Thank you so much IamTheAlleyCat for beta'ing and Ncsupnatfan for pre-reading.
Thursday was the 9th anniversary of me posting my first ever fanfic. In those 9 years, I have written 4.2 million words over 63 posted stories. Writing has brought indescribable joy and meaning to my life, and some of my very best friends. Each and every one of you, those that review, those that favourite and add my stuff to alerts, and those that just lurk in the traffic stats, add to the experience. Thank you all so much xxx
Chapter Twenty-One
Jacob
Since the redhead's vampires had been taken care of, patrols were much quieter, though still important. None of us forgot that the threat was never truly over. There were other vampires that could choose the town or reservation, with their perfect rainy weather, to pass through in their endless journey of feeding and murdering.
Still, sometimes my mind wandered to Mels and the life we were building together, sometimes to Billy, whose joints were giving him trouble, and sometimes to Bella and the stupid choices she had made lately.
Since Seth had gone to Oregon to take Bella home and to see the bloodsuckers at their crypt—and we had busted his chops for that stupid move—we knew the leech was well and truly gone on Bella.
Seth said he'd had the nerve to compare it to imprinting, as if he had even the slightest clue what that kind of love felt like. He didn't love Bella; he coveted her. He was leading her on for his own amusement until he got bored and just drained her. I knew it like I knew the sun would set that night. What really sucked was that Bella was just as gone on him. She called Charlie and told him bluntly that they were together again. Man, he was pissed, and he didn't even know the half of it.
You know, Jake, I don't know if he will drain her, Embry thought. Seth doesn't think so, and he saw them in person.
Exactly. Seth doesn't think so because he spoke to him. They fooled him. They have to be convincing to trick people into believing they're human.
You think?
I know.
I was sure of it. Nothing else explained Bella's ability to ignore what they were to be close to them. How she could touch them and forget they were monsters when touching them was like touching a rock? Ugh. The thought of it made me want to gag. And what kind of relationship could it be, anyway? He couldn't love her the way I had been able to. They probably couldn't even kiss because of his venomous fangs.
Suddenly, a howl rent the air. It was the most haunting sound I'd ever heard. It ripped through my heart like a knife. The only question was which of my family were at the source of that pain.
No! No! No! How can this have happened? Leah's mental voice trailed off as she howled again.
What's happened, Leah? Embry asked.
She didn't seem capable of answering, even when new voices repeated the question as my brothers gradually joined the connection as they phased.
Leah? What's going on? Sam asked.
In response, she ran over the last few minutes in her mind.
She was home from college for the weekend, and she had been in the kitchen with Sue, helping her to prepare lunch. There was a knock on the door, and Leah went to answer, wiping her hands on a cloth. Charlie's deputy, Mark, was standing on the porch, his face grave. "Hello, Leah," he said somberly. "Is Charlie home?"
Leah nodded without speaking, knowing something awful had happened. She led him into the lounge where Charlie was sitting in his recliner, watching the game on TV. He stood as he saw them enter and said, "Mark? What can I…? Is everything okay?"
Mark shook his head. "Maybe you should sit down, Charlie."
Charlie remained standing, and he glanced at Sue as she came into the room. She looked as worried as Leah felt.
Mark drew a deep breath and said, "We just got a call from Astoria. Charlie, I am so sorry, but Bella had an accident."
Charlie swayed, and Leah held him steady with a hand on his back. He didn't seem to notice that she was holding him.
"She's okay, right?" he asked. "I mean it's bad, yeah, but she's going to be all right."
Mark shook his head. "I'm sorry, Charlie. She drowned." He looked into Charlie's disbelieving face and said, "She died."
A human equivalent of a howl burst out of Charlie, and he collapsed into his chair, his shaking hands coming up to cover his face. He began to rock back and forth, crying out Bella's name. "No, not my Bella! Not my girl!"
Leah looked at her stepfather, and her heart broke for him. The heat of an imminent phase rippled over her as her hard-won control deserted her, and she ran for the door.
I ripped myself from her thoughts as my legs gave way beneath me, and I fell to the dirty ground. My muzzle pressed against the ferns, and the scent of greenery filled my nostrils. It seemed a stupid thing to notice.
It wasn't possible. Bella couldn't be… No. I wouldn't even think it. That would make it real.
I closed my eyes and smelled the ferns. That was real, tangible, not the horror Leah had unleashed.
The thoughts of my pack felt like butterflies landing on me and flitting away. I had no understanding of their words and no inclination to listen.
Something nudged my side, and I turned to see a huge black wolf standing beside me. I watched distractedly as its nose bumped my shoulder. I blinked. What did it want? What did it think I had to give it?
