I want to take a quick moment to that everyone who has left such kind review for this story. I really does make my day to read any feedback on my writing, but the wonderful review I've been getting?... Well let's just say that I might have to get the door widened around here so I can get my head through. Lol This evening also saw me hit 200 followers and 100 favourites, so thank you to all of you for your support while I write this (let's face it, epic length) story, and here, in gratitude for your kind words, is another extra-long chapter. Enjoy. :0)
Stephenie Meyer owns the Twilight Saga. I own twitchy fingers that enjoy writing for no profit.
Chapter 29: Revelations and more Revelations
Everything froze for a few seconds.
All three wolves became giant hairy statues, not even breathing and I wondered for a split second if they'd heard another threat approaching and were preparing to leap into action. It turned out I was partially correct; they were about to spring into action, but not against another threat. The huge black wolf began a low grumbling growl, his hackles rising, making him look even larger than ever and then the russet wolf joined in with his own low growl. The sound was so deep and loud that I could feel it inside my lungs, making it difficult to catch my breath. Then I did catch my breath. In a loud gasp as the black wolf exploded into movement. It spun around on his back legs, snarling and biting at the air, seeming to be looking for something to rip apart. Had he been in human form I would have said that the growls and snarls that were coming from his snapping jaws were a string of curses, but as he was in wolf form I couldn't be sure just exactly what was going on. The russet wolf too was snarling and growling at nothing, which then became snarling and growling at the black wolf, who snarled back, and the two of them were soon taking swipes at each other with their front paws. The situation was fast deteriorating into a brawl, it seemed only a matter of time before they started biting chunks out of each other, and I had no idea what had started them off or what I could do to stop it. The dark grey wolf moved, placing his body between mine and the two scrapping wolves and I was grateful for the barrier. For the first time I was afraid of the shifters. I had always thought of them only as protectors of the tribe, never really taking into account the animalistic side of their nature. Were they always this volatile? I jumped to my feet, ready to make a run for it if it looked like the fight was going to make it past the furry grey barrier. The dark grey wolf let out a single loud choking bark, trailing off into a menacing growl of his own and I began to worry that he too would join in the fight, but instead his bark and growl had the opposite effect. The black and russet wolves broke off and stood apart panting with exertion.
"What the fuck was that about?" I murmured to myself, a slight tremor in my voice. The wolves of course heard me and their heads all snapped round to face me once again. Moving very slowly, clearly aware that the fight had scared me, the black wolf walked closer to me and when he was about three feet away, sank down to lie on his belly, his head now just a little lower than mine. Taking that as an attempt to calm me and to reassure me that he was no threat, I relaxed a little and slowly lowered myself back down into my previous seated position. Letting out a huge gusty sigh, the other two wolves also settled down to the ground and we looked at one another, them waiting for me to speak again, and me not knowing where to begin, and worried that whatever I said might spark off another round of hostilities.
"Well this is awkward." I said with a shaky laugh, and the black wolf let out an amused snort while the russet and grey wolves dropped their jaws, their tongues lolling to one side in unmistakable wolfy grins. I looked down at my scalded hand in my lap, suddenly fascinated by the way the tightened, swollen skin picked up the moonlight. "I don't suppose you guys could change into your human forms for this? It would certainly be much easier to talk if the conversation was going two ways." I asked "I mean I know you're not linked to the Luna cycle like true werewolves, so I'm sure you can go back and forth between forms, but obviously I don't know the way it actually works, if there has to be a danger to make you shift from human to wolf, or if there's a timing issue, like you can only turn back once it's light or something, and then on top of that there might be some tribal law or something that you'd be breaking if you shifted in front to of me and will you listen to me ramble? It's like I've got no filter or control system at all so I'm going to just stop my mouth moving now." I finally managed to bring my verbal diarrhoea to a halt and looked up from my hands to see all three wolves frozen in what could only be described as shock. The three of them were all sporting the same expression – wide eyed, slacked jawed surprise. It was amusing to see such a human expression on a wolf's face, but I reeled in my desire to giggle, realizing I'd not actually given them either a gap in my talking to respond, or even a question they could respond to. I took a deep breath and asked. "So can you shift back for this chat?" In unison, the three of them shook their heads. "Ok. Well that's going to make this whole thing a little trickier, but I'll try to stick to yes or no questions and if I say something that you need more explanation on, just give me a sign and I'll try to make it clearer. That work for you?" This time just the black wolf nodded. "Alright then. So where to start." I mused. "I figure you know who I am?" again a nod from all three of them and I wondered if I knew who they were too, but I was fairly sure that asking them that question would simply get me three blank stares and I could live without knowing, as long as I could ensure some protection for Charlie, and probably for Sam now too as I'd selfishly dragged him into my life. I'd made a point of trying to keep time spent with him isolated to on the Rez, but I was kidding myself and I knew it. After all, she'd left that note on my bike on the Rez, on the outskirts, sure, but still on the Rez itself. No Sam needed to be watched carefully too. I wasn't going to let anything happen to him because of me. Shaking off these thoughts I went back to my one sided conversation. "Right. Well if you know who I am, then you'll know who my dad is too?" again I got more nods. "The red-head is after me, but she's threatening Charlie too, she basically told me that if I don't give myself up to her then she'll get me anyway, but she'll kill him first. The loud growl coming from the black wolf made me lean as far back as I could in alarm, worried he was about to go back into a snarling, growling fit. At my movement he swallowed back the growls with an obvious effort and gave me a strangely apologetic look. I nodded, slowly sitting forward again. The grey wolf gave a little whine, tilting his head to one side in a questioning way.
