GLADIOLUS || FELIX VOLTURI

three - meeting the pack.

The walk through the thick forest back to their home was one of pure silence. Rowan was not only physically exhausted from being tossed to the ground by whatever she met in the forest, but she felt emotionally exhausted as well. She kept glancing over at Bella, hoping she would have some answers for Rowan, only to be met with silence, and a look of shock on Bella's face as well.

Once the girl's reached the tree line to Charlie's house, they mustered up what little energy they had left and sprinted into the house, Rowan slamming and locking the back door for good measure. She released a shaky breath before quickly checking to see if her uncle was home yet.

"He...he won't be home for a couple more hours," Bella said, nearly collapsing onto the sofa in the living room. "Fine, then I'll call him at-" Rowan started to pace towards the telephone in the kitchen, before Bella abruptly cut her off. "No! You can't tell him what you saw," Bella said, quickly jumping off the couch.

Rowan took a deep breath, turning her head to stare at her cousin. "Why, pray tell, can I not call the chief of police Bella? When we almost died! In the woods!" Rowan's voice slowly started growing louder and louder as her frustration built. She loved her cousin, but she could tell Bella clearly knew something more about what just happened.

Bella immediately shut her mouth, her gaze shifting to anything but her cousin. Rowan sighed, rubbing her temple as a sorry attempt to get rid of a stress migraine slowly building. "I'm trying so hard to be patient and understanding here Bella, but I deserve answers as to what just happened back there," Rowan said, as calmly as she could, though her tone was still as sharp as her gaze directed towards her cousin.

Bella sighed, motioning for her cousin to sit with her on the couch. Once the two were sitting, Bella took another deep breath, "I never meant for you to get...wrapped up in all this. I'm sorry," she said, her hands tightly clasped in her lap.

"I don't understand. Please, tell me, what just happened? I'm not naïve enough to believe that you have no connection to this Bella – you both knew each other's names," Rowan said. As she thought back to their escape, she felt the ghost of Laurent's hand around her throat. With a shaky breath, Rowan lightly held her throat where a clear mark was forming. This caught Bella's attention, causing a feeling of guilt to course throughout Bella's body.

"I'll tell you because I think you're smart enough to figure it out yourself eventually. He's a vampire named Laurent. I know him because he helped Edward and I once. I thought....he had changed. I guess we were wrong," Bella mumbled, deep in thought.

"Edward? Your ex? He was one too?" Rowan's brows furrowed, a large frown growing on her face. Of course, Rowan thought to herself, leave it to Bella to get herself wrapped up in a shit show like this.

Silence engulfed the room. A look of pain flashed over Bella's face hearing the words "your ex" come from Rowan's mouth. "Bella, was he one?" Rowan asked again, her tone sterner this time.

"...Yes," Bella quietly answered, her eyes locked onto the floor. Rowan only sighed in response. While it was shocking news to learn, it did make sense given Laurent's speed and strength. And his red eyes. Rowan shuddered at the thought of them.

"Okay. I believe you. Thank you for telling me," Rowan said softly. While she was still very stressed, and noticeably in pain around her throat, she knew this wasn't an easy situation for Bella either.

Bella glanced at Rowan, a look of surprise upon her face, "You're not mad at me?"

Rowan raised an eyebrow at her cousin, "Mad? For what? It's not like you knew he would be there. And I can't really blame you for not telling me about vampires in the first place, not like I would've really believed you anyway." Rowan simply shrugged. She didn't see a point in being mad at Bella, especially not after they almost just died. She had more important things to worry about.

"So, do you know anything about those huge wolves then?" Rowan asked. Rowan was slowly wrapping her head around the fact that vampires were real, but she couldn't forget about the huge wolves that she saw. Especially after she made eye contact with one.

Bella simply shook her head. "No. I wish I did. I had always heard about animal attacks around here, but I guess I just thought it was something else. A vampire or something. I never thought it was actually huge wolves in the forest," Bella said, a look of confusion on her face.

