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Chapter 194
Fights of Different Extent
Jake
It was Sunday night, and I was in Leah's bed with her. Basically, I had a good cry on her shoulder.
Flashback
I had brought Becky home earlier.
Her parents acted as if they didn't know the young lady at all. She had not been at home all week, and had only ever called briefly. So a family photo was first used to check whether Becky was telling the truth, because her parents supposedly couldn't remember that they had a daughter.
Becky had then been let into the house and she hurriedly ran on to the bathroom.
Then her father stood in front of me.
"You don't seem to be part of the family," he had said. With mock severity.
Him and me. All alone in the hallway, while Bryan and Eliza were already setting the dining table.
Including a plate for me, since they were just teasing us.
It would have been so simple.
I should have just said that I would like to talk to him about this in private. Or a direct, 'I'd like to change that very soon.' Or as a statement, 'I'm going to change that very soon.' Or blurting something out like: 'I hereby ask you for your daughter's hand in marriage.' The possibilities of seizing that exact moment were endless, but I had simply been too cowardly and hadn't opened my mouth. Such a moment would never come again. Not in just two weeks.
Flashback end
"And don't you dare tell Becky!", I threatened my sister, who was still laughing at me.
"If you can't trust me, who else can you trust?" she replied.
If she didn't laugh so much, it would be easier for me to believe her.
"Mom and Dad!" so I countered, and I absolutely meant it!
"But the ring is really enchanting! Just the right one for your star," she said, however.
The little case lay between us.
Actually, I didn't want to tell Leah about my plans. On the one hand, because I was afraid that she would tell Becky something. On the other hand a reason had changed. Marcus and I had both bought a ring. Both with the same intention. She could have guessed that I hadn't come up with the idea on my own. Maybe she suspected it now, but she wasn't going to get a marriage proposal from Marcus. After all, she didn't want one from him anymore. They were friends. Nothing more. That they were no longer together, but still had the need to continue to see each other, I could somehow understand. Their love had really been something. But I was surprised that Marcus could do that after everything that happened and how he still felt about Leah. Oh well. Not my problem. He needed to know what he could handle, although he seemed to be doing better with it now than his previous attempts. I was more pleased that they were getting along well.
Back to Leah.
With my confession that I was now planning to ask Becky to be my wife, I hadn't been sure what Leah would do about it emotionally. How much she would be disappointed and also sad that the other half of her soul was no longer there.
But she surprised me. She took the case and put it in front of the frame with Nanuk's picture.
"How do you like it for Becky?" she asked the ever-charming smiling effigy.
Leah may have found a way for herself to conquer her grief. Dad said we would have to wait and see how it would develop. Leah talked to Nanuk every evening. She told the photo about her day and what she had experienced. Much like Dad had done with Mom, all those years before they'd found each other again. But unlike Dad, Leah didn't imagine Nanuk.
I don't know what Nanuk's response was, but Leah took the ring and turned on her back next to me while she gazed at it some more.
"Do you know that yesterday we were standing in front of this very jewelry store?" she asked me.
"Yeah. Dad told me. He recognized the store in both your minds and mine." That was the only reason I had taken Leah into my confidence after all. Because, according to Dad, she hadn't thought about being denied such an experience in the process. Besides, I hated hiding anything from Leah. After all, we were one!
"This exact one was in the store window and Becky liked it right away. But the stone was different. It looked kind of dirty, and the color couldn't really be identified clearly. But she said it would definitely look better in pink or something."
"Great!", I dropped my head on the bed. That was horrible!
I bit desperately into the bedspread.
"She'll think you or Mom or Dad picked him out!", I grumbled.
"We'll explain that to Becky at the earliest opportunity," Dad then stood in the doorway.
In his hot, very masculine pink pajamas.
Whispering, he added that we should make the ring disappear for a moment, which Leah did immediately. She slid it into the drawer of the nightstand.
The reason was already crawling around the corner, closely followed by Mom. Mom, of course, went instead of crawling. Dad helped him up onto Leah's bed.
Ced climbed demonstratively between his siblings and made himself very comfortable. He probably didn't intend to sleep in his crib.
"What's that for? Didn't we just want to wish them a good night?" Dad asked more specifically.
Ced pulled the covers over his head in response.
"I guess someone has other plans," Mom stated with a smile.
"It seems so," Dad remarked, sitting down on the edge of the bed.
He looked questioningly at Leah and me and we nodded in unison.
Leah didn't like being alone since she had spent a few days in complete darkness, and without Becky it was too boring and very lonely in my bed. Since I had wanted to stay here tonight anyway.
"Do you actually know what else you missed during your darkness?", I asked my little sis.
She shook her head.
"Dad told us a 'good night' story one night."
"Really?!"
So our parents sat down at the foot of the bed, Mom got a little bit of blanket from us while she leaned against Dad, and he in turn told us a story.
I felt like I was six or something, but somehow it was also nice. No one would ever know that I had my dad tell me a story when I was almost eighteen.
Then came Monday evening and a lot of physics.
Well, Dad had got us into some trouble!
"Well, first of all, you signed off on the schedule, if you remember! And secondly: You would have chosen physics even without my input!", Dad sounded into my grim thoughts.
