Eclipse and the characters of the Twilight saga belong to Stephanie Meyer.

As we sailed closer to the ravenous newborn mind, a second came into my range. Then, a third. And a fourth. The dish I was drying clattered to the floor. It barely registered that Esme catch the bowl and call out to both me out loud and in her mind as I dashed out onto the deck. I leaned over the railing of the ship, ready to scream Bella's name, when I realized four familiar thoughts were already climbing up the ladder to the boat, Bella in tow.

"I saw that you were going to call," Alice explained, and Emmett lifted Bella off the jet ski and onto the deck.

I removed the life preserver from around her and immediately replaced it with my arms. I buried my face into her neck, feeling her warm skin on my lips and the silky strands of loose hair against my cheek. "Bella," I whispered reverently.

Her fingers ran through the hair on the back of my neck, "I'm okay, Edward. It's okay."

I took a deep breath. Now that I knew Bella was safe, I could think clearly.

"Did you hear...?" Alice asked as Carlisle and Esme joined the rest of us on the main deck of the boat.

"Yes," I confirmed. I looked at Carlisle, then Jasper, "Newborns. Somewhere on that island chain."

Esme's hand flew up to her mouth; Carlisle's pressed into a hard line.

"How many?" Jasper asked.

"I can hear four."

"Four?" Emmett was about to punch his hand, but Rosalie stopped him, silencing the booming echo that would confirm the presence of another vampire to these newborns, if they didn't already realize we were here. "We can take on four."

"Not with her here." I squeezed Bella a little closer. "I want her away from here, far away."

With a solemn nod, Rosalie flitted to the wheel of the boat. I do this for you, you keep Emmett out of this for me.

Fair enough, I thought to myself. I knew Rosalie had grown resentful for the recent danger Emmett stepped into regarding these newborns while I stayed back to protect Bella. It was only fair that he got to stay back every once and a while. I glanced over at my parents, who should stay out of the fray as well. "Rosalie needs some assistance," I lied a harmless, little lie. They both saw through it but went to Rosalie to offer helping hands in whatever way she needed them, anyway.

"Edward…" Bella's tone was reproachful, but I ignored it. "I want Emmett with her at the least," I told Jasper. "Who do you need to be with you?"

Jasper thought over a few plays, "With four, I think I only need you and Alice. The rest can get Bella home and stay with her."

Edward, am I taking a roundabout route home? Rosalie asked from the control room.

"No," I answered, just loud enough for her to hear. "I want Bella somewhere safe as quickly as possible, please. I don't care who sees. Get to the nearest dock and Emmett can run her home."

Alice disagreed, "They should steal a car, that way no one can track her scent."

Eyes-wide, I whipped my head towards her at a whiplash-inducing speed, "Did you see someone chasing them?"

Alice thought back to the intruder in Bella's room and Jasper's theories that it could be related to the newborns in Seattle. "No. But, it's better to be safe."

"Car it is."

Already knowing the answer without Alice's visions, I raised an eyebrow at Emmett, "You ready for a little Grand Theft Auto?"

"All day, every day."

I grinned. "Don't tell that to Esme."

"I heard!" she called from the galley, where she was packing up the food so it wouldn't go to waste on the boat.

"Edward?" Bella's fingers stroked my chin, asking for me to look at her. "Where are you going?"

"Jasper, Alice, and I are going to hunt the newborns that I can hear nearby. With any luck, they're the same ones from Seattle and we can kill two birds with one stone."

She stuck her chin out defiantly, and I could tell she was deciding whether or not she wanted to fight me on this. After a second or two, I watched the fire behind her eyes put itself out as she decided against it. Instead, she hung her head and mumbled, "I want to change out of this," indicating her wet bathing suit. "Don't leave until I'm back."

"I wouldn't dare." I released her and watched her walk until she was out of my sight.

"You better go with her," Jasper reappeared with a gentle breeze. "You're not going to look very intimidating in your swimwear."

