Chapter 28

Standard Disclaimers Apply. Mature Audiences Only. Story is unbeta'd - I own all mistakes.

Charlie POV

"Are you really sure you threw it over here?' she asked again from trees near the corner of lawn.

The fact that she thought I'd been aware of the direction her clothes flew earlier was kinda fuckin' cute. We were damn lucky to have found what we had so far.

For that matter, we were damn lucky that only our underclothes had been torn to shreds.

The remnants of her shredded black lacy panties rested in my pocket. Those… I had remembered where I threw those scraps.

"No." I laughed. "Not sure"

"Charlie!" she huffed. She tried her hardest to look intimidating. She really did. She put her hands on her hips and growled.

It might have been more effective if the "it" she was searching for hadn't been her shirt.

Her pert breasts pushed forward and shook with her effort.

We were not going to get dressed anytime soon if she kept shit like that up.

I shook my head. Part of me felt like I should feel something other than pride for having taken my mate outside… for the first time… on the deck… and lawn… and edge of the forest... of our apparent new home.

She deserved better than broken deck railings and grass stained clothes and a missing shirt for our first time together.

We'd also knocked down that one tree…

I hadn't stopped smiling. I just couldn't find it in myself to feel the least bit sorry.

The perma-grin on her face didn't really scream 'dissatisfaction', either.

"You'll just have to give me your shirt then" she challenged.

The thought of her in my clothes made more venom rush to my mouth. My scent all over her… inside and out…

I whipped the item in question off my back and hurried to her side.

It seemed such a shame to cover her…

Inside, a shower started. The sound signaled that Peter and Charlotte were done with their… activities, too.

They hadn't exactly been… quiet; I'd simply blocked them out and focused on my Alice. Focusing on her was too easy.

Reluctantly, I pulled my t-shirt over her slight frame. As much as I loved looking at her, I wasn't sure how I'd feel if Peter caught a glimpse.

Funny how that hadn't occurred to me when I was busy removing her clothes earlier.

I growled and smoothed the shirt down her hips.

It looked like a nightgown on her.

I loved the way my clothes looked on her.

Almost as good as she looked without any clothes.

Not quite though.

"Hmmm… isn't this how we lost my shirt in the first place?" she purred as she ran her hands over my shoulders and down my arms.

"Dunno" I mumbled.

Why she expected my brain to work when her hands were on my skin was beyond me.

There was still grass in her hair. She looked dirty and rumpled and I'd never seen her look more beautiful.

"We should go inside and shower, too."

She was absolutely right. I needed to get her wet… all over… again…

She gasped and closed her eyes.

"Oh… now… that…" she sighed blissfully, "that is the kind of vision I could use more of."

I continued to think of all the ways we could have fun in the shower when she pouted.

"Fuck. Please, Charlie," she begged, "if you keep making plans like those, we'll never make it off the porch."

Sounded good to me.

I was game if she was.

"Twenty minutes." she pouted.

I could do so much with twenty minutes.

"They'll be here in twenty minutes. The rest of my family will be here." she looked towards the sky and blew out an indelicate huff, "Edward will be here."

I growled.

"As much as it pains me to say it, we should probably shower separately." she kissed my shoulder. "If we're in there together… we won't come out." I so wanted to see her in the shower. "I can't see what will happen once Bella and Jasper come back, but I know things will be bad if we aren't out here when the family arrives."

"Just what did you see?" the scope of her gift was unclear to me. What was clear was that her gift didn't work in close proximity to Bella. Rather, she sometimes seemed to see bits of Bella, like when she knew to save Peter from… whatever earlier. Or those times when she seemed extra scared of Bells. I needed more information.

"Too much and not enough" she grumbled in response "everything is… shifting."

Bella and The God of War had been gone for hours. That meant potential hours of visions.

I'd been focused on Alice the entire time.

Very focused.

She'd only seemed to be taken by a few visions right after they left and before… before she'd asked for my shirt the first time.

I hated seeing her so frustrated. I needed to fix it. I wrapped her in my arms and kissed her grassy hair.

Since we hadn't exactly spent our time talking before… might as well talk now.

"Hey… I'm here. I can listen. Maybe something you saw will make sense to me?"

She inhaled and smiled.

"Maybe." her eyes closed.

I wanted her to open up to me. I wanted to help.

"Nope, not enough time." she sighed and stepped out of my embrace. My mate turned and started walking toward the house.

Now I truly understood the phrase, "hate to see you go but love to watch you leave."

Her tight little ass swayed as she walked up the stairs...

"Carlisle decided to speed up. He's going to shave three minutes off of his original arrival time. He wants to try to mediate and feel things out before Edward arrives. Edward is in a great deal of pain."

Edward.

I could still smell him. I looked over to where Bella had dropped the toe-bits earlier. Nestled among the lush blades of grass they glistened like tiny shiny rocks in the rising moonlight.

She did that to his toe. They left with an entire limb.

Shivers of fear ran down my spine

"Wonder what she did with it? The arm." I realized that for the first time since we'd turned, I had gone hours and not been consumed with thoughts of my daughter and her wellbeing. Now I was wondering what terrors she and her scary as fuck mate had thought up for Edward's other appendage.

