Whitlock Coven
"This is stupid," Garrett said, "we should be on the move, it's too risky to stay in one spot."
The Whitlock coven, sans Bella and Jasper, were still waiting in Phoenix for their leader and his mate to return.
"Jasper told us to stay, so we stay," Peter said. "It's only a scouting mission, they will be back soon."
"I'm worried about Bella," Charlie said, "what if the Cullens attack them?"
"They won't." Peter was sick of all these newborns and their questions. "Jasper will make sure they're not detected. Just be patient."
"When can we feed again?" Benjamin asked and Peter growled at him, Peter still didn't like him.
Sensing the friction, Charlie tried to diffuse the situation. "We'll be over here." Charlie led his mate away from Peter.
"Ignore them all," Charlotte told Peter, "Jasper put you in charge for a reason."
"But Jasper didn't put him in charge," Garrett said, "I'm the oldest and therefore I am the one who should be in charge."
"It didn't need to be said," Peter growled, "everyone knows I'm next in line after Jasper."
"Wait," Benjamin called out, "when were you changed, Garrett?"
"1780."
"Oh." Benjamin thought he might be the oldest, but he was the second oldest.
"You don't count anyway," Peter said, "experience is taken into consideration and you were locked up for two hundred years, you're on the bottom of the list."
"Watch it," Charlie warned Peter.
"Don't worry," Benjamin said, "Peter is harmless."
Peter growled loudly.
"Calm down everyone," Charlotte said. "You can't kill him, Peter, Jasper won't be happy with you."
"I don't care," Peter said. "He's doing it on purpose, I know he is."
"Everyone just be quiet," Angela said, her voice low, "please. You're causing rifts, we need to stay strong. Please. We're already weakened without Bella and Jasper here."
Everyone shut their mouths and stuck close by each other, but separately with their mates. Peter and Charlotte. Garrett and Angela. Benjamin and Charlie. Then, things changed. Garrett's head shot up.
"Something's shifting," he said. He knelt down, touching the earth, trying to get a better read on it. Something bad was rising, or had risen.
"What's going on?" Peter asked.
"The Cullens know we're here," Garrett said, "I think they're on their way. It's not clear, but something big is stirring and it has to do with us."
Peter grabbed his phone, dialing Jasper, he needed to warn him.
"You need to get back here and fast," Peter said, not even waiting for Jasper to talk.
"What's going on?" Jasper asked.
Peter surveyed the situation, trying to gain more information, but there was nothing new.
"I don't know." Peter didn't want to worry Jasper or give him any false information, Garrett could be wrong. "Garrett's sure something has changed and it's not good for us," that part was true, "but we don't know what it is yet."
"We're almost done here," Jasper said, "and then we'll be back."
Angela gasped. Peter looked towards Garrett wondering if something had happened to him, it hadn't. Angela had her eyes closed and she looked terrified.
"What's going on there?" Jasper asked.
"I don't know," Peter said, "that was Angela. Something's not right, you need to get back here, fast."
"It's too late, it's too late," Garrett muttered to himself, "but that's impossible. Angela." Everything calmed down inside him and he knew what to do. He picked his mate up and took off. They needed to be away from here, far, far away.
Charlie and Benjamin followed suit.
Peter stood there shocked. Charlotte tackled her mate, knocking the phone out of his hand and pulled him away.
"Peter? …Peter?" They could hear Jasper through the phone, but there was no turning back.
"What are we doing?" Peter asked, catching up to the others.
Garrett didn't answer.
"What are we doing?" Peter growled. "Someone talk already."
"Charles and I are following Garrett and Angela," Benjamin said.
Peter's growl intensified.
"Garrett, speak," Peter said.
"You don't command me," Garrett replied, never stopping.
Peter couldn't take it anymore, he increased his speed and pounced on Garrett's back. Angela tumbled out of his arms, but Peter didn't care. He wrapped his arms around Garrett's neck and tried to pull his head off.
