Summary - "Bella is an average girl, struggling with her homosexuality and her life at home. Can the love of not one, but three vampires help show her that she shouldn't be afraid? A/B/R/V".
Author's Notes – Inspired by my dear friend Hollowgo...
Rating - Older Teen to Mature
By: WDG and Lash_Larue
The Garden of Four - Chapter Twenty Six – Plans for War
After a morning spent talking with Bradley and some other lycans, Charlie felt that he had a good idea of what he was facing. One woman's description of the change being "like giving birth to yourself" had nearly had him headed to the woods, but he made it through and his stomach settled enough to enjoy the lycan-style lunch the school prepared.
Charlie took a measure of pride in observing that none of them could hide groceries quite like Bella.
He and Shelia had decided to pay a visit to the Cullens before Charlie went home, and once again Charlie found himself being carried piggyback through the woods at a thrilling speed.
"I'm actually going to miss this after I change," he thought, "it's kinda like being a little kid again."Charlie hadn't felt young since his wife had left him, but now he had Bella in his life, and it looked like he would have her for a very long time. He smiled as Shelia loped effortlessly along.
They found most of the Cullens standing around a fire that was giving off a dense purple smoke. Shelia's lip curled at the smell, she knew what it was.
"Having a weenie roast?" Charlie asked Emmett.
"Nope, just burning a few assholes," Emmett replied. The look on Emmett's face let Charlie know that something serious had happened, and he looked around and saw Bella sitting on the ground holding Alice. Bella was wearing what had to be one of Emmett's t-shirts because it was big even on her. He hurried over to them.
"Bells?" he asked softly.
"We're all okay dad, some vampires showed up that had some objections to the Cullens associating with lycans and humans. One of them had some sort of mental power that caused pain. I convinced them to stop that, with a little help from Emmett and Vic."
Charlie put his cop face on.
"Who's best to fill me in?" he asked, seeing that neither Alice nor Bella was in much of a talking mood.
"Carlisle," Alice answered. "It's good to see you Charlie."
"You too little bit," Charlie told her, and he kissed the top of her head before going back over to the fire.
"I think there are some things I need to know, Carlisle," he said.
"Indeed there are, Charlie my friend. Edward, Emmett, come with us, it's time to explain about the Volturi," Carlisle said grimly.
"Volturi? Shit," remarked Shelia. "Bella needs to hear it too. I'll go tell her. I know all about them that I need too." She left the group.
"Bad, huh?" Charlie inquired.
"Potentially, very," Carlisle agreed. "Frankly I wish that Bella hadn't killed Jane. Aro will scarcely forgive that."
"The hell with Aro," Emmett snorted. "Bella did right, it's about time somebody stood up to those bastards."
"Let's go to the study," Edward suggested, "the books and pictures will help us explain."
"Bella, I'll stay with Alice, you need to go with Charlie and the others to learn about the Volturi," Shelia told her.
"I don't want to leave Alice, can't she come too?"
"It's okay Bella, I'm fine, really. Shelia is good company, and I don't care to hear the story again," Alice encouraged.
"Okay, if you're sure. I guess I'd better go find out how big a hornet's nest I just kicked over."
"Bella my love?" Alice whispered, and Bella looked back at her. "Thank you." Bella nodded and trotted to catch up with Charlie and the others.
"I take it that Bella was a surprise to the Volturi then, yes?" Shelia asked Alice.
"Indeed she was," Alice answered, and a rather scary grin curled her lips off of her teeth. "I've never seen anything like her, there were three of them, and even without Emmett and Victoria they stood no chance at all. Bella bit Jane in two without even slowing down and was on the other one before he even thought of moving. Even I could scarcely follow the motion."
"Bella is something; there is no doubt of it. But the Volturi will come back, sooner or later you know they will, and there will be more than three of them," Shelia said grimly.
"Without Jane they have less of an advantage, but yes, there will be many. They still won't be expecting Bella though." Shelia looked carefully at Alice before speaking.
"You are Bella's ur-mate, aren't you?" she asked.
"Her first? Yes, in every sense of the word," Alice confirmed.
"Are you aware of what that means to a lycan?"
"I think so, at least somewhat, I suspect it is much like it is for us. It's not so much that Bella loves me more than Rose and Vic, but we do have a very intimate connection. That is what let her know that we were in trouble."
"Yes," agreed Shelia, "that and her alpha status, which for some reason even seems to influence vampires to some degree. You must be with her when she changes Charlie, your connection will steady her, give her confidence. I should be there as well I think, if none of you object. Bella is a more powerful alpha than I am, but I have more experience. We must train her as rapidly as possible; a lycan Charlie would be a powerful ally in the coming battle."
