Even if you can defeat me, the pack will never follow you!
Now I jerked back, a surprised whine escaping my throat.
Defeat you? I'm not going to fight you Sam.
He lowered his head and let a low, continuous growl slip beneath his bared teeth.
You wont have a choice. We attack in thirty minutes. Whose side will you choose, Jacob Black? Your family, or the girl who continues to rip your heart out every day of your life. Its your decision. Now, get out of my sight.
Sam turned around and continued to plan with Paul and Jared. They eyed me angrily before turning their attention back to Sam. I backed away, slowly, looking at every pair of eyes in the pack. Some looked like they'd been betrayed. Some looked like I was their hero.
I wasn't anyone's hero.
I broke into a run. I ran as fast as I could away from that place. Howls ripped through the air. I ran faster, in case any of them were chasing me. As far as my ears could tell, I was already about a mile away, and nobody was on my tail.
I headed straight for the Cullen house.
Edward! Bloodsucker! I got some bad news… better get outside. Don't got much time, dude.
I repeated similar phrases the whole way there, pushing my legs faster than they have ever gone before. I literally had to slide to a halt when I reached their front lawn, leaving a trail of dirt where my paws had scratched away their perfect grass.
Edward was outside waiting for me, half looking like he was braced for an attack, half looking like he wanted to run to me and take me by the shoulders and shake me until I told him what was up.
"Jacob, what is it? What is going on?" he said with urgency in his voice, leaning against the railing.
Its Sam. He's planning an ambush, to get rid of the child Bella carries. He plans to kill her, and anyone who stands in his way. In a half an hour. I betrayed…er, broke away from the pack, to warn you. I will fight along side your coven to protect Bella.
Edward, the one who was always composed and gentlemanly, wasted not a moment. He ran inside and quickly explained to everyone what was going on, and what I had done.
I took a moment to lay down in the grass and think about what I'd done. I laid my paw over my eyes. Flashes of the last year played before my eyes, everything I went through with the pack, my brothers for goodness sake, and what I just did to them… I would be fighting against them in half an hours time… for what? A girl who rejected me on an hourly basis? Who cracked my heart right down the middle so many times I'd lost count? The one who chose him over me? Sam was right…What was I thinking doing this…
"Jacob… I,…we, cannot express our gratitude to you. You had no reason to do this, no motivation whatsoever…but you did it. And you have our deepest thanks." I heard Edward say from a distance.
"If you would like to help with the planning… we are inside coming up with a,"
I know your heartless, bloodsucker, but you cant be serious?! I'm not going to help you PLAN the destruction of my family…of my pack… the only contribution I will make to your plans is that I will take on Sam. You guys figure out the rest…
I got up and walked away from him, disgusted. How could he even think to ask me? I sat down on the edge of the forest and listened. Thinking about what I would be doing. I listened in on their planning, even though I would not take part.
The big one with the deep voice, hooked up with the blonde chick, wanted to take on the biggest ones.
"No, Jacob is taking on Sam… Emmet, you can take on the aggressive one, Paul. And Alice, Leah is fastest, so you can be paired up with her. Jasper, you can get Jared, since he is probably the best fighter. I doubt that Seth will be aggressive…"
I tried not to listen, to hear the plan of the destruction of my pack, but if there was anyway I could do something…
No. I had to protect Bella. That was my goal. I decided to phase one more time, to say good-bye… if that was necessary.
I walked in the house, in the middle of their planning. The room got silent, and they were all staring at me. I nervously stuck my hand in my pocket and scratched my head with the other, whistling to myself. They must have sensed my nervousness, because the little short one with black hair… Alice?, came dancing over to me and squeezed me around the waist, and it caught me by surprise.
My muscles tensed and my heart accelerated; I had never touched a vampire like this before, and she must have sensed my uneasiness and let go and looked up at me; she only came up to my chest.
"You very well may have saved all of our lives today, Jacob Black." Why do they always tag my last name onto the end of my name? I can just be called Jake, people. Sheesh. I thought to myself, feeling my face redden.
"We forever owe you our gratitude." The other soft faced one said, moving closer to me as well. My nose began to burn. If vampires could cry, I'm sure she would be right now. Awkward.
"Er, yeah, well, it was… nothing." I said awkwardly, running my hand through my hair again. "Wheres Bella?" I asked, trying to stop them from groveling over me.
