Chapter 7

~~~Flashback~~~

His eyes were panicked as they met hers and he took a pause before filling her in on the news,

"It's Alice, she had a vision, a decision changed...Bella is arriving tomorrow night. She'll be attending school with us Monday morning."

'What. the. ever. loving. HELL!' Morticia was sure that if this had been a comedy, she would've fainted or something dumb like that. But instead, the opted to go the less damsel route and just shout, "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW," before storming inside the house.

(Morticia Pov)

Morticia stormed into the living room as fast as humanly possible and immediately set her gaze on a frantic Alice pacing in front of the sofa.

"Morticia, I'm so sorry I didn't see it sooner-"

She quickly cut the pixie off, shaking her head, "That doesn't matter. It wasn't your fault if she just suddenly decided to move. You couldn't have known. What we really need to worry about is how we're going to handle this new curveball. In the books, she wasn't supposed to be here for another seven months. So rather than having that time to prepare we have less than 48 hours, great. I'm open to any suggestions for a solution."

She saw Rosalie move to raise her hand and Morticia's gaze hardened, "Any suggestions that don't involve killing or maiming said human." The hand quickly went down.

'typical' she groaned.

She let out a sigh, glancing around the room. Morticia had only been here for a short time so excuse her for not wanting to have to pull all the weight around here. If she knew all the answers she would gladly go buy a lottery ticket tomorrow but those odds weren't in her favor.

It was Esme who answered her silent prayers. "Well, I don't really believe there is any reason for us to worry. From what you've told us about the books, Edward had enough restraint the first day to not attack the girl and he has been acclimating himself to your scent since you arrived- his other singer- so I see no problem why this should be any different."

Morticia thought through Esme's suggestion, "But what if Bella's scent is more potent than mine. I'd hate to make Edward brave both mine and Bella's scent at the same time. Maybe I should call in sick on the day she's due to arrive if Alice can get a clear image of when that is."

From beside her Edward's frame became even more rigid, "No. I refuse to have to endure Bella's scent without you to distract me. If you aren't there I am sure there will be a catastrophe."

He did have a valid point. She did seem to get Edward's mind distracted when she got him into her witty banter matches. But she still didn't like the idea of putting him through any more turmoil than he was already going to have to endure.

"Fine. I'll go and play the little blonde distraction so that you don't kill your future wifey, but you better be able to give me a five-minute head start in case shit hits the fan so I can come up with a cover story."

Her response pulled very shocked glances from the other coven members, especially the brooding male to her left.

"What? You're a teenage boy, not a saint. If you make a mistake, so what? Just give me some leeway to fix it. Anyway, another thing to worry about, which I hope isn't true- Bella is super nosy. After Jessica spills your epic story she's gonna get curious."

Rosalie's hand shot up again, "Again, we are not eliminating her before she has a chance to defend herself." The blonde vampire looked down with a frown.

"How exactly did Bella find out about us in the novel?" Carlisle questioned.

'oh shit the wolves.' She winced as she knew what she had to do.

"Bella got friendly with a Quileute boy named Jacob Black. He talked to her and told her about his tribe's legends, ones that included 'the cold ones.' I've met him and we seem to be pretty good friends so I have no doubt that I could weasel it out of him too. In fact, Tony mentioned something about a bonfire that we were invited to so maybe I can go and talk to the tribe elders and let it slip that I know about the legends."

She decided to leave out the part about the shapeshifting boys, as she knew that would probably not go over well with the vampires present.

Carlisle looked slightly irritated, "I can't believe they are spreading those legends so flippantly. If anybody else got ahold of them..."

"In Jacob's defense, I think they were telling the children the stories to scare them. Also, Bella did a bad but accurate job of flirting with him to get the story from him. So blame his hormones if anything. But that wasn't the only way she came to find out about you guys. Eddie boy was giving off some pretty clear red flags. I.e. Staring at her like a creep, having ice-cold skin, flashing by her car, and showing off his mind-reading skills."

She turned a knowing gaze to the telepath, "So don't show off or be a creepy stalker and she shouldn't be the wiser."

