Note:

First of all; sorry for taking so long to update. I was kind of stuck there for a while, not really sure what to write or where to go next. Also, my computer has been giving me problems. The same ones as before, so I think it's time for a new one. Unfortunately, I have no money right now. So, we'll have to see how that goes.

Addition to the previous chapter:

According to The Official Illustrated Guide, Jane and Alec were around 12 to 13 years old when they were changed. So, very young indeed. (Marcus)

They could almost be considered immortal children. But, I guess centuries ago, a person was labelled an adult as soon as one hit puberty. Or maybe they could control themselves enough, with help from Aro and other gifted guards. I don't know.

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Music:

Collide – Skillet

Thunderstruck – AC/DC

Frontline – Pillar ("hear your battle cry")

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Chapter 41: The small pack – Turning points

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Jacob

I can hardly believe all the things that happened so far. This battle has been incredible, and I don't mean that in a good way. I knew in advance I'd be torn between protecting Nessie and helping my pack, but I didn't expect it to be this hard. Leah getting bitten was agonizing, to feel what she feels and not being able to help really.

The urge to go and do what Seth had done, had made my whole body tremble. For a moment, until I needed to focus again on Volturi attacking us. I was so glad to hear Sam's voice telling me he would take control. Also to see others not hesitate to come to the rescue. Having May there was a real blessing.

Her plea to Leah didn't go unheard. And part of Seth's actions neither. My beta was still there. The rage and anger her brother felt, it was startling, coming from him. No more nice and happy, there was only the animal-warrior now, the predator. And the protector, which kept him sharp and level-headed.

Right now we were approaching a turning point. Everyone could feel it. Embry and Quil were close to my side, fighting, while now and then eyeing Sam and the others in the distance. Bella too was waiting for that moment. The moment two of the last burning balls of coals hit the dismembered twins. "Go, mom!", Nessie said, while going from her mother's back to mine. Gripping the special harness I had on tight.

Bella hesitated, looking in her eyes and then up at me. "I'll be fine with Jacob, Ness added, just like before, like always." My friend sighed and kissed her daughters forehead. I nodded; 'I've got her.' A quick hug also and off she went, free to finally use her physical strength, instead of her mental one. Holding up her shield like that had worn her down quite a bit that way.

Gracefully she moved towards the seemingly empty spot on the field. Dodging opponents left and right, hitting them away from her. Bells, I hardly called her that anymore, she had changed so much. From the small, fragile little girl, who was shy and insecure, into a powerful woman, confidant, a mother and wife.

'What are we going to do?' Just stay here and defend ourselves the whole time?' Quil asked. I didn't know what to say. I knew he wanted to join the others, to really get into it. Could I do without him? 'Let's compromise,' Embry thought, let's get Leah and the boys further away from the fight.' A good idea. They were all starting to get up on their feet.

Leah grumbled and moaned as she leaned against Seth. Friends Collin and Brady were shaking, but started to move slowly. May and Esme helped them as best they could. I and my buddies flanked the group as we headed towards the point where we crossed the water. Nahuel and Huilen weren't sure if they should follow or not. In the end they didn't, but instead went along the edge of the field, to try and find their family.

The three sisters were here somewhere, Edward mentioned that briefly. Then, the farther we got, the worse I felt, leaving the rest to it. Like we were abandoning them. That feeling became even more overwhelming when I received bits from Sam's mind. There were just blips, short fragments, like he wasn't aware of sending it.

He was on top of the tracker, Demetri, but not winning. The Volturi guard assaulted our black alpha's face with his fists. The sound of something breaking and a soft, suppressed yelp. His jaw was fractured and Sam had trouble going on. Another fierce blow made it nearly impossible.

Embry caught on and he stalled, turning his head. He couldn't stand it. His brother needed him. 'Go!' we all thought, we can manage.' And he took off, at full speed, adrenaline flowing. Eyes locked on target and teeth exposed. "Faster ..."; the word went through the remaining group's minds.

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Leah

F*ck, damn it, ! #*! Grrr! *Beep!* That bite hurt like hell! I mean that! Cursing loudly in my mind was something I couldn't avoid. Jeez, and that leech needed to scratch me too! This was worse than phasing for the first time! And they got Collin and Brady as well. Those rat bastards! Luckily my little brother is one bad-ass wolf. Yeah, I know he's an adult now, but he'll always be the younger one. (heheh)

It felt good, seeing that bloodsucker get torn apart and burn. Mentally I was with Seth all the way. And then his girlfriend, our vamp-sister, came to help me. She worked efficiently, tending to both pains at the same time. Boy, was I ever glad she was here. I don't know how long it took in reality, her 'treatment', but it felt like only minutes before I was able to breathe normal again and let my muscles relax somewhat. End result: weak, but okay.

