AN: This chapter takes place during chapter 50. Obviously, I didn't use it then because I didn't want to reveal just yet that the Cullen's were definitely coming back, and under what circumstances. I actually wrote the bulk of this chapter back in June when I was distracting myself from a bit of writer's block, so clearly, the Cullen's coming back has been in the works for a long time. Apologies to all who asked about them for my repeated evasions. Hope you enjoy.

If it isn't a saying that an author never stops tweaking their stories, then it should be. I went back and added little bits to Bella and Jared's post-appointment conversation in #50, and to their talk in the car in #51.

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Carlisle POV

I looked at the pages of the genetics journal that was open on the desk before me, but couldn't really own to actually reading, much less comprehending, the words before me. I was feeling the strain of our charade so much more these days, more than I ever had before in my nearly four centuries of existence. Perhaps it was just more complicated now; not only were we hiding from the humans, as always, but I was doing my best as the leader of the family to hide the weight of grief and pain I was feeling—a weight that had been present ever since September, when Edward, my first son, had insisted that we had to leave Forks immediately.

I had—we all had—known that this wasn't the best idea, but he had been resolute and adamant. We—all of us, including himself—were a perpetual danger to Bella, and the only thing to do to protect her was to leave. He had moved without complaint many times before, when one or the other of our family members had necessitated it, so we felt unable to deny him now that he had requested a move. It had hurt not to be able to tell her goodbye, but he had insisted that this, too, was for the best. Edward had bidden her farewell alone, and we had left.

I had chosen not to resume hospital practice once we had settled in to our new home in Ithaca, New York. Hospitals now carried an indelible memory of Bella—her clumsiness, and of the first time I had met her, after Edward had saved her from dying by an errant automobile…Teaching in Cornell University's medical program had seemed a much better alternative.

I sighed, and abandoned the pretense of reading the journal. Even with the change in location and work environment, I had found myself struggling to lead the appearance of a normal life. It was perhaps fortunate for my students and their future patients that I was able to impart the required materials and experiences; my attention span was sorely lacking at present. Perhaps I should consider a sabbatical next year, or even next semester, I considered. It was likely not the best option, especially as I had only started this job at the middle of the last school year.

Some might say that it was one of the curses of our nature that we were ever in need of hobbies or interests to occupy our time. If I could find some puzzle or question…

Finally deciding to take a break from my fruitless endeavors, I shut down my computer and left my office to rejoin my family. Esme noticed my abstracted nature when I approached the living room, and her spirit lifted to see me.

"Something interesting in your medical journal, dear?" she inquired.

"There was genetics article discussing the prevalence of congenital medical conditions in defined minority populations," I replied.

"Is that bad for them?" Esme was trying to be interested, although I could see that wasn't really the case. Of all my family, only Edward had ever had any medical experience—the others had no interest.

"It would normally be a cause for concern, but—"

I belated realized that I had not greeted Esme properly, and drew her into my embrace. Her mood seemed to have returned to its previous melancholy, and I knew she was again thinking of the human daughter she had claimed and then been forced to abandon. My beloved wife clung to me quietly, dry-eyed although I knew she would be weeping if that were possible. Seeking some kind of distraction for us both, I turned in the direction of the living room and surveyed our gathered children.

Rosalie was desultorily flipping through an auto parts magazine. Jasper was staring off into space, a book abandoned on his lap, no doubt being buffeted by the emotions Esme and I were emitting. Alice had a collection of fashion magazines spread out on a table, but apparently even the latest couture gowns could not hold her attention. Emmett was randomly flipping through channels on the flatscreen TV.

I could not help a mental sigh, as I thought about the other child missing from our family tableau: Edward. He had not remained with us long after our move, quickly tiring of Alice's requests to be allowed to call Bella or reply to her emails. Only a direct threat from Edward to burn Alice's entire wardrobe had kept her from seeking any visions of Bella. All he had said before leaving was that he wanted to be alone for a while. Edward called in every couple months, nowhere near often enough to satisfy Esme, and otherwise ignored any voicemails or text messages that we sent. Unlike the last time he had left us, when it had just been he and I and Esme, I didn't fear that he had fallen off the dietary wagon; rather, I worried about his mental and emotional state. However right he felt leaving had been, it was clear that he wasn't happy.

