Chapter 18

Once we landed Catt grabbed all of our bags and pretty much dragged us off of the plane. Once we exited the airport it didn't take long for me to spot my mom standing next to her SUV talking to Phil. "Bella!" she waved as soon as she caught sight of us and rushed over. Wrapping me in a tight hug "oh my baby I have missed you."

"Missed you to mom." She let go to take a look at me and I gave Phil a quick hug before turning for introductions. "this is my mom Renee and her husband Phil. And these are Lauren and my girlfriend Catt. Stop pretending to act surprised I know dad told you."

"okok. Catt it's s good to meet you." She took her by surprise by dragging her into a hug while Phil offered his hand. They followed up with the same for Lauren. "come on guys let's get a move on before traffic hits." Piling into her car we were headed for her new house. "So I know you go to school with Bella Lauren, what about you Catt?" she shifted "uh no maam I actually graduated."

"oh really when?" maybe dad didn't tell her everything. "uhh well, about 4 or 5 years ago." My mom was quiet for a minute, "how old are you?"

"23 maam."

"I see, and your dating my 18 year old daughter?"

"Mom!"

"It's fine Bella. Yes maam I am."

"why?"

"excuse me?"

"why are you dating an 18 year old still in high school. I would think you would want someone closer to your age and maturity level."

"with all due respect maam, your daughter is far more mature then you seem to be giving her credit for. And because I love her." I sent her a smile as my mom regarded her in the rear-view mirror. "well, at least we don't have to have the talk."

"MOM!" Catt's eyes widened, Lauren choked in thin air trying not to laugh and Phil cleared his throat. "so uhh Catt, how'd you get that scar? Looks new."

"car accident."

"oh, glad your ok."

"Thank you." An uncomfortable silence filled the rest of the ride until we pulled up to a nice two story house. "you have a lovely home Mr. and Mrs. Dwyer."

"why thank you Lauren and none of that you can call us Renee and Phil."

"of course thank you." The sweet reply got Catt to narrow her eyes as I took her hand, "you ok."

"I don't think your mom like me."

"don't be ridiculous, she doesn't even know you. And she hug you."

"yah until she found out I was a cradle robber." I swung my hand back and caught her in the stomach. "just give it time."

"…yes dear." I rolled my eyes before following up the stairs. "the spare rooms are upstairs but you each get your own."

"does she think we were gona go at it or something?" she mumbled too low for anyone but us to hear. "Catt…" my mom showed us the rooms making sure Lauren's was between mine and Catt's, "Phil is going to start up the barbeque, so I hope you girls are hungry."

"starving mom." dinner was awkward to say the least, anything Catt would say my mom had some generic answer for, eventually she just gave up. She excused herself for a shower when Lauren said she needed a nap. I took the opportunity "is there a reason your being so cold towards Catt?"

"how am I being cold to her?"

"mom."

"she's 5 years older than you Bella."

"and the best thing that has happened to me mom."

"look I'm just worried, especially after what that boy did to you."

"Catt isn't like that, and she has already proven it multiple times, just ask dad."

"alright alright, you seem to really like her."

"I love her, more than I ever thought I loved him."

"fine, just please be careful. She is older than you, and probably more experienced, and-"

"mom."

"ok ok fine, well then tell me about her, how did you two meet." So I told her about everything from the night we met, that I could at least.

"you really do love her. Your eyes are full of it when you talk about her baby."

"yah mom I really do."

"Am I interrupting?" I jumped at Catt's voice, "no dear not at all, Bella was just telling me how you two met." Warmth seeped into her eyes as they fell on me with a smile. "ahh yes, one of my best days indeed." She draped her arms over my shoulders from behind before placing a kiss to my cheek. "I must admit, you two do make a cute couple."

"it does not bother you that I am a woman?"

"no, I mean I have had my own college experiences-"

"mom! For starters I am not just some experience or experiment for her. Second, just no."

"alright, but no it doesn't bother me. But I won't pretend to like the fact that you are much older than her."

"its 5 years mom."

