The Alpha Female

JacobxBella

Rated M

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

Author's Note: This chapter gets a little…gory, I guess…towards the ending. All I can say is that you have been warned. I hope you like this chapter regardless and stay tuned for the next one. I swear, I'm close to wrapping this story up. Love, SehunsBae37.

The Alpha Female

Chapter 34

Jacob had been up the entire night making preparations for the fight against the redhead, making sure each and every person of his Pack were ready for battle, as well as any tactic and evasive maneuver the leech and her accomplice would make. He didn't rest until he had made as many preparations as possible, but he also wasn't stupid enough to believe they would all work. The redhead was sneaky and relentless and could easily see or break through his plans and defenses he put in place. Already it was dawn and he and the Pack were wrapping up. As he stood staring at the sunrise, a sudden thought came to him. He wondered when exactly Victoria would strike today. She hadn't said when specifically in her note when she had thrown that head into the window, just that it would be today. And if he was honest, he didn't want to wait for her to make her move. He'd rather bring her out and to him immediately than to wait. But how could he get her and her partner out?

A sudden thought came to him and he ran off in hopes to find someone of his Pack that wasn't too busy. As he ran, he was relieved to see Quil taking a break leaning against a tree. Walking up to him he said, "Quil, I have a job for you."

Quil looked at him and nodded slowly before saying, "Okay, but it won't take long, will it? I want to go and see Claire before we go into battle."

"It won't take long, I promise. I need you to leave some sort of note or something at the Cullen house for the redhead. Let her know that Cullen is dead and who did it. She'll realize she had no one else to rely on except her accomplice and that will be slim, even for her. Not only that, it will drive her right to us, and we'll be ready."

Nodding, Quil agreed and took off for the Cullen mansion, ready to do as his friend asked. As soon as he was gone, Jacob turned to look back at the sunrise, seeing that it was about six-thirty in the morning. He supposed he had a bit of time left before things went to shit. Deciding to go and see Bella, he took off his shorts and attached them to the black band on his leg before phasing into his wolf form. He took off running through the woods towards Forks, coming across Seth and Leah as he did, beckoning them to follow him to the Swan household. It wasn't long before the three of them reached the Swan house and Jacob phased back to human.

Putting his shorts back on, he turned to Seth and Leah and said, "I need you guys to act as guards for Bella while she's here. Keep her safe and keep any enemies away. I can't risk her safety or that of our baby's."

Seth nodded his large wolf head, while Leah looked off to the side before letting out a huff. Jacob could tell them that, and they would do it, but it wouldn't stop Bella if she decided to leave and head off into the fray with the rest of them. And she also wasn't sure if she could stop her if she did. Bella, like Jacob, was stupidly stubborn and would risk her own life to save those that she cared about if one let her. Seth looked at his sister, having heard her thoughts before looking back at Jacob. He had the same thoughts running through his head about Bella, but he'd try and keep her safe and away from the fighting as much as possible.

Jacob nodded and climbed the tree to Bella's bedroom window. Peering inside, he saw Bella lying on her side, her back to the window. Quietly opening the window, he snuck inside and walked over to her still form, believing her to still be awake. However, he was slightly startled when Bella's soft voice said, "Hi Jake."

"Hey honey," Jacob replied, moving to lay on her bed with her. Wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close, one hand resting on her pregnant stomach, he asked, "How long have you been awake?"

"All night." Bella sighed and placed her hand on top of his. "I couldn't sleep because I've been worried about today."

Kissing her head softly Jacob reassured, "There's nothing to worry about, Bells. We've got this and everything will turn out alright."

Bella turned around to face Jacob, her face lined with worry and her beautiful eyes filled with concern. "Jacob, someone could die today. They could die and it would be all my fault. And I hate that I have to sit on the sidelines and do nothing while the rest of you are out there risking your lives for me, all the while knowing it is possible that you will walk away with some casualties, if Victoria doesn't kill you all first. Jake, this is my fault and my fight; I should be out there helping you all."

Jacob shook his head, holding Bella close and shushing her, her worked up emotions affecting him as well. He could understand her feelings, he really could, but he couldn't allow her to put not only herself, but their baby in danger. That had already happened once when she had fought Cullen and won, but he couldn't allow it to happen a second time and wouldn't. Holding her as tight to him without crushing her, he began speaking again.

"I know you want to help, Bells. I know you want to fight Victoria and end this chapter in your life, but you can't. You must think about the baby and its safety first. I know it's not fair to you, but you must stay here. And trust me when I say that we'll be alright; everything will be alright."

