Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Claws

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 33:

Saratoga Springs, Upstate New York

Jaguar shifter Erica, ID number 21376, the field agent of the eastern border of the United States was running. After receiving an emergency distress call from her support team, she arrived from her apartment and found them all dead.

It hadn’t been a supernatural monster that had done the job. Two dead bodies she did not recognize were also there, guns in their dead hands. She recognized the guns, 9X18mm Makarov pistol, the favored handgun since the 1950s of Russian military. They were the only army in the world that still had them in service.

Russians meant one thing. Devil Dogs.

Erica had been sent here after the Ghoul Mission in Siberia. She had been second in command of that mission, behind the legendary Bella. She had seen the woman fight like the devil set loose, seen her gutted and bleed out and yet she lived She survived the trip back. At times, her heartbeat was so feint she couldn’t hear the sound, yet the woman had made it.

Mother had sent out a coded message to all field agents a week ago. The Organization was at war within itself. Bella had been killed by a Devil Dog, one that had been given fatal amounts of vampire venom with the sole intention of killing her.

Now they were on their own. Mother had gone into hiding. Erica wasn’t sure if she was bunkered down at the compound or hiding at another location off the grid. It didn’t matter. She spoke to her support team about the news, listened to their heartbeats and watched for other indications of lying.

She had been satisfied. They would remain faithful to her, watch her back and she could tell they were not lying. It was a relief. Erica had felt very alone in this world. She had expected to be recalled back to the Compound. With Bella dead, she was the most accomplished killer. She needed to be there to protect and lead her sisters.

Yet mother had given no orders for her to return. Everyone was to stay in position and watch their backs, while waiting for further instructions.

Now Erica was feeling very alone once again. Her team was dead and Russian soldiers were running free in her town, a Devil Dog was no doubt near, and she had no way to communicate. While her logical mind knew she should run, regroup, gather more support, her nature would not let her. She had never ran from a fight in her life. She wasn’t going to start now.

It wasn’t hard for her to follow their scent. She found the five remaining Russian Special Forces members at a cheap hotel. Having nothing to lose if seen, she kicked the door in and gunned them down with little effort before they could take a shot.

Then she ran past the city limits into the country so civilians would not be harmed.

She stopped in a field ten miles outside of the city and waited.

Erica was dressed in her standard combat outfit all Jaguars wore. The skintight black body suit had a holster to strap her handgun to her thigh, so tightly it prevented any sound. That was her only weapon beside her body.

She sat down cross-legged in the grass and waited. She had picked up his scent as she ran out of the city and had not bothered to hide hers. He was coming to her.

After five minutes she heard him. He was circling her, checking for traps. He wasn’t as stupid as most of his kind. Even from this distance she noticed his scent was off. She hadn’t met many of his kind but the smell of vampire venom emanating from him was stronger than it should have been.

He finally walked in front of her. She opened her eyes and stood quickly.

He was a horrid beast and wasn’t even transformed. He was tall like all of his kind, easily over six foot five inches and layered with muscle, easily scene with his shirt off. His chest was hairy, dark as the long hair that hung past his shoulders. Three scars covered his face, from his forehead, down to his chin. The scars were too thick for vampire scratches so it must have been in training against one of his own.

“Do you realize you are going to die?” she asked, breaking the silence. “If not here, then two days max. They gave you injections of vampire venom. You reek of it. Our bodies were never meant to manage that much venom.”

“Your body wasn’t. Nice hair. It won’t be as easy to rip from your scalp.”

Erica had recently cut her hair, shaved the sides, and colored the cropped top in the same shade as Bella in honor of her. It hadn’t grown out much since Siberia regardless.

“You won’t be ripping anything. Even jacked up on vampire juice, you are out of your league boy.”

The man chuckled. “My brother already took out your poster girl.”

“He died doing it. Are you prepared to die?”

The monster’s face scowled. “Enough talk.”

“I agree.”

Erica pulled her gun and fired at the creature’s eye. He was incredibly fast, raising his arm to protect himself. The bullet didn’t even break the skin of his arm.

