I feel like I say this almost every chapter, but man this one was a struggle. My summer was not as productive as I wanted it to be for various reasons, but I'm looking to the positives - we're getting into the home stretch! Well, sort of; there's still ten chapters and an epilogue to go if I'm following the New Moon outline, but I have several hefty chunks of upcoming chapters already written (including most of Vote!) and with NaNo coming up soon I'm hopeful that I can have this wrapped up by the end of the year. As usual, I make no promises, but let's all cross our fingers together, shall we?
For now, on to the chapter!
Chapter 14: Family
I ended up wedged in the middle of the bench seat again, with Beau behind the wheel following Jules' directions. She took up a lot more space than Edythe had, not to mention the fact that she practically radiated heat; my whole right side felt like I was standing next to an open oven. Instead of feeling like a barrier splitting the truck cab, I now felt hopelessly crowded and claustrophobic, which was absolutely no help for the mess of sensation in my chest and stomach.
"So who exactly is Emily?" Beau asked casually after we'd been driving for a minute or two.
"Emily Young. She's Sam's girlfriend… no, wait, his fiancée now." Jules smacked herself lightly on the forehead. "Totally forgot about that, although in my defence it only happened a few weeks ago."
"And she knows about… everything?"
For some reason, Beau's simple question made Jules look suddenly grim. "Yeah, she does. And when you see her… just don't stare, okay? She probably wouldn't say anything, but it makes her uncomfortable and Sam doesn't like it."
I frowned. "Why would we stare?"
"Let's just say it's a good demonstration of why hanging out with werewolves can be hazardous. Turn here, Beau."
The abrupt subject change combined with everything else threw me more than it usually might have; as Beau dutifully took the turn onto a thin dirt lane, my stomach lurched as if we were going far too fast around the bend. I braced myself against the dashboard to keep from sliding, though there was hardly enough space for that to be a concern. My brother eyed me warily, but kept whatever comment he wanted to make to himself.
The lane wasn't long, and it was less than a minute before we reached a small grey single-storey house, the style typical of buildings in La Push. There was a slatted wooden door painted blue and one narrow window with a planter box below it that overflowed with vibrant yellow and orange marigolds. They were the brightest colour about the place, everything else having been muted and dulled by years of weather exposure, yet somehow they gave the entire house a warm, inviting air.
Jules got out of the truck as soon as Beau had parked, her nose going up and a smile finally breaking her serious expression. "Smells like Emily's cooking. That's good, I'm starving."
She led the way inside, her long strides difficult to keep up with for me and my much shorter legs; even Beau seemed to have to stretch his steps to match the distance she covered. Inside, most of the house was one open space, encompassing living room, dining space and kitchen, much like Bonnie's house. Two of the wolf boys sat at the small rickety table, each well into devouring a plate of food. One was definitely the grumpy one from this morning's meeting, the one I was pretty sure was Paul; the other, though almost identical to his neighbour, I found I now recognised as Embry Call. He grinned at me around his current mouthful and waved cheerfully.
"Aw, man!" Jules complained. "Did you two eat everything already?"
A melodic laugh drew my attention to the kitchen counter, where a young woman with skin like burnished copper and a river of silky black hair was extracting absolutely enormous muffins from a tray and setting them on a wire rack to cool. She was utterly stunning – not vampire beautiful, but not far off – and I wondered why Jules had said not to stare. Then she turned to face us fully, and I no longer felt the urge to ask.
Three thick, red scars ran down the right side of her face from her hairline all the way to her chin, like gruesome rivers carving up her cheek. The corner of her eye had been caught by one slash, her mouth twisted by another, making it physically impossible for her welcoming smile to cover her entire face. Immediately thankful for Jules' warning, I turned my attention away to the food on the counter; the rich smell of the muffins filled the room, reminding me that I'd only managed half my lunch back at Bonnie's.
"Don't worry, sweetie, I put some aside for you," Emily assured Jules, her eyes full of undisguised affection.
She passed across a foil wrapped plate, which turned out to be a huge portion of French fries and a thick burger that looked like it was homemade. Jules' eyes lit up, and she sat down at the table immediately, tucking in with the same gusto as the boys.
Emily turned back to us. Her expression – and I made sure to focus on the half of her face that could show it clearly – was apologetic, with just an edge of wariness. "I'm sorry, I didn't know we were having guests when I started cooking. You're welcome to a muffin, and if you don't mind waiting, I can get something else put together for you."
My brother took the lead, any astonishment he felt at Emily's ruined features carefully hidden. "That's alright, we ate at Bonnie's. I'm Beau, by the way, I don't think we've met."
He crossed the room and extended a hand for her to shake. She took it without hesitation, and I saw that her sleeve was rolled up, showing the same three channels of scarring running all the way down her arm to the back of her hand.
"Emily. I've seen you around, but we haven't been formally introduced," she said, half-smiling again. "Nice to properly meet you. That would make you the famous Bella, then?"
Embry snorted, then yelped; when I looked, he was rubbing his shin and Jules had a look of exaggerated innocence on her face that told me as clear as day that she'd kicked him under the table. He swung out with one heavy fist and clocked her in the upper arm, then reached to grab at her fries.
"You had yours!" she protested, batting his hand away and seeming more upset by the attempted food theft than the punch. "Emily, tell him!"
