Woohoo!!! I got another chapter up :) Thanks to everyone who has been reading, commenting, and messaging me about this story. It's a great source of motivation to keep writing and I wouldn't be able to do it without you guys. I'm going on break from school in about a week so hopefully I'll be able to get possibly more than one chapter up between now and the end of the break. Keep the comments coming and, I won't make any promises, but I might try to give you three more chapters in the coming two weeks. Hope you guys like it!
Enjoy :D
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The ride from the school was not a pleasant one. We were lucky enough to keep Paul under control enough to not shift once the words left Jacob's mouth. To be honest, I'm not sure how he gained the control. Paul loves passionately and hates passionately as the others have told me and when it comes to me, his imprint, I could only imagine it would intensify.
I could feel the tension in Paul's form as my arms linked around his waist, pressing my body against his back as he sped down the road. He had wanted to take off into the woods from the school parking lot and have one of the other guys drive me to Sam's house but I wasn't hearing any of that. I guess you could say that Paul and I had our stubbornness in common. This...thing had been at my house. It personally affected me and I wasn't going to just sit around and let the boys handle it as much as Paul begged me. That probably added to the tension, whether he was mad at me or the fact that I was going to be around the possible threat.
The others had shifted once back in the cover of the trees and were going to meet us at my house. When we pulled up, most of the pack guys were outside the house waiting for us. I should be happy that my dad was gone for a few days or the fact that half-naked guys were standing in our front yard. I didn't even want to imagine how I would try to explain that one.
Paul cut the engine and put the kickstand down. Quickly he helped me off the bike and, not before exchanging a look with me, he walked up to the others. I saw his eyes cut around the area and his nose scrunch up just the slightest bit.
"The whole place smells of that leech," he said through clenched teeth as he came to a stop in front of Sam. I took a hesitant sniff and didn't notice any unpleasant odor. Must be a wolf thing, high sense of smell or something like that. I made a mental note to ask Paul about it later.
"As far as we can tell, he came from the direction of Forks and was cutting through our land when he doubled back to the house. If the scent says anything, he's been gone for a little over an hour," Sam replied in an authoritative tone. Even if I didn't know he was the leader of the group, how he spoke and how the others regarded him would have signaled me.
"So why double back? He obviously wasn't intending on coming here but something must have made him switch his direction and risk being confronted by one of us. Why risk it?" Paul asked frustrated. I looked up at my house and decided to check to see if anything was taken. Why and what would a vampire need to steal? I have no idea. I doubt a vampire would break into a house to steal something but you could never be too sure. But when I went to walk around Paul to get to the front door, his hand shot out and gently grabbed my arm.
"Where are you going?" Paul questioned. I know that he was worried because we weren't sure what exactly was going on with this new vampire and I was a little anxious about him being at my house but we couldn't stand outside the whole time.
"I'm going to put my bag up and make sure everything is ok inside," I said nonchalantly.
"Well, let one of the guys go with you," he said looking over at the group of the guys but I held a hand up to stop them from moving.
"Paul, Sam said he wasn't here anymore and I doubt he'd return with so many pack members outside the house. I'll be fine," I said giving him a reassuring smile. I could tell he didn't like it but he let go of my arm anyway and let me leave.
Pushing the front door open, I could hear the others discussing possible motives and things that would need to be done to watch for the vampire in the coming days as a precaution. Laying my bag down by the door and walking through the house, I couldn't see anything that seemed off. Everything was still in place from this morning. Just in case, I checked where I knew my dad hid the important documents and extras but again nothing was missing.
Moving down the hall, I looked tentatively into each room that I passed until I got to my room. My door was cracked and I pushed it open to see my room untouched. I let out a breath that I didn't realize I had been holding and ran a hand through my hair. I just got introduced into this world and now it seems like it was all crashing down on me. I thought everything would be calm after the whole debacle with Paul. Could I not spend one normal day just being Paul's girlfriend? Well, I mean as normal as we could possibly be.
Grabbing the picture frame off my nightstand, I looked at myself and my dad staring back at me. It had been a picture we had taken at one of the numerous cities we had lived in when I was younger but it was my favorite. My dad just looked so happy and carefree. We were closer back then and I desperately wanted to get back to that level of closeness. We were on that way but I wasn't sure how it would be once I graduated high school and left for college.
Laying back on my bed, I closed my eyes and tried to relax a little setting the picture aside on my bed. The silence was nice. I could faintly hear the guys' voices drifting from outside but just barely. Taking a deep breath, I let myself sink further into the mattress. A creaking on the other side of the room caught my attention and when I opened my eyes, I saw someone looking down at me.
"Hello," she said cheerily and smiled. I let out a loud scream and scrambled off the bed and pressed my back to the opposite wall. The girl looked over at me, still smiling. Her skin looked paler side and her dark hair was chopped into a stylish pixie cut. I looked at her eyes, expecting to see red like all the legend said but hers were a bright amber color.
The guys came barreling into the house sounding like a stampede with Paul at the lead. They busted into the bedroom ready to fight but when they looked from me to the girl standing on the other side of the bed, they all relaxed. What were they doing? Were they crazy?
