Title: You Found Me

Full Summary: Edward Masen has lived the life of a nomadic vampire, travelling with James and Victoria since he awoke as an immortal. His ability to read minds has had the unusual side effect of making him a vampire with a conscience. Despite the ridicule from his coven mates, he's confident he's making the best of his existence and doing what's morally right... until he stumbles upon a brown-eyed girl reading in a meadow in Forks. As he attempts to befriend her and learns more about the sleepy town of Forks, Edward finds there's a lot more to being a vampire than he ever thought possible.

Pairings: Canon

Rating: M, for language and future sexing.

Chapter: Seven; Disconcerted

POV: Edward

AN: This is quite an important chapter. Originally, a few more scenes were supposed to be included, but it started getting a little long, so it's been cut down, and the next chapter will cover those. Hopefully it's still enjoyable. Update might be a while away, as I will be leaving the country on Friday for a week, for sunny beaches.

As always thank you to everyone who reads and reviews. I'm thrilled with the response and always encourage your comments. I like hearing what you think I'm doing wrong, or right, and try to respond to questions about this alt. universe :)

xx

I shook my head as Bella rambled on about how she was unafraid of death and her disbelief in the concept of an afterlife.

I wasn't sure whether to be pleased or horrified by the revelation.

A part of me was in awe of her bravery and how willingly she tackled such a controversial topic with such intelligent rationalization. Another part of me was terrified by the potential for recklessness concealed behind her answer. Finally, a part of me was thrilled that death and salvation was not something that frightened her. It meant she would likely not be adverse to vampirism. I squashed the latter thought. As much as I wanted Bella, I did not want to subject her to this life. How could I force upon her something that I struggled with every moment of my existence?

I was mulling over everything that she had said, teasing her for her hopeless romantic tendencies, when I heard an unsettling noise in the distance. I continued to banter with her, though the majority of my attention was focused on the rapidly approaching noises, and potential threat they posed. I had a sneaking suspicion I knew what was triggering them and I didn't like the thought at all. Especially not with Bella in the vicinity.

The ripping and shredding sounds were growing more distinct the closer they came. The forest was, quite literally, being torn apart. I could hear roots being ripped from the ground, snapping and thrashing branches protesting as they were brutally slashed apart. I'd only ever heard one thing capable of wrecking such havoc.

A vampire.

James and Victoria had to be back. They were too far off for me to identify them by scent, but I was sure of it. It had only been 24 hours. It was soon, but not alarmingly so. I berated myself for not considering the possibility of their return. They'd disappeared into this very direction the night before.

I couldn't let them find Bella.

Beginning to panic, I pulled Bella up, ignoring her shocked expression. I was vaguely aware that I was touching her, even though I had promised myself I wouldn't, not until I had unraveled all my lies, and laid myself bare before her. Today, I'd only spun more lies, grounded in bits of truth, so that day was a long way off. I couldn't bring myself to care that I'd broken that promise.

Her safety had to come first. It had been stupid of me to come to the meadow while James and Victoria were out blowing off steam, their whereabouts unknown. I knew they enjoyed playing twisted, predatory games of hide and seek to calm one another. There was no better place for that than the woods. I had been stupid to assume they would venture farther away. My selfish desire to see Bella had won out over protecting her.

In the back recesses of my mind, a little voice reminded me she would have shown up in the meadow, even if I didn't and worse, I wouldn't have been here to protect her. Regardless I couldn't let go of my guilt at the thought of her fragile form battered and bruised, or worse yet lifeless, as the result of my failures.

"Go home. Now," I demanded, dragging her towards the path.

I briefly considered escorting her all the way to her home, but reasoned it would be better for me to intercept James and Victoria before they could catch her scent. Bella followed me mutely, no doubt too terrified to speak.

"Hurry home. Please. Go," I pleaded, guiding her until she was concealed by foliage and no longer visible from the meadow.

I quickly sprinted in the opposite direction, heading for James and Victoria.

For once, the act of running did nothing to calm me. If I didn't already know better, I would have sworn I had adrenaline running through my veins. Instead of feeling grounded, I felt like a live wire, ready to strike anything that threatened my brown-eyed girl.

The closer I got to the source of destruction, the more my pseudo-adrenaline pumped. The destructive noises had stopped, but I knew better than to assume James and Victoria had peaceably returned to our temporary home.