Emily rolled her eyes. "Leave each other alone, both of you." She gave us another apologetic look. "I'm sorry. I'd say they're usually better behaved, but honestly, this is pretty much normal. So, can I tempt either of you to a muffin before the hoard descends on them?"
Beau raised an eyebrow at me. "Split one?"
I nodded and moved forward to accept my half. Though I could only manage small bites at first, it tasted just as good as it smelled, still warm from the oven and settling comfortably in my stomach. The almost familial atmosphere in the room was finally calming some of my nerves, and I was soon able to switch from my tentative nibbling to something resembling actual mouthfuls.
Beside me, my brother was making satisfied humming noises. "Emily, these are amazing!"
Emily beamed. "You think so? They aren't anything special, just blueberry muffins."
Beau nodded enthusiastically. "Seriously. You could do this professionally, you'd make a killing."
"Oh, I don't know about that," Emily chuckled. "I certainly don't have the time for it at the moment. Keeping this rowdy bunch fed is practically a full-time job. No sooner do I get cleaned up from one meal, it's time to prep for the next one."
There was no heat behind her complaining, and it was obvious that she didn't really mind the work.
Still, the three at the table had the decency to look chagrined.
"We do appreciate it, Em," Jules assured her. "And we know the last few days have been busier than usual."
"It's these stupid shifts Sam's got us running," Paul grumbled, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms. His muscles bulged obscenely, exposed by the tank top that seemed to be something like a uniform for the pack; both Jules and Embry were also wearing similar shirts and cut-off denim shorts. "You'd think with so much ground to cover, it would make more sense for us all to go out at once, like we were doing when we went after the other leech. What makes this one any different?"
"And how long did it take us to catch Mr Dreadlocks?" Embry pointed out, grabbing a muffin from the plate Emily placed in the middle of the table; Paul snagged one, as did Jules, although she wasn't quite done with her burger yet. "We probably never would have managed it if he hadn't stopped to chat with these two and the Cullen girl."
Paul didn't look at all happy with that idea, his nose wrinkling as if the very thought of having to credit any part of their success to Edythe was distasteful. "We would have got there eventually."
"And how many more hikers would have died in the meantime?" Beau countered calmly. "How much longer would Laurent have hung around before he got enough information together to go report back to Victoria? Then you could have ended up hunting both of them, and she's a hell of a lot harder to pin down than he ever was."
Four pairs of eyes were suddenly on us, Emily's wary while the other three had an odd sort of hunger in them.
"See, this is what I was telling you," Jules said eagerly, tapping Embry lightly on the chest as she swallowed the last of her main course and tore into her muffin. "The twins are going to be gold mines of information for catching this bloodsucker. They know all about her."
"Not really," I piped up. "We saw her once, and she wasn't exactly the threat we were most focused on at the time."
"But you've got to know something," Jules pressed, and I didn't like the glint in her eye at all. "You said she hung around town before, so someone must have been keeping tabs on her. One of your precious vamps had a run in with her, surely?"
Beau and I exchanged a look, one of those silent moments of communication that I hated to acknowledge were occasionally useful. Like right now, when I didn't know how much more I should say, or even if I could say it. I might have regained my comfort level with Edythe, and even Edward was getting easier to talk about, but the rest of the Cullens…
But my brother saw the question and the caution in my eyes and needed no further prompting to take over the story. "Edythe, Earnest and Rosalie stayed to make sure she didn't go after Charlie. They were able to track her movements, but like Edythe told Sam this morning, she's slippery, and she never got in a fight with any of them. Maybe if they'd realised exactly what she was doing at the school, they'd have tried to engage her more directly, but it just looked like she was following Bella's scent trails around town. And it's entirely possible she has a talent for running away, and that's why she's such a pain to catch."
Despite his grim words, Jules was grinning. "There you go, Beau. That's more than we knew five minutes ago, and as soon as we can pass it on…" She glanced back at Emily. "When is Sam supposed to be back?"
She glanced at the clock. "About an hour, so long as nothing holds him up. He's been doing more frequent check-ins here, but I know he wanted to try and catch up with that girl at some point. Edythe, is it?"
Beau and I both nodded.
Paul snorted, but didn't comment further, wolfing down the last of his muffin and sitting back in his seat again.
My brother's eyes narrowed. "You know she was right this morning. Working together is in everyone's best interest, however uncomfortable it might be. She's an extra body to cover more ground, and she can take the night shift so you all can actually get some sleep."
"Still seems kind of one-sided to me," Embry mused, his mouth half-full of food. "I mean, she gets to come on our land whenever she wants, and we keep you two safe while she's busy. What exactly are we getting out of this deal?"
Jules leaned across the table to swipe another muffin, an anticipatory grin on her face. "Didn't you hear? Bella's priority number one for the redhead. When the leech comes after her, we get a better shot at taking her down."
"Yeah," Beau chimed in, his tone much more cool as he leaned back against the counter with his arms folded across his chest. "Don't you want to help make sure there's one less vampire in the world?"
"You have a point," Embry allowed, taking another bite.
"Wouldn't say no to making it two less, either," Paul commented, a nasty smile on his face now as he eyed at my brother, as if daring him to say something.
