Bella's hard expression turned to panic. She held onto Edward and jerked her head toward me, awaiting my reaction. Jasper smirked, sensing how thrown off by his comment I was.

"Don't touch her, okay. We just want our brother," I said.

"No one's going anywhere until I have my answer. What are you?"

"He's a werewolf," Bella said. I turned to her and he blinked in surprise.

"Bella, what are you doing," I asked.

"Saving us."

Jasper's smirk disappeared and I could tell he was bit disheveled.

"A werewolf? I've never met one before," he said.

Edward was still bleeding from his neck, though, the convulsing had died down. Bella's jeans were soaked red. The smell was overbearing, but fortunately it masked the stench Jasper naturally had. I never fathomed seeing my brother like this, my sister in danger.

"You can't tell anyone. Not your family, not anyone," Bella said to Jasper. "If you do we'll have to tell the tribe."

I peered at her from the corner of my eyes. I was completely unsure of her plan.

"Tribe?" Jasper asked.

"Yes, the tribe Jacob comes from is wolf pack. And I doubt they'll be happy to hear about teenagers getting bit in the woods," she said.

Jasper nodded and his eyes darted back and forth, showing his nervousness. He moved forward to grab Edward.

"What are you doing?," I said, guarding Edward who was now unconscious.

"I'm taking him to my home. That's where we're supposed to be anyways."

"Oh no. You nearly kill him and now you want to take him to place where even more people can kill him," I said.

"He's already begun the transformation, he'll be fine there. And even if he wasn't turning he's stayed over many times, no one's killed him. Let me take him, okay. I know what I'm doing. If you two take him home, when he wakes up, it'll only bring more problems."

Bella wiped her tear-stained cheeks with her shirt. I had no idea what to do. All I could think to do was wait for Bella to answer.

"Okay. You can take him, but remember what I said about the pack. We don't want any problems," she said. He nodded again then scooped Edward up from us. It hurt to watch him go with my brother, but at the moment it was probably the best idea. He cut through the woods with helpless Edward in his arms. Then he took off, missing every tree and root, completely effortless.

I helped Bella up and dusted the dirt and leaves from her clothes. We walked back in silence and staring forward. My friends were outside so I took of my overlaying plaid shirt and gave it to Bella to cover the blood.

"Jake! Bella! Hey where have you guys been? Everyone's been waiting for you guys," Jessica said.

"Yeah, you missed Eric's streaking episode," Mike said. "Craziest thing I've ever seen."

"Are you guys okay? You look like you saw a ghost," Angela said examining Bella face.

Bella and I stopped out of our daze.

"Sorry, yeah we're fine," she said.

"We really need to get home, sorry we missed everything," I said. We started towards the car but Jessica grabbed my arm.

"Hey, I was hoping to talk to you, Jake. Alone," she said. My eyes lit up with everything that I had been wishing for since the eighth grade. Then I looked at my sister, so distraught and close to breaking. I remembered my brother lying limp in the woods. I sighed.

"I can't, not tonight. Sorry," I said.

She looked a bit rejected as she left and rejoined Angela and Mike. The car was silent aside from Bella's frail weeping.

"I can't believe this happened," she said. "And to think, I was girl who loved the supernatural. Who hoped for vampires and mermaids to exist. Now I feel stupid."

"Don't think that way, Bells. We had no way to expect or prevent this." She was silent for the rest of the ride.

The next morning I rubbed my tired eyes. I hadn't gotten any sleep. Bella made a pallet on the floor and slept there, unable to be alone all night. It was Saturday giving us a reason to lie flat and stare at the ceiling all morning. But Esme would never let that happen and swung open my door.

"Wake up, Jake- oh Bella, you're in here, too. Sleepover?" she asked.

"Yeah, mom," Bella replied. "Did you make breakfast?" She got up an followed (also led) Esme out the door. When they left I couldn't help but wonder how far Edward was in the transformation. I picked up my phone and called him, thinking maybe he was feeling better and able to talk now. When it went straight to voicemail, I freaked. What if this all was a lie and all he did was actually kill Edward?