"You need me to explain something?" I asked and he nodded. I ran back through what I'd said, looking for something that might need clarifying and the only thing I could think of was he wanted to know how I'd spoken with Victoria. I checked to see if I was right.
"You want to know how she spoke to me, is that it?" I asked and he nodded quickly. "Hey I'm pretty good at this Dr Dolittle shit." I thought to myself with a mental snort, then focused once more on the conversation. "I was out on my motorcycle and had a little accident so after a little concussion, a lot of self-humiliation due to said concussion," at this there were a pair of amused snorts, but I couldn't make out which wolves they had come from, "and a short stay at the Rez clinic, I went to collect my bike, only to find a letter addressed to me from the vampire. Her name is Victoria by the way. I'm sure you don't really care, but just in case you do….." all three of them were emitting a low growl, but I refused to let myself react in fear again. If they kept this up and I kept cowering away every time, the conversation would drag on forever. I gave them a stern look and the growling petered out, the grey and russet wolves looking amused again.
"So anyway, that's how I know what she's planning. And the vampire you just kept from turning me into a human sippy cup was Laurent, an old friend of hers." Three snorts of amusement met my flip expression and I gave a little wry grin before continuing. "She asked him to come see if the Cullens were still around and didn't warn him about you guys, so as she obviously knows the Cullens aren't here anymore, I'm guessing that she really wanted to see if another Vampire would be able to get past you and get to me. You should probably be ready for her to try that again; if she can't find another friend to make the next attempt, she'll probably make one." We sat in silence for a moment, digesting that thought. I hadn't actually given it conscious thought, the facts had just tripped off my tongue, but it sounded more than plausible to me. That right feeling floated over me and I couldn't help the sarcastic tone in my mind "Gee thanks, Taha Aki. You can confirm stuff I already know, but you couldn't give me a few extra details on how the shifting thing works so I didn't have that little rambling rant a few minutes ago?"
"Back to my story then." I continued, marshalling my thoughts. "I'm sure you're aware of who I was dating before they all left, but what you're probably not aware of was what happened about a year ago. I went to watch the Cullens playing baseball one evening and we were interrupted by three nomad vampires, human drinkers." I shuddered a little at the memory. "They were Laurent, Victoria, and Victoria's mate, James. James was a really sick fuck, he was obsessed with the hunt, and the greater the challenge, the more he enjoyed it, he was into making his prey suffer too, so when he got a whiff of me in the baseball clearing, his hunting instincts were put on high alert – hunting a human who was protected by a whole family of vampires, what could be a greater challenge than that?" I could understand the constant background sound of growling coming from all three wolves this time, so I said nothing and continued on as if I hadn't noticed. "Edward got me out of there, but James had already begun the hunt and I was worried Charlie wold get caught in the crossfire, so I picked a fight with him while I knew James was listening, and Alice, Jasper and I drove off to Phoenix while the rest of the family tried to lead James off on a wild goose chase elsewhere and kill him. He took the bait for a while, but then worked out the ruse and came for me. He managed to convince me that he had my mom hostage and would kill her unless I gave myself up to him. So of course I went. Turned out it was a trick and he nearly killed me, but Edward and the other Cullens got there in time and killed him instead. Now Victoria's on a mad bid for revenge and she's not going to stop until she gets what she wants; me dead. And probably in as painful a way as she can manage." I came to a halt in my story, breathing fast as I tried to get control over my fear once again. It was strangely cathartic to be able to finally tell someone all about it, but still I kept a few things back, for some reason not wanting to share with the shape-shifters the details of how James had bitten me and how Edward had prevented me from turning. The wolves were staring silently at each other, I came to the conclusion that they must be able to communicate telepathically. It made sense – there was no point in having a whole pack to protect the tribe unless the pack could work together, and how else would they be able to communicate to work as a united pack unless they could hear each other in their heads? While the wolves had their mental chat, I focused on my breathing again, slowly and carefully placing myself just on the edge of my trance state, still aware of my surroundings and what was happening, but as close to the calm and peace I needed to get through my mission. I felt my heart-rate reduce and settle into a regular, steady pattern, slightly slower than normal, helping the calm spread through my body. It seemed to help a little with the pain in my burnt hand too, which was a welcome bonus. The black wolf looked up suddenly as my heart rate shifted, tilting his head to listen and regarding me with a kind of thoughtful expression. I nodded calmly at him and continued talking now that the wolves had apparently finished their silent side-bar.
