When Kate and Irina were nearly overwhelmed, I changed direction instantly.
There was no time to think, only the sharp pull of instinct and the awareness of where they were in the chaos. I barreled forward, slamming into the newborn threatening Irina and tearing it away from her before it could reach her throat. Its scream cut short as I twisted and ripped its head free, flinging it aside as I turned on the next one.
Another lunged for Kate. I intercepted it midair, crushing it into the ground hard enough to shatter the frozen earth beneath us.
I stayed between them and the worst of the attack, taking blows meant for them, ripping newborns apart as fast as they threw themselves forward. Kate fought with lethal grace, using her gift to take down one vampire after another. Irina fought with focused precision, and for a few heartbeats it felt like we had control again.
Then, Emmett's scream tore through the clearing.
It was not pain or rage.
It was devastation.
The sound ripped through me like a claw to the chest. I turned just in time to see Rosalie's body collapse, her head torn cleanly from her shoulders and flung aside like a discarded thing.
For a fraction of a second, everything froze.
Then Emmett lost himself.
He threw himself into the newborns with no thought for defense, tearing them apart with raw, unchecked fury. Limbs flew, venom sprayed, bodies hit the ground in pieces. He screamed again, a broken, wordless sound that carried grief and madness all at once.
I surged toward him immediately.
If I did not cover his back, he would not survive.
I tackled a newborn mid-lunge, snapping its spine before it could reach him, then wheeled around and slammed another into a tree hard enough to split the trunk. I stayed glued to Emmett's blind side, intercepting attacks, tearing apart anything that got too close.
He fought like he had nothing left to lose.
Nearby, Jasper and Alice changed tactics.
They stopped advancing and closed ranks around Rosalie's fallen body. Jasper's movements became sharp and economical, driving attackers away with ruthless efficiency. Alice stayed near Rosalie's head, her focus absolute, dodging blows before they fully formed.
As long as the head remained intact, Rosalie could be saved.
A smaller sound reached me then, sharp and wrong.
I glanced toward the back of the clearing and felt my gut twist.
Paul was down.
One of his legs lay twisted at an unnatural angle, his massive wolf form trembling as he tried to rise and failed. A newborn stood over him for a heartbeat too long.
Sam and Jared hit it from both sides.
The vampire came apart instantly, but the damage was already done. Paul slumped back into the snow, breathing hard, frustration and pain rolling off him in waves. He was out of the fight.
The battle dragged on after that, minute after brutal minute.
My muscles burned. The ground was churned into blood-soaked slush. Every newborn that fell made the next one more desperate, more reckless.
Then, finally, the attacks slowed.
The screams thinned.
And then there were none left standing.
The silence afterward felt unreal.
Carlisle moved immediately to Paul, setting the broken leg back into place with practiced care. Paul endured it without resistance, healing already beginning.
Nearby, Jasper and Alice carefully reattached Rosalie's head. Her body lay still, intact, already knitting itself back together.
She would survive.
Eleazar sat against a tree, missing an arm, but calm. The limb was recovered and reattached by Carmen without delay. He would heal.
Emmett finally slowed, his movements jerky, unfocused, his rage burning down into something hollow and raw. I stayed close, alert, until his stance loosened and the worst of it passed.
Leah was laying down next to Tanya, breathing heavily but otherwise completely unharmed.
We had won.
No one had been truly lost.
But as I lifted my head and scanned the treeline, unease settled deep in my chest.
The clearing was empty.
Too empty.
No signs of red hair.
Victoria had never been here.
And that meant the fight was not truly over.
…
Alice froze mid-step like someone had hit a switch.
Her eyes snapped wide, unfocused, her whole body going rigid; and then she screamed.
"Mike!"
The sound cut through the clearing sharper than any newborn's shriek.
"Victoria's going after your parents!" Alice shouted, panic breaking through her usually controlled voice. "And another one is going for Bella. We won't reach them in time, only you can save them!"
The world tilted.
For a single, terrible heartbeat, everything went silent.
My vision tunneled, instincts colliding violently with something colder, heavier. Parents. Bella. Two directions.
There was no time to think.
No time to panic.
My body reacted before fear could take hold.
I launched forward.
The ground exploded beneath my paws as I tore away from the clearing, muscles screaming as I pushed past every limit I'd ever respected. Trees blurred into streaks of shadow and green. Wind howled past my ears as Forks loomed miles away, impossibly far and impossibly close all at once.
Faster.
I needed to be faster.
But even at full speed, instinct screamed the truth at me.
I couldn't be in two places at once.
My eyes narrowed, jaw setting hard.
No.
I refused that answer.
I wasn't choosing who lived.
Something inside me snapped, not broke, but opened.
The forest fell away.
The sensation was violent and weightless at the same time, like being torn upward by an invisible current. My body kept running below, a massive gray blur devouring distance without slowing, but I was no longer fully inside it.
My awareness lifted. I was now in spirit form.
I looked down and saw my wolf form tearing through the forest, unstoppable, relentless, a living weapon aimed straight toward Forks.
Good.
I focused hard.
'Save Bella.'
The command wasn't spoken. It didn't need to be. It was a certainty, an order burned into instinct itself. The wolf did not hesitate, did not question. Its path adjusted by a fraction, trajectory shifting toward the familiar pull of her scent, her presence.
Then I turned and flew.
The world rushed past me in a way running never could. I streaked above the treetops, the forest unfolding beneath me like a living map. I angled toward my house, toward the place that held what I couldn't afford to lose.
Victoria.
I felt her before I saw her.
That sharp, venomous presence burned like a brand in my awareness, fast and cruel and confident. She thought she was ahead of the game. Thought she'd finally cornered me where it would hurt the most.
The sky answered my rage.
Clouds began to gather, thick and heavy, rolling in unnaturally fast. Wind shifted, pressure dropping as the air itself bent to my will. Static prickled along my awareness as energy coiled, dense and dangerous.
The storm was coming.
And I was done letting her run.
I pushed harder, drawing power in, shaping it as I closed the distance. Lightning flickered faintly within the growing clouds, distant thunder muttering like a warning growl.
Victoria had taken too much, killed too many innocents.
And now she was threatening my family.
This time, there would be no escape.
Below, my body ran like death given form.
Above, my spirit hunted.
And when I reached my house, Victoria was going to learn exactly what happened when you provoked a storm.
…
(Writing this chapter took me forever, people kept interrupting me... Now, there's something I'd like your opinion about, and that's Bella's fate. I find myself torn between choices, should I let her be changed into a vampire? Let her die? Or allow her to keep her human life? What do you think?)