Chapter 25 - Doubt

It was by silent agreement that Jacob and Bella slowed their relationship down. A keen sense of understanding had passed between the couple. Time had done much to change them both. Their current situation was completely different than it had been six years prior and infinitely more complex.

Bella wasn't quite ready to fully give herself to Jacob and he never forced the issue, even though it was all he had ever wanted. In the weeks following their first real date, the couple abstained from sex, though it was never far from either of their minds. It had been too good for it not to be. The simple fact was that neither of them wanted their new relationship to be defined by it. Instead, they took their intimacy to a whole new level.

They talked.

Not just in the same way they had as teenagers. Back then it had been little more than frivolity. It was Jacob trying to get the girl and Bella trying not curl up and die.

Taking a cue from the earliest of the spirit walks that they experienced, they recalled the many nights in which they had stayed up until dawn broke over the horizon, talking over all that had been and all that could be. They shared anything and everything that was in their minds and hearts. From the most serious of subjects to the most trivial details of their day, they held nothing back. It was through this that Jacob and Bella learned to trust.

For the first time since the two had met, they had a fighting chance at making things work between them... and this time the stakes were high... much too high to risk the emotional aspect of their relationship, all for a good roll in the hay.

Though, the pack would have disagreed.

In the chaotic days following the disastrous party at the beach, Jacob had doubled up patrols, desperate to figure out not just what was out there, but why. Danger lurked in the back of his mind like a flashing, red neon sign. There was a constant tension, an ominous warning that hung in the air. It was the kind of feeling people got when they watched a girl run up the stairs in a horror movie instead of running from the house screaming for help.

The alpha began hunting again, causing the pack to wonder if he was slipping back into the role of demanding taskmaster, doing away with the blessed reprieve of easy camaraderie they'd been granted for the past several days.

Paul was working double shifts at the station and since the suicide, the state police had come to call. That meant they were short one wolf. Everyone felt the absence deep in their bones whenever they fell into bed exhausted. There was also a general sense of discontent- mainly among the younger wolves- that Leah was exempt from all such activity, having been absent from the pack life for so long. She filled in where she could, but things had changed over the years and Jacob was not dependent on her for these duties any longer. Instead, he deemed her main priority to act as an extra guard to Bella when the girls were at work.

Further complicating matters was the clear animosity that Collin and Brady had shown at the bonfire. That night, Jacob had too many other things on his mind to lay out a punishment for the two boys. If they thought that perhaps all had been forgiven, or that no further penalty aside from patrolling Charlie's house would be issued, they were wrong.

Dead wrong.

A week later, Jacob called Embry to his home with a small favor in mind... retribution. The second the two phased, a jolt of fear raced through the collective mind of the pack. Before the unsuspecting boys could blink, they were flat on their backs, the thick claws of the two older wolves sinking deep through fur and flesh, nail scratching against bone.

Jacob's wrath might not have been a surprise, but the fact that Embry Call was willingly ready to skin them alive made both pause with fright. Brother turning against brother was a crime against nature in their world and the grey wolf who hovered above them- his black muzzle curled over razor sharp canines- could be the deadliest of them all.

"You crossed a line," he growled, twisting his claws deeper through thick muscle, tearing its fibers apart painstakingly slow. "It's time to pay the price."

"She's not pack! Not even Quileute!" Collin cried out in vain, trying to wiggle out from beneath the older, larger wolf's monstrous weight. Embry leaned down, snarling and snapping his massive jaws close the young wolf's neck. The tenor of his thoughts laden with exquisite menace, even as the hunger for blood dripped from his pointed teeth. "Bella Swan is pack. She has always been pack. Long before you two little fuckers phased she stood with us. You will honor her."

"But... but..." Brady searched for something, anything that he could say to save their asses from a well-deserved beating, but came up short when their leader looked at him with disgust.

