Hells Angel

“Just promise me that you'll be careful, Aves. That's all I'm asking,” Jacob said, rubbing circles on his girlfriend's shoulders.

Avery sighed, rolling her eyes as she looked up at him. “I'm just going for a run. What could possibly happen?” she asked. Jacob opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off. “Famous last words, I know.”

Jacob leaned down, pressing their foreheads together. “Promise me.”

“There's no danger, Jacob. You guys patrol every night, you lost the scent, you say there's no danger—“

“I never said there was no danger.”

“And it doesn't mean that I should be paranoid and look over my shoulder every two seconds,” she told him.

Jacob let out a deep breath. “You don't know what could be out there, Avery.”

Avery sighed again. “Fine. I promise to be careful. Happy now?”

He smiled. “Very. I have to go—the guys and I are going out to eat. So just call me later, okay?”

“Okay,” she agreed, leaning up and kissing him quickly.

Jacob paused before he took a step back, giving her a once over. He was hesitating, lingering. He wasn't sure if he should leave her alone. Half of him didn't trust leaving her by herself, and the other half knew she'd never forgive him if he didn't give her some alone time. He sighed. “Be—“

“If you say 'careful,' I'm going to punch you in the throat. And you have been warned.”

Jacob smiled.

+

Avery shoved her Zune into the pocket of her sweatshirt as she ran along the path in the woods. It was the middle of October and she had been running the same path three days a week for the past six weeks. It was a good stress reliever, one she needed thanks to all of the drama that came with knowing Jacob's secret.

Leaves crunched under her feet as she ran. The sun was setting and the floor of the forest was getting harder to see. She slowed down before stopping completely, her breathing heavy. She turned off her Zune and looked around her, trying to catch her breath. She wasn't used to being in the woods at night, alone, but she wasn't exactly scared.

The wind howled, whipping through the trees and tearing leaves off the branches. She pulled her sweatshirt tighter around her, suddenly feeling cold. She jumped when she felt a vibration, then laughed at herself when she realized it was only her cell phone. She pulled her phone out of her pocket, seeing that it was Jacob, and she felt herself smile. “I'm alive, don't worry,” she told him, laughing, as she decided to start walking out of the forest.

”Ha. Ha. You're hysterical. Did you enjoy your run?”

“Yeah, it was nice. What's up?”

”Sam caught a scent. So guys night is canceled. Embry is out patrolling now.”

“What kind of scent?

”He's not sure. He couldn't place it. But Billy wants me to come home for dinner. So I just wanted to call and let you know what was going on.”

“You two have fun,” she told him. She could hear the worry in his tone and couldn't help but feel a little anxious with him. Scents weren't uncommon, but one they couldn't place wasn't a good sign.

”Get home safe, okay?”

“Jacob—“

”I never said careful.”

She smiled. “Bye, Jacob.”

She hung up and put the phone back in her pocket. She walked slowly so she could avoid tripping over any roots or rocks. The wind howled again and she froze, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She turned and looked all around her.

“Of course nothing is there. It never is. It's only going to come out when I turn back around and resign myself to the fact that nothing is lurking in the shadows waiting to kill me. It's how every teenage horror movie starts and ends,” she muttered to herself.

Avery rolled her eyes and turned back around. Before she could take another step, she fell forward, he knees buckling beneath her. Everything happened in slow motion. She heard laughter as she struggled to reach her arms out to break her fall, her left elbow snapping and her face fell forward, smashing against the rocks on the ground. She groaned, feeling dizzy, faint, and rolled over, a hand rubbing her jaw. Her eyes opened slowly and she knew she was seeing double instantly. As her eyes focused on the figure in front of her, they widened and a scream escaped her lips as she met the blood red eyes.

That was the last thing she remembered.

+

Embry's ears perked as he heard a woman's scream and he growled, instantly running in the direction that it came from. He ran through the trees, avoiding them with ease, and he saw a body lying ahead in a clearing, on the forest floor. He knew who it was simply by the smell. He changed back into his human form, pulling his shorts on, and ran over to Avery. He gently rolled her over, blood lining the front of her sweatshirt, her chest rising and falling slowly, so slowly.

She was still breathing. But barely.

Embry tore off the cuff of her shirt, pressing it against her neck. He looked around but couldn't see anything. The blood on Avery's neck was dry, the wounds were small, barely visible. The only thing he knew for certain was that the Treaty had been broken. Vampires had stepped on the reservation and attacked an imprint. The likelihood that it was a random attack was slim. There was no telling what could happen next.

He picked Avery up, as carefully as he could, and started to walk back to Jacob's house. They had a lot to discuss.

+

“I'm going to kill them. I'm going to find out who touched her and rip their head off,” Jacob growled, pacing around his living room. Avery was lying on the couch, a blanket wrapped around her. She had a bandage around her neck. Her lip was busted and her jaw was bruised—dark blue among her pale skin.

“Jacob, calm down,” Sam said, sitting on a chair in the corner of the room. He ran his hands through his hair, sighing. He knew how upset Jacob was and he would've been, too.

