Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Twilight or Vampire Diaries. Those rights are reserved for Stephanie Myer and L.J. Smith. Thank you.
Writer's Notes: Thank you SAM, Guest, and kouga's older woman for your comments. To answer some questions. I have so many character maps and trees in an explosion on my desk and different branches that I can explore that I'm not entirely so sure at this point in time. I will let you know that there are some boundaries that will be pushed with different characters and character pairings that seem controversial at first. As always, thank you everyone for the support, follows, and favorites. Drop some reviews if you have any questions and I promise to answer the best I can with the story, without giving away too much.
"You did what?" Tyler's voice could be heard all the way up into the top floor of the Salvatore Boarding house. Bella winced at the boom in Tyler's voice. She was fiddling with her hair when she woke up. It was Monday morning and school was starting in a couple hours. For some reason Caroline told Tyler about Jake imprinting and the first thing this morning Tyler was over yelling at Jake.
Damon was standing, one arm crossed and his other occupied with, you guessed it, a glass with brandy. He was watching the hybrid and super wolf duke it out over Blondie. Stefan was over at Elena's to pick her up and Alice and Jasper were both getting ready for the school day too. This left Jared, Jake, and Tyler in the kitchen with Damon supervising.
Bella gave up on her hair and just pulled her boots on that hugged her calf. Those were the only shoes that she really cared for that Caroline had both her. They were fur lined on the inside, and they were a black suede that had a zipper up the back instead of on the side like most boots. She wore a simple pair of skinny jeans, dark wash, and a plaid blue, long sleeved button up shirt with a black camisole underneath. She pulled on her coat, which was just a plain black, fleece lined zip up hoodie for the most part. She walked down the stairs to the kitchen to try and referee the situation.
"Jake, Tyler, please stop," Bella's voice rang out and it pulled Jake's attention away from Tyler.
"Bells, tell him I have no control over this. It's not like I made a pass at Caroline…" Jake muttered.
Tyler's eyes were ringed with gold showing off his hybrid side. That's when Bella knew he was close to his breaking point. She sighed and went between the two. This worried Damon significantly because she may have not noticed that Jake was trembling and a hybrid was nothing to play around with. So, this made Damon step forward too.
"Tyler, I promise you it's a long story that we will most definitely sit down and explain to you later tonight, but for right now we have to get to school. I was here when it happened, and I'm telling you, nothing out of sorts happened with Jake and Caroline. It's a weird situation that requires further explanation," she reasoned and the color in Tyler's eyes faded back to his usual brown. His eyes went to Bella. He nodded once and turned around and left the kitchen.
Bella let out a breath and turned to look at Jake and gave him a quick hug, calming the tremors. Damon tilted his head with intrigue because he saw Jake instantly calm at Bella's touch. She had an effect on people. Jasper and Alice came into the kitchen now.
"Oh, there you are Major. You missed the big wolf tantrums," Damon joked and took a drink of his brandy and walked over to Bella now, who just released Jake, and Jared was slapping Jake on the back in a comradery motion.
"Ah, the imprint talk," Jasper said and moved over to the refrigerator and pulled out a blood bag for himself. Alice still hadn't gotten used to human blood, so she kept to her animal diet, but Jasper was okay with drinking from blood bags. It made Alice wrinkle her nose at him as he drank it down easily.
Bella would never get used to Jasper drinking human blood again she thought, but each time she saw him do it, it seemed more normal. Damon drank human blood and he was fine, and it never bothered her watching him, so she usually just shrugged it off.
"Oh before I forget," Jared said and turned to Bella. "So, some of the tribe is coming in later tonight. Sam is sending them to help because of Alice's vision," Jared said and looked over to Alice, who obviously forgot to talk about this vision with Bella.
"Alice?" Bella raised a brow. Alice smiled slyly. "Well, it's not just Victoria and Laurent we have to worry about. There's going to be a big war…"
"What! And you didn't think to tell everyone?" Bella said, throwing her hands up.
"Well…I did tell everyone, I just…didn't tell you yet. You were having issues with the nightmares and then the panic attack…" Alice tried to make an excuse.
Bella groaned and turned away from Alice. Damon lay a hand on Bella's shoulder. His touch was gently. "Hey, you're being told now, so let's just not worry about it for now and you go on to school. I'll welcome the pups and give them a place to sleep," Damon reassured and surprisingly didn't sound like an asshole like usual.
Bella sighed and pressed two fingers to her temple to stop the ebbing headache that was beginning to start up. Damon brushed her fingers away and replaced them with his. He was running both her temples now and she closed her eyes and sighed again.
"Well, we'll discuss it later on anyways when the rest of the tribe gets here," Bella said and then she opened her eyes to see Damon looking down into her eyes. She stepped away from him now and then left to grab her bag for school. "Jake, Jared, come on," she called over her shoulder as she left to go out to her new shiny Jeep. Jared and Jake spared a glance at Damon and then followed Bella out.
Angela looked up to the sky and cursed the snow. Ben was having a hard time changing the flat tire with the snow falling down so quickly. "Maybe we should just call triple A," Ben muttered, and Angela groaned.
"Why must everything just go wrong?" Angela whined and shivered.
