CHARLIE

It took some groveling, but I was able to convince the D.A. to plea bargain with Mrs. Newton. She dropped the charges against Isabella in return for her charges being dropped. However, Linda Newton and Bella were ordered to undergo anger management classes and Mike Newton, once recuperated, will have community service for his part in all of this. Bella is probably the least angry person I know; however, I would make her do it if it keeps her out of jail. Bella was so relieved, she agreed.

She was now spending more and more time at the Cullens, not that I complained, because it gave me more time to spend with my Rosie.

Carlisle and I also worked out that the treaty is now amended since it was the wolves who broke it by exposing themselves, thus exposing the Cullens true nature. Therefore, when the time comes that I am ready to join my mate as a vampire, along with Isabella, if she so chooses, without retribution to the Cullens.

I had the opportunity to meet the Cullens extended family, The Denali's. The patriarch of the family, Eleazar, used to be apart of the Volturi guard and has a beneficial gift. He is able to identify gifts in vampires and even latent gifts in humans.

It turns out, Bella has a very powerful gift, a shield. Two gifts, actually, which pretty much negates all other vampiric gifts. When activated it even conceals her scent. Unfortunately, she has no control over it as a human, which is why when she was pretty much drugged out from painkillers, she turned Edward into a blood crack addict. He apologized profusely, but it still doesn't stop me from wanting to rip that pencil neck, arrogant, son-of-a-bitch to pieces.

"Chief Swan, your aura shows that you have a gift as well, several actually. But I can't tell what they are as a human. Your aura is unlike anything I've ever come across before," Eleazar stated. Okay, this guy was officially spooky. He was looking at me like I was a science experiment.

His wife, Carmen, was very sweet and kind, much like Esme. One of his 'daughters' was hanging off Dickward like a bad suit; the only word I could come up with for his other two daughters was "Sluts," I said as I faked a sneeze

"Gesundheit," Rose replied then gave me a wink. God! I love this girl! I gave her a chaste kiss on the lips.

Eleazar then pretty much explained vampire gift abilities. Edward could read minds, but for some reason, he couldn't read Bella's and had difficulty reading mine. Alice was a seer and could see the future.

"But I can't see yours or Bella's very clearly," Alice explained.

"So, am I a shield too?" I asked.

"Possibly, but that's not the major thing that sets you apart," Eleazer said as his head cocked from side to side. He looked like one of those little dogs when their master asked them a question, and they're trying to figure out what they are being told. The guy was still creeping me out.

Jasper it was explained, was an empath. While he could read Bella's emotion, he was unable to manipulate them, but he couldn't read or manipulate mine.

"So, what? Are you saying I'm defective in some way?" I inquired.

"Oh, no, no, Charlie. To the contrary. I have a feeling, you and your daughter together may be the most powerful vampires in the world once changed.

"And what about the others?" I inquired.

"Well, Emmett is quite possibly the strongest vampire, aside from Felix in Volterra. His newborn strength never waned. Rosalie has the gift of allure, though I doubt she has ever tried to use it or even realized she has it." Rosalie looked like she was in a bit of shock.

"I—i—is that why?" I knew what she was asking, and so did the gift reader freak. I wanted to snap his neck for bringing that up.

"I'm sorry my dear, but yes it's quite possible," Eleazar apologized. If she could, Rose's face would be streaming tears at that moment; instead, she just sobbed into my chest as I wrapped her in my arms and showed her as much love as possible. I knew at that moment what I needed to do, to keep my mate safe and secure, but, I also had a responsibility to Bella. I had to wait until she was an adult

I had to make sure Rosie was okay before I excused myself for work. Esme, Bella, and Emmett said they would make sure she was okay.

Over the past two weeks, we have had some problems with hikers going missing in the area. I consulted with the tribe to see if these wolves could do any better than my men. It seems Sam Uley, Paul Lahote and now Embry Call are all shapeshifting wolves. Sam said he wanted to give Harry the order to never phase again, after the stunt, he pulled on me, however, he seems to be invaluable in helping train the new shifters. For some reason, more of the young men were coming down with the fever than ever before. The tribe wanted to blame it on the Cullens being in the area. However I dispelled that belief since the originals when the Cullens resided here previously were already shifting, and to their knowledge, there weren't vampires in the area when Billy and Harry initially phased. So, while Harry still has the capability to shift, he is restricted to stay within the La Push boundaries.

