Dancing with wolves
Jasper jumped in front of Alice. Edward wanted to say something to him, but before he could, Jasper had already thrown himself on the two leftmost werewolves. Edward could see he was frantic, having no clear thoughts besides defending the two people he loved most, Alice and Bella. Emmett was saner, but only barely. He jumped in after Jasper, but was conscious enough to send Edward on his way.
Edward! If you know where Bella is, I suggest you go find her right now and let us deal with these mutts.
Edward didn't have to be told twice. He was waiting for this opportunity from the beginning. Without a backward glance he was on his way, following Bella's trail. He had never run this fast in his life. Her pleading voice and fearful face were rerunning in his head repeatedly, spurring him on, and driving him to the limit. He was out of range of any minds, so he knew Alice hadn't followed him, probably because she couldn't keep up with him anyway.
He didn't know how long he ran. It seemed to take forever, a never-ending torture of imagining Bella getting hurt by the stupid mutts. Sometimes he almost lost her trail and needed to concentrate for a while. He cursed himself many times.
When he heard the first pieces of thoughts coming from the pack, he quickly searched for a werewolf close to Bella. It didn't take him long. From the direction of those thoughts, he guessed that Bella was only a few miles north of him. Only a few miles away from Bella. He sighed and watched her through the mind of the werewolf.
She was standing with her back to a tree and nobody was moving. Edward was very relieved, she was not hurt, until he saw she was crying.
'Take me back to my family right now!' She yelled through her tears.
She tried to give them one of her stares, which worked so well on Edward and his family, but didn't seem to enchant the werewolves very much. Maybe it was because they were in wolf form or maybe her panic was blocking her ability.
The young man in front of her tried to calm her down with little success.
This is taking too long, maybe we should hit her unconscious and take her away by force. It is for her own good.
No way! We are not allowed to hurt the child.
You saw for yourself that one of the vampires is on his way. There is no time!
Edward growled and leaped the last width between them in a few strong jumps. He landed in the middle of the group.
'Don't you dare lay a hand on her.' He hissed.
For a short moment everybody was completely still. Bella's relieved voice filled the air.
'Edward! Edward!'
She jumped into his arms and he held her closer than he ever had in his life. She pushed her face in his shirt and sobbed. Her breathing hitched. She tried to tell him something but through her tears and sobbing, she was not capable of forming coherent sentences. All Edward could think about was having Bella safely in his arms. A weight fell from his shoulders and if he could cry, he would have. His arms were tightly around her and he inhaled her familiar scent. Softly he tried to calm her, caressing the back of her head.
'Shh, shh, sweetheart, I am here with you. You are safe now.' He whispered in her ear.
'You are safe now.'
The filthy bloodsucker actually thinks she is safe with him. Unbelievable!
Yeh right, she is safe with you, until you suck her dry or "accidentally" break her neck. Come on! Give her up, bloodsucker!
Normally these snide remarks would annoy the hell out of him, but Edward was too busy being absorbed in having Bella back to care about the opinions of some dogs.
Bella calmed down, but he kept comforting her. He knew the only reason the werewolves were holding back was because he was holding Bella. They didn't want to risk killing her in the middle of their fight. They were circling him, making sure there was no way he could escape. He needed to think of some way to make sure Bella was safe so he could deal with these mutts.
Bella was clamping on his shirt with all her strength and she burrowed her face deeply in his chest. There was no way he could let her go now. They were at an impasse. The werewolves wouldn't attack him while he held Bella and he wouldn't let go of her. Edward's only hope lay with his brothers. He eagerly listened in for the fight.
Jasper was fighting like a fury. He was everywhere, keeping the werewolves from Alice and from escaping in Edward's direction. One of the werewolves was badly hurt and the others were in a less than healthy shape. Emmett had less luck than Jasper with finishing off his opponent. Emmett was strong, but this werewolf was fast and agile and he avoided most of Emmett's attacks. This was irritating the hell out of Emmett. Edward smiled. Taking Emmett's irritation out of the equation, they were winning and it wouldn't be long before his brothers could come and help him. The werewolves around him realized this as well.
What should we do? We cannot stay here!
We will not leave the girl.
They debated how they could best take him out with the least risk of hurting Bella. Multiple scenarios ran through their heads and Edward was happy with his gift. He would be ready for everything they could throw at him. A new development stopped them from executing their first plan.
