Neither I nor Jacob said anything for several long seconds, and then I decided to act first, not repelled by these beautiful monsters the way Jacob and the others were. I held my hand out to shake the blond vampire's, and Jake started trembling again, moving closer to my side.
"Nice to meet you," I said, jumping when Carlisle's hand touched mine; his skin was icy cold and perfectly smooth, unyielding to my touch. So they really were like statues.
"You as well."
"What's the reason for all of this?" Jacob demanded, and I jumped again at the volume of his voice, the tone unsure and angry. I glanced up at him, my permanent desire to touch his perfect features piquing at the sight of them so twisted.
"You've heard about my coven in the legends. Well, the wolves have." Carlisle smiled down at me, and nothing about his expression was sarcastic or uninviting. He seemed just genuinely kind. "You're not from the reservation?"
"No, she's not," Jacob said, and I wished he would calm down, glaring up at him. He wasn't looking at me.
"I'm from Forks. My dad is the police chief," I explained. "He knows Jacob's dad—"
"Bella, don't." Jacob had spoken to me, and I looked up at him again in confusion. He didn't want these vampires to know too much about us, apparently.
Carlisle noticed the discomfort, continuing. "My coven is that of a different kind than other vampires. We abstain entirely from harming humans and drinking their blood, and attempt to live as normal of lives as we possibly can among humans. We choose places to live that disguise our true…nature, I suppose, such as the ever-rainy Olympic peninsula."
I was going to ask what that meant when he continued, speaking in the very matter-of-fact tone that Sam had when talking about the legends. "We've made our home here before. In fact, we encountered a pack similar to yours the last time we were in the area, and created a truce with them that still stands to this day. You see, it is the nature of the wolves to harm our kind, as you are repelled by our very smell and presence. However, when we met with the chief of the Quileutes many years ago, we explained that we are not typical of our kind. He agreed, to put it simply, that as long as we stay away from the reservation and do not harm any humans, my coven and the wolves can coexist peacefully.
"As I am sure you have heard in the legends, some vampires possess extraordinary gifts. While I do not have one myself, my daughter Alice does." Alice stepped forward then, and Jacob's arm circled my waist, tethering me to his side. I imagined it was very hard for him to be around these strangers like this, talking and acting like humans, after just finding out hours earlier that they were monsters to be feared.
"Alice sees the future. It is not necessarily exact, and is subject to change, mainly based on the decisions of those whose future she sees. Sometimes, she receives visions of this particular area, because she knows it relatively well. She saw a small coven of three travel to Port Angeles, and then lost the future of one of the women. After this, she saw the remaining two vampires come to the reservation, lost their futures very briefly, and then was only able to see the last woman. We imagined they had fought and killed each other, but considering Alice did not see the fights or the causes of their deaths, she became suspicious."
Alice picked up where he'd left off, her voice like a tinkling bell. It was as beautiful as she was. With Carlisle and Alice both closer to me now, I could discern that their eyes weren't the burning red of the other vampires I had seen before. The exact hue remained unclear.
"It wasn't like they had died, really. When I lost their futures, it just clouded up. It gave me a headache to think about them or try to see them. Until they were dead, of course. But before then, it was just a haze, and I didn't know exactly what had happened. I worried I was losing my gift. Until, of course, I saw her." Alice looked directly at me, and Jacob's fingers dug into my side again.
"What did I have to do with anything?" I asked, prying Jake's hand from my ribs.
"Your future was still very clear to me, for the most part. I've now come to the conclusion that the wolves were disrupting my visions, and that since you were close to them, my gift clung to the simplicity of your future among the chaos. No offense."
"None taken," I said, still confused.
"And then your future disappeared, too. You were in a tiny house on the reservation, and someone knocked on the door, and you were gone again. Then I saw you inside another tiny house, with a scarred Quileute woman." Sam tensed visibly from the side of us, and I figured if Jacob was this upset about me being in a vampire's vision, that Sam would be exponentially more protective. "But just as soon as I saw that, you disappeared another time. I gauged that you were involved somehow with whatever or whoever was disrupting my visions. I had decided to come to Forks to see what was happening when I had another vision, and that only solidified my decision.
