"So… in the meadow. We've all been wondering for a little while now. The leech we killed. She… wasn't a friend of yours was she? I mean… she um… we know she…" Emma said quietly, gesturing to me with an apologetic look.

I shook my head slowly. "No… no she definitely wasn't a friend… I was lucky, if you guys hadn't gotten there, I really would be dead." I said with a little quirk of my lips.

Both her and Jay silently walked ahead of me, both getting really quiet for a second, but eventually, Em said in a tiny voice, "Sorry."

Jay nodded her head a little too, both clearly uncomfortable.

I shook my head, letting my shoulders slump a little as I thought about it again. I lost my humanity, I was a monster, or at least, that's what most people would say I was… and it kinda hurt, but I never really minded the idea of being a vampire. As long as I had my angel with me… I thought my world would continue on, no matter what I was. It didn't matter if I was a human or not, just as long as I was with her.

The usual burning knife twisted in my chest as that fun thought crossed my mind again. It made me grunt a little.

But I could feel my angel's arms wrapped around me, walking along with me. I took a slow breath, wishing I could hold her as well.

"Don't worry about it." I whispered, shaking my head. "Jules was telling me that you guys were having a tough time keeping everyone safe anyway… I just ran out of luck."

They both looked at me, Em looking at me with regret and sadness, but Jay was eyeing me differently. I could see the same kind of regret that she let someone turn into this, but I could see pity as well. I hated that. I guess it's a guy thing or whatever, but that is not what I needed.

We walked in silence again, both of them were awkwardly looking at the other for a while, like they were having some kind of conversation in their head. Eventually Jay huffed, glaring at her for a moment before looking back at me.

"Jules told us that we shouldn't kill you." She said bluntly, gesturing with a firm hand. "Saying it's not fair because we didn't save you in the first place and whatever… but Sam's not gonna go for that. Even if it's our fault, we can't let a leech go roaming around, hurting people."

Em quickly snapped at her. "Knock it off Jay, you don't know that."

"Uh huh, she's gonna be totally ok with it then?" Jay fired back quickly. Em just shook her head, glaring at her lightly, which made Jay glare right back. They walked, just having another weird mental conversation.

Well, it's good to know that the only one I really have to convince is Sam - and it looks like I got Em in my corner a little. Couple her with Jules and that's almost half the pack. I hoped it would make it a bit easier in convincing her that I wasn't a psychotic murder.

Eventually I broke the staring contest, "Well.. you guys had a treaty or whatever with… with other vampires right? Why can't we make one for us?" I asked, shrugging my shoulders. They both turned and looked at me like I had a third eye. I shrugged again.

"We have a treaty with the Cullens," I flinched, "because they haven't hurt anyone. They haven't bitten anyone, killed anyone, and they haven't come onto our territory." Em said, fading off with a grim tone. Jay glared at me then, a little harder than before.

"I haven't hurt anyone." I say quietly, looking straight ahead. Jay let out a disbelieving, hollow laugh, and Em gave me a sympathetic look, a nicer one that still screamed that she didn't believe me. "Seriously, scouts honor. I haven't harmed a single human since I became a vamp." I said with a tiny grin, a little bit of pride in my voice as I held up two fingers, and put a hand on my chest.

They didn't say anything for a second. "Well… I mean he is a friend of the Cullens, and they haven't broken the treaty." Em muttered. My angel squeezed me closer as I heard the name again. I really hoped that word wouldn't come up much more.

Jay didn't say anything else, just shook her head and kept walking. Em followed her lead, putting her hands behind her back as we all headed towards the house, which according to them, was like a quarter mile from here.

As we walked, I turned towards Emma, who was smiling faintly. Once again, I was considering the change that had come over her. Though now lean muscle stood out on her bare arms, her face was, in many ways, the same; she still had the look of a quiet, almost shy girl about her.

"Hey," I said suddenly, studying her. "Do you really like being a wolf?"

Emma was silent. She glanced in my direction once before looking ahead.

"Sorry," I said. "Guess maybe that was kind of a personal question."

"No," she said with a sigh. "It's not that. It's just I don't know how to answer. There are definitely things we all miss about life before all this. It was quiet, it felt safe. But there are things I enjoy about this, too. Feeling strong, powerful. Knowing you can chase down those things that could slaughter a hundred people on a whim and rip them apart, and save all the victims that monster would have killed if you hadn't been there. There's something nice about that."

