A unanimous decision – Nahuel's POV. So here it is, I hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think. And thank you heaps to those who have reviewed, and those of you have stuck with the story so far. It is greatly appreciated.
Nahuels POV
I had just stepped out of the Cullens home for a moment, to escape my Aunts discussion of my father and sisters with the older Cullens. It seems the good Doctor was curious as to what would make Joham want a super-race. I knew he really wanted to talk to me about it, but I had nothing worthwhile to say, so I thought I would leave them to it, and head north to hunt for a while. I was wondering if it would be inappropriate to visit Bella and Edward also, but judging from the way Rosalie and Emmett acted when they thought no one was around, and even when they knew they were, I figured probably so. I'd had no real experience of couple behavior; it was always just Huilen and I. As I stepped out the front door, I noticed a very agitated young woman standing at the bottom of the steps. Judging from her smooth coppery skin and dark hair, she must be the famed Leah I had heard about from Jacob, Seth and the Cullens. I found the idea of these werewolves strange enough, so a female didn't seem particularly odd to me, but it appeared she was the only one they had ever had. I had to admit, I was curious. There was only so much I could draw from the others. Also, I didn't believe she could be as harsh as the rest of her 'pack' seemed to think she was. So I continued forward, smiling, although she wasn't looking my way yet. She looked up at the sound of the door closing and just stared at me. My smile faltered slightly at the expression on her face, like an animal that had been trapped. Which, ironically, she probably felt she was. I wasn't like the Cullens, after all, my diet consisted of human blood, and she would have expected that she would fall under the category of meal, more than peer. I hitched my smile back up, to show her that wasn't on my mind at all. She smelt mouthwatering, but not in a dinner kind of way. More like….I wanted to put my nose to her hair and draw her in.
"Uh, um…uh…"
I was guessing that I'd surprised her, appearing out of nowhere this way, some vampire that she had never met. I was sure she must be too terrified to speak. It was up to me, then.
"Hello?" It came out more of a question than I had intended, the look on her face was disconcerting, had thrown my train of thought.
"H…Hi." She had a wonderfully smooth voice, I noticed, like silk.
"I'm Nahuel…" I left it open, hoping she would stop looking so nervous, and just start talking, like her brother, who I couldn't seem to stop. That was fine by me, though, I really wasn't used to speaking to people, I found it easier to listen.
"Um…" This wasn't looking good. "I know. I'm Leah." She crossed her arms over her chest as she said this, like she was protecting herself.
"Oh." Great. What a stupid thing to say. Oh.
"Uh…I was just waiting for Alice." I followed her gaze to the window, and saw the tiny Cullen standing there, her arms full of clothing. I grinned. In the short time I had been here, I had seen her bully every female around her into letting her have her way with them. It seemed Leah was her latest victim. I didn't get it, myself; in the jungle that was my home, clothing barely even made it onto the list of necessity, and really we only wore the one thing until we wore it out entirely. It was amusing though, the way Alice flitted around dressing and redressing the whole house. I couldn't wait for her to start in on Huilen, she wouldn't know what she was in for. Leah looked lost again, and turned as if to leave. I put my hand out to grab her, realized how violent this could seem to her, and just settled for "Wait."
She faced me again, looking drawn and nervous. I didn't think I could be that terrifying, but I was getting concerned the poor girl might bolt with fear at any moment.
"I was just heading out; you don't have to leave on my account."
"Don't go."
I must have imagined that was what she said, she whispered it so quietly. I thought it more likely she had said go, leaving her to get back to what she was doing. Still I couldn't help myself; "Why?"
She went red. Her warm russet skin darkened to a sunburned bronze. Damn. Seems not only was I scaring her half to death, I was embarrassing her as well. I really wasn't doing well with conversation. She drew in a quick breath.
"It was you I really wanted to speak with, I just…"one hand drifted to her hair, finding a loose twig lodged there, and ripped it out, going redder. I looked at her closer; her mussed dark hair, falling around her face, a few stray leaves caught in the strands. Her pink lips, pursed, her high cheekbones, still maintaining that reddish tinge. Her long, lean body, though she was still half a head shorter than me. She was wearing a top that showed her arms, and some sort of pants that were so short, my breath stuck in my throat. Her feet were bare, and shifting uncomfortably in the dirt. My mind swirled, I felt like I was looking at a female for the first time in my life. I suppose, in a way, that's exactly what I was doing, as the only women I was used to seeing were my aunt, and my victims, and now the Cullens. But this was the first one I really saw. She was looking at me oddly, now, and she seemed like she had something she really wanted to say. I pulled myself out of my musings.
"Do you know much about us? The werewolves I mean. What have you heard from Jacob, and Seth?"
This was a surprising shift; I was expecting something more along the lines of 'what are you doing here still?' Everyone else had already gone, but Huilen had wanted to know more about this coven, so strong they brought the whole royal family upon themselves, but so good at the same time.
