Chapter 03
Bella had fallen asleep around midnight, and he stopped at a gas station at around 4 am to fill the truck up. He took a quick nap himself after making sure they were in a safe area, locking all the doors of the truck, and continued to drive after he had woken up again at 6. He didn’t understand how Bella was comfortable in her position on the chair, but she kept on sleeping; likely sleeping off the excitement and information she had received the day before.
She needed her rest. Oh, how bad she needed that rest for today. Hell, if he could have taken more hours of sleep, he would have. But he wanted to get this over with quickly. Talk to Deaton. Then the Hales. Introduce her to her family and if she wanted to stay, that was fine, but he wouldn’t be staying. Despite Derek and Peter’s shortcomings, Bella was family to them and she’d be safe. Maybe they’d take her to see Cora in South America where it was still a lot safer to be a supernatural being than it was in the States.
She woke up just as he turned onto the highway. “Good morning,” he greeted her with a smile. “We’ll be in Beacon Hills in 30 minutes. Would you like me to stop so we can have some breakfast first? And coffee?”
Bella let out a groan as she rubbed her eyes. “Coffee,” she nodded. “And a piss.”
“Ah… uh… there’s no gas station on this road,” he said, slightly embarrassed. “And I don’t have a toilet on this truck.”
“You have toilet paper?”
“Of course.”
“Then I’ll be fine,” she replied as she put her arms behind her head and stretched herself, her chest pushing forward as she did. The area they were driving in was beautiful. There were some mountains, a lot of green and there was a river beside the highway they were on. More importantly, they were in California. No more cold weather, she could choose where she wanted to go now.
She was well aware that she landed from one shitstorm into another, but at least she was going to be in her own right mind soon. Bella simply needed to spend some more time around Isaac – or another werewolf of his kind – and she’d be golden. Yesterday didn’t happen for the most part. There was no way that she was a werewolf, and there was no way that she was anything special. Peter Whitlock was a prankster. But if this was all a prank, then it was a very elaborate one, and not at all funny. “Any chance that all of this is an elaborate joke or that I’m hallucinating?”
“Nope, sorry,” he said as he parked the truck in a parking area next to the road, with a lovely view over one of the lakes and a bunch of bushes nearby. Isaac went into the back of his truck and handed Bella a roll of toilet paper. “I’ll start the coffee, are you good with eating some leftovers from yesterday’s tasting?”
“Totally,” Bella said, grateful for the roll and headed out into the bushes. After she was done, she took some time to take in the environment a little. Check out the water. The water was safe, it was in motion, clear and there were fish swimming in them. Sitting down on her knees, she splashed some water in her face and sighed happily as it cleared the feeling of feeling sleepy.
Now that her head was clearing up, the fog lifting, she felt stupid for not heeding Edward’s warning the moment he warned her away. ‘If you were smart, you’d stay away from me.’ She and her stupid big mouth. Her curiosity getting the better of her. She hadn’t been smart, not even for argument’s sake, because deep down, she’d wanted a boyfriend. Of course she didn’t stay away from him, he became her obsession as she was his. But, truth be told, Edward should and could have stayed clear of her, too. This wasn’t on her.
Unhealthy. Had it been one of her classmates, she’d have done anything to keep them away from the addiction. It was strange that she wasn’t having any withdrawal symptoms. Was that because of Isaac, the distance or herself? Or maybe they still had to rear their ugly heads? She hoped she was going to be fine.
From now on, she was going to stick to having one night stands. Like she had done before Edward Cullen. She chuckled to herself. Yeah, he’d been her boyfriend but he didn’t want to have sex with her because he could kill her. What kind of lame excuse was that? Control and knowing your own strength would have made the hypothetical sex a lot safe. Fuck, she should have left him when she had discovered that prude side of him.
She sat down in the grass as she stared out in front of her. She’d been so stupid. Bella should have seen it coming, really. Edward and his family had simply been too flawless, too perfect. No one is that flawless and perfect. No one. And apart from all of that, their personalities were severely lacking, now that she thought of it.