As I lay there recovering, I looked at the battle through the minds of the others. They were torn about what to do, with Nessie there and I injured. Maybe we should've left that girl at home. Ah, well, it's too late for that now. *Sigh* Some time passed and the boys' rescuers left, having done all they can. Rejoining the fighters on the field.

After May had checked up on Collin, all of us made attempts to get up. It took many tries and some assistance, before we managed to stand. We waited and then Jake made the decision to get us out of there. Our group moved slowly, agonizingly slow, but we moved.

For a second I debated phasing back, so we could be carried, but Jake stopped that thought quickly, saying we would be too exposed. 'You need your fur while you are healing or you'll freeze.' He was right, we lost body heat when our bodies repaired themselves.

At one point Jake got some disturbing images from Sam and Embry took off to come to his brother's aid. 'Jake, I thought, it's going to take too long to get to the water's edge.' Let's find some shelter, a place we can defend.' Quil quickly remembered the cave the real werewolves hid in before the battle. So we headed that way.

When we arrived we found there were lots wood and other natural materials in there. We smelled metals too. Jake went to investigate and it turned out people had used this place as shelter before. 'Perhaps some researchers', Seth thought. There were cans of food tucked away in several little crevices. And matches as well.

May and mama-vamp opened as many cans as they could, emptying them on big pieces of bark. Me, Brady and Collin wasted no time scarfing it down. Not caring what it was. Then they decided to build a fire, shielding off the entrance.

The last decision to be made was if Nessie should stay here or not. The feisty hybrid girl didn't want to be separated from our alpha. In the end though, the vampires with us and her father, who read our minds and passed on a message through Embry, convinced her she should stay. It went with pouting and some crying, but okay.

She hugged Jake goodbye and took off his harness. I motioned her to put it on me. Then they left the four of us, while looking over their shoulders several times. 'We're still linked.' I reminded them.

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Embry

We had reached a turning point, that was clear to me. Though some of our troop was out now, I and the rest were finally able to join in fully. I raced across the field and met little resistance. Not sure what had come over me, but I was completely focused and pumped up. Dodging attacks left and right. Or knocking enemies down. No one was going to stop me from getting to Sam.

That tracker he was fighting had fractured his jaw and the leech was on his feet again. They circled each other, trying to figure out what to do. I was coming closer. A small female thought she could jump Sam, as he only seemed to have eyes for the one in front of him. In one move I jumped on top of her and tore her head off. She had made no sound, never saw me coming. Her body however kept flailing, until it had rolled itself over on it's stomach. Then it's hands started searching for it's head. Creepy!

To the side there was suddenly that metallic tearing sound. Followed by a cheer from Emmet. "I win, Felix, I win, you lose!" Demetri, yeah that was his name, glanced towards the big Cullen and so did my brother and I. The Volturi guard's head was in his hands as he held it up by the guy's hair. The expression on the face was one of surprise and pain.

Demetri looked horrified, followed by angry. Emmet wore a big smile, while he proceeded to use the head to beat other attackers rushing in. It was the strangest sight. The whole scene lasted only seconds. Then, Jake cut in with the order; 'NOW, attack Now!' I slammed the tracker to the ground. His fist went for my face, but I caught it between my teeth and separated it from his arm.

He screamed, while punching me in the shoulder with his other hand. That hurt! He wanted to go again, but Sam was there to grab it. My brother started pulling and I busied myself by taking chunks off the already damaged limb.

It was a slow process somehow and while we fought, we also listened to the sounds around us. The stone, bowling ball-sound of Felix's head hitting other vampires. Or sometimes it seemed more like a wrecking ball. Screams, moans, heavy breathing. Footsteps and rushing air of running and other movements. Also there was the cracking of marble flesh and lastly the noise of it tearing.

But between the loud tones, two soft clicks and whooshing stood out. Followed by the smell of vampires burning. Something told me that wasn't a good thing this time. A metal object slamming into my shoulder hard and throwing me off Demetri proved me right. Sam landed beside me, after being hit the same way.

We got up quickly and saw Aro and Marcus before us. The first held a big staff-like thing, with a bulb on top. It was dented now, but I recognized it. From our previous encounter, from when Irina, that Denali-chick, died. It was, well, a giant lighter, used to set two of our defeated allies on fire.

"You mutts are going to pay for killing valuable Volturi guards," Aro sneered. He moved towards us, pointing the staff, while gritting his teeth. Marcus seemed a to hesitate, watching us from his defensive stand. His pale red eyes checked the scene around us. My brother and I were unsure as well, about what to do.

Jake and Quil were coming to help us, but their path was blocked by many opponents. Deep, low growls interrupted the moment of impasse. Those sounds were very distinctive and not from one of ours or vampires. Real werewolves; anyone could pick them out easily.

