Fate into Shadows

Chapter 10

Vixen Amongst Wolves

...?...?...?...

I've been feeling sick for a while now, but fighting with myself just seems to hurt more. I won't allow myself to become a monster, obeying his commands. The very thought disturbs me.

They've become like a cult, a dark and disturbed one, and I have nowhere to turn; even my little brother has been drawn into it, by this 'pack' of... of monsters, under his rule, and so few look like they care to defy him, and none can.

I had once believed that he was a good man, and no matter what, he would always choose the correct path in life; but here I am, running from my problems... him, and his pack of wild dogs, so strong they were that even the village chieftain feared to speak out against them.

I know that not all of them wanted to do the things they did, but they were too weak to fight back and free themselves from such tyrannical rule.

I'm far enough into my escape through the forest that I know... I know that I'll soon be in their territory, but I can't stop now... I have to be free, to survive.

I slow my run, breathing heavily as I reach an invisible line. I can smell their sweet scent...overly sweet in a way, but not yet too unpleasant.

Sweat glistens on my tanned brow as I contemplate whether or not to cross the line, to seek sanctuary within enemy territory; after all, this so-called enemy had never, to my knowledge, broken the treaty, and had not given in to their basic instinct for human blood.

I could feel my uncertain heartbeat pounding away painfully within my chest; uncertainty ran rampant through my clouded and befuddled mind... My heart aches. I'm only sixteen, should I really feel like this...? Should such monsters really exist?

I slumped down tiredly at the base of a tree, whimpering slightly. As I started, I heard a rustling in the bushes followed by a low and intimidating growl. A large grey wolf emerged, one that could easily have been ridden by a human like a horse. The red fox's dead carcass dripped blood from its gigantic jaws.

I was rightfully afraid as well as feeling pity for the innocent creature it had killed, as I had always liked foxes, and had always believed that my spirit guide would be a fox if our tribe did not believe we were all a part of the wolf spirit.

My muscles felt like they were on fire with the pain of… transforming into that monstrous wolf, the first female to… become one… what would I become? Just their plaything?

I found myself unable to think straight as several metallic objects suddenly shot down from the trees above, and I watched in awe as they sliced into the wolf, causing it to scream in agony.

However, as it dropped the dead fox, a blur of movement was all I saw before the foot of a girl collided with the wolf's face, sending it hurtling away. Before it could regain its balance, another streaked by with long fingernails and tore the wolf's head off, forcing it to revert back into the form of a naked Native American boy wearing a look of shock and horror.

Neither young woman seemed surprised that the wolf had turned into a person; the girl with wild blonde hair merely tossed her head to one side, while the other girl turned to her.

She was dressed strangely compared to the other girl, who wore blue jeans, a tee shirt, and trainers.

She was wearing black leather armor-like clothing, with no sleeves, fingerless gloves, and boots. The outfit accentuated her beautiful body in all the right places, and a hood hid her face in shadow, while a mask covered her mouth and nose, and a headband completed the ensemble.

The strangely dressed girl moved toward me, and I was rightfully terrified; so scared I could barely muster any pity for the wolf that had stumbled into the realm of predators, even though it was no match for them.

She stopped in front of me and extended her left hand. Though I couldn't see her face clearly, I knew her eyes were completely blank. I couldn't think straight and didn't know what to do; I jumped as I heard the howling of others.

I was surprised when the blonde girl growled with an expression of boarding disgust and anger as she looked towards the source of the sound.

However, the other girl hadn't paid it any mind. "Take my hand and let's go before more turn up!" she said harshly, and I was shocked at how easily I obeyed her command and took her hand.

She pulled me effortlessly to my feet and I could sense her eyes roaming up and down my body, examining me. Though, now that she was holding my hand as I stood by her, I felt comforted and somewhat assured that she wanted to help me rather than anything else, and the other girl moved to us, smelling strangely of the wild.

I'm not sure which of the girls was a vampire, but I knew neither were vampires; the girl wearing the hood had the scent of one vampire all over her, while both had other vampire scents on them to varying degrees.

