Catharsis
By Mama4Dukes
Chapter 17:
After helping, Ellen and Levi pack up their vehicles, Paul headed back to La Push with Bella. They discussed the Cullens. Bella pointed out that they would be very upset to learn that one of their own was now feeding from humans, especially since the core of their family’s philosophy preached against harming humans.
“Is there any way you can get in touch with any of the Cullens?” he asked.
“I don’t know. When I tried to reach them in September, they didn’t respond to any of my text messages or voicemails.”
“But you were able to leave voicemails for them, meaning your calls were getting through.”
“True.”
“You should try reaching one of them. If you don’t, we’re going to end up at a meeting during which the elders will contemplate whether or not Billy should initiate contact with the Cullens through their lawyer. On top of that, they’ll restrict all the imprints to La Push.” “As if that’s going to save us from a psychotic, human feeding vampire out for vengeance. Alright, let’s do this.” “Who are you least likely to call?” Paul asked.
She scrolled through her contacts. She didn’t have Rosalie’s number, she would be number one on her ‘never call’ list, but then she came across her husband’s number. Emmett had given it to her after she had returned home from Arizona after her run-in with James. He told her, at the time, “I might not have a gift, but I’m still stronger than you are. You call me whenever you need me, and I’ll come running.” Well, she needed him now. She shrugged her shoulders and pushed the call button. He answered on the first ring.
“ Hello?”
“Your fucking brother just threatened to eat me! Now what the hell is your family planning on doing about it because if I see him again, so help me God, I will find a way to shove a live grenade down his throat and splinter the little prick into a thousand pieces!”
“ Oh, hey, Bellsy. How’s it going? We were just talking about you.”
“Everything was going well in my life until Eddie McStalker decided he wanted me to be his personal bottle of fine vino. I don’t care what you do or who you have to contact, but you’d better find a way to stop him! You know my number, call me when y’all get your shit together!”
“How was that?” Bella turned to Paul.
“That was seriously threatening. It was really mafia-like.”
“I was aiming for that.”
“You did awesome. That had to have scared the crap out of the bloodsuckers! Oh, hey, look! We should stop at Sully’s and grab some ice cream.”
“Cool beans!”
When Charlie pulled into the driveway of their home in La Push, he was surprised to see the Ateara house next door lit up and their driveway packed with cars.
Harry Clearwater came out to greet them with a grave expression on his face. “There’s been a development. You need to come to Old Quil’s now.”
Alarmed, the family immediately rushed next door without entering their house.
“Where’s Bella?” Sam asked.
“She should be along shortly. Honestly, she should have been here by now, Paul and she were right behind us-Ellen and I took separate vehicles. Let me explain what transpired,” Levi Uley stated. “Earlier this evening, I was in the bookshop when I detected the scent of a vampire and heard an argument coming from outside. By the time I secured Ellen, and went outside to investigate, the creature was gone, but I did find Bella and Paul outside. I immediately rushed them inside for safety and had them tell me what had occurred. Apparently, Edward Cullen tried to feed from Bella, but when he took in her scent, he became incensed that her blood was no longer pure. Paul arrived on scene at the same time. The vampire accused him of tainting Bella’s blood and threatened retribution on him for ‘stealing what was his.’”
“What? No wonder I felt uneasy. For a moment, I felt the pull intensify, but then it dissipated. The feeling wasn’t as sharp as… as the last time so I thought maybe the distance was causing the pain,” Sam blurted. “But where are Bella and Paul? Shouldn’t they be back by now?”
“Let me call my son.” Jeff Lahote pulled out his phone and dialed. “Where are you? You should have been here a half hour ago.”
“ Oh, Bells and I just stopped for some ice cream at Sully’s. Our sundaes are here. I’ll talk to you later.”
Jeff Lahote looked up. “He said they’re at Sully’s having sundaes.”
“Aren’t they even remotely worried about Edward Cullen?” Sue Clearwater asked. “It’s very concerning to me that Bella Swan seems to be very flippant about vampires. Perhaps she’s inviting danger to the reservation. It might be time to ban her admittance to La Push.”
