Bumper chapter. This might be the longest one yet, but I just couldn't cut any of the Carys/Carlisle moments.

Eclipse, Chapter 16

The training session was to take place in the clearing they usually used for playing baseball. If it had been light, Carys would have driven herself and Carlisle as she sometimes did, but it was full dark and Carlisle could see far more than she could past the headlights.

Carys turned to him as soon as they left the car, jumping up to wrap her legs around his waist. He caught her to him and indulged her with a toe-curling kiss, securing her flush against him before he took off running the rest of the way.

Carys gasped, closing her eyes and tensing through the all-too-familiar stomach drop that accompanied his speed. She had asked him once how fast he ran, but she hadn't expected him to answer, "Well in excess of a hundred miles an hour if I haven't fed for a while; much faster if I have."

When they arrived, he gave her a minute to get her bearings before setting her onto her feet and guiding her past the last of the trees.

When he saw them approaching, Emmett raised an arm high above his head and called out, "'You two took your time!"

Carys chuckled. "'You literally got here five minutes before us," she called, barely raising her voice above normal; he would be able to hear her regardless of if she were to whisper. "I'm not as fast as the rest of you."

Emmett's hand dropped to his side. He waggled his brows. "Sure... We all know the real reason for your tardiness."

Carys scoffed, bit her lip, and shook her head. One kiss was hardly shocking. Carlisle sniggered. He was absolutely no help. Sometimes she thought he was a little too happy to have found her.

"How about putting some real money down on this one?" Emmett asked, jogging to meet them. "I'm thinking you finally give me a chance to win back my money."

"As opposed to causing me weeks of stress by buying my house and not telling me, all so you can trick me into paying it back?" Carys joked.

"Yeah, yeah," he dismissed, waving his hands about before him, "point is: I bought it. You can't pass again," he said, reminding her of the last few times they'd played baseball. "Double or nothing."

Carlisle squeezed Carys' side and kissed her temple, smirking against her skin. "Say no," he whispered with an amused glance for his son. "He doesn't want Alice to test your swing this time. I doubt you'll come away in one piece."

"No," Carys announced immediately. Emmett made a show of being both shocked and affronted at the news, and so she added, "I trust Carlisle a lot more than I trust you, Mett."

Emmett held a hand to his chest, above his long still heart. "You wound me."

"Yes, well," Carlisle replied, darting a hand out to playfully shove Emmett's shoulder, "perhaps you need to be brought down a peg or two before someone gets hurt. That someone namely being my wife."

Emmett sighed and slapped his left hand to his right forearm as he tossed a baseball he hadn't been holding a moment before. Rosalie didn't appear to notice from where she stood with her back to him, but she snatched it from the air a moment or two later.

Carys grinned at the display.

Carlisle's free hand moved to her jaw. He turned her face to his and pressed his cool marble lips to hers just long enough that despite the cool night, warmth coursed through her, pooling low in her belly.

Carys wasn't sure why, but since he'd woken her up earlier, her body had reacted to him even more strongly than usual.

Just as she began to deepen the kiss, he ended it. She murmured her displeasure, but as he drew away, she saw why. His proud smile had dropped and his calm mask descended.

"The wolves are on their way," he said, looking to Alice, who glanced at the two of them, her lips pulled down into a worried moue. She must have spoken too quietly for Carys to hear. "It won't be long now."

"Do they have to be so infuriating?" Alice asked. Shoulders drooping, she all but stamped her foot. "Couldn't they just make things a little easier?"

"Where would the fun be in that?" Carlisle asked as he held out a hand. Alice hesitated and he twitched his fingers. Finally, she skipped across to him so that he could ruffle her hair and drop a kiss to the top of her head. "I'm afraid you're in the trenches with the rest of us now, my dear."

Alice wrapped her arms around his middle and pouted up at Carys, achingly adorable. "I don't like the trenches," she moaned as Carys repeated Carlisle's gesture of kissing the top of her head. "Being normal..." She shuddered, grabbing Carys when she made to shift away, so that she was pulled into the hug. "Sightless..." Another shudder racked her. "Normal. Entirely... Expendable."

"That's lovely, dear," Carlisle said sarcastically, pushing her gently away despite her laughing objections. "Why don't you busy yourself being as expendable as the rest of us elsewhere?"

Carys' breath caught on an inward chuckle.

Alice winked at her before she turned and gracefully made her way to Jasper's side, pouting the instant she reached him. He paused what he was doing to press his forehead to hers and gently poke her bottom lip back into line.

