Disclaimer: Man do I still need to post these things? I am not now, nor will I ever be the amazingly talented Mrs. Meyer. Sigh.

Author's note: Thank you all for your input for the last chapter. You've made the decision for me. )

Family Tree

Chapter 21

Julian commanded me with his eyes to stay still. He exhaled and as his breath became my breath, his icy lips captured mine.

My mind reeled in shock and struggled to catch up. My body cried out in ecstasy as electricity shot through me, curling my toes. My heart screamed a warning.

But it was none of these things that caused my reaction to the sudden onslaught. No…I figured out later that my blood decided for me.

Something in my chest rumbled; something deep, low. It crawled its way up my throat and erupted from my mouth without my permission.

I growled.

Julian leapt back from me, his eyes fearful, his stance predatory.

"What are you?" He whispered, his eyes locked intently on mine.

I tried to tell him I was Bella, but I made no sound other than a snarling, ripping noise that was much too loud in the small confines of the shed.

His eyes turned onyx and glittered dangerously. I knew then and there that this was it. I was going to die.

He lunged…and then, the shed exploded.

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Edward's POV

I ran as fast as I could, an invisible streak through the woods.

I was fast, the fastest vampire I knew…but I wasn't fast enough.

I heard the growl, and the snarl, and at that moment, I left my conscious mind behind. I became a creature of instinct; a creature hell-bent on causing as much suffering as was possible to the one who would dare touch my Bella.

In my haste to get to him I tore the shed apart. I cared nothing for any humans that were in the vicinity. Julian was mid-spring when I tackled him to the ground. I pinned him and looked wildly around for Bella. Had he hurt her? Was she alive?

I became very still and the hair at the back of my neck stood when I saw her. It was her, definitely, but something about her was wrong. She radiated power and energy, a charge that was opposite of mine, the same charge that caused the air to fill with tension when I'd been near the wolves. Without warning, she tilted her head back. She opened her mouth and howled. Her eyes glowed unnaturally. Her heartbeat was loud, frantic. Julian struggled beneath my grip and I slowly let go of him.

He took off like a shot toward the tree line.

I didn't care.

"Bella?" I whispered, terrified.

She whimpered in response.

I took a tentative step forward, reaching my hand out toward her. "Shhh. It's ok. It's going to be all right. It's me, Edward."

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Bella's POV

I didn't understand what was wrong. I was confused, disoriented. I sat on the ground and crossed my legs. I looked down, away from Edward's questioning gaze. I couldn't take it. I felt equal parts guilt, shame, and regret wash through me.

I felt like an alien. I looked down at my hands; the same hands I'd always had, and though they appeared to be the same, somehow they weren't. The veins beneath the pale skin seemed large, more pronounced than usual. I felt hot all over and queasy, as though I could vomit at any moment.

"Bella…darling. Look at me, please."

I looked up at Edward then and I began to cry. He moved to my side and sat down next to me, wrapping his arm around me and drawing me close. I stiffened and my reaction caused him to hold still but he did not let me go.

"Bella, what happened?" He whispered softly in my ear.

"I don't know." I was so relieved that my words came out the way that I wanted them to that I began to sob. The rain poured down on us but I didn't care.

"Did he hurt you Bella?" Edward asked in a calm tone of voice. The edge lacing his words was hard to detect if you didn't know what to listen for.

"He kissed me," I whispered in a hushed voice and my body quaked as I admitted it. Edward sat still for a few moments, contemplating that. I knew I'd hurt him again.

"How did you…react?"

"I growled at him."

"You what? That was you?"

I nodded my head, scared of Edward's reaction. I didn't even know what to think of it myself.

"Well…that's a relief."

I jerked and opened my mouth to respond to his preposterous conclusion but before I could say a word, Edward had scooped me up into his arms and dashed with me to a nearby building about thirty meters away.

"Lunch period has ended. It wouldn't look good to have us sitting out there in the rain, in the middle of that."

He pointed and I followed his finger, surveying the wreckage of the shed with shock. I knew that he'd torn open the front half but when had everything been ripped to shreds?

I couldn't think of anything remotely intelligent to say so I stood there, forcing myself to breathe.

He looked down on me with concern and brushed his lips against mine. "I'm sorry about not getting here in time. I'm sorry that I took off like that."

