Chapter 10 – I HATE Alpha Commands with a Passion

Disclaimer: I do not own Jacob Black. I do not own Leah Clearwater. I do not own Bella Swan/Cullen/Black. I wish I did, but I don't. So leave me alone. Thanks. ;)

A/N: I DID forget to add a chapter! Thanks for letting me realize what was going on. I was half-asleep when I uploaded the last one, so I guess the end result is that you get TWO chapters in two days. haha. :)

I got into the house and saw Bella sitting in the middle of the living room, the phone pressed to her ear. She looked up and her gaze caught mine and her jaw dropped. It took her a second to re-collect herself.

"Billy, I've found him. Call Sam and tell him to halt the search. He just came in the front door. Thanks. Bye." She sat the phone down on the cradle and ran over to me, hugging me. "Jacob, where have you been? Was there something with Irina? Did you find anything out?" She paused, pulling back. "Jake, you smell like an alcohol distillery," she frowned.

"We need to talk," I said.

"Obviously," Bella said, looking at me in confusion and wrinkling her nose.

"Is Norah here?" I asked her.

"No, she's at Sam and Emily's. I came home last night, but you never came home. There was no note, nothing. Jake, I was so worried about you!" she cried.

Her reaction only made what I had to do that much harder.

"Bells..." I murmured weakly.

"Honey, sit down," Bella said, leading me over to the couch. She sat down next to me, looking at me worriedly. "What is going on? You look horrible."

"Bells, you know I love you, right?" I asked her. "You know I love you more than anything else on this planet."

"Of course I know that," Bella said in confusion. But what does that have to do with anything?"

"I made a really huge mistake last night," I started.

"Umn, okay," Bella said, placing one of her hands in mine. "It can't be that bad."

"I went to Leah's last night," I said, making myself press forward with the conversation. I had to spit this out now, or I'd never have the strength to.

"Okay," Bella said, nodding. She still was so unsuspecting. She trusted me fully and I was about to shatter her confidence in me.

"Bells, I got drunk last night. Leah was making alcohol and I'd never drunk anything stronger than wine. She gave me a few shots of tequila and before I knew it, I was completely wasted." I couldn't continue. I broke off, sighing.

"Okay, so you and Leah got drunk," Bella said. "Never mind the fact that you shouldn't have taken any FORM of alcohol from her. Leah has unrequited feelings for you, but you said that you didn't have them back for her…" she trailed off.

"I don't!" I said vehemently. "Bells, you know I love you and only you, right?" I said, sighing.

She nodded. "Yes, Jake," she said, looking at me with a worried expression on her face.

"Last night, I had sex with Leah." I said it quickly, almost like pulling off a band-aid. Bella's jaw dropped and I instantly knew she hadn't been expecting that. I knew Bella had trusted me with her whole heart and I was the fool that was going to shatter it to pieces. Not Edward. Me.

"But, why?" she asked, confused. Her eyes were wide with shock and I could feel her pain radiating somewhere in my stomach. I felt sick. Who was I to do this to her? She deserved so much better than that! I had promised her that I wasn't going to hurt her! And now look what I had done.

"Bells, I was drunk; I wasn't thinking at all. I wasn't myself. I woke up this morning completely confused and not knowing what was going on. I told her that I didn't love her and I only loved you and whatever happened between us last night was nothing but my stupidity in letting her get me drunk and seducing me."

"Jake…" Bella sighed, tears forming in her eyes.

"Honey, I love you and only you. If I could do one thing to make this better, I would."

"You don't... love her?" Bella asked me.

"No," I said. And as I said it, I knew it was true. "Bella, you're the mother of my children, my wife, my other half. My life isn't complete without you. I don't want Leah and I never have."

Bella looked down at her feet, shuffling them, an intense look on her face, biting her bottom lip. When she finally looked up at me, her face betrayed no second-guesses, no conscience… just a pure, unadulterated focus.

