This chapter is dedicated to Oracle Vas. She knows why.
Note: There is one more chapter after this.
Jacob's POV
Something bad happened to Bella.
I was not sure how I knew or when it was but I had not ever felt more confident about something in my life. If she liked it or not, I was physically connected to her, and some sensor in my brain was now blaring on high alert. Something was telling me that she had been hurting just a few hours ago.
When Charlie called me and told me she was missing three days ago I could swear I felt myself die a little bit on the inside. If anything bad had happened to her...
Jacob, Embry came to stand beside me, his golden-brown eyes full of caution and sympathy. You should try to calm down. I'm sure that she's fine.
I didn't believe that even a little. She was missing. She was last seen with him. He was missing, too. The leech had kidnapped her. She would have never just left Silas behind!
She didn't leave, though. Seth pointed out cheerfully. What's-his-face said we'd see her today. That means she was coming back from wherever the entire time.
Come back as what is what I'd like to know. Quil thought disdainfully.
I whirled around and snarled at him, feeling the fur on my neck stand up. What was he implying? That Bella would just abandon everything important in her life, after working so hard to finally get what she really wanted, and let some bloodsucking murderer take away her humanity?
Quil lowered his ears and mildly pointed out, She doesn't have to want to give it. Think realistically, Jake. The guy's friends practically broke me in half. If he wanted to just bite her, how could she stop him?
Several emotions rocketed through me because of this statement.
Terror gripped at my heart like an icy pair of eagle talons. The fear was instantly replaced by repulsion at the idea of Bella being manhandled by that monster, and then loathing because I had done nothing to protect her. The loathing was washed away by aggression. Had Quil, a low ranking and non-imprinted member of the pack, just dared to assume that I wasn't good enough to keep my Bella safe from a vampire?
Natural protectiveness over the very idea of my imprintee started to poke angrily at the hostile parts of my brain. I was unable to stop myself from springing at Quil, closing the distance between us at a swift pace as an unhappy snarl bubbled out of my throat. Embry and Seth instinctively flinched away from their pack brother and out of my target zone.
Before I leapt on Quil, a streak of gray blurred herself into the scene and defiantly planted herself directly in front of Quil. Eyes blazing and tail raised high Leah snarled, Jacob, leave him alone!
I skidded to a halt inches in front of her and bared my teeth. Leah, I don't want to hurt you. Get out of the way!
I did want to hurt Quil. At the current moment in time, having been away from Bella for so long and living strictly in my werewolf body for almost four days, I was thriving off animalistic instincts right now.
Despite the thick weight to my words, Leah did not move. She didn't have to move. Once she imprinted on me she gained a powerful authority within the pack. By imprinting on me, the alpha male, she became the alpha female. Not my mate- I had a mate- but the next closest thing. Everyone but me had to listen to her. And on the other hand, only an absolute decree from me could force her to obey. We tested it for fun a month ago and found out that semi-suggestion orders are ineffective.
I growled at Leah. She growled right back. I was not in the mood to put up with her stubbornness over Quil, so I just snorted angrily and turned the other direction, stalking to nowhere in particular. Embry followed closely behind as always.
We didn't get far before a harsh, eye-watering burn assaulted our noses. Paul growled nervously and reported, I think I see them coming, Jacob.
Paul was about a quarter of a mile ahead of us. He was our look out. We didn't want to be taken off guard by the vampires if they chose to attack us.
How many? Embry asked, glancing over his shoulder to silently summon the other three pack members over here.
I looked through Paul's eyes as he peered through the dense forest area he was standing in. He shook his head, starting to get frustrated. I can't see them!
That's okay, Paul. Leah's gentle and reassuring voice joined the conversation. She came to stand beside me and she ordered, Come back to the pack where it's safe.
Paul immediately turned around and bolted through the forest. It took him just a half of a minute to cover the distance between us, and he steadily loped into the clearing we were gathered in. He walked between Embry and myself to go sit with Seth and Quil in the back. Embry fell beside them a moment later.
Excitement started to lace through my body as the blurred streaks came into sight. I was going to see her again! I had stayed away for so long, and it hurt me to stop myself from crossing the border and running to her house. It was so physically painful to know that I was willingly staying away from Bella because someone else had told me to.
I had to protect my brothers, though. It was my obligation to keep them safe. I couldn't let him kill Paul. I was especially happy with that decision after he imprinted on my sister Rachel three weeks ago. Rachel never truly got over our mother's death. Paul could help her through that, just like I had helped Bella get over him when she asked me to.