Bella so wanted to believe Jacob, so wanted to be reassured by his reassurance, but she couldn't. She had had a sense of foreboding for the past two hours and she couldn't get rid of it, no matter how much she willed herself to. She didn't know what the foreboding feeling was, but she just knew it wasn't good. Sighing, she snuggled closer into Jacob's embrace, seeking some form of comfort to help drive away the awful feeling. It didn't work, but she felt safe in his arms regardless, felt calm, even when she knew she couldn't be with what would occur later.

Closing her eyes, the exhaustion she hadn't felt the entire night before finally catching up with her, Bella pressed herself closer to Jacob and murmured before finally falling asleep, "Please be careful, please come back to me."

Jacob held Bella closer, being mindful not to wake her as he listened to her breathing even out. Pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead, he whispered, "I will, honey. I promise to come back."

Carefully dislodging himself from Bella, he quietly got up from her bed and went back to the window, silently slipping back out of it and dropping to the ground. Walking back into the woods, he phased back to his wolf form and looked at Leah and Seth where they were standing on guard. He communicated to them to be sharp and watch out for Bella before taking off back for the Reservation. It wouldn't be long now; the red-haired leech would be coming soon, and he needed to be ready.

Victoria walked up to the Cullen mansion, Riley following behind her as she did. Reaching the door, she knocked on it before calling out, "Edward, let's go! It's time to get our revenge!"

She waited for a moment, only to be met with no answer or even Edward opening the door. Frowning, she knocked again and called out the other vampire's name, only to be met with the same response. She looked at Riley who was frowning, him then saying, "I don't hear him inside."

"He's probably just ignoring us. He knows his pathetic human's life is coming to an end today." With that thought in mind, Victoria turned the doorknob and forced the door open, making her way inside.

Looking around, she had to admit the house was indeed nice, even without all the things in it that would have made it grand when the other Cullens had been present. Walking through the home she called out for Edward, attempting to feel him out but coming up short? Where was that melodramatic vampire? She began to head up the stairs when Riley suddenly called out, "Vicky."

Turning, she saw Riley standing at the bottom of the stairs, a piece of paper held in his hand. Going back down, she reached the bottom and met the other vampire, taking the piece of paper from him. She looked at it, realizing it was a note and that it was addressed to her, as if the person that wrote it knew she would end up here. She began reading the short note, her temper instantly flaring and her teeth gritting, a snarl erupting from her throat.

Red,

Cullen is dead, killed by Bella herself. You have no one else to help you.

Your time has run out. We're waiting for you leech, don't keep us waiting.

It was signed with a drawn paw print, but it was obvious who the note was from. Crumpling the note in her hand, Victoria let out a feral scream before running out of the Cullen mansion, ignoring Riley's call of her name as he ran after her. She ignored him, intent on reaching those wretched, dirty mutts and ending them once and for all. Not only them, but she would end their so-called Alpha Female once and for all. And then finally, finally, she would have her revenge for James.

Sam looked up from where he had been in silent meditation, his wolf ears twitching at the sound that was reaching them. The sound was that of running footsteps approaching fast. Turning to the large russet wolf in the middle of the clearing they were in, Sam said to him, "She got your message."

The Alpha wolf nodded and looked at the rest of the Pack that was with him; Jared, Quil, Embry, Paul, and Sam of course. They were small in number—only six of them really—but it should still be enough to take on two vampires. As he listened to the footsteps of the leech and her partner get closer, he said to his Pack, "This is it, you guys. Today we fight to defend our lands and protect our loved ones. We fight for our Alpha Female and end the terror that this redhead has been to not only her, but to us as well."

The Pack all howled in response right as Victoria and Riley stepped out into the clearing. Red eyes glared hate at the Pack before the red-haired vampire let out a shriek and charged towards them, leaping in the air as she did, intent on coming down on one of the wolves' head. Jared growled and met her halfway, slamming into her and knocking her back. Jacob let out a growl and stomped his giant paw before he and the others ran at the two vampires, Jared, Paul, and Jacob going to Victoria while Embry, Quil, and Sam went for the other one.

The clearing was filled with growls, snarls, and snapping, the sounds making the nearby wildlife quickly retreat from that area of the woods. The fighting was intense, the wolves all taking hits from the two vampires, though they were giving back as good as they were getting. Riley, however, was beginning to get to be a bit overwhelmed. Everywhere he turned, a large muzzle full of sharp teeth was in his face trying to take a bite out of him. Fur moving around in a blur was all his quick eyes could see. Damn it, he knew the wolves were fast, but not this fast! He turned his head to try and catch Victoria's attention, only to see her dancing around the three wolves that were after her, a sadistic grin on her face as if she was enjoying it.

