Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns it all.
Chapter 14: Werewolves
As the parking lot started to fill up, we decided to take our PDA's into the woods bordering the school, at least until the first bell rang. Technically, we were off of campus and the PDA rules of holding hands only wouldn't apply. Edward and I clung to each other as if we'd been apart for weeks instead of hours. Our kisses were passion filled, and our bodies were so close that not even a piece of paper could find purchase between us. I could feel his hard on through his clothes, and I knew that he could smell the moisture that had permeated my underwear. Given only a few more minutes before the confounded bell would ring, we would have enthusiastically headed deeper into the forest to "comfort each other" as only our mate would be able to do. However, the blasted bell did have to ring, and we did have to leave the sanctuary of the forest and enter the institution of learning that we were sentenced to attend for the next three years.
We walked through the parking lot, the target of our classmates' stares, yet again. We walked into the office, and I turned in the note that Mrs. Lewis had written for us the night before. Mrs. Copeland looked at it suspiciously, noting that the signature wasn't that of our parents. "This note isn't signed by your parents. I don't know if I can accept it. Let me check with Mr. Barnard." She went into his office, and I heard her say, "Mr. Barnard, something is going on in the Cullen house. The kids are here today with an excuse for being absent yesterday signed by Mrs. Lewis, you know, the DHS social worker. Have you heard anything about what is going on?"
"No, I haven't heard anything. Let me make some calls, and I'll see what I can find out," Mr. Barnard said.
"Do I accept their excuse? I've never had an excuse from a social worker before," she said.
"Let me see the note," he said. We heard him dial a number. "Hello. This is Mr. Bernard, principal of Black River Falls High School. May I speak with Mrs. Lewis, please?.... Mrs. Lewis, this is Mr. Barnard, Principal of Black River Falls High School. The Cullen kids and the Hale kids came in this morning with a school excuse for missing yesterday which was signed by you. All school notes must be signed by parents or guardians....Oh, I see. The state has taken temporary guardianship of all six of the children. Well, we need proof of temporary guardianship for their records here. Where are they staying? We will need to update their records for emergency contacts and such....Oh, I see. They are in foster homes. Will we be able to get those addresses for our records?...No, but what if we need to get in touch with their foster parents?... We call you. Okay. Well, is there anything that we need to do for them?...Okay, just keep them in regular classes as if nothing is going on. That we can do. Thank you, Mrs. Lewis. Good-bye." He hung up the phone. We just looked at each other. Well, they knew now. How far through the school would these rumors make it before the end of the day? "Mrs. Copeland, give them excused absence slips."
"Yes sir," she said, and she walked back out to the office proper. She wrote out the excuse slips and handed them to us. We thanked her and asked her if she would mark the excuse for an excused tardy since we had been in the office waiting when the second bell rang. She took the excuses back and marked the correct box. She gave them back to us, and we went to our lockers to get the books that we would need for the morning. Then we went to our first period class.
Edward, Alice, and I walked up stairs and knocked on our English II door. Mrs. Anderson came to answer the door which was locked when the second bell rang. We gave her our excuse for both the tardy and the absence. She looked at the papers and let us in. "Take your seats. We are continuing our study of Oedipus." We went to our seats and pulled out our books. We paid attention and were able to catch up relatively easily. When class was over, Mrs. Anderson said, "Edward, Alice, Bella, can you please stay for a moment?"
We looked at each other, and I started to get tense. She was the one who turned us in and caused all of us all of this trouble. I was breathing heavier, and I had started to have a small growl in the depths of my stomach. Edward pulled me into his arms and whispered into my ear, "Bella, be calm. This isn't worth getting upset over. She's not worth it. Just hold my hand and squeeze it if you need to. Heck, you can bite me again if you need to, just don't lose it here, okay." I nodded and took his hand in mine.
We walked up to her desk. She looked at us and asked, "How are you doing?"
What the hell? She turned us in, and now she's asking us how we're doing. "Positively shitty, thank you very much," I said.
Her face registered what I'd said, and a look of complete shock blanketed her face. "Excuse me?" she stuttered.
"No, I don't think that I can," I said. "Now, if that's all that you wanted, we have to get to our next class." We turned and walked out of the room as her next class walked in.
We walked to our Chemistry class. We entered just in time to hear one of our classmates tell those around her, "I swear it. I was asleep last night by the time that they got there, and they had already gone by the time that I got up, but Mom told me their names, and I swear it's them." One of the girls that she was talking to nudged her arm when she noticed us walking into the room. The girl looked up and immediately started blushing.
We took our absentee form to Mr. Williams, and he signed it. "I know that you didn't get word that we are having a test today on chapter 3, so you can take it tomorrow."
