Chapter 3

E POV

I watched my Bella leave with that human boy. I felt Emmett’s hands pin my shoulders in a death grip to keep me from stopping them. My growls were getting steadily louder the further she walked away from me. That boy had his hand wrapped possessively around her waist as he led her down the street. I wanted to rip it from his body and beat him with it. She wasn’t his to touch, she was mine.

“Edward, people are beginning to stare. You need to keep it under control,” Rosalie warned. “Emmett, drag his ass out of here and take him hunting or something. I’m sure there’s a rock formation somewhere around here he could crush that no one would notice was missing.” She gave me an evil smirk. “I’m sure Bella and Mike,” she stressed his name to me, “are only going somewhere private to make out.”

I whipped my head around at her, snarling, and was suddenly staring up at my family from the ground, Emmett’s foot planted firmly on my neck. I held my hands up in a sign of surrender so he’d let me up. He yanked me to my feet a little harder than necessary as a further warning.

“I know you’re feeling the effects of finding your mate tonight, Edward. But I’m warning you,” he growled low and menacingly at me, “do not snarl at my Rosie again.” His serious demeanor changed to his normal goofy grin. “I doubt you’d make any headway with your Bella without that pretty boy face of yours.”

I was sure the sudden change in atmosphere was thanks to Jasper coming toward us as quickly as humanly possible with Alice tucked safely beneath his arm. She must have seen our altercation was about to escalate out of control.

“Guys, it’s going to be hard for Edward to pursue Bella if we have to move tonight,” Alice warned quietly.

“I’m sorry, Emmett,” I said, grasping his hand in a handshake truce. I looked at my sister, careful to keep my expression non-threatening. “But please keep your wife under control. Until Bella accepts my claim, I don’t want to hear anymore comments about her being with another male.”

My sister had the good sense to look guilty before shaking it off. She wasn’t one to ever admit she was wrong. She shrugged her shoulders at me. “Geesh Edward, learn to take a joke.” She turned her bored expression to her husband, tossing her hair back. “Emmett, I want to go home now. There’s no reason to stay now that she’s gone and I’m bored.”

***

A POV

We discussed Bella with Carlisle and Esme when we arrived back at the house. We decided that Rosalie and I would go with Bella tomorrow to get “operation Bella” underway. Edward was concerned about Mike wanting to date her and didn’t want to take any chances so the guys would meet us later in town.

“Jasper, what emotions did you feel coming from them?” I asked. We were finishing our hunt and running back to the house.

“Well, the guy really does like her. His lust for her was through the roof. I’d say it’s a close second to what I felt coming from Edward when you were talking to her. But not close to what I feel for you.” He chuckled and squeezed my hand.

I swear I love this man.

“What about Bella?”

“She feels very friendly toward him, but a lot of frustration also. There is some desire there, but it hasn’t grown yet. I think Edward may have to work at this a little.”

“Did you feel anything when she was looking at Edward?” After all, this was the key, I knew.

“Now that’s what was interesting. She felt intimidated when he looked at her, but there was desire also.” He frowned a little in thought. “Alice, I just don’t see how he’s going to overcome a human’s natural instinct to fear us, to ever get her to fall in love with him.”

“Well, my love, that’s where you and I come in.” I stroked his cheek and laughed. “I will be able to tell if she gets any closer to Mike, or anyone else, and stop it. You are going to use your wonderful gift and do a little manipulating when it’s needed.”

“What do you mean? If we manipulate her into loving him then it won’t last. That’ll just be worse for Edward than if he never found anyone.”

I shook my head at Jasper. “No, no we’re not going to force her to love him. That’s not what I mean. Edward would be devastated if she doesn’t truly love him. I love Edward and I want him to be as happy as the rest of us. We need a complete family and this includes Bella.

“Consider your gift more of a nudge or roadblock when needed. If she’s around Edward and feels intimidated or afraid, help her get past it. A little bit of desire won’t hurt in the beginning just to get things rolling. She and Edward can take it from there. And when she’s with Mike or someone is talking about him to her, then keep that annoyance factor as high as it is now so it overrides any chance of her feelings becoming more.”

He pulled me into a hug kissing the top of my head. “You really are a little minx, aren’t you? I’m so glad I know never to bet against you. Edward better appreciate everything we’re doing to help him with this.”

I laughed and kissed him back. “Oh, he will.” I tapped the side of my head and we continued back to the house.

