Chapter 12: It's Love
Charlie went to work with a different understanding of the legends of the Quileute, and a whole new respect for the young men who risked their lives to protect ours. He took everything extremely well, especially hearing about the imprint and what it meant for me. He'd pulled me aside before leaving and asked me if I was okay with everything that was happening between Sam and me. I'd assured him I was, and with a tight hug he let me go and told me to be safe.
A few days later I was with Leah, Jess and Angela when my upcoming birthday was brought up. It was still a couple weeks away, but Jess was excited, saying to have the perfect party we'd need time to plan.
"We could go to Port Angeles, there's a really awesome restaurant on the water there, maybe we could all dress up, I could ask my parents to reserve the party room there... oooo and we could have a theme like prom-"
"Babe, have you met Bella? She doesn't want a restaurant on the water with a theme and fancy clothes, she's a bonfire on the beach." Leah says with an exaggerated eye roll.
"Ang, you've got my back on this, think of that seafood place, or maybe the Italian place? Or we can even get fake ID's and hit the club, come on!" Jessica pleads with Angela, and she pushes her glasses up and glances at me.
"I think Leah's right, but it should ultimately be up to Bella. It is her birthday after all." Angela smiles and I grin back at her.
"Jessica, my uncle is the Chief of Police, my boyfriend is an intern and even I work at the station. I promise once we're all over twenty-one we will hit Port Angeles and enjoy the club out there along with dinner like civilized adults, but I'm only turning nineteen so for this one I'm with Leah and Angela. Bonfire, hot dogs, s'mores, friends, and fun." I grin at her, and she rolls her eyes but grins back.
"Can we at least have a beach day leading up to the bonfire that night?" She asks.
"Absolutely." I reply.
The couple of weeks leading up to my birthday had remained relatively quiet, and I'd been able to spend a lot of quaility time with my friends and family, while still avoiding my mother. Phil had only heard from her when she needed more money, and even though shs believed I was spending my summer with him, she never once asked him about me, or bothered to try to contact me herself. I had decided to avoid her for as long as I could, and to enjoy the time I had with my family and friends before having to buckle down and start classes.
Sam had taken my birthday off, but he did pick up a patrol shift that morning so he could spend the rest of the day and night with me without interruption. I'd packed a bag with plenty of clothes for the beach during the day, the bonfire at night, and to spend my first night with Sam at his apartment.
He slept over most nights with me, something that Charlie was aware of and allowed since he now knew about the imprint, and we'd been nothing but respectful of his rules. My bedroom door remained open when Sam was there, and even as physical as our relationship had become, we'd still not had sex. Sam wanted it to be something special, not something we did quickly with fear of being caught, and even though we'd not planned anything out it's a good possibility tonight.
I'd been sitting on a large blanket talking to Kim when I was scooped up into strong arms and held against a warm body. I heard the shrieks and giggles of my friends as the wolf pack ascended on the beach, and Sam quickly turned me around and kissed me soundly.
"Happy birthday my beautiful Birdie." He murmured and kissed me again, "This bikini should be illegal."
"I'm completely covered." I argued, and he smirked at me.
"While that may be true, the way it looks on you is making it incredibly difficult for me to behave." He grins, "I have something for you."
"Sam, you already took me to dinner, and you sent those flowers, you didn't need to get me anything else." I argue and he shakes his head.
"This is our first of many important dates to celebrate together, Birdie. Humor me, just let me love you." He said and I can see Leah's eyes go wide and Kim's jaw drop at his words. Sam appears nervous about the L word slip, and when he looks away I cut my eyes at the girls and shake my head slightly, "Okay, don't freak out," He grins before reaching into the pocket of his board shorts and pulls out a beautiful ring with a turquoise stone set in silver, and definitely vintage and homemade.
"Sam." I breathe out and he smiles softly at me, finally meeting my eyes again.
"This is a promise ring, Birdie. My grandfather gave my grandmother this ring when he imprinted on her, it was his promise that he would always put her first, and protect her at all costs. My grandmother always told me that this ring had a special ward of protection, blessed by the spirits, and that is why she wore it every day. Right before she passed she took it off and gave it to me, and I was confused as to why she wouldn't have given it to my mother. She told me that the spirits told her that I should have it and that I would know when it's the right person and time. My grandmother somehow knew I would be a spirit warrior, and she knew one day I would meet my imprint." Sam's voice warbled a bit, and I could feel the tears pooling in my eyes. Sam dropped a kiss onto my knuckles before continuing, "This ring is my promise to you; you will always come first, and I will always protect you. This is a promise of our future, and one say soon I hope to also be able to slip an engagement and wedding ring onto this finger." He slides the promise ring onto my ring finger and I can see the myriad of emotions swirling in his eyes, "My heart is forever yours."