Both had somehow slipped my mind. Physics just seemed very complicated to me. Maybe it was because of the fact that I didn't have it last semester and we were now in a college prep course. So we had missed a lot.
Physics was a very popular subject at our school, so many people wanted to take the course. It was all because of this brilliant teacher. With him, you didn't learn how a circuit works theoretically from diagrams on the blackboard. No. With him, you actually put it together. The textbook was only there to give him the topics, but everything was put into practical use. If something didn't work, you had to find out yourself what it was because of. With his help, of course. However, because of our career choices, Brandon's Mom had given us a little advantage this semester and enrolled us in the course. It was a real struggle to remember it all again, that it made sense somehow. Luckily, Dad was there to help us with some of the things in the textbook.
After three hours my head was spinning and I fell into bed, beaten. Right next to Becky.
At this, I recited from the physics book: 'Two atoms form a repulsively bonded pair.'
But then with Becky, I was able to quickly move away from physics and cared more about practical biology.
On Tuesday I had my first game this year.
My first game with the sneakers that I had gotten as a gift from Becky. I had already trained with those, so they were well worn in, and they fit perfectly. And directly in an away game. Against the 'Westbrook Blue Blazes'. They were good, but not good enough. Our fan base was pretty scarce though. The girls volleyball team, for example, still had practice and would have their first game of the second round tomorrow.
My family, of course, was almost entirely present. Carlisle and Esmé were probably still lazing on the beach and Ced was with David and Sonya.
Only Lisa sat with them from our friends.
How would that look next Friday? I could really get upset about that! That stupid game plan had screwed up our birthday plans! We had games! Both of us! And both away, too! In different cities! On Valentine's Day! On our birthday! That's when the big party Alice had already planned fell through. It was to be feared that we would be late for our own party. Oh well. Now it would be on Saturday.
It was a hard fight for every single point on the field. Sneakers squeaked on the floor.
The part of our cheerleaders that were at least there were singing and dancing down their repertoire. Tactics were shouted across the field. Fan drums and horns and chants echoed off the walls of the gym.
The referee's whistle regularly got on my nerves. He apparently didn't blow his whistle on principle when it was appropriate. For example, when I was fouled and was on the floor. Two of the opponents even towered over me and at least one of them was always in my way. We were behind after every single damn quarter. It was only ever two or three points, but it dragged us down as a team.
On to the last quarter ...
I was constantly being pushed away and fouled. If not me, then Kenny. My hands slapped my face as once again the buzzer loudly announced that the ball was in the basket.
In our basket.
I looked around indecisively for a moment and my gaze lingered on Emmett and Jazz. That gave me an idea.
When the two of them trained with us - basketball, that is - it was even less of a walk in the park than combat training as wolves.
I waved Kenny and Piet over and met them by Brandon.
Change of tactics. Normally, Kenny and I were mainly responsible for the points. We would change that now, but not in such a way that it would be obvious. We'd just beat our way to the basket as usual - so to speak - and then pass the ball to Bran or Piet. Quasi at the last moment. Just as our in-house strategist had shown us.
The plan worked out perfectly.
So we had won, and I directly had a suggestion how we could celebrate that.
On a little scale, at least. After all, tomorrow was school and the humans in my team were also pretty exhausted.
Brandon's mother was there, she had even sat with my parents, Kenny's father was our coach and Piet was already of age. So the four of us - three after parental permission - didn't have to go back with the school bus, but could get away. Lisa was taken back by my parents. After a very long goodbye of Bran. Piet had driven up independently and with him we drove to Portland.
To a pretty good diner.
"Well?", Marcus stood in front of me with his arms folded in front of his chest. Without any greeting.
"Won!", I announced snootily and arrogantly. His team had lost to them a few weeks ago. "That places us ahead of you!", I topped it off.
"Wait until tomorrow. Then you'll be back where you belong. Behind us!", he informed me.
Snooty and arrogant. Just 'Mr. Sports Science'.
"Never mind. It's enough if we kick you out in the finals!" said Kenny.
"We'll see about that!" muttered Marcus threateningly.
Only now we greeted each other in a good mood. He already knew my boys, especially Brandon, of course. We sat down at a table, and I heard Marcus order our feast.
"Jake's here. Four times as usual."
"Five burger specials. Coming right up," Thomas repeated good-humoredly.
"How long do you have to stay?", I asked as he brought our beverages.
He looked at his watch. With a whopping thirteen minutes to go, that is until eight, his shift would be over, unless another surprising huge crowd came, and his replacement was not on time.
He was, so Marcus was soon sitting at the table with us.
We spent an enjoyable, rather silly evening together. Thomas, the owner, had sat with us once and wanted to hear details about the game. We were treated to cherry pie for the win.
However, Piet and Kenny left soon after they had finished eating - they were quite knocked out - but that was not a problem for us. Marcus would give us a lift and in a pinch I could run.
We sat together for some time. Meanwhile, I was outside briefly to talk to my star on the phone.
The girls were also still on the road and as I heard, in the best of moods. In the 'Twilight' was 'Ladies Night'.