"You will stand with us?" Alice asked, surprised.
"I bear some responsibility for this, since I changed Bella. But we would stand with you regardless, I am very tired of the Volturi's persecution of werewolves of all kinds, and I do not want the children in my care to be hunted by them as I have been. Bella will not be the only surprise the Volturi will receive, I think."
Shelia smiled, and her teeth glittered in the sunlight.
Renee heaved a sigh of relief as she entered her house, it was musty from being closed up for so long, but it was home. It had taken a while to get here, she had gotten mugged waiting for the bus and been forced to hitchhike her way to Phoenix, taking menial jobs to pay for food, and occasionally selling her body.
Prison had changed the way she thought about many things; among them was the fact that after one extremely unpleasant encounter with a male trucker she had started seeking out gay bars to peddle her prison-acquired expertise. She seemed to have her best luck with redheads, and she looked long at the tattoo on her neck before stepping gratefully into her shower.
Maybe there was a good artist around Phoenix that could clean it up and embellish it a little, perhaps some flowers…
"So these Volturi are a law unto themselves? There is no kind of vampire council or government that gave them power? They have no mandate?" Charlie asked after listening to the history.
"Vampires are typically solitary," Carlisle told him, 'or with a single mate. A family like ours is most unusual."
"And I see that the Volturi have a history of acting against groups of vampires. I don't think they seek order as much as they do dominion," Charlie said, "Chairman Mao said, "power comes from the barrel of a gun", this bunch seems to have the same idea. But why come so far? They have to know you're no threat to their power, not with the lifestyle you have."
"They want me," Edward said, "and Alice."
"What the hell do you mean, they want Alice?" Bella hissed, a deep growl rose in her throat, and she trembled violently.
"Settle down Bella!" Charlie snapped. "Nobody is going to hurt Alice. Get hold of yourself kid, this is the time to think, not the time to fight."
Bella snarled, but she was used to obeying Charlie. In a moment she realized that he was right, and the trembling stopped.
"Sorry," she said, "thanks dad. I guess I'm still kind of pissed off. Please go ahead, Edward."
"Aro loves different things, different powers, and he doesn't have anything like Alice at all. Aro can read thoughts better than I can, but he has to have physical contact to do it. Jane and her twin Alec are, or rather were, his pride and joy, but he wants more. The loss of Jane will be a sore blow to him."
"Good," Emmett said harshly.
"You're sure they'll come?" Charlie asked further. "There's no evidence of what happened."
"Aro knows that Jane was coming here, when she does not return, he is bound to have questions for us."
"He ain't gonna like the answers," Emmett responded, clearly looking forward to another fight.
"They outnumber us," Edward pointed out.
"How many?" Charlie asked.
"About three dozen who are actually Volturi, but they may be able to conscript others," Carlisle answered.
"That won't be enough," Bella said, breaking her silence, "not if we plan. Alice can give us more warning this time, and there are things other than me they don't know about lurking in the woods around here.
Big things."
"There is that," Edward agreed, "and I'm sure the Quileutes would jump at the chance to actually get to kill some vampires."
"So would Tanya and her folks," Emmett put in, "those Volturi bastards killed their mother while hiding behind "The Law". Hell, lots of vampires hate those fuckers."
"Well they can't hide behind the law here," Charlie said grimly. "I represent the law here. Bella, you need to get to work, I want you to change me as soon as you can. Even if I can't change at will like you can, being stronger and faster and smarter won't hurt a thing."
Bella swallowed audibly, thinking of the bear, but she squared her shoulders, Charlie was right.
"Okay dad, I'll go and talk with Shelia. Carlisle, could you be thinking of ways to make it as safe as possible? Bella asked.
"I'm already working on it," Carlisle promised. "It feels strange to be plotting action against the Volturi, I am so used to accepting their authority. But I see now that they have always been out for themselves above all else."
"Always "the Ring for little Smeagol", Emmett said, nodding in agreement. Everyone stared at him. "What? I can't read a book?"
"Hey babe, feeling better?" Bella asked Alice when she joined her and Shelia.
"Yes, I'm fine now; the last of the pain is gone."
"Great," Bella said, and she kissed her cheek. "I'll be right back; I need to talk with Shelia but I want to check on Rose."
Rosalie, Victoria, and Jasper were watching the last embers of the fire die out. Esme was not in sight, no doubt she was cooking. Bella took Rosalie in her arms and nuzzled her neck.
