1,034This chapter comes with a trigger warning for discussion of violence against children. I didn't want to mess with the organic flow of the narrative, so I've marked the section with the following:
If this is a subject that will cause you distress to read, please scroll down when you see the above makings and you can pick the story up without confusion from the second set of those markings.
I had literally no idea this chapter was going to turn in this direction. It's going to take me chapter upon chapter to sort out the unruly behaviour of my characters. How rude of them to go wandering off in their own direction again.
Stephanie Meyer owns the Twilight Saga. I own twitchy fingers that enjoy typing for no profit.
Chapter 50: Quils and Coups
As the wolves were stripping their shorts, and tying them to their ankles, they could hear Bella inside talking to Charlie.
"Hey Dad. Ummm weird request, but I kind of need you to head over here to the Rez ASAP."
"You ok, Bells? Or, oh God, is it Harry?"
"Don't panic. Everyone's fine. I'll explain it properly once you're here, but Sam and I really need for you to get here pretty quick as you're needed at the Quileute Council of Elders meeting that starts in forty-five minutes."
"I'm looking forward to hearing the explanation for this one, Bells. But I'm on my way. Meet you at the Community Center?"
"Perfect. Thanks Dad. If it's any help, I think you're going to get quite a kick out of this meeting. At any rate it's not going to be boring!" Charlie was still laughing as he hung up.
Outside, Sam was still smirking as he phased. The relationship between Bella and Charlie was so easy and relaxed. He wandered if that had always been the case or if things had become more relaxed in more recent days. The memories that Jake had shared of Bella and Charlie had made the relationship look more uncomfortable and awkward.
Getting Leah up to date once they were phased was a matter of moments and once she'd understood the way the council was supposed to be structured she was more than ready to cast her vote.
"Pack, the vote is about whether or not we tell the parents about us being wolves. We've already heard the for and against and if it's a tie, my vote decides it. Everyone against telling the parents?" There was total silence. With a wolfy grin he went on. "Not that I suppose I really need to ask but everyone for telling the parents?"
"YES!" it was an instant unanimous assent from the Pack, all of them with tongue-lolling grins to match Sam's.
"That's that then. Billy will hopefully get all the elders to the meeting. We can ask them to go and collect the parents, then bring them up to my place after the meeting. Then we'll tell them. Or actually more effectively show them. A day of change all around."
"For some of us more than others!" Quil interjected. "When I woke up this morning, I was a fully human, lonely, only child, with a moderately sized dick, which I definitely couldn't suck, living with his grumpy grandfather. Now I'm only a part-time human, definitely not lonely, with six brothers and four sisters, probably sofa surfing at his new brother's house tonight." He glanced back at his groin for a second. "Still no confirmation on the dick thing."
Once again Quil was able to send the entire Pack into fits of laughter effortlessly. His ability to cut instantly through any tension was definitely going to be a real asset to the Pack. Even at a time where he must be at the very least anxious, his natural buoyancy shone through. Letting the moment fizzle out naturally rather than cutting the levity short, Sam took a second to run through the events of the day so far and what was still to come. Of late it seemed that every day was filled with momentous happenings. It was becoming difficult to catch his breath at the rate his entire world was upending itself every thirty seconds but for the most part each change had ended up being a positive for him, so he definitely wasn't bitching. He just wished he could have a couple of quiet days to let the changes settle in. Maybe with this meeting and the resulting increase in size of the council, along with the extra support the Pack would hopefully be getting from the families the general routine day-to-day side of things would be easier at the very least. Gradually the background laughter from his brothers and sister quietened down.
"No point in delaying it then. We're going to go and get Sue from the Clinic and take her along to the meeting. Seth and Leah, I'll leave it to you guys to decide which of you sits with your dad and which one finishes off the patrol. I'm sorry that it isn't possible to have one of you at the meeting too. Whichever of you does the patrol needs to come meet us here when we gather the families together to show them the Pack though. A united front is absolutely what we want to present. Everyone needs a shirt for the meeting too. Shoes are optional and, before you ask, Quil, no. Shorts are not optional. Let's try to make the elders comfortable."
The other wolves starting phasing back to human form and so Sam followed suit, pulling his shorts on once he had only two legs and heading off to his truck where he knew he'd find a spare t-shirt and a pair of sliders. Bella's truck had already gone, and it was easy for Sam to scent that his imprint, Kim and Rachel had all gone together. Billy was waiting in his wheelchair by his truck for Jake to drive him to the meeting. Looking up as Sam approached, Billy raised a hand to catch his attention.
