Disclaimer: I am not Stephanie Meyer. I do not own Twilight.
Chapter Twelve
Paul's POV
The sound of howling had me rolling out of bed and diving for the window before I even fully realized what I was doing. I phased in the back yard, grateful for the heavy tree coverage as well as the darkness of night.
Sam! What's happening? I asked, racing into the woods.
We have the leech cornered! Jared cheered, showing me the image of Victoria pinned against a wall of flat rock.
Get here. Now! Sam demanded, snapping at the redhead.
Almost to you, I told him, coming up on the cliff-face.
I spotted them up ahead, my feet speeding forward at the thought of finally catching the leech threatening my Swan. I was maybe a dozen or so yards away when she suddenly broke free of Sam and Jared, swiping her extended nails over Jared's leg. His yelp distracted Sam who was quickly shoved aside as Victoria raced towards me.
No! I snarled, lunging forward.
My teeth wrapped around hard flesh, digging in past skin and muscle until I reached bone. With a growl, I yanked on the limb I'd managed to catch.
"NO!" Victoria screeched in pain and anger as her leg detached.
I tossed the leg away, spinning on the spot and diving for her again. Her claws nearly caught my shoulder, but I dodged at the last minute. A sudden flash of black alerted me to the fact that Sam had joined the fight. Another flash of brown and I knew Jared was closing in as well.
Let's finish this, Jared growled, the fur along his back rising.
As one, we lunged for the leech, each of us catching some part of her body. Her screams echoed off the rocky surroundings, but no one would be coming to her rescue. In a matter of minutes, she was in pieces around us.
Paul, light the fire, Sam ordered, nosing the pieces of her together. He snorted when the fingers of one of the hands went up his nose, snapping the offending limb in two with his teeth.
Jared trotted towards us, her leg in his mouth, as I phased. Reaching for the flint in the shorts on Sam's leg, I glared at the leeches head. Her eyes blinked at me, a snarl still on her lips. Dispassionately, I leaned down, hitting the flint against a rock until sparks exploded from the end and fire encompassed the twitching body parts.
"It's finally over," Sam sighed from beside me, sounding as though the weight of the world was finally off his shoulders.
"Thank, God. We can finally ease up on patrols," Jared grinned, throwing his arm around my shoulders.
I smirked at my brothers, the satisfaction of a successful kill thrumming through all of us. The urge to be back home with Bella came over me with an unexpected intensity, to the point where I actually started trembling.
"I have to go," I murmured, ducking from under Jared's arm.
"Alright. Back to Bella with you," Jared teased, kicking rocks in my direction.
I laughed as I raced away, turning it to a howl as I phased. The ground pounded beneath my paws as I covered the few miles between me and my Swan.
Sam's POV
With the redheaded leech taken care of, everyone settled into an easy routine. We only patrolled about twice a day, morning and night. The imprints were happier having us around more often and we were finally catching up on some well-deserved sleep.
The only one who seemed to still be on edge was Bella.
The morning after we killed the leech, Paul had carried a crying Bella from the house. Emily had immediately sent me after them, concerned about the girl. I had walked with Paul as he carried Bella down to where the leech's ashes still smoldered. Bella had stared at the pile of ashes for minutes, as if waiting for them to reform into her tormenter. Even after Paul had coaxed her back to the house, Bella had been anxious, jumping at the slightest sounds. Paul thought it had something to do with her finally admitting to what happened between her and the Cullen leech.
We were all struggling with the new information, wanting to kill the Cullens if they ever returned, but unable to knowing they hadn't technically broken the treaty. Paul had told us how he suspected Edward had used some sort of coercion on Bella to form a tentative mating bond, before abandoning her in the woods.
That had been a difficult pill to swallow.
I knew that if the Cullens ever returned, I would have a difficult time keeping Paul from attacking Edward. My hope was that they never returned, but things never seemed to be easy.
I had a feeling we would be seeing the Cullens again sooner rather than later.
"Dude, you gonna jump or what?" Jared asked, jolting me from my thoughts.
"After you," I smirked, indicating for him to precede me.
With a shout of "woo-hoo", he launched himself over the side of the cliff. Kim laughed, applauding her mate's backflip.
"Oh my God! Is he crazy?"
I turned to see Bella staring after Jared in horror, Paul's arms securely wrapped around her waist. He chuckled at her concern, gently nudging her closer to the edge.
"He's fine, Swan. Look," Paul assured her, pointing out the small spot that was Jared.
"Too high," Bella gasped, pushing back against Paul.
He shot me a grin as he kept Bella in place, despite her attempts to get away.
"Don't worry, Bella. It's fun," I insisted, taking a running start and diving from the cliff.
Her scream followed me all the way down until I broke through the water. I came up to Jared laughing and calling up for Bella to jump.
"Paul! Don't you dare!" Bella cried.
I could just make out their figures. Paul had a hand wrapped around Bella's arm, pulling her towards the edge of the cliff.
"Come on, Swan. I promise I'll hold on to you the whole time," Paul coaxed.
"No way! You'll drop me and I'll hit the rocks or I'll drown or-"
"You saying I can't keep you safe, Swan? Them's fightin' words," Paul warned.
She probably had half a second to react before Paul scooped her up and threw them both off the cliff. She screamed the whole way down, no doubt making Paul's ears ring. Jared and I treaded water as they crashed into the waves, reappearing moments later. Paul was laughing while Bella sputtered, spitting out water.
"You… horrible… man," Bella gasped, trying to pull away from him.
"Oh, come on, Swan. It was fun," Paul chuckled, pulling her into his arms.
"Jesus, Bella. I didn't know the human voice could get that high. You were hitting notes only dogs can hear!" Jared laughed.
"Or wolves," Bella spat, unable to hide her grin.
"Touché, girly," Jared grinned.
"Let's get out of the water before Bella catches a cold," I suggested, already swimming to shore.
"Ah, yes. The poor, pathetic little pale face. Not used to our colder weather, are you, Arizona?" Jared chuckled, floating on his back.
A splashing followed by laughter had me looking over my shoulder to see Jared just coming up from under the water and Bella wrapped around Paul.
"You little minx!" Jared accused, throwing water their way.
"You deserved it, you dog," Bella insisted, giggling.
"Paul, control your woman," Jared demanded, swimming away from the couple.
"Nah. I kinda like her wild," Paul smirked, giving her a shove towards shore.
"Hey! I'm not the one who goes out and chases squirrels up trees," Bella shot back, her voice again accompanied with the sound of water splashing.
We finally made it to land, but the three of them continued bantering back and forth as we made our way back up to the top of the cliff. Emily greeted us with a basket of sandwiches.
"Come on. Lunch before you go trying to outdo each other's stunts," Emily insisted, setting out the picnic lunch.
"This looks great, Em," I praised, kissing her scarred cheek.
"Thanks. Now, eat," Emily smiled, kissing me back.
"Yes, ma'am," I saluted, settling down to share a meal with my pack.
Aw. Happy pack time! Yay! And Victoria is dead! Woot-woot!
Alrighty, next chapter will be… Tuesday!
See you guys then!