"Steady," Jasper warned, his voice carried by the breeze. I dug my fingers into the bark of the tree. My muscles tensed as I prepared to spring from the branch. "Steady," Jasper repeated. Our gazes were trained on the young mountain lion that crept through the undergrowth; the lion's target was a deer that grazed a couple hundred yards away. I inhaled, taking in the heady scents of the forest, of the wind and the promise of rain. I watched as the cat crept forward, his fur rippling over his muscles. I knew he was warm, and his blood would be tart with adrenaline.
I let out a low growl and slid my stare over to my uncle, who sat perched in the neighboring tree. He watched me with a smirk. Hunting with Jasper was different than with my other uncle, Emmett. Jasper was lean and wiry; Emmett was shaped like a star linebacker. Where Emmett would have crashed through the forest with the subtlety of a tank, Jasper insisted on finesse. He had decades more of fighting experience, with the scars to prove it, and so my physical training often fell to him. Jasper was also the one who understood my cravings the most. I respected him as a teacher, but I was hungry.
"Ready," I hissed.
Jasper shook his head, and I stifled the urge to snarl. "Wait until he leaps for the deer. He will be too focused to sense your attack. A few seconds more." Jasper glanced down at the cat, then looked up at me slyly.
"Or," he suggested, "wait until he decides to jump. Anticipate his decision before he moves. Can you?"
I shook my head but watched the cat intently. The animal stilled. Without waiting for Jasper, I leapt. I cut through the air silently, but the cat dodged to the left as my feet skittered along a branch. The startled deer bounded back into the thick of the trees. I cursed and followed the cat, running along the branches above the animal.
The mountain lion was fast, but I kept up. I needed to get just ahead of it before I attacked. If it dodged again I'd hit the ground empty handed.
Jasper suddenly appeared just ahead of the mountain lion. He winked up at me. With a frustrated cry I pushed off the trunk of the tree and landed on the animal's back. It reared back as I sunk my teeth into its neck. The animal writhed and rolled onto its back, but I held fast. When it struggled upright again I snapped its neck and fell onto its limp body, sucking greedily. When I was sated, I sat back in the dirt and wiped my mouth.
"Well," Jasper drawled, "that's not exactly what I had in mind."
I rolled my eyes up at him, but accepted the hand he offered and stood up. "Sorry," I muttered.
"Don't be. You would have gotten it eventually. It takes time to improve." He glanced up at the sun, which dipped closer to the horizon. "But we are unfortunately short on time. Alice will insist you change before your parents arrive."
I looked down. My clothes were torn and I had several cuts from my frantic flight through the trees. My ponytail had come loose and I was filthy from rolling around in the dirt with mountain lion. My aunt Alice was fastidious, to say the least. I could imagine her reaction when she saw me.
"Don't worry," Jasper said, amusement in his voice as he sensed my mood - literally. Jasper's many talents included an extreme empathy which allowed him to share in, and manipulate, others emotions. "She's probably seen us coming. No point in putting off the inevitable, right?"
It wasn't exactly true. Alice could see the future - or rather, she could see the outcome of the decisions made by humans and vampires. But her power was thwarted by other supernatural creatures, rendering it nothing more than a kind of telepathic static. Shapeshifters weren't clear to her, but I wasn't a shapeshifter. Luckily for me, I was a vampire/human hybrid. Which, in addition to many other complications in life, meant that Alice had difficulty reading my fate.
I grinned at Jasper, allowing him to lift my mood. It wasn't the first time I'd fallen a bit short in a hunt. Being half-mortal in a family of supernaturals tempered your ego. "Let's not keep her waiting then. Race?"
Jasper graciously waved a hand, allowing me the head start. I took off immediately. I needed the head start. He was behind me in a fraction of a second. I could hear the rapid whirr of his footfalls as I sprinted through the undergrowth. But he didn't overtake me, not yet. He was taunting me. I rolled my eyes but pushed harder. Taunting me was something my uncles had in common.
In a matter of seconds, the house loomed before us in the clearing, a large modern mansion with more windows than walls. Instead of springing towards the porch, like Jasper expected, I flipped backwards through the air. Jasper skidded to a stop. Before he could fully turn I ducked and swept my leg at his feet. He flipped to avoid it, but I knew he would. I twisted up through the air and slammed my other leg across his shins before he could complete the move. We landed in a heap, laughing.
"What is going on out here?" Alice appeared on the balcony and frowned down at us. I lifted my face from the dirt but I was giggling too much to reply. Jasper crossed his ankles and reclined on his elbows. He looked like a dandy in a Monet painting.
