Eleazar/Elson will looked like a male version of Elsa

ELSA'S POV

was having a bad week.

I knew that essentially nothing had changed. Okay, so Samantha had not given up, but had I ever dreamed for one moment that she had? Her reappearance had only confirmed what I had already known. No reason for fresh panic.

In theory. Not panicking was easier said than done.

Graduation was only a few weeks away, the conflict of wanting to plan for college against knowing that I would probably have to go into hiding once I was out of Agnarr's house made me feel even more panicky. With my luck, the Volturi would come knocking the second I got my diploma, and Samantha would be waiting for me in the audience. I felt like a walking target.

But no one would listen to me.

Frederic had said, "There are seven of us, Elsa. And with Alice on our side, I don't think Samantha's going to catch us off guard. Try to spend as much time as you can with Agnarr while you are able."

Arianna had said, "We'd never allow anything to happen to you, sweetheart. You know that. Please don't be anxious." And then she'd kissed my forehead.

Cassandra had said, "I'm really glad Anna didn't kill you, lil sis. Everything's so much more fun with you around."

Rapunzel had glared at her.

Alice had rolled her eyes and said, "I'm offended. You're not honestlyworriedabout this, are you?"

"If it's no big deal, then why did Anna me to Florida?" I'd demanded.

"Haven't you noticed yet, Anba, that Anna is just the teensiest bit prone to overreaction?"

Jasper had silently erased all the panic and tension in my body with his curious talent of controlling emotional atmospheres. I'd felt reassured, and let them talk me out of my desperate panic.

Of course, the calm had worn off as soon as Anna and I had walked out of the room.

So the consensus was that I was just supposed to forget that a deranged vampire was stalking me, intent on my death. Go about my business.

I did try. And surprisingly, therewereother things almost as stressful to dwell on besides my status on the endangered species list…

Because Anna's response had been the most frustrating of them all.

"You know I won't let anything happen to you, Elsa," She'd said. "You have nothing to worry about."

It was ridiculous for her to say, since she had been the one to force my hand to get me out of the state for the weekend. If there was nothing to worry about she wouldn't have manipulated the situationorlied to me.

All in all, a very bad week. And today was the worst day in it.

It was always a bad day when Anna was away. Alice had foreseen nothing out of the ordinary this weekend, and so I'd insisted that she take the opportunity to go hunting with her brothers. I knew how it bored her to hunt the easy, nearby prey.

"Go have fun," I'd told her. "Bag a few mountain lions for me."

I would never admit to her how hard it was for me when she was gone—how I felt exposed and unsafe. If she knew that, she would fret endlessly and would be afraid to ever leave me, even for the most necessary reasons. We had only just gotten to the point where she would leave me at all since she'd first returned from Italy. She would refuse to leave—out of guilt, mostly—until she couldn't possibly stand it. Her golden eyes had turned black and she'd suffered from her thirst more than it was already necessary that she suffer. So I had to be the responsible one and all but kicked her out the door whenever Cassandra and Jasper wanted to go.

I think she could understand my reservations about her leaving, though. This morning there had been a note left on my pillow:

I'll be back so soon you won't have time to miss me. Look after my heart—I've left it with you

So now I had a big empty Saturday with nothing but my morning shift at Newton's Olympic Outfitters to distract me. And, of course, the oh-so-comforting promise from Alice.

"I'm staying close to home to hunt. I'll only be fifteen minutes away if you need me. I'll keep an eye out for trouble."

Translation: don't try anything funny just because Anna is gone.

Alice was certainly just as capable of crippling my truck as Anna was.

Even though Alice's presencewasa comfort, I couldn't help but be annoyed that I couldn't go down to La Push and see Honeymaren.

I tried to look on the bright side. After work, I had plans to help Angela with her announcements, so that would be a distraction. And Agnarr was in an excellent mood today—no doubt due to Anna's absence—so I might as well enjoy that while it lasted. Alice would spend the night with me if I felt nervous enough to ask her to. And then tomorrow, Anna would be home. I would survive.

Not wanting to be ridiculously early for work, I ate my breakfast slowly, one Cheerio at a time. Then, after I'd washed the dishes, I arranged the magnets on the fridge into a perfect line. Maybe I was losing my mind a little.

