Forever Young

Chapter 42

As Renesmee had predicted, Koda and Ani's mother didn't stay for long. After just two days, we got the call from Sam, telling us that she had returned to her own reservation several hours away. Ani was happy to be going back home- she had missed Mato's brothers, who had become as close to her as Mato and Koda were to me. And Koda was excited that she was going away, too, glad that he once again had my full attention.

The day that Ani went home, Carlisle agreed to have Mato over for a sleepover. He had come over with Leah and had been staying with her and Seth. Apparently he hated Nayeli almost as much as Koda did, and Sam had been worried that he would shift if he was in the same house as her. As protective as Mato was, he didn't cope well with the woman who had abused and neglected Koda and Ani so severely. 

I ran out and lunged at Mato, squeezing him as tight as I could. "Mato, I missed you!"

He chuckled and patted my shoulder, easily falling back into his usual routine of trying to act calm and collected. "Hey, Sticks," Mato greeted. "Where's your boyfriend?"

I made a face up at him as I pulled away. "Koda isn't my boyfriend. And he has to finish his chores before he can come play. I did all of mine this morning so they would be done when you got here!" Esme had been happy that she didn't need to remind me to fold my laundry and unload the dishwasher after breakfast. 

It wasn't too often that I got to play with Mato without Koda present- usually it was just when he visited on weekends. That was when Koda was away with Sam and Emily. But without having to worry about including Koda and working around his fear of heights, Mato and I raced each other to the tall weeping willow that bordered the edge of the yard. He was always so eager to try and beat me in climbing races, but after so many years of living in the forest, I always won.

"You little cheater!" Mato called out as I scurried past him, easily scaling the steep branches of the tree. He always found it frustrating that I could get so much higher than him- on top of the fact that I was simply faster, he was heavier, and the skinny branches I liked to perch on couldn't support his weight.

I stuck my tongue out at him from my high-point, grinning as I stared out at the forest. Esme and Carlisle didn't usually mind too much when I climbed the trees in the yard- they had cleared any dangerous branches that I may hit on my way down, and knew that if I fell without anything to slam into, I would be able to catch myself with the wind. They rarely let me get so high on trees that weren't in the yard, though.

Taking a deep breath in, I sighed happily. Climbing up trees, finding the perfect branch to rest on, looking out at the tops of other trees... it brought back one of the greatest joys that I had ever experienced before meeting the Cullens. It offered me a reminder of my old life, while still near the safety of my house and security of my family and friends.

There was movement far off in the forest, a flash of color that blurred between the gaps of the trees. It disappeared quickly,  my view cut off by the massive pine trees that made up most of the forests in the evergreen state. But the movement had been far too fast to be a normal animal and I huffed, leaning back against the tree and crossing my arms. 

Only a paranormal creature could move so quickly. I was sure that it was Jacob, coming to get Renesmee- they had a date later that night. But he was early, by several hours. I had been planning on spending time with Nessie myself before she left, and as usual, he was ruining my plans with my sister.

Mato climbed a little higher than he usually dared, glancing wearily at the thinning branches that were supporting him. "What is it?" He asked me, straining his neck to try and see from his lower position. 

I shook my head, huffing again as I watched the treeline. "It's Jacob. He's always-"

My voice cut off suddenly as there was movement on the edge of the yard. A pair of bare feet stepped into the backyard, but they weren't the dark copper skin-tone that all of the tribal boys had. They were an unnatural pale color- close to my own skin-tone. And exactly like the Cullen's.