AN: We're nearly at the half way point for Part One; Letters from the Lost days. Thanks to everyone who reviewed :)

S. Meyer owns all.

CHAPTER 9

BPOV

Emily's house was packed with the wolves and Elders, we spread out through the lounge and kitchen as Sam gave an in-depth report on the fight. "...they arrived in the early afternoon from the south east. We were spread out enough to remain undetected and they didn't pick up our scent until it was too late. That 'scent off' spray worked wonders. They had another vampire with them; he was savage, his eyes practically glowed red. He was stronger than the other two.

"We got him in the end, Paul and Embry took care of the one with the dreads, he was weakened from having an arm torn off by us recently. The rest of us took on the unfamiliar leech and the red head ran off. I think she counted on her friends being cannon fodder. With the two vamps down we caught up with the red head quickly, we had help. Peter and Charlotte were there, blocking her escape. The fight was over before we knew it. Peter had some interesting things to say." He turned to Oona "he is the one from your tribe's history, he was born Peter Crow, but now goes by Peter Whitlock. He has a strong connection to the spirit word and protects the path of fate."

Sam looked at me then, his eyes sad "Bella has to become a vampire." A chorus of growls started up "she, like Charlie, has a gift. She is a protector like Peter. If you doubt her destiny look at her, really look at her. She has power radiating off her. It gets stronger every day. Who are we to change the path of fate? I don't like this any more than the rest of you, but this is her life, we cannot dictate how it plays out. Peter told me that because of her many innocent lives will be saved."
"How do you know he isn't lying?" Paul was upset. Oona spoke up, her voice strong with a hidden power I hadn't heard before. "Peter speaks the truth. My people have kept the balance and worked towards protecting the lines of fate, I have heard this from others in my tribe. I was chosen to teach Charlie and help this tribe connect with their spirit wolf, I was chosen to watch the human with the vampire bite and guide her to our great uncle. Her place is with them, but she is still part of us." No one argued, Oona was a trusted advisor to the elders.

The mood had turned down, many looked at me like I had a terminal illness. I spoke up "I will not be a human drinker, my allegiance lies with this tribe and the protection of those I love. Will you accept me? My body will change, but I won't." My voice stayed strong, but as I sat down I could feel the blush creep up on my cheeks and I had to blink back tears, these people were my family, I didn't want them to reject me. I could barely handle the Cullens leaving, if I lost the Quileute too I didn't know if I'd survive. Charlie cleared his throat and spoke up "she isn't just my daughter, she is the daughter of this tribe. Somehow I knew she'd become a vampire, I saw how comfortable she was with the Cullens and I see how comfortable she is with you. I see it in her eyes, she'd sacrifice herself for any one of us." He glared at each person in the house except for Oona and me. There was a deafening silence. Billy looked at me "you'll still be a part of our tribe." He said. Harry nodded, backing him up.

The meeting adjourned and we left Sam and Emily to themselves. Charlie stopped me on the way to my room "you okay Bells?" I nodded "I don't want to lose them."
"I'll make sure you don't." He vowed.

I spent the day in my room, the wolves were spending the day with their family so the community dinner was cancelled for the day. I checked my email, Charlotte had replied.

Hi Little Bee,

We're well, we didn't see any action, just stood by as the wolves took care of her. Peter's gone into town, he's posting you something. We met the alpha, its good you've found a family. Peter told me to pass a message to you "your species won't matter, they're family." I hope they aren't giving you any trouble.

Stay safe honey, give our regards to Charlie.

x Char

I smiled. Hopefully I'll meet them soon.

The next few days flew by, the Elders and wolves had calmed down. I still got the occasional look of sadness, but I resolved to prove to them wrong. I wouldn't let them abandon me, I would fight for them.

A package arrived this morning, there were a series of letters. I tucked them under my pillow resolved to read them tonight before sleep.

The day flew quickly, I went to read the first letter and froze at the letterhead; From the Desk of Jasper Whitlock. I messaged Peter, I needed a response NOW.

Care to explain why you sent me letters from Jasper? Is this the same Jasper I think it is?

He messaged me back quickly. Jasper has reverted to his human name, Whitlock. I sent them to you because you need to read them. Have patience.

I rolled my eyes and started reading. The first couple of letters didn't make any sense until I read what Jasper wrote about Dissociative Identity Disorder. I wiped furiously at my eyes, but the tears kept blurring my vision. I took a break and cleaned my room a little in an effort to calm down. What the fuck happened to him? My heart broke for him. I couldn't settle down and gave up, lying down and hugging the letters to my chest.

Charlie knocked on my door at 10am, he panicked when he saw my haggard condition, I quickly explained. "Peter sent me some letters from a friend of his, Jasper. Jasper was writing about his past. It's bad." I told him. I took a deep breath to calm myself. Dad stood there, thinking about something. "Do you want me to get Emily over here?" I shook my head "No thanks Dad, but could you ask Sue to come over?"
"Sure thing kiddo, I'm going to call Emily and let her know you won't be over today."
"Thanks."
"No problem kid. I'm off to see Oona, will you be ok?" I nodded and waved goodbye.