Around 9:30 p.m. we drove back to Saco, but it was too early for bed and too late to go anywhere. So we found ourselves at the playground near Brandon's house.
"I think it's really cool that Leah and you remain friends," Bran eventually remembered to say.
Marcus rolled his eyes as I chuckled at that.
"What is it?" asked Brandon thereupon.
"Everyone feels they have to comment about it," Marcus complained.
"Marvel silently at that," I murmured to Brandon.
"I think that's really amazing. Who stays friends with his ex and continues to see her?!"
"Do you know why this seems so strange to you?", I asked Bran.
He shook his head.
"Because you don't even speak a word to any of your exes, because you've always had a rigorous falling out with them."
"So?"
"But it doesn't have to be that way. I still talk to my exes. In fact, with Abi, I'm always happy to see her."
"Yes, but Abi was something else," he waved it off.
"Oh, and why is that?"
"You broke up because she changed shores, not because you couldn't stand each other anymore."
"I still talk to Lily, too," Marcus interjected.
"Didn't she even change continents to get rid of you?", Brandon bitingly dug deeper.
For this he got a rough kick against the swing on which he was sitting.
Or ... now had sat.
"Maybe we'd better change the subject," I said, holding out a hand to Bran, which he used to pull himself up out of the sand.
"Yes, please!" said Marcus in an exaggerated, begging manner.
Through four corners, five detours, a six-pack of beer that Bran picked up from home, and a spectacular change of location from the swings to the slide, we somehow arrived at my current problem.
How to ask a father for the hand of his daughter?
"Actually, you don't just want her hand," Marcus stated to that.
"Right. Only because of her hand you wouldn't need Becky," Brandon interjected.
Okay, the beer was non-alcoholic, but that didn't seem to matter to our current mood. Somewhere I had once seen a postcard with silly sayings. 'Men turn seven. After that they only grow!', it had said on one of them. It was probably true.
"Seriously!", I asked when our silly chuckling had subsided.
So the two of them made more or less serious suggestions. The most reasonable/honest one seemed to me to be Brandon's idea to go to her parents' house in a suit and with a bunch of flowers, when neither Becky nor Bryan would be there, and then to try to talk to both of them.
However, I found that again quite ... no idea. Too heavy and exaggerated.
"Had you wanted to talk to Mom and Edward before?", I asked Marcus.
"Yes, but I would have faced the same problem. To think seriously about how I would have done it, however, Nanuk got in my way," he said with a slightly contrite undertone.
I knew that he was nowhere near as done with Leah as some assumed he was. Brandon, for example. Or his own family. But my family knew, and that included Becky.
"You could get some ideas from Hollywood. There are tons of movies where the guy goes to his girlfriend's father," Brandon skipped over the grumbling that he certainly hadn't really registered either.
"That's right," Marcus confirmed.
"So? Thursday at my place and we'll peek at what we find there," Bran then suggested, holding his bottle in the air.
"Okay," I opined.
Invitingly, he then looked to Marcus.
"Thursday I have taekwondo and then work," he replied.
"Friday then? ... If I'm not mistaken, our girls wanted to see that gloomy movie at the cinema. We could send them there then," Brandon smirked.
"Sounds like a plan," I confirmed. The film could only be boring, if I visualized the trailer like that. I don't know what the girls found so interesting about the film. It was probably because of the main character. No matter which girl you asked, the statement was that he was cute. I didn't see anything cute. He rather annoyed me.
"That's when I have the early shift at the diner, but I'll be there after that," Marcus said thereupon, and we clinked our bottles against each other in a sealing gesture before finishing them.
"So it's a deal. On Friday, we'll craft you a strategy for the most important question of your life!" summarized Brandon.
"You are the best brothers from another mother!", I said with conviction.
"Yep ...!" confirmed Brandon.
His brother was pretty easygoing, but also equally unpredictable.
"You are the only brothers," laughed Marcus, who had only sisters at home.
A tough lot, if it wasn't a twin sister.
It was meanwhile shortly before eleven and we slid down the slide, which was much too short for us, to make our various ways home.
"Do you need a ride?" asked Marcus.
"No, I still feel like running," I said, however, and already took my phone out of my jacket pocket to call Leah. Maybe she also wanted to go to the forest.
Marcus said goodbye and drove.
He had had extra practice after regular school because he had a game tomorrow. In this respect, he wanted to go to bed.
"Hey, little sis," I greeted Leah cheerfully through the earpiece, but she was practically in bed, too.
The last cocktail had not suited her so well.
"Are you drunk?!", I asked more precisely. For one thing, it was the middle of the week and she had already overdone it once in 'Twilight', throwing up in the bushes. For another, these colorful things reacted immediately with her. Despite our wolf genes.
"No, nonsense, I only had two with alcohol. The one as a welcome drink and then another one before we left. That one was new, but it wasn't my taste at all."
"Well then," I smirked and asked for Becky, but she was just in the bathroom.
"And Dad?", I further asked. Maybe he wanted to come with me into the forest. Running alone was not soo much fun now.
