"I wanted to explain this." I said pointing to the mark on her wrist. "Plus there are two other points that I would like to make."
"So start." Jasper replied.
"Someone needs to make sure no one can hear me. I don't want anyone outside of this room to know. Well there are a few that should know but that is another point I need to make." I told them.
"So start." Jasper said again.
"First off you wolves can't kill Jasper ever or you will be hurting me. He is literally family to me." I told them.
"So he's my family too."
"Yes through your grand ma." I told him.
"He would be your uncle or something like that."
"That's fine but what about that mark on your wrist." Sam said.
"Well first off can anyone besides me read French?"
"Oh I can," Quil said.
"You can?" Jake asked.
"Not fluently but I do know recognize some words right off." Quil replied.
"Fine get to it." Sam said.
Quil walked over to me and pulled my arm closer to him.
"I recognize the words human, transform, immortal to mortal." Quil said after he read it a few times over.
"So what does your birthmark say?"
"Give me a pen and paper." I said.
I wrote the English version of my birth mark on to the paper I was handed and handed it to Sam, so he could read it out loud to ever one else.
"Um… A human mouth that has the ability to transform an immortal to mortal once more, is that all?"
"Yes." I replied.
"So what does that mean?"
"Dude that means she can turn all these leeches human again." Surprisingly Paul said.
"I would prefer that you don't use that term but yes apparently I can but I haven't bitten a vampire yet. The one's I do know are planning to fight and you wolves kill any other vampires that come in the area."
"Fine then we snag one, take you to it and you bite it." Paul said.
"She is not going near one."
My eyes snapped up to scan their face. I know two people.
"Okay why did you say that Embry?" Peter asked.
Embry gulped. His Adam's apple bobbing up and down as he did so.
"Just tell them. It's not like they can murder you in this room."
"Do it Embry." Sam commanded him.
"She's my imprint and I won't put her in danger." Embry said.
"Imprint what is an imprint?"
"That would be your mate or true mate." I told Jasper.
"So his imprinting on you took away your choice." Jasper said.
"No it didn't take away my choice but it took away his choice. I can go and live my life with someone else but he can't. He is meant to be whatever I need from a friend to—" I tried off not wanting to finish it.
"Oh." Jasper replied. "What is the last point you wanted to make?"
"I want to tell Charlie about everything." I said. "Now hold on the reason I think we should tell him everything is that he is in law enforcement and he comes across bodies that were killed by vampires but they are written off as animal attacks and those attacks create fear that shouldn't be there quite a few people in forks go hunger when the 'attacks' are high because they don't want to go hunting because of them."
"We can't tell him Bella and you know why," Sam shouted.
"Yes but did you guys ever think that maybe you should figure out a way for humans to protect ourselves against hostile vampires when we don't have a friendly vampire or shifter near to protect us?" I snapped back at him.
"Dude I can't believe I'm saying this but leech lover is right."
"She's not a leech lover." Embry said.
"I'm not a leech lover." When I said.
"Fine the former leech lover has it right." Paul said.
I blushed. He had never complemented me in any way and I never expected him to. It was a nice difference from the norm of things.
"I have to discuss it with the council and no matter what they say I have to listen to them." Sam said.
"Look Jake once told me that if he took the Alpha position that he would basically be chief of the tribe and that's why he didn't want it wouldn't it be the same for you?" I said. "If it is then you are chief of the tribe and are able to make decisions without the consent of the tribal council at least in part of the wolves anyway because the whole tribe doesn't know about you just the council and a few select people outside of them."
"She is right Sam and while she may be an imprint of a pack member she is still not a pack member so if she wants to she can tell Charlie and there is nothing you can do about it." Jasper said. "But if he happened to see one of you transform near his house then Jakes dad would kind of have to explain to him how a perfectly normal looking boy turned into a wolf."
No one said anything to my proclamation.
"I would suggest a picnic in the field on the way to La Push so Peter, Char and Jasper can be there, The new wolves need to get used to their scents anyway." I said. "And while they may have smelled the scents they haven't meet them but Charlie's birthday is coming up and none of you can stop me from throwing a party with the council and you wolves there."
There was another moment of silence.
"Dude she is an evil genius." Quil said there were snickers around the room as blush flooded my cheeks.
"I say we do it. She could still throw the party but not tell us anything about it so we can be honest with the council when they ask us if we knew anything." He continued.
