Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1

“Too predictable.” Bella Denali easily sidestepped Noella’s lunge, grabbing her by the throat and slamming her into the ground. She stared into the girl’s black eyes, sighing when she caught the scent of Noella’s arousal. “If I were an enemy, you’d be dead. Now isn’t the time to get horny.”

“But you’re you, and you know how much it turns me on when you take me by the throat.” Noella laughed as Bella immediately let go with an annoyed yet slightly aroused growl. The girl flipped to her feet and shook out her short light brown hair before grinning at Bella from under her choppy bangs. “Come on Bells, what’s the big deal? You act like we haven’t fucked hundreds of times before. Why is it that it’s suddenly a problem if I get aroused?”

“Because we’re training,” Bella reminded Noella tersely. “It’s been over four hundred years since you joined my coven and you’ve gotten a lot stronger but recently, you seem to have grown complacent and you’ve started relying too much on your gift. There’s always potential for a threat to appear and I care too much about you to let you die because you were unprepared and weak.”

Noella’s eyes softened and reverted back to gold. “Right. I’m sorry, Bella. I’ll train harder.”

Bella let out a relieved sigh. “That’s all I ask of you.”

“Bella, phone call. It’s Alice,” Eleazar said, appearing on the porch. He tossed the phone when Bella nodded at him, and the coven leader snatched it out of the air.

“What’s up, pixie stick?” Bella asked seriously once the phone was at her ear. While she was always happy to get a phone call from one of her favorite cousins, Alice tended to only call when it was well after what Alice knew to be training time at the Denali coven. She knew how important training was to Bella. The only reason Alice would interrupt would be if it was for something important.

“Bella, I need you to come down to Forks pronto. Things are getting bad and if you don’t come down soon it’ll get worse.” The words, accompanied by the clear stress in Alice’s voice, was enough to make Bella forget all about working on Noella’s training–almost. 

“Carmen!” Bella called. The woman was at her side in a human heartbeat, already seeming to understand the situation. It made things easier for Bella to simply gesture at Noella and say, “Take over for me.”

“Of course.”

“Oh, come on!” Noella complained. “There isn’t even going to be much training at this point, Carmen’s just going to kick my ass.”

“Hush, it’s not like I’ll kill you. You’ll survive.” Carmen’s answer would have made Bella laugh had she not already been back into the house for some privacy. She signaled for Eleazar to go outside and watch the training and he left, closing the door behind him.

“What’s going on?” Bella’s mind had already been racing to figure out what could possibly make Alice so upset, seemingly to no avail. But it was as if asking the question gave Bella her answer. “It’s Edward isn’t it?”

The boy had run to her coven a few years ago in clear distress at what had happened on the very first day of school he was attending in Forks; apparently he had met his singer, a freshman like him named Tanya, and he was desperate not to kill her. Yet he also believed he and his family shouldn’t leave, especially since they had only just shown up at Forks a month prior. After a lot of talking and working on him, along with the reassurances of Alice, he had been able to go back to school.

“Yes.” She could hear the upset in Alice’s voice, as if the girl was on the verge of crying. “Now that Jasper, Rosalie, and Emmett ‘graduated’ he’s having a lot more trouble in school. My visions have saved us a few times, but I can only do so much, his desire for her blood is getting stronger, and–”

“He refuses to leave,” Bella sighed. Of all the stupid things Edward could do…his pride was going to be the death of him and maybe his entire family one day if he didn’t get his act together. 

Alice sniffled. “Yes.”

Bella sat at the dining room table, drumming her fingers against the hardwood. She had practiced acting human for so long that some behaviors helped her think, or even vent her frustration in ways that didn’t lead to things being broken or dead. “So how exactly will I be of help?”

“Not just you…your entire coven.” The nervousness in Alice’s voice made Bella’s eyes widen. No. Surely she couldn’t expect them to do what Bella thought. There was no way. “You see…”

“Alice. Tell me we won’t have to start high school.”

“Only senior year,” Alice rushed to reply, and Bella felt her undead heart drop. “I know it’s a lot to ask–”

“More than a lot,” Bella clarified. Being around a ton of humans, the majority of who she couldn’t or wouldn’t fuck, while also being bored with “learning” things that she already knew, likely accompanied with blatantly false information? She’d rather do nearly anything else. 

“But you’ve never been to school before anyway! It could be a new adventure for you, and you and Noella are the right age–”

“Wait. You want Noella to go too? The girl who barely had human interaction even when she was human and who, as a vampire, would only hunt humans in the forests so she wouldn’t have to pretend around them until she switched diets? The Noella that is outside, and who hasn’t been around a human once since moving in with my coven unless it was for practicing control from a distance? That Noella?” Bella clarified.

She could almost hear Alice wince from over the phone. “When you say it like that, it sounds so bad.”

“Because it is bad.” She loved Noella, she really did. But she was not going to bring Noella around a bunch of humans with how she was now. Doing so would be a recipe for disaster of their own making.

“But I thought Noella didn’t have any problems controlling her bloodlu–” Alice paused, and Bella was sure she was having a quick vision. “Oh. It’s not blood that’s the problem.”

“That’s right; it’s her filter.” More specifically, her lack thereof. Subtly was something Noella heard of before, but couldn’t define, and she was the ‘speak first think later’ type no matter how much Bella tried to teach her otherwise. Even Edward had been in awe when he met her for the first time as everything she thought came out of her mouth without any hesitation no matter how blunt or rude. While she had gotten better over the years, she certainly was nowhere near good enough. “I just don’t see why this is necessary. It might just be best to let Edward kill his singer somewhere secluded.” While Bella was an animal drinker herself, she did so for the other benefits of control–mainly not killing whatever human she wanted to fuck. She still understood human deaths were sometimes necessary, especially when protecting the vampire secret.

“No!” Alice's voice cracked, startling Bella, but Alice was too quick to continue speaking for Bella to ask what had made her so worked up. “She’s one of the Chief of Police’s daughters anyway. If she goes missing, it will lead to even more scrutiny.”

Bella sighed. Damn Alice for having a point. “Are we really the only option? I don’t see why Edward can’t just leave.”

“If he leaves now, his beast will eventually drive him back and he’ll kill her in the next two months. Right now this is the only option.”

It sounded as if this would only be a temporary solution, but Bella could tell how important this was to her tiny cousin. She sighed and glanced out the window to watch as Noella crashed into the ground with Carmen on top of her, creating a good sized crater. The girl tried to crawl away, but Carmen grabbed her by the leg. The last thing Bella saw was her eyes, wide and begging as they met Bella’s before she was dragged back into the hole and out of sight. Training clearly wasn’t going as well as Bella had hoped, and now they would have a whole extra training regime to add to it all.

“How long can Edward last without our help?” Bella asked.

“Twelve days,” Alice replied in a small voice.

Bella wasn’t about to push Edward to his limits; she wasn’t cruel…unless her current lover wanted her to be. “Give us a week.”

“Thank you Bella! Thank you thank you thank you!”

“Thank me when it’s all over.” Bella responded before hanging up. She just hoped she wouldn’t regret this.

************************************************************

“Tanya! Come on, hurry up! I need to use the bathroom!” Irina pounded on the door for the seventh time in as many minutes. “I know you better not be doing your makeup in there when my bladder is about to explode!”

There was no immediate answer, leaving Irina to groan with frustration and turn her back to the door, sliding down the wood into a sitting position as she hoped beyond hope that her bladder would make it. Crossing her legs did little to help, so Irina tried to focus on going over her math homework in her head, hoping it would be a proper distraction.

Kate walked by then, pausing to take in the amusing scene with laughing green eyes and a barely suppressed smirk. “How many years is it going to take for you to realize you need to beat our sister to the bathroom?”

“I overslept,” Irina grumbled. “Not everyone can be like you and wake up with the sun every day, you crazed sports freak.”

Kate grinned at her before making a big deal of posing, even going so far as to flex and show off her enviously muscled physique. She was already dressed in simple running shorts and a red tee, her straight pale blonde hair still damp from the shower she had taken after her morning work out. “I may be the sports freak, but who’s the real winner here? The girl ready for school with plenty of time to spare, or the girl curled up in front of the bathroom door?” 

It was at that moment the bathroom door opened, revealing their oldest “sister.” Her makeup was perfect, her curly strawberry blonde hair blow dried and styled. Accompanied with her slinky blouse, black slacks, and heels, she looked more like she was about to step on a runway than go to school. Irina was grumpy that she really had been doing her makeup in the only bathroom of the house, but she was too desperate to scramble inside and finally relieve her bladder to say anything.

“As I’m the only one who is able to get enough sleep and look this good for school, I’d say the winner is me,” Tanya said with a smirk. “Sorry Rina, I really didn’t mean to take so long,” she called over her shoulder once the door slammed behind her. 

“But I like waking up early. So clearly I’m the winner here,” Kate argued.

“Only because you need to constantly be on the move,” Tanya shot back, but then turned her attention to her middle sister’s outfit. “You know, if you want someone to do your makeup sometime–”

“No. Hell no.” Kate quickly backed away from Tanya, hands held up to keep her away in case Tanya were to follow. “I don’t do makeup, especially when it’s you who is trying to force me.” Maybe chapstick or lip gloss, but that was it for Kate Swan. Anything else was way too much work and incredibly unnecessary.

Tanya sighed. “You’re going to regret it when you find someone you like, only to look like a...well, you.” While the words might have sounded harsh, Tanya didn’t know how to better display her concern for Kate. Outside of sports, martial arts, and her teammates, she took no interest in other people, let alone interest in love. Each of them had their own still unspoken traumas from their time in the foster system both before they found each other and before they were rescued by Charlie, and it was often something all of them didn’t like ever being brought up whether it was on purpose or not. But where Tanya had learned how to cope in her own way and make friends, and shy Irina even managed to have a few friends of her own, Kate still seemed to struggle with those kinds of relationships. All of her friends were from her sports teams and she never invited any of them over to the house, every time they hung out was somewhere else and always because someone invited Kate instead of the other way around. While Tanya had the most fun with dating by far and was the only one to date at all save for that one date she pushed Irina to have with Mike–which was a big mistake that she still felt bad about–Irina at least often gushed about the occasional book character or actor. Kate, on the other hand, wasn’t interested in any kind of romance and often found even the romance in movies they watched together boring or stupid. It was like she couldn’t see herself interested in others in that way or understand why others would want to be in that situation, and Tanya worried if Kate was unconsciously holding herself back or blocking all kinds of thoughts regarding romance. So many people clearly wanted Kate, but Kate appeared so oblivious to it all that all the denseness in the world couldn’t explain why she didn’t notice.

“Not like that’s ever going to happen,” Kate said with a roll of her eyes. “I like being me, and I don’t want to have to do so much extra shit just to make someone else like me. I’m gonna go get breakfast.” Kate turned on her heel and bounded down the stairs, leaving Tanya to wince by herself. She hadn’t meant to put Kate in a bad mood.

Before Tanya could follow Kate down and try to make things up to her, the bathroom door cracked open just enough for Tanya to see Irina peeking out in nothing but a towel, pale blue clearly anxious, even with them half hidden behind a curtain of wet silvery blonde hair. Irina had to have taken the quickest shower in her life, likely out of fear that if she were to leave the bathroom to get some clothes to dress in the bathroom might be stolen once again. “Um…about that makeup…could you maybe do mine?”

Tanya softened at her youngest sister. The girl often didn’t want to do her makeup either, thinking herself too plain or that it wouldn’t really change anything to make it worth it. While Irina was already beyond beautiful, Tanya loved getting the opportunity to use makeup to help her youngest sister see it.  “Of course, Irina.” She already knew what to do. Instead of doing Irina’s makeup like Tanya did her own, she went with colors that matched her skin and enhanced Irina’s already beautiful features. For Irina, it wasn’t about covering her up or making her look different like Tanya sometimes did to herself when she was feeling extra. Tanya wanted to keep the look natural and give Irina more confidence in herself and her looks. 

It wasn’t long until Tanya was finished, even blow drying and straightening Irina’s usually wavy hair to give the youngest a different look. Irina was staring at herself in the mirror with awe.

“Wow,” Irina breathed at last. 

Tanya put her hands on Irina’s shoulders and gave the girl a comforting squeeze. “I think the same thing about you every day.”

Her words made Irina laugh–not the response Tanya wanted from the younger girl, but it was better than nothing. “You know what? This totally makes up for you nearly bursting my bladder earlier.”

“So the way to Kate’s heart is through her stomach, and yours is through compliments. Got it,” Tanya said, pretending to check off an imaginary list.

“It’s not!” Irina said with a playful shove. “Ugh, remind me to stop being nice to you. I should just keep holding on to my grudges.”

Tanya pulled away in mock alarm. “Wait, how many grudges do you have?”

Irina’s eyes glinted as she laughed. “That’s for me to know, and you to…well, you’ll see.”

“Girls! Time for breakfast!” Charlie called from downstairs before Tanya could ask just how concerned she should be for her own safety.

“Oh no, we better get down there if we don’t want Kate to eat it all.” The panic on Irina’s face was laughable, even more so when she looked down and realized that she was still in nothing but a towel and had to get dressed. She glanced back and forth between the stairs and her room, trying to figure out if there would still be food to eat if she decided to take a moment to put some clothes on.

“Go. I’ll save some food for you,” Tanya said, and the relief and trust in Irina’s eyes made the thoughtless promise worth it. Charlie would never let any of them go hungry, but there was still a deep rooted fear Irina had about missing meals that Tanya wasn’t sure would ever go away.

“Thanks Tanya,” Irina said, giving the taller girl a brief hug before rushing to her room.

Tanya went downstairs to see Kate wolfing down way more food than should be humanly possible. She quickly made two large plates of what was left, knowing anything that she and Irina didn’t eat would end up in Kate’s stomach anyway. Kate was determinedly not looking at her, which made Tanya feel worse. She had known Kate for nearly six years at this point, yet she still kept managing to step on her usually happy go lucky sister’s toes.

“Morning Tanya,” Charlie said with a sweet grin, nearly hidden under his bushy black mustache were it not for the way his eyes crinkled. “Where’s Irina?”

“Morning! She’ll be down in a minute, just running a little late.” Tanya gave her savior a tight hug.

“And who’s fault is that?” Kate said with a snort.

Tanya nearly answered, only to be distracted by her phone buzzing. She glanced down to see a text from Jessica. Guess who asked me where u were this morning? U need 2 go out with Edward, girl! He’s been wanting u 4 ever.

I’m with Eric Tanya texted back, hoping that would be the end of it. Of course it wasn’t.

U srsly need 2 dump Eric already. Edward is hotter and u don’t even like Eric much anyway. He’ll only last u another week.

