Chapter 28: Flurries Kiss
There are some readers who are just a joy. Ohtobeyoung (aka Janm) is one of them, for many of us in this fandom. Happy birthday, Jan. This one's for you.
"We Danced Anyway," sung by the Harvard Radcliffe Veritones
"You're Driving Me Crazy," by Guy Lombardo and the Royal Canadians
"We Are Young," by Pentatonix
"How High/Fly Me to the Moon," by the Harvard Krocadiloes
o~o~0~o~o
It's a shame our world responds to life
As a puzzle in disguise
I wish our course would lead us towards
The peace and loving kind
~ "In a Moment," by Collective Soul
Saturday, February 15th, 2004:
Somewhere near Sol Duc
The scent of frosty pine seared my nose, refreshing after the sulfur pong of the hot springs.
"Where are we?" Bella murmured from her perch on my back.
"Almost there," I promised. After another five minutes' journey –avoiding the deep pockets of snow- we took shelter in a rocky nook part way up the Bogachiel. I helped Bella to stand. She stomped feet that were obviously frozen despite her thermal boots. Jasper set down his backpack and unzipped it. Titch accepted a plastic carrier bag from him and pulled out a small square packet, which she tore open.
"Mitten," she ordered Bella, inserting a fragrant hot pad into the palm and helping my mate to put it back on. They repeated the process with Bella's other hand. Then, Jasper handed Alice a bigger pad, which Alice stuffed down the front of Bella's snowsuit. Next, Alice pushed pads down the front of Bella's tall boots. "Better?"
"Much." Bella nodded, colour creeping back into her blue lips.
Quickly, Jazz and Em pulled bricks from the backpack, set up a small rocket stove on the rocky turf, and crammed bits of coal into it. Soon, heat was radiating from it and Bella's shivers stopped entirely.
"This is really cool, guys," she said with a grin. "Where exactly are we?"
Em patted the mountain against which we were sheltering. "This is the Bogachiel."
Jazz pointed up. "Next mountain over is Olympus."
Bella's jaw dropped. "Can we go up and look?"
I shook my head. "It's too cold for you right now. Besides, the High Divide is full of snow. Too dangerous."
"For you," Em said pointedly to Bella. I shot him an irritated look.
"So, snow fight?" Bella demanded.
"Not so fast, missy. Slow your roll," Jasper said, stretching out his palms as though to calm the waters.
Rosalie plucked out a silver dollar. "Call it!" she instructed Bella.
"Heads."
Rose placed the coin on her thumbnail and flicked it high in the air. Heads it was. "Girls win." Rose pointed at her desired patch of ground. "I choose north. Females against males."
"Now, Bella," Titch said, "you just sit there until while we set up the game."
" 'Kay."
"Thirty minutes," Jasper growled.
"Go!" Titch shouted.
Each team huddled up to whisper plans for our constructs. In no time at all, snowy walls, pillars, ramparts and dry moats formed around us. The girls' fort proved to be round and domed like an igloo with a walled front porch. Ours was square with a front wall, a reinforced front trench, a twig-trussed roof, and rounded corners.
"They've got a catapult," I mouthed.
"We need one of those!" Em ran off and returned with a supple sapling which we quickly fashioned into a giant slingshot. We then set to work making a zillion snowballs.
"Are you sure I'm safe doing this?" Bella called.
"Don't worry, Bella! We've got you covered," Titch sang, popping a red snowmobile helmet on my mate's head and patting her on it.
Bella's voice was muffled behind the mirrored visor. "Thanks. I think."
My siblings and I removed our coats and gloves and piled them near the rocket stove, much to Bella's interest. I shrugged a shoulder. "No point in getting our coats wet."
"Ah."
"Get ready to go down, boys," Titch sang as Rose tucked her hair up in her hat. Her voice echoed through the mountains.
I snorted as we took up our positions. "Yeah, right!" Nobody ever beat my team, unless I opted not to spy. And that just wouldn't be fair to my team, now would it? "One hour."
"Suckers!" Alice jeered.