Ten minutes later there was a knock on the door. "Come in." I croaked. Sue made her way to my room and sat down on the bed "Charlie said you needed to talk to me."
"It's Jasper, Peter is his friend and he sent me these letters. He was tortured." I started crying again and handed her the letters I'd already read. I could see when she read to the section on Dissociative Identity Disorder. "That's absolutely tragic Bells. Poor boy." She hugged me "I need help getting through the rest of the letters, will you stay here and read with me?" I asked. "Of course. I should probably warn you after reading what I have so far I'm tempted to hunt down the Cullens and barbecue their arses."
"After what I read last night I'll join you."

I lay down and Sue kept reading them aloud to me, the rest of the letters were more positive. We stayed deep in thought as we read the last letter. Why wasn't Alice with him? White hot rage went through me as I thought of her and how she'd treated him. Sue's voice broke through my quiet, seething rage. "He's a strong man."
"He definitely is."
"I kind of want to hug him." She admitted. I chuckled at her, "don't let Harry catch you saying that."
"Bella, they told me what Peter said, that you're destined to become a vampire." I cringed and nodded. I braced myself, expecting her to get angry. Her voice was soft, "you won't forget about us will you?"
"Of course not. Sue, I know I have to be turned, but I'm scared I'll lose everyone here."
"You won't, I promise. I'll wring the neck of anyone who hurts you." She spoke so fiercely, it was a relief.

We moved to the kitchen and started cooking, Sue had arranged for some of the women in the tribe to take over my spot in Emily's kitchen so Sue and I started making a few side dishes to add to the main meal. We chatted lightly throughout the day, neither of us mentioning vampires. As dinner time approached we gathered in the town hall, the atmosphere had become lighter since the Victoria saga. Leah sat next to her mom on the other side of the table, her hair had been cut short and she'd grown a lot since I first saw her at the bonfire. It felt like a lifetime had passed, but in reality it had only been a few weeks. So much had changed.

I caught Leah's eyes and smiled, she returned it shyly. I whispered to her knowing she'd hear me over the din "how are you holding up?" She shrugged "okay, it takes some getting used to." That was an understatement. "Are you still in pain from the first phase?" She shook her head "no, thank god. It's just really weird. I spend so much time with the rest of the pack and when I'm in wolf form I can hear their thoughts. It's not much fun hearing the thoughts of several teenage boys." I laughed quietly "I can imagine." She grimaced. I had an idea, "since the immediate threat of vampires over how about we have a girls day out?" Her eyes lit up "I haven't felt very girly lately."
"That's not surprising, we can go to the mall and wander around a bit, maybe get our hair done?" I was surprised at the feeling of excitement going through me, I'd never wanted to do this stuff before. Sue looked over to us "that's a great idea, Bells. How about going tomorrow? I'll help Emily with the food and you can spend a full day having fun. You could even make it a sleep over and watch some movies!" I remembered my new DVD, Mr. Vampire. I couldn't wait to show Leah. "That sounds perfect. I'll ask Charlie if he'd mind staying at Oona's tomorrow night." Leah's eyes lost their spark "I have to ask Sam, he's got us training and patrolling and might need me to keep going." Sue got up and walked over to him, they spoke a few words and he nodded. It would happen. We parted ways and headed home to sleep.

The next day was a buzz of excitement. I cooked a few simple meals and packed them for Charlie to take to Oona's. He was happy to see me having fun and I was happy he'd be able to work with Oona uninterrupted. I loaded a basket of food and handed it to Charlie as he left. Leah arrived shortly after and Sue waved as she walked to Emily's place next door. We headed for my truck and headed towards Port Angeles.

After several hours walking from shop to shop before we stopped for lunch. Leah had protested when I tried spending money on her, but allowed it. She had lost quite a few clothes to phasing, now she had at least ten sets of clothes and five summer dresses. I'd picked up a few bags worth of clothes for myself. The tension had leaked out of Leah's shoulders as the day wore on. We headed to the hair salon where they neatened up her hair and trimmed mine. She opted to have a few streaks of blue added to her new pixie cut so I decided to let them add a few streaks of bright red to my hair. It was a change we'd both desperately needed. Leah stopped in front of a piercing studio, looking longingly. "What do you want to get pierced?" I asked her. "My ears. I miss wearing earrings. I had them pierced when I was little, but I'd lost the studs and couldn't afford buy another pair, the holes closed up." I tugged her inside and paid, she was taken to a chair near the back. I turned my head to avoid getting sick and heard the two pops of the piercing gun. I shuddered. She walked back to me, there were tears in her eyes "that stung a bit" she sniffed and smiled. I picked up a few pairs of studs for her.

