Chapter 10

BPOV

"We're home," Alice announced as we walked through the Cullens' front door, the remains of a pout still lingering across her lips.

"Did you buy me anything?" Rosalie asked lazily from her place on the couch. Her gold eyes peered over the top of the fashion magazine she held in her hands, a small frown furrowing her perfect white forehead when she saw our lack of bags.

"No," Alice sighed. "Bella wouldn't let us go to the mall."

"Oh?" Rosalie mused, her gaze shifting to me. "And why is that?"

I shrugged and looked around the room, searching for Carlisle.

"Where is Carlisle?" I asked impatiently.

"He went upstairs to do some work in his study," Rosalie said as she pulled the magazine up to cover her eyes again. "Jazz and Edward are out hunting, by the way," she told me with a mischievous grin. "They should be back soon."

I nodded absently, too preoccupied to care about Edward's whereabouts for the moment. I turned to run up the stairs to Carlisle's study when a sudden thought froze me.

"Edward and Jasper are hunting?" I repeated.

"Yes," Rosalie said. "Emmett and Esme just went out to join them."

Something about my silence must have struck her as odd, because she lowered her magazine again. She frowned once more when she saw the expression on my face and looked over at Alice to see a similar expression in her gold eyes.

"What is it?" she demanded, a small hint of panic working its way into her tone.

"Remember Robert, the vampire who tried to kill me?" I said wearily.

Rosalie nodded slowly, her eyes narrowing slightly at the mention of the vampire.

"Well, he had a friend, and she's here," I said flatly.

I turned and dashed up the stairs before Rosalie could reply, my vampire hearing catching a small rustle as she ran towards the huge window that made up an entire wall of the Cullen's home.

I skidded to a halt outside of Carlisle's study, my hand already folded into a fist so that I could knock on the solid oak door. The door swung open before my fist could connect with the wood, revealing a very concerned Carlisle standing in the entryway.

"I heard," he said before I could regain the power of speech. "Who told you about this new vampire?"

"The wolves," I told him. "Jake caught my attention as Alice and I were driving to the mall. He told me that two of his pack mates picked up her scent today while on patrol."

Carlisle nodded the concern in his eyes increasing with every word I spoke.

"Do you think that this vampire is connected to Robert?" he asked cautiously.

I shuddered at the thought and nodded.

"I think so, even though I really hope that I'm wrong," I whispered.

"Then we are in perfect agreement," Carlisle murmured.

He turned away from me and dashed down the stairs. I followed a few seconds behind him, only to stop as he entered the large kitchen that was connected to the living room and dining room by two large entry ways. He went immediately to a phone that hung on the wall of the kitchen, his fingers almost blurring as they flew across the buttons built into the phone.

"Edward?" he said as soon as someone picked up the phone. "Come home immediately, Bella just-." Carlisle paused as Edward said something, his eyes widening in surprise. "You did? She is? Are Esme and Emmett-?" Edward replied with something else, making Carlisle relax visibly. "Send her home, then," Carlisle said calmly. "Be careful."

Carlisle hung up the phone and turned away, his eyebrows rising in mild surprise when he saw me standing a few feet away.

"Edward and Jasper spotted the female during their hunt," he told me.

"Jazz?" Alice demanded, her dark head appearing suddenly in the room as she ran to my side. "Is he-?"

"Jasper and Edward are both fine, along with Esme and Emmett. Esme is going to be here shortly, while the boys are going to attempt to track down the female."

"Carlisle," I said quietly. "Is this female…?" I let my voice trail off, unable to complete the question.

Carlisle nodded, his brow furrowing briefly with worry.

"Edward confirmed that this new vampire was Robert's mate," he told me gently. "Although he is not sure whether she is connected with the Volturi or not."

"I have to go with them," I said firmly. I felt my eyes narrow when both Alice and Carlisle shook their heads.

"Bella, my brothers and Jasper are perfectly capable of handling this female," Alice assured me, although the worried look in her eyes did little to help my growing panic. "Your helping would only complicate things by distracting Edward."

"But I'm the reason why this female came in the first place," I objected.

"You can't know that," Carlisle said soothingly. "Alice is right, Bella. We need to leave this to Edward, Jasper, and Emmett right now."

I bit my lip and nodded, wishing that I could feel reassured by my new family's words.

