Blood Moon
Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to SM.
Stepford Wife
Bella knew there was going to be a meeting, but she hadn't expected the whole wolf pack – including their imprints. As soon as she slipped into the living room behind Jacob, she was greeted with loud hoots of amusement. Everyone laughed – except Emily, Kim, and Leah – the latter meeting her eyes with an irritated sigh.
"Cut it out, guys!" Jacob shouted above the barrage of noise.
"What's so funny?" Bella whispered in confusion. Did she have her shirt on back to front? Were her jeans unbuttoned? She glanced down at her clothing nervously, relieved to see that everything appeared in order.
"You don't want to know." Jacob answered grimly, shooting his brothers an annoyed look.
Just from his reaction alone, Bella hazarded a guess that it might have something do with their passionate encounter in the bedroom. Damn those wolfy senses to hell! A little embarrassment she could take, but this was on a whole other level. She didn't know where to look as her skin turned all shades of red.
Of course, Lahote was the one who never learned when to keep his mouth shut. "You feeling the heat there, vampire girl?" He sneered. "How does some wolf-lovin' compare to the – "
Leah's hand shot out and cuffed Paul hard on the back of his head before he had even managed to complete his sentence. He grimaced, shooting a furious glare in the she-wolf's direction as he rubbed his stinging scalp.
"PMS much?" He muttered.
Leah's answering rebuke was another slap, this time so forceful he stumbled.
"Hey, are you going to let her get away with this, Sam?" Paul demanded petulantly.
Sam's expression remained inscrutable. "Don't dish out what you can't take back." He said nonchalantly, while trying to avoid Leah's eye.
"Foods ready." Emily announced then, and the brief upset was history. The guys hurried to surround the Black's table- which looked in danger of being crushed by them – and began to devour the buffet-sized pan of eggs Emily placed in their midst in record time. Emily ate leaning against the counter – avoiding the bedlam at the table- and watched them with affectionate eyes. Her expression clearly stated this was her family.
With the wolf packs attention now focused on the food, Bella was able to get a clearer look around the room. She spotted Billy, Old Quil and Sue in the far corner. Their heads were close together, and they were talking in quiet voices. She wished her hearing was as sensitive as the wolves so she would know what they were saying.
Jacob had held back from fighting his brothers for a portion of the delicious breakfast Emily had served up. He didn't want to leave Bella at the mercy of any more jibes and he worried that he wouldn't be able to control himself if Paul got it into his thick head to continue his pathetic taunts. He was glad that Leah had been the one to intervene on Bella's behalf, knowing he would have done a lot more than cuff Paul around the head.
Just then Old Quil raised his head and looked over in their direction. Despite appearances, the elder was quite sprightly for his age. Today he was wearing one of his grandson's baseball caps teamed with a red plaid shirt and faded jeans. His long white hair was bound low at the nape of his neck, tied off with a rubber band. He motioned Jacob and Bella to come over and join him and the other elders.
Bella was feeling quite nervous. She still had no memory of what had happened the night before. All she had to go on was what Jacob had told her. She still couldn't believe that she had been carrying the poisonous venom inside her body all these months. The thought was quite terrifying. It also begged the question whether Edward or Carlisle knew that there were still remnants of James' venom floating around her in bloodstream. They had both seen the scar – and Carlisle was a doctor. If Old Quil knew. Then it was quite probable to presume that Carlisle knew as well. Which made the whole thing even more sinister.
"How are you feeling this morning, my dear?" Old Quil asked in his thin tenor voice.
"Much better." Bella replied politely, still feeling overwhelmed. "I want to thank you for what you did – I have no memory of what happened – but Jacob filled me in this morning. You saved my life."
"All in a day's work, child. Come. Sit." He pulled up a vacant chair and motioned for Bella to sit next to him.
Bella did as he asked, still feeling very nervous. Sue smiled at her kindly, while Billy murmured a harried greeting. With no more available chairs, Jacob stood behind Bella, resting his hands on her shoulders.
"I thought it would be just us here." He said in a low voice. "Not the whole pack."
"This involves everyone, Jake." Billy's face was grim.
Jacob sighed, rubbing Bella's shoulders when he felt her body tense. He agreed that the others should be informed in time, but he would rather have a private discussion with the elders instead of it being broadcast to the whole pack.
"I know what you're thinking." Old Quil said.
"You can read minds now?" Jacob retorted.
"No just faces." Old Quil flashed him a half smile. "And yours is like an open book."
"Great!" Jacob muttered.
Bella glanced up at him, sharing his ambivalence. She didn't like the fact that her private affairs were going to be discussed in front of an audience. Paul had already made one sarcastic quip; she didn't want to imagine what might come out of his mouth next.
"Its okay, Bella." Billy reached across and patted her hand with a kind smile. "I know this must be very overwhelming for you, but you are part of our family now, and family looks out for each other."
Even though Billy had meant his words to be reassuring, it just dredged up Bella's worries that not all the others felt the same. Even though she had made a fragile peace with Leah, she knew that some, like Paul and possibly Jared, still questioned her place among them. She couldn't blame them she supposed. In their eyes she had brought them nothing but trouble.
