"You've made it!" Angela said as she pulled Bella into a hug. They were all amazed to have been invited to the Cullen's house, and it seemed like the whole graduating class had turned up in full force to explore the previous unimaginable home.

Jessica had muttered to Angela that it seemed like the perfect location for the Cullens to murder them all without anyone being able to hear them scream, but the rest told her she was being ridiculous. Still, there was something about that Jasper that had always made her ridiculously uncomfortable. He was standing at the side of the room, the tightest smile Jessica had ever seen on his face, as he watched his siblings and Kiara Black engage in a game of beer pong against some of the football jocks.

She turned her attention back to Bella, reminding herself to ask the brunette girl about Rosalie and Kiara's on and off again relationship. "Hey. What'd you think of my speech? Too easy-breezy, too self-helpful? You may admit it..."

Bella smiled at the self-indulgent girl, glad to have her around even if they'd not always seen eye to eye. It was the last time she expected to really see them, the last time she really thought she'd seen the majority of the people in the room. It's not like she would be able to see them again once she became a vampire and "died".

"No, you pretty much nailed it," Bella said, no lie in her voice. She wasn't sure on Jessica's practice speeches but the final one was exactly the words she felt that she needed to hear. She'd miss her and the rest of the group she had become friendly with.

"Yeah? It's like I was born to lead, right?"

And just like that, Bella was reminded that Jessica probably wouldn't even notice if she was turned into a vampire, let alone die. She knew they'd be fine without her in their lives, and a piece of her was glad that the Cullen's had been her main friendships during high school. It just made things easier.

"Oh, great. I love this song, let's go!" Angela said, grabbing Jessica and heading off to join the rest of the dancing teens as Bella watched them go. She wasn't sure how to feel about it all, but she was certain of one thing: Edward was her forever.

She watched them walk away, a slight longing in her eyes at the thought of a friendship they could have had if she hadn't been almost comatose for months while Edward had left. She paused, shaking the thought before turning around and beginning to walk towards where Kiara and Emmett were hugging after having won their latest round of beer pong.

Kiara grinned from ear to ear as Bella approached them, pulling away from Emmett and wrapping her arms around the Swan. Bella awkwardly patted her back, never having really seen Kiara this comfortable with others. She didn't tend to hug the girl often, but the slight smell of beer on her breath informed Bella that the girl was certainly a little tipsy.

"Bella!" Kiara cheered, pulling back and placing her hands on the girl's shoulders as she looked at her from arms length. The shapeshifter furrowed her brows a little, almost scoffing as she realised that Bella had gotten away with just wearing a blouse and jeans but Alice had forced Kiara into a short navy dress. "Hey, why do you get to just wear jeans?"

Across the room, Rosalie and Beverly watched as Kiara lost interest in Bella and her outfit choices, instead going back to playing beer pong with Emmett. This time, it was one against one and they both knew that there was no way that Kiara was going to win against the vampire.

"I didn't even think their kind could get drunk," Beverly admitted as she pretended to sip from the cup in her hand. She wouldn't have been surprised at Kiara being drunk if she was a normal human, since she had been drinking all the beer so that Emmett didn't have to throw it back up later since it wasn't like they could digest it. "At what point is it sensible to cut off a werewolf from alcohol?"

Rosalie smiled a little at her sister, shrugging as she looked across at Kiara throwing her head back and cheering as she managed to land a ball in one of Emmett's cups. She couldn't help but feel happy at the sight of Kiara finally having fun. It almost made her forget their concern over the potential newborn army that was coming after Bella Swan.

"I'm not sure she even knew," Rosalie admitted, thinking to herself that she needed to thank Alice for forcing Kiara to wear that navy dress. She looked incredible.

"So..." Beverly said, lowering her voice in the hopes that the others in the house wouldn't pick up on it. They both knew that if the rest of their family wanted to listen in, they would - but Beverly knew that almost all of them respected their privacy. She was sure Edward was lurking around the corner listening to every word. "What are you?"

"A vampire?" Rosalie replied, knowing fine well what Beverly was meaning.

"Rose," Beverly replied, sitting her cup down on the fireplace mantle beside them. She looked sternly at her, in the way only a sister could. "You know what I mean."