"Jake, tell her to leave," Bella said slowly and clearly. "I'll forgive you if you give her an Alpha command. Tell Leah Clearwater to leave La Push and to never come back. If you don't love her, then you won't care if she leaves."

I looked at Bella in astonishment. "Bella, you know what that would do to Seth?" I murmured.

"I didn't say she had to go far away. I just want her out of La Push… out of our backyard. Jake, if you don't do this, I'll take Norah and I'll leave. I don't want to, but I will."

I knew I didn't have a choice. I valued my family above everything else. I would have to tell Leah to leave. Whether I wanted to or not. This was messing with my family and that was one thing I knew that couldn't happen.

I headed over to Leah's with a heavy heart. I knew what had to be done. That didn't mean I was looking forward to it. Hadn't Leah already had her heart broken enough? Who was I to go and break it for her again? I sighed.

I knocked on the door and Leah answered it.

"Was she home?" she asked, looking genuinely worried.

I could only nod.

"Do you want to come back in?" she asked blankly.

I shook my head.

"Then what? Jake, it's December. It's cold," she complained.

"Leah, leave La Push tonight," I said, my voice ringing with authority. It was the Alpha command that Bella had instructed I make, one that I had never wanted to, but one that I knew I had to. I had no other choice.

Leah looked at me in surprise.

"Jake," she gasped. "I know last night was a huge mistake, but La Push is my home. You can't expect me to get up and just leave…"

"Leah, last night can never happen again. The only way I can ensure that that never happens again is if you leave. You don't have to go far… you can stay in Forks or at the Makah reservation. Maybe if you go to the Makahs and become Makah then David's parents will finally accept you."

"Jacob, you know I can't do that," she said. "I'm Quileute by birth and Quileute I will stay."

"But you are no longer part of this tribe," I said painstakingly.

Leah's eyes welled up with tears and I knew I had hurt her more than she had ever hurt me… more than Sam had ever hurt her. Sam had never threatened to take away her position as a member of this tribe. That was a right that had been born to her, one I knew she deserved. But I couldn't keep Leah around if it was going to be detrimental to my marriage and my children's lives. There was just no way Bella and Leah could co-exist peacefully as next-door neighbors.

"Fine," she said, slamming the door in my face. I saw her long black hair swish in the window. I heard her tears rip from her throat and I instantly felt remorse. What had Leah really done wrong? In the end, if I would have been strong enough the previous night to stop the events from occurring, Leah would have never had to leave. But I was too damn selfish to save my own marriage and my own family… and I knew that Leah would never forgive me for it.

I headed back up to the house and saw Bella looking out the window from Norah's bedroom. She turned and pulled the curtain shut as I jumped over the fence and walked into the kitchen.

Bella was sitting at the kitchen table, her head in her hands. I walked through the French doors into the kitchen and she didn't even look up.

"I told her to leave," I said quietly. "She'll be gone by tomorrow."

Bella simply nodded.

"We have a life together, Jake" she said slowly. "Norah, you, and me… and this baby," she tacked on as an afterthought. You have to know that I can't let anything come between us. You know Norah needs both of us…"

"I love you," I told her, taking a seat next to her at the table. "They say what doesn't kill us only makes us stronger. We'll get through this. It was just one drunken night and I regret it with everything in my heart, Bells."

Bella simply shook her head.

"It was not simply one drunken night, Jake. You had sex with another woman. Whether you meant to or not is irrelevant. You promised that you would never hurt me, Jake. You broke your promise."

I sighed. "Bella, I'm going to make it up to you! I'm going to fix this! And I'm not going to do it ever again! I was drunk. And I swear to you, Bella… I will never go near alcohol ever again."

Bella sighed.

"I'm going to forgive you for Norah and the baby," she said, leaning in and kissing me on the cheek. "But it's going to take me a while to forget about it."

I nodded. "I know," I said.

Later that day, I decided to head out for a while. I needed to clear my head and Bella's constant watching over me was starting to drive me absolutely crazy. I did feel horrible about what had transpired between Leah and I, but it had been an accident. It wasn't like I had wanted it to happen. Quite honestly, I hadn't.

