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 13

Angela stared at Bella's face in horror the next day after school and asked, "Bella, are you alright?"

Bella looked up from the notes Angela had copied for her from the classes she missed and answered, "Yes, I'm fine." Realizing why she had asked she told her, "It's not as bad as it looks."

"You're right; it's worse," Jessica said from where she was sitting in the rocking chair.

"Jessica!" Angela admonished. Looking back at the other brunette she asked, "What happened? You didn't look like this yesterday?"

Bella knew she was going to be asked about this as her burns healed on her face. Knowing she had to lie she said, "I uh, had an accident in the kitchen yesterday. You guys already know I've got two left feet, so tripping in the kitchen towards the stove and a pan full of hot grease…yeah."

Jessica hissed and said, "Ouch! Does your mouth still hurt?"

"No, believe it or not." And it was true, she didn't feel any more pain. She found her pain tolerance had risen when this new supernatural part of her emerged, but she only ever felt true physical pain whenever she was touched by a vampire. And the only vampire to have touched her consistently was Edward, and each time he had burned her skin. She was happy though that there were no marks from where he had burned her on her body, so she knew her mouth would look normal again. She'd give it another day or two since her burns seemed to always disappear in that amount of days.

Angela frowned in concern and asked, "You don't think you damaged the nerves around your mouth, do you?"

"I doubt it. Anyway, thanks for bringing me today's notes and homework, guys. I really appreciate it."

"No problem, Bella," Jessica said. She then frowned and said, "Edward kept bothering us today asking if we've heard from you today. And he wouldn't stop staring at us during lunch, as if trying to persuade us with his eyes to contact you. I used to find him super hot, but now I just find him creepy. Not to mention he seems obsessive and he's obviously obsessed with you, which is so not cool."

Nodding in agreement Angela said, "Yes, I've always wondered if you were really alright being in a relationship with him. But you seemed happy, so I never said anything. But can I be honest?" At Bella's nod she continued. "I'm very in touch with my spiritual side and because of that, I feel a demonic aura coming off of Edward. Not just him, but his family as well. They're nice and all, but something about them just doesn't feel right. And when you got caught up in them, I was worried you were being corrupted. But you've obviously seen or realized something to make you break it off with him."

There was a moment of silence before Jessica snickered and said, "Really Angela? A demonic aura? That's rich. He's just creepy, that's it."

"Don't mock me, Jess. I know what I feel. That's why I'm glad Bella's no longer involved with him."

Bella said nothing as her friends went back and forth over what Angela had said. Hearing Angela, someone on the outside and not knowing anything about the supernatural, tell about how she really felt about the Cullens and being around them the few times she had made her really think. Angela believed them, or at least Edward, to have a demonic aura and she could tell there was something not quite human about them. And because of that she had been concerned about her being in their presence. It made her feel really bad that she had made her friend silently worry about her, along with Charlie, while all she had been able to do was devote all of her time, energy, and attention into Edward and his family. She didn't think she could be any more disgusted with herself. However her eyes had finally been open and she was finding herself again, something she was glad for despite it having to come in the form of her sprouting fur and claws.

When it was obvious the two girls were done bickering, Jessica turned to her and asked, "So now that Edward is kicked to the curb, what new man meat do you have now?"

"Jessica, Bella isn't like you going from guy to guy needing a rebound every week. And Bella isn't thinking about dating right now," Angela said. She then looked at Bella. "You aren't, right?"

Shaking her head Bella answered, "No, I don't think I'll be dating anyone new for a while. I've just been hanging out with my best friend. You could say he's helped me keep me from falling into another funk. To be honest he had to pull me out of the first one."

"'He'? It's a guy?"

"Yeah, he's my dad's friend's son. We've known each other since we were kids. He's real sweet and very understanding, and super patient because I know I was a handful a couple of months ago."

Jessica and Angela shared a look, neither of them saying anything in response to that. Clearing her throat a bit Jessica asked, "Well, when can we meet him? You make him sound like an angel."

Before Bella could answer there was a knock on her bedroom door followed by it opening and revealing none other than the young man they were talking about. Jacob looked at them all before saying, "Hi. Am I interrupting, Bella?"

"No, you're fine; come on in," Bella told him waving him inside. As he moved to sit next to Bella on her bed she said, "Jacob, these are my friends Angela and Jessica. Girls, this is my best friend Jacob."