"I don't know," Rosalie replied, her voice softer. "I don't want to rush things. She was literally killing herself less than a week ago, I don't want to scare her off."

"I don't think you'll be scaring her off any time soon," Beverly muttered as she noticed Kiara was now approaching her and Rosalie. She was a little wobbly on her feet but it seemed that she was mostly fine on her own. 

Kiara smiled as she walked up to stand with the two girls, not having had the chance to speak to either of them all night and decided to seize her opportunity. She smiled at Beverly before looking to Rosalie, and feeling her breath almost get taken away. She didn't think she'd ever get used to how beautiful the blonde vampire was.

"You look...wow," Kiara replied, not taking her eyes off her for a moment. She blinked for a second, before realising that Beverly was still standing with them and staring between them in slight enjoyment. "You look great too, Bev."

"Bev?" Rosalie questioned, raising an eyebrow at the sudden nickname. Beverly chuckled a little, patting Kiara on the shoulder as she excused herself from the two girls. She could almost feel the tension between them and she was not wanting to experience anymore second hand embarrassment from either of them tonight. "Since when are you and my sister on a nickname basis?"

"I'm not actually sure we are," Kiara admitted, shrugging a little as she looked around the room. A smashed glass from the kitchen caused her to twitch a little, suddenly becoming over-aware of everything that was going on in the crowed house around them. "Hey, can we talk somewhere quieter?"

Rosalie nodded, having just been about to suggest the same thing. She motioned for Kiara to follow her as they ascended the staircase, Kiara stopping to run her fingers along the graduation cap wall as she went. The blonde turned her head and smiled softly as she noticed the gentle amusement on Kiara's face, her fingers brushing against the yellow tassel from the cap that they had added that afternoon to the display. One more graduation.

She looked back up at Rosalie, smiling warmly at her as she both continued to ascend the stairs in a comfortable silence. While the teens of Forks had been delighted at the chance to finally see the Cullen's house, it seemed like they'd been respectful enough to keep it to the bottom floors of the house. That, or Emmett had threatened them all to stay away from their rooms, which didn't surprise Kiara. Last thing they wanted was questions about why none of the rooms minus Edward's had a bed. 

"I don't think I've ever been in your room," Kiara told Rosalie as the blonde opened the door for her. "It's very... you."

"Thanks, I think," the vampire replied, a small smile on her lips as she clicked the door shut behind them. She hadn't really given much thought to her room and its decorations, but she assumed that Kiara was right in thinking that it was very much her own sanctuary. 

It was pristine clean - almost. Pressed against the ceiling to floor window at the end of the room was a workbench and it looked like she was in the process of repairing some electrical component for one of the Cullen cars. Kiara wandered over to it, looking down at it before looking back to Rosalie who was watching her intently. 

"What's this for?"

"It's a car radio," Rosalie told her, moving to stand just behind her as she reached around her and picked it up for a moment. She turned it over in her hands so that Kiara could see the radio interface on the other side of the wires. "A graduation gift for Bella from myself, Emmett and Beverly. Since she's so insistent on keeping... that thing."

"Hey, my brother and dad fixed 'that thing' up, I'll have you know," Kiara joked, before turning around and realising how close her and Rosalie were to each other. She could hear and feel the thumping of the music below through the closed doors, but the muffled voices were barely touching her ears as she felt her own heartbeat echo.

"How are things... with your dad?" Rosalie asked, not moving away from her close proximity with the shapeshifter. Kiara blinked once more, looking at Rosalie's lips for a second before looking back up at her imprint.

"I really didn't ask to step away from the others to talk about my dad," Kiara muttered, leaning her head forward a little. Rosalie rolled her eyes at her attitude, but waited in her spot to see what the shapeshifter did next. Kiara lightly trailed one hand up Rosalie's arm, almost as if she was testing the waters between them both.

"Then what did you want?"

Kiara crashed her lips into Rosalie's, not waiting to continue their back and forth banter for any longer. She was sure that if she had been listening to the voices from downstairs, that she would have heard the squeal between Alice and Beverly who had been 'attempting' to not listen in but significantly failing. 

