So, I have to warn you that this chapter isn't nearly as spicy as the last one; it's mainly just Dyson getting to know the rest of the cast, so lots of dialogue, but we do get to find out more about how he compares to the Quileute wolves…and there's some arm wrestling. Anyway, I've already updated once this month, so maybe you'll forgive me if the bonus chapter is less exciting?
After Bo stormed out with Dyson in tow, Bella waited around for a couple of hours, until it became obvious that they weren't coming back any time soon and Alice warned her that Charlie would start checking on her whereabouts if she didn't get home in the next thirty minutes. Bella set out immediately after hearing that and pushed her truck to its limit, making it just in time to avoid the dreaded parental phone call.
Over dinner, she updated him on her progress with Bo – Charlie had initially had some doubts when she mentioned that Bo was teaching her to fight, but he'd warmed up to the idea once he saw that she wasn't coming home covered in bruises (in fact, she had acquired a few bumps and scrapes as her training intensified, but with a little help from Edward, she was able to make the evidence disappear before Charlie saw anything that would alarm him), eventually deciding that the potential for increasing her coordination and confidence was a good thing even if he hoped she would never need to use her new skills.
She did not, however, say a word about Dyson, mainly because she didn't know what to say. The attraction between him and Bo might have been overwhelming, but she could tell there was a lot of tension there too – so much that, despite her prediction that some kissing would take place sooner or later, she had no idea how things would turn out in the end, whether Dyson would stick around or Bo would send him packing.
She was equally unsure how she would feel if he did end up staying. Obviously, that would mean she'd have to share Bo, but she could hardly begrudge her sister having someone special in her life when she had Edward, especially if it meant Bo would have access to her own steady supply of fae chi. Not having to clean up the mess when she turns the one bar in Forks into her own personal all-you-can-eat buffet definitely wouldn't be a bad thing. If she kept doing that, I don't know how long I could keep it from becoming the talk of the town…
Besides, Kenzi seemed to find it easy enough to handle Bo's attention being divided between her and Dyson, though it probably helped that he was friendly with her as well. That thought brought a slight frown to Bella's face, because even though she and Kenzi tried to get along for Bo's sake and managed not to be overtly hostile to each other most of the time, the truth was that Bella still didn't feel particularly close to the human girl. Their personalities were so different, so completely opposite in almost every way, that she wasn't sure she ever would…so if Dyson got along so well with Kenzi, Bella couldn't help wondering what that said about their compatibility as friends, or even…
I really, really don't want to end up in a family feud with my brother-in-law! She shuddered at the idea, then promptly scolded herself for being silly. Bo and Dyson had just been reunited after a somewhat lengthy separation that had been preceded by a serious fight; surely it was extremely premature at this point to assume that they would even decide to rekindle their relationship, never mind taking it to that level. Whatever happens between them, there's nothing I can do about it right now anyway, so there's no point driving myself nuts with hypotheticals. I just need to talk to Bo tomorrow, and then I'll have a better idea of where things stand.
###
With this in mind, she drove to the Cullens' house at the earliest acceptable hour for social calls the next morning, only to be greeted with the news that Bo and Dyson hadn't returned from their excursion in the woods.
"Maybe he ate her," Emmett theorized in what sounded like a serious tone (for him, anyway), causing Bella's eyes to pop wide open in alarm.
"That isn't funny, Emmett," Edward chastised him. "I'm sure your sister is fine, Bella."
Still, she couldn't help noticing that he appeared less than certain. "Then why do you look so worried?" she asked tersely.
"I'm not," he replied quickly – too quickly, she thought. "I'm sure Bo is more than capable of taking care of herself."
"But?"
Before Edward could try to tell her that there was no 'but', Rosalie spoke up. "That guy she went off with is a wolf-shifter-"
"Is that like a werewolf?"
"Only in the most superficial sense," Alice explained. "Their condition has nothing to do with cursed bites or phases of the moon. They're born fae, like you, except that their ability just happens to be turning into animals, and they don't even have to be wolves; there are all different types of shifters out there."
