A/N: Special thanks to Helen Mira, who helped me work out a few of the details for this chapter. If you haven't been following her current stories, Jewel in the Crown and A World Full of Strangers, go check them out.

EPOV

As I ran home, I was still trying to place the scent that I had picked up on Bella's clothes and hair. I could distinguish motor oil, sweat, and the oily odor of fish, as well as Bella's natural scent and that of her shampoo. But lingering over all the others was a new, bitter stench that I couldn't quite recognize. It seemed familiar, but off somehow…

I slowed to a walk as I approached the front porch. There was a new door, freshly painted; no sign remained of my blunder earlier this week. And as Bella's burns healed, the terrible events of this past Tuesday began to seem surreal. Had we really come that close to being exposed? I had spent most of Wednesday standing in the woods by Bella's house, listening warily to Charlie's thoughts, certain that any minute he would decide to call Carlisle and ask for permission to conduct the polygraph test on me. But it seemed that Esme's "car accident" had come at a good time; he seemed to feel guilty about his interrogation now, and his thoughts had been focusing on me less and less as the days passed. It had still been a difficult week, being apart from Bella most of the time; at least she and Charlie tended to stay at home, where I was able to be near her. I just had to hold on for two more days, and things could begin returning to normal. After the fright Alice had given me this afternoon… I shuddered as I remembered the fearful hour that I had spent standing near La Push, waiting for Bella's call. I didn't approach the treaty line to stand vigil, as I had been planning to do. I stayed a couple of miles back; I could cover the extra distance quickly if I needed to, and I didn't think Carlisle would have wanted me any closer. So I just stood there uselessly, trying not to imagine all the accidents and catastrophes Bella was capable of getting herself into. I had become lax in my role as her protector; her temporary disability had made her life a little safer for a while, and I had forgotten what a danger magnet she was.

As soon as it was 5:01, I couldn't stand to wait any longer, and I started calling my cell phone. I knew she had probably turned it off, but each time I failed to get an answer, my worry rose higher and higher in my throat until I couldn't breathe anymore. After Bella finally called to reassure me, I had left and returned to her bedroom to wait, where I was still a nervous wreck until Alice called to tell me that Bella had reappeared in her visions; it was only a few minutes later that Charlie and Bella had returned home. Thankfully, I had heard Charlie's thoughts when they were still a mile out; I had been able to force myself into a relaxed pose by the time Bella got upstairs. I was calmer now; her presence was like a drug, and having seen her back at home safely, the world was right side up again.

I opened the new door to find the house unusually quiet. I headed upstairs to Carlisle's study, and tapped on the door.

"Come in, Edward," he called softly.

I wanted to get back to Bella quickly; I got right down to business. "Bella asked me today about the treaty with the Quileutes," I told him.

"She did? How much does she know?"

"It was Jacob Black who told her what we were, though he told it as a superstitious legend. That was several months ago, and it hasn't really come up since then. But today she was visiting Billy and Jacob, and I had to explain why I couldn't follow her." He nodded in understanding. "Carlisle, I'd like your permission to tell Bella a little more about our… history with the tribe."

He shrugged. "I don't see why not, as long as she understands the sensitivity of the information. Anyway, the treaty of nondisclosure is already broken in her case – and not by us. Are you going to tell her about the wolves?"

I hadn't decided yet about this. It was obvious Bella hadn't believed this part of Jacob's ghost story; he certainly hadn't believed it himself. It had been a while since Bella had learned anything new about our supernatural world, and I didn't want to frighten her. Of course, she had a strange tendency to take that sort of thing in stride- and it would be nice to be fully honest with her about our position in Forks.

"Yes, I think so."

"Well, it's ancient history, anyway," Carlisle said casually. I nodded in agreement. When we had first moved back to Forks two years ago, we spent our first few weeks on high alert, expecting one of the werewolves to send us some sort of warning, or demand a meeting. When we didn't hear anything, Carlisle and I spent several nights scoping out the territory on our side of the treaty line; we could find no evidence of werewolf scent. We decided that the wolves must had died out, leaving no progeny, but we all agreed to continue respecting the treaty nonetheless. We were never contacted by anyone from the tribe, although we heard rumors of their unhappiness with our presence. Some of the older leaders seemed to know what we were, but judging from Jacob's case, it seemed they were allowing the truth to pass into legend. We weren't going to argue with that.

"Alice and Jasper are heading out that way right now," Carlisle said, leaning back in his office chair. "She has a theory about her unusual visions earlier today."

