[ no one ask how i'm updating so fast my academic life is in shambles ]

☽︎

I'M NOT BEING HOMOPHOBIC, DAD!

Emmett, Rosalie, and Esme were all on the bleachers, watching the final minutes of Frankie's first soccer game of the season. Forks was already winning by two points and the team could've phoned it in, but Frankie and her teammates were working hard to win by as many points as possible, knowing it would matter most when the season was at its end and they were competing to win state and go to nationals, which they'd failed to go to the previous year.

"Come on!" Rosalie shouted, getting to her feet as Frankie ran straight for the goal in the last few seconds. She'd become quite the fan of Frankie in the last year and even had her number painted on her cheek. "Run, Frankie!"

"She's got it," Emmett said, knowing no one would catch her. He never doubted Frankie's abilities on the field. "That's my fucking girl!"

"Emmett," Esme chastized. "There are children around."

Emmett just smiled sheepishly at her before looking at Frankie, who was at the other end of the field. But when one of the other players caught up to her and made a move to block her, she made an extra pass to Lakin Stewart, who was the one to kick the final goal as the whistle blew.

"She could've had that shot herself," Rosalie sighed as they all clapped for the outcome.

Esme smiled at her daughter. "And that's why you don't do well with team sports," she teased.

On the field, Frankie was lifting Lakin up in a huge hug while the rest of the team ran up to them to excitedly celebrate. But once that was over, a sweaty and grass-stained Frankie ran to meet her boyfriend, who caught her in his arms as she reached the bleachers.

"You killed it, babe," he said, grinning brightly.

"Yes, and that means you've earned a victory dinner," Esme told the girl, who perked up even more. "I hope you're hungry."

"She's always hungry," Rosalie said, rolling her eyes playfully.

"I forgot my extra clothes, so is it okay if Em takes me home real quick before I come over for dinner?" Frankie asked in a hopeful tone. "Don't wait for me though. Everyone else can start eating."

"I'll make sure there's plenty for you," Esme said, hugging the girl when Emmett finally released her.

Frankie waved goodbye to the two women before letting Emmett lead her by her hand to his Jeep, thankful he wasn't the kind of car guy that would care about her dragging mud into his car.

"So," Emmett said, smiling as she traced random shapes on the back of his hand that was resting on her thigh. "What are the odds your dad isn't home?"

"Low," she laughed. "I think Charlie was supposed to come over and they were gonna watch a football game. It's probably not over yet."

"Damn," he mumbled childishly, pulling away from the school.

Frankie just laughed and watched through the window as he sped by, going far over the speed limit. "So, what's Esme making?"

"Chinese, I think. She was pulling out stuff for fried rice before we left."

"Hell yeah," she said, already tasting it. Esme was a wonderful chef and even when she was trying out new recipes, it turned out perfect. "I'm eating off your plate."

"You always eat off my plate," he said, chuckling.

And somehow, she never picked up on the fact that Emmett wasn't eating at the same time. Honestly, her oblivious to their odd quirks was just another thing he loved about her. She accepted them exactly as they were and didn't question their behaviors like others.

"I'll just be like five minutes," Frankie spoke up again when he parked outside of her trailer. Charlie's car was next to her father's truck, so she knew the Chief was still there. "C'mon. You can actually come in. Charlie will keep him from being an ass to you."

"Thank god," Emmett mumbled, also getting out of the Jeep.

Raylan hated Emmett a little less since saving Frankie in that car accident, but he still hated him and his whole family. Especially after the hell Edward put Bella through a few months back which ended with her nearly dying. Raylan may not have known what happened exactly but he knew Bella didn't just trip and fall through a window.

"Hey, Dad, we won the g—"

Frankie froze two steps into her home, seeing a horrible sight in front of her. Charlie was leaning back against the kitchen counter as Raylan held his jaw firmly and kissed him. But they parted as soon as they heard Frankie, who was now screaming.

"What the fuck?" she asked loudly.

"Frank," Raylan said in a wary tone. "We were just—"

Frankie covered her ears and shut her eyes while blindly heading for her room, bumping into walls as she went. "I know what you were fucking doing. Oh, my god!"

