A/N: These wonderful characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

My longest chapter so far, for those of you who wanted to hear from Jacob……

JPOV

Blondie and her boyfriend were starting to get on my nerves, and for the first time ever I couldn't stand to be near Bella anymore. So I just started running. About fifty feet into the forest, I phased. Well, so much for those sneakers. Dad's gonna be pissed, but oh well. Sometimes life is full of disappointments.

She's really a vampire – what the hell?! I keep remembering the emptiness that she told me about after he left her. She said it was like having a great big hole in her middle and the edges were just a jagged, bleeding wall of the crevice. I guess I never understood what she meant by that, until now. It was like every hope I ever had of us being together, or at least being best friends again, was gone. All that was left was the hole. A pretty jagged one, too.

This just sucks. No other way to put it. So, first she gets knocked up by that joke Mike Newton, marries him, and then she chooses to be a bloodsucker over being with me? What the hell did I ever do besides love her the way she deserved? Couldn't she see that? Even though she couldn't handle the physical stuff with me, I know I'd have made her happier than him. And if she thinks I didn't see that ring on her finger, she's wrong there, too. I can hear the leech proposing now – 'Hey baby, as long as we're going to run around sucking blood together for eternity, why not make it legal?' What a freakin' mess this is.

Sam? I called in my head.

Yeah, Jake, I'm here. Obviously Sam didn't trust the leeches, either. He was waiting for me just outside the forest line, just in case anything weird went down.

Good. Listen, we're meeting tonight. Tell everyone to be there, no exceptions. This one's important.

Jake, man, what happened at the Cullens?

We'll talk about it at the meeting. Don't be late. The last thing I wanted was to have to repeat myself on this subject.

I just ran for a while to clear my head and feel like I had control over something. As much as I hated myself for it, I still cared about her so much it hurt. She still seemed like my Bella. Her looks were a little different, especially the eyes, and her voice was pretty freaky, but she still seemed to be in there. Yeah – I could just see it now. She probably qualified as the world's clumsiest vampire. Ha!

It was stupid to even imagine that there would be hope for us being together now, even as friends, but I just couldn't stop myself from trying to think of a way. Maybe I could just steal her and run. Play a little 'capture the vampire' game, but not allow them to come and get their flag back. But crap, she actually wants to be with them. Stop being an idiot, Jake! What if I gave her the chance to save her vampires from a war by agreeing to come with me? I could order a truce, or a new treaty, and she and I could…..yeah, like that would end well. She'd just think I was goddamn Mr. Wonderful then.

I wasn't in a rush to go home and play 20 questions with Billy, but I needed clothes before the meeting. Of course, he was ready for me, just waiting to pounce. I caught him looking at my bare feet, and raised an eyebrow as if to say 'are you really gonna go there?'

"So I hear we meet tonight about the Cullens?" he asked, as if he didn't already know that for a fact.

"Yeah." I couldn't keep the scowl off my face when I thought about it.

"You made any decisions on your part yet?" he asked.

"Nothing that will make sense to anyone."

"Hmmm," Billy sighed. Okay, here we go..

"You know, I like to think I know the entire history of the Quileutes, Jacob, and I don't think there has ever been a leader that has had to make this kind of decision, even your great-grandfather, Ephraim. I can see the conflict in your eyes, and I understand. Don't be ashamed; a sign of a true leader is making a decision that results from both sides being seen, and this is a very grave matter you are dealing with."

Great, now I feel so much better. I started shaking my head while I tried to figure a way out of this. "Why didn't they realize it would be better if they just stayed away and never came back?"

"Better for who, Jake?" Billy asked. What the hell did he mean by that?

"Huh?" was my intelligent response.

"I've talked to Charlie a lot over the past few months. It was hard for him to open up about this, but I was patient and I learned some things that you need to know. I don't think you realize the extent of physical and emotional damage that husband of Bella's did to her. I can tell you Charlie had no idea. If he did, that Newton kid wouldn't have lived as long as he did. And it took Charlie by complete surprise to find out that it was Edward Cullen who got Bella away from Mike. The sad part is that he was just short of saving her little girl, too.

"I know she hurt you, son. But she hurt you honestly. There's a big difference between her being up front about her feelings with you and the intentional cruelty that was forced on her."

"Yeah, they told me something about that. But does that really let them off the hook for breaking the treaty?"

"That will ultimately be your decision, Jake, and I know you won't take the responsibility lightly. If you want an old man's advice, I think you need to consider the two basic aspects of the treaty."

What other aspects are there, except staying the hell off our land and keeping their fangs to themselves?

"Ephraim's treaty with the Cullens was meant to protect life and ensure peace among all peaceful beings. Any leader of the tribe needs to interpret and act upon those intentions in the best way they know how. I'm not saying it's all black and white."

"But do you think Ephraim had any idea that they would be doing favors for humans by turning them into vampires if they asked?"

"Just think about what I said, Jacob. Then think about what you just said." And with that the old man wheeled himself into his room to rest before the meeting.

What the hell was I thinking? I should have let Sam be the chief, and then this would all be on his shoulders, with me standing by and just following commands, taking orders like a soldier. I don't know if I could just stand by, though. I had to admit the old man got me thinking a little. As if my head wasn't about to explode already.

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Billy and I got to the meeting on time. The wind wasn't too bad, and the fire made everything look warm and toasty. Like we were all just sitting around on a camping trip, getting ready to toast marshmallows or something. I saw Harry, Quil, Embry, Sam, Jared and Paul all looking like they were expecting some great revelation to be announced. Emily was there with Sam, holding his hand in both of hers, but she just looked worried.

