This is my first attempt at writing, but who could fail to be inspired by Twilight?! Huge thanks go to my friends Nikki and Dani for reading through my draft chapters and encouraging me to carry on. Also the fab peeps at Project Team Beta for taking the time to look through my writing for me and not making it too painful (so far!). Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I'm enjoying writing it :o) x

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters, they belong to Stephenie Meyer.

Chapter 2

Nahuel PoV

I looked over at her and then quickly away, ashamed at myself for putting her in danger this way. I looked up again, watching as she winced as Yaima dabbed carefully at a cut above her right eye while Lican looked on in silence.

"I'm so sorry Malen. If I'd realised at all I'd never have…," I trailed off, the apology sounding inadequate even to my own ears after what had nearly happened. If Renesmee hadn't come outside when she did, the possible consequences didn't bear thinking about.

My sister turned to face me, her dark ponytail swinging gently as she did so. The bruises were already forming, one on her left cheek and another at the site of the cut. She spoke steadily as she looked me in the eye, "Yes, but you did. Is she really worth everything that you are sacrificing?" I sighed deeply and bowed my head. "We supported you Nahuel, even when Huilen couldn't stand by and watch this obsession build any longer, but we never agreed to risk our safety while you indulged yourself in this fascination that you've got with the girl. You have to change the way that you're acting on this fixation, otherwise Yaima, Lican and I are leaving. This cannot continue." Yaima and Lican remained silent, but I could see the challenge in their eyes that showed they agreed with every word our sister had said.

The thought of them all leaving me was not one that I welcomed, but everything in my existence had already changed so much because of Renesmee. She had been the main focus of my thoughts during the past seven years, ever since the day that Alice, Jasper and Kachiri found Huilen and me as we hunted in the forests of our homeland. The Cullens were understandably grateful for our help the day that they faced the Volturi. We all knew without a shadow of a doubt what would have happened if Alice had been unable to find Huilen and me. This strange organization, of which I had been completely unaware up to that point, would have destroyed the Cullen family and all of their witnesses. It was a testament to the well respected nature of Carlisle and his family that so many stood by their sides, willing to sacrifice themselves to ensure that the Volturi listened to the truth about Renesmee.

Renesmee. In the beginning it had all been about Bella, the very fact that she had survived the birth was some sort of miracle and all thanks to Edward. The way he looked at Bella with such devotion and his obvious love for his daughter made me ache for what my father had never been willing to give my mother or me. All of these years I'd been convinced that it was my fault entirely, yet within minutes of spending time with this loving family I'd realised that I'd had it all wrong. Things could have been different; Joham was the evil one, not me.

Not that this was a problem any longer. As promised, the Volturi had headed south when they left the Cullens. They had found Joham quickly and put a definite end to his experiments, satisfied that my sisters were innocent and posed no threat. After making them watch the demise of their creator as a warning, they had let them go free. They found Huilen and me soon after. Grieving for the only kind of father they had ever known, and now at a loss without someone to look up to, they asked if they could join us. Huilen's compassion came to the fore and she welcomed them in. During the years that had followed, they came to accept the alternative view of humans that Huilen and I embraced. Stories from my aunt about the people she had lived amongst and loved, and finally the story of the Cullens, particularly Edward, Bella and Renesmee, had worked to allow them an alternative vision of the world that they had never before been aware of.

Yaima finished cleaning Malen's face and bent to pick up the bowl of water and soiled cotton wool from the table. Straightening, she stalked quickly from the room without looking back at me. Malen followed behind her, leaving only Lican in my company. I usually enjoyed Lican's company the most of my three sisters. She was the youngest of the four of us, only twenty five years old to my one hundred and fifty eight. The fact that she had been so young when she came to live with Huilen and I and had now spent nearly one third of her life with me meant that she had adapted far more easily to our beliefs and lifestyle than our two sisters had. For this reason, the disapproving look in her eyes cut into me much deeper than that shown by Yaima and Malen.

I leaned forward and rested my elbows on my knees, bending my head down and resting my face in my hands. I stayed like that for a moment, not wishing to see Lican's displeasure as she gazed at me. Slowly, with my chin still cupped in my hands, I wiped my fingers across my brow and then down, raising my head so my fingertips covered my mouth. My eyes moved slowly to meet Lican's and she quietly regarded me. I closed my eyes briefly and a deep sigh escaped from my lips. My mouth opened to speak but Lican interrupted me, her soft voice instantly calming the turmoil raging inside me at the way events were unfolding.

"Nahuel, you are determined to pursue your goal, I know you too well to think otherwise. You can't continue on this path to pursue it though, somebody's going to end up badly hurt, or worse. All of this sneaking about, it's not right and above all it's not fair on the girl. How do you think she will feel about you if she finds out? This is not right." She shook her head firmly and continued to look at me, her brown eyes wide. "The Cullens, they are good. If you want to do this with our support, it's time to start doing things properly. You get to know the girl and her family and you let her make her own decisions."

I knew that she was right. Aside from anything else, the wolf was an additional complication that I hadn't known about. Huilen and I had remained in periodical contact with Carlisle after our first meeting with the family, but news was rarely more detailed than letting each other know how everybody was. We knew after the confrontation with the Volturi that the family were good friends with the pack of large werewolves that lived on the nearby reservation at La Push, but at no point had Carlisle mentioned that the relationship went any further than friendship for Renesmee. Jacob had known Renesmee all of her life and was obviously close to her as a child when I had last observed them together. I frowned as I wondered at what point the relationship had changed and, most mystifying, how her family accepted the relationship to the extent that they'd let them live together.

I stood up confidently, Lican's eyes following me as I rose. She looked at me inquiringly as I set off toward the door, then called out my name in a question. I looked back at her over my shoulder as my hand touched the door handle.

"I'm going to see the Cullens," I stated, turning back as I pulled the door open and left the rented apartment.