I hated to waste any part of the night in sleep, but that was inevitable. The sun was bright outside the window-wall when I woke, with small clouds scuttling too quickly across the sky. The wind rocked the treetops till the whole forest looked as if it was going to shake apart.
She kissed me gently, then left me alone to get dressed, and I appreciated the chance to sleep. Somehow, my entire night had gone completely differently than I had ever imagined it would. Somehow, though I wasn't upset. Maybe just surprised. I'd given back the beautiful ring as soon as I had woken up—afraid I'd lose it with my luck. Though it was no longer on my finger, my hand still felt heavier, like it was still there.
I had considered Edyth's compromise; a quiet, private affair—a road trip to Vegas. Jeans and a t-shirt, a short ceremony; no more than fifteen minutes. Nothing scary about that.
And then, when it was over, we'd be linked in every human way possible. Another human experience checked off the list. That wasn't so bad, at all. In fact, it was a pretty great deal.
She said I didn't have to tell anyone, though I was still deciding if I wanted to keep it a secret or not. Of course, it was very stupid of me to not think of Alice.
The Cullens got home around noon. There was a new, business like feel to the atmosphere around them, and it pulled me back into the enormity of what was coming.
Alice seemed to be in an unusually bad mood. I chalked it up to her frustration with feeling normal, because her first words to Edyth were a complaint about working with the wolves.
"I think"—she made a face as she used the uncertain word—"that you're going to want to pack for cold weather, Edyth. I can't see where you are exactly, because you're taking off with that dog this afternoon. But the storm that's coming seems particularly bad in that general area."
Edyth nodded.
"It's going to snow on the mountains," she warned her.
"Snow?" I muttered, "It's June for crying out loud."
"Wear a jacket," Alice told me. Her voice was unfriendly, and that surprised me. I tried to read her face, but she turned away.
I looked at Edyth, and she was smiling; whatever was bugging Alice amused her.
Edyth had more than enough camping gear to choose from—props in the human charade; the Cullens were good customers at the Newton's store. She grabbed a down sleeping bag, a small tent, and several packets of dehydrated food—grinning when I made a face at them—and stuffed them all in a backpack.
Alice wandered into the garage while we were there, watching Edyth's preparations without a word. She ignored her.
When she was done packing, Edyth turned to me. "Why don't you call Julie and tell her we'll be ready for her in an hour or so. She knows where to meet us."
Julie wasn't home, but Billy promised to call around until he could find an available werewolf to pass the news to.
"Don't you worry about Charlie, Bella," Billy said. "I've got my part of this under control."
"Thanks, Billy. I know Charlie will be fine." I didn't feel so confident about his daughter's safety, but I didn't add that.
"I wish I could be with the rest of them tomorrow." Billy chuckled regretfully. "Being an old man is a hardship, Bella."
I couldn't even begin to comprehend why every single person in my life seemed to jump at the chance to fight.
"Have fun with Charlie."
"Good luck, Bella," he answered. "And… pass that along to the, er, Cullens for me."
"I will," I promised, surprised by the gesture.
I pocketed my phone, and turned back to Edyth and Alice. I saw that they were having some kind of silent discussion. She was staring at her, pleading in her eyes. She was frowning back, unhappy with whatever she wanted.
"Billy said to tell you 'good luck.'"
"That was generous of him," Edyth said, breaking away from her.
"Bella, could I please speak to you alone?" Alice asked swiftly.
"You're about to make my life much harder than it needs to be, Alice," Edyth warned her through her teeth. "I'd really rather you didn't."
"This isn't about you, Edyth," she shot back.
She laughed. Something about her response was funny to her.
"It's not," Alice insisted. "This is between Bella and myself."
She frowned.
"It's fine, Edyth, let her talk to me," I told her. I was curious.
"You asked for it," she muttered. She laughed again—half angry, half amused—and strode out of the garage.
I turned to Alice, worried now, but she didn't look at me. Her bad mood hadn't passed yet.
She went to sit on the hood of her Porsche, her face dejected. I followed, and leaned against the bumper beside her.
"Bella?" Alice asked in a sad voice, shifting over and curling up against my side. Her voice sounded so miserable that I wrapped my arms around her shoulders in comfort.
"What's wrong, Alice?"
"Don't you love me?" she asked in that same sad tone.