"It was of the last remaining vampire woman from the coven. You killed her mate, you see. And vampire mates mean something very different to us than they do to other…species." She wrinkled her nose, eyeing me and Jacob. Did she think me and Jacob were mates? Aren't we? "She is very upset. She wants revenge. I see her thinking of plans to get revenge on your pack. She hasn't decided on anything, but the last thing we need is a vampire and werewolf war, especially in this small of a town. That would cause certain, um, issues. With vampire authorities."
I glanced at Edward when Alice had finished speaking, wondering why he seemed so angry; his expression looked the same, and he was still eerily immobile, not even breathing.
"So why did you come here?"
"The last time my family and I were in the area, Alice wasn't with us. We didn't know that the wolf pack remained here, or that it would disrupt her visions how it has," Carlisle explained. "She came back to determine the cause of her loss of vision, and Edward and I came with because we are the most familiar with the area out of the rest of our family, and also in case the woman decides on her revenge soon. It is very lucky we did, because we were able to speak with Sam about the truce and remind him of who we were. We come in peace." His lips tugged up at the corners, and no one else said anything.
So these were good vampires, and they had come because Alice wanted to know what had messed up her vision. She had figured out that it was the werewolves, but now the problem was—
"The vampire woman who you've…seen," Jacob began, and I tightened my grip on his fingers, hoping they wouldn't start digging into me again. "She wants revenge on the pack for killing her boyfriend?"
"Girlfriend," Alice corrected, but nodded curtly.
My stomach twisted. She wanted revenge because her girlfriend had been killed.
The blond woman, who Jacob and I had encountered in the alley. Jacob had killed her. This rogue vampire woman would want her revenge on my Jacob.
I didn't know why I looked at Edward then, possibly to see if he still looked angry. He did, but another emotion was made dominant on his face; confusion. This guy really needed to figure himself out.
"Is it okay that she hears all of this?" Edward said, and my eyes snapped back to him, having been drifting in Alice's direction again.
"Me?" I asked, taken aback.
He didn't look at me, his eyes switching from meeting Sam's to Carlisle's and back again. What a jerk.
"Bella is trustworthy. She is tied to our pack." Sam spoke sternly, almost seeming offended that his judgment was being questioned. He'd told Jacob he could bring me, right? I knew it had been because Jake didn't want to be separated from me, our imprint fresh, but would they tell these vampires that?
Edward didn't speak again, still in the same spot between the wolves that he hadn't moved from, and I already didn't like him. Spoiled brat with an attitude, he seemed like. Some superiority complex, maybe stemming from him thinking he was above other vampires because he didn't kill humans.
"Actually, Edward could be right," Carlisle said, his expression apologetic. "If you wouldn't mind, Sam, there are some things we could discuss with your pack alone."
"You had your chance before we got here," Jacob replied, and I was glad he was on my side. It kind of made my stomach hurt to be questioned like this, with this stuck-up bronze-haired model hating me on first sight and his beautiful father wanting to exclude me. The pack had taken me in so easily, lovingly, almost. I was sure it had to do with Jacob imprinting on me and basically having committed to bringing me places with him forever, but the fact remained that this whole situation was a bit uninviting.
"We don't have to separate exactly, overhearing isn't an issue," Carlisle said, and I guessed he was referring to my feeble human hearing.
"I'm not leaving Bella." Jacob's fingers were tensing again.
"The other end of the clearing will suffice," Edward said, looking thoroughly annoyed.
"Why doesn't Jacob just stay with me and you guys go talk? He'll be able to hear," I said, deliberately not looking at Edward as I spoke so I didn't see what I knew would be more annoyance on his face.
