Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight, but not Merged Souls

Authors Note: P

Chapter 14

EPOV

Sam and Emmett came charging down the slope of back lawn to meet us. I assured them that it was Black's scent. I'd never forget that stench. We decided it was too dangerous pursue him. The scent had been faint so it had probably been a while since he'd been there. Bella and I returned to the house. Carlisle had called the elders to alert them that Jacob was back.

Sam and Emmett went a short distance along the river to catch his scent and when they came back Sam was really disturbed. "If Jacob has gone rogue no one will be able to communicate with him, and he'll be unpredictable. This is not the Jacob we used to know. But he can't be doing this alone, who could be helping him?"

Jasper had dropped the metal skin around the windows of the house, and set the security lights and alarms. The Cullen Security Pack was going to be staying in the main house, along with Charlie and Carol. All the wolves would take turns on patrol. Jasper, Emmett and I wanted to patrol as well but Carlisle thought it was better for us to stay in the immediate vicinity and let the pack and council elders handle 'their problem'. Emmett was pissed and, as he put it so eloquently, we had been shafted, because we could only patrol around the perimeter of the house and not into the forest, just so the council could save face. What I really wanted was to get Bella and the babies as far away from here as possible, but we had no idea if he was working alone, and if not who was helping him. For some insane reason Alice decided to use planning our big wedding as a diversion. Bella was able to control herself around humans now but if this tactic was meant to lower the stress level in the house she had definitely picked the wrong activity. And before I could warn her, Bella walked right into her web and with her eyes wide open. Alice suggested it as a diversion for all of us, and Bella in particular, so she looked to Bella for approval. And Bella made the mistake of just nodding, forgetting that Alice would take that as consent to do whatever the hell she wanted. Well I'd have to take care of it later.

So, instead of listening to the evil pixie wedding planner, I was trying to figure out a way to convince Leah to say at the house and do research with Carlisle and me on the Journal and stay out of trouble. Leah is a bit of a hot head and I didn't want her going after Black alone. But she always shied away from anything academic, even though she had a brilliant mind. Leah saw herself as a fighter and not a brain. In fact she was both, but she never gave herself credit for being smart. The Clearwater's didn't have the money to send both kids to college so the modest college fund had been ear marked for Seth who had yet to show a talent for anything other than getting into mischief. Leah on the other hand had a head for business and languages, something that I was hoping to encourage her to pursue with a scholarship from our foundation. But Leah believed in earning her own way, and would be suspicious of a full scholarship coming her way because of who she knew and not for what she knew. I talked with Bella and laid my plan out to her in order to enlist her help. Bella agreed and called Leah over. When Bella started making our plea, Leah gave me the stink eye, and rolled them once or twice at Bella, she huffed several times and finally said: "Look Bella, I know I can be a bitch. A few months ago I would have said no to taking a scholarship from the Cullen's. But I've grown up these past few months and I've realized that you guys wouldn't offer it to me if I wasn't worth it, so yeah I'll take it. Plus I don't need one of the head leeches pissed at me."

Bella looked confused. "Don't look at me like you don't know what I'm talking about Bella Cullen. You can't tell me that you didn't know how pissed off your husband was when you refused to let him buy you a car...and by the way that was just plain stupid and hurtful on your part. Especially considering the piece of crap you drove." Leah waited to let that sink in, Bella look slightly embarrassed and then she continued. "Eddie...I mean Edward, has been talking about the international businesses you guys are involved in and how you're always looking for new talent to be the human front. Well, I think I would make a damn fine liaison between the humans and the supernatural. I could take some pressure of that Jenks guy. He's got to be on the verge of heart failure having only dealt with Jasper for so many years." She looked over her shoulder at Alice who was engrossed in something on the computer. "No offence Alice but Jazz can be one spooky dude." Alice just waved her hand and nodded, Jasper smiled and chuckled.

Leah moved to cross the room to Sam but she turned at the last minute and look at me. "And Edward, I will be in on the hunt for Jacob. I appreciate your concern for my safety but it's my job. Oh and Bella, if I were you, I'd want to get control of the wedding planner over there before she books the Basilica in Rome."

Bella was at Alice's side before I could blink. "What the hell! Alice!"

Alice had a pile of Bride magazines in front her and a portfolio already crammed with pictures, samples, swatches, addresses and business cards, my life was just about to become very complicated.

"EDWARD!"

BPOV

He flew to my side and flashed a pained look at me then at Alice, sighing: "You gave her carte blanch love."

