Chapter 11

Sammi's POV

My family was frozen in a loose formation around me in the dining room. With Alice's visions of the future, I don't think that many things took them by surprise. Carlisle looked to Alice with a gentle expectation; a silent who is it, Alice? All she did was shrug, the intense worry very prominent on her face.

"I don't recognize their thoughts, I have not met them previously" Edward stated. So there was more than one guest. This seemed to make everyone more anxious, however.

The tension was too much. I decided to speak up. "Why not just answer the door?" I said with mock innocence. Edward turned and smirked at me but with a quick look to our father, he headed to the door with Emmett in tow.

I heard a low hiss from the foyer and a loud "Whew that stinks" from Emmett. How rude I thought, for Edwards benefit. I didn't want him to insult our new guests, even if they didn't shower much or something. For some reason, I didn't feel even slightly anxious despite my families reactions so far. I felt a sort of pull towards the door, similar to the one I felt in the woods when Esme and Carlisle found me. I felt the tickling in my brain that meant Edward was listening in on my thoughts. I mentally shrugged at him and made to move into the foyer as well. Of course, I didn't make it one step before Rosalie scooped me up and look at me like I had grown six heads.

"It's not dangerous, Rose, I promise. I just know. I can feel it" I told her, trying to wiggle down. She held me tight though and frowned at me.

Edward had already answered the door and invited the guests in. They came into the dining room and the first thing I noticed was their height. They were so tall! Edward explained something to Carlisle in a low whisper that was too soft for my human ears to hear. I assumed it was an explanation of who these men were. Edward nodded at me in answer to my thoughts. I turned back to the men, ready to break the tension once again. Before I could mutter a hello, though, Rosalie was backing out of the room with me still in her arms.

"I want to stay, please Rose" I pleaded. She paused and looked ready to refuse me when I turned my full pout power to my parents. "Please daddy, let me stay. It's safe, I can feel it. It's the same feeling when you and mom found me in the woods just less intense."

Carlisle considered what I said for a moment and shared a look with Esme and then Edward. He turned to Rose and me after and looked less worried. Taking that as our answers Rose finally set me on my feet and I bounded over to our guests. There was three of them, all incredibly tall and…well, beautiful. They shared the same dark russet skin and funny enough, the same slight scowl. The man in the middle was the tallest. The two that flanked him were slightly shorter but not by more than a few inches.

"Hi, I'm Sammi." I grinned up at them. I felt at ease. Almost like I was greeting old friends, though I'd never met them before. The boy on the right smirked a bit but returned to his scowl as the man in the middle, who I assumed was the leader of the group, greeted me with a grunt. Well okay, then.

He looked angrily at Carlisle. "What the hell is this? Who's the human girl?" he seethed. Before Carlisle could answer, Jasper growled low at him, making the leader scowl more menacingly.

"She just told you who she was. And as her presence doesn't break our treaty with your pack of mutts, we do not have to explain anything further. Get to what you came here for" he growled at him.

"So grumpy, all of you" I muttered under my breath. I expected only my family to be able to hear me but when the three men also smirked at me I blushed furiously and looked down.

"Fair point," the leader went on like I said nothing at all, "but if you bite her-"

More growls. From almost everyone in my family. I rolled my eyes and stood with my hands on my hips and plastered a glare of my own tiny face. "Honestly guys chill out, you're acting like a bunch of animals!"

A reaction I had not imagined found my ears a second later: roars of laughter. What the heck was so funny? I stood with my mouth hanging open and looked to Edward for an explanation. He simply messed up my hair and pulled me to his side. Who are they, Edward? I thought to him. Taking the hint, he started in on introductions.

"This is Sam, the pack leader" he gestured to the tallest of them. The fact that his name too was Sam didn't go unnoticed to me. "To his right is Paul and to his left is Jared." Wait pack? What did he mean? Edward leaned down to whisper in my ear at my thoughts. "Werewolves" he whispered in my ear. I knew everyone heard him even before the angry splutters of said werewolves. I guess I wasn't supposed to know that.

"She's part of this family. She knows what we are and I assume whatever you came here to discuss would have given away your nature anyways" Carlisle explained before tensions grew.

