Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Intensity

By Mama4Dukes

Chapter 08:

Bella’s POV

“I’m serious Bella, that’s what she said to me. She asked if I’d like to attend a Botox party because she saw a wrinkle developing around my left eye.”

I was helping Babs transplant some vegetable plants she had started into her garden. We were on our knees and covered in dirt, but it felt nice to be working outside for once.

“I swear some of these women are so concerned about their looks. Don’t they realize that all of that Botox and plastic surgery isn’t going to stop the hands of time? They’re so out of touch with reality.”

“I know. When I invited Meg to come and help today, she tried to send her gardener over to me. She actually felt bad that I had to do the planting by myself. I tried to explain that I actually enjoyed it, but she looked at me and said she didn’t realize that Crispy wasn’t making ends meet.”

We started laughing. Some of the wives we had to deal with occasionally for our husband’s sakes were completely clueless. Most of them couldn’t understand why Babs and I worked. They also couldn’t understand why we didn’t hire people to clean our homes or do our landscaping.

Babs and Crispy were close friends of ours. Babs was a pediatric nurse practitioner at Children’s Hospital in Phoenix while Crispy was a lawyer for the Department of Education. They were both members of the Wa-Ya Indian Nation. The reservation was located south of Phoenix. When Paul talked to Crispy about the Quileute elders and how they were trying to demand that we annul our marriage and remarry on tribal land, he became livid and took on our case. He does a lot of work for his tribe and has contacts within the American Indian Policy Center and the Bureau of Indian Affairs-both agencies have been given the heads up about the situation with Paul.

“How are you boys doing? Are you ready for some lunch?” Babs called to our husbands. Paul was helping Crispy reseal his driveway.

“Almost done. Can one of you lay some newspaper on the bottom step? We won’t be able to use these shoes anymore-the soles are covered in driveway sealant.”

“I’ll do it,” Babs said to my husband. She went in the house to grab some newspaper to lay out. We all went to their patio for lunch afterwards.

In the middle of lunch, Paul’s cell phone rang. He answered it, and immediately started frowning.

“No, you can’t order me back to La Push. I didn’t do anything wrong! What the hell do you mean I caused bodily harm to Fuller? He laid his hands on my wife first… Oh, so you’re just going to take his words verbatim just because he’s a tribal elder? Did it ever occur to you to get both sides of the story first? No, I won’t be returning to La Push.” With that, Paul ended his call.

“What the hell was that all about?” Crispy asked Paul, concerned.

“That was Travis Johnson-the Chief of Police on the Quileute reservation. He asked me to return to La Push with Bella to face charges of insubordination and for violence against a tribal elder. Of course, he failed to mention the fact that the three goons entered my house first and laid their hands on my wife.”

“Okay, first of all, they can’t order Bella back to La Push at all. They have no legal jurisdiction whatsoever over her because she’s not a member of the Quileute Indian Nation. Second, they can’t order you back without a court order. Simply calling you on your cell phone is not admissible by any court of law so, legally speaking, that phone call didn’t happen at all. Now, if they…”

Crispy was interrupted by Paul’s cell phone ringing again. “What? I’m sorry, did you just order my wife and I to annul our marriage and remarry on tribal lands? On what basis? Hell, no! You know something else, we can’t remarry because the marriage has already been consummated over and over again!”

Paul was now seething. He was so angry after the phone call that he stood up and started stomping around the back deck where we were having lunch al fresco and… oh… shit… holy fuck… he just phased; smack dab in front of Babs and Crispy who, surprisingly, didn’t look shocked at all. Crispy calmly moved in front of his wife and me and… motherfucker… did Crispy just turn into the most enormous coyote I’ve ever seen? I can’t take this shit anymore…

When I came to a few minutes later, I was lying on Babs’s living room sofa in Paul’s arms. He was dabbing a cool washcloth on my forehead. I looked at my husband, then at Crispy, and then promptly decided to pass out again because, honestly speaking, after vampires and wolves, I wasn’t sure if I could handle the story of the giant coyote.

