Chapter 1
I cowered into Jacob's side, my eyes scanning the forest for the other werewolves. When they appeared, striding out from between the trees, they weren't what I was expecting. I'd gotten the image of the wolves stuck in my head. These were just four really big half-naked boys.
Again, they reminded me of brothers, quadruplets. Something about the way they moved almost in synchronization to stand across the road from us, the way all had the same long, round muscles under the same red-brown skin, the same cropped black hair, and the way their expressions altered at exactly the same moment.
They started out, curious and cautious. When they saw me there, half-hidden beside Jacob, they all became furious in the same second.
Sam was still the biggest, though Jacob was getting close to catching up with him. Sam didn't really count as a boy, though. His face was older- not in the sense of lines or signs of aging, but in the maturity, the patience of his expression.
"What have you done, Jacob?" he demanded.
One of the others, one I didn't recognized- Jared or Paul- thrust past Sam and spoke before Jacob could defend himself.
"Why can't you just follow the rules, Jacob?" he yelled, throwing his arms in the air. "What the hell are you thinking? Is she more important than everything- than the whole tribe? Than the people getting killed?"
"She can help" Jacob said quietly.
"Help!" the angry boy shouted. His arms began to quiver. "Oh, that's likely! I'm sure the leech-lover it just dying to help us out!"
"Don't talk about her like that" Jacob shouted back, stung by the boy's criticism. Me, though, I didn't care.
A shudder rippled through the other boy, along his shoulders and down his spine.
"Paul! Relax!" Sam commanded.
Paul shook his head back and forth, not in defiance, but as though he was trying to concentrate.
"Jeez, Paul" one of the other boys- probably Jared- muttered. "Get a grip."
Paul twisted his head towards Jared, his lips curling back in irritation. Then he shifted his glare in my direction, looking me straight in the eye.
And then something strange happened. His face softened, replaced by an oddly dazed expression, and his mouth opened slightly in shock.
"Oh, boy" someone whispered. "Paul's in trouble."
I didn't know who said this, nor did I care. All I could concentrate on was the god standing mere meters away from me. I seemed to get lose in his gorgeous chocolate brown eyes- almost exactly the same as mine only a lot more beautiful- and a strange sensation came over me. It was like a part of my heart broke off, only to be replaced by a feeling much stronger. A pull towards Paul.
Paul seemed to take an involuntary step forwards, completely harmless now, but Jacob took a protective step in front of me. I guess it may have looked like my Paul was going to attack me. What, what the hell?
That triggered something inside Paul, and he was even more furious than before.
He seemed to fall forward, vibrating violently. Halfway to the ground, there was a loud ripping noise and the boy exploded.
Dark silver blew out from the boy, coalescing into a shape more than five-times his size, a massive, crouched shape, ready to spring.
The wolf's muzzle wrinkled back over his teeth, and another growl rolled through his colossal chest. His dark, enraged eyes focused on Jacob. I couldn't get over how beautiful- the word didn't even cover it- the wolf actually was.
In the same second, Jacob was running across the road straight for my wolf. And again, what's with the 'my'?
"Jacob?" I screamed in fright, though every fibber in my body was yelling at me that I should be screaming Paul's name.
Mid-stride, a long shiver ran down Jacob's spine. He leaped forwards, diving headfirst into empty air and turning into a russet brown wolf.
Thankfully, the fight between the two wolves didn't last very long, though it felt like hours, and Jacob managed to push Paul into the forest but by the time they had vanished along with Sam, my heart was in my throat.
Jared looked at me carefully, assessing.
"Hey, you're not going to faint or anything?" he demanded.
"No" I answered truthfully. Fainting wasn't at the top of my list right now. I was just feeling very, very confused.
"Let's go see Emily. You know she'll have food waiting." Embry looked down at me. "Mind giving us a ride?"
"No problem" I replied in a slightly dazed voice. I shook my head to try and get some sense back into me.
Jared raised one eyebrow. "Maybe you'd better drive, Embry. She looks like she might faint."
"Good idea. Where are the keys?" Embry asked me.
"Ignition."
Finally as they drove along, I saw at the end of the lane was a tiny house that had once been gray. There was only one narrow window beside the weathered blue door, but the window box under it was filled with bright orange and yellow marigolds, giving the whole place a cheerful look.
Embry opened the truck door and inhaled. "Mmmm, Emily's cooking."
They climbed up the one step and entered the house without knocking. I followed timidly after them.
The front room, like Billy's house, was mostly kitchen. A young woman with satiny copper skin and long, straight, black hair was standing the counter by the sink, popping big muffins out of a tin and placing them on a paper plate. For one second, I though the reason had told me on the way here not to stare was because the girl was so beautiful.
