Every Time It's you 27

“Thank you for your help Isabella.” Sam said as Isabella had finished training with the wolves. The vampire had been an immense help and Sam now felt less fearful for his pack going into the fight. “You have helped us more than we could have ever imagined.”

“It’s no problem.” Isabella waved away his thanks. “It was only right to help you.”

“Still we are beyond grateful.” Sam told her.

“It was an honor to help such a group of hardworking shifters. You wouldn’t believe how many are dismissive of me because I am a vampire.” Isabella said.

“I can imagine.” Sam thought back to their first meeting with Isabella. He and the others had been insulted by the way she acted towards them but now that he knew her better he understood that was just how Isabella was. She got overexcited by new things. “We know you wish to leave after the fight so the elders were wondering if you wouldn’t mind speaking to them before you leave today.”

“That wouldn’t be a problem with me. How about you Rosalie?” Isabella asked Rosalie.

“I don’t mind.”Rosalie would rather not have to hang out with the wolves but knew it was only fair that they got their turn with Isabella.

“They originally were planning on having a bond fire and throwing a feast in your honor but as you told us you couldn’t eat for a couple days they canceled.” Sam still found it amazing that Isabella had a way for vampires to eat human food.

“Yes we sampled seafood this time.” Isabella had enjoyed the food and knew her coven and the queens would as well. Alice had been nice enough to go to the store and buy some for them to freeze so she could take it home.

“I myself am partial to red meat.” Sam said as he led Isabella and Rosalie into Billy’s home where the three elders and Jacob Black were hanging out in the living room.

“Isabella thank you for coming to see us. We know you probably have a lot of things to do before the battle but are grateful you took some time to meet with us.” Billy motioned to the couch. “Take a seat.”

“Thank you.” Isabella sat in the middle of the couch next to Sue with Rosalie on the other side of her. She knew Rosalie wasn’t that comfortable with the wolves so she figured she would be happier the further away from them she was.

“No it should be us who is thanking you.” Quill said. “We had always thought we were strong enough to take on any threat and didn’t believe that anyone could teach the pack to be better wolves but you have not only helped us with that but you have given us a chance to heal any wounds they may sustain during the fight easily with the two vials you gave us. We are forever in your debt.”

Isabella waved away their thanks. “I’ve told you before helping you was the right thing to do. As for the serums, giving them to you was no great loss. I carry a few extra and after the fight is over I will gladly give you any unused ones I have left before I leave.”

“That would be wonderful.” Sue was happy that Isabella was offering the vials to them and not the vampires. They all knew Carlisle was a doctor so there was no doubt that he would probably want them. She was happy that Isabella seemed to understand the wolves needed them more.

“I have more at home and if I run low I can always make more.” Isabella told them.

“Do you know how to make all the serums you carry?” Sam asked.

Isabella nodded. “Luckily I have a vampire’s memory so when I learn of something that would be beneficial I try to find out how it’s made. If I’m able I bring the ingredients home so we can reproduce it ourselves but that isn’t always possible because the only living things I can bring home are plants.”

“Well we have a couple things we would like to gift you as a token of appreciation and friendship.” Billy stood up and made his way to the kitchen where they left the items for Isabella. He was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that he could walk and move around freely. Since regaining the ability he had taken to walking and running everywhere he had to go.

“You don’t have to give me anything.” Isabella hoped it wasn’t extravagant because it seemed like the wolves weren’t doing that well for themselves if the beat up furniture and house desperately in need of repair meant anything.

“We know but we wanted to do something for you anyway.” Sue said as Billy came back in the living room.

Billy held out a journal to Bella. “We had some of our legends transcribed into a book for you. We thought they might be of help if you encountered other versions of us in different dimensions.”

“That is truly thoughtful thank you.” Isabella said.

“Not only do we have the book for you but we have this as well.” Billy handed Bella a leather pouch that was decorated with different colored beads.

Bella took the pouch and opened it pulling out a necklace with a silver crest of a howling wolf adorned with different gems as decoration. “This is gorgeous but way to much. I can’t accept this.”

“No we want you to have this. It’s our tribal crest and once the wolves shift each get it tattooed on their arms to prove they are a part of this pack. We now consider you an honorary member so it’s only right that you have a way to display your place amongst us.” Billy told her.

“I will cherish this always.” Isabella handed the necklace to Rosalie. “Would you please put this on.”

