Storming Sky

SELFISH

SELFISH

They emerged one by one from the forest edge, ranging a dozen meters apart. The first one that came out, a man, fell back immediately, allowing the other man to take a lead. The third was a woman, whose bright red hair was her most prominent feature.

They looked like predators.

I have met other vampires before. Peter, Charlotte, our cousins in Denali, and of course various friends of Carlisle. Never have they come unannounced, and never, never have they looked the way these creatures looked. Where my family were the housecats, these were the tigers. Destined to kill.

The dark haired man stepped toward Carlisle, smiling. "We thought we heard a game," he announced. "I'm Laurent, these are Victoria and James."

"I'm Carlisle. This is my family, Emmett and Jasper, Rosalie and Danielle, Esme and Alice, Edward and Bella," he called us out in groups, making sure to not call attention to anyone individually. Bella and I were named separately.

"Do you have room for a few more players?" Laurent inquired.

"Actually, we were just finishing up. But we'd certainly be interested another time. Are you planning on staying in the area for long?"

"We're headed north, in fact, but we were curious to see who was in the neighborhood. We haven't run into any company in a long time."

"No, this region is usually empty except for us and the occasional visitor, like yourselves," Dad pointed out. His voice was calm, but it had an aggressive tone on it, one that I had never heard before.

"What's your hunting range?" Laurent asked casually. I wanted to cringe, but I didn't want to set them off.

"The Olympic Range here, up and down the Coast Ranges on occasion. We keep a permanent residence nearby. There's another permanent settlement like ours up near Denali."

"Permanent? How do you manage that?" He was curious.

"Why don't you come back to our home with us and we can talk comfortably? It's a rather long story." Don't bring them to my home, I plead internally. There was too much evidence that I was a human.

"That sounds very interesting, and welcome. We've been on the hunt all the way down from Ontario, and we haven't had the chance to clean up in a while." So now they want to use our showers?

"Please don't take offense, but we'd appreciate it if you'd refrain from hunting in this immediate area. We have to stay inconspicuous, you understand," Carlisle explained. Don't kill my friends, I translated.

"Of course. We certainly won't encroach on your territory. We just ate outside of Seattle, anyway," he laughed. Bella shivered and I thought to myself, who is mourning for that person right now?

"We'll show you the way if you'd like to run with us – Emmett and Alice, you can go with Edward, Bella, and Danielle to the Jeep," He added casually. Time to go home.

As we turned, Bella's scent must have spread. Edward stiffened and James turned around, eyes locked on Bella.

Suddenly, Bella and I were pushed back and the entire family was in front of us, ready to fight.

"What's this?" Laurent exclaimed.

"They're with us," Carlisle said sternly.

"You brought snacks?" James asked, smirking.

"I said, they're with us," Carlisle corrected, his voice hard and firm. I had never seen my father like this, and it was terrifying.

"But she's human," Laurent said, regarding Bella. "They both are."