"Vampires mate for… well I was going to say life, but I guess eternity would be the better word to use. Killing one mate creates a rabid, vengeance obsessed monster in the form of the other mate, and to be honest, I'm not sure that Victoria was entirely sane even when James was alive, so you guys should be aware of the fact that she will do anything, anything to get to me, and she won't care if she dies in the process, as long as I die too." I took a deep breath pulling the calm around me a little tighter as I prepared to make my final statement. It was something I'd long ago accepted, but I'd never said it out loud and I knew that doing so would make it a lot more real. My voice when I spoke remained calm and quiet and I was secretly impressed with myself for sounding so matter-of-fact when what I was saying was so deadly serious and important.
"I accepted a while ago that she'd probably kill me. I don't want to die. But if it wouldn't destroy my dad to lose me, then I'd hand myself over with a smile on my face and a song in my heart to keep him safe. As it is, it might come to that anyway, my life for his and if that's the price I'll pay it, but I've put him through so much already, if it can be avoided, I don't want him to have to suffer through losing me too, especially as I'm pretty sure that after Victoria's through with me, there's no way anyone should be allowed to find my body. I came out here today hoping to lure Victoria out and hoping even more that you wolves would track her in time to keep her from killing me, although if you'd only got here in time to kill her after she killed me, that would've been enough to keep Charlie safe so I wouldn't have blamed you for not saving me." Again the growling started up and there was no mistaking the fact that they didn't like the idea of me being killed it was nice to know that they cared, despite not knowing me all that well.
"So here's the thing then. Will you please keep Charlie safe? Will you keep the vindictive bitch away from him?" They all nodded solemnly and I let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you. I know that you're there to protect your tribe, but I was hoping you'd be able to help him too. I know it's selfish of me to ask. I don't want you to risk your own lives, or to neglect other duties in the process, but for Charlie's sake I have to at least put it out there; will you keep Victoria away from me too?" I looked down at my sore hand again, not wanting to see if they shook their heads, no, and feeling terrible for even asking them to put themselves at risk for my sake. "I know I have no right to ask, I know that I'm the one that brought this on myself, that by associating with your natural enemy I probably negated any right I might've had to ask, and if it wasn't for Charlie, I wouldn't be asking, but for Charlie's sake I will ask. Please. Can you keep me alive?" I finally dragged my eyes up from my hand to see three wolves nodding their heads repeatedly and enthusiastically. I was momentarily reminded of tacky little nodding dog toys I'd seen now and again in the rear windows of cars and struggled to keep the giggle inside. I only had one more thing to ask them and it was the easiest of them all as Sam was a member of their tribe and therefore within their remit for protection anyway, but they needed to know that he was a possible target so that he could be safe.
"There's one more thing too." I added. "I've been very selfish and I've managed to drag someone else into my shit storm. He's a good man and doesn't deserve to get hurt because of me." I shrugged my shoulders. "I've done what I can to make sure he's not hurt emotionally if something happens to me – for as long as I've known Victoria was after me I've known I can't afford to let anyone else get too close to me; it would be bad enough to have my dad destroyed by my death without adding more people in, so I made it clear I wasn't looking for anything long-term or serious, not that he's interested in that with me anyway, so we're all ok there, but even though I've only really spent time with him on the Rez, where it would be harder for Victoria to pick up on any connection between us, I'm still worried that he'll end up as collateral damage so I wanted to make sure that you'd keep him safe just like Charlie." I got it all out in a rush, ashamed to admit that in my selfishness I'd put someone else at risk. "It's Sam Uley, the guy I'm seeing, so he comes under your protection anyway, he's not just part of your tribe, but the new chief, isn't he? But it's better if you know that he might be a target thanks to me." The russet and grey wolves were back to doing their tongue lolling wolfy grins and the black wolf looked a little confused, but all three nodded when I raised a brow, hinting that I needed an answer. I let out a relieved sigh and leaned back with my hands behind me, signalling that I was finished. The second my injured hand touched the ground I snatched it back and put it in my lap, leaning back on just my good hand this time. In an all human situation, this might've been a question and answer period, but I couldn't see how that would work seeing as they couldn't exactly as me anything. They went back to another silent conversation between themselves, and I thought over what to do next. With their duty to protect the tribe probably uppermost in their list of priorities, I figured that I should continue to spend as much time as possible on the Rez, and encourage Charlie to do the same. There was no point making the pack split up and cover more territory than they needed to. There was strength in numbers. "I should probably suggest that; they can't ask me for themselves. Oh and I'll bet they're wondering just how I knew about them in the first place. It's not exactly something they've advertised in town." I thought and I waited until the three of them had finished their little debate before I spoke again
The black wolf turned to me and huffed with what I interpreted as frustration.
