ARE YOU SURE THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA?" HE ASKED.
"I should be here."
"Tell me if it gets to be too much."
I nodded.
We were a hundred feet up in the branches of a tall hemlock, sitting side by side on a thick bough. He had an arm around me and I held his other hand. I could feel his eyes on my face. Worried.
The branch swayed under us in the wind.
About two miles away, a caravan of cars was driving up Calawah Way with all their headlights on, though it was daytime. We were southeast and upwind, carefully situated so that we wouldn't be close to any people. It was too far for Edward to be able to hear much of what anyone was thinking, but that was okay. I was sure I'd be able to guess most of it.
The first car was the hearse. Right behind it was the familiar cruiser. My mom was in the passenger seat, and Phil was in the back. I recognized almost everyone in the cars that followed.
I couldn't watch the actual funeral—it had been held inside a church building. The graveside service would have to be enough.
The hearse was overkill. There hadn't been enough of the body that they'd found inside the burned-out shell of my truck to need a casket. If I'd been able to consult with my parents, I would have told them not to waste the money and just get an urn. But I guess if it made them feel better… Maybe they really wanted a grave to visit.
I'd seen where they were putting me—or what they thought was me. The hole was dug yesterday, right beside Grandma and Grandpa Swan. They'd both died when I was little, so I hadn't known them well. I hoped they didn't mind having a stranger next to them.
I didn't know the stranger's name. I hadn't wanted to know every detail about how Alice and Emmett had faked my death. I just knew that someone roughly my size who had been recently interred had taken one last trip. I assumed that all the identifiers had been destroyed—teeth, prints, etc. I felt pretty bad for the guy, but I suppose he didn't mind. He hadn't felt anything when the truck veered into a ravine somewhere in Nevada and burst into flames. His family had already mourned. They had a tombstone with his name on it. Like my parents had now.
Charlie and my mom were both pallbearers. Even from this distance, I could see that Charlie looked twenty years older and my mom moved like she was sleepwalking. If she hadn't had the casket to hold on to, I'm not sure she would have been able to walk in a straight line across the cemetery lawn. I recognized the black dress she was wearing—she'd bought it for a formal party and then decided it aged her; she'd ended up going to the party in red. Charlie wore a suit I'd never seen before. I would guess it was old rather than new—it didn't look like it would button, and his tie was a little too wide.
Phil helped, too, and Angela and her dad, Reverend Weber. Jeremy walked behind Angela. Even Billy Black held on to one of the brass handles while Jake pushed his chair.
In the crowd, I saw almost every person I knew from school. Most were in black, and lots of them were holding each other and crying. It kind of surprised me—I didn't know many of them very well. I guessed they were just crying because it was sad in general, someone dying when they were only seventeen. It probably made them think about their own mortality and all of that.
One group of people stood out—Carlisle, Esme, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, and Emmett, all in light gray. They held themselves straighter than anyone else, and even from a distance their skin was obviously different… at least to a vampire's eyes.
It all seemed to take a really long time. Lowering the casket, the reverend giving some kind of speech—a sermon?—my mom and dad each throwing a flower into the hole after the casket, everyone awkwardly forming the obligatory line to speak to my parents. I wished they would let my mom leave. She was sagging into Phil, and I knew she needed to lie down. Charlie was holding up better, but he looked brittle. Jake wheeled Billy over so that he was behind him, a little to the side. Billy reached forward and took Charlie's hand. It looked like that helped some. This put Jake in a position where I could see his face really well, and I kind of wished I couldn't.
Carlisle and the rest of the Cullens were near the end of the line. We watched as they made their way slowly to the front. They were quick with my mom—they'd never met her before. Alice brought a chair up for my mom to sit in, and Phil thanked her; I wondered if Alice had seen that she was going to fall.
Carlisle spent more time with Charlie. I knew he was apologizing for Edward's absence, explaining that he'd been too distraught to come. This was more than just an excuse for Edward to be with me today, it was laying groundwork for the next school year, when Edward would continue to be so distraught that Esme would decide to homeschool him.
I watched as Billy and Jake left while Charlie was still talking to Carlisle. Billy threw a dark glance back at the Cullens, then suddenly stared in my direction.
Of course he couldn't see us. I glanced around, trying to figure out what he was looking at. I realized that Emmett was looking at us, too—he had no trouble spotting us, and he was trying very hard not to smile; Emmett never took anything seriously. Billy must have wondered what Emmett was staring at.
Billy looked away after a few seconds. He said something to Jake. They continued out to their car.
