Chapter twenty six: Puppies.

This was becoming way too much. Not only could I not see him for days, but I was still expected to train without him. I was being pushed to the limit. I knew it would all be worth it, if I was to fight alongside him; but I wanted him to be the one to train me. Not Jane.

Don't get me wrong, Jane was good at what she does - boy was she good. I was positive I'd ate my body weight in dirt in the few days in her company - and I could feel myself getting quicker, thinking quicker and reacting quicker to certain things; but that didn't mean I wouldn't want the... Playful side of it. The side Alec seemed to bring into it when we had been training for that short period of time.

I understood that he was off on another mission related to this, something to do with Delilah; for my dad explained a little about it, as did Jane. But I couldn't help but wish that he was here. With me.

I had already gone so long without seeing his face that not seeing it any more left me anxious. Worried that I'd have to wait another five months before I'd get to see his beauty again. It was silly, because he would come back. His sister was here, as was the majority of his coven; but still my inner voice screamed alarm bells.

I had grown all too used to Alec being here again, I knew that it was going to hurt to see him go away. Secretly, I'd been dreading it ever since the beginning of all this crap. But what could I do? This wasn't a situation where I could run up to him and beg him to stay again. Look how well that turned out last time, and we were technically together then. Now it was a different situation altogether.

Not only did I miss seeing him, or worry about him; I was being pestered by Jacob when Jane wasn't hounding my ass.

He was trying to convince me out of fighting. I wasn't sure if Alec had put him up to it, but it wouldn't surprise me if he had. Oddly enough, when Alec had been here; they were civil to one another. Had they both found some common ground for the time being? A treaty - don't laugh, Renesmee - so to speak? Or were they just doing this for now, and then they'd return to hating each other after all this happened?

Somehow, I kinda hoped it was the first option.

My best friend/imprinter friends with my... Ex lover/best immortal friend.

It seemed too good to be true, or even consider happening; but a girl could hope, right? After all; a lot of crazier shit had gone on. It wasn't as though vampires befriending the werewolves was impossible. Seth was more than happy with befriending my family, and currently; I noticed just how determined he was in trying to befriend not only the Volturi, but Jane especially.

Felix and Demetri were no doubt having a good ole' laugh about that. Okay, that was a lie. Maybe Felix was; but Demetri... I don't think he'd be as amused. Just to be sure, I looked up to see if I could see him. He was there, standing in the corner of the room.

Jane was here too, but that wasn't anything new.

It wasn't awkward to have her around, but it was; if that made any sense? I mean, I don't hate being near her, because once you get past being terrified of her; she can actually be a pleasant person. A little strict, hard to keep up with, and still utterly petrifying; but pleasant.

But of course I'd feel a little... Awkward around her. She was she twin sister of the boy I had loved, that I still loved; and she hadn't been thrilled about that in the beginning. After all...

"I have half a mind to rip her to pieces and spit on the remains."

"Jane, you're being a little drastic. She came here, because Alice saw it."

"She was meant to go to the castle with the invitation. Not stalk us here!"

Her eyes broke away from mine, but I could still see the extent of her fury. She was pissed, much more than anything I'd ever heard of the temper of Jane.

"But she didn't... I found her-" Alec went to explain, but Jane snapped yet again.

"So lose her again!"

Need I say more?

It was no secret that Jane didn't like me then, and that fact probably still stood more than ever now. She had wanted to rip me into piece back then, and that was before I had broken her brother's heart into a thousand pieces. Now, I was positive rather than just spit on my remains; she'd probably pour acid on them too.

Who would I be to stop her, after everything?

But besides all that; Jane was being civil. She helped me in more ways than I could imagine. Sure, my body hurt like a bitch and all my muscles ached a little, but at least I was getting somewhere. I could never be certain with Alec. He could have gone gentle on me, but with Jane; it was an almost promise that she would never go gentle. She would never go easy. She made it practically impossible for me to beat her; and with that, she made me learn all the more in what I needed to look out for.

