Carlisle and Esme

29. The Quileute Pack

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"Right! Ready to go?" Rosalie laced her boot then nodded.

"Yep." Esme came up to me and kissed me lightly.

"Stay safe." She then went round, kissing our children.

"We'll be fine, Mom." Edward promised.

"We'll see you soon." Rosalie said as she linked hands with Emmett.

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" I checked. She smiled softly.

"I want to get this sketch finished." I nodded and opened the door.

Esme had been working on a sketch of a house for Rosalie and Emmett. We had been in Forks for a week now and both of them had been involved in sexual intercourse twice. Once when Edward was being tormented and another when I went shopping with Esme and Edward. We had left them home alone and found them finishing up. So of course, we had put strict rules down and so far, they had stuck to it. However Esme was determined to get them their own house to smash instead of hers.

I kissed Esme goodbye one more time then we left. It was Rose, Emmett, Edward and I on this hunting trip. Emmett had not lost control since coming here but we were still cautious.

We raced through the forests, trying to find prey. We came across a herd of elk, not far from the neighbouring town. Emmett took down the largest, breaking its neck. I took my own down but before I could bite, I heard footsteps and I let go of my catch to look towards the sounds. It was more than one pair of footsteps and from the pure noise of it, they were humans.

"Edward?" I whispered. He nodded, confirming my thoughts but he had a frown etched across his face. Before I could ask, the humans broke through the trees.

The fact that they were not the type of humans I was expecting, was an understatement. They were a gang. All men aged between thirty to forty. Maybe older. They wore few clothing and the man in the middle wore a wolf skin. I could tell it was fake but it made him look like a chief of some red-neck American tribe. The men were all extremely tanned with russet coloured skin with short black hair and deep brown eyes. They could have been brothers.

"Blood drinkers." One of them said, snarling softly. Edward, Emmett and Rosalie all slunk into defensive positions as one of the men spoke. I raised my hand to calm them.

"Peace," I then looked towards the leader. "We mean you no harm." I promised. Edward moved to my side, slowly so as not to startle these men. I was confused and surprised at how they knew what we were. Emmett's eyes weren't THAT red. Mostly black but with a faint flash of red.

"We will not hurt you." He repeated my words but in a different phrasing.

"My name is Carlisle Cullen. This is my family. We won't harm you."

"I am Ephraim Black. Leader and chief of the Quileute tribe. We do not allow blood drinkers on our land."

"We are not like the blood drinkers you have experienced." Edward told him.

"How do you differ?" I was thankful here that Emmett's eyes were more of a black than a red currently.

"We drink from the blood of animals. We live and work around humans without causing any harm." I explained. Ephraim's eyes narrowed.

"I see your golden eyes... So you speak the truth. But we cannot allow blood drinkers on our land."

"Where is your range?" Ephraim pointed along to the right.

"We call it La Push. The range stretches from here down to our people's river."

"Then let's call a compromise. We can live here but we do not cross over to your land." Ephraim thought about that then shook his head.

"You can live here on the condition that you never bite a human OR cross over to our land." I held my hand out.

"That sounds like a fair deal." Ephraim hesitated then shook my hand. His skin was hot against mine.

"Then we leave in peace. But if the treaty is broken, we shall be back." I made a gesture to Rose and Emmett. They both turned and ran away. Edward and I followed. We could hear the not so silent retreat of the Quileute tribe as well. As soon as we were far enough away from the treaty line, I turned to Edward.

"What were they?"

"Shape shifters. They transform into the wolf." I stared at him, shocked.

"Wolves?" Edward nodded. We then ran after Emmett and Rosalie.