Bella followed behind the white haired woman, trying to keep her space as she did so as she didn't trust the stranger. How could she? The woman had made it quite clear that she intended to use Bella like some sort of solider in a supernatural war that she wanted to have no part in. Bella didn't want to be a werewolf, let alone fight in the name of them, or join a pack.
Her heart fluttered as she continued to trail behind the woman with the scarred face, her mind on Kate and what she would think, or how she would feel and react if Bella didn't turn up back at the house soon. After a few more minutes, Bella began to notice that her surroundings were subtly changing around her: thin trees to thick, leaves to mud and a small river appeared.
The whole time they walked she remained silent, not knowing what to say or do. A part of her was curios to meet other werewolves; ones who could help and support her change rather than force her to submit and devour human flesh. She almost stumbled with the cold sweat that washed over her. Bella prayed that all werewolves weren't like Lisa had been.
After what seemed an age and what Bella knew to be a fair distance from the Denali house, the woman came to a stop, and so Bella did too. She said nothing, but simply turned and smiled over her shoulder at Bella, although the scarred side of her face stayed put, and Bella wondered if whatever had happened to her had paralyzed the muscles in that side of her face.
Bella nervously smiled back, wondering for the hundredth time why the woman had brought her here and why she would be transforming on the new moon, instead of the full one. Had the myths been wrong? Did werewolves always change on a new moon? The woman spoke, interrupting Bella's inner debate.
"Once we cross the fallen tree, you will have entered our village. It's very cut off from the world, and private. It's our home, and yours too, if you would like it to be."
Bella tried not to grimace at the invitation. She wanted to go back to the Denali's, and Kate; to place where she was cared for and felt safe. She was even beginning to think of the place as 'home' and not just the Denali's any more. The woman took up walking again and once again Bella trailed behind her.
Her shoes began to sink into the mud as she pressed the soles of her feet into the earth. The downward slope they were on was making her nervous. She wasn't the most balanced person, and she didn't want to make a fool out of herself by tumbling right into the werewolf village. Within a few more steps they had reached the small village.
Bella could understand why the woman had described it as 'closed off' immediately. Thick trees were everywhere and between their gaps were thinner trees, surrounded at intervals by rocks so high that they towered over Bella. It would be a difficult place to find nestled so deeply in the woods, let alone get into.
On the outskirts of what appeared to roughly be shaped as a circle were thirteen huts made completely of wood. The moment that Bella and the white haired woman stepped into the private village, many people began to spill out of the huts and came running across the green to meet them.
"Alpha! Is there any news?" A young girl asked.
The woman glanced over the girl and then the gathering audience. "My people! There is no word yet, but there was an attack on our young warriors. Most made it out, but a few did not."
Bella's ears popped from the sudden outcry of angry people swearing and shouting; competing to be heard over each other. The woman lifted her hand and waited until the crowd fell silent before she addressed them once more, "I understand your anger, and your frustration. However, you can rest assured that I will not give up, and we will win this war!"
Shouts of elation broke over the group again before they drifted back into silence to hear the rest of the speech. "In the meantime: I want full cover. Lookouts in the trees and a new patrol schedule set out for a three-mile radius."
Without waiting for a dismal, the group of people dispersed and ran off to complete the tasks set to them. None of them moaned about what seemed to be a change in their usual way of patrolling, and no one demanded further details or action. They were obedient and respectful, which told Bella that this woman could possibly be trusted.
Bella turned to face the woman as she tapped Bella on the shoulder. "Follow me child, there's much to discuss."
Bella followed once again, wondering what the time was, panicking over the oncoming change and also worrying about Kate and how she would react to Bella not coming home. The woman led Bella to a larger hut than the rest. The front of it was made of wood like the others but seemed to be a cover entrance to a cave.
Once inside, Bella could see that her assumptions had been right and that with the front hut attached to the surrounding rock, the inside was rather spacious. Bella was further led into a crudely furnished dining room which consisted of what appeared to be a hand crafted table and matching chairs.
She was directed to sit on a chair while the woman sat in a high backed one at the head of the table. As soon as they were seated, the woman began to talk immediately. "Well there's a lot to discuss, but I'll keep it short. I know you're eager to leave… As I'm sure you realize: these people rely on me. The rely on me to get us through this ever continuing war."
