My 11 week old kitten has taken to laying on my laptop keyboard for a better vantage point in which to attack the cursor on the screen, so any random characters in the typing, I blame on him and not my wonderful beta.

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12.

EPOV

Though its only Carlisle and Sam in the middle of the clearing with Bella, we've all formed a perimeter along the tree line. Me and my family on one side; the phased wolves on the other. I keep getting distracted by the pack's thoughts. It's very fascinating. They think individually and as one.

Jacob's thoughts are alternating between hateful things about me and throwing lovesick eyes at Bella as she walks across the field with Carlisle to meet Sam. He honestly believes he'd be better for her. Ah, puppy love.

She's crossed her arms across her chest to help ward off the wind. She's bundled up from head to toe. I tried to use the further drop in temperature and the fact that it's about to start snowing as an excuse not to bring her, but Carlisle just gave me a look, told me he didn't like the situation any better than me, and ordered Bella into the Jeep.

This better not take long. It's going to take her ages to warm up.

"I hate this," Emmett mutters next to me. "They could be planning anything."

"They're not," Jasper, Alice and I chorus.

"But they could be," he insists.

"It smells," Rosalie chimes in.

"Do you think they can hear us?" Jasper asks.

"Yes," Emmett, Rosalie, Esme and I answer.

"There are more of them," Esme notes. "First there were four, then there were six and now it looks like there are eight."

"Why can't I see them!?" Alice wails. "I have no idea what's going to happen now, I'm completely blind."

"It must be because they're not really human right now," Esme says. "What other explanation can there be?"

"But Edward can hear them now," she continues. "This sucks!"

"Alice, be a lady," Esme chides; Emmett snickers.

I suck in my breath just as Sam and Carlisle and Bella meet in the middle. Carlisle keeps Bella back eight feet.

"Good afternoon, Sam," Carlisle nods.

Sam nods back to Carlisle and turns to Bella. "Bella."

"Hello," she says quietly. They've never met and she seems a little intimidated. He is large and the wolves behind him on the tree line are very large themselves. They might be bigger than my Volvo.

"We haven't met. I'm Sam Uley."

"It's nice to meet you," she answers. Her voice sounds a little stronger, but she takes one step closer to Carlisle and now the left side of his body is blocking the right side of hers.

"This is ridiculous," I complain. "She's nervous. Look how nervous she is."

"It's okay; she's okay," Jasper says.

"Because you're making her okay. I should be out there with her."

"Then it'll look like she's being coerced," Emmett points out.

"I really don't care," I shoot back.

"Boys…" Esme chides.

"Now look what you did…" Emmett mutters and I chuckle. It's odd, but we actually sometimes egg Esme on. We weren't right now, but sometimes we do. She gets very motherly, and it's nice having a mother.

"That one on the end is hard to control," Jasper says.

"His name is Paul," I reply. "He seems to be the loose canon. Actually, Jacob Black has told him to calm down a few times. It seems he's not a big supporter of the treaty."

"Dissention in the ranks," Emmett says.

"I don't like how keyed up he is," Jasper notes. That does not instill warm fuzzy feelings in me.

"I'm sorry for frightening you that day in the woods. Am I correct that Laurent was not your friend?" Sam opens the questions.

"Yes," She says, but her voice cracks a bit, so she clears her throat and speaks a little louder. "Yes. I mean no, he wasn't my friend."

"Can I ask you some questions?"

She nods.

"How long after you moved here did you meet Edward Cullen?"

"Well, I met him in Biology on my first day of school. We were assigned to be lab partners."

"May I ask how long it was until you got together?"

"A few months later."

"Do you love him?"

"More than anything in the world," she answers without hesitation and gives Sam her fiercest glare, which as it usually does, makes Emmett chuckle.

"She is not liking him," Emmett laughs.

"Sshh!" Esme and Rosalie order.

"And the rest of the Cullens, what is your relationship like with them?" Sam continues his interview.

"I consider them family."

"She's so sweet, Edward," Esme jumps in my head. "She's a wonderful addition to our family; human or otherwise. You've done well. I'm proud of you for all you've overcome to be with her." My doting mother.

"Have you ever felt threatened by them?"

"No, never," she says without hesitation and we're all surprised.

"She really means it," Jasper says surprised.

Unfortunately, Jacob Black is now thinking unpleasant thoughts that Paul is feeding off of.

"They've never forced you to do anything?" Sam asks. He sounds curious.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Emmett growls.

"Well," Bella answers. "They're forcing me to do this, but then again, so are you. And while we're on this particular subject, I'd like to add that I have a brain and I'm perfectly capable of using it and it's also well equipped for rational thought. Everyone's supposedly so concerned for my safety and wellbeing, but nobody asked me if I minded doing this today. My parents didn't raise an idiot."

That's my girl.

"Get him, Bella!" Alice cheers.

"WHOO HOO!!" Emmett shouts and claps his hands. So much for subtly watching.

