V a p o r ▶ J. HALE (COMPLETED.)

7.

Life.

Two weeks later.

Jacob's house.

Saturday, 3:27 pm.

Dema tapped her fingernails against the wooden table anxiously. She glanced at the front door once she heard a motorcycle approaching the house. Jacob's thoughts were echoing louder than usual inside her head. He picked up Charlie's scent almost immediately, as well as Dema's presence. He realized something was up, and Dema knew she wouldn't be able to hide the truth from him for much longer.

For around three weeks, she hadn't thought about the pack, let alone spend time with them. A week ago, she realized they were somewhat pissed at her because they thought she wasn't taking the 'job' seriously, or at least that's what Jared, Leah, and Embry thought. Which wasn't entirely a lie.

Before Bella's arrival, Dema was too preoccupied with Jasper, his family, and just trying to figure out what to do about the Wraith coming back, so she didn't have much time to hang out with them. But then, Bella arrived and hell broke loose in the Cullen household. A tightly-knit vampire coven was torn between pro-baby (Rosalie, Bella, and Dema) and pro-Bella, which ultimately resulted into an immortal cold war.

That is just one of the reasons she stayed away. She also thought that staying away from the pack would make it easier for her to keep them out of her brain, and for Bella to stay safe and sound. Plus, it's not like she was dying to go back to the Ulley pack, and have yet another argument with Sam, in which he'll ultimately force her to bow down at him, and let him take over.

"Stop it," Eliza hissed at her daughter. Dema glanced up at her mother, as she placed a salad bowl in the center of the table. "You're making a hole on the table, Dema."

Dema glanced down at the table, and immediately frowned once she saw the, rather small, but noticeable scratch beneath her fingers. She turned back to her mother, smiling sheepishly before turning away, back to the front door.

"Is everything okay?" Eliza whispered as she followed her daughter's gaze.

"Yes, everything's perfectly fine." Dema lied.

Eliza hesitated for a second, pondering whether she should let it go, or push it. But as she was about to make up her mind, Jacob walked through the front door.

Billy wheeled his way towards his son, smiling up at him once he met his gaze.

"Hey, Son." Billy greeted Jacob.

"What's going on?" Jacob asked with a frown, as he gestured towards Charlie, who stood by the window in the back.

Billy hesitated for a second. "Bella called him." He said, with a regretful expression on his face.

Dema frowned as her heart tightened with anxiety. She kept her eyes on her cousin, as he made his way towards Charlie. They greeted each other with a friendly handshake.

"Hey, haven't seen you in a while." Charlie started. "You okay?" He asked.

"So, you finally heard from Bella?" Jacob blurted out almost immediately, desperate for an answer.

"They're extending their trip." Charlie sighed, with slight annoyance. "Seems she caught a bug. They wanna wait until she feels better before they travel."

"She's sick?" Jacob frowned, making quick eye contact with Dema.

"Yeah, she told me not to worry, but she sounded..." Charlie looked down at the floor. "I don't know, off." He shrugged before meeting Jacob's gaze once again.