Most characters belong to S. Meyer. The rest belong to me.
TRUTHS
Bella
"Is Cai Isabella here?"
I looked up from the tome I was reading when I heard Clan Leader's voice. He caught sight of me and came over to where I was sitting.
"What are you reading?" He asked leaning over to examine the spine of the tome.
"The history of the Clenlevin tribes." I said, pushing my chair back a little.
"I see." He turned a few pages leisurely as I waited. Today was our usual weekly chat, but I usually met him in his private study, so for him to come and seek me was out of the ordinary.
"It's time for our weekly chat, but I thought we'd do something different." He said, closing the tome and straightening. I took that as my cue to rise, following him out of the library, through the corridors and out of the house into the garden. We walked quietly through the paths, with two of his personal Guard at a discreet distance, when I realised we were walking towards the gazebo that lay at the furthest part of the garden, within sight of the forest. I hadn't been there since my return.
As we approached the gazebo's entrance, he stood aside to allow me to enter first, following behind me. I stopped as I saw who was waiting for us.
Edward turned from the window he'd been staring out of.
I couldn't keep my cheeks from heating. He noticed and his emerald-green eyes darkened in response. This had been happening a lot. The Incident, as I had named it, was a few days behind us but had resulted in making us hyper aware of each other, creating an intimacy. The anger between us had been somewhat diffused and replaced with this instead. I didn't know which was worse. Bed time was the real challenge. The thick tension usually saw me huddled in my corner, practically falling off in my effort to keep a distance. He, on the other hand, was more overt, pulling me to him the moment he was under the sheets and somehow falling asleep within minutes of our skin making contact. I didn't know how he did it. I was struggling with sleep again, thanks to this new awareness, thanks to the constant reminder of The Incident.
I felt like I was waging war, with him and with myself.
It took Jacob stepping forward for my attention to shift from our little situation.
"Bella."
I hadn't talked to Jacob since he'd brought me back. I knew he'd been the tracker, the one who'd lead them to me. The moment I'd seen him in the forest, I knew. And while I also knew he'd been doing his job, I had felt oddly betrayed. Of all of them, he'd been the friend I'd thought might understand. But he'd been the one to find me. No, I wasn't feeling too friendly towards Jacob.
"It's Isabella." I corrected him, keeping my tone even, but by Edward's swift glance between us, I'd obviously not succeeded in concealing my feelings. Jacob's expression gave nothing away, as usual.
"Today's chat will be a little different, Isabella." Clan Leader said as he made himself comfortable at one of the chairs and gestured me and the others to follow suit. I slowly lowered myself into a chair, inching it away so I had enough distance from the others.
"I wanted to talk with you about something very specific. It concerns something Jacob is involved in and I asked Edward to sit in, as your mate." He indicated the gazebo. "This is one place we won't be overheard or interrupted."
I frowned. What was this about?
"It's about the bruises on your torso." Clan Leader said quietly.
My eyes widened slightly. No-one had said anything or asked about them in all the weeks that had passed since my withdrawal and they were now gone. I'd assumed the Healers had seen them, but had dismissed them.
Neither Edward nor Jacob looked surprised at his words, they were both just watching me.
"What about them?" I asked, warily.
"How did you get them?" Clan Leader asked. "And don't say you sustained them during your travels. We know they're older than that."
I glanced from him to Jacob to Edward and then down at the floor before exhaling.
"Why does it matter?"
Clan Leader was about to speak, when Jacob laughed drily.
"You know why it matters." He said, looking steadily at me. "You might as well tell us what happened in the forest. No point in hiding it now, although I can understand why you did so then."
I stared right back at him.
"Sounds like you've already figured it out." I said, raising an eyebrow at him.
He simply leaned back in his chair. Edward looked as if he wanted to say something but neither he nor his father spoke. All three of them just looked at me and waited.
I pushed back my chair noisily and rose, going to stand by the window.
"Screw you, Jacob." I said finally, turning to look at him. "They tried to abduct me and they failed. Alright?"
"What happened?" Edward demanded sharply. Interestingly, he was the only one looking disturbed, the other two had apparently expected this news.
"They tried an ambush." I shrugged. "It didn't work."
"Bella." Jacob said simply.
"Isabella." I snapped at him and then sighed. "I was in the forest-"
"When?" Jacob interrupted.
"That day we met outside the boy's house. Ethan." I said and by the way he stiffened, I knew he remembered.
"You were clutching your stomach when we bumped into each other." He said slowly, realisation dawning. "It had just happened, hadn't it?"
I nodded.
"That morning. I was on my way through the forest to the town and took a detour."
"The grove." Edward said abruptly. "Your hidey hole near the border."