"Pissed because you can't ask me the questions you need to?" I asked with a little smirk, and he snorted and nodded. "Well I thought of a couple of things you might've wanted to ask, and if there's anything else, I'll just have to start making guesses until I hit on the right question." I told him, sitting back upright again. "I guessed you'd want to know how I knew about you shape-shifters?" I asked and they grew very still all of a sudden, the tension pouring off them before the black wolf nodded slowly. "Well I'd heard Carlisle Cullen talk about an extinct clan of wolf shape-shifters in the Quileute tribe, which was my starting out point. A friend of mine told me a few of your old stories, not believing them to be anything more than spooky stories to scare the kids with, and certainly not realising that he'd basically just outed the Cullens as vampires, bearing in mind my weird ability to notice and connect little details. After the Cullens left I spent a lot of time wishing there were still wolves around so that I could ask for help with the Victoria stuff, and then after the bear sightings started, and then I got the letter from Victoria, telling me that hiding behind the guard dogs wouldn't protect me, they all growled again at that, but I ignored it and continued, I connected the dots and realised that the extinct clan of wolf shape-shifters weren't so extinct after all. That's when I came up with my plan to find you and ask for help." I said. I gave a little shrug and blushed. "I was going to come on Wednesday, but something tempted me to risk at least one more day," I smiled a little remembering how hot Sam had looked leaning against his truck in that tight ass shirt and tight ass jeans and his tight ass ass. "and then I was weak and managed to justify another day after that, and then another, but then I had a dream that freaked me out and reminded me just how selfish I was being, and how many people might be put at risk if I kept stalling, so I bit the bullet and got it over with. So anyway that's pretty much how I know." I finished, avoiding completely any mention of my meditation or Taha Aki. I had no idea how that news might go down and things were going fairly well; no need to complicate matters.
"I'm also guessing you wanted to ask me to stay on the Rez as much as I can, and to encourage Charlie to do the same thing so you guys don't have to spread yourselves too thin. Was that one of the things you needed to say?" The black wolf nodded again. "Ok, I can do that and so can Charlie, although I'll have to find some way to encourage him to do it without telling him about you guys I'm guessing." For some reason that brought on a round ok the choking barks I'd concluded were wolf laughs, I couldn't see why keeping Charlie in the dark was funny. "Probably just some weird in joke between the wolves. I'll let it slide." I decided.
"So was there anything else?" I asked, then I froze. "Oh fuck, do you want me to stop seeing Sam so he can be safer?" I asked in a slightly panicked voice, my eyes beginning to prickle with unshed and entirely unexpected tears. "I mean if it's best for his safety then of course I'd do it, but otherwise, I'd really like to keep seeing him as long as I can. I've already got the emotional worries covered, even if I was the sort of girl he could be interested in long-term, which I'm not, we've both agreed that we're not to let things get too serious, so if I have to stop seeing him because of Victoria, or if she does manage to get me, I've kept him far enough away emotionally speaking that he'd not be too hurt." I realised I was gabbling again, and was really relieved by the emphatic head shaking the black wolf was doing. He was telling me in no uncertain terms that I wouldn't have to stop seeing Sam yet. Behind him, the other two wolves were wolf laughing away like I'd said something hilarious, but rather than letting it bother me I wrote it off as a stupid in joke again. I couldn't believe that after all I'd been through that day, it wasn't until this point that I'd nearly lost my hold on myself, but I'd actually been taken aback by how much it would upset me to have to give up Sam so soon. "Shit I really need to watch that. I can't let myself fall for him, I just can't" I reminded myself again, and I took a few deep breaths focusing on them once again to bring myself back to that point on the edge of my trance where I could feel calm but alert. My heart-rate instantly slowed once more and again the black wolf cocked his head and narrowed his eyes, listening to the change in my heart beat and probably wondering how I did it. I met his eyes and just shrugged. I had no intention of explaining it. He had his secrets and I was entitled to mine as they had no bearing on him or anyone's safety.