I'd forgotten her while I was lost in my Alice.

Alice answered without turning "You could ask, but I don't think you really want to hear the answer."

Part of me wanted to argue.

I couldn't really though. Instead, I went to an unoccupied bathroom to shower.

I spent my shower lonely and missing the touch of my mate. I might have made sure to leave as much of her smell on me as I could.

Seemed a shame for her to work so hard to make me smell so great only for me to wash it down the drain.

Besides, her smell on me marked me as hers. I wanted everyone to know I was hers.

Especially Jasper.

Instinct screamed at me to respect and even fear him on multiple levels. He was, without a doubt, the single most scary motherfucker I had encountered in my life.

And I had worked in law enforcement.

Still… no matter how much he intimidated me, I needed him, most especially, to know that Alice was mine.

I growled.

I dressed quickly in whatever was on top of my stacks of clothes and rushed back out to the deck. I could hear Alice and Char talking, but couldn't make out their words.

They were giggling, too.

Pride filled my chest.

I'd probably have to fix a few things… Char seemed to be protective of her home.

Char was waiting with her hand on her hips when I exited the back door.

I expected to be scolded.

We really had done a number on the deck. And the yard. And that tree.

I did not expect the beaming smile that broke out on the blonde's face.

Nor did I expect the slow clap that came from the lawn.

Peter whistled. "Good job, Chief! That's how you get 'er done."

"Here, here! " Alice laughed.

I rushed to Alice and enveloped her in my arms. We inhaled at the same time and I felt her relax as I did.

"Awww, Char!" Peter squealed from under the brim of his hat. "They're too damn cute! Can I keep em? Can I? Can I?"

"You know I'll just wind up feedin' and walkin' em," she scolded.

I was just about to say something about being compared to a pet… the newborn references were bad enough… when the sound of a car came to my attention.

Alice sighed and patted my butt.

"I knew we were cutting it close. That'd be Carlisle." She brightened up, "I am excited for you to meet… most everyone."

With a quick peck to my cheek, she skipped off the deck to make her way to the front of the house.

I walked slowly down the stairs.

I didn't know much about my mate yet, but it was clear that she did love her family.

I understood that. Fully.

And she viewed Carlisle as a father.

I gulped.

Peter clapped me on the shoulder and started ushering me around towards the front of the house.

"So, Charlie, how long's it been since you had to meet the parents?"

I growled. Peter, Charlotte and even Alice laughed.

Assholes.

The car was coming closer. I could now hear the vampire inside humming along to some bouncy song I didn't recognize. Their fingers were tapping along to the beat on… something.

Alice. I need Alice.

No sooner had I thought it and she tucked herself into my side and slid her hand into the back pockets of my jeans.

I smiled.

Better.

I looked up as the Mercedes rounded the final bend of the driveway. Dr. Carlisle Cullen sat in the driver seat, humming and tapping the steering wheel, a scowl firmly planted on his normally affable face.

As chief of police, I had known pretty much all the hospital staff on a first name basis. Carlisle had always been a pretty friendly man.

Of course, I'd been oblivious to the fact that he and his entire family were vampires… so… my judgement of his character could have also been off.

He parked the car. Before I could brace myself, he was out and standing in front of my mate and I.

I didn't mean to growl.

But I did growl.

Pretty loudly.

He placed his hands in front of himself and looked down in a submissive sort of way.

"Apologies, Charlie. I… wasn't thinking."

"Not like you, Doc." Peter called. "What's got your knickers all twisted?"

"I am a bit agitated at present. Still, no excuse for running up to a newly mated newborn vampire in such a manner." Carlisle paused and looked at Alice and beamed before he looked to me and extended his hand.

I thought meeting the parents was supposed to be more… intense.

Guess I miss Bells.

This wasn't the first time the Dr. Cullen and I had occasion to shake hands.

This time meant something. It meant...

"Welcome to the family, Charlie. I wish it were under more… ideal circumstances." his words made me smile. "The rest of the family will be here shortly. I might have broken a few local speed limits, but I wanted to arrive a few minutes ahead of everyone… especially Edward," as he continued to speak I felt the smile fading from my face.

At my growl, he paused and nodded.

"I understand your anger. There are a great many things I can forgive my children," he smiled lovingly at Alice as he spoke, "but, Edward has done some unforgivable things this time." My growls continued and Carlisle just talked over me, his tone still calm, "The animalistic way he attacked the two of you… even after Alice's warning…" my growl stopped and he looked at me.

"Alice's warning?" I didn't know what he meant.

"We haven't exactly had time to talk about…" Alice started.

"I'm sure you've been… busy getting to know one another." Carlisle smirked and looked up at the roof of the house.

"Alice, dear," he nodded toward the roof, "isn't that the blouse you got from that little shop in downtown Port Angeles that you were so excited about?"

"There it is!" she shouted before she darted out of my arms and over to Carlisle's. He hugged her in a very clearly fatherly way and patted her back lovingly. She beamed up at him before she darted back away and then hopped up on to the roof to grab the now-found blouse.

