Disclaimer: Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer.
I'm kind of in love with this chapter. I must confess, having the Cullens meet back up with Bella was satisfying and entertaining to write. Enjoy!
*** We Meet Again ***
Bella paced back and forth across the cabin's floor, trying to be as stealthy as possible so as not to wake Mat from where he was sleeping in the bed. She had worn the man out, taking every bit of anxiety, stress, and nerves out through sex.
And, more sex.
And then?
Sex again.
He'd need to sleep for a week to try and recuperate, but he never complained. The way they fit together was perfection, what was there to complain about?
Her visual memories of the past were always blurry. She could remember that the members of the Cullen clan were attractive, and the younger ones had caused a stir when they attended high school, but other than that, it was like looking through a dirty window. There weren't any pictures of them to refer to, so Bella would just have to wait till they arrived to put her mental camera lens into focus.
But the emotional fingerprints left on the inside, those would never go away. She could remember the thrill of young romance with a boy who for all intents and purposes, always posed a danger to her, like playing with fire and waiting to see how long you could hold your finger in the flame before the burn set in.
There was the little sister who was annoying as fuck, always rambling on about clothes and her stoic, silent boyfriend, the giant teddy bear of a brother who had always made her laugh and treated her as an equal along with his bitchy blonde, then the good "doctor" and his Suzy Homemaker bride.
Bella wanted to travel back in the past and smack her younger self up side the head for not seeing that such a possessive force in her life with stalker like tendencies was a bad idea, but she'd thought his devotion was ssssooooo romantic. *gag* And she didn't really know what to think about a family that was okay with Edward keeping her as some sort of pet, but all families suffer from some form of dysfunction, and I guess when you've been together for a hundred years, you lose your sense of detecting what was acceptable and what isn't.
Obviously, they hadn't thought too terribly much of Bella, since no one had returned to check on the girl that was supposed to be his eternal soul mate. *gag*
She'd been young and fragile, like a bud that was trying to push through the ground after a long winter. Edward had stomped the potential bloom into the dirt as he exited the forest that afternoon when he informed her he wasn't interested and his family would be leaving her life as if they'd never existed.
When she'd woken up as a vampire, with a murdered father, a mother she could never return and pack of werewolves for companions, she'd been royally pissed. It was like a revisit to the abandonment camp. She was in a sense alone…again.
However, she couldn't deny, when Jacob said the Cullens were coming back, she was nervous. Whether it was seeing the entire family or just facing Edward, she couldn't pinpoint the source of her inability to settle down. And, she didn't know how having an entire group of vampires that shared her same lifestyle would affect her relationship with Mat and the other guys. They were her family, but it would always be a werewolf party with a sidekick vampire.
Would she be tempted to follow the Cullens, to see what it would be like to live the life of a vampire with others of her kind?
Mat shifted in his sleep and the sheet slid down over that little dip above his hip. Bella licked her lips and started stalking in his direction, but stopped herself with a mental reminder that Mat was going to need rest if he wanted to stand by her side when the vampire brigade arrived the following morning.
Huffing, she decided to go for a run, maybe feed a little so she'd be at the top of her game for the return of her past.
Jake and the boys were sitting at the breakfast table, though this time everyone was slow to eat, food being pushed around on plates without much interest.
Very few of the wolves had interacted with the Cullen family when they'd last lived in Forks, most of the pack being children at the time, and those that did only saw the group as the reason their phasing had been triggered.
Bella stood at the window, staring out into the woods, completely still and blocking out the jumble of nerves that were behind her.
"Bella, move," Jake ordered.
Turning, she looked around and frowned, "What?"
"Move, breathe, shift, bite your fingernails, play with your hair, anything. Just don't stand there like you're made out of marble. The pack's already on edge and you're playing creepy statue. It's not helping.
Sighing she shifted from one leg to the other, "Sorry."
"No problem."
Emily, Cali and Mia floated around the group, keeping relatively quiet, honoring the tension that seemed to be a palpable presence in the room.
Checking the time on the wall, Jacob looked around the table, "Carlisle should be calling in a little while. I thought we'd meet at the river edge that runs alongside the border of the reservation. We can converse and stay on our side for the time being. No need to cross lines if we don't need to. Bella, what are your plans?"
"I'd like to stay out of sight for awhile, if that's okay with you. Honestly, Jake, my memories aren't exactly clear, I almost feel like I'm walking into this as blind as you are."
"That's fine. Sam and I will remain in our human form, but I'd prefer the rest of the group in wolf formation. I know Edward can read minds, so it won't matter either way what shape you're in."
"I can try shielding you in, if you'd like to stay under the radar. It may work to your advantage," Bella offered.
