Rosalie

It had been a few months since my family left Forks and I was tasked with keeping an eye on Bella. I missed my family. They left under the pretense of cutting off Isabella after Edward had selfishly decided that a clean break was best for her, but they had mostly stopped communicating with me as well. My relationship with Emmett was in shambles, even Esme didn't check in the way I had expected her to. Edward despised the idea of one of us being left to keep tabs on Bella, but Carlisle had insisted he would not leave her here unprotected. In the short time we'd known Bella, we saw the type of danger she attracts. It was unanimously decided that I would be her protector, since I was the least likely to interfere in her affairs without cause. It was no secret that I despised her.

When the day of my family's departure arrived, I left along with Emmett for the sake of appearances. This also meant that my car had left along with them. It was only two weeks later that I had returned to Forks alone. My family's departure had been the talk of the town, so I couldn't go to school or be seen in public. We worried that Bella may come to our house to look for us, so a small cabin was built for me in the two weeks that I was gone. Jasper hired a human to oversee the construction for him and alert him when it was finished. She was to furnish it as well, and she purchased a car for me since mine was easily recognized. It was still on our property, but far enough out of sight that Bella wouldn't suspect it to be ours. I spent many days alone in my new home, waiting for my visits from my family that never came to be. I left only at night, running first to Bella's house to make sure she was asleep and then to hunt.

Bella struggled for a few months, and I watched from the sidelines. There was a tall tree in the woods behind Bella's house that I sat in and watched her. I heard her screams at night from the nightmares. I saw her rapidly losing weight that she couldn't afford to lose. She was a ghost of the person that we'd met. I called Carlisle to see if this was what he believed would constitute my intervention. He hated to hear what she was going through, but advised that I wait longer before approaching her. He thought this depression would pass with time. I watched as Charlie's concern grew day after day, and Bella lost more and more of herself. This took a toll on me, and I knew if I could sleep this would have been my nightmare. I started checking in as minimally as possible, hoping as much for a reason to finally intervene as I was that she would improve.

When I felt myself approaching rock bottom mentally, I reached out to Emmett and pleaded with him to visit me. He said that he couldn't stand to see the girl he had considered his little sister in the condition I was describing. I knew our relationship was close to an end. A few days past as I grieved my lost love, when Jasper called to tell me he was planning a trip to Forks within the next month. I decided I was going to make the best of the few weeks I had left before seeing my brother again. I started hunting more often, and decided to take up some hobbies to pass the time. Carlisle was still adamant that I have no direct contact with Bella, but I did start sending gifts and cards to her anonymously to brighten her day. I knew that Bella loved to read and cook, so I sent books and recipe cards. I even sent her meal kits to try new things. She slowly started to awaken from her depression.

One day, I saw Bella leaving her house with a casserole dish in her hand. I wondered if she had made something based on the recipes that I had been sending her, and then I questioned who she was making it for. She had pushed away all of her friends in Forks, or so I had thought. I followed her as she left, and quickly realized she was heading toward La Push. I knew if they lived on the reservation I wouldn't be able to see who her new friend was. I decided to wait by the treaty line and see if they left with her that evening. After a few hours, I took out my cell phone and called Alice. She said that while she missed me, she didn't want to hear anything about Bella. We agreed to keep the conversation away from her and talked for hours about fashion, my new home, and other nonsense to pass the time.

An hour in to my conversation with Alice, I was knocked off the rock I was sitting on by something. My cell phone flew from my hand and I landed a few feet away. It happened so fast I didn't get a good look at what had hit me. I stood up and looked around me. My clothes had been torn and there were twigs in my hair. When I turned back around, I was standing in front of an angry dark silver wolf. I hadn't realized a new generation had phased. This one must have either not known about the treaty, or not recognized me as a Cullen. He growled at me until we made eye contact. His expression softened, but that did nothing to calm my mood. I had found myself being more compassionate lately in my family's absence, but this brought my old rage back to the surface.

"Watch where you're going, mongrel! I'm not on your damn land, the treaty line is fifteen feet in the other direction. You probably broke my damn cell phone." He obviously wasn't responding to me, unable to speak as a wolf. This only served to further my irritation with him. "It'd be nice if you'd phase and have a conversation with me about your incompetence." He growled and ran toward the woods. I gathered the pieces of my cell phone, that was in fact broken. I would have to drive to Seattle to purchase another one.