For a moment, I thought Beau might actually give in to his goading; he pushed himself upright sharply, his hands in tight fists at his sides as he glared at Paul for a few seconds. But then he turned on his heel and stomped out of the house instead, slamming the door behind him.
"What's his damage?" Paul sneered.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "How would you feel if we were talking about someone you love like that?" I challenged.
Paul levelled me with a steely look. "I wouldn't be stupid enough to fall in love with one of them. We're all sitting here, giving them names and talking like they're not just mindless killing machines. Because the Cullens can pretty themselves up as much as they want, but as far as I'm concerned, there's no difference between them and any other filthy, stinking, murderous bloodsucker, and I won't act all nicey-nicey with them just because they've cast some kind of spell on you two. Most people hear 'vampire' and think monster, plain and simple."
I straightened up, unreasonably proud of how calm and certain I felt as I stared him down; here was the bravery I had been looking for all day, and I had found it just at the right moment. "Most people would call werewolves monsters, too. And between you lot and Edythe, I know who I was more afraid of last week."
Without giving him or any of the others a chance to respond, I followed my brother outside, closing the door more softly than he had, but with a firmness that I hoped made it clear I didn't want to be followed.
Beau stood in front of the truck, leaning heavily on the hood with his shoulders hunched and his head hanging down between them. I moved up beside him as quietly as I could, stepping on the bumper and pushing myself up to sit on the hood. I didn't speak, sensing his need for a moment of quiet. A gentle wind whispered across the low grass, picking up a loose strand of my hair and rustling through his curls. It wasn't that cold, but Beau shuddered lightly.
"You good?" I asked softly.
He laughed humourlessly. "No, not really."
I waited for him to elaborate, and eventually he let out a heavy sigh, lifting his head like he could barely hold its weight. "I shouldn't be surprised, right? This is the same gang that were freaking celebrating the night-" He cut himself off with a sharp intake of breath, shooting a wary glance my way.
"I remember," I murmured. It was a dim memory, buried under a fog of heartbreak and sleep deprivation, yet still there nonetheless – Charlie on the phone to Bonnie, because someone had spotted the Quileutes having a bonfire. I hadn't known at the time that it was a celebration, but it made sense, knowing what I did now about Sam and his friends.
Beau heaved himself up to sit next to me, his feet propped on the front bumper as he leaned forward on his thighs. "Yeah. So there was that, and the way they were glaring at Edythe that night, not to mention how Sam's made all these offhand comments the last year or so that made it obvious he knew the truth about them. Honestly, it makes me feel stupid for not seeing the truth sooner. I mean, it was all the same story, the wolves and the vampires – Jules told me everything right off the bat."
"She told me too," I reminded him. "And I didn't figure it out either. I think we were both a little more focused on the Cullen part of the story."
"I guess." He still didn't look happy, and I ventured a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"We knew this was going to be difficult," I reminded him. "They've never worked together before, and if Edythe's right about them being hard-wired to hate each other…"
"That's just it," Beau argued, frustration lacing his tone. "She doesn't hate them. Sure, she's wary, but she's not being nasty about it. She wouldn't be talking about… well, she wouldn't sink to Paul's level, anyway."
"Because she's over a hundred, and he's barely nineteen," I pointed out. "She's smart and mature enough to know that kind of talk isn't helpful. But she wasn't exactly bending over backwards to compliment them this morning, either. Look…" I held up a hand to stall the argument I could see him gearing up to. "There's no good solution here. While Victoria is still out there, we're all going to have to make compromises."
"I know that," he grumbled, kicking his heel back against the bumper. "I guess it's just all been getting to me more and more, and Paul just put me over the edge. Especially after Jules practically offered you up as bait." His expression went from annoyed to disgusted. "I can't believe she would say something like that."
I fidgeted uncomfortably. "I don't think she meant it like that, exactly."
"Well then, she ought to choose her words more carefully," my brother griped. Then he sighed, his shoulders slumping. "That's the weirdest part of all of this, that Jules is involved now. I've known that girl since she was in diapers, and yet I barely recognise her."
"I know what you mean," I said wryly. "Even talking to her back in the garage… it's like, I know I can be honest about all the supernatural stuff because she's in on the secret now, but then I realise she doesn't know everything and I don't know how much I should tell her. Earlier, it almost felt like she was pumping me for information and it was just… weird to tell her no. Like I'm picking a side."
"Exactly," Beau agreed. "But then that would make her the enemy, which feels all kinds of wrong, too."
I nodded. "So what solution are we left with? Because the fact is, we should all be on the same side right now."
My brother pursed his lips, considering, then gave a heavy shrug. "Follow our instincts and hope we don't end up getting pulled in two?"
"Great," I muttered, my voice thick with sarcasm. Because what I really needed was something else threatening to make me fall apart.
In the quiet that followed this depressing realisation, I became almost hyper aware of my surroundings. That soft wind was still blowing, bringing the salt-tinged scent of the sea wafting faintly across my face. It rustled the leaves and made tree branches creak gently in the woods that ringed the yard, and there was a rhythmic quality to the sound, like music being played on the largest and wildest of instruments. I closed my eyes to listen to it more closely, leaning back a little on the hood of the truck.
