25. The council
Jacob's POV
Nessie was sleeping peacefully in my arms while I struggled to empty my mind to get some sleep. The revelations of tonight have made that feat impossible. How can I sleep with this hanging over me?
I carefully pulled myself away from Nessie trying to not disturb her. Nessie stirred but did not wake to my relief.
I pulled my jeans on and walked quietly down to the sitting room. I was surprised but glad to see it empty; at least one of the Cullen's usually occupied it.
I pulled the piece of paper from my pocket before falling onto the sofa. I straightened out the piece of paper and began to read searching for the clause, I was hoping to find.
'Declaration of treaty agreement between the Quileute tribe and the Cullen clan.
All rules must be obeyed in order for the treaty to remain. If either party breaks the treaty agreement war will be declared.
The Quileute tribe must keep the secret of the Cullen's true identity.
The Cullen's are not permitted to bite or kill any human.
The Cullen's must remain on their side of the boundary line and may not cross unless permission is granted by the entire council.'
Well that isn't so bad, I'm sure the council will allow the Cullen's to come to the wedding. Then dad's earlier words echoed in my head 'that was different Jake no one contested it…'
Everything then fell into place, dad had been the one to remove the folder and dad had probably addressed the council on the matter already. Someone had contested the Cullen's coming to the wedding and there was nothing I could do about it.
I had been so caught up in my thoughts I hadn't noticed Alice enter the room.
"Hey Shortie," I murmured.
"Hey Jake, have you found anything?"
I looked at her with a confused expression. How did she know I was looking for something? Unless she saw something?
"What did you see?" I asked eager for more information.
"I saw your decision to find a clause in the treaty but I don't understand why," Alice replied.
"I can't get married here unless I renounce myself as a Quileute and give up my wolf. I have to get married on my land but you are not allowed on my land. I don't know what to do," I confessed.
"Oh Jake I had no idea, is there no way you can grant us permission? You are the chief," Alice replied.
I handed her the treaty agreement knowing it would be the first time she would have seen it as she hadn't joined the Cullen's when the agreement was made.
"Does Nessie know about this?" Alice asked as she handed back the piece of paper.
"No I don't want to upset her, I'll figure something out."
"Good let's keep it between us. Do you think the council will have a problem with us crossing the line?" Alice said.
"I don't know," I admitted. "I think dad may have already addressed them about the situation."
"What makes you think that?" Alice asked.
I repeated my earlier conversation with dad and Old Quil and the more I spoke the words the more hopeless the situation felt.
"You can't give up Jake. You need to speak to your dad, find out what has been said and then we can figure something out from there."
"Sure," I replied. "I'll go and see him tomorrow when we get back from Charlie's."
"No Jake you need to go now there's no time to waste. I'll cover for you if Nessie wakes up."
The urgency in Alice's voice worried me. Had she seen more than she was letting on?
I decided it would be better not to argue so I got to my feet and headed to the back door.
*****************
"Dad," I called as I entered the house.
"In here," dad called from the tiny sitting room.
I was surprised he was still awake considering the hour. I walked into the sitting room to see him sitting in his wheelchair in front of the television.
"I thought I would be expecting you," dad said.
"Have you seen this?" I said handing him the treaty.
"Yes," dad replied without looking at it.
"Well?" I said. "Will they agree to it or not?"
I already knew the answer but I couldn't help but ask, maybe I had jumped to conclusions. Dad may not have spoken to them about it as I thought.
"Jake I have already asked the council. I addressed them about it just before you returned from Astoria," dad said confirming my first thoughts.
"What did they say?" I asked already knowing the answer.
"Jake I'm sorry but they don't want to put our people in danger. I know the Cullen's will never attack on our land but the council don't want to risk it. Having the Cullen's on our land puts our people in danger of other vampires as we all know their presence attracts others," dad said.
"That is ridiculous they will only be here for a few hours, what could happen in that time?" I cried.
"I know Jake, I would love for the Cullen's to be able to attend your wedding but the council just won't budge on the idea, I've been telling them for weeks that the Cullen's pose no threat."
I could see how much this was hurting him and how he hated not being able to do anything about it.
"I'll speak to them. I'll prove to them that our people are not in danger," I declared.
"You can try Jake but I wouldn't pin your hopes on it," dad replied.
"Arrange a meeting for tomorrow evening; I have to make them understand."
"Okay I'll call around in the morning," dad replied.
"Thanks dad, I'll see you tomorrow," I said before leaving his house.
As I ran back to Nessie I tried to think of the ways I could convince the council that the Cullen's are not a threat. I would need help, witness statements. The more people I could get to testify that the Cullen's are not a danger the better. Who would I ask? Sam? I'm sure he would be willing; he knows the Cullen's have fought to protect humans against vampires, and he knows they would never hurt anyone. Leah? Seth? Seth would definitely be willing but what about Leah.
Leah has never made a secret of her dislike for the Cullen's and the council know this. If I could get Leah to testify the council couldn't dispute our claim. Leah would never put our people in danger even if the risk were minimal.
