Jacob's POV
"Where is he!?" I snarled.
Leah raised an eyebrow, about to give me a lecture about "manners" before Seth interrupted.
"Where's who?" he asked, his eyes slightly wide.
"Embry." I said as calmly as possible. It was a lot harder than it sounds. "Now where is he?"
"The idiot decided that today he wanted to go cliff diving. Today. The water is so cold…"
Leah's voice trailed off, but she hadn't stopped talking. I didn't realize why her voice grew dimmer until I noticed that I was running. The cold wind was whipping at my face, getting me angry, more than I already was. Why hadn't I phased already? Maybe I wanted to save it for Embry.
My conscious screamed at me to go faster, that danger was ahead, and suddenly, I had an idea of what was really going on. And if I was right, somebody was going to die.
I wasn't entirely sure who.
I kept running, skipping the middle ledges of the cliff. He wouldn't be there. If the situation was what I imagined, he would go right to the top, where some "accidents" were bound to happen. No one would be there anyway. Cliff diving was dangerous in cold weather.
I finally got to the top, and for the first time, I was sad to be right.
Embry was standing there, smirking slightly. I could see a flicker of humour in his dark, cold, undeserving eyes. And he saw the opposite in mine. Regardless, he continued in his humour.
"Fancy meeting you here." He said, looking me over.
Renesmee stood slightly behind him, looking down and expressionless. She stood completely still, as if she wished she could just disappear. We both did.
Embry looked back, and then at me, as if he was startled.
"Wow, the leeches are getting faster nowadays. When did she get here?" He said sarcastically. Nessie fidgeted behind him. Anything, to keep her mind off of him.
"You sick bastard!" I said, not bothering with 'Hello's.
"Cranky today? I'll go get the -"
"Why don't you shut the fuck up and listen to me for a second?" I snarled. I was sickened by the offence that took over his features. "You sick fucking bastard! What the hell did she ever do to you!?"
"I assume Eddie told you?"
"Who gives a shit who told me!?" I yelled.
"J-Jacob…" I heard Nessie mutter, who was now staring at me with beyond wide eyes. I gave her the same look back. If I ever thought that eye contact was difficult before, I would never have assumed how much worse knowledge made it.
Embry's head snapped in her direction. "I wouldn't talk if I were you, Beautiful." Nessie immediately shut her mouth, as if she had been slapped across the face. She looked down in shame. Shame!
A menacing snarl escaped my throat. That bastard!
"She shouldn't talk? You shouldn't talk!" I exploded, "I'm surprised no one has ripped your tongue out of your filthy mouth, you asshole."
"Whoa, Jake. Calm down. What's the problem?" Embry asked. Either he was talking sarcastically, playing dumb, suffered amnesia, or was mentally retarded. All four, possibly?
"Don't fuck with me, Embry. Don't fuck with anyone."
"Well, it's a little late for that, isn't it?" He smirked. I took a step forward, about to push him off into the cold, unforgiving waters. But I couldn't- Renesmee was right behind him. If I pushed him off, she would fall too. Smart ass bastard.
Nessie's face turned deep red, and her eyes cast downward in shame. More shame.
"How could you!?" I shouted. How could he, someone I considered my best friend? But it wasn't even about that. "If I'm your target, and it seems like it, then you should have gone after me, not her! She never did anything wrong!"
"That is, until the thought slipped to Edward." Embry said, his eyes narrowing. I was caught off guard.
"How did you-"
"I know how the hole bloodsucker power thing works, Jake. Especially hers. " A grin covered his face as he continued, as if Renesmee wasn't there, "Just a few touches in the right places, and I knew everything in a few seconds. So convenient."
"You,"
"Those images are vibrant, man. Maybe later, she can show you a few new vibrant images of her own. I'm sure you'd love them."
Nessie shuttered behind him and took an accidental step back. I ran forward ans shot my arms out, certain that she would fall back into the waters, but Embry beat me to it. He caught her and helped her back onto her feet, but as soon as she regained her balance, she moved slightly away from him.
