Chapter 26
I woke up to the sound of light rainfall pattering against my bedroom window. After the clear skies La Push had shown Paul and I last night, I was to wake up to the sun's rays beaming over the treetops, from my window, and maybe even exert a little bit of heat. But I should have known better than to hope for good weather in La Push.
"Hey there, kiddo," A familiar voice caught my attention from the corner of my room. I jumped into a sitting position, having been caught off-guard by his presence, and found Ryder leaning against the windowpane. "Did I scare ya?" The tone in his voice was laced heavily with amusement, as a wide grin stretched over his lips, seemingly proud of the fact that he'd succeed in startling me.
"Shit, yes. You did," My eyes cast to the other side of the bed, where a small part of me expected to see Paul. The memory of Paul leaving sometime in the middle of the night popped back into my mind and a wave of disappointment washed over me. "As happy as I am to see you, what are you doing here?"
"I thought we could fit some training in. We haven't practiced together in a little while and I think it might be a good time to see what these fire abilities of yours can do," He teased and approached the end of the bed. It was in that moment I noticed his attire did suggest he was intending on performing physical activity today; from his tight fitted shirt to his basketball shorts. But, after my episode with my mother last night a small part of me wanted to curl up in a ball and just fall back asleep. And for a moment, I listened to that small part and fell back against my pillows. "Hey, no. Get up." I pulled the covers over my head and groaned. Ryder didn't seem to appreciate this response.
"I'm not feeling well." Suddenly the covers were pulled clean off my body and thrown on the floor. I groaned dramatically and pulled my pillow over my head.
"It's laundry day." And with that he picked up all the covers in his arms, snatched my pillow from over my head, and moved towards the door. "Be ready in five." With that he left the room. Even though I wanted to push the memory of my mother leaving from my mind, all it would do is play on repeat and the more the memory presented itself, the angrier I felt myself become. Soon, I could feel the temperature of my blood rising and all I wanted to do was burn something to the ground. I needed this time to release as much of that anger as I could. Thus, I was up and ready in five minutes. As I walked into the kitchen, I found Ryder attempting to pull his charms on Emily, as she mixed ingredients together for another batch of muffins. She laughed at his attempts and greeted me with a smile.
"Eat breakfast before we go." Ryder insisted and pointed to the toaster. I rolled my eyes, yet obeyed him nevertheless. As I waited for my bread to toast, Ryder had decided to saunter beside Emily and lean against the counter, right beside her, with a charming smile that briefly stole my thirteen-year-old heart. Now, I rolled my eyes at his antics and retrieved the butter from the fridge.
"It takes a strong woman to keep up with all of this. You know, Emily, I think..."
"We're back, Emily" Sam's gruff voice echoed through the front entrance. My toast popped in that moment that he stepped into the kitchen. I roughly plucked the toast from the toaster to drown in butter. I glanced over my shoulder to greet Sam and was pleasantly surprised to see Paul following behind him. Both males averted their eyes to Ryder, who had been leaning over Emily to taste the batter in her bowl. Sam's eyes narrowed sharply; the look reminding me of the look he gave me when I told him who I was a couple of months ago.
"Ryder!" I scolded. "Don't you dare." But Ryder had already licked the batter off his finger and grinned at Emily.
"Absolute perfection." I rolled my eyes and picked up my plate, moving to the opposite end of the kitchen. Sam, on the other hand, didn't seem impressed in the slightest and advanced fiercely towards Ryder with blazing eyes. He took a handful of Ryder's shirt, with every intentions of pushing him against the fridge, and more importantly away from Emily. However, Ryder materialised out of his hold and appeared beside me.
"Sam!" Emily had exclaimed just as Ryder had materialised. She gasped as he had disappeared and stared wide eyed at him beside me. I sheepishly grinned at her.
"Shit, my bad" He grumbled with his hands up in surrender. "Didn't realise she was spoken for." Ryder sent Emily a wink, which only annoyed Sam more. The amusement in his eyes almost twinkled. I left the kitchen, with my plate safely on hand, and left a kiss on Paul's cheek as I passed him. I made my way to the table, just outside of the kitchen, and sat down.
"What is he doing here?" Sam asked, irritation very evident in his tone.
