Southern Comfort

Ch. 2: The First Bite

CPOV (Charlotte)

Before I was able to process what was happening, my teeth punctured the delicate skin of her neck. I sucked gently once and held the blood in my mouth to savor it and left behind just the right amount of venom to make a sexy scar. The blood tasted like chocolate covered strawberries with a touch of something floral. I swallowed the intoxicating nectar and felt the bond settle into place.

"Shh, that's enough of that now. You've been through a lot of stress and your body needs rest. Sleep until morning," I breathed into her ear and damned if the woman shut up and go limp in my arms.

Of course, it was only after she was out cold that I realized I hadn't asked her name or where she lived. The second one wasn't really an issue because I could follow her scent back to her house. Five minutes later, which could've been a hell of a lot faster but I was carrying precious cargo in my arms, I walked out of the forest and into a small backyard behind a two-story blue and white house that looked like it'd seen better days. The girl's scent clung to everything thing, along with a male human I assumed was her father and that fuckin' suckpuppy's.

I started to take her up to her room but that fucker's reek was all over it. The only I was letting her stay in there was over my coolin' pile of ashes. The only other bedroom belonged to the male so I put her in there. Once she was laid on the bed, I flashed back to her room to get her some dry clothes. I growled as I was surrounded by the other vampire's scent and it took every ounce of self-control not to start destroyin' shit. None of her clothes were free of the obnoxious odor, but I grabbed some sweatpants, tee-shirt and underwear before getting out of there. I tossed them downstairs to wash them before I even thought about putting them on her body. There was a linen closet next to the bathroom so I took out a towel then went to at least dry off my mate.

If my self-control had been tested in before, it was given a real workout when I had to strip the brunette haired (I'd just realized) girl out of the wet outfit. Everything about her body had been designed for my pleasure and I wanted to explore every inch of it. Bad Char, that has to wait, I mentally chided myself. If I'd taken my time drying her off, well I was just being thorough. At least that's story I was stickin' with if anybody ever asked.

After I was satisfied that she was dry enough, I examined every inch of her for injuries and bit my tongue to keep from screaming in rage when I noticed the bite scar some dead mother fucker left on her hand. That and Edward's scent were enough to practically guarantee there wasn't an equal partnership in our future. At least not right away, and only after she'd done a shitload of convincing. Of course, I wasn't going to be a stark raving bitch about it.

I found an old quilt draped over the back of a chair and quickly covered her with it then flashed downstairs and out the back door before I completely lost it. My cell phone was practically ripped out of my pocket and I noticed the text from Peter that said he and 'Tori were gonna be here in Forks in the morning. I sent him a quick text back with the address then scrolled through my contacts list until found the number I wanted then hit send. Jasper and the Cullen's moved on a regular basis and were constantly changing phone numbers but he always wanted us to have a way to reach him and bought a burn phone that had an 800 number.

"H-," Jasper tried to say when he picked up after the first ring.

"Skip the pleasantries fucker and tell me what that bitch of a brother of yours did to my mate," I demanded hotly as I cut him off.

"-ey, Char," he finished his greeting then continued, "But what the hell are you talkin' about. Last I checked you ain't got a mate to be messed with and Eddie hasn't messed with any vampires lately."

"She's human, asshole. I found her in the woods drenched from the rain in a fuckin' shitload of pain sobbing and coated in his stench," I growled and knew I'd taken it too far with the attitude when he inhaled sharply.

"Enough Sergeant! Now, I want a full Sitrep," Jazz commanded in full on Major mode.

I took a few deep breaths to calm down then gave a concise reporting of all the facts. It started with how long I'd felt the Draw and ended with my texting the address to the Captain because he and his mate would be here in the morning. The Major and the Pixiepire were pissed when I gave precise details of how I found the human. They also agreed that Edwards scent being on all of her clothes was a deliberate act on his part.

When I finished giving him the Situation Report, he briefed me in turn. The first thing he told me was that my mate's name was Isabella Marie Swan, but she preferred Bella, and she was the daughter of the local Police Chief. Then he gave me a rundown of her misadventures since moving to Forks, including the incidents with the rapists in Port Angeles and the nomad – James. That part of the report she'd already known from a separate source but without names attached to it. She was less than thrilled at the relationship her mate had had with Twatward but secretly pleased he'd been too much of a prude to do anything but leave Bella frustrated and not defiled by his nut juice.

