I do not own Twilight or any of its' characters

BPOV

Chapter 25

Warning

It was like something out of a Saw movie. The hallway was long and poorly lit. I heard muttering all around me. My hands were bound tightly to something cold and metal. Somehow, I managed to snake my wrists out of my ties and I stood up and began running. I ran as fast as I could, using my hands to feel the walls around me, I stumbled once but kept moving. I saw my target in front of me, as I got closer; it was harder to move my legs. I felt like they were made of lead and I was running through snow with them. I was only a few feet away, and I couldn't move them anymore. I was running out of time, I don't know how I knew this, but I did. The plate glass window was just ahead, I could see the back of his head and shadowy figures standing around him. My legs would not function, I screamed at the top of my lungs, I screamed for help, I screamed for Edward, I screamed for anyone. And then, I saw his head drop back against the chair he was seated in and he was dead. I had lost him again and there was nothing I could do about it. A ferocious agony overcame me as I dropped to the floor and curled into a fetal position. I could feel pain in all of my limbs, my chest, my back, and my head, everything hurt me. Then the blood came, a huge puddle of blood was seeping out of the plate glass and creeping toward me. It was so dark in the hallway that the blood was black, it was inches away from me now, and I couldn't or didn't care to move. He was gone and my life was over, maybe if I just lay there long enough I would drown in the blood, in his blood. I waited for it to come to me. I felt it in my hair and on the side of my face, it was warm and sticky, I could smell it and it sickened me. Then something happened, I heard his voice calling my name, I opened my eyes and looked up. There before me stood Edward, his face was so pale that it almost illuminated the room and to my horror, his eyes had taken on a frightening crimson color. He held out his ghostly white hand to me, and I took it. He pulled me off the ground and drew his cold hand through the blood that was smeared across my face and then he lapped it off his fingers, smiling wickedly.

I woke up screaming and drenched with sweat, Topaz appeared from out of nowhere and put a paw on my leg. I burst into tears and curled into a ball on my bed, my shoulders shook violently and I was freezing. Topaz came around to the front of me where I held my stomach tightly and leaned against me. Sitting up, I unfurled my arms and picked him up and held him against me. He stretched his little body out and put his paws on my shoulder and pushed his face against my head purring into my ear. It was like he was hugging me, as ridiculous as that sounded, but for some reason, I was comforted by it. I would probably be more comforted by this than if Charlie had run in to check on me, because I didn't want to talk or explain, I just felt like crying and not being alone while I did. My sobbing became more controlled and I eased myself back down onto the bed. Topaz curled up by my head and let me use him as a pillow, not seeming bothered by the fact that he was now a very damp cat.

As my thoughts normalized, I wondered why Charlie hadn't come running in, I looked at the clock by the bed and it was six thirty, he had already left for work. I sighed with relief, suddenly glad that he wasn't home and I didn't have to explain that little spasm to him. I started to drift back to sleep again, I was in limbo when I felt the bed move and a warm body slip under the covers with me, Edward had arrived without me even hearing him. I drowsily turned over without even opening my eyes, nuzzling up against his chest. He said nothing, just put his arm around me and buried his face in my hair.

When I woke again he was still there, fast asleep. I watched him silently, listening carefully to his quiet breathing, watching his chest rise and fall. Every so often he would stir or mutter something and it just endeared me to him even more. He looked so peaceful and so beautiful to me, I understood how he was able to spend so much time watching me sleep, it was almost meditative to me. I placed my hand on his chest and felt his heart slowly beat to the rhythm of his breaths. It was amazing to me that he was here, and he was alive and he was mine.

I saw his eyelids flutter and slowly open, as soon as he saw me he smiled.

"Good morning." I whispered.

"Good morning," he replied hoarsely. His smile quickly turned to concern when he saw my face. He touched my cheek and sat up, "what is it? You've been crying."

"Nothing, just nightmares," I said calmly. "I'm fine now."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. It was just a silly dream."

Edward only stayed until the early afternoon, he claimed to have made plans with Jasper and Emmett, but I think he was trying to make himself scarce so that I would be able to spend time with some of my friends. We only had another week or so before we would have to go back to Alaska and start our second semester and I still hadn't spent any time with Jacob or Angela.

