I didn't actually go home until the following morning. I spent the rest of the night running around the woods throwing a wolf-sized temper tantrum. The pack kept trying to get me to come back but I just ignored them. When the sun rose over the horizon I shifted back and slipped on a sports bra and a pair of shorts I had hidden in a tree before walking the short distance back to the house I hadn't set foot in for months.

The vampire scent was overwhelming as I took a step into the house, I walk into the kitchen and sighed in relief when I saw my family back home.

"Jeez little sis, we leave for a few months and you get ripped!" Emmett gawks when I walk in the room.

I look down at my arms, realizing they're a lot more toned than they were before they left. Sam had me on a training routine, he wanted to make sure I stay in shape. Looking back up everyone smiled at me warmly. I felt the familiar sense of ease wash over me and chuckled at Jasper.

"So do I get a hug or?" I wondered aloud and my brothers were quick to run and grab me. I laughed as they lifted me in the air.

"We missed you little wolf," Jasper patted my head when they put me down and Esme got me next.

I chuckled, "I missed you guys too. It was hard but things got better," I reminisced.

"Sounds like the mongrels over on the reservation treated you alright," the man of the hour sped in from his little adventure with Alice in Italy.

I rolled my eyes before walking up and opening my arms to hug Edward. Just before we hugged, however, I started punching him repeatedly, "What makes you think killing yourself is a bright idea huh?? Just about gave me a heart attack! Are you crazy!? You could've called me instead! I would've told you what happened!" I started yelling at him like a mother scolding a child.

Someone pulled me away from him and he brushed off my yells, as if I hadn't said them, "I missed you too Cate."

I turned and addressed the family as a whole, "Okay for the majority of the time you were gone I'm not gonna lie, it was rough-" I saw Emmett try to hold in a laugh, "Pun not intended. But! I had some help-"

"The pack on the reservation," Edward answered.

I sent him an annoyed look, "Yes the pack on the reservation."

Esme looked at me sadly and Carlisle put his arm around his wife, "Are you going to go back to them?" He asked.

"I would like to," I answered immediately. Then I saw Esme's face and felt sad, I didn't want her or any of them to think it was because of them, "I mean, they helped me learn more about my kind. I'm one of them. But you will always be my family and I'm not going away," I smiled.

Carlisle and Esme gave me another hug, I hid my face but a part of me knew I wouldn't be able to go back to the pack for a while. Not when my family just came home, I felt guilty for the way I left things with Paul but I missed them too much to leave anytime soon. Behind Esme's shoulder I could see Edward giving me a confused look. I still hadn't forgiven him for what he was going to do in Italy, so I told him he needed to tell me everything that happened, I refused to be left in the dark.

When we pulled apart Edward announced he was going to sneak Bella out because she had something she wanted to talk to us about, as a family. Pretty ominous and dramatic, but then again its Edward and Bella we were talking about here.

So when he returned a few minutes later with Bella, the seven of us were waiting in the living room. Bella stood at the end of the stairs and I could tell this was a very serious conversation we were about to have.

"You all know what I want," yes Bella, from the moment you found out about this family, you've said you wanted to be one of them, "I know how much I'm asking for. The only thing that I can think of for it to be fair is to just vote."

Behind her Edward shook his head sadly, this was the last thing he wanted, "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Shut up," she ordered before looking back at us with pleading eyes, "Alice?" She started off easy knowing if she were to get at least one vote it would be from her.

She of course smiled detaching herself from Jasper to stand next to Bella, "I already consider you my sister. I say yes."

"I vote yes," Jasper agreed. Bella looked shocked at his decision considering they weren't exactly close, "It would be nice to not want to kill you all the time," he explained.

"I'm sorry," Rosalie confessed, she looked up from her shoes to Bella, "I'm really sorry to both of you for how I've acted, and I'm really grateful that you were brave enough to go and save my brother," She paused, "But this isn't a life I would have chosen for myself. And I wish that there'd been someone to vote no for me. So no."

Emmett however chuckled as he approached Bella, "I vote hell yeah!" He scooped her up and twirled her a bit, "And we can pick a fight with these Volturi some other day."

Bella looked at me expectantly, "Can I abstain?" She shook her head, I sighed, "Bella, I may not be a vampire. But thanks to the Volturi I outlived my people. That's not something I ever thought would happen. I'm going to live for many years because of what I am. But I don't want you to regret your decision when you start seeing the humans in your life grow old and die," I sighed, "But if you're certain this is what you want. Then it's your decision and while I may not completely agree...I will stand by you."

Bella smiled and brought me into a hug, "Thank you," she whispered into my ear.

Esme beamed at us, "I already consider you a part of the family Bella. Yes."

Carlisle sighed as he walked next to me and Bella but his eyes locked on Edward, "Why are you doing this to me? You know what this means," he asked in response to whatever Carlisle was thinking.

"You've chosen not to live without her, which leaves me with no choice. I won't lose my son."

There it was, Bella was going to be a vampire. With that heavy conversation out of the way I was curious as to what happened in Italy. So we all sat down while Edward recounted what happened after Bella stopped him from exposing himself in front of the town. How the Volturi were going to order his execution but Bella opted to sacrifice herself. Now the Volturi expect her to change and they say they're going to be checking in.

