Bella sat by Edward's side in the Cullen home. They didn't speak much, just enjoying each other's company after so many months apart. A few others were in the living room as well, but everyone was doing their own thing. When Bella noticed the deep, somewhat distressing look on Edward's face, she spoke up.
"What's with the face?" she asked, reaching a hand up to smooth out the wrinkle that had appeared in between his eyebrows.
"I'm going to kill Valeria," he declared. "Or at least push her out a window."
It wasn't a serious threat, of course, and Edward's tone was more whiny than harsh.
"Any particular reason today or just because?" Alice asked. She had been quietly leaning against Jasper's side as he and Emmett watched the football game on the tv. "It doesn't sound like she's doing anything annoying."
Those with supernatural hearing tuned into Valeria, who was up in her room. Based on the faint sound of a brush dragging across a canvas, they could deduce that she was painting. It wasn't uncommon for Valeria to blast obnoxiously loud music or a movie she had seen fifty times while working, but at the moment, she was being rather quiet, not even talking to herself as she went.
Edward sighed and rubbed his forehead. "It's her thoughts." The mind reader always claimed that one day, the youngest vampire would give him a headache despite that not being possible. "She has been singing that stupid Shia LaBeouf song on a loop in her mind for the last thirty minutes at least and it keeps getting louder."
Emmett snorted, not even bothering to look away from the tv. "At least it's not like when she was thinking about that song from the third Shrek movie that the frogs sing."
"And she didn't know all the words," Bella recalled, smiling.
Edward had frustratingly explained how for a whole hour, all he heard was Valeria singing in her mind, "say live and let die," followed by the dramatic 'duh duh's that came after before starting all over. He was so annoyed that Alice had actually gotten a vision of him running all the way to Canada and staying for two weeks to get away from her. Carlisle put a stop to his escape plan rather quickly.
Edward loved Valeria, really, he did. But with her constant, nonstop, chaotic thoughts, the need to constantly be doing something, and the attention deficit disorder that made it difficult to keep her focused on one task or topic, Valeria had Edward's — and Alice's, but she controlled it well — patience wearing thin often. Edward was an introvert who preferred the quiet, peaceful moments in life — two things that Valeria was not.
"Well, nothing says 'we're a normal, happy, human family' like a little sister that makes you want to rip your hair out," Bella joked. Truthfully, she liked the side of Edward that came around when Valeria was involved. It made him seem more human.
Valeria made all the Cullens seem more human. There was something about their interactions when she wasn't in the room that was stiff, too quiet. When surrounded by the family of vampires, Bella often felt like the odd one out. Perhaps it was only because of the copied gift of humanity, but Bella had always felt most comfortable around Valeria. And yes, that included Edward who had intimidated her for the longest time.
"She's stopping," Edward said after a moment, sighing in relief. Then he frowned as he focused on her mind.
Valeria had a habit of thinking so fast that he couldn't catch everything — bouncing randomly from one thing to another. She could start out wondering if a bear could kill a shark and then move to remembering a funny joke from some sitcom and end up thinking of an eight-year-old season of Project Runway.
However, despite the chaotic mess that was Valeria's mind, Edward still knew her. He knew the way her mind moved and it was familiar to him.
Which meant he knew as her mind started to wander — to what, Edward didn't know — before abruptly snapping to a new topic that Valeria was specifically trying to not think of something.
"There's something she's trying not to think about that she doesn't want me to hear," he said, his frown deepening.
He could feel her mind continuously trying to travel to its desired subject, but Valeria wouldn't let it. She was intently trying to recite the lyrics of the Animaniacs world nations song.
Rosalie rolled her eyes as she passed through the room. "We've all done that before. Your gift is particularly annoying."
"But not Valeria," he stated, shaking his head. "She's never cared about the thoughts I've picked up on — doesn't even bat an eye over the really personal ones. She's focusing hard to not focus on what she wants to keep secret."
"Whatever it is, it's Valeria so it can't be bad," Bella said, holding Edward's hand. "Want to go to my house? That way you don't have to stress over her thoughts, and Val can have some privacy."
Edward nodded and then chuckled. "Valeria says to thank you," he told Bella, meaning that Valeria had been listening in as they discussed her. Usually, it was a coin toss as to whether Valeria was listening to others in the house. Most of the time, she didn't care what everyone was doing, but other times, her focus shifted to the others accidentally and then stayed there.
Bella was glad to leave. A part of her had an idea about what Valeria was trying to hide. She wasn't sure, of course, but figured it had to do with the 'top-secret werewolf business' that involved her as well as the baked goods she had asked Bella to deliver. And Bella was right about what Valeria was trying not to think about for the most part.
Of course, it was best Edward didn't know what she was so desperately trying to hide. If the family found out she was talking to any of the wolves — befriending them — they'd lose their minds. They'd yell for hours. They'd probably keep her locked in the house. Rosalie and Jasper would certainly threaten Sam and sweet little Seth. Carlisle might have even called the Elders of the tribe.
