A/N: Twilight belongs to Stephanie Meyer. I'm only making her characters do my bidding for a little while. The plot and original characters of Longing do belong to me, however. Jasper as the God of War and Peter "just knowing shit" are ideas that belong to Idreamofeddy.

Thank you to Laurie Whitlock, my wonderful friend and beta, Shelljayz, my awesome and beloved sister and beta/prereader, and juliangelus, another wonderful and dear friend and prereader. I love you guys.

Thank you to everyone who has read, followed, favorited and reviewed this story. I, once again, was a failure of epic proportions at responding to reviews. I'm so sorry about that. Just know that I appreciate each and every one. I'm still having a rough time, and it's been hard to keep up with them.

Thanks a million to whoever nominated me for the Energize W.I.P. Awards. It truly means a lot. Voting begins on July 13th, and I will put the link for the website on my profile. You should definitely vote, even if it isn't for me. There are so many great authors that deserve recognition for their amazing work! :)

Now that the Cullens' secret is out to Bella, where do they go from there? And what is going on with Jasper? Shall we find out?

oOo

Sunday, November 22nd, 2080

BPOV

Jasper had been distant and distracted since Friday, and it had nothing to do with me knowing he and his family were vampires. No, Jasper was all screwed up over the fact that I knew who he was as a human. I just didn't know why. It seemed awfully backward, and though I couldn't be sure, it felt like he was avoiding me. I was never sure of anything when it came to him though. I could have been overreacting. I did that when it came to him too.

So now the infuriating niggling I'd been feeling since I had first heard his name was laid to rest, but he was clearly not at peace; then again, he hadn't been for as long as I'd known him.

His discontent bugged me. I couldn't stand it and that he might be avoiding me because of it, and I had been wracking my brain the past couple days trying to come up with ways to fix it. It would have helped me figure out how to make things right between us if I knew what bothered him about my knowledge of him as a human, but I knew he would never tell me. We were alike in that way. We were alike in a lot of ways.

Major General John B. Magruder had written that Jasper was as close to the perfect soldier as he'd ever seen. I was the perfect soldier. That similarity between us was almost disturbing, but it made sense. I'd pegged Jasper as the military type the first time we met. It was obvious in the way he carried himself and existed in the world around him, but I'd dismissed that notion because I hadn't believed he was more than eighteen at the time. I'd written it off as a fluke or figured that he was a military brat before he'd been adopted by the Cullens, but I was wrong. He was an actual soldier. It had been more than two centuries since he'd donned a uniform, but he was still a soldier, just like I was; that obviously bothered him, but I wasn't going to ask him about it. How could I? It wasn't my business really, no matter how curious I was, and as I'd already mentioned, he would never tell me.

Part of me wanted to shy away from Jasper because he was a soldier still, to shy away from Peter too because he also gave off that vibe, and if I could pick up on what they were, it was fair to assume that they could pick up on the same attributes in me. I wouldn't though. It might have been pushing my luck, but my determination to convince Jasper I was a decent person was no less strong. I had to make up for how I'd treated him. I owed him that, and I wouldn't back out on it because there was a possibility he could notice how similar we were. I could attribute those similarities to my years living on the streets if I had to—it was plausible enough. It wouldn't make me feel like the most awesome person ever, but I still had to put my survival above almost everything else. I would feel bad about it for awhile, but I would get over it.

At any rate, I had several more hours to scheme on how to cheer him up. I was working an eight hour shift at the diner, and while the place would be busy as hell for the whole of that time, I could devote a small section of my brain to waitressing without my customers suffering for it and the rest of it to Operation Pull Jasper's Head Out of His Ass. The unfortunate thing about those eight hours was that I would be working with Leah Clearwater for six of them.