"Yeah, well, guess that makes two of us confused then," Rowan said with a sigh. She slumped back against the couch, feeling utterly exhausted.

Bella slumped back too, exhaustion taking over her as well. After a moment of silence, Bella spoke again, "We can't tell Charlie. Not about Laurent at least. No one can know," she said glancing at Rowan.

Rowan simply sighed. Whether it was the pure exhaustion taking over her body or the fact that her brain was processing the concept of vampires now being real, Rowan had no energy to fight back against Bella's demands. Not telling Charlie didn't sit well with Rowan, but she also didn't expect him to believe the two girls anyway.

"I think I'm going to nap. I need a break from this stuff," Rowan mumbled, dragging her feet to the stairs. "You going to be alright?" She asked, looking back at her cousin one last time. "Yeah, I'll be fine. You go take some time for yourself," Bella said with a nod, though her tone gave away her sadness and stress regarding the situation.

Rowan hesitated, but in the end, decided to put her own health first, and quietly went to collapse in her bed.

---
If Rowan had to pick a favorite singer, John Denver would be her choice. She first was introduced to the man through her father. Rowan has plenty of memories of her and her dad singing and dancing to John Denver in the living room from her childhood. She doesn't play him often, usually only on long road trips, when she desires the feeling of nostalgia, or when she's in need of some comfort.

It had been a couple of weeks since the incident in the forest with the wolves and what Rowan had to finally accept was an actual vampire. Needless to say, she had been blasting John Denver very frequently during her free time. She was in dire need of some comfort and if blasting Take Me Home, Country Roads twenty times in a day could give that to her, then so be it. Bella being annoyed by her taste in music was a risk Rowan was certainly willing to take.

Rowan hummed the tune of the song to herself, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel as she drove. Bella glanced at her cousin from the passenger seat, giving Rowan a pitiful look. "You must really like John Denver," Bella said, her tone laced with exasperation.

Rowan flashed Bella a grin, "Sure do! My stress levels are far too high for anything else right now so until we get to Jacob's house you just gotta cope." Rowan gave her cousin a playful thumbs up to add to her point, causing Bella to sigh.

Originally, Bella intended to go demand answers from Jacob by herself, but decided to ask Rowan to come along with, stating she could use someone on her side. Of course, Rowan greatly hesitated – not wanting to get involved with any more bullshit in the span of one single month. She ended up going due to Bella bribing her with the offer of buying dinner later that night. Which is how they both ended up in Rowan's car, listening to the one artist that brings her comfort because she definitely needed John Denver if she was going to deal with more of Bella's drama.

As they both pulled up next to Jacob's house, Rowan stayed in the car as Bella swiftly jumped out and paced towards the front door. Rowan only intended to step in if any conversation got heated, but for the most part, hoped to stay out of everything. She leaned her head back against the seat, closing her eyes while she waited for her cousin to come back.

"The radio reminds me of my home far away. Drivin' down the road, I get a feelin' that I should've been home yesterday-" As Rowan was singing, enjoying a moment of silence, her mind slowly wandered to memories of her father. Of his laughter whenever she made a joke, of his cheering when she graduated 8th grade, of the look on his face when they found out he was sick-

Rowan's eyes snapped open, her head flying up as she took a deep breath. She quickly opened the door, stepping out as the fresh cool air engulfed her. She attempted to calm her breathing, and hoped the cool air was enough to distract herself from the chokehold that her grief had on her.

Before she could fully process her current emotions, she heard the sound of a door slamming shut, and saw her cousin quickly pacing towards a group of guys not too far away.

"Ah shit, what now?" Rowan mumbled to herself, quickly jogging to join Bella's side. She tried grabbing Bella's wrist to slow her down, wanting to understand what caused her cousin to be so upset this quickly, but Bella simply shook her off and kept walking, the look of anger clear upon her face. "What did you do?" Bella yelled at the group ahead of her.

Before Rowan could stop her, Bella walked up to the man in the front of the group, pushing him with all her might. "What did you do? What did you do to him!?" Rowan quickly pulled Bella away from the man, noticing the others in the group getting annoyed and confused.

