Part 3 : Survival

Jasper acted as a shield between the group of werewolves and Alice.  Their glares were strong and deathly, but they were no match for Jasper.  Alice attempted a look back into the woods, and then glanced over the rest of the reservation.  Had Rosalie been gone very long?  Had anyone else been hurt?  The questions fell to the wayside as the largest of the werewolves (Sam Uley, most definitely) made a threatening step in their direction.  Without Edward, it was impossible to communicate with him.

“Alice, I’m going to try to talk to them,” Jasper whispered, as still as a statue.  “I won’t be able to hear their side, but I’ll defend ours.  Go!”

“No!” Alice responded, vainly searching for his hand.

She couldn’t possibly leave him here to face the angry werewolves alone.  Of course, Jasper would be faster if he decided to run, and he would undoubtedly run.  He wasn’t Emmett, always looking for the next gratuitous fight.  Yet the idea of leaving the man she loved to save herself made her feel disgusting.

“Rosalie has Renesmée,” Jasper continued, paying no mind to Alice’s refusal to leave, “She’s not as fast as you, you may be able to catch up to her.”

“Jasper, I won’t leave you!”

She finally found his hand and clasped it as if to lock them together.

“Do it for Edward and Bella.  And for Renesmée.  Do it for me, Alice.  Whatever happens, we’ll meet back at the house after this is over.”

And then, before letting her go for the first time in their life together, he said, “I love you.”

He made a step forward just as Sam had done before, and Alice turned and ran into the forest.  She could only think of Jasper, nothing but Jasper.  However, she should have been thinking of another important thing: Rosalie, who at that moment was still running further away with Renesmée.  “Focus on the little one’s smell,” Alice focused, breathing deep.  The smell of smoke was everywhere.

She ran faster, refusing to look back.  She didn’t feel like she was being followed.  Hopefully Jasper was able to leave unharmed, hopefully he had made them understand that the rest of the Cullen family had nothing to do with the attack.  Hopefully…

Out of nowhere a sharp spike scraped down Alice’s back, from shoulder to waist.  The surprise welled in her throat.  She fell heavily before regaining control of her body, rolling into a crouch and preparing to strike back.  She immediately saw two werewolves, one in front and one behind her.  The first threw out a strip of black clothing—Alice’s marble-like skin could withstand the claws but her jacket could not.  A night breeze caught in the gaping hole.  The second werewolf began to bare his teeth and growl.

Alice couldn’t be sure but she was almost certain that these two creatures had left La Push in search of Rosalie… but it looked like they also had lost her scent.

“We don’t have to fight,” Alice said calmly in her crystal-clear voice.  “We didn’t want this to happen.  It was already too late when I saw what my sister was about to do.  Please let me explain.”

In the darkness, Alice saw the quick glance that the two Quileutes shared.  One growled and made a threatening step toward Alice.  The other, still bracing himself, howled at the moon, breaking the stifling silence.

“Rosalie, what mess have you made this time?” Alice thought, waiting for her opponents to strike.  She thought of Jasper—she hoped that things had ended better for him.  To see him again was now the only thing that mattered.

“My Jasper…”
  *
* *
Two wolves changed back into human form.  Jacob was still unconscious on the ground.  The fire would soon be out and there would soon be no more misunderstanding between Jasper and Sam.  The vampire could only think of Alice—“Where is she?” he repeated endlessly to himself.

“You should take Jacob somewhere safe, all of you,” Jasper suggested, keeping his distance from the paralyzing smell of the wolf-men.

Sam shot him a murderous look.

“Maybe the blonde was the only one to attack us, like you say, but it’s undeniable that you and your female crossed the line of our land without invitation,” Sam replied, pushing out his chest imposingly.

Jasper was not impressed.  Neither Sam’s show of muscles or great size could scare him.  Between them, he was still the strongest, fastest and best fighter.  Jasper could have killed Sam before he could even think of changing back into a werewolf.

“We’ll take care of Jacob,” Sam continued, “but the bloodsucker has gone too far.  We want to see the rest of your clan, and we want to talk to your chief.”

His chief?  Carlisle was going to have one horrible surprise waiting for him when he came back from the theater with Esme.  This time, Rosalie’s furtive actions couldn’t be kept secret any longer.

Edward and Bella.  It would take definitely take five vampires and a pack of wolves to contain their anger.  And Emmett…

“I think it’s high time to let the werewolves, all of them, give us a little visit,” Jasper thought to himself.

“You’ll talk to Carlisle,” Jasper agreed, nodding his head. “But keep in mind that your visit should not turn into a trick.  Unless Alice has caught up to her, Rosalie won’t be there.  Your vengeance will not take place in our home.”

“I got it, I’m not an idiot,” Sam replied.

He turned his back to Jasper, obviously little worried about his own safety.  He then ordered the two young men with bronzed skin that were bent over Jacob:
“You two, take him away and make sure that his wounds are taken care of.  One of you stand guard over him.  If the blonde comes back, kill her!”

Jasper ignored the last order and waited for the right moment to signal Sam and the rest of the pack to follow him.  Once he had returned to the darkness of the forest, each step faster than the last, the image of Alice came to his mind.

This made no sense.  Rosalie acting like a traitor, the Quileutes following him to a sworn enemy’s home with no type of resistance…  Jasper couldn’t help but think that maybe Alice had seen worse than anything they had ever experienced.

“My Alice, where are you?” Jasper wondered once again, watching the shapes that were running with him through the woods.

In the distance, a wolf howled at the moon.  Jasper stopped in his tracks.  “ALICE!” the voice in his head screamed out.

“Good, very good.  Keep going,” Sam told him, “that means that Embry and Leah caught up to your blonde friend.  They will bring her to us.”