Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Claws

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 29:

Bella woke to an unusual feeling. Someone was lying on top of her, naked. If Bella were human, Leah’s taller, slightly muscular form would have bothered her, made breathing difficult. Instead she felt Leah like a warm blanket covering her entire body, her face buried in Bella’s neck, snoring gently, her breath tickling Bella slightly.

The night had not been planned, but rather just happened.. Bella had thought of making love Leah before constantly since she met her. The girl had offered enough to be whatever Bella needed, but the time had never been right. It was usually before or after Bella had prepared herself to kill someone. The worst times Leah offered were when she tortured someone, ate them slowly like she had the doctor who killed Renee.

But last night had been different. It had been two weeks since her encounter with Hildebrand with only a couple assassinations to carry out on the weekend, and Charlie had worked a rare nightshift leaving the two girls alone in an empty house. A night of lying on the couch watching movies Bella had never seen, turned to Leah laying across her lap. Leah had slid her hand under Bella’s shirt and traced the long, vicious scar that stretched from Bella’s sternum directly down her center to just above her pelvis. Bella squirmed a bit, not enjoying Leah looking at and feeling the one scar that brought her closest to death but did her best to relax.

Then Leah’s hands moved on, tracing more scars under her shirt, then a hand around her back lightly touching smooth skin. Bella felt her own hand on Leah’s abdomen, brushing her lightly, moving up and down, farther and farther. Leah moaned and squirmed but did not try and stop her.

“I want you.” Leah whispered. “It’s been long enough. Take me.”

Not another word was spoken until the two reached Bella’s bedroom.

Despite her natural instincts below her surface, Bella was gentle with her, showing her wonders Leah had never known, repeatedly. Bella was not sure how long into the night the two went, but it was now 7 AM and she felt as if she hadn’t slept for long.

Instead of moving, Bella lay still, enjoying the feeling of Leah almost molding to her body. She didn’t think about her scars, didn’t think of her former love, didn’t think at all. She just reveled being close, waking up with a woman she loved after consummating their connection only hours ago.

Leah never moved either, eventually snoring lightly and holding onto Bella more tightly, as if to make sure she didn’t go away.

Bella heard Charlie come home, make coffee and then settle into his recliner. Judging by the sounds he was reading the paper instead of watching the news. The man obviously saw Leah’s truck in the drive and while he didn’t know what had happened, he was being considerate enough not to wake them. Leah had spent many nights with Bella, so it wasn’t unusual to see her truck in the drive in the morning. Perhaps he knew instinctually that this morning was different than their previous sleepovers.

It was nine in the morning, before Leah finally woke, moving her head from Bella’s neck to face her imprint.

While Leah had been in bliss the night before, this morning she looked unsure and a bit afraid.

“You were perfect.” Bella told her and felt Leah’s body relax. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Leah responded, kissing her gently, then moving back to her spot on top pf her girlfriend, a large smile on her face. Any awkwardness Leah had feared when she woke was gone. Bella was happy, not pulling away from her as Bella often did when intimate moments occurred or sharing emotions. Leah was pleased she looked content, happy. “I’m glad we waited. I… I’m just glad. It was beautiful. So…”

Bella raised an eyebrow. “So?”

“Want to do it again? I have a feeling I have much more to learn.”

Bella laughed and squeezed her tighter. “I would love to, but Charlie is home. It probably wouldn’t be appropriate.”

Leah scowled but placed her head back on Bella’s chest. “We should get our own place.” The girl grumbled, half jokingly.

Any further complaints were cut off by a text from the phone near Bella’s bedside. It was the tone reserved for her team, usually meaning Bella was going to take a trip and Leah would be taking sedatives or going with her. She preferred the latter. Though Leah had absolutely no combat skills and stayed in a hotel room for the duration of the trips, Leah felt better being near her imprint. She was becoming more familiar with the pain caused by the distance between the two, but the fear of waiting for Bella to come home safely weighed on her.

“Don’t answer.” Leah told her.

Bella ignored her and accepted the call. “Yes?”