"Yeah, yeah, that'd be good. They don't really need to know what they've missed out on the last few years, we just need to know if they have any insight as to what's been going on," Jacob made to get up from the table, "Everyone ready to head out?"
Bella looked at the group of brothers that she'd come to consider her family, a mass of tall, dark warriors with a mixture of unique personalities. She prayed silently that at the end of this day, she'd still think of them the same way.
Bella rested on a thick pine branch, high above the group waiting at the edge of the water. Jacob and Sam were quietly conversing with one another, while the other wolves milled around, the breeze ruffling their fur in the sunlight. Mat was seated at the back of the group, refusing to move from the position that put him closest to Bella. His stance was tightly held, making only the slightest movement. Seth and a few of the other young ones had grown bored from waiting and were rolling around, play fighting with each other.
The picture was very similar to wolves you would find in the wild, if you didn't count the fact that they were about four times the size of your average animal.
Mat, Paul, Quil and Embry were the first to turn their heads towards the direction of an incoming breeze, their hackles standing at attention. Bella dropped her shield around the group and looked the same direction, the sound of swiftly moving feet having reached her ears.
They broke through the line of trees in pairs – Carlisle and Esme first, followed by Jasper and Alice, Emmett and Rosalie and finally Edward.
She examined the flawless features of his face, every one without blemish, the line of his jaw, the artfully tousled hair. Her eyes continued to roam downward to his frame, which was tall but sleek and slim. In a word, he was….pretty…yes, that was it, pretty, like a beautiful European male model. There didn't seem to be an ounce male ruggedness in his body, no, he was like a well drawn piece of artwork, and she didn't feel any bit of attraction to him. Maybe years spent with her wild companions had changed her taste in men, maybe she was somehow dazzled by a hidden vampiric power Edward had used on her, but it didn't have a hold on her any longer.
His eyes were searching the scene in front of him, brows furrowed in concentration. Jasper was the first to speak, his voice quiet and tense, trying to stay out of ear shot of the other side, and yet Bella could hear every word clearly.
"What's wrong?"
"I can't hear them, any of them. I'm looking at what, eight wolves besides Jacob and Sam? And I can't hear one single thought. It's just empty noise," Edward shook his head confused.
Jasper's trained militant eyes were scouring the pack, searching the tree lines, but his gaze stayed close to the ground. He would never suspect they had a vampire of their own in the tree tops, a secret weapon.
"Carlisle," Jacob nodded in the man's direction, "welcome back."
"It's good to see you, Jacob Black. I hadn't realized that you were one of the young men that had gone into transition during our last stay, but I'm not surprised being Ephraim Black's descendant."
"Well, I switched around the time you skipped town," Jacob couldn't keep all of the resentment he felt towards their guests out of his voice.
"Skipped town? Interesting choice of words," Edward seemed intent on trying to pick the pack leader apart through verbal dissection if he couldn't see into their thoughts, "I didn't realize you felt so harshly towards our departure."
Jacob frowned, "More toward the mess you left behind."
Carlisle lifted his hands in question, "I'm sorry, Jacob, I didn't realize you had experienced any trouble after we left. Did something happen? We were never contacted."
Edward immediately interrupted, "Did something happen to Bella?"
The growl that tore from Mat's throat echoed off the rocks of the shoreline, and Jasper immediately zeroed in on his form, running through a list of reasons why this particular one had such a violent reaction to Edward's inquiry.
"There was a nomad vampire that returned to the area after you left," Jacob explained, "He broke into Bella's place, though I'm not certain as to why, and killed Charlie. Bella wasn't home at the time."
Edward seemed a little edgier, frantic with his next questions, "Is Bella okay? Were you able to find her, protect her?"
Jacob crossed his arms and locked eyes with the monster he hated most, the one who was the cause of so much pain he had witnessed in the girl that was his closest companion, "She's no longer alive."
Alice's gasp was lightening quick as she grabbed Jasper's hand in hers, and Rosalie looked as though she felt slightly guilty.
Esme was the first to speak, "I'm so sorry, Jacob. Bella was such a lovely young woman, and it is tragic that her life ended so soon. Please accept our condolences."
Edward searched the ground, pain etched into his features as he processed the news Jacob had shared.
"You broke her, you know," Jacob saw the opening and decided to go for the kill, "When you left, she was shattered, depressed. She faded with each day into a shadow of the warm, smiling, laughing woman we all knew."
Bella waited to see what Edward would offer in way of apology, but he only seemed to adopt an heir of superiority, "I did what I thought was best. It is tragic that the woman I loved died by the very thing I tried to save her from, but she left this world with her soul intact."
