Chapter 20 - Strength in Numbers

"You're not going to make it." Huh? That voice, again. Always, whenever I shut my eyes, it was there. I looked around, seeing nothing but the black room. Scraping noises echoed in the distance, sounding like claws against metal. It was followed shortly by that ear-piercing screech I had heard weeks ago at the Cullen house, and it brought me to my knees. As soon as they hit the hard ground something opened up under me - I was falling through a tunnel, my attention focused on the light at the end. As soon as my feet touched the floor I fell back on my butt, staring up at the ceiling painting. This was…the room…the room James had taken me. Three cloaked figures stood up on a ledge, staring down at me with dark eyes, it made me stand and jump back. The Volturi, they found me…

"Jacob…" Alice whispered in my ear, and as soon as my eyes focused I realized I was out on the back patio. She was sitting on the railing, bending over almost right in my face. I put my head down against my arms, which were leaned against the same railing, and let out a very audible sigh. She stood up, putting one hand on my back.

"It'll be okay, you'll see." If only I could believe that…Nothing ever was 'okay' anymore, and honestly it was starting to bother me. "Edward said he wanted to talk to you when you were done thinking. Guess I'll go get him." In a flash she was gone, shutting the door very quietly. I counted the seconds in my head until I heard it slide open again, footsteps coming up beside me. A pair of pale arms copied mine and were up against the wood.

Silence filled the yard, except for the occasional cricket, and I sighed again. "What are we gonna do?"

Edward moved one hand up, rubbing the back of his head. He rarely ever showed when something was bothering him but right now the feeling was so heavy in the air I didn't even need to have Jaspers' powers to tell. I faced him then, stuffing my hands in my pockets.

"I wish I knew" he responded, not facing me but instead glaring at the darkness. Not the response I wanted to hear but then again, why was I expecting anything more?

"Don't be like that" was added as he stood up straight.

I looked back up at his face, brows furrowing as he searched my thoughts and could hear them as loud as if I was talking. "Sometimes I wish you'd stay out of my head."

"Sometimes I wish I could. I also wish I knew what to say, Jacob. If they come here we'll be ready, Carlisle is inside calling every clan he knows, and that's quite a few. Just…"

My head cocked to the side a little, "Just what?"

He turned to face me also, reaching out to drag my hand out of my pocket and hold it lightly, "It never should have come to this. In a way I want to let you go, you shouldn't be involved and possibly hurt by something my family wanted. I'm sorry."

This was random…"It's a little late for apologies, don't you think?" I commented, feeling his hand let mine go shortly after.

"I didn't mean it like that" My fingers sought his out again, squeezing slightly, drawing his eyes to mine. "I meant that it is late, but you're always forgiven."

Edward smiled, kissing my forehead so softly I could barely feel it, before he backed up and went inside, leaving me by myself again. The wind blew softly, scent of rain still in the air from the earlier storm.

I was left to think about the day-dream I'd had when Alice woke me from it. That's never happened while I was awake before. Not just that but…the place…and the Volturi were involved. Never a good sign. Looking out at the forest that had held so much pain I noticed that, above the treetops, a crow was perched. It was moving its head back and forth before seeming to see my stare and flying off the branch into the night sky. Crows - mythed to be a bird of pain. Of course I'd see one.

As soon as I straightened up a hot breath was against my back, claws near the side of my throat. I froze, eyes trying to see who, or what, was behind me. A female voice spoke up with a heavy accent that I couldn't place.

"Who are you, wolf?" she asked, and I growled very low in my throat, reading my body to shift at any second. Carlisle's voice broke the situation up before anything serious happened.

"Zafrina, I'm glad you could come at such short notice. Please don't hurt him, this is the Jacob Black I told you about on the phone" he explained, and as soon as she let go I turned around, backing against the wooden beams. Three women, all tall and dark skinned, stood in front of me. Their hair was long, one pulled back into a ponytail, and each was wearing a different form of animal skin. 'Zafrina', the one who mistook me for a enemy wolf, had on that of a tiger, the one closest to Carlisle had leopard pattern, and the last had on the tan color that I assumed was lion. Creepy…

"Thank you" I mumbled to Carlisle, rubbing the side of my neck that her claws had began to scratch. She smiled at me, crossing her arms and walking forward, looking me from head to toe. I guess she caught the gulp that I swallowed because she smiled and backed off. Guess I passed her inspection.