Before either man could stop her, Frankie ran into her room and shut the door, locking it behind her. Charlie looked at Raylan with a sheepish and apologetic expression before both men looked over at Emmett, who was still awkwardly in the doorway.

"I'm, uh, I'm gonna go wait in the car," Emmett said, pointing over his shoulder. "Um, love it though."

While Emmett was fleeing the uncomfortable situation, Frankie was pacing her room, running her hands through her tangled hair.

"Frankie, open up," Raylan said, knocking on her door. "Let's just talk about this."

"No!" she exclaimed before digging out her phone to call Bella. The girl picked up after a few seconds, having been hanging out at home with Edward. She didn't even greet the girl properly. "I just saw something horrifying, Bell."

On the other end, Bella looked at a surprised Edward and sighed in relief. "Oh, thank god you finally know!"

Frankie let out a screech of disbelief, unable to believe Bella would keep this from her. "You knew our dads were fucking and you didn't tell me?"

There was a long, long pause. "Our dads are what?"

"Fucking, Bella! Raylan and Charlie sitting in a tree, F-U-C-K-I-N-G—"

"We were not doing that!" Charlie yelled through the door.

"Well, you were kissing and that was just as gross!" she snapped. "Oh, god, it's burned in my brain."

"Francis, you're bisexual. Why are you being this way?" Raylan asked through the door.

"I'm not being homophobic, Dad! I'm being kissing-my-best-friend's-dad-phobic! Ew!"

Raylan huffed and then stomped to the kitchen, finding the key that would open Frankie's door from the outside while Charlie just stood by. "I can go," he offered. "If she called Bella, I'll have to talk to her anyway."

"I need you here to keep me from killing her," he said, only partly joking, which made Charlie chuckle. Then Raylan unlocked the door and found Frankie sitting on her bed with a huge, overdramatic frown.

"Disgusting," she muttered, looking between the two. "Bella also says it's disgusting."

"No, I didn't," Bella said, now on speakerphone. "I mean, it's shocking and it's gonna take some getting used to—"

"No," Frankie whined. "Dad, he's a cop."

"Hey," Charlie said, raising an eyebrow. "This cop let your boyfriend get away without a ticket last month."

"He could've afforded it."

"Frank," Raylan said in a gentle tone. "Is this... I mean, are you upset because of your mother?"

Frankie was taken back a bit, knowing he wasn't completely wrong. Yes, Elena had been dead for more than ten years now, but Frankie was still seeing her in her dreams every few nights, so it felt almost like her father was cheating on her. It was like Elena was still around.

"N - no," she finally said, knowing she couldn't tell him the truth. Then she sighed and shut her eyes. "Look, I love you, Charlie. I know how much you care about each other, so it kinda makes sense. But you should've told me. I shouldn't have had to walk in on that, especially with Emmett."

"Well, Emmett's not allowed in the house anyway," Raylan said, crossing his arms stubbornly.

"Ray," Charlie said, giving him a look.

"Yeah, Ray!" Frankie said, scoffing. "You can have your boyfriend over but I can't?"

Then Bella was speaking up, reminding them all that she was there. "I'm hanging up before this gets worse somehow."

☽︎

Frankie did get over her father's new relationship with Charlie. That night, both fathers took the girls to dinner so that they could talk about it. Apparently, they were taking things very slowly and not together publicly until they knew it was going to last.

If Bella and Frankie didn't already spend a ton of time together, they sure did now, having dinner every night and staying close at lunch and in all their shared classes. Ever since Bella had gotten to Forks, it sort of felt like Frankie was a sister of hers, but now it felt solidified somehow as they slept over in each other's room and gossiped about their fathers and where it was all heading.

Because of that closeness, Frankie was one of the few people to know when Bella's birthday arrived. Bella was so annoyed when Charlie told the Romans, but after Frankie swore to keep it from their human friends, Bella calmed down a bit. But Frankie still had a joint gift with Emmett for her, which she'd get to brag about at the party Alice was throwing later that night.

