Chapter 17: Wolf In The Bedroom

Edward

I'd been debating in my head what to do. I wanted to tell my daughter the truth. I wanted to tell her that I was her biological father. I was afraid of what that revelation might lead to. Shock or disbelief perhaps. In her eyes I was just a seventeen year old boy. Explaining the age thing without telling her I was a vampire would be impossible. I couldn't tell her that I was a vampire either not just because she wouldn't believe me but because it would be too dangerous for her to know. I didn't want to put my daughter in the crosshairs of the Volturi.

The idea of my daughter ever facing the Volturi made me shudder. Her humanity made her fragile. I could hear it in her labored breathing as she battled with bronchitis. My grandson and my granddaughter had also been infected with the disease as well. Though Faith seemed to fare a lot better than her mother and brother were doing. I was worried about them. Just like I worried about Bella when she was sick. Irrational is what she used to call me when I worried over her obsessively as she would say. Maybe it was due to the way in which I had died that caused me to worry.

Maybe it was irrational. If there was anyone I could trust to take care of my family and get them all back to health it would be Carlisle. With his vast knowledge and experience spanning over three hundred years Carlisle was more than qualified. More than that he loved helping his patients even when they were not directly related to him.

I sighed in relief when I heard Carlisle's assessment in his head. He was sure that all three of them would make a full recovery without any complications. I trusted Carlisle's assessment if nothing else. Still I watched over my daughter and my grandchildren as they slept. It had taken some time for Hunter's fever to come down but once it did he was able to get some sleep.

I watched over them in awe. Renesmee looked so much like me. But there was a bit of Bella in there as well. She had inherited her mother's eyes. Hunter was pretty much a carbon copy of me from head to toe. He had messy bronze colored hair like me. His face was like mine. He had inherited the same green eye color I had when I was human. I was sure that when he reached seventeen years of age he and I would be able to pass for identical twins. Faith looked more like Bella and I suspected that maybe there was a bit of her father in her as well. Nessie never talked about him. None of us had asked about him either.

I had seen him in Nessie's memories though. I had my suspicions of what happened the night that Ethan had disappeared. I didn't believe the boy would abandon Nessie in her time of need. From what I understood they were in love and he was happy that he was going to be a father. His disappearance was one of many in that area. According to the news an unprecedented number of disappearances have been occurring in that area for the last six months. Jasper was sure that a newborn army was behind it all. I believed that the boy Nessie loved so much was lured away from that theater on purpose and was attacked and turned into one of us that night. I shuddered to think of a newborn army being so close to my family. I wanted Jasper to be wrong but unfortunately all of the signs were there. The unexplained disappearances. The conspicuous killing. Bodies had been found with their throats ripped out and bodies drained of blood.

Several hours later Nessie screamed and we all ran to her room to see what happened. I was shocked to discover a small reddish brown wolf pup in my grandson's crib. This was no normal wolf though. This was one of the Quileute werewolves. Though this one was just a baby. She didn't mean any harm. I could read in her mind that she had sensed Hunter was not feeling well and she wanted to comfort him. She was devoted to him in a way that I couldn't completely understand.

I reached out to grab her when Nessie said "Please don't hurt her!" I was surprised that my daughter was pleading for this wolf's safety.

"I'm not going to hurt her," I assured Nessie.

"She's one of the Quileute wolves," I spoke low enough that only my family would be able to hear. "She's harmless," I said though I knew it didn't matter either way. Carlisle would never allow anyone to harm someone else that wasn't actively threatening us. Especially a baby. Though Rosalie was not exactly fond of her. The wolf pup pulled away from me but I was able to get ahold of her quickly.

We heard the heavy panting of a large animal fast approaching. I could see that it was Jacob the Quileute wolf that had dared to sleep with my daughter. I wanted to kill the mutt. My hands were itching to grab his throat and squeeze it as hard as I could. But right now was not the time and place for that.

By the time that I got to the front of the house the wolf was fast approaching. His mind was a jumbled mess of tangled thoughts. Until he saw me then his thoughts became very clear. His teeth were bared. He was ready to rip me to shreds to protect his daughter. For just that brief second I understood exactly how he was feeling. I would do the same thing to protect my daughter.

I put the baby wolf down and watched her run to her father. He quickly snatched her and took off again. His thoughts suddenly became focused on one thing. Bella. I couldn't understand why he was thinking about Bella. But her name was echoing in his head.

I followed him into the woods but I kept my distance. I stopped after some time. This was ridiculous. I was following my number one enemy for no reason at all. I should be with my family right now. Just as I was about to turn back I saw movement. I glanced back and for a brief second I was sure that I had died and gone to heaven because I saw Bella. She was older but it was her. Then I noticed that her skin was now as pale as mine. Her eyes were blood red like a newborn. This was impossible. Bella was dead. She had been killed in a car accident along with her husband. Yet here she was. She was one of us.

"B-" Before I could get her name past my lips she disappeared into the woods having run away as fast as she could. I ran after her but it was too late. She was gone.