Oh, Bella so much appreciated the way Isaac tried to let her in. It was a lot easier to be around him now, and he was significantly happier, much like a puppy. Whenever she had time, he invited her to come and join him in the kitchen where he was trying to perfect things while making things less perfect and it made his food even better.
And while it would take some time to have guests staying over, the restaurant was usually quite busy during the weekend, and during the week people would come for lunch. Some people even came from out of town, and it didn’t take them long to find out why; Peter had put advertisements in just about any newspaper he could find and one in the magazine for travel lovers and foodies.
Bella and Isaac hired some of the local youth for waiting tables, and he was still looking for people to help him in the kitchen. Myriam came to work for them a month after they had opened, bringing along with her a fully paid management course for Bella as an opening gift from her and her boyfriend, Klaus.
Bella wasn’t sure what was going on, but she sure loved not having to think about money, even though she didn’t have much herself and, like Isaac, were paid a wage, but whatever they wanted they could get. It was stress-free and liberating. And it was all because Isaac had finally let her in and had made her truly feel that they were a team now.
The mayor hadn’t waited for the rebuilding of the town’s centre and infrastructure after receiving the money in the city’s bank account. There were workers in town all day, and they happily sat outside the B&B while Isaac fed them lunch – they didn’t want the inside of the new and beautiful building to become as dirty as they were.
Things were really shaping up, and Bella couldn’t be happier.
But of course, they were running this B&B as a business and as a front for helping other supernaturals, and it had been a few busy nights in the kitchen for Isaac due to a group of foodies dropping by to test the waters. Bella had believed he had gone to sleep immediately after hitting the bed, but even she woke up from his phone ringing in the middle of the night. She had heard Isaac’s door open, so she followed the gesture from her own room, and he was talking to someone on the phone in the living room. “Oh, did I wake you?”
“Your annoying ringtone did,” Bella replied as she put a small light on and leaned against the counter. He was still dressed in his dirty clothes and didn’t look sleepy. What had he been doing all this time?
“No, Chris, it’s fine,” Isaac replied as he ran a hand through his hair. “I know Peter said that but I’m not going to drive them all the way to California, you know. No, don’t worry, I’ll take care of it. Yeah. If you don’t believe me, call Peter. Send me the address,” he said as he disconnected the call and looked at Bella. “Uhh… hunters got wind of a werewolf family in West Virginia. Mom, dad, two kids. Mom and dad died protecting their children and the kids called Argent for help. We’re closer. The kids are running towards the border towards Virginia, Orkney Springs. They’re safe, for now, but you know…”
Bella thought for a moment and nodded. “Give me two minutes to get dressed, and you should get changed too, you smell like food and sweat, and I don’t like sitting in a car with a stinky. They can wait for two more minutes since we need to drive for a bit too.”
It was still dark when they arrived at Orkney Springs two hours later, but the little town was being lit up by people walking around with flashlights and cameras. “Now, remember, our eyes glow when people take pictures of us. Let’s try to avoid them all together,” he reminded Bella as he took a handgun and handed it to her before grabbing his own. “Let’s hope we don’t need them.”
“They are hunting people like us, shouldn’t they like, die?” Bella muttered.
“And that will likely have things escalate even further. No thanks,” he said as he got out of the truck. He had parked a block away from the address Chris had sent him for safety reasons. “Bella, they will kill on sight. When they find out you’re a wolf, they will be able to subdue you and kill you. And no, I’m not overly cautious or overprotective.”
“You told me as you were teaching me for the last 4 months, Isaac. I know the dangers. The risks,” she checked the gun over before grabbing a holster to holster it for safety. “You’ve taught me well, don’t worry about it.”
He looked at her as he locked the truck. “I’ve never seen this much activity with hunters. It’s usually a couple, sure, but it looks like all the groups have come together for this.”
“You’re scared?”
