A/N- Hello everyone! So I'm home watching my puppy (who's currently looking for trouble) and I figured, why not update? So… enjoy!

BirdieInABox16- Ya, you pretty much summoned up the next few chapters…

Happycookbook- Sorry, no violence on actual people… inanimate objects are a bit better… stress balls are amazing for that ;p. All your questions, well most will be answered soon.

twilghtfan78- Your reviews make me smile . I'm glad you like the story so much!

Lunamione7- Thanks for the review! I'm glad you like it!

AnnaMollyPR- Yup… she got jealous alright. Thanks for the review!

Laurent finally set me down once he and the other vampires finally stopped. I still clung to one of his arms, wary of the few vampires that we had come with. "Laurent, where's James and Victoria?" I asked, looking around the group.

"Hunting down Bella, it would appear." Carlisle said. His voice was calm, but his posture explained to me everything I needed to know. These vampires were ready to fight if they got word that anything happened to the other human girl.

"Hunting? Laurent, I thought you said…"

"Not now." Laurent said. "I'm truly sorry about James, but hunting seems to be in the very fabric that makes him who he is."

"So he's a tracker then?"

"He enjoys the thrill of the hunt, a bit too much at times." Laurent explained.

"How come your human girl is still alive?" Esme asked quietly.

"He's become attached to her for some reason… as we all have."

"Except Victoria." I muttered. Laurent smiled a bit before his face returned to the stoic mask it had been before."

"I believe your family has fallen for the human as well? A… strange attraction for her?"

"Edward has." Rosalie muttered.

"We all have. Edward seems to love her more though." Esme added.

"I want to apologize for James, however. The years I have been with him and Victoria, he's become a friend, but I've never trully belonged."

"You were with them for convenience?" Carlisle asked.

"I was." Laurent nodded. "He was a good hunter, Victoria wasn't bad herself. We had constant food and I liked traveling."

"But…"

"But, I'm tired of traveling. I believe I've seen everything I could." Laurent replied. "We had also heard rumors of how your family survived. Something about being vegetarian?"

"Vampires can't be vegetarian." I muttered. I still hid behind Laurent and held his arm, but my grip had loosened.

"We aren't the human term for vegetarian, but we're as close as any vampire can get. We drink from the animals here. We have to feed more often, but it's worth it. I am able to keep a job at the hospital, my wife is able to go out and shop, my children are able to go to school. We have as normal life as we could get."

"You work at a hospital?" Laurent asked. His interest had definitely peeked.

"Carlisle, why don't you explain how you learned to resist the smell of blood to Laurent in your study. We'll watch over Cerys." Esme said.

"What?" I gulped. My hands tightened on Laurent's arm, but as soon as they had tightened the muscles seemed to loosen on their own and I started feeling calm. The air wasn't as tense. It was like in the meadow.

"Are you sure?" Carlisle wasn't looking at Esme, but at Jasper.

"We'll be fine. Rose, why don't you and Jasper go change out of your wet clothes. I'll get Cerys something to eat." Esme said. She smiled at everyone, a smile a mother would give to her family. It was more relaxing than the force that always seemed to calm to worst tensions.

"You have food?" Laurent asked again.

"It's more of a rouse for the neighbors. It would have been a rouse for Bella, but she found out before she came here. Esme enjoys cooking still so she's been cooking for Bella whenever she's been over."

"Interesting." Laurent whispered.

"Real food?" I asked. I had been surviving on snack bars and trail mix since we had left my house. I had had one sandwich, but it felt like forever ago since I had eaten it.

"Let's go see what we can make." Esme said. "I'm sure Bella will be hungry when they get back here."

"Wait, they're coming back here? If there's a fight, it's going to be here?" I asked, stopping in my tracks from following Esme. The others all looked at me and then each other.

"No, it will not be here. We have a plan to keep our Bella safe." Esme said with a warm smile. "Now, let's get that food." I slowly started to follow Esme into the kitchen, still a little slower than I would have followed James or Laurent. "Where are you from?"

"Seattle." I answered quickly.

"It took you two days to get here from Seattle?"

