~Jacob’s Point of View~
“So how was Bella… was she any different… or strange?” Billy asked, wheeling myself towards me, as I entered the kitchen.
I never would understand why everyone was so obsessed about the horrible Cullen family. They seemed real… apart from Edward. But they were nice enough, a bit creepy and pale, but no threat, at least not one that I could see.
“She’s ok, I mean, she said she was still sick, and it wasn’t getting any easier for her,” I spoke, making my way over to the fridge to start digging through it.
“And how did she look?” Billy continued.
Drop dead gorgeous.
But I figured it would be best to keep that opinion to myself.
“She’s pale,” I muttered, picking up some left over hotdogs, grabbing some ketchup, and mustard. “And… thin,”
“As pale as the other Cullen’s?”
“Yep, just as pale,”
“And what color eyes did she have?” Billy asked, watching me, appearing to seem nonchalant, but deep in his eyes, I could see an urgency that normally I never see from him. He is usually so mellow, and calm.
“Brown, dark chocolate brown,” I said, and began rummage through each of the cabinet, looking for the hotdog buns.
Billy paused his questions, seeming to be surprised at my response, but he got a hold of himself, a pinch of confusion still danced in his eyes as he watched me.
“Was she beautiful?” He wondered next, and nodded over to the cabinet to the right of my head.
I quickly turned away from him, focusing all my attention on the cabinet that he nodded to, as I opened it up, getting the hotdog buns out.
Embarrassment began to bite at my insides, but I didn’t want to lie, or give Billy any false words, something just told me, that I really needed to be one hundred percent honest with him about all of this.
“Yes… very,” I mumbled lowly, but it was just loud enough for him to hear.
“And you’re sure, her eyes aren’t gold, they are just normal brown?”
“I’m sure dad, what’s this all about anyway?”
Billy shook his head. “It’s nothing that you need to worry about right now son; it’s just something important we need to do, for Charlie,”
I didn’t understand what he meant, but I decided that it was best that I just sit back, and watch how things go. Maybe I will figure it out myself.
“Alright, fine,”
“Anything else you can think of that was a bit different about Bella?”
I thought about it. “Well, when we shook hands, she just felt really cold, and her hand was hard, and stiff, like a stone,”
Billy’s eyes grew as he slowly nodded, watching me. “That’s interesting,”
“Very, but she is really nice, so is the other Cullen’s, they seem pretty polite,” I pointed out, but I noticed that Billy now was looking away, not interesting in hearing any more of what I had to say about the Cullen’s.
I just wonder what this all was about; it couldn’t be about the old legends around here could it. That the Cullen’s where some kind of demons, that they were monsters.
There was no way; that I was going to let someone from around here, go over there, and start threatening Bella… I might have just met her, but I already felt a connection was made. She seemed to be important to me, and I didn’t want anything to happen to her.
Suddenly, I watched as Sam, Jared, and Paul walked into the house, making their way over to Billy, looking serious, and highly pissed. I have never seen these three up so close, I always did my best to avoid them the best I could.
Taking a step back, and taking a huge bite out of my hotdog, I gave them a sour look. “What are you guys doing here?”
Sam’s eyes snapped to mine, and a wave of calmness seemed to enter his expression, but I could tell it had taken a lot to keep that look.
“Jacob, if you don’t mind, we would like to speak to your father, privately,” He said.
“Yeah, I do mind actually,”
There was no way; I was going to leave Billy here, to deal with Sam’s shit. It was like practically throwing him to the wolves.
“You better get out of here, before I make you,” Paul snapped at me, a termer seeming to roll down his entire body, as he glared at me.
“Paul, that’s enough,” Sam said in a stern voice.
I glared coldly as I watched Paul look away from me in disgust, and annoyance, but stood down to Sam, and backed off.
“Jacob, go on, it will only be a minute,” Billy nudged at me, also looking just as serious as Sam and his gang.
I grumbled, but stomped away, walking towards the front door of the house, leaving the three in the kitchen. “Fine, see you whenever,”
Quickly I went to the door, and opened it, but instead of walking outside, I lifted my feet, pretending to stomp out the door, and then slammed it shut.
As soon as I had done this, that’s when I began to hear the quiet conversation, sadly I was only able to pick up bits and pieces of what was being said.
“Paul spotted them in the woods,” Sam spoke quietly, but roughly, as if his voice was coarser when he attempted to whisper.
And who in the hell where they spying on?
“She was turned for sure,” Paul’s furious whisper sounded. “Gold eyes, the sickly sweet smell,”
Who where they talking about? Who had gold eyes? And what smell? What did they mean ‘turned’?
Could they be talking about Bella, and if they were, what the hell are they spying on her, who cares what color her eyes actually are, and how she smells, she smells fine to me. What is going on here?
“This breaks the treaty,” Jared muttered lowly.
Oh so this was about the legends now? They were thinking back to the old make-believe stories about the Cullen’s? This was just to ridiculous for me to listen to.
Slowly my arm came out, and I opened to door loudly, hoping this would get their attention, and again lifting my feet, I pretended to walk back into the house.
“Dad, can I come back in now, I’m still hungry,” I said, and then stuffed the hotdog into my mouth, chewing it like crazy, and gulping it down in seconds.
“We will speak more about this, later,” Sam whispered, before Billy decided to answer.
