Chapter 3
Bella sat at the edge of her bed as a single tear fell.
She was never one to have been overly sentimental, but the idea of leaving the only home she ever knew, and the last place she saw the man she would call her father before he died-
She allowed herself a few moments to reminisce about her childhood, though she didn't know much about it. She was told that she was found close by and brought here to her an older man named Charlie. He used to be a cop, so he could easily protect her.
There wasn't much to know of her mother, other than she had left a note in a language that no one could decipher, no matter to whom Charlie showed it. Little did Charlie know, but when Charlie took his "little beauty" as he called her, to the town's doctor and showed him and the doctor's wife the note that note. It was the reason they knew of the little baby girl and they had been watching her ever since.
The day Charlie died, Bella had run into the forest in tears and didn't know where to turn. She ran until she reached a small lake where a man was fishing. He was young and smiling, whipping the pole around like he was fly fishing. Bella watched as the fly hit the water but there was no disturbance in the water.
She gasped and he turned to her with the same smile and though his appearance had changed, there was still many aspects of the same man who had raised her.
"Hi, Little Beauty," He said, but it was in her head, his mouth didn't move. "You were the best thing that ever happened to me."
She smiled through tears.
"I didn't ever think I was lonely or missing anything. I was content in the life of service I had. I never fell in love or anything to want to start a family, just wanted to protect. I never knew love until I met you. I never knew happiness until I saw you smile. I never knew family until you joined mine. I never believed in God- in the heavens until I saw how special you are and I have spent my entire adult life making it a normal, happy life for you, just in case you never had to find out the truth.
I think I've done my job."
His face faltered a bit, the smile waning, his eyes aging before her and growing wary.
"You'll have a new protector coming."
"Who?" Bella asked in her mind. His smile fell.
"It's not for me to know, no matter how much I want to."
"Why do I need a protector?" She said out loud with a scoff. "I've had you as a father. You've taught me more about self-defense and protection than any class could."
"You're different and so will he be different." He spoke in her head. "All I know is you're not from anywhere I have ever seen before. With me gone, they will come for you. Please, just get away as fast as you can. You never know who they really are until they show you. Don't wait to find out. He will find you and he will be alone. That's all I can say."
The memory faded just like her father did several moments later and she had never felt more alone.
She dived into finding anything she could on the note her mother left and even went to the doctor her father had taken her to all those years back. But she found nothing.
It wasn't until she met Alice did the other world crack open and hint that there was more to this life than what others could see.
It was then that she realized she was truly different and how sometimes people aren't what they seem.
She dove into ancient texts that were given to her by Alice and pictures that she would look at and "just feel" which was a fun game they often played.
Bella learned that her father was human, of course, as was she, really, but they had gifts that everyone could seemingly have if they only tapped into them- knowing how to see, how to read the signs, and the symbols that others seemed to ignore.
Alice had taught her all of it, making her remember and then she was gone.
It was as if she never existed.
Then there was Blitz.
Blitz was nothing more than energy or weathers to unseeing eyes, but a fierce protector. She was often seen as a cloud, a rainbow, or even a thunderous cloud. Bella had seen her as first as lightning, but only once and that was enough.
She had been alone, reading too long in a local bookstore and made the mistake of reading while walking. Bella didn't seem to notice men following her nor did she notice there were four of them coming at her in four directions.
Rain clouds shook with thunderous rage when the one guy grabbed her by her ponytail, pulling her straight to the ground. Another guy instantly kicked her, laughing as Bella recoiled, disoriented and in pain. Then, if she hadn't seen it with her own eyes she wouldn't have believed it, but lightning struck the man who kicked her and she could have sworn it looked like a dragon.
The others ran, of course, perhaps to get help for their friend, she never found out. She ran, forgetting her book in the alley. She ran, the clouds following her the whole way, and no matter how often she looked at the clouds, she could see the same dragon like shape within them.
Bella called her Blitz because she blitzed the shit out of the guy that harmed her.
The next morning, the book appeared in her mailbox with a note in beautiful handwriting saying, "Be safe."
Bella could bet that note had been from Edward, but she couldn't be sure.
At eight o'clock on the dot, Bella was answering the door in a light purple dress that fared well with her brown hair and eyes. She wore simple kitten heels so that she could better keep her balance and her hair in a simple bun since she never could wear her hair in a ponytail after that day in the alley.
"You look beautiful," He said with a small smile.
"You do, too." She said nervously, berating herself. "I mean, less bulky without all the armor."
His grin fell, though still bemused.
"This is my first date." She huffed.
"I couldn't tell." He laughed. "Should we go?"
Bella nodded, looking to the sky, though curiously there didn't seem to be any clouds in sight.
"They know you're safe with me." He whispered. He then touched a finger over the mark he had made earlier that day.
It seemed so long ago.
Shivers covered her body and made her shake. He grinned with amusement on the effect he seemingly had on her.
She waited until he was in and the car door was shut before she asked what had been on her mind since he said it.
"You said mate," She said, except it was as eloquent as it was formed in her mind. "Is this what that means? You marked me as your mate?"
"Yes and no," He sighed, clutching the steering wheel. "I could mark you because you are my mate. There have been some that do try to mark someone to hide them from their other, and that is why I asked to check. When I saw that it wasn't there, I made sure mine was there.
"By biting me."
He grinned wider. "That was a personal thing, yet effective."
"Meaning?"
"I may have been a little hungry."
"Excuse me?"
He full out laughed, thoroughly entertaining himself. "I wanted to suck your blood." He said joyously in his best Dracula voice.
"But you're a dragon, not a vampire!" She yelled.
He shrugged.
"Let's just say that you've been claimed in one way, until I can manage to claim you in other ways." He winked.
Bella gawked.
"That won't be anytime soon." She muttered.
"That's what you think." He retorted. "Wait until my venom starts mixing in with your blood."
There was nothing she could think to say though her mind was racing.
Wait until my venom starts mixing with your blood.
Wait until my venom starts mixing with your blood.
Wait until my venom starts mixing with your blood.