"Hope your mascara doesn't run when I belt you in the mush, Titch!" My insult echoed six times. I turned my back and something hit me in the back of the head. Hard. I turned around, gaping, in time to see my mate crank back the catapult and load it with a new ball of snow. "Oh, crap!" I jumped behind the front wall of our fort and crouched in the trench. Of course that's why they had a catapult! So Bella could throw as hard as we! The snowball intended for me hit Em full in the chest.
He frowned. "Hey! That's not very nice."
Alice set up a series of fast pitches.
"Incoming!" I hollered. With the echo, the game got loud, like the reverberation of fireworks set off in a canyon. My brothers ran to and fro, scooping up frozen ammo and hurling it at their mates. Emmett managed to knock off Rose's hat. "Pow!" he yelled, pumping his fist. Rose disappeared from view, ostensibly searching for her hat.
I took a big mound of snow and pulled back our tree slingshot. Snow hurtled through the air and poofed past the tip of the girls' fort, making our females squeal upon its impact. A moment later, a cannonball-sized snowball took a good chunk out of our side wall.
"Dang!" Jasper purred with an appreciative grin. I stood up and lobbed a beach ball-sized snowball at the girls' fort. The far end of it shuddered and crumbled. And then, something cold and wet hit Mr. Ed, stuck for a moment and slid off.
I unexpectedly took a seat on the ground. "Whoa!" What. It didn't hurt. It actually felt kind of good.
Our loving mates laughed raucously. Bella pumped her fist and Rosalie hugged herself while Titch danced up and down. "Way to go, Bella!" Titch howled.
I raised my voice to a much higher-than-usual pitch. "Not fair!"
My mate snorted and hugged herself.
"All's fair in love and war!" Titch hollered. Jasper took her down with a slingshot-driven snowball to the abdomen.
"Never take your eyes off the enemy," he shouted. Rosalie got him right between the eyes.
"You girls fight dirty!" Emmett boomed. He abruptly disappeared beneath a huge mound of collapsed wall. "This means war."
For the next half hour, snowballs zipped through the air and wreaked destruction on our forts and our dignity. Nobody was really able to win the battle, but we had a lot of fun in the attempt.
A familiar, earthy canine scent drifted toward us. My siblings and I instantly stopped our game and rose to our feet, turning toward the east. Four Kwoli Wolves approached us slowly, their eyes wary. By the time they reached us, the echoes of our fun had petered out.
Jasper stood ramrod stiff, tasting the emotions on the still air. Emmett carefully rose out of his crouch.
"Hi, Sam," I called. He dipped his enormous head.
Hello, Edward. Hello, Bella.
"Sam says hello," I told her, gesturing at the black wolf. My siblings thoughts, save those of Alice, reflected annoyance: Sam had not addressed Alice after me (as was her station).
Bella pulled off her helmet, teeth chattering. Her face was nearly as white as mine. I realized that she was afraid of the Kwoli. "Hello, S-Sam."
He looked disappointed. How is it that she fearlessly spends time with you, but fears us?
I lifted a shoulder. "We're mates."
Bella's gaze flickered between us. "What is he saying?"
"He just doesn't want you to be afraid of him."
Bella nodded. "Right."
Tell Emmett we'd like to talk.
I felt my forehead crease. "Emmett? Why?"
He is the leader present, is he not? He is the most powerful.
I shook my head. "Emmett is not the most senior family member present." That would be me. My brothers chuckled quietly at my expense.
Ah. Seniority is determined by age. It would be Jasper, then?
My lip quirked up. "I'm afraid not. Would you object to me using this subject as a teaching opportunity?"
Oh, great, he's the leader. I hope he's not insulted.
"No big. I get it all the time, even from them." I jerked a thumb at my brothers.
Please teach us about your hierarchy.
"Bella, Sam doesn't understand our coven hierarchy. Please explain the order of the family to our Kwoli friends."
Bella frowned. "Didn't he understand it when Carlisle formally introduced you?" Blinking, she bit her lip and turned pink.
I relayed Sam's response to everyone. "Even though Billy introduced his subordinates pretty much in order, they didn't understand that Carlisle introduced us in order of seniority."
The Wolves began attempting to recall the order of introductions.
Bella nodded. "Carlisle sired you, Esme, Rosalie and Emmett, in that order. Carlisle ranks first because it's his coven and he's been recognized by the family as leader, and Esme is second because she's his mate. She's called Dona because they're fully-bonded mates and almost count as one entity. Mature mates are like one spirit in two bodies."