"Oh my god when did I do that? I didn't say anything...I did nothing...but nod my head, oh no."

Edward stood over Alice and she looked up at him, they were having one of their silent conversations. That's just so annoying, but it was probably better that I didn't know. Both flashed frustrated and angry looks at each other, there was a lot of huffing on Alice's part and nose bridge pinching on Edwards and then finally they faced me.

Edward said: "Here's the plan, you can yes or no to each item that she lists off which will be the basic plan for our wedding planner..." he pointed at Alice..."to work from." Then he looked into my eyes and asked: "Okay?" I nodded yes and he turned to Alice. "Go ahead Alice."

"Traditional wedding?"

"Yes"

Alice got this very fixed but pissed look on her face. "The dress has already been ordered and obtained based on my vision from one year ago, these things take time and you will not be wearing anything off the rack,"

"Okay."

"The ceremony will take place here in the house in front of the windows."

"Okay."

"Angela Weber's father will perform the ceremony"

"No."

"Why?"

"Ah Alice, I'm a vampire now and have three children that I want at my wedding. So no humans will be attending this wedding that is not related to me or the wolf pack."

"Jeesh, Okay! The caterers and the baker have already been hired but you can still select the menu as long as you do it before the end of business today. If not then you will have the menu previously selected by Esme and Renee which is Salmon, Prime Rib of Beef and Chicken Primavera, salads, soups and such have already been selected by the caterer to go with these entrees."

"Okay."

"Okay to which? Are you actually going to chose something or go with the previous plan?"

"Previous plan."

Edward just stood there watching Alice. I guess he was monitoring her for any potential twists in her logic where I would get burned. God, how did I always get caught by her, she was like this evil little spider weaving these webs that you never saw until you were trapped, and the only way to get out was to surrender and give her what she wanted. Jasper looked over at me and then he and Edward both started to chuckle.

"Open bar or champagne bar, with Beer for the less refined."

"Champagne and Beer I guess."

"Cake, Chocolate, white, lemon or fruit?

"All of them."

"Bella, that will make for a huge cake!"

"So what, I have faith that the pack will do it justice."

"The music apparently is not negotiable and will be up to Edward."

"Okay"

"That one doesn't matter Bella, neither one of us can change it."

"Okay."

"Bella are you even paying attention to me or just saying okay for something to do?"

I glared at her and indicated she should keep going. I wasn't going to dignify that question with an answer.

"The flowers are a done deal as well as are the decorations for the reception."

"What? Why?"

"Because, they're my wedding gift to you and Edward."

"And finally Em and Jazz will do all the photography, except of you when you're getting ready, Esme will do that."

"Is that it?" She nodded. I walked over to Edward and laid my head on his chest while he was smiling at a relatively happy pixie. "Do I want to know what she had planned before you entered into the negotiations?"

He kissed my head and smiled at Alice. "Probably not, but Alice always negotiates from a position of strength. I don't think she really planned on doing half of what she thought about, it was just her way of making me think she was being reasonable."

Alice smirked and started to pull out swatches handing them to me.

I looked up at Edward to explain. "Oh you still have to pick out our colour scheme."

"You mean she hasn't already done that?"

"Oh no she has. This is just her attempt to make you feel included."

Alice stuck her tongue out at him, he laughed and I just huffed. "Go ahead Alice, knock yourself out but if anything is too over the top I won't speak to you for a decade. The final colour scheme was selected and was pale sage, lilac and cream for the all the linens. The wedding dress had arrived while I burned alive during the change and no one was going to see it, including moi, until the day of the wedding. Alice admitted that she had seen my Anne of Green Gables dream once and used that as inspiration for the dress. It had been designed in part by her and a young French designer and had been made in Paris using antique cream coloured lace and was accompanied by an antique veil from 1918.

She relented when I pestered her about the flowers and told me they were cream coloured roses, lilacs, freesia and orange blossoms. Everything was ready only the date needed to be set, but she needed at least a month's noticed for the caterers and the flowers. Alice also gave me the details about the bridesmaid's dresses and about Renee's and Esme's dresses. Renee was in raptures that she and Esme would complement the colour scheme hers was a Coco Chanel in a pale lilac, and Esme's was a Christian Dior in pale sage. The bridesmaid's dresses were silver cocktail length dresses in shantung silk by Vera Wang.

"Wait a minute I wanted to pick my bridesmaids."

Alice got all smug again and tapped her head. "I already know who you pick."

Damn Pixie. "Yeah well can I at least ask them?"

"Sure."