***

EPOV

I heard Alice and Rosalie leave in her car to get Bella. The plan was for Jasper, Emmett, and I to run into them this afternoon at the mall and convince her to go to spend the afternoon with me and come back to the house for the evening. This would prevent her from spending time with that boy, Mike, today. According to Alice, we weren’t going to be able to stop every interaction between them, but I planned to do everything in my power to stop him from touching her ever again. I wanted to make my claim known and have her accept it immediately.

Carlisle reminded me this is the way it works in our world only. The human world works differently. He reminded me that I couldn’t treat Bella like a vampire and just claim her. It wasn’t that simple. I would have to let her get to know me, decide she likes me, and then love me. Then and only then I could make her my mate. He warned me that she had free will and not to forget it. If she didn’t accept my claim then I was to walk away and we’d move on somewhere else.

I wouldn’t let that happen. I knew she was for me. Alice saw it and no one bet against Alice. I just had to do the footwork to make the vision come true. This was the part that was so frustrating. Alice was still refusing to tell me her visions. She was hiding something from me about Bella. Whatever it was, it wouldn’t stop me from gaining her love and commitment. I was confident I could win her love. I just needed to be my usual charming self and dazzle her.

I was sitting in my room listening to classical music with my eyes closed. I had already showered and gotten dressed from my hunt. I heard Emmett and Jasper playing a video game downstairs. I couldn’t wait until I’d get to see her again and actually talk to her. I was bothered last night that I couldn’t hear her mind when she was talking to Alice. I didn’t know what to make of that so I’d need to focus more clearly today. I’d certainly heard that punk’s thoughts when he was thinking about Bella. It was hard not to go over and teach him some manners last night. She may not be mine yet, but I knew she would be. I hadn’t even spoken to her yet and I already felt an attraction toward her that I haven’t felt toward anyone in 100 years.

I opened my eyes and looked at my watch. It was about time to leave. I could feel the anticipation building in me.

Jasper called from downstairs. “Relax, Edward. You’ll see her soon.”

Emmett started laughing. “Eddie Boy has it bad already.”

I just got up and headed downstairs. “Emmett, I hate that name. I’ve been telling you that for over 50 years. When do you think you’ll remember?”

“Probably not for at least another 150 years, but feel free to keep reminding me. Eddie.”

I felt the waves of calm coming from Jasper. “Edward, you can take the time now to chase Emmett and beat him up, or we can go see Bella. Your choice.”

“Fine. Emmett, remind me to get you later.”

Esme called from the garden as we headed to my Volvo to leave. “You boys behave. Edward, I can’t wait to meet your Bella this evening. I’ll be sure to get some snacks from the store for her.”
“Thanks, Esme. We’ll see you later.” We drove out of the drive heading to Port Angeles. Of course, having lived here before, I knew where the mall had been built. I thought over Esme’s comment ‘My Bella.’

I smiled; I liked the sound of that.

Chapter 2

I don’t own Twilight. Big surprise there.

Alice silently apprised the beautiful angel who had captured my attention. She had been blocking me since that evening when I made my announcement. I knew she was keeping secrets from me. She avoided being anywhere near me for any length of time. If she had to be, then Jasper was with her. Jasper would spend the entire time messing around with my emotions, between giddiness, sorrow, fear, joy, depression and anything else he could throw in, so that I wouldn’t be able to focus on her mind. Jasper was her mate and as such protected Alice from any threat including my unwelcome snooping into her mind.

This was the relationship I wanted. Male vampires are fiercely protective of their mates. This instinct only intensifies over time. This is the reason nomads become violent. Without a mate to give direction and focus, the instinct short circuits and violence replaces protection. My problem was I had this same fierce need but no one to protect. My father and brothers allowed me to act as a surrogate protector to their wives when they went hunting alone. It wasn’t often as their own natural instinct demanded they keep their mates close, but it was done to keep me from going insane.

I caught the twinkle in my sister’s eye. I looked to Jasper first to be certain he wasn’t going to attack my emotions. At seeing the smirk directed at me I knew I was safe for the moment and delved into her mind to hear her thoughts. I caught a quick glimpse of a meadow before she began singing an old Spice Girl’s song in Greek. Now that was just wrong

“Alice,” I growled in frustration. What did a meadow have to do with anything? I hadn’t even seen anyone in the picture.

“Edward,” Jasper warned as he moved between Alice and me. “Do you really want to start crying in front of all these humans?”