“Um, honey, I know you haven’t really fainted again so I wish you’d wake up because I really want to hear Crispy’s story. I’ve already told him our story, by the way,” my husband chuckled while continuing to dab the washcloth on my forehead.

“Why me?” I whimpered.

“I’d say you’re some sort of a supernatural magnet. Come on, baby, after vampires and wolves-a coyote should be a walk in the park,” Paul sounded unusually relaxed.

I sat up and a smiling Babs offered me a cold bottle of water. Crispy had a shit-eating grin plastered on his face. I just noticed how pointy his ears are. It must be a coyote thing. I cuddled up into Paul’s arms and took a deep breath before looking up at Crispy, prompting him to explain.

Crispy’s POV

I wasn’t surprised Paul was a mythological creature at all. His scent has always been a little different from a normal human. He smelled like a bar of milk chocolate for God’s sake. When I met his friend, Sam, from his tribe-he smelled a bit different too. Sam smelled like vanilla cake. It was interesting how in his tribe, the wives scents complemented their husbands. For example, Sam’s wife, Emily, smelled like bananas and together they made a banana muffin. Paul and Bella together made the finest strawberry dipped in chocolate-like the ones they sold at Godiva.

When Paul shifted, I reacted calmly like I had been taught. I moved in front of the women to keep them safe, and then changed into a coyote. Bella fainted right away. Paul, seeing his wife in distress, returned to human form and tended to her immediately. We brought Bella into the living room and cooled her down. At that point, Paul told me his story. I told him that he would hear mine, but we would wait until Bella came to again.

Bella had finally composed herself and was looking at me pointedly. This was my cue. “Guys, we need to go for a ride. I can’t tell you my story here. Pack rules.”

“Okay, let’s go.” Paul and Bella followed us in their car to the Wa-Ya Reservation. Along the way, I called my pack brothers and told them to meet me at our rendezvous point with their mates. We parked at the furthest edge of the reservation and walked to a covered area.

“You’ll need to turn into a wolf. Can you carry Bella on your back? If not, I can do it,” I said.

“No, I can. Bella, you’ve ridden on the back of a wolf before, haven’t you?” he asked.

“Um, no, only vampire-back.” He he, vampire-back… that was kind of funny.

“Well, just climb on my back and wrap your arms around my neck. I’ll go slowly, I promise.”

We took our clothes off, stored them in a hidden compartment in a tree stump, and then went out to greet the girls. Babs climbed on my back and Bella on Paul’s. I led them up a canyon then back down to the other side by the Gila River where my pack brothers had started a fire.

As soon as they all saw Paul the wolf, they shifted into coyote form. “Stand down. He’s okay. We’re here to explain what happened,” I communicated mentally. They returned to human form as soon as I did. Paul did the same.

“Whoa, you’re my boss!” Manny exclaimed. “Awesome!”

“Yep and now I have an explanation as to why you were able to move that concrete storm drain pipe over with your bare hands,” Paul replied.

“Ah, Mrs. Lahote, have you had any more trouble from those three goons from Washington who threatened you?” Barry asked.

“You’re the officer that came to our house when they threatened my wife. No wonder you knew about tribal relations,” Paul commented.

This was good. If Barry was the officer who escorted the three fuckers off of the Lahote’s property, he would know their scents as well.

I decided to get started. “Paul, Bella-welcome to the Wa-Ya Brotherhood. I am the Alpha of the pack and these are my brother coyotes: Randall, Barry, Jeff, and you’ve met Manny. Mina, Cheyenne, Lisa, and Penny are their mates. If you don’t mind, I’d like to share your story with them and how we came to shift in front of each other before I tell you what we are and what we do.”