“It’s Mac. Hildebrand has a mission for us. The top Russian scientists of the Devil Dog program are in Los Angeles, meeting with scientists from Saudi Arabia. We kill the Russians, make it look like a Saudi hit. Knives and guns, no claws or leaving DNA evidence behind. I’ll pick you up in an hour. Can you be ready?”

“Absolutely.”

“We need two tickets, or three?”

Bella looked at the hopeful face of her girlfriend who knew what was going on.

“Los Angeles? It’s not that far. The sedatives should work.” Bella told Leah.

Leah shook her head. “Take me with you.”

Bella stared at her for a moment and nodded her head. “Leah’s coming with us. All humans?”

Mac was silent for a moment. “Maybe. It looks that way but with the Connolly’s recent activities, and the crashing of the server, special guards may have taken a different flight. There is a field agent, one of your Jaguars, that patrol’s the area. Hildi may call her in to either spy or guard. If we bring the vamp squad she could be distracted by their scent and leave the Russians alone but there would be those who suspected vampires are involved in these hits. We don’t want that.”

Bella stiffened for a moment. The idea of fighting and killing one of her own never crossed her mind. She wouldn’t do it. Some lines would not be crossed and the bond between her and her sisters was sacred. “Hildebrand would never give one of our own to guard program directors from other sites. If there is one of my sisters there, we will call off the operation. We can be ready in an hour. You and I will scout and hit tonight. Are they meeting at a hotel?”

“Old medical research lab, ten floors. Went out of business three years ago but the Organization has kept it open and operational inside as a fallback spot for their geeks, though it looks abandoned. It most likely serves as a meeting place for these types of things. It’s in a crowded area, not far from the center of LA. We are going to need to be fast and quiet.”

“I’m both. I doubt they are staying in this building. They are most likely using a hotel so we can strike there.” Bella told him. “I’ll take a housekeeping key before they return.”

“We could hit them at the meeting place. All of them in one place, kill the Russians and leave the Saudis. It would be easier than going door to door and it would only be the Saudi’s word that they didn’t order the hit.” Mac suggested.

Bella mulled that over. “Security would be tighter at the meeting spot. Less civilians in the way though. Numbers?”

“Seven Russians and eight Saudis. Unknown human guards from both sides.”

“Fine.” Bella agreed. “Plan to hit the lab. Either way we will have to break security. It would be less noticeable than a hotel room. I’ll have Leah hidden away while we work.”

Mac was silent for a moment but before Bella could end the call he spoke. “You sure this is a good idea, bringing her along? Every hotel has cameras. We are going to stay overnight. Hildebrand knows where we are staying. She is going to notice if I pay for three tickets. She said no support team allowed. I think she has another mission for the Back Street Boys. Every time Leah is with us, she runs the risk of being discovered.”

Bella had thought of this as soon as these missions had started. They were running a risk, yet she felt more complete, more in control when Leah was around and killing without using her claws and teeth was difficult enough.

“I’ll have Vivian put her on a different plane and in a different hotel using our account. If you want me to kill like an assassin instead of an animal I need her near. I feel calmer when she is around. Don’t worry about her. I’ll get Edward to travel with her on a different flight, listen to the thoughts around her. If anyone suspects anything about her, he can kill them quickly and cleanly and get her out.”

“Edward doesn’t strike me as the killer type.” Mac pointed out.

“I trust him. He will do whatever is necessary. I think I know the Cullens a bit better than you do. See you in an hour.”

Bell hung up the phone and reluctantly moved out from under Leah,

Leah dragged herself out of bed. “Honeymoon’s over, huh? I really have to travel with Edward?”

Bella glanced at her then pulled her black box from the closet. “You really want to stay home? I can’t take a chance of you being found out, injured or worse. It’s dangerous enough taking you with me. If Hildebrand were to ever find out about you… it’s better if you are on a separate flight in a separate hotel.”

“I can take care of myself.” Leah argued.

“No, you can’t.” Bella replied calmly. “Not against these people. When it comes to this, you do it my way, or not at all, understand? This isn’t a vacation. I take you so you won’t feel pain while I am gone. I hate the idea of you being drugged or in pain, but if pain is what you have to deal with instead of being discovered, you will deal with it.”

