55

They lay on the couch in the small living area of the cottage, their sexual appetite sated for the moment. Her head was on his chest and her fingers traced a lazy path from his chest to his stomach and back again. She had never felt the way she did at that moment, it wasn't just a post-coital glow, deep inside she felt happy. Knowing her luck, though, it couldn't last. She thought of all the problems she had read about and wondered which ones would effect them.

"What is it?" Edward asked.

Bella frowned and looked at him questioningly.

"You have started to ask me something twice now and both times we were interrupted, what was it that you wanted to know?" he clarified.

"You will think I'm silly." She said, he twisted his neck so he could look into her eyes. She bit her lip, unsure now how to phrase the question. "I… you know I have been doing some research on the internet?" she asked, he smiled and nodded. She knew that Alice had let slip before she was changed that she had been asking some questions of Esme and they had suggested that she research the subject.

"Found anything useful?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"I'm not sure, you know that I don't know a lot about…" she waved a hand between them, but seeing his look she took a deep breath and just decided to say it outright, "sex, or even relationships."

"And?" he asked.

"I went onto a few relationship sites, I know I wasn't fair to you before, always threatening to leave if we argued," he frowned and was going to say something when she put her fingers over his lips to stop him. "Let me just… I'm sorry. I know I wasn't the most mature person about things. I think with… Renée… as a role model, that I just… flipped at times. Anyway… I was reading some of those 'How to spice up your love life' sort of sites when I realised something, I know we haven't been together for very long, but it's just the same." She paused.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, is it the bond? Will we eventually grow tired of just being together, will we have to work at it? One woman on this one site was saying she hadn't had an orgasm with her husband in years when she used to every time. Either he just could not be bothered or she thought maybe they were just too used to each other, they needed something different to get the excitement back into their sex lives. That won't happen to us will it?" she bit her lip. She couldn't imagine sex with Edward would ever be anything less than spectacular, but then most people probably thought that when they started a relationship too.

"I think it's a part of human nature." Edward said thoughtfully. "The known becomes, if not boring, no longer exciting. That's why sex shops and such do so well. People always looking for the new the unknown. It's different for us."

"How?" she asked.

"Humans become used to things, for example alcohol. If you have never drunk any it takes a very little to make you drunk, over time you get used to it and need more and more to get the same effect. It's the same with anything for humans, even sex, but rather than more they need variety. The 'same old thing' becomes less stimulating and even boring. For vampires though, we don't change. That spark at the start of a relationship is as bright as the day the bond forms."

"So if I had stayed human, I would have eventually become bored?" she asked, not sure that that could ever have been the case with Edward as her lover, but surely if she could become bored he could too? She didn't think she could ever cope with that.

"I don't know. I deliberately try and stay away from those types of thoughts, remember." Edward admitted. "However a vampire/human bonding is unknown, or at least where the human stays human for any length of time past the bond fully forming. Is that what you were worried about?" he asked, lifting her chin as she looked down to avoid his gaze, "that we would become bored?"

"Not so much we… you. I'm scared." She admitted at last. "Things seem so good for me, for us, now. I suppose I'm just afraid that something will come along and spoil it for us."

"Oh baby!" he kissed her gently. "You don't ever need to be afraid. I love you, I will always love you, and our bond and lovemaking will be just as strong in 200 or even 2000 years as it is now."

"How can you know?" she asked.

"Well, look at Esme and Carlisle, they have been together 90 years now, look at Eleazar and Carmen, they have been together for 250 years. There are other couples I know that are the same. I promise, we will always be as we are now." She sighed content with his answer. For the first time in her life that she could remember she felt truly secure. Not just with Edward, with everything. Her relationship with her father was better than she ever imagined it could be. The Cullens were perfect as well, and the added bonus of the people of La Push accepting the bonding of Tanya and Jacob meant that not only did she get to keep Emily as her friend, but she also found new friends in Seth and Sam. Eventually they would have to move, but according to Rose that shouldn't have to happen for at least 5 years. She had never felt as at home as she did at that moment, in Edward's arms, in their little cottage, in Forks Washington.

"Do you need to hunt?" Edward's voice rumbled through his chest. She lifted her head off it and looked into his eyes.

"No, not really." She answered, sighing when she saw the frown on his face. "I can't help it, I'm just not hungry… thirsty… whatever!" she said, exasperated.

"Bella please," he smoothed his hand down her face. "Just talk to me." She looked at him puzzled but nodded. "When we went hunting, didn't you feel any thirst at all? What about when you smelled Scott's blood? I know you said it was neutral in scent, but didn't it make your throat burn at all?"

He smiled at her lovingly when her face scrunched up as she remembered back, examining her every reaction. "No. My throat tickled slightly, but if I had still been human I wouldn't have gone looking for a drink for it, if you understand me." He shrugged. "When I had that mountain lion in my arms, it wasn't really that I didn't understand what to do exactly, it was more that I didn't feel the need to just kill him because you all wanted me to hunt. The blood didn't taste bad, it was like drinking water. I had a couple of mouthfuls and then didn't want any more." She watched as his face expressed his puzzlement.