"The ones that do turn into wolves are notorious for their aggression and hair-trigger tempers, though," Rosalie continued. "I still can't believe Dyson didn't react to Bo punching him in the face-"
"Unless he knew it'd be a bad idea to try anything with us around," Emmett put in while cracking his knuckles impressively. "I wouldn't want to be alone with a wolf if I had breakable bones, though."
Now feeling a bit concerned herself, Bella asked Alice, "And you mentioned yesterday that you can't see these shifters in your visions?"
The diminutive psychic shook her head. "I think it's because of the duality of their nature; they don't just turn into animals, you see, it's more like the animal is a whole other part of them, almost like those split personalities you see in the movies that can take over at any moment. It makes their future too unpredictable when they can become something completely different at the drop of a hat."
"So as long as Bo's with him, there's no way for you to know when she'll come back or if she's even okay?"
"You guys need to chill," Kenzi said firmly, having wandered into the living room just in time to catch the end of their conversation. She paused to finish chewing her bite of the grilled cheese sandwich Esme had made for her before going on. "I don't know what kind of wolves you've been hanging with, but D-man's nothing like that. Sure, he can be grumpy sometimes, but more in an emotionally constipated way than a 'rip, tear, kill' kind of way, and he's never… Well, he's never been rougher with Bo than she wants him to be."
Rosalie's beautiful face twisted in disgust. "I did not need that mental image in my head, thank you very much."
"Neither did I," muttered Edward, who of course had been bombarded with everyone else's mental images as well as his own.
"Really?" A smirk played at the corners of Kenzi's mouth as she arched her eyebrows at the blonde. "I'd have thought, given how often you and Hulk Boy there make with the bow-chicka-wow-wow, that you'd be pretty much shock proof."
"Maybe, but I don't sleep with dogs," Rosalie sneered.
Unfortunately for her, Esme heard her and stuck her head in to say sternly, "We don't use species-ist slurs in this house, young lady. That goes for all the rest of you as well. If Bo wants her gentleman friend to stay, you will all treat him with the same courtesy you would show any other guest, understood? After all, as Bella's sister, Bo is practically one of the family."
Alice, Edward, Emmett, and Rosalie all nodded meekly and chorused, "Yes, Mom," much to Kenzi's amusement. Only when they were positive Esme was out of earshot did Emmett dare to say, "I guess that means building him a doghouse in the backyard's out" – though even then, he said it very quietly, just in case she was suddenly drawn back by that sixth sense all mothers seemed to possess that enabled them to detect every tiny infraction committed by their children.
###
It was a quarter past ten in the morning when Jasper, who happened to be closest, reported that he heard footsteps approaching. Everyone raced to the windows (except Carlisle and Esme, who moved at a more dignified pace), and after several minutes of tense anticipation, they finally spied Bo and Dyson emerging from among the trees.
"Well, she seems to be in one piece," Rosalie observed.
Carlisle nodded in agreement as he ran his practiced physician's eyes over the approaching pair. "No obvious injuries or signs of discomfort; at first glance, I'd say they both appear to be in perfect health."
"And they're holding hands," Bella added. "I guess that means they worked things out."
"Yup, looks like the Bo/Dyson train is full steam ahead – now he just better not blow it again." Kenzi tried to sound harsh as she said this, but she couldn't help beaming at the sight of them; after all, Bo was her best friend in the world and Dyson was also her friend, so naturally she wanted both of them to be happy, and if they were happy together, that was even better, like having both brownie fudge and chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream in the same bowl.
The Cullen siblings were less thrilled since they realized that Bo's reconciliation with Dyson likely meant they would have the wolf as a houseguest for the foreseeable future, but they carefully hid their discontent as the newly reunited couple entered the house, stopping short when they were met with nine pairs of eyes staring avidly at them.
"Whoa, what's with the welcoming committee?" Bo asked the room at large.
"Well, well, look what the wolf dragged in. And where have you been all night, young lady?" Kenzi demanded, crossing her arms and tapping her toes in an exaggerated show of disapproval.
"Dyson and I had a lot to talk about."
