Too Close | Rosalie Hale

Chapter 17

A warm breeze passed through the forest as the sun shone down through the trees. The birds chirped happily from up above, and from somewhere in the distance Lex could hear a stream trickling serenely. Right next to her however, Emmett had just knocked down a tree in an attempt to trip her. She had successfully dodged the attempt, causing Emmett to barrel through the large pine tree. It collapsed with a deafening crack.

"Emmett," Lex snapped. "I swear to god, if you don't shut the fuck up, I will eat you instead of whatever the fuck else is in this goddamn forest. Stop scaring away all of the food. We're supposed to be fucking apex predators for fuck's sake, and we can't even catch a deer because you're the literal loudest being in existence."

Emmett rolled his eyes. "You get so murder-y when you're thirsty. You know you can just run after them, right?"

Lex's black eyes met Emmet's slightly lighter ones— they were both pretty thirsty. "Don't make me make you shut up."

"You wouldn't dare," he gulped. They both knew that she would— she had done it plenty of times before. She narrowed her eyes. "Rosalie!" Emmett yelled out as loudly as he could manage. "Help!"

"Just stop talking," Lex rolled her eyes at him. He flailed his arms helplessly as his words evaded him, his mouth moving with unspoken words.

Lex snorted in laughter as she watched Emmett's face change from pleading to threatening.

"Ow," she yelped as he tackled her. "Alright! Alright! I take it back, you can talk."

"You two are children," Rosalie spoke as she emerged from the trees.

"Well, you have always wanted kids." Emmett shrugged as he pulled Lex back up onto her feet. She brushed the dirt and leaves off of her clothes.

"Ew," Lex grimaced. "I have so many issues with that statement that I don't even know how to address it."

"I second that," Rosalie said as she moved to stand closer to her girlfriend. "Please never refer to my mate as my child ever again."

Lex's attention was diverted to somewhere in the distance where she could hear a herd of deer approaching. The burning in her throat became her primary focus, and the rest of the world seemed to fade away. Nothing else existed except for her and her prey. 

The sound of their heartbeats grew stronger as she approached. Quicker than her prey could process, Lex had pounced. The deer's neck snapped as she plunged her teeth deep into the nearest artery. She was so starved that she didn't even register the grim taste of the deer. Once she had drained the deer of every last drop of its blood, she pulled away and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. The burning in her throat had subsided significantly.

"Feeling better?" Rosalie asked, having caught up to Lex.

"So much better," she replied with a smile.

"My turn," Emmett grinned boyishly as he took off running in the direction that the deer had scattered. 

"Do you need to hunt?" Lex asked Rosalie.

"No," she shook her head. "I'm only here because I heard Emmett screaming for help. I just wanted to make sure you didn't kill him... Or at least help you get rid of the evidence if I showed up too late."

Lex snorted. "Thanks, Ro."

The two vampires chatted lightly as they waited for Emmett to finish hunting. After a few minutes, Rosalie grew impatient.

"Emmett, hurry up," she called into the forest.

"I'm done," he replied. "Jeez, you weren't this bossy when Lex was hunting. That's... nepotism!"