The Mating Dance

by Xavier2163

AU Edward Cullen and his adoptive family moved to Forks to start a new life, but Edward’s life suddenly changes when he’s drawn into Bella Swan’s strange and dangerous world. Vampires mate for life, but what happens when that mate is human? OOC Lemons ExB

18. Acting Normal

Disclaimer: Written under the derivative fan works act. All rights reserved to the original creator, Stephanie Meyer.

Title: The Mating Dance

Rating: M for sexual situations, lemons, and hot, steamy, angsty vampire lovin', underage drinking, smoking, drug use and overall bad behavior.

Premise: Alternate Universe. Edward Cullen and his adoptive family have moved to Forks to start a new life, but Edward's life suddenly changes when he's drawn into Bella Swan's strange and dangerous world. Vampires mate for life, but what happens when that mate is human?

Alternate Universe: Canon pairings eventually, pretty much OOC, ExB of course.

POV: EPOV (Edward), Edward's turn to continue the story. Alice will be back later on and maybe Bella, too.

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Author Notes:

Please note that this story is rated M for a reason, if you'd prefer not to deal with mature themes, please do not read this story.

I know this has been a while coming. I really thought I'd have this posted before Thanksgiving, but stuff happens. I've been writing, but not necessarily on the stories you want to read. I felt guilty about posting anything else until I had this chapter finished.

I just have to edit the next chapter of SoG, and it should be ready to post. If you're interested in seeing the other projects I'm working on, let me know, and maybe I'll post them too.

Enjoy, and I'd love to hear what you think about this story.

Sorry, the wrong version got posted the first time.

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Chapter 17 Acting Normal

I felt slightly uncomfortable standing in my stiff pressed black dress pants, the crisp starched white dress shirt and black jacket. The tie constricted my neck and I felt clammy with sweat despite the light drizzle of the cool late October morning. Bella's ice cold hand was clasped firmly in mine as she stood motionless beside me in her black dress. My black dress shoes squelched in the damp green turf as we stood listening to Pastor Weber give the eulogy.

Jasper was making a rare public appearance as he stood close with his arm around Alice's shoulders. The story was that he was in town to help Alice prepare to relocate to Seattle to join the Martial arts team that had recruited him. Carlisle and Esme were trying to blend inconspicuously into the crowd, but people still stared at them.

Michaela's mother and father sat in the folding chairs beside Pastor Weber as he stood at the head of the casket. Mrs. Clark, Michaela's mother wasn't hysterical, but she had been quietly crying ever since I'd first seen her in the church before the service this morning. Her husband was holding her, trying to comfort her, but he wasn't in much better shape himself as he sat stoically trying to restrain his own tears.

Katy's mother and father sat next to them. I could feel Carolyn Decker's eyes bore into me as she glared at me across the casket that lay suspended on the straps over the open grave. Katy's father refused to look at me. I had tried to meet his eye, but he'd looked away as he sat beside his wife. I could practically feel the anger rolling off of him in waves as he sat at his daughter's memorial service. They had all but expected me to become their son-in-law one day, and now here I was at what was effectively Katy's funeral with another girl not two weeks after Katy had disappeared and was presumed dead by everyone that was remotely involved in the case.

The Decker's had to know about the missing gun, but all of our sources told us that they hadn't reported it missing. They hadn't told the Police that Katy had taken the pistol the day she disappeared. It wouldn't bring her back, and they believed she'd died in the crash too, but they had to wonder why Katy had needed a pistol on the day she 'died'. I could feel it in Carolyn Decker's eyes as she glared at me. Katy wouldn't be gone if she hadn't followed me to Seattle, and I knew she blamed me. Even the police had stopped investigating, and were just waiting for her body to eventually wash up somewhere if it ever did.

Jasper's covert ops team had planted enough evidence to make it seem obvious that Katy had been in the car when it went off the bridge into the water. The spider webbed windshield where a head had impacted the inside of the glass, the seat belt wrenched loose, her cell phone lodged under the seat, shreds of clothing that still managed to carry lingering traces of her DNA on them even after the car was in the water for a week all led to the same conclusion, but without a body, she was still listed as missing and presumed dead.

Half of Forks high school was standing in the little cemetery on the corner of Calawah Way and Merchant Drive. The funeral at the small church across the street from the high school had been crowded with people standing in the back of the church, and an overflow of mourners crowding the doorways. The closed casket had dominated the central aisle way between the pews, and a large framed picture of Katy had been set up beside it because her body hadn't been recovered from the Sound. The ceremony was as much for Katy as it was for Michaela, but it didn't have the same sense of closure and finality without her body present. Of course I knew where her body was, and it wasn't exactly dead.

Emmett had stayed in Alaska until Katy woke up. At least that way she'd had one vaguely familiar face there when she'd learned the truth. She'd met Emmett at least once, and had seen him around on a couple of occasions, although they were hardly on speaking terms, but he was a connection to her past. She hadn't taken the news well, but she knew they were telling her the truth, and she was adapting. She had bonded with Tanya and Irina, and trusted them now. She'd get the training she'd need to survive.

Michaela hadn't been so lucky. There was a body in the casket in the church, and then in the hearse that we'd followed in the short procession to the cemetery for the graveside service. Michaela was too young to have had a chance to accomplish much in her short life, but she had been a good friend to a lot of people and was sorely missed.

People had started to wonder what had happened when the girls hadn't shown up for school by the second day. Their parents had tried to keep it quiet at the urging of the police while they investigated and looked for evidence of foul play, but Forks was a small town and the stories had started to circulate. They were obviously missing and the story of their disappearance was common knowledge when they missed the Cross Country League Meet on October 22, the following Thursday after homecoming.

An anonymous tip had led the police to the wrecked car under the bridge in Puget Sound that weekend, a week after they had disappeared. Michaela's body had been recovered still seat belted into the driver seat, but the passenger door had been broken open during the accident and was barely attached to the car. Divers had searched for three days, but all they found was Katy's shoes and ripped shreds of clothing.

I hadn't even wanted to go to the district cross country meet, but we'd all sat down and discussed it. We had to act normal. We had to go on with our lives with as little deviation from our normal patterns as possible, despite how much everything had suddenly changed. It was part of fitting in. We could start to incorporate the changes, but we had to do it over time so people wouldn't realize what was going on.

Carlisle and Esme had made the biggest obvious public change with Esme moving in with Carlisle, but that was marginally acceptable. They were both adults, and that was something people did in a relationship. It was still sudden, and this was a small town so there was talk, but Carlisle was still 'that crazy hippy medicine guy from California'. We were in rural Washington after all, and half the people in town probably pictured him living in a free love commune before we moved here. He didn't fit the profile though, he was always professionally dressed, and drove a nice car, but it was still hard to shake the image.

Alice was going to make the next big public change when she left town, transferred out of school, and moved to Seattle. She had already notified the school, and she had met with Mrs. Cope, Principal Rupprecht and her counselor to make the arrangements. Rose had all her paperwork ready and filled out and the date was set. She had two weeks to go, and then she'd be gone too.

Bella and I were tasked with fitting in and going on like nothing had changed. I drew the line when they had suggested that maybe I should try distancing my self from Bella in public and pretend like I was in mourning. I refused. People already knew about Bella and I. We'd been together at homecoming, and people had obviously seen our relationship developing even if I had been too much of an idiot to recognize it. I was not going to continue to play an idiot in public now that my eyes had been opened and I realized just how wonderful and special Bella was.

Taking care of business as usual was another part of acting normal, but business was good. I talked to Sam a couple of days after we got back from that first weekend after homecoming and picked up more product for Seattle. It was five times more than I'd bought in the past, so it was good for both of us, but Sam was still worried. Jacob was still giving him grief, but he had him under control for now. Things were going smooth and I'd driven out to La Push to make my buy. It was safer for me, because once I crossed the treaty line I was untouchable by my enemies, but Sam didn't like it. He tried to keep his business separate from the tribe, and warned that we'd need to meet someplace else next time.

Acting normal meant that Bella still had to pretend to live with the Dahlke's although she spent every night in my bed and drove with me to school every day. I'd pushed recent events out of my mind and had won a spot at the State Cross Country meet that was coming up next week on Halloween. I was favored to win again in the 1A Class. Bella still had two football games to cheer at, and from the look of things the football team was going to the playoffs if they did well in those next two games. She was going to miss one to go to State Cross Country with me, but I knew she didn't really mind.

Hopefully we'd have a break before wrestling season started on December fifth. It would be too much of a change if I didn't go out for wrestling this year, considering I'd won the state title in my weight class last year. Right now, I would have preferred to simply spend time with Bella, but I couldn't simply erase my past or change my life that much without standing out. People would talk.

Wrestling season would carry on through the end of January, and then there'd be a break because basketball season would continue through to the middle of February. Longer if the basketball team made it into the playoffs. If I went to State Wrestling again, there would be a week long tournament in February, but that wouldn't be too bad.

Bella had already talked to Janet Stanley, and was going to cheer for the wrestling squad. After football season, they'd split the squad and half the girls would cheer for the basketball team during basketball season, and half for the wrestling squad during wrestling season. The basketball team was more high profile and considered the more prestigious squad, so there was no problem with Bella wanting to go to the wrestling cheerleader squad. Besides, Janet and Jessica were still holding a grudge over the whole homecoming fiasco, so it was likely Bella would have ended up cheering for wrestling season, regardless. She'd really only even tried out for the squad in the first place because of Alice, and now Alice was leaving. At least this way she'd have an excuse to travel to all the wrestling meets with me.

The upside of this development was that we'd be able to ride to all of the wrestling meets together on the bus with the team. The downside of this development was that we'd be riding to all of the wrestling meets together on the bus with the coaches as chaperones. Bella had to pretend to be a teenager, while I still was one. We we're getting better, and could almost make it through the school day without sneaking away to be alone together. I didn't know how we'd survive a bus trip together without scandalizing the coaches and other passengers, but only time would tell. We still had several weeks before it would be an issue.

Bella squeezed my hand lightly to break me out of my rumination, and scowled at me playfully. I suppose I was letting my mind wander, and it wasn't exactly appropriate to let my arousal become apparent giving our current circumstances. Pastor Weber was wrapping up the service and I needed to be presentable to go to the Decker's house. There was a reception planned for family and friends, and I needed to make an appearance to express my condolences despite their evident hostility.

I led Bella back to the car when the funeral ended. People were going up to Michaela and Katy's parents to offer their condolences, and try and speak a few kind words, but what possible words or sentiment could possibly ease their suffering in this time of grief?

Jasper had driven the big black Mercedes Sedan. He helped Alice into the passenger seat, and Bella and I sat in the back. Carlisle and Esme had taken her car, and we'd catch up with them later.

"You don't have to do this, Edward." Bella said quietly as we sat in the back, and Jasper eased the big car into the uncharacteristic traffic to drive to Katy's house one last time.

"Yes, I do. It's the very least I can do. I feel responsible for their grief." I was quiet for a minute, and then asked, "Is it always like this?"

"Not always." Jasper said. "You're not personally responsible. You didn't cause this, but try to hold on to this and remember how you're feeling now. It'll make it easier later on. Most of us slip eventually. This is what happens when you slip. Caring will make it easier to do the right thing and hopefully harder to slip."

"James didn't slip. He did this on purpose!" I said, mad.

"That's a part of this life too." Jasper said almost too quietly for me to hear. "Sometimes you don't care. Sometimes it's just about the blood and you don't care about the consequences. It's easy to see victims as objects and forget they were somebody's child once, that they have families and people that care about them, no matter what they did to you…"

"Don't some people deserve to die?"

"Nobody deserves to die, but sometimes we do what we've got to do. Even the worst monster still has somebody that cares about them. It's the caring that keeps us from becoming monsters like James."

"You kill people, Jasper. That's what you do… How can you say that?"

"I do my job, and I'm good at it, but I care every time… I feel everything the people I kill feel. I never said I liked it, just that I'm good at it. I do what Esteban tells me to do, and for the most part I agreed and it needed doing. I'd like to think I've served the greater good. Things are better because of the decisions we've made."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Of course. The guy that wins the fight gets to tell what happened. You should realize by now, that the victors write the history books. Besides, the losers don't care anymore. They're all dead."

