Pre Edit Count –   2,757 Words

Song I listened to for this chapter: Robot Boy by Linkin Park

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Emily sighs, “If you do lose her, Charlie, it will be because of what you did.  It’s your choice now, Godric has already detailed what is going to happen.  You had a chance at the easy way of being part of your daughter’s life.  Now, you will have to work around his plans.  And since his plans are to ready his mate for her new life and to make sure that she will not be lost in it, you cannot in good conscience make it hard for her.  So it will be up to you, and the effort you want to expend on getting to know your daughter.  If I were you, I would also make every effort to learn about this world and to get on the good side of Godric and his group of people.  That is your future.” Her voice is hard, not giving an inch.  This man needs to be aware of the world around him, and how much his mistakes have cost him.  His choices have led them to where they are now.  Not Bella’s.

Looking away, Charlie sighs as he realizes they are right. “What needs to be done?”

Just then Ludwig came out of Bella’s room.  She is angry as she informs them, “You need to get ready for a fight on your hands for that girl’s life.  Godric, call your Second.  Time is going to be our enemy for once.”  Everything she heard from the room makes her want to tell Godric to take that young girl out of that room and hide her away from the world…and that was decided before her prognosis.

Everyone stares at the small woman with looks of horror on their faces as they realize what she is saying.

Now:

Eric looks up from hanging up on the phone to see Pam waiting for him.  “Godric has found his mate and reopened our bond.” He states it plainly, but the feelings of awe and happiness trickle through their bond to her.

Pam couldn’t help but allow a little smile to form.  “Well, it’s about time.  I figured something must have happened because I could feel an odd echo.  But it feels different than before.”  She looks down at her nails and checks them to see if there are any chips after she threw out a pair of rough necks for insulting her.

Leaning back in his seat, he steeples his fingers in front of him as he tells her, “The echo is his mate.  He gave her a couple of drops of his blood because he found her out in the woods in Washington in the rain.  He was worried that she may become sick.  But to his surprise, especially since he was so careful in not touching her and she didn’t open her eyes, he feels her as though she is right next to him even when he was miles away.”  He looks up at her with his intense blue eyes and tells her bluntly, “I can feel her.”

Rocking back on her feet, she lifts an eyebrow.

Eric nods.  Then he gets another email in, quickly reads it, and then puts the information in the correct columns.   After he was finished, he waves at her to seat herself.

After dealing with a few more emails he explains to her, “His Mate is Isabella Swan.  She goes by Bella.  For some reason, there is a lot of information about her because of her relation to a Native American Tribe.  Seems that, per Godric, they are the natural enemies of the Cold Ones, and because a coven of these Cold Ones settled in the area, it triggered whatever it is that causes them to change.  Unlike Weres, they are the size of a small horse, and their ability to phase is in no way influenced by the moon. Godric is working with the tribe to gain an alliance for our Bloodline.  But someone in Washington is keeping track of their tribe and those associated with it, however nothing has been brought to the Council’s attention nor anyone else’s.  Godric is taking the reins of this alliance and securing the group.”

Closing his eyes as he is hit with Bella’s rejection and her pain, Eric can’t help but send comfort to his Maker.  He only wishes he could help Bella the same way.  No one deserves to feel this way…

Pam is shocked by the shadow of pain and…rejection? she is receiving from her Maker.   She cocks her head to the side, sending him her curiosity as she tries to make sense of what is happening.

Sighing when the feelings lessen their grip on Godric, Eric looks up and tells her, “That…is Bella.  I have no idea how Godric is fighting the Mating when he is feeling this so much stronger than we are.” Nor is he able to figure out his own pull to the woman.

Shaking her head, “A breather is going through this?”  The dismissal is evident in her voice and demeanor.

Before she finishes the sentence, Eric snarls at her. “NEVER call her that again!  She is Godric’s mate and you WILL respect her.  She deserves your respect since she is living with that pain as we speak.  If I need to order this, tell me now.  Godric does not need your apathy toward his mate right now.  He has asked for you and I agreed to send you to him and her tonight along with Alcide.”

Pam stares at him, shocked.  “Fuck a duck.  What does he want me for?”

Eric’s fangs extend as he leans forward to force his will on her. “Pamela.  It is an honor to be asked to help care for Godric’s Mate.  His Human Mate.  His vulnerable, hurting Human Mate that we just found out was dating a Cold One.  His Human Mate who has only ever been loved or shown love by a Cold One.  His Mate who was forced at the age of 7 to begin worrying about working, and who at age 5 was cooking so she could eat.  She deserves your respect for herself, but if you cannot do that, at the very least have respect for the Mate of our Bloodline’s leader.”  By the end of this, he is snarling and leaning far enough over his desk to make his child shrink back from him.

“S-s-sorry Eric.  It’s just-“

Still snarling, he finishes her statement, “You have no respect for anyone who is not a vampire. Well news break for you, Pamela.  She will be a Vampire and your Mistress, your Queen.  Now, will you respect her, or do I need to issue an order?”