It wasn't raining at the moment as Frankie stood in the parking lot with her friends, leaning against Mike's chest while Jessica leaned against Frankie's.

"At least we're watching a movie in class today," Jess said.

"Yeah, but it's gonna be boring," Frankie grumbled, and Mike nodded in agreement.

"Please," Jessica scoffed. "Neither of you even read Romeo and Juliet. You got Emmett to tell you about it."

"He's not a complete dumbass all the time," Frankie said, grinning.

Then a familiar red truck drove by, and Frankie perked up, unable to wait to install the new stereo that Emmett bought.

"Bell!" Eric greeted as she parked and got out.

"Today is the big day, Bella," Jessica said. For a moment, Bella's eyes went wide and she looked at Frankie, wondering if she'd spilled her birthday secret. But Frankie shook her head, and Jessica calmed her nerves a second later. "Uh, R and J essay due?"

"Oh, yeah," she said, relieved. She'd finished the essay a week ago.

"Wherefore art thou, Bella?" Mike asked dramatically, making the others laugh.

"Hey," Bella said, lifting up the small digital camera Charlie got her for her birthday. "I wanna take a picture of you guys. My mom wants me to put together, like, a scrapbook full of memories."

"Cute," Frankie cooed while pulling Mike and Jessica in close.

"Oh, of course, yeah," Eric said, coming close with Angela, who tried to pull away.

"I take them, I'm not in them."

"No, no, no, come here," Eric said, dragging her into the group hug.

"You'll photoshop my nose if it looks big, right?" Jessica asked self-consciously.

"Your nose is perfect," Frankie told her, kissing her cheek and making her smile.

"Don't worry, I'm in the picture," Eric added. "No one will be looking at you guys."

Bella snapped the photo and then looked at it with a smile, thinking all her friends looked great. But the corners of her mouth flickered a bit, surprised that everyone's eyes looked fine aside from Frankie's, which were a bright red color. Blaming it on the cheap camera Charlie got, Bella just forgot about it.

"It's good," she assured them all.

Then a shiny Volvo drove past, drawing Bella's attention. Mike sighed, knowing it'd mean she'd leave them. At least Frankie had made time for her friends when she and Emmett started dating. "Oh, good. Cullen's here."

"Yay!" Eric said unenthusiastically.

Their attitudes went right over Bella's head, who perked up excitedly, already walking toward Edward's car. "Well, catch you later."

"Tell Edward he parked like shit," Frankie told Bella, looking at the car that was taking up three spaces.

Bella opted against telling Frankie that Edward easily heard her comment himself. "Where are you going?"

"Gotta talk to the football coach," she said, shooting her a wink.

Five minutes later, Frankie was straddling Emmett's lap in his new office, kissing him slowly as he slid his hands underneath the pink skirt she was wearing.

Despite never playing for the team, when an opening for an assistant football coach opened up, Emmett applied and got it given his pristine school records. Really, he just took the position so he could see Frankie every day now that he'd graduated, but Emmett also took it seriously when he was working with the boys on the team.

Granted, he wasn't taking the position very seriously now as he focused on the one Frankie was in, slotted between one of his thick thighs and tangling her fingers in his hair. It was so much better than having to sneak around the hallways to not get caught by their teachers.

The first warning bell rang, signaling five minutes until classes began for the day, but the couple kept going. Frankie pushed the zip-up hoodie off Emmett's broad shoulders, leaving him in a tight t-shirt.

Then he began kissing along her neck, nipping lightly at her skin, careful not to actually bite her. It didn't matter that Frankie had the most tantalizing and euphoric blood he'd ever tasted — there was no telling how his venom would react to her. Regular werewolves were unaffected, but Frankie wasn't exactly regular.

Frankie's eyes fell shut as she let out a content sigh, knowing she'd never get enough of the man underneath her. She was so thankful he was choosing to take a gap year before going to college. He had immaculate grades, so Stanford would no doubt accept him.

"I love you," Emmett murmured against her lips, knowing his life had never been better than it was now that he had Frankie.

"Love you too, Cullen," she said before smiling into the kiss. "So much it's kind of embarrassing."

