The next day, Maya and her dad sat at their usual table in the Diner after school as they did every Friday, chatting as they waited for Bella to arrive.
"Hey, sorry I'm late. Biology project" Bella said as she took her seat.
Maya rolled her eyes at this, knowing full well that what really happened was that Bella got caught up with Edward and lost track of time. The two were truly in their "honeymoon" phase that all new couples went through. She did not begrudge them that, though she did hate that Bella was lying to their dad instead of just admitting that she had a boyfriend.
Their dad though simply gave a nod of acceptance at her excuse. "I ordered you the Spinach Salad. I hope that's okay" he said as Cora came over with their plates.
"You should order one for yourself next time. Cut back on the steak."
Maya fake gagged at Bella's comment. While she had nothing against salads, she had no idea how someone could live off them as Bella seemed to be attempting to do.
(Author's note: no offence to people who love salads, I do to, Maya's just a carnivore who needs her meat)
"Hey, I'm as healthy as a horse" their dad argued, sending Maya a smile at her reaction, sharing the girl's opinion.
As Cora finished setting down the food, she straightened and cleared her throat, the other tables growing silent around them. "Say Chief, boys wanna know, did you find anything down by Queets River today?"
Charlie let out a sigh, knowing that there was no point in keeping quiet about it as word would get out eventually. "Yeah, we found a bare human foot print, but it looks like whoever that is is headed east, so Kitsap County Sheriff is gonna take over from here."
A frown settled on Maya's face at the news. Though she knew her dad was aware that it was no animal she worried for him and felt guilty that she couldn't tell him any more about what exactly he was up against. She had been determined to keep all the details to herself so no one could accuse him of knowing too much. However, with all the time that he had been spending out in the woods tracking them and given that they had left a foot print, either by accident or on purpose, she knew it was becoming too dangerous for him to not know what he was up against. Even if this group was moving on, there was no grantee that another might not pass through later and she wanted him to be prepared. As such she reluctantly decided to tell him more of the truth the minute they got home.
"Okay. I just hope they catch him fast" Cora replied, apparently accepting that it was out of their hands and moving off to check on her other customers. Everyone else seemed to accept his answers as well, as conversations resumed around the Diner.
As the family began to eat their food, movement outside the window caught Maya and her dad's eye and they looked up to see Mike shaking his ass at them through the window in some odd dance. Maya curled her lip in disgust, still mad that the boy had yet to get a hint and leave her alone.
"L'idiota dovrebbe fare un favore a tutti noi e morire" Maya muttered angrily to her plate.
"Looks like your friends are flagging you. Its okay if you wanna go join them. I'm just gonna turn in early anyway" their dad said, aiming his comments at Bella, knowing exactly how Maya felt about Mike.
She had made that abundantly clear when she had asked him if he would arrest her for murdering the boy a few weeks ago. Or if a case could be made for self-defence since she would technically only be doing it to protect her sanity.
"Me too" Bella muttered, turning back from glancing at the group in the window behind her.
"Bella, it's Friday night. Go out. Looks like the Newton boy's got a big smile for you" he encouraged, worried for his human daughter. Maya he at least knew talked with and hung out with the Cullens, going shopping and such, but Bella seemed to have no life outside of school. He wanted her to make some good friends that she enjoyed spending time with in the hopes that she might grow to enjoy living in Forks and choose to stay.
Bella shrugged, "Yeah, he's a good buddy."
"What about any of these other yahoos in town? Anybody interest you?"
"Edward" Maya fake coughed, earning a glare and a kick to the shin from Bella as she did. Not that Bella's kick even hurt. One of the perks of being a shifter and all that. But she got the message and went back to her food.
"Dad, we really gonna talk about boys?"
"Yeah, I guess not. I just feel like I leave you alone too much. You should be around people."
"I don't really mind being alone. I guess I'm kinda like my dad in that way" Bella reasoned with a small smile at him, hoping that the supposed shared trait would get him to back off.