"Just hurrying home to you, ma'am," Jasper drawled. Alice's mouth twitched, but when her amber eyes landed on me they went wide.
"You." She commanded, "Inside. Now. Everyone will be home imminently. Your parents will go crazy if they see this is how we take care of you while they're away. Is that – did you? You ripped your new clothes!"
I exchanged an amused glance with Jasper and leaped onto the balcony. "I win!" I called out as Alice bundled me inside.
A shower and a new set of clothes – laid out on the bed, of course – and I was ready. I let Alice brush out my hair. It was calming after the trek through the forest, but my mind kept returning to the hunt with Jasper. After years of training I was still slower than my vampire family. Granted, they had decades on me, even centuries. I was impatient, though. It had been nearly five years since my birth, so everything else about my development was accelerated. Seven years, Netanyahu had said. It took only seven years for our kind to grow into adulthood. After that, there was no apparent sign of aging. Netanyahu claimed to be over a century and a half old. That meant I had two years before I was an adult. Before stasis set in. What if it was too late after that? Forever young, and forever slow. Forever in need of protection.
"Stop frowning, Nessie. We're almost done." Alice smiled at me in the mirror. She shaped my curls with her hands.
Obediently, I produced a smile. Confiding in Alice would only bring reassurances, and I wasn't looking for that. I had a bevy of protectors surrounding me at all times, anyway. Why should I wish to improve? There was no need, remember? Six vampires here, vampire cousins in Alaska, and two wolf packs. I couldn't ask for more. I was sure I couldn't.
"There," Alice said, satisfied. I looked up. My face was framed by dark, loose ringlets, carefully arranged over my shoulders. A bobby pin swept my hair off my forehead. I grinned at her, knowing it would all bounce out of place as soon as I moved down the stairs.
"Thank you." I said, rising to give her a hug. She beamed, then grimaced good-naturedly. "It appears your Jacob is arriving first. I saw Edward and Bella's path but now it's clouded by shapeshifter. You better go down and greet him before he storms up here with muddy footprints."
My heart leapt. I gave Alice a peck on the cheek before flinging myself through the window and past the treeline outside. I inhaled, searching his scent. My family always complained that the Quileute packs smelled like wet dog, but to me Jacob smelled like the beach, like saltwater and sun and fresh sweat. "Exactly," my mother had laughed when I told her. "Wet dog."
He stepped through the trees as I turned, a pair of sweatpants pulled up to his hips. Jacob was easily 6'7 and his russet skin rippled with muscle. He probably looked intimidating to most people, but he was simply the best friend I had in the world. He grinned at me, and we embraced. "Nessie," he said simply, his face buried in my hair.
"I missed you."
"Missed you, too, sparrow."
"It was a long day and night," I said.
"I know," he said gruffly.
"How is the pack? How is Sam?" Sam was the alpha of the La Push pack. Jake had been a member of Sam's group before he left to form his own tiny pack, consisting of just two other members. Leah was the only female shapeshifter I knew. She was living up north, near the border, and her younger brother Seth attended university nearby.
"Sam is well. Emily insists the baby looks just like him," he smiled faintly, and I understood he didn't consider this a compliment. "The boys seem content with patrolling La Push, but he's trying to get a few on the track to college. Leah is fine. Better." He slung an arm around my shoulders and we continued back towards the house. "Seth has a girlfriend."
"What?!" I stopped and gaped up at him. Seth was a goofy, lanky kid who seemed more into video games than women. "When did that happen?"
"A few weeks ago, apparently." He grinned down at me. "What? Jealous?"
"No," I elbowed him. "Just surprised, is all. Good for him."
"Yeah, well, we'll see if it lasts." The grim tone in his voice startled me.
"Why's that?" I asked, "She doesn't like Call of Duty?"
"No, it's not that," he chuckled. But he didn't say any more, as we had reached the house. It was afternoon already. My parents would be returning from their week away in Canada at any moment.
We strolled inside. Jacob went straight for the fridge. My grandmother Esme had anticipated him. A large pot of stew bubbled on the stove. The breadmaker Jacob had given her - as a very unsubtle birthday present - was already at work. The scents of meat and fresh bread mingled so deliciously that even my stomach growled. "She's amazing," Jake murmured. He pulled out a bag of chips from the cupboard and watched the stew's progress.
Vampires didn't eat, but the shapeshifters' prodigious appetites had inspired Esme's motherly instincts. She delighted in the challenge of filling Jake's stomach, and he rewarded her efforts with drooling reverence. She must have prepped the stew and bread as soon as she returned, which couldn't have been more than a few minutes earlier. Vampire speed had its advantages.