“Yeah Jacob, get in here,”
With that, I went walking back into my kitchen, trying not to throw glares at Sam, Paul, and Jared. I was too confused to even make an attempt to talk with them, so I just went straight to the fridge.
“Nice speaking with you Billy,” Sam said, and with that, he led Paul, and Jared, out of the kitchen, and right back out of my house.
Billy slowly rolled himself to the table, picking up the newspaper, a slight tremble in his hand as he did so. Billy usually did this when something was crawling around inside his head; that he was upset about. Or when they would cancel his favorite baseball team from playing on TV, his hands would dance like they were on fire.
“So what was that all about?” I asked nonchalantly, picking up a leftover slice of pizza, before turning around to look at my father.
He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts, but after a slight pause, he spoke almost as if he was in a daze.
“Just discussing our concerns about Bella, and the Cullen’s,”
So that’s who they were talking about? All of this was about Bella.
I could feel my insides tying up in knots, annoyance sparking inside me, filling me with a pinch of adrenaline.
There was nothing bad, that was going to happen to Bella, and I was going to make sure of that.
Bella’s Point of View
Last night’s events flew around in my mind like wild as I recalled every detail of my time with Edward. The comfortable hours of just talking with him, the late night stars that danced in the sky as we had sat under them, then the happiness of Edward agreeing to adopt Zander.
Everything was just so perf
ect; I just had a feeling that no matter what conflicts come up, as long as Edward was by my side, I wasn’t scared to face anything. He was like my prince charming, my dark Romeo.
“So Edward is going to be the official daddy?” Alice beamed, her hands moving around through my hair, braiding pieces in lightning speed, and pinning the around.
I couldn’t hold back my smile, watching as Zander crawled around on the porch, giggling, and looking around in awe.
“Yep, Carlisle is getting Zander’s birth certificate as we speak,”
“That’s so great; I knew this was going to happen,”
I sighed in content, looking up at the cloudy sky, wishing for a moment, that the sun would come out, just for a second, enough to feel the warmth against my skin.
Like yesterday, we all were outside, waiting for Jacob to come around for his checkup. Alice decided that I needed a quick makeover, but I think she just wanted to find an excuse to play Bella Barbie.
Emmett and Jasper were wrestling in the back yard, the sounds of their struggles easily heard from here in the front porch. Carlisle was at the hospital, getting things straightened with Zander’s adoption. Esme was inside, her nose in a cooking book. Rose was fighting with Edward in the kitchen, arguing with the temperature at which Zander’s formula should be, which wasn’t surprising.
Rose had been beyond furious that I was allowing Edward to have rights to Zander, but to my surprise, Alice was the one to set her straight. She said nothing to us; the only thing that she did was make sure that if there was a way to fight with Edward, she would make it her mission to argue, and fight with him as much as possible, until things would go her way.
I was losing my patience with her, and I knew I would be speaking to her, not so nicely, and calmly, if she doesn’t stop being so harsh. I didn’t want to see Edward getting distressed, not even a little bit. I knew he could take care of his self, which he made sure to tell me many times when I tried talking to him about this.
“Heads up, he’s here,” Alice muttered to me, getting my attention as she moved away, taking a seat on the porch swing, picking Zander up with a smile.
I looked up, watching as Jacob came pulling into the drive way on his motorcycle.
A smiled politely, noticing that in seconds Edward was back outside, his eyes tight as he watched Jacob. He slowly made it over to Alice and I, handing Alice the bottle.
Alice began to feed Zander, watching between Jacob, and Edward, a knowing look on her face, before focusing her eyes down on Zander; who looked highly agitated already, knowing that Jacob was here.
“Hey everyone,” Jacob said nicely, walking up the stairs to smile at me.
“Hi Jacob,” I nodded, glancing over to Zander, hoping that he would calm down soon, and as my eyes wondered to Edward, I hoped that he would relax as well.
“Nice to see you again,” He spoke, watching me, his eyes now leaving mine.
Edward was now at my side, sitting down with me, his arm around my shoulder as he looked up at Jacob, forcing a calm look across his face.
“It’s nice to see you as well Jacob,” Edward spoke, his tone nothing but polite.
A nervousness now entered Jacob’s expression as he looked at Edward, but suddenly there was an urgency in his eyes as he looked back at me.
“Bella, I have some huge news for you,”
I could feel my eyes widened at his words, and now Edward froze beside me.
“What is it?” I asked curious as to what had gotten Edward to react like this. Whatever it was, it was obvious that it was something bad.
“So, Sam and his little gang was talking about you with my father, all that I was able to hear was that Paul say you and someone else in the woods, and that you were turned, and this is breaking the treaty,”
I frowned, looking at Edward, chewing on my lip with slight fear.
Did Jacob know… about us? Did Sam and Billy know? And how could they know anything? And what treaty?
“What treaty?” I muttered, looking between Edward and Alice, hoping that maybe they would know.
Alice stared with wide eyes, and quickly she was standing up, handing Zander to Edward, before dashing into the house.
“There is just some silly treaty at La Push, that’s between the locals and the Cullen’s,” Jacob said, watching as Alice left with confusion.
Edward’s eyes flashed up to Jacob’s face, handing Zander to me gently, to stand up, getting up close to Edward, looking serious, and almost like he was an actual threat.
“Are they planning on acting?” Edward asked his tone extremely dark.
Jacob stepped back a bit, but kept a calm look on his face.