And it was so hard to be a human around them, because they didn’t eat, sleep or had to go to the toilet and thus Bella ate less, slept less and well, she couldn’t avoid going to the toilet, but still. It felt awkward knowing that there were people in the house who were capable of hearing her dropping the kids off at the pool and how heavy they were and likely even how moist.
Gross.
She nearly jumped out of her skin when Isaac sat down next to her, holding a mug of coffee for her. “Jeez!”
“Sorry,” he apologized as he set down his own mug and got the spoons, sugar and milk out of his pocket. “Wasn’t sure if you needed anything, so… I brought it all,” he said before placing them in the grass and picking up his coffee again.
“Thanks,” Bella said as she gratefully took the sugar and milk and dumped it all in her mug before stirring it all in. “Sorry, I uh… was lost in thought.”
“You don’t need to apologize,” Isaac laughed, shaking his head. “I should have made some noise at least to alert you that I was coming out of the truck with coffee. Any good thoughts?”
“No, not really,” she sighed as she took a sip of the coffee, the gloriously tasting coffee. “I guess I’m mostly beating myself up for allowing myself to get caught in Edward’s web… you know…”
“You shouldn’t,” he replied, a warm smile on his face. “It could have happened to anyone. Usually girls in your position get killed or turned.”
“Yeah, that was my fate until Peter likely told the Volturi about my status. True or not, I’m glad that the target is off my back,” she nodded before thinking of something. “Would it even have worked if I’m truly a werewolf?”
Isaac took a sip of his coffee. “I don’t know, likely not.”
“Death?”
“Maybe,” he took another sip of his coffee. “I don’t know. As far as I know no Cold One has ever tried to turn a werewolf, but their venom can cause some serious damage, even for a werewolf with healing abilities. With Cold Ones it’s always best to avoid any confrontation and surprise them with your attack, really. Took me weeks to heal from a tiny little splash of venom. Could have been worse.”
Bella pushed up her sleeve and revealed her scar to him. “I was kidnapped by a nomadic Cold One because the Cullens killed one of their friends, he bit me and Edward sucked the venom out of me.”
He gently took her wrist and rubbed his thumb over it. “Must have hurt like hell.”
“That’s an understatement, but if I’m a werewolf, why didn’t it heal properly?”
“I don’t know,” he said as he released her wrist and took another sip of his coffee. “Might be because of the fact that your father tried everything in his power to suppress your werewolf side, it’s possible it’ll heal once it’s all out of your system. We’ll have to ask Deaton about it, if you’re worried. I mean, he knows more about the workings of the moss than I do – and likely about the Cold One venom. I just feel the effects of it. Never really paid attention to herbs and shit.” He finished his coffee. “Are you done? There’s some leftovers in the fridge if you need something to eat, but I think we should head into Beacon Hills now.”
Bella could tell that Isaac was anxious. It was virtually rolling off of him. He really didn’t want to go to Beacon Hills and he was only going because of her. And he sort of implied that it was fine if she stayed there, by herself, with strangers, than to go with him – also a complete stranger. Yeah right. Charlie had let her go, but she doubted that he’d like her to stay in a strange town all by herself. And she really didn’t want to go back to Forks. Before she could think of something encouraging to say to this man sitting next to her, her phone rang; it was her dad. “Hey dad.”
“Hey Bells, how are you doing?”
“Fine,” she laughed as she got to her feet and finished her coffee as she walked back to the truck. “I’ve only been gone for less than a day, is everything alright?”
“Peter wanted me to call you to tell you what was written on the note he gave me yesterday.”
“Oh, this is going to be good,” Bella huffed. “Mr. Know-it-all.”
“It says… ‘Bella chooses Isaac. Isaac takes Bella to Texas. No, to ‘Mom’. No, to Beacon Hills, for answers’.”
“Of course it does,” Bella rolled her eyes. “You don’t mind, do you? I mean, I still feel this is one elaborate prank and that Edward will be in Beacon Hills to get me back or something.”
