Edward
My whole being was screaming for them to leave her alone, and give her back to me. She was mine. They couldn't touch her. I paced impatiently outside the bathroom door as the women did God-knows-what to my beloved. Well, from the sounds emanating from the room, I presumed that they were bathing her, but still my body twitched to run in there and save her from Alice's control. It had been almost midday when Carlisle came to look at her, and announced that her sweat glands had closed up. On perfect cue, Alice had come bounding into the room, stolen my girl, and called Rosalie and Esme to help her.
I was not happy. I wanted her back.
"They're not hurting her," Carlisle reminded me. "They love her too."
I squirmed - a completely un-vampiric motion - and sighed. I knew this. I knew she was safe with them, but that didn't abate the hole that I felt in the middle of my chest just from being in a separate room.
Jasper glanced up at me from his position leaning against the closed door - close enough to Bella to lull her into relaxation. 'Seriously Edward,' his thoughts growled. 'I can't help both of you at once. You're going to have to calm down so I can focus on her.'
I rolled my eyes, and continued pacing. Stupid bossy vampire who caused all this. He can't tell me what to do.
I saw the plan in Carlisle's head before he spoke the words.
"No!" I growled.
He just shook his head, and continued. "Emmett, take him out to hunt."
"No!" I protested again, but to no avail. Before I could get the word out, Emmett had grabbed me from behind, and was carrying me forcibly down the stairs. "Put me down!" I clawed frantically at the arms that surrounded me, but I knew realistically I was no match for him.
"Come on, dude," Emmett smiled. "You know those girls. They'll be in there for at least an hour. She won't even notice you being gone for ten minutes."
I turned my head as far as it would go to glare at him. "You know the second you put me down, I'll just run back," I reminded him as he ran me further into the forest.
"No you won't. You know we're right. You need this. Then you can go back to her, and stay there until she wakes up. Who knows when you'll get the chance to hunt again. God knows a newborn isn't going to just let you take something anywhere in her vicinity. And you won't be able to fight her off. You're not Chuck Norris."
"I could beat Chuck Norris in a fight with one hand tied behind my back," I retorted, attempting to distract him from the fact that I'd given in, and wasn't fighting him anymore.
"Really?" he chuckled. "Because I heard that Chuck Norris is so fast he can run around the world and punch himself in the back of the head. Even you aren't that fast."
I rolled my eyes at him. "Can we quit this inane conversation and get this over with? I want to get back."
Emmett grinned victoriously and waved his hand out towards the trees. "Be my guest. Don't let me stop you."
I instantly caught the scent of a buck only about a mile off, and was off. I could feel Emmett about 100 yards behind me, keeping me in his sights. I didn't need a babysitter, and picked up my speed to try and shake him off. The feeling of the wind breezing past my ears filled me with exhilaration. At my full speed, the inconsequentialities of life faded away. My human worries seemed so insignificant. Even my worry for Bella seemed to fade - not to the point of obscurity as something like, say, homework would, but I was no longer wrought to the point of breaking with worry. After being cooped inside for almost two days, it felt amazing to leap through the air as I pounced on my prey. It was as close to flying as one could get. This was one thing I looked forward to sharing with Bella. This ... freedom.
As I drank, I tried to make a step by step mental list of the best hunting methods to instruct Bella tomorrow night. My experience should help her in her inaugural hunt, even if only to make her a little tidier than the average newborn. I shuddered at the thought. Bella hunting. It just didn't seem right in my head. Graceful Bella hunting in fact. My clumsy Bella flying through the forest, never once tripping on mere twigs. Having perfect knowledge of her every surrounding.
As I disposed of the drained carcass, Emmett came strolling over casually to me. "Feel better?"
I tried not to remember the pain I had been in when Bella's blood had been spilt. Even covered by bandages, being beside her had caused my throat to burn as badly as that first day I had sat next to her in class. But mind over matter. My need to be at her side had won out over the lust for her blood. Now that she was healed, it was somewhat of a relief - for my thirst, anyway. The thought of her blood flowing freely, much to my horror, forced a new wave of venom to fill my mouth. I tried to force it down, but the thirst remained.
"Uh.. maybe just one more. You know - just in case," I stuttered. "Since we're already out here and all."
Emmett laughed loudly in his head, but to the outside world, he simply nodded in assent, and followed as I stalked my next prey.
Sated, I sat on a fallen log as I waited for Emmett to finish the deer he had happened across as I drank. I overemphasized my foot tapping impatiently on the ground. I was more than ready to return home, and the girls would surely be almost done.
