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Chapter 9-
Wednesday rolled in and school passed by as usual. Lauren was still glaring daggers at me and Jessica was still scowling whenever she saw me. But one thing that had changed was that I was talking to Angela now. I had not forgiven her completely for the party incident but after being paired up for a history assignment in the first period, I decided to atleast act cordial towards her. Trusting her again would take some time and effort from her side.
After school I decided to go and see Old Quil as Billy had told me to on the weekend. The Atearas owned the only supermarket in La Push which was run by Joy Ateara and Quil often helped her out. Old Quil travelled a lot to the neighboring tribes for tribal business. They lived in the main market area in an apartment above the supermarket.
I knocked on the apartment door only for Quil to open it
"Hey Quil"
"Hey Bells. Long time no see"
"Ya I have been busy these days. What's new in your life?"
"I went out on two dates last week. You know girls just can't resist my charm" said Quil making me laugh
"Sure Sure" I said using Jake's famous catchphrase
"So how come you are here?" asked Quil
"Is old Quil home? I wanted to meet him"
"Yes he is in his room. Sit I will call him"
I sat on the couch and he went to call Old Quil
"Bella I was just about to leave for the tribal centre. Follow me we will have our talk there" said Old Quil coming out of his room and walking towards the door.
"Grandpa, should I drop you?"
"No need. Bella you have your truck right?" asked Old Quil looking at me
I nodded my head
"Good then we should get going"
I said bye to Quil and walked out after his grandfather
Old Quil was a very silent man and apart from giving me directions to reach the tribal centre he did not utter a word preferring to look outside the window.
"Stop here" he said pointing towards a building "Follow me" he got out off the truck and walked towards the main door.
The tribal centre was an ancient looking three storied building that housed an indoor community hall for parties, a common conference room for tribal meetings and separate cabins for each of the tribal elders. There was also a reception and a seating area.
He led me towards one of the rooms which was locked
"Lorraine" he called out to the girl who was sitting at the reception "I don't want any disturbance. Make sure no one enters"
The girl nodded her head and unlocked the door we were standing outside
The room was filled with shelves consisting of old half torn books and a desk was lying in one of the corners. There was very little lighting in the room. He sat on one of the chairs and motioned me to sit on the other.
"This room is strictly for pack business and only those who know the truth can enter. You see those books they are written documentations by the last pack and as the current pack members increase we will be documenting their life as well for future reference. Now you must be thinking why you are here?" he said pushing his spectacles above his nose.
I nodded my head. I had a doubt that it was linked to my time traveling one and a half years in the past. If I remembered the potion Jared and Emily gave me belonged to Old Quil.
"You see Bella, the path which you had chosen for your life had grave consequences for not only you, an imprint but also for two other wolves of my pack and if I would not have stopped it from happening there would be a lot to pay up in the future"
"I don't understand" I muttered out
He rose his hand up as if to stop me "When I talk I don't like being interrupted. You will let me finish before you decide to speak. Is that clear?" he said sternly
I gulped and nodded my head.
"You were never meant to be with Edward. If you remember after your first day of school, Edward disappeared for a week. He was not supposed to come back. His mate was there but he was too ignorant to see her."
"His mate?" I whispered and he gave me a stern look which made me squirm back in my seat.
"Yes Tanya Denali of the Denali coven. When he decided to come back and talk to you, it changed the future. You were not supposed to know of their secrets. You would have come to La Push with Charlie when the time was right, met Paul who would have imprinted on you and through him you would have known of Vampires and Werewolves. But then you started dating Edward and you know the rest"
I did not know what to say ahead. Tanya had always liked Edward. Were they actually meant to be? I sat there like a statue and waited for him to continue.
"Now storytelling is Billy's mastery but I will try and give you a brief version of what was going to happen if Jared and Emily had not come to meet you that day. You would have gotten married, gone on your honeymoon and come back pregnant…"
I interrupted him ignoring the glare he gave me "Vampires can't reproduce"
"Silly girl" he muttered under his breath "Female Vampires can't because their body is frozen but a male vampire can get a human pregnant"
I looked at him in shock. I don't think even Carlisle knew about this.