Jacob, stand up.
The alpha order worked like puppet strings, pulling me upright. My legs didn't feel like they would hold me, but they did. I could still smell the ferns.
Come with me.
Again, I felt the order commanding me to act. I walked slowly after Sam, each footfall jarring me. He increased his pace until we were running. My mind slowly clawed its way back to understanding then, pulling me back to reality. Other thoughts from my pack began to permeate my mind.
I can't… She can't…
How could this have happened?
What do we do?
Poor Charlie.
I realized where we were going only when I stood in my own back yard. Embry, Jared, and Paul were already there, phasing back to human and pulling on cutoff jeans.
Phase back, Sam ordered me, and I obeyed.
My hands felt numb and clumsy as I unbound thejeans from my leg and pulled them on. When I was dressed, I stood useless, no more alpha orders to lead me.
The back door opened, and Billy wheeled himself out onto the threshold. "Jake," he said sadly.
I nodded, though I wasn't sure what I was trying to communicate.
"I am going to Charlie's," he said. He wheeled himself forward to me and gripped my hand hard. "You need to be strong now, Jacob. Charlie needs us all to be strong. Can you do that?"
I nodded again, unsure of whether I was lying to him or myself.
There was the sound of jogging footsteps, and Seth came into view. "Sorry, guys," he said. "Newton busted his Camaro again, and I couldn't get rid of the idiot. I think the howls scared…" He took in our expressions, the tears on Billy's face and the shaking of my hands and said, "What? Who?"
"Bella," Billy said heavily. "She's…"
Seth stepped back, his expression horrified. "No!"
"I'm sorry, Seth," Sam said solemnly.
"No!" he cried out, his limbs vibrating against the need to phase.
"Phase if it will help," Sam said.
Seth shook his head and swiped a hand over his face, smearing the tears that were falling thick and fast. "What happened?"
Sam laid a hand on his shoulder and said, "She drowned."
"No, she didn't," Leah said quietly.
I frowned, her words taking time to sink into my head. Their meaning didn't seem to make sense. She had drowned. That cop had said so.
"What?" I asked stupidly.
"Bella didn't drown," she said.
New people joined us as the rest of the pack arrived and phased back, but I barely noticed them. I felt two people at my sides, and I knew without turning that it would be Embry and Quil standing with me.
"Think about it, Jake," Leah said. "Bella can swim. She did the cliff dives with us often enough for you to know that. She did not drown."
The words finally broke through the haze in my mind, and I jerked as if electrocuted.
She was right. Bella was a great swimmer. She had handled the tides under the cliffs a dozen times with us, without the aid of the supernatural strength we had.
"The leech!" I growled.
"It has to be," Leah said quietly. "It's the perfect cover for them. No body. No evidence of what they did. That head leech is a doctor. They could have dealt with her…body…easily."
Seth whimpered quietly, tears tracking down his cheeks.
"He killed her!" I snarled. "I knew it! I knew he would!"
"Must have gotten thirsty," Quil agreed.
"Stop!" Sam said, and though he was in human form, I felt the weight of his words the way I would have an order. "We don't know this."
I laughed harshly. "What else could it be? Come on, Sam, think about it."
He looked hesitant as he said thoughtfully, "Maybe. We can't be sure though. We need to check it out."
"I'm going to Oregon," I said.
"We're coming," Embry said, and Quil nodded.
"And me," Leah added.
I looked at Sam. If he gave me the order, I would have to stay, but I would never forgive him for it.
I think he saw that in my eyes, the resolution.
"Okay," he said. "You can go. I won't stop you, any of you. I will come with you, even. The treaty isn't limited by distance, and we protect human life. If they did kill Bella, someone they professed to love, they will kill anyone." He drew a breath. "Collin, Brady, you stay here to protect the reservation. The rest of you… I won't order you to come. You have to decide yourselves. Understand that, if they did this, we're heading into a fight not all of us will come back from. You have to decide if that is worth it to you."
Unexpectedly, it was Paul that spoke up first. "I'm coming. She was a dumbass for hanging with those leeches, but she was one of us, too."
"Agreed," Jared said.
I looked to Seth, seeing his devastation and resolve. "She was my sister," he said simply, and I knew he was coming, too.
We didn't want anyone to see us entering Bella's home, so we parked a few blocks away and walked through the forest and into her backyard.
The stench of the leeches was strong in our noses before we even got inside. There was one scent more concentrated than the others, and I guessed that was the killer leech that had pretended to be Bella's boyfriend.
There was a trail leading away from the house into the forest, too, and I felt satisfaction that we would be able to find them easily.
