Ch. 25

Leah's POV

Danny turned to look at me, as Bella's retreating back flew down the street. It couldn't help but to be an amusing sight-

it was the first time they had seen a vampire looking anything near ungraceful. Bella nearly tripped over everything in her path, nearly running into every person unfortunate to be in her desperate course.

"You know Jake is going to be pissed when he finds out we didn't tell him the truth, right?" Danny looked up at me skeptically, arching an eyebrow.

I smirked. "I know! It's going to great. Jake is always hilarious when he throws those tantrums." I may had been part of Jake's little pack, but that didn't mean I was loyal to him, in the least – half the time Jake was being a drama queen, and the other half was spent moping over Bella's supposed death, though we now knew that was blown out of the water. I had only ever had one leader - myself.

"Oh." Danny thought this over for a second. I chuckled at him – I could tell he was going to be great one day, after he was over these years of following the rules religiously, not to mention after he had gotten free of Levi's hold. "So, what are we going to do now?"

"I think we can change for right now – Jake probably won't until we get back, anyways." I thought for a second, nodding. "We'll skip happily to Jake, say we found out absolutely nothing, except for we found out they were heading to northern Canada. And delay changing as long as possible. That should give the dead things to get out of here – no problem, huh? If we manage to get Jake out of the country, those blood-suckers should be worshipping the ground we walk on."

Proud of my perfectly thought out plan and basking in the thought of tricking Jake once again, I pranced towards the clusters of trees out of the town, where we could safely find a deserted spot to change. I once again wondered why Jake was the leader – I was far smarter, as this could only prove. Danny had learned years ago to not argue with me, and he trailed after me.

A few miles into the bleak forest, I stripped down, tying my clothes into a knot. I didn't bothering undressing under cover – the first time one of the boys had tried to check me out before I transformed, I had hit them so hard, they'd felt it for nearly a week afterwards. Feeling my bones bend and elongate, distorting my legs so they bent gracefully to the ground, I stretched and flaunted. Danny's mind soon joined mine, his mind also in joy at being in our most natural form.

We quickly bounced around each other, snapping and lunging at each other playfully. I knocked him to the ground, grabbing his neck, wagging my tail madly as he attempted to roll me over in our game. Suddenly, we both froze, as a too-familiar mind started to join our own. I mentally screamed to switch back, but it was too late – Jake had joined the party.

"What did you figure out?" he asked me, his mind revealing nothing. "I'm assuming you're out of Forks?"

"Um," I thought, frantically trying to think of a suitable answer while guarding my thought at the same time. "No! They're definitely not here. Yep, no Cullen vampire in site…" Even in my head, it sounded lame.

"Leah," Jake thought slowly. "What's going on?"

"Nothing! Actually, Danny and were just changing back, to do, um…"

"We were going to do some more research! "Danny quickly supplied and I could've kissed him right then and there for his quick response.

"Wait!" Jake snarled in his head – I flinched at the tone. "You guys are hiding something from me!"

"We'll see you soon," I spat out, already setting my mind back to transform.

"They're there!" Jake's mind was so full of rage and anger, I instantly stepped back, blown as if he had just punched me. I had never heard Jacob sound so resentful, hating, and furious in my life, even the day he had found out about Bella's untimely death.

"Jacob, stop it." I knew I had to try to reason with him. "There are parts of this you don't know. Calm down and we'll tell you. "

"There are parts I don't know? Are you joking with me? All I know is that they killed Bella! My sweet, innocent Bella! That's all I need to know!" I felt panic bubbling over me. I blurted out the first thing that came to my mind.

"But, Jake, she's alive! Bella's alive!" I stopped, breathless, hoping this would calm him.

"She's one of them?" His mind was low, emotionless.

"Yes."

A pure rage fell over his mind, so black, so hot, that it burned as it brushed against my mind. I howled in pain at the uncontained blackness of his mind, as every bit of sense left his body. "I'll kill them!" He screamed. "I'll kill them all!"

My head pounding, I forced my body to change before I could drown in the waves of Jake's hate. Naked, shaking and sweaty on the ground, leaves sticking to my scorching body; I quickly snatched the clothes hanging on the cord on my foot, as Danny did the same.

