CHAPTER THREE

"I can't believe you showed up at my house and told my dad that you were kidnapping me."

Tali chuckled as she looked at Bella. "You forget that I've spent the last eighteen years terrorizing my uncle." The older girl said. "He's used to me. He knows we're just hanging out at the beach."

"Where are the others?" She asked as she looked around.

"Cat and Quil are on their way, Jacob and Em—" She squealed as she was lifted off of her feet and spun around.

"Right here." Embry smiled as he looked down at Bella, stopping at her side as his best friend annoyed the oldest. "You miss us?"

"Like a fish misses water."

"But we are the water and you are the fish." He argued. "So, you must've missed us while you were off in the land of pale skin."

"You know nobody else talks like that, right?" Bella asked, and he shrugged.

Jacob grunted and then wheezed, earning their attention. He was on his back under Tali, and she was laughing as she rolled off of him before sitting on her knees at his side.

"Ow." Jake rubbed his ribs.

"What's the matter, Jakey?" Tali leaned over him, her hand cupping his chin from underneath. "I thought you were a big, strong boy."

"My heel caught in the sand." He said, and she shook her head.

"To the beer!" Cat yelled as Quil ran past them with his cousin on his back.

"That's a disaster waiting to happen." Tali said as she looked over at them.

"But so much fun to watch." Embry said as he started after them.

Jake rolled over and pushed himself up, running to catch up as they made it to the keg that was situated a few feet from the bonfire. Tali laughed as she watched them fight over cups, and she stood as well before moving to stand beside Bella.

"What were parties like in Phoenix?" The older girl asked.

"No idea." Bella shook her head, and she chuckled as she looked at her.

"It's a good thing you moved back when you did. You almost had a completely lame teenage experience."

She turned her head to look at her, and Tali smiled.

"Don't worry, we don't do peer pressure in this group." She told her. "And I don't drink. So, no one will think twice about it if you don't either."

Bella nodded as she looked back at Cat and the boys. Jake and Quil had their plastic red cups to their lips and their heads tilted back as Embry was yelling, "chug, chug, chug!" and Cat was watching with an amused grin plastered on her face.

"That can't end well." She said, and Tali shook her head.

"Oh, it won't." She chuckled. "It'll end with the boys puking in Embry's bathroom while Cat's passed out on the couch."

"Who's driving them home?"

"Me." She looked back at Bella. "I'm the only one who drives to parties. Cat and the boys always walk if they don't ride over with me."

"You come out often?" She asked, and Tali shook her head.

"No. We all come out whenever Jared watches Kota. Otherwise, the boys come alone, and Cat picks them up when they call her drunk and ready to leave."

"So, that's where Kota is now?"

"Mhm. Jared said he felt bad when he couldn't help me when I needed him to on Monday. He wanted some time with him."

"How is Jared?" Bella asked. "I don't remember you mentioning him much when we'd talk before I came back."

"I don't see him much." She shrugged. "He spends all of his time with Sam and Paul." She motioned to the third in her brother's trio: Paul Lahote.

He was sitting with a group of guys from their school, beer in hand and a girl on his lap. She clearly liked Paul, but didn't seem too thrilled to be hanging out with the rest of the group as he talked rather animatedly. The guys laughed at a joke that Tali and Bella couldn't hear.

"Wait..." Bella's eyebrows furrowed as she shook her head, returning her attention to Tali. "Jared hangs out with Sam? Your ex-boyfriend — Kota's father — who broke up with you while you were pregnant? That Sam?"

"Yep. They're best friends." She nodded. "Apart from rare nights like tonight, those three are pretty inseparable."

"I..." She blinked a few times, confused.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Tali took a deep breath. "But it is what it is."

Bella's eyebrows raised as she looked away from the older girl, her gaze moving to find their friends rather than continuing to talk about what she assumed had to be a tough subject. And she found them a few feet away from the rest of the teenagers as Quil and Jacob started rough housing.

