Hey you guys! Please keep voting and commenting! It means a LOT! Like seriously, a LOT! The stories made the 'What's Hot' list!!!! Number 463, but stilll!!!!
Thanks so much for the support!
xoxo
>> Renesmee >>
---------- Chapter 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"This is so unfair! I'm coming!" I scream to no one in particular. It's just your typical day in the Cullen household.
"Your mother would rip my head off if anything happens to you! Metaphorically, of course, since Nessie can't even reach my shoulder!" Emmett booms in his rich, bass voice.
I roll my eyes and walk towards the forest. Fine, if they aren't going to take me, I'll go myself! How hard could hunting be?! I'm not a child anymore! I'm a freaking vampire/shape-shifter/human! What could a little buck do to me?!
I hear Jazz and Em murmuring behind me. They accidentally let it slip that they were going hunting. I asked to join them, they said no, and here I am! Mum says I get my stubbornness from Bella. Which isn't entirely fair, I think Bella is pretty reasonable. Edward is the stubborn one. And hey, what chance did mom have? She's even worse than Edward!
I studiously ignore my grand-uncles, and continue through a small path in the forest. I strain my senses, and eventually I hear hoofs, landing rhythmically. I smile to myself and bound off after the buck. No way am I settling for a smaller animal! Let Jazz and Em find a little jack rabbit and suck it dry!
The moment I begin running, Jazz and Em do too. But I'm faster than them, so I manage to keep my lead. Then the sound of the hoofs stop. I sniff the air delicately; nope, it's still in front of me. I stealthily climb up a tree, and watch the buck lap up some water. Even better! It's distracted.
Just as I'm about to leap, I hear the rustling of leaves coming from somewhere above me. I turn my head up, before a flash of white springs at me. I fall off the tree, face-first with a deafening thud, scaring the buck away. But the buck is the least of my troubles.
"HELP!" I shout out before I feel a sickening crunch on my leg. I turn around and come face-to-face with a beautiful, angelic face. "Get off me, man!"
"Oo, the little half-blood doesn't want to play?" the melodic voice sneers at me.
My leg has already healed itself, so I use it to kick the filthy vampire off me.
"Julian!" Castella screams from somewhere behind me. She leaps onto Julian and pins him down. She whispers something to him, and he nods
reluctantly. He walks over to me and holds out his hand, offering to pull me up. I spit at the ground near him and get up myself, glaring at him.
Jazz and Em stand further away, watching us.
"Gee, sorry man! I was just playing around...I didn't know you were so fragile," Julian sneers again. I narrow my eyes at him and take a step forward, right up in his face. That's when I notice his ice blue eyes from school this morning, is no more a blue. In fact, it's a deep red; he's hungry.
I glance over at Castella; her eyes are a golden-brown. A colour I'd become used to. "Cas? You're a vegetarian too?" I ask, falling back to the family joke of being vegetarians.
"Yeah! I'm trying to get Julian to try it...but he's proving quite stubborn," she giggles, the sound all bells. Needless to say; I'm dazzled.
Julian pokes his hand out, looking bored. I take his hand for a fraction of a second then pull back. I'm only doing this for Castella, I repeat to myself, over and over again.
"Jul, why'd you pounce on Henry?!" Castella demands, turning on her brother.
He shrugs, nonchalantly and leans against the tree, "He was stalking my buck."
"It isn't your buck! Its fair game until you've sunk your teeth into it!"
"Oh yeah?! You wanna settle this?!"
"Julian!" Castella shrieks, fear evident in her voice.
"It's okay, Cas. I can handle him!" what?! I'm allowed to play the hero sometimes!
Just then, Em and Jazz flank me on either side. Julian takes in the scene before him and smiles snidely, "One day, when your family isn't around to save your ass, we'll settle this half-blood!" he spits at me. He grabs Castella's hand and pulls her with him. She turns, gives me an apologetic smile and wave, and then she's gone.
"Nessie will have our heads! Are you happy, Hen?!" Em complains. But I'm too far gone, carried away by my fantasies of Castella. She was worried about me! It means she cares, right? She does...
"Hey, Romeo? Since you're already here, the least you can do is actually catch something," Jazz murmurs, before springing off, looking for prey. I shake my head and run after him. That's when an unbelievably tantalizing smell assaults my nose.
I make a sudden turn and follow the smell, only to be stopped by a thick arm holding onto me. "Those are hikers, Hen. You know how disappointed Carlisle will be..." he leads me back onto the path. I groan at the smells that greet me. I need blood! I've never really had a craving for blood! Rose always made sure we had enough donated blood stocked up for me. But we've run out, and that's why I'm hunting. I'm used to human blood! So sue me!
I mutter and curse to myself, but I do go after a small dear. I wrestle the doe to the ground, and satiate my thirst. I pull away and look down at the mess I'm in. My crisp white shirt...well, let's just say no amount of washing would help it. I'm muddy and bloody, my hair is matted and caked in grime.
I stare at my reflection in the spring with disgust. That's when I look up to see both Em and Jazz watching me, amused. They're spotless! Seriously, not a spot of blood! Their hair is neat and tidy, and their eyes glow with a soft butter-scotch colour. My brown eyes remain brown, no matter how hungry or content I am.
"Come on, we better head back to the house. Alice is with Edward, Bella, Nessie and Jake. If she has any vision, Edward will see it; and we'll have an over-reacting Edward on our hands! I swear, he thinks you're still a baby sometimes!" Jasper mutters, already loping back to the house.