When one of my deputies, Waylon Forge didn't turn up for work, I sent a search party to look for him. I knew he was going over to the marina to work on that old boat of his over the weekend. I just hoped the old fool didn't get drunk an fall into the water.

Sam reported back that there was blood found in his boat, and there was the smell of vampires, but not one of the Cullens. I called off all human investigation once that information was obtained.

"Sam, can your guys continue the search?" I asked. "I don't want to expose my guys and they end up killed as well."

"We're on it, Charlie," Sam assured.

A few days later, I was called by Sam to come back to the docks to identify the body. The body floated up to the surface a couple of miles offshore.

Since our little town of Forks was so small, we didn't have an official Medical Examiner. We would usually call one in from P.A. or Sequim. In this case, I asked Dr. Cullen if he would assist me.

I placed Waylon in a body bag, with the help of Sam and Paul, and drove him back to the station in the back seat of my patrol car.

Once everyone had left the station for the night, except for me and the dispatch, I let Dr. Cullen in through the back door.

"I'm pretty sure it's a vampire attack, Charlie," Carlisle stated grimly

"How can you be so sure?" I asked.

"Well, for one, the throat has been ripped out, to mimic an animal attack. Yet there are no other marks to suggest that," Carlisle stated.

"And the other?"

"The body is completely drained of blood," he said as he looked directly in my eyes.

"Carlisle, can you prepare the body and sign off on the death certificate, official cause of death by an animal attack? I'll say I sent him to search for the missing hikers. That way he can have an honors burial in the Line of Duty. It's the least I can do for his family."

"Sure thing, Charlie. Since this is considered my territory, I would be the one held at risk of exposure if the vampires responsible aren't found," Carlisle added.

~~oOo~~

Only a few days later, during a late afternoon thunderstorm, did my life irrevocably changed. Bella was preparing dinner and I had a rare day off and was sitting around drinking beer and watching TV when Rose and Emmett stopped by.

"Sweetie, we came by to see if you and Bella would like to join us in a baseball game?" Rosalie's sweet face smiled at me. She was wearing the cutest little baseball outfit that showed off her gorgeous ta-tas

"Um, sure. Bella you up for it?" I called out to the kitchen.

"Yeah, I guess. But in the middle of a thunderstorm?" Bella asked.

"We kind of have to. You'll see why," Emmett replied with his big dimpled grin. He kissed Bella, then helped her on with her jacket. He then picked her up over his shoulder and ran out to his Jeep with her. Bella was squealing.

He was a big goofy kid, but he made Bella happy. He buckled Bella in the front passenger seat, while I climbed in back with Rosalie and brought her into my arms.

"So, baseball huh? And what do vampires know about baseball,"

"It's the great American pastime, Charlie," Rosie said with a giggle.

I soon saw why we had to take the Jeep. Emmett drove us deep into the forest until we came into a clearing. The entire family was there including Carlisle. The Denali's had gone back to Alaska, with the exception of Tanya, who was still hanging all over Pussward.

"Welcome, Charlie and Bella. Ready to have some fun?" Carlisle exclaimed. The sides were pretty even.

Pussward, Tanya Emmett and Alice were on one team, while Carlisle Jasper Esme and Rosalie were on the other. I was the catcher for both teams because they pretty much assured me that with enhance vampire sight, there would be no strikes. Bella was the ump.

"Call 'em like you see 'em, Bella," Esme called out.

"Esme thinks we cheat," Emmett drawled, for the first time I caught his Tennessee roots.

"Em, babe, I've played video games with you. I know you cheat." Bella said and gave him a wink. He just flashed his dimples at her, and Bella was all goo.

"It's time," Alice called out and there was a big crash of thunder. Alice was pitching with my Rosie up to bat. Alice wound up to pitch and threw the ball. With the loudest crack when the ball connected with Rosie's bat came the next crash of thunder. I watched as the ball was slammed clear across the clearing which was at least two hundred yards wide and Rosie took off like a bat out of hell.

"Geez, no wonder you need the thunder," I said as I watched in amazement. Bella and I watched as Emmett scaled a tree to catch the ball.

"My monkey man," Bella gushed. Then Emmett hurled the ball in my direction. I began to panic until Esme caught it with her bare hands and handed me the ball. My Rose came sliding into home just as I tagged her. We all looked to Bella to call it.

"Out!" Bella yelled. Rosie got up with a growl.

