New Dawn

W o l v e s

My dreamless sleep was interrupted by the morning chill and a thin layer of snow. Blinking away the haze of the morning, I was confused at where I was. Reality sunk in when I spotted Dakota curled up beside the log in front of me. We had both fallen asleep and lost complete track of time. The sun peaked up over the horizon and bled through the forest trees. Carefully, I crawled over to Dakota and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Dakota? Wake up...We fell asleep talking."

Shifting on the ground, he turned towards me, "Renesmee?" His eyelids blinked frantically in confusion.

"Yeah it's me. I guess we fell asleep. How are you felling?"

He sat up and looked at me, "I'm a little cold but all the pain in my back is gone. We should get you home. I don't want to upset anyone."

"It's fine. It's the weekend, I don't have a curfew."

He laughed, "Yeah well, I don't want to upset Jacob anymore."

"Yeah...I'm scared to face him. But...I had a lot of fun with you yesterday. I really needed that."

"Yesterday was a lot of fun for me too. You are an amazing teacher Renesmee."

I laughed as we stood and headed back to the trail, "What about you. Anything you can teach me?"

He thought about it for a moment, "I can teach you to fight."

"Fight?"

"Yeah...Like in a battle against vampires."

My excitement peaked, "I've always wanted someone to teach me. I wish I had learned before everything happened but it made Jacob uncomfortable to see me even play fighting. But...I think I should learn." I smiled, "Teach me?"

He laughed and dipped down into a defense position, "Lesson one vampires are stronger and faster."

I laughed and mimicked his reaction.

He stood and shook his head laughing, "Lesson two...Don't pick a fight with one."

Pouting, I stuck my tongue out at him and crossed my arms, "Come on. Tell me what you do."

Still laughing he managed to answer me, "Once they get ahold of me, I use my gift to make them forget that they are attacking me." He laughed, that's really the only chance I have."

"So then what do I do?"

Dakota stopped laughing and looked at me, deep in thought. "Use your gift."

"How?"

"Well...You're emotions, when you passed them to me, they completely took over my own and I could feel what you were feeling, it was a very strange feeling." He moved over to me and picked up my head, "I think you could use that to your advantage."

I laughed. "Okay...Can I try it?"

He laughed, "Am I allowed to use my tactic?"

I scrunched my nose and shook my head in disagreement, "No way. You aren't in danger with me."

His laugh got louder, "Then bring it on little lady." He gave my shoulder a playful shove.

I screamed sarcastically and ran away from him playfully.

He caught on to my desire to be chased like a damsel in distress. Laughing he climbed a tree to pursued me. In my false chaos, I lost track of him and a real fear sunk in. I knew it was irrational and that Dakota wouldn't hurt me but the thrill of being chased got the best of me. I hunched down and looked around me, trying to find any sign of where he might be. My heart began to pound out of my chest with the anticipation of the attack.