Tanya grimaced. She had always known her track record of dating and dumping both boys and girls was going to come back to bite her, just not in this way. She knew of Edward’s “interest” in her since freshman year, but ever since that first weird reaction he had to her in her first ever high school English class, she just didn’t like him. While the other Cullens mostly kept to themselves, Tanya had no problem with them–originally, anyway. Even then her only true problem was with Edward. All the hotness in the world couldn’t make up for the red flags that went up with their first meeting, and the other red flags that kept popping up after. For some reason her friends didn’t see it and kept pushing Tanya to give him a chance, talking about how it’s probably destiny as Edward ignored everyone else and Tanya got bored with whoever she was dating quickly.

“Is one of your dumb friends pushing Edward on you again?”

Tanya glanced up with surprise at Kate’s question to find the other blonde watching her, gaze dark with concern and her previous problem with Tanya forgotten. With a sigh, Tanya put her phone back in her pocket, checking to make sure Charlie was too busy getting ready for work to pay attention before nodding. “Yeah. Apparently he’s already at school and asked Jessica about me.”

Kate’s grip on her fork tightened and she scowled. “I don’t like that guy; he’s a fucking creep.” She stared down at her plate for a long moment, then stabbed a piece of her scrambled eggs with a lot more force than necessary before looking up at Tanya again. “If he does anything, you let me know, okay?”

And risk you getting suspended like last time you protected me? No way.

Irina rushed down the stairs then, face lighting up with relief when she saw a plate of food left untouched. “Hey Dad,” Irina said, hugging Charlie then picking up her plate. She sat between Kate and Tanya, only to notice the heavy air between them. “What’s up? You guys okay?”

Charlie looked up with concern. “Something wrong?”

“Nothing,” Kate and Tanya chorused. 

Then Tanya’s phone buzzed again. She knew she should just leave it alone, but a part of her couldn’t help it. Tanya pulled the phone out of her pocket once more and glanced at the screen. It was another text from Jessica:

Just overheard something amazing from the office. Guess what it is?

Tanya’s phone buzzed with another text before she could even wonder if Jessica actually wanted her to guess or not.

We have new students!

Chapter Text

Chapter 2

The interest sparked at the news of the new students quickly captured all three blondes’ attention to the point that they had trouble focusing on anything else. The more Tanya learned through Jessica’s texts, the more Tanya and her sisters wanted to see them. 

It turned out there were two of them, another set of fraternal twins to replace the Hale twins that had just graduated. They were Isabella–but she liked to be called Bella!–and Noella Denali. They were just as gorgeous and much friendlier than the last new kids, aka the Cullens, but were also apparently the Cullens’ cousins. From what Jessica overheard, there was some kind of top secret trouble at their last school that led to them needing to transfer, and so they were moving in with the Cullens until they could finish their senior year along with their mom while their dad had to stay behind due to his work.

While exciting, it was also a bit of a letdown. A rock could be friendlier than most of the Cullens, so the new students being friendlier didn’t take much work. It was also doubtful that anyone would be making friends with the new students seeing as they already had their cousins to hang out with and likely had the same “we’re too cool to interact with normal small town kids” mindset.

“I wonder if she’s interested in joining the girls’ basketball team,” Kate mumbled to herself after hearing that one of the twins was on the tall side, information that was relayed from Tanya’s place in the passenger seat the moment she got another text.

Irina parked the car and glanced nervously at the entrance to Forks High. “I just hope they’re nice.”

Tanya laughed at that. “They’re just more Cullens, Irina. The most we can hope for is for them to acknowledge our existence if they ever run into you.” Something that Jasper Hale hadn’t done after Tanya had run into him freshman year, and she was still salty about it. Yeah, it had been her fault, but she had expected more than a dark look before turning and speed walking away from her after she had apologized. At least he had finally graduated and didn’t walk the halls as a constant reminder of irritation for her.

Irina bit her lip for a moment. “I think some of them aren’t that bad. Alice is really nice, and she’s really good at art.”

“And Emmett was hilarious when he was here,” Kate piped up. “Although he’d have been a lot cooler if he would have tried out for the damn football team before he graduated.”

“So I’m the only one with horrible Cullen experiences, great.” Tanya rolled her eyes as she got out of the car, waving at where Jessica, Lauren, and Katy were waiting for her. To her relief, there was no Edward in sight. “Thanks for the reminder.” 

Irina winced like it was actually her fault. “Sorry.” 

Kate let out a laugh. “I’m not. Tanya managed to piss off the Hale Twins and even got angry at Emmett all before our first winter break. It was peak entertainment.” Kate’s expression quickly changed to irritation. “The only thing that I’m still pissed about is that nothing is being done about Dickward. I swear if he does anything else–”

“Wait, he’s still a problem?” Irina asked in alarm. “I hadn’t heard anything about him this year so I thought he had finally calmed down.”

“I’m leaving now,” Tanya said with a glance at Kate telling her to shut her mouth. Both of them had agreed to keep Irina from hearing more about Edward’s random creeper moments ever since Irina had gotten a second job last year to pay for self defense classes and various protective tools for Tanya. The girl had nearly run herself ragged with how thin she had been stretching herself.

“But Tanya!” Irina scrambled out of the car to follow, and Kate was right behind her. 

“Didn’t we agree to see the new kids together? You’re stuck with us until we lay eyes on them,” Kate said. She slung an arm over Irina’s shoulders, adding, “Don’t worry about the furry dickhead, I’m just being overprotective.” Or possibly not protective enough.

Tanya made a face as Irina gagged. “Kate!” Irina squeaked.

“Thank you for that imagery, it’s just what I needed to throw up this morning,” Tanya muttered.

Kate started to laugh at the two’s reaction. “What? I could’ve been worse!”

“How could you have been worse?” Tanya demanded incredulously.

“Tanya no, that’s just setting us up–”

“Well, if you must know, I could’ve gone into detail about his actual–”

Irina immediately slapped her hands over Kate’s mouth, making Kate laugh harder and, in the process, making Irina giggle herself.

“God, you’re the worst,” Tanya muttered, determined not to encourage their crazy sister in any way. But then Kate licked Irina’s palm, making the youngest girl squeal, and Tanya was soon laughing along with her.

As always, the three girls got quite a bit of extra attention when together, and their laughter only made it more so. A few gazes turned away from the new exciting additions to Forks High just long enough for one of the new students to take notice.

“Okay, enough already. We have our schedules and we just want to be left alone! No one wants to be crowded like this, holy shit, I thought you small town people were supposed to have manners!” Noella’s words were enough to make some of the crowd back off, some even appearing sheepish at the scolding. The shorter of the two new girls almost complained about their lack of instinctive fear but managed to stop herself, which was a feat on its own. She glanced over at Bella for praise, only to find Bella’s attention only half on the tiny mob already making their day complicated and half somewhere else. 

It was meant to be a glance at whatever else had gotten some of the surrounding humans’ attention. But once she caught sight of who was walking toward her, she couldn’t stop staring. Didn’t even want to.

“So beautiful,” Bella breathed, much too low for any human to hear.

Noella glanced in the direction of Bella’s gaze to see what the big deal was for her coven leader. Once she saw it was three beautiful blonde humans laughing together, she rolled her eyes. Of course it was one of those that had caught Bella’s attention; she had always had a thing for blondes. “Which one is it this time?” Noella asked, only just remembering to keep her voice at vampire volume as many students were still vying for their attention.

What kind of question was that? Shouldn’t it be obvious? “All of them.” 

Noella arched her eyebrows at the immediate answer. “You do realize we’re here to help our cousins, not screw the entire student body, right? Or did the bleakness of high school really make you brain dead already?”

“You might want to stop staring before you make the entire student population jealous and hopelessly confused.” At Alice’s familiar voice, also pitched too low for any human to hear, Bella forced her eyes away. “But I’m so happy for you!” the squeal was still at a pitch no human could hear, only this time it was so high it made Bella’s ears ring. She grinned and managed to turn toward Alice despite how much her instincts were screaming at her not to turn away from the blondes. The tiny midget was dancing toward them, the students parting for her even before she shouted, “Bella! Noella! You have no idea how much I missed you guys!” loud enough for everyone to hear.

Bella only had a second to react, but thankfully a second was more than enough for a vampire as she opened her arms and caught Alice when the tiny girl launched herself at the coven leader, clinging to her with arms and legs. She couldn’t help but laugh and spin the girl around, intensely aware of the three special pairs of eyes burning into her back as she said, “Hey, pixie stick. We missed you too.”

“Alice,” Noella said stiffly, doing her best to smile and appear welcoming. She didn’t have anything against Alice–in fact, she loved their cousin. But she always struggled with greetings, even more so when Alice was just so happy all the time. It made her wary, especially since it meant Noella might get the tackle hug next and she always worried that she’d react badly to it. Despite no longer being human, her human memories still impacted her.

“Where’s Edward?” Bella asked. “I thought both of you were going to greet us today.”

“He had to go talk to a teacher about extra credit, goody two shoes that he is.” Alice went from human pitch and volume to vampire to add, “He’s already in his classroom. One of the ways he’s able to control himself is by figuring out where his singer isn’t going to be, then getting to his class painfully early so as to avoid smelling her fresh scent in the halls. He’s working really hard, Bella.”

Bella nodded. “Of course he is. He always was too much of a teacher’s pet,” Bella said for everyone to hear. Playing the part of a human teenager was already annoying. Why her maker couldn’t have turned Bella when she was older than twenty one, Bella didn’t know. If she had just been changed when she was older, all the makeup in the world wouldn’t make Bella look enough like a teenager for her to pass in high school. Although there were three things that certainly made everything worth it…

“Not so interested in Eric now, are you? I told you that you should dump him!” a voice spoke. Bella glanced over toward the voice to see a dark haired girl nudging the strawberry haired girl of the three blondes in the ribs.

“Shut up!” the strawberry blonde hissed, grabbing the other girl’s hand and dragging her away with pink cheeks. Which was a good thing, given the flare of anger and jealousy Bella felt the second the dark haired girl mentioned the strawberry blonde dating someone. Her hands clenched at her sides and it was a struggle to force herself to relax. What helped was that the other two girls, one who was trying to subtly watch Bella from under a curtain of silvery blonde hair and the other who was unabashedly ogling her as if Bella were her first drop of water in a desert, were still close by. Something about them soothed her, yet also riled her up in a way that made her want to get the two alone–three, but she would have to deal with that stupid Eric first–and fuck them until they couldn’t take any more. Which was nothing too new to Bella. Well, nothing new if she didn’t count the intensity or the desire to cuddle and kiss them and whisper sweet nothings to them afterwards. Which was an urge Bella definitely never had before today. The only reason she ever did such things was to get her conquest or prey in bed.

Why was she feeling this way? It made absolutely no sense, unless…

A dark girl with glasses and a short black haired boy rushed up to the girl with silvery hair. “There you are! Come on, we’re going to be late!” the girl exclaimed before dragging the silvery haired girl away.

“Nice to see you by the way, how are you doing this morning?” the boy joked as he jogged to keep up with them.

“Yo, there you are!” a large, handsome african american boy shouted, and a second later the last blonde was getting dragged away as well. 

For a moment, Bella wanted to kill them all for daring to touch what was hers, and that was all it took to confirm her suspicions. She glanced at Alice in shock and got a huge grin in return. Yet there was a tinge of nervousness to it along with her joy at Bella’s discovery.

“Yup, they’re yours. All of them,” Alice whispered softly. “I didn’t know until a minute ago, otherwise I so would’ve called you sooner. But it’s true.”

“What’s yours?” Noella asked way too loudly, making a few members of the student body inch closer to hear what they were talking about. Damn it, one week really wasn’t enough to hammer the idea of subtlety into Noella’s brain.

“I’d be hers any day of the week, even if it’s just to lick her shoes,” one boy muttered. Had it been any other situation, Bella would have rolled her eyes at his desperation, but she was still too busy being stunned.

After over a thousand years of nothing, had she finally found her mate? Not just one, but three, all human, and all who knew each other? She wasn’t sure if she should laugh with joy or curse because of course she would have to deal with the most complicated situation possible once she found her mates.

“Oh, one last thing I should tell you–” Alice started, only to be interrupted by the bell ringing. She blanked for a moment, clearly going into another vision, then grimaced. “Actually, it’s best I tell you later. Sorry Bells.”

“You’re not even going to walk us to our first class?” Noella asked incredulously, but Alice was already gone. The shorter Denali let out an annoyed groan. “Damn it, I’m so confused. What’s even going on?”

Bella put her hand on Noella’s shoulder in comfort.“I’ll explain it to you later.” And by later, she meant after school where no one else was around. She already had a feeling as to how Noella would respond and that subtlety would once again be forgotten. 

“But what about class? Can I just skip it?” Noella asked hopefully.

“Obviously not.”  Zeroing in on a student complaining about having Chemistry first thing in the morning, she flashed the boy a smile that left him dazed. “Hey, my sister has Chemistry first period too! Do you mind showing her the way?”

“Uh..nuh…not at…”

“Great!” Ignoring the boy’s stuttering, she grabbed Noella’s hand and pulled her over. “Behave,” she whispered in her covenmate’s ear.

Noella’s eyes glinted playfully before pitching her voice at a volume humans couldn’t hear. “Only if you reward me for being a good girl later.”

Bella already knew she couldn’t; the idea no longer appealed to her in the slightest. Of course saying no then and there wasn’t going to end well–not with Noella still struggling to remember her filter. “Maybe. Now no more talk, get to class.”

From the halls, Bella heard an already achingly important voice grumble, “Ugh, I don’t want to deal with Calculus. It’s too early to suffer so much.” That was all Bella needed to enter the building, making a beeline for the strawberry blonde.

“You’ll be fine. At least you get to look at Edward first thing in the morning,” a voice Bella hadn’t heard before replied.

“That’s the problem.” The words had been muttered under the strawberry blonde’s breath, but it was still easily heard by every vampire in school. 

For a moment, Bella frowned–what would make one of her mates dislike Edward so much?–but she quickly schooled her features. When she rounded the corner, “accidentally” bumping into the strawberry blonde, she appeared nothing but surprised even as her arm wrapped around the blonde’s waist, holding her up and against Bella’s body to stop her from falling.

“Oh!” the strawberry blonde exclaimed. Recognition flashed through dark blue eyes a moment later, followed by the slight scent of desire. A flush stained the girl’s cheeks, her heart stuttering loudly in her chest, making Bella want to purr at the response. “ Oh… ”

Mate. The feeling was so clear to her now and it drove Bella wild. It took more strength that she could admit to let go and take a step back, but only after ensuring the girl was steady. Soon, she promised herself, trying to calm her raging instincts. “Sorry about that. I didn’t see you there.”

