Discussion with the Cullens

Finishing the last bite of my fourth serving, I wiped my mouth with a handkerchief before throwing it onto my plate and letting out a small burp, "Pardon me," I composed myself, feeling a little shocked, "This was really good, you guys. Thanks for doing this for us," I smiled and nodded my head at the Vampires currently sitting around the table with Bella and me.

"It's nothing, Alexander. You're our guests and you're friends of the family now; So don't mind it, okay?" Esme smiled, with Carlisle nodding his head in agreement.

I was a bit confused as I don't know why they saw me like family. Was it because I was Bella's brother? Did they not know about how much of an idiot I was romantically, and they thought I only liked Edythe?

Man, I hate having questions.

Pushing past this, I smiled at Carlisle, "I think that we have some business to discuss, right?"

Hearing what I said, Carlisle nodded to Edward who brought a confused Bella away, while Emmett and Rosalie cleaned up the table. Carlisle, Esme, Jasper, and Alice sat at one end of the table, while I sat at another.

"We've thought hard about what to do regarding you and your...mysteriousness, Alexander," Carlisle started, a difficult look on his face, "Frankly, you're an unknown to us. You could be the end of us for all we know...but I choose to believe that your existence isn't to plague the Vampires. If you were, I'm quite sure you wouldn't have come to our house, instead taking a more...violent course of action when dealing with Oskar," Carlisle smiled before he paused for a moment, "What I'm trying to get across, Alexander, is that we're not going to notify the Volturi unless you do something to threaten our Coven. I'm sure you won't, you have compassion in you, but it's just a 'big if'."

I took in what he was saying but before I could reply, Esme spoke up with a gentle smile on her face.

"I'm sure you won't do anything to hurt our Coven as long as Edythe is in it. Nor do we believe that you're an outrageously violent person - this is just a formality, so please don't be offended by it, Alexander," she almost pleaded at me for some reason, but I shrugged it off and gave my reply.

"That's fine. I know I won't put your Coven at danger, even if it's purely for Edy's sake. I hope that we can become a sort of Alliance to protect both our interests. Does that seem favorable to you?" I breached the subject to what I wanted to discuss first; an alliance.

Why? Because I couldn't protect everyone. I couldn't always protect my father, nor could I always protect Bella (though I'm sure Edward is planning to).

Carlisle and Esme looked toward Alice who nodded her head and her eyes went glassy for a few seconds. Finally, the light returned to her eyes and she nodded her head with her usual cheery smile.

The two looked back at me with smiles before nodding their heads, Carlisle taking the chance to speak.

"That would be very favorable, Alexander. With someone of your strength, we should be able to protect both our interests quite easily. We will discuss this alliance more, on a later date."

Just as Esme went to speak, I impolitely cut her off, looking Carlisle dead in the eye, "Carlisle," I started, getting his attention, "Tell me how many Vampire Covens are near to Forks and how many are going to try and move here under your permission? I hate to be rude, but this information is needed for me to feel more...let's just say, safe."

Of course, I didn't need to feel safe, I was talking more about the town's people including my dad and sister. I know Bella would under Edward's protection but...it wasn't enough. I needed to know which Covens were going to be allowed in and which ones weren't, all so I could annihilate the ones who entered without permission while keeping an eye on the ones who could enter.

Carlisle went into a thoughtful expression, a hand on his chin as he looked down at the table a little, obviously thinking. It didn't take long for him to answer me.

"Oskar's Coven has been denied by me, but they insist that they have to move here. We will probably launch an attack against them to make the Coven leave. Two other Covens are heading here but only one of them are Vegetarian Vampires like us," he motioned to himself and the others before carrying on, "And I've allowed them entry. The other Coven are typical Vampires, one's I met over in Italy a few hundred years ago. They don't take kindly to humans and non-Vampires being treated as equals so I had to deny them entry, but they're still coming," Carlisle let out a deep sigh, "This is why I'm so eager to accept your alliance. Hopefully, you, Jasper, Emmett, and Edward will be able to repel the Italian Coven while I, Alice, Rosalie, and Edythe will repel Oskar's Coven."

He looked at me hopefully and I had to hold myself back from nodding too vigorously. The idea of fighting filled me with a weird primal excitement but I suppressed such joy and calmly nodded my head before answering.

"That's fine with me. Us four should be able to get it handled," I said nonchalantly, "But I will need to know their numbers and if any of them have any troublesome gifts."

While talking about this, I once again wondered where Edythe was. I could understand not talking to me because she hadn't settled on what she wanted to do, but not wanting to get near me? That seemed slightly harsh. But what did I know?

Not a lot, honestly.

Thinking this, I just listened to Carlisle's report on what he knew from the time he spent with the Italian Coven.

. . .

Currently, I was sitting outside the Cullen house, waiting for Bella to get back from whatever she was doing with Edward. But I was also waiting for a certain someone who I could smell getting closer.

Appearing next to me and sitting down on the steps like I was, was Edythe. I could smell blood on her breath but I still asked a question for the sake of starting the conversation, "Where have you been, Edy?" I nonchalantly asked, already knowing the answer.

"Hunting," she started, sounding slightly shaky, "I can't be around you without being fully fed anymore. I don't know why," she pretty much whispered this and looked away from me, whether it was embarrassment or self-disgust, I couldn't make it out but I went to reassure her anyway.

