𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄 [ECLIPSE]

2.5

-

"Could you at least put a shirt on?" I sighed, leaning my head against the window of his car.

"Don't act like you haven't totally been checking me out." He teased. I rolled my eyes, hiding my embarrassment and getting out of the car as soon as it stopped on the back road.

"You sure this is a good idea? I mean...bringing her tonight? Letting her hear all of the stories?" I leaned next to him against the truck.

Looking down at me, he shrugged, "Why not? She should know about the history behind her perfect little bloodsuckers."

I crossed my arms, listening to him intently, "You really think that anything's gonna change her mind about him at this point?"

"Can't hurt to try."

Edward and my sister pulled up shortly after, Edward making sure to pull Bella into the longest P.D.A show of my life before they said their goodbyes.

"Hey beautiful." Jake greeted, making me roll my eyes for the 10th time today in counting.

"Hey." She greeted, walking into his embrace. I glanced over at Edward, sharing the same displeased expression as him.

He turned and got into his vehicle with the slam of his door and sped off, leaving the three of us to stand next to Jake's car.

"So, watcha wanna do today? Bike? Hike? Hang? Your call. But we're going to a party tonight." He opened the door, getting in. I got into the back, disregarding my sister's confused look.

-

"You sure this is ok?" Bella question unsurely, "I really hate being a party crasher."

"Technically, you're a council meeting crasher." Jake said,

"The council leaders...Billy, Quils grandpa, and Sue Clearwater." I pointed out,

"She took over for Harry when he died." He finished.

"Ok, I should not be here." She stopped walking. I hummed In agreement, earning a look from Jake.

"What?" I defended.

"You're ok." He reassured her "I thought- I mean we thought it would be good for you to hear the histories."

"Histories? The tribes histories? Aren't they secret?"

"Yeah." I deadpanned, "I guess not anymore, right?"

"Athena." Jake glanced at me. I shrugged, "I mean we all got a roll to play in this. It's the first time Seth, Leah, and Quil will hear them too."

"But you are the first outsider, ever..." I added.

"If I had known that, I would have like....I don't know, dressed better."

I couldn't help but snicker, because only Bella would be worried about what she looked like at a time like this.

"Jake!" Seth came running over with a grin, "It's about time you got here. Paul's been hoovering the grub but I saved you some burgers. You too Athena."

"Thanks Seth." I shoved my hands into my pockets, looking around the growing fire for Paul's large frame. Once I found him, I nudged Jake's arm, "I'm gonna go sit, I'm sure you can introduce these guys."

He nodded, leaving me to jog over to where Paul sat. I took a seat next to him, immediately being hit by the warmth of the fire.

"You guys work things out?" He passed me a plate with a burger on it.

"Something like that. He's still attatched to my sisters hip, but, he's trying... I think." I took the food, thanking him.

Once everyone was sat down, Billy began the story that I must've heard hundreds of times before, only as a kid and under the belief that they were just that...stories.

"The Quileutes have always been a small tribe, from the beginning. But we've always had magic in our blood. We were great spirit warriors, shapeshifters. We transformed into the powerful wolf...this enabled us, to scour all of our enemies. To protect our tribe. One day, our warriors cane across a creature. It looked like man, but it was hard like stone and cold as ice. Our warriors sharp teeth, finally tore it apart. But only fire would completely destroy it. They lived in fear, that the cold man was not alone. And they were right..."

I felt a gust of wind blow against my warm skin, making me move closer to Paul. He wrapped an arm around me, having me huddled into his armpit.

"She took her vengeance out on the village. Our elder chief, Taha-aki , was the only spirit warrior left to save the tribe...after his son was killed. Taha-aki's spirit wife could see that he would lose. The third wife was no magical being, with no special powers but one. Courage. The third wife sacrificed herself and distracted the cold woman, long enough for Taha-aki to destroy her. She saved the tribe. Over time, our enemies have disappeared. But one remains...the cold ones."

At this point, my sister looked perplexed. Hearing about how her boyfriends kind single handedly massacred a village of innocent Quileute people must've struck a nerve, but likely not enough to show her the reality of the choices she was making.

"Our magic awakens when they're near, and we sense it now. We feel the threat in our blood. Something terrible is coming...and we must all be ready. All of us." He finished.

I brought my hands down to my stomach, suddenly feeling unsettled.

There was always a chance that one of us could die...especially being involved in all of this.

The thought of losing any one of these guys made me physically sick to my stomach, but that's what came with the supernatural abilities given to us.

Inevitable death.

After the story was over, everyone sat around the fire and enjoyed eachothers company for a while. I did my best to ignore how close Bella and Jake sat...how natural it looked, but it was pretty hard to avoid.

"You gonna miss patrol again tonight?" Embry spoke from the other side of me. I turned around to face him, thinking of an answer that would keep him from questioning me, "Sams starting to notice. You've been acting...off."

"I haven't been feeling good." I tried, removing myself from Paul's grip. He seemed wrapped up in a conversation with Seth so I turned back to Embry. He gave me a blank look, and I knew he wasn't taking my excuse.

You're a supernatural shapeshifter that physically can't get sick, of course you sound stupid Athena

Think fast.

"Ok, ok you got me. I'm just- I'm worried about my dad and Bella."

Embry seemed to have bought it that time, but skepticism still remained behind his features.

"You know we won't let anything happen to them. We watch out for eachother, and that includes family." He nudged my shoulder. I smiled, but I knew that there was only some truth to what he had said.

Yes, we wouldn't let anything happen to them, but a strong feeling told me that everything was only going downhill from here.