Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Finding Truth Behind Legends

By Wizardtho

Chapter 56:

After putting a clean set of bedding on the queen set that was brought up from the basement, I take one last look around the room. A sandal of Leah’s pokes out from the bottom of the dresser, so I smile while picking it up. She peers her head around the corner, smiling when she sees her sandal in my hand. “Where’d you find that?”

I chuckle, pointing as I say, “Hiding under the dresser. You guys settling into the loft alright?”

She nods, “Of course. It doesn’t take much to make us comfortable, as you know. Have you heard anything else?”

I straighten the bottom corner of the comforter, then follow Leah out of the room, “No. They should be here…” I hear a car pulling in the driveway, so I finish my sentence, “Right about now. I’d better get down there.”

When I reach the front door and open it, Avory is holding his Mom close in his arms, walking her up to the house while whispering to her, and Nova is protectively hovering over them both from behind. I take in his slightly shaking frame, then catch his eyes and whisper, knowing he’ll hear me, “They’re safe here, Nova. Not a single shifter on this property will allow that man to come near them again. We’ll take care of it as a family, like we always do.”

Nova lets out a breath, then nods without a word. His shaking calms some, but I know he won’t calm down completely until he’s able to see that Avory is truly okay.

Avory looks at me when he reaches the front step, his left cheek bright pink. I can’t contain my gasp as my arms open wide for him. He immediately steps into them, letting out a shuddered breath, but doesn’t let go of his mom’s hand. I release him and gently cup his cheek, promising, “Oh, Sweetheart, come in. I’ve already got a room made up for your mom. Let’s get you both fixed up, then you can help her get settled.”

Avory nods and hugs me again tightly, then I step aside for the 3 of them to enter the house.

When I close the door behind me, I turn and see Avory’s mom is in even worse condition than he is. The whole left side of her face is swollen, her eye is already bruising heavily, and the rest of the left side of her face is just as bright pink as Avory’s. There’s also a cut along her cheekbone, which she’s dabbing a small roll of toilet paper against.

Avory kisses her temple gently, then says, “Mom, this is Bella. Remember me telling you about her? Bella, this is my mom, Sharon.”

I smile, then rest my hand against her arm as I say, “I’m sorry it’s under such circumstances, but it’s truly a pleasure to finally meet you, Sharon. Please, let me fuss over both of you for a few minutes, then I promise we’ll answer all your questions. I know you must have plenty.”

She nods, then as I guide the 3 of them to the dining room tables, Sharon says, “You’re the one who took time away from your wedding planning to talk to my son. You’re that Bella?”

I chuckle, grin, and shake my head at Avory, then promise, “I did nothing but let my mouth run away from me, I promise you. Avory’s special to me, and I hated seeing him in so much pain. Our situations are a bit different, but I told him that if my father couldn’t accept my coyote, he would never accept my mate or his wolf. I had to be more important than a prejudice or lack of wanting to understand, especially from a man who was meant to love me unconditionally. I asked him to think about what he would and would not be willing to give up, and if he could ever picture himself loving anyone other than Nova.”

Sharon, twisted the wad of toilet paper between her hands, her eyes watching the movement, then they caught mine as she nodded, “You told him something I didn’t have the courage to say at the time… so thank you. Does… does that mean you turn into a huge animal, too?”

I smile reassuringly and nod, “A coyote, like Nova. I’ll explain after I take care of you and Avory, but just know that we don’t hurt people. We’re here to protect people.”

She looks at Avory with an unsure expression, but at his genuine smile, she nods without a word. I quickly excuse myself to gather supplies, but find my mate already in the medicine room loading a basket. 

His eyes meet mine, offering, “I didn’t know exactly what you would need, so I was getting a bit of anything I thought would be helpful.” I peer into the basket, noting everything I was going to get is in there, except for the herb-soaked gauze I had been working with Will on. I quickly add it to the basket, then kiss Taha’s cheek before heading back out of the room.