"Hey, Nes."

I glanced up from my plate and chewed down the pancake in my mouth. I was surrounded by the wolves of La Push. Jacob at my right, Seth beside him, then Paul, then Leah, then Jared, and then Quil. At the other side of the table, Embry, Colin, Bradley, and lastly Sam to my left. Yup, that left me sitting at the head of the table.

Seth had been the one who spoke to me. With a mouthful, I gave a friendly smile in question as to what he wanted.

"Remember that game we usta' play? Guess the vampire's eye color?"

Oh, god. Was he kidding me? I hadn't played that with him since... Well, since the Volturi were coming to destroy me and we had all those visitors in our home. Seth and I would sit at the sidelines, trying to guess what the guests eyes used to be before they were turned.

Funnily, we always used to mess around and picked eye colors that weren't even possible. Such as hot pink, white and so on. Quickly, I swallowed my mouthful.

"Yeah. I remember. But what I remember most is arguing with you over what eye colors exist." I stabbed another pancake with my fork.

"Hey, I still say purple isn't possible." Seth put his hands up in defiance.

"Seth," Paul said dryly with a mouthful of his food. "It is possible."

"Sure, like I'm going to believe you." Seth rolled his eyes.

"It is." Jacob joined in; and before I knew it - all of the wolves were in on this conversation, trying to convince Seth that it was indeed possible to have purple eyes. To him, being an albino was the stereotype people heard. Red eyes, pale skin and white hair. I couldn't help but think he was basically calling vampire's albinos...

"Purple eyes come from being an albino; you moron," Paul slid in an insult. "Even I know that."

"So where did the stereotype for red eyes come from?" Seth counteracted with a scoff.

It seemed as though no one present could answer. That was until...

"I don't know if you recall of an ally of yours when our coven first came to Forks," Jane commented with a somewhat bored tone in her voice. Every single pair of brown eyes at the table went to her. She was actually... Talking to them. And this time, it wasn't in snide remarks or disgust. She seemed to be setting this conversation straight. "He goes by the name of Stefan."

A flicker of recognition appeared in some of their eyes. The others were just blank.

"The Romanian coven." Demetri added. That got them. They remembered them now. Of course they would. Stefan and Vladimir were the weirdest of people to come to our little... Gathering of witnesses. They had only come along because they wished to see the downfall of the Volturi; not that they got the chance.

"Indeed," Jane nodded to Demetri in a gesture of thanks. "Well when they had leadership of our world, they let human's know of our existence. When we overtook, it was nothing but a distant memory; and his image stuck. Eventually, people stopped believing in vampires and soon they went on to believe that this red eyed, white haired, pale faced legend was merely an albino."

Well, that made sense, I guess.

That was one way to make sure no one questioned the existence of vampires, I supposed. Perhaps the Volturi were behind the typical stereotype a little as well? I wouldn't put it past them.

There was a brief silence among the table as they tried to figure out how to react to what she had just told them. It was either that, or they were trying to deal with the fact she even spoke to them. Jane hadn't uttered a single word in their direction for the past few days. Truthfully, I never thought she would; so it was a pleasant surprise to me as well.

"See," Jacob scoffed. "Told you."

Seth bowed his head in sheepish embarrassment. It only took a few seconds for him to recover. He jumped right back onto the horse as chirpy as ever. His eyes dead on me.

"Wanna play that game now? With these guys?"

I choked on my mouthful. In a coughing fit, forcing the wolves to break out into laughter, I reached out and grabbed onto my glass of juice. Quickly, I gulped half the glass down and unlodged the food caught in my throat.

Seth was still looking at me, happy and unaffected as ever. The pack were still laughing. How could I have forgotten just how... Forward Seth could be? He held no thought as to how Jane, or Demetri would feel if we were to play that game. Maybe they didn't want to hear us guessing what their eye color once was, for it could bring back memories they didn't want to relive.

