The Heat of You
by Wizardtho
Chapter 02:
Billy took a minute to think about what I just said, then nodded and pulled his phone out. Only seconds later, I heard Charlie pick up. He offered in greeting as I paced in front of the fireplace, “Hey, Billy. I’m just getting ready to leave the station. Did you want me to come out for pizza? I’m sure I could convince Bells to take the night off of making dinner.”
Billy coughed slightly, then said, “Charlie. Bella is already here on the rez. I… I need to tell you some things tonight. Please don’t leave the station until Jake and Sam get there. Let them ride here with you please.”
I heard what sounded like a door shutting a bit too hard, then Charlie asked in a deadly serious tone, “Is Bells okay? What happened? Is it that little Cullen prick?”
Billy let out a hard breath before offering, “Bella is resting now, but something happened earlier tonight. Please, Charlie, trust me. I’ll explain everything the moment you get here.”
Charlie let out a curse, then said, “Alright. Damnit, Billy, I don’t like this. At least tell me this much. Was it him? I’ve had a really bad feeling all day today.”
Billy looked at me, then said truthfully, “He was involved, yes. Paul saved her. Don’t go after him, Charlie. Bella needs you here, and I need to fill you in. Just don’t leave without Sam and Jake. Please.”
Charlie huffed again, saying a few choice words about the mind reader, then promised, “Sam just walked in. I’ll be there soon.”
I looked toward my bedroom, then made another pass in front of the fireplace as Billy hung up his phone. Another pass, and I huffed, “Fuck this. I can’t just sit out here. I’m going to check on her.”
Billy nodded, offering, “I will wait for the others.”
I tore across the living room toward my room, opening the door slowly before whispering, “How is she?”
I sat in the chair next to the bed and took her hand in mine, surprised to feel her hand tighten in mine. I looked at Quil with wide eyes, but he cautioned me, “Isabella is fighting for her very soul right now, Paul. Your mate marking is waging war against the venom from the cold one in her body.”
I let out a heavy breath, surmising, “So I did this to her. Are you telling me she may not be strong enough to survive it? Is there anything I can do to help her?”
Quil nodded and patted my shoulder, “Talk to her. Remind her that you are here for her. Let her know that there are people who love her, and she needs to fight if she wants to see them again. Her mind needs your reassurance more than anything I could do right now.”
I nodded, then scooted closer, resting my chin near her head on the pillow. As they left the room, I whispered in her ear, “Come on, Swan. I did my part, now you need to do yours. You can fight that mind reader’s influence. I know you can.”
I kept whispering to her, telling her to fight and reminding her that she had the whole pack to count on the very second she woke up. About 30 minutes went by before she started shivering. Not wanting to leave her alone, I rolled her on her side toward me, wrapped the quilt on the bed tighter around her, then climbed on the bed above the quilt to lay in front of her. I scooted so our bodies were flush against each other and wrapped her in my arms, rested my lips against my mark, then willed her to keep fighting in my thoughts.
It couldn’t have taken 15 minutes before her trembling stopped, and when she calmed, my body succumbed to sleep.
Charlie POV:
The silence in the car was maddening. Neither Sam nor Jake would tell me anything about Bells. They insisted Billy and Old Quil needed to fill me in. I did notice they kept looking out the windows when they thought I wasn’t paying attention. What they were looking for, I had no clue.
When we got to the reservation, Sam said, “They’re waiting for us at Paul’s. Do you need directions?”
I shook my head, saying, “No. I remember,” as I headed toward the cliffside Lahote property. I was surprised to see it wasn’t the rundown house I’d seen years earlier when I’d been out this far. In its place was a modern, well-kept cabin.
I looked at Sam, only for him to say seriously, “He wanted to get rid of any reminder of that bastard. A couple of us helped him demolish the old house, and in its place, we helped him build this. He saved for more than 5 years for this, and it’s his safe haven. He’s worked hard to overcome his dark childhood, no matter what the grapevine spouts about him, Charlie.”
Though I wanted to lash out at his tone, especially when my daughter was somewhere in that house, I took a breath and said, “Noted. Don’t mention the parents or the old house. He apparently saved my Bells tonight, so I can keep an open mind.”
Sam only nodded to me before exiting the car.
Inside, I found Sue, Old Quil, and Billy sitting near a roaring fire. Jake and Sam both took the open spots on the couches, but only after Sam pulled a chair near the fireplace for me. I let out a breath, then said steadily, “Whatever you have to say to me can wait until I see for myself that Bells is okay. Where is she?”
