A BRIEF AND SOMEWHAT STANDARD DISCLAIMER: Whilst the plotline and its components are in essence my own, the characters and dynamics belong solely to Ms Stephenie Meyer.

I can't help but think that this story is getting away from me. Oh well, here we go again. Oh, and WOOOO for 5000 hits! Sort of the first milestone, don't you think? :)

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Chapter 12 - Enemies

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"Be careful Bella. Victoria is somewhere around." She hung up, and I put my foot down. I drove for about another hour, focusing intently on the road, and before long sped past a signpost.

Welcome to Forks

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I sped through town, glad that night had now fallen. My car was a little conspicuous, and the last thing I wanted was someone reporting me for speeding. Knowing my luck Charlie would be the one to arrest me. As it was the streets were deserted. Forks wasn't exactly the epicentre of nightlife.

I slowed down as I neared my old home. Even the road brought back memories. I cringed away from the pain of my lost humanity. As I drove past the house I looked up. It was about 10pm now, and the lights were still on, so I knew Charlie was awake. I sighed. I was desperate to go check on him, to see how he was coping, but I wasn't sure if I would be able to stop myself from speaking to him.

I drove straight past the house and parked out of sight round the corner. I switched off the ignition, stepped out of the car and looked around. It was quiet, and most of the houses nearby had no lights on. I sped back silently toward the house, keeping in the shadows of the trees that hugged Charlie's lawn. Once I was in sight of the front porch I stopped and listened again. I could hear the sound of the TV in the living room. Baseball. There was a strange car parked in the drive, but I couldn't tell the make from here. That, coupled with the sounds of 3 hearts beating from inside the house, told me that Charlie had visitors. Most likely Billy Black or Harry Clearwater, I guessed. I was glad he wasn't alone.

I was about to start checking out the trees nearby for any trace of Edward when I heard muffled voices coming from the house, and the front door opened. I stepped back further into the shadows and waited.

"See yah Charlie. Jake will be up tomorrow to get your dinner sorted and fix that loose cable." said a loud voice that I recognised as Billy Black's. There was no reply, and a second later his wheel chair came into view and Jacob followed. I felt a pain in my chest when I saw him. I'd missed him so much. He closed the door behind him, and Billy sighed.

"He's not getting any better, is he?" asked Jacob quietly. It was so good to hear his voice again. I almost dashed from my hiding place to hug him, but my heart fell at the thought of his reaction to me at my new form. Not to mention I didn't want to put him in danger. I was suddenly glad that I was an exception to newborn bloodlust.

Billy didn't answer, but sighed again. Jacob lifted his wheelchair down the porch steps easily, and I was surprised at how strong he seemed. They walked towards the car in the driveway, and Jacob lifted his dad in before stowing the chair in the back seat. He walked around to the driver's side and opened the door. But before he could climb in he suddenly lifted his head and sniffed the air.

"Dammit!" I heard him curse quietly. I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket, but didn't dare move as Jacob quickly shut the door, and spun round towards the trees where I was hiding. I could hear Billy yelling something from inside the car but Jacob carried on walking quickly but silently towards the tree-line. I could hear his heartbeat and the pulsing of blood through his vein. Venom pooled in my mouth instinctively. I stepped back a few paces quickly, but froze as Jacob's head spun round to stare at the space I was occupying. As quietly as possible I stepped behind a tree and pressed my back against it.

"I know you're there, leech. Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Jacob's voice sounded mockingly through the trees, but the tone didn't shock me half as much as the words. Jacob knew I was here. Correction, he knew a vampire was here. I remembered too late that the Quiluete tribe had always had legends about vampires; the Cullens in particular, but Jake had dismissed them as childish fairytales. I wondered what had changed. Why did he now believe the stories he once thought were stupid superstition? I didn't know, but I heard the venom in Jacob's voice and decided I didn't want to know. He hated me, he hated my kind. I stifled a sob.

Just then my phone vibrated again, and I heard Jake freeze at the noise. Then, slowly, he began to move toward me.

I panicked, and ran sobbing. I couldn't face him. He hated me. So I ran east as fast I could, dodging trees and focusing solely on getting away. Behind me I heard Jacob swear. For a minute there was nothing but a faint sound of moving material, and then I felt a strange rippling sensation in the air, followed by the sound of something running after me. Something with four legs, that was running far too fast.

I tried to run faster but couldn't. The creature was gaining on me, and I could smell something much more repulsive than humans or animals. As I broke through into a small clearing I felt something slam into my back, sending me flying into the ground. I cringed, ducking my head, and something whistled past my ear overhead. I leapt to my feet, and found myself stood across the small grassy space from a huge wolf.

