Well, I have four chapters for you today! This is a super exciting update guys - this story has some serious stuff going on, Green Eyed Monster is about to get a bit romantic, Nightfall has finally been updated again and finally I added a new story titled Awfully Big Adventures which is the promised story of Adalyn, Embry's imprint, who is also mentioned in this chapter! So please take the time to read them all :) Anyway. Special thanks goes to my amazing beta Angel of the Night Watchers who got these all done so quickly! She's amazing, give her your love!
This is where everything goes crazy guys...there are only going to be 30 chapters in this story so it is coming to the end - just don't hate me for the cliffhanger!
Enjoy!
"Tell me again exactly what you saw." Jake said sternly, putting his hand on my leg to try and bring my focus away from Daniel, but I couldn't help myself. All I could remember was how guilty I had felt in my memory and how quickly he had gotten Jake so that he could hear my side of the story when I had woken up. His eyes were just as intense as my boyfriend's were now. Fuck, what had I done to that poor guy? Jake's hand squeezed lightly, distracting me from raking my mind to find exactly what he was trying to ask me for. I hit his hand, though I didn't move it as swore at him.
"Damnit, Jake, I already told you! I was falling off the cliff and having an inner-monologue and then I tried to save the baby...I knew! And I kept hearing a voice say 'I just love babies' like some creepy fucker in a thriller."
"So you know who pushed you?"
"Fucking hell, no! How many times do I have to say it? I know I was pushed, but I didn't actually contemplate over who'd pushed me. I know I was thinking about Renesmee and you and Sam and Dan and-" Jake let out a growl as his protective crouch by my bed grew more animalistic. I hit him in the shoulder, sick of being interrupted and misunderstood as I explained the same thing over and over again. "Fucking grow up and pay attention. This is more important than some stupid lovers spat, you two."
"Franki, sweetheart." Emily soft voice was completely opposite from everyone else's in the room and it instantly grabbed my attention. "Are you saying you were told that you were pregnant by someone else?"
Finally, someone was finally looking at the facts, I'd delivered! I nodded. "Yeah, I think so. Whoever it was that pushed me."
Apparently those were not the right words to say because everyone went into a silent frenzy of their own. Sam grabbed Jacob's arm and pulled him over to the corner, whispering pretty aggressively. Dan and Allen were giving each other eyes in some sort of silent conversation I'm sure I would have been able to follow along with once upon a time. Emily had taken to trying to get me to lay back down, even though her eyes kept darting back to her own husband, as if she knew that they were figuring something out that she wanted to be involved in.
Stupid fucking parents keeping things away from their kid. I felt like this must have been what it was like when you get the first 'Talk' as a kid. It's not like you didn't know what sex was before you got 'The Talk', or else they probably wouldn't have thought of mentioning it, but at the same time keeping the facts from us only makes everything worse.
Emily took the bowl from the side table and dipped a cloth into the cool water – this woman came prepared. She made sure to rest the cold cloth on my forehead and I was upset to see how effectively it was calming me down. I should have been more hopped up on adrenaline, but at the same time all my body wanted to do was shutdown from all the stress.
"It's normal to feel drowsy when you're pregnant," she whispered knowingly. "Babies take up a lot of energy and nutrients."
"I'm not tired." I argued lamely. I probably sounded really similar to how I sounded as a six year old who wanted to stay up until ten. She just smiled at me knowingly before gently shoving my shoulder into the mattress again. I could have fought her – with my oncoming wolfy strength I was a hell of a lot stronger than her, but for the reason I was exhausted and the reason it was Emily, I didn't really want to. To add to it, she looked really upset as she pushed down on the shoulder with Daniel's claw marks...like mother like daughter.
The whispering in the corner of the room stopped and I strained my neck to see that Sam and Jake were looking at each other fiercely - almost as if they were having a staring competition - before Sam walked to the stairs, whispered something to Dan, and left. Jake shook his head after him before he walked over to me, waiting for Emily to move aside.
"Franki," he said softly, no doubt still worried I was annoyed with him. It seemed we were always fighting about something to do with his late hours, my pregnancy woes, or my general lack of empathy towards him always trying to protect me from myself. "Me and Sam...we got to go talk to the Cullens, then we-"
"Wait, what?" I gasped, the very thought of him leaving terrifying me. "Shithead, I just told you that I was pushed by someone who has access to this very goddamn reservation and you want to leave me?"