I knew for a fact Jane had no intention of ever reliving anything else. As for Demetri, I knew he had a kid once. I knew he died trying to save his child and failed. Perhaps bringing up his eye color might remind him of his long lost offspring?

I spared them a small glance, but they both seemed to be unphased by this. Of course, the Volturi were good at keeping up facades. They were good at keeping it professional, and hiding all emotions. Or was that just Alec? I looked closely towards Demetri. He was probably just as good at doing the whole impassive thing as Alec, if not just a little bit below him.

Maybe Alec was just the best at concealing his emotions?

"I, uh... Don't think we have time for that." I tried to think of an excuse. "Last day of training an' all."

Seth waved his hand. "Sure we do. Right, Jane?"

I glanced to her, and she died deeply.

Whether it was because he had spoken to her, or because he said her name, I wasn't sure.

Never the less, she answered. "You have until you've eaten until we join with your family, Renesmee."

"See? So come on! What color d'you think that Aro guys was?"

When I didn't answer straight away, one of the other wolves answered for me. It was Paul.

"Purple." He said sarcastically, causing the table to break out into yet another set of laughter. I myself wasn't able to hide a giggle, especially when Seth began to protest that it 'wasn't funny' and 'how was I supposed to know it was possible!'

From the corner of my eye, I could see Demetri smirking. In fact, I could see Jane smirking too!

In a strange, and completely weird way; the wolves had managed to break past the two impassive vampire's rock solid humours and caused them to smirk. It wasn't laughter, I know that, for the only person I was positive who had ever made Jane laugh was Alec; but it was close. Not even I had the ability to make Jane smirk in amusement!

Demetri was a different matter, of course. He wasn't as hard as Jane was, I don't think. Either that, or he had a soft spot for me. I hoped so, because I liked Demetri. He and Felix had been nothing but nice to me in the past and I'd be eternally grateful for it. If only Jane was that easily cracked, though.

It was supposed to be a five minute game, but it turned into half an hour. Demetri and Jane would smirk to themselves and share glances to one another at certain members. They even answered when we asked what the members name was. They took turns in answering, though it seemed as though Demetri was doing most of the answering.

And then it came to the awkward ones. Just after Felix's guess; which we all decided it must have been brown - due to how dark his hair and eyelashes were. Thankfully, Demetri told us that we were correct. I had forgotten that Demetri had briefly seen Felix before his transformation.

"Alright, what about him." Seth jerked his head towards Demetri.

Was I the only one who felt remotely awkward discussing this? Evidently so, for they began to rattle off idea's. Judging by his light hair, they were in a cross between hazel or green. I mean, it wasn't as if I couldn't picture him with either of those colors; because I could. Either way, I think Demetri would have looked just as good with either of those colors. His lips were curved as he listened in on this little debate.

"Was it green? Tell us, was it?" Seth poked towards him.

Demetri scoffed. "No."

"Dammit!"

"Then it's gotta' have been hazel." Quil offered before he chugged down the remainders of his drink.

"No, it wasn't."

How could they be missing the most obvious of colors?

I mean, it was obvious.

"It's not obvious to us," Jacob sniggered.

I said that out loud?

Jacob nodded again, and I mentally cursed. I had done it again!

"What's so obvious. C'mon, Nes. Let us know."

I took a glance towards Demetri, and he arched his eyebrow curiously towards me. As if on cue, I blushed. "Was it blue?"

His lips twitched up into a cunning smile. "It was indeed."

"Still got the skill, Renesmee!" Seth bellowed and clasped his hands together. The wolves groaned, given that a few of them had placed bets on whether or not I'd get involved. Clearly I was the only one who felt remotely awkward discussing this.

"Okay, the last two. Alec and Jane."

Demetri and I stiffened and awaited for Jane to react. She didn't. In fact, she just tilted her head as if to say 'Go ahead.'

"Seeing as Renesmee's the all seeing greatness of this," Jacob shrugged. "Let her have the first guess."

