21. A FAMILY AFFAIR

A clap of thunder rumbled out in the distance. The rain began to pour down on me in cold, smoky ribbons of gray and white, my low panting making wisps in the freezing air as I searched the night sky. My eyes settled on the brightest twinkling star and a part of me wondered if that was really Dad watching over me. Would he know what to do? What I should do? I knelt down on my paws and let out a whimper.

Dad? Are you there?

The star shined a little bit brighter.

What should I do now when I know how this will end?

Another glimmer.

Maybe I didn't know how this would end.

Maybe I can still change things.

Maybe I can still stay by his side.

The star burned even more brightly above me and I rose.

Thanks.

I turned around and I ran, ran, ran. The rain soaked my fur through, chilling me to the bone as the wind howled through my ears.

…

When I found myself back on that familiar stretch of road which the Cullens' house sat on, I phased back to my human form and jogged up to the front door. It was unlocked, so I let myself in. Hanging on the coat rack was a small white towel like they were expecting me, and I patted myself dry with it before throwing it over my shoulder. I guess that was nice of them, but my anger, and sadness, still needed some more time to simmer and I didn't let myself feel softened by the gesture just yet. I walked to the living room – it seemed everyone had left already.

Well, everyone except Beau and Edythe. They were on the same couch he and I had shared earlier today.

Beau was already asleep with his head on her lap. Was I really gone that long? I watched, always on the outside looking in, as Edythe's fingers very gently ran through his hair. I used to do that for him, too, a long time ago. It helped him fall asleep in those faraway days after the mess Edythe had left him in. I felt another pang of anger threatening to resurface but tried to push it away; keep it from drowning me.

Like she could sense my presence, the storm of my thoughts, Edythe turned to look at me.

"You came back." she said, her voice soft. "Thank you."

"I'm not here for you." I answered through my teeth.

"You don't have to be." was all she said, shaking her head. "But I am grateful, nonetheless."

I didn't answer her.

"You're keeping it, huh?" I said quietly. She looked absolutely horrified I'd even asked such a thing.

"Obviously."

I sighed. I could respect that much, at least. "Well, what are you all going to do about it?"

She was about to answer, but Beau stirred a little then.

"Jules?" He reached a hand out to me, but his eyes were still closed.

"I'm right here." I gave his fingers a squeeze and the hint of a smile flashed across his sleeping face. I stroked his cheek. I'm sorry, I whispered in his ear. Edythe pulled Beau a little closer to her then - maybe further from me - and gave me the tiniest semblance of a glare. Guess I got a little too close to her husband over there. I think we all knew she didn't need to worry about anything, though. I still had so far to go in forgetting my feelings for him, in loving Beau the right way as things now stood. He could never be mine, I knew that. But it still hurt. It hurt like hell.

Edythe let out a breath and looked away. Maybe she felt bad for me or something, because who knew what kind of pity party my thoughts were throwing right about now.

She bit her lip. "We were thinking of asking our cousins for help."

"Cousins?" I asked, trying very hard to concentrate all my attention on the matter at hand.

"Yes. The Denali Clan." I thought about what she was saying and then my mouth fell open remembering what happened to Lauren.

"That's a freaking terrible idea." I thought of how she almost killed Beau; how we ripped her to shreds easily for it. Oh yeah, I'm sure Ivan would just love to see us.

"Perhaps." She sucked a breath in through her teeth. "But we're willing to take our chances. Archie saw something; a possibility – he said that they know something; that they'll be able to help us and to keep our secret. It is essential for us to have allies in this situation, Jules. They're family after all - I know they'll come around." she said rather optimistically given the circumstances.

"You better hope so." I muttered. I'm pretty sure we were the last people Ivan wanted his family to help. "When exactly are you planning to leave?"

"First thing tomorrow. I hope it wasn't presumptuous of us, but we got you a ticket, too."

Great. Even more bloodsuckers.

"Beau's coming?"

"Of course."

"I'll be there."

"I thought so." Edythe almost smiled then. I looked away.

