Waxing Gibbous

Personal Heater (A)

The temperature had dropped dramatically and was still dropping. I could feel the nipping cold whipping against my fur, but my constant temperature of 112̊ I was perfectly fine. My kind was made for this, Hector believed we came from a warmer climate at one point but our bodies adjusted and evolved to handle the cold.

Our fur was his main reasoning behind it. I mean northern timber wolf's have long thick fur with two coats whereas our kind had short sleek fur.

None of that mattered though when the sound of the wind ripping against the mountain was overwhelmed with the sound of Bella's chattering teeth. The storm was worse than we originally thought.

Alice believed the newborns wouldn't show up until the moon was high in the sky, midnight more than likely. The storm has been raging for a few hours now and the sun has retreated leaving us in darkness.

Edward had tried to convince Bella to make a run for it, to leave and hole up somewhere else. A lower altitude perhaps, it would make it easier to deal with the cold, but Bella denied it every time. And I couldn't help but agree, if she was brough out of the tent she would be exposed to the cold and worse off.

Not to mention it was getting late. There was only a few hours before the moon would be high before the battle.

"W-w-w-w-w-what t-t-t-t-time is it?" Bella asked.

"eight" Edward answered. That was surprising, with how dark it was I would have figured it would be later than that. I heard a little shift in the tent. Probably Edward moving away to give Bella space.

"Maybe . . ."

"No, I'm f-f-f-f-f-fine, r-r-r-really. I don't w-w-w-want to g-go outside."

Bella kept shivering and shaking. I had to do something; I knew Edward wouldn't be able to keep her warm. I relaxed and tried to open my mind to Edward like Korinna taught me. It was a part of our mechanism – we would keep the supernatural out naturally. Meaning no supernatural powers could affect us. The pack was different, we were connected telepathically, so we couldn't hide much from them... At least not without practice. The only reason I was able to hide from the pack was because of our separate physiologies.

My protections meant no supernatural powers could affect me. It was the literal definition of invisibility. Pre-phasing it came and went – which is why Rosalie could smell me. Now that we were mated, and I phased she could smell me all the time. I kinda wished I could talk to her while in wolf form. But that was for another time, right now I needed to focus on getting Bella warm.

I breathed out, then focused on Edward, imagined myself talking to him 'I can help keep her warm, but it's going to be a little crowded in the tent'

I heard Edward shift slightly alarmed, it was the first time he had ever heard my mind. But the shock was over quickly when he replied "I don't see any other option"

I nodded before realizing that he couldn't see.

Standing up I let out a howl calling for Seth, who was waiting by. Most of the pack was ready in case things changed suddenly. Almost all of them were waiting in wolf form near the border.

'Seth, I need you to come keep watch' I showed them all the conditions we were in, Bella's need for heat.

'On my way' Seth replied before he took off running. I returned to my human form before anything else was said. Seth would tell Edward and he would tell me. Logically I knew Sam would send someone else but I ignored that.

I put on some shorts and a tank top, leaving the blanket and tarp out for Seth. We may not get cold but it was still more comfortable to lay on a blanket than some rocks.

I entered through the smallest hole possible, while the arctic air flowed in around me. "I would offer the blanket I brought but it's covered in snow."

"that's fine... just help her get warm"

I nodded moving over towards Bella. "hey, Bella, you're going to need to scooch over. And maybe take off your coat"

"w-w-w-what?" she looked at me.

"if you keep it on it will take longer for you to warm up and it will make you sweat making you colder."

Edward nodded agreeing with me and in an instant he helped her remove the jacket. I slid next to Bella inside the sleeping bag, effectively spooning her.

I shivered a little, "I always forget how cold humans get"

The shuddering slowed and Bella seemed to relax more, I rubbed my hands over hers. They were the only things not covered and humans lose a lot of heat through them.

"feeling better?"

She was finally able to speak clearly. "Yes." I nodded allowing my body temperature to warm her up, while simultaneously trying to get some sleep. The storm howled like an animal attacking the tent.

I heard Edward make a hissing noise. I looked over at him "Seth is here... with Jacob"

I rolled my eyes earning an amused chuckle from Edward. "well, you can keep in touch with everyone. I think I'll fall asleep right here" I jumped slightly when I felt cold feet touching me. "eventually she'll run out of cold limbs..." I sighed "why is it you feel cold, but Rose doesn't" I mumbled tiredly.

"probably the same reason you don't feel like you're on fire to her" Bella quipped back. I chuckled slightly before laying back.

It was quiet then, inside at least. Outside, the wind shrieked insanely through the trees. The shimmying of the tent made it hard to sleep. The poles would suddenly jerk and quiver, pulling me back from the edge of unconsciousness each time I was close to slipping under.

I was able to ignore Edwards quite words, clearly arguing with Jacob. When I was roused it was much brighter than it was before. Early morning, the moon was high in the sky.

I rolled slightly to see Edward watching Bella, who's eyes were still closed.

I looked at Edward, before sneaking out of the sleeping bag. "are they still here?"

"yes..."

I nodded "I should go find Sam, it's late"

"early" I looked at Edward "it's past midnight."

Once outside I left to phase. I walked for a moment finding Seth 'you know your job?'

'yeah'

'good, stay alert, okay?'

Seth nodded his wolfy head. 'you can count on me'

I looked at Jacob 'don't stay too long... I don't know when they'll be here, but it should be any minute' Jacob nodded his head.

With that I left them behind to reach Sam. I ran down the mountain, much faster than I climbed it. I could jump from higher spots, run faster and I didn't have to worry about dropping someone. I made it to ground level and crossed paths with the Pack. Once there I linked up with Sam at the front. We were the two biggest, well Jacob and I were the biggest in height, Leah was just a tad shorter than Sam, but it could have been Sam's fur that made him seem taller. Either way Leah was taller than everyone else, then Embry and Seth. Paul, Jared, and Quil were all the same size.

'wait for my signal and remember the training. Not a single one leaves this meadow' Sam's stern voice flooded through all of our minds.

'we got this' I said 'this is what we were made for'

There was a rumble of agreements before everything went silent.