I made my way as deep into the forest as I could before I let my hunting instincts run my choice for the type of animal I wanted. As luck would have it, there was a deer not far from here. All that was needed on my part was to wait as usual and pounce when the time was right. Sure enough the deer came running in my direction as I snatched it from midair. I drained the animal of its blood and I finally felt able to go back to Bella without feeling thirsty. At that moment I caught the thoughts of someone unknown and looked in the immediate direction. "Hi." The woman said calmly as she emerged from the bushes. I didn't say anything. I just looked at her with a confused face. "I'm sorry. I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Abigail." She said calmly. "I'm Edward." I said directly in response. "I didn't think I'd find another one of my kind out here." She said surprised. "What brings you to forks?" I asked knowing she wasn't from around here and fairly new to being a vampire.
"The hikers." She smiled.
I growled at her response. "Hey… what did I say?" She sounded scared. "You're the type of vampire that gives me and my family a hard time. We don't hunt humans and we live in this area." I said still angry at her response. Her face became curious at this point. "So what do you hunt?" She asked truthfully. "Animals." I answered. "Why don't you hunt humans?" She asked confused. "It's part of the agreement for permanent residence in forks." I responded. Before she spoke, I was searching her thoughts. She felt guilty about killing a hiker a few hours ago. "That'll cause us some problems." I said annoyed. "What will? You mean that hiker? How did you know about that?" She said surprised. "It's part of my abilities." I answered. Recollecting my thoughts, it would seem she was part of the reason why Charlie will be out late today. He must've caught wind of that dead hiker. "This sounds interesting. Can I see your permanent residence?" She asked. Before I got to answer her question, a familiar face showed up next to me. "Alice?" I said confused. "It's Bella. Get back to Charlie's!" Alice said loudly. I didn't bother to ask and I knew by Alice's thoughts that she would tend to Abigail. I ran back as quickly as I could and arrived at Charlie's front door. It appeared to be broken down and Bella sat at the top of the stairs next to… Jacob Black. By reading his thoughts I knew exactly what happened. I walked in glaring angrily at Jacob and Bella quickly saw me as I entered.
"Where are they now?" I asked looking for the humans that broke in.
"My pack is following them." Jacob admitted. Bella got up from Jacob and came downstairs to hug me. "I was so scared. I ran into my room and they followed me up. They would have gotten in if Jacob didn't scare them off." Bella said still shaking. Jacob proceeded to climb downstairs and stopped outside the front door. "And where were you, bloodsucker?" He said with hatred in his tone. "I was hunting." I said not paying any attention to him anymore. I blocked out his thoughts completely as my attention focused on comforting Bella. "Hunting, huh?" Jacob said with an angry tone turning around to look at me. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about a dead hiker, now would you?" Jacob said with convicting eyes. I returned his glare and shook my head. "I only hunt animals." I said with irritation. Jacob wasn't convinced as he clenched his hands into a ball and his hatred was soaring against me. "This probably isn't the best time to let your emotions get the best of you." I growled while holding Bella. Jacob seemed to calm down at the sight of the frightened Bella. He knew that she went through enough as it is and stopped himself from overreacting. Bella finally snapped to reality and looked at both of us.
"Is everything all right?" Bella asked still shocked about what happened.
"We're fine. It's you I'm worried about." I answered her with true concern. "Thank you Jacob and Edward." Bella said while reaching out to touch Jacob's hand since I was already holding her. At this point I wasn't going to deny Bella of anything because it just might make things worse. Jacob walked up slowly to touch her hand lightly. "You're welcome." He said with a smile and then glared at me with disapproval thoughts racing through his mind. Alice appeared behind Jacob and sighed with relief at Bella being ok. Jacob turned around to look at Alice and then remembered he had to go check on his pack. "I'm going with you. This is my problem too." I said angrily towards Jacob. "Whatever." Jacob said as he ran towards his pack's direction. "Alice, take care of Bella. I need to solve this." I said still angry at what happened. Alice nodded and took Bella from my arms slowly. "Please be careful." Bella whispered. I left the house and followed Jacob's direction as he followed his own pack. As I was trailing Jacob's wolf form, I noticed the smell of blood. It was faint, but only getting stronger the closer I got. It was human blood. I was certain that the woman Abigail was at my place, so this couldn't be her doing. I reached the small dimly lit house and seen Jacob's human form standing there shocked. I knew the name of that lone wolf from Jacob's thoughts. Apparently this Paul was apart of Jacob's pack and had slaughtered the two men responsible for breaking into Charlie's house. Paul turned into a human and was stunned at his own actions as well.
"I don't know what happened." Paul admitted.
Jacob didn't say anything and nor did I. I couldn't figure out what this meant for the treaty. We were not to bite or kill humans, but did the other side have that restriction as well? Just then a larger wolf came storming out from the forest in Paul's direction. Paul transformed quickly in his own defense as the bigger wolf knocked him away from the scene. They both transformed into humans and like before, I knew the other wolf was named Sam through Jacob's thoughts. I didn't bother to say anything as I knew this was something they had to work out on their own. Paul looked in Sam's direction and Sam shook his head. "We're supposed to set an example as protectors. Not slaughter when we feel like it. These men did nothing to deserve this. It was only our job to find out their location and apprehend them if possible." Sam said in a serious tone. Paul didn't respond and Jacob stood still a few feet away from me looking in their direction.
"You know the rules to live by. Make a choice." Sam said with slight sadness.