I stared at him like he'd gone mad. He was sorry? He had nothing to be sorry about! "Edward, please don't go there. Please. I can't stand it."

"I wish I could understand you better Bella. I would give anything to be able to get into that head of yours and figure out where you get all of your ridiculous notions from. I pushed you when you clearly weren't ready to talk to me and I left you alone, because I felt rejected and I was the one who left you vulnerable. I've done a lot of damage today. Look at me Isabella."

I couldn't refuse that honeyed voice anymore than I could refuse the urge to breathe. I looked up at him and his eyes connected with mine, holding my gaze for several long seconds.

"I have made a lot of mistakes when it comes to you and I'm amazed that you still love me; that you still want me around. I'm not perfect and I cannot tell you how much it pains me to be unable to live up to the ideal version of me that you think is real. But I will try. You are worth more to me than anything else on this earth. You are my reason for existing, Bella. I love you with all of my being and I promise I will do better in the future. I will respect your privacy and I will just have to learn to deal with who you choose to be friends with. I'm just so scared of losing you…"

His perfect voice broke and he looked away, trying to hide the pain in his eyes. I felt my heart breaking and even more tears forced themselves out of my eyes.

"Not you too…" he shook his head and pulled me close, stroking my hair.

I pulled back then and looked up at him as steadily as I could. "I love you more than anything Edward Cullen. You are my everything and I am not going anywhere. I belong with you. No one can take our love away. No one."

"Oh my Bella…" he lowered his head and his lips crashed down on mine. They moved with fervor, and his tongue slipped past my lips. I gasped wildly and he moaned into my mouth, pressing me against the bricks of the building, running his hands through my wet, tangled hair. Our bodies were soaked, and his skin was ice cold against mine but the heat that he caused in my blood kept me warm enough.

The late bell rang. Edward pretended he didn't hear it. He continued kissing me passionately and grabbed my legs, lifting me until I settled them around his waist. He supported me easily and held me there as he plundered my mouth. I moaned as I felt his rock hard body against mine, his hands moved up and down my back and I wanted nothing more than to have him take me right then.

"Edward?"

Edward stilled against me and pulled away from me. His eyes were coal black, feverish in their intensity. With the greatest reluctance he set me down on the ground and I fought to stand. I was suddenly overcome with exhaustion.

"What is it Alice?"

She pursed her lips and looked at him pointedly. "A phone call would have been nice, you know."

"As if you didn't already know what happened."

"Still Edward…that was rude."

Something passed between them silently and Edward nodded. It was so infuriating not to know what they were saying.

"We're taking you to see Carlisle," Alice informed me cheerily.

"Why?" I asked, not understanding the need. I hadn't been hurt.

"It's not every day that a human has the ability to growl as loud as a lion," she smirked at me. Mirth was dancing in her ochre eyes.

I shivered. The wind was starting to blow harder and I was soaked. My teeth began chattering and I had no time to formulate a rebuttal before they were whisking me toward the school parking lot. I thought about trying to protest but figured it wouldn't do much good. Edward hustled me into his car and within a few minutes we were speeding over rain-slickened pavement. Edward noticed me shivering violently and turned on the heater. Alice sat in the back and was silent; an unusual feat for the normally talkative pixie.

I did my best to keep the bad thoughts at bay but I knew I couldn't pretend that everything was fine. It wasn't.

I wasn't.

After ten minutes we pulled up to the Cullen residence. The house loomed tall and silent in the thicket of trees. Rain ran in rivulets down the roof and splattered on the sodden ground from the gutters. It looked the same as it always had, other than the spiral of smoke that was coming from their chimney. I wondered why they decided to light the fire.

Before I could complete my thought, I was pulled from the car and rushed into the house. Edward carried me into the living room and set me before the fire. It was blessed relief to my now icy skin.

"I'm going to get some dry clothes for you Bella. Just a moment," Alice informed me and then disappeared from sight.

"You know, you're absolutely adorable when you look like a drowned rat," Edward joked, pulling my wet hair away from me, twisting and squeezing the strands so that water fell onto Esme's pristine floor.

"Edward!" I protested, against his comment and against his rude gesture.

He shrugged as if to say he didn't care and I rolled my eyes.

Alice returned with a complete outfit, down to new socks and underwear. I felt myself blush.

Edward rose then and mumbled something, leaving the room before I could call after him.

"Where'd he go?"

