A/N: If you recognize it, it's not mine. Simple as that.

Chapter 10

Perci POV

Three days passed since Bella had run off, each passing day only serving to piss Charlie off more regarding the situation, especially since Bella had missed the funeral, which happened on the second day she was gone. The pack had decided to throw a bonfire as a proper send off for one of the tribal elders, which I had been reluctant to go to, only agreeing when Charlie insisted. It was at the bonfire that I had found out what really happened to cause Harry's heart attack.

He and his daughter Leah had gotten into an argument, and she had become so angry that she had phased right in the middle of the living room of her house. Harry had been so shocked to see her phase that his already weak heart couldn't handle the surprise. Leah's brother Seth had phased after Harry had been pronounced dead, resulting in two very shocked and grieving wolves, one of which blaming herself for the death of her father. As if that hadn't been odd enough, Leah was Sam's ex girlfriend, and Emily's cousin. Paul had explained to me that Sam had been dating Leah when he had phased, and imprinted on Emily when she came down from another reservation to visit, and that Leah held a bitter resentment toward the both of them for it. They had also been brought in on the secret of what I was, and alpha ordered to secrecy.

Surprisingly enough to the rest of the pack, Leah and I had actually bonded over it, especially once she found out that I had asked Nico to make sure her father was taken straight to Elysium. I was now the only member of the pack that was safe from her anger, and had pretty much became her best friend. Seth just found the whole thing cool, and asked to watch me practice with Riptide sometime.

Currently though, I was sitting next to Charlie on the couch, watching a game with him when we both heard the sounds of cars coming to a stop in front of the house. Charlie sprang to his feet at the sound, practically puffed up with righteous anger as he threw open the door, and stormed out. I followed at a more sedate pace, letting Charlie have his fun in shouting at Bella, and her ex-Romeo from the sounds of it. When I got to the door, I saw Charlie arguing with a bronze haired vampire who apparently didn't know what a comb was that was holding Bella like she was a dam doll. (A/N: Hope the pun is appreciated!)

"Hey Charlie, is the one who apparently doesn't know about the existence of combs the one who left Bella catatonic in the middle of the woods?" I asked innocently, enjoying the scandalized looks penny-head got from the rest of his coven.

"Yeah, this is him." He growled, trying once again to separate Bella from her boy-toy. I smirked down at him, letting a little bit of my hidden sadistic side show through the action, earning a very pleasing shiver of fear.

"Hey asshole, I'm half Greek on my father's side, and it's tradition to burn our dead. If you hurt Bella again, I'll go so far as to flush the ashes like the little shit you are, got me?" I asked sweetly, knowing my eyes flashed with power. He nodded so fast he could have been mistaken for a bobble-head, and I relished the terror I saw in his eyes.

"Good, now hand Bella over to Charlie and get gone, before I end up getting a bit match happy anyway." I said, loving the fact that Charlie was just ignoring my threats. I may think Bella was completely stupid and brainless for dating a vampire, but she was still family, and my fatal flaw was loyalty. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on who looked at it, vamp-boy handed Bella over and Charlie immediately turned to take her inside. Once he was out of sight though, I smirked wickedly again before making the gesture to ward off evil, enjoying the way all the vampires present were knocked back against their cars. It usually only worked on Greek monsters, though it had worked on a mortal before. Snickering, I turned and flounced back inside, slamming the door in finality. I headed up the stairs to Bella's room, still snickering slightly, arriving just as Charlie was opening her window a crack.

"Asshole and company are gone." I informed him in a whisper, and received a nod in return.

"Good, let's let her sleep. I'll yell at her some more when she can be awake for it." He said, and I shrugged before leading the way out of her room, and back downstairs. Once we were back on the couch, I noticed Charlie more staring into space than focusing on the game again.

"Alright, get it out before you truly blow up on her later." I said, hitting the 'mute' button on the remote. Charlie gave me a slightly skeptical expression, before seeing my nod and letting out an impressive rant.

"Just what the hell was she thinking running off with Alice Cullen? I found out outside that she went to Italy, Italy Perci! And for what, him? I didn't like that boy the moment I met him, and he's done nothing but prove to me that I shouldn't trust him. So why on earth would Bella run off to Italy for him, especially when he left her broken in the woods for crying out loud! It's like she just forgot everything he did to her, and decided to take him back with open arms! I thought I would have to put her in a mental hospital months ago, and she just goes and pretends that nothing happened the second she sees any of his family? I raised her better than this, hell Renee did too! The Bella we raised was independent as hell and would never let a man walk all over her like this, much less treat her the way he does! We never raised her to be so dependent on a man, and I'm honestly ashamed that she's turned out like that. I don't know what to do anymore, Perci, I really don't." He ranted, looking at me with broken eyes.

