A/N: OK Chapter Eight in record time! Some of this came out as I was trying to finish Chapter Seven so I kind of had a head start... Next 2 weeks R crazy for me. Kids getting out of school, all their end of the year stuff, and then getting them all ready for their summer. I'm hoping to leech some writing time here and there but I'm not sure how it's going to work out. I'll do what I can When I can and update again as soon as I can. Thanks for sticking with me.
~Sonia

Prey For Protection

Chapter Eight:

Charlie

When Leah called me to tell me that that bastard had sent Bella a couple of emails with threatening poems in them, I wanted to up and leave right then. I wanted to take my ass to Phoenix, find the worthless piece of shit, and put an end to his existence. I was irate. She was just starting to relax and enjoy life. What kind of sick bastard was he to taunt and play with her like that?

Fortunately, Leah was quick to remind me of my own mortality and she assured me that she had already called Jake and Sam. In fact, Sam was speaking with the tribal elders at that very moment about stepping up precautions.

"I wanna take her to my house Charlie, maybe have her stay a couple nights or so," she told me. "She's not gonna wanna be alone for a while," she predicted. "Maybe you could stop by and see her when you get off work?"

"Sure, sure. I'll do that Leah. Hey, forward me those emails." I told her and gave her my email address. You keep me posted on what's goin' on you hear me?" I demanded.

"Of course," she answered, and the line went dead.

I called Stan into my office and he agreed to come by the house later and set it up so that Bella wouldn't receive any more email from James. He said he'd have it all automatically forward on to me instead.

Almost an hour later, when I received the emails from Leah, my rage reached a whole new level. It was as if he wanted her to know what he was. By the time I finished reading the third message I decided that I wanted him to come. I knew that this wouldn't end until he found her; and I was tired of waiting. I wanted to reply to his message and extend the invitation personally. Let him get it over with, so I could watch and laugh and eat fuckin' popcorn as a whole pack of wolves tear his ass apart.

As soon as I'd processed all that, the little voice in the back of my head brought up another possibility. What if Billy and those kids were wrong? What if he came and when the shit hit the fan he won? I tried to dismiss the idea; the wolves had numbers on their side, not to mention the element of surprise. Surely James wouldn't be expecting a pack of giant wolves waiting in ambush. But there's always that chance… the voice persisted.

I decided that I was going to relish every moment I had with my daughter. I vowed that I would enjoy her and the time I had with her to the fullest, and not just while we lived under the knowledge that those moments may well be limited. I also decided that I needed to come up with some sort of contingency plan; determined that the only way James would ever get to Bella, would involve him stepping over my corpse first.

I called Renee to let her know about the emails and to find out if she'd heard anything. Of course, she completely freaked out. She and Phil were in the process of packing up to move to Jacksonville, where Phil had been offered a coaching job and a chance to settle down. Once she calmed down a little, she assured me that she hadn't seen or heard anything at all from or about James.

I was glad and more than a little relieved to hear that they were moving. I couldn't really say anything… I mean, truth was, she wasn't mine to worry about any more, not that that would ever stop me. I'd been worried that Renee would find herself caught in the middle of this mess and end up hurt. The further away she could get herself the better in my opinion. We spoke for a few more minutes, I wished her luck in her move and promised to keep her posted on all things Bella before we said goodbye.

Shortly after six o'clock, I climbed into the cruiser and pointed it toward La Push. When I got there Bella was just waking up from a nap. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, and her face was tear-stained. It was hard to believe she was the same girl that had been lighting up my world for the last few weeks. My heart felt like it shattered in my chest at the sight of her.

She tried, unconvincingly, to reassure me that she was fine; and of course she was ticked because I'd called her mother. She fretted over worrying her mother like it was a cardinal sin. She looked as guilty as if she'd sent the damn emails herself and was therefore personally responsible for causing her mother grief. God forbid someone worry about Bella, I thought as I listened to her giving me hell. I found myself having to fight to keep the amused smile off my face. Just like her mom, she was absolutely adorable when she was mad, in spite of the evidence of her tears.

