Disclaimer: Twilight, and those characters belonging to it, are property of Stephenie Meyer and I profit none whatsoever from using them for the fan fiction I write.

Aurthor's Note: Small editing of spelling and grammar, no dialogue changes. This was previously chapters 9 & 10. It's so weird going through an reading this, I can remember when I started writing the first chapters on my Windows 95. Time has Flown.

….

Emmett leaned back against the post supporting the glass frame of one of the house's walls, his shoulders square, his eyes straight in his stare outside as he waited. It had been half a day since Kady's visit and only hours before that when his wife, Rose, had left for Alice and Edward knew where so she could calm down. The buff vampire knew his blonde counterpart could stay in a huff for weeks, but knew it was better not to go after her yet - the last time he had done so during such an episode their physical encounter had been one of fangs and nails (her part of course, he could not do much more then defend himself against her) instead of their usual lips and tongues.

With predatory grace, a thin figure padded down the stairs, stopping silently on the last step waiting with a hand on the rail. Emmett's gaze did not flicker but he was aware of his sister all the same, "It's alright, Alice."

A pause had Emmett apologizing when the young woman did not answer, "Headache?"

Alice sighed, gliding over from her place on the step to stand beside him looking out, "Someone has been thinking much more then I'm used to." Two deceivingly delicate fingers rubbed at porcelain skinned temple, "You need to relax, for both our sakes." Laying her hand on the taller man's shoulder she squeezed, reassuringly.

"When will she be back?" The question stayed between them, too long it seemed to the one who had asked. The silence that followed swallowed the words, no answer to aid it.

….

The great wolf shifted, claws retracting back into large paws that slowly shrank in size, hair receding into the pores of tan skin. Shaking his shaggy mane, Jacob stretched his arms above his head, snapping his neck to pop his joints as he groaned. A pair of shorts were tossed to him from the left, Seth's lighter head popping up from the foliage, "Here, got yours by accident."

Glancing down at the strap tethered to his leg Jacob noticed indeed the clothes he'd picked up on their way were not his own and tossed his pack mate back his rightful pair as he pulled his shorts on, "Thanks."

The sweep was clean; only the barest whiff of the Cullen's at the edge of their borders but that had been days old. While their life had quieted since 'The Witnessing', Jacob had begun to feel uneasy lately and he was not the only one. Sam, the other Alpha born to the Quileute's, had agreed that they should be picking up something soon. If only they had more to go on than their instincts, some sort of proof of their suspicions...

Seth sighed glancing, like the rest of the pack his mind had been open to his leader's worries and he knew that meant more time would be dedicated to his calling. The youth pushed aside the branches as they walked from the woods to the road, holding it back for his friend, "Maybe we could scout?"

Jacob's lips twitched, half a smile in amusement, "Volunteering?"

…

Jeans shifting against the grain of the wooden chair, Kady sighed, her thoughts far from her place at Emily's Kitchen table. The gentle fingers of her hostess combed through Kady's hair as the other woman took her place beside her, two mugs of tea clicking on the tabletop, "He'll be back soon."

Kady nodded, turning to face the only other woman, that she'd met anyway, that could understand what she was going through. "Is it always like this?"

Emily's smile was sad as she sat back, holding the handle of her drink loosely, "It can be... trying. Sam hasn't had to leave in a while," dark eyes searched out Kady's lighter ones in apology, "I'm sorry Seth decided to go out this time but Jacob..." Emily straightened, thinking of the duties Sam often did, "Alpha comes with certain responsibilities he can't perform from a distance sometimes."

Kady nodded, sipping quietly. Really, she knew Seth's leave was not one that would be long, but still, she missed him.
…

Paws steadily tearing into the earth, the sound of his own pants where inaudible at the speed the great wolf ran.

It had been 2 days since the beast had manifested in the woods of LaPush and not once had it moved with such urgency. Finally, finally the youth had picked up a scent, other than that singular familiar odor of the blonde of the Cullen's.

Jacob's worry may not have been unfounded after all.

…

The grocer's market was busier than it had been during her previous visit and Kady pushed her cart down the aisle, eyes roaming over the shelves in search of the items on Sue's list. With Seth gone, Sue's stress was at an all-time high; first Harry passed away and the council needed her voice to replace his, then Leah was gone to live on campus leaving Sue to miss her, and now her youngest was off for more than two days without any word. Kady's stomach curled in on itself, with her last visit to the Clearwater's Sue had been a wreck, while her turmoil was not physically noticeable to most it was easily spotted by her son's girlfriend. If all Kady could do to help was make sure Sue had the food available to keep herself nourished, then that would be what she'd do.

As though sensing Kady's need for distraction, the pint-sized Cullen appeared at her side with a smile, "Hey."

Fingers curling around the push bar of the cart Kady reminded herself to relax, shoulders dropping back down from where they'd lifted in surprise, "Alice, what are you doing here?"

Head tilting, Alice swept her bangs to the side with a quick swipe of her fingers, "Esme and I were hoping we could get together soon," at Kady's questioning gaze Alice beamed, "maybe lunch, discuss your housing?" Her lips pulled back, revealing impish excitement, "I had so many thoughts, but Esme likes to get the buyer's input before she creates a design."

Mouth dropping open slightly, Seth's friend was stunned, "Design? Alice, that's not really necessary."