“It’s no problem,” the blonde quickly answered, followed by her cheeks burning a darker red at her overly excited response. Bella could almost see the girl berating herself up, which the vampire found absolutely adorable. “I wasn’t watching where I was going. At all. It was totally my fault that I bumped into you.”

“How about we split the blame fifty-fifty?” Bella asked. She held out her hand to the blonde and added, “My name is Bella Denali. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The girl took her hand, giving a wry smile in return. “Deal. And I’m Tatyana Swan. You can call me Tanya.”

It was as if everything screeched to a stop as Bella recognized that name. Remembered how Edward had come, stressed and ranting over meeting his singer a little over three years ago–a girl named Tanya. A girl who now happened to dislike Edward immensely no less. 

There was no way it could be a coincidence. One of Bella’s mates was also Edward’s singer. She was in danger.

Tanya tucked her hair behind her ear, trying not to betray how self conscious–something she hadn’t had to deal with much before–she was to be looked at with such a dark and intense gaze. Why did all of the Cullens seem to have the same eyes? Weren’t they supposed to be adopted? But unlike whenever someone–mainly Edward–looked at her in a similar way, it didn’t make Tanya uneasy. Having Bella look at her like that made Tanya flush and her stomach erupt in nerves in the best way possible. In a way no boy or girl Tanya had dated had ever brought her close to feeling. It made Tanya never want to look away from the brunette.

“Hello? Am I chop liver?” Lauren asked in annoyance from Tanya’s side. 

Just like that, the moment was over and Bella looked away while Tanya inwardly cursed at her friend for interrupting. Wait, no. I’m still dating Eric. I may be a lot of things, but I’m definitely not a cheater. So she would just have to dump Eric first, which she was sure wasn’t a big deal. They had only been dating for two weeks so far and she was sure he wasn’t actually invested in her. It would be weird if he was.

“Of course not,” Bella said smoothly. She released Tanya’s hand to hold it out to Lauren’s. “It’s nice to meet you…?”

“Lauren,” the girl supplied, giving Bella a smile and puffing out her chest to try and give Bella a look down her top. Tanya was pleased to see that Bella didn’t even notice, simply nodding and releasing Lauren’s hand.

“Well, it was great to run into you both, but I’m afraid I’m a little lost. Any idea where Calculus with Mr. Varner is?”

Tanya lit up while Lauren wilted. She never would have thought something good could come out of math.  “Actually, yeah. That’s my first period. Let me take you there.”

The smile Bella gave her was beyond dazzling. “Thanks. I owe you one.”

“I can’t wait to collect.” Sadly Tanya had been too dazzled to remember her filter but with the words already out there was no way she was going to take them back. Especially after Bella’s eyes seemed to darken even more in a way that made Tanya tingle all over.  “This way.” Would it be too much to link arms with Bella? Probably. She would have to save that for after she dumped Eric.

“Forgotten again. Great,” Lauren muttered just loud enough for Tanya to hear.

Oops. She would have to make it up to Lauren later. After Tanya got to spend some more time with the super sexy new student.

“So tell me; is there anything you think I should know about going to school here?” Bella asked as they started to walk away. Her arm brushed against Tanya’s and for a moment Tanya’s brain short circuited.

“What?” Tanya immediately cringed after the word was out. It would be just her luck for Bella to think the blonde was dumb. She risked a glance up at Bella’s face and found the other girl looking down at Tanya with a smirk and knowing glint in her eyes.

Damn it. The girl was too sexy for her own good and she knew it. If Tanya didn’t get a hold of herself she’d likely do something stupid that she would never be able to live down. 

“Just things I should know. Secret spots, who I should look out for, how to make teachers not want to fail me…besides doing my work of course.” Bella wasn’t sure why she was asking. She already knew who Tanya was to Edward and there was no way having the girl confirm it would help in any way–not that Bella thought she would as she had seen Alice hug Bella and likely already knew Bella’s relation to them. “Maybe how to get certain people to want to spend time with me outside of their tour guide duties?” Bella gave Tanya a flirty look and had to quickly reach out and grab Tanya’s arm when she tripped over nothing. She couldn’t hide her amusement as they both paused so Tanya could steady herself. “Are you alright?”

God, Tanya, what’s wrong with you? You’ve been flirted with before. You’re used to this. She’s just a girl. The most insanely gorgeous girl you’ve ever seen, but still just a girl. Get a hold of yourself. “I’m fine, I was just caught off guard. It’s not every day that I have someone coming at me so aggressively is all.” As soon as the words were out Tanya regretted them. It hadn’t been what Tanya had meant to say at all and she started to panic knowing how her botched words had to have been taken.

Sure enough, Tanya’s words had done some damage. The brunette was clearly perturbed as she dropped her hand and took a step back so she was no longer in Tanya’s space. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I promise I won’t do it again.”

“No! You didn’t do anything wrong! I just meant I have a boyfriend and I–” Tanya almost said “have to break up with him first” out loud and only just managed to stop herself. She didn’t want Bella to see her as someone who just threw people away even if she did do that with the people she dated. Of course, what had already been said still did plenty of damage.

“Oh, of course.” Bella shoved her hands in her pockets to hide the way her hands balled into fists at the reminder. She’s mine. Not his. How dare he? She shook off the irrational thought and offered Tanya a grin that didn’t reach her eyes. “Again, my apologies. Where I’m from, I’m used to simply displaying my interest without a problem. No one has ever minded before and I suppose I got used to it.”

Obviously no one would have a problem when you look like that. “It really isn’t a big deal. I swear. Do whatever you want.” Please, please don’t stop flirting with me just because I was being stupid. 

“That’s sweet of you to say, thank you.” But Bella didn’t move closer again and started to walk down the hallway. It was clear to Tanya that her words had caused some damage and she could only hope that she would be able to repair it someday. If she didn’t, she felt like she would spend her whole life regretting it. “The classroom is this way right?”

“Yeah.” Tanya couldn’t believe how badly she had fucked up. She was great at flirting and being flirted with. Never before had she managed to fumble to such a degree. 

Just how was she going to fix things now?

Chapter Text

Chapter 3

Bella was intensely aware of Tanya’s presence as she did her best to give the girl space without being too far away at the same time. After all, Edward was also in the same class. She had waved and greeted him like a good cousin but also made it clear with her thoughts and her gaze just who Tanya was to her and that he had better find some extra control to hang on to or she would have to kill him. As Edward wasn’t stupid and obviously didn’t want to kill Tanya in the first place, he nodded and looked away while clearly holding his breath, a lot more anxious about messing up than ever before. 

Regardless, she was on guard in case Edward somehow lost it and went after Tanya during class and made sure to sit a seat over from Tanya to hide the girl from Edward’s view and be in the perfect position to guard against any attacks from him. Yet to everyone else she appeared to be nothing but relaxed as she lazily leaned back in her chair and listened to the calculus teacher drone on about things that weren’t at all important to the lesson.

The part of her mind that wasn’t focused on Edward was focused on what to do about Tanya.

Her mind was racing as she tried to figure out ways to get rid of the boyfriend while also not coming onto Tanya too strongly. She hated that her flirty nature had actually made her mate uncomfortable regardless of how adorable the girl’s reactions were. Yet perhaps it was for the best. If she had ended up too intense and Tanya reciprocated it from the beginning it would complicate things with her other mates. Especially as they were apparently sisters. Not related by blood and apparently not even sisters for even half of their lives, but enough to make things even more complicated.

Really, it was laughable how hard Bella was going to have it. She had already figured out she’d have to woo all three into something as close to a relationship as possible without crossing into actual relationship territory. Friendship would have to be the way to start so that they didn’t think she was a player or cheater until she found a way to try and explain why she had to have them all. How she could love three people from first sight without mentioning vampirism. Saying “hey I’m a vampire and the three of you are my soulmates” was definitely not the way to go about it even if Bella was the type to do so.

The bell rang to signal the end of class. Bella didn’t even have to plan to “accidentally” leave at the same time as Tanya as the girl went straight to her after typing out a quick text. The blonde gave Edward an uncomfortable glance as she did so and it made Bella want to rip off her cousin’s head despite him doing his best.

Apparently the imagery Bella conjured up in her mind was a bit too realistic for Edward, as the rigid boy couldn’t help but wince and quickly rush out of the room.

“Hey. Just wanted to tell you again that you didn’t do anything wrong. I mean it,” Tanya rushed to tell her, a blush staining her cheeks the moment Bella looked up at her. It made Bella tense and made sure to stand up to continue to block Tanya from Edward’s view, knowing how a blush like that would entice her cousin. “I also came to bring you to your next class. I am your tour guide after all. It’s my duty,” The last was said in a clearly flirtatious manner as if to make up for what appeared to be a lack of interest earlier.

Bella arched an eyebrow at the girl’s newfound behavior, but Tanya only stared into her eyes with confidence as if refusing to back down.

How much of our bond do you feel, Tanya? Bella wished she could ask, if only to settle down her possessive feelings. Instead she answered like a normal human.

“That’s perfect. My next class is World History and I have no idea where I’m going,” Bella said. Her beast purred at the challenge Tanya seemed to unconsciously be making when the human didn’t break eye contact. 

Tanya perked up at the mention. “Oh, my sister has that class! That’s perfect.” She was already planning on asking Kate to give her any details on Bella if she came across them. Should she shoot a text to Kate now? No, she didn’t want to make it seem like she was snubbing or uninterested in Bella, and texting Kate right in front of Bella might make the gorgeous transfer student think just that. 

Bella hid her own excitement at the news. She didn’t want to appear overly invested or eager but the idea of being with one of her mates in another class thrilled her. The only problem was how to go to that class knowing that Tanya was Edward’s singer and would be left unguarded.

“She won’t be alone. Alice’s next class is with Tanya. I promise you I won’t hurt her. I won’t let myself do it,” Edward swore from the other side of the school only for Bella to hear, clearly having read her thoughts.

Obviously the other vampires in the school heard his reply.

“She’ll be safe with me Bella. I promise,” Alice murmured.

“Wait, so we’re really caring about some random human chick?” Noella asked with surprise, only just low enough to not be caught by human ears.

“Yes we are,” Bella whispered back before turning back to her conversation with Tanya, holding the door open for the blonde so they could leave the classroom. It was hard to keep calm when Tanya’s breath caught as she brushed by the brunette. “Your sister?” 

“Yeah. Her name is Kate. She’s the blonde sports freak. You’ll definitely know her when you see her because she’s wearing running shorts to school like a weirdo.” Tanya spoke the harsh words with clear love, a small smile appearing on her face. “She’s great.”

So the tall blonde who unabashedly stared at Bella was named Kate? And she was a sports freak, was she? Bella was ecstatic to have learned something about another of her mates. “I can’t wait to meet her,” she said with a pleased hum.

“Just promise that I’ll still be your favorite,” Tanya flirted before almost cringing. God, desperate much?

“I’ll love you and your sister equally,” Bella promised. And your third sister as well, of course. How could I not? 

“That’s a cop out. But smart.” Tanya gave Bella a flirty wink just as they made it to their destination. “Here we are. I have to leave you now, but I hope you can join me for lunch.” Shit. Again, how desperate are you going to act, Tanya?

Bella smiled at her but didn’t want to promise it as she wasn’t sure how things would play out with her cousins and Tanya’s own friends. If Bella sat at the same table as Tanya’s current boyfriend, she would be much too tempted to rip the boy’s arms off–then there was Noella. She would have to be supervised the entire time regardless of where she sat. Thankfully, Bella didn’t have to come up with a way to say “maybe” without potentially upsetting Tanya as her second mate made an appearance. 

Of course Bella noticed her first, taking in the easygoing grin on Kate’s features and the excited sparkle in her vibrant green eyes. The girl definitely had the body of a well toned athlete. Had Bella met Kate during her younger years as a vampire, she would have openly ogled and drooled all over the girl much like she would have with Tanya. Instead, she watched in amusement as Kate first started to wave her hand at Tanya energetically, only to try to compose herself when she realized Bella was at her side.

“Your sister, I take it?” Bella asked with a nod of her head. She only just managed to suppress her smirk when she noticed the light blush on Kate’s cheeks as she tried to straighten her shirt. Knowing she already had such an effect on her mates made Bella more than pleased with herself. It was a shame she couldn’t openly tease Kate for it—not yet, anyway.

Tanya glanced over to see Kate running her fingers through her hair as if trying to quickly fix it. That was a little weird; Kate only ever really cared if it was brushed and out of her eyes. “Yeah, that’s her.”

“What’re you doing here? Did I forget something?” Kate asked Tanya as she stopped only a foot in front of her sister. She then gave Bella a side glance that was almost shy, but Tanya had to be hallucinating. Kate never did shy. “Hey,” she said to the brunette. “I’m Kate.”

This time, Bella knew better than to try flirting; especially right in front of another mate. She grinned and said, “A pleasure to meet you, Kate. I’m Bella Denali. I can’t wait to get to know you.”

When Kate only nodded and looked from Bella to the door, a very conflicted and confused Tanya felt she had to step in. “You didn’t forget anything. I was just showing Bella to her next class.”

Kate lit up at hearing that. “So your next class is with me, huh?” The athlete looked to be holding herself back from pumping her fist in her happiness. Even now, she appeared to be almost vibrating in excitement at the news.

Adorable. Bella gave Kate a small smile, doing her best not to openly coo over her second mate’s behavior. “Apparently. I’m looking forward to it.” She’s too adorable. I just want to pick her up and fuck–

There was an uneasy feeling in Tanya’s gut. She really didn’t want to leave, next class or not. She at least had to stall. “So…”

“Tanya, what are you doing over here?” Alice popped up out of nowhere, startling the hell out of the blonde sisters while Bella felt nothing but relief. She had felt Tanya’s growing anxiety and had no idea how to fix it; Alice had definitely come to the rescue. “Come on, we’re going to be late for English if we hang around here! Let’s go.” She grabbed a bewildered Tanya’s hand and proceeded to drag her off down the hall, leaving Kate and Bella alone.

Nothing will happen to Tanya because I’m not there. Alice will definitely take care of her. She’ll be fine. It was hard to reassure herself now that she knew that Tanya was Edward’s singer, but Bella forced herself to relax. She could keep an ear on Edward and he was on the opposite side of the school from Tanya. Nothing was going to happen.

“And then there were two,” Bella said to Kate.

“We should stay that way,” Kate blurted without a thought. Her light blush darkened a little as the adorable human shifted from one foot to the other. “I mean, you know…there’s no assigned seats in World History. You can sit next to me. You’re already friendly with my sister, might as well get to know me too, you know?” Kate couldn’t believe how much she was rambling. She had asked people if they wanted to sit next to her before, this shouldn’t be so different. 