“I don’t know, I just told you, this was the only information that I got,”
“What’s this treaty about?” I asked standing up as well, watching between Zander, who was still chugging at the bottle, and Edward.
I was beginning to worry now. If Edward was getting this upset, this really had to be something not good.
“Well, it’s really dumb, supposedly the La Push locals, were descendants, of wolves,” Jacob said rolling his eyes, folding his arms across his chest. “They were men, that transformed, into wolves, shape shifters I guess you could say,”
My eyes widened, looking over at Edward for a moment, to see his golden eyes watching mine with apprehension.
“Really, that’s strange… go on,” I said, gently taking the bottle from Zander’s mouth and setting it down as he had finished it up.
“So, one day, some of the locals found the Cullen’s hunting on their land, but they had claimed to be something different, so they made a treaty with them,” Jacob shrugged, glancing at Edward for a second before looking back to me.
“What where they?” I muttered slightly nervous.
“Vampires,” Jacob snorted, and raised his hands up. “I know, complete bullshit, but I didn’t make up the stories, they are just some old legends,”
I couldn’t believe this…
“What are the rules to this treaty…”
“The Cullen’s can’t come on Quileute land; they can’t hunt, or turn any humans, or let any of the ‘pale faces’ know what they were,” Jacob said, again rolling his eyes.
Werewolves, and vampires, and even more unbelievable, they knew about each other, and decided that just a treaty would keep the peace between the two. This was why Billy had wanted Jacob to come over and check on me.
Charlie had said, as soon as he told Billy that I was staying with the Cullen’s, Billy must have known something was up. He sent Jacob over to see if I was a vampire now. And now that he knows that I am, he will know that the Cullen’s had broken a rule from the treaty, meaning, they can attack.
Jacob didn’t seem to believe the legends at all, but I knew better, I knew these legends were the truth, just by seeing Edward’s reaction.
“Jacob, I need a favor to as of you,” Edward spoke up.
Jacob looked up at him, slightly cautious.
“What do you need?”
“Can you get yourself close enough with Sam, and his group, to find out what their plans are, if they are going to actually take the legends seriously, and become a threat to my family?”
Jacob’s eyes grew, “Yeah, course I will, I’ll be you’re… I don’t know… spy, Billy always wants me to try and get along with Sam anyway,”
Zander made a grumble sound, watching between Jacob and Edward.
I stroked his back softly, cradling him closer to me for a second, worried out of my mind for my son’s’ safety. There was no way I was going to let a pack of dogs try and hurt my baby, or my family.
“Good, thank you,” Edward muttered, moving back to stay by my side. “If they are going to act, we need to know as soon as possible, so we can get Bella and Zander somewhere safe,”
I quickly leaned into his side, looking up at him worriedly.
“I’ll just get started then, I’ll update you when I get
some more information,” Jacob said seriously, and began to walk back down the stairs, turning only once to look in my direction, before getting himself onto his bike.
“Do you think they will attack?” I asked after Jacob was gone.
Edward sighed, and led me inside.
“I’m not sure, but there is a very good possibility that they will,”
Zander babbled now, looking between Edward and I, before yawning, resting his head on the crook of my neck, and closing his little eyes.
I felt my body tangle up with worry as I held him close to my heart, fearing for the worst.
Alice came dancing over to Edward and I now, looking serious.
“I called Carlisle, and let the others no about this, Carlisle is on way home right now, we’re going to have a meeting,”
Edward nodded, and softly wrapped his arm around my waist, letting a kiss on my forehead, as he walked us over to the sofa. We sat down quietly, and I couldn’t help but let my concern turn more vocal.
“Should we leave, get out of town?”
Alice shook her head. “If we stray too far from home, they will be able to surround the house, keeping us away from it, leaving us with nowhere to go,” She explained.
I swallowed. “What can we do?”
They both where quiet now, just staring forward, and didn’t change this position, even as Jasper and Emmett came stomping in.
Jasper was quickly at Alice’s side, recognizing her expression instantly.
“Alice, what do you see,” He sounded urgent.
Rose now had wondered down, keeping her eyes away from Edward, but focusing a bit on Zander and I, keeping a worried expression, annoyance thick in her eyes.
“It’s… three vampires… they are attacking a man…” Alice muttered in a daze.
Everyone was quiet as they watched her, tense and unmoving.
“Where,” Jasper asked gently.
“Forks… at a dock, by a lake,”
“Is it the same vampires that have been the cause of the killings happening around here?” Rose asked, her mouth clenched together.
“Yes, I’m sure of it,” Alice spoke, and slowly closed her eyes, before looking to Edward, shaking a knowing look at him.
He sighed, and looked at Zander and I with concern.
“This will be happening, most likely at the end of this week,” He said, glancing around the room to his siblings.
“Well good, that gives us four more days to start training, to kick some ass,” Emmett said with an eager look.
“But now we have the wolves, and now theses three vampires to worry about, we need to get things in control before we put Zander in anymore danger,” Rose said narrowing her eyes, before looking to Edward. “If he wouldn’t have turned Bella, none of this would be happening,”
Alice now looked up at Rose, “You know that’s not true, he saved Bella,”
“And look what that has caused, not only did he put his whole family in danger, but the woman he loves, and ‘his’ child,” Rose barked.
Edward flinched slightly, pain pinching in his eyes.
I couldn’t take it, not one more time; I was tired of letting Rose get away with hurting my family.