Edward looked at us, and we nodded. "There is no need to wait. We can take it today. I'm sure that it would make it easier on you, wouldn't it?"
"Yes, it would, but don't you need time to prepare for it?" Mr. Williams asked.
"No, not really. We study over the weekend and every night," Edward said.
"Well, if you're sure," Mr. Williams said.
"We're sure," Alice said.
We took our seats, and Mr. Williams passed out the exams. We took our time finishing the exam, but we were still the first ones finished with them. He graded our exams and then called Edward up to his desk.
Speaking in a low tone so that no one could hear him except for Alice and me, he said, "Edward, I don't mean to pry, and if you want me to mind my business, then just tell me so. You and your sisters have already missed a lot of my classes. There have been rumors going around school about your family. I'm not one who usually listens to rumors about students, but the teachers are talking about these rumors as well. Then, this morning, there is another rumor going around about why you and your sisters missed yesterday. I'm not asking you about the rumors. I just want you to know that I'm here if you or your sisters need someone to talk to about what is going on in your family. You see, I was a product of many foster homes when I was a child. I was finally adopted, but the family that adopted me wasn't all that great. I've lived a very non-traditional life. No one here, in this town, except for you now, knows anything about my past. I'd like to keep it that way, but if you ever need an ear to listen to your problems, then I'm here for you."
"We appreciate the offer, Mr. Williams, but we are in a very happy family. Esme and Carlisle are the best parents in the world. The problems that our family are going through right now are because of a teacher who stuck her nose in where it didn't belong. They will be settled in a couple of days with some paperwork that we had to send for."
"You know that if a teacher suspects that abuse or neglect is going on in a household, he or she is required by law to report that, just like a doctor is," Mr. Williams said.
"Yes, but there is no abuse or neglect going on in our household. We are well fed, clothed, and have a roof over our head. There is no physical, sexual, or psychological abuse going on in the house," Edward said. "As I understand the law, that is the extent of what teachers are required to report."
"If she didn't report abuse or neglect, what did she report, if I may ask?" Mr. Williams queried.
Edward glanced at Alice and me. We very subtly nodded our heads. If we were going to go with the marriage licenses to get us out of this situation, we might as well use them at school to ward off all of the boys and girls who were still trying to date the six of us. Edward shifted his eyes up and down, his signal to us that he understood and agreed, then he said, "She called DHS and reported that the six of us are sleeping together and that Carlisle and Esme know about it and condone it."
"You're sleeping with your sister?" Mr. William asked in a stunned whisper.
"No," Edward laughed. "Bella isn't my blood sister. We have been together for just over five years. Emmett and Rosalie have been together for several years longer than we have, and Jasper and Alice have been together longer than we have, but less time than Emmett and Rosalie. You see, the six of us were dating before our parents were killed in a car accident. Esme and Carlisle were kind enough to adopt all six of us to keep the state from breaking us up. As our relationships progressed, they were happy for us. They've never done anything to keep us apart. We are with our soulmates. As we came of age, they allowed us to marry. That's the paperwork that we're waiting on. Our marriage licenses were lost in the move."
"You're married? Why would you get married so young? Do you have children or something?" Mr. Williams asked.
Edward laughed again. "No. None of us has ever caused a wanted or unwanted pregnancy. We got married because we're in love. We want to spend every moment in our lives together. We want to hold each other all night long, and we want to do other things that married couples do. Our parents taught us certain morals that we adhered to and respected, and they made us make certain promises that we were bound by. So, we got married once we were allowed to. Bella and I just got married this August."
"Well, congratulations. Why did you enroll here with different last names?" Mr. Williams asked.
"The box with our Marriage Licenses in it was lost during the move. Their birth certificates are in their maiden names, and we didn't have anything to prove their new names," Edward explained.
"This whole production with you and your family would never have happened if the teacher in question would have just talked to you and your parents before calling DHS. What a shame!" Mr. Williams said.
"Carlisle and Esme explained the situation to her on Monday night at the teacher's conference," Edward said.
"You're kidding! This whole situation is so asinine. I can't believe that she interfered like that," Mr. Williams almost said out loud. He glanced at his watch and said, "Okay class. Time is up. Pass your papers to the front of each row. Homework is to read chapter 4." He got up and gathered all of the papers. He walked back to his desk and said, "Edward, I'm glad that we had this discussion. I'll keep your secret, and I'm asking you to keep mine."
"Of course. I'd never betray your trust," Edward said. The bell rang then signaling morning break. I picked up Edward's books and brought them to the front. I gave them to Edward who leaned over and gave me a quick kiss on the lips. Mr. Williams smiled and shooed us out of the room.
