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Chapter 13 The lion

Bella POV

We were running, almost flying through the air. The other time I had run with Edward by my side, it was only a short run. I thought it was nice to run with a friend by my side. This time, it was different. He was holding my hand and I would have initially thought that would be a hindrance, but it wasn't. It was nice. His hand molded perfectly around mine, enveloping it like it was made to be in his. My cheeks felt warm again, and again I was a little freaked out, because they shouldn't be able to do that. With no warm blood flowing in my body, how could there be any warmth to fill my cheeks?

My nose twitched and I tugged a little on Edward's arm to make him stop running.

"What is it?" He asked when we stood still.

"I smell deer. I think there is a small herd in the direction." I pointed in the direction I thought the scent came from. "Should we go for it?"

He smiled a crooked smile while wrinkling his nose a bit. "Nah. I really don't feel like deer at the moment. Is that what you usually go for?"

"Yes. Is there something wrong with deer?" I asked in mock hurt.

"No, there's nothing wrong with deer." He chuckled a little at my tone. "But herbivores taste and smell a lot like earth. Like dirt. Carnivores taste a lot better. Or what do you prefer?"

"Hmm. I don't often get the chance to catch a carnivore very often. But I admit, they do have a better flavor."

"So besides deer. What animals do you usually hunt?"

"Let's see. Elk. The occasional fox. I did catch a black bear once when we were in Canada. It had gotten too close to our hiding place and I didn't want to risk it finding and hurting Luke."

"So you never hunt bigger predators?"

"I don't normally go far enough away to find any. I don't like leaving Luke alone for long."

"Understandable." He nodded. "So what about right now? Since Luke is safely with the others, are you willing to go further?"

I looked back in the direction of the house for a split second before answering. "Sure. What do you have in mind?"

His smile turned almost childish the way his face lit up. "Have you ever seen a mountain lion?"

"I've seen pictures. Are there any around here?"

"There should be a few not too far away. About 40 miles or so."

"40 miles?!"

"Don't worry Bella. It'll take us no time to get there I promise."

I was skeptical.

"I promise you'll be back by Luke's side before you know it. It'll be worth. Just trust me."

I hummed for a bit. "Okay. Lead the way."

The childish smile from before was back. "Try to keep up." He started running again. We weren't holding hands anymore so he was a few yards ahead of me. "Ha. Try to keep up? What, did he think I'm a newbie to running through the forest? I'll show him."

I put on a burst of speed and passed him. "Is that the fastest you can go? Why don't you give me a real challenge?" I called over my shoulder to him. I heard him laugh right before he shot past me. "Damn, he's fast."

"Alright, you asked for it Swan. Catch me if you can."

I sped up again, following the sound of his movements and his scent of honey and sunshine. I got close a couple of times, but he was good at dodging. Edward weaved through the tree trunks like a rabbit being chased by a fox. "I can play this game." I jumped up and grabbed a tree around the middle, but I didn't climb it. I lept off it to the next one and then jumped from tree to tree, creating more and more momentum. The more force I used to jump from a tree, the more the next tree swayed back and propelled me forward. Each time a tree sent me flying faster, I used my own strength in my legs to jump farther. Each time I went flying, my jumps became faster, longer and more powerful. I hit the last necessary tree and went flying over Edward's head, summersolted in the air above him and landed on the ground facing him, breaking my speed by creating a long track through the dirt. He too had to create such a track to stop before crashing into me. Shock evident on his face, but it was delighted. I pounced towards him and nearly caught his left arm, but he managed to dodge me again. I only grassed his skin with my fingertips. He laughed like a boy playing a game of tag. And I suppose that is what we were doing. He took off again. I followed shortly after but he had gotten a head start. I lost him for all but two seconds, and then he came barreling towards me from my right. I didn't see him in time so he grabbed onto my middle, halted our movements on the forest floor, again creating a small track, and then held me close to him.

"Got ya'." He whispered in my ear. We were both breathing hard. My arms were around his shoulders, my head leaning on his chest.

I laughed. "I thought.." Huff. "I thought I was supposed to catch you."

He laughed with me. "Yes you were. But we're here, so I needed to stop you."

"Already?" I was astonished that we had gotten here so fast.

"I told you it would take no time at all. Seriously Bella, that was amazing what you did. No ones ever gotten that close to catching me."

"I admit. You're a lot faster than I thought."

"I could say the same for you."

We were looking into each other's eyes now. We were so close I could feel his breath on my face. His eyes dipped and I thought he was looking at my lips. "No way. Is he thinking about kissing me?" There was no way. I was imagining things. I pulled back a little. Not wanting to do anything stupid, like lean in to see if that really was what he wanted. Because I suddenly realized that I wanted him to do it. Que the freakingly weird heat in my cheeks.

"So where is this lion you wanted me to see?"

When I had stepped back, he loosened his arms to give me room. "I don't know yet." A boyish smile. "I was a little too preoccupied to pick up any scents."