I slowed to a walk as I approached the house preying that Nessie was still sleeping. The sitting room was empty again as I made my way up the stairs to our room.
As I entered our bedroom, I was happy to see Nessie still sleeping peacefully. She looked so beautiful, her gorgeous red curls fanned out above her head and her lips were slightly parted.
I slowly crawled into the bed beside her and pulled her into my arms. I needed to feel her warm skin against mine; Nessie was very accommodating as she wrapped her arms around me, still sleeping.
I kissed the top of her head and vowed to make her happy. If I had to renounce myself in order to do that I would, I would do anything for Nessie.
Edward's POV
It felt so good to finally be able to enjoy Bella again; I had missed the closeness between us so much. I never dreamed it would be so difficult to keep my hands off her.
"What are you thinking about?" Bella asked.
"I'm just thinking about how sexy you are and how hard I find it to keep my hands off you," I replied honestly.
"Hmmm I was just thinking the same thing," Bella said as she traced the plains of my chest with her fingertips.
I pulled her face up towards mine and kissed her perfect lips. Bella wound her fingers into my hair and pulled herself closer to me deepening the kiss. I lost all control of my hands as they explored the length of her body causing her to shudder under my touch.
I gently pushed her face away from mine and looked into her smouldering eyes.
"Charlie?" I said reminding her of her plans for today.
Bella sighed before replying, "Charlie can wait I can't," she said before kissing me again.
I pushed her away from me again chuckling to myself. "Charlie may be able to wait but I doubt our daughter can," I said.
"Okay fine," Bella grumbled before climbing out of bed.
"I'm sure you will have fun and I will be waiting for you when you get back," I said.
"Are you not coming?" Bella asked as she pulled on a pair of jeans.
"No I want to stay to keep an eye on Gino. Nessie had an interesting thought about him yesterday and I want to see if there is more to it," I explained, as I got dressed.
"Oh! What did Nessie think?"
"She thought there was something alluring about the way he spoke. I had never noticed it before, I just assumed Brooke felt guilty for changing him and that's why she won't leave his side but I'm starting to wonder if there is more to it."
"You think he has some sort of power over her?" Bella said.
"Something like that," I replied. "Now come on we don't want to keep Nessie waiting."
I took Bella by the hand and we ran to the house, leaping the river with ease. As we got closer to the house Jake's thoughts caught my attention. He was thinking about a council meeting with his tribe tonight but his thoughts suddenly changed once he saw us approaching. What is the meeting for? Why is he trying to hide it from me?
"Finally," Nessie exclaimed as we walked through the door.
"Sorry love, were you waiting to go?" Bella said innocently.
"Never mind you're here now," Nessie replied with a roll of her eyes.
"Have fun," I said as Bella, Nessie and Jake left the house.
I proceeded to the piano where Gino was playing softly while Brooke played with Joshua on the floor next to him.
"You're a quick learner," I said.
"Thanks," Gino replied. "I never thought I'd ever be able to play an instrument I always thought it would be boring."
"Your perspective tends to change when you have all eternity to play," I replied.
"I can't believe you have never played before Gino, you play beautifully," Brooke complimented him.
I listened carefully for his reply to see if I could notice any change in his tone.
"Thank you Brooke," Gino replied.
I noticed a slight shift in his tone but it didn't seem deliberate, it was as if he didn't realise he was doing it.
A huge smile stretched across Brooke's face at his words and her thoughts were consumed with love and adoration towards Gino. This was worse than I first thought, Brooke has actually fallen in love with him but how does he feel?
I decided to leave them alone but continued to listen to their thoughts. Jasper was playing a game on the computer and I could tell he was struggling as he was cursing in his thoughts.
"Is it really that difficult?" I asked.
"No I just thought you would find those thoughts more interesting," Jasper replied with a smirk. I smacked the back of his head for being cheeky although it was quite funny.
"Where's Alice?" I asked.
"I don't know she might have decided to go with Esme and Carlisle either that or she is doing something else to do with the wedding," Jasper replied.
"Yeah probably," I agreed.
"What's going on with them two?" Jasper whispered too low for Gino and Brooke to hear.
"I'm not sure, what are you getting?"
Jasper thought of the feelings and emotions he could feel emancipating from Brooke and Gino. He could feel love and devotion from Brooke the same as I got from her thoughts but Gino's emotions felt wrong. He also felt devotion towards Brooke but there was no love.
This confused me even more, how could he feel devoted to her but not love her? I listened harder to his thoughts to try to figure out a reason behind it. He was concentrating on the music he was playing but every so often, he felt the need to look at Brooke. Each time he did this Brooke's thoughts became more explicit so I tried to ignore them.
I focused on Gino and he was confused by his feelings for Brooke. He couldn't understand why he felt the need for her and he was even more confused by the way, she wanted him.
I couldn't understand any of it so I decide to just keep an eye on them to see if anything changed.
Jacob's POV
The afternoon was dragging, as I was eager to get to the council meeting. I had told Nessie it was nothing important but that I had to go. She wasn't happy about me being away from her but she didn't seem suspicious so I was happy.
