Chapter 17

"Have you heard anything from Jake?" I asked, wondering how he was doing being surrounded by vampires. I was playing with Seth's fingers that were out in front of me. He had me wrapped in his arms and we were laying peacefully under his blankets. His body produced enough heat to keep us both warm but the blankets were comfy so we used them as well. I traced my fingertips around his hand and looked at the few scratches he had from running through the woods so much. His hands were rough and dry but not in a bad way, it was more of a manly kind of way that somehow made him hotter than he already was.

"Nah, but I'm sure he's fine. He's a big boy, he can handle himself." He spoke quietly, as if not wanting to disrupt the peaceful silence that had seemed to accumulate in his room. The only sounds I could hear were the quiet ticking of his watch that laid on his nightstand next to us and Seth's slow steady breathing. This moment was perfect- laying next to Seth, wrapped safely in his warm embrace, ignoring the rest of the world, if only for these few hours.

"I know I know, I just worry is all." I whispered, ready to let us both slip back into silence. I could fall asleep I was so comfortable. The world had other plans for me though because as if on cue, a wolf howled in the distance. Seth shot up, causing me to roll forward and duck as he jumped over me and started searching for his clothes.

"That's Sam. Something's wrong." He said, pulling a shirt over his head and grabbing his keys. I hurried up and pulled my own clothes on quickly. "C'mon." he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me downstairs and out to his truck.

"How do you know something's wrong?" I asked, slightly out of breath. I buckled my seatbelt as Seth raced down the road to Emily's house, where the pack always met.

"It was the type of howl he used. It was an alpha call, meaning it's urgent that we meet up right now. It's a wolf thing, I guess, being able to hear and feel the difference in howls."

"No, that makes sense." I said, watching the trees pass by in a blur. The sky was black and house porch lights were the only sign of life at this time. It was very late at night or very early in the morning, depending on how you look at it. I saw Seth's dashboard read 2:39am. Great, there went my sleep for the night.

Seth pulled into the open driveway right behind two other cars. Paul and Jared got out of them and they ran into the house. I watched as Collin and Brady ran out of the woods, both only wearing a pair of sweatpants. They nodded at us but didn't speak and I couldn't tell if it was because they were half asleep or because this howl was for something so important that it had all the wolves on edge. We piled into the house and I saw that Jake, Embry, and Quil were already standing in front of the TV while we all sat/stood around in front of them. I guess things didn't go so great at Bella's party.

"What's going on?" Paul asked, seeming annoyed to have been woken up at this hour. Seth pulled me onto his lap and was rubbing his hand up and down my back in a way that had me thinking he was trying more to keep himself calm and focused than he was trying to keep me calm. Brady and Collin stood shirtless against the front door with their hands crossed in front of them- I now noticed their hair was tousled in a messy way that said they must've been running patrol when Jake called. They both had this brooding look on their face and I wondered if they already knew what this was about. It was times like these that they looked scary similar and reminded everyone that they were in fact twins, even if they do their best to look different from each other.

Jake sighed and rubbed his eyes, preparing what to say next. "We were at Bella's graduation party and the shorter vamp had a vision. Apparently… there's an army of vampires coming to Forks, coming for Bella." Seth grip tightened and I saw all the wolves in the room tense up at the word army. I glanced back at Brady and Collin and saw Collin had closed his eyes and was pinching the bridge of his nose. Brady was pacing in front of Col. They definitely knew more about this already.

"What do you mean an army?" Jared asked.

"You know that kid from Forks who went missing not too long ago? Well it seems he was turned into a vampire and has been going around making more vampires up in Seattle. These newborns are planning on coming to Forks and we're guessing it's to attack Bella and the Cullens."

The wolves started yelling and arguing about what was going on and why they had to get involved. Seth rested his forehead on my shoulder but didn't say anything. Brady and Collin had thrown in a few choice words about the army but didn't argue about having to fight them. I was too shocked and a tad frightened to try adding my own opinions.

"What exactly does an army of vampires even look like?" Brady asked.

"Yea, how big is this army?" Collin added.

"I don't know but from the way the Cullen's reacted, I think it's big and I think it's bad. I told them we'll fight with them, I hope that was okay." Jake said. The guys all nodded, including Seth. I wanted to yell that they were crazy, that they couldn't fight an army of vampires, but I couldn't form any words. I couldn't get my mouth to open or even my thoughts in order to try and speak.