"That seems a little self serving to me."

"The world isn't a warm fuzzy happy place, Edward. That's an illusion that is maintained for the masses so they can go on about their lives and think they're safe and protected. When you join our world, you have to strip away that veneer of civility and see the realities of the world we live in."

We didn't have time to continue. We were at Katy's house, and the street was already crowded with cars. We parked down the street and got out to walk back to the house. There was some of her extended family here in town to help out and to come for the funeral. I had met some of them before, and they had all known me as Katy's boyfriend. More than a few had expected us to marry eventually, and there were perplexed and disapproving looks now as I walked into the house with Bella on my arm.

I felt uncomfortable, but I felt I had an obligation to tell Katy's parents I was sorry. They weren't together now. Some of the women had taken Carolyn to lie down and were trying to comfort her, but Katy's father was out in the living room greeting well wishers and speaking quietly with them. We mingled and waited for the crowd to die down. I felt I owed Katy's father more than a canned stilted response and a generic wish that he feel better. I approached Katy's father when there was a lull in the crowd.

"Hello Mr. Decker," I said, and he turned and looked at me. I saw antagonism flash across his features before he schooled his expression. "I'd like to offer my condolences for your loss. I'm very sorry about everything that's happened. Katy didn't deserve this. I'm sorry for your loss."

Katy's father looked over my shoulder, and I knew he was looking back at Bella, standing with Alice and Jasper.

"Thank you for the sentiment, Edward. I'd like to speak privately with you for a moment, if you don't mind."

Katy's father was angry, and he was mad at me, but I didn't think he was dangerous. I felt he was more curious than looking for somebody to lash out at. He'd never been that type of man in the time that I'd known him. I nodded, and followed him through the kitchen and out into the yard. The drizzle was heavier but it wasn't quite rain yet. He waited until we were out of earshot of the house before he stopped and turned to me.

"I don't need all the details, Edward. Katy's gone and nothings going to bring my girl back. Just tell me one thing. I haven't talked to the police because I didn't want to tarnish Katy's memory, and the accident seemed pretty straight forward. Why did Katy need a pistol the night that she died? Who was she going to shoot? I trained her how to use that pistol, and she knew it wasn't something you use to scare somebody. If she took a gun then she knew somebody would die if she used it."

"I won't lie to you and tell you I don't know. She went to Seattle to look for me and Bella, but she was going to shoot Bella Swan if she found her."

"Ok, maybe I do have another question. Why would Katy feel that she needed to shoot Bella, Edward?" He asked me with the accusation plain on his face.

"It wasn't like that Mr. Decker. I loved Katy, but we started to drift apart at the beginning of the school year. I will admit that it was my attraction to Bella that drove us apart, but I never cheated on Katy. I stopped seeing her while I wrestled with my conscience. In the end I chose Bella and Katy and I broke up. She couldn't accept that, and came after Bella. I'm sorry, Mr. Decker, that things couldn't have worked out differently. I never wanted Katy to get hurt."

He sighed and looked away, "But she did get hurt. Thank you for being honest with me Edward. I wanted Katy to have a long happy life, but maybe going out quick in an accident was better than spending the rest of her life in prison. At least nobody else's family is suffering today. I'm just sorry she had to take Michaela down with her."

"Yes, Michaela didn't deserve any of this. She was innocent of everything except trying to help her best friend."

"I wish she would have helped her by calling me instead of driving her to Seattle."

"We all wish things would have turned out differently, but all we can do is go on and move forward. Good bye, Mr. Decker. I'm sorry for all of this. I'll go now."

Katy's father just nodded, and I left him with his thoughts in the backyard. I went back inside and collected Bella, Alice and Jasper and we left. We walked down the block to the Clark's house and went in and met briefly with Michaela's parents. They had no reason to suspect that we had any involvement in their daughter's death, and we were simply more of her friends from school who were there for them in their hour of grief to offer our condolences for the friend that we had lost. We were done quickly and left.

It was mid-afternoon now, and Alice, Bella and I had all taken the day off from school. It was Thursday, and Carlisle had called us in absent this morning. The school knew what day this was, and while the absence was unexcused, they knew a lot of kids would be out all day for the funeral. The deaths had hit the small community hard, and the school accepted the fact that a lot of people would have a hard time dealing with this.

We drove back to the house, and went in and got changed out of our dress clothes. I felt more comfortable in more casual clothes, and Bella looked cute in her tight jeans, long sleeved tee shirt, and sneakers. Alice smiled when she saw her dressed in what at first glance appeared to be casual clothes from a common department store. On closer inspection it became obvious that they were high quality name brand items that were of superior quality despite appearing to be common items. She preferred to see us all dressed in designer clothes, even if it was just jeans and a tee shirt, and Bella preferred simple and comfortable. It would appear that they had compromised.

We weren't going to head back to school, but Bella and I wanted to get out of the house for a while. She wouldn't take me with her when she went to hunt, but we often went out together to check in on the security teams keeping an eye on Forks and our house in particular.

We went outside, and headed north down the slope behind the house toward the river. I still felt kind of self conscious when Bella carried me, but it was something I'd just have to deal with until I was changed, and I wanted to wait at least until I was eighteen. She swept me up into her arms as we got to the tree line, and flashed into the strip of woods. I felt her muscles bunch and push off, and then we were sailing across the river.

I'd wondered that night, when I was parked with Katy, how Bella had appeared out of nowhere, but now I knew as she touched down lightly in a slight crouch to cushion the impact for me on the opposite shore of the river, and then continued effortlessly into the forest. I was lost in the blur of green as we rocketed through the trees, but I knew now that she was holding back to make the trip easier for me. I knew roughly where we were supposed to be, because they had told me on previous trips, but I wouldn't be able to find any of these spots on my own. I'd be hiking for hours with a compass and map to cover a fraction of the territory that Bella blurred through in minutes.

We stopped in a small clearing that we'd used a couple of times for these types of meetings. Bella set me down, and I scanned the forest around us. I knew better than to simply look around at ground level now, and scanned what I could see of the canopy over us and around us. I knew we were being watched, but it was just another clearing in the forest to me. Even knowing they were there, I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

There was a rustling of leaves and a rush of air, and then Bree dropped out of the trees and was standing in front of us. I knew she had made so much noise for my benefit, so she wouldn't startle me by simply seeming to appear out of nowhere. Diego was more subtle. There was no sound or overt movement, but somehow I knew he was standing behind us, as though some sort of sixth sense had alerted me to his presence.

"Hey Bree, Diego, How's it going today," I asked.

"He's a good one, Capo," Diego said behind me. "Edward here's gonna be special when you turn him."

"He's special now." Bella said. "So what's up? You two staying in touch with the other teams?"

"Pretty much the same as it's been since we got here." Bree said. "Jasper's crew is keeping things locked down. We know that James crew is still out there, but they don't come close enough to make contact. We follow the trails when they come close, but make sure they aren't trying to just draw us off to leave a hole in the net."

"It's like they're just keeping up the pressure." Diego added. "Letting us know they're watching, but not really trying to get through."

"Ok," Bella said. "Tomorrow you two stay close, and meet up with Jasper after school. I'll be on the bus with the football team, Alice, and the other cheerleaders. You two can ride with Jasper and Edward out to Rainier. The game is scheduled to start at seven, so you should have plenty of time to stop and feed Edward and still get out there for the game."

"No problemo, Capo." Diego replied. "These high school football games are kind of fun. I should have gone to more of them when I was human."

"Sure, they're kind of fun, and its cool watching you cheer, but how can you stand sitting through high school, when you don't have to?" Bree asked. "I couldn't stand high school when I was human. I sure as hell wouldn't want to have to put up with it now."

Bella shrugged. "I never got to go to school regular since I was in like the sixth grade. My dad was a real asshole, and I never got to go to high school at all when I was human. I wanted to try it, and now that I'm started, I want to finish. I don't care how easy the work is, I think its fun."

"I guess. If you like it…" Bree said.

"You guy's better have those GED's up to date and talk to Jasper about getting you transcripts. After we graduate and Edward can be around humans again, we're all doing college together." Bree and Diego both groaned. "I don't care how intelligent you are, I want us to be educated too. Reading books is fine, but college will help refine the knowledge and make you use it to think critically. That'll give us an edge."

"Ok, as long as there's a reason and you have a plan." Diego said. "Jasper says you're jefe, and you call the shots. It's good to be smart, Capo. I knew this was a good move signing on with you. 'see, Bree, we're goin' places."

"Well, I guess we're going to college, but that's in a few years, right? That's cool I guess."

"Yeah, we'll stay in Forks as long as we can, but Alice says we might have to leave this summer to relocate, maybe out somewhere in the Midwest. If we do, we'll be the last out, and we'll have to give the Fu's the slip, or whack'em."

"No problemo, Capo." Diego replied. "These Fu pussies are getting' on my last nerve. I'd prefer a stand up fight to all this dancin' 'round."

"Yeah, well as long as they're dancing, nobodies dying. I can deal with less of that."

"Yeah, the funeral looked like a real bummer, but I liked your dress." Bree said. "That's when they got closest today. Wouldn't be surprised if they got some shots of it with a telephoto lens, 'course why they'd want pictures of the funeral I got no idea."

"Ok, well stay on patrol for now. Rotate back to the house when you need a shower or some down time."

"Did you think about those other prospects I recommended, Bella?" Bree asked as we were preparing to leave.

"I'll talk to Edward about it. I don't think we'll be back in Seattle for a couple of weeks, but we'll talk to them next chance we get, ok?"

Bree nodded and we left. Bree was a good kid, and Diego wasn't too bad either. He grew on you after a while. They weren't mated, but they were about as close as you could get without the mating bond. They were a couple and had been together for years now. They shared a normal sort of love, if there ever was such a thing, and looked out for each other. They'd come up from southern California a couple years back to get away from the sun. They had been independents in the Seattle Metro area before they petitioned to join up with the Moreno's and Bella had recruited them.

Bree had a story that I was learning was fairly common of a lot of the vampires that had been turned in the last half of the twentieth century. She had been a typical teenager, fed up with school and parents, cutting class to hang out at a local mall. Some vampire down on his luck and gone too long without feeding lured her away from her friends and bit her, but then was overcome with remorse for what had happened, and turned her instead of killing her. Sometimes it was a bar; sometimes a party or some sort of celebration like a fair or street festival, but the rest of the story was the same. Maybe they didn't have to kill to feed, but they still couldn't leave witnesses. The Volturi tended to frown on that, and it was easier to turn someone than leave a trail of corpses.

Diego was another story that I was learning was fairly common, but his had a twist. His brother had gotten involved with street gangs and turned to petty crime. The gang ran afoul of one of the local clans enforcers, and Diego's brother had been killed. Diego had started investigating to avenge his brother and had proved resourceful and intelligent. The typical part was that the clan enforcers often recruited from local gangs, picking the best and brightest. The twist was that Diego wasn't a gang banger. He'd been planning on enlisting in the military as his ticket out of the barrio so he could build a better life for himself.

Rather than hooking up with the clans, he'd stayed independent until he met Bree. They'd left LA together heading north to Seattle to try and find a better life than what the southern clans offered.

Apparently the majority of the more recent vampire population was hardly affluent, and quite the opposite for the most part. Sure, if you were immortal you could build up some cash and set up some long term investments, but that still required seed capital and time for the investments to grow. Vampires couldn't exactly hold down nine to five jobs without raising suspicion. Or most any legitimate jobs for that matter when they were new. Most independents resorted to petty crime to cover their basic needs. Most of those that weren't already part of one of the clans eventually aligned themselves with one of the families for protection and support.

I settled in to enjoy the ride as we ran the circuit. Bella liked to run the security perimeter to check in with the security teams personally. She figured it was the least she could do since we had so many people out in the woods pulling security detail to keep us safe. Besides, Jasper was going to be gone back to Seattle in a couple of weeks, and then she'd be in charge. This was her responsibility, and she took it seriously.

