Chapter 11: Truth

MPOV

Only centuries of experience in denying my instincts were keeping me as calm as I currently was, holding Bella close to me still. She was anchoring me, giving me a reason to behave as humanely as I was still able to. I could see the strong bond she shared with her father and I looked forward to the discussion we were about to have.

Charlie Swan's house was small. The corner where my desk was in my quarters was bigger than what appeared to be the sitting area and I wondered briefly if this was the norm nowadays. Bella's scent was strong in the house, despite her father's tainting it in a more resinous note, and I felt immediately at ease in the quiet room.

Charlie was still standing, looking tense near a reclined chair that appeared to have the shape of his body embedded into it. Given its central position, I assumed without much hesitancy that it was his. Bella went to sit on one of the two matching sofas and I stood by her side while Carlisle mirrored her position on the other one. He looked perfect in his pretence of humanity but I had decided that this would clearly be unnecessary as my mate's father clearly already knew too much.

I took a soft cover that had seen better days from the back of the sofa and wrapped it around Bella's shoulder, asking her quietly if she was fine. She nodded before turning to her father.

"What happened, dad?"

The man had a purple tint to his face from the barely restrained anger he was now trying to control. I would give him points for that. He was clearly under shock.

"Wha…" he took a deep breath, gathering himself. "What happened?" Another deep breath, as he put both hands on his face, bringing them down slowly. "What happened, Bella, is that I was taking Billy and Sue home after Harry's funeral because none of their kids seemed to have made it. I was pissed, especially at Leah and Seth for letting their mom do that alone and when I saw them, waiting on the porch with Jake, I wanted to have a word, see how they were too." He shrugged. "I don't really know what I was planning to say to be honest. So here I was, walking to the house with Sue who was still in bits when Seth started shouting at me to get my hands off his mom when… Bam! I was faced with two giant wolves."

I looked at my mate as I heard her horrified gasp, her hands flying to her face.

"Anyway, they were out of sight before I could see much. The bigger one dragged the smaller one into the woods and then Billy made us all go inside." Charlie Swan concluded with another sigh, looking as if he was coming down from the high of his anger.

He continued his tale for a little while longer and I listened attentively, noting the way my mate's father attempted to retain a casual attitude in an attempt to hide how shaken he actually was from that very recent discovery.

All while listening, I was contemplating the possible scenarios to retell the tale to my brothers, I couldn't shake the feeling that Caius might be overly critical and potentially disruptive. Yet, considering the intricate link between Charlie Swan and the tribe, it dawned on me that I might circumvent the need to involve Caius directly. The intricacies of the situation could be obscured by highlighting Charlie's ties to the tribe, presenting him as a key figure with a vested interest in concealing their world. It seemed plausible that the association with the shape-shifters could suffice in securing our secret without necessitating Caius' involvement. It was a risk, yet one that might offer a solution to shield my mate and maintain the secrecy of our kind.

"Bella," Charlie said, "Billy said cold ones… vampires or… whatever… he said they could hypnotise you or something like that. They can make you believe anything and…"

"Dad, stop. Stop it, please," my Bella interrupted his ranting. "I… it was not, it was never like this. With Edward I mean. We were… oh dad, it was our first love, for both of us. It wasn't perfect but it wasn't some kind of manipulation, dad. I did love him."

The passion in my mate's voice would have hurt, had we not talked about it the day before. She wanted her father to understand, desperately so.

"He was just… He wasn't the one for me. I… Dad, you remember Sam and Leah, right? You remember when it ended?" She asked, confusing me with her change of topic. I could see the confusion on her father's face as well but he seemed to allow the derivation.

"Sam broke up with her just after meeting with Emily, I don't see 'ow this has anything to do with…"

"Sam and Leah, Charlie, they were a perfect couple, anyone on the rez could tell you," Bella interrupted him. Her father nodded, confused still, yet letting her continue. "They were making plans for the future, real plans and then one day, it suddenly stopped. Sam disappeared for days and came back engaged to Emily."

"Bella…" My mate's father now looked suspicious and I had worked out the reason behind my beloved's change of tale myself. "What the heck is this 'bout?" I braced myself for another explosion of temper, not that anyone but Carlisle might have noticed. I was willing to tolerate a lot for my mate's sake, especially as I saw the deep bond between her and her father, but would intervene should he lose his senses and prevent him from hurting her emotionally at least.

"Emily and Sam, dad, they are what the wolves call imprinted, soul mates. Sam was inexorably drawn to Emily, his heart resonating with her presence, an echo of a deep bond forged by something beyond our understanding. He couldn't ignore it, and she couldn't either…"

The raw emotion on Bella's face made me want to hold her close and capture her beautiful lips, that she kept biting in a tantalising fashion. I desired her closeness more than anything I had ever felt. I knew how crucial that instant was to my mate, however and I kept perfectly still, continuing to absorb every details of the scene unfolding before me.

"Leah and Sam, they were in love. It was the kind of love that is born from being young and it would have been a beautiful story… but the discovery of one's true mate, dad, is a revelation of cosmic proportions, Emily represented the missing piece of Sam's spiritual puzzle, the other half of his being, the embodiment of his soul's essence. It's…"

Bella's gaze had drifted to mine as she spoke. She was not telling the story of a wolf and his mate anymore, not only. She was drawing a picture of our bond, our connection and I could read in her eyes all that she hadn't said aloud, all that I could feel as well as her. I moved closer, taking her hand in a chaste gesture of affection and comfort alike.

"Edward was to me what Leah was to Sam, Charlie. I did love him, in a naive and innocent way, because I did not know anything else yet… because I hadn't found the one that is the other half of my soul." Her voice was barely a whisper then but even a human could have heard a pin drop in the preternatural silence that dominated the tiny living area.

The silence was only relative to my own ears, of course, and I could perceive the fastening of Charlie Swan's heartbeats and breathing as he took in what his daughter was saying, as he understood the implication and saw us together.

"Bella, this is… are you saying that…" the man shook his head, aiming to maybe get rid of the thoughts that must now be flying across his mind. "'xcuse me," he said suddenly before walking out the front door onto the porch.

"Dad," Bella called, the pain in her voice like a dagger to my still heart. She moved to follow but I held her back, bidding her to give him a moment. She sighed in defeat before leaning into my embrace, as I aimed to communicate my devotion and love to her through my wordless comfort.

Carlisle walked out, going to offer my mate's confused father some outlet for his emotions, as well as further explanations. I thanked him in a whisper before refocusing on my Bella.

AN: Thank you for continuing to read and show love! Let me know what you thought of that playing out? I am done with the draft for this part of the story, which will be another 4 chapters. I have outlined part 3 but will have to resist writing it for a couple of weeks!
The next chapter should be edited tomorrow or at the weekend. The title will be 'Mated' and I promise some more romance as well as some Cullens-Bella interractions! Any predictions?