Believe Me Chapter 13

Leah had never felt as much as she did when the vampire had hugged in a death grip. She honestly hadn’t expected to make it out of that situation. But she got lucky that her pack mates could feel her pain and relented in their desire to keep the vampires and the pack on clearly defined opposite borders.

Truthfully, Leah thought that Sam keeping to the borders was stupid when the vampire had clearly been using the border to his advantage. Leah had kept urging Sam to either let them jump the border or to let the Cullen’s on their side. They were literally chasing the same enemy and they both wanted the red eyed vampire killed. She wasn’t a fan of vampires herself, but they were chasing the same enemy that could do some actual harm. Because of that, she was all for working with the Cullen’s for at least a limited time to get the vampire killed.

So, Leah took matters into her own hands.

When she saw the opportunity to latch onto the vampire, Leah took it; even though it was on the other side of the border. For just a brief moment, she thought she would be the one to take the vampire down, the wolf to grab the vampire that everyone else was having problems killing.

But she had underestimated the desperation of the vampire and his need to live. He had quickly turned the tables on her and Leah instantly regretted jumping ahead of her pack and attacking on her own. For just a brief second, a moment that she would never admit to anyone, she actually regretted attacking the red eyed leech.

She could feel her ribs crack and her bones breaking on themselves. She really thought, for the few seconds she was in that vampires arms, that she was really going to die. She could feel her brother’s panic and had mentally told him she loved him. She had never really told him that before, always trusting that her actions spoke louder than the words. Her declaration was what set all the wolves off to cross the border.

As she dropped to the ground, she couldn’t even feel herself fall on the ground as her ribs hurt too much for her to concentrate on anything else, she could hear Sam briefly think about berating her for her carelessness. Thankfully he only thought about it and didn’t actually do anything. If she lived, he would likely bring up her actions then. But for the moment, she only had her pain to keep her company, all of her pack mates’ voices were drowned out. She was so sure her time had run out.

She couldn’t make out what the vampires, the Cullen’s, were telling her packmates. She knew they were talking about her but she couldn’t make out what they were saying. She felt her body get jostled and had to bite back a growl because while it hurt like hell, she knew she had to be moved if there was any chance of her getting any sort of help.

Unfortunately though, the jostling caused her so much from her bones trying to heal themselves in an unnatural way, the pain became too much for her. Her mind and body just couldn’t handle the pain any longer and just as she felt herself jerk forward, blackness overcame her.

***

Esme had only been told that she needed to help an injured wolf that had helped take down Laurent. Apparently the wolf had been caught in a death grip and several broken ribs and likely some very serious internal injuries. While she had only met the elders when they reinstated the treaty, she had smelled the wolves around town as they were still allowed ‘on their side’ of the border. Esme truly didn’t care if any of the wolves went on their side, but the wolves tended to be more picky about following the treaty guidelines.

Once she heard that Carlisle had volunteered to help an injured shifter from the La Push pack but needed Esme’s help as the wolf was not only female but also stuck in wolf form and changing her back to her human form would be quite embarrassing for the woman. Esme felt a need to make sure that the wolf’s privacy was kept as intact as possible given the situation. Esme was sure that Carlisle wouldn’t do anything improper and untoward to the young wolf, but it never hurt to error on the side of caution.

Once Esme got to the house, after making sure Charlie would be okay and that the third nomad wasn’t going to show up to attack anyone, she was immediately hit with the smell of shifter. It was an unpleasant smell that told her that not only were they food, but also they could be a threat and to be taken seriously if threatened by one. But underneath the pungent smell, there was a scent that drew Esme in like no other.

The scent called to Esme’s basic vampire and yelled ‘home’ to her. Instead of stopping to make sure the young boy shifter was comfortable in her home, she had to follow the scent. She vaguely registered Edward telling her what had happened and she repeated the words mentally to make sure Edward didn’t realize just how distracted she was by the unknown scent that was leading her up the stairs.

Esme could make out Carlisle updating her on the girls injuries, but all she could focus on was the wolf lying on the floor whimpering in pain. While Esme couldn’t see the wolf’s eyes, there was no mistaking the sudden pull and claim her vampire was making over the injured wolf. She could never mistake or overlook the pull she felt towards the young woman.

This was her true mate. And currently her mate was gravely injured. She couldn’t let her wolf die or be in much more pain than she already was. She needed to make her wolf well again.

***

James had run all the way to Phoenix to gather as much information as he could. He even almost took the annoying huma’s mother to hold as some sort of hostage. Finding the woman was easier than he thought it would be in a large city that was mostly covered in day light. She would have been an easy kill, easy to take and force to say whatever he wanted to send a message to his real target.

But what kind of hunter would he be if he took the easy prey? That wouldn’t be any fun.

So he left the woman and her husband alone. He would get better targets.

He was wondering the town, looking for a fun victim to eat when the thought came to him. What if, instead of trying to lure the human away from the protective vampires, he simply created a diversion that would allow him to take his prey stealthily. She wouldn’t be unprotected, no matter what he did. But that was okay. The more he created, the easier it would be to distract them. The real fun would begin once he sets them loose and he has to get past the protectors to get his prey and run. Then he could have his fun.

All he needed to do was to find a location far enough away yet close enough to keep his newborns until he could gather enough of them. It would be tricky to make sure they weren’t turned loose all at once. Perhaps he could collect the humans and keep them someplace until he had enough and then turn everyone at once. He could create a blood trail that led straight to the human.

Yes, that is what he will do. He’ll gather as many humans as he could from all over that won’t arouse suspicion. He’ll keep just alive enough to survive the change and then they would follow a carefully laid trail. It will take some time to make sure he stays under the radar, but he’ll do it. And it will be so much fun once he’s able to release them.