"Now where was I? So yes, you would have come back to Forks pregnant with a hybrid child. Sam as the Alpha would have decided to kill the child as he saw the child as an unknown threat and Jacob who was madly in love with you would have decided to stand by you and break away from the current pack making his own pack with Leah and Seth." He said rather nonchalantly
I was going to have a child, a hybrid child. I was only eighteen. I did not even know if I wanted kids. I was never a maternal person and when I decided to be with Edward I had made peace with the fact that I would not have any children. And Jake was going to break away from his pack, from his brothers and friends to support me the girl who had married his mortal enemy? I had been such a terrible friend to him in the past and had broken his heart way too many times to even keep count and still he supported me when I needed help.
"After a complicated pregnancy that would have almost killed you, you would have given birth to Renesmee Carlie Cullen and Edward would have changed you inserting his own Venom. The pack would have taken this as a violation of the treaty and would attack but they would be stopped by Jacob who would have imprinted on your daughter and the pack would have to withdraw because of imprint laws." He said in one breath with an almost bored like expression as if he was reading a poorly written novel.
Jacob imprinted on my daughter? I can't believe this. Even though five minutes back I was not sure whether I wanted that child or not, the thought of him imprinting on my newborn daughter makes me cringe.
"Long story short you would have been changed and with you taking your last breath, Paul would have started going insane with violent outbursts being the first sign. A wolf cannot live without his imprint for long Bella and you becoming a vampire would be considered as good as dead. Paul would have survived for a few months utmost a year before he would have lost himself completely to the wolf and Sam would be forced to kill him as a rogue wolf is dangerous to everyone around him." He said now looking completely serious.
I closed my eyes as a few tears rolled down my cheeks. Paul would have suffered this cruel fate. The happy, smiling, sarcastic, angry Paul who had made his place in my heart in these past few days would have gone through this without any fault of his own.
"Edward and you would have soon realized that you'll were not meant to be and you'll would have mutually separated to let him be with Tanya. Jacob would have lived with Nessie but would never be completely happy with her as he was still very much in love with you. So you see Bella the consequences of your one decision"
I wrapped my arms around my torso and started crying.
He handed me a tissue "Hush now child. Not everyone gets a second chance in life. You are one of the lucky ones and you should use this chance wisely."
"Why hadn't Alice seen this? She is a seer" I whispered with a lump in my throat
"Alice sees your future based on the decisions you make and Edward had decided to talk to you and you had decided to be with him. Two days before your wedding I had a rather long dream and saw all that I just described. Now Bella, I may know everything about what is going on with my wolves and their imprints but I don't intervene till absolutely necessary and when I saw this I talked Emily and Jared into giving you this potion. Of course they did not know about my dream. So this is where you are to make your wrongs right"
"Can I stop the remaining boys from phasing?" I asked wiping a few tears. If the Cullens left, there would be a chance of the gene not activating. I could talk to Carlisle and Esme. They would surely understand.
"No phasing is in their fate and some things are inevitable. All those who were meant to phase will still phase and in the same order" he said sighing
"Oh my god, Leah" I whispered. She had just started her college and she would be forced to return.
He shook his head "Leah was never supposed to phase. Just like all the male descendants of Taha Aki, all female ones also have the wolf gene but it is recessive instead of dominant. Leah's phase was due to her uncontrollable anger and buried down resentment."
"Bella always remember 'With great power comes great responsibility' and you have the power to change your life as well as someone else's and it is your duty to use this power wisely. You cannot change things like phasing but you can make their journey easier for them."
"Now there was also another reason why I called you here. Generally it is the Alpha's imprint that is responsible for documenting the pack details. Ephraim Black's wife was looking after these books in the time of the original pack and technically Jacob's imprint should have been responsible for this but Billy, Harry and I all think that you should be assigned with this responsibility. If you accept the work you will have to read through these books and make notes in case anyone of the pack needs information on a matter related to shape shifters. You will also enter the details of all the Pack members with their phasing dates and place, their imprints, their lineage and the names and birth dates of their future children. You will be getting an income for this and will also be responsible for organizing the annual tribal events. In short if you accept this you will be a junior member of the tribal council."