Once Edward and Bella were gone, Valeria could relax. Because all she wanted to think about as she painted the river separating their territories was Sam Uley.
It had been a few days since they saw each other, but she could clearly remember every minute, every smile, every laugh as the two of them sat at the treaty line. They had spent almost two hours together before Valeria had to return home — though it didn't feel nearly as long with how much they enjoyed each other's presence.
It was hard for Valeria to keep the shifter off her mind, and really, she didn't want to think of anyone else. She just wasn't aware of the reason why or that he thought of her even more often.
When Valeria heard someone heading for her room, she quickly turned her canvas to face the wall. Any one of her family members would be able to identify the painting of the treaty line, and then they might question why she was painting it.
A moment later, Jasper stepped into the room, lightly knocking on the open door despite the fact that she had already heard him coming.
"Hey, Jazz," she greeted, tucking her paintbrush behind her ear, not caring that some of the green smeared on her cheek. "What can I do you for?"
"Figured we ought to get your homework for the week finished," he told her. "You've got that big history test on Monday."
"Oh, I've already finished my work," she told him, sitting a little straighter. "I'll look over the study guide Monday before class."
"You finished?" he asked, eying her skeptically.
"Yeah. It's in my backpack if you wanna check it," she said, shrugging.
Jasper walked to her yellow backpack with purpose. When Valeria decided to do her homework on her own, it often meant there was more work for them as they had to correct her mistakes. Jasper helped with History, Rosalie with Physics, and Edward with English.
Valeria hummed to herself, cleaning up her supplies as Jasper dug through her messy backpack and found her study guide. His eyes scanned it quickly, a frown growing on his face.
"Val, these are all right," he said, sounding surprised. There weren't even eraser marks showing that she had to change a wrong answer.
"I do know some things sometimes," Valeria said, crossing her arms.
Jasper shot her an unimpressed look. "Or Google knows things."
Valeria sighed. She knew she couldn't admit that Sam had helped her with the study guide, so she'd have to go along with Jasper's assumption. "Mr. Ruffalo didn't say we couldn't look things up."
"Yes, but you know Carlisle wants you to do the work and learn on your own," Jasper told her. Valeria was going to be going to school for a long time as they continued to try and blend into towns for the rest of her existence. Carlisle, at least for her first time or two around, wanted Valeria to work hard on her own and pass her classes with minimal cheating.
"History is important, Valeria," Jasper said, taking a seat on her bed. "You need to learn from it and not just search the internet for simple answers. Knowing things of the past can help you have a successful future — something that will be rather lengthy for you now"
Valeria sighed over-dramatically and flopped down next to him on the mattress. "Look, I get that you were a super badass Union spy who infiltrated the Confederate army, and that history is fascinating to you. Really, you're awesome. But I just... don't care. I don't need to understand why they can't just print more money in order to have a nice existence."
"They can't print more money because—"
"Jazz," she said, shoving a pillow over his face. Unfortunately, suffocating him was impossible. "I just said I don't care. I wanna paint my pictures and watch my silly movies and beat Emmett in Mario Kart for the rest of my life, and I'll be content."
"First off, you've never beaten Emmett in Mario Kart," Jasper pointed out, pushing the pillow off his face. "You're very bad, even on easy mode."
"Okay, but I wipe the floor with him in Mario Party. And I beat him the last time we played Monopoly," she reminded him.
Jasper scoffed and shook his head. "You were stealing money from the bank when no one was looking."
Valeria opened her mouth to defend herself, but a loud voice sounded from down the stairs.
"YOU DID WHAT!"
Valeria quickly sat up, realizing that Emmett now knew she cheated at Monopoly. "Thanks a lot, Jazz," she muttered bitterly. Then she groaned when they heard Emmett running towards them.
"I can't believe you're cheating at goddamn Monopoly!" Emmett shouted, throwing her door open. "What's next? Killing babies? Tax evasion?"
"Uh, I don't know how taxes work, but isn't half of Jasper's purpose in this family that he helps us commit fraud and falsify documents and not pay taxes?" Valeria asked, tilting her head as she studied Jasper. "You know, you're actually really sketchy, Jazz."
"Stop trying to change the subject from the fact that you're a dirty, lying cheat who deserves to be in jail," Emmett said, crossing his arms.
"Monopoly jail?" Jasper asked for clarification.
Emmett narrowed his eyes at her. "No. Real jail with the rest of the criminals."
"That's unfortunate. I don't think I'd do too well in prison," Valeria muttered, finding Emmett's anger humorous. In spite of the cheating, Valeria was still the kindest of the Cullen siblings, and they all knew it. "Though, if I could get one of you guys to mail me friendship bracelet-making supplies, then I might stand a chance."