"She shouldn't even BE here for said discussion" Rosalie spat out.

"Uh, I'm right here, you know" I muttered angrily. I was sick of them talking like I wasn't even in the room. "And now that I know what they are, I can stay, right? I won't tell anyone, of course."

Everyone was quiet for a while as my words hung in the air. Sam heaved a sigh and muttered a 'whatever' just loud enough for me to hear.

"Shall we take this to a more comfortable are? Perhaps the living room?" Esme offered. As we made our way in there I skipped over to Sam and tugged at his shirt.

"We have the same name only mines girly and yours isn't," I told him conspiratorially. I think he tried not to laugh but it was no use, he let out a quick bark of a laugh before I skipped over to Esme and climbed in her lap. Really, I've been hanging out with Alice too much…all this skipping. At that thought, Edward laughed and winked at Alice, making her look furious. I buried my head in Esme's neck trying to stifle my own giggles.

"Alright, enough kids" Esme chided us. I looked over at Sam and he shook his head at me amusedly.

"So what is it that brings you here, Sam?" Carlisle asked him kindly. "I assume it isn't a social call" he added. If it was anyone else, the last comment would have been a bit unkind but Carlisle delivered it in such a way that made me giggle a bit.

"There is a new coven in the area. They have mainly stuck to our side of the treaty line and have been able to evade us, though Jared did get a good snap at the female" Sam said, then with a look at me he seemed to decide against the more gory details. "There are four of them. Three males and one female. We aren't exactly sure what they want but we thought that you should be informed. From what we can tell, they haven't made it on your side of the line yet." He seemed to hesitate over what he wanted to say next, sharing a glance with his two pack mates on each side of him.

"Please, share whatever is on your mind. Though if it's disturbing in content…" Carlisle shot me a look.

"Oh, no it's not. I'm just not sure how to ask what I need to" Sam said. He hesitated one more moment before finally heaving a sigh and continuing. "We want to…extend the lines so to speak. To try to catch them. Or, rather, have the option if the situation presented itself. If they were to cross a bit over to your side while we had a trail…" he cut himself off, looking to Carlisle.

Everyone seemed to be holding their breath except me. What was the big deal? I mean it seems that the 'treaty line' was important to both groups but it seemed like a bigger deal that what I was able to grasp. Carlisle looked at every one of our family members waiting for some signal I think. Each one nodded at him in turn except for Rosalie. She was the only one to speak.

"We have something far more precious in our lives now. So for the protection of our dear Sammi, I say we forgo the treaty line IF a situation that comes where it would mean the difference of catching the new coven or not. Other than that it should still stand" she explained.

Carlisle seemed to agree. He turned back towards the pack and spoke with firm authority, "what Rosalie has just said is very true. Sammi's safety is our main priority. If we could have more help with that than I could not refuse it. I need your word that no member of your pack would impose a threat on my new daughter before I could agree to these new terms." The look on his face when he said the last line of his little speech scared me a bit. I'd never seen such fierceness in his gently face before. Sam saw it too and shot a look at me before speaking. I smiled at him.

"Absolutely. I give you my word she's safe from us. She's really quite hard not to want to protect" he admitted bemusedly.

"She certainly is" Esme murmured, hugging me tighter. I smiled over at the pack again and I was met with three bright smiles in return. Told ya so, told you it'd be okay. I thought to Edward.

Sam, Jared, and Paul stood to leave then with handshakes for Carlisle and a nod to Esme. "Thank you for being understanding," Sam told them.

"Same goes for you" Carlisle added with a glance at me. Really all the subtle glances weren't very subtle. Instead of giving into the annoyance of it all, I over to Sam and looked up at him. I practically had to tilt my head backward to even see his face.

"Will you come back to visit?" I wondered. He looked at me in utter confusion. What'd I say? I thought, looking at Edward. He was snickering so I didn't get my answer. Turning back to Sam trying to hide the little bit of hurt starting to ebb in my chest at what felt like the rejection from him, I was about to speak again when he learned down and ruffled my hair.

