Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer [64]
The treaty does not cover this.
This puts everyone in danger.
I tried to understand the spiraling voices, tried to follow the curling pathway the thoughts made to see where they were leading, but it wasnt making sense. The pictures in the center of their thoughts were my pictures-the very worst of them. Bellas bruises, Edwards face as he burned.
They fear it, too.
But they wont do anything about it.
Protecting Bella Swan.
We cant let that influence us.
The safety of our families, of everyone here, is more important than one human.
If they wont kill it, we have to.
Protect the tribe.
Protect our families.
We have to kill it before its too late.
Another of my memories, Edwards words this time: The thing is growing. Swiftly.
I struggled to focus, to pick out individual voices.
No time to waste, Jared thought.
It will mean a fight, Embry cautioned. A bad one.
Were ready, Paul insisted.
Well need surprise on our side, Sam thought.
If we catch them divided, we can take them down separately. It will increase our chances of victory, Jared thought, starting to strategize now.
I shook my head, rising slowly to my feet. I felt unsteady there-like the circling wolves were making me dizzy. The wolf beside me got up, too. His shoulder pushed against mine, propping me up.
Wait, I thought.
The circling paused for one beat, and then they were pacing again.
Theres little time, Sam said.
But-what are you thinking? You wouldnt attack them for breaking the treaty this afternoon. Now youre planning an ambush, when the treaty is still intact?
This is not something our treaty anticipated, Sam said. This is a danger to every human in the area. We dont know what kind of creature the Cullens have bred, but we know that it is strong and fast-growing. And it will be too young to follow any treaty. Remember the newborn vampires we fought? Wild, violent, beyond the reach of reason or restraint. Imagine one like that, but protected by the Cullens.
We dont know- I tried to interrupt.
We dont know, he agreed. And we cant take chances with the unknown in this case. We can only allow the Cullens to exist while were absolutely sure that they can be trusted not to cause harm. This thing cannot be trusted.
They dont like it any more than we do.
Sam pulled Rosalies face, her protective crouch, from my mind and put it on display for everyone.
Some are ready to fight for it, no matter what it is.
Its just a baby, for crying out loud.
Not for long, Leah whispered.
Jake, buddy, this is a big problem, Quil said. We cant just ignore it.
Youre making it into something bigger than it is, I argued. The only one whos in danger here is Bella.
Again by her own choice, Sam said. But this time her choice affects us all.
I dont think so.
We cant take that chance. We wont allow a blood drinker to hunt on our lands.
Then tell them to leave, the wolf who was still supporting me said. It was Seth. Of course.
And inflict the menace on others? When blood drinkers cross our land, we destroy them, no matter where they plan to hunt. We protect everyone we can.
This is crazy, I said. This afternoon you were afraid to put the pack in danger.
This afternoon I didnt know our families were at risk.
I cant believe this! Howre you going to kill this creature without killing Bella?
There were no words, but the silence was full of meaning.
I howled. Shes human, too! Doesnt our protection apply to her?
Shes dying anyway, Leah thought. Well just shorten the process.
That did it. I leaped away from Seth, toward his sister, with my teeth bared. I was about to catch her left hind leg when I felt Sams teeth cut into my flank, dragging me back.
I howled in pain and fury and turned on him.
Stop! he ordered in the double timbre of the Alpha.
My legs seemed to buckle under me. I jerked to a halt, only managing to keep on my feet by sheer willpower.
He turned his gaze away from me. You will not be cruel to him, Leah, he commanded her.