"Nice, Kitty," I soothed, as I held out my hand as a semblance of helping her up and kissed her on the lips.

Next was Carlisle, who pointed out where he was aiming the ball with his bat. With the next clap of thunder, the ball was hit into center field, well off from where he pointed on purpose since Pussward had gone into left field. It was obvious Tanya was there to give Pussward visual stimulation and a nice pair of tits for him to fondle in between plays. Emmett and Edward crashed in midair as the ball hit the ground and Carlisle was able to come in for a home run.

Next up to bat was Jasper. That boy was all power. Edward was going long for it when the game came to a stop as all eyes snapped up and eight sets of feral growls reverberated. It was then I noticed Alice seemed unfocused.

"I'm sorry, I saw them leaving the area until they heard us playing. They made a snap decision to come and investigate." Poor little Alice looked like she wanted to cry.

"We have to run," The pussy boy said.

"NO! Edward, it's too late, we'll just have to protect them," Alice said. "They'll be here before you can get them out of the clearing."

"What's happening?" I asked.

"Please Sweetie, just hang on to Bella and stay quiet," Rosalie hissed.

"There's not much we can do for Charlie, but Bella put your hair down it will help hide your scent," Carlisle said.

"Please, I can smell them across the clearing," the Succuslut said. Rosie took off her outer baseball shirt and hat, put the hat on my head and draped her shirt around my neck.

"Hopefully, they'll only smell me," Rosie said. I kissed her again. I couldn't get enough of kissing her. This time she thrust her tongue into my mouth. She tasted like pure heaven.

Then we heard them before we saw them. Two seconds later, they were in the clearing. The dirtiest, scraggliest beings I've ever laid eyes on. A black guy with dirty dreds. At least he wore shoes. The other two, a redhead woman that wore some sort of animal skin and a t-shirt that said Kiss me I'm Irish, that I recognized as Waylon's. The guy, had a dirty blond ponytail, pulled low on the back of his head and was wearing Waylon's leather jacket. Both of them were barefoot. All three had vibrant red eyes.

The black guy spoke, though I had the feeling he was not the leader. It was the blond. Jasper and Carlisle took point, while Emmett and Rosalie stood directly in front of Bella and me. Edward flanked by Tanya were next while the other women stood protected behind their mates.

"We mean you know harm. We heard your game and thought we could join you. I am Laurent. This is James and Victoria." Laurent said as he held up the unretrieved baseball Edward was going after. I didn't know what was up with that James guy, but I could tell he was up to no good the way he kept eyeing Alice.

"Unfortunately, some of our members were just leaving. We maintain a permanent residence here so we must insist that you leave the area," Carlisle stated calmly.

"We're sorry, we were not aware the area was claimed," Laurent said. I don't know how I know, but he was lying. They were here with a purpose.

"He's lying," I whispered to Rosalie. I then saw the three looked at me and Jasper gave a slight nod of his head in agreement. He, too, detected the lie.

"Maybe you could indulge us in just one game," Laurent said in his thick French accent.

"No, be on your way," Emmett growled. It was then the blond look past Emmett to Bella, just as the wind picked up.

"You brought a snack," James said after the three of them hissed.

"Rose, Tanya get them out of here," Emmett growled as he began cracking his knuckles and neck.

"No, there's no need, we'll be taking our leave," Laurent held out his arm as if to stop the other two and began backing away. He was smart, he knew there was no way to outfight eight against three. The other two were just plain stupid. Rose and Tanya took off towards the Jeep carrying Bella and me on their shoulders, so we got a bird's eye view of the fight. Emmett and Jasper had the blonde, James ripped apart in lightening speed. Alice, Edward and Carlisle were going after the redhead, while Esme gathered wood and started a fire, but Victoria was a slippery little bitch. She obviously had some sort of gift for evasion as just when one of them was about to catch her she would give them the slip. Again, I wasn't sure how I knew that. Tanya was able to throw Bella into the Jeep before the redhead woman caught up with us. I assumed Tanya was faster since Bella was lighter to carry because I already saw how quick my Rosie was. That was it. If I made it through this alive, I was going to insist they change me. I should be protecting her, not the other way around.

"Baby, watch out!" I called as the Redhead had taken to the trees though Alice was right behind her. Victoria flew through the air from the trees and landed on top of us. I then went flying through the air and came to rest against a tree, with a resounding crash of my head. I heard Bella screaming, and I saw the women ripping the redhead apart before everything went black.