Turning around, I realized that both Alice and Jasper were both somehow in new outfits. The speed at which they changed was typical—what was bizarre about it was the fact that they swam to the boat earlier with nothing else. Alice noticed my askance expression and mentally revealed that she had entire wardrobes stashed on the boat for all the family members. It would have been nice to know that for Bella's sake last night, but then again, she looked so cute dwarfed in my sweatpants, I was glad I didn't have an alternative to offer.

"It's his defense mechanism," Emmett grinned. Which caused Alice to giggle, "Like a poisonous frog."

I glanced down at the bright, paisley swim trunks which Bella had also laughed at that morning.

Too deep in his role as stoic Major to find anything entertaining, Jasper frowned at the two of them, and then at me. Change.

I caught up to Bella on her way down to our suite and held her hand as we continued down at a human pace. Jasper would have preferred if I rushed, but Bella appreciated the slowness—and I was much more inclined to entertain one preference over the other.

Back in the room, she released my hand and went over to her suitcase to gather her clothes.

"Edward, I was just going to…" The sentence stuck in her throat when she saw my abandoned swim trunks on the floor. I moved too quickly for her to get a view of anything, and I wasn't sure if she thought that was a good thing or a bad thing. Her racing heartbeat and flustered skin could mean arousal or embarrassment. She spun around so her back was towards me and hesitated briefly before she stripped down as well. Clearly, we weren't ready for the changing in front of each other part of the relationship, and I felt stupid for trying, especially at this most inopportune moment.

Unsure if I was more embarrassed or aroused, I kept my eyes glued to my suitcase, like selecting my next outfit was a drawn-out and difficult decision, trying to give Bella the smallest amount of privacy. The bed moved under her weight when she sat down to put on her socks, and I knew she was finished. I quickly dressed in similar clothing to what I had seen Alice and Jasper wearing: something light and swimmable without the brightness of a swimsuit. A dark v-neck t-shirt and pair of shorts.

She was still putting on her second sock by the time I was dressed, and I knelt in front of her. The shirt was a little tight around my arms, and Bella noticed that right away. Her hands went right to my biceps, her thumbs trailing on the cuff of my sleeve. Perhaps she was more aroused than embarrassed. But there was nothing I could do about it now.

She sucked in a shaky breath. Before her next exhale, I took her hands in mine, kissing each of her knuckles, saving the one with her new ring for last. "It's going to be quick and painless. You'll be home within the hour, and I'll be back before you even go to sleep."

She gulped. "Rosalie once told me that newborn vampires are stronger and faster than you."

Internally cursing Rosalie for needlessly scaring Bella, I repeated what Jasper had once told us when he taught the family how to fight in the late Sixties. "They also lack cognition. They may be stronger and faster, but we have the ability to fight purposefully and not rely blindly on instinct."

Bella either didn't listen or didn't believe me. She stared blankly into the empty space ahead of her, sitting as still as a human could.

"I'm going to be okay." I kept our kiss loving and chaste, for it was not a goodbye. "I'll see you soon."

"Soon," she stressed.

I left her in our suite to decompress on her own. She would find Esme if or when she needed more comfort. The important thing was that she was going to be safe. Far away and safe. Back on the main desk, Jasper stood on the ledge of the boat. "Alice, Edward, let's go."

Alice and I joined Jasper and dove into the water in perfect synchronization. We first swam to the mainland, to regroup and give the others the time to get a good distance away before we started a fight, per my request. It didn't feel like Bella was safe enough when Alice announced the boat arrived to shore, or again when she confirmed that Emmett had successfully stolen a car. We didn't move out until Emmett and Rosalie had walked Bella into her house.

We swam to the closest island of the rocky chain, which also happened to be the smallest. We had to scale up a wall of stone to get to the flat surface above. Once we had made it, we picked up three different Newborn scents, as well a corpse of their latest victim. We quickly dug a grave and buried the body, offering the human's soul the only dignity in their death that we could offer. The next island was slightly larger and had three of the same scents as the last one, but also five more.