The last two magnets—round black utilitarian pieces that were my favorites because they could hold ten sheets of paper to the fridge without breaking a sweat—did not want to cooperate with my fixation. Their polarities were reversed; every time I tried to line the last one up, the other jumped out of place.

For some reason—impending mania, perhaps—this really irritated me. Why couldn't they just play nice? Stupid with stubbornness, I kept shoving them together as if I was expecting them to suddenly give up. I could have flipped one over, but that felt like losing. Finally, exasperated at myself more than the magnets, I pulled them from the fridge and held them together with two hands. It took a little effort—they were strong enough to put up a fight—but I forced them coexist side-by-side.

"See," I said out loud—talking to inanimate objects, never a good sign—"That's not so horrible, is it?"

I stood there like an idiot for a second, not quite able to admit that I wasn't having any lasting effect against scientific principles. Then, with a sigh, I put the magnets back on the fridge, a foot apart.

"There's no need to be so inflexible," I muttered.

It was still too early, but I'd decided I'd better get out of the house before the inanimate objects started talking back.

When I got to Newton's, Makayla was methodically dry mopping the aisles while her mom arranged a new counter display. I caught them in the middle of an argument, unaware that I had arrived.

"But it's the only time that Tyler can go," Makayla complained. "You said after graduation—"

"You're just going to have to wait," Mrs. Newton snapped. "You and Tyler can think of something else to do. You are not going to Seattle until the police stop whatever is going on there. I know Beth Crowley has told Tyler the same thing, so don't act like I'm the bad guy—oh, good morning, Elsa," she said when she caught sight of me, brightening her tone quickly. "You're early."

Karen Newton was the last person I'd think to ask for help in an outdoor sports equipment store. Her perfectly highlighted blond hair was always smoothed into an elegant twist on the back of her neck, her fingernails were polished by professionals, as were her toenails—visible through the strappy high heels that didn't resemble anything Newton's offered on the long row of hiking boots.

"Light traffic," I joked as I grabbed my hideous fluorescent orange vest out from under the counter. I was surprised that Mrs. Newton was as worked up about this Seattle thing as Agnarr. I'd thought he was going to extremes.

"Well, er…" Mrs. Newton hesitated for a moment, playing uncomfortably with a stack of flyers she was arranging by the register.

I stopped with one arm in my vest. I knew that look.

When I'd let the Newton's know that I wouldn't be working here this summer—abandoning them in their busiest season, in effect—they'd started training Katie Marshall to take my place. They couldn't really afford both of us on the payroll at the same time, so when it looked like a slow day…

"I was going to call," Mrs. Newton continued. "I don't think we're expecting a ton of business today. Makayla and I can probably handle things. I'm sorry you got up and drove out…"

On a normal day, I would be ecstatic with this turn of events. Today… not so much.

"Okay, no worries," I said, trying to keep my voice light. What was I going to do now?

"That's not fair, Mom," Makayla said. "If Elsa wants to work—"

"No, it's okay, Mrs. Newton. Really, Makayla. I've got finals to study for and stuff…" I didn't want to be a source of familial discord when they were already arguing.

"Thanks, Elsa. Makayla, you missed aisle four. Um, Elsa, do you mind throwing these flyers in a dumpster on the way out? I told the girl who left them here that I'd put them on the counter, but I really don't have the room."

"Sure, no problem." I put my vest away, and then tucked the flyers under my arm and headed out into the misty rain.

The dumpster was around the side of Newton's, next to where we employees were supposed to park. I shuffled along, kicking pebbles petulantly on my way. I was about to fling the stack of bright yellow papers into the trash when the heading printed in bold across the top caught my eyes. One word in particular seized my attention.

I clutched the papers in both hands as I stared at the picture beneath the caption. A lump rose in my throat.

SAVE THE OLYMPIC WOLF

Under the words, there was a detailed drawing of a wolf in front of a fir tree, it's head thrown back in the act of baying at the moon. It was a disconcerting picture; something about the wolf's plaintive posture made her look forlorn. Like she was howling in grief.

And then I was running to my truck, the flyers still locked in my grip.

Fifteen minutes—that's all I had. But it should be long enough. It was only fifteen minutes to La Push, and surely I would cross the boundary line a few minutes before I hit the town.

