Chapter 20 - Bella

A/N: Okay, hope that you guys enjoyed that last chapter. For some reason I always get nervous about writing those kinds of chapters but I think I'm getting better about it.

Just a quick shout-out: MMTyler: I enjoyed your latest review as well as the others. Was that enough action for you for the moment? Lol.

Recap for those who didn't read the last chapter:

Bella and Jared talked about their relationship.

Jared told her he wanted everything with her. Marriage, kids, everything.

They had sex

He marked her.

Moving on…

The next morning, when I woke up, Jared was still asleep. I decided to get dressed and head over to Joy's store and see if she had any moving boxes and then go get my truck from Sam and Emily's. I was approaching Joy's store when this girl stopped me. "Who do you think you are?" She asked me.

I looked at her confused. "I'm sorry?" I asked confused.

"You don't deserve him pale-face." The girl said. Jared. This girl was mad that I was with Jared. "Do you know how long I've been in love with him?" She asked me. I shook my head. He'd never mentioned this girl before. "I've always been in love with him. Even when people started saying that he was a delinquent and in a gang. I never believed them."

"Kim!" I heard behind me. I turned to look and it was Jared approaching us. "What the hell are you doing Kim?" He asked her.

She crossed her arms. "Educating." She stated.

Jared got in her face. "Leave. Her. Alone." He said in his beta voice.

"No." Kim said. "You don't belong with her, Jared. She'll never understand. She doesn't understand our ways. What would your parents say?" She questioned.

Jared pointed his finger at her. "I told you that I wasn't interested in you. I can't help that you have a school girl crush. But for you to corner my girlfriend and try to intimidate her? That's low. Not to mention my parents don't even live here anymore. Stay. Out. Of. My. Personal. Business. Are we clear?" Jared said.

She slowly nodded. "Fine. But the Chief will never approve a marriage to her." Kim said.

"For your information, The Chief is her godfather and the Tribe Shaman is her Great Uncle. Try again?" Jared said. I could feel his emotions. He was proud to state my ties to the tribe.

Kim scoffed and stormed off. I had a feeling that we hadn't seen the last of her. As soon as she was out of sight Jared turned around to face me. "Are you okay?" He asked me.

I nodded. "Who was that?" I asked him.

"That was Kim Connweller. We went to school together. She's a senior this year. She's had a crush on me for… I don't know how long. Paul thinks that in another lifetime, I would have imprinted on her. I don't think so. I don't know what got into her, she's normally…quiet." Jared said and I couldn't help but laugh.

He cocked his head to the side. "Jared, that girl is anything but quiet. She's acting as if she has some claim on you." I said.

He reached up and put his hands on my shoulders. "I'm sorry." He said.

"It's not your fault. It sounds like you made your feelings… or lack thereof perfectly clear. What did she mean about your parents?" I asked.

Jared sighed. "Kim is under the impression that my parents only wanted me to marry a girl that was related to one of the three family lines in the tribe." Jared said.

I looked at him confused. "And she thinks that she's that girl?" I asked him.

He nodded. "She's not though. Most of her family is up in Neah Bay, where Emily's from." Jared said. If that was the case and she's didn't have any family ties to La Push other than her parents, what was her end goal? My face must have said everything that I was feeling, either that or Jared could feel what I was feeling; cause he started rubbing up and down my arms to get my attention. I looked up at him. "What's going through your head?" He asked me.

"Do you think that your parents will like me?" I asked him.

"Of course they will. Kim's wrong you know. My parents will love you simply because I do and you make me happy." He told me. I gave him a weak smile and nodded. "Now, you wanna tell me why I woke up and you weren't in bed?" He said with a big grin.

"You were asleep when I woke up so I thought I'd come see if Joy had any packing materials and then go get my truck from Sam and Emily's." I told him honestly.

He nodded. "I didn't like waking up alone." He said with a pout.

"You poor baby. C'mon let's get what we need to so we can go see Charlie." I told him. I turned to head into the store.

"What are the chances that I could convince you to move in with me instead of that apartment?" He asked me.

I stopped and turned toward him. "Are you serious?" I asked.

He nodded. "Absolutely." He said.

"You'll never get Charlie to agree." I told him with a smirk, knowing how suspicious it would make Charlie of our relationship.

"And if I can?"

"Then sure I'll move in with you Jared." I told him.

Two hours later, Jared and I were pulling into Charlie's driveway. "Just go along with what I say. Okay?" Jared said.

That had me worried. "Okay…I'm guessing that you have a plan?" I asked.

"Yep." He said as he turned the truck off and climbed out of the truck. I hesitated but followed. We headed up the porch steps and I opened the front door.

"Dad?" I called.

"Living room." Charlie replied.

Jared followed me into the living room and we sat on the couch across from Charlie's recliner. "Hey Bells. Who's your friend?" He said looking away from the tv at us.

