CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR:

"Hey Bells, good to see you on your feet," Jacob grins.

"It's good to be on them too," I tell him.

After yet another snooze, Edward had asked if I wanted to join him and the rest of the Cullens to meet with the wolves for their practice session, which were scheduled to increase in frequency now that we finally had a date of the attack. He seemed reluctant to ask me to come along, but at the same time he seemed much more reluctant to leave me behind.

As well as the dress Alice had tricked me into (I didn't believe for a second that was all she had in my size) I was bundled up in a thick coat that belonged to Rosalie, as well as a scarf, thick tights and genuine article ugg-boots. I felt really dorky, but I was warm. It was dark and cold outside, with the moon hidden behind the clouds. Everyone had met in the big, open field that the Cullens had once played baseball in, over a year ago; a light-hearted evening of fun that was interrupted by James and his coven.

It almost felt strange to be here again – almost as if this gathering wouldn't be complete until James, Laurent and Victoria joined us, but James and Laurent were never coming back, and this meeting tonight was to ensure that after this coming battle, Victoria would never be coming back either.

The wolves had arrived in the clearing around fifteen minutes after the Cullens came, all in wolf-form, and Jacob had made the doggy equivalent of a laugh at my blatant shock.

"Since when were there ten of you?" I asked him, after he'd ducked back behind a tree to phase back to his two-legged form, and then jog over to give me a tight hug. Jacob looks smug.

"I know, right? We're pretty freaking impressive." I laugh, shoving him lightly.

"Shouldn't you be out practicing?" I ask

It's sort of terrifying, watching both parties practice fighting; both the wolves and the vampires are fast and lethal, and their movements are reduced to blurs half the time, instinctive snarls escaping the vampires while the wolves are growling and barking. The two groups are very careful to leave a large gap between them; fighting each other, even just mock fighting, was not a possibility with the wolves' lack of control.

"Nah," Jacob says, sitting down and tugging on my hand so I fall down, half into his lap. "They've got it covered for tonight." I wiggle so I'm sitting more comfortably then lean back into the warmth of his chest. He rests his chin on my head, and I let out a soft sigh. "You sure you're alright, Bells?" Jacob asks, his voice quiet even though I'm aware everyone in this clearing can hear every word he's saying.

"I'm still really tired," I admit.

"Then what are you doing here?" I can hear the frown in his voice, even when I'm facing away from him.

"I guess I needed some... assurance." I admit, quietly. "Seeing you all in action helps."

"Are you impressed?" he asks, sounding smug. I dig an elbow into his ribs, and he just snickers.

"Somewhat."

"Just somewhat?" It's his turn to sound all huffy and my turn to laugh.

"Well, you're not quite as impressive as wrestling giants, but you're not half bad."

"... okay, fine, wrestling giants do sound pretty cool." Jacob admits, and I laugh again, snuggling back into one of my best friends.

In the warmth of his lap with his arms wrapped around me, I can feel the steady beating of his heart in his chest and I just drift off. When I wake up again, the deep black of the night is just beginning to fade, the sun brightening the clouds even though it hasn't cleared the horizon yet, far away on the other side of the mountains. Edward and Jacob are talking quietly and my neck feels stiff.

"It's more complicated then that," Edward is saying. "Don't concern yourself; I'll make sure it's safe."

"What are you two talking 'bout?" I ask, with a yawn.

"What's so complicated about it?" Jacob asks, like I haven't actually said anything.

"I have to consider every possibility," Edward said, unruffled. "What if someone gets by you?"

Jacob snorted at that idea. "Okay, so leave her on the reservation. We're making Collin and Brady stay behind anyway. She'll be safe there."

"Are you guys talking about me right in front of me?" I ask, grumpily.

"I just want to know what he plans to do with you during the fight," Jacob explained.

"Do with me?"

"You can't stay in Forks, Bella." Edward's voice was pacifying. "They know where to look for you there. What if someone slipped by us?"

A jolt of fear goes through me. "Charlie," I mumble, mind racing.

"He'll be with Billy," Jacob says quickly, interrupting my plans to send him far, far away- probably to China; I'm sure Qiang would have no problem putting him up for a few days.

"I think I like China better," I say, to Edward's visible confusion. I'm still in Jacob's lap, so I can't see his expression, but I imagine it's just as confused. "Okay, La Push will do I guess." I say, reluctantly.

"So what's wrong with Bells staying in La Push too?" Jacob interjected, impatient.

