^ The person who just helped me choose my whole freaking future... :)
37. Distracting the Wolves
BPOV
Quil and I sped along to the reservation in the SUV. I didn't even want to think about what might happen if Jacob and Embry phased at the hospital, or anywhere in town for that matter. They couldn't afford for their secret to become known any more than the vampires could. I knew they healed rapidly, but I still didn't want them to get hurt.
I tossed my phone to Quil and he quickly contacted Leah, filling her and Seth in about what had occurred. He had it on speakerphone so I could hear them too, which I really appreciated. Leah started yelling about Tyler's idiocy when she heard about the accident, and I heard Seth in the background, yelling, "Calm down, Leah! We don't need you phasing and running off to the hospital too."
"I'm fine, Leah," I soothed, trying to help her calm down. "Don't worry about me."
"Don't be silly, Bella! Of course, I'm worried about you," she berated me, though her voice sounded calmer. "You're the lynchpin holding everything together. I shudder to think what the wolf/Cullen situation would have been like if you hadn't intervened to bring us together. Even worse, I can only imagine how horrible it would have been to become a werewolf in Sam's pack and have to listen to his thoughts about Emily and to have the entire pack listening to my thoughts about him. What a nightmare. Besides, between talking to Rosalie and learning all about my future as a werewolf and imprinting, I'm ready to forgive Sam and let him go. I'm ready to forgive Emily and allow her into my heart and life again. I know now that neither of them wanted to hurt me, and there was nothing I could have or should have done differently. It wasn't my fault, or theirs—it simply wasn't meant to be. So, I'll distract Sam. I'll tell him I'm finally ready to discuss things rationally and have some closure so we can put the past behind us."
"I'll come with you and Quil to distract Paul," Seth volunteered.
"Excellent! Now we just have to figure out where they are," I proposed as I pulled up in front of the Clearwater's house. Quil flipped the phone closed, and we got out to knock on the door. We stepped up onto the front stoop, and the door was flung open. Seth and Leah both came barreling outside, nearly running into us. I gave Leah a big hug, which she returned eagerly. Then she stepped back and waved her hand in front of her nose.
"Dang, girl, you stink! You smell like you've been rolling in Eau' de Leech," she complained playfully. I giggled and hugged Seth quickly, before jumping back into the SUV. The others all climbed in too.
"Doesn't smell too bad to me," Seth admitted with a shrug.
"You get used to it after a couple minutes," Quil explained. "Just take deep breaths and allow the scent molecules to saturate your nose. Once the brain has identified the odor and concluded you can't escape from it, it will begin to filter out your notice of it. The scent is still there, but your brain chooses to ignore it, so you don't notice it. Pretty cool actually."
"So where should we start looking for our prey?" I asked, getting down to business. They all gave me a weird look and started laughing at me.
"You've been hanging out with vampires too long!" Leah accused between chuckles. "Certainly, we should hunt down our victims. Let's start with Sam and Emily's place. It's around dinner time, so Paul's probably over there with them too. I know they run patrols, but it's like once or twice a day, scouting for trails, so they're human the rest of the time."
I nodded, and she directed me to their house. "You know, both you and Quil reek of the Cullens. I have no doubt Sam will send Paul to keep an eye on you while I talk to Sam. They are going to be curious as hell what you were doing to be close enough to a leech to be covered in their scent." She sent me a look when I met her gaze in the rearview mirror.
I laughed. "Sorry, I don't kiss and tell, Leah." Quil snorted.
Leah rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that's fine for you, but Quil is going to have a much harder time explaining himself."
Quil huffed. "Puh-leez, girl. I just had a little tussle with Emmett during Mario Kart. I certainly wasn't kissing anybody."
"Who said anything about kissing, boy," Leah sneered. "Interesting to see where your mind was though." She smirked at him, determined to put him in his place.
He growled at her. "Watch it, bitch, or I'll have to teach you some manners."
"Ha! As if that word could bother me. It's not an insult if it's true. I am, or soon will be, a Grade A, number one, genuine Bitch, with a capital B. What else would you call a female werewolf? You're so moody, Quil. Are you sure you didn't imprint on Emmett? You two sure seem to enjoy each other's company."
Seth started laughing, thinking about Quil following Emmett around with lovey dovey puppy eyes. "Maybe we should get him a leash for you!"
Quil gave Seth the evil eye and whispered menacingly, "You're going down, Clearwater. Just wait and see. Your ass is mine!"
Seth grinned cheerfully. "Sorry, Quil, but I don't swing that way."
I bit my lip to hold back a chuckle, but Leah burst out laughing.
Quil frowned at her. He crossed his arms across his chest, the muscles in his biceps bigger than ever. "Leah, one of these days, I am going to spin you around by your tail and toss you up to the moon."
"Yeah, yeah. You keep telling yourself that," Leah provoked.