"It needs to be a discussion. I'm sure Jacob will have something to say." Edward's disinterest was so obvious, I wanted to punch him. My anger flared.
"How could you even know that? You just met him!"
"Bella," Sam breathed, not wanting me to fight with the vampires; the look on Edward's face almost made it seem like he felt like he was above this situation, and I wished I was a wolf like my Jacob so I could rip him up. My anger was surprising, and I tried to stifle it, wondering if I was more affected on my end by the imprint than I'd thought.
Carlisle straightened out, looking authoritative. "Alice or Edward can stay with Bella at this end of the clearing, just in case the woman returns. Alice won't foresee her coming because of the wolves. The rest of us can talk through some things. It shouldn't take more than ten minutes."
"I'm not leaving Bella," Jacob repeated, looking resolute. Sam turned his Alpha gaze on him, however, and he seemed to shrink.
"We will do what Carlisle suggested. Bella will be fine."
"And if she isn't?" Jacob demanded, but he looked like he was weakening, his shoulders slumped in defeat.
"I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that Bella will not be harmed," Carlisle said. "Edward, stay with her."
And it was as simple as that. The two wolves stayed in their wolf forms, probably out of protection measures – only in our wolf forms were we able to hurt or even kill the cold ones – and started toward the other end of the expansive clearing, and Carlisle turned as well, Alice following him. Sam took one step forward and looked at Jacob, whose arm dropped from my waist.
"It'll be okay, Bella," Jake said, leaning down and kissing my forehead. "Sorry, permission?" he murmured, and I grinned up at him, nodding. I had a feeling his assurance that it would be okay was more for himself than me.
I was mostly just upset to have to be babysat by Edward. He didn't seem too pleased with it either, so I said nothing to him, walking toward the trees to lean against one of them. Before I'd blinked, he appeared in front of me, blocking my way.
"Where are you going?" he asked, his arms crossed. I rolled my eyes and scoffed at him.
"I was going to sit against a tree. Do I need a chaperone for that, too?"
His eyes narrowed, and from this close to him I noticed several things: that his eyes were molten gold, hardly visible in the darkness but still shocking all the same; that he was even more beautiful up close; and that he smelled extremely good. His scent was sweet, how Sam had described the vampires what felt like ages ago, but not at all unpleasant. In fact, it almost drew me in, and I tried my hardest to ignore it.
"I'm 'chaperoning' you for your own safety. You'd think you might be grateful."
"Wow, thanks so much." I stalked past him, and he jumped out of the way before our shoulders could brush, bringing his hand up to cover his face in one fluid motion that I almost didn't notice. What, did I smell? I probably had sleep breath, so maybe vampires were extra sensitive to that?
He looked almost – embarrassed, I realized, but didn't remove his hand, blocking his nose and mouth tightly so he couldn't breathe in. I watched him in confusion for a couple seconds before returning to my route, folding up my blanket and laying half if it on the ground with the other half up the tree, so no dirt could get on my clothes.
I plopped into place and didn't look at Edward, but out of the corner of my eye I saw him walk in my direction, leaning against a tree next to mine while still standing. I glanced up hoping he wouldn't be looking at me, and he wasn't, his gaze following the wolves with obvious boredom.
"What is your problem?" I asked, immediately regretting having spoken when he turned his bored gaze to me. He didn't speak, and I realized he wasn't breathing again. Wow, apparently I really smelled. I made a mental note to ask Jacob if I stunk the next time he and I were alone.
"I don't have a problem," he said quietly after several long moments, and I kept my eyes locked with his, not backing down.
"That's a lie. You've got an attitude that would put a two-year-old to shame."
I heard a bark from one of the wolves at the end of the field, squinting through the darkness to try and see what had happened. Hairs rose up on my arms and I started to stand, but Edward spoke before I could.
