The Alpha Female

JacobxBella

Rated M

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or the franchise, as it belongs to Steph Meyers

The Alpha Female

Chapter 7

Bella shuffled anxiously as she watched Paul who was standing just ten feet from her, the Shifter giving her a look between a vicious smile and a glare. Leah was standing not far off, watching them as she was to referee their training match, per Bella's request. Jacob and Billy had left not too long ago, leaving her with the two Shifters. She was so nervous about this, not to say she didn't want to hand Paul's ass to him—because she did—but she was afraid of how much damage she was going to take, especially if she didn't convert into her Alpha Female form.

Leah looked between them before saying, "Let's make this fair, alright? Paul, no hitting above the waist. Bella, he's fair game to you."

"How is that fair?" Paul asked.

"Because I want to see her hit you where it hurts as many times as possible."

Paul gave the smirking girl an annoyed look before looking back at the brunette standing across from him. Bella swallowed before nodding a bit, saying in her head, I can do this…probably.

"Ready?" Leah asked, holding her arm up. When she got nods from both of them, she brought her arm down to signal the start of their training.

Bella's eyes widened at seeing Paul suddenly rush her, throwing his fist in a punch at her. Barely dodging, Bella ducked and tried to create space between her and the man on the offense on her. At one point he swung his leg underneath her, knocking her off of her feet and onto her side. Hissing Bella looked up at Paul who was smirking at her before beckoning her to stand back up. Stumbling a bit Bella stood back up before glancing at Leah, the female Shifter holding her arms up in a fighting stance, silently telling her to try and protect herself since Paul was being offensive rather than defensive. Following her example Bella did just that, watching Paul as he walked around her, making sure not to take her eyes off of his form.

Paul smirked at Bella before once again rushing her, throwing punches at her, the brunette dodging them, all the while quickly backing away from him as quickly as he advanced on her. At one particular lunge towards her, Bella moved out of the way and grabbed Paul's arm, turning her body and elbowing the Shifter twice, once in the throat and again in his stomach.

Leah laughed as Paul let out a choked sound followed by a groan, backing away from Bella as the brunette looked surprised that she had gotten him. After recovering Paul glared at her and growled out, "You're going to regret doing that."

"Paul, this isn't a real fight," Leah told him as a reminder. "It's just to help train her and work on her reflexes, to which we know aren't that good. But now they're bound to be, so give her a break. Besides, she'll help us kick leech ass in the future."

"Like I give a shit about that. I shouldn't even be here dealing with this, but if I'm supposed to be her opponent, then I'm going to enjoy myself."

Bella blinked as Paul began to attack her again, not at all relenting as he attacked her. Bella tried to block his hits, but he still got her each time. He was obviously paying no heed to Leah's 'no hitting above the waist' rule, and she knew there would be bruises on her body later. Paul knocked Bella down several times, but she stood back up each time, though she was beginning to lose her breath. Just as she stood back up again, she was knocked back down by the Shifter, only this time slapped in the face and to the ground.

Her head swam and her vision was fuzzy, a ringing in her ears as she hit the ground. She could vaguely hear Leah yelling at Paul about him hitting her in the face. Her face stung from the force of his slap and when she pressed her fingers against her face, she hissed in pain. How dare he actually slap her in her face? Infuriated Bella growled as her eyes locked on her hands, watching as he nails grew into claws, and for once she could feel her canines grow as well as her ears pointing off at the tip. Her cheekbones became more pronounced and she felt fur sprouting on the tips of her ears and on the edges of her face. She didn't need to look at herself to know her chocolate brown eyes had turned round and huge, as well as brighten to almost hazel.

Standing back up Bella turned and snarled at Paul, the sound attracting the attention of the pack members. Leah's eyes widened momentarily before she backed away. Paul looked at her before giving her a mocking look and asking, "Do you really think that's going to help you, leech lover?"

