Disclaimer in first chapter. If you want to know the progress of future chapters of any story I write, just check my profile. For those of you that commented or reviewed, my thanks go out to you. It's always nice to know how the chapter was perceived.
The one thing I was very happy to see go to the wayside was my hair trigger for tears. Growing up it seemed as if any little thing would set me off. Someone called me a name, a certain cute boy would ignore me, Renee was too busy to play mother, a nail broke, you name it and I was blubbering like a three year old. Since the cougar entered my life all of those weak emotions seemed to be shunted to the anger side of my brain. This was a relatively good thing since I could phase to my cougar and she could take her aggressions out on a run or a hunt.
That was mainly what I was looking forward to after the last bell rang for the day. It was probably the reason why fate decided that I'd been living the high life for far too long. Our definition of too long was vastly opposed to each other. Mine was a decade or two without any major incident occurring. Fate's was maybe thirty minutes or so, give or take a quarter of an hour. That explained me being one of the last students out of the building at the end of the day because the principal insisted on having a heart to heart welcome to Forks High conversation before I could escape her clutches. Apparently she was one of Charlie's old girlfriend's sometime within the last decade and thought I could be the way back into his bedroom. Gag.
When I finally made my way to the parking lot there was only my Jeep and a moderately used Toyota Corolla sitting four spaces away with an equally moderately upset looking tanned white girl standing there. She had her hood open and was wiggling things in a vain attempt to look like she knew what she was doing.
It wasn't until I scuffed my boot along the pavement, so I wouldn't scare the girl half to death, that she noticed me. Up close I could see she probably could have been the starting center for the Forks girls' basketball team; she was that tall. Her light brown hair was edging in to being frazzled from the number of times her hand had already pushed through in frustration.
"Car trouble?" I asked.
She openly groaned before answering. "You don't have any jumper cables do you?"
"No. Maintenance and I aren't on speaking terms." The girl looked helpless and that was a place I was once intimately familiar with. "I could give you a ride if you want."
She looked torn, as if she didn't want to leave her car, but nodded before closing the hood. "Thanks. That would be great."
I didn't bother standing around and jumped into the jeep, watching her as she retrieved her backpack and then worked her way around to the passenger side.
"I'm Angela," she said as she fastened her seatbelt.
"Bella. So, where do you want me to drop you?"
Angela pointed to the only road that let out from the parking lot. "Um, west on 110 about five miles, if that isn't going out of your way."
Shaking my head, I put the jeep into gear. "Same way I'm going."
"Cool." That seemed to ease her mind for some reason. "So, I hear you're from Phoenix?"
I nodded. "Uh, yeah, but I was born here."
"So was I."
The conversation stalled by that point as I found my way to the highway and made a left. Instead of thinking of some random talking point I took in Angela's scent which wasn't too bad. It mostly consisted of soap, a light amount of hair gel, and a random deodorant. I appreciated the cleanliness if nothing else.
"Is it true that your eyes are red?"
It was annoying, but it was also my own fault for not remembering to put on my stupid glasses that morning until it was too late. I took them off and slipped them into my jacket pocket before giving Angela's light brown, almost wheat colored, ones a nice long look at the stoplight. Hers, in turn, widened to almost comic proportions.
"It's a genetic disorder," I said. "The blood vessels in my eyes leak into my iris. My dad has the same problem, but he can wear colored contacts. So, you can tell the gossips that I'm not part demon or anything."
Her cheeks flushed as her head dropped. "Sorry; I didn't mean anything by it. I was just curious."
When the light turned green I let off the break and eased into the intersection. "It's no big deal. I'm used to it."
A mile went by without anything else being said and we exited the town proper. Once the forest started thickening on the right side of the highway the tension in my shoulders eased. I was sure Angela made note and decided that was a good time to retry her welcome to Forks speech.
"So… the Cullens."
Or not.
I glanced her way and then back out the front. "What about them?"
She shrugged and fingered one of the zippers on her backpack.
"Nobody's ever really talked to them outside of class… and you know with lunch today…"
Angela left it hanging there in an obvious attempt for me to fill in the blank.
"They're just people." – that'll suck the blood out of your body, but who's keeping score?
"Mega rich people in the same family that date each other."
There was that. "Are they new too?"
"Last year."
"So nobody's gotten to know them," I concluded. "Since I'm the new girl and was seen at their table, obviously I have the inside scoop?"
Angela grinned. "You've done this before."
I let that comment go. "My dad introduced me to them since they're the closest neighbors I have."
Her back straightened. Apparently that got her attention. "You've seen their house?"
"It's big."
"Duh."
