Give Into Us Chapter 16

Bella spent the first days without Charlie doing everything a normal teen would do when they had sudden lack of parental supervision for a few days. Well, she would have if it wasn’t for Jane not letting neither Bella or Heidi do anything she deemed too irresponsible. Jane wanted to make sure her mate didn’t do anything to get in trouble when her father got home and Heidi wanted Bella to do everything she could get away with before her dad got back to make her follow the rules. And Bella, Bella just wanted to be left alone to hang out with her non-vampire friends and make sure she keeps up to date with her homework.

After a couple days of doing the same thing, Bella was getting restless. She wanted to get out of her home and do something. Alice had tired several times to get her to go over to the Cullen’s house, but Bella honestly didn’t want to go over. As much as she wished to have her old friendship back with Alice, she just wasn’t there yet. Bella didn’t want to go over and pretend everything was okay when it wasn’t. she still had the Volturi hanging over her head and while Jane and Heidi were definitely growing on her, she was still trying to cling onto her human life. She didn’t want to throw it away so quickly like she had wanted to when she was with the Cullen’s.

So, after texting Charlie to make sure it was okay, Bella decided she would go to the reservation and visit the pack. She told her shadows, Jane and Heidi, that she was going to the reservation and that due to the pack’s agreement they had with the Cullen’s, they weren’t allowed on the reservation.

They weren’t happy about that.

Bella had to take nearly ten minutes arguing with the two women that not only would be fine but that if Victoria did show up with a newborn to attack her, she would have the wolves to protect her because no matter how mad at they were, they would always protect a human against vampires. Jane was all but growling the entire time Bella was explaining they couldn’t go with her and Heidi was more serious than Bella had expected the woman to ever be.

“Victoria aside, what if the dogs can’t keep their temper in check and shift near you.” Jane said, taking deep and completely unneeded breathes so she could keep the growl out of her tone. If the queens knew about Bella being left alone with such young and untrained shifters, they wouldn’t be pleased. Jane wanted her mate happy and safe and while her mate had to upmost faith with the wolves, Jane knew they were too young to be a decent protection detail. She would never forgive herself if something happened to Bella when she was so nearby and didn’t do anything.

“Young shifters, no matter how much they claim otherwise, are like newborn vampires and experience their emotions very strongly.” Heidi said in a serious tone. She knew a lot about shifters. Her first coven, when she was still on friendly terms and in the same coven as Victoria, had a truce with shifters and helped each other keep their secrets and to keep each other safe from humans and supernatural creatures alike. It was probably why Victoria didn’t seem so concerned with doing what she was so near a shifter pack. It was something Heidi was well aware of and was waiting for the cocky redhead to make a mistake and the second she did, unfortunately it would be Heidi to end her. Heidi was afraid though, that Victoria’s mistake would be hurting Bella.

Bella grit her teeth, annoyed and beyond done with hearing all the bad things the vampires around her had to say about shifters. Yes, they were young. Bella understood that it took time to learn about the new abilities that were thrust upon them. She got it they were still young and likely still had a lot to learn. But as far as she was concerned, she was safe with them. She was claimed to be much safer with the vampires than the shifters but it was only ever vampires that had either physically, James and Edward when Jasper accidently attacked her, or mentally, the Cullen’s when they had left, that had ever hurt her. As far as Bella was concerned, based off of her history, she was safest with the shifters than she ever has been with vampires.

“Well, so far the only supernatural creatures that ever hurt me or made me uncomfortable has been your kind.” Bella said, knowing saying ‘your kind’ was a bit harsh but she was mad at them. She had thought she wasn’t going to be controlled anymore, something the Volturi had promised her up and down they wouldn’t do. She only recently accepted Edward had hurt and likely wasn’t the best dating material, she didn’t want to slip right back into that type relationship anytime soon. “I think I’ll take my chances with them.” She said as she pulled her keys out of her pocket and started towards the front door of her house to leave. “If you follow me onto the reservation, the wolves will see it as an act of war and will probably attack. Do you two want to be the reason for me being attacked because the wolves were forced to change unexpectedly in response to you being there?”

