Epoch

I closed my eyes for a moment as I leaned back against a tree. Alice had gone with Edward to get a pickup truck for me. I'd told them that it absolutely couldn't be a Chevy and not to go overboard – I honestly didn't need a top of the line, state of the art, brand new vehicle – but I wasn't hopeful that he'd listened.

For some reason I still didn't completely understand, he felt the need to continually spoil me – and more often than not with things I would never get for myself.

Olympia was far enough away that I could have gone as well and been seen in public, but he'd wanted to go pick it up and surprise me so I'd let him have his fun. After all, as long as he came back with a truck and not a muscle car, I'd be happy.

It still wouldn't be my old Chevy, but I'd get used to it. I suspected I'd even get used to his constant desire to pamper me eventually, though I had no clue how.

It simply wasn't a part of my normal genetic makeup to want to be pampered, and given that I was a vampire, it certainly didn't make it any easier for me. But I would figure it out.

My brow furrowed when a smell hit me which I wasn't expecting.

It wasn't necessarily because it was a wolf, so much as which wolf it was. I stepped away from the tree and turned in the direction of the scent.

"Seth? Why are you here?"

A sandy wolf who still had slightly too large paws separated itself from its hiding place behind a tree before there was a silent vibration in the air I recognized immediately. I spun away instantaneously. I'd seen Jake naked more than once with the way he'd shifted between wolf and human freely around me, but Jake was sixteen where Seth was only fourteen, and I had no desire to see Seth naked.

I heard the shuffling of what sounded like soft cloth and smelled the scent of cotton on the air but didn't turn around.

"What gave me away?" A slightly wounded voice asked.

I snorted. "Your smell carried to me but even if it hadn't, Seth, once I'd started to pay better attention, I would have recognized your heartbeat and known a wolf was nearby."

"Seriously? My heartbeat?"

I rolled my eyes, though he couldn't see it. "You know enough about vampires – and about me specifically – by now to know how astute our senses are."

He sighed, and I knew without looking that he was likely pouting. "But, but, but..."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes again. "What brings you here anyway, Seth?"

There was a moment of silence before he came around in front of me. "Jake sent me. He wants you to come back to La Push and help us figure out the best course of action with what's ongoing in Seattle. It's not technically on the peninsula, but it's too close for comfort and the statistics there are just getting worse and worse. You have the most practical knowledge of all of us."

I frowned slightly. "Sam, Jake, Jared, and Paul killed Laurent..."

"Yeah, four of us together killed one vampire. You killed that immortal child in the field by yourself, Beau... And then there's whatever happened in Europe with you, though Jake didn't go into details with it. We don't have the amount of practical knowledge that you do. We may be protectors, but the vast majority of us –" He trailed off, looking down for a moment before steeling his shoulders and staring at me again. "I'm not afraid to die if it'll save lives in the long run, but, Beau, Leah and I are all our mom have left, and Collin and Brady are barely thirteen. They're kids! We need to come back from this in one piece and I'm not... I mean Jacob's not sure that we will if you don't come with us and help. You can show us what we need to do."

My eyes narrowed slightly at his stutter. "Jake doesn't know you're here, does he?"

Seth let out a nervous laugh. "Of course he does. I mean there's no way I could have made it here without him finding out. Besides, didn't I say he asked me to come?"

I crossed my arms slowly, arching a sardonic eyebrow as I did so. "There's only one slight problem with your explanation that he asked you to come. Jacob's never been a coward, and he wouldn't send someone else to ask for me. He'd come himself. So let's start from back at the beginning."

Seth blew out a breath. "Fine. We need you there, but Jake and Sam are both being stubborn about asking you for your help. There may be ten of us, but the number of humans that are dead in Seattle... There at least two dozen vampires, likely more. And you know how to fight. We may know the theoretical and a few of us may have actually killed a vampire, but none of us have the practical knowledge that you do. If we go there...

