He leaned in for a kiss. It was soft and reassuring, and made her let go of the anger she'd felt towards him and his brothers. She tried to remember that they were made for this, that it would be six-on-one, that they already had the upper hand. It was the feeling of helplessness that haunted her dreams. She was powerless to protect others, and she had to rely on everyone else to take care of her. Maybe that was a romantic idea when she was with Edward, but it was a burden, and it made her miserable. As long as Victoria was out there, Bella's destiny was yet again in someone else's hands. And even if the pack was successful, it was no guarantee that she would be the last vampire to terrorize Forks.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah," she said, apprehensive.

She prayed it wasn't about Edward. As much as Jacob hated him, she could see the morbid interest he still held in Edward, as if every word and deed gave him permission to hate him even more. She didn't want to feed a fire that already burned too hot. On top of that, she was ashamed of her willingness to stay with him, to lie to everyone, and to defend all the Cullens. The embarrassment rivaled the memory of anything she did in middle school, any stupid thing that had ever come out of her mouth. Maybe everyone was right: maybe she deserved to be treated like a child.

"What happened last summer, when your dad said you fell through a window?"

She laughed darkly. Well, she got what she asked for. She knew this day would come eventually; He would ask, she would tell him, he would go on a rampage, and she would have to keep him from burning the Cullen's house to the ground. It was a good thing they'd packed up long before she she had to recount the story.

"I know you don't like talking about him. I don't really like talking about him either. I just wanted to know what happened to you. It wasn't just the breakup, was it?"

She shook her head and looked away, too scared to watch his pulled back the sleeve of her sweater and turned over her wrist to the U-shaped scar, holding it out in front of him. It was still as pink as the day she left the hospital. It was never going to heal properly after being exposed to the venom. The long sleeves of her sweaters and flannel shirts usually kept it covered, but she used concealer on the handful of hot days that graced Forks. Seeing it only brought back memories of the attack. It would always be a painful reminder of her time as the vampire girl that would follow her for the rest of her life.

He turned her tiny wrist into the light to inspect it. She watched his eyes widen in horror when he realized what he was looking at.

"Holy shit!" he gasped. "Is that-?"

"Yeah." She swallowed and waited for the coming storm.

"But you're not-"

"Yeah."

He looked at her, clearly disturbed and befuddled by her revelation, before examining her wrist once more. He traced the line that those teeth had imprinted into her skin. His head snapped up to study her face, which was as still and unbroken as the water. There was no easy way to do this. She sighed bleakly.

"Remember those murdered hikers last spring? The ones people thought were bears or mountain lions?" "The ones I thought were the pack at first?"

"Bloodsuckers?"

"Yes. Three of them. Victoria, her mate James, and Laurent, who you've already met."

"That was the one we killed?"

"Right. Thank you for that, by the way."

"My pleasure."

"So I was with the Cullens when we met their coven, and James decided that he wanted to eat me. Not for food or anything, more like it was The Most Dangerous Game or something. Edward sent me to Phoenix to hide while they hunted for them, but James got to me first. He told me he had my mom hostage, and I fell for it. He managed to get his teeth in me before Edward and the others arrived."

She rested her forehead on her palms and closed her eyes. Jacob was inhaling slowly again. She knew this would make him angry. At least they'd taken off to parts unknown so he wouldn't try to kill them. He exhaled and slowly opened his eyes again. She was sure he was going to phase, and she felt relief wash over her.

"Why aren't you one of them?"

"I almost was," she said looking down at her feet. "In fact, I begged him to let me turn. I was even kind of pissed when I woke up in the hospital still human," she laughed. Jacob was unamused. The very idea of her becoming his mortal enemy seemed to linger uncomfortably in the back of his mind even now.

"Edward sucked out the venom himself. He made the call when I was too stupid to make the right one. I didn't recognize it for the gift that it was. Despite everything else, I will always be grateful to him for that."

She stroked his back while he processed her story. She could feel him trembling under her touch.

"Why did you want them to turn you? For him?" he asked, his voice tinged with bitterness.

"Yes. Well, partially. Being powerful and beautiful and immortal is pretty alluring on it's own. But I really had no idea what that meant, everything I would have to give up for someone who would ultimately dump me." She chuckled, and the corner of her mouth turned up in a strange half-smile.

"It's so ludicrous it's almost funny." She shook her head.

"God, I was such a moron," she groaned. "When did I get so flighty? I never thought I was the kind of girl who threw her life away to be with a guy. That was something my mom would do. I was supposed to be the responsible one. But hey, at least they recognized a shallow idiot when they saw it."

"You're anything but shallow, Bells. Or an idiot."

"Well I definitely was back then. I know you don't like hearing it, but the Cullens are good people, Jake. They knew they were cursed, and they weren't going to willingly subject me to that."

"At least that's one thing he and I can agree on. I guess I really do owe that leech big time."

His words were somewhat mysterious to her, but she was trying to calm him down, so she decided not to press the issue. Maybe there would be a little less animosity after this. Maybe he wouldn't cringe every time he heard the name.

"So now you know. The nightmares, my dark period, it wasn't really about getting dumped. It was about how he pulled the rug out from under me before I had even really worked through the ordeal with James. He just left me to figure it out on my own, and he knew I couldn't talk about it to anyone."

Her eyes felt misty again. No, she'd already cried once tonight. She refused to turn into a waterfall again. She studied his face for some clue as to what he was thinking. She loved the way she could read his face, but he could hide it well when he wanted to. His eyes narrowed, and he gazed up at the waxing moon.

"Do you still think about him?" His question was blunt, but she could still hear the tiny crack in his voice.

"Not anymore. Not really. For a while I imagined what I would say to him if I ever saw him again. It was pretty vindictive. Lot's of name-calling and hand gestures. I probably would have screamed myself hoarse. And then after a while I just let it go. I couldn't bear the weight of all that anger and sadness anymore. It was worse than the venom, but this time I had to decide to suck it out myself. Now I'm just glad he's gone. I'm going to miss Alice and the rest of them, but it's for the best. I don't want to be anyone's pet anymore."

His gaze remained unbroken, but he rested his hand on her knee. She knew he wanted to be supportive, even as he was trying to quell the wolf inside of him.

"I don't think I'll ever let it go," muttered Jake. "I remember what you were like back then too well. It hurt to watch. I hope I never see you like that again"

She stroked his hair and stretched upward to kiss his cheek. He was just as stubborn as she was. After everything that had come to pass that night, she couldn't blame him. She took his hand from her knee and interlaced their fingers.

"I hope you will someday, years from now when this is all in our rear view mirror. I have so many good things in my life now, so much to look forward to. I can go to college, get a job, have a family, join the circus, get really old and cranky and scare the neighborhood kids."

He chuckled.

"And I have you," she smiled, turning his chin to face her. "The best thing to come out of this mess yet."

She cupped her hands around his face and pressed her lips to his. In all the darkness, he was there. No matter what terrors she faced, he had stayed by her side. She would never have to do this alone again.

"You know," she began. "All of this could have been avoided if I had just dated Mike Newton instead."