A/N: Carlisle gets a little nosey and finds out a little more about his mate, some attacks put the whole town on edge, and Delilah makes a new 'friend'.

Delilah had dozed off, head resting against the cool car window. Carlisle had barely talked the wolves down once they'd realized he was on their land, he knew she was much better off with him. He heard her heart rate spike when she woke, eyes shooting around the car. Instinctively, he reached over and rested his hand on her's. She relaxed for a moment before she moved her hand away. He sighed. "I got you a coffee, it should be cool enough to drink now." She muttered a thanks.

"My I ask why you were drinking with the wolves?"

She rubbed her forehead. "I'd rather you didn't." He nodded, and she sighed. "I used to be really good friends with them… guess I still am." She smiled sleeply, taking a sip of her warm coffee.

"Can I ask why you came to get me?"

"You seem to have a tendency to get yourself in trouble. Especially when alcohol is involved-"

"Okay, okay, yeah I got it." Delilah rested her head back on the glass.

"It's okay, go back to sleep, I'll wake you once we get to your home." He said with one of the kindest smiles she'd ever seen. Falling back asleep with Carlisle's eyes on her. Once they reached her home he realized the front of her home lacked any cars, no lights were on. He parked out front, swiftly got out and moved to her side of the car. Carefully, he lifted her and carried her to the front door. He found it unlocked, he stepped into the home she shared with her Father and Sue.

Carlisle carried her to her room where he put her down on her bed, removing her shoes and pulling the blankets over her. He took the opportunity to get to know her, he walked around her room, basking in the scent of her. She had so few personal items in the room. All the shelves empty, no posters or pictures on the walls. There was some clothing that had been haphazardly thrown on the floor, makeup on her vanity and a laptop sitting on the table by her bed.

Carlisle inhaled her scent, deeply, once again, but something else caught him. The salty smell of tears and a twinge of pen ink. He squinted, following the sent to a drawer in her vanity. He slowly and quietly opened it, as not to wake her, even though she'd proved to be a heavy sleeper. He found a worn notebook. He picked it up, examining it. His instincts told him this was wrong, he shouldn't open it. But the smell of her tears, sadness, fogged his judgement. He flipped to the page where the scent was the strongest. The entry was dated 4 months ago, he read on. It was almost hard to make out the words, the writing messy;

im sorry josh, i don't know how this happened

If i could fix it i would

I want to, it should be me

what happened. I don't understand josh, what did you do?

how could you?

Carlisle flipped to the last entry, dated a week and a half ago.

I need to leave, maybe by stepping away, getting a new perspective, I'll understand.

Or maybe I never will.

He closed the book. Quickly setting it back into it's place. He turned and looked at Delilah, she looked so beautiful while she slept. He smiled sadly and approached the bed, crouching beside it. He gently pushed her hair out of her face, he then noticed some black marks, half exposed, on her clavicle. The shirt she wore revealed more skin than the others had. He moved the shirt further and exposed a tattoo, it didn't look recent. In twisty, curly, beautiful font read the word.

Joshua

Carlisle walked down the stairs into the kitchen with the intention of leaving her a glass of water and some aspirin for when she woke. There was a note on the table from Charlie explaining how there had been an incident and both Sue and him were forced to work late. He shook his head, getting what he had intended for her before flashing out to his car, shutting the door on his way out.

I drove quickly, phone to my ear as one of the nurses explained the situation. I shouldn't have turned off my phone. My throat burned with guilt. There had been attacks, animal attacks, they believe it to be wolves. I had a feeling it was so much more. At the hospital I didn't have a moment to change. Ten people.

Ten.

Had been attacked. That didn't sound right, as I examined a women, she cried about wolves, big wolves. Said they'd attacked her well she took her dog for a walk.

"How big were the wolves, Ms. Alaine?" I injected some local anesthetic around one the wounds so I could thoroughly clean it and stitch were needed. It didn't look like a big enough bite to have been done by one of the Quileute shifters. But too large to have been by a normal wolf.

"I - I don't know! Bigger than the wolves I've seen, a lot bigger." I looked at her reassuringly, telling her that they'd catch the animals who had done this, that it'd be alright. But I knew, something much more supernatural was happening.

Delilah woke to her phone ringing loudly. She sighed reaching blindly toward the table it sat on, knocking over a glass of water in the process. "Oh my fuck!" She growled, she sat up abruptly, grabbing her phone. "What!"

"Where are you?"

Her eyes widened. Oh shit. She looked at the alarm clock beside the bed, 10:38 am.

"I fucking slept in."

Renesmee laughed, "It's almost lunch, I'll come pick you up then, I can't believe you're late for your first day of school. What a way to make an impress-"

"Okay, thanks." Delilah snapped, hanging up. She was pissed. It took her a moment to realize she didn't remember getting home. Goddamn Carlisle.She swallowed the aspirin that had been left for her, dry. Quickly she pulled her hair into it's usual bun, and fixed the makeup she didn't get a chance to take off the night before, tugged on a crop top and sweatpants. She rubbed at the marks around her hips from sleeping in jeans as she walked into the kitchen.