Okay then you, Rose and Leah. Rose piped up. "Bella, I'm honoured that you would want me but You see Edward always plays at all of our weddings and since he can't play at his own I'd like to. I'm almost as good as he is and it would mean so much if I could do that for you both." I agreed and thank her.

I was starting to get really irritated now, something about all this was familiar hadn't we discussed this stuff before my change? I dug through my human memories which were like looking through mud unless it involved Edward. I finally decided to try an old human trick and just let it go and perhaps it would come to me. "Are we done now?" The obnoxious Pixie grimaced at my tone and then it hit me. "I can see what you've been trying to do. I remember some of this from before my change the plans had already been made everything was ready before I got pregnant!" I was on the verge of throwing another hissy fit but Edward was at my side and put his arm around my waist rubbing my lower back. "Remember love pick your battles."

He smirked at Alice. "I told you she'd see right through it!" But in fact it had worked as a diversion and I wasn't as upset about Jacob as I was about the repeat wedding planning. And with that my cell phone started to ring. Everyone that had my number with the exception of my mother was in the room with me, correction with the exception of my mother and Jacob Black. I hadn't changed my phone number after Jacob was taken away, it seem pointless and too much of a hassle. I held my phone in my hand but couldn't bring myself to look at it and my hand started to shake. I'm a vampire now and yet I was shaking. Edward looked down at the phone, I could see in his face that he understood that it was my old phone, and Jacob could be the one calling me. Edward took the phone from my hand and opened it "Hello?"

He smiled with relief. "Oh hey Renee, no... No, Bella's in the shower, so I answered her phone for her. Yep, she's doing great. Alice will be calling you with the wedding details in the next couple of days... Yeah I'll tell Esme to order that for you... Yes the one you saw in Seattle got it. Ah Renee is there any particular reason that you called? OH! Renee can you hold on, I'm going to put you on speaker phone." Edward sat down and pulled me onto his lap then pushed the button for speaker.

"Okay Renee, can you repeat that for everyone."

Renee's voice came out loud and frazzled. "Sure Edward, that bastard Jacob Black called me! He had the gall to ask me when the wedding was, because he had a present for the happy couple. When I told him I didn't know he got really nasty, and called Bella a bitch, saying that she was hiding from him and trying to make him jealous with this fake wedding. So he said that he would play her game for now but he would kill Cullen to prove to her how much he loved her." Renee took a deep breath it sounded like she was trying not to cry. "And then he said he didn't like being manipulated or dictated, so she would have to pay for doing that. But since she obviously loved him, as a wedding present he would gladly get rid of the evil spawn and their creator. Then he said he knew that unlike Charlie, I had always liked Edward better, so I should probably call and say goodbye to him because he wasn't going to be around much longer. Then he started to laugh but he sounded like he wasn't all there! Edward, he had the nerve to ask me for my blessing because he and Bella would be getting married soon, and he wondered if they could drop by and see me after the wedding. He'd like the opportunity to adjust my opinion of him ...and he did say adjust not change. I didn't understand what he was talking about and finally I clued in that he meant to hurt me if needed. When I had realized that he had called my grandchildren evil spawn, I kind of lost it and started yelling at him that he better not touch my grandbabies or I'd kill him! He said fine, it would make it easier for him and Bella if he just killed us all anyway. Then he hung up on me. Edward? Phil is on the road right now and I'm scared! I know Bella is one of you now, but can I at least come to Forks and stay nearby?"

Alice pulled out her cell phone. I could hear her booking a flight. "Mom, it's me, Alice is booking a flight for you now and someone will pick you up from the airport so pack everything you need. We'll contact Phil and let him know what's going on. Alice handed me the pad she'd written everything on, okay Mom here are the flight details so write them down." I wished that I could cry. "Mom...Emmett and Rose will meet you at Sea Tac you'll be staying here with us. And before you ask yes I can handle it and you can be with your grandchildren. I Love you! See you soon." After closing the phone I looked at Edward his eyes were as dark as night and his fists were tight at his sides. He knelt down and scooped up the boys and I picked up Beth, and he just stood there breathing in their scent so I put my arm around his waist. He leaned over and kissed Beth and each of the boys on the head and then kissed me on the cheek. Looking into his face, I'd have to say that I had never seen Edward look more lethal. This was the real Edward, a mature male vampire, who would defend his family, his mate and his offspring with his life. Right now I would not want to be Jacob Black, because everything that I saw in my husband's face and in his stance made me certain that Jacob was going to die.

