requite | chapter ten
Word Count: 3.9K
Summary: When everything seems to fall into place in Forks, Washington, a string of mysterious deaths call the attention of both vampires and werewolves in town. As the redheaded vampire returns with her mind set on revenge, (Y/N) and Bella Swan find themselves in the center of danger once again. With secrets still lingering between them about their past best friend, they will find themselves stuck in a whirlwind of love, betrayal, and the hardest choices they’ll have to make. But one thing is certain: no one will go a day without a taste for vengeance.
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One second, Victoria was standing in front of Jacob and Paul, and the next, she was standing a few yards away from the school. She held onto (Y/N) tightly, chuckling as the girl struggled in her grasp. It was all a game to her. There was no way the puny human could escape her unless she wanted her to, but the struggle was delicious—intoxicating even.
“What do you want?” (Y/N) asked, her voice cracking under the weight of Victoria's hand. Oxygen was difficult to take in as the vampire tensed and released her throat as she saw fit, and fear coursed through her body, making her limbs feel numb. “If you're not gonna kill me, why are you here?”
“I just wanted to have a little fun in forbidden land,” the woman chuckled. “Imagine my surprise when I smelled you so close. I couldn't really help myself.”
“You're still not saying why you're here,” she struggled. “Shouldn't you be planning your revenge on the Cullens or something? You have nothing to do in the reservation.”
“Well, toying with the pups is fun. Keeps me on my toes,” Victoria grinned. “But if I had known I'd be crashing such a beautiful party, I would have dressed in my Sunday best. Maybe I could have brought out the same dress I wore for your sister's dance last year.”
Her heart hammered against her sternum, hitting her chest at a punishing pace. The woman had never left Forks. Even when Bella thought she had been safe, the red-headed vampire had been lurking in the shadows. Safety had been a mirage while danger was breathing down their necks, taking its sweet time until it was ready to attack.
“You know what would be hilarious?” the immortal mused, an amused chuckle leaving her lips. “Maybe I don't kill you. But I could turn you. Make you into something the pups can't stand, give you the one thing your sister most wants. Wouldn't that be exciting? All it takes is one simple bite. What do you say, little Swan?”
“Don't you dare put your teeth on her!” Paul exclaimed as he reached them, Jacob following close behind. (Y/N) could see the trembling in his limbs, anger oozing out of every pore on his body. He was itching to phase, to sink his canines into the pale one's neck and rip it apart. But he couldn't. Not when she was holding onto the only person he was destined to always protect. “Get your claws off her and I'll let you go on your merry way, leech.”
“Boo, that's not fun,” she pouted. “I could make things a lot more interesting in seconds. What would you do, mutt? What would you do if I turned your precious little girlfriend into your natural-born enemy? Do you think you two would last if she were one of us?”
“Turn her and it will be the last thing you do.”
“Bold of you to assume you could kill me, pup,” the woman grinned. “I mean, your only backup was more than happy to let little Swan die a few months back. What makes you think he won't do it now?”
The muscles in Paul's jaw clenched, his hands balling into fists that dug into his skin. He wanted to fight, to chase the woman until he either got her or he lost her to the water once again. Her smell made his nostrils burn, and the sight of her made his rage build. But, most of all, he hated that she was right. He couldn't trust Jacob, even if he had come to warn them about Victoria—not after everything he had done. And the thought of (Y/N) being a vampire made his stomach churn. There was no way to know what he would do if she became one of them.
“I don't have to kill you,” the boy said. “Matter of fact, I won't. Not tonight, at least. I will be taking (Y/N) and going, though.”
“Yeah? And how do you plan on doing that?”
Behind Victoria, the bushes started rustling, and a low vibration growl echoed through the forest. She turned suddenly, her eyes widening in surprise as a jet-black wolf walked out, baring his fangs. He wasn't threatening her or even announcing himself. The wolf was warning her. Closely behind, four more wolves appeared, two on each of the alpha's side, slowly circling the vampire and the girl. The woman had nowhere to go, not while she held onto (Y/N).
