Emmett's POV
I once heard someone say that looking into someone's eyes is like peeking through a window and seeing that person's soul. If that's true then I guess Rosalie sometimes puts up blinds. But then sometimes she accidentally doesn't close those blinds fully and you get a glimpse of her soul. Battered and bruised. Contained and confused. Ha made a rhyme. So easy to get sidetracked...back to the topic.
Rosalie is not that hard to read. I don't understand why people call her the Ice Queen. You just need to look at her eyes, look past those blinds and then she's like an open book. Hold up...I think I've finally got it! I never really thought about this before but I think the thing is you have to be brave enough to look into her eyes first of all. Only few have done so and only few have survived to tell the story of what they found...
Kidding! Rosalie doesn't eat humans or vampires, well any form of people in general.
I suppose since Rosalie is so beautiful people just stare at her outer beauty. Superficial people. They need to see the beauty inside of her and see that it surpasses the beauty that she has on the outside.
In the cafeteria during lunch I could see the pain in Rosie's eyes. On the outside she seemed her normal fine assed self but past her blinds you could clearly see that she was hurting, sad and even terrified. A whole load of emotions that I have never seen on her before.
I stared into those emotion filled eyes, trying to work out each individual feeling and silently promised that we'll talk about it later. We sealed the promise with the brief touch of lips. The touch of lips doesn't mean anything. It's just that. A touch of lips. A facade to keep up pretences. The school day went by and I wasn't able to talk to Rosie until we got home.
When we finally get home everyone except Esme and Carlisle are just lounging around near the TV. Every few minutes I look over at Rosalie who's just blankly staring at the TV screen. America's next top model is on and yeah I might have been staring at the TV too. Hot humans are still worthy of attention. When there's a commercial break I poke Rosalie and indicate towards the front door. She nods and starts to get up when we hear footsteps outside leading towards the house. A look of confusion passes through everyone's face until the person is close enough for us to smell their scent.
A grin breaks out on my face and Alice literally squeals and leaps from the sofa towards the front door. She slams it open and stands in front of it with her hands on her hips and her dainty left foot tapping on the porch.
'Well well well, look at what the cat dragged in!' Alice's grin can be heard through her voice, 'It's only our dearest cousin Tanya flipping Denali! What made you remember your peasant cousins today huh? You have some nerve showing that gorgeous face of yours around after so long! I didn't even see you were going to come.'
'Well StinkyTink can't a person just drop by to see their family unannounced? Where's the rulebook that says I can't? Bring it here so I can smack you with it.' Tanya replies with a smirk just before reaching the porch.
Alice gives Tanya her (what she thinks is an) extraordinary death glare before laughing and launching herself at Tanya.
I can't help myself and let out a loud 'WHOOP! Tan is here!' before joining the hugging fest that is going on. I pick up both my sister and cousin and twirl them around.
'Dude! It's been way to long!' I smile at Tanya as she and Alice smack my arms to get me to let them go. I drop them gently and make my way back to Rosalie. She has her arms folded and a smirk on her face as she eyes Tanya up and down.
'Ermm Tanya... why are you wet?' She asks her with her right eyebrow arching upwards.
I look Tanya up and down too and so does Alice at the same time. In our excitement we forgot to take a look at Tanya. Her hair was stuck to her head in long wet tendrils and her clothes were drenched.
'Ew.' Alice scrunches up her nose while she backs away from Tanya.
Tanya just grins at Alice. 'I saw a lovely little river and thought why not just lie in it for a while.' She shrugs while walking up to Rosalie with her arms outstretched.
Rose scrunches up her nose and with a sneer says 'No thanks' at Tanya while turning her back on her.
'N'aww dear cousin it's only a bit of wetness, you've been in that state many times before no need to be all disgusted about it.'
Rose scoffs and carries on walking into the house with us laughing and messing about behind her.
I throw an arm around Tanya and usher her into the living room where Carlisle and Esme are waiting with Jazz and Eddie Boy.
"Seriously Tan it has been way too long, where are your other thirds? Is everything okay?"
I ask her while furrowing my brow. It's quite uncommon for Tanya to just drop by without telling us first and it's even more uncommon for her not to have Irina and Kate with her too.
"Everything's fine Birdiebrain, I just felt like spending some time with my cousins for a while, have a change of scenery, substitute the snow for rain etcetera etcetera, " Tanya shrugs and grins, "As for Irina and Kate, they fucked up the house while fighting so they'll be here once they've reconstructed everything again."
I laugh just thinking about the epic tantrum Kate must have thrown when Tanya told her she can't come until she cleans up the mess.
Rose must have gone upstairs because next thing you know she throws a towel towards Tanya who catches it without missing a beat and blows a kiss in Rose's direction.
