Chapter 49: A Fresh Start

Lexi

Alaska was… so breathtakingly beautiful and unlike anything I'd ever seen before it took my (unnecessary) breath away.

That is, once I stopped my awkward, ugly, tearless crying.

After saying goodbye to Brady and running for the hills like a coward, I'd packed a backpack with my essentials, changed into the durable hiking gear that had been left on my bed, and left with the Cullens. We were dressed to look as if we'd just planned a hiking trip in the deep forest.

Carlisle and Esme were driving behind us in a car packed with suitcases of clothes and necessities and anything we would need for our little extended vacation. I guess that was the hope, at least. The run had taken several days due to a few sunny hours here and there – we'd had to hideout in caves and thickets of forest in a few places outside of Vancouver, but it was an otherwise uneventful trip. Well, and like I'd said - that and my ugly crying.

Alice and Jasper had led the pack, my talented adopted sister on the lookout for any humans that would cross our path. We'd run too close to a forest reserve at one point and I'd practically begged Jasper and Emmett to hold me in their steely grips for fear I'd do something terrible.

But the run was done now, and we'd done our part. The trail was laid and I was hundreds of miles away from my human family. Now we just had to hope it worked.

The group paused on a rock face overlooking a range of hilly forests so thick and sprawling it looked like it never ended. Everything was covered in a fresh coat of snow and completely still. It was serenity if I'd ever seen it. I let the feeling wash over me as I tried to soak it all in. I gripped the straps of my backpack and let my enhanced vision scan over the endless white wonderland beneath me and for the first time in a long time, I felt… okay.

Unlike Forks, there was no distant scent of humans or cars or anything of the sort that would even remind me I was no longer a part of that world. It was just a peaceful white wonderland spotted with mountains and forests below.

Maybe I could find some peace in Alaska.

My spine tingled slightly, a warm feeling spreading over my limbs. It felt… hopeful. Nice.

"Thank you Jasper," I laughed softly, turning to look at him. Alice playfully pinched his arm and he chuckled.

"You felt it, I just magnified it. And shared it," he admitted sheepishly.

I laughed to myself and stopped; surprised at the sound coming from my mouth. Laughing felt almost… unnatural. I'm allowed to be happy for once, I reminded myself. This is a new beginning. New beginnings are happy, not sad.

After admiring the view for a few more moments, we made what I could only assume was the way to the Denali house. Or compound, really. After a long run into the wilderness and up a winding hillside, we came to a gated driveway that instantly opened at our arrival. Cameras were situated on the outside, but they didn't move or acknowledge us. "If humans come here, we'll know long before you can smell them," Rosalie assured me with a little nudge. I felt instantly safer in that aspect.

It wouldn't stop a bloodthirsty, murderous vampire, but it would protect me from the mailman.

Great.

The house itself was nestled onto the side of an icy hillside overlooking the snowy valley below. My eyes were drawn to the postcard looking log cabin first; while it boasted three looming stories of thick beams and glass windows, the overall look itself was rustic and reminiscent of architecture of the past. I admired the sloping roofline and the attention to the angles as we stood in the driveway and waited for our hosts. I spotted a second little cabin further back on the hillside, peeking out from the other main house and wondered if a couple lived there, much like Edward and Bella and their cottage.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Alice sighed happily, her golden eyes scanning the monstrous cabin. "Home away from home. You'll love it!"

I glanced at her skeptically. "Do you know that, or are you just saying it?"

She playfully pinched my side as the heavy wooden doors swung open.

"You're here!" a voice called out, soft and maternal. A woman zipped out the door and appeared in front of us, throwing her arms around first Alice and then Rosalie. Her tan skin and warm, golden eyes greeted me as she seemed to glow with excitement.

"Welcome! I am Carmen-"

More figures raced to greet us.

"And I am Eleazar," he spoke smoothly, and Carmen melted into his side. He gestured to the house with his free hand. "Welcome to Denali."

We made our way into the house where I continued to gawk and stare as the Cullens and the Denalis greeted each other like old friends. Hugs and kisses and shrieks of delight were exchanged in the foyer as I wandered into the main living area. It was as rustic on the inside as it was on the outside – exposed beams, a two story stone fireplace, and detail everywhere. Their taste wasn't as modern as the Cullens; not even close. Everywhere I looked there were plush leather chairs, richly colored pillows, exotic plants, and shiny brass light fixtures that gave the entire space a warm glow. It was the exact opposite of the cool colors and sleek palette I was used to. The entire back wall of the house looked out over the sloping valley, the setting sun casting a glow over the expanse of land that would make any photographer weep. The orange glow of light stretched over the landscape, touching the tallest pines and even the mountains in the distance.