“I didn’t mean anything by it Jasper,” I reassured him, holding my hands up in a sign of surrender. “You know I wouldn’t hurt her, but she’s got to let me see something. Anything!” I looked down at my sister to see her still staring at my angel. “Please Alice. Show me something.”

She looked up at me before leaning into Jasper, who wrapped his arms around her. “Edward, I could give you all the answers. You’re right. I do know something, but that’s not how it’s going to work this time. I let you see everything before when you searched for your mate within our kind and as soon as you saw a flaw you didn’t like, you walked away. You’re going to have to decide if she’s the one you want without your personal crystal ball. That means getting to know her the old fashioned way.”

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration. “Well can you tell me at least if she’s the one and then I promise to work to get to know her first?”

She and Jasper both laughed at me before she answered. Her face lost all humor and she looked at me with complete seriousness. “Only you can decide if she’s your mate Edward. I will only tell you that if she’s the one, don’t expect it to be easy. Choosing a human wasn’t going to be easy anyway since she doesn’t know about our kind, but with her there are some external influences that are going to make your quest more difficult. In the past I knew none of the others were your true mate-“
I interrupted, “Then why did you let me spend the last 80 years going through the motions if none of them were my mate!” I was becoming frustrated and angry with her, which wasn’t such a good idea if Jasper’s growls were any indication.

“Jasper it’s okay.” Alice calmed him. She rose up on her toes to kiss him reassuringly before turning back to me. “Edward, think about it for a moment,” she smirked. “She’s seventeen. She wasn’t alive 80 years ago. You needed something to keep you busy and you had to come to the point of making this decision for yourself. What would you have said even a year ago if I told you that your true mate was human?”

I opened my mouth to respond and shut it again at her raised eyebrow. “Alright. You have a point,” I conceded.

“Of course I do. I’m always right, you should know that by now,” she smirked. Then she got serious again. “Carlisle said for you to be absolutely sure so you need to decide if you want to pursue her or move on,” she continued. “This is her life, her eternity you’re talking about. So, are you sure she’s the one?”

I looked again at my angel. She was talking with her group of friends completely unaware that her life was about to change. I knew. I didn’t need Alice’s visions.

This human - I didn’t even know her name yet, was my mate. I knew it to the depth of my soul, such as it is. Now I would just need to work to convince her. That was the tricky part. I turned back to Alice and Jasper and smiled.

“I’m certain. She’s my mate,” I stated. “Now, how do I get her?” I asked just as Emmett and Rosalie walked up.

“Edward, if you don’t know how to get a girl then maybe you should have Carlisle give you the birds and bees talk,” Emmett said.

“Shut it Emmett,” I growled. “I know how to get a girl in general. But how do I get a human girl? She’s not going to understand our world or my need for her. I can’t walk up and just announce that I choose her to become my mate and take her home. It’s a little more complicated than that.”

It was finally decided that Alice would be the best to try and approach her to learn more about her. Out of all of us, she was the least intimidating.

“Alice, don’t be obvious about it. Just see what you can find out. Is she with that boy or not? Has he claimed her as his mate? If so, is she committed to him or can he be removed easily? I need to know if he’s going to be a problem or not.”
I could already feel my instinct kicking in. I could feel the tightening in my stomach and the narrowing of my eyes taking in this pathetic human boy touching my mate. I heard the growl surface from within before being distracted by a hard punch against my shoulder from Emmett just as a wave of calmness hit me from Jasper.

“Knock it off Edward,” Emmett warned. “You really don’t want to start something right now. Hell, she doesn’t even know you exist.” He paused glancing toward my angel, who was looking my direction again. “Well, I take that back. Maybe she does know you exist. But,” he stressed, “you don’t even know her name yet. She isn’t aware of your claim. So chill.”

“Edward, I’m warning you,” Rosalie finally decided to make her thoughts known. “Don’t you dare attack or hurt that boy. You screw this up and make me move again right after I unpacked and I’ll hurt you myself. I told you I don’t like this.”

I glared at my sister in response, which only earned me another punch from Emmett. “Damn it Emmett! Stop with the punches or meet me in the woods later. I’m not going to hurt anyone. Geesh, have a little faith.”

“Edward,” Alice laughed as she skipped away, “I don’t think teenagers call them mates. I think they prefer boyfriend & girlfriend.” She skipped off before I could say anything else.

