Pinned but Fluttering

Chapter 38

The horse-sized wolf in the middle of my bedroom bared his long white canines and growled menacingly. From where I sat in bed, I shrank into Esme's protective arms, throwing my hands over my head to minimize the damage this monster would do to me. I only wish that there could be some way that I could help Esme fight him off.

But I knew that I was utterly helpless.

However, Esme was not.

I felt a dizzying whirl of motion. So rapidly that I almost didn't understand her, Esme whispered, “Stay here, sweetheart. I'll keep you safe.” Before I could respond, I was deposited on the floor with extreme gentleness as Esme pressed a quick kiss onto my forehead.

Afraid of what I would see, I raised my head slightly to peep from below my arms at the scene before me. I sucked in a shocked breath, then coughed violently as dust burned my throat and choked my lungs.

Despite the coughing fit, I was soooo not ready to see the events unfolding only ten feet away from me.

White dust, pieces of torn and destroyed drywall, and glass shards from my shattered window littered my room, making it nearly unrecognizable. Thick white dust continued to swirl heavily through the air, distorting my sight, and the dust was landing heavily on my arms, my head, the back of my neck, forming a chalky coating that I could taste on my tongue.

Shocking as the utter destruction of my beautiful bedroom was, it was nothing compared to the fight scene occurring in the ruins of my former room.

Esme had placed me carefully on the floor in the corner farthest from the windowed wall Jacob had burst through, and now she crouched protectively, her back to me, shifting back and forth on the balls of her feet, ready to leap to my defensive as needed.

And I was surprised that the guttural growls ripping in my ears were not emanating from the huge russet wolf facing me, but from gentle, motherly Esme.

Despite the complete shock of having a gargantuan monster tearing down my bedroom walls and now apparently wanting to attack me, I almost smiled at this totally inappropriate moment.

I had always known that Esme was kick-ass.

My amusement, however, was short-lived. In the distance I heard growls, yells, crashes, and general destruction, so we weren't the only ones battling wolves, it seemed.

How did this happen? How were they all doing?

Was this attack upon the Cullens' home really all about me?

My thoughts were interrupted by movement in what was left of my room. The growling monster took several more steps toward Esme, and then there was a melee of color, sound, and motion too quick for me to comprehend. The noise was terrifying, and I threw my hands over my ears to muffle the growls and crashes only feet away from me. Every few seconds I saw a flash of white teeth in a fur-covered muzzle, then it was pulled back into the twisting, tumbling confusion.

Esme's goal was to keep the wolf away from my corner, and at first she was successful; the wall that housed my door was the next one to crumble beneath the wolf as Esme threw him through it, then followed him into the hallway in a violent swirl of motion.

I could see almost nothing. Occasionally both Esme and the wolf would stop for a second, Esme always between me and the wolf, then they would go at each other again. Whenever they paused, my eyes raked over Esme, trying to make sure she was all right, but before my eyes could truly focus, the fight would be back on again, and I could discern nothing except growls and crashes as the wolf tried trick after trick to get past Esme and reach me.