Sm owns all. A million thanks to mae-E. Thank you for being a researcher an a cheerleader.

She and Strongwolfprincess have been wonderful prereaders.

Charlie POV

"I don't know what Mr. Black said, but I assure, only part of it is true." Dr. Cullens was stern but his voice was soft. He was sitting statue still as he studied me. Too still. The doctor let his human demeanor fall away. I could feel it rolling off of him.

Billy was right. Whatever sat across from me wasn't human. I chided myself, like I had room to talk.

"The gentleman on the other side of the wall needs to come sit down with the rest of us. I know you're right outside my door. My hearing is even better than yours." For a moment the Doc sounded very old and tired, but he was still talking softly. He had shown his hand first. "Keep your voice down, we all have secrets to keep. These walls are not totally soundproof. Shut the door behind you."

Please no games. What did Billy call them, Cold Ones? Just answer my questions and I will leave you in peace.

He was sitting leaned back with one leg crossed, but his still wasn't moving. Only his eyes moved as they followed Ethan's movements around the room.

In the back of my mind I had been trying to figure out what was really bothering me about him. Now I could feel it better with Ethan in the room. The man in front of me was a powerful predator. I could feel it. He knew more about my kind than I knew about his. Not a good feeling.

Looking at Ethan, I could tell he was feeling it too. Like an instinctive fight or flight mode. Dr. Cullens was taking his time to study Ethan. His gaze lingered on him.

Ethan glared back in response. The more they watched each other, the more he was getting mad. I needed to get both of them on track. Then the doctor beat me to it.

"Bella has been a guest of my house for almost a month. No, you can not see her, and yes I will try to answer most of your questions." The creature in front of us still hadn't moved. I could see him breathing if I looked for it.

Ethan was livid. I could see him digging his nails into the chair. I need to get the situation under control. Maybe the creature was playing some kind of sick game with us.

"Why do you have Bella?" I very calmly asked. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. The Cold One was being calm. I had to be too. It felt like there was a stone in the pit of my stomach.

"Damn it, what is going on? What do you mean we can't see her?" Ethan blurted out.

"A few weeks ago, she and my oldest son had a small engagement. Both have come out permanently altered." A lawyer would have been proud, because I didn't understand a single bit of it.

"Before this goes any further, I need to set the record straight. What Bella has done was purely in self defense. She did not hurt a human. Edward is not human. She did not kill anyone. Edward has no heartbeat." No heartbeat? " Her and Edward are tit for tat."

"No," Ethan spoke up. "She made a stray. I saw your son this morning. He tried leave. To head into the mountains. She made him turn around. She told him that they were heading home instead."

"Damn it Edward," I heard the doctor mumble. Then he sighed. "Unfortunately my son is in the habit of striking out on his own. Fortunately, Bella did not infect a human. If your Territorial Council still wants to sign her death warrant I will be more than willing to go to war with your kind. I have allies." The doctor's voice had gone cold and flat. "I will not let her be put to death for something that was not her fault." That was all I needed to hear. "She still wants to have a relation with her Pride." Good.

His words were pissing Ethan off more. He wasn't the only one. I was trying to take in his word. I was having a hard time wrapping my mind around this.

"What has happened to Bella." I needed to steer this sinking ship back to shallow waters. I was the Chief of Police. I once was head enforcer for Bella's father. I needed to think like that now. "I'm having trouble understanding. What are you?"

"Yes," Ethan hissed. "In detail!" I missed my old partner. He was so much calmer.

"Control yourself child or you will have to leave and let the adults talk." The creature in scrubs said with a cold steel tone. He focused his sole gaze on Ethan and stared him down until Ethan gave him one final withering glare and dropped his eyes to the floor. He was still glowering, but he was quite. For the moment.

My allegiance was to Bella. She was the daughter of my father's brother. The Olympic mountain range was a big chunk of my Prides territory. I had hoped after she grew up and found a mate that she would come back. I would willing follow my new alpha to hell and back. There was still several of her father's enforcer that were now considered wildcats like me. We were all waiting for her to come back with an alpha.

