The day after chemo was always horrendous. The best way to describe it was something similar to the deadly flu. My body was completely exhausted. I could barely get myself out of bed and downstairs to the couch. I hardly kept any food down from the constant nausea rolling in my stomach, and I didn't want to do anything but sleep.

Charlie had taken the day off to watch over me. He was vigilant in making sure the trashcan by the couch was always clean, and that a fresh glass of water was always in my reach. Simple foods like toast and crackers were set on the table in case I wanted to eat something. Medicine to help with the nausea was given on time every six hours. Blankets were thrown in the drier in shifts to make sure they were constantly toasty warm.

I felt horrible, but it was a little less bad thanks to Charlie.

The second day included less death and more discomfort which meant Charlie was cleared to go back to work. Most of the nausea had disappeared and what remained was easily solved by pills. I managed to keep down a few slices of toast easily enough. I was still exhausted, but the largest issue I had was constipation. Even with what little I had eaten the day before, the pressure in my lower gut and back was astounding.

By the third day, I had regained a majority of my energy back. The physical symptoms had either disappeared or nearly disappeared. I was able to get up and do small tasks around the house like laundry or the dishes without getting too fatigued. The problem that appeared near the end of the day was the prickle of restlessness in my spine. I had been cooped up in the house for a solid week before treatment, and I wasn't as good at being a homebody as I was two years ago.

I tried to busy myself with little tasks, but the sensation never went away. I knew the only way to fix it was to get away from the house—no matter how much it unnerved me. It would only get worse if I stayed, and I needed to stop actively avoiding the town if I wanted to not arouse suspicion after the bookstore.

That was how I found myself in Stella's café for lunch the next day. Part of me really did want to see the bookstore again, but I didn't want to risk running into Tanya, so Stella's it was. The little rabbit themed café sat right between the post office and general store. Photos and hand-drawn pictures of rabbits decorated the walls and a few of the tables. Plants took up almost every other corner in the place and soft music played in the background. It was comfortable, laid back, and exactly what I needed.

I had kept a keen eye out for the fancy Mercedes I had seen before when I parked Tom's old truck, but I was relived to not see it or any other ridiculously high-end vehicle on the street. There were a few people in already when I got there, but it wasn't overly busy. I adjusted my bag over my shoulder and approached the counter.

The barista was a young man around my age that reminded me of Seth with his puppy dog eyes and smile. "Hi! What can I get you?"

I glanced at the menu above his head. "Um, I'll have a vanilla latte, please," I said. "And a chocolate croissant."

He punched in the order. "Anything else?"

"No, that's it."

"Alright, then, your total is eight dollars and ninety cents." He reached to take my offered ten-dollar bill and tilted his head. "You're Bella, right? Your dad is the new guy." He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder in the vague direction of the department.

I nodded. "Yeah, I am. Charlie is my dad."

"He comes in sometimes for lunch. He loves our burger."

I chuckled. "Yeah, that would be him. I swear burgers are the best way to get on that man's good side." He handed a small stand with a number.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I'm his new best friend with how often he comes here." He motioned to the empty tables around the room. "Sit anywhere you'd like. I'll bring out your order when it's ready."

I thanked him and looked around for a place to sit. My eyes settled on a nice little half-booth-half-table in the corner of the room. There was a lamp directly over it that would be perfect for reading. I settled on the booth side. I placed the number on the end of the table and pulled out one of the books I had bought at the bookshop.

I was about to pick it up when a small plate with my croissant was set in front of me followed closely by a full hot mug. "Here you go, Bella." He winced. "I am realizing it's weird I know your name, and you don't know mine. I'm Max."

I chuckled and scratched the back of my neck. "Nice to meet you, Max, and don't worry. I'm getting used to everyone else already knowing about me."

The man shrugged with a smile. "You gotta love small towns. Charlie for sure talks about you a lot, so I wouldn't be surprised if most of the town knows your life story by now."

"Really?" I asked surprised. I figured he had probably told the other two officers at the station why he had to miss days, but I didn't know if it had spread to the rest of the town. "Like what?"

Max waved his hand with a tsk. "Ah, it's nothing bad. Don't worry. Mainly he talks about how smart you were in school, and how he's looking forward to when you go to college. Stuff like that."

I tried not to look too relieved. I knew Charlie wouldn't spread the whole cancer thing without asking me, but small towns still liked to talk. It was why I had forbidden him from telling anyone about my sickness when I was little. Being the Cancer Kid really hadn't been a fond memory for me, and I didn't want it to follow me when I was up there to visit him. My quick surgery last time had managed to keep the secret a little longer before this time around. It was hard to lie about why you were disappearing to Alaska for six months; especially, the Chief of Police.