I breathed a slight sigh of relief once I was a good distance away from the meadow. When I crossed paths with James and Victoria, they would be unable to smell the mingling of my scent with Bella's in the meadow. They'd no doubt smell her on me, but I was around humans all the time, so it wouldn't be all that unusual to smell a human scent on me. It would unquestionably be a lot weaker than the one that permeated the meadow, so they'd have no reason to believe I'd been spending inordinate amounts of time with a single human.

I'd been wise enough to change clothes after previous encounters with Bella, and wash myself soon after returning home, avoiding James and Victoria until I had. James had made fun of my now daily showering habit but never indicated any suspicion. Even so, a vampire's olfactory senses were more powerful than a simple change of clothes and a shower. I just prayed they wouldn't recognize that this particular scent as a reoccurring one.

When I was right on top of the area where the destruction of the forest had ceased, I was surprised to find I couldn't smell James or Victoria anywhere. I'd lived with them long enough to be able to recognize their scents without a second thought.

All I could smell was the earthy smell of forest and the pungent smell of animals. There was a clear trail, indicating the path the havoc-wreakers had taken. It abruptly stopped, right where I was standing. I looked around me at the chaotic mess of torn branches, confused. This did not look like the work of a pair of vampires. It was too disorganized, too random and uncalculated.

I sniffed around, attempting to find a scent to follow, but was assaulted by the most abhorrent odor I'd ever come across instead. It smelled like wet dog but even more putrid.

My body tensed unconsciously, triggered purely by instinct, as it often did when I hunted.

A series of loud snarls cut through the air. Before I had time to process the potential annoyance, a triumvirate of wolves formed a spearhead formation in front of me. They were immediately flanked by two more.

They didn't seem to fear me at all. They were incredibly fast for wolves. I'd never seen anything, vampires aside, move so quickly. Even more curiously, they were easily the size of bears. If I hadn't been a mythical being myself, I might not have believed it.

None of these oddities were the most fascinating thing about them, however. These wolves had the most unusual minds of any animals I'd ever come across.

I berated myself for having tuned out thoughts other than my own after I'd left Bella, assuming I'd run into James and Victoria, with whom mind reading was typically useless.

If I'd been less presumptive I might have actually heard them approaching. Their thoughts were incredibly boisterous. It was hard to believe I hadn't heard them over my own thoughts. One of them seemed particularly angry, and therefore his thoughts especially loud.

I'd always been able to read the thoughts of animals, but it tended to work more like an emotional gauge, reading vague feelings. I'd never before heard one form coherent sentences. These wolves thought like humans. Their thoughts were in perfect English.

Even more strange, they seemed to be mind readers, too. A thought from any one of them was immediately echoed in the minds of the others. I wondered briefly if they could read my mind. I couldn't hear my thoughts echoing, so I figured they were only capable of reading the thoughts of their own kind.

What exactly that was, I wasn't sure.

James had told me about the Children of the Moon. He and Victoria had tried stalking one of them across northern Siberia before I'd joined them as a challenge to his tracking abilities. These wolves were not as James had described the them. For one, it was broad daylight; the Children of the Moon were solely nocturnal.

The Children of the Moon were potentially lethal to vampires. If these wolves were even distant cousins to them in any form, I was in trouble. There was no way I could take on five of them and live to tell the tale.

As if they sensed my trepidation, the one with the dark silver fur lunged for me. My split second of curiosity had been enough for him to catch sight of me. With a warning in the form of its violent thoughts, I easily dodged the blow and quickly swung myself up into a tree, making sure to keep my mind open to their thoughts, in case they decided to follow or attack again.

'Paul! What the fuck do you think you're doing?' the one with the midnight black fur roared across their mind-link. 'Do you want to get yourself killed? You know one bite from a leech is lethal. That's all it takes and you kiss your life goodbye!'

'I didn't get a good look at him; he moves more quickly than the others of his kind. He's definitely a red-eyes, though,' the silver one, whom I assumed was Paul, responded irritably. 'I can smell it on him. They smell different, like death. We just got thwarted by a pair of fucking red-eyes. You think I'm going to let another one of them get away?' An image of James and Victoria flashed through his mind, quickly followed by an echo in the others'.