"Dad this is Jared Cameron, Jared this is my Dad, Charlie." I said, introducing them.

"Nice to meet you sir. Chief Black says great things about you sir." Jared said.

"He's mentioned you to me. You uh, work with Sam Uley, right?" Charlie said.

"Yes sir. Um…I've been instructed by Chief Black and Sam to bring you into a tribe secret." Jared said, and that's when I really began to worry. Had Billy and Sam given Jared permission to tell Charlie?

"Tribe secret huh? And what did I do to deserve that honor?" Charlie asked sarcastically.

"Chief Black says that the two of you have been friends since you were kids. I know that Old Quil is your uncle. I also know that they're both very fond of Bella." Jared said.

"Well I hope Billy's fond of Bella considering he's her godfather." Charlie said.

"Dad…" I warned.

"Anywho… so what's this tribe secret?" Charlie asked.

"You've heard some of the legends right?" Jared asked him.

Charlie nodded. "Yeah, Billy mentioned something once about spirit warriors and being descended from wolves." Charlie said.

Jared and I both nodded. "Right, well it's all true. One of the tribe's ancestors was a spirit wolf and he could transform into a wolf." Jared told him.

"Seriously?" Charlie questioned.

We nodded again. "It's all true Dad. I've seen it. There's ten of them." I said.

"Okay…" Charlie didn't sound like he believed us.

"Would you like to see?" Jared asked him.

"Sure." Charlie said.

"We should go outside." I pointed out.

The three of us stood up and make our way out back to the backyard. Jared took his shirt off and tossed it to me to hold. He ran over to the tree line so that he could phase. Once he'd phased he came trotting out of the woods. Charlie jumped back. "Bells, back up." He said.

"Dad, it's just Jared. Watch." I said as I walked over to Jared and began to scratch behind his ear, like I had last night.

"So, he's a giant puppy?" Dad asked as he stood up from where he'd fallen on the ground.

"Only for me." I said. I leaned down and kissed Jared's muzzle. "Alright, go phase back." I told him. He yipped before trotting back to the woods to phase back and he walked over to us. I handed him his shirt.

"Okay so you're a wolf. What does that have to do with my daughter?" Charlie asked.

"How about we go inside and I'll make us some sandwiches?" I suggested. The both of them agreed.

The three of us headed inside to the kitchen and they sat at the table while I worked on fixing us some lunch. I quickly made the three of us some sandwiches. Charlie's eyes got big when I sat four sandwiches in front of Jared. I turned back to the fridge and pulled out a couple of sodas for us before I sat beside Jared. "Now can you explain to me what this has to do with Bella?" Charlie asked.

"So, another one of the legends states that a wolf can imprint. It means, that after we phase for the first time and we look into our soulmate's eyes, it's like gravity no longer holds us to the earth…it's her. Chief Swan, Charlie…Bella's my imprint." Jared said. I felt nothing but love coming from Jared as he described imprinting to my Dad. "Sir, I know that you worried about her when Cullen left her. I promise you that you won't have to worry about that this time. I can't promise that everything will always be perfect, because let's face it, all couples have problems. But what I can say, is that no won't ever have to worry about me leaving Bella. One thing about imprinting is that it points us to the person that we're meant to be with. It doesn't manifest feelings. Those are created with time." Jared said. He reached across the table and grabbed my hand. Jacob introduced us but as we spent time together, I developed feeling for her. Those feelings just didn't surface until I'd imprinted on her." Jared looked at me and I gave him a warm smile. His speech made me fall in love with him all over again.

"That's nice to know Jared and I can tell that you guys love each other but I'm getting this feeling that there's more? Is there?" Charlie asked.

Jared nodded, looking back at Charlie. "I know that Old Quil arranged for an apartment for Bella down on the Reservation but I'd rather her move in with me." Jared said, waiting for Charlie's response.

Charlie went back to his sandwich. I looked at Jared and shrugged. A few minutes later when Charlie had finished his sandwich, he sat back in his chair and looked up at us. "This is what you want?" He asked me.

I looked over at Jared and smiled before looking back at Charlie. "Yeah, Dad. It is. I know that my future is with Jared. With Edward, I always had doubts. Did he really love me? If he did, then why did he leave? Why did he come back? Could I see myself someday marrying him? With Jared, none of those questions are there. I can picture it all." I told Charlie.

He nodded. "Okay. But I want to see this house that you'll be living in. And…I'm gonna need you to freeze me some meals. I know that you don't like me eating at the diner all the time. Plus, I wanna have dinner with you two twice a week. Whether it's here or your house." Charlie said.

I looked at Jared and he nodded. I turned back to Charlie. "That sounds doable." I said, smiling at my Dad.

"Oh. And you get to tell your mother." Charlie said.

"Shit."