SM owns Twilight. We just want to live in her world a bit longer.

Chapter 22

Bella fell asleep quickly after breaking in their new bed. Jake lay there listening to her deep breathing and steady heartbeat, gently stroking her bareback. He loved it when she slept naked.

He knew he had to go and open her window, his nightly routine, but he didn't want to leave her side; she looked so comfortable.

Eventually, responsibility outweighed his need to stay in bed, and he slid out from under Bella. He opened the window slightly in case of an emergency during the night. It was not his pack's night to patrol, but they were always on call.

Jake crawled back in bed next to his naked girl and flipped a single sheet over them: they wouldn't need a blanket with his body heat.

Bella subconsciously moved in closer to Jake's body once he was lying back down. He kissed her head, took a deep breath in her hair, smelling her strawberries and cream scent before drifting off to sleep himself.

Sometime in the middle of the night, Jake heard the noise that they all hate the most. A howl came from La Push, and it wasn't a good one.

A second howl followed it almost immediately. Jake peeled Bella off his body and stepped towards the window in one stride. He climbed out and phasing mid-air, landed on all four paws, and took off into the forest. Jake felt the pull back to his mate; even Red struggled to move forward; he wanted to go back to Bella.

Seth and Leah phased in at almost the same time. Both were asking what the emergency was.

Sam, what's going on? Jake asked.

There was no response.

They heard another howl. Embry.

Head towards Embry, he told the Clearwaters. I'm on my way.

Sam, are you there? He asked again.

Jake! Three leeches, Embry and Quil, are holding them off. He showed Jake a visual of what he could see in his pack mine.

Jake relayed the message to his pack. It was strange to have their communication so disjointed. They were so used to a single pack mind.

They could see three vampires jumping around from tree to tree, toying with the wolves, not hurting them, but not running away either.

Two females and a male, all with bright red eyes.

Jake watched as Jared, Paul and Brady entered the vision before everything froze. It looked like a video stuck on pause.

What's going on? Jake asked Sam. He watched as the vampires dropped the ground and started circling the wolves, but the pack was standing completely still.

We can't move! Sam yelled. None of us can move. I'm still a minute away, but I can't get there.

Jake had left the communication line open, so his pack could still see what was going on.

We are nearly there, Jake. What do you want us to do? Leah asked.

Jake was still a couple of minutes away, having come from Forks.

Wait for me. Fuck! It must be some kind of talent.

"Well, well, well, the famous wolves of La Push," the blonde female vampire said, casually walking around the stationery wolves.

"Now that those Cullen's have left, we can have our fun," the brunette female vampire taunted.

"Not so tough now, are you?" the male asked. He walked up to Jared and put his hand out as if to stroke his fur, but his sharp fingernails sliced through his skin. They watched in horror as the other two vampires did the same thing to Brady and Embry, opening up their sides.

Fuck this; we're going in, Leah thought. Jake couldn't blame her, but he was still a minute out, and they were outnumbered.

They heard a bone break, Quil's front leg before Leah and Seth burst into the vision.

The vampires looked completely surprised but quickly started moving into action.

Jake hoped that the distraction caused by his pack would break the spell on the Uley pack, but it didn't seem to work.

Which one is controlling them? Leah asked, but no one could tell.

He watched on hopelessly as his pack tried to attack the three vampires on their own. The vampires split up, two for Leah and one for Seth. Wrong move; Leah was a much better fighter than Seth.

Seth was doing a good job and ducking and diving out of the way of the female vampire attacking him, but he wasn't able to get his teeth into her.

Leah has managed to grab one vampire's arm and flung the body into the other vampire with a boom, as a chunk ripped out of the vampire's arm, and both vampires crashed into a tree. They bounded back immediately, and Leah copped a blow to the face. She was momentarily stunned, which was enough for one of the vampires to get his arms around her. He was about to crush down when Jake finally flew into the scene. He went straight for the one attacking Leah and took his head straight off in one clean swoop.

The other pack was still frozen, so it must be one of the other two left.

"Why isn't it working?" the female vampire with Seth cried out.

"I don't know," the other female screeched.

Now the odds have turned. Jake raced after Seth and left Leah to tackle a single vampire on her own.

It didn't take long for Jake and Seth to finish the female vampire between them, shredding her into multiple pieces. But, the pack still remained frozen.

The blonde female vampire was the last one remaining. As Seth and Jake stalked towards her, she could see she was now outnumbered.

In a blindingly fast movement, she grabbed Embry around the neck and stared directly at Jake.

"Back off, or I'll snap his neck!" She screeched.

