"Oh, no you don't." Erin scooped Nick up off the busy Port Angeles sidewalk and perched him on her hip. He giggled and tried to squirm out of her arms. "Nick, stop it." she told him sternly before sighing and giving the other girls an exasperated look. "Should've left him with Jake."
The girls with her included Emily, Leah, Kim, Rachel, and Embry's imprint Maya.
"You should've bought the little troublemaker a leash." Leah smirked, reaching over and ruffling Nick's hair. He laughed and covered his head with both hands. At a little over two years old, he was a little troublemaker. Erin was just happy that his version of 'Terrible Twos' wasn't really him throwing temper tantrums every five minutes. He just liked to see how much trouble he could get into before getting yelled at.
"Let's go look in here. We can all watch Nick and help you find a dress." Emily suggested as they approached a dress shop. At five months pregnant, she had just enough of a baby bump to be noticeable.
"Okay, just remember I want something simple and not expensive. I'm still on a college student's budget, here." Erin reminded them.
"Should we also avoid anything actually white, too?" Leah asked with a playful smirk. "Because we all know you and Jake haven't exactly been innocent in your relationship." she added, wiggling her eyebrows. The other girls laughed while Erin blushed.
"Shut up. Like any of you are any better."
No one refuted that comment, either shrugging or blushing in silent admittance.
Emily took Nick off Erin's hands while they began looking through the options. Erin nixed dresses that were too long, short, or gaudy. After an hour of searching and trying on several dresses, Rachel finally found one that looked decent and threw it at her.
Erin tried it on in the changing room and looked herself over in the long mirror before leaving the small room. It was a simple, white v-neck dress that emphasized the curve of her waist, flaring out just enough to do so, the edge stopping a little above her ankles. It wasn't an actual wedding dress, but she didn't want anything too fancy. After all, they were planning on having it on the beach.
Stepping out of the changing room, she turned slowly for the girls.
"Well?" she asked, hoping for opinions.
"I like it." Kim nodded, the others voicing their agreement.
"How much is it?" Maya asked. Being the same age as Erin and having recently graduated with her AA degree in Creative Writing and Photography, she was a bit more conscious of a college student's debt after graduation.
Erin lifted her arm to double-check the price tag near the armhole of the dress. "$69.99."
"That's a fair price." Rachel nodded. "And it's casual enough you could wear it for other events."
"So, should I get it?"
"Do you like it?" Emily asked instead, holding a wiggling Nick on her lap in the chair she was sitting in.
Erin looked down at herself and smiled. "Yeah, I do."
"Then buy it." Kim urged.
"Okay. I'm getting it." Erin decided with a beaming smile. She stepped back into the small changing room to change back before paying for the dress and following the girls out of the shop. Emily carried the bag for her while Erin carried Nick, who decided he didn't want to cooperate. He wriggled and twisted to the point Erin had to place him on the ground or risk dropping him. She instantly went to grab his hand but he slipped from her grasp and ran down the sidewalk.
"Nick!" Erin yelled, hurrying after him. "Nicholas Isaac Jones! Get back here right now!"
Nick giggled as he wove in and out of people's legs. He glanced back over his shoulder to see Erin and the other girls hurrying after him. He barely noticed the panic entering Leah's expression before he crashed into a wall and fell back onto his butt on the sidewalk.
Tears filled his eyes and his bottom lip jutted out and trembled as he looked up at what he'd run into. It wasn't a wall. He found himself looking up at three pale women, but something deep inside him told him they were dangerous.
"Nick!" Erin's voice sounded even more panicked before he was suddenly scooped up off the ground in a set of warm arms that, while they felt familiar, he knew wasn't his big sister. He looked up through his tear-filled eyes to see Leah glaring at the three women, her jaw clenched and her body barely trembling. She stepped back quickly and passed Nick to Erin, who clutched him tightly to her chest.
"What are you doing here?" Leah asked lowly, her eyes fixed angrily on the three women.
The blonde, who Nick had run into, sniffed at Leah with golden amber eyes full of contempt. "We were shopping. What's it to you?"
"You're not supposed to be here." Leah growled. "You broke the Treaty and were supposed to leave." Her body was trembling at the close proximity of the three vampires. She hadn't phased in several months, she was trying to stop so she could start a life with her imprint, but if she had to, she would phase to protect the other imprints.
"There's no rule that says that area includes Port Angeles." the short, pixie-like Cullen argued.
"I'm fairly sure it includes the entire Olympic Peninsula." Leah sneered at her.