My truck roared to life without any difficulty.

Alice couldn't have seen me doing this, because I hadn't been planning it. A snap decision, that was the key! And as long as I moved fast enough, I should be able to capitalize on it.

I'd thrown the damp flyers in my haste and they were scattered in a bright mess across the passenger seat—a hundred bolded captions, a hundred dark howling wolves outlined against the yellow background.

I barreled down the wet highway, turning the windshield wipers on high and ignoring the groan of the ancient engine. Fifty-five was the most I could coax out of my truck, and I prayed it would be enough.

I had no clue where the boundary line was, but I began to feel safer as I passed the first houses outside La Push. This must be beyond where Alice was allowed to follow.

I felt my phone buzz in my pocket, I didn't need to look at the screen to tell me who was calling. I would call Alice back when I got to Angela's this afternoon, I reasoned, so that she'd know I was fine. I didn't feel like getting Alice worked up now. She didn't need to be mad at me—Anna would be angry enough for two when she got back.

My truck was positively wheezing by the time it grated to a stop in front of the familiar faded red house. The lump came back to my throat as I stared at the little place that had once been my refuge. It had been so long since I'd been here.

Before I could cut the engine, Honeymaren was standing in the door, his face blank with shock.

In the sudden silence when the truck-roar died, I heard her gasp.

"Elsa?"

"Hey, Honeymaren!"

"Elsa!" she yelled back, and the smile I'd been waiting for stretched across her face like the sun breaking free of the clouds. Her teeth gleamed bright against her russet skin. "I can't believe it!"

She ran to the truck and I practically flung myself out of the cab, and then we were both jumping up and down like kids.

"How did you get here?"

"I snuck out!"

"Awesome!"

"Hey, Elsa!" Billy had rolled himself into the doorway to see what all the commotion was about.

"Hey, Bil--!"

Just then my air choked off—Honeymaren grabbed me up into a bear hug and swung me around in a circle.

"Wow, it's good to see you here!"

"Easy, Honeymaren! Can't… breath," I laughed.

He chuckled and put me down.

"Welcome back, Elsa," she said, grinning. And the way she said the words made it sound like Welcome home.

We started walking, too keyed up to sit still in the house. Honeymaren was practically bouncing as he moved, and I had to remind him a few times that my legs weren't ten feet long.

As we walked, I felt myself settling into another version of myself, the self I had been with Honeymaren. A little younger, a little less responsible. Someone who might, on occasion, do something really stupid for no good reason.

Our exuberance lasted through the first few topics of conversation: how we were doing, what we were up to, how long I had, and what had brought me here. When I hesitantly told her about the wolf flyer, her bellowing laugh echoed back from the trees.

But then, as we ambled past the back of the store and shoved through the thick scrub that ringed the far edge of First Beach, we got to the hard parts. All too soon we had to talk about the reason behind our long separation, and I watched as the face of my friend hardened into the bitter mask that was already too familiar.

"So what's the story, anyway?" Honeymaren asked me, kicking a piece of driftwood out of her way with too much force. It sailed over the sand and then clattered against the rocks. "I mean, since the last time we… well, before, you know…" She struggled for the words. She took a deep breath and tried again. "What I'm asking is… everything is just back to the way it was before she left? You forgave her for all of that?"

I took a deep breath. "I didn't just forgive her. Believe me, she's been making up for it every day since she came back. I'm not giving out any free passes here."

I wanted to skip past this part, the betrayals, the accusations, but I knew that we had to talk it through before we'd be able to move on to anything else.

Honeymaren's face puckered up like she'd just licked a lemon. "I don't think you should've even given her achance." She huffed. "I wish Kristoff had taken a picture when he found you that night last September. It would be exhibit A."

"Nobody's on trial."

"Maybe somebody should be."

"Not even you would blame her for leaving, if you knew the reason why."

She glared at me a few seconds. "Okay," she challenged. "Amaze me."

His attitude was wearing on me; it hurt to have him upset with me. It reminded me of the bleak afternoon, long ago, when—under orders from Kristoff—he'd told me we couldn't be friends. I took a second to compose myself.

"Anna left me last fall because she didn't think I should be hanging out with vampires. She thought it would be better for me if she left."

