rip the head off of a woman, then tear her arms and legs off before burning her body. I couldn't be sure if she had seen it or not, but surely she had heard me hitting Victoria, too. I blinked and swallowed in shame. I'd never hit a woman before. True, it was a female vampire, and not a human woman, but with the way Bella viewed vampires, I wasn't sure that would matter to her.
Bella had seen me kill. That was all I was sure of. Well, whatever her reaction, I had no choice but to face it. She knew that she loved Jacob, now. If seeing me kill made her realize that I was a killer, that I was a monster - as I had always insisted - at least I knew that Bella would live.
Attempting to not smell the icy, toxic smoke, I took a trembling breath and tried to concentrate only on Bella's sweet fragrance. I didn't want to have to look into the eyes that I could feel watching me. I didn't want to have to see the emotions I was sure would be on her face right then, but what other choice did I have? Bracing myself, I raised my eyes to look into those of the girl who stood a few feet away from me. I flinched away from the horror on her face, the fear in her eyes. She still held her weapon, a shard of rock covered in her blood, poised and ready to strike.
Bella's eyes were locked on me, as I knew they had been throughout the whole encounter. She looked terrified, and I wondered if she thought I would attack her next. I'd explained the way vampires could be overcome by bloodlust and the hunt. Though I had been in complete control the entire time, she had no way of knowing that, and I'd come so close to killing her in the past.
Moving with exaggerated care, I slowly spread my arms, my hands open and facing her. She looked like a deer, caught in the headlights of an approaching car and I thought she might bolt to safety at any moment. If she did, I would have to catch her so that she wouldn't get lost or hurt, stumbling in fear down the mountain, but I didn't want to chase her and frighten her even more than she already was. And if, when I caught her, she fought and struggled against me, what then?
How could she ever allow me to touch her again? Much less to kiss her? I was afraid to even speak, certain the sound of my voice would send her running blindly through the forest to escape from the killer who had threatened her life from the start. From the demon who loved her more than anything in the world.
From me.
I swallowed my fear and forced myself to speak. "Bella, love." I couldn't make my voice louder than a whisper, but as scared as she was, I thought that was a good thing. Slowly, I took a step toward her when she didn't move, and then another, watching her, waiting for her to react.
The hand that gripped the rock was the one Carlisle had put in a brace from when she'd punched Jacob. She was holding it so tight, I could see her muscles trembling with the strain. I knew that in times of stress, humans were sometimes oblivious to pain, but her knuckle was broken, and I was sure she would feel it when her shock wore off.
"Bella, can you drop the rock, please? Carefully. Don't hurt yourself." I was afraid to come any closer to her when she hadn't reacted in any way and I paused, waiting. After a few very long seconds, her fingers opened and the bloody rock fell to the ground. I breathed a sigh of relief. She'd moved. I didn't, though, remaining where I stood, allowing her to approach me, or not, as she desired.
"You don't have to be afraid, Bella. I won't hurt you." Though her hand was empty now, the rest of her was still frozen, and her other hand was still dripping with her richly scented blood. The previous day, I'd tried to tell her why she no longer needed to fear that I would drink her, but a single day could not be enough time for her to really understand that I would never threaten her again, especially when I could see the expression of terror that was still frozen on her face.
"It's going to be all right, Bella," I tried to reassure her. "I know you're frightened now, but it's over. No one is going to hurt you. I won't touch you. I won't hurt you."
Finally, she moved, blinking rapidly, a look of confusion on her face. "Why do you keep saying that?" She took a step toward me, but I felt myself flinch away from her. "What's wrong? What do you mean?"
"Are you…" I didn't want to speak the words, but I didn't understand her reaction. "Aren't you afraid of me?"
"Afraid of you? Why?" Her voice sounded surprised, and her expression of confusion deepened.
Abruptly, her feet moved and she lurched forward. Shocked and uncomprehending, I watched as she came directly toward me, throwing herself into my embrace. My arms wound around her and she pressed her face against my chest. Her breaths hitched and she started sobbing. I could feel her hot tears soaking into my shirt as her body trembled against me.