We were opening the locks on our lockers to put our books in when we heard a noise behind us. When we turned around there were several teenagers gathered around us. The leader seemed to be Chelsea, the girl who had hit on Edward the first day of school. "Well, look who we have here. Edward, are you sure that you haven't changed your mind? I can show you several places around Black River Falls that are quite private and secluded, just perfect for some one on one action. Now that Barbie here is stuck in foster care, I know that you must be getting rather lonely, not that she could please you the way that I know that I could," she said. She moved closer to Edward and put her hands on his chest, running one hand up to caress his neck and the other hand, she ran down his abdomen and onto his groin. She cupped his manhood, and before he had a chance to move, I had dropped my books on the floor and with one arm, I had pushed her across the hallway and into the lockers on the other side. Two of her friends charged me. I knocked them backwards, and they skidded down the floor about ten feet. A large group was starting to gather and was calling out, "Fight, Fight!"
Before I could get to any more of the group that was surrounding us, I felt my arms being pinned from behind. I started to pull out of the hands, but then Edward picked up my feet and the two of them walked me through the crowd. Alice picked up our books and threw them in her locker. She followed us outside to "our area" in the front of the school. Jasper and Edward finally put me down. "You know what, Bella. It's kinda refreshing for me not to be the one who's getting into trouble every day at school," Jasper laughed. "I think that you've undeniably taken that title away from me this year."
"That bitch is lucky that she is still alive," I said. "I swear to God that if she approaches Edward one more time, I'll break her freaking neck. They'll never find her body. Alice, why didn't you see that happening?"
"A better question is how does she know that we are in foster care? Nobody here is supposed to know that. She didn't say that the guys are in foster care, just us, so it couldn't have come from the office. They know that we have all been removed from Carlisle and Esme. What worries me is that she may be associated with Andrew or some of his buddies," Alice said.
"I think that they're here," Edward said, turning to face the forest. "I can hear people in the forest. Their thoughts are garbled, but I'm picking up bits and pieces about us. I'm hearing thoughts that wonder how we can be around all of these kids. There are at least two of them out there, maybe three. I think that one of them is the pack leader. They are pissed that we had Andrew and Kevin arrested. You'd think that they'd be grateful. After all, you could have easily killed them both and gone on your way. You three showed fantastic control considering all of the pressure that you were under. It's not every day that we run into wolves who don't know who we are and the details of our lifestyle. We've just grown accustomed to Jacob and Sam and their packs. The treaty has made us complacent when it comes to the wolves. You three were in real danger, well, you would've been in real danger if you were one on one. Luckily, you had Andrew outnumbered," Edward said.
"Yeah, it was also lucky that his parents didn't know what he is. If they did, he may have been comfortable phasing in front of them and attacked us," I said.
Out of the forest, three young men started walking into the parking lot. When the other students saw them, murmurs started passing through the crowd. Snippets of "Isn't that Kyle, the football player that took us to the state championships for three years?" was heard again and again. The largest one of the three, was immediately swarmed by students. He spoke with several of them, but his eyes never left ours. Eventually, we heard him tell the mob of students, "If you will excuse me, I have some business that I need to take care of." They backed off from him, and he and his two henchmen started walking over towards us. Most of the crowd followed them.
The one that the crowd referred to as Kyle stepped forward, and Edward stepped forward to meet him. He glanced at the crowd that surrounded the two of them. They stared each other in the eyes for several seconds, then Edward said, "To what do we owe this surprise?"
"I understand that you had a run in with some of my friends last night," Kyle said. "I'm not so happy that you had them arrested."
"They put their hands on my...wife," Edward said.
"What did you expect? She should have known how he would have reacted to her presence as soon as she walked in the door. She should have left immediately if she didn't want a confrontation," he said.
"The girls weren't given that option. You know what his parents do for the county. They were required to stay there," Edward answered. "Besides, they weren't doing any harm. They had been there all afternoon. If anyone was going to be... affected by them being there, don't you think that there were plenty of opportunities before Andrew got home?"
"I talked to Andrew, and he said that he didn't think that they knew that he... existed," Kyle said, shaking his head. "They were eating supper like they weren't expecting him to come home."
"Mrs. Jenkins told them that he was coming home. They knew all about him," Edward said.
"Then why weren't they ready for him to arrive?" Kyle asked, wonder evident on his face.
"They were. We're used to, let's say, unusual dinner guests," Edward said.
"How so?"
"Well, the last place we lived, there were a couple of packs of unusual people that we were, not necessarily friends with, but lets say, we were acquainted with. They understood our unusual dinner guests really well. People say that you can see the change mostly in our eyes," Edward said.
"Yes, I have noticed that difference. It is rather unusual, I must say. What causes it?" Kyle asked.