"We're leaving to-to talk to them about all this." He looked back over his shoulder, making eye contact with Daniel who nodded. It was possibly the first eye contact I had seen them make that hadn't ended in snarls.
"Why did you stutter?"
"I didn't stutter." He said quickly, whipping his head back toward me. His 'deer in the headlights' expression left me suspicious.
"Yes, you did. What - why? Why are you leaving me?"
"Franki," he sighed, seeing as I worked myself up again. I felt my stomach drop as I started to panic. "Cubs," he tried again.
"No," I shook my head. He wasn't going to sweet talk me to forget about this. If he was going to leave after this revelation, he had better have a solid fucking excuse. "What do you know? Why are you going there?"
"I won't be gone long, I'm going to get Leah, Quil and Claire over here, okay?"
"Claire?" I asked someone squeakily. Claire would be level-headed about this whole ordeal, which was exactly what I needed right now. Jake nodded his head slowly, shushing me and smoothing out my hair. I hadn't even realized when he'd coaxed me back to lay on the pillow. I had realized he wasn't answering my question.
"Yeah. I'll go call her right now. I need you to get some rest for me, okay?"
"Jake, why won't you tell me what's going on?" I was almost teary-eyed. I was so frustrated and exhausted and terrified. I had been pushed off the cliff. Pushed. Someone had taken their hands and shoved me off of a cliff. Why would they have done that? Was it because I was a werewolf or because I was pregnant? Did it have anything to do with my boyfriend being Alpha or my Dad being the ex-Alpha, even my amazing gift with being able to ignore an Alpha command? Did it have anything to do with anything, or was I just the unfortunate fucker at the bottom of a Murder-two charge?
"I can't tell you what's going on because I don't know what's going on, baby." he whispered, kissing the top of my messy hair. "But as soon as I know, you will. Claire will be here in the meantime - you two figure everything out on your own."
"When will you be back?"
"I'll be back really soon and we'll figure everything out, okay?" He was being so calm right now. So like the Jacob I had wanted him to be for the past few weeks. He was strong and confident, there were no reservations about whether or not he was going to be sweet to me, even as I was freaking the fuck out and accusing him of leaving me alone again.
"Promise me," I ordered.
"I promise." He whispered. He leaned down quickly and kissed my forehead, then seeing my watery eyes he decided to be nice to me. In front of everyone, he bent down and kissed my belly, his eyes sparkling with something that I couldn't name. He came back up and whispered a quick "I love you," in my ear - smiling when I shivered. He kissed my lips this time – during which Allen gagged dramatically – before he got back up and whispered to he and Dan before Jake walked down the stairs. Daniel and Allen followed him without another word, even after Jake had hit Allen really hard in the shoulder.
I sighed as they left me upstairs with Emily, who had gone back to rubbing the damp cloth over my skin and talking to me in a quiet, wistful tone that made my eyes droop. She definitely knew how to calm me down, in an unfair way. I didn't need her guidance right now.
These werewolves were so clever, making me so exhausted and keeping my mother with me so that if I threw a tantrum I would be punished in a way someone werewolf or human couldn't ignore. If I had the energy I'd go and...fuck it, I was falling asleep too quickly to think of a decent threat.
"I just want you to be careful," Embry sighed, following me as I huffed away from him. He was being such a fucking asshole and before I chewed him out I wanted to be as far into the forest as I needed to be before people wouldn't question the screaming - or possibly find a buried body. "Vampires are dangerous – even the Cullens."
I couldn't help rolling my eyes at him; not only had I heard this rant a thousand fucking times, each time it meant mud because he was only doing it out of bitterness when somehow they had helped us. He was so...so...against different species. Specist. He was a fucking speciest. "If you don't stop bad mouthing Ness, I swear I'm going to punch you in the teeth. She's done nothing wrong – she isn't even venomous!"
"Not being venomous is not the same as not being a vampire, Cubs. She still wants to drink human blood – which kills humans. End of story."
"Technically no," I argued, whirling around to face him. I didn't want him to embarrass me again so I was going to make my stance clear, then I would go home and tell Jake that his best friend wasn't allowed to come over to the Cullens with me ever again. Then after that I'd go complain to Dad and make him give him a pep talk. If he still didn't get it, I'd go to Billy. Billy would put the ass in his place. "If she didn't drink the human dry she could totally get away with it because not having venom means they wouldn't turn all undead-y. So, you're wrong. She's not a bad guy, give the girl a fucking break. She's never anything but nice to your snarky ass."
