A giant thank you to everyone who has left me such wonderful reviews. I'm glad you're all enjoying the story, and hope you'll all stick with me. There's lots more to come. :0)
Also thanks to Pichon, who gave me a little thought about Charlie to run with. ;0)
Stephenie Meyer owns the Twilight Saga. I own twitchy fingers that enjoy writing for no profit.
Chapter 17: Promises and Paisley Dresses
Before I started speaking, I wondered how badly Charlie was likely to take this piece of news, and if the answer was "very", whether Bella would ever forgive me for blowing her secret for her.
"How much do you remember about the cold ones in the stories Billy used to tell you, Charlie?" I asked him, stalling for time as I tried to think of a way out of telling him just what the Cullens really were.
"Lets see ..." Charlie began, searching his memory. "I remember he described them as fast, unnaturally beautiful, icy cold, with hard skin like stone. I think that's all. But really, I don't see what this has to do with the Cull..." He broke off, it was his turn to stand frozen as he realised how the description of the cold ones matched up to his daughter's ex-boyfriend and his family. "No." He finally spoke again. "You're telling me that the Cullen family are vampires? The whole family?" I nodded grimly. "Did she know" he asked me, and I reluctantly nodded again.
"We're pretty sure she did. Billy tried to warn her away from them early on in the relationship, but she shot him down, saying it was her business, not his." I shrugged helplessly. "There wasn't anything else we could do without breaking the treaty, so we kept as close an eye on the situation as we could from a distance.
"Treaty?" He asked, "What treaty? Why would you have a treaty with a family of vampires? Did they hurt her? Was she in danger? Is she in danger?" The questions boiled out of him at such a rate I couldn't hope to keep up.
"Slow down, Charlie." I told him. "I'll try to answer all your questions, buts lets deal with them one at a time shall we?" I gathered my thoughts. "Ok, lets answer the most important ones first. No, they didn't hurt her as far as we know. Well apart from the number her ex did on her when they left, that is." We both grimaced. "Yes, she probably was in danger, no matter how alternative a lifestyle the family led. Accidents happen, and mistakes can be made, however careful people try to be." I held up my hand as he began to ask the obvious question, stopping him from speaking.
"Hold on, Charlie, I'll come back to that one in a moment, lets answer the first few questions first. I continued on "No, I don't think she's in any danger now. They did a thorough job of packing up and leaving no trace or clues as to where they've gone. I don't think they'll be back this way for several generations. Now as to why we had a treaty with them ... They first came to this area 70 Years ago, and the doctor, their leader, met with Billy's grandfather, Ephraim Black. The leeches explained that they weren't like the others of their kind; they hunted animals, drinking from their blood, instead of humans, and claimed that it made them less violent, and more able to assimilate themselves into human society. Ephraim made an agreement with them that as long as they never bit a human, and kept of the tribal lands, the Quileute tribe wouldn't expose their secret, and the wolves wouldn't hunt them down." Charlie looked confused.
"But how could you tell that they weren't killing humans? They'd hardly do it where you could see them, or leave the evidence lying around, if it would break the treaty."
"We'd be able to tell by the colour of their eyes." I explained. "Leeches that drink human blood have red eyes, the animal diet caused the Cullens' eyes to turn that weird gold colour." He nodded in understanding.
"So that's why none of the Elders would visit the hospital where Carlisle worked." He mused. "All this time I was arguing with Billy over his 'unreasonable prejudice' against the family, and it turns out he had a perfectly good reason for keeping away from them." He rubbed his hand over his face, looking troubled. "What was Bella thinking? She knew what they were, but still went merrily on her way, putting herself into danger every day with them." Personally I agreed, but I couldn't bring myself to condemn her any more than her own actions already had.
"I think she was just a girl in love for the first time, Charlie. You know as well as I do that there's not much thinking goes on when love is in the equation" he nodded ruefully
"Yes, and she's always been so stubborn that once she had decided she was in love with him, she wouldn't have let anything stand in her way." He agreed, and I felt a little admiration for her strong mindedness, as well as a little hope for my own cause; if she had been willing to risk her own life to remain in a committed relationship with a leech, surely she might consider a little casual dating with a werewolf? Charlie's face firmed, "Even if that's the case, I'm going to have to have words with my daughter. To have put herself in that danger, to have no thought towards her own safety, to have lied to me over and over? I knew there was more going on that she was telling me. I just thought she had more respect for me than to keep such important things from me." He looked so sad and disappointed.
