[Disclaimer] Everything Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer
[A/N] Hey, everyone. I know it's been forever since I updated this story. I'm sorry about that. I won't bother you with an ass long A/N and boring excuses about the reasons why.
Thank you for the alerts and especially the lovely reviews. Your kind feedback is greatly appreciated.
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Third wheel—That's the thought that crosses my mind while I watch my little Renesmee together with Jacob and Nahuel. My best friend is furious with jealousy, no matter how much he tries to grin and bear it.
Like an unwelcomed intruder he sits next to his imprintee on the ground and watches how she hangs up on every word that leaves the other half-vampire's mouth. It's the first, and most likely the only time she'll ever get to talk to someone who's exactly like her.
With a sigh, I lean back against the tree behind my back and close my eyes. Coming here has been the right choice. If there is any place where I can find answers about half-vampires and their fast paced growing up process, it will be here.
Alice and Jasper had managed to find Nahuel and his aunt Huilen here in the middle of nowhere. The original plan was that Nahuel was to convince Aro and the rest of the Volturi leader that hybrids were perfectly capable of blending in with the vampire world. We never got to the explaining part, though…
"My nephew likes your girl." Huilen states while she continues to comb through her long hair with her fingertips to smooth out the tangles in it. "She's the only one of his kind that is not his sister."
For a moment I feel tempted to tell the red-eyed vampire woman in front me that my daughter and Nahuel don't have the slightest chance of ending up together. All he can ever be to her is what Jacob was to me. A best friend who will never ever be enough compared to what my dead husband has been for me.
"I haven't apologized to you yet, Huilen." Alice whispers, keeping her view on the leaf covered ground. "I should have warned you about what was going to happen."
Huilen's mouth twitches. "I haven't apologized for running away, instead of fighting with you."
I reach out my hand towards Alice and pull her on my lap. She leans her head against my shoulder and is very still.
"You need to stop apologizing to people." I tell her, letting my fingers move through the mess of jet-black hair on her head. Now that she hasn't tried to style it with tons of hairspray, I realize for the first time how silky it feels like. I massage her scalp and she purrs softly.
"Bella is right, Alice." Huilen states calmly. "Nahuel and I aren't blaming you for anything. You did what you did to protect your Coven. Anyone would have done the same."
Alice stiffens in my arms. The color of her iris turns black as if she's suddenly very thirsty. It's impossible, she really is. Both of us have been hunting before we came here in the early hours of the morning. The rainforest is fascinating. It's full of a million of different smells and sounds. I love it here.
"Are you well?" I ask Alice, who quickly nods her head. I don't need to have Meggie's power to sense that she's lying. Before I get to have an opportunity to repeat my question, Alice turns to Huilen, trying to change the topic of our conversation.
"So, the two of you have joined Zafrina's Coven now. That's great."
"She and Senna are two very fascinating women. Nahuel and I are blessed that they allowed us to stay with them."
The repulsive stench of human food reaches my nose. I turn my head towards Nessie and her two admirers who are roasting some marshmallows over a little fireplace. I try to remember the taste of them but somehow it's already blurred. Soon, I will have forgotten everything about the taste of human food.
I remember how Edward bit off that piece of pizza in the school cafeteria because I dared him to do it. Sometimes guys really do stupid stuff when they want to impress a girl.
"Shouldn't Senna and Zafrina be back from their hunting trip?" Alice asks Huilen. "They have been gone for over three hours now."
Huilen grins, her smile exposing the tiny white teeth that look even brighter against her dark complexion. "They need some alone time. You and Bella should understand. Aren't you and her like they are?"
I don't grasp what she's referring to. Instead I start wondering if maybe something has happened to them. Being worried is probably ridiculous. That's definitely my late husband and his constant worrying that has rubbed off on me.
"I'll go for a walk." I tell Alice and Huilen, standing up from the ground. "I won't be long."
A symphony of impressions floats my mind as I run through the rain forest a few minutes later. Colors flash by, flowers and animals. Every breathe I take brings new scents with it. I don't even have a name to give to most of them.
