Disclaimer: Twilight isn't mine.

The Unscrupulous Council

Marshmallows

Chapter 21

AN: Mmmmmhh marshmallows... Sorry, got distracted there. On with the story.

The pack gathered in Jake's backyard arriving from the Makah reservation. Paul didn't even wait to phase in the forest or wait to put on shorts. He phased to human in at Jacob's side and pulled Bella into his arms like a desperate man. For the a few seconds Bella hung stiffly in his arms before her mind took in a revelation that she was safe again. In fact, after hours of high alert wondering if she was about to die or be tortured, she felt so much relief that she felt safer than she could ever remember feeling. She wrapped her arms and legs around him and did something he had never seen before. She cried in his shoulder. He instinctively knew that she wouldn't want anyone else to see this and caught Jacob's eye. He lowered his eyebrows into a tight line and moved towards Jacob's house and took her into Jacob's room away from view.

Paul hadn't known before that his imprint didn't relax into his embrace until he felt her limbs liquefy. Unlike the tight ball that Leah was these days, Bella flopped against Paul handing over so much trust that his heart would have jumped for joy if he didn't see in Jake's mind what she had just been through. He kissed her fore head and laid her down on the bed to check her over and look for any injuries. She had some splinters in her hands, a nasty bruise on the side of the head where she had been punched and minor bruising on her shins. He felt her relief and kissed her forehead, her eyes, her nose, her lips, her cheeks, her chin and then grabbed her hands began to kiss her wounds. Bella laid back and enjoyed the sense of security she was feeling after so many hours of playing cat and mouse.

Once Paul had reassured himself of her safety he pulled on his shorts from his leg. Then he set to collecting the first aid kit in the kitchen and an ice pack. She held surprisingly still as he used tweezers to pull out her splinters. He cleaned the wounds and left to get food and water for her. But when he returned, his imprint had fallen asleep on Jacob's bed. He watched her chest rise and fall standing in the door way as he held a tray in his hands. Jacob appeared behind him looking over the sleeping form.

"We didn't need Asook to tell us that she's a fighter." Jake commented. They stood quietly lost in their thoughts. Neither one quite sure what to make of Asook's claim that she was drawing power from the pack. What did that mean exactly?

"Do you sense any of what Asook said about her?" Paul asked hesitantly out of character.

"A light. I sense imprint bonds. Usually like matching hazes that are stronger in the wolves than the imprints. She had a tiny light from when you imprinted. I don't "see" it, I just sense it. I have since I became Alpha. Whenever you make progress with her, the light brightens. She's been different from day one. She isn't Quileute, she isn't the soft motherly imprints that we're used to and you're probably the only aggressive enough wolf that could hold his own against her even through an imprint. Most imprinted wolves will power dissolve under their imprints desires. So when I sensed a difference in her connection, I never gave it much thought. I'm beginning to think that I'll have to reconsider that conclusion." Again, they were silent as they reconciled their thoughts and observations.

Paul was proud of his imprint. She came back to him in one piece when most women would have come back wholly damaged under the circumstances. He could smell that they hadn't defiled her beyond their own blood spatter and sweat. It hurt that she had sustained some injuries but in context he was grateful for how well she was doing.

"I plan to kill Quil." He grunted still holding Bella's tray of food. Jacob nodded expectantly.

"His imprint hasn't collapsed under the strain of his banishment. I suspect that he has indeed annulled his imprint and I don't think anything will happen when we annihilate him. I need to evaluate how to capture him, how to waste him and who should kill him. The Council don't have a memory of a pack member who has suffered worse than banishment. It would appear that I will be treading new ground." Paul saw Jacob's face had aged in the short time that he had become Alpha. The stress and knowledge that had come to him was clearly showing on him. But he remained resolute and strong. He was designed to take this stress even as he became more au courant in his position. It seemed as though each wolf had a defined role and rank within the pack. As the younger generation displaced the last generation, these defined roles became more distinct. It was becoming clear that while Jacob was leader and Leah was their hope, Paul was their heart. He passionately loved, hated and threw himself whole heartedly into any task he was assigned. Which is partly why it was becoming all the more disturbing why his little imprint passed out on the Alpha's bed would be drawing power. They thought she had a defined role as imprint. As a respected and cherished member of the pack. Some day she would likely breed her contribution to the pack. But somehow, there seemed to be more to her role and while it was distinct, it wasn't defined. It felt like they were trying to make sense of Morse code without knowledge or a translation available to them as they tried to guess what her purpose was.

