Finally happy with this chapter, if there are any other errors that you notice, please feel free to leave me a Review or PM!
Chapter One.
There was rain, and a lot of it. After my long journey, I was happy to be in a familiar place, even with the rain, I was happy. It was strange to think a thought such as that. Me, Bella Swan, happy? After running for so many years, after being so alone, I never thought that the sight of so much rain would make me happy. I was happier that the porch had an awning to keep me dry, though.
Heavy footsteps made their way up the porch steps. They were wet sounding and if the stairs hadn't been so old and worn, the wood would have been slick and dangerous to walk on. Without raising my head, I knew who was standing before me, the smell, the breathing, his warmth reached me from a foot away and I revelled in it.
"Bella?" It was surprise, happiness and sadness all wrapped up into one word, curse my parents for giving me a name in which so much feeling could show.
"It's freezing out here, and you're soaked through. How long have you been here?" Warmth enveloped me and my body was lifted from the damp porch floor. "Bells, your ice cold, you barely even have… a pul-" A thud, as the porch complained about my body rushing to meet it. The wood groaned even more as Jacob began to shake, violently. He hissed, "Cullens."
"No, no Jake, please, take me inside." I forced myself to look up, to meet his angry gaze. Some part of me, deep down, the part of me that loves this boy and his deep brown eyes is disappointed that there is no fabled pull of an Imprint. At least then I would have something to hold on to, something that would be warm in my life of cold. I could feel my eyes start to sting as tears tried to manifest. Jacob's body began to slow its shaking and he once again bent, this time simply to help me to my feet.
"You don't smell any different you know." And with that, Jake scooped me into his arms and held me tightly as we made our way into the Black's house.
He set me delicately on the old worn couch in the living room, pulling the blanket off the armrest and covering me in futile. He shook his head at himself. Old habits die hard, I suppose. The frown that pursed his lips was hard to handle and I prayed that he would give me the chance to explain what had happened to me. We sat in silence, I knew he had questions and I knew I had to wait for them.
"Where have you been? I know that after graduation you were supposed to marry him, and we all waited for the invitation." He sighed, preparing himself for a heavy conversation. "When we didn't get one after a year, we figured that you had decided against inviting any of us. Dad was heartbroken. Even Charlie, not that he knew what was going on, he expected something from you Bells. Anything, you know." I had always known that I had disappointed Charlie, but to know that the entire pack had expected word from me broke my heart.
"What happened to you Bella? Obviously, I can't do anything about the Cullens because you weren't changed here but I need to know so that I can understand why you were so distant."
I took a moment to myself, to breath air that I didn't need and to stop tears that I couldn't weep.
"You're right, I moved to Alaska. Edward and I were to marry before I was changed but I couldn't walk away from all my family. I wanted to see everyone one last time. I went to visit Renée one last time before I was changed," I ignored his growl. "I went alone, to spend real quality time with her, to live my days as a human, in the sun. On my last night there, Renee, Phil and I went to a restaurant. I left my purse there so on my way to the airport the morning after, I stopped at the restaurant. I don't know who it was or any other details besides where I was, but I was attacked.
"I was so afraid. I didn't know where I could go or who could help me so I walked aimlessly until I came across Peter and Charlotte, two, very old, friends of Jaspers. They took me in and kept me hidden, made sure that no one knew I existed as a vampire. When the three of us decided that I was ready, able to handle being around people, I made my way back to Alaska.
"Edward threw me out, he claimed I planned to be turned, so that I wouldn't have to marry him. I was totally heartbroken. But, as a vampire, I saw him as a vampire and not his prey. How could I not have seen what he was? He's hideous, Jake. His mean, sunken eyes, how could I have not seen that before?" I was still dumbfounded by what had happened with the Cullens. How could Edward simply throw me out of his house? "I just, I didn't know where to go Jake." I sighed. I knew the rules. Knew what could happen to me, and to Jake if anyone found out that I was here.
"You know what the treaty says Bells. No vampires on the reservations, there's no exceptions,ever. Even for you." He was sitting upright, board straight and I could tell that there was something that he wasn't saying.