“I’d love that.” Bella held open the door for her and gestured Kate through with her other hand. “After you.” 

Kate felt weirdly self conscious as she went under Bella’s arm, all too aware of how close the brunette’s body was to hers. But when she saw a student clearly cutting across the seats to take the only seat with an empty one next to it, Kate snapped into action. She rushed forward and vaulted over another student’s desk to slide into the seat he was about to take. 

“These seats are taken. Better luck next time.” She grinned at the guy without a single ounce of remorse and put her feet on the empty chair next to her before waving at the brunette still standing in the doorway. “Bella, over here. I found us some seats.”

I want to fuck her I want to fuck her I want to– “I can see that,” Bella said in amusement. She waited for the teacher to sign her slip before she strode over to the seat Kate had saved for her, noting how quickly and good naturedly the student whose seat was stolen had given up and moved on while everyone else seemed to find the entire situation hilarious. Perhaps this wasn’t too out of character for this particular blonde to do? Or maybe she was just so beloved by the other students that no one cared. 

Kate didn’t remove her feet until Bella was poised, ready to sit, and even then Kate had trouble doing more than moving her feet to the grate under Bella’s seat that held the class’s textbooks. She definitely craved being close to the new student as much as possible even if just being near her caused Kate to make a fool of herself.

The bell rang and the teacher started to get ready for the class, only for someone to waltz in unapologetically a moment later. Of course Kate recognized her immediately–she was the other new student, Noella.

“You’re late,” the teacher said disapprovingly. “That’s not a very good way to start off your first day.”

Noella shrugged as she put the signing slip on the teacher’s desk, but only after Bella reminded her to do so at a vampire volume. “I got lost.”

The teacher slid the now signed slip back over to Noella. “Did you ask any students for help?” 

“Nope.” Slip signed, Noella walked right up to where Kate and Bella were sitting and focused on Kate. She recognized the girl as one of the ones Bella had been ogling earlier but she didn’t think much of it as she stopped a moment before she would have kicked Kate’s legs out of the way. “Do you mind moving? I want to be next to my cov–sister.”

“Nah, I’m good here,” Kate said with a bit of forced casualness and a grin. She then realized that Bella might actually want to sit next to her sister and looked over at the other brunette to check in, only to find Bella rolling her eyes. 

“Find another seat, Noella,” Bella told her sister calmly, albeit with some exasperation. Kate felt herself relax once she realized she hadn’t accidentally fucked up.

Noella didn’t even blink, let alone act upset or disgruntled in any way at being told no. “Okay.” She turned to the girl on the other side of Bella and said, “So can you move instead? I still want to sit next to my sister over here.”

The flustered girl didn’t know what to do and so the teacher felt she had to step in. “Miss Denali–”

“Yeah?” both Bella and Noella answered at once.

The teacher was quick to correct herself. “Noella. There are open seats to your right. Use them.”

Noella glanced over at Bella, and Kate saw how Bella gave Noella a subtle nod most people wouldn’t have noticed even if they were paying attention. After letting out a sigh, Noella started to make her way to one of the empty seats.

Kate found the interaction a little weird. She knew what it was like to want to be with people she knew, especially her sisters, but the entire thing between Noella and Bella felt… off. The way Noella had looked at Bella as if asking for permission, or maybe confirmation of some kind, instead of just listening to the teacher. Maybe it was a twin thing? That’s all that Kate could think of to explain the behavior..

“Sorry about that,” Bella murmured quietly to Kate. “My sister didn’t mean anything bad by asking you to move. She’s used to being with me all the time–she just doesn’t think before she speaks, and even then she doesn’t realize what she’s saying might come across as rude.”

“No problem. She kind of sounds like me,” Kate joked.

The way one of Bella’s eyebrows quirked up, accompanied by a sly smirk, made Kate’s heart race. Right then and there she knew she wanted to make Bella smile more by any means possible, even at her own expense. “Really now?”

“Yup. Impulsive is my middle name.” Just to accidentally prove herself right, Kate nudged Bella’s thigh playfully with her shoe. Before she could pull her foot back Bella caught her leg by the ankle and pulled it onto her lap. Kate’s face burned brighter than she could ever remember as Bella ran her fingers up her shin. While her fingers were weirdly cold, her touch left trails of heat behind that made Kate all kinds of flustered.

“Mine now,” Bella mouthed to her, rubbing her thumb across Kate’s knee almost possessively.

Kate died. She knew she did, and she had no idea how no one else noticed it with how her heart all but beat out of her chest. If anyone did notice, no one said anything, as Bella kept Kate’s leg in her lap for the rest of class uninterrupted.

“I have French next. Walk me?” Bella prompted when the bell rang.

Back to Tanya, huh. Kate felt disappointed but also relieved. She was pretty sure if she spent too much longer with Bella that her heart would die and just refuse to start again. “Sure thin–”

“I’m going to English,” Noella announced proudly, appearing so suddenly it made Kate jump in her seat. Bella tightened her grip on Kate’s leg as if she expected Kate to immediately pull her leg back now that someone could so blatantly see what they were doing. Noella seemed to get even prouder as she added, “I have absolutely no fucking clue where I’m going.”

“So you’re going to ask someone to show you the way. Right?” Bella prompted with a laugh. Her fingers stroked up and down Kate’s leg in an absent manner, causing Kate to forget how to breathe completely. 

“Yeah. That’s the plan.” Noella’s chest puffed up before she casually hopped over Kate’s legs. She looked so pleased with herself that Kate would have laughed if she weren’t so close to death’s door because of Bella–again. “See you later.”

“Behave yourself,” Bella reminded her covenmate. Then she turned back to Kate. “So? Can you take me? Or is it too far from your next class?”

Kate barely managed half a nod when a familiar voice called from the doorway. “Bella! Tanya here kindly offered to take you to your next class when I mentioned you two have the same class together. You’re welcome.”

Alice. Bella dropped Kate’s leg and stood up to get a glimpse of Tanya. She had wanted to spend more time with Kate, of course she did, but as Tanya was in the most danger due to her blood, Bella’s instincts urged her to make sure that Tanya was okay.

“Maybe next time,” Bella told Kate. “We’ll talk later.”

Her words weren’t spoken as a question but a confident statement. It was clear Bella expected Kate to want to spend more time with her and Kate obviously wasn’t about to deny it. This time she managed a full nod before Bella left her, running her fingers along Kate’s upper back and shoulders as she did so.

Kate shivered, but the shock of the touch finally reminded her that she needed to breathe again. Get a hold of yourself, Swan. So there’s a super sexy chick who can already play you like a fiddle. That doesn’t mean you have to keep dying over her. That decided, Kate got up. She would play it cool for now. There was no way she would show any disappointment that she wouldn’t be able to walk to Bella for one more class.

At the door, Bella’s eyes ran over Tanya, quickly taking in every inch of her as if the girl could have gotten injured in their brief time apart. Relieved to see that she was in one piece, Bella smiled at the strawberry blonde. “Thanks for the help.”

“For my favorite new student? Anything,” Tanya replied. Then they were off.

Kate had just managed to get up and get her stuff together when a voice spoke from right beside her.

“So that means you can take me to English instead, right?” Kate hadn’t even noticed Noella was still hanging around, but there the girl was, watching her. “Cause I still have no clue where I’m going.”

“Why me? Didn’t you just go to ask someone else?” Kate asked. She didn’t have anything against Bella’s sister, far from it. The athlete was just confused; she was sure that Noella had left the room moments prior.

“I did, but somehow it started an argument with someone else and I didn’t want to deal with it,” Noella replied like it was a normal occurrence. “Besides, Bella likes you; that means I like you too. Obviously I’d rather talk to someone I like, right?”

Kate didn’t quite understand Noella’s logic, but she decided to go with it. If Noella was as much like Kate as she sounded through what she learned from Bella, they might get along. Then maybe Noella wouldn’t ask to take her seat again.

“Sure.” Slinging her bag over her shoulder, Kate led Noella out of the classroom. But she couldn’t help from glancing over her shoulder, getting one good look at Bella’s retreating figure as she walked down the hall with Tanya at her side.

Damn…with an ass like that, Bella had officially turned Kate into a pervert. 

“Are you staring at Bella’s ass?” Noella asked curiously.

There wasn’t a hint of any kind of negative emotion from Bella’s twin, but Kate still panicked. She didn’t want to get on Noella’s bad side or, even worse, have the news of her perverted staring getting back to Bella–unless Bella liked it, of course. “No, of course not! Not even close.”

This seemed to make Noella confused. “But she has a great ass, why wouldn’t you stare at it? I do every chance I get.” The vampire realized her mistake a second too late as she heard Bella’s warning hiss, immediately followed by Edward’s groan and Alice’s tinkling laughter from around the school. But it was much too late to take it back now.

The answer from Bella’s twin left Kate bewildered. “What?”

“What.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 4

French II went much like Tanya’s first class with Bella did, although Tanya also had to deal with being in awe of how easily Bella spoke the language. It was as if she were a native speaker, although her accent definitely wasn’t anything near French. As she was walking Bella to her next class, she had asked what made Bella want to take French and Bella had said it was just to get an easy credit. Before Tanya could ask how she was so good at it, Bella had turned the question on her. The blonde didn’t want to admit that she had taken it because it was supposedly the language of love and for nothing else. She didn’t want to seem silly or vapid, so she had claimed that she simply wanted to take something different from Spanish because everyone took it and French was the only other choice.

Bella had looked at Tanya as if she could tell that she had lied, accompanied by a brief look of disappointment that almost overwhelmed Tanya with guilt. So she found herself admitting that she lied, followed by the truth and why she didn’t admit it in the first place.

“I just didn’t want to seem shallow, you know? Who chooses a language to learn based on something as small as it being considered the language of love?”

To Tanya’s surprise, Bella didn’t appear to find her reasoning silly or stupid. There was no judgment to be found anywhere on her face. It was even more surprising when Bella said, “If you’re silly, then I am too. One of the main reasons I got interested in learning French was because I wanted to seduce women.”

Tanya’s eyes widened at the admission. “Really?”

Bella nodded. “I was quite the player in my younger years.” Admittedly she had been a player up until this morning, but she wasn’t about to admit it as she looked at Tanya from the corner of her eye. She wanted to make sure Tanya knew that things had changed. “I’m not like that anymore.”

“So…we’re more alike then I realized,” Tanya said at last, trying to keep the jealousy out of her voice. She knew it wasn’t fair to be jealous of Bella for being with complete strangers before she had met the brunette, especially as she had a similar past of the last few years.

“We are,” Bella agreed. They paused in front of the gym doors, both wondering if they should continue the conversation or if they had to say goodbye. Before more could be said, Bella heard laughter down the hall. It wouldn’t have been such a big deal to the vampire were it not for the naturally douchey tone. The brunette glanced in the direction of the laughter right as the owner of the douchey laugh came into view.

“You know, we still haven’t gotten to go on a second date yet,” a boy with sandy blond hair said as he quickly matched the pace of the clearly uncomfortable girl he was next to. A girl that Bella immediately recognized. As he tried to put an arm around her shoulders, Bella saw red.

Tanya followed Bella’s gaze and her eyes narrowed. “Ugh. Mike Newton again? When will he learn that Irina isn’t interested?” The strawberry blonde had only taken a single step to go defend her youngest sister when Bella breezed past her. The brunette looked incredibly dangerous, her eyes several shades darker than normal as she grabbed Mike’s wrist and pulled it off of Irina, giving it a squeeze so hard he winced.

Admittedly, Tanya felt stirrings of lust like nothing before at the sight. What she didn’t realize was that Irina was having the exact same problem. Yet both also had their hearts beat quicker for another reason as well; some part of them realized that Bella was someone who shouldn’t be messed with. She was every bit as dangerous as she appeared in that moment, if not more so. Who knew what violence lurked beneath the girl’s surface?

“The hell?” Mike asked with a grunt of pain. He tried to pull his arm out of Bella’s grip but wasn’t getting anywhere regardless of how much force he put into it. Sweat broke out along his hairline, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up, his heart racing. His body was screaming, trying to alert to how much danger he was in, but Mike’s brain wasn’t catching up quickly enough as he tried to glare into Bella’s eyes. 

“The lady clearly isn’t interested,” Bella stated. She didn’t break the boy’s bones, knowing it would bring about a lot of questions and trouble, but it was definitely a close call for her after seeing him touch her very unwilling mate. 

“You don’t know us. This isn’t any of your business, new girl,” Mike managed to squeak out. He might have been trying to go for tough or self assured but there wasn’t a single sign of any of it. Not when Bella gave him such a cold look he felt as if she was considering murder right then and there. The vampire’s eyes moved between the two nervous blondes and her gaze softened. 

“I’m making it my business.” Bella threw his hand away in disgust as while stepping between Mike and Irina, shielding the smaller girl from Mike’s sight. “Don’t touch her again. Got it?”

Irina’s gaze moved to Bella’s back. Despite how nervous and even scared Bella had made her in that moment, looking at the brunette from behind in such a way, seeing how the girl shielded her…any fear that Bella stirred in her dissipated. This was someone who would never do anything to hurt her.

“It’s not your call to make,” Mike muttered under his breath, too afraid to say something at a volume that could be heard. Being a vampire, Bella heard anyway, and she gazed at him with such a cold, dark gaze it made the boy shrink in on himself. He quickly walked away while rubbing his wrist–a reminder that Bella wasn’t just posturing and could easily follow through. “I’ll talk to you later Irina,” he added over his shoulder. Not in a menacing way, but as if he really thought she was interested in him.

Bella turned to Irina and found Tanya with a look of guilt on her face as she squeezed Irina’s hand. She didn’t like seeing either blonde upset but knew she couldn’t say much without knowing more about the situation. “Are you alright?” Bella asked. She touched Irina’s shoulder gently, as if the girl might bruise if she were to be firmer.

Irina was bright red. Not just from being in front of such a beautiful girl who had such an amazingly sexy voice, not to mention her own reaction to the brunette, but from embarrassment and a little self loathing as well. She had wanted to meet Bella face to face all day, had even gone over how she would introduce herself to Bella over and over in her head. Yet she had to meet Bella when dealing with Mike Newton of all times, and even be afraid of her for a moment? It was nice to be saved; in fact it was actually really hot, awakening something in Irina that the girl didn’t even realize existed. But this was the absolute worst way they could have met.

“I’m fine,” Irina mumbled. She couldn’t even bring herself to look Bella in the eye. “It’s just Mike. He’s no big deal.”

