Your Pain is My Pain

JacobxBella

Rated M

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

Your Pain is My Pain

Chapter 16

After her encounter with not only Laurent, but the giant wolves as well, Bella was still a bit shaken by it. She just could not believe such large creatures existed; they were so massive! When she had gotten home, she had rushed inside and told her father about the wolves, insisting that they weren't bears at all like the hikers were claiming. Harry Clearwater had been visiting when she had returned home, and she swore she saw something flicker in his eye when she spoke of the wolves, but that was probably just her imagination. After all, she was still pretty shaken up. Seeing his daughter's face and hearing the insistence in her voice, Charlie understood that she was telling the truth—not that he didn't believe her anyway—and said that he'd go hunting for them when things settled down at the station, and would take Deputy Mark and one other officer with him. Harry spoke up saying he'd join them as well, seeing as he knew the area well since he lived around it.

That had been hours ago that she had told Charlie that, and she was still in complete and utter disbelief. Sure, she was still shocked to know that Victoria was hunting her and that she had lit Laurent on fire, but the wolves took the cake for her. In her bedroom, she was lying on her back staring at the ceiling, still thinking about the encounter. It seemed so surreal, like something that should have been in a fairytale or something, and yet it had happened. When Laurent had run off, she had thought he was going to get away, but those wolves moved just as fast as he did, though more visible because of their large size. Those wolves had been amazing despite their terrifying size and intimidating presence. And yet, only one of them made her feel…safe.

The russet one, the reddish wolf. Of all the wolves that had stepped out into the meadow, that one was the only one that had paid her any attention, and yet it did not try to harm her or anything. There was something about its eyes that had drawn her in, too. They were just so familiar, like she knew them. And the wolf had looked at her like it knew her as well. Bella had this niggling feeling in the back of her mind, like she should know this. She felt like she should know something in concerns to the giant wolves. She really did, but she couldn't think about it anymore, as exhaustion was creeping up on her. Tiredness was upon her, and all Bella did was think herself to sleep.

She was dreaming, she knew she was. Her dream was filled with those giant wolves. She dreamt of all of them, but particularly the russet one and its knowing eyes. However, her dreams didn't focus on just those wolves. No, her dreams shifted several times as she slept, and yet she couldn't bring herself to wake up, her mind making her stay asleep, as if to show her something important. After the wolves and the knowing eyes, it shifted to ancient Native Americans that seemed to be warriors, warriors wearing wolf skin. The warriors seemed to be in battle with vampires, Cold Ones as they called them. It was all so strange, and yet she couldn't look away, or wake up. Another shift, and she was seeing the black wolf again, only this time, it was standing over her, just like the night when she had been found in the woods. She had thought she had been hallucinating from her grief, but what if it had been real and her dream was trying to tell her that? And finally, the giant wolf morphed and in its place stood a man.

Gasping, Bella sat up in bed, her heart racing in her chest as she panted, eyes wide as she looked around her dark room. That dream, it was lucid, and yet was so real. She was sure she had dreamt something important, or else it wouldn't have shifted like it had. Still awake, Bella laid back down in her bed, her eyes drifting to look out the window into the night sky. Her dream, she felt like it was telling her what Jacob wanted her to remember from the Quileute legends he told her. She needed to talk to him as soon as possible. She believed that she knew the answer now, the answer to why he hadn't been around. She remembered what Jacob wanted her to remember, and she was positive she was right.

The next day was Sunday, and once again, she was headed to La Push after breakfast. As she drove in her truck to the Reservation to see Jacob, she really hoped that she hadn't come to the wrong conclusion. After all, she was about to confront Jacob about the situation, no matter what. But she also had the feeling that she was going to be right regardless.

Pulling up in front of the Black home, Bella got out of her truck and hurried up the porch, ignoring the fact that she tripped up the steps. Knocking on the door, she waited for it to be answered, hoping that it would be answered. She saw no reason for Billy or Jacob to not be home right now, so someone had to come to the door. It wasn't long before she heard the door being unlocked and it opened, revealing Billy looking up at her.