"I know I've already said this to the Pack in general, but I wanted to take a moment to apologise directly to you, Sam." Billy said quietly and firmly. "The insult was to you in the first place, even though it wasn't my intention. At first, I guess I convinced myself that there was no point offering you your rightful seat on the council because of course Jake would phase and when he did, he would take his rightful place as Alpha and Chief." He paused and rolled his eyes. "Of course, now we know that even that flimsy justification doesn't hold up because you should've been given a seat based simply on the fact that you were a wolf. But regardless, that's what I reasoned to myself back then and I ignored the uncomfortable twinges in the back of my mind that got stronger and stronger over the last couple of weeks once Jake did phase and turned down the Alpha role. I guess felt I slighted and a bit disrespected somehow by his choice and so I slighted and disrespected you in return just because I felt like the family honour had somehow been dented." Billy took a deep breath and looked the younger man squarely in the eye. "I judged Harry for putting his child's feelings ahead of the welfare of the Pack. I judged Old Quil for letting his feelings toward the wolves affect the Pack. But I'm just as bad as them. I let my imagined loss of face become an excuse to slight you and then I smugly congratulated myself on giving you subtle hints from journals I'd hoarded and read, not for a second considering that my limited understanding of what I'd read was actively hindering the Pack from learning what they needed to keep themselves safe. I'm completely ashamed of myself Sam and I absolutely meant what I said to Bella. I will be presenting myself to the Spirit-Talker and asking for a Vision Quest and penance. I just hope that one day you can forgive me and that we can find our way back to the relationship we had before I fucked it up." Sam rubbed his face tiredly.
"Billy we're not going to lie – we were pissed when we realised for ourselves what you just confirmed. But mainly we were disappointed. As you know we've gone a long time without a dad in our life and we absolutely saw you as a father figure. Harry too to some degree but not so strongly. And recently Charlie too. It's ironic that of those father figures, the one least versed in our tribal histories and traditions has been the only one to give us the unwavering support, we needed." Billy winced and Sam continued, absently noting the arrival of Jake who was now standing in an instinctual position right behind Sam's left shoulder, wordlessly showing his support of his Alpha. "We absolutely respect and appreciate you being so upfront about it and apologising. We really do want to get back to how things were before but for now there's a lot of corrections to be made and damage to be fixed. The best you can do to make this better for now is to just be as supportive as possible of the Pack, help us get the council re-built, the families supporting us and help us move forward making innovations that will benefit the wolves and the tribe too." Billy shamelessly wiped at his eyes and nodded.
"Ok Sam. That's how it will be then. And I can only hope that Jake and for that matter Rachel will forgive me for making the Pack's lives harder, but that's for later when it's just the three of us having an honest talk."
Sam walked on past, gently but firmly clapping one hand on Billy's shoulder as he walked by to his truck.
"We'll see you at the meeting then. We've got to go and collect Sue from the clinic, and we don't want to keep her waiting."
It took Sam all of the short drive down to the clinic to shake off the irritation that had once again risen to the surface after Billy's apology but by the time he pulled up in the small parking lot to see Sue waiting for him, he was once again calm.
"Hey Sue. We're sorry if we're late. Have either Leah or Seth already arrived to take over sitting with Harry?" Sue shook her head and smiled.
"No but it's fine, Sam. My sister has come to stay for a few weeks while we get Harry back on his feet and she's sitting with him now. Leah stopped in a few minutes ago to say that she wanted to put a spanner in Old Quil's works by showing a united front. I didn't really follow what she was saying but she said you'd explain. Oh. And you're not late, don't worry." Sam felt ridiculously proud and touched by Leah's gesture. She was finally understanding how important and absolute Pack loyalty was. Old Quil would almost certainly have made a big deal about the wolf who had complained against the Alpha being absent from the upcoming meeting. Leah showing her clear support for the upcoming changes would prevent Old Quil from using that avenue of complaint at least. Sam mentally made a note to tell Leah her punishment was over. He'd thought it would be months before she realised her mistake and was truly sorry for it, but he guessed that nearly losing your dad and having the person you most hate save their life made quite the impression. He jumped out of the truck and ran around to open the door for Sue.
"That's actually really great news. And she's right, we can explain." He closed the door behind Sue and ran back around to jump in himself. As he drove somewhat slowly to the Community center, Sam gave Sue as full an explanation of the morning's revelations as he could, making certain to hit all of the most important points, including why Leah's presence would be helpful. Sue was astonished by how much had been achieved since she saw Sam the evening before.
"I had thought I was going to need to convince you of the theory I had, but I can see I didn't need to have worried." Sue chuckled. "I had a thought yesterday that the phrase 'Council of Elders' clearly wasn't representative of the three-man council we've had for the last couple of decades and that maybe you should see about expanding the council. Seems like you've more than got that in hand." Sam grinned at her.
"We appreciate the thought though, Sue. Seems like everywhere we turn we find people who are thinking of ways they can help us, and the Pack and we really appreciate it."
"This new 'we' instead of 'I' thing you're doing… Should I worry or is it a normal wolf thing?" Sue asked carefully, not wanting to offend but caring too much about the young man to leave it without mention.
