AVALON
Once Seth leaves, Edward whispers that he’ll keep him safe and darts out the door after him.
My only fear of Seth going after Jex is Seth’s safety. If Jex ever hurt him—I can’t bear for that to happen. But Edward promised he’d protect him and he’s very sincere. So I don’t have to worry.
Talking with Bella has had me thinking more and more about my mother. If she is still alive—
I get on one of the computers that Edward had turned on the thing that reads everything out loud, and get online onto some kind of ancestral website and look up my family history. My father continued moving around and still is moving around even recently. I look up my mother and search any birth records of me they might have.
I spend hours and hours searching, looking at name after name that is in any way related to me somehow…
When I see something shocking that makes me catch my breath. I click on it over and over and over again to hear the monotone voice read it to me again and again to make sure it’s being said right. I check listed evidence and there is too much to leave any room for doubt.
Suddenly, I hear a knock at the door. The others are out hunting. One of the other werewolves stayed behind to stay with Jacob, and then of course the girl werewolf who stays phased most of the time, is still in the woods.
I get up and answer the door to find the very face I had just sensed seconds before.
My brother.
I can sense he’s a hybrid like me. “You know, don’t you?” he asks in a soft murmur.
“No hello? I finally get to meet my brother after all these years and I don’t even get a hello?” I ask, while I sense him.
His intentions are good, but—
“I can’t leave, Ryder. And yes I know your name too. It’s on the internet. Ancestory.com is amazing,” I say. I feel the urge to smirk although I know I’m only smarting off because I’m nervous. I turn to sarcasm to hide my nerves from everyone else.
“Look Avalon, I know you barely know me, but—“
“It’s not that, Ryder. Honestly. I can sense your intentions are good. It’s just—“ I sigh and pause, trying to think of how to explain.
“Just what? If you know my intentions are good, then you know you’ll be perfectly safe with me!”
“Ryder—“
“Better off than if you stayed here,” he mutters.
“Avalon?” a different voice asks.
It’s the other werewolf. He’s heard our voices.
“Is something wrong?” he asks.
“No,” I answer.
“But Seth wouldn’t—“
“At the mention of his name, my heart races.
“Ryder, this is uh…?”
“I’m Embry.”
“Embry, this is my brother,” I introduce.
I can sense the others are close too. “Brother?” Bella asks in shock, stopping in just enough time not to hit the house.
“Yes. I didn’t realize I had one un—until now,” I explain.
“Mommy,” a tiny voice chimes. I sense Renesme telling something to Bella using her power.
I can’t help but smile. She’s so cute.
“Emmett, Jasper, you wanna come with me to finish hunting?” Bella asks. They run off before I can even take a breath.
“I must go check on Jacob,” Carlise says. Embry goes with him.
“I can go with them if you two wish to talk alone,” Esme suggests.
“No, Esme you can stay,” I tell her.
“Avalon, I know you’re wondering why I just now show up. I want you to know that I was watching you the whole time. I followed you and kept a very close eye on you. Our father was there when you were born, but I didn’t want to risk a fight and possibly you even getting hurt somehow. Believe me, I wanted to take you with me to keep you safe. When he took you, I could only follow you so far. It wasn’t until almost a decade later when I found out where you were being kept. I sent my greatest friend after you; I knew I could trust him and I paid him back for how he helped you. As time went on, though, he did it because he wanted to and stopped receiving payment from me,” Ryder explains.
I gasp quietly. “You sent Aro after me?” I ask in pure disbelief.
“Yes. I need you to understand why I left in the first place, Avalon. After I was born, our mother barely survived. To this day I still don’t know how she did it. I couldn’t bear to watch her die when you knew…Avalon she knew what she was getting herself into and still she did nothing to stop it. That’s why she died.”
His words hit me like blows to the chest and before I even know it, I’m running. I collapse sometime and I’m leaning on a tree, sobbing so hard my chest hurts.
“Oh, sweetheart,” a gentle voice, filled with compassion says. “I’m here.”
It’s Esme. She’s holding me as I cry heart-wrenching sobs that make my body tremble and shake so badly the only reason why she can only me is because she’s a vampire.
“It is not your fault that your mother died. Just like it is not Renesme’s fault if we’d lost Bella. It was a miracle she lived.”
“That’s—“ I pause and gasp, completely unsure of how to continue.
“Esme…a long time ago, Jex and I—we—had a child, but—I lost it! I lost my baby!”