I was almost relieved. At last, a rational reaction! She never seemed to show any fear for herself, or reaction to my monstrosity. A normal human would be crying. Of course, they wouldn't be crying into my shirt, as she was, but at least she was no longer frozen.
"Bella, Bella," I stroked her hair, grateful to be holding her, to know that the threats to her life were gone, dead and burning. "I'm so sorry. It's over, it's over."
"I'm fine," she was finally able to say around her sobs. "I'm okay. I'm just. Freaking out. Give me. A minute."
I closed my eyes and held her tighter, repeating, "I'm so sorry," again and again. I'd never wanted her to see me like that: a killer in action. I let her hold onto me, steadying her as she cried. Eventually, her breathing steadied and her tears slowed. Her hands tightened on me and I felt her press her face firmer against my chest. As she worked her way up to my shoulder, I realized she was kissing me.
"Are you okay? Did she hurt you at all?" She pressed her lips against my neck, along my jaw, everywhere she could reach while I stood motionless, in shock that she still wasn't disgusted by me, but was concerned for my well-being.
I realized that the terror on her face hadn't been because she was afraid of me, but of losing me. Astonished that somehow she still wanted me, I buried my face in her silky hair and assured her, "I'm absolutely fine." Victoria hadn't so much as scratched me, despite her efforts.
"Seth?"
I snickered, my relief making me almost as giddy as the wolf in question. "More than fine. Very pleased with himself, in fact." The young wolf was studiously ignoring us, concentrating on his pack's mind as they gathered in the clearing to watch the army burn.
"The others? Alice, Esme? The wolves?" Her voice was sharp, evidence of her concern for her loved ones, but our victory had been total.
"All fine," I said in a soothing voice. "It's over there, too. It went just as smoothly as I promised. We got the worst of it here."
She was silent for a moment, and we stood by the fire, holding each other tightly. She pulled away from me with a look of confusion still on her face. "Tell me why. Why did you think I would be afraid of you?"
I averted my face, ashamed. "I'm sorry," I repeated. "So sorry. I didn't want you to see that. See me like that. I know I must have terrified you."
She was silent for a long moment, and I waited for her to speak, fearful again of what she would say. When she finally spoke, her voice was incredulous. "Seriously? You… what? Thought you'd scared me off?" She snorted - actually snorted. The sound was nearly a laugh and seemed completely unconcerned.
Uncomprehending, I put a hand under her chin so that I could tilt her face up to mine, forcing myself to meet her eyes again. A tiny smile was on her lips and her eyes sparkled with amusement. I didn't understand. She'd just been sobbing in my arms a moment ago. How could she be laughing at the fact that I had killed right in front of her?
"Bella, I just – " Once again, I didn't want to speak the words that needed to be said, but I had to understand. "I just beheaded and dismembered a sentient creature not twenty yards from you."
…she deserved it… the wolf grumbled.
Ignoring him, I insisted, "That doesn't bother you?" I barely kept my jaw from dropping open in shock when she shrugged.
"Not really. I was only afraid that you and Seth were going to get hurt. I wanted to help, but there's only so much I can do…"
Abruptly furious, I glared at her, livid. I didn't even want to think about what she might have done had I actually allowed her to be in the clearing with us while we fought against an army.
"Yes," I said when her voice trailed away in the face of my anger. "Your little stunt with the rock. You know that you nearly gave me a heart attack? Not the easiest thing to do, that." I remembered all too well the look on Riley's face as he prepared to drink Bella and continued to glare at her, furious at the way she always dismissed the threats to her own life.
Her voice trembled as she insisted, "I wanted to help… Seth was hurt…"
I shook my head, incredulous at her stubborn courage. "Seth was only feigning that he was hurt, Bella. It was a trick. And then you…!" I couldn't even finish the sentence. She'd shed her own blood, slicing through her perfect skin to save us! "Seth couldn't see what you were doing, so I had to step in. Seth's a bit disgruntled that he can't claim a single-handed defeat now."