“He’s not ‘just’ anyone,” Bella insisted. The vampire had to remind herself to reign in her possessiveness, but it was hard. If she had been much younger her self control would have snapped a long time ago.  “If someone touches you and you don’t want that, you tell them.” She then realized that she was doing something similar to what Mike did and dropped her hand with a wry smile. “I know I’m not one to talk since I just did something similar–”

“No you didn’t. I have no problem with you touching me. None at all. I even like it,” Irina said quickly. Her desperation made her mortified, and she wanted nothing more than for a hole to open up in the floor and swallow her. She really didn’t want to make an even bigger fool of herself so she quickly sought escape. “I…I should probably get to class.” Releasing Tanya’s hand, the red faced Irina quickly ran into the girl’s locker room.

Tanya gave Bella a serious look. “Thank you for helping her. Mike’s an idiot who doesn’t know when to quit.” She almost asked Bella to take care of Irina for her but chose not to. It would be rude to put so much weight on someone she barely knew regardless of how attractive and imposing Bella was.

“I’ll take care of her,” Bella said, and it was more than a little heartwarming for the brunette to say it all on her own. “Make sure she’s okay. You should get to class.”

Tanya nodded, murmuring another thanks to Bella before heading off to her own class. Completely unaware of Bella’s newest problem.

Irina went into the changing room…fuck. Bella wanted nothing more than to check up on Irina and help her somehow, but she knew how dangerous a changing room, and therefore a potentially half naked Irina, was to Bella’s state of mind. Especially with a naturally horny Bella in such a heightened emotional state.

As Bella didn’t have her gym clothes yet, something she was supposed to pick up at the end of gym class today, she decided to do the smart thing and just went straight through the main gym doors. It was hard to ignore how much her instincts were screaming at her to find Irina and do whatever it took to soothe her mate, but she managed. It was what was better for her and Irina in the long run.

Bella gave the gym teacher her slip and, once signed, she stuffed it in her backpack and dropped her backpack on the bleachers. Alice and Edward both joined her as she busied herself with anything that would stop her from going into the girl’s changing room. Having her cousins there sadly only made things more complicated for her instincts. The beast inside her recognized them as allies for the most part, but one was unmated and even had one of Bella’s mates as his singer. Not to mention both were way too close to one of her mates, one who was distraught on top of it all, for Bella to instinctually be okay with.

“You totally did the right thing with Mike. I didn’t have to intervene in any of the future possibilities,” Alice said in praise.

“I’m sorry. For everything,” Edward said, the pained look in his near black eyes speaking volumes. He was finally realizing how much he could have cost his family as well as the Denalis due to his pride. He didn’t even have any discomfort at the realization that all three sisters would be changed into vampires one day despite his own views on vampires and damnation. Since Bella’s coven and the Cullens had met all those decades ago, they had a lot of discussions about everything regarding vampires. Bella had even gone into detail about what it was like to find your singer when Edward had gotten irate with Emmett for breaking his diet and draining a human. It had turned out that the older woman had been Emmett’s singer, and hearing about Bella’s own experience, how hard it had been for her not to drain her own singer despite it being the middle of the day, how her own beast had driven her to stalk the singer for weeks despite her age and experience…it had been horrifying. It had also been that talk that had prepared Edward for meeting his own singer one day and why he had been able to survive around Tanya for so long.

Bella nodded to acknowledge his apology but still said in a low growl, “You need to stay far away from her, Edward. I mean it.” Edward nodded and seemed pretty understanding despite the threat in the older vampire’s words. So Bella decided to ask, “Can you read Irina for me? She’s taking too long and I’m worried that she isn’t okay.”

Edward immediately became uncomfortable. “I can’t read her.”

Alarm bells started to ring in Bella’s head; Edward being unable to read someone usually meant they were dead. Hearing Irina’s heartbeat still coming from the changing room wasn’t enough. The only thing that stopped her from assuming the worst and rushing into the girl’s changing room was Alice quickly grabbing her arm and saying, “She’s okay. Edward has never been able to read her.”

“Is that true?” Bella demanded. She shook Alice off and turned to glare at Edward, daring him to lie to her–something she would never do under normal circumstances. Her instincts were going haywire from being so on edge for so long, and as it was not one, but two of her very human mates who had been in danger in only the span of a few hours, it was a struggle for someone even as old as Bella to calm down. “Tell me.”

Edward quickly nodded and held his hands up in a placating gesture. “Yes. I have never been able to read her. From the moment I first saw her, Irina’s mind has been hidden from me.”

Bella forced herself to calm. Sorry she thought, and again Edward nodded, accepting the apology. He knew how hard it was for her not to react aggressively; he had likely seen every struggle the older vampire had so far that day.  “Do you know the reason? Could she have a power even as a human?” Bella asked softly. She waved it off before either could reply. The vampire wasn’t one to wonder when she could find out the facts instead. “Forget about it, I’ll have Eleazar visit and read her for me.” 

“Irina is about to come out. Edward and I should probably move away for now,” Alice announced. At Bella’s questioning glance, Alice quickly explained, “Edward makes all three sisters uncomfortable–”

“I don’t mean to,” Edward grumbled sulkily.

“–and with me gone, you’ll be able to talk to her without being self conscious. Well, self conscious about us, anyway,” Alice finished with a wink. She took Edward’s hand to tug him away. “Good luck. Knock her out of the park, Denali.”

“That’s not how the saying goes,” Bella sighed. But her eyes were already on the door to the girl’s changing room, expectantly waiting for her last mate. When Irina finally did arrive, Bella felt herself relax with relief. Despite what Alice and Edward had said about why he couldn’t read Irina’s mind, she instinctively still feared that something had happened.

“Irina, over here,” Bella called, waving her over without thinking. That was all it took for all of the other students who had subtly tried to ogle the new girl to now openly stare at both Bella and Irina. While Irina was one of the most beautiful girls at school and it made sense to many students that she be friends with someone as gorgeous as the new student, everyone knew how shy Irina tended to be. She was the most introverted and quiet of her sisters by far, so everyone couldn’t help but wonder how she had made friends with Bella so fast, many wondering such things with quite a bit of jealousy.

Edward couldn’t stop himself from making a face. “Teenagers. Their thoughts make me want to throw up.”

“You should tell Bella what they’re thinking about,” Alice said with a laugh before blanking out. Edward could see part of the vision of Bella laughing at how uncreative their imaginations were, the vision cutting off before Bella could start going into way more detail about sexual topics than Edward would ever be comfortable with. Alice gave him a comforting pat on the arm, “Never mind.”

Bella overheard their conversation and was curious, but she didn’t look away from Irina for even a second as the shy girl made her way over. The youngest blonde could feel all of the eyes on her but she still made her way toward Bella. She was determined to apologize for her behavior and to not allow anyone else to sway her from her determination. Irina had felt something for Bella from the first moment she laid eyes on her. Yes, it was likely just lust, but with every passing moment she had spent in Bella’s presence she had found herself already falling for the new student. She would never forgive herself if she avoided Bella because of her own fears or how other people reacted. 

“I’m really sorry for earlier,” Irina immediately apologized once she had gotten close enough. Bella only gave her a gentle smile that made her heart skip a beat.

Don’t touch her; not in front of all these people. The rumor mill will go wild and who knows how that would affect things with Tanya and Kate. “You have nothing to apologize for. If anything, I should apologize for making you uncomfortable.” Although Bella knew why Irina had fled and was quite smug at the fact. It would always thrill her to know she had any affect on any of her mates.

“You didn’t make me uncomfortable. Not at all. I’m just…sometimes I’m not very good at talking to people.” Admitting that made Irina wilt without even realizing it, and her reaction to herself made Bella frown. “I tend to stay to myself, Tanya and Kate, and my two friends because it’s easier and safer. I like to stay in my comfort zone, and there’s…please don’t take this the wrong way when I say there’s nothing comfortable about you.”

Bella arched an eyebrow at the choice of words. She wondered if she was supposed to be concerned about this, but first she went for an attempt at prompting the human. “You’re not the first person to say that about me,” Bella told her in a softer voice. It made Irina’s heartbeat quicken and it looked like Irina had to suppress a shiver.

Irina forced herself to release a long breath of air she didn’t even realize she had been holding as she wrapped her arms around herself. “Right. There’s something about you. It’s almost as if you wear danger like a cloak. You’re confident and strong and you have such a presence that it makes me nervous just to be around you.”

“Are you telling me to leave you alone?” Bella asked, leaning against the wall and crossing her arms over her chest to stop herself from reaching out to Irina and possibly even start begging her. She didn’t sound it, but she was worried. Terrified, even, at the thought of a mate who wanted Bella nowhere near her. 

“No!” Irina blurted. To Bella’s surprise, Irina stepped closer and rested a hand on one of Bella’s forearms. “I don’t mean that at all. What I mean, is…” Irina blushed and looked away from Bella for a moment to gather herself, and when she looked back, Bella could see the strength in Irina’s blue gaze. “I just mean that you’re amazing, and also one of the most overwhelming people I’ve met in my life. You make me nervous, yes, but in a good way too. And I want nothing more than to get to know you. I’m just trying to say that I messed up before and I’ll likely mess up in the future too, but I definitely want to be around you. A lot. You have no idea.”

Bella’s eyes widened. Luckily no humans could hear what Irina had said, as her words almost sounded like a confession. It even felt like a confession, to Bella’s beast at least, and that beast wanted nothing more than to show Irina how much she appreciated it whether Irina meant to do it or not.

“Irina–”

“Okay, everyone front and center!” Coach Clapp shouted as he strode into the middle of the gym floor. Bella almost snarled at his horrible timing. Did he really have to interrupt right as it was getting to the good part? But Irina’s hand was still on her arm and the blonde seemed blissfully unaware of what her own words sounded like. “We’re going to choose teams and play some volleyball.”

That was the last time that Bella got to speak to Irina in class, as Coach Clapp was quick to split them up. Even worse, he had called Bella to the side of the court to tell her off. Apparently Mike had snitched and told a teacher what Bella had done to him but left out some pretty important details, and Bella now had detention. Of course due to the backstory the Cullens and Denalis had concocted, the coach wouldn’t believe anything a supposed troublemaker said in defense. The Denali was seething; if it weren’t for her mates, she wouldn’t even play around with this stupid high school charade. But Alice only shot her a look that made it clear everything would work out, and Irina looked too upset and guilty that Bella wasn’t about to raise any kind of hell just yet. 

“No matter what you hear and see during lunch, you can’t interfere. I mean it, Bella; it won’t end in your favor,” Alice whispered at vampire volume once Bella finally got away from the coach.

“Are any of my mates going to get hurt?” Bella had to ask.

“No.”

That was all it took for Bella to relax. “Then whatever it is, I can handle it. I’m over a thousand years old, Alice; I can deal with a little high school drama.”

“I’m holding you to that,” was Alice’s reply, sounding so serious it gave Bella pause. “Keep a hold of Noella. It will help.”

Shit. Just what could possibly happen now?

Chapter Text

Chapter 5

Bella realized that what was about to happen might be worse than she thought when Alice randomly decided to change plans and have them all spend lunch in the library instead. Edward was just as grim about the situation as Alice as they led Bella and Noella to the very back of the library and positioned themselves so that Edward was across the table from Bella, Alice next to her, and a clueless Noella sitting diagonally across from the coven leader. Alice had already taken one of Bella’s hands and held it tightly.

“Alice, what’s going on?”

“Just focus on staying calm Bella, please,” Alice begged. She knew if she said what was about to happen, the coven leader would likely stress out or even do something stupid. The problem with having three human mates was that it frayed a vampire’s nerves more than most vampires could handle, especially when they weren’t all together at the same time. Everything about a human was fragile and having just one human mate would drive a vampire to extremes, feeling the need to stay by their mate’s side at all times to keep them protected. It was insane how someone even as old as Bella could have as much control in such a volatile situation with nonstop stress and dangers around every turn. But even Bella had a limit, and with three mates all about to get blindsided, that limit would be reached without intervention. “Remember, no one is going to get hurt.”

In the cafeteria, an overexcited Kate had just made it to the table where her sisters were already sitting, both Irina and Tanya glancing around hopefully for a particular brunette to appear. Kate was completely oblivious to this as she sat down and grinned, absolutely brimming with excitement.

“Holy shit, the new girl is hot,” Kate said with an impressed whistle, leaning back in her seat as she cast another searching glance around the cafeteria. “It’s a shame I don’t see her here. Wonder where she went.”

“You better be talking about the short one, because I’ve got my eyes set on tall, dark, and sexy,” Tanya replied haughtily. Yet even as she said it, she felt her gut twist. She had wanted Kate to start opening up to others, but for it to potentially be Bella of all people? The one who Tanya already felt was so different and special that she couldn’t imagine giving her to anyone else?

Kate was completely unaware of Tanya’s inner turmoil as she snorted. “Sucks to suck. Tall one is totally mine. And aren’t you dating Eric anyway?” 

Tanya couldn’t say anything as her worst fear was confirmed. She didn’t even think to mention that she had already broken up with Eric. Thankfully her silence wasn’t noticed as Irina spoke up in her stead.

“Since when did you care about seducing anyone, Kate?” Irina asked, feeling her own stomach drop. She felt similarly to Tanya in regard to Bella. While she was usually one to be self sacrificing for her sisters’ happiness, something in her just refused to step aside for anyone when it came to the new girl.

“Since I saw the sexy tall chick. Obviously.” Kate grinned unabashedly. It was much easier to be her usual confident self when Bella wasn’t around to fuck with her with her mere presence. “Never thought I was into girls, but that super insanely gorgeous bitch is proving me wrong fast.”

Tanya didn’t know how to reply. She had no claim to Bella, especially after her screw up, and it wasn’t like she could just tell Kate to leave Bella alone even if she did. But the idea of Bella choosing someone other than her made her feel as if the world was ending. 

She had to say something. She just had to.

“Kate, about Bella…” Tanya became aware of a shadow that suddenly loomed over them. She looked up and was surprised to meet the dark, angry eyes of Eric Yorkie. “Eric?”

“Tanya. We need to talk. Now.” Eric grabbed Tanya by the arm and hauled her up. Seeing nothing but confusion on Tanya’s face and having no idea that she had broken up with him, Kate and Irina did nothing to stop him.

“Now isn’t a good time,” Tanya tried to say as she was led out of the cafeteria.

“Neither was the text you sent breaking up with me,” came Eric’s immediate reply. Then they were out the cafeteria doors.

“That was weird,” Kate said as she watched the pair go. “He looked pretty upset for a guy who was all but squealing when Tanya said yes to going out with him.” Kate laughed to herself as she added, “Maybe he realized dating Tanya doesn’t mean he gets her exclusively? He seems like the clingy type.”

Irina absently chewed on her bottom lip as she stared at the cafeteria door. She felt like something was much more wrong than she had originally thought. “I don’t like the way he grabbed her. Maybe we should–”

“Hey.” 