But a minute or so into the song, another noise invaded my awareness, disturbing my concentration; from inside the house came the muffled sound of raised voices, the angry argument clear even as the words were still incomprehensible. I opened my eyes and looked at Beau, who was frowning in concern as he moved to climb off the car. I grabbed his shoulder, suddenly overcome by an intense feeling of dread and a certainty that he should absolutely not go back into the house.
But before I could tell him as such, the front door burst open and Paul came tumbling out, off balance as if he'd been pushed; he ended up sprawled in the dirt, shaking violently. Yet he didn't seem disoriented as he sprang to his feet in an instant, though he remained in a low crouch with his back bent almost double and was still practically vibrating. A shudder ran down my own spine, some primal instinct recognising danger.
For the moment, though, his attention was fixed on the door. Or not the door, but Jules, who now stood framed by the entrance, grim-faced and tense.
"Calm down, Paul," she said, her tone firm.
Paul bared his teeth, looking as if he had never wanted anything less than to be calm. "You don't tell me what to do! Especially not after this!"
He threw his arm out in our direction, and I felt my brother go tense under my hand. For my part, I shrank back, trying to make myself as small as possible while my position on the truck stopped me from actually moving further away from him.
"Stay still, Bella," Edward's voice whispered urgently in my head. "Don't give him an excuse."
I wasn't about to argue, the thought of Emily's scars still very much on my mind. I'd already realised it was danger that brought him to me, but I was starting to recognise that he could see better than I did what counted as dangerous. Right now, though, we were absolutely on the same page.
"They're here to help." Jules was impressively level-headed as she took a slow but deliberate step out of the house.
Paul made a noise that was part scoff and part snarl. "Yes, because the leech-lovers are just itching to help us. They probably don't even want the redhead to die."
"Now wait just a minute," my brother burst out, taking another step forward as he shrugged off my hand.
"Beau, stay out of this," Jules warned sharply, but the damage was done and her words only served as the straw that broke the camel's back.
"Of course you protect him!" Paul yelled, the shaking becoming so intense that he could no longer stand. A ripple of painful-looking muscle spasms ran through him and he collapsed forwards. But before he hit the ground, there was an almighty tearing sound, as if someone had run a shredder at full volume for a single second, and the boy exploded.
My dream of Jules turning into a wolf paled in comparison to the reality. This was no slow creep of fur swallowing up skin and hair, but an eruption of it. In the second it took for his hands – now massive paws tipped with razor-sharp claws – to land in the dirt, Paul had been replaced with an enormous, dark grey wolf, so much larger than even his massive frame that I almost couldn't believe the two beings could really be one entity, even after watching the blink-and-you'll-miss-it transformation with my own eyes. There was no time to puzzle over it now, though; the wolf was baring its teeth in a vicious snarl, its dark, angry gaze locked on my brother as its legs bunched beneath it, poised to spring.
I jumped clumsily down from the truck to grab hold of Beau's arm, ignoring Edward's furious growl at my recklessness. Yet whatever ineffectual strategy my reactive instincts had planned, it wasn't necessary. The wolf had barely coalesced before Jules was moving, running two long strides before launching herself into an arching leap towards the monster.
"Jules!" I screamed in terror.
But it was too late. With another deafening rip, she succumbed to her own explosion of fur, shreds of fabric flying in every direction as she disappeared and a massive russet wolf took her place. Despite being noticeably smaller, almost fox-like in its build, it slammed into the grey with enough force to knock the animal sideways. Both creatures immediately went at each other, claws slashing and teeth snapping, the sounds of growls and snarls making my ears ring. The Paul-wolf was wild and uncontrolled, its only intent seeming to be damaging its opponent, while the Jules-wolf kept up a series of slams and shoves, slowly pushing the fight further towards the trees. But for every attack that forced the grey wolf back, the next two or three would only keep it in place; though the russet never lost ground, it wasn't gaining it quickly enough either. Panic had closed my throat, my mind scrambling for some way to help but too consumed with the horror of what was happening in front of me to land on any conclusions. I could only cling to my brother's arm, helpless as ever.
And then suddenly, there were three wolves in the yard instead of two. The giant black monster that had led the way into the meadow had appeared, charging out of the woods on the other side of the house and into the rolling pile of fur and fangs. Within seconds, it had separated the other two and stood between them, towering over both, its commanding presence undeniable. The snarls and growls continued, but they now seemed to almost form a conversation, each animal taking turns to say its piece until finally the black silenced everything with a harsh bark. Both the smaller wolves shrank back, almost falling to their knees with their heads bowed, making the leader look even larger by comparison. For a moment, everything was absolutely still, the silence jarring after all the noise. Then the grey wolf turned and bolted into the trees, the sound of cracking branches and rustling foliage quickly fading as it ran. The russet exchanged one more look with the black wolf, glanced back at Beau and I with eyes that held a disconcertingly human expression of remorse, then also took off into the woods, though in a different direction and with less force than the first. The final wolf stood alone for a moment before slinking back behind the house; a minute later, Sam emerged, his expression grim.
"Get this mess cleared up," he barked to Embry, who was hovering in the doorway, but hurried out as soon as he heard the order. Sam stalked past him into the house and out of view once more.
Embry set about collecting up all the scraps of fabric that now littered the ground in front of the door – the remains of Jules and Paul's clothes. To my utter shock, he was whistling as he worked, seeming entirely unaffected by the battle that had just taken place. He even let out a guffaw of laughter as he held up one intact white sneaker and its completely shredded partner.
