AN ~ If you read chap 38 without the "I would have asked" conversation, plz go back; it's kind of an important point which I forgot to bring up originally
Chapter Thirty Nine: Safe at Last?
Carlisle:
Bree felt comfortable to walk between Esme and I, each hand tightly clasping one of ours, as we walked through the forest to the clearing where our friends and allies waited. When we entered the clearing, Jasper - who had taken over in the absence of myself, Edward and Esme - came to my side in a flash. Bree cried out and recoiled, pressing herself against Esme. Her eyes flitted over Jasper's skin, examining the very visible scars. She was frightened enough of us without having a war veteran flash his scars in her face.
Jasper didn't seem to care.
"And what, pray tell, are you doing with that?" he demanded of me, pointing an accusing finger at Bree, who cringed in response.
"She surrendered," I explained calmly, though I was shocked at Jasper's behaviour. He was not as well-known for his compassion as I was, but he certainly wasn't heartless. How could he look at that poor, helpless girl and expect me to kill her?
"Surrendered?" His eyes widened. "Carlisle, surrender is not in a newborn's vocabulary."
"Be that as it may, she literally threw herself at my feet and begged for mercy - what was I supposed to do? Kill her in cold blood?"
Jasper examined me for a moment, and then sighed.
"I suppose I should have expected it..." he murmured. He shook his head pitifully. "But that's no excuse. Honestly, Carlisle. Only you would-"
He was cut off by a flash of grey, almost instantly followed by a familiar russet brown, shooting past us. We all turned to watch the two wolves as they darted for the trees. Bree screamed. Esme hugged her tighter. I stiffened when I recognised the runners: the grey female, and none other than Jacob Black. Just before they reached the forest, the grey skidded and tried to regain her footing.
A newborn clawed at her neck, and she rolled to try and get him off. He fell, but only to pummel her paw and lower leg when she tried to bat him away. She certainly had skill on the battlefield, but she was tiring and her muscles no doubt stiffening after the larger battle today. Luckily, Jacob saw his opportunity.
He dove into the fray, knocking the grey clear as the newborn tried to get his arms around her. He staggered awkwardly, and though he recovered well, he was too late to defend himself. The newborn already had his arms around Jacob like a vice. For one painfully long moment, we watched in horror, until a devastating crunch broke the silence. Jacob had managed to destroy the newborn, but he was not faring much better. He yelped and howled like someone was trying to throw him into Hell's fire. Broken bones scraped each other audibly and he was splattered with blood. Everyone in the clearing stood stock-still as Jacob struggled in vain to get back to his feet - even Rosalie looked horrified at the poor wolf's fate.
The grey stood near Jacob, torn between fear and indignation. That didn't stop her from snarling bitterly at me when I tried to approach Jacob. She crouched low and bore her teeth, warning that we might have been allies a minute ago, but she was willing to change that status at any sign I gave.
"Please, let me through." I held up my hands in a gesture of surrender and took a step forward. The grey eyed me warily and stalked back a step, pulling away to the side, granting me permission. I took my opportunity, rushing to Jacob's side.
"Are you mad?" Jasper called. "Don't turn your back on her!"
I valued his advice - God knows I wasn't pleased with the idea - but I wasn't going to let Jacob lie there in agony and bleed to death, for his sake and ours. If the grey was protecting him by standing behind me, then so be it.
Jacob whimpered throatily in distress. The grey huffed from behind me: I'm still watching you, it warned. I repressed a shiver and began my attempted examination. It was quite hard to diagnose with all that fur in the way, not to mention the structural differences between wolves and people, the fact that I couldn't breathe and that I had a very large, very mad wolf behind me, just waiting for the opportunity to tear me to pieces.
Jacob seemed to understand the stress I was under. He whined uncomfortably but otherwise barely fidgeted as I examined his wounds as best I could: healing quickly, but quite serious. Even at this rate, a full recovery would take a few days, and I couldn't be sure the wound was clean under all that fur and the terrible smell.
Sam and another wolf arrived then, and the grey looked rather embarrassed. Sam turned to me and huffed, as if to say; you are dismissed.
.o.o.o.
The wolves cleared off and I joined the rest of the family in the centre of the clearing to see that the bonfire had died down to a thick cloud of purple-grey smoke. I threw the rubble of Jacob's kill onto the coals and flames licked at it. With a shudder, I looked away: I met Jasper's face.
"I fully understand your intentions," he said. "But I still have to warn you that this is a terrible idea. There are a lot of dangers in attempting to raise a newborn you have not created. Do you think she's going to conform to our diet now? She hasn't even had anyone monitoring her number ofkills, let alone their severity."
"Bree is different," I replied. She was young and certainly averse to violence: she would see soon enough that our path was a good one for her. "And it's not like I haven't managed vampires who have spent their whole existences living on human blood. I think one hundred years is far harder to reverse than a few months."
Jasper scowled.
"That's different. I'm old enough to know better, and I have always held a great respect for you. And even then, it's so hard sometimes-"
I held up my hand to clear up the misunderstanding.
"And I respect you for that. I really do. I don't mean to discredit your achievements, Jasper. In fact, a role model like you might help Bree even more than I will."
"Oi, she has a name," Jasper groaned to himself.
"Of course she has a name! Is it really that hard for you to grant her a little mercy? She's terrified!"
"All right, all right!" Jasper held up his hands. "I'll try not to be so hard on...Bree. But please, don't get your hopes up."
.o.o.o.
"Carlisle!"
Edward's panicked voice sliced through the air. Everyone stiffened in fear, smelling Bella's fresh blood - an open wound - on the air. Bree's nails tore into Esme's pant leg and she wailed loudly. She didn't make a move towards the newcomers, but Jasper was not convinced; he rushed to Esme's side and offered to take over minding Bree. She reluctantly let him, but was sure to stay close, sympathetically watching the struggling newborn.
Edward ran to me with Bella in his arms, limp as a rag doll. There was a smear of blood at the crease of her elbow, and her skin was pallid and covered in sweat. Her eyes were closed. Her breaths came in little gasps. Her erratic heartbeat gave her away; it struggled to use so little oxygen to pump as quickly and powerfully as its eager, adrenaline-fueled muscles attempted.
"Carlisle, what happened?" Edward demanded. "I told her about Jacob and she just collapsed! What's happening to her?"
"Calm down Edward," I put a hand on his shoulder. "It's just shock. Don't panic. She will come out of it of her own accord, and apart from perhaps feeling a little dizzy, there shouldn't be any problems."
"Okay," he said, trusting my judgment though he wasn't at ease.
"How's Jacob going?" I asked. He didn't take his eyes off Bella's face, but he replied.
"Sam's trying to get him to phase back and accept your medical assistance."
"Really?" We must have come closer over this than I had thought. All the better, I say.
"He's not happy about it," Edward elaborated, still shuffling his feet anxiously, "but he understands that this is the safest way for both our secrets. Paul - the other one who helped Jacob up - disagrees, but he can't argue with the Alpha."
"Bella!" Alice cheered, rushing over to Edward so quickly that she nearly bumped into him. After quickly glancing over Bella, she she turned to Edward and said, with the air of a child pretending to be in charge: "You really shouldn't worry so much, Edward. Bella's going to be fine."
Esme smiled comfortingly at Bree and then came over to join us. I reveled at the relief on her face when she laid eyes on her beloved human daughter.
"Dearest Bella," she sighed, resting her hand on the girl's cheek. "Safe at last." Esme's eyes were a dark, metallic colour, like tiger-eye - and at that moment, I could have sworn I saw a glistening tear in the corner of them.
"Carlisle," Alice tapped my shoulder. "The Volturi are coming."