EPOV

In the past I have called myself a soulless monster. But today I am a son, a brother, a husband and a father and I will defend those I love with my life. Jacob Black has no idea what he has awakened in me and my family. When he comes for me it will end, he will end...he will cease to be a threat to the happiness of my wife and he will never come within reach of our children. Leah was watching me very closely and finally said: "I get it Cullen, you want him dead but is that the best solution? Maybe we should talk to Old Quil first there is an old legend about wolf madness. Jacob apparently isn't the first to go crazy because of the wolf gene, it's happened before."

She turned to Bella. "Bella, do you remember when Jake told you about the two wolves that fought to the death, because one had killed the other's imprint? The killer had been driven insane because of the gene and he was the one that survived the fight." Leah got a very pained expression on her face. "I don't know who it was but Old Quil, my Dad and Billy Black knew and it made them really nervous when they talked about it I heard them just before my Dad passed away. Billy was really concerned about Jake."

Great we had Black in the right place after all, a lunatic asylum, but he got away! Liam had offered to send us help but we'd turned it down. Black wouldn't be leaving Forks again. At least not alive! Bella bit her lower lip as she nodded at Leah's story. Oh god was she headed for the 'I did this to Jacob' routine again. I wouldn't be able to take if she started that again. She handed Beth over to Esme who was sitting on the couch and pulled me down to sit next to her and Esme, I handed her Anthony to have one hand free in which to hold hers. She went to open her mouth but I put my fingers to her lips. "No... No more, you did not do this to Jacob Black! Not too long ago you told me to stop with the pity party well I'm giving you the same advice for a different reason. He's not worth your consideration or sympathy. I swear to god if you start in on that shit again I will lose it Bella. We are not going down that road again. Jacob Black ..."

The rest died on my tongue as Bella looked at me with such intensity that every thought I had fled my mind, she was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen, and her eyes were full of love...for me.

"Edward, my love, I know that I didn't make Jacob what he is today, you gave me the strength to see that."

"Then why give me that look with all the contrite lip biting."

She smiled and it lit up my heart. "Because you are magnificent and I was in awe of you! You didn't even have to say a word. I saw the power and determination in you to protect your family. I saw the strong vampire male, the sire, the husband, and the father but most importantly Edward... I saw your soul." She kissed me on the cheek and leaned back. "I can see that you finally believe in yourself, that you deserve me and the children in your life. That you are entitled to happiness and you won't let anyone take that away from you. Thank you for finally believing in us. As far as what happens to Jacob I never want him to touch our lives again in any way."

I looked disapprovingly at Leah when she mentally tagged me as one bad ass vamp, she knew I was reading her and smirked at me and commented. "Remind me, Cullen, to never piss you off, because you can be one scary looking vamp and I have no doubt you're a killer."

Masen giggled on my lap and Anthony stared at me wide eyed Beth leaned over and touched my face replaying for me what had just taken place. I really did look scary when I saw myself through her eyes. I looked impressive and truly like a vampire. But I was proud this time and not disgusted. Masen looked at me. "Daddy, I want to be just like you." I hugged my son to me and Bella leaned her head on my shoulder.

Esme and Alice both said "Awwwh!" And at the same time Rose and Jasper hissed like they'd been burned and shook their heads, then Emmett yelled out. "No! No way not after a century of emo Edward! We are not going to live through an emo Masen...Are we?"

"Emmett, we haven't known each other for a century, so get a life."

"Maybe not bro, but you made it seem that long. And technically Edward I can't get a life, I'm already dead." And then he smirked at me. We all burst out laughing including the babies. The laughter was short lived though when Bella's phone rang again. It was just Renee she was at the airport on her way to the gate. But there had been a little girl at the airport who had given her a flower and a note saying it was from her son Jake. "The note said shame on you, running away but you just made it easier. What the hell does that mean? Never mind I don't want to know. Edward I want you to save a piece of the bastard for me to throw on the fire."

"Renee, the wolves die like any other living creature. It's vampires that you have to rip apart and burn in order to kill them."

"Well alright...but can't we do it anyway?"

Renee had got a hold of Phil and told him she was going to visit Bella and help with the wedding plans. So we didn't have to contact him and come up with a story. She had even asked if he'd like to meet her in Forks and they could stay with Charlie. And like any self respecting man he turned down the chance to join her for wedding planning and spend any quality time with her ex, just as she suspected he would. He opted instead to go visit his brother in Maine for a couple of weeks. Bella's Mom arrived safe and sound later that day and settled in with the rest of the clan. It was nice not having to pretend around the humans and they took everything in their stride. The only point of concern was when Renee insisted that she take her turn cooking. Bella finally sat her down and had the talk. She told her that she was a disaster in the kitchen and that she should not be allowed near food except to eat. Renee laughed and applauded her guts in finally telling her, she admitted that she hated to cook and unless Phil did it back home in Florida they usually ordered take out.

