"How long has she been gone?"
Carlisle spoke from where he was standing in the kitchen, his arm around a worried Esme. He looked across to see the concerned looks on his children's faces and knew that they weren't out of the woods yet.
"A few hours," he admitted, his eyes flickering over Beverly who was standing with her back to them as she stared out of the window. Jasper could feel the tension in the room even without his ability. It was clear that Beverly was blaming one individual in this room for getting them into this mess to begin with, and Edward didn't blame her for the thoughts that he was trying to ignore.
"She'll be back," Alice told them all. "Before sunrise."
Bella shuffled awkwardly as she stared at Beverly's back. She knew the vampire was blaming Edward for bringing Bella into their dangerous lives and damaging Rosalie's relationship with Kiara. She couldn't help the guilt that seeped off her, no matter how much Jasper tried to help regulate it.
"I think it's best if you take Bella back to her house, for tonight," Carlisle told Edward, grasping his upper arm gently as he stared into his sons eyes. Edward looked at Carlisle, listening to his thoughts and seeing the chaos that had happened since Bella left Forks to stop him. Edward nodded, his eyes shuffling to Beverly before placing his hand lightly on Bella's back and directing her out of the house.
Edward and Bella sat in silence in the car, one of his hands rubbing reassuring circles on her knee as he drove them back to her place in silence. They remained sitting outside her house for a long pause, Edward hearing Charlie's snores from inside the house. Jacob's scent was there, but it was faint and signalled to him that the werewolf was long gone now. Most likely with Kiara, he thought.
"Is Rosalie okay?"
The question hung heavy in the air for a second. Edward mused his lips together before turning off the car ignition and zooming round the car to open the door for Bella.
"She will be."
___
"So quiet in here, where's the twins?" Charlie asked Billy as he picked the fishing rod up from the kitchen counter, having noticed the lack of noise that usually played from Kiara's room and Jacob's loud snores. Billy forced a smile on his face as he looked at the police chief, not wanting to worry him.
"Jacob's over at the Clearwater house, spending time with Seth. He's taken it... hard since Harry passed," Billy explained, knowing that spending time was just his codeword for being on patrol. They'd all agreed that even though Charlie was their friend, he wasn't allowed to know the secrets of the reservation. He wasn't in the tribe. "Kie is out of town."
Charlie furrowed an eyebrow at this as he packed some bread and turkey into a cooler, looking at where Billy was packing his rucksack across the room. His wide rimmed hat covered his eyes from view but Charlie had heard the uncertainty in his friend's voice.
"Where?"
"She's with Paul and Leah. Leah's taken it harder than Seth, so Paul and Kie offered to take her mind off things with a little road trip."
Charlie was aware that Billy hadn't answered his question but instead deflected it. He knew that Paul, Kiara and Leah had all been troubled kids growing up, and even though they were the children of his friends he was concerned about their safety. Charlie sighed, noticing Billy's tone and knowing that the man wasn't wanting to keep talking about it.
"Okay, I won't dig," Charlie murmured, noticing the relief in Billy's shoulders as he dropped the topic. "I just hope they aren't out by Seattle, been lots of kids running off recently."
"Really?"
"Yeah, remember that kid... Riley? He used to hang around here a lot? He's been missing for a few months now."
Billy nodded, racking his brains for why that name rang a bell. His eyes furrowed for a second before remembering a few summers prior. He almost rolled his eyes at the irony of it, knowing that it always seemed trouble followed his children.
"Kiara and him had a... summer fling," Billy replied, the father's disgust rolling off his tongue. Charlie snorted, having been very aware of how much Billy had hated the summer that Kiara learned about boys. "Well, shit, I hope he comes back soon."
"Me too, Billy. Me too."
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TWO WEEKS LATER
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"You ready to go home yet?"
Leah threw herself down onto the sand beside the girl, her russet eyes casting a quick look sideways to where Paul was standing with the waves crashing against his ankles. His cropped cargo shorts were dirty, and his hair had grown a little more rugged. She hadn't ever seen the man with stubble before, but it seemed their two-week adventure had interrupted his shave schedule.
"I think so," Kiara muttered, her knees pulled to her chest as she watched the sunset. Paul paused from where he had been skimming stones, hearing the words fall from his friends mouth. Every day for the past two weeks the answer had been silence or an instant decline.
They had chased her across the Canadian border before Kiara had finally gotten tired. It had taken hours for Leah and Paul to calm down, let alone teach the girl how to shift back. They'd planned on bringing her home straight away, but it seemed that Kiara was still harbouring too many emotions to even consider returning back to her family.
The first week was the worst. They'd been able to take it in turns to stay with Kiara (as she refused to go near any civilisation, believing she was a monster and a killer), while the other would venture into the nearest town for basic supplies. Since Kiara refusing to be near any other humans had scrapped the option of a hotel from their possibilities, Paul had bought a four man tent for the three to share.