Leah knew better to argue. She normally challenged Bella in every aspect of their life together in order to make sure she was a partner and not some side character in a tragic story about a girl who never had any choices in her life. But regarding missions Bella was different. She wasn’t challenged and Leah didn’t push, happy to get what she could.

She also knew Bella became a different person on missions, one that she did not like Leah seeing. She had no doubt the two would not be continuing their activities from the night before in Los Angeles.

After Bella and Mac had left, Edward picked Leah up two hours later. In that two hours it was obvious Bella had boarded a flight in Port Angeles and getting farther away, judging by the sharpening pain in her chest.

During the flight to Los Angeles, Edward looked extremely uncomfortable. He was normally stoic or contemplative, but he winced a few times.

“You okay?” Leah asked him, wondering when the last time he fed was. His eyes were golden, not black and she knew black was a color indicating the Cullens needed to cull the animal population of Washington State.

Edward nodded. “I’m trying very hard to listen to every passengers’ thoughts and ignore yours, but you are thinking very loudly. Is there any way you could think of something else? I’m feeling like a voyeur here and it is not a feeling I enjoy.”

“Sorry.” A red-faced Leah told him. “It was kind of a big deal, but I’ll do my best to think of something else. Maybe if we talked about something besides Bella?”

Edward nodded. “Pick any subject that isn’t about sex.”

Leah rolled her eyes. “Now that you said it, I’m thinking about it again. Thanks Eddie. I saw Paul the other day. For a moment anyway. He stepped out of Sam’s house and grabbed the mail. It’s the farthest he has been out since the incident.”

“How did he look… oh… that’s not good.” Edward finished, seeing her thoughts. They were not about sex at least.

“Mom said he is afraid to be out in the open. He still hasn’t regained sight in his eye and he is scarred all over. Bella did a number on him. He should have known better than to go after her.” Leah added, as usual defending Bella’s actions. She had argued loudly with her Father about this, nearly leading to her moving in with the Cullens or Bella. Her Mother had mediated, but even she had a hard time defending Bella’s actions considering Bella had been more animal than human. Still though, Sue Clearwater had kept the peace, however tenuous before father and daughter.

“She mutilated him and he will suffer from PTSD the rest of his life.” Edward mumbled. He would never forget the sight of Paul after his so-called fight with Bella. If not for his wolf gene he would have been dead many times over whether Bella finished him or not.

That was also the day he realized exactly what Bella could do. He had seen her kill the newborn vampires efficiently, seen her battle against the older vampire in Leah’s head, saw what Rose had witnessed and taken part in when Bella ate the man who murdered her mother. He knew she had eaten the meat off one of her former torturers in Peru. In all those instances though, it seemed Bella had remained in control.

Looking at Paul Lahote, seeing Bella’s reaction, only being talked down from killing the boy by Leah, barely, Edward understood how vicious she could be when she gave in completely to the monster inside her that always wanted to burst out. Her animal had been given free. Bella and the other victims of the Organization fought on a different level than wolves and most vampires. They were brutal in their training. Holding back was not a concept he suspected was encouraged.

Challenging a predator on her ground was not something that should be done and unfortunately a hot-headed teenager named Paul had to discover that and bear the consequences for life.

As usual, Leah had no idea where Bella was staying, or what she was doing, but she knew her imprint was nearby, at least under 20 miles away.

Edward and her had checked in at the Luxe Hotel on Rodeo Drive and Leah could not believe the elegance of the place. It was just after two when they arrived. Due to the sun shining brightly Edward could not leave the hotel, the covered parking lot and tinted windows of the limo only able to allow him to access the hotel. He had promised to take her out that night since he had not spent much time in Los Angeles himself for obvious reasons.

Leah knew it was also to distract her from what Bella was doing. Despite Bella being impervious to regular weapons, she still worried when her girlfriend went on these damn missions.

Edward did know how to distract a girl. It still amazed her how used to vampires she had become. She didn’t notice the physical differences in them any longer. The things a girl could get used to. The young woman and the forever young vampire sat in an outdoor café on Rodeo, while Leah ate, and Edward entertained her with comments about the thoughts of those they saw, including the occasional celebrity sighting which left her laughing at how mundane some were and how outlandish others were.

