CHAPTER SEVEN

Dark waves crashed onto the shore as Anna basked in the feeling of the salty air brushing through her dark locks. Wind nipped at her nose and ears turning them a chilled pink but as she stared out at the crashing waves, she found that she did not care. Surrounded by the laughter of her friends, Anna felt the confusion and fear from the past few weeks float away with the ocean breeze. Nothing else mattered but living in the moment.

Having left her phone safely in her bag in Tyler's locked van, Anna's mind was solely focused on socialising by the sea. Smiling at the figures bobbing around in the water, she knew come this time next year, life wouldn't be as carefree. The impending doom and pressure of figuring out what to do with your life would be smothering their spirit and worries about college essays would preoccupy their free time. For the time being, they could enjoy being teenagers but soon enough, the harsh reality of adulthood would crash down on them.

Dragging herself out of the dark despair of Senior Year, Anna giggled when she saw Mike go tipping off his board and smacking into the water. Waiting to see him clamber safely out of the water, she climbed down off the rock where she stood and made her way back over to her group of friends. Shoving her hands into the pocket of her coat so as to warm her frosty fingers, she greeted Jacob warmly as she passed the family friend. Introducing him to Bella, she left the two of them to chat as she plonked herself down on the log next to Tyler, dragging his attention away from the desperate Lauren.

Chuckling when he slung his arm over her shoulders, Anna shrieked in disgust and elbowed him sharply in the ribs after he licked her ear. Tyler grinned at his best friend and began showering her with his predictably flirting comments, spurned on when she jokingly responded. Whilst the smile easily formed on her face at the presence of her constantly happy friend, Anna realised her heart was no longer in their flirt banter. Informing Tyler that 'of course he was the love of her life', Anna couldn't help but feel as if she was being deceptive to someone.

Wrapping the coat tighter around her body, Anna's chill began disappearing as she was swept up into a conversation with the man to her right. Shuffling closer, the tall teenager introduced himself as Sam and smirked to himself when he noticed the small girl's shivering abate at his close proximity.

Seated on the arm of her Mate's chair, Alice watched as Jasper's car was flipped over by Rosalie's as the two blonde 'siblings' fought each other on some racing game. Letting out an alarmed call of Emmett's name, Alice alerted him that Anna had disappeared from her sight.

Terrified about what that meant for the fate of his Mate, Emmett rushed from the house before anyone could stop her. Sensing her absence from her house, he rushed to the border of La Push. Abruptly stopping before his foot could take a step too far, Emmett traced the treaty line until he was as close to the beach as possible. However, it was still too far and he couldn't see, hear or smell his Mate.

After an hour of pushing his restraint to the limit, he heard the telltale signs of oncoming vehicles. Hidden by the thick trees, he felt himself smile at the sound of her twinkling laughter. His rigid, marble posture relaxed slightly when he saw her face – happy and unharmed. Alice must've had some sort of fluke with her power, Emmett thought as he watched his Anna pass by perfectly fine.

Following her journey home, the muscular man watched as she bid her friend's a goodbye when they dropped her at her house. A dark growl slipped past his lips when he saw a hand swat her on the backside, followed by her shocked shriek of, "Tyler!"

How dare he touch her, he thought venomously before remembering that she did not yet belong to him.

In the event that Anna decided that stupid, safe, human Tyler Crowley was the best option for her, then Emmett would allow her to leave him. He would watch as she walked away from him, taking his heart with her. Satisfied that she was home safe, Emmett made the slow ascent home, preparing himself for the storm of abuse that was soon to come via Hurricane Rosalie.

Unable to mask his glee when Emmett was launched into a tree, Edward's face returned to stony solemnity when Rosalie turned her ferocious glare at him. Smothering his snickers, he watched his brother shake pine out of his hair. After expressing his own concern over how close Emmett had gotten to the treaty line, Carlisle had clapped Emmett on the back and wished luck as they heard muttering make its way through the house. Edward had done nothing but beam when he heard Rosalie's furious thoughts storming out of the way. It was a nice change for Rosalie to be angry with someone other than him. For the past twenty minutes, Emmett had been screeched at whilst the rest of the family watched on, offering him no aid or attempts at easing Rosalie's fury.

