Chapter 3 – Understated

AN- My internet is surprising flaky at the moment. So please forgive my lack of responses to reviews. Instead I am posting a new chapter while I still have a connection.

Within two hours, the Denali scouts had identified all the key scent locations in and around Forks. The boundary with the shifters had been noted. The unknown vampire scent, determined to be Victoria until other evidence presented itself had been color coded on the map despite its seemingly random pattern changes. The human was discovered to have a much smaller range of movement around town. The human's trail was almost exclusively from a small older two story house to the high school and local library. Faded trails led to the Cullen's' house, local shops, and to some clearing in the forest about five miles outside of the town proper.

They gathered back together in their hidden cave to discuss findings after finishing the scouting excursion. They had found Victoria's scent all over town, especially in places where the human pet was. The most recent and heaviest was discovered around the home of the human. As some of the local forest was close to the backyard of the home, the scent was strongest there. The vampire's trails also seemed to disappear and reappear around the shifter border which was confusing only because the reason was not immediately obvious. These shifters hated and hunted vampires per the information provided by the Cullens in the past, so it was a mystery as to why Victoria was trespassing onto their territory. This piece of the puzzle was definitely worth investigating further. Irina had also followed the trails towards Seattle and into the ocean. The trails left by Victoria were sporadic, and Irina admitted that had her tracking skills been less following would have been impossible. Irina admitted to be mildly impressed with Victoria's skills in camouflaging her scent trails. Irina and Kate shared their maps of the human and vampire movements, and began correlating the information onto a much larger map of the area placed on the wall facing the surveillance monitors.

After sharing all the details, it was agreed to continue to monitor the situation. None of the Denali clan present had visually spotted any of the shifters or Victoria while scouting. There had also been no communication from the Cullens. A watch the human shift schedule was created. The human pet had been important to the Cullens and was left with the knowledge of vampires to live as an unprotected human. The Denali clan knew this was a clear violation of the laws, and did not yet know enough about this situation to make a decision on how to handle this. Kate had texted a short status update to Tanya to ensure their leader was kept in the loop. No one understood why the Cullens would take such a great risk to their coven. The plan was to watch the human and hopefully get a response from the Cullens. There was enough information to make sure their friend's human was taken care of, one way or another. The Cullens would have to face punishment for this infraction, but the Denali clan were hoping it could be handled within the rights of their territory. The Denali's were nervous though, since they also violated the law by not reporting the full details immediately, but having Tanya communicate the initial report should give them some tenuous cover.

Irina took the first shift, positioning herself in a strategic elevation to allow her to watch the area not just the house. Victoria's scent had entered the house, but with multiple entry points it had been impossible to discern which would be chosen, and Irina did not want to be caught unaware by limiting her watch to a single side of the house. Also Irina was watching and scenting for shifters, since one their scents had been discovered to be recently around the house as well. The shifter scents were very faint and had been not been renewed for at least a few weeks. However despite the new human vigilance, Irina did not sense any evidence of any vampires or shifters visiting that night. This provided Irina an opportunity to observe the human without interruptions. Irina made sure to note all the behaviors, time frames, and other details.

Concern steadily overrode all other emotions while watching the human attempt sleep, wake, and leave in an older truck for school. Irina returned to the cave after the human shuffled her way into the high school. Shaking her head at Kate, Irina clenched her hands in an expression of stress.

"I am shocked at what I found." Irina frowned. "The human is a young woman who appears to be barely functional. She spent the night in the throes of nightmares and temperature fluctuations. It was difficult to not to respond." Irina gritted her teeth, and appeared it be struggling with words. "I am certain this description is not adequate." A low growl of frustration came out of her chest. Kate grabbed her in a hug, pulling her head to her shoulder.

"Take a moment." Kate spoke softly to her mate. Kate sat down on the dark leather couch, and pulled Irina down onto her lap. Grabbing both of her hands, and forcing Irina to angle more towards her, Kate requested gently, "Tell us what you discovered."

