Disclaimer: Any recognizable Twilight characters and ideas are property of Stephenie Meyer. I am not profiting from the distribution of this story. No copyright infringement is intended.

Author's Notes: Why, hello, there! Long time, no see! I could get into why I've been MIA so long, but I'm a pretty private person. Let's leave it as real life bit me hard in the ass, including a nasty illness that put me VERY behind at work. Thank you for understanding why I haven't been around. I had a LOT of concerned message and reviews begging me to not abandon this story. Believe me—it ain't happening! You can rest easy! Lol I already have a bunch of chapters written, and this story is my baby. I'll see it all the way through!

As always, I need to take time to say thank you to my amazing readers, and welcome to all those new favorites and follows from the last chapter! Hey, there! Thank you so much to everyone that reviewed or reached out to me through private message. My readers are pretty amazing people! I greatly appreciated everyone standing behind me and supporting my decision to post when I want to as my real life allows. I can ignore the trolling comments much easier knowing I have my army behind me. ;)

I'm busy catching up on my reviews from the last chapter. I respond to reviews, so make sure you're logged in if you choose to leave some comments. Stay tuned to the end of the chapter for what I think is an exciting announcement!

Finally, a GIGANTIC thank you to my hardworking beta, O2Shea. She is a constant source of encouragement and her editing skills are second to none! Thanks, lady! You're amazing!

Let's get to it!

From Chapter Thirteen: Duck and Cover -

"Alright, I'll stick around." I help up my hand when Jake heaved a huge sigh, "Wait, wait, wait. Not so fast. Answers."

"Answers?"

"Answers. All of 'em. If I'm staying, I need you to get everything else out in the open. Everything. I don't wanna find out the rest of this in bits and pieces. If I stay, you bring me up to speed."

Jake and Sam looked at each other for a long moment before Sam finally nodded. "Alright," Jake said. "We'll take that deal."

"Starting with what really happened in the woods."

"Two weeks ago?" Jake asked.

"No. Four and a half years ago."

After a moment, I saw the recognition in Jake's eyes. "Alright. Let's head on back to the fire. A spooky story needs a good fire."

Chapter 14: The Cold Ones

Present Day

Charlie POV

Bella is a vampire.

A vampire.

Images of the old black and white ``Dracula" kept popping up into my head and made the whole thing seem even more damned ridiculous than it already was.

But it was true.

Werewolves were real.

Vampires were real.

Bella is a vampire.

This was really real and really happening.

I just couldn't picture it. Did Bells dress all in black with thick makeup now? Not that the Cullens ever did, but didn't it come with the territory? Hell, maybe she even wore a cape. That's what vampires do, right? They wear black and put on capes and turn into bats and do more stuff I wasn't even ready to think about.

Like the blood…thing.

Another huge swig of my third Rainer washed that thought away. There were things I was willing to try to accept about my daughter if it meant getting her back, but I was still stuck on the blood thing.

Well, the blood thing and how she'd made me believe she'd died alone in the woods when she was actually off living her very own trashy vampire romance novel the whole damn time.

That earned me another two swigs of beer.

Problem was the Rainer was doing a crappier and crappier job of holding back the questions I couldn't stop myself from thinking:

Who does that to their own father?

Did she ever miss me?

Did she ever regret her decision?

Was she still Bella—just with fangs?

Was she happy?

God, I hoped she was happy.

The sounds of the fire and talking around me started to slowly fade back in as my wish took the edge off my anxiety about the damn vampires. Seemed the boys were still swapping stories, which was fine with me. I didn't mind listening in. They all reminded me of two other members of this tribe gone far, far too soon. The familiarity of sitting in front of the fire—even with everything we'd all been through—helped me more than they probably knew.

Across the fire, Jacob caught my eyes and gestured towards my plate.

Kid was obsessing over what I was and wasn't eating, again. I rolled my eyes at him and made a production of taking another bite of my burger.

The second I tried to start chewing, I completely regretted it and tried best as I could to choke the piece down. Everything I'd already eaten was sitting like lead in my gut, and the way this bite was slowly scraping down my throat, it was a pretty good bet I was gonna be revisiting it before I got any shuteye.

Jake had somehow convinced me to try and eat something before he would go into any more detail about what the hell had been going on around here. It had been over twenty-four hours since I'd eaten, so I figured he probably had a point. That, plus the sudden urge to stick my head in the sand and pretend all this wasn't happening, made his demand fairly attractive.

So that's how I found myself here—trying to polish off the last of my burger while the guys sat around sharing story after story about Embry and Collin.

Jake turned to me as soon as he saw my plate empty. "Feeling any better, Charlie? Want something else?"

"Nah, I'm good." I said as I put the plate next to me on the ground. "So…"

I noticed that the others had also quieted down pretty good and were looking my way, which meant I had quite the audience watching me by the time I straightened up and scooched forward on the log.

No one said a word, and I sure as shit didn't know what to say either.

Maybe it was the dark night and fire throwing weird light and shadows everywhere. Maybe it was the fact that I'd seen the wolves and the Cold Ones with my own eyes. Or maybe it was knowing what had taken place in the yard and trees all around us just hours ago. Whatever it was, the supernatural vibe was jerking on my nerves hard.

Were we just supposed to have a normal conversation after everything that happened?

"Okay, this is weird," Jake said.

I guess not.

"No shit," Jared said. "Thank God someone finally said it."

"I thought it was just me. Having…processing issues, right now," I said.

Jake smirked. "Not just you, Chief. We've spent so many years having to keep all this from you. Now that it's all out in the open, I don't even know where to start."

I ignored Paul's grunt as I ran a hand through my hair. "I know what you mean, kid. But I can tell you that Billy and Harry are probably having a hoot up there watching me squirm with all this."

"You're probably not wrong. They always did like to mess with you," Jake said with a smile. It quickly faded before he added, "I really wish they were here, right now."

"Me, too," Seth said.

