"Jake, we need to talk." I said, turning toward him.

"Ruh roh." Jake said, mimicking Scooby-Doo. I couldn't help but laugh, I mean he was a dog after all. Which thinking that only made me laugh harder and Jake was looking at me like I had two heads. "You good, honey?"

"Yeah, sorry. You doing that and you're practically a dog." I started to laugh again but Jake pressed into me, the kitchen cabinets at my back, his face above my own making me tilt my head to look at him. He grabbed my forearms and held them tightly in one of his hands. When he spoke next, his voice was deep and seductive yet somewhat playful and a hundred percent dominating. It just made me melt. Good thing Jake's hand was holding me in place.

"I'm NOT a damn dog!" he practically growled and I whimpered as my need increased. How the hell was I supposed to have this conversation about waiting a bit longer when I wasn't even sure I wanted to?

"I…"

"No, honey, it's my turn to talk." He leaned down, sniffing my hair and his head tilted like he had noticed something, like a freaking dog! I pursed my lips to keep from saying it out loud but I also kind of wanted to because this dominant Jake was really sexy. No, you don't want sexy, not yet. You need fully clothed and puppy dog Jake, not half naked Alpha. Wait, Jake wasn't the Alpha, so how did he play the part so well? After a moment I realised he still wasn't saying anything.

"I thought you were going to talk? And what's with the pretend Alpha authority?"

"Sorry, you just… smell delicious right now." Jake shook his head to clear his thoughts. "You smelled like that this morning too." My mouth dropped open as I realised what it was he could smell, and he smirked, showing he obviously knew as well. "I could get used to that." He winked and I nearly fell to the floor as my knees went weak. "Also, it isn't 'pretend Alpha authority', Sam was never meant to be the Alpha. He just happened to be the first one to phase. He stopped by last night while you were still in my sisters' room. He didn't want the job anymore. Something about having to Alpha command his Imprint and he didn't want it causing issues in his relationship. It was always supposed to be me, because of my bloodline, only son to the chief etcetera. I figured, why not? He just, gave up his position to me and it got all weird and we could feel the shift between him to me and here I am."

"Oh. Well that's, uh…" I looked up into his eyes and when I did, he took the opportunity to pick me up behind my knees and place me on the counter to be close to his height which I thought would make things easier for me, since standing was difficult at the moment but now he was standing firmly between my legs, pressed up right against that spot that tingled when I thought about him. He sniffed the air once more and I could feel my face turn red but after picking me up, his hands went right back to locking me to the countertop so there was no way I could hide.

"So damn delicious." Well that definitely wasn't helping the problem.

His lips met mine as his body pressed against me. My eyes closed and his tongue slipped passed my lips to massage my own. His tongue moved fast and with purpose and he let go of my arms to wrap his around my back pulling me tight to him. One of his hands reached up to caress the side of my neck but stayed for only a moment before his thumb traced my jawline to my chin then with his fingertips on the crook of my neck, his thumb found the hollow point just above my collarbone. My breathing was jagged as I tried to get my thoughts unjumbled long enough to figure out what the hell I was doing but it was pointless. I found myself completely taken over by Jake's hidden, dominating side and I allowed him total control over me.

I could hear the sound of the oven timer going off, though it was faint due to being in my own little world, Jake's world. I would be happy to let the muffins burn if it meant he would just keep doing what he was doing but he heard it too and decided to pull away, leaving me panting… like a freaking dog. My body ached at the loss of contact and I just wished in that moment that he would come back.

"J-Jake…" it was hard to form a thought let alone speak actual words but I needed him to know how much I wanted him.

"Bella, I'm so sorry. I can't. We can't. You're not ready." He put his head in his hands as he swore beneath his breath.

"Wh-what? Why? I don…"

"Go shower. I can't stand the thought of them smelling you like that." He meant it as a suggestion, I could tell but his voice said it as an order, which didn't help either. Everything he did seemed to set me aflame. I just stared at him before realising what he said about my scent and my face once again turned red. I ran off to shower as Jake took the muffins out of the oven. When I was done, he went to take another shower for himself while I finished the food for the pack.

It was finally 10 which meant that I didn't have to feel awkward around Jake anymore because the house would be full and busy and there was a conversation to be had.

Everyone stood around the kitchen or sat at the table and chairs and ate the food I'd prepared except for the two wolves patrolling and the one outside the window listening in to fill in the other two. They chatted and stuffed their faces until Sam cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention.

