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Chapter 6
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Bella sighed and watched the last of the wolves enter the room. They eyed her before turning questioning eyes to Sam. Pack meetings didn't include imprints- not usually. They'd been waiting for one-
'Show time.' Sam sighed.
Bella watched Paul saunter into the den where the pack meetings were held and freeze. She inwardly smirked when he opened his mouth to say something before thinking better of it, refusing to start an argument at the moment. He closed his mouth before shrugging as if he wasn't affected by her presence at all. She had to give him credit for his will to ignore her; she also had to bury down the hurt that knowledge caused.
"We saw Big Red again." Sam started.
Bella rolled her eyes when the cacophony of growls threatened to drown the room with its anger. She should have found at least some humor in it, but all she found was exasperation. This wasn't the time. She needed to let them know some of what she knew so they'd be prepared for the inevitable fight against Victoria and her army of minions.
"Are you done yet?" Sam wasn't amused either.
More grumbling was heard before the room was plunged into quiet once more. Bella watched them and hid her amusement. The wolves had their eyes trained on their alpha, waiting for him to talk again. She felt sure if he said jump, they'd all ask, 'how high?'
"Bella has spent time with the vampires, we all know she still talks to the pixie on occasion- much as we may not agree. She's gained information we may need, which is why she's here now."
Jacob arched an eyebrow. "Like what?" It wasn't hostile, just curious.
Jacob could never be angry at Bella for anything, and it made her smile. At least she had one loyal friend in the pack.
"Bella?" Sam motioned for her to take a post at the front of the room.
"I've been watching the news… after I saw a missing person's report for a local guy named Riley, it caught my eye. Seattle started getting a lot of disappearance reports. First it was just the homeless community. Then it was low key crooks and drug users- people no one would miss. Last time I checked… the count was up to twenty people. It's not a lot by a city's standards… but to the homicide department- it's the makings of a serial killer."
Jared arched an eyebrow. "What does this have to do with Victoria?"
"I'm getting there… I told Alice and Jasper about it the last time they called. Jasper said it sounds like Maria's coven and the newborn wars."
"Newborns… like babies? Do you know how stupid that sounds?" Quil snorted, grinning when the rest of the pack- bar Paul and Sam- started snickering.
"No.. they're what vampires call someone into their first year of their life as a vampire. They're stronger and faster because of the human blood still in their veins and easier to attract due to their high, insatiable lust for blood. That's what Jasper said at least."
"Well that's just great." Jacob growled. "If she's making an army of the undead, we're kind of screwed."
"Now what do we do?" Quil huffed, his good mood soured by the daunting odds stacking against them.
At the same time, Embry asked, "How do you even know how high the count is?"
"Shut up, all of you!"
Bella sent a shy smile in thanks towards Paul, which he ignored. "They uh… told me how to help you. Alice gave me a few pointers to pass along to you, if you want to hear them."
Sam arched an eyebrow. "Do you think it's sound?"
Bella sighed. Her eyes fell to Jacob who had been nearly killed once- at least in her dream. She looked to Paul who regarded her with a kind of cool aloofness. Finally, she met the steady gaze of the alpha. She didn't want to tell them the truth just yet; they'd never believe it.
"I listened more to Jasper since he fought in the Southern Wars. Maria turned him during the civil war and kept him for a while to 'train' newborns. She commanded him to use his gift to keep them lucid while they were ripped apart… kept them calm when they died.."
Sam grunted. "Talk about sadistic."
"Yes well… he says Victoria might be creating an army and you should be well prepared. Find an open area. Make sure there are no large branches- nothing for them to use.. The old clearing on the Cullen's side of the treaty line works, according to Alice. She said Victoria will come back in a week."
"Well that was generous." Jared snarked. He only rolled his eyes when Sam and Paul shot him looks to hush.
"Jasper also said to remember one thing. Not only are they strong and fast, but if they get their arms around you, you're dead. They'll try to squeeze you to death." She was met with silence as the wolves took in all she'd told them.
"And what if those newborns have gifts… what if they read our minds and know what we know about them?" Embry wondered. "What happens when they use it against us?"
"What if you could hide your thoughts from one another?" She said with some hesitation.
"There's one downfall there, Bella." Jacob sighed.
She canted her head to the side. "What's that?"
Paul had to shake his head. She hung out with wolves far too often these days.
"We can hear each other. Pack mind, remember?" Embry asked.
Bella's grin looked too mischievous. "Not if you pair up and Sam orders the attackers not to think about what they're going to do."
Paul arched an eyebrow and had to admit- to himself- she'd impressed him with the idea. "Our wolves would go back to baser instincts. Defend and subdue the threat all at once. It may work."
Sam sighed. "If it helps… I'll try it." He hated using alpha commands.
"Um.. There's something else.." She said dancing from foot to foot with nervousness.
