Bonnie shook her head, less angry, though, I thought. More sad. She looked at Carine. “I’ll concede that the treaty is intact. Will you tell me your plans?”
“We’ll stay here another year. We’ll leave after Edythe and Archie graduate. It will look natural that way.”
Bonnie nodded. “All right. We’ll wait. I apologize for our infraction tonight. I…” She sighed. “It was a mistake. I was… overwrought.”
“We understand,” Carine said softly. “There was no harm done. Maybe even some good. It’s better to understand each other as much as possible. Perhaps we could even talk again some—”
“The treaty is unbroken,” Bonnie said in a hard voice. “Don’t ask any more from us.”
Carine nodded once.
Bonnie looked at me again and her face fell.
The breeze shifted.
Edythe and Carine both grabbed my arms at the same time. Bonnie’s eyes went wide and then narrowed angrily. Sam snarled once.
“What are you doing to him?” Bonnie demanded.
“Protecting you,” Edythe snapped.
The dark brown wolf took a half-step forward.
I took a quick breath, preparing myself to run if it was bad.
It was bad.
Bonnie’s scent was like fire as it rushed down my throat, but it was more than just pain. It was a thousand times more appealing than any of the animals I’d hunted, not even in the same class. It was like someone waving a perfectly cooked filet mignon in front of me after I’d been living on stale crackers for a year. But more than that. I’d never tried drugs, but I thought Edythe’s heroin comparison might be the closer version.
And yet, while I wanted to quench my thirst… badly… I knew instantly that I didn’t have to. I wouldn’t want to be any closer to her, no, but I was pretty sure I could handle it even then. I’d expected that when the newborn thing reared its ugly head, I wouldn’t be able to think or decide. That I wouldn’t be a person anymore, I’d be an animal.
I was still me. A very thirsty me, but me.
It only took half a second for me to figure all this out.
“No, don’t worry, Bonnie,” I said quickly. “I’m new to this, and they don’t want me to… lose it, you know? But I’m okay.”
Edythe slowly took her hand off my arm. Carine looked at me, her face kind of… awed.
Bonnie’s eyes were still narrowed, but I could see she was confused, too. She hadn’t expected me to act so much like myself, maybe. I decided to take advantage of the unexpected opportunity. I took another breath, and though it hurt just as badly, I knew I was fine.
“So it sounds like I won’t have a chance to talk to you again,” I said. “And I’m sorry it’s that way. I guess I don’t understand all the rules yet. But since you’re here, if I could just ask one favor…”
Her face got hard again. “What?”
“My dad.” My breath did that weird hitching thing again and I had to take a second before I could go on. Edythe put her hand on my back, but it was for comfort this time. “Please, just… take care of him? Don’t let him be alone too much. I never wanted to do this to him… or my mom. That’s the hardest part of all this. For me, it’s fine. I’m good. If only there was anything I could do to make it better for them, I would, but I can’t. Could you please watch out for him?”
Bonnie’s face went blank for a minute. I couldn’t read it. I wished I could hear like Edythe did.
“I would have done that regardless,” Bonnie finally said.
“I know. I couldn’t help asking, though. Do you think… you could let me know if there ever is something I can do? You know, from behind the scenes?”
She nodded slowly. “I suppose there may be some of Beau left after all.”
I sighed. She was not going to believe it if I told her that all of me was left, that there was just more added on top.
“Is there anything else I can do for you?”
I froze for a tenth of a second, surprised by the offer. I could tell Edythe and Carine were surprised, too. But there was something more I wanted.
“If…,” I began. “Will you ever tell Jules about any of this?” I looked at the enormous wolves flanking Bonnie. “Or will it always be a secret?”
I didn’t understand the look that crossed her face now. “Jules will know soon enough.”
“Oh. Okay. Well, if she can know about me, can you tell her that I’m happy? It’s not so bad, this whole vampire thing.”
Bonnie shuddered. “I’ll tell her what you said.”
“Thanks, Bonnie.”
She nodded, then she looked at the tall girl carrying her and jerked her chin back the way they’d come.
As they turned, I saw a tear escape the corner of her eye. The wolves backed away from us, too.
I hoped it wasn’t the last time I would see Bonnie. I hoped that when Jules was in on the secret, I would be allowed to see her, too. Or at least talk to her again. I hoped that maybe someday the wolves would see that the Cullens were heroes, too.
Bonnie’s car drove away. The wolves melted into the trees. I waited until Edythe was done listening to their departure.
“Tell me everything,” I said.
She smiled. “I will when we get home—so I don’t have to repeat all of it. There was a lot.” She shook her head, like she was amazed.
We started running. Not so fast as before.
“Huh. Actual werewolves. This world is even weirder than I thought,” I said.
“Agreed,” Edythe said.
“That’s right—you thought there weren’t werewolves here anymore. That must have been kind of a shock.”
“They weren’t the most shocking thing I saw tonight.”
I looked at her, then at Carine. Carine smiled like she was in on some joke.
“I mean, I knew you were special, Beau, but that was something else back there. Jessamine’s not going to believe it.”
“Oh. But…” I stared at her. “You said you knew I could do this.”
She dimpled. “Well, I was pretty sure the wind would hold steady.”
Carine laughed, then she exchanged a glance with Edythe. She sped up as Edythe slowed. In a second, we were alone.
I kept pace with Edythe, and stopped when she stopped. She put her hands on either side of my face.
“It’s been a long day. A hard one. But I want you to know that you’re extraordinary, and I love you.”
I pulled her tight against me. “I can handle anything as long as you’re with me.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck. “Then here I will stay.”
“Forever,” I said.
“Forever,” she agreed.
I leaned down until my lips found hers.
Forever was going to be amazing.
AFTERWORD
We meet again, gentle reader.
I know it’s a lot, to expect you to read both a foreword and an afterword, but there are a few things I wanted to say that I couldn’t include in the beginning without spoiling the fun of your read.
So, obviously, I have cheated. I did not stay true to the original story in the conclusion of my swap, and I am not sorry. It was exciting, and I very much enjoyed writing the alternate ending.
But let me be quick to say, the fact that Beau becomes a vampire has nothing at all to do with the fact that he is a boy, not a girl. This change also does not mean that I prefer it to the original or think that the original was “wrong.” This has always just been the big what if?, and I wanted to see what it would feel like if Twilight had been the end of the story. If, like Beau, Bella had left the airport just five minutes earlier.
There’s a lot of happiness in Beau and Edythe coming together, in taking away the stumbling block between them, so much earlier. But there’s also great sadness. As a human, Bella had to endure a lot more pain than Beau did, but in the end I know she would tell you it was all worth it. Beau will be fine—more than fine, he’ll be very happy—but he’ll always have the one big regret. Bella was able to put her house in order, and she’s confident she got the best version of the story.