the battle's just begun {{wolves&&vamps}}

[Jacob Black]

If looks could kill, then Jacob's hateful glare would be burning holes through the pathetic little vampire. He had never felt so angry in such a long time, and at this very moment he was taking everything out on the little blood sucker. He wanted her to hurt, wanted her to scream in pain, wanted her to get down on her knees and beg for them to not kill her, and Jake wanted to look her in the eye and tell her what a worthless piece of shit she was. Jacob hated vampires and always would. He glanced at Paul, She's definitely no Cullen. So lets finish her off.

He looked over at Paul, and growled with rage as the vampire attacked his pack brother. At that moment, he was concentrating on Paul and the way he pulled back from the girl, and since he was not paying full attention to the fight at hand he hadn't been able to block the blow to his legs. A small whimper came from his mouth, although it was soon covered with another howl of anger. His grip loosened for a few moments as he caught his footing, but he soon clamped down again, although this time it was a little softer. Before being pushed off he twisted his head to the side, and her arm twisted. A snicker came from his mouth as he heard the bones crack in her arm.

Jake watched for a moment in horror as she went for Paul. And another whimper came from his mouth as he saw her pull hard at his legs. Get the hell out of here, you fucking bitch. he thought wickedly. He was not going to let her have the last hit, wasn't going to let her get away with what she had just done. At that moment Jake promised himself, and promised Paul that she wasn't going to get away with it. She was going to get what she deserved, no matter what it took; that piece of shit was going to meet a slow and painful death.

[swivelcanines]

Sorry for the damages, puppy.

He let out a snarl of hate so deep that his whole body vibrated with the shock of it. His eyes flickered to Jake’s and back to the leech. He was right. This bitch was going to meet her death, slowly and painfully, but not at Jake’s hands (paws, whatever). At his.

The snaps of his bones were heard before he felt the actual pain. For one heartbeat it was numb and gently throbbing, as it had been since she had hit it before, but now. Now it felt like she had ripped it two. He whimpered from the intense pain before she released him, falling to the ground and hard on his side. Oh, God, did that hurt. Healing powers be damned, it still fucking hurt.

His bones weren’t going to heal right like this, not as a wolf. It was going to be slow going and he’d have to…Christ, he’d have to re-break it once he phased. A shudder ripped through his body at just the thought. If the pain he felt now was bad he couldn’t imagine feeling it as a human. It’d be so much worse.

There was a deep pain in his chest as well and he could tell she had broken his ribs. Goddamnit. The gash on his head throbbed absently, an afterthought in comparison to his new injuries, and the slight, shallow scratches that ran across his side stung as the ran slid over them and his coat. He couldn’t go to the hospital. He couldn’t go home. Where was he going to get fixed for something like this? The leech doctor had helped Jake the last time but considering they weren’t allies this time around he had no doctor, no medical help to go to.

Don’t let her fucking get away! he snarled, though he knew she was probably well past the border by now. Fuck. How was he going to even move, never mind healing?

[swivelteeth]

He had only been a wolf for a moment before the vibrant images – Paul bleeding, Jake snarling, leech running away – started to hit him. Sam stood there, in the rain for just a moment, frozen as he let the end of the fight fill his sense. He had phased at the sound of a growl out on the forest. He had expected maybe another playful (or not so playful but not pain-inflicting either) fight but had found this instead. Oh, God. How…?

Before he could finish his thought his body was already moving swiftly through the woods, strong, long legs carrying him at a speed beyond human comprehension. He was all but a shadow through the forest, leaving just a breeze of wind behind him, gently rustling the plants as he left them behind in a blur of green and brown. The rain stung in his eyes but he couldn’t stop, oh, God, please let them both be alright, that fucking leech, damn her to hell…

The pack needed to be alerted immediately. Safety precautions needed to be taken. Emily. What if the vampire came back? And found her? He winced at the thought. Emily would be fine for now. She had to be.

In the small clearing where the fight had taken place, a large mass of black fur hurtled through the trees, skidding as he came to an abrupt stop. What happened? he asked Jake sharply after he had gotten up from the ground, head flickering in between him and the gray wolf that was motionless except the small shakings from growling. What the hell happened, Jake?!

He heard Paul’s thoughts and cursed to himself. He was right. They didn’t have someone who could take care of him this time. There was one person he could think of who could, and she wasn’t yet in on the secret of the pack…

Well, Kate had to know some time or other, and Paul certainly wouldn’t die, but the more he healed like this, the worse he would be when he did phase back. Which he would have to do eventually.

Go to Annie’s house. Jake, help him there. I’m going home and getting Emily. I’ll meet you there. If you meet anyone else on the way tell them to get the others and secure the borders.

[Jacob Black]

Whines emitted from Jacob as he watched the vampire run away. It was both frustrating and satisfying. It was frustrating because Jake had wanted to kill her right then and there, but it was satisfying because in a way they had won. She had been the one to retreat back into the woods and submit to them. His teeth clenched together, and he had to force himself not to chase after her. It would have been so easy, so easy to catch up to her, so easy to separate her head from her small, petite body, but he restrained himself. From Paul's thoughts, it was clear that he wanted to be the one to finish her off. And honestly, that seemed best. She had made him go through so much pain, so it was only fair if he was the one to kill her in the end.

He turned to Paul after she had run off, and he sat down on his haunches besides Paul. Normally he would have nudged him with his muzzle, but Jake didn't want to cause his brother any more pain then he was currently in. He whined softly, and his eyes drooped down in sadness. You can kill her later. Right now we just need to get you some help. he tried to reassure him, offer some kind of comfort.

