Everything to me (A Paul Lahote imprint story)

Fighting newborn vampires for dummies

After a few all-nighters observing Jasper's 'Fighting newborn vampires for dummies' lessons, the pack is all squished around Sam and Emily's kitchen table for a pre-battle strategy meeting. Sam goes into full alpha mode as he goes over the plan.

"Jacob is already up in the mountain with Edward and Bella. They're going to stay up there through the battle to keep Bella away from the action. They made a trail with Bella's scent leading to the clearing to the northeast of the park. That's where the battle will happen. Seth will relieve Jacob at first light and Jake will come fight with us. Seth, your job is to help Edward protect Bella, should any of them get past us." Seth nods firmly like he's never taken any task more seriously in his life. Sam goes on.

"When the newborns come, we will be hidden in the tree line and surprise attack when they're in an optimal position. I will take the lead, with Jared and Paul on my flank. Everyone else follows in V formation and fan out. Make sure none of them get into the tree line. From there it's simple... Kill them before they kill you. Any questions?"

The group is quiet but buzzing with anticipation.

"This is going to be a piece of cake guys. There's nine of us and six Cullen's. Alright let's go. We sleep in the woods tonight!" Sam calls over his shoulder, he stops to give Emily a tender kiss, and marches out the door. Emily looks terrified, so I give her hand a squeeze as I pass her and whisper "I'll see you for lunch tomorrow cuz." and with a wink, I'm out the door.

We sleep in shifts on the hard forest floor until the sun comes up. We're arranged in our V formation, tucked away just out of sight for now. It's dead quiet as we all strain our ears for the sound of the oncoming horde of hungry angry newborns. We start to hear pounding feet and snarls, that gradually increase in volume. They're in the field now, we hear the Cullen's commence their attack, which cues Sam, Paul and Jared to dart forward, the rest of us seconds behind. I rush into the clearing and make an amazing leap over the boulder we were hidden behind.

There's vampires everywhere. They swarm the field like angry wasps but their moves are so predictable. I see one coming right at me and duck to the right at the last second, snapping my jaw sideways and pulling it's head from its body. Using the momentum from that, I whip my muzzle to the left and send another one flying into a tree on the edge of the space. I see Esme struggling to keep one's arms from wrapping around her and dive towards them. I use my front paws to kick the newborn off of her, so she can then finish it off herself. Another one throws himself at Esme and she grabs him and sends him soaring into the air. I take the opportunity and leap up, grabbing him between my teeth.

Just then, Jacob comes bounding through the trees, ripping into two newborns on his way, and stopping another from leaping onto Emmett. The odd sound of crunching glass surrounds us, which I've learned is the sound of vampires meeting their bitter end.

Across the field I see that a few newborns have crawled onto Paul's back and my heart leaps into my throat. But before I can panic too much, Emmet is there tearing them off.

At this point we're almost done, when we see through Seth's mind that Victoria and Riley are up in the mountains with them.

"You got this Seth. Follow your gut. Help Edward keep Bella safe." Sam orders.

We've just finished off the last of the newborns down here, Sam was right, piece of cake. Now we all wait and watch as Seth leaps out of his hiding spot and grabs Riley in his jaw.

"Yes Seth!" I congratulate him. Seth drags him away and starts to tear him to pieces. We can hear the shuffling of a fight over the ridge and it sounds like a pretty even fight. It's not until Seth climbs back over the ridge and sees Edward standing over Victoria's beheaded body that we all relax.

We've done it. We've won.

Thick purple smoke swirls all around us as we stand in the field victorious. I have shifted back into my human form in order to translate, telling them of what we saw happen in the mountains before Bella and Edward appear next to us.

Suddenly Leah perks up at the sight of a newborn missed.

"Leah don't!" I scream as she charges at the newborn. They roll around, and he almost gets her, but Jacob storms in and knocks him off. It's not long before the sound of crunching bones sends shivers down my spine.

"Jacob!" Bella yells and we all rush forward, Paul and Sam taking care of the newborn.

He's rolling on the ground, a silent scream on his face. The doctor says something about his bones but I'm not really listening. I'm sat on the grass in shock. Not being able to wrap my head around the fact that one of us actually got hurt... and bad. My mind flashes back to a rolling car. The sound of crunching metal and bone. My focus flickers between the agonized look on Jacob's face and my last look at Chantelle's. I don't even notice the tears pouring down my face. The boys bend down and gather Jacob as gently as they can, disappearing into the tree line with him focused on nothing but getting him home. I'm still sitting shocked in the grass when I'm yanked into a standing position by a cold hand.

"It's too late for her to get away now, they're almost here. They'd see her. Better for her to stay human and stand with us." Someone whispers hardly behind me.

As if out of nowhere, five hooded figures appear. I don't look up. I'm still stuck in my own mind. I do hear a small voice break the silence though.

"Impressive. I've never seen a coven escape an assault of this magnitude intact."

"We were lucky." Carlisle answers.

"I doubt that."

They continue their conversation, the sound of the little girl's voice putting me on edge. I finally peek up and around Emmett who was apparently standing in front of me to hide me from the strangers view. And my heart stops at the sight of the fifth woman, standing silently in the back. Black cloak thrown over her shoulders. Long brown waves tied up in a tight bun. Skin a chalky russet color.

"Mom?"