Chapter 2- Friends and Foes

"So, this is Forks." I commented with a nod. "It is green."

Too, too green.

Having lived for as long as I had, I had seen quite a bit of the world. From Russia to Alaska, down to Singapore and Japan, my appearance and name had kept changing while I experienced everything there was to see. I had avoided the deserts for obvious reasons, everything but that on my list. And believe me, I had seen the world! Be it the Amazon rainforest or The Taj Mahal in India, or the Opera house in Australia, I had a photo of it captured in my mind.

Despite that all, I had never witnessed greenery like that in Forks. In hindsight, it was to be expected. The amount of rain this small town received guaranteed a healthy growth for the local vegetation.

It was captivating. And eerie.

Something about the air here held mystery and something that was to be feared.

I couldn't quite put a finger on it.

"You feel it?" Charlie whispered, a cautious eye on our surroundings. We couldn't quite sense danger, but it was there, surrounding us from all sides.

"Yeah." I briefly nodded my head. "There is something in the air here."

He hummed his agreement. "You want to leave this place and move somewhere safer?"

I waved him off. We were vampires. We were the danger.

"Let's do some scouting. Figure out who the threat is?"

"What if it is the Volturi?"

I scoffed at that. "They don't leave their tower. You know that; as well as I do."

"Still." He insisted. "I have never felt this way. My instinct is demanding that I run as far as I can and never return."

Same.

"Let's…" I sighed. "Let's not be that hasty. We are already here, might as well do some stalking. If it is bad, we hightail at the first second."

And we did have our gifts to protect us. Between the two of us, we could easily lead us to safety- if the situation was as bad as it felt.

"Fine." He hesitantly offered his agreement. "So where do we start?"

I pondered over that. "Let's follow our nose? There is this distinctive stench in the air?"

It would go against our instincts to follow that stench; it screamed danger!

"Okay." Charlie sighed. "Be close."

I offered him a nod. I wasn't willing to part in a situation like this. I may be an idiot at times, but I wasn't an idiot always!

With careful steps, we followed the stench through the thick forest that lay amidst this tiny town, nothing but eerie silence greeting us. Even the birds refused to fly over this region. There was definitely a predator here!

Maybe, we should just leave…

"Bella." Charlie whispered my name, pointing in the direction of the unknown, my steps halting as I followed his finger, a gasp leaving my lips, for what I saw could not be believed.

A huge russet wolf. Freaking huge. And mighty big. It wasn't a normal one. I had never seen an animal this big before.

Did it kill humans?

It looked strong enough to do so.

But we weren't human?

Why were my instincts rushing so out of control then?

And then, just at the moment, as we silently observed, the wolf shook his fur with sheer abundant force, his paws twitching and stretching, the movement pitiful to observe, as where a wolf had once stood, a naked man now lay lying on the dirty forest floor.

"Let's get out of here. Fast." Charlie took my hand in his, pulling me out of the woods, towards the one-story cottage we were about to make a home. I liked this house. Pity we would have to leave it this soon!

"What was he?" I demanded as soon as were out of hearing range. I was terrified. I had never seen anything like this in my rather long life.

"A werewolf." Charlie commented after a brief thought.

"But it is not full moon." I pointed out. I did not believe in all myths- we were living proof that they weren't really true, but didn't the werewolves need the full moon to come in their real form?

"Maybe he can shift at will?" Charlie frowned. "I don't know. I get a bad feeling about this. Almost as if…we are his enemy?"

"Could it be?" I whispered. I had never known of an animal able to kill a vampire before, but he did seem capable enough. His teeth appeared sharp and pointy and capable enough of tearing through our skin. Still, it was absurd.

Charlie shrugged. "Two options. First, we run as far as we can and never return. Second, we solve the mystery and figure who he was?"

I smiled. "Is there even a doubt on what my choice would be?"

X-X-X

It was hardly a few days later when Charlie barged into the house, having gone for a hunt to the closest town. Having seen the animal in action, we were reluctant to hunt in the area. It was better to be safe than headless! And the closest town offered us quite a buffet of healthy humans with pure and tasty young blood.

Yum!

"I know what he is." He announced with a strange cheer in his tone.

"What?" I sat up straight in my chair. We hadn't officially announced our presence to the residents of the town yet, our house aloof enough that no one would know that it was occupied, unless we wanted them to know.

I hadn't joined the local school yet, or even once made my appearance in the town during bustling hours. I was waiting. Were the threat a serious one, we would have to move without bringing any attention to us. It was better this way. We had to be cautious.

"He is a shapeshifter. Not a werewolf as we had originally assumed. Can change at will." He stated with surety. "His name is Billy. Lives on the Quileute reservation nearby. Is married and has a son- probably fifteen or sixteen years old. Seems to be the alpha of their pack. I couldn't find out how many 'wolves' are there in the pack, but they are definitely dangerous to our kind. They kill vampires."

"Okay." I sighed, taking it all in. "How did you find out so much about him?"

He shrugged. "I may have been quietly following him around for a bit now. I stuck to the trees to avoid being scented. He very well led me to his home."

I offered him a look of appreciation. That was smart!

He smirked in response. "Now what? We stay or we leave?"

"Um," I gave that a thought. A small part of me wanted to resolve to violence- it would be fun. But what if there were more wolves than we could fight. I did not want to lose Charlie, or my own head! But I did not even want to leave! We had just moved here! Sure, we could carry on with this appearance without worrying- no one had seen us in this get up- but I wished to avoid the whole hustle of packing bags and relocating, finding a new house that suited our tastes, in a town that wouldn't confine us to four walls for however long we stayed.

"What if we make Billy a friend instead of a foe?" I suggested. "We appear to be human to everyone who sees us. It wouldn't be as difficult as imagined."

"He stinks." Charlie rightfully pointed out.

I snorted. "Pretend. You are a good actor. We cannot really have him suspecting anything and I want to hunt without always looking over my shoulder. And what's that saying- keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

He smirked, offering me a brief nod.

We weren't leaving Forks.

Sure, we would have to be careful and keep up our appearance of being human, but it would be worth it.