Sue stood, “Follow me. She’s resting right now, but you can certainly look in on her.”
She led me to a door, then quietly pushed it open. My daughter was laying facing toward Paul under the blanket, and Paul was holding her in his arms above the blanket. Both were sound asleep. Though I wanted to be pissed, I watched as even while asleep, Paul tried to protect Bella. She had started shivering slightly, but only a moment later, Paul pulled her closer to keep her warm.
I frowned but managed to whisper before turning away, “Can we at least get her another blanket?”
Sue smiled, then entered the bedroom. She quietly went to the closest door, which I found was a closet, and pulled another quilt from the shelf. After placing the quilt over both Bella and Paul, she came back out and closed the door.
I scratched the back of my neck as I sat in the living room chair, then said, “Just give it to me plain. No talking in circles. I didn’t see any bruises or casts, but she was mostly covered. How bad is it?”
Old Quil offered, “She is stable… for now. Charlie, I know you’ve had suspicions for a while now, about our legends and the possible truth behind them. Yes, this pertains to Bella in a very real way, so please hear me out.”
I let out a breath as I rubbed my neck, “I’m listening.”
Billy spoke next, saying, “They’re true, Charlie. Both sides of the legends. The Cullens are cold ones. It’s why you never saw them on our lands. Some of our boys actually do turn into their spirit wolves to protect our people and lands.”
Billy nodded to Sam, then Sam stepped back into the open area of the room. Before I knew what was going on, I saw Sam’s frame vibrate, then shreds of clothing went flying in all directions as a huge black wolf landed on 4 paws in Sam’s place.
I gasped and shot backward out of the chair, my hand on my gunbelt as I looked into the beast’s eyes. I froze while really taking in the situation, then dropped my hand while crying out softly, “Jesus Christ…”
My mind raced with what I’d been told of the Quileute legends all my life, and I slowly looked around the room before looking into the eyes of the massive black wolf again. One fact became crystal clear, “Fuck. Cold one. Vampire. I knew there was a reason I hated that little shit. Okay… so lay it out for me. What exactly happened tonight?”
Billy explained softly, “Paul’s wolf had been restless all evening. He was patrolling our borders when he smelled the scent of cold ones coming near our lands. Bella was driving her truck, speeding to get to our borders, and actually hit Paul with her truck. She knew she would be safe from them here. She begged for Paul’s help, telling him that she found proof the cold ones had used vampire magic to use and abuse her. They were using her as an experiment. Paul turned back to his human form and promised to protect her. Charlie, Bella has vampire venom inside her… in a bite mark on her wrist. Paul could smell it, and when the Cullen boy tried to use his lure to get Bella to go to him, Paul could visibly see her trying to fight it.”
Sam interjected, “I was there in my wolf form, Charlie. So was Jake. Between Edward’s venom in that bite mark and the lure… the pheromone draw that lures their prey… Bella was fighting a losing battle. I watched her plead with Paul to do something to save her from them. I don’t know what she read, but I know it was enough to make her truly fear them. We all knew that it must have been something big if Bella was fighting not to go to him. They would have killed her before dawn to keep their secrets. All 3 of us knew that. I heard Paul ask her if she trusted him. She told him ‘Always’.
Old Quil then stepped back in. “Paul did what only a protector could do for her to save her from the cold ones, Charlie. He bit her shoulder, in a very important spot, which officially marked her as Paul’s lifemate. In the supernatural world, a mate is precious, and Paul marked her as protected by our pack… by all shifting tribes.”
I took a second to digest that information, then said, “Woah, wait! Say what now?! Lifemate? Paul Lahote is the biggest manwhore in all of Washington!”
That’s when Paul walked into the room, offering as he rubbed his hands through his hair, “I did what I needed to, to keep Bella safe, Charlie. Yeah, I’ll admit I wasn’t very discreet about my exploits in the past, but I’m not even thinking about any of that with her. If there ever comes a time in the future that we become intimate, it will be her choice, but she’s going to have a long road ahead of her just to heal from whatever that fucking leech did to her. I woke up to her having a nightmare… whimpering things in her sleep. She settled back down, but I have a feeling that it was just the tip of the iceberg of what was in that journal. They used her as an experiment. I haven’t read the journal yet, but I can guarantee I’ll be going on a leech hunt once I make sure she’s going to make it through this with a sound mind.”