"Looks like Jules is going to be hopping around from now on," he joked cheerfully. "Bonnie warned her she can't afford any more shoes until her next check comes in. You two feel like helping me out here or…" He gave us an assessing look. "Please don't tell me you're going to puke or faint or whatever."
"Yeah, I'm just going to…" I trailed off, waving my hand vaguely and then sinking slowly to the floor to put my head between my knees. I was glad that I did; now that the immediate threat was gone, the adrenaline crash was hitting me and I felt rather light-headed.
"I'll be with you in a minute," Beau said, at least sounding more stable than I was. "I just want to call Edythe. With the mood Paul was in… if he runs into her…"
"Sure, sure, go ahead." Embry didn't sound too concerned, which I hoped meant that even Paul wouldn't do anything to jeopardise the new alliance so soon.
I did draw the line when he started whistling again, raising my head – which had thankfully stopped spinning – to glare at him.
"How can you be so calm about this?" I snapped. "They could have really hurt each other and you're acting like it's nothing."
Embry smirked. "I hope Jules took a chunk out of Paul. He needs knocking down a peg or two." He didn't seem bothered by my harsh attitude, but his expression softened a little. "Don't worry, they can't do any lasting damage, and Sam stopped them pretty fast. They'll both be fine."
As if to give proof to his words, Jules emerged from the trees, strolling casually out of the underbrush as if she'd just been for a walk to clear her head. She was wearing a fresh white tank top and grey track shorts; her feet were indeed bare, though she didn't seem bothered by this at all. In fact, her expression was almost smug, right up until the moment she noticed me sitting in the dirt, when it shifted to concerned.
"You okay, Bells?" she asked, hurrying over.
I accepted the hand she offered and let her haul me to my feet. "Fine. That was… just kind of a lot, honestly."
A slow grin pulled up the corners of her mouth. "Don't tell me that little scuffle rattled you? We're going to have to toughen you up."
"Yeah," Embry piped up. "Paul picks a fight with someone, like, every other day at least. Although that one was pretty spectacular, I have to say. That phase on the fly…" He gave a dramatic chef's kiss. "Beautiful form, Jules."
Jules shrugged like it was nothing. "Just using those animal instincts that Sam's always going on about." She refocused on me, her concern intense and somewhat overwhelming. "You sure you're alright?"
"Of course she is," Beau answered for me; I hadn't noticed him approaching, so his voice and the arm he slung around me made me jump. "My sister's made of sterner stuff than that. This is the girl that runs towards the murderous vampires that want to kill her."
"Shut up, Beau," I mumbled, squirming under the shocked look the two Quileutes were giving me. "That was one time, and you were furious at me for it."
"Still brave as hell," he argued, wrapping his arm around my upper chest in what probably looked like a loose headlock but was in fact a very subtle reassuring hug. "Don't sell yourself short, Bell."
All the attention was naturally making me uncomfortable, and in trying to avoid all the eyes on me, my gaze drifted to the still open door of the house. This was also a mistake, as it turned out, because the angle I was at gave me a perfect view of Sam and Emily, locked in an embrace in the middle of the main room. He was cupping her face gently, speaking to her with a soft intensity that fairly radiated deep, abiding love. She gazed back at him with the same adoration, nodding and smiling when he leaned in to kiss her scarred cheek and then her twisted lips.
I was suddenly very glad that Beau was helping hold me together; this was everything I'd been trying to avoid by rejecting the romance movie, a thousand times worse than the opening of the zombie film, because this was real. It was beautiful and happy, and watching it made everything hurt. I wanted desperately to look away, but all I could find to focus on were the sunny flowers in the window box, which weren't much better.
My brother noticed my abstraction and gave me a tiny reassuring squeeze before speaking to Jules in a low tone. "Can I ask what happened with Emily? I mean, after all that I think I can probably guess, but…"
All trace of joviality went out of Jules and Embry's faces instantly. Almost in unison, they both glanced over into the house and then down, shifting uncomfortably.
Jules found her voice first. "It was when Sam was new… they had a fight and he got too worked up. He phased, she was too close and… yeah." She trailed off uncomfortably.
"Sam's never forgiven himself," Embry added grimly. "And he was pretty shocked when she did. She's been surprisingly unbothered by all the weirdness, honestly, but we kind of avoid wolfing out in front of her if we can help it, just in case."
"I know how she feels," I murmured, wrestling back all the memories that threatened to pull me apart. How many times had I tried to convince a man drowning in guilt that he wasn't at fault? Unfortunately, I hadn't been as successful as Emily.
There was a moment of awkward silence, which Embry broke by clearing his throat roughly. "Right. I think I've got all this…" He held up the bundle of rags in his arms. "Shall we dump it and go in?"
Once the tattered clothing remnants were in the outside trash can – Jules rolling her eyes when Embry ceremoniously offered her the one surviving shoe – we made our way back inside. Sam was leaning against the counter now, next to where Emily stood at the stove, apparently cooking him a fresh plate of food.
"Clean-up duty, complete," Embry announced, saluting smartly with a playful smile as he dropped back into his chair at the table, clearly trying to diffuse the tension hanging over the room like a cloud.
