This Chapter has some Wolf Action!
(For those of you who love the Wolf Pack! Hope I did them justice!) :D
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The flap of the curtain was the first thing that alerted me to the presence in my bedroom.
That, along with soft, almost inaudible footsteps made me tense. Coiled tight, my eyes darted to the door, ready to rush out and scream as loud as possible. Or if possible, if this was only a human intruder to at least spring them a good scare with the heavy book on my bedside table. That would give them a nice bang on the head.
"You're not asleep."
I flinched, then relaxed into the familiarity of his hand landing on my shoulder.
I rolled over, finding his liquid amber eyes. His long lashes cast shadows over them, making them seem darker and he didn't look like he'd had much sleep in the two days we'd been back from Alaska.
The journey back had been even tenser, if that was possible.
Edward's eyes had remained on the slightly narrowed side throughout the entire plane ride and he'd changed our seating arrangements. Instead of Carlisle sitting next to us, it was Alice and the two had had a mental conversation while I was left to stare out the window, watching the dark gray clouds and ponder upon Laurent's words and Victoria's plans for me.
I had ended up pressing my forehead to the cool glass pane and then passing out, dreaming of red, wild hair, running, blood gushing across white snow and then the thud of my body hitting the cold hard ground.
I'd woken up with my head against Edward's arm, a soft fleecy blanket on me.
He'd dropped me off at the Swan house and after telling Charlie and Bella a whole lot of lies about how the cousins were marvellous and how the climate was perfect. Ok…only one of those things was a lie but still…
Once in my comfy bed though, sleep would not come.
It just would not come.
Worse, I could feel the old dreams returning. The dreams that had tormented me the first couple months I'd been back in my own world. The screams, the sounds of glass cutting into me, the cold seep of blood around me, I turned and rolled over innumerable times.
Victoria was going to try and kill me…Victoria was trying to get me and torture me…
I knew I was working myself up but I couldn't help it.
So, I was kind of glad that he'd come to visit.
"I thought we discussed how creepy it was to sneak into bedrooms." I said.
He raised an eyebrow. "I thought usually girls liked it when boyfriends sneak into their bedrooms."
"For all the wrong reasons…besides we're not usual." I pointed out, burrowing into my duvet. "Exactly; I'm not here for the wrong reasons." He sat on the edge of the bed.
I turned so I could stare at the fan above. "I can't sleep." I admitted. "I can tell; even now there are about a million things rushing through that head. You're driving me crazy." He said.
"For the wrong reasons, right," I grinned up at him, making his roll his eyes at me. "I'm nearly a hundred and twenty years old, Tulika. Don't try to deflect. What's worrying you?" he asked.
"Everything, Edward, I can't even begin somewhere." I sat up, leaning against the headboard. Edward turned so he was facing me, his legs crossed under him.
"I'm worried about the Swans, Stephen, the wolves, your family, you, Stephen, the Volturi, Laurent, Victoria, The Denali clan, my family…so much." I rubbed my forehead and he pulled my fingers from my face.
"I want you to listen to me very carefully, ok? You don't have to worry about Bella, Charlie, Stephen, me and my family. We can handle it. You don't have to worry about the Alaska people. Eleazar is keeping a very close eye on Laurent and if he was smart, he would not dare cross Eleazar. The Volturi is not going to get involved in something as petty as a vampire trying to take revenge and about your family…I wish I could help you but…"
I leaned forward and gently pressed my lips to his.
He returned the kiss, his mouth soft and warm against mine and I smiled. "You are helping. More than you can ever know," I whispered.
He didn't answer, his eyes taking on a distant look as he manoeuvred me so I was lying on his arm under the duvet, my head snuggled against his neck.
Within minutes, I was fast asleep.
When I woke up, bright sunlight was filing in through the open window. I let out a low groan, trying to curl back up into the ball when I remembered last night.
Edward had spent the night, hadn't he? Wow, first night in my own bed…
I peered over the edge of the blanket, trying to find him.
He was sitting in the big squashy chair, his feet up on the table in front of it. His face was in his hand and his eyes on me, a speculative look in his eyes as if he was waiting for the tirade he's barred last night.
I blinked sheepishly at him.
"I'm fine," I said. He didn't move at all. I sighed and slipped off the bed, going into the bathroom to brush my teeth and run a comb through my hair.
I returned, walking over to him. "I'm really fine." I insisted.
"I am an idiot." He said.
I frowned.
He reached up, pulling me down to his lap by my wrist, tucking me against his chest.
"I'm an idiot because all this time I have been so focused on how I felt during our time apart, I never thought about what you went through. Last night…you thought you hid it well; but I saw it and I am so sorry."
I nodded.
"Now that we got that out of the way; let's discuss what we're going to do for the birthday we missed." He said. "Oh god," I groaned. "Nothing, please, I'd rather just go to the meadow." I said.