“Well, I guess that's my cue for tonight,” the vampire sighed. “I really wanted to test out my theory. But I guess it will have to wait. Until we meet again, little Swan.”
Without another thought, Victoria pushed (Y/N) to the ground, sending her directly in front of Jacob's feet before leaping into a tree. The wolves took off behind her, leaving the other three on their own. Jake was quick to try to help the girl up, but Paul's hand swiftly grabbed his wrist. “Don't you dare touch her either,” he seethed. “Today doesn't change what you've done.”
“Paul,” the girl called him in a reprimanding tone. “He was only helping me up.”
“I don't care,” he growled.
“Paul.”
“It's okay, (Y/N),” Jacob said, taking a step back and raising his arms. “I understand where he's coming from. I'll go join the hunt now. Just glad you're safe.”
The boy disappeared into the darkness of the forest, and reality finally sank in. Once more, (Y/N) had been knocking on death's door, and Paul was almost too late to stop it. With trembling hands, he helped the girl to her feet, wrapping her in a tight embrace once he'd deemed her unharmed enough. “You're never leaving my side,” he muttered into her hair. “Until that leech is dealt with, you're not going anywhere without me.”
“That's not feasible, Paul,” she chuckled softly, masking the shakiness of her voice as adrenaline started to drain from her. “School's not over yet.”
“I'll transfer if I have to. I don't care.”
“There's only a couple of weeks left of school,” she said. “The Cullens can look after me during that time.”
“They're of her kind,” he spat. “They couldn't even protect your sister correctly. How could they protect you?”
“Paul, you're not thinking straight. You're still shaking.”
He let out a loud sigh then, taking a moment to gather his bearings. There was no imminent danger, yet his body still reeled with anger. His limbs trembled, the wolf aching to rip through his skin. Paul wanted nothing more than to join in the chase now that he was sure (Y/N) was safe. Wanted his chance to sink his teeth into the immortal leech. He wanted to kill Victoria, and she could tell.
“Take me home, Paul,” (Y/N) whimpered. “Please, I just wanna go home.”
“Yes, of course,” Paul muttered as he wrapped an arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “Let's get you home.”
The ride toward Forks was quiet. The girl was fighting the sleep that threatened to bob her head against the window, and Paul drove with white knuckles on the steering wheel and a jaw so tense (Y/N) thought it would shatter. Neither spoke of the fear that had slipped between them that night, much less of the possibility that hung above them like a dark cloud.
With Victoria lurking in the shadows, planning her revenge, the possibility that she could turn (Y/N) got higher by the minute. There was no treaty that could stop her; much less enough wolves to overpower her. The redhead had enough years under her belt to surpass even Sam. If she truly wanted to, she would have bitten the girl that very night and disappeared, leaving them to deal with the unforeseen consequences. No matter how hard they tried, they had to accept that the vampire was stronger, faster, and more cunning than they had expected.
The driveway was empty save for Bella’s truck when the truck finally rolled to a stop. The silence in the cabin turned uncomfortable as the seconds passed; the unspoken words scratched angrily at their throats. It made the air around them unbearable and quite choking. Sentences threatened to spill, yet they weren't fully formed, unthreaded and messy.
“Paul,” (Y/N) said. At the same time, Paul mumbled, “Ella.”
They shared a soft laugh before Paul motioned to (Y/N) to speak first. “Paul, tonight,” she sighed, “everything could have ended up differently. I could've...”
“Don't say it,” he begged. “Please. Don't even think about it.”
“It was a very possible outcome,” she said, her gaze falling to her lap. “If Victoria had truly wanted to, I would be turning into a vampire right now, Paul. As much as I hate to say this, she has a point. What would you have done? Is there any world out there where we could have survived this?”
“We don't have to talk about it, Ella, because it didn't happen and it's never going to happen.”
“How can you be sure?” she exclaimed. “She had me exactly where she wanted me. If she didn't enjoy the theatrics so much, she could have turned me from the moment she took me away from you. So, I need to know what you would have done, Paul.”