Since their secret wasn't mine to tell I tried to end the topic of conversation. "Like I said – they're just people. Some are nice, some are asshats."
Angela snorted and relaxed into her seat, but pointed. "The next road hang a left. Alice is nice."
Thoughts of funnel cake and licking the mini-vampire's neck ran through my head. "Edward is an ass."
"Rosalie is an ass."
"Jasper is uptight," I offered.
"Emmett's funny."
"Dr. Cullen is really nice, but his hands are freezing," she said. "I busted my ankle last summer and he fixed it up."
"Doctors hands are always cold. I think it's a requirement for the job." I hoped the Cullens appreciate how much I was covering for their oddities. Of course they'll probably never know.
Angela giggled while we turned left onto a dirt road. As soon as I passed the stop sign on the other side I smelled the overwhelming scent of wet dog. I'd only been alerted to the Quileute territorial boundaries for one day and here I was breaking them.
"Is this reservation land?" I asked like I didn't already know.
"Technically; the Quileute lease this area to those of us that are less than pure blood."
Taking another look at Angela's skin color, I could see where she got her tan from. It wasn't from the endless days of sunbathing.
"I'm a quarter Quileute and an eighth Makah, or something like that. Mom's the one that's all Indian proud and everythi…"
She would have gotten the chance to finish her sentence if it wasn't for the thing that slammed into the front quarter panel of my jeep. One second we were heading down the nice dirt road with a fairly nice house coming into sight not only fifty yards in front of us. The next moment we were spun to the side and I was slamming on the breaks. The sound of Angela's head slamming against the side window virtually echoed in the confines of the cabin.
I glanced her way hoping her head wasn't caved in only to find a dark-skinned, red-eyed, dreadlock wearing vampire flipping in the air over the hood and the sound of a growling wolf not too far behind.
"Oh crap."
The vamp's eyes darted to the forest and I had a split second to make a decision that very well could end my time there in Forks. Technically, I wasn't supposed to phase into my cougar form on Indian land without a member of the pack to escort me. It was a courtesy more than anything else. However, when presented with a red-eyed vampire and a bleeding human in close proximity I hoped Sam and his pack would understand that I didn't have much choice.
In the next second the vampire eyed me, measuring me up.
"She's mine," I growled as I could feel my cougar right on the edge of my skin.
It was like he didn't even hear me, so I didn't really have a choice in the matter. My door flung open and I tumbled out shedding my jacket in the process. I could hear steel scream in the air giving me all of half a second to protect Angela or lose my newest friend in the process.
Crouching back I sprang into the air exploding out of my clothes and over the jeep, swiping my six inch claws at the vampire's head. His eyes widened and I could see the panic on his face as he brought the door up to protect himself just in time. Using it as a shield he threw me back against the nearest tree. I heard and felt my spine crack, but not enough to keep me down. Scrambling up, I lunged again, but the vampire finally gave up his bloodlust in deference to his survival instinct. I did manage to sink two claws into and through his side before he blurred off into the tree line.
A moment later and two wolves, just as big as I was, jumped through the clearing. One took off after the vampire and the other skidded to a stop. Taking advantage of the lapse in time, I phased back to human so I could point into the trees.
"He went that way."
The wolf's eyes widened and he phased into a six foot plus tall Quileute that wasn't Sam. "Was she bitten?"
I shook my head. "No. The idiot ran into my car. I stopped him. I gotta get her to the hospital."
He just shot me a nod as I reached into the back seat for my Speedo. It really wouldn't do to be driving through Forks, naked.
~O~
Charlie barreled through ten minutes after we'd arrived at the emergency room door. He took in the room for a split second and then saw me there laying on a gurney with a needle stuck in my arm.
"Bells?"
I shook my head. "It's not me. Angela smashed her head in on my window. She's in the operating room with Carlisle Cullen."
His eyes narrowed as he finally figured out what I was doing there rhythmically squeezing a red squishy ball.
"She's AB positive and they're running out," I said.
"You sure that's such a good idea?"
I grimaced and whispered well under the hearing of any humans nearby. "I'm not going to sit by and let someone die because I can't spare a pint or two. Besides, Doctor Cullen said the blood type overrides the youknowwhat, and he's a doctor so…."
Charlie sighed and sat down on the chair beside the bed. "What happened?"
"Human drinking vampire being chased by wolves slammed into the jeep while I was giving her a ride home. I guess the scent of her blood was too much to ignore."
Looking to the side, he scanned the area. "I'll write it up as large deer. You haven't told anyone else about this?"
"No."
"Good. Let's keep it that way."