The note Charlie had left her sat on the counter still and she skimmed it, disinterested. She tossed her backpack onto the counter, stuffing a package of oreos and a pepsi into it. She was sitting on the couch when the door opened. Renesmee looked amused.

"I don't want to hear it." She muttered, pulling on her shoes and jacket. "Let's just fucking go, okay?"

She chuckled quietly at Delilah, watching her stomp off to the car.

Renesmee smirked the whole drive, even as she helped me find my first class. Relentless, just like her mother. The room was empty when I walked in except for the teacher. I opened my mouth to ask him a question, "Show me your time table." He didn't look away from the computer. I walked over, handing him the paper in my hand. He glanced at it for a moment before passing it back to me. "In here we have a seating plan. Since you have a lot to catch up on you'll be sitting there, in the front." He pointed to a desk and turned to look at me.

I knew that look, somewhere between pity and disgust. I swore I almost snarled at him before sitting in my desk with a thump. I knew I didn't look good, skin pale with a hangover, my undereyes dark, the wings of my eyeliner smudged. I looked as bad as I felt. I sighed and rested my head on my hand, staring boredly off into the distance, earbuds in.

Someone sat down beside me, I looked over at them, tugging one of my earbuds. He smiled at me, he was cute. Messy brown hair, hazel eyes, sharp jawline. I smiled back. "You're new?"

"Yeah," I looked him over again and he chuckled. "Isn't it a little late in the semester for new students?" I shrugged. "Does it matter?"

"Guess not… I'm Dez. Nice to meet you…"

"Delilah."

He smirked. "Nice to meet you Delilah." So maybe today won't be as bad as I thought.

For the rest of the class Dez and I quietly talked. The teacher, who I hadn't learned the name of, seemed more focused on his own presentation then on his class. The moment the bell rang I shoved the papers I had gotten into my bag, and stood. Dez followed me out of the class.

"Hey, can I get your number?"

I laughed. "Why?" He was smiling when I looked back at him. "Well, there's a party happening on friday, everyone's going. You should come too. I'll text you the details.." He held his phone out to me and I grabbed it. "Will there be alcohol?"

"What kind of party would it be without?" I typed my number into his phone. "I guess you can count me in." I tossed his phone back to him, turned on my heel and walked out of the school. I needed a smoke.

After my little break, I was late for my next class, I used the excuse that I'd gotten lost. Why the teacher believed my story was beyond me. This was the smallest school I'd ever been to. Nearing the end of my class Alice texted me, asking me to come shopping in Port Angeles with her. I sighed, I'd rather just have gone home. But I felt bad, I had been close to Alice before I left , and yet I barely spent any time with her. I texted her back telling her to pick me up once school ended.

Alice stood outside of her car to greet me. She was smiling so brightly, her beautiful face so bright when she saw me. It was impossible to be a pessimist in her presence. I hopped into her car, smiling back at her.

"How have you been doing, Lilah?" I shrugged, "Fine, I guess. You?"

"Great! There's this art show going on next week, that's actually why we are going shopping. You and I are going to the show, and we're going to get the perfect dresses." I snorted. "No way. Thanks for the invitation Alice, but that's not really my thing."

"Oh, c'mon, you loved to dress up. I'll be so much fun!" I sighed, she was ecstatic. "Alright, alright. I'll go."

I couldn't remember the last time I wore an actual dress. Bella's wedding? I looked out the window. Washington truly was beautiful. So lush and green, I absolutely adored the rain. When traveling with my mother and Phil, I saw a lot of places. I thought back to my favorite. New York City, I wasn't sure if I'd ever go back. A part of me wanted to, the rest of me knew better.

The drive was longer than I would have liked. Alice filled the time with playing me her favorite music, filling me in. "So, what's up with Carlisle?" I asked. She reached over and turned down the music, "What do you mean?"

"He's kind of clingy for a guy I barely know." I muttered.

"Oh that." She sighed. "He's just worried about you. Everyone is."

"Now, what do you mean? Why would you be worried about me?"

"Lilah.."

"No." I snapped. "It feels like everyone's in on a joke that I don't get. What the fuck is going on?"

She looked down at her hands on the steering wheel, the guilt creeped up on me. "Ah, fuck. I'm sorry, Alice. I just… I don't understand. I'm sure Carlisle has much better and more important things to worry about than me. That's what I don't understand."

She smiled at me. "It's okay. Carlisle cares about you. I'm sure he never meant to confuse you."

"He cares too damn much, Alice. It's…" I shifted, stiffly, "I'm not used to it."

Well fell back into silence and I reached over to turn the radio on. I flipped stations until I found one playing a song I liked. As the song ended a news anchor cut in.

"Police say the attacks are caused by some animals, most likely wolves. The are asking hikers to stay out of the forests for the time being. As we wait for the situation to be resolved, we can look back at the three people who lost their lives, and pray for the seven still fighting for their own."

I looked over to Alice. "What's he talking about?"

"Oh you didn't hear? There were ten people mauled by some big wolves. Smaller than the werewolves we know though, but bigger than a normal wolf. Carlisle has been at the hospital all night,"

I closed my eyes, that sounded familiar.