"It seems to be a natural progression as the wolf and man become closer. My wolf is much more settled and content now and we're not having to battle for control the way it was before. But again, thanks for being concerned." Sue reached over and patted Sam's leg in a motherly way.
"Of course, Sam. I may not be official Pack but you're my children's Pack brother and that makes you my son too as far as I'm concerned. Sam blinked the sudden blurriness form his eyes and choked out a strangled "Thanks Sue" past the painful lump in his throat. Gently squeezing Sue's hand, he gave her a wobbly smile and they drove the last few minutes in silence.
Pulling up at the Community Center, Sam was filled with pride as he was met with the intimidating and impressive sight of his whole pack, excepting only Seth who was patrolling, all of them wearing more than he'd seen them in for months in some cases. The imprints, including his own beautiful mate comfortably dwarfed by the wolves. In another group a few feet away, Billy and Charlie were surrounded by members of the tribe a couple of generations older, looking confused, irritated, bored, curious and in a couple of instances, scared.
Bella had made a point of pulling her dad to one side as soon as he arrived and giving him as much of a breakdown of what was about to happen as she could. When it came to explaining the whole 'Spirit-Talker thing though she was stumped. In the end she just gave a very vague explanation about how 'all the wolves and Billy say I'm some kind of wise woman they call a Spirit-Talker, which is embarrassing. I'll answer any questions you've got about it later; I promise.' Charlie simply gave her hard a hard look, knowing immediately that there was a whole lot more to the issue than she was giving away there.
"Hmmm. I think I'll be taking you up on that, Bells." Was all he said and then he wandered off to help Billy wrangle the group of older Quileutes he had asked to turn up to the meeting.
The older group seemed to be taking it in turn to flick concerned glances at the younger group though Sam was proud to see that his mother was the only one in that group to appear just curious and to not be concerned at the presence of the Pack. As he watched he saw her give Bella a grin and a little wave. Bella waved happily back and walked over to give the older woman a hug. The other elders were busy trying to badger Billy into answering their questions so they could get out of there and go about their Sunday activities safely away from whatever drama they were fairly certain was about to kick off. Opening the door for Sue and then walking with her over to greet Charlie and Allison, Sam was amused and sad in equal measure when the group of elders shied away from him. He knew that even beside the rest of his Pack he was an intimidating sight. The widening of eyes among the elders as the diminutive form of Bella grabbed his wrist and pulled him imperiously to her for a hug and an intense kiss was too funny for Sam, Charlie and Allison to resist. Their collective laughter cutting through the quiet rushed mutters of others in the group.
Sam reached down and kissed his mother noisily on the cheek and whispered.
"Thanks for coming, Mom. I promise all will become clear and I hope you'll feel proud rather than concerned." Allison raised an eyebrow, confused but not too worried by her son's cryptic comment.
"We'll talk after the meeting?" She asked.
"Oh definitely." Sam assured her. "But for now I want to get everyone inside before Old Quil arrives and starts creating right here in the parking lot."
Suiting his words Sam turned and walked towards the doors, the Pack instantly and instinctually falling in behind him, none of them even aware of how spooky their unison appeared to the average person and how truly graceful and beautiful they were as they moved as a group. Kim, Bella and Rachel followed in behind, each of them privately ogling their own mate. Billy and Allison could barely contain their mirth at the sight of the three women's hungry stares and even Charlie, though a bit uncomfortable at his daughter's clear attraction to Sam, couldn't deny how amusing it was to see three sensible strong young women basically drooling over their imprint like fourteen-year-old high school boys.
"Right then, Folks, let's all get inside, if you please. That way we can get started as soon as Old Quil is seated." Billy gestured to the end of the street where Old Quil's equally old station wagon could be seen turning the corner. He used his wheelchair like a snowplough for humans, herding everyone inside easily as they all tried to avoid nasty bruises on their heels and Achilles tendons.
Inside, the Pack had hastily set up a large horseshoe of tables and chairs and a few rows of chairs at the open end of the horse shoe. The group of still muttering elders walked in and almost without exception sat on the rows of chairs. Charlie stood himself at the back of the rows of seats, not wanting to appear like he was pushing himself into tribal business at least until everyone present understood what was going on. Billy wheeled himself up to the tables and waited patiently for Sam to show him where he wanted the previous chief to sit. Sam sat himself at the very center of the top table, Bella to one side and Offered Billy the space to his Left as befitted the old chief. Jake sat to the other side of Bella and the rest of the pack sat fanning out from these central positions, the imprints sitting together, leaving enough seats for all the rest of the elders on the outer edges. Sue smiled at Leah as she picked a seat on one edge, next to her. There was a lot more confused and irritated murmuring from the group sitting on the rows of chairs when Bella took her seat, and she could very much understand why. They must feel more than a little disgruntled at the intrusion into what they were beginning to understand was a tribal issue. Just as the last Pack member took a seat, Old Quil bustled into the room with an armful of official-looking papers he was hoping to get Billy to sign while Harry was out of the way and Billy was distracted with worry over his close friend… and stuttered to a halt at the crowd of people where he was expecting to see just Billy and maybe Sam if the Alpha had some trifling wolf issue he wanted to bother the Elders with.
