(Bella's POV)
The family got there right as Sam rejoined us. Sam gave each member of the family a quick once over. He lingered on Em and Rose.
"Most of the Pack is on the way here now."
"Most?" Rose crossed her arms, eyebrows arching up. Her arms crossed and I knew there was about to be trouble.
"It's not that they don't trust you all Rose! One of the boy's just shifted and its safer for everyone involved if he stays home right now." I jumped in hoping to keep the peace. Rose glanced my way then back to Sam. He nodded in agreement with me. She sighed and backed down.
"Alright. What's the plan then?" Jasper stood up and moved next to Sam as she spoke.
"I thought we could take half of each of our groups and hit their base tonight. Alice saw where they were before the wolf's chose to join us, so we at least know where they are. The half that doesn't go with us can stay together with our human mate's in order to keep them safe."
Mate's? I'm not anyone's mate. Sam looked over at me with a knowing look causing me to roll me eye's at him.
"I think Rose should be one of the ones to stay along with anyone who isn't a strong fighter." Rose looked like she was going to interrupt but stopped when Sam held up his hand. "I think we need at least one good fighter to stay behind and out of the women in your family you look the most likely to tear someone's head off. Am I wrong?" The smile he sent her way was smug. Rose blinked a few times before nodding.
"You're not wrong. Mom and Dad should both stay here. Alice, what do you want to do?"
"I'll go with. As much as I don't really like fighting we can't leave Jazz and Em alone there. Which of your Pack are you leaving?" As one the family turned back to Sam.
"In total I have Paul, Jared, Embry, Quil, Jake, Seth, Leah, and our youngest Brady. Paul and Jared are my best fighters, so I want them with me for sure. Seth and Brady are both too young to take so they'll stay. The tribe needs one good fighter to stay, so I'll leave Jake. Plus he and Bella get along. Leah can make her own choice on what she wants to do."
"What about me?" Embry walked into the clearing followed by the rest of the Pack. Seth and Brady must have been the ones to stay home.
"I was gonna stick you with the group Leah didn't choose so the two are even."
"In that case he can stay with Jake, because I'm fighting." All three nodded.
"Okay," I stood brushing the grass from my jeans. "All that's left is choosing where we humans are staying then."
The two groups shared a look and Carilise cleared his throat.
"They could stay at our house. We have the room, and it's off of tribe land." The family nodded while the pack traded looks.
"If your families alight with it then so are we."
"That settles that then. Alice, if you could work out a way for Bella to stay at our house tonight."
"We do have that project in history we need to do. Do you think your dad would let you stay over to work on it?"
"If you ask him I'm sure he would." Nodding Alice walked away from the group pulling out her phone. I was sure Charlie would let me stay over for school work. Plus he loved Alice and would do almost anything she asked.
"Okay but we still need a plan!" Jared shot Sam a hard look.
"Nah! We go in, kill them and go home. What's there to plan?" Paul bared his teeth in a mockery of a snarl. Jared only sighed looking to Sam for help. Smiling Sam nudged Jasper as Em high-fived Paul.
"You're right we do need a plan. I can teach you all how newborns act and fight, so long as you can out-think them you can win." Everyone looked at Jasper the wolf's smiling.
"Alright let's split into two groups! Those going tonight in one, those staying in the other. Both groups need to listen, but if thing go to plan those staying won't need to fight." Sam spoke before waving the pack to go shift.
"Bella," Alice spoke from behind me. " Charlie said yes. He only asks that you come home first to get your school things. Did you want me to take you now or after the lesson?"
"I want to see this, but I do need my stuff." I was worried about the family and knew watching them learn to handle the threat would help ease my mind. However I had no way of knowing if there would be time after the lesson to take me home.
"I see. Hey Jazz, can you come here?" He was there before I could blink.
"Yes?" He seemed on edge. Edward said his upbringing before joining the family was very different from the other's. Could this be bringing up bad memories for him?
"Anyway you could postpone this till we get back? Bella needs to get her stuff."
"We could but Jake just called asking if we wanted to girls to go ahead and head to our place. Carlilse told them they could. I can always show you how to fight later Bella." He turned his full attention to me.
"You would?"
"Of course, Darlin', if that's what you want." His face was open, honest.
