If Bella thought the months after Edward's departure were soul shattering the weeks that passed without word from Jake were even worse. She didn't know when their awkward friendship had come to mean something more to her than keeping her father from sending her away to Renee but it had. She had come to need Jake's company, his warm smile, his solid embrace, like a lifeline that ran straight to her traitorous heart.
She had been calling the Black's house since the night after the movie without any luck. It was to the point now that Billy was ignoring her calls. Bella hadn't meant to let anyone get close enough to hurt her again but she found herself at the same place all over. That familiar sharp ache in her chest was back with a vengeance.
As she sat with the phone cradled in her hand, an overwhelming sense of worry and despair for Jacob filled her. Why was he avoiding her? Was it the Quileute gang? Had they gotten to him after all? A surge of anger and frustration pushed the other feelings out of the way. If he thought he was protecting her—
Her keys were on the kitchen table in front of her. She felt her faltering resolve harden. At least if she went there she would know one way or another. If Jake's promise to never leave her had been just as empty as Edward's love it might just confirm that there was something wrong with her.
Sitting here agonizing about it was worse than not knowing.
Better to just go and do it quick, before she thought too much about it, Bella resolved.
She snatched up the keys to her truck and grabbed her dad's plaid hunting shirt from where it was hanging by the door. She slipped it on over her grey camisole and dug her feet into her battered converse.
Outside the drizzle was heavy and she wore a mantle of it before she reached her truck and heaved the door open with a loud rusty protest. She pulled herself into the seat by the steering wheel and pulled her seatbelt on.
Taking a deep breath, Bella started the truck.
It wasn't like he wouldn't hear her coming. The roar of her trucks engine preceded her down the road and she was sure the little red house tucked into the trees near the beach in La Push practically communicated her arrival.
She just hoped Jake wasn't being that much of an ass that he'd slip out the back door.
Hopping down from the truck, Bella had to keep herself from grasping her arms in a sudden show of nerves. The front of the house even looked forbidding. She took her time mounting the stairs even though the rain was soaking through the shoulders of her shirt and turning her chestnut hair into a sodden tangled mass.
She lifted her hand to knock on the door when to her surprise it swung open. She blinked at Billy who sat on the other side, wearing a disapproving frown.
"Bella."
"Hi, Billy. Is . . . Jake home?" she stammered.
"He's not here at the moment," Billy said reluctantly.
She wondered if she could trust him. Bella hovered in the doorway and tried to stare him down. "He's not sick is he?" she stated shortly.
"He has not been . . . feeling himself lately," Billy amended. His dark eyes were unyielding. "Bella, you shouldn't be here."
She let out a frustrated sound. "I'm not leaving until I see Jake."
"He's not here."
She spun around. "Fine!" she retorted over her shoulder. "I'll just go for a walk until he comes home!"
Bella stomped down the stairs, catching herself before she could trip on the last one, and hurried across the yard.
She was shaking from a mixture of emotions as she walked quickly down the lane. Most of all it was the disappointment that her rendezvous with Jake had been delayed. It took a lot for her to decide to be confrontational. Especially with Billy. Ugh that sucked!
Her decision to go for a walk until Jake came home was a great show of stubbornness but not such a smart idea, she decided as she squelched along. It could be hours before he made an appearance and by then, decisive Bella Swan would be a soggy, sniffling, mess.
She would at least walk to First Beach, she decided. Then if she had to go back and wait in her truck she would. But she wasn't going home until she talked to Jacob Black.
"Is she gone?" Jake's voice reached his father, deep with newfound tenor.
Billy Black sagged a little in his wheelchair. "She's gone for a walk. Said she'd be back," he said in a defeated tone. "Jake, you need to go to Sam and figure this out."
"No!" Jake said harshly. He appeared from the darkness of the hallway, his hulking shape taking up most of the space. Where only a few weeks ago, the large form of a healthy teenager had been now stood the form of a well-defined, muscular, man. "I've already told them what I could."
"You shouldn't be here if she comes back then," Billy said firmly. "It's for the best."
A soft growl escaped Jake's lips. "She's out there alone," he said almost without realizing it.
Billy looked at his son carefully and with sympathy, "Jacob. You're the one who made the decision to stay away. Remember?"
Jake's jaw flexed. He remembered. But right now, with her scent still lingering from the doorway it didn't seem to make a difference. He wanted.
He began to pace the small living room. It all changed the night of the movies. When he came down with that strange fever he thought it was just a case of bad timing and a flu bug.
It was the nightmares that came shortly after that changed everything.
While he lay in bed, soaking the bed linen in his fever-induced sweat, he dreamt that he was racing through the forest. He was in pursuit of something and whatever was in flight had his blood singing with the fury of the chase.
As he crashed through the trees he caught glimpses of white to tantalize him. As he pushed himself to run harder he realized he was running on four legs, not two. He was a wolf! He snarled and dug his feet into the loam to gain better purchase.
The distance disappeared between himself and his quarry. He could now see that it was a human form. The realization made the human side of Jake hesitate but his wolf was unshakeable. The person ran from him, but at an inhuman speed. Long hair billowed back as she gracefully ducked and weaved around the obstacles in her path.
Finally she was within reach. Jake's wolf extended itself as it leapt and it's front paws managed to tear at the woman's shoulder. A terrible ripping noise hurt his ears as his claws dug into her bare skin. It was like hearing a car crash; it was the same folding sound of metal. A horrible smell like bleach washed over him and made him shudder for the slightest second before he flattened the figure to the ground underneath him.
The woman had a wild head of red hair and she laughed in delight as she looked up at him.
His wolf didn't give her a chance to say anything. It gripped its head in his mouth and gave it a sharp tug, rending it from its shoulders with another awful sharp screech.
When he looked down at it again he found he was looking at Bella's body. Jake wrenched out of wolf-form and into his own with a sense of dawning horror.
"Bella!" he bellowed. "Bella, no!" He cradled her limp form to his bare chest.
She was colorless underneath all the blood. Her eyes opened only a crack. "You said . . ."
The final shuddering rattle that went through her body made him frantic and he let out a howl of anguish…
Jake had woken up to his trashed room. Sam's gang stood waiting for him just outside the doorway. Hard to believe now that the four massive Quileute men had squeezed themselves into that space anxious for his 'arrival' into the pack.
At the memory, Jake's fists were clenched so hard his nails had embedded themselves into the flesh of his palms.
"Jake," his father tried to reach him.
"I have to go," he said abruptly. Her scent drew around him with searing intensity. At the very least he had to get some fresh air. Then he would fight against the desire to see Bella with the need to keep a safe distance.