"You haven't seen many vampires yet. You don't get what they're capable of." Embry hissed. "Renesmee's hand tricks and Bella's force fields are nothing in comparison to what some of the others can do. Trackers, hunters, they-"
"Yeah, I remember that bitch that could fly. She was a tricky one." I cringed just at the memory. It had taken weeks to track that bitch down and I had been relentless when I had finally gotten a hold of her ankle. She had ended up lifting me up a few feet off the ground trying to fly away, but even vampires weren't strong enough to carry the full weight of a full grown shifter for long, smallest or not.
"Naw, there are worse ones. Some of them have powers that are way too dangerous for us to discredit. So maybe you should stop discrediting them." He acknowledged darkly and I couldn't help but sigh, turning towards him with a little more sympathy to my glare.
"Is this about Adalyn?"
"Fuck, Francine, don't start with me-" he hissed and almost doubled over as if the sound of her name hurt him. He started off towards the side and I frowned. It was amazing how quickly you could ruin a man who had lost his imprint. I hadn't meant to be cruel, but I wasn't about to back down from my point.
"Then lay off of Ness; bloodsucker or not, she's been there for me just as much as the rest of you boys."
Embry's mouth dropped. "That's not true!"
"Okay, maybe she hasn't been around that much, but I only have so many girls to call my own, Em! I mean, being stuck with a whole bunch of you egotistical asses day in and day out gets to be a little too much for Leah and I to handle. I'd rather have to tackle Hunters."
"Stop labeling them like that. Vampires are vampires, there aren't categories for them." He had never liked how I labeled vampires, but Ness and I had grown up talking about the different types. Trackers tracked people. Hunters hunted for a reason besides the taste of blood. Rippers hunted families and groups of people because they were bloodthirsty. Then there were the regular Psychos who hunted and left some sort of message behind them.
"Well, aren't there categories for us?" I liked playing devil's advocate enough as it was, but if Embry was so bent on insulting one of my best friends, I was more than ready to go into monologues to argue him. "I mean, Jake's the big boss, Dad's the uptight supervisor, you're the disgruntled asshole..."
"And you're the reckless baby that does nothing but complain. Vampires are vampires, end of story. Don't trust any of them; not Renesmee, not Carlisle, not Bella-"
"Oh," I sneered darkly, looking over at him with angry eyes. She had been more of a bitch to me today than she normally was, even as I was standing up for her daughter. "I'll never trust that bitch. I'll never go nearBella."
"Good decision," he mumbled, also thinking about how she had acted back at their old house. I couldn't help but think about our mutual urges to rip one another apart. I felt a tingle of excitement slither down my spine, asking me to phase and run after her. I suppressed the urge.
"It is." I agreed lightly, looking back in the direction we had left her. "For now."
I woke up slowly, groggily to see the room around me. It was late...or perhaps it was so early that it was still dark out. I looked around my familiar, dark bedroom to see that Quil was perched in the corner of the room, looking at me levelly. His arms were crossed over his chest and he looked more serious than I'd seen him since I came home from my fall off the cliffs.
"Hey," I croaked quietly, by the sound of my voice I could tell I had been asleep for a long time.
"Hey," he mumbled back, looking towards where the stairs were briefly. "Emily, Claire and Leah are downstairs."
"Where's my alarm clock?" I asked, looking to where it should have been on top of the dresser a good eight feet from our bed. We had to keep it farther away or else we'd just destroy that one like all the others before it just because it tried to keep us from sleeping in. "What time is it?"
"Early," he said simply. Not much of a help, but at least now I knew it was closer to daybreak than the sunset that had already passed. I frowned when I realized how long I must have been asleep.
"What's Jake been saying?"
Quil looked out the window quickly, before I heard him loudly sigh. "He hasn't said anything."
"Oh. Well, what'd the bloodsuckers say?" Quil shrugged. I caught on to what he was saying. My eyes narrowed and a cocked my head to the side, trying to ignore the feeling of being punched in the chest. "He hasn't come back, has he?"
"No." He rasped. I closed my eyes and nodded slowly.