"Do not worry," the hooded girl said. "We shall not allow them to have you; we must cross the border immediately, for the Cullens cannot cross over without inciting hostilities, and as of yet, we would rather not."

"Yeah, yeah, let's go girls," the blonde agreed, rolling her eyes. "Before any more of these bastards show up."

"Tabs!" the other groaned in annoyance as they started leading me clear over the border, unsure about what would become of me. "Do you have to be so rude?"

"Of course…" were the last words I heard before falling to the forest floor and losing consciousness.

Angela

So, grandma... will she be okay?" I asked grandma as she was using some sort of magic to examine the Native American girl who had been placed in a bed in a spare bedroom at the Cullen's house.

We had moved into the house, too; the place had many unused spare rooms, so it seemed logical for us to be there, out of the way of any normal humans who might get caught up in our mess. And though Bella complained, she eventually allowed Grandma to persuade her father to let her move in, too.

It had been two weeks since the last attack by daemons when Rose and Bella had fought so hard against all odds and managed to hold them off long enough for reinforcements.

I still felt very guilty about dragging them all into our troubles, but Bella only reprimanded me for being silly, while Tabby laughed and said she had nothing better to do anyway, while they cuddled me, and teased me for being silly. All of the Cullens, even Rose, wanted to help stop this maniac sorcerer now. I couldn't argue further; beings like our enemy would never leave them alone now anyway.

"She'll be fine, dear," my grandmother replied with a smile as she carefully tucked the girl up nice and warm. "It seems that her spirit and the wolf's spirit are at odds with each other…" she said in thought. "And from what I see, she is a very strong-willed girl; as it seems she's winning, but I can't say what she'll be in the end."

It may be prudent to inform one of the Great Animal Tribes, possibly a tribe from farther north, as we are so close to being in Canada, and they are a very honorable people.

I was about to reply when the bedroom door was pushed open and Carlisle Cullen entered, looking sullen and frustrated.

"The wolves have been in contact," he spoke. "Unfortunately, they won't see reason," he said sadly. "They are giving us till Saturday, which leaves us with three days to return the girl, no matter that she was running from them."

Grandma replied, "I see." She then added, "Is there anything else you need?"

He just nodded gravely. "Yes, it appears that someone from the reservation has convinced Charlie Swan to host a barbecue this Saturday since the sun will be out, and most of, if not all of the wolves will be there. It's to be the location where they want her returned."

It's… well, Bella is not pleased with this arrangement. However, she… well, she won't allow the return of the girl, and she's promising death to all of the wolves if her dad is harmed.

Grandma nodded sadly. "Yes… I feel for her. These wolves must be put in their place. They cannot go around breaking supernatural laws so recklessly and think they won't suffer any consequences; we have enough problems with our Dark Sorcerer, and if one of the cities finds out about them… they're not exactly hard to find, and they'll all be either incarcerated or exterminated, and it will cause all of us issues, having a spotlight shone upon us."

Bella

I stepped out of my car as Alice parked it up outside my dad's house - my house. Alice had teased me about buying an electric car, but that first time she rode with me and I put my foot down, she was rather surprised by how much power there was. It probably wouldn't be beating her Porsche in any drag races, but around here, my car would leave hers in the dust. Even Rosalie was contemplating going electric for her next car, as she would have to start tinkering with them eventually if she wanted to keep up to date with her hobby. She would likely end up with an electric super car or something, given the one she had open on her laptop in the garage.

As soon as Alice had slid out of the passenger side of my car, before closing it behind her and locking the doors, I couldn't blame her for tensing up; I could smell dog too, but it must be thousands of times worse for my little Tinker Bell.

It was pretty bad, though, because there were three wolves in the house, and I could sense them tensing up in anticipation as we finally reached the front door. Alice gave me a questioning look, and I knew what she was thinking, so I shook my head.

"This is my house," I told her reassuringly. "These are the unwelcome guests," I said and smiled as we heard the faintest trace of a growl from within as I unlocked the door and entered the house.

I led Alice into the lounge where I saw Charlie seated in a wheelchair beside a man who appeared to be bound by his legs.

My eyes narrowed in annoyance, and I grimaced in disgust. "Haven't you dogs ever heard of wearing shirts?" I couldn't help but hiss out my anger angrily.

