Author's Chapter Notes:

I know this is fairly short, but I needed to give Jake a chance to tell this part of the story. It just wouldn't have been right to just skim over the event second hand. I don't think I really did him justice, but I hope you all enjoy it.

Disclaimer: Don't own any of it.

JacobPOV

"Coffee. You're just taking her coffee and a muffin. She'll be grateful," I told myself as I jogged along the sidewalk towards Carrie's small house. She lived just outside of town in a quiet neighborhood. I had dropped her off the night before and she had given me a kiss on the cheek. My skin still tingled there in remembrance. It was five in the morning and she'd told me last night that she usually left her house at a quarter after to go to work. I hoped she didn't think I was a stalker or something, showing up on her doorstep before the sun was even up. But the events at the hospital last night had me worried and I needed to see her. I had a good excuse, really. Maybe she hadn't heard the news.

As I approached the house, all my senses went on alert. The stench of vampire was heavy in the area, fresh. I dropped the food in my hands and broke into a sprint, uncaring if anyone was around to see my faster than human speed. I leapt onto Carrie's small porch and whirled, scanning the area for sign of the bloodsucker. I was shocked when he jumped out of the tree nearest the street and flashed, it was really too fast to be called anything else, to the bottom of the stairs.

"Who are you?" he hissed, dropping into a half crouch. His bloodred eyes were bright and there were dark stains on his dirty, ripped clothes that could only be dried blood. I growled low and narrowed my eyes.

"I'm death come for you, leech," I said quietly, listening for any sound coming from the house to tell me that Carrie was getting ready to come out the door. I would have to take care of this thing quickly so as not to put her in danger.

"You think you can kill me? You won't find it so simple," the bloodsucker said with a low laugh. There was a tone of despair in that laugh that I didn't understand.

"I know I can kill you, vampire. That's what my kind does. We'll hunt down every one in your coven, bloodsucker," I said with a snarl, shifting closer to him. He flashed back a few feet, but didn't run.

"Are you one of those giant dogs from La Push Riley warned us about? You do smell pretty bad. What are you doing on my sister's porch. If you've come to hurt her, I'll tear you apart," he said, matching me snarl for snarl. His words brought me up short, though. Sister? I looked closer at the vampire in front of me. I had Carrie's features branded into my brain from staring at her last night so it was easy to see the resemblance. His hair was white blonde, like Carrie's, and he resembled her in the shape of his eyes and the curve of his lips.

"You're Brad?" I asked sharply, unable to keep the surprise out of my voice. My heart sank when he nodded curtly. Of all the things that could have happened to Carrie's brother, this was the worst. How was I supposed to tell her that her brother had been changed into an undead bloodsucker?

"I'm Jake. Jake Black. I'm here because your sister is very special to me. I won't let you hurt her," I said, trying to put as much menace in my voice as I could. I saw the shock on his face then.

"Hurt her? She's my sister! I love her! I would never...I don't think I could ever..." his voice trailed off into a whisper as he struggled with doubt. My brow furrowed in confusion. This was a newborn vampire. Jasper had told me that newborns were usually nothing more than feral beasts who thought of little else but their next meal. They rarely remembered much from their human lives. And yet here we stood, having a conversation about his sister. He obviously remembered her and claimed to care for her still. Was that possible?

"You want to tell me you can walk into that house, smell her blood and you won't attack her like the starving monster you are?" I asked, watching him carefully. I saw his face twist into a tortured expression and he hugged himself.

"I don't know. I just want to talk to her, just once, to let her know I didn't leave her on purpose. I didn't ask for this!" he shouted. I winced and heard an exclamation from inside the house and the sound of feet pounding the floor. Carrie opened the door and tried to run out, but I shifted to block her from exiting the house. She looked up at me, startled.

"Jacob? But…I thought I heard…" She was trying to slip around me. I put my hands on her shoulders to stop her but it wasn't going to be that simple.

"Carrie." Brad's voice was quiet but it was loud enough for a human to hear. Carrie gasped.

"Brad! Brad, you're okay? Jacob, move! That's my brother out there!" Carrie struggled against me but I wrapped my arms around her, holding her as gently as I could. She smelled like coconut and sugar, an enticing combination that might have distracted me any other time. But her safety was at stake.

"Please, Carrie. Wait for a moment. He's changed a lot and you have to be careful," I said quietly, urgently. She slammed her small fists into my shoulders.

"What are you talking about?! Let me go, you imbecile!"

"No, Carrie. He's…right. I don't know if I can control myself." Brad's hesitant words ended in a snarl. I looked over my shoulder and saw him standing stiffly, clenching and unclenching his fists. Carrie went still against me and then peeked under my arm.

"Brad, what's wrong with you? We've been worried sick! Where have you been? Are you hurt?" Her questions were sharp and desparate as she continued to struggle against my hold. Brad was standing in the shadows and she couldn't see more than his silohuette. I growled softly when he took a step forward into the pale light coming from the lights on either side of the front door. Carrie gasped softly when he looked up, his red eyes seeming to glow. He stopped moving forward but I was shaking, barely controlling my need to phase. But I couldn't. Not with Carrie in my arms. I couldn't risk hurting her, I couldn't. It was the only thing holding me in human form right now.

