Chapter 11 Don t Kill The Messenger!

Author s Note: A few reviewers have given me questions I need to answer. First of all, some of the content I did in Leah s PoV may have been out of what Stephanie Meyer had in mind. I forgot some of the stuff with Leah, like she was in love with Sam for a while. I m trying to keep this canon as much as possible, but sometimes it is hard, especially since I only read the whole series once. I ll try my best. Another reviewer asked if I could do Edward s PoV. At the moment, I don t know, but maybe for future chapters. Thanks for all your wonderful comments so far. I really liked them. This chapter will be in two PoVs.

Jacob s PoV

It was a very restless night. I hadn t told my father that Leah had run off before I could escort her back to her mother s house. Seth must have told his mother that Leah would be home shortly, and she must have believed him, because we hadn t received a call from her all night. We hadn t received any calls at all. Billy assumed everything was fine and dandy, and he wheeled off into his bedroom shortly after I returned to the house.

I was feeling very tired, but I couldn t sleep. I was, surprisingly enough, worried about Leah. Why had she run off like that? Didn t she realized that we had done a favor for her?! That werewolf would have torn her to pieces if I hadn t saved her! And if Louis hadn t transformed tonight I don t know what I would have done. Leah wasn t going to believe that werewolves existed, and she definitely wasn t going to believe Louis was a werewolf. No. Everything that happened tonight needed to happen.

So why had Leah run off? And where did she go? Seth or Leah would have contacted me if she came back home. So she might still be out running around. But where? Should I go look for her? Would she attack me if I tried to find her?

Bah! She wanted to be left alone. Let her run off that steam. I didn t care.

Or did I?

To be honest, I did care. I cared enough to phase in and out countless times during the night, hoping Seth or Leah would contact me someway: be it telephone or mind connection. I was stark naked throughout the whole night. It was embarrassing, but at least I was in the privacy of my own home. It was better than wasting a bunch of clothes just because I felt the need to phase every few minutes hoping for some contact. Even a hey dude! What s up! would have been nice. Even a threat would have been nice.

In my human form, I switched through channels. I couldn t find much. Late-night talk shows and comedy shows. We don t have much in the way of a cable connection out here in La Push, and satellite television is almost worthless with the weather we get around here. So it was very boring. I almost wanted to go to sleep to pass the time.

In fact I did.

I woke up at the sound of a telephone call. I shook myself awake and cursed silently at myself for sleeping, then picked up the telephone.

H-hello? I asked, yawning.

Jacob! Seth s voice said, Thank god! Where ve you been? I ve been trying to contact you for an hour. I almost decided to go to your house and force open the door.

I fell asleep, Seth, I said, What time is it?

Five in the morning, Seth said, That s not important. Jake. We have a problem.

What? I asked, wide awake now, Leah? Where is she?

That s the problem, Seth said.

Seth, just say it! I said, through my teeth, holding back a curse.

Leah s been dog-napped, Seth said.

I almost dropped the phone.

What?! I asked out loud, How do you know?!

She met Louis in the forest halfway between here and Forks, Seth said.

But how do you know? I asked.

Louis is here, Seth said, Mom doesn t know. She s still asleep. Louis came to my window.

What does he want?! I asked.

I ll give him the phone, Seth said, Hang on a moment.

Pause.

Hello? Louis unmistakably European accent said.

Louis, I growled, Where is she, you son of a --

Whoa, doggy! Louis interrupted, Hang on a moment.

You tell me where she is, I said, Or I swear to --

She s at my house, Louis said.

Your house? I asked, Why would she be there?

Because she met with me in the forest, Louis said, Didn t you hear anything your mutt-friend told you?

You kidnapped her? I asked.

Look, mate, Louis said, I didn t want to do it.

Then let her go! I said.

I can t! Louis said, My father has her.

What do you mean he has her ? I asked.

Jake, you can be so dumb sometimes, Louis said, Look. Leah s in our cellar at the house. Don t worry, we re treating her well.

You better! I growled, One hair off her head and it will be your head!