"We walked my speed for part of it and James and the others hunted a few times." I explained with a shrug.

"They ate in front of you?"

"Never, they usually went out when I was asleep."

"I'm sorry for asking so many questions, but this is so new. I mean, Bella has just come to us and now we find you living with such an enthusiastic hunter."

"I know shocking. He's even tracked me twice. The first time was when he found me originally. He said I wasn't much fun to hunt. The second time was when I had escaped from where they were holding me while they hunted. I went home and was shopping with my mother when James found me again."

"Took him longer?"

"I'm not sure. When we got to my house he had already been there once. I'm not quite sure what his exact route to find me was."

"Interesting…" Esme whispered. She made me a simple ham and cheese sandwich and placed it on a plate, then in front of me.

"I'm sorry it's not much, but it's all we have currently. We're still not sued to stocking our fridge and cabinets with food."

"It looks…" I took a quick bite, "and tastes wonderful." I said.

"Good." Esme smiled. "You can eat in the living room if you want. That way you can watch TV while you eat."

"Is your son, um, Jasper, going to be in there? It looked like you didn't want me to be around him."

"Quite the opposite actually. We weren't sure how he'd be around you. He's new to this lifestyle and the blood urge is still burning within him. You should see Edward when he brings Bella home. He's so protective over her, mainly around Jasper. They usually just go straight to him room."

"If the urge for blood is so strong, then why has James been able to resist mine?"

"We don't know how these things work, really. Edward's confused, but he's said it takes a lot of self control to be around Bella. For us, it's just another human that we must resist."

"O." For the rest of the time I ate my sandwich, we sat in silence. Watching the TV with disconnected interest. Finally we heard a car pull up and instantly everyone was downstairs.

When the group entered the living room they stopped dead in their tracks when they saw Laurent, and then me. Emmett even growled.

"He's tracking us." Edward declared.

"I was afraid of that." Laurent replied sadly.

The little pixie, Alice, danced over to Jasper, whispered something in his ear and then pulled him up the stairs. Rosalie just moved to Emmett's side, but waited for what was ever coming next.

"What will he do?" Carlisle asked. He looked from Laurent to me and then back at Laurent.

"Won't he come after his girl?" Emmett asked.

"I'm sorry," Laurent answered, ignoring Emmett's question, "I was afraid, when your boy there defended her, that it would set him off."

"Can you stop him?"

"Nothing stops James when he gets started. You can asked Cerys for yourself. He went into Seattle to find her again and he usually stays away from the large cities.

"We'll stop him." Emmett promised. I knew what he meant and gulped. I didn't want James to kill the girl, I didn't want them to kill James, but I had a feeling something bad was about to happen.

"You can't bring him down. I've never seen anything like him in my three hundred years. He's absolutely lethal. That's why I joined his coven. Are you sure it's worth it?" Laurent looked over at Bella.

Edward roared with fury and I shrunk back behind Laurent once more. "Is your little human worth anything to him?" Laurent cringed, but nodded, squeezing my hand as well.

"I'm afraid you're going to have to make a choice." Carlisle said solemnly. Laurent understood. He deliberated for a moment. His eyes traveled over the Cullen family before he turned around to me.

"What?" I asked.

"I'm intrigued by the life you've created. I have been since I heard the rumors. Bit I won't get in the middle of this. I bear none of you any enmity, but I won't go up against James and I promised him I would protect Cerys. I think I will head north – to that clan in Denali." He hesitated. "Don't underestimate James. He's got a brilliant mind and unparalleled senses. He's every bit as comfortable in the human world as you seem to be, and he won't come at you head on… I'm sorry for what's been unleashed here. Truly sorry."

"Go in peace." Carlisle said. Laurent took another long look at everything before swinging me onto his back and heading for the door.

"Laurent, I don't understand. What are we going to do?" I asked when Laurent stopped after a few minutes.

"We're going to head north to Denali, just like I said." Laurent replied.

"But they're going to kills James!" I cried. I wanted to scream it, but I didn't want to attract any unwanted attention. Laurent just smiled sadly and continued on his path back into the mountains.