I nodded and lifted my beer in the air. "To Billy and Harry."

"And to Embry and Collin," Sam said.

We all took a drink of our beers and I tried my best to ignore the fact that Seth probably shouldn't even have one. I supposed if you could risk your life as a giant wolf to protect your tribe and my sorry ass, you could have a damn beer.

Jake scooted forward and rested his elbows on his thighs. "Look, before we go any further, I think I owe you an apology about what happened back in the house."

Heat flared right back up my gut and into my throat. I really wasn't ready to have this part of the conversation, but I discovered that my jaw was locked up pretty good. I could feel the bones popping in little spasms as I glared at my best friend's son. Guess we were doing this.

"I really feel like crap for having the whole thing about…you know…Bella being one of them slip out like that," Jake continued. "I mean, I don't know. I guess maybe I figured it was obvious. Why else would she have needed to play dead like that to run—"

"Jake…" Sam warned from my right.

"What?" Jake asked. He looked back at me and must have seen the hellfire all over my face because his eyes went wide. "I'm fucking this up again, aren't I?"

I found my voice. "Royally, kid."

Jake dropped his head down and wrapped his hands around the back of his neck. He let out a loud groan. My anger sputtered out as fast as it had roared to life. The kid was obviously not trying to pissing me off, and he was still littered with bruises and cuts from their weeks away from home. This was getting us nowhere. "Okay, kid. Okay. Just…let's leave that alone for a little while."

"Yeah, okay. I can do that," Jake said as he straightened back up. "Well, I promised you some answers. Do you wanna just ask some questions, or…"

I shook my head. "Maybe you'd better just…" I gestured out in front of me and continued, "Pick a spot and start there. Can't really think that clearly, right now. Not gonna lie—it's a little awkward with you all just…watching me."

"Oh. Sorry, Chief," Jake said. "Probably better we get moving, anyway. Guys, go get Leah. She's been inside with Paul and the girls, so I'm sure she'd like an escape button. Set up a perimeter and run watch. Stay in contact. Sam and I will hang out here with Charlie and get him caught up to speed."

Most of the guys headed towards the house right away, but Seth stayed behind. "No way, man. I'm staying, this time. You already ditched me once, today."

"Seth, come on. We need all hands out there," Jake said.

"Then send him!" Seth said, pointing at Sam. "Man, seriously, you know my dad would have pitched a fit if he knew I wasn't gonna be here in his place when Charlie was officially joining the club."

Jake sighed. "Alright, alright. You stay. But if the guys need help, your ass is the first one gone."

"Yes!" Seth cheered to himself. "This is the Dream Team, and you know it."

Jake shoved Seth and rolled his eyes. "Whatever, man." He turned back to me and said, "Okay. It's just us, now. Any better?"

"Much. It was like being in a fish tank before." I collected my thoughts for a moment, and then said. "Things are just really fuzzy up in my head, right now. I know you said you thought it was pretty obvious—her being that—but it sure as hell wasn't obvious to me. When I realized that Bella had faked her death and there was something wrong with the Cullens, it had never even crossed my mind that Bella could be a…"

I tried a couple times, but I couldn't make myself say the word. Apparently thinking the word, vampire, and saying it out loud were two very different things. "Jesus Christ. I never, ever considered that she could be like them. I mean…Are you sure, kid?"

"Yeah, Charlie. We're sure. I'm really sorry," Jake said.

He was. It was written all over his face.

"My daughter…is a vampire," I said. "I keep waiting for this to all be a nightmare, but damned if I'm not waking up."

"At least you know she's out there, Charlie. Safe," Seth said.

Jake laughed under his breath and threw a glare Seth's way. "Define 'safe.'"

"Uhhh, alive. Isn't that enough?"

"Not even a little," Jake said.

Seth tried to get in the last word but I held up my hand and said over him, "Hey, hey. Okay. That's…more than enough, kids."

They had the decency to at least look a little bit guilty, but I wasn't sure how genuine it was on either side. Sam sat forward and said, "Jake, I don't want to step on your toes here, but I think it's only fair that we make sure Charlie understands the dangers involved with this knowledge."

I rolled my eyes. "Ah, goddammit. Not this warning crap, again. How many times do I—"

"No, no. It's not like that," Sam said. "Jake has made his decision to tell you. I may not completely agree, but I'm done arguing about it. We needed to get the Cullens here, and we needed you to do it. But that doesn't change the fact that you need to know what exactly we're up against if you're going to involve yourself. There's a damn good reason why we've never come clean in the years since the Cullens left town. You need to know what you're up against."

Across the fire, Jake rolled his eyes. "God, he knows, Sam. He had a front row fucking seat to it today. I promised him answers."

"Answers that aren't yours to give, Jacob. You know what this will do to the treaty."

"Oh, whatever. Do you really think Bella would let any of them hurt us?"

"Do you?" Sam asked. "It's been years, Jake. You don't know what's changed. Are you ready to accept that risk on behalf of your people?"

"I know her. That much won't be different. I can't be...Alice promised."

"I'm with Jake," Seth said. "The Cullens wouldn't hurt us. Most of them are pretty cool."

Sam nodded. "And what about the others? The Italians?" My ears perked up. "Are they 'pretty cool,' too? If they find out that Charlie knows—"

"They won't," Jake said.

"You damn well better believe they could. Who knows how they've gotten the information they already have." Sam sat forward and turned back to me. "There's a group of their kind in Italy that—I guess rule is the best word—over the rest of the Cold Ones. They make sure that no one breaks their most important law: tell no one about the existence of vampires."

I leaned back. "Jesus, that's what you meant by the Italian Mafia." When the boys nodded, I asked, "You think they're the ones after you?"

"We're almost sure of it," Sam said.

"Because you know their secret?"

Jake shrugged. "Maybe."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It means that we're not completely sure why they're attacking us," Sam said. "All we know is that it's calculated. If they meant to just kill us, it would be done. But we don't think that's their endgame…and we can't guarantee they won't find out about how much you know. As I said, we don't even know how they have the information they do about us as it is."

