Disclaimer: No, I have never met Taylor Lautner, nor am I a Mormon from America who just happens to be the author of the Vampire saga taking over the world.
A/N: Okay, surprise waiting for you after you finish this chapter :D
12. Safari Hunt
I wasn't entirely surprised when Dad didn't flip out after Jake's "confession" – all I had to do was give him my innocent, daddy's-little-angel expression after Emmet 'accidently' blabbed about our make-out session at the beach. Besides, Dad knew this would be coming anytime soon, what with reading my and Jake's thoughts.
"What would you like for dinner, Renesmee?" asked Esme, tactfully trying to change the subject for my sake.
"Steak," I replied, the answer flying off my lips without me even thinking. "Raw."
"Uh-oh," said Jasper, "I think someone's thirsty…"
"Yes, it's been a while since she last hunted," Mum noted.
"Ah, yes," Emmet rumbled with excitement. "Another hunting trip!"
"Another?"
"Yeah," he said sheepishly. "We went whilst you were asleep. Ness, you're going to love the game here. If you thought Mountain Lion was good, you should try African Lion."
I licked my lips with a sense of anticipation. I hadn't had blood in a while and my vampire side was getting restless.
"Alright then," said Dad, "Have a good rest this evening and early tomorrow morning we will travel north and look for some game. Jacob, you're up for it?"
"Sure," he smiled, "It would be rather entertaining to watch Nessie take on a lion or rhino."
I stuck my tongue out in response to his tease.
"Stick your tongue back in your mouth, Missy," said Emmet in mock sternness, "we don't know where that's been…" He added, wiggling his eyebrows.
Everyone, including Jake, burst out laughing as my cheeks turned red. It looked like Emmet was going to be making comments about my and Jake's make-out sessions for a while now…
"So, how about that steak?" I asked Esme, another futile attempt to change the topic.
It was an early rise for me, but with the burning sensation in my throat, I was up and alert. It was still dark, as the sun hadn't yet risen, when Emmet, Dad, Mum, Rosalie, Jake and I left the hotel by foot (it was faster than going by car).We travelled north of Durban to Mpumalanga as this place was home to a lot of game.
Before long we were in what looked like a game park; except there were no boundaries and game rangers.
I looked at Mum and Dad, wondering it was safe to start hunting. Reading my thoughts, Dad nodded and said, "When one of us has caught something, go meet that person – we can't kill more than two big animals as it would start looking suspicious. You'll be able to get the scent when we've made a kill."
I nodded, and shot off in the opposite direction, my vampire instincts taking over. The sound of paws moving lightly on the ground distracted me a bit. Jake yelped to let me know it was him – ready to watch me battle an African Lion, no doubt.
I stopped suddenly after running through the veld, listening to the call of an unfamiliar scent. It was sweet and strange; alluring, inviting… mouthwatering. It definitely wasn't human as this scent was too earthy to be human. It came from the east.
Listen carefully, I noted the crunching of dry twigs and leaves under the animal's feet. I tore off towards the sound, trying to picture a lion or a rhino being the source of it.
But after travelling a few hundred meters, I was disappointed to find an elephant near a waterhole, cooling off. Dad and Carlisle warned me not to attack those as the skin was very thick and taking down one would require at least two of us to kill it if we wanted a clean job. Jake's warm fur by my legs and soft bark reminded to move away and not give in to my bloodlust.
Backing off in another direction, my senses searched for another animal. Luckily for me, I picked up another scent not too far off from where I was and followed it, like a slave behind their master. The blood drew me in, sweeter than the elephant's, tempting…
And then I saw why.
Two male lions were in a small clearing. They kept a certain distance away from each other as they treaded a perfect circle, tails twitching, and bared their teeth; ready to attack.
The rustle of leaves from the side made me realize that the two males were not alone. A few lionesses and their cubs were watching the fight anxiously. They must have felt my presence as they back away from the place from which I entered.
My eyes fixed back on the two males, waiting for the opportune moment to attack. They were obviously fighting for territory and the pride. The young male was pursuing the older male, original head of the pride. They suddenly stopped treading their perfect circle, leant back… and then pounced.
The younger lion had strength on his side, but the older one was much more experienced and was easily able to decipher what the young one was going to do before he did it. It reminded me of the story Jasper and Alice had told me about the newborns which came to Forks a few months before I was born. Newborns had a lot of strength, but if you had experience and were smart enough, you could easily win the battle – like my family had.
But as this battle progressed, the strength proved more powerful than the experience. Though they were both bloody and tired, the young one had the upper hand, slashing his opponent to the floor. Before he could make the final, fatal blow; I reacted.
Out of my so-called hiding place, I sprung out and landed gently on the attacker, my sharp teeth sinking into his neck. He stilled with shock, not even attempting to throw me off him. Then I began to draw blood from lion, one sweet mouthful after the other.
It was just like Emmet described, sweeter than Mountain Lion, better than any other blood I'd ever tasted. I savoured the flavour, letting it trickle slowly down my throat. After a few mouthfuls, I looked up to find the other male looking at me. At first there was a sense of gratefulness in his eyes, almost relief. But when he looked into my eyes and saw the bloodlust, crazy look, he backed off to where his pride waited; wanting to get away from me as quickly as possible.
I returned to my lion, licking the blood which had escaped the punctured holes in his neck. Definitely one of the best feeds I'd had in a while…
Soft footsteps told me I wasn't alone. Mum, Dad, Emmet and Rosalie had joined Jake and me in the clearing.
"Aw, I missed the fight, didn't I?" asked Emmet disappointedly.
"No," Dad laughed, "According to Jacob, Renesmee cheated a bit. Two males were fighting here and she attacked while the other was distracted."
"Ah, she made a nice clean job of it, didn't she?" doted Rosalie.
I rolled my eyes. "Are you all going to just stand there and talk, or are you going to help me finish off this breakfast?"
They all laughed and came to the lion and fed whatever remained of their bloodlust but left enough for my to satisfy mine – after all they had already been hunting without me.
"Good choice, Ness," Dad murmured, "Young blood is always better."
I laughed at that comment and stood up, letting the rest of them feed. The rustle of the wind and leaves gave me a sense that someone was watching me. I spun around and observed my surroundings.
But the only one I found was Jake sitting under a tree in his wolf form, waiting patiently with his eyes fixed on me. I smiled and walked towards him. I realized I still had some blood some blood dribbling down my chin, so I wiped it away with my sleeve.
Jake barked a laugh and shook his head. I sat down next to him, running my fingers through his fur. He responded by licking my face clean, chin to forehead.
Ugh, would he ever learn?
A/N: Okay, so the world cup has sadly come to an end and school has started for us in South Africa. I have QUITE a bit to say about Eclipse, but I'll save that for my review (which I still need to blog). Anyway, I've been feeling bad about not posting up chapters (because the story has been completed for almost a year now) and seeing that this is SUCH a short chapter... I'm posting another one up! :) Right now!