"I'm sure there will be other…meetings" he stated with a smirk. Satisfied, I skipped back to Esme's side.

"Good," I said smugly. Jared shook his head and turned to leave with Paul. Sam cast me one more incredulously silly look before following them out.

After they'd left, I turned to go back to the dining room to eat my lunch but I caught the entire family looking at me. I flushed under their gazes.

"What?" I whispered.

"You're amazing, that's what. You can make anyone fall in love with you and want to protect you. Even werewolves" Jasper exclaimed. He said werewolves like it was a dirty word and I felt myself grow angry. It was a new feeling. One I didn't particularly like. Jasper noticed my anger and sent me waves of calm. "I'm sorry sweetie, I didn't mean it" he promised. I nodded at him and let it go.

"Alright, lunch time!" Esme told me, trying to break the remains of the tension. I followed her into the dining room and sat at the table. Everyone else followed and sat with me. An audience for my meal? What the heck? Shrugging, I realized it didn't matter, I just couldn't wait to eat. I was famished.

Esme brought me a turkey sandwich, grapes, and a glass of milk and I dug in greedily, muttering my thanks between bites. She laughed and sat next to me. I glanced at Alice when I saw her fidgeting in her seat. She and Edward seemed to be locked in a silent conversation. I watched them while I ate. She looked rather upset. When I finished eating, I finally found the courage to speak up and ask her what was wrong. She nearly screeched at me.

"I didn't SEE them coming! I didn't SEE the new coven! My visions are messed up!" she wailed at me. I covered my ears, it was so loud. I wondered if she noticed how loudly she was speaking. She was upset because she missed two events? Did she honestly expect herself to see everything? Edward answered my questions, more softly, thank goodness.

"She always sees things regarding the family, so she should have seen this," he told me. "The only common things between the two missed events is the wolves."

"Damn mutts messing with my visions. Of course, we can't be sure but I bet it's them. Nothing that stinks like that can be any good" she muttered into her hands, holding her face. I bit my tongue to hold back what I wanted to say that comment. I didn't want to upset her more but I also was quite angry. I liked the wolves. They seemed sweet. Sure they were a little antagonistic against us but they loosened up after a bit of conversation. They couldn't be that bad.

Jasper took my hand and I felt the calm seep into me. It made me sleepy but I fought against my drooping eyelids in time to see Alice freeze and look blankly at nothing. Edward froze as well, probably seeing whatever she was. "Mom, Rose, please can you take Sammi upstairs," Edward asked them.

Hell no! I shouted at him in my head, making him wince. Good serves him right. I had just as much of a right as anyone else in the family to know what was going on. Just because I was younger didn't mean I had to be treated like I was a baby to be shielded from everything…though I kind of did want to stomp my foot at him. But I left that out.

I took a deep breath and protested with more control than I felt, "I'd like to stay, please." I looked to Carlisle for direction. I wouldn't argue if he asked me to go, I didn't want to get in trouble but I also tried to portray with my eyes that I could handle whatever was to come. Edward was just overprotective. I mean, my wearing makeup set off his overprotectiveness.

Carlisle seemed to consider me for a few moments and then nodded at me, gesturing for me to come sit in his lap for the coming conversation. I loved being close to him so it didn't take any persuading for me to hop into his arms. Once settled he kissed my forehead and turned to Alice, since Edward looked furious. Oh well, he's not the boss! Of course, that thought made him scowl more.

"What did you see, Alice?" he prompted her. She glanced at me worriedly but spoke anyways.

"I see a male vampire coming here. I assume he's part of that coven the wolves spoke of but I'm not sure why he's alone in my vision. I think...I think Sammi is his singer. He lunges to attack her upon us inviting him in." She couldn't seem to look at me as her whole body sagged to the table. She looked so upset. I wanted to comfort her but Carlisle hugged me tighter to him, protectively.

"He won't touch her!" Jasper and Emmett roared at the same time. It might have been funny in any other circumstance but no one laughed here. I tried to reign in my fear but I knew Jasper felt it. What was a singer? It didn't sound good if he was going to try to kill me. What if one of my family members got hurt in the process? This was like David coming for me but 100 times worse. I felt the stirrings of a panic attack coming on but it didn't have time to become full blown. I was in Jaspers arms in a matter of seconds and he was sending shots of calm and tranquility so strong I gave in to my slumber within a minute.

