A/N: Stephenie Meyer totally owns these amazing characters. I just love them too much to let them stand still!

BPOV

The room was silent as I tried to figure out what Edward meant. Okay, so there was a wolf outside. So why was that a threat? Didn't we handle predators like mountain lions and grizzly bears without incident? A lonely wolf brazen enough to come close to the house should be no problem for 8 vampires. Was there more than just one, I wondered? Why was everyone suddenly so worried?

"Edward?" I whispered, starting to feel anxious myself, "What's wrong? What do you mean, a wolf?"

"A werewolf," he explained further. I couldn't help but gasp, even without the need for air.

"A werewolf? You're telling me that werewolves actually exist?" I was waiting for the punch line here.

A few of the Cullens couldn't help themselves but chuckle under their breath at my question. Edward just looked at me lovingly, and replied, "Yes, my beautiful vampire." Oh. Right.

"Bella," he said very concerned now, "I think you may know this werewolf."

"What?" Edward must be confused. I certainly didn't know any werewolves. I hadn't been a vampire long enough to make any other uh….… new friends.

"It's Jacob Black, Bella." Edward held his arm around my waist in case I needed the support. Upon hearing Jacob's name I had to admit I felt a little weak despite my physical strength.

Edward sighed and took my hand securely in his as we walked towards the front door. I could see a man standing outside the Cullens' house, looking angry and anxious. I recognized him after a moment as Jacob. He had grown so large since the last time I saw him!

Jacob. My Jacob was now a werewolf? What in the world was going on? Edward had a point - I guess the existence of vampires should have made this a bit more acceptable, but it just didn't. Even after hearing the old legends from Jacob that day on the beach when I began to discover Edward's secret, it never occurred to me that the other part of the stories could be true. Duh, Bella! If the vampire stories were true, then why not the wolves? In one corner of my mind I made a mental note to ask Edward about leprechauns later.

So many questions entered my mind in the last two seconds. Did Billy know? Was this some kind of coming-of-age thing in LaPush? Did Jacob expect this to happen someday, or was he surprised? Was Charlie safe around him? Did Charlie even know? What had Jacob been doing the past few years while I was living in hell with Mike? Was he happy? After our brief try at a relationship, this last question struck me as very important.

We stepped outside with the rest of the family, everyone on high alert for any unwelcome movement from our guest. We stood on the porch under cover from the rare sunlight that strewn across the lawn so as not to give the now trembling Jacob anything else to be upset about. How did he change into a wolf, I wondered? Did it hurt him at all? Now was not the time for me to start asking questions, obviously, but I was very curious as to why a coven of vampires were made so uncomfortable by one animal. An animal couldn't possibly have any hope of winning a fight against a vampire. That thought gave me a bit of peace for the safety of my new family, but made me worry that something could happen to Jacob if things got out of hand.

My Jacob.... my memories of him still stayed with me, although I don't know how aware Edward was of those memories. It was definitely for the best if he wasn't aware at all, and I found myself grateful once more that Edward's mind reading power didn't work on me.

My relationship with Jake reached its expiration date when we tried taking things to the next level of being together a few months after Edward left, just before senior prom. We never really recovered from the awkwardness of seeing each other naked, and me immediately realizing that we would never be more than best friends. Luckily I had the presence of mind to stop us before we did something we both would have regretted later. I shuddered even now to think of that day. Jake's expression was almost tortured, as if I had simply been leading him on and toying with his feelings, only to turn him down at the last moment. I'm sure it seemed to him as the cruelest of jokes at the time, and with good reason.

Edward's absence left a gaping hole in my entire being, and I hoped beyond hope that Jacob was the answer to that emptiness. I never wanted to hurt him, but I knew being with him that way was bad for both of us. I think deep down he knew that, but even that fact couldn't salvage our friendship and bring us back to where we were before. His last words to me had cut me like a knife. "Bella, you know why you can't do this? It has nothing to do with our friendship, it's because of him! He ran away from you, Bella - and I'm the one who stuck by you and picked up the pieces!

"I thought we would have a future together, now that all of the leeches are gone - a future you deserved, not one you would be condemned to!" With that he stormed out of Charlie's house and took off in his Volkswagen Rabbit. None of my calls were returned after that, and none of the notes I passed through Charlie and Billy got any response. I remember deciding then that I would never let myself get emotionally involved with anyone that could hurt me again....

"Bella?" Jacob almost whispered. "Bella, what did they do to you?" The sound of the horror in his voice made me tremble as though I would shatter at a mere touch. Edward took a protective stance in front of me and I was glad to have him so close. If I could just concentrate on him and tell myself that everything would be okay, then it would have to be, right?

Jake had asked me a question. Could I answer him? I had to try. "J - Jake?" was all I managed to mumble.

I knew it wasn't an answer, or what he wanted to hear (my new voice was something to get used to), but I just couldn't say anything else. It was obvious that he was disgusted by my new sound and appearance, and he felt the friend he once had was gone forever. I looked at Edward, not sure of what to do, and saw him studying Jake. He was trying to hear something – Jacob's intentions, maybe? What caused the animosity in his eyes?

Again, Jacob demanded "Bella, what did they do?" He was visibly shaking now, his anger controlling all of his movements.

I still couldn't speak. Of course, Emmett did not have the same problem. He answered Jake with a growl of his own, "We helped her, dog."

"Helped her?" Jacob repeated. "You call this...helping her? You turned her into a monster! You made her one of you!"

Somewhere inside me I found the strength to finally answer Jake. "It was what I wanted, Jake!" I shouted.

I needed to get closer to Jake to make him understand that I was still the same person, still the same Bella. I tried to move forward, but Edward held me in place, again trying to protect me from whatever he knew Jake was capable of. I shot him a look to convince him to release me, but he just said "I can't live without you.... I can't lose you."

Of course I felt the same way, and assumed that he was just going into overprotective mode, but the look of fear in his eyes halted my efforts to move away from him. I realized then that even though I felt like the same Bella, Jake was no longer My Jacob. I remembered what Jacob had told me that day so long ago on the beach, about the two "clans" being mortal enemies. The transformations that had taken place in each of us now put us on opposite sides of that spectrum, and Jacob and I would not be able to overcome such a deep set prophecy.

"So because she asked you, that allows your conscience to kill her?" Jake asked, incredulously. Edward seemed to be reading something else that Jake was thinking, because he continued talking to him. "She had a husband who beat her, not a family. She had a daughter who was killed at the hands of that same husband." Edward growled while he tried to get my former best friend to understand how terrible my human life had become after he left me.

"It had to be better than this life." Jake stated coldly. "Better than becoming a leech! Anything is better than what you've done to her."

No. This was wrong. He was wrong. I would not let him be mad at the Cullens after they had made it their mission in the past few months to make me happy and whole again, part of a real family. If this was about me, then he had to understand that I was happy now.

I couldn't stay quiet anymore. "Try being married to someone who beats you every day, rapes you, and murders the child that you carried and cared for its entire, short life." I sobbed. "Try being helpless from protecting yourself from that person, like I was every day for years, and tell me that this," gesturing to my indestructible, beautiful, happier new self, "isn't better."

I didn't understand what could have him so angry, so angered that every muscle in his huge body seemed to shake with animosity. Was Jacob that upset that I had decided to marry Edward after everything that had happened? Was he set on getting some kind of jealous revenge? I knew about the treaty that kept all of the Cullens off of Quileute land, and none of the Cullens had ever violated that agreement to the best of my knowledge. It just didn't make sense. As I listened to more of the conversation, though, the reason became quite clear......

Jake's POV to be posted very soon. Please, please review!! It's easy – just hit the button! Thank you!!