𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬. sam uley

𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧

Everyone wants to do it, but no one is expecting Rosalie to throw a punch at Elis when the Volturi are gone. Sam had thought that Emmett might have, perhaps Edward, but seeing Rosalie swing her fist back--hearing it crack against the porcelain of Elis's strong skin--feels relieving.

"Rose," Emmett chastises, but he doesn't seem too angry. He's glaring at Elis, as everyone else is.

Elis, who flew across the muddy ground with the strength forced into the punch, grunts. "What the hell, Rosalie?"

"Don't even, Elis," Edward snaps, waltzing up to him and grabbing him by the shirt. "What the hell were you thinking sending the Volturi word about Sage's whereabouts? What the hell were you thinking? Especially when you know who she is!"

Sam is still in his wolf form, but he wishes he wasn't so he could thoroughly rail through Elis. He takes in what Edward said with stones weighing him down. Sage had been so upset that Elis hadn't remembered her, had been so disheartened that the one person she loved the most hated her. And to know that this whole time, Elis had his memories. . .

"I hadn't always known who she was," Elis throws back, pushing Edward off him. "I only just realized who she was to me. Before that, I assumed she was a monster! It was the last memory I had of her."

Edward searches Elis's eyes for a moment. "Oh."

"Yeah," Elis snaps. "I got it when we were first supposed to go get her."

"Got what?" Rosalie asks, glaring both of the men down.

Edward sighs. "Since Sage has been here, Elis has been getting memories, but when she first came, he only had one. And that's where Sage killed someone. Right in front of him."

"So?" Rosalie prompts.

"So what?" Elis asks, facing her. "I saw her at her worst, and the memory haunted me when I received it, and then she was there, immortal and murderous."

"She was not murderous," Emmett inputs.

Elis barrels on, "I just kept seeing her murder a man, over and over again. She cared not if she lived or died. Only that the man was dead. It was horrible to see, and I believed her to be the same as she was in the memory. I had not kept an open mind, and I had been foolish when I wrote to the Volturi."

"Foolish?" Rosalie scoffs. "You were downright scatterbrained. You put us on the Volturi's radar again just because you felt threatened. I hope that Carlisle kicks you out of the coven for this."

❧

Carlisle is empathetic as usual. Sam stands in the corner of the living room, far away from Elis as he can possibly be. The wolves are on the right side of the room, standing at the window. Seth and Leah are too livid to even glance in Elis's direction, and the man of attention sits on the couch with Carlisle, the latter rubbing Elis's shoulder soothingly. More comfort than he deserves.

"Elis, you do understand how dangerous your actions were," Carlisle says like he's talking to a child and not a grown man. "Telling the Volturi that you wished to have Sage returned to them was not okay."

Rosalie makes a noise of agreement. Carlisle shoots her a look.

"However," he says, "I will never leave my family behind. Ever." He emphasizes the last point with another look towards Rosalie. Sam finds himself respecting her a bit more as she levels her own glare towards her adopted father.

"Carlisle, he betrayed the coven," Edward states, seeming stressed even though Bella has a soothing hand on his shoulder. "He's put us all in danger again."