Now, I've known Harry Clearwater and his wife Sue for a good long time. So when they invited me to stay for dinner, there was no way I was turning it down. Sue's culinary expertise combined with Harry's famous fish fry was second only to Bells' home cooked meals. I'd spent my lunch hour on the damn phone and therefore hadn't had anything to eat since a doughnut around nine o'clock that morning; a fact that left me more than grateful for the invitation.

After dinner, Leah led Bells upstairs so she could shower. When she returned, she caught my eye and silently gestured for me to follow her, as she made her way outside.

Jake and I both followed and found her standing on the front porch, talking on her cell phone. She held a finger up for us to wait as she spoke quickly and quietly into the phone. I inhaled deeply, letting the cool, damp air fill my lungs; as the heady scent of pine trees and salt water permeated my nose. I meant for it to be a relaxing breath, but it did nothing to ease the tension or my growing impatience as I stood there waiting. When she finally hung up, she turned, to find Jake and I both waiting and staring at her expectantly.

"OK," she started, sighing deeply. "My job is to keep Bells distracted. We talked about saving up for a school-shopping trip in Seattle and I'm gonna keep us as busy as possible. Sam thinks we can bring her out of her funk and keep her mind off the bloodsucker if we keep her busy and avoid leaving her alone as much as possible. I'll help her talk through it. I'm pretty sure she'll be able to talk to me about it. It'll help her move past it and we just might learn something else about the leech in the process. We're doubling up patrols starting tonight. Please don't take offense, but the rez is probably the safest place for her."

She paused and looked at me, as if expecting me to argue, but I had nothin'. She was right. If a vampire was gonna attack, Bells would be better off in close proximity to as many of those capable of protecting her as possible. I met her eye and gave a reluctant nod of my head.

She laid a hand on my shoulder and looked me square in the eye. "She's probably not gonna be home much chief, but she will be safe. I promise."

"That's what counts," I patted her hand and sighed, "the only damn thing that counts."

Leah then turned her attention to Jake and told him that Sam wanted to see him ASAP. Jake nodded, gave me a quick farewell salute and trotted off toward the woods behind the Clearwater's house, shedding his shirt as he went.

I told Leah about the steps I'd taken to ensure that Bells didn't receive any more emails before we made our way back into the house. As soon as we heard the sound of the water cutting off upstairs, Leah excused herself so that she'd be there when Bella came out of the bathroom.

I chatted with Sue and Harry until Bella came back down the stairs to tell me goodnight; and then I decided to head home. I hugged Bells as tight as I could without fear of hurting her, and pressed my lips against the top of her damp head.

I strolled out to the cruiser, my mind reeling with the possibility of James eventually showing up in Forks. I may very well only be human, I thought, as I climbed into the car, but one thing was for certain; if that fucker was gonna lay a hand on my daughter, he was gonna have to go through me first. I just needed a plan.

I drove to my empty house. Where I spent that evening, as well as the next twenty three consecutive lonely evenings, going through countless of scenarios, all resulting in me setting fire to a certain blond-haired red-eyed bloodsucking prick.

~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~

Bella

"Oh. My. God!" Leah exclaimed, shifting her shopping bags, grabbing onto my wrist, and pulling me towards the gazillionth boutique of the day. "Bells did you see those R&R jeans?"

I tried to plant my feet beneath me in a futile attempt at resistance; but she gave an almost painful yank to my arm, causing me to cry out and allow myself to be dragged along behind her for a couple of steps.

"Damn it Bells! Stop fighting me," she huffed in exasperation. "We've had an awesome day and you know it. Stop acting like we're going in for a root canal," she paused in her rant and appeared to momentarily reconsider her approach. "Come on," she cooed, tugging on my arm, "this will be the last store I promise."

I couldn't hold back the laugh that erupted from deep within my chest. "Yeah," I rolled my eyes, "that might work if I hadn't already heard it three freakin' times Leah." I counted off on my fingers; "our first 'last stop' was that shoe store with the Doc Martens that you couldn't live without. Our second 'last stop' was Victoria's Secret."

"They were having their semi-annual sale Bells!" she interrupted.