I hadn't seen Leah since the day before the accident, and I wondered if she was going to say something to me about it. Tyler's van nearly hitting me had burned through the gossip grapevine more quickly than usual, and the whole town knew about it by the time first period was over that day. Thankfully, Jasper's involvement in my rescue had remained obscure to everyone. The story we'd fed Sheriff Dwyer about him sliding under the van after the fact to see if he could help was holding up, but Leah Clearwater wasn't just anyone. She was a member of a supernatural group of creatures that had it out for the Cullens, and I was sure there was at least some speculation there, speculation that wouldn't allow the Quileute tribe to let things alone. I was sure there would be some sort or inquiry or investigation on their part. The treaty between them and the Cullens gave them that right, but I wasn't in the mood for any kind of confrontation, and there was no telling what I would say or do if she did say something to me about it.

"You ready to roll, Bells?" Emmett asked, shouldering my partially open door wide to accommodate his large frame. He was tossing his keys high in the air and twisting around in fancy maneuvers before he caught them. I think he was trying to show off some of his vampire prowess, and it was impressive, I had to admit.

Emmett was my ride to work since my car was totalled in the accident four days ago.

"Don't call me that," I bit out with as little animosity as I could while I grabbed up my purse and the outlines for Jasper's and my next joint history project. I'd finished them the night before when the Cullens thought I was sleeping, and I was going to drop them in Jasper's study for him to look over while I was at work or whenever. The upcoming week was the Thanksgiving holiday which we had off, so it wasn't pertinent that he get it done right away, but it was a good excuse to gauge his most current state of mind.

"What? 'Bells'?" Emmett questioned with a frown, following me through the door of his brother's study.

Jasper was sitting in an armchair by the window with a book open in his lap. He wasn't paying the book any mind though, his golden gaze fixed on a spot in the distance through the glass, his expression devoid of all emotion. My entrance with Emmett on my heels had the planes of his beautiful face darkening with the shadows of ghosts I would never know. Peter and Charlotte were curled up on the brown leather loveseat, her back to his chest, also with a book.

At the sound of Emmett's voice, Jasper snapped out of his reverie and brought his attention to us.

I nodded stiffly in acknowledgment of Emmett's question and held up the papers for Jasper to see. "Call me anything else, within reason," I emphasized those last words, turning them into a warning. "But do not call me that."

Jasper reached out for the assignments, beckoning me to him, and I crossed the room to hand them over. Our fingers brushed accidentally, and I shivered.

"Your hands are cold," I offered as an explanation to no one in particular. His body temperature had nothing to do with the shiver that ripped through me—I hadn't set myself up to feel the cold like a normal person, and even if I had, I wouldn't have been able to feel it with the way heat always tore through me at his touch. I irrationally wanted to touch him again, and I almost did, my index finger poised to run up the skin of his forearm, when Emmett's voice rang out.

"Why?" he continued to question, settling his back against the wall next to the homey, lit fireplace.

I broke out of the spell I was under, not sparing Jasper much of a glance as I spun to face the bear-like Cullen. I marched forward until I was just a foot away from him and propped my hands on my hips.

"Because I don't like it." Except that had very little to do with it. "And you know what they say, don't you?" I asked with an arched brow.

"People say lots of things," Emmett responded.

"Curiosity killed the vampire," I clarified cheekily.

He grinned at me and let out the booming laugh I'd become so fond of in the last weeks. So did the others, even Jasper, though it didn't sound like he meant to. It was distracting.

"I like it when you laugh, Texas," I said without thinking and turned to see if he was smiling too. He wasn't, but he did look surprised by my admission. I was surprised by my admission, and I fought to keep a blush from flooding my cheeks. He made that hard sometimes. I now had to wonder if they could smell my struggle to get ahold of my blood flow with their keen sense of smell and truly hoped they couldn't. Some humans had better control over their physical reactions to things, including keeping their heart rates steady—that's generally how spies and the like outsmarted lie detectors—but my control of it went above and beyond. It was abnormal, and the Cullens could notice. Plus, the urge to blush in Jasper's presence was embarrassing enough without anyone else knowing about it.