"I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner, Rosie," she apologized.
"No one could have gotten here faster, or done half so much when they arrived. I swear it was worth the pain to see the look on that little bitch's face when you tore her in half," Rose replied gleefully.
"I have to agree," Jasper said, "it is long past time someone stood up to the Volturi, and with Jane gone they are seriously crippled."
"I missed that, damn it," Victoria swore, "but it sure was fun seeing you shake that bastard like a big rat. Emmett and I got to have a little fun too."
"Carlisle is worried about the Volturi's reaction," Bella told them.
"It merits concern," Jasper admitted, "but it was coming sooner or later in any case. Aro will stop at nothing to get Alice and Edward to join him, even killing the rest of us."
"How would that make Alice and Edward join them? I'd think just the opposite," Bella asked.
"Marcus has a talent that affects bonds among people; combined with the power of Jane's twin brother to render others senseless, they can manipulate loyalties, that's how they maintain the fealty of their followers. That and a steady supply of human prey," Jasper said grimly.
"Then those two need to go first, and I have an idea about that," Bella told him. "I need to prepare to change Charlie, he'll be a big help." Bella kissed Rose and Victoria, and hugged Jasper. "I'm sorry about bringing this down on us all, but I couldn't let her keep hurting you. I need to talk with Shelia, best to get started."
"Don't worry Bella, after seeing what you did to that bear and those Volturi, I'm not all that worried about it," Victoria replied. Bella grinned and returned to Shelia and Alice.
"I need help, Shelia. I turned that bear into mush, I don't see how I can keep from killing Charlie," Bella said plainly.
"It won't be as hard as you think; for one thing he won't be fighting you. For another it will be more like a surgical procedure than a hunt. Alice is going to take you out after smaller things the next couple of days, elk and deer. Take them by the neck and try not to bite through it. An average deer neck is a reasonable approximation of a human thigh. The muscles are stronger, but the vertebrae aren't as tough. The full moon is in four days, and I'll go with you then. I want to see how you respond to me trying to help you control yourself. Just don't get pissed off and kill me if I give you an alpha command, okay?"
"Right. It might be kind of hard on the local deer population though," Bella surmised.
"Some people from the school will trail you and pick up the meat. Alice won't eat it even if she takes the blood, they deer won't be wasted, and we'll try and spread the hunts around," Shelia explained.
"Can't you change except during the moon times? You're an alpha too," Bella questioned.
"The most I have ever managed without the moon is a partial change, about halfway to our intermediate form. And that only when I was really scared or angry," Shelia answered.
"That doesn't make sense to me," Bella said slowly, thinking hard. "I understand that I'm a little different, but the change is just what we are, all of us lycans. It really doesn't seem right that I'm the only one to be able to do it."
"Put like that, I agree," Shelia responded, also deep in thought.
"How do you initiate the change, Bella?" Alice asked her.
"I just sort of call the wolf, and she comes. Like opening a door. The wolf is always waiting to come in. The pure wolf form is actually easier to assume now, like I told Vic, I just have to let it happen."
"I have wondered if it might be sort of like that…" Shelia whispered. "I was telling Charlie that one of the different things about you is that you accept your wolf. Perhaps that's the key. I have spent my life trying to control it, and to teach others how to do the same. Perhaps the better answer is to welcome her, and learn to work with her…"
"That makes sense to me," Alice said.
"Can you help me learn how to do that, Bella?" Shelia asked.
"I can try. I would really like to have another pure wolf alpha when the fight starts."
"Why don't you and Alice come out to the school after you hunt tomorrow? I think we can learn from each other, and some of the others might be interested too."
"Good enough," Bella agreed. "Now I need to go to LaPush. Can I borrow a car? I want to go in human form this time."
"Take any of them, the keys are in them," Alice told her.
"Not much chance of someone stealing one of your cars, huh Alice?" Shelia asked, grinning.
"Not much, no."
"I won't be gone long," Bella promised.
"I'll take Charlie back to his car," Shelia volunteered. "I need to fill Alicia in on what's going on. Where shall I send my people to do the grocery shopping tomorrow?"
"The north shore of Crystal lake. We'll get them as they come to drink in the morning," Alice told her.
"They might be kind of messy," Bella cautioned.
"Lycans don't mind a little mess, just do the best you can, Bella," Shelia advised her.
"Okay," Bella kissed Alice and trotted off to the garage.
"She sure is something special," Shelia said to Alice.
