Disclaimer - All Characters and Copyrights belong to Stephanie Meyers.
Author's Note: Hope you are still hanging with me on this story. Continued thanks to everyone who has provided feedback or comments on this story. All are much appreciated. If you are still reading this let me know.
Chapter 25 - How the hell am I going to feed all of them...
As soon as he got off the phone with Charlie, Jake placed a call to Sam's. His mind was going a hundred miles an hour with worry. Finally, he heard the Uley phone pick up, and was happy Sam was on the other line. "Hello," Sam asked. "Hey, Sam. Jake here, I need a favor. I need you to call the Pack right now, and get them to my house as soon as possible." "Um...hey Jake. Can I ask why you feel the need to order me to call a Pack meeting? There is nothing urgent that I know of that needs to be discussed. If there is, why don't you tell me, and I will then decide if it's worth calling the whole Pack together," Sam responded gruffly. "Oh boy," Jake thought to himself, "This is getting awkward fast. I really don't want him leaking thoughts to the rest of the Pack before we all meet together. Hopefully he doesn't make this too difficult, as I don't know how much time we have before Charlie and Bella get here." "Look Sam, this is very important. I wouldn't ask otherwise, we need an emergency Pack meeting with the Imprints, well maybe not Claire, but the adult Imprints. Bella and Charlie are bringing food to cook, and we need to discuss some things. Things that we all have been bothered by this last year. Charlie knows about us, and he also knows about that fogginess we all have been experiencing. So if we want answers, then this is our shot." Jake waited silently for Sam to respond. Finally he heard Sam expel his breath, "Christ Jake, what did he discover about us? And how? Plus, you say that he knows about our memory gaps? This can't be good. Shit. Ok, ok. I'll get everyone together. We'll see you in a few...Emily!" Jake was thankful, that was done. He proceeded to track down Billy and Sue to come over and be there as well. Charlie had indicated that they knew some of the details of this puzzle, and were part of this as well. Jake sighed, and thought about all that had been covered up in his mind by the memory veil. He did not know how Bella was going to react, and god was he nervous. He never heard of anyone losing their imprint before, but there had never been a girl like Bella Swan before. Figuring there was not much else to do, he began setting up the yard for the gathering that was to come.
Bella had tunnel vision as she moved through the store. She was set in the task at hand gathering ingredients and supplies for a simple cook out. She knew she wouldn't be preparing her normal fare of food, so she kept things simple. Charlie always marveled at her when she was in her zone. Girl couldn't cross a flat floor without tripping, but in here, she was a focused forced of nature. He was so proud of her sense of self she had reclaimed. He couldn't praise her enough, and had really made an effort to express that more to her over this last year. She walked with a new found confidence ever since the Cullens disappeared. She wasn't Edward's Bella, or Charlie's Bella, or even Jake's Bella. No, she was her own self. Charlie helped provide the emotional support she was always missing in her life. He helped repair the emotional void of being an absentee parent. Jake provided her the directional support she was missing. He helped challenge her. He never forced her to do anything. He challenged her to stand up for herself, and to help bolster her self confidence. He didn't do everything for her the way Edward did. Jake didn't know if she would fail or succeed at a lot of the things they attempted together, but he pushed her to try anyway. Edward always kept her caged. He gave everything to her without building her up in the process. He controlled all her actions, interactions, and activities. How was she ever supposed to grow and learn, when she was treated as a child in an adult relationship? Nope, Charlie even now could not regret his actions in helping to set her free. This was what living was about, growing and loving. He chuckled as Bella was pulling around two carts at the same time, while he already was pulling two himself that she had already filled up. How the hell did they afford this daily down there on the Reservation? He'd have to make another donation soon. Maybe he should create a new charity, "The Quileute's feed the Wolf support fund." He chuckled to himself. He noticed that as they rounded the same aisle for the third time since they got here, that Bella seemed to be finally satisfied with their haul. He was startled from his musings when he heard, "Ok, Dad. Looks like we have everything. You ready to go?" What a loaded question Charlie thought to himself. He guessed either way he was finally paying the bill for his actions of the previous summer. "Yep, if your sure we shouldn't get Marshmallows for after dinner," Charlie laughed. However, a look crossed Bella's face, and then she turned around and ran back to the bakery section grabbing several types of deserts. "She's like a freaking graceful Gazelle in here," Charlie thought. "I have got to get Sam to install some of this store's flooring all over my house. The savings from my hospital ER visits alone in the first year would more that recoup the cost."
