Second Chance

Beta/advisor/proofreader: madmommabear, JJ, SassYNoles

Chapter 3

Billy's actions gave me a sense of relief knowing the Cullen's hadn't returned. This would give me time to change things that were about to happen and I was happy knowing this; but I knew they would be here soon, and I didn't know how much time I had to face Sam and Charlie before their return.

"Dear God, Bella do you have any idea what the Cullen's are?" Billy asked.

I figured he realized if I knew the Cullen's then I knew what they were so he didn't worry he was giving something away.

"Yes, I know what they are; as I know what will happen to the boys here on the Reservation."

His eyebrows shot up into his hairline with my revelation, and I could tell he wondered if I truly knew or was just referring back to the stories he used to tell Jake and me as children. He swallowed hard and continued.

"Really! And what exactly is it you believe will happen to them?"

I responded but not with a short answer. I gave him more details so he would know it was from experience I knew these things and not from the stories he told.

"Their wolf gene will kick in and they will become the protectors of the tribe, although it won't be like Ephraim's pack, this pack will be bigger, even more than you think. First Sam Uley will phase, and because he phases first he will become Alpha, until Jake is ready to take his rightful place."

Billy closed his eyes and sighed as I continued.

"Then Jared Cameron will phase and become Beta of the pack. Then Paul Lahote." And there I was cut off.

"What? How is it Paul phases? Yes, he is in the direct bloodline of Taha Aki, but through his mother he shouldn't phase."

"Well, he does as does Embry Call," I told him and I was sure if he wasn't confined to his wheelchair he'd be on his feet from the shock of hearing this.

"No! He isn't even from this tribe..." this time I cut him off.

"Yes, I know his mother came from the Makah tribe, but his father was from your tribe. His father is Joshua Uley. Embry's mother wouldn't tell him who his father was; so we did a paternity test using Sam's DNA and found they were indeed brothers."

"Dear Spirits," Billy said lowering his head. After a few seconds he spoke again. "Is that all who will phase?" I shook my head and he sighed again. "Who else?" he asked.

"Jake is next," I told him and I could swear I heard a sob come from his throat as he buried his face in his hands. "Then Young Quil, and then the most unlikely to phase is…" I sighed and continued as Billy raised his head to look at me. It was then I told him who else. "Seth and Leah Clearwater," I said. Once again he gasped.

"A woman has never phased! There has never been a female Protector," he said as he covered his mouth. I could see the thoughts rampaging through his mind as his eyes danced around the room rapidly. I sat there quietly and waited for him to come to terms with all I had told him.

"There has to be a reason for so many of our children's protector gene to kick in?" I nodded. "What's coming, Bella?" he asked.

"First of all Billy, there were more that joined the pack in my last life. You must understand that as I change my path from that life, other things will start to change as well. Whether or not so many people from your tribe will phase, I don't know. There will be a few I'm sure will phase due to the Cullens' return, but because my choices have changed there may be only a few."

Billy nodded in understanding. "Well, I guess we should keep an eye on Sam once the Cullen's return," he said.

I shook my head. "No Billy, Sam will be told this time around."

"That's not possible! Bella if word got out..." I stopped him in his tracks.

"No, you don't understand Billy. Leah will be devastated by Sam's phasing. He will imprint on her cousin Emily and she will fight it because she doesn't want to hurt Leah, and in doing so Emily will be harmed. Sam will phase too close to her and she will wear the scars as proof."

Billy gasped once again.

"There are other reasons why the Pack needs to know what awaits them. If you don't tell them AND their parents; the pack will suffer, become divided. It will cause many of them to be harmed because they'll not be working together as one, as a Pack. I'm not saying we approach them all at once; we'll watch and if the symptoms start to show that's when we'll tell them. Their parents need to know because with their help we'll know when the boys and Leah are about to phase. There's also the fact their parents will fear they are running around late at night, sneaking out to do drugs and hanging out with a gang. Neither the young ones nor their parents deserve that anguish," I concluded.

"No, Bella you don't understand..." he said as I cut him off once again.

"Yes Billy, I do understand; even more than you do. I know what happens. I've seen it. Your tribe will be left vulnerable. Do you really want that?" He shook his head.

