Interminable E. Cullen

Chapter 39

Ophelia leaned against the balcony, happily accepting the early morning dew that immediately clung to her skin. The air was fresh and it was hard to believe anything could ruin what had taken place the night prior. 

It wasn't long before Edward arrived from a hunt. He had meant to leave and finish before Ophelia had woken up. Sighing, he peeled a blanket off the bed and walked towards her, wrapping it around her shoulders before pulling her back towards his chest. His hands rubbed up and down her arms soothingly, and if it hadn't been so cold out he would've admired her beauty longer. 

Her hand that had been on the balcony rail caught his attention, and he pulled it up to look at the ring that now sat on her finger. 

"It suits you," he mumbled into her hair. 

Ophelia smiled, leaning further into his embrace. "You know what this means. You sure you wanna be stuck with me for that long?" She meant for her words to sound playful, but deep down the both of them worried about similar things. Edward was still terrified that Ophelia's pure heart would one day realize the kind of monster he was and no longer want him, while Ophelia worried that Edward would one day get tired of her and leave. The thought alone made her heart beat faster and he noticed. 

Edward turned her around, kissing her on the lips deeply whilst his thumbs massaged her hips gently as if in reassurance. 

"Well forever is the goal." 

***

The mountain was freezing. The winds whipped harshly through the trees and snow fell from the sky, and Edward was seething. 

Watching as poor little Ophelia shook aggressively in her sleeping bag he had to try hard not to let his anger show too much. Despite how many times he asked what he could do she'd simply shrug it off and say she was okay, and that she felt worse for the wolves that were in worse conditions outside. 

"J-Jacob," she stuttered out, a small smile reaching her face when the wolf boy entered the tent. 

"Opie you're freezing!" He scolded, not even hiding the glare he threw in Edward's direction. 

Edward stayed as far away from her in the tent as he could get, fearing that his close proximity would make her colder due to his lack of body heat. 

"I-I'm o-okay. H-how are the w-wolves?"

"They're fine. Though they can't sleep with all the chattering your teeth are making." 

 Ophelia's question had barely audible and Jacob didn't hesitate to wrap his thick arms around her shivering body. She sighed in relief, able to regain some heat before speaking to Edward. "Are you okay?"

He could hear loud and clear the thoughts that filtered through Jacob's head. None of which were directed badly towards Ophelia. 99% of his thoughts were just about Bella, and how she would be crushed if she knew Jacob had let her sister freeze to death. 

"I'm fine," he replied. If anything he just envied how he wasn't able to take care of her in this moment. 

The morning came quickly and with that, everyone except Edward, Ophelia, and Seth left to where the battle would take place. Ophelia had refused to let Seth fight with the others and for that Leah had an unspoken appreciation for her. 

"What are you doing?" Edward asked as Ophelia suspiciously came back from a spot closer to the trees and her head snapped towards him. 

"Nothing." 

He let it go, pulling her closer to his side and tuning into the other's thoughts, giving her updates on what was going on. It didn't take long for him to notice that Victoria had realized their plan, and before he could come up with a way to take Ophelia away, a sickening snap echoed through the trees followed by a yell. 

Edward was quick to move towards it, shocked to see that it was Riley Biers - missing a leg he might add - who had been caught in what appeared to be some sort of home made bear trap before Seth came and dragged him away. 

"Ha!" Ophelia laughed from where Edward had left her. "I knew that would come in handy!" 

Victoria on the other hand was not amused, deciding to strike while he was not paying attention. Grabbing him aggressively and throwing him back into a tree she set towards where Ophelia had been standing only to see it empty. Confused, she sniffed the air and turned towards the scent of Ophelia's potent blood only to be met with the force of a big tree branch. The tree branch not only broke, but it left Victoria shocked enough for Edward to tackle her. 

They fought for a moment, and Ophelia knew she had to think quickly. Dropping the tree branch that had been in her hand she waited for a second to formulate the perfect plan. 

Edward's head was pulled back tight, Victoria's grip not letting up. He could tell that Ophelia was not where they had left her and prayed that she had somehow gotten away before all of the sudden the weight on his neck was gone. 

Turning, he saw something he never thought would be possible. 

Ophelia was hanging off Victoria's back, careful to not get any part of her near Victoria's mouth or grip and was yanking as hard as she could on the vampire's hair in hopes of keeping her sharp teeth away from her skin. 

Taking the open chance, Edward ended her quickly and Ophelia fell back into the snow breathlessly. 

"What just happened? Are you okay?" Edward questioned, holding her face in his hands as she lazily smiled up at him. 

"Let's just say Jasper's a good teacher." There was a short pause. "And I'm really good at falling out of trees." Ophelia giggled, pulling up her pant leg to show a scar on her shin that he had seen numerous times before. When she was 8 she tried to climb a tree because some boy made fun of her for being blind, and as a result she fell out and had to get stitches. 

"And the traps?" 

"Dad taught me how to make them. I never liked them because I didn't wanna hurt any animals. I guess they came in handy now though, huh?" 

Edward shook his head, scoffing at the strange girl in front of him before pulling her tight against him. 

Quickly seeing flashes of a vision from Alice, Edward grew tense. 

"We have to go."

Definitely not my favorite chapter. I'm not very good at writing action scenes. 

<3