As everyone finally gathered in his yard, Jake took a deep breath. He had asked that the Imprintees and his father, and Sue separate themselves. Billy and Sue already knew about the secret, but the Imprintees had no knowledge of what was going on, as their Wolves didn't know the full details at times to clue them in properly. Jake did not want anyone hurt if there was a bad reaction to his lifting the veil from the Wolves' memories. Everyone was a little on edge already, as Sam had to Alpha order some of them to get over as soon as possible. Once Jake was satisfied he spoke, "Alright, thank you all for coming. I know this was last minute, and many of you were otherwise engaged. However, I did not want to have to repeat this process several different times. Now I need all of you to pay close attention to what I am about to say." Jake paused a moment and surveilled his audience. He noticed he had all their attentions, and in a way, it was like they could already sense some of what would be discovered shortly. He cleared his throat and spoke, "My Pack. Your Alpha and tribe are proud of you. You have protected honorably. I release you to your own minds again. Awaken my Pack." Jake waited patiently for the same sense of release to occur that he felt when his memories returned. It was odd, but he could tell once each Pack member fully regained their memories. At first there was silence amongst the Pack, as everything began to kick back into their minds. Then there was exhilaration as they remembered some of the things they did while they were under, and then confusion, as to why everything was being revealed now. Jake listened to the conversations, and soon brought order back to the group. Jake spoke, "If everyone can come back to the circle. Dad, Sue and the girls you are welcomed to come in as well. So, now that we are back to normal it's time to reveal the whole truth to everyone. Very shortly, Charlie and Bella will be showing up here, and we will be telling her the facts about what happened last Summer, and our roles in it. I want to just say before they show up, I know we are all concerned about what Bella's reaction might be. I honestly don't know myself. She will be hurt at first, and will feel like we all played her like a fool. I am quite sure that at the very least that Charlie and I may not be her most favorite people for a while. Truthfully, I am scared. However at the same time, I couldn't be prouder of what we accomplished last year. We fulfilled our purpose, and brought more safety to our tribe. Thank you all for that. Thank you all for your sacrifices. Honestly, there isn't enough gratitude in my heart to pay you all back in this lifetime. Now to the Imprintees, I ask for more from you then we have before. One of your sisters will be deeply hurt by what will be revealed today. Please provide the comfort she may not want from me for tonight, and possibly for the rest of my life, if she so chooses. I could never deny Bella what she wanted, and I won't stand in her way now, if she wants to leave. With that said, let's finish setting everything up." Everyone looked around nervously, and did as Jake requested. The girls tried to get their mates to clue them in to more about the mysteries that were to come, but nobody felt much like talking. All knew that tonight was a turning point for the Pack and their tribe. The Wolves knew that no one had ever broke an imprint before, but again they also knew Bella Swan was no ordinary imprint. She had experienced much more of the Supernatural world than any mere human should ever be exposed to or forced to endure and survive. They all prayed to the Spirits to guide her during these moments of truth, and revelation, and to not react too harshly towards them or the others involved in her protection.
Of course the Pack heard Charlie and Bella approach, before they ever saw them, one of the perks of being a wolf, great hearing. Jake heard Bella call for him and he gave the Pack a nervous sigh before he ran out front. As always he snuck up on her, as she was busy unloading the truck. "Damn it Jake," Bella chuckled nervously, "Will you ever stop sneaking up on me like that?" "Sorry, honey. I'm just graced with natural smoothness," Jake stated, as he sidled up to her and gave her a quick kiss hello. "Well call the rest of the guys out here so they can help unload," Bella stated as she tried to stop the smile from breaking past her unsuccessful glare. "Will do," Jake supplied before he shouted at everyone to come and help. Bella couldn't help but notice the looks of uneasiness and guilt that she received as the members of the Pack brought the supplies from her to be placed inside to be prepared. "Oh my god, how bad is the news they have?," Bella thought to herself. She had noticed Charlie too slink into the house to escape the stifling atmosphere. She walked into the house and it felt as if they were all at some funeral. Perhaps it was in a way. She was already apprehensive about the news when Charlie explained he needed the Pack's input, but now seeing everyone so tensed, she couldn't get her mind to stop wondering if this would break her. "Jake? Do you think we should cook everything first or get the discussion over with first?," Bella asked. "I don't know Bella. I'm not sure about anyone else right now, but for once in my life, I'm not really that hungry," Jake stated as he gave her a sympathetic smile. Everyone seemed to be of the same frame of mind. Normally Emily, Bella and the other Imprints would begin cooking, however, they were as interested in tonight's discussion to begin as well. It was generally agreed upon by all, they would delay cooking until after all was revealed. With that being decided, everyone began to get themselves settled around the fire.
