Forget Me Not | ✓

46 | A Step Ahead

46
Breaking Dawn  [Pt.2]
A   S t e p   A h e a d
  
   

​​​​​​MANY WEEKS PASSED since Renesmee was born and Bella was Turned. Since Bella had become one of them, her relationship with Adele had strengthened. They had more in common now, being vampires and mothers. It was refreshing to finally  understand Adele on another level. She even seemed to enjoy her company.

The women stood together in the snowy clearing not too far from the  cottage. Jacob stood alongside them in his wolf form.

Renesmee had grown impeccably in those few weeks. She already had the mentality and physicality of a four-year-old. She and Max got along very nicely now. The girls were playing around in the snow together as their mothers watched.

"Do you know anyone that could help us with Renesmee?" Bella asked her quietly. She didn't know why or how or from who, but she knew that Adele knew a lot more about Renesmee's situation than she was letting on – just like during her pregnancy. Everyone feared that the young girl would not have much of a life if she continued to grow at this rate.

"I do." Adele replied quietly and the brunette regarded her hopefully. She wouldn't admit it, but Bella had really grown into herself now – it was almost as if vampirism was meant for her. "I've been searching around, but I haven't a clue as to where they are. My friends...they have knowledge that would mean their deaths if they were to be discovered by the Volturi."

"Yourself included?" 

"Especially myself." Adele nodded gravely and Bella's bones chilled at her expression. The blonde met her gaze with guarded golden eyes. "There are plenty of things that the Volturi are aware of. I'm quite good at keeping things to myself."

Before Bella could question her on it, Renesmee jogged up to her with a snowflake in the palm of her hand. Because she was part vampire, she had a lower body temperature, so it took more time to melt on her skin. "Mommy, look!"

"It's so pretty." Bella smiled adoringly down at her. "Why don't you get another one?"

Renesmee eagerly obliged. She leapt up into the air and reached higher. As she caught another one, a faint noise – a gasp – punctured the chilly air dozens of yards away. The women's heads snapped up.

"Max, Renesmee. Come here!" Adele called out. Jacob stood up defensively and the little girls hugged his warm fur as the women surveyed the blonde woman watching them from a distance.

"Aunty Adele, who is that?" Renesmee queried as Max squinted to see who they were all looking at.

In the distance, the tall and leaned Irina Denali was crouched on a mountainside in a fur coat. She had seen Renesmee leap up into the air and Adele knew, with only a fraction of a second to process it, that she had assumed the worst of the child.

"Irina." Adele whispered to Bella, who recognized her at once after that. She was the Denali sister who was mates with Laurent. But why was she there?

"Irina!" Bella called out with a confidence she didn't have as a human. When the woman heard her name, she stood and fled.

"Jacob, watch them!" Adele exclaimed and he nodded gruffly before the vampires ran after Irina. They jumped over frozen streams, through trees, and up the mountain side – it was exhilarating to be on Adele's level now – and found themselves standing on another mountain ledge that overlooked a bay.

"Bella." Adele gestured to a ripple in the waters below and they peer over the ledge, sighing. She looked up at Bella and shook her head. "This isn't good."