"I'm taking that as a win considering how pathetic I was when we first started up."

Frankie laughed and leaned back. "What makes you think you aren't still pathetic for me?"

"Funny," he mused, cradling her jaw with a cocky smirk. "Didn't seem like you thought I was that pathetic last night when you were on your knees and choking on me—"

It was Coach Clapp's voice that cut Emmett off from the other side of the closed and locked door. "Roman, you have ten seconds to get out of Coach Cullen's office and you had better be decent or I'll fire him and bench you."

Frankie rolled her eyes and slid off Emmett's lap, straightening out her skirt as she did so. "Please," she scoffed while yanking the door open. "The football team is actually good this year. You're not firing him. And you'd get fired if you benched me. Your job is to win."

The soccer coach sighed heavily and rubbed his forehead. "We agreed on no physical contact when on school grounds," he said, glaring at her and a sheepish Emmett who stayed seated. Emmett couldn't exactly stand without something rather large being noticed. "That was the only way the Superintendent let me hire you, Cullen."

"Won't happen again, Coach," Emmett said with a smile that made him suspect otherwise.

Coach Clapp sighed and nudged Frankie down the hallway. "Get to class, Roman. Where am I walking you?"

"English," she mumbled while fixing her backpack straps. "And you don't have any proof we were making physical contact."

"Really? So you must've been attacked by a vacuum cleaner to get all those marks on your neck," he said in a flat, unimpressed tone.

But, as always, Frankie wasn't embarrassed by what she and Emmett got up to. She just shrugged and kept on walking. "You knew this was gonna happen, Coach. You put my mega hot boyfriend in gym shorts that hug his huge thighs and expect me not to—"

"Oh, my god, stop," Coach Clapp whined. Sometimes he hated how close he was with his athletes. "I'm gonna make you run extra laps at practice. And you need to sort out your priorities, Frankie. I miss when your world didn't revolve around a boy."

"I have them sorted," she assured him while holding her hand above her head. "At the top, we have soccer, then just right under that, the band. Then we've got the tribe, of course. Now way down here?" she asked, holding her hand at chest level. "That's Emmett. And right underneath him is school, because let's face it, that GPA is just at the bottom of the ocean at this point."

Of course, that ranking wasn't exactly accurate, but Frankie just wanted to comfort her coach about his decision to hire Emmett. Soccer and getting to Stanford was still her number one priority, but as she fell more and more in love with Emmett with each day, he was working his way up to that number one spot — and that scared her a little bit

☽︎

First period couldn't have ended fast enough. Mike and Frankie both slept through most of the end of Romeo and Juliet. After Mr. Birdy got onto them, they stayed awake by passing notes back and forth — mostly making fun of Eric, who was crying along with the girls as the death scenes arrived.

The rest of the school day went by quickly as well, and once soccer practice and football practice were both over — and yes, Frankie had to run four extra laps around the field — Emmett took Frankie to Bella's house. Since Edward already had Bella at their house for the party, Charlie lent them the spare key to Bella's truck, and Frankie got to work installing the new sound system for her birthday.

They didn't have the time or parts to do it back when she and Jacob were initially fixing it up. So, now, Emmett replaced Jacob, just handing her the tools she asked for when she needed them. And he watched her, thinking she looked so hot when she worked on cars. Any time his Jeep needed a tune-up, he'd take it to her and get lost thinking about the first time they'd had sex in it.

He was getting distracted by the same thoughts as she worked on Bella's truck, all dressed up for the birthday party, and the only thing keeping him from jumping her bones was Charlie holding a flashlight for her as he leaned through the window.

"This is real nice of y'all," Charlie said, knowing Bella would love the gift. Similarly to Frankie, she only liked useful and practical gifts.

"Hate you can't come to the party," Frankie said, her words a little muffled since she had a screwdriver clenched between her teeth.

"Got the late shift," he sighed. Then he rubbed his mustache. "Did, uh, did your dad let you know he's coming over after?"

"Yeah," she said, smirking. "He told me."

