They eyed the strange man warily. Serafina and Kate stood more closely as Irina and Rosalie tried to do the same, but Rosalie had already made her way toward Serafina before. Leaving Irina a bit further behind, the direction he came from was still closer to Irina and Rosalie. That was why Paprika had summoned herself to Rosalie's side.
Serafina let off low growls as he stepped closer.
He slowed to a stop with his hands up, "Now, now—no need for that beautiful. You four are the ones trespassing. This is my neck of the woods. I have been here for five months now. So you four are in the wrong. Not me."
"We're sorry, we didn't know this territory had been claimed. We were playing around," Irina tried to play peacekeeper.
"I saw, feisty lot, aren't you?" he said as he slowly began walking closer again.
Kate joined in the low growls with Serafina as he made his way closer to her little sister.
"I can help," he offered a sly grin, "I get this way after I feed too. You need to blow off some steam. I found a small cabin built a bit deeper that way." He gestured behind his back, "You can be as loud as you like."
"Maybe some other time," Irina said, slowly and cautiously trying to join the others. It was never good to be in another's territory. They didn't know if he had any friends or abilities and needed to be careful.
"It wasn't a request. I believe I'm due compensation for this intrusion," he said, racing toward Irina since she was closest. His arm reached out to grab her.
This move startled the others. They didn't expect it. The man's eyes flashed violet, making the others believe he was about to use an ability. Irina began to run to the others. But Serafina didn't hesitate. The man had a look of surprise as he burned into nothing.
Rosalie and Kate ran toward Irina. Rosalie hugged Irina and quickly handed her over to Kate, hoping her familiar presence would calm her down more quickly. Rosalie then turned to hug Serafina, who joined them.
Kate turned to Serafina, "Thank you!"
Irina also turned to hug Serafina, "Thank you."
"We should go back," Kate said, no longer in a playful mood. She turned serious as she considered returning to their territory. She wanted them all to escape that dangerous area and regretted her goading Serafina into a fight. She felt this was her fault.
"You three go ahead," Serafina said.
Rosalie quickly turned to her, "You're coming too. Come on." She reached for her hand to hold.
Serafina gave her a small smile, "I'll be right behind you guys. I want to look around. But take Rika with you. I'll feel better if she's with you."
"I'd be safer if you went with me. Why are you staying behind? Did he have a coven?" Rosalie asked accusingly, "Are you going after his coven now? You want me out of danger, so you're sending me back while you go alone?"
"I do want you out of danger. But no, I'm sure he was alone. I want to check out his cabin," Serafina tried to reassure Rosalie.
"Then why can't we go with you?" Rosalie asked suspiciously, "We should stay together. As you said, he was alone. So it should be safe."
"Baby, please, I don't want you near that disgusting man's home. You know how I am. I want to see if he had anything good. I'll take it and meet you guys back at the Denali's home," she said, giving Kate a look for help.
Kate was doubtful of what Serafina said as well. She was sure she knew something but wasn't sharing. She didn't mind. She was sure she could take care of herself. But Serafina would probably be in more danger if she needed to take care of them. She decided to help her, "She'll be fine, Rosie, let's head back."
Rosalie was frustrated but knew she couldn't help if there were danger. Serafina was taking care of her like always. She gave her a hard kiss, "hurry up!" she ordered. Then the three left. A small flame attached itself to Rosalie's wrist without harming her. It just appeared to be a flashy piece of jewelry.
Serafina waited until they were gone before following the man's scent into the forest. She didn't have to go very far before she felt the presence from before. She stopped.
"Why did you lie to them? You said no one else was here," A gravelly older voice said. She, too, made a dramatic entrance from the shadows. She was a hunched older Asian woman with shoulder-length graying hair and using a cane to walk toward her. She appeared harmless, but there was a strength that made you not want to mess with her.
"I didn't lie to them. I said I was sure he was alone. He was, wasn't he? I doubt you were with him," She answered.
"No, I was not with him. I had come out here to kill him. He had been feeding from the town for a few months now. But his last kill today was a friend I knew who worked the docks. I thought it was you, young ladies, from earlier until I caught his scent here," the woman said while leaning on her cane.
"So that was you at the docks earlier," Serafina acknowledged.
"Yes, I thought I would have to take care of you young ladies as soon as I saw you. But you were walking through town, having fun, and interacting with people without fear. It was then I noticed your eyes. Why are they like that? A new change for your kind to blend in to feed?" she asked with interest.