I quickly ran through Paul’s story with his help, and then delved my story. “We are the Wa-Ya Brotherhood. We originated many centuries ago when slave traders were threatening our land and our people. The Wa-Ya Nation has always prided itself on our farming skills. From long ago, we were able to cultivate crops using the water from the Gila River, which runs alongside our land. The slave traders saw this and, one day, invaded our lands and stole our women while the men were out hunting. Our ancestors were, of course, incensed. They initiated a search party and we soon found our women being held in a large ship docked along the Colorado River. Some of our ancestors understood English and overheard they planned on returning for the men and any children over the age of ten. They planned on leaving the rest to die. Night fell and the slave traders all went to sleep. Our ancestors snuck onto the ship and released the women and ran back to our tribal lands with them. About a week later, the enraged slave traders returned to our lands and started forcefully grabbing our people, shooting anyone who got in the way. Our ancestors fought back, but were easily overpowered by their guns. The men started praying desperately to the gods, no one responded except for one-the god of the underworld. He agreed to help us, but future generations of the five men destined to help would forevermore be afflicted with the condition he gave them. They would be tribal protectors and have great strength, but future generations would have to sacrifice their eldest sons to the god of the underworld to be afflicted with the same condition. Their families would forever more be representatives of the underworld on this earth. The men agreed and were turned into giant coyotes. The slave traders were instantly destroyed and our tribe worked to restore the tranquil agrarian society they had created prior to the arrival of the slave traders. We are the direct descendants of those men.”

“Holy fucking hell!” Paul muttered.

“Why are you so shocked my friend, you were created to battle vampires. By the way, in Oklahoma there is a peaceful tribe of about a hundred that consists solely of vampires. They have never harmed a human and survive only on the blood of predatory animals. They were created because they prayed to the god of the underworld for help with the famine their tribe was experiencing. He agreed to help, but they would be the last of their generation and would live for eternity, never to experience famine again. Their children would be afflicted with the same condition once they reached the age of eighteen. They must also continue to grow crops for the surrounding villages and they will never be able to venture outside in sunlight.”

“Dude, I was created to destroy vampires, why are you telling me this stuff?”

“I’m telling you because all mythological worlds must live together in harmony. In the end, we were all created to protect our people and maintain peace within our tribes.”

“I guess you’re right. When I think about it, the Cullens-the vampires Bella knew-lived in peace and harmony. It was only the human eating nomadic vampires who were bloodthirsty,” Paul explained.

“Well, Paul, now that I know your whole story, I’ll be able to help you better when you deal with your tribal elders.” I went on to explain Paul’s situation with the tribal council to my pack brothers.

“I’m a lawyer for the Office of Justice Services in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Paul. I’m extremely interested in hearing your story in more detail, Paul,” Jeff said to him. “Perhaps over a round of golf?”

“Sure, we’ll exchange contact information later.”

“Hey, is there any way we can meet your brother wolves?” Randall asked.

“I’d like to meet their mates, too,” Mina, Randy’s wife, added.

“Most of them will be here by the end of the summer to work for me, but I suppose we can have them fly up for a visit one weekend. It might actually be fun.”

“Oh, that would be nice. We could have a cookout,” Mina said, excitedly.

“Uh, boss, would you put one of the wolves with me on my crew? I’m sick of these weak guys who can’t lift anything without a forklift,” Manny pleaded.

“Sure, I’ll put Brady with you. He’s new to construction with only a year of experience, but by all accounts he’s a hard worker.”

“Awesome! I’ll teach him everything I know. I’ve been in construction for five years now.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Bella, you’ve been quiet this evening. You’re usually a bit more chatty,” I said. She had been sitting and observing us all evening without opening her mouth, which was extremely rare. She usually ran her mouth as much as Babs did.

“Oh, I’m just enjoying the view. You guys all realize that you’re buck naked, right?”

“Shouldn’t you be used to it by now? I’m sure you’ve seen Paul’s pack brothers in the buff.”

“No, not really. They usually strap their clothes onto their paw,” she informed us.

“How?” we all asked, simultaneously.

“Easy, I can show you when we get back to our clothes if you’d like,” Paul offered. “You can carry your wallet and cell with you, too.”

“Hey, how fast can you guys run?” Jeff asked.

