AN: This pairing is most likely going to end up Bella/Paul due to popular demand. I just started a similar story for the Bella/Leah suggestions. Again I would love a co-writer for either of these stories. I am terrible at staying on top of updating things. Don't let the recent updates fool you, I'm currently sitting inside typing because of a blizzard outside.
Sam POV
As the council members left the Ateara's home, I started to think on the last two hours. Quil didn't imprint on Bella, so that leaves Paul, Embry, or Jacob. But as I shifted with Jacob when I sent him on wolf watch for Collin, he feels the same way I do towards Bella, I doubt it's him.
I looked up as Old Quil ushered the last council member out the door. I listen to Joy and Bella in the kitchen as Young Quil flipped through the three ring binder about Emily's Diner. Bella wasn't even a member of the pack when she came up with these plans. My wolf was content and happy thinking about how our mate will receive the news of Bella's plans, the pack meeting later suddenly didn't seem so bad.
Old Quil joined me at the table and had me sign the papers in the binder with little red flags that said, "sign here" as I updated him on our leech situation.
"The human girl in Forks is getting close to the copper headed leech," I felt the bile churn in my stomach.
"There is nothing the pack can do until they break the treaty." Old Quil rubbed his hands over his face, looking his old age for a minute. "Did you contact them about the recent murders?"
I signed another page and initialed it as my brows pinched together, "They claim some of their kind ran through here and decided to stick around for a week. The leader says his son talked them into leaving and we shouldn't have anymore problems." The pen snapped in my hand over the table.
Old Quil exhaled and handed me a new pen. "Their 'cousins' visiting when they first moved in set many off our young people spirits into early shifts. Collin Littlesea is just 12. His body is not prepared to phase."
I rubbed my brown, not wanting to tell him that I was worried about Brady Fuller as well. The boys were both friends, practically twins the way they were attached at the him. The way Gabe Fuller took his family to visit the Makah tribe when we first caught a sniff of additional blood suckers only made me worry more, as I haven't told the council of my fear the Brady will shift soon after Collin.
I nodded my goodbye at Young Quil before leaving for my Emily. With any luck, I could get a good half-hour alone together before the meeting. Knowing Bella and Joy were finishing up dishes in the kitchen, I went to the other side of the house and stripped out of my shorts to run home as a wolf and check in with Jared and Seth on patrol. I reminded them of the meeting, and thankfully Jacob assured me he thought Collin would be fine to not need to be watched during the meeting. I didn't even pull on my shorts after shifting before running in the back door to sniff out my mate.
Thirteen minutes later Emily was draped across my chest almost asleep when I told her about the meeting with the council. The news was like dumping cold water on her as she sprang up pushing herself up off my chest letting me get a frontal view. It started the process all over again, as I explained Bella's plans for me and building a company. I explained some of the other plans for the tribe that I gazed at earlier in the evening before we were lost in eachother again. My wolf grinned thinking about Bella's plans for his mate, but I decided to keep it to myself until I wake her up after my patrol with great news on top of our rejoining.
Sixteen minutes later I hear the pack coming into the house. I left my Emily in the bed as slipped on shorts and met them in the kitchen. Embry and Paul briefed us on patrol of no new trails from cold ones. Jacob caught us up and Collin's fever did set in and while it looked like it was cooling down, he was going to phase now, it was just a matter of time. The next time a leech got to close to our border Collin would go wolf.
I handed out next weeks schedule and discussed my concerns with the human girl in Forks who was getting close to the copper headed leech, "Does anyone have any information on her?" The pack shook their heads.
"She comes down to first beach with friends sometimes," Jared spoke up. "Kim might have talked to her before."
"Ask her about it?"
"Sure, sure."
"Good. Next, some of you know about the last minute council meeting. Bella Swan has some plans for the tribe that could really help us out." I spent the next fifteen minutes going over some of Bella's plans, reading off her list of future plans for them as well. Leaving out her plans for Leah going back to school, as Leah wasn't here, and I knew it couldn't happen. Not with the Leech problem.
"And Lastly," I sighed. "Paul, Embry, we believe Bella is an imprint. Seth, Leah, and Quil all looked her in the eyes. Me and Jared are already imprinted. And Jacob, while its possible, " I stopped him with a look, "You feel for her like you feel for Emily and Kim. There is a chance, but don't get your hopes up." Both Paul and Embry were slow to react. Paul looked lost, whereas Embry looked almost afraid.
"You mean the Bella Swan that Jacob has been in love with since he was a toddler, Bella Swan?"
All eyes went to Jacob. "Yeah, that Bella Swan." Jacob looked defeated. I facepalmed not knowing anyone harbored feelings for a girl no one has seen in over five years.
"You could still imprint," Embry shyly suggested to his friend.
"I don't think I will," Jacob commented. "At least not on Bella." The meeting quickly ended as Embry and Paul needed sleep after staying up all day and patrol. I was going to relieve Leah in a minute and Quil and I were going to be staying out for the graveyard shift of patrol. Leah was nice enough to cover the meeting, but with Bella staying at her place, it wasn't right to have her out all night where Bella could notice. Until someone imprinted on her, the wolves were a secret.
