Chapter 12: Intruder

So far I had observed very few similarities between werewolves and vampires. Sam was the oldest of the group, and it was obvious that the group obeyed him. I couldn't help comparing him to Carlisle. There was no doubt in my mind that out of the horde here, he was the most level-headed, but he wasn't obeyed because of that. With Carlisle, every one of the Cullens respected him. They also rarely let one person be the sole leader. Carlisle could be the deciding vote, but sometimes he would let Edward or Alice or someone else take the lead. Sometimes I thought even Rosalie would have the right to make a few plans if she wasn't so stubbornly against me. If Edward had stayed, some sad, stinging part of me whispered that I could have been a part of that. Would I have been that trusted? Here, sitting in Emily's kitchen, that life seemed impossibly far. The wolves acted like one big, dangerous, warm, confusing family—but there was no confusion about who made the plans and who made the final decisions. Staying with Jacob meant getting on the good side not of Jacob's friends, but his alpha.

This wild, high-energy group of wolves was strong and dangerous. Other than one of their own, or the Cold-Ones, there wasn't much that could hold them back. Paul had dashed out of the kitchen because Emily didn't want him accidentally destroying her house. There was also the unforgettable evidence plain on Emily's face. Accidents happened. The thought made my stomach roll. The boys—men, really, because no one with bodies like these could be called just boys—were calmly chowing down on Emily's feast. They showed no concern for Paul, didn't speak about it. The situation was dealt with. Done.

"Is this normal?" I asked Embry.

He looked more like a chipmunk than a wolf with his cheeks full of Emily's scrambled eggs and bacon. "Sure," he choked around another bite of cheese melting on fluffy yellow-gold. "Paul's usually pissed. But Jake was bad in the beginning. Sam was the only one strong enough to take him—and even then, usually a few of us had to help pin him down. Jared's probably been the calmest—but he's not as precious as Emily might may you think."

"He's been on better behavior than you, Embry," Emily laughed. She pulled a chair from the other side of the table and sat next to me. "Embry's not trying to be blasé on purpose."

Embry paused. He looked at Emily, puzzled, and then swallowed roughly. He choked, pounded his chest, coughed and little and then caught his breath. "What about me is…blasé?" His brows pinched as he tried to guess at the meaning of her words.

Emily sighed and her expression softened. "Nonchalant, Embry." Half her face was always struggling to keep up with the emotions of her unblemished half. Whatever—whoever—had injured her had caused nerve damage. "Just because this has become the new normal doesn't mean you ignore how Bella might feel about it."

Embry's puzzled expression puzzled more. I smiled apologetically. I hadn't meant to put him in Emily's dog house.

Emily folded her arms on the table. Sam moved to the wall behind her, eyes always returning to her. She was his centre of gravity.

"Living with this," Emily said, gesturing to Embry and Sam, "took getting used to. We might seem comfortable now, but we've learned to play with the hands we were dealt. It's okay to be worried, or even a little afraid. We'll all understand. Even Paul. His understanding might take longer, but he's got it."

I laughed. "I guess I'm relieved."

Emily's eyes crinkled with her smile. "I know we're just starting to get to know each other, but it would feel like lying if I didn't lay it all out on the table." Her expression flattened somewhat. She leaned back in her chair. "You really were…friends with the Cold Ones?" She said it awkwardly, clumsy, like a child trying to ask another child if Santa Claus really could fit down chimneys and fly around the world in a single night.

My heart squeezed. I hid my curling fingers under the table. My limited human senses caught Sam staring. He'd noticed. I looked away from them and stared down a blueberry muffin. "Friends…? Not really." I traced a circle around a cluster of crumbs on the table. "There are some things that you can only understand if you experience it. You can probably relate. You made breakfast for a bunch of werewolves."

Embry's noisy eating paused. My audience was listening. It made me nervous. I tucked my hair behind my ear and pulled my fingers through the tangled ends.

