Chapter 13:Destiny

The first thing that I saw were the teeth. The huge, glistening, white teeth were the only thing in my feild of vision. Then I blinked again and my eyes refocused, alowing me to look at the beast in front of me clearly. It was huge, nearly six feet at the shoulder, it's fur a silky russet color, with black, black eyes staring at me from above. At first, I thought it was a bear. But it wasn't.

The wolf growled at me for a moment longer, then closed it's dark lips over the glimmering teeth. It watched me, it's eyes somber and almost sad, as I moved cautiously to stand. I backed away from it slightly, showing it that I was no threat.

A memory pushed itself to the front of my mind as I watched the wolf take a hesitant step towards me.

I was twelve, and standing next to Aro in the Voltouri's main hall.

He had called for me to attend this...meeting...or whatever it was. I wasn't sure why, but I knew I didn't want to be there. I glanced around, noticing all the glares directed my way. No one wanted me there, vampires and humans alike. I looked down, ashamed, wishing I could die right on the spot. Aro, noticing my discomfort, smiled and reached out to grip my hand.

"I just want you to watch this, then I'll let you go back to your suite." He whispered in my ear, so quickly I had to strain to catch it. I just nodded, trying my hardest not to let tears escape my eyes.

I desperately wanted to wrench my hand from Aro's - I hated him - but I didn't dare. So I just stood by his side, fidgiting nervously, staring at the floor, waiting untill I could run back to my room.

After what seemed like eternity, the doors to the main hall opened, and Jane and her 'escort crew' - my secret name for the Guardsmembers who escorted visitors into the Voltouri's home - walked in, leading a band of four men and two women into the large room. They faced Aro - and myself - with wary animosity, their faces all remarkably similar. They looked like family, all with dark hair and Asian features, and the moved as one being, rather than many individuals, thier expressions changing at the same time. They were all incredibly tall and brawny, even the women. The largest of the six, a young man who looked to be about twenty something, stepped forward from his position at the head of the group.

He adressed Aro, speaking in fragmented Italian. Paolo had taught me enough that I could understand most of what he said. "Greetings, Voltouri. We pay our respects to you, and ask that you allow us to pass through your territory."

Aro smiled, giving my hand a squeeze. It was much harder for me to understand him, but I managed. "You have done all that I asked by coming to us when you entered our territory. You may continue to pass through, but know that if you harm any of our family, or the humans we protect, you will be destroyed." I didn't really understand what Aro ment by that. They didn't look particuarly dangerous to me.

The man looked outraged. One of the women behind him looked even more furrious, and she was shaking with rage. The leader took a breath and spoke, his voice deadly. "How dare you insult us in such a way. Do you think us children, unable to controll our emotions?"

"Quite obviously. I wouldn't have said that if I thought any of your kind capable of restraining themselves." Aro countered, his voice smooth, the sarcastic smile never leaving his face.

What happened next was entierly too quick for my brain to process. One of the women, the one who was shaking, seemed to explode, and I blinked in surprise. When my eyes opened a fraction of a second later, an enormous, steel grey wolf was standing in her place. It growled once, then launched itself toward Aro before any one could react. I screamed in fear and surprise at the sight of the huge, snarling wolf coming towards me. My voice seemed to shock the Voltouri back into action, and Marcus lept forward from his position behind Aro to meet the wolf, mid-air. The sound of them colliding was like boulders smashing into one another.

Then the rest of the visitors sprang to action, exploding their forms into huge wolves, like the woman. The vampires around me moved too quickly for me to see, and suddely I was thrown into a side room, the door shut, leaving me alone. Outside, I could hear wolves snarling and screaming in pain, as the Voltouri did what they were trained to do.

I shut my eyes and pressed my head against the wall, trying to drownd out the rest of the world with my own thoughts.

A currious wimper from the wolf jolted me back to the present. I sighed. Over the years, many such packs had requested Aro's permission to pass through Volterra. Every once and a while, there was an...incident. Aro and Paolo both had explained to me what those men and women were. They were werewolves, humans with the ablity to morph into giant snarling canines. They couldn't age untill the gained enough controll over their anger to stop making the change from human to beast. They were just as dangerous as vampires, just as unpredictable. There was a lot I didn't know, but I knew enough to recognise a werewolf when I saw one. And the animal standing in front of me was no mere animal.

I didn't know if I should run, or try to make peace with it. But then a thought popped into my head. Something Paolo had told me once. Werewolves are the absolout enimies of vampires. No matter what, they will never be on the same side. They're like fire and ice - one will always destroy the other.

If the wolves hated vampires as much as I did, then maybe we were on the same side.

And with that thought, I did one of the most stupid things of my life.

I stuck out my hand to the russet animal in front of me, ignoring the fact that it couldn't shake it, and said, "My name is Emily Hamming."

The wolf cocked its head, looking at me with those sad, black eyes. I couldn't be sure, but I thought that its expression held anger, wistfulness, and a little bit of curriousity. We stood there, watching each other for a few minutes, neither of us moving.

