Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Venom

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 04:

God if I ever smell horse shit again it will be too soon. Working with horses will do you good Bella. Good for the soul.

Kiss my ass Cowboy.

“Mornin Bella.”

There is one half of my guides. The Lone Ranger. Tonto must be playing with his staff.

“Morning boss.” I answered sarcastically.

“What’s the matter?” Chris laughed.

“I’m covered in horse shit and hay Chris. When the hell are you and Quil going to start teaching me magic?”

“Magic? Hell Bella where the hell did you get the idea that we were going to teach you magic?”

“I don’t know? Maybe that you keep calling yourselves my guides?” I suggested.

“That doesn’t mean that we are supposed to teach you magic. You are the one who is wearing the magic bracelet.”

“Then why am I doing ranch hand work?”

“Have you seen yourself lately?” he asked. Damn him and his all knowing grin and that stupid cowboy hat.

“Yeah. I see myself every damn night before I step into the shower. I look like hell.”

“No. You looked like hell when you got here. If I had a horse that looked like you did I would have shot her. A few weeks ago you struggled picking up a bag of feed. Now you are feeding every horse here. Shoveling hay. Cleaning stalls. You want me to teach you magic? Look around you Bella. You are surrounded by magic. Life, nature, love. All the things you will be fighting for. I can sit you down and show you how to make a ward. Like the wards I got on this place. Wards to protect you for a while and wards to hide you. Won’t do you a damn bit of good. You don’t need protection from things that go bump in the night finding you. You are gonna be the damn thing that goes bump in the night. You are the hunter, not the hunted. You need to get tough. That’s exactly what you are doing. Getting tough, getting strong. That’s what you need to concentrate on.”

I think that was the most I had ever heard Chris speak at one time.

“So I should stop bitching and keep shoveling shit?” I asked.

“Yeah, somethin like that.” He laughed.

My armor had not came back since Quil threw a knife at me. I was beginning to wonder if it was defective. But I knew it wasn’t. It spoke to me when I was lonely. Or afraid. Nothing much. Just words of comfort. A feeling of home.

I had spoken to Charlie. He said he didn’t know how Jake was doing. He said Jake never left La Push any longer. He spoke to Billy who told him Jake was doing what needed to be done. Charlie sounded awful. My stupid actions had put him through hell. My mistake was pursuing Edward. After that I really don’t know a thing I could have done to make it easier on Charlie. It was so strange. Who would have believed me?

I wasn’t sure what he meant about Jake doing what needed to be done. Had Jake phased already?

Quil says Jake and I are meant to be. I wondered. I missed him. Things were peaceful here when I wasn’t laboring for Chris. But I missed him. I missed his smile. I missed sitting in his shed watching him rebuild bikes. His laugh, the corny jokes he told to get me to smile. Laughing on the beach. He would sometimes throw food at me in the kitchen while I cooked dinner for Charlie, waiting for him to come home. He wiped the blood from my forehead after my first disastrous attempt at riding a bike.

I missed him. But I was not going to jump into a relationship just because Quil tells me I have to. I never felt more than friendship for Jake. I admit it was an intense friendship. Quil says I was unable to imprint or see past the vampires because of the venom in my blood. I wasn’t sure about that. I would be counting the days until I could see him. If nothing else I missed my friend.

I would be lying though if I didn’t admit the extreme physical attraction I had felt when thinking about him. I dreamed at night of his body, his face.

I wouldn’t jump into a relationship just because Quil said it was meant to be.

I also wouldn’t jump away from one. I wanted to see Jacob very, very badly. It didn’t look like it was going to happen.

“Bella I think you need to get out of the stables. Why don’t you come with me for a few days? Leave Old Quil here to talk to his spirits in peace.”

“We going to clean someone else’s horse shit?” I asked, suspicious. I haven’t left this ranch since I arrived in a near coma.

“Nope. You need to saddle up a couple horses. We got cattle to move.”

Wait a minute.

“Chris I’ve only ridden a few times. I am not anywhere near qualified to do something like that.”

“Only way to get qualified is for you to do it.” He reasoned.

“How many others are coming with us?”

“You seen anybody else on this ranch?”

It was strange. Chris had no employees. He didn’t have much cattle but he had a lot of land and a lot of horses. No ranch hands though.