I nodded. "Continue."
"You're his first born and the first to accept him as not just your leader, but Dominant. That makes you third in rank."
"Correct."
What is the difference between a leader and a Dominant?
"Good question, Sam." I repeated it for my family. "Anyone can be recognized as a leader, either temporarily or long term. However, one does not have to subject one's self to a leader's will in every matter. When a vampire picks a leader to be his or her Dominant, he or she chooses to obey the Dominant's wishes. As you might expect, that's not always easy. However, this subjugation of will results in an enjoyment, for the follower, of the security and prosperity provided by living in a group."
You don't have to accept your sire's authority? Sam asked.
"No, we don't have to accept anyone's authority. It's the only thing about our kind that leans toward democracy rather than monarchy. We choose our own leader, but then we subject ourselves to that leader's authority. If we dislike his rule, we are free to leave, but while under his authority, we live by his rules. Leaders generally do not murder followers who respectfully express a wish to leave. There's no point having dissention in a house." I lifted my chin. "Go on, Bella."
She turned pink again. "If I become a vampire someday…"
Jared growled slightly before Sam ordered him to knock it off. Please continue, Sam requested.
"Please continue, Bella," I told her.
She nodded, averting her eyes from the Wolves. "I'll be fourth because I'm your mate. Dom Carlisle introduced me fourth, but that was just a courtesy. Right now, we aren't fully bonded, I'm human and weak, so, even though I've accepted Carlisle as my Dom, I'm technically last in rank. Alice is rightfully fourth, because she's powerful. That means Sam just accidentally insulted Alice because he didn't speak to her before he spoke to me."
Alice waved her hand dismissively as Sam began to compose an apology. "I know it wasn't intentional. Sam didn't even know Edward was in charge. No worries. Keep going, Bella."
"Even though Alice wasn't made by Carlisle, she was the next to accept him as Dom. And that makes Jasper fifth because they're mates."
"Why doesn't Jasper outrank Alice?" I asked. "He's older, physically more powerful and his talent is as strong as hers."
Bella's eyes flickered to Jasper.
My brother-in-law gestured magnanimously to my mate. "Go ahead, Baby Bee."
"Jasper hasn't accepted Carlisle as his Dom, even if that's something Carlisle wants. Carlisle can't make anyone follow him, Jasper has to choose him."
"Bravo," Jasper said.
Sam looked bewildered. Why wouldn't he choose Carlisle?
"Sam wants to know why you haven't accepted Carlisle as your Dom," I told Jasper.
He shifted his stance to 'at ease'. "I have great respect for Carlisle, but we have certain differences of opinion." Like why we oughta preserve your lives. "I do not see Carlisle as my mentor, as much as I would like to. If we had a feud with another coven, I might not lay down my life for Carlisle. He accepts me as fifth because Alice is his daughter. As I am wholly her servant and would lay down my life for her, I am granted a dispensation.
"So long as I live in obedience to Carlisle's rules, I am permitted to be in his coven and I'm treated like an honorary son. Should I refuse to conform, Alice would be held responsible for my actions. In many covens, should I fail to obey, my life and that of my mate would be forfeit. Carlisle would only banish us." Jasper gave Alice a soppy look. "Alice is happy here, so I remain respectful of Carlisle and his rules."
"Swoon," Bella murmured.
"In most covens," I explained, "friendly individuals like Jasper and Alice are welcomed under a 'no harm no foul' mantle of limited protection –in hopes of future alliances. As Alice took Carlisle for her Dominant, and Jasper would do anything to protect Alice, the policy obviously works. That's why Carlisle claimed Charlie Swan under his stronger mantle of protection. A mantle of protection means Carlisle considers Charlie to be extended family and would consider any harm or disrespect suffered by him to be an affront to our coven. We would raise the matter with the offending party, and should an apology not be forthcoming, we would fight."
Sam's hackles went up. Fight.
"That is the reason I did not inform my family that your pack has been giving me trouble for over a year. In vampire society, unfriendly individuals or groups risk feuds, to extinguishment, with their rivals." Take my advice, Sam. Don't go there.
Which is why Carlisle offered Ephraim Black a peace treaty.
