Chapter 32

I woke up with a start when I heard the yelling. "They what?" A booming voice growled out and my eyes widened as my mind tried to grasp what was happening. I started to sit up, but something held me back.

"It's okay puppy. The guys just got back." Alice spoke softly and I looked over to see her laying next to me on the bed, her arm wrapped around me. I could hear how upset Emmett was as apparently Rosalie filled them all in. "You need some sleep." Alice spoke as she started to gently caress my arm. "It's still late."

"Don't we need to…" I stared at the door.

"No, Carlisle and Rose have it. We aren't going to even try to deal with this until the morning." Alice smiled and I tried to relax back into the bed again. I had to be there when we dealt with.

"I need to be there." I spoke quietly, while the people downstairs were distracted by the story. "You all need me to be there."

"I know." Alice reassured me and I finally tried to let myself sleep. I really liked that Alice chose to stay with me, even when so much was going on downstairs.

The next morning I found myself eating in the kitchen when Rosalie practically marched in, followed by Emmett. A small thud and a scrapping sound had me looking down at the table in time to stop a phone from falling off the edge. I grabbed it and then gave Rosalie a puzzled look.

"If you're going to have visions, or whatever, about us, you need a phone." Her voice was cold, but I glanced down at the very expensive looking cell phone. I wasn't sure I could even operate it. "I preprogrammed all our numbers."

"You've got some cool games on that too." Emmett smiled at me, but there was something odd about him, something tense. He stared at me, even as Rosalie left the room swiftly. "Thanks." He whispered and turned toward the door. "She's everything to me. Just, thanks."

They were both gone and I stared down at the phone again, a bit stunned by the whole thing. I didn't even see numbers on it. How do you dial this thing?

"I see Rosalie was here." Esme smiled gently, taking my plate from me. I hadn't even noticed her come in. I watched the brunette vampire look over my shoulder at the phone. "That's a nice one. I wasn't sure what she'd decided to get you."

I whispered as quietly as I could. "I don't know how to use this." Esme's eyes widened for just a moment, making me blush at her surprise.

"I thought all the teenagers of this time were born knowing how to use these things." Esme spoke just as quietly, which I was thankful for. Her gentle teasing smile was welcomed, as she avoided asking why I didn't know. I'd never really had money for cell phones. "I'll teach you." Esme's cool fingers took the phone from me and looked at it. "She really did get you a good one. I bet you have the internet on this." She looked at something on the side and touched the screen, flipping through something and smiled. "And Emmett set your ringtone."

I looked at a list of tones and couldn't help but chuckle, as I saw my ringtone was Werewolf of London.

She spent a couple minutes showing me how to dial the preprogrammed numbers, and how to dial normally. I did my best to remember my quick lesson given just moments before the meeting that was waiting for me to finish eating. We had to develop our plan, and I wasn't happy with having to see my old pack again, but we had to strike while their shame should be high, before they started to try and justify Paul's actions.

…………………….

I slowly hit the last button on the phone for Sam's number and took a deep breath. I could feel all the eyes on me, and I felt more than a little uncomfortable being the one to make this call. It should have been their Alpha, but Carlisle insisted that I start this conversation, that it would give us an edge. I'd only planned to be the silent advisor.

"Yeah, hello?" A deep voice spoke and I could tell he had no idea who was calling.

"I suppose you've been informed of why I'd call?" I spoke coldly, turning away from my vampire audience to focus on the wall and what I needed to say. They would see and hear it all, but I couldn't let myself be distracted. A grunt on the other side of the line was all I got in response. "This breach of the treaty needs to be dealt with." I sighed obviously. "It was malicious and an unforgiveable breach of the spirit of the treaty. Our ancestors would be very ashamed of you all if it had worked."

I heard his growl, "One O'clock." He was clearly unhappy, but I couldn't help but smile at the proof we had him over a barrel. "You better be there too."

"Well then clearly it will need to be on this side of the border, since I've been banished." My voice growled. "I don't know that we should allow that, after what your pack did." A movement out of the corner of my eye had me catching Carlisle's hand and his expression. I could see he wanted me to ease up.

Easing up would be a big mistake. I glanced at Rosalie and then focused on the phone. "We'll meet at the border, but Sam…" I felt my heart hammering, knowing I was defying Carlisle. "Anything happens like this again and it won't be the vampires you need to worry about. You don't even know half of what being a wolf is, but I do." I knew that my abilities in shifting had to come up. "If this meeting isn't on the level, I'll know. You know I'll know these things, so don't embarrass yourself." Cell phones weren't as satisfying to hang up; I couldn't slam the phone down.

"Well, that could have gone worse." Jasper muttered, and I just shook my head and put the phone in my pocket, waiting for a reprimand.

"Good job." Rosalie surprised me with the positive words, even if her tone was still not really friendly. "They screwed up and we need to rub their doggy noses in it until they learn."

I was a little surprised to find myself fighting a small smirk at Rosalie's words. "So, one o'clock." Carlisle sighed, his tone more serious. It wiped my smile off my face and I turned to face him. "I guess we have a little time before we should go." I let out a relieved breath when that was all he said.

The three hours before we had to head off took forever. I tried to watch tv with Alice, tried to play video games with Emmett, and even tried to talk about the her debate between carpeting, tile, or hardwood for her project with Esme, but I was too distracted to really do any of it. I dreaded this meeting, but I just wanted it over with.

……………………………..