“I’m not sure. One of my pack brothers estimates about three hundred miles per hour. But most of them are out of shape now so it may be down to about two hundred miles per hour. How about you guys?”

“I think about the same. We made it from here to Las Vegas in an hour. That’s about three hundred miles. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay because we had no clothes or money with us. We had to turn around and run back.”

We exchanged tidbits of information about being different types of shape-shifters. It was interesting because we shared many more similarities than differences. I wonder if the god of the underworld created the wolves, too? The main difference was that, in our case, each generation had its own pack. In their case, they would go many generations without wolves. Another interesting tidbit was that they actually had a she-wolf among their pack.

We talked for a bit more before heading back to the tree where our clothes were stored. Manny’s wife, Penny, invited us all over to her house for dinner. We all accepted, considering we coyotes were all famished from shifting. I think Paul was hungry, too, because he put away a dozen hot dogs by himself, at least. All of our wives were accustomed to our eating habits though. Actually, come to think of it, Paul always did put away a lot of food.

“So, Paul? Your friend Sam who you introduced me to about a month ago, is he a wolf too?” I asked.

“Yes, he was actually the first to phase.”

“Phase?”

“That’s what we call shifting,” he explained.

“Interesting. Emily is his mate?”

“Well, yes, we call our mates imprints. Bella is my imprint, but I’m her mate. Am I making any sense to you at all?”

“I think so, you call your mate an imprint because you actually imprint your mark on her-like the one on her neck,” I surmised.

“You know something, that explanation actually makes the most sense-I never thought about it that way and neither have the guys from the pack. Do you mark your mates?”

“Yes, on their necks like you. Um, it’s done when… um… when…”

“It’s done when we’re both coming together,” Manny interrupted. “Don’t mind Crispy, his ears get all red when talking about sex.”

“They do not, you asshole!” I argued.

“Yeah, they do,” Paul chuckled. “They’re flaming red right now.”

Paul was completely relaxed. He looked relieved to finally be able to share his story with someone. Frankly, I felt the same way and I bet so did my guys. Paul and I were very similar, he and I both had successful careers and had to hobnob with society’s so-called ‘elite’ in order to maintain that success and so did our wives. It’s how we met. Paul’s company was working on a couple of school buildings for the state and I was the lawyer representing the Department of Education. Over the weekend, we hit it off while playing the mandatory round of golf at the club. I didn’t see him for a while after that.

We met again at a reception hosted by the governor; this time he brought his, then, girlfriend Tina. Babs hated her. She couldn’t stand the sight of her. In fact, she said that if you could bottle up airhead, money-grabber, and selfish, then add saline to her tits-you’d get Tina. She did, however, like Paul very much. Eventually, Paul and I started hitting the tennis courts and golf courses on our own for fun. I’d invite him to my house for lunch or drinks afterwards because Tina wouldn’t be with him. He was much more at ease without her anyway.

About two years ago, Paul showed up to a charity dinner grinning from ear to ear with a new girl on his arm. This girl was gorgeous and Paul stuck to her side like glue, as if he were protecting her from those who would harm her. Babs didn’t even want to bother meeting her, but she did anyway to keep up with social graces. I remember the first time we met Bella well.

“ Babs, Crispy, I want to introduce you to my girlfriend, Isabella Swan. Bella, meet Barbara and Crispin Hodges, very close friends of mine. Crispy is an attorney with the Department of Education, and Babs is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Children’s Hospital.”

“ Oh, a pleasure to meet you.” Bella extended her hand out for us to shake with a warm smile. We both shook her hand and then made some polite conversation. Babs was downright rude towards Bella. She had her chin tilted up, her nose up in the air, and eventually she started rolling her eyes up towards the ceiling. She liked Paul and didn’t like the idea of anyone using him like Tina did.

The director of the Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix approached us with his wife. We were getting ready to do the standard greeting when he spoke first, “Bella, what in God’s name are you doing here at this fufu shindig? Shouldn’t you be delivering babies?”

