“So…Untraceable?”

We were in my room after an excruciating round of Twenty Questions with Charlie in the living room.  It was your basic police interrogation featuring all of the typical points of questioning…if an inquiry about the discovery of werewolves could ever be considered typical—How did you find out?  When?  Where were you? What did you do?  Charlie didn’t seem to notice the mounting strain in the room as he poured through his list.  They were all questions that neither Edward nor I took pleasure in answering.  It was a part of our lives that neither of us preferred to count towards our existence. 

Edward did his best to maintain his air of nonchalance as he listened to me describe, in as minor detail as possible, my initial discovery of the pack, and I was relieved at how believable his own story was—how easily it intertwined with mine.  Cover stories were Edward’s specialty.  After almost a half an hour of agony that didn’t seem as if it were anywhere near to coming to a close, I had taken advantage of a momentary pause in Charlie’s questioning.

“Dad, Edward didn’t get a lot of sleep on the plane, and he had to drive all the way from Seattle.  I think maybe we should be going to bed.”

Edward looked down at me, impressed.  Charlie took in the pale complexion and the darkening circles that had become familiar features on his new son-in-law and he nodded his head in surrender.

“Yeah, I suppose you two have had a pretty long night too,” he agreed.  “I’ll let you get up to bed.”

The Sportscenter theme song had filled the living room, bathing it in blue TV light as Edward led me gratefully up the stairs.  Something told me that it would be a long time before we were going to be able to speak to the wolves.

Because we were definitely going out tonight.  There was no way that he was leaving me behind.

Edward brushed off my less than subtle inquiry and looked up at me from across the room with a smirk playing on his lips.

“Are you aware that this is the first time that I am officially welcome in your home overnight?”  He appeared at my side suddenly, and kissed me softly just below my ear.  I lost my train of thought. 

“And all it took was a ring on my finger.” I breathed, turning into his kiss and searching out his lips with mine.

He took my left hand and caressed my fingers lightly, stopping at the shimmering oval that I was still getting used to.  A chill ran through my entire body as he kissed the ring and let his cold lips roam tantalizingly up my wrist.

 “And what a beautiful finger it is.”

I knew what he was trying to do.  Still, it took an astounding amount of willpower not to simply let him do it. 

“No,” I finally insisted, pulling my hand away and fighting a wave of frustration that I could only blame myself for. “Not this time.  You’re not going to distract me.  What does untraceable mean?”

Edward stared blankly back at me for a moment, weighing his options, then his shoulders sank and he let out a long resigned breath.  His eyes closed. 

“It means that she can’t be tracked, not even by one of our kind.  Her talent is the ability to move without scent or sound...even without being seen if she concentrates hard enough.”

I frowned.  “But you can still hear her thoughts?”

Edward’s eyes snapped open and he stared at me sincerely.  “Bella, you are the only one I’ve ever encountered whose thoughts are a mystery to me.”  His eyes narrowed, and I took pleasure in the fact that he still found that fact frustrating.

Satisfied, I moved on.  “What is she doing here?” 

His lips pulled down at the corners and there was something bordering on curiosity in his voice as he answered.  “She wants to meet you.”

“Me!”  I said a little too loudly.  “Then why didn’t she come to the wedding?” 

Edward sighed.  “Bella, there were wolves at our wedding.” 

“There are wolves all over LaPush and she didn’t seem to have a problem showing up there!”

Edward’s eyes flicked nervously toward the door.  I realized that my volume had reached a level that would probably attract Charlie if I kept arguing. 

“She followed a scent she couldn’t identify,” Edward whispered when he had affirmed my father’s continued oblivion to our conversation.  “She realizes now that it was not the best decision on her part.” 

I fought back the plethora of sarcastic remarks that could have gone in response to that statement, and instead opted to move on.

“But she’s like you?  Vegetarian?”  My casual use of his family’s coined term for their atypical lifestyle choice brought a slight smile to his lips.

“Of course.”

“Then why do you seem so worried?”

The question was followed by an uncommonly long silence, during which I observed an internal debate transpire in his mind between two strong emotions that I couldn’t quite distinguish.  Finally he exhaled sharply and met my eyes once again.  “She has a peculiar interest in the wolves”.

“I knew it!  She wants revenge!” 

A flame of panic ignited in my stomach.  Edward’s cool hands pulling me gently to his chest snuffed out the fire before it became a full-fledged inferno. 

“Always the fatalist!”  he said with an enticing chuckle.  “Bella, she’s merely curious.  She doesn’t understand the strange connection that our family seems to have with the Quileute tribe but she is making an attempt.  She’s trying to come to terms with the actions behind Laurent’s death.”

“Was Laurent her mate?” I asked against his chest.

“One of them I suppose,” he mused. 

“But not like what we are?”

His reaction was instantaneous and strong.  He pulled my chin up so that I was staring into eyes that burned with intensity.

“There is nothing in existence that could even come close to what you are to me.” 