"I'm not about to leave this pack to find another. I'd rather die than leave these memories!" Paul said in a stressed voice. "It doesn't have to be this way Paul. Don't make us do this." Sam said in a pleading tone. Paul clenched his fists and leaned slightly forward. "I will not be kicked out of the pack alive!" Paul yelled in anger. When he said that, he lunged forward in Sam's direction immediately turning into a wolf. Sam also changed as he pushed Paul back before clashing with him again. I turned to Jacob as he watched with tears in his eyes. He knew his role in this as he sprint forward as well heading directly for Paul's neck. In a matter of minutes, Paul was dead. It was at this point that I didn't bother to stick around because I was sure they'd handle the scene here. I made my way quickly back to Charlie's house and entered through the broken door again. Alice was comforting Bella on her couch faced towards the television, so I made my way to the front of them. Bella was looking towards the floor as Alice let her grip away from Bella's shoulder and gestured me to take a seat. Bella looked in Alice's direction confused and then turned her direction towards me. I sat next to Bella on the couch as she hugged me tightly.
"Did they find him?" Bella asked lightly while looking at me with a curious face.
"They sure did." I looked irritated. "What happened when they did?" She asked still curious. "This isn't something we should cover right now. Charlie just arrived." I said while catching his panicked thoughts. Bella shot upright and released her hug from me. She got up and glanced at the doorway and I got up as well. I walked to the other side of the couch to give the panicked Charlie some room to know Bella is ok. I knew he planned on hugging her at this point and moving was a good idea. Charlie came storming in breathless. "What happened! Bells!" Charlie called looking in all directions until he spotted Bella standing in front of the couch. He didn't bother to look at Alice or me as he ran to Bella's side. "Are you okay, honey?" He said as he pulled Bella in for a hug. "I'm fine now, dad." She noted while looking in my direction. "Where did the men get to?" Charlie asked looking in my direction. Bella tapped Charlie's chest with her hand and took his attention away from me. "They got away, dad. But they didn't do anything to me thanks to Jacob… and Edward." She said with relief on her face.
"Don't worry Bella. We'll find them." Charlie said confidently.
Bella loosened the hug as she proceeded to sit down on the couch again. Charlie looked in my direction and crossed his arms. "Thanks, kid. If you see Jacob, extend my thanks to him as well." He said with sincere appreciation. I nodded and looked in Alice's direction. Charlie followed my eyes and didn't seem to notice Alice standing there quietly. "I'm sorry. Were you helping too?" Charlie said half embarrassed. "It's ok. I was just here to help calm her down." Alice said with a smile. "We should get going, Alice." I said while pointing at the clock. It just so happened to be 8 at night. Alice nodded and walked towards the front door. "Thanks Alice." Bella said turning to her direction with a smile. "Anytime." Alice returned the smile and walked outside waiting for me. I ducked my head over the couch to see Bella's face. "I'll be back early in the morning. I have to talk to Carlisle about what happened." I whispered to her. Bella turned her head slightly to me and nodded. Before I pulled away from her, she put her hand on my head and pressed her head lightly against mine. Charlie seemed annoyed at that, but I didn't care. It made her happy enough to let me go for the day.
"Bye." I said calmly to Charlie.
Charlie just nodded in my direction and I turned walking away to where Alice waited. I made it outside and Alice was waiting while looking in my direction. We didn't say anything as we walked to my car and left Charlie's house. We were driving when Alice finally decided to look in my direction. "I guess this is serious then?" Alice asked. I knew she could tell how this was going to play out and I just nodded my head in response. "A face to face discussion with the wolves… exciting…" Alice said blankly. We reached our house as both me and Alice got out of the car. We made it to the front door and entered the house shortly after. Carlisle was up in his room as I gestured Alice to go up. "You should explain things to Carlisle and convince him to meet me in the living room." I said seriously. Alice nodded and walked upstairs. I didn't bother listening in as I walked to the living room. I called everyone and they came shortly after. "What's going on, man?" Emmett asked confused. Jasper just leaned on the wall near the doorway with his arms crossed. Rosalie and Esme were standing next to each other waiting for a response from me. "We're going to wait for Carlisle and Alice before we begin." I noted. We stood waiting for a while before Carlisle entered our area with Alice. I remembered one question I neglected to ask, so I decided to tackle that issue while everyone was here. We all took our seats on the large table and I looked in Carlisle's direction. "What happened to that woman, Abigail?" I asked. I wanted Carlisle to say this out loud instead of just reading his mind and keeping quiet. Carlisle looked at me oddly before he decided to speak.
"We sent her to the Volturi. She didn't take much interest in our lifestyle after I explained things." Carlisle responded calmly.
I stood up from my chair and placed my hands on the table. "Now it's time to tackle the reason why we've gathered. I'll let Carlisle take point here." I said sitting back down. Carlisle nodded and stood up. "It appears the treaty has been threatened, but not by us. It seems the other side has some explaining to do." Carlisle said calmly. "So what does that mean for us?" Jasper said while waving his hand in the air quickly. "I'm getting to that." Carlisle said slightly annoyed at the interruption. Jasper nodded and waited for Carlisle to finish. "It seems we're going to have to meet them face to face. We're going to have to travel to one of their elders that goes by the name of ""Billy."" Carlisle said with a bit of aggression. Everyone nodded except for Rosalie. "I don't really feel like going." She admitted. "She doesn't feel obligated." I said reading her thoughts. "That's fine. We have to go meet them today, however. This cannot wait." Carlisle said calmly. Everyone else got up at that very moment and we all made our exits outside the front and back door.