"Seth was… faking?"
I pressed my lips together and nodded.
"Oh."
She glanced at Seth and I followed her gaze. He was staring at the fire, his head and tail held high, his pose one of complete self-satisfaction. His pack had thought him too young to fight, yet he had saved our lives. Without him, we'd both be dead, and the pack knew it.
"Well, I didn't know that," she defended herself. "And it's not easy being the only helpless person around. Just you wait till I'm a vampire! I'm not going to be sitting on the sidelines next time."
Next time?! What, did she think this kind of thing was a regular occurrence in our lives? Had her life been in danger so often over the past year or so that she thought that was just how things always were?
"Next time?" I repeated. "Did you anticipate another war soon?"
She shrugged, seemingly unconcerned. "With my luck? Who knows?"
I rolled my eyes, practically laughing at her. After everything, her mind was still firm. She was going to be a vampire, and that meant she was going to be my mate, my wife. I'd killed in front of her and she didn't care. She knew she loved Jacob, and she didn't care. All that mattered to her was that everyone was safe, and that our future together was assured.
Although I knew that the cut on her arm needed tending, the flow of blood had already stopped when it began to clot, and I wanted to kiss her too much to wait.
She stopped me as I leaned close. "Hold on. Didn't you say something before - ?"
I saw her flinch and wondered what image was in her mind that would make her react like that when seeing me kill hadn't fazed her.
After a pause, she continued, "About a complication? And Alice, needing to nail down the schedule for Sam. You said it was going to be close. What was going to be close?"
I glanced at Seth and met his eyes, seeing through the pack mind once again. Sam, Carlisle, and Alice were arguing. Keeping up a steady growl, Paul was in wolf form by their side, dwarfing my tiny sister. The rest of the pack was still finding bits of the vampires in the woods.
"…destroy all of them."
"She is not a threat."
"They're all threats. She shouldn't be allowed to live."
"That's not your decision. If she is willing to learn, then we are willing to teach her."
"Have you even been watching the news the past few months?"
"Yes, of course. We knew what was going on far earlier than your tribe did. But this one – "
"Is a killer!"
"It's all she knew. But that doesn't mean she will always be one."
Pointing at my sister, he said, "I know that she can see the future..."
"Yes…"
"How do you see her, then? Like you all are? Or like she is now?"
Alice closed her eyes, concentrating. "I can't see. Probably because of your pack's presence. Speaking of which, we're expecting some company soon, and you really shouldn't be here."
He grunted, not pleased with the way the conversation was going. I wondered who they were talking about. Not Bella, surely!
"When they leave, I expect one of your family to contact us."
Alice rolled her eyes and huffed. "Fine."
"I will call you myself. Edward has Jacob's number."
"But like I said, you do need to get going."
"We're just finishing our sweep of the forest to make sure than no others are left alive." He turned away from them, slipping out of his pants and preparing to phase back into wolf form.
Pulling out of his mind, I frowned at Seth, not fully understanding what the conversation had been about. He shrugged.
Your family wants to keep one?
"Well?" Bella pressed me.
"It's nothing, really. But we do need to be on our way..." Whatever they had been talking about, I would be able to find out more once we were there. And if we hurried, we could get there before the pack left and I could show Jacob that he'd lost, after all. After being forced to experience him kissing my Bella, I wanted very much for him to see her in my embrace again.
I pulled her into my arms, preparing to shift her onto my back so I could run with her, but she pulled away from me with a frown on her face.
"Define nothing," she said in a firm voice.
Holding back a sigh, knowing how stubborn she was and that simply telling her would be faster, I placed my hands on either side of her cheeks, needing her to maintain her unusual - but normal for her – calm.
"We only have a minute, so don't panic, all right?"
Her lips pressed into a tight line and her eyes narrowed.
"I told you that you had no reason to be afraid. Trust me on that, please?"
She nodded, reluctantly. "No reason to be afraid," she repeated. "Got it."
