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

Author's Note: Previous Chapters 17 & 18. Realized Alice wouldn't have been able to have a vision of Rose's death so that's why the vision was of what their life would be like without her. Small wording changes but spelling, nothing big.

: : : : : : : :

The sound the wind carried was drawn out but strong, the holding authority of a wolf summoning to him his brethren. In his seat, Seth shifted to the side, head tilting towards the side as he glanced towards Jacob whose fingers flexed along the steering wheel in response, "Sam knows we need to talk, that everyone does."

The frown that darkened Jake's features did nothing to help the mood, "Could've waited till we got back." Forcing the tightness in his chest away he relented, "But it's better to get started soon as possible."

The small cottage was besieged by half naked teens that kept running from the woods in intervals, Kady pulling together what she could in her friends' kitchen to supply the ravenous group with a meal while Emily watched from the living room window as Sam addressed everyone outdoors. Sam's howl had brought both packs to Uley's door, roughly a dozen bodies in all - not accounting for Jacob and Seth. The number was alarming to the newest Imprintee, not because of the nature of the Quileutes around her but their ages – eyes closed as she stood at the oven, she tried to wipe the youngest looking child from her mind. Eleven?

Hearing her friend's sigh, Emily leaned back, hair sliding from her shoulders and over as she studied the shorter girl's frame. Raised shoulders, arms splayed open over the working appliance now housing rolls, "The guys will be back soon, do you… need a minute?"

One swallow, then two, the younger woman tried to rid herself of the full feeling in the bottom of her jaw before nodding and heading to the side door where the group was not gathered. Warm and filled with fauna, the air did little to alleviate her mood, but the space helped, and the girl situated herself on the step of the porch to continue and soak it in.

The meeting lasted for more than an hour after Jacob and Seth arrived, the two young men heading the rehashing of their finding after Sam had given the youths a precursory welcoming and overview of the patrol that Seth had been sent on. Kady had stayed around back for the first half of it, already knowing of the bodies' discovery and Rose's burial but as the young pack members began questioning what they would need to do next the brunette headed inside to hear better from front room.

"The Cullens are grieving now, and they may for a while – longer than we have to stand around and wait for them to join us. Whoever did this, they were headed toward the reservation and Forks." The voice was strong, gruff, if it had not been for the fact that she could spy Jacob from between the curtains, Kady would have thought Sam had taken over the conversation again, "Rosalie may have scared them off for a bit, but we have to assume they will be back. Whether sent by the leeches from before or just another group we need to protect the community."

A ripple went through the crowd, Emily straightening beside her new friend, dark eyes meeting her brighter ones. Not again… As though sensing her trepidation, Seth turned so his chin was dipping in her direction over his shoulder, but Jacob's voice pushed on, "Sam's pack will stick to the reservation, and he will give you details in a minute, but everyone with me will be circling Forks for the foreseeable future. Mather and Braum, you will follow Embry's lead running inner patrol. Seth, Quill and I will take the outside."

Jacob's speech continued, assigning the youngest member of the Black Pack as relief after his school hours on the reservation. Sleep shifts and patrol hours being deviated. Half the group was released before Sam began speaking to his charges, Seth returning inside while Jacob headed to the car and waited.

Expression doleful, the sandy haired shapeshifter asked for Emily to give them some privacy before he took his spot next to his friend. Silence enveloping them, the two waiting not for one another but for something to start before the other would speak. Nothing came, and the elder of the two took charge, the young woman pulling his stronger hand into hers, other hand coming around to wrap thin fingers around his wrist and thumb over his pulse, "It'll be a while again." Statement, not question.

The young man nodded, deep sigh releasing from his chest, "Yeah." Seth's inner light seemed muted, a dull burn behind his blues as he studied her, "You're putting up with-" a blunted jab in his side had him coughing, grinning a little at her antics, "Forgot who I was talking to."

"I might not have known what I was getting into coming out here, but I'm here." Soft lips brushed over the light russet of a strong jaw, "Just don't run yourself out." Standing Kady looked out where Jacob was still waiting for his passenger and she held her hands out to him, "Come on, you need to tell your mom and I'm sure Leah is going to love hearing about this."

