The door swung violently behind her on its hinges, weather and old age giving it no cause to right itself in any given place. The icy rain was slithering down her already damp skin, but it still took all the courage she could muster to raise herself to her feet, to step back inside and shut herself away, knowing it was the right thing to do.
Alone.
The word seemed to find some aching finality in her mind, the edges rounded out to encompass everything with a dark desperation. Turning around, she pushed her whole body against the door, the click of the latch catching sending reverberations down her spine. She eyed the sanctuary of her dark corner, holding herself back from crossing the short, but exposed expanse of the room and sinking down, hiding almost. Twenty feet had never felt such a distance in all her life and she forced her eyes away.
The rain seemed only to have increased in volume since she'd managed to escape its violence. As she turned to watch the puddles form and maneuver on the dirt outside, she was reminded of how her thin clothes were caked to her body, the heat of her skin creating an uncomfortable balmy sensation as she moved. The cabin was bare, and she doubted she would find anything of use, but it didn't stop her from trying.
Two bedrooms lay beyond the open living room. The first didn't hold anything other than a bed, but the second looked a little more promising, an old walnut wardrobe sitting readily in the corner of the large room. There was very little to choose from within, but she did find a rather large pair of sweats and an old holey grey t-shirt, both of which seemed clean enough. Her skin felt clammy as she peeled off the wet items, but once she was dressed again, she found a little of her normal warmth return, relaxing her as much as clothes ever could. She was just laying out her own clothes to dry over an old claw foot bathtub when Bella heard a sharp crack of wood on wood; loud enough that she jumped and cowered into the darkest shadow behind the door.
It was only when she heard a familiar voice did her heart beat again, the evening wearing all too thoroughly on her frazzled mind frame.
"Bella, it's Jake, come out here please." He called again and when she tried to move she found her whole body resisting. "I'm in here." She squeaked out, hoping Jacob and his sharp senses would be able to hear her over the water pounding in torrents on the thin roof.
"Bells, what're you doing back here? Where's Paul?" Jake asked kindly as he knelt down in front of her, his dark eyes reminding her for a gut twisting moment of the man who had come and gone again all too quickly.
"He said to tell you he's sorry." She said softly, the conversations that had come before flooding her mind.
"What does that mean, Bells?" He persisted, not moving even marginally from his firm position blocking her from seeing anything but his large body.
"I found someone in the woods, Jake, someone hanging from the trees." Bella whispered, and it was so low that even Jacob had to lean in slightly to catch all her words. He didn't push her, but simply reached out to hold her hand, giving her the confidence to continue with his strong presence. "I found a note on my truck asking me to meet them out on one of the trails. I thought it was Paul, but it wasn't. Anyway, I think whoever it was lured me out there so I could find him… so I could find Jared." As she spoke his name for only the second time in her life, she brought her eyes up to Jacob's, seeing the raw emotions filter through one by one.
"You told Paul this?" Jacob asked evenly and she knew immediately that she'd done the wrong thing, that he wasn't stable enough to find out the way he had with her clumsy delivery. Unable to articulate the pain she felt to know she'd failed the man who had come to her rescue, she simply nodded and grimaced, hoping Jake would be able fix what she'd broken so easily.
"Don't worry, Bells, you just sit tight here and I'll be back in a minute, okay? Don't move and don't answer the door to anyone." Unconsciously, she reached out to grab his hand, to stop his departure, but his reaction speeds were still too fast for her to comprehend as he was already stepping towards the door as her hand hung lonely in the air.
It certainly wasn't a minute, and as she felt her eyes flutter closed, fighting with everything she had left to remain awake, she heard the sound of a door opening and closing, deep irate voices flowing towards her lonely ears.
"She's in there." Jacob barked with finality and she twisted her neck upwards looking for the doorway and whoever was about to appear.
