To Live Again (Twilight)

🗯️2: Protection🗯️

The first few days, hard work, and tiring herself out were the way to sleep nightmare free. Bella cleaned the house, cooked, washed, and did everything she can to tire herself out. It soon included jogging in the early morning and evening until she was out of breath. She tripped several times in the beginning, gaining herself a few new bruises every day. But she got better as time went on. She stopped tripping on thin air while walking as well.

Bella spent the first two months redecorating and painting the house whenever she was free. It was a new skill and she learnt it watching YouTube. It was with those same skills she helped Emily redecorate Sam's house to suit them both instead of just him. Now, she was sitting in the same kitchen to be interrogated by the pack.

"What do you mean she may be here for you?" Sam voiced the question in everyone's mind.

"Edward said they weren't mates. But I think they are. James and Victoria were mates and they killed him but couldn't find her." She thought for a few seconds then looked up. "Mates are like imprints for you guys. They are made for each other. I heard Jasper say once that if you kill one, you kill the other. Or else they come back for revenge and only then they kill themselves unable to live without their other half."

The discussion began as to what to do now that it was clear she was in danger. They spent the whole morning arguing and going nowhere with it. The only point they all agreed on was that the imprints and Bella have to be protected. When it was lunchtime, Emi put a stop to it.

"Enough for now. Eat everyone." No one argued. They were always hungry for food.

After lunch, the girls took matters into their own hands.

"Now, we will speak and you sit and listen." The boys obediently sat down and listened to their plan.

It was simple. The wolves will run perimeter as they always do. The imprints will always have at least one wolf with them most of the time if not all the time. No one goes anywhere alone. It solved every problem but Bella's.

Bella would have two wolves running perimeter around her house morning and evening, one wolf at a time. She would go everywhere either with Angela, Ben or one of the imprints will come with her followed by a wolf.

They were sure that Victoria will not risk exposure before her revenge was taken. She would be careful.

"Or we can try to lure her out with complete planning and risk to no one but myself and the wolves which we always are in." She offered.

They even refused to listen to her plan. So, she resigned herself to being guarded most of the time now.

Even when she was going and coming from school, she knew one of the wolves will follow her in the tree line.

She was grateful for everything they were doing for her but she was also worried she was putting them in danger as well.

"Bella, don't worry about us and just worry about yourself. We can take care of ourselves but you can't." Jake said when she voiced her concerns. He soothed her worries and she accepted that whatever she says, it was inevitable that they will do as they like because they swore to protect everyone in Forks and she was one of them.

****
Three weeks. That was how long it took Bella and the pack to get restless.

She spent most of the time she could with someone and she didn't get any alone time except when she was in her bed room. She was even followed on her morning and evening jogs.

She cooked for Charlie and the pack. She spent most of the time on the rez so it would be easy for the pack to protect her.

She learnt more than she ever intended to about repairing and painting cars from Jake when he was her security. She learnt more than she ever wanted to about flirting and sex from Paul. He was a known playboy around the rez and he didn't have an imprint yet. All the playing around with him finally helped her get rid of her habit of blushing so easily.

She learnt to navigate the forests along with the other imprints, survival skills, if they ever got lost in the woods from Sam. He was an amazing teacher.

All the time spending together taught everyone new skills and most importantly to be a family, to love and smile. Which Bella needed very much in her life.

****

"Quil, Embry, Seth, Bella, you should stop and come to eat." Emi shouted from the kitchen. They were having fun playing video games and killing each other and the characters on screen.

It was surprisingly healing and relaxing killing all the zombie characters on screen and shouting at each other. Collin and Brady were the youngest to shift and shifted just three days ago. They were just thirteen and Bella's heart went out to them even though they are stronger than her.

They were sitting at her knee doing their homework as she played games with the other boys.

"Did you guys eat?" She asked them and they nodded their head.

"You didn't even notice when we went and came back. It was like half an hour ago we came back from lunch." Collin said.

"Oh Emi will kill us." Quil wailed as he threw down the controller and ran out of the room.

"Scaredy cat." She shouted at him and went at a sedate pace to the kitchen to get some food into her growling stomach. She didn't notice she was hungry until now.

As they were eating, she noticed the kitchen slowly filling up with the pack returning from patrol and their homes.

"What's up?" She asked as they all sat down. Sam, Paul, Jared took the couch. Jake, Quil, Embry took the chairs at the table. Leah and Seth stood at the back of the room, their backs to the wall.

Emily was still at the stove with Kim helping her. Claire, Quil's imprint, was at her home for the week. Seth and Embry's imprints, Crystal and Amelia were sitting in their laps, looking all disgustingly lovey-dovey. Theirs was still a new bond.

"Bells, it's been four months and we are getting frustrated with this no progress thing." Sam said.

"Yeah, even the graduation is nearby and you are expected to leave town to go to some ivy league college after graduation." Paul added, who was eye fucking her. They were dancing around each other for a while now. And the pack always teased them or advised them to screw each other and get it over with.

"So, you are ready to listen to my plan." She concluded. Some of them looked abashed and other looked embarrassed. Some looked at her determined not to show any emotion on their face.

"We have nearly two months for graduation and two more before I have to leave." Bella said thinking. "We actually were about to talk to you." She added, gesturing towards the imprints.

"I will tell you the plan and we have 80% chance that it will succeed. But before that. We decided that, we, the imprints and I should take self defense classes."

There were various protests. She waited very patiently until they died down.

"Whether you like it or not, I already know the basics and you know I taught them already but we need more than basics. You will not be always around to protect them or me." There were protests again.

"Will you shut up and listen to her?" Emily shouted at them. There was instant silence. Heaven.

"Good. You will protect us from supernatural very well. We don't dispute that. But you can't kick or punch someone human if they behave badly with us, for example. You can kill them with just one shot. And we need the confidence and the ability to protect ourselves if ever needed, god forbid."

It was a hard pitch to sell. But after half an hour of convincing and persuasion and promises from the imprints they agreed.

Now, for the plan.

*******

I will most probably publish every Sunday. I am almost done writing, so no worries that I will stop publishing halfway. This fanfiction isn't very long. Just around 20 chapters.

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Thank you for your support.

Rosy.