Didn t I tell you I don t want to hurt her?! Louis asked, Look, I want Leah to go home as much as you do. That s why I need your help.

Why would I want to help you? I asked.

Because my father wants to kill your tribe and your vampire friends, Louis said.

Vampire friends? I asked.

So you do know the vampires, Louis said.

I didn t say that, I growled.

Yes, you did, Louis said, Look. I don t want anyone to get hurt.

Right, I said, Like you hurt those people and their pets?

That wasn t me! Louis said, That was my parents! You must understand. I am like the outsider in my family. I don t want to be a werewolf. I don t want to be a murderer. I just want to be normal. I want to have a normal life. I want to have a normal family. Well, as normal as we can get.

I know what this is about! I said, You love Leah, you son of a --

Yes, Jake, Louis said, I love her. More than anything. She is the most beautiful girl I ve ever met.

I scoffed.

I can t believe you don t see that, Louis said, You ve been her mate forever.

I m not her mate! I growled.

Her friend, Jake, Louis said, Her friend. That s what I meant.

Oh, I said, So get on with it. What do you want me to do about it?

I want you to rescue Leah, Louis said, Look, I ll help. When it is my time to guard the cellar, I ll help get her out.

Your father will know it was you, I said.

You think I don t know that, Louis said, That is what this is about. I want my family to stop what they re doing. They don t need to kill anyone else. I want to help you get rid of them.

You mean kill them? I asked, shocked.

I heard an audible sigh come from Louis.

They are still my family, mate, he said.

I m not going to lay down if they try to attack me, Louis, I said.

Of course not, Louis said.

Then why do you want me to contact the vampires? I asked, Only vampire venom can kill you guys.

I know that, I said, And my father knows it. That is why he wants to kill the vampires.

So why should I risk their lives and bring them to your house? I asked, Not to mention risk your family s lives.

So you care about my family now? Louis asked.

No, I scoffed, But you do. And if your family attacks my pack or the vampires, then the vampires will kill them.

So we make sure that doesn t happen, Louis said.

Yeah, I said, Like that will happen.

Look, Louis said, I know what my plan is. Leah will get out safely. But it means that I have to go with her. I can t return to my family. What I m saying is: if I do this, I m a part of your pack now.

Ha, I laughed, Good luck with that. I m not talking about me. I mean you think my pack will want to be buddies with you, especially with what has happened in the past few hours?

That s your job, Louis said, Talk to your pack. Talk to the vampires. My guard duty starts at ten-o-clock this morning. Good luck.

Louis? I said, Louis!

He left, man, Seth s voice said, Damn that dude is fast.

Did you hear all of that? I asked.

Yeah, Seth said, And I think it s a good idea.

Louis has a thing for your sister, Seth, I said.

I know, Seth said, But, hey, if he is on our side, then I have to like the guy.

Yeah, I said.

Is he on our side? Seth asked.

We ll find out at ten-o-clock this morning, I said, I need to call Bella. You contact the pack. Don t let your mother find out. Okay?

I know what to say, Seth said, Don t worry about that.

See you, later, I said.

Good luck, man, Seth said.

I hung up the phone, then picked it up again and dialed Bella s cell-phone.

-
Bella s PoV (A few minutes earlier)

It had been a rough night. Nessie was asleep in Edward s old bedroom in the house. Edward had found a nice, comfortable bed and brought it up to his room last night. Nessie would have slept in the cottage, but Edward and I weren t in the cottage at the moment.

Edward and I, and the rest of the Cullens, minus Nessie, had been sitting in the living room all night, discussing the near future. Carlisle didn t go into work, and would have only gone if there was a real emergency. From our discussion over the last few hours, this is what I had come up with:

The Graysons were real, genuine werewolves. We still didn t know how many werewolves there were, only that four had revealed themselves. The Graysons now knew there were vampires in the area. They just didn t know who we were. The werewolves were descendants of an old Native American tribe, the Remi Lunitari, who had been, in a sense, kicked out of North America. Lyle Grayson was a loyal follower of the Remi Lunitari, and wanted his revenge on his tribe s enemies: the Quileutes.