…

The next morning, I packed a small bag with clothes and left a note for Mom in the kitchen, meeting up with the Cullens at their place afterwards. From there, we hurried to the airport together to catch our flight. It was three to a seat, so I got the highest honor of sitting beside the boy I love and his wife. It only made me want to burn my eyes out a couple hundred times or so. We were up in the air for what seemed like a very long time to me until I felt the lurching turbulence of the plane as it worked to touch down to earth again, like we were descending through Dante's nine layers of Hell. Or maybe it just felt that way because I was surrounded on all sides by bloodsucking demons – you know, especially the one who was eating my best friend's face off when she thought I wasn't looking. Yeah, that must be it. Like come on, the honeymoon's already over. Geez. Did I mention it made me want to retch? After what felt like another whole eternity and a half, a world of white started coming into view as I looked out an open window from across the aisle to cleanse my eyes. We were finally on solid ground now but the snow was coming down in flocculent wisps of white, fluttering down past the panes of tempered glass. I got up out of my seat and we followed Carine and Earnest out into the airport. Hurrying to baggage claim, we reunited with our luggage there then made for the automatic doors. Once outside, I was blinded by the brightness of the sun reflecting off the new-fallen snow - I have to admit, it looked pretty nice. Peaceful, I guess. Like everything was fine; normal. Of course, with vampires and werewolves roaming these streets together side-by-side, it was literally anything but. Carine led us to a large black van and we all climbed into it. Edythe wanted to drive, but Carine wouldn't let her. I tossed a glance at Beau and saw him clasping his hands together, mouthing the words "Thank you" when Carine won that argument. I snorted.

"Big fan of your wife's driving, huh?"

"Not at all." he said in a cheery voice. I had to laugh again.

Carine started the car. Reading the GPS, I saw that we were headed up to the Denali Mountains where her cousins must live. The trip wasn't too long, some two hours or so - I stared out the window most of the time, taking in all the scenery from the snowcapped trees as we got up higher and higher in elevation to the shining deep blue lakes few and far between the glistening old-growth forests where flecks of green burst through the white of the snow. It was totally gorgeous here, probably one of my most favorite places in the world under normal circumstances. I even saw a deer once running through a snow-covered valley in a world that seemed untouched by man. I wondered what it would have been like to run alongside him; to feel that cold wind rushing through my fur, revitalizing me, as I sprinted through the blizzard with snowflakes melting on the tip of my nose. I never got a chance to do that when I came here during my time away from home, so it was a little lonely – they wouldn't trust me. I guess that made them pretty smart, though. Sighing, I rested my cheek on my hand.

I lifted my eyes. Right up ahead, there was a large wooden cabin set with a tall chimney stack from which a plume of gray smoke billowed out of. As we pulled into the front lot of the place – I couldn't tell the driveway from the main road beneath all that white – I saw five tall figures in long wool coats waiting for us there. The sun was just beginning to set, but the world around us was still bright thanks to the snow. Carine brought the car to a stop and everyone climbed out. Beau, Edythe and her family started towards the five figures first while I stayed behind, trying to be mindful of Ivan.

"Welcome to our home." The first figure to greet them was a man with pale blond hair and full lips. Medium build, but you could tell he was strong and had a pretty commanding presence. He took Carine's hand and kissed it, doing the same to all the girls and shaking hands with all the guys.

"It's so nice to see you all again, Kirill." Carine began with a smile.

"The pleasure is absolutely ours." He bowed his head. Another man, tall and with light blond hair, stepped forward and kissed Carine's hand, too. That must be Dimitri. Then Kirill threw a glance over his shoulder at the other blond figure, the one with the wavy hair. "Ivan? What would you like to say to our guests?" He came out from behind the others, showing the Cullens a tight smile. But then he sniffed the air, and his gaze flicked immediately in my direction. He narrowed his eyes, his jaw clenched so tight behind his lips that you could see the whites of his teeth in the glower he gave me. I curled my lip at him in return, letting out the lowest hint of a growl. He flinched.

"I see you've brought the dog with you." Dimitri observed. His tone was polite, but his words? Not so much.

"She's a friend." Carine assured them. Huh, was I now?

"Is everything alright? What may I ask brings you here on such short notice?" Someone else was speaking now. His short brown hair was curly and his face was an olive-tan hue, but his most defining feature for me were his kind eyes. Going off of that, I'm pretty sure this was Carlos. I vaguely remembered Edythe telling me about her cousins after we'd destroyed Lauren; when she and her family had come back.

