I'll be home for Christmas

Chapter 70

Chapter 70 - I'll be home for Christmas

Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods.

Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading.

Fully expecting to be reduced to a screaming heap any second now, Josh's wolf ran down towards the battle.

He was now the shaman and he attracted the golden glow of the spirit warriors. Faded and dispersed by the melee, they coalesced; clinging to his fur. The last shaman. He carried them into the heart of the fight where Jane stood upright, her hands clawed and a sea of fallen bodies writhing in agony around her. Screams and howls from tortured wolves split the air, but Josh, covered in a golden cloak of ghosts was untouched. Perhaps he shared some of Bella's shield; perhaps her wish for him to be unhurt worked, but whatever the cause, Jane saw him coming and could do nothing to stop him.

How Bella managed to cover everyone who wasn't writhing on the ground, he did not know, but he felt a surge of pride in her. He knew she could do it.

And as the mantle of shaman settled on him, so too, did the mantle of alpha. He could hear the voices of the Forties pop into his head as Bella got the shield going and covered them again. Billy must have fallen. It was the only explanation.

His wolf dug its massive paws into the ground and leapt for the diminutive vampire. A small part of him quaked at killing a person he had categorized as a child. She was so slim, she looked like a boy with lank, pale brown hair trimmed short. But something about her pretty face said girl. The wide-eyed, full lipped face would make a Botticelli angel look like a gargoyle. Even allowing for the dull crimson irises.

She may have been twelve when she was turned but, hundreds of years later, she was no innocent and his wolf had no qualms. She was evil and she was hurting his pack.

He took her down, shouting orders to his pack in his head as he did so.

Charlie ran, holding the rifle and crouched low as he sprinted towards his deputies. He got there too late. Mark was crouched, his arms around his legs, rocking back and forth slowly and gazing with unseeing eyes. He was clearly in shock. "Fuck… fuck…"

"Mark?" Charlie grabbed his shoulder and shook him hard.

He raised his gaze slowly. "I saw Death… she was beautiful… so beautiful…"

He'd seen Heidi as she came to take out the snipers.

Glancing around Charlie saw way too much blood and spilled venom on the snowy ground. Mark wasn't bleeding. "Who?" he asked.

"She tore him apart," Mark said. "I couldn't… take the shot… no t-time to take th-the shot…"

"Oh, Jesus, … Collin." He shook Mark again. "Was it Collin?"

Mark leaned sideways and threw up.

"Chief?" Steve looked equally horrified. He looked down at his arm where something glistened in the moonlight. He started to scrub at it with his hand. Venom spray. He frowned when he couldn't seem to get rid of it. "I don't know who this is."

"Steve, you okay?"

"I was concentrating on the targets… still firing… you know? I didn't even see her coming… eyes still adjusting… Collin was busy tossing Molotov's. He didn't go wolf… I don't know why. Do you think he saw her?"

Charlie knew why; he couldn't set off the incendiaries. He needed to stay human to do that and therefore, he was vulnerable. And he wasn't imprinted. Maybe Heidi's gifts had found a mark. But both his deputies were alive, he had to thank him for that.