I was so happy we were pulling up to Sam's door then. I was afraid things were going to come to blows soon. It was like being in a car with Emmett, Jasper, and Edward all competing over some silly DS game. Trash talking, testosterone, and tight spaces tended to make me nervous. It was weird hearing Leah playing into it. Maybe it wasn't just a guy thing after all.
I got out of the car and heard two growls from inside the house. Boy, they must have strong sniffers. Sam and Paul were both out the front door and facing me in seconds. They seemed rather surprised at what they saw, though they continued to glare menacingly at me. My mouth twitched as I tried to hide my amusement.
"Howdy, gentlemen," I drawled pleasantly, keeping my face bland. "So nice to meet you. Leah has told me so much about you."
They both blanched at the mention of Leah, and they finally noticed her presence on the other side of the vehicle. Then they wore almost identical expressions of shock. Sam shifted uncomfortably, shuffling his feet and breaking out into a sweat. He cleared his throat nervously.
"Um, hi, Leah," he stuttered. "How can I help you this fine evening?" Paul snorted.
"Actually, Sam, I've made a few friends who have helped me put things into perspective. I'd like to talk to you and get some closure on our relationship. I'm finally ready to come to terms with what happened and to face my future without you. I was hoping you'd be willing to take a little walk with me so we could talk it all out."
Sam was pleasantly surprised. In fact, his jaw dropped. He closed his mouth with an audible snap, but he couldn't resist the opportunity to make peace with the woman whom he had unwillingly betrayed. He nodded and smiled tentatively. "Just a minute, okay? I'll be right back." Leah nodded, and Sam went back inside, giving me a cold stare in the process. Paul quickly followed behind him.
I couldn't hear anything, but I could tell by the intent expressions on Quil and Leah's faces that they could. Their eyes met in unspoken communication and Quil nodded.
"I'm going to show Bella around the rez. We'll be back to pick you up in about an hour, okay?" Quil announced, slightly louder than his normal speaking level. I knew it was for the benefit of the wolves inside. I got back in the SUV and pulled away from the house.
"What's the word?" I asked eagerly.
"Well, Leah's got Sam hooked and, sure enough, he ordered Paul to follow us around and listen in on our conversations. I was originally going to have us head to the beach, but I realized he would probably stay in wolf form and listen from the woods if we did that, which would completely defeat the purpose. So, instead, we are going to drive into the very center of town. With the noises around us, he's going to have to get a lot closer to understand what we're saying. He can't be in wolf form inside the town of La Push, so he'll be forced to stay human," Quil determined, as he sent Alice a text message letting her know the status of the two wolves.
"Great idea, Quil!" I encouraged. "I'm proud of you. We'll make a strategist out of you yet." I leaned over and gave him a brief kiss on the cheek. He promptly blushed and turned to stare out the window for a few minutes, trying to hide his reaction. I pretended I hadn't noticed.
"Awww! I'm going to tell Edward you were kissing Quil! You're going to be in trou-ble!" Seth taunted in a singsong voice.
I rolled my eyes. I seemed to do that a lot these days. Ever since I came to Forks, in fact. "Grow up, Seth!" I demanded.
"I've grown up a lot lately. About six inches in the past week. I'm surprised you didn't notice," Seth responded casually. I groaned and decided to just ignore him.
I parked where Quil suggested, and we got out to go for a little walk around town. We had decided to throw Paul and Sam for a loop with our conversation, and I knew the boys would follow my lead.
"You know, it was really nice of the Cullens to change that tire for me," I mentioned. The boys both smiled at me.
"The Cullens changed your tire?" Seth asked in amused disbelief.
"I was going to take care of it for you," Quil protested convincingly. "I know how to change a tire. You didn't need their help."
"I can't believe you jumped on top of Emmett, even if he did make a smart ass remark. That guy looks like a professional wrestler. I know you're pretty built, but I think even his muscles have muscles. You're lucky he decided not to fight you."
Seth burst out laughing.
"Hey! I could've taken him! Even he did feel like he's made of solid rock," Quil complained.
"Relax, Quil," I said with a smirk. "It's not your fault you couldn't find the jack. Who knew they would hide it behind a little panel on the side in the back instead of in the spare tire compartment?"
Quil growled at me, stalking toward me menacingly. I threw up my arms in surrender as I backed away. Seth just kept watching, wearing a big grin.
"Hey, I didn't know it was there either! Must be some kind of Mercedes thing," I quickly added.
Quil stopped in his tracks. He snorted. "Well of course the rich spoiled Cullens would know where to find a jack inside a Mercedes. What do you expect?"
"Why didn't you just read the manual in the glove compartment?" Seth asked, inserting the voice of logic and reason. I thought we were doing fairly well, considering we were making all this up as we went along. Both Quil and I glared at him.