"My relationship with the Cullens wasn't simple, and I don't mean to be rude, but I'm not really ready to talk about it. It's not because it was all bad…" I dropped my wrist, hand laid beside the crumbs, and my eyes narrowed. "It was a perfect storm. Probably the kind storm chasers go after. If someone was filming my life from the second I came to Forks until now, I think all the coincidences, wrong decisions, right decisions could only happen like this once. One in a million chances. I was just one small wind in a perfect storm." I turned to Emily and looked her in the eye. "The Cullens weren't my friends. They were a lot more than that."

Emily placed her hand on my shoulder. "I get it, Bella." She smiled sadly. "I've had a perfect storm myself."

I nodded. I'd been warned, but for a second I forgot and I stared. The long gashes. Sam moved off the wall. He stood behind Emily. The details were fuzzy, but I think I could see the aftermath of Emily's perfect storm—and the piece that had started it all. Emily withdrew her hand and Sam's hand touched her shoulder at the same time. They were so incredibly in sync—like she had sensed he wanted to touch her. She had leaned into him before he had reached for her. She threaded her fingers between his. She was his gravity, but she felt the pull too. They were huge, planetary objects of equal size, pulling each other in an endless loop. It was a familiar, but strange seeing it from the outside.

Embry shot up suddenly. He looked at Sam.

"Something's happened," Sam said to Emily stiffly. He glanced at me, uncertain how much he was willing to confess. "I have to meet with the others. We'll come back as soon as we can. Stay with Embry."

Sam pecked Emily on the cheek and ran out the door. I looked between Embry and Emily. Based on how tense Embry was and Emily's wide eyes, this was not a part of their new normal. Embry had been practically devoted to the food a second ago, and now it was like the room didn't exist. He placed himself between Emily and the door—and I was just coincidentally out of the line of fire too.

"What's happened?" Emily's voice was weak.

Embry's arms bowed. He was ready for a fight. "It'll be fine. They can take care of themselves."

Emily slammed her palms on the table and stood. Her chair stuttered behind her. "Damn it, Embry. What's happened?"

Embry's army relaxed a little. His fists remained clenched. He looked over his shoulder at her briefly but continued to watch the door. "Paul was just about cooled off when they caught the scent of another of those blood-suckers."

It was my turn to tense.

"Paul didn't bother to tell Sam before chasing it," Embry continued, "and of course it wasn't alone. There were two of those monsters. They weren't close either. Paul was looking for a fight."

"Where?"

Emily and Embry both turned to me.

"Where?" I asked again.

Emily sat down next to me again. "It's not like that," she assured me. "Nowhere near their…home. There's an old pact between us and the Cullens—dating back many, many chiefs. As long as the Cullens refrain from killing humans, none of the boys would go after them."

I swallowed, irritating my dry throat. I nodded, too sore to speak. I rubbed my collarbone, but it was the big, aching lump in my chest that was really bothering me. The Cullens were gone. I didn't need to worry.

"First Laurent and now two more?"

Embry tilted his head, his eyes focused, like he was carefully listening to something far off. "Sam's found them. It's sound like one the vamps didn't like what she was seeing and took off. Jacob and Paul have pinned the one Paul scented."

I wondered how good werewolf hearing was. How far away could he listen in on so many details? Could a werewolf hear a pin drop in the middle of the forest? Or were werewolves naturally attuned to the sounds of vampires and other werewolves? Maybe one day I'd write a field guide about all the basic questions—only the first few thousand. I could call it: A Brief Introduction to the Vampires and Werewolves of Forks and Mostly Why You Should Avoid Getting Involved.

Embry was silent for a minute. Emily hand her hands on the edge of the table, ready to jump up if needed. He announced that the vampire was dead. Emily's arms dropped and she exhaled heavily. Embry told us that Sam had sent Jacob and Paul to track the female one that got away. Jared and Sam were one their way back. We waited quietly for them to return. Embry made a few remarks reminding me that he'd been there when Jacob took out Laurent. I think he wanted me to be impressed, but all I could think about was how a vampire that had once seemed cordial and decent had been torn apart by wolves after threatening me. It wasn't the most impressive moment of my life.

