Leah's POV

Seth and I were seated in the large, shiny kitchen at the Cullen Mansion/Crypt. Esme, the master chef, loved to cook even though she couldn't eat and since she didn't have reason to do it often before, she plied me with food now.

I was always hungry and ate much more than an average person, so she had her hands full mothering me. Breakfast, morning snack, lunch, mid-day snack, dinner, dessert, midnight snack...the woman was relentless. I loved it.

She loved it even more. Especially when my brother tagged along.

We were sitting at the dining table, Seth and I stuffing our faces with salad and garlic bread and chicken fettucine, while listening to the rest of the family discussing our 'problem'.

I wanted to roll my eyes. Jasper had been freaked out, not visibly of course but his version of freaking out, about the rogue blonde vamp that had passed by a few days ago. I could see where the possessiveness and anger came in, because by what Jasper said the guy had fixated on me, but I wasn't sure why he was even worried about the guy.

"There is one of him and like eight of us...plus the pack." I interrupted after swallowing the food in my mouth. "I mean, yeah, we should be on the lookout and not be caught out alone but with all of us, I don't see why we're making this huge deal of it." I didn't miss the small smile that spread over Jasper, Esme, and Carlisle's faces when I included myself as one of them.

"Leah, one vampire is all it takes." Edward spoke up, looking my way. "He could contact the Volturri and make problems because of our treaty with the wolves. They're take it as an alliance instead of a cease fire. They're already worried about the size of our coven. They think we wish to overtake them for rule over the vampire world."

For one moment, I marveled over Edward's insistence on speaking like we were still in Victorian times. Even Emmett's terrible slang usage was better, but I shook my head. Now wasn't the time. "Why would you want to rule the vamp world when you all hate being vampires? I mean, even Emmett, who loves it, doesn't eat humans which is bound to piss off other vamps. You'd have to kill all vampires before they'd actually bide by the kinds of rules Carlisle would set. And I may not know everything about you guys but I know enough that Esme, Carlisle and Edward would feel personally responsible for every human killed by any vampire ever if they were the disciplinarians for them."

"It doesn't really matter that we don't want to take over. They believe that we do. It's enough incentive for them to try anything for a reason to take us out." Rosalie added.

"I thought having an Alpha sucked." I groaned.

Seth nodded in agreement. "That's one dude, that we can go to the Council to veto, if he doesn't command us not to. Not that they could actually force him to stop, really. If Sam hadn't had respect for the Council, he could have ignored them and commanded us to also. Damn, I'm glad Sam's half crazy."

I snorted. "Jacob wouldn't have let it go too far. He would have-"

"Jacob already let it go too far." Jasper and Seth said together, a hiss and a growl blending together. I smiled at them both.

"Even if he'd never stopped them, one of us would have eventually discovered that if we stopped viewing him as our Alpha and chose another, they became the Alpha. I'm glad it's Jared. He's always been more calm but with enough heart too."

Rosalie gave me a pointed look. "Can we get back to the evil vamp after our favorite she-wolf?"

I scoffed. "Fine fine. Still though, just one dude."

"He could have a coven. Most vampires are nomadic, some alone, some with a mate, and some with a coven. We have no way of knowing what he is and how many are in his coven."

"Oh...well, Quil said he smelled two more really faint vamp scents on that dude."

The entire table turned to stare at Seth. I just nodded. "We don't get cool empathic or telepathic powers and definitely no visions but some of us are...more enhanced in one way or another."

"Leah is the very fastest of us all and since wolves are faster than vamps, she's probably like the fastest being on the planet." Seth answered. Ridiculously, I could feel a blush rising in my cheeks. "Embry is right behind her. Jacob is the strongest, because of his Alpha blood, but Sam and Quil are strong too because the Uleys and Atearas are strong lines. Clearwaters are strong lines themselves but since Leah is a chick and I'm one of the youngest, I've probably got another year or so. Jared has the best eyesight, I have the best hearing, and Quil has the best nose. Paul is the best fighter when strength doesn't count, but that's not his line just him."

"Quil, who never even got close enough to touch him, could distinguish two other scents on him? I thought our scent burnt your noses?" Carlilse asked, looking fascinated. Like I hadn't wrote these things in the journal I'd given him.

"They do." Seth replied, smirking. I rolled my eyes. "At first, it's instinctive. When I first smelt it, my stomach rolled and my mind was just killkillkill you know? But the longer I was around you, I guess my wolf was less threatened and it settled down, but the smell does still burn. You get used to it. It's not like gross, like death or anything, it's like sniffing bleach. Where your eyes water and your nose stings. It sucks but...we adjust just like you adjust to smelling pee anywhere you go or eating something when you can smell the grease in it twenty times easier."

"I wonder how your abilites compare to ours." Carlisle responded. "Would you be able to take this rogue down on your own?"

"In human form, he could take me easily. I'm like twenty times stronger than a human now but when I'm phased it's like five times stronger than I am now. I can break trees if I run into them. Lift cars, yadayadayada."

"Your speed?"

"Uhh..."

"I've ran 100 miles in 58 minutes." I interrupted.

"That takes me about the same time." Edward spoke, sounding amazed. "Maybe a minute or two more, acutally. I've never met anyone that was ever faster than me."

"We'll have to race sometime." I told him.

"That same distance would take the rest of us about ten or fifteen minutes more." Seth told them.

"And about twenty for us." Carlilse added. "So you'll be safe around this vampire as long as he doesn't have some dangerous ability we're unaware of."

"He's a tracker." Edward said suddenly, his body rigid and his face neutral but I could somehow see the worry and anger too. And disgust.

"How do you know?" Jasper whispered quickly.

"Because he's outside." the ginger answered. "Three miles east, he's unaware of how many are in the coven and our gifts. He has his coven with him. Two...a dark-skinned man with dreadlocks and a redheaded woman...his mate. He's the leader. He wants Leah. He..."

"He what?" I asked, impatiently.

"He doesn't want to kill you." Edward replied, his face revolted.

"Then what?"

"He's fascinated by your wolf form. He wants you as a pet. He plans to kill Jasper and take you. Maybe even to kill your pack if it comes to that. It's the only reason he brought backup. He's very secure in his fighting abilities to take Jasper down and subdue you."

I stood quickly, angry. "Well, that's where he's fucked up." My mind whirled with possibilities. "What about the others?"

"Laurent...the black man. He isn't as cruel as the others but not kind either. He is a frontman, but only for show. Nothing special. Victoria will do anything to please her mate. She has an uncanny ability to escape any situation."

"So let's go!" Emmett crowed, standing as well. He was rearing for a fight. "We can take this dude down."

"It's not James I'm worried about." Edward started. "He's a threat, yes, but..."

"Victoria is the biggest risk." Jasper finished.

"It would still be easier to take one out then none." I argued. "Less trouble later."

"Look, I-"

"Don't worry! I have a plan! Meet out front." I yelled, racing from the house and phasing before they could stop me.