"Baby, it's beautiful," I say to Sam. He presses his lips to my hand.
"Kwop kilawtley." He murmurs and before I can ask him what it means he has pressed his lips to mine. I can imagine the girls almost swooning at the sight of the intimidating and withdrawn Alpha sharing his feelings so openly. We deepen the kiss until cold water is splashed on us, and Sam holds onto me tightly as he runs into the water, gripping my body close to his until his pack brothers swarm him and pull him away with celebratory playful howls.
I smile as I watch my boyfriend finally relax, he's laughing and splashing with the rest of the pack, and Leah bumps her hip into mine and grins at me, "You've changed him."
I shake my head and beam over at Sam, who catches my eye and blows me a kiss.
"He's changed me." I reply.
"It's beautiful." She says as she examines my hand. We watch as Jared and Embry play chicken with Kim and Angela on their shoulders, and Paul and Emily have their arms wrapped around each other, in their own little world.
"I thought he was going to propose." Jess said as she smiled at me.
"I think he will soon. You heard what he said at the end, right?" Leah asked and I nodded. Jess looked confused.
"I did, but I didn't understand the language." Jessica replied and Leah glanced at me.
"I didn't either, I don't know much Quileute." I admitted.
"Kwop kilawtley means stay with me forever." Leah says softly and I can feel the burn of tears in my eyes, and Emily pulls me into her arms and hugs me tightly.
"I already consider you my sister, and I can't wait to have Sam as my brother as well." Emily said, her own emotions playing out over her pretty face.
"Bella, we've known Sam our entire lives, none of us have ever seen him this happy." Kim adds as she examines the ring on my finger.
"It's beautiful." Jess links her arm with mine as she and Kim fawn over the ring.
"He's beautiful." I replied softly as Sam's eyes meet mine across the water, and it feels like the first time our eyes met across a bonfire on this very beach several months back.
The bonfire is going, music is playing, food and drinks are flowing, and everyone is having a great time. Sam has discretely had everyone just taking one hour patrol shifts, so no one has to miss the entire party, and when a warning howl sounds we watch in horror as the pack begins to disperse. Our friends from Forks are still here, and I can tell that Jessica, Angela, Tyler, Eric, Mike, and Lauren are scared.
"What is it?" Angela asks Embry as he's about to run off.
"We just need to make sure they don't get close." He answers vaguely. She thinks he's talking about wolves, but Leah and I exchange a look.
We know it's more vampires.
"Head to Emily's house. Take them with you, keep them safe at all times." Sam commands Colin and I grab his arm.
"What is it?" I ask and he kisses me briefly.
"My beautiful little Birdie, I hate it but I have to go."
"Be safe." I call out after him.
"Always." He calls back.
Then, he's gone.
Most of the Forks kids leave, all completely freaked out by the howls of the wolves, and only Angela and Jessica remain with Emily, Leah, Kim, and me. Colin and Brady have been discretely circling Emily's house guarding us at Sam's orders, and I pace nervously.
"Why do they have to go towards wild wolves, I don't get it. Seth's a kid, how on earth can he handle this?" Jessica asks, her nervous energy keeping her from settling down.
"Jess, it's just tribe stuff. You know how they are." Leah dismisses and Jessica huffs at her girlfriend.
"Embry seems to always be on edge when it comes to the wolves around here." Angela mentions.
Embry had yet to tell Angela he was a shifter. Even though he could tell her since he had imprinted on her, much like Sam he was taking the time to allow Angela to choose him organically without the pressure of the imprint.
"It's going to be fine." Leah replies, and I can hear her anger seeping through. I walk over to her, and I can feel heat radiating off of her.
"Lee-Lee?" I whispered and she trembled next to me, "We should go outside."
"I'm fine." She says firmly and I grab her hand with mine. She's burning up, and I squeeze it briefly, "You know this shouldn't be happening. There's nothing about this in the scrolls or legends, Bella. I'm scared." She said so quietly I almost missed it.