Pam’s eyes are wide.  She can feel Eric ruthlessly scouring the Bond between them to guarantee she is telling him the truth.  This was not what she was expecting when he called her.  From the way Eric is acting, she would think it is his own Mate, not Godric’s.  But she can feel his respect for her and he is being truthful with her that he will order if need be.

She settles herself and asks Eric softly, “Can you tell me more about her?  I think I need to hear what I will be dealing with as I take care of her.” She will try just because she has never known Eric to feel this way about a breather.

Scrutinizing her with his eyes and through the bond, he finally nods and sits back down.  He deals with more emails as he states, “Godric has put the call out.  All information about the Cold Ones is to be sent to me.  He has named me his Second.”

He waits for her shock to subside before he continues, “As I told you, Bella has had no childhood due to her so-called mother.  The woman is ditzy to say the very least.  She can barely even keep a job.  The whole reason Bella is in Washington to begin with is because her mother married a younger man who is part of a secondary farm baseball team that travels a lot.  She then basically moped and whined about having to stay with her daughter, instead of traveling with her husband, to the point that Bella agreed to move to Washington, to the same place her mother had brainwashed her into thinking was the worst place in the world, just to make her happy.

Then her father, who does love her, but cannot tell her or show her, allows her into the house, and has her take over care of the entire household, cooking for him, washing his clothes, and doing his shopping.  The only thing different is that she doesn’t have to worry about paying the bills. He’s done nothing to show this change in his life.  He still spends his weekends fishing and he eats the meals she makes but then goes to watch TV, beer in hand.  This is, of course, after she brings him the aforementioned beer.”

The last is said so scathingly that Pam has no doubt that if Eric ever meets the man, he will be giving him a piece of his mind.  Eric has never gotten past his roots as a Viking who treasured children.  He is one of the harshest Sheriffs against any form of child abuse  in the world.

As another email comes in from Godric, he sighs and scrubs his face. “According to Godric, he just found out that she had taken a job in town to pay for her gas and college.  She maintains a high grade point average and from all the information I have gathered on her, is extremely intelligent.” He is trying to not growl and calm down so that if he ever meets the man he won’t attack him on principle.

Pam scowls as she puts it together, “And probably has low self-esteem issues up the ass.  What are people doing to their children nowadays?”

Pleased as he feels Pam softening towards Bella, he nods. “The only affection she has been shown is by this coven of Cold Ones.  Then, earlier today, they just left for no known reason.  There are rumors of the wife being bored and of a higher paying job for the coven leader, but this is highly irregular for them.  Godric found her in the woods muttering the phrase ‘he left’ over and over, and she hasn’t come out of it yet.  Because of this, he went to her home after the meeting in Seattle and is now confronting her father.  Earlier, in an effort to give him the benefit of a doubt, Godric, the Tribe’s Chief, and the Alpha of the new Supes opened the man’s eyes to the supernatural world.  Her father, the Chief of Police Charlie Swan, revealed to Godric that he had found himself and Bella both changing their minds when the Cold Ones wanted something.  This was bad enough to have Godric changing his plans, asking for you, and calling for Ludwig.  Then later, he tells Godric that Bella had run away at one point, and that the leader of the coven and the boy dating Bella had went after her. She supposedly fell and broke her leg, and lost a lot of blood.  When I found the records, which had been hidden extremely well, “a lot of blood” meant 2 liters of blood being transfused.”  The amount had made him pause and growl when he read it.  She had barely survived.  Godric will not be happy when he finds out.

At Pam’s gasp, Eric meets her eyes. “I have not given Godric that news nor have I told him about the sheer amount trauma they found on her body.  I plan to give that to you along with the other information I have either found or been sent so far.”  He levels a look at her, “Needless to say, he is going to be upset.” He watches as Pam realizes what he is not saying.  She needs to learn what happens with a Vampire and their mates.  It is rare, but he had taught her like Godric had taught him.

Pam slumps down.  She murmurs, “You’re right.  This human deserves respect.  Why am I going ?” Her eyes lift to meet his as she is completely honest.  With this information, she deserves respect.  And they really have no idea what happened to her in Phoenix.

Watching her, Eric nods as he feels her truthfulness.  “You will be going to help guard her and to help take care of her if need be.  Godric is also putting her under your tutelage using your teaching degree to allow you to homeschool her.  Obviously you will be teaching more than the coursework.  He wants her to be prepared for our world.  At this time, he has not initiated the Bond with her, and  we are waiting for Dr. Ludwig’s prognosis.”  Not said was that she would also protect Bella with her life if need be.

He takes a deep breath.  “Pamela, I think you can understand the importance of this now.  This woman will be the leader of our Bloodline along with Godric.  He admitted tonight he was going to greet the sun if this hadn’t happened.”

At her gasp, he nodded his head.  “You will have any and all resources and help that you think are necessary.  If her wellbeing would be better away from her father, you will move with her to a place of Godric’s choosing.  As of now, nothing is more important to you than her.  Go pack and be ready to depart at dawn.  Alcide will travel with you and be in charge of getting you there.  He will also have the packet for you to give to Godric.”