"Well, I think it's a little late for worrying about any of this," Jake said. "I'm not worried about the damn treaty. You and I both know thatCarlisle would never pull the trigger on it for something like this."

"I wouldn't be so sure, Jake," Sam said.

Jake rolled his eyes. "As for the Italians, we can just blame Charlie finding out on the leeches that were here today. They exposed themselves pretty hardcore."

"Hey, uh, guys?" I asked. "Does Charlie get to weigh in on this at all?"

They all turned to look at me.

"Here's the thing, kids—I'm done. I'm just done. My little girl is out there somewhere wrapped up in all of this, and I'm still her damn father. I need to understand exactly what all this means. She's my everything. Always has been. Always will be. Whatever happens to me because I know… is what happens to me."

Sam nodded. "Then, we hear you, Charlie."

"Yeah," Jake said. "If it comes down to it, I'll take responsibility for telling you. Whatever punishment they wanna hand out is on my head. Every one of us will go down swinging for you."

Seth and Sam nodded, but I wasn't having it. "Seems like a reckless plan, son."

"Well, it's a little late to take anything back," Jake said, "Look, Charlie, being in the dark has just gotten you into more and more danger. Sam…" He paused and looked over at Sam before turning back to me. "Sam wasn't trying to be an ass by not telling you."

Seth smirked. "Nah. He's like that all on his own."

Sam sighed as Jake continued, "Seriously, though, Sam was just trying to keep you safe. But when the decisions started to fall on me, I knew I needed to come clean with you. You not knowing what really happened with Bella always felt so wrong. And by then, you were starting to do kinda dumbass things like heading into vamp-infested woods by yourself because you didn't know any better."

"Well, then…here's your chance, kid," I said.

"Where do you wanna start?"

After thinking it over for a moment, I said, "Beginning is as good a place as any, I guess. The Cullens and you all have your panties in a knot because I was nosin' around in the supernatural crap around here, but you said Bella found out about all this before she left. How long before?"

Jake shifted around on his log. "Uh, actually I think she found out pretty soon after she moved in with you."

I sighed. "Why am I not surprised? That little girl always did march to the beat of her own drummer. Of course she'd found herself in the middle of all this so quickly." I reached down and picked up my Rainier. After taking a large gulp of it for some courage, I put it back at my feet and said, "Okay…well…which one of the Cullens dragged her into all this?"

None of them said a damn thing. I tipped my head back and groaned. "It was the kid, wasn't it? Of course it was. All roads lead back to Edward fucking Cullen, don't they? Goddamn him."

Seth shook his head as he smirked and leaned forward in his seat. What the hell was he so happy about? Jake and Sam sure didn't find anything funny about my question. In fact, Jake was squirming around more than a carp on the hook.

And then it hit me.

Of course.

I knew it. I'd known it for a while now.

Jacob.

My heart felt like it started to slam against the inside of my chest as Jake cleared his throat. "Heh, uh…well…" he said. "It was actually me."

Jacob winced and lifted his head to look at me. I couldn't tell exactly how my face must look, but I could taste the fire on my tongue. That had to be written all over my face because his eyes widened into the size of quarters. "Wait…It's just… I mean, I didn't really tell her anything. At least…Oh, God."

I took a deep breath and tried to remind myself that he was really just a kid with way too much on his plate. He had just been handed the reins of a werewolf army. He'd lost two good friends fighting for his people and his dad not too long before that.

But he was also, without question, able to fit his foot as deeply in his mouth as his father had sometimes been known to do.

"After everything you've told me about the Italians and whatever the hell is going on, how could…What in the hell were you thinking, Jake?"

"Charlie, I was barely 14!"

I tossed my hand up in the air. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I didn't start shifting until the next year," Jake said. "I didn't know the stories about the Cold Ones were true. I swear. I thought it was a bunch of spooky crap my dad told me to keep me from doing dumb shit."

"So why tell Bella?"

As soon as I saw him completely stumped and Seth trying hard to wipe the smile off his face, I realized the why. "Aw, Jesus Christ, kid. You wanted her to like you, so you decided pulling her into the La Push melodrama was the way to do it? You're batting a fucking thousand today, kid."

Jake looked at Seth and Sam for help, but Sam just shook his head. To me, he said, "I don't get it. You already knew Bella knew about everything," Jake said. "Why is it different that it came from me and not one of the damn leeches?"

"Well…I don't know!" I yelled as I threw my arms out and let them fall back heavily to my side. "I don't know how the hell it's so different. But it is. That much I know. I mean, how many months have you all given me the end run around out here? What the hell, Jake? Should I have batted my eyelashes at you a little harder when I asked about the Cullens?"

Seth snickered at that. "Can it, kid," I told him.

"I didn't tell you because I was under Sam's orders—"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I interrupted.

"—but that's a completely different story. I swear to God I didn't think the stories were real, Charlie. How the hell do you think I felt when I realized a year later what I had done? I would never have said anything if I'd known the truth. That and it…Well, it broke the treaty."

I sighed. "This treaty—the one you made with the Cullens. I take it you're not supposed to tell anyone each other's secrets?"

Jake shook his head no as Sam said, "But that's only part of the treaty. It also draws up boundary lines for the Cullens and us."

"Yeah, but the Cullens were always cool about their land," Seth said.

"That was their choice," Sam added, but I already knew that. Maybe it was formally written in a treaty somewhere, but Billy was never shy about making sure everyone knew the Cullens were not welcome on the reservation.

He turned back to me. "There's something else the treaty does. It goes back to the story of Taha Aki."

I had to smirk when I saw Jake rolled his eyes while Seth practically collapsed in on himself with a groan. They'd been reacting that way to their fathers' stories since they were little. With all the crap I'd learned about them in the last twenty-four hours, it was refreshing to see something familiar.

