The Alternative

oh my gosh, I'm sorry it took me so freaking long to update!!! hits self with frying pan. I haven't forgotten about the fic, I promise! Especially with the news of the 4th book, Breaking Dawn, due out August 2!!! I'll be in line at midnight. Lol, maybe I'll meet you there! This chapter's only half-finished but hopefully I'll have it done later tonight.

Chapter 3: Realization

"Bella?" I gasped. Why hadn't I been able to smell her? Why was it that I still couldn't? Why was she past the Canadian border, sitting with... holding hands with... the werewolf Jacob? Thoughts were flying through my head at triple-lightning speed. Was she cheating? No, Bella would never cheat . . . she looks so pale! Did he hurt her? Was he kidnapping her? Ugh, he smells awful. Is that why I can't smell her, is his scent covering hers? Why would - -

"Alice!!" Bella ran and threw her arms around me, interrupting every thought. I was frozen to the spot. She was hugging me, and I could smell her, it was unmistakable. But it wasn't her... it was... it was that second scent, the scent I had tracked with Jacob.

Triple-lightning brain function kicked in again. How does a human's scent change? What's that guilty look on Jacob's face for? Where in the hell was Edward? Last I knew, he was planning . . .

Oh.

Edward had been planning. Her scent had changed. She was hundreds of miles away from civilization.

I took her shoulders and held her away from me, in order to look into her eyes. Staring into those golden-topaz discs rimmed thick with black hunger, every piece fell into place.

"Oh, Bella..." I hugged her tightly, and I could tell she knew that I understood.

Except, all the pieces weren't in place. What was with the mutt? And WHERE was Edward?

Then I went rigid with sight. It was Jasper and Emmet. They were on the reservation, tracking - they must have felt bad about doing such a shoddy job before - on the outskirts of the reserve, the werewolve's territory. A charred pile of ashes; A campfire? No...

I watched them both take in the scent. They realized at the same time. They stared at each other for a moment, wide-eyed, Jasper's mouth hanging open, Emmet's clenched tight shut. Then they both howled in rage. All three of us were certain now:

Edward was dead.

These were his remains. On werewolf territory. They had killed him.

A look of absolutely horrified disgust contorted my face when I next looked at Jacob. I was so tempted to kill him, but Bella was in the way. Of course, it would be stupid to kill him without proof that he was the one who had killed Edward, even if the sound of ripping his limbs from their sockects would have been so gratifying...

So I ran instead, taking Bella's hand and dragging her along with me.

"Hey, wait!" Jacob called after us. I ran faster. I didn't have to see in order to know he would follow us, but I could run faster than him, even dragging Bella along. Anyway, he would stop as soon as he reached the edge of our territory.