Chapter 24: Training

Training with the Cullens went smoother than I'd expected it to. Jasper did an amazing job at explaining how to anticipate a newborn's attack and the best way to defend ourselves against them. He had each of us "attack" him so that we could flex each of our unique fighting styles and he gave us tips on how to fine tune them.

The entire pack had shown up in wolf-form, their eyes glinting in the darkness of the forest. When it had been my turn to go against Jasper, I'd heard a low rumble from the trees and I'd known it was Paul. I hoped that he could control his temper while he'd phased so that Jasper could properly execute his training plans.

Bella had attended the training as well and I was finding it difficult to concentrate when the wind made the scent of her blood waft over to me. I tried not to think about it too much—I didn't need Edward getting concerned that I was going to attack his girlfriend right there in the forest.

The training ended with each of the wolves getting familiar with each of our scents and Carlisle inviting them back for another training session the following night. The wolves dispersed, heading back home to La Push, but a few minutes after the training session ended, Paul and Jacob emerged from the forest each wearing a pair of shorts.

Paul came straight for me while Jacob went to speak with Bella and Edward. Paul and I didn't say much to each other—he wrapped an arm around my waist and led me out of the clearing we'd gathered in.

It was only when we were back in Paul's car that the silence was broken between us.

"I assume there isn't much point in me asking you to go to Seattle with the girls, is there?" he asked.

"Nope," I said. "If you're fighting, so am I."

"I knew you'd say that," he sighed.

"I can't just sit on the sidelines wondering what's happening to you," I said. "I won't."

"I just…I need to know that you'll be okay," he said tightly.

"I will be," I promised. "Nothing will happen to me."

"You can't guarantee that."

"I know what I'm doing," I said. I reached over and squeezed his hand. "We will be fine."

He was quiet for the rest of the drive back to his apartment and once we were inside, he wrapped his arms around me and led me to his bedroom, pulling me under the covers with him and tucking me under his chin. His hold on me felt protective and I couldn't blame him for it.

We both knew how dangerous the newborn fight was going to be.

Despite how anxious I knew that he was, he fell asleep relatively quickly, his hold on me still tight even while he slept.

I tried as hard as I could to stay calm while he slept, listening to his heartbeat and timing my breathing with his.

It was hard, though.

In less than four days, we'd be battling an entire army of newborn vampires. There would be so much death and destruction and it was extremely likely that any of us would get hurt or killed during it.

I spent the entire night thinking about the threat that was coming for us, unable to stop myself from worrying about any casualties the fight could cause.

I studied Paul's face as he slept, knowing that he was the most important thing in my life—he was my life now. If I lost him to the battle I was sure that I'd never recover from it. We'd only had a few precious weeks together but we thought we'd have forever.

I shook my head at myself—I couldn't think like that. I needed to trust that both sides of the treaty would come out of the fight unscathed. If I was only thinking about Paul's safety, it could distract me and cause even more problems. I needed to be at the top of my game so that I could ensure that him and everyone else would be fine.

It wouldn't be my first time encountering a volatile, newborn vampire, but it was my first time dealing with an entire army of them. I was glad we had Jasper's experience on our side as I thought back to how dangerous the single newborn that Will and I encountered had been.

Will and I walked hand-in-hand through the streets of Paris, the sweet scent of iris, gardenia, and rose filling the air. We'd spent the evening waiting until it got dark and less busy so that we could scale the Eiffel Tower and gaze up at the stars and the city lights together.

As dawn broke across the horizon, we'd descended the tower and quickly ducked back into our hotel room to wait for the cover of night to shield us from the sun again so we could explore more of the beautiful city.

Will stroked my hair as we lay in bed together, watching as the warm glow of the setting sun illuminated the city.

"You really love this city, don't you?" he asked.

"What makes you say that?"

"This is our third time here in five years," he teased. "You kept asking if we could come back."

I smiled. "There's just something so magical about it."

"Maybe tonight we can go to Champs-Élysées," he suggested.

"You wanna take me shopping?" I teased.

He laughed and kissed my cheek. "Well your wardrobe could use an update…"

I playfully smacked his arm. "You're one to talk—always wearing that same jacket."

"You mean the one that you love to steal from me?" he asked.

"Maybe."

That night, we walked along the world's most beautiful avenue and I gazed around us in wonder at the shops and boutiques along the wide stretch of road. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, breathing in the intoxicating floral scent of Paris that had been imbedded in my brain.

Something was different this time, though—I furrowed my brow and breathed deeper. There was something richer deep within the floral notes I was smelling. Something sweeter…or maybe spicier?

I felt Will stiffen next to me and I opened my eyes, meeting his blood red eyes and seeing concern cloud his face.