I didn't need to guess. I already knew. Alec had told me once before. He told me just how beautiful Jane's eye color was, and how his seemed dim in comparison; despite them being the same. How could I ever forget that bit of information? It had been one of the first things Alec had ever told me as he eventually let me past the wall he built around himself.

"Blue." I whispered. "They had blue eyes too."

—xXx—

She knew why he was asking for this walk. So many times before he had asked her if they could go for a walk, like back in the ole' days; and she had to take a rain check because of this Alec and Lilianna business. Lilianna wouldn't have let them go for a walk anyway, both of them knew that. Truthfully, Ryan wasn't expecting Alec to let them go... But he did, and Ryan quickly acted with pulling her out before the older immortal could change his mind.

The timid afternoon was clammy, still threatening to storm; but never showed any signs of doing so. She couldn't complain, really. There had been days in Seattle where she loved the rain, but also equally hated it.

"At long last, huh?" Ryan joked. "Finally getting that walk."

"Patience was never your thing," Delilah repeated a line he once spoke to her. A wicked smile appeared on Ryan's face that caused her inside to twist on cue.

"That's my line."

"You snooze, you lose." She once again threw back something he often said to her in their human years. He didn't say it much nowadays, but that was understandable. They didn't 'snooze' at all anymore; and truthfully, they'd never once thought about the possibility of losing until recently.

He kept up the small talk as they walked further from the warehouse. Eventually, his hand moved from behind around her to taking her hand fully in his. She couldn't complain. She got a soothing feeling of home the moment he took hold of her hand, and she felt as though she never wanted to let it go.

"So, what's the house like? How is everyone?" Delilah couldn't stop herself from asking. That had been a question that had plagued her mind from the moment she left. Especially with Mary, who had no clue about any of this. Who probably still had no clue, and wouldn't until the very end. But overall; she just wanted to know that they were all safe.

"I'm not going to lie, Delly." Ryan sighed, taking on his serious tone yet again. It was a good thing he wasn't going to lie to her just to make her feel better. She wanted to hear the truth, even if it would hurt. "It's chaos... She's moved us again, some place smaller than before. She wants to keep us all on a tight watch... Otherwise I would have gotten here sooner."

Delilah blinked at him in disbelief. "What do you mean... Sooner?"

Ryan gave a sarcastic laugh. "C'mon. You honestly think I was going to just sit back and watch you run off and not follow you?"

Truthfully... Delilah didn't believe that, but she hoped he would. They needed someone like him there, to remind them that it was alright to smile and have a joke every now and then. He was in every way, shape and form, the laughter and the light in that house. He had been her light, the reason she continued on, and the reason she wore a smile half the time there.

"I said I was going to follow you until the end, and I meant it."

He was telling the truth. She could always tell when he was lying to her, anyway; so if he were to have lied about the house being 'fine' she would have known, but chose to believe it. When Ryan told the truth, however... He got this certain look within his eye. He wasn't afraid to hold eye contact, nor was he afraid to tell it as it was.

She gave a gentle squeeze to his hand, and smiled sadly at him.

"You really are a pain in my ass." Delilah laughed, lightening the subject.

"You love me really," he rolled his eyes in return.

Yes... I do.

Delilah wanted to say it. She wanted to tell him... Everything that was going on within her head. But this wasn't some fairy tale. This wasn't about happily ever afters, or finding your true love; despite how much Delilah wanted it to be like that. She reflected for a short moment on what Alec had said to her, on how he had seen mates act; and that Ryan and herself were like those groups.

She wondered if he knew that too. If Ryan had felt this... Building connection growing between them. It was doubled, tripled even, as to what she had felt for him in their human years. But she was faced with the possibility that there was a possibility that he... didn't. And if he did, then what would she do? What could she do?

She knew with him stating that he was going to follow her to the end that this was it. He wasn't going to leave her now. Alec had picked up one final student in this little training session, but despite that; how could they go about this?

"Is she training you well?" Delilah asked, swiftly changing the subject.