Carys placed her hands to Carlisle's chest as he drew her into a one-armed embrace, watching Jasper as he twisted at the waist and raised his hands above his head, tilting back as if he were stretching before a run.

Carlisle quickly struck up a conversation with Esme when she joined them, but neither sought Carys' attention. They could tell how much she wanted to tease Jasper for stretching when he was a vampire, she was sure.

Jasper looked up and caught her eye.

She looked away, smiling distractedly as she pretended to listen to the conversation going on right in front of her. Carlisle squeezed her side again, and her smile deepened, became genuine, affectionate, appreciative of the way he communicated his support.

Most people she knew would have made a point of asking if she was alright or would have made some comment about her feelings, or Jasper's. Carlisle didn't have to; he simply had to squeeze her side and she felt calm, knowing everything he was trying to tell her.

She stepped just far enough away that he dropped his arm from her waist and turned his hand as an offering. Wrapping one arm around his, she captured her hand with her other, interlaced their fingers, and pressed closer, resting her cheek against his shoulder.

They each sighed contentedly before Esme reclaimed their attention. Rosalie and Emmett rejoined the group as she regaled them all with the highly amusing story of the last time she'd 'fought' another vampire.

Carys wasn't sure it was one she was ever going to repeat. It definitely wasn't one Esme would have told had Edward or Bella been present.

The younger pair arrived around fifteen minutes later, coming into view across the dark clearing just as Esme finished up, slicing a hand through the air to raucous laughter.

Emmett intercepted them on their way over, and Bella giggled at whatever he was saying to her. It was a loud enough sound to travel the distance. It was nice to hear her happy. She was so angry before Carys had fallen asleep.

Carlisle looked over Esme's head. "Do you know when our guests are set to arrive?" he asked of Edward.

Edward's eyes tightened for a moment, and then he sighed. He had the undivided attention of the group.

"A minute and a half," he told him, "but I'll have to translate. They don't trust us enough to use their human forms."

Carlisle nodded his understanding. "This is hard for them," he replied, "I'm grateful they're coming at all."

Carys squeezed his arm. It had no visible effect; it was as if she were gripping a statue, but his hand flexed against hers. He was excited before, awash with anticipation. She hoped he wasn't too saddened by their initial distrust.

"Wolves," she whispered when he glanced at her.

The single word, enthused with all the excitement she could muster and more, had the desired effect. Behind his placid mask, something sparked and set aflame in the depths of his golden eyes.

Bella's trembling voice broke the spell. "They're coming as wolves?" she asked Edward, her eyes wide.

He nodded slowly, looking down at her, his touselled hair covering part but not all of his cautious expression. Bella swallowed hard. Despite the small distance and the darkness, the action was visible - practically audible.

Edward's head snapped up as he turned excitedly to the group. "Prepare yourselves," he told them, "they've been holding out on us."

"What do you mean?" Alice demanded, pressing up onto her tiptoes, her head whipping this way and that as she searched the area with her 'expendable' senses.

"Shh," he cautioned, staring into the darkness beyond her.

Carys was about to follow Alice's example of hopping up when the vampires shifted around them, widening out into a shallow v formation. As Carlisle remained by her side, Emmett and Jasper stood ahead of the rest.

She twisted and turned, trying to see where their gazes landed, and Carlisle shifted. Bending down a little, he slid his arm over the backs of her thighs, giving her just enough warning to grab his shoulder before he lifted her so that she sat with her head an inch or two above him. He then raised his free hand to point at a spot directly opposite.

She murmured excitedly, but she still couldn't see a thing.

"Damn," Emmett quietly exclaimed. "Did you ever see anything like it?"

Anything like what? Carys straightened, searching, cursing her human eyes.

She desperately wanted to see them in all their glory, as Carlisle had called it. It was more even than that. The only real wolves she'd ever seen were in biology textbooks or more recently on the internet. They had been made extinct in Britain so long ago that they had always seemed mythical to her. And those were just normal wolves. These wolves were far, far more amazing.

After what felt like an age, but couldn't have been more than a few seconds, something glittered in the darkness, two jewels glowing under the light of the moon. Eyes. Even raised as she was, she had to look up to see them.

How tall they must be. Taller than she could think of a reference for. Perhaps horses, but even that didn't seem to come close.

The first pair of eyes were joined by others. Carys' jaw dropped. Stretched across the treeline, there must have been-

She took a double take. Recounted. Ten. There were ten sets of eyes.