Alice and I looked to Jasper in alarm. "Newborns kill each other all the time," he quietly reminded us in a tense voice that didn't believe his own affirmations. "All of these others are probably dead."

We continued to the third, largest island of the chain. It was here that I found the same scent as the vampire in Bella's room. Jasper felt my realization, followed by fury, and grabbed me by the neck. In his chokehold, he sent in calming feeling to quell the rage. "You need to keep a sound mind, Edward. Remember, the only advantage you have over newborns is your intellect. Their strength and speed will overpower yours every time."

"I can smell him."

Jasper knew immediately what I was referring to. If you cannot fight him with a level head, then will leave that one for me.

I wanted to kill him. I needed to kill him. In order to do that and see my Bella again, I took a deep, calming breath. Jasper waited until he felt my resignation before he released me and shoved me away.

By the time we had scoured the entirety of the largest island, we had come across eighteen different scents. None of us could believe there were so many—and we wondered how many towns outside of Seattle had suffered from this newborn nest and their creator. Neither Alice nor I could contain our fear, but Jasper maintained a careful grip on his.

How many minds do you hear? Jasper confirmed.

I double-checked the mental voices and held up four fingers. From what I could see, they were holed up in a cabin on the next island over. Suddenly, Rosalie's point that Bella's might not be the only mind I couldn't hear popped into my head. What if I simply couldn't hear the other fourteen minds?

There was an old, rickety bridge connecting these two islands, but we opted to swim through the water, both because it was quieter and would mask our own scents. As we got closer to the cabin in the center, I confirmed yet again that there were only four newborns. Even with Rosalie's doubt at the forefront of my mind, I could see through their eyes and see each one in the room. Alice went ahead and looked to see what would happen when we crashed through the front door.

In her first set of visions, I leaped on the first one, ripping it apart easily, while she came through a window and caught the fourth off-guard. Jasper took on the two in the middle, but was quickly overpowered by one, and…she sucked in a breath. When I made a conscious decision to go for one of the two in the middle of the room, leaving Jasper with the easy one near the door, Alice's vision shifted to a better outcome.

She smiled at me. Thanks.

I nodded.

We broke apart.

Through their minds, I could hear us approaching. Too quickly for them to even speculate who it could be, Jasper burst through the front door, crushing the one closest to him. Just like in her vision, Alice crawled through a window to disarm one from the rear. As she worked, Jasper and I stepped into the middle of the room to take care of the other two.

The newborn crawled upward, fist up in front of his face trying to guard. He faked a duck went in for an uppercut. I thought I would be able to catch his fist and push it away, but his new newborn strength bested my own, and both of our hands caught the edge of my jaw, shoving my face to the side. With my head turned, the newborn managed a kick to my chest. I stepped back but immediately sprang forward with a huge haymaker. The newborn stumbled back, trying to right himself with the back of a chair, but his hand crushed through the wood, not quite used to his new strength. Using his surprise as a distraction, I kneed him right in the middle of his gut. As he reflexively hunched over, I bit down onto his newly exposed neck, ripping his head clean off his shoulders and rolling it across the floor. I felt a kick to my shin and another slap to my face as I tore the newborn apart, but soon he was in powerless pieces.

When I looked up again, Alice and Jasper had dismembered bodies at their feet, as well. We made quick work of cleaning up after ourselves. Alice prepared a large circle of rocks to contain our fire while Jasper and I gathered to bodies and tossed them in the flames.

When I was sure I checked the scent of all four bodies, I became inflamed with rage once more. "None of these are the intruder!" I seethed.

Jasper said exactly what both Alice and I knew he was going to say for different reasons. "He must have been destroyed by another newborn.