I pointedly ignored her. "Then there was the third 'last stop', at Macy's, for that absolutely adorable little denim skirt that you saw in the window. Leah, I love you, you know I do; and yes I've had a lot of fun shopping with you today. But come on! I'm effing-exhausted girl. We have been shopping nonstop for the past ten hours." I pointed to the darkening sky above us, "Look up there, even the sun has called it quits for the day. My feet are killing me. These bags have been restricting the blood flow to my hands and fingers for so long that I'm not sure they'll ever be the same again. I'm done with the shoppin' and ready for the droppin'." I was whining and I knew it, but I couldn't make myself stop. "Please Lee-Lee," I begged, "Have mercy."

Leah chuckled softly, and her expression softened as she shook her head and sighed. "OK. Compromise. See that bench right there?" She pointed to a concrete bench near the boutique's entrance, and I nodded. "You sit down right there, put your bags down and your feet up and wait for me, I'll run in and try on the jeans, nothing but the jeans, pay for them and be right back out. School starts in two weeks and who knows when I'll get back to Seattle; I need those jeans Bells," she pouted.

I nodded and allowed her to lead me to the bench before disappearing through the door. I plopped down and shifted my packages around in an effort to allow the blood to flow into my fingers. I couldn't remember ever buying so much at one time without being coerced into it; and up until the last couple of hours I really had thoroughly enjoyed my day in Seattle with Leah. Shopping with her was nothing like shopping with Renee. If you asked Leah for her opinion, she'd give it to you without hesitation, and without trying to convince you to agree with her. We'd spent hours trying on some of the most ridiculous outfits during our little shopping spree.

Leah and I had spent the past eight weeks saving every dime we could get a hold of. We babysat in La Push and in Forks, we ran errands for people, anything we could do to earn a dollar for this trip to Seattle. Renee and Phil had insisted on adding to my shopping fund when they heard about the truck that Charlie bought for me, and Leah had been saving her pennies forever. So we both ended up with more than enough to equip ourselves for the coming school year.

While on one hand, the summer was speeding by; it was hard to believe that I'd only been living in Forks for nine weeks. Leah and I had quickly become the best of friends; it felt like I'd known her forever. I'd spent almost every day since the bonfire with Leah and Jacob and the rest of the gang from La Push. If not for them, I don't think I would've survived hearing from James; but they were there for me and they kept me from letting it all get to me. I'd never forget how safe I felt as soon as Jacob burst through the front door that day and wrapped me in his arms.

Jacob… He and I had also become unbelievably close in what seemed like a very short period of time. He was like the big brother I'd never had, always there to pick me up and dust me off when I fell down; and I fell down a lot. Leah insisted that Jake's feelings for me were anything but familial; but I always just laughed her off. Jacob, just like Leah, was one of my best friends and that was all.

My peaceful reverie was suddenly interrupted by the lilting sound of an almost musical, though thoroughly disgusted, sounding voice. "Ugh! Ohmygod! What is that retched smell?"

I took a whiff of the air around me and couldn't smell anything out of the ordinary. When I looked up, I couldn't help but gape as I found myself staring at what had to be the most beautiful creature on the planet. Words like Venus and Aphrodite swam around in my head. She looked close to my age; but she looked like art brought to life, standing there with her platinum blond hair framing her perfect, pale face and hanging down her back, past her shoulders in soft cascading waves. Her eyes were the most unusual shade of honey-gold. She was considerably taller than me, probably not much shorter than Leah. She had one perfectly manicured hand resting on her slender hip and the other covering her nose as she glanced around in disgust. She was impeccably dressed in a blood-red sundress with large white polka dots that hung just below her knees. Over her shoulders, she wore a white shrug that looked so soft that it had to be cashmere. She finished it all off with a dangerous looking pair of red stilettos strapped to her feet. I was, without a doubt, in awe of her beauty.

As soon as I realized that I'd been shamelessly staring at the beautiful stranger for god only knew how long, I heard a second voice, every bit as melodious as the first, and my attention was directed to the 'lady in red's' previously unseen companion. The contrast between the two was almost laughable, or it would have been had I not been so awestruck.

