Alpha Beta Imprint: Chapter Eighteen

Disclaimer: I am not Stephanie Meyer. I do not own Twilight.

Chapter Eighteen

Sam’s POV

“I don’t like this, not one fucking bit,” Jake growled.

I didn’t say anything, just continued to watch him as he paced the length of the living room. He’s been like this since Leah took Bella back to the bedroom. Everything in me was screaming to go hold my girl tight and never let her go, but I was fighting it with everything I had. I needed to talk to Emily before we did anything. I needed to hear her side of the story.

“You know Emily, Jake. You know she would never act like this, at least not before she left. I want to know why she did it and she won’t talk to me if anyone else is around. Look, just stay with Bella and keep an eye on her. I won’t be gone long, but I need to know,” I pleaded with him.

“And what if Bella wakes up asking where you are? What am I supposed to tell her? That you went to have a chat with the woman who hurt her? Oh, yeah. That’ll go over real well,” Jake snorted, glaring at me.

“I’m not doing this because I still have feelings for Emily. Right now, I want to hurt her just as much as you do, but something isn’t right. Emily may not have been the nicest girl in the past, but she never hit anyone,” I told him.

“Do what you want. I’ll be here, taking care of our imprint,” Jake glowered, already walking towards the bedroom.

I sighed heavily, the weight in my chest nearly doubling in size as I stood to leave the house, but this couldn’t wait. Hopefully Bella would understand why I had to talk to Emily.

I drove the Jeep over to Emily’s, thinking the whole way about how strange this whole thing seemed. The Emily I knew would never lose control like that. She fought with harsh words and tears, not her fists.

I was still confused when I pulled up in front of her house; even more when she came out, arms open and smiling wide as if she hadn’t attack my girl.

“Sammy! I knew you’d come,” Emily smiled, throwing her arms around my neck.

“Emily, what did you do?” I asked, grabbing her arms and setting her away from me.

“Sammy, can you believe what that awful girl did to me?” Emily asked, eyes tearing up.

I frowned, a little confused as I looked her over.

“What did she do?” I asked.

“My face, Sammy. She cut it all up. You’ll make her pay, won’t you, Sammy? She hurt me,” Emily sniffled, a tear falling down her cheek.

Nerves settled over me as I looked over her face. She was gently touching where I’d raked my claws down her face nearly four years ago. My eyes widened as I began to worry about what exactly was going on in her head.

“Emily, I gave you those scars years ago. Don’t you remember?” I asked gently.

“No, Sammy. You would never hurt me. That evil bitch who’s trying to take you away did this to me. I just cleaned up all the blood a few minutes ago. I knew you were coming and didn’t want to get blood all over you,” Emily told me, smiling fondly up at me, her hands stroking across my chest.

My mind was racing as I tried to understand what exactly was happening. It sounded like Emily thought Bella attacked her, but I knew that wasn’t true. Bella had never fought anyone in her life. She hadn’t been able to even fight back when Emily started hitting her.

“Come inside! I made your favorite,” Emily insisted, pulling me along.

I let her drag me into the house, my head reeling as I took in all the differences since the last time I’d been there.

“Did you call Jake to let him know I was hurt? I thought he would beat you home since he’s just down the street,” Emily asked, moving into the kitchen.

Jake? What the hell was going on with her?

“Um, yeah, I called him. He couldn’t get away just yet,” I hedged, needing her to talk more so I could understand.

“But he is coming. He loves me just as much as you do, doesn’t he? He’s so sweet,” Emily giggled, stirring a pot.

“When did you see Jake, Em?” I asked slowly.

“This morning when you two kissed me goodbye. Oh, guess what I did today!” Emily grinned, spinning around with a huge smile on her face.

“What?” I asked.

“Come with me,” Emily encouraged, grabbing my hand and pulling me down the hallway.

I tensed when I realized she was taking me into the bedroom, not sure what exactly she was planning.

“Ta-da!” Emily cheered, spreading her arms out.

