CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
Our house was soon filled with the many members of the council, their gazes looking angry and unsure as they assessed Rana, her body remaining to be eerily still while they gathered around her.
Old Quil was the one who broke the tension filled silence first, his words direct and his tone harsh with me when he spoke.
"You brought her on our land, Jacob? I expected more from you than that. As a direct bloodline to the Alpha role of your pack, you should know better, son. Your actions were not well thought out. They were rash and dangerous."
I balled my hands into fists and inwardly cringed at his verbal lashing, knowing he had good reason to speak this way.
"She was Sarah's best friend, Quil." Billy suddenly asserted, his tone heated and challenging toward the older man who stood a mere foot from Rana now.
"We all still grieve the loss of your Sarah, Billy. We always will. She was a wonderful woman, but that doesn't give Jacob here the right to break the law for our lands. It does not matter what she used to be, or that she was once a human. It is clear that there are other forces at work here. In all my years and experience, I have never witnessed such a thing. To be able to change back- It's toying with our boundaries of right and wrong. She is barely breathing now."
"She help save my son. Please Quil-" Billy asked, his tone less angry than before.
"You are asking the impossible from me, Billy. I'm afraid she cannot be saved. I know nothing of her kind-"
"There has to be something you can do." Leah suddenly piped up from the corner, her presence unknown until then.
"Leah-" I cautioned, seeing old Quil straighten his form upon hearing her biting comment.
"She belonged here. That should stand for something." She then added, bowing her head under his narrowed gaze.
"That doesn't matter." Old Quil asserted. "We don't know the kind of power she possesses and that makes her a liability for us. A Liability I will not partake in saving. I understand she meant something to your mother Jacob, rest her soul, but that doesn't change my ruling on this. She is dying. You need to let her go. I am sorry to you both, Billy."
"There's nothing more that can be done?" Leah asked, her eyes meeting mine from across the room with evident disbelief.
"No- I have spoken my ruling on the matter." Quil sternly clarified to her in return. "When she takes her last breath, which she will soon, you have my permission to bury her on these lands. Wherever you see fit, Jacob. This is where she grew up... It is only right that she be laid to rest here."
"This is Bull-" Leah began, pausing when I spoke up.
"Leah!"
My tone was loud and she silenced her bitter statement instantly, the words dying out on her tongue as she met my heated glare. "Enough."
I knew she was only trying to help me, but old Quil was a man who demanded respect and her lack thereof would cost her if she wasn't careful and I didn't want that for her.
She soon stormed off outside, her enraged howl filling the morning air as it lingered out over us. I stared down at Rana. seeing the deathly pale color she wore and knowing her time was quickly running out. My mothers face flashed before me as I felt old Quils hand on my shoulder, his words stern but understanding now.
"I know you miss your mother, son. That's a heavy void for you, but I hope you can understand my decision with this and the reasoning behind it? If the unforeseen happens here. and she awakens, sparing deaths reach, she is not to be here any longer. You will ban her from returning to these lands."
I could taste the blood in my mouth from biting my tongue when he spoke this to me, my insides crawling with dread as I thought of having to force her out of La' Push for good.
"Do we understand, son?" Quil hedged at my silence.
"Yes." I replied, the word tasting bitter when it left me.
"Good. We are no longer needed here then."
He was quick to usher the other members of the council out of the house and bid my father a farewell with a firm handshake before leaving us then. My eyes remained fixed on Rana as my father wheeled himself over to me, his hand touching my arm as he drew himself closer to her.
"I expected no less from them, Jacob. Old Quil doesn't compromise the law of our lands."
"He was right." I sighed, sinking down on the floor and taking Rana's hand in my own. "I should have known better, dad. Bringing her here- as much as I didn't want it to be- it was a mistake. Almost cost Sam and I everything."
"But it didn't." Billy countered, placing his hand on my shoulder. "Jacob- Leader or not- you are human. You make mistakes and you atone for them. You brought her here because she was so important to you mother. You wanted to help her in the same way your mother would have. I can understand that, son. It's okay. You did the best you could for her and that's what matters now. She is home... she can finally be at rest."
The many minutes ticked tediously by as mid- morning crept in, and Rana's breathing slowed further. I watched as my father covered her in a blanket my mother had hand knitted herself years ago, his face full of a sadness I hadn't seen from him in a long time.
