Chapter 22 — The Hunt

Renesmee

I quickly wiped my tears away as I heard my family approaching from the south side of the house. When they entered, I heard my mother's voice first.

"Renesmee?" she called, anxiously.

"In here, Mom," I said.

She found me in the music room, my fingers tittering on the dusty ivory keys of the out-of-tune piano. My Aunt Alice followed close behind.

"Renesmee, you can't walk off into the woods with a werewolf because I can barely see you and then I really can't see you when you're with him," said Aunt Alice.

"Sorry," I murmured. "It won't happen again."

"Good, because I—" suddenly her face went completely blank, her eyes seeing somewhere far in the distance. My father was quickly at her side.

"What is it?" my mother said.

"Joham," said my father, reading Alice's thoughts. "He's changed course. He wants to take a werewolf back to his labs in South America. To experiment on."

"He's already left," said Alice faintly. "Private plane."

I stood up quickly.

"He's kidnapped a werewolf? Who?" I said, my voice strangled.

But before anyone could answer, I was out the door. I ran faster than I had ever run in my entire life towards Jacob's house. I followed the trail of his scent, but near it I smelled another trail. A vampire. By the time I got to his house, the scent was overwhelming and I was sobbing.

"Jacob!" I cried.

No answer. He was nowhere to be found. He was gone.

We took the private plane to the tiny airport of Coari, after which we took an off-roading vehicle through the denser parts of the Amazon Rainforest. I barely knew what was happening. I was shaking from head to foot. I no longer cared whether Jacob and I could be together. It was a small, trivial thing. But he had to be safe. He had to be unharmed.

Nick, Jordan, and Ally came with us. Leah pitched a fit, but there was really nothing she could do. Their Alpha was in danger. They had no choice. Ally had taken over as Alpha. She continually phased to try to see if she could hear Jacob's thoughts. Nothing. Either he was too far away or he wasn't phased. Or… but I couldn't let myself think that. She and Nahuel stared at each other the whole flight. It hurt to look at, so I tried to focus on the plan.

"We have the advantage," Aunt Alice continually said. "Because of Nahuel, we know exactly where his lab is. We know he operates alone except for the eight or so hybrids he's created."

"Easy," Uncle Emmett had said, cracking his knuckles.

"Please, don't harm my sisters," Nahuel had replied, looking concerned. "They are innocent in all this. You know how persuasive he can be."

Thanks to Nahuel, we knew where this sadistic vampire's secret laboratory was located. Nahuel had been there a handful of times in the past century. It was in a heavily fortified area, far from the reach of humans. But we weren't worried about reaching it. What we were worried about was being heard before we could attack.

When we traveled as far as we could by vehicle, we stopped and got out. My father turned to me.

"Renesmee," he started.

"Don't," I growled.

"It's not safe," he said.

"He might be right, Renesmee," said my mother, looking at me with concern.

I ignored them and ran forward after Nahuel as he led the way.

"No one's keeping you out of this fight," said Nahuel quietly as we ran.

"No," I said. "Nothing can stop me."

"I'm beginning to understand," said Nahuel, quietly.

I said nothing. I couldn't imagine that after one day Nahuel could possibly understand how I felt. But I appreciated his support. The fact that he was willing to go against his father and his half-sisters for me, my family, and Jacob was a debt I could never repay.

We ran through the colorful forest. The sound of different animals rang in a constant shrill vibration. The smell of fruit and budding blossoms of tropical flowers permeated the air. It was beautiful to behold and yet I couldn't take any of it in. I knew we were getting close. I could smell the faint scent of vampires on the trail. And another smell too. A very familiar smell. Half-vampires. Nahuel and I looked at each other. My vampire family members were already ahead of us, of course, along with Ally and her pack.

"What if your sisters try to defend your father?" I whispered.

Nahuel just shook his head, his eyes full of indecision.

In the distance I could see a house that looked like it had grown naturally from the rainforest floor with its dark wood and moss. I could not appreciate its magnificence. A snarling ripped through the air. My family and the wolves had entered the house.