"yes I know. But you two are still sleeping in different rooms."

"of course I would not wish to disrespect you." She spent the rest of the evening actually getting to know Catt and Lauren when she woke up until it was time for dinner.

That was pretty much how most of the trip went we went out to dinner a couple times, hit the beach most days and had my mom show us around during the week. Catt did manage to sneak us away for a lunch date though while my mom and Lauren went crazy at the mall. Catt had given, well forced her to take a credit card saying pack takes care of pack. She gave me one as well against my arguments.

Everything was going well, and I had almost forgotten what I was running from almost. But I was still nowhere closer to knowing how to tell Catt. Turns out I didn't really need to worry about that though as my mom spoke up "So Bella your dad said that the Cullen's were back, how are you handling that sweetheart." Lauren froze, I froze, Catt, Catt froze before turning to me with a look in her eyes that screamed betrayal. I couldn't utter a sound before that looked quickly turned to anger and she was up and out of the house almost too fast for a human. "Bella, is she ok."

"I-I hadn't told her about the Cullen's yet."

"what why not?"

"Because it's still a sore spot mom. And Catt didn't exactly take what they did to me very well. I need to go after her."

"ok dear, make this right. You still should have told her, you can't keep secrets of you want a relationship to work."

I didn't bother reply as I ran out the door hoping she didn't go very far. I was not so lucky, she was nowhere to be seen. Running my hand through my hair I returned inside, "where is she?"

"I don't know she was already gone."

"I'm sure it will be fine Bella."

"I agree sweetheart, she has to come bac for you guys to fly back home. You can talk to her on the plane."

"I guess." What the hell did I do. I should have just told her.

I tossed and turned all night long barely sleeping at all. As soon as I was up I rushed into her room only to find it empty. Heading downstairs my heart in my throat I nearly pass out when I see her at the kitchen table dressed with her bags at her feet ready to go. "Catt?"

she turned towards me but there was nothing in her eyes and her voice was void of any emotion "you should get dressed if you want to catch the flight." With nothing to say that would matter right I did just that. The ride to the airport was quiet as we said our goodbyes my mom close to tears "call when you girls land."

"I will mom, love you."

"love you to sweetheart." She then gave Catt a hug and whispered something in her ear that made her flinch before doing the same to Lauren. Catt grabbed my bag to carry but said nothing as we boarded the plane, she was so lost in thought she didn't even jump when the plane ran into turbulence. The taxi ride back to her apartment was no better.

It wasn't until Lauren had went to bed for the night that she turned and looked at me, "did your mom even want to meet me. did you want me to meet her?" her topic choice surprised me. "what?"

"the trip Bella. Was that just some ploy to get me out of town so I wouldn't figure it out." She sneered out so unlike the woman I had come to know, "no Catt of course not."

"Then why!?" flinching as she raised her voiced "I just-I didn't-"

"didn't want me to know, yah I got that part Bella. Little Cullen not know you have moved on? Or have you just not actually moved on?"

"What where is this coming from!? You know that's not true!"

"isn't it? why else? I won't be your toy Bella! I won't ever be someone's toy again!" she shouted as tears filled her eyes, "Catt, it wasn't like that" I took a step towards her only for her to take one back. She was breathing heavy with her eyes closed as she tried to gain control "we need to take some time apart." She finally grunted and my world stopped. "what?" tears were now streaming freely down my face and hers as she fought not only my betrayal but one from her past. "Catt no-"

"you need to go."

"but were mates-"

"I know, and that's what makes this so much worse."

"Bella you need to listen to her."

"Saphira-"

"I will speak with her but you must go."

"Lauren?"

"is not who has broken her trust. She will be fine." I flinched at Saphira's words as they battled for control before taking the elevator down. The tears didn't stop on the road, they didn't stop when I got home, they didn't stop as my dad tried to comfort me for something her had no clue of. They didn't stop until I had passed out.

