Chapter 13: Control

The sun was breaking over a new day, scattering across the choppy waves below the cliffs like a million diamonds... Bella pushed the thought away and continued to pace. Somewhere is the back of her mind where normal thoughts still lingered that had nothing to do with vampires or... werewolves, a sweet southern voice supplied her with the word she could scarcely allow herself to think, let alone say out loud, she remembered it was Saturday. Which was good because she was going to need at least one weekend to adjust to all that she'd learned today. She also vaguely recalled someone had called Charlie and told him she'd fallen asleep at Jacob's house and would call him in the morning. Which would have to be soon. He'd probably head to the station early to work on the animal attack cases. Or, apparently more accurately, werewolf attacks.

"I never thought you'd be such a hypocrite," Jacob snapped, a scowl etched into his sharp features while he watched her pace. "So what, I'm not the right kind of monster for you? I guess nothing measures up to your beloved bloodsuckers, huh?"

Bella spun on her heel and leveled a glare at him. "At least they manage to survive without killing innocent people!"

"Wait, what?" Jacob frowned, his shoulders dropping as his body slightly uncoiled. "You think we're killing people?"

"Animal attacks, Jacob! What else am I supposed to think?"

"Maybe that you know me better than that!" he nearly shouted before catching himself and taking a step back. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths before he continued, "Bella, you said you know me better than anyone. Do you truly, honestly think that I would just randomly kill a few hikers for the hell of it?"

She didn't hesitate, because there was no hesitation in her mind. "No! Of course not! But are you even... Are you still you after you, y'know... shift?"

"Yes. I am. We didn't attack those hikers, Bella, and we most definitely didn't kill them. We were trying to protect them."

"Protect them? From what?"

His eyes were dark as they stared unflinching into hers. "The only thing we do kill. Vampires."

All the blood rushed from her head to her toes as she thought of Jacob going up against a vampire. "No."

"Don't worry. If your dear and darling Cullens ever come back, we can't touch them unless they violate the treaty."

"That's not-" she shook her head and crossed her arms protectively around her middle. "That's not what I meant. Jacob, you can't kill a vampire. They're too fast, too strong..."

He smirked. "That's just rude. We took out the leech with the dreads easy enough."

She froze. Her eyes widened. "You- you killed Laurent?"

His smirk disappeared. "Um... yes? It didn't seem like you two were friends?"

"No. God, no. But... how did you do it?"

He shrugged. "It's what we do. Why we exist." He shoved his hands in his pockets and dug his bare toes into the dirt. "A few lucky guys in the tribe inherited the gene. When a leech moves to town, it kicks in. Then it's just a waiting game until we're the right age. Then the fever kicks in..."

"Mono," she said, remembering the excuse she had never bought anyway.

"I wish," Jacob scoffed. "Next thing I know, they're telling me this is your life now. That future you once dreamed about? Gone." He scrubbed his hands over his face and groaned softly. "I just hate feeling... so much of this feels like it's out of my control. When I'm a wolf, I'm still me, but..." he blew out a shaking breath and looked out towards the horizon line over the waves. "Maybe Sam's right. Maybe you shouldn't be around me."

Bella gave him a half smile. "Like you could get rid of me that easy. I'd just camp out in your front yard again."

"I'm serious, Bella. You've seen Emily," he said. The fear in his eyes was reflected in his tone. "Sam lost it for just one second... Em was standing too close. Sam's still messed up about it. I don't... God, Bella, if something ever happened to you..."

Bella couldn't stop herself from closing the distance between them and wrapping her arms around him. He clung to her and buried his face in the curve of her neck. "You're not like that," she whispered fiercely. Protectively. "Okay? You're not."

She felt him close his eyes briefly and take a deep breath before releasing her, but she wasn't finished. She gripped his hands in hers. "I'm serious. You jumped in to save me from Paul earlier. You saved me from Laurent..."

"Seriously, that was no trouble. His red headed girlfriend is next."

If she thought she'd panicked before when he talked about killing vampires, it was nothing to the jolt of ice cold fear that ripped through her now. "Victoria? She's here?"

"Guess so?" he said as Bella started to pace again. "Whoever she is, we chased her all the way to the border the other night. She won't stay gone though. We can't figure out what she's after."

She continued to pace, muttering colorful expletives under her breath.

"Bella, what's going on?"

"She's..." she sighed, finally turning to face him. "She's after me."

For a long moment, Jacob just stared at her. "Please tell me you're kidding."

She swiped angrily at the tears burning her eyes. "I wish like hell I was. Jasper killed her mate. Now she wants to even things out. That's what Laurent told me before... before you guys found us."

Jacob ripped his hands through his hair, clenching them into fists. "Fuck! Okay. Okay, um... go back to Emily's, okay? Go-" he was cut off by a strangled groan. He pressed the heel of his palm to his temple.

"Jacob..."

"Go!" he ground out, falling back away from her and heading toward the trees. "Just go, I'll... I'll meet you there."

All at once, Bella realized what was happening. "You've got precious little time before the big bad wolf comes out to play, darlin'," Jasper's voice danced through her head as she headed for the truck. "I'd get a move on."

"Jacob wouldn't hurt me," she snapped, slamming the door of the truck and jamming the key in the ignition. "Not like you."

The voice in her head fell silent as a howl ripped through the air.