Chapter 38
DISCLOSURE
AN: And finally after four long years of my life, the end is in sight! It was such a b*tch to write this chapter but I knew I had to get it out of my system. I'm hoping the next ones will be easier (though I doubt it.)
Thank you to all my reviewers – I don't think I could have gotten this far without your encouragement and support. My rusty pen would have stayed rusty and neglected had it not been for your reviews and PMs and nagging
Once again, this story was written entirely for my personal pleasure and it was just a fantastic, unexpected bonus that some people enjoyed the ride with me. So to the flamers – well, what the heck, no one forced you to read this story.
P.S. Yes, Embry DID imprint on Leah. But that's another story for another time…
X-X
SAM POV
I was seething inside and I knew Jared and Paul could tell. We had hidden in the woods a few meters away from the Community Center where Sue's wedding was taking place but from the large windows on the sides, we could see inside and with our enhanced hearing, listen in on almost everything that was going on. I saw Leah walk down the aisle in her bridesmaids dress and exchange a long look with Embry as she passed him. The fucker looked ecstatic – and why not? He had stolen Leah from me!
I felt Jared's wolf stir uneasily beside me.
"That's not fair Sam…" he thought "You left Leah – imprinted on Emily…he didn't steal anyth..."
"She was mine first!" I growled "She will always be mine." I thought back. Not caring how irrational or unfair I was being. "I'm going to tear that asshole apart!" I growled.
"Can you assholes be quiet!" Paul growled "Most of the pack is in there – those traitors – as if an Elder of our tribe marrying a hokwat is something to celebrate…they might sense you."
"They can't catch our scent from here – they're all inside asshole." Jared retorted, bumping Paul's flank.
"Any scent of the baby leech?" I asked Paul.
"None. Looks like the leech lover came alone." He thought back.
"She'd better not bring him here. And if she does…." I thought, not needing to complete my thought
"…if she does then we know what to do." Paulresponded.
"He's just a child!" Jared argued. He shifted uneasily. Jared was always too weak…too softhearted…especially about children ever since his and Kim's repeated failed attempts to have a baby. Then finally, after several years of trying, little Esther was born, then he became more so.
"He's a leech." I saidharshly. "And if she brings him to our land, both of them deserve to die."
"I won't be party to this!" Jared continued. "I won't harm a child!"
"What if it attacked your child? What if it tried to drain Esther?" Paul argued back, knowing it was a sensitive topic and Jared's greatest weakness. "What if she brings him back here over and over? What if Esther or Sam's son start to phase? What about the other kids on the rez?"
"We could just banish them…" Jared continued.
"That won't solve anything. They would just come back…and more of them." Paul told him.
"But he doesn't even smell like a leech…maybe he's not…" Jared disputed Paul, earning a growl and nip to his flanks.
"Neither does Swan…but she's been shacking up with Cullen all these years." Paul retorted "What do we know about these abominations? Maybe they don't smell like leech until they turn. Maybe because it's a half breed it don't smell like them." He continued, convinced in his and my own logic.
"Shut the fuck up…" I told them "They're coming out. You two fools follow the leech lover – stick to her and let me know immediately if she comes back here with that abomination."
And we all sped off into the cover of the woods before any of the others could sense our presence.
I needed to find Jacob – I needed to tell him it was over – that there was no hope for him. Not when Bella had clearly married Edward – and had his child.
BELLA POV
"Ready to go chica?" I heard Leah call from downstairs.
It was time to leave for the bonfire and I was packing a warm sweater in the baby bag for Caleb to wear in case it got cold on the beach and my hands were shaking so badly that I couldn't seem to complete even the simple act of folding the little piece of wool and fabric into a bag.
I sighed and just stuffed it in as best I could. I glanced over at Caleb who was sitting on the floor next to my bed playing with Wolfy. It was chilly outside and he was wearing so many layers of clothing, courtesy of Flo, that only his hands and tips of his hair peeking out of his hood could be seen.