Alison and Charlie were about to protest when Kiki Lahote spoke. “Are you honestly going to place the blame on a single girl, Sue? My son, a wolf, is being just as flippant. If anyone is being irresponsible, it’s him. Are you going to ban him from the reservation, too?”
“Of course not. Paul is Quileute, but Bella Swan is an outsider, and a Hok’wat to boot. Don’t you find it suspicious that an imprint is spending time with another wolf?”
“Paul and Bella are friends.” Sam stood up and faced Sue angrily. He wasn’t about to allow this shrew drag his imprint and his pack brother into the gutter. “They aren’t involved in the licentious way you’re suggesting!”
“I agree, Mom. Bella is a really nice girl. For some weird reason, she became buddies with Paul. They’re always doing homework together. There’s nothing wrong with having boys as friends.” A visibly upset Leah leaned into Embry. Bella Swan had been nothing but kind to her. She’d forgiven her and given her friendship when she didn’t deserve it after the way she had initially treated her.
“Nevertheless…”
“Enough, Susie! If you don’t have anything positive to contribute, maybe you should leave!” Harry glared at his wife who stared speechless at him. “This meeting is not about your quest to restore the Uley seat back to the council. This meeting is about the fact that one of the Cullens threatened two pack members-an imprint and a wolf. The pack must coordinate to protect La Push. Now, you will put your ridiculous notions and theories aside, and act as an upstanding member of the Quileute Nation, or I will make sure that you remain in the dark about any and all pack and tribal business going forward. Is that understood?” He turned to the room in general leaving his wife sitting stunned with her mouth gaping in shock. “There is absolutely no room for negativity. This is an absolute rule.”
After Bella and Paul finished their sundaes, they got back into his car, and started heading back to La Push. They were driving down Highway 110, and just entering the reservation when Bella’s cell phone rang.
“Hello?”
“ Bella, this is Major Jasper Whitlock.”
Bella giggled. “Major Whitlock, it sounds so regal.” She cleared her throat. “Did Emmett give you my message?”
“ We were all in the room when you called.”
“Cool.”
“ I’m wondering if you can tell me exactly what happened when you encountered Disco.”
From the side, Paul started cackling. “Disco, I like that! That’s a good name for him.”
“Sure, sure.” Bella explained what occurred during the encounter in Port Angeles.
“ I’m sorry that happened to you, Bella. Can you tell me-are you, by any chance, in touch with anyone in La Push?”
“Duh, I just told you I was hanging out with Paul. And didn’t I tell you that Sparkle Boy threatened him?”
“ Yes, you did. Well, then, this is how things are going to go. We are all returning to Forks minus the Red-Eyed Dick and his mate.”
“The Red-Eyed Dick has a mate?”
“ Yes, you know her-it’s Victoria.”
“At least his eyes match her hair. He always did enjoy coordinating colors.”
She heard Jasper snort in the background.
“ Anyway, would you please tell the leader of the wolves that we’d like to meet at twilight tomorrow at the border to discuss things?”
Paul parked his car at the Atearas and they walked inside while Bella was still on the phone.
“Um, instead of saying twilight, why don’t you name a time because ‘twilight’ is so vague and open to interpretation.”
“Would seven o’clock be amenable to you?”
“Tell him to make it at eight. We’re usually still eating dinner at seven,” Paul stated from the side.”
Bella nodded her head. “You heard him, right? Seven pm is dinner time. See you tomorrow at eight pm. Bye.”
“Well, welcome to the party!” Levi scolded. “It took you two awhile. It was very irresponsible of the two of you to shirk your tribal obligations. We have things to accomplish at this meeting.”
“We became hungry so we stopped for ice cream!” Paul informed them. “And I’ll have you know that our trip back from La Push was very productive. Bella went mafia on the Cullens!”
“Yeah!” They high-fived each other and did a fist pump in the air.
“You went ‘mafia’ on the Cullens. What exactly is that supposed to mean?” Levi asked.
“Well, we figured that it couldn’t hurt to try to reach the Cullens because they’d be interested to know that one of their own had gone rogue. They’re pacifists-they don’t hurt humans as a rule,” Bella explained.
