"Come on you can do better than that." Rose poked and prodded at Emmett's ego as they arm wrestled. Jasper laughed at the scene over the brim of his book. Alice sat across from him on the couch, just enjoying the feeling of his hand on her calf, lightly drawing circles. She felt better than earlier in the day but her mind was blank nonetheless. The slam of the front door and the persistent smell of wet dog covered the house. All of the Cullens stood up, ready to come at whoever entered the house.
"Where's Dr. Vamp. We have some problems." Sam Uley was as menacing as he could muster. Carlisle appeared in front of him, hand out, protecting the red of his clan.
"Sam let's take this outside. No one needs to be hurt."
"Tell that to Paul. If any one of you come on our land again, chief orders or not, I will rip every single one of your children's heads off." He said before running back out the door. Carlisle closed his eyes briefly and opened them again with a small groan.
"What was that?" Rosalie all but screamed. Emmett was visibly riled up and jasper held onto Alice who stood in front of him.
"We haven't even been out to hunt yet today." Alice countered, confused at the wolf's behavior.
"There must have been some confusion on the treaty line. I knew I should have gone with them to Billy's"
"Billy Black?" Edward asked, his face contorted in a confused manner.
"Why would you need to go see him?" Emmett asked, crossing his arms. Carlisle was avoiding telling his children about the Spencers until the treaty was made by them. It would have just been easier to explain it all together rather than have a conglomeration of vampires in once space. That would really piss off the reservation.
"The patriarch of a new clan sought me out today. He, his wife, and his four children have just moved to Forks. I sent them to Billy to make sure no treaty was ever broken and to ensure less bloodshed in the future." Alice's mouth opened in confusion.
"So do you think I can't see anything because of this family? Because of something they've done." She was almost to hysterics. Jasper kisses the top of her head and tightened his grip on her, His fingers lingering on her hips tightly.
"There's no way to know for sure, until we meet with them on a formal," He looked to Rosalie
"Friendly, basis." Carlisle left it at that and walked off to see where Esme had run off to. He needed to tell her of the inadvertent trouble he had caused.
"Edward, if they're close can you hear any of their thoughts?" Jasper asked, tightening his grip on Alice only to have her run out tonto the deck and down into the wood.
"I can try but I'm going to have to concentrate." He said and head up to his room to focus. Rose pecked Emmett on the cheek.
"I'm going to go check on Alice. I've never seen her act this way before" Jasper was tired of this. Alice came to him for everything and now nothing.
"Emmett, we're getting to the bottom of this. I can't take any more waiting" Emmett clasped his hand together.
"Hell yeah!" He was excited someone was actually going to take action around here. The house was quiet when everyone left the den. Emmett stood outside the house waiting for Jasper to grab an item of Carlisle's. Jasper appeared next to Emmett, holding Carlisle's jacket.
"It's not a strong scent but it'll do."
"Not in my nature to back down from a challenge." Jasper smirked at his brothers reply before running to find the source. If they were close or anywhere in the area within the last 24 hours, they would find them.
"So when I talk do you all just hear what the cartoon kids in the peanuts hear or what's the deal?"
"Dad," Will sighed. Dramatics was key in this family.
"No, I wanna know, because if that's the case, I'd like to know how to get my points across to you kids." Cora sat in silence for the first time in a long time, her legs folded on the couch and hand resting in her lap. Will, unphased by the dramatics, stretched his body as long as it would go, one foot up on the coffee table and his arms resting on the back of the couch. Sebastian and Kiera stood in silence, staring at the ground, feeling their mothers gaze on them. Carina was not happy. Not in the least and while Daniel was the head of this family she was the neck.
"We just wanted to-"
"Wanted what Cora?! Please tell me what it is you all thought you were doing. Enlighten me."
"We're all a lifetime old! You can't keep treating us like we're a burden or that we don't belong in the world." Cora said in a huff. It was almost so fast it didn't make any sense. Daniel deeply sighed and sat down in the armchair next to his eldest, placing a hand on her knee.
"As silly as it sounds, I want to protect you kids. In this lifetime, however long it may be, are everything to me. You all have very rare, very special gifts. I don't want to protect you guys from the world. I would never want that. I want to protect the world from you. There are things out there that would feel threatened if you even breathed their direction let alone if you showed what you were." Cora averted her eyes from Daniel and sat in contemplative silence. Carina sat on the arm of the couch and put an arm around her eldest son.