“ After last night? Hmm… I might just give up being a midwife and become a social climber instead. My goodness, I must have delivered about twenty babies. I can’t wait to get home and hit the sack, I still haven’t been home yet.” Bella hugged both Dr. and Mrs. Greenbriar.

“ Don’t you dare quit your career. The hospital would be lost without you. In any case, you wouldn’t do well as a social climber; you can’t stand fake people. When are you going to quit working for Tom and come and work for me?”

“ Now, Rich, if I worked for you, you’d harness me to the maternity ward so I couldn’t leave. I like Tom, I’ve known him since I was five-he was my doctor growing up. Anyway, he’s already seen me naked so all of the formalities are out of the way,” Bella joked.

“ Hey, now I’ve known you since you were a little sprite myself. I still remember that flat tire Katherine and you got after that rock concert you went to.” Rich then turned to us. “My daughter Katherine and Bella grew up together. When they were sixteen they went to their first rock concert together and got a flat tire on the way home. I was on my way home from an eighteen hour shift in the ER when, lo and behold, I see the two of them on the side of the road attempting to change a flat. Naturally, I pulled over to help them. When I got out of my car, I noticed they already had the tire off, and I was very proud of them. That is until I realized they had pulled the wrong tire off, nor did they have a spare. I ended up calling a tow truck, driving them back home, and lecturing them about being prepared in case of an emergency for two hours until Margaret here told me to shut the hell up and let the girls get to bed.”

We all laughed at hearing that. “So, Bella, I’m assuming you’re here with Paul unless Crispy’s two-timing Babs.”

“ Yes, I am. I’ve actually known Paul since high school in Washington.”

“ Good, good. How about a round of golf with the women on Sunday at the club, Paul? You, too, Crispy-I have some ideas I’d like to discuss with you. The hospital is adding a new wing.”

“ Sure, we’ll see you, then. Call me with a tee-time. Hold on, Bella, do you golf?” Paul asked.

“ Pfft, she grew up in Camelback East, Paul. You can’t breathe without being able to golf. I taught her myself together with Katherine. She’ll probably run circles around you on the green.” Mrs. Greenbriar chuckled.

“ Call my office with a tee time and we’ll see you on Sunday.”

“ Same here,” I piped in.

Dr. and Mrs. Greenbriar left and we all talked some more. Babs was finally at ease with Bella when she realized she was smart, had her own career, and most importantly-was about as down to earth as anyone could be. After the golf game the following Sunday, we were both pretty sure that she was “the one” for Paul. Sure enough, a year later, the two of them had eloped in Las Vegas.

“Hey, Crispy, I just called my pack brothers up. I’m flying them and their imprints into Phoenix next weekend.”

“Great! We can have a cookout at my house. I want to test out that new outdoor kitchen you helped me install. Hey, could you ask Bella to make some of that potato salad of hers? I’m kind of craving it.”

“Which one? The one with the macaroni or the one with the apples and cucumbers?”

“Apples and cucumbers.”

“Yeah, I like that one, too. I’ll have her make a ton so you have some leftover.”

We soon broke the impromptu party up and headed for our homes. We were all looking forward to getting to know Paul’s brother wolves next weekend. I also wanted to get Paul alone during the week and hear the real story behind his tribal council’s vendetta against him.

Paul’s POV

As soon as I pulled into the garage, I was attached to Bella’s lips. My protective instincts came out as soon as I saw Crispy shift into a coyote. Then, when I saw the rest of his pack, my instincts went into overdrive. I knew they meant no harm, but I had a need to dominate my imprint to prove to her and to myself that she was mine.

I carried my imprint out of the car and laid her on the dining room table and proceeded to take her clothes off. I needed to claim her, right now, making our way up to the bedroom wasn’t an option, it was too far. As soon as she was naked, I pulled Bella down so her legs were dangling off of the table and plunged straight into her wet core.

