CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
"Remember, whatever happens, we protect each other. We're not losing anyone today."
Sam's words echoed through the pack mind, his voice ringing with finality. Each of the wolves hummed in agreement, focused on scent, sight, and hearing as they awaited the arrival of the newborns. They hid in a meadow saturated with Bella's scent – a false trail. If Alice's prediction was correct, then the newborns would split into two groups: one for the Cullens and the other headed straight for a death they hadn't anticipated.
"Her prediction will be correct," Seth said to Zora, miles away on a snowy mountaintop with Edward and Bella.
She ignored him, training her watering eyes on wind-blown trees. It wasn't the wind, though brisk and strong as it was, that brought her to tears. Thanks to Seth's position, she and the others had been given a front-row seat to the kiss shared between him and Bella, one that had been initiated by the latter. Zora had been frozen to her spot, watching the scene unfold with wide, horror-filled eyes - Bella's hands cupping his face, the gentle gaze he affixed her with, and her confession: "I love you, too, Jake."
A fresh wave of heartbreak found her, and after tuning out the rest of Seth's thoughts, it took all of her strength not to buckle beneath the weight of her pain. She knew Jacob had made his choice, but to see him flaunt it so openly made her want to disappear. She'd been ready to run, ready to shift and be human and tear herself away from everything when Sam commanded her to stay. He ordered her to push the ordeal to the back of her mind, to forget about her feelings for the time being, and to focus her attention on destroying the newborns. When Jacob joined them, Sam gave him the same order, forbidding him from thinking about what had transpired between him and Bella. He was extremely unhappy with Jacob—for Zora's sake and for jeopardizing the strength of the pack for a girl.
And so Jacob and Zora remained on opposite sides of the line they stood in, one wracked with guilt, and the other struggling to bury their sadness.
The wolves could hear the first group engaged in battle with the Cullens and readied themselves for their turn. A frigid breeze blew down from the snow-covered mountain, and with it, the sickeningly sweet stench of vampire. Zora felt her body shake, but it wasn't from the cold. Leah stood next to her, nudging her reassuringly before crouching, ready to spring. Zora followed suit, and as soon as the newborns entered the trap, eyes fiendish and hungry, the pack pounced.
Screams of terror filled the air as the newborns caught sight of the gigantic wolves. They had no idea of their existence and the wolves used it to their advantage. Some of the vampires tried running, tackled to the ground and ripped apart as soon as their backs turned. Others, crazed with thirst, stayed and fought.
The nimble teamwork of the pack was a fascinating sight, and for a split moment, Zora stared wide-eyed and marveling - but it was time for her to work. She engaged a brunette vampire who sneered at her with disgust. They circled each other, sharp eyes calculating where to deliver the fatal blow. She remembered Jasper's words—don't go for the easy kill—and broke the dance, lunging from the side and catching the vampire off guard. Her teeth found the vampire's shoulder, clamping down and tearing through cold, hard flesh. An ear-splitting screech escaped her, horrified at the missing chunk of her body. She grabbed at Zora, who was faster and side-swept the vampire once more. Holding a twitching leg in her mouth, Zora whipped the appendage into the forest and ran at the mangled woman a third time. Disoriented and in pain, the vampire was unable to move quickly. Zora took a bite out of her torso, and the screaming woman fell to the ground. Zora worked quickly—ripping at her remaining arm and leg, separating her head from her neck—until she was a pale pile of skin and limbs.
"Good job," Sam encouraged.
Fueled by adrenaline, she moved faster, working alongside her pack mates to decimate the newborns. She was having fun, and it was such a strange revelation that she barked a laugh. Leah agreed, feeling joy at tearing sentient beings apart. The joy didn't last long, however, as Seth, who was told by Edward to return to the pack and avoid the danger on the mountain, stayed to aid him in fighting the creators of the newborn army. The wolves saw him attacking a vampire named Riley; and Edward who kept a protective stance in front of Bella as the red-headed Victoria advanced towards them.
Leah was distraught, and as difficult as it was to watch her little brother fight alone, she couldn't go to him. Zora rubbed her head against Leah's shoulder, assuring her that Seth would be safe. Leah nodded, and though the worry was still present, she fought with more vigor.
Only a handful of vampires remained, each battling two wolves at a time. Zora was facing off with a large male who reminded her of Emmett. His strength was tenfold, and despite the effort she and Quil made in attacking him, they weren't inflicting enough damage. They circled him, communicating to each other that one would lunge for the upper body while the other targeted the lower body. Just as they flew at him, he delivered a punch to Quil's jaw and a kick to Zora's abdomen. She was flying, landing against a tree. She felt the snapping of her ribs and shoulders, momentarily frozen by the pain as her bones began stitching themselves back together. She swore, but it came out as a whimper.
The vampire was smart and surmised that the injured noise she was making meant she was more injured than Quil – and easier to kill. He advanced, and just as she jumped to her feet, unsteady but ready to fight despite the pain, a large, russet wolf attacked and tore his head off in one, swift motion.
"That was a close one," Jacob muttered.
"Yeah…" she nodded, an unwanted feeling of gratitude and something else she didn't like bubbling up. "Thanks."