"What's the meaning of this, Samuel Uley?" Old Quil barked sharply, instantly (and correctly) assuming the young Alpha was the author of this latest pain in his ass. "We have booked this space for a much-needed Council of Elders meeting. Whatever this is" the this was loaded with scorn and distain, not winning him any fans among those assembled, "can wait until after we have had our scheduled meeting." The old man shuffled forward, clearly expecting everyone there to instantly stand and leave at his imperious declaration, and grew more angry when not a single person in the room so much as shifted in their seat. He stood and tapped his foot, glaring at Sam, though it wasn't lost on Sam or the rest of the Pack that the old man stopped at least six feet away from the nearest wolf.
"Please do take a seat at one of the tables, Old Quil." Sam spoke formally, choosing for the moment to ignore the latest naked insult from the Elder. In fact, as this is indeed a meeting of the Council of Elders as you stated, let's have ALL of the council elders take their rightful place for the first time in generations." Sam was watching Old Quil's face carefully, wondering whether the Eldest member of the old council had fully understood to what degree they'd watered down the council. He was disappointed more than surprised or angry to see shock, understanding, anger and chagrin cross the older man's face. He'd known alright but was too eager to keep his own imagined importance in the council and the tribe to speak up and ensure changes took place.
There was a certain amount of surprise from the row of seats as those congregated realised that they were in fact the Elders Sam was speaking of. Allison proudly jumped to her feet and strode over to the tables, seating herself next to a smirking Quil who was still waiting for his grandfather to notice his presence with the other wolves. More slowly but with growing confidence the rest of the new council elders made their way to the tables, followed by Charlie, who only just managed to resist the temptation to reach out and close Old Quil's open mouth for him when the angry elder noticed this pale face daring to take a seat. Then when he spotted Bella sitting next to Sam at the head of the tables, Old Quil could contain his rage no longer.
"SAMUEL ULEY YOU WERE ORDERED BY THE COUNCIL OF ELDERS IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS THAT YOU WERE TO SUPPLY NO FURTHER INFORMATION TO ISABELLA SWAN OR HER FATHER. HOW DARE YOU BLATENTLY DISOBEY US AND HOW DARE YOU BRING THEM TO A TRIBAL MEETING IN SUCH A DISRESPECTFUL MANNER?"
Surprisingly, Sam wasn't even a little riled up by Old Quil's ranting – he knew it was completely without basis and instead of really giving the raving his full attention, Sam was distracted by his pride at eh pack's reaction. Just the day before Sam would've expected a scene of chaos at such an aggressive display at any member of the Pack, let alone the Alpha. Yet here they all were – even Paul and even Quil, a mere matter of hours old as a wolf protector, keeping completely chilled and looking displeased but otherwise stoney calm. Astonishing the difference. Sam would need to do yet more research to learn if it was due to the change in Betas settling the Pack, the formal acceptance of the imprints of their place in the Pack, Sam's and Bella's imprint bond finally taking hold and thus making the Alpha himself more calm, or perhaps a bit of everything. Regardless, there was a more immediate issue.
Before Sam could reply to Old Quil, Billy Spoke in a clear, loud voice.
"Old Quil, you forget yourself. The nonsense you just spewed is so full of holes I could use it as a sieve. Firstly, you are addressing our Chief and you will, no matter your personal feelings towards the one holding that title, never again show such disrespect to the sacred position itself." Billy's voice was wavering with authority reminiscent of an Alpha order and every full human in the room could feel the weight of his ire.
"Secondly, the Council of Elders holds no authority to place orders upon the Pack, no matter how arrogantly we as the council were presuming to be before now.
Thirdly, even if we did have that authority, no order was made; Chief Uley as Alpha volunteered the offer that no information would be given without an imprint, confirmed by another Pack member. An imprint has occurred. Verified by every Pack member.
Fourthly, Bella Swan, Imprint to the Alpha and Charlie Swan, Eldest of the Swan family have every right under the traditions to be here. She also has a further claim to be present but we'll come to that at the Chief's discretion.
Now before you humiliate yourself further in front of the first full Tribal Council of Elders in generations, I suggest you sit your ass down and shut your noisy trap."
Old Quil stood for a moment in shock with his mouth opening and closing like a guppy and then puffed himself up, clearly about to go for another round. Sam however was unwilling to let this man derail this all important meeting any further. He slowly stood, Making sure to show off his true height and bulk, which he normally attempted to minimise among others by stooping a little and holding his shoulders hunched.
