AN: As promised, here is the revised chapter. I deleted the last chapter so that those of you who already read it/reviewed would be notified. A guest reviewer said they would've loved to see Leah break the news to him, so I wrote her in instead and I think it came out much better than the previous version! I hope you enjoy. :-) (Revised 2/3/2021)


CHAPTER NINETEEN

Back on the Rez, that atmosphere was tense.

All of the wolves gathered in Jacob's too small living room, wringing their hands, biting their nails, or absentmindedly bouncing their legs. Carlisle had to re-break all of his bones so they'd heal properly, his curses and cries of pain unsettling them. They pictured the same thing happening to Zora, her screams going unheard in the darkness of the forest. They couldn't help imagining the worst; she was alone and she wasn't an experienced fighter like some of the others.

"This is your fault," Paul sneered at Leah. "If you hadn't tried showing off—"

She cut him off with her fist, her knuckles colliding with his mouth. She could feel his teeth sinking into her skin, but her anger numbed the pain.

"OUT!" Billy and Sam shouted simultaneously, the latter following her through the door.

She was seething, her body trembling, her vision blurred. She was crying and hadn't realized it until Sam reached out to wipe the tears from her cheeks. "Don't you fucking touch me," she growled, pushing him away forcefully.

He stumbled back, his expression one of sorrow. "Leah—"

"You didn't stop her!" she sobbed. "She wouldn't listen to me, but…I thought she was supposed to listen to you. She wasn't supposed to go."

He walked towards her calmly, cautiously. "I know."

"But how…how did she…"

"I don't know. And honestly, I-I don't quite understand."

Leah's world closed in on her—stifling, suffocating. She breathed faster, labored, her throat tightening and chest heaving. She'd only had two panic attacks in her life: one when Sam broke up with her and one when her father passed away. Unfortunately, Zora added a third one to the list. She was struggling to breathe now, overcome with fright and fury and sadness and—

A pair of strong arms wrapped around her - Sam's arms. He was hugging her, whispering that she was safe and secure. She hadn't felt his embrace in so long, and while her first instinct was to push him away, to yell and swear and ask him how dare he put his hands on her, she fell limp in his hold and cried.

"I hate you. She-she's my best friend. I-I can't lose her, but you didn't stop her, and I h-hate you for it."

Sam kept quiet; all he could do was hold her against him and listen as she wept.


Zora lost him.

The vampire's scent had followed a straight path for miles, and then suddenly veered left. She traced it, but the further it went, the less pronounced it became.

Shit!

She'd been running for what felt like hours upon hours, the sun setting long ago. She had only the dim light of a half-moon to guide her and the sounds of insects chirping to keep her company. The forest was denser, and she speculated that she was further up the coast – far from Forks and even further from La Push. If any of her pack mates were in their wolf form, she couldn't hear them. Although she was used to their vacancy, this emptiness was different. Knowing that she was so far away that she couldn't communicate with anyone was strange and lonely.

She wouldn't stop, though. She remembered the feeling of Jacob's bones breaking, the agony that coursed through him and the smug look the vampire wore. She may have been hungry and slowly losing energy, but she would keep running. She wasn't going to let the bloodsucker live.


When Jacob finally came to, he was unbelievably thirsty.

His eyes, heavy and unfocused, darted around his dark room. Next to his small bed was an equally small desk, and sitting on it was a cup of water. He grabbed for it, groaning when his healing bones protested. Still, he stretched until his fingers wrapped around the cool glass. With his right arm in a sling, he couldn't hold himself up and drink at the same time. He shifted around painfully, spilling water in the process as he tried moving to an upright position. He managed to lean his head against the wall, and while it wasn't the most comfortable position, it would have to do. He swallowed the water in one large gulp, the stagnant liquid soothing his dry mouth and throat. He sighed, half refreshed and half annoyed. Dropping the cup on the ground, he looked to the window and noticed the faintest amount of light cutting through the dark sky. It was dawn, meaning he'd been unconscious for quite some time. Had it been hours or days?

He sighed again, his irritation rising. Everything happened so fast that it was almost a blur. One moment, they were piling bodies, and the next, he was pushing Leah out of harm's way, feeling as if he'd be snapped in half. He remembered the paralyzing pain, the panicked reassurances from his pack mates that he'd be okay, someone shouting Zora's name, and then more pain as the vamp doctor re-broke his bones. He remembered waking on and off, closing his eyes to the worried looks of his friends and opening them to his father sitting beside him, clutching his good hand while Carlisle checked his vitals. He could faintly recall seeing Edward wearing an expression of concern and pity. And Bella, who stared down at him with deep worry and even deeper sadness; who admitted on the mountaintop that she accepted her bloodsucker's cold hand in marriage; who hadn't chosen him.

