CHAPTER 3

"Bella!" She heard vaguely, her body still frozen.

"Bella!" The voice started again, more persistent, starting to penetrate the fog that had overtaken her brain.

"Bella, are you okay?" This time the voice was accompanied by a gentle hand on her arm, pulling her to face them. She saw for a fraction of a second a dark look that overcame the three men's faces as they saw someone grab her but turning to look at her father, she broke the spell that had been placed on her.

Physically shaking her head and blinking her eyes, she took in Charlie's concerned face as he looked at her, his hand still on her bicep, "What?" She asked dumbly.

Charlie's mustache twitched in bewilderment as he took in her dazed face, "I asked if you were okay? I've been calling your name. Why don't you come and get some food?"

His eyes never left her face as Bella got a hold of herself, she had no idea what happened, but now that she was facing Charlie, she already felt better, "Yeah," She blushed, blinking her eyes, "Sorry, dad, just kind of zoned out, I guess." She laughed as she made her way down the steps and a beeline for the food. Maybe she just needed something in her system. Her blood sugar was probably scraping the bottom of the barrel as she hadn't eaten yet.

Charlie stared at her a bit longer, gauging if she was telling the truth, but as she happily picked up a plate and started eyeballing the buffet laid out in front of her with hungry eyes, he smiled and determined that she was fine, "Well, I'm gonna go visit with Harry and Billy for a bit, come over when you're done." With that, he started to make his way over to the boardwalk, leaving a completely oblivious Bella behind as she tried to determine where to start with the little feast.

Bella chewed her lip as she twirled her plate, perhaps start with the desserts? A little unorthodox, but those pies were screaming her name. Was that cheesecake? She loved cheesecake. But then her eyes darted to the entrees, those casseroles looked good too, though, and a hamburger just sounded delicious. Maybe she should just get two plates?

While she was contemplating her plan of attack, she was suddenly brought back to reality as she noticed the prominent figures surrounding her, "What would you like to eat?" a deep voice said as her startled face took him in.

Jacob Black smiled brightly as a deep blush overtook her cheeks, "Oh, uhm, I'm not sure…. It all looks really good." She mumbled as she looked down at her sandals fiddling in the sand.

A soft laugh came from her other side, and she darted her eyes up to look at the softer man that she had seen earlier, "It does look good, doesn't it?" He asked, but his eyes stared deeply into her, making her believe that he wasn't talking about the food.

Still smiling, he picked up a plate as she felt a hand rest on the small of her back, gently pushing her down the assembly line as she saw the darker man start to fill up her plate for her, as well as his own.

Dazedly she followed along as she noticed that it was Jacob's hand leading her down the table, picking up a few things and dropping them onto a plate that he had on the table, idly pushing it down with his other hand as they went.

"Oh, uhm, I can get my own stuff… You don't have to." She replied softly, unsure what was going on with her or why these men felt it was their duty to place half the entire table's contents onto multiple plates, hers included.

"We know we don't have to." The darker man mumbled, his eyes darting to take a look at her in small glances, nervousness and hope practically radiating off of him.

"Oh… uh…. Okay." She whispered, not really sure what to do as they started to now lead her down the beach.

Following clumsily along, she was gently pushed further away from the crowd. Vaguely she thought that she should be frightened, she was being led into the dark by three strangers, but against her better judgment, she couldn't bring herself to feel afraid.

"Here," she heard Jake whisper, breaking off her thoughts as she saw the large picnic table that was abandoned towards the far side of the beach, barely lit with the bonfire yards away. Going to sit down, she was abruptly cut off as Jacob took a seat in the center and then leaned over to pick her up and deposit her onto his lap.

Bella squeaked at the unexpected action, going stiff as a board as she tried to figure out what was happening…. "Uhhh….. wha—"

But she was cut off again as the two remaining men took up seats on either side of her, sitting so close that they were pressed up into her and Jacob.

She felt herself further stiffen, something she thought wasn't even possible, as she felt Jacob wrap his arm around her waist, pulling her snuggly into his chest and two large hands enclosing both of her small ones from either side. They were all hanging onto her. What the hell was going on?

Trying to subtly remove herself from these men and their overpowering aura's she stuttered out, "Wh-what's going on?"

But instead of breaking free, they held on tighter, Jake bringing her back into his chest.

"We're eating. You seemed rather hungry back there." The soft voice next to her drew her eyes to the kind man again. His gentle eyes looking at her with adoration, an emotion that confused her but still allowed her to relax slightly at his gentle demeanor. They weren't going to hurt her. Maybe they were just being nice? Maybe it was common in this culture to share plates? She used to share her food with Jacob when she was younger. Maybe it was the same thing?

