Chapter 1

BPOV

It didn't take me long to pick up the scent of a herd of deer. I don't prefer deer but it was the most convenient thing at the moment. My family never hunts alone, but it is Renesme's birthday and Alice has been railroading everyone with her plans. Nobody has had a chance to hunt so we have had to sneak off one by one at odd and different times. She really better be glad I love her. Her and her extravagant party's never seizing to amaze me or piss me off. I was thinking more of an intimate affair for Renesme's birthday but Alice was not having that. My daughter's birthday has turned into a party fit for a king and queen. Geez. Next year I'm putting my foot down. And to top it off I have not been alone with Edward in a week. My Edward. I still could not believe he was mine for eternity. Hopefully I would get back before the party to spend some "quality" time with my husband. Husband….such a tame word for what he is to me. My need for him physically was unbearable. A week….a whole week. No. This would never happen again. A day was too long come to think of it. His need for me was the same. We loved spending time and losing ourselves in each other. It was the only reason I wanted to stay human. What an idiot I was. How pleasantly surprised I was when I woke in my new world.

I let out a laugh. "Crap!" I scared the deer off. No matter. I was much faster. It would only take a split second to catch up.

As I was getting ready to run a dark shadow cast over me.

I look up in surprise. Nothing.

Hmmmm. I thought. There were no unordinary scents. I could smell the muskiness of the forest and I was pretty sure I could name every single animal around me.

But for some reason I felt unsteady. Or maybe I was crazy. Yep probably crazy.

Then it came over me again, but this time I saw it.

It was beautiful. I could not take my eyes off of it. Its feathers gleamed and shined in the sunlight. It was a strange rustic golden color that sparkled in the light. Its talons were jagged and sharp. It soared with incredible ease. It was without a doubt the most beautiful animal I have ever seen.

And also it was so….big? I knew birds of prey tended to be large. But not this large. I should be over the emotion of being shocked by weird unexplainable things considering I was a vampire and my best friend was a werewolf and my daughter was a half breed.

The enchanting bird circled around and landed not even ten foot from me. It starred at me and I gazed right back into it beautiful yellow eyes.

I wondered if it thought I was prey. What a big mistake that would be. I would hate to be the demise of the most captivating bird to ever fly.

Then I sensed the presence of something else. Something was coming towards me from behind. My lips curled from my teeth and a hiss came out of my throat. I turned with lightning speed to protect myself. And then I saw red eyes.