I haven't realized how persistent Bella is until this week.
It starts on Tuesday, when she calls our house. Jacob isn't home, I don't want to talk to anyone, and Billy doesn't answer it. I know it's Bella, because Billy invested in caller ID for the phone. I don't think much of it, and besides, I have work, so I don't spend time at home worrying about it.
Wednesday is when she starts to get annoying. I get home from school around three thirty, and the phone is ringing. Four rolls around, and it rings again. Caller ID says it's Bella. Four thirty, she calls again. At this point, I have to go to work, so I don't know that she calls every half hour up to nine until I get home. Billy doesn't answer it, not even once. Jacob isn't home.
Thursday, she gives us a break. Which is good, too, since it was my day off, and if I would have had to endure another round of the phone game, I would have told her to fuck off. Jacob still isn't home.
Friday comes around, and I have hope that she's given up. Since Thursday passed without incident, I hurried off to work with a clear mind, worrying only about the shipment Tiffany wants me to put out and, you know, about my gang member brother. Thankfully, my shift lasts only from 3:30-7:00. On Fridays, Tiffany closes the store early.
"Rayna?" Tiffany says timidly, and her tone confuses me. Although I'm about to leave, I stop, and give her a questioning gaze.
"What's up?" I ask, shifting my weight from one foot to the other.
"How has Embry been acting in school?" Tiffany asks, her eyes full of concern. I notice the new worry lines she has on her face, and feel pity for the woman.
"He's quiet. He only hangs out with Paul Lahote and Jared Cameron, and Sam Uley." I bite my lip. "And, of course, Jacob now."
"I'm so worried about him," Tiffany murmurs, almost like she doesn't remember that I'm still here. "You can go now, sweetie. Thank you for all your help today."
"Of course, Mrs. Call." I nod, and walk out the door. The entire walk home, my mind is clouded with thoughts of Embry, and his mother, and the worried look on her face as she thought about her son.
I'm so deep in thought, that when I reach my house, I almost overlook the giant, rusty orange truck that's so familiar sitting in our driveway. I don't see Bella in it, and I start to hurry in the house to see if maybe, she had cornered Jacob inside. Although, I doubt he's home.
"Why?!" I hear someone shout in a rough voice, and then hear a loud crack that echoes throughout the air.
I look around, and see Jacob standing next to a broken tree, Bella a few steps behind him looking close to a breakdown.
Jacob starts jogging back towards the house, and Bella yells after him. "Back to Sam!"
He says something in reply, but I can't hear him. He looks pissed, and I remember what happened the last time I was around him when he was angry. I quickly hurry into the house, slamming the door behind me.
"Where's the fire?"
"Fuck," I gasp out at the unfamiliar voice, and look to see the entire fucking La Push gang standing around my living room.
"Rayna," Billy says warningly, a disapproving look on his face.
I scoff. "Oh, so now you're talking to me? Go to hell."
"That's no way to talk to an Elder." Sam Uley's voice whips out in an odd, demanding tone. It's almost as though he was trying to command me to do something.
"You're the ones invading my house, you steroid junkies, so why don't you all go fuck each other, since you're all so goddamn close?" I storm past them, slamming the door to my room shut. I hear one of them laugh, and then hear Sam immediately reprimand him.
"Get the fuck out of my house," I mutter, and let out a sound that eerily reminds me of a growl.
Their chatter increases after a brief pause, and soon I hear them laughing with Billy. It irritates me, and I shove my head under my pillow. Eventually, they leave, and I move out from under my pillow cautiously. A few minutes of silence pass, and with a sigh, I pull out my english homework.
After writing my eight vocabulary sentence, the phone rings. I stand up to get it, but instead hear Billy's gravely voice answer. I venture out quietly when I hear him say Charlie's name.
"I'm not sure exactly what happened, Charlie. They talked outside, then Bella left. Jacob didn't come back inside." Billy says, and after a short pause, speaks again. "Sam Uley is a great man. Very good with the kids down here."
I nearly scoff, but remain quiet.
"Maybe Jacob got tired of Bella stringing him along." Billy replies shortly, and my mouth drops open in shock.
I hear Charlie's voice increase over the phone, but can't make out any words. It drops back down, and Billy is quiet with a closed off expression on his face.
"You don't know your daughter as well as you think you do." Billy says curtly, and again Charlie's voice increases.