"Bella, what the fuck do you think you're doing?" Rowan hissed at her cousin. "Easy Paul," the tallest member of the group, the one who had been at the brunt of Bella's shove, attempted to calm down the rest of the group, specifically the one next to him.

"What did we do?" Paul asked with an incredulous laugh, "What did he tell you!" The air between both Bella and the stranger that Rowan learned was named Paul was growing very tense very quickly. Rowan quickly stepped between the two, putting her hand on Bella's shoulder and her other hand she raised in the air towards Paul. She made sure not to touch the man, knowing that could only further cause him discomfort at this point.

"Look, I think there has been a huge misunderstanding here. Let's all chill out," Rowan said with a poor excuse of a smile due to the anxiety filling her chest. She was hoping to lighten to mood and calm everyone down, even if it meant making herself look like a fool in the process. For a short moment, Paul's expression of anger slowly subsided due to Rowan's comment, and one resembling amusement took over. He grinned slightly at her comment, finding it comical due to the situation at hand.

"No, there hasn't been. Jacob tells me nothing! He tells me nothing because he's scared of you!" Bella quickly jabbed into the conversation. Rowan responded by flashing her an annoyed glance. There goes any attempt at defusing the conversation.

Paul turned his attention quickly to Bella, laughing loudly at her, causing the others slowly joining in. Rowan glanced at the group laughing, then back to her cousin. She knew it would only frustrate Bella more.

"Bella, listen, let's just go home and-" As Rowan was attempting to calm her cousin down, Bella furrowed her brows and pushed past her cousin to slap Paul across the face.

Rowan's mouth dropped open in shock. The idea of Bella being able to slap anyone was an idea that was foreign to her, so the fact Rowan actually witnessed her cousin do that was something she quickly was wrapping her mind around.

Rowan quickly grabbed Bella's arm, yanking her a few steps back. "What the hell is wrong with you? You can't just slap people!"

"Too late now!"

"Bella, you and your cousin, get back!"

Before Rowan could continue to lecture Bella, she paused, the two girls now glancing at Paul who was breathing very heavily. Both Rowan and Bella slowly stepped back, the two quietly staring as the man who Rowan assumed was the leader of the group attempted to talk to Paul.

The same protective instinct that older siblings often feel, the same feeling that once took over Rowan in the barren meadow, resurfaced yet again. She slowly stepped in front of Bella.

It happened so fast, Rowan almost missed it. One moment Paul was breathing heavily in front of her, then the next thing she knew a large wolf was growling in front of her.

With a gasp, Rowan quickly stumbled backwards, tripping and falling over her cousin in the process. Rowan heard Jacob yelling in the distance, and even heard her cousin running and yelling as well, but the shock she felt was debilitating, and she found that she couldn't run even if she had tried.

The grey wolf in front of her deeply growled in her direction, taking a few steps towards her. With each step it took, the gravity of the situation was hitting Rowan more deeply. Even though she was terrified, there was something about the wolf that was very familiar, causing her eyes to widen at the realization.

Behind her, she heard another loud growl, but her eyes were locked onto the grey wolf in front of her. "You were in the meadow. I saw you," Rowan quietly spoke. The growling in front of her stopped, and the wolf tilted its head at the comment. Before he could react further, the brown wolf from behind Rowan leaped and the two wolves started wrestling and biting each other. The fight quickly moved to the woods around them, much to Rowan's relief.

---

Both Rowan and Bella ended up being taken to a house that belonged to a very kind woman named Emily. There, Rowan was informed of everyone's names and that the wolves she saw were most certainly Jacob and Paul. It was at this moment Rowan definitely felt in over her head. While Bella could at least keep up with the comments and jokes regarding vampires and wolves, Rowan felt like she was slowly losing it.

"You can't really run with vampires. Cause their fast," she awkwardly commented, causing Rowan, who was sitting at the table with Jared and Embry, to look up at her cousin with an incredulous look.