"We're going to meet with the Cullens next week and learn how to prepare for the fight. It's coming soon and we need to be ready. Sam is going to set up more patrol shifts so that we can make sure nothing gets onto our land in the meantime. We have no idea what these vamps are capable of and we don't know if some might break away and come here before the battle. So, everyone should be on alert the next few days, just to play it safe."

The wolves talked for a bit more before being dismissed by Jake to go home. I worried for their safety but none of the guys seemed to have any fear for this impending army. I remember Seth telling me that regardless of how strong a vampire is, the wolves were stronger because they were designed to kill them but I still didn't believe it. Even if they are stronger, the wolves would be outnumbered. An army of vampires sounds a lot bigger than a pack of 11 wolves. I stayed silent on Seth's lap and let him talk to the guys about what they were going to do. I tried distracting my thoughts by playing with his hair, playing with my hair, and eventually playing with the frayed ends of the blanket Emily had draped across the back of the couch. None of it kept my mind from wandering back to their conversations and listening to them talk about the dangers and threats the army poses on us and our town.

When we finally left, Brady and Collin met us at Seth's truck.

"Can you believe this?" Collin asked, pacing in front of us while Brady hopped up and sat on the back of the truck. I leaned into Seth and he wrapped an arm around my shoulder while leaning against the truck. "This is insane." He continued.

"I know. I'm so excited!" Brady had a huge smile plastered on his face. "I've always wanted to fight some vampires." I turned to him in shock.

"Excited? Brady this is so dangerous, you guys can get killed! And even if you don't, you can still get hurt! And what if they come into town? Who's to say they won't hurt me, or Kat, or Juliana, or our families, or friends and other people we care about or-"

"Stevie breath." Seth said, cutting me off and rubbing my shoulder to calm me down. I tried taking a deep breath but it was shaky.

"We're gonna be fine, we were made for stuff like this!" Brady exclaimed, jumping down off the truck.

"And we're not going to let them come to town and hurt you guys or anyone else." Collin added, pulling me into a hug. The three of them talked briefly about school tomorrow and I couldn't believe how calm they were being. They seemed to have no care at all about this and were acting like it was normal for an army of vampires to come to town and fight.

I told Seth I wanted to go home and he nodded and opened the passenger door for me to hop into. I stayed silent for the drive and he didn't push for conversation, I had a feeling he could sense I wasn't in a talking mood. He pulled into his driveway and put his truck in park, turning it off and dropping the keys on his lap. Neither of us moved or said anything; we just sat there together in silence.

"Stevie," he said, turning to look at me, "Everything's going to be okay. I promise." I reached out and lightly squeezed his hand.

"I really hope your right." I whispered. Then, turning and getting out of his truck, I quickly walked back to my house alone so he couldn't see the tears that threatened to spill over. He had no idea the fear I had for him and my friends right now. No idea.

"Don't you think it's crazy though? That they're gonna go fight these vampires and they're not even the slightest bit nervous?" I asked Kat on Sunday. It had been a week since we found out about the newborn army and the guys were currently somewhere in the woods training with the Cullens.

I hadn't told Seth my fears because I knew it wouldn't change his mind about going to fight, but I could tell he knew something was up. All week there was this awkward tension between us, as if he knew I was upset but also knew not to ask me about it. Brady asked my thoughts on it all during music one morning but I hadn't told him much either, just that I was nervous for them.

Kat sighed and took a seat on her floor behind me, grabbing the hot straightener out of my hand and running it through my hair. We were wasting time until the boys got back by watching reruns of Friends and doing each other's hair.

"Aren't you scared for Collin?" I asked her.

"I'm guessing Seth and Brady haven't told you…" she trailed off, not answering my question.

"Told me what?" Kat stopped doing my hair and I turned to look at her.

"Brady and Collin aren't going to fight. They were told by Sam to stay back and patrol the town and the Imprints." What? They weren't going to fight and they hadn't told me?!

"What? Why?"

"They're the newest and youngest, Sam wants to keep them out of danger. At least that's what Collin told me."

"What about Seth! He's young and new too!"

"Apparently he turned a few days before Brady and Collin so he's considered older and also he's faster and stronger than the other two so Sam says he'll be of more use to the pack."