When I woke up I was in no better condition, my eyes were dry, my head was killing me, and there were not calls or texts from Catt. Only one from Lauren asking if I was ok for school today. I was definitely not, but I asked her to pick me up anyways. Throwing on some clothes I grab the leather jacket Catt had left at my house before grabbing something to eat. I had just finished when Lauren pulled up. "how you doing?" I didn't answer "how is she?"

"…I don't know, she wasn't home." With a sigh I ready myself for the inevitable as we pull into the lot. "your car is already getting attention."

"yah I'm actually thinking of saying it's like a divorce present. Or Catt's and I'm just borrowing it."

"I'd go with the second, everyone knows your parents are jerks. No offence."

"none taken." We climbed out of the jeep ignoring the Volvo and BMW three spots over surrounded by the not 5 vampires but 8. "shall we?"

"yah, lets." We never spared them a glance, and I'm sure it drove him crazy.

My first couple classes went by fine until Mike decided to bombard me, "how you holding up Bells."

"fantastic how are you." I grumbled as I checked my phone, I had sent Jake a text to see if he saw Catt, nope. Time apart, what did she mean time apart. "you need something dude?" she couldn't possibly mean a break, did she want to break up? "yes, to speak with Bella." I froze at the smooth voice, all thought leaving me. I forced myself to look up not surprised he has that dumb grin on his face, though this time it did nothing for me, it was nothing compared to hers. His golden eyes I use to love were nowhere near as beautiful as I once thought, nothing like her emerald ones that sparkled when she laughed. I blinked, once, twice, three times before I found my voice, "what do you want?" he flinched at the indifference in my voice, "to speak with you."

"then speak."

"…alone Bella." He gestured to Mike who sat at my table now. "Class is starting, you may want to take your seat Cullen." He turned to say something smart to Mike I'm sure but the teacher walked in asking everyone to take their seats.

I could feel not only His eyes but also all of the worried classmates eyes on me. As soon as the bell rang I was ignoring him calling my name and rushing out the door for the cafeteria. I met Lauren half way as she looped her arm with mine giving me a worried glance but saying nothing. We grabbed our food ad took our usual seat with Angela and Ben before sitting back for the show. And just like my first day the room went quiet as they walked through the door. It was just like my first day, but not. Rosalie was the first to walk through, her eyes automatically went to me and they were filled with confusion, anger, sadness, but not the cold annoyance I had come to know with her. And on her arm walking through the door was definitely not Emmett, it wasn't even a guy. She walked in with another stunning vampire with long strawberry hair curling down her back. She had a hand placed on the small of Rosalie's back to indicate they were clearly more than friends. Looks like I'm not the only one who switched teams. I flinched as the thought of Catt entered my mind and I quickly checked my silent phone again only to sigh in disappointment. Looking up just in time to watch Alice and Jasper twirl in. her golden eyes were duller then normal as if she wasn't hunting regularly, they locked on me and filled with such a sadness I had to remind myself that she left, that she didn't bother saying goodbye to her toy. Jasper was still as tense as ever as she held onto his arm, his eyes held regret and guilt as they landed on me. I couldn't dwell on that though as the door admitted another 3, two which were new faces to me. One had her dirty blonde hair wrapped in a braid on coming over her shoulder. The other had long platinum hair straight down her back ending just above her butt. They both looked to me with confusion before the platinum haired one's lips lifted in a huge grin, her eyes shining. Edward wasn't far behind not liking whatever she said or thought as he growled something at her to which she ignored and joined the rest of the vampires at the table. From the looks of it they sat there and argued as they shot looks my way, that blonde though only seemed amused as she rolled her eyes at Edward. The other two new faces seemed to add in when he directed something at her. It had been a full 20 minutes, and I'm surprised he lasted that long, until he got up and made his way towards me, the rest of the table glaring daggers as he went. That stupid smirk on his face "hello Bella. I was hoping we could talk now that we aren't in class." I leaned back and looked at him before replying in a way I'm sure Catt and Lauren would be proud of, "we could, but we aren't going to." My eyes shot to the table full of vampires as the platinum blonde let out a beautiful laugh, her I'm guessing 'sister' following suit. He furrowed his brows, "Bella-"

"I'm pretty sure that was clear Cullen." He turned a sneer to Lauren but I interrupted "if that was all, maybe you should head back to your own table."