The nurse came by and pulled the filled bag, bandaged me up and set a glass of orange juice to the side, before dashing off.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah. I just phased to make sure he didn't make a late afternoon snack of my friend. I did manage to get two claws into him in the process."
My back stopped aching well before I we'd arrived to the hospital so I didn't have any complaints.
"Well rest up. Remember to act a little lightheaded until you get out of here."
The truth was I could probably lose closer to two pints without feeling any adverse effects. I'd most likely be dragging ass for the next couple of days, but it was doable. Shifters can handle a lot of damage. We seemed to be made exactly for that.
Charlie disappeared for a while as I recovered. After another thirty minutes Doctor Cullen himself came out, donning his white lab coat over a pair of scrubs. His smile was soothing as if he'd been in this same position thousands of times over the decades. There was no telling exactly how long he'd been practicing medicine. It was mind boggling that a vampire could hold it together long enough in a surgical room with all the blood being bandied about.
"How is she?"
"Thanks to you Angela will be just fine. We're stretching things with the single unit of blood you donated. I'm sure her parents will be happy you were here."
"Can I see her?"
He shook his head. "Perhaps in a day or two."
Figures. "Alright. Can you call me and let me know when. I'm not exactly sure as to what she saw and I want to head things off, if you know what I mean."
"Ah. Yes, well. That would probably be for the best."
~O~
The next day was quiet, almost too quiet. Okay, that was me being a tad melodramatic. The whole situation pretty much turned out as what you'd expect. There was chattering about Angela being in an accident and winding up at the hospital. The Cullens stared at me, probably waiting for me to go nuclear and attack the student body, well, all of them with the exception of Alice and Emmett. The large vampire didn't look like he had a care in the world except for his girlfriend or wife or whatever Rosalie was to him. Alice just looked marginally depressed.
Every once in a while I'd catch her staring at me and then looking away whenever I caught her eyes. The desire I felt for her had slipped away sometime the previous night. At least I didn't have an overwhelming need to jump her whenever she was around. I'm not saying my interest completely disappeared, but it had toned itself down to normal hormonal levels. Even that was distracting since I still considered myself a staunch heterosexual.
I'd never been one of those girls that wondered what it would be like to kiss another of my gender no matter how popular that song was a few years back. I just didn't like the soft and delicate type. I was more of a strong yet lean type. If Edward Cullen wasn't such an ass he would be the perfect guy for me. I think it's his hair that does it for me; that kind of post-coital bed head type. It gives a girl ideas, you know? That's always something to keep in mind; the best body, the best hair, the best clothes mean absolutely squat if you're a jerk. Unless you're into that sort of thing I suppose.
Alice, even with what I know about her physiology, is the soft and delicate type. I couldn't imagine her getting all rough and tumble. I think it's because of her devotion to fashion. It's difficult to picture her rolling around on the forest floor with me, growling, scratching, moaning…
Crap.
Okay, maybe there are still some lingering issues with the whole being in heat thing.
The second the final bell rang for last period, my phone vibrated with a text message.
Angela is awake ~ C.C.M.D.
I could have sworn that Carlisle said it would be a couple of days. Usually a couple meant two. Maybe it was because he was no doubt centuries old and couple meant something completely different back in the medieval period or something. Couple obviously meant about twenty hours. It was probably a couple of ten hour spots. Apparently the elder Cullen needed a little updating in his vocabulary. Perhaps I should give him the link to Urban Dictionary.
The wind blasting through the passenger side was really annoying me. I seriously had to get that door replaced. The quarter panel was easy enough to knock out, but I'd need a blow torch to get the door back on. Putting me in the same room with a blow torch was just asking for something to explode, most likely me. Ordinarily I'd just take the driver's side door off, since the jeep was made to allow that to happen, but with the overabundance of rain this town gets I'd be soaked. On the plus side, Angela's blood smell was almost gone.
When I pulled up to the hospital I entered through the emergency room since I had no idea where they put their head injuries. Luckily, Carlisle came through one of those automatic doors just like they have on TV. Strangely enough I didn't spend a lot of time in hospitals in my youth. Urgent care centers were more Renée's speed. A few stiches here, a gauze pad there, and a pair of crutches every so often and I was good to go. Why waste time anywhere else?
"Bella," he said as the doors whooshed open.
It didn't look like he was in a Mister Rogers mood this time around.
I glanced over to the admitting nurse who wasn't paying attention to the goings-on of the waiting room.
"What's up?"
"We may have a slight problem."
That didn't make me paranoid at all. Liar. "You said she's awake. Isn't that a good thing?"
