Sam Uley
I called a council meeting with a heavy heart, knowing my news would not be welcome in some corners. All the pack except the 2 on patrol were here and Seth was in wolf form so they could hear the meeting through him. "I just had a call from Doctor Cullen" lots of angry sounds went around the room at this, I continued saying "Basically he was informing me as Alpha, that they had 3 visitors staying with them, all blood drinkers" the noise became louder now and I called for silence, "But they would abide by the treaty whilst here, well only in regards to the not hunting locally and staying off the reservation".
"He also told me one of them has become mated to Bella Swan!" All hell let loose after this statement, demands that we should go there now and kill him! I once again shout for quiet and demand "So when I imprinted on Emily or Jared on Kim, then by your way of thinking the Cullens should have come and killed us?" That stopped them all in their tracks, "There is no law to stop them or us finding our true mates, so grow up and shut up!"
"Doctor Cullen also said that Garrett, that's Bella's mates name, would not be claiming Bella just yet, but to make no mistake he will eventually and if anything happened to her before then, he would change her regardless of a treaty that had nothing to do with him" I continued, "He said to not underestimate Garrett as he was a 249-year-old vampire, who had spent most of his life in war zones, so basically he's a well trained, dangerous fighter" there was a lot of grumbling, but the only voice still refusing to accept this information as a done deal was Jacob Black, I'd have to deal with him later. What is it about that girl and vampires, she attracts them like flies?
"While he was on the phone I told him about the redhead and her continual forays into our territory, he knew nothing about this but said they'd be looking out for her now! So, for the present, we leave them alone and keep the communication lines open about her only" I dismissed the pack and sat with the other elders to hear what they thought. As expected Billy Black was not happy and thought we should inform Charlie Swan who he's daughter is involved with. "So you want to tell him about us and the Cullens?" I say, "Not about us, just them!" he yelled.
Old Quill raised his hand and said that we would not be getting involved, this was not a tribal matter and it was not our business, who the Swan girl mated to. "Would you be so interested if the Chief of Police in Port Angeles' daughter mated with a vampire, Billy? No, you only want to stop them because Jake wants her, not as his imprint mind you, just someone to fill in the time till he does imprint, then he'll just abandon her to her fate! That's what you want for your friend's daughter! not much of a friend are you?" he said to Billy, who at least had the decency to look ashamed for his willingness to allow Jake to use her.
Carlisle
Well, that went better than I hoped for, thank goodness Sam's the Alpha of the pack, he's much more reasonable and less likely to start trouble for no reason than some of the others, especially Jacob. But his other news was rather startling, though not as surprising as it should have been. Once again I had allowed Edward to sway my original thinking and we are now going to have to sort something that should have been dealt with a year ago.
Jasper will be livid with me, I, of course, deserve his wrath, because I ignored his warning back then, in favour of Edwards do nothing attitude. But I'm worried what Garrett will do when he finds out we abandoned Bella to her fate and it was only the wolves that saved her from death, we knew about Laurent from Bella herself but obviously, the wolves treated her just as badly as Edward, not warning her about Victoria. Why do I continually allow that boy to dictate to me and therefore the family, how long can I feel guilty for changing him?
Peter
Oh hell, the shit is about to hit the fan around here, it's about time everyone had a shake up, this we're a family crap, instead of a coven is the cause of all this trouble. Carlisle called a meetin' and invited the 3 of us and Bella to participate, even knowin' he would be takin' a lot of flack because of his poor choices of late. Edward seemed subdued and I wonder if he was aware how likely to lose a limb he was when Garrett realised what kind of peril he had left Bella in.
Carlisle
"This meeting is for 2 reasons, the first will become apparent when you hear the second. So I want to inform you I am standing down as the leader of this coven, I say coven because that's how it should have been run." Everyone tried to speak but I held up my hand and continued saying "My insistence we be a family has caused far too many problems. So I would like Jasper to take over as the coven leader, we can keep up the appearance for now of me being your father, but I think we need to rethink that too." Once more everyone tried to talk me out of it and Edward looked incensed, there goes his control altogether now, Jasper will not be swayed by him.
"The second point is, Sam Uley informed me today that Victoria has been trying to encroach on the packs boundaries, this has been going on for a year!" This had the expected response and I wasn't surprised by anyone's reaction, Jasper was rightly incensed when I explained about Victoria, he turned to his wife and said: "That was the last time you ever contradict me, Alice, do I make myself clear!" She hung her head and sobbed at being reprimanded by her mate, but she had failed him last year by taking her brother's side against her mate and she knew he had been disappointed in her then, but was furious with her now, as he was at this time now vindicated.
Garrett was lookin' lethally at Edward and then at me, "What the Fuck! Carlisle! You let a 17-year-old boy run your coven? You disregard the recommendation of a much older and more experienced vampire, more experienced than even you, in such matters! To side with the whims of a boy! Putting Bella's life on the line for what exactly? Did you even care?" he demands. I was shame-faced and despondent, Esme was sobbing and Bella was staring at us all in disgust.