Esme gave her a concerned glance, "Morticia dear, you know we can't cross the treaty line. If they know you've been associating with us, they may see you as a threat."

Jasper stood straighter at her inference, "Do you think they would hurt her and risk compromising the treaty?

Esme looked down, almost shamefully. "No, of course, not. I was just worrying- think nothing of it."

Her motherly instincts made Morticia smile, "Esme I appreciate your concern, but I'm a big girl who can take care of herself. Besides, If any of them decides to get fresh I'm sure Tony will let me borrow his taser. I promise not to get myself into too much trouble, but I may need to make a statement if they're going to take me seriously. The wolves need to know who is spilling their secrets and how big of a risk that causes for you and them."

"WOLVES?!" The rest of the room shrieked and the magnitude caused the windows to vibrate.

'oops. Really meant to keep that under wraps for a tad longer.' She thought meekly.

"Did I forget to mention that you guys moving back here triggered some of the boy's genes? That and the nomads that will be going through here soon cause quite a few of them to turn and even Jacob black- grandson of Ephriam Black triggers his gene at some point."

She tried to be nonchalant about the situation, but that just seemed to make it worse.

"There is no way you are crossing the treaty line unprotected with those wolves!" Edward roared and she matched gazes with him.

'Oh hell no!Reign in that ego glitter boy!' She immediately planned to shut down that path he was heading down.

"You aren't going to tell me what I am or am not doing, Edward. The wolves need to know that their stories are being leaked and they could also benefit from a better relationship with you guys. If I have to be the fucking olive branch then so be it. I am not letting your misogyny and possessive, egotistical tendencies fuck up this idea!" Her voice was eerily calm but voiced quite a threat that made the other vampires in the room go still, waiting for the explosion.

Edward seemed taken back but was smart and kept his mouth shut, very much resembling a pouting child. If Morticia were weak, the image may have made her smile, but she was set in her resolve.

"Look, think of it this way. If I go by myself, I will be seen as less threatening. If you guys go breaking the treaty to save my ass then there won't be any way that they will agree to make amendments to the treaty."

Carlisle stared at her intrigued, "Amendments? What amendments need to be made?"

Morticia broke her intense stare with Edward and turned to the Cullen patriarch.

"You guys made that thing how many years ago? You really expect those same principles to apply to the here and now? What if there were to say a vampire army rage the town, do you have any clause that states a time of peace so you both can work together? What about a clause to tell you od any new threats in the area? Have you guys even set up some system to communicate?"

'Way to be subtle about Victoria.' She groaned to herself, but hopefully, it wouldn't come to that if she could stop it.

Carlisle looked amazed and also slightly forlorn that he had let the treaty go for so long without such amenities.

Morticia rolled her eyes at the obvious display of stupidity and stubbornness.

"Ok. So, as I was saying before Edward decided to have his temper tantrum, I will use my womanly wiles to get Jacob to spill the beans and then convince the wolves that they need to amend their treaty unless they want you to come after them for breaking it since I'm pretty sure that you all weren't stupid enough not to include a 'null and void' clause if somebody squealed. Any questions? No. Fabulous, I'll tell Tony tonight and let him know the great news."

All the vampires present seemed frozen in time, each with their own varying looks of amazement and confusion.

It was Emmett's booming laughter that made the others finally react.

"Who would've thought, the human is braver than the vampires?!" If he could have tears running down his face, Morticia could easily picture it with the way his face contorted with his laughter.

"She's ready to face the wolves one on one all because we didn't think to check in once in a while. Damn. I'm proud, little sister. You've got balls."

Morticia ignored the 'little sister' comment but gave him a sinister smile, "You're damn straight I do. This is why I need to go home and prepare for how the hell I'm going to convince Jacob Black to tell me all about his tribe's dirty secrets."

Alice gave her a winning smile and shot a quick glance to a still fuming Edward. "I think if you wear that lacy black dress you have in the back of your closet with your thigh high boots might do the trick."

She could tell by Edward's furious expression that it was most definitely the right option.

