"Wolves? Seriously?" Bella's astonishment made me laugh.
"Come on, Bella. You're a vampire. Do you really think we're the only weird things out there?"
She made a humming sound, flashed me a grin, and began to run towards our destination. I took that as a sign that she was accepting my story, which was a good thing. The Quileute wolves were dangerous, and she really should take them seriously.
"It sounds so ridiculous when you put it that way, but I know some of those guys! My dad has friends on the rez, and when I was little he'd try and take me on fishing trips with them and their kids."
"You can remember that?"
"Yeah. I guess the experience was so traumatic that the memories carried over. I didn't like fishing at all. I was too clumsy." She giggled at the memory.
Taking in the smooth movement of the woman running next to me, I shook my head. "I don't believe it. You're the most graceful vampire I've ever met." If blood still flowed in my veins I would have blushed at the stupidity of my comment, but she just flashed a shy smile at me and didn't call me out on it.
"My bag is just up ahead," she told me, shooting forward. She jumped up into a pine tree and then dropped down holding a large, black duffel.
"I guess we should get back," I reluctantly said.
"Alice does want to take me shopping," Bella agreed, not making a move to leave.
We eyed each other as the surrounding forest began to settle down for the night. Her silent mind was as peaceful as it was frustrating. I allowed myself to relax and my mind to catalogue every millimeter of her face, her hair. Nothing escaped my attention, not an eyelash, the sweep of her cheekbones, the curve of her lips. I decided that I could easily look at her forever, and the thought startled me.
That was dangerous thinking. It was too soon. I felt as if my existence had gone from a stagnant cycle of monotony to fast forward at a pace I almost couldn't keep up with. I needed to take this one step at a time.
"We'd better get back," I repeated.
Bella laughed, her golden eyes sparkling. "You already said that, and you're still right," she teased me, and then she was off, running back in the direction of Forks.
I followed after, her laughter causing the area in my chest where my heart no longer beat to tighten. I wanted to be able to hear that every day. No matter how I tried to fight it, there was just something about Bella that drew me to her. Hell, everything about her drew me to her.
As we neared Forks, the acrid stench of wet dog came to me. I wasn't worried. We were on the periphery of the area the wolf pack usually patrolled, after all. The smell grew stronger, though, and I knew wolves were coming toward us. I stopped Bella with a hand on her arm, and she froze next to me, the concern in her eyes revealing that she'd picked up on the strange scent as well. To keep running might look suspicious, and we had nothing to hide. I did, however, move to stand between Bella and the incoming werewolves.
Two wolves ran through a small break in the trees ahead of us. I recognized their minds as pack leader Sam Uley and his second, Jacob Black. I was familiar with both of them, in a limited sense, in both their human and wolf forms. It was almost impossible not to encounter one another in an area so isolated from the rest of civilization, although they tended to avoid us as much as possible, even to the point of driving all the way to Port Angeles, the next nearest town, for medical treatment so that they wouldn't risk having to put up with the "leech doctor", as they thought of him. The wolves all knew I could read minds from our first meeting with them after moving to the area, so I didn't anticipate a problem communicating for a short period of time.
You have a visitor, leech. Sam's cool mental voice reflected the control he'd learned over the past years.
"Yes. She shares our diet, as you can see from her eyes." I moved to the side slightly so that he could see Bella's face. "We have offered her a place in our family."
I don't like how much your family has grown. Sam's thoughts revolved around the legends that told of only a few vampires in the original treaty between the Cullens and the Quileute, where our family would now number eight.
Even as I registered Sam's dissatisfaction, which I couldn't care less about, I heard Jacob's anger. Bella! His thoughts shouted his outrage as he turned to snarl at me. What have you done, leech?
As the stance of the two huge wolves changed from wary to menacing, I held up my hands and shouted, "Hold on!" That barely got their attention, and I continued, "Yes, she is Bella Swan, but my family had nothing to do with her change. We just met her today, and she's been a vampire for two years!"
They doubted my word, but Bella stepped around me. "Please, what Edward said is true. I was attacked by a vampire in Jacksonville, but he was interrupted before he could finish me off. When I left the group who—helped me through my first year, I searched for Carlisle Cullen because of what I heard of his way of life. It suited me better. I don't like killing for food, but I'd rather kill animals than humans." Her voice rang with her sincerity even as she heavily edited her tale.
Same huffed. Fine. We'll believe you, for now, but that still doesn't address the size of your coven. We're not comfortable with so many bloodsuckers around.
