This is rated T for language and minor adult content.
I don't own anything Twilight. SM owns it all, I'm just messing around! I hope you enjoy it.
Seeing Edward Cullen again for the second time of my life brought back all the anger I had completely forgotten about since my first day at Forks High. His bronze backsweep hair, his tall and lean frame, his black eyes glaring at me. He made me think I was lower than the dirt on his shoes and he had never spoken one word to me. I remembered my first time ever seeing him.
Some curly haired brunette at the lunch table I had been roped into sitting at by a geeky looking boy had babbled on and on about the adopted siblings of Doctor and Mrs. Cullen. I was immediately transfixed on Edward as he strutted into the cafeteria with smug swagger and a smirk on his lips as if he could hear everything the soprano voiced girl beside me was saying.
I knew now that he could and that infuriated me. I had asked questions about them, gawked secretively, and hoped to strike up a conversation with the gorgeous boy who made my heart speed. That all ended when I had entered a lab classroom and sat next to the rudest boy I had ever encountered. He glared openly and shuffled his stool away as if he might catch lice from my long clean hair. I remember being extremely embarrassed and sniffing my long locks to find out if I, in fact, forgot to shower that day.
The entire class was spent hiding behind a sheet of my own hair. Anything to try to ignore my apparent new foe. The next day, Edward hadn't been in school and I remember itching to ask him what the hell his problem with me was. I had intended to do just that but the migraines that started that day drove me insane. He hadn't been to school the rest of the week and that following weekend I shifted into Nidawi and never attended Forks High again.
Edward was not glaring at me this time. His golden eyes were soft and loving as if he had known and missed me my whole life and couldn't believe I was standing in front of him now. His eyes raked over my toned lithe form and darkened slightly. Pahoja growled lowly and Edward's smile widened.
That was when I remembered he was a mind reader.
I placed my hand on Pahoja's head and smoothed his gray and cream fur down his back without taking my eyes off of the Telepath, whose smile had slipped from his lips, his brows furrowed. I saw Jasper's grin from my peripheral vision and turned my head to look at the southern God.
"Something funny, Demon God?" I asked.
Gasps were sucked into dead lungs and a tiny fae-like vampire came rushing to stand in front of me, waving off the protests of a blonde model and a hulky demon.
"Hi! I'm..."
"Alice Cullen. It's nice to meet you." I said politely, extending my hand toward her. I remembered her the most. She had tried befriending me but I had been in too much pain to bother. I was considered short at five foot four but Alice was almost a head shorter than me. Her smile was radiant and I found myself smiling back immediately.
"You called my husband Demon God. Why?" She asked all open curiosity plastered on her childlike beautiful face. She had a dainty nose and small bow shaped lips the color of a ripened raspberry. She looked to be possibly seventeen or eighteen eternally. Her black hair was stylishly spiked around her head and I almost reached for it to see if those spikes would hurt me. She giggled.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I meant no disrespect to you or to your husband, Alice. When I first met him he was feeding and I had never seen a vampire before." I explained contritely. "I nicknamed him Demon God in my head and it stuck." I shrugged.
Her gold eyes and little nose scrunched up slightly in confusion. "But you have seen us before."
"Only for a week and I was so sick with migraines that I didn't pay too much attention nor did I know you were vampires. After that, I lived in La Push and had never heard of you again."
A strangled sound came from the Telepath and I cut my eyes to him, noting his distress before looking to Jasper again.
"Is this going to be the 'shit fit'?" I asked him amused. Jasper's never ending grin widened and stepped in front of me just in time for Eddie to stop at his nose.
"Move, Jasper." Eddie demanded. His muscles were taut and he looked ready to snap. I wondered at his reaction and stayed behind Jasper with Carlisle on my right and Alice on my left. Pahoja growled from behind me.
"Not until you calm yourself, brother. You will not demand anything of Miss Bella. She has her mate." Jasper replied calmly. His stance was relaxed and his hands clasped behind his back while he stared Eddie in the eyes.