"Old Quil Atera, Elder of the Atera family, the council is not currently debating this subject. You are being formally invited to join this full Council of Elder as is your right as eldest of the Atera family. If you choose not to sit and join the council at this time we will note it in the minutes of the meeting as you formally declining you seat and instead Quil Junior will sit in two capacities going forward. Please make your decision now as we are now going on to discuss our first council business and do not have time to dedicate to whether or not you are planning to sit down." Sam's voice was a masterful blend of authoritative, businesslike and dismissive. If he only knew how many of those gathered around him were bursting with pride for him at that moment he would've folded and blubbered like a baby. Allison, Charlie, Billy and Sue were all filled with parental pride, the Pack were filled with awe and respect as their leader effortlessly handled the older man and Bella was filled with a mixture of pride and more than a little lust, seeing her strong, intelligent mate dealing with a threat from a rival.
All eyes swivelled to Old Quil as he wavered on his feet, trying to quickly weigh up his options and of course he capitulated and with a very poor grace, a great deal of muttering to himself and an almost comedic degree of banging and scraping on his chair, he slumped down at the last seat at the tables, looking the very image of a sulking toddler.
Sam internally let out a sigh of relief, not wanting those around him to know how uncertain he'd been that he was taking the right tack. He sat and turned his attention to the rest of the room.
"Welcome everyone. Thank you all for coming at such short notice. It was only this morning that we came across the historical texts showing us how a full Council of Elders should be framed and once we knew, it seemed very important that the very next meeting was held correctly." He cleared his throat. "I can see from many of your expressions that you're confused as to why you in particular are considered a rightful member of the Council of Elders of the Quileutes. The answer is at once very simple and not at all simple. You're here because you are the Eldest of the family of one of the Pack. Simple." He smiled. "Ah, but who are the Pack? That's where things become more complicated. Ms Call I don't know how much you know of the Quileute legends so I expect a lot of this will come as a shock more to you than to others but I ask that you please try to allow yourself to believe what we have to say on face value and we promise that we can offer you irrefutable truth of what we're telling you." Blushing as every eye turned to her, Embry's mother, Jenny gave a wobbly uncertain smile and nod. Not that she'd admit it now but from the moment she got a call from Billy Black she had been certain that Embry must be in some sort of trouble, an assumption that was only reinforced when she arrived at the Community Center to find a group of adults, the whole of the gang Embry had been sneaking out constantly to hang out with, plus Chief Charlie Swan in uniform. In reality she would willingly believe it if she were told her son had magical powers if it meant she could stop worrying that he was in some legal trouble. Sam nodded back and continued.
"Ok then, perhaps it would be best to start with the basics. In the most simple of forms our tribal tradition has always held that our people descend from wolves and that in times of need the wolf protectors will save the tribe. To be more specific, the traditions speak of Quileute warriors willingly combining with wolf spirits and the two sharing a single wolf form to defend the tribe against the Cold Ones. The Pack, as we call ourselves are the latest generation of these wolf protectors and our mates, which we refer to as imprints." He paused for the inevitable burst of incredulous calls and shouts from the assembled elders, keeping a steady eye on his mom. Not blinking for a moment, Allison was searching Sam's face for the truth of what he'd just said and he could see from her expression the very second she decided he was telling the absolute truth. Sam wasn't certain what he'd expected from his mom's response but the tears running down her face despite the bright and proud smile she was wearing were a surprise. She mouthed 'I love you' at him and then sat quietly, blotting her tears and calmly waiting for her warrior Chief son to call the meeting back to order. Sam fought back his own tears and turned to Jake.
"I think the only way to cut through the arguments right now is for one of us to phase. Would you do the honors please, Jake?" Sam made sure his voice carried above the shouting in the room and the instant silence that fell was shocking.
"Fine. But you owe me some shorts and I'm not ripping this t-shirt; I actually like this one." Jake pretended to gripe, standing and stepping several large paces back from the head table.
"Jake here is the second in command. He's going to take his wolf form now as evidence for you all. Please don't be afraid. Two legs or four it's still Jacob Black controlling the body and you are in led danger from him than you are from one of the stray dogs around the Rez." Sam narrowed his eyes but otherwise refused to react to the soft snort his enhanced hearing picked up from Old Quil. With the familiar sound of ripping flesh and fabric, he heard Jake phase behind him but he didn't bother glancing back – he kept right on scanning the group of Elders to judge their reactions. Embry's mom was clearly the most shocked and unnerved of the bunch but Sam was relieved and amazed to see how calm the vast majority of them were. In fact with the exception of Jenny call, Old Quil's was the only face that showed genuine fear, despite the colossal hairy beast sitting like the goodest good boy behind him.