I considered how to tell her what Alice had seen. Jane couldn't hurt her, but the tiny vampire could hurt any one of us and I knew how Bella feared for our safely already.
...be careful... Shouldn't be investigating something like that alone. Leah! Come on, don't be a show-off. Wait-!
"What's she doing?" I asked Seth, hearing the worried thoughts that he was directing toward his sister. He whined, his voice high-pitched and irritating to my ears.
Through the telepathic connection of the pack, they heard each other's thoughts, in the much same way that I would. They were able to share memories, just as Jacob had shown me Sam's memory of finding Bella in the woods the day I had left her. Again like me, what they shared was automatic. When Leah had called up her memories of the pack in embarrassing moments, they'd had little choice but to remember along with her. While we all saw and heard what was in the minds of the pack's members - and for me, the humans and vampires around me... with the exception of Bella, of course - their connection was different from my gift, deeper and more encompassing. The wolves in the pack were not many connected individuals so much as a single interconnected many.
Unlike me, they would also feel each other's emotions. I'd had cause often enough in the past to be glad not to have to feel emotions the way Jasper did. I could see that they existed, and I was aware of the person's mind experiencing them, but physical sensations weren't processed by the brain in the same way emotions were. Whereas the pack - or Jasper - would feel each other's emotions as though they were their own, I was an observer. It was like the difference between standing outside in the rain, and watching the storm through a window.
While I might be immune to emotional pain, the same was not true for physical sensations. Despite being aware of a difference between my senses and those of the people I observed, I heard, saw, smelled, tasted, and felt whatever the person I was listening to did. Thankfully though, the taste sensation was almost always absent unless blood-related. Human food was disgusting, and the last thing I wanted was to experience them tasting it; the smell was bad enough.
Experiencing the many mind of the pack while they'd fought the newborns had been strange, but interesting. As deeply connected as they were, in touching all of their minds at once, every sensation had been amplified. I'd been more there, in the clearing, than I had seemed to be in the tent. Having been so recently connected with them, it was all too easy to slip back into Seth's mind and our connection with the pack.
Immersed within the pack mind once more, we felt Seth's concern for his sister as she sniffed through the underbrush away from the rest of the pack. Jacob was closest to us, and he trotted over to help, alarmed by the unexpectedly strong burning scent she'd found. We'd gathered and burned all of the pieces of the vampires we'd killed, but they hadn't smelled like that. This seemed like more than just a piece of one, and we worried that somehow, one had been missed.
Leah poked into the underbrush and a sparkle caught our eye just before the creature it had reflected off of moved. We lunged forward, preparing to tear into it like we had the other one, but that first one had been taken by surprise. This one had seen us coming, and despite missing a foot and part of an arm, he stood to catch us when we leapt.
No! Every mind in the pack yelled as she gathered herself for the leap. Don't - ! Jacob, who was nearly beside her already, threw himself at Leah, knocking her aside with his body.
Instead of Leah, it was Jacob who landed in the arms of the newborn who had been hidden in the bush. The entire pack was aware of his bones as they shattered, and through Seth's connection with their mind, I felt his agony amplified ten-fold. An explosion of pain tore through me and I wasn't aware that it wasn't my own body that had been broken until the sound of Bella's terror-filled voice broke through my pain. With an effort, I pulled out of the pack's many mind enough to see her eyes. She was trying to pry my hands away from the sides of my face, though I didn't remember pressing them there, and wasn't able to remove them. I felt like I was holding my brain in place and if I removed my hands, I would break into pieces, shattered like Jacob's bones.
The newborn didn't stand a chance. He only held Jacob in his crushing grip for a second before Sam and Paul were there ripping the vampire's arms off. The rest of the pack was there moments later, tearing the newborn's body into pieces. Jacob fell to the ground, hurting, but still very much alive. I knew the wolves had the ability to recover from injuries quickly – having seen them do so when they remembered their practice sessions as they watched my family train – and was sure that, though he hurt, Jacob would recover. His bones were crushed, but attached. He was alive, he would recover, and that was what mattered.
