"Bella," Rosalie said quietly. "Bella." The wolf was deep asleep. Rosalie didn't want to wake her. In fact, she was happy Bella felt comfortable enough to fall asleep with Rosalie tucked into her lap. Rosalie could hear Charlie's car door slam. Shit. "Wolf," Rosalie pinched Bella.
"What? Huh?" Bella tried to shake the sleep from her eyes.
"Your dad is home." Bella didn't seem to understand. "What do you want to do?"
"Sleep? Let's sleep." Bella grabbed Rosalie tightly and swung both their legs on the couch. They went from sitting on the couch to lay flat on it. Bella pulled the blanket up around them, so it covered them up to their shoulders. Bella's breathing evened out in less than a minute. Rosalie was sure the wolf had fallen right back asleep. She looked at Bella' face. In her sleep, Bella looked young and carefree. Rosalie laid her head on Bella's shoulder right before Charlie stepped onto the front step. She tucked her chin in towards Bella's neck, making sure her face wasn't visible from the doorway to the living room. The door opened, and Rosalie could hear Charlie shuffling in. He kicked his shoes off and shut the door behind him. Charlie gave a heavy sigh, like his day had been incredibly long. Rosalie tensed as she heard his awkward steps get closer; his crutches clunked along in the hallway.
"Bella, are you still u-"Charlie paused, then said, "Oh," awkwardly. He chuckled to himself and walked away. Rosalie heard him shuffling around in the kitchen. The lights turned off and Charlie hefted himself up the steps. She could hear him moving around upstairs. He finally shut his bedroom door, and Rosalie relaxed. That was going to be an awkward question Bella would have to answer in the morning.
Bella sighed in her sleep. Her arms tightened around Rosalie's waist, trapping the vampire against her warm body. Rosalie was hyper-aware of her being completely flush with Bella's barely dressed body. She put a hand on Bella's stomach and gently traced shapes on her as she slept. A purr escaped from Rosalie. Thank goodness she's asleep. Rosalie tried to gently extricate herself from Bella's grasp. Bella put her chin on Rosalie's head and held her tighter. Looks like I'm stuck. The tv kept playing in the background. Rosalie amused herself by thinking through the engine of the Impala, while the purring continued. I could spend every day like this. I wonder how she's going to react when she wakes up. This isn't my fault; she trapped me.
In the distance, a wolf howled. It sounded miles away, but Rosalie could hear the desperation in the howl. She looked towards the window, confused. No regular wolves are that loud. Rosalie considered waking Bella. She looked up and saw that Bella's eyes were wide open and glowing gold. The howl echoed again.
"Fuck!" Bella extricated herself from Rosalie and ran out the front door. The howl echoed again.
"What's happening?" Rosalie followed Bella to the yard. "Bella, what is it?"
"It's Sam, he's calling us in. Something is wrong." Bella was shaking.
"What?"
"I don't know." Bella's eyes were glowing in the night. "I have to shift to find out." Bella burst from her clothes. She howled in response to the call in the distance. Bella looked back at Rose, gave a short bark, and took off into the woods.
Rosalie ran home to her family. "Where have you been?" Emmett asked, laughing. "You smell like a wet dog." Emmett took one look at Rosalie's face, dropped his controller, and appeared in front of her. "Rose, what is it?"
"I don't know. Something is wrong with the wolves."
The rest of the vampires in the house appeared. "Is it Bella?" Alice demanded. "Is she hurt?"
"Sam howled, Bella woke up, said something was wrong and took off." A loud snarling sounded from the woods. It grew louder as more wolves joined in. A loud hissing echoed back, turning into a guttural growl.
"What is that?" Carlisle called, but Rosalie was already in the woods. A high-pitched whine choked off in the distance. Rosalie ran towards the sound. She could hear her family around her. Alice leaped from tree to tree behind her, trying to keep up. Rosalie slammed into the clearing where they liked to play baseball, exploding through branches that were blocking her way. There was pandemonium. A small wolf was lying just beyond the edge of the trees, unmoving. The rest of the pack was battling against four vampires.
The vampires moved so fast the Cullen's almost couldn't track them. The wolves were powerfully overmatched. There were eight wolves still fighting, and they were losing the battle. Rosalie watched a large white wolf get thrown into a tree, her ice blue eyes closing for a moment before she jumped back into the fray. Leah. Rosalie hissed, and the vampires looked in the direction of the Cullen's. The glowing red of their eyes gave them away. Newborns.