Greg Sanders and I have had many of long talks. I think that was what he had been aiming for. When he told me what he wanted to do with Faythe as his heir, I was afraid that was what he wanted to do with Bella.

He said no. Bella was too kind hearted for that. I very relived to hear that. He was right. She was. I was willing to bet that she had the doctor's son wrapped around her little finger.

"Tell me Chief-"

"Charlie," I interrupted him. "Please Doc, call me Charlie." I saw a hint of a smile touch his lips. As long as he was focused on me, his demeanor was different. We had spent the last year an a half interacting with each other through the roles that we currently play in this town. There was a certain amount of respect that comes from that. I have been calling him Doc since I had meet him a year and a half ago. When he started at the little county hospital.

"Let me try this again. My name is Carlisle Cullen. I was born in 1664 on the outskirts of London, England. You can call me Carlisle." His eyes glanced towards the other cat in the room. He was still sitting rock still in his chair. He was keeping a weary eye on Ethan. The age explained why Ethan was get talked down to. "Tell me Charlie, what do you know about vampires?"

"Apparently," I said glancing out the window. It wasn't night yet. But it was getting darker outside now. Twilight was upon us. But I had met with the doctor in the daylight more than once. It wasn't bright and the clouds were always overcast here in Forks. "Not as much as I thought. My Pride had always knew something strange was under foot. But we never could pin anything. Small movements out of the corner of your eye. Strange smell we never could identify. And the different Indian tribes, they all have their own local legends." The tribe next door was prime example.

"Go on," Carlisle leaned forward quickly. It was a blur to my eyes. I heard Ethan's heart beat jump when the vampire moved. "This I got to heard. I do wonder how much they got right." He smiled at me. I wish he hadn't done that. Those teeth were too sharp an a little too white. How had I not noticed this before.

"Mostly what I do know comes from Billy Black and Harry Clearwater." Ethan's eyes cut to me. He refrained from whatever it was that he wanted to ask. I needed him to be the Enforcer that I knew he was and play it cool. But at the same time I was leery of talking about La Push. I had seen the large wolves walking under the trees that I was hiding in. Ethan wasn't one of my Pride. I would feel differently if his Alpha was in his place.

"I'm not asking about the Tribe itself, Charlie." The vampire must have sensed what was making me uncomfortable. He knew I was being pulled more than one direction. More like four. The human world, Sanders' Pride, My loyalties to La Push, and my own Pride that I hope to see again. Carlisle, had seen over three centuries of time, soften his gaze as he look at me. "You and I both, only want whats best for Bella." I could feel that. I still had to be careful.

"Cold Ones. Apotamkin. Super strong. Very fast. You feast upon the blood humans or animals. That you are the dead walking. Immortal." Not once did the vampire flinch as I was saying these things about him.

"Only because you are not human, can I even talk to you two about this." The vampire's accent was getting heavier as the conversation went on. British? Strangely relaxing to me. "Bella has talk to me on the rules her kind. And yes I understand. My kind has similar rules, but more ruthless results."I heard Ethan shallow. Hard. "I'm not going to sugar coat this. My kind are mean, nasty and brutal. We are driven by our blood-lust."

That was the gist of what Billy had said. Yet the man in front of me was a doctor. In all of Billy's stories, the Cold One had red eyes. There was other stories that the old man had hinted at. Then acted like it was taboo for him to tell me about them.

"But you're a doctor. You have gone to crime scene with me. Done autopsies. I have seen you first hand save humans. Seen you get upset when you couldn't save them." Something wasn't adding up. "Billy is really bitter about your family-."