I sat at the island opposite him and shook my head at the bag he offered. He watched me and munched. I stared back at him, a half smile playing on my lips. If there was anything I wasn't in doubt about, it was Jacob Black. He was my best friend.
I had known Jake as long as I could remember. Which, incidentally, included my birth. He had stuck with my family when it was safer to leave. When the Volturi arrived to execute us, they were under the mistaken impression that I was an immortal child, or a full vampire. Immortal children had been the most dangerous creatures on earth; temperamental and impossible to control, they had wreaked destruction on the human population and threatened to expose the secret of vampires' existence. The creation of an immortal child was punishable by death. Of course, I have a heartbeat, and many were witness to the fact that I grow, both traits immortal children were incapable of, and what made them so dangerous.
Still, it was not known that vampires could mate with humans (many vampires still considered humans to be nothing more than food, and thus mating with one was not only unimaginable, but repugnant). Just as the Volturi decreed that the threat of the unknown was just as bad and best destroyed, Alice had appeared like a stylish deus ex machina. She was not alone. With her was another female vampire and her nephew. Netanyahu was like me, fathered by a vampire to a human woman. Unlike the immortal children, Netanyahu had grown into adulthood. Since he was unknown to vampires until that moment in the snow, he could not be a threat. An argument to the contrary would have been difficult even for Aro, the Volturi leader. So the guard had drifted back into the white haze just as silently as they had appeared. Despite a vague implication of their return, five years had passed without incident. Jacob had not only stood for us that morning, but he had stuck close ever since. Leah had moved on as quickly as she could, and Seth had reluctantly enrolled in university only after the insistence of both. But Jake remained.
I watched him eat. The full sized bag was dwarfed by his hands. "Why don't you study computer science?"
Jake nearly choked on a chip. "What?"
"Why don't you like Seth's new girlfriend?"
Jake stared at me for a second. "Wait, which question are you asking me?"
"Why haven't you gone to college?"
"I'm not sure….what…" He trailed off and tilted his head. It was such a wolf move.
"Never mind. Sorry," I laughed.
He crunched a chip thoughtfully. "You want to know why I've stayed with the Cullens for so long, and what's happening with Seth."
"I suppose," I hesitated. The gravity in his voice changed the atmosphere. I had opened the topic, but he picked it up so quickly that it felt like I had unwittingly treaded onto deeper territory.
His eyes lifted above my head. "Another time, Nessie. I promise."
I inhaled and turned to smile at my grandmother. She gave me the briefest odd look before returning my smile. "Hey, you two. Sorry, Jacob. It should be another hour before the stew is ready." She gave me a peck on the head and glided over to the stove. I exchanged a glance with Jake and stood up. He rose, too, but before he could follow me to the door, Esme called after him. "Jacob? This needs a little seasoning. Mind helping me? There's pepper in the cupboard."
She glanced back at me. "Your parents are at the cabin, dear."
The cabin was our home behind the big house. It had just enough room for the three of us and a giant closet furnished by Alice. As I bounded towards it I stored away Jake's promise and the strange look my grandmother had given me. There was something to it, I was sure, but it was impossible to puzzle out now.
My father stepped outside as I reached the door, a grin on his face. I slammed against his chest and he let out a whoop as he swung me around. I giggled and clung to him.
"There's my girl," he laughed in my ear. "We were about to come after you."
"I missed you," I said.
"We missed you, too, Little Bird," my mother emerged from the door with an expectant smile. I playfully shoved my father aside and embraced her. She kissed my hair and pushed back my curls to look into my face. "My miracle," she murmured. She squeezed my shoulders and led me into the house.
"How was Canada?" I asked.
"It was amazing," my mother said. "We stopped by Alaska on the way back. Your cousins send their love." She kissed my cheek as proof.
"What's been going on here? You don't seem to have gotten into any mischief…" My father quirked a brow, a familiar smirk playing on his face.
I smiled and cupped their cheeks with my palms. Although I'd gotten used to speaking out loud – with much deliberate encouragement from my family – it was still easier to convey emotions and images through touch. I speedily got them up to date on the past week, with emphasis on their absence. My parents only infrequently left, and this last trip was the anniversary of their first meeting, but I wasn't above guilting them. Just a little.
My father grabbed my wrist with a laugh and tousled my hair. "Have you had dinner?" My mother asked.
"Grandma has stew and bread going. Jake is helping her."
"Well let's join them before he ruins the food," my father advised.
