Chapter 3
A/N: A bit of a diversion from the original storyline now. The world and characters belong to Stephanie Meyer, the rest is mine :) Tell me how you feel about it!
When Jake left last night, I laid awake thinking of our time spent on First Beach. I went over everything that was said, and still, I couldn't figure out what he was talking about. I fell asleep, and woke up, thinking I saw Jake in the corner of my room. When I went to turn on the light, he was gone. I am sure that it was just my brain playing tricks again, just like it did with Edward. I noticed that even though I woke up super early, I didn't have any nightmares last night. Hmmm...
I decided that today, I'm going to skip school, go to the Res, and try to convince Jake to skip, too. I mean, he's going to graduate early. He can afford to skip, right? So it's 6 am, and Charlie got home an hour ago. He's snoring in his recliner, so I left a note on the fridge that I was taking a day. I can't skip and not tell him. I'm the chief's daughter. They call him immediately. I chuckle to myself, knowing he'll appreciate the heads up and will be ok when he learns that I spent the day with Jake.
On my way to La Push, I notice a man on the side of the road, putting some motor bikes out with a paper taped to them that says "scrap metal". I pull over and ask him if he could help me load them in the truck. Those things are HEAVY. He and I get them in, but not without some sweat and swearing. He gives me a tarp for free to tie over them. It rains a lot in Forks, so it was a nice thing for him to do.
I pull up to Jake's and see him walking around outside. It looks like he's picking up some tools from outside of his garage. He looks up at me and his body heaves a sigh. I get a little discouraged but think if he doesn't want to see me, at least he can get the bikes out of the truck. I get out and smile at him.
"Hey, Jake!" I walk up to hug him, but he lacks his usual happiness. He one arms me, and pats me on the back. "Hey man, I have a surprise for you!" I say as I take the tarp off of the bikes.
"Um, scrap metal. Thanks," he looks a little uncomfortable.
"No! I mean, yes, but I saw them on the way over and thought maybe we could skip school today and try to rebuild them. You, obviously, not me. I want to assist! I'll hand you tools. Once you teach me what they are," I laugh conspiratorially.
"Well, I guess I could skip today... But I do have a date later. So, I'll need time to get ready for that," he says quietly.
"Oh, wow, Jake. A date, huh? Who's the lucky lady? Do I know her? I'll bet she's super hot, right? Only the best for Jacob Black," I nudge him to add effect. I don't know why, but I'm a little jealous. I play it off as best I can, thinking I just miss being wanted by someone. I cringe a little and wrap my arms around my middle.
"Yeah, so, let's get these bikes out!" he laughs. His smile doesn't quite reach his eyes when he looks at me.
"Careful, Jake. Those are really heavy-" I start, but he's already taking them out of the back of the truck like they weigh nothing. "Um, Jake... You are like, super buff. When did this happen? And you have a tattoo!" I notice as he turns to put the second bike on the ground.
"Oh, yeah. I did. It's a Quileute tribal thing. So... uh, did you get a chance to think over what I was talking about last night?" he asks.
"I did. I'm going to need some more help, Jake," I am genuinely confused. Just as I say this, I hear a wolf howl. Jake looked over towards the sound. Following his gaze I notice a group of really large russet skinned men. I recognize one as the warm arms who held me that night in the woods. I squeeze myself a little harder. "Some friends of yours?"
"Um, not really. But I do need to go talk to them, so just stay here," he mumbles, walking in their direction.
I watch him start to jog and reach them rather quickly, and see the strained expressions and tense postures of them all. One of them jerks his head my way and spits on the ground at Jacob's feet. I start to run their way, seeing the hostility rising up and hoping I can somehow calm Jake before it escalates.
Right as I get close enough to start hearing their conversation, I notice the one that's almost as big as Jake yelling at one of the others, who is shaking violently. He has a frightening look on his face, and I try to run up to get between them.
"Paul, calm down! Please, get a hold of yourself!" he and Jake suddenly look my way and at the same time yell, "Stay back!"
"Bella, no! Go back to your truck!" shouts Jake, raising his hand to point to the red beast. He looks back to the rest of the group and starts kicking his shoes off. I'm confused by this gesture, and scrunch my face up and tilt my head to the side. There is a sudden explosion of shredded clothing and a large wolf lands on the ground in front of Jake, where the shaking man had stood.
"Jake! RUN! Oh my God, RUN!" I scream, backing up quickly. Immediately there is another explosion of clothing shreds, and I see the other 3 men shaking their heads.