When I reach the dining room table again, Taha sets my basket down as I offer, “This is where I fuss over the two of you for a few minutes.” I sit in front of Sharon, then explain softly, “I’d like to clean your cut, so it doesn’t become infected. Then, depending on whether you’d like time alone rest or you’d like to take in a bit of my crazy household and meet a few of Avory’s friends here, I’ll either cover it with medicated gauze or a healing salve. The choice is yours, and there is no pressure, either way.”

She looked to Avory, then back to me, saying with a nod to herself, “I’d like to get to  know those who my son cares for… those who care for him.”

I smile and pat her knee, “The salve it is, then.” I gently pat her cut with the disinfectant-soaked cloth Taha hands me, smiling at Sharon as I say, “The cute helper behind me? That’s my husband, Taha. Sorry if this stings.”

She nods silently to my mate, then winces as I pat a particularly sensitive area. I take the chance to ask, “Have you ever heard tales about how some native american tribes had spirit warriors that were animals, or that in times of great danger, the animal would  protect the tribe?”

She nods, “Most tribes have one animal that weaves its way through their legends.” 

I smile softly as I begin to smooth a thin layer of salve over her cut, now that it’s stopped bleeding, “Here, for this tribe, it is coyotes. For Taha’s land in Washington, where I was raised, it is wolves. For others you will meet in our home, it could be anything from an eagle or owl to a panther or buffalo. In all of them, though, there are legends of red-eyed beautiful humans that are demons preying on the tribe’s people.”

Her brows furrowed in confusion as she looked at me, so I said plainly, “We… shifters… we protect our tribal lands from vampires. You may have seen one and not even noticed anything but how beautiful they were at the time.  They can be out during the day, just like us, but must avoid direct sunlight. They normally have red eyes, but they turn black when hungry. There is one coven that has eyes golden like honey unless they are hungry. All of them have strength and speed far superior to humans, and-”

Sharon shakes her head, “Why would I be meeting so many types? Is something going on?”

I nod, “Yes, Sharon. That is why I’m telling you. You have the right to know that if you decide to stay here, we are on full alert. We can not risk having the cops drop in at a whim to deal with the situation with your husband. It would risk exposure, which would put all of us and our families, Nova and Avory, in danger. It would put anyone with the gene to shift in danger. Do you understand?”

She nodded quickly, “Of course. You would all be hunted… killed or experimented on if found out. The… the vampires? Can you tell me what the current danger is?”

I nod sadly, “The vampire royalty wants me dead. I made the mistake of dating a gold-eyed vampire when I was in high school. To save his life, I went into the castle of their lead coven as a human who knew too much. To force me to keep the secret, I was either to be killed or turned into a supernatural, so that I couldn’t ‘blab their secret’ of vampires truly existing.”

She shook her head as her hand tightened in Avory’s, “But you aren’t human. You’re a shifter, and clearly, you can’t blab to an outsider. I know I’m only being told because of the situation and my son’s choice of partner.”

Taha’s hand rests on my shoulder as he explains, “Exactly. The problem is, if they find her scent, they aren’t going to stop to see that she is a shifter, mated to another shifter, and pregnant. They will go for the kill. One of their scouts already caught her scent and was killed. The shifters we are hosting are here as a show of force. To make them stop and listen. As for your situation, we may have to deal with it internally, and scare your husband enough to think if he tries to hurt you again, the shifters will be there to hurt him.”

Sharon took a long moment to think things through, then looked me straight in the eyes. “Shifter or not, my Avory trusts you. He hasn’t trusted a lot of people in his life, so that means something to me. If you are willing to help me, I’ll stay. Just please have someone go over any precautions you have in place.”

Avory literally lost every bit of tension in his body as he hugged his mom, “Oh, thank goodness! I promise they will keep you safe, Mama.”

Nova placed his hand on his mate’s back, promising, “We all will.”