Leah. Jared. Paul. Sam. Seth. Jacob. Embry. Quil. That made eight. Who were the others?

Carlisle lowered her to the ground and she released his shoulder as he took a slow, deliberate step forward. The movement acted to signal him out as the leader they all knew him to be, as much as to reassure.

"Welcome," he greeted warmly.

Carys followed his line of sight again. His gaze hadn't wavered. He seemed to be staring directly at the tallest wolf - the highest set of eyes shining through the gloom, the first - directly opposite, almost to the middle of the group. The Alpha. Sam.

"Thank you," Edward responded in place of Sam, his voice low, devoid of emotion. "We will watch and listen, but no more. That is the most we can ask of our self-control."

"That is more than enough, I assure you," Carlisle answered as Carys looked past Sam, trying to determine which of the wolves was which.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Bella seemed to be doing the same thing. If the highest set of eyes was Sam, it stood to reason that the second - barely lower, set to his right - belonged to Jacob as he was an Alpha himself.

"My son Jasper," Carlisle went on, gesturing towards Jasper who stood to attention, his shoulders tensed and set, his stance wide, "has a wealth of experience in this area. He will be able to teach us how they fight, how they can be defeated. I'm sure you can apply this to your own hunting style."

"They are different from you?" Edward asked for Sam.

Carlisle nodded. "They are all very new - all but two are less than a year old to this life. Children, in a way; we call them newborns. They will have no skill or strategy, only brute strength. Tonight their numbers stand at twenty-four. This includes Victoria and her second-in-command. Fourteen for us, ten for you - it shouldn't be impossible with training, and the numbers may go down. Newborns fight amongst themselves."

A rumble passed down the shadowy line of wolves, a low enthusiastic growl.

"We are willing and able to take more than our share," Edward responded for Sam, no longer quite so standoffish. "You won't need to make unnecessary allowances."

When he spoke, it sounded as if Carlisle was smiling. "We'll see how it plays out."

"Do you know when and how they'll arrive?"

"Not just yet, but Alice will help us intercept their path when they make their decision."

"Our presence doesn't blind her?" Edward's interpretation of Sam's tone was understandably surprised.

"Alice is learning to circumvent," Carlisle easily explained, "to focus her gaze past the blind spots you create in her vision."

"Thank you for the information. We will watch."

The wolves let out a long, loud sigh, the sound growing as more added their voices to it. Starting with Sam, they sank closer to the ground one by one. A display of trust.

Jasper took a step into the no mans land between the natural enemies. The moon lit his unnaturally pale skin, making his features as easily identifiable as the other vampires.

He threw a wary glance toward Edward, who nodded, and then he turned his back to the werewolves. The move made him uncomfortable.

Addressing his family, he said, "Carl-isle's right. They'll fight like children. The two most important things you'll need to remember are, first, don't let them get their arms around you and, second, don't go for the obvious kill. That's all they'll be prepared for. As long as you come at them from the side and keep moving, they'll be too confused to respond effectively. Emmett?"

Emmett grinned as he stepped out of the line. Jasper backed toward the north end of the opening between the allied enemies and waved his brother forward.

"Emmett's the best example of a newborn attack," he explained, studiously ignoring their audience.

Emmett's eyes narrowed. "I'll try not to break anything," he grumbled loudly enough for them all to hear.

Jasper grinned. "What I meant is that Emmett relies on his strength. He's very straightforward about the attack. The newborns won't be tryin' anythin' subtle, either. Just go for the easy kill, Emmett." Jasper backed up a few more paces, his body tensing. "Alright. Try an' catch me."

Jasper all but disappeared, blurring as Emmett charged him, grinning through his snarl. Emmett was almost as fast, but the difference in speed was startling when displayed. Any time it seemed Emmett's strength would win out, his fingers clenched around nothing but the air. Then Emmett froze.

Jasper had him from behind, his teeth an inch from his throat.

Emmett growled. "Fuck."

The wolves rumbled their appreciation. Carys relaxed. She wasn't sure which one she'd wanted to win, but Jasper's speed relieved her. Carlisle was faster - almost as fast as Edward. Speed would give him a greater advantage in the battle to come.

"Again," Emmett insisted.

"It's my turn," Edward protested from down the line.

Jasper grinned and released Emmett. "In a minute," he promised. "I want to show Bella something first."

As he waved Alice forward and she all but danced towards him, Carys spared Bella a glance. She was clearly anxious, but she must have forgotten - Alice wasn't limited by the present.