"You don't think you're getting off with that level of vague, do you? Come on, let's go find a nice comfy couch where you can spill all the details of this all-night convo that led to morning after hand-holding."
"Guess I'll be taking that shower alone after all," Dyson remarked as Kenzi dragged Bo away.
"Yeah, sorry – my bathroom's upstairs, down the hall to the right, third door on the left." Having imparted these directions, Bo submitted to the pressure on her arm and allowed herself to be led to what Kenzi deemed a suitably private area. Bella was permitted to accompany them, as were Alice and Rosalie, but the guys were unceremoniously kicked out when they tried to follow.
"It's time for some serious girl talk, which means no Y chromosomes allowed," Kenzi declared before shutting the door in their faces, ignoring their protests.
"No eavesdropping either!" Alice called out, not even needing a vision to know that would be their next recourse. "Especially you, Edward!"
Fortunately, Carlisle and Esme (who considered herself a bit too old for 'girl talk' even though she technically qualified for admittance into the inner sanctum) ushered their sons away before they could get themselves into trouble.
Once the girls were assured of their privacy, Kenzi plopped down beside Bo and eagerly demanded to know every detail of her 'conversation' with Dyson.
"Well, maybe not every detail," Alice hastily amended.
"You can stick to the actual dialogue; I think we can fill in the rest ourselves," Bella said with a slight blush, which deepened as she quickly added, "Not that we want to, obviously, because that would be creepy and wrong…"
"Yeah, yeah." Kenzi waved a dismissive hand at her. "Ignore the prude patrol, Bobo, and just tell us if you and Dyson are back on already!"
Bo dragged out the suspense for a long moment, her lips curling into a sly grin as she looked from one burningly curious face to the next before she finally relented and said, "We are. In fact, I think it might be permanent this time."
Kenzi's jaw dropped, her eyes widened, and she gesticulated wildly in a way that indicated great excitement, but for once, amazingly, she appeared to be beyond words.
"You'd better tell us how it happened," Rosalie said sardonically, "before she has an aneurysm."
Not wanting to be the cause of Kenzi's head exploding, Bo swiftly summarized what she'd learned about Dyson's imprint and what he had done for her during her battle with Aife and afterward, and how these revelations had convinced her it was past time for them to break out of the dance they had been stuck in for so long, both of them unable to let go of each other yet refusing to make a real commitment or even say they wanted one. "So we're finally taking the plunge," she concluded with a mixture of nervousness, excitement, and happiness. "Or at least we're trying it out for a while to see how it goes. It's more like trial dating, but-"
"You said 'dating'!" Kenzi squealed, bouncing up and down on the couch. "Does that mean it's official now – Detective Not Your Boyfriend finally is your boyfriend? For reals?"
"Yes, it's for real. Dyson is my boyfriend, and I'm his girlfriend." Bo looked as if she was still getting used to the way those words felt in her mouth, but there was no indecision or regret in her voice.
Kenzi let out another shriek and shifted onto her knees so she could throw her arms around the woman next to her. "Bobo, this is huge! After all this time of saying you didn't want to be tied down unless it was in a sexy fun way, this is a really big step. I'm so proud of you!"
"I'm happy for you too," Bella agreed, albeit with more restraint, while Alice and Rosalie tentatively offered their own congratulations. They weren't entirely sure why anyone other than another shifter would want to date a wolf, but while Bo told her story, they had reached a mutual unspoken agreement that it wasn't their place to judge. After all, it sounded like Bo and her lupine lover had quite a history together…besides, she was a succubus, so a certain amount of kinkiness was to be expected.
"Thanks, Bella – that means a lot from you, since you were part of the reason I decided to do this."
"Me?" she echoed, taken aback at the notion that she could have influenced Bo in any way, particularly since she didn't recall ever encouraging her to enter into a relationship with Dyson, or anyone else for that matter.
