Chapter 5

"Bells," a voice whispered in my ear. "Bells, you need to drink," Jacob was very persistent. It had been a week since my last drink. That was when Leah had decided to have some "fun" and torture me with a whip that had deadly Lycan nails on it. "Isabella," Jacob said with more authority.

I hadn't spoken since that day. Not a word was uttered through my lips. It felt like my security blanket had been ripped away. It showed me what was really going on. They were keeping me here from my family. They were keeping me from my love. Just so they could use me to get to my father, the King of the Underworld. All they wanted was a nice deal. I wasn't some piece of property. I wasn't that kind of girl. I was stronger than that. I could deal with this. If I just shut myself off from them, I could plan my escape. At the moment, I didn't even care if it was suicidal to try to escape this maze of underground tunnels.

"BELLA," Jacob's voice cut through my thoughts, "please, just drink," he begged in a softer voice. I nodded my head so he would leave. "Bella, don't think I'm stupid. As soon as I leave this room you are just going to dump it out. I can see the way this is affecting your body. You can't do this to yourself. I won't let you. Please, drink," Jacob grabbed my chin so he could say this in my face. I just ripped my head from his hands and looked away. What I saw in his eyes scared me. He was right, I looked horrible. My cheeks were hollow; there were black bruises under my eyes from no sleep; my hair was a rat's nest. I was just falling apart. My insides were already in a million pieces; especially my dead heart. I struggled with just putting up the act that I was fine. But I wasn't fine. In fact, nothing seemed right in the world anymore. Up was down, down was up. Black and white switched. Everything was blurry and out of focus. My world was turning upside down. And I was slowly being ripped at the seams. All of my strength was drained, leaving me weak and easily breakable. I'm sure Jacob was walking on egg shells around me.

"PLEASE BELLA, just drink," Jacob pleaded next to me. My head drooped and I curled up against the wall. I had been sleeping on the floor in Jacob's room because I knew I didn't deserve the comfort of his bed. I didn't deserve that. No, I deserved to be a prisoner. That was all that I was to him anyways. No one cared about me. Just the big pay check coming when they traded me for their reward.

"Damn it Bella," Jacob cursed when he realized I was going to respond. This time he gave up quicker. It usually took a few hours before he would just leave. He didn't understand the internal struggle I was having. A part of me, a very small part, wanted to listen to Jacob. To comfort him and do as he said. That part broke every time he tried to help me, but just gave up. That part wanted to throw away the broken man that became Jacob. That part knew it was me who was doing that to him. The rest of me knew it too, but I chose to ignore it. I didn't give myself that satisfaction. I was so selfish.

"Fine, if you want to starve yourself, go ahead. I don't know what has gotten into you. I try; I try every damn day to help you. But you just ignore me. Do you want me to start treating you like a prisoner? Is that truly what you want? Is this your way of telling me? I don't know if I care anymore, Bella." His words cut through me painfully. "Wait, I do. I care too much. I care way more than I should. Bella, I think I love you. Wait, I don't think. I know; I know I love you. But I know you will never feel that way about me. Just know that I will always be there for you Bella. Whenever you chose to get over this, you can find me. I will always be waiting for you with open arms. Just remember that," Jacob finished with the door slamming. I can't believe he felt like that. This new revelation caused something in me to stir. That part of me that longed to comfort Jacob broke free of the cage I had kept it in. I stood up quickly and ran to the door. I opened it and started my search for Jacob. It didn't take long, though. I found him with his head resting against a wall just down the hall from his room.

"Jacob," I whispered. His head whipped up. I saw disbelief flash through his eyes before they were masked once again. That same damn masked Edward had worn when he left me to go to war. "Jacob, I love you, too," I told him honestly. I did love him, but as a friend. A very good friend. "Jacob, I do love you. It may not be the way you love me. But I do love you," I said.

Jacob lost his mask and showed his true emotions to me. I saw relief, confusion, love, and more relief. His arms opened up. I quickly ran to him and jumped into his arms. He grabbed onto my waist and pulled me up. I wrapped my arms around his neck while his took hold around my lower back. My legs wound around his waist. Jacob had tears in his eyes, and I soon realized I was crying too. I was only in his arms for a few seconds before we both heard footsteps approaching quickly.

We both turned to see who it was. I slipped down Jacob's body till I was standing, but he kept an arm around my waist. I quickly wiped my tears and his away.

"JACOB! Come quick!" Embry yelled when he came into view. Quil and Seth were right behind him.

"What is it?" Jacob asked, alarmed.

"It's vampires, at least three dozen. A scout came running in and said they have the King with them. There are also several important vampires with him," Embry reported. I felt my dead heart swell at the thoughts that my father is above ground. And most likely, my best friends are with him. I was very happy by this information. But when I looked up at Jacob, I could tell he wasn't too thrilled. This was his home, his hide-out. And my father found it. That was not good.

"Okay, ready everyone. Let me get Bella ready and we will go up. But from the back entrance. We don't want them to know exactly where we are at," Jacob instructed.

"That's just it; they have blocked all of our entrances. There is only one open, and that is the center of their circle. The King had sent our scout back to tell us we had ten minutes to bring Bella to the surface. They are extremely outraged," Embry explained.