"Look," Bella said as silence fell. "I don't mean to be rude, but I have no interest in your pack, or your war. I want to go home, I want to get through this horrendous change, and I want this nightmare to be done with for the month."
"It's your first change tonight Bella; we could help you," the woman insisted. When Bella didn't reply, she added, "come back tonight, before nine, and we'll help you. I'll make sure my guards know that you're not a trespasser."
"Um, thanks?" Bella trailed as she stood, wondering if she should say more. She finally said, "it's not that I don't want to help. I'm just confused, and… I've received some shocks when it comes to being a wolf."
The woman nodded, and Bella thought that a lot of new wolves must have been changed by being bitten. "I understand, Bella. I really do."
"Am I free to go?"
The woman nodded, and looked rather glum about it. Perhaps she had hoped to persuade Bella to join her cause, and add her to her 'people' and pack. Bella went to leave but her heart felt heavy with guilt. All these people were once in her own position, more than likely, and this woman had been their beacon of hope.
Finally, Bella turned back to the woman and sighed. "Just tell me what you wanted to tell me."
The woman smiled although she had the decency to make it look like it wasn't smug. "The pack was once very, very large with scores of people from different backgrounds and blood lines. But they were ruled by a cruel and spiteful man. He treated them like slaves, and raised them like soldiers: pigs destined for slaughter."
"One day a young man stepped up to him and challenged the Alpha's authority. With this challenge, the war began. With a large portion of the pack following the young man's example, the previous Alpha was driven from the pack, taking his few followers with him. Since that day there has been an ongoing fight between the two packs. Sons, brothers, sisters, daughters and the like have continued the fight to honor their ancestors."
Bella frowned. "I understand that, but what am I meant to do? Just fight? What does that accomplish?"
The woman shrugged and simply answered, "come back at nine, and you will see."
Bella left the village with haste after that. She understood the history of the packs, but what did fighting accomplish between them? The stronger pack? When would they call it quits, and how? What was the point of Bella joining that, when there seemed to be no end goal? Bella tried to shake herself out of all the questions, and instead prepare herself for her first change.
When she arrived back home, Kate was still on the couch watching mindless T.V and wrapped in her lazy cocoon, but there now seemed to be a few cups and bowls on the coffee table as if she had been snacking. When Kate noticed her standing in the doorway she smiled softly, as if worried they were still fighting.
"Well, I'm home," Bella said, breaking the awkward tension.
"I'm glad you're safe," Kate replied, her eyes flickering over Bella's face.
Bella bit her lip, debating whether to tell Kate the truth and then decided that she didn't want to keep any more secrets. "Tonight… is my first night as a… well, I'll be leaving at nine."
Kate frowned at first, not seeming to understand before her eyes opened wide and she sat up on the couch. "I should come wit-"
"No!" Bella interrupted. Kate's face flashed with hurt and Bella hastened to explain herself, "I could be… dangerous, and I've met some people… who can help."
Kate's eyebrow shot up. "There's more? Bella you have to tell me where they are, they might be dangerous! Like Li-"
"Don't."
Kate sighed and Bella talked over whatever she was going to say next. "They're not dangerous. They're a small group, and a lot of them look like they've been doing this for years. The place they stay in looks well developed, so they've clearly been right here for years as they've changed too. They're not a threat."
Kate breathed heavily through her nose and lay back down on the sofa. "I'll wait up for you," she whispered softly.
Bella turned away from her, cheeks hot and heart racing at Kate's sprawled position, exposed skin and mussed hair. "It's okay," she began as she started to leave the living room. "I'll be fine."
Once in her room she packed a small bag. She didn't know what to expect, or how this was going to work, but she expected that her clothes would need replacing or to be put up somewhere and last time she had woken up covered in blood. She'd need some wipes or a cloth of some sort to clean up with before re-dressing.
After her bag was packed, Bella sat on her bed and stared at the time. She felt sick with apprehension and was surprised when she woke up some time later after falling asleep. It was dark outside her window and she shot up in bed. How could she have fell asleep!? She could change at any moment, right in the house!
With her heart racing, Bella grabbed her bag and chanced a quick look at the clock on the wall. It read: 8:20 PM. Bella cursed before she put on her shoes, threw open her door, raced down the stairs and out the front door without saying goodbye to Kate. She didn't even know where the rest of the Denali's were and if she had left them with questions about her hasty exit.