The next few days passed as usual. Out of the family, only my Aunt Rosalie and Uncle Emmett were missing. They were attending university in Bellingham and usually only came home on the weekends. Due to his excessively youthful appearance, my grandfather Carlisle was on permanent sabbatical from the hospital. It pained him to not work, but he substituted patients for experiments and studies on diseases. Everyone was planning to move once I was fully grown, but until then we satisfied ourselves with cover stories and hiding.
Despite being under constant surveillance, I was free to use my time as I wished. That meant, whatever I was doing, I was usually with Jacob. We hung out whenever he wasn't patrolling the grounds. And while I studied or pursued other solitary activities, he pretended to do the same. Or he napped.
It was an easy life. So perhaps I was just searching for drama, for some excitement, to break the smooth surface of our routines. But I couldn't forget Jake's seriousness when discussing Seth's romance, or my grandmother's interruption of the subject. And, since Jake seemed to be in no hurry to bring it up again, my curiosity got the better of me.
We were lounging underneath a tree. I had brought my favorite copy of The Count of Monte Cristo with me. I couldn't concentrate on the story, however. After several attempts, I finally put the book down and turned to Jake. He was lying back with his hands interlocked behind his head. He looked perfectly contented.
"Remind me again why you don't like Seth's girlfriend."
He glanced at me, startled. "It's not that I don't like her."
"It's something, though."
He cleared his throat. "Yeah…"
"So? What is it?"
"Nessie, I don't know –"
"You said you'd tell me another time. It's another time now."
"Yeah, but, it's not the right time. I don't know."
"Why are you so serious about it? Does it have anything to do with you? Or me?"
He looked at me, silent.
"So it does. What is it, Jake?"
"Nessie, no. We don't think it's the right time –"
"We don't think it's the right time? Who's 'we'? You and my grandmother?"
"What? No. Well, yes. I mean, Ness –"
He reached for me, but I was already on my feet. I started towards the house. Jake appeared in front of me.
"Nessie, I promise you. I will tell you. I promise. Just not now. It's not a good time, ok?"
I hesitated.
"Please, just trust me."
"Ok. I trust you. Tell me – when will be a good time?"
He laughed. "Soon. I promise."
I smiled back at him, but his reassurance didn't rid me of my curiosity. This wasn't just idle gossip about a friend's romantic endeavors. This was about me.
Didn't I have a right to know?
I strolled as quickly as possible through the streets of Seattle. It would have been much easier to move at a more comfortable speed, but the presence of humans forced me to slow my steps. I kept my head down, but couldn't resist glancing up at the other passersby.
In my short life, I'd spent hardly any time around mortal people. They all smelled delicious, but my cravings weren't as strong as that of a full newborn vampire. I could resist the desire for blood, but I couldn't help watching them move and interact with one another. Humans fascinated me. I was half human, after all.
Whenever I caught the eye of another person – which was often – I looked away. I wanted desperately to just blend in, to observe unseen, but my presence invariably received a lot of attention. I'd worn my hair down over my face, and my favorite blue hoodie was a comfort more than a fashion choice. A pair of jean shorts and simple sandals completed my "just another human" ensemble. My disguise either wasn't working or it was normal to stare at strangers. I resisted the urge to quicken my steps. It was a relief when I finally reached the University of Washington campus.
Seth's dormitory wasn't far from the entrance. I climbed the stairs to his room in a hurry, ignoring the catcalls of frat boys descending the steps.
I knocked. To my surprise, Seth himself answered. That part was easy, I thought.
"Hey! Nessie! What's up?" He embraced me. The action received a few hoots of approval from down the hall.
We both rolled our eyes. "Come on in," Seth said.
I stepped into the small room, furnished with just two bunk beds and a pair of desks, and sat down on a part of his bed that wasn't covered in clothes or books.
"Where's Jake?"
"He's out patrolling. He knows I'm here." I added the lie hastily, then wondered why I thought it was necessary.
"Ok. So what brings you here?"
In my alacrity to get away, I hadn't really thought about part two of my plan. How was I to start this conversation? It seemed impertinent, but the thin certainty that I had something to do with it spurred me on.
"Ok, this is going to sound a little rude. I mean, it should be none of my business, but I just have this feeling – well, I know – that I should know something about it." I took a deep breath.
"Alright…let's hear it."
"So, Jake told me the other day that you have a…well, that you are dating someone."
Seth tilted his head at me with a doubtful smirk. "Are you…jealous?"
"No! No, no, it's not that. He just seemed kind of weird about it. And when I asked him he wouldn't tell me why."