"I know you worry about her," Jasper explained, watching the human teenager. "I want to show you why that's not necessary." Sparing Carys a glance, he smiled at her calm, undaunted expression.

Her lips twitched.

Jasper crouched low, every inch the predator stalking his prey. Alice smiled as Jasper shifted towards her and then took a long, slow step to her left, circling her.

Alice closed her eyes.

Jasper stalked toward her, coiled, then sprang, moving so swiftly he seemed to disappear. In a blink, he was on the other side of Alice. She didn't appear to have moved, but she had - she'd taken a small step to avoid him.

Jasper wheeled and launched himself at her again, only to land in a crouch behind her, just as he had the first time; Alice stood with her eyes closed, a small smile on her face.

No matter what he did, there would be a split second decision. It was precisely why people didn't like coming up against her in chess.

Jasper tried and failed again and again. Each time he came close, she took another step, and his grasping hands whistled through the air.

He closed in, and Alice began to move faster. She was dancing - spiraling, twisting, curling in on herself. He lunged and reached for her through her graceful movements, never quite touching her, as if each and every movement were choreographed between them.

Finally, Alice laughed.

In a blink of an eye, she was perched on Jasper's back, her lips at his neck.

"Gotcha," she said, and then kissed his throat.

Jasper chuckled, shaking his head. "You truly are one frightening little monster."

The wolves muttered again. This time the sound was wary.

Edward spoke up, announcing, "Now, it has to be my turn."

He and Alice switched places, and Alice hopped up, tugging on Bella's arm and whispering in her ear as they watched Edward. It looked as if Alice was smug, and yet whatever she was saying had the opposite effect on Bella. The human attempted to ignore what the tiny vampire was saying to her, but for a moment she looked as if she'd been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

Carlisle looked at Carys, and she smiled, sparing the two women a last glance before she refocused on the display.

The fight was more even than the others had been. Jasper had more than a century of experience to guide him, and he tried to go on instinct alone as much as he could, but his thoughts gave him away a fraction of a second before he acted, just as they had with Alice. Edward had the edge of speed, but the moves Jasper used were unfamiliar to him.

They came at each other again and again, neither one able to gain the advantage, instinctive snarls erupting constantly as they moved in a blur about the space.

Eventually, Carlisle cleared his throat.

Jasper laughed, and took a step back. Edward straightened and grinned at him.

"Back to work," Jasper allowed. "We'll call it a draw."

Carlisle took his place in line, stepping out to mark the next fight as his. There were no protests now; there was no arguing with his clear command of the space, of the coven.

He was so damn...

Carys growled appreciatively, the low, soft sound humming through her chest and throat.

Carlisle turned swiftly to stare at her with much the same surprised expression as everyone else - a reflection of the one was sure she wore - and she whined, slinking to the side to hide behind Esme, who had covered her mouth to stifle her shocked laugh.

"I don't think we have the time to unpack that just now," Emmett quipped as the wolves' low murmur continued.

"Ahem. Indeed," said Carlisle. It didn't take an empath to tell he was amused.

Carys grumbled. It wasn't as if she'd planned it. It was embarrassing enough as it was.

A second or two later, Esme reached back and poked Carys in the side. "You'll want to see this," she whispered, watching the fray. "Then again..."

Carys raised from her crouch and peered over Esme's head.

Carlisle hadn't been wasting his time when they discussed tactics for half the morning, or as he watched the others.

He and Jasper appeared to take turns, lunging and reaching for each other. Like Edward, Carlisle had the edge of speed and Jasper had the experience, but Carlisle had seen a lot in his centuries. He seemed to know exactly when to tactically retreat, and before she knew it, Carys was watching him lure Jasper more often than attacking him.

Jasper lunged and Carlisle evaded him.

Carlisle slid to a halt a ways away and turned to look at Carys. He was worried. Unsure. Carys took a deep breath, forcing herself to worry as if he might come to real harm. Jasper took his chance, responding to Carlisle's distraction and their emotions, rearing back for a moment before he sprung.

It was over almost as quickly as it started.

They reappeared.

Carys cheered.

Carlisle was bent low, his lips almost touching Jasper's neck, restraining one of his arms as he pressed one knee against his back to hold him in place.

The wolves' appreciative murmur sounded louder, but it may have been heightened by Carys' excitement.

Carlisle stepped back and held a hand out for Jasper. "You mustn't get cocky now," he warned with a smile as he lifted the younger vampire to his feet.

