Chapter 16- Trembles

~Mac's POV~

I couldn't stop shaking. My teeth were rattling, my skin covered in goose bumps, my breath was coming out in hyperventilating gasps, and sweat was beading on my forehead and upper lip. But I could not stop. It hurt and I was ashamed of it but I couldn't stop. If I hadn't. . .

Aiden hadn't really been paying attention like he should have. He didn't notice the gun, he didn't notice what the leach was saying, he didn't know how far off the others were. He was too focused on Seth, knowing he couldn't loose him. Knowing that Leah couldn't loose him. The only thing going through his head was the word "No" and a picture of Seth lying dead on the ground in a pool of crimson blood. He only felt his heart shatter.

He was too distracted to see where he was going. Too distracted to walk like a vampire and make sure you don't make a sound. He had forgotten everything ever taught to us because he let emotions get in the way. And it would've killed him.

I had seen everything. The glint of the Glock, the hatred, the fear, anxiety, determination. Will. I heard what Nikolai said. He wanted to use the wolves as a surprise attack on the Volturi so they could rule. He had waited until he had seen Seth phase, just to be sure.

Aiden had been in front of me, but he didn't know what to do. He had just stopped and stood still, frozen, his mind blank. Then, finally, he rushed forward, but without care. He crushed leaves, twigs, bugs. The vampire whirled and I saw it happen. Vampires don't miss. Vampires have the ability to aim anything without looking and it will hit their target. In that instance, I knew Aiden wasn't using his powers. Wasn't aware of the situation and how dire it was. Was hardly aware of his own fucking heartbeat and harsh breathing.

As vampires, you can process things in slow motion. The vampire whirled around and within a nanosecond shot the Glock, sending a slug into the air. And I reacted immediately. There was no way we could avoid the bullet. Impossible. But I refused to see my brother dead from a gun shot to the head. I ran toward him in a flash, yanking him by his bicep to the side, hoping to get out of the way. He stood straight up, his eyes large and round in surprise, and it was only then I had noticed he had been in a fighter's squat, ready to launch himself at that SOB and rip him apart, scatter the limbs and dose them with gasoline.

Aiden howled as the slug tore through his arm. I heard tendons rip and sinew whine in protest of the invasion but I had saved him. Aiden fell to the ground and I phased instantly, running at the vampire without haste. I grabbed him by the neck before he could blink and ripped it from his shoulders.

Seth, after crying out in sympathy for Aiden, whipped into action. I used my powers to help Seth tear the vampire's limbs from his body. Seth went back to Aiden and rooted around in his pockets, his face and eyes serious on the task at hand. Aiden had decided to start carrying a lighter around for this precise moment, though I also knew it was 'cause he sometimes liked to smoke cigars with my dad after dinner while sitting on the porch swing.

I sat back on my haunches and watched as Seth lit the body on fire. Yet all I could see and feel was myself panicking. He had died before my very eyes. Blood rushed through my veins, leaving me feeling oddly cold and bereft. He would've died tonight. Leah would have been all alone in life again. My mother and father… Ravyn and I… All of it would have been over.

I phased back behind some trees and slipped a cotton dress over my head. It was the easiest thing to do, it was only one piece of clothing, and yet it covered everything. I came back into the small clearing where Seth was crouched low over Aiden. I ran forward and Seth moved to stand. I fell down beside my brother and ripped the hem of his black cotton long sleeve t-shirt so I could wrap it around his upper bicep.

"Holy fuck, that hurts," he breathed, his face scrunched as he winced at the sharp, shooting throb.

I swatted the back of his head with a shaky hand, trying to stay calm even though my brain was headed for a cluster fuck of mass proportions. "Quit being a baby."

I applied pressure on the wound and Aiden breathed in and out carefully. Any time now, everyone would arrive. Then I would be left alone to have my nervous breakdown. And it was then when I realized that this was probably what I made everyone feel like when I was injured. The only thing I could see was Aiden dead. If I hadn't been prepared, if I hadn't been there…

I choked back a wrenching sob. My throat burned and I blinked really fast, trying to dissolve the feeling of helplessness, the blurring of wetness, the pain in my heart. Aiden glanced up at me and his pain filled face softened. "Mac," he whispered, his voice barely audible even to my own ears.

I shook my head just as everyone burst into the clearing. "I'm fine," I mouthed to him.