"He's giving you some privacy to change your clothes and he'll be waiting in Carlisle's study when you've warmed up here," Alice said as she rapidly undressed me.

I was a little uncomfortable but she was so fast that I didn't have time to be too mortified.

"There. Perfect. You should let me dress you more often."

"I'm not a Barbie," I reminded her pointedly.

"No. You're so much better! Well, I suppose we need to get you upstairs and looked at, although it's all going to be fine."

"Then why did you bring me here at all?"

Alice considered and seemed to be weighing her options.

"Carlisle is better at explaining things than I am. I'm also not sure what it is that caused the anomaly to appear. It's best if you talk with him about it."

"Ok. Well, I guess we'd better go up then…"

"No. Not yet. Sit in front of the fire and warm up a bit first. We don't want you catching a cold…being human and all that."

I sighed in irritation but sat down anyway. Twenty minutes passed before Alice declared me warm enough to be examined. I followed her up the stairs at human speed, wishing all the time that I wasn't always so much slower than everyone around me.

Alice led me to the dark wood door that led to Carlisle's study. My hand rose to knock automatically, (Renee would be proud of my manners) but the door opened before I had the chance. Edward leaned down and ghosted his lips along my jaw, so quickly I mightn't have realized it and led me inside. I looked back to see if Alice was coming but she was no longer standing in the hall.

"Bella. I hear you've had quite the interesting day," Carlisle greeted me.

I smiled back nervously. "You could say that."

"So…tell me about this afternoon. I want to hear everything."

I looked over at Edward and he nodded his approval so I spun the tale as fast as I could, trying not to leave anything important out. It was strange to talk about and I was happy when I'd managed to finish.

"Hmmm. Well, it is certainly interesting. Did you phase as well?"

"WHAT!" Edward and I both jumped up at that particular question. I felt my heart pounding out of control in my chest.

Edward stood ramrod straight, his hands were clenched tightly into fists, the tendons on his forearms standing out.

"Now, son, if you don't feel you can handle this…"

"I can handle this just fine," Edward lied, his voice strained and his jaw rock hard. His eyes were like flint and so very cold.

Carlisle nodded thoughtfully and took a few steps toward me, placing himself between Edward and myself. Edward looked agitated but didn't comment.

"Did you phase Bella?" Carlisle repeated softly.

"No…I don't think so. I just…growled and made some…interesting…noises." I choked out, scared to death of what Carlisle was insinuating. There was no way I could be a werewolf! No way!

"It was just a question Bella. It's all right. I'm just trying to figure out what could have caused the reaction, that's all."

"You said, that I had, some of your blood, right? So I couldn't be…one of them. Right?"

"Normally I would say that no, there is no possibility…but there has never before been someone like you Bella. You're unique in more ways than you know. You share three bloodlines. You've a mix of human, vampire, and wolf in one. Who's to say that you wouldn't have the ability to phase if you felt threatened or were endangered? Likewise, who is to say that your body is incapable of producing our venom? We just aren't sure. But I will try to help you figure it out, in any way that I can. You know that no matter what, I consider you to be a part of this family; my newest daughter. No matter what you are…we love you."

Throughout Carlisle's speech, Edward had held himself quite still, clearly unhappy with this strange new obstacle to deal with. My heart ached for him; for the havoc I was causing yet again.

There was so much I wanted to say to Carlisle in return but I found myself tongue-tied. He looked at me appraisingly, and seemed to understand.

"Perhaps we should begin with a physical examination? Then perhaps you can try and recreate the same sounds you made before."

I nodded, willing to do anything. I was scared out of my mind. What if I was turning into a wolf? Would Edward still want me?

I tried to argue that yes, of course he would, but something held me back. I'd seen too many times the conflict that arose between the two factions and I didn't think he'd be able to handle it.

But Jacob…he would be ecstatic.

A tear rolled down my cheek and I dashed it away. Edward's eyes were locked on mine and before I could explain that I was just being silly, Edward swooped down on me and pulled me into a fierce kiss. When I was thoroughly dazzled, Carlisle coughed somewhere behind us and Edward leaned in close.

"I will support you through this. I love you," he whispered in my ear before he pulled away and let Carlisle continue his examination.

Author's note: Review, Review! Tell me if you like this new development or not. It just sort of…happened. Wasn't going to be part of the plot originally, but I really like this chapter. Hope you do too.