"Yes, you. I always wanted to believe I could be with someone once I mastered the whole 'not killing every person I get intimate with' thing, but the truth is that I've been avoiding commitment for a long time, although I'm not sure whether that was because I was afraid of hurting someone or getting hurt myself. When I saw what you have with Edward, though, it made me realize that having that one special person in your life that you really click with is worth the risk, and if you can do monogamy, there's no reason I can't too."
"Oh. Cool," Bella said lamely as she lowered her gaze so she was peering up at Bo through her eyelashes, feeling simultaneously flattered and flustered at hearing that there was something about her that Bo deemed worthy of emulating. "I mean, yes, I'm sure you can – when you love the person you're with, it's not exactly difficult. Do you love Dyson?"
"Love?" Bo stammered. "Wow, that's a big word to bring into the conversation when we've only been officially dating for an hour at most…but yeah, I do. I like being with him no matter what we're doing, whether we're working a case or training or just talking about stupid stuff, I've always trusted him and felt safe with him, and he was one of the first people who really helped me feel comfortable in the fae world, you know? Not just by giving me information, but just showing me that fae are people too, that they can even be good people, so that I started thinking it wasn't so bad to be one of them. Besides, after I found out what he did with the Norn, and getting detained because the Light Fae wanted dirt on me… Dyson risked everything for me. He wouldn't do that unless he really loved me – not the sex, not the succubus, me. I've never had that before." She paused for breath and then, realizing she had veered into much sappier territory than she'd intended to, put a grin on her face and added, "Plus, have you seen him?"
"I have," Bella acknowledged, blushing bright red as she recalled watching him walk out of the woods earlier, with his shirt and vest unbuttoned. "I guess that's all the explanation I really need…although I still want to get to know him."
###
Bella wasn't alone in her curiosity regarding the newcomer in their midst; when she, Bo, Dyson, and Kenzi gathered for lunch, the entire Cullen family (minus Carlisle, who had gone to the clinic for a staff meeting) packed themselves into the kitchen despite the fact that none of them needed to eat.
"So, Dyson," Emmett began in what he thought was a disarmingly nonchalant tone, though the keen stares of his siblings somewhat ruined the effect, "how'd you and Bo meet?"
Realizing he wouldn't get to eat his hot dog until he answered their questions, Dyson reluctantly put it down. "We met on a case, actually." He glanced sideways at Bo, not wanting to reveal more if it would make her uncomfortable.
"It's okay," she assured him, briefly laying her hand on his arm, "they already know about my past feeding issues." To Emmett, she said, "The case he was investigating was a human I had drained-"
"The skeeve who doctored my drink," Kenzi rushed to remind them, waving her hot dog for emphasis and sending a glob of mustard flying which narrowly missed Alice as she ducked out of the way. "If Bo hadn't gotten in the elevator with us, I bet he would've… Well, things probably would've gotten royally fudged up for me, so it wasn't like she succu-vacked a model citizen."
"Thanks, Kenzi." Her best friend's eagerness to defend her from any hint of reproach, even if it came from herself, earned the human a grateful smile before Bo finished her story. "Anyway, Dyson works in the human police department with his partner Hale so they can cover up supernatural killings in Toronto from the humans, they eventually tracked me down, and that's how I found out what I am and got pulled into this crazy world. Not long after that, Kenzi convinced me to start the private detective gig as a way of protecting humans and making money, and I ended up going to Dyson a lot when I needed information only cops could get or went up against something I didn't recognize – which at first was everything – so we spent time together, got closer, and one thing led to another."
"Yeah, it only took a couple weeks for one thing to lead to another," Kenzi muttered, covering her words with an obviously fake cough when Bo gave her a look.
Bo and Dyson then regaled the Cullens with more tales of their collaborations during Bo's early adventures, taking turns sharing in order to give each other time to eat while Kenzi provided color commentary (not being as stringently opposed to talking with her mouth full as the other two, she chimed in whenever she felt like it).
"Sounds like you two work really well together," Bella observed when they caught up to the present.
"Wasn't it hard for you, though?" Edward asked, watching Dyson with an air of puzzlement. "All the hazardous situations Bo put herself in – you must have wanted to put a stop to it."