"Bella, good morning," Billy greeted her with a smile, though he did have a look of surprise on his face.

"Hi Billy," Bella replied. "I'm here to see Jacob. I really need to talk to him; it's important."

Billy looked at her for a moment before saying, "Jacob can't talk to you right now, as he isn't home right now. I'm sure if you come back later, he'll be here to talk to you."

Bella knew he was lying to her face, though she didn't really care what the reason was. She had known Billy long enough to know when he was lying, and he was lying right now. Jacob was home, and damn it, she going to talk to him. Pushing past Billy in his chair as she entered the house, she apologized to him and ignored his call of her name as she walked down the hall to Jacob's bedroom. Opening the door, she found Jacob inside like she knew she would. However, he was currently asleep on his bed, the bed that he was way too big for now. He looked hilarious sleeping peacefully on the small bed, and yet he still seemed like the boyish Jacob she knew and not the man he looked like now. She couldn't help but smile softly at seeing him asleep and made to leave the room when something outside the window caught her eye.

Stepping out of the tree-line of the woods nearby, she saw Sam Uley and his gang of degenerates walking towards the Black house, all of them shirtless and dressed only in jean cut-off shorts and tennis shoes on their feet. Those assholes, they were the reason Jacob was in his current situation. And they thought they were going to come to his house and wake him up with their rowdy behavior? Not on her watch. Instantly angry on not only Jacob's behalf, but her own, Bella turned and stormed down the hallway, stomping outside to confront the four muscled-up boys.

Sam and the others stopped at the sight of the angry looking brunette stalking towards them, amusement filling Paul and Jared while Sam and Embry were curious as to what she was bound to say. Reaching them, Bella pushed against Sam's chest to shove him, though he didn't budge an inch as she shouted at him, though it did sound like a demand, "You leave Jacob alone, all of you! He didn't want this! He wanted no part of this, and I won't let you bother him anymore!"

She pushed against Sam again saying, "I know it's you! I know you're the reason Jacob can't see me anymore! What, people who join your gang can't be around their other friends anymore?!"

Bella then whirled on Embry, her chocolate brown eyes blazing as she looked at him. "And you! You're not a true friend to Jacob at all! Did you even know or care about how hurt Jake was when you abandoned him for this stupid group?! He felt like he had lost one of his good friends, and all because you wouldn't talk to him! If you were really his friend, you would have!"

Embry looked hurt by her accusations, though he couldn't help but feel she was right. Jared, who had been smiling in amusement, no longer was as he looked at the brunette whose pale face was now red with anger. As for Sam he was simply looked down at her and said, "Bella, it's not what you think this is. This is something bigger than what you know."

"Then tell me! I demand you tell me what's going on!"

Paul couldn't help it, he had to laugh. The feisty brunette thought she could really demand to be told what was going on and seeing her be angry on Black's behalf was hilarious. Bella, who looked at Paul as he laughed at her, glared at him before drawing her hand back and slapping it across his face, the smack resounding in the air and everything around them going quiet. Paul's look of shock soon turned to one of anger, and he looked at her with a downright murderous expression on his face.

Bella began to back away as Paul began to seethe, realizing that she probably shouldn't have done that. She wasn't the only to back away, as it seemed Sam, Jared, and Embry were all seemingly giving Paul a wide berth. Sam was telling Paul to calm down, almost commanding him to. Embry turned to Bella briefly saying, "Bella, get away now."