When he dropped his arm, his face had changed. His fangs were out, his eyes black with yellow pupils and the claws on his hands and feet were on prominent display. His shoulders stretched out and his chest expanded. He became the Lycan he was designed to be, only with much more intelligence than a regular Lycan.

He charged and she moved, barely getting out of his way.

Erica did not have much faith in her chances. She had given much thought to how to kill a Devil Dog since she first saw one when she was twelve. The girls were shown these monsters in action as another safeguard preventing them from ever thinking about running.

She had always assumed she would be faster and in an ordinary situation she would have been.

In this case it was all she could do to avoid him. He passed her once as she slid between his legs and clawed his back. The marks healed before blood could even begin to drip.

She finally was able to jump on his back, dig claws into his throat from behind and unshift her other hand to pull her gun and fire directly at the base of his neck.

The monster screamed, and she knew she had him.

That surety was gone in a second when he grabbed her by her skull and tossed her over his shoulders thirty feet away.

She hit the ground hard, knocking the wind from her. She stood, prepared to move, and hoping she could catch her breath before he struck.

Instead, he stood rubbing the back of his neck.

“That stung. You got fight girl. I like that.”

“Then you are going to love me.”

Erica had been so focused fighting for her life she hadn’t noticed the woman move behind the Devil Dog.

He turned and she moved slightly to the side and saw a sight she had never expected.

Bella was there. Bella who was supposed to be dead.

Seeing the sight of her, made her confident again. She no longer felt tired. Her body no longer hurt. Adrenalin flooded her system.

“Maneuver twenty-six.” Bella said in a commanding voice.

Erica moved immediately, diving for the monsters legs and focusing on his Achilles tendon while Bella flew in the air, swiping at his face.

The creature caught Bella by her throat with both hands, but Erica’s slice into his weakest spot on his and any Lycan’s leg, did the trick.

He fell back into the ground and Bella planted her feet on his chest, pulled her gun and placed it right up to the creatures eye. She fired three times, then fired three more times into his other eye.

The monsters hands fell from Bella’s throat heavily to the ground. Erica listened carefully and heard his heart stop.

“His support team?” she asked.

“Dead.”

“Yours?”

“Dead.” Erica told her, the sad tone in her voice, making it obvious she would miss them.

Bella caught her tone as well. “I am sorry. They were obviously good to you.”

Erica wanted to cry but held back, not wanting to appear weak.

“They taught me how to play video games.” She admitted with a sad smile. “Have you ever played video games?”

Bella nodded. “Yes. It’s okay to cry. I won’t tell anyone.”

That was the final straw for Erica. She fell to her knees and cried, not even flinching when she felt Bella behind her, wrapping her small arms around her.

“I’m sorry.” Erica finally said when she caught her breath.

“So am I. I wish they weren’t caught up in this. Unfortunately for our sisters sake they were damage that was unavoidable.”

Erica stood quickly and faced her.

“What are you speaking of?”

“The war. I need you to follow me. We have much to discuss.”

“The body?” Erica reminded her.

“Fuck him. The buzzards can eat his carcass.”

To Erica’s shock, Bella began undressing. She handed her clothes to the woman. “Follow me.”

Bella turned away from her and in a flash of light, a huge jaguar was in front of her and took off running.

Erica was too surprised to move for a moment at the sight before her, then ran, needing answers. The day was emotional but seeing what she would have believed was impossible was another shock to her system and she needed answers.

They ran into the forest, keeping clear of hiking paths until they reached a cabin. The Jaguar stopped in front of the door and dropped her head. In another flash of light and blur, Bella was on her hands and needs in human form. She turned to Erica and took her clothes back.”

“Leah is inside. She is a wolf shifter, not part of the Organization. Do not attack. She is with me.”

Erica raised an eyebrow but couldn’t speak. At this point she had gone from seeing her friends dead, to a surety that she was going to die in a gruesome fashion, to being saved by a dead girl who changed into a fully formed jaguar, something none of them were able to do.

Bella walked inside and Erica followed. Inside there was a beautiful Native American woman. She was taller than both of them and well muscle on her thin frame. She wore a simple pair of cutoffs and a white tank top, and that was it. No bra, no socks, no shoes.