“So, I told her that maybe she should try calling them, and she did. She actually got through to them. She told them, and I quote, ‘Your fucking brother just threatened to eat me! Now what the hell is your family planning on doing about it because if I see him again, so help me God, I will find a way to shove a live grenade down his throat and splinter the little prick into a thousand pieces!’ and then she told them to get their shit together and call her when they figured things out. Apparently, they figured things out because they just called her back. We’re meeting them tomorrow at eight at the border. So don’t tell us that we were shirking our obligations. As far as we’re concerned, we set things into motion.” Paul nodded to Bella, who stood in solidarity next to him.
“Are you two telling us that you called the Cullens?” Charlie asked.
“Of course we did. If we hadn’t called, the elders would have been pussy-footing around, trying to decide whether or not to reach out to the Cullen’s lawyers to initiate contact with them. In the meantime, the imprints would have all been trapped on the reservation, kidnapped even, for our safety. It’s not like trapping us here is going to stop Edward Cullen. He’s gone rogue, and has even admitted to Paul that he’s bound by no treaty.”
“Basically, we cut through the red tape for you. You guys should be thanking us, not chastising us,” Paul added.
Bella crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Besides, Daddy, you’re the one who told me that if I had a lead, I should always take advantage of it.”
“Good Lord! She’s the second coming of Paul!” Kiki Lahote exclaimed in horror, and turned to Alison and Charlie. “I feel so sorry for you.” She shook her head. “On top of that, I know my son has been over at your house often lately. How on earth do you put up with them both?”
“Bella and Paul aren’t that bad. They’re very sweet kids,” Alison said. “Anyway, it appears to me they were being proactive about the situation.”
“So, now that we’ve got things started, what’s the plan?” Bella asked.
“I don’t know. What do you kids think we ought to do?” Levi asked Bella and Paul with a sarcastic lilt to his voice.
“Well, first of all, you should meet with the Cullens at the border tomorrow night,” Paul suggested.
“Second, you should find out when and how Edward turned rogue.”
“And you should ask about his mate.”
“Oh, yeah, Jasper said he has a mate. I know her. She’s an insane, psychotic bitch. Her former mate bit me.” Bella held up her wrist. She suddenly donned a contemplative expression, as if something was confusing her. “Wait a sec!” She whipped her phone out and redialed the last number.
“ Bella? Is everything okay?” Jasper asked.
“How can Victoria be Edward’s mate if James was her mate before you offed him?”
“ Good question, Bella. We have new information regarding Victoria.”
“Well, how can you be sure she’s Edward’s mate? Is it possible that she’s his companion.”
“No, she’s definitely Edward’s mate. Peter had a run-in with James roughly sixty years ago. Apparently, his mate was killed when an errant British canon exploded on top of her during the war of 1812. After the loss of his mate, James went crazy, and when he found Victoria, who was a nomad at the time, he decided to use her for his own convenience. By the time, we killed James, Victoria was positive that James had been his mate simply because he had brainwashed her into being loyal to him. Peter is a hundred percent positive that Victoria is Edward’s mate; otherwise, she wouldn’t blindly follow him, considering Edward is worse than James ever was. Besides, Alice had a vision about the moment they discovered they were mates when it happened. Many times, mates cannot be seen in a vision because it happens in a split second.”
“By Peter, do you mean the guy who just knows shit?”
“ The one and only. You finally get to meet him.”
“Oh, cool! Alrighty, get to packing. I’ll see you tomorrow night. Bye, Jasper.”
“ See ya, Bella.”
Bella stared up at the stunned looking group in the Ateara’s living room. “Victoria is definitely Edward’s mate. She’s the nomad I met in the woods with the flaming, red hair. She’s really nuts.”
“Uh, Bella?”
“Yes, Uncle Harry?”
“Was that the warlord you were just talking to?”
“Yes, it was.” She nodded her head and smiled.
“Did I not make it clear the last time that consorting with warlords was not allowed?”