“So the two of us are going to take how many cows?” I asked.

“Fifty two. We are taking em to Cheyenne. I thought taking them the old fashioned way would be good for you. Nothin like a good old fashioned cattle drive. Should take four days to get there. 193 miles. We can take our time coming back or rent a truck and horse trailer and drive back. You in or you chicken?”

“Chicken? You think you can get me to do something by calling me chicken” I smiled.

“Yep.”

“You’re right. Which horses you want to take?”

“Thunder and Shadow. You can ride Thunder.”

Oh shit. Thunder was a beautiful white horse. A beautiful white horse who hated my guts. That horse goes crazy when I came into the stable every morning. I think it’s the bracelet. The other horses like me.

“Uh Chris…”

“Don’t want to hear it Bella. Clean yourself up. Quil is making that Mexican Casserole that tastes like shit. An Indian makin Mexican food. I swear I don’t know what this world is coming to. Eat, for God’s sake shower, and then hit the bunk. We ride out at sun up.”

Okay. I guess I was going on a cattle drive.

I shied away from Mexican Casserole. That didn’t sound like a good idea the night before I had to spend all day in a saddle. Quil didn’t seem to care. He was more focused on talking about vampires and spirit warriors and asking if he could throw a knife at me again. He also told me when I returned it would be time to begin my studies. My journey had to be completed first. I found that interesting.

“Why now Quil? Why do you want me to start training now? You haven’t mentioned a word about it in weeks. Neither of you have.”

“You weren’t ready child. Mentally you were ready. Not physically and not emotionally.” Quil told me solemnly.

I admit they were right. I had been feeling better. I had gained ten pounds since I had been here. Not an ounce of it was fat. I noticed I was starting to get a semblance of form back. Maybe somewhat of a figure. I was unathletic my whole life. Naturally slim but average. Now though. I felt I had strength. Balance. I did start out having a hard time lifting a feedbag. The damn thing was half my weight.

I didn’t have a problem anymore. I could work all day. I was tired. I hurt. But I could get up and do it again.

I was kind of proud of that. I hadn’t felt proud of anything in so long I almost didn’t recognize the feeling.

The next morning I woke up to dark outside. Like every morning. Walking in the kitchen I found a cup of coffee and a note from Chris telling me I slept late and to get my ass out to the stables. It was 5:15 AM. Asshole.

Walking out I was greeted by his sunny smile. He placed a cowboy hat on my head explaining it was to be sunny today. I had on boots and jeans that he had given me a few weeks ago along with most of the clothes I wore. He got them from his wife’s closet. I felt weird at first but he said she would want that. The bracelet told me the same. It may have been her that told me.

I walked up to Thunder who promptly raised up on her back legs and kicked me in the chest, knocking me to the ground.

Chris was kneeling over me.

“You okay Bella?” Chris looked scared.

I looked down and touched my chest. I first noticed my glove was back. I touched my chest but was unsurprised to see that it was hard. My entire chest was covered in armor. I could feel it down my thighs, between my legs leading down to my feet. No boots this time. Good. I was afraid mine would have been shredded.

“Yeah. I think I’m good.” I stood up and did a check. Yep. Everything working. I slowed my breathing down and focused on Jake. Thinking of being with him on the beach. Handing him the wrong tool. My eyes were closed and my mind and heart were focused on him. On feeling at home.

“You can open your eyes Bella. It’s gone.”

“I know.” I whispered.

I kept my eyes closed for a moment longer not wanting to lose him yet. Then I remembered I had a situation to take care of.

My eyes snapped open and I walked up to Thunder. She backed up. I stepped forward. She was about to raise up again.

“Don’t even fucking think about it!” I grabbed her bridle and pulled her head to mine, meeting her eyes.

I felt my mind connecting to hers. I couldn’t read her thoughts but I knew her. It was a surreal experience. I didn’t know how but I could communicate with this animal on another level. A level between the two of us.

The two of us had a conversation without words.

I let her know that I was as dangerous a bitch as she thought I was and it would be in her best interest to stay on my good side. Thunder agreed to stop being a bitch and trying to kill me.

I let go of her bit and climbed into the saddle. I saw Chris staring at me in astonishment.