It was damp out, a light drizzling rain, that irritated Alice. I gave her a small smile, knowing she didn't like what the rain was doing to her hair, before I stared at the woods in front of us again. We stood in a clearing and waited. That pack would come to us, we weren't going to track them.

I stood to Carlisle's right, and I was still surprised I had that spot. I knew more about the pack, and when I tried to argue that I should be at his right not a single vampire argued against it. It was clear proof this wasn't a pack. They didn't care about hierarchy at all. I smiled as I stared at the woods in front of us, knowing that the pack wouldn't understand that. They'd assume I'd risen to this rank. I was going to use that while I could.

I smelled the approaching pack shortly before the vampires near me started to growl. Carlisle turned a sharp eye around to his coven and the growling ones stopped. I stared at the woods long enough to see moving bushes. I took a deep breath as I waited for the males that tossed me aside the minute I imprinted. My eyes hardened as I heard the branches cracking under their feet.

Sam, in human form stepped out into the clearing, two wolves flanking him. I raised my head a little and sniffed at the air. I had no idea if there were more than those three yet, and I didn't like the idea of surprises. My senses stretched out, but I sensed no danger.

Sam's face was scrunched up in disgust for a moment, before he attempted to clear his expression of any emotion. I knew he did that as an insult and I growled lightly.

"Sam." Carlisle nodded a greeting and got a grunt back. I practically willed Carlisle to keep firm. "Your pack violated the treaty by attacking one of my own for no reason." Carlisle sounded cold, which was new. Perhaps he could pull it off, I thought with some hope. "Diana is under the impression it was a part of a larger plot to justify attacking all of us."

Sam turned briefly to glare at the wolf on his left and I stared at Paul, waiting for his submission. His lowered head as he looked away from Sam made me smirk. "Yes, we heard."

"I believe any claims against our family in the future should be verified." Carlisle glanced at me. "Diana tells me lies cannot be told as a wolf."

Sam glared at me as if I were the traitor. "Okay, I'll verify claims." He growled out, clearly unhappy with his position. I glared back.

It took a lot of self restraint to not say something, but I maintained a low growl that had Alice resting a hand on my shoulder, as if she thought she might need to hold me back. I didn't acknowledge her at the moment, even though I shouldn't be restrained in a situation like this. I just did what I could to calm the shaking in my body.

"I also heard you can shift differently." Sam spoke to me directly, his voice cold. "The Elders want to talk to you about that." I felt my insides clench at that. I wasn't considered a part of the tribe, wasn't allowed on their lands. Last time I met with the Elders I was banished. I wasn't feeling all that safe with their invitation now. Voices erupted around me.

"Diana doesn't go anywhere with you." Alice hissed and her touch on my shoulder became firmer, as if holding me there so no one could take me.

"Like we'd let you anywhere near her, after all the threats she's been getting from you mutts." Rosalie's voice was cold as ice.

"This has nothing to do with you." Sam glared around. "It's tribal business." His voice grew deeper. "Diana, you need to meet with the Elders."

I grimaced as I recognized the Alpha command, that voice we were never to question, but the grimace slowly left my face as I felt no compulsion. I started to grin. "Sorry, I'm not part of the tribe. You all knew I was gifted, different. You should have thought of that before banishing me." I watched his eyes widen at my insubordination. I softened my voice. "It's just me. I've always been different Sam. You know that. I can't teach you all to do what I do; you've never had the talent." I knew I had a small smug smile. Perhaps they could learn, but after yesterday I just wouldn't trust them with more power. I wasn't sure how they could use the shifting against the Cullens, but I wasn't risking anything. People would easily believe I was just a freak of nature, it wasn't anything new.

"You guys were stupid enough to let your super-wolf go." Emmett spoke up as well. "Too bad for you." His smile wasn't his normally carefree one, it was a little vicious.

Edward's voice spoke up. "You might not realize it, but Paul has done more than just attack Rosalie. You should ask him what he used to do late at night, after you all went to sleep. Only a beast would treat a woman like that."

Sam turned to glare at the wolf on his side and I clenched my fists as I watched him stare at Paul.

"He sent his vulgar threats into her mind." Rosalie growled. I felt like I was having a little trouble breathing as Rosalie and Edward took to defending me. "That dog needs a leash, because if I see him again I'm going to neuter him."

"Please, no need to make threats now." Carlisle spoke, his voice ranging towards calming. His eyes, however, seemed to stare Sam down. "I'm sure that now that Sam is fully aware of the issue he will make sure it never happens again."

"Yes, I see I have a lot to do." Sam nodded tensely, and his eyes traveled over mine. He's eyes lowered for just a moment and I was surprised at the momentary submission. He really hadn't known. I have no idea how Paul hid that.

I took a step forward as he was leaving, putting me in front of all the vampires. I watched them fade into the forest and sighed. They had been my family, we had been close.

"Well, that clears that issue up at least." Rosalie muttered and I nodded, even as I felt the cool hand reach for my own. I held Alice's hand and slowly followed her as she tugged on me to get us to move. I didn't think with that shaming, that information that he had no control over his pack, that Sam would be a problem for a while. Paul was going to regret all his great ideas now.

Sam was only Alpha because he was first, and it showed now. If I'd been male, the Elders would have suggested I became Alpha, but that never crossed their lips. I looked around at the vampires walking along side me, until Jasper and Edward started to run, then Rosalie and Emmett. Alice smiled at me and I raced along side her, partly shaggy to keep up. I'd rather run with Vampires, I grinned as I thought it.