"Figure it out. My imprint will not be put at risk again. I will home school her and deal with Charlie myself until Quil is dead. She won't be leaving my sight any time soon. Would you have Billy call Charlie and tell him that Bella's staying at Sam and Emily's tonight? I'm taking her home with me. I'm not suffering tonight with her out of my arms." Jacob nodded sympathetically and took the tray Paul was holding. Paul gathered Bella in his arms and jogged home with her. She must have been exhausted as she didn't notice him change her into one of his t-shirts and laid her under the covers. He then laid down beside her and curled around her experiencing relief and unconditional love.

If it hadn't been for Brady, she would have been shaken to the core to learn that Quil Sr had joined the ranks of their rivals. But she did have Brady and that made all the difference. Leah waited sitting up in her bed reading a romance novel for Brady to make his appearance. His parents were losing their composure over Brady not sleeping at home anymore because every night he arrived at ten or straight after patrol at Leah's bed. She heard him enter the front door and acknowledge Seth before his subtle steps up the stairs. Human ears never would have heard any of this. As per their habits he didn't knock before opening the door or disturb her. She didn't look up. She simply set the book on her bedside table and positioned her back to him.

"Shorts off." She ordered over her shoulder. He paused.

Did she just tell him to get naked? "I'm going commando." He said insecurely.

Leah felt pity for him. He might look her age, but he was inexperienced. "It's okay. I'm not asking for sex. I just want to feel... I don't know what I want. You know what? Never mind." She huffed.

Brady sensed that he had just hurt his imprints feelings. She wanted to feel... something... What did she want to feel? His erect penis? She could have that and more. He didn't try to understand. She never made any sense. He quickly stripped out of his shorts and climbed into her bed and pulled her back to his chest. "I'm here. You can feel me." He stroked her hair back from her neck and breathed in her scent.

Leah felt a shaky irrational fear that she was fighting as the body of a naked man was wrapped around her. Maybe it was too soon to be reintroduced to these murky waters. But she wanted to be 'over' Quil as soon as humanly possible. She felt safe with Brady and when she phased again, she would be exposed to naked men all the time. She stopped and sorted through all of the feelings pouring over her. She was wearing just cotton panties that she pressed against Brady's bare groin. She felt a tweak of fear from her memories, but also good feelings about the present. She was testing waters further than she already had. Each night she had dipped her toes into the water at first before walking in ankle deep. Right now, she was thigh high and she felt she was making good progress. She didn't want to be afraid. It felt good knowing with absolute certainty that Brady wasn't going to do anything she didn't want him to do. It wasn't just something that she knew in her head. She thought she knew no one in the pack would ever hurt her before Quil Sr. Now, she knew in her head that Jake, Joshua, Sam, Paul, Jared, Embry, Quil and the others wouldn't hurt her. But she didn't trust them enough to share a bed with her. Her skin would be crawling if they pressed themselves up against her. If they were naked like Brady was right now, she was sure that she would have broken down in tears. But she was building up trust with Brady on her own terms.

She didn't want to talk about what Quil Sr did to her. Leah didn't want Brady to know the details. She didn't want to share midnight confidences with him. Hell, she wasn't even ready to really get to know him. But she did want to build new associations with him. Because right now, the association Quil built with naked men was painful. She was rejecting that. She wouldn't accept that. She knew better. She just had to retrain her body to know better.