"You insulted your Alpha," Embry stated, tallying their crimes for everyone to hear and heed as warning. There would be no second chances. "You demeaned a man who was practically raised as brother to the Chief of your tribe. You embarrassed and humiliated the daughter of this man, all because you couldn't bring that cheap piece of tail to our little party."

Jacob snarled wildly when the naked images of Lauren Mallory pounded through their brains. He was sick and tired of the woman playing the part of pack whore to the younger pups. It ended here and now or the result would be blood ribboned strips of flesh. The power of the first wolf rose fiercely, culminating into the right to take and demand from those who stood beneath him. "Bella Swan is my mate. You will respect her. You will obey. You will never go near that slut from Forks again. You will OBEY." The double timbre of his thoughts echoed off of the trees like a gunshot, stirring dry leaves to float on the breeze.

"What has she ever done for us except bring trouble? She's not even your imprint!" Collin shouted, thrashing hard, working against the pain. The resentment and jealousy inside of him on display, laid bare for all to see

A surge of anger so violent that it stained the color of his vision red, washed over Embry Call. The urge to protect Isabella Swan bubbled up inside of him like a raging river ready to surge over its swollen banks. "You don't know her," he spat, pressing down harder on the boy's chest, blind and deaf to the bones crushing beneath him through the haze of fury overtaking him.

That was the point. The heart of the matter and the sole problem. They did not know her. Jacob released the boy beneath his paw, leaving him gasping for air and scrambling to the side before the alpha could tear into him again. Rising to his full height, the double weight of a command issued from deep inside the warrior, demanding fealty from those who would seek to defy him. "You will follow her until further notice. You will stick to her like glue. When you're awake, you will patrol the Swan house. You will pay attention to every detail. When she leaves, you follow. You will pay attention and to hang on every word she says and everything she does and report back to Embry every day. Make no mistake about it, Bella is mine."

"For how long?" they cried, indignant that they should be inflicted with such a punishment and already calculating how they might get around the order in order to seek out a booty call from another willing body in Forks.

"As long as it takes," sneered Embry.

"Know this..." Jacob warned, "if any harm comes to Bella or Charlie under your watch, you will pay the price with your lives," leaving no doubt whatsoever that it would be by his hand, and hell would follow with him.

Paul, who had been out stretching his legs watched the scene unfold with mild concern until Jacob whirled around, fixing his black eyes on him with an equally murderous rage. The beta cowered beneath his stare, knowing that he too would have to answer for his transgressions. Jacob shot through the forest like a thunderbolt, bulldozing anything that was in his way, silently commanding that he should follow.

The echoing sound of snapping twigs beneath his feet sounded like bone cracking. Emerging through the towering sitka which bordered Jacob's land, Paul paused only momentarily, pulling on his pants slowly in an effort to buy a few more precious seconds to gather his thoughts. He would have to be steady, cautious and penitent, not allowing his ire to get the better of him if he wanted this to end without bloodshed. That much he owed his wife, knowing there would be no sympathy from her if he came home minus a pound of flesh.

The alpha had stormed into his workshop and when Paul entered, a sharp piece of cedar flew past his head to crash into the wall behind him, splintering into a thousand pieces on impact. The move only served to enrage, tamping down whatever resolve he had previously mustered to deal with the issue calmly.

"Jesus! Fuck, Black! Are you trying to kill me? You need to back the fuck off and simmer down!"

This incensed wolf and man to the point of murder. Paul swore he could see flames of heat rise from Jacob's back in shimmering waves. When he turned around- both breathing and clutching the workbench so hard that the marks of his fingertips would be permanently indented into the hardwood- there was a look of raw, predatory determination set in his eyes.

"You're a real son of a bitch, you know that, Lahote? You're my beta and even though I know you'll protect her, I need to know what the score is." Paul shrank slightly as Jacob advanced on him, the callousness of his tone striking fear into his heart. "So you're gonna tell me right now what your fucking problem with Bella is." Crossing his bulging arms over his chest, Jacob shot him an accusatory look as though a light bulb had gone on over his head. "Is this because I stopped her from sleeping with you?" he demanded. "Because, call me crazy, but I thought you actually wanted her to come back here. Then, when she finally does you treat her like the dickhead who got the big, brush off. Is that it? You didn't get laid and you're holding a grudge?"

