Summary: In the first chapter.

poorasdirt: Yes, I have managed to pound out another chapter. Not much to say but things will pick up a bit. Sorry if the next few chapters seem a little be rushed. Just the way it's going to be I suppose. Anyway thanks to all of you who alerted, reviewed, and/or favorited.

Dislcaimer: Still poor as dirt so nope, I'm definitely not getting paid for this.

Enjoy!

Bella woke up in her bed. She blinked before sighing. She remembered crying herself to sleep in Richard's arms. Surprisingly her friends had made themselves scarce, but then again they all were pretty busy.

"Feeling better?"

She jumped and turned to see the tall gray eyed werewolf standing in the doorway of her room. She blinked a few times before just staring at him. Honestly she did feel better. It felt good to tell someone everything that had been bothering her. She would have told Madison but sometimes she just needed someone to listen. Then again Madison already knew all this.

"A bit yea," Bella said with a sigh. "Sorry about crying all over you."

"It was nothing. I'm surprised you hadn't snapped before this." Richard said with a chuckle as he walked over and sat down on her bed.

"Oh I've snapped a few times. I just never truly broke down and admitted to myself my deepest darkest secrets." Bella said leaning against the werewolf's strong frame.

"Deepest darkest secrets?"

"I never did love Edward. I realize that now. I let my selfish anger dictate what I did, it only got worse after I woke my powers." Bella said taking comfort in the arm that wrapped around her shoulders. "I liked the idea of Edward though. I never really had a boyfriend before since I was so obligated to taking care of my mother. I couldn't let myself be a normal teenager when my mom was out doing something that made me afraid."

"Ah fear, the root of all evil." Richard said with a chuckle making her snort.

"I thought the root of all evil was greed."

"That too, but fear can bring out the worst in us. When we fear something we can forget who we are and what we stand for. People destroy many beautiful things when they are afraid."

"You're starting to sound like Mad. Are you sure you two aren't conspiring against me?"

"Whoever said we were?"

"No one, but you are sounding like it." Bella said before taking a deep breath and letting it go. Cautiously she looked up into his gray eyes noting the lingering amusement in them. "Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what Bella?"

"This…holding me…comforting me…why?"

"You're a very strong person, but even strong people need someone to lean on. I can tell you don't want to show these weaknesses to your friends because you are afraid of what they will think. That's fine. But you need to deal with these fears all the same." Richard said looking at her with a serious and sharp look in his eyes. "Even the alphas of werewolf packs have someone to lean on."

Bella wasn't sure but she felt something shift in their conversation. There was something there, something he was trying to tell her that she couldn't quite put her finger on. Then suddenly it hit her like a brick between the eyes. In the past few months, perhaps even a year or two, Richard had slowly warmed up to her like this. It was in the small gestures she realized, the subtle glances they shared, the smiles she received from him.

The realization was so profound she pulled away from him with wide eyes. "You!"

"Finally put it together huh?" He said with a rather weak smile his eyes soft and dare she say affectionate. "I was beginning to wonder if you would ever realize, but now I see you had a lot of things running through that brilliant mind of yours."

Bella just continued to gape at him. He stared at her with a calm acceptance letting the silence settle between them. Snapping her mouth shut she knew the ball was now in her court. Whatever she did next would either horribly ruin the friendly relationship they did have, or cause something entirely different. It was something she wasn't sure she was ready for.

"I don't think you know exactly what you're getting into, Richard." She said finally getting a soft chuckle from him.

"No, I think I've been slowly getting quite a good picture of what I'm getting into." He said making her eyes narrow at him.

"And what does that mean?"

"You are a strong independent and caring woman who's used to having to taking full responsibility of others. You also are extremely afraid of being abandoned since the few times in your life that you thought you had stability you found yourself with the rug pulled out from under you. What you need is someone who can watch your back and someone to lean on." Richard said making her clench her teeth together in her shut mouth.