Bella POV
I heard a crash come from downstairs and quickly grabbed my things, deposited them on the bed and went see if everyone was alright. In the entryway Charlie was trying to put the fallen fishing gear back into a closet that was already packed to the brim with coats and boots. He froze when he saw me, "Sorry. Did I wake you?" His face blushed like mine does.
I shook my head no as I heard Sue call from the Kitchen to see if Charlie was okay.
"I'm good Sue." He chuckled and shoved the rest of his fishing gear back in the closet before closing it tightly.
"Breakfast is almost ready," Sue popper her head out from the dining room, "Oh, Bella. Good you're up! I wanted to go over your Tribal papers and show you the Council's office and our community center before lunch. Is that okay?" She looked from me to Charlie.
"Yeah." I forced myself to stay still and not fidget. "Do you need any help?"
"I'd love some help," She smiled at me warmly, then gave my dad a weird look. I followed her stair to see Charlie looking pale.
Cocking my head to the side I wondered why he looked terrified of the idea of me helping Sue. Did he not want me to get close to his future wife? "What?" I blurted out. My voice sounded offended. A door opened from upstairs and I saw a worried looking Seth look from me to Charlie. "Well? What is it?" Charlie stood there looking like a fish out of water as I stopped walking closer to Sue.
"Charlie?" Sue tilted her head to the side. "Bella, why don't you check on the french toast." I could already smelling it get signed as I left in a huff to do as she asked. "What is it?"
His voice was a low muffle.
"Charlie, you need to look at this from her point of view. I talk about her becoming a member of the tribe and inviting her to join me in the kitchen and you look like she threatened to bomb our home. What do you think she reads from that?"
"Renee could never cook."
"Your daughter is not your ex-wife. You need to start seeing and talking to her, or you're going to lose her. And Bella is a wonderful cook."
"Wh-What? How do you know?" I heard more opening and closing of doors upstairs.
"She cooked for the council last night as she showed us her amazing plans that could help save this tribe form the direction we're headed." She paused, but I couldn't hear even a muffle from Charlie. I was flipping bacon and putting down more french toast. She had three loaves out, so I'm assuming Sue plans on more people for breakfast. "Your daughter is an brilliant and accomplished young woman, Charles Swan. It's time for you to see and hear her for who she is as a person."
Not ten seconds later Sue joined me in the kitchen and started making setting the table and pouring orange juice. "Would you like some Bella?" She motioned to a spot at the table.
"Does it have pulp?" I bit my bottom lip.
"I have pulp or no pulp, which will it be?"
"No pulp, please." I smiled as she poured my glass.
"Wow, I wish I would have seen you work yesterday," Sue smiled coming up to the island counter and bringing things over to the dining table. "Are you enjoying your summer? Only a month and a half left before it's back to high school."
I turned to grab the last loaf of bread, "Um. Actually, I graduated in spring."
"What?" the plate in Sue's hand was now shattered on the ground. "But. What?"
"Sue/Mom/Mom!"
I looked over to her, "Don't move, you're not wearing shoes. Where is your broom?" She just stared at me as Leah ran in with a broom and started to clean up. I smelt the singe of the toast coming from the griddle and quickly removed the toast and put on new pieces. Seth and Leah looked me over as Sue grabbed Charlie by the arm and dragged him out the back door.
The rest of breakfast was quite awkward. Charlie had to leave before he could have seconds because the station called about a domestic dispute. Seth and Leah were quiet, too quiet. Like so quiet they knew better to ask. I followed their lead until breakfast was over and Seth and Leah started to clean up. When I stood to help Leah gave me a warning look that kept me in my seat.
Once the table was cleared Sue asked me to join her in the living room. She didn't wait for a responds, she just got up and I quickly followed her. She stopped halfway to the couch and turned around and hugged me. I was stiff for a second before I patted her back.
"I love your father Bella, I really do, but I'm not exactly happy with him right now. And I need you to know that me being mad at him, does not mean I'm mad at you. I'm happy you're here and I want to get to know you." She took my hand in hers, patting it slowly as she led me to the couch and pulled me down to sit next to her. "I am not your mother, and I'll never try to be, but I would like to become a member of your family, just as I would like you to become a member of mine. Is that okay?" She looked me in the eyes and paused, waiting for an answer.
I swallowed and nodded.
"Good. Why don't we get to know each other a little bit before we fill out our tribal forms and I show you around. Tell me about yourself. What do you like to do for fun?" Sue smiled at me, trying to be encouraging, but now I was confused.
"Does he not talk about me?" I closed my eyes, my body still facing her. I sounded hurt. I am hurt, she made it sound like he never talked about me.
"Oh Sweetie, that's not what I meant. I want to get to know you from you, not from your dad." I opened my eyes to see Sue still smiling at me.
"Does he though? Talk about me?" I just needed to know.
"Not often. But he loves you very much."
I wanted to ask how she knew he loved me. Does he love me? "I basically lived on the Apache Reservation for most of the last two years." I offered up some information.
"That I knew." She smiled. "Jan called every now and then to talk. Your dad was pretty bummed out when he couldn't come and visit last year."