Peter and Charlotte had smiles on their faces which pissed me off. It made me wonder if they thought there was more to that comment than there actually was. I wanted to scowl at them but didn't. That might give them more reason to think there was. Emmett seemed unfazed. I wasn't sure if he just didn't notice the potential for it to mean more or just didn't care.

"C'mon, Bella," he said. "We gotta get you to work."

"Actually, Em," Charlotte said, peeling herself away from Peter. "I would like to drive Bella." Then she looked to me. "If that's okay with you."

"I don't mind," I told her with a shrug.

Emmett pouted, and I patted him on the shoulder as I passed. I still didn't like touching, but it was easier when I did it of my own accord ... unless it was Jasper. Then I hated it and liked it in equal measure.

"Don't worry, Em," I reassured him. "You can pick me up."

That mollified him some and he grinned that boyish grin that nearly melted me every time he shot it my way.

Charlotte got to her feet, and we made our way out of Jasper's study, the burn of Jasper's eyes following me all the while.

"I hate having to let people drive me around," I grumbled as we walked down the stairs.

"You could ask to borrow a car," Charlotte pointed out. "I know someone would let you."

I sighed in irritation. "I know, but taking me to work makes Emmett happy for some reason, and though I have no idea why, I feel the need to give him that. Oh, how the mighty have fallen," I lamented, sighing.

Charlotte chuckled but didn't comment.

As we passed through the kitchen on our way to the garage, we were stopped by Esme's voice. "Bella, dear, what would you like for Thanksgiving dinner?"

My eyebrows puckered in confusion. "Thanksgiving is a food holiday. I know you're vampires now, and vampires obviously wouldn't celebrate something like that. You don't have to keep pretending to eat for my sake, and I have no intention of making you cook Thanksgiving dinner just for one."

Esme gave me an indulgent smile. "Thanksgiving is about far more than just food, and we are very blessed, so we like to celebrate the things we're thankful for. Carlisle and I insist on it, and I'm not making the food just for you. I plan to take what you don't eat to the soup kitchen. If it makes you feel better, you can help me cook it. I know you don't like to let people do things for you too often, and I really do need you to decide what you want. If I don't buy the ingredients soon, the grocery store may run out of them."

"Alright," I said, nodding. I'd never celebrated Thanksgiving before, not traditionally, at least. The idea was appealing to me, but it would be a bit awkward eating alone in a room full of vampires. Oh well. "But only if Emmett doesn't watch me eat like he's got some demented fetish!" I called loudly, knowing he would hear.

Emmett's booming laugh filtered down to me from Jasper's study. It made me grin.

oOo

Charlotte and I were silent for the first part of the ride to Diamond in the Rough. When we reached the halfway point, she pulled over to the side of the road.

I gave her a questioning look, but she didn't answer for a while, just gazing at me shrewdly and steadily. She was studying me, trying to read me. Because it was something I so often did, I recognized the gesture for what it was in an instant. I wondered if she was doing it to unnerve me as well. That was something I did too, and Charlotte gave off the same soldierish vibe that Peter and Jasper did, only to a much lesser degree. She was still sharp and subtly unyielding, intimidating and manipulative in a way that a person would never pick up on unless they knew what to look for, but she rarely used that intimidation and manipulation unless it was necessary. I'd seen it only once in the time I'd known her, but that one time was enough to tell me this; she was also stark and honest.

It was two minutes and fourteen point two seconds before she spoke. "Whatever was goin' on between you and Jasper is over now, right?"

I kept my features stoic, not wanting to react to her question. What the fuck? Did Jasper tell her about Louisville after he said he didn't kiss and tell? "Excuse me?"

"The two of you are over whatever it was that had you at each other's throats or am I readin' things wrong?" she clarified.

"No, you're not reading things wrong," I confirmed, letting out an internal sigh of relief. "And none of that was Jasper's fault. It was all on me, but I'm going to change the way I treat him."