"She's been back and forth too much," Edward explains. "She's left trails all over the place. Alice only sees very young vampires coming on the hunt, but to Victoria, this could all be a distraction. Alice will see if Victoria decides to look herself, but we could all be very busy at the time that decision is made, and she could very well be counting on that. Bella can't stay somewhere she's been frequently. She has to be hard to find."

"I could probably go to China," I muse, unable to help my grimace at the thought of being so far away.

"But will you?" Edward points out, and then quirks his lips at my expression. "No, I didn't think so." He says, gently.

Jacob gestures to the deep forest east of us, to the vast expanse of the Olympic Mountains. "What about here," he suggests. "There's a million possibilities— places either one of us could be in just a few minutes if there's a need."

Edward shakes his head. "Her scent is too strong and, combined with mine, especially distinct. Even if I carried her, it would leave a trail. Our trace is all over the range, but in conjunction with Bella's scent, it would catch their attention. We're not sure exactly which path they'll take, because they don't know yet. If they crossed her scent before they found us..." Edward grimaces, and Jacob's arm wrapped around my waist tightens. "You see the difficulties." Edward says, quietly.

"No Forks, no La Push, close enough so that we can get to her but far away enough that the newborns don't run into her first, or catch her scent... there has to be a way to make the mountains work," Jacob mutters.

I hold up a hand to Edward who helps me to my feet. I sway slightly, and Edward puts his arm around my waist, pulling me close and supporting my weight even as his noise wrinkles in distaste at the scent of wolf-shifter all over me.

Jacob is still facing the forest, eyebrows drawn together and lips pursed, deep in thought.

"Do you want to go home?" Edward asks me, quietly.

"Wait a sec," Jacob says, wheeling back to us, his eyes bright. "My scent disgusts you, right?"

"Well you could go easier on the aftershave," I say, a moment before Edward responds.

"Hmm, not bad. It's certainly possible." Edward turned toward his family while Jacob shot me a disgruntled look for the aftershave comment. "Jasper?" Edward calls. Jasper looks up curiously. He walks over with Alice a half step behind. Her face was frustrated, presumably from the wolves messing up her visions. "Okay, Jacob." Edward nods at him.

"Up we go," Jacob grins at me, and I splutter as he picks me up, without so much as a warning. I let out a shriek of surprise, smacking his arm and wriggling, trying to get him to let go. He snickers. "Relax, your loss of dignity is for the greater good, Bells- we're practicing disguising your scent." He says, and I stop wriggling, instead crossing my arms across my chest and glaring at him.

"You don't have to carry me like a baby, Jacob!"

"Well you're welcome to sit on my shoulders, but you should probably remember that you're wearing a skirt." Jacob winks and Edward lets out a little growl. I smack Jacob's arm again, my face going red.

"Shut up," I glower, "let's just get this over with."

We didn't go far; Jacob made a wide arc and came back into the clearing from a different direction, maybe half a football field away from our original departure point. Edward was there alone and Jacob headed toward him.

"You can put me down now."

"I don't want to take a chance of messing up the experiment." Jacob's grinning again, and I groan.

"You are so freaking annoying! A dying snail walks faster then you! And it doesn't have legs! And it's dying!"

"Thanks." He replies cheerfully.

Out of nowhere, Jasper and Alice appeared beside Edward. Jacob jogged the next few steps and then put me down, about four feet from Edward who immediately stepped forwards to take my hand.

"Well?" I asked.

"As long as you don't touch anything, Bella, I can't imagine someone sticking their nose close enough to that trail to catch your scent," Jasper said, grimacing. "It was almost completely obscured."

"A definite success," Alice agreed, wrinkling her nose.

"And it gave me an idea." Jasper said.

"Which will work," Alice added confidently.

"Clever," Edward agreed.

"How do you stand that?" Jacob muttered to me.

"Practice." I muttered back. "And patience- loads of it."

Edward turns to me to explain. "We're — well, you're — going to leave a false trail to the clearing, Bella. The newborns are hunting, your scent will excite them, and they'll come exactly the way we want them to without being careful about it. Alice can already see that this will work. When they catch our scent, they'll split up and try to come at us from two sides. Half will go through the forest, where her vision suddenly disappears..." he nods at Jacob who actually grins back at him, and the two of them trade actual smiles of true comradeship.

I felt... sick. How could they be so eager for this? I wondered. I was dreading it.

"Not a chance," Edward said suddenly, his voice disgusted, his eyes were on Jasper.

"I know, I know," Jasper said quickly. "I didn't even consider it, not really." Alice stepped on his foot. "If Bella was actually there in the clearing," Jasper explained to her, "it would drive them insane. They wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything but her. It would make picking them off truly easy..." Edward's glare had Jasper backtracking. "Of course it's too dangerous for her. It was just an errant thought," he said quickly. But he looked at me from the corner of his eyes, and the look was wistful.