Paul took a deep breath, never having considered that night from long ago would come into play. "It's not what you think," he stated, knowing there was probably going to be a sound ass-kicking in his very near future after the confession he was now bound to give. Years of hiding the timing of whatever freaky wolf voodoo gave him Rachel and now it was all for nothing. Hell, he thought, I'll be lucky if I have a nutsack left after tonight.

"Then you better tell me before I rip you to shreds and carry the pieces of your hide back for my sister to bury."

That was the breaking point. Threatening any harm, physical or emotional to an imprint was tantamount to a death sentence in the pack. Jacob was pushing it and Paul was livid. "Dude, I could give a shit less that your pussywhipped teenage ass got laid that night and I didn't. Fuck, I don't think I woulda been able to get it up anyway. I'd fucking imprinted on Rach three hours before, got drunk off my ass and decided to wet my dick in the first piece of ass I saw. Your precious Bella was hammered and all too willing to crawl into my bed."

Fire burned in Jacob's eyes. Spine tremoring, the edges of his outline began to blur. He could feel the ripple of muscle and tissue lengthening beneath his skin, the bones of his body beginning to crack and transform. Desperately, painfully, he held onto whatever bit of control he had left over the wolf.

"I'm not proud of it," Paul defended, "but what the hell man? You know I never wanted that shit. Neither did you," he reminded him, hoping to ease the ruthless ire threatening to kill them both.

Jacob's nostrils flared. It was the second time in fifteen minutes that the imprinting issue had been brought up. "Are you saying you don't want my sister? Are you calling Bella... MY BELLA a cheap piece of ass or a whore?"

"Hell no!" shouted Paul. "Christ, don't put words in my mouth. I love Rachel. She's hard as nails, doesn't put up with my crap and she's a wildcat in bed."

"Then what the fuck is your problem?"

Paul's black eyes filled with rage. Gone was the level-headed cop and hard-working husband he'd become. Anger seethed from his pores. The true measure of resentment he felt for many years surged forth in an eruption of fire. "Bella Swan left here without thinking of anybody but herself, turning you into a goddamn vamp serial killer. Every fucking thought in your head is about destruction and we've all had to live with it!" Paul's words were full of rancor, forcing the truth of the situation on his unwilling alpha. "She abandoned all of us. Turned her back on us all. Until I know she's gonna stay, I'm hedging my bets."

And that's what it was. Abandonment. Until nearly a decade ago, Paul Lahote never had anything steady in his young life. Then Bella Swan blew into their world with all the force of a hurricane, turning it upside down and in the process, unwittingly provided him with a family. Oddly enough he had respected the little vamp girl. When Bella left town, a key piece of that world was destroyed by heartbreak and despair. He resented her for that and feared the consequences if she did it again.

The muscles of Jacob's jaw tightened as he grit out the words between his teeth. "She's not going anywhere, Paul," he reiterated, as if trying to convince not just Paul, but himself as well.

"Yeah? Has she said that to you?" he sneered. "What if this stupid wanna help the poor injuns business venture goes belly-up in the sun? Then what, huh? She gonna stick around or pack her bags for Seattle again?" Paul jerked his head cockily, refusing to admit defeat or back down. "Because from where I'm sitting, there's no guarantee. If that happens, you're gonna go off the deep end and this time there's no coming back. You're in to her hook, line and sinker. When you get that figured out, let me know."

"I'm not telling you again." Knuckles cracking, Jacob's hands balled into fists at his sides. Bella. Is. Not. Leaving."

"Yeah, she's gotta prove it and not just to me, but all of us." Paul waved his arm in the air, toward the direction of the forest. "Until then the two little dipshits out there are right. She's just another white girl being nice to the poor Indians."