'You have got to calm down,' another wolf, one with shaggy russet coloured fur, said urgently. 'If you don't, we're all going to get ourselves killed, and we aren't going to be any good to anyone, then.'

'Who the fuck cares?' Paul wailed angrily. 'These bloodsuckers are killing our friends and our families. You really expect me to sit by and do nothing?'

'Not nothing!' the black one said firmly. 'But I would prefer if we all came out of this alive. If we had a plan of attack rather than blindly rushing into a fight while our emotions are running high, there's a better chance of that happening. I'm the alpha and I give the orders. If you can't handle it, go back home. The rest of us can handle this one. He's by himself, we'll be fine.'

Paul growled. 'Yeah fucking right. Like I'd let you assholes have all the fun. Since that red-eyes with the dreadlocks, we haven't had any excitement around here.' An image of a familiar dark-skinned vampire floated through his mind.

The black one sighed internally, loud enough to send a huff echoing across the wolf-link. 'This is not fun and games, Paul. It's life and death. If we make a mistake it's not like we can press the reset button and try again.

The brown one snickered. 'Like that'd help Paul, anyway. Do you have any idea how many times he played Grand Theft Auto before he made it past the first level?'

'Shut up, asshole.'

'Hey, just stating the facts,' the brown wolf said smugly. 'Not my fault you've got no game.'

'Whatever, jerkwad,' Paul retorted, 'that's not what Kim said.' If wolves could smirk, I think he might have been.

The brown wolf growled and lunged at Paul, tackling him to the ground, a beefy paw clamped over the silver wolf's jugular. 'Take that back!'

'Paul! Jared! Quit it. Now!' the alpha commanded, his tone leaving no room for dispute.

The other wolves immediately sobered.

'This is no time to be fucking around. You're not pups anymore. We're in the middle of a hunt, which means all of our attention should be on the hunt. One stupid move could be fatal. I need you to take this seriously.'

The brown wolf, Jared, grudgingly let go of Paul, but not before accidentally-on-purpose slapping him with his tail. Paul shook his fur out to remove the leaves, shooting a dirty look at the other wolf.

Paul's exaggerated eye-roll bounced through every mind in the direct vicinity. 'Stop being such a tight-ass, Sam. Of course we take this seriously.'

'Then act like it and keep your emotions in check,' Sam reprimanded. 'Otherwise, you'll get us all injured, or worse.'

'Yes, master.' The rest of them all snickered at the quip, and I had to stifle a laugh myself. They sounded like a pack of hyenas. It was a strange thing to see a pack of wolves grinning.

'Okay,' Sam said, and I immediately understood why he was the alpha. With just one word he had made it clear that there was no questioning his authority.

'Before you idiots decided to waste our precious time, the red-eyes fled up into the trees. As I'm sure you can all smell, the he's up in that tree over there,' he nodded his furry head in my direction, 'probably watching us, waiting for us to leave. He's probably confused, wondering who and what we are and watching us to gather information. We're going to use the element of surprise against him. On my count of three, we're going to bring the tree down.'

Thankful that I intercepted their plot before it happened, I was able to move before they brought the massive oak I'd been crouched in tumbling to the ground. I immediately fled, leaping silently from branch to branch, tree to tree, the pack in close pursuit on the forest floor, their bulky forms unable to follow me into the treetops. They'd occasionally thrash the trees in an attempt to knock me down. I was quicker than they were though, and was able to stay a few paces ahead of them at all times. I was sure, given some time I could lose them, especially with the advantage of hearing their thoughts.

'Guys?' said one of the wolves – one of the two whose names I hadn't been able to deduce, and the only one who hadn't said anything yet – asked, sniffing my trail as he ran, 'Do you smell that? He smells a little like Bella. It's faint, but…'

'Bella?' the name echoed through all their minds questioningly. Recognition of her scent flashed soon after. What the fuck? How did these dogs know what my Bella smelled like?

'Fucking bastard!' the russet wolf roared. 'He better not have fucking hurt her. I'll kill him.' He increased his pace, so he was leading the pack instead of the black wolf, something that displeased the alpha.