"Eager much?" he grumbled as he approached. I leaped to my feet, and started back towards the house when I was stopped in my tracks by a potent scent. Not a good scent, either.
"Werewolf," I gasped, and Emmett stopped in his tracks also, sniffing the air before scrunching his nose in disgust.
"What the hell is a dog doing up here? They aren't supposed to come on our land," he huffed, mentally preparing himself for a fight.
I stood my ground, hoping the wolf would come to us, and stay away from the house, while I wasn't there to protect Bella. It was approaching quickly, and once it ran into my range, and I heard it's thoughts, one word made me abandon any plan I had to fight - Bella.
Emmett growled and fell into a crouch as the large wolf came into sight. I put my hand out and touched his shoulder. "No," I whispered. "Just wait until we know what it wants. We don't need to start a war with them."
Very begrudgingly, Emmett conceded to my will, and relaxed his defensive pose.
'What have you bloodsuckers done with the Swan girl?'
I was apprehensive about giving away too much information. "What do you mean?"
'I mean,' he snarled, ' that her father has been over at Billy's house beside himself, because apparently she's run off with one of you "Cullen"s. You did know they were friends, right? You knew that it wouldn't take long for me to find out your lies?'
"It's not exactly a lie," I hedged. "She has left her father, yes, and I do plan to marry her."
Emmett's head whipped in my direction at my admission of my intentions. He hadn't heard me specifically say I wanted to marry her before.
'Billy sent me up here to find out what's going on.'
"I don't think that's any of your business," I snapped.
The wolf growled low and long. 'It's exactly my business if you've bitten her. Her scent is still around your house..'
"You stay away from our house," I interrupted, but he continued as if I hadn't said a word.
'...so I don't think you've killed her. But the pact didn't specify - a bite is a bite as far as I'm concerned.'
I searched his mind to find his name. "Look, Sam. All you need to know is that we haven't killed any humans, and some of us will be leaving town in a couple of days - the others following when school finishes to avoid suspicion. What Charlie said is true. Bella and I have left, and are getting married. Okay? We don't mean any harm to you or your people, and we hope you would extend the same will towards us."
Sam didn't fancy a two on one fight, so backed down. 'Remember I'll be keeping an eye on you leeches. One wrong move and you're mine.'
I nodded my acknowledgment, and he backed away slowly. Once he was past the treeline, he turned and sprinted away. I held my finger up to stop Emmett talking while I listened to his thoughts. Once he was out of earshot, I turned to my brother, a stressed look on my face.
"Oh man!" Emmett said, excitedly. "How did you stay so diplomatic? I wanted to go all World War Three on his ass."
"Fighting him," I explained, "would just prove our guilt to all the Quileutes, and would have destroyed the treaty forever. At least by being civil we're holding it in tact until they get some proof. He didn't want to start a fight with us knowing he was outnumbered, and the others could have been close by. He's still almost positive that one of us has bitten Bella, but he's going to wait until he knows more before attacking us. It seems there are several of their boys who are going to start phasing soon, so he'd have a better chance then."
He nodded his understanding, still internally seething that he didn't have an excuse to kill the dog. "We need to tell the others," he prompted me, and we stormed back to the house as quickly as we could.
I was up the stairs 10 seconds before Emmett, and burst into my bedroom where Carlisle and Jasper were still sitting, talking quietly while the girls finished up their chores in the bathroom.
"Wolves!" I choked out, and all eyes were on me in horror. The bathroom door burst open, and three more sets of eyes fell on me, searching for confirmation. The smallest set of arms carried My Bella, now clad in a new set of clothes, and set her down on my bed. In Jasper's shock at my announcement, he forgot about his job at hand, and Bella cried out. I was at her side instantly, leaving Emmett to explain what had happened to the rest of the family.
Five mouths hung open in shock as he filled them in.
"I thought we'd have longer than this," Carlisle sighed, shaking his head slowly.
"What do we do?" Esme asked, clinging to her husband.
Carlisle thought for a moment. He swiftly sorted through our options, eliminating each one as it presented as dangerous. "We stick with our plan. Edward takes Bella up to Denali. We stay here until the school year is over. It reduces scrutiny on us, and will reinforce what Charlie has been told.
If the Quileutes try to tell Charlie what they suspect, they'll have to reveal a lot more information about how they know that. Revealing what you are seems to be just as much as part of their laws as it is for us."
The family nodded in agreement as I continued to stroke Bella's now clean hair, and coo soothingly at her. While I agreed that the wolf - soon to be wolves - was a big problem for us, all my worldy cares lay in Bella. The only important thing in my world right now was laying right here in front of me.