"Eww…" The second female chimed in, "I swear it smells… it smells like wet dog." She was every bit as beautiful as her companion, albeit in a very different way. In fact, they appeared to be polar opposites, the varying definitions of the word beautiful brought to life. The second girl was tiny, even shorter than me by a couple of inches, with perfect, dainty features. Her skin was almost unnaturally pale, and her eyes were the same golden color as the first girl's. Her hair was black and cropped very short, she wore it sticking out in every direction from atop her head. She reminded me of a fairy or a pixie, and when she moved, she seemed to dance from point a to point b instead of just walking like everybody else. Like her companion, the small girl was also dressed to the nines in a pleated light yellow mini skirt with a yellow and white long sleeve peasant blouse that hung off her shoulders, leaving her pale skin exposed. She wore an assortment of gold bangles on her wrists that jingled and jangled as she waved her hand in an attempt to fan the unpleasant odor away from her face.

"Rose… Hun… whatever the nasty smell is, it gets even stronger closer to the door. It's foul. I am not going in there. Let's just go meet the boys; they're already at the coffee shop.

"Did you not see those Rock & Republic jeans Alice?" The tall blond practically growled. "Wait out here if you want, or head on down to the coffee shop and I'll meet you guys there in a little bit." With that, she gave a huff, spun on her five-inch heel, plugged her nose and disappeared inside.

I chuckled to myself as I watched her go. When I turned my attention back to the dark-haired pixie, I thought for a second that she was staring at me; but her eyes seemed to glaze over, and for a split second she appeared unsteady on her feet. A moment later, her eyes cleared and I saw her give a slight shake to her head, as though trying to clear it. She looked up and met my gaze then and her lips turned up into one of the warmest, most welcoming smiles I'd ever been graced with. Something very similar to recognition flashed across her face; and without breaking eye contact with me, she dug into her oversized, white purse and retracted a tiny silver cell phone. She pressed a button and lifted the device to her ear. I couldn't help but be intrigued as she held my gaze, keeping that breathtaking smile plastered to her face even as I heard her speak into the phone.

"Hey, Jazzy," she practically purred. Rosalie's holed up in that little boutique on Fifth and University; it might be awhile, why don't you guys meet us here? Uh-huh. OK. Yeah, I'll meet you out front." She closed the phone, still smiling at me and took a tentative step toward me.

At that very moment, Leah came barreling out of the shop, almost colliding with the beautiful little pixie. With less than a foot between the two of them they both froze, staring daggers into each other, nostrils flaring, murder in their eyes and a sound that I swore resembled a growl, ripping from each of them. Leah was trembling violently as she struggled to calm her breath. They both moved as though to circle each other, knees bent as though ready to spring. Once Leah had put herself between the small girl and myself she stopped moving. Her teeth were clenched as she tried to speak to me between ragged breaths.

"Bells," she rasped, "start walking."

The smaller girl shot me a curious glance as Leah spoke. I moved to object, but Leah saw it coming. Without ever taking her eyes off the tiny girl, Leah took several steps backward, moving closer to me until she was able to nudge me with her hip. At which point she glanced at me just long enough to silently tell me that there was no room in this for any argument from me.

"God damn it. Go!" she insisted, "I'll catch up with you before you make it to the cross walk."

I stood and with one last questioning look at the two of them, I turn and obeyed, slowly walking down the sidewalk. True to her word, Leah joined me before I reached the end of the block.

"What was that?" I asked as she fell in stride with me.

"Ancient history. Don't even worry about it." Leah waved it off, making it known that she wouldn't be going into it.

I replayed the scene over and over again in my head, trying to determine what had caused the girls to react to each other the way they had, but their reactions seemed to be both simultaneous and automatic. As far as I could tell they hadn't actually touched one another at all. They must know each other, I realized. Based on their reactions, to say that they didn't like each other might've been the understatement of understatements. They'd appeared to be ready to out right kill one another. And what was up with the looks the sprite had given me? I wondered.

We walked the rest of the way to the parking garage in silence, the tension rolling off Leah in waves. I decided not to press the issue, at least not at the moment. I filed the entire ordeal away in the back of my mind, but knew that I'd be bringing it up again. Maybe Jacob would know something about the dark-haired, pixie-like girl called Alice, I thought.

