Pre Edit Count – 1,688 Words

Song I listened to for this chapter: Tyrant by OneRepublic

Previously:

She looks back and sees him fade before her eyes until he is gone. She swallows and makes her way back to her life. With the will to learn to stand on her own like he wanted.

Now:

The weeks pass, and while Bella thinks that Cole has left her, he is there watching as he has been the whole time. The more time passes, the more he is pulled towards her. And the more determined he is to make sure his rule is solidified before he goes to her. He promised her that they would see each other after her graduation. The time he gives Bella may feel long to her, but in the general scheme of things it is not long at all.

To begin with, and to test himself, he gives her a couple of weeks to get over Edward, knowing personally how hard it is when someone leaves you. He had spent more than a year’s worth of months wandering. The only thing he had paid any attention to was to the Underworld.

Cole had known that the alternative was to allow the Source itself to gain a new host, one who might not be able to hold back the evil demon. In the end, it was the his human side which actually tempered the demon. And then, only over a long span of time has Cole gained the power he has over his own body. There is much to be said for being half-demon, as he is. He had to learn how to control himself more than the others. To find the demon side and let it loose, where the others never had an issue.

The ability to not think through things is something he had detested about the so-called good forces. They were willing to kill him, freeing the Source to find another host, one which could be worse than he might be. Cole freely admits that he has made mistakes, but he at least tried. He tried with everything he had, especially the love he had for Phoebe, and they cast him out for it.

How did they think it was going to happen? That they would keep casting out the Source and it would eventually give up? Instead, if the host is killed it will become worse since the Source will then take on a new Host, and that host’s soul will be cast aside, making no change to the plans.

He was different. But then, he always had been. It is shocking how much a human soul, even a half breed like him, counted in a battle of souls against the Source.

The whole shortsightedness of the forces of good is something that made him look twice at Bella. She knew what evil was and still welcomed what the Cullens are. She didn’t care about evil and good when she loved. Moreover, Cole yearned for that for himself. He admired how she escaped the seer and the empath; to do what she thought was right. She fought for it. Much like he had. She did everything for love, and even now it governs her actions.

After the events in Phoenix he had followed her home, not happy with how the so-called mate had refused to turn her, even when it was obvious to even him, a newcomer, that she wanted to be with Edward. The fact that he had refused her hit something inside of Cole. The human part of him understood her pain, and it had him watching over her. However, there was the other side of him which had covertly encouraged this as well.

He learned that for love, Bella was willing to do many things. His minions had brought him information on her, and he had raged that day. If nothing else, that day had made his patronage of her absolute. No one would harm her, not after seeing how her own mother had failed her, as well as her father. He would see to it. Charlie had failed her to a lesser extent, but he was still guilty of leaving his daughter to deal with things he should have been dealing with. Who leaves a teenager alone for weekends?!?!

He thought it impossible but things only got worse after her return from Phoenix. The evil duo had made her go to Prom when she wanted nothing to do with it, the male refused to turn her yet again, and the knowledge that there was someone after his Bella made Cole leave only so he could set down rebellions.

He became in every sense the real ruler of the Underworld. Demons cowered under his rule, none questioned him once he took the reins of his leadership. He was done with the pettiness of their actions, trying to increase their power to overtake him. Cole could not spend his time dealing with demons acting out on their own. Not when they exposed their kind and had the powers of good thinking that they were winning. No. The side of good needed to grow some common sense, and he needed to drive the urge into them using his own forces.

Once he had enforced his rule, Cole left a small pocket free. Knowing his demon’s history, having that one small pocket of resistance would help him in the long run with the leaders truly under his control. They reported when there were too many discontented demons, and he swept in, cleaning up the majority of the lot. The rest, the truly loyal ones, with a few others sprinkled in, none the same as last time, running to hide elsewhere. It made his job easier, and he greatly rewarded the ones who stayed loyal to him. He didn’t need his group turning against him. Fear does not control as well as true loyalty does.

In addition, he made sure that the Charmed Ones were kept busy but made it clear to his forces that if they were helping innocents they were to make as little mischief as possible. He just didn’t want them in his business. He had enough going on, and he really didn’t need to be bothered by them. They would be unable to keep themselves from thinking that they would be doing the greater good in ridding the universe of him. Idiots.

When he returned to Bella, it had been the beginning of the school season. He didn’t like how much more subdued Bella seemed to be especially from the woman he had seen fighting in Phoenix, but he watched her. He had started thinking that she had become like a sheep somehow, until her fire resurfaced when she fought the Cullens about her birthday party. It had brought a smile to the Demon’s face.

Then to see how fast it fell apart, well he would give her a couple of weeks to get over it. Past that he would be stepping in. The woman he had been watching didn’t deserve the idiot, and he couldn’t let her suffer too long.

However, it wasn’t needed. Bella spent a week and almost another one moping, but one morning she woke up and after showering, stared at herself in the mirror. She realized that Cole had been right. Since he hadn’t cared enough to stay with her then he wasn’t the one. Someone will come, and who knows, maybe he already did. And that feeling inside of her seemed to agree.

