When Bella finally pulled away from the bear, she stood tense and shaking a distance away from the others. She left the animal's corpse where it was, refusing to look at it again. She ignored the blood that coated the front of her shirt. She listened to the sounds of the forest. She turned back the way they'd come, following their trail back to the beach, back to the cabin. It was another long, tense walk back. She refused to meet Jake's imploring gaze, refused to acknowledge his existence at all. She knew that now he knew. Because now she knew.
She was the killer, the monster of the night.
She was the creature that everyone should run from.
She was the thing that enjoyed the taste of blood flowing over her lips.
She finally understood why he had never trusted himself with her. She desperately wished he could be with her now.
She buried that thought as quickly as it had come.