When Sam and Jared showed up a few minutes later, Jared wasted no time stuffing his face again and Sam immediately apologized for abruptly leaving Emily. There was no doubt that Sam and Emily were a couple. Sam would jump in front of a car to save Emily. He'd let her have the entire piece of the floating wood while the Titanic sunk behind them. He'd give her the only parachute left on the crashing plane. Bitterly, I wondered if he was strong enough to leave and take away the entire wolf-pack if that was the only way to protect Emily. Would he leave her kitchen quiet and bear if he thought that was the only way?

Sam explained in more detail about the vampires Paul had accidentally stumbled across—he refused to give Paul the bragging rights associated with tracking—and I tried to listen. Mostly he complained about Paul's recklessness and reminded the group in front of him to never go in without a plan.

"It would be easier if I could be a part of your mind reading group instead of you relaying everything," Emily said tiredly. "I get all the worry and none of the excitement you seem to get."

Sam smiled warmly and kissed her forehead. "I am grateful you don't have to see the things the way we do. You're safer."

She rolled her eyes. "Safer, yes. But more worried because I can tell when you leave things out."

I narrowed my eyes at Embry—mostly because I knew it wouldn't work on Sam. "Mind reading?"

"Pack members have a connection," he answered before Sam could stop him. He winced and looked down, ashamed, as Sam scowled at him.

"Sam, Jacob trusts her," Emily scolded. "Give her a chance."

Sam reluctantly released his scowl and Embry relaxed.

"We can communicate with each other in our minds," Embry continued. He sat on the other side of me and nibbled on a few slices of bacon. "If we need to, we can talk with words in our head—like mind reading—or we can see through each other's eyes—share things we see, or feel. It can be annoying sometimes. If I were to break a leg, for example, the rest of the pack would know—and they'd feel it. Not exactly like I would, but they would feel it. If I see a vamp I can let the rest of the pack see exactly where I saw the vamp or smell what scent I might be tracking…it's useful when we need to help each other out but"—he shrugged—"it's not great if you want some privacy. There are no secrets in the pack. No choice."

I shook my head. "Telepathic empathy?" To think I was worried that the wolves might overhear a conversation on the phone. How much was unwillingly shared? I bit my lip. Emily had said that Jake trusted me. I wondered how exactly she knew that. Had Sam shared some intimate detail he'd witnessed in Jacob's mind?

"But you can't read the minds of…not werewolves," I guessed.

"Exclusively other pack members," Embry answered. "If there were other werewolves out there—say some lived in California and they had a different pack leader, we wouldn't be able to understand them. Only pack leaders and communicate with other pack leaders that way."

"Sounds complicated."

Embry laughed.

"But now you know there are mind readers out there," Jared teased.

Embry whistled the Twilight Zone theme. Jared kicked back in his chair, laughing.

"You've been warned," Emily said with a wink.

"You're not the first mind-readers I've met." I smirked. "And I think being able to read anyone's mind is more impressive than only knowing the thoughts of a few friends."

"You've met vampires, werewolves, and mind readers?" Jared practically breathed in his breakfast and had to cough it up. He had no trouble going back to shoving more in his face once he'd cleared his windpipe though.

"Where did you meet this mind reader?" Sam asked.

Sam's way of asking was grating—like it was a demand not a request—but I told myself he was doing his best to protect his family, his pack. I couldn't judge him harshly—yet. "Not a human mind reader," I answered. "When a human is turned into a vampire, certain aspects are heightened. Sometimes it means they get special abilities. Like being a telepath."

"One of the Cullens could read minds," Sam stated simply. His eyes pinched. Emily reached out and he offered his hand. She squeezed his fingers and patted his wrist. The tension in his eyes relaxed.

"Insider intel," Embry whispered.

Jared laughed. The way Emily had made Sam back off, I think it was obvious that Sam's next questions would make me uneasy. Emily might have won the boys over with her food, but she was winning me over with her perception. She had saved me from talking about someone I never wanted to name out loud again.

Jacob and Paul came back an hour later disappointed. The female vampire had done what Paul claimed was near impossible; she'd gotten away. Sam had asked me to give him what few details I had about Lauren. We were no closer to deciding what to do. Both groups at an impasse, Sam decided to switch to another line of questioning.