"Thanks Rosie Boo." She winks as well which Rose replies to by giving Tanya the finger. Tanya just giggles it off and after wrapping the towel around her head moves over to hug Esme and Carlisle.
Esme tuts at Rosalie but reciprocates Tanya's hug.
"It has been long Tanya but before we get reacquainted I think you should go have a shower, the run from the river to here is very muddy, I'll get you some clean, dry clothes to change into."
With that Esme leads Tanya out of the living room and towards the stairs to the guest room.
"I'll see you chickens in a bit!" Tanya shouts while waving over her shoulder.
With the distraction of Tanya on halt for the moment I walk over to Rose again, grab her hand and lead her out the door.
"Me and Rosie are just going to go hunt, we'll be back soon." I tell the remaining members of the family..
As soon as we're outside Rose drops my hand and runs off into the forest, I run behind her knowing exactly where she is going.
A few years back, deep into the forest, Rose and I found some fallen trees. We used the trees to make some rustic benches and placed them in a semi circle in a small clearing so that we'd have a place to sit and talk if we wanted to away from prying ears (and minds in Edward's case.)
The rest of the family know that this is our special place so they don't venture around this area much.
Rose takes a seat on one of the three benches and looks off into the distance with her jaw tense. Her hands grip the edges of the bench and she seems to be hunching into herself.
Whatever it is, it seems to be hurting Rose and nothing is worse than that.
I take a seat beside her and lay my hands on my lap like I'm a kid waiting for a telling off outside the principal's office.
After a long moment of silence I decide to speak up since Rose seems to be lost in her own turmoil.
"...So what's up Rose?"
Rose stops staring off into the trees and looks at me with her eyebrow raised. First I see the left corner of her mouth twitch, then a full smile before she lets out a booming laugh that can rival my own. The hands that were clutching the edge of the bench are now clutching her stomach as she throws her head back and laughs.
Shit. I think Rose has lost her nuts.
After a while she calms down and her laugh turns to giggles then to finally a small, barely there smile.
She looks over at my baffled face again and shakes her head.
"Sorry Em, I've been tormenting myself with this... problem and when you asked like that I realised the irony of it, that such a simple question that's normally answered with 2 or 3 words will be answered with a long list of complicated and confusing explanations."
My face softens as I look at Rose who is no longer smiling but tensing and un-tensing her jaw again. A sign that she is angry at something but trying to reign it in.
"Something's wrong with me Emmett, I'm losing control of myself." Rose sighs and leans back to rest her head against my shoulder as I wrap an arm around her shoulders.
She explains everything she's feeling, from the first time she saw the new girl, Isabella, she says her name in a whisper and I barely hear it. It's as if the name was for her to acknowledge only and I wasn't really meant to hear.
She then tells me about how her vampire finds this human interesting. How it wants to be near her and learn more about her but at the same time she can't stand this human. How this human makes her vampire lose control. How this stupid human ignored her and threw something at her which made her angry. She talks about her scent; she describes it to perfection throwing in words like sweet like vanilla, refreshing like watermelon and musky like damask rose. She's lost in her own mind, forgetting I'm here as she speaks her thoughts out loud. Like this is the first time she can sort out the confusion that has been playing out in her mind. She's deducing, rearranging and conducting answers that can help her understand this new disturbance that's been thrown her away.
She doesn't need my advice, all she needs is to help herself understand by voicing her thoughts. This is how it always goes. I'm just the catalyst that makes her get to this point. This is how it goes every time and every time I'm grateful that Rosalie lets me in since she doesn't let anyone else get even as remotely close to her as she lets me. It's an honest to God privilege. Her mind is so complex, I can't even describe it.
She finally halts when she reaches the end of her descriptive tirade of the human girl.
"I think it's this Isabella's blood that calls to me, that makes me have these thoughts and these strange feelings. She could be my singer."
I rub her shoulder as she clutches my top.
"I need to stay away from her Em, I can't mess up and expose us not after everything we've done to finally come back here, this is home Em. This is our real home."
I sigh and kiss the top of her head.
"Don't worry Rosie, I'll help you okay? We'll make sure nothing bad happens. It's just a few more months at that school and then we're done. You'll be fine till then, I mean you're Rosalie fucking Hale and Rosalie fucking Hale doesn't mess up!"
I say the last bit while poking her side which makes her swat my hand away and smile.
She shakes her head before getting up "I know I can always count on you to be there Em, thank you, now let's actually go hunt before we catch up with inappropriate Barbie."
"Erm Rose, you're a blondie too ya'know..."
"Shut up Em, I'm nothing like Tanya Denali."
Tanya's POV
After showering and changing into dry clothes I returned back to the living room. All the Cullens were there to greet me again except for two, Emmett and Rosalie, who were probably hunting.