A week passed without anything happening, the La Push and Cullen wolves were still getting whiffs of Jacob in the neighbourhood but nothing closer to the house than the other side of the river, and no sightings at all. Jasper was concerned about Cody he was acting very nervous so he started to keep a close eye on him. Cody finally came to me. "Edward, I know Jasper has been watching me. But I'm not Jacob's friend anymore. I'm just worried about your family...my family now."

Rachel and Paul had called from Isle Esme to thank Alice. Apparently she had arranged for them to get married while on the island. Billy hadn't been able to attend but he had watched through Skype. The pixie doesn't have visions about the wolves. But she could see Billy watching Rachel's wedding so she arranged the whole thing. She had been concerned that Black may try to get to us by using Paul's family. So she had them flown down to Rio for the wedding and then they were to vacation there. Maggie and Shawn from the Irish coven had agreed to be their chaperons watching over them. Shawn had even performed the wedding ceremony. It turned out that in the 19th century he often traveled in the guise of a missionary and had actually become an ordained Anglican minister. This was a much debated bone of contention with Siobhan, because she had been a Catholic, when she was human. He had finally given up fighting with her when missionary work went out of style. And he had gone on to become an engineer, and then a doctor, both professions that he could use to legitimately travel the world.

But Alice still didn't trust Paul. Well none of us did really. Maggie would know if Paul was about to do something foolish since he couldn't lie to her. She had called us to say the whole thing went off beautifully and that Paul's family was safely ensconced in a private residence in Rio that she owned. She was having a blast with Rachel they were kindred spirits and Paul had developed a friendship with Shawn. Shawn had helped Paul to see that he had a lot to give someone like Rachel. Surprisingly Paul's family had taken it all in stride that Maggie was a vampire, Shawn a hybrid and that Paul was a wolf, they all knew the legends and weren't surprised that they were true.

After apologizing several times for the Black incident Maggie asked to speak to Esme. She wanted to rent the Island during hurricane season. Apparently Liam and Siobhan loved storms and she wanted to send them to the Island as a gift for their three hundredth wedding anniversary. Esme and Maggie hammered out an agreement, and I got the distinct impression that we would all be attending a party on Isle Esme this coming year during the hurricane season.

The children were still growing rapidly and Carlisle was keeping growth charts on all of them. The visitors from South America had been way laid by the lack of passports for the children they so they wouldn't be here for another few weeks. But a routine had been established for the triplets and school would officially start next week. Esme had tested each of them to see where they would need to start in the curriculum. They were surprisingly advanced in many subjects. Some subjects which required complex manual dexterity and fine motor movements, like the arts or sports, would be introduced later. Still they were making rapid progress even in those areas. Of course Emmett quipped they were so smart because they had a brainer and nerd for a father, Bella got him in the back of the head for that one... I loved my wife. The children all took to reading, just like their mother and I. We had stopped reading to them within a very short time, they were now reading to each other or to someone in the family each night before bed.

Despite everything, the patrols, humans in the house, the kids schooling. The plans for the family room had gone forward and it was finished in a few days, with all the extra hands available. And was invaluable space for containing the wolf smell and their exuberance for noisy games. Rose had even inserted some high tech air filters used by NASA into our heating and cooling system...To get rid of the wet dog smell. I had now taken over the section of the great room that used to house all the entertainment and games systems, my second grand piano was out of storage and lovingly placed facing the other one. This was only temporary until an addition was built or we moved on which would be inevitable.

The triplets were now approaching the three month mark but physically they look to between two to three years old. So I had started them on music lessons, all three were very adept at the piano and enjoyed it. But it was Masen who showed a real affinity for playing and I would often find him sneaking down early from his nap to get in some extra practice. Masen favoured the classics, but like me he also loved Jazz. Anthony had a thing for speed and had little patience for the piano. But when his Uncle Jasper introduced him to the guitar, that was it, Anthony had found his musical niche. And it was classic rock and roll and most forms of contemporary music that he loved. While Beth enjoyed music, she preferred singing to playing any instrument, except when she would play duets with me or Masen. Then she would she shine at the piano. She was too much like her mother to be a solo artist, she never wanted the spotlight.

