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NINE; PREDICAMENTS

     "I WONDERED WHEN you would show up," Amelia said, eyes narrowing at the sight of Laurent. His sinister smile indicated he wasn't in the area to do anything good. "You can tell Victoria that I'll have her head on a stick by the end of the month."

     Laurent chuckled as if he didn't believe her. The two vampires were standing outside of the Cullen home, where Amelia caught him peering inside to see if anyone was still living there.

     "Where's your family, Amelia? Gone already?"

     Her eyebrows raised. "Does Irina know you're here? Should I be the one to tell her or is there trouble in paradise already?" She sneered, lip curled in anger. She wasn't scared of Laurent, far from it actually, but she hated the questions thrown about her family. Laurent didn't have any right to know.

     Laurent's eyes darkened at the mention of his mate, Irina, from the Denali coven. Amelia knew he had cheated from their vegetarian ways just by one look into his blood colored eyes. He had clearly disappointed Irina, who was committed to hunting animals only.

     It seemed his task of checking the house was completed, so he turned on his heel to go. Amelia grabbed his arm swiftly, placing him under her trance.

     "Tell Victoria I'd love to have a chat with her. Maybe I'll rip her head off in the process."

     He didn't respond to her threat, figure becoming a blur as he left the Cullen home. Amelia wanted to shout in aggravation. She was frustrated from the revenge Victoria was trying to implicate on Bella. James was her mate, sure, but he was also a total asshole. He deserved everything coming for him, and now, so did Victoria.

     She waited until she knew Laurent had finally disappeared. She swiftly made her way to Emily's home, but by then, it was already the afternoon. Amelia had to be completely accurate in knowing that Laurent wouldn't follow her — she couldn't risk any of the pack getting hurt.

     "He came to visit me last night."

     The pack are in the midst of chewing down their lunches. Paul stops when he sees his imprint at the door, face twisted into an unreadable expression.

     Sam swallows the remains of his sandwich. "Who?"

     "Laurent. That bastard is teaming up with Victoria again. Totally betraying Irina," Amelia sneers, taking her usual seat on Paul's lap. Jake shifts uncomfortably from beside the two.

     "You had a vampire in your house and didn't tell me?" Paul questions, frowning.

     "Please, Paul," she rolls her eyes. "Laurent has never been up to par with my skills. I could've killed him on the spot if I wanted."

     "Then why didn't you, Mia?" Jared asks.

     "I don't believe on killing someone just because. Laurent needs to prove he's a threat first before I can get my hands on him. It's the way Carlisle taught me."

     "Well, it's not the way we were taught," Sam mentions, rising from his seat. "If we find this vampire, we're killing him on the spot. Is he still here, Mia?"

     "I'm not sure. I don't have a feeling, but with Laurent and Victoria, you never know."

     "Alright," Sam says, clapping his hands together. It gathers the attention of everyone in the room. "Everyone on patrol. Now. That's including you, Mia."

     The vampire's head darts up, and Paul's grip tightens around her. Even with her excellent hearing, Amelia thinks she heard him wrong.

     "What?"

     "Yeah," Paul sneered. "What?"

     "You had no problem with chasing Victoria yesterday, Mia," Sam points out.

     "You're right, but I've never run patrol with any of you," she raises an eyebrow. "Are you sure we'll be alright?"

     The pack isn't sure if Amelia is asking if everyone is okay with it, or if Jake is uncomfortable with the idea. All eyes dart over to the newest member, who simply rolls his eyes. Once again, he questions if he can tell Bella and he garners the same response.

     "We'll be fine," Sam establishes. "Are we ready? Let's go!"

     One by one, pack member after pack member pile out the door. Amelia is still trying to haul Paul out of his seat as he attempts to stuff the rest of Emily's lunch into his mouth.

     "Come on, you pig!"

     "Have I ever told you how cute you are when you're mad?"

     When she finally gets him out the door, Sam is growling through their telepathic communication. Paul doesn't really care, keeping a close eye on Amelia as she runs beside him.

     Since Paul is unable to say anything in his shapeshifter form, Amelia begins to talk. He thinks her voice is the sweetest sound he's ever heard, and Jake gags when he hears the thought.

     "I wonder if Rosalie and Emmett are having fun on their honeymoon. And Alice — is she okay? I hope she is. Her past is very hard for her to talk about, Paul, I don't know if I've mentioned it. I hate to think that she's going through it all alone, but if Jasper will let her do it, then so can I. I wonder how Esme is coping without most of us. Her motherly instincts must be driving her absolutely insane, I bet."

     Amelia continues to talk about her family while Paul listens happily.

     "Paul, tell your girl to quiet it down for a little bit. I'm actually going crazy by listening to these stories about the Cullens," Embry groans, wondering if Paul's forgotten the fact that the pack can hear everything Amelia is telling him.

     "Shut your mouth, Call. Mia's voice surely sounds better than your whiny ass," Paul retorts.

     "Quiet, the both of you. We're not here to argue. We're here to protect everyone by killing that nasty bloodsucker," Sam orders.

     "The bloodsucker that's after Bella, may I remind you!" Jake argues. Everyone ignores his pleads.

     The pack treads quietly through the woods, with the small exception of Amelia's continuous stories about her family. Everything seems completely calm, and Sam silently debates if it would be alright to have patrol return to normal.

     However, they all stop once they see Amelia's grip tighten around Paul's fur.

     "I hear him," she whispers, sounding ominous and eerie. "I smell Bella."

     Then, the pack is moving. Amelia is guiding them, her figure becoming a blur as she maneuvers her way through trees and branches. When she stops, every wolf stands behind her, prepared to attack when she makes the call.

     They can all see Laurent and Bella now. "Did Victoria ever find you?" Bella asks him. Amelia is tottering slightly, nails digging into her palm as she tries to make a decision.

