Bella stood beside Alice, her jacket buttoned up and a scarf wrapped around her neck. It was easy to forget the cold. None of us wore coats, opting for mobility over appearance. The clearing was secluded enough that no one was likely to stumble upon us here.

Jacob rose to all fours from where he had been laying. It wasn't necessary for the wolves to continue to attend our practices; they had learned all they needed, but this evening we had planned our first, and only, wolf versus vampire spar. It would be Carlisle, Carmen, Eleazar and myself against all eight wolves. Aside from myself, we were the most even tempered and least likely to bite. There couldn't be a worse day for Bella to linger with us.

"I heard there was going to be quite the show tonight," Bella said with mittened hands on her hips.

I looked at Alice, the only other person in a coat, which she was in the process of removing. She shrugged. I tried not to roll my eyes, unsuccessfully.

Fortunately, Bella was distracted by Jacob, who had just pulled on his sweatpants. "You bet! Won't be long now. Leah's rounding up the boys."

He jogged forward, wrapping Bella in a hug. She narrowed her eyes on me over his shoulder. She would be angrier when she saw how many pups I'd pulled out.

"You're really not cold?" she asked, as she settled back on her heels.

"Nah," he waved her concern off. "I'm toasty. Well, actually, I might don the fur coat again. Sit with me through the preliminaries?" he offered, leading her over to the spot he had chosen to watch from. She watched Tanya and Irina, who were still in the process of sparring with one another. I watched her mouth fall open. Jacob phased behind her.

I stepped to her side as Alice tapped Kate's shoulder, smiling at her. Well, if Bella was impressed before, she'd be dazzled now. "This will be good to watch."

Jacob yipped and Bella turned. "Thanks, Jake." She sat down in the curve of his side, sharing his warmth.

Alice and Kate circled, Alice never allowing Kate to get a solid bead on her. "How does she do that?" Bella asked.

"She knows how Kate will attack. She can anticipate it." Alice circled again, tapping Kate's back. Kate could use her talent on her whole body, but it took effort. She would soon, if Alice kept taunting her. Alice must know that.

"How does Kate do it then?" She watched Kate nearly snag Alice's arm as she spun away.

"Practice." I smiled with pride. Kate's anticipation had improved with our sessions. She knew Alice's favourite strikes; newborns would be easy next to her.

Alice stopped suddenly.

"Gotchya!" Kate said, putting her hands on Alice's shoulders and shocking her.

"No," Alice murmured just before she collapsed.

Crap. What was about to happen? I crouched, defensive. Jacob jumped up growling. He lunged in the direction of the scent I had just picked up. I beat him there of course, covering the vampire as he emerged from the trees.

"Slowly, Felix," I warned him.

"Sorry, Alice. I didn't know." Kate apologized, helping Alice back to her feet.

Bella ran up beside me. "Stop, Jacob."

Jacob growled, baring teeth at Felix. I heard howls in the distance. The rest were on their way.

"No! He helped me. Felix got us out of Italy, Jake. Remember? I told you about that."

Jacob huffed and phased back. "He's got red eyes, Bella. He doesn't belong here.

I touched Jacob's hand, trying to calm him. He shook me off quickly, snarling. "He can help us. He's trained, a fighter. Think before you do this."

"He sets one foot inside Forks..."

"What? You'll bark at me?" Felix taunted.

Jacob bristled and seemed to shake uncontrollably.

Bella charged up to Jacob this time. "No. Don't do this, Jake. Jasper's right. He can help. Maybe he'll get less of your sorry asses killed. I can't believe you're agreeing to do this, but if you must, don't turn your nose up at any help, will you?" Her eyes were filled with concern.

Jacob wrapped his arms around her neck, taking calm from her rather than me. I tried not to growl at him. "Yeah, okay. But I don't want to see any dead bodies."

"What am I supposed to do, starve?" Felix asked, sneering

"You could eat like they do?" Jacob cocked his head at the group of vampires behind them.

"Please, animals couldn't sate my thirst. But, I have fed recently. I will be sure you never find my kills.

Jacob lunged again, but Bella held him.

"No, Jake. Please."

"Let go of me, Bella. I'm too crazy right now. I could phase on you." He shoved her away and backed up. He shifted back into the giant russet wolf. He was joined by his pack, all snarling at Felix.

He seemed to straighten and give pause. "Well, that does change things a little."

"Their teeth are effective on us. You shouldn't antagonize them," I warned.

"Noted. Well, I only came because Alice had said there was an army to be growing here. I bored quickly on my own, and hoped there would be something interesting here in Washington State. Was I misled?" He smiled, knowing he wasn't.

"Of course not, Felix." Alice came forward and hugged him. "I'm never wrong. I am sometimes caught unaware though."

"I've never known that to be the case," he said, looking down at her.

"It's these dogs," she said, motioning to the wolves. "They blind me. I knew you were coming, but couldn't see when. Now I know why."

"Ah, so what have I stumbled on here?" he asked, looking over the assemblage.

"My army, such as it is," I told him. "We were going to try our first and only wolves versus vampires match, if you'd like to observe."