“That’s enough Rose,” I said a growl falling from my lips.
At this, everyone was now staring at me, surprised, and a bit shocked at the sudden change in my tone.
“Bella, you know it’s true,” Rose started again, but I held up my hand, gently cradling Zander to my side.
“Listen, I’m Zander’s mother, and I know what’s best for him, I know you’re trying to do what’s best for him, but you’re wrong. Zander loves Edward, and we are both happy that Edward is in our life, and has given us this life. If Edward wouldn’t have saved me, Zander wouldn’t have been born, and I wouldn’t be alive, with a family who cares, and a beautiful son, and an amazing boyfriend, who makes me feel happy. Who cares that I’m a vampire, I’m happy. This isn’t your life, this is mine, and you can have any opinions that you want, but keep them to yourself, because I don’t want to hear it again,”
The entire room was nothing but silence now, everyone still staring at me with wide eyes, except for Alice. She wore the biggest smile that I had ever seen.
Rose didn’t even say a word; she quietly threw me a dirty look, then marched out of the room, her heels clicking loudly through the quiet room, until she was completely gone.
“Rawr,” Emmett muttered, laughing before following after Rose. “I’ll get her back down in a minute,”
That’s when I realized what I did…
I actually had told Rosalie off, what was I thinking? Now she was going to make the rest of my life a living hell… well at least she will leave Edward alone, and there was no way she will ever be rude to Zander, so at least I did something right.
Edward tilted my head up so he could look into my eyes.
“That was the single most amazing thing, I have ever seen you do,” He said quietly, and with a passion that I wasn’t expecting, his lips came down on mine.
I kissed him back, light-headed, but overjoyed that this had pleased Edward.
As a couple of people cleared their throats, Edward pulled away, leaning back to hug me closer to his side, and rested his hand on my thigh as he watched me proudly.
“Edward I suggest you calm your emotions a bit, this isn’t really the right time to… desire your girlfriend, we have a real crisis here,” Jasper spoke seriously, but I could see the mocking joke in his eyes dancing.
Edward made a growl at him, snorting, before ducking his head down to rest it on my shoulder. “Don’t know what you’re talking about, I’m calm,”
“Yeah Edward, whatever you say,” Alice said with a smirk.
I couldn’t help but love the idea of Edward actually thinking like that… and about me. That was just too good to be true.
But back to the real issues here.
We had a lot to figure out, with every second of the day, it was getting more and more dangerous, and Zander was going to be in danger… I couldn’t allow this. We had to think of something. And think of it fast.
There wasn’t much time, but luckily, we had a plan, and we were almost ready for anything to happen. The three vampires on their way to Forks, or the pack of wolves coming to attack us; we had things under control, but there was still a huge risk.
Carlisle had decided, the best thing to do, was handle the wolves first, making sure that they understood why Edward had to turn me, hopefully once they knew why, this would be enough for them to not attack… Edward after all was saving me. Once we have gotten a handle of this, we will warn them about the three vampires.
Hopefully they will help us pin point the vampires, and end them before they could attack again, or worse, they come around Zander. I refused to let this happen. My baby would be safe.
Although, I was getting more and more nervous as the days went by, Friday was coming soon, meaning the vampires would be here.
Alice couldn’t see the wolves, when they would decide to attack, so this is where we had to depend on Jacob. He has been such a big help to us, and ever Edward was warming up a bit to him… well maybe not warming up to him, but he seems to have almost no problem staying civil with him.
In fact, that’s what we were doing right now, waiting for more news from Jacob.
It’s only been two days, and already, Jacob was being treated as if he was part of Sam’s pack. They seemed to trust him, and let him in on some vague details. Of course they didn’t reveal to Jacob what they were, or what the Cullen’s where, but they did drop hints to Jacob, that they would be ‘responding’ to this treaty violation.
Slowly I leaned my head on Edward’s shoulder, watching as Zander slept, laying calmly in my lap. This was my favorite way to spend my time. With Edward, and Zander.
The others were giving us some privacy, even Rose was leaving us alone, not even bothering to continue her threats or bickering, I gu
ess yelling at her had helped the situation after all.
“Do you think we can handle all of this?” I wondered sighing heavily.
Edward’s gentle lips touched the top of my head for a minute, filling me with a sense of protection, and affection, it was a feeling I hoped that I would always get to feel, every day.
“I know we can Bella, you have nothing to worry about, Zander will be safe,” He spoke gently, shifting a piece of hair from my face, to look into my eyes.
I couldn’t help but smile, letting myself completely believe in his words, and hope that he was right. He just seemed to confident, and honest, how could I doubt him?
“Jacob is here,” Alice spoke from the top of the stairs, flying down quickly to stand by us, looking eager, but also looking worried.
There was three quick, and almost furious punches to the door now, before Jacob’s voice sounded from the other side of the door.
“They are coming! They are on their way right now!” He yelled franticly.
My eyes widened, fear prickling around inside my stomach.
Alice quickly ran forward opening the door, to see Jacob hunched over, huffing and puffing, breathing hard. He must have run the whole way here.
“Everyone remain calm, we are sticking with our decision,” Carlisle spoke, as he, and all the other Cullen’s came rushing in the room, tense looks on their faces.
“What did Sam say Jacob?” Alice asked bouncing swiftly back to Jasper, as Jacob walked into the house, looking at each of the Cullen’s.