"Charlie you can't say anything." I warned him urgently. "How would you tell her you found out? If you say anything to her about the Cullens, she'll never believe you suddenly just realised it yourself out of the blue." I could see he knew I was right. I suspected he was just sounding off, trying to let some of his anger and disappointment out while he could. "Besides," I continued "how could she have told you? There's no way you would've believed her, and I'd be willing to bet she was sworn to secrecy. I may not know her that well, and certainly not as well as you do, but I don't get the impression she's the sort of person who breaks promises. Promises like not telling secrets. Promises like the one I'm going to have to ask you to make about our secret." His shoulders sagged.
"Yeah I know." He said, sounding a little defeated. "And I know it had to have eaten at her every time she was forced to lie to me. She hates lying. Especially to those she loves." He sounded proud of her, and I could understand why.
"So we're agreed then?" I asked. "You won't say anything?"
"We're agreed, I promise. " He said, then a sly grin crept over his face. "But I reserve the right to tear a strip off her about lying to me and putting herself in danger if she ever finds out about you wolves by herself. I'll ground her for the rest of her life." He chuckled. "Even if she's fifty when she finds out." I laughed along with him.
Charlie got into his cruiser and left for home, and I went back inside to see Billy.
"He's a crafty one." Was the first thing Billy said when I walked in. I gave him a confused look, and he chuckled a little. "You think he'd really forgotten to ask you about the Cullens til he was just about to leave? Not Charlie. He knew damn well that I would've helped you duck around the question and avoid answering, so he waited til he had us separated and then asked. Like I said; crafty." I had to agree. Charlie Swan was sharper than a bag full of scalpels.
I didn't see anything of Bella for a while, but I knew she'd been on the Rez after school each day. I often caught her wonderful scent as I walked along the beach, most often it was coming from that little hollow I'd found her in before. But sometimes I caught it coming from the diner on the beach, mixed in with Jake's and a couple of others. I knew from talking with Billy that she was spending time with Jake, mending the bikes she'd picked up, just as we'd planned, and that she'd also been spending a lot of time hanging with a couple of friends of Jake's - Quil Ateara and Embry Call. I was glad she was spending so much time in La Push without being forced into it, and I made a suggestion to Billy that he could mention the drop-in centre to her, and see if she'd be willing to volunteer there every once in a while as another excuse to get her to the Rez. The fact that I was often there volunteering myself had nothing to do with my suggestion. At all. Absolutely nothing whatsoever.
The first time we bumped into each other at the drop-in centre turned out not quite how I might've planned it.
I was minding some little kids for the afternoon. A lot of members of the tribe worked hours that didn't exactly fit in around the local school or nursery, and so, rather than having to pay out huge chunks of their pay on child minders, they would have them brought straight from their school to the drop-in centre to play until they finished work. On this particular day we were playing dress-up. The little ones were having a fantastic time, pulling an old paisley dress over my head, tugging on it til it nearly ripped as they tried to force my too wide shoulders to fit. I was stuck, with my arms trapped over my head, half in and half out of the sleeves, and my head and face still completely covered, and running around after the kids, their delighted screams leading my way, when I suddenly ran straight into something bigger. Someone bigger. Someone bigger who smelled amazing. "Seriously. Bella shows up now? Could this be any more embarrassing?" I thought despairingly, as I pulled my head through the dress finally, and looked down to see her thoroughly amused expression. It had been just over a week since I last saw her and I was surprised at the improvement a few short days had made. Her skin looked fresher and healthier, the bags under her eyes were almost gone, and her face, and I expected her body -though it was impossible to tell under yet another of Charlie's shirts - had filled out a little, making her look less skeletal. She was definitely improving.
"Oh. Hello, Miss...?" She joked, holding out her hand to make the introduction, and making the little ones giggle.
"Miss Newton, Dianne Newton's younger and much more attractive sister-in-law" I supplied with a straight face and her eyes sparkled with repressed laughter.
"So pleased to meet you." She said. "I came over to see what all the yelling was about. I'm refereeing a pool tournament in the other room for the older kids, and we're just between games at the moment."
"Ah, I see" I replied. "We'll try to keep it down to a dull roar in here then. The kids all giggled again, breaking out into their own roaring noises, and stalking each other around the room like lions, dress-up forgotten.
From that day, we were often at the centre at the same time. Either cooking together for "Meals on Wheels" or looking after the kids, or running the tutoring program. She came down every third day, except on the weekends and I was pleased to be able to get to know her a little better. My wolf on the other hand was just thrilled to be around her. I often had to restrain myself from burying my face in my hair and filling my lungs with her scent, as the wolf strained at the reins I had holding him back. I had tried flirting with her gently, knowing she wasn't ready yet for anything more, but she was either oblivious to it, or she realised what I was doing and was letting me down as gently as she could. I would've been concerned that she was ignoring my flirting because she had the beginnings of something going with Jake, but both Billy and Charlie had mentioned in passing how she had responded to the idea of the two of them getting together. She wasn't at all interested, and had been sensible enough to make it very clear to all parties concerned to avoid awkwardness and hurt feelings.
