Thanks for the feedback, ladies! I'm going to continue this story, at least for now. To be honest, I'm kicking around multiple different ending ideas, as there are at least three different ways I can think of to go with this. There's an awful lot of ground to cover before I have to make a decision though.

As always, I do not own Twilight or any of its characters.

Chapter Two – Weaving a Tangled Web

Convincing the rest of the leeches hadn't been too difficult at all. Even Captain Wonder Sparkles himself had believed the ruse readily enough. I felt the slightest twinge of pity for him. I knew that he loved Bella as much as any dead thing could love someone. He must be beside himself at her near death, and he was still fairly convinced that he'd done something wrong, that she wouldn't undergo the transformation as normal. That was the only explanation for why I'd convinced him so easily, and furthermore, why he hadn't ripped my arms and legs off as soon as he'd gotten the news.

I had braced myself. I had prepared for the end of my life. I was sure it must be imminent. My headstrong plan hadn't really taken into account that the leech already sort of wanted me dead for my interest in his wife—I still had a hard time coming to grips with the fact that my Bella was married to that thing—and my unwillingness to back down. He was already a mess because he blamed himself for Bella's pain and suffering. For him to come downstairs and find that his newborn daughter was apparently betrothed to his mortal enemy... Well, how much could one person take, anyway?

Had I really just thought of Edward as a person?

I must be losing it.

Still, even though I'd mentally prepared for the worst-case scenario, Edward had simply stared at me for awhile before giving a defeated sigh. "I don't suppose it would do me much good to be upset with you, would it, Wolf?" he'd asked me wearily. "You can't un-imprint, can you?"

I shook my head, filling my mind with images of a happy Nessie and forcing myself to think of things I could do to make her that happy. Without another word, he had trudged back upstairs to watch over Bella some more.

It was almost unfair how well that had gone. I knew he hadn't been in his right mind, but I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. I might have pulled the wool over everyone's eyes, but I had to keep up the facade, and the biggest challenge was still yet to come. I had to convince Seth and Leah.

That, too, turned out to be easier than I'd expected. Seth was such a kindhearted kid, it didn't even dawn on him to think that someone might ever try to deceive him. It didn't hurt that he looked up to me so much, either. It made me feel guilty, lying to Seth. It was a lot like stealing candy from a baby, and not just because it was supposed to be so easy to do, as the expression was meant to convey. No, stealing candy from a baby was actually a pretty cruel thing to do. Sure, the baby's parents could presumably get more candy, but a baby's life experiences are limited. That piece of candy might just be the best thing that ever happened to that baby up to that point in time, and by stealing it, you're wrecking it and upsetting someone totally innocent. That was what it felt like to lie to Seth.

I didn't feel guilty at all about lying to Leah. There was nothing innocent about her. Leah was all right, I supposed. We'd bonded a little over the days just before Nessie was born. But kind-hearted and innocent were two adjectives that would never apply to her. Leah hated imprinting, and it was easy to understand why. Losing Sam had been the defining moment of her life, and it had happened seemingly without reason. Only after she unexpectedly joined the pack did she understand why it had happened, but even knowing that it truly wasn't Sam's fault had done nothing to mend her broken heart. It had left her jilted and fed up with the entire concept of love, and it had given her an especially bad taste in her mouth about imprinting. She was only too happy to believe that imprinting would play a cruel joke on me by shoving me into a lifetime of servitude toward our mortal enemies. She had actually laughed when I told her the news. Laughed at me, not with me.

I wanted to avoid phasing for the next couple of days though, just to be on the safe side. I used the excuse that I wanted to be present when Bella woke up so that I could protect Nessie from her. I insisted on referring to Bella's transformation in that way. I knew what she would be, but I couldn't stand to think about it. Not yet. The real reason I didn't want to phase, of course, was so that I could get in a little more practice at centering my thoughts around Nessie. I'd certainly planted the seeds with my mini-pack, but I wanted to be sure that I could keep it up before I shared a mind with them.

Unfortunately, avoiding phasing hadn't been in the cards for me. Sam's pack still wanted to kill Nessie for being an unknown danger and an aberration against nature. As much as a part of me did agree with him, and as much as I had to internally fight myself not to recoil from her strange touch, I had to stay in character. Nessie was supposed to be my imprint. Naturally, I couldn't allow Sam to destroy her. I had run back to La Push in wolf form just because it was the quickest way to travel. I had planned on phasing back into human form when I got there so I could speak to Sam. Seth and Leah ran with me, which meant I had to keep the charade up full-force. I found that they still believed me if I thought about Bella in the past tense. After all, we'd all heard Sam thinking of Leah and how he still cared for her after finding Emily. It certainly wasn't a stretch to think that I might still have fond memories of Bella after I "imprinted."

I was surprised to find that I was able to communicate with Sam as a wolf after all. I'd found out entirely by accident. Sam was taking a shift at patrol when I was trying to track him by scent, thinking Sam, Sam, where are you, Sam?

Jacob? Have you come back to join your brothers in our stand against the Cold Ones?

I hadn't been expecting that in the slightest. I thought we couldn't hear them anymore once we split off to form our own pack, I muttered to Seth and Leah.

What are you talking about, oaf? I don't hear anything, Leah answered.

Seriously? You didn't hear Sam just then? Did you finally become adept at blocking him out? I thought sarcastically.