"Okay, so," Tali chuckled. "Cat's gonna be betting on Quil, and Embry on Jacob. You keep an eye on them, tell me who wins. I'm gonna go see if I can find us something to drink that has no alcohol in it."

Bella smiled as she watched the boys move in circles around each other. "You got it."

She walked over and saw Paul leaning over a cooler as he dug through the beer bottles. "Any chance there's anything in there that's more sugar than booze?" She asked, and he glanced up at her briefly.

"Uh, yeah." He nodded. "I think I saw a Coke."

"Can you grab me two, if they're there?"

"You got a date, Cameron?" He asked, and she laughed.

"Pretty sure Jared would be here if that were the case." She said. "He liked ruining those in any way he could."

He stood up straight, passing her the first soda in his hands. "Yeah, well, that's what brothers are for. Or so he s—" Paul froze when her gaze met his.

She opened the can in her hand and took a quick sip. Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked up at him, seeing the daze in his eyes as his jaw went slack.

He was caught off guard as he looked down at her, his dark eyes on hers, and his breath got stuck in his throat. He wasn't prepared for this moment, he'd feared it even. And never — not once — did he think that when it happened...it would be her.

They'd grown up together on the reservation since he moved there as a kid, and he'd always known of Tali. Though they were never close and didn't have many friends in common before a few years before, he knew that she was kind, caring, and always very warm and welcoming.

Despite keeping his distance from her, he had grown protective of her in the last few years. He knew how important she was to Sam and Jared, and they were the people closest to him in the entire world. Her safety was his priority before, but this feeling was different.

Suddenly, her safety was the most important thing in the world to him. Her happiness was his responsibility. And in that moment, he knew that there was nothing he wouldn't do for Tallulah Cameron.

But how could something that he was born to...feel like such a betrayal to the ones who had become his brothers?

"Um... Earth to Paul." Tali raised her hand and waved it in front of his face.

He blinked, clearing his throat as he looked past her. "Sorry." He shook his head, eyebrows furrowed.

"Are you okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah." He let his gaze return to her. "I just got a little light-headed for a second."

"Mm, happens to me at work sometimes." She chuckled. "You're not drinking on an empty stomach, are you?"

"No. No, it was... I think it was a fluke thing." He said, and she nodded. "So, if not a date, who's the second soda for?" He asked, handing her the can in his other hand.

"Bella. Chief Swan's daughter." She told him. "She moved back last week, and we were good friends when she used to visit. We brought her with us tonight, and I think it's needless to say that she's not going home drunk."

"Right." He looked over at her friends. "Just Cat and the fifteen-year-olds."

Tali turned and saw Jake pick up Quil before dropping him on his back in the sand. She laughed, watching Cat yell at her cousin as the other two boys celebrated.

"You think she'd learn to stop betting against Jake."

"No." Tali shook her head as she looked back at him. "Cat will never bet against Quil." She told him, and he met her gaze again.

"Paul!"

They turned and saw the girl who had been sitting on his lap before he got up to get himself another drink. She raised her eyebrows questioningly, and he sighed as he reached up and scratched the back of his head.

"I'll let you get back to your date." Tali said, and he looked at her again. "Thanks for saving me from digging through the ice."

"It's no problem." He told her, and she smiled.

"Maybe you should grab a soda for yourself. And let me know if you need a ride home; we don't want you driving around light-headed." She started backing up so she could walk over to her friends. "I have plenty of room in my dad's truck. We just pile the boys into the bed so they don't puke in the cab."

He nodded as he watched her go, and she turned around and jogged over to Bella, who had joined the others by this point.

"Paul!"

His eyes fell shut as he took a deep breath, then he turned around and walked back over to his date.

The girls started taking bets on the three boys as Embry joined into the wrestling. The longer it went, the drunker they got, and the more everyone laughed.

Cat jumped on Embry's back, and he lost his footing. They both went down, rolling across damp sand, and Tali shook her head as she and Bella laughed at them. Cat was yelling as she sat up and started grabbing fistfuls of sand, piling it on Embry's chest and saying that she was gonna bury him.

