Carlisle was far too aware of everything. A clarity unnatural even for their kind. He could hear each rustle of the leaves. The small tremors that formed in the air with the growling of the wolves. The dull odour of the shape-shifters. Far too late, he did a quick recount of the wolves on their side. The five looming figures. Jacob's russet fur was the most easily identifiable one. He could also identify Seth and Quil. He did not know the names of the two other wolves. The younger ones who rarely came near their house. But with one glance, identified a key feature from each to ensure he would not end up hurting one of them once the fight started.
And it was starting.
As the first wolves burst through, Carlisle's first thought was his effort to memorize his allies' appearance was almost useless. These wolves…they were small. Still larger than a fully grown wild wolf. But barely pups compared to the large forms of their friends.
He leaned into a crouch and crashed into the approaching creature.
The breath was knocked out of him. These wolves might have been small for their kind but their mass and the laws of physics relating to it were certainly in their favor. Carlisle landed a solid punch, straight where the hind leg met the upper body. A howl emanated and the creature slumped a small distance away.
There was no respite for Carlisle though, as two more lunged his way. Even in the middle of the battle, he could see he was the favored target. Using a hand for each, Carlisle thrust the two away. Only momentarily. One of them lunged back at him right away. The other one was pulled away by Jasper.
Carlisle kept a close eye on the recovering one as it yelped but pulled itself back on its feet. Meanwhile, he used the full force of his arm and, ducking low, crashed it against the front of the second one. The wolf was pulled off its fore legs as Carlisle swung his arm upwards and the wolf spun off its feet and crashed against a nearby tree.
The first one had recovered and without waiting to see his other opponent, Carlisle spun around to punch at another major limb joint of the attacker. Carlisle heard the crush of the bone and the painful yowl. The wolf staggered back once again, putting some distance between itself and Carlisle to recover and attack again.
He lurched to the side of the house when Alice screamed out. She had a grey brute by the throat but it had pinned her tiny frame to the ground. Before Carlisle or Jasper could reach her, the wolf was thrown off her as Quil hurled himself against the perpetrator and knocked it off Alice. She jumped up on her feet and tackled down the wolf that was about to attack Quil from behind.
Carlisle tore his eyes off his daughter as a nauseating screech sounded out. Like nails on chalkboard. One of the wolves had attacked him and managed to rake its claw through his arm. With each inch that the claws covered on his hand, he felt acid tracing the movement. He clenched his mouth shut. He would not distract his children. Or even worse, prompt Esme to join the fight.
He gritted his teeth and used the hand that was being attacked to jab on the underside of the wolf's throat. The half a second of break that provided, Carlisle ducked out of the way of the wolf that jumped at him. It sailed past and landed a foot behind him. He grabbed it by the hind leg the moment it touched the ground and with all his might, chucked it back towards the trees. The creature landed halfway from the top of the tree and with an agonized whine, crashed through the branches to the ground. There was a heavy shower of leaves and twigs in his wake. The fresh scent of pine filled the air.
Through the plenty of pollen that filled his vision, the other wolf once again clawed at him, this time his sweater bearing the brunt of it.
It was a rather strange realization. Even as a second wolf ganged up on him, Carlisle realized he could fight. He was not overwhelmed. He was not in danger.
His eyes darted, first towards Alice, then towards Jasper. Rosalie was on the other side of the house but he could hear her too. They were winning. Of course his arm burnt ferociously where the wolf had clawed. But that was it. It was burning. He was not immobilized. The nails had not penetrated deeper than the skin. The underlying muscles and other structures were not damaged.
Carlisle fought two of the wolves at the same time and still had the ability to take stock of the situation. Cullen or Quileute, both groups of people had adapted nearly the same strategy in their fight. They were injuring the younger wolves and tossing them back. But that was where the problem lay. The wolves healed. Quickly. And they were back on their feet soon.
The place rang out with growls and bodies crashing and bones crushing and trees shattering. The agonized yowls of the wolves was a near constant drone. So far they hadn't let any of the wolf slip past them.
He looked around again, once he had knocked back one of his two attackers. A third was about to launch itself at him but Seth pounced onto him mid air and the two tumbled away in a crash of mud and gravel.
Their allies were injured. Carlisle noted one of the younger wolf from Jacob's pack limping a little. But the Cullen weren't. It took him a moment to realize why.
The younger pack had never fought a vampire before!
They did not know how to fight their kind. It seemed consistent with the injuries he had seen in his patients earlier. These wolves relied very heavily on their claws. A lot more than any wild wolf Carlisle had encountered before. It was unnatural.
When Jared attacked him earlier, his first instinct had been to sink his teeth into Carlisle. But now Carlisle wasn't so sure if it was instinct so much as knowledge stemming from experience. The shape-shifters' teeth were one of the very few things that could do real damage to a vampire. Their claws were just a painful nuisance at best.
So far he had only seen the wolf that had Alice pinned down earlier snap its teeth. This pack seemed to favor its claws and used the teeth for the killing blow.
Carlisle sent a hasty thank to the heavens.