"Please don't," Charlie said.
Everyone stopped, they were a few hundred miles away from Phoenix, to the east. Peter was still on Garrett's back, still trying to behead him. Garrett didn't seem worried about it, Angela was though.
"Let him go," she said, almost sobbing.
"What's going on with her?" Benjamin asked. "This is nothing, just playfulness, do you want me to tell you some of the things Amun did to me?"
"Everyone shut up," Charlie said, looking at Angela, she looked in pain. "Angela was right before, we need to stay together, we need to stop fighting. Why can't we function as a group right now?"
"Jasper is our core, Jasper can't die," Angela muttered.
Charlie realized what she meant, without Jasper here there was no one to follow, no one to obey, it was just chaos.
"I'm taking command," Charlie said, "Jasper is my son-in-law, therefore I take seniority."
"That's bullshit," Peter said, still trying to pull Garrett's head off.
"I don't care if it's bullshit, it's happening," Charlie said. "You're trying to kill Garrett for god's sake."
"I'm not trying to kill him, he would be dead if I wanted that, I just want his head."
"Angela," Charlie said, "what's going on?"
"I don't know… I don't know… bonds are breaking, this can't be good… it can't be good. You can't fix it… you can't fix it. I don't want… I don't want…"
Charlie decided to move on.
"Peter, let him go."
Peter glared at Charlie.
"Let. Him. Go. Now."
Peter wasn't going to listen, Charlie wasn't in charge.
"Listen to him," Benjamin said.
Benjamin liked seeing his mate in charge, but he hated that no one was listening to him, but maybe… Benjamin made sure no one was paying attention to him as he created a ball of fire in his hand behind his back. He contemplated whether or not to do it, but Peter wasn't listening to his mate, he was trying to harm Garrett. Benjamin shot the ball of flames at the back of Peter's neck, letting it burn for a moment before using air to create wind and dissipate it.
It was quick, but not for Peter. Peter jumped back, away from Garrett. He felt like he was on fire again. He swatted at his neck. "It burns, it burns, make it stop."
"Are you going to listen to me yet?" Charlie asked.
"Did you do this to me?" Peter asked, rounding on Charlie.
Garrett picked up Angela and took off running.
"What are you going to do now?" Peter snapped at Charlie. "You're in charge, aren't you?"
"We're following Garrett and you need to stay in line," Charlie said.
"Okay," Peter said, taking off running.
Charlie didn't believe it was that easy, Peter was up to something, but as long as everyone followed Garrett and Angela, everything should be fine.
The group took off again, but Peter and Charlotte ran separately, off to the side.
"I felt it, Char," Peter spoke quietly, "I did. It was burning, just like in the bus."
Charlotte didn't know what to believe, she jumped onto her mate's back and checked the back of his neck. The skin was slightly raw, pink too, and Peter's hair had been singed. Something had burned him, but what?
"Can you tell?" Peter asked. "Was there burning? I felt it, I swear I did."
"I believe you, my mate," Charlotte said, but she knew she couldn't add any more fuel to the fire burning inside Peter at the moment. He was already ready to behead Garrett and they couldn't have that, not right now. "There's nothing there," she said. She hated lying to her mate, but it was necessary.
"I'm supposed to be the one in charge," Peter said, "not Garrett and certainly not Charlie."
"You are," Charlotte told him, "and I'm sure they all know that, but most of all, Jasper knows that. We need to do what's best for this coven. Something has happened with the Cullens, Angela felt it, something is happening with Garrett, he's running from it or towards it. We need to stick together."
"I'm in charge."
"Do I need to spell this out for you?" Charlotte asked. "Remember Maria? Remember how she acted? She was in charge, but we all followed Jasper. I know this isn't the same, but let Charlie lead while you orchestrate everything. You're sly enough to do it without anyone realizing. I love you, my mate, but you're too riled up right now. Step back and let Charlie lead, under your secret command. Keep it all together."