"Our diet," she shrugged, "no human blood. Only animal. Mostly."
"Interesting. Young one. Are you not curious as to what I am?" she asked. Noting how surprisingly calm this young lady was. She suspected she might be pretty young. Most of the younger vampire generation had never met her kind before.
"Werewolf," Serafina answered.
"Yes," the woman nodded with surprise, "are you not going to attack me now? We're mortal enemies. Your kings wouldn't like this behavior."
"Why haven't you attacked me yet?" Serafina asked.
"Curiosity," she said. She then gestured for her to answer.
"Live and let live. You don't try anything against me. I won't kill you on the spot. And I know they won't like this. That's why I had the others leave. This way, should the kings find out, only I will be punished," she shrugged, "how were you going to kill him anyways, Grandma? It's not a full moon tonight." She began to continue walking straight ahead. The older woman started walking alongside her.
She chuckled, "Like your kind, looks don't mean a thing. I am much older than I appear. And yet much stronger." She looked at Serafina and sighed, "Your kind only thinks of us as mindless beasts. And in our early years, we are. But you exterminate us before we can attain our control."
"How long does it take you to get control?" Serafina asked.
"Everyone is different. But for us, it can take several centuries. I was nearly six hundred years old before I could control myself while I shifted. It took me several more centuries to shift at will. Many don't make it to self-control because they are killed on sight by your kind and hunters. But our kind doesn't help matters. We are similar to your kind in how territorial we can be. We prefer to stay alone or with our mates. So we don't help each other. As the years go by," she explained with evident sadness, "there are fewer and fewer of us, but you all can still band together on occasion, as noted with our genocide. Even amid our extinction, we couldn't band together like your kind. Not even to defend ourselves. This is why we're almost no more."
"It sounds like you should be trying to kill me now," Serafina said while side-eyeing the old woman while they walked.
She smiled at that, "It wasn't you. I hold no grudges because everyone is to blame. Therefore, no one is to blame," they continued walking, "Where are we going, young lady?" She didn't need an answer. She soon saw a cabin, "You were actually going to the cabin to go through his belongings?" she asked with confusion.
"Yes. I killed him. His belongings are mine now," Serafina answered as a matter of fact.
The older woman chuckled some more, "You are an odd one. I thought you had come over because you wanted to speak to me."
"That too. I was wondering why you were following us," Serafina said as she entered the cabin and began to go through the belongings there, leaving the woman outside, "If you attacked me or the others, I was going to kill you. If you threatened me or the others, that also would have led to me killing you. I also debated just flat-out killing you before you could do anything. But I wanted to know why you were following us first." She explained while rummaging through the belongings. The last vampire had no reason to hide his belongings, so she found them quickly. But she suspected this cabin had belonged to a human before and checked several hiding spots people typically used and managed to find a few valuables here and there.
"I like your confidence," the older woman smiled.
After putting away her newly won goods, she exited the cabin and looked at her—the cabin behind her burst into flames. The woman's eyes widened. Serafina gave the woman a grin that brought chills down her spine, "I don't lack confidence."
"Are there more of you?" she asked Serafina.
"Yes, but they're all golden-eyed," Serafina advised, "I don't know if they have been around your kind before, though. I think that's why they hadn't sensed you. So if you keep away, you should be fine if you're trying to keep a low profile."
She nodded in understanding, "It was nice meeting you."
"Did you consider this a proper meeting?" Serafina asked. She walked over to the woman, "I'm Miss Hart." She offered her hand.
The older woman gripped her cane with her left to shake Serafina's hand properly, "Everyone in town calls me Grandma Jin." She smiled, "If you need anything, I have a stall at the docks. But I saw earlier that you weren't a fan of the smell. It's not always that bad. You don't sell much fish when it smells like it's gone rotten. I specifically put those out when I saw your kind roaming around to deter you. It won't be that bad in the future if I see any golden-eyed vampires."
"Now, this is a proper meeting. Maybe keep your defensive ways if you sense other vampires around. Golden-eyed vamps are rare." Serafina added as she walked away.
"Treat werewolves the same. Those pups have no self-control and typically attack first. That's usually how you can tell the difference," Grandma Jin said as she headed back toward town.
As soon as Serafina neared the Denali territory, she felt her favorite presence. A figure soon zipped into her arms, engulfing her in a hug, "I told you to hurry! What took you so long? I was so worried." Rosalie kissed her passionately before looking her over to ensure she was okay.