"Bella I-"

"I don't care."

"Bel-"

"I don't care!" I stopped for a second trying to control my emotions when all I wanted to do was smack the shit out of him, he's been back a week and already fucking up my life. "I don't care what you have to say Edward. I don't care what excuse you have. I don't care that you want to talk. I don't care about your little hero complex. I don't care about what you want at all. I don't care about you. I don't care about your family. I. Don't. Care." With that I was up as the bell rang and dragging Lauren with me as he stood there speechless.

My already bad mood turned worse as I sat in art and in walked two vampires. It was the strawberry blonde and platinum. And lucky us, the only table left was next to mine and Laurens in the back. They talked to the teacher before taking their seats, one pair of eyes never leaving me. "hello." I turned and locked eyes with the platinum with hopefully a blank face. She definitely was stunning, even for vampire standards. I raised a brow, "I'm Katrina, or Kate. This is my sister Tanya." Her sister gave me a small smile though it got nothing out of me as I turned to face the front again. Lauren's hand found mine under the table giving it a supportive squeeze I gladly took. Class was awkward to say the least as I could feel Kate's gaze burning into the side of my head before her sister elbowed her into the side with a frown. I was so tense as I worked on my project that I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt my phone vibrate, I fumbled with pulling it out of my pocket. My heart skyrocketed when I saw her name,

Catt 3: may we speak, I know you are in class but after?

With a glance at the teacher I type my reply and tell her I can ride back with Lauren only to deflate at her simple ok. "was that?"

"yes."

"thank god, I was starting to worry."

"yah, me to. I'm riding back with you."

"ok."

We went our separate ways for our last class as I headed to the locker room to change for gym. I didn't make the escape I thought I did though as Tanya and Rosalie came in right behind me. "Hello Bella." Well there is a tone she never spoke to me in, "hey Rosalie."

"what no 'go fuck yourself'"

"nah I'm saving that for the family members who actually pretended to like me before leaving."

"pretended?"

"yah you never did that so no point."

"I-don't follow."

"doesn't matter. Where's Emmett?" I asked as I laced my shoes back up, "…I don't know, somewhere in Europe I assume with his mate." I was so tempted to ask before convincing myself it wasn't any of my business. "ahh." Was all I said as I headed out into the gym for whatever torture they had planned.

I had made it through dodgeball without any injuries to myself or others before changing back into my clothes barely aware of how gross and sweaty I was, damn I'm out of shape. But I rushed back to Lauren's jeep praying for her to hurry up. She was hurrying out but she was also covered in a major blush as she practically jumped into the jeep. "everything ok?"

"yah yah great. Let's go." I didn't bother pushing I knew it would get me nowhere, besides the Cullen's were in their way out and I wanted to be gone before he caught up. She pulled out of the parking lot just as they got into the car. The ride to Port Angeles seemed to drag more than usual as I got more and more nervous. By the time we reached the apartment I wasn't sure what to do. We took the elevator silently before Lauren went to her room to do her homework and I headed for Catt's room. I knocked lightly before pushing the door open, she was sitting cross legged in the center of the bed reading a book, her eyes were not that of a human, so either she was struggling with her control or Saphira was in charge. Her eyes rose as I entered "Catt?"

"Not quite."

"Saphira, is she ok."

"she is. But she is fighting not only what she sees as your betrayal, but also that of the past."

"how do I make this right?" she closed the old book and set it on the night stand, "is the Cullen boy competition for your affections?"

"no of course not. There is no competition at all. I love Catt, I love you. " her feline eyes widened momentarily, "come here little mate." I did as she said and crawled into her lap. "I don't want us to break up Saphira."

"we won't, we are mates Isabella. She is hurt and angry and upset, but she loves you, we love you, more than even we can comprehend. The thought of losing you to another has simply, captured her mind. She will return to us. While I am I control though I am curious."