The apprehensive expression on Embry's face let her know that he was expecting something to happen, and it wasn't good. Bella continued to back away, though she did pick up the pace a bit. When she had backed up halfway to her truck, it happened. Paul seemed to explode right out of his clothes, and in his place stood a giant dark silver wolf. Horrified by what she had witnessed, Bella quickly turned and ran the rest of the way to her truck. Unfortunately, she could hear the sound of Paul's giant wolf paws running across the ground towards her, running after her to presumably get her for slapping him. Knowing she was essentially cornered with no where to go, she reached her truck and threw the door open, quickly reaching inside and her hand grabbing the metal baseball bat that she hadn't used since destroying Lauren's car. With a good grip on it, she quickly turned and swung the bat, hitting Paul right in his head with it.

The giant wolf let out a yelp of pain, though over the yelp she could hear her name being called. Looking past Paul, she saw Jacob running towards her, him having woken up from the commotion and jumped out of his bedroom window. Bella quickly ran past Paul towards Jacob, Paul having recovered and giving chase once again. Right before she reached Jacob, she tripped and fell to the ground, only for Jacob to jump over her and he too explode in an array of torn clothing. Landing in front of her, in Jacob's place stood the large russet wolf that she had encountered the day before.

Bella couldn't believe it. Jacob was the giant red wolf! Before she could think on it anymore, Paul lunged at Jacob, Jacob meeting him halfway and the two of them collided, fighting in a blur of fur, teeth, snarls, and growls. As they fought, Jacob was pushing Paul back towards the woods, obviously getting him not only away from Bella, but out of sight of other people. Sam looked exasperated and began going after them, but turned to Jared and Embry saying, "Take Bella to Emily's. We'll meet you all there."

As Sam disappeared into the woods with Jacob and Paul, Bella stood up from her place on the ground, still in complete shock about what she had seen. Despite this, she had heard what Sam had commanded for the remaining two boys to do. Glaring at them, she said, "I am not going to this Emily's place. Tell Jake to meet me in our spot when he's done kicking Paul's ass; he'll know where."

"Bella, wait a minute," Embry said, but she ignored him.

Bella picked up her baseball bat and walked back to her truck, putting the bat inside and getting in herself, cranking up the red beast and driving away from the Black home. She drove all the way to First Beach and parked her truck, getting out of it and walking onto the beach. Bella walked all the way to the old washed out log and sat on it, her head still reeling from all that had happened. She couldn't believe that Jacob could turn into a giant wolf! But all it did was confirm her suspicions, confirm what she already knew. Thirty minutes passed before Jacob finally showed up, his arrival silent but he did say her name to alert her to his presence. Turning to look at him, she saw him dressed in a pair of jeans, a T-shirt, and tennis shoes. He looked somewhat nervous, probably expecting her to freak out after what she had seen him do.

Standing up from her spot on the log, Bella walked over to him and stopped, looking up into his nervous face. She said nothing at first, but then finally asked, "So, you're a werewolf, huh?"

Jacob shrugged his shoulder slightly before saying, "Kind of, not really. We're more so wolf Shifters. I…I had hoped that you would figure it out first before finding out this way."

"But I had." At his surprised look, she continued speaking. "It's the reason why I showed up. I wanted to tell you that I finally figured out what you wanted me to remember, what I already knew."

"And you're…you're okay with this new change? You're okay with me being turning into a giant monster?" He knew she had been okay with the leeches—hell, she had dated one—but that didn't mean she'd be okay with him turning into a monster.

Tilting her head with a frown, Bella said, "You're not a monster, Jake. You're not a monster, and you never could be. You're still the same Jake you've always been, and that's never going to change."

Jacob looked at her for a moment before he smiled in relief. She could see that he really had been worried that she would think differently of him now, but she never could, even if she tried. Opening her arms to him, she smiled at him and waited for him to see that she was offering him comfort, just like he had done for her. And Jacob easily fell into her arms, towering over her more than before, but holding her closely in a hug, the two of them not saying anything as they held each other on the beach in their spot. And like Bella had been thinking while waiting, despite this new change in Jacob's, and by extension her life, nothing had changed between them, and it wasn't going to scare them away from one another.