"He's right, you know? You sure were a cute little baby...I wonder what happened along the way!" Em chuckles, running off. I snarl at him and give chase. I easily catch up to them, where's the fun when you can catch them so easily?
Then Jasper stops in his track, his hand on his lips, motioning for us to keep quiet. I tense, wondering if Julian is about to pounce on me again. And then, a huge, and I mean huge wolf walks out. And that's not all; there isn't just one wolf! There are five! Five freakishly huge wolves!
Emmett and Jasper curse so much, it would make any lady blush, but I'm too shocked to join them. The lead wolf, much bigger than the others, growls at us. And then a young boy walks towards us, standing a couple of feet in front of the leader.
"You're trespassing leeches!" he calls out in a clear, ringing voice. "You were hunting, in our lands," he spits, assessing my bloody appearance. "The penalty is death!"
"Wait!" I shout! "Wait! We didn't know! We're new here!"
"You say that as if we care," the boy says, softly. Shit, this is bad.
"Wait! Please, just listen!" I plead.
"Henry, stop it! We can take them on," Emmett murmurs to me, flexing his huge muscles. Jasper's face is taken over by his calm, controlled face, but he's in a crouch, ready.
"No! No fighting, guys!" I say, to both of them.
"You don't have to, Hen. Jazz and I can take all five of them. What's a bunch of mongrels?"
"Watch your tongue, leech!" the boy shouts.
I stand in between my family and the wolves.
"No, you don't understand! I know all about you. And we aren't your typical vampires! We don't harm humans, we only hunt animals! You have to believe me!"
The Alpha growls, and the boy smiles a small, scary smile. He walks out of the clearing. In a second, he rejoins his brothers, in wolf form.
"Just give me a second, please!" I beg and run to the forest. Jazz and Em stare at me incredulously, thinking I've abandoned them. I throw my clothes out at them, and that's when the smiles appear on their faces. I can see the confusion even on the wolves' faces. I phase, screaming out in pain, but no matter. I need to save my family!
I run back out into the clearing, in wolf form. I'm a small pale brown wolf, almost the exact shade as my skin tone. Nowhere near as big as the others, but I don't look exactly like them. They stare at me incredulously, and I hear Jazz and Em snicker and whoop behind me. Soon a voice fills my head; the Alpha.
"What are you?!"
"I'm a hybrid! I'm not a full vampire. I'm part wolf, like you guys! And the two of them behind me? They're my family! So, please...don't hurt them!"
"How can you be part vampire, part wolf?"
"My mother is a hybrid as well. She's half-human, half vampire. She got pregnant with her husband, he's a shape-shifter like you. They had me. I'm half wolf and half human-vampire."
"Impossible! This is one of your leech tricks!" he growls in my head. His tone is distrustful.
Just then, I hear a loud snarl and thudding of paws. A huge, russet wolf with intelligent black eyes runs into the clearing, stopping beside me; completely dwarfing me.
Dad has authority written all over him, and he's immediately in Alpha mode. Seconds later, Edward, Bella, Alice and mum run towards Jazz and Em. Edward immediately begins interpreting, much to the surprise of the other wolves. But I don't need translation.
"Who are you?" dad growls.
"I'm Kain. I'm the Alpha in this area. And they trespassed!" Kain replies.
"I apologise then. But we didn't know there was a pack here. And as you can see, my boy isn't a vampire."
"He's an Alpha?"
"No. He's my pack, I'm the Alpha."
"Then how is it he can hear me, and I can hear him?" Kain asks, aggressively. "What kind of leech trick is this?!"
"It's no trick. My boy is talented, to say the least. He's the only one of his kind."
"We will spare you and your cub, but the leeches must go!"
"NO!" Dad growls, at the same time Edward snarls. He quietly tells the others what's going on. "I've imprinted on one of them. You know the rules! We are brothers, and you wouldn't dare hurt a brother's imprint, would you?"
Kain growls, so too does everyone else in his pack.
"Phase back. I'll explain everything."
"No!"
"I vouch for all the leeches, no one will harm you or your pack. But it's your choice. If you attack, so will we. And we do outnumber you," and just to emphasise his point, dad steps to the side a little, to show the 6 vampires behind him.
Kain seems to deliberate for a little while before withdrawing. I walk off to the bushes as well, following dad, and phase back. I dress up quickly and walk back to my family, sinking to the ground when I reach them, exhausted.
Jazz and Em support me between them, and keep me upright. "Good job, kid," Jazz murmurs to me, eyes still fixed on the place the wolves disappeared to.
Minutes later they emerge; four teens and two adults. The leader, Kain steps forward, discomfort the predominant expression on his face.
Dad acts as spokesperson and walks up to him. He takes his hand and they shake, with much too much tension for it to look like a sign of peace. Dad leads the pack back to the house, and we bring up the rear. Mum flutters to dad's side. It always makes her edgy to be away from him.
"How did you guys know?" I whisper to Edward, who's near enough.
"Alice was watching for you. We saw the blood. We were already coming back to check, and then all three of you disappeared. You can imagine our apprehension; Jake phased immediately and led the way. And you know the rest," Edward explains in a quick whisper, his eyes still locked on the six strangers in front of us.
"This should be fun," Emmett chuckles into my ear.
"Yeah, so much fun. I hope you guys don't mind if I just close my eyes...-" and that's all I manage before everything becomes dark. God! I must be the most pathetic half wolf ever! One phase and I black out?!
FML! FML! FML!