"Of course, you'd want to make friends with criminals," Emmett said, shaking his head disapprovingly. "Like calls to like."
"I'd give it two years before she has an underground crime ring wrapped around her finger," Jasper joked. "She'd get them to cheat at Monopoly for her."
"We're having a rematch," Emmett declared. "Right now. I don't care about your homework. And Rose is gonna watch you the whole time to make sure you keep those sticky fingers to yourself."
Valeria smirked on the inside, knowing that his wife had helped her cheat during the last game night. And it would likely be the same case during the rematch just to annoy Emmett. "Sounds like a plan."
☽︎
"You have a board game piece stuck in your hair."
Valeria abruptly looked up from her planner that she had been filling out for the following week — filling it out included covering the pages in stickers and highlighting future assignments in bright colors to try and make it more interesting for her.
Once again, she had found herself near the treaty line, back by the river that separated the land. It wasn't Seth or even Sam that ran across her though. The two boys were shifters she knew based on their physique and scent, though wasn't sure which ones. She could at least rule out Leah, the girl, and Jacob, who she had seen in passing.
The bigger of the two was watching Valeria with a cautious expression, but the one that had spoken just looked curious.
Valeria quickly ran a hand through her hair and after a few swipes, raked out the shoe piece from the Monopoly set.
"Oh, got a Monopoly board thrown at me for cheating," she explained, setting the shoe on top of her planner. Alice was the one to call her out, not quite as loyal as Rosalie. "Emmett turns into a baby when he loses."
"Then he certainly would've thrown a tantrum if you wouldn't have gotten in between us last week," the bigger one muttered.
Valeria thought for a moment, remembering the confrontation between Emmett and the silver wolf after losing Victoria. "You must be Paul then. Sorry about him. He's a bit of a hot head sometimes."
"Well, that makes two of them," the other boy said, clapping Paul on the back, who only rolled his eyes.
"You're the one that Bella punched, right?" Valeria asked, smiling a little at Paul.
He simply scoffed. "Not punched. She smacked me, and I didn't even feel it."
"If she'd have punched him, she'd have broken her hand," the other said. "I'm Embry, by the way. Big fan of your baking skills. Do you take requests in the form of cinnamon rolls?"
Valeria grinned at Embry. "I do, but I must warn you — I drown them in cream cheese frosting."
"Oh, I can already taste them," he said, shutting his eyes and smiling. "This is the start of a beautiful friendship. We can team up and rob everyone of their Monopoly money."
"Sounds fun," she said, giggling. "I'm Valeria."
"We know," Paul said, smirking. "You're all Seth talks about, and all Sam thinks about."
Valeria might have blushed if she could at the news that Sam thought about her. Unfortunately, she was far too shy to ask what he thought about her — too bad, as the boys would have loved the chance to embarrass Sam while he wasn't there to yell at them. Though they both knew it wouldn't be long before he picked up on his girl's scent and came across them.
"They've been hogging you," Embry added. "Want to see what all the fuss is about."
"I'm sure they're not really making a fuss," she said, shaking her head. "I figure they're just putting up with me and doing their best to ignore that I'm a vampire."
"Nah, they actually like you," Paul said. He'd know, considering he, Jacob, and Leah were the ones putting up with Valeria and trying to ignore the fact that she was a vampire. "They think you're nice and funny. Seth thinks you're hilarious."
She was happy to know they actually liked her but was also skeptical. By all accounts, them tolerating Valeria didn't make sense. They should hate her — they certainly hated the rest of her family still. But she was too scared to ask why, afraid that asking would put an end to their still new friendship.
But, with Paul and Embry stopping by, she wondered if she'd be making friends with even more of the pack.
"Most of my family thinks my jokes are dumb," she said, grinning. "But they made Seth laugh, so he obviously has better taste."
"Lay a joke on us," Embry said, shooting her a determined look. "We'll be the real judges of your humor."
"Okay, okay," she said, quickly wracking her brain for a joke. "Uh, what do you call the stuff stuck in a shark's teeth?"
"What?" Embry asked.
"Slow swimmers."
A snort escaped Paul before he put his serious face back on. Embry cringed and shook his head before booing her.
"Wait! Let me try another one," Valeria said, wanting to redeem herself. "Okay, um, what do you call a wolf who knows it's a wolf?"
"I can already tell this is bad," Paul said in a flat tone. But he did think it was funny she was making a joke about wolves to them.
Valeria paused for effect and even giggled to herself, thinking that the punchline really was funny. "Aware–wolf."
Both Paul and Embry groaned at that while Valeria slapped her knee, laughing at her own joke. Then she grinned at them. "What's Dracula's favorite coffee order?"
"It's getting worse," Embry said, biting his lip to stop from smiling. He didn't want to encourage these bad jokes.
"Decoffinated."