I let my fingers touch the glass window before me. It was breathtaking. The feeling of peacefulness continued to wash over me, and I didn't even care if it was Jasper's doing.

"Lexi?"

I turned, jerking my attention back to the group behind me. Every set of golden eyes was watching expectantly as I fumbled for words.

"Oh, uh… hi."

Graceful, I thought with a wince.

Rosalie, ever the stickler for appropriateness stepped forward. "Lexi, you met Carmen and Eleazar. This is Tanya, Kate, Garrett, and…" she frowned, her pretty face scrunching up slightly. "Wasn't there another?"

Edward chuckled, glancing to the side. The air in the room changed slightly, making my head jerk to the fireplace where no one had been standing a moment before… and now was.

"Fred," he muttered shyly, giving an awkward wave.

I blinked owlishly and started. "I… I didn't see you."

The Denalis all looked at each other, an unspoken ripple of communication flowing between them.

"Fred is not unlike a few of your special family members," Tanya spoke up, walking to stand in front of the group. "He's gifted."

The corner of Fred's mouth quirked, and he stared at the floor. His soft, lilting voice surprised me.

"If you call it that."

"I do, she insisted, giving him an annoyed glance. She looked back at me, her expression softening. "Fred is rather new to this life as well. He's been living with us in Alaska to do what you are doing – learn to abstain from humans."

My eyes shifted to the tall, lanky vampire in front of the fireplace. While his height almost rivaled Emmett, he was nearly half the size of him. Long, sinewy muscles could faintly be seen through his long sleeved shirt. The dark jeans he wore accented his extensively long legs that made him look like he would be a fast runner and an even better jumper. My eyes stopped in astonishment at his red Converse sneakers. I raised my eyebrows in surprise – I wouldn't have taken him as a Converse wearing kinda guy. My own pink pair were packed away in a suitcase in the car that was on its way. What's this guy about? While he stood stock still, he looked as if he was itching to fidget somehow and his eyes refused to meet mine as he gazed awkwardly around the room, his golden eyes flitting anywhere but at me. I wondered if I was repulsive to him somehow. Edward smirked, but said nothing. I idly wondered what that was about as Carmen excitedly offered up a tour of the house as we waited for Carlisle and Esme to arrive in the car.

Tanya boldly squeezed my hand as we walked from the great, looming living room and into the kitchen. "You'll be safe here, I know it. Never a problem we couldn't handle!"

"Cocky, are we?" Garrett drawled smoothly, raising a dark eyebrow. His bright eyed gaze met Kate's, and she joined him at his side. I watched how easily his arm wove around her shoulders and hers around his waist as we moved from room to room on the tour. I felt a pang of something shoot through me as he kissed the top of her head. They were so easy together, just like Carlisle and Esme or Rosalie and Emmett. Why couldn't it have been so easy for me?

Pushing the self-deprecating feelings aside, I paid attention to Carmen as she led us through their beautiful home. I'd been right – Garrett and Kate resided in the little house up on the hill, while Carmen, Eleazar, and Tanya all lived in the main house.

"Fred has the attic to himself," she explained, "leaving plenty of room for the rest of you all!"

She led us through the rest of the house, breezing through the large, useless kitchen to Eleazar's library and even the tiny greenhouse reserved for all of her exotic flowers and orchids. How anyone could keep so many delicate things alive was beyond me, but I suppose if you had centuries to hone in on your talents it certainly helped things. After showing me to my room, I settled in after Emmett brought up my bags.

"Think this'll work for ya?" he asked, surveying the homey surroundings.

I nodded, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. "I already feel better. Why does running from your problems sometimes feel a lot better than staying and dealing with them?"

Emmett thought a moment before reaching a big hand out and ruffling my hair. "Don't think of it as running. Think of it as merely being strategic, yeah?"

He gave me a carefree grin before leaving me alone. My lips quirked up slightly; people didn't always give Emmett enough credit sometimes. He could be very cunning and introspective if the situation called for it.

