PREVIOUSLY-

"Glad to have you back, Jake." I told him before he left. He turned around and flashed me a million-dollar smile.

"No, I'm glad to have you back, Bella." He replied before heading off out the doorway.

Once he was out the door, I turned to look at Sam. "Well, that went a million times better than I expected it to."

"No kidding. I'm so glad that it did though. Jacob is an important part of the pack and we're not as strong when we're at odds with one another." He told me honestly.

I smiled at him and he led me to the couch to sit down with the cup of tea that I made.

"We'll need to get whatever you want brought down here soon." Sam murmured as he pulled my legs over his while we sat on the couch.

"There's only a couple things I want from my bedroom at Charlie's. I don't have any of my old clothes. Like no jeans whatsoever. It's all super expensive high-end fashion and dresses." I muttered displeasingly.

He chuckled. "That's not you at all. What did she think? That your likes and dislikes were suddenly just going to miraculously change after getting married?"

I scoffed. "More like she probably hoped. I guess she thought that if I had nothing else to wear, I'd have no choice. I mean, she even took all of my comfy sleepwear and exchanged it out for lingerie." I watched as his eyes went dark and he tilted his head backward, inhaling deeply. "I guess that part can come home with us, as long as I get comfy stuff again too." I winked at him.

He leaned down to whisper in my ear. "If I have my way, you won't need anything to sleep in." He kissed the spot right behind my ear and I sucked in a breath. "But unfortunately, you will need clothes for things like pack meetings. I can't have the pack seeing things they shouldn't."

"Wouldn't they all see it in the pack mind anyways?" I questioned, genuinely curious.

"Not when it comes to you. Or Rachel and Kim. Intimate thoughts about imprints are shielded from the pack mind." He replied with a chuckle.

I let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you for small miracles." I muttered.

"I can take you up to Port A to get some new clothes and things tomorrow. Do you want Rach or Kim to come with us? I was thinking of having Paul and Jared tail us just to be sure we're not followed." Sam suggested.

"Yeah, that would be great. I know the guys will feel better to keep an eye on their own imprints and I will feel better to have the backup nearby if we need them for any reason. I'm hoping we won't, but I'm honestly not sure what Edward and Alice will do." I responded. "Is Paul…"

I cut myself off, not wanting to continue my thought.

"Is Paul what, honey?" He asked me.

"I just, I know he didn't like me before… Do you think he'll be angry that his alpha imprinted on the 'leech lover'?" I asked him quietly. I didn't want anyone to dislike me. Sam growled.

"No, he won't. And I promise you'll never hear another derogatory nickname come out of his mouth again. Paul is… complicated. He's very loyal, very protective of the pack and the tribe. It wasn't ever you that he didn't like, it was the fact that you willingly associated with vampires. They're our natural enemy and he didn't want your association with them to bring more problems for the pack." He explained. I hadn't ever thought about it that way, but it made sense.

"I'm worried about what the pack will say… I know we just talked to Jake but I don't want any of them to—"

"Bella, honey, it'll be fine. Jared was phased in when I phased to show Charlie this morning and he was totally cool with it. Embry has always thought of you as a friend. Quil has had a crush on you for who knows how long, not as bad as Jake though. And Seth loves you to death already. Trust me, the kid was more than excited when we were headed to the treaty line to get you. He wanted nothing more than to keep you safe and on the res." Sam told me. I felt immediate relief at his words. "You are pack now, Bella. You are their alpha's imprint. They'll feel the same way that Jake does."

"I hope so." I whispered.

While I'd been talking to Jacob, I remembered something big that I hadn't had a chance to tell Sam yet and I was worried how he would react.

"There's something I need to talk to you about before everyone gets here." I told Sam nervously.

"What is it? You know you can tell me anything." Sam replied, sitting up to where he was looking directly at me.

"I know. I just remembered it when I was talking to Jake and I can't believe I'd forgotten it at all…" I started. He urged me to continue. "The Volturi. The ones who came after the fight with Victoria and the newborns… They weren't only here to take care of things with the newborn army."

"What else?" He questioned.

I took a deep breath. "They were here to check on me… to see if I was still human. When I went to Italy in March, it wasn't as simple as just convincing Edward to come back to Forks. The Volturi have laws. Humans can't know about vampires. The only reason I was allowed to live was because Alice told them she had a vision of me as a vampire. Sam, I need to talk to Carlisle."

His eyes widened as I spoke. "We'll protect you no matter what. The whole pack is behind you and we won't let anything happen to you. If you need to speak with Carlisle, I'll make it happen." He responded to me.

I nodded. "I mean, the Cullens told me that it could be 50 years before the Volturi decide to check up on me again considering these guys are thousands of years old, but I'm still worried. I would like to talk to Carlisle, but it doesn't have to be tonight. I know that Carlisle is a good person and wouldn't hurt me or be angry about what I did to Edward."

"When I'm patrolling tonight, I'll make sure the message is passed along." Sam replied, leaning forward and kissing me lightly.

He must've heard something outside because he pulled away and his attention turned to the front door.

Sure enough, I saw Seth walking in looking just as happy as always. It was such a refreshing sight. I'd soak up some of his cheerfulness any day.

"Hey Sam, is it alright if I chill here until the pack meeting?" Seth asked him, holding a small bag of chips.

"You know you're always welcome here." Sam replied.

Seth smiled brightly and looked over at me. As soon as his eyes met mine, his jaw went slack and his eyes widened. The bag of chips fell to the floor and the entire room went silent.

"Whoa." Seth spoke quietly after a few moments. "That was a rush."

A/N- Uh oh... what just happened?

Just a friendly reminder, this will ONLY be a Sam/Bella story. There will be no other Bella pairings. No poly in this story.

Let me know what your thoughts are!