"And he hasn't called either." It was not a question.
"No."
Fuck. How long had I been out? Is that why they'd moved my alarm clock, so that I wouldn't know how long my boyfriend had actually been gone? It was a smart decision - sure, sure - but that they had been so careful to make sure I couldn't count the hours made me even more nervous. How long had I been asleep? Had I slept the full day away? I couldn't remember what time it had been when Jake had last been here. Had I slept two days?
"What about Sam?"
"Half the pack is out, Cubs." Half the pack. Six wolves were out looking – two of the others were in my house. So where were the other four? Quil must have read my mind. "Brady, Allen, Seth and Jared are going over to the Cullens' to get the low-down."
"'Kay," I whispered, mostly just to assure myself. I felt completely lost, just because I didn't know where Jacob was. I couldn't have put the feeling into words, but something was wrong. He had promised me – he had promised me that he would come back and check on me, that he would check in so that I would know he hadn't been eaten by that golden-eyed bitch and he would tell me exactly what was happening.
No matter how awkward things had gotten between the two of us, no matter how serious it is - whatever 'it' may be - I could never imagine that Jake would break a promise he had made to me. It wasn't in his character, he was way too obsessed with me for that. It was both a great and horrible catch to the imprinting, that you had no control over how stupidly, mushily in love you were.
I shook my head at my own thoughts. No, this was not normal for him. This wasn't like my Jake, he would have come back to tell me he was okay and to make sure that I hadn't killed my keepers. Even at the worst of my house arrest he had been overprotective and sure to stop in and make sure that I would be there to check on the next day. And for all I had known at that time he hadn't wanted me to be there the next day - but he checked on me without doubt. He always made sure that I knew he was okay and he knew I was okay. It was how we were. It was who we are.
No. This was wrong.
I whipped myself out of bed so quickly that I barely had time to notice I was in a sports bra and shorts – there was a moment where I recognized I should feel embarrassed in front of Quil, but I remembered he'd probably seen me shift and naked a shit-ton of times. I threw on a hoodie just to be polite to him and the people downstairs before I walked past him.
He was quick to call my name and follow me, but I ignored him.
"No word at all?" I demanded, making sure that I was getting the full story. Emily stopped wiping down my rusted stovetop, Leah looked up from a cup of coffee she was nursing at the table and Claire stopped banging her heels into my cupboards, though she didn't jump off the countertop she was perched on.
"Franki, you're awake-"
"Don't sugar-fuck it, just give it to me straight. No one has heard anything from them?" I asked desperately, looking from each woman to test her reaction. Claire looked like she was waiting for me to explode, Leah looked like she was ready to tie me and gag me, whereas Emily looked stoic - that worried me.
"It could mean anything, Cubs." Leah waved her hand dismissively. "They could still be at the Cullens."
"Then why are Brady, Allen, Seth and Jared going over there? Why are there more wolves out in the forest?" I accused. Leah shot an annoyed glare towards Quil who stood behind me nervously. Maybe I wasn't even supposed to know the tiny bit that I had been told.
"Sorry, I didn't know you wanted me to lie..."
"Of course we wanted you to lie, moron." Leah sneered back to him. I wanted to punch her in the face for trying to keep something so important from me, but instead I just narrowed my eyes accusingly at her.
"Have we called the vamps? Have we done any pre-emptive check-ups?"
"Yes. They said that the boys had left hours ago and that they should have been coming back here." Claire finally explained. She looked at me honestly. I should have known that she wouldn't lie to me – and everyone else should have known better to bring her here if they expected me to stay in the dark.
"And they haven't heard anything?" I asked again.
"No one has." Leah rolled her eyes, as if she was sick of repeating herself.
"And no one else feels the need to fucking panic?" I asked, knowing I sounded somewhat hysterical. I was sure that when Jake saw this through Quil or Leah's mind he'd call me a spaz, but I couldn't help myself. There was a feeling deep down in my gut that told me something was wrong. It was so low down in my gut it couldn't be ignored. It was like a pull, or an instinct all its own.
"We shouldn't panic, sweetheart." Emily told me soothingly. It did not soothe the pains running through my body.
"Practically the whole pack is out there, we'll find them. It's fine." Leah waved dismissively yet again. I was ready to snap her wrist, wait until it healed, then snap it again.