"You need to learn some new — wait, do you guys really sleep in coffins?" Embry asked. He and Paul studied her curiously.
"No," she said, chuckling. "We actually don't sleep at all. Which is really unfortunate, because napping was one of my favorite hobbies. I do think it'd be funny to keep a coffin in our rooms as a joke, but Carlisle said no. Doesn't want to lean into the stereotype."
"Sounds like a missed opportunity," Paul said, shrugging.
"Exactly! Like, do you know how bitchin it'd be to live in a castle with a moat and like a dungeon that was converted into a movie room?" Valeria asked, sighing. "But no. I'm stuck in the modern house with a bunch of depressed vampires that have no sense of humor — not counting Emmett. He too thinks living in a castle would be fun."
"Who's living in a castle?"
The three of them looked over as Sam joined them, having caught the end of Valeria's statement. As soon as she saw him, she smiled, and Sam's heart picked up simply because she was glad to see him.
"The bunny muncher," Paul stated, smirking as he crossed his arms. "I'm sure you could get some big strong wolves to keep out trespassers in exchange for frequent baked goods delivered."
"Valeria is not your own, personal bakery. I'm sure she'd get tired of cooking, especially when it only takes seconds for you to scarf it down," Sam said. He didn't want Valeria to feel like she had to bake in order to stay on their good side. "And you two have patrol starting soon."
"Alright," Embry said, putting his hands up. Then he looked at Valeria and smiled. "It really was nice to finally meet you. I can see what Seth and Sam are talking about."
"It's nice to meet more of the pack," Valeria said, grinning. Then she glanced at her planner. "And I should have time tomorrow afternoon to make those cinnamon rolls."
"Nice," he said, pumping his fist.
Paul caught Sam's eye and smirked, a look that didn't comfort the Alpha. "We've gotta get going, but you can get Sam's number and text him when they're ready."
Sam was doing his best to ignore how his pack mates were basically doing everything for him. Seth had been the one to get Valeria's name and find out all the initial information about her. Now Paul was getting her cell phone number for him. Just like when he was pursuing Leah, he needed the extra push.
Before leaving, Paul had winked at Sam while Embry mouthed, "good luck." Once they were gone, Sam took a seat across from Valeria on his side of the land.
"So, Embry is coercing you into making cinnamon rolls instead of muffins now?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"They're more fun to make anyway," she told him, shrugging. "Catch."
Valeria had pulled her phone out of her pocket and tossed it across the border to Sam, who easily caught it. He smiled softly at the sight of her phone case with Iron Man on it.
"Nice, but Captain America is better — ah!" Sam looked up from the phone at Valeria with a dumbfounded expression. "Did you just throw a stick at me?"
"Say it again, and it'll be a tree," Valeria said in a steady tone. "In this house, we respect Anthony Edward Stark."
Sam snorted and looked around. "We're outside."
"In this forest, we respect Anthony Edward Stark. If we're to continue to be friends, you must admit that Tony is better than Steve."
He grinned, thinking it was adorable how she adamantly insisted he like the same superheroes as her. Sam thought it'd be funny to mess with her a bit. "Too bad. I think he's arrogant and selfish. And half the villains that arise are his fault."
Valeria dug her hands into the dirt. "Would you like to pick out your tree, or just have it be a surprise?"
"Oh, you can pick it out," he said, smirking.
"Um, Steve Rogers is so self-righteous and a jerk to anyone that doesn't have the same views as him — so much so that the Avengers are literally always at odds even before Civil War. Plus, he's boring and has no personality. And don't even get me started on how he only represents one nation," Valeria ranted. "You don't have to hate him, I guess, but if he's your favorite then I have no choice but to question your taste and what kind of person you are."
"He's not my favorite," Sam said, chuckling. "But riling you up is fun. Thor is my favorite. Spiderman is a close second."
Valeria's shoulders relaxed and she nodded. "I guess I'll not throw a tree at you just this once. But you're on thin ice."
With the short argument about superheroes over, Sam finished putting his number in Valeria's phone. Then he tossed it back to her. After tapping on the screen for a few seconds, Sam's own phone buzzed in his pocket. Pulling it out, he saw a text from Valeria so that he'd have her number as well.
The message was just her name followed by a heart emoji, which put a smile on his face. And when he saved her as a new contact, he left the heart by her name. Unknown to him, she had gone in and added a blushing emoji to his contact.
There was something so innocent and "high school" about it, like they weren't two supernatural creatures that were supposed to be enemies. Like they weren't constantly at risk of being harmed, especially with Victoria still out there.
It was just Valeria, who knew she was developing feelings for him, and Sam, who knew he'd spend the rest of his life by her side.
☽︎
i don't super love this chapter but i'm trying to get her introduced to most of the wolves before actually getting into eclipse content. it does at least show more of her dynamic with her siblings — at least the boys — and a little bit of bella