(Leah)
The clearing still stank of burnt vampire.
It clung to the air like a bad memory, sharp and acidic, crawling into the back of my throat every time I breathed. Ash drifted lazily through the trees, settling over torn earth and shattered trunks, mixing with the metallic tang of blood that had already begun to fade.
We were waiting, but none of us liked it.
The Cullens stood scattered among the wreckage, tense but controlled. The Denali clustered closer together, whispering under their breath, eyes constantly scanning the treeline. The wolves paced. Sam tried to look calm, and Paul was doing his best not to limp, pride holding him upright more than his half-healed leg.
I was bored, tired, and wound too tight to relax.
That was when I felt it.
My eyes snapped toward a shattered tree near the edge of the clearing, its massive trunk split and fallen at an angle, roots torn from the ground. At first I saw nothing. Then the shadows shifted.
Red eyes blinked.
I snarled, the sound ripping out of my chest before I could stop it.
Another one.
I lunged forward, claws itching, already calculating the distance, the perfect angle for the kill.
"Leah, wait!"
Alice's voice cut through me, sharp and urgent.
I skidded to a halt, muscles coiled so tight they trembled, eyes never leaving the vampire as she shrank back beneath the broken trunk.
I growled but stopped nonetheless, giving Alice a look that she immediately understood. 'We missed one!'
"I know," Alice said, moving in front of me before I could charge again. "Just… wait."
The vampire must have realized she'd been spotted. Her breathing hitched, shallow and panicked, the sound barely audible even to human ears. She didn't attack. Didn't snarl. She just stayed frozen, like prey that knew running would only make it worse.
Alice stepped closer to the fallen tree, her movements slow and careful.
"It's all right," she said softly. "You can come out. We won't hurt you."
I shot her a look, but she ignored me.
After a long, painful moment, the vampire shifted. A pale hand appeared first, fingers shaking, then the rest of her followed, stumbling out from the shadows.
She was young.
Way too young.
She couldn't have been older than fifteen. She was about Alice's height, which was really saying something, with delicate features and long brown hair that fell in loose curls around her shoulders. Her red eyes were bright and unmistakable, newborn eyes, raw and frightened.
She looked more like a lost kid than a monster.
But that didn't mean she wasn't dangerous.
I stayed where I was, weight balanced, ready to move at the first wrong twitch.
Alice smiled gently. "I'm Alice. What's your name?"
The girl hesitated, eyes flicking toward the wolves, lingering on me like she expected me to leap at her any second.
I didn't soften my expression.
"Bree," she said finally, her voice thin. "Bree Tanner."
She swallowed and rushed her words out, like she was afraid she'd lose her nerve if she stopped.
"I didn't want to be here," she said. "I never wanted to fight. I swear. Some of us tried to leave once. Me and a few others. Riley caught us before we got far. He killed two of them to warn us. Made the rest of us come back."
Her gaze dropped to the ground.
"We never tried again."
For a second, I didn't know what to feel.
Pity, maybe. Or anger. Or both tangled together.
She hadn't asked to be turned. None of them had. That didn't change what they were, or what they'd done. But standing there, small and shaking, she didn't look like the monsters we'd just torn apart.
The thought made my chest ache in a way I didn't appreciate.
Before I could think further, the sky flashed.
A brilliant white light tore across the clouds in the distance, followed by a thunderclap so loud the ground trembled under my feet. Another strike followed. Then another. And another.
Five lightning strikes in rapid succession.
Every head in the clearing snapped toward the sound.
Forks.
Mike.
My stomach dropped.
That was his spirit walker power. Whatever was happening out there, it was big.
'Please tell me you made it in time.' I sent through the link, but there wasn't an answer.
Alice froze.
Her whole body went rigid, eyes unfocused, breath catching in her throat. When she came back, her face had gone tight and pale.
"The wolves have to leave," she said quickly. "Now. The Volturi are coming."
The name hit like ice water.
Sam didn't argue, and neither did Jared, not like they could talk in wolf form... They took off immediately, disappearing into the forest in a blur of fur and motion. Paul followed, his run uneven but determined. He grit his teeth and powered through it, refusing to be the one left behind.
They'd done their job. There was no reason for them to stay.
I stayed.
Mike was probably already on his way back, and I wasn't leaving until I knew he was okay. I'd felt his thoughts go strange earlier, scattered, instinct-heavy, like he was barely hanging onto himself.
It had scared me more than I wanted to admit.
I reached for him through the pack link again.
'Mike,' I pushed, sharp and worried. 'Answer me.'
Still nothing.
Then, suddenly, his presence snapped back into focus.
'Leah?'
Relief hit so hard my knees almost buckled.
'I'm here,' I shot back. 'How did it go?'
'They're safe,' he said immediately. 'My parents. Bella. Charlie. I made it in time. I'm going to shift and talk to Bella for a bit.'
'Good,' I said, meaning it. 'Come back fast.'
In my relief, I forgot to mention something important.
The Volturi.
I ducked behind a tree and shifted, the familiar burn and snap ripping through me until I was human again. I pulled on shorts and a t-shirt from my stash and stepped back into the clearing.
"Mike's safe," I told them. "He made it in time. He'll be back soon."
A wave of relief seemed to ripple through the Cullens and Denali alike. Even Emmett's still rigid posture loosened a fraction.
Then Alice looked at me, urgency sharpening her expression.
"Leah, you need to leave," she said.
"What?" I frowned. "Why?"
"The Volturi won't take kindly to…" She stopped mid-sentence, eyes going distant again.
Then she stiffened.
"…Too late," she said quietly. "They're already here."
The air shifted.
Four figures appeared at the far edge of the clearing, emerging from the shadows like they'd always been there. Long black cloaks brushed the ground, faces pale and unreadable, eyes gleaming with ancient, dangerous intelligence.
The Cullens tensed instantly.
The Denali were worse.
Tanya stepped forward half a pace, fists clenched. Kate's hands crackled faintly with restrained electricity. Irina's face twisted with a mix of fear and fury.
Every instinct in my body screamed one thing.
They were dangerous, even more so than the whole newborn army.
…