"No one can hear them in their wolf? No one can find their scent? No one has seen head or hide from them and you think that that is just fine? Well, Leah, it's not fucking fine. You know, you think you're so fucking hard shelled, but I can promise you that if anything happens to these guys you will feel like shit and if you don't feel like shit – even if only one hair on their fucking heads are hurt – I will hit you so hard that I will turnyou into shit!"
"Francine!" Emily scolded. I turned on her.
"And why the fuck aren't you worried? Your goddamn husband is out there!"
"I never said I wasn't worried. I said that we shouldn't panic." She whispered. "It'll be okay Franki, but we shouldn't-"
"Why not? Why shouldn't we panic? Our lives are out there and you guys think it's fine to just sit on your asses to play watchdogs for me? Well, fuck you very much for the effort, but I'm out." I hissed, throwing my hands up in surrender as I turned on my heel to walk out of the kitchen. I was blocked by a body - but not one I wouldn't mind hurting because it was in the way.
"Cubs, we were specifically told to keep you here." Quil stepped forward slightly as if to show dominance. I sneered at him and pushed his shoulder slightly, showing him that I still had a bit of the strength I wasn't supposed to and I was not afraid to use it against him.
"Right, as if you could stop me." They probably could physically, but they would not outsmart me. I was desperate. "A scared wolf is the most desperate animal and can do anything – isn't there an expression about that?"
Leah rolled her eyes, but my mother was much more sympathetic towards my cause. "Franki, for your safety we need you to stay here."
"What about Jake's safety?" I shrieked, pointing out the window as if I knew where he was.
"Jake is not a werewoman that's close to phasing even though she's pregnant!" Leah yelled back at me, slamming her hand on my table. The wood under her fist groaned angrily.
"You're not going to stop me from looking for my boyfriend, Leah!" I bellowed, loving how she stood up to go nose to nose with me. She was three or four inches taller than me but the burning in my eyes was much stronger than hers. I was fighting for something besides stubbornness and commands.
"You have two wolves and two protective family members here, Franki. Think about this." Claire, of course, was the voice of reason and possibly the only one that stood a chance arguing with me. I glared Leah down for a bit longer before she smirked.
"Listen to your cousin. She's right." She mumbled, sitting back down in the chair slowly, as if ready to pounce up and punch me if she had to.
"You're not the one I'm worried about leaving alone." I hissed at Leah. I looked to Claire and tried to make her understand the emotion. "What would you do if it were Quil out there? What would you do if you felt like something was wrong? You'd go. I have this feeling in my gut, it's like dread but it's worse. It's like the pull you get when you first see your imprint - only negative. It's like I'm never going to see him again if I don't go now. It's like instead of him holding me to the earth because gravity won't, this dread is trying to pry him away from me because it knows that I'm not out looking for him. I need to find him, Claire."
"Franki," she frowned, her eyes starting to tear up.
"I'm going to find him."
"Not right now you aren't," Quil mumbled before grabbing me around my stomach and flipping me over his shoulder. He didn't falter in his step as he started walking out of the kitchen. Claire hot on his heels as I screamed at him.
"Put me down you overgrown beagle! I swear I will go wolf and tear your ass to shreds!" When threatening didn't work, "I am pregnant you idiot! You can't just grab me and throw me over your shoulder, what if your shoulder hits my stomach wrong? Put me down! Put me - holy fuck you're so stupid!" When that excuse didn't work, I went for guilt. "Jacob is your best friend! He's going to be your best man and you're not going to let me go find him? What kind of friend are you?"
By that point Quil had made it up to my attic-bedroom and was happy to dump me on my bed with a hard expression on his face.
"Jake is my best friend. That's why I offered to take care of his psychotic imprint no matter what happened today. And out of my friendship for him, even though I want to storm out of the house, I'm going to stay here and do what I said I would; because I'm his best friend. Because you're the love of his life and he never wants anything to happen to you or the baby. Now stop being a bitch and lay the fuck down."
Slightly shocked by him being so serious, but still very angry at the dick, I climbed under my blankets and crossed my arms as I sat up in my bed, glaring at him. He went back to his seat across the room, but this time Claire was with him. She looked at me worriedly, but was first sure to whisper encouraging things in his ear. Things that I should be whispering to my boyfriend because he should have been protecting me from my flip-out with Leah – but he was not here. He was not here like he had promised me he would be.