"Jacob's laughing," he explained, his arms still crossed in front of him. I could see one white fist balled underneath his arm, the sleeve of his sweater looking snug around his bicep in reaction to what was likely his other fist clenching, too. Was he that mad? "He finds you making fun of me amusing."
"How do you know that?"
He glanced down at me, then back to the wolves. Still bored. "Context clues."
"So what's your deal, then?" I was feeling incredibly brave, possibly because I'd just been informed that my Jacob was a wolf at the moment, or possibly because Edward was just being a jerk.
He didn't speak for a while again, and when he finally did his voice was low. "I apologize for coming off rude, I suppose."
"Somehow I don't think that apology was sincere."
"Somehow you might just have to deal with it."
"Somehow you can shove it," I grumbled to myself, knowing with his vampire hearing that it was incredibly likely he'd heard me. Neither of us spoke, and the next time I looked up at him, the side of his mouth was pulled up in what looked like a smile.
"Bella, honey," Jacob's voice murmured above me, and I blinked my eyes open, searching for him in the darkness. My eyes adjusted and I saw he was shirtless again, wearing only jeans and no shoes. I reached out and felt his face, checking that he was intact, and he laughed.
"Permission?" he asked, and I nodded, holding out my arms just in time for him to sweep me up into his.
"You're going to freeze," I mumbled into his chest, closing my eyes again, but not before I saw an empty space where a broody vampire had been minutes earlier. Or had it been seconds? I must have fallen asleep, I realized.
"Not possible. Have you felt how hot I am?"
Jared laughed, and I looked around for him, seeing they were all in their human forms again. None of them were wearing shirts, and my concern heightened. Reckless werewolves.
"Where'd they go?"
"The leader and the girl left a few minutes ago. Copper-haired prince bolted as soon as he heard us say we were done, just disappeared into the trees without the other vamps. He's got a stick somewhere it shouldn't be, that's for sure. Nice job picking on him, by the way," Jake said, and the rumble of his voice in his chest was comforting.
"Thanks." I grinned. "I can stand, Jake."
"Nah, we're heading out soon anyway."
"So what happened?" I asked, not missing Sam's quick glance at Jacob. Don't talk, his eyes said.
"Not much, just some basic discussion. Nothing you need to be worried about," Jacob said quickly, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Wolf secrets.
"If you're in danger, shouldn't I know about it?"
"I'm not in danger, don't worry about that," Jake said, and I could tell he was sincere. However, what he thought was safe was incredibly variable, especially for a teenage boy who was also a werewolf.
"Who is?"
"Nobody at the moment. We're just going to keep in contact with the vampires while the psychic figures out what the other woman is planning." Sam was giving Jacob a stern look, but that didn't stop anyone. "I guess there are some big league vampires who would come investigating if something serious enough happened with her. Secrecy laws or something. These 'good' vampires don't want that to happen, because big leagues aren't vegetarian like them. They're trying to minimize the people harmed."
"Wow." I didn't really know what to say, but it seemed unlikely to me that Edward would be the type to try and minimize the people harmed. More like he'd be happy to help harm them.
"Yeah, it's all a little weird." Jacob shrugged, shifting my weight to one arm and reaching down to grab my blanket from the ground. "We'll take care of it."
"Take Bella home now," Sam said, looking a little angry. What was with these touchy boys? "She has school tomorrow, and so do you."
"I still have to go to school?"
"Yes," Sam and I said together, and Jacob laughed, starting toward the trees.
"See you guys later, then," Jake called over his shoulder, and then started running.
"I'm confused," I said after we'd been moving for several minutes, hoping we were alone enough. "For a couple reasons, actually."
"I can try to help un-confuse you," Jake said, grinning.
"That would be nice." I thought about what I wanted to say, biting my lip. "So you brought me with because?"
"I didn't want to be apart from you, and Sam said it'd be safe. Turns out he was right."
"That's what I had thought." I grinned up at him, and he smiled, his cheeks looking a little red in the dimness. "Does anyone know why Edward was such a jerk?"