"So unless there's anything else, I need to head home. I left a note for Charlie giving a very, very vague explanation of why I'd gone just in case things went badly, and I want to get back before he does so that he never gets a chance to read it." The black wolf look like he had things he wished he could say, but as he either couldn't or wouldn't shift back into his human form, I guessed it was just too bad. I was beginning to get edgy about beating Charlie back, who knew when he was likely to finish up with Billy and Harry.
I stood and dusted off my damp clothes, looking about in the dark to try to work out which direction I'd come from. It was a hopeless endeavour. With everything that had happened in the meadow I'd gotten completely turned around. I turned back to the wolves.
"I don't suppose that your wolf bodies come equipped with night vision do they?" I asked. "I could use a point in the right direction." The three grinning wolves looked at me for a moment and then exchanged glances with each other. After a brief pause, the russet and grey wolves gave me a quick nod and melted into the forest behind us, leaving me alone with the black wolf. He jerked his head over to his left, inviting me to follow and we slowly walked across the meadow together.
"So I'm gonna guess that you're in charge of the pack?" I asked and he turned his head to look at me, tilting his head quizzically. "Well you're a lot bigger than any of the others, except for that russet coloured guy, you're only a couple of inches bigger than him." I explained. "Also it's the way you hold yourself around them and the way they hold themselves around you." I shrugged a little when he looked at me again. "I've always been good at reading how people interact with each other." I stated simply.
We walked in silence through the forest, the wolf stopping to give me something to lean on whenever I tripped, which of course in the dark was twice as often as I had on the way to the meadow. By the fifth trip, the wolf was shaking slightly at the shoulder, turning his head away to hide the grin I knew was on his face, by the tenth trip he'd given up and was letting out loud choking barks of wolfish laughter. I couldn't help joining in, his laughter was infectious.
"Ok I know. I'm a clumsy person. I can't help it, I always have been and no doubt I always will be. Next time I'll talk you into letting me ride you." His laughter suddenly cut off and I walked a couple more paces before I noticed he'd stopped in his tracks, a faraway expression on his wolfy face. I stopped and waited for him to come back to himself. "You ok?" I asked as he shook his head and looked around for me. I'd never seen an animal look sheepish before (well except for a sheep of course, which didn't count) but the expression on his face at that moment couldn't be called anything else. He caught up and then walked a little ahead of me for the rest of the journey to my truck. He sat and watched me as I fished the keys out of my pocket, unlocked the door and climbed in. Before I closed the door I asked him.
"Am I right in guessing that you're going to follow me home to make sure I get there safely?" He nodded at me. "Well I would say that I'll go slowly so you can keep up, but judging by how fast you guys moved when you took out Laurent, I guess it would be pointless." He gave me another wolfy grin in answer and I closed the door. "See you there then." I said, knowing he'd hear me even through the door, and I started the engine with a loud roar and headed home.
Sure enough, when I pulled up at my house, I saw a vast black shape slip around the side of the building into the garden and I smiled a little to myself as I walked to my front door.
I had done it.
I'd found the wolves and secured protection, not just for Charlie, but for Sam and for myself too. I felt bad that I didn't feel worse about Laurent's sticky end, but He'd had every chance to not attack me, and he'd failed to take any of them, in the end he had no-one to blame for his death but himself. Oh and Victoria of course. I opened my front door and walked straight through to the back. Opening the door there and walking out a few steps, I saw the black wolf, almost completely out of sight in the shadows at the edge of my garden.
"Thank you. For seeing me home safely, for agreeing to protect Charlie, Sam and for me too, and thank you so much for not letting that dread locked dick kill me this evening. An amused snort came out of the shadows and I smiled. "Well I'm going to go in and grab that letter before Charlie gets home, so Goodnight. I'll be seeing you soon, no doubt. And thanks again." I went back inside and closed the door behind me. As I did, I heard Charlie's cruiser coming down the road and I sprint-tripped up the stairs as quickly as I could to grab the note from under his pillow. I was just in time. I had just made it into my room, stuffing the note roughly into my back pocket as he opened the front door. I debated throwing myself down onto my bed with a book and acting like I'd been there for a while, but that came far too close to lying to him for my liking, and I wasn't going to do that. Instead, I came out of my room just as he passed the bottom of the stairs and called down.
"Hey Dad. You have a good day's fishing?" He looked up at me, seeming a little distracted.
"Hi, Bella. Yes thanks, it was a pretty good day. I've already stashed my catch in the freezer at Billy's. We thought we'd have another cook out over at his tomorrow." I was immediately on edge. "Bella? Did he just call me Bella?" I thought. "He never calls me that unless something's up. It's always Bells, or Kid, or Kiddo. Never Bella." I walked down the stairs and followed the sound of his voice into the laundry room.