"Okay, so my respect for her has gone up marginally in the last few minutes," Rosalie adds.

"Nobody's forcing you to do anything," Carlisle says gently. "Sam merely wanted to meet you. I thought it was a good idea."

"He wants to see if I'm being brainwashed. If I say no, he's going to think that's not true anyway."

Paul doesn't approve of the way she's speaking to Sam and he growls, which causes an all around reaction of growling and hissing from us. Bella steps a little further behind Carlisle, but doesn't back down. She's feisty when she's mad…believe me.

"I don't mean to be rude, I truly don't," she continues. "But people love who they love and it's not something we can control, is it?"

"Well, there it is then." Sam is intrigued by Bella and something she says had struck a chord. "She's a little spitfire when she's angry. She's a lot like my Leah."

Leah? I've only heard of an Emily in his thoughts. I wonder who Leah is. He certainly has fond memories of her. A love lost? This is definitely interesting.

"No, I don't suppose it is," Sam agrees. "Do you intend to join them one day?"

"Haven't I already?"

"Do you plan to become one of them?" he changes his wording.

"I already am; I've committed myself to Edward."

"Oooh, nice evasion, Bells," Emmett mutters impressed with how she's managing to 'misinterpret' his question.

"Son of a bitch! She's 18 for the love of Christ! What does she even know about this stuff!? I mean, is she thinking she's going to marry this bloodsucker? She's a novelty to them! How does she not see this? How does she not understand she's nothing but a pet? One day, it'll be too much and one of them is going to kill her!"

Jacob is a bit unhappy with the way this meeting has gone. Paul is snarling now and practically foaming at the mouth. The other wolves are all shouting at him to get a grip. Well, except for Jacob and Sam. It seems they can't communicate from human form to wolf form. That's interesting…and useful information.

"I'm losing him." Jasper's distress signal spurs me into action the same time Paul snaps. He charges across the clearing, but I'm faster. Right before I reach Carlisle and Bella, Sam turns, phases and lunges for Paul. I grab Bella in one fluid movement and run to the woods. The rest of my family races in front of Carlisle crouched and poised for battle, but the wolves seem to have Paul well in…paw.

"Wow, this turned into a real dog fight!" Emmett's is the last thought I hear clearly as I get further and further from the clearing. Bella clutches me tightly, her face buried in my neck, presumably to shield it from the wind and the snow that has just begun to fall.

I do not stop until we reach her house. Charlie isn't home yet. I reach under the eave for the spare key, unlock the door and get her into the warmth of the house.

"Well," she says, as she pulls her wool hat, mittens and scarf off. "That didn't go all that well, did it?"

"Not at the end there, no," I say, watching her move around the room. She moves over to the fire place, intent on starting a fire. "Let me," I say softly coming to her side. It doesn't seem any colder in here than it normally is, but she's probably a bit chilled from the run and she's still getting over being sick.

"How bad do you think it will be now?" She sits down on the couch and looks down at her hands. She seems unwilling to meet my eyes.

"We haven't done anything wrong," I say frowning.

"But they're mad, aren't they?" she whispers.

"One of them charged you, Bella," I say fiercely. "They're mad? Technically speaking, they'll consider themselves lucky that we don't slaughter their town. We were peaceful. They let it get out of hand." Paw, I add to myself.

She nods, still examining her hands and I reach down and tip her face gently up to look at me. "You've done nothing wrong," I say gently. "You understand that, right?" She nods her head. "You were right in what you said to Sam. You are already one of us. They have to get through all of us to get to you, they know that."

"He's not a bad kid, Edward," she says quietly looking back down again. She's sad about Jacob. She wouldn't be if she heard the things he was thinking.

"No, he's not. But he's too immature for the situation he's in. I don't understand why they phase that young. Sam seems a little more wise for his age, but the rest of them are just kids and clearly out of control." I pause, running through the wording of this next part in my head. "I believe I owe you an apology, Bella."

She's surprised as she looks back up at me and I kneel down in front of her. "For what?"

"You were right; we made you do that. I shouldn't make you do anything. You are intelligent enough to make your own decisions. If you were uncomfortable with the idea, we should have relayed that to Sam and figured out something else."

"He did need to hear that from me, not that I thought he really believed any of it anyway. Do you think the others are all right?"

"Yes," I nod with a chuckle. "The wolves didn't want to fight us, well, not then anyway. Paul will be reprimanded, I'm sure and Sam will contact us. They'll want to apologize to you."

"That should be interesting." She smiles a bit. "You'll be there with me?"

"Every second," I assure and kiss her lightly on the lips. She's shaking a bit and I'm not sure if it's from the cold, adrenalin or fear. The monster in me wants to shred that flea bag Paul for being that aggressive near her. The 17 year old male in me wants to parade her along the treaty line like a new car. The gentleman in me wants to pummel the 17 year old for thinking that way. But the unbeating heart in me that's full of her is what wins, as always, and just stays by her side, always ready to protect her.