Once all were seated, Charlie spoke up, "Well, thank you for coming tonight, and for your help over the last year. Even though you are now just beginning to remember some of the things you did. I want to apologize to some of you who were kept in the dark, not because you couldn't be trusted, it was for the safety of all involved. We had planned the events that occurred with certain levels of protection just in case anything fell through and all hell broke out. We tried to limit those in the know to a select group of people. With that being said," Charlie turned and began talking to Bella, "It all started the day that the Cullen's mailed out the invitations to the wedding. I know myself I was still not too happy with the way everything felt rushed, and the fact I was going to lose the daughter, I just got back into my life. I was angry and frustrated, but didn't want to rain on your happiness. So, I stopped at the store, grabbed a case of beer, and drove over to Billy's to get smashed with my best friend. Well as I was pulling up, I noticed Jake running out of the house, and saw that he had an invitation in his hand as well. However, what happened next would be a game changer. Suddenly, Jake was gone and there in his place was a giant horse sized Wolf. Then my world just exploded, I climbed out of my squad car, pointed my gun at Jake and was getting ready to fire." Bella gasped as she nervously looked between her father and Jake, who was chuckling with everyone else. "Next thing I know Billy is yelling at me to put my gun down, and telling Jake to shift back. Well needless to say, after Jake phased back...and son, let me just say this one last time, I never need to see that sight again...(Everyone laughed including Bella)...So, after Jake was dressed, he and Billy began to explain all about Jake and his friends. They then began to explain about the Cullens, and your role in all of this. Well to be honest, I was upset and angry. I was angry that people that I thought of as friends, would hide this knowledge from me. People I had thought of as family were sacrificing my daughter for the fear I would spill the beans about them. And truthfully I was hurt by your actions Bell's." Charlie was looking around the circle, and still the pain and disappointment of what could of been, was clearly present in his eyes. When Charlie looked at Bella and said those words, she started to cry as well about her own selfishness in the plot of things. Charlie continued, "I was so angry, I couldn't sit there and listen to anymore excuses, I had to leave. I didn't know if I should just drive home and shake you to wake up and come to your senses, or just grab a bottle and go sit on the beach to drink myself into a stupor. But as I was walking back to my car, Jake came running out of the house. He begged me to talk to him about some more details about the Cullens he felt I should know before I took any further actions. I wanted to shout at him to get the hell away from me, but I could tell, he was in as much pain as me, and whatever he needed to tell me, might be the difference in how I was going to get my little girl back."