"Please don't do that." I looked at my hands, not realizing when I pulled mine from hers. "Right now, I'm not sure what kind of relationship I have with Charlie, and if this is going to work, it might be best if we leave him out of it." My voice was calm and steady, but inside I was freaking out.
"Okay. I can try to do that." she rested her hands on my fidgeting ones.
"Maybe this would go better if I shared something, then you shared something?" I suggested, "I'm not great at talking about myself."
"We can do that. Seth is starting sophomore year and Leah graduated last year and I'm kinda freaking out that I might get married for a second time and then both of my babies are going to leave me." Sue's eyes got a little watery.
"I had the same fear, but with my mom. Renee got married to Phil and I felt like a third wheel. Not in a bad way. I'm happy for her. I encouraged her to travel with him. But our relationship was never the same once Phil entered our lives. Our lives were better for it, but it was just different." I smashed my lips together and moved them back and forth. Trying to figure out how much to share was weird. I'm so used to diverting attention back to the other person. Sue was helping, making it easier. She talked about Harry, and I talked about my studies. Sue talked about becoming a nurse and basically running the clinic, and I talked about publishing my book and getting my pictures in magazines. She talked about her children growing up, I talked about Renee's fads and making sure she didn't buy ridiculous things.
"Leatherworking?" Sue chuckled.
"Yup. A $500 start-up kit and three classes, leatherworking," I rolled my eyes.
"You're kidding right?" Sue stopped laughing, but I started laughing.
"I made her drive me back to their office and demanded they gave her, her money back. I mean at least with her antiquing phase I could resell the good things the bought, but she really isn't artistic, and she gets bored so easily." I kept laughing until I realized how serious Sue's face was.
"You sound like her mother," she tilted her head. It wasn't said as judgement.
"I felt like it sometimes."
"Wow. How old were you?" Sue was shaking her head.
"How old was I when?" Now I was confused.
"When you started taking on the parental role." Her voice was a whisper, but I didn't like where this was headed.
"I think we should move on. We can learn more about each other later." I slipped my hands out from under hers and turned my body to the coffee table where papers sat. "Are these the papers?" I didn't wait for answer to pick them up and start reading.
"Uhh, yeah. You start reading. Would you like any tea?"
"Yes please." I smiled at her and continued reading the forms, taking a pen off the coffee table and filling out my forms for Tribal membership.
When Sue came back with the tea we acted like the conversation ended on a happy note. The forms were pretty standard and I had them half done before she came back in. In less than a half hour we were standing in the council's meeting room, my notebook was out and I was taking notes. She showed me a desk and old computer where I would work. She passed some artwork and display cases and took the time to tell me their stories. She asked me about the book I was currently writing as I snapped pictures on our way to the community center. Everything was close enough that we could walk by foot, but had it been raining, we would have needed a car. By the time we were at the community center, looking over the lacking materials we realized it was lunch. We stopped by the Ateara's store on the way back to the house to get some necessities for dinner and a quick something for us to eat.
Joy was their and asked me about my day as Sue started pilling things in a small cart. I showed her some of my pictures and told her about some of the changes I would like to add to my plans for the community center when she put her hand on my arm stopping me. "You are such a passionate young lady. I can see the Ateara in you." She smiled at me.
"Old Quil is the same way when he talked about something he is passionate about." A male's voice sounded from behind me. I spun around to face him, "Hi," he wiped his hand on his shorts before offering me his hand. "I'm Jared." He smirked.
"And I'm Kim," a short girl next to him spoke offering me her hand. I had to wonder if I was staring at him too long or something until Kim laughed at my worried face. "He forgets his manners sometimes. You'd swear he was raised by wolves."
Jared lifted a brow and looked at her in shock.
"Hi, I'm Bella."
"Oh we know." Kim continued. "Jacob Black is going to be livid that I got to see you before he did."
I ran a hand down the side of my face, "Please tell me he doesn't still have a crush on me." My voice always gives me away, the defeat must have been clear on my face.
Both smiled and tried not to laugh. "Well looking at you now," Kim looked me up and down, "I can't imagine any uncalled for male of an appropriate age not being taken with you."
"My God it's like she's drunk." Joy said from behind me and Kim shut right up. She practically took a step behind Jared. "Sorry Kim, I just don't think I've ever heard you talk so much or so boldly." Joy looked like someone brought her Christmas early.
"It looks good on you." I smiled at her, "Being bold."
She smiled back, "I feel like I could tell you anything. Like I can't stop the words from coming out of my mouth."
I shrug, "I'm a good listener." I suggested.
"Will we see you at the bonfire on Friday?" Jared asked.
"Bonfire?" my head tilted to the side.
"We have one after every council meeting, but the kids like to have one every weekend." Sue answered from behind me. "She'll be there. I don't think Leah or Seth will take no for an answer."
Kim and Jared started to grab things off the shelves at the started their shopping and Joy and Sue chatted as Sue checked out. I looked around and realized I didn't feel like a complete outsider.
Sue and I ate lunch but kept the conversation light. After lunch Sue had to go to work at the clinic so I took my phone and camera and started to explore La Push.