"Bella!" Dad exclaimed in surprise upon seeing me. "Behave yourself," he added with a smile. "I invited them over to discuss a barbecue on Saturday, as it's supposed to be such a lovely day, and I haven't hosted one in a while. You and your friends will come, won't you?" he asked hopefully.

"Of course," I answered with a forced smile. "We would be most...illuminated."

"You sure about that!" hissed out a shifty-looking boy who was vibrating with anger as he glared at me. "Sure, it won't be too sunny for... certain things to come out," he said, laughing.

I couldn't help but snort rudely. "Somebody should really put you on a leash!" I said, clenching my fists in anger. A smirk lined my lips as I continued. "I understand you're missing your puppy; it's a shame he was most likely put down for sniffing up the wrong girl's behind."

The wolves' eyes widened in surprise and anger as the shifty boy moved forward, but stopped quickly when the largest and oldest-looking wolf grabbed his shoulder, glaring at me.

My dad was just looking at us all in confusion, while the wheelchair guy, whose name I believe is Billy, looked scared and worried.

"This is Sam," he said, gesturing to the shy boy. "And this is Paul." He gestured to the other, and out of the three, he seemed to be the most confident, but also the most calm.

"I'm Bella, and this is Alice," I replied with cool eyes gliding over them. "All of this is a futile attempt on your part, Sam. The choice is solely up to the girl…Leah…whether she wishes to return to you and your…friends or not."

Charlie looked at Billy in surprise, his expression a mix of worry and suspicion.

"Oh, err, it's just a squabble between Leah Clearwater and her parents," he said quickly. "Your daughter and friends found her and took her in. We're just trying to clear up any misunderstandings."

"Bella," Charlie said, his expression filled with worry. "Is this true?"

"Oh, yeah, pretty much," I agreed with a smile. "They thought that a barbecue here would be a good place to meet and discuss things; after all, us teenagers can be quite the handful."

Tabitha

I watched the cub with fascination as I sat on the edge of her bed. The fight between wolf and… hmm… I kept getting the scent of fox, so I figured that her animal spirit was that of kitsune, and soon her will would sort itself out over… well… the wolf. It was a shame I didn't have the luxury of choice, though I suppose I'm used to it now, and at peace with what I am – plus, I met a few werecats before, and they were weirder than werewolves, which was saying something, so maybe I got off lightly.

The elder witch had been working her magic to assist the poor girl, and I'm sure that it had done wonders. I just hope that we can gain the upper hand on Saturday against her filthy brethren. They needed to learn some manners, and be forced back onto the correct path or else they would just get themselves into more trouble and eventually become extinct, as they were a weak supernatural species, and if we didn't sort them out, another would, maybe even Elites from one of the cities.

It's so messed up when some puppy, or other mythical being, is born and goes power-mad, and then entrap good kids into doing their bidding, like a freaking dictator.

I reached my hand out and stroked the girl's soaked hair off of her boiling hot forehead. I just hoped the girl wouldn't try anything stupid once she had changed, like coming back to us for any reason before our meeting. It was bad enough that we had already killed one, but we didn't want to kill any more if we could help it.

I may not have known Bella for very long, but I did know she had a strong sense of justice, and would go after it. I also knew that Bella wasn't the sort of person anyone wanted to get on the wrong side of because she was very strong. You would have to be either a normal human or an arrogant twit not to feel Bella's strength.

Bella

"I think I remember you," I suddenly said as my attention was drawn to Jacob. He turned to me with a look of surprise. "Yeah… um… I think we used to play together as kids or something… you lent me the truck, so thanks for that, Jake."

He smiled a little at that and nodded his head. "Yeah... no problems, Bella," he said. "Your dad and mine have been friends for years, and we used to play together when you came to stay with him, but unfortunately he's been visiting you mostly these past few years."

I chuckled at that. "Simple times, huh?" I asked in amusement. "I guess for us those simple times ended when...we became teenagers."

Jacob snorted. "Yeah, us teenagers," he replied, rolling his eyes. "So...I hear you're staying with...friends, rather than here."