"Something wrong, Dad?" I asked tentatively. "You seem a little distracted." He looked up at me, and I realised I was wrong; distracted was not what he was. The word I was looking for was angry.
"I think you and I need to have a little talk, Bella." He said firmly. "In the kitchen I think." I followed him through to the kitchen, wondering what on earth could've made him mad. I didn't have to wonder for long. "I see you've moved it." He began, confusing me even more for a second before he clarified. "The note. I left it on top of the washer." My heart plummeted to my knees, which in turn became more than a little jellified. I pulled out a chair, wincing as I accidently banged my poor scalded hand against it and sat down with my hand resting on the table, blowing on it to try to relieve the pain a tiny bit. I really needed to take some painkillers as soon as possible. I continued to focus on my hand for a moment, desperately stalling for even a few brief seconds to work out what to say. He sat across from me at the table, fixing me with a firm expression. "Well?" he demanded.
"Ok. Yes, I moved it. I didn't ever want you to have to read it, and I hoped that as it was still folded, you hadn't." I told him honestly. "Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuckity fuck fuckingtons. What am I going to tell him? It's either going to have to be a lie, or I'm going to have to tell him things I've promised not to tell anyone. Shit, shit, SHIT!"
"Well unfortunately for you, I did read it, this morning, when I dropped back home to throw in a load of washing before heading out to fish with Billy and Harry." He thumped his hand down on the table, the bang sounding ridiculously loud in the silence surrounding us. "How do you think it felt to read that letter, Bella? Did you read it back after you wrote it? Do you know how it sounds? Can you imagine reading a letter like that from someone you care about? From your mom? From me?" I swallowed back the lump in my throat, fighting back the threatening tears. "You are going to tell me exactly what's going on here, and then we'll discuss whatever stupid, clearly dangerous plan you had set up to solve the problem."
"Dad, I'm sorry you read it, that you had to feel that way, but I couldn't not write it, not with the things that are happening." I took a deep breath and blew it out, completely unable to concentrate on bringing myself back to the calmness right at that moment. Realising that I had no other options, it was either lie, or tell him things he really shouldn't know, I tried for a very narrow middle ground. "Dad. There are promises I've made to people, secrets that I just can't tell, but I don't want to lie to you, so is there any way that I can tell you just enough without breaking those promises, and have you accept that I'm telling you all I can do?" I looked up at him hopefully. He let out a huge sigh.
"Look, Bells. I know about making promises to keep people's secrets, but the thing is, that from a couple of the things you said in your note, I actually think we each might know at least a little about the promises the other one of us has made." I wrinkled my brow at him in confusion. "What's he talking about? What can I have said in the note that makes him think he knows anything at all about this whole thing?" I wondered to myself. "I need to tread carefully here, because whatever he thinks he knows, it's definitely not got anything to do with the supernatural. Still, at least we're back to 'Bells' again." I chose my words carefully, not wanting to reveal anything I didn't need to.
"I'm not sure I'm following you here, Dad. What did I say in my note that give you a hint?" He wasn't fooled by my tactics. Rolling his eyes at me, he put out his hand.
"Give me the note." He said. "I'm pretty sure you've got it on one of your pockets right now, haven't you?" I reluctantly pulled the note out of my back pocket.
"How do you do that?" I muttered as I handed it over. He just gave me a little smirk and unfolded the paper. Scanning down the lines, he found what he was looking for.
"Here it is, 'If you really need to know a little of it, talk to Billy. He knows some of it, and tried in his own way to keep me safe.' Now I've made promises of my own, Bells, so I can't tell you certain things, but I do know there's only one thing that Billy might know about that would put either of us in danger, and if that's what you think you need to be sticking your nose back into again, then you're just out of luck, kid. I know a few people who can put a stop to any of that and not break a sweat." I tried to puzzle my way through what he was saying. "What does he mean, he knows a few people?" I couldn't figure that part out, unless he either knew about the wolves, and on top of that knew who they were, or he thought I was getting involved in drugs and was hinting he had 'connections' who could stop me. "Well if it's to do with the wolves then he certainly hit on the right line of the letter, but I still can't assume anything… I'm going to have to tackle this side-on" I decided.
