Disclaimer: Okay, so some of the lines in this chapter are straight from the book. I don't own any of that etc etc. You know the drill.

Enjoy!

I must be crazy.

Leah had kissed me. And it was the most amazing, wonderful kiss ever. I could have stayed with her, like any normal person would, and right now we would probably still be kissing. Instead, I'm riding a bike to Bella's house, to deliver a message to Bella's "boy"friend, the stinking bloodsucker.

Yeah, there must be something very, very wrong with me.

Well, at least I had a plan. Sort of.

Okay, you can do this. You can do this, Jake. You have to do this. Charlie's gonna yell – a lot – but it'll be okay.

I parked the bike right beside Charlie's cruiser to make sure it was noticeable. Not that Charlie needed any help to notice it. He must have heard the bike, because he came out of the house with a shocked and angry expression on his face before I'd even gotten off. I hardened my expression and prepared myself.

"Jake? It is you! I can't believe this! Why do you have a bike?"

"It's not my bike, Charlie. That's why I came here."

A look of relief briefly crossed his face, before it was replaced by concern again. "So why the heck are you driving this thing around?" he asked.

God, what am I doing?

"I thought Bella would want her bike back, now that she doesn't come up to La Push anymore," I said with a shrug, trying to remain calm.

"IT'S BELLA'S?" Charlie bellowed, turning beet red. I winced. Yup, he was going to ground the hell out of Bella. Sorry, Bells. This is for your own good.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? I NEVER THOUGHT YOU COULD BE THIS IRRESPONSIBLE! HOW COULD YOU …"

I stood there and listened with an emotionless face. No need to push him any farther.

"… AND YOU CAN BE CERTAIN THAT BILLY WILL BE HEARING ABOUT THIS!"

A quarter of an hour later, he finally let me go. I retreated into the forest after he went back inside. The bloodsucker would know from my scent that I was there. I didn't go too far into the forest. I stopped a short way up the path and leaned against a mossy tree and waited.

Okay, Jake. Ground rules.

Start with the obvious – don't phase. I sure as hell wasn't going to be the one to break the treaty this time. But did the last time really count? I mean, I didn't really know they even existed when I told Bella about them.

Oh, and this was the mind-reading bloodsucker, right? So no giving anything away. Don't think about the pack once he's here. What was Sam's order? Right, don't think about our numbers. And definitely don't think about Leah. That wasn't Sam, that was just me. He didn't need to know anything right now. How good were this bloodsucker's mindreading abilities, anyway? He probably only read your thoughts if you were right in front of him.

I was considering that for a while, when I heard a car pull up. It had to be them. I could smell the leech already.

"Let me go! I'm going to murder him! Traitor!" She definitely wanted me to hear that. It stung a little, but I didn't particularly care. I just wanted to get this over with.

"Charlie will hear you. And once he gets you inside, he may brick over the doorway."

Good. That's what I was hoping for. Maybe if she stayed away from him for long enough, she'd be able to shake off whatever spell he has over her and remember what he is, and what he's done.

"Just give me one round with Jacob, and then I'll deal with Charlie."

Jeez, Bella, I didn't come here to fight you! What was wrong with her? I just came to warn the leech.

"Jacob Black wants to see me. That's why he's still here."

Oh, wow. His mindreading abilities were even better than I'd feared. Crap.

"Talk?" Bella asked.

"More or less."

Hurry up already.

"How much more?" Her voice shook a little. She must have been worried I'd kill her bloodsucker. No worries. I'd only do that if he started it.

"Don't worry, he's not here to fight me. He's acting as... spokesperson for the pack."

Well, that's one way to put it. 'Spokesperson for the pack.' Hah.

"Oh."

"We should hurry. Charlie's getting impatient."

Yes, make this fast.

They came over and my hands involuntarily started trembling. I clenched them into fists to stop it as I shrugged off the tree and sneered at the leech. He was way shorter than I remembered.

Lucky for him, he stopped as soon as he saw me, and pulled Bella behind him. Yeah, because I was the one who was going to hurt her? Bella stuck her head out and glared at me accusingly.

"Bella," I said with a nod, never taking my eyes off the bloodsucker. Survival 101 – never take your eyes off the enemy.

"Why?" she asked. "How could you do this to me, Jacob?"

The sneer faded away. "It's for the best." So you won't be allowed to spend all your time with your bloodsucking monster friend.

"What is that supposed to mean? Do you want Charlie to strangle me? Or did you want him to have a heart attack, like Harry? No matter how mad you are at me, how could you do this to him?"

I winced. I didn't even think of that. Damn, I didn't want to hurt anyone. I just wanted to get your ass grounded.

"He didn't want to hurt anyone—he just wanted to get you grounded, so that you wouldn't be allowed to spend time with me,"

I glared at him. Stop reading my damn thoughts, leech.

"Aw, Jake!" she groaned. "I'm already grounded! Why do you think I haven't been down to La Push to kick your butt for avoiding my phone calls?"

I looked back at Bella in shock and confusion. "That's why?" I said quietly. Damn, she was already grounded. Why did I say anything to Charlie? I'm such an idiot. I was so sure it was the leech stopping her. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"He thought I wouldn't let you, not Charlie," he explained again.

"Stop that!" I snapped.

I put on my neutral, Just-get-this-over-with face. "Bella wasn't exaggerating about your... abilities," I said slowly. "So you must already know why I'm here."

"Yes," he agreed. "But, before you begin, I need to say something."

Great. What did he have to say to me? I shivered. It was hard being so close to the leech and not ripping his throat out. It went against all my instincts.

"Thank you," he said, and I blinked in surprise. "I will never be able to tell you how grateful I am. I will owe you for the rest of my... existence."