This time, there's a longer pause before Billy speaks again. "The boys won't be causing you any problems." Another pause. "You do that. Goodbye."
Billy hangs up the phone, and rubs a hand across his face. I notice how aged he looks, and how tired he is. I want to yell at him for putting this on Bella, I'm angry at him like Charlie is, but instead I retreat back into my room.
Honestly, Jacob has enough going on without having to deal with whatever Bella has gotten herself into.
Just like that, that one thought opens the floodgate of emotions I've been withholding. I've pushed the incident in the meadow out of my mind, but now, it's bleeding into my every thought. The man, thing, was a murderer, and shit, he wasn't human. I know that. He couldn't have been human, and I almost died.
I could have died.
His words float through my mind, the eery melodic tune passing through my ears once again. "No one will find your body- you'll simply go missing, like so many, many other humans."
He said humans, as though there were a clear distinction between what he was, and what we were.
An invisible hand clasps over my mouth, and equally ghostly ropes string themselves around my body. Adrenaline pierces through my heart, leaking into my veins, and I feel my ribs straining against the rope, struggling to inflate my lungs. My head is a carousel of fears spinning wildly out of control, faster and faster than the next, each one pushing my mind into blackness. I want to run, need to freeze. I don't know where I am, part of me can feel the imprint of the carpet against my body and cheek as I lay pressed against it, gasping for breath, whereas another part of me is gone, floating away into nothing.
One word wiggles from my memories, latching onto a piece of my subconscious until finally, it breaks free and lands behind my lips. My eyes fling open, and when I gasp for air, it springs out into the open.
"Vampire," I spit the word out, my sense coming back to me. Vampire. Cold ones. It all makes sense, and I was foolish to not see it before.
I release my arms from the grip my nails had on them, but don't leave the floor. I still lay on it, dizzy and trying to catch my breath.
Of course. I had believed in the legends all my life, but once it finally showed itself, I ignored all the signs. I ignored it, acted dumb. It was in front of me the whole time. I have been foolish.
But then..
A new wave of emotions wash over me; panic, fear, elation, and a sense of closure. How could I have been so blind? It all makes sense, all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place as I lay on my bedroom floor.
Growth spurt. Intense body heat. Protectors. Not a gang, but.. Brothers. A pack. A wolfpack. Werewolves.
My brother is a werewolf. And so is Sam Uley, Jared Cameron, Embry Call.. and Paul Lahote. The legends that I had thought were possible, are true. It's all true.
Billy kept this from me. He knew that I believed in them more than Jacob ever had, and yet he kept me in the dark. How could he do this to me? I had worried so much over nothing.
I don't know how long I lay there, curled up in a ball on my floor, mulling over everything in my head. By the time I realized I couldn't completely process my revelation in one night, it is pitch black outside, and Billy has gone to sleep. Jacob doesn't come home, of course he doesn't. He's too busy running around as a wolf with his friends. Protecting our tribe. Making Billy proud.
Eventually, I fall asleep on the floor, an ache in my chest eating away at my very being. I dream of wolves that night, a silver wolf darting back in forth of my line of vision, a large black wolf watching me ominously, and russet wolf staring with passionless eyes.
What wakes me up the next morning, is the loud pounding reverberating through the house. Blinking wearily, I shove myself off my uncomfortable position, wincing at the stiffness in my bones. I don't have to look in a mirror to know I had the carpet imprinted on my cheek and half my body.
I rub at my eyes, and sit on the edge of my bed. I'm still exhausted, but I can't sleep. Not when I'll dream of wolves and the world I live in now. Or, the world I'm now aware of.
The slam of Jacob's bedroom door makes me jump, and I quickly stumble to my door, whipping it open to see Bella staring in his room. She backs away, and quietly shuts the door. She doesn't notice me, since my room is one down from Jacob, and slowly walks back into our front room.
I follow cautiously, and wonder what she knows. She knew of the vampires, has she figured out our tribes secrets as well? It wouldn't be hard, since Jacob already told her everything she needed to know.
"Look," Bella's voice breaks the silence, puncturing my thoughts. "I'll be down at the beach for awhile. When he wakes up, tell him I'm waiting for him, okay?"
"Sure, sure," Billy agrees.
Bella nods, and goes to walk out the door. She stops midway, freezes, looking out the window. From my spot in the hallway, I see the other pack members coming towards our house. And since Bella doesn't understand what danger is, she runs out to confront them.