"I'm not going to let you go through this alone," I whispered, "how long?" I ask and she wipes a tear from her face.
"It's been really bad for a few days now. It shouldn't be happening." She murmurs in a shaky voice.
I turn towards Emily, and it's almost as if she can read my mind. She grabs Kim and I watch as they distract Angela and Jessica, and I lead the trembling and sweating Leah outside. I hear a whine from Colin's wolf, and I look directly at him where he's partially hidden in the tree line.
"Colin, I'm going to need help." I whisper as I carefully lead Leah closer to the forest. He whines again and sniffs at Leah.
"This shouldn't be happening." She sobs, "It's only the boys." She trembles harder and Colin noses me away from her, "Don't leave me Bells. Please don't make me do this alone."
"I won't ever leave you, Lee-Lee, you're my best friend, you will never go through any of this alone. You're going to be okay. I promise." I tell her and Colin whines at me.
"Leah?" I hear Jessica call out behind me and I don't even turn.
"Jess, please stay back. Please." I beg and I can hear Emily and Kim calling out to her.
Everything happened too quickly, just like it had with Jake last month. I could hear Jessica calling out, her voice getting closer, Colin whining, Emily yelling and Angela crying from somewhere farther behihd me. Leah fell to the ground, and Colin pushed me away harshly as she burst into a beautiful light grey wolf.
Jessica, usually the most over the top and histrionic of our group, just wrapped her arms around me and cried softly, "What did I just see?" Her soft voice echoing the same words I spoke last month.
"Jess, it's okay." I soothe as Emily, Kim, and Angela approach. Brady runs in between of Leah and the girls, and I hear the harsh whines from my friend.
"Is that my Leah?" Jessica asks and I hold her tightly against me.
"It's her, Jess. She's okay, I promise." I say softly.
"How... what did... I don't..." Jessica stammered, clearly in shock.
Leah whines and tries to get closer, but Colin and Brady seem to be having a pack mind conversation with her. I hear howls from the pack, but I can tell from my brief experience they're dealing with something serious.
"Jessica, I promise you we will talk through this, but for right now we have to give Leah some space. She's going through something that only the pack can help her with."
"Those two... they are...?" Jessica asks and I can tell she's in shock.
"Yes. Colin and Brady." Kim says softly.
"Oh my god, they're kids. Seth too?" Jessica asks and Leah whines, "Oh baby, you're so beautiful," Jessica coos to Leah, surprising all of us, "you're almost white, and you look so soft. I love you so much. I can't wait for us to talk about how wonderful this is."
Leah whines and lays on her belly, inching towards Jessica, but I hold her back while Brady and Colin position themselves between Leah and us, ensuring our safety.
Sam was going to be so proud of his pups.
"Lee-Lee, I'm going to take Jessica inside. I promise we'll be okay. Stay with Colin and Brady, and we'll be inside when you're ready."
"I'll bring you some clothes." Emily says and Leah whines again. I meet her eyes, and I somehow understand how
I pull the shaken Jessica up and she clings to one of my hands and Angela the other as we walk back to Emily's house. Once we have Angela and Jessica settled with some hot cocoa, Emily, Kim, and I have the discussion we know we can't avoid. We explain what is happening with Leah, and why the rest of the pack ran off when they heard the howl. Angela sits stoically when she hears that Embry is also a wolf. We don't tell her that Embry is her imprint, thinking it's better to hear it directly from him much like Sam did with me. Jessica pulls me aside and explains a feeling she had when seeing Leah as a wolf, and from her words I already know that Leah imprinted on her, which makes me excited for my friend to finally have her happily ever after.
I can feel Sam's anxiety through our imprint, and when a shifted Brady asks for Jessica and I to come outside we follow him to a calm Leah, still in wolf form. We gently talk to Leah, who lays her head in Jessica's lap while Jess rubs her ears. It takes over an hour, but after calm conversation and promises from Jessica that she'll never leave Leah she finally shifts, and Jessica covers her while I help Leah dress.
When she and Jessica embrace each other in tears, I gesture for the two young wolves to give them space but to continue watching the couple and I head back to the main house. Angela is sitting on the porch when I arrive, and she offers me space in her blanket next to her. I wrap both of us up and she leans her head on my shoulder.
"Sam too?" She asks quietly.
"He's their Alpha." I reply and she nods.