"She gets to be here with us now. That's more than she could have ever hoped for I'm sure, Jacob." He sighed, taking her other hand. I counted the breaths she took in a minutes time then, seeing her begin to slip away when I only counted five of them. I tried to keep my head about me, tried to ignore the franticness I felt to save her somehow when I knew I couldn't, tried to force down the growing lump in my throat that felt as if it were choking me as another hour passed by.
"Thank you." I soon whispered to her, seeing her struggle to draw air in as she took her final few breaths, my unwanted tears spilling as my father stroked her hair, his words sincere to her.
"Go be with Sarah, Rana. I know she'll be waiting for you, dear. It's okay- Go be free."
She took her last breath then, her face appearing perfectly at peace when my father covered her and wheeled away, his eyes red rimmed when he dialed old Quil to tell him she was gone now. I slowly released her hand, standing on legs that felt numb and hauling her lifeless body up in my arms as I headed outside with her. I stopped at the sight of Sam still lingering by the tree line in wolf form, his whine carrying out to me as the wind blew fiercely around us. I walked toward him, seeing him phase quickly back to human form and pull on his jeans, his look grieved when he met me.
"I'm sorry, Jacob. I wish there was something-"
"You were right to do what you did, Sam. I owe you an apology."
He shook his head, grabbing dads shovel and nodding toward the forest. "You don't owe me anything, Jacob. You're my brother. Period. Come on- I'll go with you to bury her. We can find a place just for her. Somewhere close by."
"Yeah. Thanks Sam." I replied, following him into the woods.
We found the right burial for her by the river, digging down into the earth deep enough to cover her body there. Sam and I took turns digging, the silence between us hard to stand at times. Neither one of us having anything more to say now. When the hole in the ground was large enough, I laid her body down in it, cursing away the angry tears that wouldn't quit. It wasn't long before the entire pack showed up except for Leah, each of them standing around her shallow grave in formation when I began covering her. Every shovel full of dirt feeling heavier than the last as the grief settled itself into me with palpable weight.
When I finished, I thanked them all and felt Sam wrap an arm around my shoulders before I turned to go.
"She's at peace now, Jacob. Let that bring you some comfort-"
His words were interrupted by Seth's sudden whine, the sound of It causing us all to glance toward him. He huffed then, shaking his head as Paul let out an echoing huff.
"What is it!" Sam demanded, stepping forward as Seth phased back to human form and spoke.
"It's Bella. Leah's been out on watch at Charlie's. She went there after she left Billy's house. She thinks you're gone, Jacob. You gotta go to her- now. She's freaking out."
His words hit me like a brick to the chest, the pain from them making me swear as an angry volatile cuss left me.
"Fuck!"
"Go Jacob." Sam hedged, seeing my panic as I erupted into wolf form and took off for Charlie's.
The images from the packs mind invaded my own all at once as I sprinted through the dense tree cover. Leah was there still and I could see her memory of Bella as she let out a scream that shredded my insides, her tears evident when she came running outside. Her words echoing out around me as I ran.
"It wasn't real? It- it was all a dream!" She sobbed, sinking down on the porch as Charlie tried to calm her down, but she wouldn't listen to him. "He's gone... again. He's really not here... he was never here! Why... Why?"
Leah let out another howl, the sound of it dousing me in her pain.
I had left her when she needed me and that realization made me hate myself for it. I didn't want her to wake up alone.
I was supposed to be back before-
I broke through the trees then, phasing back just as Sam appeared next to me with a pair of his cut offs, seeing I had shredded mine upon phasing minutes earlier.
"Thanks."
He huffed to me in return, retreating into the trees with the others that followed suit as I ran across Charlie's lawn, hearing Bella's screaming while I went. Leah was standing by the front door and she was fast to open it for me when she saw me coming.
"It's bad, Jacob-" She started, as I ran past her into the house. I stopped dead in my tracks when Bella's broken cry filled the house, my eyes falling on her as she clung to Charlie, her eyes full of abandonment. The sight of it had my own tears forming as I stilled in the kitchens entryway, my voice strained when I said her name.
"Bells."
She looked up at me with a shake of her head, her words slicing me open and filling every part of me with her pain. A pain I had caused her.
"No- you're not real. Oh god! You're in my head!"
I went to her, seeing her look at me as if I was an illusion and taking her in my arms the second I could reach her.
"I'm real, honey. I'm sorry, Bells."
She clung to me, her body trembling and her tears falling.
I had failed her... left her alone when I had promised I wouldn't. My insides felt torn apart as she continued to cry, my own tears falling as I held her to me.