“And you should be too,” he replied as he pushed his hands in his pockets to look somewhat casual before he headed in the direction of the house the two kids were hiding out in. “Despite Chris calling me, this could very well be a trap. The hunters don’t know yet that there are new players in the saving game and I had hoped it would stay that way. So yeah, this could be a trap for Scott.” He stopped for a moment, contemplating whether or not he should get another weapon on him.
“And what if it’s not and those two kids are in danger?” Bella looped her arm through Isaac’s as she pulled him along with him. “Yes, we’ll be careful, but don’t think the worst of things just because there are so many hunters in a small town.”
“In situations like these you should think of the worst things that can happen,” he muttered as he allowed himself to be pulled along, keeping a careful watch over their surroundings while still appearing casual. No one normal would be up this early to take a walk, and of course, he and Bella were going to look suspicious.
They made it to the house in one piece and undetected alright, but from what he could see through the kitchen window, the children weren’t alone. They were with adults with guns and from what he could tell, the front door was booby-trapped, no doubt the back door was too. He pulled Bella down to the ground. “Told you, trap!” He hissed at her.
“But those kids!”
“Yes, no doubt they’re in real danger,” he said as he pulled a smoke grenade out of his coat pocket.
“When did you have time to pocket that?”
He smirked at her before getting to his feet, smashing the window and tossed the grenade inside the house before quickly moving to kick down the door. “Stay behind me and follow me,” he told her before getting inside, quickly taking care of the first two hunters and Bella knocked another unconscious. He then lost her during the scuffle while he grabbed the frightened kids.
Bella coughed as she followed Isaac out, grabbing hold of his belt. “Go,” she said as she kept a hold of him as he moved, she had her gun out as they retreated, just in case, but she was confident that the hunters inside that house were all unconscious. With a little luck, they would make it back to the van in one piece. That is if they didn’t immediately call for backup after Isaac threw the smoke grenade.
She was tripping over her feet, glad that she was holding onto Isaac and that she was now a werewolf. She would have fallen flat on her face before. She strained her ears like Isaac had taught her to so that she could hear the approaching boots on the ground should they come even closer, but for now, they needed to hurry and get the kids out of here.
Bella felt a stabbing pain in her side, but the sensation was strange, it was already healing. Okay, so maybe she had thought too lightly about this and Isaac wasn’t actually exaggerating. She was scared out of her wits now, the boots were getting closer, and they were slowed down by the crying kids who were being ushered by Isaac. She let go of Isaac and picked up the smaller child while still having her gun aimed behind her. “Pick him up, they’re coming, hurry!”
Isaac started to laugh as he picked up the boy and pushed Bella out in front of him. “Come on, Bella, live a little!”
“Fuck you, Lahey, I’m hurt!”
He knew she was hurt. Likely stabbed with a knife, he could smell her blood and smell her fear. He had warned her, before, but she wouldn’t want to listen, maybe this would have taught her a lesson. “I’ll check you over once we get the hell out of here, okay?”
Bella huffed as she saw one of the hunters turn around the corner and shot them in their leg, causing them to fall over and fumble for their weapon. “Hurry up!” Bella snapped as she tried to go faster than she’d already been going. “I swear, next time you’re going by yourself, I’ll stay home!”
Once everyone was inside the truck, Isaac drove away quickly, making sure not to head for Mystic Falls directly. He kept looking in his mirrors to make sure that they weren’t being followed as he drove them off. “You all okay back there?”
Bella had given the kids something to snack on, to drown their fears or something, and was checking out her cut with her back turned to them. It had stopped hurting as much, and the gash was already closing up. “You fucking owe me a new shirt.”
~o.O.o~
The kids stayed at their B&B for a couple of days until a relative came to pick them up and take them as far away from the hunter hotspots as possible. Bella was still reeling from the experience, though, and had started to question her decision to help Isaac. She wanted to stay, but would he be okay with it if she’d stayed back?
“No matter how badass you are, no matter how much you’ve learned, it’s something entirely different if you end up in a violent situation, isn’t it, boss?” Myriam piped up as she sat down opposite her at the table in the restaurant as Bella was going over the books. “Oh, I wanted to speak up sooner, but I figured you weren’t up for the conversation.”
