Brie comes in the front door before she walks into living room to see that it was empty and quiet. She thought it was weird. She turned around and Bella was behind her "Fucking hell Bella. A little warning would of been great" she says trying to slow her heart rate down. "Did Charlie go easy on the punishment then?"
"He wasn't as angry as I thought he would of been. We just spoke, he was happy I was back talking to Jacob so that made it a little better. But I am still grounded for 2 days"
"Aww I'm sorry I got you grounded. It just kinda slipped out when he said he found out from Billy that you and Jacob were not talking"
"Don't worry about it. Not gonna hold a grudge. Anyways you gonna come to bed. Your sharing with me" Brie nodded and followed Bella upstairs to her room. She opened the door to Edward standing in the middle of the room
Edward frantically walked over to her "Do you understand how worried I've been. I almost break the treaty to make sure of it" Abruptly he stops and he inhales when his face becomes alarmed. "Something's wrong" He moves into the living room. He darts throughout the first floor, checking it.
"What? What is it?" Bella asks as she looks at Brie who looks just as confused.
"Stay here" And he bolts upstairs. She hurries after him
Brie enters to find Edward holding the dreamcatcher "Edward, what's wrong?"
"Someone's been in here" Brie and Bella look at each other alarmed that someone was in their house. Edward takes them to the Cullen's house to find out what's going on.
Edward paces, frustrated. Alice is stressed. Bella and Brie tries to track their fast-paced conversation with Carlisle, Rosalie, and Esme.
"Who was it? Someone we know?"
"Just a stranger. I didn't recognize his scent"
"A nomad passing through?" Esme suggest.
"A passer-by wouldn't have left Bella's father alive" Bella's chilled by the thought. Esme wraps an arm around her just as the door bursts open.
Jasper enters the room "His scent disappeared about five miles south of Bella's house"
"Someone's orchestrating this"
"Victoria?" Brie asks.
Alice shakes her head "I would've seen her deciding"
"It has to be the Volturi" Edward says.
"I don't think it's the Volturi either. I've been watching Aro's decisions, too"
"So we keep looking. We also take shifts, guarding Bella at her house"
Bella shakes her head "You can't protect me, watch my dad and search for the intruder. And for Victoria. And keep yourselves fed"
Edward grabs her hands and pulls her close "I'm not leaving you here defenceless"
Bella fought back "Well, I'm not gonna let you starve. And I wouldn't be unprotected, I have…" She stops. Brie could see where Bella was going with this. She looks at him, a tiny glimmer of optimism flashing on her face.
Edward and Brie were standing at the curb, frozen in place, waiting eyes unblinkingly watching the front door. Finally, it opens. Bella exits and behind her was Jacob.
"Whoever it was, he left his stink behind. It'll be hard to miss when we cross it again. We'll handle it from here"
"We don't need you to handle anything. Or anyone"
Jacob steps toward Edward who doesn't move "I could care less what you need"
Bella moves between them "Stop. I'm tired of this. From now on I'm Switzerland, Okay?" Bella tries to push them apart; it's like pushing boulders "Stop!" Jacob simmers. Edward just looks at him "I don't expect you guys to chuck a football around together. Fine. But we have a lot of problems. And this is one temporary solution. Are you willing to at least try?"
A long tense beat. Finally, Edward nods and then Jacob "Alright, so you need to coordinate. You know, schedules and stuff" Neither says anything. Bella sighs and turns to Jacob "Would the pack prefer days or nights?"
Jacob says still looking at Edward "Nights"
"Will days work for your family?" Edward nods "Good. See? How hard was that?" Agonising, off Bella, determined to make this truce work.
Edward's silver Volvo pulls over to the side of the road. Bella, Brie and Edward emerge from the car. They see 30 yards down the road, a shirtless Jacob leaning against his red Volkswagen. Waiting. The two guys exchange a tense look. "Doesn't he own a shirt?"
Brie smirks "With a body like that, who needs a shirt" Edward looks down at her, not amused.