"Not a lot." I admitted. "I'm still very curious. I've never heard of anything quite like it before." She started to tell me about how the wolves first originated, years before, as spirit warriors. We walked as she talked, into the woods to a fallen tree trunk and sat down. She talked for hours, but I was so fascinated, it seemed like barely minutes. She told me how the Cullens returning began a new generation of werewolves, and that because there was so many vampires in their coven now, the wolf pack had grown bigger than it had ever been. She told how Jacob broke away to protect Bella, how her brother ran off with him, and how she left to protect him, becoming a new pack. She paused there, and I had the impression there was something she wasn't saying, but I was so enthralled by what she was telling me, I didn't stop to ask what it was. She branched off then, telling me about her father, how he'd died recently, and how much she missed him. How it seemed her mother had found love with Bellas father, and about Bella being turned. She talked so quickly at some moments, it was lucky I was half vampire, or I would never have caught what she was saying. The sun was dawning over the trees when I realized how tired she was getting. Her eyelids were half closed, and her words were beginning to slur, but still she kept on, like she was determined to say everything before unconsciousness overtook her. I yawned, feigning tiredness myself; really I could go days, sometimes weeks, before I needed sleep, though unfortunately the human side of me eventually won out on this point. I stood, stretching, and she looked up at me, her face so warm, and soft with her drowsiness, I nearly did lean in then to catch more of her scent, just to see if it got better when closer. She looked over my head to the tree tops, and her mouth fell open in a little 'oh' of surprise.
"Huh. We've been here quite a while, haven't we?"
The corner of my mouth lifted. It made me oddly happy that she had enjoyed telling me her stories as much as I had enjoyed hearing them.
"Shall we head back to the Cullen's, get some rest?" The look she gave me was a mixture of disgust and hope. The strangest combination I had ever seen.
"No…"she said slowly. I waited for her to elaborate, but she looked down instead, so I couldn't see her face. After a minute; "I…I don't sleep there."
'Oh." Again with the imaginative conversation. "Why?"
"The smell," she said quietly, still looking down, "and….I feel more comfortable sleeping in wolf form."
Ah. All the time I had been with her, even while she told me her legends, I forgot that she was a werewolf. And I had just assumed that she slept at the Cullens; her brother and Jacob did a lot of the time.
"Can I see?" she stared at me, astounded.
"See me sleep?" she asked, confused.
Stupid, stupid. I really needed to brush up on my conversation skills. "I meant see you, what did you call it? Phase?" That horrified look was back again.
"Uh…"
"Sorry." I said quickly. "I was just curious, how it works, you know."
She looked down again. "Maybe some other time." Her face was red again. I couldn't begin to guess why, she had seemed…proud of her heritage. I would have guessed she would want to impress me. She continued to sit there, looking up at me…waiting? I supposed I should leave, but I felt so drawn to this intriguing girl; if she hadn't been falling asleep in front of my eyes, I would have continued to sit there, just listening. It was the strangest thing I had ever experienced, and I had been experiencing things for 150 years.
"Well, I guess I will see you later? When you've slept?" Ridiculous, I sounded almost desperate. "I'd love to hear more."
She laughed darkly at that, and I was even more curious.
"Sure you do. For now." I wished I knew what she meant by that. I wanted to lean closer, my senses screaming to be allowed a full intake of her scent, instead I smiled at her.
"Well, pleasant dreams." An odd look passed across her face.
"Yes." She said thoughtfully. "Pleasant dreams."
I turned and strolled rapidly out of the woods, towards the Cullens. Behind me I heard the faintest whooshing of air, and I was tempted to turn back around, to sneak a look…but I fought against the bizarre feeling, and continued on. When I entered the house, Huilen and the Cullens were still talking, so I continued right past them to the dining room. Although completely unnecessary, it served well as an informal area to sit and chat, and it was in here I found Edward and Bella, admiring their daughter, Renesmee as she drew a remarkably detailed picture of her family. Edwards mouth lifted in a smile, but he didn't even look my way as he spoke.
"I see you met Leah." It was very strange, having someone pick things right out of your head. "And I see things went well." He laughed outright then. I couldn't see what was so funny.
"You will." He answered my thought. I looked again at Bella, and at Renesmee. When I'd first sat with Edward and Bella, after the victory over the Volturi, I had been so sad, thinking about my mother, and how things could have, no, should have been for her. My father had used her for his own purposes, implanting me and leaving her to die. I knew from my aunt that my mother had loved my father, and to the very end, she believed he would save her. Even as she screamed in agony and was bled dry, me ripping my way out of her womb. She never doubted him. If my father had been like Edward, he would have been there, helping her, saving her, and we could have lived like this family; happy, alive and together. Instead, I followed my newborn instinct and bit my aunt, the only person who truly cared about my mother, and condemned her to share this life with me. My father, in his selfishness, had ruined life for all three of us. Now when I looked at Edward and his family though, I felt more positive. I had accepted that my mother had loved me enough. That the sacrifice was one she had made willingly, not something that was entirely my fault. And that, maybe, I could have a life something like they had. Maybe…I noticed Edwards mouth tightened slightly, but he didn't let me in on what he was thinking, even though I could sense it was directed at me. Instead, I mused, "She was nothing like what I had been expecting, from what everyone had said."
Edward laughed, Bella looked amazed, and Renesmee, looking up from her picture, looked at me with a bemused expression in her brown eyes.
"And how long have you spoken to her for, Nahuel? I think you're jumping the gun." Bella this time.
Edward nodded in agreement. "I think you need to spend a bit more time with her before you comment."
My heart swelled. More time. Yes, I could definitely do that.
