Chapter 5

It was a stormy night out in La Push. The winds were strong and loud thunder echoed throughout the town, although there was no rain to be seen just yet.

Embry and Kim were on patrol whilst Jared, Leah, Sam and Jacob took some time off to rest. With the pack size increasing they could afford to take some time off. The young 16 year old had phased a couple months back, and unlike most, struggled to assimilate into pack life at first, but eventually got into the swing things. After a while he practically fell in love with his situation.

Embry stood firmly despite the wind at the edge of a small river that split the woods in two, gazing towards the other side. Jacob had made it clear that they shouldn't cross this river unless 100% necessary. Apparently a treaty was made decades ago with the vampires who used to live here. They wouldn't trespass on their land and vice versa. Embry found the whole situation to be stupid. Who knows if those vampires were even alive? Or if they planned to ever come back.

The powerful shifter was interrupted from his thoughts as he picked up a familiar scent. Vampires. "Kim!" He growled through his mind.

"I know" she replied, racing towards him as fast as she could. Not waiting for her Embry turned around and ran deeper into their own territory. It wasn't long until that one scent became two, and then three.

Immediately coming to a halt Embry knew protocol in a situation where they'd be outnumbered. Raising his large grey head he gave his loudest and most powerful howl. It was only a matter of seconds before the one voice in his head became five. Leah, Sam, Jared and Jacob had all phased and were already on their way.

Ordering Embry to slow down whilst chasing after the scent, Jacob and the rest did their best to catch up.

...

Carlisle Cullen was currently out in the woods hunting deer and the like with Alice and Emmett. They didn't usually hunt together like this, but it was only their second night in Forks and it was best to stick together. He had heard rumours of Vampires going missing when they entered this place, sometimes entire covens would vanish. The Coven leader already had a theory as to what was happening, but decided it was best to see for themselves. This is precisely why they were hunting in what would have been shifter territory decades ago.

Just as he spotted a small deer which would have made for a nice dinner, the sound of running filled his ears. "Somethings coming" he warned. The others all tensed, already having heard the footsteps. The Three vampires wasted not time rushing towards the noise, unable to smell their targets due to the winds direction.

Bursting through the trees it was only matter of seconds before they saw two massive wolves coming in their direction. The Cullens stared in disbelief. This was Alices first time seeing a shifter whilst Emmett and Carlisle were familiar with the species. The duo enthusiastically closed the gap between themselves and the strange yellow eyed vampires.

Embry bulldozed straight into Emmett and the two of them went tumbling down hill, crashing through multiple trees and rocks as they teared at each other. Carlisle and Alice snapped out of it and chased after them wanting to help. However Kim who was only a little behind leapt at Alice only to miss as the skilled vampire dodged with a backflip.

Trusting Alice to take care of herself Carlisle went to help Emmett instead.

Alice swiftly landed behind Kim, proceeding to punch her in the body, launching her into a tree. Despite the attack, Kim quickly recovered and continued her assault, this time catching Alice by the foot as the nimble vampire tried to dodge again.

Pulling the vampire down, Kim bit into her thigh, ruthlessly tearing a large chunk of it off. Alice could only scream in pain and kick the wolf in the mouth with her other foot, knocking Kim's tooth out into the distance. Just as they were about to continue, a voice sounded in Kims head telling her to stop.

In this moment of hesitation she was caught by a second kick, hitting another tree and this time knocking it over. Taking a little longer to get her bearings, Kim turned to her unfamiliar assailant and saw a tall man with chin length blonde hair and a furious expression had arrived. He wasn't alone. She was soon surrounded by two more women and another man.

Jasper, Edward, Esme and Rosalie were about to attack when multiple growls sounded from around them. They too were surrounded by four more large wolves, the leader clearly being the largest russet coloured beast. The pack slowly advanced with feral expression when Jacob let off a deafening bark which could pass for a lightning strike.

Not far from the scene an injured Embry had quit fighting the two vampires, and the vampires to stopped attacking, realising the situations severity. Slowly they made their way to their respective groups. The seven vampires now stood across from the six shifters.

Silence dominated the space as the tension rose with every micro movement. "We don't want to fight any more! We both have injured and this will get us nowhere!" Carlisle shouted, gesturing to Alice and Embry.

Esme nodded in agreement, "We had a treaty with your pack in the past. Ephraim Black was the alpha. We weren't sure if you existed anymore and crossed the border to investigate the missing vampires and Covens." She explained desperately.

"I can't read their minds" Edward explained to the others, much to their confusion. As far as they remembered Edward had no problem reading the minds of shifters all those years back.

Jacob changed his stance from aggressive to passive as he ordered the pack to wait there. Turning around, the largest wolf ran off into the woods only for a tall young man in shorts to return less than a minute later.

Making his decision Jacob took a step forward when he was interrupted by multiple growls in protest of his actions. Turning to face his pack he gave a reassuring nod that got his message across. He knew what he was doing. Despite this Sam and Leah insisted on going with him. With a sigh he watched as the two large wolves trotted to either side of him as protection whilst he was in human form.

Seeing the approaching trio the Cullens tensed even more. Jacob continued forward and stopped a few feet away from Carlisle, maintaining eye contact as best as they could. "My name is Jacob Black, you mentioned you had a treaty with my great grandfather all those years ago. Well the treaty states you can't trespass on our tribes land, and yet here we are." Jacobs eyes narrowed accusingly.

The Cullens went silent for a few seconds before Edward decided to explain, "We simply wished to learn more about the vampires who supposedly went missing in the area, although it's clear what happened to them now." He said softly, his voice pleasing to everybody's ears.

Esme and Carlisle nodded in agreement, "We meant no disrespect. We'll be staying in Forks for what could be years, and we'd prefer to keep peace between our peoples. Let's not spark some age old feud that doesn't apply to us" Carlisle offered.

Jacobs response was interrupted by the gorgeous blonde woman standing beside the large muscular man that fought Embry, "Besides, it was 𝘠𝘖𝘜 who attacked 𝘜𝘚. What? No obedience school?" Rosalie snarked, angry with entire situation, angry that Alice had been injured and tired of the disgusting wet dog smell.

The only responses she received were harsh glares from her family, and low growls from the pack. Deciding to ignore the insult for now, Jacob stepped forward and stuck his arm out to Carlisle for a handshake, which Carlisle returned.

Jacobs eyes scanned their group for a few seconds, "We'll have to revisit some of the treaty's.... terms and conditions, in the future. There some things I'd like to hash out first, but that can wait. For now, introductions." He smirked.

It seemed things were finally starting to pick up. Whilst the Cullens introduced themselves Jacob thought through the next steps of his plans. It seemed like now was the time for Paul and Quill to start phasing, and for the girl Embry had imprinted on to be given the choice. After that the Clearwater's would introduce him to some of their distant family members in La Push who knew about the tribe legends, and they'd be offered the chance to join the pack.

'It's going to be a busy year' Jacob thought to himself.