"That can be arranged."
I also wanted to say I wanted to see Jacob and Billy but he just tucked me back into him and the rest of the morning passed in silence.
By the time I had come down, Charlie was already gone and Bella was at the sink, sipping milk from a glass. She grinned at me when I sat down across from her.
"Good morning, had a nice trip?" she asked.
"Bell, we went over this. The cousins were nice. We don't need to rehash that. What we do need to rehash is you, me and Jacob spending time together." I said in a mock stern voice.
She laughed.
"Yes, we did talk about rehashing that. So, what do you want to do?" she asked.
"How about we trek through the back woods towards the reservation?" I asked.
She blanched.
"You want to go on a hike with me?"
I shrugged.
"You want me to call Stephen and Edward to keep you from blowing my brains out?" she asked. "No," I said smiling, "I'm pretty sure I can handle your clumsiness for a day."
"Ok, if you want to," she said, standing up, "I'll go get ready."
I lifted a hand to wave her off then stared glumly at the wooden table in front of me.
In an hour or so, Bella and I were staring the thick wall of trees with grim determination. Knowing Bella's speed, we wouldn't make it to the La Push beach till late noon and I was quite glad of her slowness at that point.
I didn't want to be like the Bella in the books who was constantly surrounded by the Cullens. I just wanted to breathe and move freely in my own social circle and I really, really wanted to see Jacob.
More than anything, I did not want to think about what Laurent had said.
I knew Edward would be annoyed that I took off to visit the Pack without telling him but I was counting on the fact that he didn't feel nearly as hostile towards the shifters as he did in the books.
Walking and focusing on keeping Bella on her two feet certainly distracted me from the potent danger my life was in.
Not for long though…
A couple hours into the forest, Bella brought me to a stop. "What's wrong?" I asked.
"I just…I thought I saw something." She said, biting her lip and peering into the thick trees. My heart sped up. I thought it was safe…
"Are you sure?" I asked. She didn't answer. "Bella," I pressed and she shrugged. "Not really," she muttered.
I slid my backpack off and dropped it next to her. "Don't move an inch from here," I warned.
"What are you doing? We can't go off the trail!" Bella hissed. I ignored her, walking towards where she'd said she'd seen something.
"Tulika…we have a bear alert on!" Bella said again before I left her standing in the clearing and crossed the tree line.
The sound of wind whistle among the tree tops made a chill run down my spine.
Sam was supposed to have his pack under complete control, wasn't he? Jacob had said that they were better informed, as were we, so why did it feel like there was a distinct danger in these woods?
Maybe you're just paranoid after what Laurent told you, my mind told me and I glowered at myself. Paranoia was not going to get me anywhere. Paranoia was only going to get me and my loved ones –
Was that a flash of red?
I fell back up a step instinctively. Almost immediately my brain tried to placate me while my fear started arguing with it.
That's probably just an autumn leaf.
Autumn leaf in winter…? They aren't that big or fast.
Maybe it was a big pile. Maybe it was a firefly.
They still aren't that big or fast.
You just won't take 'not a threat' for an answer, will you?
It didn't matter if it was an autumn leaf or a firefly, I thought to myself grimly. The spot of red was growing steadily and I didn't have to be a genius to know it was heading straight for me.
I wanted to run. My brain was screaming at me to move, to run, to lash out; to do something but I couldn't. I was frozen to the spot, my eyes hypnotised to keep watching the red haired vampire.
My next thought was Bella. What if she saw? What if she heard something? What if she walked into Victoria's line of fire?
The spot of red was larger now, the trees hiding the feminine figure of my attacker but I could tell it was a woman. My eyes closed, squinting shut as I waited for the first lunge.
It didn't come.
What did come, however, was a low growl that reverberated through the trees. It made my eyes pop wide open and I saw the red figure now a safe distance away, still too far away for me to make out what it was doing. My head scanned around to see what had growled.
The Cullens couldn't growl that way. They were terrifying when hostile but this sound…this sound was purely feral. It was downright wild.
My eyes followed the sound of heavy movement and I saw it…or rather, saw them.
The first one – black as midnight and silent as a shadow – eased out of the woods, branches brushing it's shaggy fur as it took a precise step, angling itself directly along the distance between me and Red.
It was taller than me, even with my shortness, it was…huge. I could feel the heat of Shifter blood course through its muscular body as it coiled tightly, challenging the female to take a step towards me.
I took another step back when the tree line broke again, two more gigantic wolves flanking the black one. One was a deep gray and the other brown. Two more followed and suddenly five wolves were standing in a V shape, pointed directly at the red figure.
I watched as Red fell back a few meters then disappeared. The enormous wolves were after her immediately, the Black and Gray at the head, snarling and snapping at her heels.