“I don't see how that could be productive,” Paul sighed, running his hands across his face. “It didn't happen, and that's that. We don't have to imagine things that won't happen.”
“Yet, tonight proved that it could. I don't understand why you're so opposed to talking about it,” the girl groaned. “Is it because she was right? We wouldn't survive it.”
“(Y/N)...”
“If I had turned into a vampire tonight, that would have been the end of us,” (Y/N) scoffed defeatedly.
“Of course not! I just...”
“You just wouldn't even be able to stand the sight of me if I turned into one of them. It's not that hard to piece everything together.” Before Paul could say anything, the roar of an engine killed the words that wanted to escape. (Y/N)’s van rolled to a stop behind the Rabbit, a curious Bella glancing at the couple. “I guess we'll table this conversation for later. We'll only tell my sister what she has to know about Victoria—nothing about her threat.”
“(Y/N)...”
“Enough,” she muttered through gritted teeth, watching as Bella walked closer to the truck. “Victoria was there. She grabbed me. The pack scared her off. That's that.”
“Okay,” Paul answered defeatedly. “Yeah. Let's go with that.”
By the time Bella reached them, Paul was helping (Y/N) out of the passenger side. “You guys are here early,” she chuckled. “Was prom that bad?”
“You could say that,” (Y/N) winced, feeling tears forming she didn’t know she was holding. “I just want out of this dress, out of this makeup. And I just want tonight to end.”
The girl walked past her boyfriend hurriedly, ignoring the calls from him and her sister. In that moment, she didn’t want more questions; she didn’t want pity or worry. She simply wanted to sleep the past few hours away and wake up when everything was over.
But she forgot she was the protagonist of a never-ending nightmare. The next day only brought another flurry of problems. One second inside the house, and the next dilemma erupted.
“Stop,” Paul exclaimed, forcing both Swans to stop in their tracks. “A bloodsucker has been here.”
“Well, Edward and Alice have been around the house a couple of times,” Bella explained. “You’re probably smelling them.”
“No. This scent is different,” the boy muttered, his face contorting in disgust. “It’s not a Cullen, and it’s not Victoria. Someone else was here.”
The girls followed Paul slowly up the stairs, their hands tightly grasped as though they could lose each other on the way. They were terrified, not just that a vampire had broken into their home so easily, but that they could have done it when their father was by himself. The sisters didn’t care about themselves; they knew the danger they were in, but Charlie did not deserve to be thrown in the middle of a world he didn’t know existed.
Once the boy did a walkthrough on the second floor, each girl went to their room. They weren’t in disarray, but it was clear things weren’t right.
(Y/N) remembered the way she had left her room that morning. She had thrown her pajamas on the ground after she’d gotten dressed, along with a pair of slippers. Her laundry basket had been filled halfway, but now only a few items were left at the bottom. The jacket she had slipped out of on Friday that she had left hanging on her desk chair was gone, along with her pillow and her favorite sneakers.
Yet those things weren’t what bothered her. Instead, it was the dreamcatcher that no longer hung above her bed. Now, it lay in the middle of her room; the wooden wolf was cracked in half, and the colored beads were strewn across the floor. The broken dreamcatcher should not have sent her into a spiral, but after the night she'd had, it was enough to have her break down.
The girl fell to the ground as gut-wrenching sobs left her throat, her dress pooling around her in a sea of red. She held the pieces of the dismantled gift in her hands, wanting nothing more than the barrage of thoughts to stop. A voice echoed in the back of her mind that the broken dreamcatcher was a sign. Her relationship with Paul was flawed, and a crack had begun to form that night. They had already built themselves onto unsteady foundations, and she was terrified of how easily it had started to shake.
Paul and Bella rushed to (Y/N)’s room at the sound of her crying, falling to their knees on either side of her as they noticed the item in her hands.
“It’s broken,” she croaked, looking at the pieces as though staring at them would magically restore them. “They… they broke it.”