Huge wasn't nearly descriptive enough. Neither was wolf for that matter. The creature in front of me was far too large, more the size of a horse than anything else. Its fur was reddish-brown and shaggy, and it had black eyes that looked far too intelligent for an animal. It was crouched down, ready to attack, and its teeth were bared, a low growl emanating from its throat. I found myself crouched instinctively into a defensive position as a growl of my own issued from my mouth. But then my eyes widened, and I straightened out of my crouch, taking a small step back in shock as the reality of the situation hit me.

Despite the threatening stance of the creature in front of me I didn't feel afraid, and I wondered why that was. My brain was racing, and the pieces were clicking together faster than I could focus on them. But more than that was the familiar, stifling sense of safety that I felt. I looked into those dark eyes, trying to believe what my thoughts were telling me.

"Jacob?" I whispered. It came out half-strangled, but as I spoke the wolf in front of me straightened up, and his eyes widened. The growling stopped abruptly. For about a minute we stood staring at each other, and then he abruptly turned away and ran into the trees.

"Wait!" I pleaded, one hand stretched out instinctively, but he was already gone. I lowered my hand and sank to the ground, my head bent as I sobbed tearless cries of grief. Grief for my lost friendship, for my abandoned humanity, and for my best friend's fate. I knew what had happened, and couldn't help but linger on what this meant. Jake, my friend, who had helped me retain my sanity, kept me whole, and who I loved like a brother, had fallen into this world of fantasy. He was a werewolf, and my enemy.

No sooner had I thought this than my thoughts flickered back to my last human memory. I had been in pain as the venom began to spread through my veins, but my last sight was of several monstrous creatures standing in the clearing. One had stood over me with piercing black eyes.

I barely had time to contemplate this revelation before I heard the sound of someone approaching, this time on two legs. I stood up just as Jacob walked through the entrance to the clearing, wearing nothing but a pair of denim shorts. We stood there staring at each other for a minute in silence, and then Jacob spoke.

"Bella?"

I nodded. I didn't know what to say. He hated me. And I was supposed to hate him. As I watched he raised one hand to his forehead and shut his eyes tightly before dragging his hand down his face. He looked like he was in agony, and I wanted nothing more than to hug him and tell him it was going to be ok. But I couldn't, and it wasn't.

"Bella, why did you come back?"

I was hurt but not surprised. I shouldn't be here after all. If I was rational, and sane, I would have stayed in Denali. I sighed. Love is never rational.

"I'm sorry Jake." I whispered, avoiding the question. "I didn't mean to cause you pain."

We stood in silence for another minute, and I decided to see if my suspicions were right. "I wanted to thank you."

"For what?"

"For saving my life." I said quietly. "You were there, weren't you? In the meadow? You chased Laurent away."

"And a crap job we did too." Jacob spat, and I flinched at the pain in his voice. "We didn't save you. Just one second early.... And now look at you! I'm the one who should be apologising Bella." He yelled. I gaped in astonishment.

"No Jake! None of this was your fault! I was stupid. I shouldn't have gone hiking alone-"

"And why were you alone?" I couldn't answer. I didn't know what to say. "This is my fault. I should have been with you. I didn't save you Bella. I'm sorry."

"It wasn't your job to save me Jacob." I said quietly. He snorted. I hesitated, but decided to ask anyway. "Why, Jake? Why were you avoiding me? Did I do something? Was it because...because of the way I felt? About you?" My voice trailed off to a whisper.

Jacob looked up with an expression of horror on his face. "Oh no, Bells! It wasn't your fault. Please don't ever think that. You did nothing." He sighed, and then laughed sadly. "Well I guess there's no secrets now, is there? It's weird though." I snorted.

"I'm pro at weird." He grinned and we both relaxed a little.

"Well, unless it wasn't obvious, I'm a werewolf!" I laughed, and he continued. "Guess all those stupid stories weren't so stupid." He shot me a look and I smiled, amused.

"Guess not." He shook his head in amazement and continued.

"It turns out that there haven't been any werewolves for a while though. It only happens when vampires are in the area." I could tell her was trying very hard to control the disgust in his voice, and was grateful that he made the effort. "So when the Cullens came back, we started changing again. The ones who change are the direct descendants of tribe leaders from long ago. Like my great-grandfather. And then something sets it off, and we become werewolves. There's no exact age… it just builds and builds and then suddenly–" He broke off, and it was a moment before he could speak again. "Sometimes, if you get really upset or something, that can trigger it early. But I wasn't upset about anything–I was happy." He laughed bitterly. "Because of you, mostly. That's why it didn't happen to me sooner. Instead it just kept on building up inside me–I was like a time bomb. You know what set me off? I got back from that movie and Billy said I looked weird. That was all, but I just snapped. And then I–I exploded. I almost ripped his face off–my own father!" He shuddered, and his face paled. I felt so sorry for him.