“No, you threatened to withhold fish fry from her, Dad,” Leah clarified. “But then you changed your mind when she threatened to make chili at Sam’s house.”
“It was semantics.”
“We are completely off-topic here!” Old Quil stated. “Tomorrow night, we-the elders and wolves-will go to the border to meet with the Cullens.”
“I’m coming, too!” Bella stated.
“No, you will remain here with the other imprints.”
“I actually think it’s a good idea if Bella goes,” Levi argued. “Clearly, she has a good rapport with them.”
“I’ll protect her,” Paul volunteered.
“Hang on a second! I’m her wolf!” Sam argued. I’ll protect her!”
“Yeah, but I was with her when this crap all started.”
“We’ll both protect her then.”
“Enough!” Billy Black bellowed. “Tomorrow night, the wolves, elders, and Bella will be meeting the Cullen’s at the treaty line. The day after tomorrow, we will reconvene here to discuss our findings.”
“You aren’t going without me,” Charlie stated. “I’m the Chief of Police of Forks, Washington, and if something shady is going down in my jurisdiction, I need to know about it. Besides, you aren’t taking my kids to any sort of negotiation without me.”
“I second that Charlie goes as a representative for all the parents here,” Tiffany Call put in.
“Tiffany, we’re parents, too,” Billy protested.
“Yes, but you’ll always put the tribe first, while Charlie will put our children first.”
“I agree.” Kiki Lahote raised her hand, as did several other parents.
“Very well. Charlie will also go.”
As soon as the meeting ended, the Swans headed back to their La Push home next door. Charlie demanded an exact rendering of what occurred during her foray into Port Angeles with Paul.
“So, you’re saying that Edward thinks you’re Paul’s mate?”
“Apparently, yes. And I realized yesterday that he has a tendency to think out loud when he’s been thrown for a loop, and it may have saved my life.”
“What do you mean?” Alison asked, running her fingers through her stepdaughter’s hair. She had been on edge and worried, ever since she heard about her encounter with Edward Cullen. Part of her wanted to just put her arms around her and never let her out of her sight, but she knew it was completely unreasonable to do.
“He started to blurt out what he was thinking as soon as Paul confronted him. He couldn’t read his mind. In the process, we learned that he couldn’t read Sam’s mind nor Levi’s mind. I wonder if he can read Embry’s or Leah’s minds?” Bella recalled something else. “Ooh, and I don’t think he knows that Levi Uley is still alive, and he also thinks Sam is still the alpha.”
“This is all very good information you compiled.” Her father nodded his head. “I also think that it was wise of Paul and you to contact the Cullens. Did you really threaten to shove a grenade down Edward’s throat?”
“I did, Dad!” she chortled.
“That’s my little girl.” Charlie hugged his daughter for slightly longer than usual. He had come so close to losing her and it was taking his all to not lose his composure. “Alrighty, get to bed. I love you.”
Alison, too, hugged and kissed her. As soon as Bella was gone, he let out a sigh and latched onto his wife for comfort.
Sam was in stunned disbelief over what had happened to his imprint while he was at his scholarship interview. How did Edward Cullen find her? Had he been stalking her? Why was the vampire so obsessed with his mate?
His feelings were conflicted. On one hand, he was grateful that Paul had been there to protect her; on the other, he was jealous because he felt he should have been the one who was there for her. There was no need for envy, though, Bella and Paul’s friendship was purely platonic, contrary to what Sue Clearwater had tried to imply. And Paul had done what any wolf would have done, which was to protect another wolf’s imprint from harm.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you tonight, Bella,” he whispered into her ear. She was sleeping soundly in his arms. He was too wound up to fall asleep. He was spinning on all that had happened to her this evening, and the guilt he felt from not having been there for her was tearing him apart.
“Sam,” she yawned, and turned to face him, bleary eyed. “You were there for me. Ultimately, it was your mark that saved me.” She kissed him on the lips. “Now go to sleep. I love you.”
He pulled her body close to him and took in her sweet scent, and let the sound of her beating heart relax him. Eventually, sleep claimed him and he was finally able to rest until morning.
Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction 
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