Bella didn't come to the Rez on the weekends though, so, to reassure Charlie, I agreed that one of the pack would keep an eye out for her at these times. On one day of the weekend, she made a point of going fishing with him. It was clear that she had little to no interest in be actual fishing - she would always bring a book to read, or some homework to do - but it was equally clear that she simply wanted to spend some time alone with her dad. Despite there being no new leech scents in the area since we chased the redhead off the hiker, I still advised Charlie to remain close to where he parked while they went fishing. He knew one of us would be watching them, and, if an emergency arose, we would be able to hold the leech back while he and Bella escaped to their vehicle and drove off.
Paul voiced his disgust at being what he referred to as 'Princess Bella's royal guard dogs' on several occasions. In a way he was right; we were responsible for protecting the whole tribe, and, since the Cullens left, forks too. Yet one of us would spend hours watching over just two people. But as far as I was concerned we owed Charlie. He had worked out our secret, and had not only promised not to tell anyone, even his own daughter, but had offered any help he might be able to provide, at any time we needed it. Paul in particular had needed it. Twice in the last three weeks, he had gotten into fights with some kids from Forks. And twice Charlie had 'made the arrest' himself, so that the paperwork could be 'lost in the system' and Paul's official police record remained clean.
Charlie understood the problems that we faced due to our tempers, and he seemed to understand Paul's personality quite well too. After chatting with Paul for a while, the second time he 'arrested' him, and understanding that a lot of his anger came from frustration, mainly frustration from failing at school no matter how hard he tried, Charlie had suggested to Paul that he go to the drop-in centre and make use of the tutoring facilities, failing to mention that Bella was one of the tutors. Despite his fury at having to be taught by 'the leech lover', and his extreme annoyance that my Alpha order forced any disrespect he might've wanted to throw in her face to remain closed inside his mouth, choking him on the words, Paul's schoolwork was improving a little, and as his schoolwork improved, so too did his temper.
It was the third weekend since Charlie confronted Billy and I about what he knew, that Jared finally caught a new scent trail from the red headed leech. Worryingly, it had started out heading down the corridor that Charlie, Billy and I had noticed when looking at the map, then suddenly veered off heading directly towards where Charlie and Bella were fishing. I had been the one watching them fish that day, and Jared had just been doing a routine patrol sweep around our territory when he picked up the trail.
"Leech trail, Boss. Heading straight down that path you showed Paul and I." Jared warned me. I knew I should've been more insistent about getting Paul to quit calling me Boss. Jared had fallen into the habit all too easily, and now did it without thinking when he was in wolf form.
"Fresh, or old?" I asked.
"Fresh. About an hour."
"Follow it, but don't engage. I'll start heading to you and we'll tackle the bitch together." I told him, getting to my feet and beginning to carefully slink back into the cover of the deeper forest so I wouldn't be noticed by Bella who was reading under an umbrella next to Charlie.
"Will do, Boss. She's going straight as an arrow towards town. She'll come out of the forest on Charlie's street if she keeps heading straight... No wait. The trail turns here. She veered off, going almost due west." I pictured the map in my mind, trying to work out where she might be going, and was alarmed to realise she was heading right for the spot where Charlie and Bella were currently sitting. It was weird. The only thing I could figure was that maybe Bella's scent was drawing her this way, looking for a tasty snack. I had discussed Bella's scent with Jared a few times, trying to work out why it had my wolf behaving like a cat after a bag of catnip. Jared confirmed that he found her scent pleasant himself, though it didn't have his wolf sitting up and begging like it did mine. Maybe her scent was just unusually pleasant to us supernatural types, and that what had distracted the red head from whatever she was after in town.
"Fuck. She's heading right to me. Cut the corner and get your furry ass over here ASAP. Keep it quiet and stealthy once you get close though, I'll lay low and we'll try to trap her between us." I ordered, slinking around behind Charlie and Bella, keeping my eyes peeled for the leech. I finally saw her sitting in a tree a few hundred yards away from the Swans, watching them intently.
"Shit. She's down wind from me. She almost certainly knows I'm here." I told Jared, letting him see the image I could see of her perched in her tree. "We won't be able to take her by surprise. The best we can do is chase her off again this time." I said, keeping my growls of frustration silent. I saw Bella roll her shoulders, looking around her as if she knew someone was watching her with malicious intent. She rubbed her arms a few times, flexing her neck back and forth.
