Ch 2

It was another couple of days before the red fox was seen again. This time it was by Emily, the Pack had gone off to have a meeting with the Cullens about the upcoming fight against the newborn army. And Emily was left alone at the house, expect for a resting Paul who was snoring in the guestroom. He had his leg broken during a tussle with Jacob and Sam, it was caused by an ill-said comment about Bella and how she was a leech-lover. The usual for Paul. It was a rare sunny day in Washington, so Emily used the good weather to hang out some clothes on the clothes line she had, running in the backyard. It felt nice to have the warm sun's rays dance over her deep caramel skin and she basked in the light feeling it gave her. She still worried about what Sam was doing and how the Pack was handling the meeting, but she didn't doubt her fiancé's decisions, for her well being and the packs.

Grabbing a white-t from the laundry basket on the ground she shook out the slightly damp wrinkles before taking a wooden clothes pin from her mouth and pinning the shirt to the line. She continued to calming pattern of grabbing a clothing item shaking it out and pinning it. Emily was almost near the bottom of the basket when something red caught her attention. She froze, heart hammering in her chest. That run-away vampire, Victoria had red hair, but she wouldn't be this close to their house, wouldn't dare. Before she calmed her beating, heart and relaxed her muscles to actually turn around and see what caught her attention, the loud growl of an angry wolf stopped her.

She stepped backwards and turned her head to see Paul standing on the backyard steps, body shaking slightly as he seemingly looked around for what could have caused Emily's rapid skyrocket of her heart rate. Something moved in the dark shadows of Washington's forest, it paused before walking out of its dark coverings. Paul's growling calmed down once he realized it was just a fox, a small red fox. He sighed, body going lax against the porch step railings, "Emily...it's just a fox."

"I know that now, Paul." Emily placed a hand over her calm heart, one hand still holding her laundry. "But at the moment, all I saw was the red."

"It's okay, even if that Leech wanted to get close to you. They'd have to go through me," Paul said pounding his chest and flexing his pecs. He seemed to have calmed down as well, and Emily just shook her head with a soft laugh. "I'm gonna go inside and try to catch some more sleep."

She hummed in answer, and the tall Quileute man went back into the house. Emily went back to finish her task under the gaze of the red fox. She pinned the last item, a large cream sheet and stretched her arms enjoying the small burn of her muscles. She bent down to pick up the basket and looked up still bent over to come face to face with the fox. She blinked in surprise as foxes were not known to come up to people on a regular basis. The fox's eyes shifted to look at the basket and then back to her face, she could swear its gaze paused on the scars that ran diagonal on her face but that was impossible.

"Hello," she said softly, the laundry basket laid forgotten on the drying grass. She crouched down, balancing on the balls of her feet, so that she was more equal level with the red fox. The fox in turn took a small step back, and Emily could see that the poor thing was thin. Its fur was matted in some places and it looked like it was in the middle of growing in its winter coat. But, she could still see the poor things ribs through the thickening fur.

"Poor thing," she whispered mostly to herself, but the fox's head tilted as she spoke. Its little black nose twitching and Emily found herself lifted a hand, baring her palm upwards towards the fox. The fox's muzzle inched closer, its whiskers tickling her as it sniffed at her hand. "I have some left over roast beef from last night, wait here and I'll get you some." she spoke as though the fox would understand her.

Standing slowly, she walked away, towards her house. Pausing at the back door she looked over her shoulder and found that the fox had followed her up the stairs and stood there watching. She chuckled and opened the door, making sure to keep the fox outside. Paul was passed out once more, this time sprawled out on the pullout couch, legs and arms hanging off the edge. Emily smiled softly and covered the large boy with a throw blanket before moving to the fridge, where she pulled out a Tupperware container of roast beef and root veggies. She then grabbed a small paper plate and filled it with chunks of beef and carrots.

