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As they ran, Edward cursed under his breath, frustration carved into his face.
"I thought they wouldn't find us… It's so late, and we took less-traveled routes…"
Nate, his eyes fixed firmly on the path, replied in little more than a murmur, never looking away from the forest unfolding before them.
"Maybe it was just a coincidence… We have to hurry. If we're lucky, we'll reach your house before running into a Quileute…"
Edward nodded silently, and both of them quickened their pace. The trees blurred around them, reduced to dark smears by the speed at which they tore through the forest. The cold air lashed their faces, but neither loosened their stride.
Inside, Nate weighed his options with the calm of a strategist. The newborn army was already close to Forks, making the threat of the Quileutes seem increasingly insignificant. What had once felt like a possible confrontation was now little more than a formality, a minor obstacle. The intent to speak with Jacob and resolve the matter peacefully no longer felt like an obligation, but rather a courtesy toward an old friend.
Then something ripped him from his thoughts: a stench, sharp and revolting, striking him like a direct punch. Instinctively, he raised a hand to his nose. It took him a few seconds to identify it, but once he did, he understood. It was exactly as Alice had described: the smell of the wolves. A suffocating reek, like inhaling the fur of a wet dog left out too long in the rain.
Nate's reaction didn't go unnoticed. Edward, running at his side, also began sniffing uneasily. His expression hardened instantly.
"He's too close… I'll go to him, draw his attention. You keep going and head back to the house. They must not see you!"
Nate looked at him in silence for a few seconds, gauging the determination in his eyes. He gave no answer; he simply kept running. Edward, however, stopped abruptly, the damp forest floor crunching beneath his feet as he skidded to a halt.
The nighttime silence was shattered with an increasingly clear sound: swift, heavy footsteps, perfectly synchronized, approaching with lethal precision. The Quileute wasn't alone.
It was only a matter of seconds before he saw them. Two massive figures burst from the undergrowth, their bodies gliding between the trees with the predatory grace of legendary wolves.
The first was tall and lean, his sandy-colored fur shimmering as bright eyes studied Edward with a mix of caution and curiosity. The second, a bit smaller but with muscles taut beneath his gray pelt, already bared his fangs in a low, constant growl that throbbed in the air.
Edward tensed, his body adopting a defensive stance almost by instinct, though he knew any aggressive movement could mean death. Instead, he focused entirely on what mattered most: the voices in his mind. The pack's bond was as clear to him as if they were shouting aloud.
"See? I told you I smelled something, Leah!"
The mental voice came from the sandy-colored wolf. There was a youthful eagerness in it, out of place in the heavy atmosphere.
The gray wolf snorted irritably, her thoughts sharp and severe.
"I can smell it perfectly well, Seth, that disgusting sweet stench… But it's just another one of those leeches. One of the Cullens."
Seth immediately protested, insistent, almost offended that his discovery was being downplayed.
"I'm telling you, I smelled something different! I'm sure there are more. I caught a lot more sweet scents up ahead."
Edward sharpened his attention, standing as still as stone. The mere fact that Seth mentioned the scents ahead meant they were dangerously close to discovering Nate's group.
Leah answered curtly, her tone laced with disdain and suspicion.
"Let's check it out and then report back… I know we were told not to follow this particular Cullen, but don't you think it's strange that he's out here alone at this hour?"
Seth faltered, dropping his gaze for a moment, his mind tangled in confusion.
"What do you mean, Leah?"
The gray she-wolf's reply came sharp with anger, each mental word crashing into Edward like a roar.
"Think, Seth! If this leech is here at this hour, and you smell more of them, then obviously he's met up with other bloodsuckers."
Her words lit a fire in the young wolf. Seth's ears shot upright, his breathing quickened, and a shiver ran through his entire body.
"If you're right, then we have to tell Jacob! Let's go find out if there really are more leeches."
Edward stood frozen, every muscle taut like a bowstring, his mind racing to find a way—anything—to keep them from advancing.
In a hurried tone, Edward spoke, trying to make his voice sound more confident than he really felt.
"Good evening… I'm sorry we have to meet under these circumstances…"
Leah answered with a low growl, filled with anger at the fact that he had dared to address her. Seth, on the other hand, tilted his head, amused though incredulous, and muttered mentally to his sister:
"Does he really think we'll break out of the transformation just to talk to him?"
Edward caught the nuance of the misunderstanding immediately. He couldn't allow the silence to thicken with hostility, so he rushed to clarify:
"Actually, I can hear your thoughts perfectly. If it makes you more comfortable, you can remain that way…"
The revelation caught them by surprise. Both wolves tensed; anxiety pulsed in their minds like a heartbeat. Edward noticed and didn't miss the chance—he had their attention now.
"I heard you were thinking of speaking with Jacob… are you close, by any chance?"
Seth replied instantly, noisy and proud in his thoughts.
"Of course! Everyone in the pack is super close."
Leah snorted with irritation, baring her fangs while scolding him mentally.
"Don't give him information, idiot. Don't think about anything…"
Seth let out a small whine and forced his mind into silence, obeying. Edward, sensing the fracture in their resistance, softened his tone and tried to sound conciliatory.
"Listen… I know things are tense between us, but I need to talk to him. Could you at least tell him to give me a little of his time?"
Leah's fur bristled from her back to her neck, her fury rising like a wildfire.
"You think you're going to convince him? The time for your leech family in Forks is over!"
Edward hesitated, unsettled by the harshness of the response, but tried to regain his calm.
"Convince him? No, I just want to talk to him. You can tell him I'll be alone… we can talk man to man."