"Brady only just recently imprinted but with the way he's refusing to acknowledge it... and given that he's so angry at the world... Well, he's likely to go in half-cocked and get himself killed... He'll never even have a chance to know what a gift it really is. And Collin hates vampires so much that he's not going to think before he attacks and we're going to lose him for sure. And he's Jacob's cousin. Jacob can't lose him too, not after the way he failed him. And my sister –" He shook his head "– you know how Leah is. She thinks her strength makes her invincible or something, but it doesn't work like that. I can't lose my sister, Beau. I can't go home to my mom and tell her that her daughter didn't make it."

"And you think I can prevent these things from happening? Seth, I've gotten lucky once or twice, but I'm not a soldier."

"I know you're just one person. But you're the glue that will help keep Jake together, and ultimately, no matter what position Sam holds, he's the true leader. We need him centered in order for us to pull this off properly. We need him grounded. You are the person who ultimately helps him to find that strength."

"I don't think you're giving Jake enough credit."

"Frankly, Beau, I'm pretty sure if we go without you to back us, none of us are going to make it back. He wouldn't want me to tell you but... Well, he hasn't been the same since you left."

I groaned and turned from my friend, walking a few feet away. "I can't be the clay that holds him together, Seth. You have to know that."

"He needs you for this. We all do."

I closed my eyes, leaning my head against a tree. "You don't understand what you're asking of me."

"Maybe not, but he's gone against his very nature to protect you. Even after you killed humans, he protected you. If you don't understand the significance of that..."

I whirled on Seth, forcing myself to remember that he was only fourteen before I did something foolish. "If you think I don't know that, you are dead wrong. But being a constant in his life is going to do nothing but hurt him. I'm not his imprint, even if we were meant to be that, at the end of the day we aren't. We aren't compatible because of what I am. On top of that, I have a mate."

Seth opened his mouth but didn't say anything for several seconds. Finally, his shoulders slumped as if the weight of the world had suddenly pressed down on him. "I get it. Guess I'll head on back then."

He started to walk away.

I closed my eyes for a moment, the headline that was on CNN earlier that morning flashing in the back of my mind. The notification that the death toll was rapidly nearing three digits. "Wait," I said suddenly. "Tell Jake I'll come by later this evening. The problem in Seattle must be taken care of. I just need some time to explain to Edward and the rest of my family. I can't leave for no reason."

There was no reply for a moment before he half squealed, "Yes! I'll tell him."

Seth took off, shifting without taking off his clothes first.

I shook my head and then looked towards where my home was briefly. I wasn't lying to Seth when I'd told him that I needed to tell Edward before I came to help, but I knew there were those who perhaps I should talk to even more.

I stepped farther into the forest and away from the house before pulling out my cell phone and dialing a number I'd swore to myself I'd never use.

The line rang three times before a groggy voice finally answered, "Who is this? And do you know what time it is?"

I quickly did the math. "About the middle of the night. And I'm a friend of those you know with red eyes," I replied adding an amount of chipperness to my voice that was positively fake.

The man on the other end, Alexandru, was suddenly a lot more alert. "How did you get this number and what do you want?"

"I know you have a way to get in touch with them. Tell them that –" I stopped and shook my head. "You know what, never mind. I'm sorry to have bothered you."

I hung the phone up without waiting on a reply before putting the phone back in my pocket. No matter how much part of me wanted to ask for help from the Romanians, I knew I had to move away from that frame of mind because the truth of the mater was I couldn't allow myself to go back there.

It was one part of my life I couldn't go back to.

As long as I was around my family I was able to control myself, but I knew the truth – the bloodlust inside of me, no matter how hard I denied it, was very real.

I knew if I ever went back to Romania by myself and ever turned my back on what I'd found again – gave up on love – then I was certain I'd turn into the monster that was inside of me.

The Romanians and Europe, in general, were part of an era of my life which I knew I had to close permanently.

I looked towards La Push briefly but shook my head. As I'd told Seth, I needed time to explain what was going on to my family first. It was highly likely that several of them would want to help; Emmett, Jasper, and especially Edward. The thing was, I didn't want them there. I couldn't risk my mate or my family getting hurt. It was bad enough that my friends would be putting their lives at risks to take care of this problem.