The Cullens left after the Blacks. The line dwindled, and finally my parents were free. Phil took my mom away quickly; the reverend gave them a ride. Charlie stayed alone while the funeral home employees filled the hole in. He didn't watch. He sat in the chair that my mom had used and stared away to the north.
I felt my face working, trying to find the expression that went with my grief. My eyes were too dry; I blinked against the uncomfortable feeling. When I took my next breath, the air hitched out of my throat, like I was choking on it.
Edward's arms wrapped tight around my waist. I buried my face in his chest.
"I'm so sorry, Beau. I never wanted this for you."
I just nodded.
We sat like that for a long time.
He nudged me when Charlie left, so I could watch him drive away.
"Do you want to go home?" he asked.
"Maybe in a little while."
"All right."
We stared at the mostly empty cemetery. It was starting to get darker. A few employees were cleaning up chairs and trash. One of them took away the big picture of me—my school picture from the beginning of junior year, back in Phoenix. I'd never liked that one much. I hardly recognized the boy with the uncertain brown eyes and the halfhearted smile. It was difficult to remember being him. Hard to imagine how he must have looked to Edward, back in the beginning.
"You never wanted this for me," I said slowly. "What did you want? How did you see things happening—going with the fact that I was always going to be in love with you?"
He sighed. "Best-case scenario? I hoped that… I would get strong enough that we could be together while you were human. That we could be… something more than just boyfriends. Someday, if you didn't outgrow me, more than just husbands. We wouldn't be able to grow old together, but I would have stayed with you while you grew old. I would have been with you through all the years of your life." He paused for a second. "And then, when your life was over… I wouldn't have wanted to stay without you. I would have found a way to follow."
He looked startled when I laughed. It wasn't a very robust laugh, but I was surprised that it felt good.
"That was a really, really horrible idea," I told him. "Can you imagine? When people thought I was your dad? Your granddad? I'd probably get locked up."
He smiled hesitantly. "That wouldn't have bothered me. And if anyone had locked you up, I would have busted you out."
"But you would have married me?" I asked. "Really?"
Now he smiled wider. "I still will. Alice's seen it."
I blinked a few times. "Is that a proposal?"
He laughed. "Not quite. Do you really think I'd propose like that?"
"Wow," I said again. I hugged him back, and he kissed the top of my head. "I think I could have done better with the other version, though."
He leaned back to look at me, and his face was sad again. "Any other way ended here, too."
"But there could have been… a better goodbye." I didn't want to think about what my last words to Charlie were, but they were constantly on my mind. It was the biggest regret I had. I was glad the memory wasn't sharp, and I only hoped it would fade more with time. "What if we had gotten married? You know, graduated together, put in a few years at college, then had a great big wedding where we invited everyone we knew? Let them all see us happy together. Give really sappy speeches—have a reason to tell everyone how much we love them. Then go away again, back to school somewhere far away.…"
He sighed. "That sounds nice. But you end up with a double funeral in the end."
"Maybe. Maybe we'd be really busy for a year, and when I'm a mature vampire and all under control, I could see them again.…"
"Riiiight," he said, rolling his eyes. "And then all we have to worry about is never aging… and getting on the bad side of the Volturi.… I'm sure that would end well."
"Okay, okay, you're right. There's no other version."
"I'm sorry," he said quietly again.
"Either way, though, Edward. If I hadn't been dumb enough to run off and meet that tracker"—he hissed, but I kept talking—"it would only have delayed things. We still end up here. You're the life I choose."
He smiled—slowly at first, but then suddenly his smile was huge and dimpled. "It feels like my life never had a point until I found you. You're the life I was waiting for."
I took his face in my hands and kissed him while the branch swayed back and forth under us. I never could have imagined a life like this. There was a heavy price to pay, but one I would have chosen to pay even if I'd had all the time in the world to consider.
We both felt it when his phone vibrated in his pocket.
I figured it would be Emmett, sarcastically wondering if we'd gotten lost on our way back, but then Edward answered the phone, "Carlisle?"
He listened for just one second, his eyes flying open. I could hear Carlisle's voice trilling at top speed on the other end. Edward shoved off the branch, phone still in hand.
"I'm coming," he promised as he fell toward the ground, breaking his fall with a branch here and there. I swung down quickly after him. He was already running when I hit the ground, and he didn't slow for me to catch up.
It must be really serious.
I ran flat out, using all the extra strength that I had because I was new. It was enough to keep him in sight as he sprinted across the most direct route back to the house. Chasing him was like chasing a bolt of lightning.