Jake sighed with relief as Sam approached them, and he let Paul explain to him what had happened. A growl rumbled up from his chest, She passed the border, Sam. She passed the fucking border. We should have killed her. he thought angrily, shaking his head in disgust.

He nodded quickly to Sam, Yeah, I'll take Paul there and Kate can take a look at him. he responded, glancing over at his friend. Think you can walk? I can probably carry you, although it's going to take longer to get there then usual. He took a good long look at Paul. No, he definitely couldn't walk. Jake went down onto the ground and slowly moved underneath Paul. He was very careful, and his movements were soft and slow. Once he was completely underneath him, he lifted himself up off of the ground. It was difficult to stand, but once he was completely up and on his feet the weight of Paul balanced out throughout his body. With one more glance back at Sam, Jacob began walking through the forest towards Annie and Kate's home, making sure not to make any sudden movements. He didn't want to cause Paul any more pain. He was soft on his feet, and moved slower then he was used to, and thought about how exactly he was going to explain the current situation to Kate.

[swivelcanines]

Paul was still growling, leftover hate from the fight still strong inside of him. It was easy for Jake to act calmly, as he had gotten out a lot of aggression on the bitch, but Paul had barely made a dent in her. Well, he would, just not today. Just not right now.

His growl became deeper at Jake’s thoughts (he wanted to kill her now, goddamnit, before she hurt someone or got too far) but sent back a grateful thanks for his support. It was hard to think clearly, between the pain and the anger, and the rain falling on his head and weighing down his coat. His whole body ached and churned and he felt sick, sick with his desperation to finish the leech off and, well, from the complete and utter pain that was shooting through his leg and chest.

At the sight of Sam he tried to stand but that clearly wasn’t going to work. Lying back in the mud, he whimpered, hoping neither of them could hear him. He hated being the weak one, but next to the alpha and the beta, that was clearly what he was going to be.

Oh, fucking wonderful. Jake was going to have to carry him. If not for the mere fact that he couldn’t walk Paul would have put up a fight against this demeaning idea, but as it was, he couldn’t walk, could barely move like this. He let Jake take him to Annie’s with as much grace as he could muster. He had already thanked him but felt embarrassed to be in this position. He would have made a crack about it but he was a little pre-occupied with his discomfort. Jake was trying to be careful clearly but it still hurt to more.

Annie’s house was visible up ahead and he sent Jake an uneasy vibe. What the fuck you gonna tell Kate? he asked. Not only would she be dealing with a bleeding, broken boy, but she’d be dealing with a werewolf, too. That made things more complicated, and they wouldn’t have even bothered explaining it, but the quick healing was difficult to explain…

Spotting a line of clothes, he thought, Mind grabbing me a towel or something? It was the most coherent thought he could formulate at the moment but hey, someone had to worry about his appearance.

[Jacob Black]

Deep groans came from Jake at the thought of telling Kate the truth about all of them. He imagined it would be difficult to convince her. She was intelligent, and just telling her the truth probably wouldn't be enough to make her believe that they were all giant wolves. He'd have to show her, and just like he had done for Annie he'd probably have to phase in front of her. Jake would explain that they were wolves, but he'd let Annie tell Kate herself that she too was one of them.

He tried to be careful with his movements, but it was difficult to not hurt Paul, especially in the current state that he was in. I don't know what I'm going to tell Kate....I guess I'll just tell her like I told Annie. There isn't really an easy way to go about this. Do you have any ideas? he thought, slowly shaking his head.

With a small nod, Jacob slowly headed towards the line of clothes. With his mouth he grabbed two towels. One for Paul, and one for him. Then, Jake headed towards the Crow residence, and his breathing quickened a little. Once near the front steps, Jacob slowly lowered Paul down onto the ground and set him lightly on the grass. He dropped one of the towels besides Paul, and then turned so that he could phase with some privacy. Jake went behind a few trees, and then phased back to his human form. He quickly wrapped the towel around his waist, and then went back out to where Paul was. He put his back to him and folded his arms over his chest, waiting for when Paul was ready to go inside.

[swivelcanines]

Beats me, he thought. Paul went to shrug but it caused a sharp pain to flash down his side and he growled in frustration. Phasing back into human was going to be a bitch. Being a werewolf gave you an intense adrenaline rush and in the large body even the worst of injuries felt minor compared to how they felt as a human. He had to phase back though; he doubted Kate would clean the cut of a currently feral werewolf.

He didn’t know how he was going to calm himself down enough to phase back. Nothing worked. There was still so much anger inside of him and he hadn’t been able to release it on the vampire (yet). He would have his day, though. That swift little bloodsucker couldn’t hide forever, could she? He’d follow her to Alaska or wherever the hell those other vampires lived if he had to.

Finally, when the pain ceased to lessen and instead stayed a constant throbbing at his side, he knew he couldn’t procrastinate any longer. Taking a few deep breathes, he let himself burst from the furry coat that was his wolf body. Now instead of a wolf on the ground there laid a tall, tan body, bleeding from a cut on his head and clutching an oddly bent arm. Grabbing the towel Jake had thrown beside him with his good arm and wrapping it around himself, he stood, shakily. At least he could walk, that was something.

Looking over his shoulder at the boy behind him he didn’t speak for a moment and instead thought about what they were going to say to Kate. He’d help as much as he could in the explanation but for the life of him, Paul just couldn’t see how this was going to work. Still, his arm wasn’t going to cast itself, even though it’d be all better tomorrow he’d need it to be bandaged so it healed right.

“Come on,” he called hoarsely, wincing when the mere act of talking made his chest ache. He must have broken something there, too.