It did cause him to move onto other subjects, temporarily dropping the topic, but Maya rolled her eyes at Bella. She honestly thought that Bella was truly oblivious to the world around her sometimes. Their dad was hardly the wallflower Bella made him out to be. On weekends, when he was free, he went fishing or hunting with his friends, in the evenings he watched a lot of the games with Billy and/or Harry, attended neighbourhood barbecues in the summer, and anytime he ate at the diner he always ran into a friend to chat with for a while. Yes, his work recently demanded a lot from him so he often just went home to crash early, but when he had the chance, he did still make an effort to see his friends. Which made Maya wonder just how little attention Bella had been paying their father if she had not even noticed that about him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By the time they had arrived home, Maya had grown quiet as she contemplated how to warn her father without telling him too much. Glancing over at Bella, she also wondered how to tell him if Bella was there. She knew Bella now knew about vampires, but due to the promise she made herself to look out for Bella more, she wanted to keep her out of it. Fortunately, luck seemed to be on her side as the minute they got home Bella headed upstairs to her room.
As her dad moved to the living room to watch the game, she called out to him. "Hey dad, can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure Sweetheart. What do you need?"
"Well, its about the animal attacks ... you do know that its not an animal, right?"
He let out a sigh at that, "yeah Sweetheart, I figured that out when Waylon was killed remember? Its one of your 'special friends', isn't it? Like the ones in Italy?"
Maya just nodded as she swallowed, worried that her dad may be upset that she hadn't told him. "Are you mad I haven't told you anymore about them?" she asked in a quiet voice.
"Oh no, I'm not mad. I know there are rules about what I can know. I would never blame you for trying to follow them. Especially if it is to protect someone." He pulled her into a hug then and began to rub her back comfortingly.
As Maya relaxed into his hold, she felt her guilt rise. Wondering just how understanding he would be if those rules killed his biological daughter.
They both pulled back after a few minutes, Maya swiping at her watering eyes. "You are being careful right dad? You know these guys are more dangerous than any human or animal? That a gun won't be able to harm them at all?"
"Always am" he reassured with a smile. He was a little shocked to realize that guns wouldn't work at all though. He had figured that it may at least slow them down and it worried him that he had been bringing others out into the woods virtually unarmed. "But is there anything else you can tell me about these guys? I know the police won't be able to stop them, but can I help in anyway or do something to keep people safe?" He knew the chances were small that he could help, but he also knew there was nothing he could do to call off the hunt and wanted to make sure that no one else got hurt if possible.
Maya just shook her head. "There are laws that state that we can't expose ourselves to humans, so keeping people out of the woods is probably your best bet. Or at least staying in large groups if you have to be in the woods, no one will want to risk leaving a witness behind. As for this group, we know that there are three of them travelling together and we are confident that if anything happens, we can take them. But right now, they appear to be leaving. Last we saw of them they were leaving the county and should be gone completely in a day or two. Our hope is that we can avoid a conflict and just let them leave without becoming aware of our presence here."
Her dad nodded his head in acceptance. He had known that there was nothing he would be able to do to help, but it didn't stop him from wishing there was. Especially when his daughter talked about joining in the fight if it came to that. "Alright. But you promise to let me know if that changes, yeah?"
"I promise daddy" Maya said with a smile, mentally praying that this could all be resolved peacefully.
"Alright then. Off to bed with you. And you tell that boy of yours that if he keeps you up we will be having words" He warned, although he was partially teasing.
She went scarlet at that. "Wh-what do you mean?"
"Please" he sent her look that dared her to lie to him, "we both know that boy sneaks in almost every night. You two are not as subtle as you think with your giggling and talks. Especially recently, you two have been getting careless."
"You never said anything!" Maya was mentally reviewing all the conversations they had had, wondering just what exactly her father had heard.
"Don't worry, I never caught anything you were saying. But just keep in mind, I am only okay with this because you two are soulmates or whatever your mothers called it and they assure me he is a gentleman. You try sneaking anyone else in and I will shoot them."
"You told my moms about this?" Maya asked in disbelief.
