Back to the Start
Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to SM.
The Golden Wolf
Bile rose in Jacob's throat as he stared at the vampires' smirking faces. There were two of them, both male, big, and so similar in coloring and size, that they had to be twins. They began the familiar dance, crouching low, circling Jacob in identical stances as they got ready to attack.
Jacob kept perfectly still, his brains on fire, knowing that he had never hated anyone or anything so much in his life. The human side of him retreated further inside, letting the wolf take over.
Suddenly one of the vampires faked left, and with incredible speed, Jacob followed. The vampire changed trajectory mid-step, signaling to his companion to attack the werewolf from behind. But Jacob was no wet behind the ear's newbie. He had been expecting this. Quickly, his head and neck whipped around and his teeth sank into the lead vampire's chest, ripping out a great chunk of its stony flesh.
The vampire roared in derision, the confident smirk slipping from his bone white face. He had not expected that. He lunged at Jacob, aiming for his muzzle, but instead found his hand clamped between the wolf's razor-sharp teeth. He howled in agony, pulling back sharply, to find he was missing all his fingers. His crimson eyes stared in disbelief at his dismembered hand, his body shaking with the effort not to cry out again.
Meanwhile his companion lunged at Jacob, infuriated that the huge beast had inflicted such damage on his twin. He landed a dazzling hit on Jacob's shoulder, the sound of crunching bone bringing a sick smile to his face. Jacob ignored the pain radiating from his shoulder. He swerved quickly to avoid another hit, before darting in, and sinking his teeth into the same vampire's neck who had inflicted the blow in retaliation.
The vampire swiped at him, thrashing madly to free himself from Jacob's fierce hold. Its fingers continued to gouge into Jacob's side, drawing long lines of blood. It hissed and swore, alternately flinging insults at Jacob and calling out to his twin to help free him from the raging wolf, only to find that he was alone. His twin, seeing nothing but defeat in his eyes, had run off, deserting him in order to save himself.
All of Jacob's emotions had shut down completely. His sole focus was getting rid of the enemy in the quickest time possible so he could resume his search. It wasn't long before he had overpowered the leech, his claws digging deep grooves into its basalt chest, the most horrible taste in the world in his mouth as its head came off in his jaws with a sickening crunch. He dropped the head on the ground, staring in disgust at the vile red eyes and gaping mouth, and then at the twitching body lying a few feet away.
Now came the difficult part of disposing of the remains before he was seen.
Bella's fingers dug into Billy's shoulder as she stared across at the vampires in horror. The female's orange hair was brighter than she remembered, more like a flame. There was little wind, but the fire around her face seemed to shimmer, as if it were alive.
The female's eyes were black with thirst. She didn't smile, instead her lips were pressed in a tight line. Bella noted the striking feline quality to the way she held her coiled body, almost like a lioness waiting for an opening to spring. Her restless, wild gaze flickered between her companion and Bella and Billy. Tension rolled off of her, nearly visible in the air. Bella could sense her desire, the all-consuming passion of bloodlust that held her in its tight grip. Almost as if Bella could hear her thoughts, too, she knew what the red head was thinking.
She was so close to what she wanted-the focus of her whole existence was only a few feet away, ready for the taking.
The red head's plan was as obvious to Bella as it was practical. Her blonde companion would attack Quil, while she got the easy pickings of finishing off the two weak humans.
Just thinking Quil's name made him appear. The chocolate brown wolf slunk out of the trees, creeping, creeping, each footfall as silent as the grave, not wanting to disturb the focus of the two vampires looking intently on. But, of course, they knew he was coming. His scent alone warned of his approach. The red head bared her teeth, signaling to the blonde male to attack.
The blonde male, more boy than man, looked uncertainly at the red head. His brilliant crimson irises made Bella guess he had not been a vampire for very long. He was probably an inexperienced fighter, inept, which was good news for Quil, who was just as green.
The red headed female jerked her chin toward the chocolate brown wolf, wordlessly ordering the boy forward.
"Bella, get inside." Billy ordered.
Bella began to back toward the front door, stopping to pause at the entrance when she realized that Billy wasn't following. "Aren't you coming?" She asked frantically.
"I will be in soon." Billy's dark eyes were trained on the unfolding scene in front of him. There was no fear on his face, only a quiet determination.
Bella took a deep, quavering breath, and then returned to his side. "If you're not going in, then neither am I." She declared stoutly.
"Bella, get inside now." Billy commanded.
"No." Bella replied stubbornly. "Anyway, a locked door isn't much of a defense against a vampire. I would rather stay here with you."
Billy glared up at her in frustration, but didn't waste his breath by arguing. He knew his protestations would fall on deaf ears. "Stat behind me then." He demanded.
"Okay." Bella stood behind his chair, resting her trembling hand back on his shoulder.
The blonde boy slowly began to reposition himself as the chocolate brown wolf began to stalk him. His face was desperate as he kept looking toward the red head for answers.