"We like to partake of wild game, usually deer, elk, sometimes, we get to hunt bear and other such wildlife," Edward said.
"Why?" he asked.
"Many reasons, but mainly because it is right. It is a healthy diet. It goes to protect our souls," the love of my life explained to the werewolf.
The bell rang to signal the end of morning break. It was time for us to go to third period, World History. "We have to go, now," Edward said to Kyle. "I hope that I have calmed some of your fears."
"We shall talk again. Midnight, here." Kyle said as he turned to walk with his friends back into the forest.
"Three am is better, less of a crowd, but follow us from here to a neutral meeting place," Edward said. "We'll all be there."
We turned and walked back into the school. We could hear several people wondering what Kyle and Edward were talking about. They were wondering how the star football player from several years ago would even know Edward, much less have anything to talk to him about. To them, the conversation made little to no sense. Yet again, we were the center of gossip.
The rest of the school day was uneventful. We had all of our teachers sign off on our excuse slip and went to turn it in to Mrs. Copeland. Then we went to the parking lot. We slipped into the forest when nobody was watching, and as soon as we were out of sight, we started running. We left the school in moments and went deep into the forest. As much as we wanted to break into our couples, we stayed together just in case we ran across the werewolf pack. We found a small group of deer grazing about 2 miles from the school, and they let Jasper and me take them. We would need to feed the most often because we were still the most fragile of our group. We continued our hunt, going deeper into the forest. As we neared Canada, I caught a whiff of a bobcat, and we tracked it. Edward went in for the kill, as it was his favorite. After he drained it, we found the others something. After we fed, Edward called Carlisle and filled him in on his conversation with the wolf pack leader. He agreed to meet us at the school parking lot at a quarter till three in the morning so that we could lead them to a small clearing that we found while we were hunting. We were going to try to negotiate at least a truce, if not another treaty with the wolves.
Well fed, we trudged back to our cars. Everyone except us was gone from the parking lot. We took our time saying good-bye to our loved ones, then we got into our cars and headed to our respective foster homes. When I pulled up in the driveway, I noticed that I had a little blood on my shirt. It wasn't much, but it was noticeable. I needed to get up to our room before I saw anyone to change my shirt. It was a relatively warm day, so none of us had a sweater or jacket to cover it up with. We went to the front door, and when we went inside, I went upstairs at vampire speed. I made it to our room without seeing any one. I quickly changed shirts, and then came back downstairs to join Alice and Rosalie. We went into the kitchen to find Mrs. Valentine. She was sitting at the table with the bane of my existence. Chelsea was sitting with her books open, Mrs. Valentine going over Algebra problems with her.
I almost swallowed my tongue. Alice and Rose just stood there as stunned as I was. Mrs. Valentine looked up from the book and said, "Bella, Alice, Rosalie, this is my daughter, Chelsea. She had already gone to bed when you arrived last night, and you left so early this morning that I didn't get a chance to introduce you. You are in the same grade. Do you know each other?"
"Um, yes, we have met," I said. "Mrs. Valentine, do you need any help with supper?"
"Why, no, Bella, thank you for asking. I'll take care of supper. You just worry about your homework. School work comes first in this house," Mrs. Valentine said.
"Yes Ma'am," I said, and we started to go upstairs to our bedroom.
"Where do you think you are going?" Mrs. Valentine asked.
"To do our homework," I said, turning back to look at her.
"No, homework is done at the table so that I can supervise you," she said. Alice, Rose, and I groaned. That meant that we couldn't do our homework at vampire speed. We would actually have to do it slowly. It would take more than fifteen minutes to finish it. "I also want to know where you girls went after school. You obviously didn't come straight here."
"Um, we went to get a snack," Alice said.
"Well, I hope that you didn't ruin your appetite. You'll still be expected to eat supper with the family. From now on, you're expected to come straight here from school. Are we understood?" she asked.
"Yes, ma'am," I said as my cell phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket to answer it, and Mrs. Valentine held out her hand for it. "What?" I asked her.
"Give it to me," she said. "No phone calls until homework is done."
"I'll tell them," I said, answering the phone. "Hi, sweetheart, Mrs. Valentine doesn't allow phone calls until our homework is finished. I'll call you back when we're done." I told him. Then I added in vampire speed, "It'll take a little longer than usual, she is going to watch us do it, and guess what! Chelsea is her daughter. She's sitting right here at the freaking table looking straight at us." Then I said in regular volume, "I love you. Alice and Rose send Jasper and Emmett their love. Bye."