"Need assistance?" A deep, cajun voice called.
Angela turned and smiled at the newcomer. "Oh yes please! My boyfriend can't seem to get a tire changed," she said with a laugh.
The man with dark dreadlocks gave her a half grin, and then suddenly the lights went out for Angela, and Ben. The next time they woke, they were bound and gagged and in some sort of basement of sorts. Angela's panicked eyes landed on Ben, who had dried blood smeared down his face. She wanted so badly so scream and to try to get away, but it was no use. She heard footsteps, and her heartbeat increased.
The man that stopped to help them was standing there now. He was dark skinned, with dark dread locks and bring red eyes. Angela's eyes widened as he grinned at them.
"All the pieces are falling into place," the man spoke and then turned and left the two in the basement.
School of course was a boring day. Alaric was staying after school to help a couple of students that requested tutoring assistance. Since he was a teacher, he had to do those things. He couldn't meet up at the boarding house until much later.
Bella was getting read to leave when she bumped into someone wearing a button up grey shirt with tie and dark slacks. His hair was raven black, and his eyes were a unusual grey. Like storm clouds. "I'm sorry!" Bella called to the man.
He smiled an easy smile. "No worries Miss…" he trailed off.
"Oh Swan. I'm Bella Swan," she supplied her name to him.
"Ah, I'm Mr. Shaw. I think you're on my roster. I'm replacing Mrs. Wright, the English teacher. She's taking early retirement," Mr. Shaw stated and saw Alaric emerge from his classroom.
Bella smiled. "Well welcome to Mystic Falls High Mr. Shaw," she said and saw Alaric at the same time. She walked over and gave him a half hug.
Mr. Shaw raised a brow as he approached Alaric and Bella. "Ric, it's been a couple years," Mr. Shaw called out.
Alaric smiled down at Bella as she gave him a half hug and he gave her one back before looking up at the deep voice. "Oh Ezra, you made it," he said and moved away from Bella and shook his hand. Alaric had a flash of panic in his eyes before he tamed it down.
"It wasn't easy making the move, but I did it. Callum decided to make the move too. We're renting a house over off Fell's Church Rd," he said, and Bella decided to take her leave now.
"It was nice meeting you Mr. Shaw. I'll see you in English then. Bye Uncle Ric," Bella called and then it was Ezra's turn to look surprised.
Bella walked away from the two men and walked out to the parking lot. She bumped into Caroline next who was having a serious internal melt down. "Caroline?" Bella said as she waved a hand in front of Caroline's face.
Caroline blinked a few times and then looked to Bella. "Oh. I'm sorry," she murmured.
"Are you okay?" Bella asked and then Stefan was coming up on them now.
"Hey guys," Stefan said and looked at Caroline. "Are you okay?" He asked her.
Caroline sighed. "I'm just…it's been a weird couple of days…" she said and walked off before anyone else could ask her if she was okay. She clearly wasn't okay because of everything that has happened. Jake imprinted on her, and then there was Tyler who was extremely angry over it. It wasn't like she jumped Jake's bones or anything. But I wanted to. She thought to herself.
Bella watched Caroline and then looked at Stefan. "Where's Elena?"
Stefan rubbed his neck and then looked away. "We had a fight. She's driving herself home," he said and then looked back at Bella. "Oh, Jake and Jared are at football practice? Apparently, Coach Brenn wants them to try out because well, of their size. They told me to tell you not to wait for them. I've got to run off to practice myself, but I didn't want you to be waiting for them to show up."
"Ah, okay. Well thank you," she said and watched him trot off towards practice. Everyone was normal and everything was going to be normal. She walked the rest of the way to her Jeep and climbed in. She sighed before starting the engine and driving towards the boarding house.
Back at the boarding house Damon was just doing some light reading on Cold Ones and remembering his times in the Southern Vampire Wars. It wasn't much of a challenge for Damon to put down the new borns because Cold Ones had a huge disadvantage when it came to regular vamps. He heard the door open and close and heard Bella come in. She walked into the parlor, looking like she was deep in thought.
"Where's the wolf posse?" Damon broke her thoughts. Bella looked at him and sighed as she sat down in front of the fireplace on the couch.
"They're at football practice or tryouts or whatever," Bella said as she looked into the dancing flames in the fireplace. She shrugged off her jacket and slung it on the back of the couch now. Damon moved and brought her a brandy. She took it without hesitating and took a deep drink before actually looking at Damon, who was now sitting next to her, staring into her eyes with his intense icy ones.
"Thank you," she said and set the brandy on the table before Damon leaned in and took her lips with his again. Bella's eyes fluttered closed as she let him taste her mouth. His hands stayed on her wrists, sending a tingling sensation through her arms. Bella's breath hitched a little bit and Damon moved in closer, bringing one hand up to the back of her neck, as he kept her tied to him. His mouth moved under hers, nudging her lips open, inviting him to taste her tongue. She let a little sigh out before she found the strength to pull away.
"Damon…" she said and brought a hand up and over her face.