I decided I would go see Jacob, I called beforehand to make sure he was home and then headed up to La Push. I pulled into the familiar driveway and got out of my truck. I was ashamed I had spent so little time with someone who meant so much to me. I believed that Jacob's leaving over the summer had a lot to do with Edward coming back and us getting back together and to top that, my moving to Alaska had alienated me from him even more. I was amazed that he even still wanted to see me; I certainly didn't deserve the second chance he was giving me.

He stood in the front door in a white t-shirt with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Hey stranger," he tried to sound cool and sarcastic, but his face gave away how happy he really was to see me.

"Hey Jacob!" I said enthusiastically climbing the porch steps. He threw open the door and grabbed me into his gigantic arms, lifting me off the ground.

"How's it going Bells?" He asked with a grin, his perfect white teeth gleaming against his umber skin.

"Great, everything's great, how about you?"

"I'm surviving. Come on inside you must be freezing." I nodded and hurried in behind him. We went to his room because Billy and a few others were watching a game and things were getting pretty rowdy. I politely greeted everyone and followed Jacob down the hallway to his tiny hovel of a bedroom. There were clothes everywhere, dresser drawers hanging open and CD cases all over the floor. Jacob was such a boy, he sat down on his unmade twin bed and I sat in a bean bag chair on the floor.

I glanced around and saw a half packed gym bag. "Are you, going somewhere?" I asked.

"Coming back actually," he answered.

"Jake, where exactly do you go?" I was confused, "what about school and Billy?"

"I sort of, dropped out of school." He said quietly, staring at the floor.

"What? How can you do that? You're a senior! You only have a few months left." I scolded.

"The pack's more important."

"Jacob, I don't understand this, this mentality. Why are you giving up your future?"

"The pack sort of, is my future," he stammered. I stood up from my beanbag chair and sat beside my enormous friend on his diminutive little bed.

I took his hand in mine and stared up into his young face. "I understand that the pack is your family, but what about finding a job and…"

"Bella, you don't understand…" he put his hand over mine and continued, "all this time I'm spending away from home, it's because I'm meeting up with all of the packs in the country because Sam wants me to become the alpha." He gazed up at me with sad brown eyes.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that I'm going to have to lead the pack."

"Through what? I thought that the only time the pack forms is when there are problems with…other supernatural beings." I said trying to keep my end of the conversation very PC.

"Bella, in case you haven't noticed, there are seven bloodsuckers living a few miles away." He said crassly.

I knit my brows together in frustration, "Six, actually. And I still don't understand why you have to be on guard, the Cullens haven't done anything wrong. They keep the peace."

"Bella, that's true but, wait a minute did you say six?"

"Yes." I said impishly.

"Did someone die?" Jacob asked hopefully. I wanted to slap him and he could tell from the expression on my face that he had hit a nerve. "Oorr, move away?" He added flashing me his most charming smile.

"No, nobody died or moved, somebody changed."

"No shit, really? So he's fair game now." A wicked smile crossed his face.

"Jacob, stop it." I said very tensely, remembering my dream.

"I'm sorry Bella, really I am. I'm being an asshole. At least this means that you won't be changing any time soon." He said optimistically.

"Nope."

"Don't tell me you're sad over this?" Jacob said putting his arm around me.

"No, I'm not sad, I'm very happy for Edward, I just, I have a feeling that something terrible is going to happen."

"What makes you think that?"

"I keep, having these horrible nightmares." I started.

"Nightmares are normal, some are worse than others, but everybody has them." He said lightly, shrugging his massive shoulders.

"I know Jacob, but, these are really real, and then there's something else." I nervously pushed a piece of hair behind my ear. "Edward's sister Alice, you know, the one you call the witch?" He nodded, "well, before we left for school, she told me that if he was able to be transformed, that I would have to look out for him."

"That goes without saying."

"No, Jacob, she said that I had to look out for him because he was going to be in danger. And then," my words starting coming more rapidly, "she gave me a syringe of liquid and told me to hide it from him until I needed it, and she said I would know exactly when I had to use it."