Both girls looked up to see a nervous looking Tyler standing over them. He gestured to a corner of the cafeteria with his thumb as he locked eyes with Kate. “Kate, uh…mind if we talk for a minute?”

Kate’s brow furrowed in confusion. She had no idea what they might need to talk about. Maybe she had missed some news about one of the upcoming games? “Sure.” She got up from the table but paused to look at Irina. “I’ll be right back.”

Irina nodded in understanding. The moment Kate and Tyler left, she slouched in her seat and stabbed aimlessly at her food. “I should have eaten with Ben and Angela today.”

“But then we wouldn’t have gotten the chance to talk again.”

Oh no. Not now. Irina looked up to find Mike sliding into Kate’s now empty seat with what he thought was a charming grin. 

In the library, Bella had frozen solid with every vampire’s hands holding parts of her body down, just in case. Her eyes were pitch black and filled with malice as she realized that all three of her mates were in trouble. They were being cornered. The only thing that helped was that out of all of them, Kate seemed oblivious to it.

She needed to do something. She needed to go to each of her mates and rip the boys that were with them to pieces. But she couldn’t do any of that. All she could do was sit there and listen to each of their conversations.

“A text Tanya, really?”

“We hadn’t been going out for very long, okay? It’s obvious we weren’t serious. I didn’t think it was a big deal.”

“Wasn’t a big deal? Wasn’t a big deal? Tanya, I’ve been waiting for you to say yes since freshman year!”

Bella’s jaw clenched as she heard Tanya hiss in discomfort. She knew Eric had grabbed her somewhere.

“So, uh, Kate…I was wondering…this weekend…”

“Shit, is there a game this weekend? How the hell did no one tell me?”

“No, that’s not what I was–look, what I’m trying to say–”

“Why did you grab my hand?” Kate was clearly confused and oblivious to what Tyler was trying to do.

He’s touching her…he’s touching Kate! How dare he–

“Look Irina, I just really think you need to give me a proper chance here. Especially after the new girl made me look like some kind of bad guy–”

“Because you were.” Irina’s voice trembled but she held strong. “You need to learn when to leave someone alone.”

“But I know you want me. I just need to–”

“Get your hand off me, Mike. Please.”

Panic. That was panic in Irina’s voice. Bella needed to do something. Now. Her mates were in danger!

“Bella no, it’s alright!” Alice whispered urgently as Bella started to strain against the hands holding her down. Bella snarled in response.  “Just give it a few more minutes. They’ll be fine. Please, trust me.”

It went on. She could hear Tanya and Eric fighting in the hallway, could hear the erratic terrified heartbeat of Irina, and hear Tyler’s pathetic attempts at flattery and flirting as he tried to ask Kate out. Everything seemed to blend together, to turn into one big threat, and if Bella didn’t do something soon, she’d–

Crack!

“Mike, enough. Leave her alone or I’ll call a teacher.”

“Angela. Ben.” Relief filled Irina’s voice. She felt safe with the people whose names she had called.

“I just wanted to take her on a date, Weber, what’s the big deal?” Mike shot back.

A boy’s voice, high but firm, said a single word; “Leave.”

Grumbling, Mike got up and walked away.

“Enough, Erik! I’m sorry I didn’t realize that you liked me so much and I’m sorry I broke up with you the way I did, but with the way you’re acting now, I’m happy I did. Do you see how you’re treating me?”

“Tanya, I–”

“Never put your hands on me again. If you do, I’m getting Charlie involved. Got it?” Tanya’s footsteps as she walked back to the cafeteria while Erik didn’t move was all that Bella needed to hear. She was getting away from him.

“So can we? This weekend, I mean.”

“Sorry Ty, I have to work this weekend. I don’t have time to hang out with you. But maybe next weekend? Our teams are going to have to celebrate when we kick some ass after our games.”

“Um, I was hoping we could do something the two of us.”

“Why would we celebrate with just the two of us? We’re not even on the same team. Oh shit, I need to finish eating before the bell rings. I’ll talk to you later.”

Bella all but collapsed back in her seat, panting for breath that she didn’t need as she was released from the stress the situations had put her in. She still couldn’t believe that she had made it through all of that without killing someone.

Alice rubbed Bella’s back to try and make her feel better. “Sorry. It was originally just going to be Tyler trying to ask Kate out, but he met up with Eric and Mike, and they all hyped each other up. The future changed and if you were there when they tried anything, it would have ended…well, you know.”

Bella could only nod.

If things didn’t calm down soon, she was going to go crazy.

“So what was that about anyway?” Noella piped up into the newfound silence. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m always more than happy to get a chance to hold you down, but you usually aren’t so angry when I try.”

Edward could only stare at Noella incredulously. “You…I can’t believe you’re actually that oblivious.”

“What do you mean by that?” Noella demanded. “I’m not oblivious, I notice everything! Just not this thing.”

Well, now was as good a time as any. Bella opened her mouth to explain only for Alice and Edward to suddenly disappear into the shadows, dragging Noella with them while slapping a hand over her mouth. Bella was about to demand what the hell they were doing when a human appeared. Not just any human, but the librarian, who took one look at what Bella held in her hands and scowled.

“Isabella Denali, correct? This may be your first day but I expected you to understand what respect means. I’m sure you’ll get to know more about how school works in detention. The school will bill your parents for the damages. Now get out of my library.”

Taken aback by the absolute fury in the woman’s voice, Bella was about to demand exactly what her problem was, only to remember the crack from earlier. She looked down to find a long piece of wood from the table she sat at broken off in her hands. Bella must have broken the table while struggling to control herself.

“Now, Bella. And I don’t want you coming in here again until I have payment and an apology.”

A muttered curse escaped the coven leader as she tossed the piece of wood onto the table. She would have charmed the woman if she had the energy, but with everything that had happened today she was mentally and emotionally exhausted.

“I expect an apology for the cursing too,” the librarian piped up as she followed Bella to the door. The moment Bella was out, the woman performed the quietest door slam to ever happen in history.

“You better have a good reason for leaving me alone in there,” Bella murmured at a volume only vampires could hear. “Because the last thing I needed today was to have to stay in the damned building even longer.”

“It’ll be worth it, trust me,” Alice whispered back from where she was still in the library. “Besides, Edward and I have a reputation. We can’t be associating with delinquents who go around breaking school property, now can we?”

“I hate you,” Bella said with a laugh despite herself.

“Love you too,” Alice replied with a laugh of her own. 

“What about me?” Noella demanded. “Bella, love on me too.”

Bella didn’t answer, not just because she didn’t want to, but because she realized Tanya was heading straight for her. The moment she met the gaze of the strawberry blonde the girl visibly brightened, and Bella gave her a tight smile in return. She didn’t dare move just yet lest her instincts got the better of her and she did something that might be seen as inappropriate to humans.

“Hey. Aren’t you supposed to be at lunch?” Bella asked when Tanya approached.

“Aren’t you?” Tanya retorted. She noticed how Bella was leaning against the wall next to the library doors, looking so unfairly cool and sexy, and was almost immediately distracted. “I was hoping you’d join us in there.”

“Something came up,” Bella lied.

“Oh?” Tanya almost went for trying to tease the brunette, but then noticed something in Bella’s expression. There was a tightness there that hadn’t existed last time they had talked. “What’s wrong?”

Bella’s eyebrows arched in surprise. She hadn’t expected Tanya to catch on to her feelings so quickly. As she couldn’t exactly tell her the truth about what was really upsetting her, she went for the next best thing. “I have detention after school.”

“Already?” Tanya asked incredulously. “What did you do?”

Tanya could only swallow hard at the sheepish expression that appeared on Bella’s face. Why did everything have to look so good on her? “I accidentally broke one of the tables in the library.”

“What? No way.” Tanya couldn’t believe it. She didn’t know why Bella broke the table or how, but she had to have done it on purpose, right? “Those things are solid. There’s no way you broke it by accident.”

“Well I did.” Bella ran a frustrated hand through her hair. “I just put a little too much pressure on it, and now I’m getting a bill to pay for a new one and detention.” The brunette offered Tanya a crooked grin that made the girl’s heart flutter. “I’m afraid I’m not very good at getting on teachers' good sides just yet.”

“Not when you break their stuff, no.” There was no way Bella broke the table on purpose, Tanya decided at last. She must have just had terrible luck and put too much pressure on a table that was faulty or already partially broken. While she was definitely dangerous, she wasn’t the type to break things for no reason. Tanya was sure of it. “Detention, huh?”

“What is going on in that beautiful mind of yours?” Bella asked her.

She thinks my mind is beautiful? Tanya blushed hard, a shy smile growing on her face before she managed to get a hold of herself. “I’m just thinking that I need to pay a visit to detention after school today is all.”

God, the expression of concern that immediately appeared on Bella’s face had Tanya melting. “You’re not going to get in trouble, are you?”

“Nope. I’m going to get you out of it.”

Tanya said it with such confidence that Bella laughed. “You can try.”

Okay Tanya, confidence. She’s just another girl. You can do this. Tanya took a step into Bella’s personal space and hooked her fingers in two of Bella’s front belt loops. “Are you saying you think I can’t do it?” she asked. 

“I’m saying you can try,” Bella replied. Her voice had lowered into a husky purr that sent delightful shivers up Tanya’s spine. “I would never tell a girl like you that there’s anything you can’t do.”

“You totally think I can’t do it.” Tanya reluctantly released her hold on Bella’s jeans to cross her arms over her chest with a huff. “Wanna bet on it?”

“Depends.” Bella regarded Tanya for a moment as if she were trying to figure Tanya out. “What are we betting exactly?”

“Loser does one thing that the winner wants within reason,” Tanya said before she could think it through.

Bella flashed a smile that was all teeth. It made Tanya feel like she was prey about to be ensnared. “Deal.”

“Deal,” Tanya replied with much more confidence than she felt.

The question was, did she want to win this thing or not?

Chapter Text

Chapter 6

It was oh so hard for Bella to leave Tanya after that, but she quickly found herself somewhat happily distracted as she made her way to chemistry. Kate was sitting at a two person table. A huge grin had appeared on her face the moment that Bella had entered the doorway and she made a big show of waving Bella over.

“Teach!” Kate yelled as Bella stopped in front of the teacher to get her slip signed first. “I call new girl as my partner for the rest of the year.”

Mr. Banner let out a heavy sigh. “I suppose we don’t have much of a choice after you lost your last partner, do we Miss Swan?” This was followed by a pitying look directed at Bella, much to the vampire’s surprise. “Miss Denali, you will be sitting next to Miss Swan. Please let me know at the first sign of trouble.”

Bella’s gaze wandered back to Kate, never leaving her excited face even as she answered her teacher. “Yes sir.” Slip signed, Bella sauntered over to Kate, gaining quite a few admiring gazes as she did so, and sat down next to her. She had barely shrugged off her backpack before leaning in to whisper in Kate’s ear. “Why do I have a feeling you’re much more trouble than you look?”

A shiver ran down Kate’s spine, goosebumps breaking out where Bella’s breath touched her skin. “So I look like trouble, huh?” she managed to reply teasingly, but her voice was way too shaky to pull it off.

“Oh yes.” Bella had to work not to let her voice drop to a purr, and it was even harder not to reach out to touch her, especially knowing someone else was trying to put a claim on her. But she didn’t want to mess up as badly as she had with Tanya. While she knew Kate was attracted to her from what she had overheard while the girl had been in the cafeteria, she was equally aware that she was apparently Kate’s first ever interest in another. Which meant she had to go at Kate’s pace–something she still wasn’t sure how to figure out. “You’re definitely going to be a handful for me, aren’t you?” Damn it. So much for dialing it back. 

“I, uh, um…” Kate found herself utterly speechless once more as her poor brain worked to get over the short circuit her new chemistry partner had caused.

“So, what did you do? Splash acid on someone by accident? Cause the entire classroom to explode? Perhaps you turned your previous lab partner green?” Bella teased. She hoped it was enough to make Kate would make the connection and believe the handful comment was about the class and not anything sexual, and thankfully Kate seemed to take the bait.

“Oh, you mean…lab partner! Yeah. A handful for you–as my lab partner. For any lab partner, really.” Kate felt herself blush in embarrassment. Of course Bella was talking about class! How could Bella have been talking about anything else? It had to be that damn attractive voice of hers, it made everything sound so sexy. “What I did…I might’ve, kinda, accidentally…set her hair on fire.”

“Did you now?” Bella asked with a way too sexy arch of her eyebrows as she leaned back in her seat.

Shit. She wasn’t about to try to request a seat change, was she? Smooth, Kate. Real smooth. “She wasn’t hurt or anything! I mean, it was an accident, I kinda got a little too excited, but it was really just the ends of her hair…and her eyebrows…and maybe some of her eyelashes.” Kate slouched in her seat as she realized she likely made things much worse. “You’re going to ask to switch partners now, aren’t you?”

“Not at all.” Kate perked up at this, although she was in a bit of disbelief at Bella’s words. Bella gave her a devilish grin when Kate looked her way, and while Kate was nowhere near the swooning type, that look was more than enough to make Kate close. “I’m always up for a little more excitement in life. And you’re definitely someone who can bring that excitement in spades.” Bella couldn’t help herself from reaching out and brushing Kate’s hair behind her ear, quickly pretending to have taken something out of it when she realized her mistake. “Sorry, lint. It was driving me crazy,” she told the stunned blonde while making a bit of a show of flicking the imaginary lint aside. Bella would likely have to sit on her own hands for control if she couldn’t calm down, but thankfully that little touch had also caused Bella to brush her wrist against Kate’s cheek in the process. It was an accidental scent marking but enough to calm her beast–if only a little.

“Kate!” the kid in front of them hissed as he shook the stack of papers purposefully. “Hurry up and take them. My arm is breaking here.”

Realizing she had just been staring at Bella like a lovesick idiot, Kate quickly went about grabbing a packet from the stack before passing them on behind her. The entire time she was completely unaware of the adoring look Bella had on her face as she watched her.

Mr. Banner clapped to get everyone’s attention once the papers had mostly been distributed. “Okay, class. Let’s get into our next experiment. Just follow what the instructions on the packet says and nothing bad should happen.” He fixed a pointed look at Kate to make it clear who he was mostly directing his words at. Remember why we’re doing this. It’s to…” He had started to pass out little kits of different chemicals as he walked down the rows, but Kate had already tuned him out as she grinned over at Bella.

“Hope you don’t like your hair too much,” she joked. Before she could realize how much she might have fucked up and try to fix it, Bella let out a laugh. Mr. Banner had gotten to them and made the clear decision to put the chemicals on Bella’s side of the table instead of in the middle like everyone else.