It's okay, he tried reassure them, though he writhed on the ground, howling. We're going to be fine. It's – He broke off as a splinter of one broken rib ground against another.
The pack gathered around him, trying to hold him still without damaging or hurting him further. We're fine, they agreed with him, We're going to be okay. Leah looked at Sam, pleading with her Alpha, Sam – help him – Her wolf face was anguished and full of guilt. Jacob had gotten hurt trying to save her.
I'd kept my eyes fixed on Bella's face, needing her strength. When I saw her body slump to the side, I pulled completely out of the pack's mind, deliberately closing my mind to the pain. Pain wasn't important. I wasn't harmed, and I'd felt worse before. There was nothing I could do for Jacob at that moment, but Bella was about to hit her head on the rocks as her body collapsed. I caught her in my arms, keeping her lovely face from hitting the ground, and pulled her against my chest. Without being aware of standing, I was on my feet in the next instant with Bella held in my arms.
"Seth!" I yelled, trying to get him to break away from experiencing his brother's pain.
…have to go! He needs me! I should be there! He saved my sister!
"No!" I countered, firmly. "You go straight home. Now. As fast as you can."
I knew only too well that the only two wolves on the reservation were eleven year old Colin and Brady and, though Seth wasn't that much older, he needed to go home, to help them prepare for the arrival of their wounded brother. Having yet another wolf gathered around Jacob wouldn't be helpful to anyone.
Seth's body was trembling from the shared pain and the need to be with his brothers and sister. He whimpered, conflicted. I wasn't his leader, but Sam was otherwise occupied with trying to restrain Jacob as he tried to prevent Jacob from hurting himself further. Keeping myself from slipping back into their minds, I let myself see through the pack's eyes. My father was kneeling beside Sam, helping Jacob as best as the wolf would allow. Seth shook his head back and forth.
Colin and Brady are fine. Jacob is hurt. I need to go to Jacob.
"Seth," I said in a low voice, making it as compelling as possible. "Trust me."
I do. I do trust you, Edward. Collin and Brady. Okay. Right. I knew Seth felt the youngest wolves' confusion and fear. Finally agreeing with me, he launched himself down the mountain toward his home.
Bella's body was limp in my arms, though her eyes were fixed on my face. My arms tightened their hold on her, making sure she was secure. Like Seth, I launched myself down the mountain, swerving through the trees and hurtling the waterways as I sped toward the clearing to where my family waited.
"Edward," Bella's voice was choked with pain and confusion when she spoke my name. "What happened, Edward? What happened to Sam? Where are we going? What's happening?"
"We knew there was a good probability of this happening," I decided to answer her question from before Jacob was harmed. "Earlier this morning, Alice saw it and passed it through Sam to Seth. The Volturi decided it was time to intercede." Bella's heart thudded, hard and irregular, before picking up into a faster pace.
"Don't panic," I tried to sooth her. "They aren't coming for us. It's just the normal contingent of the guard that usually cleans up this kind of mess. Nothing momentous, they're merely doing their job. Of course, they seem to have timed their arrival very carefully," I said sourly. "Which leads me to believe that no one in Italy would mourn if the newborns had reduced the size of the Cullen family." My teeth clenched together, furious at their duplicity. I was certain that their arrival at this time could not be coincidence. "I'll know for sure what they were thinking when they get to the clearing."
"Is that why we're going back?" Her whispered words were nearly lost in the wind from the speed of my run, but I was sure that my ears would always be able to hear my Bella's voice, no matter the volume.
There was no point in hiding the truth of their visit from her. It was better that she be prepared for what was to come, I was sure, so I told her the truth. "It's part of the reason. Mostly, it will be safer for us to present a united front at this point. They have no reason to harass us, but…" I hesitated. No, they had no legal reason, but I knew Jane was furious at the way Alice and I had been offered positions in Aro's guard. Not to mention the way Bella had been immune to Jane's stare.
