Being Human

Prologue

Carlisle sighed as he ended his call and walked back to the living room.

"Will they come?" Esme asked.

"It seems Laurent and Irina had become close in the past months. News of his death devastated her, and Irina demands revenge if her coven helps us. I explained that this was not possible due to our treaty with the Quileutes. The others were willing to assist us, but they understand their sister's grief and are therefore remaining in Alaska," he stated. There was a short silence in the room as the family took in this new information.

"However, Ellen feels that she has not seen her cousins in far too long, so she is making the journey from Denali on her own," Carlisle continued with a small smile.

"Now we're talking, I haven't seen that girl in ages!" cried Emmett. The mood in the room brightened considerably. As Bella looked around in confusion, a high-pitched squeal came from the other side of the room.

"Finally! I can't wait for Ellie to arrive! She'll be here tomorrow afternoon, which will give me enough time to go down to Port Angeles to update her closet in the guest room. Oh, it will be so nice to have someone in the house that enjoys… " Alice continued her rant as Bella turned to Edward.

"Ellen? Is she part of the Denali coven?" she asked. Edward tuned out Alice's jumbled thoughts as he began to explain.

"Ellen joined them after being found by other members in the coven, a mated pair named Carmen and Eleazar. After we first met her, she visited quite frequently after creating quite a few friendships here. She attended school with us once while acting as our cousin. We've all become quite fond of her, as I am sure you will too," Edward replied as he wound his arm around her waist.

"Jasper, do you think Ellen will be beneficial for training in preparation for the newborns?" asked Carlisle, bringing the focus of the conversation back to the reason for the call to the Denali coven. With the wolves in a tentative alliance, a training session had been scheduled in two days time, in order to prepare both parties for the upcoming battle.

"I believe Ellen has opened many new doors by assisting us. Her unique talents may lead to a brand new strategy in dealing with this situation," he answered. "Alice?"

"I've been having a horrendous time getting past those dogs, but give me some time and I'll see what comes up," she said as she went off to her room, no doubt going to look over the newest fall line. Over the past week, Bella had gradually understood that Jasper had some sort of past in fighting, with both vampires and humans. The Cullens trusted him to make decisions regarding the upcoming battle. With Alice's ability to see all possible outcomes, the two made a great pair for strategizing. However, with the wolves from La Push a fundamental part of the fight, Alice couldn't predict the results. She appeared relieved that this new vampire would allow her to focus on new possibilities, whatever those may be.

"It's getting late, time to take you home Bella," said Edward as he grabbed her jacket, holding it out for her as she slipped it on. Ever since the Cullens had returned to Forks, Charlie had been very particular about setting a curfew, not fully trusting the boy that caused months of turmoil for his daughter.

Waving to her second family, Bella hopped in to the Volvo as Edward shut the door for her. Not a second later, he was putting the key in the ignition and beginning to pull out of the long driveway. As they arrived at her house, Bella could see Charlie already opening the front door to greet her, and most likely give Edward a few stern words.

"I'll meet you upstairs in a few hours," he whispered in her ear as they got out of the car.

"Edward," Charlie acknowledged while letting Bella pass him.

"Good evening, Chief Swan. Good night, Bella," he said as he turned back to his car.

"Come on, let's get inside. I ordered pizza," Charlie said gruffly as he opened the door.

Bella rested her head on his hard chest, lightly caressing his side as he held her that night.

"Edward… I'm worried about the pack – and Jacob. I know they were able to take down Laurent, but that was just one vampire. I don't think they understand what they're getting in to. The way the others describe it, I can't imagine you'll be able to fight an entire army, especially newborns," Bella admitted softly. She felt him shift on the bed as he placed his fingers under her chin, tilting her head to look into his eyes.

"I understand your worries Bella, but we are all here to protect you. This group of newborns must be stopped either way, but none of us would ever let them lay a hand on you. I don't know what Victoria is planning, or even if she's behind all of this; but I promise you Bella, you have nothing to fear," as he said this, he stroked her cheek softly in reassurance and pulled her face closer for a chaste kiss. As he pulled away, he continued.

"Besides, these vampires may be strong and unpredictable, but they lack experience and discipline. Jasper once fought in the newborn wars of the south, he knows what to expect. He will be able to train all of us, including the wolves. The pack was made for this – I wouldn't be surprised if the mutts would be insulted by your worry for them. With our new reinforcement, Jasper's also in the process of creating a way that Alice can see when they will strike," he said this last bit with a small smirk on his lips.

"And how will that happen? She already has difficulty seeing anything with the wolves blocking her."

"Our friend from the north has a very special talent that will aid us especially well in this situation," he replied.

"I heard Jasper mention something about that. What's he talking about?" she pried. He looked back to her and said,

"She can turn human."

So there's the prologue! I really just want to see how this will turn out; I wanted to test out this special talent since I haven't seen it pop up in any other stories before. I normally don't enjoy fanfics with an OC as a main character; I find they often become very Mary-Sue. But I'll be trying very hard on keeping to the characters developed by Stephenie Meyer! This will be JacobxEllen, but I'm pretty sure it won't be the main focus for a while. I'll mostly be following the events of Eclipse for the next few chapters.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this, and I'll most definitely be getting another chapter out soon!

jfed