Dyson swallowed the last bite of his final hot dog and pushed his plate away before meeting the younger vampire's inquisitive stare. "I always helped Bo out wherever I could, as much as she let me."
"And I appreciated knowing you had my back," Bo interjected, reaching over to lace her fingers through his now that their hands were no longer occupied with food.
"Still, didn't it bother you that she insisted on repeatedly risking her life?" Edward pressed, still looking as if the dynamic the couple sitting across the breakfast table had described was an unfathomable mystery to him. "I can't imagine letting Bella run all over the city in pursuit of renegade fae – not unless I was with her every step of the way, but even if I was, it still seems like an unacceptable level of danger."
"I wouldn't exactly say I let Bo do anything," Dyson replied with a short laugh. "She's not the kind of woman who asks for permission before doing whatever she wants, and she certainly doesn't need it from me; she might be my mate, but I don't own her. Besides, did you see that right hook she hit me with when I walked in here yesterday? If she really had her mind set on something, I'd be afraid to get in her way."
"I only did that because I was pissed that I thought you ghosted me," Bo protested, "although looking back, I realize that being pissed is no excuse even if it was just a one-off, emotional duress kind of deal. I've never hit him or anyone else before…unless we're sparring or something like that…but I hope you guys know I don't go around sucker punching my lovers."
"I'm sure you don't," Bella said reassuringly. "…Although," she added with a grin at Dyson, "if you ever need to file a domestic abuse report, my dad is the chief of police in Forks."
"Good to know." He grinned back while Bo huffed loudly and pulled her hand free, crossing her arms in a show of indignation, and Bella felt a sudden surge of optimism that she and her sister's new boyfriend would get along just fine.
"Yeah, I was surprised she was able to knock you back like that," Emmett piped up. "I thought you wolves were tougher than that."
"Emmett…" Esme said warningly, pausing in the middle of collecting the dirty dishes, but Edward soon ameliorated her concerns.
"Don't worry, Mom, they're not going to fight… At least, I don't think so. Not in earnest, anyway."
"Bo's pretty tough herself," Dyson said evenly, not looking away from Emmett's challenging gaze, "but I like to think I can hold my own."
That was when Jasper, who had contented himself with listening silently until now, finally put in his two cents. "Really? You know, we've had some fairly tense encounters with your kind, but it's never escalated to actual combat thanks to Carlisle's gift for levelheaded diplomacy. I respect him for that…but I have to admit I've always wondered what you're truly capable of."
Now Dyson turned to the lanky blond with an expression that matched Jasper's almost perfectly, both of them coolly sizing each other up as potential competitors. "Are you saying you'd like to find out?"
"Why not?" Emmett broke in eagerly, with an air of barely contained excitement. "You and me, arm wrestling – right here, right now. Unless you're too chicken, that is."
"There it is," Rosalie sighed with a look of fond exasperation at her mate. "I wondered how long it'd take for him to set up some kind of macho contest."
"I couldn't see precisely when he'd find his opening since the flow of conversation can be hard to pin down," Alice told her, "but I knew it would happen within a matter of hours. After living with Emmett all these years, I didn't even need a vision to tell me that."
Dyson accepted the challenge, and everyone else moved out of the way with much eye-rolling on the part of the girls as they took up their places. On the count of three, they commenced pushing against one another, only to find that they were too evenly matched for either one to gain an immediate advantage. Their audience could see the corded muscles in their forearms straining, yet neither of them seemed able to make any headway…until at last, inch by inch, Emmett managed to work Dyson's arm down to the tabletop.
"Not bad, vampire," the wolf acknowledged his opponent's victory while Emmett's siblings applauded and Rosalie congratulated him with a kiss, "although it would've been nice if you hadn't felt the need to crush my hand." His hand did indeed look red and slightly bent out of shape, though it rapidly returned to normal.
"Hey, I can't help that my skin's harder than yours," Emmett said with a shrug. "Can't blame a guy for using his natural advantages – which makes me wonder, why didn't you go into wolf mode?"
"Wolf mode?"