The Black Pack stopped moving.

What do we do? Leah's panicked voices filled their heads.

Jake was looking for a way out, flitting through different possibilities in his mind. None looked good.

The vampire squeezed his neck tighter, and they could see Embry was struggling to breathe now. A brief close up image of Embry's bright, sunny smile flooded the pack's mind from Leah. She squashed it down quickly. It was enough for Jake to pause.

"I said, back off!" she yelled again.

Back down, Jake told them.

They all took a step backwards, then another.

Sam's voice filled Jake's head. Take Embry into your pack. Do it now!

Without hesitating, he accepted Embry into his pack, and his pained thoughts flooded their minds. Before he could say a word, Embry ducked his head, turned in the vampire's arms and took her head off with his teeth.

He threw it away from the body before collapsing to the ground.

The Uley Pack was still not moving.

Why are they still frozen? Seth asked. Is there another one somewhere close by?

They stood silent for a moment, listening and smelling the air.

Nothing.

Burn the bodies; maybe they can still hold the gift, Jake instructed them.

The Black Pack quickly grabbed all the pieces they could find and piled them high.

Shit. Does anyone have a lighter? I don't even have pants. Jake exclaimed.

Sorry

No

Sam, does anyone have a lighter? Jake asked.

Jared.

Jake phased back and walked quickly to Jared's back leg, noticing his blood oozing out of the wound on his side. He found his pants, grabbed the lighter and threw it on the pile of writhing vampire parts. It burst into flames.

The Uley Pack immediately started moving. Quil was limping, and Jared and Brady were curling their bodies protectively around the slices on their sides.

The air was filled with shimmers as they all phased back to humans.

Leah raced over to Embry, still completely naked. He was still in wolf form.

"Oh my god, Em. Wake up!" she cried, picking his muzzle up. He opened an eye before his form blurred, and he phased back slowly.

Embry had an open wound on his side and bruising around his neck. He looked up at Leah. "Hey, babe," he croaked.

Leah, who was not one for crying, had tears running down her cheeks. Then, not caring that everyone was standing around watching or that she was still butt naked, she leaned down and kissed Embry.

"O-okay," Jake said, looking around at everyone else just staring at them.

Seth and Jake moved between them and the other pack. "Alright, nothing to see here… Sam, take them back to Emily's to get cleaned up. Are you all ok to walk?"

Jake looked around; Brady nodded his head, holding his side. Colin went over to him to give his friend and shoulder to lean on for the walk back.

Jared followed after them. Quil was cradling his broken arm, but they were both ok to walk back on their own.

Finally, Paul pulled a still staring Sam backwards away from the remnants of the fight scene.

"Paul, Seth, go make a loop, make sure there are no more hanging around. We need to make sure we didn't miss any. Seth, can you head to Bella and Charlie's house?"

"On it," Seth replied before taking off.

Paul looked to Sam, who nodded. Paul phased and took off in the opposite direction to Seth. Sam turned and continued walking back.

Jake turned back around. Leah has pulled her dress back over her head but still had Embry's head in her lap.

"You ok, Em?" Jake asked him.

"Yeah, my side hurts like a bitch."

Jake could see his ribs through the open wound. It made his stomach churn.

"Do you think you can walk?"

"Lee, can you help me up?" Embry asked.

Leah grabbed onto the arm from his good side and helped him stand. She placed his good arm over her shoulders and supported his weight.

Jake grabbed Embry's shorts from his leg strap and helped into them.

There was silence as they walked in the moonlight through the undergrowth of the forest. No one said anything. It would take quite a while since they couldn't phase. Jake was itching to get back to Bella, but he had to put his pack first. Seth would get to her soon.

When they got closer to the Rez, the lights from Emily's backyard started shining through the trees.

"Jake…" Embry called out.

Jake stopped and turned around to face them. Leah looked pissed; she was shaking her head at Embry.

"He needs to know," Embry said to Leah, who scowled at him. "He'll figure it out pretty quickly, now we are in the same pack."

Embry looked at Jake, "we imprinted on each other."

"What? When?"

"The night after Leah joined your pack," he admitted.

"Why then?" Jake asked.

"I don't know," Embry stated.

"It doesn't matter. It isn't real. It's another one of those fucking false imprints," Leah growled.

"Shit," was all Jake could say. He closed his eyes and mentally gave the finger to the spirits or whoever was continuing to fuck with their lives.

"Please don't tell anyone else," Leah pleaded.

Jake looked at them now; they looked like two people who were in love. How did he miss it before?