Jasper chuckled and shook his head.

"Alright," he announced, "another important lesson there. Over-confidence can get y'all killed just as easy as none."

Esme shoved Carys from behind her back when she giggled proudly, and Carlisle caught her immediately.

"We'll discuss this later," he whispered in her ear, wrapping his arms around her. He locked her to him, her back to his chest.

"Promise?" she breathed.

Esme and Rosalie grimaced and each took a deliberate step away.

With Esme, Jasper sparred for a little while, and then slowed down to give her and the wolves more instruction. Esme was more hesitant to risk injuring him than the others had been, and so she didn't mind becoming the guinea pig.

She learned more easily that way anyway, she told them - being shown and then repeating and building upon it, rather than through observation - and Jasper encouraged her through her worry, showing her a move before having her practice on him.

"You see what I'm doing here?" he would ask. "Yes, just like that," he encouraged. "Concentrate on the sides. Don't forget where their target will be. Keep moving."

By the end, she was suggesting moves of her own, her worry all but forgotten.

Rosalie was too determined to allow Jasper to make her an example; she almost won her first fight, but fell prey to a feint which Emmett then loudly doubted the newborns would use.

Jasper promised her a rematch.

Carlisle had released Carys, walking to the edge of the unmarked ring to watch every move by the time dawn began to break over the other side of the mountains, the first rays of sunlight lifting the darkness just a little.

It was then that Jasper and Emmett ended their second round in the same manner they had their first fight.

Carys took her chance and voiced the question that had first risen when Alice and Jasper had sparred. "Will it be more dangerous for the wolves to take down this many vampires if they're so much smaller?" Blushing in the face of a bark of laughter from a couple of the wolves, she explained, "I just mean the vampires are smaller; would it be better to go straight for the head, or dismember them first...?"

Edward spoke for Sam for the first time in a long while, startling Carys for a moment. "We'd rather not share our methods," he said.

"Sorry," Carys awkwardly called across.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. We understand your concern, but it is misplaced. We are just as capable. More so."

"It's not really a concern though," Carys protested thoughtfully, "it's more like... If you pin and rip," she said as she held an imaginary shoulder in the air before her and mimed ripping a head from it, "their bodies can still move. If you go for an arm, they can do it too - which, you know," she held her hands up, "not good. Claws and all.

"But if there were more fires within throwing distance, you could pin, rip just one part off, throw that first, then the rest, and they'll go right up 'cause of the inside venom being all flammable, right? You guys look tall. You could throw pretty far if-you know all this. I'm sorry." She shrank, stepping to the side to hide behind Carlisle as best she could with the small distance between them.

The sixth set of eyes from the left narrowed and then shook as a deep rumble made its way down the line.

Emmett eyed Carys in gleeful anticipation. Edward audibly gulped.

"I'm not going to dismember anyone," Carys whispered for the vampires' benefit, then raised her voice again. "And I'm not happy anyone's going to have to die. I'm just saying it's quicker; less risk of a rogue leg gouging... Perhaps there should be more fires than we planned for."

Of course, more fires ran the risk of the newborns doing just the same thing. Carys worried her lip between her teeth in the ensuing silence.

"I have so much respect for you right now, Carys," Edward announced in a slightly higher voice than before.

Carys stared at him before she realised and stepped out, staring at the second set of eyes from the left. "Leah?" she asked, having wondered if, as Leah was the shortest of the wolves as a human, she would be the shortest of the wolves as a wolf. It made sense.

"Yes."

Carys waved excitedly as her theory was confirmed and another amused murmur made its way down the line.

Jasper interrupted the greeting, turning to face the wolves. "Care makes a good point. Y'all should also hear what she has to tell about the newborns."

"Carys has shared what she knows with Leah," Edward translated for Sam, just as formally as before.

"I-um, I didn't tell her... Everything..." Carys admitted loudly. "I didn't know you would need to know it all, but now you're helping, it would be important... If Leah and Seth are free later, I can bring a late breakfast and fill them in with pictures and stuff, and then they can fill you all in?"

"I would prefer to hear what news you have myself. We can speak at mine and Emily's house."

Carys hesitated, staring towards the second set of eyes.

"Food will be provided," Edward added.

Sam had misinterpreted her doubt.

Her loyalty to Leah would always take precedence. Was it fair to put her on the spot and ask?

It might seem ridiculous to be loyal to her in such a way when so much was on the line, but was it ridiculous really? Agreeing to Sam's presence meant putting Leah on edge; going to his house and eating his food would be a slap in the face.