Jacob and his pack now knew about the werewolves. In fact, they knew more than I did. They knew what it was like to fight one. They knew how big Louis was, how strong he was, and how fast he was. This also meant that the Graysons knew that the Quileutes knew they were in the area. Confused?

Yes, it was very confusing to me too.

Our discussion had gone everywhere during the night. My father even was discussed. According to Charlie, the Seattle police would be in the area before too long. It wouldn t be too long before the werewolves discovered this too. Carlisle guessed that they would get spooked, and there would be more blood on the hands of Forks, Washington and its people. All because of a renegade pack of werewolves hell-bent on revenge.

Every thing we discussed had a good explanation.

The people and pets who had been killed were done so because the werewolves needed a food source. That man in Kalaloch was killed because he had no pets. In Clearwater, the owner of the cocker spaniel was unlucky. It probably only would have been the dog, but the owner was there. So both were killed. Both humans were killed most likely because the Graysons screwed up and let them be discovered. They couldn t let anyone realize there were werewolves in the area. That witness in Beaver got very lucky. Carlisle was about to call Charlie and get that witness in Beaver into protective custody, but that would cause awkward questions. And Charlie already had enough on his plate.

It didn t take long after that discussion when I realized that Charlie was in danger. He knew Lyle. If Lyle had been killing people who discovered his identity, it wouldn t take long before he discovered that Charlie knew. It was then that Esme decided she would keep Charlie in close surveillance.

I immediately knew that Esme wanted to do this, because she would have no part in the already foreseen battle between us and the Graysons. Alice had no need to foresee this. It was already set in stone. If there were werewolves in the area, they would have to leave or die. We couldn t let them stick around, especially when they had already killed people.

The only thing now that everybody hadn t discussed was when this was going to go down. It would have to be soon. When the Seattle police came to town, it was going to get unpredictable. It wouldn t be too long before the Seattle police started their investigations. This would lead to a lot of people. Carlisle expected that we would have some serious questions coming our way

Charlie will do something about that, I said, Right? I mean he knows we didn t do anything. And he knows about the werewolves and the Quileutes.

Bella, Carlisle said, You have to realize that Charlie can t talk about any of that. He has to make up another explanation.

Oh, I said, Right. So what do we do?

We have to go along with it, Carlisle said, And --

Carlisle, Edward said, We can t just let this keep going. The police are going to find out about the werewolves one way or another. The Graysons can t let that happen. There is going to be more bloodshed, and this time it will be Seattle police.

That is what I was going to say, Carlisle said, We have to make sure they are gone before too long.

I agree, I said, One way or another. If this keeps up, Forks is going to be a big story.

Not just that, Carlisle said, With Forks getting so much attention, we re going to have more trouble than we want.

What do you mean? I asked.

Everyone looked at me.

The Volturi, I realized.

The more and more people who come into Forks, Carlisle said, The more chance there is for them to discover who we are. The Volturi won t let this continue for long.

But, I said, If the Volturi come, won t that just increase the chances of our discovery.

Exactly, Carlisle said, And they will do everything they can to make sure that doesn t happen. And it doesn t necessarily mean them staying in Volterra.

I realized what Carlisle had meant.

We have to do something, I said, Soon.

Well, I believe we are all agreed on that, Carlisle said.

Suddenly, my cell-phone rang. Again, I expected it to be Charlie.

Hello? I said.

Bells, said a voice.

I sighed. It was Jacob again.

Jacob? I said, What do you want? It s five-o-clock in the morning. Shouldn t you be asleep?

We have much bigger problems then the future bags under my eyes, Jacob said.

What s wrong? I said, Wait. I ll put this on speaker. I got the whole family here.

I was about to suggest that, Jacob said.

I pressed speaker and put the cell-phone on the table.

We re all listening, Jake, I said, What s wrong?

Leah s been kidnapped, Jacob said.

What?! I asked.

By who? Edward asked.

The Graysons, Jacob said, Leah ran off away from Seth and I when I was escorting them home. She went off into the forest, and apparently ran into Louis somewhere between here and Forks.