“I do, actually. But I have to say, I like your hair much more, so I’m more than happy to make the sacrifice if necessary,” Bella said casually as she started moving the materials closer to her side so she could check out each one. Completely unaware of how she was making Kate melt inside, the girl was sure. “Luckily for the both of us, this chemical compound is incapable of producing fire, so I suppose we’re safe for today.”

“Yeah,” Kate said with a lovesick sigh that would have horrified her if she had realized she had made it.

Although the blonde was still unaware of it, it was official; Kate was totally falling in love. And that love only grew stronger with every moment she got to spend with Bella, which was why she was quick to jump up and offer to take Bella to her last class of the day.

“I’d be more than happy to have you accompany me,” Bella said with a smile, even as she quickly checked in under her breath to make sure that Tanya was still safe and Edward was well away from her. She started walking with Kate by her side the moment she got the all clear. “Once I get used to this school I might have to start having to return the favor.”

“Well I have gym next, so feel free to stop by any time. I’d love for you to see me show off.” Kate joked and made a show of flexing her muscles, unaware of how much lust her arms inspired.

“Impressive,” Bella murmured.

Kate preened under the praise. “If you think that’s impressive, you should see my stomach–” she started to lift up her shirt, much to the surrounding students’ interest. Bella was too torn on how to react and her own feelings to stop her, but thankfully someone else was more than eager to step in for her.

“Oh my god Kate!” Irina rushed out from the class Bella had been about to enter and yanked Kate’s shirt back down before anyone else could see more than the first strip of skin. “What do you think you’re doing stripping in the middle of the hall? Do you want to get in trouble again?”

“I wasn’t stripping, I was just showing Bella my stomach muscles!” Kate protested.“It wasn’t like I was going to take my whole shirt off…”

“Bell…?” Irina started to murmur. With horror she realized who was standing next to Kate and she immediately flushed a dark red. “Oh, Bella! Hello. Long time no see. I mean…hi.” Irina gave the amused brunette an awkward wave that completed her own humiliation. She was absolutely dying inside as she realized how weird she was acting. “What are you doing here?” Okay, that’s enough of that, time to shut up.

“I have class here,” Bella answered. “I have to say, I’m quite happy to know I’m having my next class with a friendly face.” The only way that would make her schedule better was if she could have all three of her mates in the same class. Maybe that would calm her instincts for a moment–or, quite frankly, do the exact opposite. 

The bell rang before Bella could say anything else, causing Kate to jump with a curse. “Shit I’m gonna be late! Coach Clapp is going to kick my ass.” She ran off without so much as a goodbye, leaving Bella frowning at her retreated figure.

“The coach doesn’t actually hurt her, does he?” Bella asked dangerously.

Irina could feel the air around them change, but once again, she wasn’t afraid–for herself, anyway. She was more than certain that if she said yes, Bella would likely be in jail after she enacted whatever she had planned for the coach. Thankfully the coach wasn’t the abusive type; he was tough but never laid a hand on any of his students.

“No. He would have been long gone if he had touched any of us, don’t worry. He might just scold her for being late a little. If she’s late enough he might give her detention too, which is the last thing Kate needs right now.” Irina watched Bella immediately relax at her answer with a nod. What happened to her to make her react like that? Irina couldn’t help but wonder. There weren't exactly many kids willing to beat a teacher up at the first sign of trouble, after all. But her reaction made Irina sure that, while she and Noella apparently caused enough trouble at her old school to get her and her sister expelled, it was likely for what the two believed to be a good reason. She admitted that she didn’t know Noella well, but at least in Bella’s case, while she may be quick to anger or turn to violence, she always seemed to do it to protect others.

“Come on, we should head in too. I’d hate to be late when I’m right outside the door.” Irina didn’t know where the confidence came from, but she took Bella’s hand and tugged on it. Bella’s gaze left the hallway to look at her with enough surprise to make Irina think she had made a mistake, but Bella only grinned at her.

“Would we get detention if we were late to our class too?” Bella asked curiously.

Aware of how close they were to their classroom’s door, Irina quickly lowered her voice. “Oh yeah. Not all teachers are as strict about it, but Mr. Berty is all about punctuation. You would be fine because today is your first day, but I would definitely get detention, which is the worst thing possible for me.” It would mean she would be late to her work at Newton’s Olympic Outfitters. While she hated being around Mike his parents were great and she didn’t want them to suffer because of her mistake.

Bella nodded in understanding. “So detention is that bad?”

“It’s the worst,” Irina muttered. “And don’t even get me started on the other kids that end up in detention. Those who aren’t there because of tardiness are there because they’re complete thugs.”

Well, it looked like Bella had fucked up, and all by accident too. While Irina had been incredibly nice to her so far, she probably already looked a bit thuggish in her eyes. Admitting to ending up in detention and why would likely make Irina disappointed in her, if not worse. She could only hope she could fix how Irina might see her.

Bella let Irina lead her into the room then quickly–albeit reluctantly–dropped Irina’s hand with the excuse of going to get her slip signed by the last teacher for the day. Irina glanced between the empty seats left over–all of which were pretty far apart–then back at Bella. She realized that there was no way she was going to be able to sit next to her and felt incredibly disappointed. More than she should, given that she had just met Bella today and Angela had clearly saved the seat next to her for Irina’s benefit. Regardless of what she should feel, the simple fact of the matter was that it felt right to have Bella with her. 

Once Bella finished with the slip, she made her way to the back of the classroom and sat in the closest chair to Irina–one that was two seats behind her. While the blonde was sure she was reading too much into it, she couldn’t deny that she felt Bella’s gaze on her for the rest of the class. 

The moment class ended, Bella was out the door and heading to the office. She hated leaving Irina so abruptly but she was determined to turn in the slip and get to detention without Irina learning about it. Which was stupid; she knew Tanya would likely tell her sister about their bet regardless. But at least that way she wouldn’t have to see the disappointment on one of her mate’s faces.

“I’ve never seen someone in such a hurry to get to detention before,” was all Bella heard from the receptionist before she was out of the office after receiving instructions on where detention was to be held. She entered the classroom, ignoring the snide comment from whatever unknown teacher was watching over detention. She simply signed her name on the detention form and sat down, with her gaze riveted eagerly on the doorway.

Bella really wanted to know what Tanya would try to do.

“Wow, you’re here pretty early, aren’t you? Isn’t this supposed to be your first day?” one boy asked. 

“Damn she’s even hotter up close,” another boy muttered under his breath, his friend showing his agreement with a long whistle.

“I still want to lick her shoes.”

“Well I want her to step on me.”

Many other comments were made but Bella ignored them all, and they were quickly silenced by the teacher’s shout. Bella just kept her eyes on the door the entire time, almost forgetting to act more human like in her excitement.

Then she heard it. Tanya’s purposeful footsteps coming in her direction. Bella could hear the fast pace of Tanya’s heart and knew Tanya was just as excited as her for whatever was about to happen. What would Bella ask for if she were to win the bet? What would Tanya ask if Tanya won? What would be considered “too much?” Bella could only wonder and, admittedly, fantasize, until Tanya entered the doorway with a wink and smirk at Bella.

“Hey Tanya!”

“Yo girl wassup?”

“Did the queen really get detention? It’s our lucky day!”

Those comments and much more were shouted the moment Tanya entered the room, but everyone was silenced when the teacher made a threat of more detention before turning back to Tanya. A good thing, too, as Bella was starting to wonder how many broken bones she could get away with without expulsion.

“Miss Swan, you’re not on my list. I don’t think you’re supposed to be here,” the teacher said. He shuffled through his papers as if her name might appear, but to no luck. 

“Oh I’m not here for detention, Mr. Gulliver. I’m here to get a student out early.” Tanya said it with such confidence that Bella almost laughed. This was her plan? While Bella would do anything for Tanya, others weren’t going to feel the same.

“I’m sorry Miss Swan, but everyone else is supposed to be here and no one is allowed to get out early. This is detention, not an after school activity.” The teacher actually sounded apologetic weirdly enough, but was clearly firm. 

Yet Tanya wasn’t deterred in the slightest. She leaned forward, making eye contact with a smile. “I’m here for Isabella Denali. It’s her first day and she’s only in here because of an accident. Surely you can cut her some slack and let her off, right? She already feels really bad about what happened.”

To Bella’s amazement, the teacher began nodding. “Yes, I suppose I can. Everyone makes mistakes,” he mumbled, almost to himself. He then turned to look at the classroom. There was a slightly glazed look in his eyes as he said, “Isabella Denali? Your time is up, please leave.”

“Thanks so much, Mr. Gulliver,” Tanya said. “You’re the best.”

Other kids complained as Bella stood up and went to Tanya’s side. Tanya gave her a smirk and beckoned her to follow with a finger before leaving the room, and Bella was quick to follow. Once they had walked far enough down the already empty hallway, Tanya turned to her with a triumphant grin.

“Told you I could get you out. Bet you didn’t expect me to be so persuasive, did you? I’m actually a teachers’ favorite around here,” Tanya bragged.

Bella nodded, filled with amazement as she regarded her strawberry blonde mate. “That you are. I didn’t expect that to work.” In fact, it shouldn’t have–if Tanya were normal, that is. But Tanya wasn’t normal, and that wasn’t a normal request, either. While she had no doubt no one else would be aware of the small changes that happened to the teacher, even Tanya, Bella could tell what was happening the moment she saw the change in the teacher’s demeanor–the look in his eyes only sealed the deal.

Tanya had a gift, and that gift was compulsion. The fact that it showed even as a human meant that the gift was immensely powerful–something that made Bella both proud and worried. If the Volturi were to hear about her…

“So you lost the bet, which means you have to obey my request. Are you ready for it?” Tanya asked.

Bella nodded. “If it’s within my power, it’s yours.”

Tanya’s eyes took on a mischievous yet nervous glint in them. She was clearly worried about how Bella was going to respond, but she pushed past her fears regardless.

“Come home with me.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 7

Charlie Swan let out a tired huff as he entered his house. With Kate being immersed in her sports, Irina her job, and Tanya her friends, it wasn’t too rare for him to be the first one home. Yet it was always a bit jarring to him; he had become too used to the house being full and lively, and the times when it wasn’t, everything felt wrong. It was much too quiet, so Charlie went about making extra noise with whatever he could as he started making his way through his house to fix himself a late lunch.

Another thing about the emptiness was that it gave him time to think. This time his thoughts went right to the new kids in town. They were related to the Cullens who were a great, polite family, but he had already been warned by another officer of the kids’ pasts. That they were trouble and had gotten kicked out of their last school.

That, accompanied by some extra information given to him, made him a bit nervous about how much trouble they might cause, both in and out of school. While they were in the same grade as Kate, Tanya, and Irina, it didn’t cause the chief of police too much worry. He knew the girls had good heads on their shoulders. They would never get involved with the wrong crowd, or anyone who were as much trouble as the twins apparently were.

“Hey Charlie, I’m home!” Tanya called as she threw the front door open. Her voice made the man look up from his sandwich with a smile, only for that smile to falter when he realized who was behind her. “This is Bella. She’s new to school, and she was kind enough to give me a ride home.”

Tanya still couldn’t believe that she had asked for Bella to come back home with her. The blonde’s heart raced with excitement and nerves. She had no idea where the previous confidence had come from, but now all she could worry about was how she might mess up in front of the brunette. Bella just flustered her so much that Tanya knew any poise she usually possessed would disappear before long.

Not to mention Kate and Irina weren’t here; they wouldn’t be home for a while. That was a whole other can of worms that Tanya needed to sift through, but right now, she was just too excited to be in Bella’s presence to let herself feel too much guilt.

“I, erm…nice to meet you, Bella.” Charlie did his best to be polite. Since Tanya had gotten attached to the new girl so quickly, maybe she wasn’t as bad as everyone said? Maybe he could give her a chance…despite how much something about her made Charlie’s internal alarms go off and scream that she was dangerous.

“Nice to meet you too, Sir.” Bella gave him a nod since Tanya was in front of her, blocking her ability to approach Charlie Swan. She wanted to make a good impression, recognizing the importance of him in his mates’ lives. Unlike Bella–back when she was human, her father was quite the important figure in her tribe, but she hated him. He kept trying to use her as a pawn and marry her off to another tribe to bind the two together when all Bella had wanted to do was fight and be a warrior; something she was very good at. Not that her father had cared about her skill.

Charlie nodded awkwardly back. At least the girl was polite. “Well if you need anything, feel free to–”

“No, nope, we don’t need anything!” Tanya quickly intervened. “We just need to be alone–oh god I didn’t mean that.”

 It was obvious even to the incredibly dense Charlie that his usually self assured, incredibly confident oldest daughter, didn’t blush the way she currently was for no reason. As Bella glanced down at the mortified blonde with a small smirk on her face, he was struck with a new fear.

Had the new girl seduced his daughter?

“I just meant we didn’t need anything. I just…” Tanya glanced over at Bella, blushed darker for a moment when she saw those dark eyes on her, and forced herself to straighten. “I’m not like this usually okay? Don’t look at me like that.”

No, there’s no way Tanya would fall for that type. She was just trying to be cool. That’s it. Besides, she was dating that nice Eric boy. Tanya was just embarrassed by her dad like all kids her age.

“We’re going upstairs now,” Tanya said when Bella looked like she was about to start teasing her. Without thinking she grabbed Bella’s hand and started to tug her upstairs. While she immediately became self conscious of it, the feeling of rightness that came over her even with such a simple touch made Tanya unable to let go.

Then Bella squeezed her hand and Tanya felt her heart flutter in her chest. Tanya was sure she hadn’t fucked everything up. That she and Bella had been meant to meet…the hole Tanya had always carried in her chest was already beginning to fill just by being around Bella, which was something no one else could do.

Tanya quickly came to a stop in her room when she realized she had no idea what to do next. She had won the bet, asked Bella to come over, but to be honest, she had never thought past that point. She had just wanted to be alone with Bella. Now what was she supposed to do? What were they supposed to do?

Bella glanced around the room that Tanya had led her into. It wasn’t just her room, Bella realized, but Irina and Kate’s as well. The room had been separated into three sections. The one covered in books with two shelves on each side of the bed had to have been Irina’s, the sporty one with workout equipment sprawled haphazardly on the floor–a danger hazard, Bella’s protective side couldn’t help but note grumpily–had to be Kate’s, and the last…

“What is that?” Bella asked as she gestured to the notebook laying open on a nightstand with the hand that wasn’t still gripping Tanya’s.

One glance at what Bella had noticed made Tanya blush. She wasn’t one to talk much about her own hobbies, but she also didn’t want to accidentally push Bella away. But Bella was just so cool and confident and anything she wore was sexy, even if she didn’t already appear to have impeccable fashion taste. It was hard to remember that Bella was related to the Cullens sometimes, but when she did, it made Tanya realize she likely also came from money. Would she look down on Tanya because of it?