"As I was saying," he smiled at Alice and I as she returned to my side, "Edward knows how I feel about accidentally turning vampires. The way he attacked the two of you… is reminiscent of my own turning. If Alice and the boys hadn't acted when they did, he'd have at the very least turned you. He is not himself since that day. He thinks he has been hiding it well, but he is mistaken. Perhaps the fault is mine. I've not been as strict as I should have been. He was so young when he was turned and we coddled him, Esme and I."

I scoffed. "How old was he?"

"Seventeen"

"So," I challenged, "he's Bella's age. But he's been her age for, how long?"

"Long enough to know better" he lowered his head.

I remembered the animal that attacked us. I'd at least seen all of the Cullen kids at a distance at one point or another before… the attack. The creature that tore at my throat was crazed. Watching him go after my only daughter had been the worst feeling in my life. I was powerless. I knew he was doing to her what he'd done to me. I'd tried to move. My muscles didn't respond to the commands my brain screamed at them.

I really, really wanted to hurt him.

From what Alice alluded to, Bella had been hurting him pretty badly for the past several hours.

I was a tiny bit jealous.

Only a tiny bit. I'd choose devouring my delicious mate's body over hurting anyone any day.

Carlisle's words from earlier ran through my mind… There are a great many things I can forgive my children….

What would I do if Bella had attacked humans?

If I were being honest with myself, I knew that I'd probably have helped her hide the bodies.

More vehicles were approaching. Three, by the sounds of it.

Alice's shoulders slumped and she sighed.

Peter clapped his hands and rubbed them together briskly.

"Whelp! Looks like it's time to get this party started!"

Carlisle looked abashed. "My manners are abysmal today." he dashed over to Peter and Char. "Hello Peter. Charlotte, you look as lovely as ever. I don't have words to express how thankful I am for...oof"

Char's quick hug cut his words off with an undignified whoosh of air. "'Course, 'Sug. No need to mention it. This lot's more entertainment than we've had in years!"

"Speak for yourself, woman." Peter quipped. "I think the doc ought to give thanks where they're due."

The cars were about to start rounding the last curve.

Whether I was ready or not, I was about to be faced with my new mate's entire large family of vampires. A family that included my killer.

I don't think there was a book or movie or even an after school special that could have helped prepare me for the clusterfuck I was about to face.

I looked down at my mate. She tipped her face up and without thought, my lips found hers. I heard the cars stop. I heard four vehicle doors open and close. I kept my lips on my mate's and kept my eyes closed.

Until I smelled it.

Him.

I tensed. I felt the growl building.

"Awwww…. Not fair" I looked at the vampire that had spoke. It was the big one. Emmett. He stood leaned against the front grill of a large jeep with a statuesque blonde vampire pulled against his very broad chest. Rosalie. He kissed her head before he continued, "I get stuck with Grumpmaster Flash for the past eight hours, with only my thoughts of my Rosie and our normal road trip activities to keep me company and we get out at the new digs and find it already christened." He sniffed the air and looked at me with a lecherous grin. "Why, Chief Swan, you sly dog…"

A swift elbow to his ribs stopped him.

"Sorry, Chief Swan," Rosalie said. "Emmett gets… persnickety when he is in a car for too long. Normally he's… better occupied." she purred.

A disgusted snort drew my attention. I looked what I saw wasn't I expected.

The rabid animal I remembered from our attack was strong and scary.

The creature before me was… hobbled. Broken.

He looked dead.

I realized I, myself was technically dead. But he looked… beyond dead.

His posture was slouched and he seemed to have trouble staying upright. Tremors shook his frame and each breath seemed to take a great deal of effort. When I looked at his face, it was hard not to gasp.

He looked haunted. I could tell that he thought he looked tough, unconcerned. I'd spent years across the table from plenty of perps with the same look.

He'd completely fucking snapped.

His eyes were darting around. He kept sniffing the air.

He was looking for something.

Or someone.

So help me… if he's looking for my Bells….

His posture stiffened and without explanation, he ran.

"Fuck. Already?" Emmett sighed and he and Rosalie followed behind him.

The rest of us followed them.

We didn't have to go far.

Edward was knelt in the grass, picking up pieces.

Of his toe.

He was whimpering and muttering.

"Most of it should be there," Peter mused. "Might have to dig around a bit… but… should be there."

"Damn it." the familiar voice rang out from the treeline. I looked at my daughter and smiled as she walked towards the crowd of vampires. "They started the treasure hunt without us, Jasper."

A/N: I am trying to get my head around chapter 34 currently. So far, I've got "Chapter 34" on the top of the page. That's it. Got some awkward really shit to write and TRYING to figure out who's gonna tell us about it. I know what's gotta happen within the chapter. I know what the overall goal of the chapter is. But... I... maybe I haven't had enough coffee yet today? Is three cups enough for an addict of my caliber? :/ Maybe Hozier serenading me from YouTube will help me decide? *bites nails* Not helping yet. Still nothing.

Thanks so much for the reads and reviews. Even just the smiley face reviews. Tho... I DO love hearing your more complex thoughts and questions. I like it when Edward squicks people out or when they get really amped up for Bella to rip and tear. You folks rock beyond all rockage.

~EFT