"Well, as long as it's not my dark secrets, I think I can manage with a little town gossip."

Max laughed and shook his head. "You're brave for that." The door opened as a mom and her son walked in. "That would be my cue. Let me know if you need anything else, yeah?" He did a small wave and quickly trotted back to the counter.

I smiled and turned my attention to the coffee and croissant. The croissant itself was delicious. It was light with the perfect level of flakiness; the chocolate sweetened it, but it didn't make the dessert too rich. It paired great with the coffee, and it didn't take long for me to devour the entire thing.

I wiped off my fingers and picked up my book. It was a mystery/thriller novel that involved a time loop and a murder. I had started it the night before and barely managed to put it down before bed. I was excited to start it up again, but I had only just managed to read the first few lines of the new chapter when the chair in front of me was pulled back. I jumped and snapped my eyes up just as a body dropped into the seat. It took everything in me not to instantly leave and never come back.

It wasn't Tanya, but I knew it was one of the "sisters" she had mentioned before. The woman had long pale blonde hair with bright gold eyes. She grinned as she leaned back in the chair and raked her eyes over me. "So, you're the new girl everyone is talking about. Welcome to my humble shop."

I didn't say anything. I just stared at her, dumbfounded, as I wondered why I should ever leave the house. Do they own everything in this damn town?

The woman wasn't deterred by my silence. Instead, she stuck out her hand with a grin. "Name's Kate, and you're Bella." I glanced down at her hand, and she immediately drew it back. "Oh, yeah. Tanya said you don't like to touch people. That's fair. Humans can be really gross—something I learned as a café owner. She was right, though, you are really pretty."

I tried to hide the sudden blush in my cheeks with my book. "Thanks." She told them I was pretty…I shouldn't have been flattered by that, but I was. My more pressing concern was what else she might have told them, though.

Kate smiled, clearly amused by my embarrassment, and leaned forward to pluck my book from my hands. She flipped it around to look at the cover and hummed. "This is one from her store, isn't it?"

I frowned and yanked it back. "Yes, and I am trying to enjoy it."

She wasn't even bothered by my tone. In fact, it looked like it amused her. She rested her chin in her palm. "Do you like it?"

"Trying to."

"Aw, now that's a shame."

I inhaled deeply through my nose and silently willed for the universe to give me patience. The last thing on my to-do list was to deal with more vampire bullshit, and I had no desire to cause a scene by storming out.

Luckily (or unluckily) I was saved.

The door opened, and who should appear but Tanya. Her eyes immediately landed on her sister's back with a brief look of panic. She strode over, grabbed the back of Kate's shirt, and hauled her out of the seat. "Leave her alone, Kate."

The other woman pushed her off in protest. "I wasn't doing anything, Tanya," she whined. "I was just talking to my new customer."

The strawberry blonde didn't look like she believed her at all. Frankly, neither did I. She pushed Kate away towards the counter. "Go take care of your café and stop pestering Bella."

Kate grumbled petulantly under her breath and rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine…" She began walking backwards towards the counter as she flashed me one more grin. "See you around, Bella." She spun on the ball of her foot and retreated towards the back.

I relaxed a little as she vanished, but I was still literally cornered with Tanya standing over me. She smiled apologetically as she turned to me. "Sorry about anything she said. Kate has absolutely no filter."

I shifted in my seat and shrugged. "It's fine."

"Would you mind if I joined you?"

I instantly chugged the rest of my latte. It burned all the way down my throat. I had to choke back a coughing fit as my body suddenly felt on the verge of sweating bullets. "About to leave." I shoved my book back into my bag and stood up from the booth.

Her brief look of disappointment was replaced with a smile. "Oh, well, I'll escort you." She winked cheekily and offered her elbow. "I assure you I don't bite."

"Not in my experience." The fuck?

Tanya's smile vanished.

Panicked, I darted around her towards the door. I vaguely heard Max call for me to have a good day as I ran out. Why the hell did I say that? What the fuck was I thinking? Was lack of inner monologue a new thing this time around? If they had had any doubt about me, I had just thrown it out the window with that.

My heart pounded in my chest as I fled towards the truck. I hadn't made it half way before a hand gently pulled on my arm. "Bella, wait." I had no choice but to stop when Tanya appeared in my path. "It's okay."

