Luna

• 42 •

Paul 

Paul's P.O.V

Carter dropped his grip on Aurora and she fell into the snow, unmoving. 

All my emotions and instincts hit me at once, my subconscious and present mind going to war. It felt as if I could not react fast enough, like time was sped up and every second was passing me by while I could hardly believe my imprint had just been bitten by a vampire. 

My mind was trying to grasp every aspect at once: Aurora getting hurt, the very likely death of her parents, and the irritating fact that Carter was even alive. Half of me was trying to weigh in on the next course of action, but I couldn't process this all at once. Pushing rational thinking aside, I adopted much needed tunnel vision. In this second I refused to let myself think of anything else but Aurora- I needed to save her. 

Without realizing I had moved, I was already cradling Aurora's body against me. She was fully conscious, but not even remotely alert as her eyes were clenched in pain. It must be overwhelmingly flooding her right now and it broke my heart that my imprint was getting used to being exposed to so much pain. 

This was different than went Cole shifted and Aurora was caught in the crossfire. Back then, I had let my anger take over and tried to take out Cole before anything else. Despite Aurora being hospitalized, I let myself be selfish and adopt the mentality that she was going to get better, I refused to accept anything but. This time, the odds were immensely stacked against us. 

"You're gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay," I murmured, brushing hair from her face. The guilt I felt towards my self was only growing in size. I should've done more- I could've done more. Why does she always have to get hurt because of my failure? 

"I'm sorry," Aurora grimaced and her brown eyes opened to look at me. "It wasn't your fault, I-" Her words left her as she pressed her lips together and muffled a scream. 

Dammit no, there needs to be a way to stop this; Edward, he would know. Looking up, I realized he was no where in the clearing, he must have went after Carter. Reigning in my anger, I ignored the leeches existence for Aurora's sake. 

Shouting into the air, I desperately called for help from someone I once considered my worst enemy. Without needing a reply, I picked up on movement five miles north of us. Edward's footsteps were barely touching the ground as he raced after Carter.  A mutter slipped from his mouth. "I will  catch him."

"No!" I pleaded. "We need your help! You need to suck the venom out! She can't be a vampire!" 

The rustling of his footsteps stopped and almost immediately he was making his way back. 

"Paul," Bella mumbled and truthfully I forgot she was here. "Something's wrong."

I held Aurora tighter against me and rolled my eyes. "No shit!" I spat, not even feeling the slightest of guilt. 

"No," She argued, surprisingly ignoring my sharp remark and trying to pacify the situation. "I think the wound... it's-" 

Not sparing her a second to finish,  I looked down to the tattered remains of Aurora's coat. Underneath the shreds I saw what Bella did, Aurora's bite seemed to be darkening. Propping her against my body, I ripped off part of her jacket and shirt. With her shoulder exposed, we were all aware a new problem was making itself a priority. 

There was a chunk of skin missing that matched perfectly up to Carter's teeth. While the blood stained the surface, her once fawn skin was now greying in color and patches of her body surrounding the wound were peeling.