Bella’s arms were flailing as she tried to reach out for me, but I wasn’t going to have any of that. I threw her legs over my shoulders then steadied her arms so that they were held in place over her head with my one hand. I pounded into her without stopping-taking long, hard strokes so that I was fully sheathed within her with each thrust. She was screaming in ecstasy. Her tight walls felt like heaven around my cock and I planned on letting her feel each and every euphoric feeling that I was experiencing. Over and over again, I kept going until we both peaked with our own screams, sinking my teeth into her neck. I felt her second orgasm pulsate around me. I didn’t even have time to come down from my frenzy as I fucked her again-hard, without pulling out, and claimed her for a second time with even more intensity than the first.

When we finally finished, we both had beads of sweat rolling off of our bodies. Bella looked beautiful, sated as she was. I picked my gorgeous wife up in my arms and cradled her to my bod, just as the dining table decided to collapse to the floor.

“Uh, honey, I think we need to go furniture shopping tomorrow.”

“Yeah, it might be a good idea,” Bella giggled.

We decided to go for a midnight skinny dip in the pool before relaxing in our jacuzzi. By the time, we were ready for bed, we were completely exhausted from today’s events. I spooned my wife and the two of us were asleep in no time-feeling more relaxed, happy, and satisfied than ever before.

Six days later…

“Paul, I can’t believe you flew us all in for a party. My parents are beginning to think that Kyla and I are abandoning our kids and moving to Arizona,” Seth exclaimed.

“What did you guys all do with the kids anyway?” I asked.

“Leah and I left our kids with Charlie and Sue so they’re watching six kids plus the baby. Rachel and Quil left their kids with Jacob and Angela. That actually killed two birds with one stone, it eliminated any suspicion because they think they’re in Seattle with Jess and Embry relaxing. Not only that, but they won’t be able to leave the reservation because of all he kids they’re watching on top of their own.”

“Emily and I left our kids with her parents on the Makah reservation along with Jared and Kim’s five. Everyone thinks we’re just chilling there this weekend,” Sam explained.

“What about you, Brady? What did you do?”

“Oh, actually it was easy for us because we live with Missy’s parents. No one will even notice we’re gone.”

“Hey? Where’s Bella? I want to meet her,” Missy said.

“She’s still at work. She should be home in a couple of hours.”

“Ladies, I think we should get to cooking so Bella doesn’t have to do anything when she gets home,” Emily suggested. “Don’t worry Paul, I’ll make your muffins.”

“That would be great. Oh, the meat’s in the freezer in the garage and I think Bella left steaks out for tonight.”

“Um, Paul! Why the hell do you have a freezer full of meat?” Kim asked. “You didn’t have this chest freezer here before.”

“Oh, that. My friend Crispy and I went in together and each purchased a side of beef from a cattle ranch. We didn’t realize that we’d end up with so much beef. Bella and Babs-Crispy’s wife-were pissed. We each ended up having to run to the appliance store to buy chest freezers before the meat went bad.”

“How is Crispy doing?” Sam asked.

“Good, we’re meeting him tomorrow on the Wa-Ya Reservation, and then he’s hosting a party at his house.”

“Hey, is that a new dining room table?”

“Uh, yeah, it is.”

“What happened to the old one? It was still brand new.”

“There was an accident. Something heavy fell on it, and it collapsed.”

“That’s too bad, man. I liked that one. This one is nice, too, though.”

The women got to cooking, while I hung out with the guys. We discussed what was happening in our tribe. Brady has actually been doing the most spying. He found out that anyone who works for any tribal agencies or businesses has not gotten a raise in a while. Kim, Missy, and Emily both confirmed that. It alerted me to the fact that there was more shit going on in La Push than I first thought. Whenever people try to leave, Fuller and Old Man Quil, apparently, go through a big spiel about tradition, honor, and keeping with the tribe so all of those things continue. They also tell them about the importance of increasing the population because growth in population means growth in economy, et cetera.

“Yeah, they ran through that bullshit with Embry and me,” Jess confirmed.