I sighed, partly in relief and partly in aggravation. "Well, you won't have to put up with us much longer. The whole family is moving on in the next few months."
Sam turned without another word to me and took off the way he came, Jacob following with several looks over his shoulder at Bella. Both were relieved, something about the younger generation, but Jacob's thoughts held an echo of regret and anger. In that brief moment I realized he'd once had a childhood crush on Bella, but he was wise enough to know that nothing could come of it now.
"Are they coming back, or can we go home?" Part of me was astonished at Bella's calm. The wolves were one of the few dangers to our kind, other vampires and fire being the others, so I expected at least a small amount of unease about them. The rest of me was delighted by her use of "home".
"They're gone. Let's go."
The run was uneventful after that. Alice waited for us when we came into the back yard, arms folded with a frown on her face. I read what was bothering her before she spoke.
"You saw those mutts out there, didn't you?" She couldn't "see" the wolves or anyone they interacted with, something we'd discovered after our first meeting with Sam, and she took their existence as a personal affront.
"Yes, but we're fine. I told them the family would be leaving soon. Sam was glad." Seeing Bella's confusion, I explained Alice's handicap to her. "She watches out for us, so they make her a little anxious, especially if she isn't around when we meet up with them."
Bella smiled and found the one thing that could distract my sister from her bad mood. "Alice, are you ready to go shopping?" She didn't sound enthusiastic about the prospect, but her ploy worked.
Alice's face and thoughts brightened. "Oh, yes! I've seen you showing me what you brought, so I know what we have to work with. We'll start out now so that we can get to Seattle before all the shops open, and then we'll have the whole day to find everything you'll need," she bubbled, taking Bella's arm and dragging her towards the garage. Bella shot me a look of dismay, but I only smiled and shrugged. I knew better than to get between Alice and shopping, and it wasn't as if Bella hadn't brought it on herself in a way. My sister would have remembered sooner versus later, but it was kind of the newest member of our family to try and pull her from her bad mood.
I spent the rest of the evening packing. I could have finished in less than an hour, but I needed time to think. So much had happened in such a short span of time that I had trouble wrapping my head around it, a rare occurrence for a vampire.
First and foremost, there was the oddity that was Bella, every aspect of her situation and her personality. What were the odds that she would be turned into a vampire, trained by the Volturi, turned loose after her newborn year, become a vegetarian on her own, and search out the man who was my father? While I knew I could compute the mathematical probabilities in seconds, I didn't bother because it would still boggle my mind. The reality was stunning, confusing, and, I admitted to myself, frightening.
I was used to viewing myself as the loner in a group otherwise composed of mated pairs. There were times, few and far between, when I was tempted to settle for less than what I saw every day. I doubted anyone in my family would have blamed me, but with each prospective partner there was something about their minds that threw me off. I also felt guilty at the idea that if I ever fell in love with a true mate that I would quickly leave behind the "comfortable" arrangement for the bliss I knew awaited me. So I remained alone.
Now a woman practically dropped into my lap, one I was swiftly coming to like and respect on many levels. Her soul was even more beautiful than her face. That was another thing that sent me reeling. I could no longer support my own doubts about whether vampires retain their souls. Carlisle should have been enough proof that we do, but I always considered him an anomaly. The rest of us had to try so much harder to resist the lure of human blood. Bella disproved my theory rather thoroughly, and I could no longer doubt that both she and Carlisle had souls. I shuddered to think what that meant for my own or, even worse, a traditional vampire's. My record was not entirely clean, and it had been my own choice.
My mind wheeled back to the topic of Bella as I began to methodically pack away my enormous CD collection. Her silent mind was both a draw and an irritation for me. The silence was amazing. When we were out in the forest I felt alone in my own head while actually being with someone for the first time in decades. I felt at peace, a heady sensation. How would I handle the day-to-day reality of living in the same group with someone whose inner thoughts I could only guess at, though? And what if I pursued something more—intimate? The plight of every other male of my acquaintance took on a new light with that thought.
My brother's approach interrupted my brooding. I looked up to see him standing in the doorway to my room, arms crossed and leaning slightly against the door jamb. His thoughts were quiet, for the most part, and I knew he was deliberately trying to shield his opinion of the current situation from me.
"Brother, your emotions are enough to give me whiplash right now," Jasper teased. I knew he chose to speak to give the rest of the family a chance to join in.
I glared at him a little. "Tell me meeting Alice didn't throw you in a tailspin."
He laughed. "Of course it did! I could barely tell up from down for weeks. It's fun to watch from the outside, though."