"I'm good here, you should go"
Edward pulls her closer "I'm not gonna be going long"
"Don't rush. You need to hunt" Then he surprises her with a particularly passionate kiss. Brie could see Jacob scowling. Edward pulls away, leaving Bella a little dizzy "Maybe you rush a little bit" He smiles. She offers a reassuring look, then walks off.
As Brie and Bella reach him he smiles broadly "Hey, beautiful" he says looking at Bella.
"Hi" He pulls her into a big hug. Brie hears Edward's car peel out as watches the Volvo disappear, while the two friends are still hugging.
"What do I look like? Dog shit?" Brie exclaims.
"Your beautiful too Brie" Jacob smiles as he gives her a hug as well.
Jacob pulls away and goes to open the car door "So, whaddaya wanna do today? Bike, hike, hang? Your guy's call. But we're going to a party tonight"
A group is gathered around the fire, eating hot dogs, laughing. Billy sits at the natural head of the circle. Old Quil, Quil's ancient grandfather sits on one side of him, Sue Clearwater on the other. The three council leaders. The whole pack is there; Paul, Quil, Embry, Jared, and Sam, with Emily at his side. Leah sullenly stares into the fire. Meanwhile, a young Quileute girl about Quil's age is definitely giving him the eye.
Across the sand Jacob leads Bella and Brie towards roaring fires "You sure this is okay? I really hate being a party crasher"
"Technically, you're a Council Meeting crasher. See. The Council leaders, Dad, Quil's grandpa, and Sue Clearwater. She took over for Harry when he died"
"Okay yeah we should not be here" Brie says agreeing with Bella.
"You're okay. They thought it would be good for you's to hear the histories" Jacob looks at Bella when he said they should hear the histories.
"The histories? The tribe's histories? Aren't they secret?"
"We all got a role to play. And you're a part of this. I mean, it's the first time Seth, Leah and Quil are hearing them, too. But you are the first outsider. Ever"
"Jake" They're interrupted by a gangly-limbed boy, Seth, who trots up like a puppy. He clearly idolizes Jacob "Hey. It's about time, you got here. Paul's been hoovering the grub. But, I saved you some burgers"
"Good looking out, Bro. Bella, Brie this is Seth Clearwater, Leah's brother. Newest member of the pack" Jacob introduces the youngest wolf to the girls.
"Newest, bestest, brightest" Brie couldn't help but smile at the young wolf who seemed so sure of himself.
"And slowest" He grabs Seth in a headlock, the two tumble to the sand. Seth laughs, absolutely loving this guy. A whistle comes from the circle. It's Sam.
Seth jumps up "Come on. Your dad's about to start"
"Alright" As Seth drags Jacob, Brie and Bella towards the bonfire.
Paul was on a log with Embry who were laughing at what Jared was talking about. "Hey there they are" Quil called out. They all turned around to see Seth running over with Jacob behind. Paul saw Bella next to him. Him and Bella didn't get off to the best of starts. Not with her slapping him which ultimately revealed their secret to her as he couldn't help him temper under control. He looked along to see a girl with Bella, he had never met her before but seemed the other boys knew her as they called her over. Brie was her name. There she was. My girl.
He kept watch as her and Bella were talking about something, he was watching her lips as she spoke, they were full and plumped, just begging to be kissed. She wearing skinny jeans and a simple tank top. He felt his heart pound faster as he looked at her curves. They were so perfect and sexy. He took a deep breath before he looked at her eyes and when he did his heart really was going to explode. Brie's scent brushed against Paul's nose as he sat and watched her walk alongside Bella and Jacob, to a log next to him. Brie sat down near him, with Bella and Jacob next to her. He closed his eyes, taking in the comforting smell.