Bella sighed as she closed the book. “You’re a vampire, isn’t violence kinda your thing?”
“So is being a werewolf,” Myriam pointed out. “However, you can choose not to put yourself in situations that you feel uncomfortable with. I was human before I became a vampire, you know,” she smiled at her. “And I’m leaving most of the fighting and protecting to my boyfriend and his family. It doesn’t make me weak or fall into the traditional female role, you know. Because I do like a good kill. I just stopped joining him on his fights because eventually, stuff gets to you.”
“I was scared shitless,” she muttered the reply. “I thought Isaac was overreacting when he trained me, but… I’m a cop’s daughter, I’m supposed to… you know… I’m a big bad werewolf.”
Myriam placed her hand on top of Bella’s and gently squeezed it. “Staying home when you think it might be too much for you to handle is not a crime.”
“But I can’t send him out there on his own!”
“Looks to me that he’s been doing that for a very long time and he’s been doing fine.”
Bella huffed. “Yeah sure.”
“You’re not weak or giving up when you stay behind to hold down the fort. What if you get more protectees? I mean, I’m a vampire, sure, but even I can’t take on a group of hunters at once,” Myriam shrugged. “Besides, there’s nothing wrong to stay home, period. Waiting for your man to come home after a battle, take care of him…”
“He’s not my man!”
“Are you sure? I mean, the way you two move around each other speaks volumes.”
“He’s not. Jesus fuck, I’m one of his special projects, remember? I’ve only been away from my boyfriend and his family for a few months and—”
Myriam started to laugh. “You’re blushing ever so slightly, and your heart beats a little bit faster… you have feelings for him. Ah, don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.”
Bella sighed as she withdrew her hand and folded both of them in her lap. “He’s complicated.”
“Aren’t all men? But at least it looks like you’re making progress with him, right? I mean… I had the same thing with Klaus. He saved me all those years ago from a situation that was… well, let’s say that it wasn’t a pleasant one. And he didn’t know what to do with me, because I told him that I wanted to stay with him. I was scared of the world, and the man who saved me made me feel… well, safe,” Myriam said carefully. “Like you, I was Klaus’ protectee, and on top of that a brand new vampire with anger issues. He had his hands full with me, but he always approached things clinically, from a distance. Almost as if he didn’t want me to get any closer. Trust issues.”
“How long did it take you to, you know…”
“Twenty-five years.”
Bella’s jaw fell open. “Twenty-five years? Myr, we’re werewolves and may have a longer lifespan than humans, but we’re still mortal! I’m not going to wait that long! My patience isn’t even that long!”
“Ah, but those years gave me experience, and I can help you with helping him,” Myriam winked at her. “To make sure it won’t take you that long, so you two have enough time to make some puppies together.”
“But he’ll be alone in the field if I stay here, I don’t want him to be alone, Myriam. I mean, he’s great at what he does, he’s a true soldier and all, but if things are as bad as this, he can’t do everything by himself.”
“Well, he likes Jeremy, doesn’t he?”
She wasn’t sure about Isaac liking Jeremy, but Jeremy came over a few times to play video games with Isaac, or they’d go for a run in the morning. “I think so.”
“Jeremy used to be a special kind of hunter, and honestly, his talents are wasted at magic school. You could suggest to Isaac to have Jeremy join him when he goes out and tell him why you think he’s a better fit.”
“But I don’t want to disappoint him.”
“I don’t think he will be, but you’ll never know until you sit down and have a talk with him.”
She sighed. “Right.”
~o.O.o~
They were watching some comedy on Netflix with a good bottle of wine and some snacks that had been left over from the high-tea that Isaac had served that afternoon to a bunch of executives out of Richmond. Bella liked their evenings of decompression, especially after their rescue mission. It was nice and comfortable. Easy. Relaxing. But, she needed to talk to Isaac after her talk with Myriam.
