Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight Saga or anything related, it is owned by Stephanie Meyer.
Set during the middle of New Moon.
Chapter Fourteen: Emily's House.
Bella swallowed staring up at the house that she had been taken to, she knew that today really wasn't going the way that she expected and she now wished she hadn't have come.
"Come on Bella, we don't bite," Embry teased looking back at Bella who was still sat in her truck, her hands holding onto the stirring wheel as she stared at him and Jared as they stood just outside of the house. Jared rolled his brown eyes looking back at, he didn't know why Jacob couldn't have just kept his mouth shut; they didn't want or need the leech-lover hanging around with them.
"Speak for yourself," Jared said with a smirk before he walked into the house, there was only one Swan that they would welcome into the pack and that was Bella's cousin. Even if Sophia had no idea what was going on, she was an unofficial pack member until Paul told her that she was his imprint. Bella climbed out of her truck and closed the door behind her, she stuck her hands into her pockets before she walked towards Embry who was waiting for her.
"Do me a favor and don't stare at Emily, it bugs Sam," Embry murmured watching Bella as she caught up with him. Bella furrowed her brow wondering what Embry was talking about before he led her into the house; her eyes quickly landing on the woman that was setting muffins on the table. Embry walked over to the table to sit down leaving Bella hovering by the door, he couldn't believe that Jacob had thought that telling her would be okay.
"Who is this?" Emily asked finally noticing Bella, she turned to face the newcomer revealing the right side of her face which was scarred from hairline to chin by three thick red lines. They were vivid in colour even though they had long since healed, one line pulled down the corner of Emily's dark, almond-shaped right eye, while another twisted the right side of her mouth into a permanent grimace.
"Who else. Bella Swan," Jared muttered bitterly glancing at Bella and nibbled on his muffin, he really couldn't believe that Jacob hadn't considered how this would affect the pack. Bella wasn't his imprint nor did she have any right to know about the tribal legends being true; he worried just how far Jacob's infatuation would go.
"So, you're the vampire girl," Emily mused eyeing Bella, she wasn't sure what she had been expecting when she finally met the girl that Jacob wouldn't shut up about but she had expected something, well more. Bella chewed on her lip peeking down at her hands, she wasn't surprised that they knew about that especially since their legends were the reason she knew what the Cullens were.
"So, you're the wolf girl," Bella replied trying to sound brave, she knew that she would get to spend time with Jacob again; she was sort of glad since she had missed having someone who could take her mind off of Edward.
"Guess so. Well, I'm engaged to one," Emily said with a sad fond smile as she looked down at her engagement ring, it was still a sore subject with her about her relationship with Sam. Emily knew that she had no right to expect Leah to get over what had happened, but she hoped that one day they would at least be on talking terms again; she missed her best friend.
"Leave it up to Jake to find a way around Sam's gag order," Emily murmured thinking of something else, she knew that Jacob had been pleading with Sam to let him see Bella and now he had found a way to do so; something which bothered her. This wasn't going to sit well with his pack brothers who had all had to cut out people from their lives when they started phasing and couldn't go back.
"Um... he didn't say anything to me," Bella said awkwardly, she didn't want Jacob to get into trouble, she just wanted her best friend back; even if she couldn't give him what he wanted right now. Emily eyed the brunette wondering how different Sophia was from her, she knew that the blonde had to be something impressive if she was going to handle Paul; she just hoped that Sophia would warm to the pack.
"That's a wolf thing. Alpha's orders get obeyed whether we want to or not. Oh and check it out! We can hear each other's thoughts," Embry revealed smugly watching at Bella. Embry knew that Jacob would want her to feel welcome and he doubted that anyone else would really try with Bella since she had dated a Cullen; she wasn't the pack's favourite person and she wasn't going to be truly welcomed like Jacob wanted.
"Will you just shut up? These are trade secrets. Damn it! This chick runs with vampires," Jared snapped glaring at Embry; he didn't trust Bella for a moment, if the Cullens were ever going to return then it would be for her and she would turn her back on them. Bella tried to smile knowing that she was going to need to get on with the pack, she knew she'd probably be seeing a lot of them now that she was back in Jacob's life.
"I can't really run with vampires. Because they're fast," Bella teased with a small smile, she wanted to be accepted since they were important to Jacob; she would need to fit in so that there wasn't any trouble with her hanging around.
"Yeah? Well, we're faster. Freaked out yet?" Jared said daringly staring at Bella, he could just tell that she was going to hurt Jacob and he was already sick of the other wolf's thoughts on the brunette that didn't deserve him.