"I think Elena may already know." Edythe responded, her hands brushing over her stomach. Elena… she must've been the woman standing beside Carlos; the one at the far right. They're husband and wife, if I remember correctly. Looking at her now, I noticed she sort of looked like an older version of Edythe, which may or may not have made me automatically dislike her. She hadn't said a word up until now and had her right hand out in front of her which hovered in the air and shook a little, like she was… I don't know, feeling for something; something that no one else can see.

"Your husband… he has not been turned. I feel his shield resisting me the same as I have the first time we met." she said, not as a question but simply a statement though her tone sounded a little confused. "But there is something more…gifts. Different gifts than what I am already accustomed to sensing in your family. Thought projection… and something I'd like to call shield penetration. They are new." There was no way those gifts Elena sensed could've been a coincidence. I could see my suspicions being confirmed with that look in Edythe's widening eyes - I knew we were coming to the exact same conclusion.

"Is that you, Edythe?" Elena asked, taking a step closer to her.

"I'm counting on it." Edythe's voice was all quiet like she still couldn't believe it herself. Maybe even … I don't know, kind of scared. I guess I couldn't fault her for that, could I?

"How you've acquired these new gifts," Elena bit her lip in concentration, "but they are not your gifts… how strange." She dropped Edythe's hand and her eyes widened. "May I?" Elena asked in the sort of voice a teacher would use to coax a shy kid into letting her see a picture she was drawing. Edythe swallowed hard, nodding once. Elena took a breath and pressed a trembling hand to where Edythe's wool peacoat parted, on the white of her shirt. She was blinking now; a calm-yet-puzzled look taking over her face.

"They come from inside you. Very faint traces of each as of yet, but gifts they are nonetheless." Her brows knit together, shocked. It wasn't making any sense to her, I could tell. It definitely confirmed what we were all thinking, though; that this was for real. I felt really cold just then, like a sword of ice was pressed down my back but I tried not to shudder. It's not like we didn't know it already, but hearing it confirmed out loud like that just drove the craziness of the whole situation home for me.

"And that is exactly what we've come to talk to you about." Carine pulled Edythe's arm through her elbow. "We have reason to believe that Edythe may be pregnant." I had to strain my ears now since Carine's voice got so quiet then, like she was afraid someone - or something - in those dark woods surrounding the house would overhear her somehow, because that was all I could see for miles. From what I could make out, she was telling them about everything that's been happening back home - Edythe getting sick, what Archie can and can't see, how Edythe can read the thoughts of whatever it was that was inside her. I could just see Beau's cheeks flushing twenty shades of red when the family brought up his part in all this and I almost laughed. I noticed their cousins still looked pretty confused, though.

"Impossible." Carlos breathed. Elena nodded in agreement. The blond brothers on the other hand stiffened up just a touch and gave each other this strange, unreadable look - I had to wonder about it.

"Yes, it is for myself and my other daughters." Carine explained, her voice taking on some of that same sadness from yesterday. Jessamine and Eleanor confirmed her words with a quick nod each.

"Well, her mate is human. Maybe that can explain things." Royal sniffed in a disinterested manner, his voice almost angry. I trained my eyes back on Beau. Even from here I could see the patches of red shooting up the back of his neck and I covered my mouth with my hand trying hard to suppress my laughter at seeing him squirm.