The moving figures stopped. My heart skipped a beat in anticipation as I tried to find her. The two males were there. The short one with black hair was there. Bella was…
Shock.
My muscles constricted. My heart skipped a beat. My head felt like a wrecking ball had just knocked it right off my body, I became so dizzy and confused.
Bella. My dear, sweet Bella. She was… she was… What was she?!
Skin paler and smoother than the most sun-bleached of stones. Every single muscle on her body more defined and pronounced. Eyes both darker and lighter than rubies at the same time. Eyes the hideous, grotesque shade of blood. What did they do to her?
The pack had fallen silent listening to my mental freak out. They didn't have the first clue what to say or do to me to calm me down. They could only do one thing- chant the answer to my semi-rhetorical question.
Vampire.
Vampire.
They made her a vampire.
They turned her into a monster. A human-killer. A blood sucking, life leeching, soul-less beast. Bella, my Bella, was gone.
She was dead.
This revelation, this time stopping and life shattering knowledge, made something happen inside of me. The same time that I felt my heart breaking, my soul flared to life. A violent and wild part of me that I had never known existed was born.
Aggression started to course thickly in my veins, as hot and heavy as lead. I felt the core of my bones rattling with the force of the snarl that ripped it's way from my chest. They killed her. They killed her!
"Jake?" Bella asked tentatively. I felt disgust and horror knot my stomach. Her voice! She didn't even have her own voice anymore!
No, now it was sing song-y and lyrical. It was both higher in pitch and softer in tone. It was the voice of a succubus- one no human male would ever resist. It had changed so that this new Bella, this living corpse, would always be able to draw its prey closer. Like a black widow spinning a web of deceit and death around a fly.
Which one was it? I began to pace from side to size in irritation, never letting my eyes leave the line of murderers. Who was the one that took her away from me? Was it the one that started the fight with Paul? The other female? The big one that has stolen her away from me that night in the forest?
We can kill them all, Jacob. Paul suggested darkly, sounding like one of those eerie assassins from a video game. All four of them, they broke the treaty.
No! I protested instantly, my eyes unwilling snapping onto Bella. She is not one of them. She is one of us. We can' hurt her.
Jacob, she abandoned us. Leah disagreed quietly, not daring to meet my eyes. She knew better than any of the others how emotionally attached I was to Bella, because she had been dragged into our crazy little triangle. She didn't want to see my heart breaking in my eyes. I didn't even need her to think that to know it. I just knew it. Leah continued, She is one of them. Look at her- she's not human anymore.
She's dangerous. Embry added reluctantly, his sharp eyes critically looking over this new version of Bella. Bella 2.0.
They all are. Seth and Quil thought at the same time. Quil added, They deserve to die. They took Bella away from you.
I could see that in Quil's subconscious he was trying to rile me up by saying that. He wanted me to be hostile. He wanted me to want to fight and destroy. The others realized it and they started to help.
You'll never see a blush on that creature's cheeks. Embry pointed out. He knew that I had always loved Bella's blush.
Look at her eyes, Jake. Seth demanded. Are those Bella's pretty brown eyes?
Isabella Swan is gone forever. This creature is not the girl you love. Leah whispered. I felt myself naturally caving to my alpha females opinion. She was my equal. In her own way, she was better than I was. I was the force of the pack, but she was the intelligence.
And she was right. I had thought it myself. Bella was dead. My mate, my imprintee, my first and truest love… was a vampire.
Every single fiber of every single muscle, the intricate little webs that created my nerves, was starting to throb with fierce hostility. It hurt, but the pain was so good. My instincts, the nature of the dominant animal I was born to be, were demanding my attention.
Fight. I had to fight.
That was the barest and most primal of all instincts. It was not the decisions to stay and fight or turn and run when in a dangerous situation. The physical demand that I slaughter the creature that destroyed the better half of my very soul was the only instinct that I knew right now.
The very proteins of my DNA were growling. Somebody else was going to die today. Bella would not have to make her journey to the afterlife alone. The one that gave her the fresh scar on her collarbone was going to escort her, or I would.
But which one of them did it?
The smaller male leaned in close to him, whispering something to him that even our enhanced ears could not catch from this distance. Both females glanced at them in horror. I ignored them, and tried only to control the furious trembling that rage was sending down my spine.
My suddenly confrontational mindset, to the vast and powerful degree it happened to be at, affected the pack harshly. Quil and Leah started to growl threateningly as they eyed the vampires. Seth and Paul inched closer to the small coven, soon trapping them inside of a triangle our positions created. My brothers, my sister, were ready and willing to back me up.