There were many quiet family moments during this time but the tension never really lifted. We kept up the patrols and caught whiffs of the dog every day, but never in the same place twice. The children and the humans were surrounded whenever they went outside. Though Bella had been loath to tell the children about Jacob Black, Anthony was the one that finally asked who the 'mutt' was and why did we hate him. Since he shared my talent for mind reading he had heard our thoughts about 'the mutt' on more than one occasion sine that was the only way we referred to Jacob Black anymore.

Bella and I, and the rest of the family were sitting in the great room. The triplets had been fed and bathed by the two grandmas and Carol, when Anthony walked over to me, "Daddy, what is the mutt and why is everyone either afraid of it, or hate it."

Bella groaned and I shook my head, running my hands through my hair, Alice sat down on the floor in front of Anthony and said to Bella. "May I? You two will only mess up the telling and they need to know the truth, the whole truth about everything."

I opened my mouth to protest that they didn't need to know everything, but when I looked at Bella she was looking at Alice and nodding in agreement. I knew instinctively I would not win that battle. It would appear that my children would be fully versed in the Bella, Edward and Jacob saga. Years before I thought it would be necessary. Beth and Masen joined Anthony, sitting beside their Aunt, and listened to her tale of how I met Bella. How we fell in love, how afraid and stupid I was and how Bella was insecure, gullible and stupid. The way she told it made our mistakes into object lessons that were an open and honest and which neither Bella nor I could argue with in hind sight. She didn't gloss over my desertion of Bella and my subsequent return. And she covered every instance of Bella's relationship with the mutt, including her ability to bury her head in the sand, and not see what was happening with Jacob. No detail was left out no matter how painful or embarrassing, but she was very eloquent when she talked about the love between Bella and me and our love for them and the family.

Carlisle, Esme, would add a few things every now and then. Even Charlie told them about how he had tried to keep us apart and what he had done to encourage the mutt, not believing what his eyes and ears told him. When they were done, my tiny beautiful daughter stood up and took in her audience, looking around the room then looking long and hard at Charlie, Bella and I and in her little girl voice with a slight lisp she said: "Daddy, Momma, Grandpa. Aunt Alice is right you were really, really stupid! But I think I understand why you did, what you did. But you were wrong, and I don't want you to treat each other like that ever again. Okay?" I was in awe of my daughter, she was sweetness and innocence and common sense all rolled together. But she wasn't done with her little speech and continued. "Momma, Daddy. Masen, Anthony and I know that you love each other very much, but you still don't see yourselves the way the others do. So I want to tell you something that I heard Aunt Rose tell Grandma Esme. 'You both need to smarten up and get on with life. Stop looking back. Did I say it that right, Aunt Rose?"

Rose just groaned and smacked her face with her hands then put her head in Emmett's lap, while he sat there chuckling. Emmett wanted to lighten the mood and told them about how Grandpa Charlie had thought about shooting their Daddy on more than one occasion, it had the desired effect and the tension dissipated.

It was the Grandpas turns to listen to the kids read before bed. So Charlie and Carlisle scooped them up and walked up stairs, listening to their questions about when they could go see Grandpa Carlisle work at the hospital. Masen wanted to see an operation. And when would Grandpa Charlie take them for drive in the police cruiser and lock them in a jail cell? Anthony wanted to see if he could pick the lock, and he wanted to go on a high speed chase. Beth just wanted to meet the people they worked with. I was glad to leave that particular mine field to Charlie and Carlisle. Bella and I would talk to them about it later. If I were a human I would have been exhausted by now. My children now knew the best and the worst about me. Their mother had been mortified and their Aunts and Uncles had been delighted to accommodate them by answering all their questions. Renee was still laughing her ass off and when I turned to look at her she pointed at Bells and then me and started to laugh even harder. When she finally got it under control she looked at Esme and asked: "Esme, how did you keep from taking these two and locking them in a room until they figured everything out? Edward, Bella you must have the thickest heads and the lowest self esteem of any two people on this planet. Did either one of consider ... oh well never mind you finally worked it out, and maybe the way it happened was just karma. But I hope you realize by now that you're perfect for each other."

I nodded. "Yes Renee, I think we finally figured that out."

Seth came running through the back door, with a big smile on his face, and without preamble he started in. "Hey everybody, what if we don't have to kill Jacob? Old Quil remembers a ritual called 'the Bonding' it removes his ability to phase and gives it to another." He looked around at everyone no one was moving and we were all glaring at Seth. "Can we at least have an Amen brother? Come on guys a little excitement would be appropriate here."