“That he was acting now, and ‘Fixing’ the problem,” He said his hands in fists at his sides. “And Paul made this… just sick, evil look on his face… like he was ready to just… kill someone,”
Carlisle nodded seriously. “Alright, which way are they coming?”
“Straight through the woods, right behind the back of your house,” Jacob nodded.
“They will be greatly outnumbered, it doesn’t make sense that they want to fight,” Jasper spoke shaking his head.
Slowly picking Zander up, I made my way over to the group of them, staying slightly behind Edward.
“It’s not like they are smart, they have no idea what we can do,” Emmett bragged, a smirk falling on his face.
Rose smacked him lightly, rolling her eyes, before she went back to staring at Jacob, like he was the real threat. She wasn’t appearing to let up her icy cold gaze, even when Jacob made eye contact; which only made him shrink back.
“Well they are coming from behind, maybe they believe this will catch us off guard, giving them a better chance of doing some damage,” Jasper continued, looking between each of us, before letting his eyes land on Zander.
Jasper never really did go around Zander much, only once has he ever held him, but I understood. Jasper had a hard time with his control, and it did mean a lot that he cared enough about Zander, to stay away, just to make sure Zander was to stay safe. But I knew Jasper cared about Zander just as much as the others.
“Then we better get moving, before they get too close to the house,” Edward pointed out, looking tensely around, his eyes skipping over Jacob’s as he looked around at his family.
At this, Zander woke up, looking around, seeming to be in a daze, but as he realized that Jacob was here, I felt his whole body tense, a sour look on his face, like always.
“Bella, you need to stay here and keep Zander safe, alright, we will be back as soon as possible,” Carlisle said touching my shoulder with a serious look.
I slowly shook my head, a frown sliding on my face. “No, I have to go with you, I want to help,”
“Love… it’s going to be dangerous… and Zander needs to stay here, and be no were near this,” Edward spoke, his arm coming around my waist, watching down at me with those gorgeous golden eyes.
I had to force my eyes away from his, so I could hold onto my verdict.
“Esme, could you please watch Zander for me, here at home?” I asked moving to Esme with a hopeful look.
“Of course dear,” She smiled sadly.
I reluctantly handed Zander over to her, watching as he turned around in her eyes, watching me with his big brown eyes, discomfort clear in his expression. His tiny hands now came out towards me, and just for a moment, I wanted to run back and take him back in my arms, and never leave him. But I knew I had to do this.
Edward was my partner, and no matter what we faced, we were going to do it as a couple, as a team, that’s just how it’s supposed to be.
“Bella, are you sure?” Carlisle asked looking at me hesitantly, glancing at Edward for a minute, before keeping his eyes on me.
I nodded sullenly. “Yes, I want to come,”
Edward sighed, watching me tensely, reluctance in his eyes as he wrapped his arm back around my waist, holding me to his chest. “Bella…. I really don’t want you in harm’s way…”
Jacob now found his voice, jumping back into the discussion. “I’m coming to, can’t wait to see the look on Sam’s face when he sees me,”
“This might just help us even more, if Jacob comes along. The shock of Jacob being here might be too much for Sam.” Jasper said looking around at each of us. “Plus, having Bella there to help explain things with the ‘turn’, they might find more sympathy with her,”
This made sense, and I agreed with Jasper completely.
“Alright, well then, we better get going,” Carlisle spoke and with that, everyone from the room was gone, except for me, Edward, Esme, and Jacob.
I quickly walked over to Esme, and Zander. “You stay safe,” Gently I kissed the top of his head, trying to hold a positive smile on my face. But I couldn’t, knowing that something terrible might happen, and I would never see my little baby again.
Esme gave me a motherly smile. “I’ll guard him with my life Bella,”
“Thank you Esme,” Edward spoke up, coming to my side, leaning forward as well to kiss Zander on the head, giving him a smile. “We will be back soon,”
I really hoped this was a promise that we would be able to keep.
Jacob sniffed, wide eyed, but he didn’t say anything until he was in front of Zander as well, watching him curiously.
“I don’t know why you don’t like me… but I’m on your side little guy, I’ll make sure your parents come back to you,” Jacob said quietly.
Zander seemed only to glare at him, turning his face away from Jacob, hiding it in Esme’s shoulder.
Jacob sighed, but shrugged, backing away a bit.
Edward cracked a smile, watching Zander, before nodding to me. “It’s time to go Bella,” His hand softly took mine, intertwining our fingers.
I took a big breath, letting my head nod, before we began a slightly slow jog out of the house, knowing that Jacob would struggle to keep up… even with this speed.
All three of us ran back into the woods, following a small dirt trail, dodging tree limbs, and loose rocks, at the same time, trying to appear to be struggling to do so, just for Jacob’s sake.
But surprisingly he didn’t stumble or run out of stamina to often, he mostly could keep up. And soon, we had even caught up with the others, who had also slowed down to a near walk.
“About time you three showed up,” Emmett said with a booming laugh.
Jacob made a face at that, “You guys must be athletes,” He was bent down, breathing heavy, his face a bit red, and sweaty from running.
Emmett and Jasper exchanged smirks at each other, before getting serious.
Alice had us stop in a big open field, her eyes closed, but her arm rose, her finger pointing out in the direction in front of her, towards the other side of the field, where there is a tree line.
Everyone now was in a ready stance, serious faces were all around me, and it was only Jacob that still was trying to catch his breath.