The russet wolf's anger must have given him a shot of adrenaline, because he was actually able to regain some ground between us. He toppled the tree I was standing in quickly enough that I was unable to shift my weight from it to the next one. I went flying down to the ground. I was able to catch myself into a crouch before I hit the forest floor but the error afforded the rest of pack the opportunity to close the short gap between us. They quickly surrounded me.

There was a murmur of assent that I was indeed a red-eyes as Paul had suggested, followed by a flash of anger. I thought it was pretty fucking obvious I was a vampire based on my speed alone, but then again, who knew what else was out there? I never would have considered the possibility that there were multiple forms of werewolves in existence before today.

The russet wolf advanced slightly more than the others, apparently ready to pummel me into bite sized pieces. As if I was prepared to let him.

I sprung up from my crouch, managing enough momentum to backflip into a nearby maple. Five sets of jaws snapped in my direction angrily. Though gauging their vaguely appreciative thoughts, I think they were slightly impressed with my gymnastics. I hoisted myself higher into the tree, away from the snarling and stench of wet fur.

The intrigue in their thoughts was almost immediately replaced with alarm that I was escaping. I heard their thoughts rumbling angrily behind me but pushed them to the back of my mind, the need to live at the forefront of my mind, survival instincts taking over.

Once they were distracted, I didn't think twice. I lowered myself to the forest floor and ran, my legs pumping as quickly as they were capable. I'm sure I looked like little more than a blur of colour, moving at the speed of sound. I was fast, even for a vampire. I was sure I could lose them if I could just get a little head start. While staying in the tree tops kept me immediately away from their snapping jaws, I was much faster on foot than while emulating Tarzan. I'd have to cross water to distort my scent, I reminded myself, already mapping an escape route in my mind.

I gave myself a few seconds to run. I was a safe distance ahead, no longer within visual range, so I allowed myself to refocus on what they were thinking but kept up my pace. In the event they offered up anything that would be advantageous to me, I wanted to be in on it.

They had barely begun to resume the chase when I saw my face flash across their bond, through the alpha's thoughts, a note of shock and recognition colouring the image. A moment later Sam bellowed, 'Stop!' Immediately, as if against their individual will, each member of the pack ground to a halt. They stood completely still. The only movement amongst them was the ruffling of their fur as the breeze whistled through the trees around them.

'Stop? Why the hell are we stopping!' the russet wolf growled, baring his teeth. 'Let me go, asshole! He's getting away!'

'No. He's the one! The one Carlisle said–' Sam started.

The russet wolf's thoughts were intense enough to drown Sam's in volume. 'I don't give a flying fuck about what Carlisle said! He might have hurt Bella! She could be dead because of him! He's a fucking red-eyes, Sam! You saw his eyes! We all did! How else do you explain it? Carlisle is a liar!'

'Jacob, we have an agreement with Carlisle. We promised. Carlisle assured us he was safe. Do you really want to start a war with the Cullens? There's too many of them, our numbers would be annihilated.'

They were a good distance away now, the volume of thoughts was fading so I could barely hear them.

'I don't...' I heard Jacob say, before all their thoughts were lost to silence.

I was too perplexed by what I had learned to be relieved that I was no longer within chasing distance of five massive wolves who clearly wanted me dead. Someone named Carlisle, someone I had never met, let alone heard of, had ordered they not kill me.

Unsure what else to do or who to turn to, I decided to go back to the bed and breakfast. Perhaps James could help me track this Carlisle person and get some answers. I still wasn't thrilled with James and Victoria after the altercation we'd had. However, they seemed like the safest option, now. If there were three of us, we'd have a better chance of surviving against the mutant wolves, should they decide to attack again.

I'd chosen to stay in Seattle the previous night, after James and Victoria had left, not wanting to be in Forks when they returned. I'd withdrawn a sizable amount of cash from the account we all shared. More than enough to pay for a luxury hotel in the city. I didn't want to have to withdraw multiple times, as the banking statements would give away ATM locations. James would think nothing of pulling up banking documentation to find where I'd last withdrawn money if he so wanted.

Tracking was his specialty, so he felt entitled to such information. My precaution wouldn't stop him from following me if he wanted to, however. I wasn't about to make it easy on the bastard. After nine decades I'd caught on to many of his lazy-tracker habits. The things he'd do in order to avoid doing any real work. At least if he wanted to track me, he'd have to put some effort into it.