"Thanks, Jake. There's a spare pair of shorts on the wall just out the back. I was fairly certain they'd be needed." Jake's enormous wolfy head nodded once and, bending to pick up his t-shirt he slowly padded out of the back door to phase back into his human form. Unasked, Jared got up and quickly picked up the shredded pieces of Jakes cut-offs and handed them to Sam before sitting back down. Sam smiled wryly. "I imagine many of you have been finding shredded shorts and t-shirts around your houses for a while now. Well now you know why." He looked around the elders. "Any questions at this point?" He asked, wanting to give them the opportunity to get some of their concerns out sooner rather than later so they could get on with the rest of the meeting. A man very nearly as old as Old Quil raised his hand.
"Yes, Mr Penn?" Sam asked politely
"Chief Uley, I guess as one of the oldest here I've heard the old stories repeated more often than others but I never saw any reason to think they were anything other than just native fairytales. Have there been wolf protectors around us all this time without us knowing? And if so, why is it suddenly something to be shared with us when it wasn't before?" A low buzz of agreement from the other elders made it clear that they were also wondering the same things.
"Well sir, the answer is no – the last Pack was several generations ago. Old Quil's father, Billy Black's grandfather and Harry Clearwater's grandfather made up the last small pack. This is why the council had shrunk to three people. Traditionally the Council of Elders should be made up by every member of the Pack – both the wolves and their imprints – the elder of each family of each Pack Member and, if the tribe had one, the Spirit-Talker and the elder of their family too. Now we have such a large and healthy Pack, the council can be more along traditional lines. The last Pack unfortunately fell into the trap of following the European American tradition that women were in some way lesser, which meant they were not included in council business." Sam made certain to add that last piece, wanting to spike the guns of any elder who might try to argue against the imprints and their elders having an equal place at the table. Linking that attitude to the white culture and, more particularly drawing attention to how it was not a tribal attitude would shut down that avenue very firmly. From the sour expression of someone who had just popped a chocolate covered raisin in their mouth only to discover it was a bit of bunny shit, Old Quil clearly recognised how effective Sam 's tactic would be.
"In your case, Mr Penn, your granddaughter Kim is the imprint of Jared Cameron. This means they are held together by a lifelong bond, making your granddaughter my Pack sister as surely as the wolf protector Jared is my Pack brother." Kim's grandfather nodded his understanding, beaming with pride at his granddaughter.
Not bothering to be polite enough to ask to be recognised, Old Quil clearly couldn't hold himself back any longer and angrily jumped in next. "Tell me Chief Uley" he began with a sneer "Where did you get such a detailed description of council dynamics? I myself have read every journal many times over and have never found so much information available." He clearly thought he'd found a 'gotcha fact' and was completely unaware, as always, that he was just digging a pit for himself to tumble into.
"You're quite correct, Old Quil." Sam replied, pretending not to notice the sneering tone "when we were finally given the journals of the previous packs, intended for future Packs to read to help them perform their duties and avoid dangerous incidents and yet for some reason withheld from us until a couple of weeks ago, we only found a few references to the council." Old Quil realised his error when he felt the disapproving eyes of everyone in the room at Sam's honest and pointed phrasing. "Of course we haven't had them for long enough to look through much at all," Sam continued, driving his point further "but as it happens we are very fortunate to have another irrefutable source. One that can give us the day-to-day knowledge of every Pack throughout our tribe's history." He turned to the bright red Bella next to him and, ignoring her attempts to disappear behind him, put an arm around her shoulders. "My amazing imprint is a Spirit-Talker." The gasps from the elders were expected of course but Old Quil sounded like he was choking on his own tongue.
"HOW DARE YOU!" He screeched, purple in the face with rage. "I suppose I should have expected this sort of lie as you attempt to force a coup on the rightful council but to make it so blatant is repulsive. As if a paleface girl could be a Spirit-Talker for the tribe! As if she's even your genuine Imprint. Imprints occur at first sight. Clearly your new bed-warmer has the skills to cajole you into giving her a position not really hers. I demand that you take these disgusting lies back and put a stop to this appalling attempt to force martial law on us. Get out, get all of these people out of here and leave Chief Black and I to repair the damage you have already done." Old Quil was thumping his hands on the table in front of him, knocking pages from his sheaf of official-looking papers to gently waft down to the floor.
This time the Pack were not quite so calm. A direct insult to their Alpha and to their Alpha's mate was not something that any of them could keep from commenting on. Charlie's face was absolutely thunderous, Allison's and Billy's too and the low rumble of growls from the rest of the wolves made interesting background music when Leah stood and angrily leant forward on her hands and glared over at Old Quil.