"Is that Jake's son?"
The blunt, random question caused everyone to turn to the third vampire who hadn't been addressed yet, though Erin had been avoiding looking at her at all costs.
Bella Cullen looked absolutely flawless as a vampire. Her skin, which had always been pale, was now completely white; her brown hair shone with a red tint in the light, and her eyes were a golden color like her two companions. Those exact eyes were fixed firmly on the little boy in Erin's arms as she tried to control her anger.
"No, it isn't." Erin finally found her voice and answered, clutching her brother closer as if she could hide him.
Bella's eyes snapped to Erin's face. "Don't lie to me." she hissed angrily, taking a step forward. The blonde grabbed her arm just in case.
"She's not lying to you." Leah growled, stepping to the side so Erin and Nick were halfway-hidden behind her. "It isn't Jake's son, not technically."
"What do you mean 'not technically'?" Bella hissed, her eyes fixed on the little boy in Erin's arms.
Nick whimpered, burying his face in Erin's neck. "Ewin, she scary." he whispered loudly.
Erin turned her head and kissed his temple before whispering in his ear, "I know, Nicky. Just calm down, okay?" Turning to look Bella in the eye, and struggling not to show any fear, she answered a bit louder, "He's my brother, not that it's any of your business."
"He looks just like Jake and nothing like you." Bella countered in disbelief.
"Half-brother." Erin clarified, "And he's completely Quileute, so of course he looks a little like Jake, they all have the same basic features." She was cut off by her cell phone going off in her pocket. Shifting Nick into her one arm, she pulled out her cell phone and wasn't sure if she should be nervous or relieved when she saw the caller ID.
"Hello." she answered, putting the phone to her ear. Bella and the other Cullens were watching her while Leah refused to let her eyes leave the vampires.
"Erin, what's going on?" Jake's voice spoke through the phone.
"I'm shopping with the girls, I told you that." Erin answered quietly, hoping he wouldn't push.
"You're scared, I can feel it. The guys are here and they can feel their imprints are scared, too. Now what's going on?" Jake pushed.
Erin sighed, glancing at Leah, who glanced back at her.
"Erin, answer me." Jake ordered tensely.
"It's…well, we, um,…"
"Out with it!" one of the guys shouted in the background, causing Jake to growl at them. Erin flinched.
"Okay, okay,…we ran into a few of the Cullens."
There was silence on the other end of the phone before multiple growls nearly shook the small device, and she heard a loud slam.
"Jake?" Erin whispered, hoping he didn't drop the phone and leave.
"Which ones? Are they threatening you? Is everyone okay?"
"No, they're not threatening us, and we're all okay right now. Nick ran into one of them, but he's fine." Erin answered, looking down at Nick, who was still trying to hide in her chest. "And…it's three of the girls, the blonde one, the short one, and…Bella."
Jake's growl was so loud Erin had to pull the phone away from her ear.
"Jake?"
"Are her eyes red?"
"No, they're like the others'." Erin answered quietly, feeling awkward knowing that all the Cullens could hear both sides of the conversation.
"Alright, we'll be there soon. Where are you?"
"Um, Port Angeles in front of a bakery, but Jake, you don't have to come. It-it's really-"
"Erin, we're coming. I'll be there soon." With that, Jake hung up the phone and Erin stayed there, frozen in place with the phone still at her ear. Finally, she slowly pulled her phone away and put it back in her pocket.
"Um, so, Jake and the pack are on their way." she announced quietly.
"Obviously." the blonde Cullen sneered.
"She was saying it for those without super hearing, leech." Leah snarled.
"Well, we can't just stand around waiting for them, we have a lot of shopping to get done." the pixie Cullen pointed out.
"You're not going anywhere." Leah growled, "You're the ones who broke the Treaty. You can stick around and face whatever consequences we see fit."
"What are you going to do? Kill all three of us in broad daylight in a busy city street?" the blonde sneered.
"Don't know, it's not my call to make." Leah answered.
"We could easily just kill you and get away." Bella hissed, her eyes turning black in anger, "There's nothing stopping us."
"Then the pack really would hunt you down and destroy you, nice and slow." Leah pointed out.
Nick whimpered again, and Erin lifted her other hand to the back of his head, stroking his hair soothingly in an attempt to calm him down. Bella was watching them closely and her eyes caught the glint of the rare sunlight hitting the ring on Erin's finger.
"What's that?" she hissed, taking a step forward. The blonde once again had to grab her arm just in case.
