Chapter FOUR
Bella's POV
The rest of the day passed without any more problems from our classmates. P.E. however was a rather "fun-filled" experience; yeah, you can just hear the excitement from that statement. As if I wasn't clumsy enough, I was now more jittery, so having some lamb little genetic thing going on through me added to the fact that we were playing dodge ball, wasn't excellent. I basically jumped when a ball would come rolling up to my feet – not kidding either.
I was just plain relieved when the school day ended. Edward met up with me at the door, snarling slightly at Mike who was following behind me. Mike actually barked like a dog before he ran off, leaving Edward and I laughing at his retreating figure. "You know, you didn't have to make him run away with his tail between his legs." I teased; what? I couldn't resist saying that joke. It just fit in with Mike's appearance like a dog and to the fact that he ran off pretty quickly.
Edward barked out a loud laugh, gaining some stares from other students, but Edward didn't seem to care about them staring. He wrapped his arm around my waist and led me towards the parking lot, heading in the direction of his Volvo. His siblings weren't with us right now, so he unlocked his car and let us sit inside it.
We sat in silence for a bit; something about this silence seemed somewhat heavy, like something's about to happen. It may just be the added trait that I gained while I was now part lamb. My paranoia could just be driving me to my own personal insanity. I closed my eyes in hopes that it would calm me down some.
Suddenly, I felt the air whoosh right out of me, where I gasped and my eyes flew open to stare into dark orbs. I looked down to see the new position I was in – which is Edward's lap to what I am now straddling like this morning. I slowly glanced back up at him, to see him smirking a not so innocent grin. "Um, are you alright, Edward?" I asked him, laughing a quiet, nervous giggle.
He didn't answer me; instead, he made me lean slightly backwards so my upper back was pressed lightly against the steering wheel, and he let his nose skim my outstretched neck. He breathed in my "scent" and purred out a sentence that actually made me let out a whimper; "I know this probably won't help my self control, but I don't give a damn right now."
He brought me ferociously back to where we were pressed against each other – chest-to-chest – and crashed his hard lips onto mine. I moaned out in shock before I threw my arms around his neck, letting my hands thread into his locks while I lightly tapped one of his ears which twitched in response and caused Edward to growl into my mouth.
His hands drifted down to my hips when his tongue forcefully slid past my lips and touched my tongue. He growled an even lower and sexier snarl, and that's when his hands went straight to my bum, causing my eyes to fly open. Now this was a very big, new step that Edward practically forbid before. He never even went this low with those hands of his.
Edward didn't seem to notice where his hands had went; he just continued to taste my mouth with his tongue while he suddenly squeezed my bum, causing me to whimper out in pleasure. "Do you like that, my little lamb?" he growled out around our mouths, where I nodded wordlessly against him. He smirked a crooked grin and continued to kiss me.
Our heated make out session though abruptly ended when the driver's door was suddenly opened, letting in cool air into the now steamy cab of the car. Edward and I whipped our gazes to see a rather fuming yet still embarrassed Alice standing there, glaring her murderous golden eyes down at us.
"Really, Edward? You let your little session there get that out of control?" Alice basically screamed at Edward, huffing haughtily down at her brother while she closed her eyes for a second. Edward stared at her for a few seconds, before his eyes got wide and he hung his head in shame. "Well, I had no idea it would get that very… obscene." He muttered, closing his eyes. I have a bad feeling that if Alice hadn't interrupted us, then well… I just think the junior class would be scarred for life; that's all I have to say.
Alice rolled her eyes and grumbled out, "Well, I'm sort of glad I came to stop you now, because poor Jazzy here was feeling too uncomfortable from all of the lust you two had going on." She turned around to look at an awkward Jasper who was grimacing slightly. She walked over to him and pecked his cheek, to where he smiled a tiny smile down at his pixie.
Edward turned to look at me and grinned a sheepish smile, to which I laughed at. "I'm guessing you liked the way I kissed you, my little lamb?" he asked me, smiling while he stroked my hair. I blushed, but nodded timidly, causing Edward to chuckle. "Well, maybe I shouldn't let our kissing get so out of control." He murmured, frowning when he grazed his thumb over my now swollen bottom lip.