Wind blew in the branches of the trees above shaking excess water from the most recent rain down over him. The clearing near the border between the two tribes was quiet. He viewed Asook sitting at a log much the same way and in the same place as Jacob had seen him with Bella months ago when she ran away. He held up a marshmallow on a stick over the campfire and held up a bag of marshmallow's with a wicked grin. Jacob phased to human, pulled on his shorts and trotted over to join him.

"Good evening young Alpha. Get a stick and roast with me." Asook entreated.

"Do you have everything needed for smoores?" Jacob asked in a falsely stern voice.

"I apologize, I do not." Asook chuckled.

They attempted at humour to ease into discussions. But the truth was that Jacob didn't have to work too hard to keep a stern voice. Asook had assured him that Jacob had much to gain from this meeting.

Asook offered the bag of marshmallow's to Jacob, but he declined. Asook sighed in resignation returning the bag to the ground beside him before scrutinizing his marshmallow and biting it whole in his mouth. Jake sat and watched ill at ease. A cool wind threatened the small fire and rain hung in the air. He estimated another hour before it fell.

"Billy hid too much information from us. We borrowed your Quil Sr for information. Letting him wander was a mistake." Asook commented breezily.

Jacob held his body rigidly with his hands curled up into tight fists. "We didn't want his imprint to die with him." He spoke through gritted teeth. "Do you have a point?"

"You are moody. Quil was a fool to come to us. He has no friends here. He has history with us. Before he phased, he infected one of our imprints with chlamydia. She lost her fertility because it went untreated. She owns some responsibility, but he certainly didn't endear himself to us. We're done with him. I would like to send him on his way, but I suspect that you won't want him set loose. Would you like us to hand him over to you? I think there is a certain She-Wolf that would like to cut off his balls."

"She wants him dead." Jacob said shortly with a tight expression on his face. Quil of course couldn't be held responsible for damaging another wolf's imprint as he hadn't started phasing when it happened. But it wasn't surprising that the Makah had a cool response towards Quil. "I'm sorry about the damage he caused your pack's imprint."

"Like we told her at the time, you lie with dogs and you'll catch fleas. I had no intention of seeing your little fighter getting too hurt, but I was curious to see if his experiment worked and also to see how far he was willing to carry it. How far he would betray his pack's young imprint. I think he hates her." Asook mused as he speared another marshmallow and placed it over the fire. Jacob considered the information.

"Eye for an eye." Jacob observed."You've held this grudge for a long time."

"Billy failed to see the seriousness of our charges. Be mindful of your population damaging our tribe. We don't wish to see more of your diseases." Asook sneered before his face was quickly replaced with calm. Jacob swallowed. "I won't hold you responsible for your father's failure's. But I mean to be taken seriously. We will agree to not interfere with your imprints in future. I've made my point. Now, do you want Quil Sr or not? He has plans to move on to Crater Lake Oregon. There's a nasty pack down there that I'm sure will be very interested to know about your fighting imprint and She-Wolf." Asook chuckled.

"And what will it cost us?" Jacob asked distrustfully.

"We've caught wind that the head of the vampire world has brought werewolves to extinction. They will be turning their attentions on shape shifting wolves. We have a shared enemy. We don't like each other. But I wish to offer Quil Sr as a peace offering for your co-operation to defend our territory from a group known as the Volturi. The tactics they used on the werewolves was to set them on each other and then hunting down the remnants. I believe that has already begun. Hostilities between us have grown further than they have in centuries. We need to mend this." Asook chomped down on another marshmallow with an appreciative moan. "Delicious."

Jacob sat stiffly. The sky let go of droplets warning of the impending downpour. "I need to think on this and confirm your information. How long will you be holding Quil for us?"

"Please decide soon, but the longest we'll wait is a week." Asook answered before offering marshmallow's again. Jacob stared at the bag for a moment. Then picked out a marshmallow looking Asook in the eye as he ate it. They nodded at each other and Jacob left Asook in thought at the campfire.

Jacob had much to think about. He'd need to hear Joshua's version of the story and maybe pry information from the Cullen's. If possible and assuming any information from them was reliable.

AN: Renewed alliance with the Makah... Hmmm... And yes, Leah is strange.