Author's Note

While I know that I said not to expect this to update frequently, I didn't mean to let it fall off of my schedule for this long. I had a very busy week and I apologize for that. This chapter was originally intended to be a lot more story-intensive, but in the interest of having more material for the next few chapters I cut it a tad bit short. I had just covered too much information in too little space for my liking. =P

Anyways, this is a much shorter chapter as a result, which I also apologize for. To compensate, I should have another chapter posted sometime tomorrow, so keep your eyes open for that.

Chapter 3

Over the next two weeks, Percy and our family became very close. It was obvious that Percy wasn't used to having friends. He visited our house almost every day, swapping stories with Carlisle and the others. He even quickly accepted Jacob the shape-shifter and Renesmee the hybrid, surprisingly enough. We told him the story of how the Volturi was sent to our house to kill my daughter, and was surprised that such a powerful council of vampire leaders even existed. He must not have seen many others of our kind, or at least not very often.

We invited him to take a hunting trip with us, going out to the part of the National Forest area that Rosalie and Emmett had laid aside for us. He accepted our offer, and we left our house in the late evening.

"I bet I can bag a bigger bear than you can, Nessie." Jacob taunted as we ran through the woods towards our new hunting grounds. He seemed much less tense to be out in the wild, away from the rest of the family—especially Rosalie. It was nice to be out of the house for the first time since we've been here. It was hard to believe that we've been out of Forks for almost a full week.

"Nuh-uh!" She shouted back. Jacob morphed into his wolf form and motioned for her to jump on his back. She ran ahead of him and bounded towards a tree, kicking away from it and landing softly on Jacob's shoulders. She gripped his fur tightly and leaned forward into the wind. Her bronze hair billowed behind her, glowing brightly in comparison to Jacob's dark fur. She was truly a beautiful creature—Rosalie might be jealous when she was fully-grown.

"This way, everybody. Emmett's markers lead towards that stream." Edward said as he pointed towards the creek. We all leapt over the stream with ease. I looked back to make sure our guest was still with us.

"Hanging in there, Percy?" I called back at our professor.

"Of course," He started, looking disgruntled. "Just because I was nearly 50 when I was changed doesn't mean that I can't keep up." He sped up noticeably as he finished his sentence, as if to prove his point. His run appeared to take much more effort than any of ours. Whether this was a symptom of his physical age or his height, I wasn't sure.

We sprinted through the forest to the safe area that Emmett and Rosalie had designated for us. With their positions as rangers, we were able to determine when and where our hunting efforts would best be used. Better yet, they could adjust any other ranger's observations so that the strange animal deaths would never get noticed. The best part of the deal was that because we live just outside of the forest area, they could do most of their reports at home, so there was never any real danger of them being spotted in the sun or otherwise exposed.

As we approached the area laid out for us, Renesmee jumped off of Jacob's back and sprinted ahead, eager to net a more impressive kill than he could. Jacob—obviously not trying to put up too much of a fight in their little competition—started chasing after a lone deer that had run away from us. I sprang up into the trees, Edward close on my heels, to get a better look at the surroundings. Percy had already snagged a deer and was taking care of the dirty work. I spotted a moose a few hundred yards away and began to slither through the trees towards my prize. I hopped delicately from branch to branch until I was directly above the poor creature. I leaned over the edge and let myself fall on top of it, my hands grabbing its antlers and snapping its neck in one smooth motion. I cleaned the corpse and, feeling rejuvenated, flew off to find the others.

Edward was the easiest to find, having finished his meal quickly and run back to the clearing where we had started. Percy also returned quickly, though his clothing was quite a bit messier than ours was.

"Found a small black bear." He explained, looking over his shredded shirt as he spoke. "Where are the others?"

"They're coming back now. Renesmee and Jacob shared a deer." Edward said, having seen their thoughts. Renesmee and Jacob worked well as a hunting pair, because he could eat the meat and bones of whatever kill she drained. Jacob poked his head out from behind a tree, trotting towards us with Renesmee bouncing up and down on his shoulders.

"She's way too fast for me, always bags the kills before I can even see something to chase." He said with a smile. He patted her on the leg as she beamed at us with a huge grin on her face. She was the cleanest killer of us all, never getting a drop of blood on her when she hunted.

"Well if you all don't mind, I'd like to go back to my house and change before I do anything else." The professor said, glancing over his tattered clothing.

"Would it be alright if Bella and I joined you?" Edward asked politely. I wanted to see Percy's house as well, so it didn't bother me that Edward volunteered me.

"Of course, feel free to come along. It's only fair, seeing as I've visited your house several times and you've never even seen mine." He responded excitedly, as if guests were a rarity at his domain.

"I'm going to take Nessie back home then, if you guys don't care. She's sleepy after her fresh catch." Jacob chimed in. Renesmee yawned as if on cue, letting out an adorable noise as she closed her mouth.