"Yeah? Well, we're faster. Freaked out yet?" Jared replied with a smirk.

"You're not the first monsters I've met," Bella said with a shake of her head.

Yeah. That last comment was enough for Rowan to finally lose her cool.

"Hey, uh, just wondering, what the fuck is going on here?" Rowan said, pushing herself out of her chair to look at every single person in the room. Her face easily showed the confusion and annoyance she felt at the moment. The feeling she felt was very similar to being the only person not in on a joke. Except this joke involved actual vampires and giant shape-shifting wolves. Needless to say, Rowan was not laughing.

"I gotta hand it to you, you're handling everything much better than I expected," Sam Uley, leader of the pack, said from the doorway. Rowan's head quickly snapped to where Sam was standing. He nodded at the dark-haired girl, before introducing himself. "I'm Sam Uley. I don't believe we have met," he said, taking a few steps forward to offer his hand out to Rowan.

Rowan slowly took his hand, shaking it, "And they say chivalry is dead."

Emily snorted from the table, Sam smiling at the joke as well.

Once taking her hand back, Rowan thought it was only right she introduce herself to the one man that tried to also defuse the situation from earlier. "I'm Rowan Swan. Older cousin to the reckless mess back there," she said, motioning her head towards Bella. Bella simply huffed at the comment.

"Heh, believe me, I get it," Sam said with a smirk.

Rowan was still standing in the middle of the room and was still thoroughly confused. Everyone around her was clearly familiar with the idea of vampires and shapeshifters as they all conversed amongst themselves, even Bella got used to the idea fairly easily. Rowan sighed, shaking her head, and quickly walked out the cabin for some fresh air. She couldn't handle feeling like the odd one out any longer, and needed to escape – to be outside away from everyone.

As Rowan quickly walked outside to lean against the front patio ledges, she was met with both Paul and Jacob walking out of the woods. Paul locked eyes with her, giving her a nod and a grin as he approached the front porch of the cabin. Jacob gave her a sheepish smile as he approached.

"Just go ahead, you know she's waiting for you in there," Rowan said to Jacob, a hint of exasperation in her tone as she motioned towards Bella inside. Jacob quickly made his way inside, as Paul made himself comfortable by sitting on the porch steps.

".....Yes?" Rowan asked, her facial expression shifting from one of frustration to confusion.

"What? I can't sit here?" Paul asked, his tone relaxed and playful.

"I mean, go right ahead. You may just have to put up with my questions though, because trust me, I have plenty," Rowan said, shifting her full attention towards Paul on the steps. If no one inside cared enough to quell her confusion, she hoped Paul would at least put up with her questions.

Paul snorted at how forward she was. He simply shrugged, leaning his back against the wooden bars connected to the stairs. By doing this, he shifted his body to face Rowan, giving her his full undivided attention. "Alright. Go ahead. Let's hear it," he said with a nod.

Rowan's eyes widened at how open to being practically interrogated Paul was. He barely knew Rowan, so the fact he was being so friendly with her was something that caused even more confusion for her.

"I'm not trying to be rude when I ask this, but why are you being so friendly? Especially after what just happened?" Rowan asked, her brows furrowing to further express her puzzlement.

Paul tilted his head in thought for a second, bringing his hand to his chin while doing so. After a moment, he shrugged at the girl, "To be honest, from what I've heard and seen of you, you seem cool enough. I'd be confused too if I were you, and while I may not be able to answer everything, I don't think it's fair to leave you in the dark after all this. So, yeah, ask away."

Normally, Rowan would be wary of anyone being so open towards her that she barely knew, but at this point she didn't have anyone else giving her many answers, leaving Paul to be the only person she could trust at the moment to answer her questions.

An awkward moment of silence stretched between the two, as Rowan didn't know exactly how to respond to the somewhat kind response. Paul raised a brow at her, hinting at her to continue.

She quickly cleared her throat, "Uh, okay, well, first question then. Were you the wolf I saw in the field?"