I heard Jay snort softly, like she thought maybe things were getting too sentimental, and Emma blushed a little ducking her head.

"Yeah," I said, smiling softly. "I could see that. Even though it's no cakewalk."

Emma nodded slowly, still staring straight ahead.

Jay though, snorted again. "Yeha, like a leech could understand that." She said without any real heat behind it.

"No, no. I get it, wanting to protect the people you love. Being strong enough to do it. I get what that's like." I said, rubbing my jaw.

"Really?" Emma asked curiously. Jay just looked at me with doubt.

"Yeah, I mean… sometimes, I have to kinda protect others from myself," I say gesturing to myself, "and that can suck sometimes, but… I like being strong enough to keep them safe, physically… and mentally." I softly finish.

"Is it hard? Not killing people?" Jay asked me with a quirked brow.

I shook my head. "Not really. It's like I told Jules, I'm thirsty all the time, and blood smells… good. But I know that I never have to actually give into that. I have a choice, and I choose to not be a monster."

Emma looked at me appreciatively, and Jay gave a little sigh. "I guess… you're not the worst leech I've met." She muttered with a shrug, "Good luck convincing everyone else though."

I smile and nod my head, letting the silence actually hold this time until we reach our destination. We got through the woods, until we hit a little lane, leading up to a relatively small slate-gray house, which had a variety of garden plants outside in dark patches of fertilizer in the yard, obviously carefully cultivated, the grass around each circle neatly trimmed.

As we were walking up, I looked at Jay and said "Hey, can I ask you a question?"

She glanced back at me. "Sure. You might get punched in the face for it, but go ahead."

"Is your name Jay or Jaybird?" I wondered.

She rolled her eyes, lips twisting into a grimace. "It's Jay. Jaybird is Paula's polite nickname for me. Sometimes it's Jailbird, if she's really ticked off about something. You can call me Jaybird too, if you have a death wish."

Jay strolled on to the house, flexing her hands experimentally.

Emma and I lagged a little behind, and I glanced at her, my eyebrows raised.

Emma laughed. "She's nicer than she seems. Most of that tough guy act is just an act. Same with Paula."

"How much of it isn't an act?" I wanted to know.

"Maybe twenty-five percent," she admitted.

"That leaves a lot of tough guy," I said doubtfully.

Jay strode up the one step and opened the door. Emma went next, and I warily followed behind. I looked around, vaguely taking in what it looked like, but I was checking to make sure there weren't any werewolves hiding in any closets or anything. My senses told me no, but you can never be too careful.

After making sure there was nothing to maul me, I saw that the house was of a similar design to Bonnie and Jules's place, mainly small rooms, with a larger front room that also doubled as a kitchen. It was nice.

Emma retired to the table in the middle of the room, a large table that looked like it might have been hand-carved, and pulled out a chair. Jay was already lounging there, tilting her wooden chair back on two legs.

Emma noticed I was still standing a little back by the door, a bit awkwardly, and she smiled beckoning me. "Come on, Beau, over here." I tentatively pulled out a chair, careful not to break it, or scuff the wood floor, and took a seat beside her.

Emma and Jay started bantering back and forth, just relaxing in their natural habitat. It had a warm atmosphere - which was even better considering I couldn't really feel warmth. Emma and Jay seemed as comfortable here as they would have been in their families homes. My eyes drifted over to the walls, curiously studying what was meant to be my mortal enemy's home.

The first thing I saw was pictures on the wall. Different scenes of Sam and a guy I could only assume was Elliot living a loving life. There were pictures of them fishing, lounging at the beach, different pictures of him cooking in the kitchen we now sat in. One of him was sitting on the hood of his green truck, Sam leaning back against him.

One thing that was hard to miss though was that he had scars, all along the right side of his face, not in all of them of course, but enough. Three thick, angry red lines ran from his hairline to his chin, distorting his features, dragging one eye down in a sagging, half grimace. I wasn't sure I'd ever seen anything so grotesque. Rude as it was, for a second I found myself thinking of that split-faced villain from Batman.

"That's Elliot," Emma confirmed my guess, seeing that I was staring so intently at his picture. She leaned forward, and sighed "Remember, if you ever meet him, don't stare… Sam will kill you." She said again, like a lawyer talking to her client.

Jay scoffed, "Yeah if he ever got the chance to get that close. You and Jules might be ok with this leech, but that doesn't mean all of us are."

