Rowan hadn't meant to get lost.
She just needed air.
After Billy's cryptic forehead tap, waking up with dream-dust clinging to her and the shock of being bonded to the most powerful kings in existence in this universe, she just needed to take a walk to sort through her crazy thoughts.
Bella immediately made sure she was armed with pepper spray, ordered her to text her every ten minutes, and gave a final warning not to sparkle. Rowan promised she'd try.
The trees of Forks hummed around her, damp with recent rain. She breathed in deep, grounding herself in the smell and feel of nature around her.
As she continued further away from the main road, she noticed a large shadow out of the corner of her eye.
She looked closer. A huge shape with golden-brown fur. Eyes bright and wary.
Rowan had accidentally stumbled across one of the shapeshifters.
Her magic warmed her palms, but didn't start to glow.
"Hello there, puppy." Rowan chided herself, really? Puppy? A wolf the size of a small car.
Another shape appeared beside it - equally massive, gray-furred.
Then a third.
Rowan's hair stood up in the back of her neck as she heard a loud howl behind her.
She was surrounded. Her palms set off a spark of golden light.
The golden wolf stepped forward and sniffed. The gray one followed, hackles rising. The third circled around her.
Rowan slowly raised her hands, "Sorry, it's just a natural reaction to my emotions. I mean no harm, I promise." Only for her palms to grow brighter.
The golden wolf approached until he stood above Rowan. He bent low and sniffed her palm, then whimpered.
Rowan stayed as still as she could, not wanting to spook the giant shapeshifter wolf.
"What's wrong, big guy?"
He backed away but then stood in front of her protectively just as a smaller fourth wolf burst through the tree line, clearly agitated.
The golden one let out a sharp bark, and the smallest wolf bolted back into the trees.
Just as a larger black wolf sniffed the back of Rowan's neck, making her hand reflexively flare out in warning.
Her gaze went back to where from the treeline, Jacob Black and two more boys emerged from the brush.
Jacob looked at her hands, "Oh great it's her."
Rowan narrowed her eyes, "I don't like that tone."
With a huff of the big black wolf behind her sprinted into the woods before returning this time as a tall, imposing Sam Uley.
"We don't mean any harm."
"Ok." Rowan had that feeling already, but she wasn't sure what else they meant.
Sam sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, "You smell like sunlight. Whatever you are, the pack can sense you."
The gray wolf returned in human form, her brain supplying the name Paul. "It's like your magic hits our instincts hard. We don't know whether to guard you, bow to you, or run away from you."
Rowan shook her head, making eye contact with each shapeshifter, "Please don't ever bow."
Sam stepped forward cautiously, "I agree with Billy. You need protection."
As if his comment signaled it, her phone vibrated in her pocket.
And when she read the text, she whispered, "Alice." All the shapeshifters stiffened.
The text: "Where are you? I felt something. Be very still. I'm coming to get you."
Jacob groaned, "Oh, this is going to be chaos."
Jacob had barely stopped groaning when Rowan's phone buzzed again.
Text from Alice Cullen: "Two minutes away. Stay where you are."
Rowan whispered to them, "Alice is tiny. She can't be that scary..."
Only for a pale blur to appear at her side, interrupting any further comment. Alice took in Rowan's surroundings. The forest. The wolves.
"Hi Alice. We were just..."
Alice stepped closer. Her gaze assessed Rowan's form as if checking for injuries.
"Rowan," Alice said softly, "You are glowing again."
Rowan reached out to hold her hand reassuringly and to calm whatever was going on inside the vampire pixie's mind.
As soon as she touched Alice's hand, the world ignited.
Gold burst from Rowan's fingers, slamming into Alice's body with the force of a laser breaking stone.
"Oh no..." Rowan whispered.
Alice winced.
The wolves roared.
Birds screeched in the trees.
And Jacob dragged Rowan back on instinct.
But Alice didn't move from her spot; it was as if she were frozen in space.
Eyes wide.
Mouth parted.
Then, her hand rose trembling to her cheek.
"What..." Alice's voice was barely even a whisper, "What did you..." She blinked, and then everything changed as a ripple of silver light flickered over her skin, no longer cold like marble but warm. Soft. "Alive," Alice whispered. Her cheeks flushed - lightly, barely noticeable.
Just a hint of color.
Alice staggered back a step, staring into the air as if she was seeing something else like she was stuck in a vision.
"Alice?" Rowan whispered, "Did I...hurt you?"
Alice didn't respond because suddenly a memory slammed into place in her mind.
A girl's voice - it was her own, higher and younger - laughing as she ran through a sunlit garden.
A woman with dark curls is reaching out to her for a hug.
A scent of lilacs.
A warm hand holding hers.
And a name, "Mary."
Alice dropped to her knees.
"I remember her," Alice whispered, "My mother. My real mother. Before the asylum. Before the change. Before...everything."
Rowan's eyes widened. What sort of magic did she unlock this time?
Alice looked up into Rowan's worried gaze, "You didn't hurt me." A pause, "You healed something."
Sam growled to the side, "Magic that affects vampires isn't safe."
Alice disagreed, transfixed looking at her softer and warmer skin, "It didn't feel dangerous. It felt like...a lock turning."
Rowan's glow faded, but the soft sheen on Alice's cheekbones lingered.
Jacob whispered, "Dude...she almost looks human."
Alice touched her cheek in wonder and fear. Her gaze snapped towards Rowan, "Something is waking up." Alice stared at Rowan in awe, "She is waking us up."
"What does that mean?" Rowan and Sam asked at the same time.
"You cracked a curse, Rowan."
And the forest watched as history was in the making before them.