Unfortunately for him, his momentary lapse in attention caused Sam to reach out and clamp his large jaws onto his arm, ripping it off without hesitation. Riley let out a cry, not believing what had just happened as he watched the black wolf toss his arm aside like it was trash. This wasn't good, he was going to get killed at this rate, and it didn't seem like the wolves after him were going to let up any time soon. He had to do something, to turn the tables in his and Victoria's favor. His red eyes looked past the black wolf and over to Victoria, watching as she dodged a dark silver wolf before slamming into the short brown-haired wolf with dark grey around the eyes. As that wolf yelped while flying back, a sudden idea came to him.

Smirking, Riley turned and ran as if to leave the clearing, the three wolves fighting him following him. Faking them out, he ran up a tree and flipped over them, landing on his feet and turning to run towards Victoria and the other wolves. Reaching them, he used his remaining arm to swing it at Paul, punching him as he did. As Paul rolled away, he yelled, "This is your fault! You betrayed Victoria and are making us suffer. Well, you will also suffer Paul! You'll die for this!"

Embry and Quil, having turned around quicker to catch Riley, leapt on him and tackled him to the ground, using their large teeth to rip him apart, ignoring his cries for Victoria to help him. Paul, having recovered from Riley's blow, stood up and looked at Jacob as Jacob spoke to him, telling him that the leech was wrong about him. Feeling reassured for the moment, Paul went to turn his attention back to Victoria, only to feel something hard jam into him, a pained yelp escaping him.

Jacob, Sam, Jared, Embry, and Quil all stiffened as they felt what Paul felt, their eyes wide as they couldn't believe what they were witnessing. Paul stood stiffly, his back turned to them, a pale bloody fist sticking out of it. Not having control over his body, Paul phased back into his human form as he stared at Victoria with wide eyes as she sneered at him. Blood splatter was all over her face as her red eyes looked over his, an amused smile appearing on her face as the dog coughed, blood spilling from his mouth while a hand grabbed onto her arm that was piercing through his chest. Opening her fist that was sticking out of his back, her hand having pierced him all the way, she waggled her fingers for a minute before slowly pulling her arm back towards her, her hand retreating into his body. Paul used his other hand to grab her arm, a grunt escaping him as he felt cold fingers wrap around his pounding heart.

In a hiss, Victoria said, "You deserve this. You, me, and they all know it. You're just like me, lower than dirt that will do anything for my own gain. Unlike you though, I'm not weak."

With that, she clenched her fist, crushing Paul's heart in her fist. As Paul let out a painful, blood-gurgling cry, his knees giving out beneath him, the air was suddenly pierced by a faint howl followed by another one, those howls belonging to Seth and Leah. Like them, they had seen what had happened, had felt it like they were. Having had enough of the horrifying scene in front of him, Jacob snarled and howled before charging Victoria, intent on killing her as she threw Paul away. This bitch was a dead woman, once and for all.

Bella shot up in bed, gasping for breath as she grabbed at her chest, frantically looking around her room. Her dream, it had felt so real! She had dreamt that Victoria had killed Paul, had shoved her hand right through his chest. But that couldn't have been real, it couldn't have happened. It was just her nerves about the fight that had her dreaming like that, that was all.

Getting out of bed, she grabbed Jacob's sweatshirt and pulled it on over her head, covering her tank top and shorts that she had slept in. She was about to head out of her room when a loud howl pierced the air, followed by another one. Eyes wide, she quickly put her feet in her shoes and jumped out of her window, landing on her feet and running into the woods. There she found Seth and Leah, both wolves lying on the ground and seeming to be grieving. Running up to them she asked worriedly, "What is it? What's wrong?"

Leah shook her large wolf head, obviously not being able to speak. When Bella turned her attention towards Seth, the young Shifter phased back to his human form, his eyes spilling tears down his face. In a broken voice he said, "She killed him, Bella."

"Who?" Bella feared the answer she was about to get, and yet she had a feeling she already knew.

Seth took a shuddering breath before saying through a sob, "Paul."

The brunette stood frozen for a moment, her mouth hanging open in disbelief. Her dream had come true; Victoria had killed Paul. She could feel tears burning behind her eyes and a lump of emotion growing in her throat. Closing her eyes, Bella took a deep breath, willing herself to stay calm all the while feeling anger growing inside of her. She knew she should have been there to help Jacob; she fucking knew it. Now Paul was dead and Jacob and the others were still out there fighting Victoria. What if Sam or Embry or Quil or Jared or even Jacob were next?

Not on my watch, Bella thought to herself. Like hell she was going to allow another death to happen, not when she had the chance to stop it. Feeling her Alpha Female transformation take over her, she opened her now yellow eyes and looked at Leah and Seth. Determination on her face, Bella said, "I'm going to end this fight once and for all, so don't try to stop me. Paul's death won't be for nothing."

Not giving a damn what they thought or what they had to say in response, Bella took off running towards where the fight was happening. Victoria had gone too far now, and the Pack needed her help. It was time for the Alpha Female to step up and play her hand, and Bella was planning to play for keeps.