"Yes, that's why Carlisle made the Treaty. To preserve not just our coven, but your tribe's very existence. This is not a threat, but a friendly warning. As there are so many of us, there's no way you could protect everyone in your tribe if we chose to be aggressive. All we'd have to do is distract you while one of us plants a bomb or poisons the water."
Young Quil, the most academically inclined of the Kwoli, looked horrified. The Treaty is for us? But we've been told one Kwoli can kill a dozen vampires at a time. Is that untrue? Taha Aki didn't do that, though, did he! His tribe couldn't handle two vampires. We've been misled. I didn't see it! May the Creator help us.
"But we want peace," I reassured the Wolves, who visibly and mentally calmed down. "For the same reason, begotten vampires who aggressively threaten a sire or dam are destroyed, even if they are his or her get."
So a sire might not be the Dominant?
"That is correct. Jasper didn't link himself to his dam because she was evil. If I were to sire a Newborn, Bella for instance, she could still claim Carlisle as her Dom. Or, she could claim any of us as her mentors and leader, without subjecting herself to a Dominant. However, rogue Newborns are dangerous and we expect them to accept a mentor. Since we have no Alpha voice, our leaders cannot compel us to obey. Self-control is therefore essential and is highly-esteemed. It's another reason why I'm third and Alice is fourth."
I wish Paul would control himself better, Sam thought, then chided himself for giving his thoughts away.
I smiled at Bella. "Who's next in the hierarchy? Emmett or Rosalie? They're both Carlisle's get, they follow the rules equally well and they're equally talented."
Bella cleared her throat. "Emmett."
"Why?"
Bella paused for a second. "Well, they're both very strong."
"But?"
"Emmett accepted Carlisle as Dom before Rosalie did."
"Well done, Bella," I said proudly.
"It doesn't matter to me, anyway," Rose sniffed. "It isn't like Carlisle treats Emmett like he's more important than I."
"No, Carlisle is a good Dom," I agreed.
Of course, he does favour you, she told me, but I know now that you don't like it so I'm not going to say anything about it in front of these dogs.
I bowed my head in wordless thanks to Rosalie for not being insouciant.
Thank you for the lesson, Sam said gravely.
I've been insulting a pretty powerful bloodsucker, Embry thought. I thought he was the runt of the litter
Jared thought, Great Kweetie, I hope he doesn't hold a grudge.
We'd better warn Paul to be more polite, Young Quil worried.
"You're welcome," I told Sam, whose thoughts were wandering to safer topics.
You build these castles?
"Yes, all the time."
We've been wondering where they come from. We came, today, because we wanted to know why you were so close to Hoh. I thought we should warn you that you're near the boundary.
I brushed ice from my chinos. "Thanks for the warning, but we know exactly how far it is to the border and we won't cross it. This was a good spot for our game. Plus, we wanted to show the area to Bella."
Embry shifted from paw to paw. So, you build these castles for fun?
"They're forts. We like to have snow fights."
Emmett gestured at Bella. "This is the first time we've brought Baby Sister along."
Can we play, too? Jared wanted to know. Embry and Young Quil perked up their ears hopefully.
My jaw dropped. "You want to have a snow fight with us?"
Em and Jazz mentally urged me to accept, but I didn't like it one bit. "Alice?"
She shook her head. "I can't See anything to do with them, Edward."
I grimaced at the snow. "If I make a decision, will you See?"
"Maybe."
It would be good to get to know each other better, Sam suggested. I will use the Alpha voice on my brothers. If we phase down to human and I tell them they can't attack, or change into Wolf form, we should be able to interact safely.
I nodded. "You have my word that my siblings and I won't lose our tempers and attack you."
You have my word that my brothers and I will not lose our tempers and attack you.
"I accept your request to have a snow fight."
"We're all going home safe," Titch said, smiling because her thoughts had cleared. "Let's set some rules."
No touching.
"Good one. No touching!" My siblings and their mates jabbered excitedly in their heads. I looked at Bella. "No one throws anything at Bella."
Bella slapped her hands down on her thighs. "Aw!"
I amended my rule. "But Bella can throw anything she wants, at any of us, on either team."
Bella beamed. "Do I get to keep the catapult?"
"Sure. No knocking down the forts."
