Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.
The meeting was set and there was no getting out of it. The evidence was overwhelming and they couldn't, and wouldn't run from the storm heading their way. The only thing they could do was prepare and do their damnedest to make sure they made it out the other side in one piece. Treaty's were tested and boundaries were strengthened.
They'd agreed on the location, and though there was everything they'd rather do, they pushed onward. They'd left the cars behind and ran through town. With it being seven in the afternoon, the only people left milling around were middle aged men in the pub, and the store owners closing up for the night. Neutral territory sat away from Forks and La Push – a good twenty miles east in the depths of the Olympic National Forest. Thankfully the sky was clear and it was only the damp soil beneath their shoes that scuffed the bottoms of their trousers.
It took no more than two minutes to reach the large clearing, but anyone walking to their own execution would slow their pace. They heard the thump thump of the Pack, the snarls and growls, the soft kicks of mud as they paced and shuffled around. They were far from calm, and realised their approach only a few moments later. High pitched whines rang through the forest. A loud snarl reverberated around them and all fell silent. Nervous eyes squinted and searched for any way out but Carlisle powered on, and his family followed as he knew they would.
There was a good five hundred feet between them, but that didn't seem enough to keep the wolves at bay. The Pack had grown since their last communication – booming from a decent seven, to an impressive twelve. The new editions looked very small and kept twitching as they stood on the very end of the line. They would snarl and bare their teeth before catching themselves and giving their head a quick shake to calm down.
Sam stood in front of them all as his Pack sat behind. It was a fake sense of dominance – a wolf pack's hierarchy was never stable. He was a very tall man and probably the oldest of all of the Pack at twenty seven. He was not the largest wolf, as Carlisle remembered from a previous meeting, and seemed to make up for that fact by being a ruthless Pack leader. He stood before them, bare chested and muscular glowering at them from the other side of the clearing.
Carlisle could see this new alliance heading south.
His family beside him in a line mirroring the Quileute's, just in case. You could never be too sure with wolves. He was very hesitant to make the first move, sure that any movement towards them could spark an all out attack and, at the very least, a few hysterical reactions. He didn't want to put his family in any more undue danger.
He was spared any further awkward silence by the sudden arrival of the third party. He had no knowledge or information on the Makah people. He had been blissfully unaware that they, too, had a shape-shifting ability within their gene pool. He was pretty sure something like that would have had him avoiding the State of Washington like a rabid dog.
They had only a few seconds warning before the first wolf stepped out of the woods and out into the open. More and more followed, as quiet as the night. Had it not been for their hearts beating and their soft, even breathes he wouldn't have even known anything was stood there with them. These wolves were different from the Quileute's, but only marginally. Their legs were longer and their bodies much smaller and shorter. Their fur was also a lot shorter, and a uniform dark brown or black colour. Their eyes were much smaller and their ears larger, with shorter snouts and much smaller paws.
They all watched their entrance with silent eyes, though Jasper couldn't help but be impressed with their calm demeanour. Every step seemed perfectly thought out and precise, even as they fanned out and mirrored the same line formation the others had assumed. Sixteen wolves joined the clearing and, in their own time, sat quite calmly and cast their eyes, once to the Quileute's to their right, and the Cullen's to their left.
Lastly, a small girl appeared. The two centre wolves had left a small gap and she brushed her fingers through their fur as she walked between them. They towered over her petite five foot three frame, standing at ten foot tall at the very smallest, and maybe twelve at the most. Both wolves bowed their beads and watched her walk between them, their eyes intent on her as their protectiveness shone through.
The girl didn't seem quite as nervous. She appeared curious as she looked at the Cullen's, and she thought they looked curious as they stared back. She paid no mind to Sam or his Pack, and she could already feel the hostility rolling off them. The vampires were different and seemed quite calm and collected in the face of so many wolves. The blond guy in the middle was patently the leader and she thought he looked kind for a vampire.
They all waited.
–
Jasper had been partially unwilling to take part in the training Carlisle had suggested. His knowledge of newborns and fighting styles earned him the role of trainer and there was nothing less he had ever wanted. In the centre of the clearing, he used Emmett to demonstrate technique. Even his brother seemed stoic and quiet in the face of his enemies. All eyes were on them, and every time one of them hit the ground they felt far too vulnerable and were on their feet again within a second.
The girl had retreated back between the two large wolves and stood leaning against the one to her right, her eyes intent and studious. Those wolves were very still, apart from their eyes and ears as they tracked each moment and blow. Emmett thought they were much more eerie than the Quileute's.
When they were finished for the day, Jasper and Emmett returned to their family. Sam waited for a few seconds before nodding his goodbye to Carlisle and exploding there and then into a wolf, releasing a mind shattering howl, and sprinting off into the woods behind them. His pack followed without caution, leaving the new wolves alone with the Cullen's.