Emma turned to her with a little teasing look, "You said like ten minutes ago that he was one of the good ones."

Jay blushed lightly, like she got caught saying something embarrassing, which I guess to her that would be. "I said he wasn't the worst… still a blood sucker."

They quickly devolved back into their banter, throwing teasing jokes back and forth, trying to one up the other, until finally the back door opened, and Samantha appeared in the doorway.

I instantly sat straighter, suddenly unsure of myself as she took two strides towards us. She stopped and looked down at the three of us, before her eyes landed on me with a cold glare. After a second, she sighed, and sat down next to Jay, rubbing her face.

"Elliot said he's gonna be back in a couple of hours," Jay muttered. Sam looked over at her and nodded, a little fond smile on her lips as she heard his name. "Said that he's going to get some fish from that new place in Forks." Sam's smile got a little wider as she thought of her love - I could hear her heart beating faster.

I trained my eyes onto the table, concentrating on the patterns of the wood grain. It was hard to see that and not start thinking about the black hole in my own chest.

I felt my angel gently run a hand down my arm.

Sam was about to say something, but at the moment, Jules and Paula came in, sending a wave of relief over me.

I was a bit disconcerted to see they were both laughing and slapping each other on the shoulder like BFF's, but it's good that they weren't trying to kill each other anymore.

I got up from the table, going part way over to Jules, and ignoring the tensing up from Sam. Paula passed by with a hard glare, her friendly look a second ago turning into menace quick. She went and as she drew a chair out to sit with the others, I noticed a long pink line on her forearm.

"You do that?" I asked in a low voice as Jules made it to me. Over my shoulder, I studied the mark a bit closer. It looked like it was weeks old.

Jules shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah. Barely touched her, really. It'll be gone by sundown."

"Really?" I asked studying her arm again. Her elbow was now resting on the table, as she and Jay suddenly burst into laughter.

"Yeah, it's a wolf thing." Jules shot me a grin. "Me, though, I don't have a scratch."

"Oh," I said. I wanted to ask more about wolf powers, but the sound of Samantha's voice interrupted all the conversations in the room, and everyone turned to look at her.

"All right," she said. "The meeting in the woods was interrupted, but Julie has important information - and then we have a decision to make." Samantha turned her eyes to Jules, and then glanced at me.

Everyone followed her gaze. Paula and Jay both glared at me, it was clear what their thoughts on a leech being there home was - though Jay's glare didn't seem too murderous. Emma was supportive, sending me a smile. Jules looked… she looked stressed, and Sam.

I couldn't read her at all. Her face was set into a stone stare, completely neutral. I really hoped that wasn't a bad thing, but who could tell. For all I knew, she could be planning how she was gonna rip my head off.

"Julie," Sam prompted.

Jules quickly got serious, letting the stressful, worried look slip off her face as she focused. "We know what the male wants. Or more accurately, who he wants. We thought he was after us for killing that one we got in the woods, the female. Turns out though, that one wasn't his mate after all. The Cullens already got his mate last year."

Jules took a little heated breath. "The bloodsucker is looking for revenge for his mate, but it's not us he's after. He's looking for Beau."

Everyone was quiet for a moment, all eyes flickering towards me.

Jay responded first. "You can't be serious. That makes no sense whatsoever. He was a human like a week ago, when did he go and kill the other leech?"

I tried to keep my expression even, but the words cut deep.

"Unfortunately, the situation is more complicated than it appears," Sam said coolly. "The target's mate got into some kind of confrontation with the Cullens. Edythe Cullen—the small one with the red hair—and the rest of the Cullens killed this vampire in order to protect Beau, who they looked at as Edythe Cullen's mate. Therefore, this one believes that killing Beau is the most logical way to achieve his vengeance on Edythe Cullen and the others."

I didn't like the way they spoke about the Cullens, or about—about my angel. The small one. Like they were animals. I looked down at the floor.

Though I could appreciate that they're actually using my name now, rather than just calling me leech or something. I'll take that as a good sign.

"Huh," said Jay. "Sounds complicated." A sudden grin flashed across her face, and she gave me a speculative look. "But what you're saying is... we have ourselves some bait."

Jules lunged at Jay, seizing the back of her chair and shaking it hard. "Say that again, crow."