Bella sat there in tears, and shock. Her dad had known about everything, and still as she looked at Jake, she knew that once again he had put his neck on the line for her. She felt him squeeze her tight, and she let his warm embrace soothe her. He always knew exactly what she needed. She was able to calm down again, and refocus back on her father. "Well Jake stated that in order to discuss what needed to be explained, that we would need to be far away from the rest of his "Pack", as he called them,and the entry to La Push, to avoid the Cullens. At first I had no clue on what he was talking about, but I played along. At this stage I wanted as much intel as I could gather, before I formed an opinion on what needed to be done. I stopped at the Attera General Store, to get some supplies for a couple of days. Then I drove over to the Clearwater's. I spoke to Sue for a bit about what I now knew, and explained that I needed some space from everyone for a bit. She was shocked at first, then a little afraid, but understood and hoped I would talk to her after I wrapped my head around things. She gave me the key to her and Harry's cabin retreat, and off we went. Once we got there, we set up the place for the amount of time we would need it. And then I waited for Jake to be prepared to tell me all he knew about all this Supernatural crap. It took him a while to open up, I knew he was struggling with his breaking of the Treaty, his undermining of the Pack structure, and even whether or not this was really for your benefit or for his own selfish reasons." Bella turned and looked lovingly at Jake and knew it was done for her benefit. That Jacob Black would give the shirt off his back to a stranger if they needed it. That's the man she knew and loved. She didn't know what else would be revealed tonight, but she never doubted that. "Well Jake began to break it all down for me at this point. He explained all about the inner workings of the Pack. He explained how his own viewpoints on what the Pack was capable of differed from how Sam thought the Pack should be run." Charlie turned and looked Sam in the eye, "Now Sam. I want you to know. That at no time during our conversations, did Jake ever speak poorly of you or your leadership. He had nothing but high praise of how you had led the Pack. However, it was clear to me, that his Alpha side, was seeing new avenues of the potential of your Pack. And his love for my daughter most certainly amped up his need to stake his claim at the position, and it increased as his desperation to save her began to surface more profoundly." Everyone watched as Jake stood up, and embraced Sam in a hug, and whispered, "You are and always will be my brother. None of us would be here without you, and the sacrifices you, and Emily have given up for us." Sam sniffed and returned the embrace, "I wouldn't change anything for the world my brother." Jake then went over to Emily and hugged and kissed her cheek as well, "Thank you Em, thank you." Emily crying embraced Jacob back, and returned the kiss to his cheek." Jake returned to his seat, "Thanks Charlie." Charlie nodded in response. Bella still felt like something was missing, how was Jake being disrespectful towards his Alpha? What else happened? Charlie continued, "Once Jake explained how he would improve things with the Pack, it became evident to me that in order for things to move forward, Jacob would need to step up to the plate soon, and assume his rightful position. We tabled that for for awhile, and then Jake dropped the bombshells about the Cullen's and their abilities. Well needless to say, I was pissed off when he explained what they had been up to. How they misused their abilities to not only play me, but also manipulate my daughter. I learned about their ability to sway people to do what they wanted, and also about their extra abilities. As if being fast, strong and indestructible wasn't enough, at least three of the Cullen's had super powers. But that wasn't the end of my shock, then he dropped the bomb about the Volturi, and their army of extra ability soldiers. So if I wasn't concerned about just shutting down a family of Vampires, I had to worry about an army, but that's not all. Apparently the Cullens had an extended family close by that could also be an issue. Needless to say, this led to quite a conundrum. We called it a night, as I knew I couldn't absorb anymore information that night. I crawled into bed and tried to breakdown everything I had heard that evening. I broke down the chain of command in the Pack, and how we could use the clear strengths of the Pack to assist us with defeating the Vampires. I analyzed the facts Jake had given me about the Cullens themselves and the weaknesses he observed. I determined before we even confronted the Cullens, we needed to have a game plan in place for how to separate them from their extended family, and the overall threat of the Volturi. When I was up in the morning, I spoke to Jake and we began to game plan. We determined that in order for us to even take on the Cullen's we had to remove the other factors out of the equation. Once they were gone or disabled, then we could begin the process of getting you out of the clutches of the Cullen's. It was agreed upon that we needed to have Jake assume control of the Pack as the new Alpha. Once that was done we could begin to enact some plans to help circumvent the Cullen's abilities." "Wait, wait wait," Bella shouted how was this all happening when Jake was supposed to be missing? And how did you stop the Cullen's from just reading this all from your thoughts?" Bella looked at Jake and then her father. Charlie chuckled, "Damn Bells, you never were a patient child, I was just getting there. (Everyone joined in on the laughter, and Bella turned beat red.) As I was saying, it was decided Jake needed to challenge Sam for being the Alpha. (Bella's gasped looking both Jake and Sam over for any scars that might have been caused by the challenge, and of course she found none. 