She let out a sigh and paused the movie. “Can we talk?”
“Don’t we always talk?”
“Yeah… but… this is different.”
“Ohh,” Isaac said playfully as he put his glass down and shifted, so he was more comfortable and looking at her with a curious look on his face. “This oughta be good!”
“Goofball,” she let out a snort and shook her head. “I know that I’ve been basically pushing you to train me to come along with you… and I hate for you have wasted your time on me and…”
“Hey,” he interrupted her and took her hand. “My time is not wasted on you. Ever. I liked teaching you new tricks.”
“Yeah, okay, your time was not wasted. Got it. But…”
“You found it was a little bit extreme when we rescued those kids?”
“A bit… and it’s probably not that way all the time. Things could be worse or easier, it’s not for me. Is it okay to stay here and hold down the fort with Myriam instead?”
He softly kissed her hand. “Of course, Bella. You can do whatever you want, and holding down the fort is just as important.”
“You’re not angry or disappointed?”
“Why would I be, Bella?” He smiled at her. “I’ve been doing this for years, by myself and the occasional assist from Peter. It’s not for everyone, and that shouldn’t be taken the wrong way. Your talents lie elsewhere. You can protect yourself, and I fully believe that you can hold down the fort when we have guests over that need our protection.”
“It’s that easy?” she laughed. “Seriously? I thought you’d be a bit more… anal about it.”
“If anything, I’m glad you’ve decided to stay behind. It’s not easy out there.”
“No, I know. Which brings me to the next thing I want to talk to you about,” she said as she scooted up closer to him. “You shouldn’t be doing this alone. What if you get hurt during one of the future rescues? You could risk being killed or taken, or you know…”
He pulled her into his arms, so she was leaning against him with her back. They often watched TV like this, it was comforting and nice. And he hated it, but he was really trying to get that out of his mind; Bella wasn’t going anywhere. She was allowed in. “Peter’s a walking disco ball in daylight, and I can’t see who else we can ask.”
“So you’re not opposed to the idea then?” She looked up to him, his face close to hers, her heart skipped a beat. Oh, she wanted to kiss him badly.
“No. Why, you have someone in mind?”
“Well, we’ve made some friends here. Like Jeremy Gilbert. He used to be a supernatural hunter, a mystical one. He’s had training, and he might even think like you. You like him, don’t you?”
He thought for a moment about his running partner. He had considered him before, to make a group out of him and Bella, but he had been under the impression that the fighting days were well behind Jeremy. “You think he’s open to this?”
“You never know until you ask him,” she gently pat him on his arm and got the remote to unpause their movie. “So you’re going to ask him?”
“Can I consider asking him?”
“No.”
“Then I will ask him.”
“Good,” Bella smiled as she settled against him again, letting out a deep, content sigh.
Bella found it incredibly endearing to watch Isaac stand in front of a class of children. He looked so uncomfortable, it was hilarious. Bella didn’t even know that magic school had Parents Day, a day where the parents of the children could visit the school and sit in on classes to see what their kids were learning. And Isaac didn’t like the idea of having parents in his class. But, here they were.
Caroline had asked Isaac to do a guest lecture on their kind of werewolf to show the children that the supernatural world was more significant than they thought it was, and that was a month ago. She had failed to mention Parents Day, and she had failed to mention that Myriam’s boyfriend Klaus was going to be there, too.
And apparently, Isaac found him quite intimidating, Bella could tell. It was that she was standing next to Klaus and Myriam; otherwise Isaac wouldn’t have dared to look to the back of the class to engage everyone. After he was done, he didn’t know how fast he had to get out of that classroom to get a breather, which Myriam and Bella found hilarious. “Hey man, you did great. Wasn’t so hard now, was it?” Jeremy laughed as he caught up with his friend.
“I’d rather take my chances with a live grenade,” Isaac muttered as he let out a deep breath. “On Parents Day, really?”