"Coming!" I called back and slung the bag on my shoulder, picking up Caleb and settling him on my hip.
It was time to face the music.
JACOB POV
I was tired and uneasy. Hadn't gotten any sleep since Seth told me Bella was back. Had it only been two days? It felt like forever, knowing she was here, so close by but as far away from me as if she had been across the Pacific Ocean.
I had argued with Billy for hours – he had been trying to convince me to go to Sue's wedding. But I knew I couldn't sit there – watch Bella and pretend to be civilized and pleasant – to watch Bella and not want to grab her and run away – to watch Bella and act as if we were just old friends.
It was just for a few days – I could stay away that long. I could control myself until she went back to the lee…Edward. I tried to stop myself from cursing him. I had hated him for so long and I hated him now – with the passion born of jealousy – he was living the life I could only dream of. He was the better man than me – he had been there for her when I left her for Aliya. If only…
Seth would have told me if Bella had been turned – and it seemed not – and while she still lived and breathed I knew I would always hope. But I promised myself I would not interfere with her life again. She deserved to be happy. She deserved the life that she chose – free from my bullshit life.
I felt anxious. I needed to phase…to run…to get rid of this burning feeling of wanting to see her.
I shed my clothing at the tree line behind my house and shifted to my wolf form. I searched the surroundings with my mind and sensed one of the other wolves…Sam…approaching me and I ran to the clearing not far from my house.
His black wolf loped in from the opposite direction.
"How was patrol?" I asked. We were reduced to this now – me and my brother – just business. No emotion. No more friendship. No camaraderie. Not since I stood down the Council. I knew he had never forgiven me for taking Alpha, for so many things – for rejecting Aliya. But the fucker was lucky I still let him stay in the Pack, after conniving with Andrew Call. I didn't trust him and he knew it. But he, Paul and Jared had no choice but to obey and I had no choice but to keep them. With Embry and Leah leaving, we were short of able bodied wolves so I had had to tolerate them in my pack.
It was a constant struggle – Paul and Sam tested my strength and authority every chance they got. Hoping to undermine me so that Sam could re-take Alpha from me. But my wolf was the strongest, and getting stronger every day. They couldn't do anything but submit as long as they kept phasing. And I knew that they would never stop – the prestige, the status it gave them in the tribe as Protectors, was enough for all three of them to follow my leadership – reluctantly and resentfully maybe, but they still followed.
"I need to tell you something." Sam thought to me.
"What?"
"The treaty may be broken. We're all in danger." Sam thought to me, urgency in his mind.
"What the fuck?!"
"It's the leech lov…Bella…she's back." He declared.
"I know that." I growled. This conversation was going nowhere fast and my temper was nearing its flare point at the insult to Bella.
"She's not alone." He insinuated and my wolf growled in reaction.
"Cullen?" I asked, the name bitter on my tongue.
"One of them." He responded with a shrug.
I tried to break into his mind, but it was shut tightly. And with my internal turmoil, I had no energy left to push it. I was acting on pure adrenalin now and Sam's anger, his agitation seemed genuine. And did I really want to see her with him?
"Are they on our land?"
"No." he had to admit, shaking his shaggy head.
"Then it's not our business as long as they stay in Forks."
"But what if a Cullen enters our land?" he asked me.
"Then they break the treaty." I said bitterly.
I recalled the last time – it was the night of my joining with Aliya and as Edward sped off in his car with Bella, I remember Paula and Sam egging me on and finally cursing me for not killing him for breaking the treaty line.
"Then can we do what we are supposed to do this time?" Sam asked. "Or are you going to protect Swan and them again?"
I shook my head. It was my duty as Alpha to enforce the treaty. Sentimentality aside.
"Do what you need to do – IF they break the treaty. But only then."
"Finally….I take it that's an order o mighty Alpha? You're finally acting like one." Sam thought to me approvingly.
