Aeipathy • Paul Lahote

Explanations

Estrella had originally planned on grilling Edward the moment they were alone in Arizona, but the feat proved difficult. It was rare for the two to have a second without Bella or Renee and when they did, both of the other women were within hearing distance. She assumed that was due to Edward not wanting to be questioned as he simply grinned at her anytime she glared in his direction. It wasn't until they got back that she found out what had happened.

Rosalie had decided to miss school that day, instead choosing to spend time at the house with Estrella to catch her up about what happened over the weekend. "So you guys basically wanted to kick us out of town while you hunted down another vampire?" she questioned, looking towards Rosalie. The blonde simply nodded. "You know I could've been of help to you?"

"You also could've been killed, Ella," she sighed. "Victoria is dangerous and highly skilled and we didn't want to risk her deciding to make you a target or to just kill you then and there. Plus, who knows what the wolves would've done."

Estrella looked up at that, confusion covering her face. It was barely noticeable, but Rosalie tensed. "The wolves?" she questioned, staring over at Rosalie. "What wolves?"

"Just like, the wildlife in the woods."

"Rose, you and I both know that neither of us are worried about the wildlife." Estrella shuffled to sit in front of the other girl. "What wolves are you talking about?"

Rosalie sighed, groaning a bit. "We all told ourselves we wouldn't mention them in front of you because it would make things more difficult," she stated. "I genuinely can't tell you anything about them. Carlisle signed a contract and we're not allowed to talk about them to anyone who doesn't already know."

Estrella sighed in response. Her curiosity was eating at her, but the pained look on Rosalie's face proved that it was a difficult topic and she decided to not push it, for her friend's sake. "Okay, Rose," she replied, moving back into a relaxed position. "I know how things like that are. Tell me more about this vampire."

Without exposing Victoria's true motivations, Rosalie went into enough details about the vampire while still remaining vague enough to not make her ginger friend worried. She explained that Victoria and her mate had previously been in Forks, wreaking havoc and committing murders and making things very difficult. Victoria had decided to back off, but her mate wanted to play around with the Cullens, prompting them to have to kill him. Since then, Victoria had been furious and wanted nothing more than to enact revenge on the family.

"She's particularly fond of Edward, since he was the one to actually kill James," Rosalie finished.

Before either could continue their conversation, the door opened and multiple bodies walked through, meaning the two girls had effectively talked the day away and most of the clan was returning from school.

"Honestly, Alice," they heard Edward seethe. "How could another party be a good idea? You want more humans at risk instead of just my soulmate?"

The crowd froze when they entered the living room to Estrella's cold glare. She had been updated on what went on to prompt the Cullens to leave Forks previously and, as a result, was overly wary of Jasper when he was around her sister. "You're planning a party?" she questioned, looking to Alice for an answer.

"Nothing goes wrong," she responds, trying to soothe the ginger. "I've seen it."

"And something could change," she hissed back, rising from her previously relaxed position. She could feel Rosalie rising behind her but payed the blonde no mind. "Someone could fall or get an unexpected nose bleed or give themselves yet another papercut and, no offense, but none of you aside from Carlisle and Rosalie have a good enough track record for me to feel comfortable about the entire situation."

"That's why you're going to be there," Alice responded with a grin. "You can hang out with Rosalie and Jasper and if anything goes wrong you'll be there to make sure everything is safe and doesn't get out of hand!"

Estrella's eyes squinted into a glare at the pixie shaped girl. "I know very well you're just saying that to make sure I go to the party and meet all of the high schoolers," she huffed and crossed her arms. "And I hate that it's working."

Alice broke into a wider grin at that, clapping happily before flitting off to start planning. "You're probably going to regret agreeing," Jasper drawled with a small grin, making the ginger snort.

"You're right."