I gaped at the room, unable to believe just what exactly it was I was looking at. The walls were painted in an identical shade of blue as my bedroom with Jake and Bella. The furniture was the same and in the same exact place. There was even a book on the night stand from where Bella would study while Jake and I were on patrol. I began worrying when I noticed the smudge of blue on the floor from where Bella had managed to paint Jake’s foot without him realizing it.

Emily had recreated our room down to the very last detail.

“Isn’t it so much better than that awful yellow?” Emily asked happily, linking her arm through mine.

I nodded, unable to find my voice as I slowly began to put the pieces together.

“Where is Jake? I want him to see it,” Emily frowned, looking towards the door.

“He’ll be along soon,” I assured her weakly.

“Maybe he stopped by the store to pick up some chocolate syrup,” Emily thought, trailing her hand down to my crotch.

I jumped back, completely freaked out by the conclusion my mind was quickly forming.

“I think I’m going to go make sure he’s on his way. I’ll be back soon, Em,” I promised quickly.

“But, Sammy, it’s been a whole day. I’m feeling so much better than this morning. I want you,” Emily purred, backing me into the wall.

“Jake’ll be upset if we start without him, though. Let me go get him and… and we’ll break in those new sheets,” I swallowed thickly, my wolf furious at me for saying that, even if it was a lie.

“Oh. I’ll put them on so it’ll be ready for when you come back,” Emily grinned, leaning up and nipping at my neck.

I shuddered in disgust and hurriedly moved away from her.

“You sure you don’t want a quickie before you go?” Emily offered, mistaking my shuddering.

“Like I said, Em. That wouldn’t be fair to Jake,” I dodged, moving into the hallway.

“Well, hurry up and go get him. This time, I want you in my pussy and Jake in my ass,” Emily called seductively.

I didn’t answer as I practically ran to my Jeep, my mind racing as I started the engine and headed back home. My wolf was growling, not liking the obvious threat Emily presented to our mate. She really thought she was Bella, or rather that she was living Bella’s life. The thought terrified me and I pressed the gas to the floorboard to make it home faster.

I needed my girl.

“Let me get this straight. She actually believes she’s living Bella’s life?” Leah asked, her face furious.

I had been home for two hours now. One of those was spent holding my girl, whispering loving words to her while she slept. The last hour had consisted of me explaining what exactly had happened while I was at Emily’s.

“From what I gathered, yes. She really thinks she’s Bella. She kept asking when Jake would come home and she knew things that were way too personal for her to know,” I frowned.

“Like what?” Jake asked.

“She knew what you and Bella talked about this morning in the shower,” I answered, giving him a look.

“How the hell could she have known that unless she was in there with you?” Leah asked.

“She wasn’t there. We would’ve smelled her,” Jake scowled, glaring at the floor.

My ears prickled at a noise coming from the bedroom and I turned to see Bella stumbling into the hallway, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

“Hey, sweetheart. Feeling better?” I asked, pulling her into my lap.

“Yeah. Sorry about that,” Bella mumbled, blushing as she twisted her shirt.

“Don’t you apologize for being scared. After what my bitch cousin did to you, you deserve to be more than a little freaked out,” Leah assured her strongly.

Bella bit her lip and nodded, tears reforming in her chocolate eyes.

“Honey, don’t cry. Please, it breaks my heart to see you so upset,” Jake pleaded, coming to kneel in front of us.

“I-I can’t help it. I was so sc-cared and she was so f-fast. I c-couldn’t even f-fight back,” Bella hiccupped.

“Sweetheart, we need to talk,” I sighed, rubbing my cheek against her hair.

“I’m sorry,” Bella sniffled.

“Stop apologizing. Sweetheart, there’s a reason you were so afraid of Emily. I went to visit her just after you went to take your nap. She’s… She’s not exactly sane right now,” I told her.

“What do you mean?” Bella asked, frowning up at me.

“When I went to see her, she claimed you had hurt her. She thought you had attacked her, she thought she had your cuts and bruises, she was even waiting for Jake to come home to her,” I explained.

Bella’s breathing picked up and her eyes darted between Jake and I, uncertainty flashing in her eyes.

“Wh-what?” Bella stuttered.