This was what skewed the fight in their favor! The younger pack just did not know how to fight vampires. Their claws were still doing some damage to Jacob's pack. Carlisle fervently wished the La Push middle school did not offer Italian as part of their curriculum.
"Non sanno come combattere i vampiri. Non sanno che devono usare i denti," he called out to his children. Jasper seemed to have already figured this fact out but he saw Alice grin with realization and heard an almost victorious hiss from Rosalie.
"Lo capiranno presto," Jasper warned and Carlisle knew he was right. They will figure it out soon enough. They had a few minutes at best. "Causa un infortunio abbastanza grave da richiedere tempo per riprendersi."
Carlisle hated the instruction Jasper called out. But like all things related to battle, Jasper was right. They needed to cause more serious damage. Injuries grievous enough that the wolves could not recover immediately.
Otherwise they would be fighting an endless battle. They weren't winning as Carlisle had thought. No, they just weren't losing.
That needed to change soon.
Carlisle refocused at the fight at hand. This time when the wolf lunged at him, he used all his might and landed a solid punch straight near its shoulder. Carlisle's wince was lost in the painful howl of the wolf. It crashed to the ground writhing but otherwise unable to move. The doctor had shattered the beast's shoulder, taking out the shoulder blade, humerus, the two or three adjacent joints and a good few ribs in the process.
The next wolf that attacked him got out with a lighter punch, the effort disappearing from Carlisle's arm the longer the first wolf cried in pain at his feet. Jasper had managed to knock out one more wolf for a more substantial amount of time. Somewhere behind the house another pained wolf-cry sounded and Carlisle knew Rosalie had done some damage too.
Before he could build up enough energy to tackle down the three young wolves ganging up on him, his fight was reduced for him. Jacob sank his teeth into the scruff of one of the wolf's neck and pulled it off Carlisle. Jasper attacked another. Carlisle took the momentary respite he was given to land a similar punch, this time destroying the wolf's hip bone and majority of both its hind legs.
He saw visible tears spill out of the wolf's eyes and Carlisle's dead heart sank to his stomach. Every instinct in him screamed at him to go help the child as it crawled away from Carlisle, and the fight, on its front legs, his hind legs dragging behind him.
The first wolf he had immobilized seemed to be in a similar state. Tears glistened in its eyes before it closed it lids, taking in shallow breaths while it used its good three limbs to shield itself from the ongoing fight.
Children.
Carlisle staggered a step back.
These were children. Prepubescent boys.
The cartoon designed pillow case Seth had brought to him the day before flashed through his mind.
They were children, who went to school, fooled around with their friends, watched cartoons. Under the mind control, they were probably terrified kids who had no idea what was going on.
They were pawns in a battle they never chose to fight. In a battle they could never hope to win!
And then, all of a sudden, the guilt and the grief disappeared. It felt like an anesthesia over all emotions.
"Repent later," Jasper hissed and Carlisle straightened under his hard gaze. "Right now, fight."
Carlisle looked again at the pup whimpering at his feet. He felt nothing.
Instead, his focus returned to the forest. With a good four of the younger wolves injured and out of commission, they were making steady progress. Jacob's pack had inadvertently taken on the job of keeping the wolves occupied till one of the Cullens landed a debilitating injury.
If they worked fast enough, they would have the chance to delve into the forest and track down the she-vampire.
Carlisle took a deep sniff of the air around him, trying to see if she was anywhere upwind from him. His head snapped to the right when the scent hit him.
Jasper must have sensed his alarm too for he also looked in the same direction.
Their feeble victory fizzled out of existence.
The younger wolves forgotten, their eyes remained trained on the tree-line. And from amidst the green thicket, came a growl that sent a shiver down Carlisle's spine.
Slowly, almost as if enjoying himself, emerged the largest, blackest wolf Carlisle had seen. Sam Uley had never appeared so large when he had been their reluctant ally as he did in that moment as their enemy. Flanking him on either side, appeared two more wolves. And then two more, forming a V.
Beasts so huge, Carlisle could feel the air shake with their breaths. These were not children. They weren't inexperienced. They were veteran killers.
They were creatures made to kill their kind.
Sam Uley bared his teeth. A smile. A threat. A promise. And then, the massive black wolf lunged at him.
A/N:
I have the next few chapters hammered out (still open to ideas or requests if any of you have any!) and I have to force myself to wait at least 24 hours between two updates because last time I updated too fast, the book kept on disappearing.
I am really enjoying writing these chapters and have so many things planned out! I hope you all like this chapter. Do share your thoughts. I love reading your reviews! It keeps me going.
-ZQ
ETA: Italian to English Translations. My apologies for not adding it earlier!
1. Non sanno come combattere i vampiri. Non sanno che devono usare i denti = They don't know how to fight vampires. They don't know they have to use their teeth.
2. Lo capiranno presto = They will figure it out soon.
3. Causa un infortunio abbastanza grave da richiedere tempo per riprendersi = Cause an injury grieveous enough that it takes them time to recover