Jasper chuckled at me. “You know they’re just messing with you don’t you? But really Edward, lighten up already.”

I watched as Alice “bumped” into her making her spill her drink on Alice. My sister must really love me to let someone ruin her outfit.

APOV

It was finally the right time. I knew when we were at Tanya’s wedding that he’d finally make his decision. I’d known all along my brother was going to choose this path. He never liked to do things the easy way so why would the choice of mate be any different? I knew Forks was where the girl in question would be. I didn’t know her name yet but I knew she was for Edward. I’d seen her a few times over the years in my visions. I knew she and I would become close friends. I saw their wedding and she would fit in perfectly, even before she knows the truth about her place in our family.

However, it wasn’t going to be easy for him. She was probably the most difficult choice for a mate he could make and this wasn’t the place to tell him either. He’d cause a scene that would terrorize this entire town. Hell, when they found out our entire family was going to have a fit even worse than the one when he made his announcement. Jasper didn’t even know everything and I hated that I’ve kept this secret from him, but I didn’t want him to worry about me. I know Jasper and his first instinct would be to take me far away from here to protect me and I knew Edward and my family was going to need my visions. I knew keeping things secret was the best decision until this girl was fully accepted by everyone in our family. Edward was going to have enough problems; he didn’t need his own family to fight him also.

It was decided I should be the one to approach her first to learn more about her. Of everyone, I was certainly the least intimidating. The guys were completely out and Rosalie, I knew wasn’t completely on board with Edward’s choice yet.

I walked by her, pretending to bump into her and causing her to spill her drink on my outfit. It was the easiest way to start a conversation.

“Edward you owe me for this one. I love this outfit!”

“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry.” The girl looked at me in horror at the spreading stain on my shirt. I had to admit she was beautiful. “I’m always so clumsy. Please let me help you clean it up. We have some napkins over here.”

“Oh, and it’s my favorite. I don’t think it’s going to come out of my blouse.” I felt bad trying to make her feel guilty, but figured that was the best way to keep her talking.

“Well, please, you have to let me make it up to you. I can pay you for it if you’d like,” she said.

“Good choice, Edward. I like her.”

The people she was with turned to see what was happening. The tall boy with blonde hair came up and put his arm over her shoulder. “So what did you do now, Bella?” he asked chuckling. She grimaced. I felt bad that he was laughing at her, but figured that was only going to help Edward in the long run.

I stuck my hand out to her to introduce myself. “Hi, I’m Alice. We’re new in town. We just moved here from Alaska.”

She took my hand smiling, startled a little at the cold. “Hi, I’m Isabella, but my friends call me Bella.” She took her hand and gestured to her friends. “These are Mike” poking the laughing boy in the side, “Angela, her boyfriend Ben, Jessica, Tyler & Eric.”

I smiled, knowing my plan would work to separate her from her friends briefly so we could talk. The boy with her got distracted again talking about sports with the other boys in their group and was not paying her any attention. Hard to believe this idiot boy was going to be such a problem for Edward.

We walked over to a nearby table to get some napkins. “So, is that guy Mike your boyfriend?” I asked.

“No, he wants to be, but I haven’t decided yet. He’s really sweet, but sometimes he can be a little annoying,” she stated. “It’s hard when you’ve grown up with everyone so you remember every embarrassing or annoying thing they’ve ever done.” She shook her head like she was clearing a thought and looked at me brightly. “So, if you’re new here that means you’ll be going to Forks High in the fall, right? I’m going to be a senior this year. So are my friends.”

“Yes, we’re all going to be there. I have 3 brothers and a sister.” I pointed out my family. That’s my sister, Rosalie and the guy standing behind her is my brother, Emmett. Then Jasper,” my voice naturally softened at the mention of my love, “He’s the blonde one. The other one running his hand through his hair, looking all intense is Edward.” I knew he was struggling to stay away from her. I looked at her for a response to seeing Edward.

She was looking at all of them and her eyes got wide when she focused on Edward. She blushed and cleared her throat.

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

“Yeah, it’s nothing,” she said. A small smile was playing at the corner of her mouth. I knew she had been sneaking glances at Edward since she first noticed him. Who wouldn’t, my brother was good looking. Not as yummy as my Jasper, of course, but still very nice to look at.

About that time Mike walked over to where we were standing and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her cheek. “Hey, Bella, you ready to go dance some more?”

