After everyone else had departed the pack meeting, Damon and Carson sat in the room in silence. Carson is an American man in his mid-forties and Damon in his late thirties . Although they have some age gap they are like sorn brothers. Damon has a hulk like frame which dwarfed his otherwise perfectly normal, average-sized friend Carson seated beside him. Damon with his short beard and long wavy hair, looked like he belongs in another time and place, maybe trapping furs and forging new frontiers through the Alaskan wilderness. Carson's buttoned-down appearance and glasses made him appear more at home in a modern, glass-walled office building.

Damon also happenes to be a werewolf.

Carson was enjoying the cool evening, but damon looked up and lost himself in the view of mountains in the distance. A few stars already shone above the treeline. The night would be clear for stargazing.

"Explain it to me again, because I don't see the logic," Carson asked.

" It's like this. The worst thing you can do for a young romance is encourage it. Having your parents tell you who you should find attractive is the worst. Sometimes young people want what they can't Damon answered in his deep, throaty voice .

"You should know all about that." He grinned at his friend.

Carson managed a smile at their private joke. In the thirty-plus years they'd known each other, only one thing had come close to terminating their friendship — an argument over the woman Carson would eventually marry. But that business had long since been settled. "Yeah, okay," he admitted.

"And Bella is feeling trapped here," Damon explained.

"She's headstrong. She gets that from you, you know. More'n likely, she'll go without your permission anyway. So, if she brings it up, let her go to California. Support her choice. See how it plays out for a while."

Truthfully, Damon admired Carson's daughter for her spirit and energy. Isabella or for them Bella was a force of nature. If he was a younger man... but Damon stopped his thoughts well before he wandered into fantasy. Everytime he sees her his desires becomes more prominent, it was good for him to stay away from her.

"You mean the scholarship she applied for without telling us and still thinks I don't know about," Carson said with irritation.

"What if she never comes back? What if she falls in love with someone there? Or gets pregnant or falls in with the wrong crowd? There's so many ways this could go wrong."

Damon laughed and shook his head. "Bella has always been responsible. Her outburst tonight... she had some good points. Forcing her to marry Connor --"

"I'd never force her. I just think she's not seeing the big picture. She's being selfish. And rude to Connor, quite frankly."

Damon huffed. "My nephew has looks, but he's kind of a moron when it comes to girls. I don't blame her for putting her foot down. Connor can win her over, in time. He just... needs to grow up a little."

Carson sighed. "Connor's fine. He's just young. So is she. All couples have to work at the relationship. They'd get used to each other if she just gave him a chance."

"She gave him a chance last year and he royally screwed it up," Damon laughed tiredly.He really don't want to Bella to became the wife of his scum nephew who cheated on her.

Carson said nothing. This part was true. He picked a piece of grass off of his pants and flicked it away.

Damon continued, "Besides, this is her home. And you're her family. She loves it here. She loves being outdoors, loves the animals, the trees, the fishing. She even likes snow. You think she'll be happy in a big city, and one that far south? Her whole goal is to work for the Pack Service. She'll be back. And in the meantime, I'll work on Connor."

He put a hand on Carson's shoulder. "She'll be okay. She will."

Carson just shook his head. Having his daughter leave home, to go so far away, to trust her to handle herself, and trust that she would return; it was a lot to ask. So much could happen to her. He peered at his friend,

"Since when did you become the smart one?"

"Maybe all your lecturing over the years finally sunk in," Damon answered with a grin. "Or cooling my ass in jail a few times actually did me some good."

"Damon, you should settle down now" Carson said hopelessly.. He has been urging him for almost 20 years. If not for him he should have been...

"Please don't start, it's not your fault " Damon laughed.

"Now get ready to say goodbye Bella for a bright future "

To be continued....

Isabella had her nose in a textbook. Her first year of classes in California had been tough and they wouldn't get any easier before the semester was over. She had been afraid, at first, of being on her own in a new city, but she managed herself pretty well. She was proud of how hard she had worked. Her work ethic and common sense had even managed to impress a couple of notoriously tough professors.

She kept in regular touch with her family back home. Her father had given her everything that would ease her life in an unknown place . Shockingly, her parents never brought up her engagement or asked when she would move back home or anything. They insisted her to fly back for the summer but Bella thought she should take a job, and they agreed as it was the sensible thing to do. They asked about college, they asked if she was dating, but they gave her her freedom to grow up. She sometimes wondered why they were doing this, but she didn't dare to question it.

A knock at the door interrupted her studies. Still muttering passages from her textbook to herself, she got up and looked through the peephole.

You have got to be kidding me. She was surprised to see the person knocking the door.

She opened it. "Connor? What are you doing here?"

"Surprise!" he said, greeting her with a toothy grin. It was the same old Connor. "Look! Flowers." He took a small bouquet of yellow daisies from behind his back.

Connor had never brought flowers when they were officially dating. Bella laughed and accepted them. As she held them in her hands and inhaled their scent, she realized they really did brighten her mood.

"Thank you, Connor! "

"You are not going to welcome me in?" He asked slyly.

"Okay, since you've come all this way," she said, shaking her head, "you may as well come in."

"Thanks! Wow, what a shithole," Conner remarked, dropping his duffle bag just inside the door.

It was true. Her apartment was terrible. It badly needed paint and the carpet was stained. It was full of old furniture that she'd either picked up off the street or found in thrift stores. She Had made a genuine effort at fixing it up, but there was not any lack of professional maintenance.

"Yeah, yeah, okay. So, what are you doing here? Did my dad sent you?" She sniffed the flowers again.

"No way. I came down here because I missed you. How've you been, Bell?"