He kissed me then, his lips feather light against mine.  His hand moved slowly across my cheek, past my ear until his fingers were curling into my hair…cupping the back of my neck and pressing his mouth more fully to mine. His kiss deepened, becoming more enthusiastic but torturously controlled.  He pulled away all too soon, shaking his head painfully and looking away for a moment—gathering his senses again.  I struggled to find mine.  My next words came out weak and weightless.

“I should explain to Irina what happened to Laurent.” 

“You most certainly will not!”  Edward was suddenly irate.  His arms wrapped tighter around me, becoming restraints, preventing me from moving away. 

His sudden mood change disarmed me.  “Why?”  I asked.

“Perhaps you recall the last time that a vampire’s mate died while trying to pursue you?”

I thought about that and shuddered.  I remembered all too well Victoria’s wrath and the substantial amount of trouble it had caused—was still causing.  After all, Laurent had died doing Victoria’s bidding.  Edward felt me tremble.  His arms loosened and his hands moved to stroke my face.

“Bella, I’m so sorry that Irina’s intrusion has caused undue strain in our new life.  I wish that I could take away all of your trepidation, but truly, she means no harm.  She’s only curious.  She’ll be gone in a few days.”

I looked into his dark amber eyes and tried to reconstruct my argument as it disintegrated around me, but I was still focused on the words our new life—as if it were only one life shared between us.  The heavy clomp of Charlie’s work boots on their tired journey up the stairs provoked a pause in our conversation.  I pushed deeper into Edward’s arms.  He obliged, and we held each other in silence for a moment, counting Charlie’s footfalls as they stopped in my doorway to listen.  I held my breath, but couldn’t help the evil smile that spread across my face as I thought of all of the things that I could possibly do right now to make Charlie regret listening at the door of two newlyweds. 

Edward’s hand crept slowly up from my waist and came to rest over my mouth.  He lifted me up like a kidnap victim and placed me gently on the bed, lying down beside me, and flinching slightly as the new bed frame creaked softly under our combined weight.  He looked at me with an expression that was both forbidding and pleading and he shook his head slowly.

“Bella, you wouldn’t put me in a compromising position on my first night as a welcomed guest, would you?”

“Of course not,” I sighed, thinking of a few compromising positions that I wouldn’t mind putting him in at the moment.  I blushed and covered it up with a sly smile.  “I was planning to save that for the second night.” 

A tolerant smirk appeared on his face, and my stomach was suddenly full of butterflies…very irritated, riled up butterflies, as I contemplated the more than four months that I had agreed to wait before I would actually be able to worry about this particular newlywed dilemma.   

I lay in his arms and felt his long fingers play absentmindedly between my shoulder blades as we eavesdropped on Charlie’s before-bed activities.  The water in the bathroom turned on and then off again.  There was a tiny snap as he flicked off the light.  I breathed in Edward’s scent as his hands moved away and I felt his lips in my hair.  We counted more bootsteps from the bathroom to the bedroom, listened as those boots fell to the ground in preparation for tomorrow, and finally heard the bedsprings protest as he settled in for sleep. 

Edward’s lips left my hair and kissed slowly down my cheek until they reached my own.  He kissed me passionately, folding his arms around me fully.  

“I suppose you are set against allowing me to speak to the wolves alone?” he asked, his lips moving against mine, and spoken like that, I was almost unable to respond.

Almost.

“I’m going with you,” I insisted.  It came out with much more regret than stubbornness, in a rush of breath that left no doubt as to what I would rather be doing.  Edward let his hand fall slowly down the line of my spine until it rested on my lower back.  He pulled me closer to him, deepening his kiss.

“And there’s nothing I can do to convince you otherwise?”

My mind flitted to the honeymoon…to my bare legs wrapped around his waist as he carried me into the bedroom without breaking our kiss…to the combination of fear and raw passion in his eyes as he took in my naked form awaiting him in the moonlight, and the sweet abandonment that had passed through them as he had entered me for the first time.  We had both been so frightened and inexperienced, and yet it had all happened so easily—like instinct…like we had always been made to fit together.  I smiled mischievously.

“There’s always something you can do to convince me otherwise.”

He pushed me away soundlessly, just far enough to look into my eyes.  What I saw there was new.  It was not the militant self control that he had used against me for way too long.  It was a longing that perhaps even rivaled mine….a desire bordering on pain.  His hands were too tight on my shoulders.  His breath came heavy as he looked at me with eyes full of indecision seeming to beg me to continue down this path. I wanted to continue.  The heat that coursed through my body was burning up my common sense, and I wanted more than anything to push him past his point of resistance.  My breath synced with his.  My instincts were telling me that any gesture now on my part would break his self control.  I wanted him too badly to fully appreciate that power.

A burst of snoring came from Charlie’s room, and Edward’s eyes came back into focus.  The lust did not disappear, but it was tinged with the self control that I was fast growing to hate. His eyes flickered toward the door and then back to me, a shameful smile playing on his lips.  His mouth opened to respond, but no words came…only a frustrated half laugh that seemed to say everything.  I nodded silently.