I didn't see how we could go on like this for another seven months, let alone summer vacation and next year, but Jasper didn't seem too concerned at least as far as this school year was concerned. The Volturi already patrolled the treaty line outside La Push, and the Fu's couldn't push too hard around here. It was why it had been a good safe house location in the first place for Bella and Jasper. As long as we played it cool and kept a low profile, we were within our rights. This was Moreno turf, and the Fu's would be picking a fight on protected ground if they hassled us. Didn't mean they wouldn't, but it would need to be something big to make them take the chance.

Alice and Bella wore their cheerleading uniforms to school on Friday, and it didn't help making it through the day without being caught in a compromising position any easier. Bella and I had been working on our control ever since we'd come back from that first crazy weekend in Seattle. We were being good and trying to confine the mating activity to couples alone time at night. Those first couple of days at school had been living hell as I tried to keep my hands to myself and act like everything was normal. I hadn't wanted to scandalize the Bella or the school with an overt incident where Carlisle would have to intervene on my behalf.

We had been successful so far. Of course that depended upon how you defined successful. As long as you defined successful as not getting caught, we were doing well.

Friday at school after the funeral on Thursday was still a somber affair. There were cards and pictures taped up on the walls around Katy and Michaels lockers and tokens of friendship and a couple of small stuffed animals, flowers, and other items were on the floor in front like a small shrine as friends and well wishers expressed their grief.

There were still some hard looks and cold stares as we made our way into the school and I held Bella close, but most of our fellow students had accepted that Katy and I were over and had effectively broken up before homecoming, even if we hadn't said the words.

I sat between Alice and Bella during first period English. Holding hands and sitting close together with Bella was enough to get me through second period gym class when we had to be apart. Third period Trig and fourth period Spanish were pretty much a repeat of English class, and we'd sit close together in the back of the class holding hands.

We usually found a hidden spot to enjoy some alone time or left campus to go out for lunch, but Bella didn't need to eat and I had more important things on my mind than food. We only had thirty minutes for lunch, but we'd become adept and finding secluded places to slip away for some privacy before we had to show up for fifth period AP Chemistry.

We hurried out of Spanish class together, and headed around the cafeteria for the gym. Anyone who saw us heading that direction would probably assume we were going out to the smoking area for a cigarette. The front of the gym was open, and the weight room was open during lunch for any of the athletes to use. The weather was wet out, and the gym was open during lunch so students could get in out of the rain if they didn't want to sit in the cafeteria all period. There were balls and exercise equipment available for use, and one of the coaches stayed on duty during lunch, so people didn't get rowdy or act up.

We didn't go in the front and continued around the building like we were heading out to the football field. We'd gone in the back entrance to the gym a couple of times before and snuck into the weight room or athletic trainer's office. There were a couple of store rooms and broom closets too, but Bella was holding my hand, and she didn't go to the back door of the gym today, but led me towards the bleachers at the edge of the football field.

I wondered if we were going to go sit in the bleachers. I was cold and wet out, but the bleachers had an overhanging awning roof to keep the worst of the weather off. It wouldn't be too wet, but it would be cold. Bella turned before we got to the ramp up into the bleachers, and pulled me behind the concession stand under the bleachers. There was a door in the side away from the school, and she produced a key and opened the door. I didn't ask where she managed to get a key from, but she seemed to have keys for most of the locked rooms on campus whenever she needed them.

She pulled me inside with her and closed and locked the door behind us. It was dark but toasty warm inside. The light was out but I could make out most of the features in the room from the orange glow coming off of a ceramic heater that somebody had thoughtfully setup in the back of the storeroom behind the concession stand. Flats of pop were stacked along the wall next to the water heater. The room was a little cluttered, but there was room to move down the middle. There was a sturdy looking wooden table in the middle of the room with folding chairs setup around it. The officials would come in here during halftime at the games to take a break and get out of the weather.

Bella turned to face me and I pulled her into my arms. Her arms snaked around my neck as her fingers tangled into my hair and pulled my face down to hers. I rested my forehead against hers and stared deeply into her bright ochre eyes.

"You know, I do love you so much, Bella."

"I love you too, but we're a little pressed for time." She pulled me closer and kissed me quick. "This is the only time I'll get to be close to you until after the football game in Rainier tonight."

She started to move backward toward the table. "I know I'm supposed to be into this whole school spirit thing and cheer for the team, but if they win these next two games and go to the playoffs, I think I'll just scream! Wrestling season won't be so bad, but I hate being separated from you during these football games."

Bella still had her arms around my neck, and pulled me close to kiss me again. This kiss was longer and more passionate. Her tongue traced along my bottom lip begging for entry, and my lips parted as the kiss became deeper. The tip of her tongue touched mine and circled it feather soft, and then more insistently. It was slick and sweet, velvety soft and steel strong all at the same time, and I liked it.

My hands traveled down to cup her ass through the material of her short pleated skirt. I hiked it up, lifting it up around her waist, and my thumbs hooked into the elastic band of the shorts she was wearing under it. I pushed her shorts down as my hands slipped inside the fabric to caress the smooth bare skin of her firm ass cheeks.

Bella moaned against my lips as I pushed her shorts and tiny thong panties down to her knees, and then my hand was reaching around under her ass to stroke between her legs. She groaned and held me tighter as my finger dipped into her wetness. My finger pushed deep inside her, and then pulled out to stroke through her folds and moved forward to circle her clit.

She let her shorts drop to her ankles, and then she was lifting her bright white sneaker clad foot free of the fabric. My hands were opening my pants, and then I pushed them down to my knees as she clung to me, kissing my mouth, my neck, my throat.

Her hand circled my hard cock stroking it as it sprung free from my shorts. I moaned as her firm cool grip moved up and down my hard cock, and she reached between my legs to tenderly caress and cup my balls.

My hands were on her shoulders turning her, and she took the hint, turning towards the table. Her hands were on the table as she leaned forward and spread her legs to give me better access. I flipped the skirt up onto her back, and stroked my hand through her wetness and diddled her clit with my finger again as she moaned.

"Oh my god… I need you now… Edward fuck me! I need you inside… Please…" She begged me.

I moved behind her, and stroked my cock through the wetness between her legs. She moaned as the head of my cock stroked between her full lips and moved through her folds.

My hips moved back, and I pressed the head of my cock against her opening. Bella groaned again as I started to push into her. She was so tight. Like silky velvet surrounded by a steel grip. We were more practiced now and I sank deep inside her in one long, deep, steady thrust.

"Oh God Yes…Oh my god… Fuck me!" She moaned.

"God Bella… you're so tight… So good…" I groaned as I pushed deep inside her.

I held her hips as I rocked back to slide almost out and then thrust back deep inside. She panted and moaned as I moved trusting deep inside of her on every stroke as we moved rhythmically together. She was pushing back to meet my thrusts, and my hand reached around between her legs. My fingers found her clit to stroke it in time with my thrusts into her sex.

"Uhnn… Uhnn… God… Uhnn… Uhnn… Oh My God… Edward… I love you so much…"

Bella twisted back to look at me as I leaned over her, thrusting my hard cock into her sex, and her lips captured mine in a kiss. It was passionate and deep as her tongue swirled around mine, and then she pulled away. She was gripping the edge of the table and I knew she was getting close.

"Oh god… Edward fuck me! Oh god…" She moaned as I thrust into her tight pussy.

I pulled back and rocked my hips forward thrusting into her cool slick wetness, moving harder and faster as our bodies moved together. Bella rocked her hips to meet my thrusts, and we crashed together as our bodies moved to the throbbing pulse of the connection that joined our souls together.

"Oh god… Edward Harder! God… Fuck me… Fuck me harder!" Bella groaned.

I gripped her hips tight as I pressed her down against the hard edge of the table and I hammered into her, thrusting hard and fast with her legs spread in front me and her hands gripped the edge hard. I heard the wood splinter under her grip, and I knew how much she wanted this.

God… Edward… I'm gonna… God I'm almost there!" she moaned getting louder as she got closer to the edge.

Bella moaned loud, and she threw her head back and cried my name as her back arched. I thrust hard and fast into her. Her pussy clenched hard around my solid cock as her hands ripped the edge of the table loose and her orgasm carried her away.

"Uhnn… Uhnn… God… Bella! I'm gonna… Uhnn… I'm almost there…" I panted against the back of her neck as I drove deep into her pussy, plunging to the hilt hard and fast!

I was past the point of stopping now, and was thrusting even more urgently as I felt the tingling at the base of my cock in my balls and I knew I was going to come. I thrust hard and buried myself to the hilt inside her cool throbbing pussy as I shot my come deep inside Bella. The orgasm ripped through me and I felt my cock pulse as my hot juice spurted into her.

Bella was panting hard as our orgasms rocked through us, and then we started to come back to ourselves. She twisted back to face me again and I held her face and kissed her while we were still joined together with my hips pressed tight against hers.

After a minute, I pulled out slowly and looked down into Bella's eyes as she turned to face me. I was spent but I pulled her into my arms and held her close. I saw her inhale deeply and stretch languorously, as she enjoyed the blissful peace of the connection we shared. My lips found hers and our tongues swirled together as we shared the closeness of the moment.

"I love you too, Bella…" I said when she pulled back and broke our kiss. "I just need you so much. I don't want you to think it's just the sex. I need to be that close to you now too, but I love everything about you. Who you are, what you are, how you make me feel, you're my life now Bella.

"I needed this Edward…" she looked down a little sheepishly. "I love you too, but I wanted this so I could get through game tonight…"

"And what's your excuse for every other day of the week, love?"

"Just because I love you, it makes the rest of my day easier. I suppose we should get going so we get to class on time. Wouldn't do to have people talk…"

"Not much chance of avoiding that, love, but the newness will wear off for the kids here soon enough."

"And the newness isn't going to wear off for you?" She asked looking down, away from my eyes.

I caressed her jaw and lifted her chin in my hand to look back into her beautiful ochre eyes. "Never, love, you are my world now, and every second that you are in my world is perfect and amazing. I'm keeping you. You can't get rid of me that easily."

I leaned in and kissed her again, and then we really did need to get going.

The moment passed and we had to deal with reality again. There was no clock on the wall, but we knew how short our lunch break was. We still had to deal with the sticky wet and get cleaned up before we went back to class.

Luckily whoever had setup the ceramic heater for us had left a bag with some towels, and I helped Bella wipe up the excess juices and fluids running down the inside of her thigh. She was neat and tidy again before she pulled her panties and shorts back on, and smoothed her pleated skirt down over her thighs.

Bella took particular pleasure in making sure I was cleaned up, and I think she was jealous of the towel. I was sure her tongue would have done a much more through job, but then we'd have been late for chemistry class.

I was thinking that Bella had probably enlisted Bree as her partner in crime to help setup these rendezvous for our lunchtime trysts. I couldn't see her getting Diego or Jasper to help with the setup or cleanup. Somebody had setup the heater and left the towels, and would likely remove them and repair the damage while we were in class. Maybe it was somebody on Jasper's crew, but I doubted it. What was the use of having a crew if you couldn't give them some jobs to take care of?

We made it back to the main building on campus in time to stop in the restrooms and wash up to make sure everything was presentable, and then walked into AP Chemistry holding hands. Mr. Banner gave us a disapproving look as though that simple public display of affection was pushing the limits of decency, but we ignored him, signed in and went to our seats.

Alice dashed into AP Chemistry slightly out of breath and flushed apparently from running or possibly doing the same things during lunch that Bella and I had. She ducked into the room right before the bell and made her way to her seat. I chuckled under my breath, and Bella elbowed me lightly in the ribs, but she was smiling contentedly when I glanced over at her.

Chemistry was uneventful as we sat close together holding hands and listened to the lecture. We didn't try to talk because we were trying to avoid Mr. Banner's attention. He almost never changed his seating chart, and it was typically a given that it would remain constant throughout the year. About the only thing that would make him change it was exactly what was going on with Bella and me. If he decided that our relationship was too much of a distraction to our attention to class, he might possibly make changes in the seating chart. Now that Alice was leaving, he could move one of us to sit with Jessica, and neither of us wanted that.

