Page 66

After her conversation with Bella, Pearl left the house to go hunting.

After feeding from a couple of elderly deer, she was able to recover her strength and regain a sense of control.

Given the tension that was no doubt, still occupying her home, Pearl opted to stay in the forest for a while longer.

Climbing a tree that overlooked a cliff, the hybrid perched on one of the top branches and sat in silence.

Allowing the gentle breeze to brush against her face, and push her hair back, letting it flow behind her with the wind.

Staying atop of that tree for a few hours was quite fulfilling for Pearl.

The peacefulness of it all, helped her calm down and regain a clear mind before going back home.

On her way back to the house, she was surprised to find Bree walking directly towards her.

Standing between Pearl and the way back to the house, it was obvious to Pearl that Bree wanted to talk.

The two girls wordlessly sat on a fallen log and stared off into the distance. Waiting for the other to say something.

Bree was the first to break the silence. "I heard your conversation with Bella." She admits quietly. "Are you really that worried?"

Taking a moment, Pearl sighed. Then answered bluntly, "Yes."

Bree looked to the ground and hummed in acknowledgement. Then mumbled out, "I think... I understand some of your concerns... about the baby..."

Pearl turned her head and stared at Bree, who was still looking at the ground. And sighed, then asked in a cold voice. "What makes you so sure, that this will be a good thing?"

"... I don't know... It just feels... like a good thing..." Bree mumbled in response.

Pearl snorted and dryly remarked, "Bella's dying. How could that be a good thing?"

"She may survive." Bree quietly said, hope lacing her voice.

"I don't know what you're seeing that I'm not. But in my eyes, Bella's dying." Pearl bluntly stated.

Bree kept her eyes glued to the ground, avoiding Pearl's piercing gaze.

"I've not been a vampire long enough to comment on what venom can, and can't do. That's why I'm putting my trust into someone who has been. If Carlisle says, that vampire venom won't be able to save her, I'm gonna take his word for it. Not argue with him." Pearl said.

"But if he's wrong, and we can save her. Then, shouldn't we give the child a chance?" Bree spoke softly, almost dreading her mate's response.

"Bree, I'm not worried about the child. Yes, I'm concerned about what they could be.

I don't know the challenges that a human and vampire baby could bring.

But right now, I don't care. My focus is on Bella.

She's the one i've gotten to know... the one i've come to care about.

.." Pearl said, trailing off at the end.

Bree nodded at her words, and asked in an unsure tone. "But... you also care about her decision?"

"Of course I do." Pearl answered confidently.

Bree looked up from the floor and made eye contact with the hybrid.

Pearl sighed, then explained to her. "To have something forced upon you, something you don't want, is awful. I'd never say that she doesn't have a choice. If she wants to keep this baby, I will respect that. It's why I didn't try and push her in any kind of direction."

"You kinda did though." Bree muttered. Seeing Pearl raise her eyebrow at her, Bree continued speaking. "You said that she should take Edward's opinion into consideration. That's kinda pushing her to get rid of it."

Pearl frowned at her words, then answered. "That wasn't my intention."

"What was your intent?" Bree asked, curiously.

Sighing, the hybrid responded. "I just wanted her to consider what would happen in the future. Whether that be good, or bad. That's all."

Bree opened her mouth to talk but Pearl continued speaking, which made Bree stay silent.

"I know you're trying to remain positive. You see all the good versions of our future. I do admire you for that." Pearl admitted, somewhat embarrassed. "But I don't follow that mindset, Bree. All I can see, is what could go wrong." She said, her face downcast.

Bree turned to look at her mate. Concern evident in her eyes. She quietly says, "Trying to look on the bright side isn't that hard. I know you could do it if you put your mind to it."

Pearl let's out a huff. Which sounded weird since she wasn't in her wolf form. "The bright side, doesn't really exist for me... I just see the darkness." She says, sadness underlying her tone.

Bree placed her hand on top of Pearl's and gave it a gentle squeeze. She expected her to pull away, but the hybrid remained in place and allowed her to do so.

"Why did you compare me to the baby?" Pearl asked suddenly, catching Bree off guard.

Stumbling over her words at first, Bree was eventually able to get out an answer to her mates question. "We think... that the baby will be a hybrid of some sort... and you are a hybrid. So, that's why we compared you to them."

"You aren't stupid. So I know, that you know, that these are two incredibly different circumstances." Pearl responds.

"Yes." Bree answers.

"Then why..." Pearl trails off, unsure how to word her question.

Bree understood what she meant and replied to her. "I didn't exactly come up with the idea... Bella did."

"I still don't understand." Pearl says quietly.

"She thinks that since you are half wolf and half vampire, there's a good chance that something similar will occur for her baby. You said before, that you believe, that your wolf merged with the vampire venom in order to keep itself alive." Bree exclaimed.

Pearl nods her head and waits for Bree to continue.

"Well, she thinks that something similar could be happening in her womb. Maybe the human cells are merging with the vampire parts, to create something new." Said Bree.

"I suppose it's possible." Pearl said in a quiet tone.

Bree turned to her in shock, then immediately asked, "Why didn't you say that earlier? If you think that it could be a possibility, then why didn't you support us earlier?"

"Because I was hurt." Pearl said bluntly, not wanting to dance around the subject.

Bree recoiled slightly, completely taken aback by Pearl's admittance. Then mumbled out, "What?"

Pearl continued speaking, this time in a slightly detached tone of voice.

"If you guys had brought this up to me in a calmer environment, and not, in the middle of a shouting match, I likely would have responded the same way that I just did.

But you guys said it to everyone, in the middle of a tense argument.

I was startled, and didn't know what to say.

My first thoughts, were that you were trying to use my existence as justification.