And then she asked "You guys hungry?" in a melodic voice, and she turned to face us full on, only a smile on half of her beautiful face.
The right side of her face was scared from hairline to chin by three thick red lines, livid in colour though they were probably long healed. One line pulled down the corner of her dark, almond-shaped right eye; another twisted the right side of her mouth into a permanent grimace.
Thankful for Embry's warning, I quickly turned my eyes to the muffins in her hands. They smelled wonderful- like fresh blueberries.
"Oh" said Emily, surprised. "Who's this?"
I looked up, trying to focus on the left half of her face.
"Bella Swan" Jared said, shrugging. Apparently I had been a topic of conversation before. "Who else?"
"Leave it to Jacob to find a way around" Emily muttered. She stared at me and neither half of her once beautiful face was friendly. "So, you're the vampire girl."
I winced and stiffened. "Not anymore, am I? And I gather you're the wolf girl?"
She laughed, as did Embry and Jared. The left side of her face warmed. "I guess I am." She turned to Jared. "Where's Sam?"
"I guess you could say Bella and Jacob, err, surprised Paul this morning."
Emily rolled her good eye. "Ah, Paul" she sighed. "Do you think they'll be long? I was just about to start the eggs."
"Don't worry" Embry told her. "If they're late, we won't let anything go to waste."
Emily chuckled and then opened the refrigerator. "No doubt" she agreed. "Bella, are you hungry? Go ahead and help yourself to a muffin."
"Thank you." I took one from the plate and started nibbling around the edges. It was delicious. Embry picked up his third one and all but shoved it into his mouth whole.
"Save some for your brothers" Emily chastised him, hitting him on the head with a wooden spoon. The word surprised me a little, but the others thought nothing of it. I guess it made sense, seen as they looked like a family, and I felt it too. There was a special connection between the brothers and Emily.
The door opened, and San stepped through.
"Emily" he said, and so much love satiated his voice that I felt embarrassed, intrusive, as I watched him cross the room in one stride and take her face in his wide hands. He leaned down and kissed the dark scares on her right cheek before he kissed her lips.
"Hey, none of that" Jared complained. "I'm eating!"
"Then shut up and eat" Sam suggested, kissing Emily's ruined mouth again.
"Urgh" Embry groaned.
This was worse than any romantic movie; this was so real that it sang out loud with joy and life and true love. I put my muffin down and folded my arms across my empty chest. I stared at the flowers, trying to ignore the utter peace of their moment, and the wretched throbbing of my wounds.
I was grateful for the distraction when Jake and Paul, and then shocked when I saw that they were laughing. While I watched, Paul punched Jacob on the shoulder and Jacob went for a kidney jab in return. They laughed again. They both appeared to be in one piece.
Paul's eyes met mine and held them for maybe a little too long before he was bombarded by Jared and Embry, leaving me to ponder my butterflies.
Jacob scanned the room, his eyes stopping when he found me leaning, awkward and out of place, against the counter in the far corner of the kitchen.
"Hey Bells" he greeted me cheerfully, though he was also looking at me a little sympathetically. What was it with everyone? First Sam, then Emily, and now Jacob. What the hell was going on? "How are you holding up?"
"Don't worry about me. Just very confused. Good muffins." I picked mine back up and started nibbling again. My chest felt better as soon as I saw that Paul was okay, though I still had no idea why. I wish someone would explain it to me.
"You'll understand soon enough" Jacob reassured me in a whisper but I was pretty sure that everyone apart from Emily heard it anyway.
I opened my mouth, but before I could ask him what the hell he meant, I was interrupted by Jared wailing "Oh, man!"
I looked up, and he and Embry were no examining a fading pink line on Paul's forearm. Embry was grinning, exultant.
"Fifteen dollars" he crowed.
"Did you do that?" I whispered to Jacob, remembering the bet Jared and Embry had made during their trip to Emily and Sam's house.
"I barely touched him/ He will be perfect by sundown." I wasn't sure whether or not I should be angry at Jacob for hurting Paul.
"By sundown?" I looked at the line on Paul's arm, trying to ignore how much I though his muscles made him look even more freaking hotter- if that was even possible. Odd, but i looked weeks old.
"Wolf thing" Jacob muttered.
"Oh" was all that came out of my brilliant mouth, and then I added "You okay?"
"Not a scratch on me." His expression was kinda smug.
"Hey, guys" Sam said in a loud voice, interrupting all the conversations going on in the small room. Emily was at the stove, scraping the egg mixture around a big skillet, but Sam had one hand on the small of her back, an unconscious gesture. I couldn't help but smile as the gesture. "Jacob has information for us."