Bella and I said our goodbyes in the hallway after Chemistry. I knew I wouldn't see her again until I got to Rainier for the football game, and then she'd only be able to slip away for a couple of minutes to be with me. There would be people watching constantly, and we had to act like normal kids. People knew she was my girlfriend, but we had to keep thing toned down to what was publicly acceptable when we were in public. I still kissed her goodbye in the hallway and she hugged me tight before Alice and Jessica dragged her away.

US History II was quiet but I was already starting to miss Bella before the class was over. Alice wasn't in class today. She was skipping last hour along with the rest of the cheerleaders and football team to leave on the bus to drive to the football game in Rainier. I knew it was worse for her because she was separated from Jasper all day long except for lunch. Fridays were worse because instead of dashing home to see him after cheerleading practice, she had to go out with the cheerleaders to the football games.

I had already told Coach Newhouse that I wouldn't be at Cross Country practice today because of the football game. I was the only student at Forks high school that was going to State after the funeral on Thursday. Katy had been a favorite to make it to State, and both of us would have likely gone on to the State finals, but she was presumed dead in the accident with Michaela. The season was over for the rest of the team, but some of them still came to practice in the afternoons so I wouldn't have to run alone.

Jasper was waiting for me in the driver seat of the Volvo when I walked out to the parking lot. I was ready to leave for the day, and didn't need to go to my locker first. I slipped into the passenger seat without complaint. I knew by now that he'd get us there faster than I could drive. I gave Bree and a Diego a quiet greeting where they were crouched down in the back seat of the car, and Jasper pulled out of the lot as soon as I had the door shut.

I fastened my seat belt and settled in for the long drive south. It was a good two hours or so south to Aberdeen before we'd stop so I could get something to eat, and then another hour and a half east until we got to Rainier. We'd make it there before the game started, but not by much.

The football game was fun, and we had a good time despite the fact that I was mostly separated from Bella and had to watch her from a distance like the rest of the crowd. Bree and Diego weren't too obtrusive as far as body guards went, and followed my orders like they were from Bella, but I knew better than to take chances. Jasper had more people watching us anyhow, so it was easy to relax and watch Bella while the game played in the background.

She was able to slip away for a couple of minutes after the halftime show, but we just ducked out of sight for a few minutes of alone time. We didn't have time for a repeat of our lunch time antics, but it just felt so good to be able to hold her and kiss her and feel her body pressed up against mine.

"How are you holding up, love?" I asked once we were alone together and her lips moved off of mine long enough to let me catch my breath.

"Ok. I thought I was going to go crazy on that damn bus on the trip out. It drives so slowly, but I felt better after Jasper caught up and I could feel you were nearby."

"What are we going to do next week when I have to go to State Cross Country? It's a seven hour drive to Pasco, and I'm supposed to stay overnight before the race."

"Don't worry; Esme and Carlisle are working on a plan. It should be ok since it's just you and not the whole team. Now kiss me, and then I need to get back."

I didn't argue, and held her tight as my lips found hers and her tongue slipped between my lips to dance with mine. The kiss deepened and became more passionate. I was temped to sweep her into my arms and carry her out to the car, second half be damned, and then I heard somebody clearing their throat.

Jessica had found us, and was waiting impatiently to drag Bella away for the squads next set to cheer for the football team. Despite Bella's wishes, we were winning, and had a good shot to go to the playoffs.

Bella reluctantly pulled away and turned to walk back to the game with Jessica.

"Seriously, you two need to get a room…" Jessica said as they walked away.

"You know, I was thinking the same thing, Jess." Bella chuckled as she followed her back out onto the field.

"Well, at least your boyfriend comes to the games to watch."

"Yeah, but you get to ride on the bus with Mike."

"Eww… and smell him all the way home too! He better take a shower this time, or I am so kicking his butt…"

I sighed and made my back up into the stands. Diego shadowed me as I climbed back up to my seat.

"So, how'd it go Romeo?" Diego asked.

"As well as can be expected. I'll be glad when football season is over."

"Hehe, yeah, then you two can ride the bus together to go to Wrestling meets. 'Course the more interestin' wrestlin' is before and after the meet I guess, knowin' you two, eh jefe? I'll miss riding to these football games with you."

"Yeah, you two seemed to be enjoying yourselves on the ride out. There better not be any stains on my seats, or you are so cleaning it up."

"You know I'm sitting right here." Bree said as I sat back down in my seat. If she could blush, I'm sure she would be.

"Hey, talk to your boyfriend. If he can tease me, then you better get used to it, or kick his butt."

"Hell, I'm not about to tease you too. 'Course I could with everything Bella's been having me do, but I'd prefer to enjoy my illusion of privacy. As if that'll ever happen again…"

"God, the four of you are as bad as Emmett." Jasper sighed, but he had a grin on his face.

We all just laughed and settled in for the second half. Either Jasper was oblivious to the lipstick stains on his collar, or he was just playing along. Or maybe Alice had seen this and it was her way of getting in on the joke.

Our guys ended up winning the game. If they won next week, then the season would be extended by the playoffs. This was Alice's last game regardless. Alice was done at Forks high school at the end of the next week, and would sign out of her classes next Friday. Bella was skipping next week's game to go to State Cross Country to watch me run. We'd be leaving Friday night for the seven hour drive to Pasco and then stay overnight for the race on Saturday. Alice would stay with Jasper in Seattle on the trip back home.

The trip back to Forks was uneventful. Alice and Bella had to ride on the bus with the team, and Bree and Diego took advantage of the backseat again on the trip back to Forks. I suppose if Bella was living out her high school fantasy by being a student, I really couldn't get mad at my supposed bodyguards taking advantage of an opportunity to act like teenagers. Jasper had his guys in the forest around us, and something would have to go seriously wrong for them to have to step in and save my butt.

I took advantage of the fact that I could still sleep while we followed the bus back to Forks, and took a nap. I'd be able to stay up later once we got home that way. Bree and Diego bailed out of the car a block from the school, and then Jasper and I went to pick up Alice and Bella. I let Alice take over shotgun, and Bella and I cuddled in the back during the short trip back to the house.

The weekend and the following week of school flew by in a blissful haze as Bella and I fell into our routine. Alice got her things packed during the week, and all of us helped load up the truck that Jasper hired, but Bella and Jasper did most of the actual hauling and made short work of the packing. At the end, she was left with a couple of suitcases of clothes, and all of her things were already in Seattle waiting for her.

The State Cross Country Meet was in the back of my head, but I'd just take it as it came. I kept practicing, and I was as ready as I could get. Either I'd win or I wouldn't. I was more worried about the logistics of how we'd get there, and how long I'd have to be separated from Bella. I knew it was silly to worry. It was only two days, and Alice had been forced to put up with a lot worse before I got on board with all of this, but now that I was, the thought of being away from Bella for that long was distressing.

Esme came up with the solution, and it was something simple and obvious. The school athletic activity manual stated that if a student waned to travel to and from a sporting event in the company of a parent or guardian instead of with the school appointed chaperones, then they had to ask the athletic director at the school twenty-four hours in advance in writing. Esme simply had Carlisle write a letter to the school asking if I could ride with my family to the Cross Country Meet, and my family would pay for the hotel accommodations out of their own pocket. The school accepted because it was just me and not the whole team traveling together.

Esme made our hotel reservations. There was a Red Lion Inn almost on the grounds of the golf course where the State Meet would be held, and Esme pulled some strings to reserve rooms for all of us. We made arrangements to meet Coach Newhouse for breakfast before we went to the venue for the meet on Saturday morning.

I wasn't sure what arrangements Jasper made for the rest of his crew, but we had four rooms all together on our hallway. Esme got Bree and Diego a room next to ours. Bella wanted them close, but not so close she was willing to share a room with either of them. The story was that Bella and Alice were sharing, and Jasper was supposed to be in with me, but in reality it was the four couples. Nobody but our party even knew that Bree and Diego were with us.

The school allowed me to leave at noon on Friday so I would get to Pasco a little earlier. Alice just went around and had Mr. Banner and Mr. Abrams sign her out early, and she was done with Forks high school. Bella would have just skipped, but there was another pleasant development for her.

Esme had Jaspers legal contacts prepare adoption papers for Bella so Esme could be her legal guardian while she was playing at maintaining the teenager façade. Copies were filed with the school by the attorneys, and Esme simply wrote Bella a note telling them that she was going to the State Cross Country Meet. It was still an unexcused absence, but there wasn't anything truly important scheduled for this Friday since all the football players and cheerleaders would be gone anyhow. The teachers knew better than to schedule a test when a good fourth of the class was gone. It would have minimal impact on her grades. She'd already read all the textbooks, and with perfect recall, she had effectively memorized them.

We left for Pasco after fourth period on Friday at noon. Everything was packed and we were ready to go. Carlisle rode with Esme. Bree and Diego rode with me and Bella. We took to Volvo this time, but I let Bella drive so we'd get there faster. Alice rode with Jasper in the black Mercedes sedan with a couple of Jasper's boys along for protection. Jasper probably had more guys shadowing us, but they had to skirt around the towns when we passed through cities. Of course nothing was likely to happen in a city where there were potential witnesses.

The trip down was uneventful. We stopped in Seattle for dinner to feed the humans. Esme and Jasper checked in on business, and then we were back on the road headed southeast into the Tri-City Metro area along the Columbia River.

We could have flown into Pasco from Port Angeles, but we needed to stop in Seattle to check in anyhow, and we'd be returning back there after the cross country meet on Saturday. Bella and I had some more interviews to do, and we wanted to have some time to say goodbye to Alice. She'd only be three hours away and we'd be visiting often, but it was the first time we'd be separated since we were ten, and I was going to miss her.

We checked in to the hotel and found our rooms. Bella went in first before she'd let me follow. I had to stand in the hall with Alice, Carlisle and Esme, and Bree to watch us while the others checked the rooms. I thought it was silly, but then Bella called me in a minute later and said it was ok.

"What exactly is it that you're expecting to find hidden in a hotel room at the Red Lion Inn, love?" I asked when she let me into the room.

"Anything that might be a threat. If there had been another vampire in here in the last couple of days, we'd know it, and probably who it was from the scent. This is a pretty high end room, so it wouldn't just be some random nomad. Most explosives and poisons have distinctive scents that we'd recognize."

"So I take it the room is clean?"

"Well, as clean as any human cleaning crew could get it, but clean is a relative term. Let's just say it's safe and leave it at that."

"What do you mean? I don't understand?"

I'd noticed Bella was something of neat freak over the last couple of weeks. The house had never been so clean since Bella and Esme had moved in. I wasn't exactly one to simply throw my things down on the floor, but I'd go to sleep at night, and my dirty clothes would disappear. My room was now a marvel of organization and neat as a pin. I'd thought it was because Bella was bored at night when I went to sleep, but maybe there was more to it.

Even dressing casual and wearing jeans and a nice top, I could tell all of Bella's, Bree's and Diego's clothes were expensive and high end name brands or designer stuff. Jasper had a thing for thousand dollar Italian suits when he wasn't working at fitting in. Esme was always in something very nice, and probably designer, whenever she wasn't making a conscious effort to blend in. I thought it was just enjoying the money at first, but maybe it was all related.

Bella locked the door and we moved our bags onto the rack provided for them. It wasn't worth unpacking because we were only staying the one night and we'd check out before we went to breakfast in the morning. We cuddled on the bed and got more comfortable once we were settled to continue our conversation.

"Well, you know about the enhanced senses." Bella continued. "The obvious one that you have to deal with most often is our hearing, and you hear us talking about our sense of smell and reacting to scents. The less obvious fact is that all of our senses are enhanced. We see more, and feel more than you do too."

"I can see every mote of dust hanging in the air in this room, see the residue of every stain on the carpet, bed, walls, and tables, and I could probably tell you what they are from their individual scents. This room isn't too disgusting to stay in for one night, but it's an expensive hotel. They don't skimp on the maid service or cleaning supplies. The linens have been laundered and sterilized."

"That's why the house is so clean now? You can see more, so you see the dirt we thought we had cleaned up. Is that why you're so neat? Is there any truth to the myth about scattering mustard seeds or toothpicks around a vampires coffin? The legend says you'd be constrained to count them all before you could pass, and get caught by the sun."

