Chapter 20 – Trust
"Edward, I think someone is following us," I whispered as we browsed the fruit in the outdoor market.
Without looking up at me, Edward quietly replied, "I know. Just keep acting normal."
My heart sped nervously, but I did as Edward instructed, and continued putting items in my handbasket.
When we had what we wanted, we paid for our things with the money Eleazar gave us, and then we walked away at the quickest, most inconspicuous pace possible. We headed back in the direction of the harbor, but instead of going to Eleazar's boat like I was expecting, we turned down an alleyway, and through our linked fingers, Edward telepathically told me to stay calm.
"Edward, no," I tried telling him when I mentally saw his aggressive intentions, but it was too late.
The moment we were away from the crowd, Edward spun around us and growled viciously at whoever had been following us. "Who are you?"
Our wide-eyed young follower immediately threw up his hands in surrender. "I mean no offense," he said in perfect American accented English.
"Why are you following us?" Edward roared.
"You're not human, are you?" the boy asked knowingly.
"Neither are you," Edward retorted with his eyes blazing. His entire body tensed in readiness to attack the kid.
I placed my hand on Edward's arm, and through him I could sense his recognition of the teen's scent, and suddenly I was the one seeing red.
"You're a shape-shifter!" I hissed, and automatically took a step forward, as if I was going to seek revenge on the boy for my mother's murder. It didn't matter that the kid was probably a toddler at the time of her death, he was the same type of creature who killed her, and I was pissed.
"Whoa now," Edward said, grabbing me from behind so I couldn't advance on the creature. We had seemingly switched places, and I was now the aggressor, and Edward was the one trying to keep the peace. It was all very strange, and a little disorienting.
"Edward, let me go!" I growled at him.
"I promise you, this kid had nothing to do with what happened to your mother," Edward told me in a hushed rush as his arms wrapped around me tenderly, but securely.
"Why are you following us!" I yelled at him. Edward loosened his grip on me, but I refused to get behind him like I knew he wanted me to. This shape-shifter may not have killed my mother, but I knew his kind were mortal enemies with vampires, and I was going to protect Edward, even if it cost me my life.
The boy raised his hands even higher in a defensive way. "Please, I'm just looking for help. I promise, I don't want to fight."
"What makes you think we would ever help you?" I snarled at him.
"Alright, just calm down!" Edward told me, and then he not so subtly, pulled me behind him with gentle but stern force. "I'm the immortal monster, not you," he reminded me.
"Yeah, but if he wants to kill you, he's going to have to go through me first," I said as aggressively as possible.
"I don't want to kill anyone," the boy interjected.
"He couldn't kill me even if he tried. I know how to handle shape-shifters," Edward assured me.
"I've killed my fair share of vampires too," the boy argued. "But I'm not here for that."
"What are you here for then?" I snapped at him.
"Look, my imprint got captured by some group of humans in weird uniforms with strange powerful weapons. I'm just looking for help rescuing her."
Edward and I glanced at each other. "The creature hunters," I told him, which he responded to with a nod. "But again, why would we help you?" I asked the shape-shifter.
"Look, I don't know you, I don't even know what kind of creatures you are, I'm just desperate. I've been searching for help for over five years now. The truth is, I've been watching that vampire that works at the boat place, and I was getting ready to approach him, but then I saw you two. You smell sort of like vampires, but… different. What are you?"
"None of your business," I told him. "You approached us, so you can just keep explaining yourself until we are comfortable enough to even consider telling you anything."
"Bella," Edward said while gesturing for me to relax and take a step back.
I scowled at him, but otherwise grudgingly agreed to give him a chance to speak.
"This group, the creature hunters, as you just called them, they are intense, and I know I can't break in their headquarters alone," the shifter explained in a rush. "I have tried so many times to find a way to save her, but it's impossible. So, I've been running for a long time, trying to find anyone willing to help me. Years ago my family and I used to hunt vampires, so when I first caught the scent of the boat guy, I naturally thought I needed to attack him. But it was the first vampire I had come across in decades, and as I watched him, waiting for an opportunity to strike without human witnesses, I realized that maybe he was different. He never seemed dangerous, and he was even friendly with humans, so I thought he might be able to help me. But then I saw him with you two, and I'm thinking maybe you could potentially be better allies. Please, I'm willing to do anything."