Mat continued to snarl, having moved to stand to the left of Jacob, teeth bared in Edward's direction.
Jacob barked out a laugh, "God, do you believe that shit you come up with? She's better off dead with her soul intact? Bella was better than you ever could possibly be, even with an eternity of years ahead of you, and you want to try and absolve yourself of all responsibility with some sort of grandiose thinking that we possibility couldn't understand. Go fuck yourself."
The other wolves had formed a line to the left and right of their leader, and Jasper took stock that their collaborative attention was turned completely towards Edward. They were a fuse of anger and wrath waiting for a flame to spark the explosion.
"Jacob, I know things didn't end well between Bella and Edward, and obviously your pack suffered significant grief from the passing of the Swans, but it was never our intention for such things to happen," Carlisle attempted to placate the group, "Was this some sort of trick, telling us you had a problem, in order to get Edward here, to exact revenge on him?"
Bella chose that moment to reveal herself, leaping off the branch and landing behind the barrier her friends had created. She slowly walked forward, and Mat immediately shifted over to allow her entry to the group's formation, by his side. She placed one hand on his shoulder, taking comfort in the familiar heat she found there.
Emmett started to snicker as he took in her new form, "Holy shit, she's a vampire."
Alice made to move, but Bella pushed her back with her powers. Jasper felt the shift of a physical field brushing up against him and looked over at her, one eyebrow raised. Bella responded with a 'don't fuck with me' smile.
"Bella?" Carlisle asked disbelievingly, "Is that really you?"
"Unfortunately, I can't say I remember you as well as you do me, but I'm sure you can recall how confusing the past can be when you first wake up after the change."
"I thought you said she died," Carlisle turned accusingly on Jacob.
"Technically, I said she was no longer alive. And, she isn't, well not in the sense that she has a heartbeat or bleeds anymore. The devil's in the details."
The other wolves seemed to laugh and snicker at having pulled one over on what was supposed to be the 'world's greatest predators.'
"How are you doing that?" Jasper questioned her.
"The fact that Edward can't hear us, and Alice can't get any closer?" Bella clarified while Jasper nodded.
"How does Edward read minds in the first place? How does Alice see the future? You can't be completely surprised, Jasper. Edward could never read me when I was alive, I can't imagine that would have weakened with my change. If nothing else, it appears vampire venom amped my ability up a few decibels."
Bella mentally pushed back on Jasper, increasing her force slowly so he could feel it before his entire body started to move backwards. He looked down at where his feet were losing their grip on the ground, and looking at Bella she winked and released him. He tipped his head in grudging respect.
"You could have come and found us. You could have come to me," Edward broke into the conversation happening to the right of him.
Bella's head whipped around and anger fueled her words as she broke rank and stalked towards him, "Come and found you? Why? Last time I checked, there was some bullshit nonsense about not wanting me or loving me or whatever else you vomited out that day in the forest before you left me there. Alone. Or, am I suffering some form of selective amnesia that keeps me from remembering what actually happened that day?"
She quickly closed the gap and locked him down with her mind, crushing him in her hold until his knees hit the rocks and he was kneeling in front of her. Carlisle made to move, but Mat and some of the others snarled their disapproval. Esme grabbed his arm to stop Carlisle's movement, while Jasper and the other Cullens looked on with growing interest.
Bella leaned over to bring her eyes in line with Edward's, her voice razor sharp as she continued, "One word, Edward, give me the one word I need to hear after all the ways you fucked me and my life over."
Edward looked into her eyes, searching, mouth gaping, "Bella, I…."
Crack!
Bella's fist met his jaw, knocking him back onto the ground, and the force of the impact had caused fissures in Edward's skin and the group could see the imprint her knuckles had left.
Leaning over his prostrate form, Bella spat out, "Wrong. The word was 'sorry', dickhead."
Standing up, she made her way back to Jacob, "I think I'm done with this little reunion. How about we try and talk a little later?"
"Whatever you say, Bells. Carlisle, I think it best we all take a little breather. We'll be in touch, yeah?"
Esme was bent over Edward, who had yet to get up from the ground where Bella still had him pinned down. As she entered the tree line, Bella released the hold on him and he sprang up into a defensive stance.
Carlisle looked between his son and the girl they'd left behind at his adamant request before replying, "Sure, you can reach us at our home here when you're ready."
Emmett was bent forward, laughing hysterically at the turn of events, "Fuck, that was awesome!"
Rose smacked his arm, but watched Bella's retreating form with a new respect, and even Jasper had to smirk at the feisty girl that had laid their mind-reading brother low.
Coming back to town had suddenly become very interesting.
A/N: Did you have as much fun with that as I did? Edward's such an ass.