"Sit up, the both of you," Sam said. "You know, Charlie, one day when Taha Aki was very old and no longer shifted, the Macah tribe sent word that several of their young women were going missing. The wolves traced the scent out into the forests beyond. Yaha Uta, the youngest of the pack, was the only one to return. He said when they found what they'd come to call the Cold One, he was bent over one of the kidnapped girls. The pack couldn't figure out what it was doing until it lifted its head. You need to know that it had the girl's blood smeared all over it."

I heard myself gasp right before all sound cut out around me. The crickets went silent. The firewood stopped popping. It was like I was dropped into a void that only allowed me to take in the straight-faced mask plastered over Sam's face.

Because there it was. The blood thing I'd been doing my damnedest to avoid.

They did drink blood.

God damnit, anyway.

My stomach rolled hard. I heard a muffled voice ask, "Uh, Charlie? You alright, over there?"

I dropped my hands back to my sides. When did I cover my face?

And when the hell did I stand up?

"I…" I started to say, but didn't know how to finish. I plopped down in my seat and sat quietly for a moment before trying again. "You have no idea how much I needed the Cullens' special diet not to be blood. That's just…"

Seth's nose wrinkled. "Yeah, that part's pretty gross."

"Now you know why we work so hard to destroy any leeches on our lands," Sam said. "Once a bloodsucker starts to feed, they don't stop until the person is drained dry. They leave a trail of bodies behind them."

I was just barely containing the bile that had already burned my throat up pretty good, and hearing the word, "bodies," definitely didn't help the fight. Gross didn't even begin to cover it. Absolutely wrong did a little better.

But as I stared at the dirt under my boots and fought back my dinner's encore performance, I tried to think as rationally as I could. The Quileutes had the treaty with the Cullens. If the Cullens really were offing people left and right, Billy never would have stood for it. Didn't Jake even admit in the house that the Cullens lived peacefully?

So what the hell did that mean? Could they maybe live on bagged blood like people donate at hospitals?

Hospitals.

No wonder Carlisle was a doctor. He'd have access to all the blood the family needed.

To drink.

They drank blood.

My head suddenly felt really weird, and I realized that the land around me was bending at the edges of my vision. I was gonna go down if I didn't do something fast. I stuck my head between my legs as much as my jeans would let me and tried to breathe.

"Charlie? You still with us?" Jake asked from across the fire.

"Yeah, kid," I said quietly. "Just gotta…get a handle on this."

"It's a lot."

My head throbbed hard. "Yep."

I wasn't sure how much time had passed with my head dropped between my legs, but when I slowly sat up again, all three of them were looking at me, concerned. "A little warning next time, Sam."

"You needed to know the whole story to fully understand the treaty," he said.

"Uh-huh…Well…Finish the damn job then. What about the Cullens? What was different about them? I mean, you didn't destroy them. You made the treaty. What's the last part of it?"

"They're forbidden from killing or even biting a human," Jake said.

"Not that they would," Seth added. "It's not like the treaty is the only thing stopping them. They just, I don't know, made it official."

"But they drink blood?"

All three of them nodded. I said, "So, Carlisle is a doctor. Is he taking stuff from whatever hospital he works for or something?"

"No," Jake answered. "We always wondered why he never did until Bella told us that it has to be…ugh…fresh." His eyebrows scrunched up. "You alright, Chief?"

That dizzy feeling was back. Every time I thought I was being a trooper with all this mystic crap, one of them has to say a fucking word like, "fresh." "Peachy. Just…go on."

Jake didn't look convinced, but continued, anyway. "They hunt animals. It's completely disgusting and I don't want to talk about it, but…yeah. That's what they live on."

Animals.

Huh. That didn't sound as bad as….the other…

The black around my vision pulled back a little bit. I took a deep breath. "Is that why you guys made the treaty with the Cullens in the first place? Because they wouldn't hurt anyone?"

"They might not hunt humans like normal leeches do, but that doesn't mean you can trust them," Sam said. "Don't ever forget that just because the Cullens choose to live differently than those bloodsuckers today, it doesn't mean they're not capable of being every bit as dangerous."

Seth rolled his eyes. "Don't listen to him. The Cullens are good people, Charlie."

I looked at Jacob for his take, but he just shrugged. No help there.

"Alright," I said. "So this treaty…What happens if someone breaks it?"

Sam held my eyes for a moment before saying, "War."

"War? As in…"

"As in if there's a breech in the treaty, the other side has the right to attack."

Oh. Like actual war, then.

All those times Billy or Harry would make shitty comments about the Cullens but then refuse to explain themselves, I had always passed it off as prejudice. I'd had no clue that the stakes were so high.

I turned to Jake. "Jake, when you broke the treaty before with Bells, what happened with the Cullens?"

"Nothing," he said. "Dad said that he was the one to talk to Carlisle about it. I guess he forgave us pretty quickly because I didn't think the stories were true. After I started shifting, Dad told me what I'd done had almost cost the whole tribe."

"Duuude, like I keep saying—never would've happened," Seth said.

Jake looked over at him. "You're probably right." He turned back to me. "Anyway, it was one of the only times I ever remember my dad talking about the Cullens with any kind of respect. He really appreciated getting the second chance."

"So what happens now?"

"With the treaty?" Jake asked. I nodded. "When I talked to Carlisle, he was…I don't know, pissed isn't the right word. I've never known anyone who can be that angry without raising his voice. It was fucking scary. He's not happy with what my dad did—or me, for that matter—and we'll be 'talking' more when they get here, but he said they wouldn't be taking any action against us. I'm taking that to mean we'll be okay."

Seth smirked. "See? Good people."

Maybe in some case I'd agree with Seth, but I wasn't laying out any final verdict, just yet. I still had a talk of my own planned for the Cullens—starting with that damn kid.

I lifted my head and looked Jake square in the face. "Alight, all this treaty business having been said, answer me one thing. Would Bella have even gotten involved in all this crap if you hadn't told her?"