"Of course I do. You know that."
"Then why do I see you sneaking off to Vegas to get married without inviting me?"
"Oh," I muttered, my cheeks turning pink. I could see that I had seriously hurt her feelings, and I hurried to defend myself. "You know I don't like making a big deal out of things. It was Edyth's idea, anyway."
"It doesn't matter whose idea it was, Bella! It's the principle of the matter! I expect that kind of thing from Edyth, but not from you. I love you like you were my own sister."
"And I love you like a sister, Alice!"
"Words!" She sighed.
"Alice, of course you're invited. There won't be much to see, though."
She was still grimacing.
"What?' I pushed.
"How much do you love me, Bella?"
"Why?"
She stared at me with pleading eyes, her long black eyebrows slanting up in the middle and pulling together, her lips trembling at the corners. It was a heart-breaking expression.
"Please, please, please," she whispered. "Please, Bella, please… Please let me plan your wedding."
"Aw, Alice!" I sighed, pulling away and standing up. "Come on, don't do this right now. We're about to face an army of homicidal newborns and you're upset about a wedding?"
"I know, Bella, I know, but it would mean so much to me!"
I folded my arms across my chest. "Alice, this is unfair."
"I'll bet Edyth would like it better if you did this traditionally, though she'd never tell you that. And Esme—think what it would mean to her!"
I groaned. "I can't believe we're having this conversation right now."
"I'll owe you for a decade!"
"You'd owe me for a century!"
Her eyes glowed. "Is that a yes?"
"No! I don't want to do anything big and crazy!"
"You won't have to do anything but walk a few yards and then repeat after the minister."
"Ugh, Alice."
"Please?" She started bouncing in place. "Please, please, please, please, please?"
I couldn't help but smile a little, but I was fighting it hard. The smile broke through on the corners of my lips as I tried to give her a serious expression. "I'll never, never ever forgive you for this, Alice."
"Yay!" she squealed, clapping her hands together.
"It's not a complete yes, Alice!"
"But it will be," she sang.
"Edyth!" I called, walking out of the garage. "I know you're listening. Get over here." Alice was right behind me, still clapping.
"Thanks so much, Alice," Edyth said acidly, coming from behind me. I turned to voice my frustrations, but her expression was so worried and upset that I held my tongue. I sighed and wrapped my arms around her waist.
"Vegas," Edyth promised in my ear.
"Not a chance," Alice gloated. "Bella would never do that to me. You know, Edyth, as a sister, you are sometimes a disappointment."
"Don't be mean," I chided her. "Just because you're getting your way."
you like the idea! You're just nervous about it, and I understand why!" she was practically dancing. "We'll talk about every single detail and I promise you'll be the happiest bride in the world!"
I laughed. "Alright, Alice. I never thought I'd see the day where I'd be willing to take a bet against you, but it has arrived."
She laughed her silvery laugh. "So, are you going to show me the ring?"
I jumped as she grabbed my left hand and then dropped it just as quickly.
"Huh. I saw her put it on you… Did I miss something?" she asked. She was concentrated for half a second, furrowing her brow, before she answered her own questions. "No. Wedding's still on."
"Bella was nervous about losing it," Edyth explained.
"What's one more diamond? Well, I guess the ring has lots of diamonds, but my point is that she's already got one on—"
"Enough, Alice!" Edyth cut her off suddenly. The way she glared at her… she looked like a vampire again. "We're in a hurry."
"I don't understand. What's that about diamonds?" I asked.
"We'll talk about it later," Alice said. "Edyth is right — you'd better get going. You've got to set a trap and make camp before the storm comes." She frowned, and her expression was anxious, almost nervous. "Don't forget your coat, Bella. It seems . . . unseasonably cold."
"I've already got it," Edyth assured her.
"Have a nice night," she told us in farewell.
It was twice as far to the clearing as usual; Edyth took a long detour, making sure my scent would be nowhere near the trail Julie would hide later. She carried me in her arms, the bulky backpack in my usual spot.
She stopped at the farthest end of the clearing and set me on my feet.
"All right. Just walk north for some ways, touching as much as you can. Alice gave me a clear picture of their path, and it won't take long for us to intersect it."
"North?"
She smiled and pointed out the right direction.
