(Thomas POV)
The drive between Seattle to Forks always felt longer on the way home, like the trees were leaning in to see what kind of trouble we'd brought back with us.
Bella was quiet in the passenger seat, clutching her T-shirt blanket in her lap like it was both armor and proof that Florida had really happened. Edward drove with one hand on the wheel, the other resting lightly against Bella's knee, small contact, steady reassurance. Edythe sat beside me int he back seat, sunglasses on despite the clouds, posture relaxed in that practiced way that meant she was listening to everything. We stayed quiet, lost in our own thoughts as well pulled into Charlie's driveway.
Charlie opened the front door before we'd even fully gotten out of the car.
He looked Bella over from head to toe first, fast, automatic, then his gaze flicked to Edward, then to me, then to Edythe. His expression said I have questions, but the fact that Bella was standing there in one piece shoved the questions into a holding pattern.
"Hey, Dad," Bella said softly.
Charlie exhaled like he'd been holding his breath since she left. "Hey, Bells."
I cleared my throat and gave him the quick version before Renee's existence could ambush him later. "Renee and Phil are coming up for the wedding."
Charlie froze.
Bella winced.
Edward's mouth twitched.
Charlie's eyes narrowed at me as if I'd just handed him a live grenade. "Renee… is coming here."
"Yep," I said, because lying would only make the explosion bigger. "A week from this coming Thursday."
Charlie stared at the porch rail like it had personally betrayed him. "Wonderful."
Bella leaned in and kissed his cheek. "It'll be fine."
Charlie made a sound that meant nothing about this is fine, but he still stepped aside to let her in, one hand on her shoulder as if he needed the contact to confirm she was real.
Edward didn't follow her inside. He paused at the threshold, polite as always. "I'll see you later."
Bella nodded, and for a moment her face softened in that way it always did around him, like the world shrank down to something she could manage.
Then she was inside, and Charlie's door shut, and Forks swallowed the last bright scraps of Florida like they'd never existed.
Edward turned back toward the car. His calm was too smooth. Too controlled.
Edythe noticed it too. Her head tilted slightly, a fraction. Attention sharpening.
"Shall we head home," Edward said. Not a question.
(Break)
The Cullen house was the same as ever...beautiful, quiet, and sitting in the forest like it belonged there more than any human structure had a right to. When we stepped inside, the warmth of it hit me first, then the scent, wood, clean air, faint traces of everyone who lived there, and the ever-present sugary smell.
Carlisle was waiting.
Esme stood beside him, hands folded, expression soft but strained. Jasper was still as a statue near the wall, Emmett half-sat on the arm of a sofa like he'd been trying to pretend this was normal until it stopped being possible. Rosalie's eyes were sharp enough to cut glass.
Alice was perched at the edge of the room, motionless in a way that didn't fit her.
My stomach tightened.
Carlisle's gaze went to Edward first. "Is Bella home?"
"Yes," Edward answered. "With Charlie."
Esme's relief was visible, just a brief loosening around the eyes. Then it was gone again, replaced by that same careful tension.
Edythe slid her hand into mine. Cool. Steady. Anchoring.
I didn't sit. I didn't pretend we were here for coffee.
"What happened?" I asked.
Alice's eyes lifted to mine, and the apology in them was already a warning.
"Victoria came," she said.
The words hit like cold water.
Edward's jaw set. "Into our territory."
I stared at him. "While we were gone."
Carlisle nodded once. "Yes."
"And you didn't tell us," I said, because the sharpness in my voice couldn't be helped. "Not me. Not Edythe. Not Bella."
Edward didn't answer right away. His calm was still too smooth, too controlled, but now I could see the strain underneath it, like he'd been holding something down with both hands and hoping it wouldn't slip.
"There's more," he said quietly.
The room tightened around that sentence. Jasper's attention sharpened. Emmett stilled. Esme's expression went careful in the way it did when she already hated what was coming. Carlisle's shoulders squared, subtle but present.
Edythe's fingers laced more firmly with mine.
"What more?" I asked.
Edward met my eyes. "I knew she was coming."
My pulse spiked. "How."
Alice answered before he could. "I saw it."
I snapped my gaze to her. "A vision."
She nodded once. "It hit me last week in the lunchroom. Victoria was coming to test our defense around Forks and more specifically, around Bella."
Edythe's voice was calm, but it carried an edge. "And you kept it from us."
Edward didn't deny it. "Yes."
The word landed like a door shutting.
I felt heat rise in my chest. "You made that choice for us."
Edward's jaw flexed once. "I made it because the moment you knew, Alice lost the vision. But once I made the choice not to tell you, it came back and it was a very good chance to end Victoria for good."
Silence...heavy and immediate.