"Please, come inside." Kirill held his hand, palm upturned, at the level of his waist and motioned to the front door with a gesture inviting them in. Beau asked them something about yours truly and, even though Kirill sighed about it, begrudgingly extended his invitation to me, too. Some hosts they were. Sheesh. "I will ask that you steer clear of Ivan, though." he cautioned, narrowing his eyes a little as he caught mine. Sighing, I nodded and walked to the front door, letting myself in after everyone else was already inside. A warm fire burned bright in the hearth and the wood of the giant cabin smelled fresh-cut even when I knew looking at the pictures on the walls that it's been here for years. The bloodsuckers were all gathered in the living room so I opted to sit in the dining room – huh, what use did they actually have for that? – and played with an orange I found in a fruit bowl left there for Beau, I think, because I wasn't so sure if they knew I was coming. I rolled it around on the table never eating it the entire time, listening in on the conversation in the other room. When that orange got boring, I got up and paced the halls, running my hands along the walls and fighting the urge to snoop around this giant, beautiful house - it literally looked like something out of a magazine. There were some pictures hung of all five of its inhabitants posing together, a couple with just the blond brothers, and one with just Elena and Carlos. I passed by a small, jeweled picture frame just then and it stopped me in my tracks. Backing up, I looked at the photo it held and realized it was actually a painting instead; a portrait of a fair, young woman whose long blonde hair came down in loose waves over her shoulders. She was wearing this white lace dress and her eyes weren't gold or red or anything like that but a clear, pale blue.

"My aunt." My breath caught in my throat and I clutched at my chest. It was Kirill. The guy almost gave me a freaking heart attack there.

"She's… very beautiful." I shrugged, lacing my fingers in front of me.

He let out a sad, low chuckle. "Yes, she was. I painted this portrait many years ago; how I remembered her to look when she was human. Sasha was her name – she had created Ivan, Dimitri and I."

"I see." I nodded, still looking at the portrait. I could tell he was a talented artist. "What happened?" I asked without thinking. He sucked a sharp breath in through his teeth and shook his head.

"I'm afraid that is a family affair." he said, not looking me in the eyes.

"Sorry." I mumbled, feeling my own cheeks flush a little.

"Don't be. The Cullens already know, I am not opposed to them relaying the story to you, it happened such a long time ago." Even though he said that, his face looked… I don't know, hurt somehow. Like the wound was still fresh. I could relate, easily.

"I know how hard it can be – losing a loved one, that is." I said, thinking of Dad. I missed him every day, we all did. For a second there, I thought Kirill almost smiled at me.

"For a wolf-girl, you are not so bad."

"I could say the same thing about you, bloodsucker."

He let out a quiet chuckle at that and walked back to the living room while I continued to wait out in the hallway. I listened in on them again, careful to keep myself out of sight.

"You wish to keep this a secret? Are you sure that is wise, Carine?" I heard Ivan say as I peered in on them from behind the wall. There was a slight edge in his urgent voice when he said the word "wise" which I didn't quite like. I could tell though that he was genuinely afraid, and the words weren't spoken entirely out of malice, which honestly made me worry even more.

What exactly did he mean by that? I knew Edythe heard me thinking this. She said something to Carine without the words then shook her head, like she didn't want my question to get answered for some reason.

"There was a time in our world known as the Plague of the Immortal Children." Carine cast a discreet glance in my direction from over her shoulder.

Immortal Children?

"There was a time many years ago when our kind had created vampires out of humans who were barely older than infants." I felt my stomach turn as I thought about that. "It is the ultimate transgression any vampire can commit in our world." she explained to Beau and me especially but didn't go further into it than that, her lips pressing tight together so they made a hard line.

"What does this have to do with anything, Carine?" Edythe asked, looking away. I guess that meant she didn't like the story any more than the one telling it. "This baby won't be anything like those children. He'll be part human after all."

Carine shook her head, looking down. "Half mortal… half immortal. It's still too early to say, Edy."

Edythe's lips parted in disbelief and her eyes began to waver, like Carine's words had physically stung. "I wish you wouldn't say that, Carine. How could you?" she snapped, her voice rasping into a growl. "Earnest? Arch?" She looked from her dad to her brother, I guess hoping they'd take her side on the matter. They were all quiet for a really long time, just kind of staring at each other.

"Carine has a point. I can't see you and I can't see it, Edy. I don't know." Archie replied in a shaky voice, throwing the palms of his hands up and out to either side of him. Edythe let out a scoff, rising to her feet.

"Sweetheart-" Earnest reached for her arm but she shook his hand off with a huff and disappeared in a blurry streak of white up the stairs. I felt the air rush out around me as she whizzed past where I stood.

Huh. I guess she really liked the kid.

"Edythe!" Beau followed after her, calling her name.

Standing alone at the bottom of the stairs, I looked up after them and let out a sigh.