Emmett barreled into the fray, grabbing the collar of a wiry blonde boy. He could have been Jasper's twin. Esme joined her son, ripping the head off the young boy while he struggled. Irina and Laurent broke the boy's limbs, disassembling him like a simple jigsaw puzzle. Rosalie charged past them, aiming for a tall ginger woman. Her hair was a dark red, almost the color of blood. The woman was swinging for the other white wolf, clearly trying to throw her just like she did the last one. Bella dodged the woman. Rosalie caught the woman's arm and yanked it back. Tanya grabbed the woman's other arm, while Bella wrapped her powerful jaws around the woman's waist. A large russet wolf joined in and grabbed her legs. The three of them all pulled as hard as they could, tearing the woman into shreds.
Jasper was standing in front of the other two vampires. One of them was in Carlisle's grasp. He and Alice together were attempting to disable this young female vampire, a girl no older than twenty, who was challenging the two. The hulking black wolf joined them. The final vampire, an older male, was paralyzed. He was crying and trembling in fear. It looked like he wanted to run, but Jasper was holding him in place in fear. The wolves pounced on this final man and tore him to pieces. Everyone quickly worked to get the pieces into a pile. Someone produced a lighter and the pile went up in flames. Bella nudged Rosalie. Rose scratched the side of her head, relieved she was okay. There was no time for celebration.
The smallest wolf who was still upright stood by an even smaller wolf. The body the vampires had leaped next to the tree line still hadn't moved. Rosalie hurried over to the spot, and Carlisle joined her. As they watched, the small wolf shifted to an even smaller boy. It was Collin. The wolves howled. "Carlisle is he-" Rosalie couldn't ask. The boy was so small, so precious. She couldn't imagine his life would be cut short in such a violent manner. Blood was visible on his small chest which looked caved in. The boy was naked, so Rosalie shrugged out of her coat and put it over him.
Carlisle leaned in and touched the boy's neck while putting his head close to the small chest. "He's not dead." The vampire's gasped. "We need to get him back to the-"
Rosalie scooped the boy up and ran for the Cullen's house. She held him closely and gently to her chest. Venom pooled in her eyes. No, please no. Please don't die. He was so small and warm. His black hair was plastered with blood to the side of his face. His blood covered Rosalie's shirt and jacket, and some of it ran down her arms in the wind. Bella caught up with Rosalie and smashed through trees, knocking them over so Rosalie didn't have to dodge them. Rosalie kicked the Cullen door off its hinges with Carlisle was right behind her. He cleared off expansive the kitchen island, sending papers and utensils to the floor. "Put him here, Rose." She gently set the boy down. "Esme, I need," Esme disappeared and returned with the blood they kept on hand. It was for nomads who occasionally stopped by the house. They used it to protect the people of Forks. "Alice," Alice appeared with Carlisle's medical bag. The wolves were outside howling and whining. Bella's head poked in the door while she watched them work. Carlisle poked and prodded the boy. He ran cool fingers along his small, birdlike chest, checking the damage.
Carlisle put an IV in the boy's arm and handed the bag to Emmett. "Hold this up." Emmett posed like a worried, bizarre, statue of liberty. "If anyone is squeamish, look away now." Carlisle gave them no time to decide if they needed to leave. He used a scalpel to split the skin of the boy. They could see Collin's heart murmuring along, pushing his blood out of the muscle and into his chest cavity. Carlisle reached his bare hand in and started pulling small white pieces out of Colin. His ribs had shattered into his chest cavity. Carlisle worked quickly, pulling the pieces from places the other vampires couldn't see them. The wolves were pacing outdoors.
The pile of white shards grew larger as Carlisle worked. Eventually, Carlisle sewed shut the holes in Collin's heart. The boy's lungs were whistling. Carlisle touched them gently. He prodded them as they slowly inflated and deflated. Carlisle pulled a Cautery pen from his bag. He touched it to the small holes, burning them shut. Rosalie wrinkled her nose at the smell of burned flesh. Come on, Carlisle. Rosalie grit her teeth.
After another tense ten minutes, Carlisle looked up. "I think he's going to be okay."
"How can you tell?" Alice asked, fear on her face.
"Look," Carlisle pointed into Collin. "His ribs were broken. They're growing back." The vampires could see the bone slowly elongating. "If he's healing, his body is working." The vampires let out a sigh of relief. Carlisle carefully closed the boy's chest with far fewer stitches than seemed useful. "He's going to heal so fast, I don't want him to have too many stitches," Carlisle explained. It seemed that Collin was breathing easier.
"How long will it take?" Rosalie asked with her hand on the boy's forehead.
"I don't know. I don't have much experience in wolf healing. We'll just have to wait and see." Carlisle looked to Bella. "What happened?"