"Not to mention if you showed your special abilities. We love you." Carina looked from Will to Kiera and Sebastian.
"All of you. So very very much."
"But," Daniels hands were folded his elbows resting on his knees.
"You're right kitten. We shouldn't be shielding you from everything. From now on, every big decision will be made by this family. Not by one person. Agreed?" All of The children nodded. Carina placed a kiss to Will's temple before pulling his sunglasses from his face causing him to groan.
"That doesn't explain why I can't see anything. No one else has had an issue with their powers. Why me?" Will squinted, his head in pain. Daniel unfortunately didn't have an answer for Will. He hoped after Friday things would calm down and they could get to the bottom of everything but only time would tell. Cora shifted her weight, resting her head on wills shoulder, his arm came around in a comforting embrace, holding her to him.
"It's off this way!" Emmett yelled, far ahead of his brother. Jaspers senses were heightened as they approached a clearing. He felt a wave of emotions his him as they came upon a large house. They two Cullens stayed up in the trees peering into what looked to be a den.
"It's those Spencer kids." Emmett deduced noticing the bright blonde mop of hair donned by one of the brothers. Jasper didn't know which emotion to focus on. The house emitted a wave of anger, fear, and embarrassment. His eyes focused in on the man sitting in the armchair adjacent Cora. Did her brother ever take those sunglasses off? He watched as Cora leaned into him, snuggling into his arm. Jasper's focus on her pushed all the emotions she felt out to him. She was embarrassed and scared. He felt this force in him that wanted to push him forward, to rip her out of the arms of what he assumed was her mate. His thoughts wandered to his hand from earlier in the day. Flexing his hand, Jasper hit the tree and ran off back to the house, ignoring the calls from Emmett.
Cora put on what seemed to be her fourth sweatshirt and still didn't like what she saw in the mirror. She didn't understand why they had to cover up. It's not like the shifters tried to mask their own scent, why should they? Will popped his head into her room, hugging the door frame with one hand.
"Dad wants to know if you're ready to leave." Cora threw a puffy vest on over herself and let her hair hang down.
"I guess." She sighed, putting on a Mariners baseball cap.
"Okay" Will mouthed, patting the doorframe and leaving down the stairs.
Kiera stole her own hat off of Sebastian as they waited for their sister to come down stairs. Daniel held open the door for each of the family members to file out. Daniel, before closing the door, placed a light kiss on Cora's forehead, putting her in a slightly better mood. Not to draw anymore unwanted attention, the family piled into the SUV and headed down to the reservation.
"So what's this treaty even going to entail?" Will asked, helping Cora out of the car and slamming the door. Daniel wrapped an arm around his wife as his family walked down to the roaring fire. All around it we're already on edge as soon as the Spencers pulled in.
"Alright no one is going to answer me? Cool. Good." Cora snorted at her brothers antics and grabbed his arms to throw around her shoulders. Will was her best friend in this lifetime. Despite not being mates, they still had a strong connection with one another and love each other dearly. Talking ceased as they came upon the ring of people.
"Billy." Daniel greeted, shaking hands with the copper skinned man.
"Please, have a seat." The family did as they were told and took seats around the fire. The shifters sat across from them, flames licking their faces.
"These cold ones have come seeking asylum. They wish no harm to any of us." Sam scoffed, shifting in his seat.
"Tell that to Paul. He's still healing from that bitch." Cora went to stand but couldn't, being held down by William. An intrusive thought from Seb entered her mind. Don't. Just leave it be.
"A misunderstanding. Cora was only protecting her family. As were we. The Spencers wish to have a treaty." Groans ensued from one side of the fire.
"How many life suckers are we going to break bread with chief?" Jared said, almost to the point of shaking.
"I am chief. They want asylum and safety. They have promised to not set foot on our land. Tonight's meeting is to put that into writing." Cora had the feeling of guilt envelop her. She wanted to apologize. She didn't know who Paul was but she felt the deep need to apologize for her behavior. It was animalistic and unlike her. Her brother was in danger, what was she supposed to do? Will and Sebastian spoke with Daniel and Sam, trying to make things right. Cora looked to her mother and Kiera, who spoke with one of the shifters mothers. She glanced to Billy who sat near Jared and took this opportunity to speak with him.