"You're not the first monsters I've met," Bella whispered with a shrug as she looked at Jared, she wasn't surprised that he didn't like her; she had seen how close he had been with Paul and didn't doubt that those two would be a problem for her.
"Jake's right. You are good with the weird," Sam announced walking into the house, he stared at Bella for a moment before he walked over to Emily and kissed her. Bella sharply looked away as she felt a sharp tug on her heart, she hadn't been able to look at anyone being romantic since Edward had broken up with her.
Paul and Jacob entered the house laughing and joking as if they hadn't just been fighting; Bella looked over at them with a sigh of relief glad that Jacob was okay. Paul completely ignored Bella as he moved to sit at the table with Jared and Embry, he had very little interest in the cousin of his imprint; she wasn't important to him and never would be.
Charlie sighed walking into the living room where Sophia was sat watching a children's programme with Mia; he had been thinking a lot about his niece and had come up with an idea.
"You're home early," Sophia said looking at her uncle, she had Mia sat on her knee and knew by the look on Charlie's face that he had come to speak with her about something. Charlie nodded his head as he cleared his throat and moved to sit in his favourite chair, his brown eyes watching Sophia knowing that this would be good for her.
"I did some research and found a local teens with tots program that they hold at the community centre," Charlie stated looking at Sophia, it would be good for her to meet other teenagers that where in the same situation as her. Charlie carefully pulled out a brochure and handed it to Sophia, he really hoped that she would consider going; it would give her support that he just couldn't offer her plus she could make friends without being judged.
"It's once a week and it will allow you to meet people like you, maybe you could make some friends," Charlie said knowing that Bella was often out with her own and after the incident with Lauren; he doubted that Sophia would want to hang out with any of Bella's friends. Sophia bit her lip thinking about what her uncle was offering, she did feel a little lonely especially with Bella always out and none of her old friends wanting to know her.
"Thank you," Sophia said with a small smile, it would be nice to get out of the house for a couple of hours even if it was just once a week to go to the meeting. Mia was everything to her at the moment and she had been focusing on her a lot recently.
Charlie nodded his head offering Sophia a smile, she deserved to have her own friends; Bella was two years older than the blonde and they were in very different places in their lives. It would be unfair to force Bella to take Sophia everywhere with her, the blonde had a baby to look after and he didn't think that his daughter would be able to handle something like that.
"Just think about it Soph," Charlie insisted getting to his feet and heading for the kitchen, his talk from the night before was still on his mind and he was determined to do more for her than her parents were.
"So the red haired leech is after you?" Sam checked to be sure that Jacob had informed him right, he sighed running his hand through his hair; this was the last thing that he wanted right now. Jacob and Bella had gone for a walk to talk about what she had learnt that day and they had returned with the announcement that the red haired leech that had been causing problems for the pack the past few weeks was after Bella.
"Yes," Bella said carefully peeking nervously around the room, she felt ill that Victoria was hunting her; she should have known that it wasn't going to go away once Laurant was gone. Paul glared at Bella knowing that he couldn't believe she was just okay with this, she was a leech magnet and the sooner that he was close to Sophia the better.
"How can you put your family in danger like that, don't you even care?" Jared snapped staring at Bella, he was surprised that Paul hadn't been the one to speak up; it was his imprint that was in-danger because of her cousin. Jacob glared at Jared knowing that his words were completely uncalled for, he couldn't understand why they all weren't being welcoming to Bella.
"Of course I care about that… Charlie, Sophia and Mia are all I have," Bella snapped glaring at Jared, she hadn't included her mother and Phil since she hardly saw them and they were safe from Victoria's wrath. Bella had no idea why they were all treating her like a child, she hadn't asked for any of this and Edward wasn't here anymore.
"Who is Mia?" Embry asked confused looking at Bella, he had never heard of the second woman that she had mentioned; it made him wonder who else Bella had put in danger. Bella blinked realising that she had done it again, she opened and closed her mouth as she tried to think of a reasonable explanation for her first cousin once removed to them without letting them know Sophia was her mother.
"Never mind that, I want you down here as much as possible until we catch the leech," Sam ordered looking at Bella, he didn't really care about who Mia could be only about the danger that Bella had brought to the pack and her family.
"And bring Sophia, I would love to meet her," Emily added glancing at Paul, they were going to have to keep an eye on Sophia; she was more of a pack member than Bella would ever be and she was in danger because of her cousin.
Please Review, Favourite or Follow xxx