The Phantom Wolf

Chapter 57 (A New Home)

*Pearl's POV*

I managed to surpass Emmet and reach my cave before him. All the exhaustion I felt from the last two days was gone. In fact, I felt great... I felt alive.

Alice was quick to gather up what little belongings I had, and stuffed them into my backpack, which was lying on the cave floor. She tossed the full bag to Jasper (who caught it with ease) and speedily mounted my back again.

"Onward!" She shouted.

I obliged and started the trek to the Cullen household. My household. I guess I live there now. Wow... what a thought.

Me and my coven made it back to the house in around 20 minutes give or take. I can't believe I can say that now. 'My coven... I like it.' When we reached the house, Alice and Bree disembarked from my back, and Jasper handed me my backpack. I took the strap in my mouth and went into the trees to shift back and change. I heard some sets of footsteps go into the house while I did so.

When I re-emerged from the tree line, I saw Esme and Bree waiting for me outside the house. I walked up to them and they were both smiling at me. I couldn't help but smile back. Before I could say anything, Esme pulled me into a strong hug.

"Welcome home." Esme said lovingly.

I can't describe how I felt in that moment. It had been so long since I had experienced any sort of motherly affection. When dad died, Sue shut me out. I didn't exist to her. I didn't matter anymore. I can't remember the last time Sue actually hugged me, and showed me genuine love and affection. My own mother couldn't do that for me. But Esme is. She's hugging me! I can feel her love.

Without realising it, I had started to tear up. I sniffled slightly, and pushed the urge to burst into tears back down. I hugged Esme back . I surprised myself by how hard I ended up hugging her. I'm pretty sure I surprised her too, but, she let me do it. I stayed in Esme's embrace for a while, not wanting to let go. We didn't say anything. We didn't need to.

When we eventually pulled away, I felt Bree slip her hand into mine. She started leading me into the house. Her touch was like a spark of warm energy radiating into my body. I squeezed her hand slightly, not wanting to let go of the feeling. I felt my face heat up though as I did it, so I'm pretty sure that I'm blushing right now.

We got inside and sat down in the living room. Me and Bree took an arm chair while everyone else occupied the couches.

"Okay!" Alice clapped her hands excitedly to get all of our attention. "We need to start sorting out a room for Pearl and Bree!" She announced giddily.

"That's right, we should start planning that as soon as possible. Bree's certainly waited long enough." Esme exclaimed, shooting Bree a sympathetic look.

I piped up and said. "There's no rush."

"Yeah. We're fine with waiting." Bree agreed with me, not minding the lack of her own room.

"Nonsense! You both need rooms in this house! And the fact Bree's had to wait this long is a tragedy in itself!" Alice argued.

"We do have two spare rooms. Although they are both currently being used as storage." Jasper casually mentioned.

Alice started frantically talking about how everyone needs to get to work and start cleaning the rooms so that they can be designed for us. Then we all, will need to go shopping for new supplies.

During her rant, me and Bree made eye contact with each other. It only took one look to know that we were in agreement. Nodding my head, I looked to Alice, who had already started ordering people around.

I asked, "Hey? Would it be alright if we shared a room?"

Alice stopped what she was doing and looked at us. "You sure?"

Bree nodded her head when I voiced confirmation.

Alice clapped her hands again and exclaimed happily, "Alright, we need to clear out one of the rooms. We are emptying the one that has a window. That room will need to be spotless by tomorrow! You got that!"

Everyone chuckled at Alice's bossy attitude, but nodded their heads nonetheless.