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Chapter 4

Bella

Over the next couple of months, Bella and Jake grew closer together. Bella became a part of the pack. She was accepted by everyone. It was touch and go with her and Leah at first but now they got along great. Bella even had become allies with the most unlikely of people, Old Quil.

It happened one day when the Pack was called out on patrol. A nomadic vampire was spotted in town and they all went to check it out, leaving the two youngest pack members, Colin and Brady, to watch over LaPush. The gang was hanging out in the diner that was owned by Sue Clearwater and Emily Young. Emily was Sam's imprint. Paul was on patrol when he saw the vampire and called the Pack for help. The guys, with Leah, all filed out leaving the girls, Bella and Kim, who was Jared's imprint, behind in the diner.

Once the Pack left, the girls were all distressed but Bella kept a cool head and looked after everybody. She even had to take over the running of the diner that day because Sue was worried about both of her children, Leah and Seth. On that day, Old Quil was in the diner and he gained a big respect for the white girl that his future tribe leader was in love with. He noticed that this girl had been through a lot but that she was a strong woman. He remembered a story that his grandfather had told him about a woman and his great-grandfather. He couldn't really remember the specifics of the story but he knew it was written down somewhere. He only thought of it now because the relationship between Bella and Jake reminded him of the story.

The Pack came back after taking care of the problem. That day set a precedent and was a caution for other vampires to stay out of that area. There were no more sightings of vampires for a long time except for the occasional visit from one or more Cullens. Edward had visited often. When Bella graduated Community College with her Degree in Early childhood, he came with Alice and Jasper to help her celebrate. Emmett visited often which was welcomed by Bella and the Pack. The wolves felt the friendliest with him. To them he was a likable guy even if he was a bloodsucker. Carlisle and Esme even visited and Carlisle was consulted on many medical situations at the tribal clinic.

Bella and Jake's relationship was as strong as it could be. He adored her, as always and did not see himself with anybody but Bella. It was a shock to everyone that he had not imprinted on her. That was a sticky situation for a while as Bella was afraid to lose Jacob the way that Leah lost Sam. However, once a year had passed and it did not happen, all of her fears went away. The thought was that if it had not happened in all this time that it wouldn't happen.

The most significant development to happen this year was that Charlie learned the tribe secret. It happened by accident. One day, after Jacob and Seth had stopped by for dinner, they left out the back door. Charlie heard a noise in the back yard and looked out in time to see his daughter's boyfriend, his best friend's son turn into a large dog. It scared him to death and he tried to keep Bella away from Jake. The tension was eased when Billy, Jake's dad and Charlie's best friend, and Sue stopped by to talk to Charlie about it. It was decided that because Bella was a big part of the tribe and the Pack, it would be okay to tell Charlie.

"Hey, Old man" Billy said when Charlie opened the door.

"Billy, Sue." Charlie was cautious about letting them come in his house. He had heard the tribal legends all of his life. Being best friends with two of the residents of LaPush, he spent most of his teenage years there and some stories were told in his presence. He had no idea that the stories were not just legends but true accounts of the Quileute people and the 'cold ones'. He learned on that day from Billy and Sue that they were true and that the 'cold ones' were vampires. Even more surprising was the fact that the Cullens were vampires and that Bella had dated one of them. He knew that there was something different about that Edward boy. He acted way older than any seventeen year old boy Charlie knew.

He was upset with Bella for the secrets and concerned that she had been a part of this supernatural world for years and he had not known. Bella assured him that it was okay and that she was fine. This was just the way it was meant to be.

"Bella, how could you have been hanging out with vampires and werewolves and I didn't know about it?" Charlie asked one night at dinner, which is really the only time he and his girl spent together.

"Dad, I'm sorry. I sort of stumbled into this world and it was a secret and not my secret to tell." Bella understood that her father was upset but hopefully they could move on from there and repair the relationship and spend more time together. With that new resolve in place, Charlie began to spend more time on the reservation and eventually fell in love with and married Sue Clearwater. He sold the house in Forks and moved to LaPush. Bella moved into a three bedroom apartment with Leah and Kim as roommates. Bella used her degree in early childhood to open a daycare center for the youngest tribal members.

As Bella and Jake grew close, other in the pack found their mates, too. Leah imprinted on Mark, one of Charlie's deputies. Colin imprinted on Serena, a girl he he knew from school every day for years. Quil even imprinted on Claire, the seventeen year old niece of Emily's. The only wolves that were not imprinted were Paul, Embry, Seth and Brady.

I know it's been awhile...MJ