Like my brother, when I was found almost gone on the forest floor, I thought I was already dead.
My savior looked like an angel, more beautiful than anyone I had ever known.
I wasn't yet ready for death; there was just too much to be left behind.
In her warm gold eyes I found a source of comfort, solace in the fate that awaited me.
Then instead of the numbness I'd expected, a piercing pain invaded every fiber of my being.
Esme was the first to speak to me when I woke up. She figured a familiar face would better ease me into my new life.
When I opened my eyes I was blinded, seeing only bright white, completely overwhelmed by my newly heightened senses. Every nanosecond was a shock, but as soon it passed the dust continued to settle after each wave. My mind was racing, yet at the same time I could see and comprehend every detail around me as if I was rereading a well loved book from childhood. I was mystified by my new state of being.
My lack of heartbeat was the first thing I noticed. Where normally would've been a rapid beating of panic, was replaced with a resolute silence.
With every breath I took to attempt to calm myself, there was no feeling of relief, but rather just some sort of ease. As I inhaled I was confronted with intense tastes and smells that I had never experienced before. The room I was in was peaceful even through all my panic, perfumed with fresh freesia that cloyed into the warm wooden furniture. The sound of a whisper of a breeze rustling through the leaves was clear just outside the window. I could smell the snow softly piling onto the frozen earth and the bright winter sun shone through the detailed fibers of the white lace curtains.
It wasn't that I was blind in my prior life, but it was like someone had finally uncovered a half of me that was hidden. Somehow in this room that resembled nothing of my prior life, I felt as if I had lived there all my days, as if I had just woken up from an afternoon nap.
I grasped at my neck, confused by a new pain, and surprised myself with my own touch. I wasn't cold,yet the expected warmth that was supposed to be there was gone. I tried to voice my concerns, but choked as the words formed. It was my voice, but it also wasn't.
I was still me, but at the same time I wasn't quite sure if I really was anymore.
And just as fast my mind worked, my focus, my apparent consciousness, was stolen from me and forced to rear its head onto the severe sharp thirst that burned at my throat. I clawed at myself, desperate to do anything to stop this horrible horrible sensation. Then she came in.
Esme's gentle hand covered mine and offered soft words of comfort. She was as beautiful as I remembered her in the forest. She looked sad when I asked if this was heaven or hell. She shook her head and held on to my hand tighter.
Carlisle was the next to come, offering me more detailed explanations with a kind and careful demeanor. He was gentle in telling me what had happened, what Esme had detailed to him after she found me.
"I remember." Was the first thing I said to him when I finally managed to recollect myself. I remembered all of it.
He took that acknowledgement with a quiet acceptance and didn't prod, perhaps realizing that in my own time I would eventually recount to him exactly what led to my demise. I would do exactly that, relying on my adoptive parents like I had never done with anyone.
It was never my decision. It was never a choice that I had the liberty to make.
But I would be forever grateful for the second chance at a life that I had not known I wanted.
The sounds of teens partying and dancing to whatever palatable modern music Alice had chosen to blare was not quite agonizing, but I was happy to escape after an hour or so of cordial mingling.
There were only so many of the same conversations I could bear that detailed about how sad that it was all ending so fast, and how exciting their future plans were which I was to exchange with lies as to what I had in store for myself. The worst was the last ditch effort from the braver members of the male student body that chanced that maybe nostalgia would lower my guard. I wasn't fortunate enough to have a Jasper to ward everyone away with a look.
I relaxed into a lounge chair in Carlisle's study, working on a sketch of an old memory that seemed to be going nowhere. My own thoughts distracted me from my distraction, as we were soon due to a confrontation in Seattle. Carlisle himself was at his desk, reading and going over patient notes. Earlier he had enlightened me of Bella's revelation. Whatever was going on in Seattle was targeting her directly. I liked Edward's new beau just enough. She had brought life to the morose Edward which I appreciated. She was also clever enough to figure out something none of us were able to. Bella did bring some surprising complications to my family's lives, but I shared the same opinion as Esme, she was family now, and even if I had my own reservations about it, we were to do anything for our family.
A quick knock was followed by an anxious Alice and a tense Edward who both materialized next to Carlisle's desk. We looked up from our respective busy work and we both were met with a familiar expression on her face, she had seen something.
"Alice, what did you see?" Carlisle said, getting up and resting a steady hand on her shoulder.
"We're not going to Seattle. The decision has been made. They're coming here," she answered fearfully, knowing that even with our skills and expertise we were still outnumbered, and our only advantage of surprise had been taken away. "I have to tell the others," she said as she left to inform the other members of the family.