Erin looked at her in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
"That. On your finger." Bella snapped, pointing.
Erin looked down, a sinking feeling in her gut as her eyes landed on her engagement ring.
Leah, however, beat her to the punch. "I should think even you would know what an engagement ring looks like, Cullen."
Bella lurched forward, but both the other Cullens held her back.
"You can't be engaged to Jake! You don't deserve him!" she hissed, earning looks from people passing them on the sidewalk.
The blonde, Rosalie, pulled Bella back and hissed in her ear, "Bella, calm down. People are staring."
"I don't care." Bella hissed back, her black eyes fixed on Erin. Nick let out a high-pitched cry, wrapping his little arms around Erin's neck as he cried into her shoulder.
Rosalie suddenly yanked Bella back when the familiar, wet-dog stench hit her nose times ten. It seems almost the whole pack had arrive.
Erin felt a wave of scorching heat surround her and suddenly she was staring at a smooth, bare back; muscles twitching as he suppressed his tremors. She couldn't see even a glimpse of the Cullens or Leah from around Jake's broad shoulders. Erin took a deep breath, feeling her muscles relax and the fear leave her in a swoosh. She took a step forward and rested her forehead on Jake's back, one of her hands leaving her brother to touch his hot skin with her palm.
"What the hell are doing here?" Jake snarled, gently pulling Leah back by the shoulder so she was at his side instead of in front. Sam and Quil stepped up to flank Jake while Embry stepped up next to Erin, and Paul and Jared stood on either side of the imprints. Seth, Collin, and Brady had been left behind to patrol the reservation.
Having heard Jake's voice, Nick stopped crying and pulled his head away from Erin's shoulder to look around. Standing next to Erin, Embry was the first person he saw.
"Emmy!" he cried, holding his hands out for his brother.
Embry tore his eyes from the vampires to give Nick a small smile, lifting a hand to gently ruffle his hair. "Hey bud, you're fine, okay? Just protect Erin for us, alright?"
Nick nodded, retracting his hands to wrap them around Erin's neck again. Erin gave Embry a grateful, albeit shaky, smile.
"We're just shopping, Dog." the pixie Cullen, Alice, was answering Jake's question conceitedly. "We didn't know this area counted as your territory. Did you pee on some of the trees or something?"
"I told you we shouldn't have risked it." Rosalie snapped at her, still maintaining a firm grip on Bella's arm even though the newest Cullen had relaxed the second Jake had arrived. "Even if it's not part of their territory, it's close enough for them to get hostile."
Jake crossed his arms over his bare chest. "Well, what do you know? A blonde with half a brain." he sneered. "Just so you all know, the only reason we haven't destroyed you three is because we're in public. We can't exactly phase when there's dozens of people walking past every minute."
"You had a kid?" Bella's quiet, seemingly innocent voice made Jake look down at her. Her golden eyes were glistening, though he doubted she could actually cry, and the golden color was so unnatural it was impossible for him to fall for her little act.
When her question registered in his brain, his thick brows furrowed in confusion. "What?"
"That kid." Bella snapped, pointing around him. Jake tensed when her hand got that close, but she retracted it before he snapped it off. Glancing over his shoulder he saw Erin looking up at him, her hand on his back, with Nick in her other arm.
Turning back to Bella, he glared down at her. "He's not my biological son, and I'm not raising him under the pretense that he is. He knows me as Jake, he knows I love him, and that's all there is to it. Why does it matter to you?"
Bella glared up at him. "Why did you propose to her?" she demanded angrily instead of answering, her eyes growing dark.
Jake growled, his back straightening as he drew himself up to his full height. "I love Erin and I fully intend to marry her. Why would it even matter to you? You're married and a leech. What I do is of no concern of yours."
"But Jake-"
"No." Jake snapped. "Look, you all broke the Treaty." he explained, lowering his voice to avoid attracting anymore attention. "That means we have every right to destroy you all without a second thought. Unfortunately, we can't do that at the moment with all these people around. So I guess I'll just have to give you all a warning. You are not welcome here. We'll let you leave now, but if you ever come back it's war. Understand?"
Rosalie yanked Bella back when she opened her mouth, the blonde answering with a curt, "Yes. I doubt Bella will agree with you, but I will. And I know Carlisle and Esme will, as well. You have my word."
Jake nodded. "Good. Now, leave. This is your only chance. We've given you all too many chances as it is. Next time, no matter the circumstances, we won't be so lenient."
