Characters are always the property of Stephenie Meyer.

Chapter 11 Shark

The instant I walked back through the doors of the house, I felt guilty to the point of embarrassment and quickly found the solace of my room. Naturally, the Cullens didn't leave me alone for long.

"What have you been doing?" Alice fake-gasped as she stepped into my room without knocking. Her eyes were studying my clothes.

"Like you don't know already," I begrudged. The smile plastered to her face made it very clear how aware she was.

Alice's soft laughter filled the room and she flashed her smile in full force. "You've sure made an impression on Edward," she said in a whisper. "He's in his room listening to some seriously sappy love song right now."

I wasn't sure how to respond. I'd made an impression on him? I thought it was the other way around. He was the first man in my entire existence I had ever desired to reach out and touch, to actually feel. Edward inspired an entirely unique emotion inside me. That was what made me so terrified of him.

She suddenly sat up straight and stretched her hands high over her head, releasing a loud groan as her lean muscles stretched. An instant later, she bound to her feet and began pacing back and forth. "First, we need to get you fixed up. You hardly look presentable in that." She pointed at my clothes with a disgusted look on her face. I looked down, noting the blood splattered over my clothes. The fact they had been ultra white a few hours ago, made the gore even more prominent.

I blanched myself, hopping to my feet to strip away the remains of my first wild hunt. It hadn't been anything like I expected. Of course, in my fantasies, it had always been a human I stalked through the trees and I had never thought I'd share it with a man like Edward.

I showered and redressed quickly in another tracksuit Alice had laid out for me. I don't know what the deal with cotton-terry lounge clothes, but she was gone when I emerged from the bathroom, probably off to burn the mess I had made of the other ones. Dressed and feeling much better about myself, I laid across the bed. I allowed myself to think of Edward and what Alice had said. An impression. Of course, I had probably over-stepped my bounds by sharing the kill with him, but he was a man, after all. Still, did he know I had only done so two other times in my life? Intense topaz eyes danced in my vision as I savored his taste. His venom still coursed through me, thick on my tongue and in my mind.

Beautiful, sexy Edward.

Edward and I remained cautiously guarded around each other over the following days. It was as if the knowledge that something burned so hot and wild between us was as frightening for him as it was for me. We kept a careful distance as I mingled with his family. I had to admit that in spite of fighting gravity to remain apart from Edward, I had never felt so comfortable or accepted in my entire existence.

Until Rosalie stamped to me as I relaxed with one of Carlisle's tomes. Her shadow cast a dark silhouette over the artfully printed words. My eyes flashed to her darkened face.

"What are you still doing here?" she growled.

"Rosalie," Esme admonished from the kitchen, but she didn't venture into the reading area. She didn't really venture anywhere I was.

"No," she spat. "What are you doing here? I don't trust you and I want you gone."

Without breaking eye contact, I gently closed the worn leather book and set it next to me. I rose from the couch, eyes narrowing. "I don't like you either."

For the record I want it stated that she moved first. I wouldn't have done anything if she hadn't jumped first. Probably. As it was, I really only got the one punch in. Rosalie, in all her golden fury, sprang forward. Having faced the desperation of thousands of prisoners, I easily steeped into it with a right to her a jaw. An instant later, blondie was in a heap across the room and her mate had his huge arms wrapped around me so I couldn't pounce on her and finish it.

Needless to say, I wasn't surprised I was kicked out of the house while Esme and Alice nursed Rosalie's pride. Emmett thankfully stayed away. I wasn't sure if I could handle seeing his face. I liked the overbearing brute despite his bitchy wife. I'm sure it was difficult for him not to rip my head off for knocking her on her ass, but even he had to see she had it coming.

I was relieved that it was Jasper who approached me.

"How's it going, Bella?" he greeted, softly.

"Oh, just dandy," sarcasm dripped from my tongue. "Almost as well as Rosalie I imagine."

Jasper smiled in full. "It was only a matter of time before it happened. She likes to push people and you're the first one to push back."

"She moved first," I defended myself. It wasn't like I just got up and started throwing punches.

