A/N: So I kinda lied by accident. The battle doesn't take place in this chapter BUT you still get to read it today because I'm posting two chapters. Chapter Forty-Six will be up shortly:) Thanks for reading!
Preparations
By the time Billy and Jasper made it back to the beach, Sam and Seth had already arrived and they were standing sentry on either side of Jacob, who was lying in the sand with his eyes squeezed shut and breathing hard. Leah was still standing guard in front of Bella and Sue, but both humans were now sitting on the ground.
Jasper pointed at Jacob once he'd come to a stop and ensured Billy's wheelchair was on solid enough ground that he wouldn't tip over. "Why isn't he moving?" he asked Paul, who was the only other member of the pack in his human form.
Paul eyed Billy for a moment before answering. "Seth broke his leg."
Aside from a quiet sigh, Billy had no outward reaction. Jasper did, though. He gave the youngest wolf a proud smile. Knowing whatever was in Jacob's immediate future was mostly a matter for the pack and the council to deal with, he helped Bella to her feet. "I need to get her home," he told the two tribal elders. "I expect you'll be hearing from Carlisle in the very near future."
Billy just sighed again and nodded.
"Can you help Billy get back to his house?" Jasper asked Paul. "That path is really uneven."
Paul assured him he would, so Jasper said a quick goodbye to Leah, asking her to call him once she had the power of speech again, then thanked Billy when he said Jasper could take Bella home directly from there, rather than backtracking to the Clearwater's and going the long way around. Bella said a quiet thank you to everyone, then looked at Jacob for a long moment before turning on her heel and walking away.
"Want to walk or do you want me to carry you?" Jasper asked the quiet human after gently nudging her in the right direction when she strayed off-course.
"Walk for now," Bella said after a moment. Jasper just nodded and stayed quiet, letting her sort through her thoughts. "What do you think Edward will do?" she asked a couple minutes later.
Jasper honestly wasn't sure what he'd do. "He's going to be angry, but not at you. I think it'll probably depend on how the council responds. If Jacob has actual consequences for everything he's done, and if he stays away from you and the rest of the family, he might just silently stew in anger for a little while but eventually let it go. He won't take anything out on you, if that's what you're worried about."
Bella nervously chewed on her lip. "You don't think he'll be mad at me for going down there in the first place?"
"No," Jasper answered immediately. "None of this is your fault and Edward knows you had every right to go and try to patch things up with your friend. He didn't think Jacob deserved it, but he knew it wasn't his choice to make."
Bella scowled a little and glared at the ground in front of her. "He's not my friend. Not anymore."
"Good," Jasper smiled. "I'm sorry you lost someone you thought cared about you, but he's a dick who doesn't deserve your forgiveness or your friendship."
Bella cracked a small smile and the two of them walked in silence for another few minutes before she looked up at him hopefully. "What are the chances you'd be willing to not tell Edward what happened?"
Jasper laughed and shook his head. "Slim to none. Nice try, though."
Bella did a little grumbling under her breath, but she wasn't at all surprised by his answer. Aside from Jasper's tendency to be unflinchingly honest at all times, she knew Edward had a right to know what happened and Jasper wouldn't keep him in the dark about something this important.
After being hit with a wave of exhaustion, Bella asked for a ride. Jasper helped her onto his back and carried her most of the way home, but he gently set her on her feet after they'd crossed the treaty line and were approaching Bella's neighborhood.
Having felt the two emotional signatures ahead of them, Jasper softly whispered for her to prepare herself. "He's already waiting near your house."
Bella took a deep breath and reminded herself that she'd done nothing wrong, then reminded herself that she didn't need to worry about Edward taking his anger out on her. Jasper guided her in a wide loop so they approached her house from the trees behind it, and she looked up to see Alice and Edward sitting on a fallen log.
"Are you alright?" Edward asked quietly when she came to a stop in front of them.
Bella assured him she was fine and let herself take some comfort from him when he stood up and wrapped his arms around her. "How did you see what happened?" she asked Alice curiously.
Alice had to take a second to unclench her jaw. She was furious and wanted to march down to La Push and rip Jacob's tongue out. "I didn't see you directly," she answered once she knew her voice wouldn't come out as a growl. "Billy's going to call Carlisle and explain, so I caught that."
Bella just nodded. "I need to go in before I'm late for curfew," she told Edward as she pulled herself out of his arms. "Will you meet me in my room?"
"Of course. I'll be up in a few minutes."