While Edward did his best to keep Leah’s mind off Bella, or at least the two of them having sex, Bella and Mac were eighteen miles away on the roof of the former medical research lab, currently owned by the Organization and used as a meeting place for their scientists.

Bella sat on the roof with her eyes closed, in complete silence, Mac not saying a word. He knew Bella was using her otherworldly hearing gathering intel.

After fifteen minutes Bella opened her eyes.

“They are scared. None of them know who the culprits are but considering the destruction of the server and the hits we did last weekend, as well as Connolly’s, they believe either the Chinese or the French are behind the assassinations. No one suspects Mother… Hildebrand.” Bella corrected herself.

“Not after Connolly took out her top two politicians in the Senate. Why the French?”

Bella shrugged her shoulders. “Antoine Berger was making a case for more funds. He is interested in furthering his research into hybrid vampire humans. The majority of funds are going to the Russians for the Devil Dog program or Peru. Since Hildebrand’s politicians were taken out, they believe the Chinese or French are behind it and possibly in collaboration with the Russians who want their funding increased. The Chinese are invested in a cybernetic program that is very costly. Basically, making half robot, half human… terminators in a way.”

Mac shuddered at these programs even Hildebrand didn’t know about.

“Hybrid vampire humans… are they just injecting humans with small amounts of venom, like they did to you girls?”

Bella shook her head. “They aren’t talking about details but I have heard of this. Rumors in the base about a vampire working with some faction for his own survival. He is raping human women who give birth in a matter of weeks to half vampire babies. Supposedly the babies mature quickly and the mothers die during the birth. From what I heard the hybrids aren’t strong enough. The French want more money and the Organization thinks it’s a waste of resources. Those were just rumors though. I have no proof but the French want money bad enough that the Saudis and Russians think Antoine would do anything to take the High Councilor spot. My name was brought up and the Russians think one of their Devil Dogs is evolving as fast as I am but want it stay to themselves. If the Russians find out Mother is involved, I’m the first target and they want the Saudi’s backing. They can’t afford the loss of revenue and the Russian’s see me as Mother’s number one weapon.”

“You can take Devil Dogs. We can take them.” Mac assured her, though he didn’t sound as confident as he could have.

“Nothing to worry about now. As long as Mother is…”

“Bella would you sytop calling her your damn Mother?!” Mac snapped.

Bella shook her head. “Sorry. A force of habit reinforced over my entire life isn’t easy to just break. As I was saying as long as Mother isn’t suspected yet they should have no reason to send whoever this powered up Devil Dog after me. We will just have to pay attention. Are you ready?”

“It’s working out. Infrared shows they are on the fifth. I’m ready. You look ready.”

Bella felt ready to get this over with. She was irritated by her dress. Instead of her black bodysuit she typically wore on missions against supernatural creatures, she had on black combat pants and a black sweater. A mask covered her face to just under her eyes. The long blonde wig felt strange and the contacts that turned her eyes bright blue, made using her enhanced night vision practically useless unless she wanted to give away the true color underneath.

“I want this done. They are considering countermoves to flush the traitors out or at least attack the French and Chinese. You remember your Swedish?”

Mac placed a full mask over his head. “Ja.”

Bella shook her head. “Your accent is horrible. Swiss use a different pronunciation We can’t miss small details if this works out. Let me do the talking. The top floor guard is on the way up.”

Mac nodded, trusting Bella’s hearing. “I’ll break the neck. We don’t need a repeat of last weekend.” He told her, referring to Bella twisting the man’s head so hard it turned completely around and nearly beheaded him.

The two stood by the door, Bell in front and Mac to the side. The roof door opened and an armed guard walked out. He stopped short, surprised at the long haired, black clad blonde in front of him. He never noticed Mac stepping behind him and snapping his neck.

The two made their way down quickly, silently killing every Russian guard they encountered and putting the Saudi guards to sleep with chloroform rags.

On the fifth floor in a board room where the scientists held their meeting, Mac kicked the door in and entered, his silenced guns taking the two guards inside the room out. Luckily there were no Saudi guards inside the actual room for Bella to render unconscious.