: : : : : : : :

The call had come late in the evening, the phone ringing in the Denali's home only twice before Carmen had answered. A swirl of color, her dress spun around her legs even as the vibrancy of her spirit left her eyes at the seriousness of the voice on the other end of the phone. A quick wave of her fingers and she signaled her mate to her side, her daughters outside with Emmett. They had been on alert since the day before, their cousin planning to return in another day or two after confirming they would be safe on their own – that whoever had been stalking them and disposing of bodies in such a careless manner had moved on. It seemed they had and had found their family instead, "Yes, we will return with Emmett by the morning."

The slight strain in their cousin's voice concerned the Co-Leader of the medium sized coven, "Has… has something happened?"

Eleazar's arms wound around his wife's shoulders as Alice lowered her voice, as though to keep the others in the Denali household from hearing, "Be safe, and bring him home."

: : : : : : : :

The pyre had burnt itself to the ground some time ago, a woman kneeling center mass in the remains of ash and bones, gathering the skeletal remnants to her body. A sob, then several more wrenched themselves from her body, shaking her form as she wept on the soot beneath her, the splashes crystalizing the grey matter they touched. Nearby another woman watched with a face hard pressed for expression, black hair moving wildly around her in contrast to the stillness of her body, "We need to move on, 'Sun."

Slightly thicker, the other woman's fingers grasped her own arms as she kept herself in place, "We were supposed to protect her!"

The dark-haired woman bridged the space between them in quick, strong strides, yanking the younger one up by her armpit, "We avenged her, and it is done. We still have a mission, or do you think Father will forgive us for complete failure?"

Multi-tonal mahogany shook side to side after a moment's contemplation, dark brows raised in response to the threat, "No… Serena, no."

Serena released her sister, eyes hard as they stayed focused on the gaze that matched hers, "Then get it together. We need to see this Renesmee by weeks end."

: : : : : : : :

The drive up to the house was as lush and green as it had when the child had left in the morning, but there was a thick blanket of weight in the air as the Sheriff's car approached the stunning home of the largest Vampire Coven in Washington. Seated in her booster Renesmee's previous smile started to fall and then continue into a frown that made her young face pouty, a familiar wariness that would have been out of place for any other child. As the Sheriff's car came to a stop, Nessie cast a look at her Grandpa. At the wheel Grandpa Charlie was staring at the house, quiet as she had been with the exceptions of his fingers tapping in a considering manner, the sound of his throat clearing filled the car, "I'm going to be just a minute Remee', stay right here."

A quick nod of her head sent bronze curls bouncing, and brown eyes followed her relative as Charlie made his way from the car; up the yard where normally by now someone would be out to greet them. Of course, her Aunt Rose was gone for now, but typically she'd have been waiting on the porch or conspicuously working the yard without making any real progress, but that explained only one absence. Neither her father or mother were at the door and as though hearing her, which her dad very well may have, her mom appeared at the door in front of Charlie just before his hand had completed his knock. The look on her mother's face was no more promising than the rest of the mood that had been set.

A good 20 feet separated the Sheriff's cruiser from the front steps, but even at the distance with no raised voices the situation became clear to the little girl waiting to be collected. Aunt Rose, her most doting and beautiful friend, was gone; not missing or hunting or collecting her thoughts, but gone. The way Bella had said it, and the stop - start of her Grandpa Charlie's heart deepened the pit in her stomach. Renesmee was not sure what this difference was between being gone and taking some time for herself was. Certainly not being at the house was gone, but the way her mom had stated the word was clearly something more.

Uncle Emmett was also returning with their cousins, the Denali Coven, the next day and while this should have been good news it was tamped down by Charlie's deep sigh and mention of condolences. While the word was not one Nessie had heard before, the context of their conversation lead her to think it was something close to an apology; a desperately sad sorry. When Bella had cast a glance in her direction from the porch, Nessie diverted her gaze from studying them, instead trying to focus ahead of the car itself where the wildlife near the house continued on, undaunted.