This time he laughed. "Oh, Emmett saw everything. He didn't know what to do." He chuckled again to himself. His eyes sparkled when he laughed and I couldn't help but smile with him.

"I still lost it, didn't I?

He smiled and sat down on a snow covered boulder. "You don't ever have to block you emotions, Bella. It's what makes you who you are."

Silently, he reached out and grabbed my hand where it lay motionless at my side. "Why are you so troubled? You're going to be alright here."

I couldn't lie, but after what happened with Rosalie, I wasn't sure how true that was. "I'm very confused."

He accepted my answer easily. "Do you think you're better off here?"

There were no hidden implications in his tone, but they weighed on me anyway. Was I better off with the Cullens than in my home? My thoughts immediately went to Edward, but Jasper's knowing smile switched my course. Instead, I thought of my little home; of laughing with Jane and of Aro smiling at his prodigy. As soon as these images hit, another series even stronger flooded my mind: my little home where I had spent so many lonely nights; laughing with Jane while torturing an innocent; Aro smiling at me after destroying my entire human family and eventually my life.

I shuddered and Jasper gave my hand a slight squeeze. I found his eyes again. "I think you've been denied so much that you don't even realize what's been missing."

"How would you know?" I snapped back.

Jasper smile never wavered as the calm radiated through his touch. "I haven't always been a part of the Cullen lifestyle," he reminded. "I found myself in your position when I came to them. Of course, anything Alice wants." He smiled beautifully, thinking of his wife. I smiled with him, knowing he wasn't the only one who felt that way.

"When I came here, it was on complete whim. I met Alice only two days earlier and we traveled to Ontario where Carlisle and the others were settled at the time. Alice knew exactly where to go."

"Naturally," I interjected with a grin.

Jasper's eyes sparkled. "Only Esme and Rosalie were here when we arrived. To tell you the truth, had Alice not come bursting through the trees and kissed Esme, I'm sure the two of them would have accomplished what no newborn had ever been able to do." He looked down at his scarred flesh and I glanced, too, seeing the crescent bite-marks covering every inch of his skin. Knowing some of Jasper's past in the wars of Mexico, I had expected him to be remarkably strong and quick-witted. Battle wounds were a given, a trophy. Now, I saw a tortured look pass his features as he looked on the remnants of that life and I wanted to reach out and comfort him in any way I could. I settled for squeezing his hand tighter.

Detecting my intentions from the air, Jasper immediately brightened. "It would have been some fight, but that wasn't really where I was going," he chuckled at himself. "I wanted you to know I still struggle with this life, but not just with the diet. Living together like this, loving someone. It's new to me, too. What you have to know is it's worth it, all of it. I won't lie and say this isn't a hard life to live. It was hard enough to tell my instincts that I could live with other vampires without trying to destroy them. But every second has been worth it for me. What I gave up in the South – the power, the blood, the lust – has been nothing compared to what I've received since. I will never regret the decision to stay with them."

We stared at each other as he let the words sink in. I thought of Edward again and was scared. Both Jasper and Alice seemed to imply something between us. As much as I wanted to believe it, I couldn't bring myself to trust the feelings I had. More seemed to be at stake than ever before and I was afraid to jump blindly, knowing my past experiences, even if that was exactly what I wanted to do.

"Carlisle and Esme are taking Rosalie to Alaska for a couple of weeks," Jasper interrupted my thoughts.

I inwardly cringed. Jasper nodded, still smiling. "Rose can be stubborn, but she'll get over it."

"And her mate?" I asked, remembering the titanic vampire I had been trying to avoid since he carried me onto the plane.

He laughed loudly. "Oh, I don't think you need to worry about Emmett."

Just then, the round toothy grinned face of Jasper's brother appeared around an evergreen. "You rang?" His voice was a dead on Lurch impression.

I marveled again at the sheer bulk of him. The entire door frame was filled with his hulking body, but the smile on his face was almost goofy, slightly marring the image of ferocious vampire.

"Who's in the mood for some sushi?" he asked with a laugh and devilish smirk. Jasper and I just stared at him. "Ah, c'mon, you have to be curious."

"Actually, no," Jasper shook his head disgustedly.

