Carlisle Cullen: Twilight

9. Dangerous Strangers

The nomads came towards confidently. Two males and a female. The male in front, black skinned, long black hair seemed to lead. The other male was blonde and the female had fiery red hair, tangled with twigs and leaves with her burgundy eyes darting here and there. They were dressed like backpackers, their feet bare though and their clothes worn. They positioned themselves to close ranks at the exact same time we did but they were more cautious. We were bigger than them. I walked forward to meet them, Emmett and Jasper moved too, walking on either side of me. They stopped a few paces away. The dark haired man stepped towards me.

"We thought we heard a game," he spoke. His voice had a French accent, not too strong but clear enough to hear. "I'm Laurent, these are Victoria and James." He pointed them out. I smiled in a welcomingly but guarded way.

"I'm Carlisle. This is my family. Emmett and Jasper, Rosalie, Esme and Alice, Edward and Bella." I immediately lumped Bella with one of us, not just because she was one of us now but also because it drew less attention to her. I pointed them out in groups as well.

"Do you have room for a few more players?" Laurent asked. His voice was not demanding but calm, friendly. I matched his tone.

"Actually we were just finishing up. But we'd certainly be interested another time. Are you planning to stay 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 for a long time."

"No, this region is usually empty except for us and the occasional visitor, such as yourselves."

"What's your hunting range?"

"The Olympic Range here, up and down the Coast Ranges on occasion. We keep a permanent residence nearby. There's another permanent residence like ours up near Denali." Laurent looked surprised. I knew he thought that we also drank human blood like himself and his friends. A permanent residence seemed impossible if we had drank human blood.

"Permanent? How do you manage that?" He asked curiously.

"Why don't you come back to our home with us and we can talk more comfortably? It's rather a long story." James and Victoria exchanged a look but I ignored it, my eyes only on Laurent. He was still smiling, a curious light in his eyes.

"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." He looked me up and down as he spoke. I however needed to stress an important point, important because of Bella and every other human I worked and lived with.

"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."

"Of course, we certainly won't encroach on your territory. We just ate outside of Seattle anyway." Laurent laughed with humor. It made me slightly annoyed at how easily he could talk about the deaths of humans. However I used Jasper's calming influence, sweeping over me to the nomads in order to calm down. It was therefore with a smile that I spoke.

"We'll show you the way if you'd like to run with us... Emmett and Alice, you can go with Edward and Bella to get the Jeep." I didn't turn as I spoke and it was maybe lucky that I didn't because at the same time as I spoke, the breeze picked up. Bella's scent whipped past me. James' head automatically turned to Bella. His eyes were on her, narrowed and thirsty. His nostrils were flaring, inhaling. James stepped into a crouch and it was automatic that we did too. Bella was pushed behind Edward, behind Esme. I leapt into a protective stance pushing Edward behind me because he was growling fiercely, keeping one arm between him and James. Alice took a protective stance beside Edward, crouching lower than him on his other side. Even Rosalie was next to me on my other side, Emmett close to her and Jasper next to him, forming a boomerang shape to protect Bella. James was low in a stance ready to pounce.