"Aiden!" Leah and my mother screamed. Leah bolted like a skittish calf, falling to her knees where she slid in the dirt until her things bumped into the side of his left rib cage, nearly plowing me over in her haste.

My mother knelt down, much more gracefully, beside him, clutching tightly to his hand while Leah undid my makeshift band-aid of sorts. I stood up, suddenly feeling very overwhelmed. Everyone was crowded around Aiden now. My dad was beside my mother, speaking rapidly to Carlisle who seemed very upset, yet not at all surprised.

Seth was still standing next to the fire. He took one look at me and his brows furrowed. He opened his arms and I ran straight at him, hoping over a large log until my face was buried in my hands against his chest. His arms went around me and he murmured reassurances in my hair. I was shaking, trembling, dying inside. Because I couldn't get the image out of my head. Aiden was alive and well. Yet my mind seemed to ignore it.

***

~Unknown POV~

The woman pressed the accelerator to the floor, pushing the blue mini van as fast as it would go. She turned the radio on loud enough to drown out any other sound and she sang the lyrics to the old forties song. Her thumb tapped the steering wheel in time to the slow beats as she weaved in and out of traffic, the humans honking their irritation and protest to her very erratic driving.

"Ugh," she complained, sniffing the air with a snobbish facial expression, though to be honest, no one was there to witness it. She never liked the smell of decaying bodies. Without blood, they were not appealing and extremely revolting to her heightened senses. But what to do with them?

She had run into some luck earlier, while dashing for her damn life. Again. While running away from her enemy, she hit a highway. A car had been driving by and she hoped in front of it, internally willing the human to stomp on the brakes. The driver had stopped the car and the vampire had quickly disposed of them, breaking their necks to save for later, since she was in a bit of a time restraint for indulgence.

She wasn't good with the area, only being in it for an hour at most so she plowed south, figuring that it was towards civilization. She pulled onto I-12 east and towards I-5. She didn't have a plan, though, and that would be, in the end, her downfall of sorts.

After about thirty minuets of driving, she pulled over and had some "dinner" before piling the mother and two kids in the backseat. Unfortunately, the smell of the decomposing bodies was irritating the vampire and she needed to figure out what to do with them.

She glanced over at the river as she passed at one hundred and ten miles an hour. She looked over her shoulder at the bodies and her smile grew, stretching her pale face. Ah, now this plan might suffice.

She pulled off the road and drove through trees until she reached a secluded lake. She stopped immediately, got out, and strapped everyone in with their safety belts. Wouldn't want them to get hurt, right? She got back in and turned the stereo off. Her foot slammed on the accelerator and she gunned it, driving at ninety miles an hour into the lake. She kept her foot on the accelerator, trying to keep the car as far away from the beach as possible. The car managed to get at least thirty feet where it stopped, stalled, and then just died.

The vampire smiled, holding her breath, and opened the door, allowing the water to rush into the car with a whoosh and she swan up to the surface. As she swan, she thought over what had transpired within the past hour. Her mate's plan backfired, as she knew it would. As she had told him it would, but he was so sure of himself, so sure of his plan, that he refused to even acknowledge her complaints. Her heart broke into the thousand pieces for the umpteenth time that night. What would she do now? She was already lonely, so used to having him in her presence. Her skin, already chilled from her existence, grew colder somehow, her heart cooled. Felt black.

She could go after the person who did it. That was always a possibility. But she knew he wouldn't want that nearly as much as fulfilling his dream. And so now, there was only one way to accomplish that.

Once she reached the shore, she didn't bother to stop. She started running east, whispering endearments to her deceased husband, her mind forming different strategies. She would not fail this. She would not fail her mate again.

~Mac's POV~

"The bullet was made of silver," Carlisle announced, walking into the sitting room where we all sat, with the exception of my mother and Leah, awaiting Carlisle and Aiden. He smelled faintly of blood and Aiden's unique scent of apples and pine trees in the summer.

"Silver?" Esme questioned, her brows puckered.

Carlisle nodded, taking a seat beside her, his hand falling to her knee. "I believe that Nikolai assumed it was the only way to kill a werewolf. I'm sure that he thought them to be the Children of the Moon, thus needing a silver bullet to get one out of your way."

"Which explains why he was packing," Emmett drawled, leaning his back against the wall.