How could they not understand my point of view? No one knew where two wolves - who could telepathically communicate with each other - were after they left a coven of vampires and they wouldn't let me follow my gut to find him. It was almost like they didn't believe my gut could possibly be right. I mean, holy shit, we're horse-sized beasts that rip apart immortal vampires and they think it's unlikely that something like a pull in my gut might be right?
After everything we've lived through how can they doubt anything like that? Seriously.
Another pain ripped at my insides, I hissed against it – this one was not worry so much as more of my stomach pains. I didn't accept it when Quil and Claire came forward to help, my glare warned them to stay away and luckily they seemed to understand that I meant it. I stayed and didn't move against it, not until the pain fully went away even though the dread didn't follow behind it. The dread stayed and thickened.
Claire kept sending me nervous glances, knowing her she was probably worried that I was going to be angry with her forever. She should have known better, but I understood. My tantrum was worse than it normally was but I wasn't about to apologize for it. I wouldn't deny that I was disgusted that no one had taken any more action to finding out where the pack Alphas were. Not even just the Alphas...Sam and Jake. These boys, and Leah, had been thick as thieves for longer than I'd been alive.
Why the fuck was I the only one panicking?
Was I really the only one who had this gut-wrenching dread? This dread that was so deeply rooted that I felt like I wanted to be sick and run and cry and scream and fight and crawl into our bed and pretend he was there all at once?
I stood up from the bed. Thanks to the lack of alarm clock on the dresser half-way across the room. I had no idea how long the three of us had been waiting there for something we all knew we wouldn't be getting any time soon. I had already screamed and fought, I may as well try all the steps of this dread to see when it would finally let up. Next was getting sick.
"Get back in bed," Quil demanded, his tone still harsh from our fight.
"I have to get to the toilet." I said mechanically. He pointed to the bathroom to the side of the bed, but I kept headed toward the stairs and he took a few steps forward.
"No, just get back in bed." I raised my eyebrows at his obliviousness.
"I'm pregnant," I muttered bitterly. "I'll let you pick which you prefer between puking or pissing, but either way I need to get to the toilet for it."
He grimaced lightly and I went downstairs to the bathroom there. Not that I had something against Quil and Claire besides our fight, but I didn't want anyone to hear me getting sick and a bottle of water to take with me was exactly what I needed to keep myself going. Leah was not pleased to see me back in the kitchen, but I tried not to acknowledge her as I opened the fridge, grabbed an unopened bottle of water, and left for the bathroom off of the living room.
Quil had followed me down the stairs suspiciously and seemed surprised when I crossed by him to actually go where I said I would. I closed the door as I normally would, but it still sounded like I slammed thanks to how quiet the house was in the early hours of the morning. I could just see the dusted reds and oranges of the morning light peeking through the clouds that would later gray the sky before the all stress I had been feeling caught up with me and found itself in the toilet bowl.
I threw up a couple more times and when the feeling didn't quit, I turned on the shower to steam up the room. The warmth made me feel a lot more calm, though it made it harder to breathe. It just reminded me of the mugginess Jake sometimes caused when he was in the room. It also helped because the sound drowned out the few stray sniffles I let go and the hisses from stomach pains. I'd been moving too much since I'd woken up . Quil throwing me over his shoulder probably didn't help.
How could I go search for him when I was being held captive by two wolves and two overprotective family members? They would never let me go considering how I was supposed to be on bed rest, my stomach pains were only getting worse, and on top of it all no one knew where to start looking for them. They could have been halfway to Mexico for all we knew.
I looked back out the window to the clouded day that was dawning. It would be another typical day in the Olympic Peninsula – chilled by rain.
The idea struck me quickly, looking out the window that was keeping the steam so well confined to this room. It had been luck that I had needed the water, but it had gotten me onto the ground floor of the house...I had never actually done it but I somehow knew that I could climb out that window.
I pressed my ear to the door of the bathroom, listening for all four temporary house-guests. It took a while before I heard Claire's voice.
"Leave her in there. She needs to be alone and she's obviously sick. You heard her."
"Are all pregnant women that bad?" Quil asked.
"If you're talking about the vomit, it's different for everyone." Emily's voice sounded quietly. "She's very upset, it's going to act up because of it."
"She's just a drama queen." Leah's voice sneered.