It was only when we were close to the house that he let me catch up.
"Be careful," he warned me. "We have visitors."
And then he was off again. I pushed myself even harder to try to match him. I didn't have a positive perception of visitors. I didn't want him to meet them without me next to him.
I could hear snarling before we were at the river. Edward kept his leap low and straight, hurtling up the lawn. The metal shutters were down across the glass wall. He ran around the south end of the house. I was on his heels the whole way.
He darted over the railing onto the porch. All the Cullens were there, huddled into a tight, defensive cluster. Carlisle was a few steps in front of them, though I could tell no one was happy to have him there. He was leaning toward the steps, staring forward, a pleading look on his face. Edward lunged to his side, and something snarled in the darkness in front of the house.
I launched myself onto the porch, and Emmett yanked my arm back when I tried to go to Edward.
"Let him translate," Emmett murmured.
Ready to rip out of his hands—not even Emmett was strong enough to stop me while I was so young—I looked out past Carlisle to see the vampires we were facing. I'm not sure what I was expecting. A large group, maybe, since the Cullens seemed so defensive.
I wasn't prepared to see three horse-sized wolves.
They weren't growling now—all of their massive heads were up, their noses pointing at me.
The one in the lead—pitch-black and larger than either of the others, though they were both three times bigger than I'd ever dreamed a wolf could get—took a step forward, his teeth bared.
"Sam," Edward said sharply. The wolf's head swung around to face him. "You have no right to be here. We haven't broken the treaty."
The black monster-wolf snarled at him.
"They didn't attack," Carlisle said to Edward. "I don't know what they want."
"They want us to leave. They were trying to drive you out."
"But why?" Carlisle asked.
The wolves seemed to be listening intently to every word. Could they understand?
"They thought we broke the treaty—that we killed Beau."
The big wolf growled, long and low. It sounded like a saw being dragged over chain-link.
"But—," Carlisle began.
"Obviously," Edward answered before he could finish. "They still think we broke the treaty—that we chose to change him ourselves."
Carlisle looked at the wolves. "I can promise you, that's not how this happened."
The one Edward called Sam kept up the long growl. Flecks of saliva dripped from his exposed fangs.
"Beau," Edward murmured. "Can you tell them? They aren't going to believe us."
I'd been frozen solid this whole time. I tried to shake off the surprise as I moved to stand by Edward.
"I don't understand. What are they? What treaty are you talking about?" I whispered the words fast, but it was obvious from the wolves' alert ears and watchful eyes that they were listening. Wolves that understood English? Emmett had said Edward was translating. Did he speak wolf?
"Beau," Edward said in a louder voice. "These are the Quileute wolves. You remember the story?"
"The—" I stared at the massive animals. "They're werewolves?"
The black wolf growled louder, but the dark brown one in the back blew out a funny huff that sounded almost like a laugh.
"Not exactly," Edward said. "A long time ago, we made a treaty with another pack leader. They think we've violated it. Can you tell them how you were transformed?"
"Uh, okay…" I looked at the black wolf, who seemed to be in charge. "I'm, uh, Beau Swan—"
"He knows who you are. You met Sam once—at the beach in La Push."
The cloudy human memories distracted me for a short second. I remembered the tall man at La Push. And Jake saying that the wolves were his brothers. That his great-great-grandfather had made a treaty with the cold ones.
"Oh," I said.
"Just explain to him what happened."
"Right." I looked at the wolf again, trying to picture the tall man somehow inside it. "Uh, a few weeks ago, there was a tracker—er, a vampire tracker—who came through here. He liked the way I smelled. The Cullens told him to back off. He left, but Edward knew he was planning to try to kill me. I went back to Phoenix to hide out till the Cullens could… well, take care of him, you know. But the tracker figured out where I was and caught up to me. It was a game to him, a game with the Cullens—I was just a pawn. But he didn't want to just kill me. He… I guess you could say he was playing with his food. The Cullens found me before he could kill me, but he'd already bitten me. Hey—do we still have the video?" I glanced over at Edward, who was staring at the wolves. He shook his head. I turned back to Sam. "That's too bad. The tracker was filming the whole thing. I could have shown you exactly what happened."
The wolves looked at each other. Edward's eyes were narrowed as he concentrated on what they were thinking. Suddenly the black wolf was staring at him again.
"That's acceptable," Edward said. "Where?"
The black wolf huffed, and then all three were backing away from the house. When they got to the edge of the trees, they turned and ran into the forest.
The Cullens all converged on Edward.