They also looked scared. It's probably the same look Jake has when he thinks about the mess he made with Bella and their connection.

"Of course, they don't need to know."

"Thanks, Jake," Embry said.

They continued through the forest and came out in Emily's backyard. Jake grabbed a spare pair of pants from a box outside the house before heading in.

Jared and Brady were lying on the couches; their wounds had been cleaned and started to heal already. Emily was bandaging Quil's arm.

They all looked up as Jake's group walked through the door.

"Can Embry lie down on your guest bed, Emily?" Jake asked.

"Of course. You know the way, Leah," she smiled up at her cousin.

Leah and Embry walked through the room silently and shut the door behind them.

"What a fucking nightmare," Jake murmured as he took a seat at the table. The reality of the night's events was finally setting in.

"Did you know about them?" Sam asked, pointing towards the guest bedroom.

Jake looked at him in disbelief, "no, but who cares. They can do whatever they want. I'm more worried about the fact that we nearly got wiped off the fucking map tonight."

"What do you mean?" Emily asked. "There aren't too many serious injuries. I thought you said there was only three." She looked anxiously towards Sam.

"There were only three," Sam said. "Jacob, can we discuss this later today? We will need to do a full debrief with the council."

Emily was starting to freak out a little, which would not be good for the baby. "Sure, sure. I'll check on Embry, and then I need to get back to Bella."

Jake walked up to the guest room, about to knock. "Come in, Jake," Embry called out.

He opened the door and walked in. Leah was curled up along Embry's good side, his arm around her. They looked content.

"How ya healing?" Jake asked Embry.

"Pretty good. It should only be a couple of hours, and I'll be good to go."

Jake sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. The adrenaline was starting to wear off, and the realization that they nearly lost everyone tonight began to set in. He needed to see Bella, to reassure himself and Red that she was ok.

"You guys good if I take off?"

"You think we can't handle them?" Embry said, jabbing his thumb towards the lounge. Jake chuckled.

"No, I'm sure you two will be fine. I'll catch you later on today."

Jake walked out of the bedroom, past the other guys with a wave. Before phasing, he ran into the forest, stripping out of his pants and placing them back in the box.

No sign of anymore leeches boss, Seth thought as soon as Jake phased in. Bella's house is clear, but I think she is awake.

Jake watched through Seth's eyes as Bella leaned out her window, wearing one of Jake's shirts. "Seth?" she whispered.

Seth stepped out of the trees so she could see him.

"Is everything ok? Is Jake ok?" she was looking very nervous. Seth nodded his head.

"Is he coming back home?"

Seth nodded.

"Thanks, Seth." Bella sat on the window to wait for Jake to return.

Thanks, Seth. Head home. We will have a full debrief with the council later today.

Seth and Jake were quiet, thinking over the night's events. Jake felt Seth phase-out, and before long, Bella's house came into view.

He felt a huge weight lift off his shoulders when he saw Bella with his own eyes, or Red's as it was. She stepped back from the window. Jake phased, and he climbed up the tree before coming jumping through her window. He didn't want to have to use the front door tonight.

Bella threw herself at Jake the moment his feet touched the ground.

"I was so scared," she whispered. Her little body was shaking. "Are you ok?" She pulled back to look his body over.

"I'm fine, Bells," he reassured her, pulling her back towards the bed. He wanted desperately to crawl back into bed with her, but he needed to have a shower first. His feet were filthy, he still had that nasty bleach taste in his mouth, and his hair smelled of smoke.

He hesitated. "I need to take a shower. Get the smell off me. I can't have this on you or in our bed. It will make Red go crazy…. but I can't leave you right now."

Bella pulled him towards the bathroom. She quietly shut the door behind them and stripped out of his shirt. She turned the water on and stepped in, pulling Jake behind her.

She grabbed a facecloth and soaped it up before turning to face him. Bella directed him silently to turn around before she started to wash his body. She washed his arms, his chest and legs, paying particular attention to his filthy feet. After he rinsed off, she washed his hair quickly.

Bella turned the water off, and they stepped out of the shower. She put some toothpaste on a brush for him and handed it to him. Jake didn't know how she knew, but she did. The taste of the leech was still in his mouth.

When Jake was finished, they streaked back to the bedroom. Jake was contented to crawl up next to Bella, who was once again naked in their bed. Bella curled up around him, throwing one leg over his and placing her head over his heart. He hugged her tighter and breathed in her scent to ground himself, and kissed her on the head.

Jake finally relaxed, he was home, and she was safe.

A/N My first real fight scene. I hope it was easy enough to read and follow, and most importantly you enjoyed it :)