I looked around the room, but Billy explained, “None of us have read it. As for Paul marking Bella, you were told for several reasons. First and foremost, is that right now, Bella’s sleep is more of a coma. Her body is fighting an internal battle right now, between the vampire venom and Paul’s marking. If Paul’s marking wins, Bella should wake free of the hold the vampires have on her.”
I automatically asked, “And if the venom wins?”
Paul actually looked like he was in pain as he choked out, “She won’t make it. We’ll lose her.”
When I rose an eyebrow at him, he let out a hard breath and swore, “I knew when I bit her what it meant for me, Charlie. Bella never has to accept me, but from the moment I marked her as mine, she was it for me. I’ll never want another. I’ll never cheat on her. I can’t. My wolf has chosen his mate, and we only mate once. He was the one that pushed me to mark her.”
Taking a deep breath and letting it out, I asked, “So… you’re telling me she can still see whoever she wants… she’s not tied to you.”
Old Quil answered for Paul, “Through the marking, Paul is tied to her, but she has no obligation to fall in love with or marry Paul. There is a catch, though. Now that Paul is tied to her, and she is a protected mate of a shifter, they will not be able to be parted for more than a couple of hours. His instincts will be driving him to assure her safety. Paul also can not protect her without exposure in Forks, should the cold ones come for her.”
And there it was. It felt like a literal bomb dropped in the center of my chest as I choked out, “Which means she needs to stay on the rez. How often will I be able to see her?”
Billy chuckled, “Ten times a day if that’s what you want. We aren’t keeping your daughter from you, Charlie. We’re keeping her safe from the cold ones, and we’re going to do our best to help her heal from whatever they did to her. She’ll still need you to be someone she can count on, too, now that you’ve been told.”
Yeah, that was next on the agenda, “So where’s this journal?”
Billy looked at Paul, who nodded, “Show him. First, though, you need to promise you will not go looking for them, Charlie. It would torture Bella if you went and got yourself killed trying to make a supernatural creature pay for what might be in that journal. Leave that part to us.”
I huffed, but the kid was right, damn it. I wasn’t strong enough to face a supernatural creature. “You have my word. I will not physically go after them. That doesn’t mean I won’t use every resource I can get my hands on to locate them and give you the info.”
Paul nodded, “Deal,” then Billy pulled the journal from under his left thigh.
Billy took a minute to think about what I just said, then nodded and pulled his phone out. Only seconds later, I heard Charlie pick up. He offered in greeting as I paced in front of the fireplace, “Hey, Billy. I’m just getting ready to leave the station. Did you want me to come out for pizza? I’m sure I could convince Bells to take the night off of making dinner.”
Billy coughed slightly, then said, “Charlie. Bella is already here on the rez. I… I need to tell you some things tonight. Please don’t leave the station until Jake and Sam get there. Let them ride here with you please.”
I heard what sounded like a door shutting a bit too hard, then Charlie asked in a deadly serious tone, “Is Bells okay? What happened? Is it that little Cullen prick?”
Billy let out a hard breath before offering, “Bella is resting now, but something happened earlier tonight. Please, Charlie, trust me. I’ll explain everything the moment you get here.”
Charlie let out a curse, then said, “Alright. Damnit, Billy, I don’t like this. At least tell me this much. Was it him? I’ve had a really bad feeling all day today.”
Billy looked at me, then said truthfully, “He was involved, yes. Paul saved her. Don’t go after him, Charlie. Bella needs you here, and I need to fill you in. Just don’t leave without Sam and Jake. Please.”
Charlie huffed again, saying a few choice words about the mind reader, then promised, “Sam just walked in. I’ll be there soon.”
I looked toward my bedroom, then made another pass in front of the fireplace as Billy hung up his phone. Another pass, and I huffed, “Fuck this. I can’t just sit out here. I’m going to check on her.”
Billy nodded, offering, “I will wait for the others.”
I tore across the living room toward my room, opening the door slowly before whispering, “How is she?”
I sat in the chair next to the bed and took her hand in mine, surprised to feel her hand tighten in mine. I looked at Quil with wide eyes, but he cautioned me, “Isabella is fighting for her very soul right now, Paul. Your mate marking is waging war against the venom from the cold one in her body.”
I let out a heavy breath, surmising, “So I did this to her. Are you telling me she may not be strong enough to survive it? Is there anything I can do to help her?”
Quil nodded and patted my shoulder, “Talk to her. Remind her that you are here for her. Let her know that there are people who love her, and she needs to fight if she wants to see them again. Her mind needs your reassurance more than anything I could do right now.”