"You said you've been looking for help for five years?" I asked as I considered his request. "How old are you? You don't look a day over fifteen."
"I'm fifty seven," he replied, absolutely flabbergasting me. "I stopped aging at sixteen when I first started phasing."
"What's phasing mean?" I asked confused.
"It's when he shape-shifts," Edward told me.
Jacob nodded once. "As he said. Phasing is when I change into my wolf form."
"Is a wolf the only thing you can change into?" Edward asked with far more eager curiosity than I would have expected.
"It's all I've ever turned into. My family all turns into wolves…Wait, should I be able to turn into something else?"
"Shifters mostly turn into wolves when battling vampires, because of vampire's natural opposition to werewolves," Edward informed him. "It's like they think that form frightens us or something. But the shifter that killed her mother was able to turn into basically any animal or beast he wanted, as long as it was within a relatively similar size."
"A shifter killed your mother," he asked me, becoming uneasy. "I don't know anything about that."
"Relax, pup," Edward told him. "We aren't stupid enough to think all shifters are related."
The shifter nodded. "Well, I never knew anyone who could shift into different animals… Wait, could that shifter phase into like a table, or something?"
Edward shook his head no. "Only living creatures of a similar size."
"Huh," the shifter pondered. "I wonder if I'm capable of something like that too."
Suddenly a couple humans passed the alley way, and looked down at us.
"We need to take this discussion to a more private location," Edward suggested as a homeless man began hobbling his way towards us. "We are staying on an island if you…."
"Edward!" I hissed at him. I grabbed his arm and pulled him away to scold him more privately. "I know you're not used to being out in the real world, but you don't just invite strangers to your home like that, especially monster strangers. We don't know this guy. He could be lying, or have ulterior motives. If he double crosses us, he could lead the creature hunters right back there, and we will never have a safe place to hide."
"You think he's lying?"
"I think it's a possibility. Why would we help him anyway? He is like a mortal enemy to vampires."
"An enemy with a common foe," Edward pointed out. "He is trying to do the same thing we are – free family. We don't have to be super comfortable with it, but it makes sense to work together. At least the kid can fight."
"Kid? He just said he's fifty seven!"
Edward shrugged. "I'm like eighty something. What does his actual age have to do with anything? You're more of an adult than I am, and you're only seventeen."
"True," I conceded. "But we still don't know if we can trust him."
"Look, with me mostly human right now, we could use a little more super strength on our side in case we run into trouble."
"We have Eleazar," I argued.
"Eleazar isn't a fighter. He has survived this long because he blends in well with humans and keeps a low profile. He's smart, but that's all he can really contribute to all of this. Having a shifter could really help."
"Or backfire and get us killed."
Edward sighed as he considered what I was saying, but then something occurred to him. "Doesn't Eleazar have some kind of super gift for detecting deceit? Let's take him to him, and see how honest he's being."
"Why are you so intent on helping him?"
"Because I know how it feels to be separated from my family, and I know there isn't a single creature in those tournaments that wants to be there. We have a common enemy, and that is all the reason we need to keep the peace for the time being."
I took a deep breath, and then nodded. "Okay, let's take him to Eleazar. If Eleazar says he's telling the truth, we bring him in as a temporary ally."
Edward smirked and shook his head. "Shouldn't I be the one not trusting the shifter? I mean, I love that you want to avenge your mother, but I'm the vampire, not you."
"It's not just wanting to avenge my mother. You're my life now, and I don't feel comfortable around any creature that may want to hurt you."
"I'm going to be fine. With all the dangers ahead of us, this one young shifter is not a threat. Trust me, this alliance will be for our benefit. I know it will."
"Well, you better be right."
I felt a strong sense of unease as the shifter followed us to Eleazar's shop, but the moment we walked inside, the excitement on Eleazar's face shadowed everything else. "I sold two more of my properties. We now have five hundred thousand dollars."
"Well, that's a start," Edward told him.
"What about the painting?" I asked eagerly.
"I'm still waiting to hear back from my associate about that. But I did sell a few of the older sunglasses. About five thousand from that so far."
I nodded. "Every bit is going to help."