"Don't touch me." She said in a surprisingly harsh tone. Embry straightened up and his expression tightened. He let her go, but his eyes narrowed.
And then he slapped her.
He backhanded her; striking her across the face. She didn't move, except for her head with the impact of the smack. She didn't make a noise, and her expression didn't change.
But mine did.
"Keep your filthy hands off her!" I demanded, and started to tremble. I didn't want to phase- not here. Not right now. If I phased, someone would probably end up falling off. If it was Embry, I would have laughed, but Ness was behind him, so phasing wasn't an option.
But staying calm wasn't exactly easy, either. Not when the one you love is at the edge of a cliff, h=behind some sick minded idiot you thought was once your best friend.
"My hands are clean, Jacob." He said, raising them up to show me exactly how "clean" they were. But in one quick second, he stepped behind her, holding her wrists in place behind her back.
Nessie was startled and took a deep breath in, trying to free her wrists against his grip. He was holding them too tightly, though, and with every struggle, his grip was tighter and tighter. Embry's smirk disappeared and he looked at me in pure disgust.
"Embry, don't do it." I said through clenched teeth. How could it not be his intention, with the waters roaring beneath him.
"I won't." Embry said. I waited for him to continue, finding that much too hard to believe. "As long as you give me what I want."
"What do you want!?" I shouted, getting straight to it, "I'll give it to you, just don't hurt her!"
"If it were that easy, I wouldn't have had to go through all this." he said, "You know what I want, Alpha."
"What?" I asked. I wasn't in the mood for games. He started speaking again, and it was only then that I realized what he was talking about.
"I wish I didn't have to do it like this, although it was kind of fun. But it was the only way you would take me seriously. In fact, I was hoping to do this without you knowing. I figured if you were completely concentrated on something else, you wouldn't be able to fill the position of Alpha. So I had an idea. Maybe if you had to help your little Imprint for a decent amount of time, let's say… nine months? That, and-"
"You sick, twisted asshole!" I yelled. He glared at me. Renesmee's eyes went so wide, I thought they'd pop out. Was this the first time she'd heard it, too?
"As I was saying," he rolled his eyes, "You'd be too busy helping her out that you'd be completely preoccupied. But I highly doubt that you were going to make the decision of fatherhood soon enough, so dear Embry thought he'd take the responsibility upon himself- and then dump it on you. And if everything went as planned, she'd keep her mouth- and mind, shut.
"So I tried, and tried, and tried again, but nothing happened." he shrugged, "Maybe it just wasn't meant to be. But I didn't have time to try again. And I realized that during my originally planned time, you might have figured it out. So I decided that I would have to make you give up your position of Alpha in a more direct manner. And the only way to do that was to make an immediate demand. So here we are. What better way to get what I want than to endanger her life?
"There's major warnings on the waters today. Rip currents are bringing people out farther. The waters are aggressive, and its dangerously cold. So cold, I would think a person could get hypothermia. The waves would suck you right under if you weren't prepared. What a bad day for cliff diving." He explained, his smile growing wider. I could her Nessie's heart beat go wild.
"What do you want me to do, Embry?" I pleaded, trying to make it sound more like a demand. It didn't quite work.
"All you have to do is give up your position of Alpha to me, and this will all go away." he said flatly.
"Fine! You're Alpha! Just let her go!"
He smiled smugly, "Whatever you say, Jake." He said, and in one swift movement, turned on his heel and pushed her off the edge of the cliff.
Disregarding Embry's presence, I pushed him aside, jumping in after her.
"Renesmee!"
_____
Oh, no! A cliffhanger (excuse the pun), how could I? XD, I was about to make this chapter longer, but then I decided I would make you all suffer.
And also, I had two songs on loop during this chapter.
Don't Hold Back - The Sleeping
The Hand that Feeds - Nine Inch Nails
Please, check out the lyrics. I thought that Embry practically write them himself!
I should have asked this question in the previous chapter, but what do you think will happen next?