If I use the same excuse later the cousins won't question it when I go out to meet Leah. Just remembering my wolf, her scent, her skin, those abs, those eyes makes my mouth water and my heart leap.
"So Tan-Tan! How's things in Denali?"
Alice's voice breaks my thoughts away from my wolf and I discretely run my hand around my mouth to make sure venom isn't drooling down the side of it. I inwardly groan at being brought out of my thoughts about my Puppy and take a seat next to the tiny vampire.
"It's all good Pixie-sticks but you know how monotonous it can get, I just thought it'd be good for me and the other two twits to stay with the cousins, mix it up a bit, maybe even attend that high school you guys go to for a new experience..."
Alice scrunches up her nose at the last bit.
"So Denali's good but you were bored so you thought it'd be a good idea to come here so you can go to a place that's full of young hormonal humans... out of choice?"
She looks at me like I've lost my mind.
"Yup! It's good to spice things up a little bit when you live as long as us fine beings." I grin at her look of disbelief.
"You're insane."
"And you're tiny."
She shoves me and glares. "I'm fun-sized not tiny!"
I wrap my arm around her shoulder and pull her towards me in a side hug. "The Funnest pixie in the land of Forks, now shush up so I can talk to someone else other than you."
She huffs but wraps an arm around my waist and rests her head on my shoulder as the remaining Cullens and I catch up with Alice piping in now and again. Alice and I have been close ever since she found Carlisle and downright demanded that her and Jasper will be a part of his coven. She's like a breath of fresh air whenever we meet. The happiest go lucky vampire you'll ever find and the kindest. A true rarity amongst our kind.
After about an hour or so later of chit chatting with Alice and Esme, Emmett and Rosalie return, their eyes a much richer gold than before.
"Good hunt, love birds?" I enquire with a raised eyebrow. Rosalie looks like wants to tell me to mind my own but Emmett pipes up instead.
"Yeah it was good. Food is always good." He flashes me a dimpled smile before running over and draping himself over mine and Alice's lap. He bats his eyelashes up at me while Alice continuously pokes his stomach to get him to move.
"What do you want handsome? I don't think Rosalie will approve with whatever it is you'll say," I wink over at Rose again and she gives me the dirtiest look she can muster.
Emmett guffaws and gets up.
"I think we should continue our Assassin's creed marathon Tan."
"No."
"Please?"
"No."
Emmett pouts and looks over at Rosalie. "Rosalie she didn't even say anything, why are you answering?"
"Because Emmett the last time you guys had a video game marathon you had a tantrum and broke Esme's table."
"I'll behave this time Babe, promise!"
I just laugh at Emmett's pleading face.
"Get the games handsome, I'll persuade Rose."
Emmett shouts a huge 'yes!' while flashing to his room.
"If he breaks anything Barbie, you're fixing it with him this time not me!" Rosalie points a perfect finger at me and glares before storming off to what I assume is her garage.
"Love you too Rosie Boo!"
Emmett brings the X Box, PS4 and as many games as he can carry down and sets the PS4 up first.
"Hold on to your weave Tan, you're in for the marathon of a life time."
"Ooo Kinky, bring it on Groot."
After an epic games marathon that carried on for nearly 4 hours and with no casualties of inanimate objects I tell the family that I need to hunt and follow the route back to the same place I first saw my Puppy.
It's nearly 9pm and as I reach our meeting place I see Leah in her wolf form looking at the ground and pacing back and forth. She hasn't sensed me yet but as I get closer to her, her head finally snaps up and she looks directly at me. She then runs behind one of the trees and emerges back out dressed in an orange tank top and denim knee length shorts.
I inwardly pout, secretly hoping I'd see her in the same state as she was in when we first met, full on naked birthday suit extravaganza, but even though she's clothed she looks stunning.
She rushes towards me as I run towards her and just as we're about to clash we both halt with mere inches between us. She looks down at me, her soft brown eyes boring into my own golden ones and for the first time in my life I'm speechless. No dirty thought flutters through my mind and no inappropriate comment falls out of my lips. The air around us feels to be charged not with electricity but with the anticipation of this moment, everything seems to be slowed down like a psychedelic haze has taken over the air and everything around us. The only ones unaffected are Leah and me; the surroundings mean nothing as we only have awareness for each other.
I reach out gently and place my hand on her chest over her heart. I can feel her chest rise and fall slightly more quickly and feel the flutter of her strong heart beat under my palm. The sound of that heart beat resonating like a symphony in my ears. My other hand reaches up even further to cup the base of her neck and slightly tugs to make her lean down.
Leah's own hands hold onto my waist to bring me forward, so that I can meld my body with her own. Our foreheads rest against each other as we slowly breathe each other in, never breaking the intense eye contact that's going on between us, the same eye contact which seems to be the cause of the psychedelic haze.