"That is my thought," Eleazar agreed, and then he looked passed me and noticed the boy loitering there. "Who is this?"
"Sir, my name is Jacob Black," the shifter stepped forward to introduce himself. "My imprint was captured by the creature hunters, and I'm looking for help rescuing her."
"What does imprint mean anyway?" I interrupted, needing an explanation before the conversation continued.
"It's their version of mates," Eleazar explained before turning back to the shifter. "You have been watching me for several days now. I was wondering when you were planning to finally make contact. I see you met my newest family members here."
"Yes, sir. I just want you to know I mean none of you any harm or offense. I'm aware we are natural enemies, which is why I know this will be an uneasy alliance, but I'm willing to do absolutely anything for your assistance."
Eleazar narrowed his eyes at him. "We too are trying to breach the tournament ring."
"Tournament ring?" Jacob asked confused.
"That is what happens to creatures who are captured," Edward told him. "They are sold to the highest bidder, and then forced to fight in huge underground monster tournaments. There is a good chance your imprint is already dead."
A sickened look swept across the boy's features, and that was the moment I felt like we could trust him. He wasn't lying to us, he legitimately needed our help, and despite knowing he was an opposing species from Edward, I wanted to help him. As the daughter of one of the monster owners, I felt a huge sense of guilt and remorse to all the creatures being hurt by the tournaments. It wasn't just the creatures fighting for their lives on the inside, it was their loved ones fighting to free them as well. There were so many victims of that horrible practice, and I felt compelled to do something about it.
"We will help you," I told him, causing both Edward and Eleazar to look at me surprised. "Unless, of course, you sense deceit?" I asked Eleazar.
"He is being honest," Eleazar confirmed what I already sensed. "But having a shifter close to us may pose a problem when we free Carlisle and the others. I'm assuming they've been beaten down to their primal states at this point; we may not be able to stop them from attacking the shifter as their instincts would have them do."
"That's a risk with Bella as well," Edward agreed. "They're going to try to attack her just because she's human. We will need to figure out a way to restrain them until they regain control of themselves."
"I'm just not sure how we can overpower any of them," Eleazar worried. "My strength is dulled due to my all animal blood diet, and you are mostly human at this point."
"So, you guys are trying to free vamps," Jacob jumped in. "Listen, despite being natural enemies, I am strong enough to restrain a vamp, or at least, help. Between the three of us, we should be able to control one at a time."
"And you wouldn't attempt to kill any of them?" Edward questioned.
"I'm true to my word. Like I said, I'm willing to do anything to help find my imprint. If that means subduing a hostile vamp without killing it, I will figure it out."
Eleazar, Edward, and I, all glanced at each other, and we nodded in a subtle agreement.
"You have yourself some allies," Edward told Jacob, before grabbing the shifter's fingers, and wiggling them back and forth erratically, which only confused the boy. "This is called a handshake," Edward explained, confused as to why Jacob was confused.
I laughed, realizing that I never corrected him on his version of a handshake. "He was imprisoned for a long time," I explained vaguely.
Jacob nodded through his befuddlement, and then we took a huge risk by bringing him back to the private sanctuary of our island, to further discuss everything.
Once we got there, we quickly showed Jacob around, and then we immediately jumped into strategizing.
"So, Jacob will be our monster entry for the tournaments," I assumed.
"Whoa, no way," Edward disagreed unexpectedly.
"Why not? I thought that was the point to bringing him in?" I questioned.
Edward shook his head no. "He can help with the planning and restraining my family when we get them out, but I'm not going to subject anyone else to those fights."
"But I thought we agreed that was the best way to get in? You were okay with buying a fighter before, so now we don't have to."
"Buying a fighter that's already been fighting, is different than putting someone new into the circuit. If it goes wrong, he will be stuck there for the rest of his life."
"I'm willing to take that risk if that's what it takes," Jacob interjected.
"This could be our only way in," Eleazar agreed.
Edward huffed. "If we enter him into a tournament, he will have to fight. We won't be able to pull him out last minute. If one of my family members, or even his imprint, is there, he will likely have to face them, and one will die. The best way to get them out is to buy our way in, and purchase a fighter we can sacrifice if necessary."