I wandered into the woods, leaving the clear yellow light of the strangely sunny day in the clearing behind me. Maybe Alice's blurred sight would be wrong about the snow. I hoped so. The sky was mostly clear, though the wind whipped furiously through the open spaces. In the trees it was calmer, but much too cold for June — even in a long-sleeved shirt with a thick sweater over the top, there were goose bumps on my arms. I walked slowly, trailing my fingers over anything close enough: the rough tree bark, the wet ferns, the moss-covered rocks.
Edyth stayed with me, walking a parallel line about twenty yards away. "Am I doing this right?" I called.
"Perfectly."
I had an idea. "Will this help?" I asked as I ran my fingers through my hair and tugged out a few strands. I dropped them into the ferns.
"Yes, that does make the trail stronger. But you don't need to pull your hair out, Bella. It will be fine."
"I've got a few extra I can spare."
It was gloomy under the trees, and I wished I could walk closer to Edyth and hold her hand.
I dropped another hair into a broken branch that cut through my path.
"You don't need to let Alice have her way, you know," Edyth said.
"Don't worry about it, Edyth. I'm not going to leave you at the alter or something." The more I thought about it, I wasn't feeling totally opposed to Alice's idea of a beautiful wedding. Facing it head on, I was starting to think that maybe my opposition to the idea was, well,wrong.
"That's not what I'm worried about. I want this to be what you want it to be."
I repressed a sigh. "Stop worrying, Edyth. If Alice makes good on her promise to discuss everything with me, then, I think it'll be fine."
"Well, even then, we can just keep it small. Just us. Emmett can get a clerical license off the Internet."
I laughed. "There we go." I tried to picture Emmett reading the vows, but it only made me laugh harder.
"See," she said with a smile. "There's always a compromise."
It took a while for me to reach the spot where the newborn army would be certain to cross my trail, but Edyth never got impatient with my pace.
She had to lead a bit more on the way back, to keep me on the same path. It all looked alike to me.
We were almost to the clearing when I fell. I could see the wide opening ahead, and that's probably why I got too eager and forgot to watch my feet. I caught myself before my head bashed into the nearest tree, but a small branch snapped off under my left hand and gouged into my palm.
"Ouch! Oh, fabulous," I muttered.
"Are you all right?"
"I'm fine. Stay where you are. I'm bleeding. It will stop in a minute."
She ignored me. She was right there before I could finish.
"I've got a first aid kit," she said, pulling off the backpack. "I had a feeling I might need it."
"It's not bad. I can take care of it—you don't have to make yourself uncomfortable."
"I'm not uncomfortable," she said calmly. "Here—let me clean it."
"Wait a second, I just got another idea."
Without looking at the blood and breathing through my mouth, just in case my stomach might react, I pressed my hand against a rock within my reach.
"What are you doing?"
"Jasper will love this," I muttered to myself. I started for the clearing again, pressing my palm against everything in my path. "I'll bet this really gets them going."
Edyth sighed.
"Hold your breath," I told her.
"I'm fine. I just think you're going overboard."
"This is all I get to do. I want to do a good job."
We broke through the last of the trees as I spoke. I let my injured hand graze across the ferns.
"Well, you have," Edyth assured me. "The newborns will be frantic, and Jasper will be very impressed with your dedication. Now let me treat your hand — you've gotten the cut dirty."
"Let me do it, please."
She took my hand and smiled as she examined it. "This doesn't bother me anymore."
I watched her carefully as she cleaned the gash, looking for some sign of distress. She continued to breathe evenly in and out, the same small smile on her lips.
"Why not?" I finally asked as she smoothed a bandage across my palm.
She shrugged. "I got over it."
"You…got over it? When? How?" I tried to remember the last time she'd held her breath around me. All I could think of was my wretched birthday party last September.
Edyth pursed her lips, seeming to search for the words. "I lived through an entire twenty-four hours thinking that you were dead, Bella. That changed the way I look at a lot of things."
"Did it change the way I smell to you?"
"Not at all. But… having experienced the way it feels to think I've lost you… my reactions have changed. My entire being shies away from any course that could inspire that kind of pain again."
I didn't know what to say to that.
She smiled at my expression. "I guess that you could call it a very educational experience."
The wind tore through the clearing then, pulling at my hair and making me shiver.
"All right," she said, reaching into her pack again. "You've done your part." She pulled out my heavy winter jacket and held it out for me to slide my arms in. "Now it's out of our hands. Let's go camping!"
