Moving Forward - J. Black

xv

EDITED

"They'll be here in four days." Alice filled everyone in on her vision as the coven, and even the shifters, gathered in an isolated room. "This could turn into a blood bath." Carlisle leaned on the shelf behind him as he thought over the possibilities. "Who's behind it?" Eliza looked to Alice for more information, hoping that they finally had more insight on the army. "I didn't see anyone I recognized." Alice shook her head, replaying the vision in her head. "Maybe one." Alice then added once she gave it more thought. "Riley Biers. He's local, I know his face." Edward allowed himself to see for himself as Alice thought over the vision. "He didn't start this." Edward shook his head, denying Riley's ability nor seeing motive.

"Whoever did is staying out of the action." Eliza furrowed her eyebrows, her voice catching Jacob's attention. "They must be playing with the blind spots in your vision." Carlisle confirmed Eliza's suspicions. "Either way, the army is coming and there aren't enough of us to protect the town." Jasper pointed out the important part of the conversation. "Hold up, what damn army?" Jacob interjected as the conversation got more serious. "Newborns. Our kind." Carlisle looked at Jacob from his spot on the cabinet. "What are they after?" Embry spoke up from behind Jacob, the shifters keeping watch over the party. "They were passing around Bella's scent. A red blouse." Alice's information about Bella was new to even the coven. "They're after Bella? What the hell does this mean?" Jacob looked to Carlisle for answers. "It means an ugly fight, with lives lost." Carlisle's words heightened the tension in the room and Jacob glanced over at Eliza before back to the shifters.

"All right, we're in." Jacob spoke as Quill and Embry backed him up with a nod of their heads. "No." Bella immediately shot down the offer. "You'd get yourselves killed, no way." Bella continued to shake her head, but none of the vampires opposed. "He wasn't asking for permission." Eliza was impressed by the determination on Jacob's face. "Edward?" Bella looked to her boyfriend for assistance, hoping he would take her side. "Edward knows we'll need the help." Eliza didn't give Edward the chance to surrender to Bella's influence. "She's right, it means more protection for you." Edward sighed, taking Eliza's side instead.

"Jacob, do you believe Sam would agree to an understanding?" Carlisle hesitated on his wording but looked hopefully for their assistance. "As long as we get to kill some vampires." Jacob shrugged as Jasper tried to get a read on his emotions. "Jasper?" Carlisle looked to the empath for his opinion on the odds. "They'll give us the numbers. The newborns won't even know they exist, it'll give us an edge." Jasper agreed it would give them an advantage. "We'll need to coordinate." Carlisle stood up as he accepted the shifters' help. "Carlisle, they're going to get hurt." Bella stood as well, still disagreeing with the idea.

"We'll all need some training." Carlisle defended his decision to Bella. "Fighting newborns requires knowledge Jasper has. You're welcome to join us." Carlisle turned to Jacob, inviting the shifters to partake in preparation. "Alright, name the time and place." Jacob took a step forward, glancing triumphantly at Bella. "Jake, you don't know what you're getting yourself into." Bella's begging was starting to irritate Eliza. "He knows exactly what he's getting himself into, this is what the wolves do Bella." Eliza tried her best not to sound snappy. "Eliza's right. You should be happy, look at us working together." Jacob gave the human a small smirk. "You are the one who wanted us to get along, remember?" Jacob's snarky attitude amused Eliza a bit.

The next day the coven was practicing and Eliza grinned as she watched Jasper send Emmett flying through the air. "Again!" Eliza clapped as Emmett just huffed and glared at the blonde's eagerness to see him fail. Eliza's amusement was cut short when Edward came flying into the area with Emmett's Jeep. The couple got out and Edward immediately grabbed Bella's hand, stopping when he noticed a bracelet that wasn't there before. "It's a graduation present." Bella explained as Eliza looked down to see the two women had on similar bracelets. Eliza felt slightly embarrassed that Jacob's gift to her wasn't as unique as she thought and pulled her sleeve over the object. "Nice shirt." scanned Eliza's outfit, taking notice of how the long sleeve shirt stopped mid-torso. Eliza ignored the vampire's attitude and simply smiled sarcastically at Edward. Ever since Jacob had kissed Bella, Edward had been pouting and angry non-stop.

