Choices

Chapter 8

Charlie called into the station and explained, for family reasons; he was taking the week off. The Cullens and Swans realized that the town would take notice that they were now cohabitating and think it was strange. It was a small town and people would talk, it didn't really bother either family, they figured if the town wanted to talk, they could talk. The only concern that the Cullens had, was the safety of the Swans. They knew that Victoria was still out there and it didn't matter to her that Edward was gone.

After getting off the phone with the police station, Charlie called Billy Black. All he said was, "I know the truth Billy." On the other end of the line a sigh could be heard by all the Vampires.

"Why don't you come over Charlie? Apparently we have things to talk about." Billy said. Charlie agreed and told him that he would meet Billy at his house in ten minutes.

After Charlie left Belle asked, "What about Victoria? I'm pretty sure that she's not going to just give up because Edward doesn't love me anymore. So I ask again, what are we going to do?"

Carlisle was the one who spoke. "I suppose we could get the Volturi involved, but I'd rather have that as the last resort. Alice can you see what she's up to or even where she is?"

"Sorry Carlisle, I haven't seen anything from Victoria. She is either lying low, or she knows how to avoid my visions." Alice said.

"At this point I think we should just stay on guard. If we see a threat coming we can have a swift plan of action in place, which I leave up to you Jasper. If you would please put something together, and I think it would be wise to include the wolves." Jasper nodded and set off to do some regional research. The better he understood they lay out of the land, the better advantage they would have.

"The rest of us should just wait and see what happens. I know that it isn't the ideal situation, but there really is nothing we can do at this point. If we feel the need arise, we will inform the Volturi, and let them take care of her. We will have to sit and talk about bringing them in, before we call them though. We need to make sure that the safety of Belle and Charlie are our first priority. We all know that the Volturi would love nothing better than to have a reason to wipe us all out." Carlisle said.

A Couple of Days Later

The Cullens, wolves and the Swans were sitting in the backyard of the Swan house. The pack had agreed to alter the treaty and allow the Cullens to patrol on their land. The wolf pack was also patrolling all around Forks and the Cullen's land. They all care for Charlie and Belle, and they would not allow a human drinker to cross their land to endanger them or the good people of Forks. The treat also covered the Cullens biting humans, if a human chose to become a vampire, the Cullens may change them. The only stipulation was that if the newborn took the life of a human they would immediately be destroyed, no if ands or buts.

Billy wasn't sold on the idea of his best friend becoming a "bloodsucker", but he understood that it was a choice that Charlie was presented with, and he made his choice. The only thing that kept Billy from really being against the idea is that Charlie was going to be one of the good Vampires.

Carlisle had noticed that Jake was starting to fill out rather quickly, and his smell was starting to change as well. He turned to Billy and asked, "When will Jacob start to shift?"

"Well seeing that he has spent that past couple of days with you has sped the process up. I believe that it should happen any time now." Billy said.

All of a sudden Alice stopped horsing around and screamed, "BELLE! Rose quick, get Belle away from Jake, he is about to shift for the first time."

Rose managed to get Belle out of the way and take a protective stance just as Jake shifted. Rose looked at the beautiful russet colored wolf and said, "Jake you need to calm down!" You could see that Jake was really confused and was struggling with his control. "You almost hurt Belle, you could have killed her and then how would you have felt?" Wolf Jake lowered his head in shame and whined. Alice was standing next to Belle, holding clothes for Jake when he was able to calm down and shift back to his human form. Jake calmed rather quickly and shifted back. He put the clothes on and stood to thank Rose for helping him and Belle, but when their eyes met, they both felt their worlds shift.

"Holy shit!" Alice said, "It looks like Rose and Jake have found their True Mates. Sorry Emmett, but this boy is her True Mate. It is truly remarkable."

Everyone looked completely dumbfounded, especially Billy. Never would he have thought that his son would have imprinted on a Vampire, a bomb-shell, but a Vampire. "You can tell that they are True Mates." Billy said. "Only an imprint can calm the wolf that fast. It's absolutely amazing, his first shift and he has already found his imprint! I think that this would be a first in our history. Another thing that I find interesting is we have always believed that we imprint to help carry on the wolf line, but Vampires can't have babies can they?"

"No we can't, our bodies no longer change, so a new life could never take hold inside of us." Esme said, just a little sadness could be heard in her voice.

Billy heard the sadness and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you Esme." He had grown very fond of her in the short period of time that he had known her.

Esme smiled and patted Billy's hand. "Billy, there is no need to apologize, it is something that I have learned to come to terms with."

Belle, who had be quiet during the whole exchange, said. "Wait, I thought that Emmett was Rose's mate." She really was getting confused. She thought she knew all there was to know about the Vampire world, but it seemed that she had plenty to learn still.

Rose smiled and said, "It is true that I love Emmett, but we both knew that we weren't really meant to be True Mates. We agreed to be with each other until one of us found our True Mate." Belle still looked confused, but knew that someone would clarify things.

Before anyone could clarify, Billy said. "This will also void the part of the treaty where you aren't allowed on our land. You are all now under the protection of the wolves, even though you may not need it. You are welcome on the Rez any time, and I expect that you visit as much as possible. Welcome to the tribe Cullens."

Jake laughed at the expression of Sam's face. Sam couldn't believe that Jake had imprinted on a bloodsucker! He knew that in truth Jake was supposed to be the Alpha, but Sam liked is position as Alpha and wasn't really willing to step aside. He pulled Jake off to the side to have a chat with him. "What role are you going to want in this pack?" He said getting straight to the point. Jake who hadn't expected this conversation to happen at the Swan house, just looked at Sam for a minute.

"Well, I believe that it is my birth-rite to be Alpha, and Tribal Chief. Why are you asking me this, and here of all places?"

"I'll tell you now that I am not going to hand over the Alpha role. I am the oldest and there for the wisest, so you can be my Beta." Sam said rather pompously.

Jake looked as if Sam had just kicked his favorite puppy. "Are you insane Sam? You know that I have every right to be the Alpha. MY fathers were not the ones to bow down to YOUR fathers. You will step down as Alpha, and you WILL be my Beta. That is how it is supposed to be. I believe that you have allowed your position of power go to your head."

Sam's body started to shake and Jake knew that he wanted to fight this out here and now. Alice saw what was about to happen and informed Billy and Charlie. "SAM ULEY you will stop that right now. You may think that you are Chief of the Tribe, but I am NOT dead yet nor have I passed that legacy to you. You will obey!" Billy said with a voice of authority that nobody could dispute. Charlie had never seen his best friend act like that, and knew that this was the Chief Billy that Billy really never wanted to be. Sam stopped shaking, but you could tell that this confrontation was not over with, until Jake had a brilliant idea.

"Sam I have an idea that we should all agree on. Dad with your permission I would like to start my own pack. I believe that two packs maybe better than one. I know that I won't stay in Washington for all of eternity, so I think that this would be a great compromise. What do you think?"

Billy thought on it for a minute and agreed that two packs would be better than one and the Sam's pack could be maintained on the Reservation and Jake's pack could be a more mobile pack. Sam wasn't completely sold on the idea, but because he wanted to stay Alpha he agreed. They came to the decision that Jake could pick who he wanted in his pack, if the persons agreed as well. After coming to the agreement Sam excused himself and left to go home. The tension that had hung in the air during the disagreement left with Sam.