"And you think you can give me what I need huh?" Bella said glaring at him accusingly.

"I can try my hardest to. I can't make promises but I can say I will do my best to watch your back, both on and off the battlefield. I hold you in high affection and respect, Bella. I will not willingly hurt you." Richard said reaching out to stroke her hair. Bella surprised herself by letting him.

"What do you want from me?" She asked finally frowning at how soft and small her voice sounded.

"All I want is the chance to show you how much I care about you. I'm not asking you to jump into bed with me or anything. Perhaps instead let me take you out on a real date. Not a night on the town as your friend." He said softly looking at her with a look that made her feel content. She didn't quite understand the look since not even Edward gave her one like it before.

"A date, that's it?"

"Well for now, if you enjoy going out with me in such a manner we can have another one."

"Now you're getting cocky."

"I wouldn't call it cocky, just hopefully optimistic."

Bella snorted slightly and crossed her arms. "So I guess us going out to hunt down a vampire alone is out of the question."

"I don't necessary go hunting on the first date, but if you would like?"

"Oh for the love of…" Bella threw up her hands before sliding off the bed. "A decent restaurant will do. Now get out, I want to take a shower."

"Whatever you say, love." Richard said standing up and walking to the door. "How does tomorrow night sound?"

"Just peachy," Bella said with a roll of her eyes before making shooing motions with her hands. "Out."

She didn't like the way he smiled as he shut the door on his way out. Nevertheless she heaved a great sigh and gathered her things for a long hot shower. Enamored werewolf and mental breakdowns aside, Bella hadn't felt this content in years. Probably because she never truly sat down to work out her problems before, now that she knew what was wrong she could fix it. She decided to start with the fact that she had never truly loved Edward.

"I mean really Bella. You have to admit there was some school girl attraction there and all. But what's to say you'd still be interested after he stopped looking at you like a Rubik Cube shaped candy he wants to sink his teeth into." She said rolling her eyes and decided to run a bath rather than a hot shower. "And doesn't that sound fun."

Bella stripped as she thought over her relationship with Edward. As a grown woman, though not necessarily well versed in long term relationships outside the platonic and one night stands, she could honestly scuff at her naïve attitude towards love back then. She honestly acted like she was some little girl waiting for a dashing prince to save her.

"Well he did end up doing that, I'll give him credit for that. But outside of that what did we have in common? Romeo and Juliet, the meadow, maybe a few other things like music? I thought I'd get to know him more as time went on but he never would open up." She said before sighing as she ran a hand through her hair. "Okay, that aside what good advice from my personal heroes can I use?"

A sudden flash of the Dog Whisperer entered her mind telling her to live in the now and to remain calm and assertive. Looking at her nude form in the mirror with a rather baffled look on her face, she blinked. She could have picked any role model in the world and her first pick was a man who was probably a dog in a past life.

"I need to stop hanging out with Madison." She said but smiled slightly as she turned to sink into the hot water of the filled tub. "Then again, the Dog Whisperer does have a point. So what's happening in my life now? Well obviously I have a werewolf who wants to be my boyfriend. There's a crazy vampire that probably wants to eat me or rape me. I'm just weeks away from a war with a race of blood sucking near indestructible immortals. My newest allies include the Vatican. And I'm still in charge of a group of psychos that happened to be not only vampire hunters but mutants as well. It's not all bad, that's good."

Bella leaned back as her mind began to plan. First she knew getting the werewolves, Omerta, and Vatican officials into one room without bloodshed would be her top priority. Locating the remaining vampires here in Rome would be the next issue on the table, perhaps even destroying them. Then there would be planning the major battle to come, Volterra.

"In the meantime I can find time to test the waters with Richard." She said as she relaxed in the warm water. "Felix I'll take care of as he appears. He won't be able to escape much longer. With the current condition of the team, I will have to wait on the reports of the training facility. No doubt I will need to get the guys in there as quickly as possible so we can begin training to face our greatest challenge yet. But for now I can finally relax."