Any doubt we could have had over what had happened was banished the moment I got inside. Among the scent of the leeches was the faint aroma of blood. Someone had attempted to clean it up, but it was still there for our sensitive noses to detect it. I followed the scent to the hallway and saw a faint mark on the floor at the bottom of the stairs where I suspected the blood had been.
I could picture the scene so clearly in my mind. Bella opening the door to him. Her scent, so fresh and flowery, making his mouth water. Maybe he'd left it too long between hunts. Maybe he was just bored of her and wanted someone to eat. Whatever it was, he would have bowed his head as if to kiss her and then sank his teeth into her throat. Perhaps she had struggled, making some of her precious blood spill. Perhaps he was a messy eater. I could see the blood dripping from the wound to the floor, wasted, to his mind.
I shuddered. That wasn't an end Bella had deserved. She should have had all her hopes and dreams—the life that stopped her being with me so she could pursue it—big cities, promotions, the world. She should have had a long life with the people that loved her.
"Blood," Seth growled.
"Yes," Sam said. "You were right, Leah. She was murdered."
Leah nodded, but there was none of her usual smugness in her being right. She was grieving her stepsister.
"Come on, Sam," I said. "We know how to find them. Let's go."
Sam stared down at the mark on the floor for a moment and then said, "Yes. We don't have a choice."
I turned and made for the back door, the others following.
When I was in the cover of the trees, I shucked off my jeans and tied them around my leg before phasing. I heard other thoughts joining mine as the rest of the pack did the same. Sam ran ahead, and I fell into step beside him, Jared taking the other side as was our usual positioning.
Dealing with my pain and anger was harder in wolf form, as I was battered with everyone else's emotions at the same time. We were all feeling the same thing to different degrees. Seth and I were suffering the most as she had been ours.
Her face flickered in my mind, smiling at some long-forgotten joke, and I gritted my teeth, and Seth howled out his pain.
Quiet! Sam ordered.
Now they know we're coming, Paul thought.
Doesn't matter. We're killing them anyway, Seth replied angrily.
It was so unlike my pack brother to be like this. Seth was usually the gentlest of us all, but he was roused now as he had never been before. That was good. He was going to need that anger to take them out.
We were going to war.
The closer we got to their lair, the more the air burned our noses to the point of pain. How could Bella have stood it?
It reassured me in a way as the scents were fresh enough to know the bloodsuckers hadn't moved on yet. I wondered if they always hung around after a kill. Did they enjoy watching the aftermath, or were they just arrogant enough that they didn't care what humans thought?
Heads in the game, Sam commanded as we saw the thinning of trees ahead of us.
Damn right. I was ready.
As I broke through the trees, the strangest feeling washed through me. It was like someone was turning down the burner under the flame of my anger, lowering the heat. I was still angry, murderously so, but I couldn't feel it properly. I was too calm.
My pace faltered, and I slowed. I knew the others were all being affected the same way.
What the hell is this? Leah asked.
I growled. That leech. He can change our emotions. Make us feel things.
Okay, Sam said, we need to rethink. Stop. We can't fight like this. We'll lose.
My lips curled back over my teeth in a snarl. The hell we will.
"We don't want to fight," a voice spoke from the house as the door opened.
The doctor came out onto the porch, flanked by the massive one and the other blond male. I guessed he was the one Bella had told me about, the one that could screw with what we were feeling, as he looked strained and his gaze was concentrated on us.
I felt my anger dousing more, and I came to a stop. Around me and beside me, the rest of the pack did the same.
The doctor looked relieved that we had stopped and said, "I know why you are here, but you are mistaken."
Does he mean she isn't dead? Sam wondered.
I felt a surge of hope. Was it possible she was alive still? But then why the drowning story? It didn't make sense.
I want to talk to them. I need to phase back. Though I was talking to Sam, the others answered me.
No way, Jake!
You have to be kidding me.
Sure, offer yourself up for dinner, too.
Sam ignored their protests and considered. One of us has to, I suppose. Okay, Jacob. Be prepared to phase back at any sign they want to attack.
I walked back into the forest and phased into my human form.
"What is he doing?" the doctor asked, though how he expected to get an answer I didn't know.
"He wants to talk to you," a familiar voice spoke from inside the house.
A moment later the murdering leech walked out on to the porch. All the males were present now. The women were probably cowering in the house.
The sight of him made me want to become the wolf again, to attack and sink my teeth into him, tearing him apart. I resisted the urge, though. I thought if I could goad them enough, break that talented one's concentration, he would drop his focus for a minute so we could attack.
"Murderer," I growled.
The doctor shook his head. "You are mistaken."
