Page 63

After his talk with Pearl, Edward tried to be slightly more supportive in order to understand Bella's viewpoint.

He did his best to keep his anger to a minimum around her, as to not hurt her feelings and give off the wrong impression.

Everyone took note of his behaviour and tried to follow suit, which created a more civil atmosphere.

But as one day turned to two, then two turned to four. Bella's health progressively deteriorated, and by the time a full week had passed, emotions were just too high to avoid an altercation. Another argument broke out emits the family.

"I don't get it! Your dying Bella! Why can't you see that!" Edward shouted. His voice full of the hurt and pain he was experiencing.

Bella flinched slightly and quietly mumbled, "I'll be okay."

"No you won't!" He yelled, trying to get her to realise the reality of the situation.

"Be quiet!" Rosalie shouted at the mind reader.

"Stay out of this!" Edward yelled at the blonde.

"Edward you need to calm down." Bree spoke up from the couch, where she was sitting next to the human.

"Shut up!" Edward screamed in anger at the young vampire.

"HEY!" Pearl raised her voice and got between the two. Stepping in front of her imprint, Pearl spoke in a firm tone, leaving no room for arguments. "That's enough."

Edward made eye contact with the hybrid and forced himself to take a breath to calm down. Rosalie looked like she wanted to continue shouting at him, so before she got the chance, Pearl silenced her as well. "That goes for you too." She said firmly to the angry blonde.

Rosalie scoffed and looked away. Jasper, Alice and Emmet came into the room after hearing all of the shouting.

The latter went to stand by his silently fuming mate.

Carlisle and Esme who were in the room, were slightly taken aback by Pearl's authoritative tone and stared at her in surprise.

No one made a move or said anything else, all eyes were on the hybrid, waiting for what she would say next.

Seeing that all eyes were on her, Pearl spoke in a calm voice.

"Screaming and shouting isn't getting us anywhere.

If we are going to have a discussion about this, then we need to use our inside voices.

Is that clear?" Pearl's tone screamed respect and authority.

If it wasn't for everyone in the room being either a human or a vampire, they would've sworn that Pearl had just used her alpha voice on them.

All the family members found themselves nodding at her words, and this time, they continued the conversation in a calm manner.

The coven still ended up going around in circles though.

With Alice and Edward making their fear about the possible child known, and trying desperately to persuade Bella to allow Carlisle to take it out.

While Rosalie and Bree actively disagreed with them, and said that the child was innocent and deserved to live.

The rest of the coven remained silent, wanting to keep out of the escalating situation as much as possible.

It was only when Bella finally spoke up, sharing why she believed that everything would work out, did the coven get a glimpse into her mindset.

"My baby could be a hybrid, like Pearl. And as soon as I deliver, you can turn me. So it will all be okay. You guys shouldn't be worrying so much." Said Bella.

Aside from Bree and Rosalie, who had already heard this reasoning and had agreed with it, everyone else was shocked. None more so than Pearl, who was stunned into silence by the confession. She couldn't believe that her existence was being used to justify this kind of risk.

Alice ended up being the first to recover, and shouted, "What?!"

Edward was quick to speak up, after Alice had broken his train of thought. "Why on earth would you use Pearl as an excuse?!" He shouted.

This time, Bree was the one who answered him. "Pearl is a hybrid. Her existence isn't normal. It's unique. Just like this baby."

"Are you kidding?! Pearl was bitten and turned! She wasn't born a vampire! The venom should've killed her!" Edward argued loudly.

"Pearl is the perfect example to use! She's half mutt and half vampire! This baby could be half vampire and half human!" Rosalie yelled at the mind reader.

"Pearl is a freak of nature! It was only by luck that she turned out alright!" Alice screeched, missing the hurt look on the hybrid's face.

"Can we please stop shouting." Esme pleaded with her children. Her voice going unheard.

"Bella this is nothing like Pearl! This thing will kill you!" Edward shouted.

"You don't know that!" Bella yelled at her husband.

"Yes I do! It's only been a week and you already look so sickly! To the point that you should already be in a hospital!" Edward shouted in anger.

"We just haven't figured out how to help her yet." Bree argued.

"Help her?! The only way we can help is by getting rid of that thing!" Alice screamed, beating Edward to it.

"You won't touch her!" Rosalie yelled fiercely.

Before Edward or Alice could respond, a pained and saddened voice rang out.

"You shouldn't use me as justification."