“Well, we have to charm the parents, don’t we? And you have quite the charm,” Caroline smiled as she joined them. “Those haunted, innocent blue eyes of yours…” she then ran her hand through his hair. “That hair… and that scruff…”
“Hey,” Bella swatted Caroline’s hand away from Isaac, who looked even more spooked. “Ask before you touch.” She then turned to Klaus as he and Myriam joined them. “And you! Stop intimidating him!”
Klaus blinked at her. “I’m not doing anything, love.”
Bella stared him down, her red eyes flashing briefly. “Turn it off.”
“Aw, she’s asking you to turn off your sex appeal,” Myriam purred as she looped her arm through Klaus’ and took a few steps closer. “Doesn’t she know that that’s impossible?” She whispered in his ear.
It was Bella’s turn to blink in surprise. It was almost as if Myriam was a completely different person around her boyfriend. “I think you two should get yourself a room at our B&B,” she eventually remarked.
Klaus smiled amused at his lover before looking at Bella. “Oh yes, Myriam told me the beds were quite comfortable. Would you like to join us?”
Caroline and Jeremy had taken a few steps back and were now leaning against the wall, looking utterly bored, but this behavior was something Isaac and Bella had to go through to find out for themselves.
Isaac stopped sulking long enough to look up and narrow his eyes on the hybrid. “Do you mind?”
“Well, it’s not like you have a claim on her, mate. Not from what I’ve heard, she’s fair game and Myriam and I love an adventure!”
Bella stared at the nearly millennia old man, her mouth gaping like a fish, speechless. Isaac, on the other hand, while knowing he couldn’t go up against with someone with as much experience as Klaus Mikaelson, let out a low growl as he walked away from his place at his lecture. “You will stay away from her. She left one manipulative bastard and his family, and it’d be a poor job done for me if I’d allow her to go and join another.”
“Oh, the pup’s got bite,” Klaus said amused as he looked at Myriam, who had a big goofy grin on her face as she looked back at him. “Maybe he should join us instead.”
It was now Bella’s turn to scowl at the two. “How about you go find Peter? I think he’d be more interested in your games than Isaac and me. I’m fine right here,” she replied, a slight snarl curling on her words as she took a step closer to Isaac.
“And yet, you bite so wonderfully,” Klaus smirked, and he once again looked at Myriam. “What do you think, love? Are we going to take them up on their offer to take a room at the famous Mystic Night Owl?”
“I think you can find yourself some accommodations out in the woods on your own and stay away from Bella and me,” Isaac grumbled, much to Myriam’s delight.
“Yes, darling,” Myriam purred. “I think they’ll want the place to themselves tonight.”
“No, we just don’t want you anywhere near our guests or us, you freaks,” Bella answered.
“Alright, that’s enough,” Caroline said as Jeremy snickered. She approached Klaus and Myriam and turned them around towards the exit. “Go. Go and do your… business and come back normal, no more playing with the puppies. Don’t make me kick you out.”
As soon as the two were gone, Bella angrily turned on their new friends. “What the hell was that about? Neither of you seemed surprised by any of that? Myriam looked like she was taken over by a purple people eater or something!”
“Yeah, well, this is normal for them, gets quite boring after you’ve seen it a few times,” Caroline shrugged as she put her arms around both Isaac and Bella. “Have you guys ever been on a proper date?”
The wolves eyes grew wide and bewildered as they took in the information. “This is normal?” Bella blinked. “No way! Myriam’s like the most down to earth person and… no, this isn’t normal.”
“Oh, yes it is,” Caroline smiled. “Now, go home, decompress and get yourselves cleaned up. Meet me in the town center at 7 tonight.”
“Why?”
“Because I say so,” she smiled at them as she walked them out the door. “Thank you so much for your class today, Isaac. You should do that more often.” Caroline let go of them and slapped her friends’ asses. “Go.”
Bella grabbed Isaac and started walking back, in a hurry to get away from the school. It wasn’t that she was afraid of them or their new friends. She just wanted some time away from the sudden weird quickly. “What the fuck.”