"Indeed. Now give, how good are the chances of her changing Charlie without killing him? Really."
"Fair, at least. Especially with the two of us there, I wouldn't think of allowing her to try it without Carlisle there, though. Even if she takes the leg off, Carlisle might be able to reattach it quickly enough for the lycan healing powers to fix everything. Certainly he could save his life, I think," Shelia explained.
"Yes, Carlisle is a brilliant surgeon, and of course with only us around he can work at his top speed. Do you think Bella will have that much difficulty learning to control her bite, though?"
"It's not just that, with Carlisle on hand a clean bite can be dealt with. The problem will come because the intermediate form is actually more savage than the pure wolf form. The wolf is the true shape of the lycan, the mind is sharper, less subject to blood lust. But the biggest issue is that for lycans, like vampires, humans are a natural prey. Bella has never tasted human blood, certainly not as a lycan, sucking on a paper cut doesn't count. The real risk is that the taste of Charlie's blood will make her lose control completely. That's why you and I need to be there. Your link to her will help calm her, and my alpha status will at least distract her. I minimized the danger of this when talking to Bella about changing Charlie. If she is worried about losing control in that manner it might well cause it to happen." Alice nodded.
"Does Charlie know all this?"
"He does, and he agreed. He would deny it, but he's one of the bravest men I've ever known, and God knows he loves his daughters."
"Daughters?" Alice questioned.
"He thinks of you as his own, Alice."
Alice couldn't cry, but she wanted to.
The sound of Emmett's jeep pulling out broke the mood.
"Let's go and find Charlie," Shelia said softly.
Charlie wasn't hard to find. He was sitting at the dining room table staring in awe at the food that Esme continued to bring to the table.
"Where's Bella?" he asked. "I need help, here."
"Gone to see the Quileutes," Alice told him, "maybe Shelia can give you a hand, though."
"I really need to get going…" Shelia's nose quivered as the smell of the food reached it. "Maybe just a little…"
"Damn," said Emmett to Edward in wonder, "she ain't as big as Bella, but the woman can eat!"
The loud red jeep attracted attention when it entered LaPush, but not as much as Bella did. She cruised slowly past the little shops, and fortunately saw Leah and Taylor coming out of the small general store. She pulled over and hopped out.
"Hi girls," she called to them. Bella was relieved when they smiled and turned to meet her.
"Bella! Haven't seen you since you laid the smack down on us," Leah said good humouredly, "are you here to chew us out again?"
"You wish," Taylor teased, and they both laughed when Bella blushed.
"Not this time, but maybe later," Bella replied, doing a little teasing of her own. "I really need to talk to the pack, can that happen pretty soon?"
"Any time you want, Bella, all you have to do is call us together as alpha and we have to come," Leah told her.
"I know, but I don't want to do that. I'd rather meet in human form so that the pack can decide on its own," Bella explained.
"Huh. Well, I respect that and appreciate it," Taylor said, "and I think the others will too. I'll go back in the store and make a couple calls. There are a few of us out on patrol, they'll be easy to reach, Sam and Jacob will round up the rest. Where do you want to meet?"
"Up to you guys, you know the place better than I do," Bella answered.
"Great, be right back," and Taylor ran lightly back into the store. Bella followed her with her eyes.
"You aren't going to take her from me, are you?" Leah asked softly.
"What? Oh, no! Never, but she's…" Bella blushed again.
"Yeah, she is," Leah agreed as she relaxed. "Say Bella, if you hadn't left Forks when you did, you think you and Taylor would have…"
"Who knows? I think things worked out for the best for all of us, you two are perfect together. That is when you aren't being a jealous bitch, and I have more than I ever dreamed of," Bella smiled to take the edge off of her remark, and Leah laughed.
"We are damn sure three bitches, no doubt about that. You do taste good though," Leah admitted.
"Thanks, there's nothing a girl likes to hear more," Bella responded, laughing herself.
"Fifteen minutes at the fire circle," Taylor announced when she rejoined them.
"Lead the way," Bella told her.
"We need to do the change as soon as possible," Charlie told Carlisle, "I can't help as a human."
"You can't help if you're dead, either," Carlisle pointed out.
"Bella won't kill me," Charlie said confidently, "I know my girl, and I have to trust the love we have for each other. What's your plan?"
"I'll set up an O.R. in the room that we used for Bella's first change, that way I can get right to work stopping the bleeding. I'll have blood on hand if you need any, and likely you will. I also want to prepare you for surgery beforehand, including anesthetizing you. That will minimize the shock, and let me start as soon as Bella bites you," Carlisle explained.
