The Hunted

Chapter 13

"Sam," Carlisle said, walking toward the young Quileute man who was standing near the tree line.  The rest of us followed behind Carlisle, and I grimaced as the pungent smell became stronger and stronger. 

We stopped a few feet behind Carlisle, and my jaw dropped as two of the largest wolves I'd ever seen came walking out of the woods.  They were as large as horses, and I couldn't contain the "holy shit" that came from mouth.  Esme smacked my arm and scolded me, much to Emmett's delight.  He loved it when I got in trouble, and I think that's because he was usually the one getting yelled at.

"Sam Uley, this is Bella and Alice Swan.  They joined us a while back," Carlisle said by way of introduction.  I'd always assumed that Alice had met them before, but apparently not.  Alice gave a small wave to the young man, and I gave him a nod.  He didn't look particularly friendly, and neither did the wolves next to him.  Considering that they could rip us apart had me leery of getting too close to them, so I stayed where I was.

Sam gave Alice and me a fleeting glance before turning his attention back to Carlisle.  He told Carlisle about a red-eyed blood sucker who had been running around their land.  He described the man to Carlisle, but it was Edward who spoke.

"Felix.  What's he doing here?"

"You know this leech?" Sam asked, and one of the wolves let out a low growl that made my skin crawl. 

"He's not exactly what you'd call a friend," Edward told him wryly.  "He's a member of the Volturi."

Apparently, the wolves knew about the Volturi because both wolves let out growls that were more than a bit menacing.  Sam quieted them with a look before asking if we knew why Felix was skulking around the area.  Carlisle told Sam that Felix could be looking for revenge since he'd gotten in trouble with the Volturi, or at least we thought he had.  Aro had said he'd take care of Renata, and I assumed he'd taken care of Felix as well.  Looked like I was wrong. 

"If we catch wind of him again, we'll take care of him," Sam warned, and Edward and Carlisle nodded, although Carlisle looked a bit pained.  I knew he was all about preserving life, but Felix had double crossed Demetri and us.  He couldn't be trusted.

"Fair enough," Edward said, and that was that.  Sam and the two wolves headed back into the woods, and soon, we were alone with nothing but their stench.  I looked over at Alice and saw she was sitting on the ground, her head in her hands as if she had a headache.

"You okay?" I asked, kneeling down next to her.

"I can't see anything with them around.  They make my head fuzzy, and it hurts."

That was an interesting development.  We knew that Alice couldn't see the decisions of people who were shielded, and now we had learned that she couldn't see anything with the wolves around. 

"Do you think the Volturi sent Felix here to attack us?" Jasper asked Carlisle who looked extremely worried.

"I was under the impression that Aro was dealing with Felix, so I don't believe he would have sent Felix after us.  I'll have to call him to know for sure."

Carlisle headed inside the house and up to his study to call Aro while the rest of us surveyed the damage that had been done to the house.  Most of the damage was done to the back of the house where the kitchen was.  It wasn't a huge deal since we never used the kitchen, but at the same time, it was upsetting.  Edward, Jasper, and Emmett discussed how hard and how long it would take to replace the drywall as well as the siding while Esme, Alice, and Rose discussed what they'd need to replace in the kitchen.  I wasn't a carpenter and shopping wasn't my thing, so I found some old dust rags in the linen closet and grabbed a bucket that I filled with soap and water.  I could at least clean soot and ash off the floor, some of the remaining appliances, and the table.