If she told Leah and Seth, they could pass it on just as well. Perhaps a third set of eyes and ears would remember anything they didn't.

"I'm not sure... I don't think I would feel entirely comfortable with that," Carys said, not moving her gaze from Leah's eyes, glowing through the gloom. "I'd prefer if it were just Leah and Seth really. Maybe Paul?"

A soft growl came from somewhere close to Leah. A single response. Carys glanced at Carlisle as he turned away from the Pack, smiling gently. Edward struggled for a moment to contain a grin of his own.

That was suspicious. Did Paul not in fact like her as he had seemed to?

"Embry then?" she offered. The suggestion was met with a similar sound. "Or Quil?" she suggested, shaking her head gently. There was no response. Carys leaned back. "Just Leah, Seth and Quil, then."

It stung a little to know that perhaps she'd been wrong - that she hadn't won over as many of the wolves as she thought she had. But, she reminded herself, it simply meant nothing had changed. Why did that make such little difference?

"We will make you welcome. You have nothing to fear."

Carys cracked the knuckles of her thumbs. "It's not that," she explained. "It's... It's..." She squared her shoulders, raised her head, and looked at Sam's gleaming eyes. "I'd rather not do that to Leah, but if she says it's alright..."

A murmur ran through them all. Sam's eyes shifted from side to side.

"It's fine. I guess," Edward answered for Leah with a sigh.

Carys nodded and glanced at her again. "Okay. I'll bring my binder and come by about... One?"

The response came from Sam. "Thank you."

Jasper stepped back. "We'll be doing this tomorrow night," he told them. "Please feel welcome to observe us again."

"Yes," Edward answered in Sam's cool voice. "We'll be here." He sighed, stepped ahead of Bella, and turned to the family. "The Pack thinks it would be helpful to be familiar with each of our scents - so they don't make mistakes later. If we could hold very still, it will make it easier for them."

"Certainly," Carlisle agreed, staring towards Sam. "Whatever you need."

There was a gloomy, throaty grumble from the Pack as they all rose to their feet.

Edward's gaze zoned in on Carys and she shifted uncomfortably under the weight of his clear interest. "Leah wants to put your gifts to the test, Carys."

"My what now?" she asked quickly, glancing at Leah.

Every pair of eyes - wolf, vampire, and human alike turned to stare at her.

"Oh... My... My..." Carys squinted, hoping someone might take over. They all surely knew she had no idea what Leah meant. She hadn't been given any presents, had she?

Edward saved her. "She wants to know if you can guess any of the other wolves," he explained in a strangely proud voice. He must have heard her summation hours before. "Seeing as you haven't met them in their forms as of yet, that you guessed who she was, and that you're supposedly... Gifted."

Oh! Of course! Gifts! But it didn't have anything to do with her abilities, she didn't think. It was just that she paid attention, as Jasper had as a human. It might even have had something to do with that modern warfare section of her A Levels.

A rumble of laughter ran through one half of the wolves' line when she didn't respond for a few seconds, and Carys glared.

"I've already worked some of it out," she said curtly with an embarrassing amount of hurt pride shining through. "It's not that hard. Sam's the tallest - the Alpha," she explained quickly, pointing toward him. "Which means you'd think the Beta was the second tallest," she wagged a finger and cocked her head, "but you'd be forgetting Jacob. So. Sam, Jacob, Jared," she said, pointing to each as she spoke - the middle three of the group.

From what she could remember, Leah had said that Jared was Sam's right-hand man now. She hoped that was still the case now that Leah knew they were wolves and not simply a gang.

She continued to point at the eyes in turn, speaking just as quickly. "Then Leah's the shortest and overall best; Paul's huge, so that makes him... That one. Now, it gets tough... But everyone likes a formation, don't they?

"Embry and Quil must be those two," she said, pointing to the next ones out to either side of the largest four, "because they're taller and so probably older, which leaves Seth and the two I don't know. Judging by height corresponding with age and length of time as a wolf, the two I don't know must be shorter than Seth. So. Seth is that one," she said, pointing to the pair of glittering eyes beside Leah, and then indicating the two wolves at the other end, their eyes not too much higher than Leah's, she concluded, "and the youngest ones."

Carys just about held back a "hah!"

There was no laughter this time.

Carlisle turned his head and rewarded her with a devastating grin. Her heart thudded against her ribs; her stomach clenched. She glanced away before he could do much more damage to her adrenaline filled body and met Bella's eye.