"Bella, the vampire that attacked you said he was working for another vampire—female," Sam stated.

Jacob stood behind me, ducking his head. He scowled at Sam's feet. He'd lost his shoes somewhere between Emily's kitchen and his chase after the vampires. He'd managed to keep his shirt and jeans. Paul had his runners but his shirt was missing. I was beginning to be grateful that I didn't have werewolf DNA. I could lose clothes in my own room, never mind while prowling the forest.

"Victoria," I said.

"Red hair?"

My chest burned. My heart leaped into my throat. "Yes," I choked.

"Damn it," Jacob hissed. He put his hands on the back of my chair. "Bella, I'm sorry. That…we chased a red-haired vampire."

I whipped around in the chair, eyes wide as a deer caught in headlights as I stared at Jacob. "She was the one you and Paul just went after?"

Jacob rubbed the back of his neck. "There could be other red-haired vampires, but…I don't think we can dismiss this as coincidence."

"They were definitely looking for something," Jared agreed.

"Maybe a missing vampire," Paul said. "A dead vampire."

"Laurent," I supplied. He'd failed his mission, hadn't reported back, and Victoria had decided to investigate. Did that mean Victoria was staying somewhere close? I wished I had some number to contact the Cullens' mysterious Denali friends, to find out how long-ago Laurent had left them. It might give some clue as to how long he'd been working with Victoria—again—and where they might have met up. Maybe one of the Denali coven members might know who it was Victoria had been with—the vampire Jacob and Paul had taken down.

Oh God. What if it was a member of the Denali? What had Alice told me about Laurent staying with the Denali coven—he'd taken a liking to one of the women? The Cullens would protect one of their own; I had seen it firsthand. If the Denali coven was anything like the Cullens, and Laurent had bonded with them…

"What colour were his eyes?"

The room quieted.

I rolled my eyes in frustration. "The vampire you took down?" I raised an eyebrow at Jacob.

"Red," he said.

"Obviously," Paul said sharply.

"Vampires that feed on humans have red eyes," I clarified icily. "The Cullens didn't have red eyes because they never drank human blood."

"Definitely red eyes," Jacob said. A few others nodded. He crossed his arms. "Thought you might know who it was?" His voice was quiet, distant.

"I thought…Laurent took an interest…or pretended to be interested in only killing animals," I explained to the group. Half seemed fascinated; Sam and Paul were disgusted. "If he'd made an ally of one of them, I thought it might be obvious who was coming after me—because of their eyes. But, believe or not, I don't actually know that many vampires."

Embry and Jared snickered. Jacob smiled weakly. Emily's eyes warmed. My progress with this group was going to be slow, but at least most of them were welcoming. Although I was beginning to detect a pattern. I make friends with vampires, some vampires chase me. I make friends with werewolves, some vampires chase me. I couldn't wait to see what happened when I made friends with the creatures from the black lagoon.

"Was this Victoria responsible for your mother's death?"

The room quieted again. I felt like someone had stuck a lightning rod through my spine. I saw Emily's jaw clench and she shot Sam a disappointed side glance. Jacob was completely still. I think I held my breath. The room was so silent I wondered if anyone else was breathing.

"She…didn't…" My hands were threatening to shake. I shoved them under my legs. "James." Electricity shot through my lightning-rod spine. It made me sick. His name was enough to bring back that room. The mirrors. My mother. My hands were shaking under my thighs. "James was Victoria's mate. She wants revenge because her mate was killed. After he'd killed my mom…" My stomach rolled over the word. Mom. I think a thousand years could pass and I would never settle on one feeling. There was regret, anger, sadness. Those were constants. Sometimes bitterness, sometimes blame—for myself, for James, for Edward…for my mom who never quite got the hang of being a mom. There was always a slice of the feeling I probably should feel when saying that word—mom—like she was near and wanted me to be happy and safe. I wondered who'd she like better—Edward or Jacob. Maybe she would have preferred I dated a nice, normal creature from the black lagoon named Roger.

