CHAPTER 19

"So, Bella, tell me, how are things at Twilight these days? I haven't been since it opened," said Carlisle, handing me a glass of red wine. I took it and sipped.

"Great," I said. "It's always busy and we get some really nice people come in."

"Yes, Dad, she is telling the truth," said Edward, rolling his eyes. "We don't just have vampires; in fact the majority of our clientele are businessmen or the local elite."

"And they are nice?" said Esme, raising an eyebrow. I smothered a giggle at Edward's scowl. "Forgive me, Edward, but I believe your definition of the elite of the city was 'a bunch of up themselves idiots' who had 'more money than sense'?"

"Yes well, they pay the wages," he muttered, tapping his foot against mine as I giggled at him.

"Will you be taking Bella into the woods while you are here, Edward?" asked Carlisle.

"I think so, yes. A bit of hiking would be nice and I want to show her the meadow."

"Well be careful. I think there is a wolf out there," said Esme.

"We picked up the scent earlier today," added Carlisle. Edward cleared his throat and glanced across at me.

"I don't think the wolf will bother us," he said, giving me another pointed look. Carlisle raised an eyebrow and Esme gave him a startled look.

"Bella is a close friend of Jacob Black," said Edward. I scowled, puzzled by the sudden change of subject and even more so by the exchange of looks between Carlisle and Esme; the sudden relief. My brain started to whir in my head and realisation started to sink in. How could I have been so stupid? Jacob was constantly referring to his boys as his pack. And he would sometimes growl and snarl in a similar way to Edward, but with a bit more animal than human. He was constantly hot...

"Bella," began Edward.

"Would you please excuse me, I need to make a call," I said, getting up from the table, abruptly. I took my phone from my pocket and pressed the call button.

"Bells, hey. You ok?" Jake picked up on the first ring.

"Why didn't you tell me you're a wolf?" I demanded. The phone cut off and I gave a cry of rage, but then a figure appeared below the window. It was Jacob. I hurried out through the backdoor and stopped a couple of feet away from him. It was cool outside and he was wearing a pair of long shorts and trainers; nothing else. I stared at him, open mouthed for a moment. He looked like he had been seriously working out the last few months; his body rippled with muscle. I took a step towards him and Jacob held his hands out in front of him, defensively.

"Look, Bella, I don't know what Edward has told you..."

"He hasn't told me anything. We were talking about going for a hike and then Esme mentions a wolf in the woods. Suddenly Edward is talking about you. It didn't take much. I have been such an idiot! How did I not see what you are? It was staring me in the face... But then again, I didn't realise what James was..."

"Yes you did, Bella," said Jacob, suddenly grabbing me by the arms. "Sweetheart, you did. The first time he hurt you... you called me and told me what he'd done and you told me what he was. Don't you remember?"

I shook my head, a memory was stirring, but it drifted away dream like before I could hold it, of a frantic phone call to Jacob soon after I had moved in with James, but I couldn't get a hold of why I had called him or what I had said. All I could see were James' eyes, blood-red fixing on mine and his voice, soft and quiet calming me.

"Why didn't you tell me about you? I thought I was your best friend; the closest thing you have to a sister?"

"You are, Bells, you are, but I could hardly just say, 'Hey, Bells, know what? Your boyfriend is a vampire and I'm a werewolf!' How would you have felt? I wanted to tell you, so many times. When you lived with me for those few months, you were so subdued, so quiet. I knew you needed a total change of scenery and you needed somewhere you would be safe. I sent you to Twilight because they look after their girls and... well I knew about the Cullens and the Hales. We have a longstanding treaty with them; that's why it was so easy to get you in there."

"So... you can change into a wolf?" I stammered, after a stunned silence. Jacob gave me a half-grin.

"Yes, a big wolf, but a wolf yes."

"How?"

"My family. The Quileute have always been shape-shifters and they have always taken the shape of the wolf. Originally they did it to protect themselves from the Cold Ones. Over time we became aware that not all vampires were human blood suckers. Carlisle Cullen was responsible for that. He made the treaty with my great grandfather and we have worked together since then to keep the area blood sucker free. Until James came along."

"I don't understand," I murmured.

"What don't you understand?" asked Jacob.

"Why didn't you stop him? Why did you let him take me?" I asked. Jacob bowed his head, as if struggling for an answer.

