Disclaimer:
Paul: Donna does not own Twilight. I will never belong to her. And she is a very nice person.
Me: Here's the twenty bucks for saying that.
Bella heard something hit her window as she was getting ready for bed. She looked out the window to see Jacob looking up at her. She opened the window and stepped back as he scaled the tree before climbing in. She watched him with wide eyes as he crossed the short distance to stand in front of her. He moved to pull her to him and she stopped him.
"You've got some explaining to do," she said sternly.
"I told you, I can't," he said as he shook his head.
"Then what are you doing here?"
"I needed to see you. I miss you."
"I miss you too, but that doesn't mean that I am not mad at you."
"You have every right to be mad at me. I have been the worst kind of friend to you."
"Yeah, you have," she said folding her arms over her chest.
He sat on the bed with his elbows resting on his knees. She sat next to him, draping an arm over his shoulders.
"You know that you can tell me anything. I won't pass judgment on you. So you've joined the hall monitors on steroids?"
"Yes," he said, cracking a smile.
"How did that happen?"
"I realized that Sam wasn't as bad as I thought."
"And what about the rest of them?" she asked quizzically.
"I'm still getting used to them," he answered somberly.
"At least you're friends with Embry again."
"That is the high point to the situation," he agreed.
"So was getting the tattoo an initiation thing?"
"Yes."
"I bet your dad flipped out," she reasoned with a light laugh.
"No, he's pretty happy about it," he disagreed with a proud smile.
"Your dad is happy that you got a tattoo? Are we talking about the same guy? He flipped out when Rachel mentioned that she was thinking of getting one."
"I guess he's used to it now. There is something that I need to talk to you about."
"So talk."
"I may be bound by a gag order but I can give you clues as to what is going on."
"You mean I get to join Mystery Inc.? I'll be Daphne if you're Fred," she teased.
"You're such a smart ass," he said shaking his head.
"Seriously, tell me."
"Do you remember that day that you ran into me on First Beach?"
"Yes."
"I told you stories about my tribe. Do you remember any of them?"
"I remember the story about the cold ones."
"I can see how that would be the one that you would remember," he said bitterly.
"You put the seed that Edward was a vampire into my head. And I was right."
"Do you remember anything else?" he asked with a sigh.
"Not off the top of my head," she said with a shake of her head.
He stood then pulled her up to stand with him. She let him pull her to him before wrapping her arms around his neck. He wrapped his around her waist with a sigh.
"Try to remember okay?"
She nodded as she looked up at him.
"When you figure it out, you know where to find me," he said before kissing her forehead.
He stepped away when he heard Charlie walking around in his room.
"I'll see you later."
"Wait," she said reaching out to him.
"I've gotta go," he said climbing out the window.
Charlie knocked on her door a few seconds later. She quickly shut the window before opening her door.
"It's a little late for you to be up. It's a school night," he admonished.
"I'm going to bed now," she promised.
"Did I hear you talking to someone in here?"
"I was on the phone."
"I thought I heard another voice in here."
"I had it on speaker phone."
"You used your phone after I told you that you couldn't use it?" he asked giving her a hard look.
"Here," she said walking to her nightstand and picking her phone up, she handed it to him a few seconds later.
"It sounded like you were talking to Jake."
"I was."
"Well, I guess I can't deny you that," he said handing her back the phone.
"Why are you giving it back to me?"
"Jacob is the only person that you are allowed to talk to. I'll be checking your phone every night, and the phone bill when it comes in to make sure."
"Yes sir," she said with a nod.
"Go to bed," he said sternly before walking back to his room.
She got into bed and tossed and turned the entire night thinking about what Jacob could have meant. She was beyond tired when she had to get ready for school the next day. She would keep her promise and wouldn't go and see Jacob until she had figured out what he had been trying to tell her.
XXXX
Bella was at work that afternoon when Mike let out a heavy sigh. She looked over at him to see him staring out the front window.
"What's with you?" she asked.
"There's a guy who keeps walking by here. He's walked past here three times in the past half an hour. He'll stare in here like he's going to come in for a few minutes and then he'll walk away."
"You should go out and talk to him the next time you see him. Ask him what his problem is."
"I'm not the one he's staring at," Mike said shaking his head.
"Are you telling me that this guy is watching me?"
"That's exactly what I am saying. There he is again. Do you know him?"
She looked up from her homework to see a tall, dark haired guy staring straight at her. He didn't look away as she gave him a curious look.
"No, I've never seen him before."
"He looks like he could be friends with that guy you brought to the movies."
"Jake? Maybe he is."
"He's starting to weird me out," Mike mumbled.
"Do you think that I should go out there and talk to him?"
"I wouldn't. He could be a sociopathic killer."
"You're right," she said still watching the guy.