"I'm glad you can cop to that," Charlotte said, turning to face me. "I'm even more glad to hear you're gonna can the bitch routine and start treatin' Jasper right. I'm gonna be honest with you, Bella. Peter and I may have been civil to you, nice even, but we didn't, don't, approve of how you treated him even if you did ignore him a lot of the time. It was really difficult for me to hold my tongue when you were unjustifiably bitchy to him. Pete and I are the first ones to get after him when he's bein' an asshole, but he never treated you badly unless you did it first. That may not have been the best way for him to handle things, but he still had the right to put you in your place when you went for his jugular, so to speak. You have no fuckin' idea what he's been through, the things he's done for us, or the lengths we'll go to to protect him and have his back. The God's honest truth is that if I didn't like you, if Peter hadn't staid my hand, I would have ripped your throat out, even if it would have caused a war with the Quileutes."

There was a terrible yet beautiful passion in Charlotte's voice as she told me that. I had the vague thought that I would give anything for someone to love me in that way.

"And it was a good damn thing I didn't," she muttered under her breath. It wasn't something I was supposed to hear, something a typical human wasn't supposed to hear, so I didn't ask her what she meant.

"Wow," I proclaimed, impressed. "That was blunt."

"I don't believe in dancin' around things."

"That's something we have in common," I noted. It was something I'd already suspected, but this little encounter was confirmation.

Charlotte smiled. "It's one of the things I like about you, Bella, which is another reason I'm glad you and Jasper have worked things out. I would like for us to be friends. I've really always wanted us to be, and I think he would like that too, even if he doesn't realize it yet."

"I don't know what that means," I said, frowning.

"I know," she returned, her smile turning mysterious.

What bothered me was how much I wanted to be friends with Charlotte … and Alice, Peter, Emmett and Edward … and Angela, who I'd been talking to more and more in the classes we shared and during the times we ate lunch together. I even wanted to be friends with Riley, which was stupid for all sorts of reasons—namely the fact that his father, Phil, was the Chief of Police, but we got along well, and I'd had fun the two times we'd gotten together to work on Physics projects. The relationship I was beginning to want with Esme wasn't the same. I wanted to be close to her in a much different way. The relationship I was developing with Carlisle was yet another thing. I didn't know what I wanted from Jasper—friendship or just the ability to peacefully coexist. Whichever one it was, it was still more than what I'd anticipated I would want.

Why was I making things so painfully hard on myself? I would be leaving in a matter of weeks, and it was going to hurt … badly.

oOo

The first six hours of my shift were run-of-the-mill. My customers were pleasant, and I earned good tips—not as good as at The Finish Line, but that was a bar in a big city with a higher volume of customers, and I wasn't walking around this place in the revealing but not too revealing clothes I had worn there; the tips here would never be that good. Leah eyed me with speculation but kept her distance, which was more than I expected. That was good but good things never lasted.

I was on my second break and was outside enjoying the crisp, clean winter air when she approached me. She'd just clocked out and was headed home, and I imagined she figured now was the best time to ambush me. I had the fleeting urge to pretend like she didn't exist or shoulder passed her and saunter back into the restaurant like she meant nothing. I met her eyes instead; I wanted this over and done with.

"Is there something you want, Leah?" I asked, masking my impatience and anger with indifference.

"Yes, actually," she answered, no trace of nerves in her voice. Her confidence was one of the things I admired and liked about her. It was one of the things that, on occasion, made me wish we could be friends. Knowing she was part of the group that policed the Cullens and that she was keeping an eye on me because of it, that everything about her was fake, changed that, tainted it, however, and the fleeting desire I had to be her friend was quashed. "I've been wanting to talk to you for days."

"So talk," I invited with no inflection.

"We can't talk here," she responded.

"We talk here or we don't talk at all," I dictated bullheadedly, crossing my arms over my chest.

Leah rolled her eyes, and she, unlike me, didn't bother to hide her impatience. "You only have ten minutes of your break left, Bella. What I need to say to you will take longer than that, and it can't be said here. It's not safe."