Her heart jolted. She'd never expected to see him again so soon, but there he was, taking up the entire doorframe, filling the room with her want and his need. Bella was on her feet in seconds and she didn't care about decorum or hesitation, she flew into his arms.
It took Paul less than a second to return her embrace and though he didn't appreciate being ordered back by the baby Alpha, he also understood that his wolf wanted him here, it was only the man who was hell bent on revenge.
Lifting her from her feet, she fell against him easily, her heart slowing to fluidly meet the rhythm of his own. Brushing past Jacob, who was watching them from the hallway, he strode with purpose into the larger of the two bedrooms, resisting the childish urge to slam the door behind him with a heavy foot.
Laying her down on the bed, he felt her small hands clamp down on his arms, resisting the space that had come between them. He had no intention of leaving her yet, but he would, it was inevitable. He would have to leave her to see through something which purposefully or not, he'd been a part of when it started.
He waited until she was sound asleep, the sight of her almost too much to leave. But then he remembered why they were here, why she was laying under second hand blankets in clothes that fell from her slight frame. He peeled her from his warmth and stood, his footsteps so light that the old, rotten floorboards didn't react under his gargantuan weight.
"She asleep?" Jacob asked as soon as he'd pulled the door silently shut.
Taking a deep breath to compose himself, he strode eagerly across the floor, not caring for whatever etiquette or respect his new Alpha commanded. "Yeah, she's asleep. So I think now would be a pretty fucking amazing time to tell me why the hell I'm standing here chatting with you, instead of out there bringing down whatever fucking leech did this to him."
Paul couldn't quite bring himself to say Jared's name, but he could feel the rage burning inside him for a friend who had stood with him since his first day in this new fucked up life.
"Leah will be here soon with Embry. When they get here, we'll work out how we're going to protect two imprints and the entire rez, with only three of us against whatever the hell is out there." Jacob stated calmly, sitting down on the arm of a chair which only served to rile Paul into something more irate.
"So we sit around waiting while the leech gets away? No wonder Sam held no respect for you! He might have had his faults, but at least he knew who the enemy was." Paul sneered, but he hadn't made any move to leave yet either.
"Yeah, that's exactly what we're gonna do, and until you and Leah open up and tell me what the fuck happened in that little pack of yours, I'm not gonna say shit on how Sam ran things. I told Leah I would give her the benefit of the doubt to tell me anything I need to know, but my patience is wearing thin. She's my imprint and I'm not gonna push her, but if you know anything about why people keeping showing up dead around here, I'd appreciate it if you told me now." Jacob stood up and squared his shoulders, showing Paul that not only did he stand a few inches taller than the tempestuous wolf, but that he was in control here, whether Paul had fully accepted that or not.
Regardless of choice, Paul couldn't bring his eyes upwards to meet his new Alpha and though he growled low in his throat, he slowed his pacing, choosing to stand tensely at the windows instead. There were plenty of things that his new Alpha should know, but whether he wanted to tell him or not, he could still feel the pressure of a powerful command that pressed down on his wolf, reminding him that freedom was very much a thing of the past.
"You said something about a leech. I need to know what happened after you left to find Bells." Jacob demanded, trying to give his most unruly new pack mate something to keep his mind occupied until the other arrived. He'd secretly hoped that Paul's tie to Bella would have kept him from wanting to do anything precarious or stupid, but he'd underestimated the impact of a pack-mates death. It didn't help that the distance he'd held between himself and his imprint had left the bond hanging, almost unclaimed between them.
"You know what happened, Black, you saw it in my fucking thoughts when you forced me back here." Paul snarled, turning to look at the younger wolf with utter contempt.
"I saw what you wanted me to see. Now I want you to tell me." Jake replied, not the least bit fazed by the challenge.
"Fine." Paul huffed, knowing he hadn't exactly been focused on anything but the chase when Jacob had reeled him in. Even he couldn't remember his thoughts exactly.