"Well, first off there are no coffins and getting caught in the sun wouldn't be too bad. It's not like we'd actually have to count every seed or toothpick, but that kind of mess is very distracting to us. We're very organized and neat creatures by nature. We'd feel somewhat compelled to pick up that kind of mess if it was something we had to deal with where we lived. Not so much so that it would prevent us from surviving, but it would get our attention. We are able to move through the forest at a run after all, and we don't stop to count each leaf. Although I could probably tell you how many threads are in your sheets, and how many of them are broken, frayed or torn."

"So that's why you all wear expensive clothes too, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I had to give in after I was changed. I was always a Walmart kind of girl, well goodwill if truth be told, but we can see and feel every flaw in the clothes we wear and feel the quality of the fabrics. Generally cotton isn't too terribly bad, once you get used to it again, but the higher end fabrics and higher quality clothes are much more comfortable for us. Polyester and a lot of the synthetics are just plain disgusting. They don't feel right, and the chemical stench is too horrible to describe."

"So will I have to replace much of my wardrobe then? Alice is always trying to get me to dress nicer."

"Well, not because of your choice in clothes or fabrics. Alice has done pretty good there. I'm sure she'll have little trouble fitting in with Rose and Esme. In fact, she'll probably even have a thing or two to teach Rose about fashion. No, size and fit will be the bigger issue."

"My clothes won't fit anymore? Why is that?"

"There are physical changes during the change, so a lot of your clothes might not fit right anymore. You could probably still wear a lot, but they wouldn't feel right. Besides, if we wait until after graduation, you'll probably fill out some more and end up replacing most of your clothes, anyhow."

"Don't you like me the way I am now?"

"You're perfect now, but it'll be easier to fit in if you look older. Trust me, I know. Being a teenager forever isn't all it's cracked up to be. I can do a lot with makeup and clothes, but I still can't pass for more the early twenties without hours in a makeup chair, and that sucks unless it's really necessary."

"Yeah, I can see that. That's gotta really suck for Bree. How old is she for real?"

"Well, looking young can have advantages too. She was only about fifteen when she was turned, but she's almost twenty-five now. That's about as young as you can get turned and not run into trouble with the Volturi. Any younger, and you start running into Immortal Child prejudice."

"And Diego?" I asked.

"I thought you would have asked him by now. You two seem to get along pretty good."

"He interesting, and I used to hang out with guys like him when I lived in California. I didn't want to pry… Wasn't it on his application?"

"They don't fill out applications, Edward. This isn't that kind of job. They gave their oath, and they're with us for good now, unless they betray us, or we cut them loose. That usually gets messy. You get a good feel for the two of them, right?"

"Yeah, they're solid. Diego is a stand up guy, and Bree's cool. I get a good feeling about both of them. Just didn't feel like prying into they're private lives unless they volunteered something, but you know, right?"

"Yeah, it's part of the standard interview. They gotta give their history, and at least hit the high points so I know what to expect going in. You know, when they were turned, who sired them, any vendettas or major enemies we should know about."

"I guess there's no sense borrowing trouble. So there's a reason you need to know all of this?"

"Uh huh, it's important because the oath works both ways. It's kind of like swearing fealty in the old days with knights and barons and stuff like that. They swear to serve me and be true to their word, but I have to swear to support them and protect them from their enemies too. Luckily they don't have too much baggage, so it's a good deal for both of us."

"No baggage, so he's young too? At least in the vampire sense that is…"

"Yeah, that's the advantage of recruiting young. He's pretty close to his physical age too. He was eighteen when he was turned, but he's twenty-six now."

"Ok, I see the advantage in recruiting young. No entanglements with rival clans, no baggage as you say with vendettas or enemies. Our enemies become their enemies, and we just have to share the wealth so to speak. Besides, you're a rising star so if you do good, they do good. What's the downside?"

"They're still green. I still have a lot of training to do to get them up to speed. Not that they can't defend themselves or us. They're good and have tons of potential, but you pick up a lot of tricks as you go, and there's no substitute for age and experience. Some things just take time to sink in."

"So what do we do to even the odds? You know, give us an edge or a fighting chance to survive in this business?"

"Well first off we avoid fighting unless it's necessary, and when we do, we setup the conditions so we have an advantage. We fight when we can win, and run when we can't. 'Course the other guys are playing by the same rules, and runnin' doesn't gain you anything if you get a rep for backin' down. Sometimes you need to make a stand even if the odds are against you, so that's where the next part comes in. We recruit some experience and reduce the chance of the odds being against us."

"We can do that? I thought we were in a world of hurt. Someone will still throw in with us? Got anyone in mind?"

"All of the families have somebody that doesn't like them. There's strength in numbers, and you know what they say, 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'. Fu Chang Hong has a lot of enemies. Some that're looking for a shot, some just lookin' to move up the ranks. There're a lot of independents that think it's high time the Moreno's built up their own enforcement arm, instead of relying on the Volturi so heavily. They'll join us."

"So you have prospects? Someone we need to talk to?"

"Sunday in Seattle, We'll stop by the club and talk to some people. Jasper wants to pull his people off of guard duty and get them back to work, so we need to get on with the recruiting. There are a couple of people Bree recommended that came up from down south, so they don't have ties around here yet. The others are some that Jasper recommended."

We settled in and Bella let me get some sleep. I was tired after the seven hour drive, even with the break in Seattle for dinner. I had a long day ahead of me tomorrow.

We were up early and got dressed for breakfast and packed up to check out. Coach Newhouse met us downstairs in the hotel restaurant for breakfast, and then all of us checked out. Bree and Diego stayed close, but didn't sit with us, or acknowledge that they were with us. They were back on guard duty.

The races were being run on the Sun Willows golf course, but the race officials and pictures were setup in one of the meeting rooms here in the hotel. We'd already taken our bags out to the car when we checked out, so we walked with Coach Newhouse to go check in with the officials, get a program and check the schedule.

Coach Newhouse got me checked in, and then I had to get in line to have an official picture taken. If our team had come, it would have been a team picture, but since I was an individual qualifier, it would be an individual picture. After that we had a long wait ahead of us until my race was called.

Forks was a 1A school, and there were four classes. The 4A schools would run girls and boys races first, and then the 3A schools, and then 2A. Finally sometime this afternoon, I'd get my chance to run in the last race of the day.

If they kept to the schedule, and started all the races on time, I'd get to run sometime around one or two o'clock this afternoon. Maybe we shouldn't have checked out of the room. Of course we had the coach with us now, so we had to be good. Anyhow, I had four or five hours until I needed to start warming up for the race.

We left the cars at the hotel, and walked to the starting area of the race out on the golf course. Bella, Alice and I walked the course to learn the lay of the land, while Jasper took Bree and Diego on a security sweep to check in with the rest of the teams.

It was dryer here in the eastern part of Washington. It didn't rain as much, and it looked like they used a lot of irrigation for agriculture, but it was the end of October and the morning was overcast with steel gray sky's. If the sun decided to come out later, Bella and the others might have to stay inside or disappear until we were ready to leave. We mingled and watched the races for the other classes. Alice looked a little agitated, and slipped off with Jasper for awhile. Finally it was time for me to change and start warming up for the race.

Bella helped me with my stretches. She'd been working with me these last couple of weeks, and she knew how to help out now without hurting me. She paced me while I jogged and did some warm up runs and run outs. We all headed over to the starting line when they started to stage my race. Only Coach Newhouse was allowed into the actual starting bracket. The rest of the group took up positions at the edge of the course to watch the start of the race. I did a couple more run outs to get ready, and then they were calling for sweats off.

Alice and Jasper had rejoined the group while I was taking off my sweats. She had calmed down, but Jasper had a look of stoic resolve on his face. Something was up, but they weren't moving to stop me from running. I had to assume that whatever was going on wasn't going to affect me or Bella directly. At least not until the race was over. I pushed it away, and just thought about running. That was my job right now. We were acting normal and going on with our lives. We couldn't change everything overnight, or people would notice and talk. Right now, I had a race to run. That was my part of acting normal.

The starting gun fired, and I put everything I had into the race. I was in my zone and let my legs drive me around the course. This might very well be the last time I'd get to run in a race like this, and make an honest effort to win.

Part of acting normal was not standing out, and I'd worked hard to stand out from the crowd. I was state champion in two sports, but that was going to have to change. Jasper and I had talked. I had a winning season, and I'd worked hard for this race. He wasn't going to ask me to lose. But he had explained that I was going to have to drop out of the public eye.

Wrestling season was a good opportunity to make that happen. I could start off strong and act normal, but at some point this season, I was going to 'get injured'. Nothing serious, or even real, but some injury that would end my season, and maybe keep me from going to the state finals.

If Bella and I moved this summer, and did continue high school someplace else, I probably would simply avoid sports altogether. It would give me more time to focus on finishing school, and spend more time with Bella. Besides, I had a lot to learn about the business, and all of the training that went along with that. Physical skills that I learned now would stay with me after the change, and a basic grounding in firearms and how to use the sword would pay off in the long run.

The cheering broke me out of my reverie. I had been lost in my musings and running on autopilot, just following the golf cart around the track. I simply concentrated on trying to catch the leader golf cart, and they had accelerated to maintain the gap. We were coming up on the finish now, and there was nobody between me and the golf cart. I realized now that I had been pushing the golf cart to make them go faster than they normally would have.

I didn't want to take a chance on looking back to see how close the rest of the pack was. I just ran like hell and started into the funnel at the end of the race. Carlisle and Esme were waiting to cheer me on, and Alice was there with Jasper, but I ran into Bella's arms. Alice was on edge, and Jasper was wary, but I didn't let it affect my mood. I reveled in the excitement of the win and the beautiful girl that was holding me.

We moved away from the finish line as the rest of the runners started to come in. The second and third runners collapsed, dropped to their knees and retched on the ground. The fourth runner collapsed, and the medics rushed over to check on him, but he was ok. I didn't want to think I was special, or brag, but maybe I did have a gift for running. I was tried, but I wasn't ready to collapse or puke. I'd given it my all, but I was still on my feet, and walking under my own power. The medics had to help the first couple of runners out of the way so they didn't get run over by the rest of the finishers.

I had always excelled at sports and most physical activities that I tried my hand at. It was a little intimidating that Bella and all of her friends and associates were so far beyond me in their abilities. I liked winning because it was something I was good at, but it was something I was willing to give up to have Bella in my life.

Jasper had shared the theory that those things that we were gifted at in our human lives were enhanced and carried over into our new lives. If that was true, then maybe I'd be fast as a vampire. That would be something I'd like very much.

The State Cross Country meet was wrapping up now that the final race was won. There were more pictures, and the awards ceremony. I got a medal for first place, and Coach Newhouse got a trophy to take back to the school to be displayed in the trophy case in the gym lobby. I took a shower in the hotel and got changed into street clothes. We said our goodbyes to the coach, and made our way out to the cars to leave. Most of the people were gone by the time we were heading out, and the traffic had died down.

Jasper called us all together for a conference before we left. Bree and Diego rejoined the group, and I could tell they were being more alert than usual. Something was up. I knew there was a reason why Alice was agitated earlier. I supposed I would find out now.

"Ok, everyone pay attention. Alice has seen some disturbing developments. We think the Fu's are going to try something on the trip back to Seattle. They haven't been pushing too hard while we were in Forks, but that's why we picked it for a safe house in the first place. Even if they found us, they couldn't cause too much of a stir so close to La Push without bringing the Volturi down on their heads. Things are different now."

"Different how?" Carlisle asked, but the rest of us already knew.

"Well, for one thing, we're on the other side of the State. We're not practically living on the treaty line, and if they're going to make a move against us, this is the last chance they'll have when they know we'll all be together and vulnerable like this. They've got to know that Alice has checked out of school and is moving to Seattle."

"Ok, so what do we do now?" I asked. "Why don't we change our plans and fly into Seattle. If they have an ambush setup, then they must have committed a lot of resources. They can't be strong enough to cover both approaches. If we switch, we'll avoid them altogether."

