Bella

Bella's heart shuddered. Or at least that was what she felt like. The wolves growled, spreading out. Surrounding them. The air shook with their growls and Bella eyed the one closest to her.

She had stood in the proximity of the wolves before. Many times. These were considerably smaller than even Jacob had been the first time she saw him in that meadow. But in that cold, still, evening air, the three wolves looked downright frightening to her. Emmett, Edward and she also shuffled, moving sideways so that they stood in a smaller circle. Each protecting the other two's back.

The brown wolf facing her snapped its teeth at her and Bella bent in a low crouch. She was ready to attack. But apart from the angry growling, the wolf made no move to attack her. Bella kept her eyes trained on him, following its every movement.

She mentally cursed herself.

So much time spent training to fight vampires and here she was, facing a creature she had never considered a prospective opponent! The wolf was small and Bella was clueless.

"We have to get away from them," Edward gritted out.

Bella crouched, ready to pounce. The wolf mimicked her motion, sinking low as well. She didn't need to fight them. She just needed to get away from them. Surely she could do that.

Her eyes stared at the wolf and she bared her teeth too. The wolf was quick to prepare for the incoming attack. Her legs filled up with power like a coiled spring and she jumped. But her trajectory did not take her to her opponent. Instead, she sailed past it, catching hold of one of the lower branches on the tree behind the wolf and pulling herself up.

The wolf growled and she allowed herself a small smile.

It was short lived though.

Pain shot up her ankle and she was disbalanced off the branch when the wolf turned back and launched itself towards her. She had underestimated how high the wolves could jump. With a surprised and pained shriek, she was pulled down and crashed into the hard ground below.

Dirt and leaves flew into her face and her ankle burnt. She tried to pull her leg out of the wolf's bite but he had clamped down far too hard. Fire shot down her legs when she tried to scramble away. The wolf raked its claws over her legs, pinning her down in place.

"Bella!" Edward yelled out and despite the agony in her leg, she looked towards her husband. He bolted in her direction but the wolf behind him pounced and the two crashed.

Bella's eyes turned back to the wolf biting down on her leg still. Try as hard as she did, she couldn't just yank her leg free. She could feel the teeth deep in her muscles. She needed to make the wolf let go!

Mustering up all her might, she pulled back her free leg and kicked out. Her feet met the wolf's head with a resounding crack. The vibrations of the impact traveled up her leg too but with a howl, the wolf un-clamped its teeth and staggered back.

Before he could find his footing, Bella pushed herself off the ground, and limping a little, threw herself at the wolf that had Edward occupied. She straddled the back of the wolf and looped her arm around its neck, pulling his snout upwards and away from Edward.

From the corner of her eyes, she could see Emmett fighting too but he was faring better than Edward and didn't seem to need much help.

Even with its head being pulled back, the wolf clawed out at Edward, raking its sharp nails down her husband's chest. Edward grabbed on to one of the paws and snapped it, the bones audibly breaking.

The wolf howled but did not stop. Unable to keep its own -and Bella's weight- on his injured paw, he folded its leg and leaned heavily on Edward and attacked him with its good front paw.

Bella just kept the wolf's teeth away from Edward's face.

Faint human memories directed her actions. Late night. Bonfires. Billy's old voice.

Only the wolf's teeth were capable of lethally harming a vampire. She had to keep the head away. Edward would be able to handle the rest.

The wolf had resumed its attack, taking out its frustration of having Bella's arm around its throat out on Edward. She felt phantom goosebumps on the back of her neck as the nails dragged down Edward's marble flesh, leaving a trail of superficially torn skin.

Edward swatted at the paw, moving it out of the way but, much to Bella's growing annoyance, did not snap it the way he did with the other one. She hissed and pulled at the neck harder, lifting the front half of the wolf further away.

That was all it took for the wolf to turn its attention towards her. It twisted within her grasp and scratched out at her arm that held its neck. Her side screamed out in pain and she, along with the wolf she was holding were thrown off Edward, crash landing into the ground.

The first wolf she had fought, the brown one, rolled away. It had recovered enough to come back for her. From the corner of her eyes, she looked at its pack mate. The one that had fought Edward was limping but was able to put its weight back on its leg now. It would be back in action soon too.