"Coven, but we do think of ourselves as a family." Carlisle smiled kindly. "But coven is the correct terminology." I could tell he wasn't trying to be rude when he cut me off. Ethan was being quite. I was thankful. I didn't have my cop hat on right. I was having a conversation with a peer. But I filed everything away for later. That was the enforcer working in the background. "None of us have any blood relations. Abstaining from human blood makes our temperament calmer. This, allowing us to form a family like bond. I must stress to you this is not the norm." It sound like he was being honest, but I'm still a cop and an enforcer. I know better.

"Why does his tribe hate you?"

"Hmm...Honestly I would like to tell you, but I bound by oath not to say." I heard Ethan growl. I was very sure what the secret was and fully agreed with not telling and why.

Ethan wasn't handling this as well as I had hope. I needed to call Sanders and get him up here. I was dead sure that Carlisle was the one in charge of this little band. This needed to be between the two leaders. An alpha with an alpha.

Then I had a very chilling thought. The boy that Bella was talking to, what was he to her. A love interest, or someone she just had the misgivings of running across. If he was a lover that would mean a potential mate.

Carlisle could tell something was wrong. Ethan had turned to look at me. I could feel my heartbeat taking off.

My place was where Bella was. Her future mate would be my alpha. I could feel my nails biting through the red leather of the chair now. I realized I was starting to panic. I was quick to get myself under control. I could feel it falling into the pit of my stomach and turning hard, cold, and heavy.

Ethan gave me a look that said 'we will talk later'. He was going to be disappointed. I needed to talk to Greg Sanders. He was the closest thing I had to an alpha. At lest as long as Bella was under his roof.

No. The only person I answered to now is Bella. I would stay the chief of police and live here til she moved on.

I could feel that lump growing bigger and colder. Looking at Carlisle, I wanted to talk to just him. There was too much going on. Ethan was here.

I heard the door open to the ambulance bay. It was on the ground floor below us. The was about the time that my radio went off on my belt.

A motorcycle head on collision with a car. Who in their right mind rode one of those deathtraps in the rainy weather of Forks?

"I guess I need to go," I was making my out the door when I noticed the doctor grabbing an old leather bag and lab coat. He held the door and waved both of us through the door.

"Mind giving an old man ride?" He gave me a perfect closed mouth smile as he locked his office door behind him.

"Uh...Sure?" I was surprised. I didn't say anything else as we hurried to the cruiser. I offered the front seat to Dr Cullens and put Ethan in the back and then we were off.

Ethan was still sulking in the backseat. Doc was being quite and staring out the window watching the world go by. No one was talking. That was fine with me.

I kept the lights on. I didn't bother with the siren. Traffic wasn't a problem, so I wasn't worried.

Pulling up, I took a second to survey the scene. Harry Clearwater had already gotten there, and was direct the general flow of traffic. The good thing was there wasn't a lot going on except for the problem in front of us.

I saw Harry Clearwater frown when he saw the vampire get out of the car. How much did my best friend know about the doctor. I guess we all had our secrets.

The vampire was more worried about the motorcyclist than the car driver. There were EMTs an a few fireman were helping the man in the car. I followed Doc to where he was, by the bike.

"I can pitch my voice low enough that your friend will not hear us." The vampire whisper. His voice was so soft it could have been mistaken for a breeze. "You don't have to answer. Let me say a few things." Then in a louder voice he changed the subject. "There is a damage to the spine, the collar bone is broken, and..." the doctor trailed off for a moment. He swept his hands down the man's right arm. There was some very nasty road-rash on his arm. That must be side that his slide on after he bounced off the car. "I think there is a break or a fracture here."

A couple of months ago I had come in with a kid that I had found hiking in the woods, that had been hurt. Cullens had been the one on duty at the time. He had started using all those big medical terms. All that stuff had gone right over my head. And I told him so. I noticed he was still being mindful of that now.