Okay. No avalanches.
"Sam says, 'no avalanches'. No icicles."
It's only fun until someone loses an eye.
"Precisely. No aiming at anyone's eyes. Anything else?"
I can't think of anything, off hand.
"So be it. Bind your brothers and I'll bind mine."
Sam's throat rumbled and the Kwoli Ute genuflected. The Alpha voice is so deep that it's reminiscent of the subwoofer at an Imax theater. The vibration goes right through you, reminds you that you're tethered to the Earth and makes you shudder.
You will remain in human form throughout this game. You will not lose your tempers or phase to Wolf. Have fun, but be certain not to pose any threat to Bella.
Yes, Chief, the Wolves cried. They ran off to phase.
I gathered my siblings around me. "I want your word that you will not lose your tempers. This is just a game. Losing our sense of fun could prove disastrous to Bella."
Titch rolled her eyes. "Who's making predictions now?"
I ignored her. "Jasper, do you promise?"
"Do I get to take pot shots at Call?"
"I expect you to."
"Good. I promise."
"Do me proud. Em?"
"Yeah!"
"Rose?"
"Any excuse to hit them. I'm in."
"Alice?"
"You already know I'm going to promise."
"Is this safe?" I checked. "Can you See anything?"
"I See Bella drinking cocoa with the Wolf boys."
Of course, I could See it, too. "Awesome."
"Hey!" Bella huffed.
"What, Love?"
"You didn't make me promise not to commit any mayhem!"
I felt my lip tip up. "As long as you don't touch them, don't knock down the forts, don't throw icicles, don't stab them in the eye and don't cause an avalanche, you can commit all the mayhem you want."
Her eyes lit up. "I can?"
"Go for it. Just don't light anybody on fire, and stay out of No Man's land."
"Sounds simple enough. Which fort is ours?"
Everyone looked at me. "The guys' one is more heavily fortified so we're using it. Go get your catapult."
Rose hurried to drag it into our fort. Emmett helped her pull it over the wall and into position. The Kwoli Ute men arrived, dressed in nothing but their shorts and sneakers, rubbing their hands together and bouncing on the balls of their feet.
Something occurred to me. "Where's Paul?"
"Rachel is home for spring break," Sam informed me. No way he's leaving her bed.
"Ah. Okay. Let's have a good, fair game." I held out my hand and Sam shook it. "You have five minutes to prepare."
"Let's do it," he said. He and his brothers ran into the girls' fortress, dragging bits of tree with them. Soon, they had constructed slingshots similar to ours.
"Time's up!" Em shouted.
A cloud of snowballs filled the air from both directions. It was very messy. Bella hit Sam in the ear and snickered with glee. My brothers buried Embry Call in a hail of well-packed snow until he whined for mercy. Jasper and Alice used the catapult to send over a huge snowball that bowled Sam and Jared right over. Young Quil spent most of the time on his knees, shoring up holes in the fort.
Meanwhile, the Kwoli failed to so much as knock any of us down.
"Are you even trying?" I yelled over the general mayhem. "You guys need to develop a stratagem!"
"We are trying!" Sam yelled.
"Try harder! We're getting bored!" Bella yelled, wiping him out with a cold cannonball.
"Time out!" Sam yelped.
The Kwoli ducked into their back room and whispered together. I distracted myself from listening by tugging my mate into the back room of our fort. Chucking her helmet in the corner, I kissed her soundly. After a couple of minutes, she squealed and struggled against my hold. Which made me want to grasp her tightly.
"Ohmygod you're so cold!"
Sigh. I released her. "Sorry."
Bella rubbed her cheeks. "Sorry, but it's like loving up a bag of frozen chicken."
I nodded slowly, scowling, tongue in cheek. "Fro-zen chi-cken."
Bella backed up a step. "I could have said something disgusting, like frozen fish."
I nodded and advanced. "Frozen chicken. Frozen chicken, Bella?"
"Honestly? We need to get you to a space heater. Or an electric blanket. Or maybe a-"
She squealed as I pounced on her and blew a super-cold raspberry onto her neck. "S-s-stop!" She embraced me, regardless.
"Bok-bok!" I said against her jugular.
"I have to pee!"
I jumped back, rubbed my neck and paced. "Oh, nuts!"