I just nodded again. I didn't want to get into this and frankly didn't care what Sam or the Council's opinions were on the proper behavior of an Alpha. I had protected these lands and my people all these years – and I had done well at a cost I could not even begin to count. I owed them nothing. They had already taken more from me than I could ever receive in return, not in this lifetime or many lifetimes from now. I wasn't doing this for the damn Council.
"Is that all?" I asked him, wanting to cut off the conversation as quickly as possible. To be alone. And yes, to lick the wounds that he had re-opened.
"Are you going to the hokwat wedding reception?" he asked me, obviously referring to Charlie and Sue's wedding.
"Why?" I asked "Are you?"
"Not invited." he huffed indignantly "Not even my Emily…and she's family! AS if we would want to celebrate this…this mistake Sue is making!"
"I don't want to discuss this Sam. Just go." I responded.
"So are you going?" he persisted.
"No…maybe…I'm not sure…" My thoughts were still jumbled. And I was struggling to control the pain brought about by the fact that Bella was here, and with a Cullen. That they were still together. And I was going to tear a strip off of Seth's hide for not telling me that when he told me she was arriving.
"Don't worry about it Jacob. I think it's best if you just stay here. We'll take care of everything…" Sam assured me.
I just nodded and Sam loped off into the woods again, as silently as he arrived.
x-x
BELLA POV
"Hey." Embry said, tossing a glance at me over his shoulder. "You guys are awfully quiet back there. Are you ok?"
We were almost at First Beach and I had not said a word since we entered the car. Even Caleb seemed to have caught on to my mood and was sitting unusually still in his car seat, hugging Wolfy tightly. I smoothed back his hair and adjusted his hood – it was cold out. He seemed tired. This was his first trip out of Oregon and maybe he hadn't really recovered from the long drive the day before.
Leah half turned from the front seat and looked at me worriedly.
"Bella, if you don't want to do this, Embry can turn the car around. We'll just tell mom and Charlie you don't feel well and decided to stay home."
"No…no. I'm ok." I assured them both. "Just a little…nervous I guess. What if people don't accept Caleb? Or worse…try to…try to take him from me?"
"That will never happen Bella." Embry said. A serious tone in his voice. "Leah and I – and Quil and Seth and Charlie and Sue – none of us would let that happen."
"I know…I know..."
"I'll be right there Bella." Leah assured me. "I would never let anything bad happen to you…or Caleb."
"Will he...will Jac..? Do you know if he'll be there?" I asked them.
There was a look exchanged between Leah and Embry until finally Embry spoke.
"I really don't know Bella. I tried to see him yesterday but I felt like he was avoiding me…"
"I know Seth told him you were going to be here. But..." Leah continued.
"So he knows I'm here?" I asked, my throat tight with the tears I refused to shed. He knew I was here. And he didn't come to see me. And any hope left in my heart came crashing down – maybe Jacob HAD moved on.
I knew I had no right to expect anything. And after all these years, I thought that I didn't expect anything or hope for anything – but I was wrong. Deep in the darkest corners of my heart, part of me still hoped for a happy ending.
Leah just reached over and squeezed my hand in sympathy and I knew that even without words, this girl who had become my best friend, my sister, didn't need to hear any words. She just knew my pain.
The car remained quiet except for the swoosh of the tires on the pavement and the small noises my little son made.
Before long, we were at the parking lot behind First Beach and it seemed as if a hand had reached into my chest and twisted my heart – the last time I had stood on this patch of land was the day I had said goodbye to Jacob. The day he joined with Aliya. I steeled myself, hand on the car door. Once I stepped out of this car, there would be no turning back, no more running away.
But I had to do this.
Charlie was right. I owed it to Caleb. I owed it to Billy….and to Jacob.
Caleb was his as much as mine and Caleb should not be hidden away any more like some dirty little secret.