The hotel receptionist had looked at me doubtfully, assuming I was a criminal forger when I'd forked over nearly two grand in cash for a week's stay. Paying a lump sum in cash was safer in the event that James decided to track me down, however. I'd flashed her my most dazzling please-help-me grin and she had smiled back widely, immediately accepting the money and informing me she could bump me up to a presidential suite, no extra cost.

Well, at least if the situation with James and Victoria went sour again, I'd have somewhere to go for the rest of the week.

xx

"Edward! You're back!" Victoria called out, sticking her head out the front door of our cabin the second I was within sight. Even though I was a quarter of a mile away and her voice was barely above conversational level, she knew I'd hear her.

Her eyes were trained on my form, watching every step I took like a hawk monitoring its prey. It made me slightly uneasy how focused her gaze was. I had never noticed it before. Was it inspired by her worry or was it something more permanent I'd never cared to notice? The thought was unsettling, so I pushed it to the back of my mind. James was nowhere in sight, a fact which pleased me, though I knew he must be nearby if Victoria was. Emotional welcome homes weren't his style.

I walked slowly, closing the football-field sized gap between us, suddenly dreading talking to her. She wrinkled her nose the closer I got, no doubt picking up my foul scent.

"You smell like those disgusting dogs. Did they chase you, too?" she asked, appraising my clothing for signs of damage.

Slightly annoyed that she was acting as if nothing had happened between us, I snapped, "No. I just felt like rolling around in their doggie beds. I think I have found next season's couture scent. What do you think?"

Victoria rolled her eyes. "We missed you, too. Did you have fun at the Fairmont?"

I sighed in response. "I wasn't at the Fairmont," I lied, shoving past Victoria into the cabin. I wasn't sure why I bothered to lie. Perhaps my irritation with my coven members was still pettily festering away.

James was sprawled across a love seat, watching something on the television, grumbling about something or other. His face settled into a scowl when his eyes settled on me.

"Yes, you were," he declared.

I hadn't exactly been expecting "sorry," but a "hello," might have been nice. Further arguing took precedence over pleasantries, apparently.

"How would you know?" I grumbled. "Were you following me?"

I wished I could say I didn't think he was but that would have been a massive fib. James needed no real motive to stalk besides the sheer thrill of it.

"No. I didn't need to. You just happen to be the most predictable asstard on the planet."

"Fine," I snapped. "The Fairmont was lovely, but it's awesome to be back."

"Save the sarcasm, will you?" Victoria huffed. "We've got more pressing issues to deal with."

"Like the dogs?" I wondered stupidly. There was nothing else they could be referring to.

"What else?"

"I don't see what we can do about it," I grumbled, "except move."

James sniffed. "I'm not moving because of some disgusting, hairy mongrel."

I smirked. "That's not nice. Victoria has never says that to you when you want to move."

James snarled, displeased with the comparison. "Do you always have to be such an ass? Vic was worried about you when we got back and you were gone. I wish I could say the same, but you know…"

"Right. I'm the ass," I deadpanned.

"Must we go into this again?" Victoria interrupted. "At first I thought it was cute, the two of you fighting to be all 'man of the house,' but let's face it, women wear the power panties, so you two fighting over who gets to be alpha male is a moot point."

James sauntered to her side, cockily, wrapping an arm around her. "That's not what you were saying last night," he whispered in her ear, twisting one of her red curls around his finger. I fought the urge to regurgitate whatever blood was left in my system. Damn vampire hearing.

"Did you know they think like humans?" I said loudly, hoping to interrupt the nauseating display. "They have human names and can read one another's minds. They think of it as a 'pack-mind.' It's fascinating."

James was still latched to Victoria's side but paused to shrug. Victoria didn't look all that interested either. "So? Why should I care what goes on in the minds of those fucking pups?"

"I don't know? Perhaps so you can avoid getting killed by them?" I said sardonically, entirely fed up with James and his condescending attitude. I could scarcely believe I had considered asking him for help. He was the last person I should consider an ally.

His answering smirk was painfully arrogant. "Vicky can take care of that," he said sweetly. "Isn't that right, baby?" he asked needlessly, pecking his mate, who nodded, equally as smug. "You know what she can do. We're never in danger if she's nearby. Of course, we only ran because we were outnumbered. It wouldn't have been a fair fight."