"Over here, Jake" I heard her weak voice call from across the room. I made it over to her, through the crowd of stinking vampires, in three long strides. She was lying on the sofa, like the last time I saw her, and I kneeled down by her head.
"You got a death with, don't you, kid?" I asked, a smile playing at the corners of my lips. "How many times do I have to save you before you give me a break?" I said, jokingly. She looked deep into my eyes, unsmiling.
"Jake… I can't believe you did that for me. For all of us. How can we ever repay you?"
"You don't gotta repay me, Bella. That's what friends are for. You're my best friend. My only one left… I abandonded all of mine…" I trailed off, choking up. Yeah, like I was gonna cry in front of a bunch of bloodsuckers.
"I just wanted to see you again… you know, in case anything happens…"
"What?? Your not going to fight them, Jake? You can't! Its your pack!" she questioned, startled.
I looked at her with hard, cold eyes. I felt the force of the Alpha pulling me away from the house, outside to be in my true form. I had to finish this.
"I no longer have a pack. Sam made his decision. I chose my side." I said sternly.
I got up without looking at her again, and walked outside without looking at any of them. I could sense the time was getting closer.
"Everyone get ready. They're coming."
I phased back into a wolf, not managing to tie my shorts to my leg. I probably wouldn't need them again. Even if I did survive this fight, (which I wasn't counting on), I would not be turning back into a human again anytime soon. I would probably never come back this time…
I forgot Edward was standing beside me. He'd heard my entire plan. Crap. I thought to myself. I would just have to figure something else out…
"I won't stop you, Jacob. What your doing today… well, lets just say I would never be strong enough to do such a thing. To fight against my own coven, to fight alongside my enemies to protect one person? It seems an impossible task. You have my complete admiration, Jacob. None of us expected this of you…"
Glad you have high expectation of me, vamps. You know how much I love Bella. I turned to face him, my eyes boring into his. More than you can ever know. You've lived 100 years looking for her? Great. The years you live doesn't determine the capacity that you can love someone with. I'd do anything for her… as you can see. Even if it doesn't work the other way around…I trailed off, thinking of how easily she had run back to him. What I would have done to be in his shoes for one day… how I would have done anything…well I guess I'm proving it today.
I shook my head. Focus. I could hear them coming now.
Fighting with them, are you, Jacob? Hah, well, we'll see who the better Alpha is today, wont we? The classic vampires against werewolves fight, with the one lonely, crazy werewolf that betrayed his entire tribe. It would be an HONOR to take you out myself. To rid the tribe of such disgrace!
I took a step back with my back foot, and a step forward with my front, ready to pounce. My muzzle automatically pulled back, exposing my teeth. I let out a growl of fury.
Then come and get me. I thought, my tail swinging back and forth.
I subconsciously noticed the Cullens back away from me a tiny bit. I must have looked pretty threatening.
They were 2 miles away now. I heard one set of reluctant footsteps. Poor Seth…
Edward nodded in agreement, bracing himself.
We were all arranged in a line; me and Edward in the middle. Bella was inside, being protected by blondie and the heart-faced one. She would be safe.
Suddenly, the pack, all nine of them, broke through the trees and were on top of us. Sam, as I predicted, went right for me. I felt his claws dig into my back, his teeth trying to reach the tender skin of my neck, but I was just as strong as him. We were an equal match for each other.
Edward and Jasper were fighting off Quil and Embry, who looked reluctant when they saw Sam attacking me so brutally. One moments distraction, and…
Seth was suddenly in my head again.
I got your back, Jake. The Cullens know it, I'm going inside to protect Bella.
I was too concentrated on not having my face torn off to care about how I could hear him. Sam was putting up a good fight. He was up on his hind paws, and pushed me into a tree. Crack. Yeah, that was definitely a few ribs. Felt that one.
I was too busy fighting to notice that nobody else around me was fighting. They all stood in front of the house, the pack beside the Cullens. I could now hear Quil, and Embry.
We're on your side, dude.
Yeah, we couldn't stand to fight against you. And after we saw Bella… well, we just couldn't do it, man.
Even Pauls voice was mixed in there.
Get him! Bite his neck! Yeah, go for the jugular!
I wasn't sure who he was rooting for, but I didn't really care. The alone-ness of being the Alpha of no tribe was gone.