Bella just nodded again, resigned to the fact that Edward was going to demand to know the whole story from Jasper. She looked up at the empath and took a step closer to him. "Thank you. Can I…" she trailed off and gestured towards him.
Jasper nodded and gently pulled the human in for a hug. "I'll only tell him my part of the story," he whispered. "The rest is yours to tell."
Bella managed to crack another smile that Jasper could read her so well. She knew his gift gave him a hell of an advantage, but she had a feeling he would've known what she was thinking without it.
As soon as Bella walked inside, Edward turned to Jasper with blazing eyes. "What happened?"
"Okay, first of all, well fucking done on keeping that look out of your eyes," Jasper laughed. "She's worried about your reaction, so you staying calm helped her calm down. As for what happened, you already know the overview. He kissed her. When I got to the beach, I drowned him a little bit and broke a rib and then Seth broke his leg, but please let Bella tell you the rest. From her emotions, she's not going to try to hide anything. She'll tell you everything."
Edward closed his eyes and nodded. He was filled with more fury than he'd ever felt before, but he didn't want Bella to be afraid of him when he met her upstairs so he tried to wrangle that anger to the back of his mind. Once he was sufficiently calm, he opened his eyes again and looked at his empathic brother. There was only one more thing he wanted to know from him, but he was a little afraid of the answer. "Did she–"
"No," Jasper answered immediately, not even letting Edward finish the question. "There wasn't a single second where she actually wanted him to kiss her. There wasn't a single second where she enjoyed it," he reassured him. "All she felt was panicked and angry, and she has no intention of forgiving him."
Edward let out the breath he'd been holding. Jasper had told him more than once that Bella wasn't in love with Jacob, but there had always been a little bit of doubt inside him. While the idea that the kiss hadn't been reciprocated at all filled him with more fury, it also soothed that part of him that had been questioning if his mate loved him enough.
"Go inside," Jasper said quietly, putting his hand on Edward's shoulder in reassurance. "The longer she waits, the more nervous she's going to get."
Edward wasn't typically a hugger in the way the rest of his family was, but he took a second to hug Jasper. "Thanks for looking out for her."
Jasper nodded but still apologized for not getting to Bella faster.
He and Alice watched as their brother jumped up to his mate's bedroom window, then they turned and started slowly walking home. "Who knows?" Jasper asked her.
"Only Carlisle and Esme," Alice answered. "Rosalie and Emmett are off on their own somewhere, and Peter and Charlotte are running patrol. I only told Carlisle so he's prepared for Billy's call."
"Did you see enough of the conversation to know what the council's going to do about it?"
"Ship him off somewhere," Alice said with a smile. "Billy has a couple sisters and he's going to force Jacob to go stay with one of them at least until after the fight. If he tries to refuse, Billy will have Jared order him to go. He doesn't want to risk anyone having their focus split, whether that's at the actual fight or back at La Push."
Jasper nodded, glad that they wouldn't have to worry about him. He wouldn't have been at all comfortable having any of the other Cullens on the Reservation if Jacob was still hanging around.
The two of them changed the subject then and started working on finalizing their plan to ambush Victoria and her newborns.
By the next afternoon, most of the dust had settled from Bella's night at La Push. As soon as Jacob's bones were sufficiently healed, Billy, Sue, Old Quil, and Jared told him he would be leaving, at least temporarily, and that he had no choice in the matter. They'd expected him to put up a fight but he was uncharacteristically quiet. He'd just gone into his room and packed a bag without a single word of protest.
Billy couldn't help feeling a little bit of sympathy for his son as he watched him drive away, even as he was angry and disappointed in his behavior. They'd all been telling Jacob for months that Bella wasn't his, but he'd stubbornly held onto his hope that she would change her mind. After Bella walked away from him the night before without a word, that last little bit of hope was finally extinguished.
Billy had called Carlisle and they'd talked the whole situation through relatively calmly. Billy told the coven leader that there would be no consequences for Jasper, that he and the rest of the council understood that he was simply protecting a member of his coven. When Carlisle asked what they would be doing about Jacob, Billy assured him he was gone for the time being and wouldn't cause any more trouble. Carlisle didn't particularly want tensions between the vampires and wolves to get in the way of them working together to defeat Victoria's army, so he was willing to let that be the end of it. He did, however, warn Billy that there would be severe consequences from him and his family if Jacob ever did anything like that again.
