Chapter 38 - Disaster

Fiddling with the oversized ring on her finger, Bella sat at her father's kitchen table, vacantly gazing at the calendar hanging on the faded yellow wall in her father's kitchen. December 10th. Exactly one week since Matt and Leah had dropped their bombshell and eleven days until Máire was set to reemerge into this world.

For the past week, she'd done the same thing every morning. Wake up, creep down to the kitchen in silence, pour a cup of coffee and then stare at the calendar, ticking off the days.

Today was moving day. Jacob had been insistent that she pack her bags and install herself into his house immediately after Matt and Leah's return. Bella was reluctant. It was the holidays and she wanted to spend them with her father. She felt she owed him that after years of prolonged absence. But Charlie was busy with work and Bella soon realized that her presence wouldn't be missed. What's more, she had the sneaking suspicion that he was looking for excuses to stay at Sue's. Charlie seemed afraid to shack up with another woman in front of his daughter, despite the fact that she was well into her twenties and he was quickly on his way to staring down the barrel of fifty.

Greedily inhaling the thick coffee, Bella tried to shake the mental fog that pervaded her brain. Jacob had spent the night and she knew he'd be awake soon, ready and eager to throw her over his shoulder and get her things settled into his house. Truth be told, Bella was more than ready to settle in one place. Splitting her time between Charlie's, Jacob's and the small apartment near the gallery that Matt had leased out for their use was becoming tiresome. The place in Port Angeles had provided solitude, Leah spending most of her nights in the small house she'd purchased on the reservation. Matt was still splitting his time, spending half of it back up in Seattle and Bella knew from the local gossip mill, not to mention the sparkle in Leah's eyes, that the rest of it was spent at her place.

Bella's eyes fell to the ring on her finger, recalling the day the duo came back and the subsequent shock at finding out that Matt wasn't just her boss and friend, but her cousin.

"Fairy. You're a fairy," had been her nonplussed reaction. What could she say? It felt nearly as absurd as being the lone human among a pack of dogs. Granted, Jacob had already told her what he knew about Matt, but hearing it from his own lips forced her to believe it.

The pack had been gathered outside Jacob's house, their ears pricked up in a supernatural form of eavesdropping. Inside, Bella sat on the sofa, Jacob protectively by her side, flanked by Embry and Paul. All eyes were on Matt, Leah standing behind him with one feminine hand resting on his shoulder in an outward display of solidarity.

With steady eyes, Matt lowered the boom. "A hundred years ago, my grandmother came to the Pacific Northwest. She met a man and bore his child, a strong little boy with dark curls and Irish eyes. They named him Sean. In his fourth year, she was forced to leave him, much to her own heartbreak. He grew into a fine, strong man and bore children of his own, and they children of their own."

Matt saw the recognition wash over Bella's eyes as she began to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Leaning forward to grasp her hands in his own, he looked steadily into her eyes. "I am Mathúin of the Tuatha Dé Dannan, grandson of Máire and you are her great, great granddaughter, my cousin by blood and clan."

"My God."

"There are many things that I do not know. Things that must wait for Máire. She will return to this plane on the winter solstice. Know this. I was charged with your protection. There is danger surrounding you. Vampires are easily attracted to our kind, the magical call of our blood sweeter than any wine. It is no coincidence that you have been brought into this world of supernatural beings. You were born to it just as I believe you were born to be mate of the Alpha."

Bella mulled the meeting over in her mind. Since that day, Jacob had been a constant presence by her side with the ever present protection of the wolfpack surrounding her home or office at work, frustrating her to no end. The pack had phased together that night, Leah's time in Tir na nÓg crashing through their minds like a tornado of brilliant color and blinding light.

The ramification of which being a complete loss of privacy. Even now as she looked out the kitchen window, Bella saw a flash of sandy fur darting through the treeline. This morning Seth was keeping watch.

Sunlight glinted off the fiery stone of Máire's silver ring. The moment Leah placed it on her finger, Bella felt the magical pulse of her people rush through her. An inviting sense of having come home washed over her senses. Somehow, she felt more alert, cognizant of the world turning around her. There was also a calling, as if something demanded she go to La Push.

As she struggled to make sense of the situation, Jacob stirred in bed. Rolling over, arms feeling the empty space beside him where Bella had laid, dread and anxiety welled up in his gut. Instantly, the demand to be next to her surfaced, part of him ready to close his eyes and search her out in dreams. The urge to spirit walk as intense as it had been the very first time he'd swallowed the foul black liquid, stretching out on Old Quil's dusty sofa.

Jacob tamped down the emotion, determined not to feel this way any longer. Bella was his and today she was moving into the house he'd bought, hoping even then she would return.

Shutting out the world surrounding them, he focused all of his senses on her, searching out the gentle sound of her beating heart and easy rhythm of her breathing.

A ticking clock, small, scratching claws of mice scurrying across the attic floor above, the water heater recycling and groaning pipes. Then, beneath it, slow and steady, Bella's footsteps and the creak of the kitchen faucet. Jacob inhaled deeply, the tension in his shoulders easing with the exhale. He wondered if there would ever be a time when he wouldn't feel this anxiety, the ever needful desire to feel her presence surround him. Like a warm blanket, her spirit wrapped him in a cocoon of safety, calming the world that always swirled around him.