His heart hurt, but more than anything, he was bothered because Zora's words echoed in his head: She will choose him. She'd been right, of course, and though a very small part of him knew that she would be, he held onto the hope that Bella would prove everyone wrong. But she hadn't, and now he was stuck in his bed, encased in a bunch of metal braces, frowning as he wondered why he couldn't recall Zora's face in the blurred memory of his visitors.

He laid still and thinking for so long that he hadn't noticed the sunlight streaming into his room. His body was sore and stiff, and trying to stretch his left arm and leg proved to be more painful than the movement he'd made earlier.

"Motherfucker!" he hissed, groaning loudly.

Billy rolled into his room seconds later, eyes wide and alert. "What? What is it, son? Are you in pain? Should I ask the doc for more morphine?"

Jacob's anger simmered upon hearing the fear in his father's voice. He appeared haggard, dark circles under his eyes, worry etched into the lines on his forehead. He hadn't seen Billy look that vulnerable since the funeral - Jacob's mom's funeral.

"I'm alright, Dad," he said, guilt settling in his stomach.

"You sure I can't get you anything?"

"No, I'm okay. I'm sorry that I worried you."

Billy's expression softened. "You don't have to be sorry about anything. Just…sit tight. I'll bring you some breakfast."

He rolled out of the room, but not before giving Jacob a lingering glance.

The rest of his morning passed slowly. Billy insisted that he feed him, so he laid in bed like a temperamental toddler as his father spooned bland oatmeal into his mouth. The pack arrived shortly after, each taking turns to sit in his room. He noticed that everyone was on edge, their eyes darting to the window every few minutes. Sam seemed the most anxious, his responses curt and emotionless. Jacob didn't like it – whatever was bothering him made him nervous, too. When he asked what was troubling him, Sam shook his head slowly, his expression morbid as he said, "Nothing you need to worry about."

It was clearly something, but they all kept their mouths sealed shut. This worsened Jacob's mood, and by the afternoon, a permanent scowl remained on his face. Obviously, he hadn't expected Leah to visit him, even though she was the reason he was momentarily incapacitated. But Zora…he thought she would've at least stopped by to ask Billy how he was doing.

Maybe she doesn't want to see me. Maybe she thinks I deserve what happened.

He exhaled slowly, shaking the thoughts from his mind. While she was most likely angry with him, he knew she wasn't cruel or vindictive. Still, he reasoned that he had no right to wish for her presence. Out of all of the times he hurt her, he knew that having to watch him and Bella kiss inflicted the most pain – pain he shouldn't have put her through.

He used his uninjured hand to rub his tired face. He didn't want to be cooped up in his room anymore. His body may have been healing at a rapid rate, but he wasn't able to move much. He'd be stuck in bed for several days. He huffed and closed his eyes, dozing off after a few slow breaths. At first, he dreamt of nothing, but his mind soon went to work.

He was back in the meadow, standing tall and healed as he watched two figures moving a far distance away from him. He was in his human body as he walked forward, eyes squinting as he tried to focus on the scene ahead of him.

There was a man gliding around with inhuman speed, pale skin glinting in the sunlight. His eyes were red and ravenous – a vampire. Running after him was an animal with black fur, and he wasn't able to make out what it was until he moved closer. It was a wolf limping as if it was injured. Still, it persisted with its attack, and though he could sense its resolve, it wasn't quick enough. The vampire gave a swift kick as the wolf was in mid-air, the blow landing with a sickening crunch against its shoulder. The wolf whimpered as it flew backwards, hitting the ground and skidding along the cool grass.

Jacob spotted something that made his stomach drop. Against the black sleekness of its fur sat a white spot on its neck—the same one Zora had. The immobile wolf was her, and his eyes widened in terror as the vampire stalked forward.

He was sprinting, arms pumping through the air as he ran to her. Only his body wouldn't move as fast as he wanted it to. No matter how hard he pushed, he ran in slow motion.

And he didn't reach her in time.

Still running, he watched, horrified, as the vampire placed his hands on either side of her head, and after lifting her in the air, twisted her neck at an unnatural angle. He heard a loud snap, her heart slowing to a complete stop.

The air stilled around him, still as the heart he no longer heard beating. And then his world came crashing down. He didn't reach her in time, and now she was dead. He screamed and screamed, frozen in place, sobbing and trying to make his tremoring legs move and—

He awoke with a jolt, breathing heavily as his heart thrummed rapidly. A pair of narrowed brown eyes was looking down at him, scrutinizing him with contempt.

"What the—I can't believe my dad let you in. What do you want?" Jacob said to Leah, feeling perturbed from both the scene in his head and her towering over him. She stared at him with so much malice that it made him uncomfortable. "And why do you look so angry? I should be the one who's mad at you."

She laughed bitterly, the skin around her eyes red and puffy. "Be mad, then. I don't give a shit." She pulled up a chair and sat in front him, her arms crossed over her chest. "I'm here because I have something important to tell you and no one else had the balls to do it."