Suddenly, Jasper sat upright, his book falling forgotten to land upside down on the carpet. I could see that it was one of his prized historical volumes, though he paid that fact no heed. "That lead-in-turn it back," he snapped at Emmett, in a tone uncharacteristically harsh for him. Emmett hurried to comply, switching the channel back to a national news program. The story which had caught his attention was just beginning by the time the screen's image refocused.

"The city of Seattle is in a panic, as an apparent serial killer continues to stalk the streets and alleys," the broadcaster began. "Over the past four months, the toll of dead and missing in the Emerald City has continued to climb. Victims seem to belong to no particular ethnic or social group, and include all age ranges and genders. Authorities cannot confirm any connections between victims or offer any certainty that there one individual or group is indeed responsible, but the sheer number of victims thus far argues for some kind of connection. Thus far, 39 individuals are confirmed to have been killed, many having been viciously slashed with unknown weapons, and a further two dozen have officially be reported missing; however, unnamed police sources acknowledge that these too are likely to be added to the total number of fatalities, and add that there may be an unknown number of potential victims among the city's marginalized populations for whom reports are unlikely to have been filed."

"Shit," Jasper swore, his polite Southern-gentleman persona nowhere in sight; before us was the fierce vampire warrior he had been for nearly a century of his existence. The use of profanity was so atypical for him that we all stared in shock, and even Esme forbore to scold.

"Jazz?" Alice was at his side in a flash.

"Who could possibly be that stupid?" he muttered, not seeming to have heard her. "Do they want to get caught? Or bring the Volturi down on their heads?"

"Jasper?" I stepped forward. "What is going on? Does this mean something to you?"

His eyes met mine, memory darkening them from gold to almost black. "Someone is creating an army," he announced in a dead voice.

"An army?" Emmett was on his feet. "An army of what?"

"Newborn vampires. I've seen it before-lived through it. The signs are unmistakable. That many dead, killed that way, more missing...it's an army."

"Why would anyone create an army in Seattle?" Rosalie looked disgusted. "It's not like it's the South or anything-I thought the wars never caught on so far north?"

"They didn't," he agreed. "But it's exactly the same pattern. And one I don't like."

"Is there anything we can do?" Esme wondered.

"Should we?" Rosalie shot back.

"Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin," I quoted softly. "I think that we ought to at least learn more about this situation. Then we could decide what it is that could or should be done."

"Jazz and I will go," Alice announced. Her eyes lost focus, and we all knew she was looking to see the outcome of their trip.

"Bella..." her voice was strained and her brow furrowed.

"She's four hours away, pixie," Emmett tried to reassure her. "She's safe."

"Then why don't I see her?"

Icy dread filled me at Alice's question; a glance at my wife and children revealed similar dismay. We had ample experience with Bella's peculiar kind of luck, and Alice was quite right: she ought to be able to see Bella's fate, especially now that she was looking for it. Esme gasped, and flew to the desk where a laptop computer was resting. Her fingers blurred across the keys as she searched for past news articles on the Seattle murders and for any lists of victims. Within minutes, she exhaled audibly and told us, "Bella isn't mentioned." All of us, even Rosalie, I thought, breathed signs of relief.

"Jazz, come on. The quicker we get to Seattle, the quicker we can get to Forks," Alice flew up the stairs as she spoke, re-emerging two minutes later with a pair of compact backpacks, one of which she handed to Jasper. Esme handed her a pair of airline reservation sheets only just printed off.

"Edward told you to leave her alone," Rosalie hissed.

"Edward isn't here, Rose," Alice retorted, before turning and flying out the door. Before Jasper could follow her, I stepped forward and touched his arm.

"Let us know what you find in Seattle."

"I will," he promised, then dashed after his mate.

Jasper's call had come later than expected, and when I did get it, his assessment did nothing to reassure me. He was more certain than ever that a vampire army had been unleashed in Seattle, and the havoc they were causing was only increasing.