Rosalie nodded. "Of course. Bella, Alice, come on." she ordered, giving Bella a firm tug on the arm and Alice a stern look. Alice pouted as she turned and followed Rosalie, but the three turned and left. Bella threw a pouting look over her shoulder, hoping Jake would cave, but he continued glaring at her.
"Quil, Jared; follow them and make sure they leave the area." Jake ordered curtly, not letting his eyes leave the three vampires.
Quil nodded and instantly started forward. Jared wrapped his arm around Kim's waist and gave her a firm kiss on the lips before following. Jake waited until they were specks before turning around, one hand moving to rest on the side of Erin's head while his other hand moved around Nick's back to the side of Erin's arm.
Noticing the arm, Nick turned around and looked up. A smile split his lips, revealing a mouthful of pearly teeth. "Jay!" he squealed, lifting his hands for Jake.
Jacob smiled, lifting his hand to run it over Nick's hair, which fell finely down to the bottom of his cheeks. "Hey, Nick." he whispered, leaning down and kissing the top of Nick's head before moving to kiss the top of Erin's head, too. "Are you okay?" he whispered down to Erin, resting his forehead against hers to look down in her eyes.
Erin nodded with a smile. "Yeah, we're all okay. They didn't hurt us, Jake."
Jake nodded, but looked his fiancé over himself anyway, his hand following his eyes and trailing down her arm to her waist.
"Jake."
Jake pulled himself from his examination to look at Sam, who was holding Emily close with an arm around her lower back. The older wolf was regarding him closely, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Yeah?" Jake stood up straight, his hand slipping around Erin's waist to her back to pull her closer to him.
Sam was silent for a few moments before he commented, "You handled that really well. Everything considered, you were very…diplomatic. And in control."
Jake nodded slowly, unsure of where this was going. "Thanks, Sam."
Sam looked thoughtfully around at the remaining pack members, who were all holding their imprints, except Leah since her imprint wasn't there at the moment. Then, Sam looked down at Emily's who gave him a small smile with her hands on his chest. Finally, Sam looked at Jake again.
"Any chance you'd reconsider being Alpha?"
Jake blinked in shock, completely taken aback. "Um,…what?"
"I know you've already got a lot on your plate." Sam admitted, "But I really want to quit phasing and start a family with Emily. I've been thinking about it for a while now, to be honest. And it's not like it's as much of a responsibility now as it was before. We barely get the occasional nomad, and we're down to barely a couple patrols a day."
Jake thought about it for a moment, looking down at Erin questioningly. She gave him a soft smile, that look alone telling him she'd support him in anything he chose. Jake returned it with a grateful smile before looking up at Sam again.
"I'll definitely consider it, but I'd like to talk it over with both you and Erin at some point to figure some things out first, if that's okay." Jake answered honestly.
Sam grinned and gave a nod. "Absolutely. That's great, Jake."
"Alright, now that that mushiness it over and the drama is gone," Rachel cut in, stepping forward into the center of the group even though Paul refused to remove his arms from around her waist. "can you guys beat it so we can finish the shopping for my baby brother's wedding?"
"That's right, I forgot that's what you girls were doing." Jake remembered with a smirk, glancing down at his fiancé. His eyes flickered to the bag that was hanging from Emily's elbow, which from the logo was from a dress shop. "So, what's in the bag?" he asked mischievously.
"Noooo." Rachel stated warningly, snatching the bag from Emily to hold it close to her chest. "You are not allowed to see it. In fact, none of you guys are allowed to see it because if one of you sees it, chances are all of you will see it." The rare sunlight glinted off the simple engagement ring Paul had saved up to buy her, finally, proposing only a month back. They wanted to wait until after Erin and Jake's wedding before they started planning theirs.
"What about her?" Embry asked, pointing at Leah, who smirked back at him.
Rachel blinked. "She's exempt because she doesn't phase often, she's better at keeping secrets than all of you, and she knows I keep an aluminum bat at my house that I have no issues using on her."
Jake and Paul snorted, both having been victims to said aluminum bat in the past.
"Moving on, what else do you need to shop for? I mean, we're getting married in a little under a year. It's not like you can buy the food and flowers this early, the food would go bad and the flowers would die." Jake asked.
"Well, obviously. But we can look into a few places for prices and figure out when to book them for appointments or something." Rachel pointed out as if it were obvious, "Besides, chances are Emily's going to handle the food. If we had to pay to feed you guys, we'd be bankrupt before we got anything else."