"What happened?" Carlisle asked.
"They aren't sure what to do," Edward said. "They were asked to clear us out. Sam is the actual chief of the tribe, but only in secret. He's not a direct descendant of the chief we made a treaty with. They want us to talk to the acting chief, the true great-grandson of the last wolf-chief."
"But—wouldn't that be Billy?" I gasped.
Edward looked at me. "Yes. They want to meet at a neutral location so that Billy can see you and make the call."
"See me? But I can't get that close.…"
"You can do it, Beau," Edward said. "You're the most rational newborn I've ever seen."
"It's true," Carlisle agreed. "I've never seen someone adapt so easily. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were a decade old."
It wasn't that I thought they were lying—just that maybe they didn't get the magnitude of what they were proposing. "But it's Billy. He's my dad's best friend. What if I hurt him?"
"We'll be there," Emmett said. "We won't let you do anything stupid."
"Actually…," Edward said.
Emmett looked at him, shocked.
"They asked that we bring no more than their pack—only three. I already agreed. Beau has to be one, I have to be one, and the other needs to be Carlisle."
It was clear Emmett was hurt.
"Is that safe?" Esme asked.
Edward shrugged. "It's not an ambush."
"Or they hadn't decided to make it one. Not yet," Jasper said.
He was standing protectively by Alice, and there was something wrong with her. She looked a little dazed.
"Alice?" I asked. I'd never seen her look like… like she was behind things instead of ahead of them.
"I didn't see them," she whispered. "I didn't know they were coming. I can't see now—I can't see this meeting. It's like it doesn't exist."
I could see that this was news only to me. The others had heard it before we'd arrived, and Edward had already picked it out of Alice's head.
"What does that mean?" I asked.
"We don't know," Edward answered sharply. "And we don't have time to figure it out now. We want to be there when they arrive. We don't want them to have a chance to change their minds."
"It will be fine," Carlisle said to the others, his eyes on Esme. "The wolves are just trying to protect the people here. They're heroes, not villains."
"They think we're villains," Rosalie pointed out. "Heroes or not, Carlisle, we still have to accept that they're our enemies."
"It doesn't have to be that way," Carlisle whispered.
"And it doesn't matter either way tonight," Edward said. "Tonight Beau needs to explain to Billy so that we don't have to make the choice between leaving Forks and raising suspicions, or getting into a fight with three barely legal wolves who are just trying to protect their tribe."
"Alice can't see if you'll be in danger," Jasper reminded him.
"We'll be fine. Billy won't want to hurt Beau."
"I'm not sure that's true now. And I know he won't have any problem watching you get hurt."
"I can hear the wolves just fine. They won't take us by surprise."
"Tell us where to go," Emmett said. "We'll keep our distance and only come in if you call."
"I promised. There's no reason to go back on my word. We need them to see that they can trust us, now more than ever. No!" Edward said as Jasper apparently thought of another argument. "We don't have time. We'll be back soon."
Emmett grumbled, but Edward ignored him.
"Beau, Carlisle, let's go."
I took off after him, and I could hear Carlisle do the same. Edward didn't run as fast this time, and we both easily kept up.
"You seem very confident," Carlisle said to Edward.
"I got a good look at their minds. They don't want this fight, either. There are eight of us. They know they won't win if it comes to actual bloodshed."
"It can't. I won't hurt them."
"I'm not in disagreement with that. But it would cause problems, if we left now."
"I know."
I listened, but my thoughts were far away, thinking about Billy and Charlie and the fact that I should be nowhere near human beings right now. I'd heard plenty from the others about the newborn years, especially Jasper, and I wasn't ready to try to be the first exception to the rule. Sure, I hadn't had a hard time picking up most things, and everyone was surprised by how… calm I was, but this was different. Edward had been very careful to make sure I was never tested when it came to the most important thing—not killing anyone. And if I screwed up tonight, not only would I destroy my father's world—he needed a friend now like he never had before—but I'd also ignite some kind of war between the Cullens and the giant werewolves.
I'd never felt clumsy in this new body, but suddenly that same sense of impending doom was hanging over me. Here was my chance to mess things up in a really spectacular way.
Edward led us northeast. We crossed the freeway where it turned east toward Port Angeles and continued due north for a short time, following a smaller road. Edward stopped in a wasteland on the side of the dark road, a large clearing recently made by loggers.
"Edward, I don't think I can do this."
He took my hand. "We're upwind. Carlisle and I will try to stop you if something happens. Just remember not to fight us."
"What if I can't control it? What if I hurt you?"