"Get on with it." The red head hissed.
The female's voice took Bella by surprise. It was not the strong, catlike growl she would have put with her face and stance. It was soft, it was high-a babyish soprano tinkling. The kind of voice that went with blonde curls and pink bubble gum. It made no sense coming through her bared, glistening teeth.
Bella felt a strange urge to laugh. She tried to repress it, but it escaped anyway, making Billy glance up at her in alarm as the hysterical giggle spilled past her lips.
The blonde boy's jaw tightened, and he squared his shoulders. His eyes emptied-there was no more confusion. There was no thought at all. He tensed himself to attack.
Satisfied, the red head's body began to vibrate, her crimson eyes glowing fiercely. She was so tightly wound, her fingers like claws, waiting for the fight to begin before she made her move.
Just then a mammoth shape flew the air as Quil launched his enormous wolf body at the blonde boy, landing on him and slamming him to the ground.
"No!" The red head snarled in disbelief, unnerved that her companion was being vanquished so easily. "Get up and fight!"
A yard and half away from her, the huge chocolate wolf ripped and tore at the blonde vampire beneath him. Something white and hard smacked down next to the red head, making her scream with rage. It was the boy's hand. Her crimson eyes filled with a disappointment so ferocious that she looked deranged.
"No!" She screamed again, through her teeth, as the wolf continued to rip and tear at the blonde boy, dismembering him piece by piece.
Another snarl ripped from between her lips as she deserted her companion, ignoring his death cries, as she darted toward Bella and Billy, her clawed hands outstretched in front of her.
The fires that the vampires had set proved convenient for dumping their remains. Jacob had just tossed the head into the orange flames, when a deep gut-wrenching pain twisted his insides, nearly bringing him to his knees. The cord that attached him to Bella suddenly grew white-hot, leaving him gasping.
"Jake! Vampires on the res!" Quil's panicked voice was like a knife in his head.
With wild eyes, his great chest heaving with each breath, Jacob focused all of his attention on the chocolate brown wolf, looking through his eyes, and what he saw poured gasoline onto the spark of fear in his belly. His fear turned into a kind of madness, sinking into him with its cold black eyes. He had never felt so desperate in his life. The feeling even worse than the time Edward had kidnapped Bella. For he now knew who was behind it all. The red headed vampire, plotting her revenge for the loss of her mate, had decided to exact her vengeance by killing his.
Jacob tried to control the fear, knowing it was his challenge, his demon to slay. The only way out was to order his brain to function, to demand solutions instead of this crazy-making circling anxiety. So, though it felt as if his heart was being ripped out of his chest, as if his bones had no more strength and his muscles were all out of power, he managed to refocus that fear into something more pro-active, letting it lend wings to his feet as he turned and charged toward La Push, commanding the others to follow him.
The red head clenched her teeth, keeping her focus solely on Bella. She didn't even see Billy, the threads of her concentration were fully engaged on ripping the young female apart, rendering her body to shreds, leaving the remains as a victory sign to that treacherous beast who had killed her mate that day in the meadow.
The blonde male bellowed in pain as Quil crunched off another piece of his body. In his struggle to be free, the blonde male launched a massive blow that caught the chocolate wolf full on in his broad chest. Quil's huge body soared ten feet and crashed into a tree with a force that seemed to shake the whole forest. The breath whooshed from his lungs, and he collapsed to the ground a few feet away.
Bella's heart was in her throat. All she could see was the twisting flame of the female vampire's hair and a blur of white. And then she was there, right in front of Bella and Billy, her body vibrating, her crimson eyes narrowed, lips pulled back over her poisoned teeth. She licked her lips and began to stalk slowly toward them.
"Bella, get in the house." Billy commanded.
"No." Bella cried; her hand gripped his shoulder tightly. "I won't leave you."
She could be brave. She could be strong. She would not show fear or cower in front of this crazed woman.
"I said get inside, Bella." Billy shoved her roughly.
Bella gasped as she staggered back, staring at him wide-eyed. She watched in astonishment as his hands gripped the handles of his wheelchair. Slowly, so slowly, with jerking movements, he lifted himself upright.
The red head was distracted by the sound of Bella's gasp. Her eyes, holding still for one tiny portion of a second, met Billy's. Fury and curiosity mingled strangely in her expression.
Time seemed to stand still. Bella's violent heartbeat drowned out all other sounds. But, in that split second, as she watched Billy stare into the red head's eyes, she knew instinctively that the vampire was seeing her own doom reflected in the black orbs.
With a sharp tearing sound, Billy Black exploded, just like his ancestor, Taha Aki, had done before him. He burst out of his skin-shreds of his clothing blasting up in the air. It happened so quickly that Bella didn't even have time to blink in astonishment. One second Billy was struggling to rise from his wheelchair, the next a gigantic wolf, his fur burnished gold, charged toward the stunned red headed vampire.
A/N-thanks for reading!