"It's 85 hours since you hunted, even I'm thirsty now," she looked at his very dark amber eyes and nodded. He had taken the rest of the mountain lion when she hunted but hadn't had anything since, even when they came across animals on their patrols for the nomad he hadn't drunk.

"Do you want to go out now?" she asked, gesturing out of the window into the darkness.

"Well, we could go now…" he smirked and ran a hand suggestively down her body, she laughed and rolled on top of him.

"I'm sure it can wait."

They set out on a hunt at 2am, the sky was totally black as the usual overcast blocked any sight of stars, even to their eyes, but at least the rain held off. They travelled north east towards the mountain range and it wasn't long before they crossed the trail of a herd of blacktail deer. Edward's thirst was immediately apparent as he crouched into a hunting stance, but Bella just didn't feel the urge to hunt at all. The deer didn't smell particularly appetising but then they didn't smell bad either. She just wasn't thirsty. Edward looked at her as she stood beside him, she shook her head and he straightened out of his stance.

"No thirst?" he asked.

"Nothing." She wondered if she could starve to death as a vampire. Carlisle had travelled quite a distance before he was overcome by his thirst in the New Forest, but she doubted he had been as long as she had without sustenance. From what everyone said she should have been almost manic in her attempts to feed, never mind being 80 hours since her one and only meal of a pint of mountain lion blood.

"Do you mind?" Edward's voice cut into her thoughts, he gestured down the game trail.

"No… no, go ahead." She watched as he lowered back into his attack position and admired his grace as he suddenly sprang after the prey. What was wrong with her? Eleazar had never heard of any vampire ever without thirst, and he had thousands of examples to draw on. The Volturi kept astonishingly accurate archives, ones he had spent almost 200 years researching. Almost every type of talent ever dreamed of in the imagination had been found in some degree over the years, but never had one manifested itself in such a way as to negate the need to feed. Perhaps Carlisle was right and one day she would just snap and gorge herself on anything unlucky enough to be nearby. But she didn't feel out of control, she just didn't feel the thirst.

Maybe she should try and hunt? After all she had drunk from the mountain lion. As the thought crossed her mind she shook her head. Why should an innocent animal die just so she could appease an appetite she didn't even have? It was one thing to kill to survive, everyone did in one way or another. It was something else to take a life when it wasn't necessary.

Edward appeared at her side and she smiled into his light gold eyes. "What would happen if I stopped drinking from an animal before it was dead?" she asked, curious.

"What do you mean?" he looked puzzled.

"I mean if I was to bite a human but not drain him, then he would change, yes?" he nodded, "well what would happen if you did it to an animal, would we get vampire deer? Or vampire big cats?" He laughed.

"I don't think so. I've never heard of any. I don't think the venom would work the same in animals as it would in humans. Please don't ask when Emmett is around though, the thought of him making a vampire grizzly would probably be enough to make him try." She laughed, knowing how much he liked to wrestle with the bears. In a way she thought it was cruel, maybe a vampire bear would give Emmett something to really fight against. The thought of an immortal bear loose in the area soon stopped that thought though. Bears had no conscience and people could get killed because of it.

Suddenly Edward stiffened. "What's wrong?" she asked, putting her hand on his arm.

"Another Quileute female has phased." He said, "Collin and Jared just came into range and I can hear the girl in the pack mind." She watched as he concentrated.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"Rachel?" He said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I thought she lived away." She tried to remember what Charlie had said about the twins. She knew Rebecca lived in Hawaii or somewhere like that but as far as she knew Rachel had gone to university last year and rarely, if ever, came home.

"She isn't close by. They can hear her thoughts but I get the impression she isn't here. I wonder what their range is?"

"Last I heard she was at the WSU, studying computers or something. Isn't that something like 400 miles away?" that was some range!

"Yes, about that." He nodded. He shook his head. "Let's go back to the house. Jacob may be able to fill us in a bit more."

"I guess he will, she is his sister." He looked surprised and then nodded. They turned and travelled back to the Cullen house.

Jacob was prowling the outside of the house in wolf form when they arrived. Tanya sat on the steps watching him with a worried look. Edward could hear the conversation going on in the pack mind, it seemed like everyone was in on the conversation.

Rachel Black had been on her way to her dorms on campus the night before when she was attacked. Luckily for her the genes that ran so strongly in her family triggered in time for her to not only defend herself without injury, but also to kill the vampire that had attacked her.

Linked to the pack mind she had been able to get advice and dragged the remains to an unattended campfire on the edge of the woods close to campus to be burnt before the body could reassemble itself. The picture in her mind was of a young boy, probably not more than fourteen or fifteen. Whoever sired him was walking a fine line at that age. Alec and Jane were the youngest vampires allowed to stay alive, and that was more because of their talents than for any other reason. Both were known for their bad tempers and lack of discipline unless they were being well supervised by Aro or Caius. The 'rules' about who was classed an immortal child and who wasn't were not totally specific. Covens in Europe had been destroyed for turning people as old as 15 under the premise that it was too young while the witch twins were tolerated at just 13.