I stared at him.
"You took a detour..." Clan Leader prompted.
"To the grove." I glanced at Edward briefly. "On my way out, they ambushed me. I got away. That's all." Jacob's look told me he didn't believe that for a second.
"Could they be the same ones who are responsible for the abduction-release cases?" Clan Leader asked Jacob.
"They are." I said.
"How do you know?" Jacob and Clan Leader asked at the same time.
"I asked them. One of them admitted it."
All three males stared at me.
"You asked your abductors..." Jacob shook his head in disbelief.
"It seemed like a good idea at the time." I said, shrugging. Clan Leader had a wry smile on his face.
"They drugged the others, how come they didn't drug you?"
"They tried to. I smelled the soranth. That's what gave them away, actually. I smelled it and dodged the first guy."
"And the other three were too slow." Jacob stated. I stared at him, startled. He smiled at me. "I do actually work in Clan Intelligence. As a group, we're not that thick."
"If you know that much, I might as well tell you the rest." I said reluctantly. "They tried an ambush but I smelled the sornath and managed to dodge them. They weren't too thrilled about that. They did manage to corner me in the end but before they could do anything, a bear showed up. I used the distraction to get away."
"So you were fully conscious throughout." Jacob said slowly.
"Yes."
"Did you recognise them?" Clan Leader looked at me intently.
"No, but then they aren't Clan. Not our anyway."
"How do you know?" Jacob said sharply.
"One of them let that slip." I said. "They're from another Clan."
"Another Clan." Clan Leader said thoughtfully. "Did they happen to slip anything about which Clan? Or why they were doing this?"
"Not which Clan, no. But they were looking for something. When they had me pinned, they—"
"What did you say?" Edward said softly. His father put a hand on his arm. I cleared my throat.
"They tried to look at the nape of my neck." I said. "The bear showed up right then."
"The nape of your neck." Jacob repeated, a satisfied look on his face. I nodded.
"How did you get the bruising?" Edward asked, his voice hard.
"A body slam that I didn't quite avoid. I landed hard against a tree on the ground. That's all."
"Was it all?" Edward demanded, harshly.
"Nothing else." I said, trying not to remember the look on Number Four's face or his words as his eyes had fixed on my mouth. I shivered slightly and Edward caught it, his eyes narrowing. "Nothing." I hastily repeated.
"Do you remember what they looked like?" Clan Leader asked.
"Yes, I can describe all four of them." I frowned and told them everything I could remember about their colouring, builds, faces. "I even have two names – James and Dex." I said, remembering. "Three of them weren't terribly bright. The fourth, James—" I stopped, feeling suddenly cold. "He was the leader."
"What did you do after you escaped them?"
"I ran, what else?" I shook my head. "I went straight to Ethan's home and then on to Karline's. You saw me." I nodded at Jacob. "You both did." I glanced at Edward.
"And you didn't say anything." Edward said quietly.
"I couldn't." I said simply. "But I did tell Jacob the drug was sornath."
"We might have caught them if you'd told us about this at that time." Clan Leader said gently.
"You wouldn't have, they didn't stay in the area. I didn't see them the next time I –" I bit my tongue but it was too late.
"You went back there." Edward said after a short pause.
I didn't say anything, not when he had that expression on his face. Jacob and Clan Leader weren't looking too happy either.
"Is there anything else you can remember?" Jacob asked finally. I shook my head.
"It confirms what you'd thought." Clan Leader said to him.
"It does. I've got work to do."
"You do." Clan Leader stood up, Jacob and Edward rose with him. "That's all for today, Isabella. You and I will speak again soon. I had a very interesting chat with Healer Charis a few days ago."
He met my eyes gravely.
I swallowed and inclined my head and was about to make for the door when Jacob spoke.
"If I may, I'd like to speak with Isabella alone, my Lord." He was looking at Edward as he said it. After a moment, Edward nodded and with a glance at me, followed his father out of the gazebo, leaving me with Jacob.
"I'm sorry." He said softly.
"No you're not." I folded my arms and regarding him steadily.
"I'm not sorry for bringing you back." He walked towards me, stopping when we were a few feet apart. "I am sorry I hurt you."
I turned away, looking out at the garden and the forest beyond it.
"You did hurt me." I said finally. "I thought you, of all of them, would get it, Jacob." I turned back to him.
"I did." He said, taking a step towards me.
"And you hunted me anyway."
He moved to stand beside me, staring out of the window I'd been at, before he spoke.
"I could say that I had no choice, I could say it was my duty, I could say it was the Clan in me. None of that is untrue. But the truth is, I brought you back for me."
I stared at his handsome face. He glanced at me and smiled wryly, turning so we were facing each other.