Ryan nodded his head. "From dusk till dawn. Most of them are going nuts with hunger. That's how I managed to get out here... She had me and Scott take some of them out, and he told me to go. Said that 'It's what you really want to do, so go do it. Nothing is stopping you, Ry.' And I did... I never even thought once about leaving... Damien behind, because all I could think about was finding you."

That sounded like Scott. Putting someone elses needs in front of his own. Scott could more or less be punished because of this, and he probably knew that too; but it didn't stop him from letting Ryan run.

Delilah smiled sadly, yet again.

"I'm glad you came..." Delilah whispered the closest thing to 'I love you' as she could. "Even if it was stupid for you to do so."

Ryan chuckled softly and shrugged his shoulders. "Smarts were never-"

"Your thing. I know." Delilah finished for him and reached up to brush his short brown bangs out of his face. Her finger glided across the bar of eyebrow piercing; something he had gotten just before he was turned, thus ensuring that he could have it for the rest of his immortal life. That hole would never close, as long as he kept it in; which he had so far.

Ryan swallowed, causing his adams apple to bob up and down. Something was on his mind, and he was going to voice it. She could see it in those bottomless red eyes of his.

"Delilah, I-"

He stopped before he could even start. His eyes drifted from her to behind her. Delilah looked over her shoulder, and smiled softly as she watched Alec emerging from the building holding a simple brown file.

"Sorry to interrupt," Alec said. It sounded sincere enough. "But this file caught my eye."

He held it up and as he came closer, finally stopping at their sides, he opened it up.

"It was in the 'alive' pile." Alec stated matter of factly. "Belle Calvin... Says here she was adopted into the Calvin family when her mother married Mr. Calvin, and she has a half-sister... From right here in Mobile?"

Belle.

Delilah remembered her. The short, little girl who Veronica always had with her. She was so small looking, it was impossible to believe she was fifteen. Delilah quickly nodded her head.

"Yes?"

"She's alive?" Alec stared at her. "Gifted, and alive?"

"Yeah, she was the only one to come out of the basement of her group."

"So she is well?"

Why the hell was he asking so many darn questions about this girl? Unless he knew her...

"Do you know her?" She quickly asked.

There was a hesitation before he answered. "Renesmee does. She's related to one of her friends."

Oh. Well, that would explain why he was interested. Not only was Lilianna trying to rip Renesmee apart, she was also taking her friends family away from them too.

"She was alright when I was there," Delilah answered, then glanced to a very silent and still Ryan. Something wasn't right. "Is she still alright?"

Ryan's eyes flicked from Alec to Delilah before settling themselves onto her completely. "Delly..."

Delilah's eyes widened.

"What happened?"

"You know how it is there," he began to say, speaking to the both of them. "Fights break out all the time. Veronica... I don't know what the hell happened, she just turned on her... Belle didn't stand a chance."

That meant their numbers had gone down again.

"And what about Veronica?"

Delilah could remember distinctly that Lilianna destroyed both sides of a fight. If Veronica had killed Belle, then she would have been put to death.

"She's still there." Or not.

"Lilianna said she can't have her numbers go down anymore. She almost went out to get a few more people, but there's no time. Tuesday is tomorrow."

Not only were they going against the Volturi and the Cullen's, they were beginning to turn on one another. Belle was such a sweet, quiet little girl. She had gone through hell and back and for what? Just to make it so close to it finally being over and not making it? And Lilianna let her murderer live.

It angered Delilah. It saddened Delilah. And selfishly, it made her worry about the others.

If they were turning on one another; there was a possibility that they could turn on Scott, or Mary, Shay or Damien. Belle was exactly how Mary had been at the beginning of this, and if Veronica was vicious enough to kill her - there was a chance she'd try to do the same with Mary. It was known a few of the newborns were jealous of the 'privileged ones' as they had called us. If Veronica was morphing into one of the jealous types, Mary was the perfect victim.