"My brother is referring to your ability to call on aspects of your inner animal without fully transforming," Edward clarified. "You're stronger like that, aren't you?"
"Having experienced wolf strength firsthand, I can confidently say yes, he is," Bo confirmed.
"So why didn't you use it?" Emmett demanded.
"I wasn't sure if it would be considered cheating. Besides, I wanted to see how I'd do without calling on my wolf."
"Assessing your capabilities under varied conditions – smart," Jasper remarked. "In war, you never know what you'll have to work with."
"What do you know about war?" Dyson asked, eyeing the empath with new interest.
"I fought in the Civil War before I was changed…and the southern vampire wars afterward," Jasper answered quietly.
Dyson nodded, his expression becoming sympathetic. "I thought I recognized that look in you – the look people get when they've seen things they can never unsee."
"I thought the same thing about you. What conflict did you get pulled into?"
"Well, I grew up in a pack that served the fae king of Ailech, the Faelad Laignach-"
"Whoa, whoa, wait just a minute," Alice exclaimed. Her eyes had gone very wide, and even Esme stopped washing dishes and turned around to listen. "Are you serious?!"
"I don't get it," Kenzi said, looking around in confusion. "What's the big deal?"
"Yeah, who are the Faelad Laignach?" Bella asked.
"Only one of the most elite forces in fae history," Jasper exclaimed, sounding slightly awestruck. "The earliest accounts of them go back to medieval times, when they were mainly based in Ireland, although I hear that these days they've gone modern as a global mercenary company. Third-world dictators and mafia types pay millions for their services."
"I left them a long time before that," Dyson told him, a dark edge in his voice that made it clear he didn't want to get into the details of his departure from his former pack just then. "After that, I traveled the world for a few centuries, saw more fighting and bloodshed than I care to remember. The Crusades – now that was a war."
This remark momentarily stunned everyone into silence, before Esme finally murmured, "That would make you older than my husband; birth records weren't as accurate then, but Carlisle estimates that he was born sometime in the mid-1600s."
"An educated guess is more than I've got. I have no idea when I was born," Dyson confessed, much to Kenzi's horror.
"Dude, you don't know your own birthday?! How are we supposed to know when it's time to bust out the presents and cake?"
Edward's thoughts, meanwhile, had taken a more philosophical track. "It also makes you significantly older than any other wolf-shifter we've met, so I wonder if that might account for the behavioral differences. The others of your kind that we've crossed paths with have been…much more antagonistic toward us."
"How old were they?"
"The ones who deal directly with us are in their late teens to early twenties for the most part," Esme supplied.
"I remember going through that phase. At that age, when the wolf is newly awakened and you haven't truly found the balance between the two sides of yourself, it doesn't take much to set you off." Dyson's mouth twisted ruefully as he recalled his own antics in his younger, wilder days. "Looking back on that time in my life, I think I miss it even less than warfare. So you've met a whole pack of wolf-shifters that young, huh? And walked away in one piece?"
"It probably helped that we outnumbered them at the first meeting," Edward replied, "and Carlisle was able to reason with their alpha before things got out of hand. We agreed that we could coexist…well, more or less peacefully, though they do seem to have a certain inherent distaste for us that they've never been able or willing to let go of completely."
"They think we're their natural enemies or something like that," Alice put in with a slight roll of her eyes. "Lots of fae look down their noses at us for our human origins, but none of them hate us quite as much as the pack does."
"Well, that's stupid," Bo said decisively. "All this bullshit about this or that species being inferior… You don't buy into that crap, do you?" she demanded with a fiercely expectant look at her boyfriend, the kind of look that made it clear there was definitely a right answer and a wrong one.
"I didn't attack them on sight, did I?" he retorted. "I won't pretend their scent isn't unpleasant-"
"Hey, we're not over the moon about having your wet-dog stench in our house either," Emmett broke in.
"Vampires have a smell?" Kenzi asked in surprise.
"It's a sickly sweet kind of odor that almost burns when it hits your nose, but I guess they don't smell that way to a human."
"Or a succubus – everybody smells fine to me," Bo opined, still using her authoritative voice. "We're not going to have a problem here, are we?"
