Restitution, by illustar
A/N: Takes place after Eclipse. Prologue is Jacob's point of view. [There's one character I made up – don't look for him in the books, cuz he's not there! As with all fanfiction, I don't own the characters - these belong to Stephenie Meyer! And I'm not trying to predict the next book. (Well, not really.) Mostly I'm just thinking, "what if?" and then running with it.
Prologue
The rage had mostly faded now, taken over by instincts so much stronger. Wolves – werewolves, even – didn't have to worry about the girl they loved marrying a vampire. Even when the vampire was actually a sort of decent guy, if you could get past the vampire thing. Wolves didn't despair like people did, didn't think about whether she would be the same once her skin had turned stone cold and her heart stopped beating. Wolves didn't have to face the fact that she didn't love you as much as she loved him.
No, the wolf was a soothing cycle of simple needs and senses. Food, water, shelter, the sounds of the woods and the feel of the forest floor beneath your paws as you ran, the wind in your face as you left it all behind. There was a longing for brotherhood, companionship, but if he focused on the other impulses, he found he could effectively smother it. Enough to keep going, at least.
This far out, he couldn't even hear their minds anymore. That was a relief in and of itself, since so much had changed in the pack's last battle. They'd never fought like that before, and especially not with such unnatural allies. Again with the vampires, Jacob silently cursed, fighting the snarl that slipped through his sharp canine teeth. Would he never be free of them, even in his solitude? It was their very existence that caused the change in his own. If not for their presence there, Jacob would at this moment be living a normal teenage life, Bella sweetly at his side.
Instead, he was four hundred miles from home, chasing rabbits and deer for food and sleeping in the rain with no company but the demons of his thoughts. Even those were slowly – mercifully – fading. He hadn't thought about it when he started running – had it only been a few days? – but now he wondered if it were possible to forget the human entirely. What would become of him then? Part of him didn't care, if only he could escape the awful circumstances. But the other part wondered, and worried. He rather imagined it sounded like Bella; she was always ridiculously worried about him. It was because… but it hadn't been enough. What would she think of him now? If she even though of him at all, with him there; the reality hadn't hit him until that stupid invitation came, with the victor's offering to the losing party. And it wasn't even condescending, but understanding. That somehow made it even worse.
Jake gave an angry whuff and shook the rain out of his fur. It was reflections like these that had driven him to run in the first place. He took off again, claws digging into the dirt and green, the trees flashing by. When he ran, it was almost like he could leave it all behind. Though what he was running toward, he never knew.
Abruptly he intercepted a scent that stopped him as surely as if he'd hit a wall. The familiar too-sweetness burned in his nose and raised the hackles on his neck, triggering the deepest instinct in his supernatural body, to fight, to tear. A growl built in his throat as he felt the anger rising, knowing that he would want to jump out of his skin if he hadn't already. It was a new scent – not one of the leeches he knew already – and the anger began to mingle with a dangerous excitement. The less there were of them in the world, the better.
"Jake, don't do it! Don't go!" he heard Bella's worried voice in his imagination. But it was the thought of Bella that convinced him to follow that awful trail, because he knew that whatever the reason for the bloodsucker to be here, it would soon find the Cullens – and inevitably Bella. And whatever settlement she thought they had come to, Jake still knew there would never be anything as important to him as her.
Quiet as a ghost, he jogged along the stink, watching the woods and listening for signs of the leech. A couple of miles, and the smell magnified. So there was more than one, maybe four or five. Jake slowed and approached carefully. One he could definitely take by himself, but five… If he had his brothers, it wouldn't be a problem.
The trees thinned to a small clearing twenty yards ahead, and that's where the smell was strongest. Five figures of different heights, wearing grey, hooded cloaks stood talking. Jake kept to a patch of ferns and edged close enough to catch their conversation.
"You've seen how much stir they've caused among the humans in the area. It's best if we neutralize the disturbance before they blow it," said a high, girlish voice.
"That's not what I meant. All I'm saying is, it's not going to be easy. How are you suggesting we do it?" This one was deep and smooth.
"Felix, do you smell something? Like dog, almost, but a hundred times worse." The third voice held a degree of restrained energy and worry. Whispers of déjà vu from the recent fight stirred in Jake's mind. Her words made him tense, ready to spring if need be.
The young girl's voice dampened the tension. "Look, Gianna, I know you're new at this, but you can't go following every new smell or you'll never get anything done. It's probably just a skunk. Anyway, did you not hear me say 'neutralize'? Alec's is the perfect weapon for this mission."
"Why, thank you, Jane," said a new voice, a young boy's.
"You're welcome, dear brother."
Then the man spoke up again. "Isn't that a bit drastic?"
"Let's not underestimate them, shall we, Felix?"
"And what about Aro?"
"You've heard the adage, 'It's easier to ask forgiveness than permission.' It's better this way. And it's not like we could lie to him about it anyway."
The man sighed. "Well, alright. So Alec will incapacitate them and Pirus and I will finish them off, then? The usual?"
"For now. I'll take Gianna hunting tonight and we'll do a little more reconnaissance, then finalize plans when we get back."
"And with that angry one out of the way, their little human pet will be free game, too. I'm liking this plan."
This last was spoken with a leering tone, and red clouded Jacob's vision for a moment as he struggled to keep quiet. Bella, too! This was worse than he'd expected. Could he cover four hundred miles in a few hours? He didn't have a choice. They had to be warned. Defeat and anguish be hanged – he wouldn't let them have Bella.