THE WILD ━━━━ embry call.

Chapter Twenty-One

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Fighting Tactics

***

If you told me that I would live to see the day I take fighting lessons from a bloodsucker, I probably would have slapped you. 

Correction: I would have slapped you twice. 

 But here we were, running through the woods to get to a fighting lesson by a bloodsucker... the blond male, Jasper Hale. You know him, he looks like one of those male models that get paid to walk around and look good. With Jasper, I guess it is kind of effortless. 

 Stupid attractive losers. 

 We emerged from the woods in a line. I had Sam on my right, Embry on my left. Paul made an offhand remark about how we probably looked like a bad boy band, making Alyssa and Leah both roll their eyes. 

The doctor, Carlisle, spread his arms apart and smiled at us. "Welcome."

Carlisle may be the only one of these guys I can stand. He seems polite, which is odd, but also... like he is a genuinely good person. It is weird, and makes me a little uncomfortable. 

 He continued: "Jasper has experience with the newborns... he can teach us how to fight them... how to defeat them." 

  You say they are newborns, Sam's thoughts resonated through my head, directing his questions at Edward... the human translator. What sets them apart from you? 

 "They want to know how newborns differ from us," Edward said, and Carlisle nodded. 

"They are a great deal stronger than us because their human blood lingers in their tissues. Our kind is never more physically powerful than in the first few months of this life." 

 "A newborn doesn't need thousands like a human army... but no human army can stand against them," Jasper began, his voice directed at us as he paced back and forth like he was teaching a seminar. "The two most important things to remember, are: never let them get their arms around you. They'll crush you instantly." 

 Wow, no pressure or anything. 

 "And second, never go for the obvious kill... they'll expect that... and you will lose." 

 A spark of annoyance twitched in me, and I wasn't sure if it was my own, or a combination of everyone else's. The very thought that this vampire was so confident one of his kind could beat us without batting and eye made us all stiffen. Jasper gestured for Emmett, the bear-like one, to come over. 

 Emmett grinned deviously, cracking his knuckles and looking very eager for a fight. I'll admit, my interest was piqued. Jasper was big, sure... but Emmett looked like he could crush him under his foot. It became apparent that it was really the other way around.

 "Don't hold back," Jasper smirked, making Emmett scoff. 

 "Not in my nature." 

 Place your bets. Alyssa's voice rang through my head, her tail wagging like she was an excited puppy. Bear or model? 

 I'm going for the model, I heard Embry say, earning a murmur of agreement from myself, Jared, Sam, and Quil. 

 You guys are dumb, Leah's mildly annoying voice cut in, look at the size of that one.

 Yeah! Seth's energetic voice quipped, making me unconsciously smile. He's really big!

 Emmett ran at Jasper, but instead of darting away, Jasper bent his knees and braced his elbows in front of his body. Emmett slammed into Jasper with a very loud crashing sound, making Seth's tail wag faster as he admired how, "cool" this was. They scuffled for a few moments, until Jasper stepped to the side, and fluidly drove his elbow into Emmett's back, sending him flying at least two feet, before collapsing on the ground.