"Yes. I wanted more information about what this bond of yours entailed so I knew you were not being pressured into anything against your will."
He said it so simply, as if it was just the natural thing for him to do. But to Maya, who had worried over the years about her differences eventually scaring him off, it meant the world. To know that her father not only accepted her for what she was, but went out of his way to try and understand her better, meant more to her than she could ever express.
She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly as a few tears fell down her cheeks. "Thank you Daddy for being the best dad any child could ask for" she whispered.
He patted her back awkwardly, not really understanding what had caused this. "Of course, Sweetheart. Now off to bed with you, before I change my mind and drive that boy out of my house" he teased.
She laughed at him, "you wouldn't. You like watching the games with him too much."
He gave a grunt, unable to deny that and merely waved her off, turning towards the TV to watch his game.
She got ready for bed and headed into her room, taking note of the fact that Jasper was laying spread out on her bed with a book which made her smile.
"You do know that my dad knows you're here, right?" she teased.
He raised an eyebrow at her. "No, I wasn't aware of that. Is he going to chase me out?"
"Nah, he likes you too much for that" Maya assured him as she climbed into bed with him. "But he did threaten to shoot you if you keep me up late and don't let me sleep."
"Well then, I shall have to ensure that you are getting a good night's sleep every night. After all, I would hate to ruin my relationship with him" Jasper said in mock contemplation.
Maya giggled at him, shuffling around to get comfy. "Mm, yes, that would be terrible. Although he did mention that we were getting careless and he was hearing us more."
Jasper rolled his eyes at that. "That's not me Darlin'. That's Edward. He began sneaking in to watch Bella sleep weeks ago, and now that she knows about us, he has stopped trying to be as sneaky this past week."
"Really? He just watched her sleep without her knowing?" Maya scrunched her nose at that. "That is like totally creepy and stalkerish."
"Yeah, Esme was really disappointed in him when she found out."
Maya laughed quietly at that. "Ooh, I bet he got the patented look of parental disapproval. You know the 'I'm not angry just disappointed' face that all parents seem to be able to pull."
"He definitely did" Jasper assured her with a smile. "Although right now we are definitely getting glared at. Edward is in Bella's room right now and can hear everything we are saying. I can also sense a lot of anger coming off him."
"Oh God," Maya moaned, picking up on their conversation in Bella's room now that Jasper brought her attention to it. "Is he really admitting to stalking her as she sleeps? And is she really finding it okay?"
"I don't think I can really judge Darlin'. I used to come by at night that first week to make sure that you were okay" Jasper admitted sheepishly.
"Yeah, but I already knew that" Maya brushed off. At his look of confusion, she explained, "Cat shifter, remember? I picked up your scent in my room every morning. Its why you magically began finding my window left open. I didn't want you to have to continue picking the lock on our back door. So, you basically had an open invitation and were not technically sneaking in."
"Wait, let me get this straight. You knew I was sneaking in at night to see you, a man you barely knew, and you decided that the best course of action was to leave your window open for easier access?" Jasper looked at her in disbelief and a little bit of anger at her recklessness.
She blushed. "Well, when you put it that way it sounds bad, but I knew you were my imprint and would never hurt me so I figured it was okay. Otherwise, I totally would have kicked your ass for it. Besides I noticed pretty quick that when you began dropping by I slept a lot better, so ..." She trailed off with a careless shrug.
He shook his head at her thought process. He was glad to know that he brought her comfort like that, but the careless way she acted about her safety worried him. "Go to sleep Darlin', I won't have your father accuse me of keeping you up. But know that we will be talking more about your impulsive decisions later. I love you so much and don't want anything to happen to you because of a decision like this, okay."
"M'kay Jasper" she said as she yawned tiredly. "I love you too" she murmured as she began to drift off. She felt him place a kiss on the top of her head as he wished her goodnight before she fell fully asleep.
Translation:
L'idiota dovrebbe fare un favore a tutti noi e morire – idiot should do us all a favour and drop dead