Finally, a gorgeous man emerged from the woods. I knew that he had been the wolf I had seen. My irritation melted away as I looked at him. He went to sit on the rock that he had knocked me off of moments ago. He motioned for me to come sit across from him. He had seemed angry just moments ago, but now he had a calm and friendly demeanor.

"Sorry Blondie, I didn't see your yellow eyes. My name is Paul, I'm the newest member of the pack. I know about the treaty but we didn't think any of you Cullens were left in town. We've had our hands full with all of the nomads recently. If you're friends with the redhead, can you tell her to fuck off?" I froze. The redhead? Victoria was back? Paul must have noticed my changed expression, but he continued talking anyway. "I'm going to assume that look on your face means you aren't friends. We have gotten close to her a few times but we just can't ever catch her."

I was still frozen in that moment, shocked that we had left Bella to Victoria and that I hadn't noticed her being here. "Would it be possible to meet with your alpha, Paul? I know what Victoria is after and I want to help you. I'm beside myself that I haven't noticed her here. I left briefly when my family did, but came back to keep tabs on Bella." He scoffed at that. "I was only here now because I was waiting for her. She went to visit someone on the reservation, and I haven't seen her smile the way she is today in months."

He stood up and extended his hand to me. I let him help me off the rock. "The treaty line actually doesn't apply to you anymore. Not all of the Cullen family, just you specifically. No, I won't explain why. You can follow me and I'll take you to meet Sam and Jared. There are only the three of us right now. You can't be seen by anyone else on the reservation until we have a chance to meet with the council. We will take a route through the woods to Sam's backyard." Paul smiled at me before turning to run to the woods to phase. His beautiful dark silver wolf emerged and I went to follow him.

Crossing the boundary line felt almost criminal. As soon as we did, I heard Paul howl and the sound was like nothing I'd heard before. I struggled to understand why I was suddenly so captivated by him. I felt drawn to him, like there was a tether connecting the two of us and when he sped off in front of me I could feel it pulling me back to him. I should have been afraid of meeting the other wolves and being grossly outnumbered, but being with Paul gave me a sense of safety I hadn't ever felt from a stranger. We are natural enemies, but he felt like home to me now. We quickly ran up on a small cottage tucked in the corner of the reservation directly in front of the woods. There were two other native men sitting on the front porch, and a woman with long black hair. She was carrying a tray of muffins to them. That must have been the rest of his pack. When we got to the back yard, Paul phased and put his shorts on. He came over and took my hand to lead me in the house.

Right before we got to the door, he turned to me and whispered "please be careful not to stare at Emily, it bothers Sam." I nodded and we continued in to the house.

When we walked in, I was instantly aware of what Paul was talking about. Emily had scars on one side of her face and extending down to her arm. They looked distinctly like claw marks. That must be why Sam is bothered by people staring, because he is ashamed of what he did to his mate. I fought to suppress a growl, but realized it was in my best interest to being outnumbered. I wasn't a skilled fighter despite multiple training sessions with Jasper. Emily came from the kitchen where she was preparing lunch for the men and approached me warmly, pulling me in to a hug. She reminded me a lot of Esme.

"You must be Rosalie, Sam told me all about your family. It will be really nice to have another woman around, I am so used to just having these hungry mutts in my house all day." She laughed and grabbed my hand before continuing. "Do you like to cook? I know that you don't eat, but I could always use an extra set of hands in my kitchen if you're up for it." I looked back at Paul who nodded for me to go on before following her. I noticed that the way she talked about me as if I was part of their family. It was comforting. I accepted her invitation and followed her to the kitchen.

I am no skilled chef the way Esme and Bella are, but I do know my way around a kitchen. We fell in to an easy conversation about the wolves hefty appetite and the high cost of groceries. I made a mental note to remember that for later and find a way to anonymously cover their grocery bill. We were almost finished with the meal we were preparing when I heard the men approaching the house. I had yet to be introduced to Sam and Jared, and felt myself becoming anxious for the first time in what felt like centuries. I was sitting at the table with Emily when they all walked in. Sam smiled at us before going to Emily and kissing each of her scars before her lips. He sat down next to her and Paul sat next to me, with Jared taking the seat left between the two of them.

Jared looked over at me and then at Paul. "Well, leave it to Paul to imprint on a leech" he laughed. Imprinting? What the hell is imprinting? Is that why I feel drawn to him? Sam smacked Jared.