“Our friends are so weird,” he agreed with a nod. “Well, except for Jeremy,” he added before carefully looking over to her. “You… You wouldn’t consider to actually… you know… to go with them?”
She shot him a ‘go to hell’ glare. “No. Are you nuts? Yes, I’ll admit that I can see the appeal Myriam had been talking about with Klaus, but he’s got a lot of that clout and arrogance that I ran from with Edward and his family. While I do think he can be a very valuable ally, just no to whatever the hell was just going through your head. Not interested in anything more than what we can get in a business transaction. And that’s what we have Myriam now to liaise with his family’s power and contacts.”
He let out a breath of relief and nodded. Glad that she was immune to Klaus’ … charisma. “I’m not going to deal with him. He’s … he may be a different type of wolf, he’s really powerful, and it was hard not to give in to that.”
“We keep Myriam around for that, but if he’s sticking around, then he can stay at the school, and she can go visit him there,” she shrugged. “He comes to us only as an absolute necessity.”
“Yeah… good. Because… you know… I have been meaning to ask you something,” he hesitated as he ran a hand through his hair. “And that something has only gotten a bit of a push with the encounter with Klaus.”
Bella glanced at him, arching a brow. “Is it really that bad that he got under your skin? Because yeah, the guy can be slimy. In fact, I really do want to take a damn shower for the innuendos and hints he was throwing around. I feel like I really need to scrub myself raw with bleach.”
“Yeah, that too,” Isaac sighed, shaking his head. “Ah, forget it.”
“No, we’ll talk about it after I shower. It seems important to you, but I still feel too creeped out to deal with much at the moment.”
~o.O.o~
Isaac had taken a shower himself, and mentally hitting himself for even thinking about this aloud. To her. This was something important, something he had rejected time and time again, but it was necessary. And he wanted to. He was ready, and he fully believed that she wouldn’t hurt him. She wouldn’t push him away or hurt him. She’d let him be himself.
However, after Bella’s shower, she still wasn’t feeling it. They both decided to have something to eat after meeting with Caroline in the town center, only a few steps away from their B&B. They watched some FRIENDS on Netflix instead, to kill time. “You know, we don’t have to go and meet Caroline.”
“I know,” Bella replied as she leaned against him as they usually did when watching Netflix. “I honestly don’t feel like it, either, but maybe she has something to show us or something. I don’t know.”
“She wants us to leave the building more often, that’s what she wants,” Isaac pointed out. “You still haven’t gone on that girl trip with her and Myriam.”
“Because I don’t like girl trips! Don’t get me wrong, I like the occasional spa treatment, but by myself, so I don’t have to participate in girl talk. That’s so freaking annoying!” Bella exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. “Shopping for clothes, spending hours in shops!”
“Spending some girl time with girls,” Isaac laughed. “You can negotiate how these trips go, you know.”
“You want me gone, don’t you?”
“No,” he smiled at her. “I want you to have fun, socialize more. They’re your friends. You can spend a girl’s day out however you want to. I mean, I doubt they say ‘no’ when you suggest going to Disney or something.”
“No, I want to do Disney with you, and we can’t do that until you hire some capable chefs to take over when you’re not here, or incapacitated or you know, take a few days off because you’re working yourself too hard,” she let out a whine. “You had some great guys come in.”
“Yeah, but not what I wanted.”
“Well, ask Peter for friends of his. Or maybe Myriam for some of her friends. Surely they know vampires who’ve been cooking for a very long time, and you won’t be able to say ‘no’ to them,” she said smugly. “Stop trying to control everything.”
“I have!” he laughed.
“More. Those vampy chefs are coming. Or, perhaps they know great human chefs. We can pay them more than they’ll ever earn working normally.”
“And what will I do in my spare time?”
Bella was quiet for a moment before shrugging. “Sit still and be pretty?”
“Yeah, as if,” he rolled his eyes at her. “You know I’ll just find something to do.”
