Summary: The Cullens return to Forks to keep and eye on the rowdy, teenage werewolves. Edward quickly falls for Bella swan, who happens to be dating the Alpha - Jacob Black. A series of events ultimately lead to someone being bitten, and a deadly face-off between the vampires and wolves. AU. EPOV.

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Let me warn you that there's a fairly dry point towards the beginning of the chapter where Edward is explaining the situation with the wolves. It's already assumed that you are familiar with the Cullens and their abilities. I didn't want to take any more space explaining those since that part is relatively unchanged from the books. One change to Edward's ability is listed.

Title comes from The Posies song "Love Comes."

Disclaimer: SM owns everything you recognize.

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The Vision

"Are you excited for the first day of school tomorrow?" Alice had come bounding into my room with a huge grin on her face. I couldn't suppress the small growl that rumbled from chest at the thought. Another year of high school. Another set of children who would avoid my entire family while simultaneously bombarding me with their meaningless thoughts.

"No, Alice, I'm not. I don't understand why you are either." She never ceased to astound me with her enthusiasm, especially for high school of all things.

"Oh cheer up, Edward. I have a feeling this year will be very different." I tried to pick anything out of her thoughts that would explain her comment, but found she had pushed everything out except for her shoe collection, which she was currently alphabetizing by designer. This could only mean one thing: she'd had a vision.

"Are you going to tell me?" I don't know why I asked since I already knew the answer.

"Nope."

I scowled at her. With that her smile grew even wider and she pranced out of my room.

~*~

My family moved back to Forks almost 3 months ago, at the beginning of the summer break. Carlisle started working almost immediately at Forks Hospital. They desperately needed a qualified doctor, and Carlisle was more than willing to fulfill that need. Esme began some interior design projects, mostly with contacts from the hospital. She severely undercharged for her services, but it was something she loved. I'm sure she would have done it for free if it wouldn't raise suspicions. My brothers and sisters decided to travel for awhile. Emmett and Rose had gone to Africa to enjoy some alone time and sample the local "cuisine." Alice and Jasper had gone to Paris for a few weeks, the hopeless romantics that they are. I had, of course, stayed here to watch in over Forks. After all, I didn't have a mate to enjoy such trips with.

We had been living in a small suburb of Pittsburgh before this. Carlisle was working at UPMC while we were attending classes at the University of Pittsburgh. We hadn't yet graduated, but one day last spring Alice had a vision that we couldn't ignore. Charlie Swan, crouched down in the woods, studying a series of huge animal prints. We all immediately knew what it meant. Wolves. Overgrown, egotistical, smelly wolves.

The Quileute tribe of Indians, living right outside of Forks, posses an old magic. The males, during their teenage years, gain the ability to transform into wolves. They are thought of as the "Protectors," originally created to keep their tribe and other humans safe from us. From vampires. We had been able to make a treaty with them. They agreed to leave us along as long as we didn't bite or kill any humans. I suppose as generations came and went with no trouble from us the wolf-boys had started to become complacent.

While nothing major usually happens, the boys can be dangerous. They become inhumanly strong and fast. All their teenage traits seem to become magnified. They become smug, rebellious, and overly hormonal. Their tempers can be uncontrollable. This will now be the third generation of wolves we have watched over. They exist because of us, and due to the fact we take it upon ourselves to make sure no harm befalls the people of Forks because of them. What makes this difficult is that neither Alice's nor my talents worked on the wolves. I always knew we'd have to go back, but I certainly wasn't looking forward to keeping an eye on the wolves. At least not until I saw her.

I've been watching her for weeks now. She had moved here shortly after we arrived. Since then, the company Bella Swan had decided to keep was… unsavory, to say the least. She was overly friendly with the Black boy, the Alpha of this generation's pack. It was obvious they cared for each other, but I didn't trust Jacob Black as far as Bella could throw him. She had no idea I even existed, let alone was trying to protect her.