It wasn't good enough. The fact that his death was caused by some nameless, faceless newborn frustrated me to no end. I needed to know they suffered—I needed them to know that no one was to come close to my Bella.

As we watched the deep purple smoke plume over the trees and into the night sky above, Alice sighed. "Well, that's one less thing to have to think about."

We still have to think about their creator, Jasper thought to himself.

Then, almost like a direct response to Jasper's thought, a familiar voice purred in my head. You are here.

Despite my perfect balance, I stumbled back.

Jasper tasted my fear. "What is it?"

"Victoria." The word was barely a breath.

A growl tore out of Jasper's throat, "Where?"

While Jasper scanned the immediate area, I searched for her mind, but she seemed to vanish as quickly as she arrived. "I don't know… there wasn't enough time to see..." I shook my head. "We can track her."

Suddenly, Alice became plagued with updated visions. Her hands squeezed her temples, like she was trying to physically stop them from entering her mind.

Jasper leaned down to comfort his small wife with loving pats, "Darling, are you alright?" To which her response was only a small whimper. He roared furiously, shaking the leaves in the treetops.

He looked to me to give him a better clue of what was torturing Alice, but I was just as dumbstruck at the incoming visions. A newborn army ravaging the sleepy town of Forks. Our family facing off against more than a dozen newborn vampires alone. Bella's in Victoria's grip.

"No!" I roared. With horror, I realized that Victoria knew I was here, and Bella was not. She could be searching for Bella at this very moment. She had the protection of four of my family members, but Alice's vision might be proof that Victoria was able to get around them.

"Alice! Where is she?"

But Alice was still looking through her visions, trying to find any indication of when this newborn attack could be. It could all start tonight or be months from now. And she had no idea.

I placed my hands over hers on her temples and begged. "Alice, please! Where is Bella?"

Finally hearing my plea, Alice flipped over to Bella and saw nothing but darkness.

"No…" I whispered.

The darkness seeped around my vision.

She's gone, she's gone, she's gone…

"Edward, no!" Alice cried out.

I felt something hard keep me standing upright as my knees threaten to give out.

"Look! Look!" Images of Bella pushed through the darkness, bringing light back into my life. "These are still going to happen. Bella is fine."

The sight of Bella brought me back to myself, and I was able to stand on my own again. Jasper used his gift to push away the despair. Rubbing my forehead, I thanked them both.

"She's with one of the wolves," Alice stated, "Jacob Black must be with her."

The thought did little to comfort my fear. I was less sure of Jacob's ability to fend off Victoria than any of the members of my family. Desperation to be with Bella flooded every part of my body, down to my soul. I had to see her with my own eyes that very second.

Jasper could sense my anguish and slapped me on the shoulder, "Alice and I will track the scent and follow Victoria. You get to Bella."

I glanced down at Alice, whose fiery eyes and protective thoughts aligned with Jasper's, and knew I could trust them to destroy her.

"Leave her alive." I requested. "I need to be the one to kill her." I wasn't able to kill James or Laurent, but I would destroy Victoria. The others might have gotten away with a quicker death, but I would not allow Victoria to same.

Jasper agreed and he and Alice split up while I headed in the direction towards Forks. During my run, there was no sign of Victoria, but that held very little merit. She could have easily taken a roundabout route to get to Bella, whereas I was taking the quickest.

It was pouring when I arrived at Bella's house, but even through the rain, I should have been able to make out her heartbeat or her breath. Fear threatened to tear my insides out, screaming that Alice was wrong and Bella was gone, but I managed to hold them together with glue and duct tape so I could go on long enough to find Bella. Her dead body wasn't in her house, which was a good sign. But that meant she could be on the Reservation right now, which was a bad sign.

Fighting the urge to pull out all my hair, I took off towards La Push. I ran in the woods along the main highway, hoping that I would catch her driving back. It was stupid—I could have just waited at her house for her to return—but the thought of Victoria being so close by, and the desperation for Bella that came along with that clouded my better judgment. A quarter of the way to La Push, I heard the thoughts of Jacob Black, carefully trying not to think as he drove.