"Alice, have I told you how much I love you lately, because you may need to watch out. If you keep giving me advice like that Jasper may have some competition." She told the pixie vampire with a wink. Jasper jokingly put his arm protectively around his wife and pulled her closer to him, as if threatened.

Morticia threw her hands up in a surrender gesture, "Yeah I can't split up an endgame couple like Jalice. Even I'm not that big of a bitch."

The rest of her day with the Cullen family was actually, a lot of fun. Other than Edward blatantly pouting and trying to catch her gaze so he could guilt her out of going to the reservation. Not sad to say, he was sorely disappointed because she blatantly ignored his attempts and focused all her attention at beating Emmett at every game he tried to play her at. Especially, Dance Dance Revolution.

"How the hell are you getting such a high score? You aren't even using the right moves?" Emmett shrieked as she got another perfect score for that round.

"I don't know what to tell you brother bear...it's all in the hips!" She sang, doing some moves that could make a belly dancer jealous.

Emmett growled and tried to step up his game...but failed miserably, causing Morticia to win the final round.

"This isn't over. Next time you come over, I am determined to beat you at something!" He growled out as she practically floated down the stairs.

"Oh, Emmett, sweet sweet Emmett. Just because you aren't the best dancer doesn't mean you aren't good at other things... Like...Oh, what did Rose tell me last night?... Oh, that's right.. you are so good at hitting...balls! Baseballs, that's it! See, you're good at something." She said teasingly as everybody burst out laughing, even Rosalie.

Emmett looked at her with a proud look, "I have to admit, that was good wordplay. Nice job little sis."

Morticia gave him a 'bear hug' before moving to do the same to the remaining vampires.

"Please come back anytime, we enjoyed you so much," Esme whispered to her as she gave her a slight squeeze.

"Of course, I will. Thank you for having me, I did enjoy my stay!"

Esme looked slightly worried.

"Seriously, I did. Alice promised me a real slumber party experience and what's a slumber party without a little emotional unpacking?! That's like rule number one of slumber party etiquette, always be prepared to emotionally unload all your problems onto other guests!" She said with a laugh, making Esme smile.

She turned to Edward last.

"Look I know you are still pissed about the idea of me going behind enemy lines, but you seriously need to get that frown off your face. We don't need to test if vampires can make their faces freeze or cause wrinkles prematurely."

He didn't seem amused. "Seriously, after my well-crafted commentary, you won't even crack a smile. That is just-"

He cut her off by wrapping his arms around her middle and she could feel him pressing his face into her hair.

She froze momentarily, unsure if she should move or just let his lapse in sanity go unnoticed.

"If I can't convince you to not go, promise me you'll try to stay as safe as possible- for my sanity please."

Morticia was stunned at his request and after he pulled back slightly, she replied, "Yeah yeah. I'll stay safe so I can be your chaperone for you and your other singer. You don't have to worry about me sacrificing myself to become some wolf's chew toy. I'll be fine."

He looked slightly pained and unconvinced as she turned to leave.

'Why is he so caught up with my safety all of a sudden? What the hell did I miss in the last 24 hours besides the obvious?'

"Alice, as soon as I get Tony to set up a phone for me I'll let you know when he plans to take me to la push so you can check out for any 'incidents' that may happen. For Eddie's sake." She mocked as she made her way to the door.

"Oh don't worry, I've already got you one in your bag, preprogrammed with all our numbers and everything. I thought it was about time we got you one."

"Of course you did. Why would I think any different? Let me guess, it's the newest model and crazy expensive?" Alice's sheepish look gave her the answer.

"Alice, You know I can't accept that!"

"Think of it as an early birthday present!"

"My birthday isn't until October!"

"...An early, early birthday present?"

"Ugh, fine. I'll let it pass this one time because I know you need me to give you info about the wolves but I swear to god pixie, I am not gonna be your charity case!"

Alice gave her an affirmative nod, not entirely making Morticia feel too sure about her intentions.

'She is totally gonna turn me into a gothic Barbie if I stay here!' Morticia groaned as she reached for the door handle.