"about what." she didn't answer, she simply leaned in and pressed her lips softly to mine before pulling away slightly. "about Catt's fascination with doing such. And I know can say I understand." She leaned in once again this time swiping her tongue against my bottom lip. "you are definitely something else Isabella."

"Says the Were panther?" a husky chuckle escaped her throat. "Mmm how did your…wolves-take the news of the Cullen's return?"

"…I don't know. I haven't had a chance to ask. I should text Jake and ask soon. He will want to speak with Catt…"

"Then we best get her back yes?"

"how?" a savage grin lifted her lips as her fangs flashed, "like this" she quickly flipped us over to where she was pinning me down, lightning fast she lunged for my throat stopping centimeters away as the shout rang through the room "Saphira No!"

Catt POV

My subconscious yanked forward as fast as I could when I felt Saphira lunge, I knew she wouldn't actually do it but that didn't stop me from jumping to protecting my mate. The yell left me without a second thought as I once again took control of my body, I flung myself across the room and away from her. "Catt?" I shook my head as she went to sit up and come towards me, my breathing came hard as I tried to catch my breath from the disaster that could have happened. "are you ok?" a dark chuckle left me, I didn't just have fangs at my throat. I did what had to be done. "Damn you Saphira." I finally looked up expecting to see my terrified mate but she only looked concerned for me, and close to tears. "I'm sorry." wait what? "No Bella I could have-"

"No Catt for not telling you about the Cullen's." Oh right, that. Clenching my fists I take a deep breath, "then why didn't you?"

"…I don't know. I just, I knew you wouldn't react well to it. and I just wasn't ready to deal with it."

"I'm not something to deal with." I growled out. "no but they are. I didn't want you going off doing something stupid. I needed time to think of a way to tell you and deal with them being back." It makes sense, this can't be easy on her seeing them. If she has moved on with me it shouldn't be a problem unless she wasn't over him! It wasn't just him that left Catt, it isn't him that she still hurts over, they were family to her. I sighed as her words hit home and made my way slowly over to her but I still had to voice my worries. "I can't lose you." It was barely over a whisper, but she heard clear as day as she wrapped her arms around my waist, "you're not going to because I can't lose you either. I love you."

"I love you to. But perhaps its best if I stay in Port Angeles or the reservation for a while."

"if that's that what you need." It's definitely what I need. "this will complicate the patrolling issue. The wolves will need to stick to the reservation. And I will check around here, as well as Forks when I am up to it. or the wolves can speak with-the Cullen's." she nodded her head before resting it on my shoulder, I pull her into me and press a kiss to her hair. "can you call the Chief and ask if you can stay here tonight, I will drive you back to school tomorrow."

"is that a good idea?"

"hmm no but I am not letting you go right now. You can ride back with Lauren then and I will…work on my control in case I do end up near the…vampire."

"…ok babe. Il go call him. And then maybe use your shower? I need to clean up after gym."

"of course mon ange. I will be more than happy to help you-clean up-that is." A smile showed on her face as it reddened "yes I'm sure that's what you mean." She walked into the living room to make the call as I watched her hips sway, the chief agreed readily not liking the fact that the Cullen's were back either and wanting her to distance from them. Thank you Chief. Shaking my head I go to get the shower ready and step into the burning spray as she enters the room. She leaned against the door way simply looking me up and down for a moment. "I can feel your eyes on me Mon Ange, perhaps it is time to join me yes?" I let my accent slip through enough knowing how much she likes it as I tilt my head back to let the water run down my body. She stepped in and pressed her body against mine. I took her lips in a hungry kiss that she responded to just as enthusiastic as me. Hands roamed naked flesh as I explored every inch of her mouth with my tongue, I pulled back just enough to growl out a "mine" before attaching my lips to her neck. Lifting her up until her legs wrapped around my waist I pressed her against the tiled wall making her moan out my name until there was no doubt in my mind or hers that she was indeed mine.