With only a second of hesitation, I hurry out after her, ignoring Billy as he rolls himself to Jacob's room.
"Stay inside, Rayna." Billy orders, and I scoff. As if.
I rush out after Bella, my socks squishing in the wet ground. Bella runs right over to Sam, and pushes him.
"What did you do?" Bella shouts, and Sam clenches his jaw. Paul shakes, and looks like he's going to lunge at her.
"Easy," Sam hisses out, to Paul or Bella, I don't know.
"He didn't want this!" Bella yells, her voice taking a slight hysterical edge.
"What did we do? What did he do, what did he tell you?" Paul snarls out, the vicious tone shocking me to my core. They haven't noticed me yet, standing a few feet behind Bella.
"Both of you calm down." Sam orders, grabbing Paul's arm.
"Nothing, he tells me nothing because he's scared of you," Bella snaps heatedly, getting in Paul's face.
Paul laughs, and that seems to irritate Bella. He laughs louder, looking from Jared to Sam, and I see Bella start to wind her fist back.
"Bella, don't!" I blurt out, rushing closer to her. Paul snaps his attention to me fully, his eyes boring into mine, so he doesn't see Bella's hand smack him across the face.
The sound of skin smacking against skin is harsh, and Paul immediately stops laughing. His whole posture changes. He starts shaking, trembling, and his skin does the twitching thing I've seen Jacob do.
"Bella," I grab her arms, pulling her away from him.
"Too late now!" Jared chortles. Sam moves Paul further away from us, and tells him to calm down. It doesn't help, and spit flies from his mouth as his body seems to fold into itself, falling forward, vibrating violently. Halfway to the ground, there's a loud ripping sound, and Paul explodes.
Dark silver fur blows out from him, coalescing into a shape more than five times his size- a massive, crouched shape, ready to spring.
His muzzle wrinkles back over his teeth, and another growl rolls through his colossal chest. His dark, enraged eyes focus on Bella.
Bella stumbles backwards, causing me to slip on my wet socks since I still have a hold on her arm, falling to the ground with a loud thud. Paul roars at that, and takes a step towards Bella, who's running to our small red house.
"Bella!" Jacob yells, and I hear his feet pounding against the ground. Looks like Billy woke him.
"Run!" Bella gasps out, but Jacob doesn't listen.
I know I should be running away, or at the very least trying to protect myself, but at the same time, I can't stop staring at Paul. His fur looks thick and soft, and the dark silver glints in the light. He looks dangerous, and gentle all at the same time. His eyes, too intelligent for any normal wolf, stare back at mine, and he visibly relaxes.
"Jake, run!" Bella shouts out again.
My eyes don't leave the wolf, so I have no warning for the one that flies over my head. All I hear is a tearing, ripping sound, and a sudden growl. Then, Paul tenses again, snarling and roaring at the russet wolf soaring over my head.
A scream tears through my throat, and I finally back away, my numb fingers slipping on the still wet grass. The two wolves snap and tear at each other, their sharp teeth flashing toward each other's throats. The russet wolf seems to have the upper hand, as he's visibly bigger than the other wolf, and seems to be stronger, too. He rams his shoulder into the grey wolf again and again, knocking him back towards the trees.
"Take them to Emily's." Sam shouts towards the other boys, who are watching the conflict with rapt expressions. Their snarls are loud, but they've disappeared from our line of sight. Sam runs after them, kicking his shoes off as he goes. The noise fades away, and soon the sounds cut off.
Embry starts laughing. "Well, guess the wolfs out of the bag now. You don't see that every day." He snickers. Bella stares at him with frozen eyes.
"I do," Jared grumbles. "Every single day."
"Aw, Paul doesn't lose his temper every day," Embry disagrees, still grinning. "Maybe two out of three."
Jared stops to pick something white up off the ground. He holds it toward Embry, it dangles in limp strips from his hand.
"Totally shredded," Jared says. "Billy said this was the last pair he could afford. Guess Jake's going barefoot now."
Embry holds up a white sneaker. "He can hop."
Jared starts collecting various pieces of fabric from the grass. "Get Sam's shoes, will you? Everything else is headed to the trash."
The two boys continue their clean up, and I slowly realize I have my nails digging into my palms, into the still not healed wounds from the numerous other times I've done so.