My mother appeared behind Jasper, peeking over his shoulder. "Oh, Edward, I will be so happy if she's the one! Bell is such a darling girl." Esme's thoughts showed that she would have accepted and loved Bella anyway, but the notion that the gift of a new daughter might be doubled in such a way thrilled her.
"It's too soon to be thinking about any of that," I protested. "I don't want Bella to think that everyone only agreed that she should join the family because you all hoped that we would form an attachment. I won't have her hurt like that." The mere thought was enough to make me clench my fists, completely forgetting the CDs I held. First-release Beatles CDs became dust in less than a second, and I didn't even care.
Esme's eyes grew round, but then she and Jasper shared a smile.
"Of course we wished for Bella to join us for her own sake," Carlisle soothed as he came out of his study to join us.
When did this become a party? I couldn't hear Emmett's or Rosalie's thoughts, which meant they were probably out hunting. I was sure they would have put in their own two cents otherwise. My family could meddle with the best of them.
Intent on ignoring them, I turned back to my packing. I tensed only slightly when Jasper sauntered into the room, his thoughts filled with humor. "She seems like a sweet girl. I'm amazed at the control she has, if it's as reliable as she says."
"You doubt her word?" I ground out, my eyes narrowing as I turned to face him once more.
"Calm down, Edward. We've known her less than a day, and you can't read her mid to confirm the truth. I can sense her emotions, and she believes every word she told us. I just prefer to remain…cautious for a while. The Volturi are no laughing matter, and none of us have gone to see them since I discovered Alice and we joined you all. You once told me that Aro coveted you because of your gift, since it was similar to but different from his. What do you think he would do if he learned of my wife's abilities?"
"Aro would never attempt to force one of us to serve. All the Volturi guards are volunteers. They even let Bella leave when that was her choice," Carlisle defended his friend from the doorway.
"You didn't see into Aro's mind, Carlisle. He's very acquisitive. I understand Jasper's concerns, but I don't think that justifies disbelieving Bella out of hand." The very thought sent a growl rippling through my throat.
A calming wave stole over me. "Of course not. I just want to be on the alert for a while," Jasper soothed me.
Esme could see that even Jasper's gift wasn't completely erasing the exasperation I felt for him. She walked over and wrapped a hand under Jasper's arm, drawing his attention to her. "Perhaps it's time we start packing up the books, Jasper dear," she instructed him firmly. Being a gentleman of his time, he allowed her to drag him away with just a single warning look back at me.
Really, son, I'm sure everything will be fine. Alice sees her fitting in very well. Carlisle's reassuring thoughts were accompanied by a small smile which I returned. Then he followed his wife and other son back downstairs to the library, leaving me to my semblance of privacy once more.
After my cherished CDs were packed away, I turned to the substantial wardrobe Alice insisted I possess. Thankfully that task was simpler, as I knew that I would need little right away once I reached Alaska. Most of the clothes went into cardboard boxes, with a select few making it into the suitcase laid out on the long black couch where I often relaxed while I admired the surroundings outside the floor-to-ceiling windows that made up two of my walls.
By the time the first rays of the rising sun filtered through my windows, I had packed away the remaining possessions I bothered to keep with me from house to house. The most precious mementos of my human life such as a pocket watch that belonged to my father and my mother's engagement and wedding rings rested in a safety deposit box in Chicago, the city where I was born. I looked around my almost-bare room, piled high with boxes, and felt a smile begin to grow inside. Anticipation was something I rarely felt for a move, but this one was different. I couldn't wait to leave.
To pass the time until Alice returned with Bella, I drifted downstairs to the living room where my grand piano held the place of pride. I sat down and began to play a few chords, softly at first and then with more purpose as I remembered the look of joy and peace that had settled on Bella's features when she realized that she was now a member of our family. The song flowed out of me, a gentle river of sound that reminded me somewhat of a lullaby. I wondered wistfully what Bella had looked like when she was sleeping. I would never know.
The thoughts of Esme and Carlisle revealed that they knew who I composed this song for, while Jasper contemplated the regret I felt and actually interpreted it correctly. There were many things he wished that he could have experienced with Alice, although he rarely thought about it because she made his life so full in other ways. I shied away from the intimate turn his thoughts were taking and concentrated on my music, using it to drown out the constant stream of thoughts from my family as I often did.
One particular set of thoughts became apparent hours later, and I rose from the piano long before I heard the crunch of tires on the driveway that heralded Alice and Bella's return. I was eager to see the woman who consumed me, and their return signaled that our trip to Alaska would soon commence.