Eyes Wide Open

JacobxBella

Rated M

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or the franchise, as it belongs to Steph Meyers

Eyes Wide Open

Chapter 17

Ever since her impromptu date with Jacob, Bella had been unable to get him out of her mind. It was as if all she could think about was him every minute of every day. It actually scared her a little, because the last time this happened, she had been obsessed with Edward and discovering his secret, thus getting herself wrapped up in things she had no business being in. However, her thinking of Jacob wasn't like that, wasn't obsessive. Jacob had nothing to hide from her, and his appeal and allure wasn't mysterious in the slightest. He was an open book to her, a book that she found herself wanting to read again and again, while Edward had been a book she forced herself into and couldn't get out of, getting caught up completely without seeing the ending.

However, Bella knew that Jacob was nothing like Edward. They were nothing alike in the slightest. Whereas Edward seemed to outshine her in an almost negative aspect, Jacob—though he shined too—allowed her to shine in her own way and didn't hold her back, didn't make her feel insecure about herself. She didn't think she could find anyone else like Jacob, romantic interest or platonic relationship. Well, Angela maybe, but she and Jacob were different, and not just because they were opposite sexes. But above all, she found herself wanting to be with Jacob every day, which was funny considering they were living together for the time being.

Time continued to go on, the summer flying by faster than she could believe it. She and Jacob spent a lot of time together on and off the Reservation. Shadow was Bella's little shadow, following her around and being the perfect little guard dog that he was. The black Lab had also been growing, his growth brought to her attention by Jacob upon him playing with him one day while she took a nap. He wasn't much bigger than he had been when Lambo gifted him to her, but Shadow had been growing. Things had seemingly been normal for Bella and Jacob, though they couldn't deny that the summer was coming to a close soon and the new school year was going to start again. And because of this knowledge, it had Bella wondering and worrying if she was going to have to move back into her home with Charlie soon. Not to say she didn't want to, because she definitely missed seeing her dad every day, but she was just worried that it would be easy access for Edward to get to her again, especially knowing he had been in her bedroom since living in La Push following their breakup.

Bella figured if she kept dwelling on it, it would drive her insane. Therefore, she decided to shelve the issue for the moment and focus on the now. And the now for her at the moment, was her, Jacob, and Shadow. Besides, it wasn't like her problems could get any worse than Edward.

Victoria ran through the woods of La Push, running away from those stupid, overgrown dogs that were chasing her. The red one seemed real intent on catching her, for whatever reason she did not know. Feeling them gaining up on her, she ran for a tree and ran up it, doing a backflip over the four wolves chasing her, and landed on her feet before turning and running back the way she came. She smirked hearing the wolves slide to a stop before chasing after her again, their annoyance present in their growls.

As she kept running, her red eyes landed on a little red house with a small wheelchair ramp. It smelled just like those wretched wolves the closer she got, meaning one of them obviously lived there. However as she reached the edge, she stopped suddenly catching a glimpse of a familiar brunette head in the window. Looking inside she saw that the brunette was holding up a black puppy, cuddling and cooing at it while the little furball wagged its tail happily and licked her face. She turned her head to the side towards the window, giving Victoria a clear view of her face. It was none other than that stupid wretch, Bella fucking Swan.

She hangs out with these wolves? How interesting, Victoria couldn't help but wonder. And she has her own little guard puppy dog; how cute. It's not going to keep her from me, though. I just need to bide my time.

Growling reached her ears and Victoria turned her head, seeing the four wolves running after her. Turning to her left she took off running again, allowing them to chase her through the woods once again until she reached a cliff overlooking the sea. Looking behind her once more, she saw the large red one bounding towards her quickly, a rather intense look in his large eyes. Deciding not to dawdle any longer, she jumped off the cliff and into the rolling waves below, disappearing in the water as the wolves stopped at the cliff above.

"Damn it! She got away again!" Jacob shouted, stomping his large paw on the ground in frustration.

Paul scratched the ground in anger as well, his snout pulled back in a horrible snarl. He couldn't believe that the damn redhead kept getting away from them. And they would get so close every single time, and yet she still got away. Huffing he said, "We have to figure out how she keeps getting away, and then we can create a strategy to catch her."

Sam sighed and said, "Well, we won't do that just standing around here. She's gone for the time being, so we'll regroup about her later. I'm going on patrol right now; Paul, you're with me. Embry, go home and rest. And Jacob, I'm not sure if you noticed, but the redhead seemed particularly interested in your house not too long ago. I want you to figure out why. We can't have her close to any of our homes and our loved ones."

Jacob nodded and the four of them dispersed, Jacob on his way home for a shower and to rest for a bit. Of course, he did wonder what that vamp was so interested about at his house to be dwelling at the edge of the woods. Unless…unless she was interested in Bella. But that couldn't possibly be the reason. Bella would have no reason to know that red haired vampire…would she?

Bella smiled happily as she cuddled Shadow to her on the couch, loving the time she was spending with her puppy. The black lab panted happily, licking her chin and cheeks as his tail wagged. Hearing the front door open she looked up and smiled seeing that it was Jacob coming home. Looking into his aura of what she now knew to be the general direction of his face, she greeted, "Hi Jake."

