Chapter ONE
My eyes scanned the forest for any sign of danger but there was nothing here today, just a herd of elk grazing at the riverside 500 yards from where we stood. Their heartbeats filled my mind, my senses totally overtaken by the sound the smell of their blood pumping around their warm body. I readied myself, leaping silently into the nearest tree, just above the herd, my eyes on the largest buck; I could almost feel the warmth of his body from where I sat waiting. Another leap and I was on his back, my teeth at his jugular, warmth ran through me, to my toes and fingers, in moments my drained prey lay at my feet as I searched for my next victim. My attention was diverted though, a bouncing head of bronze curls bounded past me up the mountain. Instinct kicked in and I followed close behind, until with a graceful jump she vanished. I spun round desperately searching, until my eyes found her, a mountain lion fighting against her iron grip, until her teeth found his neck his protests slowly disappearing, then he lay still. When she had finished she shoved the carcass from her and stood, her smile lighting up her face, her cheeks flushed rose from her kill and her deep chocolate eyes alight with excitement.
"You are as bad as your father" I scolded, but my voice held no malice, it was hard to try and tell off such a magnificent creature, who's eyes held nothing but innocence, "come on lets see if we can find some more of this big bad boys" a wide smile spreading across my face, she held out her hand and we ran even higher up the mountain.
The usual feeling of fullness and warmth spread round my body and i knew i was finished. The hunt for today was over. Renessme glided towards me her feet seeming not to touch the earth, my beautiful baby girl, for she was just a baby, in human years she was only eight but her body was that of a seventeen year old. Forever seventeen, never moving forward or changing. The memories of her birth were hard for me to remember but the memory of seeing her with my new eyes was still fresh in my mind, even though it occurred so many years ago. She looked so much like Edward, she had the same bronze coloured hair but she had Charlie's curls, she had the same crooked smile and roll of her eyes, her eyes were like mine, large deep brown orbs in her pale face, with a hint of rose beneath her cheeks. Renessme was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen, besides her father.
We made our way home, following our scents back through the deep vegetation. Our scents were similar, both very floral, hers was more lavender and rose petals with the hint of a humans scent which ran in her blood whereas mine was freesia and lilacs with the sweet scent of vampire. Her smell was almost mouth-watering but it had enough a vampire's sweet cloying flavour to balance the desirable human scent. It seemed silly no after so many years that my family would think that this hint of human would cause me to harm my daughter when we were both first born, her being a baby and me being a newly transformed vampire.
We came to the edge of the forest which opened up onto the meadow like front lawn of the Cullen's huge house; it seemed so welcoming after the darkness inside the forest. We felt no need to hurry as we walked towards the house, its large glass windows reflecting our scene as we walked up the porch steps. The door opened, Esme on the other side smiling at us, she placed a peck on both our cheeks, "Jacob is here Renessme", with that Renessme scanned the room to find him. Jacob, my best friend, my werewolf best friend, was sat on the sofa with the other men in our large and unusual family, their eyes fixed on the baseball game on the TV screen. Except one male of the family, he was not seated with his brothers; he was at his piano, playing a soft melody, welcoming us home as he did whenever I hunted without him. Edward. My eyes met his and I felt a rush of relief, the sweet reunion I felt after we had been parted even for the smallest amount of time.
"How was your hunting trip?" he asked without breaking rhythm.
"It was uneventful, Renessme decided she would run off to find larger prey, she almost gave me an aneurism when I found her wrestling a massive mountain lion", her head popped from above the sofa where she had placed herself on Jacobs lap.
It had taken some getting used to – the connection between her and Jacob. Before Renessme was even born the enmity between vampires and werewolves was clear for all to see; natural enemies. But as soon as Jacob laid eyes upon my daughter, all was forgotten, he was entwined in her life forever. At first when she was younger he was her best friend, he helped her with school work, but she was soon teaching him things as her mind raced ahead of her human age. Her body also raced ahead, at five her body began to develop into that of a women, her face became less rounded and childlike, then by eight she was a fully developed seventeen year old. Her and Jacobs relationship was also developing, their behaviour towards each other becoming more and more flirtatious. It was hard for Edward to come to terms with this, she was still after all just our little girl, but we knew the day would come when she and Jacob would become more than best friends. It was normal now, for Jacob to spend the majority of his time at the house with Renessme or watching the game with Emmett, Jasper and Carlisle, he was part of the family. Edward saw him as more of a son, they would spend time in the garage, playing around with the many sports cars the Cullen's owned or working on a new project. At the moment this was resurrecting the ruins of an some old car they had found at the scrap heap, it was meant for Charlie as a birthday present, so he didn't have to drive the cruiser when he wasn't at work.
"We'll be back later' Renessme voice broke through my daydreaming, Jacob was taking her jacket down from the peg and placing it around her, he already had his on, she had changed into a pale cream shirt with skinny black jeans and cream heels, "We're going to catch a film in Port Angles then go for a meal, we shouldn't be back too late" Jacob informed us, I nodded, "Be back at the cottage by ten thirty" I warned. They both waved as they left.