I yanked my arm away from her. "Move."

She held up her hands placatingly. "I just want to talk."

"I'm not interested." I tried to move around her, but she matched me.

"Please," she begged, "just come back inside. I'll pay for whatever you want, but please let us talk. You aren't in danger here. Not all of us are like that."

"Why do you care so much?" I snapped. "Isn't it better for you if I pretend like you don't exist?"

A dry chuckle rumbled in her chest; she shook her head. "Pretending we don't exist isn't an option, I'm afraid. If it were, I would give it to you, but it's not." She sighed. "I understand your hesitancy, but I really mean you no harm. My eyes are yellow, correct? I'm sure you know that means I'm a…vegetarian."

"Oh, so the fact you are less likely to kill me is supposed to be comforting?"

"No! I mean…" She pinched the bridge of her nose and huffed in frustration. "Yes, that is what it means, but no that's not what I meant by it. I just mean that you aren't in danger with me. I have no desire to hurt you, Bella, and we can talk in public where you feel safer. I just…" She shook her head. "I just want you to feel comfortable walking through town. You don't need to hide away just because we're here."

I pursed my lips as I considered her words for a moment. I knew what I was doing wasn't sustainable. Not only did I not have the endurance to stay home at all times, but I would inevitably need to go into town at some point. It didn't make sense for me to exile myself; especially, when it seemed they were willing to extend an olive branch.

I let my head fall back and curled my nails into my palms. I took in a deep breath and slowly let it out through my nose. "Fine."

Her smile was filled with relief. "Thank you." She cleared her throat and slowly started back to the café to make sure I followed. "What would you like? I'm buying."

"I'm fine."

"It's not a crime to accept food from me, you know."

"I already ate."

She didn't push the matter anymore and opened the door. She offered an awkward smile and waved me forward. "After you."

We received a few odd looks from the patrons as we walked back in, but everyone kept to their own business as we returned to my table. My mug and plate had already been taken away, and I reclaimed my seat on the booth side as she sat in front of me.

Kate appeared out of nowhere with a glass of water and a chair. She set the glass in front of me and pulled the chair along the side of the table. "I come in peace."

I already regretted it. I leaned back in the booth and crossed my arms over my chest. "You wanted to talk—so talk."

Kate grinned. "You're blunt. I like that."

Tanya whacked her upside the head and shot her a stern look before she turned to me. "I'm not going to ask you to tell us your story because that's not our right, but your scar tells me enough." I pushed my wrists closer to my body and looked away. "Some of our kind can be quite cruel, and I'm sorry you had to experience that at all."

"We all are," Kate added. It was the most genuine she's sounded in the last ten minutes, and it surprised me. "It's not okay."

I shifted uncertainly. I didn't really like how intensely they looked at me. "Thanks."

Tanya smiled gently. "Of course. We don't support those behaviors from our kind. We thought if you were to know a little more about us that—"

"No."

She was taken aback. "Bella, I promise we only want to—"

"No." I glared at her. "Do you know what happened the last time I got to know a family like you? I'm not doing that again. I'm not doing that to my dad again. No, I will not be getting to know you."

Tanya ran her hand through her hair, frustrated, and Kate shook her head. "Look, we're not saying you have to become best friends with us," the pale blonde said. "We just thought if you understood what is at stake for us maybe you'd understand why we want you to feel safe here."

"What could be at stake for you?"

She shrugged. "Our livelihood. Our roots. We've been here for over a century. We built this town from the ground up, and we've helped it and the people grow. We don't want anything to jeopardize that."

"Precisely," Tanya agreed. "We want as much trouble here as you do. An understanding would be mutually beneficial, Bella."

I glanced between the two of them—they both appeared to be quite genuine in their explanation. If what they said was true (and I honestly didn't doubt it), then they would have reason to create a truce with me. I could accept that little assurance. "Alright," I agreed. "Fine. What do you want?"

Their shoulders relaxed, and Tanya chuckled under her breath. "We don't have any demands of you. All we require is for our secret to be kept that way. You're free to do whatever you want here. It's your home now, after all."

I frowned. "Seriously? You don't want anything else?"

Kate snorted. "Well, Tanya would love for you to—"

She was silenced by sharp smack to the ribs. "Shut-up, Kate," Tanya growled. Her face softened as she turned back to me. "No, we don't want anything else from you, but that doesn't mean you don't want anything from us to make you feel more secure."

"How many of you are there?" I asked immediately. It had been bothering me since I first ran into Tanya in the bookstore.