"He's in the woods with the others, but down toward Boston. I guess it was on the news: A truck carrying coyotes to be transported to the Boston Zoo went off the road. In the Hampton area. They had trouble recovering all the animals because some ran right into the woods. The police are advising all residents to stay in their homes," Leah explained.
Typical of my family. Had to take care of something like that directly.
"Then I guess my walk will be a little shorter," I stated. "I'll be home in a minute," I continued and hung up.
"The great lone wolf. In the middle of the night. All alone," Brandon teased me.
I shrugged my shoulders.
Was just so.
He accompanied me to the edge of the forest, which started a bit behind the playground.
I was already taking off my jacket when my cell phone rang.
"Akai?!", I stated.
"Jake! ... Vampires! ... In the forest! ..." he wheezed.
He seemed to be running, the way he was talking wheezing, but my muscles were already tensing as a precaution.
"How many and where exactly?", I dug deeper, increasing my pace considerably towards the forest.
"Four ... are running ... toward Saco ...," Akai continued to wheeze.
"Be right there!", I said quickly and sprinted the last few meters.
Brandon at my side, who was already holding my jacket. I tossed him my phone while I pulled my sweater, including T-shirt, over my head as I ran.
"Call Leah. Tell her to come into the woods. Four of them are running in our direction," I said quickly. Calling Dad wouldn't make sense if they had run toward Boston.
Brandon was then suddenly no longer next to me. He had stopped and looked quite frightened. Suddenly pale and he was trembling.
"Bran?"
"How many times ... have you ..." he stammered.
I ran my hands through my hair erratically.
Brandon had never realized that directly that we were actually destroying vampires. Back then, when we were hiking at Sebago Lake, we had played it down quite a bit, and in the end it had really only been a small thing. But now there were four bloodsuckers, I got a call from a wolf, and I wanted to take Leah as well. That must have sounded pretty serious to him. However, I had no time for long explanations.
"More often than you know," I just said and pulled down my jeans.
At the same time I tried to take my shoes off my feet, but I lost my balance and then lay awkwardly on the ground.
"That's what we exist for, Bran. We exist only to destroy vampires, and we know what we're doing!" I said, continuing to undress while seated.
I pulled my bracelet off my wrist, but Bran was already gathering my clothes.
"I'll take them and bring them over. Becky will certainly be scared when you both have to go," he mumbled softly.
"Certainly," came to my mind. Above all, she would be home all alone. "Thanks. And call Leah!", I reminded him.
Only when he nodded did I run into the forest.
A few more meters, then a wide jump over a little ledge and I ran as a wolf further through the night.
I heard Akai immediately in my mind and Leah followed shortly after.
Akai and Tom had been arranged to go for a run. Tom was already on his way, while Akai had entered the forest from Phoebe and had yet to pass by half the town. Through the pack's mental link, Akai had seen four pale creatures pass by Tom. They had paid no real attention to the mud-colored wolf. Just a brief confusion at its size, a well-aimed blow to the body, and then Tom's lights had gone out, so to speak. But he was just coming around,' as Akai said/thought. 'He had apparently banged his head against something. Akai had immediately run faster and followed the trail of the vampires, but he knew he wouldn't stand a chance against four. Not even if Tom was at his side. And since the trail led him in our direction anyway, he called. It must have looked a bit silly, as a human, hopping stark naked through the night forest, his bag dangling around his neck and talking on the phone. That he bothered us with it, he thought subliminally apologetically.
'You can generally call us when you spot vampires!' I grumbled. 'The Pequawket pack didn't have to claim all the fun for themselves.'
'Exactly!' interjected Leah.
The connection between Leah and me was more pronounced than that with Akai. She had already understood the background of my grumbling. It wasn't that we would be offended if they hunted our enemies without us. They were Pequawket, we were Quileute, and yet we were all brothers ...
'And a sister!', objected Leah!
None of us should face our common foes alone. Whether it was just one person or a group. Our task was difficult enough, we did not need to increase the danger unnecessarily. We were in the fortunate position of being able to call for reinforcements, and we should all take advantage of that when the opportunity arose. So that there were no more victims.
Leah had been running pretty slow, but only until I caught up to her.
She was not afraid, but was concentrating. But alone she could not have done anything. Akai could follow the trail effortlessly and as far as we did not recognize the exact direction through his thoughts, he guided us.
We had long left Saco behind and were north of the Stone property.
Apparently they were going to Portland? Create a bloodbath?
We left Hollis behind and were approaching Sebago Lake when we heard them coming toward us almost silently. Right behind Bonny Eagle Pond.
Quite a good place. A place that was not so densely wooded. The nearest humans were just about a mile away, but separated from us by the little lake.
Leah and I glanced at each other, hearing a bright chime echo in our heads.
Our thoughts were united.
Threatening and awe-inspiring, we stood there waiting for things to come.
'I'm almost at Watchic Pond,' Akai informed us.
He must have been running for his life if he was that close. These two lakes were just a few miles apart.
And then they came.
Four of them. Three men, one woman.
They had stopped in their tracks when they faced us.
Their sweet stench burned our noses.
"There seem to be several of them," pondered the petite pretty woman with a flowing mane of reddish-blond hair.