"You're not my friend. You know that. We moved past that a long time ago. You're my family, Bella." His smile softened. "You get me, you always have. We are connected, you and I. Both private, both distant, both Warriors, albeit fighting differently."
I swallowed. I'd thought of us that way too. I'd thought we had a unique bond, one that wasn't easily put in a box. Not romantic, not friendship, closer than family, a kinship of sorts.
"I brought you back because of that. You out there alone? No. You leaving us? No. I couldn't let you disappear from us, from me. I couldn't." He said quietly, implacably.
"And so you helped them drag me back here." I said equally quietly. "You knew it would hurt me and you did it anyway."
"I did." He agreed. "And it will be the only time I ever hurt you."
I saw the sincerity and the truth of everything he'd said on his face. Jacob had never lied to me, I didn't see him doing that now.
"Just as I hope this will be the only time you hurt me." He continued, and his usually impassive face was sad. "Do you know what it was like, to know you'd hidden all that?"
I opened my mouth and then shut it. He had a point. He hadn't lied, I'd been the one doing that.
"I couldn't tell you, Jacob. Surely you must see that." I said, glancing down at my feet.
"I know." He exhaled. "But it still hurt."
I glanced back up at him.
"I'm sorry it hurt."
"But not sorry you did it." He said softly.
"I have the right to choose my life." I said fiercely. "Or so I thought. Apparently I was wrong. I have no choices any more." The last words came out with a despair I hated feeling.
"Don't." Jacob said a little sharply. "I know this isn't what you'd planned, but you're not a victim here. It's just that somethings we don't get to choose. Like matehood."
"No shit." I bit my lip. The word 'victim' stung. Did I think that? Was that how I was behaving?
"You're not the only one who doesn't get to choose. Edward didn't choose to be Clan Leader's son. He didn't choose to be the next leader of the Clan. He didn't choose to be mated to you."
"You think I don't know that?" I demanded as I stopped pacing and faced him from across the room. "I searched the tomes for years. If there was a way to set him free, I would. But there isn't. I know I'm not the only one chained. And he deserves better than this. He deserves better than me."
"That's not what I meant, Bella." Jacob said. "I just meant that Edward isn't the enemy here. He didn't get choices any more than you did."
"And so we're both stuck. Me here and him with me." I laughed mirthlessly. "Lovely."
"It doesn't have to be bad." Jacob said gently.
"It is bad, Jacob. I don't want to be here." I said the words for the first time, almost spat them out.
"Why?" He was looking at me intently.
"It doesn't matter. What matters is that I thought I had a choice." I laughed harshly. "Just one choice, I thought I'd get. I didn't get to choose my birth, my entry into this Clan, the Clan itself. Fine, I thought. That was the past. I thought at least I might get to choose how I lead my life." I swallowed.
"You do get to choose how you lead your life." Jacob said calmly. "You get to choose what you make of this. Choose anger or choose acceptance. It's upto you."
"Oh, Jacob. You're just telling me to choose to enjoy my captivity and forget that I'm a captive." I stared at him, daring him to deny it.
"You're not a captive. You're not a victim. You're not locked up in a dungeon or being mistreated. You're more a prisoner in your mind than anything else, Bella. You are free to do what you want within the Clan."
"I'm not free to leave." I said quietly. "So, no matter how sparkly and shiny and pretty it is, it's still a cage."
"It doesn't have to be." He insisted.
"I don't know why I bother." I said, suddenly weary. "It's done. I'm here. There's no point in explaining."
"Bella -"
"Isabella." My voice was hard. "Isabella, Jacob. Don't forget, will you?"
He stared at me for a long while. I met his gaze steadily. Isabella met his gaze. He saw.
"You don't have to explain anything to anyone else." He said finally. "But you do owe Edward. He deserves that much at least. Not because he's your mate. But because he's the one you wounded the most. He deserves to know why. Don't put him in a cage. Isabella."
He went to the gazebo door and held it open, gesturing for me to leave with him. Silently, I stepped outside, his words had struck me deeply. We walked back through the garden towards Clanholding without speaking. As he brought me to the entrance, he stopped me with his hand on my arm.
"You're still my family. Don't forget, will you?"
He leaned forward, kissed me gently on my cheek and walked away.
A/N: Thoughts?
Hey guys! As I've mentioned before that I have some idea's about writing another fantasy with dragons, I just want some opinion from you you guys cuz I've created two plots, so I've created this poll which will be showing on my bio so please check it out. Whichever character you will choose I'll then start writing that plot.
Hope you enjoyed Cloak and Dagger and please like and share it with your friends. I'll be updating it once in a week.
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