{Chapter Seventeen}
"Rose is now my new favorite person," Emily says.
I laugh, "she figured you could use a break from feeding all the guys."
"She figured right. The boys are eating me out of the house and home."
Seth and I had gotten back to Sam's in time to stop Emily before she started cooking her usual gigantic breakfast for the guys. Seth had decided to meet the guys on their perimeter run, so I opted to say with Emily and help her reheat some of the food.
"I can't imagine what it takes to feed all of them," I say.
Emily shakes her head, "it's not so bad. I just feel like I'm cooking all the time. I'm pretty sure I've fallen asleep with a spatula in my hand more than once."
I laugh as boys except for Sam walk in the door, fresh from their patrol.
"If it isn't our favorite hybrid," Jacob says.
I arch an eyebrow up at him, "I'm the only hybrid you know."
Jacob rolls his eyes, "just take the compliment."
I'm about to reply when I'm lifted into the air from behind.
"How's it going beautiful?" Paul asks.
"I'm good. How are you?"
"Better, now that my favorite girl is here."
He winks at me and Seth shoots him a look. Paul laughs before throwing his arm around my shoulders.
"Relax Sethy boy, I'm not putting the moves on your girl. She's like a little sister to me."
Paul bends down to whisper in my ear, keeping one eye on Seth.
"He gets so jealous of us, doesn't he?"
I stifle my laughter as Seth rolls his eyes.
"I'm not jealous."
"Oh, yeah? Then what would you call it?" Paul laughs.
"Perhaps he prefers the other name. You know? The green-eyed monster," I laugh.
"Really, Mia? Betrayed by my own girlfriend, that hurts."
I laugh again before going to kiss Seth on the cheek. Paul shakes his head, laughing before taking a seat at the table and gesturing to the plates of food.
"What's all this?" he asks.
"A gift from Rose. She made breakfast for Seth, Gabriel, and I and sent the leftovers to you guys."
"Did I just hear that correctly? You said these leftovers are from Rose?" Quil asks.
"Yep."
Quil, Embry, Jacob, and Paul immediately grab giant plates of food. Sam walks in right as everyone has settled down in their seats.
"What's all this?" he asks.
"A gift from Rose," Emily says.
He nods before kissing Emily all over her face. She laughs before pushing him off.
"Enough. Get something to eat."
He pulls her in for one last kiss before fixing his plate. Embry swallows before speaking to him.
"Where did you disappear to? We lost you about halfway through the patrol."
"Meeting with the Elders. I'm trying to convince them that Asher is a real threat," Sam says.
"And how's that coming?" Jacob asks.
"I thought it was it was going well until Henry Waters did the same bullshit he pulled on Gabriel to me," Sam says.
"You're kidding?" I say.
"Nope. Guy came in and cut my flipping legs out from under me. When I tried to mention that we consider you a member of the pack and that you're also from one of the oldest lines of alpha wolves, he shot me down. Said that you lived in New York most of your life, so you don't have any claim or some shit like that."
"This guys is unbelievable. What's it going to take for him to believe that Asher is someone that needs to be dealt with?" Seth asks.
Sam shrugs, "beats me. But from what Gabriel tells me, Waters' son and Asher were really close. When Waters' son died, Asher took care of everything. Maybe he's just trying to protect Asher because he sees him like a second son or something."
"That's really fucked up. Even if he's like a second son, Waters has to know that his "son" is a psycho murderer who is trying to kill a legacy," Jacob says.
"We often find ourselves blind to what's right in front of us when it comes to family," Sam says.
"What I'm hearing is that as long as Henry Waters is involved the Elders aren't going to provide any help dealing with the Asher situation," Seth says.
"Bingo," Sam says.
We are all silent for a minute before Embry takes to lighten the mood.
"Anyone up for some cliff diving?" he asks.
"Sure, why not? It's been a while since we last went," Jacob says.
"Paul?" Embry asks.
"Sure."
"Seth? Mia? Sam?" Embry asks.
"I'm in if Emily is going," Sam says.
Emily's eyes go wide, "me? Go cliff diving with all of you?"
"Yeah, babe," Sam says.
"I... but... who..."
She sighs before shaking her head, "fine."