I don't know why Bella intrigued me so. Her blood did call to more than other humans' blood; that much was true. But there was something more to it. Every time I caught a glimpse of her I was overcome with emotion. One of the most powerful was an intense sense of longing that made me forget the scorch in my throat caused be the thirst. I longed to speak to her, to touch her. So many things stood in the way of that. Not the last of which was Jacob. She and the dog were obviously romantically involved, although I did notice she didn't seem nearly as enthusiastic about their relationship as he was. That gave me some hope as I watched from a distance, assuring her safety. I wouldn't be able to do that for long, though. Once the boys were able to transform they would be able to smell and hear me, all of us, just as easily as I could them.

The irony of the whole situation did not escape me. After being alone for over one hundred years, the first female I felt drawn to was not only an exceptionally delicious human, but dating my mortal enemy. Oh Edward, ever the masochist.

Edward, would you come here please? Carlisle's thoughts drifted to me from downstairs, breaking through me contemplations. I rubbed my eyes and tried to clear my head of Bella Swan before I made any attempt to go downstairs. Carlisle would surely know something was bothering me. After a few moments I stood up and in a second was down the stairs entering Carlisle's study. It was so freeing to not have to hide behind the human façade at home.

"So Edward, school starts tomorrow." He grinned up at me from behind his desk, his mind purposefully blank. He had that same ridiculous grin as Alice. She had revealed her vision to him.

"Why is it that everyone seems to know my future, except me?" I quietly growled the question at him. This was beyond frustrating. With my abilities I wasn't used to being out of the loop.

"Don't be like that, son. Besides, not everyone knows. Alice didn't trust Emmett."

That's just great. "So when do I get let in on the little secret?"

"I think we'll let you figure this one out on your own. Just try to enjoy it." He flashed me a proud, fatherly look before quickly returning to one of his texts. His thoughts were now filled with medical terms that were of no use to me at the particular moment.

I turned and headed out to the living room, trying to figure out what to do with the rest of the time before school began the next day. I would of course have to make a detour past Bella's house this evening to make sure the dog had returned her home safely, but that still left me with a lot of free time.

"Hey Jazz, want to go hunting?" I knew that out of the family Jasper was the one that would most likely want to hunt before being around the humans tomorrow.

He seemed relieved when he looked up from his book. "I thought you'd never ask."

~*~

We didn't go far that night. We had a limited amount of time, plus I knew Jasper would be eager to get home to Alice. Thinking of the two of them made my thoughts drift back to Bella. It was late, nearly three in the morning, and I was afraid of what we would find at Bella's. Normally I checked on her much earlier. Between that and the thought that my family was keeping a secret from me, I had been on edge all night.

"What's with the nerves? You're giving me an anxiety attack over here." Of course Jasper knew how I was feeling. I was actually surprised he waiting this long to say something about it.

"Alice's vision. Noone will tell me what she saw. I hate not knowing what's going to happen." By now we were coming up to Bella's house. I slowed down to listen and heard two distinct heartbeats – hers and her father's. She was safe. I felt a wave of relief and calm flow over me. I wasn't sure if it was due to Bella's safety or Jasper's influence.

"Really, it's nothing to worry about man. She just wants it to be a surprise." He smiled over at me and as he caught a glimpse of Bella's house something flashed through his mind.

What the hell was that?

"Was that Alice's vision? Was that…. And me… ?" I trailed off, unable to form a proper sentence.

He gave me a quick wink before looking out his window and picturing a scantily clad Alice. That was sure to keep me out of his thoughts for awhile. Besides I had my own thoughts to get lost in now. The image flooded my mind: Bella and I holding each other and kissing. How exactly was this supposed to come true? Bella was certainly out of reach to me. I couldn't see a way this would work out, but then again Alice was rarely wrong.

I was lost deep in thought for the remainder of the drive home. When I pulled up to the front of the house I could already hear Alice inside. She had seen that Jasper slipped up and she was furious. I looked over at Jasper and he looked more than a little frightened. You wouldn't know it from looking at her, but Alice could be downright scary when ruined surprises were involved. I didn't blame Jasper for his fear, but I was sure that their argument wouldn't last till morning. They never stayed angry with each other "Good luck." I tried to give him an encouraging smile, but I'm sure my face revealed the confusion That I felt.

"You too." He gave me a genuine smile before it quickly faded.

