~~CHAPTER 9~~
"She'll wake up soon guys, relax. Damn It Liam. For the last fucking time, back away. I will shift and right now and make you move. She has people to care for her. I get it she's your Imprint, but she'll freak if she wakes up and you are right in her face." I hear Paul rumble from above me, I can tell that I'm in his lap from the way his voice sounds. I grumble to myself as I slowly open my eyes, looking around I see the Pack and some of the Panthers around me, watching curiously.
"I'm fine. Help me up Liam, since you wanna be near me so much." I offer him my hand and he pulls me up, helping me balance.
"Makawee." I hear the Alpha male lion rumble from across the clearing.
"I want to apologize for the younger, more volatile cubs that are in your presence. While you were unconscious I dealt with their disrespect and you now have full cooperation. We will share a blood bond with you and will work with the vampires. We may not like it, but we will do anything that we can to give these younger cubs and pups a better life where they can live freely." He nods to me and I nod back.
"I understand why they had their discrepancies, it is in the past now." I turn to the rest of the gathered shifters, "We will go back to my temporary cabin and get the blood link over with, then we will begin to train. Over the next week or so, we will have bears, more wolves,eagles, coyotes, and bobcats showing up from all over the continent. I know that there are a lot of us already, but we need to get along just long enough for everyone to get through this war." I watch as everyone nods.
"Now, I'm going to drive back to my cabin, I can fit about twelve of you in here if you want to ride. If not, feel free to follow my wolves back. Liam, you can not ride." I hop back into my truck and wait a few moments, watching everyone walk into the brush to strip and shift. None of the shifters from any tribe get in so I head back to the cabin. I get there before any of the others, so I go in and get a knife and four of my large glasses and set them out on the porch. I grab a small rag and a quick snack before I sit and wait.
Once everyone shows back up and shifts back to their human skins, I look them over, many of the panthers and lions are more relaxed, but a few still are very cautious, which is to be expected.
"Alright, so for this to work I will do each tribe with their own glass. My blood will go first, as far as I know you only need a mouthful of my blood to be connected. We'll do the wolves first, oldest to youngest." I say, wanting to get Sam's over with so he can have the connection and so I can break Emily's spell on him. Sam grumbles but walks in front of me and kneels so we are face to face.
"Do you as a protector of your tribe promise to listen and uphold any of my orders, to the best of your ability during this war? Do you promise to fight and protect these fellow shifters with your life, as if they were your own brother, till this war is over?" I look at his emotionless face and his exhausted eyes as he nods.
"I do." He rumbles and I take the knife and cut across my palm letting my blood drip into the glass until it is almost half full and offer it to him. He drinks a mouthful before he hands it back to me and grips his head, letting out a loud scream.
"Don't panic! I'm breaking Emily's spell over him and creating the connection. He's getting his memory's back and reliving everything that has happened while he was under her spell. Jake, take him inside and we will continue." Everyone looks at me like I am crazy as Jake carries Sam into the house and lays him in my bed.
"That won't happen to everyone, just him. One of our former females in this tribe used a potion to put a spell on my Soul Bond with Sam. She took him from me and there was nothing that I could do about it, until now. Can we continue?" They all nod and one by one every shifter pledges to obey my orders and protect one another life family, taking my blood as a connector.
"Now, I want all of you to drip about a teaspoon of blood into these three glasses and I will take it from there." They do as I say and I pick up a glass.
"I, Isabella Marie Swan, Soul Bond of Samuel Uley, Makawee for all tribes, pledge to guide all shifters and protect them to the best of my ability. I will only give orders to said protectors when I feel their life is in direct danger." I down each glass of blood, feeling the ropes of the blood link connect me to all of them, I can feel where they are and I can hear their inner animals rumbling to me, thanking me for giving them a connection to someone who can truly hear them.
"Thank you all for sharing your blood and creating the connection, the Pack will show you all where you can stay until my larger house is finished in a few weeks or so. My house can house twelve shifters after the bedrooms are finished, they'll have two sets of bunk beds so everyone can have a bed to sleep in. We are equipping the other houses that we have set up for you all with bunk beds so everyone can stay with their own tribe, if they want. If any of you need work, Jared has a construction company that is building my house and many others all around the surrounding counties. With the strength that you all possess, they can get done quicker and you will all be payed. Have a good evening, get your rest and food, tomorrow we begin to train." They all nod or smile at me as they walk by me as I head inside to deal with Sam and his chaos.
"B-Bella..What happened?" He is sitting up with his head in his hands, tears streaming down his face.
"Emily used a potion from the vampire's that gave her control over you. She gave you a drink with the potion in it and took over your mind and you did her bidding. Your body wouldn't let you have a baby or sex with her, but she liked to tell me that you'd have sex. We've been apart for almost four years, it's killed me everyday to be apart from you and to see you with her. You remember it all, don't you?" I sit on the couch across from him, watching him cautiously.