"Dad, can you see or hear anyone else around here?" I heard her ask. "Only I feel like I'm being watched. She was perceptive. Maybe even more so than Charlie if that were possible. After all, it was her, not him that realised they were being watched. Charlie stiffened, his head shooting up and turning this way and that, looking for whoever might be watching them.
"No Bells. I don't hear or see anyone." He answered with false calm. He began reeling in his line and packing up his gear. "But if you feel uncomfortable, then we'll head back early today." He stood, reaching out to pull Bella to her feet to, and hurried them off towards her truck, ignoring her protesting.
"Shit." A quiet, musical, almost child-like voice said from the tree, and now that Charlie and Bella were climbing into the truck, I began working my way quietly towards the leech. She might've been able to smell me, but I had no intention of letting her see me until I was close enough to make a grab for her. I made sure to keep myself positioned in between the leech and the truck which was now beginning to pull out of its parking spot. The leech looked undecided. She seemed to weighing up her options; attacking a pair of humans when she knew there was a wolf right there somewhere, or forgetting about her snack and heading back to town and whatever it was that was drawing her there.
"I'm here, Boss. I'm coming up behind her, about a hundred yards away from her now." Jared showed me what he was seeing - the back of the leech as she dropped down from her tree.
"Ok, Jared. Good job. Get as close as you can, as quietly as you can, and I'll do the same." I told him. "I don't think we'll get her this time, but it's worth trying, and if we miss her, we can still chase her off."
"On it." Jared answered, and we moved in unison, getting closer and closer, til we were each only twenty yards or so from the bitch. She gave a little smirk.
"I know you're there, wolf. I could smell your stench a mile off in pouring rain, with a stick of decongestant shoved up each nostril." Her childish voice chimed.
"Not too clever at the witty banter this one, is she?" Jared said, waiting patiently for my signal.
"No. But we can't have everything, mustn't be greedy." I said and Jared sent me a mental smirk. On my signal, we both launched ourselves at her.
She had been expecting my attack and was ready for it, dodging to one side and kicking out at me as I leapt just fractions of an inch past her. Her foot connected solidly with my ribs and I felt at least two of them crack under the assault, forcing a small whine from me.
What she hadn't been expecting was Jared's simultaneous attack from the rear, and she barely escaped having her head torn from her shoulders, somehow rolling her upper body out of danger. Once again, her uncanny ability to escape had left her alive against the odds, but this time she hadn't gotten away scott free. Jared had managed to get his teeth around her hand, and when she tore it free, she left her left pinky and ring finger behind in his mouth. He spat them to the ground, where they wriggled about in the leaf mould, their ghastly white a stark contrast to the surrounding brown and green. The leech stared down at her fingers, then up to the two of us as we stalked forwards, growling. With a frustrated snarl, she spun and sped away, back away from town now, and we followed in hot pursuit.
"Where's Paul?" I asked Jared, hoping he was somewhere either nearby, where he could join the chase, or better yet up ahead so he could head her off.
"Not sure." Was the reply, "I think he might've had plans to go to Port Angeles today though." Jared added hopefully. I stopped for a moment to let out a loud howl, calling Paul's attention if he was in earshot.
"If he is in Port Angeles he won't have heard that, but it looks like we're heading in that general direction, so I'll call every 10 miles or so til he does hear us." I told Jared. "Hopefully we've got someone in front of her without her realising it." I caught back up with Jared and we continued to race after the redhead, me stopping every 10 miles to let out a loud howl, until I finally felt Paul phase in just as we approached the outskirts of the city.
"What's up, Boss?" He asked the moment he was in wolf form. "I just booked it out of the movie theatre. Its a miracle I heard you over all the gunfire." Jared and I quickly filled him in, and he was instantly on the alert, ready to join the action. "Excellent." He said with a mental evil grin. "I'll lurk around on the edge of the forest just outside the city, and you herd he straight to me. Then we can finally end the bitch." I quickly thought his plan through.
"Ok Paul, but whatever you do, don't let her catch sight or scent of you, or she'll veer off and be in the sea before we can get to her." I warned him.
"Got it, Boss" he answered and we saw in his mind as he carefully tucked himself under a couple of fallen branches, hidden from view. Unless the wind shifted, she never know he was there til he sprang out at her.
Jared's and I pushed our speed even harder, driving the leech into our trap.