When I woke up I was still in Jaspers arms but we were in the living room on the white sofa. I wasn't sure how long I had slept but I felt a lot better. No intrusive dreams either. I peeked up at my brother and saw him watching me with a smirk on his face.

"Thanks for the coma-nap, big brother" I smirked back.

He outright laughed at that and tickled me a bit. "You're welcome, darlin'" he drawled. "Mom and Dad will be in here in a moment to go over the plan with you. I don't want any objections from you, little lady" he warned me sternly. I simply nodded at him, not wanting to upset him. He hugged me tighter to him and kissed the top of my hair. "Good girl."

When Esme and Carlisle walked in they were accompanied by the rest of the family as well. They all took seats except for Carlisle who stood next to Esme who was seated in the armchair across from me.

"Alright so we don't have much time" he began, looking at me pointedly. "Alice's vision will take place in less than 2 days and you will not be here when this vampire arrives," he told me sternly. I guess all my attempts to stay in the supernatural moments of my family today finally caught up with me. I smirked sheepishly at him and nodded.

"Yes, sir," I told him softly. He smiled at me to assure me I wasn't in trouble. I smiled back.

"Rosalie and Emmett will take you south to L.A. and book a hotel room. You are to listen to every direction they give you, without hesitation" he commanded me with a pointed look. "We will call when it is all clear for you to come back."

I didn't want to be separated from my family even if two members were coming with me. What if something happened to them while I was gone? I was after all leaving them two people short. An idea came to me that would make me feel a lot better. It made Edward scowl as he read it in my head but I didn't care.

"Can the wolves help you? I'm scared something will go wrong and someone will be hurt because of me…" I whispered. "I don't mean to argue. I know this is important but please…I'm scared."

Carlisle knelt in front of me where I was still in Jasper's lap and took my hands in his. "Nothing will happen to us. We're quite capable of handling one vampire."

"I'm sure that's true but there are four of them all together. They aren't going to let you do whatever it is you're going to do without being angry. Can you handle four when I'm leaving you two people short?" He seemed to ponder this for a moment. I got more anxious with each passing moment. So many possible outcomes running through my head. Jasper sent me gentle waves of reassurance through his gift which helped a little. I mean, they must have considered this right?

"She has a point…" Jasper said slowly. "Maybe if she stays-" he was cut off by Edward and Alice's growls but continued anyways. "If she stays maybe with my gift and the added protection of the wolves, we can come to a non-violent solution to this. And if it does become violent we have to wolves for added defense for Sammi."

Everyone began speaking at once and I couldn't keep up with the speed at which they spoke so I just leaned back into Jasper and waited. They'd see he was right eventually I'm sure. Carlisle was still holding my hands in his and looking at me. I smiled tentatively at him, unsure if I was in trouble or not for speaking up. He smiled back at me so I was a bit more at ease. He stood up then and turned to everyone in the room.

"Alright calm down," he said in a low tone yet everyone heard him. They all quieted at once. "Jasper is right. I don't want to put Sammi at risk but this coven is larger than most we have come across that are not animal drinkers. Alice could you try a few different decisions on where to keep Sammi for his arrival that would work best?" he asked her. She nodded and retreated to the corner of the room to concentrate. Edward seemed really and truly angry but he didn't dare defy his father.

It'll be okay, Edward. Really. I thought to him. I hope he'd listen. I hated seeing him so upset. Really this was the best plan. I wasn't sure how they hadn't even thought about the other three members of this coven. Maybe they had thought about it and I was just missing something. I let the thought go for now and focused instead on what else Carlisle was saying.

"I'll call the number Sam gave us and ask him to come over for a meeting to discuss-" He was cut off by Alice jumping up from her perch in the corner that broke the chair she was sitting in.

"He changed his mind. He caught her scent on one of the wolves. He'll be here in 30 minutes!" she exclaimed, terrified. I couldn't help the whimper that escaped my mouth.