"Do you need me to keep Remee', Bells? I know Carlisle and Esme… burying a child…" Sentiment was hard for her grandfather, his voice trailing off even as he offered the words up.

Again, Nessie felt her mother's gaze on her as though debating, before the sound of hair whispering up and down on fabric indicated a positive decision, "Jacob's still coming by during the day?"

Jake, her friend came by every day she was over and as her Grandpa had explained it, even when she was not. "Stops in to say hey when it's myself only, stays what he can when Renesmee's there. I've noticed some extra activity recently with … with the family," even on the Cullen property Charlie was careful how to phrase the word pack. Although it would be nearly impossible to be spied on by someone unknown at this point, it was as though he knew there was still the risk, "Seems their in town more often."

Glancing at her mom, Nessie caught the young woman nodding again, "The Denali Coven has had some… visitors, we think maybe Rose…." An old habit, now retrained to act human, had Bella scrunching her fingers in her long hair and shaking it out, "Thank you for keeping her. One of us will check in; me, Edward… maybe Jasper."

: : : : : : : :

The surprise on her father's face before he had nodded and hugged her had not been missed on Bella, nor had the fact that Renesmee's keen ears had probably picked up on most of their conversations. It was becoming harder to remember a time when Bella had not been able to hear well, but her human memories were becoming fuzzier with each passing day, still she could not imagine Renesmee's ears were any less developed than her own. Better perhaps since she had been tuned to their training since birth rather than 'rebirth' as it were. Watching her father drive off with her daughter she wondered just how much she had understood of their conversation and how much she would piece together with tone or questioning Charlie later.

Closing the door, Bella wrapped her arms around her elbows and leaned her shoulders back against the glass, eyes cast up through to the ceiling above her that provided the floor for the rooms above. Through the density of her shield, she could feel the occupants of the house; Carlisle and Esme in their room, Alice and Jasper on the other side of the house wrapped up in one another. It took a great deal of effort to keep the Cullens thoughts from intruding on her husband's mind. The effort in keeping her shield expanded for the better part of the day was taking its toll but she would keep it up as long as she could, it was the least she could do to allow her sister the respect of each family member getting to mourn her in private for a few though, though the headache was becoming taxing.

: : : : : : : :

Sam and Jake's packs got to work immediately; Seth getting a reprieve for a total of one night before he would join the ranks of his brethren in the morning unlike his Alpha. Jake could not very well set his pack to protecting the locale of Forks without setting an example. Seth had been at work for days before Jake, and he had pushed himself hard, a fact not lost on the older Shapeshifter, so the Quilette let the youth have his short reprieve. Strung out on his bed, arms cast behind his head, he stared ahead at the ceiling above him, eyes still witnessing the body parts of the vampire once known as Rosalie and the other unknown whom she had fought with.

Along his side, Kady rested with her head in the crook of his arm, nose brushing his pectoral, fingers curled just below his collar, "Glad Jake changed his mind."

Green and blue, lashes shadowed only Kady's cheeks as she gazed up at Seth, chin tilting, "I know you said you were going right back out."

Though Seth's thoughts were heavy, meeting her gaze he felt the burden of his mind and heart drift away for a few seconds. This was what Jake had really allowed him time for, short reprieve before continuing, the same leave he'd be sure to experience in Ness's presence - playing tag, or whatever it was she wanted to do, "Me too."

A long sigh escaped parted lips as the brunette closed her eyes, kissing the skin along his chest and settling again, "I'm sorry, for what you had to see. What you had to… tell the Cullens. I know I didn't get to meet her but," her breath moved softly along his side, short puffs between deep inhales, "Emily said its longer for them, grief," the youth watched as her hand trailed up along his sternum and then smoothed the pad of her forefinger back down, "That it could take them years to recover."

Disheveled curls scratched the pillow beneath his head as he nodded, folding one arm back down to wrap along her back and squeeze, "That's how its been explained to us. I haven't seen anything like that with them, but if its anything like how we'd experience loss…" The young Clearwater shook his head, "I'd rather not imagine."