The Peace Keeper

The rest of dinner passed simply with me asking questions about the Cullen's lifestyle. I have to say, I'm deeply impressed with the amount of commitment they had. What really got my interest, though, was when the subject turned to the neighboring werewolves.

"They're part of the reason I came here, actually." I admitted. "When I had heard of your family and a wolf pack living close together, I decided to come check it out."

"When we first came to Forks, a treaty was established." Carlisle explained. "They set up a boundary line that we cannot cross. My family and I are not permitted to hunt in the area or turn a human." My eyes flickered to Bella for a split second before he continued. "We're very thankful for the pack allowing us to stay."

I nodded in agreement, "It is very generous for a pack to do that." I paused, "So how much do you all know about them? How big is their pack? Have they ever attacked you before? By the way, when is the next full moon? Do you keep in close contact with the pack--"

"You know," Alice interrupted politely, "Instead of asking all these questions, why not have Bella bring you down to meet them? The wolves are friends of hers."

My eyes lit up, "Really? You wouldn't mind, would you?" I asked her.

She smiled, "Of coarse not."

"Awesome! Let's road trip out tomorrow. We can take my car."

~~~

The next day around one in the afternoon, I was standing outside of Bella's door, waiting for her to answer it.

After two knocks, she did, pulling on a jacket and stepping out onto the stoop, beside me.

"I called ahead, so they're expecting us. Let's go." She grinned.

I returned it, "Wicked awesome."

We simultaneously got into my Ferrari, and I reved the engine a bit before backing out of her gravel driveway.

I had the radio on softly, playing some oldies rock songs. Bella and I took up on a loose conversation.

"The pack is part of a Native American tribe called the Quileute Tribe. The reservation they live on is called La Push."

"It's actually quite common for Native American tribes to have wolves among them."

"Really?"

"Yep," I made a turn off the main highway, "The reservation I lived on as a kid had a small pack of three wolves,"

"You lived on a reservation?" Bella inquired.

I nodded, smiling in nostalgically, "My grandfather was the last known Shaman of the Lenape tribe. My mother was fully Lenape, while my dad was three quarters Algonquian one-quarter European."

Bella stared at me for a moment, "Now I see it," I raised an eyebrow at her, my eyes wavering from the road for a second, "In your features I mean."

"If you ever meet my brother, you'll be able to tell. He looks more like my mom. I mostly take after my dad."

Bella looked as though she was about to say something more, but stopped herself, and said, "This is the turn off."

I pulled onto a road that had a large sign next to it. "Welcome to La Push," I read aloud.

Bella gave me instructions on which house to pull up to. When we finally came to a stop, we were parked next to a small, weathered looking place. But it was very homely non the less.

"Who's house is this?" I asked as we got out.

"A friend of my dad's, Billy, and his son, Jacob." Bella answered, going up to the door and knocking a few times. "Jacob is one of the wolves."

The door was answered by an old man in a wheel chair. Is hair was faded gray, and his haunting black eyes lit up at the sight of Bella.

"Hello, Bella. The boys are on their way over," He said in a surprisingly strong voice, "Jacob is out rounding them up. He'll be over in a minute." The man paused, "Who's your friend?"

Bella turned slightly, allowing me to come into the man's view more, "This is Emma-Kate. She's the one that wanted to meet everyone. Emma, this is Billy Black."

I smiled kindly at the man, reaching out my hand, "Nice to meet you, sir."

He shook my hand, "The pleasures all mine."

Before anyone could continue the conversation, a loud shout came from behind us.

"Whoa! That's a nice car!"

We turned around to see three boys walking up a dirt path leading up from a hill around the back of the house. The youngest looking boy was starring at my car with a stunned gaze. The other two looked impressed, but not amazed like the others.

Bella leaned over and whispered in my ear, "The young one is Seth. The other one is Quil, and the guy in the middle is Sam. Sam's the leader of the pack."

"Hey, Bella!" Seth exclaimed, approaching the house. "Jake is getting the rest of us, he'll be over soon, though!" He paused to look at me. "Is this the girl?"

Bella nodded, "Yeah, this is Emma-Kate, and Emma, this is Sam, Quil and Seth."

I waved, "Hey."

Sam stepped forward, "Bella tells us you have questions."

I nodded, "Just a few..."