I nodded, then scooted closer, resting my chin near her head on the pillow. As they left the room, I whispered in her ear, “Come on, Swan. I did my part, now you need to do yours. You can fight that mind reader’s influence. I know you can.”
I kept whispering to her, telling her to fight and reminding her that she had the whole pack to count on the very second she woke up. About 30 minutes went by before she started shivering. Not wanting to leave her alone, I rolled her on her side toward me, wrapped the quilt on the bed tighter around her, then climbed on the bed above the quilt to lay in front of her. I scooted so our bodies were flush against each other and wrapped her in my arms, rested my lips against my mark, then willed her to keep fighting in my thoughts.
It couldn’t have taken 15 minutes before her trembling stopped, and when she calmed, my body succumbed to sleep.
Charlie POV:
The silence in the car was maddening. Neither Sam nor Jake would tell me anything about Bells. They insisted Billy and Old Quil needed to fill me in. I did notice they kept looking out the windows when they thought I wasn’t paying attention. What they were looking for, I had no clue.
When we got to the reservation, Sam said, “They’re waiting for us at Paul’s. Do you need directions?”
I shook my head, saying, “No. I remember,” as I headed toward the cliffside Lahote property. I was surprised to see it wasn’t the rundown house I’d seen years earlier when I’d been out this far. In its place was a modern, well-kept cabin.
I looked at Sam, only for him to say seriously, “He wanted to get rid of any reminder of that bastard. A couple of us helped him demolish the old house, and in its place, we helped him build this. He saved for more than 5 years for this, and it’s his safe haven. He’s worked hard to overcome his dark childhood, no matter what the grapevine spouts about him, Charlie.”
Though I wanted to lash out at his tone, especially when my daughter was somewhere in that house, I took a breath and said, “Noted. Don’t mention the parents or the old house. He apparently saved my Bells tonight, so I can keep an open mind.”
Sam only nodded to me before exiting the car.
Inside, I found Sue, Old Quil, and Billy sitting near a roaring fire. Jake and Sam both took the open spots on the couches, but only after Sam pulled a chair near the fireplace for me. I let out a breath, then said steadily, “Whatever you have to say to me can wait until I see for myself that Bells is okay. Where is she?”
Sue stood, “Follow me. She’s resting right now, but you can certainly look in on her.”
She led me to a door, then quietly pushed it open. My daughter was laying facing toward Paul under the blanket, and Paul was holding her in his arms above the blanket. Both were sound asleep. Though I wanted to be pissed, I watched as even while asleep, Paul tried to protect Bella. She had started shivering slightly, but only a moment later, Paul pulled her closer to keep her warm.
I frowned but managed to whisper before turning away, “Can we at least get her another blanket?”
Sue smiled, then entered the bedroom. She quietly went to the closest door, which I found was a closet, and pulled another quilt from the shelf. After placing the quilt over both Bella and Paul, she came back out and closed the door.
I scratched the back of my neck as I sat in the living room chair, then said, “Just give it to me plain. No talking in circles. I didn’t see any bruises or casts, but she was mostly covered. How bad is it?”
Old Quil offered, “She is stable… for now. Charlie, I know you’ve had suspicions for a while now, about our legends and the possible truth behind them. Yes, this pertains to Bella in a very real way, so please hear me out.”
I let out a breath as I rubbed my neck, “I’m listening.”
Billy spoke next, saying, “They’re true, Charlie. Both sides of the legends. The Cullens are cold ones. It’s why you never saw them on our lands. Some of our boys actually do turn into their spirit wolves to protect our people and lands.”
Billy nodded to Sam, then Sam stepped back into the open area of the room. Before I knew what was going on, I saw Sam’s frame vibrate, then shreds of clothing went flying in all directions as a huge black wolf landed on 4 paws in Sam’s place.
I gasped and shot backward out of the chair, my hand on my gunbelt as I looked into the beast’s eyes. I froze while really taking in the situation, then dropped my hand while crying out softly, “Jesus Christ…”
My mind raced with what I’d been told of the Quileute legends all my life, and I slowly looked around the room before looking into the eyes of the massive black wolf again. One fact became crystal clear, “Fuck. Cold one. Vampire. I knew there was a reason I hated that little shit. Okay… so lay it out for me. What exactly happened tonight?”
