Disclaimer: I own nothing. Thanks for rubbing it in.
A/N: Thank you SO much for the reviews! They were a big help =) I dunno why it took so long to write this-- sorry!
I woke up before Bella did. The room was already sunny—I figured it was about 8:30 or so. Charlie had left already—I had heard him get up earlier to head out to the station.
Bella was still snuggled up next to me, her head resting on my arm. I smirked a bit—her hair was an absolute disaster. She looked content in her sleep. I'm not gonna move her. I closed my eyes again, perfectly willing to sleep until she was prepared to wake up. I was sure she needed the rest.
About five seconds later, the smell hit me.
I bolted upright, my eyes darting around the room instinctively. I got up silently, listening for any kind of noise.
"Jacob?" Bella mumbled, still half asleep. My sudden movement must have woken her.
"Stay here, Bella," I half growled. Her eyes were wide, realizing that there was some sort of danger. I hated that expression. She shouldn't be scared when she was near me.
"Jake, what's wrong?" I could hear the fear in her voice. I pointed my finger at her.
"You wait here."
I slipped out of the bedroom, creeping down the stairs silently. I made it to the living room and, realizing where the sickening smell was coming from, I started for the kitchen, my whole body shaking—ready to phase if I needed to.
The bloodsucker in Bella's kitchen looked incredibly familiar. Not the redhead we'd been hunting—this bloodsucker was tiny, probably about the size of one of my arms. Her hair was black and spiky, and—the biggest difference—her eyes were black. Not red, like normal vampires. I realized where I had seen hr before—she was one of the Cullens.
I was fairly certain she wouldn't attack, but who knew? I wasn't about to let my guard down.
"Is Bella here?" her voice sounded a bit sing-songy. Kinda like wind chimes. Weird.
'Who's asking?" I replied through my teeth. She rolled her eyes.
"Alice Cullen. Look I just want to make sure she's okay." She was looking at me funny now, and I could see her nostrils flare. She was smelling me—trying to figure out what I am.
At that moment, Bella came flying down the stairs, moving so quickly that I was astonished she hadn't fallen down on the way. She raced past me, throwing her arms around the leech in a huge hug. My upper lip curled upward in disgust. I was amazed that Bella could touch this vampire so easily. And wouldn't she have bruises?
"Bella!"
The bloodsucker looked surprised, and also relieved. "Bella," she breathed. "I'm so happy to see you." She paused. "But would you mind backing off?" The bloodsucker held her body very stiffly, and Bella looked up into her face.
"Oops," she said apologetically, backing away. Hm. What's that about?
The vampire surveyed Bella for a moment, frowning. I stepped up next to Bella, ready to interfere if anything happened. Considering the treaty, I should have high-tailed it out of there and let Sam know there were vampires back in Forks, but I wasn't about to leave Bella. No way. Sam would just have to get over it.
"Bella, have you any idea why I suddenly can't see you in my visions?"
I was completely puzzled at this. Bella looked up at me, smiling a little apologetically. "I see you've met Alice," she understated. "Alice can… see the future." I groaned a little—it wasn't encouraging to know that the stories about leeches with extra powers were true.
Bella looked at the parasite now. "What do you mean, you can't see me? How long has that been going on?" Her eyes narrowed slightly. "And how long have you been keeping an eye on me?"
The vampire rolled her eyes. "You couldn't expect us to leave and not check up on you. He told me not to, but… considering your history of finding trouble, I thought it best to play it safe. And I noticed I couldn't see you anymore yesterday, when I checked like I always do."
Bella look confused. "What could cause that?"
"I'm not sure," admitted Alice. "It's never happened before." She paused. "And Bella, what exactly is that awful wet-dog smell? Did you get a puppy?"
I growled, without meaning to. Bella looked guiltily at me.
"Well, Jacob here is... sort of a werewolf." Bella seemed to think there was no reason to beat around the bush about it.
Alice gaped. After a moment, she shook her head.
"Of all the things, Bella…" she said disbelievingly.
I growled again. She hadn't gotten hurt yet with me, and I planned to keep it that way.
"Jacob," Bella reproached softly. I consciously reigned in my anger.
Alice looked thoughtful for a moment. "Is it maybe possible that I can't see werewolves?" She looked annoyed at this thought.
"You don't know how your visions work?" I was annoyed as well. Stupid bloodsuckers.
She gave me a scathing look. "They're not very precise, no. But," she continued, "Bella, have you been spending all of your time with him?" She jerked her head in my direction. "For the last couple of days?"
"Well, not every second of every day, no. But quite a bit of time." Bella blushed slightly at this.
Alice looked disappointed. "Hm. Well, I can't understand why I'm not seeing you."
I got a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach then. What if the reason the bloodsucker couldn't see Bella anymore was because I had imprinted on her? She was tied to me now. And if the leech couldn't see me, it kinda stood to reason that it wouldn't be able to see Bella, now that such a permanent change had occurred.
I needed to tip the leech off, before she continued trying to figure it out and accidentally let it slip to Bella.
"Bells, honey, why don't you get something to eat," I said softly, rubbing my hand soothingly on her lower back. "Breakfast is important." She laughed at that.
"You're not gonna pick a fight, are you?" she asked seriously. I shook my head. How could I, when it would hurt her?
"Alright then." She smiled slightly at the bloodsucker, seemingly confident that the leech wouldn't leave in the short time that it would take for Bella to eat her breakfast, and walked a little sleepily toward the kitchen. I waited until I was sure Bella was out of earshot before turning to the vampire. I sucked in a breath.
"There's sort of a wolf thing going on with Bella and me," I said quietly. The leeches' eyes narrowed. "It's involuntary," I backtracked a bit. "But she's… tied to me. It's complicated," I sighed, frustratedly running a hand through my now close-cropped hair. "But I think that might be why you can't see Bella, if you can't see me in your vision thingies either."
The vampire had been staring at me the whole time, looking slightly shocked. "Is Bella… aware of this?" Stupid leeches. I bet she already knew the answer, but I shook my head anyway.
"Wow." The bloodsucker still looked a little dazed. "When do you plan on telling her?"
"Uhm… as soon as I can figure out how," I replied sheepishly. The bloodsucker looked disapproving, but didn't say anything. It occurred to me that I was having a civil discussion with one of the walking undead. Not something I planned on making a habit out of.
"You guys aren't killing each other yet, are you?" Bella called from the kitchen. I wasn't surprised to hear that she sounded half-concerned. I grinned.
"No… not yet. Charlie would ask questions if his house was torn apart," I called back.
I glanced at the leech. "Don't say anything to her?" I asked, a hint of pleading in my voice. She didn't look happy.
"I won't say anything," she said slowly in her wind-chime voice. "But I think you should tell her. As soon as you can."
I tried not to think about how right she was as I turned toward the kitchen.