“No problem.” Rosalie took the necklace and secured it around Isabella’s neck. She was surprised that the wolves had given such a symbolic gift to Isabella and wondered what other kind of things people she encountered gave to her.

Once it was secured around her neck Isabella stood and gave Billy a hug. Sue stood and hugged her as well followed by Quill. “Thank you for this gift. I promise if I return I will bring more items for you that I think will be helpful. I have some other serums that are beneficial to shifters that I think would be useful for your tribe.”

“We don’t expect you to bring us anything but we will welcome whatever you do.” Billy knew that he couldn’t decline any gift that Isabella offered them because they would be just to valuable for them to pass up. The fact she was willing to give them more of the healing serum was going to be a great help and he couldn’t imagine what else she had to offer them.

“It’s really no problem. I just don’t know when I will get the chance to come back. I’m hoping next time I will get to choose and not be pulled here unexpectedly.” Isabella said.

“I hope you get to choose as well.” Sue would really like the chance to see Isabella again. Since being told by her that female shifters were considered gifts from the gods Sue had already noticed the change in the way her daughter had been treated. It was because of that Leah had been more happy and relaxed. Sue had started to see glimpses of the old Leah and she would be forever grateful to Isabella for making that possible.

“Well I would like to stay longer but I promised the vampires that I would do some training with them.” Isabella wanted to get to that soon so she would have some down time before the fight.

“We won’t keep you then.” Billy held out his hand for Isabella to shake. “If and when you do come back know that you have an open invitation to visit anytime.”

“Yeah and maybe you could bring the hover bike back to.” Jacob wanted another chance to use it. He hoped that Isabella would be able to bring them one as well but Isabella had mentioned that she hadn’t gotten it from her home dimension so Sam had told them not to ask.

“I’ll see what I can do.” Isabella wasn’t going to promise anything because the ownership of the hover bike was still up in the air.

“Let me walk you out.” Sam offered. When they reached the porch he gave Isabella a hug. “I know this isn’t goodbye yet but if I don’t get the chance to say it before you leave it has been good knowing you and an honor to fight by your side.”

“Thank you Sam. I’ll see you on the battlefield.” Isabella waved her goodbye and walked next to Rosalie towards the woods.

Once they got clear of others hearing Rosalie spoke. “Do you think they will all make it out of this alive?”

“I do and not only because I’m going to make sure of it. The wolves are ready. You saw them today and they were just doing a couple run throughs not even trying that hard.” Isabella was more than confident that the wolves would be standing tall when all of this was over.

Rosalie had been impressed with the drills the wolves ran through with Isabella. They seemed a lot more coordinated and moved more fluidly and less like stumbling dogs like Rosalie had been used to seeing them. It was obvious that the training Isabella had been doing with them had paid off. “They do seem to be working well together. How are they going to be used in the fight?”

“I plan on using them to flank both sides of the field. Our main army will be at the front facing the newborns head on while our group will come in from behind and trap them from all sides. That way no one will be able to leave. Liam of course will probably work out the specifics but that’s what I would do.” Isabella wasn’t going to be the main voice in planning but was more than willing to offer suggestions to help make sure everyone was in the perfect spot.

“I think you should be the one to plan all of it not Liam. He doesn’t have the experience with fighting with all of us like you do.” Rosalie would rather follow Isabella than Liam. Not only did she trust her friend’s opinion more but Isabella had experience with all of the vampires on their side in many different situations. It would make sense for her to put everyone where she thought they would be most effective.

“You aren’t my people so it isn’t proper for me to have a place of power amongst you.” Isabella said.

“You have said that before but what do you mean?” Rosalie asked.

“It means that I know the repercussions of taking control of certain situations.If I just came in and told all of you what to do and how to train then none of you would be able to fall into your natural roles once I’ve left.”Isabella explained. “That’s why I didn’t want to be in charge of training. There have been times where I have had to and most of those end with the warriors I train losing not only the respect from their people but the leaders losing self esteem when someone comes in and takes all their control away.”

“That makes sense but it hasn’t been happening with any of us. Everyone is more than happy with you teaching each of us what to do. The two people who were supposed to be in charge of the training both asked you to take their places so I don’t see anyone having hurt feelings.” Rosalie had witnessed the exact opposite happen. It seemed everyone was more than happy that Isabella was teaching them. The fact that they had all made great progress and were completely different fighters than when they started was more than enough proof of Isabella’s worth. That wasn’t even mentioning all the things she had taught them about themselves.

