Kiara slunked behind Paul as Sam nipped at Jacob's ankles, telepathically telling him to keep his thoughts about Edward to himself during their pack meeting with the Cullens. She huffed a little, causing Sam to let out a warning growl in her direction as he tried to hold off the twins from bickering mentally or fighting physically in front of the vampires.
He knew that Kiara had gotten incredibly comfortable around the coven, and while he had began to come to terms with her imprint, he wasn't prepared to show a weakened front in front of them. The elders had warned him about getting too friendly with the Cullens and he couldn't help but head their warning. He might not see eye to eye on how they were treating Kiara because of things outwith her control but he certainly understood their volatile ways when it came to the leeches.
"I don't like this," Leah stated as they sulked towards the treeline where they knew the Cullen family would be waiting on the other side. Kiara ignored her as she moved forward, almost glued to Paul's flank as he flanked Sam.
It was no surprise to Paul that the smallest wolf was latching on to him, since it seemed like some of the others had been a lot less... friendly... about Kiara deciding to embrace the imprint connection rather than reject it. Surprisingly, Leah was the least of Kiara's concerns. Quil, Embry and Jared had been the nippiest with her - and while Jacob was trying to be nicer about it, he had still continued to make his quips about the leeches and wishing he could rip them all apart.
While Kiara had no concerns about Rosalie's safety (since the wolves had an unspoken law that no-one could hurt any of the imprints), she couldn't lie and say that their behaviour wasn't making her uncomfortable around her own pack brothers. She didn't care much for Embry and Jacob's bitterness, but it hurt more coming from Quil and Jared. They knew the feeling of an imprint and how it wasn't something that could be controlled - especially as Quil had just imprinted on a literal toddler.
Somehow, Kiara imprinting on a vampire was worse than a toddler to some of the men of the reservation. She didn't know what that said for them and their traditions, but her and Leah had both agreed that that was on their own level of fucked up.
"You don't need to like it," Sam replied to Leah, snapping Kiara out of her silent thoughts. She'd gotten quite good at pushing her internal monologue to the back of her head, drowning it out with other thoughts. Paul had been teaching her, as it was something he had figured out very early into his wolf life. "You just need to tolerate it."
Leah flickered her tail in annoyance, but she didn't say anything else. The grey wolf slunked into a spot beside Kiara, an unspoken bond between the two wolves. Leah might have hated the Cullens just as much as the rest of them, but she would never turn her back on Kiara. Not now, not ever. She was the only one who really accepted Leah and let her be around her without complaints, and Leah was glad to have a friend that did more than just tolerate her.
Across the wooded clearing, Beverly was standing next to Rosalie as the Cullens finished warming up as they awaited the arrival of the wolves. They all had moved to stand beside each other as they heard the thuds of their paws approaching, Edward placing an arm protectively around Bella as he heard Jacob's vicious thoughts about his existence getting closer. He caught the tail end of Leah and Sam's nipping before his eyes shifted down the line of wolves.
"Which one is Kiara?" Beverly lowly muttered to Rosalie, so low that the wolves weren't able to catch it. Carlisle had moved towards Edward and was assessing the situation with the man.
"The small one," Rosalie replied, motioning to the smallest wolf that was standing beside one of the larger grey ones. Emmett's eyes glinted a little as he noticed the two wolves, knowing now that the one he had almost punched was Paul and the other that he had hit was Kiara. He sheepishly smiled at the wolf, chuckling loudly as it poked a tongue out in retaliation.
Sam shuffled in place a little, keen to just get on with the training before Jacob tried to rip Edward's head off. Edward smirked a little at the image that crossed the leader's mind, before he turned to address the rest of his family.
"They don't trust us enough to be in their human forms," Edward translated for Sam, the wolves lowly grumbling in agreement. Kiara shuffled a little, Paul turning his wolf head and giving her a gentle nudge of encouragement.
"They came. That's what matters," Carlisle replied, noticing how Jacob and Bella were seemingly having a moment. "Will you translate?"
Just as Edward went to say something, the Cullens all found themselves taken a little aback as a few of the wolves started to growl at each other. The large black wolf that they all knew was Sam let out a vicious snarl at them all, and silence fell amongst the pack.
Rosalie watched with slightly furrowed eyebrows as Kiara's ears fell flat against her head, her shoulders slumping a little. She wasn't sure what had been said but the way Edward's cocky smirk had slipped a little told her that it wasn't exactly something nice about them or their family.
Carlisle stepped to the front, his hands tucked in his pockets to show that he was relaxed amongst the wolves. He didn't think they'd hurt him or his family, not when Bella and Kiara's lives were on the line.
"Welcome," he said, his eyes twinkling as he tried to appear friendly to them. "Jasper has experience with newborns. He'll teach us how to defeat them."
'Which one is Jaspar again?' Seth asked, so unsure of the Cullens and who was who. Jared's head turned a little, his eyes flickering over to Kiara as he awaited her to respond to the younger wolf.
'The one with the scars, front right,' Kiara replied, her head titling slightly in his direction.