With that, Pamela nods.  She vamps out, and Eric leans back in his seat.  He winces as another wave of pain shoots through the Bond.  He hopes that between Pamela and Godric they can help her.  If not, Eric will be on his way there to help also.  Bella is too important to their Bloodline at this point not to do everything needed.

Godric calls Eric for the third time that night.  For two who haven’t spoken in such a long time, it is a sign of how much the Bond has changed them, and on top of that, it shows how much Godric trusts his eldest.

“Northman”

Godric sighs. “Eric.  Ludwig has finished her study of Bella and told me that I needed to have you on the phone.”  He hesitates, and Eric, feeling the dread, tells him without needing to be asked, “I will be there with Pamela today, Master.  The Bloodline has done nothing but send us their support.  They can feel the change and are gearing up for anything you need done.”

Godric has a slight smile on his face as he sends his thanks to his Son.  “That will be fine.”

Ludwig had been silent out of respect for her leader.  She bows her head to him and, once she feels his approval, tells him bluntly, “Are you ready to fight for your mate, Godric?  From what I’ve found, there has been some damage to her in the past.  On top of that, her blood needs to be tested by one of you, but I found things in there that shouldn’t be there.  It looks as though she had been bitten at some point in the past.  With that, I proceeded to examine her body and found a bite mark.  Godric, there’s no way she should be a walking, living person if she was bitten.” Her face is hard; she is not happy with the state of Godric’s mate.  She will do all that she can do to save her, but she suspects that it will be an uphill battle.  But if anyone can heal her, it will be Godric.

Both Eric and Godric are growling along with Sam, but Sam stopped when he heard another growl.  He looks around the room and finally asked, “Who else is listening?”

Eric voice comes over the phone and tells them, “My Child Pamela.  She had come in to give me the last of her paperwork and I had asked her to stay since this is about her charge.” Not said was that Pamela couldn’t help the growl and that Eric is proud of his Child’s maturity in this.

Godric nods as he thinks furiously.  He states to Ludwig, “There is more.” He didn’t want to think that more that is wrong with his precious mate, but if there is more, he needs to know it.  That he will fight for her did not need to be said.

She nods. “The stuff in her blood is like a drug, the closest I can think of is like Heroin.  She is literally a drug addict being cut off cold turkey.  And this form of drug is unique to that species.  She should not be reacting like this no matter how bad the breakup is.  But that is also what tipped me off.” She stares at Godric, waiting for his instructions.

Godric sighs.  “Eric, come with Pamela and bring Alcide and 2 others.  I need a home to operate from and I think I will look into their old home.   Make sure that house is ready for all of us.  Make this happen.  I will not be leaving her side until we get her in the clear.”  He is not happy with Bella’s father, and he does not feel it is safe to leave Bella’s side, either. The man is not looking too well after all the revelations he has had today.

Ludwig hesitates, then tells Godric, “I would strongly suggest you go ahead and Bond with her.  It may bring her out of this long enough for us to get some answers that we need.”  She looks up at the Mistress’s father and tells him bluntly, “You have basically lost your daughter.  This is not a “hope she comes out of it on her own” heartbreak. No, this will entail creating a new family unit around her and making it so that she knows they can never leave her.  Ever.  They will last through the times.  So right now, decide what you want to do. Think on what I just told you.  For the rest of you, I need Godric to come with me.”  She knows what Godric’s decision will be.  But being Godric, while he may not give her the choice of mating, he will try to give her control of everything else.  However, right now they need her to be functional and the Mating Bond may be the best chance.

Eric’s voice comes through, “Are you starting the Bond now?” He is already setting up Godric’s requests and making sure he lets Isobel know to get everything ready at Godric’s homes in Dallas as well. During this time he receives back the Council’s acknowledgment of Godric’s mating and the command to remember that his Mate comes before everything else.  Basically, giving both Eric and Godric the ok to do anything they need to do without worrying about their respective lieges.  However, on the heels of that is Godric’s King asking if they need any additional help.

Ludwig continues to make her way up the stairs, “It may be the only thing that can make her respond.  I will be putting a spell on the room for total darkness and to prevent anyone from entering until nightfall without my approval.” She looks quickly at Charlie and they all realize that the spell is for him, too.  None of them are very trusting of Bella’s father right now.

Then she turns to Godric as they enter the room. “My heart hurts for her.”  Godric nods.  He is staring at his mate with sheer longing on his face.

She smiles gently, and tells him, “Do it.  Hold her close, and have a first blood exchange also.  This way we can monitor her at all times.  Seems you will be bound to your mate a lot during this time.”

Godric walks over and in seconds is by Bella’s side, smoothing her hair from her face.  “She is well worth it all.  Thank you, Ludwig.”

She smiles as she closes the door and casts the spell for them both.

Then her face hardens and she goes back down to Chief Sawn, “Your turn.  And I am giving you a warning.  Eric is coming.  Be afraid.”  And she snaps the gloves on her hands.

Final count, 3,450 words.

Fairfarren~Wendy