Finally, after a tearful goodbye from Jamie and half the crowd left, the remaining pack and imprints settled together, the bonfire was lit, and the storytelling began.

Although Billy was present, talking too long sent him into coughing fits, and Jacob was the storyteller tonight. Bella listened intently, surprised to remember most of the legends - something she had thought were long forgotten to her well-protected mind. She cringed as the tale of the third wife was told, recalling slicing her arm open to distract Victoria and save Edward's life. Again.

And the more she thought about it, the more clarity came. Edward had saved her life a few times. That much was true. But she'd saved his just as many. She'd always felt weak compared to his superhuman strength. But Bella was exponentially braver than him in nearly every circumstance. Hell, she'd just assaulted a third pack member, men twice her size, and did so without an ounce of fear.

Maybe being human hadn't meant she was weaker after all.

Eventually, Jacob came to their story, and that was when he called out for her help. "They've heard my side. But they've also heard it with my bitterness behind it… I never allowed you to tell me what it was honestly like for you. Not even when you were all I fucking cared about."

"Jake…" Bella said sympathetically, but he waved off her attempt to soothe his guilt.

"It's true. I'll start if you want, but it might be easier if you do."

And so, Bella began her tale from when she first moved to Forks. She tried not to hold anything back, from Edward's obsession with her to his hot and cold behavior, always under the guise of protecting her. She even told them how he admitted it was the scent of her blood that lured him to her, making the wolves, even Devon, growl in response.

Bella glanced toward Charlie apologetically as she began describing what happened with James, still bearing the scar on her wrist. A decade later, it remained colder than the rest of her skin. She walked past each of the newer wolves, allowing them to feel the difference, just as she had with the first five wolves a decade earlier.

Even Devon tenderly traced the bite, careful to be gentle with her much smaller wrist and hand. His dark eyes, strikingly similar to Sam's, conveyed much more than words could. An odd sensation of peace settled between them as he let her go. Devon may not like her, but he'd learned to respect her strength. And that was enough for her.

Jacob picked up where she left off, explaining that the wolves phased when the nomads had come through. The Cullen's lingering proximity hadn't helped but was not the cause. The treaty was intact, and they were never a threat to the locals, despite what they were. He explained it was the flurry of human deaths from the visiting nomads nearby that caused and sped up the change for many of them. It was the same reason the wolves continued to appear now. The pack had never been so big before, and nomads kept coming.

Bella had to explain her escape to Italy to save Edward's life, rehashing one of Jacob's deepest wounds. Each tried to keep any sentimentality from the tale, but it was difficult. Especially when she finally revealed the death sentence and the miracle that she got spared. That miracle was further emphasized by telling how she'd watched the crowd of unsuspecting humans guided into the room she'd just left and the blood-curdling screams that followed. She'd been nearly catatonic, wide awake and trembling the entire flight home, scared out of her mind. Bella had never confessed her sentencing to Jacob in the past, and he could only stare at her in awe now.

"I wish you'd have told me… Gods, I was such an ass about so many things."

"It wouldn't have mattered… I couldn't tell anyone about it. The Volturi have laws. I didn't have a choice anymore, and I didn't want them coming after the pack for knowing more than they should. The guard has made it their mission to kill every wolf they can, Jake. I couldn't lose you that way. I would never have taken that risk. If I knew I was condemning myself by going, possibly endangering all of you… I would never have gone. I would have hated myself for not saving Edward, yes. But if I knew then what I know now, Jake…"

"Bella, I pushed you so hard…"

"You were sixteen, Jacob. Your best friend was planning to die while you were simultaneously trying to save her life. All things considered, I think you handled things a lot better than a few others would have."

He shook his head, disregarding her praise, and angry with himself.

Details of the Newborn battle and all the preparations were revealed. Charlie laughed in disbelief as he admitted knowing she was sneaking out, but not so she could watch the vampires and wolves sparring for hours. He was less amused when he realized Jacob's 'so-called motorcycle wreck' had actually been a nearly fatal crushing from a newborn. Despite being a vampire, all seemed thankful for Carlisle's expertise.

It was a shame he couldn't have been nearby to help Jared. In Carlisle's careful hands, Jared might've lived.

Bella turned to look at the man who had remained silent at her side all evening. As if sensing her thoughts, a trembling Paul blindly reached for her hand and held it, refusing to look at her. Instead, he scowled into space as he blinked back tears and swallowed hard. She knew he was likely reliving the moment, comparing Jacob's severe injuries to Jared's fatal ones and the horrific aftermath of each.