Sam at least looked unaffected. "Good. Let's try to avoid a repeat performance, shall we?"
"Paul started it," Jules insisted. "What was I going to do, let him attack the twins?"
"You don't let it get that far." Sam spoke with the firm authority of a parent or older sibling who knew that disappointment was a much more effective tool than anger. It was a tone Renée had never quite cracked, but Charlie was an expert and even he paled next to Sam. "Now, did you two at least get everything out of your system? Organising all this is complicated enough without me having to make sure you aren't running together."
Jules nodded grimly. "I'll talk to him when he's calmed down some, but yeah, I think we're good."
"Well we aren't," Beau griped, and I was surprised by how angry he suddenly looked. "We came over here, after you insisted we come, because we were supposed to be safer with more of you around. And I can't speak for my sister, but I felt a whole lot safer back at Bonnie's with Jules. Frankly, she's the only one of you I trust right now."
To his credit, Sam didn't react angrily to my brother's ire, though his back stiffened and his face was stony. "I'm sorry you feel that way, Beau. But this is the reality of our lives. Imperfect as it is, isn't our protection better than nothing at all?"
Beau bristled. "Imperfect? I'd call it downright unstable. How do we ever relax when one of you could explode at any moment? And just how arrogant are you to say that you're our only protection?"
Sam narrowed his eyes. "Your alternative is a vampire. That's not what I would call a good option. You may be blinded to the danger she poses, but I am not."
"I'm perfectly aware that Edythe could be dangerous," Beau seethed, his teeth tightly gritted. "But from what we've just seen, it's pretty clear to me that you could be just as bad. Worse, maybe, since you don't seem to have nearly as much control as she does."
This was getting out of hand, and I was beginning to feel the panic rising, forming a choking lump in my throat. Fighting like this was what had set Paul off in the first place, and I could tell the jibes about danger were getting to Sam, though he was doing a very good job of keeping himself contained – for the moment. Poor Emily was rigid, almost seeming to have forgotten her cooking.
I gripped my brother's forearm tightly. "Beau, stop."
He rounded on me, his anger unabated. "No, Bella. If they're going to act like this, then I'm done playing nice. You can't honestly tell me you're comfortable around people so unstable that a little argument can set them off like that."
"We've seen people lose it over a paper cut," I reminded him, exasperation leaking into my voice and mercifully disguising how it began to shake as I continued. "But if Jasper were here now, I'd still trust him, because I know that night was just a case of what he is overwhelming who he is. As far as I'm concerned, what we just saw is the same thing, and honestly, we're in better shape now than we were then. We can't have one rule for vampires and another for werewolves, Beau, that's not fair."
"Regardless, your brother has a point, Bella," Sam interjected calmly; I realised belatedly that I'd probably said more than I should in front of an audience, but it was too late now. "You should feel safe, and if there is somewhere else you can go that would make you more comfortable…"
I was shaking my head before he had finished. "There's nowhere I can go. I won't lead Victoria to my mother, or inflict her on innocent people in some other town. At least if she's terrorising us here, there are plenty of supernaturals around to catch her."
"We'll have even more soon," Embry chimed in. "Quil's bound to join us soon, then we can cover more ground."
"Or split the protection detail evenly," Jules added, and though the words should have been positive, there was suddenly an air of hopelessness in the kitchen. Like Bonnie earlier, they were all aware that the life they had fallen into wasn't all strength and glory; Jules and Embry seemed particularly pained at the idea of their friend going through what they had.
"We can't be certain of that," Sam said, his tone almost defiant, as if he could keep the transformation at bay with sheer willpower. "And until we are, we continue as we are. We keep our land covered, three out and two in to protect the twins. We coordinate with Edythe as best as we can along the boundary line and hope this Victoria gets reckless. When she tries to get through our line, we'll have her."
I shuddered, that image of Victoria squaring off with Edythe or Jules flitting across my mind's eye again. I had seen Jules fight now, but it was still hard to believe that even her ferocity could be a match for a vampire. Perhaps if they faced her together… but, although that picture was more comforting, it was still enough to make my breathing hitch in panic, and that annoying little voice of logic in the back of my head pointed out that the chances of them being able to work together that well were slim to none. The stand-off in my bedroom was too fresh in my memory to even attempt to convince myself otherwise.
Sam pushed away from the counter. "I should get going. Jared and Paul are out there on their own."
Emily turned to him, and even with only half a face to show it, it was clear she didn't want him to go. "You've barely taken a break in days. At least stay and get some food in you."
"Yeah, Sam, you stay put," Embry said, his easy smile coming back; he was obviously trying to project confidence, and to his credit, it was hard to tell how much was manufactured. "I've been chilling for a while, it's got to be nearly my turn to run for a bit anyway."
Despite his assured delivery, he didn't move from his seat, and he was looking at Sam expectantly. Only when the older man gave a firm nod of approval did he spring to his feet and head out of the door, whistling as he went.