I rolled my eyes and sighed, hugging Edward; I felt his arms slowly encase my waist, burying his nose into my hair. "Alright, yes; mushy, gushy, I love you, blah blah blah! Come on - I want to go home!" Alice grumbled, making us separate. "You are a very grouchy cat." Edward muttered at her angrily while she and Jasper climbed into the car, in the backseat.
"Let's just get to the house; we need a family meeting about this phone situation." Jasper stated while Edward started up the Volvo. Edward silently drove us to the Cullen home, and it wasn't until we were safely tucked away in the garage that Edward spoke. "You two go inside. I would like to talk with Bella." Edward said to Alice and Jasper.
They went inside without question. Edward and I exited the Volvo, and stood in front of the car, leaning on the front bumper of the car. "Did I do something wrong?" I asked Edward, looking up at him worriedly. "No; it was something that I did wrong." Edward muttered, walking over to me so he was standing more closely next to me.
"What did you do?" I asked him, confused. "I... I was out of control back in the parking lot. I should not have done that." Edward mumbled apologetically. "Edward," I began, bringing my hands up to his face. "Don't start this argument about your self control, again. You know, I actually liked it when you lost your self control." I murmured, causing Edward to look up at me.
"Really?" Edward asked, coyly. I giggled and nodded.
I suddenly found myself lying on top of the Volvo hood in the next second. I gasped in surprise, while Edward crawled on top of me. "So, my little lamb likes it if I'm not so reserved?" Edward purred, smiling devilishly down at me. I was about to answer when - "Oh, my retinas! Shield me from the horror, Rosie!" came Emmett's cry. Edward and I looked over towards the door leading to the house, to see Emmett and Rosalie standing there. Emmett had brown bear like ears poking out from his curly locks, while Rosalie's nose and mouth were getting... smaller?
"Shut up, you big oaf." Edward growled, sitting up and back on his haunches. "Alice wanted us to get you two out of the garage for our meeting." Rosalie grumbled, before she turned and went back inside. Emmett waited by the door while Edward sighed. "Aren't you going inside too?" Edward asked. "Nope; got to make sure you don't deflower Bells." Emmett teased, guffawing.
Edward released a snarl at him, whereas I finally sat up and placed my hand gently on his shoulder. Edward immediately calmed down, sighing slowly. "Thank you, love." Edward whispered, smiling brightly at me. Edward slid off of the hood of the Volvo, and helped me off, before we walked towards Emmett. Edward raised a hand, and smacked Emmett upside the head, before leading us inside the house. "Ow!" Emmett yelped.
"That is what you get for being an ass." Edward snipped at him, snickering. We walked towards the living room, to see Esme was sitting on one of the couches, reading one of her books, while Alice and Rosalie were reading one of their magazines, and Jasper was playing Guitar Hero by himself.
"Oh, hello you two." Esme greeted us after turning her head. Now that her face was facing us, I could finally see two tiger ears sprouting up from in her hair, and her face was becoming more feline like. "Hi Esme." I greeted her. "Esme, are those tiger ears?" Edward asked her. "Why, yes they are. It's very strange how Emmett, Rosalie and I are getting these animalistic features like you, Bella, Jasper and Alice are getting, when we haven't been around Lily or anything that would cause this." Esme explained, shrugging her dainty shoulders.
"When's Carlisle coming home?" Edward asked while leading me over to a loveseat. "He's going to be home in two hours." Alice spoke up, not even looking up from her magazine. "Perfect; that leaves us time to cuddle, my love." Edward purred to me, while I blushed. "If you're going to do anything but cuddle, then go up to your room, alright?" Jasper butted in, sounding annoyed.
There were murmured agreements following Jasper's complaint, except for Esme. "Oh, fine." Edward said with a sigh. Edward then stood us up from the loveseat we never really go to sit on, and then picked me up in his arms. "Ah!" I yelped, braying. "Don't scare the poor girl, Edward!" Esme scolded as Edward carried me towards the stairs.