No. Bella wasn’t like that; Tanya was already sure of it. Despite the blush in her cheeks and the awkward shyness that overcame her, Tanya picked up the notebook and showed it to Bella. “It’s a notebook of mine. I like fashion, so I fill it with drawings of outfits I would like to see me or my friends like to wear.”

Tanya risked a glance up at Bella to find her eyes alight with interest, and it made Tanya relax. “Do you make your own clothes as well? Or do they stay in this book?” Bella glanced at Tanya to make sure it was okay, and when given permission, she took the book from the strawberry blonde and started flipping through the pages. The sketches were good, the outfits tasteful or cute or any number of things, and it made Bella swell with pride for her mate. She already had something she loved and was pursuing it.

“I make some of them, when I have the time and money.” Tanya tried to shrug off how much Bella’s interest excited her, but she couldn’t stop the smile. “I work down at the reservation when I can, helping fix bikes and cars.”

Bella couldn’t help the surprise that flashed across her face. “You’re a mechanic too?” Tanya once again became shy as she nodded, and Bella let out a soft laugh. “You keep surprising me. Rosalie and you would get along more than she thought.” Rosalie had complained about Tanya quite a bit before Bella started school–although she was aware now that it was because of the danger Tanya evoked for the family due to being Edward’s singer. But Bella knew if she knew that Tanya was also a mechanic, Rosalie would have softened her stance toward the human despite herself.

Tanya made a face of disgust. “Yeah, I’m good. I’d rather stay as far away from that one as possible. Thank god she’s in college now…” She trailed off as she realized once again that the Cullens were Bella’s family, and she was technically trash talking Rosalie right in front of the girl she was already having feelings for. When she started to try and backtrack she glanced up at Bella’s face and was surprised by the understanding smile she received.

“My cousin is prickly on the outside and hard to get to know, but she has a bigger heart than I do,” Bella told Tanya softly. “She’s been through more than most. I hope one day you can try to get to know her better.” We will be visiting them a lot over the centuries, after all.

Tanya nodded. “I’ll try.” For you. 

Bella nodded and perked right back up. “You say you can only buy what you need when you can afford it, right? How about I help out with that?” At Tanya’s startled expression, Bella added, “Talent like this shouldn’t be confined by boundaries like money, and I have quite a bit of it. I’m not doing this to win your attention or anything of the sort; I simply want to see all of your designs come to life.” And provide for my mates in any way possible, but I doubt that explanation would go over well. “I would offer the same for anyone I care about…like your sisters.” 

“Oh.” Tanya didn’t know quite how to take Bella’s words, or the complicated emotions that those words evoked. “That’s sweet of you to offer, but I wouldn’t feel right taking your money.”

Bella shrugged as if the offer was no big deal and absently rubbed Tanya’s knuckles with her thumb. “The offer will always be there if you change your mind. I would love to see you thrive regardless.”

Tanya felt herself tingle all over at both the touch and the words. For Bella to offer so much so simply made Tanya fall a little harder for her. Not because of the money, but because she was so quick to want to support Tanya with just a few sketches. Not to mention the ease and confidence she possessed when she gave it.

Then came the realization that she was still holding Bella’s hand, and Tanya had something else to think about. Like the cold feel of Bella’s hand in hers and the warmth the hand caused and the gentle, sweet way that she touched Tanya, like she was–

Gods she’s delectable. Bella’s black eyed stare fixated on Tanya as the girl flushed and shook her head as if to shake herself out of her thoughts. Tanya sheepishly ran her free hand through her curly locks as she looked anywhere but at Bella. It stoked Bella’s imagination, which went wild with ideas of her own hands in Tanya’s hair, perhaps making Tanya look at her before kissing her senseless…she had so much desire and it pained the once-succubus that she couldn’t act on any of it. Not yet.

“I still want to help however I can,” Bella insisted softly, pleased by the stutter of Tanya’s heart and the way the human had to suppress a shiver. Experiencing any of her mates reacting to Bella would never get old. “So how else can I?”

Tanya thought for a moment before an idea hit her. It was more of an idea that came out of her own lust, but she was going to go through with it regardless.

“Actually…I have an idea.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 8

Tanya still couldn’t believe how quickly Bella had agreed to wear the clothes she had made. It made her feel strangely excited and nervous and twitchy. She actually felt unprepared for how amazing Bella would look in them.

But she was much more unprepared when Bella promptly pulled her shirt over her head and threw it aside.

“Oh my god.” Tanya didn’t waste a second turning around to face the wall and covering her eyes for good measure, knowing if she didn’t she’d be stuck staring like a lust struck idiot. Especially since in that one glimpse Tanya had gotten not only a full frontal view of her abs and muscled arms, but her perfectly rounded and firm breasts as Bella hadn’t been wearing a bra. “What are you doing?”

“Changing clothes?” Bella acted like she was oblivious, but she couldn’t help but smirk at Tanya’s back. The girl’s heart had started to race the moment Bella had stripped and it hadn’t stopped. To make matters better, she could even smell a bit of arousal coming off of her. Arousal that Tanya was no doubt trying to stifle.

Get closer. Get closer and see how much she wants you. Pin her, feel her, taste her! Bella’s instincts urged. While tempting, Bella obviously wasn’t about to give in to those desires. She was able to keep a handle on herself with the reminder that if she went too far with Tanya it might scare her at worst, and potentially damage her connection to Irina and Kate at best.

“Did you have to do it in here ?” Tanya couldn’t help but squeak.

“You pulled out multiple outfits and I don’t know where the bathroom is, changing in here is simply a lot easier.” She tilted her head to the side, fighting the urge to lick her lips as she saw the blush creep up Tanya’s neck. “What’s the big deal? We’re both girls, after all,” she almost purred. “And I have no reason to be ashamed of my body.”

No, you certainly don’t, Tanya thought despite herself, swallowing hard as the brief flash of Bella she had seen surfaced in her mind. “I’ll say this now, but I bat for both teams. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.” 

Bella let out a soft laugh. “You can’t make me uncomfortable, not truly. And I’m used to people admiring my body so you don’t need to worry about it. I don’t mind if you stare.” 

Tanya felt a flash of jealousy and hated herself for it, but she couldn’t help it. The idea of Bella being admired by anyone other than her made her want to grind her teeth. “Well I do. And I…” She heard the sound of cloth hitting the floor and realized Bella had dropped her pants as well. Maybe she could take a little peek…? No. Bad Tanya, what the hell was she thinking? This entire situation was bad enough already. “You didn’t even warn me.”

“I’m sorry,” Bella said, and actually somewhat meant it. “I didn’t think about how you might feel seeing me in a state of undress. I should have asked first; I may have gotten a bit too excited to wear your clothes.” Not only did they look well made and were created by Tanya, but wearing something from her mate also helped soothe the possessive beast in her. Wearing anything that any of her mates gave her, let alone something that smelled like the mate in question…yes, Bella was certainly excited to put Tanya’s clothes on.

“It’s fine.” Tanya hated hearing Bella sound down in any way. “You’re the one wearing my clothes after all.”

“I am.”

Bella’s voice had dropped to almost a purr, she sounded so pleased. Tanya had to stop herself from shivering. But god did that sound make way too much wetness to gather between Tanya’s legs.

Okay, slow your roll Tanya. You can control yourself at least a little bit, can’t you? 

Tanya had barely taken a breath to try and calm herself when she heard Bella say, “I’m all done. You can turn around now.”

The strawberry blonde made sure to turn carefully, as if afraid of what she might see–or afraid of what her reaction would be to what she saw. When her eyes landed on Bella, all of those fears were forgotten. All she could do was stare at Bella openly, mouth agape, as she took in Bella. Bella, who was wearing the clothes Tanya created, and looking so beyond incredibly sexy in them.

“Wow,” was all Tanya could say. “I…I need to take a picture.” She immediately cringed when she realized that she had said it out loud, but Bella only laughed in that soft, dark way of hers. It made a fire unfurl in Tanya’s belly and made her body ache in a way she wasn’t used to but knew without a doubt what it meant.

“Maybe next time,” Bella said and started to strip, which was the only warning Tanya got to quickly turn away again.

From there, Bella tried on outfit after outfit for Tanya’s viewing pleasure, and Tanya was a complete horny mess by the time they were done. Which was both a blessing and a curse, as Kate and Irina came home only minutes later, right as Bella was busy stripping off the last of the outfits.

“Hey Tanya, I–” Kate had just thrown open the door to their bedroom, only to stop dead in her tracks when she realized who was standing in front of her. Bella, in all of her half naked glory…right there. In the middle of her bedroom. Looking sexy as all fuck.

Kate would have had no trouble drooling over the sight forever if it weren’t for the way Bella quirked an eyebrow at her. That was more than enough to not only realize she was staring, but also remember she was in her practice clothes, a sweaty mess, and probably looking absolutely unimpressive in front of the girl Kate definitely had a huge crush on.

“Holy shit!” Kate yelped and promptly slammed the bedroom door shut. Irina had only just made it up the stairs in time to hear the slam and see Kate rush into the bathroom in an attempt to clean herself up.

“What is it now?” Irina sighed and opened the bedroom door curiously. She had barely pushed it open when she laid eyes on Bella, who had thoughtfully put on her own shirt to cover herself, and froze. The youngest blonde’s heart started to beat so hard in her chest she was afraid everyone in the house could hear it as her gaze darted from the sexy brunette to Tanya, who was still facing the wall with her eyes covered. “What…why…? Um, I mean, I didn’t realize that you were…”

Could she and Tanya have been…? No, no way. If they had been, Tanya would have owned it and been all over Bella instead of facing the wall like that. But since when had Tanya ever faced the wall when someone was nearby? She usually had no problem watching people, even when they undressed. What made Bella so different? Obviously if Bella had asked for her not to watch, Tanya would have turned away, but that didn’t explain the clear blush Irina could see on Tanya’s ears even from here. She wasn’t sure she had ever seen the older girl blush before; she hadn’t seen it from Kate either, but she was certain the athlete’s face had also been bright red when she had run to the bathroom.

For whatever reason, Irina’s traitorous gaze dropped to the zip of Bella’s pants. It was open, showing just a bit of some red and lacy material that made Irina swallow hard despite herself.

Bella wasn’t quite sure if she should finish changing or not. Irina was certainly taking her time staring, and while Bella was more than happy to put on a show, she knew doing so might make things stressful for the humans involved.

“Nice to see you again,” Bella said as she zipped up and buttoned her pants, deciding to leave the design on. Not only would she get to enjoy wearing something that held one of her mate’s scents on it for a while longer, but if she played her cards right, she could use returning the pants as an opportunity in the near future. She wouldn’t make any excuses for why she was there; she was proud to have been invited to their home so soon, and trying to explain why only made her appear guilty. “You can turn around now, Tanya; it’s safe.”

Tanya once again turned to face Bella, and even Irina could pick up the clearly conflicted look on the strawberry blonde’s face upon finding Bella properly dressed. Her gaze dropped to Bella’s pants, and it looked almost as if she were about to say something, when Kate suddenly interrupted as she all but bounded into the room, dressed in some unworn clothes and freshly showered. 

Kate’s eyes immediately found Bella, and focused on the tall brunette immediately with a teasing yet shy smile. “Sorry about that! I had to take a shower. I would have offered for you to join me, but–”

“What are you even saying?” Irina demanded, horrified by the words that had come out of her mouth.

Admittedly, Kate was quite relieved that Irina had stopped her when she had; the athlete had no idea why those words had been the first thing to come out of her mouth, especially directed at the person in question. But just because she was relieved didn’t mean she wanted to admit to her fuck up. “What’s there to get mad at? It was just a joke!”

“An inappropriate joke!” Irina squeaked back. “I swear–”

“So where were you two?” Bella interrupted, saving all three girls from becoming even more flustered. Her eyes had zeroed in on Irina and Kate, happy to hear about their days from their own mouths even as her mind wandered to taking a shower with all of them. She sat on Tanya’s bed, which made the strawberry blonde’s heart race and her mind fill with inappropriate ideas despite her efforts to stay calm.

“Practice.” “My job,” Irina and Kate said at the same time, looking at each other unsurely as they realized they had no idea which one should continue talking first.

Bella let out a dark chuckle of delight, completely taken with how adorable her mates were acting right now. She caught Tanya’s gaze and patted the spot on the bed next to her, coaxing the strawberry blonde out of the corner before turning back to Irina and Kate. “Is there anything you want to talk about that happened during your job and practice?” Bella asked. “I’m open to anything. Tanya and I can tell you about what we were doing too. Right Tanya?” The last was directed at the girl in question, who had just managed to get enough confidence to start creeping toward Bella and the spot the brunette had patted on her bed.

“Right,” Tanya said, trying to hide the reluctance in her voice. Truthfully, while she loved her sisters, she wanted nothing more than for them to go away so she could spend more one on one time with Bella.

Kate perked up, eyes narrowing slightly as she remembered how she had originally come across half naked in their room. In the meantime, Irina was much more focused on blushing as Bella said she wanted to hear about their afternoons.

“My job is boring, I know you don’t want to hear about that,” she mumbled, barely loud enough for the other two humans to hear. Once they registered what she said, Tanya and Kate opened their mouths protectively to say that they were definitely interested, especially as they knew Mike was also working today, but Bella beat them to it.

“I’m interested in every part of your lives, anjeli,” Bella said, the term of endearment slipping out without her meaning to. All three girls melted at the term of endearment despite having no idea what language she was speaking or what she had said. The serious, earnest look in her eyes only served in making them melt further. “Even details that you may find unimportant are of great interest to me. Never think otherwise.”

All three girls blushed, unaware of how similar their thoughts were in that moment. They both felt touched, yet also jealous as they realized something important; was this how Bella treated all of her friends?

Bella frowned in slight confusion at the complicated looks on each girl’s face. She didn’t know why they suddenly looked like they might be upset, all she knew was that she didn’t like it and needed to fix it. She had a desperate need to do so. Even without her instincts, she had already come to care about the three too much to be okay while they were experiencing any kind of turmoil.

“I don’t know if I did anything to upset you, but if I am, I’m deeply sorry,” Bella said when no one spoke. “While it is true I find anything about you all interesting, I did not mean you had to share anything you were uncomfortable with. There is no pressure, I promise you.”

All three girls piped up with their own assurances, promising Bella did nothing wrong. And in the end, they all found themselves sharing all sorts of things about their day, talking with an ease they didn’t expect to feel around their crush. 

While there was still the unspoken lust that the blondes felt for Bella and their own worries about each others’ reaction and clear crush on Bella, there was no way any could deny how right the four of them felt together. It was perfect.

Until Charlie barged in, polishing a baseball bat.