“I was going to suggest getting a horse that doesn’t trying to kill you. What the hell did you do?”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“We came to an understanding. You ready to ride cowboy?”

“Yes ma’am. I suppose I am.”

Jake POV

“What happened Sam?”

“Paul will be okay Billy. Eventually.”

I ignored Sam and Dad’s conversation. My temper had gotten better. I even occasionally smiled. The guys joking around didn’t bother me. The shit talking that went on was natural. I was close to being back to my easy going self.

Except for the one thing I didn’t joke about.

“So what did Paul say about Bella?” Dad asked Sam.

“I’m not going to repeat it Billy. It wasn’t appropriate and I believe Paul is feeling the consequences of saying inappropriate things about Bella at this moment.”

Damn right. Paul suggested I go out. He suggested that because I couldn’t imprint on Bella due to the venom in her blood, she must be defective.

I snapped both his legs before he could phase. I had my jaws around his throat once he did phase. Only Sam, Embry and Jared prevented me from delivering the fatal blow.

All the pack knew about the venom in Bella’s wrist. They knew everything Sam did, as did I. Except for one thing. One thing Sam always kept to himself and never thought about. Where she was and if she was okay. Dad said she was getting stronger. That’s all I was told.

She was my Mate. Fuck being a mate. I flat out loved her. Had my whole life. I recognized how strange it was. To love a girl from the age of four that wasn’t there most of your life. A girl I had only in recent months gotten to spend any meaningful time with. I loved her. I didn’t need a damn imprint to tell me that. She was a part of me. Now she was gone. She had gotten sick because of a fucking leech. She was supposed to be my imprint but she couldn’t. We didn’t need it. Now she was in an unknown location, getting better and doing something she is supposed to do. It was important.

Sorry son, can’t tell you. Edward Cullen might read your mind. Just keep turning into a dog and keep killing all vampires except the one you really, really want to kill.

I changed into another pair of cutoff shorts and laid down in my bed. I pulled out a photo of Bella I had taken on the beach. The wind blowing through her hair. She took my breath away every time I saw her. Photo. In person. It didn’t matter.

The phone rang. I listened to Dad say hi to Charlie. Then my blood boiled.

“You are sure it? The small one? Alice? She can see the future right?”

“The boys are on their way.” Dad told him.

I ran into the living room. Dad hung up the phone and looked at me worried.

“You can’t kill her Jake. We have a treaty. You know this. If she does not harm a human or enter our land we cannot attack.”

“Fuck the treaty. Let them try to take us. We can destroy them.”

“And if someone is harmed over your personal grudge Jacob? Quil? Embry?” Sam asked.

Damn it.

“Fine. What do you want me to do Sam?”

“I know too much. You have to take the lead. Charlie has only seen her sick. He knows where she is. If Edward Cullen shows Get Charlie away. If he is not there simply talk to her. Find out what she is doing here.”

I nodded my head. Maybe she would attack me and it would give me a chance to kill her. I threw on a pair of black blue jeans and a black tee shirt.

“Where is she?”

“Charlie saw her parked down the street. He believes she will approach him at home. Hurry. But Jacob?”

“Yeah Sam?” I said impatiently. Hurry up. Wait. Hurry up.

“You are the rightful alpha of this pack. That means more than being the strongest wolf. You have to be the smartest too. You have to think of the good of the Tribe and the pack as a whole. It’s your call. I trust you to remain calm and make the right decision. I trust you Jake.”

That son of a bitch.

I walked outside and hopped on my bike. No reason to shred clothes yet. If they wanted me to have a civilized conversation I didn’t want to be in cutoffs. She may not know what I am. No point in giving it away if I don’t have to. I had to be the smartest wolf after all. Fucking Sam.

I saw her car on the side of the road a block down from Charlie’s house. She was sitting in the driver’s seat, looking. A black Mercedes. A Doctor’s car. I pulled in front of her car and stepped off my bike.

She was surprised to see me walk over. I guess she didn’t see this coming.

I tapped on her glass. The look on her face was weird. Almost like she didn’t know how to act. She finally rolled her window down after a moment’s hesitation.

“Yes?”

“Alice Cullen, right?”

“Yes. Do I know you?” she asked and then began sniffing. She was not here, according to Dad, when the original treaty was made. She had never seen our kind. But she would know something was different about me.