Without touching me, Carlisle motioned to a different set of doors and I walked with him. They whooshed open when he hit a button the size of a hubcap on the wall. So that's how those things worked.
"When I arrived this morning for my shift I made it a point to stop by Angela's room to change her bandages myself."
"That was nice of you."
He gave me a small smile. "Thank you, but it's what I found underneath that gave me a moment of pause."
Arching an eyebrow I glanced at him. Apparently he wanted me to guess or something. "Was it a turkey leg, a ballpeen hammer, what?"
That actually stalled him in mid-step. Have you ever seen a vampire almost trip? That doesn't happen too often.
"No. All of her injuries were healed," he said. "There should be a three inch long surgical incision above…" Maybe it was the blank stare I was giving him, but he stopped and restarted. "There's no scar much less any evidence that I operated on her."
"Oh. Uh…"
He sighed as we turned a corner and he greeted two doctors walking the other direction. Once we were in the clear again I received some sort of explanation.
"At first I thought that the blood you donated provided had regenerative properties considering your nature, and I still can't rule that out without further testing."
"Can you bottom line it for me, Doc?" Patience was not one of my virtues.
When we stopped in front of a closed door, Carlisle turned to me and lowered his voice below human levels. "Angela's irises are red, much like yours and her temperature is elevated."
"What?"
At that very moment Charlie's words came back to haunt me. "You sure that's such a good idea?"
"Advanced healing, red eyes…" Carlisle whispered.
"Shit. How is that possible? You said…"
"It shouldn't. The odds of Angela having therianthrope genes that would react with your blood are astronomical."
"I'm a quarter Quileute and an eighth Makah, or something like that."
I was palming my face before I knew it. "She's part Quileute and Makah."
Carlisle shook his head. "Some of which have shape shifter ancestry, not therianthrope. The two are incompatible. I could sit here and give you a full transfusion of their blood and it wouldn't do a thing to you."
~O~
When we entered the room an orderly was stripping the bed. Angela's scent was still prominent, so I knew Carlisle hadn't led us to the wrong room.
"Oh, Doctor Cullen…"
Carlisle was smooth as silk, like nothing ever bothered him. "Candy, where is Ms. Weber?"
The girl shrugged and tried not to appear nervous. It wasn't working. Most of the time vampires have that effect on people. "Her mom checked her out about fifteen minutes ago. Nurse Cary's got the waver at her desk. She tried to talk her out of it, but the lady insisted."
"I'm sure she did, Candy. Thank you."
Carlisle moved to take my arm, but pulled himself back at the last moment. He knew better. Once we were back in the hall he turned to me.
"You need to find her and see if she's turned, Bella. I can't imagine the risk her family would be in if she phased during the middle of dinner without any prior knowledge."
I could. It happened to me in Phoenix. "I'm on it."
~O~
Before I had left the parking lot I had Sam on speed dial.
"Bella? What's wrong?"
See what being the pack Alpha does to you? Every call is trouble; it didn't matter who it was from. That's why I would never want that type of position. I'm not a leader who is born to take care of trouble every single day of my life, like Sam. I'm just not built that way.
"You know Angela Weber?"
There was a brief pause before he answered. "The girl in your jeep yesterday? Jake saw her."
"Yeah. Look, do you know if her ancestry included any of your shape shifter relatives?"
"What? No. Everyone is accounted for and she isn't among them. Why?"
I sighed as I hit the road and sped toward 110.
"Sunday's the full moon and I think Angela's going to turn into a Thercougar." Before he even had a chance to ask the obvious question I explained. "She's got red eyes, elevated temp, and heals really fast. That's the first sign. The full moon is when the first change happens when you're old enough unless she gets really mad or really scared."
"Dammit…"
"I'm heading over to her house right now. Can you meet me there to smooth things over with her mom so I can get her alone and find out one way or another?"
"Red eyes isn't a wolf thing; that should tell you something right there."
I really didn't want to get into some semantic debate. "You're probably right. What I'm asking is two things. One: if she is a Thercougar and she's part Quileute then is she your responsibility or mine? Two: if she's mine are we going to have problems with territorial lines? Three:"
"You said only two questions."
"I'm a woman, Sam. It's my prerogative to change my mind. Three: will you be the go-between with her mother until we sort this thing out? If she doesn't know what's going on I don't want her to think I'm screwing around with her daughter without the say so of someone she trusts."
Sam snorted at that last part. "Bella, all the tribe that's not in the know think I'm a gang leader with the tribe elder's backing. I'm not the best character reference. You really need an elder for this type of thing."
I checked my pockets; nope, no elder there. "Uh… anyone available at the moment?"
"I'll call Jake. Maybe Billy Black can meet you."
