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: Previous chapters 15 & 16.

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The call came just as the sun was setting; Esme warming milk for the sole sleeper in the household of immortal insomniacs. Tired already, Renesmee fought to keep from resting her elbows on the cool marble and folding her short arms to nestle her head on when her grandmother blurred from the room to pick up the cordless downstairs. Her hearing, so much better than a human's, but not quite as clear as her parents, picked up on the surprise and then following silence with ease. The low bubbling of milk and soft music playing from the living room lulling her to sleep.

A strong odor flooded the kitchen, bubbling milk spilling over the saucepan and burning on the hot coil-less stove, stirring the small child back into awareness. Drowsy, Renesmee tried to focus on the clock behind the sweltering pot, noticing the numbers had passed into a new hour then when Esme had left. Uneasy with the understanding of the passing of time as her mom and dad had been trying to teach her, the youngest Cullen started to get down from her seat, "Gramma?" Tinkling, her voice echoed without response in the kitchen, the CD previously playing having run its course. Small slipper feet shuffled around the island, down the step that separated the rooms to the living room; no one sat on the couch or either chair, "Gramma E?"
The lights were low along the wall, shadows cast from the furniture and down the staircase, her short stature moving effortlessly to the last step, dark eyes peering around the corner. By the table against the wall where the cordless phone's cradle sat empty, Esme stood with her back to the child. Grey slacks and a matching top, each article of clothing was smooth over her backside, no indication of breath or twitch of movement. Renesmee stopped her approach as she stared at the phone hanging stiffly at her Gramma's side, sight taking in the strange behavior. Cool suddenly, polished nails curled into her palms, "Gramma?"

Esme turned without thinking, the motion so startlingly without consideration of speed that Renesmee caught herself blinking though her eyes had no trouble tracking the movement. Strong arms held her to firm breasts, and she was back in the kitchen before her next breath, watching as Esme cleaned up the mess on the stove and poured out curdled milk. "Looks like we'll have to do this the new way."

Hardly ever used, the microwave swung open and shut with little more than the barest of prompting, the buttons clicking at her soft touch. The minute and a half the cup spun around on the platter was spent with the two women looking at one another, the young face full of open questioning and concern and the elder lost in thought. The quick cook appliance had only begun beeping when it was emptied of its contents and Renesmee found herself holding the cup between her hands. Normalcy finally settled for a moment as Esme pushed her distractions away for the child,
"How about a story tonight?"

Renesmee shook her head, not taking a sip despite the color that had returned to her grandmother's cheeks and sweet tone. "You were gone a long time."
Moving her arms just slightly, Esme began to sway her little one on the walk to Edward's old room, now painted a soft champagne with pink bedding and white pillows. Alice and Rosalie had redone it from the nursery after Nessie's last growth spurt from toddler to early elementary in appearance sighting the art work as necessity. Tucking the girl in Esme tried her best to reassure her with her warmest smile, "It was Uncle Emmett. He had some news from our cousins but its fine. I just-"

The hand pressing against her cheek imagined a horrifying scene as Renesmee showed her the walk she had spent in trying to locate her. The vampire blanched, taking the child's hand in hers and kissing it fondly before tucking it back under the cover, "I'm sorry. Don't worry, I promise everything is going to be fine."

Renesmee stayed up long after her partial namesake had left the room, listening for her family's return from their 'dinner'. Though the group had been travelling together, Renesmee could sense when her father broke out ahead of the others, quickly followed by her mother to arrive through the backdoor where Esme had been waiting. Nothing was said at first until her mom had prompted to know "What is it?"

Sitting up, Renesmee cuddled the small wolf plush Jacob had given her to her chest, eyes closed against the dark of her room to better focus:
"Emmett called," her dad spoke for Esme, having read her mind's distress as they returned home, prompting his rush back, "the disappearances in Denali – they were murdered; some of them had connections to Carmen and the girls."
Alarm filled her mother's voice, "Like they were choosing them?"

Light footsteps, a feeling of enveloping calmness that stretched up to her room; Uncle Jasper and Aunt Alice were back. A third, even stride crossing the patio, Carlisle, "Do they think they are still around?"
Soft silk, Esme's hair brushed over the fabric of her clothes, "Emmett wasn't sure. I didn't want him running back alone…"
Renesmee grabbed the edge of her covers, throwing herself down on the mattress and burying her head below it again, upset choosing to block out the rest. Her first few months of life had been spent preparing for a battle she had to run from, she wanted a few more months to herself before she had to face this sort of thing again.