"Of course not," Esme assured her while looking sternly at each of her children in turn. "Any friend of yours is welcome in our home."
"Dyson?"
"If this is where you want to be, I can deal," he answered in an almost easy manner. "I'm good if they are."
"I'm sure we can make it work," Esme said, trying to inject a note of positivity into her voice.
"We'll just use lots of air freshener," Rosalie added in a noticeably less upbeat tone.
"I'll do what I can to maintain a calm atmosphere," Jasper offered, a suggestion Esme appreciatively received as actually being helpful.
"And maybe Emmett will reconsider asking for a rematch," Edward put in. "You don't honestly think it's a good idea to bring out the wolf in someone who has to be at least fifteen hundred years old and has seen more bloody battles than all of us combined, do you?"
"Probably not," Emmett replied with one of his devil-may-care grins, "but I gotta know. Like you said, thanks to Carlisle and his negotiation skills, we've never actually fought a wolf, so this is probably the closest I'll ever get."
"Again with the arm wrestling?" Bo asked incredulously. "Seriously?"
"It'd be rude to say no; after all, we're guests here," Dyson pointed out, though the gleam in his eyes seemed to imply that he wasn't exactly opposed to granting Emmett's request.
The big vampire's face lit up at his acceptance, but Rosalie looked considerably less pleased. "Just don't come crying to me if he rips your arm off," she warned as the contestants locked hands once more.
Their rematch was over much faster than the first round; less than a second after Jasper counted to three, Dyson's wolf face appeared, his nails sharpened into claws, and he easily slammed Emmett's arm onto the table, which groaned at the impact.
"All right, inner wolf for the win!" Kenzi cheered.
Emmett scowled and started to say that a third round was needed to determine the ultimate winner, but Bo cut him off. "You know, I've always kinda wondered what it'd be like to go toe to toe with one of you. How about you and me next?"
"…You?" Emmett's scowl slid off his face like water as he stared at her in disbelief. "Uh, I'm not sure that's such a great idea…"
"Why not? I thought you wanted to face off against new and different types of fae."
"Well, yeah, but, uh…succubi weren't exactly on my bucket list."
"Why, because I'm not your 'natural enemy'?"
"No, you're not. I know you're tough – hell, the way you punched out Dyson here was the most badass thing I've seen all week – but like I pointed out to him, my skin's harder than either of yours, and you don't heal instantly unless you do your thing. I don't want to hurt you," Emmett explained, slightly apologetic yet earnest.
Bo, however, was undeterred. "Aw, that's sweet, but maybe you should worry about yourself…unless you're too chicken, that is."
Her repetition of the words he'd used to challenge Dyson elicited hoots of laughter and catcalls from Emmett's siblings and Kenzi, much to his annoyance. "Am not!"
"Then what's the problem? You're not scared of a succubus, are you, Em?" Alice taunted. "Even if she has defeated two underfae and punched a wolf-shifter…"
"If she could do all that, I'd say she's a worthy opponent," Jasper added.
Still Emmett hesitated; while it was undeniable that Bo seemed to be made of much tougher stuff than the average succubus, he couldn't help worrying that he might accidentally injure her. Then Kenzi started flapping her arms and clucking, which was more than he could take. "All right, get over here."
Bo sat down across from him with a triumphant grin, and at the count of three, their showdown began. It was clear that Emmett had the advantage in raw strength, as he immediately began pressing her arm down, though she was able to push back more than a human could have.
"Well, you're stronger than I expected," he admitted as she continued to stubbornly hold out against the pressure he was exerting on her arm, "but you know you're not gonna win this. Give it up, succubus."
"I don't think so," Bo rejoined, still grinning. "You're not the only one with a natural advantage." The hand that was interlocked with Emmett's began to pulse with red light…and as the glow sank under his skin, he stopped pushing against her, allowing her to shove his arm down without putting up the slightest resistance. "Ha! Told you I could do it!"