Irina's whole body shuddered. "I haven't seen a human look like that in a long time. It was horrible. Plus the pull was so strong. Both remind me of some scenarios."

"What do you mean?" Kate inquired.

"Remember that young man we came across in Brazil a while back, when we were wandering through South America visiting the Amazon territory?"

Kate shrugged with a non-committal attitude, but then gasped in recognition of who Irina might be referring to. "You mean the lost boy?"

Irina nodded in affirmation, and looked down at their hands clasped together. Irina gently squeezed her hands. Kate return the squeeze and tugged her left hand free, allowing her to place her arm around Irina's waist and grab her hip. Irina leaned into the sideways embrace. Little shivers and small sobs continued for a few minutes. Eventually Irina was able to calm down.

"The body was in motion, but the young woman is not present. The human pet appears to be going through some sort of trauma. It wrenched my spirit to not give any comfort. I am not heartless, and her cries in her sleep were horrid. The human is broken." Irina laid her head on Kate's shoulder. "She is withdrawn, and her carriage and smell both instantly reminded me of the young man. Do you remember? The one we had to lay to rest."

Kate frowned and felt bereft at this situation. This was yet another unexpected complication. This whole series of events was rapidly shifting into a cluster of crap, one ginormous mess. Kate pulled out her phone in preparation for giving Tanya the newest sitrep.

Irina clucked her tongue a little at Kate letting go to grab her phone, "This is very serious."

Kate nodded in agreement. Irina continued " If this young woman is suffering like the boy did, she won't have much time. We will need to contact Tanya and let her know the time frame may need to be escalated for dealing with this situation."

"What do you mean about not having much time Irina?" Kate inquired. In her opinion this situation just kept getting more messed up, but not in a fun way.

"What I mean is that depending upon the stage the young woman is at, she may not have much longer to live." Irina started explaining before being interrupted.

"For real? What are you talking about" Kate had not thought death was so likely a possibility for this human, and she felt shock and sadness at this because this mission was supposed to try and avoid unnecessary deaths from happening. More death always means more attention.

Irina sighed in frustration and turned to face Kate. Irina squeezed Kate's hand gently to get her attention. "Listen csillagom. Please let me finish. Humans are just like everything else, and not all respond to us the same. We already knew the woman was a little different based on what the Cullen's told us and the scent Edward carried with him when he visited initially, but there is more than just that. We also suspected that this human pet was Edward's singer. He did not listen, but he is just a babe. Finally not all humans are designed to be let go back into the wild." Irina rubbed her thumb in gentle circles on Kate's hand. "Some humans respond more actively to our pheromones than others. Some are repelled, some are attracted, some grow attached. You know this from hunting, no?"

Kate pursed her lips tightly together and gave a small nod.

Irina reached over and rubbed Kate's shoulder a little before leaning back a bit and cupping her cheek, offering comfort to her mate. This situation in their territory was stressful. "The young boy or man in Brazil was one of the humans who we discovered was unable to live without vampire pheromones. Some humans are naturally attracted, and once their biology becomes exposed are changed. I do believe the Cullen human may be a lost member of the lost symbiotic humans much like the boy. Exposure to our pheromones is similar to a drug addiction for these humans. They were once bred specifically to respond to us. Depending upon exposure duration, and other health factors determine how difficult the withdrawal is for the affected human. The human will go into withdrawal. Some survive and some do not. The boy was not surviving, so we put him to rest at his request. It was a difficult request to fulfill, but we had not found him in time to make a difference by re-introducing him to our species pheromones." Irina looked down at their hands on Kate's lap and bit her lower lip.

"It is the reason I am so furious with the Cullens. They should have noticed the signs. Although there is not much documentation, there is still some. That is the part of the reason why our clan has human hunting rules." Carmen growled for a moment. "But Carlisle should have known better and noticed. I am so disappointed in him at the moment."

