Then the doorbell rang…
Chapter 2
Edward's POV
If my heart was still beating, it would've stopped. I froze in place as her scent wafted through the oak door. It took all my strength not to open the door and grab her and runaway to a place where she would be mine forever. Alice's thoughts suddenly jumped into my head, "Come on, Edward! We've got to go! We can't risk her seeing us!" She grabbed my hand and pulled me out of my shock and straight to the back door. It wasn't until we reached the forest behind the house when I smelled them. Wolves. And a lot of them. We all froze, except Rosalie, who, from the sound of her thoughts was going to see if we were surrounded. Her answer was, "Yes. We are surrounded. Do they mean us any harm?" It took me a second to realize what she was asking me. I peered into the hive mind of the wolves and tried to locate the main conversation.
"We mean you no harm as long as no harm will come to us. All we want is some answers," I heard Sam Uley say with an authoritative tone.
"Okay. We will give you answers," I called to the wolves, who had just entered our line of vision. They walked closer and I heard another errant thought, "Somebody get Bella outa here!" I spun around, and sure enough, there she was. More beautiful than the last time I saw her. I just didn't love the expression on her face. It was a nasty look filled with disgust and hatred. It broke my heart even more.
Bella's POV
The day had started out normal. Well, just about as normal as it can get when you date a wolf. Jacob had stayed late the night before trying to get me to share a dream I had the night before. There was a reason I didn't want to share it with him. Don't get me wrong- I love Jacob. I really do, but there was a small, small part of me that still had feelings for… him. Although he had left me broken two years ago, I still dream about him. I know I shouldn't, and I feel awful. At least Jacob didn't know that I still dream about them. To his knowledge, I'm over Edward Cullen.
I walked downstairs, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, only to see Jacob sitting at my kitchen table talking. Thy both had their backs to me so they couldn't see me yet.
"How are you two doing? Bella looked upset when she went to bed last night," Charlie asked, with a light note of anger.
"No. We're good, Chief Swan. It's just that Bella has been keeping a secret from me. She's been kinda distant lately," Jacob told Charlie.
"Yeah. I noticed that. I wonder what is that she's hiding. She has been taking long hikes on sunny days. She never did that before I heard her screaming in her sleep about six months ago. Bad dreams I guess," Charlie recalled. Damn! He did notice something strange about me. I hate to admit it, but every rare sunny day I snuck out and had been hiking to Edward's meadow. I decided to walk in, so they couldn't talk about me anymore.
"Good morning, Bella," they said at the same time, turning to face me.
"Have you been here long, Jacob?" I said coldly, then I realized that I shouldn't be mad at him. He just wanted what's best for me.
"Why hello, Queen Grumpalump," Jacob laughed.
"Sorry, Jake. Bad dream. Still scared. Sorry," I apologized, "Have you eaten?" I said, glancing at the clock. 10:57. Huh. That's strange. Usually I don't sleep that late.
"I have, but Jake wants to take you out on a picnic. What do you think?" Charlie said, sounding carful.
"That sounds great," I said, "I'm starving," My stomach growled, adding emphasis. We all laughed.
"Mmm. This is delicious, Jake," I said looking around at the small Forks Park. We were seated comfortably on one of the park benches. He was holding my hand and my head was resting on his shoulder. I had absolutely no idea he could put together a sandwich. I almost dozed off when I heard a tinkling laugh. Was my mind playing tricks on me or had I fallen asleep? I could've sworn that that laugh sounded exactly like Alice Cullen's. I snapped my head up and scanned the park. My eyes landed on two darkly dressed people sitting on a bench across the park from us. One of them looked up and I caught a glimpse of his eyes. Liquid gold. I froze.
"Jacob…" I stuttered into his ear.
"What?" He asked. I nodded in their direction. Before I could react , he had pulled me to my feet and was walking me to my truck. He kept glancing over his shoulder. I was still in shock, so kept tripping. I'm so clumsy.
We reached my truck and I stopped. I kissed him, said goodbye, got in my truck, leaving him shocked and without a ride. I took the exit towards the Cullen's old house. We had some things to discuss.