"Ok, I'm leaving before Alice gets any other groundbreaking visions! Thank you all for an invigorating 24 hours but I need to go recover quietly from my emotional whiplash! Goodbye, all!" With a twirl, she closed the door and flounced down to her car.

She made it back to Tony's and saw that he was working on his cruiser in the driveway.

"Hey Tony, whatcha doing?" She asked as she unloaded her bag from the trunk.

"Oh, just checking the oil really quick. The forecast is calling for some early frost and I wanna make sure I have everything runnin' smoothly in case I get stuck anywhere. I'll check yours next if you want."

"Yeah, that would be great! Hey, I wanted to ask you about that bonfire down on the reservation, when is that again?"

Tony shut the hood of the car and wiped his hands on a dirty rag.

"It's funny you asked that. Billy just called me and said he decided to move it to tonight. I think he saw the forecast too but I bet it was those boys. They sure love to eat their fill at a bonfire."

'perfect, just perfect.' She thought.

"Hey, I know it's short notice, but can I go?"

Tony gave her a shocked look, "Uh...sure. I wasn't sure how well you'd wanna go since it's a school night and all."

"Come on uncle Tony. It's only the second week of classes and I already know the intro material. I can basically sleep in my classes and get an A, let me live on the wild side for once."

Tony glanced at her unsure, "Ok... but don't you stay out past 12. And take Caleb with you. I think he wants to hang out with Harry's boy."'

"Sure! Awesome, Thanks uncle Tony!" She quickly kissed his cheek and ran into the house.

She spotted Caleb watching TV on the couch and tossed a pillow at his head.

"Come on cousin, we have a bonfire to attend. Get ready and let's go!"

Caleb instantly perked up at the mention of the party.

"Wait, Tony said we can go? Awesome! I can't wait to see Seth!"

Morticia was sure that if it were possible, there would be a trail of steam behind her cousin as he all but flashed up the stairs.

'He never ceases to make me laugh,' She thought happily as she made her way to the stairs to get herself ready.

Taking Alice's advice, she chose the short babydoll black lace dress with her black thigh-high boots, layered some silver jewelry, added a puffy headband, and a long gray cardigan for good measure. Her makeup was more simplistic but she added a dark red lip. She wanted to be innocent but also alluring, and who can resist a red lip on a blonde?

Once she was ready she met Caleb at the front door. He was dressed much nicer than she had ever seen him before. He had on a nice pair of black jeans, a hunter green long sleeve shirt and paired it with some black doc martens. For a jacket, he chose a jean jacket, which she agreed with. her cousin was much too sweet to go for the leather, biker look.

"So are you ready to see how the cool people of Forks party?" Her cousin asked as they got into the car, waving at Tony through the windshield.

"You're almost 15, what can you possibly teach me about parties that I don't already know?" Morticia shook her head as she put her car in reverse.

'Well...guess we're being thrown to the wolves...I hope they've had all of their shots.' She thought as the landscape began to zoom past them.

(Edward Pov- After Morticia's exit)

Once she finally drove away, he exploded.

"Alice, you can't seriously think it's a good idea to let her go on her own to talk to those wolves, do you?!" He roared at his sister.

"Calm down, Edward. We all agree that Morticia should convince the wolves to form some kind of...alliance so to speak. We've been disconnected from them for too long. It's time we renew the peace." Carlisle told him, calmly.

Inside, Edward knew they were thinking logically, but the idea of Morticia going across the line alone?! It made him want to pull his hair out.

"Even so, You're sending an innocent human girl across the treaty line to plead our case, surely you see how wrong that is!"

"Edward, she volunteered herself," Rosalie told him from her perch on the couch.

"It doesn't matter, she shouldn't be putting herself at risk for us. This is why she should never have gotten involved with us!"

'Brother, are you worried about the idea of her being injured by the wolves or by her possibly finding one of them admirable?' Jasper's thoughts made his nonexistent blood burn.

"Jasper, You know how important she is to me, don't antagonize me." He lowly growled at his brother, causing him to chuckle.