"Listen, if you're here to insult me—"

"No, you listen!" she exclaimed, already incensed. "It's not about you! Not everything is about you! So shut your goddamn mouth for once and hear me out!"

He fell silent, blinking and dumbfounded. He'd been on the receiving end of her anger a few times and knew arguing with her would prove to be a pointless task. But this anger seemed different, more serious and emotional. And as he watched her fists clench and unclench, her swollen eyes watering, he had a strong, unpleasant feeling that whatever it was she was going to tell him would affect him, too.

"Zora's gone."

The moment she spoke, he felt dizzy, his head spinning so quickly that he felt nauseous. Zora's gone. The same earth-shattering feeling he experienced in his dream came rushing back, crushing him as he pictured her lifeless form. Zora's gone. The snapping noise echoed in his head and it took all of his will power not to vomit.

"Where is she?" he whispered.

Leah sniffled, quickly wiping at her tears. "After you pulled that heroic stunt and got yourself injured, the bloodsucker got away and she followed him."

Despite the pain, his body trembled, the wolf in him begging for release. No, he thought, that dream can't be real. It's not true. He stared at Leah with wide, fearful eyes. "No one stopped her?"

"I tried...and Sam gave her a command to come back, but she ignored it."

He frowned, a panicked sweat covering his entire body. Disobeying a direct order should have been impossible; she shouldn't have been able to get away. "Have you heard from her?"

She shook her head stiffly, her expression troubled.

"Has anyone looked for her? Someone has to go after her!"

"Sam and some of the guys are out there right now. Some of the leeches even offered to help." Leah exhaled a shaky breath, trying to retain her composure. "Her scent isn't very prominent anymore. It snowed again and covered some of her tracks."

Jacob's trembling worsened, and though his injuries screamed out to him, he was close to jumping out of his bed and leaping through the window. "She can't be that far. We have to go, too. We have to help—"

"Are you kidding me? Look at yourself. Half of your body is broken and if you shift, you'd probably end up killing yourself. You'd be useless."

He growled then, a mixture of anger and desperation coursing through him. He pushed himself to an upright position, grimacing as his injuries protested. "I wouldn't be useless if you hadn't tried to save the day!"

"Oh, here we go again!" she exclaimed, rising out of her chair. It fell backwards with a loud thud. "I admit it—it's my fault that you got hurt, but it's not my fault that she's gone! That's on you!" She was full of rage, her shoulders rising and falling with every heavy, barely-controlled breath. Even staring at him made her furious.

Jacob gave her an incredulous look, matching her rage. "Why the hell are you blaming this on me?"

"Because she's in love with you, you fucking idiot!"

He'd been ready with a spiteful comeback, but his response dissipated, her words rendering him speechless. He gaped at her as if she'd just slapped him across the face, his mouth hanging open in shock.

"Ugh, don't look so surprised, Black. It's common fucking sense. She wouldn't do something so risky if she didn't feel that deeply for you. She hasn't said anything to me, and maybe she hasn't even realized it yet, but she's been in love with you."

He was sinking again, his heart soaring for the briefest of moments before plummeting back down. After everything he'd done and said, she was…in love with him? He shook his head, repulsed with himself.

Leah watched the guilt flash across his face and made a repulsed noise. "That's right. I hope you feel terrible. I hope you feel shitty and disgusted with yourself. I've held my tongue for a while now for her sake, but she's not here anymore, so I'm done. I don't like you, Jacob, and I won't put up with your bullshit. But she has to because for some crazy reason, she imprinted on you. Of all the people she could've ended up with—Embry, who would've been better for her or hell, even Paul—she's stuck with you." She paused, huffing loudly, eyes gleaming wildly. "You don't deserve her, and I so desperately wish she'd imprinted on someone else. But I can't change anything, she can't, and neither can you."

She was standing over him again, jabbing a finger into the right side of his chest. "If…no, when she comes back, you either need to own up to your own feelings or let her go. It'll be the worst pain you've ever caused her, but she'll move on eventually, and she'll find someone who will actually love her the way she deserves to be loved. Do you understand?"

His mind was reeling. Zora was in love with him. After all this time, after every single instance where he'd put her feelings last, where he'd watched her cry because of him, she still loved him. He felt sick and irate all at once, his body heavy with sadness. Leah was right—he didn't deserve her.

"Answer the question," she said firmly, pushing against him with more force and feeling satisfied when he winced. "Do you understand?"

Jaw clenched, he met her eyes and nodded.

"Good."

She prodded him roughly one last time, then whipped around and headed for the door.

"Wait," he called out meekly. "I had a dream…about her. She…she didn't survive."

He watched a tremor roll down her back, her hands tightening into fists. "Then let's hope your stupid dream is wrong. Because if it isn't, I won't hesitate to make you wish your life had ended instead."

And with that, she stormed from his room.