“Probably not. I’m Jacob Black. A friend of…”

“Yes! I saw you at Prom. You came for some reason to see Bella outside. You are friends with her, aren’t you?”

“Yes. I am.” I smiled. The smell made me want to rip her to pieces. Be the smart wolf Jacob. Paul gets pointed in a direction and let loose. I have to be smart.

“You cut your hair.” She noted.

“Yes. I did.”

“You have gotten much… larger.” She was definitely looking suspiciously at me now.

“Yep. Been working out. The reason I stopped is because it looked a little strange for you to be parked on the side of the road. Thought you might be having car trouble. Wanted to see if I could help?”

Help turn you to ash you freaky bitch.

“No. It’s kind of you to ask though.” Her face blanked out and then she had an irritated look on her face. I should go. My control only went so far. I was impressed it went this far.

“Well I was actually on my way to visit Bella’s dad, so if you are good then I will be going. Have a nice day.”

I stood up and stepped towards my bike.

“Wait!”

“Yes?”

“Do you know where Bella is?”

“Yeah. Why?” I answered, acting confused.

“She… I haven’t seen her since we left. I was hoping to catch her in her yard. Her truck is there. I just… I haven’t seen her.”

Or smelt her.

“She moved.” I told her simply.

“Moved? To where?”

“Florida I think. I could ask Charlie for you?”

“No! No… that makes sense. Do you know if she was okay? When she moved I mean.”

I looked up and down the street as if making sure that no one was listening.

“To be honest Alice, after your family left Bella took it very hard. Stopped eating much, that kind of thing. But then she started getting better. She even started dating again. But then she… she got sick. Real sick. Nobody knows what she had exactly. It was bad. Charlie won’t talk about what it was but she was taken out of school, lost a lot of weight. Charlie took her to Florida to be with her mother. To hopefully recover. He told me last week she was doing well.”

She took all this in, trying to seem interested. I would love to know what was really going on in her cold mind.

“You said Bella started dating again. Who was she dating? A guy from Forks?”

Interesting that this would be what she focused on. Of course the Florida thing will be easy to blow out of the water.

“No. she dated a guy from La Push. Me.” I smiled.

That seemed to shock her. She recovered quickly, like all their kind seem to do.

“So you must miss her? Keep in contact? That sort of thing?”

“I do miss her. But I haven’t spoken to her since she left. Her mother is very protective of her privacy. With her poor health and all.”

“Oh. Of course. Thank you Jacob. You saved me time waiting for my friend who wouldn’t have shown up anyway.”

“Of course Alice. Are you and your family living here again?” I asked as casually as I could.

“No. No I just came to check… I mean visit Bella.”

“Sorry you missed her. Take care.”

I went to my bike and drove to Charlie’s yard. He walked out on the porch. We both watched her drive by slowly and then leave.

“Think she will be back?” Charlie murmured.

“Yep. Probably as soon as she figures out Bella isn’t in Florida. How the hell hasn’t Renee figured this out?” I had been curious about this.

“Bella calls her once a week and acts like she is in Forks. I haven’t told her any different.”

“Now Alice Cullen is going to arrive on her doorstep.” I pondered.

“I will call Renee. She hates the Cullens. I’ll let her know that I told Alice Bella moved to Florida. Tell her to act like Bella can’t or won’t see anyone. That should work…”

“For about five minutes Charlie. The mind reader can tell in a second that Renee is lying.”

“What do you suggest Jake?” Charlie sighed. I knew the feeling.

“I had hoped they wouldn’t come back. But they have. Sooner than Dad expected. The time for lies may be over. The next time they come back asking where she, is my pack will answer them.”

“What are you going to tell them?”

“That its none of their fucking business. I hope they have a problem with that.”

“Jake I spoke to her the other night. She asked about you. She’s worried. About you. Can I tell her you are doing okay?” Charlie asked.

“Of course Charlie.”

“Can I tell her the truth and say that you are doing okay?”

That was the question.

“Charlie I will never be okay away from her. But I am holding it together. I just wish I knew…”

“Jake if I tell you, the Cullen’s will know when they return. You won’t be able to not think about it. It’s all I’ve been thinking about.”

“So what do we do if Edward comes to see you?”