On my way back home, I decided to stop by Billy's house. It had been a while since I'd seen him and Bella had been the one making sure he had breakfast and dinner made as of recently.

I walked up the familiar ramp leading up to the front door and let myself in. Billy was sitting in the living room, watching college basketball.

"Hey Dad," I said, coming over to the couch and sitting next to him.

"Hey son," Billy said, smiling at me. "Long time, no see."

"Yeah," I replied. "I'm sorry about that. I've just been so busy lately, it's been insane."

"I know how it is," Billy said, nodding.

"I've got some good news and some bad news for you," I sighed. "And I kind of need your advice."

"Sure," Billy said, turning the volume down on the television. "Fire away."

"Bella's pregnant," I said bluntly.

Billy grinned broadly.

"Really?" he asked. "That's great! I'm going to be a grandpa for the fourth time?"

"Yeah," I said, returning the smile. "Only problem is that Bella and I are having problems in our relationship," I continued, looking into his eyes for any sort of reaction.

"What do you mean?" Billy asked, frowning. "You and Bella were made for each other."

"I thought so," I sighed. "And I love her more than anything, don't get me wrong. But Leah decided to be stupid. I went over there because I knew she was upset and pretty much made the biggest mistake of my life."

"Jake, you didn't..." Billy trailed off.

"She got me drunk and seduced me. I was so wasted that I couldn't even remember Norah's name," I admitted. "I kept calling her Nancy or Nellie or something."

Billy gave a low whistle before shaking his head.

"There's more," I said. "Bella told me the only way she wouldn't leave me was if I gave Leah an Alpha command and told her to leave La Push. So I went back over there this morning and I did. I told her she had to be gone by tomorrow."

Billy's eyes widened.

"Jake, you might want to get clearance from Sam on that..." he trailed off.

"Dad, what else am I supposed to do?" I groaned. "It's either Bella and Norah and my unborn child or Leah. I'm not going to choose Leah over my family. I'm not in love with her and I never have been."

"Jake, I know you probably don't want to think of this, but did you and Leah use any form of birth control?" Billy asked abruptly.

I froze.

"No," I admitted. "But Leah is convinced that she's a genetic dead end because she's not having cycles anymore."

"I'm just saying that if Leah winds up pregnant, she can come back to La Push. A child overrules any Alpha command that you've given. And because you've told her that she has to leave, how is she supposed to inform you if that unfortunate circumstance does occur?"

"It's not going to," I said, shaking my head. "It took Bella and I over three months of regular sex to conceive this baby. That's not going to happen."

Billy simply nodded.

"If you're sure," he said.

"Did you ever tell Mom about sleeping with Embry's mom?" I asked him.

"I did," Billy said, sighing.

"And how did that go?" I asked.

"She was very upset with me for a while," Billy said. "I think the biggest part was that she blamed herself because she thought that if she had paid me more attention, then I wouldn't have even thought about Beth that way. But Beth and I had slept together more than just once. The situation between you and Leah is completely different. Your mother did forgive me and I stopped seeing Beth after she moved up to the Makah reservation. She came back seven months later, pregnant with Embry. I never slept with her again after that."

I nodded.

"I think Bella understands that I never meant to cheat on her. I was drunk and taken advantage of and I told her that. I think it's just hard on her because I promised her that I wouldn't hurt her and look what I ended up doing," I sighed.

"Tip number one. Never promise a woman anything. They will hold you to it. I know you love Bella and she would be a fool to think you didn't."

I sighed.

"You should probably get back home. She's probably wondering where you are," Billy sighed. "Things will work out, mark my words. If I was able to fix things with your mother after having screwed them up ten times what you have, then you should be able to fix things with Bella."

I hugged Billy and smiled.

"Thanks Dad," I said, heading for the door.

Chapter done. Finally. :) This one took me a while to write.

Things are getting complicated!! :D

Thanks for reading! Please review.

xoxo