My stomach tightened. "What."
Alice's gaze didn't drop, but her voice softened. "You know I can't see you very well in my visions. I am working to compensate around that, but it's slow going. Even if it was just Edward and Bella that went to Jacksonville, the possibility to trap Victoria didn't come back. So we thought this was the best way."
I held very still.
Edythe's eyes narrowed. "So you kept him out of it."
Edward's gaze flicked to her. "Yes."
"And you kept it from me," Edythe said, and it wasn't a question.
Edward didn't look away. "That was my decision."
A beat.
"Because you knew I wouldn't keep it from him," Edythe finished, voice level and cold.
Edward's silence was answer enough.
I swallowed hard. "So Jacksonville wasn't..."
"It was real," Edward cut in immediately. "The tickets, Renee, all of that was real." His tone sharpened. "But my priority was also to keep Bella from being pulled into this before we had a clean chance to end it."
Carlisle stepped in, voice steady. "Victoria did not know Bella was out of town."
I stared at him. "Wait," I looked at Alice. "You saw her coming for Bella specifically."
Alice nodded, "That's why Edward engineered a way to get you all out of town to give us our shot at Victoria."
Jasper spoke up, "Once you all were gone, we... opened a hole in our defenses. Not big enough to give her a chance to do any harm or nothing. But enough that she couldn't pass it up."
Jasper's stare went distant for a beat. "She came in far enough that we thought she'd committed."
Alice's mouth tightened. "Close enough that I thought..." She stopped, frustration flashing. "Close enough that it looked like a sure thing."
"What changed?" I asked, even though my stomach already knew.
Carlisle's expression went grim. "Right before we moved to close in… she hesitated."
"Instinct," Jasper said. "Predators feel it when the air shifts."
"And then she ran," I murmured.
Rosalie's eyes flashed. "Straight for the border."
Alice's voice tightened. "She hit the wolf line and ran it, back and forth. Using it like a shield. Close enough that we couldn't cross without provoking them."
Edythe's hand tightened around mine, once. Not fear. Anger, held in a fist.
"And the pack showed," I said.
Jasper nodded. "Fast."
Esme looked sad, "We pointed out Victoria and told them we were trying to stop her, and some of the pack went after her. We mirrored them on our side trying to stop Victoria on one side or the other so she could be caught, but she danced across the border like she knew exactly where it was."
Jasper continued, "If the whole pack had gone after her they could have caught her, but with them holding back to make sure we didn't cross it gave her the room she needed to escape, especially after Emmett..."
Emmett's mouth twisted. "I didn't touch their line."
"No," Jasper agreed, voice flat, "but you moved like you were going to. And you laughed."
Emmett spread his hands a fraction, unapologetic. "Because she was playing hopscotch with a treaty and everyone else was acting like that was normal."
Rosalie shot him a sharp look. "It wasn't the time."
"It's never the time," Emmett muttered.
Jasper's gaze stayed on me. "The point is, Sam's people were already split. Half of them wanted to chase her down, the other half were locked on us, waiting for an excuse. When Emmett surged, even for a second, it gave them one."
Esme's voice was soft, but heavy with guilt. "They thought we were testing the boundary."
"We were," Rosalie said coldly. "Just not in the way they assumed."
Carlisle's expression tightened. "They retreated to the safe response. Contain us. And Victoria used that hesitation like she'd planned the whole thing."
I stared at the floorboards for a beat, forcing my breathing to stay even. "So, she got away because everyone was busy watching everyone else."
"Yes," Carlisle said quietly.
Alice's fingers were clenched on her knees. "And the worst part is she learned." Her eyes flicked up, frustrated and sharp. "Not about Bella being gone, she never knew that. But she learned where the line is, how fast the pack responds, and exactly how much it limits us."
Edward's voice was controlled, but there was something tight underneath it. "She confirmed the rules."
"And she'll use them again," I said, because it was the only conclusion that made sense.
Alice nodded once. "If she lives long enough to."
Silence settled hard.
Edythe's hand was still in mine, cool and steady, but the anger in her posture hadn't softened. She wasn't looking at Edward anymore. She was looking through him, like she was cataloging the cost of his choice.
I forced my eyes back to Edward. "You decided for all of us."
Edward didn't deny it. "Yes."
That honesty almost made it worse.
Edythe's voice cut in, calm as glass. "And you would do it again."
Edward's gaze flicked to her. "If it was the only way to create a window to kill her...yes."
The room went colder.
For a second, nobody moved. Nobody breathed loud enough to count.
Then I exhaled, slow, deliberate, and forced my shoulders to unclench.
"Okay," I said, and my voice came out steadier than I felt. "I don't like how it was handled. I don't like being kept in the dark, and I don't like Edythe being put in that position."