"Is that how you two managed to evade them?" I asked, genuinely curious, ignoring his rationalization for cowardice. "Victoria's self-preservation instincts kicked in?"

"Of course," he said, confused. "How did you? If they caught your trail… well, I'm shocked you managed to ditch the retarded things. They're as persistent as they are stupid. Though you are one fast little shit."

"I could hear what they were thinking," I half-lied, not prepared to reveal that some Carlisle person had actually saved my life. That was something I would be keeping to myself, now. I would deal with him on my own. "They recognized I was a threat to humans. However, they're all quite young. They're not very skilled or subtle hunters. I managed to get away from them when there was a minor mutiny in the pack."

"So what you're saying is those stupid little furballs purposefully chase vampires?" James asked incredulously. "They saw we were a danger to humans and decided to kill us for it?"

"They think it's their duty to protect humans. It's instinctual to them like drinking blood is to us," I explained patiently. James' small-mindedness was grating.

He scoffed. "These pups are stupider than the Children of the Moon. They were violent beasts but they had no perceptions of grandeur. They attacked whatever was in their path, plain and simple. These naïve, glorified dogs think they stand a chance against us?"

"They killed Laurent," I said simply. James would remember the Quebecois vampire that had joined our small coven, briefly. He and James, like James and most people, were incompatible personalities. He'd left only months after joining us.

I was surprised when Victoria, rather than James, expressed shock.

"Laurent is dead?" Her tone almost seemed remorseful. If she were capable of compassion, I'd have thought she was sorry to hear he was gone. They had bonded somewhat during the short time he'd traveled with us. He'd shown a loyalty to Victoria that he never had to James or I.

"Yes."

"And the pups killed him?" James asked, as if I hadn't already made that fact clear. I nodded.

"Then he fucking deserved it. What vampire can't outsmart a bunch of overgrown puppies?" I didn't attempt to correct James' misconceptions. The wolves were more intelligent and powerful than he gave them credit for. They were young, yes, but they showed promise and, for the most part, had good instincts.

"We should all stay close, just in case the dumbass furballs decide to go for round two," he continued. "We should be able to take out the pack of them easily enough with the three of us. That's less than two wolves for each of us."

Before James could run off into a spiel about the superiority of vampires above all other species, I interrupted, rolling my shoulders. "I'm tired. I just want to rest. I'm going to go read."

James sniffed, muttering something about wasting my time. I ignored him, walking past him to the room that had been designated as mine.

Ever since I'd met Bella, reading had come to have an extraordinary calming effect on me. The musty scent of old paper and book bindings reminded me of her. It was soothing. I'd always enjoyed reading and learning. Now the process was cathartic; a way to be close to her without posing any danger to her. No amount of reading would be enough tonight, though.

I could hardly wait to see her again. I wouldn't be able to fully relax until I did. I half-considered returning to the meadow and following her scent to her home but ultimately decided that would be a violation. There was no way I wanted to add that to my list of crimes against her. One less thing to lie about, the better.

I settled onto the large bed in the middle of the room, grabbing Bella's favourite book, which I had conveniently stored atop my nightstand. I had decided I'd give Heathcliff another chance.

I wondered if I was willing to give James one.

I was really starting to question if staying with James and Victoria was what was best for me. If it weren't for the threat of the wolves and the safety of staying in a group, would I have bothered to return? When the cold, hard realization that I had no concrete answer to that question hit me, I was more than a little stunned.

I was more stunned when I considered that I wasn't even really all that worried about the wolves. Carlisle, whoever he was, had granted me immunity against their aggression. Who would be strong enough to wage a war against a pack of supernatural wolves? Another pack? An agent of the Volturi sent to protect my gift from destruction? Some other mythical creature I'd never before considered the existence of? More importantly, who would care to protect me?

I had answers to none of these questions, but regardless, I was certain I was safe. I could have gone to the city. Victoria and James were the ones who needed protection. They needed me more than I needed them. I wasn't sure if I cared. If I left, it would be their problem to deal with, not mine. My ambivalence to the thought of parting ways with my coven surprised me. I might have disliked James, but I'd never before truly considered leaving.

I picked up the book, flipping to the first page with a confused sigh.

If Heathcliff got a second chance, surely James deserved one, too?