We sat down and started with our homework. I pulled out my Algebra II book and made quick work of the problems, not having to erase once. Geometry followed just as quickly. Then I "read" the next chapter of Chemistry, actually just glancing at the topic headings and blackened or italicized words. I finished with reading the assigned pages of World History. What generally took us a mere fifteen minutes took us a whole forty. Mrs. Valentine came over and checked to make sure that we had completed all of the work. She even went as far as to go through our books and ask us questions out of the material that we were supposed to have read. When she was done drilling us, I looked at my watch and sighed as I packed my bookbag.
"Mrs. Valentine, now that we have finished our homework, may we invite our brothers over for a little while?" I asked.
"Why, sure honey. I don't see why not, however, you may not go into your room with them. You will have to either stay in the den or stay outside with them."
I picked up my phone and dialed Edward's number. "Hi,sweetheart, Mrs. Valentine said that you guys can come over and visit for a while. I can't wait. See you soon. Love you, too. Bye." We took our book bags upstairs to our room, and then we went outside to wait for them to arrive. It didn't take them five minute before they were pulling up in front of the house. They all jumped out of the jeep and ran to us. We jumped into their arms, and they twirled us around. We went into the back yard, out of view of most of the windows of the house, and especially out of earshot from the house. The guys sat down on the grass, and we girls laid back against their chests.
"So, how do you think it's going to go tonight with the wolves?" I asked Edward.
"I hope that it goes good. Kyle seemed receptive, at least to what I had to say. I have some hope that he will at least listen to what we have to explain to him. I don't think that he is going to be the type to attack without reason. I mean, we have been here since August and there haven't been any deaths here or in surrounding towns. That has to speak to the fact that we don't feed on humans." he answered me.
"Yeah, with the Quileutes, they just noticed that our eyes were different and that helped them to give us a chance. I guess that it helped that they caught us feeding off of a deer, though," Rosalie added.
"I was going to ask about that. What happened to make them give you a treaty?" I asked.
"Well, they did catch us feeding off of a pack of deer. When they saw that, and combined with our golden rather than crimson eyes, they realized that we didn't hunt humans. They were still wary which is why we can't cross the border, but they agreed not to cross it either. They agreed to give us our territory as long as we didn't bite a human. They agreed to live in peace with us which goes against their very nature. It was quite the step that they took away from their comfort zone. Jacob's grandfather was a strong, courageous man," Edward said.
"Is their desire to kill us that strongly ingrained into what they are?" I asked.
"Yes, it is. It isn't a learned mindset. It comes naturally. We are their natural enemies, just like the cat and the dog, though much stronger, and not reversed. We don't hunt them down to destroy them. We find their scent disgusting, but I believe that is more of a warning, like the skunk's scent is a warning. For Kyle to have stood that close to Edward today without shaking or starting to phase showed great control on his part," Jasper said.
"Well, bottom line is, we find out tonight, or more accurately, in the morning, what is going to happen. Wear loose fitting clothes just in case there is going to be a fight. We want you to be able to move well. Bella, you will stay near me," Edward said.
"I'm stronger than all of you," I said. "I can help in a fight. Don't count me out."
"You don't have any training, and there isn't any time to show you any techniques. Besides, where could we go?" Jasper asked.
"I could still help," I said. "All you have to do is bite a werewolf, right?"
"Yeah, but you could get hurt in the process. I don't want you fighting," Edward said. "They sound experienced, and if they know what they're doing, they can easily take down a newborn."
"Bella, he's right. If they are experienced at all, you, being a newborn, wouldn't have a chance at all against them. Let the rest of us do the fighting. We know how to beat them. I'll train you later, if you want me to, but for this one, you need to sit it out. You're too inexperienced, and you'll make us get hurt trying to protect you," Jasper said.
"Who's going to be fighting, and who's got a newborn?" Chelsea asked, coming over the hill in her backyard.
"Nobody is fighting, Chelsea, and nobody has a newborn. Why don't you mind your own business for a change?" I said.
"It is my business. My parents are responsible for the three of you. You have to do what they tell you to do. Anyway, mom said for me to come and get you. It's time for supper. They have to go home now," Chelsea said.
"Now for the torture of tortures," Alice said to Jasper. He and the other guys just laughed. Rose knocked Emmett upside the head.
"Is it going to be that bad?" I asked Edward, and he just nodded. I put my head down on his shoulder. I didn't want to let him go. I didn't want to face eating my first human meal as a vampire without him. I looked at Jasper and Emmett, and they had looks of pity on their face. I wouldn't even have Jasper to calm me down. I felt anxiety starting to build up inside of me. Jasper took a look at me, and started to calm me down. I smiled at him, but I still wished that he could go inside with me.
