Chapter Fifty Three

Bella

I'd never been to Alaska and the terrain meant I needed camouflage so I bought a thick fur lined jacket, boots and gloves and after a few hours I felt quite at home. I'd already pulled up satellite images of the reservation within the Denali National Park. It wouldn't be difficult to get there and after a couple of days in hiding I was able to work out the rhythm of the reservation days and nights. The Quileute elders appeared to be free to live as a group within the reservation which made my task that much easier, they were ignored by the rest of the inhabitants as if they were pariahs and I guess that once the rest knew what they had done that was only to be expected. It took me a while to spot Sam Uley from pictures I had found in the Quileute news papers from a year back, he was quite the hero according to the press, taking the young men under his wing and making sure they didn't get into trouble. That was ironic, he'd turned them into killers of the innocent, freaks who turned into vicious wolves ready to rip me apart. Well now it was his turn, and I would be the one doing the ripping.

The patrols increased after a couple of days and I knew they were aware that trouble might be headed their way, well I had news for them, it had already arrived and was just waiting for the right opening. The elders gathered in the evening round a fire to talk of old times and how one day they hoped to be allowed to return to their own village. They didn't seem to feel any remorse for what they had set in motion but they would as they were picked off. My first attack was easy, in the dead of night when the patrols eased up a little I had sneaked close enough to leave a little present cloaked in my shield which was proving invaluable as it kept my scent and any sounds hidden within it, and then I sat back and waited. Logs for the fires were collected every day from a stock that had been replenished over the summer. Sam and a man I didn't know collected up enough for that day and took it back to their little enclave where it sat waiting to be used.

I had no idea how many I would get with my first attack, it could be many or none but I was patient and if they were on guard it just made things more fun. I did better than I thought but only because the Quileute elders ate together around their fire with a few of the other villagers, some kind of meeting going on at the same time. Perhaps they were trying for some kind of reconciliation because I had figured out who the leaders were and they were very visible at the meal although I had yet to find out who headed the guardian tribes overall.

I left my hiding place as the meal went on, nothing was going to happen for several hours at least and I was thirsty. I was careful not to hunt close to the reservation, I didn't want to give them any way to track me easily so I ventured out into the wilderness until I caught myself an Arctic fox, it wasn't enough but I was getting impatient so after disposing of its carcass in one of the half frozen lakes I headed back to my temporary home to find the meeting had broken up and the Quileute villagers were headed back to their cabins. Sam who always kept the fire alight as if a beacon of hope for his people grabbed some logs ready to replenish the hungry flames as the elders came closer, took their respective places and started talking. As he threw the second armful of logs into the fire I saw a flash and heard a terrible explosion which shot burning logs high into the air only for them to crash down among the Quileute elders setting fire to clothing and sending them screaming in terror from the burning brands. I watched, counting the wounded, and then saw Sam Uley laying on the snow, his skin burned and his unseeing eyes looking skyward. Well that was certainly a result and as three others were also injured I was content to leave but I'd be back. I would just leave Denali for a while until things calmed down, I had other fish to fry for now and Garrett was my next target, him and his friends the Cullens.

Charlie

I had begun to think that Jasper and his friends were mistaken, that Bella was nowhere near Denali but then we heard about the explosion and went to see for ourselves. The Quileute elders had been warned by Johnny H and Annie that they were a target but they thought themselves safe enough on the reservation. We were the enemy to them and stayed well away, I didn't want Bella to be spooked into running if she saw me, I never imagined for one minute that she would do anything like this though. After the explosion we went over with Annie and when I heard of Sam's death and the injured elders I finally understood what all this had done to my daughter. She had cracked and now she was a time bomb just waiting to explode.

"I've lost her haven't I Jasper?"

"No Charlie but we need to find her and quickly, if we don't then the guardians will after this and they will kill her, they have no choice now. We just have to hope the Volturi don't hear about her actions because if they come looking for her then it will be the end for all of us and I can't lose Bella, not like that."

"Well where will she go now?"

"More importantly how the hell did she get onto the reservation without being detected? I'm guessing here but wouldn't those furry noses have detected her scent? Or seen some sign that she'd been here?"

"Peter has a point Charlie, we need to speak to Johnny H"

We were lucky because he agreed to talk with Jasper and his friends although he had some of his guardians in bear form standing by,

"Not that I don't trust you but you are my enemy. I'm only speaking to you because Charlie asked that I do so."

"We aren't your enemy here, we're just trying to find Bella and stop her before anyone else gets hurt or killed but we need to know how she got onto the reservation undetected. We know you've got your guardians out on patrol, yet she walked right in and blew up the Quileute elders. I want to know how."

"I'm sure you do, I do too, but I have no answers for you. She wasn't seen or heard and there was no scent trail, perhaps you can enlighten me Major."

Jasper and Johnny stared at each other for several minutes without speaking,

"So you know who I am, I know you by reputation too so understand this. I will find Bella and stop her but I will also protect her from anyone trying to harm her and that includes any guardians. Your people started this but I aim to stop it."

Johnny nodded thoughtfully,

"Well lets hope we don't come into conflict over her, I want her stopped too but I'm not so worried about how. If you find her first then I'll stop looking but if we find her first, then you can stop because there will be nothing left to find"

He turned to me then with a sad look,

"I'm sorry Charlie but I will not let your daughter endanger my people even if that means losing your friendship so you'd better pray that The Major is better than my people at tracking Bella down."