Embry found Paul standing outside the sporting goods store when he came out of the diner with Jared. He told Jared to stay where he was before crossing the street.
"Hey."
"Hey."
"You ready to go?"
"Yeah," Paul said with a nod.
Embry looked into the store to see what Paul was looking at. He saw Bella behind the counter and waved before walking away.
"Do you know that guy?"
"That's Embry; he is a friend of Jake's. I guess the other guy is somebody that I haven't had a chance to meet yet."
"Well he obviously knows who you are."
"Maybe he saw a picture of me at Jake's," she reasoned.
"I'd stay away from him if I were you. He looks creepy."
"You said the same thing about Edward, and he wasn't creepy at all."
"No, he just abandoned you."
"Can we not talk about him anymore? I need to get this done," she said as she pointed to her homework.
Mike nodded as he went back to his own homework. Bella tried to concentrate on the math problem that she was trying to solve but her thoughts were still on the guy at the window. He was cute, but the way that he was staring at her had unnerved her. She didn't know what had come over her when she decided to stare right back. That wasn't the kind of person she was. She should have gone out there and said something to him. She would just have to try and find him when she went to Jacob's again.
XXXX
Bella was in the forest again. It was dark and raining, just like the day Edward had left. She was chasing him through the woods. Every time that she thought that she had caught up with him he would turn another corner and would be gone.
She turned one corner and came to a skidding halt. In front of her stood the black wolf, staring down at her with eyes that were so yellow that they looked like they were glowing. The others ran in the direction that she had seen Edward last. The wolf nudged his head the way she had just come from in a way of asking her to turn around and go home. She heard a lonely howl in the distance followed by feet pounding against the forest floor. She turned, but was frozen in place. She looked over her shoulder to see the other four wolves form a line behind the black one. She looked at each of them, stopping at the russet one; she reached for him but stopped. The grey one on the end caught her attention and she walked towards him.
The russet wolf snarled and showed his teeth as she rubbed the grey wolves head.
"Don't get jealous, I'll come to you next. He needs this more than you do," she said, not looking away from the wolf in front of her.
He leaned into the touch, his nose grazing her cheek.
"You're not so bad, are you?"
His head dipped and he rested his chin on her shoulder. She pulled away to look into his eyes. She smiled when she saw his scared brown eyes met hers. She walked to the russet wolf and he whined as she scratched behind his ears.
"No one is going to hurt you, I won't let them," she said before cupping his head in her hands.
He licked her hand gently and she smiled. The black wolf made a noise to get their attention and he motioned again for Bella to go home. She stepped away from the wolves and watched as they veered off towards the ocean. The grey wolf looked over his shoulder just before fading out of sight. His eyes met hers and she waved with a smile. She thought that she saw him smile back before turning to catch up with the rest of the pack.
She sat up in bed gasping for breath. She looked around the room and noticed that the window was open. Had she opened it last night? She didn't remember. She walked across the room to close it seeing footprints in the mud underneath her window. She looked down to her floor, seeing muddy footprints leading to her bed. Whoever had been in her room had huge feet, but at least they were human.
She quietly opened her door and tiptoed to the bathroom. She got a wet washrag and scrubbed the footprints from the floor. By the time she was done it was almost sunrise. She went downstairs to start a pot of coffee for her dad then made herself a bowl of cereal. Her dad came down half an hour later.
"You're up early for a Saturday. Do you have to work this morning?"
"No. I was hoping to talk to you about letting me go to see Jake today."
"I don't have a problem with that. I'll come by after work, and we'll have dinner there."
"That sounds good," she said with a nod.
"It's a little too early to go over there right now."
"I was going to wait a couple hours. I'll clean up around here and maybe get some laundry done."
Charlie nodded as he made himself a cup of coffee. He was gone half an hour later. Bella had the house cleaned and the laundry done by nine. She hoped that at least Billy would be up. She pulled up to their house just before ten. She waited on the porch until Billy cracked the door open.
"I need to talk to Jake."
"He's not here."
"I know that he's here," she said as she brushed past him.
"Bella, don't go back there." Billy warned.
Jacob was sprawled across his bed, snoring like a buzz saw when she walked into the room. She saw movement outside and leaned down to look out the window. Sam, Embry, and two guys that she couldn't see very well were walking through the yard. She was out the front door again within seconds.
"Bella, you shouldn't be here," Billy said as she walked down the stairs.
"I am worried about him. I don't see why you aren't," she said over her shoulder.
She met Sam in the middle of the yard with the other three standing a few feet behind him.
"What did you do to him?" she accused.
"You think any of us wanted this?" A voice that she didn't know asked.
"Paul, stay out of this," Sam warned.
She looked over Sam's shoulder to see the guy from the store. He gave her an icy glare as she stepped up to him.