"Wow I guess I hadn't realized that before. Is the human beyond hope? Is there anything we can do?" Kate wondered and ducked her head a little in a sign of embarrassment for not having noticed this before.

Irina instinctively knew what might be bothering her mate clarified a bit, "Our hunting dalliances are too brief to impact a human in that way. That is one of the reasons you never noticed Katya. It is also one of the many reasons why we vary our hunting region so often. But do not dismay, there are so few left after the Southern Clan Wars, that the likelihood of coming across one this human breed is one in a couple of billion. You have a better chance of winning a lottery. " Irina smirked at Kate's gape from her surprise joke. Irina moved her hand from Kate's cheek to close her mouth.

"To answer your question, Kate, I would say yes. We have hope. Her physical condition seems worn, but not sickly. Perhaps that has to do with the semi-frequent visits by Victoria. Who is to say? But we should discuss our options with Tanya as soon as possible. Can you call her please?" Irina moved her hand to Kate's collarbone and laid her head down on the other side.

Kate removed her hand from Irina's hand and pulled out a cell phone. After swiping the screen with her thumb, punching a couple of keys, they heard it dial. A few moments later Tanya picked up on the other line. After the greetings were finished, the scouting party filled Tanya in on the situation. Her mates heard the cold fury in her voice when she explained in no uncertain terms that they were to attempt some solutions to restore the human pet. Tanya explained that if the human was a symbiote, Sulpicia would show no mercy if the human was allowed to die. Tanya let her mates know that a response from Volterra about the investigation was still forthcoming, but that was better than an immediate kill order. No code black had been sent, so the Denali clan would be proceeding with the plan until further instructions arrived. Tanya expressed that they care for themselves as well, and be extra careful of the nomad Victoria. Victoria's actions were even more suspect now with a potential human symbiote involved. Tanya stated she would wrap up business sooner rather than later with Peter, and join them. Neither Peter or anyone in the Southwest Territory had heard from the Cullens in a few months. Her expected arrival would be one day from now. It was decided to proceed without the Cullens input. The clan would handle the human situation first, and then deal with their friends digressions from the law.

After hanging up with Tanya the two mates brainstormed various solutions, but none of them looked like teenagers so joining as students was out. Becoming a teacher would involve removing one, and no one was certain how to do that without drawing a lot of unwanted attention. Finally, Kate suggested treating something like a battery that would help recharge the human.

"Perhaps we could hold onto a ball or something and place it in her bag. The stuff our bodies give off would fade into the area around her. It's not direct exposure, but it seems like that might help maybe?" Kate offered as an idea.

"I think you are onto something with this. What if we did that to her pillow? Then the human would get the chemicals on her while sleeping. Would that be enough maybe?" Irina asked out loud.

"I think so, and on that note we could borrow some of her clothes and put our pheromones on those as well. It would give her all day access to what her body is craving and should ease some of her pain." Kate hummed. "Are we willing to give away that we are here?"

Irina piped up, "I think any vampire with any sense will figure out that we are here and in the area anyway. Victoria is going to come across our scents, especially since we dropped by the Cullen mansion. We made no effort to disguise our presence here in that regard."

"Also perhaps this will warn Victoria off of the human since the scents from us on her clothes, room, and vicinity will let her know the human symbiote is no longer alone. We could make this work for us and improve the situation." Irina added in. "However, this may also result in a reactionary attack on the human, so we will need to be vigilant for that. I also want to drop a marker from our clan on the Cullen and human homes to inform Victoria there is an official territory investigation. That should provide an additional safeguard for the human pet."

"I agree. We should see an improvement within a couple of hours for the human, and hopefully by the time Tanya arrives, she will be improved enough to approach. As long as Victoria doesn't force our hand, we can hold off with direct interaction for a bit until further assessment can happen. Does this plan work for us?" Kate asked. Irina sat up and kissed Kate in confirmation.