"NO!" I cried. Embry and Quil gave me an odd look. "NO, it's suicide to go up there. If I know my father, as soon as they have me in their line of sight, they will kill you. It doesn't help the fact that you are the La Push pack. They have been searching for this pack for ages. Don't think they are just going to walk away. As much as this may be a surprise to you Quil, Embry, but I don't want anything to happen to you guys. I know we are sworn enemies and all that. You kill my kind, I kill your kind. But I have really just begun to like this pack, besides the one exception," I said before Jacob could say something about Leah. The looks on Quil and Embry's faces were priceless.

"In all honesty," Quil spoke first, "you have been pretty cool to keep prisoner. But you have to go Bella. It was wrong to keep you here, even if it would have saved lives," Quil said the last part under his breath.

"WHAT?" I asked.

"Bella, I didn't tell you this. But we wanted to negotiate a peace treaty with your father. That was why we kept you here. It was a very good opportunity to get the chance to talk civil with him," Jacob explained to me.

"Really?" I didn't believe it.

"Really," Jacob smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"I have an idea," I spoke after the thought ran through my head.

"What is it?" Embry inquired.

"Is there more tunnels leading away from here? Maybe ones you don't use very often?" I asked him.

"Yes, there not the safest, but we can always dig ourselves out of there in wolf form," Seth answered.

"Then let's take those and dig our way out a good ten miles away, at least. I know this is your home, but unless you want to be puppy chow, we should probably run for it. Then we can set up troops and get everything organized for when we are ready to speak to my father," I told them my plan.

"Bella that is a pretty good idea, but why did you say 'we'?" Jacob asked.

"Because I'm coming with you," I replied with a 'duh' tone.

"No, you really should go back to your family," he protested.

"No, your only chance of talking to my father is right here," I pointed to myself.

"She has a point," Embry agreed. Quil nodded his head.

"Fine," Jacob gave in. Seth punched the air in victory. I smiled.

"Okay, then we should get everyone together and head out," Quil said.

"Yes, get the others to meet in the west wing. We will take the unused tunnel over there and head north from there," Jacob instructed. The three gave quick nods and headed in different directions to assemble every one.

"Come, Princess," Jacob chuckled while grabbing my hand and pulling me towards his room. I quickly changed in the outfit I had been wearing when I was kidnapped.

"Let's do this," I said as I stepped out into the hall. Jacob was wearing his usual cut off shorts and nothing else. He grabbed my hand and pulled me in the direction of the west wing. When we arrived, I was met by far more Lycans than I thought the La Push pack had.

"Its fine, Embry told them it was your idea and that if anyone was to harm you they were dead," Jacob whispered comfortingly in my ear. I smiled brightly, Embry was a sweet guy. I was finding it hard to hate my enemies. Seems like they were in the same boat too. "Is this everyone?" Jacob asked Embry as we approached the group.

"Yes," Embry answered.

"Brothers, sisters, we are going to have to leave our home and start anew. Do not fear though! This could very well lead to our peace!" Jacob's voice carried through the room. Everyone looked at him with such awe. I was sure I had the same look. Jacob was a true leader. "We are going to be traveling in wolf form." I think I stopped breathing when he said that. I know that they had been forbidden to hurt me, but I was completely defenseless at the moment, and it was not going to help that there were at least thirty Lycans in the room. Just one swipe of their paw could rip my head off. "It's okay," Jacob whispered comfortingly again, "you're riding on me," Jacob flashed a big smile. I smiled too. That would be interesting. Jacob's body began to shake. His skin ripped apart and a wolf took form. It only took him a second to do it. If I would have blinked I would have missed it. Jacob was a very large russet wolf. His hair was a bit longer than the other is because he kept his hair long in human form. His eyes were the same brown and they were level with mine. That was how tall Jacob was! I reached out and scratched behind his ear. What sounded like an engine staring up came from his chest. He was purring. Jacob's large head leaned into my touch. I saw his long, hairy tail swish back and forth. I smiled at this. He was too cute. I looked around and saw many confused Lycans looking at us. Some were a little angered, but most were confused. I saw a few 'awe' expressions. I giggled and put my hand down. Jacob barked at me and I laughed again. His mouth stretched back and he showed his teeth while his tongue drooped out one side. I realized he was smiling. Jacob turned to the others and barked something. They all nodded and lined up. Jacob kneeled down to the ground. I was confused by this. He looked back at me and started to bark. I then realized he was laughing.

"Not funny," I said before climbing onto his back. I had completely forgotten I was in a room with thirty very dangerous Lycans until I looked at the room from my new position. Jacob stood up and I leaned down grabbing some hair on his shoulders for balance. He barked something else and went towards the dark hole. Jacob stuck his head inside. After a moment, he pulled his head back out and nodded towards a sandy colored wolf. He was smaller than the others and was not as built. I concluded it was Seth. The wolf version of Seth stepped forward and entered the tunnel. He quickly disappeared into the darkness. I heard a bark from deeper in the tunnel. What I guessed was Embry and Quil, ran into the dark tunnel next. Jacob then sent in three other Lycans into the tunnel. I figured they were Paul, Sam, and Jared. Jacob then entered the tunnel. I leaned into his back more so I wouldn't brush against the ceiling that was very low. He began to run very fast and the tunnels walls started to blur as he picked up speed. We flew through the tunnels quickly. I heard the others behind us.

After a few minutes, I heard a howl.

A/N There is chapter 5! I hope you guys liked it! I wonder what the howl was about? Who all was with Aro? What is to come? I guess we will have to wait to find out. But the reviews really help ;). I changed some chapters. 1 and 3 have been revised. So you may want to check those out again. It just has to do with the background of the story. Thanks for reading! Please review!

-Haley