Judging from where I was already he'd be very late to the meeting. "Please tell him to hurry if he can. I'm about five minutes from her house."
"Fine."
"Oh, what about the first two questions?" I asked before he hung up.
Without any pause he answered. "If she's a wolf then she's ours. You and Charlie deal with the Thercougar issues including bringing her by and having her follow the rules. She lives on the res so that's not an issue."
At least I didn't have to tell her she had to move. "Thanks, Sam."
We rang off and I ran through all the things Charlie had to say to me over the phone when I was still in Phoenix, then I changed it all up so I wasn't as abrupt as he was. I love the man like a father, for the most part, but he had absolutely no tact for sensitive issues.
Heading down the dirt road, I stopped and threw my missing door in the back so I could get it reattached later.
The house was a simple one story on stilts since it was on an incline sitting on the side of a small hill. Thick spruce trees surrounded the area which wasn't out of the ordinary. There were a little under 1500 different types of plants in the Olympic Rainforest which Forks was right in the middle. So, me spotting a tree I was actually familiar with was a treat. There weren't any other houses within sight. For that, I was thankful. Fewer witnesses meant less police involvement, and I really didn't want to deal with an I-told-you-so Charlie at the moment. I was a big girl that could deal with my own mistakes, although I could pin most of this on Carlisle if need be. He was the one that said it would be fine for me to donate my blood.
I killed the motor and stepped out as I pocketed the keys in my jacket. That's pretty much when the screaming started. It seemed as if my bad luck was still following me around like an attention-starved puppy. Pet me, Bella! Pet me or I'll keep screwing with you!
To save time I just threw my jacket on the hood. At the rate I was going through clothes I'd have to give Alice a call pretty soon. There was no way I was going to strip down in Angela's front yard.
The door slammed open and a preppy brown haired girl ran down the step clutching her arm that was screaming and dripping copious amounts of blood. I grabbed her before she ran off on a panic.
"Get to the jeep. There's a first aid package in the back."
Something crashed inside, furniture crushed, glass breaking, chaos ensuing or something to that effect. Then a head emerged along with a low growl. Yep, it was a Thercougar. The doorway wasn't quite wide enough for her body to squeeze through that was about all that slowed Angela down to give me enough time to shed my top and kick my runners off before my cougar exploded on the scene. At least they'd be spared.
"Jessica! I didn't mean it!" she yelled in my head so loud I winced.
My stance was aggressive in an attempt to cow her into thining twice about moving forward. "Angela, chill out!"
"Who's…? Bella?"
Somewhere amidst the carnage a woman's voice arose that even gave me pause, and since my cougar was ready to get down and dirty that was saying something. It was most definitely a mother's voice at the height of her anger. I was quite familiar with that because Renée had the same tone when we argued for the first time about me moving to Forks. She whipped out all three of my names in that you-will-obey-me voice that every child knows, much like now.
"Angela Denise Weber, stop where you are this instant!"
The gigantic cougar froze half-in and half-out of the doorway and her crimson eyes closed with flinch.
"Angela, you need to phase back to your human form," I said with as much calm as I could muster. "Do you think you can do that for me?"
By the time her eyes opened again I had straightened up and relaxed my posture trying to calm the situation down as much as I could.
"You get in this house and change back now, young lady!" Truly, her mom wasn't really helping the situation anymore.
"Just relax and remember what you looked like this morning when you got home. I'm sure you looked in the mirror, right?"
"Uh-huh," she returned.
"I'll help you out. You're not alone," I said as I approached the front steps. "Just relax and think about your normal body. Everything's going to…"
Before I had the chance to finish my sentence Angela's body blurred and her human form stood at the doorway clutching the jamb with a shaking hand. That was good enough for me. I turned around and padded back to the jeep. Jessica was in the back watching me with terror filled eyes. That's pretty much when I decided my modesty was about to take a hit. If I closed in any further, as a cougar, then she'd probably have a heart attack. In mid step I phased back and tried my best to look cool and confident.
"You stay away!"
I ignored her and opened the driver's side door to reach behind the seat for my bag. "I'm not running around here naked just so you'll feel better, Jessica. I'm just getting my clothes."
She looked scared and undecided, but probably remembered that she was bleeding from being bitten from a large cat. Her attention went back to the pressure bandage on her arm as she pushed it down harder. That gave me time to slip into my Speedo and throw a look over my shoulder to make sure Angela was still holding herself together. By this time there was a short black haired Indian lady, who I assumed was her mother, was hugging her. She could wait.
