I'll be home for Christmas

Chapter 36

Chapter 36 - I'll be home for Christmas

Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods.

Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading.

Traveling and passing unnoticed amongst humans was something Edward Cullen had practiced for many years, so he made much faster time than the Volturi guards. He used his mind reading gift almost constantly; scanning the thoughts of the people for the one person who noticed he was too different or the rare one who recognized his nature. He could avert disaster by glamoring them to believe that they had seen nothing out of the ordinary other than a young man with a very pale complexion.

Of course, the one thing he was always on the lookout for was someone whom he could not hear. Another Bella, or Bella herself.

The closer he got to her homeland the more he thought of her.

He had arranged to meet Alice at Seattle airport and he assumed Jasper would be with her. She had told him that her visions of the future were clear up to a point, and then they just ran out. A new experience for Alice and one that she was not enjoying. She was so used to knowing the exact minute that an event happened, that the uncertainty left her head blind. She was struggling in the same way a person would who had lost their eyesight. Reaching in the dark and stumbling.

He wanted to read her mind; to see what she could not see. Did all their futures run out? Or was it just such a large road block that nothing beyond it could get through?

Her clear mental signature acted like a beacon for him and he found them waiting for him just inside the exit door to the pick-up zone. She clutched his hands and poured out all the visions in one concentrated burst. Jasper, who obviously knew how agitated and upset she was, rubbed her shoulders.

"I can't tell anything!" she said. "Time, place, date… anything."

"You know it is the presence of the wolves."

"I know and given they are so bound into Bella's future… oh…" She paused. "I haven't shown you that."

He glanced up at Jasper.

"She has a mate; similar to Sam and Emily… an imprint."

He could read Jasper's memory of a phone conversation in which Billy Black had forewarned them of this.

"A mate? So he's a wolf? From the pack?" Edward had never expected this.

Jasper said, "Yes, but the more recent one. They have two packs now."

Alice added, "And he's old."

"Old? Show me, Alice."

"I can't… he's a wolf; it's all black, but I did do some research." Alice was very adept with modern technology; mostly for online shopping, but she had become quite good at hacking. Emmett had taught her a few tricks of the trade. He was always an early adopter of tech. "I looked him up."

"Edward, are you sure you want to see this?" Jasper asked.

He gave a stiff nod. "Wait a second, he's on the Internet?"

But Alice had just started to show him rather than wait for his answer. A montage of images flashed past. A history of Joshua Uley who preferred to be called Josh, Native American model and bit part actor. A modeling bio listed his specifications, height, weight and date of birth. A date that made him now forty five.