Bella

I'd been a little suspicious when Edward had shown up today. He told Charlie that he was treating me to lunch in Port Angeles. As soon as we'd gotten into the car he asked me if that's really what I really wanted to do. I said no, obviously seeing that he had something planned. Of course, he did.

He was weaving through the winding drive to his house, much too fast as usual, before he turned to me and grinned.

"What are we doing, Edward?"

He seemed like he was going to answer as we pulled to a stop, but three quick raps on my window cut him off. It was Alice, holding a basket and smiling in a way that told me she's gone overboard on something again.

"This is so romantic! I can't believe I didn't think of if first! You'll have to tell me all about it when you get back."

"Alice," I interrupted. "I don't even know what you're talking about."

Alice looked confused, then she turned to Edward. "You didn't tell her?" She accused. "I saw that you were going to."

"Well, I was about to start before you showed up."

Alice rolled her eyes. "Well, you should have told her before then. Anyways Bella," she said, turning back to me. "Edward's taking you on a picnic!"

I looked at him. "A picnic? Don't you think we should do something that would be enjoyable for both of us?"

He smiled. "I enjoy watching you eat. It's interesting."

"Great, now I'm going to be wondering what could possibly be interesting about me eating." But he seemed happy enough about it, so I didn't argue.

Edward grabbed the picnic basket from Alice and swung me onto his back in one fluid motion. We took off into the forest around the house. Now we were flying though the trees, so quickly they were blurring.

We'd been running for about twenty minutes, but it felt like longer. We had to be far away from any sort of civilization, but I had no doubt that Edward knew exactly where we were.

All of a sudden he jumped. It was exhilarating, soaring through a gap in the canopy that I hadn't even seen coming. I watched as the trees grew farther away. 

At about twenty-five feet above the treetops we leveled out; hanging in the air for a second. I took a deep breath, enjoying the scents of pine and wildflowers that flourished even up here. Edward followed my example, then stiffened. I tightened my hold on him, knowing something was wrong. He didn't relax, even when we were back on the ground.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Edward looked puzzled. "There's a human scent up there, quite a few actually. And they weren't falling, just moving in a straight line."

"What is it?"

He smiled that crooked smile I loved. "Would you mind coming with me to find out?"

"I don't know. If we don't know what it is…"

He held my face between his hands and looked at me in a way that really ought to be illegal. No one should be that persuasive. "Bella, would I let anything hurt you? I really am curious."

"You know it's not fair when you dazzle me like that. But all right, we can go."

We took off again, following the trail fifty feet above us. Now that he had smelled it up close, Edward didn't seem to have a problem following it.

After a few minutes, he laughed, but kept running. "It seems 'the Beta' and his wingmen have found our levitating friends."

"The Beta?" I asked confused. "Oh, Jacob." I smiled at my invented name for Jacob's position in the pack. "Let's hurry."

He laughed again and started to run even faster.