He looked at me frowning, having overheard me pointing out my brothers. He was obviously trying to mark Bella as his. That was fine, it’s not like he was going to get to keep her.

“Sure Mike, just a sec, okay?” She turned back to me. “It was nice to meet you and I’m sure I’ll see you around over the summer before school starts. It’s a small town so there’s not much to do. Again, I’m really sorry about your blouse. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?”

I smiled. This was exactly what I was waiting for. “Well, since you obviously know everything there is to do and where to go…do you think you’d want to hang out tomorrow and show me around some? I’m really desperate for a shopping trip.”

“Sure, that would be fun. I can show you the only hangouts we have here. We would need to go to Port Angeles if you want to shop though. I’m not much of a shopper, but I do owe you a top and I need to pick up a few new books to read.”

“Edward, she just keeps getting better and better. A reader just like you.”

“Great! Here’s my cell and give me yours. I’ll give you my number and call you in the morning to set it up.” I handed her my phone and took hers to punch in my phone number.

Mike was frowning the whole time. “Bella, I thought we were going to the movie tomorrow?”

“Oh”, she said looking over her shoulder at him, “we can still do that in the evening. I’m sure we’ll be back in time. I’ll call you when I get home, okay?”

He pouted a little and said, “Yeah, that’s fine. I’ll just hang out with the guys then ‘til you call. Now, come on they’re starting up another song.” He started to tug her arm.

She waved bye to me as they walked away. “I’ll see you tomorrow Alice,” she said as he spun her out onto the floor.

I skipped back over to everyone smiling. “Well, Edward, what do you think?”

He just looked at me with a far away look in his eyes and smiled.

Emmett bellowed, “Ladies and Gentlemen, I think we have a winner!”

Rosalie just smacked him and rolled her eyes. She turned to Edward and frowned. “Edward, don’t screw this up. You better make damn sure. You know I don’t like this, but I want you to find someone the same as everyone else.”

Edward frowned at Rosalie. “Just shut up. I know what I’m doing. I know she’s my mate. I want her.” He then grinned, lightening the tense atmosphere. “Unless of course we find out that her idea of reading material is fashion magazines or cheesy romance novels,” he smirked.

Rosalie & I both smacked him at that. “Hey! Watch it. That’s sacrilege you know.”

We stayed a while longer so Emmett could dance a few more songs with his wife. Jasper was even confident enough in himself to spin me on the floor for a couple of songs. I warned Edward not to approach Bella tonight, so he just stood there on the side watching his future in the arms of his rival. I admired his restraint. He was going to need it.

Chapter 1

I don’t own Twilight or SM’s characters. I just like to have a little fun with them.

Creating A Mate

EPOV

I’m 117 years old. I’ve been a vampire for 100 years, being turned at 17 when I was dying of the Spanish Influenza by Carlisle, my “father”. Our coven is more of a family really. Carlisle is our father with Esme as his wife, our mother. I have 4 siblings, Rosalie & Emmett, Alice & Jasper. They are all married, but my siblings pretend to just be dating so we fit in better wherever we happen to be living. Do you see a pattern in my life? Everyone in my family has found their mate except me.

I’ve been alone for 100 years and it’s getting old now. It’s no longer a want to finding a mate. It’s become a need. The ability to continue another 100+ years alone watching and hearing everyone in my family being in love is no longer an option. The fact that my body was frozen at 17 when my human hormones were already running amok and having been heightened by my vampire senses only made things extremely uncomfortable. I need more than my music and family relations to be whole and casual encounters no longer help mask the loneliness in my soul.

This leads me to where I am now, searching for my mate. Who knew it would take so long and be so hard. My family and I have been across most of Europe and Canada helping me search, visiting vegetarian covens with single females who at least appear to be close to my age. No one sparked more than a fleeting interest. I wanted someone I could carry on an intelligent conversation with about more than the latest fashion. I swear most females I met seem better suited for Alice or Rosalie than for me. My sisters could talk a fashion designer to death.

The closest I’d come was friends of ours in Alaska. Their coven was the closest in lifestyle to ours being vegetarian and living as a family unit. We visited with the Denali clan about 10 years ago and I thought there was a possibility with one of the sisters, Tanya. She was beautiful and very nice, but we just didn’t have that much in common. After spending time in Europe with no luck, I went back to Tanya resigned to at least try again. We arrived in time for her wedding to her mate, Gabriel. She found him while hunting in Canada a few years back. Their story was similar to Emmett & Rosalie, in that she had found him while out hunting and had to change him because he was dying. In Gabriel’s case though he was dying of hypothermia, not a bear attack.

