There was low growl from the cluster of trees at the right of the path. If Bree had been human, she knew she would have broken into a cold sweat. Even now, every hair on her body seemed to stand on end. She could almost feel her heart pounding again and the sensation of adrenalin coursing through her body.

Then, before she could even close her eyes, something jumped out at her so fast all she could a blur, even with her vampire eyesight. Another male vampire was now standing, or rather crouching directly in front of Bree, obviously poised to attack. He was badly scarred, especially his arms and neck, clearly no stranger to a fight. Esme swept Bree behind her protectively and Carlisle stepped in front of Esme.

"What is that ?" the scarred vampire demanded, his gold eyes glittering ominously at Bree, "Where did that newborn come from and what do plan to do with her?"

"Jasper, calm yourself!" Carlisle told him sharply. "Bree's frightened enough as it is. And to answer your question, she doesn't want to fight anymore and she just surrendered."

"Surrendered?" Jasper asked in disbelief, his eyes now as wide as Bree's. "I've never heard of such a thing, not in over a hundred years! It's just not in a newborn vampire's nature."

"She's a only a child, Jasper and she never wanted to fight to begin with. That's why Carlisle gave her the option," Esme said, trying to sound calm. Jasper didn't respond to this statement. He only looked doubtful.

"What would you have us do, kill her in cold blood? If we did that how would we be any different from the rest of our kind?" Carlisle pointed out, "Give her a chance, son. She deserves at least that much."

"Under normal circumstances, maybe, but these aren't normal circumstances. What do you think will happen when they come and find her with us? Guilty by association. I'm sorry, Carlisle, and you too, Esme but it's just too dangerous. Step aside, I'll depose her quickly."

Esme stepped forward with her arms crossed in front of her. "Jasper Whitlock Hale Cullen," she said sternly, "you are not going to harm Bree. Carlisle won't let you and I won't let you." Carlisle nodded in agreement, clearly impressed by his mate's assertiveness.

"All right," Jasper sighed. "I don't like this, but I'll trust your judgement."

Another vampire sprinted, almost danced from the woods at that moment, but this one looked more like a dark haired pixie or an elf. "Carlisle," she reported. "I just got a vision of them coming from the north. They'll be here in ten ... " she glanced at Bree and bit her low lip when she said the last words. "minutes."

"Who'll be here in ten minutes?" Bree asked, trying not to panic when she saw the alarm in everyone's eyes.

"The Volutri, the rulers of the vampire world," Carlisle explained. "They enforce the laws and send their guards to punish anyone who breaks them."

Bree shuttered with fear and Esme looked just as afraid. "Alice, what's going to happen to Bree?" she asked, with a plea in her voice.

The pixie turned her familiar gold eyes to Bree, looked at her intensely for a minute, then shook her head sadly. "I don't know, Esme, I'm sorry," she replied honestly. "They're not aware of existence her yet and as you know, all I can see is outcome of decisions once they're made."

"No time to hid her or get her out of here," Jasper observed, "so all we do is met them in the clearing and hope for the best."

"And pray," added Carlisle.

"That too," Jasper acknowledged.

Hundreds of thoughts had been racing through Bree's mind up to that point, but now it seemed perfectly clear what she had to do.

Which way is north? she asked herself as she causally took a few steps away from the others. Then she remembered the direction Alice's eyes had glance when she gave the others the news. That had to be it.

She wandered innocently a few steps to the north, pretending to admire the wildflowers. Then when she had put as much distance as she could between them, Bree stopped thinking and took off.

Running as fast she could, her sharpened senses caught the sound and smell of fast moving water. As she glided over some rocks, a waterfall come into view. This was perfect, it would wash all scent from her body so she couldn't be tracked. Bree was just about to jump when Jasper appeared in her path. She was too close to jump over him, so she tried to change directions but it did no good. Jasper grabbed her easily and threw her to the ground. "Going somewhere?" he snarled.