"Looks like the wolf is out of the bag!" one laughs loudly. I see no humor in this. I'm certain that if I had eaten this morning, it would have come up pretty quickly.
"Take Bella back to Emily's, guys," the large one says. He must be the leader of their little group. Pack? Oh Jesus.
I think about just running back to my truck and hightailing it out of here, because this is the strangest shit I've seen all week. But then, I think, yeah, I dated a vampire, so... I sigh and wait for the two smaller ones to approach me, and I realize that I've met them before, that day on First Beach. I think their names are Embry and Quil.
"I have 5 on Paul, Quil!" Embry exclaimed.
"No way, Jake's a natural! He'll take him easy. I've got your 5!" said Quil.
They both climb in my truck like they've known me forever, and look at me like I'm holding them up. Quil sits in the driver's seat, and puts his hand out of the window, I'm guessing for the keys to the beast. I hand them to him, walk around the front of the truck, and climb in on the passenger side. He backs up and takes the truck further into the Res, arguing with Embry about who is the better fighter out of Paul and Jake. When we pull up to Emily's house, I'm still reeling with shock.
"Whatever you do, don't stare at Emily's face. Sam doesn't like it," says Embry. I get out of the truck and follow the boys up to the front door, where they just walk in without knocking.
"Hey boys! Are you hungry? Oh, who am I kidding? You're always hungry! Save some for your brothers! And ladies first!" Emily smiles as she looks up from her baking. "You must be the vampire girl. Would you like a muffin?"
"Um, sure. Thank you. Technically, I guess I'm not the vampire girl anymore. But you must be the wolf girl," I try to smile as I squeeze my middle.
She laughs. "I guess so!" and hands me a muffin. The boys dive into the basket she is holding and she laughs like this is just typical behavior. She sets the basket with the rest of the muffins on the counter and starts to walk towards me. "It's nice to finally meet you, Bella!" she says and hugs me.
"Oh, so you've heard a lot about me, then?" I ask.
"Who hasn't?" says Embry. "'I miss Bella', 'I wish Bella would call'."
Quil starts in as the door opens behind me,"'I wish Bella WOULDN'T call', 'I wonder how Bella is doing?' We all hear Jake's inner monologue."
I sit confused, until Embry answers my thoughts, "We have the ability to hear each other's thoughts while we are wolves. We call it the pack mind!"
"Jake is right. You are good with weird shit," says Sam. He looks worn down. Tired. Jake and Paul run in the door after him, pushing each other and laughing. Jake smiles his bright smile at me, and I feel the light shine from his face. He looks down at my arms tightened around my middle and furrows his brow a little. I loosen them and let them hang at my sides. "I thought for sure that Jake would be the one to get you to come to the truth, Bella. We could see that he was trying to find a way past the gag order. Paul here is still working on his temper."
"I'm sorry, Bella!" Paul smiles at me. I nod my head and pull a half smile so that he knows he is forgiven.
"Yeah so now you know... I'm sorry that I have been a bit secretive and hostile. The phase makes you a little aggressive. We need to talk. Who was the leech in your room yesterday? We tried to chase the red head down last night, but she jumped in the water. Bloodsuckers have the advantage in the water, because they don't feel the need to fucking breathe," Jake says roughly. "So we couldn't exactly have a conversation with her. We couldn't figure out what she was after."
I'm stock still as I realize that he's talking about Victoria. I clear my throat.
"Um, well... She's... She's after me," I breathe out. I start relaying the story from the beginning, feeling a little like I'm betraying Edward and Alice, when I talk about how he can read minds and she sees the future.
There are choruses of "Shit!" and "Damn!" as I tell my story, and when I end at how Edward left me in the forest, Jake is physically shaking. I recognize this as a warning before the phase. I back up, a little scared. Jacob's eyes look up at me, remorseful, and his shaking quells. He takes my hand and pulls me close to him.
"We need to find a way to protect you," he says quietly. I look up at him and know it is the truth, but I'm doubtful that there is much that he can do about it.
"Jake, vampires are dangerous. You can't just fight them. They are so fast, you can't catch them," I say shakily.
"Yeah, well, we're faster! We took out that freak with the dreads, didn't we, boys?" Embry says excitedly.
"Yes we DID!" laughed out Paul. These people laugh at the oddest things. I look up at Sam, and he seems lost in thought. He lifts his head and starts to speak.