"Mr. Black."
"Just Billy is fine Cora," He said looking up at her. Cora Sat down on a stump next to the man's chair to be eye level with him.
"I could never express how sorry I am about what happened yesterday. And if it's at all possible I'd like to apologize to Paul. I'm not sure how much pain I've caused him but I'd like to make it up somehow." Jared laughed to himself making Cora shoot him a sharp look.
"Paul I'd the biggest hot head of them all."
"Yeah it's an awful idea." Jared laughed
"You shouldn't go alone." Billy made Jared laugh even harder
"You really shouldn't." He snorted
"Take Jared with you." Jared laughing ceased immediately.
"You have got to be kidding me." Cora smirked at the pup as she stood up, brushing herself off.
"Lead the way." She smiled, crossing her arms at the groaning Jared. Jared argued with Billy for a a few seconds. He wasn't up for holding Paul back from a vampire, and he really wasn't up for trying to keep Paul from killing him for bringing a vampire into his house.
"Well try to keep up." Jared grumbled, shoving his hands into his sweatshirt. Cora gleefully followed the shifters down the road to what she assumed would be Paul's house.
"You aren't taking me down this way just to kill me right?" Jared howled with a large laugh.
"That's funny. Nope. Alpha orders get obeyed whether we want them to or not." Cora pulled her hood up and put her own hands in her sweatshirt. This treaty business gave her the opportunity to learn about a group of people she wouldn't normally have any information about and after being in school for 80 years, that was refreshing.
"So do you all just live on the reservation?" Jared stopped in his tracks.
"Look," He tried not to meet her eyes with his own.
"This treaty means we're good. Like I don't kill you, you don't kill me. Unless we have to. We don't exchange pleasantries unless we have to okay?" alright fine. Cora didn't like his tone but then again, she wasn't in any position to be complaining about pleasantries. The rest of the wall was made in silence and unfortunately it wasn't a short walk. After about five more minutes, they reached a small ranch house.
"Alright, he probably can already smell you so he's more on edge than he usually is. I'm going to go in before you, just follow in behind me alright?" Cora nodded and walked closely to the back of Jared. He poked his head in the front door and saw no sign of Paul. He must be in his room.
"Come on." Jared reached out his hand reluctantly to guide her in. When their hands touched both recoiled. Cora stared down at her hand. She felt like she had just put her hand down on a stove burner and never let it off. The contrast was so obvious it almost felt like it hurt.
"Shit!" Jared yelled in a hushed tone, immediately cradling his hand.
"I've never touched one of you before good God that's cold!" Cora rolled her eyes and flexed her fingers.
"Like touching molten lava is any better. Get over yourself!" Cora whispered rather loudly. Jared rolled his eyes and told Cora to follow him. He just wanted to get this done and over with. Paul's door was open a tad and knocked once before opening it enough to just reveal himself.
"Hey man." He said with a small sad smile. Paul was laid up in bed, wrapping covering his entire torso. He perked up at hearing Jared's voice. Paul had been stuck in his house for all of 26 hours and it was driving him nuts. Having the vampire doctor come in and set his shattered pelvis was bad enough, now he couldn't even walk down the street to the bonfire. Emily and Sue brought him food of course but it wasn't the same. He was sitting out on the action for only a day and it was making him mad.
"Hey dude. Bring anything back?" Jared rubbed the back of his neck. He knew what Paul meant but he didn't bring him the food he was looking for.
"Uh...I guess I kinda did." He said pushing the door all the way open with his foot. Paul wrinkled his nose as the smell smacked him in the face. It was as if someone soaked his house in bleach and then decided to make a steaming plate of pancakes covered in syrup. It was sickeningly sweet and Paul was visibly shaking at the sight of the young woman standing behind Jared.
"You brought her here?! Are you stupid!?" Paul wanted to shift but everything in his body told him not to. The pain from his pelvis, the bruised ribs that were still healing, everything told him no.
"Woah woah woah man, she wanted to apologize." Paul laughed ironically at the situation.
"Apologize? Like I'd take one from some life sucking leech. Get her off the land and out of my house before I do it myself Jared." Cora pulled her hood up further onto her head.