"Maybe that was their puppy back there?" the big wirey one pondered.
Leah growled softly at this remark.
Nanuk was also mistaken for our puppy, because he was much smaller than we were.
"They don't look like the kind of guys you could just shove out of the way!" the rotund one noted teasingly.
Addressed to the last man of the group. A sporty, muscular man with a hooked nose. In terms of stature and in comparison to his companions, he could easily pass for their bodyguard.
The group laughed.
Somehow I didn't feel taken seriously.
"I don't give a shit how big these critters are. Whether they fell into radioactive waste or are a freak of nature. They're just stupid animals!" the bodyguard grinned smugly and approached me.
Whether he now wanted to explain to me where my place would be as an animal?
A few steps in front of me, he slowed down and carefully extended a hand to my muzzle.
Like he was willing to let me sniff it? Was I a dog now or what? That just upset me so much!
But I remained well-behaved. As long as Akai was not yet there.
No unnecessary risk. The fact that the vampires showed themselves so unimpressed and seemed to want to tame me was basically to our advantage. They didn't know any Spirit Warriors and didn't see us as a danger. But still, it was not clear how experienced in battle this group might really be. Perhaps their lack of concern was because they were damn good at it. According to Jasper, a group was always a potential risk, and it didn't matter whether they deliberately sought and provoked combat or tried to settle disputes as peacefully as possible. Like my family. Our vampires were very peace-loving, and yet as a group they were very dangerous to others of their kind. Because they knew each other. Because they knew of each other's ways. Because they looked out for each other. Because they mostly outnumbered each other. Of course, also because they had some interesting additional abilities at their disposal.
The pale hand came closer and closer to me.
As if in slow motion. The guy no longer looked quite as confident as he had wanted to show his companions. But they didn't see his uncertain look.
"Watch out or you'll get bit," the woman teased him, chuckling.
I guess that's what he was actually afraid of. Could vampires actually get rabies?
The guy seemed to be hurt in his pride.
"Easy there, my Little one," he purred, and I tilted my head.
Was he crazy? By the way, Leah was trying to hide her laughter. She only succeeded on the outside. In her mind, she was practically on the ground laughing.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he tried to make me believe.
Quite timidly, his hand came closer, and I approached with my muzzle just as hesitantly.
Just do not make any frantic movements. Just do not create unnecessary fear ...
Then I snapped and had a hand hanging between my teeth.
Akai was there. He stood behind the group, which had not noticed his arrival immediately. They had all curiously followed how their bodyguard wanted to make friends with a wolf. Or just would not do that.
Somewhat delayed, the guy now cried out in pain and held the stump where his hand had been before.
I spat it out and now growled at the guy from deep within my core.
His screams died away abruptly, but his eyes widened, scared to death.
The battle was on ...
While I wrestled with the handless guy at my feet, the other wolves charged into the remaining group.
Leah focused on the tall wirey one, Akai on the roundish one. But neither of us paid attention specifically to the woman.
Admittedly, ignoring her just because she was a woman was reckless, but the men seemed to be more dangerous after all. Still, we could not underestimate her, and she was indeed not to be despised. She helped her companions wherever she could. Tore a wolf from her friend here, hit against the massive body there, kicked me off the guy. And even with only one hand, the muscular one could stand up to me. It was a tougher fight than I had hoped, but easier than I had feared. Yet it dragged on. The injuries got worse on both sides, the ground became redder and redder from the blood of the wolves, scraps of clothing flew through the air, trees groaned under the masses. Screams and howls of wolves rang through the air, as did growls and insults. We Spirit Warriors persevered, though we were all at our wits' end the longer it went on. Although we all lost plenty of blood from countless injuries.
When Tom joined us after all, it became easier, although he was considerably battered. He was still injured in the head, which was no particular help to him here. He staggered more than he could really do anything here.
Even with Tom at our side, the bloodsuckers remained superior numbers, so that one could always come to the aid of the other. Tom tried to prevent this as much as possible. It seemed to be more of a nuisance to our opponents as Tom posed a real threat, but he gave us enough seconds to gain the upper hand. The vampires lost more and more body parts until eventually they were all in a heap.
"TOM?", I yelled.
He was lying on his side after receiving another solid blow to the skull. A last desperate act from the bodyguard.
But he was alive. He was breathing, his heart was beating, and he was on fire. And mumbled an incomprehensible "Mmm ...", as if my question came at an inopportune moment.
Akai dragged himself to his bag, which he had tossed in the area away from him, and pulled out a lighter.
Completely exhausted, we looked at the red smoke and licked proverbial our wounds.
I think everything was hurting me. From head to toe. Even my hair hurt! But that could also be imagination.
So we were lying there recovering.
We burned internally, which was even more exhausting. Akai had done a really good job. Two training sessions with Jasper were already having an effect. Tom had also done quite well, considering that he had already been battered. And Leah and I, well, we were attuned to each other and had as a little bonus the merging of our minds.
We had plenty of injuries, but none of them were even close to life-threatening. We had lost a lot of blood, which is why we felt a little woozy, but otherwise we were just exhausted because it had taken so long.