"Carlisle, what do we do?" asked Edward, echoing the same fear Alice had in her voice.
Carlisle looked at us both as he leaned forward and lightly gripped one of Edward's arms, "We will protect our family."
"Prepare yourselves-they've been holding out on us."
I turned away from my conversation with Rosalie to observe the treeline. At the party, Bella's friend Jacob had learned about our concern and he had volunteered his pack's participation. I wasn't happy when Jasper recounted the blase attitude he and his friend's had responded with about the potential bloodshed. I questioned if they knew what they were really getting into, they seemed young, immature, looking for a fool's glory.
"What do you mean?" questioned Alice.
"Shh," Edward said in response and looked to where the trees met the large empty field.
Automatically we diverged from our casual circle to a semi-defensive line. I flocked the left next to Rosalie, and Jasper and Carlisle stood at the point as our informal de facto leaders in this situation. Bella's heartbeat was clear, breaking through the sounds of moving grass and branches. It quickened as she observed the change in atmosphere.
"Damn," Emmett remarked. "Did you ever see anything like it?"
"They have been busy," I said in return as ten large wolves made their way through the trees and into the clearing, their quick and heavy heartbeats announcing their arrival. As big as they were, they moved with surprising grace.
Carlisle cautiously stepped closer to the pack of wolves. "Welcome," he offered a friendly greeting to the tallest wolf, its black fur gleaming in the moonlight. The wolf's hot pants of air was almost like a mist as it shrouded its face before evaporating into the night sky. Its large head slowly motioned up and down, a nod
"Thank you." Edward detangled himself from Bella and moved closer to Carlisle, translated for who I supposed was their leader, their alpha. "We will watch and listen, but no more. That is the most we can ask of our self-control."
Carlisle nodded, "That is more than enough. My son, Jasper," he motioned to Jasper who stood poised and in position, "has experience in this area. He will teach us how they fight, how they are to be defeated. I'm sure you can apply this to your own hunting style."
"They are different from you?" Edward spoke for the alpha.
Carlisle explained to them the nature of our kind as newborns. Their extreme strength, but in return their lack of strategy and skill. How volatile the newborns can be even to their own coven, that by the time they arrive their numbers would have very much likely dwindled.
The wolves took it as good news and seemed to growl enthusiastically.
I understood this, as the last thing I wanted was a strong army that would be of any danger to my family, but I couldn't help but feel they were underestimating what they were dealing with. That they saw this as some kind of game.
"We are willing to take more than our share, if necessary," Edward said for the alpha.
More information was shared between the three, but I was distracted as the wind blew from the wolves towards our end of the clearing. Rosalie was always adamant in her strong distaste for the wolves' apparent pungent wet dog smell. She was especially vocal about it when Bella returned from a day at the reservation, but I never understood just what was so appalling about it. It wasn't a smell I sought out, but it didn't offend me like it did with my other family members.
Then I was struck.
There were no words I could have used to describe this scent. Fresh? Earth? Woods? Dark? Sweet? It was all completely inadequate.
When my brothers had talked about particular humans that smelled so good that their uncontrollable first instinct was for the kill, I did not relate, I could not relate, it had never happened to me before. Bella did smell more tempting than a typical human, but not to that extent. Was this it?
In the recesses of my mind it was faintly there in my own home after the party, but it was so subtle I didn't fully register. It had been mixed with the smells of a horde of sweaty teens, barely discerning. The full scent was intoxicating, I could think of little else, but then as quickly as it overcame me, it was gone. I scanned the wolves in an effort to identify where this was coming from, it wasn't human, it couldn't be. It wasn't the same as my brothers' had described it, there was a longing, but not one to feed.
I was snapped out of my daze when the sounds of Jasper and Emmett sparing echoed throughout the field. A loud crack of a tree here, the thud of heavy mass thrown onto ground, they were taking this more seriously than usual, although still allowing some room for fun. I laughed as Emmett goaded Jasper on.
Like usual, Jasper's cultivated experience and unconventional strategy quickly outwitted that of Emmett's brute strength. Soon Jasper's sharp teeth hovered over Emmett's neck and Emmett unwillingly surrendered, already geared up for another fresh match. Jasper then succinctly summarized the do's and don'ts of their match, much of it was more don'ts rather than do's.
