Chapter 13

"Kim, I want to go back home," Milly said. She was bored sitting in a car looking at the scenery that didn't interest her one bit. She missed Jacob; she wanted to go back to him. Why the hell had she agreed to go on this stupid road trip?

"What? You can't be serious. We'll be in Las Vegas in less than an hour, and it will be so much fun."

Milly wasn't feeling it. She really had started to regret leaving for this trip. Their aim had been to get boys to run after them, open Jared's eyes to that it is Kim, after all, who he loves. But nothing of the sort had happened.

"You said that Jacob and Jared would follow us, that they wouldn't let their imprints get too far from them. But they hadn't come. Not even we waited for them near Forks for a day so they could find us easily. What if there is something wrong? What if the leeches wanting Bella had attacked? What if they are hurt?"

"We would feel if they'd been hurt," Kim huffed. "Besides, didn't we want to get away from the threat? We wanted to be somewhere else when they come to get that bitch."

"Yes, we did. But it feels wrong now," Milly said, "and there is no way of knowing if they have attacked or not since we're not talking to them."

"I have a feeling they will come soon, and when we go back, the bitch is gone."

Milly sighed. This was so fucked up. She just didn't have it in her to hate Bella anymore. Being away from La Push had opened her eyes, and she had realized what utter bitches they had been. She knew Jacob would be so disappointed in her, and she deserved everything he would say and do. Milly wasn't sure if Jacob would ever forgive her, imprint or not.

"What the hell has gotten into you anyway? You hate that bitch as much as I do."

Milly didn't reply. She knew that arguing with Kim was useless. She was so blinded by the hate and jealousy that she couldn't see any reason. How the hell had she not noticed it earlier? It had gone so much worse after Jared had started to date that Anna-girl.

Yes, Milly was jealous of Bella too. Hell, she was everything Milly wanted to be: a talented musician and a naturally beautiful, independent, and self-assured woman. And the way she didn't give a damn what other people thought about her; she wanted to be like that.

But most of all, she was jealous of her relationship with Paul. It was so romantic how Paul had fought to be with Bella, to be with someone he really loved, that he hadn't given in to the imprint, to Rachel. Bella didn't ever have to doubt if Paul loved her for her.

Milly loved Jacob and knew Jacob would do anything for her, but she sometimes felt it wasn't by choice. Was it real love they had? She knew that she needed to get rid of these doubts to be happy, that they could be happy together. But it was hard.

And it didn't help that she had once thought she would be the wife of a powerful alpha. That, too, made her envy Bella. And it had fueled her hate to see that Bella didn't give a damn if Paul was alpha or not. All she cared about was him and the life they had together. Her music. And now they had two adorable baby girls... Milly felt her chest tightening and heart pumping faster - all too familiar reactions she felt when thinking about Bella and what she had, and she didn't.

She really needed to get a grip and stop comparing herself to Bella. Find her own strengths and reasons to be happy. But how? She felt so stuck.

She was ashamed of how she'd been treating Jacob. She had been furious that he had given up the alpha position so easily. Of course, Milly knew that there was absolutely nothing Jacob could actually do but the way he admired his alpha. It had angered her; in her opinion, Jacob had been robbed of something that belonged to him, but he didn't see it that way. They fought about it often. How stupid it now felt.

Gah, what a bitch she'd been to him.

"Thirty minutes, and then we're there. Did you book the hotel?" Kim asked.

"Yeah. But Kim, you know we cannot stay on this trip forever," Milly said. "You need to be back to work, and I need to get back to school to concentrate on the finals and getting the diploma. I've thought about stuff, and I want to attend law school after all."

"I see. You are abandoning me after all," Kim said.

Jesus. Kim had really lost it.

"You know I'm right. But hey, let's enjoy Las Vegas for a couple of days and then drive back to La Push. But I would love to call Jacob and tell him where we are."

"NO!" Kim shouted, her whole body trembling. "You promised we would wait for them to find us. Don't call anybody."

To Milly's utter horror, Kim was so mad she didn't look where she was driving, and she was steering the car towards oncoming traffic.

"Watch out!" she screamed.

"Oh, GOD!" Kim shouted and tried to steer away from the approaching truck, but she moved too late.

"Something's happened to Kim," Jared gasped, and he collapsed to the ground.

"Jared? What's wrong?" Embry shouted and ran to him. "Jared, what the hell?"

Jared wrapped his arms around his middle section, pulled himself in a fetal position, and screamed.

"Jared, what the hell is going on?" Embry tried to touch Jared; he needed to help him do something but didn't know what. Jared was shouting in terrible pain, and he was trembling and twitching.