"Alright I'll hold you to that. Let's go get my stuff and then I'll go to the house." Jasper held out his car keys. Alice went to take them but he pulled them back. She pouted but didn't try again. Smiling, I held out my hand.
"Be careful, Darlin'. Alice someone is out to kill her so please stay with her." He placed the keys in my hand before walking back to the main group. Alice rolled her eyes before waving for me to climb on her back. Doing so I closed my eyes and waited for her to stop at the car.
She put me down on the driver's side, opening the door for me. She slid into the passenger side with a pout.
"You drive so slow!"
"Yeah because I follow the law. Maybe you should try it."
"Never!" She crossed her arms sinking into the chair. I got back on the road and headed toward my house. I would need a change of clothes, and a set of comefertable pj's. The other girls wouldn't be in anything fancy. Alice had games, and all my favorite bathroom stuff. It wouldn't be a bad idea to work on school work, and Charlie thought that was why I was going over anyway.
Pulling into my driveway I parked the car and ran inside. Alice glared when I put the keys in my pocket, but didn't even try to take them. She stopped to talk to Charlie as I went upstairs. I tossed my school bag on my bed as I went to my closet. I didn't want to bring my holey sweats to sleep in, so what else did I have? I skimmed the hangers before I reached the back end where my Arizona clothes were. I had some black cloth shorts that would work, and a red tank that could pair with it. I tossed them both on the bed before randomly grabbing an outfit for school tomorrow. I had a toothbrush at the Cullen's, so with a quick glance around the room I picked up my stuff and went down stairs.
"Bells!" Charlie caught me as I tripped on the last step.
"Thank dad. I'm fine."
"At least let me grab you a bag for those clothes, alright." He didn't wait for a response before going to the closet and pulling out faded Guns n' Roses tote. Taking my things he put them in the bag before handing it back to me.
"You listened to Guns n' Roses dad?"
"Back in the day, yeah. Even went to one of their shows."
"Wow."
"I was your age once you know."
"I mean yeah, but I never really think about it you know?" He laughed while walking to the couch.
"Alright you kids have fun. Try to at least get your names on the paper tonight."
"No promises, Charlie!" His laughter followed us all the way out to the car. Alice smiled as she danced into the passenger seat. I put my bags in the backseat of the car before getting in myself.
"So what are our plans tonight?" I asked pulling onto the road.
"Why are you asking me? I'm going with the other's to fight." She looked over at me, raising an eyebrow.
"Well you always seem to have my time planned." I shrugged.
"I'm sorry, Bella. I shouldn't make you go along with all of my whims."
"I don't mind, Alice. If I did I would say so." I tried to reassure her. I might not like all of it but she always had so much fun. So long as she was happy I could deal with it.
"Would you?" I could feel her eyes on me as I drove. Her question seemed weighted like she already knew the answer and didn't like it.
"Of course I would." I didn't want to say that it was just a matter of if she listened when I said something. The times she hid what I wanted to wear so I had to wear what she picked out flashed through my mind.
"Alright, Bella." Her eyes were still on me, but nothing else was said as she seemed to read my soul. Her shoulders pulled up slightly, a frown on her face and head tilted.
"The driveway is coming up." I turned where she pointed. The drive was always hard to find no matter how many times I drove here. I didn't think that would change at any point in the near future.
"Bella!" Emily yelled as I got out of the car. She was at the top of the stairs near the door.
"Hey Emily!" I moved to grab my stuff from the back.
"I've got it Bella. You can go ahead to the house."
"Thanks Alice."
I ran up the stairs, Emily catching me when I tripped at the top. She pulled me inside where I could see the other girls were already gathered. The furniture was all pushed aside to make room for soft blankets and fluffy pillows. One of the girls had hooked up Em's 360 and they were playing COD Zombies.
"Looks like you girls are having fun!"
"Yeah. Jasper called us to let us know to make ourselves at home so," she trailed off with a smile.
"Jake and Brady are out back. The scent inside is too much for the poor kid." Kim called over her shoulder.
"Okay. Hey Kim, Grace." They waved eyes glued to the screen. A demonic voice was speaking causing Grace to run into a corner and Kim to mutter, "fuck off you little bitch," while reloading. I glanced at Emily who just shrugged before leading me to sit next to the girls. Alice sat on my other side shortly after.