“Hey, it’s okay,” Paul cooed, wrapping his hands over her shaky ones. “I can always get you a new one. It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. It’s…” The words died in her throat as her eyes snapped to the spindles of her headboard. “No, no, no, no…”
The word came out of her mouth like an incantation as she rose from the ground, stumbling over her dress and leaving her sister and boyfriend dumbfounded. She was a madwoman. She ripped away the sheets from her bed, shifted her mattress, unloaded her bedside table drawers on the ground, and even dropped to the ground to check under her bed. (Y/N) ignored the worried calls of Paul and Bella as a new stream of tears opened its floodgates.
For years, she had held onto that leather bracelet, making sure it was safe and intact. She had never let anyone touch it, afraid it would become damaged or somehow snap. Years of care and protection ended in an instant. “It’s gone,” she whimpered. “They took it.”
“Took what, (Y/N)?” Bella questioned. “What’s going on?”
“The bracelet!” (Y/N) exclaimed, looking at the pair with red-brimmed eyes. “It's gone! It's gone!”
She didn't want to believe in signs from the universe. That a stolen bracelet and a broken dreamcatcher could have any meaning to her connection with Paul, but she couldn’t deny the coincidence. The very night she had her first argument with him as a couple and the most priceless gifts he had given her had been torn apart. It was easier to think it had no meaning than to admit the tension that had begun to grow in the past hour.
Bella didn’t know how to comfort her sister. She simply wrapped her arms around her and pulled her close. That’s when she noticed the scratch on her neck, the dirt smudges on her arms, and the slight rip at the bottom of her dress. “What happened tonight, (Y/N)?” the older girl asked quietly as she started to connect her sister’s reactions to the situation. “What’s got you like this?”
“Victoria showed up again,” (Y/N) sniffled. “She went to the school and grabbed me. I was alone with her for like a minute, but Sam showed up with the pack and chased her away.”
“H-how… why is she going after you again?” Bella worried. “It’s me she wants. Maybe I should just…”
“Don’t you dare,” the younger Swan argued, tightening her grip around her sister. “Don’t even think it for a second. We’ll get rid of her. Somehow. Just… don’t do anything stupid.”
“I wouldn't dare,” Bella chuckled softly. “I just wanna make sure you're okay. I'm sorry you have to deal with Victoria because of me. If I had known any of this would happen...”
“Stop, Bells. It's not your fault,” (Y/N) assured.
“What's not her fault?” a sudden voice interjected, startling the girls apart. Edward stood by the entrance, Paul staring him down like he had been the vampire who had broken into the house while they were away. “What is that scent?”
“Another leech like you broke in,” the werewolf spat, taking a few steps to stand right next to (Y/N), acting like a wall between her and the vampire. “You guys sure have a very messed-up view of privacy.”
“Do you recognize the scent?” Bella interjected, knowing there wouldn't be any resolution between the two boys. “Paul says it wasn't Victoria or any of you guys. They took a lot of our personal items—I can’t be sure for what.”
“They had to be looking for something.”
“Looking for us,” she said. “Victoria attacked (Y/N) tonight.”
“Again?” Edward asked in surprise. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah,” the younger girl said. “I'm fine. Just more scared than anything.”
Edward muttered a hm before surveying the room. It was clear he noticed things Bella couldn't, especially about (Y/N)—the way her heart raced when she spoke of Victoria, the bruise forming on her neck, the scent of the redhead all over the girl. “Could be the Volturi,” he muttered. “Although I don't see why they would involve (Y/N) if they were the ones who came here. It doesn't make sense.”
He fished for his phone then, calling his brother Emmett and arranging for him and Jasper to do a search in the surrounding woods. The visitor could have been long gone already, but a small manhunt couldn't hurt, especially to keep the Swans safe. “You guys shouldn’t stay here,” he said as he ended the call. “Especially since we still don’t know if the vampire is going to come back. I’ll take you to the house while Jasper and Emmett sweep the forest, and we can ask Alice if she's seen anything.”
“Like hell you’re taking (Y/N) to your place,” Paul seethed. “I can keep them safe.”