"He's setting me off on purpose, I know he is."
"Ignore Benjamin, ignore all of them. Once this is done we'll leave them all with Jasper, okay? You can't let them die though. Not Bella's father, not his mate. You know I'm right."
"Do you think he's doing it on purpose?"
"I have no idea, my mate. Benjamin was locked up for two hundred years, who's to know what he went through. Just ignore him. Focus. You are the best, you always have been, don't let him best you. He might not be doing it on purpose, and if he is, he's currently winning. Vent to me, but don't let it show to them. Be the vampire Jasper trained you to be. Make a plan and put it into action."
They kept running alongside the group, staying close as Peter thought it all through. Charlotte was right, but Benjamin and the others were making his venom boil. He knew he needed to do what she said, it would be hard, but he would get there.
Peter darted left when ready and they rejoined the group.
"Are you okay?" Benjamin asked him.
Peter wanted to growl at him so badly, but he kept himself in check.
"I accept," Peter said, "you can be in charge, Charlie."
Peter dropped back and Charlotte squeezed his hand. 'Plan your next move,' she mouthed to him. Peter nodded his head.
He surveyed everything. Angela was still lost, babbling about broken bonds, unfixable. Something had clearly happened with the Cullens but she wasn't in the right frame of mind to explain herself. Garrett was on a mission and it was wise to follow him. He knew where all the shifts in power were, he knew where the Cullens would be, where Jasper and Bella would be.
Next move, Charlie and Benjamin were staying in line too. Everything was stable, then it wasn't, another shift. Angela stopped her mutterings and Garrett stopped dead in his tracks. Everything went calm. What was going on now? Peter kept his mouth shut as he observed everything.
"What's going on?" Charlie asked.
Garrett set Angela on her feet, their eyes locking. Peter stayed back, Charlie stepped forward.
"Angela," Charlie said, "are you okay?"
"Yes," she said, "the unbroken bond has been fixed, it is no more, it has been destroyed."
"Can you be clearer?" he asked.
"Bella and Jasper killed Rosalie Cullen," Angela said, "Emmett Cullen was the unfixable part, he has been destroyed too."
"Who did it?" Benjamin asked.
"Bella and Jasper. Their bonds crossed before Emmett's tattered bond was destroyed."
"This is good news," Benjamin said, "the Cullens are down to two now, right?"
"No," Angela said, "their coven has grown, new bonds, or old bonds reformed, I'm not sure. I need to see them to understand what's going on."
"Are you okay?" Charlie asked Angela.
"Yes, the bond is gone, my connection to those two Cullens is now gone. Everything is level right now."
"What about you, Garrett?" Charlie asked. "What is going on? Where are we running to?"
Garrett made sure his mate was okay before he spoke.
"We aren't running to anywhere," he said, "we're being chased. It was two, then four, now more."
"How close are they?" Charlie asked.
"Close," Garrett said, "we need to stay on the move." He knelt down again, feeling the earth. "We have one minute, no more, then we need to run again."
"We need to get back to Bella and Jasper," Charlie said, "where are they?"
Garrett closed his eyes, trying to find them. "They're running too."
"South," Angela said, "I think."
"We need you to be sure," Charlie told her.
Angela closed her eyes and Garrett took her hand in his. They found that together, their gifts were stronger. They joined both hands and then they embraced.
"We don't have time for this," Charlie said, "less than a minute, that's it."
Angela and Garrett stayed like that, for twenty seconds… thirty.
"We need to move," Charlie said.
At thirty-seven seconds, they pulled apart. Both were now locked in on Jasper and Bella. They didn't say anything, they just took off, hand-in-hand, and the others gave chase.
"Do you think they're leading us to Bella and Jasper?" Benjamin asked his mate.
"I don't know," Charlie said, "but Garrett is keeping us ahead of the Cullens and we need to keep it that way."