I force myself to stop because I don't want to bring too much distance between me and the others. Where are Senna and Zafrina? A few miles further I find the dead body of a panther lying underneath a pile of dried woods.
It pleases me greatly that Zafrina is trying to give our vegetarian diet a try. Staying away from human blood must be challenging for vampires like her that have lived for centuries by feeding on humans.
A soft moan reaches my ear, followed by the splashing of water. I turn around and rush towards the noise. There is some heavy musk-like scent in the air now. It's overpowering, even throughout the bouquet of exotic plants and flowers.
I climb up a thick tree to get a wider look around the entire area. Not very far away from my lookout, there's a small lake. I jump on the next closer tree.
Then, I hear a deep-throated laughter. Oh, there's Senna, I think when the brown curly-head appears out of the surface of the water.
I open my mouth to call out for her but before I can bring out the first word, Senna's naked body is lifted up into the air by Zafrina' long arms. Trails of water trickle down Senna's chest. Her eyes are closed but there is an unearthly smile playing around her lips. My eyes widen when I watch, strangely fascinated how Zafrina's left hand moves up to the other woman's narrow waist and eventually her breasts.
The reasonable part of my brain tells me to turn my head away, but somehow I just can't. I didn't even know that Zafrina and Senna are a couple.
Senna groans and a shiver runs down my spine like a million of tiny tingling sensations.
I'm a hundred percent sure that what I'm secretly watching in front of me, is the most erotic scene in the entire universe. There is so much tenderness and beauty in the way Zafrina worships Senna's body.
You and Bella should understand. Aren't you and her like they are?
Huilen's words echo in my head. Does she really think that Alice and I are together? The way Senna and Zafrina are? Why would she think that?
The scent of arousal is thick in the air. It has a strange effect on my body. The lace fabric of my underwear gets soaked within a couple of seconds. I feel so guilty. It shouldn't make me feel that way to watch two women making love to one another.
Zafrina's head is right between Senna's thighs now and I can't help but imagine how that must feel like for her to have her mouth and tongue on the most intimate parts of her lover's body. My clit pulses at the thought, making it barely possible to resist the primal urge to touch myself. It is just too much.
With a few giant leaps I jump from the tree I've been sitting on. My body is trembling slightly. I run and run, realizing after a while that there is no way I can exhaust myself.
I drop to the ground, replaying the scene I just witnessed again and again while my hand glides into my shorts to rub myself. My fingers massage my clit, making it swell even more under the touch. The sound that escapes my mouth when I climax a minute later is animalistic.
Crap, what the hell are you doing here? I scold myself. Are you out of your fucking mind?
Wiping my slick fingers on a leaf, try to calm down again. I'm grateful like never before that my transformation into a vampire has irrevocably extinguished my ability to blush. There's no way I'd ever be able to look Zafrina and Senna into their eyes after what I've done. Am I some kind of pervert now? What the hell is wrong with me?
When I return to the clearing where Huilen and Nahuel have built up their tent next to that of Senna and Zafrina's, I try to act as if nothing has happened.
Jake lets me know, that Nessie, Huilen and Nahuel are out hunting together. It's obvious that he doesn't like the thought of that too much. Maybe he's afraid that they could make Nessie hunt on humans. I doubt they would do that, though.
"How long are we going to stay here?" he asks me, chewing on a little twig between his teeth. "I already asked the psychic but her ability doesn't seem to work properly at the moment."
"Go and mark a tree, dog." Alice hisses through her teeth. She's next to me in a flash, wrapping her arm around my shoulder. "We can stay here as long as we like to. Can't we, Bella?"
I nod my head and when Alice's lips make contact with the skin of my cheek, I flinch. Never before did I spend just a single second thinking about how she and I act around each other. Alice is my best friend. She's such a cuddly person and the thing is that I like it that way, very much, to be honest.
Even when I was still human and smelled good enough for her to eat me, she used to hug and kiss me all the time, permanently searching for a way to be close to me.
Was it possible? No, could it be possible, somewhere, maybe in a place where her reasonable thoughts had no access to, that Alice felt more for me than a sisterly friendship?