He ignored the fact that Billy started with his story "The Quileutes have been a small tribe from the beginning. But we've always had magic in our blood" Everyone faces, their attention wholly on Billy, his voice commanding "We were great spirit warriors... Shape shifters, that transform into the powerful wolf. This enabled us to scare off our enemies, and protect our tribe"
Jacob glances at Bella, gauging her reaction "One day our warriors came across a creature. It looked like a man, but it was hard like stone, and cold as ice" Brie listens to the story as she looks across the fire watching everyones reactions to the story. She saw Jacob watching Bella, gratified by her somber reaction.
"Our warriors' sharp teeth, finally tore it apart. But only fire would completely destroy it. They lived in fear, the Cold Man was not alone. And they were right. She took her vengeance out on the village. Our elder chief, Taha Aki, was the only spirit warrior left to save the tribe, after his son was killed. Taha Aki's third wife could sees that he would lose. The Third Wife was no magical being, no special powers, but one. Courage" Brie felt like she could relate to the third wife, she was the only one around apart from her uncle who had no magical being. She was surrounded by werewolves and vampires. Soon she would lose Bella as she would turn into a vampire eventually thats if the treaty would even allow it. Her thoughts were interrupted when she could feel eyes on her. She locked eyes with the man she had never met before. She felt somewhat like a gravitational pull towards him. She gave him a smile as they held each other gaze.
"The Third Wife's sacrifice distracted the Cold Woman, long enough for Taha Aki to destroy her. She saved the tribe. Over time, our enemies have disappeared. But one remains. The Cold Ones. Our magic awakens when they near. And we sense it now, we feel the threat in our blood. Something terrible is coming. And we must all be ready. All of us"
By the time the story had finished, Brie looked away to see if Bella was okay after hearing that story. He watched her as he thought this girl is beautiful. Feelings were shooting through him that were almost unbearable, but he kept his eyes on her.
Paul had the sudden urge to love and protect her. To protect her from the evil in the world and from the people that may cause her pain. He wanted her to be happy. He wanted her to hopefully accept the imprint so she can trust him and love him.
"You's want a drink?" Paul could hear Jacob asking the girls. Bella shook her head as Brie said yes which she followed Jacob to get a drink.
Bella was sitting alone, this was his time to ask Bella questions. He walked over to Bella "Hey Bells. Mind if I sit?" He said pointing to the empty seat that Brie was sitting.
"No of course not, please" she said patting the log next to her. "What's up?"
Paul looked over at Brie and Jacob who were just walking into Emily's. Okay out of sight, out of mind. "Ugh, whats the deal with Brie?"
"The deal?" Bella asked as Paul nodded "Not much to tell, just that she came back to surprise me, she's only back for a few weeks though, how comes?" Bella started to wonder why Paul was so interested on why Brie was here.
Pauls heart ached a little when she said she was only in town for a few weeks, which means she would eventually leave and he might not ever see his imprint again "How familiar are you with imprinting? Has Jacob ever told you about it?"
Bella nods "Yeah he told me not that long ago, something about when a shapeshifter imprints on a girl he becomes unconditionally bound to her for the rest of his life" she stops for a moment "Wait, are you trying to tell me that you've imprinted on my cousin?" Paul gives her a small smile and looks down on the ground. "Wait is Paul Lahote getting a bit hot under the collar?" Bella teases "I've never seen this side to you. Usually your out screwing any girl you set your sights to" she stops again "This isn't a set up to try and hook up with my cousin is it?"
Paul shakes his head "No of course not. Imprinting is a serious thing Bella. She is now my priority everyone and everything else in my life now becomes secondary, she is the only thing that matters, I don't even know the girl and I have a deep need to do anything to please and protect her"
"Think you need to speak to her Paul. What happens if she rejects it? Can she even do that?"
"Yeah she can choose to accept or reject the imprint. But it is highly unlikely as it would be really hard to resist. She would feel somewhat incomplete without me around, same goes if I wasn't around her"
Bella nods "But for sake talk, say she does reject you. What would happen?"
"I would still respect her choice as her happiness was all that mattered to me. It would hurt like a fucker though"
"Then your going to need to talk to her. See where she's at. The only thing you can do. Can't do much else until you talk to her" with that Paul nodded.