Bella was the completion of his soul. Its counterpart in a desperate world.

His thoughts drifted once more to the ring hidden in the sock drawer of his dresser. Soon, very soon, he planned to place it on her finger and prayed that not long after, she'd become his wife.

First, he'd get up and get her moved. Having Bella under his roof and on the safety of the reservation would do wonders for his soul. Though Matt did not pose a threat, Jacob was leery of anything he did not know. The hunter in him was disgruntled at being relatively powerless to stop him should he endanger Bella and the tribe. On the other side of the coin, he felt somewhat assured and at ease on the days the two worked alongside each other, providing an extra layer of protection. More and more, she was becoming irritated with having escorts at every turn.

Lately, she'd begun working from home more, finding it easier than taking one of the wolves with her. At his demand, there were always two by her side. None of them had quite the same grace as Leah. Rather, none of them had the same slender build. Bella came home exasperated on the day Collin had accidentally knocked over a beautifully crafted vase, nearly toppling the rest of the display like a row of dominoes.

The weather had been unseasonably warm in the past week and Jacob seized the chance to pour the concrete for the addition on the house. Simple framework could be done in his workshop during bad weather. There was an urgency inside of him to transform the house into something that was theirs, not just his alone. He wanted Bella to feel that she belonged. Already he'd told her to change whatever she liked, to make it a place where she felt welcome and loved.

The storage pod of her belongings had been delivered two days before. Jacob had been astounded when he opened it to see how much she'd accumulated over the past several years. Bella systematically went through the house, marking items for storage or removal, debating on which of her belongings would fit into their lives, making his heart surge with pride. This was a beginning, long awaited and sweeter than any gift bestowed. It was the start of a new life.

Now the day had finally arrived, the one in which she would be installed in his house, the first step of many on the long journey that lay ahead of them. He found himself whistling a song, a huge smile on his lips when he made his way down the stairs and into Charlie Swan's faded yellow kitchen.

With ease, Jacob scooped Bella out of her chair, kissing her happily with all the joy of a man renewed. Setting her down on the counter, his lips feathered sweet kisses across her cheeks and nose, gently brushing the lids of her eyes before taking one step back and waiting for her to look at him.

When that dark fan of lashes finally fluttered open like butterfly wings, it was to see Jacob, smiling from ear to ear, waiting and ready to start the day.

Several hours later, a very harried and irritated Bella was ready to throw in the towel. Most women would count themselves lucky to have ten muscle-bound men lifting boxes and moving furniture.

If only it were that simple.

Fitting that many oversized men in the house at one time was a recipe for moving day disaster. It might have been the younger pups who thought it would be easiest to toss the small items to each other in their own form of a bucket brigade, or maybe it was when Seth, not watching where he was going, smashed right into Paul's back while carrying a box full of lingerie. Like a cannon shooting party confetti, brightly colored bras and panties exploded out of the top, fluttering around the room in a virtual Victoria's Secret ad. Two minutes later, she wasn't at all thrilled when one of her thongs- which had apparently gotten caught in the ceiling fan- landed smack dab in Brady's face when she was trying to tell the boys not to play hot potato with a leaded crystal vase. The result was a deep gouge in the wood floor when it crashed to the ground in a resounding thud.

Bella was ready to cry. If she didn't get five minutes of solitude soon, an utter breakdown, including a string of angrily shouted profanities the likes of which the pack had never seen from her, would ensue. Leaning heavily against the kitchen counter, the small fingers of her hands drawn into white-knuckled fists, she drew in a ragged breath and looked Jacob squarely in the eye. "I have to get out of here before I lose it."

"Aww, come on Bells, it's not that bad." He advanced, ready to pull her in a light-hearted hug, but she was having none of it. Angry red blotches marred her usually gentle face. Eyes narrowed into angry slits, she threw her hands out in protest, refusing to be placated. "Don't you dare patronize me, Jacob Black! I'm leaving and don't even think about trying to stop me!"

Snatching her sunglasses off the counter, Bella snatched at air where the car keys should have been. In her tirade she'd forgotten that two minutes earlier she'd hastily shoved both the keys to her new jeep and a credit card into Collin and Brady's eager hands. The disastrous duo now currently God knows where, picking up enough lunch to feed an army.

A hand clamped down tightly on her wrist and Bella turned, wrenching it away. "Embry will drive you," he stated, showing no room for opposition in his dark eyes.

"It's a five minute walk to your father's house. I'm going and I'm going alone." Squaring her shoulders, Bella stared him down. "The boogeyman isn't going to jump out at me, Jake."

Ten minutes later and soaked to the bone, she found herself staring at Billy Black's front door, debating on whether or not to go in or sit down on the porch and cry. Bella stared dejectedly at her feet, watching little eddies of water running off the tips of her shoelaces pool on the old gnarled porch boards. The day felt like an utter disaster.

Gripping her thin coat more tightly around her, she drew in a deep breath and knocked, finally entering when she heard Billy call out from somewhere inside the house.