If she couldn't be there to protect her, and judging by the fact Scott was out taking some numbers to feed, it left Mary... Vulnerable. Sure, she had Damien there; but she hadn't seen him react to anything. If something were to threaten something Ryan cared for; she had seen him react automatically. He could protect her.

Although it meant that she wouldn't get to be with him, like it had seemed at the beginning of this conversation, she had to let him go. Mary needed him more than what she did. She had Alec protecting her. She had the Volturi on her side. Mary and Shay needed Ryan, Scott and Damien there for them.

"You have to go back." Delilah quickly whispered. "Mary... You need to look after Mary for me."

Ryan frowned. "She has Scott."

"Not all the time. Please, Ryan?" She pleaded with everything she had to him.

"Can't I just bring them here?"

"You know Mary loves Lilianna. She won't understand. Just do this for me, Ryan. Please?!"

He could see the desperate look in her eyes and he could hear it in her tone; but he didn't want to leave her again. He had already gone two years without seeing her, believing she was dead, but he had her back. He didn't want to lose her again.

"Please..."

And yet, when she used that tone on him; Ryan was torn. He wanted to be with her to protect her, but he didn't have the heart to refuse what she was asking of him. He had no doubt in his mind that Delilah herself would have gone back to protect Mary if she could. Ryan looked to Alec and held his gaze for a second.

She expected him to leave her with him? A guy he barely knew? A guy that she had told him scared the living crap out of her? The look in his eyes told him that even if Ryan didn't like him, he could trust him. For now, anyway.

"Fine," Ryan nodded. "But you better look after her."

Alec bowed his head. "With my life."

"You better, or I'll be taking your life."

Alec scoffed towards Ryan's arrogance but said nothing more. Instead, he turned around and began to walk back to the warehouse.

With the newly found privacy yet again, Ryan turned his attention back to Delilah.

She was giving him that smile. The smile he knew she'd be giving if she had tears in her eyes. In sorrow, in happiness and in pride. He always did love it when she took pride in him.

"Be safe, alright?" Ryan squeezed her hand, while the other hand moved to rest on her shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow when I switch sides in front of the bitch."

"And I'll be waiting with open arms."

"You better be." Ryan smirked.

Delilah pealed her hand away from his, and smiled again as he pulled her in for a goodbye hug. She clung onto him, inhaling his scent and doing all she could to hold onto the feeling of him against her so she'd have something to think about when he was gone. They weren't sure how long they'd been in the embrace for, but it didn't seem long enough.

Both of them felt it when they eventually pulled away from one another.

Ryan began to walk backwards and walk on. She stood there, watching as he departed slowly. She would stand there until he vanished completely. Then, and only then, would she go back to Alec.

Confusion wrote itself onto her face when he stopped. He turned around and began storming back to her, shaking his head.

"What are you doing?!" Delilah frowned at him. He wasn't seriously going to come back now and refuse to look after Mary when he said he would?

"Something I should have done a long time ago." Ryan hissed through his teeth as he came in closer. He reached out and grabbed her at the back of the neck; and just like that - he pulled her lips to his.

—xXx—

Thud.

A scoring pain swept up my spine and rattled around my head as I was slammed into the trunk of a tree. I swore I could feel the Earth shaking with the severity of the shove. On the ground, there were marks where my feet had dragged across them leading right up to the spot where I now slumped against the tree.

At the other end of the tracks, Jane stood with her arms crossed. She wasn't going easy on me anymore, I now knew that. Before, she must have been; for the times I'd had my face pushed to the floor felt like nothing compared to now. In fact, I was positive she was going harder on me now.

It was understandable why. I mean, the battle - or war, as I'd heard Demetri and Felix call it - was tomorrow. There was no time for me to be a failure. If I could take down Jane, then I could take down anyone. That was how she saw it, and that was what I was beginning to realize.

The thing is, I doubt anyone would be able to take down Jane.