"Five," she answered automatically. "There is our sister Irina, and our coven mates Eleazer and Carmen."

They didn't outnumber the Pack, then. That was good. Of course, they probably had the wolves beat when it came to experience, but at least the numbers would be in the tribe's advantage if it came to it. "What exactly is your story to everyone here?"

Kate shrugged. "Great grandchildren of the original Denali family," she said. "We rotate the roles enough between us that it isn't that hard to fake; especially, if you have a forged panting of your ancestor in Town Hall."

It made sense, I suppose. It was simple but an effective approach, and it was probably one they could continue indefinitely as the town continued to grow over the years. It was understandable why their home would be so precious to them.

I noticed movement outside the window from the corner of my eye. I turned just in time to see Charlie standing outside with the other two officers in town. He froze when his eyes caught mine and landed on the two women sitting opposite of me. His brows furrowed, and he looked back towards me in worry.

I shook my head.

"Does your father know?" Tanya suddenly asked.

I looked away from the window back to her. She watched Charlie curiously as he slowly moved away from the window to follow his coworkers. They were headed for the door. "Yes, he does."

On cue, the door opened, and Charlie quickly excused himself from his friends. He looked between the three of us uncertainly before he focused on me. "Everything good, Bells?"

I nodded slowly and cast a small glance towards the women in front of me. "It's fine. We're in agreement to leave each other alone."

His brows rose in surprise, and Tanya quickly stood from her chair. "It is a little more than that. It is a pleasure to meet you, sir, my name is Tanya Denali. I'm the head of our family."

Charlie hesitantly took her hand. His eyes darted towards me, and he frowned. "What do you mean there's more to it?"

"Only that we want you and Bella to feel safe here," she explained. "We have no intention of making you feel uncomfortable or unwelcome here. Our home is yours."

"A generous offer given what I know about your rules."

"It's an unusual circumstance."

Charlie hummed uncertainly and looked back at me. "You're alright with this?"

I shrugged. "It's reasonable to me."

He held my gaze for a moment before he nodded. "I trust your judgement." He quickly turned his attention back on Tanya and frowned. "But make no mistake, if you create any sort of trouble for Bella or me there will be consequences."

"I assure you that is the last thing I want to do."

A call of his name from the front pulled his attention away. He nodded curtly to her and addressed me again. "You alright to get home on your own?"

"I'm fine, Dad. I'll see you later."

"Alright." He sent one last look to the Denali women. "Be safe." He turned on his heel and joined his friends at the counter to order lunch.

"Well, that's my cue to head back," Kate spoke up. She pushed her seat back and stood. "Lunch rush will come in and there's only one Max." She smiled as she shot me a wink. "Any future purchases of yours are on the house, friend. A token to the beginning of this wonderful relationship."

Tanya pinched the bridge of her nose. "Leave, Kate."

The pale blonde snorted and quickly darted back into the kitchen area with a little wave. "See ya, Bella." Kate was…odd. In a way, she reminded me of Emmett and Alice wrapped into one body. I didn't really know how I felt about that.

"I hope to see you in the bookstore again soon." I snapped my attention back to Tanya. She shifted in place and picked at her fingers. "We received a new order a few days ago with a few books you might be interested—if you enjoy the one you have, of course."

I was focused more on her movements than her words. She appeared nervous, and it confused me. I understood the fragility of the situation between us, but surely I didn't constitute a vampire breaking their statue-like habits? Then again, they lived among humans more freely than the Cullens—maybe they simply had better practice at appearing human.

I shook myself out of the thought. I rolled my shoulder and grabbed my bag. "Maybe." I slid out from the booth and tossed the bag over my shoulder. "I have other things to do today."

"Of course." She took the dismissal with grace; I would give her that. She smiled and clasped her hands behind her back. "Have a good day, Bella. Thank you for speaking with us."

"Yeah…sure." I awkwardly stepped around her for the door.

Max stopped me just before I walked out. "Kate said you wanted another before you left." He held out a to-go cup. "She already took care of the payment, I guess."

I glanced over his shoulder towards the back of the café. I barely caught sight of Kate grinning at me from the back before she disappeared again. Slowly, I took the cup. "Thanks, Max."

"Sure thing. See ya soon!"

I finally stepped out and walked down the sidewalk towards the truck. This time, no one stopped me. I climbed inside the cabin, tossed my bag into the passenger seat, and sat as the warmth of the cup radiated into my hands. I let out a heavy breath and finally released the tension from my shoulders.

Well, they didn't kill me.