Edward POV

Chapter 1

We had been patrolling the forest all night. We were exhausted, but pleased. It was all clear. Of course, it typically was. It wasn't often that vampires ventured through this little piece of the Olympic Peninsula.

We felt a shimmering in the air, and suddenly Sam was in our minds.

Alright, guys. Pack it up and head home.

We felt more shimmering as the rest of the pack changed.

Jared, Paul, Seth, Leah, and I will take over now. Go get some sleep. I'll need all of you running on all pistons tonight for the meeting with the bloodsuckers, Sam continued.

The guys and I chuckled. Quil was dying to sink his teeth into one the leeches.

Quil, Sam warned. We have to honor the treaty. We do not attack them unless they attack first.

Yeah, ok. Sorry, Sam, Quil resigned. We could all tell he wasn't really sorry, though. Thankfully, Sam let it go.

Hey, Sam. Can we at least head to your place for a bite to eat?

That was Jake.

You know, Jacob. One day you're going to have to start eating at your own place.

Sam pretended to deliberate for a moment, but finally he said, Go ahead. You already know she's got something ready for you guys.

We could all feel him mentally roll his eyes. Jacob, Quil, Embry, and I howled in delight and began racing back to town.

Out of all the wolves, I was the fastest. Granted, Leah could give me a run for my money.

You bet I can, Eddie, she sneered.

I'd always hated that nickname. She snickered at my irritation.

But she hadn't been able to beat me yet.

Oh, please, she scoffed. That's only because you're some weird mutant hybrid.

I laughed at her.

Come on, Leah. Don't be sore. At least you're faster than Jacob.

She was still miffed, but she'd get over it. And if she didn't, then oh well. I didn't really care.

We were close to town now, so we decided to change. In the beginning, when we were all discovering what we had become, some of us had slipped up a few times. We'd transformed too close La Push or Forks and people had seen us. Of course, they thought we were bears, but Sam had lain down a strict edict that we had to be far from prying eyes before we turned.

Hey, Edward, Jacob began once we were dressed and running toward Sam's house. Do you think it's true that the leeches' numbers have grown since the last time they were here?

"I don't know, Jake, but I don't like it. It's too close."

"Hey, no fair," complained Embry. "We're not in wolf form anymore. Jake, what'd you say?"

Jake rolled his eyes, but answered Embry's question.

"I was just wondering about the leech extension. You know, if it was true."

"Oh," Embry mumbled. "I dunno. Maybe. Everyone in town's been talking about it. Some of the people in Forks claim to have seen seven of them, so probably." He winced mentally. "I really hope not, though. That would suck."

The others silently agreed. Regardless how macho we acted, none of us were happy with their increased numbers.

That was something else that was strange about me. Besides my gift, or curse, as I liked to see it, of being able to read other people's minds, even when I wasn't in wolf form, I was much more cautious than my brothers…and sister, I tacked on grudgingly. Leah could be a real pain, but I suppose I couldn't blame her for being so bitter, after what had happened between her and Sam.

I had never been so gung ho about killing the vamps. I'll admit that I was just as disgusted by them as the rest of the pack. I just wasn't as blatant about it. The guys told me I just worried too much. I supposed it was true. But it was more than that. If I was really being honest with myself, I just wasn't as prejudiced as the other guys.

I hadn't grown up around the Quileute people. My dad, Charlie, was a "pale face." The guys teased me constantly about that fact, but I didn't let it bother me. I knew they weren't serious. My mother, Renee, was only half Quileute herself. Her father had also been white. That's why everyone had been so surprised when I changed. They had figured, though they tried very hard to hide it, that my blood was too diluted to become a werewolf. They had been even more surprised when they realized that I hadn't been able to read minds until my transformation. Something like that had never occurred in their__our__history.

They soon realized that it came in handy when we were fighting the bloodsuckers. Anything that I heard from their minds while in wolf form, the pack also heard. It definitely gave us the upper hand.

It sort of evens the odds, though, doesn't it? Jacob asked. It's really going to suck if it's true.

"Well, I guess we'll find out tonight," I said aloud.

Their thoughts were uneasy. They weren't happy that our numbers were so close. But they weren't too put out. After all, we had two more on our side than they did.

The legend of the Cullens stretched back to our great grandfathers. At the time, or so our stories claimed, there were only three vamps: Carlisle, the leader, and two others, a monster of a man and a blonde girl. Rumor had been flying that four more had joined their coven since then.

They were supposed to be 'good' leeches, only hunting animals, but we still didn't trust them. They were still our enemies. As long as they stayed off our lands and didn't hunt humans, we couldn't touch them.

As we neared Emily's house, the smell of food wafted toward us. My stomach growled loudly. The others laughed as we charged in the doorway.

She turned to greet us with an exasperated smile. "Hey, guys. Are you hungry?" she asked, rolling her eyes. Of course they are. Honestly, when are they ever not starving?"

She looked at me and winked, knowing I had heard her thoughts. I really liked Emily. She was a sweet person. And she loved us all like her kids, even though she was only a few years older than we were.

My eyes fell on the scar that covered the right side of her face. Poor Emily. Poor Sam. He still couldn't forgive himself for what happened. We all knew it was an accident, but he hated himself for the pain he'd cause her. He had vowed long ago that he would spend every day for the rest of his life making it up to her. He was so ashamed that what he had done could never be undone.

After we had all finished eating, we separated and went to our own homes. It was still early. The sun wasn't out yet, being maybe five o'clock or so in the morning. This was good for me. I would have to sneak very quietly into my room. I hoped my parents hadn't come in during the night to check on me.

I hadn't told my parents what I was, and I was planning to keep it that way. Our secret was too important, and they were not on a need-to-know basis. The guys had tried to get Sam to lift the edict so I could tell them, but I decided against it. It was better that they didn't know. My dad would have a heart attack. He wasn't as familiar with our legends as my mother was. I had barely known anything about the old stories before I'd changed. I wasn't sure how my mother would react, but I thought it best not to find out.

I had been caught a few times, and had to come home to two very angry parents in the morning. They had grounded me, taken away all my privileges, cleared my room of anything I might enjoy, but it didn't matter. It was not something I could help. I could tell from their thoughts that they were worried for me. They thought I was hanging with a bad crowd, doing drugs or drinking. It pained me to think that they saw me this way, but I just couldn't tell them.

I also couldn't tell them that I was able to read minds. It would raise too many questions. Of course, reading minds was not necessarily part of the whole werewolf thing, but I didn't want to take any chances. I was worried it would make my mom too suspicious. So I kept that to myself as well. I hated lying to my parents, but I knew it was for their own good. They could never know anything about my world.

I opened the window as quietly as possible and looked around. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary, so I quickly jumped inside and shut the window before changing into something more bed worthy.

I pulled back the covers and lay down, just as I heard noises from my parents' bedroom. I looked at the clock. It read 5:15 A.M. I decided I'd better thank the Lord for getting home just in time. With that last thought, I drifted into nothingness.