"Really? Then what happened to Bella?"
The murderer spoke in a dull voice. "Bella had an accident in her home. She fell down the stairs. I found her there. She couldn't have survived her injuries."
"So why the drowning story?" I asked angrily. "You think that'd make it easier on Charlie?"
The big one rolled his eyes. "Duh. We had no body."
I frowned. "Why not?"
The murderer swallowed hard. "Because Bella isn't dead. Listen."
I focused then and heard a sound that made my heart leap. A fast heartbeat and shallow breaths.
"But… You said she couldn't survive," I said.
"She couldn't," the doctor said. "Her injuries were catastrophic. Bella had no chance as…" Suddenly he stiffened.
I heard it, too. The heartbeat was racing faster than before, thrumming like a hummingbird's wings. It became one sustained sound and then stopped.
"No!" I breathed, understanding dawning. "Bella!"
The murderer nodded. "Yes. Bella had no chance of making it as a human, so I bit her."
"You killed her!" I snarled.
"No," he argued. "I changed her. Bella is a vampire."
Edward
"No!"
The word came from Jacob's lips and the minds of the rest of the pack. There was one in particular that caught my attention as I had heard the mind before—Bella's stepbrother Seth. He was devastated as well as angry, even more now than when he had believed she was dead. He thought of her change as a fate worse than death. He didn't understand vampires any more than what their legends told them; he believed we were monsters.
I will kill him!
The thought was Jacob's, and he began to fight Jasper's influence even harder than he had before, as did many of the wolves.
Heat rippled up and down Jacob's spine, and his shoulders bunched, but he couldn't make the shift now as Jasper concentrated on him.
Emmett shifted beside me, dropping into a crouch. He was ready for the fight, excited even. He didn't understand.
He saw the wolves as what they were, beating hearts and soft flesh, and thought they would be easy to take out. He didn't see the memories I could see of their fight against the newborns. Flesh and heart they may be, but their teeth were sharp, and they were ferocious fighters.
If this became physical, we would be hurt. I didn't think they would manage to destroy us completely—as that would require us to be burned, and we would never let them get that far—but the trauma of being torn to pieces would be horrific.
For a beat, we seemed poised on the point of battle, Jasper struggling hard to control them, and then there was a voice from the upper floor of the house, and riotous noise broke out.
"Bella?" Alice asked, and the wolves began to snarl and growl at us, all of them fighting to break through Jasper's influence.
It was an ominous chaos of sound, and I was afraid for my family and my mate, who I knew, even now, was reacting to the first overwhelming sensations of waking up. I wanted to check on her through Alice's thoughts, but I couldn't break my focus on the wolves for even a moment.
That was the moment I heard the smash and a body flew in front of me to land gracefully on the balls of her feet in the space between the wolves at the tree line and porch where we were positioned. I could only see her back, but it was clear it was my Bella. Her long mahogany hair swept down her back, and I knew her slight frame as well as I knew my own body.
"Bella," I breathed.
She didn't turn. She remained poised to attack at a moment's notice. I was scared by the sight of her in front of me and not behind as I wished, but there was nothing I could do without risking the wolves receiving the last surge of anger, the perceived threat that would break Jasper's influence. There was swift movement behind me, and I knew Alice and Esme had joined us to defend, and that was when the world broke apart.
Jasper was distracted for a split second by Alice's arrival, and his attention flickered from the wolves.
Jacob arched his back, and the phase finally swept over him. He became the wolf, and he and his pack mates sprang forward at us.
I rushed to Bella, but before I could move more than a dozen feet, there was a resounding howl as Jacob collided with an invisible barrier.
I didn't understand, and for a moment I thought his Alpha had issued a binding order to stop him, but I recognized the black wolf was straining forward, too. They all were. It was as if they were held back by a glass wall, though even the thickest glass would have been smashed to pieces by the werewolves' force.
They snarled and strained towards us, but they couldn't move.
"What the hell?" Emmett said in a stunned voice. "Is that you, Jazz?"
"No," Jasper replied, sounding just as shocked as I felt.
It wasn't any other member of my family either, I knew. Their thoughts were as confused as the wolves' were. That left only one option, and as I looked at her hands fisted at her sides, I knew it was her. Bella was blocking the wolves.
"It's Bella," I breathed, and I saw her fisted hands squeeze tighter in reaction.
The wolves were making a great deal of noise still, and one of them, a chocolate brown one was pulling back to smash himself against the invisible border again and again.
"Stop him, Sam!" Bella said then, her new, chiming voice managing to sound strained with worry.
Stop, Quil! the alpha commanded, and the chocolate brown wolf ceased his movements at once.
