Chapter 8.

Disclaimer: SM owns everything.

A/N: I was blown away by the amount of people that added this story to their favorites and alerts. This is a filler chapter, so it's pretty short.

Jacob's POV:

After Nessie left, I phased and Seth yelled, 'There you are, Jake. We've had to follow your scent since you hadn't phased to show us where you where. I thought you would've phased by now.'

'There were some complications,' I explained.

I was immediately met with an onslaught of questions from Embry, Seth, and Quil. Mentally, I replayed the recent events as I tried to stay focused on what was currently occurring before me.

"You said two weeks?" Nahuel asked, regaining the bloodsuckers' attention, and redirecting their attention from me.

"Yes," the female replied.

'Jake, either get out of there or wait until we get there. You'd be outnumbered!' Quil shouted in my mind. 'We're on your trail right now.'

I could see through their minds where they were. And Quil had a point. They knew someone was nearby. I didn't exactly want to fight if I could avoid it, and the bloodsuckers would find me in the bushes before my pack would even show up.

So, I fled, deciding to get all my information from Nahuel later by any means. Bits of the bloodsuckers' conversation slowly escaped my hearing range.

'I'm not surprised that half-vampire is with the bad guys,' I heard Leah mutter. She must've phased in at some point because I didn't remember hearing her voice before then. I found myself mumbling in agreement with her words.

It was so usual for me to dislike Leah. However the years, not only has she been more tolerable, I realized that we had a lot more in common than I thought. I guess it's a good thing she's my beta.

'Maybe he's not all that bad. He may have to do this against his will.' Seth responded.

Leah retorted, 'I can't believe we're related,' at the same time Embry said, 'What exactly are you talking about, Seth?'

'I just think that we're not seeing the full picture here. When that female said someone dear to him would be in danger, what if she were referring to Renesmee? I mean, then he'd be doing this against his will, right?' Seth explained quickly.

I willed my legs to move faster through the forest and realized I was closer to them than I realized. As soon as I pinpointed Seth among the others in the pack, I let out a low growl.

He quickly backtracked. 'No. I mean think about it, Jake. It makes sense.'

'Yeah, but they said he needed to get something and report back. So what is that half-vampire after?' Quil voiced.

That was the big question.

Renesmee POV:

I walked through the threshold of my home, and was immediately met by Dad's scrutinized and worried gaze. "What's going on?" He frantically asked.

"What makes you think something's going on?"

He reached over and pulled some leaves out of my disheveled hair. Dad proceeded to motion to my dress. I looked down and realized my dress was awfully muddy, dirty, ripped and torn at the hem.

"Where is Jacob?" He asked, closing the door behind me.

I shrugged. "I -uh- had to leave him."

"At the party?"

Grandma Esme came in with a mixing bowl in one hand and a huge spoon in the other. "Renesmee, are you alright? I'm in the process of baking some brownies. I thought Jacob would be here as well..."

"I'm fine," I responded to both Dad and Grandma Esme. "Where's Mom?"

Dad pointed toward the back door, so I figured Mom went to the cottage. My suspicions were confirmed when I asked him about Aunt Alice and he said that she and Carmen were there as well, so I decided to go meet up with them. I could feel Dad zoning in on my thoughts, no doubt trying to figure out what my motive for finding them was. So, I closed my mind off.

I ran out the back door and into the woods, heading toward the cottage. Aunt Alice had the door open for me by the time I got there.

"What happened, Nessie?" She asked, motioning for me to take a seat on the couch next to Mom. Aunt A sat with Carmen across from us. "You're missing one of my earrings!"

I sighed, "That's kind of unimportant right now, but I'll buy you some new ones soon enough."

I went on to relay what I'd seen and the events that occurred.

Mom sighed and bit her lip. "So the Volturi's decision was in regards to Nahuel?"

I nodded. "They seem to be threatening him, Mom."

"But why? What do the Volturi want from him? We've accepted Nahuel into our home, he's even taken up our lifestyle... I just can't see him harboring ill intentions." Leave it to Mom to still be searching for the good in everyone.

Aunt A looked around to each one of us. "So what are we going to do? Should we alert the others?"

Carmen finally spoke up. "No. We act as if nothing happened, as if we didn't know anything about this. I don't believe Nahuel is evil, but under the circumstances, who knows what he'll do."

"You expect me to forget what I saw?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No me bebe linda. You most importantly must play your role, acting normally. But you need to get answers from him, so we can piece this together."

"This could be dangerous, though," Aunt A interrupted. "I can't foresee what will happen, and we don't know what we're dealing with."

Mom put a hand on my shoulder. "Renesmee, I will not allow you to do this."

I shrugged out of her touch. "I can hold my own. Let me prove this to you." My eyes pleaded with her.

"Fine," She relented with a grimace, "But I don't like this."

"Jacob's heading this way," Aunt A murmured, rising from her seat and going to open the door.

"How can you tell?" I questioned.

"I can smell him," She frowned. "I doubt I'll ever fully get used to the smell."

Sure enough, Jacob bounded through the door. "Can somebody tell me what the hell is going on with Nahuel? Ness, you implied that you knew more than I did about the situation. What aren't you telling me?"

I glanced at Carmen and placed my hand on her shoulder, silently asking whether I should explain her gift or not. Her expression showed it was up to me.

"Can you walk me back home, Jake?" I asked politely, not really giving him another option as I walked out the door.

We were silent for all of give minutes, then he had to inevitably speak up. "Ness, why can't you clue me in on this?"

I sighed, figuring this was an easy question to answer. "I can't tell you because of a deal or pact that I've made."

"Okay," He said, "Can you tell me who you made the deal with?"

I picked up my speed a little to get home faster, in hopes of making this conversation short. "Alice, Carmen, and Mom," I answered.

"And what does this pact have to do with Nahuel?" He asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Nice try," I replied with a chuckle. "That's all you're getting out of me."

We approached the house. All the lights inside were on and blaring like a lighthouse to a sea of darkness. I could see the silhouettes of my family members in the upstairs' windows. With our backs to them, Jacob and I sat on the back porch.

He reached over and silently smoothed my hair down some, pulling more random leaves. "You wore a nice dress to the party, I'm actually sorry it got all messed up through your little jog into the woods." Jake joked.

I shoved him lightly, laughing in response.

"So do you want to know what happened after you left?" Jake asked.

I shook my head. "Let's try to keep this from my Dad. I'll find out what happened later."

From the woods in front of us, a figure from the shadows stepped out into the light. It was Nahuel. His questioning eyes fell upon us. I grinned back brightly, much to Jacob's confusion. I took Jacob's hand in mine and sent him a message, 'Be nice.'

His returning facial expression practically questioned my sanity, so I promised to explain more later.

Nahuel looked a little shaken up, but I would inquire about that. With such bright lights in the background, I noticed thin scars along his neck, trailing toward his shoulder, disappearing past his shirt. He moved in such a feral manner, walking to the back door.

He gave a small nod to us, still not showing any emtion. I smiled sweetly and stood up to follow Nahuel inside. Time to play my part.

A/N: Review please!