"I'll only go along with it as long as none of you wolves help her, well Embry and Jake can but that's it." Sam said. "And just because I am going along with it doesn't mean that I agree with it but you are right, Bella, I don't have any power over you or what you do."
He turned to leave.
"Just keep the human's safety in mind. We… I wouldn't want another Emily situation."
"That's why I picked the field. We can control who gets in there but at First Beach we can't. I am smarter than people think I am." I replied. "I may have dated a vampire but all teenagers make mistakes and Embry wasn't a wolf at the time so it's not like I would have been an imprint at the time after all vampires have all kinds of freaky powers they can use on humans and I assume Edward used them on me."
"She is right there are things we have to lure our prey away from others." Peter said. "Most vampires don't use it because they find it barbaric and our lives are barbaric enough without using it."
"When was the last time you used it?"
"During my third year," Peter replied. "But only to get a rapist away from a young girl; that girl lived to be seventy years old, three kids, eight grand kids, and countless great grandkids and a husband who died after their third child was born in a mining accident."
"Do you know about all the people you save?" Sam asked.
"Yes and we help them out from time to time. Sometimes we even help out strangers. Jasper here made the newspapers awhile back for his good deeds in Missouri."
"Isn't that a no no for your kind?" Sam asked.
"Not really if they don't know if it was us doing it and they didn't have Jasper's name or picture." Peter replied. "But I do have all the articles about the mysterious stranger."
"I am going to burn that book." Jasper said.
"You will not. We need to preserve our history." Charlotte said. "Besides if we all become human we can say that all the articles we collected over the years belong to our ancestors or parents."
"Then tell Peter to shut up about it. I swear he brings it up any time he gets the chance to." Jasper argued.
"Maybe you should threaten his most prize position."
"He would rip and tear me into pieces if I did that." Jasper said.
"Why would he?" I asked.
"Because the thing he treasures most of all is Charlotte and it doesn't matter who you are or how powerful you are you kill another vampire's mate you are on their sh*t list until your dead."
"Then why in the hell is Victoria after me?" I asked.
"She's going after you because she sees you as the reason James is dead even though it was me, Edward Alice and Emmet that killed him."
"That's bullsh*t." I mumbled.
TWO WEEKS LATER
"So why are we coming to this field?" Charlie asked me.
"Because Sam and Emily are having an engagement party. They would normally have it at the beach but they want it to be privet so the field was the only option." I lied. "We have been both invited by Billy no less so it would be an insult not to come."
Charlie just grumbled. Mainly because I was making him sit in the passenger seat of my car holding his birthday gift from me disguised as a gift for Sam and Emily. It was large but I knew he would love it. I parked in the small road that led to the open field. Charlie grumbled even more as he climbed out.
I looked at the other cars parked along the edge of the road. It looked like everyone that needed here to be here; except for Peter, Charlotte and Jasper. I smiled; Charlie was never one to celebrate anything but thanksgiving, Christmas and sometimes Easter. He's probably who I get it from; Renee had to celebrate everything including Kwanza and Hanukah. There were balloons tied to the tree branches so I walked toward them.
"Surprise." A crowd of people yelled.
"I thought you said this was for Sam and Emily?" Charlie asked.
"Nope it's for you and you can thank Billy too because he's the one who helped me plan it."
Billy did actually help me plan it; he just didn't know the real reason why I wanted to help him plan it. I took the gift for Charlie and walked over to the table set aside for his presents. Surprisingly there were a lot. I'm guessing most of them were made by hand. I took the rapping that made it look like a wedding gift off and set it on the table.
"You did a good job planning," Emily said walking over.
"Yes but I hope the rest of it goes well. Where are Seth and Leah?"
"Seth is over by his mom, next to the food and Leah is out running patrol." Emily replied. "Where are Peter, Jasper and Charlotte?"
"They should be here soon. They were running a little bit late because peter wanted to play in the mud."
"I think there are a few wolves he would get along with if he wasn't a vampire."
"That's true and from the sound of the car coming down the road I would say they are here."
I was right shortly after that the three vampires in question arrived in the little field. They shook hands with Charlie and walked over to the table and set their gifts down next to the ones already there.
