BLOOD MOON » Embry Call

19. THE CULLENS

   MARINA'S VOICE WAS STERN  and her tone let them know that there was no room for debate. Jason ignored it.

   "This doesn't make any sense!" he practically yelled into the telephone receiver that looked worryingly tiny in his hand. Avery feared he would crush it any moment. "To protect her from the vampire going after her, you want to take her to an entire clan? This is not happening."

   Avery paced around the room with a dagger in hand, listening to the conversation and trying to figure out what to do. There hadn't been any deaths in almost two weeks, and while the mysterious female vampire in La Push had showed up again, it was suspiciously calm overall.

   "Think about it, Jason," Marina urged him. "They have the girl with the psychic abilities. If anyone can help us figure this out, it's them. Besides, this is concerning their territory as well. Wasn't the last known location of the rogue just a few miles out of Forks?"

   Leon sent a confirming nod in his leader's general direction and Jason sighed. "Okay. We'll get going around noon."

  "Good. Be careful."

   Avery stopped pacing to frown at her friend. Jason held up his hands apologetically. "Hey, if you don't wanna go you don't have to."

   She shook her head. "No, I mean yes—I mean, I want to go. This might help, and it's my responsibility to find this guy before he kills even more people. Besides I have something to discuss with one of them either way." Avery jammed the dagger back into her boot and put her hands on her hips. "Are you sure you want to go?"

   "Are you kidding me? I'm not letting you go out there by yourself after what happened at the warehouse. He already got to you once, I have no doubt he could do it again. I'm not letting that happen."

   When the brunette shifted her gaze to him, Leon pointed toward Jason and nodded. "What he said."

   "Okay," the alpha clapped his hands together as he rose to his feet. "Leon, you're in charge here until we get back. Ava, like I already said we'll leave around noon, so pack what you need."

   The two nodded and Avery retreated to her room to pack, while Leon made his way back to the weaponry. Jason packed some of his things as well, and just half an hour later he was ready to go. They met in the kitchen to grab something to eat before leaving and the wolves discussed some general orders that Avery didn't pay too much attention to. Her mind was already going astray, running through a multitude of scenarios, most of them rather gruesome. But she had to be prepared for anything and everything. She had sworn to herself that she would find the vampire and avenge the ones he had killed.

   "Hey, Ava!" Jason waved his hand in front of her face. "You ready?"

   Avery stood up straight and nodded curtly. "Ready."

   Leon bid the two goodbye, enveloping each of them in a short but tight hug. He stayed on the porch of the manor when they took off running and until they disappeared out of sight. It felt different than the other times—final, almost. Though he knew the alpha would always return to the pack.

   While Avery drove, Jason kept the window rolled down and studied their surroundings carefully, not wanting to miss even the smallest movement. They were going much faster than usual, nearly as if something was telling Avery to step onto the gas harder. Still, she had perfect control over the car—if anything were to come in the way, there was no doubt she would manage to avoid it.

   Forks hadn't changed much since she'd last seen it, obviously. She quickly found her way to the other end of the small town and Jason pulled a printed map out of the glove compartment. "Take a left there."