"There are two reasons we're having this meeting, one because I have some news, and the other is something Bella has to say. I'd like to go first if it's ok with you?" he asked, looking directly at me. I nodded. Of course he could go first. "As you all know, Emily had used some form of ancient magic to trick my mind into believing she was my imprint. What you don't know but have likely figured out is that Leah, is. We seem to have imprinted on each other. Now that being said, imagine having to order your imprint to do something dangerous, deadly even? Imagine having to keep your cool if that order then gets her killed? I decided I couldn't do it. I stepped down as Alpha and Jake took his rightful position." There were gasps and talking over one another around the room and some howls in the distance. "This is the way it was meant to be. Jake is and always has been our true leader and now that he is ready to take the role, we all must support him. Now, Bella you called this meeting for another reason, care to fill us all in?"

"Yeah, thanks. Yesterday I came to the realization that The Cullen's, more specifically Alice and Jasper may not be who they seem. They were not changed by Carlisle and have not always been with him and I believe that Alice has been pulling their strings for a lot longer than they even realise. I set up a meeting with the entire family for noon at the treaty line and I believe that if I bring attention to what has happened, the rest of the Cullen's will feel just as upset with her actions as we are. My hope is that I can go back to normal, school, home etcetera. I figured no meeting with them should take place without the pack though especially if they try to do something like they originally had planned which again, seems likely that it was all orchestrated by Alice and her selective visions."

"So what all do you think she was controlling?" Leah asked, before taking a bite out of a blueberry muffin.

"Well a theory is that she controlled them coming here in the first place. She would have seen me and Edwards reaction to me, but never said or did anything to stop it. Then there was an extremely icy day where a car slid and almost turned me into a burger patty between it and another car but Edward intervened, showing me that he was much stronger than a normal person should be, she was standing right there and couldn't see the car beforehand? He could have just… walked me to my car instead and had I been hurt, the only saving me might have been, turning me into a vampire which Edward was and is very against. Then the baseball game that brought James, the aftermath of it including me being bit and if it hadn't been for Edward, I'd be a vampire right now, and more recently, my birthday party that Alice INSISTED on throwing, which led to poor Bella bleeding, Jasper wanting to drink me dry and again I could have easily been turned into a vampire. Alice was all for me joining the family. She was always in Edwards ear trying to get him to change me but he refused. That's why they left. Edward knew it was too risky to stay and wanted to keep me safe. They came back because of Alice."

Sam stood up and started pacing. "First of all why wouldn't he want you to join him as a vampire?"

"He was forced into that life on his deathbed. He hated who he was, what he did. The only people Edward ever killed and drank were people who belonged in Hell. He saved countless people, young girls in dark alley's being preyed on by men who wanted nothing good, things like that. But Edward believes in Heaven and Hell. He believes that being a vampire removes your soul from your body and he never wanted me to lose my chance at Heaven."

"Ok well that definitely sounds like he's not a total dick, considering." Sam looked at me then, "My next question, how do you ALMOST become a vampire? How did Edward stop it?"

My left hand rubbed at the scar just above my cast. I turned my wrist toward the pack and stepped into a stream of light that peaked through the kitchen window, showing them the sparkling scar that was left behind. "James bit me. Some movies make it seem that you need to then bite the vampire, or drink human blood for the first time but in real life, they just need to bite you and leave enough blood to circulate a venom that their fangs produce. This venom stops your heart and turns you. It also burns like battery acid being pumped through your veins and is excruciatingly painful." I could feel Jake behind me shaking, he didn't hear about that part yet. How hard would it be to learn that the love of your life went through something so horrible? "There was only one way to stop the change from happening and it had to be quick, before the blood pumped the venom everywhere and that is similar to a snake bite, suck the venom out. So despite his need for my blood Edward managed to do that and stop himself from just drinking it all, because he wanted to make sure I stayed human even though being a vampire would have been much easier for our relationship."

"You're kind of making me not hate the guy. A vampire with a conscience." Sam said.

"They're all like that. Rosalie let you guys know what Alice had planned. Emmett is literally just a very strong teddy bear. Carlisle, he helps so many people. And Esme, she just wants to see her family happy. She is a kind mama bear. Jasper and Alice are wild cards. Neither was changed by Carlisle or brought up with his ideals. They are the ones that can make or break this meeting."

"Well," Jake said behind me, "Let's hurry and eat so we can head out. I want this over with. Not that I mind you being here but you're so close to graduating. I want that for you and it's hard to do from a computer."

"Agreed. So eat up. I want this over with so I can go into Forks and get some REAL groceries to feed you guys with."

The pack all laughed and stuffed their faces and before we knew it, it was time to leave.