“Sweetheart,” Charlie sighed. “I understand. I’ve made you hide a part of who you are without informing you about your true heritage and perhaps that was wrong of me, but Talia… she just wanted to be sure that at least one of her children would survive whatever was going to happen. Have someone in waiting in case everyone died. She gave you to me, your biological father, to keep you human and safe. Nobody knew who you are.”
“Don’t think I’m not happy about you lying to me, you should have told me.”
“I think you’ll discover a lot more soon that will make you even angrier with me. Try not to lose your cool when Deaton is telling you more about why and how. He was very close to Talia Hale and her family for years and even now, is an emissary to them and the new pack in town.”
“I never lose my cool!” Bella shot at him.
“Uhuh,” Charlie let out a chuckle. “Good luck, kiddo. Call me whenever you want.”
“And what the fuck, have you been talking to people there?” Bella said angrily as she threw her empty mug against a rock next to the truck, making Isaac jump slightly as he passed her. “You know more than you’re letting on!”
“Sweetheart, of course I’m in contact with people in Beacon Hills. With Deaton. He needed to know about you and your temper so he could adjust your pills…”
She let out a low growl, disconnected the phone and tossed it into the water. “I fucking hate this!” Bella then turned around to face Isaac, who was looking at her, warily. “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t— I needed a new phone anyway.”
“Good thing I haven’t showed you where I’ve hidden some weapons in the truck,” Isaac said amused as he got into the truck to put his mug away. He opened the fridge to grab a handful of finger sandwiches and crawled behind the wheel. “Are you coming or do you need some more time to fume?”
“I swear, if someone lies to me again…” Bella said angrily as she pulled the passenger door shut. “I’m so fucking done with it all. So fucking done.”
“Sounds to me it’s time you start living your own life, stop thinking about what others may think,” Isaac made a mental note of making sure that the door was still good to go, otherwise he’d have to make sure to make the truck a little bit more resistant against werewolf strength. Bella was only coming off of her medication now, there was no doubt that it was still inside of her, it was still on her, she needed to take a shower to get the stuff off of her, but he really hoped she could control her temper once she was allowed to control it on her own. Otherwise she’d be a complete handful to whomever she choose to stay with.
If she decided to stick around in Beacon Hills with the Hales that was more than alright. They had their fair share of anger issues and control issues. Isaac might hang back to watch the Hales having to deal with Bella once she fully comes off of her meds and have her experience her first full moon. “Oh crap,” Isaac groaned after they’d been driving for a few minutes.
“What?”
“The full moon is in a few days. I don’t know when you’re entirely clean, and it’s at least a two day drive to Virginia – if you want to join me. I think we need to stay in Beacon Hills until the worst has passed… There are plenty of places here that can hold a werewolf who’s not in full control yet.” He hated this. But he needed someone better than him close by to make sure that she wouldn’t go off and kill people.
Oh, he hated this with a passion. He’d have to get them into a motel and he’d have to use his own name because they knew him in Beacon Hills or you know, it was easy to figure out he wasn’t an Argent. With so many hunters in town… On the other hand, he had another fake ID saying that he was Peter Whitlock. Even had Peter’s credit card on him. Yeah, that was a better idea. “At least it’ll give you some more time to get to know your family, right?”
“You don’t have to stay if you don’t—”
“No, I’m staying,” Isaac said quickly, looking over to her as he drove. “You’re kind of my responsibility until after your first turn. I mean, I tossed out your pills and all,” he said impishly. “But if you decide you don’t want to come with me before you turn, I’ll be heading off and leaving you here.”
“Yeah, and if you do that, I’ll tear off your balls,” Bella muttered, crossing her arms over her chest. “No offense, but Beacon Hills sounds like a hotbed for trouble, and aren’t I supposed to stay out of trouble?”
“Oh…” he blinked before scratching his head. “Oh, so you’re…”
“Yeah, sure. I’m coming with you to whatever you’re going to do next. After we survive your old hometown.”