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Just outside La Push's limits, Kady pulled her foot from the gas to let the Dakota slow down naturally, easing off the main road and onto the older pavement that ran throughout the reservation. It had been nearly a week since Seth had left, and Emily's was the only place she could think to get an update on things since the new imprint did not have the other pack member's numbers. Glancing at the phone situated in her cup holder, Kady made note to make sure she got those – she would not always be able to drive out to their friends on a whim, If Sue had only been home…
As if sensing the oncoming approach, the other pack's den mother's name lightened up the back call screen, vibrating beneath the radio's knobs. A relieved sigh blossomed in the cab, Kady flipping open the phone with a small smile, "Please tell me our boys are back."

"They're back." The doleful tones of the woman on the other line had the hair raising from tan flesh, goose pimples forming as though the air had dropped ten degrees. White knuckles gripped the steering wheel,

"What? Emily, what is it? Are they okay?" The tachometer's spindle rose sharply into orange and the engine growled, thick tires eating up the last miles to the Young and Uley's residence. Emily's voice was lost to worried ears, a buzzing filling the sensitive canals on either side until the familiar friendly lawn came into view. The keys were still in the ignition when Kady scrambled out, leaving the blue truck open but off behind her.

It was the first-time lip-smacking aromas did not permeate from the household's kitchen, Seth and Jacob leaning heavily on the wooden table opposite it, both their faces drawn. Kady paused, taking in the Alpha and Beta's bleak expressions but seeing no physical injury moved by her friend's side, "Seth?"

The blonde reached for her hand, long fingers overlapping her smaller set, and the eyes usually bright blue and cheerful were deep indigo, "Have to tell Sam first." Across the table, Jacob cleared his throat, the Alpha's gaze steady meeting first Seth then Kady,
"Pack business. Sorry Kady."

Before she could object, Emily descended from the upstairs in a long skirt and loose blouse with a subtle warmth to rival the boy's cool attitude, "Come up with me a while? Sam's on his way," the unblemished portion of her lips pulled up, a near mischievous twinkle in her eye, "It's easier for them to pretend we aren't listening if we aren't in sight."

Kneeling beside the Quileute teen, Kady waited for a sign from him before he gave a nod of approval and she moved her arms around his shoulders, nose pressed behind his ear, "I missed you, so don't go back out yet, no matter what they say." Pressing her lips against his jaw she stood to follow Emily back up the stairs as Sam came through the front.

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"…buried separately." The heavy crease above Sam's brow was permanent since his transformation into a wolf, each sorrow he heard of seeming to deepen it. Standing in his fiancé's home the news of the Cullen Coven's loss was an unexpected addition, but he knew the sadness that would soon engulf their unlikely allies.

"You need to inform them, in person." Across the table, his former Second in Command nodded grimly, "It will be hard, but you need to be an Active Alpha, Jake. Not Renesmee's imprint, or Bella's friend." Dark eyes turned to Jacob's youthful Beta, "You too Seth. You'll need your head in the game."

At Sam's near order to his Beta, Jake's shoulders pulled back, but he fought his inner rebellion for the moment; this was not the time to challenge Sam – especially given that he was just turning out advice. "We'll see to it." The sound of fast heartbeats drew his gaze to where the girls were surely listening above, "Make sure to keep them here until we get back." Voice dropping low, Jake made sure he would not be heard by the other two's mates, "Like I said, it wasn't done alone."

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Carlisle's face was taught, a stricken look upon his fair features, a heavy weight in his eyes. Beside the youthful looking man Esme grasped his hand firmly in hers, the rest of her form motionless as though bracing herself from movement.

Alice blinked as the vision disappeared, confusion taking its place when provided without further context, the soft voices of the others in the mall fading as she tried to focus on any other details she could discern. Nothing, there was no prelude - no sense of danger, but she felt… loss. Thinking of her father's expression the petite brunette grasped her phone in her palm and found Jasper's name across the screen in moments.

A thought struck her in between the moments of her line connecting to the other mobile, she knew the cause of her adoptive parents' dismay and why she could not see the before or after its cause: the wolves. "Alice?"

Jasper's voice was a balm on her frayed emotions as she attempted to tether them before they got out of control, "I saw Esme and Carlisle. We need to get home, meet me at the car."

Jasper met her before the car, his arm sliding around her waist as she approached the stairs to the carport and she turned into him, seeking comfort in his presence. Strong fingers supported the back of her head, digits curling into the short strands of her hair, "What is it?"