Bella made no effort to answer, only began stalking towards him. The moment she was up on him she threw her hand back and brought it across his face, her claws cutting into his flesh and drawing blood. Paul hissed in pain but had no time to recover due to Bella grabbing him by his neck and slamming him down on the ground on his back. She then yanked him back up and threw him right into the side of her truck, crushing the metal horribly. Growling she charged him, ready to attack him again when Paul kicked his leg up, his foot connecting with her chest and causing her to fly back away from him. Bella slid back next to Leah and looked back up in time to see Paul phase into his wolf form, the large animal growling and snarling at her.

Leah watched the two of them growl and snarl at each other, both of them seeming to take on some sort of feral attitude towards one another. Before her eyes the two of them charged at each other, Paul snapping at Bella as their bodies collided. She couldn't look away, watching how they fought each other and tumbled around on the ground, kicking up clumps of dirt. The more they fought, the dirtier they got. As she watched them Leah thought, This was supposed to just be a training match, not a fight to the death.

Bella dodged Paul as he lunged towards her, but wasn't quick enough to move out of the way when he suddenly turned and snapped at her again. His large wolf teeth clamped down on her left arm, causing her to yell out in pain. She began punching him in the side of his big furry head, knowing she was hurting him when he began to whimper through his growl, though he never relented on loosening his hold on her. With a feral screech she dug the claws of her free hand into his skin, then bit down on the junction of his neck. Paul let out a howl of pain, finally releasing Bella and backing away from her. Taking the opportunity Bella turned and roundhouse kicked Paul, causing his large wolf body to fly and crash once again into her truck, this time knocking the red wagon over onto its side, the sound of metal crunching and glass breaking.

Ignoring the blood running down her arm Bella walked over to where Paul lay on the other side of her truck and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, tightening her hold on him and causing him to whimper once again in pain. Getting right in his face she looked into his large brown eyes and hissed, "Relent." When Paul growled at her she kicked him right in his private area, causing him to howl again. With a snarl in her voice she once again demanded, "Relent!"

Paul stared at her for a moment before bowing his head, showing that he was indeed surrendering. Bella sighed and released Paul, climbing over her destroyed truck and walking back over to Leah. The moment she reached her, her legs suddenly gave out from underneath her and she collapsed against the she wolf, her wolfish features immediately disappearing. Leah caught Bella and noticed that she had fallen unconscious, while also appearing to be a bit pale; well, paler than she usually was. Noticing her left arm bleeding heavily, she picked her up and threw her over her shoulder before walking over to Paul. Seeing that he had phased back to his human form and was cupping his balls while cursing under his breath, she said, "I'm taking Bella to my mom to get her arm fixed up. Stop being a bitch and get up."

"She stomped on my dick!" Paul yelled at Leah.

"And you deserve it. She handed your ass to you on a silver platter and I'm never letting you live this down."

Leah said no more before carrying Bella to her car parked in front of the Black home and put her inside of it, then got in the driver's seat and headed towards her home. She hoped her mother would be able to help Bella as to avoid going to the hospital. They didn't need the Cullens griping at them again, telling them that they were too dangerous for Bella to be around; like they were ones to talk. Too bad for them now, though. Bella could protect herself and she didn't need her leech boyfriend and his family protecting her anymore.

Bella groaned a bit before slowly opening her eyes. As she did her eyes met familiar brown ones looking down at her. Blinking to clear her vision she said softly, "Jake."

"Hey Bells," Jacob said, a sweet smile on his face.

Looking around at her surroundings Bella asked, "Where am I?"

"In the Clearwater home, in Leah's room to be exact." His warm hand gently caressed her head before saying, "You've been unconscious for about three hours now."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Leah said you exhausted yourself in your match against Paul."

Remembering the supposed training match against the hard headed member of the Pack, Bella tried to sit up but hissed in pain as she applied pressure on her left arm. Jacob gently grabbed her and helped her to sit up before carefully rubbing her arm, the limb covered in thick white bandages from the shoulder to the forearm. Looking at it she asked, "What happened?"

Jacob's face took on a murderous expression as he answered, "Paul bit down on your arm; Sue said he could have taken it off. He didn't break any bones, but he shouldn't have done that. Leah said you kicked his ass, but I'm going to give the fucker an ass beating into the next year."