"Not safe for who?" I demanded, keeping my voice quiet. "For me? For you? You think I don't know what you're really doing here, Leah?" I hissed, losing my cool. I was furious and ... hurt? Betrayed?

Huh. Yes, I knew that was hypocritical too, but I couldn't seem to help that either.

"You're a fucking plant! Sent here to watch me and make sure that the big, bad Cullens don't harm a hair on weak, defenseless Bella's head!" I snarled dangerously. "All this time you've been nice to me, trying to make me believe you wanted to be my friend, and it was nothing but bullshit! Well, fuck you!"

Leah's eyes blazed but she did the opposite of what I was expecting; she sighed instead of lashing out. "You're not wrong about most of that but being nice to you and wanting to be your friend wasn't, isn't, bullshit, Bella. I want you to give me a chance to explain."

"Why should I?"

"They told you everything?" she questioned. I nodded in confirmation, and she continued, "I want you to give me a chance to explain because you gave them one."

"They put a roof over my head, they put food in my belly, they have been nothing but kind to me since I met them, even though that's the last thing I deserved or continue to deserve for them to be," I replied to that. "They saved my life, in a sense, by taking me in." I didn't actually mean that though. What I meant, without being able to say it, was that Carlisle had when he found me in Louisville. "Jasper literally saved it, risking his and his family's safety without a second thought to keep my ass alive. Now they're trusting me with their secret, still knowing that I don't trust them with any of mine. I owed them a chance to explain. I don't owe you or any of the rest of your tribe that courtesy."

"When I asked you if they told you everything, what exactly does 'everything' mean?" Leah asked.

"They told me everything about them, and then Carlisle told me they weren't the only supernatural creatures living in Forks. I took a guess who the others were, and I happened to guess right," I informed her. "I asked what you are, but Carlisle wouldn't say. 'That's not our story to tell,' were his specific words. He did tell me that not all of your people are 'other,' but that those of you that are, protect those of your tribe that aren't, from vampires. Then he told me about the treaty."

Leah huffed, her expression hot with fury. "He may not have told you what we are, but there's not much he didn't tell you!"

"It was in the interest of full disclosure, Leah! He told me because he thought knowing as much as possible would help keep me safe if things ever came to a head!" I spat. It took all my restraint not to yell, grab hold of her shoulders and shake her, but I kept myself in check. "The most important thing is that he did keep your secrets. I don't know what you are. He left telling me that up to you!"

Every word I'd just said echoed in my head, but I ignored them. It was another thing that was so incredibly hypocritical, but I couldn't let those words apply to me.

You're still leaving soon, Bella, I repeated yet again. I needed to protect myself, whether the Cullens would keep my secrets or not. Telling them wouldn't change anything. It wouldn't change that I still had to run and keep running if I wanted to stay safe and free. They would probably try to convince me to stay with them, that they could somehow protect me, but they couldn't, vampires or not. No one could protect me but me. That was my reality. It always had been. It always would be.

"And we want you to know!" Leah barked lowly to keep our words from floating to those lingering in the parking lot or heading into the diner. "I have permission from the tribal elders to tell you. The fact of the matter is that the Cullens brought you into a world that you have no business being in! Our people that aren't 'other' don't even know because that isn't a burden they need to bear. There's a reason no one knows what the Cullens are, Bella! There's a reason no one knows what we are! They're called secrets for a reason, but you're in it now, and now that you are, you do need to know. Not just their side but ours too—for your fucking safety! Dr. Cullen was right about that, at least. I'm not trying to turn you against them, Bella. I won't lie and say that there won't be those of us that won't, but I won't and neither will Jacob. A couple months ago, I might have, Jacob might have but not anymore. Can't you just take a leap of faith and let me tell you?"

I just stared at her. She'd made a good argument, and I believed her when she said she wouldn't try to turn me against the Cullens, but I wasn't ready to let her see she was wearing me down. It was another power play. Old habits die hard.

Leah threw her hands up, her frustration boiling over. "Gah! Sometimes I wish you and I weren't so much alike!"

