40 Stand by Me

The chapter title belongs to Ben E. King

Charlie closed his eyes and breathed deeply, still holding onto Bella's hand. She thought he'd gone back to sleep, as she tried to disengage, but I knew otherwise. He was waking up. He had questions. With every breath he took, the questions grew: why am I here? Why is it so hot?

What's wrong with my arm?

Can somebody explain these damn dreams I've been having?

And, what is that awful smell?

Charlie POV

An icy hand slid into mine. It was cold and hard. I traced the fingers, which were long and straight. They were utterly devoid of softness or warmth.

"Bella?"

"I'm here, Dad." It sounded like Bella's voice but it was too melodic, too...perfect.

Cold, hard skin, perfect voice...my Bella was one of them now.

I felt a straw at my lips and drank eagerly. Iced tea with lemon and sugar coated my throat, sliding all the way to my empty stomach.

"Thanks, Bells." The flood of emotion, sensation, memory, realization—it was all too much. I dropped Bella's hand and rolled over, the questions churning in my head. I'd gotten a glimpse of the woman, or whatever it was, sitting next to me, but I hadn't opened my eyes all the way. I couldn't face what I might see, what I knew I would see.

Not Bella.

Something like Bella.

As I lay there, curled in the fetal position, slowly suffocating in the sickly sweet aroma of a thousand dying flowers, the incident that brought me here slowly came into focus.

Like a slide show, each event popped up briefly, then made way for the next.

Click...Chasing Kirby Sanchez down the path and into the woods

Click...Blood splashing as the bat connects with my head

Click...Blessed relief of unconsciousness as the bat shatters my shoulder and elbow.

Click...

I felt utterly alone in the world. I'd never had Renee—not really. She'd married me on a whim and left just after two harrowing years, when we'd just celebrated Bella's first birthday.

From day one she'd complained about the weather (what's the point, I ask you, when the place where you live rains more than it doesn't), about morning sickness (she'd puked for nine months straight), and then about my schedule (I had to pull shifts, which she didn't like).

When I came home from the graveyard shift in early October, I wasn't even surprised to find all her things in her car. Bella screamed in her playpen as Renee finished loading her things as I followed behind like an affection-seeking puppy.

Just let me go, Charlie! I can't stay here. I don't...I don't love you!

The loss of Renee simply signified the loss of a family—something I'd always wanted. Renee was never going to be the love of my life, but she was Bella's mother, and for that I would have stayed with her and made a happy unit.

Bella and I hadn't technically lived together for most of her life, but I'd still felt that we shared a bond that endured the test of distance and time. I still felt her in my heart. My daughter. The only proof that I'd existed. And as she was now unable to procreate, the Swan line would die with me, as I was an only child and my father had but one sibling, a sister, who had never married and remained childless.

Wearily I rolled to my back and sat up, leaning heavily against the pillows that the Bella creature had pulled up. "Somebody, please tell me what the hell is going on." I paused, wrinkling my nose.

"And what is that horrible smell?"

Edward POV

Charlie purposefully didn't look over to Bella. He felt she was an imposter, exuding no warmth—no field of life at all. Just a cold, impersonal rock that happened to be in the shape of his daughter. I sighed, hoping and praying to a distant and aloof God that he'd change his mind before we finished here today. The loss of her father's love could kill Bella where a gunshot to the heart would be a mere annoyance.

"I'll tell you the whole story, but I'll have to start at the beginning." Jacob's voice was soothing to Charlie, and he welcomed the sound of it.

"Sounds good."

Scant minutes later Charlie was trying to come to grips with the tale that Jacob had woven—of the dream he'd shared with Bella, the sighting of the raven, and the pronouncement that we'd all been cited in a prophecy that had been foreseen before Charlie had even been born.

As much as he didn't want to believe it, it seemed to him that forces beyond our control, mystical forces, were at work here.

"...So I didn't know what 'magic' Quil was referring to until the next day, when Seth and I were on the beach. We heard a car pull up onto the flat outcropping of rock and looked up to see you jump out of the cruiser and run towards the woods."

"Yeah," Charlie muttered, "I'd spotted Kirby's car and had turned to intercept. He pulled off and I followed, but by the time I'd screeched to a stop, he'd already bailed and was headed down the trail. I ran after him, but he was gone."

Jacob nodded seriously. "We ran around the bend on the path in time to see the guy hit you with the bat."

"Which time?"

Jacob looked him straight in the eye. "The last time."

Jacob raised his eyebrows for emphasis, recalling Seth's attack and the surprised look on Kirby's face as the huge wolf lunged at him. Kirby was dead where he stood—ripped into small and manageable pieces that Seth and Jacob later buried.

"Did you catch him?"

