As Edward ran I laid my chin on his shoulder and spoke softly into his ear.
"Why do you think Jake would do this and when did he get back?"
"I really don't know and sometime last week I think. But your guess is better than most of ours at the moment." I turned my head and kissed his cheek gently. "Thank you" he whispered, turning his head to kiss my lips sweetly.
"Oi, you're supposed to be running, not making out!" Emmett yelled as he ran past. Only then did I realise Edward had stopped, but after Emmett's comment he twisted his head foreword and asked quickly,
"Is it alright if I go a bit faster?" I replied instantly "Of course."
"Great!" was his answer. Then he ran. I suddenly realised how fast he could actually go, when I was on his back he would be cautious but now he was racing to catch Emmett I worked out he could go much faster.
Edward, always the gentleman, slowed down gently so I wouldn't get hurt unlike his usual skid to a stop. I jumped down grinning like a Cheshire cat when he finally stopped.
"Wow, is that the fastest you can run?" I asked eyes wide still grinning.
"No I can go alot faster than that but I can't show you till you're less breakable because if I ran at anywhere near full speed with you onboard, you'd be killed by the force of the air. But off the morbid thought, cool isn't it? And to think you used to hate running. Ha" his grin was as big as mine.
"Typical, Speedy Gonzalez gets here with Squirt faster than I get here. Just bloody typical." Emmett grumbled as he stepped into our little clearing. Alice danced behind him laughing.
"Emmett you have known for years that Edward is fastest so why would carrying Bella make a difference?"
"Well I don't know, I just thought she might slow him down a bit. But obviously not" he winked at me before turning to wrap one of his massive arms around Rosalie's tiny waist. Edward mirrored him and Jasper and Alice stood opposite me and Edward with Carlisle and Esme opposite Emmett and Rose. My family. I suddenly felt an extreme rush of happiness that I knew Jasper had nothing to do with. Jasper looked at me curiously before locking eyes with Edward who leant down and kissed the top of my head. I turned to look up into his gentle gold eyes and I felt myself smile broadly which was copied not just by Edward but by the rest as well. But if you have a silence, you can always trust someone to break it...
"So can we go now?" said Emmett, who ducked to avoid the blow that came from Rosalie's hand but wasn't quick enough. The loud crack echoed strangely through the trees.
"Unlucky Emmett, you need to remember when to not open your mouth. Okay Bella, do you want to lead the way?" Asked Carlisle, grinning.
"Erm... yeah, sure" I took a step towards the house through the gap in our little circle before stopping, "Where's the dog?" I heard Rosalie chuckling at my choice of words but listened as Esme answered softly.
"Outside, on the porch with his father and Charlie."
"Okay let's go, and Jasper?"
"Yes?" was his quick reply.
"I'm gonna need the bat sometime soon." I said holding out my hand. Emmett held onto a tree for support and Alice was on the floor giggling hysterically. Jasper hesitated.
"It's simple, you give me the bat or I break my hand," I paused for effect "again. So if you want that on your conscience..." I left the sentence hanging, already knowing I had won by the look on his face.
"Fine, but just don't hurt yourself, okay?" he still looked concerned, "Jazz, don't worry, that why I've got the bat, oh and is it strong enough? Because I don't want to have to force Jacob to pay for a new one if his face dents it" Edward laughed next to me.
"Love, you have seen us play baseball, I think it will survive." I smiled up at him before swinging the lightweight bat up onto my shoulder and stumbled, as quickly as I could without hurting myself, through the trees. Edward kept pace easily and wrapped his arm round my waist in encouragement.
As we broke through the trees and stood in the small garden I noticed the clouds break and sunlight streamed down on my family alone. I shot a worried look at Charlie but he was just glaring at Edward and me. I suddenly realised that Jacob was quivering next to my father, is he mentally unstable? If he phased now he would kill Charlie and Billy. This thought must have crossed Carlisle's mind at the same time as mine because he suddenly spoke up.
"Jacob, I suggest you either calm down or move away because I don't think it's wise for you to phase next to your father and Charlie."
"Phase?" Charlie's face told me all I needed to know. I took a couple of steps away from Edward and towards my dad.
"You didn't tell him?" I asked, my voice just above a whisper, "You make the Cullen's out to be the bad guys but don't tell Charlie that you are worse than them. you Jacob, you break the treaty but don't tell your side of the story. Dad Jacob's a werewolf so you might want to move away from him in case he does phase because he would probably end up killing you. And if he does I'll kill him. Or let someone else do it for me" I heard a hastily muffled laugh from behind me and turned to flash a grin at Emmett who was shaking with silent giggles.
"Jacob, she's not one of us" Edward spoke up glaring at Jacob, who was now standing a few feet in front of me, growling softly. I felt a presence on either side of me and took a hazardous guess at Emmett and Edward. Jacob immediately backed off, it seemed standing too close to the Cullen's was undesirable.
"Oh look" I heard Emmett say from my right " you've brought reinforcements, aw how cute."
Edward quickly stifled a laugh on my left and I took his hand and stepped sideways to be closer to him, looking up at his face. I felt the rest of the family group round us like they had after the battle, with me at the centre.
"Bella" I heard a gruff voice whisper. I looked up sharply. Charlie was standing off the porch, still in the shadow of the house but closer to us and away from the wolves.
"Yeah Dad?"
"Bells, what the hell is happening? Jacob and Billy just turned up to warn me about the Cullens and now I find out that all the stories about the giant wolf pack are true, so what... oh god, all those missing hikers last fall, that was the wolves? And what's the baseball bat for?" he asked quickly whilst looking at me quizzically.
"Dad, as much as I would like to say yes it was the dogs I can't, it was vampires, no not the Cullens' " I added quickly as Charlie opened his mouth to speak, "It was a vampire, that was tracking... not that it matters and the bat is in case I want to hit Jacob because I don't want to break my hand again"
"Oh" was his intelligent answer. He took two tiny steps away from Billy and Jacob towards the Cullens. "Bells" he choked out "Am I going to die?"
My response was cut off by Emmett's vicious snarl,
"Take one more step pup, one more step and I swear I'll stick your head so far up the alpha's ..."
"Emmett!!!" Rosalie screamed. I turned in time to see Paul phase in mid-leap and cannon into Emmett's chest pushing him backwards. Edward grabbed my waist and dragged me behind his body. Jasper ran to help pull the now snarling wolf off Emmett and push him back to his line.
It only took Jasper to push Paul slightly too hard to send him sprawling across the yard to act as the signal that the others had been waiting for. Suddenly, next to the house there was a complete pack of growling werewolves. Charlie scurried back to the porch for safety as Edward turned to me and whispered in my ear,
"Get into the forest and run. Don't worry about us; just do as you are told for once. Please Bella," he added as I opened my mouth to argue.
"I love you, and please Be Safe." He touched his ice cold lips to mine of a fraction of a second before picking me up and darting to the edge of the trees, dropping me to the ground, softly and sprinting back to the now raging battle between the two species'. I turned, eyes glistening and ran into the darkness.