Before long, the sun had dipped below the horizon, casting the entire snowy landscape in a silvery glow that looked unearthly but also beckoned to be explored beneath the almost full moon. A hunting trip was planned by Tanya – I think more so that she could show off more of the beauty that her home could offer, although no one seemed to mind. Carlisle, Esme, Eleazar and Carmen stayed behind while the rest of us took off into the moonlit night. With so much distance between me and everything I'd left in Forks and just knowing that we now had a plan made me feel more at ease.

Apparently, enough at ease to let Emmett talk me into taking on a groggy bear that had wandered from its hibernation spot a bit too early. It stood on its hind legs, a growl so terrible echoing from its throat its own jowls shook, and had I been able to get them, I would have had goosebumps.

While the rest of the group went after easier prey, Emmett stayed behind to coach me through it.

"That's it! Push him! Give him a little shove to let him know you're there. He might bite, but it won't hurt."

"Emmett," I hissed, swatting the bear's heavy arm away, "I don't like to play with my food! I want to kill it quickly!"

He shrugged, leaning against a nearby tree. "Suit yourself. Normally I do to, but…"

The bear howled again in annoyance, swiping the air before dropping to all fours. It huffed and growled, circling me with a determined snort. The noises it was making to intimidate me were working. Even though I knew I was indestructible, the bear was still petrifying. It let out another bloodcurdling cross between a howl and a growl, and I fought off another swing of its arm.

I heard Emmett chuckle.

"What is it with you and bears?"

"I hate the bastards. Every one of them."

"Why is that?" I asked distractedly.

"That's how I died," he explained casually. I paused in surprised, glancing at him. The bear swiped angrily again. I hissed in annoyance, pushing its massive paw away.

"Are you gonna sock him or not?"

Tired of playing around, I darted to the bear's backside and easily leaped onto its massive, furry shoulders. I made quick work of putting an end to our little boxing match, snapping its neck and hopping down before it fell to the ground with a sickening thud. Venom flooded my mouth and I had no problem sharing my kill with Emmett.

"I'll take care of it. Go enjoy yourself, yeah?" he said, grabbing the carcass.

I shrugged, offering him a smile. He really was kind.

"Suit yourself," I echoed his own words back at him.

I could hear the others – they'd taken off in the direction of the valley, probably to chase the elk we'd caught the scent of earlier. I made my way away from the place where Emmett was digging and was about to take off when a voice caught me by surprise.

"Impressive," it called out.

Our heads whipped to the side, Emmett growling softly, where Fred was perched in a low hanging branch. My eyes widened in surprise - how had he snuck up on us like that? Glancing back at Emmett, he only shook his head and continued his work of disposing of the bear.

"Livin' up to that name of yours, Fred," he simply muttered, pacing off with the bear.

My head whipped back to look at the tall, lanky vampire as he sat on a low hanging fir branch just twenty feet from where we'd been hunting.

"You… you were watching us?"

He shrugged, offering me a teasing smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. His hair, a light blonde that was a bit too shaggy had flopped in front of his now-golden eyes, but I'd guessed at one point they'd been green.

Where did that come from?

"Hope you don't mind," he brushed past me casually, heading in the direction of the rest of our party. I stomped after him, annoyed slightly for reasons I couldn't quite place.

"How long had you been there?" I called after him, having to dart to keep up with his long legs.

He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye; shy, cocky.

"I've been there since we left the house."

Stopping in my tracks, my sharp mind thought back to when we'd left the house. There had been eleven - myself, Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, Alice, Edward, Bella, Garrett, Kate, Tanya and…

My brows drew downwards into a frown. Of course I'd known he was there when we left, but I hadn't even thought of him since. It wasn't that I didn't realize he'd been with us, but I hadn't been able to really think about him. He was hard to miss – his frame was not overly muscular, but his height and pale hair made him hard to ignore. Or did it?

Strange…

He paused his gait, turning to walk backwards for a few steps, his eyes meeting mine. He quirked an eyebrow at me but didn't say a word as he pivoted forward at a human pace and gracefully navigated through the frozen forest. I followed, only a tiny bell of warning going off in my mind as I followed a vampire I'd only just met.

He wouldn't be with the Denalis if he was dangerous, I warred with myself, and besides, Edward could read his thoughts. He wouldn't have let Fred get close to me if he thought he might harm me. But still, I don't really know him.