"Is Alice clear on the boundary lines? You know she's never been down there before."

"Yes, I got out a map and drew all the treaty lines for them before they left."

"So, what's her theory?"

"Bella and Charlie's disappearance and reappearance in her visions seemed to correspond to when they entered and exited the reservation. She thinks it may have something to do with either the land itself, or… the people living there," he said meaningfully. I wanted to ask what he meant by that, but just then, the front door opened.

"We're home," Jasper murmured from downstairs. Carlisle and I joined them in the living room.

"I was right. Almost the entire reservation is a huge blank. It's like no one is living there," reported Alice.

"Almost?" I asked.

"I can see some of the people living on the fringes. I tried focusing on various areas inside the reservation, but for the most part, there was nothing."

"That confirms the theory we were discussing before," Carlisle told her. "The same force that created the werewolves back then must have also created some sort of protective field around the reservation –perhaps it's there because there aren't any wolves anymore."

"No… I think we were wrong about that," she answered. "When I was mapping out the 'blind spot' that the reservation was giving me, it shifted occasionally. Certain people would appear briefly, then disappear again. I don't think it's the land, or the general population either," she said. "The effect would be stationary if it were."

"Fascinating," murmured Carlisle. "Perhaps things aren't as quiet there as we thought." In his mind he was picturing Ephraim Black, and the other tribal elders that we had forged the treaty with – the shapeshifters. He was remembering their unusual, bitter scent.

"The scent!" I blurted out. "When Bella came back from the reservation, there was an unusual scent on her, and I couldn't place it at first. It's the wolves. It has to be." A cold chill gripped my heart. We had been wrong! And today, Bella had been close enough to a werewolf to pick up its scent. She could have been seriously hurt, and I wouldn't have even known about it! My hands clenched into fists at my sides. Would I ever be capable of keeping her safe?

"Edward, are you sure? If it was a werewolf's scent, don't you think you would have known right away?" Carlisle was skeptical.

"Well, the scent wasn't quite right. I actually didn't connect it to the wolves until just now," I admitted. "It was very, very faint. And somehow different than before. Not as bitter… milder, I suppose. The stench wasn't…" I searched for the right word. "It wasn't developed. Like a degraded version, or a weaker one. That's why I couldn't place it at first."

Carlisle stood immobile for a few moments, thinking. Perhaps the gene has degraded over time. Diluted further with each new generation, unless… "Edward, who was Bella with at the reservation today?"

"Only Billy and Jacob, and she spent most of the time with Jacob in the shed. They were working on a car of his."

In a small, enclosed space, where a scent would be concentrated, Carlisle was thinking.

"What?" I asked him sharply.

"It's just a theory, Edward. The scent may have been weaker because it was from a werewolf who is still transitioning. Jacob is the direct descendant of Ephraim Black. It may be that he carries the gene, but that he's never phased yet. That would explain why the scent isn't quite human, but not as strong as we observed before. His may be preparing to begin phasing sometime in the next few months."

Carlisle's voice was drowned out by a roaring in my ears; all I could see was Bella, alone inside a tiny shed with an adolescent werewolf. They were standing near each other, working on a car that was filling the cramped space. In my imagination, Jacob became angry; the reason didn't matter. He didn't understand the risk, being so young – perhaps it had never happened before. His body quivered, and he exploded into his other form, crushing the car against the far wall, and Bella's body was-

"NO!" I shouted. All three of them jumped, and in their three view points, I saw my stricken face. "Don't you get it?" I asked them angrily. "We've been worrying all week about a stupid restraining order, when the real danger was right next door to Forks. We let her walk right in there, even though we knew something was wrong. Bella could have been…" I couldn't even say it. I couldn't think it.

"And we wouldn't have even known," Alice whispered.

"I have to tell her about him," I said firmly, turning to Carlisle. "She's can't ever return there."

"I don't know, son. It's one thing to confirm a story Jacob already told her. It's quite another to break the treaty in that way. If she ever let on that she knew anything, the tribe would blame us." And I don't need to tell you how much more danger that would put Bella in… not to mention the danger it would put our family in. No, Edward, we're not going to rush into that. Tell her only what we talked about before.

A snarl erupted in my throat. "And what are you suggesting that I do? Just sit back and relax the next time she goes there? Billy is Charlie's best friend, and Jacob is her friend, as well. She's bound to see them again."

