Once again I'd like to thank Pienuniek for being my friend, sounding board and pre-reader. This story wouldn't be here without her. And I'd like to thank Chandra for being my beta, she's fantastic.

Both ladies have their own stories and I recommend you read them.

**** HS ****

Chapter 2 – All About Bella

When my last class of the day started coming in, I sat listening to their thoughts.

Something was coming, I could feel it. The pull, while getting stronger, also seemed to ease in a sense.

It was confusing.

Watching them file in I could sense that nothing seemed to be off; not a damn thing.

"All right, class, as you are my last one of the day we're going do the same as the others, but I want you to do better than them. Let's review chapters one and two… then start on number…"

'Please let him be here. I've been looking everywhere since landing. The pull; it's so strong. I can feel it coming from here… Although I felt that threat to the pull before… I wonder who tried to threaten it?'

I could hear the thoughts coming down the hall, the footsteps sounding as though they were running.

"Mr. Masen? Are you all right, sir?"

"Huh?"

That's when the door opened and she stepped through. I'd never seen anyone as beautiful as she was. Long brown hair, deep brown eyes, rosy cheeks, bright red lips, and a figure like that of old Hollywood Glamour. A perfect hourglass figure in a deep blue summer dress and sandals.

All this I could see at a glance and then she looked up; my breath was stolen from me and all my brain was telling me was… she's mine.

'Edward… Edward Masen? Vampire History teacher? Member of the Cullen Coven?' she thought, looking me straight in the eyes. Like she asked me a direct question, her eyes pleading.

I gave a subtle nod and she exhaled a breath of relief.

'Thank goodness, I've finally found you. I've been trying to find you, Edward, for years now.'

She started coming towards me and I gave a subtle shake of my head; for a split second she looked hurt until I scanned my eyes over the other students who were watching with rapt attention. When she realized what was happening around her, she took a quick look around and blushed a beautiful rose pink.

"Oh, uh… excuse me, sir, I'm sorry for running late but I'm the student teacher that has been approved to sit in on your class."

"Of course you can, Miss…"

"Swan. Bella Swan, sir."

"Right, Miss Swan. Please take a seat and I'll continue on with my lesson."

I watched as she took a seat in the front row, turned, and looked right back at me. It took a while but I managed to take my eyes off her and turned back to the class.

'Why can't I get him to look at me like that?'

'Gah, she's hot. Wonder if I can catch her after class?'

'Edward, are you okay? Do I need to leave until you're done? I know this is distracting and I promise I can tell you everything, but please just get them all started. Okay?'

I nodded my head to the class and prepared to start again.

"Sorry about the interruption to class, folks. Let's get this underway. I want you guys to review chapters one and two that we went over earlier in the week. Make a start on chapter three. I want it done with your neighbor while I go over the questions for the maybe pop quiz for Friday."

I looked at Bella again and took a seat at my desk, pretending to look at questions I had already written.

'If you speak at vampire pitch I can hear you, Edward. Just make it look like you're reading the questions to yourself, okay?'

I nodded again, trying to make it look like I was agreeing with myself.

"How do you know who and what I am?" I asked with a small amount of trepidation.

'I'm your mate, Edward. I've known about you for years now. I've been trying to find you and I almost found you at the University of Seattle. Unfortunately I was held up and got there a few weeks after graduation. By then you'd already moved on. It's taken me this long to get the mating pull to narrow down where you had gone to.'

Was that what this pull in my chest was? I rubbed it a little to try and settle it. It was pulling so hard in her direction.

'You feel it too, don't you? The pull, it's so strong right now because it wants us to connect in some way. Something small to start, holding hands or a hug, even a small kiss. Now that we're so close it needs that small physical connection to settle it down and initiate the bonding. It won't be quite so bad after that.'

"I've never felt anything like this before. Not even before I graduated UDub. Why is it so bad now? Don't think I didn't notice you not answering about how you know about me. Are you sure you're my mate? You're human."

I was looking at her as I was saying this. Not because I was against her knowing if she was my mate or the fact she was human—that would be hypocritical of me—but because I couldn't not look at her. She was just so damn beautiful.

'Are you sure I'm human, Edward? I mean really take a good look at me, see anything different.'

I started to really look at her, not just admiring her beauty, when I saw her eyes flash a brilliant violet. The class froze around us, I could hear the world outside the classroom moving and thought it was only in there that it was frozen. I was looking around at them when I saw something from the corner of my eye. Bella's hair was changing colors right before my eyes: red, blonde, black, purple, and even green. The exact color of my human eyes. After that she sat down and everyone came around and continued on with their reading assignments.

