"Chrissy, where are you going?" I asked my now teenage daughter. She was sneaking towards the front door.
"Outside." She mumbled.
"To do what?" I asked, crossing my arms across my chest.
"Nothing!" She wined.
I sighed and walked over to her. Reaching around her, I shut the front door. "Why cant I just go out for a walk?"
"Because your father is out." I knew it was a stupid answer.
Now she looked to be the size of a 14 or 15 year old. She could pass for my younger sister. Questions have began to come up. She's been asking why she's still growing and Jacob and I are not. Jacob tells her not to worry about it. She's been showing more signs of phasing soon. Her temper flares for no reason, and she's been starting with the tremors. Also when Jacob tries to force her to stop doing something he almost has to tap into the full alpha to order her around. She's becoming stronger. I've caught her many times trying to sneak out to go after Jacob. He's been out looking for new trails from Irina. It's been almost a month since we last seen her.
"I don't care if he's out, he's always out!" Christina threw her hands in the air and stormed towards her room.
I rolled my eyes and stepped outside into the cool November air. I closed my eyes and breathed in the smell of fall. "Pst!" I heard from the shadows of the trees lining the front yard.
I looked back at the house to see if Christina followed me outside. Her bedroom window was to my left, and I could see the light from her TV and her shadow against the wall as she moved around her room.
"Bella… right?" The high bell voice asked, still hidden in the trees.
"You don't want to mess with me!" I warned, my voice shook in all the wrong places.
Low chuckles echoed off the trees. "Where's your guard dog?"
"Around… stay away from me if you want to keep your limbs." I took a step back towards the front door. When my hand touched the doorknob, I spun around to open the door. A cold stiff hand clamped down on my shoulder. I cried out in pain as the hand dug into my shoulder blade.
"So, he never changed you, what a pity." I looked over my shoulder and realized it was Irina.
"What do you want?" I asked through clenched teeth. Her grip tightened and I fell to my knees.
"I want your wolf's head mounted on my bedroom wall." She hissed. "If I can't have him I'll gladly take the next best thing… call your child out here."
"No!" I growled. I tried to stand up, but she pushed me back down on the ground.
"Do it!" Irina yelled. "That mongrel and his pack took down someone I cared deeply for! He's going to pay."
"Take me!" I begged. "Leave his daughter out of this. She doesn't know about the werewolves or vampires. She's innocent, please, take me instead."
"Now what fun would this be if I listened to you?" Irina kept her right hand clamped down on my shoulder and brought her left behind my head, taking a fist full of my hair.
"Someone will hear you, they probably already have. Your as good as dead." I said as coldly as I could.
She growled and picked me up, throwing me over her head. My back slammed into a tree, and I tumbled to the ground. I quickly checked all my limbs and they were still intact.
"Mom!" I heard the one voice I wished would disappear.
"Christina, don't come near me! Go inside!" I looked around the yard and saw Christina not listening to me as always.
"Go away!" Christina growled. She moved over me, crouching.
Irina laughed. "You think you're going to protect your mother? You're nothing but a child."
"Leave her alone! My father will kill you when he finds out what you're doing! Who the hell are you anyway?" Christina snapped.
"I'm here to take care of some business with your father."
"Like what?"
"He killed someone I loved."
"He what?" Christina gasped. She looked down at me wide eyed. "You knew about that?"
"Chrissy, it's not like that at all." I tried to explain.
Irina stepped closer to Christina and reached out for her. Christina pushed away from her, but stayed standing over me. "Don't touch me, freak!" She warned.
"You're a feisty one, aren't you?" Irina chuckled.
I got to my feet and pulled Christina behind me. "You have nothing to say to her."
"Really? I think there's a lot of secrets that this poor girl should know." Irina smirked, and leaned around me to look at Christina. "Did you know your mother was in love with a vampire?"
Christina backed away from me, giving Irina room to step between us. "Don't listen to her!" I pleaded.
"Vampires?" Christina whispered.
Irina nodded. "That's what I am, and your blood smells simply delicious."
"Don't buy it, she doesn't hunt humans." I said, remembering that Edward said she belonged to the other coven that were vegetarians also.