'Stop this! Right now!'
Carlisle jumped in between Jasper and his two opponents, trying to break up the fight.
'Stop! Stop!'
Carlisle's yells were finally reaching ears and Jasper took a step back. Carlisle stood right in front of him.
'Jasper, listen to me. Calm yourself down and calm the others down too.'
Jasper's eyes were hazy from his blind fury, but when Carlisle spoke a glimmer of reason came back to him. Very slowly he relaxed, loosening one muscle at the time. Using his powers, all of the werewolves began to relax as well.
'Good.' Carlisle spoke softly to him. He turned back to the werewolves.
'Who is your leader?'
Billy Black changed back to his human form and took a step forward.
'I am.'
'I like to speak to you, please.' Authority rang in Carlisle's voice. 'Alone.'
Edward tensed. He didn't like this for two reasons. Firstly, he couldn't follow his father's conversation if he left the pack and secondly because he didn't like his father and a werewolf alone. Carlisle was no fighter and if he was hurt, it would be devastating. He was the foundation of their family, the very best of them all. Nevertheless, there was nothing he could do. He was surrounded by werewolves, quite a distance away and even with how much his father meant to him, Bella was his first priority. There was nothing more to do but wait and luckily the werewolves around him figured the same.
He took a few steps towards a large tree and sat down at the base, cradling Bella against him. She was breathing normally and looked up to him carefully from his chest. Her big brown eyes stared into his and happiness filled him. She was with him and he hadn't lost her. Everything else shrank in comparison to this joy. He caressed the tears from her face and she smiled to him. He sighed deeply. He wondered when this girl had become the sole reason for his existence and happiness.
Waiting wasn't so bad now that he was holding Bella, but he could see that Emmett was getting restless again and that Jasper's power to ensure that everybody stayed nice and quiet were wavering with his own resolve. Edward hoped Carlisle came with a miracle solution rather sooner than later. His prays were answered not long after he voiced those words in his head, when Carlisle came back together with Billy.
'Settle down, all of you. We will not fight anymore.' Billy spoke in a clear voice. He turned back to Carlilse. 'You can go and get your daughter and son.'
Edward drew in a gasp of breath in surprise. How had Carlisle managed to not only end the fighting, get Bella back, but also managed to get Billy to acknowledge that Bella was his daughter? It was absolutely beyond him and that bothered him. He was used to knowing everything and he didn't like mysteries. It didn't bother him that much though, because he mostly felt incredibly relieved it was all over. Emmett, Alice, Jasper and Carlisle were on their way and he could finally let go of his anxieties concerning Bella. She was singing softly against his chest and the werewolves perked their ears to hear her voice.
His journey to Bella had seemed endless, but it didn't take that long before he could hear the familiar thoughts of his family. He jumped up together with Bella and waited impatiently. The werewolves noticed too, because they were shifting around nervous. A large amount of vampires colliding with nervous young werewolves didn't seem to be the best idea and he was happy with the order that came from Billy.
Return to Forks!
The werewolves were eager to leave and dissapeared between the trees. Edward made an unbreakable shield around Bella with his arms and braced himself. One by one his family collided against him, throwing their arms around him and Bella. He had seen through Alice's mind that this was going to happen.
Bella! Bella! Bella!! Alice
Thank God, they are both alright. Carlisle
Great, she is not hurt! Rose would have killed me and I would really miss the little one. Emmett
We can never let this happen again. We cannot leave her alone anymore. Jasper
Bella was crying, but not out of fear. Alice took her from his grip and pressed many kisses on her whole face.
'Don't you ever scare me like that again.' Alice sobbed.
'I am sorry.' Bella said, while she embraced Alice tightly.
Jasper took her in his arms next.
'You have to promise us that you will never talk to strangers again. Will you promise?' He asked sternly.
Bella nodded, her big eyes staring directly in Jasper's. He let go of his strict posture immediately and pressed her against him.
I am so glad you are alright.
His family lingered for a moment around Bella, making sure that every inch of her was perfectly fine, until Carlisle suggested they headed home. Edward suddenly remembered that the rest of their family didn't know everything was fine and were probably still dying out of concern. Carlisle thought the same thing and took out his phone on their way home. They traveled with Alice in the middle holding Bella and Carlisle, Emmett, Jasper and himself distributed equally around them. The werewolves could still be close and they weren't taking any chances. Home had never been a more wantable place to be.