Bella giggled. "What's the big woof?"
I gestured around us. "There's not a rest stop within miles and it's probably locked. And just look at you." I waved at the puffy snowsuit. "It's not exactly accessible, is it?"
"I really have to go."
"What are you going to do?"
Bella lifted a shoulder and bit her lip. "I guess I'll have to take off the snowsuit and pee in the woods down there."
I tipped down my chin. "You can't."
"I can't?"
"Mountain goats. They're the size of cows and they're attracted to urine. One killed a skier who took a whizz on the trail last winter."
Bella gaped at me. "So, what am I supposed to do?"
I bit my lip. "You'll have to go in here. And cover it up with snow, after."
Titch stuck her head in the room. "Don't take more than five minutes, Bella, or you'll get frostbite."
I just looked at her.
"Okay," Bella said, unzipping her snow jacket and tossing it on the hard-packed floor.
"Oh, jeez." I sighed, moving to block the exit. I pinched my eyes shut against the temptation to peek.
"You guys are hilarious," Titch chuckled.
Em started singing some song about a quick, wet boy pissing on magazine photos. For some inexplicable reason, I found it titillating, even if Em's employment of it was annoying.
Sam and his boys marched out of their igloo even as Bella did up her last zipper. Jazz had retrieved his backpack. Titch entered our fort and he stood outside and passed her fresh hot pads for Bella.
"Ready for round two?" Sam called, his voice echoing in the wind.
"Give us two minutes," I called back.
Bella exited the fort, once again hidden behind her mirrored visor. We took up our positions.
"Ready!" I yelled to Sam.
Jared managed to sock Rosalie in the boob with a ball of ice and while we were all focused on whether she'd hop over the wall and kill him, the rest of the Kwoli ganged up on Jasper. They barraged him with huge balls of snow until he was half-pinned to the wall. Then, they turned their attention to Em.
"Emmett, duck!" I shouted.
Meanwhile, Bella fired extremely precise shots at the grossly exaggerated abs of our foes. Embry yelped when some snow went down his shorts. I chuckled when I realized, thanks to her muttering, that she was using triangulation to plan her hits. Bella aimed and catapulted a small lump of ice at Sam, who clutched at himself and fell to the ground with a rather satisfying thud.
"Time out!" Jared yelled, making a T with his hands.
"We should quit, anyway," Titch decided. "Bella's going to get hungry in half an hour."
"Food!" the Kwoli boys yelled, scrambling over each other to get into their igloo.
"What in tarnation?" Jazz breathed. The wolf boys filed out of their fort and over to our rocket stove.
"Come on, Bella!" Sam said, waving her over. Young Quil unzipped a brown saddlebag and plonked a cast iron skillet down on top of the stove. He opened the corresponding saddlebag and produced a bag full of sausages, which he gleefully shook into the pan, which sizzled.
Bella handed me her helmet, dragged her blue knit hat onto her head, and approached the chatting Kwoli as though mesmerized by the scent of the food. Titch and Rose pulled off their frozen sweaters at vampire speed and donned their coats.
The wolf boys stopped talking and stared. Jazz growled a faint warning, Sam cleared his throat and the Kwoli pretended to get very interested in the preparation of the sausages. Looking to the heavens, I struggled out of my wet sweater and picked up my snow jacket. My siblings claimed places at the south side of the stove, while the Kwoli shifted around to the north. Bella crouched between Jasper and Embry.
Soon, Young Quil pronounced the sausages ready for consumption. Jared tugged a bag of squashed bread out of the saddlebag and passed it around and Quil forked a sausage out to each of those who were able to eat it.
"Does it bother you, not being able to eat?" Embry asked with his mouth full. His bread and meat were gone in three bites.
I wrinkled my nose. "It doesn't smell like anything I'd care to put in my mouth, so no, not really."
"Smells burnt," Titch shared, wrinkling her nose. Rose withheld her opinion but thought it smelled horrible.
"Bella?" Sam offered her another piece of bread and she took it, holding it out and folding it over a new sausage.
"Tastes good to me," my mate said, blowing on the meat so that a small cloud of vapour released into the air.
"What happens if you have to eat in front of somebody?" Jared asked us.