"You think there's any water?" Bella asked, and Tali shrugged.

"Worth a look. Come on." She motioned toward the keg and cooler, and the two girls walked away from the drunken chaos ensuing.

Tali was kneeling down, sifting through the drinks when someone walked over and stopped close to where she was. She noticed the presence — it was too close, invading her space.

"You wanna grab anything else while you're down there?" A male voice asked suggestively, and she looked up to find a guy that used to be friends with Sam.

She put her hands on her knees and pushed herself upright. "Well, I've heard there's not much there, so... That might be kinda difficult." She took a step backward, toward Bella as a few guys around them started laughing.

"You think you're funny, Cameron?"

"I think you're drunk, Colin." She said. "Maybe try some water. Or, you know, not hanging out at high school parties."

"Speaking of hanging out. Why don't we hang out anymore?" He took a step forward, and Bella looked over her shoulder to see where the others were.

Embry was holding Cat down as he laid on his back, telling her to look at the stars with him. Quil and Jake were laughing as they started getting up from the sand. All of them were completely oblivious to what was unfolding with the two girls.

"Probably because the only thing we had in common was Sam, and that no longer applies." Tali said, feeling Bella grabbing onto the back of her hoodie to pull her back a step with her.

"We still have him in common — he abandoned us both for new friends, a new girlfriend." He continued. "You ever wonder why?"

"I've got more important things to do. And other friends to spend my time with." She glanced behind her. "I think I'll go find them now."

"Come on, Cameron." He reached out and grabbed her hand. "Let's talk...for old time's sake."

"Hey, dude, she's not interested." A guy a couple feet away said. "Let her go."

"Paul, man, isn't that Jared's sister?" One of the guys he was hanging out with asked, and Paul looked up to see what he was talking about.

Bella was still holding onto the back of Tali's hoodie, trying to help put separation between them and him, but Colin still had a grip on her hand. She looked back at the other four again, seeing that they weren't wrestling anymore, but they still hadn't noticed what was going on because they were too far away.

"Quil!" Bella called out; he was the closest.

As both Quil and Jake turned to look for her, they saw Paul shove his way between Tali and Colin as he grabbed Colin's wrist. Paul forced him to let go of her, then pushed him back with a solid force on his chest.

"Em- Em, get up." Jake said as Quil ran over, wanting to get to the girls before things escalated farther.

"This doesn't concern you." Colin said as he glared up at Paul.

"Leave her alone." Paul seethed, feeling the anger starting to ripple through him.

"You concern everyone, man." Quil got between them, nudging him farther back.

"Just let it go." Tali reached up, placing her hand on Paul's bicep as she pulled him back. "He's drunk. And he's not worth it anyway."

Hearing her voice and feeling her hand on his skin — this sense of calm washed over him. For the first time in nearly three years, it didn't feel like he wasn't in control over his temper, over his own body. He looked down at her and their eyes met again, and he was able to pull his anger back.

Without even knowing it, she'd given him the power to come back to himself.

"Time to go, yeah?" Cat asked as she approached behind the boys, and both Tali and Bella looked over at her.

"I think so." Bella nodded.

"Suddenly the whore can't speak for herself?" Colin questioned.

"What did you just say?" Quil turned back to him as Paul started ushering the girls away from the bonfire.

"Come on. She was fifteen when she got knocked up." He said. "She's eas—"

"Oh, shit!" Embry laughed when his best friend clocked him hard, and Colin fell into the sand.

story discussion....

as of right now, the previous poll is still active. so, if you haven't voted on it yet, please do.

and as promised, i'm doing my best to keep updates consistent. since the last poll doesn't affect this chapter, i wanted to get it up sooner than later.

it will, however, play into the next chapter. so, again, please vote!

now, about this chapter — the colin stuff wasn't originally planned, but i do think it could be interesting to see someone else affected by the way the wolves distance themselves after they all start phasing. but i am curious what you all think.

which brings us to our next poll ↴