Breaking Dawn   ::   Meyer Stephenie

Under my baby brother is not an upgrade.

Shh! I complained. I don’t care where you stand. Shut up and get ready.

They came into view a few seconds later, walking, as Seth had thought. Jared in the front, human, hands up. Paul and Quil and Collin on four legs behind him. There was no aggression in their postures. They hung back behind Jared, ears up, alert but calm.

But… it was weird that Sam would send Collin rather than Embry. That wasn’t what I would do if I were sending a diplomacy party into enemy territory. I wouldn’t send a kid. I’d send the experienced fighter.

A diversion? Leah thought.

Were Sam, Embry, and Brady making a move alone? That didn’t seem likely.

Want me to check? I can run the line and be back in two minutes.

Should I warn the Cullens? Seth wondered.

What if the point was to divide us? I asked. The Cullens know something’s up. They’re ready.

Sam wouldn’t be so stupid…, Leah whispered, fear jagged in her mind. She was imagining Sam attacking the Cullens with only the two others beside him.

No, he wouldn’t, I assured her, though I felt a little sick at the image in her head, too.

All the while, Jared and the three wolves stared at us, waiting. It was eerie not to hear what Quil and Paul and Collin were saying to one another. Their expressions were blank—unreadable.

Jared cleared his throat, and then he nodded to me. “White flag of truce, Jake. We’re here to talk.”

Think it’s true? Seth asked.

Makes sense, but…

Yeah, Leah agreed. But.

We didn’t relax.

Jared frowned. “It would be easier to talk if I could hear you, too.”

I stared him down. I wasn’t going to phase back until I felt better about this situation. Until it made sense. Why Collin? That was the part that had me most worried.

“Okay. I guess I’ll just talk, then,” Jared said. “Jake, we want you to come back.”

Quil let out a soft whine behind him. Seconding the statement.

“You’ve torn our family apart. It’s not meant to be this way.”

I wasn’t exactly in disagreement with that, but it was hardly the point. There were a few unresolved differences of opinion between me and Sam at the moment.

“We know that you feel… strongly about the situation with the Cullens. We know that’s a problem. But this is an overreaction.”

Seth growled.