Then, without warning, the wolf barked sharply, and bounded off into the forest. I sighed. So much for communication. I started to walk back up the trail, wondering if I had just spoken to an actuall wolf and nearly gotten myself killed, when a voice came from the trail behind me.

"Wait! Where are you going?!"

I spun, eyes wide, taking in the massive Native American boy who stood before me.

He was shirtless, wearing nothing but a pair of cutoff shorts, and his straight black hair hung just below his chin in a dangerous, angry way. His expression was unbeleivably sad, my heart breaking for him. I didn't know what had happened to him, but his sorrow radiated palpably through the air. I glanced down at his exposed chest, and blushed, wishing I haddn't. He had a six pack, his skin was a beautiful red-brown, and he was amazingly muscular, but not in a disgusting, body-builder way, but in a comfortable, I-want-your-arms-wrapped-around-me way. I had to shut my eyes tightly to stop staring at him, he was so gorgeous. His face was just as beautiful, with full lips and high cheekbones, and huge dark eyes with huge dark lashes that brushed his cheeks when he blinked.

I took all that in in about five seconds, and then realized, with some embarrasment, that he was waiting for me to speak.

"I, um, thought you weren't, well, uh, coming back."

"You knew what I am." It wasn't a question.

I nodded.

"How?" The boy asked, closing the distance between us in a few short strides. His bare feet made no noise on the leaf-covered ground.

"Um." I blinked, unprepaired for his interrogation. I hastily changed the subject. "You never told me your name." I pointed out.

"Jacob Black." He said, holding out one gracefull hand for me to shake. "How did you know about me?"

"Lucky guess?"

Jacob leaned closer to my face. "I don't beleive that."

I had to supress an overpowering urge to kiss him, right then and there. I looked up into his eyes. They were black and unreadable, seeming to pull me closer and closer untill I fell into the liquid pools and just kept falling forever into his eyes. I blinked. "Sorry, what?"

He hesitated, emotion flickering too fast over his face for me to read. When Jacob spoke, his voice was softer, not quite as harsh as it had been. "How did you know?"

"It's a long story." I whispered, still lost in his eyes.

And then I did kiss him. Or maybe he kissed me. Either way, my mouth ended up against his, moving in ways it never had. His tongue traced my bottom lip, light as a feather, asking permission. I gasped, and he took advantage of the space, tangling his tongue with my own. My hands were hanging pathetically by my sides, but his were twisted in my hair, holding me to him, crushing me against him. Jacob pressed my back against a nearby tree, and I wraped my arms around his neck, conforming my body to his. His lips moved mine in unfamiliar patterns, and I just followed his lead. All rational thought fled my body as I dissolved into passionate need.

Finally, too soon, Jacob pulled away from me with a heartbroken sob, turning away from me, but not before I could see the tears streaming down his face. I was panting for breath, and I could barely hear what he muttered, his voice saturated with misery. "You can't fight destiny."

I didn't have a clue as to what he was talking about, but his silent tears filled me with unspeakable misery. I didn't even know him, and yet, I couldn't bear to see him in pain. I walked over to him and touched his arm gently. "Jacob, what's wrong?"

"The woman I love is getting married to a vamp-man I hate."

I was silent for a moment, letting that sink in. "She's marrying a vampire?" I asked, cautious. I wasn't entierly sure that was what he was going to say, but I had to take a chance.

Jacob's head snapped up to look at me. "Yes."

"Is he a Cullen?"

"How do you know that?"

"Same reason I know about you. But I don't get what this has to do with why you kissed me. If you love some one else, then why would you kiss me?" I squeeked.

"Because I can't love her anymore."

"Why not?"

He looked at me, his expression tortured. "I love you more."

I stared at him, agast. I had just been kissed by some guy I had never seen before in my life - a werewolf, on top of that - and then he tells me he loves me. While crying over his ex-girlfriend. Who happens to be marring a leech. My life is turning into a soap opera.

AN: Happy 4th of July! The birthday of America! Yay! (i'm a big fireworks fan) Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! Also to those of you who guessed last chapter, good guesses. Congrats and a virtual trophy to booksruleboysdrule, and to CoolCoquette, who's guess was so frigheningly accurate, I almost fell out of my chair. Although, it was pretty obvious.

The next chapter will take a little longer for me to write, b/c I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it, but it should be up by next Saturday. If anyone would like to volenteer some ideas, I'd really appricate it, b/c I really have no idea what to do with the next chapter.

Oh, and booksruleboysdrule pointed out that last chapter was a little scattered. Sorry about that. This chapter - and probably the next one, too - is like that. They're kind of the chapters that I didn't want to write but had to, to get the story to move on. I promise I'll be better about that.

Also, for anyone who is wondering, the Cullens play a huge part of this story, but I have a few chapters to get out of the way before I can bring them back.

REVIEWS! They really and truly are my inspiration to keep going, and they always make my day, so please give me some feedback on this story! And to everyone who has given this story a chance, you are the best.

I don't own anything to do with Twilight, just OC's and this plot.

-BMTW (Sorry this note is so long...I'll keep them shorter in the future.)