Bella got up the next day at almost noon. She checked her phone to see if she had gotten any messages. There was one from Peter earlier, stating that he had to run out and that he would be home soon. She got up, went downstairs and Peter sat down at the couch reading a book. He must've already done what he had to do.
"Back already?" Bella asked
"Well, I couldn't get to the animal clinic like I wanted to get to my beta." Peter said, not looking up from his book.
"Animal clinic?"
"There's one in town that knows about our kind." Peter explained.
"Oh, that one."
"Indeed." Peter said, tossing his book aside "Anyways, I've heard of a Winter Formal happening at the high school tonight."
"What about it?"
"Well, in order to get to Scott, I was hoping a certain girlfriend of his could help. Someone innocent to get his attention."
"Okay...." Bella said hesitantly "What are you gonna do? Kidnap her? That's low."
"Not exactly. What are you up to right now?"
Bella shrugged "Nothing."
"Good. You can come shopping with me." Peter said as he got off the couch
"You want to go shopping? You're kidding? Where?"
The two of them headed to the car and made their way to Macy's.
"What are we doing here, clothes shopping?"
"Something like that."
They wandered around until they made their way to the upper floor. Bella could've sworn that she saw Stiles holding dresses in his arms for a redhead girl. She was getting bored. She caught her eye on a leather jacket with a hoodie attached inside it. She walked over to it and took it off the rack and tried it on.
Once Bella stood in front of a mirror, she thought "Well, I actually look pretty good. I guess all Hales look good in leather."
She then turned around and saw her father talking to a brown haired girl
"Considering your skin tone, I'd go lighter." Peter said to the girl.
"Because I'm pale?" she asked
"Fair. I mean, you can't call skin like yours pale. Not skin that perfect."
"Okay." the girl smiled awkwardly
"Trust me, I have a unique perspective on the subject"
Bella tried hard to not laugh as she walked up the two. "Since when do you have a perspective on fashion, dad?"
The older girl relaxed a bit but was still nervous
"Who doesn't?" Peter said as he grabbed a silver dress off the rack behind him. He grabbed the girl's hand and examined her skin tone and the dress tone. "See? Much better."
Peter put the dress back "You're not here alone are you? Shopping for dresses with friends?"
The girl nodded
"Well, I'm just here to get my kid some new stuff." Peter said, wrapping an arm around Bella. "High school dance?"
"Formal" the girl said
Bella rolled her eyes when she realized why they were at Macy's.
The intercom went off. "Will the owner of the blue mazda, license plate 5UN I768. You are being towed."
The girl panicked
"That's my car!" she said as she ran off.
Peter chuckled "I have to say, Scott, I continue to be impressed with your ingenuity. Just remember. You can't be everywhere all the time."
Bella began to feel sad "We didn't come here to shop around, did we?"
Peter shrugged, "Why can't we do both?"
"Doesn't make sense to me." Bella holds the jacket up and puts it back on a rack "Here I thought we were gonna have some time together and here you are fraternizing with teenage girls."
Peter laughed out loud. "I'm not fraternizing with anyone. That was Scott's girlfriend."
"So that makes it okay?"
"I'm not hitting on teenage girls. I will make conversation with one to get close to someone else."
Bella nodded "Sure, dad. Whatever you say."
"Hey, come on now. We can't mix business and personal time?"
"If you want to do something like that, don't do it in front of me. It was humiliating."
Peter sighed "I'm sorry, kiddo. I didn't mean to upset you."
"Let's just go." Bella said as she made her way out of the store.
Peter sighed and took one look at the jacket Bella found and followed behind her.
The two of them almost said nothing on the way back home. Back at the loft, Peter tried to explain that with him being an Alpha, he needed to keep things in check with his beta, Scott. "Otherwise, how else will he reach his potential? "The bite is a gift. He needs to accept that."
"Well it seems like not everyone wants it."
"It doesn't matter if someone wants the bite or not! It'll happen!"
"I thought we were gonna put this behind us."
"What?"
"You literally told me that we would leave everything behind and start a new life elsewhere. Or was that just a lie?"
"Bella, I have never lied to you about anything. I bit Scott before I made that promise to you. Once I get through to him, we will go. I promise."
"I need some air." Bella decided to run out to the video store to try and find something to watch for the weekend, But not before she was stopped along her tracks by someone before entering the parking lot of the store.
"Well, little Hale!" a cheery voice said behind her. "
Bella turned and met the voice behind her
"Look at you now, not so little anymore." the mysterious woman said.
Bella squinted her eyes "Who are you?"
"Aw, I'm surprised you don't recognize me and yet, you know my name. After all, I am the one that cripped your dear old dad."
Bella began to realize who was standing right in front of her. "You're an Argent." she said angrily
The woman laughed "That I am. Kate Argent."
"What do you want with me? You should know, I am not a wolf. You can't hurt me as I am human. Throw silver at me, it won't do anything. Poison me with wolfsbane, nothing will happen."
"Awe sweetheart. Don't worry. I already know this. By the way, how is Derek?"
"Don't know. Don't care."
"Oh, so you wouldn't mind if I killed him?"
Bella's eyes widened "What did you do to Derek?"
"Nothing that'll hurt him. Yet." Kate said as she walked away
After that, Bella rushed home and immediately called out to Peter.
"Dad!" she cried
Peter jumped from the couch "Bella? What is it?"
"Where's Derek?"
"How should I know? I thought that you didn't care."
"I didn't until now." Bella pants. Her heartbeat was all over the place.
Peter realized something was terribly wrong. "What happened?"
"I just met Kate Argent."
Peter's eyes widened as he rushed over to his daughter's side "Kate? My god, did she hurt you?"
Bella nodded "No. But I think she did something to Derek. I think he may be missing."