The moment Bella walked away from Kane's table, every Cullen at their usual corner of the cafeteria was watching.
Edith's jaw tightened.
Rosalie's fingers curled into a fist beneath the table.
Alice sat still as stone, eyes locked on Kane not Bella. But her silence spoke louder than anger.
"She sat with him," Emily said, voice low.
"No," Rosalie snapped, "she flirted with him."
"She doesn't know what he is," Jasmine offered, trying to stay neutral.
"Neither do we," Carla said calmly, though her eyes didn't leave Kane. "But we know enough."
Alice finally moved. She stood up slowly, never once looking at her sisters. "I'll handle it."
Esme raised a hand gently. "Alice—"
But she was already walking.
Kane didn't react when she sat beside him, right where Bella had been moments earlier. His eyes flicked toward her briefly, then back to the table.
"I saw her," Alice said.
"I know," Kane replied.
"She likes you."
Kane's mouth curved into a lazy smirk. "So do a lot of people."
Alice didn't smile back. "She doesn't understand what you are."
"And you do?"
Her golden eyes narrowed slightly. "No. But I'm starting to."
Silence fell again.
The others were watching from a distance, but none dared interrupt.
"She's human," Alice said flatly.
"And?" Kane asked.
"You're ours."
Now he looked at her. Really looked.
His voice dropped an octave. "Is that jealousy I hear?"
Alice didn't blink. "It's instinct."
Kane leaned slightly closer, his presence like heat, like pressure. "You don't own me."
"No," Alice said, her voice soft but steady. "But we feel you. All of us. And that means something."
He studied her, long enough to make her heart beat faster than it had in decades.
Finally, he leaned back again. "Good."
Alice frowned. "Good?"
Kane nodded. "Means I don't have to hold back."
Alice's lips parted, caught between a challenge and something deeper. Something she didn't dare name.
Behind them, Rosalie stood up slowly.
"I don't like this," she muttered. "Not one bit."
Emily crossed her arms. "Do we talk to Bella?"
"No," Edith said firmly. "We watch. She's not the problem. He is."
But none of them moved.
They just stared across the cafeteria, where Alice sat beside the most dangerous man they'd ever met and for the first time in a century, none of them were in control.