Bree POV

'What the hell?'  Fred's response to Alice had been rude and I expected another wave of anger from Jasper, but this was way over the top.

Rosalie's fists balled as she glared at Fred, her lips pulled back.  Emmett was now leaning forward; he remained seated, but his posture was definitely threatening.  “That was way out of order.”  He ground the words out between his teeth.  His whole frame was tense, making him seem even bigger.

“How dare you speak to my wife like that!”  Jasper lunged towards Fred.  Fred pulled me out of the chair before Jasper was half way across the room, and pushed me behind him.

Jasper's hand was a hair's breadth from Fred's throat, when his whole demeanour changed.  Had he connected with him, I would no doubt have been pinned to the wall behind Fred.  Fighting off the sensations emanating from Fred, Jasper grasped handfuls of his shirt, pulling him forwards until their noses almost touched.  “If you utter another word to my wife, I will wipe you from the face of the earth.”  Jasper's voice was chilling and I didn't doubt for one moment that his words were not an idle threat. 

The fear I felt was accompanied by an over whelming sense of guilt.  What had I done?  I'd let Fred believe it was safe, that they weren't dangerous.  A growl formed low in my stomach and made its way to my chest.  I was preparing to fight.  My mind screamed at me not to, that I would lose.  But my instincts told me it may give Fred a chance.

Before I could spring, Jasper released Fred and staggered back.  Rosalie and Emmett were still snarling, but all three of them now appeared unable to look at us.

Fred's posture showed no sign of aggression as he addressed Alice.  “I'm sorry that‑”  He was cut off by an ear splitting growl from Jasper, that made me put my hands over my ears in a useless attempt to block out some of the sound.

“Jazz, its okay.”  Alice's subdued voice silenced the room.  She was able to look at him so I knew Fred had stopped projecting. 

“It is most certainly not okay.”  Jasper was obviously still furious. 

“He doesn't know, Jazz.”

Fred turned to look at me and I shrugged my shoulders.  I didn't know either.  We both waited but no one made any attempt to enlighten us.  Why did everything have to be a mystery with them? 

“It was very rude of me.”  Fred eventually continued with his apology to Alice.  “I was only expecting Bree, but you turned up here mob handed.  He's obviously messing with my head somehow.”  He tilted his head at Jasper.  “Bree tells me you have fed her animal blood for some reason, and you suddenly announce you want to do your laundry.  You have to admit it's bizarre.”

It was bizarre, but their reaction was even more so.

“We really do need to talk and it may take some time.  I was just trying to be practical.”  By the sound of her voice, perky Alice was on her way back.

I could tell from his expression, Fred was dumbfounded.  “I have no idea where the laundry room is.  It's not the first thing I look for after breaking and entering.”

“That's okay, I'll find it.”  Alice gathered up all the wet clothes and went in search of a dryer.  Fred and I stared at her retreating form in stunned silence.

Jasper walked seemingly aimless around the room for a bit, but when he stopped he had placed himself between Fred and the door.  Fred must have noticed it as well, as he led me back to the armchair but sat on the opposite arm, placing himself between Jasper and myself.   Emmett appeared to have relaxed again, but he hadn't assumed his previous position, opting to keep a protective arm around Rosalie.  His eyes darted between the other two men.

I briefly wondered if we had attracted the attention of the neighbours, but I couldn't hear any signs of them approaching.  They could have called the police, but we would definitely hear them and be long gone.

After a few moments, Fred placed a hand on my shoulder to attract my attention.  “Do you think Riley will look for us?”  Even though he spoke very quietly, I was sure the others could hear, but they made no response.     

“Riley's dead.  I think the other vampires I told you about destroyed him, Victoria too.  That was her name, the one with red hair that created us.” 

“Did you get to see Diego?”

“He wasn't there.  He was already dead before we left Seattle.”

He looked at me for a long time but didn't say anything.

The silence was broken by Alice's soft footsteps as she returned.  Her arms were empty so I guess she'd found a dryer.

“Why did you bring them here?”  Fred continued to talk to me as if the others weren't there.

“I wanted to come on my own, but they insisted on coming with me.” 

“Why? Were you captured?  Did they try to stop you leaving?  Did they threaten you?”  His voice rose with each question as though the thought of them doing any of those things angered him. 

“No, no they've been really good to me.  I don't think they're really dangerous.”  Well not all of them I added silently to myself. 

Fred glanced down at his shirt to the small tears left where Jasper had grabbed him.

“Well, Jasper can be a bit overbearing.”  I didn't dare glance in his direction.  “Alice says it’s because we're newborns and unpredictable.”

“They all freak out over a rude comment, but we're unpredictable.”  He had a point.  We still didn't know what that was all about.

I wanted him to know they hadn't treated me badly, so I told him how they'd let me shower, gave me clothes and the phone, and even asked me to stay.  “I probably would have stayed for a while, but I wanted to make sure the wolves didn't get you.” 

His brow furrowed in confusion.  “Why would wolves bother me?”

“They're not ordinary wolves, they're huge, and they can destroy us.” My voice betrayed my excitement, I hoped I would finally get to tell him everything I'd found out.  “When I went into the clearing to find Diego, I saw these freaky giant wolves, and I ran.” 

“Giant wolves?” he asked with his eyebrows raised.

“Yeah, Carlisle says they're werewolves; that they turn back into humans.”

“Who is Carlisle?”

“He's their coven leader, the one that's really old.  He has a job, he actually goes to work every day, you won't believe where.”

Fred didn't appear to be curious about Carlisle's career choice.  “Did you see the wolves turn into humans or did he just tell you?”  Fred was suspicious again.  I had to admit it did sound improbable.