"Don't panic, Beau, I know you can do this. Hold your breath. Run away if it gets bad."
"But Edward—"
He put his finger to his lips and stared southward.
It wasn't long before a set of headlights turned into view.
I was expecting the car to pass. After all, the wolves wouldn't even fit inside the little sedan. But it slowly came to a stop not far from where we waited, and I realized it was Billy inside, and someone else in the driver's seat.
Then two of the wolves were there, coming from the forest on the other side of the road. They split to move around the car on either side; it looked protective. The man in the driver's seat got out and came around to get Billy. I was sure it wasn't Sam, though his hair was just as short. I stared at him, wondering if I'd met him on the beach, too, but he didn't look familiar. Like Sam, he was tall and looked strong.
Clearly he didn't just look strong. He picked Billy up in his arms and carried him like the older man weighed nothing. Kind of like the way the Cullens had thrown me around as if I were a feather pillow. Maybe the wolves—because obviously this was the gray wolf who was missing from the original trio—were stronger than normal humans, too.
Sam and the dark brown wolf led the way as the tall man carried Billy behind them. Sam stopped a good thirty yards away from where we stood.
"I can't see as well as you," I heard Billy say tartly. Sam prowled another ten yards forward.
"Hello, Billy," Carlisle said.
"I can't see, Paul," Billy complained again. His voice sounded rough and weak to me; I'd been listening to no one but vampires for a month. The half-wolf, half-human pack moved slowly forward until they were only ten yards away. I held my breath, even though the light wind still blew from behind me.
"Carlisle Cullen," Billy said coldly. "I should have put it together sooner. It wasn't till I saw you at the funeral that I realized what had happened."
"But you were wrong," Edward said.
"That's what Sam says," Billy answered. "I'm not sure he's right." Billy's eyes flickered to me, and he shuddered.
"All we have is Beau's word and our own. Will you believe either?" Edward asked.
Billy harrumphed, but didn't answer.
"Please," Carlisle said, and his voice was much kinder than either of the others'. "We've never hurt anyone here. We won't start now. It would be better for us not to leave immediately, otherwise we would go without an argument."
"You don't want to look guilty," Billy agreed sarcastically.
"No, we would rather not," Carlisle said. "And in truth, we are not in breach."
Billy looked at me. "Then where is Beau? Do you expect me to believe he's inside that thing that bears some slight resemblance to him?" Hurt was strong in his voice, but so was hate. I was surprised by his reaction. Did I really seem so different? Like I wasn't even here?
"Billy, it's me," I said.
He winced at my voice.
I was out of air. I gripped Edward's hand and took a shallow breath. Still upwind, it was okay.
"I know I look and sound a little different, but I'm still me, Billy."
"So you say."
I raised my free hand helplessly. "I don't know how to convince you. What I told Sam was true—another vampire bit me. He would have killed me, too, except that the Cullens got there in time. They didn't do anything wrong. They were always trying to protect me."
"If they hadn't gotten involved with you, this would never have happened! Charlie's life wouldn't be broken in pieces—you'd still be the boy I knew."
I'd had this argument before, and I was prepared. "Billy, there's something you didn't know about me.… I used to smell really good to vampires."
He flinched.
"If the Cullens hadn't been here, those other vampires would still have come to Forks. They might have killed more than me while they were here, but I can promise you, if Charlie had survived, he would be missing me just the same. And there would be nothing left of the boy you used to know. You might not be able to see it, but I'm still here, Billy."
Billy shook his head, less angry, though, I thought. More sad. He looked at Carlisle. "I'll concede that the treaty is intact. Will you tell me your plans?"
"We'll stay here another year. We'll leave after Edward and Alice graduate. It will look natural that way."
Billy nodded. "All right. We'll wait. I apologize for our infraction tonight. I…" He sighed. "It was a mistake. I was… overwrought."
"We understand," Carlisle said softly. "There was no harm done. Maybe even some good. It's better to understand each other as much as possible. Perhaps we could even talk again some—"
"The treaty is unbroken," Billy said in a hard voice. "Don't ask any more from us."
Carlisle nodded once.
Billy looked at me again and his face fell.
The breeze shifted.
Edward and Carlisle both grabbed my arms at the same time. Billy's eyes went wide and then narrowed angrily. Sam snarled once.
"What are you doing to him?" Billy demanded.
"Protecting you," Edward snapped.
The dark brown wolf took a half-step forward.
I took a quick breath, preparing myself to run if it was bad.
It was bad.
