*Peeks out from behind computer screen* Hello everyone. Sorry about my lack of updating! I haven't forgotten or given up on this story! I've had a lot of things going on over the past months and finally got around to posting this! Hope you all enjoy! And I will try to get another chapter out as soon as I can!
Also, I would like to give a shout out to Darlene10104 and the 'Guest' who correctly figured out/remembered/commented that the female wolf who died WAS NOT Bella's mom! I said that in the beginning AN remember? Renee was Charlie's imprint yes, but she was a Human/Vampire hybrid. So, congratulations to any of you that caught onto that part! That will be explained eventually!
And I want to thank all of you reviewers! There were a lot and it makes me feel good about what I have written!
Also, I borrowed an idea, I read a story where Bella (I think) referred to herself as "quilted" when trying to say Quileute... I don't remember which story or author that came from, but I used that here! Sort of... you will see when you get down there =]
SO, without futher ado, I don't own anything and on with the story!
PPOV
Bella. Beautiful, just like her. I could get lost in those bright blue eyes and the little smile working its way across her face. My imprint was perfect. Man, I'm glad we're not phased right now, the guys would never let me live my thoughts down! I gave myself a mental "manly" pep talk.
A throat clearing brought me from my thoughts. I looked up at Sam and the others to see them looking at me expectantly. "What?"
"We should get going" Sam said, chuckling at me being so distracted.
"Uh, yeah, right." I said, turning back to my imprint. I stood up and stretched my hand out to my Bella, not wanting to be separate from her just yet. She looked at my hand, then back up to my face with a confused look on her adorable little face.
"Would you like to come with me and get some food? I want you to meet some people." I told her. She smiled up at me and grabbed my hand. I felt my heart relax slightly and I turned and pulled her towards the guys.
She followed along silently beside me, just staring up at me. Her steps faltered some when she saw the guys again. I looked down at her to see her blushing slightly and she hid behind me when we reached the pack. She was clutched onto my leg and peeking her head out around me. I smiled at her and looked up to Sam.
He chuckled and bent down to her level. He waved his hand a little and spoke in a soft voice "Hi Bella. My name is Sam, I'm a friend of Paul. It's nice to meet you."
"Hello, nice to meet you" came her timid reply.
"Bella, can you tell me how old you are?" He questioned.
Her face scrunched up as she thought it over. Finally, she looked up at me as she came to her decision, and I nodded telling her to go ahead. She took a step from behind me, keeping her left arm secure around my leg, and stretched her right arm out and held up the four of her little fingers.
FOUR! She was so young! How is she able to phase at this age! Normally the wolf gene isn't activated unless leeches are around... does that mean those vampires we ran off (well, two of the three) triggered this? No, because she wasn't freaking out, she knew how to change back and that she would be naked, that means this isn't her first phase. So how long has she been able to do this? I was brought back by Sam talking again.
"Well, these are the guys: Embry, Jacob, and Seth. There are others, but they can wait until later. You must be hungry? Would you like to come with us to get food?"
Each of the guys smiled and waved at her as Sam introduced them to her. She nodded her head at his question and looked up at me again. "You're coming too right, Pauly?"
I smiled and picked her up, "That's right, squirt. Me too." While I normally rag on the guys whenever they tease me by calling me Pauly, coming from my imprint and in her musical voice, I didn't mind so much. She could call me whatever she wanted.
She smiled back at me and wrapped her arms around my neck and laid her head on my shoulder. We started off toward Sam and Emily's when a though occurred to me. "Hey Sam, what about her mom?"
"I told Jared and the twins to cycle back during their patrol to bring her back to the Res. I thought it would be best to deal with her when Bella wasn't around." Hmm... good thinking.
Bella lifted her head up and whispered in my ear, "Pauly, that's not my mommy." That certainly caught my attention.
"It's okay, Bella, we can figure all this stuff out after we get you fed. Alright?" Sam explained to her. It must have made her feel better because she nodded and laid her head back down. We continued our trek through the woods.
Eventually, we made it to Sam and Emily's house. The wonderful aroma of breakfast wafted around us... which sent the pack barreling into Emily's kitchen. Sam kissed Emily's cheek before pulling her over to me. Emily set a basket of blueberry muffins on the table for the guys, so they wouldn't dig into her cooking just yet.
"Aw, who is this?" Emily asked when she saw Bella. From the look on her face, I would say her mothering instincts are kicking in. Since she is the mate of the Alpha, and she is also the oldest, Emily has always been sorta motherly to all of the pack. Always concerned if we are feeling okay, got enough rest or food, if the younger ones are doing okay in school, etc. Moreso than Leah, Kim, or Claire. Leah because she is one of the guys, and Claire and Kim because they are very shy and quiet and stick mainly to themselves or their wolves.
"Hey Em, this is Bella. I imprinted on her. Think you could get her cleaned up for me?"
"Sure Paul. No problem. I think I still have some clothes that might fit her from when I had to babysit my cousin." Whew. Now I'm kinda glad that Emily is so motherly, Bella can't go running around in my t-shirt all day after all. Emily looked down at my shy little imprint,"Hi, Bella. My name is Emily. Would you like to come with me to get cleaned up? Then we can get you some breakfast. How does that sound?"