"Bella, stop this right now. Just get up and walk out. You don't belong there and you never will. You belong with me. With my family!"
Bella's muscles locked into place, froze her where she sat. Because it wasn't anyone's voice in the immediate vicinity that rebuked her. It was a furious voice, a familiar voice – beautiful, soft like velvet even though it was irate, but deadly.
It was his voice – she was exceptionally careful not to think his name -the sound of it threatening to knock her out cold. A flash of fear consumed her. Fear that she was slipping into her old ways. Fear that she was going crazy. She had thought she had banished his voice long ago.
In that instant that she heard his voice, everything was very clear. Like her head had suddenly surfaced out of some dark pool. She was more aware of everything – sight, sound, the feel of the warm air circulating the room, the breakfast smells coming from the heavily laden table, the heightened voices of the satiated wolves, the hum of breathing, the pressure of Jacob's hands on her shoulders, and the knowing gaze of Old Quil, who was scrutinizing her carefully.
Bella looked back at the ancient elder in shock. His dark eyes, almost hidden within the folds of his lined skin, seemed to peer into her very soul, like he could see what she could see, hear what she could hear.
"You know." She whispered.
"Yes." Old Quil confirmed. "How often do you hear his voice?"
"What?" Jacob demanded, the pressure of his fingers weighing heavy on Bella's shoulders.
"Jake!" Bella winced, placing her hands over his.
"Sorry, honey." Jacob took a deep breath, twining his fingers with hers. "Who is he talking about?"
"Edward." Bella whispered hoarsely.
Speaking his name seemed to conjure up his voice again.
"Make your excuses and leave now." He ordered, still angry. "You promised – nothing stupid."
Bella shook her head, trying to understand. She knew he wasn't there, and yet, he felt improbably close, close for the first time since…since the kiss he'd forced upon her. The anger in his voice was concern, the same anger that was once very familiar – something she had hoped not to hear again.
"Keep your promise." The voice was slipping away, as if the volume was being turned down on the radio.
Bella began to worry that she was having some kind of hallucination. Triggered, no doubt, by the terrible events of the night before, the events that were slowly circling the dark corners of her subconscious, the place where she buried the most unpleasant memories, like the unwanted kiss.
"Bells, honey, look at me?" Jacob pleaded. He was kneeling in front of her. His warm hands clasped on either side of her face. She hadn't even been aware that he'd moved. "I thought you said you didn't hear his voice anymore?"
"I don't. I didn't." Bella corrected herself. "This is the first time – I don't understand." Her anxious gaze sought Old Quil's. "What's happening to me?" She pleaded. "Am I crazy?"
There was a hushed silence in the room. While she had been fretting, the other members of the pack had formed a tight circle around the little group, with the nervous imprints on the edges. Bella could feel the weight of their curious stares dragging her down. She didn't dare turn and look, scared to see their reactions.
"You're not crazy, child." Old Quil reassured her with a grim smile. "The fact you let slip that the cold one's voice has been plaguing you for months only confirmed my suspicions that he deliberately left his venom inside you on purpose."
"His venom? But it was James who bit me." Bella cried, panic making her voice shake. She turned her attention back to Jacob. He was still holding her face, his eyes riveted on hers. This was the exact same thing he had said to her earlier, she just wouldn't let herself believe. Because to believe meant it had all been a deliberate act. To believe meant that her whole relationship with Edward and the Cullens had been built on a lie. She didn't think she could cope with that on top of everything else.
Very few seconds had passed while she sorted this all out. Her little audience watched, curious. It probably looked like she was just dithering. How could they guess the insane path her thoughts were taking?
The voice inside her head returned full force with an exquisite snarl. Bella blanched, a small whimper falling from her parted lips.
"You still hear him." Old Quil said. It wasn't a question.
Bella nodded, words failing her.
Billy looked at the ancient elder gravely. "I thought the bloodletting was a cure?"
"It was." Old Quil answered, his eyes still locked on Bella. "It released the poison, but that doesn't mean that it cured the psychological effects. That stuff has been leaking into the child's bloodstream for months. The cold one marked her."
"Marked her?" Sue questioned. "For what purpose?"
"For control. So that when she eventually turned, she would be as compliant as she would as a human. The perfect mate for one such as he. I've heard about such things in the old lore. A newly turned vampire, ones who have been transformed for less than a year, find that their physical strength surpasses that of older, more experienced vampires, as they still have their own blood in their tissues. They are harder to control, to manipulate -which makes it extremely difficult for the ones who have chosen them to be their mate. To overcome this, they mark them, drip-feeding their venom over a period of time, so that the change happens slowly. This induces heightened paranoia, lethargy, the poor unfortunate experiencing hallucinations and other psychological effects."
"Like hearing voices?" Jacob clarified.
"Yes." Old Quil sighed heavily. "Once the transition is complete, the newly turned vampire, or newborn, will remain forever under the thrall of the one who marked them, thus becoming one who does not behave or think in an independent way, always following the accepted rules of society and obeying her mate without thinking. The perfect Stepford wife."
A/N-thanks for reading!
And, yes, I was thinking of Esme when I wrote this!