The russet brown one, closest to me, slowly turned its head towards me, eyes intelligent and worried. I met its eyes and shuddered. "Jacob," I breathed when a loud thud made both our heads snap to the side.
Bella was slumped against a tree, her eyes enormous and her face white.
I looked quickly at Jacob but he was already moving away, his eyes fixed on my face before he turned and darted towards the direction of his pack.
I whirled towards Bella. "Hey, hey, Bella, hey," I said. She was mouthing wordlessly at the tree line, her lips almost blue. I wondered idly if she was going to pass out or throw up.
As it so happens, Bella didn't pass out. She just vomited loudly while I tried to control my breathing and my heart rate. If I needed to comfort Bella, I needed to stop being a mess myself.
Oh god, if Edward found out…he was going to be furious. I was probably already going to get an earful from Jacob once he turned back to human.
I rubbed Bella's back as she stuttered unintelligibly. "Bella, I need you to breathe. Breathe with me, come on, one, two, three in, one two three out," I said and she copied me until she wasn't shaking as much.
"They aren't bears," was all she said.
"No, sweetie, they aren't," I sighed.
"You ok?" I asked for what felt like the hundredth time as I parked the truck. I didn't want her to drive when she still looked like she'd seen the ghost of her grandmother, she could easily swerve off the road. She'd probably upset Victoria by killing me quickly.
"Uh huh," she muttered, her eyes wide and terrified. "Bella, relax, I'm fine, you're fine, we're both unharmed." I said as gently as I could.
"Why didn't they attack you? I mean, not that I wanted them to…but like that big brown one was right next to you and it was looking at you but it…ran away."
"I guess I'm scarier than we thought, Bells." I said smiling but she didn't smile back. She just opened the door and jumped out, walking fast towards the house. I sighed and followed.
"Girls," Charlie called as I locked up the front door.
"Yeah, it's us," I called back when Bella didn't answer.
"Where were you?" he asked, coming to the hallway.
"Hiking," I muttered.
He frowned at that, his eyes going between Bella who thankfully had her back to him. I didn't know how I could explain her looking like a screaming bride.
"I thought I told you to stay out of the forest." He said.
He did…? I didn't remember this part from the books but I did remember the movies in which Bella yells out that it was a wolf to Charlie and Harry Clearwater.
"I don't remember that." I said truthfully.
"Yes but, sweetie you weren't here during the Bear Alert." Charlie began.
"They're wolves."
Charlie and I both looked at Bella as she turned around, her eyes slightly normal but still shaken. "What…?" Charlie asked.
"Wolves, dad, they're like huge wolves."
I mentally smacked myself.
Charlie's eyes now resembled Bella's, wide and horrified. He gripped her arm. "Are you ok? Tulika…?" his eyes trained on me. "We're fine, Charlie. They didn't pay any attention to us. Guess we didn't look tasty enough." I shrugged. Charlie let go of Bella and hugged me tightly.
"No more hiking. Both of you," he warned.
I nodded.
Of course, it would be no more hiking. Bella wouldn't come with me. Edward and Alice would keep a close eye on me. Jacob and the Pack wouldn't let me anywhere near the woods and I was pretty shocked with the encounter with Red. I wasn't about to put myself through that again.
Charlie looked at both me and Bella once before heading into the living room, probably to report what we'd told him.
"You hungry…?" I asked Bella.
She shook her head. "Just tired, see you in the morning." She mumbled.
I suddenly felt sorry for her and also relieved. It was good that she had arrived after the wolves had taken off and she only saw Jacob's wolf. I went to her and wrapped my arms tightly around her. "I'm sorry about today." I said. She hugged me back tighter. "I'm just glad you're alright." She said. I shook my head at her self-sacrificing attitude but still smiled as she climbed up the stairs.
I glanced back once at the locks again then headed into the kitchen for a glass of water.
As I filled the glass, I was surprised to see my hand shake slightly, the edge of the glass clicking against the water spout. I set the glass down and leaned against the counter.
I was exhausted. I was afraid and now my façade was wearing down. If I could see it now, I was sure the people around me could see it for days, no wonder Stephen gave me worried looks and Edward had actually snuck in last night.
I wondered what Jacob had seen in my face today…
I pulled out my phone, thumbing through to his name but decided against it. What if he was still chasing Red?
Victoria…
The name made me shudder with fear and also burn with fury. She had more nerve than James did. At least James had some misconception of being rewarded. What was Victoria's reward?
She had no right to be here, trying to hurt me, trying to hurt the people I loved. Thank god she hadn't followed me to my world. What would that have meant for my family? My unarmed, unprepared family…at least the people here had the means to protect themselves.
With that cheerful thought…I went up to bed.
Yeah...get that Red Headed B... (ahem, Language!) so, yes, that was the first time T came face to face with the wolves.
Did I write them correct?
Did I make Bella and Tulika react properly?
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