"There's quite a few of us now. We protect our lands from your kind-" I flinched at that, and he noticed, but continued. "-and we're pretty good at it." He looked at me sadly. "Well, not all the time. When we caught your scent, and then the scent of that leech, we tried so hard to get there in time. But we were all starting from far away, and by the time we arrived, we were too late. We chased him off but Sam said it was too late for you." He whispered the last bit, his face screwed up in pain. "I convinced Sam to leave you. None of us wanted....And I said you could choose your own path. I just couldn't face the thought of you..." He stopped speaking and looked away. I felt terrible about the pain I had caused him.

"I'm so sorry Jake. But I'm glad. It wasn't your fault. This was meant to happen." I sighed, but it seemed to make him feel better. He looked up.

"So what did you do? Did you find the Cullens?" I smiled and shook my head.

"No, not for a while anyway. I headed north, to Alaska." He looked shocked and I laughed. "Well, I couldn't exactly stay around here. I didn't want to hurt anyone, and Alaska is a lot less inhabited than Washington. Plus the Cullens had mentioned another family, one that only hunted animals like them. I found them and have been with them ever since. The Cullens found me there about a month ago."

"What about him?" Jacob spat, this time making no effort to conceal his distaste. I frowned, but answered anyway.

"He wasn't with them."

We were both silent again, wrapped in our own thoughts. Then Jacob spoke quietly.

"You knew? Whilst you were with him, you knew everything and still..." I nodded, and saw the look of pure, unconcealed disgust on his face. Jacobs hands were trembling, and he looked like he was going to throw up. I waited for the tirade, but it never came, and gradually he relaxed slightly. We stood there for a while longer until Jacob spoke again. "So why are you here?"

I sighed. He wasn't going to like the answer, but in any case I knew I had wasted far too much time here. I had to tell him. "Edward...is in trouble. He's somewhere near here. His sister sent me to find him." Jacob's hands were trembling again, and a look of fury crossed his face.

"You're going to help that bloodsucker? After what he did to you?" He glared at me, and I nodded, wary of his reaction.

"I'm sorry Jake. I'm sorry all of this had to happen. I'm sorry we didn't live in a normal world, without any of this mythical stuff. Things would have been different. But I have to help him. If I can." I turned to leave, but Jacob crossed the distance between us in a flash and grabbed my arm. His skin was burning hot. He stared at me for a moment, and then let go.

"I don't get you Bella! After everything you went through? Isn't it bad enough that you're a bl- vampire..., but you have to run around protecting the ass of someone who broke you?" I could see the anger in his eyes, but I knew it wasn't really directed at me. "I saw what you were like Bells. You were a zombie, a complete wreck. He did that!"

I didn't know what to say. I knew it was true. I nodded again. "You're right Jake." I said simply, and he looked back at me. I didn't meet his gaze. "But I love him Jake. I always have, even when that wasn't enough for him." I spoke quietly, but Jacob recoiled as if stung. He stood there for a minute, frozen, before collapsing onto the ground, resting his chin on his knees and staring at the dirt. I sat beside him carefully, my mission temporarily forgotten. I owed Jake a lot.

We sat in silence for a few minutes before Jake spoke again, his voice almost a whisper. "I loved you Bella. You know that, right?" I nodded, not looking at him. I knew it. "But it wasn't enough, was it? We were never meant to be." He said sadly, and I looked up in surprise. This wasn't the Jacob I remembered. He was older, wiser now. I thought about what to say next.

"I don't know about "meant to be". I think there is such a thing as fate, in a way. You were meant to be a werewolf, and I was meant to be changed. Those things happened for a reason. But we were best friends. And we're here now. We found each other tonight, completely by chance. Maybe that was "meant to be" as well? I think we were meant to be friends, Jake, no matter what we went through. We were meant to be in each others lives." I finished, and waited in silence again. After a while Jake sighed and nodded.

"Maybe you should go." Those words hurt me, but I rose steadily to my feet, determined not to let him see the pain on my face. This was my doing. But then Jacob stood up next to me, and looked at me directly. "But come back, OK? And don't do anything stupid. I don't care that you're...this. You're still my friend." He whispered. I looked at him with surprise, and then flung my arms round him.

"Thank you Jake. I missed you so much." He hugged me back tightly, before I pulled away.

"Love you Bells. Always."

I smiled at him, then turned and ran back towards Charlie's house. I had to find Edward, and hoped I wasn't too late.

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Ok, so maybe this chapter is a complete waste of time, but I hate loose ends. Admittedly they weren't my loose ends, but Stephenie Meyer put Jacob in here, and who am I to argue with the master. Jacob needed tying up, and it wasn't something that could be done in a paragraph. So please don't shoot me! Love you guys, and trust me, the next chapter will be worth reading! Toodles!