She jumped up to accept high fives from Kenzi and Bella, who was staring at her with something like wonder. "Wow… I can't believe you just did that! Emmett's so much bigger than…well, everybody, and so strong…"
"Which is why sometimes we have to use a little ingenuity, but I've never come up against a fae I couldn't beat if I really put my mind to it, and I know you can do the same, because you have a great mind, Bella." Bo hugged her sister, leaning in to murmur in her ear, "Like I keep telling you, you're stronger than you think."
"No fair," Emmett complained as he started to shake off the daze Bo's power had induced, though he still looked rather befuddled at the realization that he'd lost the match before he even knew what was happening. "How were you even able to make me work for it in the first place before you used your succubus whammy on me? I thought you sex-feeders were supposed to be pushovers in anything more intense than a pillow fight!"
"Maybe that's because, from what I've heard, most succubi aren't interested in anything more intense than a pillow fight," Bo suggested, "or maybe I've just got a little something extra."
"I've always known you were special," Dyson said warmly, sending a flash of pleasure through her as she turned to find him watching her, not just with affection or desire, but the admiration and respect of one formidable warrior for another.
"Thanks, babe." She gave him a brief peck on the lips which turned into a longer, though still fairly chaste kiss, and Bella quickly turned away.
Seeing them kiss didn't bother her too much, but the way Dyson looked at Bo right before… That had given her a weird hollow feeling in her stomach. Her gaze slid sideways to where Edward stood beside her, carefully aiming his eyes anywhere except at Bo and Dyson, and she tried to remember if he had ever looked at her that way.
###
Edward thought Bella was unusually quiet throughout the rest of her visit, though it was hard to be absolutely certain; she had never been what one would call loquacious, and now, with so many other people in the house, it was harder than ever to get a word in edgewise (admittedly, Dyson, Edward, and Jasper weren't especially chatty, but Alice, Emmett, and Kenzi more than picked up the slack, while Bo, Esme, and Rosalie were no conversational slouches either). When Bella's taciturn mood persisted after they left, however, when the two of them were alone in her truck as she drove home, he knew something was amiss.
"You know, I still can't hear your thoughts. Are you going to tell me what's wrong, or would you like me to guess?"
She glanced over at him with the furtive, almost guilty expression of someone who'd been caught doing, or thinking, something they shouldn't. "Who said anything's wrong?"
"Come on, Bella. I may not be able to read your mind, but I do know you."
"I've just been thinking…about Bo and Dyson."
"And that's what has you doing your best to give yourself frown lines? You don't approve of her choice?"
"No, Dyson seems great. It sounds like they're a great team too…like he really supports her in her self-appointed mission to protect humans." Again, she darted a glance at him from the corner of her eye, as if hoping to catch some reaction.
All Edward said, though, was, "Yes, I suppose so."
"It must be nice to have that kind of relationship," Bella pressed.
"I'm sure it is, if one enjoys practicing vigilantism in their spare time. You aren't thinking of joining your sister in her exploits, are you?" Edward asked lightly – almost too lightly, like the very idea of her doing such a thing was laughable.
She couldn't blame him – she was the last person anyone would expect to run around saving people, since she was generally more in need of saving herself, and it wasn't like she wanted to take the sort of risks Bo did or face that level of danger on a regular basis – but still, it would have been nice to hear him express the same confidence and esteem for her that Dyson had for Bo. "Of course not," she sighed.
Silence fell between them once more, until a moment later she said, "Well, since it looks like Dyson will be sticking around for a while, I guess I should say something about him to Charlie."
"What will you tell Charlie?" Edward queried, the corners of his mouth turning up in a hint of his crooked smile now that they appeared to be moving on to a less serious topic.
"I'll probably just stick to the basics, that Bo's boyfriend is in town," Bella mused with a faint grin of her own. "It'll win major points with Charlie if I tell him Dyson's also a cop, and maybe if I mention that he has a history in the military, but I think I should leave out the part where his military service took place during the Crusades, don't you?"
…Yeah, Bella, that's probably a good idea.
For disclaimer purposes, Bo's line about how Dyson wouldn't risk everything for her unless he really loved her is taken from the show.