Samael – POV
Alice led me upstairs, and I took in the house as we went. It was impressive by any reasonable standard, but perspective is a strange thing. Coming from 2025, having seen what I'd seen, it shifted the way I looked at everything.
We stepped into a large room, and I recognised it at once, the space where they typically gathered in the movies.
The first person I clocked was Emmett. He was on one of the sofas with his arm around Rosalie's shoulder, and when he saw me, he broke into a wide, easy grin.
"And here's our feathered friend," he said.
I smiled as I walked in.
Carlisle came forward first and extended his hand. "It's good to properly meet you this time, Samael."
I shook it. "I agree. Easier when we're pretending not to know who we are".
He smiled and nodded. Then he turned slightly and gestured beside him. "This is my wife, Esme."
She looked at me warmly. "It's lovely to meet you in person. Alice has told us quite a lot about you."
"Likewise," I said. "She mentioned her family quite often."
Esme and Carlisle both smiled at that. Then a voice came from across the room.
"I hope only good things."
Edythe had entered from the far side, Jasper a step behind her. As they came closer, Jasper stepped forward and extended his hand, which I shook.
"Nothing to worry about," I said, pausing for a beat. "Or rather, Alice hid anything questionable very well."
Emmett laughed, and even Jasper's mouth shifted briefly toward something that might have been a smile, though it disappeared the moment Edythe glanced at him.
Edythe looked back at me, eyes slightly narrowed, "You don't seem particularly uneasy," she said, though without hostility, "for someone standing in a room full of vampires."
"And you're all not watching me the way you were at the beginning," as I said it, I put my arm around Alice's waist. "I think we're both trusting Alice's judgment."
Edythe smiled at that.
"Well," Esme said, smoothly redirecting things, "Alice mentioned you'd already eaten, but can I get you something to drink?"
"Some water would be lovely, thank you."
"Give me a minute," she said and headed out.
Carlisle gestured toward the seating area. "Please, make yourselves comfortable."
Alice and I sat together. I leaned back into the cushions. Alice settled to my left and took my hand, resting it on my thigh. A minute later, Esme returned with a glass of water and set a plate of cookies on the coffee table nearby. "Just in case," she said. I smiled and nodded. The motherly energy radiating off her was unmistakably genuine.
Carlisle settled into his seat. "So, how are you finding Forks?"
"I knew what to expect coming here," I said, "but I still hoped it would be at least a little sunnier." I smiled as I said it.
"Yeah," Emmett said with a grin, "sunshine's not really part of the package here."
"Apparently not," I said. "Though I can't say I mind it too much."
After that, we exchanged a few more easy questions. Then Carlisle settled back slightly and said, "Perhaps you have some questions for us?"
I considered it briefly, then shook my head. "Alice has told me what I need to know for now. I think the rest will come naturally."
He nodded. "You also seemed to know about the existence of our kind before coming here, if I am not mistaken."
The atmosphere in the room shifted subtly. Everyone was watching me. Alice simply looked curious.
"I was," I said.
"You don't seem to carry the same aversion our neighbours do," Esme said carefully.
"I tend to judge based on actions," I replied. "A vampire who doesn't kill humans for blood isn't that different, to me, from your… neighbours."
The statement was met with some surprise. Edythe leaned forward slightly. "So you're not what we'd call a natural enemy?"
"What do you mean exactly?"
"Wolves are considered a kind of natural enemy to us. Aren't you the same?"
I thought for a moment. "Alice asked me something similar, but I need to adjust the answer I gave her." I looked at Edythe. "I'm neither a natural enemy of yours, nor am I like the wolves."
Emmett's brow furrowed. "But aren't you also shifting into that... feathered lion thing?"
"Winged lion," Alice said, without missing a beat.
Which caused a quiet warmth flickered in my chest.
Emmett looked entirely unbothered by the correction. "Yeah," he said. "That."
"Birds, insects, mammals," I said. "They're all part of the same kingdom, even though they are very different from one another."
Emmett's expression suggested that it hadn't clarified much for him. Carlisle stepped in. "So you're saying 'shapeshifter' is more of a broad classification, and you and the wolves fall into very different categories within it?"