Even from a distance, I could see the flickering of the bonfires lit on First Beach. My heart was hammering in my chest as if screaming to escape and part of me wanted to stay in the car or turn the car back and drive as fast to Harbor as I could.
"Are you coming?" Leah asked. She and Embry were already on the path to the bonfire.
"Bella!" I heard a voice exclaim and looked up to see Quil and Seth approaching. Quil quickly loped to my side and Seth helped Leah with the box of food she was carrying. He returned after a few minutes, hands empty and a worried look on his face.
As Quil reached my side, he stopped short at the sight of Caleb who looked up from his car seat at Quil with an earnest look on his little face.
"Is he…I mean he's…" Quil stuttered.
"Yes." I answered shakily. Waiting for the condemnation to start. Quil and Embry had been or still were Jacob's best friends and I knew I had no right to expect the same easy acceptance that Embry had given me over the secret I had kept from Quil.
"Does he know? Of course not…I mean…he would have mentioned…he's going to go nuclear when he finds out Bella." Quil spoke, almost incoherently. "Why didn't you tell him? Any of us? Did Embry and Leah know? Seth?"
"Only found out two days ago." Embry said "But Jacob has NO right to be upset. He left her for Aliya when she was carrying Caleb, remember?"
"Do you think he's going to care about that? He didn't know…did he? The Council will freak…and he's the heir…" Quil argued. "And didn't you think that if you had told him maybe…"
"If I had told him…what? What then? Would that have broken his imprint? Would he have been able to leave Aliya for me and Caleb? And if he did, do you think I would be happy knowing he was just doing it because he knocked me up like some cheap tramp?"
They were all quiet at my outburst.
"What? No answer?" I said, sarcasm thick in my voice. "I didn't think so."
I picked up my son and held him close to me.
"Caleb is mine." I announced "And no one – not your tribe, not your council not your chief, and certainly not even the great Jacob Black can take him from me. I know I made a mistake not telling Jacob or Billy about Caleb in the beginning but I'm here to fix that now."
"I carried Caleb in my body for nine months, I was alone, and I was broke and pregnant and far from home…far from everyone…everything I loved. Maybe I was selfish. But I think after all that…" I had to pause to catch my breath and control the tears threatening to spill. "I think after all that happened, I deserve Caleb. I deserve my piece of forever."
The four were silent and I stood there facing them down daring them with my eyes to contradict anything I had said.
"Momma sad?" Caleb asked, wiping the tears from my face "Bad man made momma sad!" he glared at Quil as menacingly as he could.
And then Quil came over to me and embraced me and Caleb.
"I'm sorry…I just didn't know…how to react." he whispered in my hair. "But friends first…pack second right?"
I nodded through my tears.
"So Quil…" Leah said "Do you have her back too? We – that is Embry and Seth and I – we'll stand by Bella on this. And if anyone tries to make trouble – God help them because Bella and Caleb, they're family now and no one messes with my family."
Then memories rose up in mind, the way you lift a blanket from a drying line and it catches in the breeze, and for a moment, you're ensconced in a world of white, an island of your own. It was just like that night…the night of the joining. And once again, I knew who my real friends were. And I gained confidence that whatever happened, these four people would be with me.
"We'll all go together – Bella, are you ready? Do you know what you're going to do? Billy is here…and the Youngs and Embry's folk, Quil's family…all the pack members' families actually." Seth said, ever the practical one. "But no one else who's not in on our secret. That should minimize the gossip."
"I think I should bring him to Billy first." I said, resolving to do the right thing.
"Ok then. He's sitting next to Sue and your dad and Old Quil right in front of the bonfire."
"We'll be right behind you Bella." Quil assured me.
x-x
SAM POV
"Sam!" I heard Paul's voice from a distance. He and Jared had gone on ahead to the Swan's house and upon my instructions were to report to me if Bella had brought her half-leech monster of a child into La Push.
"She just left the Swan house…and she has the little monster with her." Paul reported.
"Are you sure it's a leech? Can you smell him?" I asked.
