Meadow, watch out! Sam warned her. A bullet whizzed by her. Thankfully, it didn't hit her, but it was close. She cursed inwardly and cursed again when she heard snickers come from her pack members. She forgot they could hear her thoughts, so there wasn't a point in hiding her head cursing any longer.
These hunters are annoying, Paul complained. He was riled up and snarling at any hunter we accidentally passed by. He seemed even more upset because they had almost hurt her.
Apparently, Bella had informed her dad about huge wolves roaming the woods, and her dad concluded they were the animals killing everyone. Sadly, they were wrong. Now, the pack had to deal with hunters patrolling the woods to find and kill them. On top of that, they had to deal with Victoria and some of her vampiric minions. It wasn't hard to connect the multiple vampire sightings with the redhead's appearance. They tried their hardest to get to Forks, so Bella was their obvious target.
Deal with it, for now, Sam said. They'll get bored and leave us alone in due time.
Yeah, well that time is long overdue, Jared said. Meadow saw the raven-haired vampire they were chasing and changed her direction. She leaped over a fallen tree and continued her pursuit. She growled when the male jumped onto a tree branch and pushed him. He propelled himself forward and farther away from her.
Having trouble, MeMe, Jake snickered. He was racing through the foliage with Embry. They were tracking down a separate vampire than her. The vampire was able to manipulate water and was harshly soaking the duo. Meadow had been shocked to learn that some vampires had gifts or superpowers, basically. They were hard to kill already, but they just had to level up even more.
I got it, Meadow said through gritted teeth. She wasn't sure if she had it, though. She didn't know if she would be able to kill the creature. Something within her just wouldn't let her kill another living thing. She briefly wondered that if she pictured the vampire as a bug, would it be easier to kill him.
Do you need help? Paul asked worriedly. He was anxious about leaving his imprint alone; however, she needed to do this on her own. How would she gain any respect if she couldn't kill a vampire? Simple: She wouldn't. Paul was chasing a pair of vampires with Sam and Jared. They didn't know what their gifts were, but they had to have one else the trio would have caught them already. She was on her own and needed to end it quickly; else, she'll get injured by the hunters.
The vampire ran until a wall of rock hindered him from moving forward. He seemed to assess the wall, hesitating before taking action. That was his downfall. Meadow leaped in the air and locked her jaws around his neck. She felt her teeth sink into his granite skin. The feeling was terrible and she didn't want to feel it anymore, but she had to finish him off. She tightened her grip and swung her head from side to side until the appendage separated from the body.
She immediately spit out the head and looked away in disgust. Then she realized that she had to look at it. She had to finish what she started. There wasn't time to be a big baby about it anymore. She quickly but surely ripped the vampire apart and shifted to her human form to burn the body. She stayed that way so she could stay in her own thoughts. She shivered in disgust at the smell permeating through the trees and moved away from the burning body.
She stumbled upon a stream and crouched down so she could dip her hands in it and splash water on her face. She repeated the actions a few times more before she sat back and thought. She thought about the way the vampire screamed when she killed him. How desperate his face looked right before her jaws locked on him.
She also thought about the scene in which she found him. He had his teeth stuck in some girl's neck. He was greedily drinking from her and stealing her life away. Who was he to take someone's life; who was he to determine who lived and who didn't? Then again, who was she to take the vampire's life? Didn't she just decide to do the exact same thing he did?
Meadow heard a twig snap behind and turned around. Paul was standing behind her with an unreadable expression on his face. He walked up to her and sat beside her. He threw an arm around her and pulled her closer to him. No. Please don't, she thought emotionally. She didn't want his comfort. She didn't want to cry. Why was she crying? Why did she feel so deeply about it when the others didn't?
She struggled against him, but he opposed her and succeeded in holding her. She broke down against his chest and sought comfort from him. She felt safe and comfort radiating from him. All she could do was soak up the attention and love he was giving her. She sniffled and pulled away from him. She still wasn't comfortable with such prolonged moments of touch.
"Was it this hard for you?" she asked quietly. She kept her eyes away from him and refused to make eye contact.
"It was hard, but I got over it a lot quicker than you are," he confessed. "They look like people, so it was hard at first, but once you realize they aren't, it's easier to kill them."
She tried imagining the vampire as what he was - a vampire. She pictured the feral way in which he bit down on the girl's neck. She pictured the pleasing look in his eyes as he fed and she pictured the small trail of blood run down from the corner of his mouth. She felt angry and had an urge to hurt him. But then she remembered the look he gave her when she ended his existence. She shut her eyes and hung her head.
"It doesn't work for me," she said quietly. Paul sighed and picked up a rock. He threw it, disrupting the wildlife around them.
"You're a girl. Maybe you're just squeamish about it," he said with a shrug of his shoulders. She scoffed and glared at him. She didn't need to tell him how she felt about his statement. He held his hands up in surrender and leaned away from the deadly aura leaking from her.
"How did you get over here so fast?" she asked suspiciously.
"I disobeyed Sam. He never gave me a direct order, so I was able to sneak away to come to you. I had to make sure you were okay," he said. She felt a flutter in her chest and absently touched her chest where her heart was. She frowned when she realized her train of thought drifted away from her dilemma and towards Paul.
"Imprinting is troublesome," she said shortly. Paul raised his eyebrows and made a noise of indignation.