“I think happy thoughts. Mostly about how much I want him dead for getting her involved in this. Different ways to kill him. I can spend a few hours thinking of nothing but this.”

Charlie was smiling but I could tell he was serious. It didn’t matter. From this point on a Cullen would not be around Charlie. He was off limits. Now that Alice had made contact Charlie’s location was going on the patrol route. Meanwhile all we could do was wait. Wait for Bella and handle the Cullen’s when they came back.

Come back soon Alice. Bring your brother with you. I would love to introduce the two of you to the real me.

Bella POV

Two hours ago my ass hurt worse than I thought humanly possible. Thankfully I had lost feeling in it a few moments ago.

“You all right there Bella?” Chris chuckled.

“We rode for 14 hours today. I haven’t rode more than an hour up to this point. My ass hurts, my back hurts, I stink, my skin is chapped in places I didn’t know skin could chap.” I told him dryly.

“Yeah but ain’t this worth it?” He asked, waving his hand at the sky.

I laid back on my bedroll and had to admit he was right. I had never seen a clearer sky. There were more stars in the sky than I had ever seen. The weather was cold but not wet like in Forks. The campfire warmed the area. The cattle were tired enough from the long drive that they were not moving around. Most had laid down where they stood. It was quiet. Only the sound of our voices broke the stillness. A wolf howled far off in the distance.

“Yeah Chris. It is. I’m glad you brought me.”

He smiled his sad smile and reached into a bag from the pack horse we brought along. Bruno. A particularly ornery horse who seemed content to keep up with the cows.

Chris pulled out a guitar.

“Wow. You going to serenade me?”

“Bella, Cowboy songs are as much of a tradition on cattle drives as those beans heating up over the fire. Sit back and relax and let me provide some entertainment.”

He began singing. Songs about rodeos, which I knew nothing about. Songs about living in the west. Songs about love, loss. He had a beautiful voice. Deep, not high. He sang so clearly and crisply you could picture the story he was telling.

We took a break and ate. Beans. They were surprisingly good though. Chris said they were the easiest food to carry. No cooling needed. Small containers.

“Chris do you think all vampires are evil?”

I figured he would have jumped at the chance to tell me how evil they were. To help me focus. To remind me what they did to his wife. Instead as usual he took his time, and then spoke quietly.

“Bella I think all creatures in God’s creation have the ability to be good and evil. No one is usually all good. We all have our faults. On the other hand I believe there are those who are all evil. Who have no redeeming qualities. Thankfully those types of folks are few but they are the ones who cause the most trouble. The most harm.

Are all vampires bad? No. Those vampires you were with. They easily could have killed you. Could have turned you into one of them. The boy sure as hell could have. I believe he left because he realized you were going down that path. I never said he was smart. He did it in a very hurtful manner, probably cause he wanted you to hate him. His intention was right even if his method was wrong.

From what you have told me of this family, they seem like decent people for the most part. I think they miss their human lives very badly and having you around probably helped them feel a little bit more like they used to. So no. I don’t think all vampires are evil any more than I think all humans are evil.”

Chris was full of surprises. One thing I took from him immediately was how he always took a moment to think about what he was about to say. It was a habit that could be emulated by many, myself included.

I nodded and stared at the stars a while longer while Chris strummed softly.

“Chris? I’m going to have to use them aren’t I? I’m going to have to use them to get close to my enemies.”

Chris stopped strumming.

“The bracelet tell you that?”

“No. I just… know.”

“Then that’s your answer.” He winked and went back to playing.

They probably didn’t deserve what I would do to them. Probably. A big part of me was still pissed at Edward. I didn’t love him. That feeling went away when the bracelet broke me free. But the anger was there. Anger at him and myself. How I let myself get into a relationship like that. I wasn’t talking about the supernatural aspects. I was focused more on the fact that I allowed him to dominate and basically control my life. That was my fault. The way he threw me away though? The manner? That I was still a little pissed about. But it didn’t matter.

I didn’t have the luxury to worry about petty teenage heart breaks. I knew Charlie and Jacob would not be happy about this, but the Cullen’s were not gone from my life.

I would have to use the Cullen’s. When they realize I have used them they will be upset. Hurt. Feel betrayed.

Fuck it. I have a world to save. They can get over it.