Embry grabbed his phone and called Paul in panic.

He didn't answer. He tried again, "come on, come on, come on..." Embry chanted. Jared's screaming got louder, and his body was shaking all over; it was like he was having some kind of a seizure.

"What's up?" Paul answered.

"Something is wrong with Jared; he is clearly in pain and is screaming his lungs out. Listen."

"What the fuck!? Where are you?"

"We're at Jared's."

"I'm coming. Call Harry and ask him to come there."

Embry called the elder, and Harry promised to be there as soon as possible.

Paul arrived in five minutes. He'd been running as a wolf. He pulled his shorts up and jogged to them.

"Jared?" Paul kneeled and touched his head. Jared was still screaming and trembling.

"His temperature is decreasing. I'm pretty sure this means that something has happened to Kim."

And then Jared just stopped screaming, and his whole body went limp. He was breathing heavily, and he was sweating. His eyes were closed, and tears were running down his cheeks.

"Kim is dead," he said, his voice harsh from the screaming.

Paul glanced up at Embry. "Did you call Harry?"

Embry nodded.

Paul's phone buzzed. He pulled it from his pocket.

"What is it, Billy?"

Embry listened to what the elder said. "Jacob is frantic. He says that Milly is hurt. He doesn't know what has happened but that she's hurt."

"I'm at Jared's, and he just said Kim is dead. Embry and I saw him going through terrible pain. Maybe they'd been in an accident, and Kim didn't survive. Jared lost his wolf."

"Kim is dead," Jared sobbed, pulling himself into a tight ball. "Kim is dead."

Embry felt all his strength leaving him, and he collapsed onto his knees. He wanted to comfort Jared, but he didn't know how. He felt he needed to call Katie and make sure she was okay, but it didn't feel right. He knew she was okay. He felt she was okay.

"Jared," Paul said, "I'm so sorry." He placed his hand on Jared's shoulder. Embry moved next to Paul, hung his head, and put his hand on Jared's arm. He felt an electrical current going through his and Paul's hand and Jared's body.

Paul said a blessing in Quileute, thanking Jared's wolf for his time in this world and sending it to the spirit world.

Embry heard Harry coming, and he. too, knelt by Jared and placed his hand on him. Harry started to sing an ancient song, sending blessings to Jared's wolf and his imprint, who, too, had left this world.

Although Embry was just 18 years old, he knew that this moment would be the most powerful and meaningful in his whole life. It was humbling and life-changing to feel the connection to something so much bigger than him, than any of them or anything that they could see. To be part of the spirit world.

"So, the girl whose funeral you went to today was Jared's imprint. An imprint is like a soul mate?" Renée asked. She'd been trying to understand the world her daughter lived in. But it was very confusing as it was terrifying.

"Yes. And when she died, Jared lost his wolf. He's no longer a shapeshifter," Bella told her.

"How is he?" Renée didn't know the girl who had died, but it was always heartbreaking when a young person died.

"Devastated, but he's mourning. Kim was very important to him in many ways. He loved her. But I've never seen anybody so overcome with grief as her parents were."

"Yes. No parent should ever be forced to bury her own child."

"No."

"Do they all have soul mates?" Renée wanted to know more about this imprint business.

"Yes. A shapeshifter needs to have that bond to stay human."

"But you're not Paul's imprint?"

"No. But he's the alpha and can choose his own soul mate, and he chose me."

Renée watched her daughter ironing the tablecloth, a weak smile tugging the corner of her mouth. She was clearly thinking about something she didn't want to share with her mother. There were so many things she wanted to ask Bella, like what was the story about the teeth marks on her shoulder, but like all mothers, she knew there were things she ought to know and things she didn't have to. Bella was happy; an exceptional man loved her, and she had two beautiful children. That was all any mother could hope for her child.

"He did imprint on Rachel, Billy Black's daughter, but his wolf had already chosen me, and Paul was already in love with me, so the imprint wasn't the same as the rest. And the imprint bond is broken, so he's all free to be with me."

"It broke? How can imprint break? Shouldn't it be permanent if it's a soul-deep connection?"

"Yeah, it was Rachel herself that caused it to break."

Renée could see that Bella didn't want to talk about this, but she wanted to know. She had a feeling this was something she needed to know.

"What did this Rachel do?"

"It doesn't matter what she did. The imprint is broken, and Paul and I don't have to care about Rachel anymore."

Renée felt this had something to do with the first time Ben was taken and Bella was kidnapped and injured.