"Come on, Bella. You'll get through it. It'll be okay," Alice said, pulling me up from Edward's lap. I quickly turned and flew back into his arms. I kissed him with as much force as I could muster. He kissed me back equally as hard. When we finally broke our kiss, we started walking towards the front yard. The guys piled into Emmett's jeep, and I gave Edward another kiss, this one much more passionate. I knew that I would see him again in several hours, but it couldn't come soon enough for me.
After the boys had disappeared down the road, we walked inside. Supper was on the table, and everyone was waiting on us. We took the empty seats to the stares of Mr. and Mrs. Valentine. After Mr. Valentine said grace, Mrs. Valentine said, "Didn't Chelsea tell you that supper was ready?"
"Yes, she did," Rose said.
"Well, why didn't you come inside, immediately?" she followed.
"We walked our guys out to their car," Alice said.
"I thought that you said that you were inviting your brothers over," Mrs. Valentine said.
"Mom, don't you remember? I told you at the beginning of school. These are the ones who are dating their brothers. Some of the rumors are that they are sleeping with their brothers. Remember?" Chelsea said.
"Chelsea, what have I told you about gossip?" Mr. Valentine said.
"Yes sir," Chelsea said, but she looked at her mom.
"Is what she said true?" Mrs. Valentine asked. "Are you dating your brothers?"
"No, not really," I said. "In reality, we're married to them." Alice and Rosalie laughed.
"That is not funny at all, young lady. We do not make jokes of that nature in my house," Mr. Valentine said in a gruff voice.
"I wasn't joking," I said. "Emmett and Rosalie married first, then Alice and Jasper. Edward and I just got married in August. Once we were legal to marry with our parent's approval, we got married. It's no big secret. We aren't blood related. We are just two families that were adopted by the same couple when both of our parents were killed in an automobile accident."
"Then why are you here with us," Mrs. Valentine asked?
"Our marriage licenses were lost during our move from Alaska," Alice said. "We had to send for new copies of them to satisfy the DHS people. They just haven't arrived, yet."
"I see. I don't think that your brothers will be allowed over again until this is all settled. Now, help your plates," Mrs. Valentine ordered. I had hoped that she had forgotten with all of the discussion about our love lives. No such luck!
We all took very small helpings of each of the items on the table. I watched as Alice and Rose put their napkins in their laps. Then they each "took a bite," by picking up a small amount of something that was on their plate and bringing it up to their lips. They made the motion of opening their mouths, but then, instead of putting the food into their mouths, they took their forks to their laps and placed the food onto their napkins in vampire speed followed by raising their empty fork to their lips again. This whole process took less than a quarter of a second, and nobody at the table, except for me, was none the wiser. After watching them for a couple of more times, I decided that it was time for me to try their technique. I put a couple of pieces of broccoli onto my fork and brought it to my mouth. When nobody was looking, I put the broccoli into my napkin. Sweet success. While we couldn't get away with "eating" the whole meal this way, we managed to take care of about eighty percent of it with the napkin ruse. The other twenty percent, we had to gag down. It was kind of like eating cardboard with mud soaked into it. It wouldn't kill you, just make you want to puke your guts out.
When supper was over, the three of us wrapped up the napkins in our laps and helped to clear the table. We dumped the napkins in the trash, and after the kitchen was cleaned, we asked if we could go for a walk. Mrs. Valentine gave us permission to go for a walk, telling us to be back by dark. We left the house at a pretty steady clip, moving down the road towards a patch of woods down the street. Chelsea started to follow us, but we quickly out paced her. When we reached the woods, we started to run, getting as far away from human habitation as we could before we started hacking up what we were forced to eat. It didn't taste any better coming back up. We ran through the woods after that, looking for something to clear our palates with. Luckily, we ran across a den of coyotes, five of them, just back from hunting from the smell of them. We made quick work of them, relieving ourselves of the horror that was supper. This time, my shirt made it through the kill and subsequent meal without damage. We ran back to the road and then walked back to the Valentine's house. We walked into the backyard and sat near the back fence where we were with the guys until dark. Then we went inside and up to our room. I turned on my Ipod and lay down on the top bunk, trying to relax until it was time to go to meet the rest of the family. To say that I wasn't nervous would be a lie. I was very nervous. I didn't know what was going to happen tonight. Alice couldn't see anything because it involved werewolves, and I usually counted on her to provide me with basic information. Any one of us could be hurt tonight, including myself or heaven forbid, Edward. So, I laid there, my Ipod volume turned up, the world tuned out.