'Dude looks like he's seen some shit,' Jared replied, trying to diffuse some of the tension that he had created between him and Kiara. The girl ignored him, causing his shoulders to slump a little as he realised that he had really hurt her.
'What's a newborn?' Sam asked, wanting to move this meeting along so that he could get back to Emily. He knew the Cullens weren't going to hurt them, same as Carlisle knew they weren't going to hurt his family, but being around them still made him a little uneasy.
"They want to know how the 'newborns' differ from us," Edward translated, glad that the alpha was trying to stick to the point of the training, rather than allow the wolves to continue to bicker amongst each other. It was amazing to him that they ever managed to achieve anything when they spent so much time arguing.
Carlisle smiled at the question, glad that they were taking an interest in vampire lore.
"They're a great deal stronger than us, because their own human blood lingers in their tissues. Our kind is never more physically powerful than in our first several months of this life," Carlisle explained, making Kiara move between paws with a little unease.
Riley had only been missing for a short time, and since he was predicted to be involved in whatever army this was, she figured that he was probably lethal enough to cause some serious damage. Sam intercepted her thought, tilting his head to look at her and nodding in agreement. This was much more intense than any of them had realised.
Carlisle nodded to Jasper, allowing the man to take over. Rosalie and Beverly stood behind him, their eyes drifting from their coven brother to the wolves repeatedly. They were trying to gauge all of their reactions but it seemed that they were rather good at holding back emotions while in their wolf forms.
"Carlisle's right. That's why they are created," Jasper explained, flashes of his past coming back to haunt him for a quick second. "A newborn army doesn't need thousands like a human army. And no human army could stand against them."
'Good thing we aren't human,' Embry joked, but none of the wolves laughed. Kiara was glad that most of them were taking this seriously, even if Embry wasn't. She knew he was trying to make them all relax but she wasn't exactly jumping for joy at how he had been treating her.
'Embry, Focus.'
"The two most important things to remember are, first... Never let them get their arms around you. They'll crush you instantly. The second... Never go for the obvious kill. They'll be expecting that. And you will lose."
Jasper turned around, his back now to the wolves as he looked at the burly man that was cracking his knuckles and getting ready for the training to actually begin. Emmett grinned widely as he noticed that Jasper had turned his attention from the wolves to him.
"Emmett? Don't hold back."
Emmett chuckled, moving forward with a smirk on his face as he winked at Beverly who rolled her eyes playfully at her husband.
"Not in my nature."
The wolves all shifted in anticipation as the two vampires faced off against each other, interested to see how they actually were to fight against one another. Kiara was intrigued too, having not really ever seen the Cullens in action (minus when Emmett almost broke her to pieces).
'My bets on the big one,' Paul quipped, knowing that Emmett was probably the strongest out of them all. A few murmurs of agreement crossed the pack link, and Kiara was sure that Sam was about to tell them off for not focusing when the man threw in his own opinion.
'I wouldn't be so sure,' he replied, studying the way the fight between the two vampires was going. 'Jasper has the experience, and Emmett is cocky.'
Within seconds, Sam's point had been proven. Emmett was lying on his back in the dirt, with Jasper hovering above him with a proud smirk.
"Never lose focus."
Next up was Edward and Carlisle. Despite almost all of the wolves hatred for Edward, they were keen to see how he would compare to the oldest Cullen vampire. He had the obvious advantage of reading minds, but Carlisle had much more experience and strategy in his head.
'Kie? Bets?' Jared asked, again trying to break the tension between him and his friend.
She hesitated before casting him a side glance and sighing in defeat. 'Carlisle. Easily.'
Sam hummed in agreement with Kiara, before both wolves hissed a little as Edward managed to pin Carlisle to the ground. Emmett whooped at the sight, causing Edward to turn around with a cocky smile at his victory.
"One more thing," Jasper told Edward, trying to keep his thoughts silent for a second. "Never turn your back on your enemy."
Kiara snorted a little as Carlisle wiped Edward clean, proud of herself for predicting that Carlisle would win - even if it wasn't exactly how she had predicted it to be. Edward sat up as he noticed the low chuckles from some of the wolves, turning to shoot Kiara a small playful glare as he brushed the dirt off his sweater.
Her amusement faded as Jasper beckoned Rosalie up next. A sudden unease crossed her body, and Kiara subconsciously took a small step forward as her heckles raised a little on her back. Edward shot her a look, having heard the warning tone in Sam's thoughts as he told her to back down.
"Watch it," Edward muttered lowly to his family, so low that they were barely able to pick it up. Jasper's eyes flickered to the right as he felt the sudden shift in emotions from the wolves, noticing the way that Kiara's dark eyes were now focused intensely on the duo that were about to spar. He looked back to Edward, wanting confirmation before he and Rosalie went any further.
Sam turned his head to Edward after a moment, a curt nod giving him the go ahead. He knew that Kiara was in a tricky situation here, as the imprint bond was screaming at her to go and protect Rosalie from being hurt - even in a situation where they knew it was all just training and she was going to be fine.