“No!” Jacob yelled. “I'm not calming down. Avery is unconscious, bruised to hell and back, with fucking bite marks on her neck! A bloodsucker got his hands on her and they're going to die,” he said, voice deeper, fists clenched at his side. “I didn't even know! How did I not know?!”

“We should wait to see what she remembers, Jacob,” Embry said. He wasn't easily scared but his hands were still shaking slightly at seeing Avery so close to death. If he thought Jacob's reaction was painful now, he would've hated to see it had he shown up later—she might not have been breathing.

“It doesn't matter what she remembers because a leech is going to die either way,” Jacob said.

“Acting harshly isn't going to help the situation,” Sam explained. “We're just as upset as you are—“ Jacob shot him a look. “Okay, fine, not as upset as you. But she is important to us as well and we want justice, too. But if we go out and start ripping leeches heads off—yes, we would enjoy ourselves—but it could screw us over really fast. Our word will lose all credibility,” he told him.

“Why should be care about our word? The Treaty is broken. We have nothing to lose,” Jacob said.

“You're irrational right now, Jacob,” Quil said, walking out of the kitchen and handing his friend a cold can of Coke and a sandwich. “You need to sit down, calm down, and eat something.”

Jacob sucked in a deep breath and stopped pacing. He took Quil's offering and sat down in front of the couch, next to Avery's head. He was still furious but he knew they were right. He took a bite of the sandwich, chewing thoughtfully, before swallowing and nodding. “Look, I know I'm irrational. And I understand what you're saying, Sam. And I know that we should think this over. But the only thing running through my head right now is the multitude of ways I could kill a leech,” he shook his head. “How did I not know? We're supposed to know the second our imprint is in danger but my mind never went there. What is going on?”

Sam smiled, barely. “I don't know, Jacob. But we should wait for Avery to wake up, ask her what happened, and then we'll go from there.”

“It has to be an outsider. The Cullens know better than to break the Treaty. They haven't for years and I doubt they would now,” Quil said. “So that eliminates one family.”

“Even if it was just one passing through and needed a meal, it's all the same to me. They're going to die,” Jacob said, finishing his sandwich. He took a deep breath and looked over at Avery, who was twitching in her sleep. He set his Coke aside and ran his hand down the side of her face. “Her jaw is swelling.”

“I'll get her some ice,” Embry offered.

“No, no ice,” Avery mumbled, turning her face closer to the pillow.

“You awake?” Jacob asked, his voice soft.

Avery shook her head. “My face hurts,” she whispered.

“Do you remember what happened?” Sam asked from across her from across the room.

She shook her head again, eyes opening slowly. The room seemed to be spinning around her and the only constant thing was Jacob. She reached a hand out to him, grabbing his shoulder and squeezing. “Just making sure you weren't spinning with everything else,” she told him.

Jacob smiled softly, leaning forward to kiss her forehead. “I'm not spinning, baby. You're at my house. Do you remember anything from earlier?”

“I...was running through the woods. And you called. And then I...fell. Or tripped? Or...was I pushed? I don't know,” Avery said. “My head hurts so bad.” She touched her fingertips to her lip—her jaw was throbbing. “What happened to me?”

“You were attacked,” Embry said. “I found you afterwards. You were still breathing so I brought you back here.”

“Still breathing? Attacked? What? What happened?” she asked, sitting up. She groaned—grabbing her head. “Oh, ow.”

“Be careful,” Jacob said, moving to sit next to her on the couch. “You need to move slowly or your wounds will open back up.”

“Wounds? What wounds? Can someone explain to me what the fuck happened?” Avery asked, beginning to grow impatient.

“You were attacked by a vampire,” Sam said.

“How...?”

“That's what we're still trying to figure out,” Embry told her. “And what we're going to do about it.”

“No, we know what we're going to do about it. We're going to find out who it was and I'm going to rip their heads off and smash their faces in,” Jacob growled, running his fingers through Avery's hair and examining her bruises. “What did you do? Face plant against a rock?”

She shrugged. “Knowing me? It's possible,” she said.

Jacob didn't smile. “What's the last thing you remember? You need to run me through everything,” he told her.

“I don't remember,” she told him.

“You have to try,” Jacob told her. “We have to piece everything together so we can find out who it was.”

Avery looked down to her lap, trying to remember what had happened, but she couldn't. Her head was throbbing. She kept seeing flashes of red, red eyes, and she could hear the faint sound of laughter. “I don't remember.”

“Avery—“

“I said I don't remember!” Avery yelled.

Jacob sat back, sighing. “Avery—“

“Jacob, stop,” Sam said quietly. “You're getting frustrated with her and that's not going to help anything. All of us are stressed. The last thing Avery needs is us pushing her to remember right now. She needs to rest.”

Avery wrapped the blanket tighter around her. “Red. Red eyes,” she mumbled.

“What?” Jacob asked, ears perking up.

“Red eyes. Laughter. That's all I remember,” Avery told them.