"It's safer," I whispered so only they could hear as I shrugged and spoke out loud. "So, what's with the tattoo? Joined a cult or something?"

He winced but shook his head, eyeing Sam fearfully; as he was being watched closely by him and Paul, while Charlie had begun discussing things with Billy.

"Bella, do you even know what you've gotten yourself into?" he asked quietly. "She can't protect you from them both, alone!" he said, gesturing to Sam and Paul. "Us... I can't disobey his orders, as he's the pack leader!"

I just smiled as my eyes traveled over the other pair of wolves and ignored Alice's warning growl aimed at them. "It isn't her you would have to fight!" I hissed, and within a blink, I was behind Paul, pulling his left arm painfully behind his back. My lips were close to his ear as he froze, feeling the blade tip cutting into the back of his neck.

"It's me you would be fighting, if you even noticed me before you died."

"Bella…!" Charlie called out in surprise. "What are you doing?" he asked as I looked over at him with a sheepish smile, seeing my dad looking surprised and Billy worried as I let Paul go, my kunai hidden out of sight once more.

It had been remarkably easy for the Cullens to get me some expertly made kunai, shuriken, and even a pair of ninjato (ninja swords), and other tools for my… trade, if that was the correct word? A good unarmed street fight was all well and good, but when fighting hordes of ass-hat monsters, it was probably best to be armed, and save your strength and the big stuff for the boss monsters.

"Sorry dad!" I said sheepishly as I moved back to Alice's side; she possessively put her arms around my waist, and the wolves watched me wearily. "I was just showing the little boys a cool trick I learned years ago."

"Okay…" he replied uncertainly before shrugging. "Well, with a trick like that, you could be a good cop if you wanted to follow in your old man's footsteps," he said laughingly. "I didn't even see you move."

"That's the whole point," I replied sheepishly before my eyes returned to Paul to see a glimmer of fear. "If the bad guys can't see you, they won't have the presence of mind to even fight back… until it's too late." I trailed off shrugging and leaving it up to interpretation, my dad's and the wolves being very different.

"I see... I didn't know you did martial arts," he replied, smiling. "That must explain away your clumsiness."

"Indeed," I agreed with a shrug.

Leah.

I sat up quickly, and cried out, grabbing my forehead as I heard someone else cry out too. I rubbed away the pain to see that the blonde girl from before was rubbing her forehead too, sitting on the bed I was on. I smiled sheepishly as I realized, I had sat up so suddenly that we had collided heads; as she held a damp cloth, she must have been changing the sheets for me, and shrugged as she placed it with a dry one in a cool bowl of water on the bedside cabinet.

However, after a moment, she smiled at me. "So, girl... Leah, right?" she asked, and I nodded in agreement. "How are you feeling? I think the change's over now, isn't it?"

Kit…? I wondered, as I realized, I felt brilliant. I felt no strange pull towards the door or the need to be enslaved by Sam and the wolves like I had thought. I climbed out of the bed and ignored the fact someone had somehow managed to get a pair of PJs on me and looked around while stretching my muscles; I felt amazing.

I was in a room, which looked barely used, and frowned as I smelled the scent of a vampire. However, it wasn't like the wolves had described. It wasn't pleasant, but also not unpleasant; just a strange scent.

"I... I feel great," I answered as I looked the other girl over and realized, she didn't smell normal, kind of earthy, and... a little like... "You have wolf scent on you," I told her worriedly.

She just shrugged with a grin. "I'm the real deal, baby. Full moon, huge claws, and sharp teeth. I'm the stuff of people's nightmares; your little tribal bastards would be my chew toys."

"Y… you mean, you're… a real werewolf?" I asked in shock with wide eyes.

She grinned at me ferociously. "Welcome, little vixen," she said. "Your world has just gotten a whole lot more fucked up."

"Tabitha!" an old lady wearing a blue silk robe walked into the room, reprimanding the blonde. "There is no need to be so crude or worry the young girl so much. You're old enough to have picked up some manners at least?"

"W-who are you?" I asked as I moved further away from them.