He smiled at her then, suddenly a whole weight falling off of his shoulders at her admission that she wanted to come along with him – although he wouldn’t have minded to go on on his own, he was used to being alone. Being alone meant you wouldn’t get hurt. “Great.”
As they were driving into Beacon Hills, Isaac started to feel the bile rise in his throat. How could a town – the town he was born in and grew up in – make him feel so terrible? A lot had changed since he was in town last. A lot of buildings were ruined, evidence of supernatural fights. Bullet holes, stray arrows, more graffiti and more homeless people, but Isaac could tell that the community was working hard to make it habitable again.
With the sun out, it probably looked worse than it was.
He drove them past the hospital to cross Industry Bridge. Oh, there were shorter ways to the Animal Clinic but he wanted to avoid those ways because one led right past the Sheriff’s station. He followed the road next to the river towards Northern Bridge and went left. The Animal Clinic was right at the end of the street. He wasted about five whole minutes by avoiding places where his friends could hang out.
Then again, there was a possibility that Scott would be at the clinic. He hadn’t thought about that. He’d better sniff the air to see whether or not Scott’s scent there would be present or not.
“You weren’t kidding when you said that you were taking me to a veterinarian,” Bella said with a straight face as she pulled on her shoes and Isaac parked the truck. “Is this a joke?”
“Oh, he’s a veterinarian, alright. I mean, people do have to earn money and all. But half of this building is made out of mountain ash, preventing the supernatural from bursting in, going further than the reception area, unless a human opens the gate,” Isaac’s truck was the only one in the parking lot, which was good. He half expected Chris Argent to stay at Deaton’s until he’d arrive, but thank fuck they were alone.
He got out of the truck and sniffed the air. Scott had been there, recently, but the scent wasn’t fresh, maybe a few hours old. There were other scents there, ones that he didn’t recognize, and certainly not one belonging to Stiles or Lydia. But then again, last thing he had heard about Stiles was that he was an FBI agent now. Which was strange, didn’t he have to go through college first? Isaac smelled the sheriff. Argent’s scent was the most recent one, though, and his scent was confusing, why was it infused with the scent of Scott’s mother?
“You look constipated,” Bella stated as she leaned against the truck, watching him. “What are you doing?”
“To make sure we’re truly alone,” Isaac explained with half a smile. “New scents are confusing, other scents are just plain odd.”
“Like what?”
“Argent’s scent, for example. I can smell Scott’s mother on him. I mean, I always thought that she and the sheriff would end up together, seeing as they basically co-parented Stiles and Scott anyway but… it’s a weird combination, really.”
She gave him an incredulous look before rolling her eyes at him. “Are you going to be okay?”
“Yeah,” he smiled at her. “Let’s go inside.”
The smell of formaldehyde and detergent penetrated his nose the moment they set foot inside the building. It masked the smell of all the animals in the backroom. As always, the little gate to the back was closed, so all they could do now was to stand around and hoped that Deaton had heard the door.
Although, knowing the man, he’d just make them wait for a long time for no reason.
“Nice place,” Bella said as she looked around. “Very much like a veterinarian’s office.”
“Try opening the gate,” Isaac smirked as he nodded to it.
“You just told me about the mountain ash.”
“I did, but you still don’t think you’re anything supernatural, so… consider this a good test,” Isaac nodded, a playful smile now on his face. “Go on then, I dare you.”
Bella huffed as she took a few steps forward to the gate and the moment she reached out to push it open, an invisible barrier stopped her from doing so. “What the fuck,” she muttered to herself before trying again. And again. And again. She turned around to see Isaac snicker. “What!”
“If this was an elaborate prank, like you believe, how is that possible?”
“I don’t know! Electricity?”
“Nah, you’d feel electricity, trust me. It hurts,” he replied as he kept his eyes on her. “You want to try that again or shall we wait for Deaton?”