Rosalie turned them a little, moving Kiara against the work bench. The werewolf  pushed the car radio to the side, jumping up slightly so that she was perched on the metal desk. She deepened their kiss, running her hands down Rosalie's body as the blonde entangled her hands in Kiara's hair. She flawlessly reached up and pulled the hair tie from Kiara's hair, allowing her black hair to cascade down her shoulders and across the straps of Alice's dress.

The vampire paused for a second as her fingers glossed over the permanent scar on Kiara's neck from where Victoria had managed to just sink her fangs in. She felt a bit of guilt flood over her as she realised for the first time this was a scar that Kiara's shifting healing hadn't been able to cure - a vampire's scar. The tanned girl frowned as she realised that Rosalie was feeling guilty, knowing that she might have once blamed the Cullens, but she didn't now.

"It wasn't your fault."

"Don't say that."

"I'll say it for as long as it takes until you believe it," Kiara replied, smiling lightly at Rosalie as she placed her palm against her cheek. Rosalie closed her eyes for a second, leaning forward and gently resting her own head against Kiara's as they basked in the moment.

"What are you doing here?"

"You invited me, remember?"

Kiara pulled back, groaning a little as she rested her head against Rosalie's for a moment. She regained her breath, while Rosalie sighed as she realised what Kiara had just picked up on too. It must have been some sort of wolf connection, as Kiara had been able to make out her brother's voice from the muffled noises that she had been ignoring.

"Is that...?"

"Yeah, my brother is here," Kiara sighed, placing a quick kiss to Rosalie's lips once more before stepping back. She knew Rosalie might kill Jacob for interrupting their first proper moment alone since she had decided to accept the imprint, but Kiara also knew that there was a high chance Edward might kill her brother for even turning up at the Cullen household. "We can continue this later."

"I hope so," Rosalie muttered under her breath as she turned around to follow Kiara out of the room. Kiara paused for a second, noticing an oversized sweatshirt that was folded neatly on the back of one of the armchairs in the room. She looked at Rosalie for a second before motioning to the sweater.

"Mind if I put this on? I feel so exposed in this dress," Kiara muttered, and the vampire nodded without any hesitation. She'd give Kiara whatever she wanted, and the sweater was no exception. "Thanks."

____

"Hope you brought my graduation present, too," Kiara joked, causing Bella and the three wolves to turn their heads as she descended the stairs. Rosalie was behind her, arms crossed and with her usual scowl on her face as she looked at the wolves. 

Quil and Embry shared confused looks as they realised that Kiara and Rosalie were obviously back to seeing each other, the pack had updated them on the fact that she was no longer rejecting the imprint but they hadn't expected to see her back with the vampire so quickly. They guessed it made sense since the others described how hard it was to stay away from their imprints, but they both still felt uncomfortable with the development.

They both walked down the stairs, Kiara and Jacob sharing an awkward hug. He pulled back and quirked an eyebrow at her, confusion and amusement on his face.

"Are you drunk?"

"Tipsy," Kiara corrected. She knew what drunk felt like, and she had significantly sobered up since her makeout upstairs with Rosalie. "Why?"

"We can't get drunk," Jacob muttered, knowing that he had fine well tried. Kiara shrugged, knowing that Leah was also able to get drunk. It seemed that the differences between her and Leah compared to the boys were amusing to them all.

Rosalie reached out and grabbed Kiara's hand, squeezing it. Kiara turned her head to follow Rosalie's line of sight and noticed how Alice was standing frozen beside them as she seemed to be having a vision.

"The decision's been made," Alice breathed, causing all four wolves to look at each other in confusion. They had no idea what she was on about, but by the way that Rosalie and Bella both bristled, they knew it was something serious.

Almost as soon as Alice had said the words, Jasper, Edward, Beverly and Emmett appeared next to the others. They looked concerned, and suddenly Kiara had the feeling that the Cullen's had been hiding things from her. She didn't know where Esme and Carlisle were but she had a feeling they'd be appearing any minute too.

"What's going on? You're not going to Seattle?"

"No... They're coming here."

Jacob and Kiara shared a confused look.

"What's going on? Who is coming here?" Jacob snapped, Kiara not scolding him for once. She looked just as confused as he did.

"Not here," a voice from the top of the stairs called. They all looked up and saw a worried Carlisle Cullen peering down at them. "I think it's best we talk about this in my office."