Bella looked up at me, asking permission again, before nodding and saying "Okay. Nice to meet you, Emily." I set her on her feet so she could go with Emily. Emily grabbed her hand and was leading her upstairs, so I turned to the muffins on the table. I heard Bella quietly tell Emily to 'wait a second' before I heard her little feet padding across the floor and I felt her wrap her arms around my legs. I turned around and looked down at her to see her giving me a shy smile and a faint blush spreading across her cheeks. Then she turned around and ran back to Emily, who took her upstairs.
Once they were out of sight, the pack gathered around the table to have a meeting.
"So where did she come from?" Seth was the first to ask.
"We won't know until we ask her." Sam replied.
Jacob piped in quickly too "Well she has to be Quileute, right? I mean, she is a wolf"
"That's what I was thinking, too" said Sam "But then that begs the question as to who her parents are. She told us the female wolf we found her with wasn't her mom. And where was she taking Bella?"
"Maybe they were heading to us. I mean, they had to be Quileute, so they would know about us and that they were safe on the Res. We haven't had any recent leech activity, so those three might have been following them for awhile. We have no way of knowing what other dangers they were in before we came across them." I shared my thoughts with my pack, as I had been thinking about this on the walk back. The thought of my imprint being in such close proximity to those leeches made my heart constrict and had my hand shaking.
"Makes sense.." Sam started before he was interrupted by Jared and the twins coming in.
"What does?" They joined us at the table and each grabbed some muffins.
"We are discussing Bella." Sam informed them "We figured she has to be Quileute because she is a wolf, but that means so are her parents... so who does she belong to?"
"Well, since she has the gene... that means she is related to one of us. Except me, cause she is my imprint." I made the comment that everyone had to be thinking.
"So, with Paul's dad out, that would leave Billy or Charlie Black, Joshua Uley, Quil Ateara, Harry Clearwater, Isaac Fuller, or Patrick Cameron." Emily had brought Bella back out during Sam's comment and I found my eyes glued to her.
Her hair was wet and Emily had put her in a yellow sundress with a blue belt that made her eyes pop out and went well with her tanned skin (even if she is four). She had a bright smile and let go of Emily's hand to come to me. I picked her up and set her on my lap and she turned to look at the additional guys. She smelled fresh and clean, with a hint of something extra, like sunflowers or something fruity. Her curious stares had Sam introducing the newcomers to her.
"Bella, these are the other guys: Jared, Quil, and the twins Brady and Collin." They all waved at her. She waved back and then turned her face back into my chest. So cute. She was so shy! She hugged me and it warmed my wolf knowing that she was so comfortable with us already. I was stroking my hand through her hair when Emily's screaming brought me from my thoughts.
"JACOB BLACK!" That was followed by Jacob darting back into the room with a mischievous grin on his face and Emily following behind with a wooden spoon. She put one of her hands on her hips and waved the spoon at him, "You get to eat last for that little trick! Just try and steal food my pans again!" She huffed and turned back into the kitchen.
That had us all laughing. I noticed that Bella's head perked up when Emily screamed at Jake, but I shrugged it off as her reacting to the screaming. However, she squirmed out of my lap and ran over to Jake and hugged his legs. He looked down at her before looking up confused at the equally as confused members of the pack. No one had said anything, so he knelt down in front of her and asked "Bella, why are you hugging me?"
I smacked him in the head for that one. He could have said it differently! He made it sound like she was unwanted or something!
"Uhh, not that you can't hug me, I was just wondering why?" He rephrased. That's better.
"You're a Black, like me!" She said excitedly. She's related to him? I guess that takes the work off of us trying to figure it out. She gasped and asked "Are you quilty too? My mommy told me if I meet anyone who is quilty that they are safe and will protect me. So, are you?" Bella started jumping up and down in sheer excitement.
"Quilty?" Jake looked up at everyone but no one knew what she meant.
"I think she means Quileute, Jake." Emily said coming back in the room "Right, Bella?"
"That's what I said, Quilty." Bella huffed, folding her arms across her chest. HA! She was mad, which looks adorable on her. Hell, what am I saying, everything she does is adorable. Man! I may as well just hand in my guy card...
"Yes, Bella, we are all Quileute. You said you are a Black like me? What is your dad's name?" Jake asked.
"My daddy's name is Charlie. Is he your daddy too?" Huh, maybe this would be easier than we thought.
"Nope, my dad's name is Billy. But Charlie is my uncle. That makes you my cousin!" Jake said. He smiled hugely and grabbed her up in a hug. My wolf was bristling at another male touching our imprint, but I forced him back down with the thought that they are related.
"Jakey! Jakey! Jakey!" She was giggling and it made my wolf 'aww'. Ha, even he is a puddle of girly emotional goo whenever our imprint does something. That made me feel better.
Sam looked over at me and said "I guess that means we are heading over to Charlie's later." I nodded. Emily had Collin and Brady help bring out the breakfast trays of food she had made and set them on the table. Everyone took their places at the table, Jake brought Bella over to me and she sat on my lap, while Jake sat beside us. I helped Bella fix her plate with scrambled eggs, bacon,, and pancakes heaped with syrup and poured her some apple juice. Once she was taken care of and happily munching away, everyone else started filling their plates.
We all enjoyed our breakfast with the joking and lighthearted banter as was usual with us. Bella's giggling and little kid chatter with Jacob, Sam, and Emily flowed over me as I thought over how exactly we were going to bring this up to Charlie. Seeing as he is the police chief, I sure hope he isn't on duty and has his gun put away... he might shoot me for imprinting on his daughter!
So what did you think? This ending wasn't coming out the way I wanted... hopefully everyone liked it okay? Let me know =]