Blinding herself to the world for a moment, Alice closed her eyes, taking a breath, "Rosalie is dead, and they're about to find out." Her faux sibling was silent, but she could feel the echo of his emotions as they were tethered to hers – surprise rang from them at the secret she had been keeping. "The pack must be on the way to tell them."

"Edward and Bella, they aren't home." The words had only just left his mouth before Jasper was calling the other couple as they drove, urging them to meet them though he would not say why. Edward would find out as soon as they were in range of his 'hearing, risking others on the road by informing him of the truth would be cruel. Although he was prepared to buffer himself, the shock that ripped through him as he approached their household was undeniable.

The wolves scent led up the driveway and into the house where their parents were already being told about their sister's demise. Carlisle's reaction was already being divided from the rest of his emotions, portioned off and compartmentalized in the same way the former soldier had felt his father do on some of the occasions where stress with Bella's pregnancy and Renesmee's accelerated growth. Esme's was much more concerning, endless and ragged, a deep hollow muteness. Jasper had only touched on this feeling a few times in their years with the Cullen's, always the same day of the year … the anniversary of her child's death.

Bella's hands were clasped around her husband's arms, holding Edward as he drew slightly in on himself, stumbling under the thoughts of the house's occupants and Jasper's emotional readings. From Alice's head the telepath could see her vision earlier today and from it she had been reminded of the onslaught of visions she had had Bella shielding, a multitude of disjointed images: Jasper away from the family, Esme caved in on herself, fights with Alice, Emmett… "Bella… please."

Brows furrowing in concentration, Bella ran her hand along her husband's back for a moment until Edward straightened, a look of relief passing over his features momentarily before his singular grief took its place, "Thank you."

A slight inclination of Bella's chin before she swept her fingers through his hair, moving only one arm around his waist now as she looked to the house, "Why would Jacob tell them without us?" Bella's mouth was pulled down in a frown, clearly not understanding the reasoning behind a family matter being expressed without the majority of the family there.

"Nessie, he didn't want her here." The cadence of Jasper's voice was gruff, "He didn't want to have to say it happened, but he is relieved too." As Bella's eyes drifted over him, she tried to focus on keeping her emotions centered, pushing her own grief away from his burdens. His expression lifted slightly, nodding at the temporary reprieve. She wished that as was with Edward, her ability to wrap the others in her shield could protect him.

A flex of fingers, Edward's palm pressed along Bella's hip, signaling they should move to the house, "By telling one of us, he tells all of us. Me or Alice, we'd know."

Moving up the steps the group paused as the front door opened, Jacob walking out – his shoulders drawn back but his head just a smidge low. Behind him, Seth kept the door propped open with his fingertips, chest wide as he stared down at the two couples, gaze deeper and hollower than the others had seen it. For a moment, then two, they all waited before coming together, hands clasped on the shoulders of men in passing, the briefest hug between Alice and the two Quileute Natives and then longer for Bella. When the rest had disappeared inside, Jacob and Edward stood standing in silence as he showed him what had transpired before the two turned away from one another.

If not for Bella's protection from the others, Edward was not sure he could have stood in range of his family. In the coming years they would value the Southern General's abilities much more than his own, a scar healing in the wake of Rose's death would be an ugly one. Their nature would prevent them from moving on quickly.

Inside, Carlisle held Esme, the two stone in the study. Esme's face turned into Carlisle's body, shielded from her children's eyes as his arms kept her to him, his own brow drawn, cheeks puckered. Clearing his throat as his eyes locked with those of his children the Cullen patriarch squeezed his wife's waist before loosening his hold, "You spoke with Jacob?"

The four shook their head but his eldest son took the lead, "I saw what Seth…. I saw Rose." Esme visibly trembled, fingers curling into a fist along her husband's chest,

"We should go to her, piece her together." The words were high, her tone warbling. Esme knew that life after dismemberment was horrible, that sanity was often not retrievable, but a second child's loss skewed her judgment. Carlisle's pinched nose was brief, disappearing as soon as it had shaped but Edward caught it and he moved to join their circle, hugging his mother from behind and taking her from his father.

Alice shook at the future Esme's declaration would set them on, a sharp intake between parted lips, "No." The psychic bit her lip as her mother's shoulders drew up and she tilted her head, leaning forward, "It's not what Rose would want."

The direction this argument would take could run hours, Bella pried away from the should they, won't they argument before it could begin and instead addressed the other matter hanging in the room, "Emmett. We need to tell Emmett."