The others weren't far behind. They had gathered to wait. They were debating whether or not to go out to search for her. But thankfully, Serafina arrived before they needed to.
From what the three women described, the others suspected there was more to what Serafina said. The other Cullen and Denali women also greeted her with hugs. In contrast, the men hung back but nodded to her in greeting. Not Emmett, though. He also joined the hugs.
"We heard there was trouble out there—a suspicious nomad. You could have taken Rosalie and run. You haven't known us very long but still protected them all. Thank you for saving my sisters," Tanya said gratefully.
"We don't know if he was a threat, though. Please, I would like you to practice restraint in the future," Carlisle stated.
Rosalie and the Denali became slack-jawed as they gawked at Carlisle.
"No offense Carlisle, but you weren't there. He was a threat! She did everything right," Kate defended.
"Who knows what he would've done to Irina if he had gotten her!" Rosalie added.
"I only felt ill will from him as he neared," Irina explained.
"But you don't know for sure," Edward sided with Carlisle.
The other Cullens looked as though they didn't want to get involved.
The Denali looked to have been in disbelief at this turn of events.
"It sounds like they played it safe," Tanya posited.
Serafina couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had done what she could to protect the others. She sensed danger. Even Paprika felt danger. She hesitated. Did they? Serafina began to second-guess herself. She didn't even get mad at their reaction. Maybe they were right? She began to frown.
"Then self-defense can be used to give yourselves time to run away. But you destroyed him without batting an eye," Carlisle explained his stance.
"You kill first and ask questions later. You have the order backwards," Edward added.
Rosalie could see the doubt in Serafina's eyes and was furious, "You weren't there! He was a threat! Sera did the right thing!" she argued.
Serafina felt bolstered after hearing Rosalie. They weren't there. They could say all they wanted about how peaceful she should have been. But they knew nothing of the situation at the time.
"I don't regret destroying that nomad. I did play it safe. But fine. I will hold back in the future. As long as nothing tries to hurt mi amor, I'll let you guys take care of it. But if something threatens my Rosa, all bets are off," Serafina seethed.
Rosalie nodded her agreement as she hastily grabbed Serafina's hand and dragged her back into the house, not before giving Carlisle and Edward an icy glare.
"I don't see what was wrong. It sounds like he had it coming," Emmett said to Carlisle.
"Violence only begets violence," Carlisle sighed, "what she did was technically murder. Murder is wrong. I believe we can have civilized conversations with humans and others of our kind."
"She acts as though danger is around every corner. She's exaggerating. It'll be good if she holds herself back in the future," Edward said.
Tanya looked at her family. She could tell they disagreed, "We don't agree with how you reacted to their situation. We agree with what she did. She did the right thing to protect the others versus the unknown. You treating her this way may bring some resentment. Be cautious." She warned.
"You already know how we feel about Serafina. She should have been with us from the start. We have already offered her a place with us. If you push her away, we will happily accept her and Rosalie," Carmen glared.
"It won't come to that," Esme stepped forward worriedly and patted Carlisle and Edward. The two knew to keep their mouths shut at this point. But still didn't think they were wrong.
Kate was upset as well, "what about you two?" she glared at Alice and Jasper.
The two looked at Carlisle and Edward, "We think she did the right thing." Alice answered honestly.
Jasper nodded in agreement, "I respect what you are tryin' to do in your coven Carlisle. This death of mine has been fraught with violence. I don't want that life anymore, and I appreciate you allowin' me into your coven and not forcin' me to fight or kill in your name. I didn't think I could ever have this kind of peace. But I'm afraid I have to disagree with your response to Serafina's actions. Serafina's instincts are sharp. It should have been a real threat if her fire even reacted."
The Denali thought that might've been the most they heard Jasper say during his visit to their home. And they were pleased that it was in Serafina's defense. The two's reaction made them relax. The only ones who felt Serafina overreacted were Carlisle and Edward. This made them feel better. Even Esme seemed neutral, which had them pleasantly surprised, considering she was Carlisle's mate and the chance of her siding with him was incredibly high. They felt there shouldn't be too much of an issue in the future.
Although they selfishly wanted Serafina to stay. They wanted her to be happy most of all. Being with Rosalie made her happy. Even the other Cullens usually made her happy. They didn't want her to be unhappy because of this situation, but it seemed they didn't need to worry. It should blow over. They believed this whole mess would be forgotten quickly and no one would remember this unpleasantness in the future.