“Honey, she’s crazy. She thinks she’s you. She knew things about us that no one else could’ve known. She thought the reason I wasn’t there with Sam was because I was picking up chocolate syrup,” Jake murmured, brushing her hair back.

Bella’s eyes widened dramatically and she clutched the bottom of her shirt as she started shaking.

“How could she know that?” Bella whispered fearfully.

“I don’t know, sweetheart. But we’re going to find out,” I promised her.

“I think it’s probably a good idea to have one of the pack with Bella all the time. And I don’t mean phased. If Emily comes back, she could do serious damage, especially if she plans it,” Leah insisted.

“Le, can you call the pack and tell them to get over here? They should all be off work by now. If they don’t answer, have Jared phase and send out a howl,” I instructed.

“Don’t forget to call Paul at the station. He’s shadowing Charlie there, claiming he’s looking into a career as an officer,” Jake reminded her.

“Got it,” Leah nodded, walking towards the kitchen.

I looked down at Bella, tightening my arms when I noticed the terrified look in her eyes. She leaned her head against my shoulder, her body shaking occasionally.

“We’ll keep you safe, Bella. No matter what it takes, we’ll keep you safe,” I vowed.

Bella’s POV

I buried my face into Sam’s chest, hating myself for being so scared. I felt so incredibly weak and helpless as Sam rocked me gently. Jake was sitting beside us now, his hand stroking through my hair. The reassurance that came with their touch was diminished by the absolute terror that was churning in my gut.

Emily could tear us apart.

It was obvious she would do anything and everything to get Sam back. If she was actually insane, she was capable of anything. The worst part was, if we did press charges, she would likely get off with a light sentence due to her insanity.

“We need to take pictures,” I reminded them, my voice sounding dead.

“We can take them after the meeting with the pack,” Jake said softly.

“No. Now,” I insisted, shifting to get off Sam’s lap.

I didn’t look at either of them while I stood in the middle of the living room.

“I’ll go get the camera,” Sam mumbled after a long silence.

I wrapped my arms around my chest as he walked away, his footsteps heavy against the floor. Jake shifted behind me and I swallowed thickly when he wrapped his arms around my waist.

“Don’t shut us out, honey. We love you and only you. It’s not the imprint. The imprint just showed you to us. We fell in love with you,” Jake whispered into my hair.

“She wants him back,” I told him, tearing coming back quickly.

“He wants you,” Jake replied.

I let out a wail as my knees gave out. Jake pulled me back against him, supporting my weight as I cried.

“Bella!” Sam shouted, running back into the room.

The camera clattered to the floor as he hurried towards me, sandwiching me between the two of them.

“Shh, sweetheart. It’s okay,” Sam hushed, his lips at the top of my head.

“She’s insecure about the imprint,” Jake mumbled over my head.

“Bella, I love you. I love you so much that it nearly breaks my heart every time I look at you. Let me tell you something. When it got around that you were coming back to Forks to live with Charlie, everyone who knew you got so excited. Jake went on and on about you, how he couldn’t wait to see you again. Billy couldn’t stop beaming and Charlie looked like a proud papa. Even the waitress down at the diner was excited for you to come back.

“And I knew I’d have to meet you and get to know you. Everyone talked about how amazing you were, how beautiful and sweet. I knew you were someone special. The imprint just gave me little push I needed to fall for you, but I would’ve done that all on my own. You’re perfect for me, just like you’re perfect for Jake,” Sam assured me, his voice strong despite being so quiet.

By this point, my tears had stopped and I was no longer shaking as I burrowed further into my wolves’ embrace.

“Nothing and no one will ever come between us,” Sam promised.

“I love you two so much,” I breathed, my voice husky from all the crying.

“We love you, too,” Jake murmured, kissing his mark on my neck.

“More than you’ll ever know,” Sam added before kissing his mark.

I managed a smile as my eyes closed, feeling the absolute love and devotion my wolves radiated as they surrounded me with their strength.

“Alright, enough of that. The pack is heading over and I’m sure they don’t want to walk in on the three of you getting it on.