And I caught the scent that changed the entire course of my life.

Bella's blood.

Releasing a guttural scream, I sprinted towards the scent. I broke through the tree line, leaving Jacob enough room between me and his old Rabbit to come to a safe stop while he carried my most precious cargo. The car was still running as I struggled to not tear the door off the car to get to her.

"Edward! No!" she limply tried to push me away with one of her arms.

I was so confused as to why Bella wouldn't want me near her, that I didn't notice Jacob had gotten out of the car until I was knocked prone by a blow to the head.

"Jacob!" Bella shrieked. "Stop!"

Jacob held his arms out protectively in front of the passenger door. "You will not harm her," he threatened.

I rolled my eyes as I stood. "I am in complete control over myself. Now, get out of my way."

"Edward, please, it's okay," Bella's small voice faltered, "Please don't torture yourself."

"It's alright, sweetheart." My voice dropped an octave when I addressed Jacob, "Move."

His thoughts were churning as he tried to cover them from me. He buried whatever he didn't want me to hear with memories of Bella revealing how potent her blood was to me and fantasies of ripping me apart to rescue her from my bloodlust. "No."

"Look." I took a deep inhale through my nose and held out my arms as if to say ta-da. "Completely in control. Now let me see her."

"Let him by, Jacob," Bella requested. "He would find out eventually."

Thoughts raging to hide his secret, Jacob replayed himself ripping me apart if I moved a step out of line to appease himself. I wanted to return the elbow to the head he'd given me earlier when he fantasized about a gracious kiss from Bella.

Kneeling in the pouring rain in front of the passenger door where Bella stayed safe and dry, I displayed another deep inhale for her benefit. She realized what I was demonstrating immediately and smiled softly through whatever pain she must have been suffering through. "When did this happen?" she asked.

When I was forced into a world where she no longer existed. When my body endured the cruelest form of torture. When the monster silenced itself so it would never again have to experience such pain.

"My priorities adjusted themselves when I returned to you."

Jacob fought back a scoff with a herculean effort, but my Bella was touched. She braved her dry, warm hand out into the rain to run her fingers through my wet hair, "I love you."

"Please let me see where you're hurt, love."

Tentatively, she unzipped her jacket. I could now see that her right arm wasn't through the sleeve, but instead curled around her stomach with an ice pack. I reached for her hand and gingerly removed the ice pack.

What I saw brought a snarl to my lips and suddenly, I had tackled Jacob Black into the woods. I crashed him through a smaller, pine tree to pin him up against a larger, sturdier oak. "What the fuck did you do?"

He didn't have to ask to know I was referring to the two, large claw marks that marred the pale, slender arm of the love of my life.

Gulping with not nearly enough shame for what he had done, Jacob thought back to earlier that night. His elation over Bella returning his call. The two of them sitting on the sofa in his dad's living room while he apologized to Bella and explained himself more clearly. Another confession that he skipped over in his recap. His sudden call to attention from Sam. Quaking in his skin, trying to hold back his wolf form with Bella present. The scent of vampires dragging his feet to the door, then opening it. Letting go of himself and falling into instinct. How he barely noticed Bella beside him in the doorway, trying to pull him back inside by the arm.

He remembered how the wolves managed to kill two vampires before the rest retreated into the water. Reforming into a human and pulling on shorts and a hoodie, only to find Bella in the kitchen, standing in front of the opened freezer with an ice pack heled to her side. In his memory, I could see more cuts than the ones on her arm—deep gashes in her side that she was still hiding from me.

"Are you kidding me?" I growled, mostly to myself. There was far too much to unpack right now. Even in my overly-enhanced mind, there wasn't enough space to think about the newborns attacking La Push or Victoria's proximity or the implications that went along with either of those things. Those would have to be addressed with the whole family present. Right now, I could only focus on what I could fix at that moment, and she was currently bleeding and exposed in an idling car on the side of the road.