“They are here,” Alice muttered, before opening her eyes, and moving back to stand beside Jasper.
At this, I watched as a huge flash of fur
came into view where the tree line is on the other side of the field. It was the biggest wolf I had ever seen in my life. I swallowed hard, feeling myself backing up to Edward’s chest.
Edward quickly shifted me a bit behind him, a dark look falling over his solemn features. A low rumble could be heard from his chest, along with many of the other Cullen’s.
“What the hell,” Jacob was the first to mutter, fear obvious on his face.
The first wolf was huge, and the darkest black you could image, it ran towards us, a growl ripping from its beastly mouth. Next came two more, they were smaller than the first one, but just as savage, and terrifying.
Jacob and I seemed to be the only ones reacting to the sight of these beasts.
I clutched the back of Edward shirt, as I for once felt like I could possibly be killed at any second. Hiding behind him, I made sure to peek out towards the mutts, holding my breath as I took in the disgusting smell of the monsters.
Every cell of my body was screaming at me to stop hiding, and start attacking, but I held back those urges, staying where I was behind Edward.
“We came to talk, to explain… please hear us out,” Carlisle spoke calmly but firmly as the large black wolf paused in front of all of us. The two wolves behind him, growling at us, and snapping their teeth together with snarls, had not yet noticed Jacob.
“He said, there is nothing to explain,” Edward spoke, his eyes sliding over to Carlisle, before wandering down to me watching me closely. His hand lowered, gently wrapping around my hips.
“Please, there is good reason, we don’t want to fight; can we just talk civilly, face to face?” Carlisle continued, nodding towards his family.
The black wolf paused, turning to look at me, a growl rolling off his lips, but as his head turned towards Jacob he paused, freezing in his place, and in seconds the wolf’s body began to quiver.
Edward’s hand quickly came up, covering my eyes for a second, making me jump, and increase my worrying. What was happening to the wolf?
When his hand had left my face, I looked back to where the wolf was, to see a boy standing in the very place the wolf had been, just a pair of shorts on.
His muscles were impressive, softly rounded, and his skin was very tan, almost looking bronze. His black hair was nothing but short spikes. Obviously he was a La Push local. The only thing that really popped out to me was the tattoo that decorated the side of his shoulder.
“Jacob, what’s going on here?” The boy ordered, his face looking concerted.
“I think I can ask you the same question Sam,” Jacob stuttered, his face almost looking pale as he watched between him, and the two other wolves behind him.
“Look, Jacob had been a good friend to us,” Carlisle spoke up, bringing Sam’s attention back to the rest of us. “And we need to explain to you, that this truly was necessary,”
Sam glared slightly, watching Jacob as he shook his head, but he slowly turned to face Carlisle, a firm look on his face. “You have five minutes,”
Carlisle nodded to Edward and I.
“As you might have known, Bella had come to Forks to live, and deliver her child,” Edward spoke, a pinch of guilt hinting in his eyes as he glanced from me, to Sam. “And her doctor had been out of town, so I was assigned to be her doctor.
Sam nodded, folding his arms across his chest. “Go on,”
“Then when we found out that Bella was actually due to have her baby in and minute, I had called Carlisle to come, and help assist me, because I could already tell that Bella’s blood, would cause this to be more than just dangerous then the baby.”
“Right, and there had been a problem with the delivery… right?” Sam stated knowingly.
“Yes, Zander had been going through ‘fetal distress’, there had been something wrong the placenta, it wasn’t allowing oxygen to get to the baby, this had caused the labor to start so quickly, and without any ready equipment, I had to get the baby out as soon as possible.” Edward explained, a pain coming to his features.
Sam didn’t comment, not changing expression as he watched between Edward and Carlisle.
“So, I had to do a caesarean section, just using my hands… and the rush of her blood going over my fingers, and entering my mind, I had gone a little frantic… but I had gotten Zander out right in time.”
Sam made a look of disgust, “You drank her blood then, didn’t you?
Jacob’s eyes widened, but he didn’t say anything, his face getting more pale by the minute, but he clearly stayed on our side.
Edward paused, shaking his head slowly. “When I was beginning to sew her stomach back together, Bella’s body began to shut down, I quickly was trying to get more medication, her blood levels were dangerously low, so I had injected her, but I had managed to get a drop of her blood on my lips, without thinking I had licked it away… and as soon as that had happened, I had gone forward, and I bit into her neck. But Carlisle had gotten the baby away from me, and made me see reason. I was able to stop, but it was too late to save Bella from the change.”
Sam glared at Edward coldly. “And how is this justifying anything?”
“Bella wouldn’t have made it, at the rate her body was shutting down, we wouldn’t have been able to get the medication to her system fast enough to save her, she would have died,” Carlisle spoke seriously.
I shivered at this thought.
This was why I would always thank Edward for turning me, he had saved my life, and given me an amazing new life with my son, he didn’t ruin my life, he didn’t ‘Kill’ me, he brought me to life.
“She would have been better off dead,” Sam said looking away from all of us.
My jaw dropped, a growl falling off my lips, along with most of the other Cullen’s. Even Jacob looked offended by his comment, a glare on his face.
“You’re saying she would have been better off not getting to see her baby ever, or getting to hold him, or be a mother, or ever see Charlie, or ever have a life?” Rose spitted, glaring coldly towards Sam.