I laughed at the mock enthusiasm in her voice.
She took my bandaged hand and kissed it gently, then my other hand—freshly out of the brace—and started toward the other side of the clearing.
"Where are we meeting Julie?" I asked.
"Right here." She gestured to the trees in front of us just as Julie stepped warily from their shadows.
It shouldn't have surprised me to see her human. I wasn't sure why I'd been looking for the big red-brown wolf.
Julie seemed bigger again—no doubt a product of my expectations; I must have unconsciously been hoping to see the smaller Julie from my memory, the easygoing friend who hadn't changed everything. She had her arms folded across her chest, a jacket clutched in one fist. Her face was expressionless as she watched us.
Edyth's lips pulled down at the corners. "There had to have been a better way to do this."
"Too late now," I shrugged.
She sighed.
"Hey, Jules," I greeted her when we got closer.
"Hi, Bella."
"Hello, Julie," Edyth said.
Julie nodded once, and was immediately all business. "Where do I take her?"
Edyth pulled a map from a side pocket on the pack and offered it to her. Julie unfolded it.
"We're here now," Edyth said, reaching over to touch the right spot. Julie recoiled slightly from her hand, and then steadied herself. Edyth pretended not to notice.
"And you're taking her up here," Edyth continued, tracing a serpentine pattern around the elevation lines on the paper. "Roughly nine miles."
Julie nodded again.
"When you're about a mile away, you should cross my path. That will lead you in. Do you need the map?"
"No, thanks. I know this area pretty well. I think I know where I'm going."
Julie seemed to be working hard to keep her tone polite.
"I'll take a longer route," Edyth said. "And I'll see you in a few hours."
Edyth stared at me unhappily. She didn't like this part of the plan.
"See you," I murmured.
Edyth faded into the trees, heading in the opposite direction.
As soon as she was gone, Julie turned cheerful.
"What's up, Bella?" she asked with a big grin.
I chuckled darkly. "Same old, same old."
"Yeah," she agreed. "Bunch of vampires trying to kill you. The usual."
"The usual."
"Well," she said as she shrugged into her jacket to free her arms. "Let's get going."
I sighed, taking a small step closer to her. "Let's go." I agreed.
She bent down and swept her arm behind my knees, knocking them out from under me. Her other arm caught me before my head hit the ground.
"Jerk," I muttered.
Julie chuckled, already running through the trees. She kept a steady pace, a brisk jog that a fit human could keep up with… across a level plane… if they weren't burdened with a hundred-plus pounds as she was.
"You don't have to run, Jules. You'll get tired."
"Running doesn't make me tired," she said. Her breathing was even—like the fixed tempo of a marathoner. "Besides, it will be colder soon. I hope she gets the camp set up before we get there."
I tapped my finger against the thick padding of her parka. "I thought you didn't get cold now."
"I don't. I brought this for you, just in case you weren't prepared." She looked at my jacket, almost as if she were disappointed that I was.
"Oh. Thanks, Jules. That was sweet of you."
She nodded slightly, distracted. "I don't like the way the weather feels. It's making me edgy. Notice we haven't seen any animals?"
"Um, not really."
"I guess you wouldn't. Your senses aren't as sharp as mine."
I let that pass. "Alice was worried about the storm, too."
"It takes a lot to silence the forest this way. You picked a hell of a night for a camping trip."
"It wasn't entirely my idea."
The pathless way she took began to climb more and more steeply, but it didn't slow her down. She leapt easily from rock to rock, not seeming to need her hands at all. Her perfect balance reminded me of a mountain goat.
"What's with the addition to your necklace?" she asked.
I looked down, and saw the crystal heart resting on my chest.
I shrugged guiltily. "Another graduation present."
She snorted. "A rock. Figures."
A rock? I was suddenly reminded of Alice's unfinished sentence outside the garage. I stared at the bright white crystal and tried to remember what Alice had been saying before… about diamonds. Could she have been trying to say that she's already got one on you? As in, I was already wearing one diamond from Edyth? No, that was impossible. The heart would have to be five carats or something crazy like that! Edyth wouldn't—
"So, it's been a while since you came down to La Push," Julie said, interrupting my conjectures.
"I've been busy," I told her. "Besides… I'm not sure if I would have visited, anyway."
