hey guys! so so so so sorry for not updating for so long. a huge emergency came up and i had to fly out of town last week and since then i couldnt find the inspiration to write. in a sense i was like Bella in new moon minus losing Edward. I literally felt like a walking zombie, but slowly everything is going back to normal and im finding the strength to start writing again. Once again thank you to all the people who Review and have expressed their concern, to all the people who add and subscribe to the story and add me to their fav. authors list, and to all the people who've been reading and review this story constantly. Thank you thank you thank you.... this is for you Lenny. R.I.P.
Nessie's POV
"So Kai," Rachel smiled as we all turned to a flustered Kai, "how'd he ask you?"
"Ask me what?" She smiled slightly before looking down at the floor.
"Oh please Kai," Aunt Alice smiled as she took a seat next to my mother, "you lie just as well as Bella." She laughed at my mother slapped Aunt Alice's knee, I knew if she were still human she would be redder than Kai was right now.
"Well," she smiled as Claire climbed onto my lap, "it just kinda happened!" She yelped as we all smiled at a beaming Kai, my focus slightly distracted by a distant wolf howl and Aunt Rose's silent exit. Well silent to human ears.
"Awww common Kai!" Claire squealed joyfully. "Obliviously it didnt just happen if he's been planning it for a few days... and with Alice's help," she smiled as I looked at her.
"You knew?" I asked my voice filled with shock and slight anger. Was I the only one who didnt know? Why didnt Jake tell me about it? I knew how to keep a secret! I looked at Claire as she reacted to the tone in my voice, I smiled at her to ease the tension and made a mental note to have a talk with Jake later.
"Quil slipped and told me last night," she whispered slightly scared by my tone. "He made me promise not to tell anyone," she said as she fiddled with a loose strand of her hair. "It was so hard! I wanted to tell you and Kai," she said as she looked up and smiled at the both of us, "but he said if I did it would ruin everything. Are you guys mad?" She asked shyly as Kai and I both smiled at her.
"Of course not!" We laughed.
"I think I would've been mad if you told me Claire," Kai said as she pulled her into a hug.
"Alice," Aunt Rose said as she quietly slipped back into the guest room.
"I saw this coming," Aunt Alice frowned as she nodded for Aunt Rosalie to continue with what she was doing.
"What are you guys talking about?" I asked as everyone focused their attention to Aunt Rose.
"Uhm well..." she flustered as I can see Aunt Alice boiling with irritation.
"Oh just blurt it out Rose!" She finally yelled before storming out of the room.
"Uhm I'm so sorry. I don't mean to be rude, but" she said as she bit her lip and nodded at Bella, "the pack needs our help."
"Is everything all right?" Rachel asked as Leah listened intently.
"Yes every thing's fine," Aunt Rose said as she smiled at me.
"Is it just you leaving?" I asked fully aware that everything wasn't fine.
"Uhm no," she said as I saw her throw a quick glance at Leah. The feeling that something was off swiftly kicking me in the stomach.
"They need me, Bella, Tacitia, Viveca and Carillie to go along too," Alice said as she stormed through the front door.
"Im so sorry sweetheart," my mother said as they all slowly got up. "We wouldn't be leaving so suddenly if the pack and your father didn't need help."
"I know," I said as I got up to hug her. "Are you sure you don't want me to come?" I asked knowing she'd deny it, but maybe this time would be different.
"Of course not sweetheart," she smiled weakly.
"Mom I know somethings wrong. I want to help it's because of me she's here," I said to her as her weak smile slowly turned into a frown.
"I know you want to help," she said as she ran her hair soothingly through my hair, "but it's best if you stay here. Enjoy the night my beautiful daughter, its rare that you get to have a night like this. We will do everything it takes to keep you safe." She finished as she kissed the top of my head and pulled me into a tight hug.
"Mom," I said before she cut me off.
"No," she looked at me sternly. "We have the pack, your father, uncles, Nahuel and Carlisle there. We're merely going there to be the voice of reason. If we brought you there, it would be like throwing meat at a starving lion."