Fred continued to walk, occasionally peeking over his shoulder as if to make sure I was still following. My anxiety ceased slightly when I realized we were now in earshot of the rest of the group. My eyes spied them in the valley below, laughing and talking amongst themselves as they finished up their hunt.

"So… you're gifted," I blurted out awkwardly.

"You're not?" he asked, avoiding my eyes. He winced slightly, turning like he was about to talk, but thinking better of it. I bit my lip to keep from laughing; Fred obviously was warring internally with his words.

"No," I finally answered after a short pause. "But a lot of my uh, family is."

"I remember, yes… forgive me, I um… I thought it was more likely for a vampire to be gifted than not. I assumed…" he trailed off, shaking his golden hair, "I shouldn't have."

I nodded, the urge to fidget suddenly returning. I knew vampires didn't technically fidget, but… I couldn't shake the feeling of wanting to bite my nails or chew my lip. I settled for jamming my hands into my jean pockets and glancing forward to admire the view again. A light breeze had begun to blow across the valley, bringing with it slew after slew of new scents and sounds I was completely unfamiliar with. It was both intimidating and exciting.

"My family is very… different," I laughed awkwardly, wrinkling my nose. "It's easy to feel pretty uh… ordinary around them."

I couldn't help but cringe at how unbelievably simple I sounded at the moment, but it felt like eons since I'd had a conversation with someone other than a Cullen.

"I spent some time with them a little over a year ago. When I was created I… I'd heard of them. Wanted to see what they were like."

"So you came to Forks?" I asked, slightly bewildered. How had I lived there for nearly a year before discovering that it was apparently a vampire stomping ground?

"Something like that," his lip quirked again. He voice was soft as he spoke, the cadence making me pull my gaze towards him. He was attractive, I decided, even if the vampiric venom hadn't done much to improve the softly crooked line of his nose or the way his top lip was just slightly curved upwards in one corner. No, the way his golden hair sometimes fell in his eyes and the swooping lines of his cheekbones made up for that. His jawline wasn't anything to miss either.

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. I'd been surrounded by nothing but perfection since waking as a vampire, yet I couldn't' remember admiring any of the Cullens the way I'd just done to Fred. Interesting…

"So what drew you towards them?"

Fred twisted his lips and paused, glancing sideways at me. "I had help. I ran into some… wolves," he added sheepishly. "Not any wolves you see, these were…"

"Different. Yes, I'm familiar with the… Quileutes," I choked out the last word. "They're a bit of a staple in that um… area."

He nodded bookishly, and I had a strange feeling that he'd once worn glasses – his fingers seemed to itch like he was going to use them to push a pair of thick glasses up his nose.

"Yes, well… they discovered me in the woods, outside of town. I'd made the decision to be a vegetarian after watching some others of our kind and their um, unsavory behavior, if you get what I mean."

"I do."

"So they led me to the Cullens. Edward and Jasper ran me up here, and the rest of the family came after. They were with us when we got the call that you'd…"

"Been bitten. Yes, I… I heard."

"Yeah, it was… awful," I blurted out without thinking. Of all things I'd wished I could forget, the pain of my transformation was first and foremost. But no, it remained ingrained in my mind like it was in my vampire DNA. The memory clearly wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Fred was silent a moment, frowning. His eyes followed the group of vampires below, who was nearly a mile away but still in plain sight. "I didn't really want this either," he sighed, almost matter of factly. "But I guess here we are, so…"

"Yes, here we are," I agreed, still feeling awkward as hell.

His eyes shifted away from mine again. Great, so I was officially uncomfortable and he obviously agreed but was too polite to point it out.

"Let's get join the others, yeah?"

I could only nod. Alaska wasn't at all what I'd thought it would be, and for several reasons. Once again, I didn't know what to think.

I only hope to do Fred justice! I hope you will all forgive me for sending Lexi to Alaska (sniff) but it was already written into 'Love This Pain' and so if you have read that story, you have an idea of what happens...

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I hope this update finds you all celebrating and in good spirits and health. Thankful for NinkyBaby for beta-ing this epic-ly long work and thankful for all of my readers who have stuck by me! I am all settled into my new home just in time for Christmas, so I hope I can get another update out soon. Thank you for reading and please know that I read all of your lovely comments!