When I made it around the back of the jeep, Jessica was eying me with wariness, most likely assuming I was going to phase and eat her. I'm sorry, but short brunettes aren't my thing.
Alice's face flashed behind my eyes; her wispy hair and the way she woohoo'ed after I drove into the ditch the days before. Okay, short human brunette's weren't my thing.
"Let me see," I said as I reached out for Jessica's injured arm. She flinched back, whimpering. "Don't be stupid. I'm not going to hurt you. I need to see if you have to get stiches."
"She bit me! She turned into a big cat monster and bit me. And you're a monster cat too. Is everyone a freaking monster in this town?"
I shrugged and grabbed her wrist, pulling it to me. "Pretty much. Let me guess, you're an elf."
She tried to tug her arm back, but I wasn't budging. "I'm not an elf. Do I look like I have pointy ears? Hold on… there's elves too?"
"No, just Thercougars, Werewolves, Vampires, an Ogre or two. I'd stay out of the mountains if I were you."
As far as I knew there weren't any ogres in the mountains, but it's best to dazzle the uninformed with bullcrap to keep them guessing. When I lifted the pressure bandage off and looked at the wound it had already stopped bleeding. There were two punctures on her forearm right under the elbow and they were pretty small, which wasn't exactly characteristic to Thercougars teeth. When something Jessica's size encounter's something my cougar's size, usually there would be rendering of entire arms to worry about.
"Was she fully formed when she bit you?"
That's when I got the full brunt of her scowl. "One second I was suggesting alternate cuts for her hair… have you seen what they did at the hospital? Anyway, the next second she's this big gigantic rage kitty and was using my arm as a chew toy. What does it look like? Is it bad? Will they have to amputate? I'm too cute to have a hook for an arm!"
I let go of her too the bandage with me. It was soaked which also wasn't indicative of such a small injury.
"Oh," she said with muted disappointment. "Do you have a Band-Aid? Maybe some antibiotic ointment? I'm probably going to need rabies shots too."
Rolling up the bandage I tossed it in the back of the jeep for disposal later while I sifted through the first aid kit for something much smaller. "I'm pretty sure Angela doesn't have rabies."
"This could only happen to me. Homecoming is next week and I'm going to be all marred. Mike was taking me to Port Angelus to Herman's, you know the French restaurant? I had this nice chartreuse strapless dress…"
I think I know why Angela phased well ahead of schedule. If I had to listen to this inane blathering for any longer I was going to do just the same, and I wasn't going to stop at her arm. When I selected two regular sized adhesive bandages and the tube of Neosporin I swiveled around to see if maybe I poked her hard enough she'd shut up. Imagine my surprise when the wounds were even smaller than before. My eyes shut and my shoulders fell.
Dammit.
While Jessica rambled on about what she was going to order at Herman's French restaurant I looked up at her eyes. There were already little red flecks appearing around the edge of her irises. At this rate we'd have the entire city of Forks transformed in under a month. This shouldn't be possible.
Dropping the bandages back in the kit I went around the side of the jeep to my fallen coat so I could retrieve my cell.
"Y'ello."
I learned my lesson. Always listen to your father when he says something wasn't a good idea. "Charlie. We have another problem."
~O~
"I can't have red eyes!" Jessica yelled. "It'll clash with my chartreus dress!"
Angela palmed her face as she was bent over the front porch steps. "Priorities, Jess."
"You can wear colored contacts," I said. "Charlie's been doing it for years."
"This shouldn't be possible," he told Billy Black as the Quileute elder sat in Jake's truck. "Thercougars are a genetically created species. Only our kids can become one. I've bitten someone before and he didn't turn into a cougar."
Jake snorted derisively. "It's probably the bloodsuckers fault."
"Jake," Charlie said. I had the feeling that he blamed the Cullens for a lot of things: the weather, impotence, yadda, yadda, yadda.
"He makes a good point, Charlie. Maybe their presence caused something to change in Bella. She was hanging out with that little one for a couple of days. It's not like it's unheard of for the spirit warriors to show themselves when they're around."
"Why don't you wear contacts?"
I turned back to Angela. "They itch my eyes. It drives me crazy. Tinted glasses are easier."
Jessica pointed at me. "There see! You know how much my allergies make my eyes itch. There's no way I could wear them and deal with that."
I sighed and leaned in. "You can always say that your red eyes are contacts, that they're the in thing now."
Her mouth dropped open and I could see she was actually starting to think it over. "Maybe I could exchange the dress. Maybe that little black one; you remember Ange? With the right earrings I could pull it off."
Then she grabbed my arm. "You have to start sitting with us at lunch."
"What? No."