"Oh, okay…" was her reply as the man brought a piece of food to her lips for her to take. Opening her mouth softly, she accepted the food and chewed slowly. The action seemed to relax all three men as they breathed out in unison, sinking further into her.

After that, they took turns bringing food to her mouth, feeding her in between bouts of taking bites themselves. As the minutes ticked by, Bella felt herself relax completely, the abnormal actions sinking into the background as instead a feeling of rightness overtook her. How could she have thought this was uncomfortable? This was normal. There was nothing wrong with it. At these thoughts, she leaned back into the chest behind her and slowly started caressing the hands enclosing her with her fingers.

Chewing happily at the fruit that was just fed to her, she vaguely noticed that she was being sniffed, they were all doing it in sneaky ways, leaning in when feeding her to take in a long drag, or Jacob would deftly lower his head into her hair. It was strange, but just like before, the oddness faded into the background as the bubble that was surrounding them grew denser.

She paused in her chewing when she heard a happy humming coming from her left side. The darker man was sighing in contentment as he took a bite from one of the apple fritters that she had spent all afternoon making.

Smiling widely, she swallowed her bite and asked, "Is that good?"

The man swallowed thickly as his tongue darted out to lick the sugar free from his lips, "Uh, yeah, really good." He mumbled, eyes glancing at her shyly as a small smile graced his mouth. His hand tightening marginally around hers.

She smiled brightly at him, noticing the effect it had on his as well, "Well, that's good, I spent a long time on them!"

At her cheery reply, she felt the three bodies stiffen around her before seeing two other hands dart out and snag the remaining ones on the plate and take large bites as well. Instantly she was surrounded by groans of approval, causing her to blush brightly.

"These are very good, little one. Thank you for sharing them with us." The soft man spoke, his voice radiating with sincerity and happiness.

Lowering her eyes, she focused on her lap, "Bella," she mumbled, eyes flickering up to his, "My name is Bella."

Confusion flickered through his eyes, "Yes, we know," but then recognition showed through accompanied with mild panic, "I'm Sam!" He followed quickly; voice raised considerably.

"And I – I'm Paul!" Came the equally panicked voice from her other side before she heard the rumble of "It's me, honey, Jake." With his head buried into her neck.

Sam leaned in closer, if possible, his eyes earnest and sad. "We're so sorry for not telling you sooner, will you…. Will you forgive us?" he all but whispered the last part, eyes dropping to stare at their entwined hands as if he was trying to remember what the image looked like. As if he would never get another chance.

Bella laughed softly at the situation. These men had practically dragged her to a secluded area, hand fed her to the breaking point, sniffed her, curled themselves around her, and now they thought the deal breaker was that they hadn't told her their names beforehand? The absurdity of this night was beyond comprehension.

"Well, I guess it's not a deal-breaker… I mean, some strange things have happened over the last couple of hours. That was probably the least of it all." She teased lightly, noticing how they all relaxed around her again.

Sam smiled widely, eyes softening even more as he gazed at her, "You're amazing."

Blushing, she averted her eyes over to the motion of the people a ways away, "Oh, stories!" She smiled, "We should go listen!"

She felt, rather than heard the rumbling purrs surrounding her as the men gradually untangled themselves to pull her up to her feet, "Of course, anything that makes you happy." She turned and smiled brighter at Paul, learning to love his slow rumble, voice soft as if afraid to raise it so as not to scare her. Without thinking, she reached out and reconnected her hand with his. As his eyes brightened and he gazed up to stare at her straight on, a first, she noticed that he seemed afraid. Afraid and hopeful.

Before she could comment, she felt Sam take up her other hand in his and Jacob loosely wrap his arm around her waist from behind. Deciding to embrace the absurdity of the night, she let them lead her to the blazing fire and steer her towards a large log.

Before she was able to take a seat, she was again wrapped around her waist and sat down on a solid lap as Jacob leaned against the wood, settling down into the sand. Carefully he maneuvered her so that her back was leaning up against Paul's chest and her feet sprawled across Sam's. Instead of stiffening like she had before, she instead immediately relaxed, her arms coming to wrap around Paul's bicep as she settled into her three-seat human couch.

She sighed in contentment as she felt the familiar purring rumble radiate around her, the crackle of the bonfire, and the strong voice of the elders as they relayed stories of their people. As the time passed, she felt herself grow drowsy, her head snuggling under Paul's chin and the hands of all three men slowly massaged circles into her flesh.

