A/N: Hello everyone! Two updates in two days! :-) Look for more this week and as always... HAPPY READING and feel free to review! Love reading all your thoughts! :-)

CHAPTER TWENTY - FOUR

By the time Billy was done talking, nearly the entire morning was gone and Charlie looked as pale as I'd ever seen him. His eyes were fixed on Billy, but he looked as if he was a thousand miles away.

"So you see my old friend, Bella has not lied to you, she has told you the truth that she has kept hidden for your safety. I'm sure she feels awful for having to lie to you in the first place."

His words had tears forming in my eyes.

"I'm so sorry dad." I brokenly whispered. "I didn't know how to tell you before-"

"It's not your fault honey." Jake whispered, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

Charlie's silence lingered, making us all more on edge with each passing moment. It felt like hours before he finally stood to his feet and addressed me first.

"So everything Billy said just now is true? The entire Cullen Family are a coven of vampires... and Jacob-" Charlie paused, turning a shade of green before us."Is... a werewolf?"

"Yes it's all true." I replied, placing a supportive hand on his trembling shoulder. He looked so lost.

"I've known you for over twenty years now Billy... and never once did I think you were capable of keeping something like this... something so important from me... and Jake... I've watched you grow up and I thought I knew this family better than my own."

"Charlie-" Billy sighed, wheeling toward him.

"No Billy! How could you let Bella be here like this now? Having a relationship with your son without telling me what Jacob really was!?"

I felt Jake's arm tighten around me as Charlie reached out for me.

"Come with me, Bella. We're going home! I don't want you having any part of this world and if that means you and Jacob can no longer be together... well then I'm sorry but that's how it's gonna be!"

His words sent me reeling. My breath coming out in short gasps as my eyes frantically met Jacobs.

"Charlie you can't-" Billy tried.

"Don't you tell me what I can and can't do with my own daughter, Billy! You worry about your own son and stay the hell out of my business!"

His words were sharp with Billy and I saw him flinch in response to them.

"Bella, lets go! We are leaving... now."

"No!" I gasped, hugging Jacob fiercely and refusing to let go of him. "Please..."

"Isabella!" Charlie yelled, though I ignored him.

I couldn't stop the tears that ran down my cheeks as I begged him to change his mind.

"Please dad... don't do this. I'm not leaving here with you-"

I could feel the tremors as they tried to spread through Jacob, his hold on me tightening while he whispered my name.

"Bells..."

He was struggling to keep it together.

Billy was the next loud voice I heard.

"You're being irrational, Charlie!" He fought back, taking a lethal tone with my father I had never heard before. "You can't keep them apart..."

"Watch me!"

I felt Charlie pull me away from Jacob then and I began to sob, as he tore us apart. He rushed me out the front door, with Jacob and Billy hot on our heels.

"Please dad!" I sobbed, turning back to see Jacob barely holding himself together, his eyes dark and his body shaking. "You're making a mistake. I'm eighteen and you can't-"

"The only mistake I made was trusting my best friend for this long. Now get in the car, Bella. We are going home...and this is over."

"I love him!" I yelled, backing away from Charlie's grasp.

"He's not good for you, Bella!" He is dangerous! Can't you see that?"

"He would never hurt me dad! You don't understand!"

"I understand perfectly-"

"Don't take her-" Jacob interrupted, approaching my father in trembling form. "You can't-"

I took a step toward him, only to be halted by Charlie grabbing my arm. I tried to pull out of his grip as Jacob reached for me, but it was no use.

"You better remember who your talking to, Jacob!"

Charlie suddenly stopped talking then, his eyes wide and fixed on Jacob now, as his knees buckled and a loud ripping sound echoed out toward the surrounding forest. I watched in horror as Jacob succumbed to his inner wolf, phasing right there in front of us all, with a loud and powerful roar as he soon came to stand on all fours.

"JAKE!" Billy yelled, frantically wheeling himself toward us.

"Holy shit!" Charlie huffed, trying to pull me behind him while Jacob stalked forward.

"No!" I yelled to my father. "Your trying to take me from him and his inner wolf won't let you! I'm his imprint, dad!" I desperately tried to explain, keeping a firm hand on his chest. "He can't control it! He's acting on instinct!"

Charlie backed away from me as the russet wolf drew near, his muzzle coming to nudge my hand softly.

"Bella! Get away from him."

"He won't hurt me... can't you see?" I whispered, huddling myself into the wolf I had come to love as much as the man.

Charlie was wide eyed as he looked at me, his face drained of all color. "He's a dangerous predator, Bella!"

"No... you're wrong. He is a protector, dad."

Charlie didn't wait for any further explanation from me. He shook his head in disbelief as he quickly climbed into his cruiser and then drove away. I watched his fading tail lights as my tears began to consume me.

I had hurt my father deeply with these lies but what else was I supposed to do?

I fell to the ground as Charlie's cruiser slowly disappeared.

What had I done?

Billy reached his hand out to me, his eyes sorrowful as Jacob hunkered down on the ground, curling himself around me while I cried.

"This wasn't your fault, Bella. You told your father the truth and I'm proud of you for it. Maybe it's my fault... Maybe I should have told him the truth myself years ago... before the Cullen's even returned to Forks. Just give him some time. He'll come around."

