CHAPTER FIFTEEN
ᴛʜᴇ ᴇɴᴅ

Like all of those years ago, it was just the two of us. William looked at me with his crimson glare as if I was nothing more than a piece of meat, something to be ripped to shreds and discarded of. His delusions had caused it all: the running, the hiding the hunting. From the moment I'd fought with the venom, the minute I'd been changed, the second I refused to join his vampire cult, I'd become his target, and William had never been one to back down from a challenge. But really, I'd been that test since we were both young humans in a northern English village.

This fight was so unlike the others. This time, I would not evade him- I could not. Yet it was not because of the fear that bubbled in my chest or the screaming anxiety that pounded for my brain to make my legs move, to sprint away. I could not escape his clutches because this would be the end, just as I'd hissed to him as we met in the clearing only a mile off from the main fight.

What was the point in living if I would always be running from him? What was the point in going on if soon I would be trapped within his predation once again, only months down the line? William would always find me. That was what he did: he tracked and hunted better than anyone I knew- he was better than James ever could have been.

For my relationship with Alice to live, William had to die.

This fight was so unlike the others. This time, there was complete silence. The tense, suffocating kind that bred a building fear. There was no taunting, no disgusted swipes of poison-laced words, for there was no need for it. We'd said all that could be said.

Predictability was William's style. He moved first, moving full metres as he launched himself forward, arms poised to crash down on my shoulders, to crush me with his brute strength. I slid from his direction in one, swift movement. Not even the smallest of shouts left his downturned lips. As soon as his feet were on the ground, he was sprinting again, zipping from tree to tree in a bid to confuse even my enhanced senses. That was one of his newer moves.

It was a primitive way of fighting with vampires: ripping and gauging and throwing. Punches couldn't be thrown as our skin could not bruise, never mind how fragile it looked.

My eyes watched him, my legs bent and ready for the inevitable move he would make. Before he could leap forward, I threw myself upwards, jumping to latch onto a thick branch above, pulling myself up. I had the high ground, but still, he sprinted from tree to tree, the sound of his feet connecting with the ground little more than a dull thump that only my ears would be able to register.

Then I jumped, feet connecting with his shoulders as he ran into my pathway. With a growl, he rolled forward, landing smoothly hunched, head tilting like a predator. Hit after hit came as he matched my strength and vigour. In one angry movement, I grabbed onto his wrist, yanking backwards, throwing him against a tree, using a foot to push his hip. A terrible tearing sound filled the air. William's arm hung from one dead strand of broken skin. He looked at his useless limb, and knowing he would not be able to fix it, turned to me with a shattered grin.

He came at me again, lumbering forward with quick movements despite the added disadvantage. As he gripped onto me, his teeth, the only thing that could pierce vampire skin, sunk into my arm, sending venom cording through my thinned, useless veins. I dodged left and then left again, twisting until my hands were wrapped around his neck, pushing down threateningly. He was on the floor in seconds, eyes wide in shock. It was then that I knew I had him.

Up until this point, our fights had been a match of destruction, of hate and of loathing. It had been choreographed this way since those first moments. William deserved to suffer. He deserved to be ripped limb by limp, burned slowly on the pyr. He glared at me though his position was submissive, the venom of the bites only stinging slightly. I wanted him to suffer. So I threw at him the truth.

"You ruined me. You made me this parasite, this monster all because of your sickening entitlement. You never had me, you never will." Not once did I raise my voice. William watched me with a careful eye. "But do you know what you couldn't do? You couldn't keep me that way forever. You couldn't keep me from loving despite the hate that created me."

"And now, you won't ever hunt me again."

His head was ripped clean off with a sickening crunch, like the sound of two rocks crashing together.

☾

"Is it done?"

Alice's head leaned against mine as she leaned in, placing soft, feathery kisses on my face, across my nose and down to my chin. I smiled briefly, closing my eyes, savouring the sense of her closeness. We didn't need to say much. Alice could understand me with few words.

"He's dead," I whispered.

But a fight could never go so unequally ended. A terrible howl erupted from the back of the field. For a moment, I thought the wolves had begun to argue. A large wolf- one I recognised to be Jacob- threw himself at another, tackling it backwards. But then Sam joined in, crushing the lithe body of a newborn that I'd not seen.

Alice turned to look at Carlisle, readying to join him.

"I'll see to Leah. I owe it to Seth," I said, letting her press a heavy kiss to my cheek before I went to meet the wolf.

When I reached her, Leah had already transformed out of her wolf form. She stood, her lean body bare and straight, her posture jagged, infected with anger and self-hatred. As I neared, she snapped around to face me, her stance tensing at once as she glared.