Jacob watched me intently until I had finished my rant. He sighed deeply and stood up, "Listen Bella, as much as I hate to admit this, you and the blo…Edward, have some kind of freaky connection to one another." He started pacing around the small room, "if he's in any type of trouble, you'll know what to do. Besides, haven't you said before that Alice's predictions don't always come true?"

"Yes, but, she seemed pretty concerned."

"Has she mentioned anything else about this lately?"

"No." I said quietly.

"Then maybe the vision has changed."

"But what about these dreams I'm having?"

"What happens in the dream?" Jacob asked.

"Edward dies." I said matter of factly.

I could tell that Jacob was getting irritated, but trying to be a supportive friend. "Bells, I hate to burst your bubble, but Edward is going to die someday, that's a given now. So, it would only be natural that now that you realize that, it's becoming a fear to you, and nightmares are a representation of our fears, not necessarily a prediction. I mean, come on, what do you think you are, the medium or something?" He sat down beside me and nudged me playfully with his elbow.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." I said sarcastically.

"Anytime. Now can we please drop this subject? The ex-bloodsucker is going to be fine."

"Okay. Fine. You're probably right. It's just, I can't really talk about this sort of thing with everyone."

"I know Bells. I know you save all your vampire boyfriend problems for me to listen to." He rolled his eyes.

"Who better to talk about my vampire problems to than my werewolf best friend?" I teased, nudging him back.

"You need to find some normal friends."

"Where's the fun in that? So what do you want to do now?" I asked.

Jacob sat and thought for a second, "well, it's too icy to go riding, it's too cold to hang out in the garage, at least for you it is, umm, I have guitar hero and beer."

"How do you have that? You're only seventeen."

"You don't have to be a specific age to buy guitar hero, Bells." He said very seriously.

I rolled my eyes and pinched his arm, "I meant the beer Jake, not the video game."

"Ouch. Geez Bella, you working out or something?"He asked, rubbing his arm.

"Don't try to change the subject."

"Come on Bells, I'm the youngest in a pack of werewolves that I'm going to be leading soon, you gotta think someone's scoring for me."

"Yeah, you probably have a dime bag of pot in your sock drawer too." I said sarcastically.

"As a matter of fact, I think I might." He said as his expression brightened.

"You're so wrong side of the tracks Jacob Black."

"I know, don't you just love it?"

"I do actually." I said smirking at him. He thought I was joking, but I was serious. I loved spending time with Jacob because he was so unrestricted and easygoing. He was on the verge of becoming a pack leader, having the responsibility of a grown man watching over and making the decisions for a dozen people and all he wanted to do was play video games and get high. He was the anti-Edward and I loved him for it. I felt my age around Jacob, I felt like a teenager rather than someone in an adult relationship and it was a good balance every now and then.

"So do you want to play? There's nothing else to do." He said shrugging his shoulders casually.

"Sure, sounds good to me." I said trying to curb my enthusiasm.

Jacob got up and made his way to the tiny color TV he had sitting on his dresser. He turned on the ancient Playstation 2 gaming system he had.

"You go first." He instructed, reaching under his bed and handing a plastic guitar to me.

"I don't know how to play," I said shyly.

"All you do is select the song you want to play and then as the notes come up, you hit the coinciding colored button while strumming. You do the first song; I'll do the next one."

"Can't you do the first one, so I can see how to do it?"

"No." Jacob said, opening his sock drawer.

"Why not?"

"Because, I have to roll," he said dangling a bag of pot in front of him and smirking.

"Love you." I said as I hit the start button on the guitar.

I don't how he did it, but Jacob could very easily get away with smoking while Billy was home. His tiny bedroom was filled with a blue hue, and I'm sure you could smell it all over the house. Jacob had stuffed a towel under his bedroom door to help prevent the smoke from escaping, but the house was so old and rickety, it was inevitable that some would slip out.

"How are you able to do this?" I asked as Jacob puffed away while he finished up a rolling stones song.

"What do you mean?" He asked handing the guitar to me and holding his joint between his fingers.

"I mean, Billy's like, right down the hallway. This stuff isn't exactly odorless. How does he not know?" I said selecting a Foghat song.

