Deepest, Darkest, Depths.
Chapter 4.
TPOV.
I stood and waited as the rest of the family gathered around in the clearing. It seemed like hours had passed when Alice and Edward released a sigh of relief.
"It's ok guys. It's just Pip and Jo. They're here on behalf of the rest of the pack."
"Who's Pip and Jo? And since when did we become so familiar with shape shifters?"
Lena stood by my side, with the same amount of confusion on her face as I probably had on mine. Edward glared at her, obviously not as concerned as we were.
"Pippa and Josephine," He corrected her, "Are not shape shifters, but descendants from Loup Garou."
"That still doesn't answer my question. Why aren't they attacking us?"
They have no need to, Lena. They know that they can trust us, and us them." Edward paused, and Jasper laid his hand on his brothers' shoulder. "They helped us when we needed it the most."
Was it my imagination, or was there pain in his eyes at that point? I didn't have time to ask, though I'm sure he heard me, because at that moment, two wolves stepped into the clearing. They paused on the edge, their heads tilted to the side, looking at Lena and me in particular. They looked confused.
Emmett laughed, earning a few death glares form the others, and sauntered over to the edge where the wolves stood.
"Hey guys! I've missed you, it's not been the same around here without you!" He ruffled the fur on their heads, and then patted them gently. I heard an odd husky, throaty noise, only then to realise it was them laughing too. They turned and wandered back into the trees, but were soon back in human form.
"So, you gonna introduce us Eddie?" The girl with long brown hair asked, using the nickname we all knew Edward detested. He growled at her, making us all laugh all the more.
I wandered over to them, with my arm wrapped around Lenas waist. I held my free hand out to them, as if I were at a business meeting.
"What do you want us to do, sniff it?" The other girl asked, looking pointedly at my hand. "Or bite it off?"
I laughed, as did everyone else.
"You're meant to shake it!" I dropped my hand back down to my side. "The names Tom, and this here is my wife, Lena."
"Wife? You have got to be kidding me, right? I mean, I know you guys don't age, but you can't be much older than me!" The girl with dark hair exclaimed, shock evident in her eyes.
Bella laughed at the same time as Edward let out a little cough.
"Yeah, ok. You two are exempt from that particular myth! Anyway, I'm Pip, and this bundle of happiness is Jo." She nodded her head in the direction of her friend, who was leaning sullenly up against a tree. Edward walked towards Jo, smiling with his eyes as well as his face.
"Come on Jo, don't be like that! You know we all love having you here." He smiled, motioning her to come forward. As she pushed herself from the trunk, a small yelp was heard coming from inside her jacket.
"That, Tom, Lena, is Charli. She's a fierce lil' warrior. Aren't you?" Pippa grabbed the little ball of fluff from Jo's pocket, and held it close to her body.
"So, why are you guys here?" Only my Lena could be that direct. No beating around the bush with her…
"The pack followed a scent that led straight to your garden. We didn't recognise it, so we thought we should ask you guys if you had any visitors that we didn't know about. We didn't want to go and attack one of your friends!" Pip put the fluff called Charli down, and the little scruff ball went bounding over to Lena, yapping loudly as she did so.
"Visitors?" Bella, Alice and Lena said together. Edward looked straight at me, accusingly.
"I don't want to say it Tom…"
"Don't then." I growled. All eyes were on me at that moment. Emotions clear on their faces, ranging from confusion, to anger. I saved Lenas face to last, knowing that I would hate what I would see. I could see she wasn't angry. Far from it. I would have coped better with anger though.
"Tom?" She looked me straight in the eye. "What are they talking about?"
I saw Jasper watch Lena, worried. He obviously didn't like her emotional climate right now. I wasn't sure I did either.
'Edward? I'm not sure I can do this…' I could see that he had heard me, from the way he sighed.
"I'm not sure I can either." He looked at everyone but Lena. I looked down at the floor, worried how she would react. I felt a wave of calm wash over me, and I looked up gratefully at Jasper. He looked away, not able to meet my eyes. None of them could. Except for Edward.
Edward took a deep breath then, and I knew that my past was about to be scrutinized and judged by people who were now more than family to me. I knew that my past was about to be revealed to the one person I loved more than anything.
"Demitri is here."