"He doesn't have the leech smell – but then would he? Bella is still human, he would be half human – wouldn't he smell like her?"
"I don't know Paul…but it only makes sense. She left with the Cullen leech three years ago – we all saw them and no one has heard of her or from her since – until she shows up here with that little monster – wouldn't he be the right size if fucking Edward Culled did get her pregnant soon after they left?"
"You're probably right – and she's been acting weird. She keeps closing all the windows and drapes in that house and covers him up every time they go out – she's never brought him out in the sun either…maybe he has a sparkly ass too like his corpse daddy." Jared added. He and Paul had been patrolling near the Swan house at my orders.
"I'll meet you at the beach. I talked to Jacob – we have an Alpha order to finish him – finish them both if they trespass on our land."
"Got it boss. We're only a few minutes out."
"So am I."
x-x
BPOV
In retrospect, it happened like a John Woo film in slow motion.
All conversation on the small portion of the beach occupied by the reception slowly died down and silence crept in gradually as I made my way through the small groups of people until the only sound I could perceive was the crackling of the fire and pound of the surf. It seemed to echo my heartbeats – urgent, pounding, barely leashed violence.
Billy must have seen me before I saw him and as our eyes met, his widened and focused on Caleb's face. I don't know what I was expecting…and on his impassive face, I saw the widened eyes of shock and disbelief.
I wanted to run away right there and then, but I glanced at my dad sitting next to Billy, he and Sue immediately got to their feet and flanked his wheelchair. The look on my dad's face – a fierce pride and joy and confidence in me – stopped any plan I had of turning tail like a coward.
It could have been a few hours or a few seconds and the distance between us could have been miles instead of a few short feet. I felt like I was moving underwater and struggling to breathe. Only Caleb's warmth in my arms and solid feel of his weight leaning against me felt solid and kept me grounded to reality.
There was dead silence by the time I reached Billy, Charlie and Sue. I noted that apart from old Quill however, the rest of the council were not present.
"Good evening Billy." I said softly
"Bella." He nodded solemnly.
"I want you to meet…"
Then suddenly, pandemonium broke out as three huge wolves bounded into the circle of light cast by the fire and then metamorphosed, bone breaking bone, fur melting into skin and forms rising from the ground as the wolves transformed into Sam Uley, flanked by Paul and Jared.
"How dare you bring that abomination into these lands!" Sam's voice thundered.
Behind me, I felt rather than saw Embry, Leah and Quil move to flank me. Seth rushed up to me, and tried to take Caleb from my arms.
"What are you talking about?" Charlie shouted.
"What abomination?" I shouted "This is my son!"
Jared and Paul moved menacingly closer to me and I held Caleb closer, prepared to stake my life to save his if needed.
"You're not welcome here Samuel Uley!" Leah spat out. Quil and Embry took positions on either side of me as Seth remained watchful, all four of them poised, ready to phase.
"Get out of here Sam. And take your clowns with you." Embry warned. "We'll protect Bella and Caleb if we have to die trying."
"You've broken the treaty Bella Cullen. You and your half breed son are not welcome here." Sam said, malice, anger, indignation dripping from every word he uttered.
"Get out of here now Sam! You weren't invited here and you're not welcome. This is none of your business."Sethtried to reason, still poised to spring but trying to inject some sense of sanity or normalcy.
"It's our business when she violates the treaty Clearwater. Give him to us now and we might spare your life." Paul said. His eyes were burning with the fire of the zealot and as he moved closer to me, Quil and Embry moved to stand in front of me.
"Sam – what is the meaning of this!" Billy's voice boomed.
And all of a sudden the dead silence erupted into chaos.
"She's broken the treaty!"
"Who is that child?"
"He's not a…what abomination? He's a baby!"
"What the hell do you….no one touches my daughter or my grandson!"Charlie's voice boomed over the hubbub and I saw him reach for his sidearm – and saw his fear and disappointment as he realized he did not have it with him. Sue clutched Charlie's arm, fear in her eyes.