"You're the new girl from the big city. It'll be the only way we could pull it off. You could say that you visited L.A. and your cousin or something told you about the trend."
"No."
"Please! It's your fault I'm a monster now."
Angela's eyes ticked up to meet mine. It was also my fault she was too. "Jess, Doctor Cullen said if Bella didn't donate that blood then I'd most likely be dead right now. It's my fault I bit you."
Everyone's a martyr. "For a couple of days. If they give me any crap then I'm gone."
Jessica bounced and clapped her hands. "Awesome!"
I pointed at both of them. "Just make sure you two are at my place by six o'clock. Sunset is at six forty-one. And try your best to keep your anger in check until then."
Jessica looked down at what I was wearing. "Do I have to wear those skanky biking things too? Not like I couldn't fill them out or anything, but…"
"Please don't finish that sentence," I said through a low growl. "Wear whatever you want. I don't care. Just bring more in case you rip whatever you're wearing to shreds."
We exchanged email addresses and a promise from me to send them the spreadsheet information I'd compiled from my meetings with Charlie. It was a lot easier than sitting around with the not so human chatterbox for the next few hours. After Jessica drove off in an attempt to reach Port Angelus before dark to exchange her dress, Angela stopped me as I was heading to the jeep.
"Should I actually get one of those outfits?"
She seemed serious so I didn't snap at her. "I'd advise it. It's easier to carry it around with you in a fanny pack when you're phased, and it's stretchy. You're probably going to fill out in a few places over the next week. I grew two cup sizes and seven inches in height."
Her face turned horror stricken. Angela was already over six feet in height and that was all natural. I guessed it had something to do with her Indian heritage. There was no telling how tall she was going to get. I sympathized with her.
Once I left the adults to talk things over and Angela to clean the living room before her father came home, I headed to my own house to see if I could have a semi-normal night for once. Of course that simply wasn't meant to be.
I frowned at the incoming call on my cell.
"Hello, Alice."
"Feeling any better today?"
"Not particularly. We have two new Thercougars in Forks."
"Really?"
She sounded surprised and happy for me all at the same time. It was probably because she'd be off the hook for my heat thing.
"Angela Weber and Jessica… uh, something."
That seemed to take the wind out of her sails. "Hold on, what?"
"Can't you just smell the cougar estrogen in the air?"
"Not really, but Emmett's burning something in the back yard, so that may explain it."
"What's he burning?"
"Does it really matter?"
"Well, that depends. If it's ribs then I might be interested."
"Yes, Bella, the vampire family is cooking ribs for dinner."
"It could happen. Probably not often, but it could happen."
"Are you doing anything tomorrow night?" she asked.
"It's a full moon. I'm taking Angela and Jessica out to make sure they know how to hunt and answering any questions they have. So… yeah."
"You weren't kidding about that?"
"No."
"Can I come?"
I pulled up in front of my house, and guess who was standing on my front porch? Instead of answering her, I thumbed off the cell and dropped it in my coat pocket.
"You know, it's rude to just hang up on people when you're in the middle of a conversation," she said as I hopped out of the jeep. When she saw I was missing a door I received a raised eyebrow. "Air conditioning systems just aren't what they used to be?"
I shook my head. "Vampire tore it off and tried to eat Angela."
It was the first time I've seen Alice taken aback. Granted I hadn't known her all that long, but still.
"Didn't you say she was a Thercougar?"
"Well, she is now."
"I think I'm getting a headache," she said before rubbing her temples.
"Welcome to my world. I've been in town for less than a week, found out that werewolves and vampires exist, gone in heat, suddenly became bisexual for some unknown reason, my first human friend gets attacked by a vampire and then because of me turns into a cougar and bites her friend and turns her into a cougar. Yeah, I'm ready to go back to Phoenix now."
Alice patted my shoulder. "Just because you hit a few potholes in the road doesn't mean you shouldn't get back in the car."
"Potholes? Try landmines."
"Would it make you feel better if I kiss you?"
My brain came to a screeching halt. The record skipped. The HD screen of my life just pixilated. "Uh…"
"You know you're pretty cute when you forget to be sarcastic. You should try it more often."
"Sure."
"Sure you'll try it or sure a kiss will make you feel better?"
"Um, the second one."
My tongue subconsciously ran over my bottom lip just as Alice reached up and slid her hand to the back of my neck. Her fingers were cold against my skin, but with my increased body heat it felt like ice cubes melting on a summer's day; refreshing. Alice's eyes dropped down to my lips as mine were on hers. I watched them part ever so slightly and the very tip of her pink tongue stood vanguard between her pearly white teeth. I could almost feel my heart beating as if I was about to phase. The same excitement was there; the feeling of something animalistic about to happen.
