Three nights in a row, Lydia returned to the river.

She sat the same way, with her legs dangling over the edge and the back of her sun dress getting soggy and muddy from the moss she sat on. The same two wolves greeted her, as if they expected her to come now. As if they were waiting for her.

Three nights in a row Lydia was pulled to the treaty line by an unknown force, a demand for answers she knew she would never find. How could she when she had no idea what to look for?

The great silver wolf always watched her with those brown-black eyes full of every disgusted emotion known to man. Whoever he was, he truly hated her.

Lydia had considered apologizing just so he would stop looking at her, but she knew she never would. It wasn't in her nature, now. As a human she would have done so in an instant. But now?

No.

Now she had no qualms with being perceived as a bitch. And the opinion of a dog didn't matter to her, anyway.

During the day, she went to school with Alice and Edward like normal, making her thoughts glaringly obvious that she was pissed. Every once in a while Edward would flinch, and she would know that he was hearing her. Good. He could suffer knowing she thought he was an ass.

Him and Alice would share knowing looks that only pissed her off more. Her only consolation was that it was obvious Bella had no idea what it was about either.

Despite her obvious fury, neither of them told her anything. Lydia didn't speak to either of them unless it was absolutely necessary. She spent her lunches alone at a table far from Bella and her friends — where Alice and Edward had chosen to sit since coming back to forks — where she doodled the time away.

It was a Tuesday morning when she first heard about it.

"So you're — I'm me we're — having a graduation party," Alice said happily. "It's no big thing. Nothing to freak out over. But I saw that you would freak out if we tried to make it a surprise party and Edward said I had to tell you. But it's nothing. Promise."

All of that was a lie and Lydia knew it.

Any party Alice there would be massive.

Bella sighed. "Is there any point in arguing?"

"None at all."

"Okay, Alice, I'll be there. And I'll hate every minute of it. Promise."

"That's the spirit!" Alice beamed.

Lydia groaned internally. She would get stuck helping with the party set up and then would spend the entire evening in her room trying to avoid everyone. She already knew it would be fact.

Silently and discretely, Edward looked over to her as casually as he could and nodded once. Her thoughts were correct.

She sighed.

"By the way," Alice continued, "I love the gift you got me. You shouldn't have."

"Alice, I didn't," Bella grimaced.

"I know, but you will."

Lydia stood abruptly and left the cafeteria. She would avoid Alice's party vision as long as she could.

The rest of the afternoon went by without a hitch, her classes as boring as ever.

The moment she got home she went into her room and painted until well after sunset. It took her a moment to realize what the finished product was.

The treaty like the other night with excellent detail on the shrubbery and trees. The mossy rocks on the edge of the drop that became the river. On the bank opposite to the viewer was a great silver wolf, staring at her with those hateful eyes. Its mouth was open, teeth dripping with drool as it snarled at her.

Lovely.

She tossed her canvas across the room and walked silently out of her room.

Carlisle was in his study reading an ancient book, just as she thought he would be. He looked up as soon as she walked in.

"What happened the other night?" She asked firmly, hating how small her voice sounded.

Despite what she had done all those years ago, despite the pain she had caused, Carlisle had never judged her. It was easy to assume that he knew everything and would've known even if Edward hadn't said something. And not once had he seemed disgusted by it.

She had no interest in being part of the Cullen family, but Carlisle, Esme and Emmett would be easy to bond with. To love.

"Lydia," he breathed softly as he closed his book. She knew why he didn't use a marker; he would remember the exact page.

"You're all keeping something from me and I want to know what it is," she said, forcing herself to sound firm. "So what happened."

A long pause.

"It's not my secret to tell," Carlisle said finally, meeting her golden eyes.

"What in the fuck does that mean?" Lydia demanded. She could feel her bottom lip quivering the way it always did when she was mad. As a human, any frustration meant she would cry it out. As a vampire that didn't work.

Yet her body followed the same patterns.

As if he could read her mind, as if he knew exactly what that action meant, Carlisle's gaze turned sympathetic. "You have to ask Sam Uley, the alpha of the pack," he told her gently. "As I said, Lydia, it isn't my secret to tell."

"How do I talk to him then?" She asked, angry with herself. Angry with Carlisle. Angry with the stupid dogs. Angry with the bastard vampire that turned her when they should've let her die.

How is this what her life had become?

Carlisle clasped his hands over her book. "I'd imagine one of them stays with you when you sit at the treaty line."

She started.

"What?" Lydia whispered.

He smiled gently. "I have no qualms with you spending your time there. I only hope that you're careful not to provoke them."

"They haven't provoked me either," Lydia muttered, hating that she sounded childish.

But it was true.

It wouldn't take much for her to pick a fight with the Quileute wolves. Alone, without anyone in danger, she would take them on. If she was ripped to pieces, so be it.

She would be at peace.