I laughed throatily as Jake and Sam glared at Leah above my head. Leah, true to form, simply rolled her eyes and winked at me. I gave her a small smile in appreciation as Jake and Sam stepped away, pulling me to sit with them on the couch.

“What’d you tell them?” Jake asked, getting ready for the meeting.

“Just that there had been an incident and they needed to get their asses over here pronto,” Leah shrugged.

“Great. I’m sure they’ll be busting at the seams by the time they get here,” Sam grumbled, shifting closer to me.

“Eh. They didn’t need to hear any of it over the phone,” Leah assured him.

Before Jake or Sam could respond, the front door burst open and Jared, Quil, Embry, Brady, and Collin rushed in. I laughed a little as they seemed to trip over each other and their own feet in their hurry to get into the house and hear the news.

“Jesus! Can’t you idiots walk a straight line?” Leah barked, storming over to shove them into their prospective seats.

“Can’t you be a bitch? Oh, wait. Don’t bother answering. We already know,” Quil retorted.

“Shut it, mutt, or that squeaky toy you like so much is going to disappear,” Leah threatened.

“You wouldn’t dare! Not Mr. Pepe!” Quil gasped, horrified.

“Mr. Pepe?” I giggled quietly to Jake.

“Yeah. His squeaky toy is a skunk,” Jake murmured back, his shoulders shaking in silent amusement.

“Call me bitch one more time and Mr. Pepe will have to learn to swim without the use of his appendages,” Leah threatened.

“Monster!” Quil accused, pointing a finger at Leah.

“Careful or I’ll bite it off,” Leah glared.

Quil snatched his finger back, cradling it against his chest while he continued to glare daggers at Leah.

“Where the hell is Seth and Paul?” Leah asked, pacing back to the kitchen.

“Don’t get your panties in a twist. I’m here,” Paul snapped, walking through the door.

“Just sit your ass down and shut up,” Leah growled, glaring at him.

“What crawled up your ass and laid eggs?” Paul asked.

Leah snarled at him, baring her teeth in anger.

“Enough!” Sam commanded, his voice deeper than usual.

Leah rocked back onto the balls of her feet, her snarl gone as she gave Paul the stink eye. I was trying not to laugh as I watched Paul shift nervously, watching Leah out of the corner of his eye.

“Sorry I’m late! Mom had me run an errand for her on my way over,” Seth apologized as he walked into the house.

“You’re here now, that’s all the matters,” Sam interrupted when Leah opened her mouth to say something.

She threw him an irritated look, but settled down in her seat, waiting for Sam to start the meeting.

“Alright, none of you are to speak during this meeting until I tell you to. I don’t care how angry you get, you are not to say a word,” Sam instructed, looking at each of the pack directly in the eye.

They all seemed to straighten as they realized the magnitude of what was about to happen. Up until this point, I had been partially hidden behind Jake, who was sitting on my right. His arm was crossed over my lap and placed on my left leg. I was leaning into him, allowing his shoulder to hide my bandaged face from the pack.

Sam reached for my hand and pulled me into a seated position, kissing the back of my hand as the pack gasped. Thankfully, due to Sam’s Alpha command, I wasn’t bombarded with questions of what had happened.

Jake proceeded to tell them about how Emily attacked me as I was leaving the hardware store and everything up until the point of Sam leaving to go visit Emily. At that point, Sam took over, explaining the insanity that seemed to have gripped the young woman, making her dangerous to me. The pack listened intently, their expressions slowly darkening as Sam and Jake continued speaking. Occasionally, one of them would look back to me and clench their fists. More than one of them were shaking by the time Sam finished talking.

“Now, no one is to approach Emily. I don’t care how pissed you are, she’s obviously sick. We’re going to take pictures of Bella’s injuries and consider pressing charges. Emily will probably get off with insanity charges, but it’ll get her the help she needs. You may speak if you wish, but I don’t want to hear complaints about your restrictions,” Sam explained calmly.

The room was suddenly bombarded with angry growls and heated words as the pack cursed Emily from La Push to St. Petersburg. I bit my lip as they all seemed to focus on me at the same time.