"You're just jealous of her."
"Fuck you, Beagle." I tried not to smirk too much that I had unintentionally given Quil a new nickname, but I had gotten the information I needed from the conversation. All four of them were still in the house, none of them were even contemplating that I would be ridiculous enough to go out the small window.
But to ease this feeling in my gut? Of course I was that ridiculous.
I didn't open the window at first. Knowing those wolves, if the steam suddenly drained out of the bathroom and the smell changed, they'd know something was up. I'd have to slip out fast and close the window behind me – all being pretty much completely silent. Which I could do...I hoped.
The window was two feet by three feet – I could sneak out, it'd just be difficult to close it behind me and land quietly because it was still a good seven feet off the ground. I'd have to do everything fast. I looked at the door, seeing that the knob was locked before I took a deep breath and quietly opened the window. I climbed up over the bathtub and scrambled to do this as quickly as I could. I twisted and went out backwards so that I could close the window behind me but just as I got out I felt myself slip. My foot made a quick sound against the siding of the house and I winced. I didn't know how loud that would have been to their wolfy ears from inside the house, but something told me that if they heard it I did not have a lot of time to get away.
Hanging in a dangerous fucking way from the window, I used what arm strength I still had stored away to close the window and still hang on with my left hand. It hurt the tendons in my shoulder and underarm, but when I finally dropped to the ground I wasn't automatically grabbed by any angry family or pack members, so I figured that was good.
Had it really been that fucking simple?
I gave the finger to the female wolf inside, remembering that I would have to brag about how I had been able to get away from two wolves before I moved to the woods and entered it quietly. I wanted to run across any of the wolves and see what they had to say to me. See if they had any updated news or if they would take me with them. I could ride on one of their backs...okay, realistically I couldn't since I was supposed to be on bed rest, but I was determined to make something work so that I could be included.
I wasn't going to play the damsel in a fucking tower. I was going to get out there and find my imprint and make sure he was okay. Then I'd find my father and send him back to Emily. Then we'd all come back and rub it in Leah's face, since she was being such a bitch about it. Emily would cook us all a huge meal and then they would explain everything to us. It wasn't that difficult.
I shivered slightly as a wind hit me through the trees. I should have thought about what I was wearing before I snuck out, but if I had gone to get clothes I would have given myself away. Besides the breeze, I didn't feel cool in the sweater I'd thrown over my shorts and sports bra, but I was slightly regretting not wearing shoes. I knew that my feet were used to it from being a wolf, but it had been a long time since I had walked on them like this and I could tell they would get sore fast.
I had no idea where to start looking for the wolves. I had hoped they would just find me - speaking of which, I had a terrible feeling that Leah and Quil would soon be busting in the door to the bathroom, thinking I'd tried to do myself in or something. I wouldn't have a lot of time. I started walking in large circles, trying to throw off my scent for them, hoping that if I circled around enough they wouldn't be able to tell where I had started and began and which circle and extra little extra path I had taken.
And in that right, I shouldn't have been so fucking surprised when I got myself lost. Now I was really hoping that the wolves would find me, even if it was Quil because at least then I could be like "ha, I escaped!" and brag over the fact that the only reason they caught me was because I couldn't shape shift into a giant animal at the moment.
But as I was about to start panicking over that, the dread in my gut started hitting me with punches. It was like something within me knew that I was starting to give up - it was a reminder of what I was looking for. I was looking for my Jacob. I couldn't go back now, he needed to be found and if he wasn't going to show up on his own then I was going to hunt him down, human or not.
I had traveled in too many circles and over too many side paths, I knew that because somehow in all my wandering I had reached somewhere I was able to smell the sea. My body started to stiffen when I started to recognize where my gut had lead me - the beginning of this all. The beginning of all these troubles...
I was on the cliffs.
I broke through the forest slowly, looking left and right, looking for any signs of the pack. When I didn't see any of them, I was sure to walk slowly and check behind me every few seconds. I felt guilty, like the wolves were watching me and judging me because I had escaped from them, but I couldn't focus on it. The dread in my gut was only growing as I neared the edge of the cliff. I felt ill, I felt like my entire world were falling away from me. And then, as if Renesmee had implanted the thought in my head, I had a horrible image enter my brain. An image of Jacob's mangled body hanging off the rock at the bottom of the cliffs and dragging limply in the water, his blood soaking the rock - the fifty - half way down where he would have hit his head...