"Ignore him Rosalie, he's just an immature pup." Sam said sternly. He must be the alpha. "Paul told me that you have some information about the redhead that you wanted to share with me?"

I glanced down nervously. "I do, but it is damning to my family's reputation. I need to know that the treaty will not be impacted by what I'm going to tell you. I'd also like to know what the hell imprinting is, and why I'm suddenly allowed to be on the reservation?"

Paul grabbed my hand. "I promise I will personally explain imprinting to you. As long as the none of you have harmed a human the treaty won't be impacted, but you will always be allowed to come on the reservation. It is really important for us to know what she's after." Everyone was giving me hardened stares, except for Paul who was still holding my hand.

"Last year when my brother began dating Bella Swan, our family was having a baseball game and-" I was quickly cut off.

"DID YOU SAY BASEBALL?" Jared was choking on his food. "Your family of leeches plays baseball? That's hysterical, and you took a human?" He erupted with laughter and Sam kicking him under the table.

"It's okay Sam, I know it sounds silly." I laughed too. "We only play during thunderstorms, when we hit the ball it sounds like thunder striking. Anyway, we were playing last year and Bella was with us. We came across a group of nomads and one of them was a skilled tracker. He became obsessed with Bella and was not going to stop until he had her blood. My brothers killed him and the redhead Victoria was his mate. I've been here for months and hadn't seen her, but I have been watching Bella closely. How long has she been here?" Everyone looked even more tense after learning she was after Bella.

Sam was the first to speak. "It has only been in the last few weeks that we have noticed her coming here. Bella has been seeing Jacob Black and has been on the reservation a few times. Paul told me you had followed her to the treaty line today to see who she was visiting. Jacob is showing signs of phasing, we will need to try to force the change if it doesn't happen quickly enough. Victoria is very elusive." He turned toward Paul and Jared. "Will you boys go patrol? I want to keep chatting with Rosalie, but I will be out soon to relieve one of you." Paul let go of my hand and they both turned and walked out the door.

"Do you want me to call my family back to Forks? We would be happy to help you destroy Victoria. We created this mess, it should be our responsibility to fix it." I watched his expression change.

"As Paul told you, we will always welcome you on the reservation. That is not true of the rest of your family. We have to keep the treaty intact. I won't tell you not to call your family- but know that any alliance we have will rely on you heavily to be the link between the two groups." Sam told me. He was being so cordial to me.

Emily spoke next. "Rosalie, how do you feel about Paul?" Sam nudged her and she smiled at me.

I had hoped this topic would come up. "Does this have something to do with imprinting? I do feel drawn to him, and I don't know how to explain it." Sam and Emily looked at each other and smiled.

"I will let Paul explain everything to you, but I'm really happy to know that you feel that way for him. He will be plea-" Sam was cut off by two howls. I could tell which one was Paul's and I felt an ache in my chest when I heard it. Sam's expression hardened. "You girls stay here and DO NOT leave this house until one of us comes back and tells you that everything is okay. Rosalie, please keep Emily safe if anything bad happens. I have to go see what is going on." He pulled Emily in and ran out the door, phasing as soon as he was away from it and shredding his clothes in the process. Emily emerged from the table and took a fresh set of clothes outside to lay on the porch for him.

She rejoined me at the table a few minutes later. "Don't worry, the ache in your chest will get better. We have plenty to do here to keep our minds occupied until they are back safely. I have to admit, I feel a lot safer with you here than I ever have sitting here alone." It was heartwarming to hear Emily putting her trust in me that way. Imprinting must be very powerful for all of my natural enemies to feel so at ease with me already.

We spent the next several hours cooking dinner, making many batches of muffins, and getting to know each other. Emily filled me in on how the pack works. We talked about the pack mind, patrol schedules, and everything in between. I told her all about my family. The pack hadn't known that some vampires have gifts. We talked about Alice and her visions, Edward reading thoughts, and Jasper's ability to manipulate emotions. She said that I should talk with Sam about it sometime. After getting dinner ready and putting everything back in the oven to stay warm, we settled in on the couch to watch a movie.

Emily was about to fall asleep when we heard two more howls. One I knew as Paul, and the other I presumed was Sam's by the look on Emily's face. Then, we heard three more that neither of us could certainly distinguish. The expression on Emily's face was one of sheer terror.

"Rosalie, two new wolves must have phased. But they wouldn't all be howling to alert each other of something: they are giving you a warning. Something is coming for us."