"It makes sense thought," Jasper mused. He was perched on the edge of a white sofa, Alice's hand in his. His thumb moved over the back of her hand, idly making patterns in her pale skin, without seeming to do so.

"What do you mean?" Alice asked, glancing up at him. "What are you thinking?"

Jasper's eyes were distant, in the past as he answered her, looking down into her golden eyes. "Using the werewolves as a surprise attack. The Volturi do not have a vampire who is omniscient as you are." Jasper looked up, talking to the rest of us. "It would've been a smart move. They wouldn't have seen it coming. The way Nikolai was positioned with us around him, I recognized him as a former member of the military. He might have seemed relaxed to all of you, but to me, I saw it. His eyes would routinely scan the room. I'm sure his mind was going over ways to get through all of us if the need were ever to arise. It's a normal thing for people like us. To always expect the worst out of everyone because of what we have seen. I'm sure he had his plan down to a T."

Jasper looked thoughtful now, looking about the room, his eyes touching every one of our faces. "I must say that his plan might have worked had he known anything about werewolves. And if he had gone to werewolves who did not know who to dismember a vampire."

Edward shook his head. "His mind was only thinking of trying our way of life. Though his thoughts did not match his facial expressions."

Jasper looked directly at Edward, his face a smooth mask of calm. "What can you get from me right now?"

Edward stared at Jasper, a mixture of shock and apprehension widening his eyes and opening his mouth into the form of an O. "Nothing," he whispered.

The entire room was silent. Jasper grinned. "I learned that there is a spot in my brain you can not read. But I do not know if it is the same for everyone. I believe that if you have been through true hardships, and had to escape into a safe place in your mind, where you need to feel safe, to pretend that reality isn't happening, then, it is a place you cannot read, but I don't know the 'why' of it. Don't you sometimes have troubles reading Wyatt?"

I gasped, glancing at Edward. He shrugged. "Sometimes even Carlisle. And Esme. Rose…" he trailed off, his eyes touching everyone in the room. "Jasper, I think… I think you are right. I can always read Emmett. And Mac. Ravyn and Aiden, even Seth and Leah. Because they haven't had to escape inside their heads."

"Remarkable," Carlisle breathed. "Edward how have you never voiced this? Same with you, Jasper. This is quite astonishing!"

Ow…

Ravyn and I sat ramrod stiff against the couch. All eyes were suddenly on us but we hardly noticed.

Ow…

Then I was hit with the pain. It sliced through my arm from my wrist to my shoulder, but I had had worse, though in all honesty, it was a bad one and a close second to when I had been attacked by a vampire at thirteen. Carlisle had had to go in and repair the tendons of his bicep that had torn and badly misshapen his sinew. The bullet was oddly shaped and had little barbs on the sides so it could perform severe damage upon impact and invasion.

Aiden? Ravyn asked hesitantly, a moan of pain imbedded in his voice and head.

Do the two of you have any idea what it feels like to have your arm feel as if it were turned inside out? Do you? Because it hurts like a son of a bitch.

Ravyn and I laughed in loud, relived bursts, just because we knew he was awake, and his cranky 'ole self was back to pester us. I was still shaky, still unsure of myself, but I would take care of that later. All I would focus on now was that Aiden was alive. That he was still there to tease me, and live with me, and love me. That was all that was important right now.

"Well, I guess that means that Aiden is awake," Carlisle announced, standing up and leaving the room. Jacob followed after him, what with Leah and my mother already with Aiden, since they had refused to leave his side.

"Alice, do you know what Oksana is going to do now?" Rose asked, now focusing back on our previous discussion.

I wanted badly to get up and go to Aiden but I could wait. I knew I could wait. My leg started bouncing but I made it stop. My forefinger began tapping my thigh. I stilled it, balling my hands into fists and fell back amongst the cushions, listening only half intently to the conversation. Until Alice answered Rose's prier question.

"No," Alice muttered, sounding utterly annoyed bi it. "However, I have a feeling we'll know soon enough."

A quiet fell over the room. And I wondered idly if other vampires had it as bad as we did.

***

I crawled in Wyatt's window, taking care of the fact that his dad was asleep somewhere inside. I had texted him, asking if Hailey was going to be there tonight. It was a Saturday night, and Hailey always spent Fridays and Saturdays at a friend's house.