While the tribal elder and the coven leader ensured there was still a tentative peace between their groups, keeping the peace inside the Cullen home was a little bit more difficult.
The whole family was furious. When a shouting match broke out between those who wanted to retaliate further against Jacob and those who wanted to shift their focus to preparing for the coming fight, Jasper had growled and slammed the whole group with every calm emotion he could summon without asking for permission beforehand.
It was such a rare move for the empath that it stunned everyone into silence.
"Would you all please calm down," he snapped. "Jacob had two broken bones, he lost any chance of friendship with Bella, and he was forced to leave his home. Those are already some heavy consequences and I have no doubt that he'll be facing even more from the rest of the pack if and when he returns to La Push. For now, we have more pressing issues to deal with. We've only got a day and a half until we need to fight a newborn army and we can't afford to be distracted by this. And yes, Rose," he sighed, looking at the sister who was glaring at him. "I'm perfectly happy to let you kick my ass later for manipulating your emotions without asking."
Rosalie crossed her arms and looked away from him, huffing in irritation but otherwise staying quiet.
Knowing that they needed to be at their strongest for the fight, Carlisle ordered everyone to go hunt. "Billy already knows we're going to be leaving for the rest of the day, so the wolves will pick up patrols until we return."
"And who stays behind to watch out for Bella?" Emmett asked worriedly.
"Bella will be going to La Push straight from school. Leah and Seth have offered to keep her company while Edward is gone," Carlisle explained. "If he's not back in Forks before her curfew, Leah will go to the Swan's with her to keep an eye on her and Charlie."
Jasper and Alice had already decided they would be the ones to go hunting with Edward. Since he'd returned from Italy, he hadn't wanted to be away from Bella for long periods of time, so he'd been staying nearby and feeding almost exclusively on deer. They were going to 'encourage' him to travel farther with them to find some carnivores. With the exception of human blood, it was what would give him the most strength. And if 'encouragement' didn't work, Jasper would just drag him away by force.
After the group split up, Alice and Jasper went to the high school to wait for their brother, and when Edward walked Bella to her truck, he chuckled at their thoughts. Jasper was prepared to wrestle him into the trees and then fling him over his shoulder to carry him away. "You won't have to go to extreme measures," he assured them. "I'll run on my own two feet, thank you very much."
Bella was anxious about Edward leaving, but she did an admirable job keeping it from showing. She just gave him a long hug and encouraged him to find a mountain lion or two. "I'll be fine, so you don't need to race home. Enjoy your run and have a little fun with your siblings."
Edward was equally anxious about leaving her, but he also did an admirable job at keeping it from showing.
Jasper was honestly impressed with both of them. They weren't saying any dramatic goodbyes or clinging to each other like they were parting for a year, they both just accepted that Edward needed to be gone slightly longer than usual. Going by the pride Alice was feeling and the smile on her face as she watched them say goodbye, she was just as impressed as Jasper.
Jasper had already said his goodbyes to Leah that morning, so he just shot her a quick text to let her know they were leaving and promising he would find her when he got back. Her answering text was short and sweet and put a huge smile on his face that Alice and Edward took pleasure in teasing him for as they ran.
xoxo
"Shut up," he laughed, darting his leg out to trip Alice. She was away from the wolves, though, so she saw it coming and leaped over it.
Even with Victoria's army poised to move in a day and a half, all three of them followed Bella's advice and let themselves enjoy the run and spending time together. With all the turmoil in their lives since Bella had moved back to Forks, it was the first time in over a year that Alice and Jasper genuinely enjoyed Edward's company with no anger or frustration getting in the way.
As they prepared for a fight that none of them ever thought they'd be facing, it was the perfect reminder of what they were fighting for.
Bella had done a lot of thinking about how she could help her soon to be family as a human. She knew she couldn't fight, and knew she couldn't be near the fight, but she thought she might have a way to get Victoria and her newborns exactly where they wanted them.
"Assuming Riley stole my clothes so the newborns have my scent, why don't we make it easy for them to find the trail and follow it?" she asked Edward, Jasper, and Leah early the next morning while she got ready for school. Jasper, Alice, and Edward had gotten back to Forks in the early hours, and since Leah was at the Swan's, Jasper had tagged along when Edward came to her room. "You have a specific place where you want to ambush them, right?"
Jasper nodded, having a pretty good idea what she was going to suggest. "But it's well into Olympic National Park and high into the mountains. It's not all that conducive to a human laying a trail."
