The Unwanted Imprint

Chapter 17

Emmett wanted to go to the reservation and kill Jacob for how he had treated Nichole, but Carlisle held him back. "Maybe it was for the best that this happened, that way no more trouble can be stirred up between us and the wolves."

"There's still Bella." Alice pointed out. "Now that she and Edward are dating, that isn't going to go well with the wolves, either."

When Edward and Bella started dating, it hadn't come as a surprise to any of them. But before they became official, Bella wanted to make sure that it was okay with Nichole. The two girls had gotten even closer, and Nichole was almost like a sister to the Swan girl.

"Bella, of course, I'm okay with it."

The girls were sitting in Bella's room, since Nichole didn't have Jacob anymore, Bella was really one of the only friends that she had, so she was who Nichole spent most of her time with when Bella wasn't doing something with Edward. "I mean, I'm not sure how I feel about him watching you sleep at night, but I'm okay with you dating him, what makes you think that I would be mad at you for it?"

"Because I don't want you feeling like I'm taking Edward away from you, I would never do that, you're my best friend and I would never want to hurt you like that."

"Bella, it's fine, seriously. I haven't since Edward this happy since...well, I don't think that I've ever seen him this happy. And for him to tell you about our family...secrets...that means that he really trusts you, and Edward doesn't trust people easily, so that's how I know you're good."

Bella gave a soft smile. Thunder boomed outside, causing both of the girls to jump, and that was when Nichole's phone rang. "Alice, what's up? Baseball game?" Nichole smirked. "We're in."

"I don't understand," Bella said as they arrived in the clearing that the Cullens had designated as their baseball field. "It's going to be storming any minute, why would you play in this weather?"

"Because this is the only time that my family can play," Nichole explained. "They hit the ball so hard that it sounds like thunder, so playing during a thunderstorm is the best time because it masks the sound of them hitting the ball. I gave up playing a long time ago, because compared to how hard they can hit the ball, I'm like a flea. I usually just cheer on my favorites."

"That would be me!" Emmett called out with a grin, and Nichole rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Keep it up with that ego, and I'll start cheering on someone else."

"You guys always seem to have so much fun together," Bella remarked, and Nichole shrugged her shoulders. "Life would be boring otherwise, especially for them, considering that some of them have lived for hundreds of years, they have to spice up their lives somehow."

"Hey Nichole, you ready to see me pound Emmett into the dirt?" Rosalie said, and Nichole laughed. "You do that, and I'll be your best friend for life."

Rosalie laughed before looking at Bella, and the smile on her face disappeared and she turned away.

"Why does Rosalie hate me?" Bella asked in a quiet voice, and Nichole sighed softly. "She doesn't hate you, Bella. Rosalie...she just isn't the fondest of humans. It's nothing that you've done, humans remind her of what she lost. Trust me, she treated me the same way when I first came along, things between us have only gotten better recently. Once she warms up to you, she'll be the best, most protective friend that you could ever ask for."

The game went on for a while, and Nichole playfully booed whenever Emmett got a run in. That was when she saw someone enter the clearing. "Carlisle!" She called out.

There were three people in the clearing, one of them had the baseball that had just been hit, and he threw it to Carlisle at a lightning-fast pace, which made Nichole realize that these weren't ordinary humans. "Bella, get behind me," Nichole muttered. "Right now."

"Why? Who are those people?"

"Those aren't people, I think that they're vampires."

Jasper came over to Nichole's side in a flash, and Edward did the same with Bella.

"Could you use three more players?" One of the players asked. He had chocolate skin and dark hair, while the other two had paler skin, and the woman among them had hair that looked like it was on fire.

"Of course," Carlisle responded, and Nichole's eyes went wide.

"I think that you and Bella should wait by the cars," Edward murmured, and Nichole nodded her head, taking Bella by the hand and walking towards the vehicles with her.

"What's going on?" Bella asked as Nichole went to Emmett's Jeep, digging around in the glove box until she had found what she had been looking for: a hunting knife.

Suddenly, the pale man, James, was closer to Nichole and Bella than he had previously been, his nose sniffing at the air. "You brought snacks."

"Shit..." Nichole whispered.

In an instant, the Cullens had surrounded Bella and Nichole.

"The girls are with us," Carlisle said.

"We aren't going to harm them." The dark man, Laurent said, trying to reassure Carlisle.

"I think that it would be best if you left," Carlisle said, and Laurent nodded his head. "Yes, I think that we'll be leaving now. James?"

But James didn't move, he kept his eyes on the girls until Laurent put a hand on his shoulder, and the three vampires left the clearing.

"Get Bella out of here," Carlisle stated. "We'll follow them."

Bella and Nichole were quickly herded into the Jeep.

"James is a tracker," Edward said as he drove as fast as he could back towards the house. "I saw his mind. We're a powerful clan, all protecting two humans. I think that we just made this his most exciting hunt ever."

Nichole and Bella shared a look, and Nichole bit her lip. It seemed that things never ended for them, did it?