"You need to get back to the house, Alice had a vision of a phone call that's going to upset Bella but wasn't able to see what it was about. We're going to be in Vancouver for a few days, call us with an update and we'll make plans to meet. And do me a favor, please find out what that bitch said to her; I sensed he was lying to the family but I want to know the truth. Oh, and Alice said that Charlie has a box of clothes that Bella's mother left behind when she walked out on him. He washes them once a month then puts the box back in his closet," Jasper told me after he finished telling me about my girl. I hung up then rushed back inside.

True to Pixiepire's word, there was a box of clothes in the back of the Chief's closet that'd belonged to his ex. From the sizes, it looked like they'd fit Bella with no problem. I pulled out some jeans, socks, flannel shirt and a pair of panties but there were no bras in the box. I left them neatly folded on the bed next to her, along with the handset for the cordless phone, and then went downstairs to make her something to eat. My foraging through the kitchen revealed that most of the food in the house was crap, even by human standards. There was nothing of any nutritional value whatsoever.

"Well that's about to fuckin' change with a quickness," I muttered as I made her a peanut butter sandwich. My Sugar was going to not just be eating better but exorcising as well.

I paused as I heard the phone ring and Bella's voice rasped, "Hello?"

"WHAT!? I'm on my way," she continued after a pause and I knew she was in both emotional and physical pain.

A few minutes later, she stumbled down the stairs but caught herself before she could fall to the floor. Bella was headed for the door, eyes filled with pain, when she noticed me and stopped. I wondered what was going to react and hoped it wouldn't be by screaming. My Sugar threw me for a loop by launching herself at me. She clung to me desperately and fought back the sobs that wanted to get out of her. I wrapped my arms around my mate and rubbed soothing circles on her back. She snuggled closer then took in my scent.

"Hospital," she whispered hoarsely.

Automatically, I understood that she wanted me to get her to the hospital the quickest way possible. Forks was a small town and like all small towns across the country, the highway was the main drag and all major buildings were just off of it. I picked her up bridal style and rushed out of the house then followed my nose to the hospital. Sure enough, it was just off the highway on the other side of town. I found an out of the way corner in the shadows and set Bella on her feet. She grabbed my hand then tried to bolt for the Emergency Room doors. I let her pull me after her.

The two of us rushed through the doors then after a brief pause, my mate led us towards a group of Native Americans, some of whom smelled like wet dog and compost (I don't care if that shit is good for the environment, it smells rank). An old white guy in medical scrubs turned our way when the others looked in our direction. He broke from the group and walked up to us.

"Dr. Gerandy, how's my father? When can I see him," Bella whispered as she rubbed her raw throat.

"I'm sorry, Bella, but he had a massive heart attack and passed away in the back of the ambulance en route," the doctor explained sadly then patted her on the shoulder.

Her body started to shake but the second I squeezed her hand it stilled. She stood straighter then squared her shoulders and said softly but hollowly, "Thank you, Dr. Gerandy; I know everyone did their best to safe him. He wished to be cremated, so if you could arrange for the body to be sent Tanner's Mortuary. If you'll excuse me, I need to go speak with the others then I want to say goodbye to my father."

When Jasper had been telling me about Bella, he mentioned that she was the most selfless person he'd ever known. I was able to experience the truth of those words first hand. She locked down all of her emotions the second the doctor broke the news and kept them in check as we walked the short distance to where the others waited. Even I could tell they were in pain but my Sugar wasn't goin' to let them see hers because they needed her to be strong. A russet skinned girl about a year older than her with a tear streaked face ran up to us while we were still a few paces off and pulled Bella into a tight hug.

"God, Bella, I'm so sorry. It was all my fault. Charlie would still be alive if I hadn't…," the young woman lamented but stopped and looked at a tall, well built man, in his early twenties with pleading eyes.

Bella followed her gaze then scrutinized the hate filled expression on an older man in a wheelchair. Her eyebrows furrowed for a few seconds then her eyes went wide. It was like she'd just figured something out but for the life of me I couldn't figure out what it was. She pulled back from the other girl in order to see her better.

"If you hadn't what Lee… morphed into a giant furball and want to play fetch," the brunette commented humorously but I knew it was forced. There were several shocked gasps from the rest of the group then all Hell broke loose.