She grimaced. "I was hoping you would have forgiven me by now."
"It wasn't that long ago."
She sighed. "Been thinking about that last time a lot, have you?"
"Not the way you want me to."
"I really am sorry, Bella. I wish there was a way I could prove that to you." Her voice was low and husky.
I felt slightly uncomfortable having this conversation under the present conditions—with her too-warm arms wrapped tightly around me and her face so close to mine.
"Did you at least think about our conversation?" she asked.
"What about it?"
"See if it affects your decision at all, I mean."
"My decision is the same, Jules." I sighed.
"Can I ask you something?" She said after a second.
"What?"
"Is she a better kisser than I am?" She asked, suddenly very glum.
"I really couldn't say, Jules. Edyth is the only person I've ever kissed."
"Besides me."
"I think we established that didn't count as a kiss so much as an assault."
"Ouch! That's cold."
I shrugged. "It's the truth."
"I'll be apologizing for the rest of my life, huh?" She asked.
"I forgave you… mostly. It doesn't change the way it was."
She muttered something unintelligible.
It was quiet then for a while; there was just the sound of her measured breathing and the wind roaring high above us in the treetops. A cliff face rose sheer beside us, bare, rough, gray stone. We followed the base as it curved upward out of the forest.
"I'm not trying to sound like a broken record or something, Bella," Julie suddenly said, "I just think it's pretty irresponsible."
"What are you talking about?"
"Think about it, Bella. Like you said, you've only kissed one person—who isn't even really a person—in your whole life, and you're calling it quits? How do you know that's what you want? Shouldn't you play the field a little?"
I kept my voice cool. "I know what I want."
"But it couldn't hurt to double check. Maybe you should try kissing someone else—just for comparison's sake… since what happened the other day doesn't count. You could kiss me, for example. I don't mind if you want to use me to experiment."
She pulled me tighter against her chest, so that my face was closer to hers. She was smiling at her joke, but I wasn't taking any chances.
"Behave yourself, Julie. I won't stop her if she wants to break your jaw."
She sighed, but she was still smiling. "Okay, but if you ask me to kiss you, she won't have any reason to get upset. She said that was fine."
"Don't hold your breath, Jules."
"You're in a bad mood today."
"I wonder why?"
"Sometimes I think you like me better as wolf."
"Sometimes I do. Maybe it's because you don't say or do things that upset me so badly."
She pursed her lips thoughtfully. "No, I don't think that's it. I think it's easier for you to be near me when I'm not human, because you don't have to pretend that you're not attracted to me."
My mouth fell open with a little popping sound. Something in the back of my head—a thought—started buzzing. I snapped my mouth shut.
She heard that. Her lips pulled tightly across her face in a smile.
I took a slow breath before I spoke. "No. I'm pretty sure that's not it."
She sighed. "Come on, babe. Be honest with yourself. You have to know how aware you are of me. Physically, I mean."
"How could anyone not be aware of you physically, Jules?" I demanded. "You're an enormous oaf who lacks respect for anyone else's personal space."
"I make you nervous. But only when I'm human. When I'm a wolf, you're more comfortable around me."
"Maybe I'm nervous because I never know when you're going to misbehave when you're a human."
She stared down at me for a minute, slowing to a walk, the amusement draining from her face. Het eyes narrowed, turned black in the shadow of her brows. Her breathing, so regular as she ran, started to accelerate. Her eyes searched mine, looking for something. She unconsciously leaned her face closer to mine.
My own breath caught for a moment, but I recovered quickly.
"It's your face, Jules" I reminded her.
She blinked a few times, then pulled her face back and started jogging again. "Sorry, sorry." She laughed loudly. "I don't really want to fight with your vampire tonight—I mean, any other night, sure. But we both have a job to do tomorrow, and I wouldn't want to leave the Cullens one short."
The sudden, unexpected swell of shame distorted my expression.
"I know, I know," she responded, not understanding. "You think she could take me."
I couldn't speak. It was my brilliant idea had left the Cullens one short. What if someone got hurt because of it? What if one the Cullens got hurt? Or one of the wolves? Or Julie?
"What's the matter, Bella?" The joking bravado vanished from her face, revealing my Julie underneath, like pulling a mask away. "If something I said upset you, I'm sorry. I was only kidding. I didn't mean anything—hey, are you okay? Don't cry, Bella," she pled.