Kiara hated camping. Leah and Paul had grown up with it their whole lives, but even as children Kiara had always refused to go to tribe camp trips that the elders arranged for them all. She almost snorted at the thought now as she realised that everyone who went was basically in the pack already. Almost as if they had been preparing them for it their whole lives.
That's how Leah and Paul knew she was serious about not wanting to go back. Kiara Black hadn't complained once about camping, hadn't complained once about cooking their own food using a gas camping stove Paul had picked up from the store. She was sure her father must have sent the boy money but she was too scared to ask about any of their lives back home.
She'd even convinced Paul and Leah to shift before her, to check that they were too far away for the pack to fully hear their thoughts. Things occasionally came through, but it was like broken static. The occasional flash of a thought or memory. Sam had told Paul over the phone that he assumed it was the distance and how overwhelmed Kiara was that was causing the temporary block with their pack mind link.
They'd spent the past two weeks teaching Kiara how to use her senses and work on her control. The first time they'd take her back into public she'd gotten so panicked that she had almost shifted in the middle of a diner, but they'd managed to coax her down and show her that she was alright - that she wasn't going to hurt anyone.
They'd spent a fair amount of time listening to her mope about Rosalie and the other Cullens too. It wasn't something either of the wolves usually would have listened to, with Leah even telling her that she sounded like Bella Swan multiple times, but they knew that she needed to get it all off her chest before returning home. She'd blown up at the pack and told them all about her secret summer romance with the vampire and now her werewolf instincts were beating her up for ever thinking about a vampire like that.
She didn't understand it until she experienced it, but it was almost like she was wired to hate vampires. She'd disliked them before, but it was like there was something feral within her that despised them with her entire being. Just not Rosalie. She hated her for what she had done, she hated her for what she was. But no matter how hard she tired, deep down Kiara just couldn't hate her for her.
Her control wasn't amazing, but Paul had told her it would be enough for her to go back to school. Her graduation was coming up soon and they'd promised her that she'd still be able to graduate with her class. Kiara hadn't voiced to Paul that she didn't see the point in graduation anymore when she was going to spend the rest of her life on the reservation. Leah understood it without it needing to have been said. Both girls had shared their dreams with each other before about getting out of Washington and exploring the world, and now they had this binding duty to remain in La Push for the foreseeable future. The boys gained a lot when they first shifted, but Leah and Kiara both just felt like they'd lost so much.
"Sam's calling," Leah said, holding up Paul's phone towards Kiara. "It's your choice."
Kiara nodded, taking a breath before holding the phone to her ear. The man's voice filled her ears instantly, launching straight into hundreds of questions about his newest pack mate. She breathed, causing him to stop as he recognised the sigh.
"Kie?"
"I'm ready to come home, Sam."
___
"Okay... You understand why you're being punished, right?" Charlie asked Bella, the teenage girl huffing on the couch beside him as he placed the paper down in front of him. He was going through a lot with work already, and Bella's hot and cold attitude was taking a toll on him too.
"I know, I put you through hell."
"Yes, you did. But I have other reasons, for grounding you. Like... I just want you to get some separation from him."
"Dad, there is nothing you can say. Edward is in my life," Bella told him, not willing to give up the vampire after she had just gotten him back. Italy had been a close call, and she wasn't going to make the same mistake again.
"Yeah, I'm gathering that," Charlie sighed, folding the paper again before turning to look at his daughter. "So, alright. How about this? I'll make you a deal. You're not grounded anymore, if... You use your new found freedom... ... to see some of your other friends too."
Bella knew where this was going.
"Like... Like Jacob. He's going through a really tough time right now, his Dad's really worried about him and it doesn't help that Kiara's out of town. I remember when that was you. You needed a friend, Jake was there."
Bella furrowed her eyebrows, sitting up a little as she looked at Charlie. She knew that Kiara had been out of school but she just assumed that was because the girl didn't want to see the Cullens after learning their secret. She'd not really put much thought into it but she had just assumed she'd transferred back to La Push High, especially since the girl hadn't even replied to any of her texts or calls.
"Yeah, I thought you knew?" Charlie said, confusion crossing his face as he wondered if the girls really weren't as good friends as he had thought. "That's why she's not been in school. Billy said her and Paul took Leah on a road-trip after the funeral."
Something about that didn't sit right with Bella. She couldn't picture Kiara going on a road-trip with two werewolves, but she knew Kiara was hurting. Maybe she didn't know Kiara that well after all.
____
"Sam," Kiara gently murmured, the crack in her voice alerting the man that the girl was about to start crying. He turned from where he had been standing with Emily in the kitchen, aware that the entire eyes of the pack were on him and the girl that had just gotten out of Paul's car. They'd ran all the way back, before stopping at each of their houses to grab a fresh change of clothes and to shower.