Bella came back chewing on some bacon to find me getting dressed in a panic.

"Where are you going," she asked.

"To Jasper's. I need to know how Edward is doing."

"Well then I'm coming with you," she said, running to her room to change her clothes.

After convincing Esme and Carlisle that our friends wanted to meet for breakfast, Bella and I sped off. Bella remembered where he lived having been there once before with Edward.

The house was secluded surrounded by trees and moss. When we pulled up, not yet in the driveway, Bella turned to me.

"You know what I was thinking about," she asked.

"What?"

"What did Jasper mean when he said he loved Edward? Is Edward gay?" I shrugged.

"It could've been platonic, but who knows. Ed's safety is more important right now," I said. She nodded and unbuckled her seatbelt. They both got out of the car and slowly walked up to the seemingly normal house. Everything was quiet until the front door swung open. It was Rosalie.

The smell of rotten fruit swarmed my nose and I nearly gagged.

"What are these two doing here, Jasper," she asked in a normal tone voice. In a blink Jasper was there beside her, frantically looking between all of us. I could hear them as if they were less than a foot away.

"I don't know, I told them I would take care of him," he said.

"We want to see him," Bella shouted. Seconds later they were both in front of us.

"He's fine, just go home," Jasper said.

"Not until we see for ourselves," I said.

"Bella, it's not safe for you here. Edward could-", she cut him off.

"You threatened to kill me last night and now you care about my safety!"

"You did what?", Rosalie exclaimed turning to Jasper.

I took a step forward, looking to brush past them. I managed to stand strong next to Jasper last night so I figured I was capable of protecting Bella and myself. Until Rosalie, instantly beside me, grabbed my shoulder and sent me flying back into some bushes.

"Go home," she said looking at Bella, who was shaking under Rosalie's looming height. I jumped to my feet and charged at her. Heat melted through my limbs, my fingertips. My ears rang like sirens were chasing me. It felt as though my insides would explode from behind my eyes and burn me whole. But it didn't hurt. In fact, the more the heat released, the better I felt, and at that moment I felt I like I could do anything. So I stopped fighting it and let fire escape.

I slammed Rosalie as hard as the heat would permit. She hit the stone driveway, looking more stunned than injured. Consumed with the urge to bite, I lunged for her throat. Before I could wrap my teeth around her neck Jasper knocked me off. I rolled into one of the many trees surrounding their home. In an instant I was up again, more sturdy than ever. Actually, too sturdy. I heard Bella amidst the ringing calling out my name. Her voice cracked, she had been screaming a long time.

I looked at her. Her swollen wet eyes widened and she took a step back. She was shorter than usual. Jasper and Rosalie from the ground then they stared. Just stared at me. Their scent was putrid now more than ever. I only realized I was seeing red at that point. Not figuratively, either.

"Jacob?" Bella tilted her head still gawking at me. The ringing started to die down and I felt my breathing steady. Why were they staring at me? I checked myself.

Then I saw. I was no longer on too feet but rather four. They contained long claws jetting out of golden auburn fur. I ran my tongue across my teeth, all of them jagged. My breathing started to speed again and I suddenly lost control of my legs. They wobbled beneath me, but I couldn't ask Bella for help. Instead, what came out of my mouth resembled a weakened howl.

Bella reached her hand up toward my face. The heat disappeared. All I felt now was fear. Her small hand brushed across the fur above my nose. The sounds that escape me were like a dog's whimper. I collapsed to the ground under her touch. Jasper and Rosalie still stood together, cautious of my every move. I tried to focus on Bella's hand as a center point to calm my breathing. She shook her head and smirked, her eyes wetter than ever.

"It's going to be okay, Jake." She studied me, taking in my wolf form, then stared straight into my eyes. I still only saw red. "This is a lot more serious than I thought," she determined, looking me over once again. "You know what this means, right?" I shook my head "no." "We have to find your Quileute parents and ask a few questions."