"Oh my God," I whispered, rushing forward. I fell to my knees at the edge of the cliff, holding on tightly as I stuck my head over the side, not even able to prepare myself for what I knew was at the bottom of the cliff.
Blood, beautiful russet skin, dark, blank eyes...
But as I stared, I saw nothing there. It was like I was looking at myself though. It was like I was seeing something that was there, even though I saw nothing there. I could see myself down there - it was like I was looking into a picture that faded as reason started overriding it all.
My whole gut fell. It was like I had been led here for nothing - to see myself and realize that I was no farther ahead or behind in my search. But if he wasn't here, why was my stomach still rolling? Why did I feel like he should be here?
No, I was right. He was here. He had to be here. That had to be what this pull, this dread, in my gut meant. It was the only thing that made sense. So where the hell was he?
A low chuckle sounded from behind me. I gasped, as I spun around - but even as I spun I knew that the chuckle was all wrong. It wasn't warm and inviting, but instead it was cold and somehow I knew that it was cruel. It was sending shivers down my spine and making the dread in my gut so intense that I felt like I needed to vomit as my entire body stung from the stench.
By the time I realized what I had done, I was standing face to face with the monster...staring into the eyes of who I knew was here to kill me - smiling, blood red eyes that made my world flash.
I am a terrible human being, I know - but I adore my cliff hangers. So, what did you think? There are some big things that happened this chapter - give me your thoughts! To my fantastic reviewers of Chapter 25...
ForeverTeamEdward13: I hope you liked what I left you with, not that I gave you many answers - but you need not wait long! Thanks for your review
Angel of the Night Watchers: Thanks for everything - seriously, I never expected you to get them back to me tonight when I gave them all to you; I am super impressed! I'm so glad that everything is going well with you and I thank you again for offering your shoulder for my troubles. You're wonderful and I send you all my love :)
Debbie: Ha, I'm glad I got such a response out of you. I can't imagine what response this chapter may have gotten - please let me know. Thank you for reviewing!
bster: I'm glad that you can relate - well, not really, because she's not going through the best time in the world - but I'm glad that you can find something realistic in all of the mythological context. Thank you for reviewing!
Sugar-Ice: I promise that Jake didn't push her, but you're about to find out who did! Thank you for reviewing, as always :)
starfield121: Don't worry, I will never just abandon a story like that! Thank you for the compliments, I really hope I lived up to them with this chapter!
EclipseLover97: I hope that you liked this chapter - I promise everything will be explained in the next one, along with a ton of drama!
kallie2915: Thank you so much for that beautiful review! Reviews like yours make my day, I hope that I lived up to everything you said with this last installment.
PrincessK16: That's a lot of reading in one day, I'm impressed! Thank you for your review
taydortot: One of your favourites? I'm honoured! And don't worry, her memories will be coming back very, very soon - the next chapter will explain all!
nene82743: Thank you very much!
Happy2BeeMe: Thank you for your thoughts. Of course she was pushed! She's not the type of person to jump, don't you think? Anyway, the Nessie and Bella parts will all be explained and very soon - better look out for the next chapter!
ally0212: Renesmee's role will be explained very soon. Franki goes by Young instead of Ulley because they didn't want anyone to really understand that she was Sam's daughter if people started asking questions. Back when he was nervous over whether or not he would be able to stop phasing (hence start to age) he did it in case people began to ask questions later. They also did it so that she would be a little safer if people realized that the Alpha was Sam and came after her...I explained a little in earlier chapters, but that was where my mind was going with it all :)
for ever jacob: don't go crazy, just keep reading ;) Hope you enjoyed, thank you for reviewing!
mimi777: Haha, well, I promise you'll find out exactly who pushed her...you just didn't this chapter. That is a very good theory you have there - I guess you'll have to wait until the next update to find out whether or not you were correct. What do you think after what you just read? And don't worry, I'm also anti-Bella/pro-anybody else. And if you want to know what's going on with Embry's story - you should read the new story I just put out. It's his and Adalyn's :) Thanks for your thoughts!
011: I'm glad you like it, thank you for reviewing!
Well, hopefully you all enjoyed that chapter. Please tell me your thoughts - please REVIEW, they are inspiring!
-Egypt