I didn't hear when Mrs. Valentine opened the door to say, "Good night," and I didn't hear when Mr. and Mrs. Valentine shut their door for the night. However, when the time turned to 2:40 am, I knew it in my soul. I turned off my Ipod, and sat up on the side of the bed. Alice and Rose did the same. I jumped down lithely, and we moved to the window in our room. The house didn't have an alarm system, but the front door squeaked. Our window was the best option. We opened it quietly, and we jumped out of it, landing stealthily in the front yard. We ran through the abandoned streets to the school parking lot. Carlisle and Esme were already there, and we gave them huge hugs. The boys showed up a minute later, and we let them lead us through the forest to the small clearing that we had all discovered while we were hunting. Now, all we had to do was wait.
Nobody spoke. Everyone was paying full attention to our surroundings, listening, smelling. Edward was trying to hear their thoughts. About two minutes till three, he suddenly stopped and looked up in the direction that we had come. We all followed his gaze. There, in the forest, were about ten wolves, ranging in size from about five feet at the shoulder to three and a half feet at the shoulder. They ranged in color from burnt auburn to gray. They were still in the forest's edge. The leader backed into the trees, and a minute later, Kyle stepped out into the clearing wearing jogging pants.
Kyle moved halfway towards us, then he paused. Carlisle moved towards him, meeting him in the middle of the two groups of us. Carlisle said, "Kyle, I presume. I am Carlisle Cullen. This is my family. My wife, Esme. You have already met Edward, my son. His wife, Bella. Emmett and his wife, Rosalie. And Jasper and his wife, Alice." Carlisle pointed each of us out as he introduced us.
"How much do you know about us?" Kyle asked.
"Pretty much everything," Carlisle answered him. "You are shape shifters, not true werewolves. You are natural enemies of the vampire. You are descended from ancient vampire hunters, but you only come into being if there is a vampire threat to activate the wolf gene. As long as you phase, you will not grow older, but if you quit phasing, your aging will begin again. You have a remarkable metabolism which allows you to heal from injuries at an almost alarming rate, however a vampire bite is lethal to you. Your pack is bound to your decisions as alpha. You can speak via telepathy when you are in your wolf form. Did I miss anything?"
"How do you know so much?" Kyle asked, astonishment in his voice.
"You are obviously not the first pack that we've come across. In Washington State, there are two packs in La Push. We have an established treaty with them that has been in effect for going on ninety years now. We would like to establish such a working relationship with your pack."
"Why would a werewolf pack make a treaty with a coven of vampires?"
"Well, first of all, we aren't a coven. We are a family. Secondly, we aren't like any vampires that you have ever run across. We don't feed on humans. We feed exclusively on wildlife. It is a choice that we each, of our own volition, have made. They agreed to stay to their side of a treaty line that we both agreed on, and we would stay on our side of the line. We also agreed not to bite any human. The treaty is still in place today."
"How do we know that you are telling the truth about feeding on humans?"
"By the color of our eyes. Have you ever seen vampires with golden eyes before?" Kyle shook his head. "That is because when a vampire feeds on a human, the redness of the blood is reflected in the eyes. When a vampire feeds off of wildlife, the eyes turn golden," Carlisle said.
"Is there anyone who can confirm what you are telling me?" asked Kyle.
Carlisle turned to me. "Do you think that Jacob would talk to him?"
"I don't know. I left him pretty upset. You could try him, but Sam may be a better option since you have a better relationship with him," I said.
"Okay, I'll try Sam," Carlisle said, dialing his number from memory. Unfortunately, there wasn't an answer. "Bella, would you please try."
"Okay," I said. I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Jacob's number from memory. It rang several times before he picked it up.
"Hello," Jake said.
"Jake, it's Bella. I'm putting the phone on speaker." I said, changing the phone over to speaker. There was just silence for a long time. "Look, Jake, I'm sorry to call. I know that I told you that I'd stay out of your life, but I need to ask you a favor." The line remained silent. I could hear him breathing on the other end, but he didn't say anything, so I continued. "Jake, we're talking with some new wolves, well, the pack leader in particular. He wants someone to confirm that we don't hunt humans. We tried to call Sam, but he didn't answer his phone. Would you talk to him?" The line remained silent. "Jake, I'm sorry I called. I won't bother you again. I'm sorry. Bye."
"Wait, Bella! Don't go!" he yelled, then, "don't go," he whispered. "Baby, please don't go," he whispered almost inaudibly.
"Jake, I'm here. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I just didn't expect to hear your voice again, that's all," he said, and you could hear the tears in his voice. "Now what did you need me to do? Talk to a pack leader. Can't you guys avoid trouble?" he laughed. "Seriously, dude, this is Jacob Black. I'm pack leader from La Push, Washington. We have a treaty with the Cullens that dates back to my grandfather. He and Carlisle made the treaty when they ran up on them feeding off of a deer. The Cullens aren't like most leeches; they don't feed off of humans. They only feed off of wildlife like deer and cougars, and that big one, Emmett, he likes bears."