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Quil

Finally, we could really join in the fight. Don't get me wrong, defending our weaker ones was a good task, but I wanted more. We hadn't trained all that time for nothing! But there was another thing to be done; clean up duty. Many enemies were in pieces, but not really dead, dead, yet. They were still moving. Talk about creepy! Ugh!

I tore up the first headless corpse I came across and tossed bits as far away as I could. The next one was close enough to a small, dying fire, so I threw his limbs on there and the flames immediately shot up higher. Now this felt satisfying. 'Pay attention, Jake ordered, Embry and Sam are going to need help.' I observed the scene with Demetri through my friend's mind.

The both of them were really close to the Volturi's best warriors and their kings. Two of which were battling the Romanians and winning, I noticed. Then I had to focus on vampires attacking me and so did Jake. A frustrated growl escaped me. Was there no end to the supply of Volturi?

Seth and May split up for the first time and they helped us progress further. But were we going to make it fast enough? 'Run!' I thought, RUN!' And we did, I did, until something knocked me down from the side and sent me tumbling through the snow. There was a blur of movement and two sets of scent in the air. Patrick and the other fast one were wrestling around next to me.

They've only been focused on each other during the fight, totally emerged in their own battle. Zigzagging over the field, almost crashing into others through it all. I let out another frustrated growl, at the pair and got going again. Annoying ticks! Yeah, yeah, I knew some were our allies, but still.

Meanwhile Leah sent us images of her and the boys laying down in a circle, surrounding Nessie and keeping one another warm. Good. It conjured up memories of my own for a second, of me hugging Claire after she fell and scraped her knee. My brave girl tried not to cry, but accepted the comfort of my warm arms easily, regardless. Those moments made me happy. She was never afraid of me and never complained if I wanted to carry her. Or sit her on top of my shoulders.

I shook my head and looked towards the centre of the field. Something was happening there. A formerly blank spot, there was a blip of movement now and then. Like a tube-light trying to turn on. Or one of those eco- lamps. Then, there was a whole ten seconds of Bella pounding some Asian guy into the ground, before they disappeared again.

'Turning points ...' it flashed through Jake's mind. Yes, we were reaching a critical point now. These next moments could decide who won or lost. A Volturi guard flashed in front of me, his cape flying in the wind. He was one of those muscle-bound enforcer types, looking bulky, but having nothing on me. His whole presence said 'soldier', from his army buzz-cut hair to his boots.

'Bring it on!,' I crashed into each other and wrestled, turned and twisted. At one point I stepped on his cape and he tipped back a moment when it strained, being attached to his shoulders. But next the fabric tore away and the thing floated to the ground. He faced me, baring his teeth, ready for round two.

Many things happened at once after that. First; Seth came my way, hot on an opponent's heels. Second; two of the Volturi kings had finished off the Romanians and now chose to aid the tracker Demetri. Thus making them go against Embry and Sam.

Third; the real werewolves, something was up with them, and with the blonde king, that Caius guy. Forth; the Egyptian Benjamin had targeted the shield Renata once more. And last; someone had appeared at the cave where Leah & co were hiding.

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Seth

I never felt such pain and anger as when my sister got bitten. Both felt equally strong and I used those feelings to strike. It has never felt more satisfying to rip up a vampire than when I vanquished that bald one near my sister. My wolf-side dominated me then and it continued to do so until I knew the threat against her was gone.

Next thing to make me feel better was May helping Leah surive. Followed by guiding my sibling, Brady and Collin to that cave. Leaving them there was not easy, even it was quite secure and safe. It took me a while to go from walking to running as we moved away. Then a strange thought entered my head, with my girlfriend beside me; what did our blood taste like? Did it affect vampires differently?

Ugh, why did I want to know? Well, it was the sound of May spitting out some pale red liquid onto the ground. She looked at me afterwards, as if she read my mind. We were so in tune with each other.

"It's not bad, she said with half a grin, but I don't want any human blood in me, if I can help it." There was a pause before she continued. "All of you are foremost human after all, she added, not animals." Her eyes twinkled. "And she's my sister also, as much as yours, which makes it even more weird." And wrong, if I swallowed it."

Nodding I sent her my love with my eyes. Before concentrating on the fight again. Jake and Quil were approaching Embry and Sam from different sides. They were getting blocked by several opponents and May and I split up without thought to help them. Letting all their thoughts in, I immerged myself in battle. Until I saw a small, dark figure appear in front of the cave, through my sister's mind.

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Yeah, leaving you with another little cliffhanger there, huh.

Oh, and I know Seth only got a little part. But that's because he will get a whole chapter to himself after the battle, at the end of my story.

See you, thanks for reading and please, … Leave a review. (*pleading with puppy-dog eyes*)