“Isaac, I’m not a werewolf. I have anger issues, they call it Intermittent Explosive Disorder or IED. You threw my pills out of the truck!” This was stupid. This was the worst idea ever. Stupidity again. Always not thinking. She was so angry with herself, with Isaac, with her dad, with Edward. “Fuck this shit!”
“Then if you’re not a werewolf, then we’re in the right place anyway because this is where your pills were coming from.”
She glared back at him. “From a vet, right,” she grumbled. She couldn’t quite argue against it because of everything her father had admitted to, but it was disturbing at the same time. Her eyes glanced over the gate and counter area with a deep breath. “So what do we do? Wait? Is this guy gonna shove a thermometer up your ass?”
“Up yours maybe,” Isaac grinned. “He’s likely going to scold me for being back in Beacon Hills.”
“You’re correct,” Deaton’s voice sounded as he came through the door and stood at the closed gate. “Welcome back, Isaac. You look… well.”
Bella turned around to the new voice. Her eyes roamed over him a couple times, dismissing him easily, unimpressed. “So you’re my dealer? I kinda expected, I dunno – more.”
Deaton blinked at her before looking at Isaac, then back at the girl. “Excuse me, young lady?”
“This is Bella Swan, you owe her some answers,” Isaac said as he walked to the gate. “Open the gate, we need privacy.”
Deaton paled as he quickly opened the gate to allow the two youngsters in. Isaac headed straight to the exam room with Bella in tow and Deaton couldn’t help but follow. Bella. She was here. And that was not good.
Bella watched as Isaac pushed Deaton against the wall after the vet closed the door. “Isaac, hey, don’t.”
“It’s alright,” Deaton said reassuringly as he looked at her before looking at the man in front of him. “What’s going on, Isaac?”
“How dare you to interfere with someone’s life like that? I can understand that her father would, but you? You’re supposed to help. Not hamper,” Isaac said, still holding Deaton against the wall. “And don’t give me that bullshit about only doing what you were told.”
“But I was,” the vet said calmly. “Now, please let me go so we can talk like the civilized people that we are, or I’ll make you let go of me and it will be painful.”
Isaac let out a frustrated grunt and let go of Deaton before walking to the furthest wall and crossed his arms over his chest, keeping an eye on all the doors, Deaton and Bella.
Deaton cautiously looked at the werewolf before looking at Bella with a kind smile. “Now, what can I do for you, miss Swan?”
Bella tilted her head as she studied the man, trying to get a feel for him and trying to think of exactly what it was she wanted to say, or ask. She walked along the examination room touching a few items along her path before pausing and narrowing her eyes on him when one word came to mind. “Why?” She cautiously looked at Isaac for a moment as she saw a hint of embarrassment flash over his face, and he shifted his stance a little, slouching, but aware of what was being said.
“Because your mother asked me to keep you safe, human, until you were ready and capable of taking care of yourself,” he replied kindly. “Now, with the war going on, your father and I decided to keep you in the dark.”
“If what I hear of my family is true, do you truly think that was a wise idea? Keeping me naive of my history?” she quietly questioned him. “I would be left defenseless and nearly vulnerable.”
“Especially with your family’s history. Your father could have protected you.”
“Uhm, she was involved with a handful of Cold Ones,” Isaac piped up, still slouching, as if he was trying to make himself smaller. “There is no way that Charlie could have done something about that.”
Bella scowled at the man’s statement, allowing Isaac to explain her supernatural interactions back in Washington. Holding up her unhealed wrist as proof of that lack of knowledge could have cost her her life.
“Interesting,” Deaton said as he observed her wrist. “Have you ever had broken bones or the flu?”
Sighing irritably, she looked over at Isaac with a roll of her eyes. “No flu or anything like that, but I broke my hand punching a shifter in the face, and my left leg when I was hunted by a Cold One. He stepped on it.”
“But it didn’t take the normal eight weeks to heal, did it?”
“I wasn’t paying attention,” Bella frowned.