He sniffed and turned his head to listen to the forest around us. It dawned on me as I watched him, that he moved very elegantly and poised. Had he always been moving this way and I just haven't noticed. Every vampire was nimble and graceful, but he was even more so. I remember him telling me that he was born in 1901 and his father was a lawyer. That means he was raised in a wealthy home in a time where young men were raised as gentlemen. Of course I had already picked him as a gentleman, but nobody these days were actually raised that way. Is that why his movement seems so much more elegant and sophisticated? I tried to picture him in one of those three piece suits I'd seen in pictures from that time. I thought it looked good on him.

"I found one." He pulled me from my thoughts. He had walked around a bit and was standing a few feet from me now.

"Huh?"

"I found a scent trail. Are you alright?" I realized I had been biting my lip at the picture in my head, and quickly let it go.

"Yes I'm fine. Just lost in thought." I swallowed thickly. "Where is it?"

"This way." He took my hand again and led me through the trees.

We sat on hounched a boulder while he pointed out the magnificent creature to me.

"Do you see it?" He asked.

The large, strong and muscled figure of a cat walked elegantly on the forest floor not too far from us. "Elegant, poised and beautiful." I said. "Just like I described the man beside me a moment ago." Well except the beautiful part, but who was I kidding? He was beautifully handsome. I could at least admit that to myself.

"Without a doubt." I heard from beside me. Edwards' voice sounded a bit.. What? Wistful?

I looked at him. He was watching the lion.

I giggled at his scrunched up face. "Do you want this one?"

He faced me. "Don't you want it?"

Another giggle. "That's not what I meant. But I am a little concerned."

"About what? It's claws may be sharp, but they can't pierce your skin." He looked confused.

"No that's not it. When I took down that black bear in Canada, it completely tore my clothes. And I really like this shirt."

He looked down at my clothes and then quickly turned back to the lion. "What was that?"

"If you want, I'll take this one and show you how to avoid it's attack. I'll find you another one afterwards."

"Sure. That sounds good." I settled on the rock, waiting for him to show me. He took off his light brown jacket and placed it beside me. He was wearing a crisp white button down shirt, that it would be a shame to ruin. Then unhooked a few buttons at the top and rolled up his sleeves.

"Watch closely." He said, then jumped down off the rock. He ran towards the lion from behind, tackled it to the ground, and snapped its neck. It didn't look like a man taking down a lion, but rather a lion taking down another lion. After a few minutes of him feeding, I took his jacket and jumped down to stand to the side of him. He lifted his head to look at me.

"Do you wanna taste it?"

"I don't want to take your meal. You go ahead and finish."

He chuckled. "Don't worry it's almost dry anyway. Come over here and see if you like it."

I smiled gratefully and walked over. He scooted a little away from the cat so I could have room. Then I bent down on my knees next to him, took a hold of the lion's head and placed my mouth on its neck over Edwards bite mark.

The taste of the feline predator's blood danced on my tongue. I had never tasted anything so good in my life. There weren't more than a few swallows, so it left me unsatisfied. When I lifted my head, Edward was watching me with fascination.

"How was it?" He asked when I had wiped my mouth in case any had dripped down my chin. It hadn't.

"It's official. Mountain lion is definitely my new favorite." I smiled.

He smiled too. "I could tell you enjoyed it. Should we find you your own?"

I nodded vigorously. "Yes please."

The boyish smile was back and he laughed. "Ok, then let's go." He took my hand once again and we ran. It didn't take long for him to find the tracks of another one. By the scent I could now recognize from the other one, this one was female. The distinction was strangely obvious now that I thought about it. When we got close enough to hear its movements, Edward let go of my hand and let me lead. He hung back. He didn't want to be in the way.

I could see that it wasn't possible to get behind it. The lioness was standing with her back to a tall cliff. I would need to lure her out and then either get behind her or turn her around. The plan was formed in my head before I realized I was moving forward.

I stopped about 12 yards away from her, making sure to stand in her line of sight. She noticed me and started hissing. I just stood there, motionless. I couldn't help the little smirk that formed on my lips. I slowly stepped forward. She hissed and growled at me. Then I led out my own growl issuing a challenge to her. She took it and sprang forward. I sidestepped her swinging paw. I was now halfway behind her, but this position wasn't good enough. I knew she could still swipe out with her claws and just like I thought, she did. I jumped over her, making sure to be more than 9 feet above the ground as I remembered from somewhere that could jump about 8 feet straight up, and landed in a tree. Her back was now facing me. "Perfect." Just like when I was chasing Edward, I let the tree throw me forward and landed on her back. I quickly wrapped my arms around her neck and twisted. She fell limp beneath me, I sank my teeth into her neck and feasted on her blood. The lion Edward had taken down tasted great. This one however was even better. Maybe it was because I had caught it myself. I lost myself in the lioness's taste and drained her dry.

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