Chapter 11

Standing with Leah and Destiny, a small smile fitted onto my face as I watched the festivities. It was always a blast to watch the pack interact with each other, it was as if they were an actual family. They might as well have been, considering all the things they went through together.

"Laney!" A familiar voice piped up and I turned to see Seth bounding over to me, a beaming smile on his face. "Your sister and dad is here!" He chirped and I sighed, not ready for the days events. It wasn't really dad that I was worried about.

Bella was the one that I was worried about.

"Thanks Sethy," I ruffled his hair fondly, already seeing Paul talking to dad. Bella was with Jacob and his gaggle of high school friends, who I knew she already knew before they became wolves - so she was more comfortable with them than the others. "Go get some food before the others eat it all." I told him with a smirk, making the boy rush off before all the food could be gone.

Waving towards Leah and Destiny, I walk over to where Paul was talking to dad. "Hey there, Laney!" Dad grins when he sees me, pulling into a hug. "I was just telling your fiancée here that I won't be able to stay for the entire thing. I have to get to work in about an hour." He informs me as Paul pulls me into his arms.

I pout at that, even though I knew that he had to work before he even told me. "That's too bad, Billy and Old Quil were going to tell some legend stories later," I commented with a soft smile, sharing a look with Paul.

Dad laughs at that, a twinkle in his eyes. "Billy did have the flare for story telling," he smirks, nodding his head. It was such a shame that I couldn't tell dad that the stories were real, but it was for his own safety that he didn't know. "It was almost as if he believed the stories he was telling." Only if you knew, dad, only if you knew...

"Laney!" Seth's voice called out to me, causing me to turn towards the young boy who bounded his way back over. "Oh, hi Chief!" Seth grins when he sees dad, turning back towards me. "Tell Jacob I'm the best here!" Seth whined, making me laugh as Jacob walked over - Bella in tow, looking quite nervous.

Smirking I turned to look at Jacob, who was giving me a challenging look. "Seth's the best here," I echoed with a shrug. "I don't make the rules Jake, Sethy does." Seth cheered, beaming and if he was in his wolf form I was sure his tail would be wagging in glee.

"See Jake? Told you so!"

Jacob rolled his eyes, patting Seth's head in a condescending kind of way. "She only said that to make you feel better, bub. Sorry if what she says is lies." I narrowed my eyes at Jake as he smirked, giving me a raised eyebrow look.

"I never lie. Ask Paul." I turned towards my fiancée with a smirk on my face, who looked put off that I was getting him involved at all in this little fight. If that's what this even was.

"Don't get me involved, doll!" Paul raises his hands up in surrender. "This feels like a trap and I am not going to fall for it!" I laughed at that, not noticing how dad was smiling at us softly as he walked over to where Billy and Old Quil were sitting. "You think your old man will stay for the legends?" Paul asked, watching as he talked with the elders.

"Legends?!" Bella squeaked, her eyes wide as we all looked at each other in curiosity. "Are you sure it's okay for me to be here, Jake? Maybe I should go home..." Bella trails off with a frown, making me sigh at how she as acting.

"Bella, if it wasn't alright for you to be here Billy would have sent you home by now," I pointed out with a roll of my eyes. She glares at me at the comment and I just stare back at her, unfazed. Her attitude was starting to piss me off.

If she didn't want to be here for my engagement party all she had to do was say so, not let the legends be the reason for her not to be here.

Jacob nods, agreeing with me. "Besides, I vouched for you to be here." I knew if it wasn't for him she wouldn't be here at all. She'd be with her boy toy in Forks, whittling away to become a vampire.

Clearing her throat anxiously she nods as Jacob leads her away from us. Seth wonders off elsewhere, finding conversation with Embry and Quil Jr. "You alright, sweetheart?" Paul asks, giving me a worried look as he pulls me towards him - kissing my cheek.

