Waxing Gibbous

Warnings (A)

And then we were across the road, moving through the forest that ringed the Cullen's house. I left my mind open hoping Edward could hear.

We were less than a mile out now, in range, hopefully.

Then we broke through the trees into the big lawn. The house was dark, but not empty. Edward stood on the porch between Emmett and Jasper. They were snow white in the pale light.

"Alex? Seth? What's going on?"

I slowed slightly; Seth panted quietly beside me. His nostrils flaring, as he acclimated himself to the smells that surrounded us. His head darted around though as if he were afraid of an attack, which to be fair could happen any minute.

To answer Edward's question, I let my mind run over the confrontation with Sam, moving through it backward. Seth thought with me, filling in the gaps, showing the scene from another angle. We stopped when we got to the part about the "abomination," because Edward hissed furiously and leaped off the porch.

"They want to kill Bella. Rosalie?" he snarled flatly. Emmett and Jasper, not having heard the first part of the conversation, took his inflectionless question for a statement. They were right next to him in a flash, teeth exposed as they looked into the woods

"Em, Jazz. The pack is coming."

"What's their problem?" Emmett demanded.

"The same one as mine," Edward hissed. "But they have their own plan to handle it. Get the others. Call Carlisle! He, Esme and Rosalie have to get back here now."

I whined uneasily; my tail tucked between my legs. They were separated, Rose was out there. Jacob wouldn't hesitate to hurt her, he never liked her. As far as he was concerned I was mingling with the enemy, and was not good enough to be in the pack. I knew Sam felt like I was a conflict of interest.

"They aren't far," Edward said in the same dead voice as before.

'I'm going to go take a look' Seth said. 'Run the western perimeter.'

"Will you be in danger, Seth?" Edward asked. Seth and I exchanged a glance.

'Don't think so,' we thought together. And then I added, 'Sam doesn't want to hurt one of us, just what he perceives as a danger and Seth's just a kid, he'll try to convince him to stand down.'

'I'm outta here. You need to coordinate with the Cullens.' He wheeled and darted into the darkness.

Edward and I stood facing each other in the dark meadow. I could hear Emmett muttering into his phone. Jasper was watching the place where Seth had vanished into the woods. Alice appeared on the porch and then, after staring at me with anxious eyes for a long moment, she flitted to Jasper's side. I guess Lucia was still inside with Bella.

"This isn't the first time I've owed you my gratitude, Alex," Edward whispered.

'are they okay?'

"Rose she's a weak but capable, Bella she..." he trailed off.

I whined 'I'm sorry. This must seem so unfair to you. I'll do what I can to help.'

"you're kind has perfected the need to mate with those who are different species... mine have not"

That didn't make me feel better, I wish there was a way to keep both Bella and the baby safe. I knew if we did anything to the baby Bella would be angry, but it we let it go too long then we'd risk losing both. I didn't want that, I wanted Bella to be around, I wanted her to be happy...

"Alex, would you mind switching forms?" Alice asked. "I want to know what's going on."

I shook my head at the same time Edward answered.