"She's dangerous," Jacob said. He cleared his throat. "She got away from us. She got away from the Cullens."

"Like that's impressive," Paul snarled.

Sam shot Paul a glare and he ducked his head. "The Cullens are old and strong. They might not be as fast as us, but we'd be foolish to doubt that they are at least capable of taking down three of their own kind. We must assume that Victoria is dangerous."

Paul, after shooting me a glare, nodded at Sam. He was stubborn. He wanted to dislike me and he was determined to show it, but he couldn't ignore Sam.

"We continue regular patrols," Sam instructed. "In pairs. I don't want anyone in the woods alone—for any reason. The vampires we've come across have come from the north, and this Victoria returned in that direction. We will extend our patrols farther north—but this means we must be cautious. We don't want to be surprised by three at once next time."

A few of the wolves nodded. Emily exhaled slowly. Jacob's eyes were on the back of my head. I was still practicing regular breathing and wasn't ready to face whatever he wanted to tell me. Hadn't Edward left to keep me away from vampire craziness? Why couldn't he take it all with him? He took everything I wanted and left behind everything I hated about his world.

"Now there's one more problem," Sam continued. "When we saved Bella from that vampire, there was another with her."

"Lauren isn't a moron," I said. "She knows he wasn't a man. She's not upset some guy died—she knew he wanted to kill us. She won't believe that some genetically abnormal wolves showed up, rescued us, and then happily went away."

"Maybe you could tell her it's a government experiment," Jared suggested. He leaned over the table and pointed at Paul. "Genetically enhanced wolves bred for police."

"Military," Paul encouraged. He grinned.

"You could try being honest," Emily said lazily. She stood and stacked a few empty plates in the sink.

Sam's usually hard expression softened. "That would put her and us in danger."

"Why not be vague?" Emily flipped the sink handle and held her fingers under, waiting for warm water. She plugged the sink and squirted in some dish soap. "Tell her just enough that she knows she shouldn't get involved and stop asking questions. She's not a student journalist, right?"

Everyone looked at me. "No."

"She have a blog?"

I shrugged.

"Not a very good one if she hasn't bragged about it," Emily joked. "She doesn't have a soap box to stand on. Bella's father is Forks' chief of police. Bella who is the only other witness—and Bella didn't tell everyone about the vampires the second they left Forks. We can at least trust that Bella is going to help keep Lauren from spreading the rumor that werewolves and vampires are battling in the forests outside town."

Jacob smirked. "Emily, you make a good point."

I raised an eyebrow. I had more than hinted that I'd given Lauren the whole truth—but I hadn't seriously believed that I'd be encouraged to be honest. "You want me to tell Lauren the truth?"

"Better to hear it from you than one of us," Jared mumbled.

Sam agreed. "Meet with this girl. Make sure you're alone. Tell her the truth—but don't given her any of our names. Jacob, you can stick close in case something goes wrong."

I pressed my lips together. I doubted his intentions for sending Jacob. Maybe Sam thought I would be more trusting of Emily's plan if Jacob was near. Instead I wondered if Sam thought I wouldn't get in the way if it was Jacob who needed to take care of Lauren if things went wrong—The Godfather: Werewolf Edition.

"I thought you guys didn't like telling anyone about your little cult in the woods," I mumbled.

"It's too late," Sam said. His tired expression showed he was reluctant to make this Plan A. "She saw too much. She's human; we only kill monsters."

The pack mumbled in agreement.

"We also don't have a better idea," Jacob said, smirking at me.

The pack mumbled in agreement again.

"We protect our pack," Sam said, staring at his wolves in human skin. Their eyes seemed to glow, brighten, as they watched him. "We protect our people. We protect humans."

They pack nodded, yipped, and hollered in response to Sam's mantra. With that it was decided. I was miffed that I didn't have much say in forming the plan, and even less thrilled that they were relying on me to convince Lauren to zip her lips, but at least I'd been invited to their pack meeting. It felt nice, different, but a good different, being a part of some secret family again, even if it wasn't the same family I was missing.