Rosalie Hale - POV
It was time to feed.
For us, that meant disappearing into the forest a few nights each month, just enough to quiet the fire in our throats before it became distracting.
Tonight, it was Emmett, Jasper, Edythe, and me.
Edward preferred to go by himself. Esme and Carlisle always went together.
And then there was Alice.
She hadn't hunted with us in over six months.
Before that, she'd never missed a single outing.
We all knew why.
Or rather… who.
The hunt had gone smoothly. A few deer and one unfortunate mountain lion. Now we were heading back to the mansion, moonlight filtering through the towering trees like silver silk.
Emmett and Jasper were ahead of us, deep in what they clearly believed was a critical debate.
"I'm telling you," Emmett insisted "the controller lagged."
Jasper didn't even look at him. "It did not lag."
"It lagged emotionally."
"That's not a thing."
"It is when you're about to win."
"You were never about to win."
I rolled my eyes.
Edythe slowed to match my pace. She was quiet for a moment, then glanced sideways at me.
"You're thinking about this Alice's mate again."
"I am not."
"You are."
I gave her a flat look, then sighed, purely out of habit, because neither of us actually needed air.
"He isn't her mate," I muttered.
Edith arched a perfect eyebrow. "Not yet."
"That's exactly my point."
She studied me carefully. "Why does it worry you so much, Rosalie?"
I folded my arms. "Because we know nothing about him."
And that was the truth.
He was not a vampire. Not human. Not even one of the wolf shifters.
Carlisle had searched every archive he could access, medical records, historical accounts, and ancient texts.
The closest parallels he found were fragments of harpy mythology.
And, more absurdly… angels.
"Angels," Emmett had repeated once, trying, and failing, not to laugh.
At that, Alice had only smiled.
That small, mischievous, secretive smile of hers, the one that meant she knew more than she was sharing and was enjoying every second of it.
"If he's an angel," she had said lightly, almost thoughtfully, "then he's definitely a fallen one."
We had all looked at her.
"His thoughts aren't pure," she added, eyes glinting. "I promise you that."
She had practically sparkled when she said it.
Which somehow worried me more.
"It could bring danger to our family," I told Edith now. "To the coven, to everything we have."
Edythe's expression softened. "Alice says his presence will help us."
"She says that. But she also refuses to tell us what he is."
From ahead, Jasper's calm voice drifted back to us. Of course, he'd been listening.
"We can't prepare for a threat we've never met," he said. "We need to see him first. Assess the situation before we decide what he represents."
"That's very diplomatic of you," I called.
"I try."
Emmett suddenly spun around and jogged backwards so he could face us, grinning. "Maybe he shoots lightning from his eyes or breathes fire. Or turns into a giant flaming pigeon."
I stared at him.
"A pigeon?" Edythe repeated, laughing.
"Terrifying," Emmett insisted. "You ever seen one up close? No fear, no remorse."
I punched his shoulder.
He barely flinched. "Ow."
"That was your own fault."
He grinned at me as I'd just handed him a trophy. "Worth it."
Edythe was laughing openly now, the sound bright in the quiet forest. Even Jasper's mouth twitched.
Still, the unease lingered beneath the humour.
"I'm happy for her," I said more quietly once the laughter faded. "I am. Alice deserves… whatever this is. I just-"
"You just want her, and all of us, to be safe," Edythe finished gently.
"Yes."
She nudged my arm in reassurance. "Then we'll make sure she is. Together."
Jasper nodded once. "We protect our own."
Emmett threw an arm around my shoulders dramatically. "And if he is a flaming pigeon, I call first punch."
"You can't punch fire," I said dryly.
He flashed a confident grin. "Watch me."
That was when Edythe froze mid-step.
One second, she was walking beside me, relaxed from the fading laughter. The next, her body went completely still.
Her head snapped sharply toward the treeline.
We all noticed immediately.
Tension snapped through the group.
Jasper shifted first, senses sharpened. Emmett stopped joking entirely.
I moved closer to Edythe "What happened?"
"I-" she murmured softly, eyes fixed ahead. "I felt like I was being watched."
She didn't look at me, "And then I saw something."
"What kind of something?" Emmett asked quietly.
"Movement. Far, very far." Her eyes narrowed further. "Barely visible. But it was there."
Jasper's voice came calm and firm. "Hold position, stay tight."
We shifted into formation without thinking.
Then, we waited.
Seconds stretched into minutes, and nearly five passed in complete stillness.
The air carried no foreign scent, no disturbance brushed against our senses.
Emmett exhaled dramatically. "So… either there's nothing out there," he said, "or it's a ghost."
Jasper silenced him with a sharp hand signal.
Emmett muttered, "Rude."
Jasper broke from the circle and shot up the nearest tree, climbing high into the canopy for a better vantage point. The night didn't hinder our sight. He scanned the horizon, not moving, listening.
We waited again.
After a few long moments, Jasper descended soundlessly.
"Nothing visible," he said. "But we check it. This is our territory."
No one disagreed.
We moved together toward the area Edythe had been watching.
The forest shifted as we ran, branches bending, earth barely disturbed beneath our speed.
After several miles, we slowed simultaneously.
All of us were looking in the same direction.
Each of us sensed it. The smell.
Faint and distant. But unmistakable.
Blood.
Fresh blood.
Jasper shifted direction immediately, angling toward it without a word, and we followed just as silently. With every mile, the scent thickened, growing heavier in the air, no longer subtle.
We ran more than ten miles before the source finally came into view.
Illuminated faintly by the moonlight lay what remained of a large black-tailed deer.
Or rather… what was left of it.
There wasn't much.
Antlers lay discarded several feet away. A few hooves lay scattered. Patches of hide clung to the forest floor.
Most of the bones were simply… gone.
Edythe crouched beside the remains, her movements slow and deliberate as she examined the scene with careful attention. Her fingers hovered just above the torn hide, eyes tracing the scattered fragments in silence before she spoke.
"At first glance, it looks like a bear feeding," she said quietly, though her tone suggested she wasn't entirely convinced.
At that, Emmett's jaw tightened. I caught the flicker in his eyes, old memory, old pain. Bears weren't just wildlife to him.
I stepped closer and leaned gently into his shoulder, giving his back a quiet pat. "It's not that bear," I murmured.
He huffed softly. "I know."
Still, his eyes stayed fixed on the scene.
Jasper lowered himself to one knee, his expression sharpening into quiet focus as he examined the ground around the remains.
"The blood's still warm," he said after a moment, his voice low but certain. "This was recent. Very recent."
He scanned the disturbed earth briefly before reaching for one of the few bone fragments left behind. Lifting it carefully, he held it up into the pale wash of moonlight, rotating it slightly as he studied the surface.
He turned the bone so we could see it clearly.
"There are no bite marks."
I frowned. "What do you mean?"
"No tearing. No chewing grooves." His fingers traced the edge of the fracture. "The fractures are clean. Each break looks like it was caused by direct pressure or a precise cut."
Emmett blinked. "So… not a bear."
"Not an average animal," Jasper corrected.
The meaning settled over us.
Edythe rose slowly. "We go back," she said. "and tell the others."
No one argued.
The lightness from earlier had vanished, replaced by something colder.
If it wasn't a bear… and it wasn't a normal predator…
Then something else was hunting in our territory.
"Race you home?" Emmett muttered weakly, attempting to revive the mood.
"Not the time," I said.
"Definitely the time," he insisted, but even he didn't smile.
And then we were running again, this time at full speed.
The forest blurred around us as we tore through it, urgency driving every step.