“Right. Because (Y/N) hasn’t gotten hurt under your watch—what—three times now?” Edward retorted. “You’re lucky we’re willing to amend the treaty and allow you to be here, don’t push it.”
Ire bubbled in Paul, growing in bone-shattering tremors. This wasn’t a simple dig at the boy; it was a threat to him. In his eyes, Edward was just another leech trying to get between him and (Y/N), and he couldn’t have that.
“Do you really think it’s necessary to go?” (Y/N) interjected, placing a hand on Paul’s arm in an attempt to calm him down. The touch snapped his attention toward her, but under her palm, he was still shaking. “Do you think they’re really coming back?”
“We can’t be too sure,” he shrugged. “For the moment, we have to assume you two are still in imminent danger.”
“Then I’m taking them to the reservation.”
“The very place (Y/N) was just attacked?” Edward threw kindling to the fire. “Great idea, pup.”
“Say that again!” Paul exclaimed, only held by (Y/N)’s futile attempt at stopping him. “You’re just begging me to break the treaty.”
“I won’t stop you,” he pushed. “Go ahead and give us the green light to cross territories.”
“Are you threatening us right now?”
“I'm not the one who started this fight, mutt.”
“Yet you're surely looking for one, bloodsucker.”
Paul and Edward had taken steps closer with every word they spoke until they were staring each other down, so close their scents were surely burning their nostrils. The vampire was composed, his anger simmering quietly under the surface while the wolf trembled under the weight of his irritation. The boys were only moments away from breaking a decades-long treaty over inflated egos and the fear that the person they loved the most was in danger.
“Okay, that's enough,” Bella said, getting between them both. She motioned toward her sister, and (Y/N) pulled Paul back while Bella did the same with Edward. “If you two want to break the peace and fight, you can do it outside.”
“You're both taking this a little too far,” (Y/N) added. “Edward, why don't you call Alice here. We can think of the next steps here.”
“I don't like this, but if I must,” he conceded with a sigh. “I'll let her know.”
Bella followed Edward out of her sister's room, but not before throwing the girl an apologetic glance her way. Only a few months before, silence reigned in the Swan household. The older girl was stuck in a depressive spiral, and (Y/N) had just come back to Forks. If someone had told them they would be in the middle of a turf war between vampires and werewolves while being hunted by a revenge-hungry vampire, they would have definitely laughed. Now, they had to do their best to mediate between the two worlds that pulled them apart.
“What is up with you?” (Y/N) grumbled in a low voice as she turned toward Paul. “He's just trying to help.”
“And what are you trying to say? That I'm not?”
“You getting angry is not helping, no,” she argued. “We all want the same thing. Why can't you just put your feelings aside and work with the Cullens instead of against them?”
“Are you serious right now, (Y/N)?” he exclaimed, his anger clouding his judgment. “Why the hell are you defending him? Of all people, why him?”
“All I’m saying is that we all want the same thing, Paul,” the girl sighed loudly. While Paul grew angrier, (Y/N) grew more and more frustrated. The dress felt too tight, the pins in her hair felt like they were ripping the strands, her makeup felt like plaster on her face. Everything was just too overwhelming. “You can work with them just this once, instead of letting your anger fly off the handle like that. It won't help to find whoever it is that broke in tonight.”
“I can't believe this,” Paul scoffed. “You know, it's starting to sound like you're on their side. Almost like you wanna be one of them.”
(Y/N) wasn't able to respond before Bella announced that the rest of the Cullens had arrived. In that split second of silence, realization dawned on the boy, but it was too late. She was already at her wits' end, and the last thing she wanted was to keep arguing. “You go down first,” she said. “I want to get out of all of this.”
“(Y/N)...”
“Just go, Paul. I'll be there in a second.”
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A/N: so sorry it took so long to update 🫣 back pain came back with a vengeance and the exhaustion with it. but i do hope you guys like the update. things are starting to heat up, and not in a good way If you’d like to be tagged in this or any other story: click hereMake sure you have my notifications on so you know every time I post!
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