I didn't hear anything either, Jacob, Seth told me. I continued to argue with the Clearwaters, assuming that Sam could hear everything. After a minute or two, I heard Sam again.

Jacob? Where did you go?

I've been right here the whole time arguing with Seth and Leah. Haven't you been listening? This was insane. Why was everyone acting like they couldn't hear each other.

I haven't heard anything from either of them, and I only heard from you just now. I've been speaking to my packmates as well. Did you hear any of that? Sam answered.

You have? No, not a word. Okay, this is weird. I guess we can talk to each other, but only if we direct our thoughts that way?

So it would seem, Sam agreed.

Jacob, what's going on? Seth whined.

Not now, Seth. Give me a minute. Apparently, Sam and I can talk, but it's different.

Different how? Leah demanded.

I'll explain later! I answered, exasperated. Sam? I asked hesitantly.

Yes, I can hear you, Jacob.

Okay. Well, to answer your question, no, I'm not going to stand with you against the Cullens. The treaty stands. I personally granted Edward permission to save Bella. It took a great deal of effort to keep myself from saying Bella's name with the same reverence I'd used for the past year. As the heir of Ephraim Black, even you cannot overrule my decision.

Sam was quiet for a few minutes, though whether he was considering the challenge in my voice or conferring with his packmates, I had no idea. So be it, he said at last. There is still the matter of the child.

The child cannot be harmed, I said simply in a tone of absolute finality.

The child could present a danger— Sam began to argue with me.

She is my imprint.

Once again, Sam was silent for an agonizingly long time. I hid my unease from Seth and Leah. Things could go very, very bad if Sam decided to launch an attack anyway, because I wouldn't be able to display the proper level of grief and maintain it for the rest of my life.

That changes things, Sam said at last. Of course we will not destroy the object of your imprinting. Be at peace, Jacob. He paused. Will you consider rejoining us, now that the danger has passed?

Guys? He wants to know if we'll rejoin the pack. I surveyed the Clearwaters.

Fat chance, Leah snorted.

I like it here! Seth replied excitedly.

Sorry, Sam. We prefer to remain separate for now. We mean you no harm or disrespect. We find it... peaceful. Especially Leah.

For the third time, there was a long pause from Sam. This time, I was sure he wasn't consulting his own pack, but considering my words and carefully choosing his own. If that is how it must be, he told me finally. He had no more desire to see Leah suffer than he had to suffer himself.

I was ready to celebrate. I had pulled it off. I had fooled everyone into believing the lie, and more than that, I had restored the treaty and had made peaceful relations with the other pack.

My celebration was short-lived. To my irritation, Edward's attitude toward me started to change as he became more confident about Bella's condition. While he had initially accepted my imprinting with an air of defeat, he gradually started to size me up as a suitor to his daughter. The looks he would give me made me more and more uncomfortable as time went on. I avoided talking to him as much as I could, but by the time Bella was getting close to coming around, I still got the distinct impression that he would gladly kill me where I stood if it wouldn't upset her so much.

"Yes," he answered my thoughts honestly. "Don't think I'll stand in her way if she wants to kill you herself." With that, he'd stalked back up to his usual place of silent vigil at Bella's side.

All this talk about Bella wanting to murder me was starting to get frightening. Was that actually possible? Well... Regardless, this was the only shot I still had. I had to take it. It was worth the risk. Ether it would work, or I'd die. Either way, I wouldn't be suffering anymore at watching the woman I loved dote on a bloodsucker.

On top of everything else, Blondie had taken my imprinting on Nessie as a personal affront to her. She saw Nessie as her child, even though she must have realized it wasn't true. Everyone was assuming that Bella would be totally uncontrollable for a year or so, and Blondie was all too happy to take up the role of Mommy until Bella was able to do it herself. Having me around, theoretically bound to the infant she wanted sort of threw a wrench in her plans.

In a way though, Blondie's annoyance with me only made the facade easier to maintain. Pretending to imprint on Nessie was one thing. Pretending to get along with Blondie was something I wasn't sure I could do. As it turned out, I didn't have to.

"I'm going to do that," I announced when I saw Blondie about to feed Nessie another bottle of blood. The idea turned my stomach, but it irritated Blondie, which was sort of the goal.

"Over my dead body, Dog," Blondie replied.

"If you insist," I growled, snatching the bottle away from her. She hissed at me as I cooed in an exaggerated voice at Nessie. "Nessie-Wessie wants Jakey-Wakey to feed her, doesn't she?" I grinned.

Nessie placed her hand on Blondie's face, eagerly conveying what she wanted. Blondie glowered at me with a deadly stare as she grudgingly handed Nessie over. I winced a little as I put the bottle in the baby's mouth, but she definitely looked perfectly content to have me feeding her. She really did seem harmless enough. I supposed I could get used to being a father figure to her.

Once she finished her bottle, Nessie put her hand on my face and showed me that she was full and sleepy and wanted me to rock her and hum. My humming was always off-key, but I was happy to oblige because I knew it would drive Blondie up the wall. Nessie was asleep in minutes, but I kept humming for another half hour until the sound of Blondie's teeth grinding drowned me out.

"Mommy's going to wake up tomorrow," I whispered to the sleeping baby. "It's going to be a big day."