"Are one of you bleeding?" Jared demands, walking over to us with his arms full.
I bite my lip. "Nervous habit." I motion towards my hands, where blood slowly beads out of the crescent moon marks on my palms.
He and Embry share a troubled look, but say nothing. Jared then assess Bella carefully.
"Hey, you're not going to faint or puke or anything?" He demands again.
"I don't think so," She gasps.
"You don't look so good. Maybe you should lie down."
"Okay," Bella mumbles. She doesn't lie down, but instead places her head between her knees.
"Jake should have warned us," Embry complains.
"He said he didn't want her to know. What did he expect, going to see her last night?"
"Way to go, Jake," Embry sighs.
"You guys aren't the least bit worried?" I speak up, slowly getting to my feet. Bella nods, glaring at the two boys.
Embry blinks. "Worried? Why?"
"They could hurt each other!" Bella yells.
The two boys guffaw. "I hope Paul gets a mouthful of him," Jared says. "Teach him a lesson."
"Yeah, right." Embry disagrees. "Did you see Jake? Even Sam couldn't have phased on the fly like that. He saw Paul losing it, and it took him, what, half a second to attack? The boys got a gift."
"Paul's been fighting longer. I'll bet you ten bucks he leaves a mark."
"You're on. Jake's a natural. Paul doesn't have a chance."
They shake hands grinning.
My nails dig back into the familiar wounds on my palms, and the two boys look at me with an odd look.
"Let's go see Emily. You know she'll have food waiting." Embry looks down at Bella. "Mind giving us a ride?"
"No problem," Bella chokes.
Jared raises an eyebrow. "Maybe you'd better drive, Embry. She still looks like she might hurt."
"Good idea. Where are the keys?" Embry asks.
"Ignition."
Embry opens the passenger side door, and hauls Bella in with one hand. "You'll have to ride in the back." Embry looks at Jared and I, giving me an apologetic look.
"Okay." I say, climbing into the back of the pickup. To my shock, Jared quickly gives me a lift up.
"Don't hurt yourself." He says, and turns back to Embry. They make a bet on whether Bella will puke or not, and then Jared hops in the back, while Embry starts up the truck.
Jared tells me to sit with my back against the cab of the truck, and he sits like a protective wall in front of me, facing me.
"Looks like Paul finally has to tell you," Jared say conversationally.
"Tell me what?" I ask, my eyebrows raised.
"Ask him." Jared shrugs, giving me an 'oh well' expression.
"Uh, okay." I shake my head, annoyance flashing through me.
"You don't seem too shocked," Jared notes. "Did Billy finally tell you?"
I scoff. "Fuck no. I figured it out myself." And then had a massive panic attack. Not that they had to know that.
Jared raises a brow at my language, and laughs to himself. "Makes sense."
"What makes sense?"
"Nothing, nothing. Ask Paul."
"Or I could just kick you in the dick, and maybe you could tell me." I cross my arms. I suddenly realize I'm wearing the same clothes as yesterday, leggings and a thin sweater. At least I never changed when I got home, so I still had a bra on. Oh fuck, my hair probably looks alive.
"I wouldn't do that." Jared shakes his head with a small grin.
"Oh, why not? Gonna bite me?" I taunt, raising an eyebrow at him. Jared double takes, almost chokes on his spit.
"I'll leave that to Paul." Jared shakes his head, eyes widening as he looks at the scenery flying by us.
"If Paul comes near me, I'll stab him in the dick." I quip. "Why do you keep bringing him up like that?"
"You'll find out soon enough." Jared replies mysteriously.
"I suggest you don't talk for the rest of the way, because your shitty answers are going to drive me insane." I once again roll my eyes, biting my cheek.
Eventually, we turn onto a narrow dirt road, which leads to a tiny house. There's only one narrow window beside the weathered blue door, but the window box under it is filled with bright orange and yellow marigolds, giving the place a cheery vibe.
The truck stops, and Jared jumps out of the back of the truck. He holds his arms out for me to jump into, but I wave him off, leaping off the bed myself. He grabs my waist mid jump anyways, gently setting me on the ground. I recoil at the unwanted touch, smacking his arms off me.
"Don't ever do that again." I hiss, crossing my arms.
Jared shrugs. "Paul would rip my arms off if you hurt yourself on my watch."