"But…" I trailed off, not knowing what to say. How could Sam risk Seth's life but not Brady or Collin's? It wasn't fair, the three of them should be allowed to stay and protect the town.

"I'm sorry." Kat said, hugging me from behind.

"It's fine. I'll talk to Seth about it later." I mumbled, turning to look in the mirror. I didn't want to tell her that I thought it was incredibly unfair hat her boyfriend was safe and mine wasn't, that a part of me would rather Collin fight and Seth stay back. "So, wait, if they're not fighting, why are they training?" Kat began combing my hair again.

"They're not. They're currently on patrol but I think they're done in a few minutes if we wanna go hang with them for a bit?" I knew she just wanted to spend time with Collin so I nodded while she combed out the rest of my hair, making sure it was finished.

We quickly made our way out of Kat's house and walked down the road towards the Fuller's house. We walked right in, knowing no parents were home at the moment and since the door was unlocked, the guys were probably home. I followed Kat upstairs to their bedrooms and sure enough, the two boys were sprawled out on their beds. Brady was strumming a ukulele while Collin scrolled through his phone. They both looked up when we walked in.

"Hey losers." Brady greeted us. I threw up a peace sign while Kat jumped onto Collin's bed. He welcomed her with open arms. I fell into the beanbag chair that sat in the corner closest to Brady and pulled out my phone, checking to see if Seth had texted me yet. "They're still training." Brady commented, tuning his instrument.

"How was it?" I asked, knowing he probably watched some of it through the others wolves' minds.

"Pretty insane actually. The one vampire who was in all of the southern wars has a shit ton of knowledge about these little pricks. He was giving tip after tip. It was pretty exhausting to watch honestly." Brady said.

"Yea, but now we have a few new ways of how to catch the strays that get on our land once in a while." Collin gave us an evil grin and I just rolled my eyes.

"Where's Juliana?" I asked Brady, surprised she hasn't come over yet. They went on their first date two nights ago and according to Brady it went "so perfectly amazing".

Brady groaned and closed his eyes. "I don't know. Guys this girl is killing me! The date went so well and I thought it meant we could keep moving forward but she hasn't answered my calls or texts." I gave his arm a sympathetic pat but had no comment for the poor kid. Neither did Collin or Kat as they just sat there watching him with a frown. I haven't talked to Juliana at all this weekend which was pretty odd since we've become such good friends. I had texted her yesterday about the date but got no response so I just assumed she was busy with homework or family. Maybe something happened, maybe I should go visit her house and see if anything's wrong.

Brady took our silence as a chance to start strumming his ukulele again and this time he started singing with it. It was a simple and repetitive tune.

"I'm in trouble, I'm an addict,
I'm addicted to this girl.
She's got my heart tied in a knot
And my stomach in a whirl.
But even worse I can't stop calling her,
She's all I want and more.
I mean daaaaaamn,
What's not to adore?"

This must not have been the first time Brady played this song because Collin started clapping along slowly to the beat as if adding in his own drum beat for his brother's song.

"I've been playing too much guitar,
I, I've been listening to jazz.
I called so many times,
I swear she's going mad.
And that cellular-er will be the death of us
I swear, I swear….

And oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oooh oooh oooh

I'm running my mouth just like I got her,
But I surely don't.

Because she's so-o-o-o-o-o-o
Rock and roll!
And out of my league,
Is she out of my league?
Let's hope not…"

Brady continued to strum but he stopped singing. I knew he had more lyrics but before I could ask why he stopped singing, I heard footsteps on the stairs and seconds later Seth's head popped through the doorway.

"Still singing about your heartache I see?" he chuckled as he came and plopped down next to me.

"Still being stupid I see?" he laughed at Brady's response but didn't comment.

"How was training? Did the Cullen's teach you lots of fancy moves?" Kat asked. Brady put his ukulele down and swung his legs off his bed so he could sit up and listen.

"It was good! Jasper has a lot of cool moves and was showing us all…" Seth went on and on about fighting with the wolves while Brady and Collin listened intently.

Kat got bored and started playing with her hair while I sat and scrolled through my phone, trying to drown out the sound of Seth praising vampires and talking about how excited he is to fight. He said the fight was expected to be within the next two weeks which did nothing but worry me more.

Add on top of that the fact that finals start next week and you have a happily stressed out mess of a human being: me. Great.