"Ok boys, this is how it's gonna go. I'm going to call Billy and Harry. We're keeping Bella on the Reservation. She can take turns staying with each of us. Paul and I will take turns waiting outside of her school so nothing catches us off guard. I'm sorry, Bella, I know that will make it a bit of a drive for you," he says apologetically.
"Um, that isn't going to work for me. What about Charlie? He knows nothing about this. I can't just leave him at home! That's the first place Victoria will go to look for me!" I worry aloud.
"Ok, Sam, I'll take this one... Uh, Bella, we need to go talk. Follow me, please," says Jake, pulling my hand with him towards the door.
Confused, I follow Jacob out of Emily's house. We start walking slowly towards the sound of the crashing waves. I remember from the drive over that the beach isn't far from here. When we get to First Beach, Jake walks over to the tree we sat on the last time I was here. Our tree. I look up at him expectantly.
"Alright, where to start? So, ah, Charlie knows about us. The wolves, that is," he pauses so that I can take it in. I know I look completely shocked. "Well, Bells, he's been dad's best friend for decades. He grew up knowing the legends. I mean... He was a detective, for fuck's sake. He put some things together, confronted dad about it, and dad told him it was true. He didn't REALLY believe him until he phased in front of him, though."
"So, you knew all of this time that you were going to turn into this... thing? A werewolf?" I ask, wondering how that must have been growing up.
"Well, technically, I did, yes. I didn't really believe it, though. Not until Sam phased. See, Dad was in a wheelchair by the time I was 8. Before then, Mom wouldn't let me see him phase, saying it could traumatize me. She was probably right about that. Then he stopped phasing because he couldn't run. He was the Alpha of the pack, and he was butthurt because he couldn't keep up, so he kinda just passed off Alpha to Harry on the side. Oh, and we're actually shapeshifters, and not werewolves. There's no biting or turning other people," he sees my look of confusion and extrapolates further. "Yes, Harry has the gene as well. He stopped running a while ago, too. Bad ticker," he said, thumping his chest.
"So Chief of the tribe and Alpha aren't the same thing?" I ask, genuinely interested.
"Well, yes and no. The bloodline of the chief of the tribe is the Alpha of the pack... Unless they don't want it. Then they can give it to someone else..." he trails off, looking into the distance.
"Jake, does that make you Alpha? Are you the leader of the pack?" I laugh at my song reference. Renee would be proud. He sighs and looks at me.
"I handed it off to Sam. He was Alpha before I phased, and I let him keep it. He was willing to hand the reins over without a challenge, but I don't want to be a wolf at all, much less the leader of a group of them. I can't take that kind of responsibility when I hate this so damn much," he says dejectedly.
"And does Charlie know about the vampires? I can't see him knowing and still letting me leave with Edward," I wrap my arms around my middle, holding myself together.
"Ah, well that's complicated. Like I said, he does KNOW the legends, I'm sure he has had some suspicions, but I don't think that he knows that the Cullens are leeches," he looks down at my arms. "Bells, every time something comes up about them, you wrap your arms around yourself. I know you are sad. What's going on?"
"I just... Well I kinda feel like I'm going to fly apart sometimes. Like I need to hold all of the pieces in," I say, feeling silly.
"Honey, you don't ever have to hold yourself together for me. If you fly apart, I will pick up your pieces and put them together again.," he says, moving his face closer to mine. I shift uncomfortably on the log and turn my face a little. He smirks a little and pulls back into his own space.
"Ok, so how do we go about doing this? I was going to try to get a job at Newtons. Mike told me to come in and he would put in a good word for me. Do you think I shouldn't get the job? I really need the extra money. I feel like I'm putting such a burden on Charlie," I sigh.
"I don't see why you can't. I think you should try to live as normal a life as possible," he says.
"There is NOTHING normal about this," I laugh out.
"If you do, though, we'll need a copy of your schedule. I hate to encroach on your privacy, but we need to know where you are at all times, so we can protect you. And now that the Cullens are gone, we can protect you off of the Res, too. It's just easier to keep you here because there are more of us here, and we have a constant patrol around the border. I guess I should take you home so that you can tell Charlie what is going on," he says as he's getting up.
"Yes, I would LOVE to hear his take on this," I say snarkily. Who wouldn't want the chance to explain to their dad that I dated a vampire and now one is trying to kill me to get back at him?
Ok guys, what did you think? How do you think Charlie will react to the news about the vampires? Leave a review and let me know! :) Thanks, guys!