"Can you smell that too?" he asked.

"I can't place what it—" I cut myself off as he raised a brow at me. I felt like an idiot for taking as long as it had for me to figure out.

It was the scent of blood.

I inhaled again, deeper this time. The scent was stronger now and it made my throat burn. Will tightened his hold on my hand and cocked his head to the side.

"Are you…okay?" I asked.

"I fed last night—it's not really making me thirsty," he said.

"Should we help them?" I asked, thinking that someone had hurt themselves.

He hesitated. "Nat...you don't hear that?"

I gave him a confused look and closed my eyes to focus my hearing, trying to hear what he was hearing. At first, what he was talking about didn't register with me—all I could hear was the rhythmic footsteps of the humans bustling through the busy streets, the low rumble of the Paris Métro below us, and the sound of cars' tires on the roads.

It wasn't until I listened even more intently that I heard the snapping.

At first I thought someone had just stepped on a branch as they walked, but when I heard multiple snaps I knew that I was mistaken. As I listened, I heard a snap immediately followed by the wet sounds of someone feeding.

I opened my eyes again and gave Will a bewildered look. "Is that what I think it is?"

He nodded tightly. "It must be."

"What do we do?"

"We ignore it," he said. "This is…this is how most of us live our lives."

"I understand that, but they're being so loud," I said. "Surely someone will—"

I was cut off by the sound of a woman's scream, proving the next point that I had been planning on making. The scream was almost immediately cut off and was followed by more snapping and gurgling.

I didn't wait for Will to agree with me—I shot off in the direction of the noises. This vampire was feeding on more humans than was necessary and they weren't being subtle about it. I felt like I needed to stop what was happening before they caused a complete bloodbath in the city.

I stopped running about twenty feet from the alley where the vampire was feeding because I was hit with what felt like a wall of the scent of blood. I'd never had much trouble staying in control of my thirst and up until this point I'd never tasted human blood, but it was so much different when the blood had just been spilled.

I slowly approached the alley and nearly ran away screaming. The scene before me looked like something you'd expect to see at a horrifying crime scene and something that I'd never expected to see in real life.

The alley was completely covered in blood.

There were about four bodies already thrown to the either side of the alley, limbs strewn about and organs spilling onto the ground. The vampire was in the middle of the alley and I watched as he snapped the leg of the woman he was feeding from and continued to drink from her.

I was frozen as I watched him feeding; not only because of how horrific it was, but because as I watched him I couldn't help but think about the fact that this vampire and Will had the same diet.

I had also locked my limbs in place because despite how horrified I was, the scent of all the blood was causing my throat to feel like it had been set ablaze and I felt like I was either going to try to jump in and join him or bolt away from the grisly scene.

Will appeared at my side and I couldn't hide the disgust on my face as I looked at him. Was this what he did too? Despite feeling the burn of my throat, I knew that I could stay in control but this was a weekly occurrence for Will, wasn't it?

"You shouldn't see this," he said tightly, trying to pull me away from the alley.

I wrenched my arm out of his grasp and pulled away from him. I felt like I couldn't speak—was it naive of me to think that a vampire who fed from humans would have a shred of humanity in them? How many humans had Will killed to satiate his thirst? How many innocent humans had the Volturi harmed during their reign?

Even at my thirstiest—after being held captive for months without blood—I'd never allowed the thirst to consume me and break my promise to not feed on humans. How was this considered normal for majority of my kind?

How was this considered normal for the man that I loved?

Will grasped my face, eyes searching mine. "Nat, it's okay—I'll deal with this."

"Deal with it?" I repeated. "I'm surprised you don't want to join him."

He furrowed his brow at me. "What are you talking about?"

"Isn't this what you do?" I asked. I wasn't sure if it was possible for vampires to feel sick, but it felt like my stomach had twisted on itself and I almost felt nauseous.

He stiffened at my words and glanced back at the alley—he knew that I was right and he didn't want to admit it. He didn't want to accept that when I looked into the alley at the vampire that I saw him there as well.

He let go of my face and stepped away from me—it was then that I felt something shift between us. Up until this point, we'd avoided getting into too many gory details about his diet, but when it was playing out right before my eyes like this, it was hard not to think about.

Will approached the alley as the vampire snapped another one of the woman's limbs and continued to feed from her.

"You there, what's your name?" Will asked.

The vampire's bright red eyes snapped up to meet Will's and all I could see on his face was the wild hunger that I could remember feeling all too clearly. It took me right back to when I'd first awoken from my transformation and how badly my throat was burning.

Looking at him, not only did I see Will, but I saw myself as well. I saw what I could've become and I saw what I would become in a few years when Will would convince me to give the taste of human blood a chance.