"Mostly, we just pretend and hide the scraps," Jasper said. "If we have to eat something, we'll pick something bland."
"What human food smells the worst? Garlic?" Young Quil wondered aloud.
"Nah, garlic's tasty. If something we prey on has eaten it, I mean," Em said.
"The worst is probably yogurt," I told them. "Or cheese."
"Really?" Bella arched a brow.
"Bacteria."
Alice hugged herself. "Head cheese."
"Lunch meat," Rose grimaced.
"Oh, that kind with the macaroni in it?" Em suggested.
"Limburger," Jasper said. "I don't reckon it's really food." We all had to agree with him, even the Kwoli.
When the Kwoli and Bella had eaten their fill, I stood. "We should get back before Bella gets cold."
"Thanks for lunch, guys," Bella said.
"Stay healthy, Vampire Girl." Jared held his fist up to be bumped. Bella nodded and smiled wanly. She carefully touched her fist to his. After giving the Kwoli a little wave, she jumped up on my back and cleared her throat.
"Edward," she whispered, "I think before you jog me across the rainforest, I'd better, um, pee."
"Pee!" Jared squealed like a girl.
"Pee!" his younger brothers echoed (as did the mountain).
"Let's write our names in the snow!" Embry yelled. Even Sam ran to their fort and picked a spot around the perimeter to decorate.
Alice whisked Bella off my back and into our fort. "Come on, girlfriend."
"Holy crow," Bella whispered.
"Just when you start thinking they're somewhat civilized," Rose muttered. Flipping her hair, she stomped off toward Sol Duc.
Jasper, Em and I just stood, open-mouthed, and watched poorly-formed yellow letters appear on the sides of the fort.
"Is anyone else a tiny bit jealous?" Em asked at vampire pitch.
"No," I said flatly.
"Definitely not," Jazz said. And that's when the bloody male mountain goat barrelled down the side of the mountain.
"Watch out!" I yelled. The Kwoli zipped themselves up and turned, laughing, as the goat put down his head and attacked. I set modesty aside and ran into our fort. "Bella! We need to run."
She hitched up her jeans and Titch and I fed her into her snow pants and hauled her off her feet like a toddler, shaking her into the down-filled pants as though we were putting a pillow in its case. Quickly, I bundled Bella into her jacket and Titch shoved on her hat and mittens.
"We're going out the back," my sister said, eyes black. "Shelter her!"
I protected Bella's head as Alice broke through the back wall of the fort. Snow and ice rained onto me as we leapt through the hole. Quickly, I swung Bella onto my back and we took off at top speed, the wind whistling in our ears. Behind us, the Kwoli Ute phased to Wolf and we heard snaps and snarls, gurgles, then, the crack of shattering bone. I did not stop to ensure they were all right.
Rose, Em and Jazz met us at the tree line. Jasper's eyes were angry black.
"Those critters are nuts," Em declared.
"I'm scared," Bella said, tucking her forehead against my shoulders.
"Nothing's going to happen to you, Bella," I promised. "They're eating now. They've forgotten all about us."
"Jasper," Alice said, tugging at him. He needs to hunt.
I nodded grimly. "Let's go get warm, shall we?"
Bella started to shake. "Yeah."
"Trees or ground?" Em demanded.
"Hm, ground." I bent my knees. "Get down, Bella." She slid carefully to her feet. I picked her up so we were chest-to-chest and she wrapped her legs around me.
"Can you run with her like that?" Rose asked.
The hot pad inside Bella's snowsuit, nestled between our abdomens, delivered soothing heat. "Yeah. It's a bit slower, but I can keep her face out of the wind better and she doesn't need to work to hold on."
Bella let her hands slide off of my neck. She tucked them under her chin and hid her face against my throat. Em to my right, Rose to my left- we started to run.
Forty minutes later, we reached the resort. Rose unlocked the Jeep, took off her coat, and grabbed one of two duffels out of the back seat. "Let's get your snowsuit off, Bella, so it doesn't get wet in the change room."
Bella put down one foot, then the other. Rosalie unzipped Bella's jacket and pulled the straps of the snow pants off her shoulders. The now-cold hot pad fell to the ground. "We'll have you all warm soon," Rose promised. She placed her arm around Bella and they hurried for the change rooms. Em grabbed the other duffel from the back seat of the Jeep.
