"Ephraim, did you see them? They were looking right at us. Do you think they know, do you think they realize what we are? That the wolves are us?" Joe Clearwater wasn't a man that was easily excited. They had been running for over an hour before they had caught wind of the cold ones across the river. They had wanted to see what they were up to and thought they were far enough away to go unnoticed but things had not worked out that way.

"Yes, I saw them, and I saw them looking at us. I think that they are curious about the mighty wolves, but I do not think they know it was us. Our secret is still our own, they do not know about the spirit warriors or how we can transform into the wolf. I do think that they are looking for us though. But I do not think they know how to find us and they did not cross over the boundaries, so we will continue to leave them be as long as they continue to honor the treaty. But we will continue to watch them as close as we can, and that includes whatever you can learn of them while you are at the mill."

"I understand Ephraim. Do you think it might be possible to invite some of our friends from the mill to come onto the reservation for a bonfire?" Joe was hoping that he could get out of the business of spying on his friends by letting the chief observe them directly for himself. He could ask them what he wanted to know without Joe feeling like he was betraying his friends or his tribe.

As the four of them entered the house they were talking excitedly amongst themselves, oblivious to their surroundings. After they had continued on, Esme, Alice and Rosalie had grown tired of being ignored and so blatantly left out of the conversation.

"Eh-hem" Rosalie cleared her throat and leveled a hard stare at her mate.

"Oh, hey Rosie," Emmet answered her but immediately turned back to the conversation the men were having.

"Carlisle, I am sure of it, I felt a wave of hatred at the same time we heard that growl." Jasper was certain that the feeling he had picked up on while they were watching the wolves had been anger, anger directed at them.

"Are you absolutely certain Jasper, its imperative that you are absolutely certain about this." Carlisle was still trying to wrap his brain around the possibility that Jasper had picked up on a feeling that had originated from an animal and not a human or vampire.

"Carlisle, Jasper is right. I picked up on a thought as if there was someone standing across the river from us – it was crystal clear, I have no doubt in my mind about it either. 'Too many' and it wasn't coming from you, Emmet or Jasper. It had to be them." Edward understood what Jasper was feeling and thinking, they were both certain about what their gifts were showing them but the fact that Carlisle seemed to be doubting them was getting very frustrating.

"Carlisle, I have to agree with them" Emmet offered up in support. "Edward can tell whose thoughts are whose, he's told us before that our thoughts sound like our voices to him. I don't know how Jasper's feeling thing works, but I bet he can tell who is feeling what without getting them mixed up too."

"What on earth are you boys going on about like this?" Esme had had about enough of them failing to show proper manners by at least acknowledging their presence.

"Sorry dear," Carlisle offered up, "we just saw those two large wolves again."

"Where were they?" Esme was concerned, she knew that they wanted to find them to learn about them, but something about the wolves also made her uneasy. She was hoping that they weren't too close to the house.

"By the river, down by the bluff" Alice offered almost as if she were having another one of her visions. Jasper stepped quickly to her side and took her hand in his before she continued on, "You kind of flickered out of sight from me when you were there. It was almost like it was a hiccup of sorts, but you and Edward came right back as soon as Emmet and Carlisle reached you."

Carlisle looked around at his family as he contemplated his next words. "I think the time for us to make our trip north has come. Jasper, Alice, I want the two of you to be ready to leave within the next day or so. There are a few preparations I need to make in town for my patients before I can leave."

"Are you taking anyone else with you Carlisle?" Edward knew that he didn't want to go and had picked out of Carlisle's thoughts that he was concerned about splitting the family up too much with the wolves having been seen again.

"No. I think it would be best for you and Emmet to stay here with Esme and Rosalie, just in case these wolves turn out to be some sort of threat. I don't want to leave anyone vulnerable if they do turn out to be something other than a couple of overgrown wolves."

"But what about you guys?" Emmet was a bit disappointed at missing out on a trip to Denali, but he also understood what Carlisle was getting at.

"Between Alice's visions and Jaspers fighting skills, I think the three of us will manage just fine. Stay here and protect our home, and try not to wander too far from the house. When you go out hunting, I want you to head away from the reservation."

"Okay, but do you want us to see if we can find the wolves again?" Emmet wanted to see if they could find them again.

"No. I don't want you out looking for them while we're gone. I'm not entirely sure that they are just ordinary wolves, especially if Edward and Jasper can pick up thoughts and emotions from them." Carlisle knew that it was risky leaving Emmet behind, not because he would need him but because his enthusiasm could sometimes be difficult to contain.

"We won't go hunting for any wolves while you're gone Carlisle," Rosalie assured him. She didn't enjoy the prospect of her mate going out in search of something that could turn out to be a threat to them – she would use her own methods of keeping him occupied while they were gone if she needed to.

"Thank you Rose. Esme, when you go into town, I want you to take Edward with you. I just want you to check in on Mrs. Swan once, twice if she seems overly nervous, tired or stressed. Edward, don't go in with her, stay hidden outside where no one will be able to see you. I've told Mrs. Swan that I might send my wife over to check on her while I'm out of town, but that's it. Too many visitors aren't good for her and I honestly don't know how her husband or friends would react to you showing up with Esme."