"Dad, before I tell you anything, can I please ask you a couple of questions that'll probably sound really weird and nothing to do with the subject?" I braced myself for an angry retort, but his answer was almost enthusiastic, making me more suspicious about what he might know. Taking a deep breath, I launched in with question one. "Do you think there are things out there in the world that most people don't know about, or if they do, think they're just myths and legends?" I was walking pretty close to the edge; if he knew something about the supernatural, he'd hopefully be pleased that my question was heading us in the right direction. If he didn't, well I was about to be in a huge pile of trouble for trying to trivialise a serious matter. Judging by my face though, I was on the right track. He met my gaze with a serious look and simply stated.
"I know there are." I sighed. Despite all my hard work at keeping Charlie safe from knowing about the supernatural, it seemed he's got the knowledge elsewhere. All my hard work, al the lying and putting us both through hell had been for nothing. I needed to know just how much he knew.
"Ok. Well that clears a few things up. So who told you about these things?" If I knew who had told him, I could maybe work out just what he knew.
"Some of it I worked out for myself and then tricked Billy into confirming it for me, the rest was told to me by someone else, and I know I'm working a double standard here, Bells, but I can't tell you who that was. I've made promises of my own." As indignant as I felt about getting raked over the coals for keeping secrets from Charlie, when he was doing exactly the same thing, I could also understand why he was refusing to break his promises. We were both cut from the same cloth. Like father, like daughter.
"I guess I can accept that." I told him. "I don't like it, and I think it's grossly unfair that I'm in trouble for doing the same thing, but a promise is a promise so I guess I'll just have to suck it up." I groused. "So I figure we can cut out the double talk here. You know who Edward and the Cullens are, right?" he nodded solemnly.
"I know what they are, yes." I winced a little at the emphasis on the word what. I guessed that having got his knowledge from Billy, I could only expect that he'd gotten the Quileute's slant on the whole thing.
"And you understand why I couldn't tell you?" He gave another, more reluctant nod. "Then I'm betting you also know about the Quileute's own secrets." Again a nod. I threw myself back in my chair, frustrated beyond measure. "Well I wish I'd known that you knew, so I didn't have to go through what I did this evening." I snapped, forgetting for a second that Charlie hadn't known what I'd been up to. Hearing my own words reverberating around my head I squeezed my eyes together, wishing I could take that sentence back but it was too late, the damage was done.
"Go through what exactly?" Charlie ground out through his teeth. It was no good. I'd have to spill it all. I explained what had happened when I'd gone to watch the Cullens play baseball, what had really happened when I took off to Phoenix, and then I explained about Victoria being after me and the letter she'd left me. At each new fact, his face grew paler and paler, and when I finally revealed the truth about Victoria, the letter, and what I'd been up to that evening, he became as white as a sheet. When I finally stopped talking, silence rang through the kitchen for several minutes. Charlie opened his mouth several times to begin speaking, but each time thought better of what he was going to say and slammed his mouth closed again. Eventually I got up and went to the liquor cabinet, grabbing a bottle of scotch and two glasses. Sitting back at the table, I poured us each a healthy measure and slid hi glass across to him as I downed my own shot. Charlie raised a brow at me, then drank down his own in two swallows, then reaching across to the bottle, he poured another for himself and pointedly tucked the bottle between his knees without pouring me another.
"They thought she was after me, not you." He began, and when I raised a curious brow, he explained. "The red-head. The wolves thought that maybe she'd caught a whiff of me ad decided I'd make a good meal and so was gunning for me. I knew that something about it felt off; I couldn't work out why she'd insist that I was something she was owed." I was confused again.
"Dad, I think maybe you should tell me everything you know, except of course the bits you can't tell me, and then we can both ask any questions that might come up at the end. Otherwise we'll be here for days." He snorted in wry amusement at that and began to tell me everything he knew. He told me how he'd gone to Billy and one of the wolves in human form (though he said he couldn't tell me who the wolves were.) with his suspicions and tricked them into confirming them and I was proud of my dad's intuitiveness and interrogative skills. He told me how he'd been told about the Cullens, and he told me about being informed that Victoria was probably after him, and his decision to stick close to the Rez and to encourage me to do the same. When he'd finished, I was amazed at how close the wolves had come to working out what Victoria wanted, yet still missing the mark. I bet they were irritated as all hell now that I'd told them the real target was me. I couldn't find it in myself to feel bad for them. For weeks Charlie had known exactly who the people were that I desperately needed to find, while I had been unaware that they even existed for most of that time, and still didn't know who they were when they were wearing clothes. If he'd been able to share the secret with me, I would've been saved weeks of panic and depression, and I wouldn't have come within a breath of dying this evening at Laurent's hands. I took a deep breath, trying to shove down the indignation, and answered Charlie's questions.
