Disclaimer: these characters belong to Stephanie Meyer, not me. Although...*evil laugh as I prepare to steal them*

Chapter 1

Bella's POV

I snarled as I whirled around, sinking into a defensive stance. I relaxed when I saw who had disturbed me.

"Alice. You know better than to sneak up on me when I'm hunting—or, if you don't, you should."

Alice rolled her eyes.

"Well, I actually came to warn you. You can keep hunting that herd of elk, but once you're finished with them you're going to want to turn around and hunt to the south instead, or you're going to catch the scent of some humans."

My eyes widened. "Okay, thanks. Hey, do you want to hunt with me? This herd is big, and you look thirsty." I glanced at my sister-in-law's black eyes. Alice smiled and shook her head.

"No. I'm going to catch a bear's scent in about five minutes if I keep going east—and no, sharing isn't an option."

I laughed and turned back to the elk I was stalking, waving a hand at Alice in thanks. I inhaled cautiously—just in case the humans moved faster than Alice had seen, for some reason - and started to run. I burst out of the trees, locking onto the biggest stag as I aimed for its neck. On the way, I grabbed a doe and held it tight as I ran, knowing that the herd would scatter before I had finished my meal.

I almost groaned as I sank my teeth into the stag's throat, the blood hot and wet, soothing the ache in my own throat. Of course, this wasn't as good as a lion or a bear—lucky Alice—but it was a lot better than being thirsty.

The stag ran dry long before my thirst was quenched, and I started on the doe. I pushed the drained carcasses off of me, looked down at myself and groaned.

"When am I going to get this right?!"

I always tried my best to be a tidy eater, but I was still less than a year old. I had gotten better, of course—I'd come back from my first hunt looking like a total demon with the amount of blood that had been on my clothes—but still, I hadn't perfected it. Even Nessie was tidier than me; though, as Edward liked to remind me, Nessie had been born to this life, while I had needed to adapt. Now, a large, dark stain was spread on my red dress. Alice had insisted on it, knowing that I was still kind of a messy eater and hoping that the colour would mean the stains weren't as bad.

It hadn't worked. Black might be better.

I tipped my head. I was almost full—just one more kill would do it. But not here. I had to head south—I didn't plan on murdering anyone today, or ever. I bolted, flying through the forest as I ran south. When I was certain that I was far enough away, I inhaled.

Jackpot! A mountain lion, a big one too. I chased the new scent, growling in anger when I caught another familiar smell following the same trail. Not if I have anything to say about it!

I took to the trees, bolting from branch to branch until I saw it. It was a big one - it would definitely be enough. I lunged from the trees, cutting into the lion's neck before it could even look up. I heard footsteps enter the clearing from behind me but didn't bother turning around - I would never be as safe with anyone as I was with him. He couldn't even pretend to attack me.

"Oh, come on!"

A low warning growl came from behind me, but he was seconds too late. I finished the lion and dropped it, bolting up a tree as he lunged playfully. I looked down at him tauntingly.

"First come first served, Edward. If you want a lion next time, you should keep up."

"You went through the trees - that's cheating." He narrowed his eyes at me, but I wasn't perturbed. I could see the light golden colour of his eyes from here - he was nowhere near as thirsty as I'd been.

"I was thirstier. Besides, it's not my fault you didn't think of taking a short cut."

"Alright, get down here!"

I pretended to think about it, but it was a no-brainer. I'd always do anything Edward asked me to.

Unless it was to do with letting him reach the prey first.

Or something stupid and self-sacrificing like he always did - even when me and Emmett had gotten too excited and smashed Esme's favourite dining table and he'd offered to take the fall. Esme hadn't even been that upset…with me, anyway. Emmett was another matter. According to Esme, I was still learning to control my strength while Emmett had had more than enough decades to master his.

I smiled at the memory, then looked down to Edward.

"Okay!" I crouched at the top and leaped, landing right in front of him. I laughed and sprang forward, kissing him quickly before hopping back.

"Well I don't know about you, but I'm ready to go back to the house. Besides, when we got here, we went hunting straight away. Apart from Alice, we haven't even said hello to the others yet." It was the Easter break, so Edward and I were home from college for the next week. Edward blinked, then nodded.

"You're right. Besides, I think I'd rather get the excessive hugging over with."

I laughed. "I assume you mean Esme, in which case you can't fool me. You love it, and so do I."

"I was also talking about Ness-sorry, Renesmee."

I sighed. "Yeah, that's a good point. She didn't take it well when we told her she needed to stay here."

"It was for both her benefit and Jacob's," he replied. "She's still growing too fast, and she and Jacob can't stand being apart. It was better for everyone if we waited until he could come too."

I laughed.

"That's true, and very reasonable, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Besides, have we gotten Jake's place at Dartmouth confirmed?" We were talking as we ran. Edward nodded.

"Yes, it's confirmed. Oh, we're here!" He pointed at a break in the trees just ahead. I put on a burst of speed, breaking through the tree cover and stopping right outside the front door of the large white house. I reached forward, turning the handle with a click.

I was barely in the door when I was almost knocked back by a small, warm body who appeared out of nowhere.

"Momma! You're back!"

I laughed as I wrapped my arms around little Nessie, beaming down at her.

"Yes! We're back home for the next week. You've grown so much!"

Nessie giggled, her chocolate-brown eyes gazing up at me with adoration. She looked over my shoulder and waved happily.

"Hi, Daddy!"

Edward laughed, reaching out to take Nessie from me. I released her and stepped back.

Only to be flattened from a different direction by an immovable wall of fur.

I squealed, my complaints filling the air. "Come on, Jake! Get off! You're getting your stinky wolf fur in my mouth!"

As usual, the giant russet wolf ignored me. I sighed and gave up, running my hands through his fluffy fur. I heard light footsteps at the top of the stairs and looked up in time to see Esme collide with Edward. She wrapped her arms around him, beaming. Edward laughed.

"Okay Mom, I missed you too," he teased her. Esme hugged him one more time, then whirled around, turning to me. She frowned when she saw that Jacob still hadn't budged.

"Jacob…"

He huffed at her, before turning back to me. Esme sighed.

"You need to give other people a chance. Please?"

Jacob opened one eye to look at her, before shifting ever-so-slightly. Esme blinked, seeming resigned. Until the heavy footsteps upstairs moved.

"Don't worry, I'll deal with the wolf!"

The next second, Jacob was dragged off me and dumped to one side. He growled warningly at Emmett, who echoed the sound right back. The next second, they were lunging at each other in a vicious play fight. Esme called after them, her tone reprimanding.

"Not in the house!"

She turned to me then, and hugged me tightly. "It's so good to see you two again!"

I laughed and hugged her back. "Same to you."
It was good to be home.

AN

Ok guys, I know not a lot happens in this chapter, but I needed to show what happens before they know about the weapons. Something good will happen next chapter, I promise. P.S. it's starting to go from one chapter a week to one chapter every time I feel the urge to publish something...better early than late. I also have chapters 1 through 7 already finished, so it's hard to have them just sitting there unread because I know that if I'm doing this right, someone out there is waiting for them. So...yeah. Thanks for reading!

Review or the Volturi will eat you

It's the law that if a human knows about vampires, they need to review this fic to be spared

I don't make the rules, blame Aro.

Actually, just blame Aro for anything that goes wrong...that's what I do.

Anyway, review!