Chapter Text
The forest smelled wrong to Eden. Too clean. Too....Alive. as if it hadn't had human blood shed on it's rich brown soils and green moss. Eden Novalyn did not enjoy this in the slightest, he was close to just leaving. Yet he lingered at the treeline, staring at a modern house, where the Cullens, fucking vegans, lived. Every scent spilling from that place was undeniably vampire, but lighter somehow. Not sharp, not cloying. If human blood was bourbon aged in oak, this was… well, sweet tea without the sugar. "Fuckin' disgusting." Eden muttered to himself, disdain laced in his words. "Animal drinkers," he muttered under his breath, the word tasting foreign. A century of feeding on the rich, dark lifeblood of man made the concept sound laughable. Like eating lettuce when you were built for steak. Then again, not many vampires were vegan. Only small covens out of few in the whole world.
Still, boredom had driven him here — boredom and the strange, lingering curiosity from overheard whispers in backwater towns: The Cullens. Strange bunch. Golden eyes. Don’t hurt nobody. Eden had been deemed a lot of things in his life, Arrogant, Selfish, Charming, Cruel. Yet merciful had never been on that list whatsoever. He stepped forward, soundless as his boots sank into the soft dirt and broken up moss. He took another and then another, the grace of his kind bringing him silently to the front door before he even could stop himself. The door was opening before he could knock. "Hello. How can I help you?" a pale blonde man smiled at him, Carlisle Cullen. "May I ask if you are here for trouble?" the question caused Eden to smirk, "No sir. I came to see if this vegan experiment actually works."
It was that simple to get in here? As he stepped inside, eight golden eyes were trained on him, watching as if he was a fox in a hen house. He looked at them one by one, red eyes taking in all that could.
- The bronze-haired boy looked like he’d stepped out of a romance novel and knew it.
- The tiny dark-haired girl bounced like she’d swallowed the sun.
- The blonde woman gave him a once-over that could’ve frozen fire. As if he was disgusting as a roach.
- The big one — Emmett, if he remembered right — grinned like he hoped Eden would start something.
- The smallest, a child only smiled as if she knew something he didn't.
- A woman, also with dark hair, stood by the romance novel male, partners probably.
- A blonde boy stared him down, as if he could feel the disinterest
- Then there was Esme, Carlisle's wife only held motherly affection.
Carlisle was the only one who didn’t look at him like a live grenade. "We don’t often get visitors curious about our way of life," he said. Eden nodded, "I noticed. I'm just bored which is why I'm here. A hundred and six years of the same thing, it gets kinda borin'" at least he was being honest to them. 'Well, this is Edward, Alice, Rosalie, Emmett, Japser, Emmett, Renesmee, as well as my wife Esme." Carlisle had pointed each one out as he said their names. "I'm Eden. Eden Novalyn."
They took him hunting that night. He pretended not to be disgusted, pretended the burn in his throat eased with the first mouthful of hot, metallic animal blood. It didn’t. He actually wanted to throw up for once in his vampire life. He noticed they only hunted up till a river. Territories? Before he could ask one of them, he heard it. The multiple heartbeats, the footfalls on the ground. Wild. Heavy. The scent hit him, all of them next, musk and the heat of fur close together. It wasn't long till the pack had slid from the shadows of the trees. Eyes narrowed at the vampires, or more specifically, Eden. He was newer, the red eyes a full tale sign of it. He knew to keep silent, he didn't have to be told.
He watched as Edward spoke out, whom he had learned had the ability to read minds, "He's new. He is learning our ways of life. He won't be a problem." there was a few grunts, growls, and ear flicks from the wolves. Eden was watching them all till he seen him. The youngest no doubt. Sandy-brown fur catching the moonlight, eyes warm and bright even in the animal form. Something in Eden’s chest went sharp and hot, a thread pulled tight between them before he could even think. His blood singing a whole new tune to Eden's ears, but it wasn't the kind to devour, at least not in hunger, it was the need to be there. Which was ridiculous! Eden didn't do people, and he did not do wolves, let alone relationships. Eden had been alone since he had turned, he didn't need anyone now nor later. He could've sworn his dead heart jumped when that same wolf's eyes met his and held.
The wolves didn’t linger long. Just long enough for the tension to thicken into something nearly physical before they melted back into the treeline. Eden stood still for another beat, letting the night settle around him. The others shifted uneasily, clearly waiting for him to make a move.Instead, he turned to Jasper with a faint smirk. "Friendly neighbors you’ve got here." Jasper didn't smile back, "Something like that." Instead, he turned to Jasper with a faint smirk. "Friendly neighbors you’ve got here." The run back to the house was silent. Even Emmett, who seemed like the type to fill quiet with bad jokes, kept his mouth shut. Eden didn’t mind — it left him room to replay the moment in his head. Those warm eyes. That sudden, burning thread that had snapped tight between them. He’d felt drawn. By the time they stepped inside, the others scattered. Alice tugging Jasper toward the stairs, Rosalie disappearing without a word, Emmett muttering something about the game on TV. That left Carlisle, Edward, and Bella by the doorway, both of them wearing expressions that told Eden they’d noticed more than he’d wanted them to.
"So," he drawled as he slid into a seat on the couch, "the sandy-colored one. The smallest wolf. What’s his name?" Carlisle hesitated just long enough to confirm Eden had touched a nerve. "Seth Clearwater," he said finally. "He’s one of the youngest in the Quileute pack." Eden rolled the name on his tongue in silence, committing it to memory, enjoying it too much. Edward’s voice cut in, quiet but knowing. "You felt something." Eden’s gaze flicked to him, unreadable. "Maybe."
Carlisle’s voice stayed measured, but there was a weight behind it now. "Why do you ask?" Eden’s fingers tapped against the arm of the couch. "Because…" He let his head tilt, studying them with that same lazy look. "I’ve been alive a long time. I know what it’s like when blood calls to you. But tonight? That wasn’t just hunger. That was—" He stopped short, searching for the right word. "—a song," he finished finally. "Like the world went quiet so I could hear it. I want to know what the hell that means." Carlisle and Edward exchanged a glance, the kind that carried more conversation than words ever could. Carlisle took a slow breath. "When a vampire says someone’s blood sings to them, it’s… rare. Powerful. It’s more than attraction or thirst. It’s a pull you can’t fight. For some, it’s the person they were meant to find." Eden’s lips twitched into the faintest smile, though there was no humor in it. "Meant to find, huh?" fucking hell. A wolf? He leaned back further, gaze distant now. "Interesting." Inside, he already knew that whatever this thing was between him and Seth Clearwater, it wasn’t going to burn out.
And God help anyone who tried to get in the way.