Paul looked unsurprised, though he tensed a little. Jacob must have explained this to him and Sam. Or... they had just heard it in his thoughts.
"I know what the red head wants." Jacob directed his words mainly towards Jared and Embry. "That's what I was trying to tell you before." He kicked the leg of the chair Paul had settled into. I noticed that there were loads empty, but Paul had just sat in the one closest to me but farthest away from where he was standing before. Weird.
"And?" Jared asked.
Jacob's face got serious. "She is trying to avenge her mate- only it wasn't the black-haired leech we killed. The Cullens got her mate last year, and she's after Bella now."
This wasn't news to me, but I still shivered.
Jared, Embry and Emily stared at me with open-mouthed surprised/
"She's just a girl!" Embry protested. I couldn't help myself; I rolled my eyes. It was just too tempting.
"Correction" I said. "I'm just a human girl."
"I didn't say it made sense" Jacob sighed, ignoring my correction. "But that's why the bloodsucker's been trying to get past us. She's been heading for Forks."
They continued to stare at me, mouths still hanging open, for a long moment like I had just grown another head. I ducked my head."Excellent" Jared finally said, a smile beginning to pull up the corners of his mouth. "We've got bait."
With stunning speed, Paul yanked a can opener from the counter and lunched it at Jared's head. Why was Paul defending me? Jared's hand flicked up faster than I would have thought possible, and he snagged the tool just before it hit his face.
"Bella is not bait" Paul growled, glowering at Jared. Blimey...if looks could kill. I hadn't thought that in a while either.
"Calm down, man, you know what I mean" Jared chuckled, unabashed.
"So we will be changing our patterns" Sam said, ignoring their squabble. "We'll try leaving a few holes, and see if she falls for it. We'll have to split up, and I don't like that. But if she's really after Bella, she probably won't try to take advantage of our divided numbers."
I winced involuntarily. They were risking everything for me. Why hadn't I kept my stupid strap shut? Oh yeah, because I'm an idiot.
"Quill's got to be close to joining us, soon" Embry murmured. "Then we'll be able to split up evenly."
Everyone looked down. No matter how comfortable they seemed to be with their fate, here in the happy kitchen, none of these werewolves wanted the same fate for their friend.
"Well, we won't count on that" Sam said in a low voice and then continued at his regular volume. "Jacob, Jared and Embry will take the outer perimeter, and Paul and I will take the inner. We'll collapse in when we've got her trapped."
I noticed that Emily didn't particularly like that San would be in the smaller grouping. Her worry was catchy and I found myself glancing at Paul, worrying, too.
Sam caught my eye. "We think it would be best if you spent as much time as possible here in La Push. She won't know where to find you so easily, just in case."
"What about Charlie?" I demanded.
"March Madness is still going" Jacob said. "I think Billy and Harry can manage to keep Charlie down here when he is not at work."
"Wait" Sam said, holding one hand up. His glance flickered to Emily, then to Paul, and then back to me. I understood the first flicker, but not the second. Maybe it had something to do with his anger problem thing. "That's what we think is best, but you need to decide for yourself. You should weigh the risks of both options very seriously. You saw this morning how easily things can get out of hand. If you choose to stay with us, I can't make any guarantees about your safety.
"I won't hurt her" Paul mumbled, looking down, but still, worry seeped through his voice and I wondered why.
Sam acted as if he hadn't heard him speak. "If there was somewhere else you felt sage..."
I bit my lip. "I've handled vampires so I'm pretty sure I can handle some teenage wolves."
Sam just stared.
I sighed and just managed to check out "I don't want to lead her anywhere out.
Sam nodded, but somehow his silence got made me worry.
"You'll be careful, right?" I asked Jacob- well, Paul, but I wasn't going to tell anyone that- with an audible limp in my throat.
The boys burst into loud hoots of amusement. Everyone laughed at me- except Emily. She met my eyes, and I could suddenly see how motherly she was towards these boys. Her face was still beautiful, and alive with concern even more fierce than mine. I had to look away, before the love behind the concern could start me aching again.
"Foods ready" she announced then, and the strategic conversation was history. The guys hurried to surround the table and devoured the buffet-sized pan of eggs Emily had placed in their mists. They were like piranhas that had got the whiff of meat. Emily ate leaning against the counter like me- avoiding the bedlam at the table- and watched with affectionate eyes. Her expression clearly stated that this was her family.
All in all, it wasn't exactly what I had been expecting from a pack of werewolves.
Please review. I was wondering if anyone could suggest any conversations Bella and Paul could have before Paul admitted his 'undying love' for Bella, and love poems or songs. Thank you.
I don't own Twilight though I would love to
~Poison Ivey