I must have hesitated for too long, because Leah began to organize for me. She shifted her weight on her front paws, getting herself ready to pounce. Paul, you're closest to their leader- the mind reader. Stay on him and let Embry help you take him out.
I felt the shift in Paul and Embry's focus as they reacted to their alphas command. They both locked their eyes onto the bronze haired one, ready for the order of attack. Leah continued, The new Bella is radiating strength. Quil, you help Seth get rid of her. Look after my brother.
Quil shadowed around my shoulder and made his way over to Seth, ignoring the warning snarl that he gave them for getting so close to Bella.
I'm the fastest. Leah reminded us. I'll go after their fastest, the little one. Jacob, you're our best fighter. You saw how easily that male killed Jared, and what he did to Paul. We need you to go after him. Can you do it alone?
I had been so intent on malicious acts against the vampire coven as a whole that I had totally forgotten about the blonde male's fighting skills. If he killed me, he would make sure the rest of them died. He would help his own family get rid of us all.
My eyes locked onto 2.0. The scar on her collarbone… it was identical to the one on her neck. A perfect match. A copy. A repeat.
Jasper. The one who bit her, the one who ripped her soul right out of her body and took her humanity away, was Jasper.
I took a few steps forward, and every other member of the pack tightened their bodies in anticipation of the oncoming war. Edward, that was his name. Edward whispered something into Jasper's ear frantically. Jasper snarled at him, and Edward took a cautious step closer to the little black haired one.
I jerked my head higher and my tail curled around my haunches as a flash of dominance streaked through me. He heart was crying bitter tears of loss. I felt like an empty shell knowing that my object of imprint was dead. As I allowed another snarl, a sinister challenge, to tear from my throat I felt that emptiness fill me. I felt my entire body swell with one emotion.
Hate. I hated this vampire. I hated what he was, and what he did. He should not exist. If he had not existed, Bella would be alive. We would be happy together right now.
Jasper! I mentally howled, the force of my thoughts so powerful the mind reader was forced to echo them a-loud. You killed her, Jasper. You murdered my Bella, and you will pay for that crime tonight.
2.0 took a step forward, her mouth open and her eyes shining with terror. Jasper grabbed her and pushed her into the other two. He gazed deeply into her eyes, kissing her then whispering something.
A moment later he turned back to me and asked harshly, almost threateningly, "What sort of an alpha are you, Black? Will you be hiding behind these other mutts? Or will you step forward and fight me like a real man would?"
Offended for me, little Seth demanded, And how does a real man fight?
The message was relayed. Jasper didn't take his fearsome black eyes off of my gaze when he, too, stalked forward. He coiled into attack position and answered coldly, "Just us. No matter what happens, it will remain just us, and we fight to the death."
No! every single member of the pack protested angrily.
I started getting confused by their frantic and worried thoughts. I tried to struggle through the cloud of fear that five other people had fogged around me. I wanted it this way. It was best this way. He was her soul mate. I was her true love. Only one of us would be able to survive.
Yes, I snarled suddenly. The weight of my voice seemed to blister the air, making everyone else flinch. They didn't get it. "No" was not a possibility for me. My paws were already violently twitching forward, begging me to lunge. My mind was running a thousand different attack possibilities through my head. Yes, I would fight, but they would not. Everyone stand down. This is my fight only, not yours.
Embry and Quil whimpered. My best friends since we were toddlers. My beta and my trusted brother, Embry tried to reason with me, Think about Billy! And what about your mother? If she had known, would she have wanted it to end like this?
Rachel and Rebecca? Paul added accusingly.
Be quiet. I snapped, and the muzzles of everyone drooped slightly. I shook my head; this is how it had to be. I said stand down. Leah, if I die, you will not fight. You will take the pack home. You will keep everyone safe, including yourself. All of you stay away from this coven.
Leah whined, a high pitched and distressed noise. This, however, was what I had meant earlier. It was the finalist and strictest of orders. Not even she could deny the commands echoing through our mental field. The bodies of my pack mates relaxed, and Leah whimpered, I will protect us, Jacob, but try not to die.
I didn't have any intention of dying, but I still had to make sure things were in order if I happened to fall to the vampires hands.
My distraction had not gone unnoticed by the war machine. He blitzed forward so fast I very, very narrowly managed to get out of the way. I felt his cold fingers brush the ends of my shoulder fur. Him actually being in contact with me made my mind flare with hostility. I snapped my jaws closed around his hand before he could escape me and tried to break it right off.