And she did, for the first time in what seemed like years. She did however try to ignore the content almost purring feeling she had deep within her psyche. It was just felt nice to know her deepest instincts seemed for the first time just as relaxed and content as she truly felt. She wondered if she should take baths more often rather than showers.

The next few days passed by with little incident.

Bella was proud when she got a few of the alphas of nearby packs, her Vatican officials, and an Omerta representative into a room to discuss. In the end the meeting became a war council as the group began to focus on the big prize. In the meantime Bella was tasked with cleaning Rome of the vampire problem.

Ray ended up fixing some of the damage done to her spells during the HYDRA incident. The green haired mutant witch tightened the barriers surrounding the cities in Italy. Now the vampires were locked both out of the cities and in whatever city they happened to be in. The werewolves and Omerta were especially pleased and already working to exterminate the vampires in the country.

Hiro reported he and Santa, as Madison dubbed Nicholas, were almost finished with the training facility. Daken was biting at the bit to start training. Bella was just glad that soon Laura and Daken would have a place to spar that didn't cause property damage at the neighbors.

And yes, Bella had to admit she actually did enjoy herself on the three dates she had with Richard so far. The werewolf had always been a gentleman, it was part of the reason Bella enjoyed his friendship. Now he was a very affectionate gentleman that knew when to give her space. If she was honest with herself, Bella could admit she was enjoying where her relationship with the man was going.

Speaking of relationships, Bella smiled to herself as she thought of Ray and Dolph. The two were going through a rough patch now that Dolph was fully healed. Ray was still worrying over him like a mother hen and it was getting on the kitten's nerves. Not that Bella blamed him. Dolph never had much pride when Bella first met him so now that he had some self confidence he prided himself in his independence.

Shaking her head Bella traced the V shaped cool metal in her hand.

"What's so amusing Coyote-chan?"

Looking up Bella smiled at Daken who was hovering over her. The two had just finished a successful raid on a vampire nest in the poorer side of Rome. Though their information said it was a small nest the two found a sizable group of vampires as well as a Volturi vampire that was stuck in Rome.

"It's nothing Daken, just thinking about Dolph and Ray." Bella said as she ignored the group from the Swiss Guard that accompanied them on the mission. Nicholas was adamant that his men learned how to deal with these vampires before they went into battle. It was part of the reason why Bella's group had claim to Rome.

"Ray-san still hasn't left him be. Kind of makes you feel sorry for him in a way." Daken said sitting down next to Bella on a bench. The two were waiting for the Swiss Guard to clean up the area before they left, just in case they missed a vampire and were needed as back up.

"He's getting used to her fussing. Honestly the two of them are quite a match when they aren't arguing." Bella said pulling out a pack of cigarettes.

"True, Dolph-san needs a bit more confidence in himself before they can work out every little thing though." Daken said glancing at her as she lit a cigarette.

"I can't argue with that. He's come a long way from when Mad and I found him though." Bella said getting a smirk from Daken as the two sat in silence for a few long minutes.

"I'm glad to see you haven't picked up smoking cigars. The smoke from those makes my nose itch." Daken said holding out his hand. Bella raised her eyebrows before she pulled out her pack of cigarettes and her lighter.

"Thought you didn't smoke when you weren't drinking?"

"I smoke on occasion. I just don't like the taste of Marlboros." Daken said even as he lit his own cigarette before handing the pack and lighter back to Bella.

"What can I say? I'm an all-American girl." Bella said with a smirk getting a soft laugh from Daken.

"I won't dispute that. I know you've had more than one party off the back of that old truck you own." Daken said with a grin.

"So who's been smoking cigars around you?" Bella said looking at her uncle curiously.

"Logan and Victor both have that habit. When I stayed for a bit at the Institute I got a laugh out of Xavier scolding Logan for smoking in front of the kids." Daken said making Bella laugh.