I stared at him blankly. I looked at Bella, and she was as lost as me. What the hell did he mean?

"For keeping Bella alive," he clarified. "When I… didn't."

"Edward—," Bella started to say, but he held one hand up, his eyes on me.

Suddenly I understood, and I glared at him again. "I didn't do it for your benefit." I wouldn't do anything for his benefit. I kept her alive because that's what we do. Because I didn't want her getting hurt.

"I know. But that doesn't erase the gratitude I feel. I thought you should know. If there's ever anything in my power to do for you..."

Leave? I thought automatically, raising my eyebrow.

He shook his head. "That's not in my power."

"Whose, then?" I asked.

"Hers."

I rolled my eyes. Don't rip his throat out. Don't rip his throat out. What does that even mean?

"I'm a quick learner, Jacob Black, and I don't make the same mistake twice. I'm here until she orders me away."

"Never," Bella whispered.

I made a gagging noise. That was an overload of corny-ness.

"Was there something else you needed, Jacob? You wanted me in trouble—mission accomplished. Charlie might just send me to military school. But that won't keep me away from Edward. There's nothing that can do that. What more do you want?"

I kept my eyes on Edward and said, "I just needed to remind your bloodsucking friends of a few key points in the treaty they agreed to. The treaty that is the only thing stopping me from ripping his throat out right this minute."

Stupid treaty.

"We haven't forgotten," Edward said, at the same time that Bella demanded, "What key points?"

Of course, the leech already knew what I meant, but Bella didn't. Whatever, he can clear that up for her later.

"Jake, what key points?" Bella demanded, once she realized that her love-leech wasn't going to elaborate.

I sighed. "The treaty is quite specific. If any of them bite a human, the truce is over. Bite, not kill," I emphasized.

Suddenly Bella's face turned cold. "That's none of your business," she said.

"The hell it—" but my words died in my throat. My arms began to shake again. I had expected her to be shocked, surprised, scared – anything, but definitely not angry. This wasn't just something they were planning for her; this was something she actually wanted.

"Jake? You okay?" she asked anxiously.

This was unbelievable. What she wanted was worse than death. To become one of them – it was insane. How could she possibly want that for herself? I didn't know how to deal with this. She wasn't the Bella I knew. I didn't understand this Bella. She wanted – ugh. What kind of sick – twisted – crazy – idiotic -

"Careful! He's not under control."

I scowled at him. "I would never hurt anyone."

He hissed.

Don't phase. Don't fight. This isn't worth it, Jake. Don't be the idiot that breaks the treaty. Don't rip his throat out. Later. Just leave now, before this gets worse. I managed to keep the shaking to my hands alone.

"BELLA!" Charlie's roar echoed from the direction of the house. "YOU GET IN THIS HOUSE THIS INSTANT!"

All of us froze, listening to the silence that followed.

"Crap."

"I am sorry about that," I muttered against my will. "I had to do what I could—I had to try..." For Billy and Charlie's sakes, if not for my own.

"Thanks." Was that supposed to be sarcastic?

Time to go.

"Just one more thing."

Of course the leech wouldn't just let me leave.

What is it?

"We've found no trace of Victoria on our side of the line—have you?"

Like that even mattered anymore. If Bella became one of them, the redhead wouldn't be able to hurt her.

"The last time was while Bella was... away. We let her think she was slipping through—we were tightening the circle, getting ready to ambush her, but then she took off like a bat out of hell. Near as we can tell, she caught your little female's scent and bailed. She hasn't come near our lands since."

He nodded. "When she comes back, she's not your problem anymore. We'll—"

"She killed on our turf," I hissed. "She's ours!" No way was I gonna let him take our kill. I had to rip someone's throat out, and if it couldn't be this one (stupid, stupid treaty!), I'd settle for the other leech that wanted to kill Bella.

"No—,"

"BELLA! I SEE HIS CAR AND I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE! IF YOU AREN'T INSIDE THIS HOUSE IN ONE MINUTE... !" Charlie didn't bother to finish his threat.

"Let's go," the bloodsucker said.

Thank God. I turned away immediately, before they could say anything else, and ran. I thought I heard Bella say my name but whatever. I just kept running. How far could the leech 'hear' my thoughts? Best to play it safe and not think about anything until I crossed the boundary. Don't think, don't think, don't think. La la la la. Don't think about the pack. Just think about how much you hate the filthy, stinking, rotten, murdering bloodsuckers. I hate how they sparkle in the light. I hate how they smell. I hate how they talk. I hate how they walk. I hate how they have unfair extra powers like hearing our thoughts.

Alright, made it over. Time to phase.

Whoa, Jake, what's wrong?

Big news, guys. And not the good kind.

It took a minute for them to process all the memories I was showing them.

Holy shit! That was Paul.

This is crazy. How can she actually want to be one of them?

Questions raged in everyone's minds. When it was chaotic like this, it was hard to tell who was thinking what.

If he changed Bella, would that mean war?

Sure, Jacob just went to deliver that exact message.

But will it really come to that? It was her choice after all.

So what? This is definitely breaking the treaty.

But it seems like it's Bella's own decision.

What does that matter? Our ancestors were pretty clear.

We have to think carefully about how we will respond.

It was enough to give anyone a headache. I didn't want to think about it. Besides, I had reached Leah's place, and I just wanted to relax a bit.

Let me know what you decide, Sam. I'm going to get some rest before my next patrol.

Jacob –

Whatever. I phased before I heard any more. If there was something important he knew where to find me. I pulled on my shorts, went inside and collapsed on the sofa.

A/N: Updated! Just so you know, check out my profile for when you can expect the next update (I know I've said this before but I still get loads on messages and reviews asking when so...) and if you don't have a ff account you can follow me on twitter… I say when I'll update on there, too!

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