Louis? I asked, I ll kill him!

Hold your horses, Bells, Jacob said, There s more. I talked to Louis. It turns out he wants to help us.

Excuse me? I asked.

Leah is in the cellar in the Grayson s house, Jacob said, Lyle is holding her there. Bella, he knows about you. Well, he sort of does. Louis knows I m friends with vampires. I don t know if Lyle knows that. Anyway, apparently Louis thinks Lyle wants to kill you guys and my pack. He kidnapped Leah just to find out who you guys are. He only knows there are vampires in the area. He doesn t know who you are.

Yeah, I get that, Jake, I said, So what else did Louis say? What do you mean he wants to help us?

Believe it or not, Jacob said, Louis said he actually loves Leah. I was shocked. I mean I don t know how he could believe Leah would still love him. You didn t see her when she realized Louis was a werewolf. As far as I know, Leah wants nothing to do with Louis, except to get her revenge on him.

Get on with it, Jacob, Edward said.

Oh, right, Jacob said, So, anyway, Louis wants to free her. He also knows that when he does this, he won t be able to return home. So he thinks he will just be a part of my pack. I don t know where he came up with that one. Apparently his family takes turns guarding the cellar. Louis starts guarding it at ten-o-clock this morning. That is when this is going down. He wants my pack, and you guys to be there, just in case things get rough.

I don t know about this, Jacob, Carlisle said, It sounds like a trap.

Yeah, Esme said, We don t know Louis. How do we know he is telling the truth?

Love makes a person do crazy things, I said, Believe me, I know.

Edward smirked when I said that.

It does sound like a trap, though, I said, The Graysons don t know who we are, Jacob. Maybe this is just to lure us in.

Yeah, I know, Jacob said, Can t you get your future-teller to see what happens?

It doesn t work that way, Jacob, Alice said, I can t see werewolves.

Oh, well that helps a lot, Jacob said, sarcastically, So what should we do?

Do you think we can trust Louis? Carlisle asked.

I might be going out on a limb here, Jacob said, But yes. Louis said he never wanted anyone to get hurt. His parents were the ones who killed those people and their pets.

So Lyle s wife is a werewolf, Carlisle said.

Sounds like it, Jacob said.

Which means the whole family are werewolves, Carlisle said.

Sounds like it, Jacob repeated, Louis says when he does, this he will be a traitor to his family. An outsider to them now. An enemy.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend, Carlisle said.

Exactly, Jacob said.

Or a bigger enemy, Emmett said.

Can t get much bigger than the werewolves, Rosalie said.

Thanks, Jacob, Carlisle said, We ll talk about this.

See you at the Graysons at ten? Jacob asked.

That s what we are going to talk about, Carlisle said, Goodbye, Jacob.

Carlisle looked at me, and I nodded. I picked up the phone.

Bye, Jake, I said into it.

I then turned off the phone.

So what do you think, Carlisle? Edward asked, Is it a trap?

Either way, Carlisle said, We can t let Leah die because we didn t do anything. Especially when Leah is being held prisoner because Lyle wants answers from her. We re a part of this now. The war has begun. Agreed?

I agree, I said.

Yeah, Edward said.

Jacob s pack may be smelly wolves, Alice said, But they are our smelly wolves.

I m with Alice, Jasper said.

I ll do anything to get rid of those werewolves, Emmett said.

Everyone looked at Rosalie.

It s a trap, I just know it, Rosalie said, But what the hell? We haven t had this much fun in months!

We looked at Esme.

You know how I feel about this, Esme said, I won t be a part of the war, but I ll help. I ll keep an eye on Charlie.

That s all I ask, I said to her, Besides, you can keep an eye on Nessie as well.

Esme nodded.

Jacob said Louis won t be ready until ten, Carlisle said, It gives us time to prepare.

I nodded, but I was still worried. Rosalie was right. This was probably a trap. I wasn t too sure if I could trust Louis. What was bigger to him? Family or love? Did he love Leah more than he loved his family? And what would happen if he did ally with us, then realize Leah didn t love him back? Would he turn on us again?

This was going to get very interesting.