"Jane's with them," I admitted. "If she thought we were alone somewhere away from the others, it might tempt her." She didn't have to use her mental powers to hurt Bella. She could use them on me, and then physically attack Bella at her leisure, while I writhed on the ground. However, if we were with our family, she'd never get away with vengeance. "Like Victoria, Jane will probably guess that I'm with you. Demetri, of course, is with her. He could find me, if Jane asked him to."
Bella made a choked, whimpering sound, and I tucked her body even closer to mine, knowing how she feared the demons she'd met during her trip through Hell to save my life.
"Shh, Bella, shh. It's all going to be fine. Alice can see that."
"The pack?"
"They had to leave quickly. The Volturi do not honor truces with werewolves," I evaded. I needed Bella to have her wits about her, and not distracted with worry for the mutt. Her breathing accelerated, and I could feel her heart pounding against my chest.
"I swear they will be fine. The Volturi won't recognize the scent – they won't realize the wolves are here; this isn't a species they are familiar with. The pack will be fine."
She was silent as I sped through the forest for only a few moments before reiterating her first question. "What happened? Before? When Seth was howling? When you were hurt?"
I didn't want to tell her, but wasn't going to lie, either. She'd find out soon enough, and only be more upset if she discovered I hadn't told her the truth about Jacob.
"Edward! Tell me!" she demanded when I didn't answer right away.
"It was all over," I began in a low voice. "The wolves didn't count their half… they thought they had them all. Of course, Alice couldn't see."
Tired of my vague answers, she pressed me, "What happened?"
"One of the newborns was hiding… Leah found him – she was being stupid, cocky, trying to prove something. She engaged him alone…"
"Leah…" She watched my face and I was sure she could see the tension that I felt. "Is she going to be okay?"
Not happy at deceiving her, I muttered, "Leah wasn't hurt." She considered my words without answering, but I was sure she was trying to process what I was telling her and comparing it with her memory of what she'd seen. Seth and I had been in pain. If Leah wasn't hurt, then who had been? "We're almost there," I told her, seeing a pillar of purple smoke like the one I had left at the campsite.
Bella followed my gaze, distracted for the moment from her line of questioning. But, stubborn as always, she returned her gaze to my face. "Edward. Edward, someone got hurt."
"Yes," I admitted in a whisper.
"Who?"
I slowed, nearing my family. I was close enough to hear their thoughts now. I could see through their eyes and confirmed that all of the wolves were gone. Carlisle was anxious. He knew that we all needed to be there, and as the leader of our family, he especially could not leave, but he had a patient who desperately needed him. They couldn't exactly take a werewolf to the hospital.
Jasper was crouched over a girl I didn't recognize, and suddenly I understood what Sam had been arguing with Carlisle and Alice about. They hadn't killed one of the newborns. She was terrified and grieving, but not over any of the vampires my family had killed. I kept seeing Riley's face in her mind, and was aware of her fury toward him, along with a fierce need for vengeance.
Emmett and Rosalie were holding each other, grateful that the fight was over. Though Emmett had enjoyed himself thoroughly and Rosalie had skillfully applied all that Jasper had taught her, he was glad that his mate hadn't been harmed. Esme was relieved that all of her children as well as her husband were safe. Her worry at that moment was for the girl. I could feel in her mind the shift already, from enemy to daughter, and pressed my lips together, worried.
Alice was watching the Volturi as they entered the clearing, not able to see much in the immediate future past their arrival, but when she searched for a farther future, I saw her making wedding plans, and was relieved. This would be unpleasant, to be sure, but we would all be fine, as Alice had foreseen previously.
I glanced back to the girl in my arms, and knew that she was waiting for my answer. Reluctantly, I admitted the truth to her.
"Jacob."
She nodded her head once, accepting what I'd told her as if she'd expected my answer.
"Of course," she whispered just before her eyes fluttered closed and her body went limp in my arms.
"Bella?" I said, alarmed. I shifted her body higher in my arms, looking into her face, but she'd lost consciousness. I increased my speed, knowing that I had to reach my family before the approaching vampires did.