“I just told them that I preferred living in Forks because I own a house outright there. When Mike and I divorced, I got the house. Those jerks actually had the nerve to tell me that a good wife would live with her husband’s family. I basically told them to fuck off, and that as a United States citizen, freedom to live wherever I want to is a constitutional right.”

“Yep and just to rankle their nerves even more, she asked them if they’d even heard of the US Constitution,” Embry added, proudly.

My cell phone rang, just then. It was Bella. “Hey, baby, I’m over by Children’s Hospital helping Babs out. Her car won’t start. We just called a tow truck, but it’s going to take a couple of hours. Crispy is in Flagstaff so he won’t be home until later tonight. I’m going to wait with her, and then run her home. I’ll be home after that. Is everyone there?”

“Yeah, they are-the girls have started cooking. What happened to Babs’ car?”

“ I don’t know, she tried to start it, but the ignition won’t even turn.”

“Did you open the hood and check to see if the battery is connected?”

“ I’ll ask her, hold on.”

While I was waiting for Bella to get back to me, Quil interrupted. “Hey, I’m pretty handy with cars from hanging out with Jake when I was growing up. Why don’t I take a look at it for her? Two hours is a long wait.”

“Bella, I’m going to run down with Quil-he’ll look at the car for Babs. Hopefully, it’s something minor.”

“ That would be great! We’re on the third level of the main garage. I’ll see you in a bit.”

I grabbed some tools, and then ran Quil down to Children’s Hospital. He found the problem instantly. “It’s just the end on this battery cable that’s corroded. If there’s an auto parts store nearby, I can repair it for you and you can be on your way.”

An hour later, the cable was repaired and we were all on our way home. Quil talked to me along the way. “Hey, Paul, you know that job you offered Embry and me? Is it still available?”

“Yeah, of course it is. Do you want the specifics on it?”

“If you don’t mind. I told Rachel about it and she’s already started packing. I’m not kidding you-half of our house is already boxed up. I’m just worried about working for someone else, no offense man. Embry and I are doing pretty well. We generally clear around sixty thousand dollars a year each unless we have a big contract-then we clear over a hundred thousand, but those aren’t very frequent.”

“Yeah, that is good, you’ve really built up your business. I would start you off at sixty-eight thousand a year each. That works out to a little over thirteen hundred dollars a week. I was planning on making you both lead foremen so there would be a bit of traveling involved.”

“Shit. I would have done it for fifty thousand, but I’ll take sixty-eight. How do you do it, man? How do you keep all of your figures and plans together?”

“It’s really not much different from what you and Embry do, just on a bigger scale. I also have a team of lawyers, accountants, and project managers to help. By the way, if you can stay through Monday, there’s an important team meeting regarding the highway reconstruction project that I’d love for you to attend.”

“Hey, no problem. Rachel can go home on Sunday night as planned-she has school to teach on Monday, but I don’t think we have any jobs scheduled that day. Can I look at the plans ahead of time so I know what I’m facing?” I liked that about Quil. He really planned ahead and thought things through. I was hoping Embry would sign on too because I knew for a fact that he was the same way.

“Yeah, we’ll go over the plans together, then I’ll let you take a set home to work on it. I’ll need you to forward a resume and cover letter to my human resources department to have on file as soon as you get home. Can you manage that?”

“I can do you one better. If you have a printer, I’ll just plug my laptop in and print them both out. Rachel made me get them ready as soon as I told her about your offer and that was even before hearing about what you’re paying. It’ll be great for the kids, too. I need to get Number Six out of that tribal school, he was offered drugs the other day and came home scared shitless because some juniors threatened him and roughed him up when he wouldn’t try it. I swear, man, school wasn’t that bad when we were there. Then again, we pretty much ran that school. At least we didn’t try to force drugs on eighth-graders or anyone for that matter. Hell, we beat the shit out of drug dealers.”

“No kidding. Well, when Rachel and you look around for a place to live, there are certain areas that have better school districts than others. Camelback East, where Bella grew up, has a decent school system, so does Scottsdale. They’re not award winning like the one in Paradise Valley, but the majority of kids still go to college. Rachel’s going to work, right?”