"Thank you," she said fervently.
She sounds so much like Bella, Seth thought. She looks like her, too. Scary eyes and freaky skin, but still Bella.
Do not be fooled, the alpha growled within his mind. She's a monster now.
I growled at his words, and Carlisle laid a hand on my arm.
Do not distract her, son. I don't know how she is doing this, but we need her to keep doing it until we can calm them down enough to talk.
"Now's the time," I murmured, thinking of Seth.
Carlisle took a step forward, his hands raised, and the wolves growled in response. "We do not wish to fight you," he said. "Please, do not force our hand."
"You're a murderer. The only way to make this right is through a fight,"I repeated Sam's words in a dull voice.
Bella shook her head, making her hair ripple. "They're not murderers," she argued. "They're the ones that saved my life. I would be dead without them."
"You are dead." I hated to repeat the words, but it was the only way we could communicate.
Bella shrugged. "If that's what you think, fine. I know better."
"You know nothing. You're a monster now, thanks to them."
Bella's breath caught, but when she spoke, her voice was steady. "You can't fight us, Sam. I will hold you until the end of time if that is what it takes."
"You will weaken eventually, and we will kill you all," Sam threatened.
Bella flinched, and then her shoulders straightened. "I probably will weaken, but I can hold you at least long enough for the others to get here."
"There is no one else."
Bella laughed, a beautiful sound despite the mocking in it. "Carlisle is almost four-hundred years old. Do you really think he hasn't made friends in that time?"
There was a flicker of fear in the wolves' thoughts.
Bella's voice softened. "We can fight, Sam, but you will lose. If you were to hurt even one of us, our friends would come for you, and they're not like us. They don't value human life. Would you risk your pack, your friends and family on the reservation, for a pointless battle?
She's so calm, Carlisle marveled.
See, Seth? She's a monster now, his sister, the lone female wolf said.
I didn't repeat her words.
Bella's words reached not only Sam but the rest of the wolves, too. I saw faces flicker through minds, loved ones and, even more distressing to them, imprints. There was even a child in the chocolate wolf's mind.
The alpha processed her words carefully, and Bella pressed her advantage.
"This is my life now, Sam. It's what I wanted. I chose this. The fact I was dying just sped it all up."
"How could you?"
I asked the alpha's question as I wanted to know the answer, too. Only a matter of days ago, Bella had fled the discussion of her mortality. Was it possible she had changed her mind in the time we had been apart?
"If you could have forever with Emily, wouldn't you?" she asked.
The wolf growled. "It's not the same thing."
"It is to me. I have Edward forever now."
I felt a rush of love for her. I had worried she'd resent me for what I had done to her, that her love for me would falter, but she sounded certain as she said the words.
And Charlie, Renee, us? Seth asked.
I didn't pass the question on. I didn't want to upset or distract her. She was showing remarkable control so far, and I didn't want to trigger a mood shift.
Bella sighed. "You have two choices, Sam. We can fight, and you will die, or you can leave and never come near us again. If you think you can trick us, come back later, you can, but you will die for it, regardless. I will have Carlisle contact each of his friends and tell them what's happened here today. If they find us hurt or gone, they will know how and where to find you."
The alpha snarled at her. "You would threaten us with that? Threaten the reservation? Forks?"
"You're the ones threatening us. We don't want to fight," she said sadly.
There was a long moment of silence, and then I heard the resignation in the Alpha's mind. He couldn't put the reservation at risk, nor his pack, not for a battle that he knew in his heart meant no more than revenge.
He bowed his head and thought, We do not fight.
There was relief in some of the wolves' minds; others were resigned to the order. None of them wanted to risk other lives, but they wanted to avenge their friend. To their minds, she was a monster now. The only one that felt even the slightest hesitation on the topic was Seth, but it was only slight.
"They're going to leave," I said aloud. "They won't fight."
Bella's shoulders slumped with relief, and she fixed her eyes on the sandy-colored wolf. "Take care of Charlie for me, okay?" The wolf nodded his enormous head, and Bella sighed. "Thank you, Seth."
We're leaving, the Alpha said, and though it went against his instincts, he turned his back and walked back into the forest, barking an order at the others to follow.
One by one, they disappeared into the trees until only Seth and Jacob were left.
"I'll miss you, guys," Bella said sadly.
Jacob didn't react other than to turn his back on her and walk after his pack. Seth stared into her eyes and thought, Me too, before he turned and ran for the trees, a mournful howl ripping from him.
So… That's the wolves issue taken care of. Makes things a lot easier for me to add in new drama and threats later.
Until next time…
Simaril xxx