"Good," Charlie said, clearing his throat. Then he looked at Emmett. "But that don't give y'all permission to be in the house alone together. The open-door policy that Edward and Bella have applies to you two."

"You got it, Chief," Emmett said, hiding his amused smile. "No funny business. We'll just talk about football strategies all night long."

"Better so we stay on our winning streak," Charlie muttered. "Now, give the girl the level before you're late to the party."

☽︎

Frankie had a big grin on her face as she looked at the extravagantly decorated Cullen living room. Alice put out countless candles and had a huge cake that Frankie couldn't wait to box up and take home as leftovers. Alice rushed upstairs to get Bella and Edward the second Frankie and Emmett arrived, finished with working on the truck.

When Bella came down the stairs, she couldn't help but chuckle at how over-the-top Alice made it all, including forcing everyone to dress in nice clothes.

"Sorry about all this," Carlisle said, recognizing the look on Bella's face as they all did. "We tried to rein Alice in."

"Like it's even possible," Esme joked before hugging Bella tightly. "Happy Birthday, Bella!"

"Thanks."

A flash went off, surprising Bella, who looked at Alice. She'd found her camera from Charlie and was snapping candids. Clearly, Bella wasn't thrilled to be the subject of a photo.

"I found it in your bag, mind?" Alice asked innocently. Bella just gave in and nodded, knowing she really couldn't convince Alice to do anything she didn't want to.

Emmett met Edward over by the stairs, Frankie trailing after him. "Dating an older woman? Hot!"

Frankie snickered as Edward just looked at Emmett like he was a dumbass. Emmett looked between him and his laughing girlfriend with a confused look on his face. "What?"

"Edward's like, what? Just a couple months younger," Frankie said, clueless to the real meaning of his joke. Then she looked at Bella, not catching how Emmett's smile dimmed from lying to her. "Alright, present time."

Alice not so subtly handed a small box to Rosalie. "You first, Rosalie."

And Rose just held it out to Bella unenthusiastically. "It's a necklace. Alice picked it up."

"Thanks," Bella mumbled, honestly not even expecting Rosalie to hand her the gift.

Ever the control freak, Alice then dragged Edward away from Frankie and Emmett so that she could get a photo of them together. Though the couple looked rather uncomfortable as they posed together — nothing like Frankie and Emmett, who were leaning against each other, always looking so perfect for each other. Bella couldn't help but notice it as she adjusted her position in Edward's arms, trying to look as at ease as Frankie did with Emmett.

"Us next. Us next," Frankie said after the flash went off. She slipped from Emmett's hold and grabbed a big, empty box in purple wrapping paper. She walked it over to Bella happily. "It's from Emmett and me."

Bella took the box and jokingly shook it to try and guess what it was, only to find it felt obviously empty. She looked between Frankie and a giddy Emmett, who was practically bouncing on his toes.

"Already installed it in your truck," Emmett told her with a big grin, his dimples splitting his cheeks. "Finally, a decent sound system for that piece of—"

"Hey!" Frankie and Bella said in sync.

"Don't... don't hate the truck," Bella told him, shaking her head.

"Or I'll break up with you," Frankie said, crossing her arms.

Emmett let out a little affronted scoff and wrapped his arms around Frankie from behind. "Sorry," he mumbled, pressing his lips to her neck in a quick kiss.

Frankie smiled and leaned back into him, covering his hands with her own. "Forgiven, but only marginally."

Alice couldn't help but snap a picture of them before grabbing an envelope from the gift table. "Open Esme and Carlisle's."

"Just a little something to brighten your day," Carlisle said with a smile.

Esme grinned as well, knowing it was an inside joke. "Yes, you've been looking kind of pale lately."

Frankie snorted as Bella began to pull at the ribbon around the gift. "None of you can talk about being too pale—"

It all happened to suddenly.

Frankie didn't know what the big deal was as Bella sliced her finger on the edge of the metallic ribbon. It was just a paper cut.

But Emmett's arms tightened around her, and all eyes turned to Jasper. Then, with speed faster than Frankie could comprehend, Edward shoved Bella back with an alarming amount of force, sending her crashing into the gift table as he rushed at Jasper.