It looked like everyone showed up, except for Leah. She was the last one to change, and now she was all worked up about the rumors of who her real father might be. Fine by me if she wanted to stay away, she could be annoying as hell, especially when she was in wolf form. I never expected to see that much of Sam and her together in my head - ugh, why did I have to just think about that?

Everyone was in human form, since Billy and Harry couldn't phase and use our little mind trick. I took a deep breath and tried to figure out how to even start this meeting. What was I supposed to say? Just throw it out there, I guess, and see what happens.

"I went to the Cullen's today," I started, "and it looks like they did bite a human - Bella." I heard a couple of gasps and a couple of swears being mumbled. "So, I guess now I'm open to hearing everyone's thoughts about what should happen next." This could at least buy me some time, and maybe someone actually had a decent idea that I could live with. And that Bella could live with.

"Jake," Billy spoke first. "I think it's important for everyone to know that this was not an act of violence."

"Billy, you can't be serious." Harry almost laughed. "How is turning a human into a vampire not a violent act?"

"When the human wants it to happen." Billy said, calmly. I looked around and saw six men looking like a herd of deer caught in headlights.

"That's crazy!" Quil shouted. "I can't believe Bella would want to be one of them."

"No, it's actually true." I said, staring into the fire. "She didn't want to be human anymore because her life was pretty much hell the past few years. So now she seems to think this is a better option."

Embry spoke up. "A better option than what? Wasn't that loser husband of hers killed or something? She could have put her life back together now."

"And she's still with the one called Edward?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, it looks like they're back together. I'm assuming that he's the one that....bit her." I shivered, even though I hadn't been cold in months.

"Jake, I don't care if they only hunt animals, or whatever they think makes them special. We can't let them keep making more monsters on our watch. What happens when they outnumber us? What happens if some of them decide that they are sick of their 'diet' and want human blood?" Sam had a point there, I suppose. "If one of them has a moment of weakness, and someone gets killed, that blood is on us. We're no less guilty than them, because we allowed them to get out of control."

I looked at Billy, hoping he could add something that would help me. He just looked at me as though he knew I would say something smart. Yeah, no chance of that happening soon.

"Jared, Paul, you guys have anything to say?" I wanted everyone's opinion, and they had been really quiet.

"I dunno, Jake. I mean, how much trouble has this actually caused anyone?" Jared obviously was not as hyped up as Sam.

"That's not the issue." Sam snapped. "We need to decide if the treaty is broken and action needs to be taken." There was no hesitation in his voice. It was obvious where he stood.

"I'll go along with whatever you guys decide, I guess." Jared said sheepishly. I wanted to smack him.

Then it was Paul's turn. "I'm with Sam. We can't let them think that they can just multiply and live happily ever after. Turning a human, even a willing human, can't go on without consequences. We need to take action against them. I don't want them to think they are giving the gift of immortality to people without paying dearly for it, or they'll end up creating an army of vampires."

"I agree." Harry said, nodding. I saw Billy give him a pissed off look from the corner of my eye.

"So what are we talking about doing, exactly?" Embry looked a little queasy as he realized he might be asked to fight with the pack. He had only been a wolf for a few months, and just thought that phasing was something cool to do when there was nothing good on HBO.

"We would have to destroy them, and then we could go back to living in peace, without the threat of them always being around." Paul said.

"Guys, let's not jump the gun here, okay?" Something just occurred to me. "We don't really have to declare war, just teach them a lesson. If we take out the one who turned Bella, then their numbers haven't increased and we've let them know we won't tolerate any more vampires in the area." And if I take Edward out of the picture, then maybe eventually Bella would forgive me and we could salvage our friendship. Maybe?

Billy looked at me totally stunned, as if I had just grown feathers and flapped my wings. "Jacob, are you listening to yourself? The Cullens consider themselves a family. They won't tolerate one of their own being massacred and look the other way. They will all fight together, and I have a feeling Bella will fight with them. Are you prepared for the result of your actions if that happens?"

Crap. This was exactly the kind of logic I didn't need right now. "Yeah, you're probably right." I said. And I knew it was true. If Bella knew that I had either killed Edward myself or allowed it to happen, she would hunt me down herself and then I would have to... no, I couldn't think about that. I was starting to feel the pressure of everyone's eyes on me and looking for an answer. An answer I didn't have. What the hell was I supposed to do now? I decided to chicken out (here come those feathers) and put it to a vote. Let the majority decide.

"We're a family, too. I want to do what's best for the tribe, and I think it needs to be put to a vote. We'll vote on whether to attack the Cullens or not. Yes or no."

Billy looked up at me with sad eyes, but seemed to be willing to go along with it. Everyone else just nodded in agreement.

"We'll start with Sam." I said.

"Yes." he said, without hesitation.

"No." said Embry.

"Yes." from Paul, as expected.

"Yes." from Harry

"No." That was Billy.

"Yes." from Jared - that one surprised me.

"No." from Quil - another surprise. He never went against Sam.

"No." a female voice. What? I turned around and saw Leah sitting on one of the rocks just a few feet away from us, apparently listening to it all. Well, I guess she gets a vote, too.

Oh, crap! Wait a minute, what the hell? I did the math again in my head. Are you freakin' kidding me? Oh, man, I may just kill Leah myself. She made it a tie, which meant I was the one to decide. I could feel the rage building up inside of me, my hands starting to tremble and my head felt like it would shoot off of my shoulders. Screw it, if my choice was to either watch the woman I loved live like a monster with other monsters, or rid my tribe of the threat that had been a burden for so long, then I was going to do what I could for my family.

"We do it." I barely got the words out before phasing and running off again.

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