"Fine," I said looking at Leah, Claire and Kai petting Rachels over due belly. "But if any of you get hurt, especially you, dad or Jake I swear..." I said as tears started to well up.
"Nothing will happen Reneseme," she said as Tacita and Viveca followed Aunt Rose into the backyard. "I promise you there are seventeen of us and one of her," she said as I smiled at the odds, "she will not get through any of us."
"Bella," Aunt Alice said in a very irritated tone, "we ned to go."
"I'll see you in the morning Nessie," she smiled as we walked toward the door.
"Be safe! All of you!" I said as I followed my mother out the guest house door.
"They will be," Leah said as she comfortingly wrapped her arm around me. "That evil witch's gonna get it," she smirked as I watched them all speed past the main house, disappearing into the dark night.
"Why arent you going?" I asked as we saw Daniel's shadow exploring the main house, "and why is Daniel in the house alone?"
"Someone has to hold the fort down here," she smirked as she watched his shadow slowly moving about the room. "And he's not," she laughed as I saw mama Esme pull him towards a desk and laid out a large piece of paper.
"Speaking of Daniel," I said to her as we walked back into the guest house.
"Mhm," she said in a distracted tone.
"What was Alice talking about this morning?" I smiled as her face went pale.
"I... uhm... she," Leah said as she stumbled to put her words together.
"Common Leah spill," Kai said as everyone focused their attention towards her.
"Uhm," she said as she fiddled with something on her left hand. I looked to see what it was when my jaw dropped with shock, it was a beautiful diamond ring.
"Oh my gosh Leah your ENGAGED!" I yelled as she flinched from my high pitched yell.
"What!?!" Everyone else yelled as their eyes zoomed in onto her left ring finger.
"Uh yeah," she laughed as we stood there in shock.
"When. How and Where'd he get such a pretty ring?" Rachel asked as she shifted herself on the couch.
"Uhm well it's a long story. I dont wanna bore all of you, I mean I'd rather hear Kai's story," she said in an extremely fast tone.
"We have all night," I beamed as we focused our attention towards Kai.
"Well Kai I see Leah's compromising, she'll tell us the story of the engagement if you tell us how Seth asked you," I said in a formal tone.
"Uhm well..." Kai said before we heard another wolf howling in the distance.
"I better go see what's up," Leah said in a tense tone. "I'll be back in a few minutes," she said as my heart started to race and the uneasy feeling growing ten times as bigger than before.
"Whats wrong?" Claire asked in a worried tone as she peeked out the window.
"I... I'm not entirely sure," I said as my breath started to quicken.
"Nessie sit down," Rachel said calmingly, "there's probably nothing wrong. They probably just want to update Leah on what's going on. I bet you as we speak they're building the fire and burning her to ashes," she smiled trying her best to comfort me.
"Yeah you're probably right," I sighed to myself we sat in silence listening for anything in the distance.
"I can't hear anything," Claire whispered to Kai as I closed my eyes.
"I know but Nessie can," she whispered back as I focused my attention on Leah's steps outside.
"How long has she been out there?" Kai asked in a worried tone as Rachel glanced at the clock.
"About five minutes," Rachel responded trying to keep her voice calm and even. I glanced at her quickly as she tried to keep a calm and collected look on her.
"Shes coming," I said as I heard Leah's four footsteps turn into two. I turned towards the rest of them hoping that it wasnt oblivious that we were listening.
"Sorry," Leah said as she opened the door. "I didnt mean to worry you guys," she said as she smiled at all of us, "the guys were just updating me on what was happening," she finished as she reclaimed her seat next to me. I shot a glance at her as she looked down, she was lying, she heard the whole conversation and knew if she came back with bad news I would make a run for it, hopefully everyone's scent was still fresh enough for me to follow.
"Oh see Ness," Kai said joyfully as I tried to plan my escape. Thankfully Alice still couldnt see me as clearly because of Leah, she still could see me since she was becoming more attuned to Leah but I knew it wasnt clear enough to see me headed towards them.
"So where were we?" Leah asked trying to ease the tension building in the room.
