"We've meant to tell you, Keegan, but everything has gotten so complicated," Esme said quickly after having spotted the incensed look on the vampire hunter's face.
Keegan didn't like being left out of the loop on anything.
The female's words did nothing to calm her mirth, however, and apparently recognizing this, Carlisle decided to intervene.
"It wasn't our secret to tell, but after all that has happened and is happening... you both deserve to know." He said, looking at Rowan and Keegan as he spoke.
The hunters exchanged a look and after a brief second's pause, Rowan nodded towards the couch.
"Might as well get comfy for story time." He reasoned and Keegan followed his lead by plopping down on the sofa next to him close enough that their legs were brushing.
"So this treaty..." Keegan pressed once they were settled.
"Eighty or so years ago, around 1936, we were in this area as we are now," Carlisle began, "At the time there were only five of us, Alice and Jasper had yet to join our family. We were running along the coast through the land of the Quileute Tribe, heading further north when we were intercepted by creatures that I had never come across before. At first, I thought them to be Children of the Moon, but over time I found that that is not the case. They think themselves werewolves as well, but in actuality, they are closer to being shapeshifters than anything else."
"You have a wolf pack around here?" Keegan asked, her eyebrows raised towards her hairline as she considered what she had been told.
"And you didn't think it was a good idea to tell us before a pair of hunters rolled into town?" Rowan questioned.
"They do not know about your existence. The Quileute legends only cover vampires and their wolven ancestors, the Cold Ones and their Spirit Warriors." Carlisle explained.
"But they're not werewolves?" Keegan asked, seeking clarification.
"They are not," Esme confirmed while her mate nodded.
"They are not created by a bite, they shift as they please instead of being a slave to the moon. The wolf is in their bloodline." Carlise said.
Again, Keegan found herself looking at Rowan just as he looked at her. With just a glance they collected one another's thoughts about what they were being told.
"Alright, so there is a pack of shapeshifters in La Push. That still doesn't explain the need for a treaty." Keegan said.
"The pack of that time only held three members, all who are related to the pack of the present. The Spirit Warriors were created out of a need to protect the tribe from the perceived threat of vampires, so while we didn't know what to make of them, they knew exactly what they thought of us." Carlisle continued.
"They were wanting to attack, but we outnumbered them." Emmett cut in, smiling as he spoke of the memory.
"Our numbers caused them to hesitate, which I am thankful for. We didn't want to hurt them, so we explained how our family lives without feeding on humans and I offered a treaty between us and the pack." Carlisle said. "The Alpha wolf of the time, Ephraim Black, believed that our offer was genuine and agreed to the treaty with two main points."
"We can not injure any humans in any way," Rosalie spoke up from where she stood at Emmett's side.
She didn't seem particularly interested in the story, but her eyes were trained on the hunters as she waited for their reactions.
"And we are never to trespass on Quileute land," Alice added.
"I agreed to these terms and proposed adding the concept of mutual secrecy. They never tell about what we are and we never speak about what they are." Carlisle stated. "Ephraim agreed, and we worked out the boundary lines. They have La Push and a few other reserves down the coast while we have Forks."
With the story concluded, Keegan sat for a moment just trying to take it all in.
The Cullens had kept an entire pack of vampire-killing wolf shapeshifters a secret from her since the day they had met.
"A condition of the treaty." Edward reminded her after hearing the direction of Keegan's thoughts.
"So... these wolves..." Rowan began, drawing all eyes towards him. "They hate bloodsuckers?"
Keegan suppressed a snort of amusement at her partner's eagerness for a common mind in the area.
"More or less," Carlisle replied with a small smile.
"My kind of shapeshifters," Rowan stated, his words pulling a laugh from Keegan now and breaking the tension in the room.
Standing in the lush forests of Washington, Keegan took the time to clear her mind.
As a hunter, they were taught many ways of bettering their minds and bodies to turn them into the most effective vampire killing machines possible.
One of those methods was deep meditation.
Knowing that the forest was one of the only places she would find peace without Jasper trying to provide it to her or Emmett poking the side of her face while she sat, Keegan took advantage and settled under the base of one of the large trees.
Getting comfortable, she closed her eyes and focused on her breathing.
She lengthened her inhales, drawing out her exhales with purpose and focus.
She found her mind becoming more relaxed, less directed on the immediate and more open to the world around her.
She lost herself in the flow of the world.
Keegan was unsure just how long she had been sitting in the woods before she heard a howl cut through the regular sounds of nature that she had grown used to.
The loud call shocked her out of her meditative state and had her jumping to her feet in a split second, dark eyes scanning the woods around her.
She was still on the Cullen's territory, she had made sure of that, but there was no mistaking the sound of that howl.
It drew her in like a moth to a flame, she felt her feet urging her to move towards where the cry had sounded from but she held fast.
She knew little about the shapeshifters and didn't want to have a run in with them while they were still unaware of her own species' existence.
It gave her an edge that she wanted to keep.
With that in mind, Keegan turned on her heels and started back towards the Cullen's home. She ran deeper into their territory, leaving the wolves and their tempting call behind her.
Her boot-clad feet had only touched the first step leading up to the house when Alice appeared in the doorway.
"Hurry up. Something's going to happen." She said, confusing Keegan but the hunter did not hesitate and instead ran up the stairs to join the Cullens in the living room.
"Where's Rowan?" She asked immediately upon not seeing her partner.
"He went into town. He's coming down the driveway now." Jasper answered and true to his word, she heard the sound of gravel crunching under tires.
It seemed that Carlisle had let him borrow his Mercedes and Rowan was taking full advantage of that fact.
Rolling her eyes as the hunter brought the car to a dramatic and screeching halt, they all had to wait only another moment or two before Rowan was walking through the front door.
He paused when he spotted them all gathered around the room, his brow furrowing as he sought out Keegan and gave her a questioning look. Shrugging her shoulders, Keegan turned her attention to Alice in search of some answers herself.
"I had a vision today." The pixie-like vampire began to explain. "I saw Victoria coming back."
The Cullens let out a low hiss at the revelation.
"Victoria? As in one of the nomads that you had to deal with?" Keegan questioned.
"Yes, the mate of the one we killed," Alice confirmed.
"So she's after the mortal then?" Rowan wondered.
"We can assume as much," Alice said.
"If this is all about Bella then where is Edward?" Keegan asked.
"At Bella's. Carlisle gave her plane tickets a while back so that she could go visit her mother in Florida. He's going to convince her to use them so they will be out of town while we deal with her." Alice explained, pulling a scoff from Rosalie.
"Cleaning up her mess as usual." She scowled.
"Rose," Esme said, her tone reprimanding but not harsh.
"Either way, a vampire chasing after a mortal falls right into our line of work. We're in." Rowan spoke up, looking to Keegan who nodded her agreement.
"That being said we need to know everything that you know about the nomad." She requested and without hesitation, Carlisle began to fill them both in.
The immortal was clever and had a thirst for vengeance that was centered around Bella Swan.
Their job was to keep her from quenching that thirst.
Keegan double-checked her weapons.