At that moment, the rest of our family entered. In my anger, I hadn't noticed their approach, but from the looks on their faces, they had heard the tail end of our conversation.

"There are werewolves phasing again?" snapped Rosalie. "That's fantastic. That's all we needed."

"How many?" Emmett said eagerly. He was the only one who had been spoiling for a fight back in the thirties, and it had taken some effort to restrain him, as he had been so young back then. We all looked at Alice, hoping she would have an answer to his question, but she just rubbed her head in annoyance.

"I can't tell how many. If the blind spots are coming from individuals, there's no way to know how large an area is obscured by each one. There was a bitter scent on the air by the treaty line, but I've never smelled werewolf before."

Emmett raised his eyebrows. "So, you're saying that there could easily be just one, or there could be a hundred?"

"There were only three werewolves back in 1936, Emmett," reminded Carlisle, looking amused. "They're meant to be the protectors of their tribe. I highly doubt the entire tribe is phasing."

"Are you sure that Jacob is preparing to phase?" asked Esme. "After all, the scent Edward picked up was faint. Jacob could have picked up the scent from someone else, or one of the wolves could have spent time in his shed before Bella was there."

"You're right," I said grudgingly. "Although now that we know there are werewolves again, it's almost a given that Jacob will be joining them at some point, considering his lineage."

"Let's all take a step back here," said Carlisle sternly. "All we have is a garbled scent that reminds us of werewolf, and some mysterious holes in Alice's vision. We need to confirm as much truth as we can, before we begin jumping to conclusions… and especially before we begin sharing those conclusions," he said, looking pointedly at me.

"I have to get back to Bella," I sighed. "Keep me updated, will you?"

Carlisle nodded. "Now remember, Edward. It's fine if you tell Bella the whole of our history with the tribe, but let's leave the possibility of current-day werewolves to just that: a possibility. Best leave out Ephraim's last name, as well. Bella's a smart girl."

Rosalie turned on me furiously. "Now you're telling her about the werewolves, too? It wasn't enough that you endanger all of us so you could have your little inter-species romance! Now we've had the police out at our house, and now you want to break the treaty for her? You are such an idiot! Why are you allowing this, Carlisle?"

"Jacob was the one who told Bella about our identity in the first place, Rosalie. He also told her about the werewolves- all in innocence. He doesn't believe the stories, which is one reason I want to think that he is not preparing to phase. In any case, Bella did her own research after that, and decided the legends were right about our kind. It seems she doubts the werewolf part, though. Edward is only going to confirm the stories that Jacob already told her. She's already so involved in our world; It's only fair that she receives as much truth as we can offer her."

"So they broke the treaty first?" she asked angrily.

Emmett's eyes took on a cold light and he cracked his knuckles. That's all I needed to hear. Game on…

I rolled my eyes at him. "Emmett, we are not going to attack anybody. Jacob didn't know what he was saying, and there's no harm done. In fact, I'm rather grateful to him… in a way." Somehow, admitting this was more difficult than it had been earlier today; at the time, I hadn't known that he and Bella were going to be spending so much time together, and I didn't know that he might be dangerous. I didn't feel particularly grateful to him now.

Carlisle sighed impatiently. "Of course we're not taking any action. Even if we wanted to, we don't know how many wolves there are yet. It would be foolish to attack, especially when we don't have a reason to. I have every intention of keeping the peace, and the treaty as well."

Man… and I was really looking forward to that. Emmett didn't disappoint.

Carlisle turned to the rest of them. "It would also be foolish, however, if we didn't learn as much as possible, in case there is any confrontation in the future. I'd like to take Alice and Jasper back now, and confirm the scent that they found." He turned to Esme. "Is the Mercedes ready to use?"

Rosalie and Emmett had taken Esme to pick up Carlisle's car. Emmett had had a blast on Wednesday afternoon simulating Esme's accident, and they had made a show to taking the damaged car to a local garage for repair, in order to support the story. They had just returned from picking up the car now.

Rosalie tossed Carlisle his keys. "It's drivable, I suppose. Needless to say, I'll be spending the day tomorrow repairing their repairs," she said with a sniff.

A/N: I'm fudging the details just a bit here. I don't really know the "obscure-Alice" radius for each werewolf, and I kind of invented the "transitioning werewolf" scent thingy. Thanks to Mad Crafter Mom for helping me out with the number of werewolves in 1936. Anyone who knows the answer to the other things please let me know! I like sticking to canon, and this story should reflect that, except for the events resulting from Bella's injuries in Ch. 1.