… Which left the question of how exactly I was going to best help my friends.

…

I looked at the shiny... thing that was parked in the drive. I supposed, if I squinted my eyes and tilted my head to the side, it sort of looked like a pickup – emphasis on sort of.

"Just what is it exactly?" I asked, barely masking my horror at the sight of it.

"It's a truck. Like you wanted," Alice stated.

I recognized the icon in the grill of the vehicle as a Lincoln symbol, and it was a metallic reddish, orangish color which I couldn't quite define – perhaps it was copper. But the four doors on the vehicle, the sleek edges, and the rectangular bed that looked too short to be one...

"It's a truck?" I knew my incredulity was coming through loud and clear, but I couldn't help it.

Since when was a Lincoln, which was most likely fully loaded – a vehicle that would easily cost in the upper five digits – not going overboard?

"You don't like it?" Edward sounded completely downtrodden as he asked.

I barely managed to stop myself from flinching outwardly at how hurt he sounded. I looked at him, frowning ever so slightly. "It's a beautiful vehicle, Edward, but I don't really need something this fancy. It isn't my type of vehicle. I like simple things."

"It's top of the line. In fact, currently, it's the best-selling vehicle of the year, though I foresee that the Cadillac Escalade will actually finish the year on –"

"Shut up, Alice," Edward said, cutting her off. He looked me up and down before speaking again. "You may not need something like this, but I need to provide for you. It's ingrained into me."

"What is? A need to buy affection?" I knew it sounded bad, but I didn't know a better way to ask.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed as Alice stealthily crept away.

"No." Edward shook his head adamantly. "It isn't like that. I want to provide for you, want you to never need for anything, and not out of a need to own you or your love, but because I want you to have it all. For yourself. I want you to always be happy, want you to know you never to have to ask... Want you to know I'll always be there – always offer you my hand – no matter the circumstances."

"But I know all of that," I said quietly.

"Do you, Beau?" He reached out and stroked my cheek as I let my eyes slide closed. "Or are you still seeing me with the fear in your heart that you had from the first day after you were turned. A fear that I failed to assuage way back then even though I thought I had."

I opened my eyes and stared at him. "I am past that, Edward, truly."

"And yet you still take issue with this." He nodded to the truck.

"It's... not that I have issues with it, so much as it's too much. I'd be fine with a simple Ford or Dodge. I don't need some luxury vehicle like this."

"You may not need it, but Beau, if you were in my shoes what would you get? I know you have my mother's ring to give me because you wanted to be the one to purpose. But pretend for a minute that you didn't, pretend that you were going to go shop for a ring for me. Would you get me a little quarter carat solitaire diamond on a simple band with no personality – no meaning – or would you get me a star-shaped diamond with thirteen accents? Or perhaps a Claddagh with all its beautiful symbolism?"

I scrunched up my nose slightly. "That's different. It's an engagement ring. Not a –"

"Just answer my question, Beau," he cut me off.

"I'd get you the best. Something beautiful, elegant, meaningful... Because that's what you deserve. But –"

"And you deserve the best too, Beau. I want you to have the best. Please understand that."

I looked at the truck like vehicle again, glancing at the shiny rims. "But... it's so over the top."

"It only feels that way because you're not used to being spoiled. You're not used to anyone putting your needs first, but someday I want you to have more than just a fancy vehicle. I want you to have an island, a house, and so much more. I want us to have that. I want us to share the rest of forever with no regrets. We can't exactly drink the finer wines or eat the caviar, but there are many pieces of the finer things in life that are available to us. I want us to have that together. Consider the truck to be a start."

"Well, I suppose..." I agreed somewhat reluctantly.

"Come on, let me show you how it runs," he said, heading over to the truck.

"I'm a vampire, remember? I'm pretty sure I can figure out how to drive it."

"And I never got to drive the Camaro. Remember?"

I rolled my eyes. "Drive one little vehicle into the ocean, and I'm never able to live it down."

"Naturally." He stuck out his tongue briefly before getting into the driver side.

I shook my head, chuckling slightly.