He crossed the room instantly, tucking her into him as silent sobs raked her body. Emily ushered the rest of the pack outside, telling them to go let everyone know she was back and to let Billy know. The man was away on a fishing trip with some of the other elders, something they had done to take his mind off his daughter not having returned for two weeks.
"Why don't you hate me?" Kiara cried, her arms dropping as she pulled back from him, wiping at her eyes with Paul's sweatshirt that swamped her frame. Despite the boys and Leah having had growth spurts before shifting, Kiara seemed to be physically unchanged. "I would have hurt them!"
"But you didn't," Sam reminded her, motioning to where Emily was now hanging washing up outside. "And they'd already forgiven you before you even ran off. We've all been here Kie, we all know the risks of what we are."
Kie nodded, allowing him to place his hands on her shoulders as he looked down at her. He wasn't talking to her as just her friend, but as her alpha now.
"We could never hate you, Kie. Not a single one of us could."
Kiara nodded, taking a seat at the pack table as the man motioned for her to sit across from him. He turned a little more serious, reaching around the back of the chair and pulling an over shirt across his bare torso as he looked at the girl. He furrowed his eyebrows for a second, looking at the sweater on her body.
"Aren't you hot with that on?"
She nodded, laughing slightly. "Yeah, very. Paul suggested I wear it anyway, to like comfort me coming over here."
Sam nodded, still sharing the same disappointment as the elders that Paul and Kiara weren't imprints. He'd never seen two individuals who complemented each other so well - even platonically. He watched as she finally took the sweater off, her bare arms on display as she revealed the tank top underneath.
"We didn't tell him - your father," Sam finally said, breaking the silence that had become a little tense as he mentioned the elephant in the room. "It's not our place. If you want to tell him, you can, but none of us are going to force you."
"Thank you," Kiara breathed, a weight off her shoulders.
"That being said, I do have to explain a lot to you before you can go back to school. We spoke to the principal at your old school but they can't accept a transfer this close towards your graduation, so you'll have to go back to Forks High. They all think you've been on a road trip with Leah and Paul for the past week or so, so its best to keep that story up when you return."
Kiara nodded, taking the information in. There was a heavy pause before Sam sighed as he realised how to explain the next part to her.
"The Cullens... they aren't like the other vampires we told you about. Unlike the one that attacked you and Harry, they don't survive off of human blood. It's why we allow them to exist in Forks without killing them. Its... its part of a treaty we have with their coven."
Sam made sure to pick his words carefully when talking about the Cullens, making sure not to say the wrong thing around Kiara. He didn't know what or wouldn't trigger her at this point.
"A treaty?"
"It's best if we run the line while I explain everything. And if you're ready, and only if you are sure, I can drop you off at school tomorrow."
_____
"She left town, two weeks ago."
Rosalie turned to look at Beverly, confused as to what her sister was telling her.
"What?"
Beverly sighed, moving forward and lightly pushing a strand of hair out of Rosalie's face. The girl who usually cared so much about her appearance had barely seen the rest of her family for two weeks, opting to stay trapped in her room except from when she had gone on solo hunts. It was like she was mourning.
"Kiara. Bella told Edward this morning. Her dad was visiting the reservation two weeks ago and Kiara's dad told him that she was on a road trip with two of the wolves. Charlie said she hasn't returned yet," Beverly explained, catching Rosalie up with the situation.
Rosalie wasn't sure what hurt more: wondering if Kiara had left because she was too disgusted to be in the same town as the vampire, or wondering if Kiara didn't care at all and was away on vacation without a single thought of the blonde.
She'd followed Sam's request and hadn't tried contacting Kiara since, but she was aware that even if she tried her number was most likely blocked by now. Edward had told her that Kiara hadn't been at school with them, but she hadn't expected the girl to have left her reservation altogether.
"Look Rose, I know you're hurting, and I know there's nothing I can do to help with that," Beverly spoke, looking her sister in the eyes for a moment. "I hate to do this, but we need your help and it might help you keep your mind off Kiara."
"With what?" Rosalie asked, confused as to why the family needed her help with something.
"Somethings happening in Seattle. We think someone is creating newborns."
___
Kiara shot up from her sleep, heaving as the scene replayed in her mind over and over again. The same reoccurring dream had been haunting her, those red eyes staring into her soul as she scampered across the ground of the forest.
It was the same every time. A recreation of when the vampire had attacked her, blood oozing from her body as she tried to escape the creature with no idea of what it was. Her broken arm limply hanging at her side as the attacker smirked down at her, her throat dry from calling out for someone she could never remember.
"How sweet," the red-eyed vampire said, glistening in the dim light as a smirk played out across her lips. "Is this love?"
Kiara would always wake up as the attacked lunged in, but tonight's nightmare was different. It wasn't the red-headed vampire this time.
The vampire in her nightmare had been a red-eyed Rosalie.