"Are you tired, baby?" She felt more than heard Paul's rumbled question as he brushed his lips against the shell of her ear, then shifting slightly to drag his nose up the side of her face, breathing in deep.

Bella stifled a yawn as she dreamily smiled up at him, nodding her confirmation.

"We should get you home, honey," Jake leaned over her, his fingers tracing her features softly, his eyes staring at her with an intense emotion that she couldn't place in her sleepy state.

She sighed in contentment, nodding her head at the suggestion, she did need to go home and crawl into bed, but she was so comfy she didn't know if she wanted to be separated from these giant, dreamy men.

Before she could voice her thoughts, her dads questioning and hesitant voice broke through the fog that had once again settled over her, "Bella?"

Stiffening, she shifted so that she could look at her father, "Um, hey…"

Charlie stuffed his hands into his pants pockets, not really sure how to proceed with the situation he found his daughter in, "Uh…" he started, eyes staring intently at the tree line above them, "It's time we go home, I think, getting pretty late…"

Opening her mouth to respond, she was interrupted as a deep growl reverberated throughout Paul's chest. Growl?

"Her home is with us." He spoke with finality, his voice gravelly and words oddly misshaped, as if he was speaking around objects within his mouth.

At that, Charlie's awkward demeanor vanished, his shoulders stiffening as his eyes flashed to Paul's, "What did you say?" his voice just as hard.

Bella's eyes grew wide at the situation she had found herself in, the cloud of serenity that had been surrounding the small group all but vanishing.

"I said," Paul started again, his body taking on a slight vibrating quality and his voice becoming so distorted that it was barely recognizable, "that her home –"

But before he could finish, Bella gasped in pain as his fingers dug into her side, but it didn't feel like fingernails. Instead, it felt like small knives were starting to dig into her flesh.

At the sound, Paul suddenly stopped, his body loosening its tight hold as his amber ringed eyes – when had that happened? – bled back into the black pools that she had become accustomed to. A shocked and then sickened expression overtook his features. In a span of a few seconds, she found herself being stood up as Jacob righted her on her feet, his large palm starting to soothe her punctured flesh.

"We're sorry, Charlie. Paul here didn't know what he was saying." Jake started; his voice also tinged with barely concealed panic as his hands froze once they felt the warmth of blood as his hand lifted her shirt slightly. "He's just tired."

Charlie nodded jerkily, still not sure of the situation, "It is getting late, which is why we should be heading home… Bella." He eyed her sternly as he turned around to head up the beach, the silent order to follow him clear. Luckily, he hadn't noticed the quiet, pained gasp from earlier.

Jacob all but swung her around the moment her father turned, lifting her shirt to see his brother's damage. Upon seeing the shallow wounds on her side, he whined low in his throat at the slight trickle of crimson.

"You're hurt," he choked out, his voice thick but this time with a wet sadness, as if he were about to cry, "We've only just found you, and we've hurt you already."

Dropping to his knees, he wrapped his arms around her waist, bringing her wound to his mouth to start running long, thick swipes of his tongue along the minor injuries. Bella flushed bright red as she saw what he was doing. The wounds really weren't that big of a deal, they had hurt when they happened, but now that it was done, she barely felt the sting.

She hurriedly looked around to see if anyone else was viewing what was happening, only to realize that most everyone had already left, and the few that were hanging around were all a ways down the beach, chatting. Sighing in relief, it soon turned to a squeak when she felt another set of arms wrap around her from behind and a new tongue join the first one in licking the punctures, eyes darting down, she saw Sam tending to her side as well.

What the ever-loving shit was going on?

"What the fu—" She started in shock, before being enclosed in a tight embrace, Paul's head dropping onto her shoulder to hold her tightly.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," he choked, arms tightening around her shoulders, "don't leave me, please."

Luckily, before she could form a response to this bizarre turn of events, her father's voice rang out through the night.

"Bella!"

"Uh, well," she awkwardly started, forcibly disentangling herself from these men. Suddenly feeling the night air enclosing her, cooling her skin – she hadn't realized how warm she had been before, how warm they were! – her wits slowly started to come back. What the fuck had even happened tonight?!

"I gotta go!" she hastily called as she scurried through the sand, practically starting to sprint the farther away she got from the trio.

Huffing and puffing, she finally got inside her fathers' cruiser, turning wide eyes to his equally confused stare.

Both choosing to save this conversation for later, or never, Charlie started the cruiser to start backing up onto the road. Before they disappeared from the beach's view, Bella caught sight of three large figures making their way up the beach steps, holding multiple plastic containers. Her fritters. She let a small smile grace her lips as they disappeared from view.