"How about you, Bells?" he asked, smile still in place.

Impulsively, I smiled back. I think it was the way the smirk on his face looked slightly terrifying but not at all threatening. It was an invitation for me and I owed him that much. Even though I wasn't really thirsty, I nodded. "I think it's all disgusting anyway," I said slowly, "so I guess I'm in."

He didn't give me the chance to change my mind. In a flash, Emmett had a hold of my hand and was running from the house in an easterly direction. It wasn't long before I was glad I'd given into. He turned out not at all as intimidating as I had originally surmised. As we ran, he kept me laughing with a glimpse into the daily lives of the Cullens, constantly cracking jokes at his brothers' expense and never once mentioning what happened with his wife.

When he finally stopped running, I was gasping for breath from laughing. I wiped my eyes absently, though the tears hadn't fallen from them in centuries. Slowly, I regained control over myself and took in our location. We stood on the edge of a glacier, jutting a hundred yards from the surface of a violently churning, black ocean. Emmett inhaled the biting arctic air deeply and I cocked an eyebrow at him.

"So, what now, big guy?" I asked playfully.

He let out one of his deep, belly laughs. "We have to get to dinner somehow," he hinted, none too subtly.

Before I had the chance to consider his words, Emmett disappeared over the edge of the cliff. A loud whoop echoed around me, bouncing off the ice as he plummeted into the freezing water below. His splash was more a tidal wave, but I could see the broad, face-stretching smile as his head broke through the waves.

"Come one, Bella!" he shouted loudly. When my astonished eyes did nothing but stare at the tiny bobbing vampire far below, he yelled out again. "Show me your balls, Volterra!"

With a burst of irritation mixed with something akin to either national pride or complete reckless abandon, I flung myself from the edge. My body curved naturally into a gracefully dive. The air stung my face as I plunged downward like a bullet. Too quickly, I sliced into the gray water. Forgetting the fact that I hadn't ever been in a larger body of water than the fountain in the center of Volterra, I instinctively reacted to the pull of the current. I propelled myself upward with a strong kick and broke the surface next to Emmett.

He was cheering me loudly. "Alright! Anyone else would have chose the easier way down, but you have to admit that was a lot faster."

My eyes were drawn back up the cliff I had jumped from. A path wound its way down the sheer face to a ledge only five feet from the crashing ocean. I smiled, trying to ignore the fact I had a choice on how to get into the water.

"You know polar bears have only one natural enemy." Emmett was staring into the dark water beneath him. He looked up and winked. A devious glint flashed in his eyes. "The Great White is the very top of the food chain."

"Until now," I winked back, spotting a massive shadow slowly circling right below us.

"I thought we'd have to hunt a little more," he said with disappointment thick in his tone, but without further comment, his head disappeared into the water.

I dove after him and watched as his powerful arms sliced through the murky water. The shark still moved in lazy circles when Emmett reached it. I could only make out the faint outline of the gray topside of the fish, but its open mouth full of rows of serrated teeth was much more distinct. Slowing my pace until I was treading the water a good two hundred feet from the surface, I watched Emmett make his move below me.

The shark bumped into his huge shoulder. It may have been trying to test his edibility, but it would be the last thing it would do. In a fury of bubbles, the two giant predators were lost in the churning water. Seconds later, a burst of blood exploded into the ocean and Emmett was using one muscled arm to propel himself upward. Grasped in his other hand was a gray tail fin, as he towed the beast casually behind him.

When he reached my side, he pointed back below us, indicating two more predators thrashing with excitement in the blood of Emmett's kill. He flashed an ultra bright smile, pulling the shark upward. Then, he sank his teeth deeply into the strange skin of the Great White, and I watched him pull the blood into his eager jaws.

I pushed myself away and dove straight at one of the circling fish. I let my legs wrap around its body to hold it into place and just had time to deflect the charging snout of the second shark. Its razor sharp teeth grated against my undead flesh, but glanced off my impenetrable skin.