"We have to warn the bloodsuckers!" I cried, pulling my hair in anxiety and overwhelming bewilderment at what had just happened. I tugged the long black mane into a ponytail. "Oh my god, they're not going to have to have enough time to get out of here, Jake is coming as fast as he possibly can."

I started running towards a place where I could find a car to borrow – without permission, of course. Danny was instantly behind me. "Leah, what does that mean?" I had to laugh again at his innocence, shaking my head and putting on a burst of sped. "Danny," I told him grimly. "That means there's about to be war."

Bella's POV

Alice blinked at me, and the silence took over for a second, before the sense of urgency took over once again. I grabbed Alice by the wrist, trying to drag her outside with me.

"Bella, stop!" She cried out, yanking back. "Why would Jacob Black want to kill us? We were peaceful with his pack for years!"

"Because," I said, losing patience,"they think you kidnapped and murdered me. He's been trying to track you guys down for years! It's his obsession. He's created a pack of wolves, called The Hunters, whose sole task is to track you down and kill you – especially Edward. He won't go back home until he's holding Edward's ashes." I finished quietly, staring at the ground.

"Then I'll leave," Edward said simply and firmly, without a hesitation from behind Emmett's massive figure. He got up from the couch, sidestepping to dodge Emmett, standing in front of his family. "If Jacob is after me, then I'll let him find me – he won't care about you guys after he has killed me."

"No!" I instantly gasped. I could feel Rexy stiffen behind me – once again, it occurred to me how much I was slowly breaking his heart. "Edward, you can't do that."

He stared me straight in the eyes, unmoving and unblinking. "I don't care. I have lost everything I lived for. It'll be better for all of us."

It was a stab in the heart for me, and I sucked in a breath at the bitterness in his voice, and apathy in his eyes. He was telling the truth – and it entirely my fault. Rexy's earlier words stuck in my head suddenly – how he would let me go if I truly loved him. Was it possible to have this much strain on myself? I loved them both – and either way I choose, I would be hurting one of them.

The entire family looked at me before look down. Little Alice grabbed Edward's arm, growling. "No, Edward, not this shit, again. We listened to you say this a hundred times – you have us. Did we leave Bella when James was after her? No – and we're not going to leave you now. We're a family, and if we live together, great. If not? We'll die together, fighting together – because that's what families do. You're not going to hurt u by just giving up. And like it or not, Bella is part of our family."

Rexy looked down behind me, shuffling his feet. It was clear that he felt as he didn't belong here, now more than ever.

Alice spoke again. "And now that Rexy is part of Bella's family, that makes him part of our family too." He looked up suddenly, filled with shock and gratitude. Smiling, I grabbed his hand, squeezing it tightly.

Carlisle spoke in now. "Very nicely spoken, Alice. We've wasted enough time, if Jacob is coming for us. And now, I think it's time to form a plan."

A/N: I promised I would finish this story, so I'm going to stick to my word. Thank you to everyone that has stuck with this story, and I apoogize from the bottom of my heart - I know this story has been going for two years, and probably a bit longer than that. But, I will finish it! It's getting pretty close to ending now, so please keep reviewing - it was actually an amazing review from someone that got me to update - thank you, MsMar! I would love to see if I could get to 200 reviews on this. Please help me make this work? (:

And also keep giving me your thoughts! Team Edward - has Rexy lost the battle? Are Bella and Edward truly meant to be? Is he finally proving himself worthy? Team Rexy, has Edward finally crossed the line? Has Rexy shown himself to be the better man? Or, perhaps, both of them be sent packing? YOU tell me! And make sure to vote in the poll on my profile - it won't be closed until the last chapter is posted!

And once again, thank you. Thank you to new readers, readers that have stuck since the start of this story, and readers that have been here since for my first story, and any reader that I have picked up along the way. You guys mean so, so much to me - I've can't thank you enough as I've grown as a writer since my start on this site, 2-3 years ago. I really hope that I can eventually get something published, and this website will always be a milestone in posting my writing.

Oh, I would like to add yet another thing - thank you for sticking through my horrible grammar. (:

I love you guys. Keep being awesome. 3

-Sare