"La Push, Jasper! I thought she was dead. Alice couldn't see you, Bella. I am so glad you're alive and well but please come talk to me. I have so much to tell you." His eyes darted from Jasper's to mine repeatedly but he made no move to step around his so called brother. He seemed to have completely ignored the mate comment. As if I would go off with another man. I snorted inwardly at his crazy talk. Of course Alice couldn't see me. I rarely went to Forks. I looked toward the deck where only three demons remained. A small woman with a motherly countenance and dark caramel colored hair, a hulk of a man with a large boyish grin on his face and thick brown curls, and a golden haired woman with her beautiful face twisted in a scowl. When my eyes met hers, they softened infinitesimally and I smiled. The motherly figure showed surprise on her face before she glanced toward the blonde and back at me with a large smile. I wondered at the display but turned my eyes back to Eddie.
"I will not be going anywhere with you, Telepath." I stated calmly but firmly. "I have come as a favor to Jasper and Carlisle, two of the kindest men I have ever met in my life. Do not make me disrespect them by tearing you apart." My eyes never moved from his and I watched as his jaw unhinged and he stepped back in shock.
Jasper and the hulk fell over themselves laughing while Alice and the blonde model sent tinkling giggles into the air. Carlisle held his hand out toward me, smiling and I cautiously placed mine into it. His hand was smooth, cool and hard as stone but his hold was gentle.
"No fear, dear. Remember?" He said softly to me as he pulled me forward toward the deck. I nodded absently as I bent to pick up my backpack, still holding the coven leader's hand. Pahoja trotted next to me, cone shaped ears twitching and listening. His eyes met mine as we walked up the deck steps and I winked at him.
Strangely enough, I didn't feel as timid as I thought I would. Meeting with Jasper and Carlisle before and having Pahoja with me now gave me a boost of confidence. Knowing the Quileute wolves were three miles away helped as well. As much as they did risk my life by showing up unannounced, I breathed easier knowing I did have back-up if I needed it.
Carlisle directed me to the far right side of the deck where a bright white picnic table sat parallel to the railing and I took a seat on the bench closest to the forest. If need be, I could flip over the railing and shift mid-air. I placed the backpack on the seat next to me and rummaged into it for Troy's clothing. After setting out his dark red shirt and dark denim jeans from earlier, I took his hair tie and slipped it over my wrist. I was aware that all eyes were on me, but I studiously ignored them as I met Pahoja's chocolate brown eyes again. He trotted over and snatched the clothing before slinking into the puckerberry bushes and shifting.
My tall, muscular Native put even the hulking vampire to shame. His biceps were flexed in irritation, hair in careless disarray over his shoulders, tree trunk thighs carrying him closer to me. He placed his large hand on the railing behind me and boosted himself over it to land lithely next to me. He kept his face neutral in his irritation and I commended him silently. I placed my tiny pale hands on his broad shoulders and turned him away from me before raking my fingers through his hair and quickly braiding it. Troy's chest rumbled with a purr as Eddie's chest rumbled in discontent. We both turned as one to place our hands, linked together, on the picnic table's top.
"Bella, is it? I'm Esme. It is so nice to meet you finally. I've heard so much about you, sweetheart." Her voice was naturally husky alto and her eyes showed her kindness. I could tell she was Carlisle's mate, even if he wasn't holding her hand tightly. The two of them oozed compassion. They stood on the other side of the picnic table in front of their sliding glass doors to the house.
"It's very nice to meet you too, Esme. I would like to formally introduce ourselves. I am Bella Swan and this is my mate, Troy Sauk."
Eddie growled from his position on a wicker chair across the deck. He was slouched down with his arms crossed and petulant look on his face. I smiled innocently at him and his brows smoothed out slightly.
"Hello, Bella. My name is Rosalie and this is my mate, Emmett." The blonde model had a name and it was as beautiful as she was. She had a kind smile and her mate was grinning madly as if there was a joke I'd missed. He waved a big hand and I smiled at him, nodding.
"And you've met me and my mate already!" Alice practically squealed. "I hope we can be good friends, Bella."