I bite back the urge to scream at him, and opt for silence. Until I get answers I won't speak. Jared heads towards the door, but Embry stops him with one hand on his chest. He looks to Bella meaningfully, and clears his throat.
"I don't have my wallet on me," Jared says.
"That's okay, I won't forget."
The two boys climb up the one step and enter the house without knocking. Bella looks at the house timidly, and almost automatically I take her hand in mine and give her a reassuring squeeze. In that moment, I forget that I'm still angry with her from the meadow incident.
Like our house, the front room is mostly kitchen. A young woman with satiny copper skin like mine, and long, straight, crow-black hair is standing at the counter by the sink, popping big muffins out of a tin and placing them on a paper plate.
"You guys hungry?" She turns to face us, and I realize the girl is Emily. The same Emily who found me on the beach when I was being exceptionally stupid and stubborn, the same Emily who saw my arms.
Bella turns away quickly, and I figure it must be so she doesn't stare. I force myself not to stare, but avert my gaze away from hers. I hope she doesn't recognize me, but I know she will. Emily doesn't seem like the type of person to forget seeing something so horrific on another person's body.
"Oh," Emily says, surprised. "Who's this?"
Bella looks up, and I breathe in the heavenly scent of the blueberry muffins.
"Bella Swan, who else?" Jared tells her, motioning towards Bella. "And Rayna, Jacob's little sister."
"Leave it to Jacob to find a way around," Emily murmurs. She seems more interested in Bella than me, so hopefully she won't mention our previous meeting. She stares at Bella, and doesn't look friendly. I feel instantly protective over Bella. "So, you're the vampire girl."
Bella stiffens. "Yes. Are you the wolf girl?"
Emily laughs, as does Embry and Jared. The look on Emily's face when she talked to Bella bothers me, but I don't say anything. The left half of Emily's scarred face warms. "I guess I am," She turns to Jared. "Where's Sam?"
"Bella, er, surprised Paul this morning."
"Ah, Paul," Emily says, and then looks at me. "Oh! Is she-"
"Yeah, but Paul still needs to talk to her." Jared responds quickly, cutting Emily off in the middle of her sentence.
Emily nods. "Do you think they'll be long? I was just about to start the eggs."
"Don't worry, we won't let anything go to waste." Embry tells her, a grin on her face.
Emily chuckles, then opens the fridge. "No doubt," She agrees. "Bella, Rayna, are you hungry? Go ahead and help yourself to a muffin."
"Thanks." Bella says, and takes on from the plate, nibbling around the edges. My stomach growls, but I don't take one. I feel out of place and comfortable here at the same time, and my stomach is a mess of churning emotions. Embry takes a third muffin and shoves it into his mouth whole.
"Save some for your brothers," Emily chastises him, whacking him on the head with a wooden spoon. I start at the term, since its how I had thought to describe the pack when I realize the legends were alive.
"Pig," Jared comments.
Bella leans against the counter and surveys the scene in front of us. I stand next to her, but my posture stays tense. I watch idly as Emily mixes a humongous batch of eggs in a big yellow bowl, and realize with a jolt that her scars extend all the way down her arm to the back of her right hand.. With a another jolt, I realize it wasn't a fishing accident that caused her scars, but a wolf accident.
The edges of my vision start to get fuzzy, and I suck in a quick breath, screwing my eyes shut and digging my nails into my palms, gnawing on the inside of my cheek until blood floods my mouth.
"You're bleeding again."
I open my eyes to see Embry looking at me with an unreadable expression, Jared watching me while slowly chewing his food.
"Nervous habit," I repeat my earlier words faintly. I take slow breaths, and slowly being to feel normal again, minus the mix of emotions swirling around my stomach.
The front door opens, and Sam steps through.
"Emily," He says, and so much love saturates his tone that I feel as though I'm watching a porno. Something I personally haven't done, but have walked in on Jacob watching a few times throughout the years. Sam crosses the room in one stride, taking Emily's face in his wide hands, leaning down and kissing the dark scars on her right cheek before kissing her lips.
"Hey, none of that," Jared complains. "I"m eating."
"Then shut up and eat," Sam suggests, kissing Emily's scarred mouth once again.
"Ugh," Embry groans.
I feel Bella move next to me, and see her set down her muffin to fold her arms across her chest like she is falling apart, staring emptily at the flowers on the table. I look away from her, and see Emily and Sam wrapped up in each other, and feel a twinge of something in my chest. For some reason, I'm envious of them. Which makes no sense, because I have Seth.