"Bells, you said that this James came close to killing you in Phoenix." I nodded. "Well just what do you class as close?" I rolled back my sleeve and held out my arm, luckily not the one with the burnt hand, turning my wrist so that the shimmering scar caught the light. Charlie gasped and grabbed my hand, looking closer at the line of teeth marks. "Fuck!" he swore, obviously forgetting for a second who he was talking to. "That's more than close. How did you not turn into a vampire? I was told that all it took was a single bite."
"Ordinarily yes." I told him, taking back my arm and rolling the sleeve back down. I didn't like looking at the scar. "But vampires turn humans by injecting them with venom. Edward sucked the venom out before I could begin the change. It took a lot of will power for him to do it, and I was very close to not making it. If it hadn't have been for Edward and Carlisle, I wold either be dead or a vampire by now." I told Charlie honestly. He looked shaken again, and he reached down for the bottle and poured himself another small shot which he drank immediately.
"Well I guess I owe them some thanks for that, although it would've been unnecessary if they'd not dragged you into their world in the first place." He sounded a little bitter and I refused to allow him to be prejudiced by the Quileute's skewed perspective on the whole vampires versus werewolves debate. Charlie was in the know. Fine. I couldn't do anything about that now, as much as I wished he was still blissfully unaware of it all. But I'd be damned if he would pick a side, either teem vamp or tem wolf. He could be in the middle with me, not for or against either side, but supportive and accepting of both. Team Swan all the way.
"You should know, dad that they didn't drag me in. I bulldozed my way in, using the same weird intuition thing that you have, I worked out their secret and I marched up and told Edward I knew what he was, despite the number of times he tried to warn me off, told me he wasn't a good friend to have, that if I was smart I'd keep away. I still insisted on being a part of his life, of their lives, and barring the way they all left in the end, they were never anything but caring and considerate of me and my safety the whole time I knew them." I spoke quickly, not wanting to give him a chance to argue. "Also. It should be noted that without Edward, I would've been killed outright by Tyler's van when he lost control in the parking lot that day. Edward sped over at vampire speed, risking exposure, and then shoved the van away so it didn't crush me." Charlie looked surprised and went to reply, but I held up my hand to say my last point before he could speak. "Edward also saved me from at the very least being raped and most probably being killed one evening in Port Angeles." I finished, "So that's three occasions when knowing the Cullens in general, and Edward in particular saved my life. Without them, you'd have lost me for good over a year ago." I sat back, waiting for Charlie's response.
"Well it seems that I have a lot to thank them for after all." He said finally. "I will never forgive Edward for leaving you alone in the forest the way he did, but I can't deny that he also did a lot of good in saving your life. I guess Billy and the others have a naturally slanted viewpoint on the whole vampire issue." I smiled at him. "I knew he'd see this from the right perspective." I celebrated mentally. "He's always been able to see to the heart of matters clearly once he has all the facts." Charlie smiled back at me and reached across to take my good hand and squeeze it gently.
"Kiddo, I've got one more question, and then we'll wrap this up." I nodded at him in encouragement. It had been the longest, most eventful day I could remember having and I was completely exhausted, sore, and mentally spinning from the day. "You've been using His, I mean Edward's name again, and it doesn't seem to be giving you any distress like it used to. Are you past it? Is all that trauma you went through over?" I smiled at the hope in his voice and on his face. We'd both of us suffered terribly during my stay in my pit, and I was as happy as I knew he would be that that period of my life was done with.
"Yes, dad. It's finished." I told him, squeezing his hand back. "I still feel a little sadness, some regret about how things ended. But it's just a quiet, healthy sort of sadness, not the destructive agony I felt before. He nodded in understanding, tears welling in his eyes, and clearly not able to speak. We sat there in silence again for another few minutes before Charlie spoke again.
"So now we both know most of what the other does, there will be no reason whatsoever for either of us to go pulling deluded heroic acts." He fixed me with a warning glare. "If there's trouble looming, we tell each other, and anyone we can think of who might be able to help, ok?" I grinned.
"Ok, dad. I promise. First I'll tell you, then anyone else who can help keep us safe. But you have to promise the same thing. I don't get my heroic tendencies from mom, you know." With a laugh, Charlie shook my hand, making me wince as his touch flared the pain from the burn.
"I promise too, Bells." He said and pulled me into a slightly awkward hug. After a moment we broke apart and I rinsed out the glasses while Charlie put the bottle away, calling over his shoulder
"No more of this for you, young lady. You're still underage and I'm still a cop you know." I laughed and agreed.
"No problems, Chief. I can't stand the stuff anyway."
We both trudged slowly up the stairs and after a quick "goodnight" opened our respective bedroom doors. Just as I was about to close mine, Charlie called out to me.
"Oh, Bells. I forgot to ask." He said, poking his head back around his bedroom door. "What happened to your hand?"