"I don't want to sacrifice anyone," I argued heatedly. "Everyone imprisoned there are victims of people like my family. All of their lives matter."
"I understand what you're saying, but there are some monsters that need to be contained. Some are nothing but pure evil. I don't agree with what they're doing, but they aren't wrong to imprison certain ones. That's the type of demon or monster we need to buy."
"Hopefully my other properties will sell soon, and we can get a black market buyer for the painting print," Eleazar said with a sigh.
"In the meantime, we need to come up with a solid plan, and then several backup plans in case it doesn't work," I told them.
"I think we can all agree to that," Eleazar said, and then he turned to Jacob. "Where was your mate captured? It's likely she isn't still in the same area, but the closest owner may have documents of her purchase."
"There was a raid on our pack about a decade ago. Leah and I barely escaped, and we had been living in the Sierra Nevada mountains ever since. We had a cabin out there, but times were hard so we were hunting in our wolf forms when the creature hunters caught up to us. I was trying to distract them so Leah could escape, but I was captured. We can communicate telepathically, so I told Leah to run for it, but she refused to go. She got between me and the man who had me, and I fell away from them, and she was grabbed. I recovered myself and went back at them, but by then she had four men on her, and she begged me to go. It was the hardest thing I ever did."
"So, she wouldn't leave you, but you left her?" Edward asked incredulously.
"There was no way I could get her free at that point. She was being electrocuted by some terrible gun thing, and we both knew I couldn't free her if I was imprisoned too. So, I left to find help. I've been searching for someone to help me for so long. Any non-human creature I found was too aggressive, or too scared to even listen to me, until I saw Eleazar. He seemed calm and friendly, so I hoped. Then I came across you two today, and I was curious. You still haven't said what exactly you guys are."
"I'm human, and he is a vampire-human hybrid," I told him.
"Vampire-human hybrid? I didn't even know that was possible."
"It's not, technically," Eleazar jumped in. "We have concluded that Edward is the result of decades upon decades worth of experiments."
Jacob nodded absently while looking confused, and then he shrugged. "Cool, I guess. But you're only human?" he asked me. "That's weird. You two smell similar …well, now you smell human. I guess I was just smelling him on you. Are you guys like, a couple, or something?"
"We're mates," I told him, and had to fight off the unintentional smile that resulted from just saying our official status.
"Mates? That's weird for a human, right?" Jacob questioned. "I mean, as a kid, I was taught by my pack elders all about vampires, and I never heard of such a thing."
"Why were you taught about vampires?" I asked perplexed.
"Best way to defeat your enemy is to know everything about them," he told me with a pompous wink. "But in all of my studies, there was never anything about vampires mating with humans "
"Edward's entire existence is an anomaly," Eleazar agreed. "There is no precedent for this, so I would say him mating with a human is not the most surprising aspect of him."
Jacob considered it for a moment, and then shrugged with indifference.
The conversation soon morphed into Edward's knowledge of the tournaments, and what could have possibly happened to Jacob's imprint, as well as the rest of his imprisoned pack members. As much as he missed his extended family, the shifter's main concern was finding his imprint, so that was what we would focus on for him as well.
We wanted to come up with several solid ideas on how to proceed with the rescue missions, but unfortunately, everything we came up with depended on a large amount of money, so for the time being, we were pretty much stuck.
The hour grew late, and it was clear to me that Jacob was almost as tired as I was, so I offered him one of the five bedrooms in the house to sleep in.
"That would be awesome, thank you," he said to me graciously.
"Sure, just don't attack us in our sleep," I told him with a laugh.
"I have no reason to turn against any of you," Jacob tried assuring me as he followed me towards the room he would be using. Edward and Eleazar were still in deep discussion about various topics, so I didn't want to disrupt them, but I did feel a little awkward about being somewhat alone with the shifter, despite his attempt to put me at ease. "The entire reason for my existence is to protect humans, and as far as I can tell, neither of those two vamps are a threat to humans, so we're good."
I nodded. "Good, because I'd hate for Edward to have to kill you. I've seen him fight, and trust me, you wouldn't win."
"But you've never seen me fight. Trust me, I'd be just fine against any vampire or hybrid."
