Aurélien Cullen thrived on chaos. Maybe that's why fate presented him with a werewolf for a soul mate. After all, what's more chaotic than a love that goes against your very Biology?
"You have such a beautiful soul, Seth Clearwater."
Seth Clearwater...
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The information that Sam and his pack were planning to kill Bella's unborn child, while disturbing, was not a surprise. The Cullen family had suspected that if the alpha found out, he would seek to destroy the child, and had already agreed that they would never let that happen — even Edward, who had yet to accept that his wife was willing to risk dying for their baby.
The only positive was that Seth had returned to the house as he'd promised — though he was accompanied by Leah, who had also defected from Sam's pack — and was now pressed against Aurélien's side on the sofa in the living room, where the entire family was listening to Jacob.
"Sam's lost the element of surprise, and he doesn't want to take you on outnumbered, so he's not gonna come at you head on," Jacob said from his seat in front of the fireplace. The look on his face, the same one on the face of everyone in the room, reflected the gravity of the situation. Their problem wasn't only Bella's dramatically deteriorating physical health as a result of her supernatural pregnancy, but also the threat of a war with the pack, who were hell bent on killing Bella. "He's got the place surrounded and he'll wait for his opportunity.
"We won't get through without a fight," Emmett responded gruffly, always frothing at the mouth for a good battle.
"No fights," Carlisle said, glancing up at the largest of the Cullen brothers. "We won't be the ones to break the treaty."
"They're surrounding our house and trying to smoke us out, Carlisle. I'd say the treaty is already in tatters," Aurélien responded, itching for a fight just at much as his brother was. He wanted to protect Bella and the unborn child she loved so much, and perhaps settle the grudge he held against a few members of the pack for their past misgivings.
"He's right. The treaty is void, at least in Sam's mind," Jacob agreed, and Aurélien is a little startled. Judging by Seth's raised eyebrows and wide eyes, he was also surprised.
"Not in ours," Carlisle said. It's a very typical stance for the Cullen patriarch to take, and Aurélien is not surprised, only frustrated. There were certain instances where conflict could not be avoided, and this was one of them.
"Carlisle, no one's hunted for weeks," Emmett said in disbelief.
"Emmett's right. Some of us can go longer than a week without feeding, but not all of us," Aurélien pointed out, referring mostly to Bree and Jasper.
"Why don't you just teleport a bunch of you out to feed?" Jacob asked.
"Edward won't leave Bella's side and Rosalie thinks if both me and her are gone then they'll be no one here fully on Bella's side. I can take everyone else one by one scattered across the week, Bree twice or three times a week," Aurélien said. "But I'd really rather not be away from the house 8 or 9 times a week for multiple hours. Of the wolves attack, our game plan is that I get Bella out, and if I can come back for Carlisle. But if they attack while I'm gone, then what? And they very likely could, they know my gift, if you've guessed we could feed using it they will too. How'd we know they aren't waiting till we're down in numbers? And even if we risk it, it doesn't solve the issue of Edward and Rosalie. No, we need everyone to be able to hunt without me, then have everyone here ready to sneer Bella when I teleport myself out to feed."