Jake stumbled around his words a couple times before saying, "I-I…She…I don't know."

"Not good enough. Yes or no, kid. Because right now, my daughter is out there, and at the end of the day, they…they made her into one of them. I need to know if you're the reason why."

"Charlie, man, it doesn't matter," Seth said. "It's what Bella wanted."

"I've got this, Seth," Jake said. He turned to me. "Look, she probably would have found out one way or the other. Bells told me once that Edward had been planning to keep his distance, but you saw the two of them. How they always were together. If not me, it would have been him. Or Alice."

"Jake is right, Charlie," Sam said, finally coming to Jake's rescue after letting him squirm on the line all this time. "It seems incredibly likely that one of the Cullens would have eventually told Bella. It would have been a matter of time."

The residual anger that had flared back to life slowly started to seep out my pores for the time being. Jake hadn't meant anything more than impressing a pretty girl. He didn't know he was opening a huge can of mystical worms.

"Fine," I said through slightly gritted teeth. "But I don't think I like hearing that my daughter was brought into all this supernatural mumbo jumbo… however it happened. Sorry, but that's the way I see it."

After a moment, I saw Jake's shoulders slump down. "Charlie, I'm sorry. I really didn't mean for it to turn into anything…."

I sighed. "Yeah…well…so… when you told her…. What happened?"

Jake gave me a small smile and told his story of the bonfire at First Beach during Bella's junior year. I remembered her going out there that night. At the time, I was thrilled that she was spending some time outside of school with people her age—and at La Push, no less. Renee had warned me that Bells was a bit of a loner and told me to encourage her to go hang out with people her own age. I'd been hoping that maybe she'd feel as at home there as I always had. Little did I know that saying yes to that particular trip meant sending her off into all this.

And so here I was, just where Bella had been after First Beach, knowing the names—wolves, vampires—but having no idea what that really meant. I felt like everything that had happened from the time I had put my pen to paper to write the Cullens had been leading to this moment.

I sat straighter in my seat, and I could tell by the shadow that crossed Jake's face that he also knew we weren't going to be tiptoeing around shit anymore. "Alright, son. What the hell were those things, today? I mean you say Cold Ones. You say vampires. But, look—what the hell does that even mean? Because I've gotta be honest with you, what I saw and what I heard was unlike anything in the movies or on TV. How the fuck were they strong enough and fast enough to stand up against you all? You guys as wolves…Holy shit, kids."

"We're pretty badass, huh?" Seth asked with a smirk.

"The baddest," Jake said. "Okay, the leeches…vamps…you saw today have been passing through the area for a long time," Jacob said. "Not them in particular, but their kind. Years ago, our people didn't know what else to call them, so they came up with their own name for them—the Cold Ones."

"Been thinking about it, but in all their going on and on about tribal stories, I don't remember either of your dads mentioning anything about the Cold Ones."

Jake shook his head. "No, they wouldn't have. The stories aren't something that any of us are allowed to talk about." He rolled his eyes and added, "Well…usually."

"Why not?"

"Well, there's the treaty, for one," Jake said. "But it's more than that. The Elders decided a long time ago that as our people became more and more modern, they weren't going to be as accepting of some of our traditions. The legends of the wolves and the Cold Ones are guarded and only shared with those of us who have the gene. And even then we had to wait until we were actually shifting to get the whole story."

I wiped the sweat off my upper lip. "Okay. Well…still with ya. "So, if they…you know…drink blood, does that mean all the other stereotypes are true, too? Would some garlic around the doorways have kept that kid from popping up at my house all the fucking time?"

"Not even close," Jake said. "None of the stuff in stories works. Stakes, garlic, crosses, sunlight, running water, holy water—you name it. All that stuff is bullshit. Pulling them apart and burning them to ash is literally the only way to kill a vamp. Otherwise, they just keep on…living, I guess is the word. Most of them who cross onto our lands never even see us coming. But we're designed to kill them. It's what we do."

And they did it well. The pile-o-parts I saw behind my eyelids every time I blinked told me that much.

But something else he'd mentioned almost as a throwaway had caught my attention.

"You said 'living, I guess.' Does that mean they're not, you know…alive? They're…undead?"

"Yes," Sam said.

My stomach rolled hard, and my chest felt like an elephant had just popped a squat on top of it. I heard Seth say through the fog, "Jury's kinda out on that, actually."

"No pulse, no life."

"Your opinion, not—"

"Guys, enough," Jake said. "It's hard, for most of us anyway, to imagine them as anything less than dead. We're just kinda hardwired like that. But I know Bella never saw them that way. Why don't you decide for yourself when you talk to them?"

Talk to them? Well, we were gonna have to see about that. Between what I'd seen during the attack and this conversation, at this rate I wasn't sure I would have the guts to even be in the same room as any of them any time soon.

"Alright…so…" I said. "Those Cold Ones that were here earlier. They seemed so different than, you know, than how I remember the Cullens. Though I'm starting to think I didn't know them half as well as I thought I did."

"My dad tried to tell you," Jake said quietly.

"Guess he did. But how the hell was I supposed to know they were vampires? I saw the Cullens out during the day plenty of times."

"Not on sunny days, you didn't," Seth said.

"Huh?"

Jake held up his hand. "Okay, okay. You said you think you didn't know them as well as you thought you did, but I bet you knew plenty. That day on the rez, you asked what the Cullens are. You were on to something, weren't you? I remember you talked about their eyes."

"Yeah, alright," I said. I pulled out the worn list I'd taken to carrying with me in my wallet and unfolded it. "After I got the wedding picture, I started doing some thinking."

"I bet you did," Jake said smirking. "Alright, read off what you have. We'll fill in the gaps and tell you if you were onto something."

"Jake…" Sam said.

He rolled his eyes. "Okaaay, I guess I'll fill in the gaps and tell you if you were onto something."

Before I could start sharing my list, Sam abruptly turned to me and asked, "Speaking of your list, did you ever find out who sent that picture to you?"