Sighing I leaned into him as he wraps his arms around me. "I will be," I told him lightly, giving him a beaming smile as I leaned forward to kiss him. He kisses me back eagerly and I pull away before it can get too intense, making him whine as I laughed. "We have more time for that later, Lahote." I promised him with a smirk on my face.

His eyes brightened at the promise as he pulls me towards Jared and Kim, Kim automatically striking me up with a conversation. "Jared tells me you like to read! So do I!" She beams at me and I grinned at her.

"What are you currently reading?" I asked as I sat beside her, Paul sitting on my other side as he places his hand on my knee.

"Just started the Percy Jackson series," Kim chuckles as she curls a piece of hair around her ear.

I nod my head, leaning into Paul as I placed the hand with my engagement ring on top of his on my knee. "That's a good one. I gave them four and a half stars." And that was how we got to talking about books, and what we planned to read or had our eyes on.

It was a few hours later when dad walked up to me, a sullen look on his face. "Sorry Laney, I have to go. Got called into work." He gives me a small smile as I stand up to give him a hug. "Congratulations. I hope you take care of her," dad turns to look at Paul, who had a serious look on his face as he did so.

"I promise to take excellent care of her, Chief," Paul nods, shaking dad's hand. Dad nods his head, smiling at me again before walking over to where Bella and Jacob were sitting, talking quietly amongst themselves. I watched as Bella tried to stand up and leave with dad, only to get pulled back down by Jacob - probably reassuring dad that he would take her home.

"Too bad. I think your dad would have benefited from hearing about the legends," Jared mentions off-handedly and I had to agree with him. Though I knew dad wasn't a man who would believe in this stuff willingly. He would need sufficient proof that werewolves and vampires existed.

After dad leaves, Billy gathers everyone around for the legends. Cuddling into Paul's side, I listened with intrigue - watching as Billy starts to weave a grand tale. Dad was right about one thing, Billy had the flare for story telling. Not just with this in particular, but with everything as a whole. It had always made me smile whenever Billy told one of his stories.

Every now and then I would glance over at Bella, seeing the tense look that was one her face. This tale did not depict her vampires in a good light, and she was beginning to realize that now. Or at least, I had hoped she would. Though by the end of the story she just looked put off, and had risen from her seat - rushing out of the bonfire like a wolf was after her. And, after a while, there was one in the name of Jacob Black who chased after her to see what was wrong.

"Well that was weird," Jared comments, furrowing his eyebrows as he glanced over at me. I shrugged, not knowing what was wrong with my younger sister, though I did have a hunch it was about the story that was just being told.

"Elaine," a soft voice called over to me, and I turned to see Billy wheeling himself over - a sullen look on his face. It was clear that he hadn't meant for Bella to rush out of here like that, but it wasn't his fault. "Congratulations on the engagement." He tells me softly, and I smile at him - nodding in thanks. "Do you think... do you think you could talk to Bella about her relationship with the Cullen's? Maybe make her see reason?" He prompts and I sighed, sitting up straighter as I looked Billy in the eye. The other elders were watching us curiously, wondering what I was going to say to that.

"Billy, I don't think anything I say to Bella will sway her mind," I admitted openly, wincing. "She's set on her ways. I think... I think when Edward left her that would have been a key indicator that he wasn't good for her, but she doesn't see it that way. And anything that I say now won't change her mind. She'll just think I don't like him, which I don't," I shrugged, earning some chuckles among the crowd, "but that won't get her to stay away from them either." That would be like her telling me to stay away from Paul, and I wasn't going to do that to her and force her to choose a side.

When I knew it would always be them.

Pursing his lips, Billy nodded his head. "That is a fair argument," he sighs sadly, giving me a knowing look. "You're a good sister, Elaine. Don't let her say anything different." He tells me, patting my knee as he wheels himself away to join the elders again.

If his own family couldn't even sway her to stay human, who else would? Was what I wanted to say. When deep down, I knew nothing would get Bella to change her mind about her decision.

And that it was going to cause a whole hell of a lot of problems for everyone else, not including her.