Chapter 3

"Who the hell is this?"

Jacob asked angrily as he grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the elevator. He glared at Tristan furiously.

"He is a friend, Jake." I said frantically.

"I have heard that one before" He said as he kept his eyes on Tristan.

I glared at Jacob. He was referring to the time I cheated on him before we got married. I couldn't believe how he just threw that in my face. He had promised to put that behind us when we got married.

"Look, I was just trying to help…" Tristan began to explain.

"We don't need your help. Get out of here." Jacob snapped at him. His whole body was trembling with anger.

The elevator door began to close. Tristan looked at me worriedly. I gave him a weak smile to reassure him that I would be okay. The door closed and Jacob dropped my hand. He stormed into the hotel room and I followed him in.

"I was gone for a few days and you got a new boyfriend?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked angrily.

I was annoyed by his sudden accusation. Jacob didn't reply. I noticed that the balcony doors in the sitting room were opened. Jacob must have seen us downstairs when Tristan put his arm around my shoulders to steady me. I closed my eyes in exhaustion.

"It's not what you think."

"I don't know what to think"

"Jake, please." I looked at him and pleaded with my eyes. "All I wanted was for you to be here with me." I took his hands in mine.

Jacob relaxed his stance and looked at me with troubled eyes. And then all of a sudden, he froze. His eyes were staring at my neck.

"Where is your necklace?"

My hands flew up to my neck and felt around for the pendant. It was missing. Gabrielle must have bit it off when she found me in the forest. My fingers moved across the small bump on my neck.

Jacob took in a deep breath and turned around to hide his face from me.

"Jake…"

"Stop." He said with his back to me.

Jacob let out a sigh and took off his wedding ring.

"There is no point of me wearing this, is there?"

His wedding ring dropped onto the floor and rolled towards my feet. Jacob didn't say another word. He walked out of the hotel room.

"Jake!" I cried.

I couldn't run after him. My legs felt like they were cemented to the floor. I had no energy left. I bent down to pick up his wedding ring and clutched it tightly inside my hand. I felt a sharp pain in my stomach and I fell onto my knees. Tears rushed down my cheeks like an opened floodgate. I sobbed loudly as I held his ring tightly to my chest. My marriage was falling apart right in front of me and there was nothing I could do to fix it. I let out another sob. Maybe there was something I could do. I needed to find my necklace that held my engagement pendant and my wedding ring. I wiped the tears off my face with the back of my hand and picked up the phone to call the concierge.

"I need to rent a car. A fast one."

I drove the black Mercedes CL65 back to the forest where I fainted a few days ago. I parked it on the side of the dirt road and began rummaging through the forest ground for my necklace. An animal nearby suddenly distracted me. My head snapped up and scanned around for the prey. Without hesitation, I ran towards it and sunk my teeth into its neck before the animal could respond to the attack. At the moment I finished, I began to feel nauseated. I had to put my hand on a tree to steady myself. I threw up a mouthful of blood and breathed heavily. My head felt light and weak. The last thing I remembered was a pair of cold arms catching me before I fell onto the ground.

"See, I told you it would work."

Gabrielle's voice woke me up. I opened my eyes and realized that I was back in their house. I felt stronger. Recharged. I sat up instantly.

"What worked?" I asked curiously.

Tristan leaned his head into my view. "I told Gabrielle about your diet but she insisted on giving you human blood." He said apologetically.

"What? How?" My hand flew up to my lips.

"I wasn't able to finish him all by myself anyway. I just bit open his wrist and drained the blood straight into your mouth while you were asleep." Gabrielle said casually.

"Oh…" I said as I furrowed my brows. I wasn't sure what Jacob's tribe would think about that.

"You may be able to deal with a fancy diet but your bébé can't." Gabrielle rubbed her hand gently on my stomach.

"What?"

"Oh mon dieu! Don't you know that you are pregnant?"

I gasped. Gabrielle was right. How could I have been so blind to all the symptoms I was having. I was pregnant and the baby inside of me was rejecting the animal blood. I looked down to my stomach and I was surprised to actually see a slight bump that was definitely not there before.

"Wait a minute, how long have I been unconscious this time?"

"Five days." Tristan replied.

It had been five days ago since Jacob took off his wedding ring. I quickly got up to reach for my coat.

"Where are you going?" Gabrielle asked.

"I have to go find my husband."

"Well, your eyes are not the right colour to be walking on the street right now. Here." She threw a pair of sunglasses at me. I caught it with one hand. Tristan held a familiar looking necklace in his hand.

"I think you were looking for this when you fainted."

"I can't thank you two enough!" I smiled and put the necklace around my neck.

The sky was getting dark when I ran out to the dirt road where I parked my car. I was glad to see that it was still sitting there. I wondered if Jacob would still be in the hotel. Maybe I should call him first. I took my cell phone out from my coat pocket and saw that the battery was dead. I would have to drive there to find out. I started the car and drove back to the hotel.

The moment I got into the city, I knew I was in trouble. The smell of human blood all around me was making my mouth salivate. I bit down on my lip and continued on. finally, I parked the car on the street outside of the hotel. The parking attendant came up to the car but I waved him away. The truth was that I couldn't get out of the car. If I got out now, I would probably sink my teeth in his body instantly. I clutched the steering wheel so hard that my knuckles turned white.

Suddenly, the passenger door opened. My mom and dad sat themselves in the back seat. The car door on my side opened as well. My aunt Rosalie shoved me over to the passenger seat and took the steering wheel.

"We got to get you out of here." My dad said to me urgently.

"I know a place we can go." I replied with a shaky voice.

Rosalie stepped on the gas pedal and the car sped off with a loud screech.