"Should I be afraid?" She asks.
"No. Embry will never hurt you. None of them will. Leah is actually so much calmer than any of them were, and I think it's because she knew about them for a while now."
I feel Angela nod again, "I take it the boys didn't."
I shake my head, "No. Sam was first, and for over a year he was alone. He had no warning, and it took him months to come home. He thought he was losing his mind, and it wasn't until one of our elders touched his hand that they knew the shifting gene had activated again. They finally told him what was happening, and it changed his life."
"Poor Sam." She whispers, "I remember how much Embry, Jake and Quil hated him. They didn't know, did they?"
"No." I reply softly.
Angela smiles as Leah and Jess walk up to the porch hand in hand. Leah reached for me and tugged me into a standing position, throwing her arms around me.
"Thank you. I fucking owe you." Leah says and I chuckle.
"You've listened to my Jake and Sam drama; I think we're even. Are you okay?" I ask and she nods her head before pulling back.
"Surprisingly, yes. The guys are freaking the fuck out, but I'm okay. They're on the way back, everyone is good." Leah glances over at Angela, "Embry is hoping you'll wait here."
"Of course, I will."
The pack is high energy when they're back, and Emily easily feeds them with leftovers from the bonfire. Sam refused to leave my side, even dragging me with him as he had a conversation with Leah to check on how she was handling things. When the two of us are alone on the porch he pulled me on his lap and buried his head in my neck.
"What happened tonight?" I ask.
"You mean besides having the first female shifter in pack history, when I couldn't even be here for her first shift?" He asks.
"She did great, Sam, and Colin and Brady were amazing with her. Sam, is there any way to know if I will shift too?" I voiced my concern out loud for the first time since seeing Leah shift, and he shakes his head.
"No, but Leah has three of the bloodlines, Clearwater from Harry, and also Black from Harry, and Sue was a Uley before she married Harry. As far as we know, you only have Lahote. That's not to say it can't happen, just likely that it won't."
"What happened out there?" I ask.
He sighs and presses his lips to my neck, nipping at my skin before sucking gently on the juncture between my neck and shoulder. I've noticed how much he likes this spot before, and it almost seems to soothe him. I trail my short nails over his scalp and through his curly hair, and he sighs.
"Birdie, I wouldn't normally ask this, but I need you to stay with me. I can't be away from you right now."
"Sam, what's happening? You're scaring me."
"We've tracked some leeches for a few days, unfamiliar scents, they've been feeding on humans. Jared caught a whiff of them tonight, and when we were all out there, we finally found them. A redhead female, two males, one is a blonde pale one who seems to be the mate of the redhead, and a dark-skinned one with dreadlocks. They knew us, Birdie. Called each of our wolves by name. They antagonized me until I shifted, and when I did, they asked me where you were."
I lean back, "Where I am? Did they ask about our imprint?"
"No. They asked where Bella Swan is, and they called you Edward's mate." He replies.
"Sam, I'm not his mate, I don't know who these vampires are."
"Hey, look at me," He prompts when I have buried my head in his neck. He places his fingers below my chin and tilts my face up to meet his eyes, "we know that you're the victim here. We know that whatever the obsession with you is, that is is not something you have been willingly involved with."
"Why is this happening?" I ask.
"The elders want to put you in a trance, they want to force the answers out of your mind. They believe you've been blocked somehow by the vampire's thrall, and they think if they can open your memories we will get answers." Sam says.
"They think I'm hiding something?" I ask and he shakes his head.
"Not purposely. They know the leeches have the ability to use their thrall on humans. I saw it myself that day in Port Angeles." He replied, "Birdie, there's more."
"What?" I ask and his hazel eyes hold mine for several quiet seconds.
"Harry Clearwater has alleged that your mother was involved with a cold one before she left La Push." Sam replies and I feel my stomach drop.
"No... please no... tell me that isn't true, Sam. Tell me that is just the paranoia of the elders."
"The only way we can know for sure if by talking to Renee."
"No!" I shout, trying to move away from him. He holds me tighter, "Sam, you don't understand. I can't deal with her. She's... she's awful."
"You don't have to deal with her at all. Billy is going to talk to Charlie, and we will follow up on this. I won't let them make decisions that will impact you without involving you. I promise you."
"Sam... you don't need this. You deserve so much better..." My voice breaks. I hate crying, but I can't hold it back, and the tears slip out of my eyes unabated.