"Because Jacob was not wolf then," said Carlisle, appearing at the door. "James' presence is what caused the youth of the Quileute to change. And then they had to adapt to the change, which took time."

"By the time we were ready, Charlie had been killed and you had completely shut down, Bella," said Jacob, giving Carlisle a grateful look. "I wanted to tell you so badly, but you were so vulnerable, so completely crushed by what happened to your dad... And you knew what had happened. You would scream in your sleep, screaming that he was a vampire. James couldn't get physically near you because of the pack, but it was like he was in your head all the time." I flushed, nearly saying he was still in my head now, but I held the thought in.

"You can't blame yourself for that, Jacob," said Carlisle, softly.

"I try not to, Carlisle," he replied. "But you weren't there..."

"No, we should have taken more responsibility for James. He is after all one of our kind."

"We made mistakes on both sides," Jacob finally conceded. "And the worst mistake was letting you run away. I hadn't realised you were so desperate, so low. All our efforts were concentrated on keeping James and his cronies at bay. Laurent and that bitch Victoria showed up soon after James. You must have met them while you lived with him..."

"Yes... I recognised them when they came into Twilight, but I don't remember meeting them," I said.

"James must have glamoured her," said Carlisle, softly. Jacob nodded.

"We figured as much, but at the time, it seemed wrong to make her remember. We thought it would give her some peace if she didn't remember. She seemed to accept that Charlie's death was an accident..."

"No," I said, vehemently. "I knew his death wasn't an accident. I knew it! That's why I had to leave; I couldn't live with the guilt."

"Guilt?" echoed Jacob.

"If I had gone back to him, he wouldn't have done it... my dad would still be alive..." I broke off with a sob. Jacob grabbed me suddenly and pulled me to him in a tight embrace.

"Sweetheart, he would still have killed Charlie, whatever you did. He was obsessed with you! And you would probably never have known what he was doing, because he would have kept you locked away."

"And he would have gradually removed all your family and all your friends," said Carlisle. "Leaving you feeling you were to blame, regardless. That is what vampires do I am afraid."

"Not all vampires," I murmured, thinking of Edward, who suddenly appeared in the doorway and glanced from Jacob to me, his expression unreadable.

"I hadn't realised you were guarding her personally," he said, his voice a little tight. Jacob gave him a wide grin.

"And miss the opportunity to see the famous Cullen woods? Not to mention spending a bit of time with my girl here."

I dug him in the ribs, recognising the teasing note in his voice; he was trying to get a rise out of Edward. Jacob just grinned even wider and tightened his grip round my waist when I went to pull away.

"Stop it," I said, slapping him lightly on the arm. He laughed and let go of me. I walked over to Edward and slipped my arm round his waist, glancing up at him, but his gaze was fixed on Jacob, who just grinned right back at him before turning to me.

"So are we cool, Bella?" asked Jacob, suddenly serious again.

"I guess," I said. "As long as you aren't hiding anything else from me."

"How are things in Forks, Jacob?" asked Carlisle.

"We still have him trapped in Bella's dad's place. He's pacing the walls from what we can see..."

"But he's definitely still in there?" I asked, nervously.

"Yeah he's there. He has a very distinctive stench."

"He must be starved by now," said Esme, softly. I hadn't even heard her come out.

"We care nothing for that," retorted Jacob. "Weaker he is the better."

"It could take decades for him to truly need to feed," commented Carlisle. "If a vampire drinks human blood they need to feed a lot less than those of us that abstain."

"What about his friends?" asked Esme.

"Long gone," replied Jacob. "I guess they weren't as close as he thought. They abandoned him as soon as Sam and the rest of the pack appeared." I shivered involuntarily.

"Bella you are cold, we should go inside," said Edward, suddenly pulling me closer to him. Jacob smiled.

"Don't worry, Bells, I'll be out here, keeping watch. You look tired; go get some sleep. Good night." And with that he ran towards the woods, phasing as he went until all I saw was a large tawny coloured wolf running into the trees, before pausing to look back at me through yellow eyes. Edward turned us and led the way back into the house.

"He was only teasing," I mumbled. Edward glanced down at me, looking a little puzzled but then he sighed.

"I know what he was doing; you forget I can read his mind. What he was actually trying to do was make you smile."

"Well that's ok, isn't it?" I asked, hesitantly.

"Of course," he said, dropping a kiss on my head, but somehow it sounded like it wasn't ok at all.