Running With Wolves

Chapter 7

If Charlie had been paying attention, Victoria would've gotten kicked in the face with a steel toe boot. If she'd noticed the warning signs, Charlotte would've turned on the spot and sparred with the vampire. It would've been a battle like no other; huntress versus huntress. Victoria would've met her match in the small spit-fire. It would've been a close call; who would've claimed victory? The two women could've circled each other, snarling, hair whipping wildly in the wind, for hours on end.

But Charlotte wasn't paying attention, too lost in her own mind to notice the scarlet haired vampire stalking ever closer behind her. Charlie didn't notice until she was screaming in agony, pain radiating from a wound in the juncture of her shoulder and neck. In some part of her mind she was dimly aware that she'd collapsed on the forest floor, but the rest of her was too focused on the excruciating pain raging throughout her body to care.

Paul had been called in to cover Jacob's shift. The soon-to-be-alpha was supposed to be the one patrolling with Jared, but he and Embry were currently attending to their partner in crime, Quil Ateara, who had just phased for the first time that morning. Paul didn't really care about new pack members at the moment, he'd been too busy worrying over Charlotte's whereabouts.

Paul felt as though he had a right to worry about her, more than anyone else in the pack did. Sure, the boys all saw Charlotte as a sister, and as a member of the pack. She was above Emily and Kim, and Bella now too, because she was a hunter just as they were. Charlie was seen as another wolf to them.

But to Paul she was more than that. He'd been in love with her probably since the day he met her, if he's being honest.

Charlie hadn't been home since their movie night with Bella, and from what he could gather from the rest of the pack, she'd been acting strange, she'd been oddly somber, as though she was in mourning.

If Charlie wanted you to worry, she'd tell you to. Calm the hell down before you run off a cliff, dude.

Realizing that he was, in fact, about to go over the edge of a cliff, he veered sharply to his right. Jared's voice was reassuring in his head. Paul knew the other wolf had a point, but that didn't stop the voice in the back of his head telling him to go find her. If anything, the voice was getting louder by the minute, now accompanied by a feeling deep in his bones screaming at him to go protect his Charlie. He wasn't sure how he knew which way to go, but he was bounding through the woods at top speed mere moments before a blood curdling scream pierced the morning air.

He knew that voice, just as he knew without having to check that Jared was hot on his heels. Their girl was in danger.

It felt as though she was both burning alive and freezing to death simultaneously. Charlotte's ears were ringing almost violently, and though she knew her eyes were open, she couldn't see a thing. What the fuck is going on? What little of her rational side remained knew exactly what was going on. Did it want to share with the class though? Hell no. Charlie could do without knowing she was laying in the woods in the most torturous agony imaginable because that pain-in-the-ass, revenge driven mosquito just had to bite her.

What Victoria didn't know was that no one messed with the Swan family. Not only because the Swan's could take care of their own, but if anyone made the mistake of messing with any of the Swan's, you'd have a whole wolf pack- or at the very least an entire 'cult' of super tall, super buff native boys, each and every one of them built like a brick shit house- to answer to. And today was no exception.

Jacob was off like a shot the instant he heard the bone chilling scream, telling Quil he'd be back and leaving Embry behind as he raced through the forest towards Sam and Emily's house. He knew Jared and Paul would be thinking solely about Charlotte, but knew they would need back up. He phased back and only barely remembered to pull on his cutoffs before barreling into the house.

"What the hell, kid? You trying to pull my front door off its hinges?"

Jacob waved Sam's comment off. "Paul and Jared need back up. We don't know what happened yet, but," Jake paused to breathe and collect his thoughts "Charlie's in trouble, Sam."

That's all Sam needed to hear, running full tilt into the bush and phasing the instant he was in the treeline, uncaring of the shredded shorts falling to the damp earth. One of their own was in jeopardy and he'd be damned if he wasn't there to help.

Even before they reached her, Paul knew Charlotte wasn't okay. He had a feeling that whatever happened would be irrevocable, there would be no going back now. She was in agony, and it wouldn't relinquish it's hold on her. He knew that Charlie- his Charlie- wouldn't be the same ever again. And that terrified him more than anything else ever could.