"Cute!" Alice screamed, latching onto Rose in her leopard form. The pair froze for a second before remembering Alice's ability—she probably saw it coming.
Growl. "Can you let me go?" Rose asked. Sadly, the Cullens only heard a cute growl, causing Alice to tighten her hug and scream excitedly. That started to piss Rose off a little.
"You may want to let go if you don't want to get frozen," Leo—still able to talk in human language—told Alice, pointing at the ice spreading from Rose's paws.
With a quick step, Alice retreated to a safe distance, though her eyes still shined with excitement.
"Even after hearing it from Alice, seeing it myself makes me really happy," Esme said, getting closer. After looking at Rose for a second, she hugged her neck. "Congratulations, I am really happy for you."
Charlie got closer, his happiness obvious on his face. "Congratulations, and even if you're now from another clan, you're still my daughter. So don't think you can run away before marrying." He patted Rose's head playfully.
The other Cullen family members moved closer, looking at her from every direction and congratulating her. After all, with all the time they spent together, they knew her biggest regret in life was losing the chance to have children.
And now she finally had her chance, so they were all happy.Well… except one.
Rose let out a happy growl and pushed her head into Emigh's lap.
"Ah, I forgot." Minutes passed before Alice slammed a fist into her palm, took out her backpack, and handed it to Rose, who looked confused.
"There are some clothes in it. You lost yours, right?" Alice verified. Rose nodded, took the pack, and vanished behind the trees. Minutes later, she came back in human form.
Rose stepped under the moonlight, causing her family to pause for a second, admiring her.
Even when she was still a child, she could be counted among the top beauties—like a rose with deadly thorns.
But now, with her blue-sky eyes and the tattoo-like markings on the sides of her neck, she looked more like a snow mountain peak flower.
"Wohaa, you're even more beautiful in person than in the vision," Alice admitted, walking around her before slapping her ass and hiding behind her mate.
"Even your assets are bigger. Is this your doing, Leo?" she said with a smirk from behind him. But Rose only sighed and breathed in her face, freezing the edges of her hair.
"Watch it, or you'll end as a popsicle," Rose said playfully, not really minding her own action.
"So you can actually generate ice even in human form?" Instead of getting angry, Alice asked excitedly, finding it interesting—since it was rare for them to see an element manipulation gift.
"But I guess you're not as strong as you were with the death body," Emmith taunted, clearly interested in fighting her.
Rose didn't answer. Instead, she looked at Leo, who was now back in his human form, leaning on a tree. He shuddered. "Just don't crack him too much."
Rose smirked back at her brother, and with a finger taunt, she pointed for Emmith to come at her. "Well, let's dance, shall we?"
Smirking back, Emmith sped without a word and appeared in front of her, ready to punch her gut. But seeing it coming, she dodged with a sidestep, redirected his punch to the side, and the moment he lost balance and tried to step back, she sent him crashing through a couple of trees with a roundhouse kick.
This surprised even Rose herself.
"Holy sh*t!!" Sophia (Emmith's mate) screamed, smiling at her sister. "That was hot—and will definitely humble him."
Just as Rose was about to go fetch him, Emmith's laugh could be heard as he jumped back from where he had been kicked.
"That punch was something! It felt like I got hit by a truck," Emmith said, laughing his ass off.
"But seriously, you're far stronger than what you expected. Care to have a round with me?" Alice's mate said, raising his hand. Rose nodded.
But Leo stopped her and stepped in front of him.
"I don't think it's a good idea. She just turned and can't control her punch," Leo said, taking off his jacket. "I'll be your partner if you like."
"But why'd you let me fight her then?" Emmith asked from the side.
"Well, for one, your gift protects you, and you won't be affected by her mood," Leo said. "And you—" he pointed at Alice's mate "—are on the other side: empathy. Since you experience emotions in fights, trust me, you don't want the feedback of an angry beast mid-fight."
Understanding, he nodded. After all, if Rose lost control she could kill him on the spot—and worse, he'd also be vulnerable to her emotions.
Since he was only interested in trading hands with a shapeshifter, both Leo and Rose could do that. And since Leo had more experience, he would be a good challenge.
But sadly for him, it ended with the same result as with Emmith—the only difference being that he resisted a bit longer than the last.
"Now that you guys are fed and ready, I'll excuse myself," Leo said before adding, "Rose, see you in the morning. I need to explain something to you."
Kissing her, he took his eagle form and flew toward his house.
"Wait—he can turn into an eagle too?" Alice asked, surprised. She had never seen that—not in her visions nor in reality. As always, he was in lion form.
"Well, yeah, he practically can take any beast form he wishes… sh**," Rose explained. But catching Alice's excited eyes, she cursed, knowing Alice was definitely already cooking a plan to have him take her favorite animal forms.
"Well, Leo headed home, shall we?" Charlie said, smiling in a good mood. He turned to walk toward the house—then stopped again as Alice was hit by another vision.
Gathering around her, they waited until it passed. Then they looked at her. Alice looked straight at Edward with a smirk—while he was already hiding his eyes.
With a snicker, and for the first time in her life happy that he could read her mind, she said:
"Well, congratulations."
"No word. And there's no way I'm taking her on that," Edward said, confusing the rest of the Cullens.
"Care to explain?" Charlie asked, glaring at Edward to shut up. Alice nodded happily.
"Well, his mate is appearing," Alice said, drawing a smile from the Cullens. "But…"She added dramatically and looked at Edward, who glared at her, threatening her to stay silent. That made her smile widen even more.
"She's actually the one wearing the pants in their relationship," Alice added mysteriously.
"You mean his mate has a d***?" Emmith—the unhinged one—asked directly.
"No, it means he's whipped, right?" Sophia added, and Alice nodded rapidly, bursting into laughter. Then she explained, "His mate is actually the police chief's daughter—and she'll appear in a week or so…"
After Alice finished explaining, making it as vivid as possible, the Cullens stared at Edward for a second—then burst into laughter.
"Well damn, bro, that's one hell of a girl," Emmith said, putting his arm around Edward's shoulder. "Congrats."
Unable to take more, Edward slipped out of the group and vanished into the forest with a snort—only for their laughter to rise even more. And a comment from Rose almost made her slip to the ground.
"I'm definitely asking Leo for a way to read memories—just to see the scene," Rose said, laughing.
"Oh, there's something like that? Count me in," Alice added, fanning the flames.
This was probably the first time they could get back at him for his pervy hobby of reading people's minds—and they were definitely taking the chance fully.
Something they'd find even Leo joining in for.
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Here's the chapter.And as you noticed, I'll make a little tweaking to Isabella's character