Bella
"You all left me, knowing she was out there? I thought you cared for me, oh my god! What did I ever do to make you treat me so badly?" I was devastated, looking from one face to the next and none could meet my eyes, but Jasper who had at least tried. I could feel Garrett shaking with rage beside me, "Never mind my soldier, So you could eventually find me, the powers that be obviously thought I deserved to live, more than the Cullens did! " I told him and Carlisle gasped and broke the edge off of the table he had been clenching tightly.
I was about to get to my feet to leave when Jasper said: "I accept the position of coven leader, you're right about that Carlisle, it should have been a coven first, a family second!" Everyone nodded, well everyone but Edward, he didn't look pleased at all. "The first and most important thing is to take care of Victoria, We owe both Bella and Garrett that, at least! but you will all have to find your own way to make amends!" he said looking at me and Garrett throughout his speech and I inclined my head, accepting his help.
Jasper
That was a god damn shocker, I wonder if Peter and Charlotte will join me now, as I'm also the leader of our coven too, well it was just the 3 of us. Maybe Garrett and Bella would be interested in this as well. A strength in numbers type of union. But all free to pursue separate lives. "Peter, Garrett? I have a proposition, I'm already the leader of the Whitlock coven and now this one, so how would it be to combine them. We don't all have to live together in one place, but come together in times of need and for holidays, weddings, the usual stuff." Everyone was listening intently, "This way we would have a larger coven but spread out and I wondered if You two, Garrett and Bella would be interested in joinin' us? Peter just gave me the thumbs up and Garrett looked at Bella and they both nodded.
I also think the next move we make should be to a larger location where we all have our own space!" I turned to Esme and smiled, "Can I leave that in your capable hands Esme, either one huge spread or 2 adjoining ones? You know the drill better than anyone here" she nodded and looked happy to have something to attend to. "So Garrett, have you and Bella hashed out any plans yet? Because I have a ranch near Pete 'n Char's that's just sittin' empty!" Bella smiles once again and Garrett nods his head.
" Carlisle is it worth tellin' the wolves the coven has changed hands? I doubt we'll ever be back here because of them and their general need to interfere all the time, I know you love the house Esme, so we could look into moving it intact to a newer location. I have been thinkin' previously about us giftin' the tribe this land, would that be an acceptable partin' gift? Proof that we will never return, and stop causin' the tribe to phase again and again. Gettin' Jenks to set it up so it was theirs for perpetuity, unlike the reservation which is government-held land." Alice was smilin' at me at noddin' her head, looks like that's a yes then.
Garrett
I can't fucking understand how Carlisle let that happen, he just disregarded every tenant and law governing vampires at the say so of that arrogant asshole of a boy! Taking his part over all others and to the detriment of Bella, she could have died several times if not for the wolves. I ought to rip both their fucking heads off! I was shaking with rage and it was only the touch of my Little Swan's hand on my arm, that calmed me and probably saved them too. Carlisle was right this family crap was all wrong and Jasper was going to change all that. His idea of an extended coven was good, we didn't need to be monitored, but backup is always wise.
Emmett
Talk about taking to it like a duck to water, Jasper was in his element. He was positively radiating power, how had I never seen that side of him before? What was I going to say to Bella? I feel so stupid and foolish for not putting up a fight or backing up Jasper last year. I just assumed Carlisle was making the decisions but I should have known better. I just never paid attention to stuff like that and that's the problem, if we had been run like a coven I would have, but we were acting like a family and I let them make all the choices for me.
"Right now that that's settled, Victoria! She obviously has an evasion ability if the wolves haven't been able to catch her in a year! So Alice I need you to start watchin' her for decisions!" Jasper was saying now and I perked up and paid attention this time. "We need to run the boundaries and catch her scent, see if she always comes from one direction, most importantly we need to know if she's alone or not!" I said I'd make a start on that when the meeting finished. Rose has been awfully quiet throughout this whole affair, I don't know if that's good or bad, it's hard to tell with Rosie sometimes.
Edward
How did I not hear this in Carlisle's thoughts? This will be devastating for me, he'll never listen to me like Carlisle did! But maybe that's the point, Carlisle was trying to make. I don't have to be involved in the running of the family, I mean coven. I just interfered all the time before, because I could, so this will give me time to find a new purpose, do something I want for me. No more high school ever! Maybe if I stopped pretending to be like a teenager, I might stop behaving like one. Jasper's ideas are sound, separate units but together as a coven, it would make things calmer, better for everyone. I liked the idea of a space of my own, maybe double soundproofed too.
Esme
I can hardly believe all that has happened today, but I'm beginning to see a positive side to it, Carlisle and I will have more time to ourselves and less stress. We can be like the others and just take off if the fancy takes us, maybe do that tour of Britain we've talked about for years. Yes being a coven will be better all round I think. Now my only problem is how to make it up to Bella, we should never have let Edward talk us into leaving last year or at least made sure she was safe, but we did nothing and she almost died. That would have been on our hands, I am ashamed of myself, some mother I turned out to be! Jasper has just brought to a close this meeting and wants to talk to Carlisle alone, so they take off in one direction towards the boundary line and Rose and Emmett in the other. I have a sudden bolt of inspiration and give Garrett and Bella the key to the cabin on the western end of the property, they need time alone to talk and bond, come to terms with all this news, as it has hit them both hard. I send them off with a basket of food and promised to stock it up for them tomorrow.