“Yeah, she’s been scouring job listings in the Phoenix area.”

“My friend, Crispy, is a lawyer for the Department of Education. He’ll be able to give her some tips and maybe even hook her up with a couple of interviews. You’ll meet him tomorrow.”

With Quil signed on, I was pretty sure that Embry was pretty much in the bag. I was pretty desperate for qualified electricians who could lead the team on site. I had to let the electrical engineer I had on staff go because, though he had a degree in electrical engineering, he had no idea what he was doing in the field. That’s when I decided to hire actual electricians rather than electrical engineers. Quil and Embry were perfect. I knew they rewired the tribal school and the Forks Fire Department so they were more than qualified. Wiring for a highway wasn’t that difficult. It just took patience and teamwork. I knew they both had insurmountable amounts of that.

When we got home, Embry was in an apron, manning what looked like a new barbeque grill with a high tech grilling fork with a temperature gage, and a pair of expensive looking tongs. Jared was calling out instructions to him.

“What’s with those two and what’s with that enormous round grill?” I asked Jess.

“Oh, well, ever since Disney, Embry’s been on a quest to perfect his steak grilling technique. He has it down to an exact science. He took the rental car to a Home Depot and purchased a charcoal grill for you after he left. Apparently, the steaks come out more flavorful that way. He has a tendency to go a little overboard, but Bella told me you’re like that, too. I mean you bought a whole side of beef.”

“Oh she did, did she? She’s probably right about that. That’s an enormous charcoal grill, though.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s a Weber Ranch Kettle-it has something like eleven hundred square inches of cooking surface. His reasoning for buying it was you purchased the side of beef so he had to honor it with a charcoal grill.” She quickly changed the subject and turned to me. “Hey, I have a question for you? How is the job market for experienced teachers in this area?”

“Pretty good, they actually have a teacher shortage in the state as a whole. You can talk to my friend, Crispy, when you meet him tomorrow. He’s a lawyer for the DOE.”

“I will. I’m hoping Embry wants to take your job offer. I think he’s capable of so much more than what Quil and he do now.”

“I’ll talk to him later, Jess. Quil took the job so I have a feeling he’ll be jumping aboard, too.”

“Dinner is served!” Embry announced.

“Hey, thanks for the new grill, man. You didn’t have to do that, the one we have works fine.”

“Yes, I did. I don’t do half-assed steaks.”

“You’re a fucking idiot, Embry,” Leah said. “Who the hell goes out and spends nine hundred dollars on a charcoal grill?”

“Nine hundred dollars?” Bella questioned in shock. “My God, that’s outrageous.”

“Meh, it was on sale. Only the best grill, for the best steaks in the world! Besides, since Paul purchased the side of beef, I thought we should honor it.”

“I agree,” Jared said. “If I had nine hundred bucks, I’d go out and buy this grill, too.”

“Well, thank you, Embry. You’ll have to teach Paul how to use it.” Bella took a bite out of her steak. “This certainly is flavorful.”

It was delicious. Embry was a master at grilling. He must have gone nuts practicing. This was actually better than Morton’s.

“Thanks, Bella. I actually took a part time job in the evenings in the meat department at Forks Outfitters so I could learn how to butcher meat. If you have a slicer, I can do deli hams and cheeses for you, too.”

Uh, yeah, I don’t think I go quite as nuts as Embry does. Bella was staring at Embry with a bewildered expression on her face along with everyone else.

“Is that why you don’t pick your phone up in the evenings anymore?” Seth asked.

“Hey, I take pride in my work.”

Jess dropped her face in her palms and shook her head. “He’s been going overboard. We now have a commercial slicer in the house, and we have a set of professional knives in our kitchen.”

“Embry, you’re an electrician not a chef.”

“Shut up and eat your steak! I’m a Grill Master, god damn it!”

Yep, Embry’s gone off his rocker. I wonder if the Wa-Ya Brotherhood is as nuts as we are? I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.