Honeymaren's did a double take. She had to scramble for a minute. Whatever she'd been planning to say, it clearly no longer applied. I was glad she didn't know the catalyst behind Anna's decision. I could only imagine what she'd think if she knew Jasper had tried to kill me.

"She came back, though, didn't she?" Honeymaren muttered. "Too bad she can't stick to a decision."

"If you remember,I went and gother."

Honeymaren stared at me for a moment, and then he backed off. Her face relaxed, and her voice was calmer when she spoke.

"That's true. So I never did get the story. What happened?"

I hesitated, biting my lip.

"Is it a secret?" She raised an eyebrow. "Are you not allowed to tell me?"

"No," I replied. "It's just a really long story."

Honeymaren's smiled, and held out her hand. I hesitated for only a second before I took his hand. She grinned wider and turned to lead me up the beach.

We immediately fell into our old rapport as we walked along. Honeymaren swung our arms playfully as we strolled and I couldn't help but laugh. I was glad I wasn't in a rush, after all, I was going to have to face Alice when I got home… and I was in no hurry to experience that.

Honeymaren led us to a huge, familiar piece of driftwood—an entire tree, roots and all, bleached white and beached deep in the sand; it wasourtree, in a way.

Honeymaren sat down on the natural bench, and patted the space next to her.

"I don't mind long stories. Is there any action?"

I laughed as I sat next to her. "There's some action," I allowed.

"It wouldn't be real horror without any action."

"Horror!" I scoffed. "You don't know the half of it. Now, will you listen, or will you be interrupting me with rude comments about my friends?"

She pretended to lock her lips and then threw the invisible key over her shoulder. I tried not to smile, and failed.

"I'll have to start with the stuff you were already there for," I decided, working to organize the stories in my head before I began.

Honeymaren raised her hand.

"Go ahead."

"That's good," she said. "I didn't understand much that was going on at the time."

"Yeah, well, it gets complicated, so pay attention. You know how Alice seething?"

I took her slight scowl—the wolves weren't thrilled that the legends of vampires possessing supernatural gifts were true—for a yes, and proceeded with the account of my race through Italy to rescue Anna.

I kept it as succinct as possible—leaving out anything that wasn't essential. I tried to read Honeymaren's reactions, but his face was enigmatic as I explained how Alice had seen Anna plan to kill herself when she'd heard that I was dead. Sometimes Honeymaren seemed so deep in though, I wasn't sure if she was listening. She only interrupted me one time.

"The fortune-telling bloodsucker can't see us?" she echoed, her face both fierce and gleeful. "Seriously? That's excellent!"

I pursed my lips and raised my eyebrow, and we sat in silence, his face expectant as he waited for me to continue. I glared at her until she realized her mistake.

"Oops!" she said. "Sorry." She locked her lips again.

Hee response was easier to read when I got to the part about the Volturi. Her teeth clenched together, goose bumps rose on her arms, and his nostrils flared. I didn't go into specifics, I just told her that Anna had talked us out of trouble, without revealing the promise we'd been forced to make, or the visit we were anticipating. Honeymaren didn't need to have my nightmares.

"Now you know the whole story," I concluded. "So it's your turn to talk. What happened while I was with my mom this weekend?" I knew Honeymaren would give more details than Anna had. He wasn't afraid of scaring me.

Honeymaren leaned forward, instantly animated. "So Sven and Quil and I were running patrol on Saturday night, just routine stuff, when out of nowhere—bam!" she threw her arms out, impersonating an explosion. "There it is—a fresh trail, not fifteen minutes old. Kristoff wanted us to wait for him, but I didn't know you were gone, and I didn't know if your bloodsuckers were keeping an eye on you or not. So we took off after the blackhead at full speed, but she'd crossed the treaty line before we caught up. We spread out along the line, hoping she'd cross back over. It was frustrating, let me tell you." She wagged her head and her hair—growing out from the short crop he'd adopted when she'd joined the pack—flopped into her eyes. "We ended up too far south. The Cullens chased her back to our side just a few miles north of us. Would have been the perfect ambush if we'd have known where to wait."

She shook her head, grimacing now. "That's when it got dicey. Kristoff and the others caught up to her before we did, but she was dancing right along the line, and the whole coven was right there on the other side. The big one, what's-her-name—"

"Cassandra."