Edward nodded back at Jasper and Rosalie, reminding himself to explain the mass of thoughts he had just received from the pack once they realised that Kiara was about to have to watch her imprint spar. He hadn't realised how deep the bond ran, and it seemed that Kiara and the others hadn't either. It wasn't like Emily or Kim were supernatural or going around participating in sparring fights.
Their fight was over quickly, Rosalie having almost won but being distracted by Kiara's low growl as Jasper went to grapple with the blonde. She was flipped into the dirt, sending a loud snarl through the clearing as Kiara took a step forward. Carlisle shared a look with Esme at the reaction, worry on his face for just a second before Paul turned around and nipped at Kiara's side.
The wolf grumbled back, but made no more movement towards Jasper. Edward nodded as Sam passed on his apologies, not bothering to give them to Jasper. He knew that Kiara would do that herself later, anyway.
Kiara stood on the outskirts of the training, her eyes fixed on the flurry of movement before her. She watched as her vampire friends engaged in intense sparring sessions, their bodies moving with fluidity and precision. The thuds of impact echoed through the air each time they crashed into each other, or flung each other into trees and logs, filling the space with an electric energy. She'd never witnessed them like this, only ever Victoria.
Her heart pounded in her chest, matching the rhythm of the spars unfolding before her. The weight of impending danger hung heavy in the air, casting a shadow over her thoughts. A sense of unease gnawed at her, threatening to consume her composure. Each strike, each parry, brought a mix of admiration and apprehension to her heart, and reminded her a little too much of how helpless she had felt before she knew about vampires and she had come face to face with the redhead.
The wolves all shifted uneasily as Kiara's thoughts stared to blare a little, her worry and anxiousness about what was coming causing them all to get a little angsty. The Cullens looked over, a little confused as to why they were all becoming a little more restless.
'Kiara, calm down!'
Sam's alpha voice broke through her nerves, her mind instantly relaxing as she looked across and met eyes with the black wolf. She was sure that Jasper was likely helping to soothe her sudden worries, and Sam seemed grateful for that too. Their hive mind was a blessing sometimes but a curse others.
Her gaze focused on Carlisle as he faced off against Edward. They circled each other with calculated steps, their eyes locked in a fierce determination. Their strong, muscular frames moved with agility and grace, a testament to their years of living as vampires but Kiara could see the tension etched into their face, the worry lines betraying them both. They'd never faced something like what was coming, and that made all of the wolves uneasy.
Her attention shifted to Esme. Kiara saw the flicker of vulnerability in the matron's eyes, hidden beneath a mask of admiration for her husband as he sparred against their eldest. The wariness that clung to her every movement spoke of a fear rooted in the unknown, just like Kiara's own.
As the sparring continued, Kiara couldn't help but feel a sense of helplessness creeping over her. She longed to join her friends, and train alongside them. But a nagging doubt lingered in her mind, reminding her of how fresh she was and new to this world. Sam had already made it clear that he wasn't keen on her and Seth joining the fight, and she knew that her pack brothers would feel the same.
She clenched her toes, her nails digging into the woodland ground underneath her as her anxiety threatened to overwhelm her. She yearned for the assurance that they would all make it through unscathed, and that the civil bonds that were forming between the wolves and the vampires would remain unbroken.
As the training slowly came to a close, the wolves nodded in appreciation before turning on their haunches and leaving through the tree line once more. Kiara hesitated, her head tilting to look at Rosalie before flickering back to Sam and her brother. Jacob had just said goodbye to Bella, and was waiting on Kiara to join him and their alpha.
Sam huffed a little, his shoulders sagging as he realised the silent question that Kiara was asking of him. The rest of the Cullens were watching with curiosity, not understanding why the three wolves were still standing looking at each other when the rest had already left.
Edward had a small smirk on his face as he watched the interaction, feeling Jacob's annoyance and taking delight in the boy's torment. He enjoyed watching Jacob not get what he wanted.
"Go," Sam murmured in her head, unfreezing her as he looked to Edward, making sure that the vampire heard his threats about what they would do if anything happened to the girl while with the Cullens. Edward nodded, no humour on his face. He respected what Sam was doing - he knew it wasn't easy to go against everything you've ever known.
Kiara nodded, heading into the tree line without any hesitation. Rosalie felt disappointed for a second as she noticed her go in the same direction that the other wolves had gone, but felt it fade as soon as she heard the rustling of clothes.
Her eyes lit up as a fully-clothed and now human Kiara appeared from the tree line she had disappeared into. The girl grinned as she bounded down the small hill, smiling at the family before sheepishly looking at Jasper.
"Sorry, about..."
"It's okay," Jasper replied, a smile on his face. He could feel that she genuinely felt guilty for how she had reacted when Rosalie and him were fighting, and he could also feel a bit of her embarrassment too.
Carlisle turned to Kiara with a smile, one that reminded her of how he had comforted her that night at the treaty line.
"I'm happy you're coming with us, I have something I need to sort for you."