"That seems like chickening out," Charlie protested.
"It's not just for you, but for Bella," Carlisle persuaded, "do you really want her to have to listen to you scream?" Charlie paled.
"No, of course not. You're right Carlisle, I can be brave during my first change, there's no point in making this harder on either of us," Charlie agreed. "How soon can we do it?"
"I'll go with Alice and Bella hunting tomorrow," Edward told him, "for a vampire I am a very neat eater. I can help Bella."
"Tinkerbelle," taunted Emmett, and Esme swatted him.
"I think Shelia should decide, along with you and Bella, of course. It's important not to let any doubt you may feel show in front of Bella, though," Carlisle advised.
"Right," Shelia agreed, "I'll know more after tomorrow, when I hear from Edward and Alice. Frankly, I'd like to do it this moon, even if I can't take Bella out hunting in my lycan form first. Having an alpha present should stabilize things, even if I'm not as strong as she is."
"I'll get things ready here," Carlisle told them, "try not to worry too much, Charlie."
"Never helped a thing," Charlie acknowledged. "Ready to go, Shelia?"
"Have a nice piggyback ride, junior," Emmett wished with a shit-eating grin on his face.
"Like I said, moose, your day is coming," Charlie rejoined.
"We're all here Bella, what's up?" Sam asked.
Bella looked at the assembled pack members, and saw some suspicious glares among the faces.
"How would you guys like to meet some vampires you're allowed to kill?" Bella asked them.
"I'm in," Paul said instantly.
"It will be really dangerous," Bella cautioned, "and I'm asking, I'm not ordering. I'll use my power to force peace between you and my family and friends, but I will not use it to force you to risk your lives."
"Dangerous, huh?" Jacob asked.
"Very," confirmed Bella.
"I'm in too," Jacob said casually.
"I think we're all in, Bella," said Sam, "fill us in."
"There is a large coven of vampires in Italy called the Volturi. I mean large, like three dozen, and they may bring others. Over the last few thousand years – yes, Seth, thousand, they have kind of set themselves up as the ultimate authority over pretty much everything supernatural," Bella explained.
"Not us," snorted Quill.
"Exactly, and not the Cullens or the lycans either. Three of them came earlier today. They claimed to be investigating claims that the Cullens were associating with humans, but they really wanted to acquire Edward Cullen and my mate, Alice." There were many growls at that, for the mate bonding was sacred to the Quileutes. "They found out that I was a lycan, and they punished the Cullens, especially Alice, for that. One of them had a power that can cause paralyzing, crippling pain, in anyone. I felt my family's pain and came back from a hunt to stop them."
"Why didn't the Volturi do it to you?" Sam asked.
"I should have said, 'anybody but me'," Bella amended.
"Sweet," Taylor said, "what did you do?"
"I bit the bitch in two and then shook one of her bodyguards to pieces. Emmett and Victoria took care of the other one. If you guys saw some funny smoke earlier, that was them burning up."
"Fucking awesome!" said Paul admiringly.
"The thing is, the rest of them are bound to come looking, because the little twat I killed was special to them. Make no mistake about it, they are damned dangerous. They are nothing like the wandering vampires you have encountered over the years around here. They are well trained, hand picked, fighters with some special powers. This bunch just didn't expect me, but since they're all dead, neither will the rest of them."
"What about us?" Sam asked.
"They won't expect you either," Bella explained.
"Fuckin' ay," Taylor said with a grin. The sentiment echoed throughout the pack.
"I think you have your answer, Bella," Sam told her.
"Thank you all. I'll set up a meeting so that we can plan together. I want to minimize our casualties as much as possible, but we need to kill every-single-one of them. They crossed the wrong line this time, the line with the big bad wolf on the other side."
The pack laughed and growled in appreciation.
The Quileutes would stand with Bella.
"Okay Bella," Alice whispered, "just take the nearest one as quickly as you can. If you really have to feed try and wait until we can see the results of the first bite, okay?"
"Okay," Bella replied nervously.
"Try and stop short of closing your jaws completely," Edward advised.
"Right."
"Any time, lover," Alice told her.
Bella was on the deer before it could move, Edward and Alice joined her an instant later.
"Crap," muttered Bella as she looked at the severed neck of the deer, "I hardly used any pressure at all. It was like biting a stick of butter, not even as tough as a Snickers bar."
"Don't get discouraged," Edward consoled her, "do you mind if I feed on this one?"