'Stupid testosterone fueled werewolves and their damn healing abilities,' Bella mumbled to herself.) So, Jake called Sam to come over to the Cabin, but asked that he drive instead of running, and to not let anyone know where he was going, or to whom he was meeting. Sam reluctantly agreed. Once he arrived we laid out the first part of our plan. We explained how the Pack would need to brush up on their Quileute language skills, and they would be Alpha ordered to only communicate in Quileute when they were running as Wolves. They would also be Alpha ordered to not think about any command or action given to them about this plan. In fact they would forget all about the intricate details of the plan unless they were actually participating in some form of action of the plan. They would not remember any form of the plan in their day to day activities, it would be as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening. They would then be ordered to check in with me for changes or new instructions. I would send them a signal from our home if an action needed to be taken. They would then proceed to a Dropbox where they would then get the new details for the plan. Once they performed the new action, they would once again, return to their standby stasis. It was determined that since Edward could not read my mind completely, well we hoped based on a comment you once made to Jake about it. (Bella seemed to recognize a conversation that she and Jake had on that subject. At the time she thought it was a harmless observation, but now felt a little guilty that it had been used against the Cullens. Realizing nothing could be changed at this point, she returned her attention back to her dad.) So we would test it out against Edward, and if I passed, then I would be the only safe haven for the complete plan, and would act as the Game-master of the game board for this rescue. If it was agreed upon, we would then go with the story that Jake disappeared, and then launch our assault to save you. Sam appeared to think about all that was discussed for a moment, and then stood up abruptly. He turned on me and Jake and exclaimed, "You want us to risk our lives, the lives of our family and our people for one person. I'm sorry Charlie, I really am. But I will not sit here and listen to anymore of this outrageous plan." Sam then began to storm out of the cabin. Jake and I just stared at each other, without Sam being on board this would get ugly quick. Jake desperately raced after Sam, and grabbed him by the arm turning him around in the process. Jacob pleaded, "Sam please don't you understand if we can eliminate these Volturi leeches, and get rid of the Cullens, then future members of the tribe won't have to suffer the way we did." "No Jacob," Sam stated. "I could feel the timber in his voice. I just knew it was this "Alpha" voice, Jake spoke to me about." Bella was on the edge of her seat. She couldn't begin to understand all that went down behind the scenes of this plan. Charlie continued, "Then Sam stated, 'As your Alpha I command you to submit to every part of Charlie's plan. You will not deviate from the plan regardless of what your Wolf wants. You will protect your tribe by obeying every part of the plan as it is laid out. Do you understand?' Jake and me we're both shocked by Sam's statements. I could see the joy creep across Jake's face as he agreed with his Alpha. Then Sam stated, 'So, you want to challenge me to the position of Alpha?' Jake shook his head yes, and said, 'Yeah Sam, I know it's my time.' Sam just stared at Jake, and said, 'You do realize you have now stated your desire to be Alpha, and that in itself is a challenge to my position?" Jake replied, 'Yes, I do.' Sam turned to me and winked, 'Right, I accept your challenge, and submit to your claim. You are now Alpha.' 'Wait. What? I mean what just happened here,' Jake exclaimed. However, as he was trying to figure out what happened there was a shift on the air that I noticed, and something unseen seemed to pass between the two men in front of me. I noticed that Jake seemed to grow slightly if that was even possible. Sam explained, 'Jake if I agreed to your plan right away, then it would be as if I already submitted to your authority as Alpha, and then I wouldn't be able to tie you to the same restrictions as the rest of us, and this all would of been for nothing, and we would need to go back to the drawing board. By making your wolf think I was against the plan, I was still able to issue my last Alpha command to you. As far as you being Alpha, well it was always yours to take Jake. I've told you that from the beginning. I'm not sure this plan of your's and Charlie's will work or not, but Bella Swan is this Pack's biggest failure. It kills me to see you suffer as much as you do for her well being, and if we would have been more supportive, perhaps we could of broken the thrall of those Vampires long ago. Instead we fought your relationship from the get go. Now we really do need to call the Pack here. By now everyone should have felt the effects of the transfer of power between us Alphas. So let's bring everyone here and begin planning the downfall of these Vamps. What do you say Alpha?' Jake just smirked, then said, 'Let's do this.' So both of them just ran out of the cabin, and the next thing I know, I heard howls going up in the air. I had to admit, Sam was pretty smart, I hadn't thought of the glitch in my mind trick plan. Once the rest of the Pack got here we had a lot more planning to figure out, including how the hell am I going to feed all of them?