"White Tiger I would like to introduce you to my wife and the matriarch of our sleuth Silvia." Gil said as Bella, Rosalie and the rest of the group from the plane exited the cars that had come to pick them up from the drive to the small town the bear shifters lived. The ride from the airport had been a quiet one as it seemed the shifters who had picked them up had been to intimidated by the group to speak to them. The driver of Bella and Rosalie's car had blushed every time Bella had caught him looking at her so she hadn't tried to make small talk.
"It's an honor White Tiger to welcome you to our home." Silvia said bowing. The woman was as tall as Rosalie with a much bigger build, tan skin, black hair and brown eyes.
Bella held out her hand. "You don't need to bow and please call me Bella. This is my imprint Rosalie and her family. Yes, they are vampires but I trust each of them with my life so I promise you can trust them as well."
"Of course Bella." "Silvia shook Bella's hand. "Let's get you into the house so you can settle in. I made some food in case you are hungry."
"That would be appreciated. We have much to do and getting started right away would be the best idea." Bella told her as she and the rest of the group followed Silvia into a log cabin type two story home. The were led into what Bella thought was the living room that had most of the furniture missing with bulletin boards and large tables set up. The room was larger than the Cullen's living room and Bella thought it was probably used as a meeting place. She motioned to the member's of Gil's sleuth that carried all of the luggage and supplies. "You can just set those against the wall and we will unpack them ourselves."
"Yes, White Tiger." Gil said arranging all the bags and boxes so they were out of the way.
"Why don't you guys start setting up the maps and all the other papers on the bulletin boards like we had it at your house." Bella told Alice and Charolette."Emmett you can help set up the monitors as you were there with us when we were told how to use them."
"Yes." Emmett cheered. "I get to play with the spy stuff."
"What would you like us to do White Tiger?" Jasper asked.
"I don't have anything for you to do yet." Bella told him and turned to Silvia. "If you could show myself and Rosalie a place to change that would be appreciated."
Silvia motioned them to follow her down a long hallway. "We set up the master bedroom for the two of you. I hope it is up to your standards."
"You didn't have to do that." Rosalie said touched that the shifters had gone out of their way for them. She knew it was mostly for Bella but it still humbled her that anyone let alone a shifter would go out of their way for her comfort. "We gladly can use a guest room here or at someone else's house."
"Oh no, we couldn't allow the White Tiger and her imprint to stay anywhere like that. Here we are. There is a bathroom over by that closet that we stocked with extra towels. The sheets on the bed are new.If you need anything let me know and I will get it for you." Silvia said as she made a quick retreat, closing the door as she left.
Rosalie set their luggage on the bed. "Well it looks like we will be staying here. They really didn't have to give us their bedroom though."
"I don't think you are changing her mind sweetheart." Bella told her. "I think if we firmly turned it down we would have insulted them."
"Yeah you are probably right." Rosalie started pulling her tactical clothes from her suitcase. "I sometimes forget you are their real life Messiah."
Bella rolled her eyes while she pulled her pants on. "Now you sound like Emmett."
"Regardless, it's true. Your story has been passed down for generations amongst a lot of people. Just meeting you for some is a great honor. You just saw it with the eating contest. Even though they lost no one went away with wounded pride." Rosalie reminded her as she adjusted her shirt.
Bella sighed. "I know. It's just a lot to live up to. We have been successful so far in dealing with the problems that have come at us but what if we can't help this time? What if we can't save any of their people?"
Rosalie finished tying her boot laces and pulled Bella into a hug."All we can do is our best and hope it's enough. There is no guarantee we save them, but what if we can? You can't let doubt poison your mind. It will make you fail before we even begin. You are the Great White Tiger. If anyone can save them it's you. Everyone believes in you Bella, it's time you start believing in yourself."
Bella kissed Rosalie's forehead."You're good at pep talks. Let's get out there and save some kids."
"That's the spirit." Rosalie told her as she made her way towards the door,Bella following behind her. As they walked into the living room it looked like a war room with all the equipment set up. "You guys did a great job."
"Everything is online and ready to go." Emmett told them proudly.
"Good, now I would like to talk to the boys Betsy said were involved in the kidnapping. Would that be a problem?" Bella asked Gil.
"No White Tiger. They are all outside waiting for you." Gil told them as he motioned to the door.
When Bella walked outside with Rosalie she was met by Pasty, Derrick and a group of people. When she walked up to them they all went silent and stared. "Patsy, I was wondering if it would be alright to talk to the boys that were involved in the kidnapping."
Pasty pulled two boys to the the front of the group. "These are John and Dan. They will be answering all of your questions. Isn't that right."
The boys squirmed under Patsy's glare. In unison they replied. "Yes, ma'am."
"There is no need to be nervous." Bella put a hand on each of the boys shoulders causing Dan to jump. "I just want to know exactly what you saw so we can help find your friends."
Rosalie hid her smile as she watched John stand up straighter and puff out his chest. His voice cracked as he replied. "Yes, White Tiger. Well my friends and I were out in the woods back home practicing shifting. We go out there all the time and its usually safe."
"So you have been in that spot before?" Bella asked. The boys both nodded. "Do you always practice shifting when you are there?"
"Well most of the time." Dan told her. "Sometimes we just play games but when Glenn finally shifted all of us started practicing more so we could play in our lynx forms."
"Ok so what happened that day?" Rosalie asked.
"Well the five of us were playing tag when about ten people came out of the woods and surrounded us. They were all dressed in black with their faces covered. They had guns and yelled at us to get on the ground. The others all did but Dan and I both shifted quickly and took off. That's when they started shooting at us. They only reason we got away was because we are the fastest at shifting. I wish we could have helped them but we ran instead. Maybe we could have fought off the bad guys all together." John said with tears streaming down his face.
Bella pulled the boy into a hug. "Now you listen to me. You couldn't have done anything. You were out numbered and they were trained with weapons meant to hurt you. Even I would have had a tough time fighting them off."
"No you would killed them all and saved everyone." John sobbed in Bella's arms.
Rosalie laid her hand on the boys back and rubbed circles trying to calm him down. "She may have but that's because she's had more practice than you. You did nothing wrong. You not only saved yourself but you were able to get us some valuable information that will help us save your friends. You're a hero John. You and Dan both."
"How about we leave the White Tiger alone now. She has some work to do." Pasty said as she pulled John out of Bella's arms. "Thank you White Tiger for your help."
"No thank you John. You and Dan have a helped more than you know." Bella told the boys as they and the rest of Pasty's group moved away from them.She turned towards Derick. "I know you and your people would like to help but for right now we don't have anything for you to do. However if you wish, you can stay in the house and watch the monitors. You know the woods around here better than we do."
"It would be an honor to work with you White Tiger."Derrick said. "I just wish we could come with you."
Bella sighed. "I know. Everyone wishes they could come. Hell, I wish you could come but I promise you I will do all that I can to bring back your people."
"Just you trying is more than we could have hoped for."Derrick gave her a sad smile as he and his people went on their way leaving Rosalie and Bella alone.
Rosalie put her arms around Bella and laid her head against Bella's chest taking a moment to listen to Bella's heart beat."Well I guess we should finish getting suited up and get going."
"Yeah." Bella agreed. "The sooner we leave the sooner we can find out what we are dealing with."
Rosalie pulled back to look at Bella. "Remember no matter what we do we are in this together."
"Together?" Bella asked with a sad smile.
"Together" Rosalie promised as she pulled Bella into a passionate kiss not caring who was watching at that moment.