I stalked back to the car and pushed Bella's coat aside, revealing two more claw marks up the side of her torso. Rightfully terrified of whatever expression I wore, Bella sank back into her seat.

Muttering a string of profanities, I shut the passenger door and rounded the front to the driver's side.

"What are you doing?" Jacob protested.

"She needs stitches. I'm taking her to my house so Carlisle can take care of her."

"In my car?"

I curled my lip over my teeth, wishing he would try to fight me on this.

Jacob put his hand on the handle as if that would keep me from tearing it off and opening the door, "At least let me drive."

"Even if I had the barest shred of respect for you, I still wouldn't let drive my Bella while you were injured. It's insane that you tried to do so in the first place."

"I'm fine," he argued.

"Your left hand."

Internally cursing my ability, he wrapped his damaged hand in his other one, "It healed already."

"Not correctly. I can see the malalignments from here. If you wish to tag along and have Carlisle look at it at the house, you may. Or I can break it again right here and we can see if you fare better this time around."

"Jacob, you should come," Bella requested.

Jacob closed his hand into a fist—stifling a wince—and tucked it away out of his sight and mine. He swallowed his pride for Bella and Bella alone and folded himself into the back seat of his own car.

"Besides," I continued after starting the car, "You would never be able to find the driveway."

"It is pretty hidden, Jake," Bella squeaked.

The rest of the drive was silent, except for my verbal assaults directed at Jacob's car whenever I had to slow down far too much for my liking to make the turns safely. When we got closer to the house, I could see that Esme was already standing on the porch, waiting for us. The approaching scent of Bella's blood had Emmett dashing out the back door to partake in a short hunt so he would have a better hold on himself, but Carlisle and Rosalie waited patiently inside.

You cannot seriously expect me to go in there, Jacob grumbled in his head.

"You can come in or drive back home and suffer," I told him, "I don't really care."

The second I parked the car, I ran up to Esme, who had a dry sweater for me and an umbrella for Bella at the ready. I donned the sweater to protect Bella from my skin, held up the umbrella to protect Bella from the rain, and gently eased her out of the car and into my arm. During the brief steps it took me to get into the house, I trailed light kisses down her cheek.

"You should be mad at me too, you know," she grumbled, displeased with my cruel treatment of her friend.

"Not to worry; I am absolutely furious with you," I nuzzled my nose into the small tufts of hair around her ear. "However, I am still so grateful to have found you alive and that's currently dulling the flames of fury."

"How much longer with that last?"

"Twenty minutes," I answered with a peck to her lips.

Esme had already opened the front door to reveal Carlisle, standing at the ready. Jacob lumbered into the house slowly, feeling more like a sheep in a lion's den than a wolf.

"Bella needs stitches, and Jacob needs his hand rebroken."

"I'll take one. Rosalie, you take the other," Carlisle instructed, dashing off with Esme to wash up and quickly sterilize his office. It didn't take long in my relationship with Bella for my family to realize we would need a bit more than the standard First Aid Kit in the house. Our preparedness saved us on Bella's birthday, and it saved us again today.

"I got Bella," Rose called.

"Carlisle will take care of Bella."

Rosalie rose a perfect eyebrow, are you serious right now?

"Why do you think I'm not stitching her up myself?" I challenged, "Carlisle is the only one I trust to take care of her."

Rosalie rolled her eyes. Such a drama queen. At least with the wolf, I get to break something…

"Follow me, Jacob." Rosalie led him to the kitchen. Jacob dutifully followed, forcing the descriptors beautiful and gorgeous out of his mind. When everything was ready, Carlisle silently called for me to bring Bella into his study. We were up in a flash, and I gently laid her down on the table he had prepared for her.

"Bella, would you like to be awake or asleep for your stitches?"