Bella had caused one of those traumatic events, and now she was a comfort to him after the other. She bit her bottom lip to keep it from trembling as Bella teared up, wishing she could comfort him how she wanted to. Instead, Bella scooted closer so that their sides were touching, and to her surprise, he soon went still.

Just as Bella noticed Charlie's suspicious frown, Quil said, "Off-topic question, guys. What the fuck is that?" He gestured between them from where his hand hung over Angela's shoulder. Angela looked directly at Bella and grinned, cradling her belly as she laughed.

Paul looked down at Bella and smirked. She glanced at her father and rolled her eyes at his incredulous glare.

"Paul? Are we friends now?"

Holding their joined hands up between them, he said, "Well, I hope to hell we are, or this would be weird."

Bella laughed, ignoring everyone else as she looked at Jacob. She nearly snorted at the constipated expression on his face as he suspiciously glanced between them. Regardless of her wariness over what the others might ask, she wanted to change the topic as quickly as possible.

Bella asked, "Jacob? Is there more we should talk about?"

At a slight nudge from Paul, she looked up into his face. "What?"

Instead of answering, the look on his face practically screamed, 'You know what.'

Bella shook her head no at him, instantly irritated. She did not want to talk about the reason she ran away from the man she'd endured so much agony for.

Then, the one person she least expected asked, "You married the Vampire, right?"

Glaring toward Devon, she said, "Yes. I did."

He held his hands up at her in peace and smiled. "I'm not trying to mess with you, I swear. I'm just… curious."

Bella nodded for him to go on, and he asked, "So, where is he now? This Edward dude?

Bella shrugged. "I don't know. Almost immediately, we discovered how incompatible we were. I moved to Florida with my mother. I haven't heard from him or any of the Cullens in nine years."

"But what about the other guys? The Vamp royalty or whatever? I thought you didn't have a choice?"

"I didn't." She nodded. "I don't know for sure that I ever will. I don't know if the Cullens got them to back off. Faked my death somehow? It wouldn't have been hard to do. Then again, someone could show up looking for me tomorrow. Or in five years or ten. Or twenty."

She felt Paul tense up but continued, "I'll never know the answer, never have the slightest warning. That's part of why I stay away, Devon. Far away from everyone I care about. My apartment is simple - I keep nothing that leaves a paper trail to anyone I care about. I have some friends, but I live alone. My mom is in Florida, an hour from where I live, and I leave no pictures of anyone on display. To be safe, I don't even keep any on my phone. I go to work, I go home. I drink with my neighbor sometimes. He's my best friend. I've dated, but I don't do relationships. No kids. I keep everyone I know at a distance. Remember what you said earlier about me leaving everyone behind?"

Devon glanced away as he nodded regretfully, looking guiltier than she would have expected. She assumed he'd said much worse and had slowly eaten his words all evening.

"Well, Devon, like I said, I left me behind. Everything I was. I haven't grown. Not really, though I have changed. I stayed away because I wanted to keep everyone I love safe. And, to my understanding, no one but Charlie wanted me here. I'm still traumatized by the same bullshit and still terrified of the same things. I still have an anvil hanging over my head, and it will always be there. My life is boring as hell sometimes, yes. But it's calm. It's peaceful."

Angela asked, "Is that why you look and dress entirely different, too?"

Bella's eyes widened in surprise as she realized Angela understood what she was trying to convey. Bella had disguised herself, in a sense. Either way, her hair would never be its unique natural mahogany color again. She left no chances for people to recognize her as she once was. That included herself. She never wanted to see 'the old Bella' in the mirror again.

"You're disassociating," Leah said sympathetically. "And I get it because I do the same shit in my way. It feels safer to keep what you don't like about your life than risk being hurt worse than before. And it's safer to create this entire persona to keep people at arm's length. It's like when an abused woman stays with her abuser because he's the monster she already knows."

Bella nodded again. "Precisely."

Charlie asked, "Clarify something for me, Bells? How did Edward blackmail you into marrying him? It has been bugging the piss out of me since you said that, and I want to know."

Bella sighed as Paul squeezed her hand, silently encouraging her. She growled at him under her breath. "You're so pushy."

He laughed, and she couldn't help but smile at the sound.

Quil sighed in aggravation, making Embry and Angela chuckle from either side of him. He said, "There's more going on than what either of you are fessing up to. And to be honest, it's kind of pissing me off."

Laughing, Embry gestured toward them with his hands. "Why? They're friends now. Why is that so weird to you? Paul's not an asshole anymore, and Bells…" Embry softened his tone as he winked at her. "Is still Bells. No matter how much she's changed."

"Thank you, Embry."