The trees ruffled and the coven turned as they heard leaves crackling from behind them. The pack of shifters stalk down the hill in their wolf form. The wolves all halted when Sam let out a small growl, signaling his orders of keeping a distance. "They don't trust us enough to be in their human forms." Edward immediately read Jacob's thoughts. "They came, that's what matters." Carlisle held no judgment as he glanced over at the wolves. "Will you translate?" Carlisle looked to Edward for assistance as Jacob snuck away from his pack to say a quick greeting to Bella.

"Welcome. Jasper has experience with newborns, he'll teach us how to defeat them." Carlisle let out a sigh as Carlisle introduced the wolves to their instructor. "They want to know how the newborns differ from us." Edward translated as Sam looked over at him briefly. "They're a great deal stronger than us because their own human blood lingers in their tissues." Carlisle answered the question simply, before continuing on his statement. "Our kind is never more physically powerful than in our first seven months of this life." Carlisle added before giving the spotlight back to Jasper.

"Carlisle's right, that's why they are created. A newborn army doesn't need thousands like a human army, but no human army could stand against them." Jasper's explanation gained an angry grunt from Sam's wolf. "Now, the two most important things to remember are; first, never let them get their arms around you. They'll crush you instantly. And second, never go for the obvious kill. They'll be expecting that and you will lose." Jasper deadpanned, looking specifically at the wolves.

"Emmett." Jasper called for an opponent, giving Emmett a second chance to fight him. "Don't hold back." Jasper took a dig at the burly man as they both got into their fighting stances. "Not in my nature." Emmett grinned back at Jasper, enjoying the smack talk. Emmett made the first move as he sprinted towards Jasper, forcing him through the dirt before tossing him into the air. Eliza watched amused as Jasper twirled in the air, using his form to make a safe landing. As Jasper rebounded onto his feet Emmett ran at him again, trying to land a punch, and failing. "Never lose focus." Jasper smirked as he smacked Emmett into the ground and stood above him proudly.

Edward and Carlisle battled each other next, both choosing an offensive approach. Edward had Carlisle down first and let his guard down as he got cocky. "One more thing, never turn your back on your enemy." Jasper mocked Edward as Carlisle took Edward's relaxed stance and flatten him against the ground. Rose walked up to take on Jasper, the empath encouraging her to come closer as she remained still. Rose then initiated the fight as she threw a couple of punches at Jasper, but the empath avoided them each time. Jasper finally made an offensive move and Rosalie slid down to the floor to escape his advance.

When Rosalie and Jasper were done, Eliza chose Emmett as her sparing partner. Eliza grinned at Emmet before she took off running at him. Emmett prepared for her hit but Eliza used the element of surprise and ducked under his swinging, spinning around so that he had his back turned from her. Eliza used Emmett's moment of confusion to kick his feet out from under him, his chest flying into the dirt. "You make this too easy." Eliza put extra pressure on the vampire's shoulder blades to keep him pinned to the dirt when she saw him looking for retaliation. "Alright, alright, get off me El." Emmett groaned as he admitted defeat. Rose shook her head at her mate as Eliza released Emmett and bounced cheerfully over to the sidelines.

It was Alice's turn to fight and Jasper of course stepped forward to spar. Eliza looked away from the pair when she felt a familiar presence step closer to her. Eliza's gaze fell on Jacob's brown wolf as the shifter stood tall next to her. "Oh hey." Eliza gave Jacob a small smile, looking at the wolf confused when he let out a small snort. The wolf hesitantly rubbed his nose against her hand and Eliza realize what he wanted. The blonde hesitantly lifted her hand so that she could place it on the wolf's fur. Jacob made a grunt of approval and Eliza couldn't help the small laugh that came out as she ran her fingers through his fur.

Eliza kept her hand threaded in Jacob's fur and she turned back to the fight, which of course ended with Alice winning and stealing a kiss from Jasper. Eliza smiled at the couple as she subconsciously let her hand fall back to her side. Training was not over as the wolves only came to watch. Sam let out a small growl toward Jacob when he realized that the shifter was missing from among them.