Jacob and Paul come crashing through the door, laughing and punchinc each other playfully. They both are in one piece, or at least, they appear to be. Paul scans the room with a tense expression; when his eyes land on me, he relaxes.
"Hey, Bells," Jacob greets cheerfully. He grabs two muffins as he passes the small table, coming to stand beside Bella, softly nudging me out of the way. "Sorry about before," He mutters under his breath. "How are you holding up?"
"Don't worry, I'm okay. Good muffins." Bella picks her muffin back up, nibbling again. She visibly looks better, happier, more whole, with Jacob next to her.
"Oh man!" Jared wails, and we all turn to look at him.
He and Embry are examining a fading pink line on Paul's forearm. Embry's grinning, exultant. "Fifteen dollars!" He crows.
Bella says something to Jacob, but I'm paying too much attention to the mark on Paul's arm to listen to them. I feel something stir inside me, and I instantly feel protective ober Pauyl; I find myself wanting to turn to Jacob, rip him away from Bella, and- I don't know, hurt him? Would I even be able to, since he's a spirit warrior now?
"Hey, guys," Sam says in a loud voice, interrupting all the conversations going on in the small room. He has one hand touching the small of Emily's back, an unconscious gesture. Again, a weird feeling swirls around my chest this time, rather than my stomach. "Jacob has information for us."
Paul looks unsurprised, he's still staring at me. Except, I wouldn't really call it staring, more like, gazing. Pride sweeps over me in a strong wave, and I widen my eyes at the foreign emotion. It doesn't feel like something I felt, rather, something that came from someone else.
"I know what the redhead wants." Jacob interrupts my thoughts. "That's what I was trying to tell you before." He kicks the legs of the chair Paul has settled into, and I bite back the urge to growl. What's with me lately?
"And?" Jared asks.
Jacob's face turns serious. "She is trying to avenge her mate, only it wasn't the black haired leech we killed. The Cullen's got her mate last year, and she's after Bella now."
I inhale sharply, the meadow incident thrashing its way to the forefront of my mind. I go to dig my nails into my palms, but hesitate. They can smell when I'm bleeding, so as long as I'm around them, I should try to refrain from doing so.
"She's just a girl," Embry protests.
"I didn't say it made sense. But that's why the blooduscker's been trying to get past us. She's been heading for Forks."
The rest of the people in the small house stare at Bella, mouths hanging open in surprise. Bella ducks her head, and I want to touch her reassuringly, but Jacob's in the way.
"Excellent," Jared finally says, a smile beginning to pull up the corners of his mouth. "We've got bait."
With stunning speed, Jacob yanks a can opener from the counter, launching it at Jared's head. Jared's hand flicks up faster than I would have thought possible, and he snags the tool just before it hits his face.
"Bella is not bait." Jacob snarls out.
"You know what I mean," Jared says, unabashed.
"So we'll be changing our patterns," Sam says, ignoring their small squabble. "We'll try leaving a few holes, and see if she falls for it. We'll have to split up, and I don't like that. But if she's really after Bella, she probably won't try to take advantage of your divided numbers."
"Quil's got to be close to joining us," Embry murmurs. "Then we'll be able to split evenly."
Everyone looks down, and I catch the look of hopelessness on Jacob's face. No one seems to want their friend to share their fate. Yet, I know Quil will be happy, since he'll finally have his friends back.
"Well, we won't count on that," Sam says in a low voice, then continues at his regular volume. "Paul, Jared, and Embry will take the outer perimeter, and Jacob and I will take the inner. We'll collapse in when we've got her trapped."
Emily seems to look worried, and I realize she doesn't like the idea of Sam being in the smaller grouping. Bella glances at Jacob, worrying too, but I find my worry straying over to the hothead sitting on the small wooden chair, looking at me intently.
"Jacob thinks it would be best if you spent as much time as possible here in La Push. She won't know where to find you so easily, just in case."
"What about Charlie?" Bella demands.
"March Madness is still going on." Jacob says. "I think Billy and Harry can manage to keep Charlie down here when he's not at work."
"I can hang out with Bella," I supply, glancing from Jacob to Sam. "As long as no more of her old friends show up."
"Laurent wasn't a friend," Bella says, just as Paul growls out, "No."