I wasn't going to waste my time arguing with him, so I just shook my head and let it go. "Sorry there isn't a bed, but I think there might be a blanket in the closet there if you'd like."
"Hey, this is like the Ritz compared to where I've been sleeping."
"Where have you been sleeping?" I asked out of pure curiosity.
"Eh, the forest, the streets, the dumps. Basically anywhere that I am when I get tired."
"Well… I'm glad we could accommodate you," I said, having a hard time containing my weird, underlying, disdain for the creature.
"Listen, if I make you uncomfortable, I can go sleep on the beach. It's really not a big deal either way."
"It's fine, I have no issue with you," I lied.
"Anyone ever tell you you're a bad liar?" he called me out.
I gritted my teeth and forced out a smile, but quickly realized it was pointless. "Okay, you do make me uncomfortable, but only because of what you are. I'm team vampire here, no offense. But I am happy to help you and have you here. It's the least I can do, considering the part my family has had in imprisoning creatures," I said honestly.
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I sleep hard, so once I'm out, you won't have to worry about me again until morning."
"That sounds dangerous for you. What happens if trouble arises while you're sleeping?"
"I haven't had a problem thus far," he replied unconcerned.
I shook my head again, and then left him alone to sleep. I rounded the corner of the hall to return to the living room, but then I practically ran right into a very disturbed looking Edward.
"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked him as I reached for his arm, but he pulled away so I couldn't touch him. "What happened?"
"Nothing," he said bitterly before turning away and sulking back to the living room. I followed him, and noticed that Eleazar had left.
"Did he say something that upset you?" I asked concerned.
"No, he went back to his boat for the night. He said the shifter's stench was giving him a migraine. I guess I'm lucky that my senses are currently dulled."
"Why are you so upset?" I asked frustrated.
"Did you just do sex with that shifter?"
I stared at him blankly for a moment, and then I laughed.
"Why do you find this funny?" he grumbled.
"Are you being serious right now?" I asked unsure. "You can't be. Never-mind the fact that I'm your mate, but I just met him, and we were only out of your sight for like two minutes."
"The mating bond has nothing to do with sex, and you told me before that some people have sex with strangers, and we both know it's possible to do quick sex in less than two minutes."
I didn't know whether I should laugh harder, or be seriously pissed. His ignorance on all things was frustrating at times, but at that particular time, it was beyond irritating.
"Okay, some people do have sex with strangers, but I'm not one of those people!" I said heatedly. "I'm with you. We agreed we would stay together forever, and that means not being with anyone else in that way. And you better not fuck around with other people either, or you'll wish you never met me."
He raised his brows at me in surprise by my outburst, then he smirked. "So, you don't want to ever do sex with anybody else? Ever? Because even just thinking about someone else touching you like that makes my stomach feel like it's being shredded apart by the claws of a hell-demon…which sucks."
I nodded, and smiled despite myself. "That does sound like it would suck. Lucky for you, there is no sense in you thinking about that anymore, because I promise you, it will never happen." I closed the distance between us, and locked my arms behind his neck. "I'm yours in every way, but I need you to trust me. I trust you with my life, the least you can do is trust me with my vagina."
His hesitant smirk spread into a muffled chuckle.
"Did you just laugh?" I asked him in shock. "Wow, and here I thought you were incapable of such a thing."
"Eh," he said playfully with a shrug. "You're hard not to laugh at."
"I'm going to take that as a compliment."
"You should," he said before leaning down and kissing me tenderly. It started out as a sweet, loving kiss, but morphed into our frenzied passion yet again. We decided to move our makeshift bed into one of the empty bedrooms for a little more privacy, and then we carried on throughout the night.
…
We spent the next couple of days getting better acquainted with the shifter, and trying to form some type of comradeship with him. He tried convincing Edward he was more than willing to risk his life and enter the tournaments for us, but Edward kept refusing.
"It's too big of a risk, there has to be another way," Edward kept telling him.
But then, as if by some miracle, Eleazar came rushing back to the house yelling something about the Picasso. It took him a good three minutes to settle down enough for us to understand him.
"It's not a print. The Picasso is real, and a collector just offered me twenty eight million dollars for it!"
All of our mouths dropped open in unison. The pieces were finally falling into place. It was time to free Edward's family…