To his credit, Billy Black did not say a word or even raise an eyebrow when she strode in, dripping wet and looking very much like a drowned rat. Instead, he kept his eyes on the piece he was carving, intent on finishing before she sat down next to him.

Bella went straight to the linen closet for a towel and then into Jacob's old bedroom to search for something to wear. A few minutes later she came out wearing a pair of sweats ten sizes too big and a battered old t-shirt that nearly fell to the knees. After tossing her rain soaked clothes into the dryer, she took a seat next to Billy and watched while the transformation of a smooth piece of wood turn into the soft lines of a feather.

Quietly humming an old tune, he worked diligently, making the difficult precision of the work seem simple somehow. It was comforting to sit in silence with nothing but the sound of the chisel.

Frowning when Paul came in, Billy looked up at her and grinned, shrugging his old shoulders. Neither one could get away from his son's protectiveness. They both became resigned to the fact. His black eyes twinkled with a kind of sneaky mischief and then looked up at Paul, who didn't seem to quite know what to do with himself now that he was there.

"Here to look at the water heater?"

Startled, Paul gaped like a fish out of water, rubbing his neck and doing a poor job concealing his true intentions. "Uh, yeah. Rach said it hasn't been working right."

"Tools are in the shed," replied Billy, looking down on his work with an impish grin curling the corners of his mouth. When the screen door slammed, signaling Paul had dashed out in the rain, it suddenly hit her.

"There's nothing wrong with the water heater, is there?" she asked rhetorically.

"Nope." Billy's eyes were mirthful though he held in his laughter. "An old man's gotta get his kicks in somehow. Serves them right for whatever the hell stupid move they pulled today that landed you on my doorstep."

A half hour later, Bella felt worlds better. The quiet hum of the washer interspersed with Paul's fiddling and Billy's sanding was balm to an aching soul. When he appeared to be nearly finished, she busied herself making a pot of coffee and some sandwiches, setting a plate beside him for whenever he was ready.

"I wanted to ask a favor of you," she said, allowing the warmth of hot liquid to take the last chill out of her bones.

"Sure, sweetheart." Billy laid aside his tools, eagerly diving into a ham on rye. "What do you want to talk to me about? If it's about setting bear traps to piss off the pack, you can count me in. They're a little overbearing when it comes to protecting the Chief," he winked.

Giggling at the mental picture of the boys cursing out an old rusty claw-toothed hunk of metal, she filed that away for future use. Revenge could be pretty sweet. "Tempting as that sounds, I wanted to ask if you'd be my teacher."

Billy's heart warmed with happiness at the prospect. It didn't take a genius to know what she was after and he was only too glad to help. "I can do that. We'll start with the tribe history, maybe even teach you some of the language."

"I'd appreciate that." Absently she scratched at the exposed scars on her wrist, the leather cuff covering them today laid out on the table to dry.

"That ever bother you anymore?" Billy's wrinkled brow furrowed, as if thinking hard about something. It still haunted him, those memories of death seeping out of Bella's frail little body.

"They just itch once in awhile," she shrugged. "I googled it. Normal with nasty scars like this."

"So, this going to help you out with your job?" he nosed, dropping the subject while also urging the girl to state her true intentions. After all, he knew about the ring Jacob had hidden away and wanted to be sure she was ready for that step. Even though the two had been together since they were little kids in some way or another, they'd only made the leap into something more in the past few months. The wolves all had a tendency to be impetuous when it came to women, though with Jacob, it was more than just that. It was a Black trait to love with all your heart. A tendency that could be overbearing if they didn't slow down to consider what their wives needed.

"I suppose it will," she replied. "Actually, I hadn't even thought about that. All the anthropology work I did in college prepared me enough to handle that." Bella leveled a gaze at Billy, figuring she might as well lay all her cards on the table. It didn't matter. Nothing in the world had made him and Charlie happier than seeing she and Jacob finally get it together. "Jake is your son. I know there will be people in the tribe that don't like him dating an outsider. If he weren't a Black, it probably wouldn't matter, but he is. I need to do this for him and for myself. I need to do it for us." Pausing, she set her mug down and grasped one of his work-worn hands in her own, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I'm not going anywhere," she stated firmly, the look on her face leaving no question for doubt.

"Didn't think you were." Bringing her hand to his lips, Billy placed a soft kiss on her fingers, thinking of how much like Sarah the young girl was. Same determination, same kindness in her heart, same forgiving nature. It would serve her well in the years to come. "I'll be proud to call you daughter one day." Then, as if the conversation never happened, he took a bite of sandwich, listening contentedly to the sound of the storm raging outside.

A good hour later, Jacob called to say the boys had left. The rain had slowed and a few rays of sun were trying to peek through the gray clouds when Paul drove Bella to her new home. Jacob was waiting faithfully on the porch when they pulled up, the worried look on his face making her feel a little guilty.

Her hand was on the latch, ready to make a quick run for it, when Paul suddenly grabbed hold of her, hauling her to his chest in a tight hug. "Sorry I doubted you. I should have told you that a long time ago."

Bella's heart was light when Jacob carried her over the threshold, ready to start the next chapter of their life.