Bella walked in behind him as he aimed at the Saudis on one side of the table.

“Inte Dem! Doda bara ryssarna!” Bella said in a perfect Swedish accent.

The two took their silenced weapons and fired, mowing down the seven Russians in seconds, while the Saudi scientists sat in shock. Bella took her silencer off and walked to one of the dead Russians, firing into his head. The sound of the shot could no doubt be heard all through the building. The two slipped out and hid in a cleaning closet in the next hallway and listened.

There were screams in the boardroom from the living Saudis, frantic calls to guards who were already on their way up from the floors below.

Bella closed her eyes and listened to the guards rushing in. There was hushed talking now and the Russian and Saudi guards turned on each other, shouts of betrayal in Russian and Arabic followed by gunfire until only one was left, a Russian.

Bella stepped back into the room as the Russian aimed at the Saudi scientists and kicked the man to the ground, taking one of the fallen Saudi’s guns and firing into the back of the man’s head.

All that were left were the Saudi scientists, covered in blood spray. Once they recovered from the shock, they would tell the Organization about the two Swedish assassins who took out the entire contingent of guards. The Organization would never believe them, thinking the Saudi guards who would wake up soon had turned on the Russians, throwing further confusion into the ranks of the Organization.

Mac and Bella made their way down the fire escape to the street. The two quickly pulled off their clothes, replacing the new clothes in their backpacks left on the ground. Bella placed a darker wig on and the two walked out in the back alley making their way to the busiest street, two tourists wearing shorts and t shirts, blending in with the crowd.

Once back at their hotel, Bella used her secure phone to check on Leah to make sure there were no problems.

The next day, the four were back in Forks before noon. It felt good to be home. Charlie was waiting for her as well as Esme as usual with food. Leah had followed her at a distance to Forks and they ate lunch and made small talk.

No one brought up the simple fact that less than 16 hours before, Bella had taken part in killing over a dozen men with no hesitation or remorse.

Despite Bella wishing she could put it aside the thought kept bugging her. She still didn’t feel guilt but she wondered why she couldn’t feel the least bit of guilt. Perhaps because they were scientists conducting inhumane experiments, perhaps because she had been taught from an early age that killing was as natural as breathing. The strong killed the weak. It was the natural order of things and there was no point in fighting nature. She would never forget the first man she killed though. She would never forget looking at him and feeling nothing. No horror, no fright, no empathy, she felt nothing watching him die. Was Hildebrand responsible for that or was Bella just a natural born killer, unable to feel remorse? She didn’t know and didn’t want to think about it.

Leah had returned to La Push, Bella had continued to train with the Cullens, and she met with Jasper every night, though she refused to speak about the sexual abuse she and the other girls had suffered growing up. To her great discomfort Jasper was beginning to show her that it was abuse, and the idea of being a victim of another injustice was something Bella could not deal with now.

The next week school had let out for the summer. She and Charlie attended Leah’s high school graduation but did not sit next to Leah’s parents. Bella was not ignorant to the fact that she was not the most popular person in La Push regarding the Wolf pack, though she still felt no guilt over what she had done. In her mind she had every right to kill Paul Lahote. There was no need to push it with Leah’s family though. Despite basically saving his life, Bella knew that Leah’s father despised her, considered her a monster and hated her being around his daughter. A large part of her knew that Harry Clearwater would kill her if he had the chance but she couldn’t make her care.

Bella could not blame him for his hatred. Fate was a funny bitch like that.

The next day the two lovers had a chance to be alone, not in a house but walking through the woods of La Push, hand in hand.

“Do you think you would still love me without the imprint?” Bella asked, breaking the silence.

“Yes.” Leah answered immediately, no doubt in her voice.

Bella prepared to ask further questions that had been on her mind when she heard a trigger being pulled. The heartbeat fifty yards behind her wasn’t a deer or normal wolf like she had assumed.

Bella had already turned at the sound of the blast and caught the bullet with her fingertips inches from her head. She was glad she had not used her hand as the special ammunition would have possibly ripped through her palm.

She took in the small object between her fingers, briefly shocked that she had caught it, never having moved that fast before.