"Are you truly that much of an imbecile?" Rosalie hissed for the millionth time. "Edward watching his human may be incredibly creepy but she is doing everything she can to get closer to him so if anything bad happens then it is solely his fault for advocating it but you, Emmett Cullen, you need to leave that poor girl alone! You idiot! You're endangering her life without her consent. She doesn't know how much of a danger you are to her! And almost being on the Reservation? That's endangering us all!"

Stepping forward, Ashton placed a calming hand on his Mate's shoulder and informed Rosalie that she needed to relax before she took it too far. Some things could never be taken back once they were said, especially not with Vampires. However, Rosalie had riled herself up and was on a warpath. Nothing could stop her until she had finished hissing every venomous word. Brushing off Ashton's arm, the blonde stalked closer to the terrified man before her.

"What if you had been caught? Or worse, what if she had been injured and bleeding and you revealed yourself to her? Emmett you went charging after her without considering the possibility that you could've hurt her! She never asked for this! Did you know that Alice sees a future where she gets married and has children of her own? Because that's what she wants. She wants a family and a life, and you're ruining that for her."

Esme let out the smallest hint of a gasp, shocked that one of her children could say something so hurtful to the other. Whilst all of them had had their fair share of arguments over the years, they tried their hardest to avoid extreme cruelty. Rosalie had been fortunate enough to find her Mate in a man already an immortal being in control of his thirst. She would never know the torment and internal struggle both Edward and Emmett were currently facing but Esme would've thought she'd have had some semblance of compassion. Rosalie, after all, was no stranger to heartbreak.

Regret coursed through Alice when she realised she should've kept that vision to herself and Edward became overwhelmed at the thoughts of his family. Not that it made her words any less true, Rosalie spoke with extra poison because she was projecting her own past goals into it. She had wanted the perfect wedding and the family but it had been snatched away from her so now she was preventing Emmett from doing the same thing. Rosalie chose to ignore the vision of Emmett and Anna happy for eternity – chose to ignore the possibility that Anna chose her Mate over anything else.

Finally using his power to calm the storm, Jasper eased the tensions between his family members as Edward finally came to defend his forlorn brother. Never before had the Cullens seen such devastation on their usually cheerful vampire's face.

"Rose, the majority of Anna's dreams about her wedding usually end with Emmett wearing the matching wedding band. It's not as if she doesn't have a decision in her future. What?" Edward said innocently when the other Cullens turned to look at him in shock. "Just because I'm there for my Mate doesn't mean I don't keep an eye on Emmett's whilst I'm there."

Smiling at his brother, Emmett was grateful for Edward defending him. Warmth blossomed in his chest but it couldn't flush out the cruel words that had already burrowed their way to his head and his heart. Some part of him knew he was being selfish with the way he had dropped himself into the middle of Anna's world. Before, he had been content to keep his distance from her and stay away. It had been painful for him to stay away from her but he had watched from a distance as she vibrantly lived her life. She was smart and she was happy, she loved her friends fiercely and she had been safe from harm.

Seeing Edward driven from their home because of his Mate should've served as a warning for Emmett. Instead, it had only spurned him on as he debated whether he should befriend Anna. After all, if Edward was unable to stay away from Bella, how could Emmett ever be incapable of resisting his Mate? Edward had more self-control than Emmett did in all aspects of life. Emmett had been weak and he had only wanted a simple conversation with his Mate. Unfortunately, it had led to him becoming greedy and wanting far more than he deserved.

Slipping into the role of her friend had been easy and whilst her very presence set his throat on fire, the joy of making her smile almost outweighed the carnal desire to rip into her throat. Humans usually stayed away from them, feeling uneasy at their aura of unnaturalness. Bella had shown nothing but a desire to get closer to Edward and whilst Jasper had told him that Anna feared them slightly, she hadn't run for the hills just yet.

Glancing down at the message on his phone, some part of him hoped she would, purely for her sake because it was make leaving her untouched far easier. However, his heart won out and the majority of him hoped he could have a life with her.

Regardless of what she chose, Emmett knew he would respect her decision but he would never be able to let her go entirely. Even if she couldn't always see him, Emmett would protect her for the rest of her life.