Seth lifted his nose, sniffing nervously.
"Do you smell that, Leah?"
But Leah wasn't listening; her thoughts boiled with the same hostility that marked every fiber of her body. She let out a sharp bark, her gaze locked on Edward.
"The Quileutes have nothing to discuss with you. The Alpha has spoken, and the treaty is broken. You must leave… or there will be war."
The threat in her voice was so palpable that Edward instinctively stepped back, not wanting to provoke a direct attack.
"Please, be reasonable. I understand the Quileutes don't want to speak with us… but tell Jacob to speak with me… tell him to do it for Bella."
Silence fell like a lead weight between the three of them. Edward held Leah's gaze, waiting for a crack in her armor. Leah's eyes stayed fixed on an indefinite point, caught in an internal debate about whether it would even be a good idea to call Jacob. Seth, meanwhile, looked around nervously, his ears twitching as if searching for confirmation in the environment.
Leah stayed that way for several seconds, until she finally shook her head and let out a low growl—resigned, though still filled with contained rage. Edward didn't give up; his voice broke into a plea.
"Please! Tell him it's for Bella!"
The she-wolf took a step forward, her fangs bared, the tension in her muscles coiled like a spring about to snap. And then, a sharp sound interrupted them—the crack of high branches, followed by a swift movement in the treetops.
A body descended with lethal precision, landing between the three of them, the impact muffled by the damp earth. The figure straightened at once. Nate.
His mere presence shattered the atmosphere. The icy look he cast was enough to tense the two Quileutes, who instantly stepped back, instinctively recognizing the danger. Edward could barely mask his own surprise.
Nate stood tall, imposing, his silhouette rigid like a contained threat. The moon, filtering faintly through the canopy, illuminated the outlines of his figure as though emphasizing the abyssal difference between him and any other being present. The air around him felt colder, heavier, as if every word he was about to speak dragged with it an invisible weight.
When he broke the silence, his voice was deep and sharp, cutting like a blade of steel. It left no room for reply, nor for doubt.
"If he won't do it for Bella… then tell him Nate Winther wants to speak with him."
The two wolves stepped back instinctively. Their bodies, which a second before had seemed ready for confrontation, now vibrated with latent unease. For some reason, they couldn't quite understand; they no longer felt as confident as before.
Seth was the first to react. His mental voice, trembling and confused, filled the space that neither dared occupy with a physical growl.
"Is that the Nate Jacob spoke about? Right?! But… he's a cold one!"
Leah didn't take her eyes off Nate. She felt a visceral pull inside her: a warning as primitive as the instinct for survival itself. It screamed that if she lost sight of him for even a moment, she and her brother would be defenseless. Her rational mind insisted that between the two of them, they could face these vampires. But her instinct contradicted her—wild, urgent: she had to retreat, she had to get Seth out of there before it was too late.
Nate didn't give them time to decide. His calm was that of a predator who already has the prey trapped. He turned his face slightly toward Edward and spoke naturally, as though the situation had been under control from the very first second.
"Translate what they think."
Edward nodded, expectant.
Nate fixed his gaze back on Leah. His icy eyes bore into her with unbearable weight. His voice, slow and deliberate, sounded like an inescapable verdict.
"You have two options. You can call Jacob right now. Believe me… that would be best for both of you and for your tribe.
Or you can leave. You can return to your pack and bring them all, or you can wait until the deadline. It doesn't matter. Either way… everything that happens to your tribe will be on you. And I'll make sure you know it was all because of you."
The air between them grew dense, oppressive, as if every molecule carried the weight of that sentence. Both wolves shuddered. Their hearts pounded in their chests with frantic cadence. Even Edward, who had lived his life among vampires, was shocked by the absolute coldness in Nate's tone. He tried to pierce his mind, to find a fissure, some certainty of whether Nate's words were truth or bluff. But he found nothing. Nate was an impenetrable wall, an unfathomable abyss. The only thing emanating from him was determination.
Seth lowered his ears, unable to withstand that gaze. He began backing away, his paws clumsy in the wet earth, clearly terrified. Leah, however, shook her head violently, as if the gesture could expel the fear from her body. She growled, bared her fangs, and stepped forward—a movement charged with pride and desperation. It was a forced challenge, an attempt to show she wouldn't yield.
Nate stepped toward her. Then another. His stride was slow, firm, utterly devoid of doubt. Leah barked fiercely, her growl reverberating in the forest's gloom, trying to project a power her insides no longer backed. But he ignored her, advancing until he stood right before her.
The tension reached its peak. Nate was close enough that any movement could turn into a direct attack. But Leah faltered. Her body shrank toward the ground, her ears pressed flat against her head, and no matter how she tried, she couldn't hide that instinct was taking over.
Nate leaned slightly forward, bringing his face near hers. His voice dropped to a whisper so low it seemed meant only for her ear.
"I'll wait two hours… Run."
As if those words had been etched into their blood, the two wolves reacted at once. They exchanged a brief glance, their bodies trembling with tension, and without further hesitation, they turned and fled, their forms vanishing among the trees with lightning speed.
The forest fell silent. A tense, cutting silence that even the insects seemed to respect. Edward stood still, his eyes fixed on Nate, processing what he had just witnessed. With everything he had seen tonight, he was no longer sure what Nate was capable of.
He shook the thoughts away and stepped forward, ready to speak, ready to relay what he had heard in their minds. But Nate lifted a hand sharply, not taking his eyes off the direction in which the wolves had fled.
"In the end, I won't need the translation. Jacob will be here soon… You'd better go back to your house."