While You Were Gone Chapter 10 Teaser

I'm a fail with writing lately... huge apologies. Between the holidays and an awesome block, I haven't had much time to write. And when I did, I just stared at the doc blankly. Annoying ;)

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I shook my head. “I need your help with an… experiment of sorts.” It was a partial truth. Alice and I simply needed her out of the main house to show her the surprise we’d all spent the last few days working on for her. Bella was usually not a fan of surprises; however, I had a feeling that this specific baby gift would be well received.

Her brow furrowed. “An experiment?”

“It requires you to get up, though,” I teased.

“I’ll get up,” she protested, yawning again. “Maybe.”

I chuckled. “So I was thinking about your DNA…” I started, awaiting her reaction. She just stared wide-eyed up at me, so I continued. “And the reaction that you had to Riley’s scent inside Charlie’s house.”

I could see the wheels turning. “You think they’re connected?”

“Carlisle and I debated it, yes, and we’ve come up with a theory. Would you like to hear it?”

She nodded eagerly. “Yeah. Of course I do.”

“We think my—well, Carlisle’s—venom has something to do with that. You see, everyone in this house was changed by Carlisle, with the exception of Alice and Jasper. His mark was made on all of us when he changed us. And since a little of my venom was left behind, and I’m your mate-“

“None of you would have that same bleach-y smell to you that Riley had.”

“Bleach-y?” I asked, taken a bit aback by her description. None of the other wolves had ever used that term to describe it. They simply recoiled with the burn our scent caused.

She shuddered at the memory. “That’s the only way I can describe it. It was such a sickly sweet smell. It burned like bleach does when it’s accidentally inhaled.”

“Well, in any case, since Alice and Jasper weren’t changed by Carlisle, we wanted to see if they smelled any different away from the house and the rest of the family.” This theory had to be right. It was the only explanation for why we didn’t smell revolting to Bella and vice versa.

“Okay. When?”

“Now, if you’re up to it.”

She swung her legs around and heaved herself off of the couch. “I’m up to it.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.”