"It wasn't my intention to do so." Edward replied back. He carried me all the way up to his room, and once we were inside, he shut the door with his foot. "I see your bed was fixed." I commented once Edward had set me down on my feet. "Yeah; Esme, Emmett and Rosalie fixed it for me while we were away at school." Edward explained to me. "That was nice of them." I said, smiling.
Abruptly though, in the next second, I found myself lying on top of the bed, with Edward hovering over me. "You seriously need to give me some warning of when you're going to do that." I whispered to him shakily, while Edward shrugged. "Maybe I want to surprise you." Edward murmured, burying his face in my neck.
Then, he sighed all of a sudden. "What?" I asked him. "Alice's coming up; she wants to have a little Barbie Bella session with you." Edward grumbled, frowning. "It's more like I need to steal her away." Alice's voice appeared. We looked up and saw Alice waiting in the doorway with Rosalie and Esme behind her. "Why?" I asked her, pouting. I did not want to spend hours upon hours in a chair, letting her torture me freely with makeup and clothes.
"Well, it turns out, we're getting a surprise visit in just two hours." Alice informed me sheepishly, but she looked wide-eyed at her brother when he growled lowly. "She's coming over? Why didn't you tell me this at school?" Edward hissed angrily at her, his eyes turning black with rage. "Because, it was a snap decision, and when I found out about it, she was already running this way!" Alice snapped at her, glaring at him.
"Wait, who are you talking about?" I cut in, completely confused about this "surprise" visitor. Was it Victoria? Or Jane?
"A friend of ours is coming to visit us, to see how we're doing. Her name is Tanya of the Denali Coven in Alaska." Rosalie told me. "And don't worry, Bella dear. I've asked Charlie if you could spend the night here and he said yes. Also, we'll make sure Tanya doesn't frighten you." Esme reassured me with a kind smile.
That still didn't put my worries at ease...
"Come on; I only have two hours to get you all dressed up to wow that "friend" of ours." Alice said, zipping over to the bed where she snatched me up from Edward's arms, and carried me out of the room. "You get dressed as well, Edward! I want all of us to look nice for our visitor." Alice ordered him while we walked away. "Why do we have to be dressed up for your friend? And why do I have to spend the night here?" I asked her, but then I looked over her shoulder and looked at Esme. "Not that I don't mind spending the night here; I'm happy I do get to stay here. But, I'm wondering why." I told her, where she smiled at me reassuringly - she wasn't mad at my question.
"Tanya is a bit of a perfectionist, and likes to be dressy. So, it's only appropriate that we dress up as well, in order to get on her good side for first meetings. And, the reason why you have to spend the night here is so you can get to know her, I get to spend some time on designing outfits for you, and so you can protect my brother from her." Alice explained to me, smirking while we entered her bedroom.
"Protect? Does she hate him or something?" I asked her as she sat me down on her bed. "Trust me; she does not hate him." Rosalie muttered to me, plopping herself right beside me, crossing one leg over the other. "She loves him?" I asked, frowning. "She's very enamored by Edward, Bella sweetie." Esme corrected me, sitting down on my right side. "If you call throwing herself at him, enamored, then yes; she's very "enamored" by him." Rosalie mumbled sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"Trust me though, Bella; once Tanya sees how happy and in love Edward is with you, she'll back off some. It'll just take some time for her to back off." Alice told me while she was digging through her large closet. "Aha! Found the perfect dress for you, Rose." Alice cheered, stepping out of the closet with a long bright red dress with a pair of red high heel sling-backs.
"Excellent." Rosalie smiled at her sister, where she stood and walked over to her. "Oh, and don't worry; I'll make sure to make "room" for your tail." Alice said to her while Rosalie walked into the bathroom with her outfit, closing the door behind her. "Tail?" I asked, eyes widening. "Yes, dear. Emmett, Rosalie and I apparently have animal features much like you, Alice, Jasper and Edward do." Esme informed me with a kind smile.