Beau's phone rang then, which had the effect of forcing him to finally calm down. Charlie was on the other end; he'd stopped in at home to grab some food of his own and found the note. Even only hearing Beau's side, I gathered he was sceptical about our trip to La Push and questioning where Edythe was – of course, he was well aware that she wouldn't be welcome here. Beau spun a quick story about her doing some more tidying up at her house, and I was struck by how good he was getting at lying. However, I was quickly distracted by the panic that came from the idea of Charlie alone in the house, all the potential protection either here or out in the forest. Jules saw the freak out before it could properly get going and assured me that Bonnie and Harry between them could find plenty of reasons to get my dad to the reservation, if only to watch sports, and we would keep him safe too. As if to prove her point, she borrowed Sam and Emily's house phone to call her mom and get her to host us all for dinner that evening.
We spent the rest of the day at Sam and Emily's place, making awkward small talk with the various wolves who cycled in and out throughout the afternoon. Jules was the only one who didn't go out again, and Paul very conspicuously didn't come back. This didn't stop my brother from tucking himself away in a corner and almost obsessively watching his phone, forcing me to be the sociable one for once. It seemed that whatever else had happened during the fight, it had well and truly banished his resolution of neutrality – Beau had picked a side after all.
Jules did her best to pull us into conversation with her new 'brothers', but the tension only really dissipated when we went back to Bonnie's for dinner. We beat Charlie there by about five minutes, just long enough to get comfortable and look like we'd been there all day. He brought up Edythe again in a tone that suggested Beau hadn't been quite as convincing as we'd hoped, pointing out that she'd left her car at our house and scolding Beau for leaving her stranded. My brother didn't back down and kept his arguments logical, pointing out that now he was keeping the keys, she had no way of getting into the house by herself anyway, and that he'd go and get her after dinner, which left Charlie grumbling but at least got him to finally give up the pizza he'd brought with him. Thankfully, he'd gone for two larges; Jules inhaled a whole pizza by herself.
I wasn't sure if it was the prodigious appetite or one of the other stark changes that had my dad eying Jules with the same suspicion as he had Beau. He commented on her hair at one point, which she brushed off as just wanting a change. No one mentioned Sam all night.
As we got ready to leave, I couldn't help wondering what Jules would be doing with the rest of her night. Would she get to sleep, or would it be her turn to go out running? That didn't seem fair, after she'd been up practically all day and part of last night. Would Sam consider the time she'd spent with us as equivalent to a protection shift, or would he insist on her taking a watch in fur as well as skin?
Charlie suggested I ride home with him rather than detour to the Cullens' house with Beau, and I didn't have any way to argue out of it, so my brother drove off without me as I lingered at the door saying goodbye to Jules while Charlie got situated in the cruiser.
"We can't get too close with the bl- with Edythe at your house," Jules explained apologetically. "But you don't need to worry. We'll hold the outer perimeter tonight, nothing's going to get to you."
I frowned. "It's not myself I worry about. You do realise you could get seriously hurt, right?"
Jules just grinned. "Have a little more faith, Bella. We know what we're doing. Besides, it's fun."
"There's a fine line between faith and delusion," I pointed out.
She chuckled like I'd told a joke and pulled me into a hug. "You just get some rest, okay? You look dead on your feet."
"Thanks so much," I muttered sarcastically, trying to ignore the twinge in my chest at the talk of being dead. The last thing I needed right now was a resurgence of the zombie.
Charlie honked the horn impatiently, and I hurried to get into the passenger seat, waving distractedly to Jules as we pulled away. We were silent at first, but an air of anticipation hung over the car, and eventually Charlie broke.
"So are you and Jules fighting or not?" he asked sharply. "Because I'll be honest, Bells, I'm confused. Yesterday she's in a dangerous gang and you're not her friend anymore, and today you spend half the day with her and we get dinner invitations."
I shrugged, trying to sound nonchalant. "She asked for a chance to explain, and it all turned out to be a misunderstanding."
His gaze flickered sideways toward me before refocusing on the road, and his eyebrows were raised in disbelief. "Are you saying there's no gang after all?"
I fidgeted uncomfortably in my seat. "Not really? I don't know, but I think it's just teenage boys trying to look cool. They're big on tribal pride and identity, so that can't be a bad thing, right?" I hurried on before he could answer. "Anyway, I met Sam properly, and his fiancée, Emily, and they seem really nice."
The speculative look on my dad's face melted away as soon as those names were mentioned. "Finally decided to make an honest woman out of her, did he? I'm glad to hear it. Poor thing's been through enough."
"Do you know what happened to her?" I asked, mostly because it was the logical thing to do and partly because I was curious what story had been spun to the non-werewolves.
"I heard it was a bear, somewhere up north last salmon spawning season. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, I think, but Sam was pretty torn up about it. Still is, even though it's been more than a year." He shook his head, his face grim.
"Sounds awful," I murmured. If it was more than a year since it happened, then chances were good Sam had been the only werewolf on the reservation at the time; Jules had said he was new, too. What must it have done to their relationship, to suddenly have that whole aspect to deal with? And how must Sam feel every time he looked at her face and saw the marks he had left? Some instinct made my eyes drop to my own scar, that silvery crescent that cut across the side of my left hand. I'd already noted one similarity between my situation and Emily's; was this another?
No, I decided quickly. It wasn't the same at all. It wasn't Edward who had made the mark, not his venom that had burned in my veins and lingered in that line of cold skin. If anything, the scar was a testament to his strength, to how well he could keep his control, not a reminder of what could happen when he lost it.