"Nope," Jacob said, shrugging. "Spoiled brat syndrome, I'm sure. The blond guy is some bigshot doctor."
"Where do they live?"
"Alaska." Jacob was answering my questions effortlessly, so I guess there wasn't some Alpha injunction saying he wasn't allowed to talk about them.
"Are there more people in their" – what had he called it? – "coven?"
"I guess, but he wasn't big on the details. Sam thinks goldilocks might have a power he's hiding from us, or Edward might." Jake made a face like saying Edward's name had left a gross aftertaste in his mouth. "They gave us just as much information as was necessary, and not much else."
"You know what's dumb?" I said, ready to start complaining and hoping I didn't sound like too much of a baby. "The whole reason they made him stay with me was because you were supposed to get involved in the conversation or whatever, but you were a wolf when you laughed at what I'd said."
"We took turns phasing and asking our questions. We could have had one person phasing back and forth, hearing what was in our heads as a wolf and then asking when he switched back to human, but it all seemed like too much work."
"Yeah, I get that, I guess," I said, frowning. "They're not even allowed on the reservation, right? How are you guys going to coordinate with them?"
He started to speak and then the breath rushed out of him. So he wasn't supposed to tell me, then. "Never mind," I said, grinning.
He frowned, apologetic. "I wish I could tell you everything, but I really can't," he said.
"I know, I understand. I'm grateful to know what I can." I leaned my head against his chest while he ran, out of questions for the moment. Sam had been right that we had school tomorrow, and I had problems with that for many reasons. One, I would be exhausted. Two, I'd have to spend the whole day without Jacob.
When we got to my house, Jacob set me down carefully on my feet so I didn't fall, grinning at me. "Home sweet home."
"It's only sweet if you're staying," I said, grabbing one of his hands and meeting his eyes. "How did Charlie let you stay with me in my bed?"
"He was coming upstairs so I jumped up and said I was gunna head out since you were sleeping, that Sam would come get me, so I had to put up this huge charade of calling Sam and asking him to head up here and then going outside when I 'saw' him pull up. Charlie didn't really question it, I'm a much better liar than you." He grinned.
"What did you do after you went outside?"
"Scaled the house and came through your window."
"Are you serious?"
His answering smile said that he was.
"Well…" I considered what to do, holding my arms out again. "Scale the house and get us into my room without waking up Charlie."
He grinned, picking me up effortlessly and then walking through the front door. I laughed, and he covered my mouth with one of his warm hands, waiting until I was silent before holding one finger to his lips.
He made no noise locking the door behind him and carrying me up the stairs yet again, and he closed my room door slowly and smoothly, silent. "That was a lot easier than carrying you up the side of the house would have been," he said, grinning. He was still holding me, and I squirmed, stilling when he lay me on the bed.
"Are you staying?" I asked him, and he looked at me like my having to ask was ridiculous, sitting on the edge of the bed next to me. His feet were dirty, and I wondered if he'd left tracks coming up to my room. "You need a shower or something."
He grinned, looking like he could have laughed if not for the need to be quiet. "You think I can shower without Charlie waking up?"
"I don't see why not."
"Works for me." He stood, and I wobbled to my feet, so tired I couldn't see straight. I moved very ungracefully to the bathroom, grabbed a towel from under the sink, and held it out to him, waving toward the shower.
"It's simple enough. I'll be waiting."
He grinned and rolled his eyes. "Bet you twenty bucks you'll be asleep when I get out."
"It's a bet! Except instead of twenty bucks, if I'm awake when you're done, you have to…" I thought for a second, leaning against the door frame. "Stay the next three nights, plus tonight."
His answering smile was dazzling. "You got yourself a deal. If Sam complains, I'll tell him, some things are stronger than injunctions. Like bets with imprintees."
