Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight

Alice and Jasper were in a bookstore when they first heard the news.

Jasper was checking out his books while Alice waited. The woman behind the counter—who introduced herself as Chloe—was friendly and talkative, and she told them about the deaths in recent months.

"These werewolves do take the wolfsbane medicine, but they still murder people. They enjoy the slaughter, and they kill while sane. And they hate vampires most of all."

"What do you mean?" Jasper asked her.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, they kill far more humans than vampires, but here's the thing. They tend to kill humans quickly, but they torture vampires. They burn them without tearing them apart first, or the vampires are found in pieces but with some vital part missing, so they can't be put back together."

The two vampires exchanged a glance before Alice turned back to Chloe.

"Is there anything else you can tell us? After all, it is a full moon tonight and there's a lot of distance between here and our home."

Chloe thought for a minute.

"Well, they don't leave the jungle," she said. "And…oh, yeah. Watch for the jaguar."

"Jaguar?"

"Yes! There's a jaguar, who acts almost human but is too small to be a shifter. She appears either right before the wolves to warn you or, afterwards, she leads people to the bodies. You'll know it's her because of her eyes—they're violet. If you see her on the full moon, the wolves are coming. If you go looking for her, though, you risk tracking her right into the middle of the wolf pack."

Alice and Jasper reached identical conclusions at the same time. Their eyes widened in horror.

"Esme."

Esme didn't know how long she'd been running for. She only knew that the wolves would catch her if she stopped for even an instant, and she was tiring. She remembered a random piece of information that Carlisle had told her about how they hunted.

'They're a little like normal wolves in that way,' he'd said. 'They can run nonstop from when the moon rises till dawn, at top speed. Their stamina is unrivalled—even a vampire will have to stop before they do, unless by pure luck the vampire was cornered close to sunrise.'

The sun had gone down just three hours ago, and it was winter in this part of the world. There was no way Esme would last until sunrise. She heard a howl close behind her and kept running. She had no idea where in the jungle she was now, only that it was a long way from her family. Esme kept running, but in her mind she knew.

She would be lucky to last the hour.

The wolves' huge feet pounded behind her. She didn't know how many there were—five or six, maybe more. Esme heard the crackle of a fire somewhere nearby, but she didn't realise what was happening until she burst out of the trees and saw a huge hole, the sides steep and the bottom covered with a sea of fire. She made to move around it, but that moment of hesitation had cost her. The huge werewolf leaped from the trees, slamming into her and tossing her to the ground. In less than a second, they were dragging her towards the pit. Esme screamed and fought, biting down on one of the wolves, but it was no good. They shoved her down, and then...and then she was burning.

"Nothing!" Alice whispered, hopping down in front of the twins. "We can't even pick up a scent since she crossed the river."

Jane muttered a curse in Italian. "What do we do? How can we find her before they do?"

"I don't know," Alice snapped. "I can't see!"

She turned around and leaped back through the trees, inhaling to try and catch Esme's scent. She had no luck in that endeavour, but she did smell something else: human.

What is a human doing out here?

Curious, Alice followed the scent, bursting into the clearing to see a small human girl, with long red hair. "Hello?" Alice called. The girl spun around, her dark eyes widening slightly.

"Oh," she whispered. "I—um, wasn't expecting to meet a vampire here. Would you mind helping me?"

"How so?"

"W-well, you see," the girl explained, "A few minutes ago, I saw the purple-eyed jaguar, and that means wolves are coming…but I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to get out of here on time. You should leave, too, or they'll tear you apart."

Alice hesitated. They had to find Esme, but…if the wolves were in the area…

"I'll ask my family," she decided. "We're actually looking for someone…she went looking for the jaguar but now we can't find her. We didn't know there were werewolves around here, you see."

The girl nodded once, and then Alice picked her up and ran back, calling the others. She glanced down at the girl in her arms, who was only about eight. "What's your name?"

"Cora."

"I'm Alice. My family will be here…now."

Carlisle stepped out of the undergrowth, his eyes focusing on Cora.

"Alice, what's going on? Did you find…"

"No, but we have to go now because Cora just saw the jaguar."

He hesitated. "I should…"

"You can't find Esme if you've been torn apart."

"...okay," he sighed. Everyone began to run back to the village. A howl cut the air, and Alice ran faster as Cora squeaked with fear.

Esme screamed louder than she ever had before, and then there was a flash of blue and the coolness of water. When she opened her eyes, Esme saw that she was on the back of a long, serpentine creature with four clawed legs and huge scaly wings.

A dragon. That was the first thought that came to her mind—but that was impossible, because dragons weren't real. The creature was flying about a hundred feet above the pit, a metal bucket clasped in its hind foot—which, Esme realised, was what it had doused her with. The wolves below snarled at the creature, and then they jumped up to attack. The dragon simply beat its wings and flew higher, as the wolves lunged. Then, the werewolves turned around and ran through the forest.

"They're going to attack people," Esme shouted, hoping the dragon understood her. "We need to stop them!"

The dragon turned its head to stare at her, and then she realised—the creature was female. Esme stared at her, and then they were flying, silent as a shadow. Esme realised that the reptile was changing colour—her scales darkening to the same shade as the night sky, with silver flecks scattering her body. A determined smile spread across Esme's face as she made a promise that she would try everything to keep.

"This ends tonight. They will never harm anyone again." She could have sworn the dragon smiled in agreement.

AN

Hi! So...I know I'm not updating that regularly, and there's a few reasons. First of all, I have exams next week. Second, I also love art, and that takes up a lot of time. Third, sometimes I get writer's block–which is what's going on with Shadow Blades. I know exactly what I want to happen and where that story is going, but I just find it difficult to get the words out onto the (digital) page. It's the same with Baby Vampires. My fourth reason is my new fandom obsession, Sweet Tooth. I can't stop watching it.

Sorry it's taking so long. I'll try to get back onto something resembling an update schedule, but...I don't know if I'll be able to. Thanks for being so patient!