To Live Again (Twilight)

🗯️17: Denali Coven🗯️

Bella had quite a lot of fun teasing them. She didn't tell them what happened even though Peter kept pestering her. He knew it was something huge. He wanted to know before they talked to the Denali's. It was just his curiosity, so Bella kept silent. Jasper kicked Peter out when he couldn't take his incessant pestering anymore. So, Peter ran while they travelled in the car. Bella wanted to make this a road trip and enjoy the scenery along the way.

She was glad she always kept a copy of the evidence. She didn't want to visit the pack before the Denali's. She didn't know why, but her instinct told her she wouldn't have time to visit them later if she went to Forks first. It may have something to do with the Volturi spies running around Forks even now. If they saw her, she would have to be turned before she could visit Alaska, and it would lead to a disaster.

When they reached the house the Denali's were staying in it was no surprise to see them waiting outside. They could probably hear the car coming from a long distance away. Jasper got a very warm welcome from the sisters. Bella almost snarled when they hugged him for a moment too long. She did growl a little, which startled everyone present.

"Welcome, Jasper. It's so good to see you." Eleazar said as he welcomed them inside the house after a few moments.

"It is good to see you too Eleazar. It has been a while." After they all settled in, Bella first wanted to do what they came for and have fun later. She looked at Peter who was bouncing in his chair, to the point of breaking it. Jasper couldn't take it anymore and sent calm and peace to his brother.

"We had an ulterior motive for coming here today." Bella said and the Denali's looked at her suddenly. "I forgot to introduce myself. I am Isabella. I am Jasper's mate." She was very confident when she said that. 

"Why are you still human if you are?" Tanya asked her snidely.  "We know he is with Alice and they are mates."

"Don't lie to us." Irina added. Bella and Jasper looked at each other for a moment. 

"Alice and I weren't mates. We knew that when we met. She wanted to help me and she needed my help as well." Jasper didn't want to tell them the whole story, but he has to if wanted to gain their trust. "When I met Alice, I was suffering from drinking from humans. She knew about the vegetarian diet and she knew it would help me. She also knew I would not just agree to go with her if she told me. She told me then, she would be able to meet her mate faster if she travelled with me. They would have met eventually, even if she didn't come to help me. But through me was the shortest path to find her mate." He was lost in thought for a moment. "We didn't know that through her was the shortest path to meet my mate as well." A small smile bloomed on his face as he said that and looked at Bella.

"Alice left to meet her mate a while ago. I have been travelling with Peter and Char since. Just listen to what Bella has to say patiently. You need to know this."

"You have a gift." Eleazar said as kept staring at Bella.  She nodded her head. "Jasper can't manipulate my emotions unless I want him to and Edward couldn't read my mind. I know I am a shield." She answered and Eleazar was a bit surprised.

"I won't beat around the bush. Laurent is dead." She said and it didn't come as surprise when she was almost instantly attacked by Irina. But it was a surprise to the Denali's when she was thrown back into her chair and held there by an invisible force.

"Do not force my hand. Jasper said, be patient and listen, so do it." She said in a cool, hard tone. "He was working with his old associate Victoria and was trying to kill me. The shifters at La Push, in Forks helped me kill him. They killed him." She said. She waited for the tension in the room to go down. She looked at Jasper and he sent calm and peace in tons around the room.

"Yes, I know you are surprised about many things in that statement. I will explain, but I hope I don't have to take desperate measures again." Bella looked at each and everyone of them. "I am the Bella that Edward loved when he was in Forks and the Bella he left behind when he ran away taking his family with him. I was in an accident, you remember involving Laurent and his travel companions Victoria and James. Jasper killed James and they Laurent came to stay with you. Victoria was hell bent on revenge for her dead mate and made me her target, the easiest person to get to." Bella was lost in her memories. Jasper quietly walked to her chair and sat on her arm rest and held her.

"It was a difficult time after the Cullens left. I had help from the wolf shifters at Forks though. But soon we found out that Victoria was stalking me and was trying to get to me. I was on protection detail everyday for a long time. Long story short, we planned to lure her out, but who fell for the plan was Laurent." She looked at Peter as she finished talking. "Peter, get me my laptop please." She said and he was out and back in a moment.  She played the video for everyone to see.

"Look at it and don't break my laptop." She warned them. It was an eye opening evidence. That Laurent could fool anyone he wanted. He was just playing games. Irina broke down then. She thought she really found her mate. He played with her heart.

"I know it hurts. I am sorry for being the one to tell you this."

They gave the Denali's space to come to terms with the truth and all the information they learned today. Peter and Charlotte went animal hunting as there wasn't much of a food choice around there. Jasper took Bella out for a drive. But before they left, they told the Denali's not to tell Cullen family that Bella and Jasper were visiting.

Bella couldn't handle the complications at the moment. She didn't want to face the drama.