“Are you okay, Bella?” Embry asked kindly.

“I’m fine. A little shaken up still, but I’m better than I was,” I smiled.

“Good. I want to take that bitch, rip her head off, and burn the pieces,” Paul growled.

“She’s not a leech, Paul,” Quil reminded him.

“Who the fuck cares? She hurt an imprint and that shit don’t fly around here,” Paul insisted.

“No one is to touch her. She’s sick, she needs help,” Sam interceded.

“How can you sit there and defend her? She hurt your imprint!” Seth exclaimed.

“I’m aware of that, believe me,” Sam glared.

I saw Seth opening his mouth to make another comment and quickly stepped in.

“I don’t want him to hurt her. If he hurts her, he gets in trouble. I’d rather just take it to court and have them deal with her. It’s better than losing him or Jake or any of you. So none of you touch her or I’ll sick Leah on you,” I threatened.

Leah snorted from across the room, but nodded when I looked at her. I knew she didn’t like the fact that she couldn’t confront her cousin, but I refused to watch any of them being marched off to jail for going after that crazy, psycho bitch.

“Is she a danger to all our imprints?” Quil asked, frowning in concern.

Jared stiffened in his chair, his eyes darting to the door nervously.

“At this point it seems like Bella is her only target. She wants to take Bella’s place and is willing to do anything to make that happen,” Jake assured them.

“Someone will be with her at all times. In human form. Phasing back to human would take too much time if Emily shows up, intent on hurting her,” Sam declared.

The pack all nodded in agreement, willing to band together to do whatever it took to get rid of a threat to an imprint.

“Go home, now. Jared, don’t worry about coming tomorrow. Jake or I will stay with her,” Sam insisted.

Jared nodded as he went with the rest of the pack out the door. Once it snapped closed behind them, I let out a deep breath, wincing at the pain in my ribs.

“Why don’t you go lay down and I’ll grab a bag of peas out of the freezer,” Jake suggested gently.

“Thanks,” I sighed, standing up with their help.

“Come on, sweetheart,” Sam urged, leading me down the hallway.

I followed him into the bedroom, completely exhausted after everything that had happened. Sam eased me down onto the bed, helping me lie down before climbing in beside me. His hand settled over my ribs, just resting as I breathed.

“You okay?” Sam asked, his thumb brushing across the bottom of my breast.

“Yeah. Just tired,” I murmured, my eyes closing.

“We still need to take those pictures, sweetheart. Are you up for it?” Sam reminded me, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Sure,” I sighed.

“I’ll be right back,” Sam promised, kissing my temple gently before moving off the bed.

He’d barely been gone for ten seconds before Jake came in and places the peas on my ribs. I groaned as the cold, shifting to try and get away from it.

“Shh, honey. Just rest. It’ll be better soon,” Jake soothed, brushing my hair back.

“Cold,” I shivered, grasping the sheets.

“I know, honey, but it’ll make your ribs feel better,” Jake assured me.

I felt Sam come back into the room and grimaced as Jake removed the peas to lift my shirt.

“Just relax, sweetheart,” Sam crooned, beginning to take pictures.

Between the two of them, they positioned me appropriately to show the extent of the damages. Occasionally, they would move me in a way that had my ribs screaming, bringing tears to my eyes.

“Almost done, sweetheart,” Sam told me gently.

I gritted my teeth as Jake eased me onto my back again. Sam leaned over me and took a few pictures of my face. I blinked tired up at him, staring through the camera. When he finally lowered it, I smiled slightly.

“We should probably call Charlie, honey,” Jake suggested from beside me.

“He’s gonna flip,” I groaned, rolling into him.

“He’ll be even more upset if we don’t. We’ll need to inform the Elders as well,” Sam frowned, his hand on my hip as he sat behind me.

“I could call Dad and have him tell everyone to meet us here,” Jake offered.

“That would probably be best. Charlie could come, too,” Sam nodded.

“You’ll tell them everything, right?” I asked, looking between them.

“Of course, honey, but they’ll probably all have questions for you,” Jake pointed out.