"Hello," Jessica greeted flirtatiously, Bella's eye twitching and her mouth tightening a bit in response.

Angela smiled and said, "Nice to meet you, Jacob."

"Nice to meet you too," Jacob said with a kind smile. He had ignored Jessica's flirtatious greeting, having noticed her eyes light up the moment she laid her eyes on him. However it hadn't slipped his notice that Bella's lips had tightened in annoyance, nor did he miss her eye twitching. Seeing her display jealously over him, no matter how small it was, was the cutest thing ever. Turning to her he said, "I came over to see if you wanted to come to First Beach for a few hours. The Pa-uh, I mean the guys and I are going to be cliff-diving and I was wondering if you wanted to come as well."

"Cliff-diving?" Bella asked almost incredulously. "Jake, you remember what happened the last time I went cliff-diving. I nearly drowned doing it."

Ignoring Angela and Jessica's expressions of disbelief Jacob replied, "You did it during a tide and a storm, which was not smart on your part." Both of them knew they were deliberately not speaking about why she really had gone cliff-diving that day. Bella had confided in him that she had done it to hear the leech's voice since he seemed to only speak to her in her mind when she did anything reckless. It had hurt him to realize that she had practically used him for that reason, but they had been able to get past it, especially now that Bella was no longer dating the leech.

Giving her a smile he said, "I'll be with you this time, and the guys too. You'll be perfectly safe, I promise. You'll have nothing to worry about."

Bella thought about it for a minute before sighing and saying, "Alright, I'll go. Maybe it'll be fun this time."

"Trust me, it will. We're going to build a bonfire on the beach afterwards and have food and whatnot. You know, just have a bit of fun and spend quality time together as friends."

"Just give me time to find a bathing suit and put it on and I'll be ready."

Jacob nodded and stood up heading for the bedroom door. Before he left the room he turned to the other two girls in the room and invited them as well before leaving and closing the door behind him. The moment the door closed behind Jacob Jessica asked, "He said he was from the Reservation, right?"

Nodding Bella answered, "Yeah, La Push."

"Well if La Push breeds gods like him, and he's friends with said gods, then I'm definitely going. Do you have an extra bikini I can borrow?"

Bella rolled her eyes before nodding. She had more than enough bikinis courtesy of her mother, and she knew that she, Angela, and Jessica were all roughly the same size, though she was probably a bit smaller than they were. Looking at Angela she asked, "Are you going to come too, Ang?"

Angela seemed to think about it before nodding saying, "Sure, it sounds interesting. Is it okay if I borrow a bathing suit as well? I promise to wash and return it."

Before long Bella had found them all swimsuits to wear and they put them on, putting their clothes back on over them. Jessica was borrowing a red bikini that tied by string, Angela borrowed a more modest one that was blue and the top stopped just above her naval. And as for Bella, she chose her black one piece that fastened around her neck like a halter top. Once they put their clothes back on and were putting their shoes on, Jessica said to Bella, "Bella, that piece of man meat down there is totally into you. What's your feeling status for him?"

"He's my best friend, that's it," Bella responded.

"I call bullshit on that. You have to like him more than you claim or think you do."

Angela sighed and said, "Jessica, leave her alone. If Bella likes Jacob and doesn't want to tell us, then she doesn't have to. But like I said before, she's probably not interested in dating right now. Therefore we should just leave the topic alone."

Bella gave Angela a grateful smile before the three of them left her room and headed downstairs where Jacob was waiting. Pretty soon all four of them left the house, Bella locking up behind her, and piled into Jacob's Rabbit before heading for First Beach.

Bella couldn't believe how good of a time she was having with her friends. She, Angela, and Jessica had gotten a pretty warm welcome from the Pack (well, Paul sneered at her but otherwise said nothing) and they had been having a really good time. Jessica had immediately begun flirting with Jared, only to back off when he immediately said he had someone. She had then moved on to Quil who was more than happy to shower attention on her. As for Angela, she seemed to be smitten with Embry and he her, though Bella wondered how that would work when her friend was still dating Ben—at least to her knowledge she still was. They had been jumping off of and climbing the cliff for a good while and though Bella had yet to jump off the cliff herself, she was definitely having a lot of fun.