"I felt her fear. One minute I was talking with you and the next I couldn't think about anything else. I ran to her, but she was already tearing blindly through the forest, running from something, and the scent of leech, it was all over that fucking place, so fucking sickly and disgusting. I thought for a minute it would get to her before I could, but then I followed her emotions and she was there. I did what you said; I brought her here." Paul finished, forcing the emotion from his tone into something clipped and final as Jacob nodded solemnly.
"Did you recognize the leech? Could it be one of the Cullens?"
Paul shook his head, trying to place the scent with the ones he'd seen in Sam's mind. "I'm not sure. I don't think so, but I've never met them one on one, so maybe." Paul sighed loudly, angrily.
The air between them expanded and as Jacob opened his mouth to speak once again, Paul turned to him, knowing the inevitable question. "Do you think Sam could have done this?"
Paul hesitated, and it was enough for Jacob. He wanted to open his mouth and profess that his former Alpha respected the wolf and the man too much for such an indiscretion, but his words remained trapped behind his gut.
"Man, it's fucking blowing it down out there." Embry blustered loudly from the doorway, his smile and his charm unfitting for the situation. As he turned to find the two imposing wolves staring him down in distaste, he mumbled out an apology, only knowing what he had been ordered to do, but sensing the fragility of the room.
"What the hell's up with you two? And what the hell are you doing here, Paul?" Embry's eyes narrowed as his words stopped, his senses picking up a fifth heart beat in the vicinity. "Is that Bells?" His eyes were just a little too bright for the current tension and Paul was simply far too wound up. His wolf was already at odds with his choices today and so with the higher ranking pack mate, one who held a prior claim on his imprint, calling her name, he couldn't hold himself back any longer.
He had Embry up against the wall by his throat in seconds. Jacob first tried to pull him back with his strength, and then finally assuaging with an Alpha command, he noticed the girl who had been standing behind Embry all along.
"Yeah, this feels familiar." Leah's frown spoke to Jacob alone. As he crossed the room to her and pulled her into his arms, he noticed the second imprint standing in the third doorway.
"Good, now that we're all here, I think we need to figure out our next move."
All eyes moved to where Jacob was smiling softly and though both Embry and Paul moved to take her side, Bella rubbed her eyes self-consciously.
"What's going on?" She asked, not objecting in the slightest when Paul began running his fingers across her bare arm, her body moving into his warmth unconsciously.
"I think we all need to sit down." Jacob gestured to the too few seats dotted around the living room. Though she felt a little embarrassed doing so, she nestled on the floor between Paul's legs, his hands broad and strong holding her to him possessively. Once everyone was in place, Jacob stood once again.
"Why don't we start with what you saw tonight, Bells?" Jake asked gently. Numbly, she recanted her night, finding less emotion in the horrors as her mind tried to shut away the accompanying images.
"Paul said he smelt leech on the scene, so we need to check it out. I'm not going to ignore the possibility that someone a little closer to home had a hand in this and that's why we're all here. Leah, Bells, I don't have the manpower to protect both of you and figure this all out. So until we do, you're both staying here." But if Jacob had expected the girls to acquiesce easily, he had another thing coming and both opened their mouths to give him a piece of their mind, loudly.
As the moon hid behind a sky of clouds and a battle raged on behind the storm, two men stood in the shadows watching, waiting for the moment when the immature wolf would slip up, knowing it wouldn't take too long.
a/n: Thank you to my wonderful beta Twiticulate... xxx
To all you wonderful readers, I'm going to warn you in advance that there is a possibilty I might not make this Sunday's update. I'm really sorry in advance if this is the case, but I'm so burnt out right now that I can't see anything happening with the next chaps before then. I might be wrong and it might be business as usual, so please don't start sharpening your pitchforks quite yet!
Things are going to be B/P centric for the next few chaps, something I know quite a few of you are hankering after, but it does spell a little less darkness and a little more angsty smut, a fair compromise I think?
So until next time. xxx