"I just can't figure out what they're doing. I can't see any signs that any other group has claimed the territory, so it doesn't make sense for someone to be making an army-who are they going to fight?"

"What does Alice see?" I asked.

"Nothing. She's still determined to go to Forks and check on Bella, but she still can't see her, and now she can't see what will happen when we get there."

"Be careful, then," I cautioned, knowing without him saying so that they were still going to Forks. Alice wasn't about to be dissuaded now. "We've checked the weather, and it will be sunny tomorrow. You'll have to stay under cover until you can locate Bella-if she's even still there," I realized. It was early September now, and entirely likely that she had gone off to college somewhere-I remembered her initial dislike for Washington's wet weather.

"We'll see what we can find. And yes, we'll be careful," Jasper promised.

"We'll catch the first flight out in the morning" I informed him. "Meet us at the house when you can."

We sat in our old living room the next evening, waiting for Alice and Jasper to arrive. In some ways, it seemed like we had never left, once the sheets were removed from the furniture. As they flew into the room to join us, Alice's expression was a mixture of hurt and confusion; Jasper's was one of protectiveness and concern.

"Did you find Bella?" Esme couldn't hold back the question.

"Yes..." Alice dragged out the answer.

"Well?" Emmett wanted to know.

"I'm not sure," Alice admitted. "She was at her dad's house tonight, but I'm not sure that she still lives there. Her scent isn't as strong there as it used to be."

"She's out of high school now-is it that surprising that she'd want to be on her own?" Rosalie asked with marked disinterest.

"She loves Charlie. If she's still in town, why wouldn't she still live there?" Alice wasn't convinced by Rosalie's answer.

"We didn't smell Bella as strongly there, but there certainly was something else there to be smelled, inside and all around the house," Jasper offered.

"It was disgusting," Alice's face twisted. "Like smelling a...a wet dog or something."

With almost human slowness, Esme, Emmett, Rosalie, and I all looked at one another. That description was familiar and more than familiar, although it was not something we'd encountered or thought of in some seventy years.

"Is it possible?" Esme searched my eyes intently.

"I honestly do not know," I admitted. Alice and Jasper had not been with us before, but their description of that scent was telling.

"What?" Alice demanded.

"Werewolves," Rosalie answered. "Dogs."

"Big dogs," Emmett added.

"We last encountered them in the 1930's, when we lived near Hoquiam," I explained. "There were three members of that pack; Quileutes."

"The treaty," Jasper realized.

"Yes. When we moved here a few years ago, I investigated but there was no evidence whatsoever that there were still wolves. I assumed—perhaps erroneously, in hindsight—that it meant they were gone." We sat silently for several moments, contemplating what this might possibly mean. Finally, Esme returned us to the primary issue.

"Did you see her?"

Alice nodded. "And spoke to her, for a minute."

Rosalie inhaled sharply. "Have a grand reunion then?"

"No," my pixie-like daughter seemed quite forlorn by this fact. "She seemed upset, and anxious for us to leave."

"There were a lot of people there, Ali," Jasper pulled her into a hug. "A reunion like this isn't exactly ideal in front of an audience."

"I suppose," Alice still didn't perk up.

Jasper looked our way. "She said she'd come here as soon as she could, in an hour or so maybe."

The next seventy-five minutes passed with excruciating slowness. I literally had to hold Esme down to keep her from turning the house upside down in a cleaning frenzy; my argument that Bella wouldn't expect a dazzlingly clean house fell on deaf ears. Jasper was similarly engaged with Alice, and Emmett was trying to soothe Rosalie. Finally, we heard the sound of a vehicle turning off the highway onto the winding driveway that led up to the house.

"Whoa, did her truck finally keel over and die?" Emmett chortled.

"One can only hope," his wife muttered.

I took a deep, if unnecessary breath and rose to my feet, making my way over to the door at human speed. The car, an ordinary American-made sedan by the engine noise, approached the house, slowed, and stopped. A car door opened and closed, followed a moment later by a second. My ears caught the sounds of two rapid heartbeats. I opened the door and stepped out onto the porch, my family following right behind me.