“Interesting,” Deaton said thoughtfully. “It’s likely that the wolf lichen shut down the most explosive parts of being a werewolf – mostly your heightened emotions – and only lessened others, like your ability to heal. I’m not sure, but it’s quite possible that once it’s fully out of your system that it will heal. Unless you decide after this trip to go back on the pills.”
“If you say interesting one more time, I’ll punch you in the face. You’re supernatural, right? We can test on you,” she smiled.
“I’m a human, Miss Swan, I do get hurt,” he reminded her playfully. He then walked to a cabinet and grabbed a small folder from a hidden compartment and handing it over to her. You were born on September 13 1997 here in Beacon Hills. Right here at the clinic. Your dad was present upon Talia’s request.”
“No, that can’t be me then, I was born in 2002, I just turned 18.”
“Small children have a skewed sense of time. Charlie told me that he and Renee celebrated your birthday every two years until you were five years old – ten years old – so you could start school as part of your new identity. Being small and looking younger than you actually were worked for you,” Deaton explained. “As you can see in the file I registered how much you were getting and my instructions to your father. I even had the Quileute shaman in the loop for when you were there every full moon to have a sleepover at your friend Jake.”
Crossing her arms, Bella paced the floor as her anger continued to rise as she listened to him speak. “And what of the family I heard I have? Do they know anything about me? Do they even know I exist?”
“No, they don’t,” Deaton sighed. “Your mother liked to roam around for months at a time and kept her pregnancy a secret. Because she wanted her bloodline to survive in case anything happened to her family here in Beacon Hills.”
“Do you really think that was fair? To them, to me? Especially after all that I’ve heard?” she hissed, swinging her arm, knocking a shelf full of supplies onto the floor.
“No doubt Isaac has already told you about your family, and, as you will learn yourself, the Hales have always been slightly… out of step with the rest of the community here in Beacon Hills. They did use their wealth to build most of Beacon Hills, wanting the town to thrive.”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t give a shit about money. All I ever knew was my father and the woman I thought was my mother. I found out that I actually have some family out there and deserve to at least know them in some way. And to wanting to try to do something for the city isn’t a bad thing. Seems to me that everyone else around took it for granted.”
“That file contains everything you need when going over to your brother, uncle and cousin, they’re a paranoid bunch and usually stubborn to work with.”
“Glad to know it must be a family trait because I can out stubborn a vampire,” Bella said as she snatched the file and walked past him. “Coming Isaac?”
“Yeah… since you have no idea where you need to go,” Isaac let out a breath and wanted to follow Bella out before Deaton stopped him. “What?”
“Are you going to see Scott while you’re in town? Meet the new recruits?”
Bella turned around and glared at the vet. “He ain’t got time for people who don’t give a shit about him. Besides, we got plans of our own to tend to after my little family reunion.”
“N-no, I told you, I likely need your family’s help with you when the full moon arrives in a few days,” Isaac said, shaking his head. “But definitely trying to avoid Scott, yes.”
“Yeah, my brother and uncle, right?” she asked with a stupid look on her face. “Isn’t that what family is supposed to be for? I’ll just guilt them into playing a role. It’ll be fine. No need to play with useless alphas and puppies.”
Deaton sighed. “Isaac, what have you been telling her?”
“Nothing, just my experiences with them and my feelings,” he replied as he pushed past Deaton and pulled Bella along with him. This had been a bad idea. Of course he was going to run into Scott in the few days that they were going to be in Beacon Hills. Scott would catch his scent, even though Isaac had pretty much learned how to mask it. No doubt Deaton would call Scott the moment he was out of earshot. He fucking hated Beacon Hills.
Once outside, he let go of Bella and tried to shake this feeling of loss of self. The experiences he had had in the past, he wouldn’t be good to anyone this way. He had believed he had worked through all of his issues while he was in France, but apparently they hadn’t. And yes, he was older now. He should know better than to freak out over things and let it all go, because just as he was older, so were the others and maybe they’d feel bad about ignoring him. “So uh… how does it feel to be 5 years older than you believed you were?” He asked as he climbed into the truck.