~o.O.o~
“What is this?” Bella demanded as they approached Caroline and the little area that she had decorated with… stuff. A picnic blanket with a picnic basket, some fairy lights in trees, candles and was that a portable DVD player?
“Date night. For you and Isaac,” Caroline beamed as she made them sit down on the blanket. She then retrieved a jar out of the basket and set it down in front of them. “With little notes to help you talk about your feelings and all.”
Bella blinked, with little else for a reaction on her face. “Isaac and I aren’t dating. Has Klaus’ mental illness suddenly spread? I had high hopes for you and Alaric.”
“Oh please,” Caroline huffed as she crossed her arms over each other. “Alaric and I co-parent, we’re not compatible. He hates vampires,” she retorted. “And no, I didn’t drink from Klaus’ Kool-Aid, this is a long time coming,” she said all motherly. “We’ve been watching you two walk around each other for a very long time, and you’re both not talking about the thing you two have. You’re both ready for this. Date night. Your first date.”
“Yeah, so not doing this,” Bella shook her head as she got to her feet again. “Come on, Isaac, let’s go home and continue our FRIENDS marathon.”
Isaac looked at Caroline for a moment before pulling Bella back down. “Our friend went through a lot of trouble to do this for us, we might as well go ahead with it,” he told her, before looking back at Caroline. “Thank you, Caroline, for doing this.”
Caroline beamed with pride. “You’re welcome! Now, enjoy, and don’t worry about the cleanup, I’ll do that after you’re done,” she then made herself scarce with help from her vampire speed.
“Who are you and what did you do to my Isaac?” Bella looked at him, head half cocked, a curious look on her face. “Seriously.”
“Didn’t want to upset the preppy vampire,” he shrugged as an excuse and opened the basket to peek inside of it. “She’s got us Alfredo’s.”
“Seriously? She went all the way to Richmond to get us food?” Bella blinked as she peeked into the basket. “Oh man, that food…” She got the food out of the basket and sighed. “Okay, fine, we need to thank her for this.”
Isaac grinned as he tucked into his food. “This isn’t date night. This is good food in the park.”
Bella hummed for an answer as she took a bite of her spaghetti. “This is so delicious… look, I love your cooking, but—”
“Alfredo’s is run by real Italians, Bella, of course, their food is better than mine,” he let out a snort. “I know my limits. Doesn’t take away that I really love to cook,” he smiled at her as he kept eating. “And are decent at it.”
“No, you’re great, I just— sorry, I didn’t mean to insult you or anything.”
“You didn’t.”
Bella opened the jar with the little notes in them before taking another bite of food. Since they were going with whatever this was, why not humor Caroline by playing around with this? “Okay, what’s your favorite food?”
Isaac raised a brow. “Seriously?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know what to choose, either. All food is good. Right now I’m particularly fond of this stuff,” she said as she motioned to their food.
He thought for a moment and sighed as he put his food down and looked down at his hands. “Remember I wanted to talk to you about something, earlier?”
“It was food related?”
“No. It has nothing to do with that food question. It’s more of a personal matter, but it’s important. I think. At least I feel like it’s an important matter we need to discuss. Been wanting to talk to you about this for a while now.”
She lifted his chin, so he looked at her. “You know you can talk to me about anything, right? You’ve done so well with opening up to me, why didn’t you come to me before?”
“Because it’s different than all of those other things? It’s nothing permanent or anything, I mean… you’re in control over that.”
“You’re freaking me out, Lahey,” she narrowed her eyes at him. “Stop being so cryptic and just say it. What’s been on your mind for all this time?”
“I want to be your beta if you’d accept me as yours.”