Of course, I had no way of knowing that would be in my future, so in the moment I could only feel horrified and grateful that I'd somehow been able to stay in control when I'd first discovered what had happened to me, despite being forced to navigate through it all on my own.

The vampire didn't answer Will's question—he just snarled at him and lunged at him.

For a moment, I forgot how upset I was about Will's diet and only saw that the man that I loved was in danger. As the vampire sprung at Will, I also lunged at him and wrapped my arms around his waist to prevent him from attacking him.

I was surprised that the vampire's struggles against me were actually working—the only other time I'd been physically overpowered by another vampire was when Demetri had carried me through the Volturi's fortress when I'd been captured.

"Nat!" Will shouted as the vampire began snapping at me and trying to force my arms off of him. Will sprung towards us, both of us wrestling the vampire to the ground and Will made quick work of tearing off the vampire's legs and tossing them to the side.

I didn't have time to dwell on that because somehow, even with his legs missing, the vampire was still putting up a good fight. It was only when Will had completely dismembered the vampire's body that I could step away from the gruesome scene and the realization of what we'd done hit me.

We'd killed someone together.

I knew that we hadn't had a choice—this vampire had been dangerous and feral, but I couldn't help but feel a twinge of remorse as I looked at his severed head.

But then, my eyes fell upon the gruesome scene that the vampire had caused and all feelings of remorse disappeared.

"Are you going to be able to help me or do you want to leave?" Will asked gently.

I was quiet for a few moments, still trying to wrap my head around what had just happened. "What do you need my help with?"

My tone was harsher than I'd intended but I was having trouble keeping the acid out of my voice as I spoke to him, the image of the vampire feeding from the woman shooting through my mind again.

Will noticed my tone and hesitated before speaking. "We need to clean this up—get rid of the evidence. The last thing we need is the police finding this if we intend on staying here much longer."

The underlying meaning of his words hit me—he knew he couldn't continue to feed in Paris if we didn't cover this up. If the police launched a full investigation on these innocent lives lost, it could bring them straight to Will.

Part of me didn't want it covered up—part of me wanted Will to get caught by the police so that he'd stop hurting innocent humans.

The other part of me knew that he'd weasel his way out of capture by killing the officers or charming them and convincing them that he'd had nothing to do with it.

"I can help you," I whispered.

He glanced at me and I was sure there was more he wanted to say, but he decided against it and nodded tightly. He opened a nearby manhole and we quickly gathered the limbs of the vampire and the humans. We carried the pieces into the sewers and put them in a pile while Will produced a matchbook from his pocket. I had no idea when he'd gotten the matches and I didn't really care.

He lit a match and tossed it onto the pile of limbs, somehow causing the entire pile of bodies to become engulfed in flames. Will sat down on the ground, eyes on the fire, while I stood a little ways away from him as the scent of burning flesh and vampire filled the air.

"For the record—that isn't what I do," he said tightly, breaking the silence that had been hanging in the air above us.

"What?" I whispered.

"What you said earlier in the alley, about joining him," he explained. "That isn't how I feed."

"Then how do you feed?" I asked, fearing the answer.

"I'm a lot more careful than that," he said. "This vampire…he was new and inexperienced. Whoever turned him just left him to figure things out on his own. We probably could have handled it a bit better than we did, but when I saw him snapping at you, I couldn't stop myself from attacking."

I looked at the flaming pile of corpses, remembering when I'd been a new vampire all on my own and my thirst had nearly taken over and how hard I'd had to fight to stay in control.

That could have been me.

How different my life would have been had I not been able to stay in control in those first few months. Perhaps I would have been just as wild as this vampire that we'd just disposed of.

I shuddered just thinking about it.

"I would never cause a bloodbath like that," he continued, voice tight. "He was beyond control."

"But you still…" I trailed off, the sound of the woman's leg snapping shooting through my mind.

"He was basically torturing them," he said bitterly. "She was still alive when we got there."

"She was?!"

Will nodded. "I heard her heart stop beating."

I approached him and sat down on the ground next to him, head in my hands. How had I not realized that the woman had still been alive when we'd arrived at the scene?

"Before I met you, I was less…selective in who I fed on," he said. "I'd just charm anyone I wanted into following me into a secluded spot and feed from them. But now…" He trailed off and I stayed quiet, letting him collect his thoughts. "Now I try to only hurt people who deserve it."

"Deserve it?" I repeated.

"Last night, I overheard a man trying to abduct a young woman," he explained. "I helped her get to safety and then I fed from him."

"What are you, some vigilante?" I asked hollowly.

He chuckled darkly. "I guess I am."

"I guess I can appreciate that," I mumbled.

He slung an arm around my shoulders and held me close to him as we watched the pile of burning limbs slowly turn to ash.