"Hey Bells," Jacob replied, smiling at how her face was lit up as she smiled at him. However, he couldn't help but wonder if she knew anything about the rogue vampire that they were chasing, and why she was sticking around the Forks/La Push area. Did Bella have anything to do with it? He wasn't putting the blame on his best friend, not at all, but Bella was the only normal human that new about the Cullens' true nature. It wasn't much of a stretch if she knew other vampires around because of her former association with that family of leeches.

Deciding to just bite the bullet, he walked over to the brunette and black puppy dog, taking a seat next to them before saying, "Bella, I need to tell you something."

Immediately feeling something wrong, Bella frowned and asked, "What's wrong? Did something happen? You didn't get hurt, did you?"

"No, I'm fine; don't worry about me. I just need to tell you about what the Pack and I have been doing lately and ask you a question in regard to it. I'm only doing so because Sam said something earlier that had me thinking. But just know that I'm not blaming you for anything, okay?"

Bella stared at Jacob's golden aura for a moment in silence before slowly saying, "Okay…tell me what it is."

Jacob nodded and recounted how he and the Pack have been tracking down the redheaded vampire, chasing her practically every day and her evading them at every turn, no matter how close they got to catching her. He also told her about the chase earlier that day and how the redhead seemed to linger at the edge of the wood and stare at his home before taking off again. As he spoke Jacob noticed that Bella's brown eyes widened and her expression took on a look of absolute fear. She held Shadow closer to her in a tighter grip—not enough to hurt him, though—as if seeking sudden comfort from his tiny furry body. When he finished talking Bella couldn't help but ask, "You've been chasing Victoria? She's still around?"

Surprised at hearing that the brunette knew the leech's name, he was even more surprised to hear her say 'still around'. Frowning Jacob asked, "You know this leech? And what do you mean that she's "still around"?"

"I…yes," Bella answered quietly to the first question. She swallowed hardly as she continued saying, "I first met her when I went with the Cullens to play baseball. She showed up with two other vampires, Laurent and her mate James. The Cullens were going to allow them to play with us, but James caught the smell of my scent and tried to attack me, but I was protected by Edward and the others. Because of this, it prompted a hunt after me. James had the ability to track and he loved the hunt, causing the Cullens to protect me and me to run away for a while. But James eventually tracked down where I was and made a plot to lure me away from Alice and Jasper. He made me think he kidnapped my mother, but he hadn't. He almost killed me and even bit me, but Edward, Carlisle, and the rest all made it to me in time. Edward sucked out the venom as the others killed James, and I passed out. The next thing I knew, I was in the hospital and I was blind."

Jacob stared at Bella in disbelief before running a hand down his face. He stared at her for a moment before asking, "What about Victoria and Laurent?"

"Laurent was the one to tell us about James tracking ability and that he wouldn't stop until he caught me. He also told us to not underestimate Victoria either, and that she had the power of evasion."

"That explains why we can't catch her. And you said that she was this James's mate?" At Bella's nod, Jacob hissed in frustration, "Damn it!"

Bella frowned. "What?"

"The redhead isn't leaving because she's after you, Bella. She wants to kill you as revenge for the Cullens killing her mate because of you. I can't believe those damn goody-goody leeches didn't tell you that was a possibility."

Bella felt her blood run cold at Jacob's words. Not only was Victoria still around, she was still around trying to get to her because of James. Even though she wasn't with Edward anymore, that didn't mean Victoria knew that. Thus, she believed that she'd still be killing Edward's "mate". And now the Pack would know why she was still lurking around Forks and now La Push. Victoria knew she was here! With all of this realization hitting her at once, Bella's breathing began to quicken and her heartbeat started to sound rather loud in her ears.

Shadow, having picked up on the intense emotions coming from his mistress and her mate, whined and rubbed his head against her, wanting to provide her with comfort. But unfortunately, it wasn't working. Jacob, seeing Bella was on the verge of hyperventilating, gently grabbed hold of her face and said, "Honey, calm down. You're having a panic attack. Calm down, honey. I'm right here."

Taking in deep breaths, Bella looked at Jacob's aura, his facial features coming into view once more like they had that time before. Her heartbeat slowed and she came down from her panic as she took in Jacob's features, looking at his face after so long of not seeing it. He was giving her so much comfort, even though she knew Victoria being around and him and his Pack chasing her was her fault. But she couldn't help herself and leant against him, hugging him close to her as he did the same. Tears filled her eyes and spilled over onto her cheeks as she buried her face into his strong, bare shoulder.

Taking in a shuddering breath she whispered, "I'm sorry. Victoria's still around and it's all my fault."

Shaking his head Jacob replied softly, "No, no it's not, honey. Don't blame yourself, it's not your fault." To him, it was the Cullens fault, but he wasn't going to say so right now, not while Bella was distressed. Though she wanted nothing more to do with Edward, she still had respect for the rest of their clan.

Placing a gentle kiss on top of her head he said, "Just let me handle this, Bells. Don't worry about it, and I promise I'll protect you, no matter what."

Bella closed her eyes as more tears fell down her cheeks, taking a deep breath and nodding slightly. She held onto Jacob tightly, not wanting to let go of him for anything and just wanting to be wrapped up in him forever. Everything in her life always seemed to go to shit, but the one good thing in her life was Jacob, and she didn't want to lose him ever.