"Bella has asked that I only talk to you. She is scared that someone one will come hunting for her." Smart girl. She knew Greg very well. "She must have time to acclimate to her new body. That's going to take a few years." That not going to fly. "She's not ready to be near anyone that has a beating heart." I raised an eyebrow to show I had questions. "The first year or two is when a newborn vampire is the most dangerous. They must relearn simple motor skills. Their strength alone is astonishing. A normal vampire can pick that car up with a single try. A newborn can do a semi-truck. Their human blood is still embedded their deep tissues. It makes them stronger and faster then a older vampire. Normally a coven will only allow one newborn in its ranks. Sometimes it takes all members to control one newborn." Carlisle wasn't painting a pretty picture.

I glanced back over to Ethan. He was sitting in the backseat of my cruiser with the backdoor open. He was looking very bored. He had his fingers knitted behind him and his head leaned back with his eyes closed. Pretending not to pay attention. At least that's what I would be doing.

Harry was still given me and the Doc the stink eye. I am sure in his mind, he thought he was justified. Hell, he may be right. Carlisle wasn't giving me much in the way of pros, mostly cons. It was like he was trying to scare me away.

"Charlie," Harry chose this moment to come over to us. "The second ambulance is on it way."

"Oh, good," the Doctor speaks up. "I'll catch a ride back with them." Harry looked relived. Harry turned his head to look up the road. I could hear the second siren coming this way. Dr Cullens was working with another paramedic to stabilize the injured man on the payment.

I felt a very slight weight pop into me pocket when the vampire brushed by me. When no one was looking I reach into my pocket to feel what it was. It was a very small cell phone. There was a single message on it from unmarked phone number.

This a burn phone. Me or Bella will call up tonight. Text to this number when you are alone for a while.

Feeling every muscle flex and glade over the forest terrain is pure pleasure. A month of pain, gone. I was enjoying sensation again.

Bella wasn't far behind me. She seem to be enjoying the romp through the wilderness with me. She let me set the pace. I wasn't moving vampire fast. I was trying to appear as natural as possible. I wanted to see if I could.

My first taste of venison was almost comical. When we found the herd, we broke away from each other. Instinct took over. I landed on the back of on an older doe who was graying around the muzzle. Dropping her wasn't the problem. I could lap at the blood but it was not as effective. I gave up and had to shift back to my vampire from.

Trying to relax enough to shift back was not as easy as Bella made it look. It felt like it took forever. In reality it was 2 minutes. To a vampire, time didn't flow the same in our brain. Sometimes an hour felt like it crawled all day. Then there were many times that day would melt into one another and blink by in minutes.

The vampire mind processed every single tiny thing with no effort with all the minuscule details intact. Even when time was moving fast, we would remember all of it. This was something Bella had still not noticed yet. She had not been a vampire long enough. One day.

I had barely hunted the past month. Forced once. I had been two week out when I went hunting and destroyed Bella's life. Even then, that was just a taste. A guilty pleasure.

When I had hunted, I had become nauseated afterwards. I felt for Bella the day I found her retching her guts up in the middle of the forest. She wasn't the only one that had been doing that, that day.

I enjoyed the feel of fresh blood rolling down the back of my throat. The blood hadn't time to cool.

I took two more down before I regain control over my blood lust. I felt sloshy. Then I realized I was naked. My clothes were laying shred in a trashcan somewhere, back at the house. And I was cover in matted blood. I hadn't been this bad since I was a newborn.

I noticed Bella sitting, still in cat form. I saw her back turned to me. I saw her glance over her shoulder briefly. I got the distinct feeling she was laughing at me.

She was trying give me some privacy. I appreciated it. But it wasn't something I could get use to. She had taken the time to explain day to day living in a werecat's house. Nudity was the norm. Might as well yet use to it now.

Being naked after a hunt wasn't a new thing. Playing with your food was a good way to get your clothing ripped off of you.

Bella had told me how to shift from cat to human. With a full stomach, I got down on all fours. I was feeling better than I had in a while. All the blood flowing through me made it hard to relax right a way. Bella sneaked a glance her should twice, waiting for me.

