Telepathy

Telepathy is the ability to read minds. Edward Cullen and Aro possess this ability, though in a different manner.

Description
Edward's gift allows him to hear the thoughts of others from a distance. The closer and more familiar Edward is to an individual's mind, the better he can read it. A stronger bond also allows him to reads minds from a greater distance, though it only works within a few miles' range. Like Alice, Edward's ability seems to work best with other vampires.

He can use it to keep tabs of what other people are experiencing at the moment, and has therefore an advantage in a fight, as he can follow their moves, as shown in the practice fight with Jasper. Thanks to this power, he is on par with Jasper, who is known as the best fighter in the family.

He can also use it to experience Alice's visions when she is in range.

Aro has this ability as well; however, he must be in physical contact with someone to read their mind. This greatly limits his telepathy in comparison to Edward's.

Limitations
His telepathic ability is limited to only hearing or seeing what the current thoughts of people around him, except for Bella and anyone she shields because this is a mental ability.

Edward can hear groups at a time, although he states he can drown out extra voices by concentrating on environmental details or one specific mind. Edward found most of the kids in Forks High School unimaginative, and, in some cases, vulgar. He also had the displeasure of reading Jacob's mind, thanks to his thoughts and "little fantasies" about Bella.

Similar abilities
Aro's ability is in the same line of Edward's, though different and much more powerful. With physical contact, he can read every thought, emotion and memory a mind has ever had.

Renesmee's ability is opposite to Edward's. By touching someone, she can project her thoughts into his or her head. Like her mother's, Renesmee's talent is very powerful; not even Bella can block her out.

In the Quileute wolf packs, all members' minds are connected to each other when they are in wolf forms, allowing them to read each other's minds. This enables a degree of teamwork which is extremely useful, if not essential in collaborative activities that require high coordination, like hunting or battle, or when the pack is spread over vast areas. Otherwise no privacy exists in the team. When a pack member shifts his allegiance to another Alpha, his mental connection with the previous pack breaks, to reform with the new one. It is interesting to note, that Alphas in telepathic connections can control the thoughts they want to share. The only time there were two Alphas is when Jacob Black left Sam Uley's pack and formed his own.