I looked back at Bella, wide eyed and very intrigued.

"What are you?"

'Me? I'm your mate, Edward, you know that, you can feel it. I'm something you've actually come across. Not that you would have noticed; we're very good at hiding what we are. We have to be. There are plenty of us around, you'll probably notice us more now that you'll be interacting with me. I'll show you all of our little tricks. Because what I am is completely yours, and that includes all our little nuances.'

"You like talking in riddles, don't you? I feel this pull between us, I know that mates feel it. Why I didn't recognize it before I don't know. Why didn't I feel it at Udub? Please, Bella, what are you?"

She frowned. 'I don't mean to talk in riddles, my love. The reason you didn't recognize the pull is because it's different between us because of what I am. You didn't feel it at Udub because it obviously wasn't the right time for us. It's why I was held up and missed your graduation. What vampires feel for their mates is strong, yes, and they know where their mates are. Us, though, ours will tell us when there is a threat to our bond. Something happened to you earlier and it gave a huge tug, didn't it?'

I nodded but didn't answer because it seemed like she had more to say.

'My love, what I am… is something that you may not understand at first. I promise to tell you everything later so please don't push in here; you don't want to alert your students to something being wrong.'

Then she stood up after freezing them again, stood in the middle of the classroom, and spread her arms wide. There was a blinding white light for which I had to cover my eyes. When I looked back there was Bella with a pair of six foot wide wings, all beautifully glowing white.

She looked back at me with trepidation on her face, but said with little hesitation, "My dear Edward, I am an angel."

I slumped back in my chair with a thump. "Wow."

"Mmhmm," Bella agreed, before she started folding up her wings and taking her seat.

She looked at me, unsure if I was ready for the students to come around again. I nodded to her after picking up some of my paperwork to look over, giving me time to take in everything that she had told me. We stayed quiet until the end of the day. It was hard to stay in my seat and not touch her; the pull was getting stronger the more we were around each other. I had to touch her, I needed to get these kids out of class. A few minutes early would make them happy.

"That's it for today, class. Don't forget to study for the possible pop quiz on Friday. Prepare and study. There are signup sheets for tutors outside the door and for study groups in the library. I don't offer tutoring personally so don't ask."

Bella rolled her eyes at all the disappointed faces, but after Lauren I wanted no more attempts, especially now that I had Bella. For she was MINE. Accepting that she's my mate also meant that I was hers and I couldn't have anyone attempting to break the bond.

"Go… shoo. We're done for the day."

As soon as the last person was out the door, Bella was up and out of her seat, wrapping her arms around me like she couldn't wait another minute. My arms wrapped around her and held her as tight as I dared. Although I had a feeling that it wouldn't matter how tight I held her I wouldn't hurt her at all. That, though, would have to wait for question time later.

'I hope he didn't leave; I can't believe he still disappeared, and twice today at that. It's these types of things that suck me into a vision. I wish the teachers had let us go earlier, it's not often when Jasper's mouth can't get us out of trouble.'

'I'll bet that know-it-all has gone and gotten himself in trouble and we'll all be in trouble. I'm not surprised he'd do this to us, he's so damn selfish.'

'I don't know why we're all rushing to his side. She saw him at home later, although he wasn't quite there and Alice said there was an aura to this vision. Good or bad she couldn't tell. We'd better be ready for anything.'

'I've calculated the possibilities of this ending badly, and there is a 43.2 percent chance that this is all going to go south really quickly for us. Although for some reason Edward's chances of change are much higher but they're all good. I don't think there's anything to worry about and everyone is just exaggerating.'

"Bella, we're about to have company really soon. My family has just come into my three mile radius. We've all been a little on edge today because Alice had a really strong vision for a change: she saw me disappear this morning. Apparently there's been a couple more strong enough to pull her in."

'Hmm… that's interesting. It's possibly my power that's doing it. When I freeze things around us it lifts us out of time; that could possibly cause you to black out from her visions.

'I don't want them to know yet, Edward. You may know and trust them, but I do not. Until I do I'm not sure I want them to know either what I am or what I can do. Being your mate yes, but nothing else.'

"I'm sure we can manage that, love. They don't need to know anything yet, until we've been able to talk."

Assuring her was easy, as was my love for her. As soon as we'd touched, everything clicked into place. The bond, my love, the possessive and protective feelings that came with being mated. Only much, much stronger. Oh the lust was there too, at a level I'd never felt from anyone but it was manageable for the time being. How long was another question.