"Yes! Now, what about you two?" Embry asks looking over at me and Seth.
"I'll go," Seth says.
"I would but I have to practice hunting with Emmett today."
"Cool, do you mind if I tag along? I've always been curious how vampires hunt," Quil asks.
"I don't mind but I'll have to check with Emmett and Edward," I say.
"Then it's settled. We are all going to have a fun-filled day," Embry says.
"Good. How about once everyone is finished, we all meet up here and have a bonfire and grill out? We haven't had one of those in a while," Sam says.
Everyone agrees to meet up for the bonfire and we all help clean up before heading out. Quil and I decide to test my new vampire speed by racing to meet Emmett and Edward."
"You've done this before haven't you?" he asks.
"I may have raced Seth quite a few times," I say.
He shakes his head before laughing, "are you sure you want to do this? I'm faster than Seth."
"Yeah, I need to get used to it and learn how to get faster. The more I practice, the faster I'll get," I say.
"Alright, give me a minute to get ready."
He takes off into the trees and I start stretching my legs to get ready to run. After a few minutes, a chocolate brown wolf emerges from the trees.
"Nice color," I say.
Quil lets out a low growl and I laugh.
"I was being polite. Besides, I think the color reflects your sweet personality.
Quil nudges me with his nose and I push him away.
"You ready to lose, wolf boy?" I ask.
Quil shakes his fur before lowering his front half to the ground.
"I won't be the one losing."
I freeze, looking around in shock.
"What the hell was that?" I ask.
Quil looks at me, his head cocked to the side.
"Did I just hear your thoughts like the rest of you guys do?" I ask.
"I don't know. Did you?"
I gasp, "holy shit! I did! I heard you! Say something else."
"Now she say she gon do what to who? Let's find out and see, Cardi B. You know where I'm at. You know where I'm at . You know where I be. You in the club just to party. I'm there, I get paid a fee. I be in and out them banks so much. I know they're tired of me."
I look over at him, "really? Cardi B? That's what you chose to think of?"
Quil gives me what I think is a shrug and I shake my head.
"Let's go before you start saying that you don't dance now, you make money moves."
Quil gets back into position and on the count of three the two of us take off into the woods. By the time Quil and I arrive at the Cullen's, Edward and Emmett are already waiting.
"Who's the wolf?" Emmett asks.
"Edward, Emmett, meet Quil. He's curious about how vampires hunt, so I thought he could tag along."
"I don't see why not. It might benefit you to try and catch something that can easily outrun you. Also, I thought it would be a good idea for you to learn some tactics from both myself and Edward. Normally, Carlisle would have one of the girls teach you, but he thinks that you might find mine and Edward's ways of hunting a little more natural than Alice's or Rosalie's," Emmett says.
I nod and Edward gestures to Quil.
"First, I think it would be wise if we all familiarize ourselves with Quil's scent. That way we know what we are tracking. Quil, if I may?"
Quil lowers himself to the ground near Edward steps forward to get his scent. Emmett moves forward also, and I follow, each of us taking a quick sniff of Quil's scent.
"Alright, you got it?" Emmett asks.
"Yeah, I think so," I say.
"Good. Now, Edward and I are going to show you a couple of different techniques that you can use," Emmett says.
Edward and Emmett get help from Quil to show me a couple of different ways to take down my prey and to chase it down. After a few minutes, they send Quil deeper into the forest and ask me to close my eyes.
"Try not to focus on what you can see but rather what you can smell and hear. You have Quil's scent, so see if you can pick it up," Edward says.
"Alright," I say.
I close my eyes and zone out everything around me. A light breeze gently blows, and I turn to face it. Hidden in the breeze is Quil's scent.
"Got it," I say, opening my eyes.
"Good, now go find him," Edward says.
I nod before running off in the direction I first caught Quil's scent. It takes a few more hours of me trying to catch Quil before Edward and Emmett feel like I've actually gotten hunting down.
"Let's try one last time. This time Quil, we want you to fight back. Try to escape Mia by doing more than just running," Emmett says.
Quil nods before taking off deep into the forest again. This time I leave my eyes open, only focusing on the sound of Quil's paws hitting the ground. I also focus on his scent, after a few minutes Edward nods his head and I take off into the forest after Quil.