Bella rolled off the ground and out of the way of the brown wolf just as it pounced on her. But the wolf never reached her. Instead, it was thrown sideways when Edward pushed it mid-air, crash landing into a tree.

The huge tree seemed to have taken more damage than the wolf for it shook its head, righted itself and began circling her. Edward was by her side, supporting her when the momentary respite made her aware of the injured ankle.

"We have to kill them Edward," Emmett snapped out when the wolf he had been fighting - and winning against - recovered and attacked him once again. "We are wasting too much time fighting them!"

"They are just kids," Edward breathed out, in a low voice.

Bella kept her eyes on the circling wolves, only partially looking at Edward when she spoke. "Edward, Renesmee is at the house. The people there are already outnumbered."

Edward shook his head, as if trying to get rid of something. He nodded but when Bella shot him a quick look, she saw the pain in his eyes and her own throat closed up. While she and Emmett saw wolves attacking them, stopping them from reaching their family, Edward heard scared children crying out in pain.

His sigh was that of resignation. But it was a signal too. To her, to Emmett and even to the wolves.

Bella ducked out of the way when the two wolves came at her and Edward at the same time. Edward, on the other hand, grabbed his by the jaws.

She spun around and faced the brown wolf again. Bella eyed him as it lunged at her. As the wolf flew through the air, Bella knew she had been running on instinct so far. She had no experience and no technique. Only her newborn strength.

That would have to do she supposed.

She broke into a run too and bouncing off the trunk of one of the trees, flew over the wolf's head and spun mid air. She crashed into the hard, furry creature and did what her body, her instincts told her to do. She got both her arms around the wolf's back, and with all her might, squeezed.

She heard bones crushing and hazy memory of a clearing full of purple smoke came back to her. Her ears rang with the howl of the wolf's cry and the bones made a grotesque crushing sound under her arms.

She immediately let go. It fell to the ground and did not get back up.

The wolf's howl turned into faint whispers, its breathing labored. She remembered Jacob in the clearing. It had taken him weeks and significant help from Carlisle to recover.

This wolf wouldn't die of this injury but she also knew he wouldn't be a hassle anymore. At least not for a few more days.

Angry yapping made her look away.

Edward and Emmett were still fighting.

Emmett was throwing worried glances over to Edward as the two wrestled, but strangely, did not injure the wolf. She met her brother-in-laws eyes and he looked at the wolf at her feet. The idea struck him too and he turned back to his own opponent.

Bella stepped away from the wolf at her feet.

She used her shield to cover it. Then she shot out her shield to the wolf Emmett was fighting. She created a thick dome over both of them, leaving Emmett to wrestle it down. Her focus shifted to Edward next and she frowned in concentration. She was ready to throw out the shield over the wolf.

Edward wouldn't have to listen to its painful thoughts.

But she stopped herself. She would also be taking away Edward's biggest fighting advantage. So, instead, she waited, near the edge of where the two were fighting. The air rang out with another pained cry and then cut down to soft whimpers. The wolf thudded to the ground and Edward turned around in alarm.

His eyes widened at the absence of the thoughts and he shot her a surprised, but grateful look. Within the same second he turned back. His face held the resignation. This wolf's thoughts, he would hear. He knew, just as Bella knew, it would be near impossible to create a membrane over just the wolf and keep Edward out of it when the two were wrestling.

She did not yet have that kind of control over her gift.

Edward crouched low, ready for his attack when, much to Bella's confusion, Emmett planted himself between his brother and the last wolf standing.

"I'll handle it Edward," he said, his eyes looking at his brother softly before his gaze turned hard and he fixed it on the wolf. "Bella?"

His voice was her command and she once again covered Emmett and his opponent under her shield, leaving Edward out and deaf to their thoughts.

The fight was quick and Edward stood beside her, holding her hand as Emmett dealt with the wolf. He had taken a leaf out of Bella's book and crushed the bones of both the wolves.

The wolves would need at least a few days, if not weeks, to recover from this.

"Let's go," he turned to them. "We're getting late."

Under the darkened twilight, the three of them ran back towards their home.

A/N:

Next chapter, we get back to the fight at the house!