Bella shook her head. She seemed to be struggling. She backed away from the door. Rosalie followed and saw that none of the wolves had shifted. Bella's wild eyes met Rosalie's. She looked scared. "Bella, what is it?" Bella looked at Rosalie in concern.
Rosalie felt Bella's consciousness touch hers. We're all struggling to change back.
Why?
It was so sudden. Bella thought about the call from Sam and appearing in the area the vampires were. They had come across the vampires in Quileute territory and chased them to the clearing. We're all too keyed up.
Rosalie put a hand on Bella's side. Are you okay?
Yes. But Collin.... Collin. Bella's mind showed Rosalie how the blonde male vampire had surprised them. He wrapped his arms around Collin and squeezed. The boy hadn't been prepared. A pit settled in Rosalie's stomach. Without Carlisle, he would have died. I told him I'd be his parent, and I couldn't protect him for even a day.
We've got him. Don't worry.
I yelled at him earlier tonight. I told he and Brady to go away. Bella thought about the boys chanting, 'tell her, tell her,' and then jokingly telling the boys she didn't want them. Bella's mind started to wander to something else. Before Rosalie could figure it out, Bella withdrew.
The wolves curled up on the lawn. They clearly had every intention of staying and waiting for Collin to wake up. Rosalie looked behind her into the house. Emmett still stood next to Collin, dutifully holding the blood up so it could make it into the little boy's system. Rosalie looked back at the wolves. They all looked worse for wear. Sam sat at attention. He watched the house, dark eyes never moving from the doorway. Jake was shaking his head by the trees. Rosalie wondered what was wrong with him. Brady was curled up on the ground, nose tucked into his tail, a consistent whine coming from his chest. One of the other wolves, Rosalie couldn't tell who, was licking Brady to calm him. Leah licked her paws, trying to clear the blood.
Bella sat in the front yard and laid down, head on her paws. The vampires in the house were discussing Collin's chances. "I think he's gonna be just fine. The wolves heal faster than anyone I've ever seen."
"He's so small," Esme groaned.
"I know. I'll be right here until he wakes up. Everything else can wait."
Bella lifted her head and shoved it against Rosalie. "What is it?" Bella looked at Rosalie and back at the ground. "Are you trying to ask me to sit here with you?" Bella nodded. "Is there a reason you didn't just tell me?" Rose tapped her head, indicating the severed mental link. Bella nodded. "Wanna tell me what that is?" Bella shook her head. "Are you going to tell me what it is at some point? Bella hesitated, then nodded. "Infuriating. Fine." Rosalie sat down next to Bella. She leaned against the wolf's warm side. Bella wrapped around the vampire, tucking her head against Rosalie's legs. It felt like being wrapped in a warm blanket.
Alice came out of the house a few hours after the sky lightened up with food for the wolves. Esme had been in the house making a gigantic breakfast spread for them. The wolves looked anxious. "Wolves," Alice scolded them, "eat. You can't do anything for Collin by starving yourself to death. You don't have to shift if you don't want to, but please, eat." Jasper set up the table from the last meal the wolves ate at the house. Esme came out with more food. She had plates of eggs and bacon, bread, and more. Some of the wolves shifted and ate. Leah, Bella, and Sam didn't. They maintained their vigil, unable to shift anyway with the world on their shoulders. Carlisle traded the empty bag of blood for a full one. Emmett never wavered.
Carlisle came outside. "Sam, we need to talk about what happened tonight," Sam growled in response. "Not now, of course, but soon." Sam nodded.
"Carlisle, come here!" Emmett called. "I think he's waking up!"
Carlisle quickly went back into the house. Rosalie ran in so she was standing next to Emmett. Collin groaned. The pack was on the porch. Wolves stacked over each other in the doorway, while the boys who had shifted were looking in through the windows. "Collin," Carlisle said gently, "Can you hear me?"
The boy moaned. He rolled onto his side towards Rosalie. He fell off the table. She caught him. "Am I dead?" Collin mumbled quietly.
Rosalie looked down at him. She saw the young face, the small body, a child she never had. She stroked his head. "Shh, you're not dead. You'll be just fine. We're all here for you." Collin nodded, and he fell unconscious. This seemed more like sleep instead of his previous unconsciousness. Rosalie looked at the door. The boys seemed relieved. Sam and Leah backed away, the stiff angle of their shoulders relaxed. Bella and Rosalie locked eyes. Rosalie still held the small boy tight against her. Bella looked at the two of them. Rosalie couldn't tell what the look in Bella's eyes was, but it warmed her entire body.
"It seems they were unsuccessful. There may be more to the Olympic Peninsula than we thought." The young man listened. "Four is nothing. We've learned from this." He smirked and hung up the phone.