Feeling my skin and muscles moving then my joints rearranging. After years of having stone-like skin. This felt weird. Then there was the pain. A lot of harm had to be done before you feel true pain when your a normal vampire. This was different. More like a deep throbbing pain.

When all was said and done, I stretched like a housecat. There the sensation of every joint popping back in to place felt good compare to the pain of shifting.

Bella came over to me. With a few sniffs and nudge with her nose, she started licking me. Cleaning, she corrected me. I took the treatment grudgingly at first, I didn't want to admit that it felt good. I felt silly when I realized I was purring.

Both of our ears twitched when we heard unfamiliar sound. I took me a minute to realize what we were hearing. Three sets of heavy paws hitting the earth, with the sound of three solid wet heartbeat making its way through the woods.

Looking around I realized we were on neutral land. No mans lands.

Werewolves. Not what I wanted to deal with right now. Bella's head jerked back in surprise. Instead of running like my instincts screamed at me, Bella went straight up the nearest tree, a Douglas Fur.

Shh, just act like a normal cat. She found a wide set of branches in the giant evergreen. I could hear the wolves getting closer. I quickly followed suit. We nestled down and waited. It didn't take long. I wasn't disappointed.

I recognized two of the three wolves. Sam and Jacob were the ones in the front. They were followed by a smaller tan wolf. From the over-sized puppy feet, I was guessing a young one. Probably newly shifted.

All three were causally talking. They were out for an after noon stroll. There was a temporary pause in the ever persistent rainfall of Forks. Granted we had traveled a fair ways from Forks

The way the wolves talked was different than the way Bella and I talked. She had told me that what I did was not normal. I think my mind changed little when I started shifting. I could still hear a room full of people like always. But now I could hear Bella. We could even talk in a way, like there was just a filter on our thoughts. It was more like talking

Charlie was a werecat too. I had difficultly hearing him too. But him being law enforcement, I had the tendency to avoid him. Carlisle dealt with him more than I did.

The way the werewolves talked. It was similar to the way I could listen people on a normal day. But it was always all three of them staying in a this same bubble at the same time. Existing in each others mind at the same time. They were privy to what the other was think at given time. I felt for them.

Bella pushed her head against my chest. I leaned into her touch. She was always going to be different. I never wanted to be around someone to want to touch them.

The tan one, Seth, that moment to look up, then yelp.

We've been made.

Uh...

Sorry. Really old. Really bad slang from the 30's. She rolled her eyes in response.

Sam stopped in his tracks to look up in the tree we were held up in. The wolf's eyes were a brownish yellow. They glittered in the dying afternoon light.

By now all three of them had encircled the tree. Why didn't we run in the first place? No I knew why. That would have started a chase.

Is that the same cat we saw down on the Res? Jacob was talking to Sam. What other cat?

Maybe one of them, but the scent is different then that one. Sam stared up at us. His eyes were full of questions. I think one of them tangled with a vampire. They have that sickly sweet smell on them. And there is some deer caucuses back there. I think the red headed one has a thing for cats.

Since when do we have black panthers in Washington state? I felt Bella's muscles tighten up. She hadn't thought about that. It was the youngest one to ask that question.

I let out a low growl. I felt all the fur on my back standing on edge. There may be three against two, but I had walked this Earth for over nine decade. I was never been a bad fighter, but once Jasper got a hold of me, he made sure I would always have an advantage over my adversary. One way or another Bella and I would get out of this. I would make sure of it. I was her sire. I would always take care of her. No matter what she chose to do later, I would always love her. I personally think a part of me would break if she did leave.

I saw Bella's eyes flicker up at me and then return to the werewolves below. Damn it, she heard me. There was no telling what she was hearing in my head right now. I did my best to shove all my thoughts about her as far away as possible. Now really wasn't the time.

In response to my growl all the wolves came as close to the tree as they could. Their hackles were raised. The two older ones were eyeing the two of us. They knew something wasn't quite right.

If I give first blood I would be breaking the treaty. Fighting was off the table. We had enough trouble to deal with.