"What's up, Bella?"
She sighed. "Edward told me once or twice I was his singer. It's a vampires version of a drug. My blood smells sweeter to them and therefore more addicting…"
Paul, Sam and Jacob growled the loudest. She just talked over it.
"If it will help you corral them, it might be easier to fight them. They'd not think too clear if they went berserk because they smelled my blood in the air."
"No! it's too dangerous! What if they followed your scent as you left?!" Paul growled.
His wolf did not like the idea. Not in the slightest.
"What if one of you were to change my scent for a while?" She tried.
Jacob arched an eyebrow. "How, Bells? We're wolves, not magicians."
"If I was carried away by you, I might not smell like me… Jasper said you guys stink…" Bella said.
Paul only felt resigned. He knew how stubborn she could be. And she wanted to keep them safe. They'd become her brothers as well as his. But to his wolf, she was his mate and mates were for life.
"Just a small cut, right?" His wolf whined- even as he asked with a straight face and even tone.
"You wanna come with me?" She hesitated to ask, but Paul's wolf leapt for joy while doing the snoopy dance.
The other wolves watched the exchange in fascination. Jacob blinked in shock when Paul sighed and nodded his agreement. He only shook his head, realizing the wolf must be more in control at the moment.
"How long have they been civil now?" Embry asked.
Jared shrugged. "Two weeks or so… Wanna bet it won't last?"
Quil smirked. "I give it another week. Ten bucks says he'll fuck up again before next week."
"I'm in on that." Embry said with a grin.
Jacob merely placed his ten on the table and neglected to speak at all.
Two weeks.
They'd lasted two weeks so far. There was no doubt in the pack now that things were beyond weird. Bella wasn't used to the 'new' Paul. The pack had seen him civil- knew he could be considerate, knew him to be a loyal and caring person. Bella didn't know that though, and she wasn't used to it at all. She played along however, waiting for him to revert back to the argumentative, obnoxious wolf she first met- and slapped- when he'd tried to dominate her.
They'd formed a tentative and slow-moving friendship so far. Paul going out of his way to help her was a sight to see in of itself, but Bella spending time with him willingly -be it running errands or just reading a book in silence- was something foreign to all of them. It left the younger pack members- all three who had just walked in after finishing patrol- unsettled. They'd come to see Paul and Bella fighting as normal and they weren't used to this new peace between them yet.
They were cautious now, an hour after the pack meeting at Sam's house. They were still gathered- save for Embry and Quil who'd gone to run patrol- for some 'downtime' in the form of a movie; Emily only rolled her eyes at said choice. The Transporter was a favorite among the pack due to the action, explosions and all-around adrenaline rush produced by car chases and gun fire. It still wasn't enough to settle the nerves of the 'pack pups' as they made their way into Sam's living room. They found Paul and Bella sitting together on the couch, nearly touching. There was a relative calm around them that had the wolves staring it awe.
Sam shook his head. Things were good… For now.
Jared left to see his girlfriend Stacey, and brought her back with him after an hour of disappearance. She wasn't his imprint, but the boy in him wanted her; he didn't think he'd imprint. Paul envied his friend- not that he'd ever tell Bella that. He loved that she'd finally started to relax around him.
It wasn't until after everyone settled down and the movie started that Paul noticed Bella getting more and more tense. He nudged her and chuckled when he heard an annoyed huff from the girl. He thought nothing more of it until she came back from getting a drink twenty minutes later. She sat down and mechanically handed Paul a can of coke. He followed her gaze and noticed Stacey glaring daggers in Bella's direction.
An inhuman growl tore itself from Paul's lips. The wolf in him didn't like the looks the girl gave his mate. It was a slight towards her, and he would have none of it. The girls remained oblivious- all but for Bella who felt more than heard the growls coming from Paul and turned her attention towards him.
"You ok?" She wondered.
He merely nodded. "Fine."
She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder. "Ok."
They paused the movie half way through and Bella and Emily stood to gather snacks for everyone. When the girls returned, Bella looked tense yet again, and Paul wondered why. He once more followed her gaze and had to suppress his growls of agitation. Jared keyed into the growls of his friend- more wolf than man at the moment. His eyes widened when he saw Stacey glaring daggers at Bella.
That confused him. Why would she have anything against the girl? "Stacey?"
She turned innocent eyes towards him. "Yes?" She cooed.
"There a reason you're trying to burn Bella alive with your glare?" He whispered, well aware all of the wolves in the room listening- Paul included.
"I'm not glaring. I've just been watching her. It's hard to think she's dating Paul. They're complete opposites of one another." She said just loud enough that even Bella could hear it. "I mean… she doesn't even show him any affection."
It was Seth who rolled his eyes and huffed. "Same could be said for you and Jared." He muttered amongst the snickering of the pack.
