Twilight Forever
Chapter Forty-nine
Venus
By Cindra
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters this is just because someone gave me a challenge and mostly for fun.
Nessie was standing just inside, staring in hurt confusion up at Jake. Matthew is only a good friend. No one and nothing will ever come between the two of us. I'd never let that happen. You're my Paris. My Wolfe. Forever and ever. Never doubt that, Jacob. I may be just ten in this body of mine, but I know my heart and it belongs to you, like yours belongs to me. I'm not Momma. I'm my own person. Daddy's just being a dad and Aiden an Uncle. Soul mate trumps best friend every time. Trust in me and in us.
Tears pooled in her eyes. "I blundered everything so badly today and now you're upset with me too." She sniffled miserably.
I'm not angry with you, baby. Your Dad and Aiden just got to me for a while. I never even thought of a rival between us. I mean, who would even try to challenge me was always my attitude. Pretty asinine of me, huh. Matthew Weber's a good kid. I owe him big time for saving you today, so I'll be nice around him because he's a good friend of yours. I'm not used to sharing you with other boys, other than my pack brothers. And they're harmless and spoken for. This ought to be interesting and a challenge for me in the coming years. My Sprite. My Angle Mine. Forever and ever and even that isn't long enough for me. I do trust you always. It just dredges up stuff in my head and I forget myself for a while. Jake scooped her up into his arms.
"Shhh, it's gonna be okay, Nessie. Promise. Gabe and Matt were there and ya wanted ta hang with them. There's no crime in that. Those three needed a lesson in humility and will get what's coming to them for hurting the twins and nearly hurting you. Believe you me, a Youth Correctional Center is the safest place for them right now." He hugged her close.
Edward waited patiently for their touching moment to end before clearing his throat to get their attention. "May I please have my daughter. Touching moment aside, I need see that she's all right." His tone left no question that this was not a request.
Jake set her in his arms.
"Daddy, I'm really sorry." She set her hand on his cheek to gauge his emotions, giving him a show of what happened to ease his mind.
"She's fine, Eddie. Still a bit shaken up, but other than some minor bruising her resilience is on full, so she's no worse for wear." Logan said cryptically, one never knew who could be listening. "Young Matthew got the worst of it, but Dad's patching him up as we speak."
"Everyone else fairing all right in here?" Aiden strode towards the couch.
"We're all fine, Aiden. Not a spot of chicken pox to be seen on any of us. Can't speak for the ones down in quarantine though. Then again we've all got very quirky immune systems and they don't." V winked at him.
"Bella was upset for good reason. Those two witches were at their worst today, not unlike Mrs. Newton at the Olympic Outfitters store. Spreading vicious gossip about things they know nothing about. Making wild assumptions and accusations on nothing but lies and gossip." Angela, her temper still on slow boil, glared out the windows. "They deserve everything they get. It sickens me that I ever wanted to be one of them. Lauren, Declan, all of them are so evil and I didn't want to see it. Didn't see it until I befriended Bella…"
"Families with wealth and power particularly in small towns such as our own, see themselves as the ruling power, and for the most part believe they are above the law. Money can more often than not buy off local and state officials. Making them untouchable in their minds. Which is why their children and those who blindly follow them think they can do no wrong." Eli put the sermon he was working on down to address his daughter's frustration. "It's up to all of us to rise above it all and do whatever is in our power to change things for the better. For the town its citizens and the generations to come."
"That's hard to do when those families have controlling interest in this corner of the state. No one will stand up to the ones signing their paychecks. It's too much of a risk. I mean, to them it's worked this way for generations, why change it." V snorted, rolling her eyes.
"That, young lady, is also one of the drawbacks of living in a small town such as Forks. No one likes change, it frightens them, makes them nervous." Eli said, still trying to take in that this was Venus Storm perched on the arm of the sofa.
"Seriously, Mr. Weber. I'm still me, just all grown up." Shrugging, V snapped her gum. "I've taken the action sports world by storm going on six years. Forks and La Push should be cake compared to the Dew tour."
"Your attitude hasn't changed any, still so sure of yourself." Aiden, satisfied that Bella was napping peacefully, focused on Venus. "Are the multiple piercings, vibrant pixie cut, and heavy face paint for show or who you feel you need to be?" He reached out to touch her face. She was the daughter of his heart and he had missed her terribly. "How is it even possible?"
This man was in her eyes her father, so she was straight with him. "I don't know. This image has been me for so long now that shedding my alter ego to be just Venus and not V. X-Games, Dew Tour, Olympic champion is gonna be really hard for me to do, Aiden…" Her voice shook with emotion.