"We'll be right in front of you in about two minutes, Paul. Get ready." I warned him grimly. Finally we were going to see the last of this troublesome bitch. Up ahead, she faltered a little, slowing for just a few strides, then suddenly veering off at a right angle to her previous path. She was heading for the ocean, and Jared's and I were just too far behind to cut her off and herd her where we wanted her.
"What the FUCK?!" Paul, Jared's and I said in unison. There was no way she could've seen Paul, and the wind hadn't shifted to carry his scent to her; Jared and I would've caught the scent too had that been the case. Paul tore out of his hiding place, racing after her just a few paces in front of Jared's and I. But it was too late. Reaching the cliff edge, she didn't hesitate for a second as she threw herself over the edge and into the ocean. Game over. Leeches held the advantage in the water, and there was no way we'd catch her now. The three of us skidded to a halt on the edge of the cliff, the speed of our claws digging into the ground sending a spray of grit, leaves and dirt over to be picked up and blown away by the sharp cliff wind. Standing side by side, panting, sending huge clouds of steamy breath into the air to be swept off by the wind too, the three of us watched the fiery red of her hair as it trailed on the surface of the water, the leech cutting through the waves faster than a shark.
"How did she know?" I wondered aloud. "Without sight or scent of you, Paul, she still knew to veer off and head for the water." The other two were equally baffled. There was something odd about this particular bloodsucker. It seemed that however tight we pulled the noose, she still managed to wriggle free and escape us.
"You know, Boss, once Jacob phases we'll be in a better position." Jared reasoned. "Not only will we have one more of us to tighten any trap we catch her in, but we'll have the element of surprise. She'll be expecting three of us, then we can spring the fourth one from whatever direction she chooses to run." It was a good plan, and I hoped it would work. Much as I regretted the inevitability of Jacob joining us in this difficult life, I would be glad of the extra set of paws. And when he chose to take over as Alpha, I'd be glad of the rest from the responsibility.
"Or maybe she'll just give up now. We've never managed to rip any bits off her before. Maybe that's what will make her give up on whatever she's after." Jared suggested, not that even he believed he was right. Whatever this leech wanted, we all knew she wouldn't quit til either she got it, or we got her.
"We'll we can but hope, I guess." I said. "Speaking of ripping bits off her. When we get back, one of you needs to go back and find those fingers and burn them, before someone finds them." I told them, shuddering at the thought of them still wriggling around on the forest floor, looking for their owner.
We watched until the redhead disappeared from view, then turned as one and ran for home again, each caught up in our own thoughts. Mine were still mired in plans for when Jacob made his first phase. Every little detail was jumbling together in my brain, from how to handle and calm him when he first became a wolf, to how to handle keeping Bella away from him till it was safe. From explaining to him that he was the rightful Alpha, to the best tactics for using him in the pack to get the redhead bitch, and everything in between. My roiling thoughts were setting Paul and Jared's teeth on edge.
"Shit, Boss. Any chance you could give it a rest? My poor tiny brain can't handle that many thoughts at once." Paul complained. "To be honest, I don't see how you can think all of that and keep all four legs moving in the correct sequence all at once." Paul's light hearted bitching lifted the tense atmosphere surrounding the three of us a little and Jared's gave a snort of laughter, his tongue lolling from his mouth in a wolfy sort of smile as he ran. As it turned out, all my planning about Jacob's first phase became academic. A new wolf joined our lives as we approached the outskirts of Forks. We felt the phase, and all three of us skidded to a halt. But it wasn't Jacob's voice that echoed in our heads.
"What the actual FUCK?" The new voice said, just this side of complete panic. "What's happening? Where did my hands go. Where the fuck did my hands go?" Whoever it was, they were fast approaching a total breakdown of control, and I quickly spoke up.
"Calm yourself. It's ok. You're ok. We're here to help."
"Who the fuck are you? Where the fuck are you?" The new voice asked, and we could see what he saw as he spun wildly, turning his head this way and that, trying to find where my voice was coming from and making us all dizzy.
"I'm Sam Uley. Stop looking around for me; you won't see me, I'm several miles from you with Jared's Cameron and Paul Lahote. Look" I showed him our location, and turned to look at first Jared's and then Paul so he could see we were wolves like him.
"Can you stay still where you are and look slowly around so we can see your location?" I asked as quietly as possible, trying to infect him with my calm. It worked. He stilled, and slowly panned his head around, showing us the backs of several houses, then a distant glimpse of a boatyard.
"The west of La Push, near Paul's house." Jared's spoke up, and we turned in that direction.
"We're coming. Stay calm and quiet, and if you can do so without attracting attention, try to get into the woods there out of sight." I told him. "Sorry. I almost forgot. Who are you?"
"Embry Call." The new voice answered.