"Fine," I conceded, putting her out of her misery.

Her lips twisted into a radiant smile of triumph. "Meet me at the treaty line after you get off work. The Cullens know where it is so bring one with you—I don't care which one. It's to show good faith between us. Jake will be with me. We'll tell you everything then."

I nodded in acquiescence.

oOo

Emmett was the Cullen I brought with me, and I gave him no warning. I felt mildly guilty about it, but he was coming to pick me up from work anyway. It occurred to me that Jasper would be the better choice as an empath. He would be better able to keep control of the situation if things went to shit for whatever reason, but I still couldn't be sure if he was avoiding me or not. If he was, that wouldn't make for the most ideal of situations, and Emmett was an excellent choice as well. He was a towering wall of muscle, intimidating if you didn't know him, and his size was as on par with Jacob's as any of the Cullens could get.

He wasn't bothered by my keeping him in the dark, but Emmett was so easygoing that it wouldn't. It didn't seem like much of anything ever did. He even agreed to keep the others out of it when I asked him to ... as long as Leah wasn't bullshitting us.

"I hope you don't get motion sickness," Emmett said with a grin.

He flung me on his back and ran us to the treaty line, taking special care to dodge any branches that might scratch me, and the wind whipped my hair into a frenzy around my face and shoulders. I was glad he'd done it. I'd wanted a more concrete idea of the parameters of vampire speed and I'd gotten it. The only drawback was the contact it required. It was true my skin crawled less when Emmett touched me, but it still crawled. I wondered if my less intense reaction was because he'd comforted me after my phone call with Kathleen Davidson.

Leah and Jacob were waiting for us when we got there.

"Alright, I'm here," I said without preamble. "Talk."

Jacob ignored my brusqueness. "Hello, Bella," he greeted me amiably, gracing me with that easy, infectious grin of his. It reminded me of Emmett, strangely enough. Considering they hated each other, it was ironic. Jacob gave Emmett a tight nod. "Leech."

There was a joking quality to his tone, but his body language betrayed his uneasiness. That uneasiness meant nothing to me right then—I had absolutely no patience for it. I didn't yet know the history behind their feud, but at that point, I didn't give a shit.

"Jake!" Leah chastised sharply, even though she knew better than anyone that he wasn't altogether serious. I ignored her admonition.

"His name is Emmett," I ground out. "If we're going to talk, call him by his fucking name!"

Jacob put up his hands placatingly. "Sorry, dude," he apologized to Emmett, and then shifted his gaze to me. "Our species' are mortal enemies, Bella. We rub each other the wrong way. It's instinctual. I'm trying to fight against that, but it's an unnatural thing to do, which makes it difficult. I know it's not easy for Emmett either, and I was just doing my best to lighten things up. That wasn't the best way to do it, but I do stupid things sometimes. It was a bad joke."

I gave him a nod. He nodded back, and he and Leah turned away from us, heading behind a couple trees. I heard rustling, and when they came back out, they were in their underwear.

I was on the verge of asking, "What the hell?" but before I could, they began to tremble and the air around them started to shimmer. A moment later, they exploded, and in their place were two horse-sized wolves.

"Well, damn," I muttered, my eyes wide. I'd known the Quileutes were "other," but I hadn't quite been prepared for what I was seeing now. Finding out the Cullens were vampires was a much easier transition.

The russet-colored wolf that had appeared in Jacob's place let out a rasp that sounded almost like a chuckle. The smaller gray "Leah" wolf nudged him in the shoulder before trotting back behind the tree the human Leah had gone to change only a minute before. Another minute passed, and Leah was standing in front of me, fully clothed and human again.

"So, you're what? Werewolves?" I queried curiously, now over my shock and ready to get back down to business.