"Sorry, Sam. He's here to pick me up for training." I explained, taking a bite out of my toast. Suddenly, Ryder materialised across from me, at the table, and took the other slice of toast. "Hey!" He shrugged and leant back against the chair lazily.
"Training?" Paul frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. "For what?" Ryder shrugged.
"Anything. We'll just practice some of her abilities against mine, mine against hers. She needs to be able to defend herself for when I'm not around." Paul and Sam exchanged a look that had me curious as to what was on their minds.
"Were you guys on patrol?" I asked curiously. Paul averted his eyes to Sam and nodded.
"Yes. We were." Sam's response was curt as he remained standing beside Emily. Probably attempting to scare Ryder away from her.
"Any trouble?" I asked, finishing my slice of toast and standing from the table. Paul looked over to Sam again.
"No, all clear" He shrugged nonchalantly. I narrowed my eyes at Paul's demeanour. He was a lot quieter than normal and he hadn't made much of an attempt to strike conversation or be very close to me, particularly with Ryder being present. I didn't need to be attached to his hip or need him acting macho, but the energy was odd between us, almost a little tense. Maybe my mother put him off last night and, to be truthful, I wouldn't blame him for feeling weary. She wasn't exactly the most welcoming mother in the world.
"Stay in La Push while you train" Paul said, although it came across as an order. His tone struck a cord in me that threw fuel into my simmering veins. Even though his instruction was coming from a place of concern, today, in my angry state of mind, I only heard him insult my ability to handle myself. I frowned at him, standing from the table.
"We'll be fine wherever we go" I responded, the words sounded more snappier than I intended them too, but then again I've never been subtle about expressing my annoyance when I felt it. I deposited my empty plate in the sink and frowned at myself. There was a part of me that was scolding my actions towards Paul... sure the feeling of anger was still sitting heavily in my veins, but it wasn't fair to take it out on him.
"Kira, I'm serious."
"I know, Paul." I spun around on my heels and crossed my arms over my chest defiantly. I noticed his jaw clench in irritation. The kitchen had gone silent as Paul and I glared at one another. Even Ryder was keeping his interjections to himself in this exchange.
"With this newborn army expected to arrive soon I don't want you to be far from La Push." Paul slowly made his way over to me, stopping only a step away from me. Close enough that I could feel the heat radiate from his body, but not enough to touch.
"You won't have to worry about that predicament, because if they arrived Ryder and I could handle ourselves." Paul's glare only became stronger as his brows pulled together.
"Kira, we spoke about this! You aren't fighting with us, it's too dangerous and I won't lose you in a fight that's technically not even ours." Paul hissed through his teeth. His annoyance was gradually increasing, and my stubbornness wouldn't allow me to comply. I closed the distance between us and narrowed my eyes at him.
"A fight is a fight and if I can help the pack, then I should be able to do just that! Why can't I protect you?" I argued.
"You weren't designed for killing vampires... we are. Plus, when you and Ryder had to go on that little mission to save the rich kid, I had to stay back and it killed me. Not because I didn't think you could handle it, but on the off chance that something went wrong..." His voice trailed off and he took a step back, his head shaking away the terrible thoughts. "You're not risking your life for the leech-lover's cause." I let out a huff.
"Then why do I have to be okay with you doing it?" But before Paul could carry on the disagreement, Sam firmly placed his hand on Paul's shoulder and pulled him back another step.
"Alright, maybe you should head off, Kira," Sam suggested. "Get some air, Paul." Neither of us moved from our positions, both of us being too stubborn for our own good. "Now, Paul." Something snapped in Paul and he let out a low growl, before turning away from me and walking out of the house. I let out a sigh, almost as if I'd been holding my breath for the entire conversation.
"Take a muffin for the walk" Emily suggested, nodding towards a tray of her large banana muffins cooling down, and ultimately simmering down the tension in the room.
"Stay in La Push, or the very least Forks. The Cullen's know who you are to the pack, so if there are any problems go to them, if you really need to, otherwise come straight home. Be back here before five for dinner" Sam instructed sternly, his eyes darting to Ryder as well to make sure the instructions resonated thoroughly. With that in mind, Ryder and I took a muffin each and left for the forest.