Edward listened into the conversation as Jacob tried to persuade his sister that she had to move back to the Reservation. She had had no intention of ever coming back to the tribe up to that point. She saw the scholarship as her way out of the life that she had hated growing up in. However she was sensible enough to realise that living in a large campus wasn't ideal for someone who could turn into a giant wolf every time she lost her temper.

They argued for over an hour before he could sense she was becoming desperate in her arguments. Everything she had used so far Jacob had shot down.

"Above everything else, I can't afford to move back, Jacob." She protested, "If I don't finish my course I have to repay the entire scholarship, do you HAVE $65,000? I know I don't!"

The huge russet wolf looked at Edward and he nodded his head. The cost was nothing to him and his family, Jacob looked rather ashamed at the fact that once more the Cullen's would be paying, but he wanted his sister to return to where she belonged. He nodded his thanks.

"Where the hell have you got that kind of money from?" she asked. Quickly Jake explained. "Cold Ones? You have to be kidding me! I thought they were our enemies! For fuck's sake, I was just attacked by one! I can't believe this. I thought they were just myths and then… I think I'm going insane, I must be dreaming. Vampires don't exist!"

"I bet you thought that Spirit Warriors didn't exist either." He pointed out.

"I… that isn't the point. Anyway, I can't have some complete strangers paying that sort of money out! How the hell did you get involved with Cold Ones in the first place?"

Jacob gave her a quick rundown of the tribes history with the Cullen Clan, from the first meeting back in the '30's to the destruction of the nomad.

"I don't believe this!" Rachel protested. Suddenly she swore and the transmitted thoughts showed that the small patch of woodland she was hiding in close to campus was about to be invaded by a group of drunken frat boys, intent on making another campfire. Rachel backed away as much as she could, but even if she had been in control enough to change back to human form, it wouldn't be a great idea as she had no clothes. It was almost 5:30 am, the sun would rise some time soon and the scant cover she had found would not be enough to hide her from the people who would be moving about. Already she could scent the occasional jogger passing on the road closest to the university. She scanned the area and finding no other humans she quickly made her way to St Joe National Forest. She breathed a sigh of relief when she got under the thick cover of trees. They could tell that she had reluctantly decided to return home, but her immediate problem was clothes.

"You can borrow my car." Edward turned to get his keys to find Bella on the step next to Tanya, a bag of clothing and the car keys in her hands.

"I would have got you the keys to the Vanquish, but I don't think Rachel would fit in the back, the seat space is small." She explained. Tanya jumped to her feet and grabbed the keys.

"I'm driving!" she grinned. Jacob shook his fur and retreated to the tree line. Less than a minute later he appeared in his shorts and what was obviously one of Emmett's old shirts.

The sound of the Volo's engine cut the quiet pre-dawn air and Tanya pulled alongside.

"See you in a few." Jake got into the passenger side of the car, mock scowling at his mate. She laughed and they drove off.

{Did Bella manage to hunt?} Carlisle asked as they retreated to the living room. Edward shook his head, Carlisle frowned but didn't say anything that Bella could hear. {On the positive side, Jasper cannot detect any sign of distress from her, he says she just isn't thirsty! I don't understand, she has already gone without food longer than any newborn ever has to our knowledge. I believe that I lasted about 65 hours, and I was so thirsty it was driving me wild even before attacking the deer in the New Forest! How is she doing it?} Edward shrugged. He wasn't going to let it bother him unless Bella showed signs that she was weakening or getting thirsty.

After Esme has fed the few wolves who were around for lunch they all set off to the clearing Tanya had found to survey the area. Apart from electric, water and a cell phone tower, there wasn't much lacking in the area. It wouldn't take a lot to get those things installed, money talks after all and the house in Denali was more than ten times the distance from amenities than the place they had chosen to build.

Emmett and Rose, carrying a bunch of poles with small flags on top paced out the area that the house would cover. Esme, Alice and Kate delineated each ground floor room in white spray paint. At the rate vampires worked the basic structure could be up in less than a week.

Collin, Quil and Embry used their noses to locate an underground stream that they could tap into for fresh water, rather than drawing it from the Dickey River. There was also another clearing just north of the site that could be used to put a septic tank, negating the need for the water company to be involved at all. The reception on their phones was boosted enough by the tower at the airport that they could manage on most of the tribes lands until the new towers were erected, which would be a couple of weeks. So only the electric needed outsiders to be involved in the project.

Just as they finished the plans the rest of the pack of wolves decided to join them, electric crackled in the air as a dark grey wolf stepped out into the clearing last. Irina, who had been busy looking at the architects plans that had been drawn up shot to her feet and stood silent as the wolf fixed her with his gaze. Edward laughed. It looked like the family was going to be even closer to the Quileute tribe than they thought.

This time no one stood between the two mates as Irina walked forward to stand in front of him. Quil, Embry, Collin, Seth and Jared stepped into the trees and came out as humans. They laughed as Sam, still in wolf form tried to nudge the recently imprinted wolf back to the trees to change. Paul was rooted to the ground, it seemed, as he whined and lowered his head to the blonde in front of him. She stroked his fur in wonder and smiled.