"Well, you don't have to worry about hurting me anymore, Edy. I'm probably stronger than you are, anyway," I shrugged and felt Edythe's gaze land on me, probably looking me over to see whether I was lying to make myself seem tough or whether I was actually telling the truth. In the end, she must have not concluded mentally, so she decided to physically test what I said.

A solid thunk hit my arm and sent a shock through my system. It was Edythe's fist. But it didn't hurt, nor break anything, and if anything was hurt my healing factor had already started healing it and soon my arm felt as good as new.

Turning to Edythe, I smirked at her with a smug look on my face, "See? I'm not a Human in strength or fragility, Edy. You don't have to restrain yourself around me - I'm sure I can handle it," after saying this I just looked at her, feeling some feelings spurring to life in me, I turned to leave, giving a short goodbye, "Anyway, I'll see you around, Edy."

I didn't want to get into anything when I was withing earshot of her family or Bella who could be anywhere with Edward. I was going to wait for Edward and Bella to get back but right now, I decided I'd just run home.

However, before I could even walk a few steps, Edythe's hand grabbed my wrist, "Wait, Alexander," she sounded weirdly out of breath, which didn't make sense in my head but I shrugged it off, before turning around and keeping my emotions under control, which were for some reason acting up. I guess not seeing, or speaking to her for the past few days made it so my Edy resistance was pretty low.

Looking down at her, I patiently waited for her to continue but she just looked up at me, looking into my eyes with her bright golden ones.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Edythe smiled before letting go of my wrist and walked away, and up the stairs. Confused, I turned to her retreating figure before speaking out after her.

"Edy? What did you need?" I couldn't hide my confusion, nor did I want to. The girl, or rather woman, just looked at me for a while before walking off - How could I not be confused?

In reply to my question, Edythe looked back at me with a small smirk ever so reminiscent of my own when I teased her all those times in History. She looked at me with a happy light in her eyes which only served to make me even more confused. It was as if she'd decided something when she was just looking at me.

Finally, she spoke.

"I just wanted to confirm something. Nothing for you to worry about, Alexander," she let out husky laughter before turning around and beginning to walk while carrying on, "And if you want we can start your lessons again."

Her words rung throughout my head like I'd just been hit by a hammer. The implications...well, they made me happy. I knew I wasn't out of the woods just yet but I at least had a map or a compass--you know what? I'm too happy to worry about the specifics of my stupid thoughts.

As if to agree with said stupid thoughts, Edythe stopped at the door and looked back at me again.

"Don't think this doesn't mean I'm going to go along with what you want, you greedy wolf," she smiled a little, but it was an admonishing smile - a smile telling me off, I guess - and she carried on, "I'll just let nature run its course and see what happens between us. It doesn't mean I'm not aggravated, or rather thoroughly annoyed by your actions. But I'm willing to not let them get in the way of our friendship, Alexander," her smile disappeared, replaced by a more serious look, "Don't think this gives you the right to run wild. There will be disagreements, arguments - you name it," her smile came back again, dazzling to me, "But good things are worth it, right?"

This was the last thing she said before she walked through the door and out of my sight.

She left me with a lot to think about...but it was mostly good stuff, right? That's what I thought, at least. She was giving me a chance.

Smiling, I set off home knowing I wouldn't let this chance just pass me by.

. . .

Sitting on my bed, I went over the information I'd gained from Carlisle about the Italian Coven the others and I had to deal with.

There were 5 people in this Coven, all hailing from Italy, and they'd been Vampires for a long time. The ages varied across the board but the head of the coven and her mate/husband were both around 400 years old, with three 'newer' vampires who were closer to Edythe and Edward in age - so around 100 years old.

We wouldn't be dealing with any newborns but we'd definitely be dealing with experienced Fighters. Luckily, they were more interested in the arts than they were in violence. They were more cultured, I guess? Nevertheless, it meant that while we'd be dealing with good fighters, we wouldn't be dealing with Vampires who lived on Battlefields, refining their fighting talents.

I had brought up the fact that we'd be outnumbered to Carlisle but he assured me that Jasper was more than enough to take on two of the Coven at the same time with his fighting experience, while Edward and Emmett could use their advantages (Telepathy and Superior Strength respectively) to win their fights. All I'd have to do is the same thing.

Neither of the old Vampires had any Gifts according to Carlisle, but the 3 newer ones were a mystery to him as he didn't know them. They didn't have any Mental Abilities according to Carlisle, but that was according to Edward and his limited Telepathic ability to search through people's minds.

According to Carlisle, when Edward tried to search through someone's mind, if they had a Mental Ability of their own, it would run interference with Edward's searching. Edythe and Edward trained with one another to keep their minds near impervious to Telepathy like their own.

Though it wasn't quite up to the fortress-like standards of mine and Bella's Mental Shield.

Anyway, there was still a solid chance that at least one of them had an ability or Gift. I wonder what it could be.

Brainstorming about what the Gift could possibly be, I heard my phone buzz, so I looked at the screen and it was a message from an unknown sender who I assume is Carlisle due to the contents of the message.

[Alexander, meet Edward and the others tomorrow night - 9 pm - outside our house. We will discuss Strategy further at that point. For now, just prepare yourself.]

Sending back a 'Got it.' message, I put down my phone and changed into my work out clothes before picking up a folder of notes on what I could find out about fighting. Actual moves aren't hard to find, especially about Muay Thai which surprisingly has a lot of presence on the internet. Don't forget the number of Fighting Documentaries I could get as well. Buying them was quite hard to explain but well, I just said it was something I wanted and my Dad didn't question it any further.

Now to put that information to use.