I don't own Twilight or its characters. Stephenie Meyer does.

Cheryl, Noles, and Gabby, thank you for pre-reading, and April, thank you for editing. Any mistakes left are my own.

Ch.3

BPOV

"You killed a wolf?" Edward looked at me in disbelief. "We are talking about the Quileute shapeshifters, right?"

I glanced away from him and toward the window, where the big vampire from earlier was staring through the window. I was getting irritated by his constant presence, I turned and walked into the backroom where I had set up living quarters. It wasn't much, just a small kitchenette and bed. Hopefully, I wouldn't be here long if my mate accepted me.

"Isabella, I asked you a question." Edward followed closely behind me.

"And I'll answer you, but once we're away from prying eyes. That vampire out there has been too nosy," I indicated.

"He's family. And he'll find out everything you tell me eventually," he explained.

"Why would he? What I have to say is between the confidence of mates." I glared at him. It hurt that he wasn't treating me as a mate should.

"If a pack of shapeshifters are after you, then you're going to need my family's help. He can be trusted," Edward said calmly.

I sighed and decided not to fight him on it. However, I wanted his family to accept me, and not see me as a burden right off the bat. I sat down on my bed. "Fine, take a seat. I'll tell you everything."

"Don't you have any chairs?" Edward frowned, looking around the room.

"Now, who's being childish?" I muttered at his refusal to sit next to me. I waved my hand and my bed transformed into two chairs.

Edward took a seat across from me. He was even more handsome in person than in my visions of him. He was tall and muscular. His face appeared to be chiseled out of marble. Unfortunately, so did his stiff demeanor. I hoped he wasn't like this all the time.

"It all happened on my father's birthday. We went camping like always with Jacob and Billy Black joining us. They are—or were—old family friends. Jacob surprised us all by proposing to me. We had only one date a few years ago, but it didn't feel right, so it never went further. I didn't know about you, no one had told me a thing." I gave him an apologetic look. I knew he hadn't been completely innocent himself, but I also knew it changed once I was born.

He scowled and his eyes darkened. "Go on."

"Obviously, I said no. But Jacob wasn't happy with my answer. He spouted off something about a filthy bloodsucker that didn't make sense until later. He started shaking then turned into a huge wolf, scaring the crap out of me. My father jumped in front of me to protect me. A beam of light shot out of his hand, aimed in Jacob's direction. Jacob lunged and attacked my father, only stopping when Billy started yelling. There was a lot of blood…" I paused as I recalled the sight of it dripping from Jacob's jaws. I tried to control my emotions. I refused to shed a single tear in front of Edward. It would only show him weakness.

He reached out a hand tentatively but retracted when I stiffened. I wasn't ready for him to console me; it would break me.

"I'm sorry, Isabella. If we had known this would happen, we wouldn't have trusted the wolves. They were supposed to be protectors," Edward said softly.

I scoffed. "Well, maybe if my powers weren't taken from me, or better yet, I wasn't kept in the dark about everything then none of this would have happened."

"It was done for your safety. You didn't know your father was a witch?" Edward asked, looking confused.

"Not a clue," I admitted before continuing. "When my father stopped breathing it felt like something inside me snapped. I don't even recall how I did it, but purple balls of fire shot out of both my hands and fried Jacob where he stood. I was still in a fog when more wolves arrived. Somehow, I could read their minds, and I knew they wanted me dead. As I closed my eyes to prepare to die, I wished I was home. Everything went silent I opened my eyes to find myself in my bedroom. Then I got my first vision, and I knew they were going to come for me until I was dead. I jumped around to different places, trying to figure out what to do."

"Why didn't you come to me right away?" he demanded.

"First off, it took a while to get a handle on my powers. I had all these memories from my parents and who I think were other ancestors, it was overwhelming and jumbled at first. However, it's also how I found out about you. That and…" I trailed off, not wanting to insult him.

"And?" he prompted, then grew frustrated when I didn't answer him. "I hate that I can't read your mind. Finish what you were going to say."

I glared at him, and he sighed. "Please, finish what you were going to say."

I took a deep breath. "It disturbed me to find out my mate was not only a vampire but was also technically a mobster. So, I observed you for a while to decide if I could trust you."

"And I take it what you found wasn't a deal breaker." He smirked.

"I don't suppose I could talk you into leaving behind the criminal life?" I asked. I knew about the drugs, guns, cars, gambling, and a few strip clubs. Edward and his family would never be considered the good guys, but they weren't monsters either.

"I rather enjoy the thrill of it." He frowned. "My drinking from humans isn't what bothers you?"

"I suppose it isn't much different than killing an animal to eat. At least you take out the evil humans from what I observed." I sighed. "I can learn to live with it, as long as you promise never to kill anyone that is innocent."

"Never. Unfortunately, we never have to worry about running out of a supply," Edward informed me.

I grimaced, hating that he was right. I could tell he had more questions, but I was getting tired of doing all the answering.

"My turn. Why do you keep pushing me away?" I was still hurt he wasn't happier to see me. I could tell his body reacted to my presence. What I couldn't understand was why he chose to ignore it.

"I told you it was for your safety." His response was robotic and getting old.

"Not good enough. You have the ability to keep me safe yourself. Do you blame yourself for my mother's death, like my father did?" I asked, cautiously.

Edward's eyebrows furrowed. "I know I am to blame. It was our biggest rival family that attacked your family to get to me. It was then I didn't think it was safe to be close to you while you were so young. So I agreed with your father that he should take you and go into hiding. I had thought we were on the same page. What makes you think he was keeping you away from me?"

"I knew he despised you and didn't think you were good enough for me," I admitted.

Edward didn't seem surprised. "I knew your parents weren't thrilled with our mating bond. But they had seemed to accept it."

"Were you ever going to come for me? I'm fully grown now," I demanded.

He gave me a grimace like a smile. "When it was safe."

"Haven't you taken the other family out yet?" I huffed.

He scowled. "Trust me, we've tried, and unfortunately, there were repercussions that I'm not about to discuss. Since things have changed, you will be moving to my house, where it is safer."

I gave him an annoyed look at being ordered and him being evasive. "Or I could stay here. Franklin will keep me safe."

"Who is Franklin?" Edward asked angrily.

"You've met him. He was out front; you couldn't have missed him." I smirked.

He looked perplexed. "The yeti? That thing is real?"

"From what I understood of the spell I casted it will only come to life if I was in danger. Lucky for your brother, he didn't wish me harm." I giggled lightly.

"He probably would've enjoyed wrestling it. You did mess with his mind though, and I assume Alice's?" He raised an eyebrow.

"If she was the vampire who was searching for me with her sight, then yes. Besides, I gave her the exact vision you wanted to see. My magic makes me sensitive to knowing when others are trying to use theirs against me," I told him.

He looked thoughtful for a moment and gave a sharp nod. "Back to what we were discussing before we strayed off topic—"

"We weren't discussing. You were once again ordering me like I was a child," I interrupted.

He took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Are you always going to be this difficult?"

"Only if you continuously order me around will we keep repeating this overdone topic. I want control of my own life. If you want me to stay at the house you could at least ask—not demand," I insisted.

He appraised me for a moment, then nodded. "You're right. I have misjudged you. Isabella, will please come stay at the house for your protection?"

"Yes, I will. Now, what do we have to do to get you to call me Bella?"

A/N: Some more insight into Bella. You now know about the wolves and Jacob. Also why Bella messed with Emmett and Alice. At the moment she only really trusts Edward and he hasn't been too welcoming.

Thank you for sharing all your thoughts with me. And Happy Thanksgiving if you celebrated it yesterday.