"No, I don't…but the Council will need to know of this. I'm not sure they will believe you; but I think it must be true for you to know so many details. I can't even begin to understand what has happened to you, but there's no other explanation for what you've told me. Will you explain it to the Council if they ask for your presence?"

"Of course I will. Oh and there's something else I want you to know." He looked at me with fear and I knew he thought I was going to add something else he would have to worry about.

"What's that, Bella?"

"I'm going to tell Charlie about the Pack; the wolves and the Cold Ones." Billy's eyes grew with my words.

"Why, what has Charlie to do with this?"

"He has many things that concern him with this. When I choose Jake I will be in just as much danger as the protectors and the simple fact that Edward will be drawn to my blood and the quietness of my mind will also put Charlie in danger. If he knows and comes in contact with one of the Cullen's or comes face to face with any other vampire he'll know not to approach them. He can call one of the protectors who will be able to deal with them."

He sighed and nodded his head in agreement.

"Alright, fine. I guess you're right, but make it plain to him that it is not to be told to another living soul. Besides, once he hears I'm sure he'll come to talk to me about it and I can express my faith he will keep our secrets. Is there anything else I need to know, Bella?" He looked almost worn out from our meeting, and I'm sure he was. He'd just learned a lot he would have to worry about along with the running of the tribe.

"No, that's all for now. If I think of anything else you need to know I'll make sure you will be the first to know."

"Thank you, Bella," he said tiredly. I sighed before speaking again.

"I'm sorry, Billy. I had to come and tell you what was about to happen, and in telling you this I had to tell you my story as well." He put his hand over mine, patted it softly and gave me a sorrowful smile.

"It's okay, Bella. I needed to know this. I'm just happy you changed the choice you made in your last life. Jacob loves you, I can see it every time someone speaks of you or when he looks at you. I'm happy to have you as part of my family sweetheart. Charlie and I hoped this day would come; when the two of you joined together as one. We only want what makes the two of you happy."

"Thanks Billy, that means so much to me," I told him as I stood to my feet and gathered up the dishes and cleaned up a bit. I put the rest of the stew in the fridge for Jake when he returned.

As I grabbed my bag and pulled my keys from my pocket I leaned down and kissed Billy on his cheek and thanked him for listening and believing what I had told him. Before I left I asked him if he would let me know when the Cullen's returned.

He agreed and told me to spend as much time down here on the Reservation as I could just to be safe. I agreed and left. As I drove home I wondered how I was going to stay away from Edward and Alice at school. I still had four months of school left and I just knew they would work together to get me alone.

Before he used to dazzle me by getting close enough to blow his sweet intoxicating breath into my face and with the soft ringing of his voice he could make me; or any human as far as that goes, do his bidding.

But I knew what vampires were capable of now, and I would make sure I had other people around me constantly and never let myself be alone with any of the Cullen's.

On the way home I stopped at the grocery store to buy some of the foods Charlie seemed to avoid. While shopping I literally ran into Angela. I knew who she was, but she of course didn't know me. Our carts clanged together as I ventured around to the next aisle and we both apologized for not paying any attention to where we were going.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry," we said simultaneously as we both chuckled in doing so.

"Hi, I'm Angela Webber," she said holding out her hand for me to shake.

"Hi, I'm Isabella Swan, but I like to be called Bella," I took her hand and gave it a light shake. Her eyes grew large as he realized who I was.

"Oh yeah, you're Chief Swan's daughter. We heard you were coming."

"Yeah, that's me," I said blushing.

"Are you starting school tomorrow?" she asked. I nodded.

"Yes, I am. I'm a senior this year."

"Me too, look I know how bad your first day can be so why don't you meet me at the front door of the school and I can take you on a short tour, maybe help you with your locker and stuff like that," she offered.

"That would be great Angela thanks."

"It's no problem. So I guess I'll see you tomorrow then alright?" I agreed and finished my shopping. It felt so weird going through all the introductions of people I used to know that didn't know me. I'd have to grow accustomed to that twist of my new life.

It did surprise me that I hadn't run into any other people that knew me in this timeline, but with Charlie taking me to the Reservation during my time with him I guess it made sense, and Jacob used to keep me to himself without interruption from his friends while I was there or so I was told by Charlie and Billy anyway, so I guess it made some sense that I never met any of them, and if I did no one said anything yet.