The reception was going on outside their home and everyone was laughing and having a wonderful time. I was sitting in their study brooding. I’d heard my family’s thoughts worrying about me. I heard Carlisle’s thoughts coming down the hall towards the study; he was worried about how I would handle this setback. I took a deep calming breath and wiped the look of frustration from my face as he came into the room. I didn’t want him to worry about me as I already had a plan of action in mind. I just needed to convince my family now that this was the only solution left to me.

“Edward, I’m sorry this didn’t work out for you. Please don’t get discouraged. I know your soul mate is out there waiting for you. It’s just going to take some time”

I stood up and ran my hands through my hair, tugging a little in frustration. “Carlisle, you know as well as I do that’s a lie. I’ve spent the last 80 years looking for a mate with no luck. We’ve been to visit all the vegetarian covens across the globe with no luck. I can’t look at the covens that feed off humans. Who wants a mate you have to worry about all the time if she’s going to eat the neighbors?”

Carlisle chuckled a little. “I’m glad you still have a sense of humor at least. It means all is not lost.”

I just growled at him. Carlisle raised his eyebrow at that. “Sorry, Carlisle. I’m just frustrated. I hate feeling so alone. Being here at Tanya’s wedding is just bringing home to me how much I want and need my own mate.”

Carlisle walked over and put his hand on my shoulder. “I understand, son. Esme and I have done a lot of talking about your situation. We hate you being alone almost as much as you hate it.

Esme has been worried that part of the problem is that I turned you when you were too young. I don’t think that’s the problem so much as you’ve been without a mate for 100 years and are just set in your ways, so to speak. You have very specific ideas of what you’re looking for and no one measures up.”

“Are you implying that I’m being too picky? Remember I am going to be with this person for all eternity and that’s a long time to have nothing in common to talk about.”

“No, no. I’m not saying that at all. I know I couldn’t have asked for anyone better suited to me than Esme. I wouldn’t want to think of life with anyone else but her. “
I heard a commotion in the house as the rest of my family came in. Jasper came in and sat down.
Alice bounced over to me and hugged me. “Edward, don’t feel bad. I didn’t see you and Tanya together anyway, so it wouldn’t have happened even if she wasn’t married now.”

“Gee, thanks Alice. I feel so much better.” I said sarcastically. “Could you try to make me feel like a bigger loser?”

Emmett slapped me on the back and went to sit with Rosalie on the sofa.

Esme just hugged me as she stood by Carlisle. “Honey, we just want you to be happy. All Alice is trying to say is that she didn’t think Tanya was the one.”

I turned to Carlisle. “Carlisle, I’m actually glad everyone is here now because I want to discuss something with you and it involves the whole family. Please Carlisle, Esme, have a seat.”

They walked over to the other sofa and sat down together. Carlisle looked at me. “Alright son, let’s hear it. What do you want to discuss?”

All of a sudden Alice squealed and clamped her hand over her mouth. “Sorry Edward.”

I just looked at her and frowned. “Carlisle, I want you to keep an open mind and hear me out before you say anything.” I took a deep breath; I knew he wasn’t going to like my next statement. “I’ve done a lot of thinking on this and I don’t see any other way around it. I’ve decided that if I can’t find a mate, I’ll make one of my own.”

Everyone looked at me with confusion for a minute except Alice. She was trying hard not to bounce out of her chair.

All of a sudden the light went on in everyone’s head.

“What?! How could you even contemplate doing something like that? Edward, we’ll find someone for you. Don’t give up please,” Esme implored.

“How could you even think such a thing? I swear I’ll stop you if you even try something like that. I won’t let you do it,” Rosalie promised with anger flashing in her eyes.

“You know that would be impossible. You would constantly have to watch every move you make so you don’t accidentally kill her. Much less want to suck her dry. How long do think that kind of mate will last? A day? If you just wanted a one-night stand there are some single women out there that don’t look bad.” He gestured with his thumb over his shoulder toward the window. Naturally Emmett’s mind went straight to the gutter. It’s where his mind stayed when it wasn’t on pranks.

I began to pace the room. I could feel Jasper sending waves of calm to everyone, which I really appreciated. I knew Rosalie would be the most adamantly against my idea and really didn’t want to get in a fight with her at the moment. Not that Emmett would let me get close enough to even wrinkle her dress.