I pulled him into a hug, not knowing what to say in response to his worries as a parent. The tight grip he had on me though, truly conveyed the fact that he was at the end of his rope, as he wasn't exactly one for physical affection. When we finally pulled back though, I looked him in the eye, making sure my face was open and kind.

"Why don't you try calling my mom for some advice? I was a trouble kid, not gonna lie, and although I never did anything like this, I think you should try getting some advice from her. I'll call Paul to have him inform Jacob that Bella's back, and get started on lunch while you do that if you'd like." I offered, knowing that my mom would be able to offer up some good advice on what to do, despite the fact that I never put her through what Charlie was dealing with. Still though, she had experience with her child going missing for a time with no word, unfortunately, so she would be able to help him out there. He nodded and stood to go call my mom, and I pulled out the phone I had gotten from Hermes that allowed me to make calls with no monsters detecting me, and dialed Paul.

"Yeah?" He answered shortly, and I allowed myself a small smile at his gruff attitude.

"It's me, Bella's back, but so are the rest of the Cullens, and it looks like they're back to stay." I told him, and heard him give a low curse at the information.

"You didn't try to run them through with Riptide?" He asked, sounding half hopeful, eliciting a giggle from me in response.

"No, there were witnesses. And besides, they're only Greek monsters by technicality, they didn't try to attack me because of my scent." I replied, receiving a sigh in response.

"Damn, it sucks that there were witnesses. I'd love to get rid of the Cullens, but sadly the treaty stands in the way of that. If you had run them through though, it would've been fine." He said.

"Yeah, well I didn't. Bella's currently asleep, and I've got Charlie getting advice on what to do with her now from my mom. Apparently, going to Italy wiped her out, which is mildly surprising since I thought the Volturi would've been in Greece, being Greek and all. I guess they wanted to avoid fighting over who's home city they would go to." I said, shrugging despite him not being able to see me.

"Yeah, Jake told us about the leaders. You really think they'll keep off Bella's ass since she's related to you?" He asked, and I sighed, running a hand through my hair.

"I hope so, but it's no guarantee. They do have one law that's heavily enforced, and that's that no human can know their secret. If a human finds out, it's 'turn them or kill them' to protect the secret of their race. Since the gods are so secretive, it's not a law that was disputed. Now that they know she knows, she's to be turned or killed, Paul. Her relation to me would only buy her some time, not make her exempt like I am." I told him, having brushed up on vampire laws to make sure I knew what was going on. He groaned in reply, and I could hear what sounded like him face-palming.

"Jacob's not gonna like that, and you know it." He said, drawing a groan from me.

"Yeah, tell me about it. But it's out of my hands, only my father would be able to order them not to turn her, and he won't do that since it's just one mortal. If Bella were my sister, maybe he would do that, but she's not, and Triton has told him that I'm not too fond of her." I said, smirking at the snort of amusement that escaped him. I had made no secret that I wasn't too fond of Bella, and the entire pack knew it. I only defended her because she was family, and I was loyal to my family. Until she did something to betray that loyalty, I would defend her. What Bella didn't know was how close she has become to doing just that.

"He'll get over it then. I've gotta go, Perci, I've gotta inform the pack and the elders that the Cullens are back. I love you though." He said, making me smile.

"I love you too. Talk to you later." I said, before hanging up, and walking into the kitchen. I found Charlie deep in conversation with my mom and waved to indicate I wanted him to pass a greeting along to her before getting started on a simple lunch of grilled ham and cheese sandwiches. Charlie had found out very quickly after I moved in with him that I wouldn't touch seafood, so he never asked me to make it. Their conversation finished just as I was setting the plates on the table.

"Your mom says she loves you, and that she and your step-dad miss you." He said, sitting down. I smiled and nodded at the information, idly wondering when I should introduce Paul to my mom and step-dad. It would sure be amusing when they discovered the two had the same name. Though, not as interesting as it had been when Paul finally met my dad.

"What did she say about the Bella situation, any good advice?" I asked, taking a bite of my sandwich.

"Yeah, she agreed that Bella should definitely be grounded until further notice, but since I can't do anything to keep the two apart at school, to put her on house arrest. She's only allowed to leave the house to go to work and school until I say otherwise, and if she wants to see that boy, he has to come here, but he'll be out by no later than 4." He said, and I nodded once again, happy that Charlie would be laying down the law with Bella.

The rest of the day passed by quite smoothly after that, with Charlie happy about the new rules for Bella, and me content to spend some time with him. We had ordered pizza again for dinner, making sure to save some for Bella, who had still not woken up yet. I wondered briefly how little sleep she had gotten on her impromptu trip for her to be this far into Hypnos' clutches. Charlie and I finally gave up on waiting for Bella to wake up, and went to bed around 10, only for me to fall right into a demigod dream involving a large group of people with red eyes. I knew instantly what they belonged to. Vampires.