Making her way to Bella's house Rosalie was brimming with excitement. Not only was she getting to talk to her mate but she was going have uninterrupted one on one time with her. She would have never thought after she ran away from the school parking lot that morning her day would not only include spending time with her mate but also finding out that Bella was a shifter.

Once they reach the front door Bella unlocked it and ushered Rosalie into the living room. Rosalie sat on the couch while Bella took the chair her father preferred. She had the overwhelming urge to sit next Rosalie, hold her hand, snuggle her close but she couldn't understand why. Ever since locking eyes with her in the woods she wanted to be near the vampire.

It was confusing Bella that when Emmett attacked her in the woods she wasn't afraid for her own life but was concerned for Rosalie's. It took Rosalie laughing that clued her in to Emmett not being a danger and though still cautious she stopped her attack rationalizing that without a leg he wouldn't be that much of a danger to anyone. The fact that he deferred to Rosalie during the whole interaction made her lose the remaining bit of hostility towards him.

Rosalie looked around the room and noticed it was quite drab. It looked like a bachelor pad that had recently been spruced up to make it more of a home. There were a few pictures of what looked to be Chief Swan with an older lady and some recent ones of him with Bella. Seeing them side by side made the similarities in their very different appearances more noticeable. Bella had Charlie's nose, mouth and facial structure. It was very obvious to Rosalie that the were father and daughter. This had her thinking of what kind of circumstances brought Bella to live with a man who didn't know that his daughter was a shifter.

It was with that thought that Rosalie broke the silence with her first question "How is it that your father doesn't know you're a shifter?"

"Neither of my parents know I'm a shifter. They are both regular humans." Bella answered reluctantly.

"How is that possible?It's obvious Charlie is your father but who was your mother? Were you adopted?"

"I'd rather not get into my past right now it's a sensitive subject."

Even though she wanted to push for the information, Rosalie relented. She had to remind herself that they would hopefully have many more talks in the future. If Bella accepted the mate bond they would have all of eternity to find out everything about each other.

"Yes of course I'm sorry.I just want to know about you."

"That's fine.I want to know about you too. I guess my first question is why are your eyes gold and not red?"

"It's because myself and my family only live off the blood of animals. We don't drink from humans." Rosalie noticed Bella stiffen.

"What types of animals?"

It was then Rosalie understood. Bella had stopped her from hunting the mountain lion. Bella wanted to know if they ate others of her species. If she had a beating heart it would be pounding wildly she was sure. Lying wasn't an option as it was almost impossible to lie to one's mate. She just wasn't sure what Bella's reaction to her answer was going to be and that had made her extremely anxious.

"We eat all different types of animals."

"So you eat cats?"

Rosalie chuckled at the mental picture of one of her family members stalking a house cat. It was when she looked into Bella's angry eyes that she got serious again.

"We eat large predators yes."

Bella was beyond furious.It was a relief to find out the vampires weren't killing humans but it was almost worse that they were eating her brothers and sisters.They would have no chance of fighting off a vampire. Her job was to protect them and now she was faced with the realization that she was going to have to protect them from this intriguing creature in front of her. She was conflicted to say the least.

"Is this something that you personally and the members of your coven would be willing to reconsider?"

Rosalie didn't have to think about the answer. She would do anything to make Bella happy and if that meant going on every hunt with her family to lay down the law of no more cats then she would.

"Of course. I'll speak to them as soon as I get home. I promise you we will stop right away. I'll never touch another mountain lion or anything similar again."

Rosalie lit up at the beaming smile Bella gave her. She wanted to live the rest of eternity having that smile directed at her.

"Thank you I truly appreciate that. I don't want to have any problems if I can prevent them."

"I know you said you don't want to talk about your family but can I asked you where you lived before?"

"I grew up outside of Phoenix Arizona until I moved with my mother to downtown Phoenix when I turned ten."

"I bet your tiger likes the weather a lot better here then the weather there?"

Bella chuckled "Although tigers are jungle creatures it doesn't effect me that way. I miss the Arizona weather as it was what I grew up in. Why do you and your coven go to high school?Isn't that strange amongst your kind?"

"We enroll in school every five years or less so we can stay in one place for longer. It allows us to blend in. Since we don't feed on humans we don't have to worry about the authorities coming after us.Most of us were changed when we were young so high school is the best cover for us so people don't get suspicious.My father Carlisle is a doctor at the local hospital. He actually mentioned your dad came in and asked questions about albinos to understand your condition better."

This surprised Bella and she found herself touched that her father went to the trouble to try to be a better parent by finding out about things that affected her. "He did? I didn't know that."