I hoped beyond hope that what Billy said would turn out to be true... that my father would come around ... that he would come to see why I had hidden all this from him.

I stayed on the ground until night began to fall and the chill of the air made me shiver, despite Jacobs thick russet fur acting as a heated blanket.

I stood reluctantly, feeling Jacob nudge lightly into me as I headed for his house.

He soon retreated into the woods, leaving me to enter alone as he phased back into human form.

I sat numbly on the edge of the sofa, my eyes flickering to Billy who sat at the kitchen table with the phone in his hand.

"Charlie, this is Billy...uh - listen - please call me back, old friend. We all just wanna be sure you're safe."

He hung up the phone with his head low and his eyes downcast. This had hit him hard, too. He had been friends with my dad for longer than I'd been alive. I didn't want this to ruin their friendship indefinitely.

Billy soon took notice of me in the living room and wheeled himself in to join me there.

"I've left him two messages, Bella... He's got to call back sometime."

I nodded, meeting his tired gaze. "I thought I was doing the right thing, Billy. I'm not so sure anymore... I'm so sorry for all the havoc it caused."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, dear." He assured me, his hand gently squeezing mine. "You look exhausted. Why don't you try and get some rest."

I took his advice then, laying down on the couch with a blanket, as Charlie's yelling came back to me.

How could he not see that Jacob was still Jacob? Even if he morphed into a werewolf now... he was still the boy my father had always known. Still the boy he had watched grow up and how could he dismiss twenty - five plus years of friendship he and Billy had shared so easily? He walked away today. Not looking back, as if he never wanted to.

I shuddered at the thought of what this meant for our already fractured relationship...

Would he forgive me?

I was too lost in my own thoughts to notice Jacob had come in, his stance weary as he walked over to join me on the couch.

"I'm sorry, honey." He whispered, his tone so warm with care that it made my eyes sting with new tears.

"You have nothing to be sorry for-"

"I lost my cool. Phased when I should've controlled my anger... but Bells... the thought of being separated from you-"

"I know." I breathed to him, taking his warm face in my hands. "I don't blame you for this Jacob."

"I tried to control it, honey. I did."

He pressed his forehead to mine and closed his eyes. His face full of a stress and tension I hated.

"He might never see me the same again, Bells... He only see's the monster I've become now."

"You're the furthest thing from a monster... You're still you... still my Jacob..." I softly reminded him.

I saw his eyes open and his smile return at my words, making me grin in response.

"I have patrol tonight..." He then sighed, brushing a stray lock of hair away from my face. But you can stay here as long as you need to, honey."

"Are you sure Billy won't mind?"

"He thinks of you as family already... he won't care... it'll give him some company for breakfast in the morning. I won't be home from patrol until noon."

I nodded with a heavy sigh, not wanting him to go, but knowing he had to.

"Mind if I sleep in your bed?" I hesitantly asked, seeing the boyish smile that I loved so much light up his features.

"No, I wish you would." He truthfully replied, taking me by the hand and heading for his room.

I lingered at the door, seeing him hurry to pick up the clothes on the floor and straighten out the bed for me.

"Think you'll be comfortable in here?" He asked, kissing me softly on the lips.

"Yes, very much so."

He searched through his dresser then, pulling out an old t-shirt and tossing it my way. "Something to sleep in- case you... wanna change for bed."

I held the soft shirt to my face, inhaling his scent and wanting to wrap myself in it. He wasn't even gone yet and I already missed him.

Jacob sat down next to me, his hand reaching for mine. "Try to get some rest, honey... things with Charlie will work out. He needs some time to process all this. It's a lot to take in all at once."

I marveled at his understanding, seeing the care behind his deep brown eyes.

"He was wrong about what he said about you-"

"Maybe-" Jacob sighed. "But... every time I look at Emily. I'm reminded of how things can go so wrong... so fast. I can't even stomach the thought of that happening to you. I would never be able to forgive myself, Bells. I can hear how hard it is for Sam... he carries a heavy weight from it every day... even if we're not on the best terms right now. I still wouldn't wish that kind of torment on anyone."

The sadness was evident in his tone when he spoke of this.

"Have you been able to talk to him? Since -"

"No... nothing outside of pack duty. He won't see me. I've tried."

"You took your birthright... your rightful place. You did nothing wrong."

"It was the way I took it from him. I challenged him for it. Blamed him for Edward getting to you."

"Sam will see reason with time and hopefully my dad will, too."

Jacob nodded, his fingers lacing with my own. "I've never felt pain like that, Bella... when you were gone... I felt like I was being suffocated. Like the longer you were gone... the harder it was for me to even breathe and the pain in my chest... was almost unbearable, as if a weight were crushing me from the inside out."

My eyes welled with tears as he recalled this.

"I don't ever wanna feel that again... That's why when Charlie..."

I saw him shudder and look away from me then, his hand tightening in mine.

I placed my head on his shoulder, barely touching my lips to his neck.

"Jake, I'm not going anywhere... ever." I promised him. "You're stuck with me..."

A sudden howl from outside abruptly stopped our conversation and he was on his feet faster than I could blink.

"That's Paul. I'll be back later to check on you, honey." He sighed, kissing me once before leaving. I listened as the howling outside his window grew louder and I wondered just what the pack had come across at this hour.