The piercing studio held a morbid curiosity for me. I felt the urge to get something, but shook it off. I was too squeamish. Leah and I talked about body art, on her 18th birthday she'd be getting a tattoo on the Res. One of the younger men had gotten qualified and each member of the community could choose if they wanted a traditional tribal tattoo. I was intrigued, I hated needles and the smell of blood, but the idea of sharing something so permanent with the tribe wouldn't leave my mind. My mind wandered back to the piercing studio, did I really want a piercing that badly? The answer was yes. I took a few deep breaths and pulled Leah in the direction of the store, she froze in shock "you're getting a piercing Bells?!" I nodded grimly "I don't know why, but I need to."
"Charlie's going to throw a shit fit."
"Probably, but he'll get over it. He knows I'm a responsible person. One little piercing won't change that."

Leah held my hand and stood next to me. I shook in the chair as I felt the alcohol swab wipe over my left eyebrow. It was official, I was insane. The sharp sting of a needle punctured my skin, I felt my heart drop into my stomach and nausea started to rise. I felt a tugging and sliding and realized they'd taken out the needle and put in the barbell. I concentrated on my breathing and the nausea receded. I stumbled a bit as I stood up, Leah handed me a chocolate muffin "it'll make you feel better. Your blood sugar drops after a piercing." I nodded and tore off a chunk. A few mouthfuls were enough to bring the color to my cheeks. "We should probably head off now, Bells, you're looking a little green."
"I'll be fine, I'm not so woozy now." Leah kept her eyes on me as I drove home.

We changed into our PJs and I loaded up the movie. "A Vampire movie? Really Bells?"
"Trust me, Leah, this is a good one."

Leah complained when her stomach started to hurt from laughing too much. "Post it notes? Really?"
"I know! If only I'd had them on me when I was attacked. Instead I tried using the Mace dad got me" she busted out laughing again "Mace? Are you serious?" I nodded. "It did nothing to him, god knows what he thought." Leah kept cackling "we'll at least we know not to bother macing leeches. Oh man." I smiled. It was getting late, we put on another movie, but didn't really pay attention to it, we kept talking and gradually fell asleep on the couch.

We started awake, Charlie had yelled out "WHAT THE FUCK?" I looked to him feeling the prickle of shame, he looked shocked. Sue rushed in and Leah eyes widened "oh shit." Our parents stood there looking at us, we heard Billy enter and I became mortified, trying to sink into the couch and disappear. Billy chuckled "I like the new look girls." Dad and Sue glared at him, he shrugged "don't be so hypocritical. They're smart kids, let them live a little."
"But she isn't like this! She hates needles! What was she thinking?" Dad bellowed. "Easy Charlie, I remember you being in a similar situation when you were a little younger than she is now."
"But she's the smart one!" Billy shook his head, Sue had lost the frown and looked at Billy...amused. Huh. "She is smart, so what if she got a piercing? It's hardly going to ruin her life." Billy said, Dad became silent. "Besides, you still have your piercing-"
"WHAT?" I yelled. What the fuck was going on with my dad? Billy looked over and smiled maliciously "your dear old dad here got his belly button pierced years ago." Charlie mumbled "it was a dare..." The tension ebbed away. "Why the belly button, dad?"
"I needed to be able to hide it from my parents. It's Billy's fault, he dared me to." I sat up trying to look as stern as possible "and if Billy told you to jump off a cliff you'd do that too?" Sue started laughing "he did!"
"Cliff jumping is perfectly safe." He started to explain, I interrupted "you jumped off a cliff?" Who the hell was this man? "It's a popular pass time around here." He blushed. The anger had receded, Charlie kept looking at the piercing. Billy wheeled over to me and whispered "I think he's jealous." I guess facial piercing wasn't acceptable for the chief of police. I grinned at dad and he warily returned it. "No tattoos Bella" he grunted out, Sue smacked him "she's an adult and part of the tribe, it's her choice. Need I remind you of your tattoo?" Dad grunted, but didn't say anything. I walked over to him "can I see?" He nodded and lifted up the sleeve of his t-shirt, a wolf the size of my palm was inked on his bicep. "That's really cool, dad." He nodded and smiled.

The conversation turned to our living arrangements. Dad asked "do you want to return to Forks?" I shook my head, I'd been thinking of returning, but we'd made a life here. "What do you think about selling our old place?" Dad asked. "I guess. It feels kind of weird to think about. It's our house, but it feels like we've moved on."
"I agree. Living on the Res feels right."
"Definitely, I want to keep close to the tribe and you need to keep studying with Oona."
"I'll call the estate agent tomorrow. How about we swing by the Forks house this afternoon and see what we want to keep?"
"Sounds good dad. We should make a list of stuff we won't need, someone here might be able to use it."
"Good idea." Dad said. Sue, Leah and Billy smiled.

AN #2: The Notening; There can be only one!

I know I didn't mention Riley in the previous PPOV, Sam deliberately didn't tell them. I want his character to keep a few things from the vampires when possible. There'll still be an emotional distance between the wolves and vampires, they can't get over all those years of animosity too quickly.

I included references to the film Mr. Vampire because it's one of the best vampire movies in existence.