"It doesn't look like you're in any position to be throwing threats around. I just came to apologize for the misunderstanding you ass." Cora said, force of habit. She wanted to cover her mouth she felt so dumb for saying anything. Paul was handsome and if he didn't smell like wet dog she'd think he was cute when he was mad but right now he was just angry and drenched in sweat from what she assumed was a fever. Paul's jaw tightened and he finally looked at Cora whose eyes stayed plastered at the ground.
"Don't start talking to me about throwing things lady." Cora looked up and caught his eye. Paul's face immediately softened and the two stared at one another for what seemed like hours. If she had any breath it would be caught in her throat. His body filled with a warm feeling of adoration as he stared into the bright golden eyes of the vampire before him. Cora felt everything inside her pulling her to him. It was like another force had taken over and there was no one else on this earth, just them. Jared looked between the two. Back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth. His mouth agape in horror.
"Oh my God. No fucking way." Cora and Paul never looked at Jared as he stood there in complete disarray.
"You two have got to be kidding me right now!" Cora shook her head to get rid of the thoughts and finally looked at Jared.
"I have to go." Bastian intruded on her thoughts, pushing himself in. You alright? You're mind is all over the place. Need us to come find you? Cora shook her head.
"No Bas I'm fine." Cora, with her vampire speed, ran off to find her family to leave. Jared looked at Paul who had a look of confusion, anger, and love all rolled into one.
"A vampire and she talks to herself. Jackpot." Paul scowled at Jared for trying to lighten the mood. This had never happened in Quileute history. So why now?
It was evident something had happened between the wolves because the talking had just ceased. Daniel looked around and his wife latched onto his upper arm.
"Let's go." Cora said, appearing between her parents.
"Well why don't we-"
"Now mom, we have to go now." Cora didn't wait for them, she ran off to the house by herself. Kiera let go of Sebastian's hand and gave him a questioning look before running off after her sister.
"I guess we'll be leaving now. Billy, thank you for this opportunity." Daniel ushered all the children into the car and tore out of the grass down the road back to Forks.
"What's going on?" Carina asked, looking in the mirror at Bastian who was tapping into Cora's thoughts.
"Core isn't letting me in. I got nothing."
"Well try any one of the shifters." Will yelled trying to get a handle on what was happening. Daniel screeched to a stop.
"Sebastian do not violate their thoughts. A pack is sacred you have to respect that. Especially after what we just did." Sebastian was so focused he didn't hear a word Daniel said to him. He pushed past all the angry thought and found the ones he was looking for.
Is that even possible?! A voice sebastian deduced was Jared.
There's no known reason for why we imprint. Just theories Jared.
Well what the fuck am I supposed to do Sam? I wanted to kill her 24 hours ago and now I want to- God I don't even want to think about that. Sebastian came out of his trance and looked up from his feet.
"Imprint?" He said out loud, hoping someone would have an explanation. He looked to Daniel whose face became hardened. Peeling out of the side of the road, Daniel made it the few miles back home quickly, everyone scrambling to get out of the car to get inside. Cora was obviously distraught, biting at her nails and pacing around the den.
"Cora just tell me what happened." Kiera reasoned. Sebastian came in and plopped himself right in the armchair, spreading himself out.
"I'll tell ya what happened. She's an imprint. Whatever that means." Cora didn't know what it meant but she knew it filled her with a warmth and a feeling she didn't want. At least not to Paul. They were from two completely different worlds. It didn't make any sense. Cora let out a scream in frustration just as Will walked in behind Daniel. He shot a pointed look towards Bastian who shrugged.
"Really necessary? Nice Bas." Will threw his jacket at Sebastian who failed at catching it.
"What?" Sebastian was smart but social cues were his fault. Hence, inept idiot. Will held Cora by the elbows, turning her to face him.
"Hey! Look at me. It's going to be fine. We're gonna be fine." He grasped her chin with his forefinger and thumb, making her look up. She looked so broken, so confused and hurt. She didn't wish this upon herself and it surely wasn't in mind when she said she wanted to find her mate. She was distraught and in disarray, crying tears she could never shed. Cora buried her face in Willis chest, who wrapped both arms around her and kissed the top of her head. It was at this moment a long howl was heard and it echoed throughout the house. Whatever this was or was going to be was definitely going to be tricky.