"I figured. But what about my blood?" Bella asked a little nervously. "From everything you've told me, newborns are thirst machines. If they smelled that, wouldn't they follow the trail straight to you?"
"Blood donation for a cause?" Jasper laughed quietly. "I like the way you think, kid."
Bella grinned, pleased that she'd come up with a contribution that gave the vamps even more of an advantage. "Would Carlisle be willing to do that?"
"I don't see why he wouldn't," Jasper answered, looking at Edward for his input. Less about Carlisle taking a vial of his mate's blood and more about having that blood dotted through the mountains.
It puts her at no risk and it gives her a way to feel like she's helping.
Edward nodded at Jasper's thoughts. He knew Bella didn't like that she couldn't stand with the rest of the family because she was human, and she hated feeling helpless in a situation that had anything to do with her.
Leah agreed it was a good idea, so she silently spoke to Edward in her thoughts too. He couldn't help smiling that her thoughts were nearly identical to Jasper's. It reminded him of the way Carlisle and Esme's thoughts were nearly always in sync. It was impressive for a couple who'd known each other for such a short amount of time.
Edward nodded again and agreed. "Can you try and arrange it with Carlisle for after school?" he asked Jasper. "Some of us will need to leave earlier than we thought if we want to lay a trail and get back to the ambush site in time."
After another minute of discussion, Jasper and Leah silently jumped out Bella's window and then waited for Bella and Edward to leave for school before walking around the house to knock on the front door. Charlie had known something was coming, so he wasn't all that surprised to see them. He just beckoned them inside, poured Leah a cup of coffee, and settled at the kitchen table to find out what was going on.
When Leah explained that they needed him to spend the night on the Res, he'd immediately agreed. He knew whatever was happening was connected to the supernatural world, so the only question he asked was if Bella would be safe wherever she was.
"She'll be there with you," Jasper answered. "Billy, Sue, and Old Quil will also be there. Some of the wolves will be keeping an eye on you guys all night, as will Carlisle, Esme, and Emmett."
"But not you two?" he asked after a moment.
Leah shook her head. "No. We need to be somewhere else."
"And will you be safe wherever it is you need to be?" Charlie asked them.
"Of course," Leah laughed and tipped her head towards Jasper. "Even if I couldn't take care of myself, you know he won't let any harm come to me."
Charlie just nodded, instinctively knowing Jasper would die before letting Leah get hurt. "And the town?"
"Safe," Jasper assured him. "Those staying behind will keep an eye on everyone."
After a lot of discussion, and only a little bit of arguing, it was decided that there would be seven people who stayed behind to guard the humans - Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, Quil, Embry, Seth, and Jared. It hadn't been an easy decision for Jared, but he talked it through with the elders and decided to follow Carlisle's lead. Just as the coven leader was staying behind to protect Bella, the most vulnerable member of his family, Jared ultimately decided it was his responsibility as Alpha to stay behind and guard the vulnerable humans of his tribe.
If the numbers hadn't been on their side, and if Peter and Charlotte weren't fighting with them, Jared probably would have made a different choice. But as it was, everyone involved believed it would be an easy 'battle' to win.
The seven of them planned to take turns making perimeter runs around Forks to ensure the safety of those humans as well.
With less than twenty-four hours until Victoria's expected arrival, all their plans were finalized and everyone knew where they needed to be and when they needed to be there.
Alice and Jasper volunteered to be the ones who left early to leave a trail of Bella's blood in the mountains. That allowed Edward and Rosalie a little extra time with their mates, then the two of them would run into the mountains to their chosen clearing with Peter, Charlotte, Leah, Paul, and Sam.
When Bella had worriedly asked Emmett if he was scared about letting Rosalie fight without him, he'd laughed and shook his head. "My girl's fierce. I have no reason to be worried," he reassured her. "Besides, she's fighting alongside Alice, Jasper, Peter, and Charlotte. I know they'll keep her safe."
Leah had briefly considered going with Alice and Jasper, but they were hoping to keep the wolves hidden so the newborns were blindsided. They knew the pack existed, but it was unlikely that Victoria or Riley had told them they'd be fighting with the vamps. Leah didn't want to risk her scent giving them away, so she'd just given Jasper a long kiss and said she'd see him in a few hours.
"I think we're down to ten newborns," Alice told Jasper as they ran east. When he looked at her in surprise, she'd smiled and shrugged. "I got a fleeting vision of Maria. I don't think it's the newborns fighting amongst themselves that's reducing Victoria's numbers. I think Maria's the one doing it."