_____

"How long?" Edward asked almost as soon as they had shut the door to Carlie's office behind them all. Kiara found herself standing between her brother and Rosalie, never having realised how intimidating the entire Cullen coven was until they were all standing in a room with her finally being aware of what they really were.

Esme and the rest of the vampires had joined them in the study almost as soon as the words had left Carlisle's lips. They smiled at Kiara, but it seemed that was as far as the family's politeness went towards the wolves. The awkward tension at Jacob's appearance after kissing Bella hovered uncomfortably in the room around them. It didn't help that he'd brought two more wolves into their home uninvited.

"They'll be here in four days," Alice told them all, her voice a little off as Jasper rubbed her arm affectionately. 

"This could turn into a blood bath," Carlisle sighed, rubbing his face as he ignored the confused looks that the four Quileute teenagers were sending each other. Once Embry and Quil realised that Kiara also had no idea what the vampires were talking about, they began to feel a little bit more uneasy.

"Who's behind it?"

"I didn't see anyone I recognize," Alice admitted, her eyebrows furrowing for a second as she recalled the vision that she had just had. There was a small twitch of her lips as she tried to realise if she did or didn't know one of the vampires that she had seen. "Maybe one..."

"I know his face," Edward interrupted, all eyes turning to him as he looked at Alice in a sudden realisation. He'd seen that face before - in the missing posters that Charlie had stuck up around the town and left lying on Bella's kitchen table. "He's local-"

"Riley Biers."

Everyone turned to look at Kiara as she nervously fiddled with the necklace around her neck. It had been a graduation gift from Paul, Sam and Emily. Edward furrowed his brow as he turned to look at Kiara, before realising crossed his face at her thoughts. That's why the boy had stuck out from the other missing person photos - Charlie had told Bella that Kiara used to date the boy.

"How did you know that?" Alice questioned. Jasper's eyes flickered from Alice towards Rosalie, who had turned to look at Kiara. To everyone else, she had her usual cold expression on but Jasper could feel the slight waver of panic come from his adoptive sister.

"That's Kiara's ex," Jacob replied for his sister, feeling the nerves and dread fill his chest as he looked around the room at the rest of the vampires. Rosalie tensed at this, moving closer to Kiara as if her presence was a soothing force for her.

"He's like, barely an ex," Kiara muttered, clearly angling it at Rosalie. 

"He didn't start this," Edward continued, trying to get everyone back on track. It was concerning that Kiara knew him - but it didn't seem like she was habouring any feelings towards the boy. They were long aged history.

"Whoever did is staying out of the action," Alice agreed with Edward, having a sneaking suspicion of who exactly was orchestrating this all. She didn't want to voice it, since she knew that the wolves weren't going to take the suggestion lightly.

"They must be playing with the blind spots in your vision," Esme added, noticing how Emmett wrapped an arm around Beverly who was still looking across the room at Kiara with concern. She wasn't sure that the wolves were going to be able to stay out of the crosshairs of this.

"Either way, the army is coming... ... and there aren't enough of us to protect the town."

That perked the four wolves interest. They'd gathered from this conversation that there was at least two vampires (one being that boy Kiara had seen for a summer years ago), but no part of them had thought this was to do with an army of vampires.

"Hold up," Jacob interrupted, not letting them be ignored for any longer. He was itching for a confrontation and Kiara placed a gentle hand on her brothers arm. He paused for a second, taking a deep breath before continuing. "What damn army?"

Edward and Rosalie shook their heads at Carlisle, almost begging him to not let the wolves get involved in this. They both knew that if Jacob thought Bella was in danger, he would get involved. And Jacob getting involved was bound to mean that the rest of the pack, including Kiara, would end up being caught in the crosshairs of it all.

"Newborns," Carlisle said, ignoring the icy glares he got from the duo. "Our kind."

Embry and Quil tensed a little, still adjusting to the entire 'turning into a giant wolf' life and not being entirely on track with the other parts of life that came with it. Kiara leaned into Rosalie a little, feeling a little bit of dread in her stomach at whatever was about to be said next.