"Kai and Seth!" Rachel laughed as Kai glared at her.
"Common spill!" Claire said as I slowly started to think of excuses to step outside and make a run for it. Leah was the only one who could catch me, technically, but hopefully I would be far enough to out run her before she notices.
"Ok well," Kai smiled as she fiddled with a bracelet that was exactly like mine, but made with different colored material. "He took me to the beach and we played around in the waves for a while. He was acting strange and wouldnt let me go near the cave we found a while back so I got mad," she smiled earning a giggle from everyone and a tense smile from myself. "Every time I would try to go there he would stop me and come up with some lame excuse. I swam to shore and tried to run there but he beat me, and it's not like I could fight him off," she blushed.
"And then..." Claire said after a few moments of silence.
"And well I threatened to go back towards the Rez and tell Paul," she said as Rachel laughed, "but he said no one was there."
"Because we were all here," Claire and Rachel laughed.
"Exactly," Kai smiled. "So I finally got fed up and threatened to walk to Nessies house," she said as she threw me a cautious glance.
"So did you start walking here?" Claire asked fully interested in the story.
"I started too," she whispered.
"I wonder how long that would've take you," Leah laughed.
"Day's probably," she said as we all started to laugh.
"Well what'd he do when he saw you walking?" Rachel asked envisioning the sight in her head.
"He ran after me," she smiled, "and I told him he had one more change to stop acting weird or I'll call Paul and have him pick me up and forbid you from ever seeing me again."
"Ouch, harsh Kai," Leah said in a joking tone.
"Well it was the best I could think of," she smiled, "but it worked. So he took me over to our cave, and he had a full on dinner table set up there! I knew he had help with planning it though," she said as she smiled at me, "it had Alice written all over it."
"Of course," I said realizing I've hardly said anything since Leah came back into the house.
"Yup, he said he was supposed to do this at sunset, but what can I say?" She smiled, "the food was amazing, which I knew Bella and Esme probably had a hand in helping cook. After that he pulled out a huge cookie that had 'Be Mine?' written in purple icing."
"Be Mine?!" Leah laughed, "oh that was for sure Seth's idea then."
"I know it's lame," Kai laughed, "but it was something he did on his own," she smiled.
"And you said yes right?!?" Claire asked her eyes full of excitement.
"Of course," she smiled, "and well we had a loooong talk after that," she winked at me.
"About imprinting?" Claire asked excitedly as the story came to a close. I knew as soon as the story ended I would have to make my escape, the time was running and I knew I had help the pack, my family and Jake especially before someone was hurt.
"Mhm," she nodded as Claire beamed with excitement.
"So you know what it is!?!" She said as Kai realized what she had done.
"Claire..." she frowned as Claire's smile soon did the same.
"You can't tell me huh?" She said as we all looked at her apologetically.
"We want to hunny," Rachel said as she ran her fingers soothingly through Claire's head.
"But I have to have this talk with Quil," she frowned as we nodded. "But he won't talk to me until its the right time," she said solemnly as we all nodded once again.
"Fine," she said as she crossed her arms against her chest. "But when he does it better be like yours and Nessie's," she said as we all let out a small giggle.
"We'll make sure of it," I said as I got up. This was it, the one and only chance I had to escape, "I forgot something in the house."
"I'll go with you," Leah said as I reached the door.
"No. I'm fine," I said anxiety slowly building up in me.
"I know," she said as she slowly got up, "but I should go say goodnight to Daniel."
"Uhm ok fine," I said trying to mask my irritation.
"We'll be back," I heard Leah say as I walked through the backyard in a faster than human pace.
"Hey Ness," she said catching up to me and less than 4 seconds. "What's the rush?"
"Nothing," I sighed as we walked into the main house.
"Are you sure?" She said eying me suspiciously.
"Mhm," I nodded as we walked through the hallway and into my room. "Weren't you supposed to go find Daniel?"