     "Yes," he responds. "I actually came here as a favor to her. She won't be happy about this."

     "About what?" Bella questions, and Amelia has to give her a reward for acting so calm. She is clearly trying to distract Laurent, and doing a fine job at it.

     "About me killing you," he says coolly.

     Jacob takes a step forward as Bella takes a step back. Amelia is quick to tell him to back down. She's trying to give Laurent the benefit of the doubt, hoping he would just turn around and go back to Irina.

     "She wanted to save that part for herself," he continues. "She's sort of put out with you, Bella."

     "Me?" Bella squeaks out. Amelia's eyes narrow, really hoping Laurent would realize his mistake by now.

     He shakes his head and chuckles. "I know, it seems a little backward to me, too. But James was her mate, and your Edward killed him."

     Amelia closes her eyes at the mention of her brother. It seems that the name had the same effect on Bella, and Laurent took notice.

     "She thought it more appropriate to kill you than Edward — fair turnabout, mate for mate. She asked me to get the lay of the land for her, so to speak. I didn't imagine you would be so easy to get to. So maybe her plan was flawed — apparently it wouldn't be the revenge she imagined, since you must not mean very much to him if he left you here unprotected."

     Amelia almost growls, wanting to step out and say that she was here to defend Bella. Given, she had not been doing a fine job at it or else Bella wouldn't be caught in this predicament.

     Bella takes another step back, but Laurent still talks. "I suppose she'll be angry, all the same."

     "Then why not wait for her?" Bella manages to say.

     A mischievous grin appears on his lips. "Well, you've caught me at a bad time, Bella. I didn't come to this place on Victoria's mission — I was hunting. I'm quite thirsty, and you do smell simply mouthwatering."

     "He'll know it was you," she whispers back. "You won't get away with this."

     "And why not?" Laurent's smile widens. He gazes around at the small opening in the trees. "The scent will wash away with the next rain. No one will find your body — you'll simply go missing, like so many, many other humans. There's no reason for Edward to think of me, if he cares enough to investigate. This is nothing personal, let me assure you, Bella. Just thirst."

     "Please," Bella begs.

     Sam is the one stepping forward now, but Amelia still shoves him backwards. She wants to wait for the perfect time to kill Laurent, knowing this would be a critical moment if Irina ever got wind of it.

     "Look at it this way, Bella. You're very lucky I was the one to find you," Laurent states. Amelia scoffs internally.

     "Am I?"

     "Yes," he assures Bella. "I'll be very quick. You won't feel a thing, I promise. Oh, I'll lie to Victoria about that later, naturally, just to placate her. But if you knew what she had planned for you, Bella, I swear you'd be thanking me for this."

     Laurent gets ready in position, and Amelia lowers her hand. Sam is in motion, finally making himself visible to the vampire.

     Laurent stops, eyes widening. "I don't believe it."

     Sam continues to step forward threateningly, snarling loudly. Every wolf follows after him, and Paul nudges Amelia's side lovingly as he walks past. Once every single one was out, Laurent turns and disappears into the trees.

     Amelia snickers.

     Bella is overcome with a mix of shock, and Amelia takes it as her cue to zoom past her without Bella noticing. She finds the pack chasing down Laurent and Amelia grins. She easily catches up to the man and her and Paul eye each other, both having a plan in mind.

     Amelia's body soars through the air before she's on top of Laurent, grabbing ahold of his head.

     She whispers the last words he would ever hear. "Good luck in hell, bitch. Victoria's next."

     Paul lunges for Laurent's body, and the vampire is soon decapitated. Amelia throws his head on the ground, and the pack dives in, tearing Laurent into pieces. He is unrecognizable now and as soon as they are finished, Amelia throws a lighter on his remains.

     They all stand in a circle for a while, watching as his body crumbles underneath the flames. Eventually, Sam is the first one to move, leaving Laurent's corpse and walking back to Emily's. Everyone is in tow, and Amelia rejoins Paul's side.

     The girl is clearly ecstatic that Laurent is no longer going to be around to hurt Bella, but there is a looming thought in her mind about Victoria. Paul can also tell how upset his imprint is about not being able to protect Bella better than she should've, but he nuzzles his head against her to assure her that it was alright.

     Bella had always been a danger magnet, anyways.

     The pack is silent as they gather in Emily's kitchen. Emily doesn't say a word either, only kissing Sam as he walks in the door.

     The silence is eventually cut off by Jared, who stands up with an exclamation. "Why aren't we celebrating? Did no one see how awesome it was when Amelia and Paul took that bloodsucker down together? I don't know about everyone else, but I had a great time ripping him into pieces."

     Amelia winces at Jared's carelessness for words. Although, the rest of the pack are now voicing their opinions, with Jake complaining that Amelia shouldn't have had them wait that long.

     "Mia, what about you?" Sam asks. "How did you feel about the whole ordeal?"

     "Laurent deserved it," she states first. "But Bella's in so much more danger now. You heard what Laurent said — Victoria is planning something so much more vengeful than we originally thought. I need to talk with my family."

     "Why? Why would they care?" Jake scoffs.

     "Bella's a part of our family, whether Edward chooses to accept it or not. I will protect her with every ounce and fiber of my being, just as I would with any of my other siblings. They need to know how gravely this situation has turned."

     Sam nods. "This won't interfere with us, will it?"

     Amelia stands, and Paul whines about her lack of presence in his arms. "I don't believe so."

     "Good. We'll see you soon then, Mia."

     She leans down to press a kiss to Paul's lips. "Goodbye, Paul. I'll miss you."

     The love of his life walks out the door, taking Paul's heart with her.

goals: killing a vampire who's trying to kill your brother's ex-girlfriend but future soulmate together