Billy's scent was like fire as it rushed down my throat, but it was more than just pain. It was a thousand times more appealing than any of the animals I'd hunted, not even in the same class. It was like someone waving a perfectly cooked filet mignon in front of me after I'd been living on stale crackers for a year. But more than that. I'd never tried drugs, but I thought Edward's heroin comparison might be the closer version.
And yet, while I wanted to quench my thirst… badly… I knew instantly that I didn't have to. I wouldn't want to be any closer to him, no, but I was pretty sure I could handle it even then. I'd expected that when the newborn thing reared its ugly head, I wouldn't be able to think or decide. That I wouldn't be a person anymore, I'd be an animal.
I was still me. A very thirsty me, but me.
It only took half a second for me to figure all this out.
"No, don't worry, Billy," I said quickly. "I'm new to this, and they don't want me to… lose it, you know? But I'm okay."
Edward slowly took his hand off my arm. Carlisle looked at me, his face kind of… awed.
Billy's eyes were still narrowed, but I could see he was confused, too. He hadn't expected me to act so much like myself, maybe. I decided to take advantage of the unexpected opportunity. I took another breath, and though it hurt just as badly, I knew I was fine.
"So it sounds like I won't have a chance to talk to you again," I said. "And I'm sorry it's that way. I guess I don't understand all the rules yet. But since you're here, if I could just ask one favor…"
His face got hard again. "What?"
"My dad." My breath did that weird hitching thing again and I had to take a second before I could go on. Edward put his hand on my back, but it was for comfort this time. "Please, just… take care of him? Don't let him be alone too much. I never wanted to do this to him… or my mom. That's the hardest part of all this. For me, it's fine. I'm good. If only there was anything I could do to make it better for them, I would, but I can't. Could you please watch out for him?"
Billy's face went blank for a minute. I couldn't read it. I wished I could hear like Edward did.
"I would have done that regardless," Billy finally said.
"I know. I couldn't help asking, though. Do you think… you could let me know if there ever is something I can do? You know, from behind the scenes?"
He nodded slowly. "I suppose there may be some of Beau left after all."
I sighed. He was not going to believe it if I told him that all of me was left, that there was just more added on top.
"Is there anything else I can do for you?"
I froze for a tenth of a second, surprised by the offer. I could tell Edward and Carlisle were surprised, too. But there was something more I wanted.
"If…," I began. "Will you ever tell Jake about any of this?" I looked at the enormous wolves flanking Billy. "Or will it always be a secret?"
I didn't understand the look that crossed his face now. "Jake will know soon enough."
"Oh. Okay. Well, if he can know about me, can you tell him that I'm happy? It's not so bad, this whole vampire thing."
Billy shuddered. "I'll tell him what you said."
"Thanks, Billy."
He nodded, then he looked at the tall man carrying him and jerked his chin back the way they'd come.
As they turned, I saw a tear escape the corner of his eye. The wolves backed away from us, too.
I hoped it wasn't the last time I would see Billy. I hoped that when Jake was in on the secret, I would be allowed to see him, too. Or at least talk to him again. I hoped that maybe someday the wolves would see that the Cullens were heroes, too.
Billy's car drove away. The wolves melted into the trees. I waited until Edward was done listening to their departure.
"Tell me everything," I said.
He smiled. "I will when we get home—so I don't have to repeat all of it. There was a lot." He shook his head, like he was amazed.
We started running. Not so fast as before.
"Huh. Actual werewolves. This world is even weirder than I thought," I said.
"Agreed," Edward said.
"That's right—you thought there weren't werewolves here anymore. That must have been kind of a shock."
"They weren't the most shocking thing I saw tonight."
I looked at him, then at Carlisle. Carlisle smiled like he was in on some joke.
"I mean, I knew you were special, Beau, but that was something else back there. Jasper's not going to believe it."
"Oh. But…" I stared at him. "You said you knew I could do this."
He grinned. "Well, I was pretty sure the wind would hold steady."
Carlisle laughed, then he exchanged a glance with Edward. He sped up as Edward slowed. In a second, we were alone.
I kept pace with Edward, and stopped when he stopped. He put his hands on either side of my face.
"It's been a long day. A hard one. But I want you to know that you're extraordinary, and I love you."
I pulled him tight against me. "I can handle anything as long as you're with me."
He guided my arms around his neck. "Then here I will stay."
"Forever," I said.
"Forever," he agreed.
He leaned down until his lips found mine.
Forever was going to be amazing.
so that's book one guys hope you enjoyed book 2 will be up soon.