"No, we act normal and drive to Seattle. Our security forces are alerted, and we have extra guards from Seattle coming out to meet us. We don't want to clue them into Alice's ability. The longer we can keep that secret the better. If we get hit, bunker down and wait for the cavalry to arrive. Hopefully they'll think it's just good planning on our part or that maybe we have a mole in their organization."

"I don't like this," Esme said. "We're too vulnerable like this. You should have let me turn Carlisle when I wanted to, and we'd be safe in Alaska right now."

"Don't worry, Esme. You and Carlisle will be safe soon, and I'll be safe in Seattle with Jasper." Alice said. "Bella and Edward will be alright in Forks as long as they stay vigilant. This will all work out now. Just follow the plan." Then Alice turned to Carlisle. "I love you dad." She said and hugged him goodbye in an uncharacteristic show of emotion.

Esme nodded. She had come to trust Alice over the last several weeks. She trusted her gift, and if Alice said it would work out, she accepted it.

We dispersed to the cars and started to pile in. Bella stopped me, and reached into the car. She handed me the bulletproof vest I'd worn home from Seattle before, and Bree and Diego watched for danger while I took off my jacket and strapped it on. I saw Carlisle going through a similar procedure out of the corner of my eye, but he was making more of a fuss.

"Is this really necessary? I don't really see why I need to wear this. I thought Jasper said we'd be ok? You're the true love of my life, Esme, but all this cloak and dagger stuff grates on my nerves. I'm really not cut out for this kind of life."

"It'll be ok, Carlisle, dear. Let's just get home in one piece, and then next week we can get away to Chicago and go look at those buildings my agent recommended. We'll be fine."

Carlisle nodded and shrugged into the bullet proof vest, and then put his shirt and jacket back on over it. He got into the passenger seat of the fiery red Mercedes convertible, and the rest of us piled into our cars to start the trip back to Seattle.

We drove out of town with Jasper and Alice in the lead in the big black Mercedes sedan. Carlisle and Esme were in the middle because it was just the two of them in the car without any guards. Bella and I brought up the rear, and Bree and Diego rode with us. I tried to stay attentive, and watch for danger, but it had been a long day and I was worn out from the race. It was still a three and a half hour drive back to Seattle.

The day was ending as we passed into twilight and the sun sank into the west. We'd driven through Yakima and were winding through the mountain passes on the last leg of interstate 82 heading north before we'd turn west onto interstate 90. There was still enough light out that the guards paralleling our course had to range pretty far a field to avoid being seen by other motorists. The terrain was open and arid high desert along this stretch of deep ravines and mountain passes. The road was often divided with the road bed for the traffic in the opposite direction separated from us by hundreds of yards. We were as alone as we were likely to be on this trip. There was no traffic behind us, and none ahead as far as the eye could see. If something was going to happen, this was the spot for it.

Suddenly the twilight was split by an angry hiss like a giant cat pouncing on a rat. A streak of light flashed across the road in front of us and slammed into the side on Esme's Mercedes. There was no explosion, but I felt the concussion shockwave radiate back towards us, and then the car was flipping off the roadway towards the ravine like a toy tossed away by a giant angry child. The front driver side wheel bounced off the hood of the Volvo with a thud and cracked the windshield as it flipped over the top of the car.

"What the fuck was that!" I yelled.

"LAW rocket," Diego said. "Light Anti-tank Weapon. It's a disposable man portable rocket launcher. Kinda like a single use disposable bazooka. These are some hardcore bitches, Capo."

I expected Bella to slam on the breaks and skid to a stop, but her foot punched down on the accelerator and the car leapt forward. There was another hiss and streak of light behind us. It passed through the spot where we would have been if she'd have stopped like I expected. Jasper's car was stopped off the side of the road ahead of us behind the cover of some boulders. I just made out the blur of his guards moving out to flank our attackers.

Bella spun the car off the road into the cover, and then turned to us. "Guard Edward. I'm going to help Jasper and the guards."

"What about Carlisle and Esme?" I asked.

"First we secure our position. Then we'll see if they made it out of the car." Her comment was punctuated by the soft 'whump' of an explosion vibrating through the ground only to be followed by the fireball rising out of the ravine from the gas tank of the red Mercedes going up.

Bella was out of the car before I could respond, and then she vanished into the lowering night. My door opened, and Diego was dragging me out of the car, making sure I kept my head down. Bree was with Alice, and they stayed with us in the rocks while we waited.

The darkening twilight was shattered by the staccato rattle of automatic weapon fire followed up by the three round bursts of small arms fire. The clash of steel on steel rang through the darkness in the distance.

"Damn it, I can't see anything from here!" I exclaimed. I didn't really care about watching. I wanted to keep Bella safe, but I knew I was more liability than help right now.

"We're winning." Diego said, watching over the top of the rocks. "They didn't expect us to react so quickly or be so prepared. Jasper and his guards pinned them, then the Capo hooked up with one of the field teams and took them from the rear. They fucked them up good, but that red-headed bitch and the blond guy got away… Hang on, here comes the Capo."

"Ok, we've got'em pinned down. Once Emmett shows up with the household guard, we can finish this and leave. James got away. That red-headed mate of his must have some kind of gift for evasion. We had'em cold, but they got through our line."

"Bella, we have to check on Carlisle…" I said again.

"Are you sure you want to see this? I can go check…"

"He's my father! Why are you even asking? Let's go!"

"Alice?"

"Yes."

"Fine. Diego, bring her. Bree, cover us. Let's go."

Bella didn't quite pick me up, but we moved to the edge of the ravine faster than I would have on my own. She stayed low, and we kept behind cover when we could. Then we were moving down the steep embankment along the wall of the ravine. It was a natural gully between two steep hillsides, and I could see the burning wreckage of the Mercedes at the bottom. It was too dark and far away for me to pick out detail, but Bella angled away from the wreck, and made her way toward a group of rocks twenty or thirty yards away from the wreck.

I heard Bella's mouth click shut as her teeth ground together, and her chest stopped moving. I knew she wasn't breathing. She had impeccable control, so it had to be bad if she felt the need to hold her breath. Bree and Diego hung back, their eyes scanning to watch for trouble. Alice ran forward into the rocks, and I heard her gasp and sob.

Esme was cradling Carlisle's head as she held him. His legs were twisted at an odd angle, and I knew his back was broken. The vest was open and she'd sealed most of the wounds, but there was a jagged chunk of metal protruding from his chest. He was still breathing, but even I could hear the ragged bubble of his labored breath as dark blood oozed from the wound.

"He wanted to wait for you," Esme said, "but we don't have much time."

"Edward… Alice…" Carlisle gasped softly as foamy red spittle trailed from his mouth.

"Don't try to talk dad," Alice said. "We're here. You'll be ok."

There was the sound of boots on the gravel behind us, but I didn't look to see who it was. Bree or Diego would have warned us if it was an enemy.

"I needed to tell you how much I love you, before it was too late. Edward my son and Alice my daughter, you're my family… Esme… I love you…"

"Esme, you have to do it now," Jasper said behind me. "If his heart stops, it'll be too late…"

"I know… I was scared. I've been running clubs for over eighty years, but I wanted you here to make sure I stop. Help me Jasper."

"You can do this, Esme. I know you can. You're strong enough."

Esme nodded. "Wait until his heart is strong enough, and then pull out the steel."

Jasper nodded and prepared himself.

Esme bent over Carlisle like she was going to kiss him, but I saw her too white teeth sink into the flesh of his neck. After a minute she pulled away and laid Carlisle down on the ground, and systematically moved to all the exposed pulse points, the insides of the elbows and his wrists. Jasper was watching with a serious look, and then nodded to Esme.

"Ready? You'll have to be quick."

She took a deep unnecessary breath, and then nodded her head. Jasper's hand closed on the jagged chunk of steel in Carlisle's chest, and yanked it out. There was a fountain of blood, and Carlisle's body jerked like he'd been shocked. His back arched off the ground, but he didn't scream. Then Esme's hands were on the wound staunching the flow of blood. She leaned in and kissed the wound closed sealing it as she injected venom into the gash.

Esme sat up again, but she had a guarded smile on her face.

"Is he going to be alright?" I asked.

"Yes, he'll be fine in another three days," Jasper said, "But he won't be human. We had to turn him to save him. His injuries were too severe. He would have died if we tried to move him."

I nodded, accepting the fact. I knew that was what they were doing, although I'd never personally witnessed the procedure. Carlisle would be ok with this. I knew that he had accepted that this would happen eventually ever since he had met and bonded with Esme. This was going to change a lot of our plans. I turned to look at Alice. She sat quietly as silent tears streamed down her cheeks, but she didn't really seem too terribly upset.

"You knew this was going to happen, didn't you." I accused her.

She nodded, and looked away.

"Alice, you could have stopped this! It didn't have to happen like this!"

Alice turned back to face me, but she had a determined look on her face now.

"Yes, it did. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you Edward. It changes the future if too many people know. They make changes, and I'm sorry, but my mind doesn't react fast enough to allow for all of those changes yet. Maybe after I'm turned, then I'll be able to handle things differently, but until then we have to stick to the plan. I can see a way through this now, but if we try and change too much, it makes it harder."

She glanced over her shoulder and looked up past the edge of the ravine. I followed her gaze, and I could still make out the inky black and purple plume of smoke from vampires burning against the darkening sky.

"Carlisle will be alright. He wanted to be turned. It had to happen like this. This hurt the Fu's more than it did us. We become less vulnerable and stronger, while they lose soldiers."

"Bella and I can't stay in Forks if Carlisle and Esme leave. We discussed this. What will we do now? Carlisle won't be able to be around people for at least a year now."

"I think dad will surprise you, Edward. I don't think he'll need a year before he can be around people again. As for Forks, we'll find you a guardian to keep up appearances, and Esme will visit often enough to keep up the façade. How often do you see the other kids at schools parents anyhow? Nobody but his patients will miss him. He'll be away on business, a new investment opportunity out of state."

A huge dog-like shape came bounding up towards us as Alice was talking and it ducked behind the boulders. A few seconds later, one of the tall russet skinned guards I'd seen in the club in Seattle walked out wearing nothing but a pair of shorts. Jasper stood up to face him.

The guard nodded to Jasper. "Major, Emmett sends his regards and says we need to clear out now. The situation is under control, but there are State Troopers headed this way from Yakima. Somebody must have called in the smoke from the car wreck, or the gun shots."

"Ok, we're done here. Make sure everything is cleaned up from the fighting. Make sure there isn't so much as a bullet casing left lying on the ground. Scatter the ashes when the fire burns out, and have somebody make sure all the fires are out down here."

"Yes, Sir," He said and stepped back around the boulders. Then a few seconds later, the huge wolf-like shape was bounding up the side of the ravine.

"I think we can move him now, Esme. Do you want me to take him…"

"No, I've got this," and Esme gently scooped Carlisle up off the ground and stood up.

"Put him in my car, and I'll drive you to Seattle. Bella, Edward, let's clear out. We can work out the details after we get back to the Flying Dutchman."

Jasper picked up Alice, and we moved back up the side of the ravine to the cars. Emmett's huge four wheeler was parked there on the side of the road now, and I saw more of the huge wolves milling around in the distance where the plume of inky black and violet smoke was rising into the darkening desert sky.

"Hey, Bella," Emmett greeted her with a huge smile when we were back up at the cars.

Bella just nodded to him but still had her serious expression on her face.

"Forks won Friday night," he continued. "I guess you guys are going to the playoffs after all" He said with a huge grin on his face.

Bella groaned. I knew she was looking forward to the football season being over so we could be together on Friday nights. Now she had at least another couple of weeks to go with the football cheer squad. She couldn't just quit or then she wouldn't be able to cheer for wrestling season.

I hugged her to try and cheer her up, and then I piled into the car with Bella, Bree and Diego. We got back onto the road headed north again following Jasper's big black Mercedes. Emmett brought up the rear in the Jeep and the rest of the guards scattered into the night.

"I still don't get this," I said. "If the Fu's have an advantage in numbers and are stronger than us, then why did we win? If you can call this a win."