A snarl of his own was emitted. Rather than jerk his hand away, he wrapped his free arm around my neck. A second later his impossibly sharp teeth tore my tough flesh so perfectly it was as if he had struck me with a blade.
My body stiffened and I winced. The horrible venom pulsed into my body for the first time ever. Imagine getting your tetanus shot for a moment. You know how they have to go kind of slow, so you can feel the liquid as it is pushed deeper and deeper into your body tissue? It was like that, just ten times more liquid, and burning like a hot coal against bare skin.
Still holding onto his wrist, I dropped to my side and did a barrel role, effectively crushing him into the ground and tearing his hand off in one fast motion. He hissed in shock and stumbled to his feet, backing away a little bit. I spat the body part out and lurched forward.
To my surprise, but not total shock, he sprang to meet the attack rather than try to avoid it. We collided mid-air, and my superior body weight sent him tumbling backwards. His back cracked the ground as we slammed into the ground.
I yelped in shock when I felt a second squirt of venom entering my blood stream. He had known we would land this way. He wanted me to be above him, because it gave him easier access to my neck, which his jaws were now deeply clamped into. I felt his hand starting to collapse my windpipe with the force of his grip.
My survival instinct kicked in just then. I shoved my massive paw against his throat and literally ripped his mouth off of me. A piece of my flesh was torn off along with it, but I ignored the lance of pain that jolted my throat. The throat that was about to my crushed. I panicked and did the only thing I knew to do- remove the weapon from his arsenal.
The tip of my long muzzle was able to grip his elbow. I broke my teeth through his skin and violently jerked my head to the side. His flesh whined like splintering steel as I popped his arm right out of the shoulder joint. The fingers that were ripped into my throat instantly relaxed after they were detached from the body. I quickly backed away from the vampire, throwing the limb as far away from us as I possibly could.
Two shots of his venom were starting to drag me down. I could feel my muscles slowly tightening and my head began to feel heavy. I had to shake cloudiness out of my vision to stay focused. The rest of the pack members' desperately wanted to join the fight. I could literally feel their bodies protesting the edict that was forcing them to remain where they stood. I would feel their need to fight it and help their alpha.
Just knowing that they would be here for me if I had allowed it seemed to lend me strength. When the one-armed, no-hand creature attacked again I was ready for him. He dove right into me and did snap at my front leg. However, he didn't get the chance to apply that third, lethal bite. I reared back out of his attack zone and clamped my jaw around his calf.
An image of horror flashed through Paul's mind. A memory he had shared with Jared and Sam that none of the rest of us had seen before. Jared was holding onto the vampire's leg the same way I was, and the lightening-quick fighter had snapped at Jared before he even saw the movement.
Jared's scar. This was the same situation in which Jared had earned his scar.
Fuck!
Too late to let go and retreat the exact same thing happened. My vision registered the white blur as Jasper twirled around. I did not repeat my lost brother's mistake and let go. I knew I was going to die either way now. I wanted to at least cause Jasper a world of pain before that happened. The very same moment that his teeth connected with my muzzle, I bit down on his leg with all the force my powerful jaws could muster.
To my supreme surprise, my enemy let go of me first. Yes, his venom was injected, but it didn't quite feel like as much as the first two bites had been.
I heard his entire leg simply shatter with the pressure of my attack, and his scream bounced off the mountains and thrummed dramatically in my ears. Glass-like pieces of the harder-than-diamond substance clattered at my feet and the helpless vampire hastily backed away from me.
I couldn't help but slump onto my stomach as my knees gave out under me. Iron was again filling my veins, but this time it was not aggression causing the heaviness to weight me down. The venom was spreading through my system, paralyzing me. It was becoming difficult to breath and blink at the same time, forget stand up and dispatch the leech once and for all.
My ears were buzzing. My sight was foggy. My body felt like it was cemented to the ground.
Jasper rolled onto his remaining knee, his hands clenched tightly and his knuckled propped onto the ground. Even kneeling, he had a superior position to mine- higher ground. His shadow fell over me and a deep, menacing snarl rattled out of him.
I failed her. I was going to die. Bella's spirit was probably watching me right now and sighing in disappointment. I was weak. I wasn't good enough. This beast, this horrible monster, was going to get away with murdering her and nobody would ever make him pay for that unforgivable crime.
It was over for me.
He bared his teeth and rocked his weight onto his remaining leg. He was going to use all his power to push forward on it and pin me so he could deliver the fourth and final bite. I didn't need to be him to know that was his plan. It was what any logical fighter would do. It was what was easiest.
