Here With Me

Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to SM.

A/N-thank you for the kind reviews!

Chapter Twenty Five-Stand Off

"Jacob, Jake." Seven voices chorused in his head.

Jacob couldn't answer them. He had been transported into a world full of pain. He was disorientated, confused. It was like his brain and his body was being pulled in two different directions. His mind was screaming for Bella, but all he got was the same cacophony of voices going around in his head like some crazy merry go round.

Somehow he had been slammed right back into his wolf form and he didn't understand why. He wasn't allowed to phase-not while his body was trying to heal from serious injury. But somehow it had happened anyway. The bones that had just been knitting together were broken again. He couldn't move, it was difficult to breathe. He didn't understand anything.

He didn't have to tell the pack he was injured-they could see and feel his confusion. He didn't have to tell them he was half past crazy, either. The sickness in his head was obvious.

"Jacob! Jacob!"

That voice wasn't in his head. He recognised it as Bella's.

Jacob tried to lift his head but it wouldn't co-operate. A faint whimper slipped through his partially open jaw as he tried to breathe. It was almost dark-the clouds covered the sunset completely. He risked trying to move his head again and finally managed to lift it from the cold hard ground.

Now he could see. Bella was crouched in front of him, her brown eyes wide and staring. She was afraid but doing her best to hide it. He exhaled painfully as he concentrated his gaze on her beautiful face, doing his best to examine her facial expressions to see which Bella this was. By the minute changes in her face he could tell that this wasn't his girl, it was the other Bella. Bitter disappointment flooded through him and his head fell listlessly back onto the ground.

"Jacob, I know you're frightened." Bella whispered hoarsely. She gently placed one hand on the sensitive spot between his ears. "I think your fear set this off. I didn't explain things very well. I am so sorry."

Her voice was heavy with regret. Jacob's mind was racing as he tried to remember his last interaction with this Bella. They had been in the Taj, sitting in the Rabbit, just talking at first, before their discussion got rather heated. That had been the catalyst which pushed him back into the other universe where he was reunited with his Bella. But now he was back in his own world, in his own time, but while he was gone something must have happened to catapult his body into its wolf form-it must have been his counterpart from the other universe.

"I'm so sorry." Bella apologised again. She was stroking him between the ears now. "I never expected this to happen. I'm as scared as you." She admitted. "All I'm doing is causing trouble here. I want to go home just like you."

Jacob's mind was still spinning. He did his best to block his brothers out. He had become adept at it over time. It was horrible having others poking around in your head. He had learned long ago to create a safe space in his mind which only he had access to. It gave him a semblance of privacy when he was running with his brothers. He went to that safe space now. It looked rather like the Taj.

"How can I help you?" Bella asked worriedly. "Can you change back? Do you even know how? God, you must be so freaked out, Jacob! I've been freaked out since I got here. I was trying my best to keep the other Jacob from seeing it-I wasn't going to appear weak in front of him." She finished angrily.

So, this Bella thought she was talking to the younger Jacob, the one from her own world. The poor guy must be back in his own body again, holding hands with the girl he loved while they waited for a pissed off Charlie to free them from her room. This was all such a mess. He was desperate to get back to his Bella. Would she even know he'd switched bodies again?

"I wish you could talk." Bella said in despair. She shifted, kneeling close to him as she continued brushing her fingers through the soft fur between his ears.

While she continued to ramble, Jacob tried to figure out where he was. With some difficulty he managed to move his head again so he could get a better look at his surroundings. They seemed to be in some sort of clearing, probably left by loggers. It couldn't be too far from his house because Bella was with him. She must have followed the younger Jacob when he accidentally phased before he collapsed in this spot. It was by sheer luck she hadn't been hurt herself.

His brothers were still babbling away, trying to get his attention. It was total chaos with everyone shouting at once. He let out an irritated growl, startling Bella and making her sit back on her haunches.

"Did I hurt you?" She asked worriedly.

Jacob had to admire her pluck. The poor girl had been through the wringer but she was still holding it together. Anyone else would have run off screaming when confronted by a giant wolf, but here she was recklessly kneeling next to one and trying to comfort it. She had this in common with his Bella-they were both good with weird.

"Jacob, answer me!" Sam's Alpha voice rattled his brain.

Immediately Jacob's hackles were sticking straight up, he was infuriated by Sam's tone. He began to growl ferociously, causing Bella to retreat further.

"Is it something I said?" She quipped shakily.