"We knew what their plan was, so we were able to concentrate our forces and outnumber them tonight. If they would have committed more forces than the simple strike force they sent to ambush us, it would have been a lot worse. If that second rocket would have hit, then it would have been a tougher fight, but Alice warned me not to stop. We knew what was going to happen because we have Alice, so we committed our forces. We threw in everything we had, but they didn't, so we turned the tables on them."

"And sacrificed Carlisle."

"He'll be alright, Edward, and he wanted this, even if Alice didn't tell him first."

Did you know this was going to happen?"

"No. I knew about the ambush, and that we were going to try and trap them, but that's all. Alice and Jasper only told me what I needed to know."

I just nodded and settled in for the rest of the trip back to Seattle. I was upset about the damage to my car, but that was a little thing compared to what had happened. I wasn't going to act like a petulant child and bemoan the all too repairable damage to my car after what had happened tonight.

Yes, the car had been my mom's so it was special to me, but Carlisle was more important and it upset me that Alice seemed willing to sacrifice him for the sake of the bigger picture. So maybe she saw what was going to happen, but just how sure was she that everything would go according to plan? He could have just as easily died, and then we would have lost Esme too. That would have hurt a lot of people in our family. She was gambling with all of our lives.

Carlisle was still in a deathlike coma when we arrived in Seattle. I suppose not totally 'deathlike'. He was covered with a thin sheen of sweat and jerked spasmodically as though he was being shocked. Much like Katy had so many weeks back. Jasper appeared astonished that he hadn't started to scream, and they hadn't needed to gag him or tape up his mouth to stifle the screams like we'd had to with Katy. Esme carried him up to the apartments so we could decide what to do next.

"So are you going to take Carlisle to Alaska now too?" I asked when we were upstairs and we had him settled in Esme's apartment.

"I don't think so," Esme said. "Tanya and Irina have their hands full with Katy. Carmen and Eleazar help out, but they really aren't prepared to take on another newborn so soon."

"No," Alice said. "Alaska is too far out of the way, and we'll still need you in Chicago, Esme. Emmett, you have a friend in the Midwest. Somewhere in Northern Iowa, don't you? Maybe you could give him a call."

"Yeah," Emmett said. "My buddy Garrett finally gave up the nomad life and settled on a farm in Northwest Iowa. Haven't heard if he's will'n to take boarders, but he was always an even tempered sort. I don't know if he has any experience with newborns, but he's always up for a challenge."

"Good. If he is willing to let Carlisle stay, that's about six hundred miles from Chicago." Jasper said. "That should be far enough away to hide him until he can handle himself around people. You can spread your flights around, Esme, so the Fu's think you're just being sneaky and changing things up if they even care about your movements. There are major airports in Des Moines, Omaha, Minneapolis, and Chicago. The first three are all about the same distance from this safe house."

Everybody seemed to be in agreement about what to do with Carlisle. Then Jasper turned to Bella and me.

"You two are still going to stay in Forks?" He asked.

"Yes," Bella said. "We want to at least finish this school year. If we have to, we can relocate during the summer."

"Ok. You'll need to find somebody to play the part of guardian while Carlisle is incapacitated. I think a couple of the prospects you were planning on interviewing will fit the bill. Let me know who you decide on, and I'll see that the proper documents are produced."

The discussion broke up and we went up to Bella's apartment to get cleaned up from the trip. It was about nine o'clock at night, and we went down to dinner after we'd changed. Well, I went down to dinner, and Bella watched me eat. I didn't ask Alice if she wanted to join us, and we didn't see her again that weekend. I felt like Alice and I were drifting apart. We'd always been so close before, but she had completely embraced her new role in the Moreno family now.

Bella and I threw ourselves into interviewing her prospects after dinner. We'd be leaving for forks on Sunday, and Jasper was pulling his security out to help cover Seattle better, and provide guards to send east with Carlisle and Esme. Bella figured we needed at least six more in our crew besides Bree and Diego to maintain the same level of security that we'd enjoyed in Forks up until now.

I was good at reading people, and I was gratified to find out that my ability extended to vampires as well as humans. I knew the right questions to ask and appeared to be uncannily accurate at weeding out the truth. We interviewed at least a dozen prospects and chose the six we both felt most comfortable with. Bree's friends would be joining us, which made her happy. We recruited some experienced fighters that could help with training and give us an edge in a fight, and at least one of the new recruits looked old enough to play the role of my aunt. Jasper saw to the paperwork, and our cover story would be that she was coming to stay with us while Carlisle and Esme were out of town on business.

I left the Volvo in Seattle to be repaired. At first, Rosalie simply wanted to sell it for scrap and buy me a new car, but I explained the sentimental value to family. She relented and agreed to have it repaired. She gave us the keys to another black Mercedes sedan like the one Jasper used for the trip back to Forks. The guards had another couple of vehicles that they would use, but they wouldn't park them at the house. Bella would be doing most of the driving in Forks with her charger, and I had the keys to Carlisle's Lexus at the house too. It was November now, and the Harley would be in storage until spring.

Emmett left to drive Carlisle and Esme to Iowa the same time that Bella and I left to drive back to Forks. Emmett had been able to contact his friend, Garrett. He had agreed to take in Carlisle and see him through the change and help train him as a newborn. Esme went with them. She'd stay until Carlisle woke up and was settled, but then she had to go on to Chicago and see to her business. She was going to be very busy traveling over the next year. Of course, once she had apartments setup in Chicago, she could move Carlisle into them.

Bella and I would be traveling to Chicago before things got that far along. Alice was looking ahead, and Esme was finding the property and handling the contracting, but Bella and I would have to go out there and make the deal that would allow us to move our family there without fighting all the human gangs. We had time before that would happen.

For now, we drove back to Forks and settled back into our routine. It seemed strange to keep going to school everyday now that everything was so different. Alice was gone, but she was safe. Carlisle was gone, and he was adjusting to his new life. I'd talked to him on the phone after he'd woken up, but he didn't sound like Carlisle anymore. He had accepted what had happened, and was adapting remarkably well.

Bella and I stayed in my room. I didn't feel right taking over Carlisle's bedroom. Besides, we were trying to maintain the illusion that he was simply away for an extended stay out of state. We moved "Aunt Connie" into Alice's room, but she didn't spend a lot of time at the house. She was there enough to keep up appearances; otherwise she left us our privacy. None of the crew really hung out at the house, except for Bree and Diego, and then you couldn't really say they lived there, but they fit in the best with us because they looked the same age more or less. If people saw then around the house, they'd fit in.

Jasper had arranged for a couple of apartments in town for the guards use. Mainly so they'd have a place to stow gear, fresh clothes, and park their cars. They didn't need to sleep, and they lived off the land for the most part, but dry clothes and a shower were welcome amenities. They made regular trips to Seattle too on a schedule for down time and visits to the club. Bella set up a rotation so they'd all have some down time to relax from the constant guard duty. I'm sure the local merchants enjoyed the added revenue in liquor and tobacco sales from having nine vampires in town. The Fu's kept up the pressure, but they didn't come into town. This was still Moreno Turf, and they weren't pushing that hard.

Friday night was the first crossover game of the football playoffs, and we were scheduled to play Castle Rock at Castle Rock. It was a small town about the size of forks, fifty miles south of Olympia on interstate five. It was a three and a half hour drive south. We'd have to drive south to Aberdeen, and then cut southeast until we hit the interstate for the last thirty mile of the trip.

Bella was secretly hoping for a loss while cheering for the team to win. We'd only go on in the playoffs as long as we kept winning, but we could potentially play four more games and keep the football season going past Thanksgiving. Of course wrestling season wouldn't start until December fifth, but practice would start two weeks earlier.

I rode down to Castle Rock in the black Mercedes with Connie, Bree and Diego. "Aunt Connie" was really Constance Pendergraft. She was a good choice to replace Jasper on these trips out of town. She was part of the 'experience' we had recruited. She was over three hundred years old, an experienced fighter, and had a score to settle with the Fu's. She'd worked for a lot of different families over the centuries, usually as an independent. She'd thrown in with a couple of different underdog clans in the past, but unfortunately had usually guessed wrong. She thought it was high time the Moreno's stepped up, and she liked Esteban so she signed on with us.

We were all on edge after what had happened last Saturday on the trip back to Seattle from Pasco, but the trip to watch Bella cheer at the football game in Rock City was uneventful. Jasper was taking advantage of the resurgence in authority and respect from our last two wins to set thing to order in Seattle, and the Fu's had pulled some of their people off of watching us. Alice was in Seattle now in the heart of things, and Carlisle and Esme had dropped off the radar. We were still a target, but I guess we were a lower priority as long as we were just going to school and not directly involved in the Family business.

Forks beat Castle Rock twenty-eight to twenty-one. That meant another game next Friday vs. Vashon Island, but there was a minor reprieve in that it was going to be a home game and we wouldn't have to travel.

Saturday morning, it was time for me to get back to work. I needed to set up a meeting with Sam to take care of business. I driven out to La Push the last time I'd made a buy, but Sam didn't want that part of his business on the reservation. I had a feeling he didn't much want me on the reservation given who I was working for and my relationship with Bella.

I called Sam on my cell phone Saturday morning to set up the meeting. It wasn't my regular phone, but one I used strictly for business. One of the first things Bella had done was to get everyone disposable pre-paid cell phones to use for business. We used them until the service ran out, and then dumped them for a new one. I still had my regular phone to use for regular calls and texting, but the business phone was a security measure to protect us. They made our day to day business dealings less traceable.

We had enough trouble with rival clans without asking for trouble from law enforcement too. It was against the code of omerta for the Fu's to drop a dime on us. The families fought their own battles, and ratting somebody out to the cops would bring the wrath of all the families down on them, including the Volturi, but I wouldn't put it past them if they got desperate enough. The families didn't go to the cops for justice. If somebody wronged us, we handled it ourselves. Using the cops and the legal system to fight your battles for you was considered the act of a coward.

Normally, I would have cruised out to the airport on my Harley, but it was November and the weather had dropped into the cold part of the year. There were people that rode motorcycles year round out here. It rarely snowed or got cold enough for ice, but the temperatures would still drop into the forties. If you were going to ride in that kind of weather, you had to start right at the beginning of the season to acclimate, and you needed a good full body riding suit. I had the suit, but it was more hassle than it was worth. I put the Harley in storage for the winter, and I'd get it out in the spring.

We took the black Mercedes sedan to drive out to the airport for the meeting with Sam. Bella drove and Bree and Diego rode in the back. Sam knew we were all coming, and what to expect. I didn't want a repeat of the last trip where I'd taken Bella to the airport with me. This was business, and as long as we were staying in Forks, we might as well take advantage of the local business opportunities. I was getting a feel for this whole gangster thing riding in the big black car. Thankfully Bella had insisted I wear my seat belt.

We had made the turn off of the one-ten onto Quillayute Road, and were about halfway down the road out to the airport cruising through the green jungle. The huge trees flashed passed on both sides of the car and the tops nearly grew together high over the road leaving it in the perpetual shade of the forest canopy. Green ferns grew tall between the trunks of the trees and the wet misty air supported the green moss that clung to practically every surface.

We were too close to the reservation to worry about the Fu's harassing us here. Even our own guards hung back this close to the treaty line. The only reason we'd even go this close to La Push was because we were here on business.

Suddenly a huge russet brown shape hurtled out of forest and slammed into the side of the car. I was startled, but Bella had the reflexes to try and compensate and keep control of the car. It was a futile effort as the wheels broke traction with the slick pavement and the car slid sideways from the massive impact.

The black Mercedes went careening off the pavement and slammed into a tree. I was thrown rudely against my seatbelts, and then the airbag erupted in front of me to keep me from slamming into the dashboard.

I was disoriented and confused, but I tried to focus and look up to see what had caused the accident. Bella was trying to force her door open to get out of the car but it was wedged against a tree trunk. I looked out my window and I could see the huge russet brown shape crouched in the roadway, snarling and ready to charge, and I could only think of one thing.

"Jacob."