No one smiled, and no one applauded and he did not get an Amen. He did almost get a go to hell from me. My glare intensified and I could feel a growl rumbling in my chest. Seth looked at me warily took a step back and then a deep breath. "Listen I understand that you are beyond angry. And Edward, if I were you I'd want to take Jacob out. But the council will not sanction that unless it's self defense. You have to at least consider this as an alternative. If you don't it could be an issue that will affect your relationship with the council...and..." He looked at his feet..."the pack."

Seth was a good person but he wasn't a husband or a father. He had not been on the receiving end of Jacob Black's poisonous manipulations and lies. I looked at Bella. She was upset but shrugged, leaving it up to me to make the final decision. Emmett was seething, he was thinking only of the babies and Bella. Rose was looking daggers at Seth and the tension in the room was ramping up with Jasper absorbing it all. Esme was looking around the room at all of us, and was really worried someone could get hurt. And as much as I loathed it, I had to nip this in the bud now. We would have to let the council and the pack try and handle this without our interference. Seth was getting nervous and his hands were shaking as he moved to a defensive position with his back to the door. Leah walked in just then and looked around. She didn't take long to figure out what had happened. "Damn it Seth, you idiot I told you to wait for me, stupid freaking puppy...you're an idiot! Edward, I'm sorry but the council is adamant that they..."

I held my hand up to stop her. "Leah, the council is right this is their problem to deal with, and we will cooperate...but they need to understand that I will defend my family with lethal force." Emmett and Jasper growled, but I silenced them with a look. Bella grasped my hand tightly as I continued. "We will all defend our family, if attacked. But if we do capture him we will turn him over to the council and the pack... just be warned that if he offers us no choice... I will be the one that destroys him."

Seth let out a huge sigh. "Christ Edward, you had me scared there for a minute."

I looked at him but didn't smile, "You should be afraid of me Seth, vampires are very territorial and we will defend our mates and covens to the death! So in the future it would be wise if you tread lightly when coming to deliver news that we won't like." The Grandpas came downstairs. Carlisle was angry, I could see that he had let Charlie in on the news, and he was just angry. Emily and Sam arrived just then. The wolves would not leave their imprints alone now. It was felt that Jacob presented a threat to them all. So whenever possible they went everywhere together, or they stayed at the Clearwater's, where at least three wolves were on guard at all times. Finally we got down to business. First Sam took care of the simple mundane things. He wanted to thank us for our help. The infrastructure plans had been approved, and the council had signed all the papers at the council meeting last night and had sent them to Jenks office today. The contractors would be meeting with the council at the end of the month, and they asked if Esme would please attend to help advise them. She agreed and beamed from ear to ear. Sam suggested that he take her on a tour of the reserve first in order to prioritize the projects. That left Black as the only other item to discuss. Seth had already made us aware of the council's wishes. They felt that with Jacob in hand they could strip him of his ability to phase and transfer it to another. They wouldn't say who that would be. Charlie said that was all well and good but how were they going to catch him. Alice raised her head and practically bored a hole through Charlie, but refused to even discuss what she had seen and she was blocking me. Charlie came up with what he thought was the only reasonable idea. He wanted to talk to Jacob thinking, that based on their previous relationship that he could talk him into turning himself into the council. He was even willing to go so far as to swear out a warrant for his arrest, for the attack on Bella, here in our home. I sighed and shifted to meet Charlie's eyes. "Charlie, I really don't think that Black has any respect for anyone's authority but his own. And you can't swear out a warrant when the attack was never called in. I know you're angry, Charlie, but we have to be careful not to expose our world. How could we explain that he entered and left through a third floor window?"

Carlisle thought it might be worth the try to have Charlie talk to Jacob. "Edward, perhaps Charlie could get through to him, after all he has always looked to Charlie as an ally in the past. And he knew that Charlie never really liked you much, it might be enough to get him to listen."

Bella was aghast that we would even consider allowing Charlie anywhere near Black and refused to even consider it so my feisty little wife stood up and fired at Carlisle: "No! There was a time that I would have agreed with you, Carlisle, but my father is not going to meet with Jacob. We don't know him anymore and I will not let him risk his safety."

Charlie just gave her a withering look, opened his cell phone and called Black, leaving a voice mail that they needed to talk. "Charlie, that's gutsy, but I'm not sure what you hope to achieve with this, other than pissing off my wife, your girlfriend, your ex-wife and your vampire in-laws. If that's what you hope to achieve, well, consider it done."