"Be calm," I said, turning my eyes downwards. "It's alright."

"It isn't alright. How can it be alright?" She snapped, turning away as realised I meant no harm. "This is all my fault."

"This is no one's fault."

"But it is," she shouted, throwing up her hands, fists balling. "I was angry, furious, resentful. I wanted to finally prove myself."

"You didn't need to prove yourself to them. You are as much a part of the pack as any of the boys are."

"You can't understand. You can't begin to understand the workings of the pack," Leah said as she wrapped her arms around herself.

"You're right, I can't," I said, shrugging my jacket off from over my shoulders so I could hand it to her. "Here, cover yourself."

She stared at the jacket for a moment, then turned her naked body so she was facing me completely, with pride. "I don't need your pity," she said, daring me to offer again with her stare.

I kept eye contact. "It is not pity. Not every helping hand has to be pity," I said. "Just take the jacket. Stand up. And walk back there. That's all I ask."

When I returned to the Cullens, Edward was leaning over Bella by Alice and Carlisle's side. Her skin was pale, more sickly looking than usual, her closed eyes rimmed by a dark, purplish shade.

"Is she awake yet?"

"She'll open her eyes in thirty-seven seconds. I wouldn't doubt that she can hear us now," Alice said, sighing deeply as I stood by my side. She wrapped an arm around my waist, her head leaning against my chest.

"How did it go with Leah?" Alice mumbled.

"As badly as you could imagine. But I won't know for sure until she turns up, and that's if she does."

As we finished talking, Bella began to stir. She opened her eyes, the thickness of her lashes making the shadows even more pronounced.

"Bella honey, you're safe now," Esme said as she crouched by her side. "He's going to live Bella. Jacob Black is healing as we speak. He'll be fine."

"Oh, Bella."

"Edward," Bella said, reaching for him desperately. He took her in his arms. "Jacob is okay?"

"Yes."

Carlisle stepped forward, smiling as warmly as he could. "I examined him myself. His life is not in any danger. he was healing at an incredible rate, though his injuries were extensive enough that it will still be a few days before he is back to normal, even if the rate of repair holds steady. As soon as we're done here, I will do what I can to help him. Sam is trying to get him to phase back to his human form. That will make treating him easier. After all, I've never been to veterinarian school."

"What happened?"

"Another wolf was in trouble-"

"Leah," she said quickly.

"Yes. He knocked her out of the way, but he didn't have time to defend himself. The newborn got his arms around him. Most of the bones on the right side of his body were shattered."

"Three minutes," Alice interrupted, her expression wary, lip bitten.

"The Volturi?" I asked, and she nodded.

We moved out to meet the rest of the group, watching as the last of the wolves disappeared liked ghosts into the treeline. A fire burned toward the edge of the vast field, its flames deep and merging with a cloud of thick black smoke that lingered in the darkening sky. Next to it, stood Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie. The first of which was still tense, his arms crossed. It was only as I followed his eye line, that I saw her: the young girl with the eyes the colour of garnet.

The newborn was jittery, her shoulder lifting like a spasm every so often as if she was forcing her body to stay in the same spot. Her eyes flickered to Bella and then down to the floor again, looking like a deer caught in headlights as she found Jasper's glare. Edward noticed Bella's look.

"She surrendered. That's one I've never seen before. Only Carlisle would think of offering. Jasper doesn't approve," he explained, looking humorously at the sight of the two vampires.

"Is Jasper alright?"

"He's fine, the venom stings."

"He was bitten?"

"He was trying to be everywhere at once," Edward said, glancing momentarily back at me. I knew exactly what he would say. "He made a pact with Elide. When she was with William, he did everything he could to make sure Alice was safe. He made sure she had not much to do actually. Even though Alice doesn't need anyone's help."

Alice laughed, breaking the awful tension. "Overprotective fool," she said, pressing another kiss to my cheek, raising to the tips of her toes.

"Have you changed your mind, young one? We don't want to destroy you, but we will if you can't control yourself," Carlisle said.

"How can you stand it?" The girl said, her words almost sounding like a moan. I could hear the bloodlust in her voice. I could practically feel it. "I want her."

"You must stand it. You must exercise control. It is possible, and it is the only thing that will save you now," Carlisle said, remaining effortlessly patient.

"Shouldn't we move away from her?"

"We have to stay here. They are coming to the north end of the clearing now," Alice said, her eyes drifting to the edge of the forest adjacent.

"Besides, she'll never get through all of us. She'd be lucky to get past Jasper with the way he's watching her," I said.

"Here they come."

☾