Jasper was only surprised for half a second. Maria didn't tolerate any kind of betrayal well, and she'd been pissed to find out Victoria had lied to her about why James was killed. He also thought she might have a second motive - if she helped Jasper with Victoria's army, even indirectly, it was more likely that he would help her find Matthew.
With six vamps and three wolves fighting together, the odds were overwhelmingly in their favor. Even factoring in Victoria being a more skilled fighter and having a gift, Jasper wasn't all that worried about the outcome.
"Do you know if she's coming here?" he asked, referring to Maria.
"Not that I've seen, but I'm not seeing a whole lot at the moment," she admitted. "We know Jane, Alec, and Felix are either in Seattle now, or were there as of five days ago, so my guess is she's keeping herself well hidden."
Jasper nodded his agreement. Maria wouldn't risk crossing paths with the Volturi guards. "Have you seen anything about them?"
"No. Without Peter getting knowledge about it, we would've been completely in the dark," she answered a little worriedly, not liking the thought that she'd missed so much that was important. "I didn't see Aro's decision to send them here or the guards talking to Riley."
Jasper understood why she was nervous, but didn't share the same level of worry. He'd fought and won hundreds of battles in the south with much less information ahead of time and far more combatants aimed at him. "It'll be fine," he reassured her. "If Jane, Alec, and Felix do show up, it'll only be for information, not a fight."
"Jane doesn't need the excuse of an actual fight, she jumps at every chance she has to use her gift," Alice grumbled.
"I'll drop her if she tries," Jasper reminded her with a smile.
"And risk Aro interpreting it as an act of aggression?"
"Unwarranted aggression and self-defense are two different things," he answered. "If she tries to use her gift on any of us without cause, that's an act of aggression. Me using my gift on her as a result is simply self-defense."
Alice shook her head with a smile. She wasn't sure they could count on logic when it came to Aro. "Come on, let's get this over with so we can meet the others."
The two of them spent the next thirty minutes traveling farther east, then they doubled back and swiped Bella's blood on leaves and tree trunks along the path they wanted Victoria and her newborns to take.
They arrived back in the clearing at almost the exact moment everyone else did, and Alice pulled off the backpack she was carrying and set it behind a particularly wide tree. They still had at least an hour before they needed to be in their places, so she'd packed some clothes in case any of the wolves wanted to go human for a while.
Sam opted to stay a wolf so he could communicate with the rest of the pack that was back in La Push, but Leah and Paul both phased after getting Sam's assurance that he was fine with it. Leah wanted to be able to communicate with Jasper without Edward translating her thoughts.
"How's she doing?" Jasper asked Edward as he pulled Leah close to his side.
"Scared. She's staying pretty calm but she's definitely scared," he answered, edgy at having left his mate behind. He knew he needed to be in the mountains, but it still felt wrong to be away from her.
Everyone sat in a circle at the edge of the trees, and Leah and Paul filled Alice and Jasper in on how things had gone back home. "All the humans were at Sam and Emily's by the time we left," Leah said. "The wolves are closer to the house and patrolling the woods on the Res, and the vamps were running a wider perimeter."
They spent the better part of the next hour talking to Bella on speaker, taking turns telling her all the stupid jokes they could think of to try and distract her. It was Rosalie who managed to get the most laughs out of the girl. Emmett was the king of dumb jokes so Rose had a huge arsenal to work with.
The whole exercise also worked at keeping Leah, Paul, and Sam from focusing too much on their nerves. They kept a close eye on Jasper, Peter, and Charlotte, and it helped even more to see that all three of them were being playful and laughing. They took it as a good sign that none of them appeared overly worried.
Rosalie saw the way the wolves were watching the three Whitlocks and couldn't help a smile. The rest of them would honestly be lucky to take out any of the newborns when they had the three protective warriors on their side.
"It's time," Alice and Peter said at the same moment and stood up.
Paul and Leah jumped to their feet and ran into the trees to phase, but Leah was stopped by Jasper taking her hand. He wordlessly pulled her into his arms and held her close for a few moments, then pulled back enough to cradle her face in his hands and kiss her softly.
He left one last kiss on the corner of her mouth and rested his forehead on hers. "I love you," he whispered.
Leah's answering smile practically lit up the forest and her emotions spread a wonderful feeling of warmth through Jasper's chest. "I know," she whispered back. When Jasper laughed and gently nipped at her jaw with a playful growl, she let out a squeal of laughter. "I love you too," she reassured him before ducking behind the tree to phase.