Jacob made a split second decision on how much to reveal. He decided, quite correctly, that he couldn't claim to have caught Mr. Sanchez, as we didn't have a body.

Not a whole one, anyway.

Neither was it believable to say that he'd run away, escaped.

"Let's just say that he won't be attacking anyone else with that baseball bat."

Charlie read meaning into the nuance.

"Where's the body?"

"In the woods."

Charlie squinted. "Seems like I remember growling..." Charlie realized that either Jacob or Seth had phased, which was something he'd heard about but hadn't actually witnessed.

"Take it from me," Jacob said with authority, "The world is now safe from the likes of Kirby Sanchez."

Charlie was trying to piece it together. "So...you and Seth found me in the woods, being attacked. One of you dispatched Mr. Sanchez, and, since I'm here and not in the hospital, you used this magic to heal me in some way?"

Jacob laughed. "Not exactly. I didn't know what to do at first. I kind of panicked, because I knew your injuries would kill you. No way would you be saved from what that bat did to you." Jacob paused and licked his lips.

"I knew how devastated Bella would be at the loss of her father. So I did the only thing I could think of to save you. I called Edward."

"But he was in Alaska with Bella," Charlie reminded him. "You knew that."

Jacob shrugged. "I thought that maybe a member of the family remained, who could come and change you."

Jacob's expression was apologetic but Charlie's mouth dropped open. "But I'm not..." His voice died away as he felt his heart beating strongly in his chest.

"No," Jacob chuckled. "You're not. The entire Cullen family was in Alaska. But Edward told Carlisle what had happened, and he left immediately to catch the first flight out of Anchorage."

Charlie looked over to Carlisle. "Why?"

"You're the chief of police, Charlie, and Bella's father. Jacob thought you were terminally wounded but I had to see if there was anything I could do. At the very least, if you had expired, I could have helped Jacob in arranging transport for the body and filling out the necessary legal forms."

"The prophecy said, The Sire's blood will stain the sacred ground and the tribe will claim him for their own," Jacob reminded us. "When I got off the phone with Edward and realized there was no hope, that magic that Quil had gone on about appeared in my head. I knew what to do, and what the prophecy meant."

Charlie was unconsciously rubbing the scar on his palm with his fingertips.

"I claimed you. And I saved you." Jacob sounded like a true leader and not like the eighteen year old boy that he really was.

Charlie leaned back and closed his eyes, still fingering the thin line on his palm. "Pain woke me," he breathed. "The pain of a blade across my hand. Then warmth."

When Charlie reluctantly sat straight and looked at Jacob, he heard the painful truth at last.

"I performed a ritual that's as old as my tribe. Every Chief, or Alpha, has the ability to use the tribal magic one time during his reign, to benefit the tribe. Now, I don't know why the magic was invested in me. I don't know what benefit you will be to the tribe. All I know is that, on that day, at that time, I was...directed to save you."

Jacob relaxed his stance and considered his own palm before showing it to Charlie. The thin line shone brightly against his brown skin. "I mingled my blood with yours, imbuing you with the protection of the wolf, of the tribe."

Jacob spoke slowly. "You're one of us now. Not technically human anymore, but your heart still beats and you can still walk among the humans in normal society. But as long as you remain in this area, and as long the vampires live in proximity to us, you'll phase with the pack." Jacob paused again.

"You'll run with us."

Charlie tentatively moved his arm, noticing that he had some mobility. "You did a blood ritual?"

"Yeah." Jacob gestured to Charlie's arm. "You healed so quickly because I shared my wolf-blood with you. By the time Dr. Cullen arrived about seven hours later, your arm bones had fused and the wounds in your head had knitted together."

"What does this mean for me? Will I be able to go back to work?"

"While you run as a wolf, you won't age. You'll never succumb to disease or injury, unless it's really severe. As far as work goes..." He gestured to Carlisle, who smiled and advanced to the edge of the bed.

"Will you permit me to examine you?"

"Yeah," Charlie replied, extending his arm tenuously. Carlisle knelt by the bed and flexed and re-extended the arm, running his fingers down the bones to the fingers, which he closed and then opened again.

"I had to re-break the major bones in your arm and set them correctly. Do you have a full range of motion?" Carlisle asked.

Charlie put the arm through its paces, grimacing slightly as he stretched it. "Not really. It feels kind of stiff. And my fingers," he made a grasping motion, "don't seem to want to work together yet."

Carlisle stood. "Hmm. You might just need a few more days to heal, but I wonder if you'll ever have full use again. The injuries were incredibly severe. It's a wonder you have mobility at all, considering how many tiny bones were pulverized."

"So...will I be Forks' first Wolf-Chief?" He smiled ruefully. I was amazed at his ability to accept what he'd heard.

