Chapter 2

When Bella was thirteen months old, she and her mother had a picnic in the backyard. They were each on their own blankets. They were playing peekaboo and eating. Renee Bennett-Swan, Bella's mother, is very flighty, in Bella's grandmother's words. So, Renee did not notice how close they were to the woods or how much time she had not been paying attention to her baby girl. In her words, it happened so fast that she could not process what she was seeing as a wolf came out of the woods and pulled the blanket with Bella on it back into the dark forest. Renee screamed as her daughter, smiling as if she was on a joy ride, was quickly pulled away from her.

Bella's time with the female wolf was a lost memory that she never recovered, but she could still recall the fear radiating from her parents when they found her in a cave surrounded by dead puppies. Bella's grandmother said that the female may have been in mourning when she came across baby Bella. Witches of the Bennett line are special; they have a strong connection to nature; they protect those around them from vampires and other unsavory mythical creatures. However, to mortals who do not know that magic is real, witches are just as monstrous as the creatures they try to protect them from, but that was the task handed down to Bennett witches from generations past.

It was not until Bella's thirteenth birthday that she started to realize that the feelings inside of her were real and that her reaction to them could hurt not just herself but others as well.

On the night before Bella's thirteenth birthday, she was attacked by a wolf, but this one was different. According to her grandma, it was a werewolf. Witches and wolves are mortal enemies. It all stemmed from a curse that was put on seven tribes of witches back in 500 AD by a witch, which created the seven original bloodlines of werewolves. The curse changed everything for those generations of former witches. Since werewolves were marked to change from human to wolf, every full moon, it was now every werewolf's mission to either reverse the curse or to kill every witch who unsuccessfully tried to reverse it.

The change required the breaking of multiple bones in quick succession, and younger wolves had died from fighting their transformation. Sheila Bennett, Bella's Grams was captured in her youth by a female werewolf whose son had recently activated his curse. Grams did not know much about magic at the time, so she tried in vain to assist in the delay of the process, but it was too late. When the moon rose, the mother fought her change to help her son through his; however, he did not survive. The only reason her Grams lived through the night was because she knew a spell that transfers emotions, making the mother's grief directed at her until the sun rose.

On the night of Bella's attack, a sleepover was taking place in her backyard. Bella and her best friend, Angela had planned it far in advance, but something felt off to Bella. She had wanted to cancel, but Angela was going out of town the next day, and they always celebrated each other's birthdays together. Angela left the tent that they were camping out in Bella's backyard to get some cupcakes. Once she was gone, Bella heard a howl coming from behind the tent. She creeped out of the tent, curious but also confused about this inward pull she felt coming from the woods.

As she got closer to the edge of the forest, she saw two golden orbs coming towards her. The teenager locked eyes with them as they crept closer, seeming to float. Slowly the orbs were revealed to be eyes attached to a sandy colored wolf. Since her childhood, Bella had been deathly afraid of wolves, but for some reason she felt safe with this one. She slowly raised her hand towards the creature, when a blood curdling scream and a bang came from behind her, "BELLA!"

Angela had dropped the cupcakes and the tray that they were on when she came back outside to see her best friend close to a wild animal. Bella turned her head to tell Angela that it was okay, but when she turned back towards the wolf, it was right next to her and it bit her on her wrist.

She screamed in pain as a ball of energy left her shooting towards the creature. The wolf whined as it turned and ran back into the woods.

The attack was a sign to her mother and not wanting to lessen "the greatness inside of her," sent Bella to live with her Grandma a few days later. Bella was upset to learn that she was a witch and that all the bedtime stories that her Grams read to her when she visited Mystic Falls were true. Bella's father, Charlie Swan was not pleased; he would rather his daughter live with him in Forks, Washington. Bella's parents divorced soon after her birthday, and her mother remarried six months later before divorcing 3 months after that.

Bella hated having to leave her best friend Angela, but she enjoyed being around her cousin, Bonnie Bennett. She was older than Bella by three years, but they both learned that they were witches at the same time. However, Bella was different from her family, especially her cousin. She could feel others' emotions when they are geared towards her, her intuition was strong. It was because of this that she knew exactly when her mother became afraid of her and for her. Magic skips every other generation in the Bennett bloodline. Bonnie and Bella are the only children that were born to their mothers, Renee and Abby Bennett, daughters of Sheila Bennett.

Bella knew that her mother sent her away to keep her safe so that she could learn how to protect herself from those who wanted to use and harm her.

Present Day - Nik's courtyard

It was that knowledge of her mother's sacrifice that had Bella looking at Nik in resentment.

"You imprinted on me?" she yells at him as she stared into the familiar eyes of the wolf that had bitten her when she was thirteen.

"I bit you to protect you!" he answered before she could ask, "Have you been attacked or targeted by a werewolf or any monster since?"

No, she thought, unlike Bonnie, Bella never had to deal with creatures cornering her and asking her for help or trying to use her magic for their personal gain.

"What have you gotten me into? What is the Armory?" Bella asked, taking a seat on the chaise lounge on the side of her. She shook her head looking at him as he tried to get his words together. Her Grams had taught her everything she needed to know about every mythical creature, so she knew that when a wolf imprints, they have found their soulmate, their one reason for being. It also means that by Nik marking her, his bite now protects Bella from any harm because of his Original status and gives her access to all the abilities that he possesses.

"The Armory's mission is singular focused, to obtain every unique and special creature or mystical object. I am the Original Hybrid; I am one of a kind!" boasted Nik as he stood in front of Bella looking down at her.

"And what did you do to them besides "being so special", Niklaus? From the stories that I heard about you, you are a deadly killer and you have murdered a number of witches!" screamed Bella. The fear was evident in her voice as she processed everything that he said to her.

"Don't be afraid of me, Bella. I will never hurt you!" Right, she thinks as he continued to speak to her. Knowing that he had access to her emotions, she told him the truth.

"I don't know how to NOT be afraid of you." They stared at each other at an impasse, but they were not safe just yet. At that very moment, several soldiers from the Armory were making their way to Nik's home.