Damon was watching her now. He was confused why she kept resisting him. He could tell that she wanted it, could hear her heartbeat race, and could feel the heat in her face as she let him explore her mouth. "Bella, I…" he started and then the door was opening and closing again. Alice and Jasper were back. Alice flitted into the room and looked at Bella.
"Oh Bella! I just love this school. The people are so great. Oh, Rebecca is coming over tonight. She is bringing facial stuff and we're going to do a girl thing!" Alice was talking really fast and was just flitting around the room. It looked like she was glitching in and out of places and to any body else, they would think that they were in the matrix or something.
Jasper crossed over to the liquor cabinet and got himself a drink before settling in a large armchair and crossed a leg over. Bella smiled at Jasper as he watched Alice flit around the room in her usual self.
Damon decided to get up at this point and just let them be. "I'll be…around. If you…need me," he grumbled and left the room.
They watched him leave. Jasper could feel the tension between Bella and could feel her emotions wavering and going all over the place. He reached over and placed a hand on hers to calm her.
"Thank you," Bella whispered and then grabbed her brandy and drank the rest of it down quick. Damon was making her stomach do little flips and she really didn't like it.
Rebecca was so beautiful, Bella thought as Rebecca made it over. She was high strung of course, and even through her bitchy façade, Bella could tell that she cared about making friends. They were set up in the parlor doing facials. Caroline decided to be apart of the party to help take her mind off her troubles. Damon finally came back downstairs to open the door.
"The other super wolves are here," he called out and then there they were. Embry and Seth made it to Bella first. Embry was pulling Bella up in a big hug, making Bella laugh out loud. Seth smiled and then grabbed Bella up next and hugged her tight.
"Seth! You grew!" Bella said with a laugh and was ruffling his hair. Leah stood off awkwardly and just nodded to Bella. Paul stood in the doorway staring. Bella looked over to him and then crossed over and gave him a quick hug. Paul surprisingly gave her a hug back.
"Uh, well. This is a nice place," Paul managed to get out. Rebecca looked at all the perfectly, gorgeously tanned wolfpack and thought that they radiated beauty. Just then Jake and Jared made it to the house. Jake was in first and was tackling Embry in the floor in a headlock. They were laughing loudly. Jared walked in and his eyes landed on Rebecca first and then he was stopping. His breath hitched as the heat flooded him and his whole world seemed to spin, and he gravitated towards her.
"No fucking way," Jake said and was slapping a stunned Jared on the back. Embry and Paul were looking on in shock and Seth and Leah were just grinning stupidly.
Rebecca's gaze wouldn't leave Jared's face. Why did she feel funny? He was looking at her with such adoration and loyalty. Bella laughed and Caroline just looked between Jared and Rebecca. "Is that how my face looked?" Caroline stammered out.
Jake looked to Caroline and smiled a small smile and nodded. "Yeah. It did."
Jared crossed the parlor floor to Rebecca. He looked down at her. She was tiny compared to him, but he reached a hand out to her anyways. "I'm Jared Cameron," he managed, his eyes never leaving hers.
"Rebecca Mikaelson," her voice was soft and wavered a little. She was an original vampire for Christ's sake. Why was she unnerved by this big, sexy, bronzed skin god of a man?
"Great, more imprints. I'm leaving when one of you dopey dogs imprint on me," Damon grumbled and stalked over to the liquor cabinet and grabbed more brandy.
Caroline had a hand to her mouth as she studied the exchange between Rebecca and Jared. Her phone suddenly rang, and it made her jump a little. She answered quickly. It was Tyler letting her know that he was heading over to the boarding house for the big "imprint" talk. She muttered an acknowledgment before hanging up. "Tyler is on his way," she said in a small voice. There were so many shifters here now and then there was Tyler, the lone hybrid among the mix, not counting Klaus and the eleven other hybrids that inhabited the area.
When Tyler got there, he could hear all the voices inside. There were more shifters here now, and he hadn't quite picked out their scents yet, but he knew Jake was inside and so was Caroline. He stalked inside, riling himself up for a fight when he opened the door and ran into a bronzed skin, raven haired girl. He instinctively put a hand on her shoulder to steady her. His eyes connected with her hers.
Leah was staring at Tyler as the heat spread through her instantly and everything that she thought before about other's imprinting went out of her mind as everything about Tyler she wanted. She wanted to be everything that he needed and wanted. She would do anything for him. She blinked at him and then dropped to her knees in front of him. It startled him.
"Uh, I'm sorry, what?" Tyler said as Caroline came to see what was happening and her hands flew to her mouth.
"Oh Tyler…" Caroline said and then Jake was making an appearance and so was Bella.
Damon groaned. "Are you freaking kidding me?"
Seth looked at his sister at kneeling in front of Tyler and smiled really big as he rushed past everyone else and was hugging his sister tightly.
"What the hell?" Tyler was saying, looking from Caroline to Bella, and then to Jake. Then he suddenly realized what had just happened. This shifter just imprinted on him. On him. Leah hadn't said anything to him. He decided to kneel in front of her too, forcing her eyes to meet his again.
"Uh, I'm Tyler Lockwood," he said, his eyes moving to Caroline and she only nodded and gave him a small smile.
Leah looked at him and cleared her throat. "I'm…Leah Clearwater…"