"I put your things in Jasper's room. The other's will meet us here before splitting up and heading out. Also Emily you have free use of the kitchen and anything you find in there to feed all of you but if you can't find anything here's this. You can just order dinner." Alice handed Emily a black card. She took the card wide eyed.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
We lapsed into a silence watching the girls play. Grace stayed close to Kim for the whole game. Kim led them through corridor after corridor shotgun popping off at any movement. After a time we heard three short howls.
"The packs on the way." Emily stood moving toward a bag next to the door.
"Clothes for all of them?"
"Yeah. Brady has to shift back at some point after all. Plus Paul has trouble tying his clothes around his ankle and loses them." She explained tossing the bag out the door.
"At least Jared can keep his clothes."
"Yeah well not all our boys are as good as Jared."
"Yeah I definitely got the best wolf."
"I don't know. I think Jake's pretty good."
"Jake's a child!"
"Yeah, but he's growing up."
"Talk to me when he stops shedding his clothes."
"Whatever." Neither girl looked away from the screen as they spoke.
"Girls play nice." Emily glanced back at the two of them with a smile on her face.
"Sure thing, mom." They called together. Emily rolled her eyes before looking back to the door. When the pack filed in Jared had a shit eating grin on his face.
"So I'm the best wolf, huh?" He asked walking over for a kiss.
"Unless you get me killed. We're on level 100."
"Nice." He sat behind her chin resting on her shoulder as he watched her play.
"Careful, Grace." Jake had taken a similar position behind Grace.
"So who's staying and who's going?" Grace asked, waiting for Kim to pick her up.
"Embry, Seth, Brady, the vampire parents, Rosalie, and I are staying. Sam, Paul, Jared, Leah, Alice, Jasper, and Emmett are going."
"Okay. How long do you think this fight will last?"
"Not long. Newborns are just instincts. They don't plan anything, so showing up without warning will really mess them up. Should be easy to pick them off. With my gift at work they shouldn't even be any ingreys." Jasper said, appearing next to me.
"Hey Jazz. You guys, be careful you hear me." I leaned into his side. No matter how easy this fight should be, I was worried about my family. The thought of Alice in a fight scared me. Logically I knew she could hand herself in a fight or the family wouldn't let her go, but she was so small. I just couldn't see her in a fight, and without her gift to boost.
"Of course, Darlin'." He pulled me closer softly kissing the top of my head. I could feel him softly pushing comfort at me. It felt like being wrapped up in my favorite blanket.
"Yeah, Bells. Plus even if they do get hurt the good doctor can just patch them up!" Jasper glared at Jake when I tensed up.
"Shut up, Jake!" Kim tossed a pillow at him.
"What it's true!"
"Not the point, sweetheart." Grace shook her head. Jake looked over at me, eyes soft.
"Bella, they'll all be okay." His voice was soft, something he saw in my face must have told him just how worried I really was. The moment only lasted a second before his face broke into a grin.
"Besides tall and handsome well make sure of it. He's a great fighter!" I felt my face heat up.
"JAKE!" Grace dropped her controller and attacked him with a pillow. Kim jumped at him a second later armed with a hardback book.
"Jared hold him down!"
"Yes, ma'am!" He smirked, jumping on his packmate. "Shouldn't have said that bro." Grace was in the process of suffocating him with her pillow while Kim hit him on the chest with her book.
"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry, Bells! I'm sorry!" Jake was pushing against Jared while trying to not hit the girls.
I looked over at Sam and Emily waiting for them to help Jake, but they were watching, uncaring of his troubles. Sam shook his head when I went to say something.
"He's got to learn when to not to run that mouth of his. Plus the girls can't do any real damage. You're still blushing though Bella."
"Aw does Bells have a little crush?" Paul smirked. The four on the floor stopped, and looked over at him. As one they nodded and attacked.
"I'm the only one that gets to tease Bells!" Jake dived, knocking Paul over. Jared quickly took hold of Paul's legs so he couldn't get up. The three rolled around for a moment.
"Take it outside boys!" Emily called, and Jared tossed Paul over his shoulder laughing.
"Put me down you fucker!"
"Nope!" He took him outside Jake following on his heels.
"What was that about?" I asked.
"Mostly the fact they have no impulse control, and far too much energy." Sam shook his head.
"Mostly?"