"Man, wish I could have seen that." Bella said imagining her gruff looking grandfather being scolded by a bald guy in a wheelchair. Somehow the image made her grandfather look like a rebellious teenager rather than a war veteran.

The two fell into a comfortable silence once more. It gave Bella enough time to muster up some of her courage. She after all hadn't been able to sit down with Daken or Laura to have a chat like this before.

"Hey Daken?"

"Yea?"

Bella looked at him for a second while he waited for her patiently. "I was wondering. Have you ever felt like you weren't fully human?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Daken asked with a grin making her roll her eyes. Of course she was speaking with a bloodthirsty mercenary, but really Laura wouldn't be much better help.

"Sometimes… does it feel like inside your more animal than human like the rest of these guys?" Bella said motioning with her chin to the Swiss Guard officials still rushing around them. She noted the group was almost finished with what they were doing so soon they could leave.

"Like you have deeper more savage instincts than you had before?" Daken said making her glance at him before nodding slightly. "I suppose. I can't remember what it felt like to be normal. But I did live with a good family once that treated me like one of their own."

Bella watched him look up at the night sky above them with a dim gleam of longing in his eyes. "Do you think they would understand if they knew?"

"About our deeper instincts? Nah, they're just normal humans." Daken said turning to her with a savage grin. "We're feral inside Coyote-chan. You know it and trust it just as much as I do. We, Laura, Logan, even Victor all act on our instincts more than we act on our thoughts. Sometimes I forget to think I'm so caught up in those primal feelings."

"Is that why you've chased Mad all around the world?" Bella said with a smirk getting a snort from Daken.

"It was the first reason, afterwards it just became fun." Daken said getting a snort of laughter from Bella. "Don't worry about your instincts Coyote-chan, everyone has them. We are just more in tuned with them than normal people are."

"Have you ever been instinctually angry at yourself before?" Bella said a little uncomfortable with the question.

"Nope, can't say I have. But if I do, I already know that would be frustrating." Daken said giving her a curious look. "Why?"

"I spent some time a few days ago sorting out what I've been through. I never understood where my anger with vampires came from but I'm beginning to think I never really hated vampires to begin with. I think it was more along the lines of me projecting the anger I had for myself on a convenient source that resembled why I was angry to begin with." Bella said with a confused frown. "Does that make sense?"

"A bit, you used vampires as a scapegoat for your own anger because you were pissed off at something you did." Daken said getting a nod from Bella. "I take it you've worked out your issues."

"Yea," Bella said with a bit of a smirk. "Still doesn't mean I'm letting up on the vampire hunting. I'll stop once the Volturi are dead and gone though. I've wasted too much time beating this issue to death."

Daken chuckled. "Good to know, I don't think anyone will be happy if you decided to walk off now."

"Coyote, Daken, we are finished." A young operative of the Swiss Guard said coming up to the two.

"Alright, we'll call it a night. Go home and get some rest." Bella said getting a nod from the operative as she stood up. Pausing she glanced back at Daken. "You want to head back to the house?"

"Nah, since we're having such a good heart to heart there's some things I want to know about." Daken said standing up and slinging an arm around her shoulders.

"Oh? And what could those things be?" Bella said with a snort as the two started walking. Bella could feel him leading her towards one of the nearby bars.

"Well first, mind telling me what my little brother was like?"

"Dad?" Bella said looking up at her uncle who nodded. She blinked once before smirking slightly. "Only if you tell me what grandpa's like."

"Deal."

Yes, Bella thought, things were definitely working out fine. But she couldn't help but think it wouldn't last long. She had a sinking feeling in her stomach that made her uneasy. She just hoped it wouldn't spell disaster for her or her friends.

YAY! I managed to get a bit of interaction with Daken and Bella into this. I hope this chap measured up. Anyway make me happy and keep me moving.

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