“I know it won’t be easy at first. Eventually I’ll have to turn her to keep her safe. I just know that there’s no other option now. I’ve done everything else. Please everyone, try to understand, if there was another way I wouldn’t even consider it. You’ve all found your mates. You have your happiness. I want- No, I need to find mine. I can’t be alone any longer and I don’t want to live the life of a nomad.”

Nomads were vampires who’d given up. They roamed the world alone and tended to become more violent as the years went on. Eventually they either joined the Volturi or had to be destroyed. I’d met the leaders of the Volturi once. They were our rulers who made and enforced the laws we lived by. They drank from humans and were uncaring whether they destroyed a family or drained the scum of society. They saw humans that were unfortunate enough to be caught in their web as cattle. I refused to live like that. I also had a strong sense of self-preservation and didn’t want to end my existence.

Carlisle stood up and walked to me. He put his hand on my shoulder and looked in my eyes, I’m certain deciphering the seriousness of my intent. He sighed. “I see your mind is made up. I’m not in favor of turning someone who has a choice ever, but I agree you have tried everything else. So I’m willing to support your decision and see what happens. But I warn you Edward, be very sure of your decision when you choose someone. Remember whoever this girl is will be giving up the natural life she would have led. There can be no mistakes.”

“Thank you Carlisle. I was worried about your approval,” I sighed in relief. I respected him too much to ever go against him, but this was too damn important to me. “I swear I won’t make any hasty decisions. I have my eternity riding on this as well.”

“So where do you want to start?” he asked.

Alice jumped up no longer able to contain her excitement. “I think we should start in Washington and work our way east. After all you and Esme already have a house in Forks we can stay in and Jasper and I have never been. We’ll need to stay in the Northern states. You can’t look south because it’s always sunny.” She snickered at Edward, “It just wouldn’t do to walk up and introduce yourself to some girl while sparkling. Running and screaming don’t help a courtship very much.”

Everyone laughed at her joke while I just frowned at her. She knew something but was blocking me by singing a Brittney Spears song in pig-latin. She knew I couldn’t stand her music and to sing it in pig-latin was enough to get me out of her mind quickly. She just smirked at me.
Carlisle smiled and said “That’s just as good of a place to start as any other. We’ll leave after everyone hunts.”

***

We moved into the house in Forks at the beginning of summer. It was the perfect time to be able to settle in and start looking around before school started in the fall. Hopefully by that time we won’t be such a novelty to everyone and things would go smoothly. Carlisle took a position at the local hospital and Esme was redecorating the house for our stay. There was a summer festival going on in town so the rest of us decided to go to the street dance that evening. We knew being outside would be easier to be around that many humans in one place for a start. And let’s face it the very concept of a dance is to meet the opposite sex.

We got to the dance a little before sundown and stood on the side looking around at everything. It wasn’t a bad dance for a small town. They had a local band playing that weren’t too bad, but seemed better suited for country music than pop. Emmett was very happy about that. He grabbed Rosalie as the band began a popular country song and pulled her out on the dance floor.
Jasper, Alice and I stood and watched everyone. Jasper wasn’t sure of himself being in the middle of that many humans while they were dancing. The emotions coming off the males and females around us were enough to knock you over even if you could resist their blood.

I watched as Emmett swung Rosalie around across the crowd. He was laughing and having a good time. He really was just a big bear. Rosalie just looked at him with love and amusement.
That’s when I saw her. She was dancing in the crowd with a young boy with blonde hair. He was leaning into her saying something in her ear. She looked up at him and threw her head back and laughed. Even with all the noise I could hear her laugh. It sounded like music. She had beautiful mahogany hair that hung down her back in waves. She was dressed simply in jeans and a t-shirt and boots.

The song ended and she and the boy she was dancing with made their way over to our side of the street stopping to talk with a group of kids that looked their age. The boy handed her a drink and she turned to look around her surveying everyone. She finally turned in my direction and I saw her eyes. I knew even in the fading evening light they were a deep chocolate brown. Her face was like looking at heaven. She saw me looking at her and she smiled timidly at me blushing before turning back to her group of friends.

Alice had seen me pause and looked for who had caught my attention. “Edward?” She touched my sleeve pulling me out of my trance.

I glanced down at her and smiled. “I think I found her, Alice.”