"No," Edward said. His voice rang with finality.

"You're right," Jasper said. He took Alice's hand and started back to the others. "Best two out of three?" I heard him ask her as they went to practice again.

Jacob stared after him in disgust. "Hey," I warned him, kicking his ankle lightly.

"Jasper looks at things from a military perspective," Edward quietly defended his brother too. "He looks at all the options — it's thoroughness, not callousness." Jacob snorted and I kicked him again.

Edward got back to business. "I'll bring her here next Friday afternoon to lay the false trail. You can meet us afterward, and carry her to a place I know. Completely out of the way, and easily defensible, not that it will come to that. I'll take another route there."

"And then what? Leave her with a cell phone?" Jacob asked critically.

"You have a better idea?" Edward asked. Jacob was suddenly smug.

"Actually, I do."

"Oh... Again, not bad at all." Edward admitted grudgingly. I considered kicking him in the ankle this time.

"We tried to talk Seth into staying behind with the younger two," Jacob explains to me. "He's still too young, but he's stubborn and he's resisting. So I thought of a new assignment for him — cell phone." I tried to look like I got it. No one was fooled.

"As long as Seth Clearwater is in his wolf form, he'll be connected to the pack," Edward explained. "Distance isn't a problem?" he added, turning to Jacob.

"Nope."

"Three hundred miles?" Edward asked. "That's impressive."

"That's the farthest we've ever gone to experiment," Jacob says. "Still clear as a bell."

I nodded along absently; I was reeling slightly from the surprise of little Seth Clearwater being a shifter, too. His enthusiasm at the council meeting bonfire suddenly took on new meaning.

"It's a good idea." Edward seemed reluctant to admit this, and I stood on his foot, knowing that, like Jacob, he wouldn't feel any sort of pain, but it was still mildly satisfying and it was a way to get my displeasure across. "I'll feel better with Seth there, even without the instantaneous communication. I don't know if I'd be able to leave Bella there alone."

"I'm not helpless, you know," I pointed out, "and if by some terrible chance Victoria does come across me somehow, I can always just apparate away."

"Yes, I know you could," Edward nods, and I frown.

"Then what's the problem?" I ask.

"Well, would you?" He arches an eyebrow. I open my mouth to reply indignantly, then hesitate. If Victoria showed up, would I really just run? After all, I could take on one vampire- I'd taken on both other members of her coven, after all, and won.

"Exactly," Edward interrupts my thoughts, and I give him a guilty look, knowing I've just confirmed his suspicions.

"Sorry."

"Don't worry," the corner of Edward's mouth has turned up in a half-smile, "it isn't a surprise to me."

"Still, I am sorry." I tell him, firmly, and he nods.

"Next practice, when you're feeling better, you're joining in." He says, decisively. "I want to see how you do against Jasper."

Jacob lets out a sudden growl, the animalistic sound bizarre coming from his very human throat. Edward grimaces as he turns back to Jacob. "Believe me, I don't like the idea of it any better," he says, and both of them seem to wince as their eyes turn to track Jasper, who's currently got Emmett pinned down by the throat.

"But it's a good idea," Jacob reluctantly admits. "Maybe her friends should practice too." It's my turn to grimace.

"I don't want them involved." I say, resolutely. "Katie's definitely not up to it- she lost her wand arm less then a month ago, she's not ready for any sort of battle, not without more time training then she can get in a week. Think- if you're right handed and you break your right hand, you can't write properly with your left hand straight away, and believe me; it's even more complicated then that when it comes to magic."

"Luna, then- you know she won't be staying away, and that limey she brought back with her doesn't seem like he'd sit back while she was in danger." Jacob points out.

"Urgh," I grimace, thinking of Malfoy fighting a vampire at my side. "That's an unpleasant thought." I then sigh. "You're right about Luna." I'd never stay behind if she was in any sort of danger, and holding her to different standards would make me a hypocrite. "I'll talk to her, I'm sure she'll be happy to come along to the next what-ever this is, and she'll probably bring the wanker with her."

"It's time to take you home," Edward decides, looking up at the sky. "You've got graduation tonight, so you'll want to get some sleep."

"Your place or mine?" I ask, all his talk of sleep making me yawn. Jacob makes a sort of choking sound beside us and I roll my eyes. "Jesus Christ, get your mind out of the gutter, Jake!" I order him. Jacob just shudders.