She was taken aback by that. She hadn’t anticipated that. She had been fine with the way they had been for over the last few months since she learned that she was a werewolf, and Isaac had told her then that just because she was an Alpha, he wasn’t just going to roll over for her. He was fine on his own. He’d been hurt and rejected by his previous Alphas, and she understood the reasoning of him rejecting her. She wasn’t particularly waiting on becoming an Alpha with a beta, either. The responsibility alone would make her fuck up, fuck her Isaac up, and she didn’t want to hurt him. She didn’t know how to be a proper Alpha, and she didn’t want to try it on him, either! “Isaac… I—”
“Nothing changes, Bella,” he said as he took her hands. “I am trusting you with my life. I have been for a while. I look at you to be my compass. And spending time with you has made me realize that maybe having someone else around isn’t so bad. That being the lone wolf that I tried to be, wasn’t exactly working out in my favor.”
She stared back at him, entirely unamused considering that the entire day had gone already for them. “You do know what this sounds like right? A really sad proposal…”
“I’m not proposing,” Isaac huffed. “If I were, I’d do it more spectacularly.”
“I know, I get that, but consider the day we just went through— Say what…?”
“It’s actually the main reason I wanted to get this out of the way now, you know. If you’re my Alpha, I’ll be less inclined to feel intimidated by other Alphas. Sure, they’ll still be able to influence me, but less powerful, because I’ll be tethered to you. You’ll be stronger, and I’ll be stronger too. I trust you, Bella, and I think you’ll make a wonderful Alpha.”
“Can I think about it?”
“Do you have to?”
“No, but Isaac, I don’t know what this is going to do for us. With us. I’m not experienced, at all. What if something goes wrong?”
“I’m willing to give you the power to overrule and empower me, Bella, not to take my mind and turn me into a brainless minion,” he let out a snort. “But sure, you can think about it, it’ll be okay if you decide that it’s not a good idea.”
Bella squeezed his hands to make him look at her again. “I am not rejecting you, Isaac,” she said kindly. “I think it’s a matter of confidence that’s getting in the way,” she let out a deep breath then. “For a while now I’ve been feeling like you’re mine to protect, to look out for. Are you sure nothing will change between us?”
“Nothing will change, I promise. If anything, it’ll make us stronger in every sense of the way.”
“Elaborate,” Bella sighed, still uncertain about his sudden change of heart.
“Well, a beta draws his or her power from their Alpha, and in turn, the Alpha does the same. Even when we’re far apart, you’ll be stronger. You’ll gain limited telepathy and mental control to stay in control over me. Like, it’d be easier for you to snap me out of a rage or your roar can help me out. You might have a slight readjustment phase as you’ve been ignoring some of your abilities like sniffing someone’s scent and make sense of it.”
“What?”
“Like dogs? You know, when you see a bunch of dogs in the dog park, they sniff each other and say ‘hey you’re my friend!’ or ‘I hate you!’.”
“You have this?”
“And you too, but yeah, you’ve been either ignoring it or pushing it down,” he shrugged. “Look, if you’re not sure, call your brother or uncle, I’m sure they have a better way of explaining it to you. And they’ll likely want you to reject me or something.”
“You said nothing would change, Isaac, but you’ve just given me a list of what will,” she should feel angry about this, but she wasn’t. In fact, she was scared. She’d been ignoring her own feelings for Isaac, not to have him as a beta but as a boyfriend and she didn’t want to risk it getting out before either of them were ready.
“Isn’t life all about taking risks?” He smirked, still holding onto her hands. “Weren’t you the one who told me to live a little? Live a little, Bella. Trust me that it’ll be alright. And things will change for the better.”
He had so much faith in her, so much trust. And she had the same. She only hoped that she would remain in control over her own emotions and feelings. And he was right. Likely. Probably. Yes. Okay. Better her than someone else, right? “You’re not going to get mad or angry when I get things wrong?””
“You won’t do anything wrong, trust me.”
“Okay.”
“Really?” His face lit up like a Christmas tree.
“Yep,” she replied with a nod. “Now what?”
“I don’t know to be honest,” he said as he felt his cheeks turn red. “It was natural with Derek because he bit me… with Scott… it was easy but… I don’t know.”
Bella shrugged and finished her food. “We’ll see then. Wanna head home and watch FRIENDS?”