"No, they haven't," Carlisle chuckled. Then he stood, hardly making a sound. "All I ask is that you be on time for school tomorrow."

At that, Lydia groaned. "Do I have to go? I've done high school enough time already."

"It's normality, Lydia," he reminded her patiently. "We as immortals need the pattern."

After a long moment, she changed the subject. "Will they talk to me?" She asked quietly, avoiding his kind gaze.

"You can only try."

Lydia just huffed and left his office. She kicked her feet into her hiking boots and left the house, now with intent.

Only this time, no wolves came to greet her.

It was as if they knew she wanted answers.

Lydia waited alone until dawn, then went home to get ready for school.

•••••

She was distracted all day, hardly paying attention in any of her classes. Her teachers didn't bother calling on her anymore as while her siblings tried to fit in, Lydia made sure each of her answers was correct.

So she stared out the window deep into the woods all day, imaging she was at the treaty line. What secret could the dogs possibly have that involved her?

By the end of the day, as she waited at the car for Alice to drive them home — it was so frustrating, having to pretend she couldn't drive — Lydia was impatient. Eager, almost.

The moment they were home she didn't bother going inside, just stalked through the woods in her hiking boots. Her little sundress snagged on bushes and thorns, but there wasn't a part of her that cared. Alice would surely scold her for it, though.

Her hiking boots stomped through mud puddles and mossy patches, leaving no footprints behind. As if she were never there in the first place.

Only the black wolf waited for her at the treaty line, so immersed in the thick foliage that a human would've missed it completely.

"What happened the night of the fight?" She demanded, forcing herself to look him in the eye.

The wolf stared back at her silently, those black-brown eyes studying her the way one would a pest to determine if it was dangerous. No fear, no concern, only pure calculation.

"This is useless," she muttered, beginning to pace back and forth.

She knew she was moving quickly, faster than a human would. Fast enough that she left no marks on the ground.

"I don't know what I expected," she grumbled.

The wolf merely stared at her, his eyes following her figure as she moved. It was as if he expected her to jump the border.

A slight wind blew through the trees, sending a waft of that awful dog smell in her direction. Lydia's nose wrinkled on disgust.

"Useless," she muttered again.

With that, Lydia turned and ran home.

It only took her a minute to get there, and when she did, Carlisle and Edward were waiting.

"I won't bother asking you what it is if Carlisle won't tell me," she said to Edward.

He didn't comment. "The situation in Seattle is getting worse, we may have to step in," he said quietly.

"I bet Emmett's thrilled," she muttered, glaring at the forest. She hoped Sam Uley could feel it.

"Jasper thinks someone is amassing an army of newborns."

If her heart could beat, it would have stuttered. "What?" She whispered.

"It makes sense," Carlisle said quietly. With the number of deaths, it has to be more than one and he's seeing the patterns that we can't."

"How many?"

"It's nearing fifteen now."

"What could they possibly be trying to fight against?" She scoffed.

When they both stared at her, she got it.

"Us?"

"That's our best guess," Edward nodded once. "We're a big enough family to be considered a threat."

Lydia ignored the way he included her in the family. "But our coven hasn't done anything to trigger numbers of that magnitude."

She didn't miss the way Carlisle looked away sadly when she used the word coven. "Our permanent residence here is considered threat enough, I suppose," he said softly.

"Does Jasper plan on teaching us how to dispose of them?"

"We haven't decided if we will step in or if we should leave it to the Volturi," Carlisle shook his head.

"If the Volturi aren't behind it," Edward muttered.

"We have no proof," Carlisle reminded him, as if they'd had this conversation already.

Of course they hadn't called her back for it.

Edward eyed her almost curiously, as if her thoughts intrigued him.

Whatever.

"Tell me when you decide," Lydia muttered, then passed them to go inside.

Carlisle was beside her in an instant. "How did your conversation go?"

"There was no conversation." She continued to glare ahead of her.

He grimaced. "I see."

"So," Lydia forced a smile at him. "Come and find me when you're willing to talk."

Without letting him speak, Lydia stalked past him and went inside. She didn't speak to anyone as she went upstairs and shut the door to her room.

Once inside, she sat down on the bed and simply stared at the paints and canvas that were waiting for her.

She didn't mind if Edward heard her thoughts.

Let him.

A numb feeling spread through her and in order to keep it, Lydia brought memories to the forefront of her mind.

A large hand clasping her small one.

Dark brown eyes.

A blurry smile in the dark of night.

Pain tried to take over her feelings, a deep-rooted agony that held her to blame for the death of an innocent young man. And she was.

So Lydia sat there all night, staring at the waiting set of paints and let the numbing pain consume her.

AUTHORS NOTE:
So I feel like this is actually garbage. it's kinda a filler but I'm also trying to fit in information that I've missed so far.

Let me know what you think :)