That, in doing so, I'd end up somehow being blamed for Bella's death or, for how the child turned out. And that freaked me out."

"We wouldn't have done that." Bree denied.

"Well at the time, it didn't feel like that would be the case. Like I said, your reasoning caught me off guard. Usually, I can recover fairly quickly, and regain my composure in a reasonable amount of time. But I didn't really get that chance to do that." Pearl admitted.

"You mean... when Edward and Alice..." Bree trailed off, slightly unsure but having a feeling it had something to do with what had happened after Bella had said what she said.

Pearl nodded. "Everything that was going through my head in those moments, they were quite upsetting thoughts. But, they were just thoughts, I was getting myself back on track. But when Alice called me a 'freak of nature', it hurt me a lot more than it probably should have." She exclaimed.

'And I was too busy arguing with Edward and Alice to notice.' Bree thought, a look so shame crossed her face. 'My mate was hurting and I was too worried about the fact that she didn't seem to agree with me...'

Pearl sighed, then spoke in a somewhat dejected tone.

"It's fine now, I'm over it. But at the time, it hurt to hear.

Then everything happened afterwards, and the pain I felt, just kinda, built up.

That's why I became confrontational with you.

I shouldn't have, but I'd did. So, I'm sorry for that.

" She apologised in a soft genuine tone.

Bree immediately started rambling, denying her apology.

"You shouldn't be the one apologising. I should be apologising to you.

I didn't even think about your feelings when that whole argument was going on.

Then afterwards, I just glared at you. I didn't even try to understand why you weren't agreeing with me.

I was just so pissed of by the fact that you weren't. And then when I did notice your hurt expression, I just ignored it.

I let you walk off in near tears. I shouldn't have done that.

I should've spoken to you about it. About all of this, before Bella brought it up.

I'm so sorry. I've let this, come between our friendship and, I shouldn't have. I'm so sorry Pearl."

Pearl stared at Bree in shock. She hadn't expected Bree to apologise to her, in her mind Bree hadn't really done anything wrong.

She may not have paid attention to her or her feelings at the time of the argument but, she's used to having her feelings ignored.

She hadn't felt like it was such a big deal, after she had gotten some time to calm down from it.

Her family used to do it all the time, so it hadn't been that much of a major thing for her.

Bella's reasoning and Alice's comment, had just caught her off guard.

That's it. Nothing else had really happened.

With Pearl staring at her and staying silent Bree looked down at the ground with regret showing clearly on her face. And mumbled out another quiet, "Sorry" to the hybrid.

Pearl smiled softly at her then responded in a soft tone. "You don't have to apologise."

"Yes I do!" Bree immediately replied.

"No, you don't. It's okay. I get it. You were defending Bella's choice, and her thought process. I can't exactly fault you for that." Pearl said softly.

"But I didn't defend you." Bree said in a saddened tone.

"That's okay. I didn't exactly defend you either." Pearl spoke in a reassuring and uplifting way.

"... But still..." Bree muttered under her breath.

"How about this. Let's just say we've forgiven each other and leave what happened in the past. Can we agree to that?" Pearl asked while smiling.

Bree nodded her head and let a smile creep onto her own face.

The pair sat in silence for a while, neither saying anything or making any movements. They were just enjoying each others company. Having now cleared the air, the silence was a lot more comforting than before. The two sat on the log, hand in hand, while smiling softly towards the floor.

Eventually Pearl let out a small laugh after getting a realisation.

Bree turned to face her and asked, "What's funny?"

Letting a chuckle escape her lips, Pearl replied while squeezing her imprint's hand, "I just figured out why we're fated mates."

Bree hummed in surprise and quickly asked in a high pitched voice. "Why?"

"Because of our opposite mindsets." Pearl answered.

Bree tilted her head in confusion, wanting Pearl to elaborate.

Pearl complied, and explained. "As mates, we balance each other out.

You're overly positive and have an optimistic view on life.

You try to see all the good that there is.

Whereas I, see all of the bad. Since I have a primarily pessimistic view on life.

I see everything that could go wrong, and think about how i'd be able to prevent it. "

"Okay?" Bree says, still slightly confused.

"Together, we can come up with a more realistic view on life. And perhaps, be able to react more accordingly when we work together." Pearl finished.

Bree's eyes light up in recognition and understanding. "So, we don't have to agree on our opinions or on our views. But we can still get along and support each other!" She exclaims happily.

Pearl nods and smiles at her imprint, Bree returns her smile with one of her own.

The two girls look down at their hands and interlock their fingers.

When they looked back up Bree looked away from Pearl, breaking off their renewed eye contact.

Due to how flustered she felt. Pearl watched her imprint and smirked ever so slightly, having felt her emotion through the imprint bond.

Scooting over to her, Pearl stopped when their bodies were practically touching each other.

"What are you doing?" Bree shyly asked, feeling flustered but also a little bit excited.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Pearl responded in a teasing tone.

Bree gasped a little, when she smelt Pearl's scent suddenly appear and intensify. Pearl had leaned over, becoming incredibly close to her imprint.

Bree froze and didn't move, she wasn't sure what was going to happen, and although she was nervous, she desperately wanted to find out.

Bree stayed in that position for a little while, unsure of what was happening, but before she could turn to look at Pearl once again, to ask what was going on.

She felt warm lips being pressed against her left cheek.

The sparks that the young vampire felt, shot through her body at amazing speeds, and left an incredible feeling in its wake.

The warmth it provided was so comforting.

Then as quickly as it had appeared, it disappeared. Leaving behind a cold empty space, that Bree desperately wanted to get filled again.

Moving away from her imprint, Pearl said in a soft tone, "Let's go home."

Standing up from the log, the hybrid pulled the stunned Bree along with her, and together, they started walking back towards their covens house. Hand in hand.