The old woman smiled warmly as she made a simple gesture with her knobbly brown wooden walking cane, and my eyes widened even further as a wooden chair moved by itself from against the wall and stopped before the old woman, allowing her to take a seat.

"My name is Berta Webber," she spoke kindly. "And I'm a mage just like my granddaughter. I'm sure you'll get along fine. I believe you already know that we are guests here at a golden coven of vampires, and you are invited to stay as long as you wish. Carlisle Cullen, the head of this family, has asked that I speak with you first before he comes in, as he doesn't want to provoke you; which is why Miss. Tabitha has been looking after you. She was rather concerned herself, as she seems to believe that a true pack should never force upon its members."

"Back on topic, Mr. Cullen, is interested in your welfare. Although I've used some spells to assist you, he has been concerned with your medical well-being, and I'm afraid that I'm not the best of healers, and he has had centuries of experience. Will it be okay for him to enter and give you a proper examination?"

Uncertainty crept in first; after all, she was talking about a vampire. Nodding slowly, I considered what she said. After all, these 'people' had taken me into their home, and looked after me after everything that had happened. They could have easily done away with me at any time they wished, but instead they had been nothing but kind.

I was having a hard time getting my head around all of this, first a werewolf, a real one, not the pale imitation my tribe apparently was, and now a woman who could actually perform magic, real freaking magic. It was all overwhelming; just this morning, I had to worry about only the pack taking away my free will, and now...?

I couldn't really know what to think about all of this, and I just hoped that everything would sort itself out relatively fast. I had been fearing the pack for the last few weeks; now, right next door, there were not only vampires but others too - what next, zombies?

"We've already dealt with the zombies," said a honey-toned voice from another room, making me startle.

"Freaking mind reader, you're so annoying!" The werewolf complained while I heard several people from all over the house chuckle, and I think I may have pulled a funny face as the werewolf looked back at me and burst out laughing. The magical woman sighed and shook her head, but the werewolf, moved over to me, and wrapped her arms around me, and I buried my face in her chest, and felt comforted, as she told me that I was safe, and there, in her arms, I felt safe too, as I cuddled her in return, and for a moment, felt a few sobs escape my lips, as she picked me up and sat on the bed with me curled up on her lap.

Bella

I watched as the three dogs and Billy Black drove away from my house before closing the door and returning both Alice and Charlie back into the living room where I turned on them, looking suspiciously.

Okay, girls, what's going on?" he half-asked, half-demanded. "I'm not stupid, and I've noticed something weird going on down at the res involving that Sam kid."

I sighed as I just stared at him in thought. "Please dad, just know that they are highly dangerous and shouldn't be trusted until Sam is no longer in control."

"Bella, I don't understand," he replied worriedly. "Did they do something to Leah?"

I grimaced but shook my head. "Not quite, dad... Let's just say that... not all legends are mere fairy tales and leave it at that."

"What do you mean?" he asked as I went to leave. I sighed, but he continued. "There have been a few people going missing in surrounding towns. I've spoken to the village elders about it, and they say no one from the tribe has disappeared, but it always seems like they're not telling me the whole truth."

"People...?" Alice asked in surprise, and he just nodded. "How so...was there any evidence?"

"Not really," he said suspiciously. "Well, except for one girl who was found nearly dead with huge claw and teeth marks on her. The only places that haven't suffered any disappearances are Forks and La Push. It seems like some kind of animal, and forensics reports have found wolf DNA, but the marks seem much too large."

"Only girls have disappeared?" Alice asked suddenly, and he nodded. When she actually hissed through her teeth, and he instinctively moved back, looking worried. "I see... they... we... we have to go, right Bella?"

"Yeah, I'll see you Saturday, Dad," I agreed, trying to smile reassuringly.

He frowned in annoyance. "You don't really suspect them, do you?" he demanded.

"Saturday," I replied as Alice led me to the door. "Don't speak about it to them, and don't try anything. I told you they're dangerous. Promise me!"

He sighed as he entered the hall, looking worried and a little frightened. "If I promise, you'll have to promise to tell me why on Saturday."

"I promise I will," I said readily.

He nodded, and then he still looked uncertain before nodding his head.

"I promise too."

To Be Continued…