I shook my head. "No. Carlisle didn't seem happy about it, though."

Just before I looked down at the paper in my hands, I caught Sam and Jake looking at each other funny. The wedding photo was still a mystery—to everyone. "Well, just a warning, this was more about my getting my thoughts on to paper than anything else. Some of it may seem a little weird."

"He says to the werewolves," Seth said with a smile.

"Okay, just for a minute, can we put a hard stop on the werewolf jokes? I need a break. My brain is turning into goo, here." I said.

Seth nodded, but the smirk stayed plastered on his face as I said, "So, uh, here's what I had. According to the report from the, you know, the accident in the woods with Bells, K-9 units responded normally to her scent, but they wouldn't track Edward's scent. Same thing happened twice since in the last few weeks—the scene where we found Brian's car, and the one where some remains were discovered. That's something important, right?"

"They're natural predators," Jake said. "Higher on the food chain than you or me. Animals get all freaked out when they're near and get the hell outta there. Dad always said that the Cullens made him feel the same way—like he would rather be anywhere but where they were. Humans get the same sense, but they aren't always aware of how they're feeling."

"Except for Bella," Seth said.

Jake nodded. "She never did understand what the big deal was."

"I actually have that on my list, too. I feel uneasy around them. I never really got why. There was always just something…there. I could distract myself and talk myself out of it, but…I don't know."

"No, that's good," Sam said. "That's what's natural to feel. It means your instincts were trying to warn you. You'll figure out pretty quickly that in our world, you'll want to always go with your gut."

So it went as I read down my list—the Cullens' similar eyes, their pale skin, their never eating anything…solid…in my presence. The divide between the boys' opinions of the Cullens was making itself more and more known as I read down my observations and they clarified things for me. Sam was completely against the Cold Ones in all their forms. He tolerated the Cullens, but only just. Seth seemed to be the opposite. Their being vampires didn't seem to faze him all. In fact, he was downright defending them most of the time.

And then there was Jacob. The new chief. He seemed to be somewhere in the middle. I had to wonder how their relationship with the Cullens would have been different if Jake had stepped into his role from the very beginning. Of course, back then he was pretty hard up over Bella, so maybe things needed to play out the way they did for a reason.

When I was done, Jake said, "Well, okay. Wow…You know, you had almost everything you needed to figure it all out on your own. I'm actually surprised you never just tried to Google it or something. Bella sure did after I got her thinking."

"Bella Googled vampires?" I asked. "Good God, of course she would."

"Yep," Jake said smiling. "You know how she was…well, is. Probably."

Probably. They really didn't know how Bella was doing. I guess it made me feel a little better that they hadn't been talking to her all along. Not sure I could be sitting here in front of them right now so calmly if I knew they had been chatting behind my back this whole time.

"So, no, really. Why didn't you just hit up a search engine or something?" Jake asked. "Don't get me wrong. I'm glad you didn't find out that way. Just seems like it would be the obvious next step."

"I think Alice saw something bad happening."

Jake asked, "What do you mean?"

"Remember a few weeks ago when I told you I'd been on the phone with Alice? That was why she called. She was all freaked out that I'd…I don't know…Google the legends, like you said. I'd been thinking about it the whole time I was out behind their place the night Brian's car was found. She was damn near in a panic when I finally answered my phone. She made me promise not to research your legends. I'm guessing I would have stumbled across this Cold One business doing that?"

"Probably," Jake said.

I sighed. "She told me that the tribe legends were kept secret for a reason. I promised her I wouldn't go digging if she would try to convince the family to explain Billy's letter to me."

After a couple quiet moments passed, I had to asked, "Think she meant it?"

Jake sighed. "Honestly? If you wanna know what my gut is saying, I'd say she probably did see something bad. And like Sam said, in our world, you gotta go with what your gut's telling you."

I ran a rough hand over my mouth and chin as I tried to process that. I'd figured as much, but it was still hard to hear that I may have done something really stupid without Alice stepping in. Thank God I'd listened to her. "Hard pill to swallow, son. Wonder what she saw."

"I can understand that. One thing Bella always used to say was to trust Alice no matter what. She didn't fuck around with what she said she saw. At least not when it counted. I guess there was this one time that Bells said Alice tried to get her to go…" He rolled his eyes at the glare I shot him. "Point is, Alice probably did see something and got freaked. She liked you a lot, you know. Bella used to say so."

"Feeling was mutual," I mumbled.

And it was. That kid had wormed her way into my heart.

If she even was a kid.

That was one part of the vampire myth that I wasn't ready to tackle by a long shot. I clapped my thighs with my hands. "So is that it? Did I get the basics? I guess I'd need to add that they have to be pretty strong and fast to stand up to you guys, right?"

"You got that right," Jake said. "Actually, we're pretty equal on speed, but the vamps are fucking strong. If they get their arms around even us, it's endgame. They…They crush everything."

Something in his demeanor changed. I felt my throat tighten as Jake kept talking, "So, we…It's important to stay…We have to watch out f-for each other. One on one, we, uh, we don't really stand a chance. It's…"

Jake's face crumpled in, and he bowed his head. Seth reached over and clapped his back a couple times in what was probably meant to comfort, but just made a few sobs work their way outta Jake.

Sam caught my eye and mouthed, "Collin."

"If they get their arms around even us, it's endgame. They…They crush everything."

"One on one, we don't really stand a chance."

Whatever had happened out there, Collin must have gotten caught on his own and hadn't made it out of the fight. It must have crushed the poor kid to death. With everything that had happened in the last day, it was easy to forget that their loss was still incredibly recent and raw. I remembered the days right after I'd had to accept what happened to Bells. The last thing I wanted was to talk to anyone while I turned in on myself and my grief. I needed to leave these boys to theirs. Any more of my answers could wait.

"Look, guys—"

"Charlie, stay," Sam said.

I pulled my head back as I said, "You sure? I can go if—"

"The Cullens will be here soon. You should…probably know as much as possible before they get here. You can make a more informed decision about whether or not you want to see them."