By now Bella could hear my siblings on approach; we broke our hug but turned towards the door, holding hands. I felt the bond give a small tug backwards and looked at Bella to see if she had felt that too. She gave a small nod and we took a tiny step backwards as it demanded. Unsure as to why it felt a threat from my family, I listened because it was like another instinct, and those you didn't ever ignore.

I gave her a tiny kiss on the forehead as the door opened and my siblings stepped through. Oh the varying looks of shock were evident, as was the immediate anger. Although that was a little hypocritical, considering how they found their mates. I saw the picture through their minds of us and realized Bella had changed her appearance, and somehow had hidden her heartbeat.

I looked at her with questions burning in my eyes; all she did was raise her eyebrows at me as if to ask 'what?' I gave her the universal 'I'm watching you gesture' to which she smirked at me.

'Edward, who…what… HOW COULD YOU? You can't just bring a traditional to the school. ARE YOU MAD? She could have exposed us all. Especially with those eyes! You just don't think about anyone but yourself. You're so self-centered…' This was Rosalie at her loving best. She's really just Rosalie, there's no other way to describe her.

"Edward, what are you doing with a traditional? How dangerous is it to have her here? She could have hurt you, or the kids, or any one of them! How do you know she's not a danger to us?" Alice was asking me questions at warp speed and it was impossible to answer when she was like that, but unlike Rosalie she was genuine in her worry about me and everyone else.

"Hello, everyone. Nice to see you. I told you this morning that there was nothing to worry about, that nothing would happen to me." Answering them without revealing was going to be harder than I thought.

"Nothing to worry about? Nothing to WORRY about? Oh no there wasn't anything, anything at all. Just you disappearing and I wasn't sure when, then getting not one but TWO visions sucking me in while in school with you disappearing. AND then coming to you after school to find a TRADITIONAL vampire in plain view of everyone around. That can't be anything to worry about AT ALL!" she exclaimed, talking louder and getting more and more anxious as she went on.

I rolled my eyes at Alice's dramatic side. I think that came with being seventeen when she was changed. Teenage hormones and all.

"Well, as you can see, everything is fine. Bella here hasn't done anything to bring attention to herself or us…"

Oh one of my pet peeves is being interrupted when I hadn't finished explaining something, which was what Rosalie had done. Nothing makes me madder.

"FINE," she growled out. "FINE you say; you have a traditional on campus and have no explanation for how she got here without alerting anyone. OR what she is doing here in the first place. You are so damn SELF-CENTERED, only thinking about yourself and not what this will do to the rest of us. We told you to stay home…"

'I would have found you there anyway. The mating bond was pulling us together, although from the looks of this lot that may have been a worse place to surprise them.'

I nodded carefully to Bella, trying not to agree with what Rosalie was saying.

"…where it was safe today but no. You had to be right and Mr. I need to cover all my responsibilities…"

"ENOUGH, ROSALIE!" I finally hissed to get her attention, though more so just to get her to shut up. "Had you not interrupted me before…" I raised my eyebrow up at her because she was going to do it again, "I would have told you that there was nothing to worry about because this here is my mate, Bella Swan. I'm sure there is a reason that she hasn't alerted the people around her to what she or we are, and once we have enough time to sit and talk alone, I'll find out what it is."

I'd noticed that while I was arguing with Alice and Rosalie that Emmett and Jasper had been looking at Bella. I could see that she was playing with them, making small but subtle changes that they knew were happening but couldn't put their fingers on. I could see what they were but I wasn't sure why I was picking them up when the others weren't. I'd have to ask later.

First she'd lengthened her hair by an inch.

After that she'd lightened the color of her eyes, put an orangey tinge on them. It was subtle but there, and as time went on she lightened them more. I'm sure by the time they left that she'd have gold eyes or she'd be back to her normal beautiful brown.

I watched as she put mahogany highlights in her hair; I could see them start at the top and work their way down.

The one that got them though, which made them take a step back, was when she'd made herself taller by an inch, then shorter by two and back to her normal height. That one caught their attention and they both exclaimed out with a "whoa."

"Uh, Rosalie, Alice, I don't think Bella is a traditional vampire. I'm not sure she's a vampire at all…" Jasper, while intrigued with what he had seen was also – in his words – 93.6 percent sure that Bella was not what she appeared to be.

Meanwhile I could see that she was trying not to giggle; she was having a whale of a time with them. I was worried they would figure it out before I got all the details from her first.

'Do not worry, my love; while they would have seen my kind before, they will not know what I am. Did you have any idea of my kind before this day?'