Turning around she went back towards the backyard door, the fox was still there on the steps. Emily opened the door slowly and walked lightly to where the fox was standing before placing the paper plate down. She decided to walk backwards to not to startled then poor thing and entered the house. Emily picked up a kitchen chair from the dining table and set it in a way that she could watch the fox while being somewhat hidden inside her own house.

The fox stood it seemed frozen as it stared at the plate full of food, perhaps it wasn't the best idea to give the little one roast beef what if it hurts its belly? But she didn't need to worry too much because the fox dethawed enough and began sniffing at the meat and carrots. It's muzzle scrunches up and a small pink tongue licked at its chops before snagging the bigger piece of beef and running off, back into the thicket. Emily sighs, feeling slightly depressed that the fox didn't eat the whole plate, but at least it took with it a decent size of meat to eat. She gets up from her chair and goes to pick up the plate from the front porch.

"The fox didn't like you cooking Emily" Paul voice whispered over her shoulder, jumping she twirled around and smacked her hand on his chest.

"Paul! What did I tell you about scaring me like that?" she scowled at him, she rolled up the paper plate being careful not to spill the contains on the wooden porch. "I doubt it was because of the food. I think the poor thing was just overwhelmed with the amount given to him, I should have chosen smaller pieces."

Paul sighed, and ushered her back into the house "Let's get inside Princess."

Emily glared up at Paul and swatted his chest once more before heading inside.

Once the pack emerged from the forest a few hours later, Paul told them about Emily feeding a stray fox with roast beef. Emily, herself was busy making dinner, which today was breakfast. Huge fluffy pancakes and thick cut bacon a long with scrambled eggs were piled up on large dinner plates on the kitchen island. She sighed as she heard Paul retelling her small moment of kindness.

"- - you should have seen the fox. It was in a bad shape, fur was patchy, and you could see its ribs as it breathed. Em, was sad that the fox only took one piece of meat before running off. She was totally harnessing her inner Disney princess." Paul was saying as he leaned back in the kitchen chair.

The rest of the pack was either sitting down at the table or lounging in the living room draped over each other. Leah was leaning against the back of the couch, her arms crossed as she listens to Paul talk about the fox. "Do you think it's the same one I saw earlier this week?" The fox had been on her mind for a couple days, just little thoughts like how it was doing with the rains, and if it had eaten enough for the incoming winter days.

"It could have been, but it could also just be a wild fox traveling too close to humans. They are smart animals, they know we have food." Sam says, arm wrapped around Emily's waist. His face turned into her neck, he places a small kiss just under her ear. "It doesn't matter anyway, like I said before it is just a fox. And, we need to focus on finding that red-headed bitch."

Emily leaned against Sam, "But, Sam if it is the same fox Leah saw earlier this week than shouldn't we be a little worried? The fox found our home."

"I wouldn't worry too much love." And the topic was dropped.

The next day the pack took advantage of the unusual sunny day and brought out a large wooden table from storage. The members all brought some food over for a potluck and made it easier for Emily, so she didn't need to wake up early to cook anything. Jacob had asked if he could invite Bella, even though Paul scoffed at his obsession with the vampire lover, Jacob was allowed to ask her to come over. Sam said basically she would be safer with them anyway.
It wasn't long till they pack heard her roaring old truck travel up the road a mile or so away from the house. A couple minutes later the big red truck slowly rolled in, the gravel rocks crunching under the tires. Bella hoped down, arms heavy with a freshly baked pie.
Jacob leaves the pack table to walk over to Bella, "Hey Bells!" He takes the pie container from her arms, and Bella smiles up at him. "Thanks Jacob for inviting me over. I didn't know what to bring so I just threw together a simple pie."

"Whatever it is, it smells amazing Bells" Bella smiles and follows him to the heavy-laden table of foods and drinks. There was pizza, wings, pasta, fruit salad, and someone had cooked hamburgers those were placed next to their fixings. Everyone was sitting or standing while they ate, it was a really nice day out and they all took full advantage of it.

