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— 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 pulled up to the Cullen home, Willow realized that it was most of the pack's first time seeing it.
Paul didn't bother marveling — having seen it the last time he came with Willow, and instead opted to wrap his arm around her waist protectively.
The brunette smiled to herself and kissed Paul's cheek, before walking towards the door.
She knew the pack was following and that the Cullens could definitely hear them, but she knocked anyway.
Not even a minute later, Edward opened the door. He seemed to be in pain — but she quickly caught on to the fact that he couldn't handle the smell of the pack.
When he nodded at her thought, she simply huffed and slapped his arm lightly in admonishment.
"Play nice, bat."
The pack laughed at the nickname, and Edward choked. "Lola, we don't- vampires don't turn into bats!"
She only waved him off lazily with a flick of her hand, as she continued to walk into the house after the vampire moved to the side.
"They're in the living room," Edward called to her before he returned to his attempts at politely greeting the others.
But before she could even step into the living room — Emmett was lifting her off of the ground and gathering her into a giant bear hug.
"Hey there, little lady! I've missed ya!"
He ignored the sound of Paul's growls in the background, and Willow laughed. "Little lady? Where did that come from?"
"Well, you're actually quite tall for human standards — but the rest of us supernaturals still tower over you. Therefore, you're our little lady." He smirked, and when Willow looked behind him, she made eye contact with Rosalie.
"Is he serious?" She asked the blonde, to which she got a smirk in return. "Deadly."
Paul snorted, and Embry laughed.
"That was a vampire joke, right?" The latter clarified a smile on his face.
And Rosalie shrugged, smirk still present. "No pun intended." Before she walked back into the living room.
Jared smirked in amusement. "So the Cullens got jokes, do they?"
"And good ones, too," Embry replied, before following Willow into the living room.
Overall, a pretty good start to what was sure to be an intense meeting — Willow figured.
— 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐋𝐘 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐃 that she was right.
After everyone had said their hellos and sat down to talk, things had immediately kicked off.
Alice had shown up a few minutes late, with Bella in tow. "Sorry we're late, everyone. Bella and I were just having some girl talk. Isn't that right, Bella?" The pixie-like girl turned to face the awkward-looking brunette, who only nodded stiffly.
But before anyone could respond, Edward spoke. "Alice. Stop."
Willow assumed she was thinking something he didn't like, and by the defiant look rising in the small Cullen's eyes, and the growing frown on Edward's mouth — she thought she hit the mark exactly.
"Children, save the argument for later. We have guests over, and much more important matters at hand." Esme gently tried to defuse the situation, and Carlisle looked over at his mate in appreciation.
"My wife is right. I'm afraid we have now all seen with our own eyes that Victoria has in fact returned."
Willow straightened, the familiar sense of dread overtaking her body once more. Even though she knew Victoria was back, the confirmation still made the hairs on the back of her neck stand.
"We'd like to start this off by reiterating the boundaries in our deal. One of you crossed the line, and we won't allow it to happen again." Sam spoke.
And to his credit — Carlisle only nodded at the direct threat against his son's life. "We understand the boundaries, but given the circumstances, we were wondering if an exception-"
"There will be no exceptions made to our deal. Circumstances be damned." Jacob sneered, earning a warning look from Sam.
"Jake! They're just trying to help me." Bella spoke up, defending the Cullens.
Paul scoffed, as he glared at the Swan girl. "Of course, you would defend them, leech lover. You don't even know the details of the deal, so why don't you just keep your mouth shut?"
But Bella did not do that. And Sam only sighed, as the brunette geared up to say something else.
"I know that they're trying to protect me, and that's all I need to know for me to wanna speak up. I'm sure you can make an exception just this once to your little deal." She glared.
And Paul stood up, shaking intensely. Willow tried to touch him in hopes of calming him down, but Embry gently pulled her closer to himself before she could.
When she looked over to her best friend, he only shook his head, before he whispered — if only for the guise of some privacy in a house full of beings with supernatural hearing. "This gives us one less angry monologue to deal with later on. Let him do this, Willa-bear."
And with that, she only watched as Jared lead Paul outside to phase.
Everyone went quiet for a moment before Willow turned to glare at Bella.
The Swan girl stuttered under Willow's stare. "I-I'm sorry-"
"Just shut up! For once in your life, Bella, shut up." Willow snapped. "We're all here because some psycho vampire bitch wants to kill you. So be grateful that we actually came — because I can tell you right now, that there's more of us sitting in this room that hate you, than like you."
Everyone was once again quiet before Rosalie spoke up. "I knew I liked you for a reason."
— 𝐁𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 Paul and Jared came back into the house, things had finally managed to calm down.
Paul shared a look with Sam, to which they both nodded at each other, and the meeting resumed.
"Alright, so there are no negotiations about the rules of the deal to be made." The pack simultaneously nodded to confirm Carlisle's statement.
"Then perhaps we should stay in contact with each other. Update if or when we see Victoria, or anything else suspicious."
Sam thought about it for a moment, before nodding. "That sounds fine. I trust you're okay with Willow being the messenger?"
This time, it was all of the Cullens who nodded in unison.
And just as the pack was getting ready to leave, Edward spoke up. "If it's not too much to ask, Alice would greatly appreciate you patrolling around Bella's house."
The wolves all shared a look before Sam nodded — looking as happy with the idea as Paul did.
Not very happy at all.
"Very well. We'll take turns periodically checking in throughout the day." Sam confirmed before the pack began to make their way out of the house once again.
The ride back to La Push was quiet, everyone lost in their own thoughts. Willow only relaxed after Paul reached out to link their hands together while driving, and she allowed her eyes to close.