Bella sighed and closed her eyes. It was bad enough she had to put up with the dirty looks, but now she knew the girl was jealous of her supposed relationship with Paul. All she had to do was look to see they were friends- tentative ones at that- and nothing more, not that she'd let the other girl near him anyway. Paul was an imprinted wolf- her wolf..
'Down girl. Don't think like that. He's not yours!' She pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger to stem the beginnings of a headache.
Stacey pouted. "We're not that different." She whined finally.
"Alright, alright. Come on guys. The movie's half over, let's finish it." Sam said drawing order to the house again.
Jared sighed and watched his girlfriend mooning over his friend for the rest of the movie. Paul ignored the girl- showing where his loyalties lie -both to Jared and to Bella- all the while scooting closer to his imprint. The message was clear: He was only interested in one person and even if he hadn't imprinted on Bella, he wasn't interested in Stacey.
Everyone but Stacey caught the hurt in Jared's eyes when he realized what happened. She'd given herself away without saying a word and it served to further anger Paul. She'd been using his pack brother to try and get to him, taking it out on Bella because she suffered some delusion that she stood a shot with the tall werewolf. Even Bella felt horrified when she learned what happened.
With the movie now finished and the lights on, Emily made up her mind. "I think it's time for you to go." She said with a polite smile, though her voice held a hard edge.
Stacey blinked. "I don't understand why. Everyone's getting ready to watch another movie and I haven't done anything." She tried again for sweet.
"Yet." Brady huffed. At only 13, she'd made a pass at him when Jared left the room earlier because he looked 18- at the least. It made his skin crawl.
Bella found her voice after the girl turned her glare on him. Her friend got wronged and with no toes to step on in the form of Jared's relationship, Bella growled. The wolves grinned; Bella spent too much time with the pack, not that they had any reason to complain.
"I think it's clear you're not welcome here. You were asked to leave. If I were I you, I'd heed the request." Bella snapped coming to stand next to Emily.
"Or what?! This isn't even your house, pale face!" Stacey sneered, all pretenses of sweetness gone.
Bella smirked. "Trash belongs outside and the boys would be more than happy to show you to the door." She said while inspecting her nails.
"Why, you little bitch!" She squeaked with indignation, not realizing Jared had come back into the room.
Bella arched a brow and looked at Emily. "Little? Yes, I am." She started.
Emily nodded in agreement. "You are that."
"Bitch? No, I'm a human- not a dog." She shrugged. Even Paul and Jared smirked.
"Why you?" Emily asked.
"Why me? Oh, right… because Jared's a friend of mine and you used him without thinking twice of it. Now if I were you, I'd take my cheating ass off the couch you're sitting on and walk out of here before I find one of the boys to throw you out with the garbage." Bella growled.
Stacey looked around the room to see all the malicious stares. "Come on Jared! I don't need this!" She snapped.
Jared sighed. "No… we're done Stacey."
She whirled around and stared at Jared in shock "What?!"
Bella moved into her line of vision. "It's a pleasure to have met you! Do me a favor?"
"What's that?" Stacey huffed.
"Don't let the door hit your ass too hard on the way out, mkay?" She chirped, guiding the girl outside before slamming the door closed in her face. She grinned, bowing to her audience and sat down to a roar of laughter from her friends.
The pack forgot about her as soon as she left and Bella moved to sit next to Jared. Paul's wolf was quiet as he watched her drawing his friend into a comforting hug. To his wolf, she touched Jared as a way to comfort him rather than arouse him. So long as she wasn't in danger of him phasing, Paul let it slide.
The shrill ringing of a phone broke the silence. "Who on earth?" Sam grumbled about people calling his house at ten at night.
Emily rolled her eyes. They widened when she listened to the voice on the other end. "Of course, come over Kim. No… it's just a few of Sam's friends and one of mine. Of course not! We'd love the company. Just come on in sweetheart!"
Sam arched an eyebrow. Emily smiled. "Kim's a girl I volunteer with at the community center. Her dad came home drunk again. Her parents were fighting and it's getting bad. I gave her my number two weeks ago so she could call me anytime she needed a friend. I gave her the address here last time I saw her. She needs someplace safe."
Jacob smirked. "No place safer than here." Even Jared nodded his head at the truth of the statement.
Fifteen minutes later, Emily said hello to Kim and introduced her to everyone. Emily told her that Jared just broke up with his girlfriend and so might not be in the best of moods. When their eyes met, however, the wolves in the room laughed.
So much for not imprinting.
Paul looked at Sam. "You owe me twenty bucks."
"Wolves and their bets." Emily muttered.
Bella could only nod in agreement. She smiled at Jared and Kim before brushing it away. Paul still saw it and he kicked himself again for being an asshole. He made a promise to himself that he'd try harder to get to know his mate and pulled her to his side, smirking when she squeaked in surprise.