"That's how I see it, at least," I said. " The wolves, or spirit warriors, as they call themselves, may look similar to me on the surface, but the differences are fundamental. One of the most important things you mentioned: they are, in a very real sense, a natural counterforce to vampires. Not just enemies by circumstance. Their very awakening is tied to your presence." I set the glass down. "There are also other differences in how we shift and what we're capable of, but I'm not an expert on all their capabilities."
Edythe tilted her head slightly. " Interesting. So in theory, there could be other… subgroups as well?"
"In theory," I said. " Though I've never come across any evidence of that myself."
As we talked, I became aware of something in my peripheral vision: Rosalie's expression, which had started out neutral enough, was gradually tightening with each exchange. Her brows drew further together the longer it went on, until finally she spoke.
Emmett had already noticed. I caught him glancing at her the moment she opened her mouth, a faint unease crossing his face.
"How?" she said.
Everyone looked at her.
"You said you knew about vampires before coming here. You seem to know quite a lot about shapeshifters too." Her tone was measured at first, but an edge sharpened beneath it as she continued. "Alice told us your parents died, and they weren't even like y-"
"Rosalie." Alice's voice cut across the room.
Rosalie stopped.
"Samael has been nothing but respectful to everyone here and has answered every question put to him." Alice's tone wasn't loud, but her serious gaze left no room for argument. "I expect at least the same amount of respect in return."
The room went still. I raised an eyebrow and looked at Alice for a moment, a small smile I couldn't suppress finding its way onto my face. Edythe, across the room, had a similar expression. Rosalie opened her mouth, then closed it again, apparently unable to find what she wanted to say.
I looked back at Rosalie, letting my expression settle into something calmer and more even.
"I will answer those questions," I said.
Alice turned to look at me. "Samy, you don't have to do that."
"I know," I said. "But the question is fair, and it's clearly shared." I glanced briefly around the room, and the faces looking back at me confirmed it well enough. "However, what I tell you next, I'll ask you to keep between us. It matters to me, and I hope it helps build some trust here."
She tightened her grip on my hand slightly, then looked around the room.
"Of course," she said, looking around. "All of us."
The expressions in the room shifted, more attentive, more serious.
Carlisle said, "You have our word, Samael. And I want you to know your patience with us is very much appreciated."
I nodded and took a moment before starting.
"My first encounter with vampires and most of what I know are connected to the same event," I said. "It was only a few weeks after I first discovered my new nature. I was running in the forest near my home when I spotted a man. Something about him was immediately wrong: red eyes, movements too fast, too precise. He smelled different. But what concerned me most was what he was doing: he was tracking someone. Following traces, my traces, as it turned out."
I paused briefly.
"One of the first things my new nature gave me was instinct. Not instinct in the ordinary sense, something closer to a sixth sense. And what it told me about this man was clear. He was a predator, and he was following me. So I did what felt like the only right thing to do in that moment." I paused again. "I eliminated the threat."
The room was quiet.
"After disabling him, I tried to get answers. But his responses were vague, and once he started panicking, it became difficult to work with him. What was totally clear back then was that my lack of knowledge put me in a vulnerable position, and I couldn't afford that."
I paused briefly.
"The same instinct that warned me about him… also revealed the solution to that problem."
I lifted my right hand as I spoke, and let the shift come. My hand became large and furred, and a set of long, sharp claws extended from the fingers. Several pairs of eyes widened around the room. "With these, I was able to absorb fragments of his memories. Not everything, but enough."
I let the shift recede and settled back.
A brief silence followed as I let the shift recede. Their surprise was palpable.
Edythe was the first to break the quiet. "You took the memories?.. Just like that?"
I gave a small nod. "Not everything. But enough to understand what I'm dealing with."
Carlisle leaned forward slightly. "It's unusual to find a vampire with that much knowledge of shapeshifters."
"His memories gave me the location of his coven and of what they had been doing," I spoke evenly, without elaborating further, but the implication landed clearly enough. Esme exhaled quietly. "So I don't feel particularly guilty about using them to fill in the missing gaps," I added.
Jasper, who had said very little until now, spoke from across the room. "You're describing taking out an entire coven as if it were so simple."
I looked at him and smiled. "Sometimes the most dangerous position you can be in is being too certain you're at the top of the food chain."