"No," Leah responded. "We're shape-shifters who just happen to take on the shape of wolves when we phase, but you can call us that if it's easier for you. There's this whole complicated tribal legend about how that came to be, but I won't bore you with every intimate detail. The bottom line is that we have magic in our blood—our genes. It's that magic that triggered our ability to shift, and it was our outrage over threats against our people, unnatural ones most specifically," she said, looking pointedly at Emmett, "that triggered the actual shift. That means that we shift whenever we need to, not when there's a full moon, and we're in control of the shift ... except for when we first phase. It's like anyone learning any new thing at that point. It takes some practice, but it's something we're born to do, so we learn pretty quickly."

"I suppose silver doesn't make you quake in your boots either," I quipped.

Leah and the Jacob wolf rolled their eyes. "No."

"And vampires are one of those unnatural threats?"

"Yes," she confirmed needlessly. "As I'm sure you can guess, most vampires aren't like them," she jerked her thumb at Emmett. "All of the ones our tribe has encountered before them have left nothing but casualties in their wake. We've always gotten rid of them because we've always believed, in part, that protecting our tribe from vampires is what we were made for. The only reason we didn't take on the Cullens," she continued, meeting Emmett's eyes, "is because they proved how different they are."

"How did they do that?" I had always known the Cullens were nice, even when I wasn't sure if I was just trying to convince myself of it for my own peace of mind. Seeing how the Quileutes typically reacted to them, I was beyond curious what could possibly have made them stop to consider that the Cullens weren't like others of their species.

"When the Cullens first came here in 1936, the Chief of our tribe, Ephraim Black, was Jacob's great-great-great grandfather to the nth degree. The Cullens didn't know who we—our people—were, or that our purpose is to kill them. They were hunting one day and came across Ephraim's wife and son being attacked by vampires, and even after they figured out, in the midst of the fight, what we were and why we exist, they still killed those vampires to save the lives of the Chief's family," Leah answered somberly, her gaze boring into mine, and then shifting to Emmett. "They didn't have to do that, but they still did it, and our tribe owes them a debt for that. Most don't feel that way but some do. I do." The Jacob wolf whined, and her eyes flitted to him and then to Emmett's before meeting mine again. "And so does Jake. We didn't know about what Carlisle, Esme, Edward, Emmett and Rosalie did for us until a few weeks ago, and Jacob is right. It's hard to let our prejudice and instinctual reaction to vampires go, to fight against it, but he and I are trying. There are others who are trying too. Things won't ever be perfect between us. Some of the pack will never give a shit that you helped an ancestor of ours, but you've earned our respect, Emmett," she finished, gesturing to herself and Jacob. "I hope you'll pass that on to Dr. Fang. I don't necessarily approve of you bringing Bella into our world, but she's in it now, and she's got protection from us and, I'm pretty sure, from you."

"You're damn right she does," Emmett vowed.

"She's standing right here," I huffed in annoyance. I was perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I wanted to scream it at them, but I wouldn't. I couldn't.

A glance from Leah to Emmett to the Jacob wolf showed that they were all wearing sheepish expressions. It was hilarious to me that a wolf could look sheepish.

"Jacob's father, Billy, is the figurative Chief of the tribe, though in current times, that translates as head of the tribal council," Leah explained. "He's more of a figure-head in that respect because of his responsibilities as the Alpha male of our pack and because Black's Auto Repair & Restoration pulls in a lot of money for the Rez and also pretty much keeps the pack afloat. Jacob's mother, Talise, is the Alpha female of our pack and has more of a hand in the council than Billy does. She doesn't really have much to do with the auto business at all so she has more time for it. Jacob and I are next in line to be Alpha male and female of the pack." She cast a loving and proud glance over her shoulder to where the Jacob wolf was shrouded in the shadows, but she also looked sad and kind of old as she said it, as though she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. There was a similar sheen to the Jacob wolf's eyes and the slight sag of his shoulders at her words. "When Dr. Cullen and the rest of his family came to us and announced that they were taking you in, they didn't give us a choice about it, but they promised we could keep an extra close eye on them and you to make sure the treaty isn't violated. You said they told you about the treaty," she said, pausing. "Did they tell you what it entails?"

