The Phantom Wolf

Chapter 55 (A Declaration)

*3rd Person POV*

"Do you know how long it took to find you? Tracking you down was no easy task." Said Emmet in an unusually serious tone.

"Your gift made it quite difficult to locate you. All obvious trails we'd usually be able to follow, didn't exist." Jasper agreed, then added on, "We were only able to find you now, because Rosalie remembered that you had mentioned having a large lake within your territory that you often frequented."

Pearl looks at them all in surprise. Their sudden appearance had truly startled her. She internally cursed herself for not paying more attention to her surroundings.

All of Pearl's fears and worries returned in full force when seeing them. Not wanting to face them, she immediately rose to all fours, intending to dart away from the coven and her imprint. Only to feel an overwhelming wave of calm wash over her, stopping her dead in her tracks.

Rosalie immediately threatened the hybrid, seeing her movement. "If you run away again, I will personally pin you down to the ground and put this on you and use it as a leash!" She said, holding up a very large and a very thick rope. Clearly not playing around.

Alice nods her head and added, "It took way to long to find you the first time. We aren't doing that again. So you should know, that this rope is reinforced, and there is no way of you getting out of it, especially with all of us here to stop you. So I'd suggest that you be a good girl and sit down, so you can listen to what we have to say. Okay?" Alice's voice was in a high pitched tone, displaying a playful forefront but Pearl was able to detect the underlying threatening nature of her words. Alice was being completely serious.

Taking a look at everyone's faces, Pearl took note of their clear united front, and knew that they were all in agreement, about using the long rope as a leash to keep her here, if she tried to run. Not liking her odds of escape, Pearl lay back down on her stomach. This time facing the vampires.

Jasper's gift helped subdue her fear and worries, but the bad thoughts still lingered within her mind. As such, Pearl was unable to fully relax herself, not enough to make the change from wolf to vampire anyway.

'I can't shift even if I wanted to. But, right now, staying in my wolf form is a lot more appealing. At least this way they can't read my facial expressions.' Pearl thought, somewhat relieved.

Reading her emotions, Jasper commented to the group. "She's nervous."

Esme smiled reassuringly at Pearl, and said, "It's alright dear. We aren't mad or upset. We just want to talk to you." She spoke in a calm motherly voice.

Carlisle takes over and makes eye contact with the anxious hybrid. "We read your letter." He informs her.

Pearl immediately breaks eye contact with the patriarch and looks away in embarrassment. Although not looking at him, she directs her ears to face his direction. Listening carefully to what Carlisle has to say.

"I'm glad you've finally opened up. You've done so in your own way, and I'm very proud of you for that." Carlisle praises. "We may not understand everything that you feel, but know, that in our family, no one gets left behind. And as far as we are concerned, you are family Pearl. And we love you." He finishes in a serious yet comforting tone.

Pearl turned to look at Carlisle in shock, and frantically started searching his eyes for any hint of dishonesty. Finding nothing, she looks to the rest of the coven to see if she can spot any disagreement coming from them.

The vampires in question, were all smiling warmly at the hybrid. Not a hint of anger, mistrust, sadness or disagreement coming from any of them.

Pearl's large wolf ears fell flat against her head, going floppy. Everything she currently felt was so overwhelming, the main emotion that was pushed to the forefront, was her complete and utter relief.

'They don't hate me... they... love me? Is that really true?' Pearl thought, doubt creeping in. 'My own family threw me away... and they were supposed to love me.'

Sensing a change, Jasper quickly spoke, "You aren't getting rid of us that easy Pearl." He smirked.

"Hell yeah! Now you can become my official little sister! And there's nothing anyone can do about it! Carlisle give her my last name!" Emmet excitedly yells at the patriarch.

Rosalie slaps Emmet on the arm, admonishing him for being so loud. "Whether she changes her last name to yours or not, everyone will already know that she's your sister because of how often you bring it up." She says. Turning to Pearl, Rosalie continues, "Pearl. For the record, this coven. No. This family, wouldn't be complete without you in it. So you better stick around. I'm not above using this." Rosalie threatens, gesturing to the rope in a serious manner.

Pearl huffs slightly and rolls her eyes at Rosalie's threat. Considering what the blonde vampire had just said, Pearl knew that they were being honest with her. Rosalie never held back the truth. No matter how blunt or awful it may be. There was no doubt in her mind that they were telling the truth. So all of her negative emotions and fears dispersed.

Once her body finally relaxed, Pearl felt her tail start to wag.

Seeing her tail's movement, Carlisle and Esme took a step forwards, drawing Pearl's attention to them.

"Nothing has changed Pearl. Our offer still stands. We'd love it if you were to join our coven... our family." Carlisle said.

Esme continued, "And no matter what troubles you face in the future, know that we will always stand by your side and offer our help."

"So, with that being said. Would you like to officially join the Olympic Coven, Pearl Clearwater?" Carlisle asks.

All the other vampires smile at Pearl in encouragement. Bree stares at Pearl, and ever so slightly, nods her head towards the hybrid in support.