After finishing our muffins, Ryder suggested we head to Forks to train and I happily agreed. I didn't want Paul to spend his day hovering or looking for us to babysit, so being in Forks would remove that worry from my mind. But as we walked, the conversation between Paul and I from this morning hadn't left me no matter how hard I tried to push it away. It wasn't even the words that were bugging me, more so our body language. Between the arm crossing, the glaring, the snappy tones in our voices; you would have thought we strongly disliked one another. Surely, my mother hadn't put him off that much, even with the Imprint bond.
But it would be unfair of me to throw the blame completely on him. I hadn't helped the argument with my hasty responses and angry tones. Perhaps, it was a poor timing to rehash that conversation, which hadn't reached the conclusion I wanted. Hence, the combination of anger from last night and the irritation of that situation had been hazardous.
Ryder placed his hand on my shoulder, pulling me out of my thoughts, as he came to a halt. We had crossed the Forks border not too long ago and I realised we stopped in a small clearing.
"Are you okay?" Ryder asked softly. I nodded, looking up at his concerned eyes.
"Just annoyed in general at the moment. Between my mother leaving last night, when we were supposed to..." I let the words trail, as a bitter laugh left my lips. My mother and I bonding was an activity we hadn't done since my father was still alive. "And then the whole newborn army situation... Sam and Paul won't let me bloody fight because I'm just so very important to Paul!" Ryder frowned.
"Okay, how about we talk about this after we train? Until then, use this anger to your advantage" He encouraged and squeezed my shoulder gently before taking a couple of steps back.
I took a deep breath from my nose, attempting to relax my body so I could tune in my senses more closely. More importantly, I wanted to tune in my power of empathy to find Ryder. A blindfold was covering my eyes, effectively blocking that sense, but deliberately encouraging me to use my empathy psychic abilities to spot the enemy perhaps even before I can see them. In this exercise however the idea was to simply feel for him since I couldn't use my vision for this exercise.
We had been doing this exercise for a little while now, and he was using different appearances to throw me off guard. This time I could feel him materialise around me, but then he was gone and then I would feel him a moment later somewhere else. I inhaled slowly again, doing my best to concentrate on feeling him even when he was materialising. The magic behind his materialisation made it difficult for me to track him mid-travel, but if I could just tune into the very last moment and the very first moment that he appeared into a different position then I wondered if I could track him.
Like a light switched, I felt it, like he was a magnet that I was following and when I was certain he was about to materialise in a spot I threw a low powered blaze towards him (another skill we had worked on earlier in the day).
"Shït!" With a satisfied grin, I lifted the blindfold from my eyes. Ryder stood, wearing a Nomex suit he had conjured, so that he could withstand my fiery attacks. "Good job, I think we're done with that activity." His suit suddenly left his body, leaving his work out gear, and the blindfold materialised out of my hand.
"Are you sure? I was just getting good at it" I teased. He rolled his eyes.
"Exactly, plus it's nearly four. I need to get you back." I laughed.
"You scared of Sam?" He scoffed.
"Of course not. I just want to look good for that Emily." He winked, making me roll my eyes this time. He held out his hand for me, which I accepted and tightly locked our fingers. I shut my eyes, despite travelling this way numerous times before, I only had to leave my eyes open once to learn never to make that mistake again. It was an awful feeling, an immense pressure pushed against my temples making me feel like my eyes were slowly being pulled out of their sockets. I almost shivered at the memory of the feeling. Only when I felt a cool breeze hit my shoulders and Ryder's hand leave mine, did I then open my eyes.
"Come on!" Ryder called, walking towards the porch. I followed him and greeted Emily with a smile, finding her in the kitchen organising dinner. She smiled at us over her shoulder.
"Hey, guys, how'd your training go?" I walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water, having not had a sip since drinking from Ryder's bottle, because I stupidly forgot to bring some water.
"I've taught her well" Ryder beamed proudly, resting his hands on his hips.
"Would you like to stay for dinner, Ryder?" Emily asked. "Or did Sam do a good job in scaring you?" I laughed at her playful banter.