"That's fine. We'll see you when we get back to the house." Edward said as he walked over to her and rubbed his fingers through her soft hair. "Sleep well, Renesmee."

"Sleep tight, sweetie." I waved over to her. Jacob had already started jogging back towards the house.

"Alright, if we are where I think we are, then my house will be this way. Follow me." Percy noted as he contemplated his surroundings. We rushed off into the thick forest en route to his house.

We approached his house from the back through a clearing in the trees. It was a small house—almost proportional to Percy's size. It gave me the impression that, before he had met us, he was a loner. His back porch was cluttered with rustic decorations and several different chairs, though it was obvious that very few of them had seen use in a long time. The roof was littered with the leaves and branches of the trees that surrounded his house.

We climbed up the stairs to the deck and entered the shack through a sliding glass door. We came into the carpeted living area and the first thing that I noticed was the smell of the room. It was a very sterile smell, almost like I had walked into the lobby of a hospital. The worn cloth furniture was ripping apart at the seams, spewing bits of foam out of the stitching. I spotted a small bookcase against the opposite wall, sporting several modern titles such as the Host by Stephanie Meyer and State of Fear by Michael Crichton. All of the books appeared to have been read. I would have to ask Percy to borrow parts of his collection.

In the corner of the room was a small fireplace, partitioned off from the rest of the room by a small glass pane. It contained charred wood that appeared to have been there for quite a long time. Above the fireplace was a small row of pictures resting atop the mantle. The photo that quickly caught my eye had Percy and a young woman in each other's arms, smiling happily. I wasn't able to tell immediately if it was a wife, daughter, or even just a close friend.

He instructed us to make ourselves comfortable while he swept off to his room to change clothes. We knew it was a gesture of kindness rather than an actual request—we didn't need to sit to relax. I wandered over to the fireplace to get a closer look at his pictures.

The woman next to him in the photograph was beautiful beyond reason. She had flowing brown hair that billowed down around her shoulders and landed softly around her elbows. Her face had soft features; no individual part immediately drew your attention away from the whole. I could see the comfort in her eyes, her honest complacency being held by the man to her left. I knew at once that this woman was Percy's wife.

If that was the case, where was she now? My curiosity suddenly overwhelmed me as Percy stepped out of his room.

"Is this woman your wife?" I inquired.

Percy grimaced. "She was. I'd rather not talk about it right now, if you don't mind. That wound is still fresh." He lowered his gaze to the floor as he spoke. I instantly wished I could have taken back my question.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know-" I started.

"No, it's fine. I can't have expected you to. Don't worry about it, really." He calmly responded. "Anyways, I've really got to grade some assignments tonight. Do you need me to show you back to your place?"

"No, I know where it is." Edward replied.

"Well in that case, have a nice night." With these last words, Percy walked over to his office and locked himself in.

Edward and I left his house and started to walk slowly back home, enjoying the scenery along the way. I wanted to know what happened to Percy's wife, but I knew that Edward would not tell me and I did not dare ask Percy again. I would have to be ignorant for now. We spent the rest of the trip in silence.

When we arrived home, Jacob had already put Renesmee to bed. They were both sound asleep in their room, the snoring rattling the door on its hinges. I walked into our room and threw myself onto the bed, frustrated at my own lack of tact. Sometimes I wished my super power were to be incredibly good at picking the right thing to say.

"It really isn't your fault, you know." Edward said, attempting to make me feel better. It didn't help.

"I don't care if it was my fault or not, I'm still going to feel bad about asking." I sat up as I replied. "I should have known. I mean, it was just so obvious. He had a picture of him with some woman in a house where he lives alone. I should have guessed that she had passed."

"Seriously, Bella, don't sweat it. I tried not to be too intrusive, but I caught a glimpse of his thoughts when you asked him if that was his wife. He wasn't hurt by your question. He seemed like he felt guilty or embarrassed, though I couldn't really tell which."

Knowing this helped slightly, but only just. I now felt more confused than before, but less angry with myself. It was an interested trade-off.

Edward noticed my change in emotion. "I really can't tell you any more than that, it's all I know." He sat down on the bed next to me. "I really am lucky to still have you. So many times I thought you were gone. I thought I had lost myself. My purpose. But I still have you." He leaned down and stole a quick kiss.

"You'll always have me, Edward. Nothing will ever tear us apart." I breathed. His lips found their way back to mine, and we embraced each other. All of my worries were suddenly washed away in that moment, leaving my full attention to feel my emotions flood into me.

He pulled his body closer into me. I locked my hands behind his head, snaking my fingers through his soft hair. His hands flowed fluidly across my body, stopping only when they had reached the buttons on my shirt. He removed it quickly, tossing it across the room carelessly. I threw myself into him, and we collapsed onto the bed. I let my carnal desires take control of my body, pulling me into the night with my love in my arms.