"I know first hand to what lengths you will go to cause issues among the Pack, Old Quil Atera. So perhaps the fact that I, who have more reason than anyone else I the room to dislike Bella Swan and her relationship with Sam am standing to speak now will hold more sway. Bella is Sam's imprint. The bond is strong and clear and unmistakeable to every Pack member. As you've told us, you've read the journals that are rightfully property of the Pack and yet were kept from us for some reason. There are clearly written examples of delayed imprints there, so you have no justification for such a silly comment. And to make racist or misogynistic slurs against anyone during a council meeting should, in my opinion see the person suspended from the council. There is absolutely no excuse for bigotry in this day and age. As for the suggestion that Sam is lying about Bella being a Spirit-Talker… well let's test that theory out, shall we? Or are you afraid to be proven wrong?" Leah sat crossly back down in her chair and folded her arms. Her Packmates gave her a hearty round of applause and Sam fought back a grin as he called the room to order.
In…
Out…
In…
Out…
Knowing what was likely coming, Bella had already began gathering her calm meditative peace about her, getting ready to speak to Taha Aki and so when Sam looked to her, asking if she would be willing to prove herself, she was able to give a tranquil smile and nod with no hint of embarrassment. That alone was enough to demonstrate to Charlie that something quite out of the norm for Bella was happening.
Taha Aki's presence in Bella's calm state was very different this time. Instead being a quiet reassuring presence or even an urgent insistent aura, this time the ancestor's spirit was an inferno of rage. Although from the outside, Bella appeared to be the picture of tranquillity, on the inside of her mind a furious argument was underway.
Having conferred (in whatever place the spirits were able to do so) with the Atera ancestors directly, Taha Aki was enraged with Old Quil. Not only because of his behaviour in the meeting but with the escalation of the old man's misdeeds over the years.
Bella had simply thought she would have Taha Aki fish about for a couple of details that Old Quil would be unable to deny proved Sam's claim that she was a Spirit-Talker and leave it at that but Taha Aki was in no mood to be so generous. He wanted to go scorched earth with the elder, expose his every vulnerability and every misdeed – all in front of the reset of the Council.
"That is unfair, Taha Aki. I'm not judge, jury and executioner. Surely any person has the right to be given an opportunity to ask for a penance. What you want to do is a punishment."
"Unfair and unjust are very different things, Young One. Many are more than capable of doing what is fair but very few have the stomach to do what is just. This man has betrayed his family, his Tribe and the Pack and would continue to do so in a worse way if left to his path. You will do as other Spirit-Talkers through the ages and Speak his Truth. By telling the truth of him, of all of him here and now we can prove beyond doubt your rightful place as Spirit-Talker and put a stop not only to his interference of the Pack but of his intentions which will be harmful tot eh Pack and the Tribe as a whole going forward. You will Speak his Truth, Young One. It is what justice demands." Taha Aki ground out angrily, the first time Bella had ever known him to be so furious. She could feel his rage as if it were her own, but with an alien animalistic edge that was completely unfamiliar to her. She stood her ground though.
"I will not, Taha Aki. Not here and not now. We can have him come for a formal visit privately if you insist and Speak his Truth then. But not in front of the Council." Bella insisted firmly.
"Then I will do it. Your mouth, my words." And with no other warning, Bella found herself shunted off to one side in her own consciousness. A helpless passenger inside her own mind and body no matter how she attempted to struggle. Afraid and enraged, she watched and listened as her body and voice acted under the ancestor's direction instead of her own.
Bella's body stood and gracefully walked over to the old man.
"Old Quil Atera, Elder of the Atera family. I speak to you not as Isabella Swan, imprint of the Alpha but as The Spirit-Talker, the voice of the ancestors for those who would listen." Her voice said coldly "Your behaviour today and indeed for years now is such that you should be presenting yourself before me for penance but until you have seen proof it is clear you will never accept the truth. So, I ask you now, Old Quil. Are you ready to Hear your Truth? Here before your fellow Council members are your prepared to Hear your Truth, known only to you and your ancestors?" Bella furiously shouted at Taha Aki to stop, knowing that the question itself was disingenuous; the ancestor was set upon Speaking Old Quil's Truth, regardless of how he answered.
Old Quil stood and backed away a little, an edge of anxiety beginning to appear on his livid face. He couldn't back down, but he was beginning to fear what might be revealed as 'his Truth'.
Bella's body stepped one more step towards him and began to speak, inside her head she felt desperately sorry for the childhood she could now see that Old Quil had endured, while even she was livid at what Taha Aki had also revealed to her about the elder's life as an adult. She made one more desperate grab at the steering wheel of her consciousness, but Taha Aki had the bit in his teeth and was not going to be shaken free. Her voice rang out into the silent room.