"Jake," Bella said softly, her heartbeat quickening at hearing him declare that he'd hurt Paul for her, her inner Alpha Female crooning at her mate as he exerted some sort of dominance in response to his need to protect her. Lifting her right arm she placed her hand on his shoulder and said, "I'm alright, Jake. My arm will heal soon, though it will most likely be sore."

"I saw Sue change your bandages, Bella. Your arm is red and swollen where Paul clamped his jaws down on you. There will be horrible bruises while it's healing." Jake gripped his hair in frustration. "Damn it, I wish I had talked dad out of letting you do this, especially with Paul."

The brunette gently took his warm hand into her own and said, "Hey, it's alright. Sure, this whole thing isn't something either of us expected, but we're going to have to accept things as they are. I know I'm having the hardest time accepting everything, but I think I'll be able to do so wholly in time; just give me some time. Besides, if I'm really the Alpha Female, I need to get all the help I can get."

Jacob looked into her chocolate brown eyes before nodding asking, "So you're okay with this huge change in your life?"

"I'm going to have to be okay with it. But…but I think I can get used to it and…and I think I'll end up liking it in the end."

Grinning Jacob said, "Cool. Billy says the next person to help you will be Jared, but that's not until sometime later on when you've fully recovered. Sue told us your body was covered in bruises when she checked you to make sure Paul hadn't broken anything or done too much damage to you."

Bella sighed and said, "I wonder how I'm going to explain this to Charlie."

The Shifter fidgeted for a moment before saying, "Dad is going to talk to the Council about letting Charlie know everything. With you being his daughter and the Alpha Female now, it's only fair that he know what's really going on and not be kept in the dark anymore."

That was something she was honestly afraid of. How would Charlie react to finding out his best friend had been keeping major secrets from him? How his own daughter had been keeping major secrets from him? How was he going to take the news that she was dating a vampire, had been involved with them since moving to Forks? Or better, how she was chosen to be some sort of supernatural being herself? Charlie was sure to be upset—no, mad—about all of this and she already hated that she was keeping secrets and lying to him. She wasn't sure she would be able to face him once he found out the truth about everything.

A soft kiss to her forehead brought her out of her thoughts and caused her to gasp in surprise. Jacob smiled at her and held her hand as he said, "Don't worry, Bells. Everything will be alright, you'll see."

Bella smiled softly and nodded, allowing her best friend to wrap his strong arms around her in a hug, her snuggling into his embrace. There was silence for a moment before Jacob asked, "How the hell did you and Paul destroy your truck? It'll take me forever to fix it again."

Her giggles filled the air in the room, Jacob's own laughter joining in with her own.

Edward growled in frustration as he stood in Bella's room, his phone held up to his ear as he called her phone. Why wasn't his love answering her phone? He'd been trying to reach her for hours now and she had yet to pick up. Alice couldn't see her, so he knew she was with that wretched wolf Jacob Black. Giving Bella's phone another call, he waited impatiently for the girl to answer.

Finally the sound of the phone being answered reached his ears and he said in relief, "Bella! Thank goodness, you've finally answered, my love."

There was a moment of silence before a deep voice replied, "Cullen."

That was definitely not Bella. Recognizing the voice he said, "Billy Black. I would like to speak to Bella, please."

"She's not here."

"Where is she?"

"She's with my boy at the moment, spending time with her true mate."

True mate? What was the tribe chief talking about? Trying to keep calm Edward said, "I don't understand."

"Count your days with her Cullen, because they are limited. She's already told me your touch burns her and I've seen the burns on her skin. I understand you love her, but take heed to my words when I say this. She may have chosen you now, but it won't last and nothing you do will change that."

Billy hung up, instantly cutting off the connection. Edward stared down at the phone in his hand as his mind processed what Billy had said. No, that couldn't be right. Clenching his fist he hissed, "It's this curse upon her. It's that Quileute curse that has taken over her body."

Jumping out of her window he ran off back towards his home, hell bent on seeing Carlisle. He needed his sire to find a cure for Bella, to keep her from turning into whatever creature she was and keep her away from Jacob Black. And then once she was back to normal, they would be together forever.