At the moment they were all standing at the top of the cliff deciding who would be the first to jump off this time around. While Paul and Quil were arguing about who had jumped first the last time and this and the third, Jacob and Bella were standing off by themselves talking quietly. Jacob looked at Bella's mouth and asked, "Are you alright after what happened last night? That leech didn't hurt you too bad, did he?"

"No, I'm alright," Bella replied with a smile, touched by his always present concern for her. "I'm just glad that Charlie has finally calmed down about it. He told me that when I was ready to talk about it all with him, he'd be ready to listen. Sometimes I don't believe I deserve to have him as a father. He's being so understanding of this whole thing considering how practical he is."

"I bet he wasn't as calm when dad filled him in on everything."

"No, he wasn't. I've never heard Charlie so angry before. But I'm glad Billy was there to help him understand and was patient with him about it. Speaking of Billy, has he talked to the Council yet? I know having Charlie know about vampires and the Pack now won't smooth over well with them. But it is my fault that he knows, though. Do you think I should be there with him when he delivers the news if he hasn't delivered it yet?"

Before Jacob could answer Leah suddenly spoke saying, "He's talking to them right now, actually. And just so you know, mom is fully supporting Charlie knowing about us and the Cold ones and you."

Remembering Old Quil's story about Anais and how the Council back then not only hated her, but murdered her as well, Bella couldn't help but ask, "What about them knowing about me? Will they stand for it when they didn't with the first Alpha Female?"

Jacob and Leah looked at each other, troubled expressions on their faces before Leah answered, "We don't know. But if they know what's good for these lands and our protection, they'll allow your presence."

"But if they are accepting of the Alpha Female, they may not like that it's you," Jacob told her.

"Why not?" Bella asked.

"Because of your involvement with Cullen."

"But I broke up with Edward. I don't associate with the Cullens anymore."

Leah nodded in understanding before saying, "That may be true, but the way the Council looks at it, it's your fault for them returning when they left last September and bringing so much other vampire activity to Forks and the surrounding areas. They believe if you had never gotten involved, none of what's happening would be happening."

Bella couldn't believe what she had heard. Everything that seemed to go wrong in their world of the supernatural always seemed to come back to her, back to the fact that she had been involved with Edward and his family. All she did was cause trouble for the people around her and she hated it, but she hoped now that she could help right some of her wrongs with being the Alpha Female now. She was already sick of Edward and was in the process of cutting off the rest of the Cullens—if only to keep her Alpha Female side in check when around them—so that had to be a start.

Jacob could see this information had somewhat upset Bella and he hated seeing her upset. Deciding to get her mind off of it he looked over to his brothers that still hadn't dove off of the cliff yet and called out, "Hey guys! Bella and I will jump first this time!"

"We will?" Bella asked, her attention immediately drawn to Jacob's comment.

"Yes, we will."

Taking her hand he pulled her over to the cliff and the two of them looked down at the water before looking at each other. Jacob tightened his grip on Bella's hand a bit without hurting it and asked, "Ready?"

The brunette looked up at him before looking down at the water again, saying uncertainly, "Uh, yeah."

"You've got this, Bella!" Jessica called encouragingly.

"Yeah, go Bella!" Quil, Seth, and Embry called out.

Jared gave her an encouraging smile and Paul actually gave her a nod, letting her know that despite his blatant dislike for her, he was giving her his support to jump off of the cliff. Sam and Leah, who were actually standing side by side, gave her small smiles before nodding, telling her to just go for it. Turning back to the cliff, Bella took a deep breath and said, "Yeah, I'm ready."

Jacob smiled and counted to three before the two of them jumped off of the cliff, dropping down into the salty water of the ocean. The two of them splashed down into the water, Jacob moving to grab hold of Bella under the water. Soon they resurfaced laughing, Jacob's arms wrapped around her waist and Bella's around his neck. Above them the Pack, Jessica, and Angela were cheering before Seth and Leah both dove off of the cliff as well. Soon everyone had jumped off and into the water, having fun swimming and splashing each other. After a while Sam announced that it was time to dry off and set up for the bonfire. Bella found it humorous that he said to 'dry off' knowing the water would just evaporate off of the Pack's skin while she, Jessica, and Angela would be the ones wrapped in towels and blankets. They all headed for the shore, Jacob putting Bella on his back as he swam towards shore, happy smiles on their faces.