“It makes a lot of sense now, but it’s still not fair, I’ve basically missed years of my life, experiences,” Bella replied as she got into the truck as well, but stopped him from starting the truck by placing her hand on his arm. “What happened in there?”
“It’s one thing to know that people you know from your past are fucking idiots and another to find out that the one person you should be able to trust has been fucking with someone’s life in a major way.”
“I don’t blame him, or Charlie,” Bella replied as she gently rubbed her thumb over his arm. “It’s a bit short-sighted, sure, but they clearly weren’t happy about it. They were merely fulfilling a promise they made to someone they both loved, trusted and respected. And she’s dead. So, unless you have found a way to travel back in time, there’s nothing we can do but to find some sort of peace in all of this. It sucks balls, yes. But what’s happened, happened and all we can do now is look to the future. Since that’s in my own hands now, isn’t it? You saved me from the Cold Ones and uncovered my secret life and now it’s on me to take care of myself for the rest of my life.”
“Still, doesn’t stop me from wanting to beat Deaton up for you,” he eventually said. “He shouldn’t have agreed to it. As Talia’s emissary, he shouldn’t have agreed to it. You would have been safer.”
“Again, you can’t change the past. We need to look forward and I think it’s brave of you to even want to stay here longer so that I can get the help that I need when that full moon hits,” she was still rubbing his arm with her thumb. “The past is the past, Isaac. Everyone’s gotten older, and hopefully wiser. Jesus fuck, I became five years older in a span of five minutes. No more slouching, okay? I saw what you did in there, you tried to disappear and that’s not healthy. Show them that you’ve become better, stronger. That’s the best revenge you can have on them by showing that you’re not bothered.”
“You don’t know—”
“I don’t have to. The past is the past. From what I can tell you’re pretty good at moving forward and that your issues are tied to this town. This is just any other town,” she smiled at him. “Stop hiding.”
He shook his head. Peptalks never worked on him much, and she was thinking about all of this way too easy. “Sure. You want us to find a place to stay first, freshen up, before we go to Derek and Peter?”
“Nah, let’s go to them first and then find a hotel,” she sighed, nodding. “Get this over with.”
“Okay,” Isaac started the car and drove off the parking lot. He took Circle Street to drive passed Beacon Hills College and then crossed the bridge to head back into the warehouse district to go to Derek’s loft. Again, a recent scent of Argent mixed with the scent of Mrs. McCall was found on the parking lot, but an even more recent one of Scott. And Scott’s bike was right there. “Ah, let’s uh, wait for a bit,” he said as he got into the back of the truck and grabbed some more leftovers and poured them another mug of coffee, as the pot was still somewhat fresh. Peptalk or not, he wanted to avoid Scott.
“Maybe this is an opportunity to tell Scott how you really feel about him? That you’re angry because he didn’t reach out to you in the years you’ve been gone?”
“Oh, I’m not going to seek him out. Let’s wait until he leaves.”
“Well,” Bella took a sip of her coffee before putting it down again. “I hate waiting, let’s just go.”
Before Isaac could object, Bella was already out of the truck and heading to the entrance to the building. Letting out a groan, he set everything aside himself and followed her. “You’re crazy.”
Bella huffed. “I’m not scared by the premise of meeting a few bullies and someone who doesn’t look after his friends – a pack member, after everything he’d been through. You can always decide to stay in the truck, but I’m going.”
“And you’re not going alone.”
Bella smirked then as she opened the door. “See, this is why I’d love to stick around with you for a while, the future could be very interesting.”
The scents got stronger as they climbed the stairs to the floor where Derek lived and Isaac could feel a knot forming in his stomach. But, he decided to keep going anyway. Bella seemed to be wanting the one to run the show, so he was simply there in case something went wrong. For her.
“Is this it?” Bella asked as she pointed at the closed rolling door and Isaac nodded. Seeing no doorbell, she decided to bang on the door. “Hello? Anybody home?”