"This is Kyle. I am pack leader here in Black River Falls, Wisconsin." We all groaned. We didn't want Jacob, and thus everyone in Forks to know where we were. "How do you know the Cullens so well?"
"Well, I don't know all of the Cullens that well, to be honest. I know Carlisle because he is a doc, and he has patched me up a couple of times, especially after Edward beat the shit out of me. I know Edward, unfortunately. I wish that he didn't exist if you want to know my honest thoughts on the matter, but that's between him and me. Then, Bella. I know her the best of all of them. She is my ex-wife. I still love her more than life itself." I looked at Edward and handed the phone to Carlisle.
I walked away from the group, and Edward walked with me. "I just hate that I had to hurt him so much," I said. Edward took me into his arms, and pulled me to him. "I wish that there was another way. One where he didn't have to get hurt so bad; one where he would find peace and contentment, not misery and loneliness."
"You made your choice. Do you regret it?" Edward asked me, pulling me away from him enough to look me in the eyes. "Do you ever wish that you had chosen to stay with him over coming with me?"
"No! Never! I love you with every atom of my being. I could no more be without you than quit existing. You are my everything, but Jacob is my friend. He was there for me when you weren't. I can never forget that. I can never thank him enough for that. You have to understand that he kept me alive for you to come back for. If it weren't for Jacob, I wouldn't be here for you to love. You owe Jacob, too, Edward. I know that you'll never see it that way, but you do. All of you who love me and want me to be a part of this family owe Jacob."
"I never looked at it that way. I looked at Jacob, and he had what I wanted. He had you. I didn't think that him having you kept you alive, just that he had you. He had you in his bed at night. He had you in his arms in the morning. I wanted you in my arms and in my bed and in my future." He kissed me and held me to him.
I walked back to the Cullens when I heard Carlisle finishing up the phone call with Jacob. I took the phone back from him. I took it off of speaker. "Jake, are you still there?"
"Yeah, Bella. I'm still here."
"I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am again. I didn't mean for this to hurt you. You are still one of my best friends, and I owe my life to you. I want to thank you for giving me back my life when I didn't think that I could go on."
"Bella, how did you think I was going to feel? You cheated on me with Edward, then you left me for him. You didn't even have the decency to tell me that he was back in your life. You cheated, and then you let me find you. Bella, if you had said that he was back in town, I think that I would have understood you leaving. I wouldn't have liked it, not by a long shot, but I would have understood it. I never thought that I took his place in your life."
I crumpled to the ground, "Jacob, I didn't know how to tell you. I didn't want to hurt you. You deserved better than what I could give you. But Jacob, I do want you to know one thing, I swear to you, I didn't cheat on you with Edward. I swear it. We didn't have an intimate relationship until after my death."
"Does it matter, Bella? Your soul belonged to him. You know it, and I know it."
"My soul belonged to him every day that we were married, Jake. That never changed, even when he left me."
"Yeah, I've got to go, Bella. I need to patrol. I'm going to be late relieving Seth."
"Give Seth my love, good-bye Jake."
"Good-bye." I hung up my phone and just sat there. I covered my face with my hands. I wasn't ready to face my family, much less another group of werewolves.
When the werewolves left, Edward came over to me and lifted me in his arms. He walked over to the rest of the family. Carlisle had rejoined everyone, and though they could hear every word that had been said, he repeated the high points for my benefit. "There is a treaty in effect with the wolves. We may hunt any of the forests between Black River Falls and Canada. There is no boundary line that we have to worry about not crossing. We obviously can't bite a human. They will keep our secret identities just as we will keep theirs. Otherwise, we can call him if we have any problems. He will contact Edward at school if they have any problems."
When Carlisle had finished going over the terms of the treaty, I looked at my watch. It was a quarter after four in the morning. We had forty-five minutes to be back before Mr. Valentine would be getting up for work. Edward and I ran back along the trail that we came into the forest on. When we were about a mile from the school, we veered off of the trail about a half mile. There, we made love, him holding onto me like I was about to vanish from his arms. We lay in the leaves covering the floor of the forest, naked, as the sun came up, wisps of sunlight glistening off of our skin. We dressed in silence as the clouds hid the happy sun, again making the morning dull and lifeless. We ran back to the school parking lot where we parted ways. I kissed him good-bye, saying that I'd see him in a couple of hours.
I ran back to the Valentine's house. Once there, I jumped into the open window, closing it behind me. Alice and Rose were already there, in bed, pretending to be asleep. I crawled into bed and replaced my Ipod headphones. I listened to my music with my eyes closed, waiting until it was time to begin another grueling day.