Aiden held open his arms and she flew into them. "Come here, baby. Aiden will make it all better again. I promise." He crooned soothingly, as she broke down in his arms.
You've had a time of it as well haven't you, sweetheart. You should've come home if you were this conflicted over your chosen path. Your room is always there for you at the main house or Logan's retreat. You pushed yourself too hard proving that you could best the boys. Now it's taken a toll on you. You're burned out. The sport you love isn't fun anymore. Baby brother's growing up and you're missing it all. It's not just you now there's a whole pack in La Push, which the tribe honors and respects. Working at that camp this summer, meeting the Weber twins, hearing about Forks. Got you homesick for the reservation. You've made your mark in the world, just like you said you would. Now you've come home to give back to the next generation and generations to come.
Running back would have meant failure. I left here as a teenager to find the answers the Elders knew squat about. I felt caged in La Push, not being able to share my secret. Getting grounded because my parents believed I was running wild, sneaking out with random skater boys. It was stifling. I had to leave. Sam, Rach, Becca, and Leah tried to get me to tell them what was up with me, but I thought they'd freak out, so I kept clear of them all.
Everyone in the room who could listen in was completely focused on her.
The night I left, my parents ambushed me in my room. I was getting sent to a Seattle all girls school. They'd sent my transcripts to them and I'd got in on my grades alone. It was best for me to focus on the future and not on my love for skating. This private preschool would prepare me for college…blah, blah, blah. So I glowered at them until they left the room. I was already set to leave.
Brady was almost five, but so in tune to me. The little guy stared at me, eyes so sad, arms hugging his wolf plushy. I knelt down in front of him with my own old friend and told him to take care of her for me. That as long as he had her I would be watching over him. He crawled into my arms, hugged me. Whispering how much he'd miss me, but he knew that I had to go. I told him to be strong and then after tucking him back in, left my life on La Push behind me. No note either. I just left. I was so angry with them for not trusting me. I put them through hell and now I'm back to put those pieces back together again. I need to.
"Brady and Collin kept that big of a secret from all of us, even after they shifted?" Jake's mouth dropped open.
"After you vanished the rez went into a kind of lockdown fun wise. Skateboarding became taboo. They destroyed the skate area that you and Sam made, so we wouldn't have big dreams of our own. We rebelled of course, but then after mastering it got bored and moved on. They searched for you. Put your face on milk cartons. Plastered fliers up and down the coast. Charlie made it his mission to find you. Mark too until one day the two of them just stopped searching. It had been four years and not so much as a trace of you. Brady was happy, always chattering to your…No frickin way…!"
"I gave him my plush wolf for a reason, so he and I would always be together. Brady and I share a link, always have. Whenever he'd get angry, scared, lonely, or even happy about something he'd hold onto that plush wolf and tell me all about it." V winked at Jake, icy blue eyes warm now not sad at all.
"I won my first X-game gold on his eighth birthday. I dedicated it to him too. I was eighteen, so I made a call to Uncle Mark using a friends phone. Telling him that I was fine and to give my parents a message. No one kidnapped me. I left to find my place. A spiritual journey, not unlike what our ancestors had done. I wasn't homeless. Had finished school, so I wasn't a dropout either. I needed to follow my path, my dream. And to tell Brady I loved him and Happy Birthday. I'd lost that feeling for my parents the day they lost their trust in me. I'm shocked the message even hit home. Just happy that they seemed to have loosened up with Brady. He's a good kid."
"Uncle Derek moved his law office to Port Angeles six years ago. He specializes in juveniles and lives for helping troubled kids stay on the right path. Aunt Maddie got her degree in psychology and works with the kids at the Mental Wellness Center. Brady for the most part is given a long leash, but he break his tether more often than not. Him and Collin both do. We thought his shrine to V Raye was his way of dealing with you being gone. Guess not. To him you've never left." Jake shrugged.
"Sam, Rach, and Leah are gonna lay into you. You know that right? Sam didn't handle shifting at all. Emily Young got hurt because of that. You were the first to change and none of us had a clue."
"I've been shifting since my thirteenth birthday. I asked Old Quil about it. He patted me on the cheek and said that our histories speak only of male tribal shifters, never of any female. So I figured it all out on my own. Skateboarding was my outlet to release all of that energy. When I was climbing the walls, I'd sneak out at night and patrol the forest. I loved being a wolf, but then I was afraid to tell anyone except for Brady. He saw me shift back one morning, after he'd had a bad dream. The little guy always searched me out instead of our parents, even at that age he knew not to tell my secret. Our secret just between us. Well, eventually Collin too, but that was when they were older and Brady needed ways of checking in with me."