"Would I!" he said with excitement. "Can I sit next to Bella?" Alice punched him to no effect. The wolves growled as one. I hadn't noticed until now that they were surrounding her.

"I think not," I said. "I'm not sure Bella is staying. One of the younger wolves might be taking her home."

"That's not happening," she told me, crossing her arms.

She would decide to be stubborn now. "Well, if you're staying, we might as well have this done." My nerves had frayed with all the tension in the group. The wolves wanted to destroy Felix; Bella wanted to yell at me; Felix was unhappy to be under the watch of animals...

"Calm yourself, Jasper," Alice whispered from under my arm. She ran a hand along my back. "You don't want to lose your head, do you?" She quirked her eyebrow and smiled. "Worse, you don't want Bella to see you poison her friend."

I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, nearly choking on the smell of the wolves. "You're right, of course. A kiss for luck?"

She jumped up, latching onto my shoulders. After several seconds, I let her go. By that time, Irina was introducing herself to Felix and guiding him to a spot on the edge of clearing. "I can't stand the smell, but Jasper assures me they are formidable fighters, helping him in the past. I understand you are a member of the guard?" Those ladies didn't waste any time, did they? I wondered how they chose. After Kate had pegged me to be her friend, the others had never stepped closer. Likewise, neither Kate nor Irina made any move toward Jacob, although both had entertained thoughts upon seeing him between forms. Now Irina had claimed Felix, and the other two steered clear.

I shook my head, clearing it. Female vampires and how they divvied up men was not going to help me in this spar. I stood next to Carlisle in the center of the space. Eleazar and Carmen were behind us. "No biting," I reminded them, unnecessarily. We were going to lick them of all things. One moist touch of a tongue and they would play dead, according to Jacob anyway.

The wolves were somewhere in the trees. None of us had a way to sense them before their emergence. I could sense their emotions as soon as they broke the tree line, but not before. We all crouched, listening for their hearts, their breaths.

"Go Jazz!" Alice shouted. I rolled my eyes.

She couldn't have known, but that was the moment they lunged, attacking us. I knew they wouldn't come from the side Felix sat, unless Jacob really did want him dead. They didn't, concentrating on Carmen of all people. Four wolves went for her. The snarling covered the sounds of the others in the trees. I couldn't place them. We split. The three of us taking points around Carmen, closing the wolves in a box of sorts. All four turned suddenly on Carlisle. I heard a second group, this time just a pair come from the trees. They lunged at Eleazar as the last two went for Carmen.

They weren't attacking me? Well, that would be to their detriment. I turned seizing Collin and licking his back. I coughed as I dropped him. That was terrible.

True to the game, he lay flat where I left him. I was surrounded in the second I coughed, canines seizing my limbs. Smart, Jacob. He had let me believe I wasn't the target. All seven remaining wolves were on me and the others were not as quick to pick them off as I would have been. I took down Paul and Embry before I was too dismembered to be of use any longer. I had to give it to them. I hadn't been so thoroughly beaten in my existence. Of course, they still lost. Carlisle took out Quil, Eleazar got Leah and Carmen, Seth. That left all three on Jacob, who simply laid down in defeat before nudging my hand back toward me.

"Thanks, asshole," I muttered.

He phased, laughing, still lying on his belly. "Com'on. We weren't going to miss a chance to take apart the mighty Major."

"You lost," I reminded him.

He shrugged. "From your point of view. Based on our game plan, we won."

I laughed. "You're dead. I'm not."

He pulled a zippo from the pants around his leg, tucked tightly. "We each had one. You're dead, too."

I nodded. "Smart. Got me twice. Good job."

"Totally worth it."

"Seconded!"

"Thirded!"

The boys were coming back out of the trees wearing the few articles they had tied on. Leah scowled at them, smacking the odd head as they emerged. She was quite the den mother. She wasn't happy though. She had been dating Sam before he died. She was still grieving. She hadn't been perfectly happy with Sam, but definitely happier than now, no boyfriend and a pack of kids to watch over. The group gathered around Bella, making Tanya and Kate scatter.

"How old are you?" Bella asked Collin.

"Thirteen!" he shouted, puffing out his chest.

She glared at me.

"Don't sweat it, Bella. We know what we're here for. We're ready," Leah told her, standing between Bella and Collin.

"You all just died," she pointed out, rightly.

Leah scoffed. "We'd never fight that way outside of a spar. We wouldn't turn our backs on leeches if we didn't know they weren't going to attack us."

"Hell, that was pretty hard this time." Paul admitted.

"He's right. We'll be fine, Bella. You don't worry about these boys. I'm going to make sure they come home."

Jacob coughed. "I think that's actually my job, Leah." He put an arm around Bella.

"Yeah, whatever," she snapped, sitting down to watch the next spar. "Are you going to fight or what?" she asked loudly.

"Felix?" Irina asked. "I'd like to see how well I do against one of the guard." She pulled on his hands, her face close to his. I felt her lust. His joined soon after. This should be interesting, or merely predictable. I hoped to be surprised.

Re-enter Felix. You like? I figured Irina took to Laurent, the recently exiled, lonely wanderer; why not Felix?