"I remember it all, I am so sorry. I remember she brought me dinner the night that we argued, when you left for Portland. It was about an hour after you called me and told me that you truly loved me. I ate the burger and drank the soda, because it was from Sue's diner, but I didn't think that she would have been able to do that. I felt weird after, and then I blacked out. The only time that I was back in control of my body was when we were in the council hall and you were on my chest, telling me to come back to you." He stands up and walks over to me, kneeling in front of me, placing his scalding hands on my thighs, looking me in the eyes.
"I feel it, I feel all of your pain. I am so damn sorry..please.." I wrap him in my arms and hold him against me.
"You were forgiven once I realized what happened, none of this can be held against you Sammy, you weren't in control. Now listen, we have to get you back on your feet and get rid of Emily and begin training, we have a lot to do and not very long to do it." He looks up at me and kisses me deeply, his hands tangled in my hair. I kiss him back with the same fervor, his scalding hands on my skin bring me back to reality. Pushing him away I stand and walk a few steps away.
"No, you don't get to do that. It's been three years, you just got your memory back, I am not having sex with you. Get up, calm down and go outside. Send Liam in, he and I need to talk about something important." Sam looks at me as if I've lost my mind.
"He's your Imprint, why would I let you talk to him? You'll fuck him but you won't make love with me and rekindle our Soul Bond?" I am back in his face in an instant, his anger feeding the flames already lit in my veins.
"Unlike Emily, I am not a cheater! I can't even have sex with anyone but you, it physically makes me sick Sam. Do not sit here and act like you know what I would do! I want to have the conversation where I can let him down easily and let him know that he and I can become friends. Go tell him to come inside." I turn away from him again and head into the kitchen softly pulling on the blood connection with Jake.
"Come get Sam. Take him to the practice clearing with the others and go over how the tribes take out vampires and see if there is a way to perfect it." I get a mental image of Jake nodding as Liam walks in, standing near the furthest counter.
"You wanted to see me Bella?" I place a hot cup of coffee in front of him and lean back against the sink.
"I wanted to talk to you about this Imprint, I know how they work. You have to be whatever the Imprintee needs, well I need a friend. I have Sam and my Soul Bond with him that prevents me from being with anyone else, so being in a relationship is out of the question. I have plenty of brothers and sisters now, so what I truly need is a best friend that will have my back. In this war there will be many of us that may not come home, in truth, according to the scripts, I may not even come home." Liam gasps sharply looking at me shocked.
"I know, I need to tell the others, but I know that if I do then many will want to leave or not fight at all. We all have things that we have to come back to, and I will do my best have as many shifters as I can come home, even if I don't."
"Why would you not be able to come back? You're the one who'll take out the Royal Bloodsuckers." Liam's voice is filled with concern and curiosity as I walk from the kitchen into the living room, perching in the recliner.
"There are a few different ways a Makawee can get rid of the Royal Vampire's. One of the ways is pulling a little energy from the shifters, the elements and the spirit world, with that much energy the Makawee can create almost like a bomb of energy that will destroy all vampires that she is near, along with her own body." I put my hand up stopping Liam from interrupting me.
"The only reason that I would use this technique is if we were losing the battle. I don't want to have to kill myself, but I will to make sure everyone else can come home."
"What would happen to Sam?" Liam asks.
"According to the scripts he'll be heartbroken, but it won't kill him like a lover's imprint. I love Sammy to death, literally. I would do this, just so he wouldn't have to live like this anymore, so he can live a normal life without having to change into a wolf and fight vampires for the rest of his life or have to worry about his children going down the same path he had to. He could get away from La Push and achieve his dreams of being an architect somewhere warmer and dryer. All I want from him is to be happy and I would give my life for him, even if I have been without him for three years. Even if he told me that he hated me and that he didn't want me or love me anymore. I would still do this even if he was still under Emily's spell." My eyes welled with tears, the scalding heat trailing down my cheeks.
"Hopefully you won't have to resort to that. We'll have more than enough shifters and friendly vampire's to help us. We will all have your back, especially Sam, Leah, Jacob and the young boys that call you Mother. There will also be many layers of the other shifters surrounding you, even if it is at a distance. You are our Makawee, and you will survive." He places his hand on my shoulder and I nod wiping my eyes.
"Let's go to the practice clearing. I want to watch all three tribes and compare how they fight. On the way there I'll call the Cullen's and see how they are faring with staying inline and calling up their allies." He nods, walking with me to the explorer and riding with me to the clearing. I hop out and walk out to the boulders in the center of the clearing and shouting to gather everyone's attention.
"Hey! I want each tribe to show me how they would take on a vampire as a pack, in pairs and singularly. You can show me by practicing on Jasper Whitlock-Hale of our residential friendly vampires. Try dismembering him and he will give you an ass whooping. He will then teach us all more about fighting newborn vampires and those who have had experience fighting for hundreds of years." Jasper walks up on the boulder with me, nodding to the shifters who all instantly shift and gather in their packs, preparing to practice.
"Thanks Jasper." He nods to me and hops onto the grass.