"No problem."
He ran off, and Zora stared after him as he joined Embry.
"Focus," she heard someone say, but was unsure if it was a fabrication of her mind or one of the other wolves. She shook her head and followed the advice of the voice anyway, springing for a short, blonde leech whose scream was cut short by the loss of her head. They were almost done, only two vampires left for them to destroy. Embry and Jared took one down easily, pieces of the leech's body thrown about haphazardly. The other was surrounded – Zora and Leah at the front and Jacob and Quil positioned behind it. The vampire was missing two arms, hissing and snapping its teeth in what was supposed to be a threatening manner.
"This is kind of sad," Quil said. "We should put her out of her misery."
"What are we waiting for then?" Leah stated before charging for the newborn, her sharp teeth biting into the crook of the vampire's neck. The other three followed after her, ripping at her torso and legs.
She had been the final kill.
They were finished and the battle was won – for the Cullens, for Edward and Seth on the mountain, and for the pack. Zora was filled with triumph. Despite her original fears and the doubt that consumed her, she survived...and fought like a bad-ass wolf warrior in the process. Bouncing with each step, she helped Sam and Paul round up the remains into a large pile. All that was left was to set the pile aflame and retreat from the meadow before the Volturi arrived.
Thanks to Alice's visions, they knew they had a few minutes left, but all it took was a few seconds for the victory to be ruined.
Everything happened fast. Across the meadow, a vampire moved from its hiding spot; Leah, bold and unthinking, engaged the vampire alone. She was quick, but he was quicker, catching her from behind, ready to crush her to death. Jacob leapt for them and pushed her out of the way just in time. The vampire wrapped his arms around Jacob's torso and crushed him instead.
The wolves could feel every sensation in that moment—the breaking of the right side of his body, his arm, ribs, and leg snapping from the unrivaled strength of a newborn. It was agonizing, but for Zora, it was unbearable. His pain was her pain, and like him, she howled in anguish.
They all ran to him, terrified and anxious as he lay on the ground silent and unconscious. The Cullen's came gliding into the meadow, on edge and warning the wolves that the Volturi would arrive soon. Carlisle wasted no time in assessing the damage, and while he quickly examined Jacob, the wolves looked around frantically.
"Did anyone get him?" Embry questioned.
They stared at each other, thoughts racing, trying to remember. And then tensed, horrified. The vampire escaped.
The realization filled Zora with a fury worse than the one that first made her shift. That fucking vampire hurt her imprint and would not live to see another day. The pack heard her thought, but before they could register the determination in her words, she had taken off in the vampire's direction.
"ZORA, NO!"
The voices of her pack sounded off like a canon, loud and deafening. They couldn't reach her in time – she was too fast, powered by vengeance, by her desire to kill.
They called after her, pleading and desperate. She heard the angry voices of Leah, Embry, and Quil who begged her to turn around. And she heard Sam who ordered her to return at once. Strangely enough, the command was empty. She didn't feel the grip of his authority and kept running.
Through her pack's eyes, she could see their panicked interaction with the Cullens. They were told they had five minutes to escape before the Volturi arrived, ancient vampires who wouldn't hesitate to kill them. Carlisle assured that he would tend to Jacob as soon as his encounter with the Volturi ended.
"As for the girl…" he said solemnly, trailing off. He shook his head, the action communicating that there was no time, that it was too late.
Sam was livid, his anger the strongest Zora had ever felt. He told the wolves to shift back to their human form and quickly carry Jacob to La Push. She heard and saw their protests, but he cut them off.
"That's an order."
Dejected, nervous, and frightened, they obeyed his command. Leah was the last to linger, the fear in her voice breaking Zora's heart.
"Zora, please—"
"GO NOW!" Sam bellowed.
She had no choice but to listen and follow his order.
Now, it was only Zora and Sam – who was running out of time. He could see that she was headed further and further, and the leader in him hated that he wasn't able to protect one of his own. "Zora," he began, the double timbre of his voice echoing in her mind as he mustered all of his Alpha power, "you will stop pursuing that vampire, you will turn around, and you will come home."
She came to a momentary stop, teetering as she felt the command in his words. Bound in a vice grip, head lowered to the ground, she struggled and thrashed beneath the control he exerted over her. She was torn between her anger and his, could feel the pull of her vengeance and his authority. Part of her felt compelled to submit to him, compelled to let herself be overpowered. But another part of her, a part that became more prominent, more unruly as it gained its strength, wanted to fight. She was reminded that every second, every small passage of time in which she was subdued meant the bloodsucker was moving further and further away. She howled, a desperate cry of struggle and fury and torment and despair, and then the binds restraining her tore. Sam's power was no longer enough - her wrath was stronger.
She was free.
"If I don't come back, tell my mom I love her. Tell Leah and Embry and Quil that I'm sorry, and…tell Jacob that I did it for him."
Her mind was a storm, booming and chaotic and thunderous with his rage…and then it fell silent.
He was gone, and she was alone.
She pushed herself to move faster, feeling no fear as she followed the vampire's trail. His scent was clear, and though her seconds-long pause gave him a wider berth, she swore that she would catch him and destroy him.
(Revised 12/7/2020)