Bella faked a bright smile and said "I've been good. Making mostly A's. What have you been up to?"

"Mostly A's?" Connor lowered his voice suggestively. "Did you blow your professors? C'mon, you can tell me."

Bella pinched the bridge of her nose. He was going to drive her insane if he stuck around for more than an hour. "No, I did not blow my professors. Most of them are women this semester anyway, so—"

Connor sucked in air like he'd stumbled on just his favourite fantasy "Oooh, that's hot. I would love to visit them"

"You and your dirty fantasies ". Bella replied sternly, "I swear Connor, I don't care how long it took you to get here, I will toss that duffle bag right out the door."

Connor laughed, "No, but seriously, can I crash here for a while? I really want to see the city anyway, so..."

"No ,you can't " She interrupted him.

"Seriously? where can I go now? Please Bell..."

Bella tapped her fingers on the door frame and took a long moment before she answered. She squinted her eyes as she studied him with deep suspicion. "Okay. But ground rules first. No grabbing my ass. No fondling my boobs or snapping my bra strap. No surprising me in the shower. And if I catch you sniffing my underwear-"

"When they are on or off?" Before Bella could yell at him, Connor laughed, "Okay, okay, sorry. Rules accepted. Now, I haven't had anything to eat all day except chicken sandwich and shitty airline food, and I'm a werewolf. So... where's the nearest place that serves delicious ribs?"

"I can't afford to eat out. I have some ramen—"

"No worries. My parents gave me spending money. It'll be my treat."

"But.." Bella hesitated. Not counting cafeterias or fast food, she had not eaten out in a real restaurant in a long time. "This is not a date."

Connor put his hands up in surrender and grinned. "Not a date."

Isabella and Connor spent the next week hanging out during her free time. He never pressured her for anything, never brought up old business, just talked and hung out. Truthfully, he seemed more excited to explore a new place than to see her, which was fine. She strongly suspected someone had sent him down to check on her, but he never brought it up and she never pressed on the subject. Doing so would mean bringing up the whole issue of marriage and both of them knew where that subject lead.

That Friday, Connor insisted on dressing up and going out. He surprised her by pulling a pair of dark slacks, a white shirt, a belt, and a tie out of his duffle bag. Feeling in a certain mood, she slipped into a short floral dress with a flirty little skirt and thin shoulder straps. She also insisted very seriously, "this was still not a date". Connor agreed.

They enjoyed a beautifully prepared meal in a romantic little Italian place, but Isabella wouldn't have guessed that from the way her dinner companion behaved. Bella would never have told him this, but the way he ate reminded her of an overexcited family dog. She watched in awe and amusement as Connor spooned up large helpings of gelato and sucked them down.

 "Oh my god, why is this so much better than regular ice cream?" he blurted out. He'd already finished a plate of spaghetti and meatballs and an entire basket of garlic bread by himself, and now she would have to duel him with her spoon if she wanted any more of the dessert.

Mack duged in and helped herself to a large spoonful, then closed her eyes as she took her time to savor the rich vanilla. It had been a while since she'd had a treat like this.

Connor stopped moving as his gaze locked on her mouth. His lips parted as he watched her lick the thick white cream off with her pink tongue. Red-headed, pale, freckled girls who sucked their spoons clean would now be one of his many weaknesses. He set his own utensil down.

"You know, Bell, there is a reason I came all the way down here," he said, his voice soft and full of meaning.

Oh no. Here it comes. she thought, but also helped herself to another spoonful of gelato.

"I have something very important to tell you." Connor gently took the spoon from her hand and laid it down. He clasped both of her hands adoringly in his own.

No. No no no no no. Mack didn't fight his attempt to hold her hands, but pressed her lips together and braced herself for his next attack.

"I... wanna bang you so hard." Connor held his deadpan expression expertly as he dropped the punchline.

Mack sputtered, laughing.

Connor laughed too with serious tone. "I mean it! I've been so good all week, just watching you walk around your apartment in thin t-shirts and no bra and all I can think about is how easy it would be to yank down your yoga pants and ram it in. I want to bend you over this table right now and..." He let go of her hands and started rudely gesturing, slamming his hands together. He punctuated each slap with unf unf unf sound effects.

Bella grabbed his hands and shushed him while still trying not to laugh too loudly. She blushed outrageously. "Oh my god! We're in a nice restaurant! Please stop."

Connor giggled and switched to a whisper. "I'm so serious. I just wanna, like, watch your breasts bounce while I pound you. Uncle Damon told me about this one trick where you rub the girl's clit while y—"

Bella cut him off with a harsh whisper of her own, "You... Are... The... Worst. And you never paid attention to my clit when we were together. I don't even think you could find it with both hands and a headlamp."

"You wanna try me? I've picked up a few moves." Connor asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

Bella blushed again. She pressed her lips together and breathed through her nose. Should she? On the one hand, it was a really bad idea. On the other, it was an even worse idea. In spite of the fact that their families expected her to someday submit to him as his mate, she knew there was no hope for a future with Connor. But he was cute, had a nicely muscular chest and dark hair that swept his eyes. And she hadn't had sex since... well, since that one guy she hooked up with after she walked in on Connor getting head from some girl at a party two years ago.

"The only way I'm fucking you is with a condom."

Connor's face immediately brightened. Was that the only catch? "Okay!"

Connor paid for dinner and they quickly left the restaurant, both of them feeling a little flushed and heady with anticipation. Once on the sidewalk, Connor's hand slipped down to give her ass a little squeeze through her thin sundress. Bella giggled.

Too wrapped up in themselves, they never even noticed they were being stalked..