"Sure, go ahead, no point in wasting good blood," Alice answered. Bella had a moment of wonder at how the sight of Edward drinking the deer's blood seemed completely natural to her. When she had first arrived in Forks such a sight would have sent her into a screaming fit.
Life had certainly changed.
"So from this you know that you can't control your bite by trying to control the pressure. Your jaws are simply so powerful that normal flesh and bone offers no resistance. Let's move on and try again…"
"Damn it!" Bella said as she stared down at another headless deer. "Maybe I need a muzzle or something."
"Let's try this then," Edward suggested, "perhaps it's the hunting aspect of it that is causing the trouble. See if you can bite the rear leg without taking it all the way off."
Bella lifted the carcass and gingerly closed her jaws on it. There was a sound of crunching bone, and she stopped quickly.
"Well, it's still mostly attached… kind of," Bella sighed.
"Still, it's progress," Alice encouraged her. "Let's try a couple more. Edward or I will make the kill so you can just work on the biting part."
"Okay."
Several deer later Bella could reliably not remove a leg or bite completely through a neck, but there was no doubt that she left quite a mess. The thought of seeing Charlie's leg looking like that filled her with anguish, and she picked up a rock, intending to throw it through a nearby tree.
She stopped and looked at it closely.
"Let's call it a day," Edward suggested.
"One more," Bella requested.
Alice and Edward watched interestedly as Bella opened her mouth wide and positioned the rock between her teeth before slowly closing her jaws on the deer's neck. There was a loud crunch, but when Bella released the deer there was a very neat set of tooth marks visible.
Edward bent to examine it while Bella spit out chunks of rock.
"You're on to something Bella," he said excitedly, "the spine is a bit crushed, but I think we can use a very hard metal and get even better results. The shape and thickness can be precisely controlled, and the metal won't be as brittle. It was the rock crumbling that left your teeth slip enough to get the bone. This will work, I'm sure of it."
Bella felt a huge wave of relief wash over her.
"I'll do a check on it too, after you've gone home so I can see, Bella," Alice promised. "Now that we have a kind of definite plan I should get a good vision of it."
"It sucks that I mess up your visions when I'm with you."
"I think in time I can get past that," Alice told her, "I sometimes get little flashes when I'm with you now. We'll adapt, we have time."
"I hope so," replied Bella, thinking of the upcoming fight.
All three of their turned sharply at the sound of approaching footsteps.
"I'm from Shelia's school, please don't hurt me," a voice called out.
"Come ahead then," Edward invited, and Bradley stepped up to them.
"Hi, I'm Bradley. Thanks for all the meat. We can hunt for ourselves during the moons, but we'll freeze this for the other times. Hi Bella," he said shyly.
Alice saw that the boy's eyes were riveted to Bella's chest, but she was more amused than angry. Besides, she couldn't blame him.
"Hi," Bella answered, "dad mentioned your name, he said you've been a big help to him. I appreciate that." Bradley beamed.
"Charlie's great! You're lucky to have a dad like him. My folks suck. Wow, you sure talk better than I do in this form. I sound like I have a mouth full of marbles or something."
"Bella knows how to use her tongue," Alice said mischievously, and she put an arm around Bella's waist and watched the boy turn scarlet. Edward turned away to hide his laughter, but Alice just smiled sweetly.
"Behave, Alice," Bella scolded with her mind.
"He had it coming; he's been staring at your breasts ever since he got here."
"Oh. I keep forgetting stuff like that."
"Yeah, he's the best," Bella agreed. "Say hello to Shelia and Alicia for me, and tell them I'll be over tomorrow to talk with them about stuff."
"Yes ma'am," Bradley promised.
"Poor kid," Edward said when they were out of earshot, "it was funny though."
Carlisle was very excited about Bella's idea to control her bite, and after taking some careful measurements he went to his office to study Charlie's xrays and design the device. He and Rose and Emmett could forge it with no trouble, the Cullens were a multi-talented family.
"I need to get back home and clean the house, I've gotten behind on my housework lately," Bella admitted.
"Okay. See you tomorrow?" Alice asked.
"Count on it. I need to talk with Shelia too, and then we need to set up a meeting with the Quileutes and the lycans to make plans." Bella told her.
"Okay. I love you," Alice said, and she kissed Bella goodbye.
"Love you too, and give my love to Rose and Vic."
Bella left for home, and a few minutes later Alice assumed a faraway look as a vision opened in her mind.
End Chapter 26
Next Chapter is Going to have Bella going back to High School, This Time Lauren Will Bite off more then her mouth can handle.