"I didn't say that any of you wanted this. But a month and a half ago Jake wanted nothing to do with any of you."
"Bella, you should go," Sam said.
"No, I'm not going anywhere until I get some answers."
"Bella I think that you should listen to Sam," Embry said trying to get in between her and Paul.
"I don't need you to defend me," she said pushing him out of the way gently.
"You want answers little girl? You can't handle this," Paul said with a sneer.
She gave him a pointed look before rearing her hand back. Her hand connected with his cheek with a crack. He stared at her with rage as he started to shake.
"Bella, get back," Sam warned.
"It's too late now," The other guy said.
"No!" Jacob yelled from the porch.
She turned half way around to see him running through the yard.
"Jacob, don't!" Embry yelled.
Jacob jumped into the air inches from where Bella stood. His clothes ripped off of him as he phased. Bella stared in shock as Paul phased a few seconds later. Embry pulled Bella out of the way and kept his arms around her to keep her from getting in the way. Jacob and Paul rolled through the yard and crashed into Billy's row boat. They rolled into the woods a few seconds later.
"The two of you take her to Emily's. I'm going to break them up."
"Come on," Embry said leading her to the truck.
The other guy jumped in the back as Embry held the passenger door open for Bella. He jogged around the front as Sam entered the woods.
"Thank you," Bella said once Embry was in the truck.
"You're welcome," he said with a smile.
"Who's he?" she asked jerking her head to the back.
"That's Jared. You don't need to worry about him. He's harmless," he said as he started the truck.
The ride took less than two minutes and once they got out the boys let out a loud whooping yell that made Bella look at each of them like they were crazy.
"That's to let Emily know that we brought somebody else with us," Embry explained.
"Me?"
"Exactly," Jared said as he walked up the stairs.
"Before we go in, I want to warn you. Don't stare at Emily, it bothers Sam."
"Why would I stare?"
"Embry, bring her in," A female voice called from inside the house.
He motioned with his head for her to follow him as he walked up the stairs. She stopped on the porch trying to gather her bearings. Jacob was the russet wolf and Paul was the grey wolf. Why had she singled Paul out first in her dream? She didn't understand it.
"Are you gonna come in or not?" Jared called.
"Leave her alone. She's probably traumatized," Emily admonished.
"I'm not," Bella said from the door.
"Who's this?" Emily asked with a smile.
"Bella Swan," Embry said as he gave Bella a small smile.
"So you're the vampire girl?"
"Not anymore. So you're the wolf girl?"
"Looks like it; I'm engaged to one anyway."
"Congratulations."
"Thank you, would you like a muffin?" she asked reaching in between the boys to grab the basket of muffins.
"Sure," Bella said before taking one.
She picked at it absentmindedly hearing voices on the porch. Sam and Paul came in and Sam went to Emily and kissed her before running his fingers over her scars sadly. She leaned into his touch with a smile. Paul came to stand next to Bella, making her look over at him.
"I'm sorry," he said, flashing her a dashing smile.
She nodded, giving him a nervous smile before seeing Jacob at the door. He jerked his head as a way of asking her to follow him. They walked along the beach in silence until they came to their piece of driftwood.
"How did you figure it out?"
"I had a dream."
"It wasn't a nightmare?"
"No," she said shaking her head.
"So what happened in the dream?"
"I was in the woods, chasing after Edward the day that he left. The five of you showed up in wolf form and the black wolf motioned for me to go home. Which one is he?" she questioned.
"Sam, did you listen?"
"I started to. The four of you came back and something made me stop," she explained.
"What?"
"I was pulled towards Paul. I don't know how to explain it. I talked to him like he was human.
You got jealous, so I went to you too."
"So you put the five us together by seeing us once and then dreaming about us?"
"Yes," she said, feeling a blush creep up her neck under his penetrating gaze.
"I always knew you were smart. Paul is not a good guy; you should stay away from him," he warned.
"I got that impression this morning," she said shakily.
"He didn't hurt you before I came out did he?"
"No, did you hear us or did your dad wake you up?"
"I heard you. Since you know, I guess there's nothing stopping me from telling you," he said with a sigh.
She was quiet as he unloaded everything on her. She stared at him with wide eyes. They were the ones causing all the trouble in the woods. They were the ones killing people.
"I am more worried about you now than I was before," she confessed.
"Why? I can't die," he said with a laugh.
"You are killing innocent people Jake," she accused.
He shook his head as a look of anger spread across his face. He took a few deep breaths before lifting his head to look at her again.
"We aren't the ones killing humans Bella. We are killing the one thing that we are trained to kill, vampires," he said through clenched teeth.
"You killed Laurent?" she asked with concern.
"Yep, and we're gonna kill his red headed girlfriend too. I just wish that I knew why she keeps coming back," he said, his anger vanishing instantly.