Bella managed to get about half way to the village from her memory but in the pitch black and with many obstacles, she was soon lost. Her pulse hadn't seemed to have calmed since she had woken up but now it jumped higher once more. She didn't want to change here, in the middle of the woods.
Last time she hadn't remembered her change, and she still couldn't. Bella assumed it would be like that every time and if she couldn't remember anything, then she certainly wasn't in control of her wolf form. That meant that she could do anything, kill anybody without ever knowing it. She needed to get to the village so that they could show her what to do.
Since Bella could see no paths or determine any sense of direction, she was simply walking on and on, probably getting even more lost in the process. Walking began to agitate her, as if she was wasting time, and so she began to run. The darkness was breaking up as she did so and the moon was pushing through the clouds.
Technically, Bella should have been happier that she had some lighting now but the site of the moon made her heart stop and start dangerously. It was here. It was coming for her, ready to force her into a beast. With panic choking her throat and tears beginning to form, Bella ran out of the shadows and into the moonlight.
It was the worst thing to do. The moment the moonlight touched her skin, Bella's body reacted. Her muscles locked up in intense pain, preventing any screaming and left her to crash to the floor. Her bag dropped and landed in a shadow, but it didn't make any difference anyway, because she was paralyzed with pain.
She couldn't strip to prevent damaged clothes, couldn't cry or scream, couldn't curl into a ball with agony. Instead all she could do was lie face first in the mud, ramrod straight and feel. The agony she felt now was nothing like it had been before. Not even an eighth of what she had previously experienced. That, or her memory hadn't given the agony any justice.
As the paralysis held onto her body, Bella's bones began to break. It started with her legs. She was almost grateful she couldn't see as she felt the bone twist at the knee, leaving her foot pointed towards the sky. The bone stayed in that angle as it repeated on the other leg and both her knees dislocated.
The pain was horrendous and made worse by the fact that Bella knew what was coming, that she knew that she wouldn't pass out for a long while, and that she was so terrified to be alone and uncontained. The pain stopped for milliseconds as an intense burning swept over her, starting at her scalp and washing down to her toes.
The flames worked inside and out of her, burning away her internal organs, muscles, nerves and blood vessels. Her skin dissolved under its assault, stripping the flesh from her bones and then Bella's arms began to break. The elbows twisted out, leaving her arms pulled back towards the sky like her feet.
Her hands snapped back at the wrists and then her fingers bent and reshaped, her nails grew and rounded into claws, tearing at flesh and leaving it bleeding. Inside her own head, Bella heard nothing but her own raw screams. Outside it was almost peaceful but for the sounds of breaking bones, like twigs being stepped on.
From her claws growing, Bella mentally tried to focus herself by clinically assessing the changes to her body. Her shoulders had been pulled back, her spine had just broken and rearranged itself, her stomach had concaved, her thighs have grown, her toe nails had shaped into claws. All the while she could feel that presence growing more excited.
In her mind's eye Bella pictured a hungry wolf watching a doe eating peacefully. She could see the wolf assessing the distance, the speed of its own run, calculating the speed of the doe and feel its mouth growing slick with saliva at the thought of biting into the flesh of the beautiful animal. It waited and watched. Patient. Then it stepped forward, the doe looked up. It pounced.
Bella opened her eyes suddenly as she realized the pain had stopped and that she could no longer feel her own body at all. Nothing felt familiar, or recognizable. Her eyes were sharper and brought colors to life. Scents were stronger and easily identified without her having to consciously do so. Sounds were closer, although she knew they were some distance away.
When Bella tried to stand, on what she thought to be two feet, she instead felt a large weight raise with her. It took her a moment to realize she was that large weight. Her paws dug into the earth and it invoked a feeling she couldn't quite describe. It felt like it did when her toes pressed into the bare earth but as if her foot was rounded, and she couldn't feel the cold of the mud.
It took Bella quite a few minutes to determine what to do with herself. She hadn't expected to be aware in her wolf form, and now that she was, she was apprehensive of her new body. What if she had murderous cravings, like Lisa had? And while her body would want it, her brain wouldn't, and Bella didn't think she could survive that kind of trauma.
On the other hand: if she was lucky and didn't have any desire to eat flesh, or hurt anybody, or god forbid: kill, then what was she meant to do with herself? Did she stay in wolf form until the sun came up? Or was it just a set few hours? What was her point? Her motivation? And she still didn't know why she had changed on a new moon, and not the full one.