"We have to go home. Mom will go crazy with fear!" muttered Leah.
We all nodded.
Also our new brothers would surely be missed already at home.
So we pulled ourselves together, said our goodbyes, and dragged ourselves home.
The burning healing within us had not been finished and we felt it with every step. Leah had pain in her knees from when the woman had kicked her away. Mine was predominantly in the tailbone, when the round one had tried a Body Slam on me. Actually, I just wanted to fall into bed, but it was much too far away.
At some point, Leah could take no more.
In the middle of nowhere. She let herself sink to the ground, phased back, and the joints in her arms and legs shook.
I most wanted to do the same like her. The burn of healing could be very pleasant compared to how it felt when with each step she was not only stopped, but broke again what she would have already healed. But I knew that once I lay there, I would go no further.
So I nudged Leah with my muzzle, constantly annoying her so she wouldn't close her eyes. I lay close to her so that she could push herself onto my back with as little effort as possible. And so I dragged us along.
Akai and I mentally tried to motivate each other to keep going, because they weren't really more enthusiastic on the road either.
But at some point I just couldn't take it anymore. My legs buckled, Leah rolled off my back and I just stayed lying there.
"Go back to sleep, Jake," I heard as I once again something akin to woke up.
I had no more pain. There was no burning anywhere. I was lying on something quite soft and comfortable.
"You're home. Leah and Becky lie with you and Akai and Tom have also arrived home safe and sound," Dad whispered.
He had to be right, I guess. Now that he said it, I felt Leah's hand in mine and Becky snuggling up to me on the other side. My star ... And since when did my star snore so beastly?
"Brandon's there, too. He didn't want to leave Becky alone at first and then make sure you guys were okay," Dad smirked through the silence.
I would smile if I were awake enough to do so.
But I wasn't and I fell asleep again.
Then at breakfast, Dad explained in more detail what we had missed last night.
Capturing all the coyotes and shooing them into the arms of the search party had taken some doing. Not least because of Emmett, who had befriended one of the three pups. That one had fallen into a hole he couldn't get out of on his own. Em had wanted to keep the little one, with which the mother had probably disagreed. In any case, the coyotes had been scattered around the woods and it had taken them a while to find them all. And then it hadn't been right next door. Hampton was already in New Hampshire, a good fifty miles from here, which is why they didn't get back here until about midnight.
Dad had heard in Brandon and Becky's minds from a distance that we were in the woods and also why we were in the woods. He had sent Rose here to the house and had run right on with the others. Always following our scent. They had even discovered the remains of the fire. From then on, Dad had known that everything would have been fine. If we had lost the battle, the enemies would not have been burned. If we were badly injured, we would still be there. Dad could sense thoughts over a few miles, but he hadn't heard us on the way. So he assumed we had been overcome by exhaustion on the way home after the adrenaline from the fight had worn off. The vampires had split up. Jazz and Alice had followed Akai and Tom's trail. Em and Dad ours. Apparently not a single wolf had made it home. All of them were already lying somewhere before.
"One of the vampires wanted to make friends with Jake, too," Leah had interjected good-humoredly meanwhile.
I told it in more detail.
"How often do you guys get into such mischief?!" asked Bran, who had been quietly listening to Dad's tale.
Thereby he had been watching us the whole time.
Us wolves, who sat happily and merrily at the table. He hadn't quite digested that yet, because he had seen how, from his point of view, we had arrived here lifeless and covered in blood crusts. But even Mom looked pretty calm. She could imagine that when the danger had finally passed, we hadn't wanted to take another step.
"Every few weeks something like that happens," I said vaguely.
"Sometimes more, sometimes less fiercely," Leah added with a throwaway hand gesture.
"Luckily, our game was yesterday. You must be exhausted," Brandon reflected.
"Not a bit!", however, I countered, virtually proving my point by lifting Becky off her chair and onto my lap with one arm.
Brandon peeked rather ... bemused.
Everyone else laughed.
In the late afternoon I immediately had the next fight of the week.
At the volleyball game in the stands. A guy had dissed my star! His name was Kenneth, and I knew him. We had been in Elementary School together until his family had moved. Now his girlfriend was my girlfriend's opponent on the playing field, and we were verbally busting each other's balls. Just like we used to do. In the process, we shared popcorn. It was fun and the 'arguments' didn't end until after the final whistle. When we had our girls back.
WE had won! After a really exciting game.
We ate together at a diner and chatted about old times before heading home.
On the way back, a message from Bran arrived on my touchscreen in the car, which a female voice also read it out robotically.
My car was so awesome!
My bro-ther is here Fri-day!, the message said.
My hand inevitably slapped my face.
That too. If he realized what we were preparing, I would be listening this from him for the rest of my life.
"Was there anything planned for Friday?" my star asked from the passenger seat.
"Nothing on my radar there either," Leah confirmed from the back seat.
... Oh yes. We hadn't even discussed that with the girls yet.
"Oops ...", I therefore made.
A growl behind me made me duck a little.
"That's typical again. You make plans among yourselves, but nobody tells us anything!", my little sis got upset.
I collected myself for a moment.