I tried to pull myself together. "I'm not going to cry."
"What did I say?"
"It's nothing you said. It's just, well, it's me. It's my own fault. Something I did."
She stared at me, her eyes wide with confusion.
"Edyth isn't going to fight tomorrow," I whispered the explanation. "She's staying with me, instead."
She frowned. "You think this isn't going to work? That they'll find you here? Do you know something I don't know?"
"No, no. I'm not afraid of that. I just… I was trying to convince her to let me go to the clearing to help distract the newborns and it backfired completely and now she's staying with me…" I closed my eyes. "The worst part is, I didn't convince her to not stay with me. I was selfish."
Julie was quiet.
I kept whispering, my eyes shut. "If anyone gets hurt, it will always be my fault. And even if no one does… It doesn't change the fact that I was selfish. She won't hold it against me, but I'll always feel guilty about it. Especially since I could have asked her to go, and I didn't." I felt just a tiny bit better, getting this off my chest. Even if I could only confess it to Julie.
She snorted. My eyes opened slowly, and I was sad to see that the hard mask was back.
"I can't believe she let you talk her out of going. I wouldn't miss this for anything."
I sighed. "I know."
"That doesn't mean anything, though." She was suddenly backtracking. "That doesn't mean that she loves you more than I do."
"But you wouldn't stay with me, even if I begged."
She pursed her lips for a moment, and I wondered if she would try to deny it. We both knew the truth. "That's only because I know you better," she said at last. "Everything's going to go without a hitch. Even if you'd asked me and I'd said no, you wouldn't be mad at me afterwards."
"If everything does go without a hitch, you're probably right. I wouldn't be mad. But the whole time you're gone, I'll be sick with worry, Jules. Crazy with it."
"Why?" she asked gruffly. "Why does it matter to you if something happens to me?"
"Don't say that. You know how much you mean to me, Jules. I'm sorry it's not in the way you want, but that's just how it is. You're my best friend. At least, you used to be. And still sometimes are… when you let your guard down."
She smiled the old smile that I loved. "I'm always that," she promised. "Even when I don't… behave as well as I should. Underneath, I'm always in here."
"I know. Why else would I put up with all of your crap?"
She laughed with me, and then her eyes were sad. "When are you going to figure out that you're in love with me, too?"
"Come on, Jules, don't ruin the moment."
"I'm not saying you don't love her. I'm not stupid. But it's possible to love more than one person at a time, Bella. I've seen it in action."
"I'm not Sam, Jules."
She wrinkled her nose, and changed the subject.
"We're not far now, I can smell her."
I sighed in relief.
She misinterpreted my meaning. "I'd happily slow down, Bella, but you're going to want to be under shelter before that hits."
We both looked up at the sky.
A solid wall of purple-black cloud was racing in from the west, blackening the forest beneath it as it came.
"Wow," I muttered. "You'd better hurry, Jules. You'll want to get home before it gets here."
"I'm not going home."
I glared at her, suddenly anxious. "The tent's too small for you to camp with us, Julie."
"I'm not camping with you. Not technically—as in, sharing your tent or anything. I prefer the storm to the smell. But I'm sure your vampire will want to keep in touch with the pack for coordination purposes, and so I will graciously provide that service."
"I thought that was Seth's job."
"He'll take over tomorrow, during the fight."
The reminder silenced me for a second. I stared at her, worry springing up again with sudden fierceness.
"I don't suppose there's any way you'd just stay since you're already here?" I suggested. "If I did beg? Or trade back a lifetime of servitude or something?"
"Tempting, but no. Then again, the begging might be interesting to see. You can give it a go if you like."
"There's really nothing,nothing at all I can say?"
"Nope. Not unless you can promise me a better fight. Anyway, Sam's calling the shots, not me."
That reminded me.
"Edyth told me something the other day… about you."
She bristled. "It's probably not true."
"Oh, really? You aren't second in command of the pack, then?"
She blinked, her face going blank with surprise. "Oh. That."
"How come you never told me that?"
"Why would I? It's no big thing."
"I don't know. Why not? It's interesting. So, how does that work? How did Sam end up as the Alpha, and you as the… the Beta?"
Julie chuckled at my invented term. "Sam was the first, the oldest. It made sense for him to take charge."