Edward was impatient for his turn, but Jasper instead wanted to make an example of Alice's own skills. Their fighting was much more like dancing as they twisted around each other, every quick and graceful move Alice made was in turn met with adoration and amusement rather than fury, the lovebirds then ended their session with Alice giving Jasper a chaste kiss on the throat.
It was Edward's turn and inevitably they were almost too evenly matched. Again and again they went after each other. Jasper's expertise and instinct met with Edward's speed and ability to read his next move. Like always the fight dragged on and as the growls and snarls sped in repetition Carlisle finally felt the need to break them up.
They both grinned and took a step from each other, Jasper laughing as he did.
"Back to work," he shook his head smiling, "We'll call it a draw."
He then gestured to me, "Come on Vera, your turn."
I smirked and obliged, making my way to the center of the field where Jasper remained, passing Edward as I did. He silently raised an eyebrow at me, probably as curious as I was about where that scent that had so preoccupied my mind before stemmed from. I had not yet managed to shake it off. I shrugged in response, rather than focusing on that, I was gearing up for a good fight.
"Let's go," Jasper said, ready to pounce.
I beamed, excited, as I had to wait through my other sibling's turns.
He pounced for me first and I dodged, aiming for a low strike to his ankle to knock him off balance. Jasper saw through this and ducked down and grappled at my own. I spun forward, rotating off his back and recentered myself, preparing for another strike. I wasn't as fast as Edward, as strong as Emmett, or as lithe as Alice, but I made up for it in strategy. We kept attempting to knock each other off our feet, aiming for the throat in a moment of unbalance, but finally Jasper got the best of me as his teeth suspended over my throat.
"Well done, sis," he joked, clapping a hand on my arm.
"Please," I pushed him off, but chuckled in return, not surprised at my loss against his decades of experience. I glanced at the wolves before I made my way back to the others. They looked restless, themselves ready to take these techniques and utilize them practically.
After me, Carlisle went, then Rosalie, Esme, and Emmett again. Emmett's rematch with Jasper was entertaining as always and ended up with me almost wishing to join in on the fun. Emmett was prepared to demand for another match, but before it could be asked for Edward reassured an ever drowsy Bella that we were to finish soon.
Jasper agreed, and looked at the wolves, addressing them for the first time, "We'll be doing this tomorrow. Please feel welcome to observe again."
"Yes," Edward answered for the alpha, "We'll be here."
He then stepped away from Bella and turned to us, "The pack thinks it would be helpful to be familiar with each other's scents-so they don't make mistakes later. If we could hold very still, it will make it easier for them."
"Certainly," Carlisle responded, "Whatever you need."
This was met with a lukewarm almost annoyed reaction and the wolves reluctantly got up on their feet.
The large black alpha led his pack over to us and smelled Carlisle first and then moved along the line. I peered at Rosalie who grimaced in the face of this situation. I wanted to offer her a comforting word, but thought otherwise and instead just tried to relax, remaining as still as I could as the wolves sniffed at us. They all varied in the pattern and color of their fur, from a dark warm chocolate brown to the color of desert sand that belonged to a gangly younger wolf.
I heard a light giggle as Bella was approached by a russet-colored wolf, which I assumed was her friend Jacob. The wolf was large, beaten only by the alpha in its size. Edward appeared displeased, and even more so as the wolf licked her face and Bella's reaction was that of laughter rather than disgust. His disgust in contrast was rather amusing to me. Leave it to a human like Bella to entangle herself with these otherworldly beings.
Turning from the duo, I further observed the wolves taking turns as they sniffed around me, their expressions were cautious and wary of any unexpected movements. Then a sleeker gray wolf appeared in front of me. The early morning sun had just begun to rise and the soft low light highlighted the black spots that dotted randomly throughout its back.
There it was once again, all consuming. It was that intoxicating scent.
I looked up at the wolf and met its yellow eyes, unsure just why its smell was so devastatingly perfect. Unconsciously I took a step forward, as if I were a moth to a flame, and reached my hand out towards the wolf. Immediately, I was greeted with snarls and growls. The wolf's pack members snapped at me in warning. All I could comprehend was the rapidly quickening heartbeat of the gray wolf as it kept meeting my gaze. Then as if it had come out of its own trance, it shook its head violently, breaking away from my stare and looked upwards, howling loudly into the sky. In a flash the wolf bolted away from me. Members of the pack trailed behind, taking quick glances at me as they ran into the dense forest.
"What?" I muttered under my breath in bewilderment.
Edward in a confused yet amused tone answered for the suddenly vanished pack, "Embry just imprinted on Vera."