Better Than Revenge

School went by quickly and pretty soon I was at cheer practice. My mom had been a rebel in high school so she wasn’t exactly a fan of my doing cheer but she still supported me. Nessie and I were pretty good flyers, but that probably had something to do with the fact that we were both more than human and if we got dropped from six-and-a-half feet we wouldn’t get hurt easily. My cousin and I could have full conversations during a stunt pyramid with no fear of losing focus and falling.
“Hey, my mom called,” she said during practice while she was next to me in the air.
“Yeah? What’d she say?”
From the corner of my eye I saw Nessie roll her chocolate ones. “She told me the usual mother stuff about making sure I was good for Aunt Lizzy and Uncle Jacob and that I need to make sure I’m eating right.”
“Did you tell her that we’re going hunting after practice?” I murmured so that no humans could hear.
“Yep. Dad said to bag a mountain lion for him. He’s such a dork.”
I snorted just as I was thrown in the air. The cheer captain started criticizing the stunt once everyone was planted firmly on the ground but I ignored her in favor of keeping my conversation going. “At least your parents are still teenagers. Mine are old.”
She giggled, earning a dirty look from Coach Jenny. “It’s kind of creepy to think that your mom is old enough to be her twin sister’s mom.”
We both burst out laughing. The entire team glared at us so we figured it’d be best to save the rest for our hunt later.
Hunting with Nessie was pretty fun. We’d been going out in the woods together since I was around nine and first changed. My dad had come out of retirement for a little while to show me the ropes and now he and my mom trusted us to go out by ourselves. I mostly just had fun chasing the deer around while Nessie fed.
Renesmee wiped her mouth clean of deer blood and made a face. “Definitely not as good as mountain lion,” she muttered. I barked out a laugh at that comment.
We were already halfway home when we froze. Renesmee’s big brown eyes were wide as she glanced at me. “Do you smell that?” she whispered.
I nodded my huge head and started sniffing the air. The too-sweet scent burned my nose and my stomach roiled at the unfamiliar smell. It was definitely vampire but I had no idea who it could belong to. I’d long gotten used to the scent of the Cullen clan and Leah’s husband Tony so they didn’t burn my senses but this new one was making me go crazy. I phased back just so that it wouldn’t be so strong.
“Whoa!” Nessie gasped. “You could warn someone before you start running around stark naked.” She shed her blouse so that I would at least have a little scrap of clothing although I really didn’t mind all that much.
“Shh,” I hissed as I slipped on the shirt. “The scent is coming from the direction of the mansion. Do you think that maybe someone was going to visit your family?”
She took a sniff again and wrinkled her nose. “No. I don’t recognize it and I doubt that someone that wanted to visit any of my family would be coming to Forks or La Push when I’m the only one here.”
I frowned. “Huh. Well I’ll tell my dad when we get home and I think you should call your parents and your grandpa. Maybe he’ll know.”
She snorted. “You know that’s only going to result in everyone rushing out here to try and find the scent which means my side of the fam can be here in a few hours or days. Do you really want to make a big deal of this?”
I rolled my eyes and started back home. “It’s just a precaution, Renesmee. I’m Alpha now so I have duty to protect the tribe and if that means telling our parents then so be it.”
Despite her reservations, Nessie was just as alert as I was as we ran back to the house. I slid out of her shirt and put on some of my own clothes that I kept hidden in the backyard. We found my mom and dad in the living room with Mom going crazy over the football game playing on the flat screen. “Shit! You sonofabitch! Catch the fucking ball!” she screamed.
“ASU not doing so good?” I guessed.
Dad rolled his eyes. “You’re mom’s a devil and we have a bet that if they lose she’s gotta wear a U of A shirt to Leah’s tomorrow.”
“We are not going to lose to those damn pussy cats,” Mom hissed glaring at my father. “Now shut up Jake and let me enjoy the game. Go! Go! Touchdown!”
“Actually, Dad, we have something to tell you.”
My dad got up slowly from the couch and followed us into the kitchen. “Did you not want to bug your mom or is she not allowed to hear this?”
“Kinda both,” I said. “On our way home Nessie and I smelled something. It was definitely vampire but neither of us recognized it. She’s calling Bella and Edward and then probably Carlisle but I thought that you should know.”
He stiffened for a moment. “Do you want me to go check it out?”
I shook my head quickly. Dad still phased every once in a while to help me out with the role of Alpha but I wanted to show him- and myself- that I could handle this one on my own. “No, that’s okay. I’ll just make sure to keep a better eye out, okay?”
He nodded in agreement but I could tell that he still wanted to go wolf and find the scent. Well, at least he trusted me enough to figure this one out.