I had managed to inform Alice about what was going on this morning before everyone gathered in the sitting room. She had gone to speak with Sam about the meeting to ask for their testimonies. I preyed that everyone agreed to help as I was at a loss as to what to do if they didn't.
"We better go now," Bella said as she eyed the clock on the mantle.
I was surprised to see that it was 6 o'clock; maybe the afternoon had gone quicker than I thought.
"Well take care Nessie, I still can't believe you are getting married but I am really happy for you," Charlie said as he gave Nessie a hug.
"Thanks Grandpa," Nessie replied.
"Thanks Charlie," I said as I took Nessie's hand in mine.
"See you soon dad," Bella said as she hugged Charlie.
We all said goodbye to Sue and then headed out to the car. Bella had insisted on taking Edward's Volvo to my disappointment. What was the point in having a garage full of nice cars if they were never driven?
I kept my mind occupied as we approached the house, as I didn't want Edward to know what was going on.
We entered the house to Gino playing the piano. Had he been playing all day?
Joshua was playing on the floor with a wooden spoon and Esme's saucepans creating his own music. When Joshua spotted me and Nessie he got to his feet, "Nessie," he chimed as he walked over to us perfectly balanced.
Everyone clapped to Joshua's excitement as Nessie picked him up.
"That was brilliant Josh," Nessie cried.
"Is that the first time he has walked?" Bella asked.
The shock on Brooke's face confirmed it was, there was no need for words. Bella approached Brooke and wrapped her arm around her.
"Don't worry Brooke, it's perfectly normal for a half vampire child," Bella soothed.
"You wait until he starts reading," I said. "Nessie could read by the time she was three months old."
Unfortunately, my words only made her panic even more and Bella gave me a reproachful look. Why did I always say the wrong thing?
"I've got to go," I said.
"Do you have to?" Nessie asked.
"Yes Nessie. I'd rather stay here with you but I have to go, I'll be back soon I promise," I replied.
I gave Nessie a kiss on the cheek and noticed Edward looking at me suspiciously. I ignored him and headed out the back door.
Alice was waiting for me at the boundary line.
"Hey Shortie, how did it go?" I asked.
"Good all the wolves are willing to give a statement but I couldn't get hold of Leah so I don't know her decision," Alice informed me.
"Thanks," I said not sure how I felt about it all.
"I'll meet you back at the house later," Alice said. "I hope it all goes well."
"Me too, see you later," I replied before crossing the line into La Push.
*****************
As I approached the council hall, I started to panic. What if they don't agree? What will I do then? Nessie would be so upset, would she prefer not to get married? I want her to be my wife more than anything but if not getting married is our only choice so be it.
I took a deep breath as I pushed the door open and walked inside. The hall was full of tribe members of the council. It had been so long since I had attended a meeting that I started to feel guilty. What right do I have to request what I want when I have not been the leader I should have been?
I approached the empty chair in the centre of the table assuming it was reserved for me. I looked around the table at all the familiar faces and felt worried when I didn't see Leah.
I took my seat as dad stood next to me to address the council.
"You all know why we are here and I would like you all to be open minded as Jacob gives you his testimony as to why the Cullen's should be permitted to cross the treaty line onto our land." dad said with all the authority he could muster.
"This is a waste of time, we have already decided it is too dangerous," came a deep voice whom I recognised to be Michael Khan, one of the elders.
"On what grounds?" I demanded. "You can not prove the Cullen's to be a danger to our tribe."
"And I suppose you can prove that they are not a danger to our tribe," Michael retorted.
"I will certainly try," I replied.
"And how do you propose to do that?"
As Michael spoke his words, I suddenly realised that I did not have to. I can't believe I didn't think of this before, I had the answer all this time. The Cullen's would not be a danger and there was no need for any of this. Even if the treaty were broken who would be responsible for starting the war? We would, the pack and there is no way any of us would attack the Cullen's without provocation. We had been fighting alongside them foe too long. Sam and I were the only two people who could give such an order.
"Lost for words?" Michael said breaking my thought process.
"No Michael, I have just realised that you were right, it is a waste of time holding this meeting," I said.
Everyone looked at me surprised by the change in my tone and began whispering amongst themselves.
"Jake what are you doing?" dad asked concerned.
"There is no need for this meeting as the Cullen's will be attending my wedding whether you agree to it or not," I declared.
"Over my dead body," Michael cried.
"Who is going to stop them, you? I certainly won't and neither will the pack and considering the pack are the only ones who could win such a feat I guess your decision doesn't matter," I said.
The room erupted into whispered conversations at my words. I glanced towards Sam hoping he would agree to my statement and to my relief he nodded and smiled.
I patted my dad on the back and headed for the door.
"Your invitations will be in the post," I said before walking out the door.
As I walked away, I could hear the cries of outrage and I felt guilty for leaving dad to deal with it but I didn't want to argue any longer. I knew my presence on the council would now be debatable but I didn't care. All I cared about was marrying the woman I loved in front of all our friends and family.