"Yes Carlisle. How soon will you be leaving then?" Edward understood perfectly what was about to happen, but he wanted Carlisle to be the one to say it.

"The three of us will leave for Denali tomorrow afternoon if I can get a hold of my patients that I'm due to call on over the next couple of weeks. Most of them can have their appointments rescheduled without too much trouble, but Mrs. Swan is the most pressing of my cases. Avoid her friend Nora if it is at all possible; if she show's up while you're there just come up with an excuse as to why you have to leave. If Eleazar confirms my suspicions, we may need to consider leaving sooner than what we had originally anticipated and I don't want to have to disappoint her if it is at all possible."

"Carlisle," Esme was upset, "what do you mean we may have to consider leaving? We haven't been here for that long, just barely a year now."

"I know, but if these wolves are something else that I recall the brothers loathing, we won't be safe here. We need to be prepared to leave on short notice and I believe Nora is not a woman that is willing to graciously accept a no and continue on – she'll argue her point and she will draw attention – things we don't want."

"Carlisle, if I may, I think it might be wise for all of us to go out hunting tonight. Safety in numbers you know," Jasper was sure they wouldn't have a problem finding something to eat on their journey, but he was concerned that the others might have problems in their absence.

"I think that is an excellent idea Jasper."

As the Cullen's hunted that night, they made sure they went hunting in the opposite direction of the reservation. Everyone was on edge, but not necessarily for the same reasons. Edward and Esme had heard the words they dreaded most come from Carlisle's own lips, they might have to leave their first real home, and sooner than anyone would have ever anticipated. Jasper and Alice were excited about their pending trip; it would be new territory for the both of them. Jasper was looking forward to meeting some older vampires – the Cullen's were all relatively young with only Carlisle being older then he was. He was curious to learn more from the sisters that he had heard so much about not to mention Eleazar who had been so instrumental in recruiting the gifted one of their kind to play key roles in the Volturri Guard. Alice was revisiting her earlier vision of them living in a place with so much snow and wanted to see for herself first hand if Denali was the place.

Esme was contemplating the task Carlisle was entrusting to her, to look in on one of his pregnant patients. The other thought that she kept pushing from her mind was the one of them having to pack up and move again. She was particularly fond of this place, of this house, no, this home. Yes, this was their first true home and she felt that Alice and Jasper had brought them the missing piece to their family that they hadn't realized was missing. She knew Carlisle was more than capable of taking care of himself, but it would be the first time they had been apart since he had changed her and she wasn't looking forward to it; she would miss him terribly. Edward listened to all of their thoughts, except for Emmet and Rosalie who were both contemplating how long they would have to wait to ravage one another and how they would have more time to do so with half the family out of the house. Edward took notice of Esme's thought on how Alice and Jasper had completed their family, and he had to agree that the couple had brought a different aspect to the coven that was actually needed to help balance all of them out. The only other thought that drew Edward's focus was Carlisle's thinking that it may be the last time they all go out hunting together for quite some time.

"Carlisle, is there something else I should know?" Edward had slowed his pace enough to allow Carlisle to catch up with him.

"What are you referring to Edward?"

"Do you really think that we won't be able to do this together again for a long time?"

Carlisle came to a stop and looked at his son, if his heart still beat it would be heavy with what he was about to say.

"Yes, I think it may be. I am starting to suspect that those wolves are no ordinary animal, and if they are what I fear then it is not safe for us to stay here. But their actions don't fit with my suspicions; I need to talk to Eleazar and the sisters, to see if they have any more information before I say anything more to the others, and I would appreciate it if you would keep this just between us."

"Of course Carlisle, but if the wolves do turn out to be a threat as you suspect, how soon will it be before we leave for good and where will we go to next?"

"I don't know yet Edward. I have these same questions but I don't have the answers, not yet anyway. That is why this trip to Denali is so important; I'm hoping it will give me us the answers we need to be able to make an informed decision as to what we should do. If we can stay here safely for a while longer or if we'll need to relocate sooner than planned."

"Will we go to Denali from here, if it comes to that, or would we search for someplace new?"

"That is something that we will need to discuss as a family after we return. I won't make a decision like that without talking to everyone first."

"When will you return Carlisle? Everyone has been focused on when you would be leaving, but nothing has really been said about your return."

"I plan to return in less than a weeks' time, I have patients that I need to take care of, and I think it would raise too many questions if the new doctor were to suddenly vanish when he is supposed to be delivering a baby in less than a few months' time. We may be fairly new here, but the humans have still taken notice of us and when we leave here, they will notice that as well if I am not successful in dropping the number of patients I have."

"Carlisle, do you think it's wise to be delivering babies here? I have no doubt in your abilities to do so, it's just that it seems to draw a great deal of attention in a small town such as this, and this Swan woman sounds as though everyone is watching her pregnancy. Doesn't it go against our attempts at maintaining a certain degree of anonymity?"

"I understand your concerns Edward, but I have also taken an oath as a doctor and to leave some of these people to the mill doctor is as good as killing them by my own hand. I have no reason to doubt that the pregnancy will be successful and I can quickly fade into the background so if our departure does come we can do it without drawing too much attention."

"I hope so Carlisle, I really do like it here, and so does Esme and the others."

"I know son, now let's go hunt with the others before they start to wonder where we've gotten off to."