“Bella, please dress.” she said, her eyes taking Bella in then turning to Erica in a possessive manner.

“Its nothing she hasn’t seen before.”

Leah raised an eyebrow and Bella sighed then turned to Erica, reaching out to her. Erica caught her meaning and tossed the combat suit to her.

“Erica, this is Leah, Leah, Erica. Have a seat, Erica.” Bella told her after she was dressed. “Welcome to someone’s cabin. We found it about twenty minutes before I had to leave to find you. I know you have to be starving. We all are. The food on the plane was not meant for shifters to fill up on. After we talk we can find some steaks. I would suggest killing local wildlife but Leah refuses to eat meat from live animals.”

Bella and Leah sat next to each other.

“I was worried. I should have come with you.” Leah grumbled.

Bella shrugged off her concern. “We had it. A jacked-up Devil Dog may take one of us, but not two of us.”

Erica had a seat. “Please tell me what is going on. Have you come with a message from mother?

Bella sighed and sat back.

“Not quite. I need your help. All our kind will need your help. I am going to tell you a story. It began when I entered a vampire castle in Italy. It is still ongoing. I need your oath that you will not speak or leave until I am finished with my story. Afterward, you can do as you wish.”

“You have my oath.” Erica said without hesitation.

Bella began speaking and Erica listened to every word. Only her oath kept her quiet.

As she listened, she felt a wide range of emotions. Rage, indignation, betrayal, but most of all, sadness. What Bella was telling her didn’t seem possible. Yet the war around the Organization was proof.

Bella and her team had started this war. She was working with a species they were made to kill.

Listening to her reasoning though, the biggest emotion she felt was sadness.

She did not doubt Bella’s words about Mother. She believed everything. Bella was one of them. Mother was not.

“You are lucky.” She finally said.

“Lucky?” Bella asked.

Erica nodded. “You are lucky you were able to block those memories for no matter how little time. I remember them all. I remember everything.”

Bella leaned into Leah who put held her tighter.

“You… started this war. All these deaths.”

Bella nodded. “Mother would have started eventually. She had her plans. I kickstarted it. Played both sides against each other. The Organization is weakest now. We can no longer follow through with our original mission protocol. The heads of the Organization will not sit in the same room. Instead, we are taking out the council as we discover them. The knowledge that the Secretary of State who recently died of a heart attack, has opened doors. Vivian has a trail, and she can follow digital trails as good as we can follow scent trails. We are learning the high council’s names and we will be prepared. Unfortunately there are more friendly casualties every day. I suspected you may be a target. I arrived this morning in town, found this cabin then tracked you. I smelt Devil Dog and hoped I wasn’t too late. I almost was. Because of this, we have to end the war the only way we can. We are going public. My support team leader is speaking with the President right now. He plans to release the information at the United Nations. Without the Secretary of State to warn the Organization, the council members will be blindsided. The international community will have to take note.

Erica closed her eyes and thought about this.

“The agents will be taken by their countries and used as weapons.” She spoke.

“What do you think is happening now?” Bella countered. “They are used secretly as weapons. If their existence is brought into the light of day the media will watch closely, ensure that countries are not sending them to their deaths.”

“And who will fight the evils of this world?”

“Not our problem.” Bella replied immediately. “If our sisters want to protect the world, fine, but it will be their choice. We will be free of any Government.”

“Mother will never allow us to live without her control. You have told me we have hypnotic suggestions that will make us obey, kill ourselves, protect her with our lives. You honestly think our sisters will agree to live in a compound ran by vampires, even those who do not kill humans?”

Bella slightly shrugged. “That is where you come in. We have code words of our own. Jasper and Edward developed them. They have taken the different words, found a baseline and rearranged the words. Said in a certain order, they cancel all the other orders. You must return to the Compound, say the words to the girls and tell them to stay quiet. You are the leader. Without the hypnotic suggestions, they will follow the greatest predator. When we make our move on the base, the kill switches will be disabled. The older girls will take out the guards, have them in place for easy kills. Then we come in.”

Erica shook her head. “They will not voluntarily enter a compound ran by vampires. Even if I tell them to.”