"Oh uhm, yeah. So I'll wait for you on the patio?" She asked as I nodded anxiously, "ok I'll be down there with Daniel then," she said awkwardly before leaving the room. I listened to her walk down the hallway before running to the school desk Daddy and Emmet installed for me. I frantically searched for a piece of paper explaining to Leah and Mama Esme why I went with them and hoped they would find it when I was at least a few miles away from the house.
Leah and Mama Esme,
I'm so sorry to do this to you, but I have to help them. It's my fault they're in such danger, if anything happened to Jake I couldn't forgive myself. Please understand I did this to protect all of you, Jake especially. I love you both. Please don't worry I'll be with them before you know I'm gone.
I love you,
Nessie
I folded up the piece of paper neatly and placed it in the middle of my bed. I took one last look at my room and took a deep breath, taking in all the warm scents. My eyes filled with tears as my eyes landed on the picture frame Aunt Alice had given me, I slowly lifted it up, the memories of Jake and I filling my mind. "I love you Jacob Black," I whispered to myself as I place the picture frame gently next to my note and ran down the hall towards the attic.
"Nessie?" I heard Mama Esme call me as I reached Jacob's closet.
"Hey Mama Esme," I said grabbed one of Jacob's jackets, useless to him of course, but he kept them because he knew how much I loved wearing them because it was covered in his scent.
"What are you doing up here?" She asked slightly causing me to jump. "You seem so on edge Nessie," she said as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ears.
"It's nothing Mama Esme," I lied smoothly, "I guess I'm worried about everyone. So I came up here to grab one of Jake's jackets, to hopefully calm me down."
"Oh Nessie," she said as she pulled me into a hug, "they'll be fine. It's nothing they can't handle."
"I know I know," I said anxiety still building in me. "I just can't help but worry," I said bitting my lip in hopes of preventing tears escape my eyes.
"They'll be fine Nessie," she said as she rubbed soothing circles on my back, "just enjoy the night."
"Thats what momma said," I laughed as she smiled gently.
"Well your mothers a smart woman," she smiled as I hugged her.
"I love you Mama Esme," I said hoping she could not sense my somber meaning.
"I love you too Nessie," she smiled as she hugged me gently. "I think Leah's waiting for you on the patio," she said.
"I know, I just have to grab a few more things in my room," I lied as we both walked down the stairs.
"I'll see you in the morning Nessie," she said before disappearing into her room, more than likely to work on the Leah and Daniel's wedding plans.
"Hopefully," I said to myself before reaching my room. The second I closed the door I sprinted towards the balcony and saw Leah and Daniel cuddling on one of the patio chairs. I threw on Jacobs jacket and swiftly slid down the farthest balcony beam, clear from Leah's sight. Just as my feet hit the floor a voice called my name.
"Nessie," Leah said as I landed on the floor, "I know what your doing," she finished as I turned to face her.
"Im not doing anything," I said trying my best to sound as innocent as possible.
"Oh really? You dont think I didnt know what you were thinking the second I came back into the guest house?" She said placing her hands on her hips.
"Leah you have to understand, it's my-" I started to say before she cut me off.
"I do understand, and it's exactly how Bella explained... brining you there would be like brining meat to a starving lion." She said as I took a deep breath in.
"I know but Jake," I said before she interrupted again.
"But Jake is safe, your the only reason he's leading the fight Ness. If I let you go there and you got hurt he would never forgive me, I would never forgive me," she said in a somber tone. "Now do I have to carry you back to the guest house or are you willing to go peacefully?" She said after a few moments of silence.
"I'll go peacefully," I said as I stomped through the backyard.
"Makes my job easier," she said trying to ease my attitude.
We were just past the fountain when an all to familiar scent hit my nose. It was a smell similar to Nahuel, but a smell that made my whole body flip inside out. Leah and I turned towards each other, the expression in our faces mimicking each others perfectly. "Leah," I whispered as her eyes darted around the backyard.
"Run to the guest house," she said through her teeth as her face started to fill with anger, the smell started to get stronger.
"But," I started to say before she roared back.
"NOW," she yelled as she started to shake violently.
"Minha filha," Huilen said before I reached the guest room door.
"Leah!" I turned to yell before I saw the small grey wolf running towards a seething Huilen.