"Of course I want to see them."

"You may. Or you may not."

"Sam…" Seth said as he picked his head up and shook it at him.

"Bella is with them." I felt my face flush. "You damn well better believe I'm going to see my little girl."

We all sat in silence for a few minutes—the boys collecting themselves in their own ways and me watching the dying fire. The wood still popped every now and then and almost made me smile. It was the soundtrack I'd listened to on too many nights to count. Most of the time hearing it brought me comfort. Being around it was like being home. Tonight, though, it just made me miss a time in my life I could never go back to.

When I looked up, Jake seemed to be doing a little better. "Can someone please tell me what really happened?"

Jake shook his head. "We don't know. It's honestly a really long story that I'd rather only tell once. The vamps have been coming in hard and fast, lately. It's happening too much for there not to be some—"

"No, no," I interrupted him. "I meant back then. The night I thought I'd lost her. It was all really just some kind of sick illusion, wasn't it? You knew even back then what they'd done."

"I did," Jake said. "We did."

The elephant was back on my chest. Breathing around it was getting damn near impossible. "Jake, son, treaty or no treaty…Italians or no Italians…why didn't you tell me?"

He glared over at Sam. "I wanted to. I would've."

"What the hell does that mean? 'Would've?' Either you did or you didn't," I said.

"I couldn't."

"He was acting under my orders," Sam said.

Jake clenched his jaw so tight I thought he'd be spitting tooth shards any moment. Between the kid's reaction and Sam's tone, I put two and two together fairly quickly. "Wolf thing?"

Sam nodded. "Wolf thing."

"You gonna let me in on it?"

"To understand it, you need to know how we communicate," Sam said. "In our wolf form, we can hear each other's every thought. Even the ones we've had before shifting are shared. More than that. We feel what each other feels. We're connected in a way that isn't really able to be described. In a fight, we can make plans in the moment that our enemies can't hear. And as long as we're in wolf form, we haven't found a limit to its range."

"Holy crap," I said. "But as…like this…you can't?"

"No, only as the wolf," he said. "And only each other. We can't hear anyone who isn't shifted with us."

Thank the good Lord for small blessings. I'd have hated for them to have been milling around in my head without me knowing.

But that still didn't answer my question. "Okay, okay. So you can hear each other. How does that have to do with being under orders?"

"Because it shows our connection to each other, Charlie. The orders…whoever is leading the pack can give orders like you would to your officers. Or...they can give an order through that connection—whether shifted or not—that can't be ignored."

Flashes of Jake since this whole thing started clearly trying to tell me something but the words not coming out flew through my mind.

And then there was just hours ago in the house.

"No, you won't," Jake said. At first I thought he was somehow able to read my mind, but his face was turned just slightly towards the house without looking away from the tree line.

Paul.

"No. Not up for discussion. That's gonna be an order in a second." After a moment, he said, "Stay inside."

And later…

Rachel took another couple steps away from him. "Paul, I think you need to go outside."

"Ch-hief's ord-ders. C-c-can't."

I looked at Jake. "You told Paul he had to stay in the house, didn't you?"

"Not bad, Chief," Seth said, as he grinned.

"So, I'm right?"

Jake nodded. "Yeah. But then I released him from it when he shifted. Didn't want anyone in the house getting hurt. Should have heard him cussing my ass out in my head."

I took a deep breath. "So…Sam ordered you not to say anything to me. When?"

"All the time," Sam said. "Jake…needs to hear things more than once."

"Like at the memorial," Seth muttered.

I felt my eyes go wide. The fight with his dad. The stare down from Carlisle.

"Yeah, we thought you'd seen that," Sam said.

"No shit," I said. "So you knew about their plan, but you couldn't say anything. Did you say anything to them about how you felt?"

Seth laughed. "That's one way to put it, man."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?

"When Bella and Edward were on their honeymoon, the Cullens asked to meet with us," Jake said. "They…had already talked to the pack while I was out of town, but…they wanted to go over the particulars with us for the plan to have the, well you know, the accident."

My stomach dropped so low I wasn't sure I'd ever find it again. Intellectually, I knew there had to have been a significant amount of planning, but it wasn't exactly something I wanted to hear about. "Alright, alright, alright. Skip to the…just skip that part."

"Sorry, Chief," Jake said. "Skipping…okay…Well, I might have made sure they understood what it was going to do to you."

"Oh," I said.

"I made the big one…Emmett…pretty mad."

"Oh," I said again.

"And I might have made Esme cry."

I frowned. "Jacob."

Jake sighed. "Yeah, I know. Looking back on it, I went too far. But when I was still all caught up in everything, I didn't think it was far enough."

"Yeah, it took Sam to step in a make him back off," Seth said. "It wasn't good."

A yawn snuck up on me. "When things are calmed down, I think I wanna hear that story," I told him.

"You got it, Chief." After going quiet for a couple moments, Jake continued, "I'm grateful that after everything we've put them through over the years, they're still willing to help. Something bad is coming, and we're not gonna make it on our own much longer."

"Jesus," I whispered.

Jake nodded. "It's a lot to take in. Believe me, I know."

"A lot doesn't even come close to describing it, kid. Just as I get my heart settled into one revelation, I get hit with another. The old 'careful what you wish for.'"

"Charlie, you're doing just fine," Jake said with a small smile coming back to his face. "And you didn't even grow up with the stories like we did to help with the sting. Some of us weren't exactly graceful when we found out."

"Oh yeah?" I asked.

Jake shook his head. "Jared totally freaked out. Sam had to chase him all the way into Canada before he would slow down and stop tripping over himself long enough to listen."

"And you guys were there, too?" I asked.

"No, that was before the cool kids started shifting," Seth said.

Jake rolled his eyes. "Jared was one of the first ones. It was still a few months before me, and forever before this kid, here."

"Let's just say I remember really well," Sam said as he tapped his temple.