She was quiet for a moment. “If you ask them to do it. If you show them your new form, if you kill Mother in front of them, they will follow you anywhere.”

“I will be there.”

Erica sighed. “You have betrayed everything we have grown up to believe. You have betrayed, killed members of the Organization that we have devoted our lives to. You have allied yourself with our sworn enemy, not just animal feeding vampires but also human feeding vampires.”

Bella said nothing.

“What if I do not agree? Will you kill me?”

Bella shook her head. “I will never kill a sister. I will kill the world before I ever kill any of you. I have betrayed everything you just said, but never our kind. If you don’t agree, walk out, go back to Peru, and tell Mother. I will find some other way to save as many of us as possible from her. I understand and will always consider you my sister. If not for you, I would have died in Siberia. I will never hurt you Erica.”

“If you try to hurt her though, I will.” Leah added.

Erica laughed. “The soulmate. How far apart can you be without the pain?”

Bella shrugged. “Ten miles, The greater the distance, the greater the pain.”

“You never appeared to be in pain in Siberia. I am not surprised.”

“I had to be sedated.” Leah admitted and shivered. “Not going through that again. Let your sister know not to attack the big wolf that is with Bella.”

Erica shook her head. “I haven’t agreed.”

“Yet you haven’t attacked.” Leah pointed out.

Erica laughed lightly. “I like her.”

Bella and Erica watched each other closely for a few moments.

“I will go back to the Compound and report my near-death experience, leaving you out of it. Give me the code words.”

Bella took a sheet of paper from Leah. She read the words aloud.

Erica felt strange. Had she been standing, she may have fell.

“They work.” Bella said approvingly. “How did it feel?”

Erica shuddered. “Better than having a vampire rip into my mind and learn every thought I ever had, then remind me of repressed memories. The kill codes?”

“I have a laptop and can disable it here.” Bella answered.

“If they assess it when I return?”

“Tell them it must be a malfunction. Someone will be monitoring you online. If they try to reactivate it, we will disable it permanently. Blame it on your fight with the dead dog. They aren’t likely to do brain surgery on you. She has too many other safeguards in place.”

“And if she sends me out again to another area?”

“Take her somewhere privately and kill her.” Bella said.

Erica was surprised. “You want me to kill her?”

“No, I want to kill her. But this is about more than revenge for Julie. This is about setting our sisters free. She has tortured and abused all of us. She has sent hundreds of us to certain death. Do what you must but free them before we take over the compound.”

Erica nodded. “You can convince them to follow you into a compound of vampires, but they will not stand by while vampires attack our home, even golden eyed ones.”

“It will be me and my team only. I have a com to give you. If you cannot convince our sisters, let me know. I will find another way, but I do not want to lead my men into a slaughter.”

“When will this takeover happen?”

“The night we announce the existence to the world. The U.S. President will not show any information about our Compound or our existence. Once we take over the Compound we will send coded messages to field agents all over the world to meet us in a neutral spot. Should they decide to join us, they can. If not they are free to go as they please. We can provide them money and identifications to start their lives over. I am not sure what night that is. I need you to tell me when they are free of the hypnotic triggers. We then have large transport jets to organize transport out of the Compound and medical transport for our young.”

Erica nodded. “I am with you.”

The relief clear on Bella’s face.

“Tell me Erica. The others? Will they follow me?”

She smirked. “Do you think I would do this if anyone else were asking? They would follow you through hell, Bella.”

“Thank you.” Bella said.

Erica nodded, then looked to Leah. “Are you sure you don’t like meat fresh from the bone?”

Leah looked a little sick. “I tried it once. When I shift back, it makes me sick.”

Erica sighed. “Then I suppose we should go to my apartment, change, and buy steaks to bring back here. Many, many steaks.”

Bella nodded, smiling for the first time. “That sounds wonderful. Why don’t you two go? I’ll stay here and start up the grill.”

Erica stared at her for a moment. “A grill?”

Bella nodded.

“Don’t let our sisters know you have gone soft. It will seriously harm your street cred.” Erica told her.

Leah gave Bella a kiss and walked out, leaving Bella alone.

“I’m not soft!” she shouted but no one was listening.