And Jasper looked downright demonic as he lunged at Bella, but Edward knocked him back, breaking the piano into a hundred pieces. Carlisle was the next to go, trying to grab Jasper, who was back on his feet in seconds. Jasper ducked out of the way, but Emmett was there next, using his strength to restrain him.

Frankie stumbled backward, her whole body shaking as she looked at Jasper in confusion, not understanding what was happening. And how had they all moved so fast?

Alice sped in front of Jasper and cupped his face gently. "Jas... Jas! It's okay. It's just a little... blood."

Slowly, Alice and the rest turned to look at Bella on the floor. Her arm was gushing blood from Edward throwing her back. And she looked so weak and helpless as she stared at the seven predators.

"Get Jasper out of here," Carlisle ordered, running to Bella's side.

Frankie watched Emmett shove Jasper to the door before he looked back at her with wide, sorrowful eyes. Knowing he couldn't just leave her, Rosalie and Esme took Jasper and rushed him far from Bella so that he could take his thirst out on a poor animal.

"Frankie," Emmett said in as calm a tone as he could matter. "Just let me explain."

But as soon as Emmett took a step in her direction, Frankie was shooting off like a rocket, running out the back door and away from whatever the hell they were. Tears blurred her vision — at least, she assumed they were tears. Truthfully, it was a mix of them and the fact that she was unknowingly running at an inhuman pace, going so fast that Emmett couldn't even keep up with her.

All Frankie could do was run, her mind a jumbled mess of flashes of whatever the hell had just happened. Jasper seemed like he wanted to kill Bella. Edward hurt her, threw her into that table like she was nothing.

Suddenly, Frankie came to a sudden stop in the woods, unable to believe what she'd done. She left Bella in the house, alone with those... those — well, she didn't know what they were.

As soon as Frankie turned around to return, she realized she ran a lot farther than she thought. She was nearly on reservation land, much to her surprise. Frankie took a few deep breaths and looked around the forest cautiously, waiting for one of them to appear with the odd speed.

And one did.

Emmett finally caught up to her, knowing he'd be out of breath if he could breathe from how fast she was running. "Frankie," he said, putting his hands up, letting her know he wouldn't hurt her. "Frankie, stop running. Just stop running."

Though she didn't run, Frankie slowly started backing up. "What the hell was that?"

He froze, knowing he couldn't hide it anymore. "We're vampires, Frankie."

Frankie's eyes filled with tears, a part of her knowing he wasn't lying — wasn't fucking with her for a joke. "Is Bella dead?" she asked in a small voice.

"No! God, no. Carlisle is stitching her back up," he said, coming closer. But Frankie kept going back. "She's known since she and Edward started dating. She'll be okay."

She let out an emotionless laugh, feeling quite stupid all of the sudden. "Well, as long as Bella knows, it's all great!" she scoffed, shaking her head. "You - you eat people!"

"No! We only drink animal blood," Emmett said quickly.

Frankie didn't believe that for a moment. Vampires didn't eat animals. They ate people. "Right, so you've never killed anyone?" she asked in a sarcastic tone. But then Emmett hesitated, and her heart broke just a little bit more, realizing the truth. "Get away from me."

"Baby, no," he said, shaking his head. Tears welled in his eyes that would never be shed. "I know - I know you're scared, okay? But just let me explain everything. Just stop backing away."

Unknowingly to Frankie, she was mere feet away from the treaty line.

"Was this some kind of sick game?" she asked, getting angry. "What? Gotta make your dinner fall in love with you first?"

"No, Frankie!" he shouted. "God, no. I'd never hurt you. You know that. You know me."

Frankie shook her head and took the last step needed to ensure he couldn't chase after her anymore. "I don't know you," she whispered.

It felt like Emmett's heart had been ripped from his chest at her words. "Baby, please," he begged, his voice cracking. "I - I was going to tell you."

Though she was a mess, Frankie noticed when Emmett finally stopped following after her. She glanced at the forest floor, knowing enough to know where reservation land started. "Oh, my fucking god," she whispered, her eyes wide.