"Also the fact all you and Jake talk about is the people you like, but you say you don't like him. Lastly, the fact you and Jake are siblings and he's pretty picky on who messes with you."
"Oh, okay." I looked around the room. "Where are the rest of the Cullens?"
"I told then that they should go hunting before we left." I nodded. That made sense. They needed to be able to focus on the fight.
"Hey, Bella, we're starting a new match. Wanna play?"
"Sure." I moved over to them and picked up a controller. "Do I talk about Jazz that much?" The girls nodded. "Oh."
Huh, did I like Jasper? I mean he listened when I spoke, and asked questions. He cared about my feelings, and never spoke over me, or chose for himself what was best for me. He was ready to fight Alice in order to get my stuff back from her. He never used his vampire charm to keep me from asking questions. He always answered my questions to the best of his ability.
He was the type of man I always saw myself with as a child. Oh god. I was in love. I was in love with Jasper. With my sister's ex! What kind of sister was I?
On screen my character died. Grace looked over at me then glanced around the room.
"Hey Embry. Did the others leave yet?"
"Yeah."
"Awesome. Could you go, I don't know, run around. We girls need to talk." He raised an eyebrow but shrugged and left. Kim quit the game.
"Emily and the Cullen's left to get food so it's just us." Kim twisted to face me.
"Okay, so, did you figure out that you're in love with Jasper?" Grace smiled. I flopped onto my back, tossing one arm over my face.
"I can't believe it. I fell in love with Jasper and I didn't even notice."
"But that's the best part! When you fall slowly in love with the little things about someone that no one else sees. Besides, he looks at you the same way Sam looks at Emily!"
"Grace is right. Edward always looked like he was a step away from draining you. One wrong move and that'd be it, but Jasper is closer to you. Almost like he thinks you hung the damn moon."
"But Alice-" I was quickly cut off.
"Alice nothing! She left him because it was time for him to meet his true mate, right? That could be you! You'll never know if you don't talk to him." Grace grabbed my arm pulling me up.
"And say what! Hey Jazz I know your wife just hit you with divorce papers but I think we'd be a great couple. That sounds awful!"
"Alright yeah, but we just need to find the right way to word this. After all, it can't be any worse than Jake. 'Hey I know we've been dating for a week, but I can turn into a wolf and have some kinda soulmate thing going on with you. Wanna go meet me pack'." Her impression of him was awful! Kim and I both laughed while Grace tried and mostly failed to keep a straight face.
"He didn't!" Kim and I cried together.
"He did." Unable to hold back any longer, Grace joined our laughter.
"Okay well anything's better than that!"
"I think you should start small. Maybe complement his outfit one day, or buy him something you think he would like?"
"The first one might work, but Grace he's rich. What could she get that he doesn't already have?"
"Oh, you're right." She deflated a little.
"I'd say you could cook him a nice meal, but you know." Kim trailed off shrugging.
"Oh! You could hunt for him!"
"Again great idea Grace, but I can't even walk down stairs without hurting myself. How am I going to hunt anything?"
"Hold on what if we google what women did back in his day. How old is he?" Kim said, pulling a laptop over.
"I know he's from Texas, and fought in the Civil War." We gathered around Kim as she opened Google.
Looking for courting during the Civil War only pulled up things about varias battles during the war. Women courting Civil War era had similar results just around females in the war effort. Courting pulled up plenty but nothing that would work on a vampire.
"Okay, my plan didn't work. Grace back to you." Kim pushed the laptop over to Grace.
"Okay hear me out," she paused for dramatic effect. "Trashy vampire romance novels."
"You mean the ones that are like fifty percent sex?" I could feel my face heating up just thinking about them.
"Come on Bella, you're a reader. You had to have read some."
"No. I mean okay yeah but not the detailed ones! My mom was the one that bought my books, and I never wanted to explain why I wanted trashy romance novels." I felt the need to defend myself. The two girls nodded.
"Okay but how would we know what would really work and what wouldn't? Are they vampire writers?" Kim turned to me.
"How would I know?" I stared at them wide eyed. Did they really think I knew that much about vampires? "Are there werewolf writers?"
They looked at eachother blinking then back to me.
"Good point." They said together.
"Do you think Alice would have trashy romance in her room?"
"I don't," pausing, I thought about the likelihood before shrugging. "You know what maybe. Let's go see." I stood up moving towards the stairs.