The Alpha Female

JacobxBella

Rated M

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or the franchise, as it belongs to Steph Meyers

The Alpha Female

Chapter 8

Going to the Pack meeting the next morning, Jacob was on a mission. He was determined to confront Paul and beat him into next year for what he did to Bella. He could have killed her! He nearly took her arm off and Paul would be lucky if he didn't take a chunk out of him when he saw him. Before long he walked into the small clearing of the woods where the Pack was waiting. However he ignored all of them, his focus only on Paul who was listening to something Seth was telling him.

Stomping up to him Jacob pulled his fist back and brought it forward, his fist connecting with Paul's face. Paul stumbled back at looked at his Pack brother incredulously yelling, "What the fuck, Black?!"

"Shut up, Lahote!" Jacob growled before punching him again. It didn't take him long to be in an all out brawl Paul, Paul giving back as good as he got. It took Sam and Jared to pull Paul away from Jacob, and Embry and Quil to pull Jacob away from Paul. When they were finally restrained Sam asked, "What the hell was that about, Jacob?"

Jacob tried breaking out of his friends' hold, but they held tightly to him though it was a struggle to do so. When he knew he couldn't get out of their grip he said, "Paul tried to kill Bella!"

"The hell I did!" Paul yelled, struggling in Jared and Sam's hold on him.

"You did! You nearly took her arm off! Leah said you did because she was there to witness it! You were supposed to help train her, not off her!"

Paul stopped struggling a bit and scoffed replying, "Oh please, like I actually tried to kill her. I roughed her up sure, but I wasn't actively trying to kill her. And if I had wanted to take her arm off, I would have."

Leah frowned and said, "But you said yesterday that you didn't give a shit that it was a training match."

"And I didn't, but if I had to be subjected to that, then I was going to go about it my way."

"That doesn't give you a reason to try and kill her!" Jacob yelled.

"You can't protect her all the time, baby Alpha. And if she's going to have to be trained by wolves, then she's going to have to learn to fight like one. And that includes fighting dirty if she has to, because any leech after her isn't going to fight fair, so she needs to learn to not be bound by rules. You do it all the time concerning her, so why try to keep her in line? If you're supposed to be our Alpha and she's supposed to be our Alpha Female, then both of you need to step up."

Paul shook Jared and Sam off of him and stalked away, obviously done with everyone and having said his piece. As Embry and Quil let go of Jacob, he glared after Paul but couldn't help but wonder if he was right. Vampires didn't play or fight fair, especially when they had powers. It was up to them to try and be a step ahead of them and if it came down to it, fight unfairly. Was Paul trying to say that he fought Bella the way he did the day before to…help her? To help her realize that she needed to learn to fight dirty in the event she was trying to be killed by an opponent? As much as he hated to admit it, Paul was right. There would be enemies that had no qualms about killing them and the same went for Bella, no matter how much protection she had. If they got past them then she would have to hold her own. And if push came to shove, Bella would have to fight just like them.

Troubled Jacob left to go talk to his father and Old Quil, seeking council about the situation. Maybe they could help ease his mind and tell him whether or not Paul was right.


Bella hissed in pain as unwrapped the bandages around her arm. She needed to take a shower and wanted to wash her horribly bruised arm as well. Once the last of the bandages were in the trash, Bella looked at her arm in the mirror; it looked absolutely awful. It was still swollen and red, blue, black, and purple. She could even still see where Paul's wolf teeth had left indentions in her arm. Jesus, she didn't think she'd looked so bad before in her life.

A knock on the bathroom door got her attention and she said, "Yes?"

"Bella, do you need help with the bandages?" Sue asked her through the door.

"No, I got it," Bella answered. She had stayed with the Clearwaters the night before and would do so until her arm healed. Sue had called Charlie to let him know, saying she and Leah were spending some quality girl time together. Charlie had asked when the girls had become friends and had talked to Bella, Bella convincing her father to let her stay the week with them. He agreed, so long as she still went to school. And that was the reason why she was trying to take a shower now, so she could go to school.

Undressing herself, Bella got into the shower and turned the water on, the warm water falling on her and down her body. She took a wash cloth and soap and soaped up her body, being extra careful in washing her wounded arm. After a while she finished and got out of the shower, wrapping a towel around herself and leaving the bathroom to head to Leah's room where she had stayed the night before. Once inside she dried off and put on some fresh clothes from her bag that had been delivered by Jacob. After her jeans, socks, bra, and t-shirt was on, she put on her shoes and headed back to the bathroom. Bella took her hairbrush and brushed through her wet hair before trying to tie it in a ponytail, which she couldn't because of the pain in her arm. Giving up she left the bathroom and headed back to Leah's room to grab her backpack and light jacket before heading to the living room.

Sue looked up and looked at her arm before saying, "Let's put some clean bandages on you, and Leah should be here in time to take you to school."

Bella sat down and pulled the up sleeve of her t-shirt up onto her shoulder as Sue began to rub some healing salve on her arm, the salve smelling of peppermint leaves and leaving a nice, tingling sensation on her skin. Sue then wrapped her left arm up once again from shoulder to forearm. Once she was done Sue said, "There we go. Don't worry, it'll heal soon."

"Thank you, Sue," Bella said with a grateful smile.

Sue smiled and nodded before telling the brunette to turn around and she proceeded to fix her damp hair into a French braid. Once her hair was braided and secured by her hair tie, Leah walked in and looked at her saying, "Let's go."

"Have a good day, Bella," Sue said with a reassuring smile.