Alice rose up on her toes and I dropped my posture slightly to meet her somewhere in the middle. At the last second her eyes rose to meet mine and I could definitely see heat forming there, heat for me, passion for what we were about to do.
And then she tilted her head and kissed me on the cheek.
"Esme always does that to make me feel better after a hard day," she said happily. "Did it help?"
"You think you're funny, don't you," I nearly hissed. Try hissing without any esses involved, and you can figure out why I wasn't very successful.
"I'm pretty sure I'm funny," she said teasingly as she backed up a few steps. "You know you still haven't asked me on that date or any lesbionic tendencies I might have. It wouldn't be proper for us to kiss… that way until those issues are dealt with."
"Lesbionic? Is that a word?"
She nodded. "I'm pretty sure that's a word. Try Googling it."
Alice was teasing me, playing it all out because she knew I was strictly hetero before I moved to Forks. There was something about this town that totally screws with the laws of physics, thermodynamics, and psychosexual mentality. She most likely thought I'd be too embarrassed to bring up the topic on my own. Nothing suppresses one's natural personality like the unknown. So, in response I did the exact opposite of what my instincts were telling me.
Taking a step forward, I narrowed my eyes and kept my voice quiet and controlled.
"Alice, do you have any lesbian or bisexual tendencies?"
She smiled brightly. "Not really, Bella. It's never come up, so to speak. I haven't really been in any personal relationships with a guy or a girl… or anything between for that matter. Not that they haven't tried over the decades, but I've always shut them down."
That stopped me in my tracks, but I pushed on. At least I'd know one way or the other if I didn't stand a chance with her so I could move on. "So if I asked you out on a date you'd say no?"
Twirling around, Alice danced a few steps away, but I followed. "It's not any fun if you already know the answer to your question."
I obviously wasn't intimidating her whatsoever with my shift in personality. "Okay. Would you like to go out on a date with me?"
She came to a stop and looked up at me. "A date date? Like a dinner and a movie date?"
"If that's what you want?"
A frown dropped over her face. "I don't eat food and I've pretty much seen all the movies I want to see. Vampire here with nothing to do, you know."
Why was she dragging this out? Was it a game to her?
"We could always go hunting."
She squinched up her face. "Hunting, for a vampire, is a very private activity."
I sighed. Obviously this wasn't going anywhere and I had better things to do than get shot down in flames by a tiny vampire that likes to play mind games.
"Fine. Well, you know, whatever."
Turning, I grabbed my backpack and headed toward the front door.
"Bella!"
I'd made it as far as the third step before I turned around. "What?"
Alice sighed dramatically. "I just wanted to see if you were serious."
"Well, I am. So there you go."
"Wait," she said before I turned resumed my exit. "Look, do you mind if we switched?"
Color me confused. "Switched what?"
"Roles." Upon seeing that I was going to need a little more than that Alice moved up to stand at the top of the steps. Her finger popped out and poked me in the chest until I took a step down and we were eye to eye. "That's better."
"I've lived for a little over a century now and in all that time I've been chased after… me. I've never really accepted any dates because humans and vampires don't mix well. We have a tendency to eat them at inopportune moments. I've pretty much stayed away to not tempt myself."
"Okay." I had no idea where she was going with any of this.
"Anyway, I've always been the one to be chased after and I'm really the kind of girl that likes to do the chasing, but nobody takes me seriously because I'm short and adorable."
I blinked. "Are you saying you want to be the guy and me be the girl?"
"What? No. We'll both be girls, but I want to be the more… um…"
"Sorry I'm not up on all the lesbian PC terms would dominant be a better word?"
"That's a little pervy, but it's closer to the truth. I promise no whips and chains."
I looked up and over her shoulder, spacing out in a vision of Alice dressed up in tight black leather and high heels, then I immediately shook it out of my head. Yes, I probably spend too much time on the internet.
"I guess I just want to be the aggressor for once."
With that said I just shrugged my shoulders. "Sure. You be the… aggressor and I'll be… um, me. I guess."
"Awesome. So, do you want to go out on a date with me next Saturday, Bella?"
A thought popped into my head to be all game playing like she was doing to me earlier, but honestly I was mentally exhausted. "Saturday would be cool."
She bounced and twirled around. "Equally as awesome."
Alice leaned in a kissed me on the lips for a nanosecond before I knew what was happening. The next moment I realized she was standing by my jeep holding my key.
"I'll have Rose fix your door. She's into stuff like that. I'll bring it by Monday morning. Have fun with your new cougars tomorrow night!"