Everyone laughed because they knew it was true. Even though most of the guys didn't phase as often they still had insatiable appetites. Quil and Jared returned a moment later, informing Jake the three Cullens got in a fancy convertible and sped out of city limits forty miles over the speed limit. By now they were probably halfway to the state lines.
"Good." Jake nodded before looking over the girls. "Are you sure we have to leave you girls?" he asked them all hesitantly. "Couldn't we just leave one wolf with you?"
"What do you call Leah?" Rachel asked pointedly.
"She's a little out of practice." Jake answered carefully. Pissing off Rachel was a bad idea. Pissing off Leah was a bad idea. Pissing off both of them was a death wish.
"Just because I'm trying to stop doesn't mean I can't handle the situation if I need to." Leah told him, "If I needed to, I could've phased and protected the girls and Nick, at least until one of you showed up."
"Still, even for an experienced wolf, three vampires would've been a challenge." Jared pointed out as he returned to Kim's side. He didn't like the idea of leaving his wife, whom he married only a couple months ago, with only Leah for protection after what just happened. His wolf was itching to get her home.
"You guys just said they were well on their way out of the state." Maya pointed out, "What are the chance of us running into another vampire?" she asked quietly.
A couple of the guys grumbled under their breath, not liking that she had a point.
"If it makes you guys feel better, why don't one or two of you go wait by our cars?" Emily suggested, "That way we can still have our girls' day and you'll be nearby if we need you."
The guys glanced among themselves agreeably. They thought it sounded like a decent idea, and the girls didn't seem to have a problem with it, either.
"So, is that okay with everyone?" Jake asked, just to make sure. Everyone nodded. "Great, so…I'll stay. Who else wants to?"
It was obvious pretty much all the guys wanted to stay, but they made the effort of deciding whether they needed to or not.
Quil didn't feel the need to stay, since his imprint was safe at home. Embry debated silently for a bit before deciding he should get back to the reservation. Him, Jake, and Quil; having graduated college, had bought a small shop to start their own car shop. They were spending a bunch of their free time fixing it up and they were set to open in a few weeks, and he had planned on working on it that day. Paul only had to look at Rachel to know he was going home, otherwise she'd go on a tirade about not needing a man to protect her because she's an independent woman. Finally, after some discussion, Sam agreed to go home to inform the Elders of the confrontation, and check in with the other wolves.
So, Jared went with Jake back to the girls' cars to wait for them to finish their shopping. And after a moment of discussion, Nick decided he wanted to go with Jake and Jared.
"Well, this turned into an eventful shopping trip." Rachel commented dryly as they walked down the sidewalk.
"It could've been much worse." Kim pointed out, "At least they agreed to let us finish up. What else do we need to do?"
"Well, we can at least look into flower shops and stuff to look at prices." Emily suggested. "Other than that I can't think of much else to do."
"Oooh. We could always shop for Erin's honeymoon." Maya suggested with an impish grin, pointing to a nearby mall that had a Victoria's Secret store. Erin blushed when Leah snickered and seconded the suggestion.
"You guys suck."
XXX
Bella glowered out the window as Alice sped down the highway.
"Bella. You need to move on. You're happily married to Edward. You love him. Why do you care what Jacob does?" Rosalie asked from the backseat.
"He's my best friend. And she's not good enough for him. She's the reason he doesn't want me around anymore."
"No, Bella. He fell in love with her, and you did nothing but attack her." Rosalie argued. "You can't expect him to always care about you when you hate the person he loves. You two have just become too different. You're literally opposites. You're a vampire, he's a werewolf. Things simply can't stay the same. You need to move on and accept the fact that Jacob loves that other girl. And try to find some closure in that she will always love him and be there for him. He will be happy, just like you will be happy with Edward."
Bella silently pondered those words as the car sped on. Perhaps Rosalie was right. Jake did seem happy with that Erin girl. And he'd certainly grown up. He was more mature. He looked every part the Alpha he was meant to be.
Yes. It was time for her to move on to the next chapter of her life, and not look back. Charlie thought she was dead and would have Billy and Sue to take care of him. Jake had the pack and Erin to take care of him. Renee had Phil and was living her life. It was time for Bella, and the other Cullens, to move on and never return to Washington.
XXX
Sorry I haven't updated this one for nearly a month. I've been working on my newest Harry Potter story and lost some of my inspiration for this one. But at least this part's long to make up for it. Sorry to those of you who never wanted to see Bella again, and I know this was sort of redundant since Carlisle already promised the pack they'd never return, but I felt like this way there'd be a more formal closure in regards to the Bella issue.
Let me know what you thought!