We made it home before Beau and Edythe, and I didn't bother waiting around downstairs for them. I sat on my bed, staring at the pages of Wicked but not really reading it, my head too full of reliving the day, going backwards over the long afternoon of waiting, Beau's argument with Sam, the fight between the wolves, my talk with Jules and Bonnie, and the conference in the woods this morning. I marvelled again at just how much had been squeezed into the day.
The sound of the front door opening and shutting registered dimly on my awareness, and a few minutes later Edythe slipped into my room so quietly that I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't been looking that way. She looked surprised to see me still up.
"Hello. Your father seemed to think you were sleeping already."
I shrugged one shoulder. "Not yet. How was your day?" The question sounded trite and awkward even to my ears.
Edythe sat down heavily on the corner of my bed, her usual delicate movements abandoned but lacking none of her typical grace. She gave a frustrated sigh, her face the picture of annoyance. "Irritatingly unproductive. Apparently, the pack really did chase Victoria halfway to Canada last night, and she didn't make another incursion attempt today. I tried following a few trails, but they all went cold. From what I gather, Sam and the rest fared no better. All round the day was rather a waste."
I hadn't heard about them chasing her off; it must have come up while I was in the midst of my freak-out this morning. Now I put the book aside and wrapped my arms around my knees. "I can't say I'm disappointed, but I am sorry you feel like you wasted your time."
Edythe frowned, tilting her head slightly. "You don't want us to catch Victoria?"
I might be as immune to her powers as I was her brother's, but that didn't mean she couldn't read between the lines of my words, and I saw no use in trying to hide my desires from her now.
"I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me, and I can't imagine any way that you can find her and everyone comes out unscathed."
She gave me a disapproving look. "I'm going to start taking this personally soon, Bella. Your lack of faith in my abilities is rather upsetting."
"I'm sorry," I whispered, avoiding her gaze. I felt tears bead at the corner of my eyes as I was abruptly overcome with embarrassment.
Edythe's expression softened instantly, and she moved to sit beside me, wrapping one marble arm around my shoulders. "There now, none of that. I'm not really angry. I know it's the fear talking."
I nodded miserably, then rested my head on her shoulder. As usual, her embrace was both a comfort and a painful reminder, but I was happy to find I was feeling the former more than the latter right now.
"Is there anything I can do to drown it out a little more?" she asked gently, one feather-light hand coming up to stroke my hair, a motion which I actually found surprisingly soothing.
Still, my next words and the deep sigh that proceeded them came out sounding pretty hopeless. "I don't think so. Honestly, I just can't shake this feeling that everyone's doing so much, risking so much, just to protect me, and it isn't worth it. I don't understand why you all bother."
"Because we love you." Edythe's voice was soft but insistent. "We want you to be safe, and we think you are worth it."
I leaned back and looked up at her incredulously. "The wolves love me?"
"Bonnie and Jules do, and that's all that really counts," she pointed out sagely. "Sam will respect Bonnie's wishes and all the rest will obey him. The fact that protecting you also protects their tribe and the humans in Forks certainly helps matters." She smiled, but there was sadness in her eyes. "Someday, perhaps, you will finally understand and believe how important you are to the people around you, Bella."
I didn't know what to say to that; even if I could find words, some powerful emotion that I couldn't quite name had put a lump in my throat, and I wasn't sure I would have been able to get them out.
Edythe leaned away from me gently, her expression shifting once again to a jovial authority. "Now, no more heavy talk tonight. You look utterly spent, so I think it's time for bed."
Her words did make me suddenly more aware of just how tired I was, and so I didn't fight her as she essentially tucked me into bed. She turned out the light, and I heard the tiny, almost imperceptible sounds of her getting settled on the air mattress.
Despite my exhaustion, I didn't drift off immediately, still caught up in what she had said about people helping me because they loved me. She'd lumped the Blacks together, but I couldn't help thinking that it was Jules' feelings that were by far the more significant; Bonnie only really cared for me because her daughter did, with perhaps a note of concern for Charlie. And really, could Jules still be clinging to the vain hope that I would ever care for her the way she wanted me to? How much longer would it be before she realised the truth, and then the only thing keeping her near me would be her newfound desire to kill a vampire? Once Victoria was dead, surely Jules would be done with me, too. If the last few weeks had shown me anything, it was that having her out of my life was not something that I reacted well to; even only a day hanging out had made me feel so much closer to human again, despite all the fights and stress that had come with it.
Then again, didn't I know myself how illogical love could be? How it was possible to hold on to it, even when any hope of it being returned was utterly decimated? Love didn't care about what made sense, and it didn't care who got hurt. The more you loved someone, the less rational you were about them. I hated to think that I was in danger of inflicting what I had been through on my friend, but what else could I do? It wasn't like I could magically force her to stop.
When I finally fell asleep, I dreamed of the forest again. But I wasn't wandering or running or faced with the sight of my best friend tearing herself apart. Instead, I stood quite still in a little clearing, a building behind me that was hazy and unclear, refusing to resolve into a concrete location. I wasn't alone either; my brother and Emily both stood with me, each holding one of my hands. They were just a touch too far away from me, both my arms feeling stretched out as if I was being pulled in the two different directions.
No one spoke as we all stared out into the trees, waiting for the ones we loved to return.
I was probably the only one not entirely sure who I was waiting for.