The women in the house were glaring at him unmercifully, Renee and Carol thought Charlie was nuts, but knew that neither one of them could talk any sense into him, nor were they going to waste the time trying. And once Bella had finished yelling at her father without any discernable effect, we started to discuss how we could use Charlie's ploy to spring a trap. But when Bella realized that Charlie would be the bait, she stormed out of the room angrier than I had seen her in some time. An hour later and we still weren't getting anywhere! If Emmett wasn't stuck on just kill the mutt, we might have made some progress. He can be a brilliant tactician when the situation calls for it. And Jasper wasn't much better. To tell the truth, killing the mutt would have been my first choice as well, but I had agreed with the council on behalf of the family. Though Carlisle had approved of my decision, even his mind was thinking dark thoughts, about what could transpire before Black was turned over to the council.

I finally decided to end the stalemate of discussions. "The only way Black will come out in the open, is if he thinks he can attain at least one of his objectives. Since I will not put Bella or the babies at risk I offer myself up as the bait. Let's face it he wants me dead, more than anything else. And he's arrogant enough to think he can defeat me." Bella came flying back into the room, pounding on my chest and wailing: "You can't do that, I won't let you!" Then she took my face in her hands and solemnly said: "As much as he wants you dead, he wants me alive. I think I should be the bait."

Now I was livid, "Bella, he wanted you when you were human. His killing instincts will kick in if you confront him as a vampire. You're not going anywhere!"

Renee chuckled and yelled. "Fight!" Everyone looked at her for a few seconds. "Oh get a grip everyone! Baiting the trap doesn't mean that you physically have to be there, you just need to lure him somewhere where he can't get away." Hmm good idea and it was food for thought so that's what we did.

It was several hours before Black contacted Charlie, and it wasn't by his cell phone. Deputy Mark from the station drove out to the house to deliver a letter. Black wasn't sure if Charlie was really staying with us. This was his way of doing reconnaissance to confirm where Charlie was and how he was doing. Charlie suggested that we make it look like he wasn't exactly free to come and go as he pleased. That was why Carlisle answered the door when Mark arrived and only the immediate family was present with him in the great room. Bella, Renee and Carol were upstairs with the children. Jasper and I sat on either side of Charlie. He was a little over the top trying to act like he was a hostage...now I know where Bella got her acting skills from. He was just terrible. So Jasper intervened and made him feel just a little depressed and sullen, enough for Mark to be suspicious that Charlie wasn't entirely comfortable being under our care.

Deputy Mark came in with a letter addressed to Charlie and as he went to pass it to him, Jasper took it instead, that move was enough to make Mark think we would be reading before Charlie got a hold of it. Otherwise Carlisle was completely honest in sharing Charlie's condition with the Deputy after asking Charlie's permission. Then we slowly drifted out of the room to allow them to talk freely about Charlie's plans for the near future, for his house and returning to work. As he progressed onto talking about Carol I was the only family member still in the room. The letter had left with Jasper, which had been duly noted by the Deputy. Jasper had also allowed Charlie to lighten up a bit and they made plans for a fishing trip after he got the okay from Carlisle. The Deputy left feeling that Charlie was doing well and that he wasn't exactly being held against his will, but he wasn't free either.

Everyone, vampire, human and pack member came back into the great room. Jasper had the open letter in his hand so Charlie quipped: "Opening some else's mail is a federal offense son."

Jasper nodded. "Yes sir, and you'd be right if it had come through the postal service. But Charlie, all kidding aside, this guy is a certifiable nut job!" He was waving the letter in the air.

Everyone raised their eyes when Emmett broke the silence. "It's nice that you noticed that, Jazz, but can you tell us something we don't know?"

"Yeah I can. This is an invitation to attend the wedding of Jacob Black and Isabella Marie Swan, the date is one week from today at twilight."

Alice took the invitation and looked it over. "Not a bad selection a little to traditional for Bella but good quality paper and ink, the pressed tissue paper petals is too over the top and god that smell..."

"Yeah I know its gross baby, but do you also get a hint of something else?"

Alice sniffed the paper again and her face puckered up in disgust. "Yeah, under the wet dog smell I didn't catch it at first, a vampire has touched this and I think it's someone we know...Edward have a whiff."

I took the invitation from her hand and grimaced as I inhaled, she was right it wasn't fresh but no more than a few days old. Bella grabbed my hand and looked at me with a puzzled expression.

Carlisle finally asked. "Edward?"

I ran my fingers through my hair and put my arm around Bella's waist pulling her to me. "It's Tanya."