Loving You / Paul Lahote - [EDITED]

17 - [EDITED]

After the revelation that somebody, a vampire, was in Bella's house, an immediate family meeting was called. Emmett and Jasper went to track the vampire, as far as they could.

When they came back the rest of the family were in the middle of talking and theorizing who it could be.

"Who was it? Someone, we know?" Carlisle asked, standing up, seriousness both in his voice and figure. 

"A stranger, I didn't recognize his scent," Edward answered.

"A nomad passing through?" Esme asked, trying to see the better out of the situation. 

"A passerby wouldn't have left Bella's father alive," Rosalie spoke up. With her mother's words, Ashley got a sense of how serious this thing was.

Then her uncle and dad walked into the room.

"The scent disappeared about five miles south of Bella's house," Jasper said sternly. 

Ashley saw her grandfather sigh. "Someone's orchestrating this," he said.

"Victoria?" Bella asked the room. 

Alice shook her head. "I would have seen her decide," she said. Ashley knew that even though her family didn't express it they were alarmed and were doing everything in their power to monitor the situation.

"It has to be the Volturi," Edward spoke up. Alice ended up disagreeing again, saying she was monitoring them too.

"So we keep on looking," Emmett said. 

"We'll also take shifts guarding Bella at the house," Carlisle added.

Rosalie looked up to Carlisle. "Another protection detail?" she said calmly but everyone knew she wasn't calm. 

Edward called her name but she didn't back down and Bella ended up agreeing with her. "We'll all drop whatever we're doing to protect Bella, in all this mess, what about Ashley? She should be your priority as well,"

"Mom," Ashley tried to plead but Carlisle stopped them. 

"Rosalie, I get how you are feeling, and Ashley has never been a second priority. But as I've told you before, Bella is a part of the family as well, and we protect our family,"

"You can't protect me, watch my father and search for the intruder," Bella said desperately. 

"And for Victoria," Rosalie added harshly. 

"And keep yourselves fed you guys," Ashley added, finally speaking up. 

Rosalie turned to her daughter. For a brief moment, everyone but Ashley forgot that they also needed to be fed as well. With so much responsibility on them, they couldn't have forgotten to do it.

"I'm not leaving you here defenseless," Edward almost growled. 

"Well I'm not gonna let you starve, or any of you," Bella shot back. "And I wouldn't be unprotected, I, I have," she started but stopped. 

As Edward looked at her in disbelief Ashley got where Bella was going at. The pack. The protection detail was the wolves.

It wasn't an easy alliance but with the help of Ashley and Jacob's willingness to help they agreed. Cullens would guard Bella and then the wolves took over so that Cullens could feed.

Since everyone pretty much had a lot of jobs to do Ashley ended up staying at Bella's. At first, her mom was against it but seeing how there would always be someone to guard the house she agreed. At least she wouldn't be alone.

Now, three days later, Ashley was at the Swan house. Charlie was at work so the girls were alone at the house. Ashley was over at the window, looking down. She could see her parents. Rosalie looked up and smiled at her daughter who returned the gesture.