It’s ironic, that Rose had been the one that was the most anger about Edward turning me, and now, she was saying something completely different. Did the rules only apply to the people that she chose…? I never would understand her…
“No, I’m saying, you could have at least tried to control yourself, and save her,” Sam said, but still didn’t face us.
It was as if, he knew that we were right, but he didn’t want to admit it, he didn’t want to change his decision.
“Sam, there was no more that could have been done, it’s over now, Bella is happy, and is with her baby, and hasn’t hurt anyone,” Carlisle spoke seriously.
Suddenly Alice froze where she was, her eyes dazed over, staring out into the open after letting out a small gasp. Quickly Jasper was in front of her, looking at her seriously with concern.
“What are you seeing?” He asked gently.
All the wolves growled furious towards Alice, but Sam raised his hand, looking back at the two of them, before looking at Alice curiously, but he still held onto his dark frown.
Edward tensed now as well, glancing over to where the wolves had come from, a growl came rumbling past his lips. “No,” He hissed.
“What is it, what’s going on?” I asked grimly.
What could possibly happen next?
“They are coming,” Alice spoke, her eyes now roaming around to each of us with apprehension, “The three vampires, they are going to be right here, in three minutes,”
The wolves now growled, looking between each other. Sam looking completely intimidating as he walked closer to Carlisle. “What vampires are coming?”
“The ones that had been causing the killings around the area, they are on their way here as we speak,” Edward spoke, his eyes narrowed.
I gasped, turning back in the direction of the house, wanting to get back to Zander now, I wanted to make sure he was still alright, and make sure that I’m there to protect him.
But
Edward held me close, looking down at me seriously. “You can’t, they are to close, they will follow our scent, we would lead them right to Zander,” He said quietly, before looking back to the others.
“Then I guess it’s time to end this once and for all,” Sam glared turning towards the edge of the tree line, and just like Alice had said, three vampires appeared, all wearing dangerously smug face.
“Don’t attack, not until we find out their powers, if we start a fight, that they somehow can out-power us… we will all be doomed,” Carlisle spoke quietly towards the wolves.
Sam nodded with a sigh, trying to hold back his glare.
I looked over to the vampires, my insides tying up in anxious knots as they began to march over to us.
What were we going to do now… we weren’t ready to deal with both of wolves and these vampires at the same time… we had to do this carefully… or we all might not make it back home in one piece.
With blinding speed, I watched as the three vampires now stood before us, each of them looking around, analyzing each of us in a way that filled me with an inner fear. Where they looking for a way to attack…
“What do we have here…?” The first one spoke with a smirk, his bright red eyes mostly staying towards the wolves, looking slightly cautious.
I watched as the Cullen’s began to shift, moving in more of a protective circle around the wolves, and Jacob, keeping tense looks on their faces.
Sam had worn a tight expression on his face, but stayed back, seeming to be uncomfortable about all of this, yet being grateful at the same time.
“Hello, I’m Carlisle, and this is my family,” He turned to us with a gesture as he stood a bit farther in the front. “Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper, Alice, Edward, and Bella,” He went down the lines, nodding towards each of us.
“And the… dogs?” The vampire spoke tilting his head to the side, making his long black braids sway, interest filling his crimson red eyes.
Three echoing growls from Sam, and his pack sounded, but Carlisle acted quickly, turning around to give them a calm look, raising his hand, before looking back to the vampire who had spoken.
“They are friends, Sam, Paul, and Jared,” Carlisle continued.
The only one that hadn’t been mentioned was Jacob, who just stood far behind Edward and me, looking at the three vampires tensely.
“Interesting, well where have my manners gone, my name is Laurent, and this is Victoria,” He spoke, nodding to girl on his left, with bright red hair, that matched the redness of her eyes perfectly. She wore a more smug, cynical look on her face, and each of her features seemed to have a cat-like expression. Sly, was the first word that come to mind when I saw this vampire.
“And this is James,” Laurent spoke, nodding to the man on his right, this guy had long blonde hair, pulled back tightly in a pony-tail, and his red eyes held nothing but danger. Warning. This guy was deadly. His calm smirk, and slight clenching of his hands, just suggested that his guy had a lot of confidence, and a lot of power.
“You three seem to have been making quite a bit of trouble around here haven’t you?” Carlisle spoke seeming to keep a calm expression as he now turned to address the vampires.
“I apologize, we didn’t realize that the territory had been claimed,” Laurent spoke, shifting his eyes to glance at Victoria and James with almost an amused look.
“Yes, we have a permanent residence nearby,”
“Permanent, really?”
This seemed to shock Laurent, and Victoria both, their eyes going wide for a minute, before a mask of calmness was placed over their expressions. James however shrugged, not looking interested at all, his dark eyes just roaming over each of our faces.
Edward tensed as his eyes moved over me, but they had only stayed there for a second before moving on to somewhere far behind us.
I looked up at Edward in question, panic crawling around my stomach. What had he been thinking that had gotten Edward looking so uncomfortable, a slight glare on his face?
He glanced down at me, a slight shake of his head, before pulling me closer.
“Yes, and we would appreciate that you hunt elsewhere,” Carlisle spoke out, gaining my attention again.
“Of course, we will be right on our way… after… possibly getting a little sample of your… pet,” Laurent spoke, his eyes sliding towards Jacob.
Sam, Paul, and Jared now growled, moving to push Jacob behind them, their bodies shaking in readiness, anger rolling off them in waves.