Mind reading. Right.

Not gonna get used to that.

"Quil wasn't much better. But that was more about him being pissed off at me and Bree for not saying anything to him about the wolf thing. He growled at us for like a whole day until Sam made him stop." Jake actually laughed a little at the memory. "But Seth here was a total champ."

Seth leaned back a little on his log. "Hell, yeah, I was!"

"And very humble about it, of course," Sam said.

"I'm a Clearwater. Humble isn't in our vocabulary."

I couldn't help grinning through another yawn at that. Sure wasn't.

Jake said, "But it's true. Seth was happy and yippy from the get go. Harry told some of the histories to Seth and Leah as bedtime stories. Dad was so annoyed that he did that, so of course Harry kept going."

"Sounds like your dad, kid," I said to Seth.

"He was pretty much a rebel," Seth said with a smile. "I don't know. I was just happy it was all true. Imagine being obsessed with knights and dragons growing up, and then finding out you actually are a knight. I mean, that's just cool. What was there to freak out about?"

"Yeah, that's Seth for ya," Jake said. "Jumps in with all four paws."

All four paws. Sure.

"And you?" I asked Jake. "How did you take it?"

The smile came completely off his face in an instant. "It was different for me. It wasn't shifting that bothered me. Yeah, it was a little scary, but I had the rest of the guys to help me through it. And a little like Seth, I guess I was happy that maybe Dad wasn't as crazy as I'd always thought he was. Him and his stories."

"You know I know it."

"I handled the wolf part okay, but that wasn't what got to me." Jake took a deep breath to calm the tiniest of tremors in his hand. That was how Paul had gotten started before the full blown shakes, so I was happy to see Jake able to get a lid on it quickly enough. "It was Bella, Charlie. I just…When I shifted for the first time and found out that all of our legends were true, everything just got so fucked up. I was just so fucking angry with Bella for putting herself in danger and actually being in a relationship with him. And for being as unreachable as she was—completely destroyed without him. Handling that was…Well, it took a while. Maybe I never actually really got over it until she was gone." He laughed at himself once. "Maybe not even then."

"Maybe not, son," I said.

He smiled at me over the embers. Something told me that until Jake found the girl he was supposed to be with, he'd always carry a torch for Bella.

And as he said, maybe not even then.

"Well, I think we should all try to get some sleep while we can," Sam said. "We'll be up for rounds soon, and Charlie, you'd probably do well to rest that poor heart of yours."

Seth nodded as he and Sam both stood. "Yeah, probably a good idea. You guys comin'?"

"In a minute," I said.

When Sam tried to argue with me, I just tilted me head towards Jake. Luckily, Sam picked up on the message quickly enough. "Come on, Seth. Let's go try to find some floor, in there."

We listened to the dying fire for a couple moments longer before I finally asked, "How are you holding up, son?"

"I'm not."

"I get that."

"Everything is still so fresh, but then it's not," Jake said. "It feels like it's been months since we lost Embry and Collin. So much has happened. But it's…It really hasn't been that long at all. Bree was one of my—" He rubbed a hand hard over his eyes. "It's been Bree, Quil, and me for years. When I think about all the chances I had to make it right long ago…I wish it had been me to take the fall that day. It shouldn't have been him."

"Well, kid…we can't always see what's right in front of us until it's already behind us. What happened to those two boys wasn't your fault. It's just how life works, kid. The guys know that. They seem to have accepted you just fine."

"Not everyone. I'm surprised any of them are even still willing to look at me for what happened out there."

"I don't think they blame you, Jake. Didn't seem that way to me," I said.

"You forget I've been in their heads."

I frowned. "Oh, right, the uh, the mind-reading thing."

Jake nodded before bowing his head. "Yeah, the mind-reading thing."

He didn't say anything else for a long minute, and I was just about to poke at him when Jake sat up straight and took a deep breath. "It's not like they want to blame me for anything. They're smart enough to know I didn't do it on purpose, but it doesn't change the fact that they think it. And they have a right to. I told you before that I agreed with them."

"I get that you don't wanna tell the story twice, but your beating around the bush is making me a little nuts, kid."

"I know. Sorry," Jake said. "I promise I'll fill you and the Cullens in at the same time tomorrow."

The Cullens would be here tomorrow. Bella would be here tomorrow. It was hard to believe that the nightmare I'd been living the last almost five years was about to come to an end.

"Jesus, Jake. Tomorrow."

Jacob nodded. "Yep. Tomorrow."

I sighed loudly. "Mind if I ask you a question?"

"Sure sure."

"Think Bella will remember me? I mean, I don't know how this works, or…"

I stopped talking when I saw the shadow cross over Jake's face. He let his expression relax pretty quickly, but the damage was done. "I'm sure she will, Charlie," he said with a smile.

Jake must have noticed that he'd broadcast what he's been thinking all over his face. He stood up and walked around the fire to sit next to me. "Look, I'm not going to sit here and make any promises. Bella always told me that memories from their human lives aren't always strong, or…there. And I haven't talked to her since she came to say goodbye. But Alice told me earlier that Bells intends to give me a piece of her mind for putting you in danger, so that has to mean something, right?"

"Yeah, sure," I muttered.

"Alright, Charlie," Jake said as he stood and helped me up. "Let's get you back to my place for some sleep. Tomorrow's gonna be a long day."

We walked to my car in silence. All I could think about was that one expression that came and went from Jacob's face. The one that told me my daughter might not have just moved on from her old man. She might have forgotten all about him.

And that one hurt.

Bad.

Author's Note: Please take a moment to leave a review and let me know what you thought. I like to respond to every review, so make sure you're logged in!

Now for the announcement! Something I've always planned for Not All Those is a series of outtakes from alternative perspectives. I'm letting my readers make some suggestions! Is there anything set during NAT or in the five years between the accident and Billy's letter than you're dying to see? Take some time in the coming month or so to let me know!

Until next time! Thank you for reading!