Maybe a wolf... But I wasn't too sure. I'd saw a few of them flinch when she'd take on my blows and easily counteract them with something much more skilled. If the wolves wanted to step in at any point, then now was the perfect chance!

Edward must've caught my thoughts, for he gave up on his little mock fight with Jacob and was at my side instantly. He was crouched down beside me, and staring up at Jane.

"Jane," he said in a low tone. "Perhaps I could take my daughters place for the time being while she recovers?"

Jane's lips twitched into a smile. A sadistic one at that. "I don't think so. If she wants to fight, she has to be ready."

"She needs to rest." Edward said again, a little sterner. "Let me face you."

Jane let out a sigh while she rolled her eyes. "Fine. Renesmee, go sit with the she-wolf."

Jane had noticed it too, huh? Leah, who had once been all for fighting vampires back when I was a child, wasn't participating either. I'd never gotten close to her since she got here, since I'd been too preoccupied with this battle crap, but now was my chance. Perhaps she could even tell me what was wrong? I'd seen the way she would glare at Jacob when he'd bring up the fight.

I did as I was told and struggled to pull myself up. With the help of my father, I stood onto my feet and began to stagger across the field to Leah. She sat crossed legged with Paul's jacket around her shoulders; and countless bottles of water beside her. I didn't even want to look behind me and see what Jane was concocting for my father to endure. Mom was standing beside Jacob while Demetri and Felix talked. Every now and then, she would look his way, and then to me as I crossed the field.

Leah spared me a glance as I approached. Sitting down, she shuffled a little away from me.

I brought my knees up to my chest while picking up a bottle with my name written on it.

"Hi," I whispered as I unscrewed the top.

Leah grunted. A very unladylike grunt, but when had Leah ever been ladylike?

"Are you feeling alright?" I took a quick mouthful and swallowed it down.

"I'm fine."

Leah wasn't the talkative type. I knew that. Hell, I was sure everyone here knew that. But was that going to stop me from trying? Hell no. If I had managed to make on of the most feared Volturi guards like me, then I would without a doubt try with Leah. Besides, how bad could it be? It wasn't as if she hated me or anything. She just didn't... Like me all that much.

"I like that jacket." I nodded to the fabric around her shoulders.

"Take it." She said back. "It's just Paul's."

Okay, I'm in! Perfect starter for a conversation!

"Oh? Why'd you have Paul's jacket around you?"

Leah's jaw clenched. "Because I do."

Maybe not the best starter after all...

"You two dating?" I grinned, refusing to give up.

She scoffed. "No."

One worded replies were better than no reply at all, right?

"How's Forks?" I mused, nibbling on the inside of my lips.

"The same as when you left it."

I think I was beginning to take the hint, but just to be sure...

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Do you have to talk to me?" She finally turned to look at me. "I said I'm fine."

Yeah, I got the hint perfectly clear. Now, I just felt like an idiot for trying to talk to her. Some people were harder than others to get approval from; and evidently Leah was one of those people.

I sighed in defeat. "Sorry."

Leah turned her eyes away from me and remained in silence.

I focused on the skies, and the tree's. Closing my eyes, I imagined what it would be like if it were one of those rare sunny days, and I'd have the sun on my face. I listened to the chirping of birds singing their hearts out mixed in with the laughter and conversation going on with the large group of vampires and shapeshifters across the field. I was positive I even heard my father break out a laugh.

Just to be sure, I peaked open my eye; and sure enough... My father was pulling himself up off the floor, dirt smudged all over his face, with a large grin. Oddly enough, Jane was smiling too. Though, it wasn't in the same way. She was grinning through sinister pride in herself, where as my dad looked as though he really was having fun. That he found a challenge, and Jane was living up to her reputation.

"You're stupid, you know." Leah said abruptly, causing me to jump. I blinked a few times at her and arched an eyebrow.

"Excuse me?"

"You're stupid." She huffed. "Going through with this when it's clear they don't want you too."

"What do you mean?"