"Bella, I understand that you don't want to tell me everything that is going on in your life, and that is okay. But if something bad has happened to you, I would like to know about it. I didn't question what had happened last year when you were in the hospital. I sensed that it was not for me to know, and the most important thing was that you were safe. And now, I understand why you didn't tell me. But you can tell me since I know about vampires and wolves." Renée still couldn't believe any of it, not really.

Bella sighed and put the iron away. She sat down, took her tea mug, and held it between her hands.

"Rachel was very jealous of me being with Paul, and when I confronted her and asked her to give up Paul, she just snapped and strangled me. If Rosalie, the vampire that helped you, hadn't been there, I would have died."

"Oh my God, Bella! Why didn't you tell me this?!"

"I couldn't tell you about it because you wouldn't have understood why she wasn't charged and put into jail. But things don't work the normal way in this world."

"Pfft," Renée huffed. "But her strangling you didn't break your leg and wrist and cause blood loss and all that bruising. You were in a coma for over three weeks!" Renée still had difficulty thinking about that moment she'd seen Bella bruised and broken in the hospital.

"No, it was Edward Cullen, he..."

"Edward is a vampire?!" Sweet Lord. Renée had once met him when Bella played with him at the conservatory in New York. Such a handsome, talented young man. A vampire?!

"Yes, he was a vampire. Mum, it's a long story, and I really don't feel like going through it again. He wanted me and used Ben to kidnap me, but Paul saved me, and the rest of the Cullens helped him."

"So, he's dead like those who attacked us?"

"Yes, Paul killed him."

"What happened to Rachel? Is she locked up somewhere?"

"No, but she is being watched."

"What does it mean she's being watched? She shouldn't be going around freely."

"Mum..."

Renée had had enough. "So let me get this straight: there is a madwoman living freely in the reservation, a person who had already once almost killed you, and no one does anything about it?"

"She is being punished, and she won't do anything, mum," Bella said, but Renée didn't believe it for one second. "How can you be so sure? She is a threat to you and my granddaughters as long as she is free. I'm going to talk to Paul about this. How can he allow such a terrible person to get near you or the babies."

And as if her son-in-law had heard her, the front door opened, and he came in carrying four grocery bags.

"Hello, ladies," he said and placed the shopping bags on the counter. He came to Bella and kissed her tenderly. Renée's heart jumped with joy. She was so happy to see her daughter being loved so deeply.

"Paul, what is this nonsense about Rachel Black, who had tried to kill my daughter? Why isn't she locked up?"

"She's under surveillance most of the time," Paul said.

"Yes, but not all the time. How can you be sure that she won't try anything? She cannot be trusted if she is as crazy as Bella just told me."

Paul sat down with them. He took Bella's hand in his and played with her fingers. Renée had to suppress a smile. That was a habit Paul had learned from Bella.

"Bella is never without someone watching over her," Paul said, glancing at Bella, which told Renée Bella wasn't aware of this arrangement.

"What!?" Bella shrieked. "Are you telling me that someone is watching me ALL the time?"

Paul smiled sheepishly at his wife and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well yeah, it is as your mother says; I don't trust that bi... ah Rachel not to try something."

"I can't believe this. How can this be in any way reasonable to those doing the job? I would think your pack has better things to do than to babysit me!" Bella retorted.

"Baby, after everything that happened, I can't think of leaving you without someone to ensure you are always safe. I can't. It's against everything I am. I can't be with you all the time; not even I wanted to. You are the most important thing to me, you and the girls. If something happened to any of you, it would kill me."

"Paul..."

"No, let me finish. Even though we killed the Italian fuckers, it left me with dread that someone is still after you. This would be the case even without Rachel being around. I don't know. Maybe over time, I can trust that you are safe without someone making sure of it."

"Baby, you have to. We can't live in fear," Bella said, brushing a string of hair off Paul's eye.

Renée was relieved to hear that Paul had been making sure his family was safe, but Bella was right; this wasn't a permanent solution to the problem.

"But wouldn't it be easier just to lock her up? I mean, she tried to kill Bella, for Christ's sake, she did kill her, but Rosalie brought her back. Surely no one would be against locking her up."

"But where? Any normal mental hospital is out of the question or anything, really. And it costs money, something Billy doesn't have."

Maybe there was something she could do about this. But there had to be a way to get that evil woman out of her daughter's family's life.

AN:

So, Milly and Kim were just being stupid, and it cost Kim's life. It was just a coincidence that they left the same day Alice saw the Volturi getting help.

Thank you for your comments! Love hearing from you. :)