Carlisle gave her a tight hug when she opened her arms, along with the others, before turning to me.

"Jacob, meet the Amazonian coven. Zafrina is the leader, Senna and Kachiri are the other members. They've helped several times in my lifetime and we are close friends."

It made sense…I think. "So do you like, live in Africa? Isn't that a far way away?" I dumbly asked, still rubbing my neck.

Zafrina shook her head, long hair swaying over her shoulders, "Not always, that is where we originated. We prefer to wander around, never having one set home. But it is nice to meet you, Jacob Black. My apologies for almost attacking you. Teach me to trust my nose, no?" She laughed and I awkwardly joined in.

"It's no problem." I'm used to it…

Carlisle lead them inside and they moved to the kitchen, so I followed, afraid that if I stayed outside by myself any longer some other tribes would come.

I stayed, standing next to the kitchen counter and tossing an apple back and forth from my hands as they talked, discussing what I could only think was the general idea of the situation in greater detail than the phone call had said, and they all seemed so intense and interested. The Amazonians were a little intimidating, especially since the one known as Senna kept glancing over at me from time to time. I tried to play it off, focusing on the apple more than anything.

Eventually a knock at the door interrupted the conversation and as Carlisle left to answer it, saying it was another clan coming to join, Senna finally turned to confront me. Her accent was thicker and harder to understand, but I tried hard to pay attention.

"What is your purpose here?" she asked, genuinely curious. I sighed for the umpteenth time that night and set the apple back in the fruit bowl, putting my chin on my hands.

"Well" I began, "They needed me to help Edward get out of some weird state he was in. Alice thought we were connected because she couldn't see his future anymore and-"

Zafrina cut me off, "She can not see yours, if I am correct, yes?"

I nodded. "Yeah…so, she thought we were. In some way she was right, I guess." A smile was on my face at the end of that sentence, thinking about just how things had turned out.

They were all staring at me with slight wide eyes and I got the feeling like I shouldn't have said that.

"So you and Edward, you both are really together?" Kachiri joined in, asking with an expression that I couldn't read.

I nodded yet again, looking down at my hands, "Mhm. If you want to call it that. I'm not really sure myself."

When I looked back up they were all smiling, Zafrina looking straight ahead. She didn't speak for a few moments but when she did it surprised me, "Love has strange ways. Do not worry. We'll fight for you."

The breath I didn't know I was holding came out then, part of me expecting a much more negative response, but I slowly felt happiness enter back into my body. We had support, more that were supportive of Edward and I. That made me feel the best that I have since I got the news from Carlisle.

He entered minutes later with five new vampires in tow.

"Let me introduce our newest allies, the Denali coven. Eleazar, his mate Carmen, Tanya, Kate, and her mate Garrett." Each was pointed out and nodded in acknowledgement upon being introduced.

I smiled at them, but the one named Kate was giving me a cold stare.

Eleazar came toward me, "We were not sure what to think when Carlisle told us that we would be fighting for a werewolf. One of our clan was killed due to your kind many years ago. But, I think we could put that behind us. Especially when Carlisle explained that you and Edward are together now. Personally I appreciate the fact you are willing to be with our kind, Jacob, and it's a pleasure to meet you."

He shook my hand, careful of the claws, as he explained, and I just held the same smile. Seemed like a good guy.

"Eleazar was a member of the Volturi, as I was, once before" Carlisle continued, both laughing nonchalantly at the memory, "And he has the ability to sense the powers of other Vampires. He'll be sure to tell us when the Volturi are near, rest assured."

Throughout the night, as I met the Irish coven (Siobhan, Liam, and Maggie), the European nomads (Alistair, Carlisle's oldest friend, Charles, and Makenna) and finally the Egyptian coven (Tia, Amun, Benjamin, and Kebi) my mind was becoming at peace. Edward joined us after they had all arrived and filled up the kitchen, standing behind me with an arm around my back the entire time, and Jasper came down with the others later in the evening.

For once since I got here it felt like something would finally go my way. Just wish I knew how wrong I was.