Bella finally plucked up the courage to start walking and felt her hind legs trembling. It truly was one of the weirdest feelings she had experienced to be a wolf. At first she started with a stumble, then a slow walk, then a light trot and before long she was running. It hadn't taken her long at all to get used to her new body, and she felt right in it.
Running in wolf form was the most exhilarating experience. She had never run so fast in her life and the power that thrust her legs forward was intoxicating. Bella ran laps around the space she had changed in before running off in different directions, experiencing the rush of wind, the new scents she could pick up and the vitality of the night surrounding her.
After having her few minutes of fun, Bella came to a stop and debated on what she would do now. Should she try and find the village with her new nose, eyes and ears? But she didn't really need their help now. The worst was over, and she felt fine. She felt better than fine actually: she felt like a whole new person. Stronger, fitter and improved.
Perhaps she could grab her bag between her teeth and make her way home to Kate? Signal her in some way to look at Bella in her wolf body. The thought made Bella whine low. It wasn't a sad sound, but a needy one. The thought of Kate seeing her like this made her feel… naked, and excited. Something magical, and something that would alter their relationship.
Bella had just decided to do this and was scouting for her bag when a deliciously tempting musky scent pierced the air, calling to Bella's senses and speeding up her heart. She lifted her large head, aware of the weight of it on her shoulders but not hindered by it. It took next to no time to pinpoint the source of the scent.
Werewolves. Racing towards her. Before Bella could think of a plan of action they were on either side of her, blocking her in and cutting off her escape route. Bella's ears flattened on her head without her deciding to do so, and she puzzled over the movement. She wasn't scared so much as she was intimidated. They were bigger than her and wiser in their wolf bodies.
They both pulled back their muzzles, revealing wicked sharp teeth that were pointed perfectly for tearing into skin, and snarled their displeasure at Bella. She growled back and feinted running to one side, where both wolves turned to anticipate her, and then took the chance to run the opposite way.
Not five minutes previous Bella had felt fast and strong in her wolf skin, working her new muscles and the power inside her. Now she felt sluggish and slow, just begging to be taken down with her lack of speed compared to the two wolves who were already gaining on her. They both appeared at her side and the one on the right rammed into Bella.
This knocked her into the wolf on the left who locked its muscles as Bella fell towards it in order to stay on its feet. The hard wall of muscle caused Bella to slide down the other wolfs fur. She tried to bend her knees to keep her on her own paws but instead her new legs buckled and she crashed heavily to the floor.
Rolling onto her large back, Bella planned to attack by releasing her claws and baring her teeth, but the position left her stomach exposed and a deep instinct inside her told her this wasn't okay, and it would get her killed. She was vulnerable. Bella continued to roll until she was on her paws again, knocking over the wolf on her right as she did so.
This distracted the wolf on her left and Bella prepared to run once more. She never had the chance as another wolf, seemingly out of nowhere, came crashing into the space Bella and the two wolves were in. It did nothing but snarl at Bella's attackers before leaving once more. The two wolves followed the mysterious wolf, leaving Bella perplexed.
Bella didn't have time to debate running again before two humans stepped out from where they had disappeared. She would have run, had she not been curious as to what they were going to say to her after so blatantly trying to attack her. Already on guard for any sneak attacks, Bella snarled at them.
The one man snorted, not intimidated and asked, "what are you doing on our land, rouge?"
Rouge? Bella thought. Was that because she wasn't part of a pack? And if so, how did they know that? Unable to reply with her wolf muzzle, and unable to shift back into her human form, Bella simple stared at them. The second man rolled his eyes and folded his arms over his bare chest.
"If you project your thoughts, then I will hear them. I only hear your thoughts if you want me to."
Bella debated over this and felt stupid as she projected the thoughts: I didn't know I was on somebody's land. It's my first time as a wolf; my first change.
The man nodded before looking to the one wolf in the group. With two men in human form and one in wolf that was the same color as the other two, Bella couldn't determine who had attacked her, and who had stopped the attack, so she just 'glared' as best as she could at all three of them.
"Regardless," the man finally said. "This is marked territory, and you would have smelt that. You should have stayed away, rouge. Because of your trespassing, you will not be leaving this place."
Bella was just opening her muzzle to snarl her protest when the trees ahead rustled and yet another man stepped through them. "It's the Autheri's. They're here."