"Jasper! Get. In. Here. Now!" Alice was growling from within the house. Jasper was gone in a flash. I waited in the car for awhile to make sure Alice had cleared from the living room. I was, afterall, completely innocent. I didn't want to get caught in the crossfire.

My thoughts automatically drifted back to the brief flash in Jasper's mind. I have to admit, when I don't over think it, it is a pretty spectacular vision. A small smile was playing at my lips when suddenly I heard a moan come from within the house. Ugh. They were at it already. I had to give Jasper credit though, it hadn't even been 10 minutes since he left the car. I almost made myself a mental note to get some relationship pointers from him before I caught myself. It was much too early to be thinking of any sort of relationship. Bella's love belonged to someone else.

That last thought darkened my mood considerably. I yanked my keys from the ignition and headed for the front door, taking my time. I wasn't sure how I felt about the whole situation and was certainly not looking forward to facing my family. They would all know that I knew by now and would certainly be asking questions. And teasing. Emmett was going to have a field day.

"Hey little bro!"

Speak of the devil. He couldn't even let me get inside first? Emmett slung an arm around my shoulders and grinned at me. I could hear a multitude of jokes and taunts racing through his mind, varying in degrees of raunchiness. He finally settled on a G rated one, I assume because Esme was right inside.

"Edward and Bella, sittin' in a tree," I shot him a glare that had no effect whatsoever. "K-I-S-S"

"Shut up Emmett."

" I-N-G"

He didn't get to sing anymore. I twisted from his under his arm and tackled him to the ground. We were rolling around taking a few swings, not really meaning it. I got him once in the ear that I felt bad about. Well, I did feel bad until he landed a solid punch in my stomach. Eventually we were both laughing and came to a standstill in an awkward wrestling hold, certain body parts much too close to my face for comfort.

"Boys, don't be ridiculous. Come inside." She turned on the top step and disappeared back in the house. We both stood up and brushed ourselves off.

One more punch wouldn't hurt. I heard him think it in just enough time to reach out and punch him instead.

"Ow. Good one. I swear, one of these days you and Alice are going to drive me crazy. You'll find me curled up in a ball gnawing on my own leg or something." We both chuckled as we made our way in the house.

Esme was the only one in the living room. Carlisle had left while we were gone for a night shift at the hospital. Alice and Jasper were still… preoccupied. I could hear Rosalie upstairs, presumably already preparing for school. She loved the look on the human boys' faced the first time they saw her.

Glancing at my watch, I saw I still had a couple hours left before we would have to leave for school. I wanted some alone time to think things over. "Excuse me Esme, Emmett. I'm going to head up to my room." They both gave me annoyingly knowing looks before I ran up the stairs. I could still hear all the jokes floating around Emmett's head. I groaned internally as I imagined having to endure any number of those in the coming months.

I quickly showered and dressed for school. Laying back in my bed, I brought my hands up behind my head and began to think once again about Bella. I couldn't deny that part of me wanted Alice's vision to come true. I felt so connected to Bella, like we were meant for each other. Destined to be together. Plus, she would surely be safer with me than with that dog. I've had over eighty years to practice my self control, while he had yet to begin.

Then there was the rational part of me that was shouting out the fact that while I may be the lesser of two evils, I was still evil. A monster. Bella didn't belong in my world. Surely she would be put into danger eventually. It was inevitable that we would run across others of our kind, the majority of which did not share our lifestyle. It was selfish of me to even consider bring Bella into my world.

The coming months would surely decide a lot, though. The boys would be changing soon. Their musty, dirty smell had gotten stronger in the last few weeks. Frankly I was surprised the humans couldn't smell it. I could only hope that this time would be as easy as the last. That pack had only had three members and they were mostly kept under control by their parents. This new generation had nearly a dozen, by my last count. That couldn't be a good thing. We'd never watched over this many before. Plus, I'd never had to protect Bella before. Bella…

I heard footsteps in the hall followed by a knock on the door. "Edward, we're ready. Are you driving or me?" I grabbed my keys off my nightstand and sat up in my bed. I was most certainly not arriving for the first day of school at Forks High in Rosalie's bright red convertible.

"Coming," I grumbled at her. This was going to be a long year.

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