A few moments passed in still silence before the girl chortled to herself and the wolves around her broke rank, leaning forwards and clawing the ground as they stretched out their legs. Carlisle thought it was quite amusing to watch, and realised that his family were not considered the worst enemy in the clearing. A few of the wolves even laid down and yawned with drooping eyes, while others sat back again and peered around them with little interest. Reading wolf facial expressions was not easy.
"Stay here," Carlisle said quietly to his family. He hoped they listened to him.
The girl could be eighteen at most, and looked too fragile and small to transform into a great hulking wolf. It had previously been believed that women did not inherit the wolf gene, but clearly the Makah wolves had their own rule book. He stepped away from his family, ignoring the hisses and sighs of frustration.
He was very wary – he watched the slumbering wolves peel their eyes open and twitch their ears. Those that were stood had their eyes pinned to Carlisle and tracked his every step. He trained his eyes on the girl, who had pushed away from the tall wolf at her side and stood regarding him with caution in her eyes. It took her only a second or two to step from her own family, ignoring the quiet warning growls and whines from those around her, and out into the open.
The pair took it slow, not trusting each other at all but both willing to take that risk. She had seen nothing but gentle, encouraging touches and friendly smiles – nothing of the usual trademarks of a coven out for trouble. In comparison to Sam and his Pack, this girl was practically human.
She looked at his expensive, shiny watch and perfectly creased trousers. He looked so human that she couldn't help but smile. He took in her messy ponytail, ragged cargo pants and black mud smeared shirt. They reached one another, and she could see how tense his coven were from over his shoulder.
Still smiling at his trousers, she extended her hand and said, "Isabella Swan."
His returning smile was small but reached his eyes. "Carlisle Cullen," he said, shaking her hand. He noticed her skin wasn't as scolding as Sam's but still warmer than usual for a human. They dropped their hands and dithered for a few moments.
"So you hunt animals," she said quietly. Her voice was soft and inquisitive and Carlisle wondered just how old she was. Her eyes peered into his with unabashed curiosity. "I've never seen that before... It's impressive," she added with a small nod of respect.
"We chose to live alongside humans," Carlisle explained patiently. "I, myself, work as a doctor at Forks Hospital, and the others, besides my mate Esme, attend the High School..."
Bella didn't quite know what to say, but didn't want to offend them on their first meeting. She heard the familiar but odd sound of choking and knew her Pack were laughing at the very idea of vampires attending school. "You're a doctor?" she repeated. Carlisle nodded and Isabella looked even more impressed. "We were told there were seven in your coven," she added with glance at the five stood on the other side of the clearing.
"My son, Edward is on his way back from Chicago as we speak," Carlisle assured her quietly.
"You call him your 'son'?" she said politely. He was surprised she called him out on it – it was a stipulation had made sure was perfectly clear. She was beginning to think the Cullen's were more human than vampire.
"We prefer to think of ourselves as a family," he said with a kind smile.
The girl nodded thoughtfully.
They parted with quiet goodbyes, and Isabella stood and watched Carlisle lead his family from the clearing. Her pack milled around her with mild annoyance. She had assured them that a Treaty with the vampires would be temporary and thin, not that she'd shake their hands and have a chit chat.
"Remember their scents," she said quietly, and slowly the wolves jogged over and noted every Cullen's scent so as not to confuse it with an enemy later. Thomas stayed at her side. As her Beta, he was her second in command and her closest friend. His disapproval was palpable as he stared down at her with his large yellow eyes. "They're not normal vampires," she said quietly. "I didn't expect them to be so..."
Thomas snorted and rolled his eyes. She changed to her wolf form, feeling the warm shivers rush over her skin and every hair on her body standing on end until she reared up and fell back down on four legs, shaking out her fur. She could never decide whether she preferred being a human or a wolf – both felt just as right.
She was immediately accosted by the many thoughts of her pack. Their voices were quiet and respectful – everyone knew the tedium of a screaming thought pattern, and avoided it studiously. They headed over to where the Cullen's had stood and catalogued their scents, noting the sugary sweetness that made her wince.
Let's go home, she said to them with a toss of her head. Off they shot, some sprinting away and some loping leisurely through the trees. They had only received word of the meeting that morning, and a number of them had been doing late patrols and hadn't slept the night before. She ran behind them, listening to their thoughts on the meeting. Sam and his wolves featured more than she expected but she understood and shared the sentiment.
Bella had never met vampires like these Cullen's. Plenty had been courteous, and a few had even been curious, but none had shook her hand and held themselves with such poise and humility. Most of the vampires they saw were nomads or small, two or three person covens who wore tatty clothes and spent most of their time arguing or bickering. The Cullen's seemed fluid.
Bella, Keiran and, Harry and Lana headed out for that nights' patrols. The sun was fast setting, and the Pack gathered on the beach to discuss the meeting. Their fire was lit and they sat on the concrete slabs around it, tossing in sticks and stretching out as they returned to their human form. One by one the voices disappeared until there was only her and the others on patrol.
I haven't posted anything for a few years now, so let me know what you think :)