Emily piles a plate with some fruit and some pasta salad for Bella as she sits down, "Here you go"

Bella smiles again taking the plate, she sits on the wooden bench placed in front of the table. On her one side is Leah, normally Bella found herself intimidated by the taller, stronger woman, but strangely the wolf girl was staring into the forest. Her brows were scrunched up as she stares deep into the green forest.

"Something on your mind?" she asks, while she pokes at the small cuts of strawberries and melon slices.

Leah turns her head to look at her, her dark eyes look bothered. "Nothing you need to worry about," she says with a bite.

Paul's snort, makes Bella jump, but she looks up at the him. "She is just worrying over a fox."

"A fox?" Bella, brings a small strawberry to her mouth and nibbles on it.

"Yeah, it seems to be calling this area its home. We've ran into a couple times already, Emily the other day tried to play Disney Princess with it, by feeding it roast beef." Paul takes a huge bite out a large slice of pepperoni, "it ran off after grabbing a mouthful of beef."

Bella hummed as she chewed on her fruit. "Charlie said that last week there was reports of a single fox running through town. No one could really get a good look at it, but some say it looked injured because it was limping and looked bad." She forks up some pasta, "I saw a fox not too long ago too, on the road. I almost hit it. Strangely it didn't run away with my trucking heading towards it." She pops the pasta in her mouth and chews.

Leah leans on her arm next to her, looking at her. "Was the fox thin with a shaggy coat?" she asks face serious.

Bella swallows her small mouthful, "From what I remember yeah. It also had a pretty bad limp, one of its legs were actually dragging."

As she talks Leah's mouth pulls down in a frown, "I told you guys the fox was hurt."

Jared speaks up from down the table, "What are we meant to do with a hurt fox though Leah? Take it to the vet? That thing is wild, there is no way I am trying to catch it and risk getting rabies,"

Seth whom was munching on a hamburger during the whole conversation, takes a swig of coke before speaking, "Dude, we can't get rabies…"

"Still, I don't want to handle a rabid fox,"

"We hunt and kill vampires and you're afraid of a fox with possible rabies?" Seth cocks an eyebrow, taking another bite from his burger.

"Listen man, it isn't about the rabies it's just why are we talking about a random fox? It's just dumb ass fox."
Leah shot Jared the nastiest glare, Bella had ever seen, before slamming on open palm on the table. "Shut the fuck up Jared, I'm tired of you just putting down the fox all the fucking time."

Jared looks at Leah with a panicked expression, "Chill, chill. I was just joking. I don't know why you're acting like a bitch."

Before they could continue cursing each other, a loud yip came from the nearby tree line. The pack including Emily and Bella all looked to the side of the house, where the forest trees were thinner. There standing in-between an opening of the trees was a red fox. The same one as before, seen by Emily, Bella and Leah. Its fur looked even worse, and its back leg wasn't touching the ground anymore. It paced on three legs back and forth between the trees, amber red eyes watching them before looking back into the forest.

Leah watched the fox, as it paced back and forth. A worried whine rumbled up from its throat, its tail twice as bushy as before. Its small black nose twitching as it seemed to scent the air. It looked worried.

"It wants us to follow it," Leah jumped up from her seat, hands going to the hem of her shirt.

"WAIT!" Sam's voice yelled out, he too was standing. His gaze switching between his pack-mate and the fox. "Paul, Seth, Quil follow us. The rest of you stay back here, I don't know what is going to happen if we follow that fox. But, if trouble finds us, I want you here."

Leah nods in thanks to Sam before quickly stripping, Bella and Emily both averted their eyes for politeness. Four paws hit the ground within seconds, and her pack brothers joined moments after. She rambled forward slowly not to startle the fox, she walked slowly head low as she scented the air. It smelt like copper, and ash. But, she knew there was no fire nearby.

Sam: Leah, we need to be careful – Sam's voice rolled over her, he saw only a random fox. But Leah saw more, she saw the fox's eyes which knew more than they let on.

