Homecoming
Chapter Nine
Finding out one was a witch – and a super powerful one at that – made it harder to focus on daily tasks than Bella had originally thought. She loved her kids dearly, but all throughout her lessons her mind kept wondering off to either her powers or her wolf. She missed him already, nearly as much as she missed Jacob. Isabella knew she was being ridiculous, but just the same she hunted down a semi-educational video that had something to do with the reading assignment she'd placed for the day so she could pretend to grade the pop quizzes she'd given that morning. (She'd assured the class it wasn't for a grade, just to see how much they'd forgotten over break.) In truth, she couldn't wait for the day to be over. The second the final student left her room for the day, she was on her cell phone dialing Jacob's number.
"Hey," she said to his answering machine as she walked to the school parking lot and unlocked her car. "So I know we just spent all day together yesterday, but I was wondering if maybe you'd like to come over tonight? I could cook and we could watch a movie – shifter's choice," she teased lightly, then rolled her eyes at how dumb she thought she sounded. "I hope to see you tonight. Um, yeah, bye then."
"Nice," she mocked herself as she pushed her cell phone back into her pocket. "Real smooth, Swan." Isabella laughed at herself while unlocking her car door and slipping inside. The car ride home was uneventful, just the way Bella liked them, and with a happy sigh she locked up her car for the night and walk up the sidewalk to her front door. There she paused, her breath catching in her throat at the sight of the front door standing ajar – the doorknob lying idly on the ground, five indents evident in its metal that oddly enough looked like fingers. Releasing her pent up breath, Isabella reached inside her pocket and called Rachel's cell, relief filling her when her friend answered.
"Where are you," she hissed softly, though urgently as she walked backwards to her car – never taking her eyes off the front door of her duplex.
"At Paul's. Why, what's wrong? Issy," Rachel's voice became frantic towards the end.
"I just got home. The front door's open, and the doorknob has been ripped out. I… Please," she begged, flash backs of when she'd found her mother and Phil dead running through her mind, "stay on the phone with me until I get back to my car."
"Of course," she agreed, only lowering the phone long enough to tell Paul that Bella was in trouble. "I'm right here, Is, calm down. Talk to me."
With shaking hands, she attempted to unlock her car door only to drop her keys on the concrete drive. Cursing her bad luck, she bent to pick them up, only to come face to face with a pale man with long blond hair and an evil grin when she straightened back up. She gave a surprised scream, one hand going to her chest as her other hand snuck her cell phone into her jacket pocket. "I'm sorry," she played off her fear with a small smile, "you frightened me."
"With good reason, Isabella," purred the same voice she'd heard so many times in voice messages since her mother's death.
"You," she sputtered out, hoping Rachel was listening and would remain silent on the other end of the line.
"I told you I'd find you," he smirked, "did you doubt me?" She shook her head 'no' and he grinned. "I knew you really wanted me to find you, my little cock tease." The slightly buff looking vampire leaned towards her and moaned as he took in her scent. "God, I've had blue balls for nearly a month now tracking that smell. Wondering if it's even possible for you to taste better than your scent. Wondering if your come or your blood is sweeter. Wondering if maybe I should forgive you for leaving me. You're only human after all, and clearly unaccustomed to such devotions as I've bestowed upon you. But now I've finally found you, and my wondering has ceased. Well, " he leered at her, "most of it."
"It has," she said, desperately trying to push down her fear so she could think clearly.
"I'm going to make you mine forever, Isabella," he replied with a twisted smile. "That way I can feed from you and fuck you as much as I desire – and I do desire, quite a bit actually. But we're getting ahead of ourselves," he murmured, reaching out and tracing her jaw with the back of his hand.
"We are."
He chuckled at her one line replies, mistaking it for a sign of desire. "Oh yes," his smile widened so that it resembled that of a shark's mouth, "first we're going inside and I'm going to tongue fuck that delightful smelling pussy of yours until you can do nothing but beg, and then-"
"Then," she questioned, her heart pounding faster in her chest. The vampire growled, confusing her fear with passion. "Then, as I sink my cock inside you, I'm going to feed from you. I won't take much this time. No, I'm going to savor the taste of you, my Isabella, for as long as my restraint allows. And then one day, as I'm fucking you beyond the limits of pleasure your mortal mind can take, I'll turn you – make you like me."
"What's your name," she stammered, desperate for more time – time for the wolves to arrive, time for her lame ass powers to actually start helping her.
"James," he tells her, and as she repeats it his eyes darkens and he growls. "That's the only name you should ever speak again," he all but demands. Quicker than her mind can process, James's pale, strong hand is around her upper arm, dragging her back towards her front door. "Where are we -," she starts, but he frowns at her and narrows his ruby eyes dangerously.
"I told you, Isabella," he replies, with a vicious grin, "I'm going to make you mine now."
"No," a voice shouts from behind them, her head and James's both look back to see Edwards Cullen standing a few feet from them, his eyes black with rage and his lips twisted into a snarl. "You tricked me," he snaps out. "You said you only wanted to kill her –"
James laughs, a dark sound that makes terror build at the base of Isabella's spine. "And I did," he agrees, "but now that I've seen her – smelt her up close – I'd have to be an utter fool to simply dispose of her. One doesn't waste such a fine Bordeaux, or at least they shouldn't."
"She is mine," Cullen growls out, his chest rumbling as he crouches towards the ground, readying his attack. Isabella's eyes widen in surprise, her protest that she isn't either of theirs barely held back as she registers that Edward is coming to her rescue but also seems to be the reason James found her in the first place. 'The ancestors were right', she thinks, 'he did try to force me into being like him.' Loathing begins to fill her being, but she forces it back to clear her mind, waiting for some sort of opening in which to make her escape. The two vampires rush at each other, their bodies twisting and moving in ways that Bella thought were physically impossible. They claw, snap, and tear at each other, snarling and growl like wild animals, so consumed in their fight – in the death of their enemy – that they miss the arrival of her true rescuers. The first one she sees is Paul, his grey fur streaking past her as he launches himself towards the undead duo. His teeth clamp onto Edwards Cullen's shoulder, who releases a horrific screeching sound while James grins at his good fortune.
"Where were we now," he asks his prey, stalking towards her again. Isabella nearly screams when movement from the bushes catches her attention. "You," she sighs out in awe as her wolf comes bounding out, his large russet body landing in front of her with a sound somewhere between a bark and a snarl. And somehow, even in the midst of a supernatural fight over her life, she manages to relax because her wolf is here with her again.
A/N: So I started a different fic and the plot bunnies went wild on it and this story kinda got push back for a while. But after a few people asked for an update, I sat myself down and forced a chapter out. Hope you like it, as it was entirely fan-inspired.