I had to get out of the car. I had to stop this. He was still upset and didn't know what he was doing. I couldn't let him get hurt, but I couldn't let him hurt Bella, either. I struggled to get out of the car. Bree and Diego were already out and were moving to block the wolf's path towards us. They didn't know who he was, and would assume he was an enemy.

"Don't hurt him!" I yelled. "That's Jacob! He doesn't know what he's doing!" This could ruin everything. Jacob wasn't working for any of the Clans as far as I knew. If he attacked us, he'd be breaking the treaty. The wolves were forbidden from hunting vampires off of the reservation unless they were working for one of the Clans. They could protect their land, but if he fought us here without sanction of one of the families, it would end the treaty.

I finally managed to get my seatbelt off and leapt out of the car in front of the angry snarling wolf. Bella followed me out of the car, and I tried to shield her body with mine. I hoped Jacob would remember our friendship and not want to attack me.

Jacob growled at me and shook his head like he wanted me to get out of the way. I knew he didn't want to hurt me. His eyes were locked on Bella and I could practically feel the hate as his huge eyes bored into her.

Bella took a step back and held up her hands to try and calm him down.

"Relax, Jacob," Bella said in a soothing voice. "Calm down, and we'll talk this out, ok?" She knew he was my friend and didn't want to hurt him if she didn't have to. I moved to place my body between her and Jacob's massive dagger like fangs while she was trying to calm him down.

Jacob wasn't listening to us. He was slavering like he was half crazed and his menacing growls were getting louder. Seeing me standing in front of Bella to protect her only seemed to make him angrier. Suddenly he lunged forward towards us. Bella jerked me out of the way and put her body between me and Jacob's vicious dagger like teeth, but he didn't make it to us.

Diego's smaller bulk collided with Jacob's massive frame, and knocked him sideways so he missed. The massive wolf went down on his shoulder, but was up in a flash as the three vampires kept a protective screen between us. He circled trying to lunge again, but Bree knocked him away this time.

He was no match for our numbers, but we'd have to hurt him to try and take him down, and we didn't want to have to fight him. Then as suddenly as he'd attacked, he backed off and crouched to the pavement. His ears were laid back against his skull and he was whimpering. His massive head turned west toward the airport, and I followed his gaze.

Another massive wolf had stepped out of the forest, but this wolf was black as night, and I knew it was Sam. He barked a command, and then Jacob was up and running southwest back into the forest. The Black wolf nodded to us once, and then disappeared into the forest. Bella relaxed and turned towards me.

"Are you ok, Edward?" Bella asked as she looked me over for injuries.

"I'm fine. What are we going to do now?"

"Diego, check the car," Bella said.

"On it, Capo," He moved to go check out the Mercedes sedan. "This ride is toast, Capo. Tree ate the radiator, and it looks like the frame is bent. We'll be lucky to sell this coche for parts."

"Ok, we'll run the rest of the way. We're almost there. Bree, call Connie and have her and Maurice come pick us up at the airport. Then call Derek and have him get this wreck off the road. C'mon, Edward. Let's go talk to Sam, and find out what the hell is going on. Diego, Cover us. Bree, wait for Derek." She nodded, and then got out her phone and started making the calls.

"Ready?" Bella asked turning to me.

"Just a second," I said. I stepped to the car and reached back inside and got the case with the cash.

"Ok, let's go." Bella swept me up into her arms and we melted into the forest with Diego on our heels.

The trees flashed past us in a green blur, and then Bella was setting me back on my feet. I could see the deserted looking buildings on the airport fringe across the highway from us. We all scanned for potential threats, but I was sure Bella and Diego could see more than I could. They both nodded, satisfied that there were no immediate threats, and we started out of the trees toward the road.

We crossed the highway and walked in among the small group of dilapidated looking warehouses. The place looked deserted, but we walked around to the front of Sam's shop. Bella and Diego kept lookout while I banged on the door of the warehouse.

"It's Edward, I'm coming in."

There was a muffled yell from inside the building, and Bella nodded. I handed her the case with the money, opened the door and walked inside.

It was a full house today. Paul and Jared were there again, but Quil and Embry were there too this time. I didn't see Jacob, and I wondered what Sam had ordered him to do.

Jared had his assault rifle aimed at my head, and Paul came up and searched me. He took my pistol and stuck it in the back of his pants.

"You can have this back when you're done talking to Sam."

I nodded, and turned to look at Jared. I suppose if one of them had to keep me covered, I'd rather it was Jared than Paul. Paul was a little too hot headed for my taste.

"Jeez, Jared, I'm only human. You can quit pointing that damn rifle at my head." I heard a feral growl from outside, and the four guys in the shop grimaced in disgust.

"As long as I got you covered, Blanca out there will think twice about coming through that door. Sorry, Edward, but if she pulls any shit, you're toast, man."

"Fine. Where's Sam? Is he back yet? And what the fuck is up with Jacob? He totaled our car on the way over here. Don't freak, but we called for a ride. There's gonna be a couple of cars pulling up out front pretty soon, so don't start anything. Alright?" Jared just nodded, but the muzzle of the rifle never wavered a millimeter.

"Yeah, I'm back," Sam said, stepping out of his office. C'mon inside, Edward. We need to talk."

I walked back to Sam's office and walked inside. At least I didn't have the rifle pointed at my head anymore, if that was any kind of consolation. Sam could phase and bite me in half just as easily as Jared could shoot me, if he wanted me dead. Hell, he could probably do it with his bare hands without phasing, but then I wasn't here for a fight.

"So what the fuck's up with Jacob, Sam?" I asked as I sat down in the chair in front of his desk.

Sam held up a bottle of whiskey and raised an eyebrow in question. I nodded, and he set a glass in front of me and poured.

"Why didn't you tell us about Katy and Michaela, Edward? That story about them driving off the bridge into the sound is a bunch of horseshit. Jacob thinks your new girlfriend out there finally had enough and whacked her to get her out of the way. He figures Michaela was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was already pissed off about the wolf thing. And then Katy suddenly disappears after she heard us talking. Did the Moreno's decide to shut her up because she knew too much?"

"No, that's not how it happened, Sam." I said picking up my drink. I sipped the cheap whiskey while I looked Sam in the eye.

"Then why don't you tell me how it happened."

"Katy isn't dead, Sam. But she can't come home and she can't go to La Push without breaking the treaty now." I saw him stiffen in his seat and he knew what I meant.

"How? I know she didn't want that. What happened?"

"Katy followed us to Seattle. She came gunning for Bella after she heard us talking. She figured if she could kill her, it would break the mating bond. She talked Michaela into driving her, but they ended up on Fu turf instead of the Moreno's club."

"Aw shit! Of all the dumb luck!"

"Yeah, one of the Fu lieutenants thought it would be funny to turn her instead of killing her, after he figured out what she was there for."

"How did he figure out why she was there, Edward?"

"We think they tortured Michaela to death in front of her to make her answer their questions. Then they set up an ambush to try and trap us. We got the bastards that killed Michaela, but the boss that turned Katy got away."

"Alright, so where is Katy now? Do the Fu's still have her?"

"No, they gave her back to us after she was going through the change. They said it was up to us if she lived or died. I wouldn't let them kill her, so we sent her to a safe house in Alaska."

"You should have let them kill her, instead of becoming one of them."

"I couldn't do that, Sam. It was my fault she ever got involved in any of this. I didn't want her to have to die because of my mistake."

"She's already dead, Edward. Her body just doesn't know it."

"That's your opinion, Sam. So what about Jacob? He almost broke the treaty today. If we wanted to push it, we could argue that he already did, but we don't want that."

"I'll tell Jacob what you told me, but I don't know if he'll believe it. I ordered him to go back to La Push and made him stay on the reservation, but he's getting stronger. Pretty soon, he's gonna learn how to break the link, and I won't be able to give him orders anymore. He has Alpha blood in his veins too. He'll be stronger than me when he's mature. Quil and Embry will probably link with him and form a new pack when they phase."

"I saw them in the shop. I thought you were trying to keep them away from the catalyst, so they wouldn't phase."

Sam barked a bitter laugh. "Not much chance of that anymore. You've got so many leeches running through the forest around here; even some of the younger boys are showing signs of phasing. It's only a matter of time for most of them now. If they all join up with Jacob, and you're still here, I can't say what he might do. I'll try and talk sense to him, but he's still new and volatile."

"Yeah, I saw that out on the road. What, he thought was gonna take three vampires by himself? He was gonna violate the damn treaty."

"Jacob doesn't give a shit about the treaty. He wants a war. He was already pissed off about you and Bella, and now he thinks she killed Katy and Michaela, too. I'll talk to him, but you might want to think about clearing out of here sooner than later. Alice and Carlisle both left. Why are you still here?"

"Bella and I wanted to at least finish this year of high school here before we leave. We wanted to stay longer if we could. Somebody has to act normal so there aren't so many questions. People would talk if we all just pulled up stakes and left. I went out with Katy for more than a year. If I left, people would think I was responsible."

"Well, you are."

"I didn't bite her, Sam."

"I don't know how long I can keep Jacob bottled up on the rez. It'll be harder if I limit his range. You might not have that long, Edward."

"Well, we'll take as much time as we can. I'd appreciate some warning if you think Jacob is coming for us. I don't want to hurt him. I'm still hoping he'll calm down and come to his senses."

"Yeah, says the guy runnin' with a coven of leeches. How long 'til they bite you?"

"That's my affair, Sam. Now, I came here to do business. You got my stuff?"

"Yeah, I got the goods, you got the cash?"

"Bella's got the cash, out front. You want I should call her in, or do you want to go outside and take a look?"

"Let's go outside. It took a week to get the stink cleared out of here the last time she was here."

I put down the empty glass on the desk and got up. Sam followed me out into the shop.

"Paul, give Edward back his piece. Quil, Embry, you guys load up the shit."

Paul handed me back my pistol. I checked it and put it back in the holster in my left armpit. Quil pressed the button to open the roll up door, and then helped Embry start to move the packages wrapped in duct tape and cardboard. Sam didn't need to give an order for Paul and Jared to keep me covered with their assault rifles.

Bella was waiting out front next to the door. Connie and Maurice were there with their cars to pick us up. Diego was out of sight, but I was sure he was positioned to give us cover fire if this went badly. I'd never know it if it did, because I'd be the first to go down.

Sam walked out of the shop beside me, and Bella opened the case so he could see the cash. He didn't bother to count it. He just nodded.

"Ok, load'em up."

Connie opened the trunk of her car, and Quil and Embry started stacking the packages inside. I kept count while they moved the merchandise. They closed the trunk when they were done, and then Bella handed the case to Sam.

"Always a pleasure doing business with you, Edward. Can't say I enjoy your taste in friends, but to each their own. Remember what I told you about Jacob."

"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind. I'm gonna need to make another buy next week. Can you handle the volume?"

Sam nodded. "No problem. You keep bringing me cash, and I've got you covered." He walked back inside the shop, and the door rolled back down closed.

We loaded up in the cars to get the hell out of there after Sam walked back inside. Diego took shotgun next to Connie, and Bella and I snuggled in the backseat for the ride back to Forks. We'd divvy up the shit when we got back to the house. We'd keep some for ourselves, and I had local clients to cover, but the bulk would go to the club is Seattle. I was sure some would make it to the other families and their clubs. Very little would make it to the streets.

I was ready to relax. I'd had enough excitement this weekend, and just wanted to take it easy. I was ready for a break from the drama. I just wanted to get back to acting normal again, but I knew that wasn't going to happen when we pulled into the driveway at home.

There was a battered Chevy pickup parked in the driveway that had once been blue. I recognized the truck at once, and wondered why Leah Clearwater was coming to see me.

Author's Note:

Caporegime (Crew boss / Captain / Capo / Lieutenant): A Caporegime is appointed by the Don, and is in charge of his own borgata (regime, or crew), which is made up of a Capodecine and soldiers. Each Capo reports directly to the Underboss or Advisor for permission to do different things. When someone is needed to be "taken care of" the capo's are usually asked to carry out the order. They are the head of "day-to-day" operations of their own crews. The capo heads a crew of any given number of soldiers.

Capo – (Italian) head, chief, leader, boss. A Captain in the family.