Jacob shook his head to clear it. Bella seemed to take this as a response to her joke. She came back, her hand reaching out and petting him like he was a small dog.

"You're quite a good looking wolf, just so you know." She murmured. "If I had a mirror I would show you. But I never carry one." Then her eyes lit up. "Oh, but I do have a cell. I can take a picture. Then you'll see."

Jacob watched Bella fumble around the pockets of her jacket. Was this girl for real? Either she was in a state of panic and she didn't really know what she was doing, or she was just attempting, in her own quirky way, to calm the Jacob from her world down by acting as if turning into a humongous fur ball was a normal occurrence.

The pack was drawing closer. The unfocused confusion of their thoughts began to merge inside his head.

"How can this be? What does it mean?"

"This is not safe. Not right."

"It's unnatural."

"We can't allow it to go on."

Jacob tried to understand the spiralling voices, tried to follow the curling pathway of the thoughts to see where they were leading, but it wasn't making much sense. They were reflecting some of his own confused thoughts back at him-which just increased the overall chaos.

"Protecting Bella Swan, again."

"Love is love!"

"We can't let his feelings influence us."

"The safety of our families, of everyone here, is more important than one human girl. She is no longer our concern."

"Fuck off, Sam!" Jacob snarled in response to the last voice which was clearly Uley's.

Sam finally appeared in his line of sight. He heard Bella squeal in surprise at the sudden appearance of more wolves. She cowered into his side and held her breath in fear. Sam was angry, he paced back and forth, Paul and Jared moved like shadows behind him, their ears flat against the sides of their head. They were agitated as they circled Jacob and Bella, snarling in low bursts.

"We must protect our families and protect the tribe." Sam commanded. "It is time for Bella Swan to leave our lands and return to the life she has chosen. She has outstayed her welcome here."

"No time to waste." Jared agreed.

"You can't just decide that while Jake's injured." Embry cautioned. His sympathy was palpable as it travelled right to Jacob's heart.

"Vampire girl made her choice." Paul insisted. "She needs to go."

"The decision has been made." Sam commanded. He deliberately used his Alpha voice to claim dominion over the pack.

"We're with you, Sam." Paul and Jared said in unison.

Jacob shook his head, his anger building up and up. Despite his devastating injuries, his rage toward Sam lit a fire under him. With superhuman effort he rose slowly to his feet, dragging his broken leg behind him. He felt unsteady-like the circling wolves were making him dizzy. Then suddenly he found Embry beside him, using his shoulder to help prop Jacob up. After a minute Quil appeared out of the shadows and did the same on the other side. His two wingmen had his back. They had defied Sam, despite his order, and had come to his defence. Jacob couldn't have been more proud of them.

He noticed that Bella had wisely retreated to the umbrella of trees for safety. She was astute enough to realise that something big was going down and had gotten out of the way so she wouldn't get caught up in the melee. She was such a clever girl and he admired her tenacity.

"Embry, Quil. Get back here." Sam demanded.

They remained like silent guardians by Jacob's side as they endured the force of his wrath.

"You would betray your own pack, your own brothers to defend a girl who is a danger to every human in the area. Remember the newborn vampires we fought? Wild, violent, beyond the reach of reason or restraint. We were lucky to escape with our lives. I will not risk it again. Bella Swan is a Cullen-or soon will be. She made her choice. The Cullens abide by the rules of the treaty by staying off our lands, then so must she."

"Bella isn't a Cullen. You have no right to order her off our lands. You can't just invoke the treaty and twist it to suit yourself." Jacob roared.

"I am Alpha." Sam growled. "For the last time-Quil, Embry, get back here where you belong."

There were no words, but the silence was full of meaning. Sam Uley had just issued an Alpha command and by rights they should have obeyed immediately, even if they didn't agree with it. But Jacob's wingmen remained solidly by his side.

"I said get back here." Sam ordered Quil and Embry as he doubled the timbre of his Alpha voice. "Is anyone else here ready to defy me?"

Jacob was hanging on by a thread. His legs were threatening to buckle under him. It was only by sheer willpower that he remained upright, along with the help of his two best friends. He was in no fit state to challenge Sam in a physical fight for the position of Alpha-and Uley knew it.

But then the standoff was broken in an unexpected manner. Seth Clearwater suddenly broke away from the main pack and trotted determinedly over to Jacob's side. There was a beat of surprised silence, followed by a vicious curse from Leah, before she grudgingly followed her brother's lead and joined Jacob on the other side of the clearing.

A/N-thanks for reading!