Wyatt was waiting for me, sitting on his bed. I quietly stepped onto the scuffed up floorboards and shut the window. I turned on my heel and catapulted myself into Wyatt's arms, forcing his back against the bed.

He laughed quietly, his fingers tunneling into my mass of dark curls. "Two Socks, there is no need to rush," he whispered into my ear before he tenderly kissed the hollow beneath, obviously oblivious to my depressed mood.

I buried my face in his neck, inhaling his scent and letting it wash over me. And I let go.

"Mac?" Wyatt asked, concern dripping in his voice, as well as fear.

The shaking started up again as the tears pooled and then fell like a waterfall down the crests of my cheeks and into the crease of his neck and collarbone. I began hyperventilating, my chest hurting from the lack of oxygen.

Wyatt pulled away, sat up, and grabbed my head in his hands. My hair fell around us, forming a black curtain as I leaned into him, trying to once again bury my face in the comfort of his body. "Shhh," he whispered, wiping at my cheeks with his thumbs while I sobbed like a little kid who had fallen and scraped their knee. "Shhh, stop this. You are going to make yourself sick. Breathe in evenly. Take deep breaths and let it them out slowly." He kissed my cheeks, my eyelids, my nose, He stayed there, his mouth pressed against the corner of my mouth.

"In." He drew in a breath with me, his eyes staring directly into mine. "Out." I was hit with his warm breath as he was hit with mine. "In. Out. In. Out." He repeated himself until my breathing had dramatically calmed and the tears had slowed. And I realized I was spent.

"There," he whispered. He kissed my forehead, both my eyes and cheeks again. I sighed and leaned into him, still crying but at a more controlled level. Funny, as an empath, I had control of my emotions. Yet, tonight he was in control of them.

I took in a quaky breath and sat back on his lap. I gently pushed my face against his chest, feelings his arms wrap securely around me, holding me there against him. His head fell onto my shoulder and we sat there in the stillness of the night.

Eventually we both fell back onto the mattress. I was sprawled on top of him, taking in his scent and warmth. His hand was in my hair again and I decided that he was quite taken with it. His other hand was slung low on my back. He had pushed my shirt up (I had changed out of the dress and into sweats and t-shirt before I left) so that my lower back was exposed to his questing hand. His palm was open and I could feel the calluses of his fingers catch on my skin every now and then as he rubbed up, down, and to the side calming me even more.

I breathed out a contented sigh as his mouth drifted over my hair, my ear, my face. His hot breath landed everywhere, causing nerve endings to twitch and come alive in its wake. My hands were down at my sides, resting against the mattress and sheets, and I figured that maybe I should remedy that. I lifted them, keeping my head in his neck, and ran them lightly over his sides. I grinned at his shiver and continued until they were traveling his shoulders, feeling the muscle bunch beneath.

"Mac," Wyatt breathed. It seemed a mixture of stop, we need to talk and oh dear God, don't stop. I liked the second one, but no, he was all for the first. "Mac, will you talk to me first?"

I pressed my face harder against his skin, willing myself to just dissolve into him. I blew out a gust of hot air, rubbing my forehead lightly against the stubble of his neck and jaw line until it began to chafe my face.

"Please?" he murmured, nibbling on my ear lobe, knowing if he did that, I would bend to his every whim. Well mister, two can very well play that game.

I sat up, my legs falling on either side of him, straddling his hips. I leaned back ever so slightly and slumped forward slightly with a pouty face on. "I don't really feel up to talking. However," I whispered, trying to be sultry and seductive, rubbing against his growing member, "it appears you are up for something. And I doubt it has anything to do with talking."

"Mon dieu, MacKayla!" he cursed. He grabbed my hips in his hands, halting my movements against him. "No, Mac, no. We are talking first."

"I don't think you want to do that." I leaned down and nibbled his neck. He moaned, the vibrations tingling my lips and I could barely suppress a grin from flashing.

"Mac…"

"Yes?"

"Stop. Now."

I groaned in irritation and rolled off of him, on to my side, facing away from him. We were both silent, the only sound that could be heard was our heavy breathing.

I knew that he wanted me to talk, to explain myself. Yet, I wasn't sure I could without falling apart again. Was there a way that I could convey what my heart was screaming, if my mind refused to have to relive it? Was there a way to tell him without feeling scared, alone, heartbroken?