The mention of the 'Autheri's' whoever they were, seemed to piss off every male around Bella. It pissed them off so much that they seemed to forget about her completely and dashed away to deal with them. If Bella focused, she could make out the sounds of fighting in the distance. She wondered if the 'Autheri's' were the pack she had met earlier in the day.
Her new sensitive ears picked up snarls and roars. Bella wondered what to do. To go and help, or go home to the Denali's? That was what she wanted to do, but she had resolved to be a good person when she found out she would be a wolf, and walking away from people getting hurt didn't seem like something a good person would do.
Besides, Bella reasoned as she followed the sounds, perhaps all they need is a third party to step in and help them end this ridiculous feud. When Bella made it to the 'fight' she found a very high volume of wolves attacking each other. With ever wolf biting and clawing, and many of them the same color and size, Bella couldn't determine who was from which pack.
As Bella watched for a few more seconds, an almost numbing haze seemed to glide over her muscles and mind. She felt truly animalistic, like the wolf had taken over her body and she was doing nothing but watch from the side lines. She felt an overwhelming sense of protection, and her wolf seemed to have determined who she was protecting.
Without any conscious decision to do so, Bella was racing over to a small light grey wolf that was fighting with a fairly larger brown wolf. She jumped and it took her quite high, a lot higher than she had ever jumped as a human. In mid-jump, her claws retracted and her paw positioned itself in the exact place to rip into fur on the come down.
As Bella landed the claws connected with the wolfs face leaving vicious red marks in their wake. Bella's muzzle bit into the space between the animal's neck and shoulder, her head moving rapidly in order to tear the skin and muscle, and force blood out of the wound at a ferocious pace.
Watching from the inside, Bella didn't even feel disgusted with the wolfs actions. As if her and her new wolf were melding together, putting two separate instincts, personalities, thoughts and feelings into a new being; a beautiful hybrid of power and strength. Bella wondered what she looked like in this new form.
Were her eyes lupine yellow? What color was her fur? Did it stain with the blood of the wolf she had just thrown to the floor with a severe injury? So many smells assaulted Bella's nose that her head pulsated with the effort to identify them. Blood, adrenaline, mud, water, tree resin and fear.
Such a strong scent of fear drifted around her and Bella pinpointed the elusive smell to the grey wolf she had just saved. She could tell it was young, and it stroked an anger and protectiveness inside her that she'd never had as a human. A cub; a pack mate; a child, fighting and being put in danger. It pissed her off.
Bella growled and searched for the next wolf to help. Her eyes found a wolf battling with a snow white wolf, although its fur was stained with brown and red. The white wolf seemed to be winning, until a black wolf interrupted the fight. Bella recognized the wolf as the one who had hunted and trapped her earlier, as if she wasn't a fellow wolf and didn't demand respect.
The black wolf was descending on the white one until Bella ran into it, knocking it off the white wolf and sending it skidding along the floor where it kicked up mud and grass. The wolf was skilled, and agile however and so it was on its feet only moments after being on the floor. Its eyes were orange, something Bella hadn't noticed earlier on.
The wolf charged her and she did the same. Bella swung out her paw as the action had worked so well earlier on, but it didn't connect as she hoped and left her vulnerable to attack. The black wolf seized the opportunity and sunk its teeth into her. Pain flared like fire from the bite and Bella pushed past it to swing her body and shake the beast.
The move was proving futile because the wolfs hold was tight and Bella whined as she realized blood was oozing rapidly from the wound. Another wolf came crashing into the black one just as Bella thought that all hope was gone, surprising Bella's attacker enough to leave room for her to break free of its previously unbreakable jaw lock.
The wolf who had interrupted the fight and saved Bella looked to her quickly with beetle black eyes before launching itself at the black wolf once more. Bella watched the ensuring battle of teeth and claws with amazement, still too shaken up by nearly losing the fight to join in again straight away.
It took Bella a moment to realize what an important opportunity she was passing up on before she joined back into the action, releasing her claws once more to sink them into the wolfs body that had attacked her. The wolf howled to the sky and thrashed, which did nothing but help Bella tear at its muscle and fur.
Her claws were so deep she could feel bone at the tips of them. Bella shook the wolf off, retracting her claws viciously and was distracted immediately by the large roar that came from her left. When Bella looked around there was only a man standing there now, and Bella recognized it to be Markus.