"What? What is it?" he asked, desperate to keep her talking so she wouldn't run away.

"The legends. That's why you don't come to the fucking beach with me. That's why everyone hates you. They fucking know!" she snapped, more tears falling. "And you let me defend you to them like a dumbass. You let me ruin my relationship with my dad — Paul, Sam, Billy! They all know, don't they?"

All Emmett could do was nod, ashamed of himself.

"How could you?" she asked, her lip trembling.

His golden eyes met hers, and it hurt them both. Emmett said the only thing he could — the only thing he could never lie about. "Because I love you."

Frankie shook her head and shut her eyes, continuing to back away. "No, no, you don't. You don't do this to someone you love."

"Frankie, please," he begged again, falling to his knees. "Just - just come back to the house, please. I'll never hide anything from you again."

"No, you won't," she said, wiping her eyes. "'Cause I don't want to see you again."

☽︎

Frankie skipped school the next day — it wasn't like her dad was home to wake her up and make her go. No, she stayed in bed, slipping in and out of sleep, her dreams a mix of nightmares about Emmett and Edward killing Bella and visions of her mother.

"When you keep saying something is coming," Frankie said, looking at her hands as she sat next to her mother in the forest. Right where she'd turned and ran from Emmett the night before. "Was that it? Did you know?"

"No, Frankie, it's not. I wish it was," Elena said with a saddened expression. She hated seeing her daughter so sad. "When it comes, I will leave. Only the alpha will be there to guide you until you are ready to claim what's yours."

For once, Frankie didn't give a damn about the cryptic shit leaving her mother's mouth. All she cared about was Emmett. "I can't go to school," she murmured. "I can't see them every day. I'll have to go back to the rez."

"No, you won't," Elena said while running her hand through Frankie's hair. "You two will have the distance you need from each other before you find one another again."

Frankie shook her head and glared downward. "He's a monster."

"So are you."

☽︎

Everyone was at the Swan house. Frankie heard from Jessica that Bella went missing after school. Charlie couldn't get a hold of her or anyone that might know where she was. So, all their friends joined the volunteer search parties to look for Bella in the woods.

If she'd gone on a hike and got hurt and was stuck, she could die of hypothermia with how cold the weather was getting.

Frankie tried not to look at Billy or her father, knowing she'd snap and say something about vampires if she did. Instead, she crouched over a map with Charlie as they marked off sections of the nearby woods that had already been checked in the last three hours.

Deep down, Frankie was convinced Bella was dead. Edward must've killed her — or Jasper got free and did it himself. It was the only explanation.

"I'll try to call Cullens' place again," Charlie said, digging for his phone. This waiting was killing him.

"The Cullens left town, Charlie," Billy suddenly said.

Harry Clearwater let out a scoff. "Good riddance!"

"What?" Frankie asked in a small voice, looking to the two men. "What do you mean left town?"

"Where did they go?" Charlie questioned.

Rather than answer, Raylan grabbed Charlie's shoulder comfortingly. "We'll find her, Charlie."

Frankie's mind was running a mile a minute, already forming what must've happened. Bella was dead and they left to cover their tracks. They'd killed one of her best friends all because she was a coward and left her alone in that house.

"Charlie!" Jacob suddenly exclaimed, looking over his shoulder. They all turned as saw Sam coming out of the woods with Bella in his arms. She was near hypothermic, but she was alive, and relief washed over Frankie like a tidal wave.

"She's alright," Sam said as Charlie rushed to them.

"I got her," Charlie said, taking Bella from his arms. "Thank you, Sam."

Frankie rushed to open the front door of the house so that they could get Bella inside and warm. While she ran around and got some blankets and a few other things, Raylan helped get Bella up the stairs and to her room.

Charlie wouldn't let Bella go as he laid on the bed with her, so Frankie threw blankets over them both.

"I'll get everyone cleared out," Raylan said quietly, slipping back out of the house.

"Bella," Frankie whispered, placing the warm rag on Bella's freezing forehead. Her lips were almost blue from how cold she was, and that terrified both Frankie and Charlie. "Bell, what happened?"

"He left me."