That was true. I shook my head. I had never even thought that angels existed before, although why I'm not sure.

I looked at her surprised then… Had she read MY mind?

'No, Edward. That is not in my repertoire of powers, but your face is like an open book to me. You won't be able to hide anything.' I got a cheeky wink with that answer. 'But would that have been so bad?' she asked with a small pout.

"No, love, that wouldn't have been bad at all. Strange but not bad."

"Ha, only strange because you are so used to being in everyone else's head yet not having anyone in your own. How is that fair to the rest of us?" More cheek was coming my way from her; she'd keep me on my toes for eternity. Couldn't say I was unhappy about that.

I answered her the one way I felt I could; using all of my maturity gained on this earth, I stuck out my tongue and blew a raspberry at her. Bella bent over in fits of laughter, while I chuckled at her reaction. It was a good feeling to be able to make her laugh and happy. The others, though, were not as entertained as we were.

By now Rosalie was fuming; Alice, Jasper, and Emmett were trying to calm her down but nothing was working.

Suddenly she started screeching, "What the HELL are you doing, Edward? You don't know anything about her! She's a danger to us all." Pointing at Bella she just about yelled, "You need to leave and not come back. Or I will MAKE you…"

I saw Bella's eyes flash and I knew what was coming, as Rosalie launched herself at Bella, Bella's eyes turned that brilliant violet and my siblings froze, Rosalie in midair. The difference this time though was that I could hear their thoughts. Though they were kind of sluggish like they were slowed down. All were surprised by the turn of events.

"Bella, sweetheart, calm down. What she did was very wrong. For now I just need you to hold them still so we can have a little chat."

She nodded but didn't take her eyes off them. Boy I would hate to be on the receiving end of that stink eye. So much for angels being all loving and happy creatures; I didn't think you'd want to piss them off.

That little act of defiance wasn't making Rosalie any happier at all. The rest of them were just intrigued with what was happening. Although Emmett was wondering how hard it would be to sneak up on her and what kind of fun they could have with that. As far as he was concerned, Bella was my mate and that made her family. He was a little upset with Rosalie; it's not often they fight, but when they do she always seems to be in the wrong. That came with thinking that you're better than everyone else, even if you weren't.

'So they've seen some of what I can do. Any wonders as to why I don't want to tell them yet. I'll explain some more later, Edward. Especially how I came to know about you and your coven. Don't tell them any more about me please? It's not something that should be common knowledge, okay?' she pleaded with me.

Going against my mate's needs was not part of my genetic makeup. Plus, after that display with Rosalie I agreed with her. I never disagreed with her bringing in Emmett, yet she chucked fits whenever something came up that she couldn't control. Jasper, though, was unsure he could trust her, regardless. He didn't want her near us at the moment either, funny thing is there is nothing they can do about it.

"How long can you hold them like this, love?"

'For quite a while. Say what you need to say and then let's get out of here and get to know each other better.'

"Well now, isn't this an interesting place for you all to be. Hmm, Rosalie, you especially. To be in a place you cannot control and cannot open your mouth to argue or interrupt. Alice, no need for one of your feelings and no need for Emmett and Jasper to open your mouths. I understand that you are worried about what may happen, or even what Bella may be. But know that she is my mate, and I trust her with my life. My bond is cemented as it was at first touch, just like yours. Regardless of what she is… I accepted you and your mates as you were brought into this family, don't deny me this opportunity.

"We are leaving now, do not follow us. We'll be home when we are ready and not a moment before. Let's go, love."

'I'm not going to let them go until we are well away. I know how fast you guys can move, so we'll wait until we're leaving the parking lot before I do.'

I nodded at Bella as I made my way to my desk to pack up my belongings. Once that was done I grabbed her by the hand and led her to the door; as we walked through it I locked it, which caused her to giggle. Such a happy sound that I smiled as well.

We were happy as we walked to the car, holding hands and smiling goofy smiles. We got in and started the car, I turned to Bella and stroked her cheek.

"Okay baby, time to let them go. Then we'll get out of here," I suggested.

She frowned, but did as I asked. We both winced when we heard a crash; I saw through Emmett's mind that Rose crashed through my desk and then the wall behind it. I hoped they could fix that to look like something else.

Being the last in the parking lot, I pulled out of my spot with some speed, showing off to my girl. She squealed into a laugh, yelling out a "woo hoo" at the end as we sped past Rosalie, Alice, Jasper and Emmett. Giving them a big wave, we were on our way.