She arched a multipierced eyebrow at Edward, he was grinning at her. "What?"
"Nothing, I just think there's a great deal more that you aren't telling us. Aiden and Logan think of you as theirs. Bella was ten so Logan still her shadow. Lily would have been the only one able to search for you and I would imagine that you were a pain in the arse to find…" Edward said casually, arching a brow at Logan.
"Bella was on a holiday road trip with Renee to see some ball of string or whatnot. Trips of that nature were their thing." Logan shrugged. "I found peace during those times. The fates let her be free of the jinx at least trouble wise. She was always adorably clumsy. I got a call from Lil's about this the brat there being off on her own in the wild for three months. Since I was headed to the ranch and she had tracked her to Utah would I be a good boy and bring her to the Double C." Logan grimaced.
"She didn't warn me that the little pain was gonna be a bitch to bring in. I'd never lost a lost one and wasn't gonna let the brat tarnish my flawless record. V had been on the wild side, having survived in the wild for three months to avoid detection."
"You shot me." V sulked.
"You tried to attack me and it was a tranquilizer rifle. I'd tracked you for half of my vacation. I wasn't gonna spend a second more in the wilds when I had other things waiting for me at home." Logan muttered darkly that had not been one of his happier memories.
"I woke up strapped to a hospital bed with an IV in my arm. You were reading a little girl a story, while she cuddled contently in your arms. Everything was so weird. I hadn't been human for three months and didn't like being back to my normal self." V wrinkled her nose.
"You were a hairsbreadth from being a wolf for the rest of your life."
"Three months…" Jake's eyes bulged. He'd been a wolf for nearly two. "Ya mean there's a time limit?" He managed to choke out.
"Depending on age, lack of training, temperament, mental health. Yeah, Jake. There's a limit of how long a Were can remain in animal form. You aren't meant to not phase back. It's hell on your body. You were lucky that you had the pack to keep you grounded. V was alone and be the looks of her hadn't been prepared for living in the wilds. She was hostile because the other predators around her knew she was weak and she got into several skirmishes…"
"I'd tangled with a mountain lion and won. I healed fast, so it wasn't bad. I kept seeing Lil in my dreams and she was leading me to the ranch. I'd gotten bitten by a snake hours before Logan found me. I was in pain that's why I attacked him. He had a rifle. I'd run into hunters before. Seriously bad dudes, got grazed when I was back in La Push. Everything about you screamed dangerous, so I bolted. It was snowing in the mountains. I figured that would slow you down." V rolled her eyes. "Sneaky bastard was always one step ahead of me."
"Well, brat. I was on a timetable and roughing it was not gonna happen. Mom wanted you on the ranch. You were in rough shape and I promised a little angel that I'd be home for Christmas." Logan playfully patted her spiky vibrant head. "Just curious. Do you skewer yourself daily and is there any place you haven't pierced, tattooed, or painted?"
She made a face at him. "They aren't real piercings, it's all part of my image. I only have one tat on my shoulder and that's a symbol of my tribe. The hair washes out to raven black. I've been V Raye forever. I don't know how to be Venus Storm or even if I can." She stared miserably up at him.
"Kiddo, the two are the same. You are vibrant with or without the theatrics. You hide behind it like a shield, thinking no one can see who you are. We're here, little sister. Aiden, Lily, and I will be here for you whenever you need us, because we're here to stay." He hugged her fiercely.
"You've got my full support too." Angela smiled.
"Good because my homecoming is going to be heart wrenching for everyone. Except for Brady, he'll be over the moon." She sighed, she always felt safe in his arms.
"You've got me too. I'm in your corner and so will my pack. Quil, Embry, Seth, Collin, Brady, and Lori will back you up with whatever support you need. Leah's six months pregnant with twins, but still my second, she'll be nice. I think. Dad, Sam, Jare, Paul, and the others will have to deal." Jake saw her as a big sister, now one of his own, and wanted her to know it.
"Your pack, huh? Well, Chief Jacob, where do I sign up to join your merry band of followers?" Venus turned from Logan to flash Jake a grateful smile.
Jake rolled his eyes, scrubbing the back of his neck like he did when he was embarrassed. "Dad's chief. I'm still his heir. There's no sign up sheet. You're my big sister and will always have a place in my pack. No matter what goes down remember that, all right."
"Spoken like a true Chief."
"Sure, sure, whatever, Edward." Jake desperately wished to change the subject. "So, uh, Logan. What's your take on everything that's been going down at the hospital?"
Edward chuckled. "All right, son. But it's true, you are one hell of a leader."
Next
Chapter 50
Not my car
Cindra © 2011