“I didn't see them, but I know they can talk.  I heard one of them on the phone.”  It did sound odd saying it out loud like that, less believable somehow.

I knew from the look he gave me that he was not convinced.  I continued to tell Fred about what had happened since we had parted.  He stopped interrupting me, and just letting me ramble in a disjointed way until I stopped.  I explained what I knew about how the Cullens talents worked, but skipped over the bits where I'd lost control.  He and Jasper were still eyeing each other warily, so I thought it best not to mention Jasper pinning me to the floor.  I didn't mention the other vampire Carlisle mentioned either; the one who would want to know about his gift.

The Cullens didn't say anything; they all stayed eerily still while I talked.  It was as though Fred and I were the only ones in the room. 

When I finally stopped talking he looked around the room, addressing them all.  “To be honest, I don't care about your wolves, or your doctor leader, or the guy whose dating his lunch.  I just want to know what this is all about.  Why did she change so many of us? Why did she want us to fight?”

Rosalie and Emmett both looked at Jasper, silently electing him as their spokesman.  He had relaxed enough while I was talking to sit on the arm of Alice's chair once again.  He pursed his lips as if he was deciding how much to tell us.  They were always holding something back.

“Last year when Edward started dating Bella,” he began.  “We were playing baseball when‑”

“Baseball?  Really, how does that work?”  Fred asked.  I was curious myself.  Surely the bat would break.  Even if it didn't the noise would attract too much attention.

“I'll explain that later,” Jasper said, waving away Fred's question with a gesture similar to one Alice used.  “Three nomads heard our game and were curious.  Unfortunately, Bella was with us and one of them decided to track her.  We took Bella away for her protection, but he found her and we had to destroy him.  His companion subsequently tried to attack Bella some time later, but was destroyed by the wolves.  Victoria was the tracker’s mate.  She wanted to kill Bella in revenge for his death.  She knew she couldn't get past us and the wolves alone, so she decided to create an army.”

So that's what Alice meant when she said I was in this situation because of them.  I glanced at Fred but couldn't read the expression on his face.  I'd never felt so insignificant.  It was bad enough that my mom left and couldn't be bothered to take me with her.  Leaving me with a dad that mostly ignored me, only acknowledging me with his fist.  I'd become used to being invisible to the people going about their daily lives, as I almost starved on the streets in front of them.  To Riley, I was just an easy target.  He called us his kids, but he didn't care about any of us.  He was just doing what she wanted.  It didn't matter who we were; we were expendable.  Even if we had won the fight, she would have destroyed us.  The way she created us was against the rules; if she hadn't destroyed us, the ones with cloaks would have.

“What is it, Bree?”  Jasper's voice was softer than I'd ever heard it, full of concern.  “You're feeling quite dejected right now.”

“I don't know.  Maybe I should have stayed with the others and been destroyed.”  Rosalie gasped at my statement.  “She didn't create me as a mate or to have a friend, she didn't even want to know me.  I have to spend eternity like this just because she wanted revenge.  What's the point?”

“You will find purpose in your existence, Bree.  You're still very young and adjusting to this life.”  Jasper's sent a wave of optimism to me with his words, but it didn't help much.

“What do you know?  Carlisle looked after you and at least he changed your wife with you.”  I could feel Fred's gaze boring into the top of my head.  I guess he hadn't heard me use such a petulant tone before.

“Carlisle didn't change me.  The circumstances of my change were not dissimilar to yours.  I was also changed to be part of an army.”  I gaped at him open mouthed at this revelation.  Was this the norm?  Were vampires constantly waging petty wars humans knew nothing about?

Fred shifted slightly on the arm of the chair so his body was facing Jasper full on.  I could tell Jasper bothered him.  It wasn't just the empath thing.  I think he believed he could be more dangerous than we thought.  This latest revelation all but proved it.

“I stayed and fought for many years,” Jasper continued, as if unaware of Fred's movement.  “I lived this life for over eighty years before I met Alice.”

“But you said she was your wife.”  Had he lied?  Was she really his sister?  They didn't act like brother and sister.

“That's because we are married.”  Alice giggled and clasped his hand as he said this.  He lifted her hand and gently touched his lips to her knuckles.

“Can vampires do that?” I asked, astonished.  I don't know why that surprised me considering what I'd learned in the last twenty four hours.

“Yep, as often as we want.”  Emmett entered the conversation, pulling Rosalie closer to him and planting a kiss on her cheek.

“Well, I don't want to get married.”  My petulant tone was back.  “What am I supposed to do now?”

“Rosalie eased herself out of Emmett's embrace and leaned towards me.  “Come back with us; we will look after you.  Carlisle has a lot of experience guiding newborns.  Stay with us and give yourself time to decide what you want to do.”

I didn't know what to say.  Esme's face came to mind.  Her smile that reached her eyes, her welcoming warmth, and the hopeful look when she had asked me to stay.  She really wanted me.  I think Rosalie and Carlisle did too.  I can't remember ever feeling so wanted before.  But they were not the only ones in the coven, or family as they liked to call themselves.  Emmett would probably be fine with me staying, if only to keep him amused.  Alice seemed friendly enough, over friendly sometimes, but then there was Jasper.  I'd seen moments when he could be quite nice but my feelings were somewhat in line with Fred's.  I was sure he could be very dangerous.

Then there was the problem of Edward.  Well, not Edward himself, I'd barely spent any time with him to know if he would make me feel welcome.  It was more the issue of Bella.  I didn't think he would want to bring Bella to the house if I lived there.  To be honest, I wouldn't want Bella in the house if I lived there. 

I knew they were waiting for me to respond, but for some reason they were all looking at Alice.

I gave them the only response I could at that time.  “I need to talk to Fred, alone.”