A lazy grin breaks out on Leah's face after a while and she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath in through her nose and releases it slowly through her mouth, opening her eyes again she speaks softly.
"I thought you weren't real. I...I thought I must have fallen asleep during patrol and you were just a figment of my unconscious mind. I thought that if I came here tonight I wouldn't really find you."
I move my hand from her chest and move it upwards to interlace with the hand on the back of her neck. I tilt my face up, this time closing my eyes, and place barely there butterfly kisses to any place on her beautiful face my lips come into contact with, trying to soothe away any doubt of my existence in her mind. I then move my lips to her ear and whisper just as softly as she did, not wanting to break this content bubble we're in.
"I'm real and I'm right here Puppy."
Leah's breath hitches and I feel her back twitch as she tightens the grip on my waist. She buries her face into the crook of my neck, effectively nuzzling it as I wrap my arms around her, holding her in place.
She mumbles, "I'm not a Puppy," almost as a reflex but carries on nuzzling.
I also bury my face into her neck, breathing in her hypnotic scent, feeling as though I haven't had enough of her scent I take one long breathe in and catch a strange scent coming off from her clothes. It's not strong and I immediately sense that it's a foreign scent. It's very diluted and could be from a number of things so I shake it off for now and concentrate on holding my wolf close to me.
After a while I pull back and looking at Leah's face, she's not happy about it. I let out a little laugh and clutch on to her top. I then pull her over towards the nearest tree trunk. Leah has an adorably confused face on but says nothing as I basically womanhandle her.
I tug downwards on her tank top and flirtatiously smile at her.
"Sit Puppy." Leah raises her eyebrows with her mouth slightly agape as an incredulous look overtakes her confused face but she listens nonetheless and sits, leaning her back against the tree trunk.
I then lower myself and sit sideways on her lap, my arms automatically wrapping around her neck again and hers going around my waist. I use one hand to stroke her cheek while she just stares at me with a goofy but adorable smile on her face.
"I want to know everything about you Beautiful."
"I want to know everything about you too." I reply and that's how the conversation about our lives start. We talk for a long time, topics continuously changing from one to another and as we talk about families she mentions her step dad and step sister Bella. As she talks about Bella that foreign scent on her clothes seems to become stronger and I freeze when it hits me like a ton of bricks.
That scent. That's the scent! It's so strong now and it's making my mouth water, just like Leah's makes my knees weak and my mind in a haze this one just makes me plain thirsty.
Leah stops talking when realises I'm not paying attention anymore and just sniffing her tank top.
"Erm...Beautiful what are you doing?"
"That scent Leah...who's is it?"
"Probably someone's from the house...why?" She gives me a look like I've lost my mind.
I turn in her lap so that my knees are on either side of her and I'm effectively straddling her.
Leah gulps and looks up at me with wide eyes, noticing that my eyes turning darker.
"Puppy, it's important okay?" I cup my Wolf's face and ask in a serious tone, "Who did you talk to today while you were wearing these clothes?"
Leah clears her throat and stutters when answering. "J-J-Just B-Bella and Seth."
"Is Seth a wolf like you?"
She nods as her eyes leave my face to trail down over my neck and onto the opening of my top, which is giving her a fantastic view of the top of my girls.
I know I'm playing dirty right now, distracting my Puppy to get information out of her but that scent is of the person we've been waiting for. The person who can end the Aching Era. It's the blood singer's. The legendary person the vampires have been singing about since before the war.
Since Seth has wolf's blood, his scent should be similar to Leah's that only leaves one person. Bella.
I pull Leah's face up towards me again removing her eyes from my girls and back onto my face. "Puppy, I'm going to tell you a story now, well it's less of a story and more of a truth but I need your help and you need to concentrate."
Leah bites her bottom lip with a worried look and nods. "Of course Beautiful, whatever it is, I'll help you to the best of my ability."
I then tell her the story of Aros, Royceus and The Third, the lost Princess, the Dark wars and about the Blood singer.
"The vampire world is in an uproar Baby, the Blood Singer of all Blood Singers is the only one who can help bring peace and it's Isabella, I need you to help me talk to Bella. If she doesn't do as prophesised then we'll have to say our goodbyes since all vampires will cease to exist."
Leah's eyes flash dangerously at the thought of losing me and she growls. She pulls me even closer to her and leans up to nip my chin.
"I am an Alpha Beautiful, no one is taking you away from me and fuck it! If Bella doesn't do what she should then she can feel the wrath of Leah Clearwater. Mission Blood singer is a go."
I peck her lips several times and rest my forehead against hers.
Mission Blood Singer is a go.