Family Affair
Chapter 9
Please, Seth, save me. My eyes slammed opened from where I'd fallen asleep on Sam's couch waiting for him to return, and my heart was pounding within my chest. "What the fuck," I huffed out as I tried to calm my labored breathing, but the confusion of hearing Bella's voice in my head was over powering. Taking in a mouthful of cool morning air, I closed my eyes again and concentrated on the dream. It was pitch black, and so humid I could hardly breathe at all. The ground was hard, like stone, but level… concrete, maybe? The walls were definitely brick though, so it had to be a basement or cellar or something like that. It had felt so real, and her fear… My Bella was scared, but she was fighting to remain rational. I took another deep breath, focusing on the feelings flowing through me – no, through Bella. Fear, yes. Determination, cunning… hope. Was this part of the imprint, I wondered as my eyes fluttered back open. Could my pack brothers all do this? None of the other imprints had ever been in danger before, so I know Sam would send me to Old Quil or the tribal archives in the library instead of having me help search for my girl. He'd call me a hot head, a liability to the precious treaty with the Cullens. And he'd be right, as usual. Already my wolf wanted me to go ripe off body parts until someone started talking, but that could be hazardous to Bella's safety. I swallowed thickly as a wave of helplessness rolled through my being.
Of course Sam chose that moment to come home, with Jacob no less. "Seth," he called out stopping in front of his couch to look at me curiously, "what is it?"
"Bella."
That one word had Black blurring again. "What did you do," he growled, close to shifting inside the house – which Sam would be pissed about. I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the building depression as my brother-in-law order Jake to get his shit together or get out. "She was gone when I went home last night," I told him. "I got worried and followed her scent until I found mom's car halfway back to Forks on the side of the road. There had been another human with her, but… They must have gotten in a different car for some reason. I checked on her friend, who claims Bella dropped her off and headed home. Only, how could she without mom's car, you know. There's no trail to follow, but I'm sure it's Cullen that has her. He's been blowing up her phone all summer."
"You have no proof something's even wrong," Sam argued.
"Outside of mom's car, you mean. And her friend that claims nothing strange happen when it clearly did," I snapped. My anger dissipated quickly. "And then there are the dreams… "
"Dreams?" That caught Sam's attention. His eyes glanced towards Jacob's before ordering him to call a meeting in the meadow. "Did you imprint on her," he asked as soon as baby alpha was out of earshot. I shrugged. "I think so. I mean, it didn't feel like what you've shown me you felt for Emily at first or even what Jared felt for Kim, but the more she's away from Sparkles… "
"The stronger it gets," he finished. "Fucking leeches. I didn't realize they could mess with imprinting before." He closed his eyes and sighed deeply. "You know Embry and Jake both have hard-ons for the girl. I've even caught Paul fantasizing about her once. All I'm saying," he said, raising his hands in surrender as a snarl left my mouth, "is that maybe – considering your family relations with Bella – it might be better if you didn't reveal the depth of your connect with her. Not yet anyway."
"You want me to deny the imprint," I growled, jumping to my feet.
"No," he shouted at once. "I'm just saying don't announce it publicly until you can do something about it. Fuck, I know it's hard to rein the wolf in," he huffed out, the extent of his exhaustion finally appearing on his face. "We'll tell the pack she's missing, and they can patrol around Forks and La Push for any trace of her, okay? I want you to check out this dream thing. Ask the elders or look in the histories. If we haven't found anything by night fall, I'll call the parasite's leader and schedule a meeting at his home."
And that's how I ended up spending all day surrounded by dust and books. Of course I told mom about Bella, and she volunteered to talk to Old Quil – since even he was frightened to piss mom off – and she asked me not to say anything to Charlie until that night. The man was working a double shift from last night and wouldn't be home until ten or so. If we were lucky, he might not even notice she was missing. Charlie was a good man, and he took the whole 'wolf thing' really well, but I didn't want to overdo it with the fact his daughter had just been kidnapped by leeches. Especially when it seemed Sam was more worried about the damn treaty than my girl's life.
The floorboards creaking by the doorway drew me from my thoughts. My eyes narrowed at Jacob as he walked towards me dejectedly. "You know Sam already left for the meeting with the Cullens, don't you?" My eyes widened and I hissed, yet I wasn't certain if I believed him yet. "He said we'd both be liabilities to the pack, that we had to stay and watch the tribe." Yep, that sounded like Sam. "I was ordered to stay," he started, browns eyes looking into mine with meaning.
"I wasn't," I snapped back, then smiled as realization filled me.
"Bring her back safe, Clearwater."
I raced out of the library, off the reservation, and phased as soon as I'd made it into the woods. Bella's name sounded repetitively within my head, though I did have enough sense to tune into the pack mind. I could see Sam – who was the only wolf not shifted – talking to the Cullens outside their home, there were six of them – Dickward was nowhere to be seen. The remaining leeches looked horrified to hear Bella had been abducted, the leader even offered to help search for her. "Where's the other one," Sam asked. "The one Bella had been seeing?"
"Oh, one of our friends from Denali came for a visit, and Edward was kind enough to escort her back home."
I snarled at that. The fucker had taken Bella and fled. "Is there anywhere on the property that could be used for storage, like a cellar or –"
"A basement," the blond female spoke, only to receive a glare from the dark haired female. "There's one in the cabin, a few miles from here. But none of us have used it in years."
"We'd like to look, all the same," Sam replied. "We've search Forks and La Push already and found nothing. If she'd not here…" The eldest female's hand tightened on the blond leader's shoulder, looking for all the world as if she were actually going to cry. "Rose," she spoke faintly, "would you show them the way?"
"Esme," the small dark haired one that had glared earlier protested, "you don't have to show them anything."
"I want to," the leech Esme said. "Bella was a part of this family, she was special to all of us, and she needs our help. Besides we have nothing to hide, right?" Golden eyes looked from one pale face to the next before this "Rose" led five of my pack brothers towards the cabin, which is where I turned my body to run towards. Bella, Bella, Bella…. It still sounded in my head. A howl was sounded, a growl releasing from my throat as the rest of the pack and the Cullens rushed towards the cabin. There, in its basement, was the only trace scent left of Isabella Swan. Her blood speckled the ground, along with a pile of vomit, and an oversize shirt with a pair of sweat pants I know she used for sleeping. She was here, but the scent was fading. Shifting back to human, not caring that I was naked before my mortal enemy, I glared and growled. "Where is she?"
"I-" stated the one called Esme, only to falter as a look of horror took over her face.
"We don't know," answered the leader. "We didn't even know she was here. We were gone for a few days and…" His blond brows drew down. "Alice, could you not see this happening."
"He must not have thought about it," the dark haired pixie answered. "I only see decisions."
"Where is Edward Cullen," Sam demanded in a firm steady voice. "That seems the best place to start our search."
"Alaska," the doctor mumbled, his gold eyes looking over the eldest female – presumably his wife. "She's means a lot to my family. Please, bring her back safe."
A/N: A little short, but you all have been so patient and wonderful I decided to update asap. Thanks for reading.