"Are you actually albino or does your appearance have more in common with your tiger side?" Rosalie knew she was pushing the limits on invasive questions but she couldn't help herself. This was her mate and she wanted to know everything as fast as possible.

"Initially it was thought to be the human condition but after I shifted we realized it had to do with my tiger. I didn't have the problems growing up that other albinos had like sun sensitivity and sight problems."

"You said we? Were you part of a pack or would it be called a pride because you're a tiger?" Bella looked away at that question but not before Rosalie caught the look pain in her eyes making her regret asking.

"No I wasn't apart of a streak."

For some reason the thought of Bella all alone in the world without any other shifters like her caused a pain in Rosalie's non beating heart. No one should be alone in the world, but for it to be her mate made Rosalie feel guilty as if she should have somehow prevented it even though it was completely impossible. She vowed to never let Bella be alone again.

Bella cleared her throat as the memories of her grandfather in his tiger form filled her mind. She wasn't always alone but after both grandparents died she felt the loneliness deep within her bones. Finding Charlie didn't fix that completely but he helped enough that it was just a little bit easier to breath.

"Do you plan to live with your dad from now on or are you planning to go back home to your mother?"

"My home isn't with my mother. I plan on staying with Charlie until I at least finish high school and then go from there. What about you do you have a home?"

"I had a home when I was human but that was a long time ago. Now we try to move to the same places every few decades.We rotate so we can have a feeling of home but no I don't have a home."

"That's actually kind of sad."

Rosalie let loose a bitter chuckle. "It used to be but now it's a way of life."

"Would you ever want to settle down."

Both women hadn't even realized that they had become relaxed enough that asking and answering the more personal questions wasn't as uncomfortable as it was initially.

"When I was human I had always wanted to settle down be married have children but after I became a vampire that dream slowly died."

Bella felt the overwhelming need to comfort Rosalie, so she stood up, sat down next to her and pulled her into her arms holding her tightly. She breathed in Rosalie's scent and was surprised when she smelt flowers in bloom and not the sickly sweetness like the other vampires she had been near that day. Even the coolness of Rosalie's skin felt soothing against the high temperature of her own. It was strange that for all the talk of home Bella had never felt more at home than right now when wrapped in Rosalie's arms.

Rosalie closed her eyes tightly and stopped breathing the second she felt Bella's arms around her. She was afraid that any tiny movement would cause Bella to let go. This is what people meant when they said they felt at peace she thought. Because in this moment with Bella's body and scent wrapped around her for the first time in either of her lives she felt peace.

Life wasn't so chaotic right then. All the worries in the forefront of her mind floated away, the sadness she felt was gone and all that was left was Bella.

Could wildness have it's own scent? If it did then that was what Bella smelt like. Wildness and the jungle melded together for for a heavenly aroma that made Rosalie almost purr in satisfaction. The heat of Bella's body seeped into her own and for the first time since she was turned into a vampire Rosalie felt warm.

Bella's noisy stomach broke the spell and caused her to blush as Rosalie pulled away laughing.

"I guess we need to feed the tiger." Rosalie said as she looked at clock realizing they had been in that position for over an hour. She felt oddly shy as she looked at Bella. " I guess it's dinner time?"

"Yeah I didn't get a chance to hunt like I wanted to so I need to eat. "

"Oh well I guess I should leave so you can have dinner."

"I would ask you to join me but I know you don't eat human food." Bella found herself sad that she couldn't think of a reason to have Rosalie stay longer.

She felt anxious at the idea of being away from Rosalie and the feeling was making her feel uncomfortable. She wondered if the vampire had done something to her to make her feel this constant need to be with Rosalie, to protect and provide for her. It felt it went even deeper than that and she realized that she needed to be away from her to research her grandfather's diaries to see if he knew what was happening to her.

Going against instinct Bella replied "Yeah, that's probably for the best. I bet your family is worried about you being alone with me."

Rosalie felt a sharp pain of sadness that Bella didn't want her to stay. Did this mean she didn't feel the mate pull? Could that mean she wouldn't ever accept the bond? She knew that turning a shifter was impossible as vampire venom was deadly to shifters, but maybe there was another way to get her to feel it. She would have to talk to Carlisle.

"Yes, they probably are." Rosalie said on her way to the front door. On the front step she stopped and turned around to face Bella shyly saying"I hope we get the chance to speak again soon. I really enjoyed talking to you."

"I hope so too. You'll be at school tomorrow right?" Rosalie nodded in response. "I'll see you then."

"Yeah I'll see you." Reluctantly Rosalie turned and walked towards the woods. She had initially planned to got straight home but now she wanted some time to herself. She wasn't ready for all the questions she would without a doubt be bombarded with.She selfishly wanted to keep a little part of Bella for herself. Even if it was just a conversation.