The Unwanted Imprint

Chapter 45

Bella listened to every word that came out of Nichole's mouth, and her eyes were wide by the end of the tale. "Okay, I'm not gonna lie, but this Aro guy sounds like a pervert."

"Oh trust me, he is. Every time that he looked at me, I just wanted to gouge his eyes out, and if he hadn't been a vampire, then I probably would have."

"Another question. What the hell is going on between Edward and Jacob? They used to hate each other."

Nichole stared out the window for a moment before looking back at Bella. "Honestly, I think that it's us."

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean, think about it, Bella. You're Edward's girlfriend and Jacob's best friend, so it's natural for them both to be protective over you. I'm with Jacob and Edward is my brother, so naturally, they're both protective over me as well. I really think that they're bonding over a mutual feeling of protectiveness for the both of us."

"That makes both perfect sense and no sense all at the same time," Bella said, shaking her head, which caused Nichole to start laughing. "I never claimed to be the kind of person that made much sense."

That day, the only times that they stopped was to fill up the gas tanks and to get some snacks. It was late at night when they finally stopped at a twenty four hour diner so that Bella, Nichole, and the wolves could get some dinner. The waitress seemed disappointed that the vampires of the group didn't order anything to eat, probably because she knew that she would make out with a pretty good tip.

Jacob and Jared both ordered something meat oriented, Bella ordered a chef's salad, and Nichole decided that she was going to go with a BLT, fries, and a chocolate milkshake.

After seeing Jacob raise an eyebrow at how much she had ordered, she glared at him playfully. "Hey, I've been through a lot of stress over the past few days, I deserve to treat myself to some chocolate."

"Just don't take too long to eat." Carlisle said. "The town is only a two hour drive away from here. We'll get a hotel to stay at for the night when we arrive. I found a cabin for sale up in the mountains that should provide ample room for all of us, so in the morning, I'll go and talk to the realtor in charge of the house. While I'm doing that, Jacob and Jared, I want you two to go to the house and set up safety precautions, I want you to come up with ways that would be able to alert us if anyone comes near the cabin." Carlisle pulled out his wallet, giving a card to Jacob. "Buy whatever you have to, security systems, anything that you need. I want to know that Aro is coming when he's still miles away."

"You got it." Jared said. "I have a couple of ideas that we can do. We can get some security stuff, cameras and all that, maybe infrared too. I can program it with thermal signatures, so that an alarm will go off whenever there's something moving that matches the temperature signature of a vampire."

"Perfect, and since we don't sleep, there will always be at least one of us in the area to hear it go off. Now, during the day, I want you and Jacob to-"

"I think that the waitress is listening in on our conversation." Nichole muttered.

Jacob sniffed the air. "Hang on a second." He said. He walked through the empty diner, heading towards the bathroom, passing the waitress on the way. Suddenly, he stopped, and growling loudly, he pinned the waitress down to the table. "She's a vampire!" He shouted, causing Carlisle to stand up and make his way over to them. "Who are you?!" He demanded of the waitress, who was struggling to get out of Jacob's firm grasp. "Did Aro send you?!"

"Tell the mutt to get off of me and I'l tell you what you want to know."

Carlisle nodded at Jacob, who released the waitress, although he still stayed very close in case she decided that she was going to try something.

'You asked if Aro sent me." The waitress said as she brushed herself off. "The truth is that I was already here. Aro has eyes everywhere, all over the world, and right now, all of those eyes are searching for his runaway bride." Her eyes met Nichole's. "Aro is going to make sure that you regret ever leaving Italy."

"Shut up!" Jacob growled at her, and she pursed her lips. "Such a fiesty guard dog. What you didn't know was that I told Aro the moment that you all walked in here. So if I were you, I would get moving."

"Everyone out to the cars, now!" Carlisle quickly ushered Nichole outside and into his car. "Nichole, you're not going to leave my sight at all, understand?"

Nichole nodded her head silently, looking behind her as though expecting to see Aro standing there.

Jacob, meanwhile, was not happy with Edward. "Aren't you supposed to be a mind reader?!" He demanded as they drove at top speed.

"She must have had a way to block her thoughts from me." Edward muttered. "Trust me, I'm disappointed in myself as well."

Jacob sighed. "Are we actually going to be able to keep her safe?"

"I don't know Jacob. But what I do know is that now there's no one that we can trust outside of our group. From now on, we have to proceed with extreme caution, and treat everyone like they're the enemy. From now on, we're completely on our own."