Bella smiled, and she returned the gesture. The teenager looked as if she had worked much of it out herself, but hadn't been challenged as Carys had.

And then the earth shifted, drawing both of their attention as the wolves began to make their way from the safety of the treeline.

Sam led his pack.

Carys' eyes rounded when she saw him, and she took an unwilling step forward.

His fur was black as night - just as Leah suggested - and he was absolutely massive. Far larger than she'd assumed. His jaws parted, displaying impossibly long teeth - fangs, Carys thought, unable to think of a better name for them.

Every part of his wolf form seemed in perfect proportion, densely muscled, exuding power and command. He was followed by the others, stepping forward one by one to join him.

Carys gasped anew.

They were... There weren't words... She supposed they should have been frightening, and to some extent they were, but they were so incredibly magnificent.

Carlisle had called them magical, but he'd been wrong. That wasn't nearly strong enough of a word. They were all far, far larger than she thought normal wolves must be, each of their fur different from the others - a myriad of greys, browns, reds and blacks.

If they had been actual wolves, she would have more than likely been running for her life, or trembling with fear as she could see Bella doing in her peripheral vision, but they were...

God.

She'd never seen anything like it.

Terrifyingly beautiful.

Awesome in the truest sense of the word.

Exactly the type of sight that could make amaze a centuries old vampire, let alone a human.

And there were ten of them.

The ones she'd called short were nothing near it.

Sam approached Carlisle, the huge pack right on his tail. Jasper stiffened, but Emmett grinned and relaxed. Sam sniffed Carlisle, wincing slightly as he did. Then he moved on to Jasper and continued on.

A wolf with reddish-brown hair - Jacob, it had to be, his sheer height and breadth was exceeded only by Sam - approached them with far more confidence than any of the others. He barely sniffed Carlisle and Emmett, pausing for a moment longer at Jasper, before moving on.

Carys tore her gaze away from him to look at Bella. She was staring at him with the same wonder and awe Carys knew she had felt when gazing at the others, and his muzzle fell open, displaying his long teeth. Bella giggled when his tongue lolled out, and Carys found herself smirking despite herself.

The beautiful small grey wolf Carys had been waiting for since she'd watched her step from the trees approached her and gently lowered her nose.

Leah's hackles were raised, and despite how happy Carys was, the wolf remained on edge. Her nose twitched as she reached Carys' hair, and then firmed. Her muzzle wrinkled and she bared her teeth.

"Sorry," Carys replied. "Carlisle was plaiting my hair earlier and I didn't have time to shower."

Leah's eyes narrowed as she slowly covered her elongated teeth. She twitched her head up and Carys lowered hers so that she could butt her on the forehead with her muzzle.

Carys grinned as she ran a hand through the fur covering Leah's head.

Leah's eyes fluttered for a moment before they snapped open when one of the other wolves murmured. Her snarl blew the curls around Carys' face, forcing her to close her eyes and wince against the warm heat of it.

Her stomach dropped and her heart stuttered, but she ignored her natural response and laughed instead when she realised it felt a little like a hairdryer. Leah could act threatening all she liked. Carys didn't mind.

"Sam wants to know why you're so calm," Edward said suddenly, though he held perfectly still. "You haven't met them in this form before. They're more used to initial fear."

"I wasn't scared of you when you were human - why would I be scared now?" Carys replied softly, tracing Leah's markings with her eyes. "I thought the risk was in the transformation. It's not like you can phase larger, is it? Wait..." Carys turned her head to the side and eyed Leah doubtfully, sweeping her gaze over her. "Is it?"

Leah and a couple of the other wolves laughed.

"It is not."

"Okay cool," Carys said, resuming her tracing. "And besides. Sam's the scariest because of his fangs-"

"Incisors," Edward corrected in Sam's low tone.

Carys touched her finger to her own incisors and Leah bared hers so that she could get a better look.

"Yeah, I guess," Carys accepted. "But you're all acting like no one's ever read Harry Potter."

"What?" Edward asked.

"What?" Carys echoed, far higher and disbelieving. "Harry Potter - it's-"

"We know the books," Sam/Edward clarified. "I'm unsure in what way it makes a difference."

"Erm... Sirius Black?" Carys asked, taking her chance when Leah was distracted to thrust her hands into the fur covering her nape. Soft soft soft. She set to stroking. "Everyone thought he was the Grimm? And Remus! Like... Guys. You're helping us. It's like saying Aragon and Legolas should have been scared of the Rohirrim riding to the aid of Helms Deep-" Carys broke off, cleared her throat, and winced.