Jay turned around, still grinning, and leaned forward so her face was perhaps an inch from Jules. "Apparently, we now have ourselves some—"

"Enough," Sam snapped, looking a touch exasperated now. She pointed two fingers in two different directions. "You two, separate. Now."

Jay shrugged and, still smirking, got up from her chair and swung around to the other side of the room. Jules, looking annoyed, withdrew back to stand beside me, arms folded.

"As I was saying," Sam continued, "this information is critical. We will be changing our strategy accordingly, starting now. We've always hunted as a group up to now to ensure each member's safety, but if it is true he's after this one," she gestured to me without looking, "he probably won't try to take advantage of our divided numbers. We'll cover more territory if we split up into two groups, and we can try to appear to leave a few holes in our defenses. We might be able to lead him into a trap."

"Two groups means one will only have two," Emma said quietly.

"Not for long," said Jay. "Quil is close to phasing, I'm sure of it. Then it would be three and three."

The room was suddenly quiet for a moment. Everyone was staring at the floor. Jules looked away, grimacing as though she were in pain. These werewolves, these Amazon warriors out hunting vampires, didn't seem unhappy to me. In fact, they seemed to be getting along fine.

However, I found myself thinking of the hopelessness, the pain and the conflicted look in Emma's face when I talked to her about it. And I wondered, what did I know? What did I know of what Jules and the others were really having to go through? What they had been forced to sacrifice without really being given a choice?

Sam finally sighed and shook her head. "We can't count on that," she said quietly. She continued, as always sounding like a commanding officer, "Paula, Jay, and Em will take the outer perimeter. Jules and I will take the inner. If he falls for it, then we'll collapse and we'll have him."

I found my eyes going to Jules. Jules and Samantha would both be in the smaller group. Of all the wolves, they would be the most exposed.

They all got quiet for a second. Probably trying to think of a way around the strategy that leaves them vulnerable. I should've let them think, but like an idiot, I opened my mouth.

"I can go with you." I said without thinking, looking at Sam and Jules. "If you need a third." I shrugged, my face set. Jules instantly sat up and shook her head, and was going to say something, but Paula beat her to it.

"We don't need help from you blood sucker," She growled, baring her teeth at me. She was going to clearly say more, and it looked like Jules was getting ready to shift again, when Sam snapped at them.

"Knock it off." Sam turned her keen eyes to me, taking a few deep breaths as she addressed me. "No. We don't need your help." She said simply.

"Charlie." Jules muttered. "You can keep him safe." She said quietly to me. "If somehow that leech gets past us, he'll track your scent, and he could go for Charlie." She seemed kinda desperate for me to agree to that. Though she shouldn't be, I was already going to do it, but before I could tell her that, Paula decided to comment again.

"He's a leech! He's more likely to kill him then keep him safe." She angrily gestured to me. "This is ridiculous! We should end him now and be done with this." She growled, vibrating a little as she glared at me. I glared right back this time. I can handle them insulting me, but when they bring Charlie into it. That I couldn't stand.

"Cool it Paula." Sam said warningly.

"I'm a vampire, but I'm not a monster." I said softly, yet with an undertone of steel. "I haven't hurt anyone, and I never will… not unless they try to hurt my family first" I looked at each of them then, making sure to have eye contact as I said. "If I ever do otherwise, feel free to kill me… I won't stop you."

Jules looked at me like I was crazy. "Shut up." She growled under her breath at me. "He's kidding." She muttered darkly to her pack.

"No I'm not." I said blankly, leaning back in my chair. "I know that you don't trust me because of what I am… I get it. I know exactly how much damage one of my kind can do - and I know I'm new at this, which makes it a little harder, as I'm sure you all understand." I sighed, gesturing to them before running a hand through my hair. "But unlike you - I don't have friends. The Cu… The Cullens left me behind, so they can't keep me in check if… which I doubt it'll happen… but if I ever fly off the handle. I'm glad you all can be there to stop me."

I took a breath, watching as they all stared at me hard. I didn't have a clue what they were thinking, besides my guesses earlier. It was pretty much the same, with a few minor differences. Jules was stressed, Em was supportive, Jay was indifferent it looked like now, Paula was still pissed, but seemed kind of… I want to say it looked like a little respect, but I doubt it. Sam was still unreadable. I huffed, and put my hands on the table, putting them together like I was in an office and talking in a business meeting.

"Look - you've had treaties with other vampires before. Good vampires who didn't hurt anyone." I said slowly, mostly looking at Sam as I spoke.