"He was very insistent on getting me home by four, just as Sam told us" I added. Emily laughed.
"Just to clarify, he didn't scare me in the slightest. I was very much in control of the situation and, yes, I'll happily accept your invitation for dinner. Do you mind if I use your shower to clean up, though?" Ryder politely asked. I narrowed my eyes at him and shook my head, taking a sip of water.
"Of course, Kira will get you everything you need." I finished the glass of water and left it in the sink.
"Come on, you creep!" I called out, taking Ryder's hand and forcing him to follow me up the stairs. He plonked himself on the edge of my bed as I gathered a comfortable outfit to change into after my shower.
"Do you want to talk about what happened this morning?" Ryder asked, softly. I paused from ruffling through my drawer for a particular hoodie and thought over his question. The stupid situation was doing me more harm than good, I wondered if it was even worth talking about again. But today wasn't the day I was going to lose my stubbornness. I walked over to the door and softly shut it.
I explain to Ryder about the backstory of the situation with the Cullen's and Bella and the newborn army that are gunning for our small town in an attempt to kill Bella for a past discrepancy.
"I get that Paul is looking out for me, but it just sucks. I've been training literally since I could walk. From dad getting me into mixed martial arts as a kid, to then Gran helping me develop my abilities and then to you helping bring everything together... what's the point of that commitment if I can't even use it practically?" I exclaim.
"So, I don't quite understand why Paul's holding you back so much. I care about you a lot and I consider you to be very important, yet I wouldn't hold you back from a fight unless I didn't think you were ready," Ryder started. "Maybe he doesn't think you're ready for these newborns. The pack does have more experience with vampires. We don't usually cross paths with vampires often, if at all."
"But they can't be any different to a warlock? I think warlocks are harder to fight, they have abilities and magic!"
"Yes, your right, but vampires are also another supernatural species than warlocks. Different things make them tick; they have different weaknesses and strengths... I bet they even function differently. It's like comparing a cheetah to a... well, a wolf." I let out a huff; my stubbornness annoyed that Ryder didn't side with me right away, but instead is trying to help me understand Paul's perspective.
"Those things are teachable, it isn't rocket science." Ryder sighed.
"I can see how Paul looks at you, so I'm not surprised he is being so protective and, to be honest, I'm relieved to see it," I frowned at his words. "You went through a rough time after you dad died, understandably, and that other kid wasn't exactly... smart all the time."
"I wish he'd have a bit more faith in me though."
"Who said he didn't?"
"He did by keeping me at home to clean the house or whatever" I grumbled.
"Don't be an bïtch, Kira. That's not what this is about." I let out a sigh.
"I know," I groaned, leaning back against my bedroom door. "I'm going to go shower now. Thanks for the chat."
"I don't think it was helpful" Ryder admitted.
"It wasn't."
"Excellent."
After dinner, Sam helped Emily with the dishes, allowing Ryder and I to watch a movie. Dinner wasn't as bad as I thought it might be, Ryder helped carry the conversation and mainly spoke to Emily, since Sam wasn't overly talkative. In fact, I noticed him eat quite silently and held a somewhat distant look in his eye. I couldn't help myself and tentatively opened the door to his emotions, feeling a combination of fear and anger and worry. It was enough to nearly put me off finishing my dinner from the weight of it, and I only kept the door open for a couple of seconds. How he was eating through all that was beyond me? Perhaps it was a wolf thing?
Once Emily and Sam were finished they stood by the open door of the living room, Emily with her bag over her shoulder and Sam with only his cut off shorts on. Ryder raised a brow at the sight, much to my amusement.
"I'm heading to Sue Clearwater's place. Why don't you come along as well?" Emily suggested. I glanced at Ryder and back at Sam. He frowned.
"How long you hanging around?" Sam asked Ryder.
"As long as I'm welcome" Ryder responded, sitting up slightly from our slumped position. Sam glanced at Emily.
"You two can stay here if you like, just look after Kira until Emily get's back. I'm going on patrol and won't be back until the morning." Ryder nodded.
"I'll take good care of her, don't stress." Sam nodded in appreciation and the couple left the home. Ryder ruffled the top of my head and laughed. "Ha! Looks like your stuck with me tonight!" I groaned and slumped further into the couch.