"We wanted to send you two and Lisa to the movies. You want to see this movie that we don't have any interest in. 'Life is a roller coaster' or something like that," I said elatedly and praisingly, as if we were only doing them a favor.
"And then what?", Becky dug deeper.
"And ... while you're enjoying this drama without any troublesome men, we wanted to hang out for a bit," I admitted.
"Troublesome men, mmm ...? You are so underdoing it!", Leah said.
"Hang out a little bit, huh?", Becky didn't quite want to believe.
In the end, however, they agreed, although they made it clear, offended and snotty, that they would enjoy the evening if only because there were no pubescent silly arrogant boys present.
I left that uncommented.
"Marcus Carter. Call," I then commanded my car and it dialed. Simply a brilliant car!
"Oh, with Marcus," Leah stated seemingly to herself.
I looked in the rearview mirror.
"Does it bother you?", I inquired.
"No, nonsense. I was just assuming Jason," she smiled levelly.
I hadn't thought of him at all, but he was also making himself very scarce at the moment. He was often on the road with his Claire and her friends. He hardly ever came to relatively spontaneous dates, but he was always there for long-term appointments. For example, at our party the weekend after next. With Claire.
"Hello?", Marcus' dark voice sounded through my car. Crystal clear, as if he were sitting in the car with me. Brilliant ca ... I already said.
"Hello, Marcus," the three of us replied at the same time.
"How was your game?" was the first thing I asked.
"Hello, we won! With us there is no question of such a thing as it is with you!", he sounded.
"Yes, nope, it's clear!", I mumbled only strongly doubtful, while the girls laughed. A little side blow like that was just what they needed.
"Edward and Ced were even there," Marcus then commented.
"We know," Leah and I said simultaneously.
With Ced, they couldn't come to any of our games. For one thing, no one knew they had a baby. For another, someone would probably notice at some point that our little brother was growing a little faster than he should. But they didn't want to leave him at home with Sonya and David all the time either. That's where it offered itself today, that Marcus also had a game, and no one knew my dad there. In that respect, Ced would be mistaken for Dad's little brother. Except Marcus. Or Jules, if she was there, which she probably wasn't most of the time, because it overlapped with her Indiaka class.
I quickly enlightened Marcus that the girls were going to the movies, but that Bran's brother would be there. To that extent, we shifted our 'hanging out', as I emphasized a bit, to us. Mom and Dad would surely be driving over to their weekend glass palace in the afternoon anyway, and if they hadn't planned to do so before, they would when they found out about this date.
Thursday passed rather uneventfully.
At least until I was alone with Becky in the evening.
We spent almost the entire evening in bed.
There was no one at home but us. That had to be taken advantage of.
Leah was with Ced at Jazz and Alice. My parents were visiting Peter and Stan.
However, after we had thought only very moderately about her family the previous week, I brought her home at an appropriate time for fathers.
Not entirely altruistically, I would have to admit. The weekend was just around the corner. Most of the time we didn't think about the fact that Becky actually had another home. A very nice home even. Very familiar - almost like ours.
I was greeted as usual.
Or usual in the meantime. As if I belonged to them.
We sat comfortably together in the living room for some time, chatting about the past days.
Bryan told us that he would be staying with a friend from tomorrow evening until Sunday. They had a trip planned for Saturday that was supposed to start relatively early. What they would do, he didn't know. The friend's parents were going to surprise the boys.
Meanwhile, I thought about what they might do. David or even Brandon's father had also made such long trips with us. A hiking trip through the White Mountain National Forest. A boat trip through the Bay of Fundy. Or Montreal, Boston, or New York. Or even Disney World in Florida. David had taken us there once. However, we had just been with Grandma Renée in Jacksonville. So wasn't necessarily likely for Bryan and his buddy. But the topic sent an uncomfortable cold shiver down my spine. Valentine's Day was a week from tomorrow. I only had a week left to talk to Becky's father. So the certainty that Bryan would not be present made this weekend just about ideal for my purpose. But that was already tomorrow! Or the day after tomorrow! Damn, how time was flying by at the moment!
I had to recover from this badass shock and stayed overnight with Becky.
Her dad didn't have any more problems with it.
At least none that he mentioned to me.
On Friday after school we trained with Jazz, Em, Akai, and Tom.
They took it easy after we had already had a real fight this week. Just a few more technical things instead of serious attacks.
Afterwards, as usual, there was an extensive meal.
Alice had cooked. That's exactly how it tasted.
But the hunger was stronger than our taste buds.
She wanted to cook for us too and had forbidden any interference from my parents.
We ran back to our house in Saco, drove off in our Mercedes and went to eat there again.
We wouldn't tell Alice, though. She had gone to great lengths, as Mom said.
Then I said goodbye to my star and wished her and Leah a great time at the movies.
Brandon was already there when I pulled into our driveway, but he had probably just arrived.
He had brought two six-packs of beer, which I wanted to put in the fridge first, but I hesitated.
There were already two in there. Two or three bottles were always down in the drawer. For David, when he came over. For Mom, when she kept him company. But there really stood two six-packs in it.
Thanks, Dad!, I thought, even though he was way too far away to hear me, and just put Bran's beer next to the fridge for now.