Carlisle spoke quickly. “Jacob is a friend; he is not to be harmed,”
Laurent’s eyes widened in alarm at the wolves’ response, taking a step back, his hands going up slightly. “Alright, we understand, we’ll go now,”
James and Victoria however didn’t move, falling down into their ready crouches, growling at the wolves as well, looking ready to kill if they had to.
Jacob looked pale, he looked scared, and more importantly, this really mad me mad. He had done so much for us…he had practically saved all of our lives, he had betrayed his pack to help us… because he knew it was right… and now, I wouldn’t let something bad happen to him… he didn’t deserve that.
“James,” Laurent spoke seriously, still backing up.
The look on James face was almost haunting, he stood up straight, his eyes still on Jacob, and it was clear that he wasn’t giving up… not yet, but he began to back up as well.
As soon as he had begun to go, Victoria followed, leaning to his side, looking up at him eagerly, raising a brow.
It was obvious that these two were mates; however, I just couldn’t exactly see how James was possibly of such feelings. He didn’t seem like he would take time to ever focus any time of energy with such.
James’s arm went around her shoulder, kissing the top of his head, before turned his back, running forward with her, and Laurent tagging along behind just as fast.
Edward shook his head, a blank look on his face. “He is going after Jacob,”
My eyes widened.
“Are you kidding me, we need to attack now then, why did you let them go?” Paul erupted stomping forward towards Edward with a dark glare.
Without thinking, I was moving in front of Edward, growling loudly, taking my protective stance.
“Bella, calm down love,” Edward spoke quickly, his arms coming around me, bringing me to his chest, his lips at the top of my head.
Paul glared at me coldly, but took a step back, probably more shocked that it had been me to jump up first, more so than him being scared.
I breathed out, trying to push back my anger, looking away from all of them.
“I didn’t, because I wanted to get Bella back home to Zander, before any fighting starts, I’m not putting her in danger.”
“So what do we do?” Jared spoke up, looking around to each of us.
“We fight,” Emmett grinned with a smirk.
“Hold on, these pack of mutts, where just about to come and kill all of us, and you’re saying we should help them?” Rose snapped, glaring at Sam and the others coldly.
“We wouldn’t want your help any way, we can handle it ourselves,” Paul growled back in anger, his frame shaking with fury.
“Now calm down everyone, we have a bigger problem here to worry about, a blood-sucker is after Jacob, and we will need help from the Cullen’s, to both take down these leeches, and keep Jacob in a safe place, away from them,” Sam spoke seriously. “So we are going to pardon you, from changing Bella, but just this once, if you change another person again… no matter the situation, we will attack,”
Carlisle nodded seriously with a grim face. “Understood, now for this problem, we must get Jacob somewhere remote, and heavily guarded,”
“It doesn’t matter… James is a tracker, he won’t give up until he finds his target, and he can find anyone… no matter what,” Edward said shaking his head with a slight frown.
“Then we better take him down before he ev
en starts looking for Jacob, or at least we can get him out of the country, and we will slow them down,” Sam spoke seriously.
“Right, take Emmett and Jasper and I with you, it’s better to have the numbers on our side,” Carlisle said with a serious look.
“What about the rest of us?” Alice asked watching anxiously towards Jasper as he went forward towards the wolves.
“Get Jacob back to the house, and get him out of Forks,” Carlisle said seriously. “We will call you when it’s safe to get back,”
Edward nodded, and turned on his heel, bringing me close to his chest.
Alice and Rose both looked reluctant, exchanging looks for a minute, before grabbing a hold of Jacob, and running quickly back in the direction of the house.
I looked up at Edward nervously, relieved that at least this would all be over soon, and there would no longer be any reason to worry anymore.
James’s Point of view
I could smell the scent of the mutts following us, and quickly I gave Victoria the nod, and we split up, leaving Laurent in the middle of the trail.
“What are you two doing, we don’t want any trouble.” Laurent called after us, seeming to be more fearful than anything else.
“Don’t be pathetic, this is just a challenge, one that I’m going to win,” I smirked, and with that I cut sharply back into the direction that we had ran into those strange vampires.
I was almost sure that Edward had been able to read my thoughts, he would know that I’m coming after them… this would be the most fun hunt yet, the ultimate challenge, to get around his mind reading, and get to my target.
However, I noticed that the only ones that really seemed to get upset over the fact that I wanted Jacob, was the little gang of dogs, the coven truly didn’t show much emotion, other than Bella…
She was a real interesting one… quite a catch. And possibly if it comes to a fight, she would make a better trophy, then the delight of draining the life from that boy.
I caught the scent of the Jacob, and quickly made my way in the direction, dodging trees, and fallen logs, jumping up into a tree as I made it to a large mansion.
This was no doubt the permanent residence of the coven…
I breathed in deeply, and just then another scent hit me hard. It was one of the sweetest most irresistible smells I had ever experienced. It called to the beast inside me; it nearly sent my whole body on a frenzy of bloodlust.
What was this?
I wanted to get closer, but I knew if I made another step, they would know that I’m here. So I closed my eyes, and listened closely.
“Is Zander alright, he wasn’t any trouble was he?” Bella’s voice sounded within the house.
“He was an angel, as always,” Another woman’s voice spoke.
What was this… a baby?
I breathed in the scent again, a shiver rolling down my spine. Forget Jacob… I had a baby to kill, that blood… that sweet blood, was mine.
To be continued…
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