"So when is the reveal?" Jasper asked
"After the human's and wolves eat." I told him. "And you, Char and Peter should at least pick up on plate of food. You don't have to eat it just make it look like you are eating it. Then the mock fight between Jake and Seth will happen sometime after that. They get to decide so I can claim I don't know anything about it."
I heard the rustling of leaves come from behind us I turned and saw Leah walk through them.
"Leah I didn't think you would be coming." I told her.
"My mother is making me it's not like I want to spend my time around leeches." She grumbled and walked off.
"That was kind of rude." Jasper said. "Didn't even look us in the eye."
"Trust me there is a reason for it Jasper." I said. "And most likely it's because you are a vampire and her mortal enemy."
"Food's done," Sue called.
All the kids –and by kids I mean the young people that look under thirty years old— except for a few ran forward to get food. I was one of the few that held back. While I liked food I always held back at buffet type things.
I sat in a chair next to Charlie away from the table filled with food. He hugged me and thanked me for the party; he hadn't expected it. It was the first time in a long time that I had seen a true smile on his face. He joked with Billy and Sue –who had been steadily getting better in the weeks after Harry past on.
It was about an hour or so after everyone started to eat –or act like they were eating—most of the food was gone. I saw Jake nodded at Seth and I watch as both of them walked toward the food table. They both reached for the last hot dog. I couldn't hear what they were saying but I knew it was something to get Seth riled up. It didn't take long for him to snap and turn into a wolf sending the food table flying to the ground. The adults looked up to see what the commotion was. Charlie looked like he was about ready to have a heart attack. The elders of the tribe that were there looked pissed that their secret was blown completely out of the water.
"What the HELL was that?" Charlie shouted.
"Charlie please give a little bit of time." Billy said.
"I would like to know now, how did Seth turn into a wolf? That's not natural," he replied.
"Yeah it's supernatural." Jake replied.
"Jake you are not helping." I snapped.
"You knew about this Bella?" Charlie asked.
"Not long but yes I did know." I told him. "I didn't tell you because it wasn't my secret to tell."
"Is there a reason you know about it now?" Charlie asked.
"Yeah actually two reasons really. The first is that I saw one of them transform like you saw Seth and promptly passed out." I told him. "The second reason you might not like so much."
"What is it?" he asked.
"Please wait until they get back. They can explain it a lot better than me."
"Why don't you want to tell me?"
"Because there is more to it than them being wolves Ch—Dad; something that the wolves had no idea about until a few days ago."
The sleeves of my shirt were pulled down so he couldn't see what I was talking about. The wolves were one thing; the vampires were another but me supposedly able to turn a vampire back to human, I just didn't think that he could handle it all at once but it was now or never.
Out of the corner of my eye I spot Seth and Jake coming through the trees back into the field. They were human again. They were laughing and pushing each other playfully. Sam and the other wolves –including Embry—were standing in a line waiting for them. Jasper, Peter and Charlotte stood back from the group.
"Okay now that he's back is anyone going to explain what is going on here." Charlie said once Seth and Jake joined the line with the pack.
Billy thankfully took over at that point.
"Well Charlie do you remember any of our legends?" Billy asked.
"Nothing but something about wolves." He replied.
"Well it is our belief that we have descended from wolves. A select few of our young tribe members turn into wolves when the need come. Particularly when the Cold One's or vampires as you know them are in the area."
"Vampires?" Charlie said.
"Cold ones. They are cold as ice, unnatural strength and beauty and some of them have extra powers."
Billy then continued on and went into detail. Retelling he legends again.
"I get that the wolves are real because I seen them for myself but vampires I can't see them being real at all."
"Well believe it dad. There are three of them here now and six of them used to live in forks." I said. "I dated one."
"You dated a vampire when?" Charlie asked.
There were snickers from the wolf pack and Jasper. I rolled my eyes.
"Edward dad. Edward was a… is a vampire."
"Why?"
"Dad I'm not having this conversation in front of everyone."
"And the three vampires that are here now?" he asked.
"Jasper, Peter and Charlotte." I said. "It's why the party was held here at not at the beach. They can't go on tribal land and this field is just before that land."
"But they drink blood?"
"We pay for it and draw it out like they were donating it during a blood drive; the only time we actually kill anyone is if they killed someone without cause like self-defense," Peter said. "And we leave enough proof behind of who they kill so that case doesn't go un-answered. Jasper here however is the vegetarian of the bunch."
