Cold Front | Paul Lahote

Alternate Ending

(in which Erica does not defend Paul)

*picks up chapter 26*

Around her, ice shot up with a stomp of her foot, pushing Alice away as she made to attack from the back. Snow blew from her mouth in a harsh breath that knocked jasper back further than before, the blond flipping through the air and landing in a low crouch.

Blocking a high kick from Alice, Erica grabbed the girls leg and swung her around, tossing her into a tree - not waiting to see if she caught herself, she faced Jasper with a series of quick jabs and punches.

Leaning back as he swiped for her head, she turned her head and caught stone skin between teeth - him pulling away before she could sink any further into his wrist.

Through the snow she could feel Alice coming closer and with a split second of concentration, blue ice shot from her open palm and into the girl's leg, freezing her in her tracks and sending her to the floor.

The Cullen girl gasped in pain, hands clawing at her leg deeper in an attempt to get the limb to respond from it's frozen state.

Jasper's enraged snarl drew her attention back to him, his movements becoming harsh and abrupt. Grinning a predatory smile, she met his attacks with easy precise counters that drove them further away from his prone mate - only causing his anger and desperation to increase.

"I was originally going to make you live without her. Kill her and watch as you suffer, but with this, I know that it is impossible to leave you alive," Erica told him, leaning in close to his ear as she wrestled him, his hand free from her hair, a knee digging up into his stomach and pushing him away. "Can you imagine the pain she would feel with you gone? I can. I know the pain, I've seen it. It makes you wonder, will she move on? Forget you? That's what Victoria did, moved on to some blond boy with a pretty face."

Flipping out of the way of his next kick, Erica taunted him further with cheeky smiles and icy blue eyes. She dodged and jumped, spinning on her toes in an intricate dance as she traced ice as she went. It did little to slow his movement, but it gave her a sense of having an advantage none the less.

"Oh, are you angry, my friend?" she teased, grunting soon after as his fingers grazed against her jaw.

She laughed as he picked up speed, his moves becoming harder to block and dodge. Briefly, Erica wondered where Alice had gone, how Victoria and Riley were doing, but those thoughts were swiftly washed away as she felt that shift in the blizzard.

There was a shock that went down her back, a shiver and ache that sparked through her in a path that went through her like fire - burning.

Flashes assaulted her, the space above her heart burning black with frost bite. She would never forget the way it felt when she died, it was much the same as when her brother was ripped to pieces before her.

She would never forget the way her screams clawed from her throat in a terrifying screech that shatter the mirrors that remained in that plain ballet studio. The screams that crawled into her throat and froze over in a lump were much the same.

Never had she imagined that she would lose James, not ever, but she had never imagined it would happen twice, not to her - no one deserved to experience such a thing twice.

Thump Thump

Her body moved on her own accord, following the frantic thump of his heart through the snow that suspended itself in the air - waiting for her as she went.

The danger echoed through her, aching hollow veins as she longed to protect.

Erica would protect him. Keep him safe from the traitorous, despicable Cullen's that plagued his packs land.