The door opened in one fell swoop, revealing Derek, who looked at Bella first with a puzzled look on his face, before noticing Isaac. “Welcome back, Isaac,” he said, a small smile on his face. “How was France? Who’s your friend? Argent didn’t say you were bringing someone.”
“This is Bella Swan, I’m here because of her.”
“Swan? As in Charlie Swan?” Peter’s voice sounded from back inside. “Are you kidding me?” He pushed his nephew to the side and looked at Bella. “Fuck me, you are Charlie Swan’s daughter,” he said breathlessly as he looked at her. “You look just like him, just far more aesthetically pleasing.”
“How do you know my dad?” Bella asked as she pushed past the two werewolves to enter the apartment, not really wanting to have this conversation outside. The loft was spacious. Far too spacious, not enough walls and definitely under utilized.
“He and my sister were classmates, he came over to the house a lot for homework,” Peter replied as he watched the girl. “Of course I know him. I always believed he was uh… Derek’s father.”
Isaac got inside and closed the door before leaning against it. Really? Derek Hale was the full brother of Bella? Oh man. He tiredly rubbed his face as he watched the people in front of him. He had already clocked Scott to be at the window, cautiously observing the people too, not sure what was going on.
“Cool, here I thought finding a half brother and an uncle, but it turns out you’re my full brother,” Bella said as she handed the file to Derek. “I’ve only known this for about a day, didn’t want to believe it and it was confirmed by your emissary Deaton. My dad’s going to be pissed though, he thought it was just me all these years.”
Derek looked at Isaac with an incredulous look on his face. “Is this a joke? You came back to Beacon Hills and you decided to pull a prank on us? Seriously?”
“I wish it was,” he replied with a sigh. “But I have no reason to return to Beacon Hills, so why would I prank you? She thought it was a prank at first too, until there were more details and facts resurfacing.”
“No reason? What about us?” Scott asked out loud, taking a few steps towards everyone. “We’re still here, Isaac. We’re still your friends.”
“We’re here because of her, leave me out of it,” he countered, pushing one of his hands inside his pocket and balled it into a fist.
Peter had snatched the file from Derek’s hands and was reading it. “You were born in september 1997… Yeah, of course, makes sense. Talia was in South America a lot during that time, trying to establish a dialogue between the wolves and the Calaveras. She failed, of course. But of course she would have failed at it if she spent most of her time in Forks instead.”
“You’re not surprised, at all?” Derek asked flabbergasted.
“Nah. Talia likely had a vision or had someone predict the future for her and she saw that most of her family would perish,” Peter absentmindedly waved his hand around, dismissing his sister’s silly ideas. “Always making sure there was a backup somewhere. It makes sense she had a backup Hale. She couldn’t bear the thought that her bloodline would die out and have the Alpha spark jump to my line.”
“Why did you bring her here, Isaac?” Derek asked him. “Have you lost your mind completely? Beacon Hills is the last place to be completely safe from the hunters! Especially if my mother wanted to keep her away from all of this!”
“We came here for answers, and you all deserve to get to know each other. We’re fine, don’t worry about it,” Isaac replied, thankful for the wall to give him the support that he needed as not to automatically slouch. Bella didn’t want him to do that.
“And I am right here!” Bella said angrily.
“I’m going to kill Deaton,” Peter muttered. “He has you on wolf lichen?”
“Had. He had me on that shit and I thought it was because of my anger disorder,” Bella said as she looked at him. “Isaac threw them out when we left Forks yesterday.”
“You can’t leave, not until you’ve had had your first full moon,” he said as he handed the file back to Derek. “You’re a werewolf and have never turned. At your age… things could prove to get interesting… and Isaac won’t be equipped to deal with that.”
“I think he would be,” Bella said with a shrug. “But like yourself, he believes he’s not,” she then rubbed her hands together in glee. “You know what that means? We have the next few days to get to know each other!”