Sam grabbed my face in his large, warm hands, "Birdie." He murmured, wiping the flow of tears with his hands, "Nothing changes us. Nothing. You're my imprint, my soulmate, and nothing these bloodsuckers say or do will change it."
"What if I remember something terrible?" I ask through tears, "What if Renee was involved with them? What if she still is?"
"We will handle it, whatever it is, I promise you."
"Sam... what if..." I trail off, my eyes searching his. His warm hands catch each falling tear.
"Nothing changes us. No more 'what if'. The wolf in me would tear the world apart to keep you safe, then the man in me would lay down my life to protect yours. I will do everything in my capability to ensure you are never hurt again."
"Sam, you shouldn't have to deal with this. I've brought so much danger to the tribe, the pack... you don't need to be compelled or driven by the imprint-"
"This imprint may tie our souls together, but the man in me loves you, Birdie. I will keep you safe. I love you so much." He replies before pressing his lips to mine. There's a sense of urgency I've never felt in his kisses and touches before, it's as if he's afraid I'll slip through his fingers.
Just as afraid as I am of losing him.
"Take me home." I whispered as his lips travelled down the column of my neck.
"You want to go to Charlie's?" He asked and I shook my head.
"My home is with you."
I can barely remember how we got here, or what we told Emily as we were leaving, but my back is against cool sheets and his hot body is over me. His weight is familiar, as is his pulsing erection pressed against my abdomen, however we're not frantically using our hands to get release this time. His lips travel down my neck, then to my breasts, where he alternates kisses, sucks, tugs, and bites across both as I arch against him. Usually, it's his hand that travels down to the juncture between my thighs, but tonight it's his mouth.
"Sam..." I whisper when I feel his warm breath blowing over me. His hands press my open thighs down to the mattress, and his lips trail kisses on them.
"Beautiful Bella... beautiful, beautiful Birdie... I love you." He whispers.
His tongue is as hot as the rest of him when it swipes across my slit, and he must physically hold me down as he continues his ministrations. I've never felt anything like this, and when he finally trails a hand down, I can feel him slip two of his thick fingers inside of me, stretching me as his lips wrap around my clit. I'm a moaning and panting mess as my abdomen tightens, and the white-hot release of my orgasm coats his face with my juices, causing him to lap at me until I'm wriggling away from him due to my sensitivity.
"You taste so good." He growls as he continues to trail his tongue over me until all remnants of my orgasm are gone. I reach for his erection when he moves up, hot velvety skin over hard steel, and before he can stop me, I'm moving so I can run my tongue over the prominent vein, causing him to moan loudly as he drops onto his back in the bed.
He wouldn't finish in my mouth, instead pushing me away gently when his need became too great, and when he flipped our positions again and dragged his pulsing erection through my slick folds, a broken and desperate howl was heard outside as he slowly pushed himself inside of me. My eyes widened when he didn't move away, and before I could ask him what the howl meant he'd captured my lips with his own.
The discomfort of him stretching me was dulled by my attention being on the strained howling in the distance, but Sam's gentle kisses and touches brought me back to him, and when I flexed my hips against him, he slowly began moving. The sensation of being stretched and filled, along with our sweat slicked bodies pressed together and his fingers entwined with mine overwhelmed me, and all I could do was pant his name.
"Sam... baby... my Sam... oh God..."
"You feel so good." He growled into my neck, pressing his lips to the same place he loved between my neck and shoulder blade.
"Sam... oh Sam... I... baby... I..." I was moving my hips against his, my legs wrapped around him, my heels digging into his calves. I could feel myself tightening around him, and the groans and growls coming from my lover were bringing me closer to the edge. "I love you." I groaned, unable to stop the words from slipping out as I began to pulse around him. As I called his name, his teeth penetrated the skin between my neck and shoulder and I screamed, a combination of ecstasy and pain overwhelmed me as he released inside of me, panting my name and declarations of his returned love as he lavished his tongue over my broken skin.
"I love you so much." He murmured as he dropped his head there, his body relaxed and draped across me, my short fingernails trailing patterns across the sweaty skin of his back. His breath ghosted over the place he had bitten, causing aftershock pulses around him where we were still joined, "My mate. My love. My life. My little bird." He repeated like a mantra.
"I love you Sam."
"I love you Birdie. Always." He murmured.