I nodded. I was getting fidgety, and I wanted to move around. I wouldn't though. Now wasn't the time, so I shifted into parade rest to keep myself in check instead—feet shoulder width apart, hands centered at the small of the back, the fingers of both hands extended and joined, thumbs interlocked so that the right palm was outward, head in the attention position. It was still second nature after all this time, and as annoying as it was, the routine of it, the familiarity, was comforting. I regarded her calmly as I waited for her to proceed.

"Can we have a minute?" Leah requested of me, still looking chagrined.

I nodded again, not able to deny her. She couldn't help that she was a shape-shifting wolf just as the Cullens couldn't help that they were vampires—the way I couldn't help that I was a genetically-engineered super soldier. I had already listened to this much; I might as well listen to the rest. I was still angry as all hell with her. None of this changed that everything between us was fake. I wasn't exactly truthful about my origins, but I never made promises to people, and I never told them I wanted to be friends when I knew we couldn't be.

Emmett laid a hand on my shoulder, and it was tough not to stiffen, but I did it, not wanting to give Leah or Jacob any reason, despite their seeming acceptance of him, to become suspicious or wary. I gave him a reassuring smile, and he retreated into the treeline, out of sight—though he could still see us—but not out of earshot. It gave the illusion of privacy, but it was still annoying. I couldn't say much about that though since I was capable of the exact same thing. Jacob received a similar reassurance from Leah and trotted off in the opposite direction.

"I liked you from the moment you walked into the garage at Black's Auto and gave Paul hell," she grinned. "When we saw you waitressing at the diner, Jacob came up with the idea that I get a job there with the idea that I would be better able to keep an eye on you. I was the one who was chosen because you seemed to like me best—"

"That's not true," I interrupted. "I liked your brother the most that day at the garage."

Leah's grin turned sardonic. "Your honesty is great," she chuckled, and then she sighed. "Anyway, I wanted the job, and if Jacob and I hadn't put our feet down, it would have been Paul."

"Oh joy," I muttered.

Leah smiled at that but returned to seriousness in an instant. "It's my duty to watch over humans, Bella, but I really was hoping we could be friends. You see, I don't have any female friends. I was never really able to relate well to the girls I know on the Reservation growing up. I was always too harsh and abrasive, girly but not girly enough. Just ... different. Maybe it's because I was always destined to be a wolf, I don't know. My best friends have always been guys, and I love my guy friends—I do, but I've always wanted a chick friend. I'm the only girl in the pack, and now that I'm a wolf, I really can't relate to other girls. But you walked into Black's Auto, and I felt like maybe you could get me even though you're not supernatural. We're alike, ya know? So I wanted the job because I wanted, want, to know you. It just so happens that it let me keep an eye on you, make sure you were okay, at the same time. You know, two birds, one stone and all. Now that you know about vampires, and well, us, I got really excited because I thought it might mean we could be the kind of friends I've been wanting but didn't think I could ever have. It wasn't bullshit, Bella."

All throughout her speech, Leah's expression and voice were earnest and honest, her eyes clear and bright, her heart rate steady. She was being absolutely sincere, heartbreakingly so.

Everything Leah had said was something I could relate to on some level, and my ever-fleeting desire to be friends with her solidified. I wanted to be friends with her.

Son of a bitch!

It really was going to hurt when I left.

"Okay, Leah. I believe you."

Leah smiled, her relief palpable, but I couldn't smile back ... my heart was hurting. But that didn't matter. I would push all this aside because that's what I did. I cordoned things off so I could deal and live my life without going certifiable. I couldn't be friends with Leah ... or Alice, Charlotte, Peter, Emmett, Edward, Angela or Riley. I couldn't get any more attached to Esme or Carlisle. I could show Jasper I wasn't a cold bitch without letting him get underneath my skin any further. I could do that. I could.

oOo

A/N: So now Bella knows about the Quileutes, and she's trying to figure out a way to cheer Jasper up. What do you think she'll come up with?

I hope you liked this chapter. Take care. :)