"Yes, stay very still and don't move from my side, please." Edward's voice was very quiet, hiding the stress, but not very well. I watched as he pulled her hair around her face, trying in vain to conceal her scent.

"That won't help," Alice called out softly. "I could smell her across the field."

"I know." Edward almost groaned in frustration. My oldest son's face was pained, part panic and part fury.

"What did Esme ask you?" I heard Bella whisper quietly to Edward, probably hoping that I wouldn't hear. Edward hesitated a few moments before he answered, probably fighting an internal battle whether or not to tell her.

"Whether they were thirsty," he muttered at last, albeit unwillingly.

The game progressed, but slowly. We were all wondering about Bella's safety, and every now and then, I saw him glare at Rosalie for a thought she'd had. In a movement barely perceivable, Carlisle signaled for Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper to hover closer to the infield. As a sort of unspoken agreement, none of us hit harder than a bunt. No one cared any longer about score or fairness. All that we cared about was Bella, Edward's human girl, and her safety. I spotted Carlisle giving Rose a warning look before going up to bat again.

Suddenly, we all heard the faint sounds of passage in the woods. I heard Edward's breath stop, and he placed himself firmly in front of her.

"I'm sorry, Bella," he muttered to her fiercly. "It was stupid, irresponsible, to expose you like this. I'm so sorry."

One by one, we saw the three others of our kind emerge from the trees in far right field. Their leader was a tall, dark-haired man, walking catiously toward us. I could see the reason for their caution; we had seven members in our family, and they only had three in their little traveler's group. The two other vampires oriented themselves behind their leader, although somehow I could sense that the other male had a malicious air about him. As for the woman and the leader, well, I couldn't find anything about them.

As they approached us, I could tell that they had a more wild kind of walk, very different to ours. I watched my husband anxiously as he stepped forward to meet them, flanked by Emmett and Jasper. Although he was the leader of the pack, I still wished that he would choose someone else, Emmett maybe, to approach the others. With relief, I noticed that they both straightened into a more polite stance.

"We thought we heard a game," he said in a relaxed tone. I heard Bella's heartbeat giving her away, thumping at a pace that I thought might be a little too fast. But Bella had a right to be scared; she was facing three blood-drinkers who would eat her if they got the chance. I was still surprised that she'd want to stay with us, though. I mean, what sort of human boyfriend is a vampire that would drink her blood if he didn't love her too much to do it?

"I'm Laurent," their leader continued, "and there are Victoria and James."

"I'm Carlisle. This is my family, Emmett and Jasper, Rosalie, Esme and Alice, Edward and Bella."

I would have chuckled at the human girl's face if we hadn't been in danger. She was obviously shocked that Carlisle had grouped her in his family.

"Do you have a room for a few more player?" Larent asked politely.

"Actually, we were just finishing up. But we'd certainly be interested another time. Are you planning on staying iin the area for long?"

"We're headed north, in fact, but we were curious to see who was in the neighborhood." Correction, they wanted to see if anyone owned this territory. I corrected mentally. I saw Edward's face change to horror as he realized what they'd do with that territory, which would be feed, and Bella lived here.....Edward shook his head sharply.

"We haven't run into any company in a long time." Laurent observed.

"No, this region is usually empty except for us and the occasional visitor, like yourselves." Actually, you were the first, I again mentally corrected.

"What's your hunting range?" Laurent inquired casually.

"The Olympic range here, up and down the Coast Ranges, on occasion. We keep a permanent residence nearby. There's another settlement like ours up near Denali." Carlisle was very pointedly ignoring the assumption behind Laurent's inquiry.

I noticed that the tense air in the atmosphere had been slightly resolved. I made a mental note to thank Jasper for that later.

Rocking back on his heels, Laurent's face was one of utter shock.

"Permanent? How do you manage that?" he asked, honestly curious.

"Why don't you come back to our home with us and we can talk comfortbaly? It's a rather long story." Carlisle invited them politely. James and Victoria looked shocked at the word "home". Laurent managed, with only a little shock creeping in, to keep his expression out of surprise.

"That sounds very interesting, and welcome. We've been on the hunt all the way down from Ontario, and we haven't had the chance to clean up in a while." I noticed how he looked appreciatively at my husband's appearance. I felt a slight flash of jealousy, having my husband admired by someone other than myself, but quickly repelled it.

"Please don't take offense, but we'd appreciate it if you'd refrain from hunting in this immediate area. We have to stay inconspicuous, you understand." Carlisle gently asked.

It seemed like the tensions were resolving themselves. How little did I know, as I would in a few seconds, that I was utterly and completely wrong.