Sam and I were circling each other. He seemed to just realize that there was no fighting, too.
What is this?? You are all going to betray your tribe? Defy your alpha? What is wrong with you! I demand you to come back to me! He tried to command. It showed no affect on any of them. They were part of my pack now.
Sam, this isn't what I wanted, but its how it turned out. Just think about what your doing, man. Who your fighting. Its me, Jake.
He continued to growl with his teeth bared, braced for a fight. I will not be defied! The abomination must be disposed of! I don't care how many of you I have to fight off.
He looked at me with dark eyes.
Theres only one person you will have to fight. I don't want to fight you Sam. Your like a brother to me. But I will protect her, whatever it takes. I crouched down and growled, in a defensive position. He leaped.
I tried to back away before he got to me, but that short vampire that hugged me earlier was in the way and he caught my right side with his teeth. I felt them dig into the muscles of my shoulder, and I howled in pain, feeling the blood streaming down my side. He got a good scratch with all five nails right down my muzzle as well. I was in bad shape.
Edward tried to intervene, but I pushed him aside.
No! This is my fight. I directed towards him. That one moment of letting my guard down gave Sam another wide open shot, this time he grabbed for my back leg. I heard a grotesque crack! and knew my femur had been broken. Now I was gushing blood AND I had a broken leg. Perfect.
I lunged for him, but with my bummed leg and shoulder I was clumsy, and he was too fast. He grabbed the tender part of my neck and ripped. I collapsed.
That's when Edward jumped in and took a hold of his neck and snapped. I managed to open my eyes; Sam was breathing; he was not dead. But he would probably be paralyzed for the rest of his life.
Me, on the other hand…
I was surrounded in seconds. I felt cluttered and claustrophobic, like I couldn't breathe.
"Back off, give him some space, come on, back up guys."
Thanks. I thought weakly to Edward.
"Carlisle, get over here. Please heal him, come on, its just a few scratches." Edward sounded desperate. Hmmph. Weird. I tried to move, to even keep my eyes open for more than 5 seconds, and found it impossible. I was so tired…
"No, Jacob, stay with me, come on." Edward said, grabbing a hold of my head and putting it in his lap, looking into my eyes, shaking me each time they closed.
I felt the doctor doing something to my leg and my neck, and then my chest. Then I felt coldness.
"His heartbeat is sluggish… his body is trying to heal itself, but there is too much blood loss. I'm afraid…"
"NO!" I heard Bella trying to make it down the stairs, and blondie trying to drag her up the stairs again. "Jake?! Is he okay?! Jacob!!" she was screaming, running towards me, clutching her bloated abdomen along the way. She kneeled by Edward by my head. I huffed out a big breath of air and lifted my eyes up to her, kind of like a puppy does when he's begging not to get beat for doing something wrong.
"Jake… your gonna be alright. Your gonna be ok! Everything is gonna be ok…" she was sobbing, pressing her face into the soft fur of my neck, petting it, ignoring all the blood flowing from there.
I looked up at Edward, who looked as upset as Bella was.
So, why aren't you all having a feeding frenzy right now? Doesn't my blood smell mouthwatering? Or are you waiting till I croak, to spare Bella's feelings?
Edward managed a chuckle and a corner of his mouth turned up, but his eyes went back to looking so empathetic. Like he really cared.
At that thought, he dropped his face into his hands. Whoops.
Seth Came and laid beside me, nudging me with his nose. He whined. Don't die, Jake. We need you.
Yeah, dude. You'll make a great Alpha…
Come on, you gotta get up. You'll be fine…
I tried to get up, I really did. But the world started spinning around me and the edges faded, my heart started pounding much harder than it should to just stand up, and I collapsed again. I can't…
I laid my ears back. Tried to take in all the non-vampire smells around me. I always heard smell was the last sense to go… or was it hearing? Oh, who cared…
I smelled the grass; the forest, the trees; I smelled the completely individual (if not disturbing, at times) smells of the members of the pack; but most of all, I smelled Bella.
The girl I died for. Who would give her life up for the thing she loved most. Just like me.
I looked at her one last time.
I felt my heart slowing. Slowing… slowing…
Until it gave one last final beat. And I took one last breath.
And the last thing I smelled was the last thing on my mind. The last thing I thought about before I died.
The girl I loved. My Bella.