"Have you transformed into your true animal self already?" I asked her timidly, where she nodded her head. "I'm a tiger, whereas Emmett's a grizzly bear, and Rosalie is a -" she stopped when the door opened. Rosalie stepped out gracefully, looking stunning in her red ensemble. "Oh, you look beautiful, Rosalie." Esme praised her daughter who smiled at her confidently. "Alice? Tail hole, please?" Rosalie asked her sister, turning to the side. Alice stepped forward and ripped a hole just above her butt.
Immediately, a peacock tail full of bright and colorful feathers sprung out. Rosalie sighed in relief, and looked gratefully towards Alice, saying thank you. "So, you're a peacock?" I asked her hesitantly. "It does suit her personality." Alice teased lightly while she went back into her closet. "Oh, found your dress, Esme!" Alice called from the closet, stepping out a minute later. She was holding a magenta/dark-pink strapless dress with magenta/dark-pink high heels.
"I love it, Alice honey." Esme cooed, standing up. She walked over, took the dress, and went inside the bathroom to change. A couple of minutes later, she walked out, looking absolutely elegant. "You look amazing, Esme." Rosalie praised her, walking over to her and hugging her warmly. "Thank you, dear." Esme thanked her, just as Alice came out of the closet, holding a lacy strapless short pink dress that had a black lacy tie under the bust, and in one of her hands was a pair of sparkling pink peep toe high heels.
"My turn." Alice chirped, slipping into the bathroom. After Rosalie had ripped a tail hole for Esme, I heard faintly a door opening and closing. "Oh, that must be Carlisle. He's home early. I'll see if we can postpone the meeting to tonight." Esme said, her tiger tail flicking happily. She said goodbye to Rosalie and I, before she left Alice's bedroom.
The bathroom door opened, and Alice stepped out, looking very girly and pixie like. "Aw, you look adorable, Alice!" Rosalie crooned, giggling. "I know. That's what I wanted." Alice stated proudly, smiling. Rosalie ripped a tail hole for her, then Alice went back off to the closet while Rosalie began styling her hair and putting on some makeup. "I was saving this dress for you tomorrow, Bella, but I think it's perfect to wear tonight." Alice's voice came from the closet where she stepped out of it, holding a light blue short halter type of a dress, along with a pair of dark blue ballet flats; thank god.
I stood up and she handed me the dress shoes before she shoved me inside her bathroom, closing the door. Grudgingly, I got dressed in the short dress, where I struggled just a bit to tie the back up. Once it felt like it was stay tied together long enough for Alice to tie it more tightly, and once I had the ballet flats on my feet, I exited the bathroom. Rosalie was done with styling her hair and done with her makeup - all of it looks professional and gorgeous - while Alice was tying her hair back into two small pigtails, showing off her black cat ears.
"Good, your done." Alice said happily, skipping over to me. She untied the back of my dress and retied it more tightly, and then ripped open a tail hole for me. Rosalie and Alice then went to work on my hair and makeup; Rosalie curled my hair into bouncy tendrils, where when she was done, she wrapped one finger around one of them, twisted the hair around her finger before releasing it, watching it bounce back into place.
"Hair is perfectly curled." Rosalie stated proudly, patting my head softly as she walked away. "And, her makeup is done as well; expertly applied by a makeup artist, such as myself." Alice added in, just as proud; she had applied two layers of pink lip gloss to my lips, added light blue eye shadow to my eyes and a thin layer of mascara to my eyelashes.
"Now, before we leave the room, there's one last item you need to complete your outfit." Alice told me, walking over to where Rosalie was putting away the makeup and hair care products. Alice set the makeup down, before walking over to this small armoire that was right by the vanity where her beauty products sat. She went digging through it, and then she must of found what she was looking for because she turned around to face me, but kept her hands behind her back.