She came out of her room and was so close to her old self that none really noticed the difference. Charlie appreciated the change and was just happy she was done with the asshole who had left her heartbroken the way he had.

She hasn’t even suffered a cold due to Cole’s taking care of her. The Friday afternoon that she came home, there was a vase of red roses waiting for her. When she smiled and took them inside, it became the first of many.

The way Bella responds to Cole’s little gifts pleases him greatly. No matter what he sends her, each and every time she is thrilled, and it is never going to get old. He leaves notes and sends little things so she will remember him, wanting to let her know he is still here. Everything in him becomes more and more attached to the woman she had been and is becoming again.

He also takes it upon himself to make sure she never has to work or worry about bills ever again. In his mind she had done enough of that when she was younger, she deserves to have to never worry again. When she tries to get a job, he watches, but after the 6th time of the Newton boy hitting on her at the sports place, he decides to take steps. Not the least since he is so very tempted to take personal action against the boy.

It would have made a difference if his Bella were to reciprocate his feelings; he won’t make her wait for him. He wishes for her to have fun in school. He knows that when she is done, he will work as hard as it takes to get her.

While he remains faithful to the idea of her, he will not hold her to the same level. He wants her to be happy. And while the end result is to be with him, he also knows it will be a while if he has his way. Why would he deny the woman he is coming to care more for than any other, a chance to have any happiness?

However, the boy just can’t accept the word ‘no’ when applied to him. He already has a woman who adores him, and he ignores her. To just hit on his Bella, who doesn’t want it; it makes her very uncomfortable. Moreover, she has had enough of others making her life difficult. He is determined to make her life better.

Leaning back on the hood of her truck as he watches over her in the store, Cole turns the idea around in his head. He knows his Bella won’t accept handouts, but he doesn’t want her locked into working in this place. He sits there thinking, and then decides to be frank. He will offer his idea to her and hope that she will take the offer. He orders one of the minions to watch her, and he leaves to his offices.

From there he works through the night, and the following morning has an employment package ready for her. One that will make them both happy, and allow her to learn more of his world. He would rather give her the tools to defend herself and trust that she will let him know if she needs more than that. So he educates her whereas the Cullens left her a blank canvas.  She will never be able to leave the Supernatural world now and this will help prepare her for the harsh reality of it. It will also make her safer since they will be able to communicate more directly.  He will be telling her outright that he will update her computer and such which will enable them to communicate.without the rest of the world knowing about it.

He outlines his reasoning for doing this and tells her frankly that he will be harming the idiot if she ends up working with him much longer. As she is reading the letter he sent her and goes through the package of job information, Bella sits there laughing her ass off. She, too has been getting tired of the idiot, as Cole named him, and his unending inability to understand when she tells him ‘no’. In fact she had started to learn new languages just so she could tell him no in a different way, hoping he would understand.

Cole watches over the people he has installing the lines into her house. He is also having them install a security system, remembering clearly Prue’s stalker. He doesn’t want something like that to be a factor here, neither of them needs to add another worry to the list. Well, while neither her father nor Bella will ever be aware of it, he wants it there so he doesn’t need to worry about it. He is one of the few who can learn from the past. It is also one of those times where being the Source helps.

With the technology there, and knowing they can talk safely, Cole and Bella communicate more. She is a researcher for him and his firm on paper. At first he gives her make work, introducing her to the world. After a while, he starts to give her real work and loves her commentary on the emails that accompany the official work. They often trade barbs as well as everyday talking through the emails.

But of course, the Supernatural world has to creep in. First comes the Wolves he had sensed that night he had watched over his Bella. It seems that even though he had driven them off before, they are now getting braver. They have no idea what they are messing with. It is really the friendship that exists between Bella and Jake that has kept them safe. Luckily the boy seems to understand the word no so Cole just has someone watch them. Their treaties do not matter to him since he is not a vampire.

Not that it would have mattered if he had been one. Bella is quickly becoming the center of his universe, and even his minions are catching on to the idea. They realize she is much better than Cole’s previous love since she is not getting ideas about how to kill their master. No, instead this one jokes with him in her emails and makes him often laugh.

If he wants to keep her safe for now, who are they to doubt that? The few demons who had doubted, well they all suffered for the misconception of the Source caring about their thoughts. They are to make sure that her life is hers to lead, and that she has the ability to do whatever she desires.

There are some who note, with all that power, she does nothing with it. She has millions of dollars for her personal use, yet she drives an old truck. Bella is one who treasures emotions and above all, a sense of being true to oneself. They watch over her to make sure that she has the freedom to be that way. They may not have emotions, but their minds take note of how that can help them out. Their leader is calmer now, his hair-trigger temper only goes off if something is wrong with her.

To make it simple, if he is happy, they have a longer lifespan. So they make sure she is happy.

Part of that is making sure that others in the area are aware that they are not the only ones around. There are more dangerous types of Supernatural beings out there. Unfortunately, it seems to be a lesson which is hard to learn. Good thing they love causing mayhem and destruction. And are sly about doing it.

Final count: 2,557

Fairfarren~