I drove home and put the groceries away and fixed Charlie's favorite dinner; steak, baked potatoes and a green salad. I even made his favorite dessert: cherry pie. I had just set the table when I heard the door open.

"Bells you home?" he called out.

"I'm in the kitchen Dad!" I called back, and after a few seconds he appeared in the kitchen door.

"What smells so good?" he asked as he pulled a Vitamin R out of the fridge and sat down in front of his plate.

"Steak and potatoes, your favorite; I went to the store today and stocked up on full meals for us."

"That's great, honey, it smells delicious," he said as I filled his place. I filled mine and we sat in silence for a few minutes enjoying our meal.

"So…what's up?" he asked. I looked at him confused not knowing what he meant at first until he explained. "Well, you made my favorite meal, there must be something up. Is there something you want to tell me or ask me?" Well that hadn't changed; I thought to myself. He was the same intuitive Charlie as in my last life. Must have something to do with him being a cop.

"Well yeah, there is something I need to talk to you about, but I'm not sure how to start." He nodded.

"I suggest you start at the beginning Bells," he said.

So that's what I did. At first I stumbled through my words as I tried to explain what had happen to me. He sat there with his mouth hanging open in disbelief and when I finished he asked me the same thing mom had; which was 'are you sure you weren't dreaming?'. But after I explained how I knew things that were going to happen before they happened, he didn't know what to think or say.

I told him of my talk with Billy and told him he said I knew too much for it to be a coincidence. Billy didn't know what to think or do either, I told him. Charlie then asked why I went to Billy instead of talking to him first.

I told him I needed Billy to know about the possible regenerating of the protectors, before I told him about them; and I knew he'd want to talk to Billy and ask him about it. But Billy needed to know ahead of time that I was going to talk to dad too before he went to Billy with his own questions.

He asked what I meant by 'regenerating' and 'protectors' and I explained about the Cold Ones and the Wolf pack of La Push. He really thought I had lost my mind. He said he remembered those old wives' tales, and said surely I didn't believe in those old stories.

There weren't any shifters yet to prove my point; but I told him to go talk to Billy, he'd tell him the truth. I told him if I didn't change things in this timeline that I would die again. He gasped at hearing this and recognizing the frustration in my voice and said he'd talk to Billy about it.

He asked why I was telling him about all this if it was supposed to be a secret. I told him that I may at some time be in grave danger; and if he also had knowledge of vampires he would know not to approach them and to call one of the protectors to handle the situation since they are the only ones that can kill them. I offered the alternative; he could carry around a flamethrower on his back for the next couple of years.

He smirked at that and finally said he believed. He agreed if all this was true; the only safe place for me would be the Reservation, and suggested as Billy had that I should spend most of my time down there.

I told him I still had to go to school where the Cullen's would be and he suggested that one of the protectors should either switch schools to protect me or follow me to school and hang out in the wooded area behind the school. He told me not to worry about it that he would talk to Billy and see what could be done.

I explained there weren't any protectors yet and that Sam had already graduated. He didn't like to hear that, and told me to make sure I hung around with a lot of students and never let myself be alone, something I had already resolved to accomplish.

At least I had a plan and Charlie and Billy knew what was to come; so if Edward did dazzle me, dad and Billy could do something about it. Do what, I had no idea. But I would have to take my chances until one of the protectors phased.

When I got up to do the dishes; dad left to go talk to Billy. He was gone for some time and when he came back, I was sitting on the sofa not really paying much attention to some random movie I'd found. Charlie walked up to me and pulled me off the sofa and into his arms and held me for a few minutes before he spoke.

"My God, baby! We'll handle this somehow," was all he said and then he kissed the top of my head. "I'll do whatever I have to do to make sure you're safe," he continued as he rocked us back and forth in place. We stood there for what seemed like forever, and I could feel he was afraid to let go of me, afraid of what would happen if he did.

A/N: I know I left out some of what happens, but it will come out a little at a time, mostly during the meeting with the Elders and some with speaking to Sam...Also Bella will let it slip about Edward sneaking in her room...lol...that will be a fun read...thanks for reading.