I frowned. "But shouldn't Jared or Paul be second, then? They were the next to change."
"Well… it's hard to explain," Julie said evasively.
"Try."
She sighed. "It's more about the lineage, you know? Sort of old-fashioned. Why should it matter who your grandpa was, right?"
I remembered something Julie had told me a long time ago, before either of us had known anything about werewolves.
"Didn't you say that Ephraim Black was the last chief the Quileutes had?"
"Yeah, that's right. Because he was the Alpha. Did you know that, technically, Sam's the chief of the whole tribe now?" She laughed. "Crazy traditions."
I thought about that for a second, trying to make all the pieces fit. "But you also said that people listened to your dad more than anyone else on the council, because he was Ephraim's grandson?"
"What about it?"
"Well, if it's about the lineage… shouldn't you be the chief, then?"
Julie didn't answer me. She stared into the darkening forest, as if she suddenly needed to concentrate on where she was going.
"Jules?"
"No. That's Sam's job." She kept her eyes on our pathless course.
"Why? His great-grandad was Levi Uley, right? Was Levi an Alpha, too?"
"There's only one Alpha," she answered automatically.
"So what was Levi?"
"Sort of a Beta, I guess." She snorted at my term. "Like me."
"That doesn't make sense."
"It doesn't matter."
"I just want to understand, Jules."
She finally met my confused gaze, and then sighed. "Yeah. I was supposed to be the Alpha."
My eyebrows pulled together. "Sam didn't want to step down or is it because you're a girl?"
"Hardly. I didn't want to step up and me being a girl is not an issue with the alpha thing."
"Why not?"
She frowned, uncomfortable with my questions.
"I didn't want any of it, Bella. I didn't want anything to change. I didn't want to be some legendary chief. I didn't want to be part of a pack of werewolves, let alone their leader. I wouldn't take it when Sam offered."
I thought about this for a long moment. Julie didn't interrupt. She stared into the forest again.
"But I thought you were happier. That you were okay with this," I finally whispered.
Julie smiled down at me reassuringly. "Yeah. It's really not so bad. Exciting sometimes, like with this thing tomorrow. But at first it sort of felt like being drafted into a war you didn't know existed. There was no choice, you know? And it was so final." She shrugged. "Anyway, I guess I'm glad now. It has to be done, and could I trust someone else to get it right? It's better to make sure myself."
I stared at her, feeling an unexpected kind of awe for my friend. She was more of a woman than I'd ever given her credit for. Like with Billy the other night at the bonfire, there was a majesty here that I'd never suspected.
"Chief Jules," I whispered, smiling at the way the words sounded together.
She rolled her eyes.
"It's kind of sexy." I impulsively teased, but I regretted it immediately seeing the way she smirked in response.
"Oh, is it?" She grinned.
"I didn't mean to give you any ideas." I sighed.
She laughed.
Just then, the wind shook more fiercely through the trees around us, and it felt like it was blowing straight off a glacier. The sharp sound of wood cracking echoed off the mountain. Though the light was vanishing as the grisly cloud covered the sky, I could still see the little white specks that fluttered past us.
Julie stepped up the pace, keeping her eyes on the ground now as she flat out sprinted. I curled more willingly against her chest, recoiling from the unwelcome snow.
It was only minutes later that she dashed around to the lee side of the stony peak and we could see the little tent nestled up against the sheltering face. More flurries were falling around us, but the wind was too fierce to let them settle anywhere.
"Bella!" Edyth called out in acute relief. We'd caught her in the middle of pacing back and forth across the little open space.
She flashed to my side, sort of blurring as she moved so swiftly. Julie cringed, and then set me on my feet. Edyth ignored her reaction and caught me in a tight hug.
"Thank you," Edyth said over my head. Her tone was unmistakably sincere. "That was quicker than I expected, and I truly appreciate it."
I twisted to see Julie's response.
Julie merely shrugged, her face looked sad to me. "Get her inside. This is going to be bad—my hair's standing up on my scalp. Is that tent secure?"
"I all but welded it to the rock."
"Good."
Julie looked up at the sky—now black with the storm, sprinkled with the swirling bits of snow. Her nostrils flared.
"I'm going to change," she said. "I want to know what's going on back home."
She hung her jacket on a low, stubby branch, and walked into the murky forest without a backward glance.