Billy explained softly, “Paul’s wolf had been restless all evening. He was patrolling our borders when he smelled the scent of cold ones coming near our lands. Bella was driving her truck, speeding to get to our borders, and actually hit Paul with her truck. She knew she would be safe from them here. She begged for Paul’s help, telling him that she found proof the cold ones had used vampire magic to use and abuse her. They were using her as an experiment. Paul turned back to his human form and promised to protect her. Charlie, Bella has vampire venom inside her… in a bite mark on her wrist. Paul could smell it, and when the Cullen boy tried to use his lure to get Bella to go to him, Paul could visibly see her trying to fight it.”
Sam interjected, “I was there in my wolf form, Charlie. So was Jake. Between Edward’s venom in that bite mark and the lure… the pheromone draw that lures their prey… Bella was fighting a losing battle. I watched her plead with Paul to do something to save her from them. I don’t know what she read, but I know it was enough to make her truly fear them. We all knew that it must have been something big if Bella was fighting not to go to him. They would have killed her before dawn to keep their secrets. All 3 of us knew that. I heard Paul ask her if she trusted him. She told him ‘Always’.
Old Quil then stepped back in. “Paul did what only a protector could do for her to save her from the cold ones, Charlie. He bit her shoulder, in a very important spot, which officially marked her as Paul’s lifemate. In the supernatural world, a mate is precious, and Paul marked her as protected by our pack… by all shifting tribes.”
I took a second to digest that information, then said, “Woah, wait! Say what now?! Lifemate? Paul Lahote is the biggest manwhore in all of Washington!”
That’s when Paul walked into the room, offering as he rubbed his hands through his hair, “I did what I needed to, to keep Bella safe, Charlie. Yeah, I’ll admit I wasn’t very discreet about my exploits in the past, but I’m not even thinking about any of that with her. If there ever comes a time in the future that we become intimate, it will be her choice, but she’s going to have a long road ahead of her just to heal from whatever that fucking leech did to her. I woke up to her having a nightmare… whimpering things in her sleep. She settled back down, but I have a feeling that it was just the tip of the iceberg of what was in that journal. They used her as an experiment. I haven’t read the journal yet, but I can guarantee I’ll be going on a leech hunt once I make sure she’s going to make it through this with a sound mind.”
I looked around the room, but Billy explained, “None of us have read it. As for Paul marking Bella, you were told for several reasons. First and foremost, is that right now, Bella’s sleep is more of a coma. Her body is fighting an internal battle right now, between the vampire venom and Paul’s marking. If Paul’s marking wins, Bella should wake free of the hold the vampires have on her.”
I automatically asked, “And if the venom wins?”
Paul actually looked like he was in pain as he choked out, “She won’t make it. We’ll lose her.”
When I rose an eyebrow at him, he let out a hard breath and swore, “I knew when I bit her what it meant for me, Charlie. Bella never has to accept me, but from the moment I marked her as mine, she was it for me. I’ll never want another. I’ll never cheat on her. I can’t. My wolf has chosen his mate, and we only mate once. He was the one that pushed me to mark her.”
Taking a deep breath and letting it out, I asked, “So… you’re telling me she can still see whoever she wants… she’s not tied to you.”
Old Quil answered for Paul, “Through the marking, Paul is tied to her, but she has no obligation to fall in love with or marry Paul. There is a catch, though. Now that Paul is tied to her, and she is a protected mate of a shifter, they will not be able to be parted for more than a couple of hours. His instincts will be driving him to assure her safety. Paul also can not protect her without exposure in Forks, should the cold ones come for her.”
And there it was. It felt like a literal bomb dropped in the center of my chest as I choked out, “Which means she needs to stay on the rez. How often will I be able to see her?”
Billy chuckled, “Ten times a day if that’s what you want. We aren’t keeping your daughter from you, Charlie. We’re keeping her safe from the cold ones, and we’re going to do our best to help her heal from whatever they did to her. She’ll still need you to be someone she can count on, too, now that you’ve been told.”
Yeah, that was next on the agenda, “So where’s this journal?”
Billy looked at Paul, who nodded, “Show him. First, though, you need to promise you will not go looking for them, Charlie. It would torture Bella if you went and got yourself killed trying to make a supernatural creature pay for what might be in that journal. Leave that part to us.”
I huffed, but the kid was right, damn it. I wasn’t strong enough to face a supernatural creature. “You have my word. I will not physically go after them. That doesn’t mean I won’t use every resource I can get my hands on to locate them and give you the info.”
Paul nodded, “Deal,” then Billy pulled the journal from under his left thigh.