Both Edward and Jasper had made their apologies to Esme and she decided to make the best of things by using the destruction they had caused to make dramatic improvements to the yard. As it turned out, Alice had quite a knack for designing spaces as well as clothes and she and Esme had an enjoyable time redesigning the outside space. No matter what Edward's original intentions had been, the fight he had picked with Jasper seemed to have strengthened the bonds among all of the family members. As Edward and Jasper moved the trees they had downed in their fight, he tried to hear what Jasper was thinking. Jasper was picking up on the tension Edward had rolling off of him in spite of the formal apologies that had been made and the manual labor they were performing.

"Why so tense Edward?"

"What? Oh, sorry, sometimes I forget about your gift."

"Are you going to tell me, or are you going to make me just as tense as you are?"

"Sorry, I was just thinking about the wolves. They weren't regular animals, and I know that I wasn't picking up someone else's thoughts. Did you notice anything else about them; could you tell what they were feeling?"

"My focus was on you, you put up a hell of a fight for someone with no formal training. Until Emmett had interrupted us, they had escaped my attention." Jasper was still mad at himself for not having noticed them sooner, he had a nagging feeling that he had made a grave tactical error, but to what extent he had no idea.

"I know, I think that they were watching us too, and not just for entertainment purposes."

"Less chatting, more moving" Alice sang as she danced over to them. She was glad to see the two of them talking to one another as civil beings, the fight bothered her deeply especially since she hadn't seen it coming.

"Yes my love" Jasper said as he scooped her up kissing her lightly on the lips, he was not as comfortable as Emmett and Rosalie were with such public displays of heavy affection. She favored him with a sweet smile as he gently put her back down on her feet before her eyes went distant.

"Alice, tell me, what is it? What do you see?"

"Snow, lots of snow" she replied almost as though she were in a trance. "The wolves are watching us and we are going to where the snow is plentiful ….."

Edward and Jasper looked at each other, what was it with these wolves, and why were they turning into something so prominent in such a short period of time?

"Carlisle, what are you thinking about?" Esme asked as they watched Edward and Jasper finish cleaning up the clearing to her specifications.

"I'm concerned about our family."

"I think they will work things out between them, but it may take them a little bit longer than any of us had expected. You have to remember that Edward was used to having you all to himself in the beginning, and I think the reason why he accepted me so easily was because of his human life, he was used to a traditional family setting with a mother and father. Rose, you had hopes for her becoming his mate, but they turned out to have more of a sibling rivalry than an attraction for one another. They both drive the other one crazy, but it is done with a degree of affection that I can best describe as brother and sister. When she brought Emmett to you, Edward didn't see him as a threat to any of our relationships, he was her mate by her choosing. He was a brother, by marriage if you will, but still a brother to Edward because of Rose. Jasper and Alice are the first ones that had no logical ties to any of us, Edward has no point of reference for his relationship to them. You need to remember that he was only 17 when you changed him, he was lacking in human experiences that the rest of us had to pull with us into this life."

Carlisle sighed, "As always my dear, you are right. Edward has been with me the longest and I do tend to forget that he didn't have the same opportunities to experience what comes with young adulthood. But at the same time, I don't think any of us were prepared for the entrance of two such unique individuals as Jasper and Alice into our coven."

"They are definitely unique, but in a good way don't you think? Jasper is quiet and makes him appear off-standish, but he really does have a good heart. And Alice is pure joy, how could anyone possibly resist such a bubbly personality?"

"I think Edward has no issues with accepting Alice, my concern is with Jasper. There seems to be some sort of rivalry or jealousy he has towards him."

"But look at how well they can work together towards a common goal Carlisle," she said gesturing to the clearing that they had nearly finished cleaning up to her specifications. "See, they are talking to one another in a civil manner? Just give them some time and I'm sure they will come around to a more peaceful and understanding coexistence."

"You are probably right, but there is something else that concerns me about our family. I can't help but think about what the boys had said about those wolves that they saw. Something isn't right about them, and I seriously doubt that Edward has suddenly developed the skill of hearing the thoughts of animals. I feel like I am missing something crucial to our happiness here, and I don't think it has anything to do directly with any of our family members. I keep trying to remember everything that I learned about when I was with the Volturi and while I can come close to one item in particular, there are some key points that don't fit, they simply don't match up."

Esme wrapped her arms around Carlisle wanting to comfort him, but unsure about how she should proceed. It was unlike him to not be able to quickly rationalize something out and come up with some sort of answer or prudent plan of action. She was concerned about him, but now she was starting to worry if there wasn't something else that should have her even more troubled. She quickly decided to focus on the interpersonal issues the family was contending with and leave the business with the wolves to Carlisle and the others to sort out; Esme was not willing to sacrifice her family for anything. Then she thought back to the conversation she had had with Carlisle that seemed to have started this whole mess, the option of going to Denali may be of more benefit than just to help Jasper adjust to their diet. Denali may hold the key to strengthening the family bonds she was determined to preserve, and it would allow them to focus on building their relationships instead of some stupid animals that had caught their attention.

"Carlisle," Esme began carefully, "What if the sisters know of something that could help us? What I mean is, I don't want to leave here, but maybe Denali could help shed some light on those wolves that have everyone so pre-occupied. I have to agree with Edward though; I truly do like it here and want to be able to come back here again. This place really does feel like we are home for the first time in so very long and while I'm not ready to leave it just yet, I can't help but feel that it may be for the best for us to maybe go away for a little while. Just until you can find an answer to what you are looking for, and maybe help Jasper with the transition over to our diet – to make it easier for him?"

"Perhaps we should call everyone together and discuss our options. We haven't been here very long, and I do have a few patients that still require some looking after; I have one that's expecting her first child shortly that has had some complications that I would really prefer not to leave until after she delivers…."

"Then we'll wait until after the baby comes Carlisle, I won't have it any other way. Now tell me, how much longer does she have until the baby comes? Do you know if it will be a boy or a girl, I mean is she carrying high or low? Do I know her family, you know how much…"

"Now, now my dear, you know I can't go into all of that with you – doctor patient confidentiality you know," he said kissing her on top of her head. He loved his wife and knew that she had a soft spot in her heart for babies, but he also felt slightly guilty about using his patients as an excuse for delaying their departure. He did want to go to Denali to see what he could learn about these wolves and he did want to finish caring for his patients….

"You know, you could make a quick trip up to Denali…"

"Are you reading my thoughts now too?" Carlisle chuckled.

"I just know how you think, and that you won't be able to rest until you find some answers about these wolves that have you boys so fascinated. And I also know that you really don't want to leave your patients right now. Maybe you could take Jasper and Edward up with you, give them a chance to bond with one another?"

"I don't think Edward would be overly interested in a trip to Denali right now. Besides, I don't think it would be wise to reduce our numbers down in case the wolves do turn out to be something of a concern. I do like the idea of bringing Jasper up for him to talk to the sisters about switching over to our diet, and Alice won't let him out of her sight, so of course she would be going with us."

"You may be right about Edward, he does seem more at peace here, and he's made it very clear that he isn't ready to leave. But we should still have a little sit-down with everyone to talk about the trip, especially before anyone has the chance to overhear or misconstrue anything."

"Before we talk to anyone about the possibility of this trip, I want to go looking for these wolves and see for myself what has Jasper and Edward so enthralled with them. The last thing we need to do at this point is to run off without having a better understanding of what it is we may be dealing with. Plus, it will give me the opportunity to go back into town to check on my patients before heading off."