"Alice, so nice of you to join us but I do wish you would have just met us outside the house like your siblings," Sam said with a small smile. Alice? They knew her?
"Yeah seeing as you almost gave Kara a heart attack. You're lucky we didn't attack you," Paul grumbled as he came over to me and pulled me into his side. From his touch I could feel myself calming down but I was still cautious of this Alice who giggled at Paul's words. It sounded like a tinkling instead of a laugh, almost magical.
"Please. I would have seen it coming and besides, I can tell that Kara and I are going to get along just fabulously," Alice said sending me another smile. I went to say something but Paul leaned down to whisper in my ear.
"I'll explain everything later just let her be," he said softly and I didn't hesitate to comply. "Maybe we should go see what the rest of your family is doing," Paul said gesturing with his head for us to leave the room. I stayed close to his side as Alice seemed to glide out of the room in front of us. When we were back outside, I was surprised to see several more people waiting for us. It didn't take me long to realize that they too were vampires as Alice flitted to the side of one of the males.
What they said about vampires were true. They were all very beautiful. It appeared like they didn't have any flaws at all. They stood in pairs like they were couples and one little girl was standing talking animatedly with Jacob. The only thing off were the eyes. They all had the same amber eyes like Alice had. I could see why they would be considered dangerous. Even now and knowing what they were, I couldn't help but feel fascinated by them.
"Kara, I'd like for you to meet the Cullens. They live in the neighboring town of Forks and help us on occasion," Sam said going down the line and naming each of them. Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, Carlisle, Esme, Edward, Bella, and the little girl was Renesmee.
"But...they're vampires," I said confused as to why the wolf pack would be allies or at least on friendly terms with vampires, who are supposed to be there supernatural rivals. Right? Everyone laughed at my expense and I mentally cursed myself. I should have just kept my comment to myself. Paul rubbed my shoulder as he saw my embarrassment.
"Our camaraderie is a strange thing among our kind. It's probably a story Paul will be able to explain to you at another time in more detail but just know that we are here to help," Carlisle stated in a calm voice. His voice had a warm quality to it, almost a fatherly tone. I just nodded and let them continue.
"So did you sense anything?" Carlisle asked, turning to address Alice whose eyebrow's furrowed in concentration.
"No I couldn't get anything but since I don't know who the vampire is and the fact that I had never met Kara before probably didn't help. The blockage from the wolves only make it harder," she said matter-of-factly. I felt questions on the tip of my tongue but after the last debacle, I decided to keep them to myself until later.
"She has the power of foresight," Edward said casting me a knowing smile. I raised an eyebrow at him. What, could he read my mind or something? "Actually yes I can. Some of us have abilities that the others don't like Jasper can manipulate emotions, Bella has a force field of sorts, and our daughter Renesmee can transmit ideas and images through touch," he continued. I was taken aback. They all had these incredible powers. I had to make sure to keep my mind and thoughts guarded when I was around Edward.
"If you don't mind, would you keep out of my imprint's head," Paul growled, glaring in Edward's direction. Anyone else would have been intimidated by the look Paul was giving but it didn't effect Edward in the slightest.
"I will try my best but her questions were pretty loud," Edward said with a smirk at Paul. It wasn't meant to be anything more than a statement, but the deep rumbling in Paul's throat let me know that he felt that it wasn't so innocent. I nudged him gently and when he looked down at me, his features soften automatically.
"Considering we have no idea what this new vampire wants and that Alice couldn't get a read on him, we can't really do anything at this point. Carlisle we'll be in touch and just be on the lookout for anyone moving in your territory. We'll keep you updated on our end as well," Sam said, a note of finality in his tone. The meeting between the two groups was over. Carlisle nodded his head and sent a look to all of the members of his family. In a matter of seconds, they were all gone, having turned and ran into the woods too fast for my eyes to keep up.
"Ok guys, let's double patrols for now. We don't know if or when this leech will be back so everyone needs to be aware at all times. Brady, Collin, and Jacob, you three have the first round. The rest of you, go on home and we'll meet up back at my house later tonight to discuss the patrols further," Sam said. The guys and Leah starting walking into the direction of the woods talking loudly and goofing off. Brady, Collin, and Jacob were talking quietly about where they were going to run as they made their way into the tree line.
Paul sighed and took my hand in his to lead me into the house. "Don't you need to go meet with the others," I asked not hesitating to follow him and closing the front door behind us. Paul looked back at me with a smile.
"You think I'm going anywhere when that thing is out and about. Hell no, I'm staying here with you. Got to make sure my girl is taken care of," he said. I felt my cheeks burn with the familiar sensation of a blush. It was becoming a more frequent occurrence around Paul.
"Yeah well at least you are here and can cook us dinner while I do some homework," I said with a laugh as his face feel a little. I grabbed up my bag as he complied to do as I said, grumbling the whole way. I was happy to have him around but I couldn't help the nagging feeling in the back of my mind that this whole situation wasn't over. But for now, I was going to keep my mind occupied and not worry about it until it was needed. Paul, I'm sure, would serve as an adequate distraction.