When Jasper turned back to the clearing, he found two Whitlocks, two Cullens, and a Hale looking at him with mile-wide smiles. He just shrugged, his own smile just as wide. "What can I say. I'm a lucky motherfucker."
Peter laughed and launched himself at Jasper, practically knocking him off his feet. He hugged the ever-loving shit out of his brother and blasted him with all the happiness he was feeling.
In the blink of an eye, Alice, Rosalie, and Charlotte flew at the two men and they all ended up in a pile on the ground. Edward didn't join them - group hugs weren't really his thing - but he was watching them with a smile.
"Would y'all get off me?" Jasper laughed, trying to worm his way out from under the pile of vamps. "Let's get this shit over with and then we can celebrate my mate somehow finding it in the kindness of her heart to love me."
A minute later, the six vampires were standing in a line, facing the direction the newborns would be coming from. Leah, Paul, and Sam were out of sight but ready to move.
"Is Victoria with them?" Jasper whispered.
Alice nodded. "She's at the back with Riley."
Jasper pushed his gift out as far as he could and just barely felt the incoming storm of emotions. "Fuck. I do not miss that," he muttered under his breath. Some of the torment he suffered in the south had less to do with the endless battles and Maria's cruelty, and more to do with how it felt to be surrounded by volatile, rageful, perpetually-thirsty newborns.
But as much as he hated it, it worked in their favor. That mindless rage and thirst meant they'd be easy to take down.
When he caught what he thought were Victoria's emotions, he spoke quietly to the group. "She's extremely cautious but she's also feeling satisfaction and glee that she's finally making her move. Please be careful."
Everyone nodded. They'd already discussed the possibility that Victoria might bolt if she realized she was on the losing side, so it was decided ahead of time that Charlotte and Edward would follow her if she did. Charlotte so they could track her and Edward because he wanted to be the one to destroy the woman who wanted to kill his mate.
Jasper remembered he had something that could help if it looked like Victoria might actually get away, so he pulled the vial that still had a little of Bella's blood from his pocket and tossed it to Charlotte. Fortunately it was sealed well enough that Edward couldn't smell it. "She's thirsty," he whispered. "Break this if you need to."
Edward was wary of his mate's blood being used as a tool to defeat Victoria, especially if the scent only served to distract him, but he acknowledged it was a good weapon so he kept his mouth shut.
Alice knew what he was thinking and reached over and took his hand. "You're stronger than you give yourself credit for," she quietly reassured him. "Just remember that we all have faith in you."
Leah, Paul, and Sam had been having their own silent conversation while they listened to the vamps. They knew there was a possibility that Victoria would run, so they'd decided Paul would be the one to follow Edward and Charlotte if Riley took off with his sire.
"Thirty seconds," Peter whispered.
Jasper's fists clenched in anticipation. He'd be lying if he said there wasn't a small part of him that was looking forward to the fight. He'd lived a mostly peaceful life for over eighty years but he'd literally been created for battle and it was what he was best at.
Edward looked at Jasper with a frown when he heard that thought. "That might have been true back then, but it hasn't been true for decades," he whispered. There were a lot of things Jasper was good at, and if Edward had to come up with a list based on Jasper's life since joining the Cullens with Alice, he wasn't sure he'd put his battle skills anywhere at the top of the list. There were so many other things that made Jasper the man he was.
Jasper shrugged but he did take a second to let Edward feel his gratitude. The two of them hadn't always been the closest and it was nice to know Edward saw more than just the weapon Maria had forged him into when he looked at him.
Jasper's eyes narrowed as they stayed locked on the trees in front of him. Were newborns always that fucking loud? They sounded like a herd of baby elephants stumbling their way through the forest. Faster, of course, but still loud and clumsy, like they were just bouncing off tree trunks and tripping over roots in their mindless frenzy at following Bella's blood trail. It seemed like Victoria hadn't put any effort into training her army at all.
Peter chuckled quietly beside him. "This is going to be too fucking easy."
As the first of the newborns broke through the trees, Jasper softly reminded everyone to hold their ground for a moment. They didn't want to run the risk of any of the newborns turning back when they realized this wasn't going to be the easy fight Victoria promised them. He counted under his breath as each newborn entered the clearing, and he'd just reached ten when the first one got within twenty feet of them.
"Now," he said, and they all surged forward.