Dusk

twenty-eight: cullen's house

"Are you okay, Serena?"

It didn't take long for Jacob to call me after we left Port Angeles. I wasn't surprised that he somehow knew something had happened. That mate sixth sense obviously came in handy for him. It would only take Alice twenty minutes or so to get back to Forks. Apparently, all the Cullen's drove as if they were racing in the Indy 500. Rosalie and Alice were speaking softly to one another about the events in Seattle while Bella spoke to Edward through the phone. I guess his mate sixth sense had tingled too.

I suppressed a sigh, "Physically I'm fine," I told him honestly letting my fatigue clear, "Mentally, I feel like I've been hit by a truck." I ran a hand down my face wanting nothing more then to curl against Jacob and go to sleep for the rest of my life.

"What happened?" Jacob growled quietly.

In the background, I could hear the boys and Emily hushing them down. No doubt I was on speaker, which was fine with me; I needed them to know what had happened and what we were going to do about this situation. "Aria's alive."

There was silence on the other end for a few seconds, "I know there's a but in that sentence." Jacob quietly remarked.

"She's a vampire." My voice steeled with anger. My spine tingled with anger for a few seconds.

"Fuck," Jacob muttered before Sam took the phone.

"Serena, tell me what happened." He ordered icily.

I leaned my head against the cold window and shortly explained what had happened. Sam listened in silence until I finished, "She was warning us, Sam." I added rubbing at my tired eyes.

"Shit," Sam cursed with a sigh, "This is going to complicate things."

He knew very well that I would never give up on Aria. I thought I had lost her, but now that I know she's alive and in trouble...I would move heaven and earth to help her. "I know what this will mean...for our pack—I can't let anything happen to her." I spoke quietly.

Sam exhaled loudly—probably pinching the bridge of his nose, "This will be hard to explain to the elders, Serena, we know nothing on newborn vampires and much less how to shelter one. Look, I never thought I would say this but...perhaps you speak with Dr. Cullen about this," Sam sounded like this is the last thing he'd ever wanted to say but knew how grave and important this situation was for me, "He's obviously equipped to handle newborn vampires."

I remain silent glancing at Alice from the corner of my eye. As if reading my thoughts, Alice glanced at me and gave a small nod, "I can't make any promises." She said quietly but it was enough for me.

I nodded mouthing a quick thank you before returning to my conversation with Sam, "Then I'll stop by the Cullen's tonight, but if Aria comes back you cannot hurt her, Sam." If anyone harmed her, they would have hell to pay. Aria wasn't the enemy. If she wanted to hurt me, she would've done so already.

"Nothing will happen to her if she crosses into our territory, baby sister." Sam assured softly.

"Sam, I am...scared right now." I whispered in a vulnerable voice.

When Sam spoke, it was in a very gentle tone, "Nothing is going to happen to her, Serena. She's a vampire, she can handle herself."

I squeezed my eyes shut feeling the mating bond between Jacob and I give painful tugs. It was probably sensing my distress and was relaying it back to Jacob. "Let me talk to her." Jacob said with a strained tone.

Sam muttered, "Just be careful, baby sister." Before handing the phone back over to Jacob.

"Serena."