"Edward, the family and I have been working on this since the whole Volterra incident, but what with the recent events, I had Emmett go back and add a detail or two to this, just for it to be perfect." Alice explained to me while she walked over to where I sat on her bed. Then, she revealed what was behind her back by pulling out -
"Oh..." I gasped, surprised at the piece of jewelry in her hands. It was choker necklace with a thick deep blue strap that had purple lace stitched into the fabric. A charm that had the Cullen crest I've seen on the necklaces of the Cullen women, was there on a little clasp thing, and next to the charm was a large silver bell that jingled a beautiful ringing noise as it moved. Alice moved the fabric strap around, showing me the inside, where the words, The Beautiful Lamb, was stitched into the fabric in a light lavender fabric.
"Edward had that embroidered just for you." Alice informed while she stood beside me. She bent down and put the choker around my neck, clipping it together with the two clasps at the ends of the fabric. The choker felt stretchy and elastic once it was around my neck. "The whole family chipped in for the price of this custom necklace - the bell and the charm was the most expensive things on there." Rosalie told me, walking over to where we were.
Tears that I tried withholding brimmed at the surface of my eyes, for I was completely touched by this. The whole Cullen family all put in their money, just making this beautiful choker necklace for me. And, I absolutely loved the stitching of the nickname Edward had given me on the inside of the choker.
I stood up from the bed, and gave Alice and Rosalie a tight hug, the bell jingling. "Thank you so much." I whispered to them, smiling at them when I pulled away. "It's no problem at all, Bella. You're family, and this is just a final piece in making it official." Alice told me. "That, and when Edward marries you, it'll be complete." Rosalie added in, causing me to blush at the idea. "Rose!" Alice cried, pouting at her sister.
"Oops; did I just spoil the proposal?" Rosalie asked sheepishly, now realizing her mistake.
"Ladies! Come on down! Tanya is here!" Esme's voice called up to me. Rosalie looked at me worriedly, gave me an awkward grin, before she disappeared, leaving the door opened behind her. Alice sighed, but otherwise took my arm in hers, and led me out the door.
We arrived at the stairs leading to the front door, where the entire Cullen family was waiting. Rosalie stood nervously beside Emmett who wore a black button down shirt with a bright red tie, black dress pants and fancy looking shoes. Esme stood beside Carlisle, who was wearing a fancy white button down shirt with a magenta tie to match her dress, with black slacks and fancy shoes.
Jasper and Edward were the closest to the stairs. Jasper was wearing a light pink button down shirt with a black necktie to match Alice's dress, with black pants and shiny fancy shoes. And, Edward - my handsome vampire lion - was wearing a light blue dress shirt with the top two buttons undone and a purple neck tie was paired with the shirt, while he wore black navy slacks and fancy dress shoes.
The men had their ears peeking out from their hair and their tails were also peeking out from behind them. I could finally see Carlisle's animal persona now; it looks like he had black bear ears and a short stubby black bear tail.
I looked directly at Edward, seeing the love shining brightly in his golden eyes. His lion tail flicked back and forth happily, and his signature crooked grin was sported on his face.
"Bella, this is Tanya of the Denali Clan." Carlisle's voice pulled me away from Edward as we walked down the stairs. I followed Carlisle's line of eyesight, and saw him looking at the woman standing beside him and Esme. She was tall, curvy with a very obvious large chest, and she was wearing a very short teal dress that had a halter tie like mine, and she was wearing teal high heel sling-back shoes. Her face was small and beautiful, where her eyes were deep amber and looking me over with judgmental looks. Her strawberry blond hair was curly and bouncy; only two strands of her hair were loose, while the rest of it was piled on top of her head.
"Tanya, this is Bella Swan. She is dating Edward." Carlisle continued with the introductions. Finally, Alice and I reached the last step of the stairs. Jasper smiled over at me, nodded his head before he grabbed Alice's hand and walked away with her. Edward stepped over to where I was frozen on the spot by Tanya's staring, and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me into his cold hard chest.
"She is human." Tanya spoke up in a curt statement; even her voice was beautiful - so light and lilting. Edward squeezed my waist, causing me to look up at him. He looked down at me intensely, ignoring Tanya who was now staring at the both of us. "Yes, she is. She does know our secret, but has kept it ever since we met her." Carlisle said proudly, where I looked over at him and smiled.