"Yeah, her. She made a good fighter for her, but that blackhead is fast! Cassandra flew right behind her and almost rammed into Paul. So, Paul… well, you know Paul."

"Yeah."

"Lost his focus. Can't say that I blame him—the big guy was right on top of him. Paul sprang—hey, don't give me that look. The vampire was on our land."

I tried to compose my face so that he would go on. My nails were digging into my palms with the stress of the story, even though I knew it had turned out fine.

"Anyway, Paul missed, and the big one got back on his side. But by then the, er, well the, uh, blond…" Honeymaren's expression was a comical mix of disdain and unwilling admiration as she tried to come up with a word to describe Anna's other Sister.

"Rapunzel."

"Him. Well, she got real territorial, so Kristoff and I fell back to get Paul's flanks. Then their leader and the other blond male—"

"Frederic and Jasper."

She gave me an exasperated look. "You know I don't really care. Anyway, so Frederic spoke to Kristoff, trying to calm things down. Then it was weird, because everyone got really calm really fast. It was that other one you told me about, messing with our heads. But even though we knew what he was doing, we couldn'tnotbe calm."

"Yeah, I know how it feels."

"Really annoying, that's how it feels. Only you can't be annoyed until afterwards." He shook his head annoyed. "So Kristoff and the head vamp agreed that Samantha was the priority, and we started after her again. Frederic gave us the line, so that we could follow the scent properly, but then she hit the cliffs just north of Makah country, right where the line hugs the coast for a few miles. She took off into the water again. The big one and the calm one wanted permission to cross the line to go after her, but of course we said no."

"Good. I mean, you were being stupid, but I'm glad. Cassandra never cautious enough. She could have gotten hurt."

Honeymaren snorted. "So did your vampire tell you we attacked for no reason and her totally innocent coven—"

"No," I interrupted. "Anna told me the same story, just without quite as many details."

"Huh," Honeymaren said under her breath, and he bent over to pick up a rock from among the millions of pebbles at our feet. With a casual flick, she sent it flying a good hundred meters out into the bay. "Well, the blackhead'll be back, I guess. We'll get another shot at her."

I shuddered; of course she would be back. Would Anna really tell me next time? I wasn't sure. I'd have to keep an eye on Alice, to look for the signs that the pattern was about to repeat…

Honeymaren didn't seem to notice my reaction. She was staring across the waves with a thoughtful expression on her face, her broad lips pursed.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked after a long, quiet time.

"I'm thinking about what you told me. About when the fortune-teller saw you cliff jumping and thought you'd committed suicide, and how it all got out of control… Do you realize that if you had just waited for me like you were supposed to, then the bl—Alice wouldn't have been able to see you jump? Nothing would have changed. We'd probably be in my garage right now, like any other Saturday. There wouldn't be any vampires in Forks, and you and me…" She trailed off, deep in thought.

My heart thumped at the picture she painted. It probably would have been that way, so easy, so simple. Like breathing.

"Anna would have come back anyway." I finally said.

"Are you sure about that?" she asked, her tone slightly belligerent.

"Being apart didn't work out so well for her."

She started to say something, something angry from her expression, but he stopped herself, took a breath, and began again.

"Did you know Kristoff is mad at you?"

"Me?" It took me a second. "Oh. I see. He thinks they would have stayed away if I wasn't here."

"No. That's not it."

"What is it then?"

Honeymaren leaned down to scoop up another rock. She turned it over and over in her fingers; her eyes were riveted on the black stone while she spoke in a low voice.

"When Kristoff saw… how you were at the beginning, when Billy told them how Agnarr worried about you, and then when you started jumping off cliffs…"

I made a face. No one was ever going to let me forget that.

Honeymaren's eyes flashed up to mine. "He thought you were the one person in the world with as much reason to hate the Cullens as he does. Kristoff feels sort of… betrayed that you would just let them back into your life like they never hurt you."

I didn't believe for a second that Kristoff was the only one who felt that way. And the anger in my voice now was for both of them.

"I didn't just let them right back into my life, give me some credit. So you can tell Kristoff—"

"Look at that," Honeymaren interrupted me, pointing to an eagle in the act of plummeting down toward the ocean from an incredible height. It checked itself at the last minute, only its talons breaking the surface of the waves, just for an instant. Then it flapped away, its wings straining against the load of the huge fish it had snagged.