I narrow my eyes at the man. "Who says you get to decide what I do or don't do?"
"You're not being put in danger like that again." Paul's voice comes out in a low growl. "We saw what happened that day."
"Calm down," Sam holds a hand up, silencing Paul effectively. He looks at Bella ignoring what Paul and I had been discussing. "That's what Jacob thinks is best, but you need to decide for yourself. You should weigh the risks of both options very seriously. You say this morning how easily things can get out of hand, how dangerous it can be. If you choose to stay with us, I can't make any guarantees about your safety."
"I won't hurt her," Jacob mumbles, looking down.
Sam acts as though he hasn't heard him speak. "If there was somewhere else you felt safe?"
Bella is quiet, and flinches for a moment before speaking. "I don't want to lead Victoria anywhere else," She whispers.
Sam nods. "That's true, it's better to have her here, where we can end this."
"You'll be careful, right?" Bella asks, an audible lump in her throat.
The boys burst into loud hoots of amusement, laughing at her. I almost want to cover my ears, their loud voice echoing sharply throughout the small room. Unlike Bella, I'm not too worried about them. The legends state that the wolves were made to fight the cold ones, so they know what they're doing.
"Food's ready," Emily announced, and the strategic conversation is history. The guys hurry to surround the table, which looks tiny and in danger of being crushed by them, and devour the buffet sized pan of eggs Emily placed in their midst in record time. Emily and Bella eat leaning against the counter, Emily watching them with affectionate eyes. Obviously, this is her family.
I stand near Bella and Emily, somewhat awkwardly. I feel uncomfortable taking any food from them, so I fidget with my thumbs. One of the large muffins is placed in my point of view, near my nervous hands. I look to see Emily's kind face smiling.
"Eat," She presses the warm, heavenly smelling muffin in my hands, and I quietly thank her. I pick pieces of the muffin off, popping them in my mouth. They taste better than anything I've ever eaten before.
Towards the end of their feast, Jacob jerks his towards towards the door, his eyes on Bella. She pushes away from the counter, and follows him out the door. I'm left without my brother or friend, and anxiety courses through me.
"Rayna, want to help me with the dishes?" Emily asks kindly, as though she senses my discomfort. I nod, and get to work drying the breakfast utensils. It takes almost a full forty minutes to get through everything, and at that point, my fingers are pruned and my hands are dry.
"Can we talk?"
I turn from Emily, to see Paul standing behind me, his heat radiating off onto me. I tilt my head up to look at his unreadable eyes, and shrug. He takes my hand in his large one, and I tug out of his grasp. He sighs, but walks towards the door, while I trail behind.
"Always difficult," I hear him mutter under his breath.
"Yes, you are," I say with a roll of my eyes, not bothering to be quiet about it. Jared guffaws, and before we walk through the door, Paul picks up one of Sam and Emily's keys, and fling it at Jared's head. I don't know if it hits him, because Paul shuts the door with an ominous slam.
I don't know if I want to hear what he's going to say.
longer chapter than usual because of the late update last time, and for the slight cliffhanger at the end! what do you guys think Paul's going to say? better question, will Rayna even let him talk? haha. as always, huuuuge thank you to everyone who reads and supports this story, you guys are amazing. also, I'm like really really excited with the new twilight fanfic ive started. idk when i'll post it, but ahh. i love it so much already.
flowerchild23- u right.
inyushademons- ahh yes, be ready for more protective Paul. so much protectiveness. that probably isn't a word, but oh well.
darkdust27- oooo u might b right!
friendlyneighborhoodhufflepuff- I LOVE UUUU! your review is literally me, I love it! hufflepuffs are particularly good finders, so I'm not surprised.
guest- eeee I'm glad you like this story! i know, i love jake and i hate hurting him, i hate when he's hurt, that's part of what influenced my decision for a later plot point. ahh. ive actually been thinking of doing an embry leah fanfic at some point, idk when though. i agree with you about Rayna so much dude. hopefully this was a quick enough update, the next one will be soon as well!
guest- yes! yes to literally everything in your review, from Rayna to Jacob to the meadow incident. yes u right.
rumtreiberinqueen- THANK UUUUU! I LOVE U! AAAAH THANK U SM!
serenity1006- i will be keeping her there. that's become my end game, and i honestly hate stories when bella ends up being a terrible person and all that. Shes a good character without Edward.