sparks fly~ paul lahote

ⅹⅹⅴ. chasing victoria

Diana raced through the woods, alongside Paul, Sam, and Jacob. It was raining, and the wind whipped at Diana's hair, tangling it and leaving her scent everywhere she stepped. The group was currently chasing after Victoria... again. She had popped up not long after they had killed Laurent, and they had been steadily on her trail for the last two weeks, seemingly so close to catching her.

Diana knew better than to get her hopes up. She figured Victoria was toying with them, dangling herself in front of them like a piece of meat. She was having fun. Diana had tried explaining this to the pack, but they refused to listen to her.

"So what if she's playing her game? We'll be right there playing it with her until she slips up." Jared scoffed. Everyone else agreed.

So, here they were, chasing after their 'ghost' for the sixth time since Tuesday. It was Thursday...

The wolves barked and snapped at one another then dispersed. Diana rolled her eyes, wishing she knew what they were discussing. She leapt at a nearby tree and climbed, scouring the land with her hawk-like stare. There was a moment, as the sounds of the wolves faded away, where Diana couldn't hear anything- other than the usual birds and breeze.

A flash of red hair out of the corner of her eye and then she was being pushed off her perch. She landed, agile as a cat, and glared up at the red head. They stared each other down for a minute, Diana glaring and Victoria smirking, the latter tauntingly shaking her head.

"You're tiring yourselves out," Victoria sighed, "Won't make for much fun, too much longer."

"I think you'd be surprised, why don't you come down here and see how much fun I really am," Diana hissed. Victoria had done this a few times now, catching Diana off guard and entertaining a little chat. Diana was sick of it.

"Intriguing, but I don't think I will, besides, I've met several other packs like this one, they all give up eventually."

Diana ignored her, instead glancing around at the trees surrounding them, "So, you're using the trees, huh? That's smart, dogs can't climb trees all too well." Diana chuckled to herself, but she knew Victoria could hear her.

Victoria pretended not to hear her, instead, continuing her taunts, "And you've been imprinted on... by the dog. What's his name again? Paul?"

This caught Diana's attention and she whipped around to see Victoria had swung down a few branches, the older vampire was smiling softly. Diana's glare faltered and she furrowed her brows at the woman before her. She found it in herself to feel sad for Victoria, she was grieving the loss of her mate, the man she had spent centuries with- Diana could understand that.

"How sweet," Victoria sighed, looking off into the distance. "You were alone for so long, and now you have your lover, your reward for the treacherous life you've lived."

Then her eyes darkened and Diana took a step back as Victoria swung and landed on the ground in front of her. She had an unreadable expression on her face, but her eyes were so sad Diana had almost wanted to help her.

"I don't want to hurt anyone else's mate, I wouldn't wish the pain on anyone," she said softly, "-but I will not hesitate, if someone were to get in my way. Do you understand?"

Diana swallowed, "I know your pain, Victoria. I lost my mate decades ago, in an ambush..."

Victoria's eyes widened, but she made no move to say anything else. So, Diana continued, "I raged, I killed innocent people not for a meal, but for fun. And still, somehow, I was gifted, and now I have Paul. And I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost him, so, I'll heed your warning."

Victoria looked ready to leave, but Diana spoke up again, "But, I can't let you kill Bella."

Now Victoria looked angry again and she hissed a warning at Diana, who didn't blink an eye at the woman across from her, "And you should know, that if anything happened Paul..." Diana insisted, staring hard at Victoria, "-I'd kill myself, before I killed you."