Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.
a/n: OKAY! This is the fourth chapter I've published today. This one lacks description but please bear with me. I'm a beginner here and I've been too busy to squeeze out whatever creative juices I have left in me. This is mostly from the book except for the first and last parts so you might get bored. Please review!
The windows were rolled down, the wind blowing against their skin. After a few moments of silence and a couple of small talks, Bella figured it was time to break the ice.
"Hey, Jake, you ever heard from those guys?" she asked.
He knew what she meant instantly. He shrugged. "Those weirdos? Probably ran off."
"Who ran off?" Lilia asked curiously from the back seat.
"Some guys who rented a house near the forest," Bella answered. Lilia could hear the reluctance in her voice. She knew it was something that she did not want to talk about.
She shrugged. "Lots of guys are like that." And thus, she saved them from an awkward conversation.
They dropped off in front of Jacob's house. Billy was by the house looking out at them.
"Oh, hey, Billy," Lilia greeted.
"Lil! It's been a long time, hasn't it? Luckily for you, the fish aren't biting," he laughed.
She grimaced. "I always hated fish. They're too mushy and tasteless . . . at least for my palate. I'll go by the beach to get some fresh air, okay?"
They watched her as she walked away.
"Right! So, Bella," Jacob started once Lilia was from a favourable distance away. "You convinced your bloodsucker boyfriend to stay in camp with him, huh?"
She scowled at his smirk. "As a matter of fact, I did."
"Are you aware that you just deprived him of what must have been the best experience in his damned existence?"
She looked away from him and realized that Billy was gone.
"Edward told me something the other day . . . about you," she said, remembering their conversation.
He bristled. "It's probably a lie."
She eyed him. "Oh, really? You aren't second in command of the pack, then?"
His face turned blank in surprise. "Oh. That."
"How come you never told me that?" she complained.
He shrugged. "It's no big deal."
She crossed her arms. "So how those that work? How did Sam become the Alpha and you . . . the Beta?"
He chuckled at her invented term. "Sam's the first and the oldest. It made sense for him to take charge."
"But shouldn't Jared or Paul be the second, then?"
"It's hard to explain."
"Try."
He hesitated. "It's more about the lineage, you know?"
"Didn't you say that Ephraim Black was the last chief the Quileutes had? Then with the lineage, you should be the Alpha, right?"
He shifted uncomfortably. "It's Sam's job."
"Why? His great-granddad was Levi Uley, right? Was he an Alpha, too?"
"There's only one Alpha," he answered automatically. "Guess Levi was a Beta."
He snorted at the term.
"That doesn't make sense."
He shrugged. "Doesn't matter."
Bella's lips curled into a pout. He sighed.
"Alright. I was supposed to be the Alpha."
Her eyebrows pulled together. "Sam didn't want to step down?"
"Hardly. I didn't want to step up," he frowned at Bella's confused expression. "I didn't want any of it, Bella. I didn't want to be some legendary chief. I didn't want to be part of a pack of wolves, let alone their leader."
Bella pondered for a moment. "Chief Jacob," she whispered, testing out how the words sounded together. He rolled his eyes.
At the beach, Lilia was gazing at the horizon. It was a cloudy day; the cool air was blowing the tendrils of her light brown hair.
There's something wrong, she thought. Definitely. They're hiding something.
She was torn on whether she would look for the reason why or not. Something told her that some things were best kept secret.
I'll keep it that way, then, she decided. At least, for the meantime.
That did not ease her troubled feelings, though. A sixth sense told her that there was something else. She could hear it.
She was not alone.
Their voices were muffled, from afar but not too far away.
She walked to the direction of the voices, wondering if it was someone she knew. She reached the top of a slight slope and looked down to where she knew the voices came from. She could see them now; they were abnormally tall except for one. They were talking in a rush when they abruptly stopped. They turned to her direction, their blood red eyes visible even from afar.