I nodded, my eyes closing as exhaustion crept over me again.

“Sleep for now, sweetheart. We’ll take care of everything,” Sam assured me.

I woke to the sound of quiet voices and a rough hand stroking my hair. I snuggled deeper into my pillow, knowing it wasn’t my wolves touching me.

“Wake up, Bells,” Charlie called softly.

“Dad?” I answered groggily.

“Hey, kiddo. How ya feeling?” Charlie asked, his voice quiet.

“Okay. What’re you doing here?” I asked, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

“Billy called and told me I needed to come down here. Sam and Jake just told us what happened with Emily Young,” Charlie frowned.

“Oh,” I replied smartly.

“Bells, are you okay?” Charlie as, his brows furrowed.

“I will be. It’s just a few bruised ribs and the cuts won’t leave lasting marks. Jake’s taking really good care of me and Sam’s doing everything he can to make things as easy as possible,” I informed him.

“We’re gonna get her for what she did to you, Bells. I won’t stand for this,” Charlie glared.

“I know, Dad,” I smiled weakly, taking hold of his hand.

“Love you, kiddo,” Charlie said gruffly, kissing the back of my hand.

“I love you, too, Dad,” I sniffled, fighting tears.

In a rare show of affection, Charlie pulled me into his chest, his calloused hand cupping the back of my head as I clutched his shirt. He didn’t speak, just held me, his thumb rubbing against my neck. I didn’t cry, just sat there, taking comfort in my dad’s arms.

“We’ll take care of everything, sweet pea,” Charlie vowed.

“I know you will,” I sighed, sitting up slightly.

He dropped his arms to hold my hand in both of his.

“Mind coming out here with the rest of us?” Charlie asked, moving to stand.

“Sure,” I agreed, swinging my legs over the side of the bed.

I followed Charlie down the hallway to where Billy, Harry, Old Quil, Sam, and Jake were sitting around the living room, the emotions tense.

“How are you, Bella?” Billy asked, noticing us first.

“I’m fine, Billy,” I smiled at him.

The Elders looked at my face, clearly concerned with the heavy bandage covering the scratch marks. I flushed under their intense gazes, my eyes shifting to the floor. A warm hand slipped into my own, bringing my attention to Sam as he tugged me gently towards him and Jake. I smiled as they settled me between them, Jake’s arm going around my shoulders as Sam held my hand tightly in his.

“Sam and Jake have informed us of the attack and Emily’s instability. We will be speaking with Mr. Callum to verify certain facts,” Harry explained solemnly.

“Mr. Callum?” I questioned uncertainly.

“Al, honey,” Jake answered.

“Oh,” I whispered, nodding slightly.

“And we will be visiting with Emily to insure her insanity is true,” Billy continued.

“I think it would be wise if I went with you,” Sam put in.

“While your offer is admirable, it is unnecessary. We will handle Miss Young. You being there could antagonize her,” Old Quil grumbled.

“With all due respect, you might want us to come with you. After what she did to Bella, there’s no telling what she’ll do when questioned,” Jake inputted.

“And who would stay with your imprint?” Old Quil asked, raising a single brow.

“Leah,” I answered before either of my wolves could.

All eyes moved to me and I sat up a little straighter.

“Leah was the one who found me after Emily’s attack. She’ll stay with me while you guys go talk to her,” I explained.

“And I’ll stay with them, as well,” Charlie piped up behind me.

I smiled and reached back to pat his arm. He gripped my hand briefly before settling it back against the couch.

“Very well. The two of you will accompany us to visit with Emily,” Billy nodded.

“When do we leave?” Sam asked, leaning forward eagerly.

“As soon as Leah arrives,” Harry decided, smiling slightly.

“I’ll go call her,” Jake said, standing up and moving quickly into the kitchen.

I sighed deeply as I picked up their anticipation to get this over with. Between the two of them, their worry over me was all consuming and I knew they wouldn’t rest easy until Emily had been taken care of.

As I leaned my head on Sam’s shoulder, I realized that everything would be alright. Just as soon as his insane-o ex-girlfriend was locked away in the psych ward.