"Do they know about this?" Tanya asked scathingly, where Edward, Alice and myself all shuttered at the mere mention of them, knowing she was talking about the Volturi.
"They do. You see, over the summer just last year, there was a slight misunderstanding between Bella and Edward from her birthday party we put together for her, which caused them to split up from each other. And when Alice had a vision of Bella jumping off a cliff just before her vision of her disappeared, she and Bella went to Volterra to save my son from the Elders after he thought young Bella was dead. The Elders found out about Bella's knowing, and has since put out a deadline for us to uphold." Carlisle explained to her.
"And what might that deadline be?" Tanya asked accusingly.
"That if we do not turn Bella into a vampire by this fall, they will come and kill her." Edward answered in a hoarse voice, gulping in unneeded air. I cuddled myself closer to him, kissing his chest and with the movement I made, the bell on my necklace jingled, where I brayed quietly.
"So, what? Is she a pet of yours or something?" Tanya asked, a sneer clear in her voice. Edward growled lowly, his chest rumbling. "Edward, calm down." I whispered to me, fisting his shirt in my hand that was on his chest. "She is not a pet!" Edward snarled at Tanya, but thankfully, he didn't explode into a lion. "That's just fucked up of you, Tanya." Emmett snipped at Tanya angrily, scowling at her. "Emmett!" Esme hissed at him, ashamed of his language. "I'm sorry for cursing, Esme, but you know that is just plain eff-ed up of her to say that." Emmett said to her, and growled lowly at Tanya.
"Jasper, please calm everyone down in this room." Carlisle asked Jasper nicely, where soon, I felt peace and relaxed visibly against Edward. "Tanya, I must say that was quite rude of you to say that. Bella is not our pet; she is the girl who has captured Edward's dead heart, and I know that they love each other deeply. Now, I would appreciate it if you could apologize to Bella personally for your comment." Carlisle stated curtly to his family friend.
I looked over at Tanya, and saw her sigh. "Bella, I'm sorry for my comment." Tanya said sincerely. I nodded, accepting it for now. I still didn't like her though; she irked me, and scared me at the same time. Edward bent down, and kissed my cheek, nuzzling his nose into it. I giggled from how cold it felt and it tickled my cheek a lot. Edward smiled, and kissed my cheek again, purring.
"May I ask a question?" Tanya asked suddenly, where I looked over at her. She was staring at everyone's ears and their tails. "Of course, Tanya dear." Esme replied breezily, smiling. "Why is that all of you have animal ears and tails?" She asked, her eyebrows furrowing.
We all shifted on our feet awkwardly, wondering if we should tell Tanya what was going on in Forks now.
"I believe we should explain it to you in the living room, Tanya. It is rather confusing and... complicated." Carlisle said to her, gesturing to the living room. Tanya looked at all of us suspiciously, before sniffing and nodding her head. "Fine." she said shortly, then walked towards the living room. Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice and Jasper all followed after her.
I was about to follow them, but Edward's arms that were still around me, stopped me. "Edward?" I asked him, looking up at him and frowning. "My family can tell her all that she needs to know, without us, love. For now, I would like to take you to our meadow." Edward murmured to me.
"Are you sure your family won't mind?" I asked worriedly, and he nodded.
"Alright." I said, smiling up at him. Edward smiled back, and then he bent down, before sweeping me off of my feet. "Let's go, my beautiful Lamb." Edward whispered, causing me to giggle. And then, he ran off, heading towards the meadow.
A/N: I'm so sorry for keeping everyone waiting for this chapter. I remember putting it on Hiatus, but then I got an idea for this story - and then lost it in the beginning... At least I was able to finish it.
I know that the sudden appearance of Tanya seemed completely random, but I wanted just a tiny bit of drama added in here. And, since Bella is basically a lamb now, the choker with the bell seemed suitable for her.
Reviews would be appreciated, as well as votes to the poll on my profile that involves the final part to the HSNE Trilogy. :)
Bye for now,
~*Lady Lily of Darkness*~
(P.S. - The girls' outfits are on my website, in the TAIY Picture Album, but you'll just have to imagine Bella's choker.)