"Which you broke by coming onto our land." Paula bit out quickly.

I shook my head. "I'm not a… Cullen. That treaty doesn't apply to me, and even if it did, no one told me the rules'' I shrugged. "Which I'm going to guess is probably why you haven't already decided to kill me." I said looking at Sam. She was leaning back in her chair, her arms crossed as she watched me. It felt like a judge waiting to sentence me to death.

"Which I kinda get the jist of now, after talking to all of you… but I think we can make something better than the last treaty." I took another deep breath, really, really hoping that this stupid idea works.

"I propose that we make a new one. The Quileute's and… I guess the Swans.`` I gesture between all of them and me, giving a tiny smile. "It's simple. I won't hurt a human - ever. No killing them, no drinking from them, no hurting them." I nodded along to my own words, which I was getting more nervous with each one that came out of my mouth. They haven't stopped me yet, so hopefully that meant that I was doing alright.

"On top of that… I think we can help one another." I paused, thinking that maybe one of them - Paula, might try and cut it, but they were all silent. "Like I said, I don't have any friends who can keep me in line if I ever fly off the handle. So, you keep me from hurting anyone, in the unlikely scenario I do, and in return I can help you with info on vampires… because I'm guessing that you don't know everything there is to know about us." I leaned back in my chair again with a huff, finally getting it all out.

Quickly though, I straightened up again. "Oh, and of course, if any of you need help, if you're ever outnumbered, if your like… sick… I don't know, I'll do everything I can to help."

Finally , I looked between them all, silently waiting. They in turn looked at each other before everyone looked at Sam. She was frowning hard, her stoney expression from before shifting into one of thought as she went over everything I said.

My eyes flickered over to Jules, and she was chewing on her lip, staring at Sam hard, like she was urging her to agree.

After a minute, Sam sighed, nodding her head. "We have a treaty with the Cullens." I tried hard not to flinch, "And Julie is right… if we had been more diligent and helped you before that vampire bit you… you would not be in the position your in now." She said quietly, talking to herself as she looked at the table.

"You have not harmed anyone?" She asked softly, looking up at me suddenly, dead in the eyes. I stared back, knowing that this is what's going to be the decision between me living and dying. Carefully, I nodded.

She stared at me so deeply, it felt like she was looking into my soul - not that she believed I had one. She stared at me for what felt like an eternity, but was probably only about a minute before she gave one single nod.

"I can agree to these terms." She said softly, ignoring Paula's outraged cry, and Em's happy clapping. "But I must speak to Bonnie about it before anything can be put into writing."

I instantly waved that away, smiling. "No worries at all." Jules was grinning just as wide as me, eagerly looking between the two of us.

"But know this Beau Swan… we may have failed in keeping you safe - as this is what has created you - and I am sorry for that… but if you harm a single human." She held up a single finger. " You will die." She said grimly, holding my gaze as she made me understand. I was still smiling, but I nodded fast.

"Of course," I said, standing up. "Thank you." She gave me a nod in return.

"Now go home." She said bluntly.

I quickly hopped up and pushed my chair in, grinning like an idiot. This had been the best possible scenario I could've gotten away with. I honestly couldn't believe that they decided to not rip me to shreds. Jules quickly got up and followed me to the front door.

Em waved bye to us excitedly, giving a little thumbs up, which I quickly sent back with equal enthusiasm. Jay even gave me a little disgruntling nod of parting, which I also sent back. Paula was just glaring, which I decided would not be the best thing to return in kind, and Sam was just staring without emotion. Overall… pretty good.

Me and Jules walked out the door, which I gently closed behind us, and we set off back down the lane. We made it about two yards before she shoved my shoulder, laughing with relief. I laughed too, and I know I would've felt light headed if I was human - I can't believe that worked.

We started walking back through the woods, heading back to my truck. My angel's hand was wrapped around mine and I could hear her laugh at my absurd happiness at the chance of making friends with a bunch of werewolves.

"Good job Beau." Jules said fist bumping me, which I awkwardly returned with a stupid grin. "You didn't die!"

"Well, there's always next time." I breathed. I haven't been this happy in months… it kinda… it almost felt like… I don't know. Like I was okay… just a little bit.

Well no - I'm not ok. Not even a little bit, but I think I can live with it. I squeezed her hand back.

Authors Note:

Check out my profile for more of my work on My Angel! :)