"I was just getting ready to do that when the Cullens came along and took care of it," Quil explained through gritted teeth. Poor Quil. He didn't want to look stupid in front of Paul.
"I still don't understand how they took care of it so quickly," I interjected with a grin. "Especially without any tools. I swear they should be part of a pit crew or something."
Both Quil and Seth started laughing then, no doubt picturing Rosalie working in a race car pit. Any race car driver would be lucky to have her working on his car. Considering the improvements she'd made on everybody's cars thus far and the resulting maximum speeds, I'd say she's more than qualified for the position.
"By the way, Quil, did you notice anything odd about the Cullens?" I asked innocently. Both the boys immediately sobered, looking at me in surprise.
"Like what?" Quil asked guardedly.
"Well, they seemed to be giving you quick, nervous glances the entire time. It may have been because they thought you were going to attack them again, but it seemed like more than that. They also wrinkled their noses every time you got close to them, like you smelled bad, but you smell fine to me. Oh, and when I gave Edward that thank you hug, didn't he seem a little stiff?"
Seth and Quil exchanged a glance and Seth let out a guffaw. Quil struggled to keep a straight face as he delivered his line, "Oh, yeah, I'd say he wasstiff alright when you were hugging him. He seemed to think you smelled pretty good too, but then again, so do I. I'd say you enjoyed it too, considering you couldn't keep your eyes off of him the entire time."
He and Seth dissolved into a laughing fit then. Great. If they weren't careful, they would give the whole game away.
"There was just something about him drawing me in—his voice, his face, even his smell. As if he needs any of that," I mused. Seth and Quil both gave me an odd look before changing the subject. They started talking about cars, which was utterly boring for me. I decided to have a little fun with them too, in addition to Paul and Sam.
"Hey, I know! Let's play the 'what if' game," I suggested enthusiastically. The boys stopped chatting and gave me with considering looks. They both shrugged and nodded.
"Okay, what if mythological creatures were real?" I proposed. "Would you rather be a werewolf or a vampire?" They both gaped at me in disbelief for a second before recovering their composure.
"Werewolf," Quil replied instantly. "What about you?"
"Vampire," I responded. I heard a growl come from behind the building on our right.
"Why?" Quil asked, before Seth could say anything.
I shrugged. "They're sexier."
"Oh, no way!" Quil protested. "How could a cold, dead corpse possibly be sexier than a hot-blooded werewolf?"
"They're not corpses, you know. If they were dead, how could they be walking and talking?"
"They don't have a heartbeat. Besides, a cockroach can survive for more than a week after you chop off its head. They're like walking, talking, blood-drinking headless cockroaches," Quil sneered.
I glared at him. He better not be serious. Seth was looking at him in surprise as well. He saw our expressions and mouthed an apology, looking sheepish. I relaxed.
"No, you're thinking of zombies, silly. That's a whole other story," I replied calmly. "What about you Seth?"
He grinned mischievously. "I want to be a vampire werewolf."
"There's no such thing," Quil scoffed. "It's one or the other."
"Ha! That's what you think," Seth taunted. "I say if there are vampires and werewolves, what if a vampire falls in love with a werewolf? They would have vampire werewolf babies."
"It would never happen," Quil disagreed. "They're mortal enemies. They'd never fall in love."
"What about Romeo and Juliet?" I pointed out with a smirk. "They were mortal enemies, but they fell in love."
"Yeah, and look how well that worked out for them," Quil snickered. "And at least they were the same species."
"Well, I don't see why the werewolves and vampires have to be enemies," I protested. "Sure, they should destroy the bad vampires, but what about the good vampires?"
"What good vampires? The only good vampire is a dead vampire. That's what I've always heard," Quil responded with disdain.
"Don't be ridiculous. They were human before they became vampires, weren't they? Just as there are good humans and bad humans, there must be good vampires and bad vampires, good werewolves and bad werewolves. It's the natural order of all sentient beings," I explained confidently. "Otherwise, there is no such thing as good or bad. It all becomes relative, and then there is no concept of morality, no inherent right and wrong."
Quil looked thoughtful, but Seth just looked at me with complete confusion.
"Okay, I was understanding the first half of that, but then you kind of lost me on the second part. A little too philosophical for me, I think," Seth stated.
Just then I received a text message from Alice letting us know the mission had been successful. I smiled at the boys.
"Time to pick up Leah, then I've got to head back home," I announced happily. They smiled in understanding. "We can continue this discussion some other time."
"Great," they groaned in unison. This time is was my turn to have the laughing fit. I couldn't wait to get back to the Cullen house and find out what happened with everybody else.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hehehe.... I'm in a VEEEERY good mood so i uploaded.... :) I'm finally taking arts so can work on my writing and give you better stuff...
NOW! GOALS!!!!!!!! Hehe YES i still have a goal! Just get to 20? Thats not hard for you guys.... :)
<3 Y