I took a laptop from the shelf; Bran had brought his.
We deposited some more nibbles on the living room table and Marcus arrived right on time as I typed the search terms into Google.
There were a lot of movies you could go back to. 'Why him?', 'Meet the Parents'. Also many books.
So we were quite busy evaluating all of that for feasibility.
Some of it was just silly, some of it was way too over the top. So not really usable. Above all, none of it felt like me.
We didn't really get anything done, but it turned out to be a pretty fun evening.
Until Alice called me.
"Hey, Jake. Do you guys have any plans for the weekend?" she asked.
"Um ... yes. Tomorrow first tinkering in the workshop and afterwards we have an appointment with a few people in the ice rink. And Sunday there's a 'The Dark Eye' night planned," I enumerated. "Wait a minute!", I said, however, when I saw headlights in our driveway. "The girls are coming!" I murmured across the living room, grabbing the case with the ring from the table that Brandon had been dying to see, and Marcus and Bran quickly wiped out the search history on the laptops.
I quickly let the case disappear in a drawer.
We looked around again before casually spreading ourselves across the sofa again.
"Okay, I'm back on," I indicated to Alice and told her that Leah would be coming in the door with Becky any minute.
She waited until Leah was within earshot before explaining the reason for her call in more detail.
And what she told then made us grin wider with every word - even if they were quite few.
"Save it to call Marcus. He's here. We'll clear him up!", I said at the end of the phone call. Still not quite able to grasp what Alice had just told me very succinctly.
Leah and I fell into each other's arms as if by ourselves.
"What's going on?" inquired Becky.
I had my sister in my arms rather than my star. That was already unusual.
I immediately made up for the befitting greeting by first twirling Becky happily through the air.
"So ...", I then began.
Leah just sat on the sofa back, smiling, and seemed to already be picturing everything in her mind.
"We're out of all planned activities for this weekend," I then told Brandon.
"Why? What are you planning to do?" he asked, irritated.
"Are you already scheduled for the weekend?", however, I asked Marcus instead of answering Brandon.
"Yes, partially. Why?"
"And can you cancel or reschedule that?" asked Leah.
"Certainly, but why?"
"Because our parents are getting married!", I answered him.
"And they'll definitely want you there," Leah added.
Together we drained the rest of the beer that Dad had put on ice for us and speculated boozily about what Alice might have come up with.
She had said that the guest list would be very exclusive. Our friends were therefore not invited. Had a very simple reason, which is why Brandon was not offended either. They could hardly explain Ced - who would definitely be there - to anyone. But Brandon would still come over for a glass of champagne and congratulate them on behalf of our friends. More likely it would be a glass of beer. After all, he knew almost all of our secrets and only that was what it was all about, in our opinion, which is why we raised no objection.
Brandon and Marcus later had a cab take them home, but Marcus had agreed to be there on time tomorrow morning as arranged.
With rolls, since our personal supplier was not here.
Leah, Becky, and I stayed sitting/lying on the sofa for a long time. We were happy.
For our parents, who, according to Alice, knew nothing of their happiness yet. She had even run into the forest especially with the others to enlighten our ice-cold relatives and to call us, so that Dad could by no means pick up anything from any thoughts. This was going to be quite a surprise for them.
We had fallen asleep on the sofa and the doorbell woke us up.
Sleepily, I squeezed myself between Becky and Leah from the sofa and staggered to the door, yawning.
Marcus. Fresh as the morning dew. In the middle of the night. Well. It couldn't be that much in the middle of the night. It was already light.
"Good morning!" he warbled, waving with the bag of rolls.
"Morn'," I merely mumbled, shuffling back to the sofa and practically letting myself fall. I was not yet awake enough to ask myself why he was here at the crack of dawn.
"What's that?" he asked mockingly. "You're lying around tired on the sofa when your parents are about to get married?"
Immediately I stood upright.
Yes, that rang a bell.
This also seemed to have brought a memory to the consciousness of the still quite sleepy ladies on the sofa. They grinned.
"Go on, get ready. I'll make breakfast meanwhile," he held out a hand to Leah, by which she pulled herself up from the sofa.
"But in the usual quality here, please!" clarified Leah.
"We're used to a very high level here!", Becky also specified.
"I'll do my best not to disappoint you ladies," he said, but only looked at Leah by doing so, who was standing close in front of him.
Sometimes I already wondered whether it might not be better for him if he stayed away from my sister. But today was definitely not the right day to think about it.
We took a quick shower, had a big breakfast and praised Marcus for his qualities. He was hired for the days when we did not get our breakfast from Mom or Dad.
We then quickly cleared everything away again and ran over.
In doing so, I carried Marcus on my back and Leah carried Becky.
Alice already welcomed us at the big main house - as agreed. She was even more jittery today than she always was anyway.
Leah and I then went down to our house.
"Won't Dad know what's going on? He's bound to hear us by now," Leah reasoned.
"Alice said Mom would distract him from any thoughts," I replied, shrugging my shoulders.
"And how?"
"I don't really want to know that exactly!", I stated.
Thank you for reading!