"Well, I get how it feels about it. But, we just can't wait around forever for it to happen, you know? I mean, half of Sam's pack lucked out, and well, so did Jake. But you never know when it will happen, or if it will even happen at all. I mean, look at Leah. And what if it doesn't happen for me, either, and I've spent my life just waiting around for the moment. No, thanks. Plus, Jenna's really cute." He grinned.
"Seth, what in the world are you talking about?"
Seth looked at me incredulously, but his expression softened after a moment. "You don't know."
I threw up my hands in exasperation. "Yeah. That's why I'm here. So tell me what I don't know, please?"
He shook his head. I could practically hear him grinding his teeth. "No. This is for him to say. He should have told you a long time ago! He knows what it's like. Why didn't he tell you? I mean, he's the alpha, but that was totally the wrong call."
"Did he put a gag order on you?"
"No."
"Then tell me."
"I shouldn't, Ness. I really shouldn't. He should. I'll tell you what. Give him one chance, ok? There's no gag order on me. So if he won't tell you, then I will."
My heart thumped erratically in my chest. The cryptic conversation with Seth had occupied my thoughts the whole way back to the house. I'd ignored my cell phone for most of the trip, though I knew I'd have some explaining to do. Before I'd decided to leave, Alice and Jasper had gone hunting, and my parents were occupied in the cabin, so I took the opportunity of their absence to successfully lie to my family. I told Carlisle that Jacob and I were going to visit Seth. That I'd meet Jacob in Forks after he finished patrolling and we'd go together. It was a weak lie, and I wasn't sure I would make it to Seth before someone found out, but my luck had held out. For the most part, anyway.
I glanced at the list of missed calls on my phone. Alice. And before her, Rosalie. Then Jacob three times, and Alice again. I sighed. Everyone would be worried, but Jake also wouldn't appreciate my pushing an issue he evidently wasn't ready to address. Seth's ultimatum wasn't exactly encouraging, and I already felt guilty for going behind Jake's back. In a burst of inspiration, I headed for Charlie's house.
Sue answered the door, a frown of consternation replacing the usual welcome smile. Someone had called the house. Of course.
"Come here," She said, not unkindly, and wrapped me up in a hug. "Your grandfather is still at the station. Let's go inside."
"Did Alice call you?" I asked, "I guess I didn't tell anyone I was headed here."
"Jacob called. He was frantic. Let me get you something to drink. Are you hungry?"
"Yes," I admitted. I hadn't eaten anything since yesterday afternoon.
"I'll make you a sandwich."
"Thanks, Sue." I fiddled with the strings of my hoodie for a few awkward moments as I watched her move about the kitchen.
"How's Leah?" I ventured. Sue Clearwater Swan was Seth and Leah's mother. She was my grandmother by marriage. Technically, that made Seth and Leah my uncle and aunt, respectively. But we usually ignored that fact.
"Oh, Leah's fine. She works a lot, but she seems to enjoy it." She smiled and handed me a plate. "Have a seat, honey."
I sat. The sandwich was delicious, and I ate it in quick silence, then took a huge gulp of the juice she offered me.
I swallowed the last bite, looking up at her guiltily.
"Who knows I'm here?"
As if in answer, Jake burst through the door. He was panting and shoeless, with just a pair of sweatpants pulled hastily up. He looked wildly to Sue, then saw me.
"Nessie!" He started towards me, then apparently thought better of it, but the intensity of his expression didn't lessen. "Where the hell were you?"
"Jacob, she's safe. It's ok."
"No, it sure as hell is not ok. You had everyone worried sick! You know Alice can't see you, and your parents are going crazy –"
I yanked my phone from my pocket and rapidly sent out a text, I'm fine, at Charlie's with Jacob. "There," I said quietly. "Now they have no reason to worry."
The phone rang and Sue went to answer it.
Jake glared at me, and I glared back. "Where did you go?"
"That's none of your business."
He blinked. "You lied, Renesmee."
"Yes."
"You lied and everyone was worried! Why?"
I bit my lip. I hated the thought of causing my family stress.
"Tell me why!"
"Because I knew you'd never let me go alone!" I shouted, struck with anger at the injustice of it. "Because you lie to me!"
He stared at me. "What?"
"You've been lying to me about something! And you're just upset I managed to get anywhere without a chaperone! Well, guess what? I'm back, and I'm fine! I made it to Seattle with no problems –"
"You went to Seattle?"
"That's all you heard?" I stepped around him and started for the door. He grabbed my wrist.
"Nessie, wait."
I yanked my arm free. "No. You don't listen to me, so why should I listen to you?"
I turned away before he could see the tears starting in my eyes and stormed out the back door.
He didn't follow me.