Leah wordlessly assured me that she was in no mood for conversation by turning the radio on and the volume up loud enough to discourage any attempts on my behalf. She'd borrowed her father's dark green, Ford F150 for the day, claiming a total lack of faith in my old truck surviving the trip.

Too exhausted to offer up anything more than a weary sigh, I let my head fall back against the cool, leather headrest and closed my eyes. In spite of Leah's pounding music, and the discernible tension in the air, I fell asleep before we got back onto the highway.

I woke back up as Leah was putting the truck in park in front of Charlie's house. It was almost midnight and we were both worn out. We left our packages in the truck and dragged ourselves into the house. We leaned on each other for support, as we made our way up the stairs to my room. I kicked my shoes off and flopped onto the bed fully clothed. It seemed to take every ounce of energy I could muster, to push myself up the bed to my pillow.

"Lee-Lee," I whispered, and patted the bed beside me. "No energy. Sleep here," I muttered, trying to stay awake a minute longer. I felt the mattress dip under her weight as she climbed into bed beside me.

I laid my head on her shoulder, hoping she wasn't still angry about the run-in she'd had with the girl in Seattle. "Hey Lee," I whispered.

"Yeah Bells?" she muttered sleepily.

"Remind me not to piss you off," I said quietly, turning onto my other side. "You're a scary bitch when you wanna be."

The bed shook with her laughter and I felt her lean over to give me a quick hug. She muttered something under her breath, but I didn't understand her words. I meant to ask her, but sleep reclaimed me before I found the words.

~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~

When I opened my eyes again the alarm clock said it was 7:13. Charlie had already left for work and other than the sounds of Leah snoring softly beside me the house was silent. I stretched and pushed myself up and out of bed. I grabbed some fresh clothes and my bag of toiletries and set off for the bathroom and the promise of a hot shower.

I emerged from the bathroom feeling refreshed and revived from the previous days overdose of shopping. I traipsed down the stairs and into the kitchen and started a fresh pot of coffee. While it was brewing I grabbed Leah's keys from the table by the door and headed out to the truck to retrieve our packages.

Three trips in and out later, I closed the front door and stared down at the mountain of packages in front of me in total disbelief. Over-indulge much? The little voice in the back of my head asked indignantly. Granted, over half of the bags were Leah's; but I had never indulged myself so much before, and I felt a momentary pang of guilt at having done so.

Truth be told, I'd never had the opportunity to do anything like that before. When it was just Renee and I, money was always tight. I couldn't remember lacking for anything, but there were certainly no luxuries around either. Once Phil moved in things were a little better, but he was struggling himself. It wasn't until their recent move to Jacksonville and Phil's new coaching job that they were able to do anything more than just get by.

By the time Leah got up and stumbled into the bathroom to shower, I'd already separated our bags into piles of hers and mine, cleaned the kitchen and dusted the living room. I was snuggled into the couch with my tattered copy of Wuthering Heights when she came bouncing down the stairs looking like her shower had done her as much good as mine had. She winked at me and walked into the kitchen where she helped herself to a cup of coffee and a granola bar.

We spent the day lazing around in front of the television. We had a mini John Hughes film fest, laughed our butts off, and ate Charlie out of popcorn and ice cream. She ended up hanging out until shortly after Charlie got home from work. I helped her carry her bags back to her dad's truck and hugged her neck before she climbed in after them.

"See ya tomorrow," she reminded me as she started the truck.

"Yup, nine o'clock at Sam and Emily's right?" I verified.

She nodded and pulled away from the curb with a wave and a quick honk of her horn.

I watched her pull off and stared after the truck until it disappeared from view. As I turned to head back inside, so I could get Charlie's dinner on the table, I noticed a very sleek looking canary yellow sports car driving by at a snail's pace. I didn't know anyone in Forks could afford such a snazzy car, and as I turned to watch it slowly drive past it suddenly sped up and disappeared down the road in the same direction Leah had taken off in.

The windows were tinted so dark that I couldn't possibility see inside of it, and it struck me as odd that I even cared to. With one last look in the direction the yellow sports car had disappeared in, I shrugged my shoulders and went back inside the house.

A/N2: Thanks for reading! Now hit the little button and tell me what ya think!