By the end of the movie I felt ready to strangle Ryder, between his remarks during the movie and his whining about there not being any popcorn I had a fair motive. Needing some relief from his childish self I decided to call Embry to see if he was free to come over. But my call hit his voicemail. Next, I'd see if Jacob was free, but I got the same results. My finger hovered over Paul's number, but that only made this morning's argument lift back to the surface of my mind. With an irritated touch, I left his contact and scrolled to Quil. We weren't super close, but that's how people become closer, by hanging out, right? Just as my previous two attempts, I hit Quil's voicemail. I tried Seth's number and even Jared's, and each time hit their voicemails. Interesting.
"What's with that face?" Ryder asked, halting at the threshold of the living room with narrowed eyes or curiosity.
"Most of the pack isn't answering their phones," I replied, feeling suspicious about the situation. "They can't all be on patrol, surely." Ryder shrugged.
"Maybe with these newborns coming to town they're on high alert" Ryder suggested. He could have been right, but there was a feeling in the pit of my gut that was telling me otherwise.
"I need you to take me somewhere."
I knocked on the stunning wooden front door of the spectacular home, tucked away in an abundance of forest. Ryder stood beside me with his arms folded behind his back.
"I feel like I'm about to be put on Sam's black list" He grumbled.
"So, you are afraid of him?" I grinned. He didn't get a chance to retort as the front door opened revealing Dr Cullen.
"Kira," His voice remained levelled and even, not giving away if he was surprised to see me or expecting my presence. "It's good to see you, come in." He stepped back to allow us into the stunning and open home. "I'm Carlisle Cullen." He extended his hand to Ryder, who took it and introduced himself in response. Carlisle led us up the stairs to the living room, where the rest of the Cullen clan were congregated. Jasper and Emmett were sitting on the couch, their eyes glued to the TV as a news report played. Meanwhile, the rest of the family (excluding Edward) were talking to one another. As soon as we entered the room, all attention fell to the (somewhat) humans.
"Hello everyone, good to see you all again, this time in one piece" I greeted.
"You ditch the mutt?" Emmett asked loudly, his eyes twinkling with humour as he stared at Ryder.
"No, this is my very good friend, Ryder. Who is also a witch" I introduced. Ryder lifted his hand in a wave before crossing them over his chest. I knew he was surveying the room, he didn't know the Cullen's so he wouldn't have an ounce of trust for them. The only person he trusts in this room is me, and since I trust them, he is fairly relaxed.
"While it is great to see you, Kira. It's not exactly the best time for a social visit. Is there something you need?" Carlisle asked politely. I nodded.
"Yes, I wanted to know if you were doing any sort of training for the newborn army?" I asked. I suppose if the wolves won't let me fight with them, maybe the Cullen's would.
"We are, but I couldn't imagine Sam Uley allowing an Imprint to fight."
"I'm surprised they wouldn't make that a rule" Rosalie mumbled, loud enough for me to hear though.
"Well, not quite. Sam and Paul insist that I can't fight, but I've trained all my life for something like this. I know I haven't fought vampires before, but maybe if I joined your training session then I could get an idea."
"Oh, this ought to be interesting" Emmett chuckled. I frowned in slight confusion, but dismissed the comment as just another retort.
"Kira, I'm sure you're very capable but I also know that the wolves are very protective over their Imprints. Technically, you are in Sam's pack and I can't go against his orders" Carlisle explained. Great.
"Oh, come on, Carlisle. She should join us for training" Jasper grinned, but there was an undertone to his smile that made me suspicious. Between Jasper's mischievous grin and Emmett's comment, as well as the fact that Alice and Rosalie were holding back smirks only increased my suspicion. Carlisle didn't seem overly impressed by his family's antics and sent the boys a look that made them quiet down.
"Is there something going on that I don't know about?" I asked, hoping to air out whatever was being swept under the rug. The Cullen coven remained silent as I glanced between each vampire accusingly.
"Much like yourself, the pack has never experienced fighting newborns either, in fact most of us haven't either," Rosalie piped up with a smirk, "That's why we've been training with the pack. So, that we can all get a crash course."
"Ah, shït."