"C'mon Bimbo." He slapped me on the shoulder and started for the men's change room. I bit my lip, watching Rose practically carry Bella into the women's facilities.
"She'll be okay, stud."
"What if she has frostbite?" I fretted.
He rested his hand on my shoulder as we walked. "Alice said she'd be fine. Now, the sooner you get changed, the sooner you can get warm. Then, you can count Bella's fingers and toes, okay?"
"Yeah." I picked up my pace.
The nice thing about our winter excursion was that the resort was practically empty. Em and I had the showers all to ourselves, so we basked for several minutes under very hot water. As we had already checked out of the room, Em passed me one of our thick, white towels from home. Happily, Alice had provided me with a modest pair of burgundy board shorts. I left the Speedo on underneath, just in case Mr. Ed should attempt to escape.
Slinging our towels around our shoulders, we shuffled in our flip flops to the hottest pool and sank in up to our necks. A few minutes later, Bella and Rosalie appeared at the side of the pool. Bella wore her blue knitted hat over her wet hair. Rose untied her white robe and hopped in, sliding past me to sit on Emmett's lap. Her purple bikini was more modest than what she normally wore. Bella tugged at the knot in her white robe, biting her lip. She caught my eye and blushed.
"Give me your hand," I said, reaching up to help her get in. And then she let the robe drop. Somehow, I managed to take her hand, which was fortuitous, because she wobbled and slipped and quite nearly took a header into the pool. I caught her, but her warm body coasted all the way down my wet front. With barely anything between us. I mean, three scraps of baby blue fabric and a few strings. That's it. She straddled me and I lost the ability to think. I swear all the venom rushed to my other head so fast that I almost passed out. Who says that's not possible? Whoever said that never got a good eyeful of my mate!
Do not even go there.
Emmett put his finger under my chin and I closed my mouth with a snap. Rosalie smacked me on the back of the head so hard that Bella and I nearly knocked heads. I stopped breathing and froze, still completely fixated on her boobs.
"Oh, come on," Bella whispered, combing her fingernails through the hair at the nape of my neck. "You've seen me wearing less than this."
Emmett was ecstatic. Way to go! I knew you had it in you!
I surreptitiously eased Bella away from Mr. Ed and cleared my throat. "Sorry."
"It's okay."
"It's not gentlemanly."
Rosalie widened her eyes. You need to get rid of the UST. Marry the girl. Bite her or something. Oh, no, forget I said that! Do not bite her.
"Kiss me." Bella pressed her lips to mine. Mr. Ed chose to royally embarrass me. I turned away slightly, averting my eyes.
"Aw, kiss her, stud!" Emmett grinned and nudged me on the shoulder.
I shook my head. "I can't. Not in front of people!"
"You've done it before."
"Not like this."
Bella rolled her eyes. "Well, I guess we won't be getting married."
I blinked. "Huh?"
She shrugged. "If you can't kiss me in front of anybody…"
"That's different."
Alice and Jasper stepped into the pool.
"How?" Bella demanded.
"Yeah, how?" Titch echoed impishly.
I gulped. "Well, for one thing, we'll be wearing a lot more clothing."
"True."
"And for another thing, it will be rather chaste."
"Maybe."
Maybe? I am in so much trouble.
"And third, we'll be married at the time."
Bella said nothing for a moment. Then, she rested her palm on my cheek. "You know I love you, right?"
"Ye-e-es?"
She looped her arms behind my neck and grasped me tightly. "I dare you."
My gaze flickered about. Rose was giving me the bitch brow. Em gawped in delight, urging me to do it. While Titch beamed, a golden-eyed Jasper gave me an emotional nudge.
"Bella, I…"
"I double-dog-dare you."
My eyes drifted shut. "Bella."
"I triple-"
Releasing my breath, I leaned in by fractions of degrees. Bella's lips met mine. My siblings began to clap and cheer. Jasper ramped up our desire and suddenly the kiss got positively lewd. I broke away, gasping for air. When I managed to open my eyes, I found my mate staring at me.
"Wow," she said. My siblings were all too busy necking to notice.
"You're going to be the death of me," I moaned. She cut off my protestations with another kiss.