"I'm immortal now Carrie. Nothing can hurt me any more. Except maybe your new boyfriend," he said, despair warring with near hysterical amusement in his voice. Carrie was trembling in my arms and her breath was coming in ragged gasps.

"Immortal? What are you talking about, Brad. Is that...is that blood on your shirt?!" I couldn't help but notice she ignored his comment about me being her boyfriend. She was probably just distracted by the bloodstains. She was a nurse, after all.

"Yes, I'm immortal now. Great, isn't it?" His laughter was bitter, but his next intake of breath ended in a hiss. He shifted closer, moving onto the second step so fast it was like he'd teleported, causing Carrie to gasp again. She didn't resist when I pushed her back inside the house, but she wouldn't move beyond the entryway.

"I don't understand," her quiet comment tore at my heart. I must have affected Brad the same way because I heard a sob and he moved backwards again, back down the stairs.

"Something bit me and it hurt, it hurt so much...for so long and I...woke up like this. Now I'm evil, just like them. I'm a monster," he said, sinking to the sidewalk with his head in his hands. Carrie tried to move around me again and I let her stand beside me this time but I kept my hands around her waist.

"You're my brother, not a monster. Come to the hospital with me and we can find out what happened to you. You've obviously been bleeding. We'll fix it, I promise," she said softly. Brad snorted softly, too softly for Carrie to hear, but I did. He was up again, flashing back on the porch. Carrie cringed back against me as she got a better look at his blood red eyes and his bloodstained clothes.

"The blood isn't mine, Carrie. I've...I've hurt people. No, that's wrong. I've killed people. Dozens of people. Just tonight, a whole family, Carrie, just so I would have enough control to see you. But it wasn't enough. I can't be your brother anymore because what I want...what I need more than anything right now is to drink every drop of blood in your body," he voice was low, melodic and sad. Carrie's choked cry of denial tugged at my heart, but I didn't have time to comfort her now.

I saw Brad drop into a crouch and I shoved Carrie behind me before the need to phase overcame me. I heard her scream and scramble backwards across the floor as I leapt forward, meeting the vampire as he lunged through the air not at Carrie, but at me. We flew off the porch onto the lawn instead of crashing to the porch floor like I'd expected. He hadn't put any real strength into his attack on me. Even more confusing was the fact that he now lay completely still under me. My claws were dug into his hard shoulders and my teeth were an inch from his neck and he wasn't struggling.

"Kill me now, Jake Black. Before I can hurt my sister," Brad said in a pleading whisper. I hesitated, knowing if I did this Carrie would hate me. But if I didn't, he would kill again. If not his sister then some other innocent human.

"Nooo!" Carrie ran out of the house and threw herself down beside us. So close, her blood must have been too much for Brad. He struggled against my hold, his hand coming up to grab her arm. I heard her scream of pain as he crushed her elbow. I bit down on his neck and he released her with his own screech of pain and Carrie fell back sobbing, dragging herself away from us.

"I'm so sorry, Carrie. I love you, I'm sorry." Brad's voice was strangled and barely recognizable. I was crushing his windpipe and even vampires needed air to talk.

"Brad, I love you. Please, I love you," Carrie said, but she didn't come closer. In fact she struggled to her feet and stumbled back toward the house. I didn't know if she was rushing to call 911 or if she was just in a hurry to get away from her vampire brother and the werewolf bent on killing him. It didn't matter. I had to make certain she was safe. I knew Seth had already relayed what was happening to the rest of the pack. Sam had called the Cullen's since there wasn't another member of the pack in the area. I knew that had to sting the alpha's pride.

"Please. Do it now. Just promise me...promise me you'll take care of her. There are more of us. We've got a hideout in one of the old abandoned warehouses in the industrial park off Fourth St. Please, make the city safe for my sister again."

I looked into Brad's tortured, blood red eyes and knew he saw the unspoken promise in my eyes because he relaxed under me, his eyes sliding closed. I had always thought that killing a vampire would give me a rush, a thrill of victory. But as I finished my grisly task, I found myself sickened. Brad had retained his love for his sister, even after his change and through the bloodlust. He had even given up the location of his coven to ensure her safety. For the first time, I let myself believe that vampires weren't just monsters. They weren't all evil, bloodsucking machines bent on destruction.

Despite all the evidence I had seen in Bella's relationship not only with Edward but all the Cullens, I had refused to believe they were good people capable of deep, loving relationships. I had been so sure they had some ulterior motive in sucking Bella into their lives. Now, I could allow myself to believe that maybe, just maybe, Edward really loved Bella. Loved her enough that he had sought death rather than to live without her bright presence in the world. I felt the shock of the rest of the pack as my attitude towards vampires, at least those like the Cullens who fought against the darker side of their natures, shifted into acceptance. At that moment Seth announced that Jasper and Carlisle were on their way to help me 'clean up the mess'. I just hoped Carrie hadn't called the police.