"Thanks, and I'll try," Bella replied as she stood and put her jacket on before grabbing her bag and following Leah out to her car. The two girls got in the car and buckled up before Leah left her home and headed out of La Push and into Forks.

As she drove she glanced at Bella out of the corner of her eye and noticed she looked rather tense. A moment of silence went by before she asked, "Penny for your thoughts?"

Bella hesitated a bit before saying, "I'm just anticipating running into Edward and the others."

"Because of your situation?"

"Yeah. I saw him two nights ago and when he touched and held me, he ended up burning me."

Leah's eyes widened at hearing that as she concentrated on the road. Stopping at a stoplight she said, "I was wondering what those burns were from. So what, you can't be touched by or near a vampire now?"

Bella shrugged before answering, "I'm not entirely sure about being near one, but I don't think I can be touched by one again, not without getting burned. I did…wolf out…when Edward touched and kissed me, but I think that was because I was trying to make him let go of me and he wouldn't listen to me."

"Does he always not listen to you?"

"Well…no, he doesn't. He says he does, but I don't think he really does. I know he loves me and wants to protect me because of how fragile I am, but it gets annoying how he smothers me all the time. It's honestly why I like being around Jake so much. Jacob doesn't try to smother me and lets me make my own decisions. He might even get on my nerves and make me want to attempt to strangle him sometimes, but I definitely have more freedom hanging out with Jacob then I do with Edward and the Cullens."

Leah wondered if Bella even realized what she had just told her. Whatever filter she always had in place whenever she was talking about or thinking about her leeches, it had completely disappeared just now. Clearing her throat a bit she said, "Sounds like your relationship with them is not only dangerous, but controlling at best."

Bella was surprised at what the she wolf said, but even more surprised to realize that it was true. Edward did control everything she did when he was present and allowed his family to do the same. And because of how enthralled she was with Edward and his family, she allowed it. Had it always been like that since the beginning of her relationship with Edward and his family? How could she have blinded herself to the fact that he was controlling every aspect of her life, so much so that when he left she completely fell apart? Because of him she had abandoned her other friends and made him and his family her entire life, ignoring and keeping out not only them but Charlie as well. No wonder it took so long for Jacob to pull her out of it, and yet she still wasn't completely in her right mind, and all because of Edward.

God, she was so angry with herself! Letting out a frustrated cry she cried out, "I'm such an idiot!"

"Hey, hey! Don't yell," Leah said as the light turned green and she drove under it. "What makes you an idiot, besides the fact that you're dating a vampire?"

"That I allowed him to sweep into my life and control it without me knowing! And on top of that, allowing it and being alright with it! I can't believe I'm only realizing this now! Edward doesn't allow me to make a single decision on my own and made it so I couldn't function without him! What is wrong with me?! I wonder if he even loves me like he claims he does!"

Leah said nothing at first as she pulled into the driveway of Forks High School. Parking the car she looked at Bella and said, "Listen, I'm not going to say he doesn't love you, because he probably really does in his own flawed way. However I will say this. Now that your eyes are open to what and how your relationship has been for the past year, ask yourself if you really still want to be with him, that he and his life is really what you want."

"But being the Alpha Female, I-"

"Don't make that a factor right now. Just think about it. Is how life has been with your leech how you want the rest of your life to be? You've already made it clear you have every intention of being one of them, so I'd suggest still thinking it over. And if you feel like you need to talk with him just to make sure once you've made up your mind, then do it. This is your decision to make, and no matter the outcome or how badly someone may get emotionally hurt or not behind it, make sure you do it for yourself and for the right reasons."

Bella stared at Leah as she listened to her words, taking them in and nodding before grabbing her bag and getting out of her car. She watched Leah drive away as she thought about her words before turning to walk into the school, only to run into Edward.

"Bella love, I'm so glad to see you," Edward said. He placed a hand on her shoulder, only for her to wince and back away from him. Frowning he dropped his hand and said, "I want you to come to my house after school today, Bella. I told Carlisle about your little problem and he'd like to examine you to see if we can cure you."

"Cure me?" Bella asked almost incredulously. Did Edward really think she could be cured of something that was obviously supernatural?

"Yes, that way we can be together like we used to be."

The brunette closed her eyes to calm herself, feeling herself beginning to get mad with her boyfriend. Taking deep, calming breaths she said, "Edward, I need you leave me alone for today, please. Just…give me some space so I can think."

Edward looked shocked at her statement before asking, "Think about what?"

"Everything, so just give me space. And that goes for Alice as well. Tell her to leave me alone today too."

Bella walked past Edward and headed inside, only for him to grab her hand to stop her. She hissed as her hand burned and she could actually hear her skin sizzling and smoke rising from it. Yanking her hand out of Edward's hold she hissed, "Don't touch me!"

Students were staring at them in shock, surprised to see that Bella was having some sort of fight with Edward. They had never seen them fight before; they were the perfect couple in the school, so it was surprising and interesting to see this happening between them. Bella held her hand to her chest and stomped away, hurrying to the nearest bathroom while ignoring Edward's call of her name.

The moment she was in the bathroom, she ran to the sink and turned the cold water on, thrusting her burning hand underneath the water. Panting she looked up in the mirror and noticed how her eyes had started becoming round and lightening in color. Tears were standing in her eyes before she closed them and eventually turned the running water off. Grabbing a paper towel, she patted her hand dry and looked at the bright pink flesh, taking notice how the burns were going to be in the shape of fingerprints. Closing her eyes to try and calm herself she whispered, "This can't go on like this. Leah's right, I need to make a decision. And I have to make it today."