At that exact same instant; the fraction of a second where I had no more will to fight and no possible escape; that something which had never before happened, happened.
The bonds tying Leah's paws where she stood snapped. Edict or no edict, Leah had instincts of her own. Just like my very being was forcing me to fight for my lost love, the deepest and strongest parts of Leah's heart were forcing her to react in my time of greatest need.
She, too, was an alpha. She was born to fight and protect every member of the pack, including me. I was her imprintee. She was not physically capable of standing by and doing nothing while I was in danger.
I had suddenly been bounced to the other side of the spectrum, and it felt weird to be the one in need for a change.
I saw the course of Jasper's action change. The weight that he had set for a straightforward catapult turned sharply and his fierce black eyes locked onto Leah. He had been hardwired since his new birth to take out the strongest before the weakest.
He was going to fight Leah. He would hurt her. He would kill her.
A reserve of back-up energy ripped out of my core, flooding my body like the warm rays of sunlight wash over the cold sand at the beach. Every grain of my body was lit aflame with new vigor. I had lost Jared to this man. I had lost Bella to this man. Perhaps I'd lose my own life, too. I absolutely refused to let him take out Leah.
Jasper sprang in her direction. I pushed myself onto my paws and launched off the ground, soaring through the air. My jaws gripped this vampire's throat for the second and last time as I bit down and severed the neck.
Leah skidded to a halt. Silence settled in all around us. Victory.
I felt glory, and strength, and superiority welling inside of my chest. My muzzle curled into a perfect circle as I tossed my head into the sky and released a powerful howl. You could not possibly understand how proud I felt when the rest of the pack joined in with the chorus. It radiated for so long I was positive all of La Push could hear us.
The rest of the pack was free now. The order had been an if I died order. I was clearly alive. We needed to burn the pieced before the others could put him together again. The terms were death. He deserved to go up in smoke.
Embry perked as he listened to my thoughts. The beta organized for me as I sat down to recover some muscle movement.
Embry decided, Seth, find some timber. Quil, collect the pieces. I think I see a flint over there. The cords we used to tie our clothes to our ankles were made out of steel wire. We could strike the rock against that. It was a good idea.
2.0 had sunk to her knees on the ground. She was staring at the dismembered body in shock. Really, it looked like she had actually gone into shock. The little female was at her side hugging her, and Edward had his eyes cast down. They were smart enough to honor Jasper's dying agreement. They were not going to fight and risk another "life."
The pack clustered around me a short time later. Leah and Seth dropped dried leaves and sticks on top of the pile of the body. Leah then retreated, followed by Seth.
Embry unphased and set the steel cord over the pile. He set the rock on the top of the strip, ready to strike the flame. Paul was hulking behind him, glaring aggressively over his back like a bodyguard while Embry was in his human body.
My eyes met those terrible red ones for a brief instant. 2.0 looked… heart broken. Lost, and confused, and empty. She was empty. She had no soul to fill her anymore. She was nothing anymore.
I turned away and coldly ordered Embry, Burn it.
As I began to retreat, I heard 2.0's agonized shriek shatter the silent air and echo through the canopy of the trees. It rang dramatically in my ears as memories flashed through my mind like lightning. I started to fall apart. My pieces started to hurtle down an endless hole, and I had nothing but air to stand upon.
Oh, God, Bella was in pain! I had caused that pain. I had knowingly hurt her, and-
Jacob. Leah's stern voice interrupted my guilt trip, and I looked up at her. She padded forward, tenderly nudging my muzzle with her own. You avenged her. You did the right thing.
My heart beat violently against my rib cage as I peered deep into Leah's eyes. I whimpered, and she licked my cheek before pressing her shoulder against my own supportively.
She promised me solemnly, I know how badly it hurts. I'm sorry.
Bella had become the glue holding me together. Being her everything was my everything. It was all that I could have ever wanted to do, to make her happy. I had failed her. I had not protected her from him, from herself. I knew that, and it did hurt.
Only Bella could have been the stitches for me that would have clamped shut the bleeding gash on my heart, but I couldn't have stitches. Maybe, just maybe, a band-aid would be able to do the trick.
And as I jogged towards my home, my alpha female in perfect synchronization with me, I suddenly felt like the endless hole had a bottom that I crashed into. My broken pieces shattered, but that was okay. It was okay because I had someone who could fix me. I had someone who would put me back together again.
I had a ray of sun poking over the bleak, indigo horizon.