Leah: Sam follow me! – the fox looked once more towards her before taking off. It's hurt leg, not even hindering its movements. Leah followed not far behind, she followed the fox underneath tree branches and over rocks. She could hear her pack-mates followed behind her, Sam moving faster to catch up to her. His large lumbering black form easily matching her running pace.

Sam: What's wrong Leah? He asks, eyes tilted towards her.

Leah: I don't know but I need to follow it Leah sped up more, leaping over a fallen tree her nose catches a scent a sickly familiar scent.

Pack: LEACHES!

Her brothers fur bristled and with fangs bared they caught up to her smaller form, barricading her in.

Paul: What is going on? Is the fox leading us to a leach? he turned his head around trying to catch a trail, but there weren't any forking paths. It just leads straight. They looked forward, following the small red body swiftly moving between the ancient trees. Just as they caught sight of its body it would speed up till all they saw was a red blur.

Seth: I don't think this is a normal fox, you guys. His tongue lolled as he ran beside his sister.

Paul: What gave it away? The weird behavior or the I don't know the fact that we are following said fox on a path towards a leach? Paul says rolling his eyes.

They followed the fox farther into the thick forest, the sun's rays filtered down less so here and the ground was covered in layers in leaves. It softens their already soft foot falls. They caught up with the running fox, it seemed to have slowed down to allow them to catch up. The fox looks up them small nose twitching, before further beyond. It runs its paw on the ground digging up the soft earth and whining.

Sam: The leach has to be up ahead! Sam moves back and forth on his paws; the fox won't go any further.

Quil: We must be careful! The pack members all glance at one another before taking off. They never notice the small fox following them. A few yards ahead of them the stench magnified, and they saw a figure leaping between the tree tops.

Sam: THERE! Sam's face looked up and they all followed the leaping figure. The vampire looked down at them and hissed, eyes gleaming red. It froze on a branch a few feet above them. Paul ran forward body slamming against the tree, it shook against his weight. Quil took that millisecond the vampire was distracted to leap up and snag its foot pulling it down to the floor. Once on the ground they pack attacked, mouth snarling and fangs dripping in their saliva. But, the vampire seemed to have a plan of its own, it blurred underneath them and disappeared. The pack fell onto each other snarling.

Pack: Where did that fucker go? Their voices rolled between their heads.

They quickly jumped back and looked around, the vampire seemed to vanish. But, there was a slight movement next to them that gave away its hiding spot. They pounced once more, claws extended. The vampire with nowhere to go, lashed out its talons ripping into Seth's body. Warm bloody drips onto the earth below, and Seth whines pausing just for a second to re-balance his body and that's when the vampire attacks.

Seth blinks and sees a small red flash fly by his eyes, and the pack watch as the small fox launches its self at the unholy creature. The foxes mouth opens as wide as it possibly could and sunk its teeth into the marble flesh of the vampire.

Leah screams into the pack bond, yelling at the fox to stop. The vampire's talon like hands rip into the small fox body as it ripped the vulpine teeth away from its neck. The fox goes flying, body slamming into a thick body of a tree is falls un-moving. Leah doesn't spare a second as she spins around and runs towards the injured fox. She crouches down, nose gently prodding the too small body. Blood seeped from the deep gouges on its body, and even though it laid dead like. Leah could hear the small fluttered of its heart. She phases without thinking and gathers the small beast into her arms. The fur matted even more now, she could feel the thin ribs underneath her hands. Leah holds the fox like a small baby, too afraid to move.

A loud screeching causes her to turn around, her pack brothers had circled the prone vampire but were not attacking. Instead they stood weary as they watched the vampire thrash on the ground, its own hands clawing at their arms and face. The pale color of the vampire seemed to be bleed into a deep burning red. The color pulsed underneath the marbled flesh, moving in swirling waves. The pack moved back as the vampire began burn from the inside out, its flesh blacking and flaking off like burning paper. Within a minute what was once a vampire now was a pile of glowing amber.

The wolves looked from the pile of ash to the bleeding fox in Leah's arms.

What just happened.