Jacob said nothing to this, masking the poorly concealed uncertainty brought to light with his anger. Paul did not stop. Now that he was wound up, he would get it out. Lay all of his cards on the table and beg Rachel to lick his wounds later.

"While we're at it, you fucked up," he accused. "You brought this shit on yourself. You could've gotten her back here years ago or at least talked to her, man. I know for a fact that you were nothing but a stubborn shit who wouldn't even listen to his own father when he tried to warn you. So, get your crap together and quit acting like a world class douchebag."

The words stung Jacob's pride, but not enough to hand out forgiveness. Nobody in this world knew the secrets of Bella's heart better than he. A problem that would have to be remedied on some level in order for the pack to regain her trust. He and his beta could not be divided on this. Bella Swan had done what she had to and now Jacob would do what he had to. "You will follow her," he ordered. "You will keep those two shits in line. She's not going anywhere, Lahote. When you figure that out, you can stop."

Over the next few weeks, Bella had no clue that three oversize dogs with a raging testosterone problem were following her around like meek little puppies. They tailed her into Port Angeles, to the grocery store, slept beneath her window at Charlie's and on the nights she stayed in the city, they stationed themselves around her apartment like faithful watchdogs.

One day, Paul showed up in Jacob's workshop, picking up the pieces of lumber that set aside for construction on the furniture order Bella received from the East Coast. Without a word, he looked over the plans Jacob laid out and began the time honored task of carving and sanding the wood.

The alpha never asked what provoked this sudden, but welcome turn. Paul was still not necessarily going out of his way to talk to Bella, but he wasn't avoiding her either. Nor was he thinking about her with any animosity. Perhaps it was the few random acts of kindness he witnessed while keeping an eye on her. There was the day she cashed her weekly paycheck at the bank, then while nobody was looking, dropped the wad of bills into the collection bucket for the needy reservation children. Unbeknownst to her, Charlie did the same thing two days later. The local paper printed a story on the not one, but two generous anonymous donations from residents of Forks.

Then again, it could have been one of the long treks to the other local reservations that changed his mind. Visits where she quietly dropped off a trunkful of groceries at the food bank after they had already turned down her request. Or perhaps it was just that Paul was sick of sleeping on the couch and not getting laid. Whatever the case may be, Jacob didn't know and didn't care. He could only hope the other two punks on his shit list came to the same conclusion. It was all he could do to restrain Embry from kicking their asses until kingdom come on a daily basis. The pups were determined to get laid in their off hours and Embry swore he'd plaster their faces on STD flyers all across the tri-county area if they didn't quit.

While all this was going on, Bella also worked hard on the relationships that mattered in her life. On top of that list was her father. Sure, Charlie had been a complete pain in the ass to take care of. His behavior towards doctors and medicine was no better than that of a toddler. Yet, he was her father. Hers. The one person she knew that in times of trouble would be her steady rock. Throughout the years he had never wavered in his love or devotion to her in times of crisis.

The shooting had only served to bring to light that her relationship with him had been somewhat lopsided. Bella took her father and his stability for granted. In fact, if truth be told, she had ignored it, never really taking the time to notice it before. Perhaps it was derived from being raised mostly by Renee and having to be the stable adult instead of the child. Or maybe it was her own self-centeredness. Whichever it was Bella wasn't sure, but what she did know was that her father deserved better than an emotionally absent daughter or one that just came and went with the passing of the night.

From that point on, Bella Swan resolved to be the daughter that Charlie Swan deserved. It would start with calling him Dad. Renee was the one who always felt too young to be called Mom. It never occurred to Bella that it was disrespectful to do anything else.

So, when the word Daddy slipped from her lips one day, Charlie's heart swelled with fatherly pride.

After twenty-odd years of hoping, his daughter had finally come home.

Sorry I've been so distracted lately and not answering reviews like I usually do. You all deserve replies and I will be catching up on it soon.

So? What do you think? Thoughts on the chapter? Hmm... Tomorrow is Friday. Maybe an extra chapter to get through the weekend?