As the rows of jagged teeth slid off me, I reached one hand into its gills. My legs tightened their grip around the one I rode as the aggressive one snapped wildly, trying to shake free of my iron grasp. I reached out with my other arm and grabbed its dorsal fin. With that hold, it was easy to guide the thrashing fish closer. I bit into its rubbery flesh, ignoring the repulsive texture on my tongue, and tore out a chunk of its thick skin, spitting it into the water. I went in again and my teeth found a much softer flesh, easily sliced open. Blood gushed into my open mouth and I was surprised at how much better it was than the land animals.

I was vaguely aware the one I rode was sinking slowly, unable to maintain its propulsion under my weight, but the intensity of the blood was drawing me into a frenzy of my own. Emmett's smile flashed in front of me and I was immediately back in the moment. My tongue unwillingly traced the open wound, sealing it in the water. Emmett reached out and grabbed the stunned fish and began swimming upward. Following his lead, but leaving the second shark whole, I began swimming upward, my hand tight on the tailfin.

I breathed deeply when my face burst from the waves. My prize was still beneath me, desperately attempting escape, but Emmett threw the first shark on to the low ledge just above the crashing surf and reached to do the same for the one in my grasp. I was on top of it before it had even slid to a stop against the cliff face. This time, I ignored the insulated skin and sank my teeth deep, drinking the heavenly bouquet as easily as if it were human. When I finally rolled off the drained creature, I stared unfocused at a steely gray sky.

A soft laughter slowly began to penetrate my senses in time to hear Emmett say, "Damn, Bella. Rose'll probably castrate me for saying this, but that was the hottest shit I've ever seen. Oh, Edward's gonna be so pissed."

"So, about earlier," I began and wiped my hand across my chin.

He didn't even give a chance to finish, before a wide smile and big palm waved off my apology."

I smiled, too full to completely lift my head. "The other one's for you," I managed to slur, drunk from the feast.

Taking me on my word, Emmett quickly thanked me and I heard him finish the other shark. It was soothing to hear the heartbeat growing slower and slower, until it finally sputtered to a stop. By that point, I had come around enough to sit up and I watched as he pushed the heavy carcass over the edge of the shelf.

"It was really pretty good," I said.

Turning back to me, I saw his smile broaden. "Yes it was. Ready to get back home?"

Shrugging, I leaped to my feet, feeling completely energized. It was amazing how very similar my reaction to this blood was to human blood. "Any time you need a fishing buddy, I'm your gal," I joked, reaching out for his arm, but he had already disappeared up the face of the sheer glacier.

Opting for the safer route, I chose the longer and much less perilous path. Back at the top, I only spotted Emmett streaking west before I shot after him. None of them knew how fast I was. Using every bit of my body's power, I sprinted forward, gaining on Emmett with every step. When I reached him, I slowed enough to wink and watch his permanent smirk finally wipe away, before pushing ahead. I reached the doorway a full hundred yards in front of him and in my utter delight I swung my hands over my head and began to dance about, cheering for my overwhelming victory. Emmett looked slightly affronted, but when he finally stepped up the stairs, his smile was back in full force, dimples puckering his sweet cheeks.

"Now," he said loudly to the house behind me, "I want to see any of you pussies do that!"

Laughing right along with him, we stepped inside. My humor suddenly died in my throat. Alice, Jasper, and Edward stood next the far wall of the entry way as if expecting us. Emmett's laughter also vanished as the door snapped closed.

"What is it?" Emmett demanded, stepping forward.

Alice sighed. "You've ruined more clothes, Bella."

Something told me that wasn't why they were standing with those looks of...despair on their faces.

"Is it Rose?" Emmett yelled, ready to be instantaneously angry.

But Edward shook his head. "Not us, Emmett. Bella." The way my name slid from his mouth was marred by a pained tone. It didn't make sense.

"What is it?" I whispered staring directly into Edward's eyes.

The room was incredibly silent for a long moment, before Alice spoke. "They're coming for you," she choked out. I was surprised to hear the same pain in her voice I had detected in Edward's a minute ago.

"Who?" Emmett asked for me, though I had the nagging suspicion exactly who she meant.

"The Volturi," she muttered in response. Her voice seemed like she was delivering a death sentence. I would know. It was a tone I was all too familiar with.