"What are they after?" Embry asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"They were passing around Bella's scent. A red blouse," Alice said, her eyes shut for a minute as she recalled the vision once more. "And a maroon and white sweater."

Bella looked back at Alice for a moment, her eyebrows furrowed. She knew they were after her, they'd assumed that from the start - but something about what Alice had just said didn't add up to the motive that they had all been assuming.

"They're after Bella?"

"What the hell does this mean?" Jacob said, bristling a little as he stood up a little straighter. Kiara could almost feel the need to flank him, almost as if she was preparing herself for a fight to break out between him and Edward.

"It means an ugly fight. With lives lost," Carlisle said, the mood becoming a lot more solemn. Everyone stayed in the silence for a moment longer as Esme rested a caring hand on her husband's shoulder and looked around the room at the vampires she had grown to love like her own children.

"Wait..."

The silence dropped as Bella finally spoke for the first time since they entered the room. Her eyes were wide as she looked around, a little more on edge than she had been previously. Something about it startled them all.

"I don't own a white and maroon sweater."

Silence again. A beat. A longer beat.

Slowly, everyone watched as Edward turned his gaze towards the girl who was going significantly paler than her pack brothers beside her. He felt his shoulders tense a little as her thoughts came hurtling towards him, a dread that Jasper couldn't numb spreading across his body.

Kiara turned to look at Jacob, the boy having turned to look at her after noticing the way Edward had snapped his head in her direction.

"Jake, remember that WSU sweater you gave me last year and I told you Rebecca wanted it back?" Jacob nodded, his heart beating a little faster as he realised exactly what sweater she meant. "I just said that because I thought I had lost it, and I knew you'd be annoyed since she had originally given it to you and not to me."

"Kiara, you better not be saying what I think you're saying," Rosalie muttered from beside her, the tone of her voice causing goosebumps to rise on Kiara's skin. She instantly felt like she had disappointed her imprint, guilt swooping across her body. It wasn't her fault, but she could tell that her words had already hurt Rosalie.

"It's not just Bella they're after," Carlisle spoke, saying the words that Kiara was too scared to admit. "It's Kiara."

There was no hesitation as Jacob stood forward, his shoulders now completely facing Carlisle as he gave the blonde haired vampire his entire attention. Quil and Embry pushed themselves off the wall they were leaning against, standing on either side of him as they puffed their chests a little.

If it was any other situation, Kiara might have laughed.

"Alright... We're in."

Bella instantly jumped in to the conversation, the thought of the wolves fighting for her was too much. She could barely handle the idea of the Cullen's fighting, and now this? No way.

"No. You'll get yourselves killed!"

"I wasn't asking for permission," Jacob replied, not taking his eyes off Carlisle's. This wasn't just about Bella anymore. This was about his baby twin sister. 

"It means more protection for you," Edward replied to Bella, not listening to her pleads for him and Jacob to not suggest this.

"Do you believe Sam will agree to... an understanding?" Carlisle asked Jacob, also ignoring Bella as she pleaded for the wolves to just back down. Kiara was tense beside Rosalie, but she knew that Sam would agree to an understanding now that she was involved.

"For Kiara's sake? Easily. And as long as we get to kill some vampires, the rest of the pack will fight."

"Jasper?"

"They'll give us the numbers. And the newborns won't know they even exist. That'll give us an edge," Jasper continued the discussion, ignoring the way that Bella was looking between all of them in disbelief.

"We'll need to coordinate," Carlisle replied, his eyes flickering over to where Kiara was slowly nodding as she started to come to terms with it all. She was taking it much better than Bella, who was still adamant that they could do this without the wolves.

"Carlisle, they'll gonna get hurt!"

He finally turned to acknowledge her, a gentle smile on his face as he tried to soothe the panicked girl. He knew that this was harder for her than for Kiara since Bella was simply human, Kiara at least had the advantage of being able to rip a vampire apart if shown how.

"We'll all need some training," Carlisle said, mostly for Bella's sake before turning back around to look at the wolves. "Fighting newborns requires knowledge that Jasper has. You're welcome to join us."

Jacob looked back to his sister, letting her finish the conversation. If she said no, they'd walk away. If she said yes, they'd fight an army of newborns without a second thought.

"Kie?"

"Name the time and the place."