"I'm sorry Jacob, I am. But how could I bring Charlie into this? As far as he's concerned, I died a year ago in a small plane crash in Alaska. This was the only place I knew I could go, even with the treaty. And I'm not technically a Cullen…"
"Oh Bella, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do. The chief of a res can't just allow a vampire to come barging in." He sat there for a moment, collecting his thoughts while I did the same. Jake? My Jake, the Chief? Of an entire Reservation? He's barely 21!
"I'm going to get Sam, he'll know what to do. Who to talk to. I could probably find you somewhere safe to stay if staying here isn't a viable option." Jacob rose from the couch, his body language had changed since the last time I saw him. He was standing proud now. It made me happy.
Without so much as a good-bye, Jacob fled from the house. In half a second, I heard an urgent howl from the direction he had run for; the forest. It was met by a second and I prepared for a long wait.
Half an hour later, I was beginning to wonder where they had disappeared to when I heard Jake's voice and another, deeper voice coming from the woods behind the house. Sometimes, being a vampire was just plain handy. They both walked into the house, both standing proud, the Chief and the Pack Leader working side by side. I knew that the Quillette founding fathers were proud. Embry, Paul, Jared and Quill followed soon after, all adjusting gym shorts and wearing serious frowns. I could feel my nerves start to take over, I kept my eyes to the floor.
"Bella, can you tell us all what happened?" Sam had such a smooth voice, so melodic.
"She's a goddamned bloodsucker and you want to hear her story?" Paul had always detested me. "Burn the bitch!"
Sam gave Paul a dirty look, forcing him out the door and onto the porch. Once everyone had settled down slightly, I took a deep breath. I made eye contact with each of the boys, my eyes lingered on Embry, his gaze seemed to penetrate my very soul.
I cleared my throat, a giggle tempted to burst through. Who would xhave thought that a room full of werewolves would be so intent on hearing a vampires story? I told the pack of my move to Alaska, my plan to travel and my unexpected change. I told them about Charlotte and Peter and how I had lived with them for a year before coming into contact with any humans.
By the time I was finished my story, Embry, whose penetrating gaze could not be ignored, was quivering with his anger. His entire being shook the foundation of the small house. His reaction to his fury was quick, without a word he ran from the house. The sound of crunching bones and tearing fabric reached my ears, Embry had barely gotten off the porch before phasing. Concerned showed throughout the pack as they watch Embry flee from the house.
"How did you manage to stay away from people for an entire year? You're a vampire, you need blood to feed." Sam's brow remained furrowed.
"Well, yes, I'm a vampire; I kind of have to feed to live. But I only feed on animals; I have no desire to feed on human blood. I can't feed on human blood."
"I'd like to test the theory. I'm not about to just accept a vampire who doesn't drink human blood at all. I'm sure one of the tribal members would volunteer."
"Well, it's lucky that I'm here, isn't it?" Billy made his way more fully into the living room. I was surprised that he hadn't made himself visible earlier; it's not as if I hadn't known he was there. Billy produced a knife from his pocket and before anyone could stop him, had run the blade down his palm. The smell of warm copper permeated the air; I was gagging before I had even tasted it.
Everyone watched intently as I pulled Billy's hand to my lips. He nodded to reassure me, and I slowly fed from my honorary father. Before I even felt the blood slide down my throat, I was up and running to the door, emptying the contents of my stomach into Billy's flower garden. The pack cringed as a whole, some mumbling apologies as I made my way back to the couch.
I took Billy's hand in mine, and, under the watchful eye of the pack, licked the three inch wound. The pack watched, shaking as a group, as I rubbed the venom into Billy's hand. He stared at his hand, amazed.
"The cut," he whispered, "it's gone. It's completely gone."
"My venom doesn't harm people, even other supernatural," I had been amazed myself, to find that my venom was harmless. "It has something to do with my heritage. I've done a lot of research on my family history, to figure out why all of this has happened to me. I have Quillette blood somewhere and I think that it affected my change."
"You share a relative with the Blacks, on your mother's side, although it's pretty distant, maybe seven generations back. I always suspected that was why you and Jake never ended up imprinting."
Embry chose that moment to return to the Black's house.
"Funny that you should mention imprinting."