Disappointment was written clear on Alice's face, the focus of her attention immediately left feeling guilty as amber colored eyes begged, "You said you would need to look for a place and Esme's fantastic… She'd really like to see you set up someplace nice."

Shifting in place Kady relented, "Maybe lunch, but no designing. Y'all can help me find something already in the area."
Beaming, Alice perked up at the compromise, "Great!" Springing to her toes she bounced off, "You'll hear from me soon!"

…

Sitting on the floor in front of the couch, Renesmee read Charlotte's Web aloud to her mother and father, Bella brushing out her little girl's hair while Edward stood stoically at the cottage's window, facing the direction of the main household. In the past few months, the young parents had been able to gradually relax, knowing their daughter's aging would eventually stop, finally able to enjoy their time with her completely free of added worry. Reading her love's posture from the corner of her eye, Bella questioned what he was undoubtedly listening for, "Is she back?"

With a small inclination, Edward nodded turning briefly, "Just now, she and Esme are going to take her out to lunch tomorrow."

Lips pursing, Bella knew lunch probably was not the best setting for the two women to meet with Seth's imprint, but it would keep up the charade of normalcy the Cullen family strived for. Hope she doesn't mind eating alone.

Edward smiled, though he was not able to read her thoughts without contact and her forcibly removing her shield, he could easily see where that scenario would play to, "We have props for this Bella," he turned grinning at her, "School was different. Naturally we have to be seen drinking and eating sometime." It was the same reason one or two members of the family went to the market weekly.

Head tilting, Bella processed that information quietly, plaiting Renesmee's hair and smoothing her fingers down the completed work, "There."

As any child kept sitting too long, Renesmee was on her feet within the same second rushing off to see the completed work in the bathroom. Though their daughter would certainly be able to hear them just as well if she were still in the room, Bella had waited until she left to ask, "Rose?"

The face she thought so beautiful darkened perceptively, "Nothing," he looked back in the direction of the house, "If Rosalie's coming back, she hasn't decided when yet."

Standing, Bella was behind Edward as soon as she thought about moving, arms wrapping around his waist, head leaning against his shoulder blade, "But she will. Right?"

Running his hand over hers, Edward looped his fingers through her thinner digits, "She always does." Maybe it was something in his voice, a reminder of the time before he left her, a sadness but Bella felt he may not be so sure.

…

Of the 900 acres of parkland available to Leah in Olympia, the she-wolf had covered nearly half of it, the residential areas being ignored in what she was starting to consider her 'true' form. Having heard from neither her mother, Sue, nor her pack leader, Jacob, she had taken to shifting nearly as soon as her studies were done in effort to contact her brother who had been the center of her thoughts since he had begun his trip earlier in the week. I should be there; this is something a second should do.

Who says you're second? The still somewhat boyish sounding voice of Seth's mental speech taunted her with amusement. Knowing the kid would have one eyebrow cocked at her if he were human put a near grin on her muzzled face.

Just 'cause I'm not there doesn't mean you can sneak past me weasel, I'm second.

The soft sound of a snort accompanied the next thought, Please I've been part of this pack longer.

Leah rolled her eyes, gaze casting over head at the dark night sky, a brief glimpse of stars that was obscured through Seth's mental overlapping image of tree lines, By a day, not even.

Seth shook his head, paws eating up the ground as he moved, twisting around the forest's growth with ease to follow the familiar smell of sickly sweet undead. Over the past few days, he had followed a lighter, somewhat more tolerable smell alongside the blonde Cullen's, at first it had been close than had dropped back but now as he moved though the evergreen, he realized Rosalie must have stopped briefly, giving her pursuers time to catch up. Leaping across a fallen animal carcass, the younger Clearwater knew what she had paused for, and it was there that all scent intermingled.

Seth? Inside his head, Leah's normally sharp tone was questioning, a sound reserved for he and his mother since their father's passing. Careful, his sibling cautioned, both feeling his body slow, the scent much stronger he passed another body of four-legged dead.

Stepping over a log, the tawny wolf paused surveying the area; it was not one log, but a long line of suddenly crushed trees. In a space covering no less than a quarter of an acre, the trees that so thickly populated the northern border to Canada had been demolished, wood splintering in thick shards, branches cast as haphazardly as their parenting trees now lay propped up against themselves, leaves coating the floor like grass. When large golden orbs fell to the middle of the dip in the land, the young wolf felt his stomach drop.

There were no thoughts from his normally sarcastic and razor tongued sister, no quick wit comment, just a sudden jolt of feeling passing from the siblings that would have been as significantly experienced had they been in both human form and standing together. Seth wished he were, that way at least there would be someone physically there with him. A few seconds passed before Leah's question rang more like a statement, That's her.

Staring at what was left of the torn body Seth could do nothing but acknowledge, It was.

Cast around the lot of trees and debris were the broken pieces of stone hardened porcelain flesh and shredded clothes; arms, legs, fingers and torsos, a body part could be seen propped at one place or another. One head, closer to the wolf's chest than he cared to see, had hair the same shade as the earth beneath his paws, the moonlight glistening off its cracked cheeks the only indicator of its presence. Further away, closer to the remaining shoulders it had been ripped from, was the once beautiful face of Rosalie, golden tresses as thick and lush as they had been the week prior when the Quileute youth had seen her last. The last he had seen her, alive.