"There is also something else about Jasper dad."
"What?" Charlie asked.
"For one thing if he hadn't gotten turned into a vamp he would be dead by now but he's technically our great grandfather so many times over along with being Quil's great uncle so many times over." I told him. "That picture I showed you a while back that you said looked like Jasper was Jasper. I've been telling the people of forks that he's a distant cousin because they kept on thinking that we were dating and that's just gross and would still be gross even if we weren't related, he acts too much like a protective older brother; now I guess I know why."
There was silence in the air as I finished.
"Sh*t!" Charlie said when he finally opened his mouth to talk. "Is there anything else that I need to know because I feel like you are leaving something out?"
"There are a few things. Well really only two." I told him. "And I have no idea how you would take either. The pack knows one of them as it's kind of hard for them not to know and only a few of them know about the second thing but that seems like the easiest to tell you."
"Then get it over with." Charlie snapped.
I stood up and walked in front of him and held out my arm. I pulled up my sleeve and let him see my birth mark. It was French so I didn't think he could read it but he looked at it for a long time. His lips moving as he looked at each of the words. He looked down at his own arm and pulled up his own sleeve.
"Vous êtes le protecteur de prophétie," I read out loud. "When did that appear?" I asked.
"About the time you came to live with me."
"For those of us that don't know French what does it say?" Sam asked.
"You are the prophecy protector."
"I guess that makes since; he's your dad after all."
"What does yours say?" Charlie asked me.
"A human mouth that has the ability to transform an immortal to mortal once more," I said. "It sounds better in French."
"That's all you have to say. You have the power to turn a vampire into a human and all you call say is that it sounds better in French you should be out there biting their freaking arms." Leah shouted.
"Sorry but I'm not really the one keeping me from biting them. One of your pack members is behind that." I snapped back.
"Yeah right that's a bunch of bull." Leah said.
"I'm an imprint I don't think that is something to bullsh*t about." I yelled.
"Please like anyone would imprint on you, you're…"
"If you're about to say that I'm white then yeah I guess I am but don't forget my aunt molly was married old Quil who is an elder of your tribe and grandmother to your pack member so back off."
I felt someone walk up behind me and touch my shoulder. I knew it was jasper once I felt much was calmer and relaxed.
"She hasn't done anything to you Leah. She wasn't here when the Cullens' and I arrived here. She's not the reason the fever as you guys call it set in. Instead she's here trying to figure out away to help you all out when clearly she doesn't have too." Jasper said. "I know someone hurt you, I may not know how but I know they did. Leave that behind and throw yourself into something out side of the pack. Learn a new language or art form. It'll help."
"That's your advice learn a language or an art form like that would even work." she snapped.
"I think it will. I would suggest a road trip but I know you aren't allowed to leave for long periods of time so that's out of the question." He told her.
"I don't need you to tell me what to do leech."
"I wasn't telling you what to do I was just giving you a suggestion." Jasper replied back. "And the least you can do is look someone in the eye when they are talking to you. It would show them that you're not weak"
I couldn't believe that this was going down but I think Leah had it coming. She's been nothing but bitchy the whole time I've known her recently. Even Sue, Leah's own mother looked like she was trying to hide a smile of her own. The pack members closest to Leah stayed as quiet as they could because they didn't want Leah turning her anger on to them. Finally after a few minutes Leah looked up from the ground.
"I was never weak." She snapped. "I will never be weak."
"I never said you were." Jasper told her. "I said that you shouldn't let people see you as weak."
He looked at Leah.
"I thought women of your tribe were supposed to be proud not prideful and you going around being snarky to people is just showing how prideful you are not how proud you are." He said.
Slowly Leah finally looked up at Jasper. She fidgeted in her spot, moving from foot to foot and rubbing her hands together. Jasper stood strong where he was, it was almost like watching a line of soldiers before they climbed onto a plane for Iraq or Afghanistan. He continued to look at Leah waiting for her to look him in the eye. I did not think he was going to move until she did look him in the eye like he wanted her to do.
I looked around the field at everyone and they like me had their eyes glued to Leah and Jasper and the little standoff they were having. Leah had opened her mouth to say something but never got anything out of it. But finally after what seemed like hours she looked Jasper in his eyes. A look of shock spread across her face.
"Of all the f*cking things in the world it had to be you."