"Do you regret imprinting?" he asked seriously. She rolled her eyes and punched him on his arm.
"You ask that everytime I say something that goes against imprinting," she said.
"Sometimes you act like you don't want this - us," he said, gesturing between the two of them.
"I'm just pointing out the flaws of imprinting. It - it's not so bad," she confessed shyly. The small tingles that ran up and down her body from the light touches he gave her and the sense of belonging and being loved she received from it were beyond anything she ever felt. She enjoyed the touch of his lips upon her cheek and the hugs he encompassed her in. She enjoyed the smiles he gave her when he saw her and she enjoyed smiling and the anticipation she felt when she saw him.
But there were downsides. She got distracted too easily when he was near. It was like all of her attention had to go to him and him alone. She fought against that everyday feeling with a fervor, but sometimes she lost and all she could do was watch him. It was especially frustrating when she needed to concentrate hard on important things.
"Don't make me out to be the big bad wolf, now," he said teasingly. He leaned in and bumped his nose with hers. She giggled and slightly pulled away. Her breath caught in her throat when he compensated for the distance and his lips hovered dangerously close to hers. She looked into his eyes and saw the glazed over look that always seemed to take over when he saw her. It made her feel special. She hesitated a split second before she made her decision. She closed the gap between their lips and applied just the smallest amount of pressure.
Paul snarled and jumped away from her. He shifted and go tinto a defensive position in front of her. She was surprised he pulled away and slightly disappointed. She hadn't kissed him since their first date and missed the taste of him.
The vampire Jake and Embry were chasing stood in front of them with a smirk on his face. Her brother and his friend were nowhere to be seen. That worried her. It wasn't like them to let a vampire slip past them.
"It's a shame I'll have to kill you," the vampire said condescendingly. "You make such a cute couple."
He made the first move and wrapped his arms around Paul. Paul was defenseless as he tried to wriggle the vampire off of him. Meadow immediately shifted. She detached the vampire from her imprint and threw him against a tree. The male slammed against it and caused the tree to moan before it fell hard to the forest floor. He recovered almost instantly and moved a safe distance away from them.
Are you okay? Meadow asked Paul. He grunted and shook his fur before he planted himself in front of her again. She bristled and grumbled at him.
Meme! Embry shouted. He was projecting an image of the forest. It looked like he was somewhere nearby, but she wasn't certain.
What happened? she asked worriedly. Jake was projecting the forest floor. He wasn't moving.
Bloodsucker tried drowning Jake, Embry informed them. Jake's just trying to catch his breath.
Embry, get to Paul and Meadow, Sam ordered. Jared and I finished this one off already, so I'm headed your way. Jared, check on Jake. We'll come in different directions to trap him. You said he can only shoot water in one direction?
Yeah. When Jake and I were double teaming him, he could only catch one of us at a time with water, Embry said.
Meadow growled when the vampire took a few steps forward during their distracted state. Paul saw his advance and attacked him. He swiped his paw and the vampire dodged it. He punched Paul, causing a short whimper to escape Paul's snout. Meadow's skin prickled and she snarled at the vampire's offense. She attacked him and was shot with water. She noticed the liquid escaping the stream behind them and cursed their luck.
She shook her fur out and attacked again. This time, she was able to grab ahold of his arm. She shut her jaw until her teeth clacked together and tore through the vampire's arm entirely. She threw the ligament on the ground and went for his other one when he backhanded her and sent her flying. She hit the ground hard and was dazed by the impact.
Meadow! Paul shouted. He snarled menacingly and was a blur as he attacked the vampire mercilessly. He bit, tore, and scratched with all his might until the vampire was nothing more than a pile of pieces of flesh. Embry and Sam approached them and slowed when they saw the state the vampire was in. Embry lit the vampire on fire while Sam approached Meadow.
Get up, he ordered her. She was still a bit disoriented and clumsily got up so that she sat on her haunches. She panted as she did so, feeling the pain that coursed through her with every breath. It was slowly getting better.
You call yourself a protector? Sam asked rudely. What can you protect if you can't protect yourself?
I'm - I'm trying, Meadow grounded out in between breaths.
Try harder, Sam said. Next time, don't depend on others to help you. We won't always be there.
Paul intervened then and made Sam back away from Meadow. He wasn't going to let Sam talk to Meadow that way.
You disobeyed me, Sam said displeased.
Meadow needed me, Paul snarled back. I'm sure if it was Emily, you'd have run off too.
Don't bring Emily into this, Sam roared.
Then don't bring Meadow into this, Paul snapped. I made the decision, not her.
Whether it was you or her doesn't matter. She's a weak link and she needs to be dealt with before it gets out of hand.
Don't talk about her like that! Paul growled out. Everyone else chose to remain silent. They didn't want to feel the wrath Sam was dishing out. Sam seemed to grow in size as he glared at Paul and oozed a deadly aura.
I'll let it go this once, Paul, but disobey me again and you'll have to deal with the consequences, Sam cautioned. Let's go. We need to regroup.
Paul moved to help Meadow and check up on her. He nudged her with his nose and she whined quietly in response. She wasn't hurt; she was sorry she got him in trouble.
I'm sorry, she said dejectedly.
It's not your fault, he said gently. But why did she feel like it was?
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