Rowan remembered back to the confrontation with Laurent. She still hadn't mentally recovered from that day. She shivered as she thought back to his piercing red eyes, the ones that haunted her in her dreams – so much so that she was slowly losing sleep over it. She would occasionally feel the ghost of his hand wrap around her throat throughout the week, the marking from his harsh grip finally clearing up, though anyone who looked closely enough could still see some bruising as the injury was worst than she initially thought.

Paul's once playful demeanor quickly soured as he watched the girl in front of him gently hold her throat in front, his eyes locking onto the small bruising left from the encounter. He remembered arriving at the scene at the dead barren meadow with the pack, seeing the vampire gripping her throat.

Paul took a deep breath to quell his rising anger, "Yeah, I was there. Don't worry though. We took care of him for you," he said with a victorious smirk.

This came as a surprise to you. What little information you've gathered from Bella and the rest of the pack was that vampires could be incredibly hard to capture and kill. Rowan's face openly showed the surprise she felt, "He's....dead?"

Paul nodded with a smile, "Yep. I promise you he won't be coming back."

Rowan's body relaxed upon hearing his words. She had been holding in stress and fear at the idea of Laurent returning for a while now, and having his death confirmed caused her to finally be able to breathe freely again.

"I noticed what you did earlier. Stepping between your cousin and me. It's brave to want to protect your family like that," Paul continued. "Though, pretty stupid too."

Rowan made a face of annoyance, "Yeah, well, someone has to protect her, since she clearly won't stop putting herself in these reckless situations."

Paul snorted, "Just because she's reckless doesn't mean you have to be. Why didn't you just run?"

Rowan paused. Why hadn't she just run? The question caused her to think hard. Usually, she would run. Her fight or flight response almost always indicated flight, as she clearly wasn't strong enough to overpower a huge wolf or vampire anytime soon.

"I don't know. I guess because I recognized you from the field that day, I assumed you wouldn't hurt me. You didn't then, so why would you now?" Rowan paused, sighing after processing what she just spoke aloud. "Though, now that I say that, it does sound pretty stupid and reckless."

Paul couldn't help but laugh, "To be fair, you weren't entirely wrong. Just don't get used to not running in situations like those."

"You know, I never used to put myself in reckless situations like this. I just...view her as a little sister basically. I see these choices she's making, and I can't help but worry for her future. It's instinct to step in and protect her," Rowan said, a feeling of melancholy slowly taking over.

Paul slowly stood, making sure to stretch his legs in the process. "Hey, I get it. Don't be so hard on yourself." He slowly made his way up the few stairs to the front porch, stopping to stand in front of the door to Emily's cabin. "I'm sure you have more questions. Why don't you make a list of them, and in a couple of days come back here, and I'll try to answer them. Deal?"

Rowan raised a brow at Paul suspiciously, "That's oddly kind to do for someone that you hardly know."

Paul rolled his eyes at Rowan's hesitancy. "Listen, I get how confusing this stuff can be when you're thrown into it with no warning. Just trying to save you the headache of figuring it all out on your own like I had to."

Rowan sighed, feeling slightly guilty for her suspiciousness towards Paul. Overall, she did truly appreciate his friendly nature and felt safer around the pack than she did anywhere else, especially after finding out they were the ones who took care of Laurent.

"You're safe with us. We'll protect you, Bella, Charlie, and everyone else around here," Paul said, his tone sounding matter-of-factly.

Rowan nodded, "I know, I believe you. I'll be back with those questions then."

Paul smiled, his hand grabbing the handle to the door, "Looking forward to it."

Rowan watched Paul go inside the cabin, hearing the hooting and hollering from the entire pack once he returned to them from her place outside. She sighed, looking back out towards the woods that currently surrounded her.

"What have I gotten myself into?"

---
a/n: thank you to everyone who has read and supported this story so far! also, i want to just make it clear this is definitely not a love triangle story. paul and rowan will be best/close friends and nothing more -  she deserves to have a friend outside of bella and i felt like her and paul would be a fun friendship. so yeah! look forward to their friendship being a strong part of this story!