Then it hit her what happened. Someone tried to shoot her in the back of the head.

Bella used a hand to throw Leah to the ground, flat on her stomach and stood in front of her. She opened her senses and heard nothing else around, only the footsteps of the large man who came around a tree with a smoking gun in his hand. Bella pulled her weapon from her back holster and aimed, then stopped and felt a shiver of dread.

“I know you.” She told him quietly. “You are one of them.”

The six foot five man laughed quietly, tossing his gun to the ground. He was huge, muscular, with long dark hair and a shock collar around his neck. “Apologies for the gunshot. I wanted to see if you were as fast as rumors say. Impressive.”

“What do you want?” Bella asked the Devil Dog.

The man shook his head and grinned. “You know why I am here. There is a civil war brewing in the Organization. I’ve been tasked with taking the supposedly most powerful pawn off the board in case your Mommy gets any ideas. I understand you have overtaken me in kills. I asked for this assignment. Time to take back my record.”

Bella lowered her gun as he walked closer. She then raised it and fired. The bullet knocked the man back but he reached into his chest and pulled it out, healing over quickly. Bella noticed his blood was black like vampire venom.

“You aren’t the only one who has been evolving. Do you remember what I did the last time I saw you? The last time we put on a show for you little girls? I suppose you do, because I can smell fear on you.”

Yes, Bella did remember what he had done to the newborn vampire, a teenage girl who had been turned by the Organization for the purposes of training. She would never forget what this man had done to that scared girl. The show was to reinforce what would happen to the girls if they ever got the idea of escaping and the Devil Dogs were sent to track them down.

“I fear nothing.”

“You fear for the human behind you. I don’t blame you. Once you are in pieces, I think I will have my fun with her. Think she can survive? She is a hot one. How did a scarred freak like you bag a girl who looks like that?”

Bella felt a surge of primal anger rush through her.

“Leah, take this gun and run.” Bella told her girlfriend who had made her way from the ground. “Aim for his head if he gets past me.”

The man’s face changed, becoming more wolf like, fangs extending in his mouth, his fingers growing into claws like Bella’s only much larger. His eyes turned red and black fur seemed to cover his chest. He ripped his shirt off.

Leah did as told, took the gun and ran.

Bella shifted, not fully, enough that she could fight this man without going berserk. If she lost control Bella hd no doubt this bastard would hunt down Leah no matter where she ran. Once a Devil Dog had a scent he never lost it.

“Rosettes? Impressive. More like a complete animal every day.”

Bella smirked. “You are the one wearing a shock collar. Are your owners nearby or is this between us?”

“My support team is nearby, Port Angeles. They thought it would be best not to get involved. A Jaguar doesn’t belong in Washington. This is more my kind of territory.”

The man used one claw to slice his palm and threw blood on the ground. “I challenge you for this land. Only one of us lives.”

“And you die.” Bella told him. Still that spark of fear was there. She remembered what she had seen this monster do. She knew Leah would never get away. She couldn’t afford this. Bella didn’t know how to fight afraid.

The Devil attacked her, a blunt attack, no finesse as she expected. Bella slid out of the way, leaving her arm out, her hand catching his neck and tearing through. Unfortunately, he grabbed her arm and threw her to the ground hard enough to shake the trees. She looked up from her back and saw his neck healed instantly, more vampire venom than blood. He had been taken to another level. A foot crashed down and she rolled, barely avoiding her chest being crushed. A back hand from the creature nearly caught her, only ripping her shirt slightly.

Bella backflipped twice to gain distance from her opponent. She could not win a brute force contest with this monster. She was faster and she needed that.

Her plan was ruined when she landed on her feet and the large monster was already on her, tackling her to the ground and throwing elbow after elbow into her face. He wasn’t as strong as the ghouls but he had caught her by surprise and was using everything he had to his advantage.

Then his mouth opened, moving towards her bare throat, drool falling on her face. Bella grabbed his nose with two of her claws and twisted to the side, ripping his head away from her. He howled and she rolled over him, pounding him with her fists, strike after strike contacting his nose and eyes.

Until his large hand wrapped his very large claws into her hair and tossed her off as if she were nothing.

