Eye Of The Tiger

Chapter 61

"Ok what's so important that you are leaving your mate unprotected at school." Emmett asked.

Rosalie jumped across the living room where her family all sat and grabbed Emmett by the throat. "My mate is not unprotected. I would never put her in danger willingly."

"Rosalie let go of Emmett. He used a poor choice of words. None of us think you are a bad mate for leaving Bella alone. She is more than capable of taking care of herself. Emmett is going to apologize as soon as you let go of him." Carlisle said trying to calm down a murderous looking Rosalie.

Esme let out a sigh of relief when Rosalie let Emmett go." Emmett you can't go around accusing a newly bonded mate of not protecting their beloved. It's dangerous. How many times do I have to remind you of how emotionally charged a new bonded pair are? Even joking around is unacceptable."

Emmett rubbed at his throat using his venom to fix the cracks."Yeah I get it. God I forgot how much stronger you are now."

"Anyway, what's going on? Although he went about it the wrong way Emmett has a point you wouldn't be away from Bella if it wasn't important."Alice asked hoping to save Emmett from a further beating. Rosalie was strong enough now that not even Jasper would be able to save him if Rosalie actually had her mind set on murdering him. They could only hope to collect the pieces quick enough to put him back together before it was to late.

Rosalie glared at Emmett as she settled back onto the couch next to Esme."Chief Swan has informed myself and Bella that over a dozen young people from here to Seattle have gone missing. We both agreed that it was to much of a coincidence that it happened so close to us."

"That is to much of coincidence." Jasper said thoughtfully. "If I had to guess someone is creating a newborn army. For what purpose that I don't know but I would guess it has to do with either us or Bella. Alice what do you think?"

Alice let out a frustrated huff. "I can't see anything. That means it likely has to do with Bella. If they created the army with her in mind that would explain it. I love Bella but the blind spots to my visions she causes are irritating."

"I think we need to look for any instances of violent crime in the surrounding areas. If there is a high volume of killings we may be able to narrow down where the army is based and then do reconnaissance to see what we are dealing with." Jasper told them.

"Do you think this has to do with Eddie boy?" Emmett asked.

"If it does then I'm going to tear him apart and make him watch as I burn the pieces of his body one by one before I finish him off." Rosalie promised.

"Hopefully it isn't Edward and there is simply another reason for this situation." Esme said with sadness lacing her voice.

Carlisle gave Esme a pained look. "I'm more likely to believe this is Edward and if it is then we all need to be prepared to defend ourselves and our family. That may lead to ending Edward's life. None of us can hesitate. He has his gift that he could use against us so if it comes to it you need to be able to strike without thought."

Emmett looked smug. "He may have his gift but we have not only Bella but a super powered Rosalie that his gift likely won't work on. If I didn't want to fight so bad I would say we just let the two of them handle this whole situation while we sat back and watched the show."

"We can't get cocky. Also I think maybe we should begin some fight training. As Emmett said Rosalie has new changes and she needs to learn how to use them better." Jasper said.

"I don't mind training I just worry about hurting one of you." Rosalie told them.

"Maybe you can train against Bella." Before Rosalie could protest Jasper added." Don't think about it in terms of you hurting your mate, think about it as learning to protect your mate. The better you train the more prepared you are to take on any threat."

Rosalie thought about this. No she didn't want to fight Bella but it was also unlikely she would hurt her almost invincible mate. Jasper also had a point with her new strength and speed she would need to learn how to utilize both in a fight. She hadn't really tested her new skills out and it was silly not to use every advantage she had to protect Bella and her family.

"I'll talk to Bella about it." Rosalie said.

"I'm so down to fight Bella in her human form. She almost indestructible. I can't wait to try and take her down. I wonder if she can take a punch." Emmett raised his hands in surrender at hearing Rosalie growl. "I mean I wonder if she would like to have a nice clean fight where no one will get hurt and Rosalie will not murder me by the time we are finished."

Alice laughed. "We are still going to go hunting this afternoon though right? I really want to play with the lion cubs."

"You're going hunting with Bella?" Carlisle asked.

Rosalie sighed. "Yes the four of us are going hunting with Bella. She promised Alice and Emmett they could see the mountain lion and her cubs as long as they promised not to get aggressive or try to harm them."

"Amazing. I would love to have the chance to go with her. I have to work the swing shift so I can't join you today but do you think she would let me come next time?"

Rosalie rolled her eyes at Carlisle. She understood the appeal of her mate and she really couldn't blame her family for wanting to spend time with Bella but she was feeling possessive. She wanted Bella all to herself. Rosalie reminded herself that Bella actually enjoyed the rest of the Cullens and would probably like to spend time with them.

"Would you like to come also?" Rosalie asked a hopeful looking Esme.

"I would love to come with you. If you don't mind. I'll skip this afternoon and go when Carlisle has a chance." Esme replied excitedly.

"That's settled then. Everyone will get play time with Bella. Should we get back to the original issue." Rosalie said.

"Yes. So we need to look into these disappearances. Carlisle maybe you can look into any reports of injury or death in the surrounding areas." At Carlisle's nod Jasper continued with the plan. "When we get more information we can make a better plan on how to proceed. Until then we should start training again and maybe work on some tactical fighting skills so we are more organized if this does turn into a battle."

"Charlie doesn't want Bella going out by herself and I could tell he didn't really like the fact that he had to leave her alone two nights in a row. Esme would you be willing to call Charlie and ask him if he would let Bella stay with us until things blow over. If there is a newborn army out to get us then I want us all to be as close to each as possible." Rosalie told them.

"I'll call him later. I don't think he will mind as long as I assure him that Bella does not stay in your room like I did for the sleepover." Esme replied already excited with the possibility of having more time with Bella.

"Are we all going back to school now?" Emmett asked.

"I promised Bella I would be back for lunch. You guys can do what you want." Rosalie told them."Esme what food do we have in the house?"

"We have few meals worth but if Bella is staying over then I'll have to go to the store and stock up." Esme replied.

"Can you help me make something for Bella's lunch?She hates the cafeteria food but eats it because she knows Charlie feels good giving her lunch money."Rosalie told her.

"Awww you are making your mate lunch. You guys are so cute." Alice said turning to Jasper." Why don't you ever cook for me?"

"I don't know how to cook and we don't eat." Jasper replied confused.

Alice was not deterred. "Yes but Bella not only fought a bear for Rosalie she held it while Rosalie fed only eating after Rosalie was done. It's called chivalry Jasper."

Esme took pity on a poor confused Jasper and asked Alice. "Would you like to help us make Bella's lunch? I'm sure she would appreciate it."

Rosalie sighed as she followed Esme and an excited Alice into the kitchen. So much for making my mate lunch she thought.