Bella knew it was a low blow, to attack a vampire’s need to protect. She may still be against them being ‘soul mates’ but she couldn’t deny there wasn’t some sort of bond between them. Just the fact that she missed them already after just turning away from them and not having them in sight had to mean something. She didn’t feel the all consuming need to be with them like she did with Edward, it was more of an ache, knowing they were there but not within touch. She meant to hurt them and she had accomplished that. She was tired of vampires trying to control her all the time because she was just some weak human and while they were right when compared to a vampire, that didn’t mean she couldn’t make her own choices and had to be babysat all the time.

Neither vampire said anything as the door all but slammed in their faces. They knew Bella was upset. They knew their queens wanted them to make sure nothing happened to Bella. They knew there was a very real risk of Victoria getting Bella while traveling to and from her friends on the reservation. They also knew there was also a decent chance of a shifter getting upset over something small and inadvertently hurting Bella. They wanted to do everything they could to mitigate any harm that may happen to their mate.

But at the same time, Bella was also right.

She may still be a student living with her father but she was technically an adult by human standards. She was more than old enough to make her own choices regardless of the known risks of those choices. They couldn’t very well say they were so much better than Edward if they fell into the same traps Edward seemed to love to do himself. Bella was her own person and was more than welcome to be around her friends and while they may not like the threats those friends unwittingly brought, they were still Bella’s friends and truly meant her no harm.

They listened as Bella started her truck and drove away. It was being able to barely hear the loud truck that snapped them into action. They quickly shook off their shock of their mate being mad at both of them, Jane fully expected Bella to get frustrated with Heidi at some point many times over because the fisher liked to push buttons but to be mad at Jane? She didn’t like that.

With a quick look, both vampires knew their goals and what they needed to do to keep their mate safe. Victoria was a problem and needed to be dealt with. There was no saving Victoria, she had a death warrant over her head and Heidi, while she loved the redhead like a sister, would deliver the killing blow herself to make sure her mate was safe and her former coven mate could have as peaceful a death as possible. Heidi was going to do her best to Victoria to either leave the city proper to kill her without them being found out by humans or to catch Victoria off guard enough to where her gift wouldn’t be enough to save her.

Jane knew she needed to keep as close to Bella as she could while respecting her wishes. She knew Bella wanted to be left alone to be with her friends and not have a shadow. But Bella didn’t seem very concerned with her own safety to realize Victoria wouldn’t care about whatever deal the Cullen’s have with the shifters. Victoria, especially with her gift, may very well decide to attack Bella on the reservation and make a game of it with the shifters. It would be something she could very easily do, especially with how young the shifters were. So, while Jane really hated it and was sure she would get more than just reprimanded by the queens, Jane would keep to the Cullen’s side of the treaty. She would respect it unless her bond told her Bella was in danger. Jane would just keep as close to the border as she could without the wolves thinking she was attempting to attack. It annoyed Jane to just have to wait and do nothing but she was an Elite Guard member of the Volturi, she would make sure she had more than enough patience to wait for as long as she needed. For Bella, she would do anything and everything she needed.

Heidi and Jane would do whatever they needed to keep in Bella’s good graces. Jane would keep her safe, be a steady sentinel of protection no matter where Bella went and what she did. And Heidi, well, Heidi would do whatever her mate wanted; within reason of course. And if Heidi ever pissed off her mate, then they could always have angry, make-up sex; she would just ignore the fact that they hadn’t quite gotten to the point to having sex quite yet but hey, everyone had relationship goals. Both vampires knew they just had to work with their own desires and not ignoring their mate’s desires. She deserved a voice just as much as they did, regardless of who was human and who was a vampire. That would be the biggest difference between them and Edward and it would make all the difference in showing Bella why they were meant for her, not Edward.