"QUIET ALL OF YOU!" Billy's stern voice silenced them all.
I stood in the circle cast by the flames, surrounded now by not only Leah, Embry, Quill and Seth but also by my father and Sue who enclosed Caleb and me in a protective circle.
"I don't know what you're talking about Sam." I told him, trying to control the anger and vehemence in my voice. All three of them looked on the verge of phasing into violence and I could not…would not put Caleb in danger.
"You've stepped across the line leech lover." Paul spat at me "You should never have brought that monster here with you."
"BE QUIET PAUL!" Billy commanded and despite his superiority in strength and size, Paul seemed to diminish before my eyes at Billy's imperious command.
"Chief Black." Sam said, stepping forward, seeming more in control now, though his hands shook and his voice vibrated with anger. "Isabella Cullen has broken the treaty by bringing her son to our lands. We have an Alpha order from Jacob to deal with him...under the terms of the treaty"
"No! You can't do that - how could the treaty cover…." I railed wrapping my arms protectively around Caleb.
"On what ground?" Billy asked, a dangerous note of barely leashed anger in his voice. "How dare you? What proof do you have?"
"He is a half breed! She has…has been breeding with the Cullen leech and that…that thing in her arms…" Sam said. "They are as forbidden as vampires are!"
"What the hell?" Leah shouted "He's just a little boy! He's…"
Caleb's whimpers of fear had broken out into full sobbing, and I held his shaking little body close to me. I would die before I let any of them touch him!
Suddenly, Caleb's sobbing stopped and for some inexplicable reason, he struggled in my arms and the hood fell from his hair. He turned his head towards the fire.
And then, a booming voice – the Alpha's voice rang out over the beach and the wolves were pushed low to the ground, even in their human forms.
"HE'S MY SON!"
I turned my head and across the fire, I saw him.
X-X
JPOV
I had felt uneasy from the moment Sam left – there had been something in the responses he gave, the indirect answers and insistence that give an Alpha command for something that was so basic and clear as the treaty that set off an alarm in mind.
And the pain in my heart I tried to ignore as I heard him say, over and over in my mind "She's not alone…she's not alone…she's not alone."
Like the sucker I was – I just had to see her one more time, just a glimpse would be enough and I needed to know if she was happy with Cullen, to see for myself that she was alright, still breathing….still my Bella.
Suddenly, the indecision that had paralyzed me vanished and I quickly phased back to return to my house to dress.
I would go to the reception – surely, I could stand a few hours of being around her? To be around her and act like I wasn't a broken shell of who I was? To pretend that I was happy for her?
My hands shook as I buttoned my shirt and despite the control I tried to exert, shook as they gripped the steering wheel of my truck. While it was a only a few miles away, the ride to First Beach seemed interminable and yet I welcomed this time – to gather myself, to paint a layer of humanity over the morass of pain and bitterness that was all I was now.
It was dark when I reached the parking lot – I recognized most of the cars – and as I drew closer to the bonfire, it hit me – the smell of strawberries and home – she was here. It was a scent I would know anywhere, and yet it was subtly different… and then a second scent close to hers but not…like a mixture of the sun and the sand…of love and redemption…and a million things I could not name but which I knew…I knew in my gut were mine.
Then I heard the raised voices and smelled the fear – I sprinted to the beach, not caring how my unnatural speed would attract any human attention and there in the circle of light cast by the fire, Sam, Paul and Jared stood, seeming on the brink of attack.
And before them, stood Bella flanked by Embry, Quill, Charlie and Clearwaters.
And in her arms…in her arms…
"HE IS MY SON!" I shouted, the double timbre of the Alpha resonating in my voice. "YOU WILL LEAVE HIM ALONE!"
I saw Bella sink to her knees and I ran to her side – and swore in my heart that no matter what happened…that never again would I leave her.