I followed Jasper and Emmett through the green labyrinth of the Washington forest, my nostrils flared as I strained to catch the female's scent. I could still sense some of her thoughts from where we were, but they were dimmer now, harder to read. It made me nervous.

Calm down, Edward, Jasper thought as we moved forward, his hands clenched into tense fists by his sides. She isn't anywhere near Bella right now, she's running in the opposite direction.

I didn't answer, but Jasper could feel the waves of stress that were rolling off of me. Whether she was near Bella or not, this female was still too close to Bella for my liking. I wouldn't be able to relax again until we had either chased this vampire to China or burned her body to ashes.

Jasper sighed quietly as he read my emotions and fell back slightly to join Emmett. Emmett wasn't as fast as Jasper and I were; I could feel his irritation coating his thoughts like a blanket. I decided that when we did catch this female, I would let him rip her head off, just to make him happy.

Jasper skidded to a stop behind me, making me stop as well. I glanced back at my brother to see him glaring at the trees to our right.

"She turned around," he said flatly. "She's heading towards the reservation."

A low hiss broke through my lips and I ran towards the female, my lips curling in a snarl. Damn her, she was good. I heard Emmett's low oath from far behind me as he and Jasper struggled to keep up. I ignored them and pushed ahead, my gaze zeroing in on the flash of red hair that had cut through the forest a few feet ahead of me. I could hear the girl's thoughts now. She would loose us on the reservation; pit us against the wolves in a battle to the death. Then, while we were distracted, she would double back to our house and lure Bella away with the knowledge of our fight; and then…

I snarled as I heard the last part of her plan and doubled my speed, the trees around me blurring into a green wall.

The female giggled and jumped lithely to the side to reveal a snarling grey wolf just feet away from me.

I skidded to a stop, my feet freezing in place just inches away from the treaty line. I watched the female jump above me into the trees and fly across the treaty line and growled in frustration.

The wolf growled back, its hackles raised defensively. I glared at it and considered killing the beast for allowing the female to get away. The wolf emitted a loud bark as if it dared me to even think about it. I hissed in return and felt my right foot inch forward…

Another wolf, this one a russet brown, erupted from the trees a few feet away from us, its brown eyes wide with excitement. Behind me, Emmett and Jasper skidded to a halt in the trees. I heard them both hiss as they assessed the situation.

Edward… Jasper warned me.

Hey, bloodsucker, the russet wolf interrupted. Calm down, okay? I really do not want to kill you right now.

I stared at the wolf, feeling a small flash of amusement when the grey wolf growled at it.

Leave it alone, the grey wolf whined. I was about to murder him.

Over my dead body you will, the russet wolf growled. We have a treaty to keep up, Paul, and right now it's still alive. Besides, I don't think Bella would be very happy if I killed her new boyfriend, right bloodsucker?

I hissed in surprise at the mention of Bella's name, causing both Emmett and the grey wolf to tense.

Listen, dude, the russet wolf urged me, his ears pressed flat against his skull with tension. Just leave the leech chick to us for the moment, okay? We'll do our best in tracking her down. Also, I already told Bella about this vamp so she should be home by now, along with your little pixie sister. So, just chill out for a bit, got it? I really don't want to have to explain to Bella why I had to dismember her boyfriend, comprende?

I took a deep breath and released it in a long exhale through my teeth before nodding my agreement to the russet wolf. The wolf nodded back, seeming pleased.

"Tell us when the female comes back onto our lands," I told him.

The grey wolf huffed its displeasure and took off after the female, a howl breaking through its lips. The russet wolf nodded again, its tail wagging a little.

I need to go with Paul before Quil and Embry have all of the fun, he barked cheerfully. Tell Bella that Seth still wants to have that video game tournament at his house after all of this crap is over.

I nodded and felt a small smile tug at the corners of my mouth.

"Perhaps you could have it at our house," I murmured. "My brother seems to think that it is impossible for a werewolf to beat him."

The wolf snorted and took off after Paul, its teeth bared in a challenging snarl.

We could beat you in our sleep, bloodsucker, he thought before he disappeared into the thick underbrush.

I chuckled once before turning back to Jasper and Emmett, who were watching me warily.

"Come on," I said quietly. "The others will be worrying."

I hoped that they wouldn't have to worry about anything else.

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. All of the credit belongs to Stephanie Meyer. Thanks a million to all of the people who reviewed and read this story! Your comments are both loved and appreciated, so don't hesitate in posting them. Thanks again!