Leah groaned and ran a hand over her face. "Jacob talked to me."

Well, of course he'd talk to you... You were in his pack. You're his beta...

Why wouldn't Jacob talk to her? It was practically liable for him to speak to her because she was his beta. I opened my mouth to voice this, but Leah cut me off.

"About you."

Oh, well. That changed things. It wasn't liable for him to talk to her about me... In fact, why the hell would he do that anyway? I knew we were best friends an' all, but he didn't really need to talk to others about me. He hadn't ever done so in the past, I don't think.

"Why?"

"Because of all this." She motioned out to the field. "Their training. You're training."

"Well, yeah... But-"

"But nothing. They don't want you to. None of them. Maybe apart from that creepy dude with the long black hair." Leah popped something into her mouth and began to chew viciously. The smell of mint told me that it was gum. Strong gum. "Jacob asked me to talk to you about it, since you kept blowing him off."

I did not blow him off! All I did was tell him I wanted to fight alongside them. This was just as much as my battle as it was theirs. I had every right to be there as any of them. It was me that she wanted dead most of all; not just our covens.

But of course, I doubt Leah would understand that. She wasn't even interested in fighting this. I could see why, I mean... It wasn't her fight. This was to do with us, and not them. She probably saw us as selfish for even asking for their help - for using Jacob's imprinting on me as a cause for him to be here - and she was probably right. But they were here now, and there was nothing she could do about it. She knew it, and I knew it too.

"He wants you to sit this out with me," Leah went on explaining. "Says it'll do you good. Do me good."

Oh yeah, what good will come of that? Leah hardly spoke to me as it is; how was I going to cope sitting this out with her when I'd be worried what the hell was going on. Something struck me that Leah wasn't the comforting type, so I shouldn't expect a 'it'll be alright' from her if I were to sit out.

"But Alec said-"

"Alec doesn't want you to go either. Nor does your father... Or mother... Or anyone here who cares about you. And if you really cared about them, you would sit out."

"I do care about them. That's why I want to help."

"You'll be a better help not being there. You suck at fighting. That leech is throwing you around like a rag doll."

True, but still! I wasn't giving up on this. I wanted to help!

"I'm getting better. I can feel it."

"Yeah, and while you think you're doing good; everyone around you is gonna be busting their asses trying to keep you safe, alongside trying to keep themselves safe. If you go, someone's gonna die trying to protect you. Probably your parents... Maybe even Jacob..."

No, no, no. That couldn't be true.

"Maybe even Alec."

I flinched away from her. "That isn't going to happen! I know how to take care of myself."

Leah scoffed at me and rolled her eyes. "Sure you do."

"I'm fighting whether they like it or not." Yep. I brought out the only thing I could. I used my stubbornness.

Leah shrugged her shoulders. "Do what you want. At least I tried."

I gritted my teeth as I played with the top of my bottle. If it was true, why the hell hadn't any of them said? Alec had, yeah. And so had Jacob; but mom and dad hadn't. In fact, they seemed fine with me coming along to these training sessions. But then again, I think I'd have to come along anyway. All of us were here, surrounded by the Volturi. Protected from anything.

Even if I wasn't fighting, I'd be made to sit out here... Like Leah, and watch.

"Why aren't you fighting." I hesitantly asked.

"Because Jacob said I can't."

"And you gotta follow your Alpha's order, right?"

"Something like that."

I huffed another sigh out. "Why isn't he letting you?"

"Because of the reason he wants me to talk to you for."

Wait... So he didn't just want Leah to talk to me because he cared about me? The hint to her voice implied that, and I couldn't help but question it out loud.

"Why's that?"

Leah gritted her teeth as if she were questioning herself. As if she didn't want to tell me, and was hesitant on answering. I got the feeling that after she said it, that was it. It was out there in the open, and there'd be no taking it back.

Leah came to her decision and looked to me. "I'm pregnant, and Jacob trusts you, so he wants you to be there to look after me."

... You gotta be shitting me!