I was unsure about becoming friends with demons but I had already made tenative friendships with two of their covenmates already. I simply continued smiling, slightly uneasy.
Emmett and Rosalie sat down on the other side of the picnic table while Jasper and Alice propped themselves up onto the railing of the porch nearest Troy and myself.
Edward stood, apparently feeling left out. "I am Edward, as you know. Bella, I have been waiting for you for over a hundred years. You can't be Troy's mate. You are mine." He was very lucky that his voice was kept smooth and even or I might have jabbed him in the eyes with my teeny tiny fox nails. I know my eyes flashed green when I saw it in the reflection of Edward's eyes. Troy growled.
I stood from the table and pressed my palms into the table top. Keeping my voice even and low though somewhat menacing as I glared at Edward.
"If I was your mate, you would not have left me the first day after meeting me. You would not have continued your life as if I had never been apart of it, if you were under the misconception that I was dead. You are not my mate, Telepath. Troy Sauk is my mate. He has my heart, he is my alpha. I bear his mark on my body. I am not yours." I lowered my voice more and let a rumbling growl resound with my words. "I am his."
"No!" He didn't quite yell but he raised his voice and his hands dove for his hair, yanking on it as he slammed his eyes shut. Rosalie shocked me by standing from the bench and turning to Edward.
"Enough, Edward! She was never your mate. She was your singer! Only a good smell and a silent mind. Leave it be!" Her smooth voice was firm and held anger.
Edward stood stock still for several minutes before removing his hands and calming his face.
"Rosalie is right. Though, I cannot hear Troy's thoughts either. I'm very sorry, Bella. I can smell that you are impure and belong to another creature." His voice was even and devoid of emotion.
I blinked. Did he just...
I looked at the southern God who was watching me in wary amusement. The Empath knew what I was feeling.
"Did he just insult me while apologizing?" Impure? My skin shimmered and a growl echoed in my chest. Edward's passive expression never wavered. Rosalie placed a chilly hand on my arm.
"He is trying to provoke you. Don't let him." She whispered.
She was probably right, but why?
Jasper answered my silent question, "If you go near him to attack him he can make you submit to him. Stay where you are." He warned while his eyes darted from Edward to Troy to me.
I drew in a deep breath and sat down next to Troy. His large hand engulfed mine and I leaned into him.
"With my mark on her body, she cannot submit to another." Troy spoke quietly. "If another's mark touches her, the agony she will suffer is intense."
"Intense how?" Emmett asked. "Will it kill her?" I saw Edward flinch.
"Look, someone keep him away from me. I'm not his mate. You can't make me submit, Edward." I looked around frantically before directing my eyes to the Telepath as I addressed him.
"It will not kill her but her veins will burn until the second mark has been removed." Troy answered. Knowing the next inevitable question, he continued. "It is gruesome and she would be disfigured for the rest of her life. She cannot be a vampire now, not after being marked by a shifter and I will never let her go. She is mine." His voice vibrated with his alpha power. I was glad he wouldn't elaborate any more. I already had chills imagining the different things that would have to be done to remove another's mark. His bulky arm draped across my shoulder, his hand gripping me tightly.
"Edward will calm himself and will keep his distance from you at all times, Bella. I assure you of this." Carlisle spoke to me but kept his intense gaze on his son. Edward's face was stoic but he nodded once before darting to the other side of the deck again. I had a feeling he wanted to leave altogether but his nib-nose tendencies wouldn't let him.
Everyone settled down around the deck once more, a little more relaxed and the questions began. As I explained how I became Nidawi and how I knew so little of the golden eyed vampires of Forks, I pondered if Edward would let everything go so easily. He seemed like a petulant brat but he had mentioned that he's been existing for over a hundred years so I was holding onto the hope that somewhere in those long years, this child had grown up.
I also wondered at his cool statement of not being able to read Troy's mind. I had thought that was what he had been doing when we first arrived at the lion's den.
I have a feeling Edward's thoughts are racing...How to get Bella without marking her and keeping her in agony forever? Why can't the Telepath read Troy?