I was used to being alone in a way, sure. I mean, I had my brother and my parents and my family, but there wasn't always someone I could lean onto. But I have Wyatt now. If I truly needed a crutch, I know that he would be there. He would catch me when I fell, no matter what. He would stand beside me, holding my hand if I needed him to do that. If I needed him, he would be there for me.

So I could just voice it aloud, if I could just tell him…

The memories were still so raw. Still so there, in my head, in my heart, that it burned like acid in my throat. The sight, the thought of losing Aiden… it was crushing. I could feel part of my soul shrivel up and die at the thought, at the image. But Aiden was alive. Maybe, if I would just keep that in my head, picture him smiling, I would not break into a thousand pieces scattered all over the floor in a bloody mess.

"Aiden almost died tonight." There. Wait, was he even able to hear it? I barely heard it.

I felt the bed dip as Wyatt shifted. And then he was there, just as I knew he would be. He nestled up behind me, his face in my shoulder, his hand on my hip and his body pressed alongside the length of mine. "What happened?" It was simple. No, "I'm so sorry" or "How terrible, just "What happened?" And it was exactly what I needed.

"Remember the vampire I told you about?" I felt him nod. "Well, there was two of them. A female and her mate. They were interested in our way of life, that my family feeds only on the blood of animals. But their emotions didn't match what they were saying. So when they announced they were going to go and taste some animals to try and see if they would like it, Aiden and I went after them.

"See, Carlisle was worried they might go to the Volturi and tell them –"

"Volturi?" he interrupted. I could practically hear his brows knitted together.

"They're basically like our… police officers. So, Carlisle was afraid they would go to the Volturi and tell them that my brothers and me are half vampire and half werewolf, so he withheld the information and my dad, Seth, Ravyn, and Leah were out on patrol. Aiden and I followed, in case the newcomers decided to snack on our family.

"We followed them until the female went to catch a deer. Yet, the male did not go with her. Aiden followed him, and I followed the female. I felt fear and loss and bolted towards where Aiden was, linking my mind up to his. Nikolai, the guy, had had a gun pressed against Seth's head, threatening to shoot."

I swallowed and drew on Wyatt's strength. "Aiden freaked. Seth is Leah's little brother. No way was his imprint going to lose her brother. So he let emotions get in the way. The vampire turned and fired."

Tears were threatening to fall. I could feel them, see them blurring my vision. "You said he was okay, though," Wyatt said, silently encouraging me, while his hand rubbed soothing circles on my hipbone.

"Yes. I had jerked him enough that the bullet only went in through his arm. But it was painful. We learned later that the bullet had little spikes all over it and Carlisle had to perform surgery on Aiden to repair the damage."

"And the vampire?"

"Seth and I killed it."

We were silent again. The quiet was awkward, what with my tears and my brokenness. Wyatt finally broke it. "I was late getting home one night a few years ago," he said, taking a deep breath. "My baseball practice went longer then expected because we had been messing around towards the end of it. Coach made us run laps around the field, making us a half hour late. Then my buddies wanted to chat and ignored me when I told them that I really needed to get home.

"The minute I had the chance, I hoped into my truck and sped the entire way home. But it was too late. I was forty-five minutes late and my mother and already beaten Hailey for it. I'll never forget the sight of Hailey huddled in our bedroom, her face mutilated. And it had happened Friday before spring break, so it meant that she wasn't going to have to go to school and lie about what happened. However, she wouldn't be able to go to a friends house either. And our bitch of a mother had planned it that way

"I told her I would quit but she refused. Said that since I get beaten so much for her, that she was glad she could repay the favor. And I had just thought 'God, if I had only been on time, all of this would never have happened."

We were silent again until I rolled over to face him. I cupped his cheek in my hand and gently laid a closed mouth kiss to his lips. "I understand," I whispered.

He nodded. "You can't change what happened. You can't keep wishing that you could change it. Just except it and move on, or it will eventually destroy you."

I fell into him and he turned over to his back. My hand snaked around his waist, my head on his chest listening to his deep breathing and the tune of his heart. My leg lifted and wrapped itself around one of his as his arm went around me, holding me to him.

"I love you Wyatt," I murmured, my eyes becoming heavy from the day's hardships.

"Je t'aime, Mac, je t'aime."

And when I fell asleep in his arms, all I dreamed of was him.

I told you guys I would get it out faster then last time.

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