Bella peeked at me through the corner of her eye. "Awake."

"Bella…" I started, but Carlisle stepped in for me.

"Bella, it won't make you any less strong to allow me to give you morphine. You've had a long day, and I'm sure your mind would appreciate the rest."

"But what about the newborns? And the pack? I'll miss everything if I go to sleep now!"

"We won't discuss anything important until you're awake."

Bella sulked slightly. "Promise?"

"I promise," Carlisle and I stated in unison.

Carlisle held up the syringe of morphine. "Bella, may I inject you with morphine?"

"Yes," she squeaked, and I suddenly wondered if her desire to stay away stemmed from avoiding a needle rather than missing out on a few conversations.

I switched over to her other side. Her eyes tracked my movement—as I knew they would—and the needle was now out of sight. I leaned down towards her face, tenderly stroking her eyebrow with my pinky. Her breath caught in her throat as it always did at my gentle touches, and now the needle was out of mind, as well.

"Are we going to fight when I wake up?" she asked, meekly.

Still tracing her eyebrow, I nodded, "Yes. We are."

"I'm sorry."

"I know." I wanted to say it's okay, but it would be a lie. What she did wasn't okay—not okay in the least. "You jeopardized the most precious thing in my world this evening." I would have killed someone for putting her in the situation she put herself in.

"I'm sorry," she said again, closing her eyes this time. "It's—it's just Jacob doesn't like the transition and I thought—,"

"Shh," I cooed, "We'll talk about it when you're all better."

"Does that mean I put off fighting if I ham up the amount of pain I'm in?"

"If you'd like."

She smiled sweetly, and I couldn't help but smile right back.

"Go to sleep, Love. I'll be right here when you wake up." I stayed by her side, lightly tracing her perfect features until the medicine kicked in and she finally fell asleep.

Downstairs, Rosalie had Jacob's hand set and wrapped faster than any physician. I had to admit, listening to Rosalie break Jacob's bones and his stifled scream that quickly followed was awfully cathartic. When she was finished, Esme flashed back in front of Jacob, offering him a glass of water. "Were there any other members of your pack that were hurt?"

Jacob frowned, unsure if he should accept the drink. "A few, yeah."

"Why don't you call them up and have them come here and let Edward and Rosalie check and make sure they're all healing properly."

His first thought was trap, but he did want to make sure his friends were okay. "Sure thing."

While Esme guided Jacob to the phone and continued to care for him, Rosalie appeared in the doorway to Carlise's office just as he'd finished with Bella.

"How did it go?" he asked her without looking up.

She shrugged. "I laughed; he cried. It was a tale for the ages."

I'm going to assume that meant it went well, Carlisle thought to himself. Then, out loud, "That's wonderful, Sweetie."

I threw a scathing glare at Rosalie. "You were supposed to be watching her."

Rosalie never accepted criticism from me, and she wasn't about to start. "Sorry. I didn't realize you were the only one who was allowed to set her up with the wolf."

I glowered.

"The kid left about a million pathetic messages on her answering machine. When she called to let him apologize, he begged her to come see him. You had always deemed the wolves a safe means of protection in the past, so Emmett and I figured it was fine. We dropped her off at the border like you would, and we were going to pick her up when she called."

I guessed it was a good enough excuse, even if it did infuriate me. "Fine. I forgive you."

Did it look like I needed your forgiveness?

"Fine, I don't forgive you."

Thank god.

Despite myself, I chuckled and shook my head.

Rosalie cracked her own smile. Then, frowned. "He told Esme how he broke his hand."

"Yes, we heard." Carlisle grimaced. "What are we going to say to the elders? They are not going to take a vampire attack on their own beach quietly."

"Well, we'll have to figure that out soon." I muttered as Jacob hung up the phone downstairs, "because the rest of the wolf pack is going to be here in twenty-three minutes."

Was that enough action for one chapter? Whew… what a whirlwind.