"Victoria has been here?" she asked with wide eyes.
"What do you know about her?" he asked, turning to face her.
"I know what she wants. She wants me."
"I should have known. I'm taking you home," he said sternly before standing.
He picked her up and carried her the entire way to Emily's. He set her in the passenger seat and told her to wait while he went inside. He was on the phone when he came back out. He told the person to meet him at her house with the rest of the pack. When they got to her house Charlie was getting out of his cruiser.
"Hey stranger," he said to Jacob.
"Charlie," he said with a nod.
"I was gonna change and then come down to your house."
"There's been a change of plan. My dad isn't feeling well."
"Do you need a ride home?"
Sam's jeep pulled up in the driveway and the four of them got out.
"I have one. Is it alright if we take a look around your yard? Bella said that she saw something this morning. We just want to make sure that it hasn't come back," he explained.
"Do you need any help?"
"It would be best if you stayed inside with Bella Chief Swan, just in case it tries to come in the house," Sam said.
"Good point. Come on Bells, thank you boys for looking out for her."
"You're welcome Sir," Paul said with a nod.
They waited until Charlie and Bella went inside before Jared looked at Paul. He made a sound like a whip, cracking the imaginary whip for emphasize.
"Shut up," Paul said rolling his eyes.
"Leave him alone, Jared. Paul, you stay out front. Embry, you check the right side of the house. Jared, you check the left side. I'll check the back yard while Jake checks the woods," Sam said before walking around the side of the house.
The group split up and Paul checked the front yard for any smell of Victoria. When he had checked the entire yard he sat on the front porch. The front door opened and Bella stuck her head out.
"Can I talk to you?" she asked.
"She hasn't been out here. You can come out," he said, not turning to face her.
She closed the door quietly before sitting next to him. She was close enough that she could feel the heat radiating off of him. She pulled off her sweatshirt and set it on the porch behind her.
"Why did you come by my work yesterday?"
"Embry pointed you out. I wanted to see you," he said with a shrug.
"You couldn't come in?"
"You couldn't come out?" he asked flippantly.
"I was working, I have an excuse," she said in defense.
"I wanted to see the girl that Jake, Billy, and Embry talk so much about," he said nonchalantly.
"You could have come in and introduced yourself," she stated.
"I didn't want to," he said with a scoff.
"Whatever. I wanted to apologize for slapping you."
"I shouldn't have provoked you," he said quietly.
"I'll know not to do it again."
"You could have gotten yourself hurt."
"But I didn't, it's like I said, I'll know not to do it again."
"You aren't scared of me?"
"Should I be?" she asked in confusion.
"Yes," he said with a laugh.
"Well I'm not. I've dealt with scary situations than that," she said bravely.
"Like what?"
"Things that you don't need to know about," she said with a sigh.
"I'm not the first person who has tried to kill you, is that what you're saying?" he asked in an even tone.
"That's exactly what I am saying," she said in a quiet voice.
He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. She was looking out across the yard, worry lines etched across her forehead. He wanted to know more, but he didn't want to come across as nosy or scare her, or piss her off again. He would bide his time and let her keep things to herself for now.
"Paul?" Sam called from the side of the house.
He sighed as he put his hands on his knees. Bella looked over at him, giving him a curious look. He met her gaze, giving her one of his own.
"You should go," she said quietly.
He stood reluctantly and made his way around the side of the house.
"You are very stubborn. I asked you not to go and see her and you did it anyway," Sam said scornfully.
"I'm sorry. I had to," Paul explained.
"Don't apologize, I understand. But, until you can listen you will not be put on watch."
"What?" he asked as his face fell.
"Jared found some footprints underneath her window. I know that you've been here before today."
"Just once," he admitted.
"You shouldn't have come here at all. What if she had seen you?"
"She didn't," Paul said as he shook his head.
"I can't take that chance."
"She knows that I didn't mean for what happened this morning to happen."
"I know that you are remorseful for that. You don't need to explain. But that isn't going to make Jacob forgive you. He still wants to kill you."
"I can handle him," he said confidently.
"I know that you can."
"When can I tell her?"
"When the time is right, you haven't proven that you're ready yet."
"Whatever I need to do, I'll do it. You know that."
"I know you will. It's good to see you thinking about someone other than yourself for once. I can say that about you."
"Where are the others?"
"I had them run a patrol up into the mountains. I waited until I was sure that they were far enough away that they wouldn't hear before I called you," he assured.
"What now?"
"We go home. I'll explain everything that we found on the way."
The two of them walked to the Jeep quietly. Paul looked at the house as Sam pulled away. Bella had gone inside, but that didn't mean that he wasn't thinking about her. She seemed like she was normal, but like him she had a past that was filled with grief and pain. He was going to make sure that she never went through anything like that again.