Edward's expression didn't change, but the tension in his jaw did.
I lifted a hand before anyone could jump in. "But I can't sit here and assign blame." I looked at Carlisle first. "You tried to end a threat without getting humans hurt. That matters." Then I looked at Alice. "And you worked with what your gift would allow. That matters too."
Alice's fingers eased slightly, like she'd been waiting for the accusation that didn't come.
Edythe's hand stayed in mine, cool and steady, but I could still feel the anger in her posture, contained, not gone.
"So," I continued, "let's stop circling the mistake and start dealing with what comes next. Because we all know what comes next."
Jasper's gaze sharpened. "The elders."
I nodded. "The elders." I flicked my eyes to Edward. "And maybe Sam. But the elders will make it official."
Carlisle's expression stayed calm, attentive. "What do you think they'll say?"
I stared at the floorboards for a beat, laying it out in my head like a checklist. Then I looked up.
"They'll say three things," I said. "First: that you intentionally drew a hostile vampire toward the boundary."
Rosalie's mouth tightened. She didn't deny it.
"Second: that you endangered the treaty by forcing the pack to respond." I flicked my eyes to Emmett. "Even if you didn't cross, they'll argue you pushed the situation until it looked like you might."
Emmett gave a low, annoyed breath, but stayed quiet.
"And third," I finished, "that you used the border like a weapon. Not against the pack, against Victoria. But they won't care about the distinction."
Esme's face pinched with sadness. "They'll say we were reckless."
"They'll say you were arrogant," I corrected gently. "Because that's the story that keeps them in control."
A beat.
Edward's voice was quiet. "And what do we say?"
I held his gaze. "We tell the truth," I said. "But we choose which truth matters."
Edythe's fingers tightened around mine once, approval, not permission.
I looked to Carlisle again. "If they demand to know why you were near the border, the answer is simple: Victoria forced it. You tried to end it fast. You didn't cross."
Carlisle nodded once. "True."
"If they accuse you of trying to provoke the pack," I went on, "you don't argue intent. You state outcome. No humans were exposed. No one crossed. Your people withdrew when ordered. That shows restraint."
Jasper's jaw flexed, but he inclined his head slightly. "Also true."
I glanced at Emmett. "And if they bring up the moment you surged, own it. Not as guilt. As discipline. 'We will not repeat that.' Give them one concession they can swallow without getting any actual leverage."
Emmett's mouth twisted. "You want me to apologize."
"I want you to be useful," I said, tone even. "There's a difference."
Rosalie's eyes flicked to me, sharp, then softened by a fraction, like she understood the tactic even if she hated needing one.
Alice's voice was quieter. "And what about why you three were gone?"
The question landed.
Edythe's posture tightened.
Edward didn't move.
I kept my voice level. "That part doesn't belong to the elders," I said. "They don't get to interrogate family decisions about travel. Bella visiting her mother is normal. My involvement in that is none of their business."
Carlisle's gaze steadied. "Agreed."
Edythe's voice was calm, controlled. "But they'll still try."
"I know," I said. "So we don't give them a story they can use." I looked at Edward. "Which means nobody says 'we engineered a window' or 'we opened a hole in our defenses.' Not to the elders."
Edward's eyes sharpened. "Then what do we say?"
"We say Victoria came," I replied. "You responded. She ran the line. The pack saw it. You withdrew. End of report."
Jasper nodded once. "Clean. Boring."
"Exactly," I said. "Boring is survivable."
Edythe's thumb brushed my knuckle once, the anger in her posture easing, just a notch.
I looked at Carlisle again. "Billy Black is an elder and if he is present, it may help. Not as permission, just as sanity in the room."
Carlisle's expression stayed neutral, thoughtful. "He may not be able to sway them."
"He doesn't have to sway them," I said. "He just has to stop them from turning it into a performance."
A beat.
Edward's gaze held mine. "And what about you?"
I shrugged slightly, careful. "If they want a scapegoat, I can't control that. But I can control how I answer." I glanced at Edythe. "And I won't go in defensive. I'll go in prepared."
Carlisle exhaled quietly, like something had eased in him too. "This is… sensible."
"Don't spread it around," I muttered, and that earned the faintest shift of warmth in the room, barely a smile from Esme, the ghost of one from Emmett.
Even Edward's tension loosened by a fraction.
I looked back at him, keeping it simple. "We're not done talking about your decision," I said. "But we can talk about it later. Right now we handle the predictable problem."
Edward nodded once. "Understood."
The room didn't feel warm exactly, but it stopped feeling like a freezer.
And for the first time since Alice said Victoria's name, it felt like we had something solid under our feet again.