Bella was standing beside a black car, a tall, muscular, obviously Quileute man next to her. She was looking at him as he looked at us, a challenging glare emanating from his black eyes. Before I could think of what to say, more heartbeats began to echo from the west, from the edge of the expansive lawn. Looking that way, I saw another Quileute man emerging from the trees, flanked on either side by a massive wolf, one red, one brown, both about the size of a horse. All three paused, then the red wolf began to vibrate.

The process of the change was fascinating. The shaking of his body increased, and he reared up slightly onto his hind legs. His form began to ripple, and the fur began to flow and to somehow disappear under the emerging reddish skin. Within a handful of moments, a young man stood where the wolf had formerly been. He was tall, at least 6 ' 7 " by my estimate, and was completely naked. He bent down and pulled something from around his ankle. It turned out to be a pair of shorts, which he pulled on before the trio continued their advance. When they had joined Bella and her companion, all five turned to look at us.

"Hello, Bella," I finally decided that we could at least start with common courtesies, until I could figure anything else out.

"Carlisle," she nodded but made no other gesture of greeting; it struck me how different this visit was from her first to our home—then, she had greeted us warmly and without reservation.

"What is all this, Bella?" Alice burst out.

Bella's brown eyes unexpectedly tensed. "I said I'd come, Alice. I never said I'd come alone. Where I go, they go. Deal with it."

My adopted daughter's face fell. "You're not happy to see us."

"Why would I have reason to be upset, Alice? You called me your best friend, yet you left me without a word, without a phone call, text message, or even a bloody email! You all called me a member of your family, yet you just tossed me aside, without a single goodbye, like a broken toy. Now why, exactly, should I be unhappy to see you again?" Bella's voice fairly dripped venom.

We all winced, suddenly realizing that the situation had just become very complicated. Bella had, it seemed, finally learned caution where we were concerned. Beside me, Jasper took a step backward.

"They hate us," he whispered quickly.

"And Bella?"

He shook his head slightly. "No. She's angry and apprehensive, though."

"We mean no harm to anyone," I directed my words to the Quileute man who'd arrived with the two wolves. He appeared to be several years older than any of the others, and seemed to be the leader.

"There are more kinds of harm than just the physical," his voice was low and angry. "Why are you back?"

"There are reasons," I confirmed, "just as I am sure there are reasons you came here today. Would you be willing to come inside and we can discuss everything?"

"I think we'd all be more comfortable outside, where we can breathe," he replied.

"But Bella would be more comfortable inside," countered the man standing beside her. The leader thought for a moment, then nodded.

"We can open some of the windows," I offered, turning to lead the way. With a glance, I requested my family to follow me, which they did, albeit with reluctance to put the wolves behind them. The one who had remained a wolf stayed outside, but Bella and the other three came inside after us.

"Bella, since you know everyone, would you perform introductions?"

"This is Dr. Carlisle Cullen, his wife Esme, and their adopted children: Emmett and Rosalie, Alice and Jasper." She pointed to each of us in turn. Under other circumstances, I might have found it interesting that she was introducing us to the wolves, instead of the other way around. "This is Sam Uley, Alpha of the La Push pack; Jacob Black, his Beta. The wolf outside is Quil Ateara, and this," obviously referring to her companion, "is Jared Mahan."

Three of those four surnames were very familiar—we were looking at men descended from the last wolves we had met; who seemed to have less reason to trust us than their ancestors had. I did note that there had been some kind of role reversal—in the last pack, a Black had been the Alpha, and Uley the Beta.

My family settled into seating on one side of the living room. I did my best to remain calmly beside Esme; Jasper and Emmett displayed more tension, placing themselves partially in front of their mates. Bella and Jared settled onto a sofa opposite us, but the other two remained standing, flanking them.

"Why are you back?" Uley demanded again.

"I was worried about you, Bella," Alice explained. Bella's face contorted and she gave a single bitter laugh.

"It took you a whole year to get worried about me, Alice? What about any of the last 363 days?"