Irina spun around and pushed me. I flew backwards and landed on the ground. "Stop it!" Christina screamed and lunged at Irina before I could get to my feet.
Irina caught Christina by her throat. "That was a bad move, child." Irina dropped her hand, then lifted it again. She brought the back of her hand up smacking Christina across the face.
"Don't you dare touched my daughter again!" Jacob appeared, his whole body shaking.
"Finally, we meet." Irina smiled.
Jacob ran over to her and yanked Christina out of her hands. As soon as Christina was out of her grasp, Jacob pushed her towards Sam and Leah. She stumbled from Jacob's force in the push, and landed in both Sam and Leah's arms. None of them were in their wolf forms, but they were all shaking. I felt a strong hold on my upper arms, and Quil was crouched in front of me.
"Just me, Bella." Paul whispered from behind me. He was letting me know that it was him holding into me. "Come with me." He pleaded as he stepped backwards. I followed, letting him lead me backwards, Quil stayed crouched and moved with us.
Paul brought me over to Sam and Leah. I pulled myself out of Paul's grasp, my hands immediately moving to Christina's face. Her cheek was red from Irina's slap, and she had the outline of her hand on her neck. "I'm fine! Stop it." Christina hissed. She was watching Jacob closely.
Irina took off running and Jacob followed with half the pack at his heels. Christina ran after them.
"Jacob!" I yelled hoping he would notice Christina was right behind them. She was too fast for me to catch her. Plus I would probably just fall on my face.
Jacob turned around and held his arm out at the same time, catching Christina before she ran past him. "Stay here!" He ordered.
"Let me help." Christina whispered.
"No, stay with your mother. I'll be back soon."
"She's a vampire! You can't win against her!"
"Yes I can, now GO!" Jacob growled deeply. Christina bowed her head and was frozen in her spot.
I walked up to her with Seth and Jared at my flanks. They were ordered to stay around the house.
"How does he do that?" Christina whispered, still frozen in place.
"Let's just say you have a deeper connection to him than you think." I said, and put my arm around her to help her back to the house. "Come on, we'll put some ice on that cheek."
I paced in front of the window, waiting for Jacob to come home. I froze when Edward was jogging towards the front door. I opened it before he even had a chance to knock. "You ok?" He asked calmly.
I nodded. "Why are you coming now? Jacob already went after her." I couldn't help but sound annoyed.
"Like I said, I'm not going to stop her. She has her reasons for doing what she's doing. Alice had a vision, but at the last minute Irina changed her mind. I got here as soon as I found out what happened.
"How's the malicious child?" Edward asked, smirking.
"She's fine. Irina told her about vampires." I sighed.
Edward seemed to be deep in thought for a few seconds. Christina walked into the room and Edward smiled. "She has her accusations about me." He whispered so low that I almost didn't hear what he said.
Christina stood at my side, starring at Edward. "Yes, Christina, I am just like Irina."
Christina gasped and grabbed onto my arm. "I didn't ask anything!"
"But you thought it." He smirked, narrowing his eyes.
"How… but… I… you read my mind?" Christina stumbled over her words.
"Yes." Edward chuckled. "It's a relief actually. I can't hear Bella's thoughts, never have." He looked at me, sighed, and looked back at Christina. "But I can hear yours. It's not very clear, but I can hear you."
"How… weird." Christina shook her head and sighed deeply. "So, you know this freak?"
Edward nodded. "Yes, yes I do."
"So go stop her! She might hurt my dad."
"I assure you that Jacob and his… friends are fine." Edward spoke confidently, but I knew it was a lie.
"Why aren't you going to help them?" Christina asked him.
"Because it's not for me to worry about." Edward turned towards the door and opened it. "I just wanted to make sure Bella was ok… and you." He said, keeping his back towards us, and walked out the door.
"Was that the vampire you were in love with?" Christina asked, disgusted.
I nodded slightly. "For a while I was, but he left me. I love your father, and that's all that matters."
"Him?" Christina's voice squeaked.
I nodded.
"Oh." She sighed. I watched her walk towards the door, lock it, and go back into her room.