When she glanced at him, Emmett was grinning ahead, allowing a small gangly wolf with fur the colour of sand and a tear inducingly adorable leg to paw ratio sniff him. The massive pawed wolf - Seth, Carys thought - took two sniffs, then drew back and gagged.

Emmett's eyes narrowed, but he held still.

Carys giggled when she met the wolf's eye, and he whimpered apologetically, pawing the ground. She was definite it was Seth.

Leah shook herself free and moved on. When she reached Rosalie, the two of them eyed each other with matching expressions of judgement, distaste, mistrust, and just a dash of possessiveness.

"Hi Seth," Carys greeted when he grabbed her attention by bounding across from Emmett, "I'm in love with those adorable paws of yours!"

He growled playfully, then sniffed and snuffled her hair, sides, knees, and then reared up and dropped his huge head to her shoulder. When she didn't immediately move, he whined and nudged her, sighing when she stroked his soft fur, just as she had with his sister.

Bella's shout of "Ew! Jacob!" had Carys pausing and Seth raising his head to see.

Jacob had licked Bella's face if the way she wiped at herself was anything to go by.

No one but Jacob and Bella seemed pleased by the way she giggled and shoved at him. Jacob laughed, a deep rumbling sound from deep in his chest. Edward turned away, disappointed and saddened. The Cullens appeared disgusted - though that could have been for a variety of reasons. Even Sam appeared unhappy by the turn of events.

Carys didn't like it either. Something told her her thoughts were along the same line as Edward's, perhaps Sam's. Bella had been so angry at Jacob earlier, but it almost seemed as if she were...

Carys didn't have time to finish the thought.

One of the other wolves - a grey wolf with black spots; Embry or Quil, she expected - doubled back and nudged Seth in the side. He pulled away, pressing his face to Carys' middle before he stretched to his full height and headed away with the others.

Rather than leave themselves vulnerable, they backed away until they disappeared, ready to defend themselves if needs be. One of the smallest two wolves' eyes widened as one of his gangly legs almost bucked under him for a moment and he raised one massive paw to check it before he continued on as quickly as he could.

Jacob was the only one to remain in the clearing. He stood by Bella, watching them leave, though Quil and Embry remained, standing nervously to the side - one black spotted grey, the other the colour of milk chocolate - ready to protect him if they needed to.

Carlisle approached Carys as she watched Edward take Bella's hand. A moment or two later, the younger vampire struck up an easy conversation with the wolf he considered his rival.

It was strange enough that Carys didn't quite register what was happening to her until Carlisle lowered her arms and she looked down at herself.

"Territorial much," she asked, highly amused.

Carlisle grinned. He'd removed her coat and cardigan, replacing them with his thick cable knit jumper, and was in the process of rubbing his wrists over her neck and shoulders.

"I'm simply making the trip home a little easier," he objected, leaning slowly towards her.

Carys held her hands over his and he stopped, his nose a hairsbreadth from hers as she nodded towards the unlikely trio. The supernatural love triangle.

"What's going on there?" she asked.

Carlisle frowned for a moment and raised his head. His expression cleared. "From what Edward is saying, I think Jacob's asking what we plan on doing with you and Bella during the-ah." He looked down at her. "It seems Jacob is interested in Bella's whereabouts during the battle."

"Figures," Carys murmured.

Jacob and Edward looked up at them. Both had a look of chagrin about them.

"Wait," Bella called, one hand raised to reach after Jacob as he darted away. The three wolves disappeared together and she moaned, openly hurt as she asked, "Why did he leave?"

"He's coming back," Edward said with a sigh. "He wants to be able to talk for himself."

A/N: this and part of next chapter were one chapter in the book, but... Carys wasn't there, and she's never seen the wolves before. I find the bits where Carys and the books overlap harder to write/rewrite... It's so easy to write Carys' story and so much harder to include sections from the books that need to be there...

Thank you to: souverian, BMBMDooDoo- Doo- Doo- Doo, GuestMG, Ghostwriter71, Kimkrys, hermionine, BubblyYork, RizzlesFan, Momochan77, KEZZ 1, ReadLikeHermione, pendora59, clementineapples, Shelley J88, and Guest (I'm writing chapters when I can, and they can take up to a week to come out... I may take a break soon, but I'll always let you all know if you'll be waiting more than a week for a chapter) for your reviews!