My eyes flew to the calendar tacked to the wall across the room, abandoned and forgotten when we'd left. It was still open to September of last year, a bright gold star affixed to the space for the 13th day of the month. Of all the cruelest, bitterest ironies: that we should return here exactly on the one year anniversary of the day our lives had begun to fall apart. Today was Bella 19thbirthday. Now I really was at a loss for what to say.

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Bella POV

There was a minute or two of silence as both sides just stared at each other, a tense détente.

"Why are you here?" I finally asked., willing to be the one to break the silence—to, as Jared had said in the car, perhaps finally get my answers. "You left last year without a backward glance, so why are you back now?"

"We saw a news report on Seattle," Jasper began.

"And naturally worried about the fragile, clumsy human; I'm touched." I couldn't help the sarcasm. "I wonder that you bothered to come, though. Surely Alice could have told you I was fine."

"No, I couldn't, Bella," she burst out. "I couldn't see you."

"Is that why you thought she was dead?" Jared demanded.

Alice nodded. "The only times that's ever happened before has been when the person I was looking for was dead."

"So why'd you stop seeing me? I'm obviously still alive and I've been making lots of decisions."

"I don't know. I saw you before just fine. So what's changed?" Alice's hands clutched her spiky hair in demonstrable frustration. "Wait, when did you start spending time with them?" She gestured to the wolves surrounding me.

I blinked, wondering what that had to do with anything. "Jake, back in January; the rest of them in March."

"That's got to be it. I can't see them, so I can't see you either."

I didn't have to look to know that the pack members were filing this information away for future reference. I was rather grateful for it myself—if she couldn't see me, then she couldn't see the secrets I was hoping to keep for a little while longer.

"Why did you start associating with them? Developed a taste for monsters, did you?" Rosalie's mouth twisted.

"They aren't monsters, any more than you are," I replied, not reacting to her spite. It really struck me that she and Leah actually had a fair bit in common in terms of attitude, not that either of them would appreciate being told that. "As for why—"

"Maybe we can save that for later," Sam's tone indicated his desire to get this—whatever this was—going.

"So you were worried about Bella with all the bloodsucker activity in Seattle. Great. You've seen she's still alive. Super. So now what are you going to do?" Jared followed his Alpha's lead and got down to practicalities.

"You don't seem surprised at that information," Carlisle observed.

"We've been hunting and chasing leeches around here for almost the last year. So yeah, we know."

"Here? Who? Why?" Emmett burst out, seemingly miffed at having missed some excitement in otherwise boring Forks, Washington.

"Do the names Victoria and Laurent mean anything to you?" Sam asked the room at large.

"Why the hell did they come back here?" Emmett growled.

"Why do you think?" Jake snapped back. "They wanted Bella."

"For revenge," I elaborated. "According to Laurent, James was Victoria's mate. You all killed him, so she wants to return the favor—a mate for a mate. I guess she doesn't know or doesn't care that it's not true anymore."

"Bella, yes you are—"

"No, Alice, I'm not. Edward made that perfectly clear when he left me." I was getting rather annoyed that she didn't seem to hear what I was saying—I supposed it shouldn't surprise me, but it was definitely irksome.

"Wait, Bella," Jasper addressed me directly. "When did you talk to Laurent, and why?"

"Back in March. I finally found the meadow again, and he turned up. Seemed pretty surprised that you were gone but I wasn't. I saw that his eyes were red, so if he ever actually tried the new lifestyle, it clearly didn't take. I figured trying to have a conversation was better than getting bitten. He said he was here on her behalf, to see if you were still protecting your pet. Laurent was supposed to report back to her, but he was apparently a little too thirsty to follow orders." I shuddered slightly at the memory of him standing before me, one arm drawn back about to strike.

"Why didn't he kill you?" Jasper shook his head in disbelief.

"Because we protected her. Ran him off, tore him apart and had a nice bonfire. We forgot the marshmallows, though." Jake gave a vicious smirk at the thought. "We've been after the other one ever since, but she keeps slipping away. She's escaped every trap we've ever tried to set." It's like she's got some sixth sense or something."