I was dumbfounded and a bit flattered that they found me worthy of this position.
"I am truly honored sir that you think that I am capable enough for this work but I am an outsider to the tribe. Won't that be a problem for some members of the council?" I said
Even though I had not encountered many such people in La Push, there still were families who saw me and Charlie as Pale faces and looked at us with disdain.
"Silly girl" he muttered shaking his head "The spirits clearly don't think so. Do you know who my wife was?"
I shook my head "No"
"Molly Swan. She was Charlie's aunt and after marrying me she was a part of this tribe as much as I was and so will you be. After Paul imprints on you, you will be bound to this tribe as much as any other imprint"
"Wait does this mean Quil is my cousin" I asked raising my eyebrows
"Yes I guess second cousin or so"
"Wow" I muttered still in a daze
"So what is your decision?" he asked me after a few minutes of silence
"I accept the honor" I said smiling
"Good. Billy will be glad to hear. He was rooting for you to accept" he said giving me a genuine smile
"The keys will be with Lorraine, whenever you want to enter the room, take it from her. Also the books cannot be taken outside and as of now this is your office" he said pointing towards the four walls.
I thanked him before locking my new office and dropping Old Quil back to his apartment.
Thursday followed by the same way. After school, I drove down to the tribal centre. Charlie had been ecstatic when I informed him of my new job and so had Sam and Emily. After reading through some old manuscripts I had called it a day and had driven down to Sam's house to meet Emily. Emily was in the process of renovating the entire house so that she could move in by the end of the month. Sam and Jared had joined us after Patrol and we had had dinner together.
Today was Friday, the day before my date with Paul. Paul had told me that he would pick me up on Saturday at 11 although he had refused to divulge details of where we were going. When I asked him he said it was a surprise and he would like to keep it so.
Today was also Jared's first day back to school after phasing. He had shown remarkable control over his anger and so Sam had allowed him to go back just days after phasing.
"Bella, what are you thinking about?" asked Angela pulling me out of my thoughts
We were both sitting in my room currently. Angela had come over to study and complete our history assignment due on Monday.
"Nothing" I muttered
"Come on spill"
"I have a date tomorrow"
"Oh my god, with who?" she asked nearly shouting in excitement
"Paul Lahote. He lives in La Push"
She suddenly became serious.
"Bella, is this the same Paul that Lauren likes?"
"Ya I guess"
She shook her head "In that case if you really like this guy, you need to be careful Bella. I know Lauren since we were kids and she will stoop down to any extent to get what she wants and mind you she plays dirty and if the rumors of you going out with him reach her, she will go wild"
"Great just what I need, an enemy" I muttered sarcastically
After Angela left I drove down to the Reservation. Emily wanted some help with the interiors and she had asked me to help.
I was sitting on the couch in Sam's living room talking to Emily when Jared came barreling in with a huge grin on his face. He enveloped us both in bear hugs.
"Guess what?" he said nearly jumping with enthusiasm
"What?" asked Emily
"I imprinted"
Both of us stared at him with our mouths open. I knew Jared would imprint on Kim but I did not expect it to happen on his first day back to school.
"Who is she?" asked Emily close to jumping in enthusiasm herself
"Her name is Kim Connweller. She sat next to me in English and she is perfect" said Jared
Even thinking about her brought a huge smile on his face and both of us congratulated him.
"Tell me something?" he said sitting opposite us on the couch "How should I break it to her? Like should I just go and tell her directly that I imprinted on her or should I wait?" he asked nervously
"I don't have much experience on this. The circumstances were totally different for me and Sam" whispered Emily
Jared looked at me for an answer
"Take her out on a few dates, woo her before you break the news to her"
He nodded his head "I have to go for Patrol. I will see you'll later"
"Oh by the way Bella" said Jared stopping at the door "Have fun on your date tomorrow"
He playfully winked at me before leaving me to answer Emily's questions.
