Blood Solstice 2 (Sequel)

Chapter 54

Chapter 54: Proposal
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Proposal

"NO WAY!" Alice roared, flying off of the couch. "No, no, no, no, NO! That is NOT an option!"

The others growled in agreement, Emmett's the loudest. I sat there, biting my lip. I couldn't believe that the council actually wanted me alone on their land. If that didn't sound fishy, then I wasn't sure what would. There was no way in hell that they would have me over there alone just to talk. Hell no. If anything, they'd either kill me or capture me or some crazy shit like that. And I was NOT about to be the cause of another fight. Not this time.

"You'd better not have fucking agreed to that!" Alice snarled, glaring up at her father.

"Alice, enough!" commanded Esme. "Do not speak to your father that way."

Alice grimaced, but remained standing tall, her entire body vibrating violently.

Carlisle sighed. "No, Alice, I did not agree to their terms. I told them that I would speak with the rest of you on it and ask Bella on her opinion before giving them an answer. No, I do not think that it is a wise idea and I do not consent to it, either."

Alice's body relaxed and she hung her head. "C-Carlisle...oh God, I...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you...I'm so sorry. I just...I don't want Bella to be hurt..." Alice's voice was quiet as she apologized and my heart ached for her.

Carlisle's face softened and he pulled her into a warm hug.

"You don't have to apologize, Alice. I know how much Bella means to you and I know that you would do anything to protect her. We're going to work something out that would benefit both sides and hopefully bring peace to us once again. I refuse to allow Bella to go there alone, however, as I'm sure most of you do, so that is not an option. Are there any ideas?"

"I say we torch them and their stinking reservation," Amara growled. Carlisle frowned and looked like he was about to say something, but Amara quickly added on to her previous statement. "Of course we would evacuate all of the innocents, naturally, and we could probably chase the wolves away or something. But it would get them out of our hair and they would know not to fuck with us anymore."

"I'd rather not have that, Amara," Carlisle stated. "I want to avoid violence with the wolves, especially since they outnumber us."

"Numbers aren't everything," Emmett boomed.

Jasper shook his head. "They are when it's a battle to the death between mortal enemies, Em."

"That's precisely what we don't want to have happen," Edward grunted. "An all out war with the wolves is a bad idea, not only because they have the numbers advantage, but because our gifts are nearly useless against them. Alice can't see their future, my telepathy can't work if it's reading fourteen minds at once and Jasper can only do so much with his empathy. I say we try to bargain with them and come to some sort of an agreement."

"Would they even want to make an agreement?" Esme inquired, sounding concerned.

"They don't have a choice," Alice hissed. "If they want to speak to Bella, then they can do it in our presence or they can not do it at all, plain and simple. Werewolves do not control us. They do not make our decisions for us and they sure as hell don't get to make the rules for how we do things. And if they don't like it, that's tough for them. They can deal with it."

"I'm with Alice. I won't go without the rest of you there," I agreed.

"We can't go onto their property, I know that," Carlisle mused, rubbing his chin. "Maybe if we suggested that we meet on the treaty line? That would make things easier since neither side would be trespassing on the other's lands. Of course, they did break the treaty, so we'll have to renegotiate with them."