"As a child you feared your father, a wolf protector yes but one who had never reached a balance with his wolf and who consequently was always angry and took no trouble to check his temper. Your mother warned you with half-truths and white lies, in the way of mothers in all the world to keep their young ones from mischief that wolf protectors could hear your thoughts when in wolf form so you should never lie to your father and, not understanding that the wolf protectors could only hear the thoughts of their packmates, you never failed to report on your own misbehaviour to your father, hoping it would keep you from worse punishment but only earning savage beatings which you would lie to your teachers about to keep your father from prison. On the one occasion you saw your father phase it was because he had become so enraged that you had broken his favourite chair by tripping over it when he chased you from the room. You have carried a terror of the wolf protectors your whole life since – scared of their wolf forms but even more scared of the hidden misdeeds they would pull from your mind." At every dispassionately spoken fact, Old Quil reeled as I he'd been struck, leaving no doubt to those around them that the Spirit-Talker was the real deal. Bella's voice drove onward.
"On the death of your father you had the opportunity to leave his brutality and cruelty as a thing of the past but instead as you grew older you chose to repeat the cycle, though lacking the physicality to injure with your hands you chose to inflict damage with words and actions becoming the worst kind of bully to your peers. Being one of the wolf-protector line your very existence was hidden from the white people so as to keep you from being taken away to one of the Indian schools but being so fortunate didn't make you sympathetic or kind to the traumatised young people returning from their ordeals at the schools. Instead, you saw their damaged and battered souls as perfect fodder for your bullying, building your ego on the shattered rubble of their confidence. Again, when the white men wanted warriors for their war overseas the fact that you were of a protector line and therefore hidden from the officials did not humble you. While they were gone you preyed upon their womenfolk who remained here; assuring yourself that merely tricking them into believing you would be theirs faithfully was not so bad as forcing yourself upon them and therefore blameless, and secured yourself a wife you would never have succeeded with had her man stayed home as you did. When the broken and damaged survivors returned you once again saw opportunity instead of feeling guilt that you had avoided their fate and shame that you had not proven yourself a warrior as they had. You pressed soul-weary broken bodies into accepting underpaid jobs to gain you further wealth, never failing to whisper into heartbroken ears that you had already sampled what their new wives had to offer."
By this point Old Quil was barely keeping his feet under him as he trembled in fear, leaning away from Bella as if she was one of the wolves herself.
"You chose to rule over your family like a tyrant, never needing to use physical violence as you were so talented at using emotions, words, finances and security as weapons to keep those you considered beneath you in your place. And so, you continued, squirreling away money rather than seeing to the comfort of your family, allowing your own son and his wife to be buried in the cheapest coffins possible, haggling for a discount even with the funeral home and preying upon their pity for you and your grandson.
Time and again, Old Quil Atera you have shown yourself to be selfish, greedy and a cowardly bully and yet still there was worse you could do. Lower you could go. Even today you were hoping to take advantage of Billy Black's concern for his good friend Harry Clearwater and his presumed distraction to have him unwittingly co-sign paperwork enabling you to sell prime land, TRIBAL LAND to a developer, an outsider, to build waterside homes, hotels and businesses, complete with fishing rights that would have seen the devastation of the tribe's already fragile economy in less than a decade, hoping to disguise it at a golden opportunity for the tribe to rake in some tourism dollars. Your betrayal of the tribe for your own gain is disgusting and further, pointless when your age in considered. You are very close to your time, Old Quil. DO you imagine you can carry your hoard into the Spirit World? Or more likely you were hoping to gather enough to ward off your inevitable journey there for as long as possible."
Old Quil's natural olive complexion now appeared paler than Bella as he stood, shrunken and frail in a room of those who should respect him and want to offer him support but could not find the tiniest speck of desire to help him in the face of the revelation of his Truth Spoken before them all. Ironically it was the one in the room who had the most reason to resent him that stepped forward and helped the old man to a seat. The usually jovial Quil quietly sat his grandfather down and walked back to his own seat, his face a completely blank canvas with no hint of emotion whatsoever.
"This is your Truth, Old Quil Atera, Elder of the Atera family. Spoken for all to hear in the face of your disrespect, betrayal and intimidation of those you would seek to harm through your greed. Take from it what you will, though be warned that you have little time remaining to rectify such a catalogue of harm before you must meet your ancestors in the Spirit World and account for yourself with them." Bella's voice suddenly ceased, and she was able to snatch back her control from the vengeful Taha Aki. Spinning on her heel and stumbling several times before she reached the door, Bella made a dash for the bathroom, her breakfast was making a determined attempt to reappear and she felt completely sullied both by what she had seen of Old Quil's misfortunes and misdeeds and by the violation of Taha Aki shoving her aside and stealing control of her own body and voice. She barely made it to the toilet in time before her breakfast muffins came back to visit her. A warm strong hand on her back, reassuring and familiar caused her control to break and she turned, sobbing loudly and soaking her dad's shoulder with tears and snot, the two of them kneeling together as she cried out her distress in an eery mirror of a scene not so many weeks ago on Bella's bedroom floor.