He simply nodded back once in reply. Ever-steady, quiet, handsome, sweet Embry. How he was still single was beyond her.

"It's just weird to me." To Paul, Quil said, "You, more than anyone, have refused to talk about her for years. You barely spoke to her at dinner the other night. Now you're holding hands over there for comfort like she never left. I haven't seen you even flirt with a woman in I don't know how long, let alone hold someone's hand."

Paul and Bella each turned to look at each other warily, silently asking the other what to do. What could she say without sending everything ass-over-end and causing a ruckus?

'Surprise, guys. We've been married for seven years and estranged since the wedding?' Or, 'Hey, we're married but getting divorced in exactly one week?' How about, 'So, I got drunk and married Paul just to abandon him the next fucking day…'

She felt like the biggest bitch on the planet as she stared into his dark eyes, questioning how she could have been so cruel. But then Bella glanced around at the pack, meeting the formidable glares of everyone watching them, and remembered she'd thought they all hated her, too.

Before she could speak, Paul said, "Today's been hard on both of us. I told her about Jared and Kim. We both got pretty upset over it. Okay? Bella is just being supportive like she's always been. Talking to you guys is hard, and I'm supporting her, too. That's all."

That's all. Not, 'I fell in love with this girl on a whim seven years ago.' Not, 'We made this huge mistake and are finally trying to clean up the mess.' Or, "She devastated my ass, and I finally asked for my freedom.'

Bella schooled her features as she looked away from him, trying not to pout from her own self-pity. But, she reminded herself, we could be friends. And she could love him, in secret, from a disassociated distance - just like she'd done for seven years.

Meanwhile, Charlie harrumphed in aggravated disbelief. Wearing his well-practiced interrogation face, he asked, "Can we get back on topic, kids? Bella? Blackmail! How?"

Bella snorted out a laugh, unable to help it. "I told you about the sentencing."

When Charlie nodded, she said, "I wanted Edward to turn me. I… thought I was ready for that, and since I didn't have a choice in the matter anymore, it seemed like the only solution. Since we were together, I wanted him to be the one to do it. He refused. And the pack refused because it would break the treaty. More than anything, Edward wanted me to stay human. So, as a compromise, he agreed to turn me, eventually, if I married him first."

Devon asked, "Why was marriage so important if you were supposed to be mates, anyway?"

Bella felt Paul tense beside her at 'mates' and refused to ask herself what that meant. She said, "Edward was from a different time, where marriage was required, and people were more… reserved. To have…" Bella blushed. "A real relationship with him… I had to marry him."

Sam's deep, commanding voice filled the space as he asked, "Why didn't he, then? Turn you, I mean? I'm glad he didn't, don't get me wrong… but you kept your end of the deal. Why didn't he?"

"Because that wasn't what he wanted. Marriage, he wanted, yes. But being human kept me weaker, under his thumb, and that's exactly where I was expected to stay. The Cullens controlled everything, even when I protested, yet I was too enamored to care. Where I went, who I spoke to, my wardrobe… Edward sabotaged my truck several times to force me into getting a different car or keep me from seeing Jacob. Alice would see me decide to visit Jake, and by the time I'd get outside, my engine would be fucking missing. " She didn't elaborate that Edward had gotten the idea from Charlie after Charlie disconnected her jumper cables to keep her from sneaking out.

"I didn't pick out or plan anything for that ridiculous wedding. If I'd turned, Edward wouldn't have been able to control me anymore, to lure me in the same way all vampires do with their prey. I wouldn't smell the same, and the smell of my blood was why he wanted me. I was always prey for him. I just didn't realize how true that was until the end. He wanted to own me. It wasn't love for him. It was an obsession."

Jacob asked, "Why'd you finally leave? After everything he did, what was the final straw?"

Bella shook her head no, anticipating her father's furious glare along with over a dozen wolves. She wouldn't go into details - never again. But Bella could convey the gist of it with one last, simple admission. She glanced from Sam to Seth and back to Jacob, who'd all been present at her reception.

"Remember why you got mad at the wedding? Remember what you tried to warn me about before the guys dragged you away?" At his nod, she said, "I lived through it… but you were right."

Jacob's features hardened into a furious scowl, and almost immediately, he shook. She wondered if he'd poof into a giant furball if she revealed it had taken her six weeks to heal.

To Paul, she whispered, "I don't want to talk anymore."

He leaned down, rubbing her back. "You don't have to. I think you said enough." He pressed his lips to her forehead, and she smiled, drawing strength from his affection.

"Thank you," she whispered back, wishing she could remain in his protective embrace but knowing it wouldn't change a thing.