Chapter Three:

The Call!

Sam's POV…

Sam was looking at his phone with trepidation. He had four miss calls from Chef Swan. It has been a little over a year since his move to New York. A year since his last phone call from Charlie. When he left the reservation it wasn't on the best terms with any of the elders. Billy being the only exception. Sam didn't want Billy to be under fire more than he already was. After all, he had his plate plenty full with his son. So Sam and Paul went to Charlie for help with the move. Seeing as he was one of the few who knew of their furry counterparts.

Normally anyone outside of the elders and pack Imprints was not allowed to know. Charlie was so close to the last couple generations of wolves well before each of their transformations that even their Guiding Beast saw him as pack and you don't keep secrets or cut ties with pack. So Charlie was let in on the secret. Later on down the road that showed to be the right move. With Charlie's position inside the police station it was easier for the pack to stay under the radar. Charlie would and has gone in and eased any evidence that could out the pack.

Charlie was a true friend to the pack. He was a true friend to Sam. He made the separation from the other wolves easier by not only calling him but also calling Paul and Emily. After about four months the calls got less and less but that doesn't mean that Charlie stopped keeping in touch. Charlie sends random video clips of everyone back home. They are mostly of Billy and the pack. Some are of him and Bella. Others are just random updates about what is happening around Forks or the rez.

Sam had been terrified about leaving home. About being so far away from the closest thing outside of Emily that he considered family. Now, between flying back for pack holidays and being able to see everyone's face every week made Sam realize that even though they are three thousand miles apart that pack is pack. Sam realized that he can still be there for them, care for them, love them, protect them but he no longer had to feel that their mistakes were his. That Jacob's lack of effort wasn't his lack of effort. And it was all thanks to Charlie.

He owed the man more than Charlie would ever know. So now he is staring down at his phone in slight panic. Charlie would not call this many times if he just wanted to talk. Was there something wrong with the pack? Did one of the elders pass? Has one of the Cullens broken the terms of the treaty? Was he needed back for a war? No. Surely Charlie would have tried harder if it was something along those lines. He could have called his place of employment. He could have called Emily or Paul. Sam's Beast paced in the back of his head, whining as it did so.

Sam's shaking fingers pressed the call button. He waited with baited breath as the phone began to ring. He wasn't ready to hear about whatever was going on back home.

"Sam?" Came Charlie's rough voice.

"Yes, Chef?" Breathed Sam.

"It's good to hear your voice, son. How's Em and the wee one? Is that hot head staying out of trouble?" Laughed Charlie.

"With all due respect Chef I don't believe that you would have blown up my phone for a small update. What's going on? Am I needed back?" Sam sourly asked.

"Don't sound so put out, boy. What I have to say isn't fun but it isn't bad. Well…at one point it was." Charlie sighed.

"Sir?" Sam could feel his Beast's fur brush uneasily beneath his skin.

"It's Bella." Charlie deadpanned.

Sam stopped breathing. His Beast Growled. Our pup!

"As you are aware Bella was allowed in on the secret once Jacob and the other boys began to change."

"Of course. She was always attached at the hip of one of mine since they were knee high." Wolves are protective and possessive by nature. As alpha it was his job to look out for the whole pack. Even those who haven't turned yet. Jacob, Quil and Embry were his long before their transformations started. "So much so that I even began to see her as mine. She is mine."

"She got involved. With Edward Cullen." Spat Charlie.

"Involved?" Sam growled. "Involved, how?"

"Involved is the correct way to say it." Signed Charlie. "The best way I can put it is that he fairy dusted her till she thought she was madly in love with him. By the time the pack and I realized what was going on it was too late. Edward wanted her as his mate. Edward wasn't technically breaking the treaty so there was nothing the pack could do. He had her so hooked on him that even if I had tried to move us onto reservation she would have just ran away with him. My hands were tied. The pack's hands were tied. Till one day I thought I had her back. She came into the house screaming for him to leave her alone. To go away. She slammed the door in his face and headed upstairs to her room. She said that she was through him, through me, through with the pack. She was through with it all and that she needed a break. She had her bags packed and was out the door before I could stop her." Charlie let out a breath.

"And then?" Sam hissed as Emily came walking in through the door. Just getting home from work. She looked at her wolf who was red faced and trembling violently. Taking a hold of the hand that wasn't occupied she quietly mouthed. "What's wrong?"

Sam didn't answer her but he did switch the phone on speaker. So that she could listen to it. After all Bella was hers too. She had the right to know as well.

"And then three days later I got a call from Phoenix Memorial Hospital saying that my little girl was laying in one of their beds with a fractured leg, a sprained wrist, four broken ribs, and 26 stitches throughout her body." Emily gasped. "Billy and I got on the next plane to Arizona. Our girl is strong. She is so very strong. Between the amount of time in the ER, the pain, and the adrenaline she was able to fight her way out of the pheromone haze long enough to tell the nurse that Edward was an abusive prick and that she didn't want him or his family near her. Then she asked for the nurse to call me and if for some reason I didn't answer or show up she was to call you. When Billy and I finally got there the charge nurse had explained to us the glitter force decided to bail out after she had two of the hospital's security personnel standing outside her door." Charlie took a deep breath and continued. "Billy and I tried to get her to tell us what happened but she won't say."

"Charlie, you don't have to say anymore we are on our way." Said Emily.

"Angel. I'm not calling you cause I want you to come out. This happened more than six months ago. Now listen. Bella is healed physically but mentally…She is having a bit of trouble. Don't get me wrong, she is acting more and more like her old self everyday. It's just I believe she is haunted by this place. Everywhere she goes. Now I can't expect for her to heal here and I sure as hell won't she send her to Rennea. Would you consider taking her in for just a bit? Just until I can get a house on the Rez and get the old house squared away? Six months tops."

"There is nothing to consider. The pup will come and she shall stay with us until she is ready to come home to you. Weather that is six months, a year, or never. I don't care. She will always be safe and welcomed in our den." Both Charlie and Emily knew that it was not Sam who answered but his Beast. They also realized that the statement was an Alpha's command. Though they are not wolves themselves and therefore unaffected by it they understand that it sees her as pack and she is hurting. Even if everyone else said no Sam would fly out and get Bella himself.

"Understood Alpha. I'll have her to you within a month." Charlie states before he hangs up the phone.