With a glance around her, Bella noticed that the seven remaining wolves had all reverted back to their human bodies and had to angle their head up to look at her. Bella whined in surprise as small fingers tapped her furry shoulder and then the fingers ran through her thick fur, tickling the muscle beneath.
When Bella angled her head down, she noticed that it was the pale woman from earlier today and she was smiling. "You did very well, Bella. On behalf of my village: I thank you. But you should feed now, before you turn back. Your wolf needs it. Just don't think with your human brain, and come back tomorrow."
Bella's heart was racing with adrenaline, but she realized that she was hungry and it wasn't a hunger she had felt in her human body. It worried her momentarily because she didn't want to kill anything, let alone humans, but it seemed that once again her wolf took the reins and Bella was nothing but a third party viewer.
It didn't take long to hunt down a deer with her new scenes. Bella was surprised once more to not feel disgusted by the act of eating it. She never felt disgusted as a human eating goat, cow, lamb or chicken did she? So why should she feel wrong for eating an animal as a wolf? It was the way of life and it didn't bother her.
Once she had eaten the animal down to the bone, Bella realized she was still hungry and began the next hunt for more deer. She didn't have time to find the next one however, because the moon was beginning to leave the sky and the sun was making its approach. As dawn made its appearance, Bella's wolf began to change.
It was as painful changing from a wolf to a human as it had been changing from a human to a wolf. Her bones had to rearrange themselves once more to fit her human skin and her internal organs had to adapt to their new body. Bella roared through this transformation, not paralyzed as she had been in her previous change.
Quite a few trees were left with claws marked deep into the bark and a lot of animals were frightened away from their eating or sleeping spots. During the change Bella managed to stumble through the woods, bit by tiny bit, until she was fully human once more. By some miracle she found her stowed away bag, redressed and stumbled home.
Bella managed to get home with drooping eyes and sore muscles. The door was open when she got home which she thought must have been Kate's doing but Kate was passed out on the couch when she looked into the living room. It was really early and no one seemed to be up which Bella was grateful for.
The closer she got to her room, the heavier her eyes felt and by the time she reached her bed and had flopped down on it, she was asleep. She awoke inside the covers and to a knock on her door. When Bella forced her eyes open, Kate was softly shutting the door. "How do you feel?" She whispered.
"Sore, but okay," Bella croaked.
Kate smiled. "I'm glad you're okay, Bella." She was silent for a moment before she said, "I'm sorry to wake you up, but I couldn't think of any excuse for the rest of the family. They want you to come down stairs."
Bella yawned, but nodded. "Okay. Let me shower and change first."
Kate nodded and then left. Bella did as she had said. She showered, brushed her teeth, dressed and braided her wet hair. It was therefore around twenty minutes later when she finally entered the living room and felt her eyes pop in surprise. All the Denali's were waiting for her and they were all wearing ridiculous birthday hats.
Bella groaned outwardly, but inside she felt an elation like no other. She felt cared for, and… loved. They wanted to celebrate her birthday and that could only mean they cared. Like family. The minute they saw her they began to clap and sing 'happy birthday to you' and Bella's cheeks were hot and red by the time they had finished.
Bella grinned as she was completely unable to suppress it. "My birthday was yesterday, so you missed it. Maybe next year?"
"No!" They spoke in unison, laughing at their dramatic reply and stepping forward to pull Bella into the living room.
Carmen seemed especially adamant with her hands on her hips and a playful scowl. "Now Bella, that's not fair. We didn't realize it was your birthday, and now that we do we have to celebrate it!"
Bella was going to argue although she was smiling when a loud knock on the door interrupted them. Kate went to answer it, and when she came back her face was white with apprehension. Bella's stomach took a dive bomb and her blood ran cold. Had they found Lisa's body? Did they know it was Kate? Was Bella going to lose the family she had just started to love?
Two police officers stepped in with Kate, and everyone stopped talking to find out what was going on. Bella's heart kick started wildly, her throat closing up with terror. "Sorry to interrupt you all. I've got some wonderful news!"
Bella frowned, now thoroughly confused. She looked to Kate's tight face again and wondered what could possibly be wonderful if Kate looked so utterly terrified. The two officers stepped to the side, revealing the person standing between them. Bella's heart stopped. Everything stopped.
"Bella, we've found your sister."
"Lisa," Bella breathed.
AN: Bam bet you did not see that one coming? anyway all questions will be answered in the next one! Massive thanks to the very talented and incredible beta LeighJ11