“Let’s go talk to the wolves.”

This was going to be the longest four months of my life.

Fifteen minutes later, we found ourselves in a narrow clearing on the border of the territories--five phased wolves, one unphased alpha, one vampire, one human, and a partridge in a pear tree.  Sam had remained in his human form out of courtesy for the only one who couldn’t carry out a telepathic conversation, and I was incredibly grateful.  I remained silent through most of the argument, observing as Edward plucked the arguments one by one out of each wolf’s mind and tried his best to calm them down. 

He was aided in the fact that the chase had been close enough for Leah, who had been in the lead of course, to notice the complete lack of red in Irina’s eyes.  Edward gained a few points when he called to the wolves’ attention the uniqueness of their situation and the rarity of their scent.  How was Irina supposed to know that she was approaching a pack of vampire-killers?  She’d never smelled them before.  She was only following a strange scent.

Edward was doing superbly.  I saw the wolves’ hackles slowly going down as he crushed each argument at the source and I couldn’t help but be proud.  He could negotiate his way out of anything.  He almost had me convinced too when Sam’s last argument caught me off guard.

“Why is the other one here with her?”  he demanded aggressively.  “The red head was supposed to be on a plane two weeks ago.”

Red head?  I hadn’t expected that. 

Edward had.  He glanced down at me fleetingly with concern before turning his attention back to Sam.  That was good, because he couldn’t see the anger that washed over my face as I realized exactly which red-head that Sam was talking about.  I was sure that my heartbeat gave him the message loud and clear regardless.

“Tanya?” I spluttered and saw the muscles in Edward’s forearms tense.

“She stayed for Irina,” Edward said quietly, only to me.  “She’s remained within the boundaries of our territory the entire time.”

Sam was glaring at us expectantly.  “She almost caused a war at your wedding.  She almost attacked Jacob.”

“He was as much at fault for that conflict as she was,” Edward hissed.

Sam’s hands were balled into fists, but his face maintained that same impassive expression that had been present since he had first learned to control his phasing.  I had hated that expression when I had first found out about Jacob, but now I was beginning to understand the need for it. 

Edward had deliberately held back the knowledge of Tanya’s continued presence to me.  He had broken our promise of absolute disclosure already.  I needed a control face like Sam’s at this moment.

Edward put an arm around me, pulling me tight to his side and preventing me from pushing away from him.  He bent to look into my eyes, placing his hands on both sides of my cheeks so I couldn’t turn away from him.  “She’s only here for one week more,” he whispered.  His eyes were sincere as they stared into my fuming ones, but his message was for the entire pack as well.  “When we depart for New Hampshire, Tanya and Irina will leave for the north.”

I frowned, momentarily forgetting Tanya altogether.  In all of the chaos, I had completely forgotten about college.  I hadn’t actually planned on going, but now that my transformation date was so far away, I was suddenly sure that Edward would insist on my attendance.  We only had a week left in Forks.  I hadn’t even started packing.

He saw that information slam into me, and he straightened, facing the wolves again with his arms protectively around me.

“They will not violate the treaty again.  You will have no contact with them whatsoever.  You have my word.”

Quiet snarls filled the air behind Sam.  Edward maintained an icy calm as he responded to all of their thoughts.

“Yes, the word of a vampire.”  He turned back to Sam.  “Can you accept that?”

Sam’s eyes were conflicted.  He stared at Edward for a long time, and Edward stared back, unflinching.  I imagined the flow of images that were going through both minds.  Finally, Sam nodded gravely.

“The lines of the treaty have been blurred due to recent events, but the rules are still in place.” He glared from Edward to me.  I watch Edward look in my direction and flinch and I had no doubt which rule was on Sam’s mind at the moment.  “We’ll be watching them.  If they cross the line, we will kill them.” 

His gaze shifted ominously to me.  “We’ll be watching you too, Bella.”

Edward’s arm tightened around me.  I shifted away and nodded toward Sam.  I had one last request to make before the meeting was over.  I had been hesitant to make it in front of Edward, knowing the pain it would cause, but given the present circumstances, I decided a little pain would do him some good.  Turning to the small sandy wolf that I knew to be Seth, I forced a smile and said, “Will you keep an eye on Jacob for me as long as you’re busy watching everybody else?”

It worked.  Edward’s irritation was obvious as Seth nodded his huge muzzle, and loped off with the rest of the pack.  He carried me back in complete silence.  That was fine.  I wasn’t much in the mood for talking.

By the time we arrived again in my bedroom, my annoyance at his nondisclosure had mounted into full fledged fury. I turned on him as he let me down softly on the bed, fully prepared to make him feel every scathing piece of his own betrayal.  Edward’s expression stopped my words.  There was a battle raging there that I had never seen before, flanked on both side by worry and annoyance.

“What?”  I said, concerned, and yet still unable to keep the acidic quality from making an appearance.

“Irina was there.”  He said evenly.  “She heard everything.”