Bella stood and face her enemy, blood running from her nose, her hearing ruined, ears bleeding and eyes swelling from the exchange. She felt as if the bones in her hands were crushed from her strikes and was afraid if she opened her fist she wouldn’t be able to make one again.

The Lycan hybrid stood up slowly and wiped the blood pouring out of his shattered nose.

“You are strong. I can’t smell it now, but I can see it. Fear in your eyes. Bella, the scrawny warrior who was supposed to be the greatest Jaguar to ever bless her program and she stands before me with fear beaten and scared. No matter how strong you are, you are just a little girl. I might enjoy you before I enjoy your human. I understand dick isn’t something you are into. You aren’t really fucking a human, are you? Have you broken anything on her yet? Have you gotten any action since your little blonde got her neck snapped in Italy? I heard she was a hot piece of ass. Wish I had a taste of her before she got wasted.”

Bella lost it, training, strategy out the window. She never considered fully shifting to surprise the man, she just rushed him, jumping and striking hard enough to knock him down to the ground, clawing into his chest to reach his heart, to tear it out.

Then she shifted.

At the worst possible time. The monster was surprised but she was larger and it gave him a much bigger target. A punch to her belly and she rolled off with a howl.

“Amazing. You are nothing more than a dumb animal, aren’t you?”

Bella attacked again out of instinct, leading with her teeth, her paws desperately wanting to dig into him, to tear his muscles off his body and chew the wretched flesh. She was larger than him now and could overpower him.

Until he caught her and squeezed, breaking her back with a very loud snap.

Bella hit the ground face first and felt nothing. She shifted human involuntarily, a mangled body unable to move but still alive, barely.

She felt nothing below her neck but was aware of a large hand in her hair, tossing her onto her back.

“Amazing. They say our kind cannot control ourselves, yet fear makes you Jaguars turn into wild kitty cats. You are strong, deadly, everything I thought you would be. You should have listened to Hildebrand. Fear made you weak. I wish you could feel this. The fight has made me hungry. First though I have something for you. Too bad you won’t feel it. You might have enjoyed it.

Before the Devil Dog bent down to begin finishing her off, Bella heard a loud growl close. She wondered if it might be Sam and hoped it wasn’t. This was her battle and she lost. She failed Leah, she lost her land, let her fear rule her and it brought her to this. It was time to die and Sam would only get himself killed.

It wasn’t Sam though. It was a wolf she had never seen before grey with traces of tan, areas of darkness, smaller than the other wolves.

But It was large enough to bite down on the Devil Dog’s head from behind and rip it from his body. The wolf tossed the body away from Bella and attacked again, biting off its arms and legs in a frantic fashion until there were only pieces of her formerly alive enemy left.

The wolf rushed over Bella’s body and whimpered. Bella looked the beautiful creature in the eye and felt it, the same feeling she experienced when she had first looked at Leah Clearwater. The feeling of an imprint only this time emanating from the wolf.

“Leah?” Bella whispered.

The wolf shimmered and was gone, Leah in its place, kneeling over her, tears pouring out of her eyes and Devil Dog blood on her face, especially around her mouth.

“I called the Cullens while you were fighting. Just don’t move, okay baby?”

Bella tried to grin but couldn’t. “I can’t move. He snapped my back. It needs to be realigned before my spine can regenerate. It’s happened to me before.” Bella told her quietly, taking short breaths of air.

“Carlisle is on his way. I don’t want to move you. I don’t want to make it worse.”

Bella tried to laugh but only spit up blood. “Can’t get worse. Get me out of here.”

Leah shook her head. “We need a backboard. I could easily kill you if it is completely severed. We are going to wait for Carlisle.”

Bella closed her eyes for a moment, trying to focus on what had just transpired.

“Leah, what happened to you? You… you shifted?”

Leah nodded. “I did what I had to do. I just wanted to save you and it happened. Don’t worry about me, Just keep your eyes open, look at me. Don’t fall asleep.”

Bella was unable to do that. By the time the Cullens had broken the treaty, not giving a damn about it, Bella was unconscious, her last vision was Leah, face covered in blood, tears in her eyes, begging Bella to stay with her.