"Checkin in?" I asked nervous, "They can't come here or they'll find me! They might-"

"Cate they already know about you," Edward interrupted.

"What do you mean?" I practically stuttered

He sighed, "Aro has the ability to see every thought I've ever had with a single touch, he saw you in my mind almost as instantly as he saw Bella," I started to freak out and Jasper put his hand comfortingly on my shoulder.

"I assured the council that you were no harm," Alice reassured, "They said if Carlisle kept you in check then they were satisfied."

I saw the look on Edward's face, skeptical, "What else is there?"

"I heard Cias's thoughts...something about how your tribe. You're original tribe," he caught himself with an eye-roll when I thought about the Quileutes, "They were different compared to the other packs they'd come across."

I looked at him confused, "What does that mean?"

"He was being very guarded with his thoughts, he did think that they shouldn't be giving you leniency because your kind is dangerous. He thought Aro just wanted to see if the rumor was true. That's all I got, but he did believe that they were going to come for you eventually."

So there was something different about my tribe; about me, and the Volturi were going to come for me one day. Carlisle brought me back to reality "I know you may not like this, but you may need to keep your distance from the reservation for a while. For both your protection and theirs," he told me before I could retort, "Until we're sure the Volturi isn't going to come right away."

I knew he was right, the last thing I would want is to put the pack in danger. My thoughts jumped to Paul and I felt myself getting protective, I didn't want anything to happen to Paul. Edward raised an eyebrow at me but I didn't even look in his direction. Instead I got to my feet and offered to ride along to drop Bella off at home.

~

I tried not to listen in on their conversation as I sat in the backseat. The last thing I caught was Bella saying she wanted him to be the one to turn her before Edward slammed on the breaks. My head snapped forward and I saw Jacob standing in the middle of the road.

"He wants to talk to me," Edward told us as we got out of the car and followed Jake into the woods.

Bella and stood between the two males, while I stood well behind Edward too ashamed to talk to Jake.

"I see you're still alive for now," Jake looked over at Edward.

"He thinks I'm keeping you away from him," he told Bella.

Jake scowled, his voice was tense as it practically radiated off him, "You stay the hell outta my head."

Edward disregarded his anger and tried to keep the conversation civil, "Jacob I know you have something to say to me. But I want to say something to you first, it that's all right," he asked taking some cautious steps forward, "Thank you. Thank you for keeping Bella alive when I didn't. Thank you for being a brother to Cate when I couldn't be."

"You're right. You didn't, and you weren't," his voice was annoyed and he clearly didn't like this exchange, "It wasn't for your benefit trust me," I saw his eyes glance over to me before scowling back to Edward.

"I'm still grateful," Edward insisted, "But I'm here now. I'm not going to leave Bella's side until she orders me away. And Cate always has a home with us," he nodded over to me.

"We'll see," Jake deadpanned. Edward turned to walk away but Jake stopped him, "Hey, my turn to talk," he walked over to me and looked right at Edward, "I'm here to remind you about a key point in the treaty."

I looked at him confused I memorized the treaty once I'd joined the pack, "I haven't forgotten," Edward told him.

"What key point?" Bella asked, and that's when it hit me.

I looked at her, my voice void of emotion, "If they bite a human then the truce is over."

Bella looked at me shocked before turning to Jacob who initiated the conflict, "If I chose it, it has nothing to do with you."

"No. No I won't let you!" He seethed, "You're not gonna be one of them Bella."

She shook her head, "It's not up to you," she lowered her voice.

"You know what we'll do to you. I won't have a choice!" He snapped.

That's when I'd also thought about it; the Cullens are my family, but if Sam alpha-ordered me to kill any of them for breaking the treaty...would I be able to resist it?

Edward looked at me sadly but he tried to get Bella to follow him back to the car, she stopped him, "Is he going to hurt me? Read his mind."

I tried to stop my voice from shaking, "It's not as simple as that Bella..." I told her.

She walked up to him and said, "I love you. But please, don't make me choose. 'Cause it'll be him. It will always be Edward."

There was a pregnant pause just before Edward went to get her, "Good-bye Jacob," he said.

Jake growled, "No, you don't speak for her!" He grabbed Edward roughly; who retaliated by shoving him practically twenty feet away. Just before hitting the ground Jake phased and roared at him. He started barreling towards Edward and that's when I stood between them again, phasing to protect my brother.

"Stop it Jake. Please." I pleaded though my thoughts

"Get out of the way Cate!" He yelled at me. The two of us barked and such at each other as he tried to get around me, Bella's yells froze the both of us.

"Stop this!"

I could see the hurt in his eye, feel it through the mind link, "Are you coming with me?" He asked.

I hung my head sadly, "I need to keep my distance for a while."

I saw an image of Paul flash through his head and I immediately felt sad seeing it, "You're not gonna be able to be away for long. See you around."

Without another word he turned away from us and ran back to the reservation. I felt devastated feeling like I hurt one of my brothers. But I wasn't going to let him hurt anyone I cared about. And Paul. I haven't been able to get him out of my head, I felt drawn to everything about him, and being around him made me feel good.

"You've got to be kidding me. Him?" Edward scoffed as he heard my thoughts, "Cate, go home."

I ran back towards the house, got changed and sat on the couch in the living room. I quickly felt myself falling asleep out of exhaustion. The next morning, that's when things started going downhill for me.