"We live in a relatively peaceful area, but I don't know that the weakness in your hand will improve. If it doesn't in a few days, it won't, and that will leave you vulnerable in the face of danger."

That was a lot of words that meant Charlie would be collecting his disability pension here real soon.

Charlie's face fell. A sudden rush of emotion gripped him. He was devastated at the loss of his job, much more affected by the idea that he couldn't be Chief anymore than by the fact that he'd turn into a giant dog in the presence of vampires.

Bella had remained by his side steadfastly, despite the fact that he'd ignored her absolutely. She seemed to sense that he needed time to adjust to all the stuff that had been flung at him, from his daughter's loss of humanity to his own, only to culminate in the news that he'd no longer be able to occupy his days and nights with being Forks' premiere law enforcement officer.

I'd intruded on Charlie's thoughts often since meeting Bella, but I'd never grasped just how important his job was to him. It was much more than an occupation. More like a way of life—a calling.

The news he's received today left him adrift in a sea of uncertainty, and as he floundered helplessly, Bella reached out and held him, pulling him close to her and smoothing his hair as she patted him. He grabbed at the tiny life raft, holding on to her arm as he breathed deeply, trying to find an emotional center but instead drowning in conflict and pain.

"Edward and I just arrived," she whispered to him, her tearless sobs matching his real ones. "I'm here for you, dad. Just like before."

He pulled back a bit so he could gaze up at her. It was the first real look he'd permitted since he'd woken.

When he saw her tender expression, the wall he'd built between them crumbled into dust. All that remained was the father's love for his daughter. No matter that her heart didn't beat. No matter that blood didn't flow through her veins.

No matter that she wasn't human anymore. She was his daughter.

"Bella," he sobbed, as he grasped her shirt with his good hand, burying his face in her arm.

Bella held her father tightly. Glancing up to me, I saw the love she felt for the man in her arms. "I think you need some more rest, dad, and when you wake up, I'll be here. I'm here as long as you need me. We'll get through this together."

Jacob and Seth were uncomfortable at witnessing so personal an exchange. Jacob leaned over and whispered, "Let's go."

Seth nodded but Charlie sat up, wiping his eyes and scrubbing his face with his hand. "No. Wait, Jacob, Seth."

They stopped at the door. Charlie tried to pull himself together before speaking.

"I just wanted to...thank you, and you, too, Dr. Cullen, for all that you did for me." He was still holding onto Bella as if she were the only solid thing in a liquid world.

"No problem, Charlie," Jacob said solemnly. "I guess we'll find out why at some relevant date in the future.

Charlie swallowed thickly. "I may have that reason. I don't know...the dreams were so bizarre, but when I was...transforming...it seemed that the dream changed, into something more like a..." He didn't want to say it, but he did.

"Into a kind of a vision."

Jacob turned away from the door slowly, his mouth slightly open.

"What did you dream? The raven?" Jacob spoke softly, no more than a whisper.

Images of wolves, running in the forest, the wind against their muzzles, flitted through Charlie's mind. The dream he'd just woken from, though, was a bit different. My mouth dropped open as I unashamedly trespassed into his thoughts, mesmerized by the images.

Charlie shook his head. "Not of a raven. In the week since Bella's wedding, I've been dreaming of wolves—big ones—running down a dirt path in the woods. But I just woke from the same dream, only something's changed." He looked around the room, trying to find the right words.

"I saw myself in this last dream, but I was different that the other wolves. I was white. I was the only white one."

"Wait, you dreamed you were the white wolf?" Jacob was stunned.

"In his dream," I told them, "he's not the Alpha, but he clearly occupies some position of distinction. And you've never seen the wolves, correct?"

Charlie shook his head. "I only heard about the existence of the pack on the day you and Bella got married. Alice told me the whole story."

"He dreamed every member of the Quileute pack," I continued, "and he had them right, down to their stature and color. He even had the number correct."

Charlie glanced over to Bella, a frown on his face. She just smiled at him, a get used to it, dad, he does it all the time smile.

Seth spoke. "Old Quil has gone on about the white wolf for years. It's known as the 'bringer of truth' to the tribe."

"The tribal legends speak of the white wolf appearing to the tribe, bringing a universal truth that will prevent great sorrow," Jacob told us, just getting his voice back. "We need to get a hold of Quil."

"Edward?" Bella's soft voice brought me away from the images flitting around Charlie's head. His vision was lengthy and complex. Unwittingly, he revealed the final part to me. I jumped.

Good God. Oh, my Good God.

"Jacob, you and Seth need to get Quil Ateara over here as soon as possible, because this is what he's been living for, all these years.

"This," I jabbed my finger in Charlie's direction, "has got to be the final part of the prophecy."