"You see it everywhere," Honeymaren said, her voice suddenly distant. "Nature taking its course—hunter and prey, the endless cycle of life and death."

I didn't understand the point of the nature lecture; I guessed that he was just trying to change the subject. But then he looked down at me with dark humor in his eyes.

"And yet, you don't see the fish trying to plant a kiss on the eagle. You never seethat." She grinned a mocking grin.

I grinned back tightly, though the anger was rising. "Maybe the fish was trying," I suggested. "It's hard to tell what a fish is thinking. Eagles are good-looking birds, you know."

"Is that what it comes down to?" her voice was abruptly sharper. "Good looks?"

"Don't be stupid, Honeymaren."

"Is it the money, then?" she persisted.

"That's nice," I muttered, getting up from the tree. "I'm flattered that you think so much of me." I turned my back on her and paced away.

"Aw, don't get mad." She was right behind me; she gently caught my wrist and spun me around. "I'm serious! I'm trying to understand here, and I'm coming up blank."

Her eyebrows pushed together in frustration, and her eyes were black in their deep shadow.

"I just… I love her. Not because she's beautiful or because she's rich!" I spat the words at Honeymaren. "I'd much rather she weren't either one. It would even out the gap between us just a little bit—because she'd still be the most loving and unselfish and brilliant anddecentperson I've ever met. Of course I love her. How hard is that to understand?"

"It's impossible to understand."

"Please, enlighten me, then, Honeymaren." I let the sarcasm flow thick. "What is a valid reason for someone to love someone else? Since apparently I'm doing it wrong."

"I think the best place to start would be to look within your own species. That usually works."

"Well, that just sucks!" I snapped. "I guess I'm stuck with Makayla Newton after all."

Honeymaren flinched back and bit his lip. I could see that my words had hurt her, but I was too mad and hurt to feel bad about that yet. She dropped my wrist and folded her arms across her chest, turning from me to glare toward the ocean.

"I'm human," she muttered, her voice almost inaudible.

"You're not as human as Makayla," I continued, still hurt. "Do you still think that's the most important consideration?"

"It's not the same thing." Honeymaren didn't look away from the gray waves. "I didn't choose this."

I laughed once in disbelief. "Do you think Anna did? She didn't know what was happening to her any more than you did. She didn't exactly sign up for this."

Honeymaren was shaking his back and forth with a small, quick movement.

"But Honeymaren, how can you judge them? Being a werewolf and all." I huffed.

"It's not the same," Honeymaren repeated, glowering at me.

"I don't see why not. You could be abitmore understanding about the Cullens. You have no idea how truly good they are—to the core, Honeymaren."

She frowned more deeply. "They shouldn't exist. Their existence goes against nature."

I stared at her for a long moment with one eyebrow raised incredulously. It was a while before he noticed.

"What?"

"Speaking of unnatural…," I hinted.

"Elsa," she said, his voice slow and different. Aged. I realized that he sounded suddenly older than me—like a parent or a teacher. "What I am was born in me. It's part of who I am, who my family is, who we all are as a tribe—it's the reason why we're still here.

"Besides that"—she looked down at me, her black eyes unreadable—"Iamstill human."

She picked up my hand and pressed it to his fever-warm chest. Through her t-shirt, I could feel the steady beating of her heart under my palm.

"Normal humans can't throw motorcycles around the way you can."

She smiled a faint, half-smile. "Normal humans run away from monsters, Elsa. And I never claimed to be normal. Just human."

Staying angry with Honeymaren was too much work. I started to smile as I gently rubbed her chest.

"You look plenty human to me," I allowed. "At the moment."

"I feel human." She stared past me, her face far away. Her lower lip trembled, and she bit down on it hard.

"Oh, Honeymaren," I whispered, reaching for her hand.

This was why I was here. This was why I could take whatever reception waited for me when I got back. Because, underneath all the anger and the sarcasm, Honeymaren was in pain. Right now, it was very clear in her eyes. I didn't know how to help her, but I knew I had to try. It was more than that I owed her. It was because her pain hurt me, too. Honeymaren had become a part of me, and there was no changing that now.