"She just might have exactly that," Jasper shifted slightly from his watchful position in front of Alice. "Some kind of self-preservation instinct could manifest as a gift. I knew several soldiers who could almost sense an impending ambush."

"You were a soldier?" I asked.

"In the Civil War. You didn't know that?" he seemed surprised.

"Edward, volunteer information? Jasper, the only things he told me about you were that you and Alice were the last to join the family, and that you were newest to the lifestyle, so it was harder for you. Why would you expect him to tell me anything? You don't belong in my world, Bella." I quoted him. "He said it was because he heard more of your stories than you'd've shared willingly, so it was his way of giving you privacy; I say it was because he wanted to keep me as much in the dark as possible."

I could see Jasper wince again, and a tiny part of me felt bad for the wash of emotions he had to be getting from me. But in no way was I going to feel sorry for feeling the way I did.

"As enlightening as all this is," Sam said sarcastically, though I knew it wasn't directed at me, "You still haven't answered the question of what you're going to do now that you're here."

"Or how long you're staying," Jake added.

"What do you think we should do?" Rosalie sneered.

"If I have anything to say about it," Jared almost growled, "you're going to help us keep Bella alive. You're going to help us end this once and for all. None of this would have happened if it weren't for you."

"It is certainly possible that many things might be different if Bella's path had not crossed ours," Carlisle agreed. "We are willing to discuss—" he was interrupted when Jasper spun to face the back of the house and Alice said, "Jazz?"

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Jared POV

He whirled back around. "Rose, what did you do?"

The blonde Barbie doll had the grace to look embarrassed. "All I told him was that Alice was coming here to check on Bella. I didn't think he'd even listen to the message—he usually doesn't. I certainly didn't think he'd follow us back."

"What's going on?" I growled, praying that this didn't mean what I feared it did.

"Edward is coming, apparently," the doc-vamp said heavily.

"I don't see him," Alice whispered.

"I feel him, though." Jasper relayed. "He's furious we're here. I can't tell if he knows about our guests or not. He'll be here soon."

"E.T., phone home," Jake muttered.

I whipped my head around to see that Bella had gone dead white, her eyes wide and dilated. The last time—the only time—I'd seen her like this, was during Paul's foot/mouth mistake back in March. Thinking only of Bella, my arms went around her, lifting her onto my lap. She instantly buried her face in the crook between my shoulder and neck. My left hand went up into her hair, stroking.

"Kwop kilawtley," I murmured. "Nayeli, hach Bella. Don't let him do this to you again, please."

She shuddered once, then lifted her head to meet my eyes. "What did that mean? That first part."

"Stay with me forever." I was relieved beyond words that she hadn't tumbled off into a full-blown panic. That was the last thing that either she or our unborn daughter needed right now.

"I thought I'd promised that back in July," she valiantly tried to offer a faint smile.

"We both did."

"I meant it," she freed one hand from under her shawl, bringing it up to my face. Disregarding our audience, both present and incoming, she shifted just enough so that she could kiss me.

"What's that?" the little pixie's shriek was loud enough to break us apart. Bella froze in my arms, and we both realized that it was her left hand resting over my ear. A slow exhalation, and a brief resting of her forehead against mine, and Bella answered her.

"It's a ring, Alice."

"An engagement ring?" this in a tone of disbelief.

"No. It's her wedding ring," I informed them all. I knew it might be petty, and in no small part attributable to the wolf part of my nature, but every instinct told me to stake my claim openly.

A veritable cacophony erupted. "What?" "You got married?"

"Impossible." A new voice spoke from the direction Jasper had been looking a few minutes earlier. Keeping Bella securely on my lap, I looked that way. Standing just inside the living room was a seventh leech. His clothes were filthy and ragged, his hair wild, and his eyes pitch black. "You mis-spoke. Bella is my mate."

Kwop kilawtley = stay with me forever

Nayeli, hach Bella = I love you, beautiful Bella

Many thanks to mc7575 for acting as something of a beta reader for this chapter. You were a huge help.