"I just find it funny, is all. You are supposed to fall in love with one human, Bella, only to have another human give you all the tips to get her yet you fall in love with the other human who you also can't read. You have to admit it's oddly comical. And now it's your turn to be on the end of some teasing."

Edward growled as Emmett jumped on Jasper's remark

"Oh, don't be so pissy, bro. I'm sure Jaz and I can give you loads of tips to win over Morticia. You really need to change up your style, dude, because just staring at her moodily may work for Isabella but not our little sis. She's a completely different woman."

He knew his brother's meant well with their teasing, but the image of Morticia smiling at some Quileute boy made his head spin.

'Please let fate not be that cruel.' He prayed quietly. 'Please let me have more than one second of happiness.'

Suddenly Alice's eyes glazed over and her mouth went slack. He knew she was having a vision and he regretted the second she projected it towards him.

'Morticia disappeared? What?! How?'

"Alice? What the hell was that?" He screamed as his sister shook herself out of her vision.

"I'm not sure, one minute I could see her and Caleb but the next second they were gone! They both just completely vanished."

Before his panic could spread, Alice's phone chirped beside her.

Quickly she rushed to check the message, "It's from Morticia." She sighed and Edward felt the worry lessen a tad.

"She said she's sorry she forgot to mention that she would disappear from my visions once she came in close contact with the wolves and that she is on her way to La push right now with Caleb. Apparently I won't be able to see the wolves in my visions- they're a blind spot for me."

The worry came back full force as Edward processed this information.

"Alice, if you can't see the wolves, then how are we supposed to know if one of them will hurt Morticia?" Emmett posed the obvious question.

"She knew." Edward's response turned all eyes to him.

"She knew they'd be your blind spot but she didn't tell us because she knew I wouldn't let her go without the assurance of your visions, Alice." He continued, his voice becoming more chilling.

'How could she trick me like this? She promised me she wouldn't let herself get hurt.' His thoughts were broken as Jasper tried to calm him.

"Brother, let's not be hasty. She might have a plan, let's just give her a break. Alice got her a phone so everything will be alright."

"Everything will be alright, really Jasper. Morticia just sent herself to wolf territory without backup and her only companion is her human cousin, but her great weapon is a cell phone?! Quit trying to calm me it won't work. Not until I go and bring her back her and make her see reason!" He made a dash for the door but was intercepted by Emmett.

Emmett had him in a cage grip while Jasper tried to send him some heavy doses of calm energy.

"You need to calm the hell down, little bro. You really think breaking the treaty will help her right now. Remember what she said, she needs the wolves to see her as non-threatening. You rushing in there to pull her out would put a fucking bullseye on her back."

Edward finally stopped resisting and hung his head.

"I'm sorry, I know I'm acting foolish. I'm just so worried about her. I don't know what I'd do with myself if I lost her after I just got to know her."

'How could a person become the center of my universe so quickly? And to find someone who excites me so? It's almost magical,' He mused.

It was Esme who broke his thoughts.

"I can tell you what you aren't going to do. You aren't going to go suicidal and break this family apart, nor are you going to do anything else just as stupid." Her face was a stony resolve.

"I am sorry to be blunt, Edward, but I refuse to lose another son. I know she's your mate and we respect how hard it is for you right now, but you need to trust your mate to handle this. Remember all she told us with the torment you put Bella through when you left? Morticia won't become so dependent on you because she makes her own choices and you need to respect that. That is the only way you will make a relationship with her work, honey." Her voice began as hard as stone but mellowed to a lighter tone towards the end that made Edward feel even more like a fool.

"Of course, mom. You're right. I need to let her make her own decisions, but I...it's just so hard to take a risk with her."

Esme quickly moved and took Edward into her arms, away from Emmett.

"I know dear, but you will see that it will all be worth it. One day in the future you will look back on this moment and laugh together at your stubbornness."

Her embrace did ease his tension slightly, but his thoughts continued to swirl.

'How can one human girl take on a pack of huge, shapeshifting wolves alone?'

His thoughts would soon be answered and the wolves would soon learn not to cross one, Morticia Addams.