I covered my mouth to stifle my tired giggle, backing out of the bathroom. I wasn't sure what exactly came over me in the millisecond that I stood in the hall, but before I knew it I had thrown myself into him, my arms wrapped as tightly around him as I could manage. After everything that had happened, one of the longest days of my life finally coming to an end, I still had my Jacob and I was still safe in his arms. He would always be my Jacob, sweet and warm and like the sun.
"Calm down there, Bells," Jake said, but his voice was low, and I glanced up to see what expression he was making before he could hide it. He looked…touched. His eyes were crinkled at the corners from his tiny smile, which widened as I looked up at him.
"Don't move," I told him, not wanting any funny business. Standing on my tiptoes, I took his face in my hands and then furrowed my brow. "Actually, bend your knees or something, you're huge."
He laughed and bent down so he was closer to my height, and I met his eyes with his face still between my palms, warmer than the rest of him in his embarrassment. "Permission?" I asked, and he nodded.
I wasn't sure what he had expected – no, that's a lie, I knew what he'd expected because I had wanted to do it – but I planted my lips directly on his forehead, how he'd been doing to me all day. He turned bright red anyway, straightening up when I dropped my hands and starting to murmur about needing to shower and not wake up Charlie. I just grinned, hugging him again and moving out of the bathroom.
"I'm gunna be awake, Jacob," I whispered, pointing at him playfully. "You just wait. And no cheating, don't take a super long shower to make me fall asleep."
"Don't worry, Bella," he said, his hand on the edge of door. "I'll make the shower extra quick just to get three more nights with you."
"And I'm sure many more after that," I corrected, smiling, and he blushed again.
While he showered, I tried very, very hard to stay awake. I even grabbed a rag from the laundry room and cleaned up the very small amount of dirt Jake had brought in, mentally making a note to force that boy to wear shoes. At least when he was trekking through muddy forest in the middle of the night.
After the mess was gone, I straightened up my bed, not willing to let Jacob sleep anywhere else. For some reason, the idea of him spending the night in my bed with me wasn't at all uncomfortable or frightening to me, and I didn't exactly know why. I knew that I should be at least wary, but I wasn't. He was my Jacob, safe and perfect. Sharing a bed is something we'll get used to, I reminded myself mentally, unable to suppress my blush.
After the ten minute mark, I was dying. The main thing keeping me awake was that I needed to brush my teeth very badly, but I wasn't sure what was real and what wasn't. Luckily, Jake took fast showers, and the tired hallucinations weren't that bad by the time he finished.
I ducked past him into the bathroom as soon as I heard the door open and quickly brushed my teeth while he watched in amusement; after I finished, I rinsed out my mouth and then searched for a spare toothbrush, finding one in the medicine cabinet. "Charlie would freak if he knew you had your own toothbrush here already," I joked, and he laughed much harder than I expected him to, reaching up and covering his mouth.
"What's so funny?"
"You sound drunk, Bella." He shook his head, and I reached up and ran my fingers through his wet hair, gently easing through the knots. Everything about him was fascinating.
"Wait, are you drunk?" He grinned and slid around me with much more agility than he should have had being that tall, taking the toothbrush from me. I moved out of his way and went back into my room, falling facedown onto my freshly made bed with a tired groan.
His warm hands touched my back and I realized I had fallen asleep in the minute he'd been in the bathroom, hoping he hadn't noticed. "Permission?" he asked, and I nodded, wondering what he was asking permission for when he lifted me easily off the bed with one arm.
He threw back the blankets and I checked over his shoulder to make sure every light was off, glad to see he'd taken care of all of them. He put me carefully down on one side of the bed and then turned off the lamp, bathing the room in black.
Then he was next to me, pulling me tightly against his chest. I dug my nails into his bare skin and pulled myself up so we were what I thought was face-to-face, putting my hand on his cheek.
"Jacob, you're perfect," I slurred, and he laughed, taking my hand in his huge warm one and putting it over his side. I snuggled into him, safe and warm, and fell asleep almost instantly, perfectly blissful.