Billy's POV

I stared at the bloodsucker in front of me in disbelief. I was more than shocked by his words. I was completely floored. How could he have possibly known that I was Bella's father? I didn't even know until last night. Well, not for sure anyway. I always knew there was a possibility, but I never knew for sure and I never tried to find out. So if I didn't know, how the hell could this bloodsucker have known?

"I'm a telepath. I can hear your thoughts," Cullen told me.

Again, I was shocked. I didn't know it was possible for a vampire to hear your thoughts. That was just what we needed. A telepathic bloodsucker on La Push. It explained why he decided to come outside though. He could hear how much we hated him just from our thoughts.

"I can hear your thoughts outside just as well as I can inside. I just didn't want to upset anyone any longer. Anyway, I was reading your thoughts last night during the meeting. They were very erratic though, so I didn't get it right away. I thought about it later though. I thought about your incoherent thoughts, plus the way you looked when Paul taunted Bella about the possibility of her mother being unfaithful," he said.

I tried to look impassive, but I know I failed miserably. I know the leech must have seen the guilty look on my face. I couldn't help showing it. I'd never forgiven myself for what I did to Charlie and my own wife. I'd betrayed everyone I loved with a one night stand with my best friend's wife.

When Charlie had found out what I'd done, he nearly killed me, especially when he realized that the paternity of his child was in question. After the punches stopped flying, we'd all agreed that there would be no DNA tests or doubts. Bella would be Charlie's, period.

And for a while, that was how it went. I never questioned Bella's paternity out loud. Hell, even in my head, I didn't have much doubt. Bella was fair skinned. I figured it probably meant that she was Charlie's. There were a couple of lingering doubts, but for the most part, I was sure she was Charlie's. Until last night. When I watched Bella tremble right in front of me, I knew what was happening. I knew she'd been about to phase. There were no more 'what if's' and there was no more ignoring the giant elephant in the room. Bella phasing meant she was Quileute. It meant she was mine.

"So Charlie knew then?" Cullen asked.

I glared at him. The little leech was reading my mind again. "Get out of my head! That's damn irritating!"

He smiled slightly. "My family agrees with you. I have no control over it. Believe me, there are times that I wished I did. Trust me, I wish I didn't know this. I do not want to have to decide what to do with the knowledge that Bella's father abandoned her."

I glared daggers at him. This little prick dared accuse me of abandoning Bella? If I could, I would fling him across the yard. "Who the hell do you think you are? I did not abandon Bella!"

"With all due respect, what would you call it? You knew there was a chance she was your daughter and you didn't do anything about it, all because of a friendship you'd already betrayed once. To hell with the daughter you might have created," Cullen said. His voice had taken such a cold change that the velvety sound it carried just a few moments ago was almost completely gone.

I wasn't about to succumb to the judgment of a bloodsucker. "You have no right to judge me. You know nothing of what happened. I loved that girl like she was my own!"

"She was your own. You realize that, right? Bella is your daughter. You let your best friend raise your child," he said to me.

I let his words sink in. It was the first time those words had been spoken out loud. I'd said them in my head, but I'd never heard them said out loud. Bella was my daughter. She was as much mine as Jacob, Rachel, and Rebecca.

I let that settle in my head for a minute and then I thought about what could've been. I thought about Bella growing up with me around her siblings and the rest of the tribe. What would her life have been like had that happened? She wouldn't have dated Cullen, that was for sure. I would've made sure to keep her away from him.

"I guess then I should be grateful that things turned out the way they did," Cullen said.

"She deserves better than you," I said for the second time. She deserved better than anyone really, but certainly better than a leech.

"So you're said and I've agreed. Bella deserves much better than me, and believe me, if I thought it was best, I'd leave. Hey, I was gonna do just that. That's why she phased. Even after the imprint, I was willing to do it if it would help her, but…"

"It wouldn't have. You would've killed her if you'd left," I said. Sam was right about that. If Bella was away from her imprint, it would eventually kill her. We were all stuck with this bloodsucker forever.

"It is no walk in the park for me either. Why would I wanna be around people who hate my very existence? But I'll do it for Bella. She is everything to me," he said.

"Are you going to tell Bella what you've found out?" I asked. I needed to be prepared if he planned to tell Bella that I was her father. For one, I would have to tell Jacob. I could only imagine how well that would go over. My son thought my relationship with his mother had been perfect. He would soon find out otherwise if this came out.

"I don't know. I should. She deserves to know and it would be a betrayal not to tell her. But she is already going through so much right now. It's only been a day since she found out she was a wolf. In that time, she's been forced to walk away from her father, blood or not, that's what he is, she's had to move in with people she barely knows, and she knows that one of her parents are not so. I'm afraid to add to that. So I guess the answer is that I don't know," Cullen explained.

"It's not your place to tell her anything," I said glaring.

"I agree. So take it out of my hands. You're here father, right? Well, one of them anyway. Tell her yourself so I don't have to make the decision. Believe me, it's better that way. I think she'll eventually forgive you if she hears it from you. I can't guarantee that if I'm the one to do it.

"Leave it alone! She'll be hurt by it," I said. Okay, I admit it, I was afraid of Bella's anger. Cullen said she'd probably forgive me, but I wasn't so sure. My self-righteousness aside, I knew I'd failed Bella by succumbing to Charlie and Renee's wishes and not finding out for sure. It didn't matter how much Bella loved Charlie. She would feel betrayed by me for not claiming her.

"You're right. She will be hurt, but you can't stop it. She already knows her paternity isn't what she thought it was. She won't stop until she finds out the rest. If she leans the truth from someone else but you, the pain and anger she'll feel will be ten times worse," the leech said.

I didn't say anything. Cullen was right, but I'd sooner jump off a bridge than I would admit that a cold one was right.

"Have it your way, but tell her. I'm going to go. I will come back when Bella and Sam return," he said before walked away.