“That I assure you doesn’t happen often. It also matters who is around when I train others. Like if Edward were here he would be totally against me teaching him anything. Which is too bad because I know a lot about what he could actually do with his gift if he put the effort into it.” Isabella said.

“Does he have the same personality in each dimension?” Rosalie wondered what each of the others were like when Isabella met them.

Isabella shook her head. “No in some he is actually an outstanding individual. I find it corresponds with whether he meets my other self when she is human. For some reason he has a very bad reaction to meeting his singer and it seems like it fractures his mind. I have had many discussions with others on why that is but all that we could come up with without further study is that somehow the smell of my blood seems to change him.”

“How are the ones that you have met that haven’t been exposed to a human you?” Rosalie didn’t think that was the only thing wrong with Edward but she could see that since meeting Bella he had become almost a completely different person. Less trusting, paranoid, short tempered. It would make sense if he was fighting to not kill his singer.

“The ones I meet that are connected to Carlisle are arrogant and full of themselves. Those are the majority of what I have found. I met one that was humble and lived with a nice coven who were human drinkers. When they inquired about my eyes I taught them all about feeding from animals and they taught me all about Edward’s gift. He doesn’t really have any control of it at all if what he thinks is he can only read the current surface thoughts of those he is around.” Isabella said.

“You mean Edward could be more powerful?” Rosalie asked.

“He has the ability to do as Aro does and know every thought a person has without even touching them. The Edward’s I meet can usually be tricked by thinking of something benign and hiding your actual thoughts. I don’t personally think that most of them should know this so I never go out of my way to teach them.” Isabella knew that making Edward more powerful was just creating trouble when they didn’t need it.

Rosalie tried to wrap her mind around Edward being able to do that to the family. It made her even more grateful that Isabella gave them their blocks. “You once said you could contain his gift. Have you had to do that before?”

“Yes a few times. Not to the one in my dimension but in others I have been asked to do so by his own coven and some of his enemies. You and Tanya are the two who usually request it though.” Isabella told her.

“Why haven’t you done it to your Edward?” Rosalie would have thought he would have been the first one they did it to.

Isabella sighed. “The queens have very strict laws about punishment. They would never allow me to take Edward’s gift without him having broken a law.”

“It sounds like they are fair rulers.” If it had been the kings they would have demanded Isabella take away the gift of anyone that wasn’t allied to them. Rosalie wasn’t sure if Isabella could though. “Can you take the gift away from anyone other than Edward?”

“I can take away most gifts if I put my mind to it. Kate wants me to work on trying to learn how to activate gifts in others but I’m not sure that is possible.” Isabella didn't want to get into that kind of research as it was to much like playing god.

“Do you think it is something that you could eventually learn how to do?” Rosalie couldn’t imagine all the possibilities of what could happen if Isabella was able.

“I don’t know. When I first started learning how to do the blocks I would say no. However after having traveled so much I think if I combined my knowledge of how gifts actually work and the different substances I have come across I think I actually could.” Isabella said.

“That’s incredible.” Rosalie said.

“But not something I’m interested in. I’ve met some so called scientist along the way and most start off with good intentions but almost always cross many lines in pursuit of achieving success.” Isabella never wanted to become corrupted like that. “Let’s get moving. I want to deal with the training so I can have some down time before the fight.

“Do you think you could teach me some more of the tracking skills you showed us when we went after Riley?” Rosalie asked.

“Yeah I’ll just use the trail we left coming here.” Isabella wouldn’t mind doing something that wasn’t fight based. “I can even show you how to travel without leaving obvious tracks so it would make it harder for someone to track you.”

“That would be great thank you.” Rosalie was now happy she asked to come with Isabella to visit the wolves. If she could even learn a tenth of Isabella’s tracking skills she would be able to help out when there was a need to find someone. She had known that the others had been planning to ask Isabella for a lesson as well so Rosalie was happy she got the chance to ask first and would get a personal lesson. She understood everyone’s want to learn from Isabella but Rosalie was feeling selfish. She wanted her friend all to herself. Time was running out and Isabella would be going home soon so Rosalie wanted to get as much time together as she could. Pushing her annoyance at the others out of her mind Rosalie focused on what Isabella was telling her. She would have to find an excuse to have some alone time with Isabella later. She mentioned she wanted some down time before the fight and Rosalie hopped that meant that Rosalie could spend it with her.