"Bells it's not that he doesn't know, it's that he doesn't care." He said taking a deep drag off his joint.

"How is that possible?"

"Come on Bella, peace pipe, warrior journeys, all that shit, it's part of our culture. He'd probably join us right now if he didn't already have company over." He barked as he started coughing. "This is great stuff," he commented.

"That's amazing." I mused, "oh crap, I'm in the red!"

"Hit star power! Hit star power!" Jacob shouted excitedly.

I launched the neck of the guitar back and the crowd on the screen cheered for me, I quickly regained my spot and continued the song as my joint burned in the ashtray.

"Hey, are you going to finish that, cuz that stuff doesn't grow on trees." Jacob complained as it continued to burn.

"Shhh. I'm almost done." he rolled his eyes at me and paced around the room in a circle. I finished the song out at 85% and almost threw the guitar at him. "I could have done better if you weren't harassing me." I grumbled at him.

"Easy there princess, you'll get another turn," he teased taking the guitar from me. "Come on, that thing is burning like a stick of incense over there, if you're not going to finish it I will." He said gesturing at the ashtray.

I stalked over to the ashtray and grabbed up the joint. I strutted back over to Jacob, holding it like a model for a pack of Marlboros and he stared at me in fascination. "I don't know if it's right, but you look pretty hot standing there like that." He said raising an eyebrow at me.

I walked closer to him and took his army style black baseball cap off his head, his ebony hair fell out all around his face. He looked pretty hot too I thought to myself. I placed the hat on my own head slightly sideways, punk style. I took a long drag off my joint, held it for a minute, letting it fill my lungs to the point of suffocation, and then slowly blew the sweet smelling smoke out in Jacob's direction. He looked like he licked his lips slightly and took a step toward me.

"In your dreams," I said in a husky tone.

"If you only knew." He sighed, sitting back down and selecting a new song. I sat down with him, on his lap, my head was swimming. "You're killing me Bells," he said putting his arm around my waist. I took another drag and looked at him. He had aged since I had seen him last, his soft boyish looks that I had grown used to that winter we were together all of the time were becoming more chiseled and masculine. He could easily pass for a twenty year old at this point. His chest and shoulders were huge and muscular, I was sure that in his normal form he could now dwarf Edward's strength at this point, let alone when he phased.

Jacob continued to play the song he had selected glancing at me from the corner of his eye every so often. Finally he finished his song and turned to me and said, "What? What's the matter? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"You just, you look so much older Jake. You're very handsome."

He seemed taken aback by the compliment, "thanks Bells, that's nice to hear."

"I only speak the truth." I said, not sure why I had just quoted Moulin Rouge.

"So," he said putting down the guitar and reaching into his pocket and pulling out a third joint, "I have one more, wanna go half with me?"

"Absolutely," I said with a grin.

We had given up on guitar hero after losing the battle with Slash several hundred times and now Jake and I just lay on the floor together passing the joint back and forth. The small bedroom had become hazy and Jacob cracked the window slightly. It was very windy today for some reason and I could feel the arctic breeze playing against my face.

"Tell me more about why you're becoming the alpha," I encouraged.

"Why?"

"Because I'm your friend and I care about you."

"There's not much to tell, I am directly descended from the ancient chiefs so I'm next in line," he replied.

" Why don't you want to talk to me about this?" I demanded a little more forcefully than intended. "I thought you said before that there was no way that you could be the alpha with Sam in the picture. Is he going somewhere?"

"Sam's leaving Washington. We're all pretty upset, but his wife has recently been diagnosed with cancer and he has to move to Boston to get her the care that she needs."

"That's why you've been gone so much." I said quietly, finally understanding.

"I have no other choice." He said very seriously looking over at me with his sad brown eyes.

"Is this what you really want Jacob?"

"Bells, it doesn't matter if it's what I want, I have to do it because there are other people depending on me. I have to be an adult and just do it. They'll be time for me later, but the pack, they're my family, I love them, and I can't let them down."

"That's a very heavy burden for a seventeen year old to shoulder." I muttered to myself.

Jacob continued to stare at me intently and locked eyes with mine. He slowly looked away, folding his long, dark arms behind his head and said, "It is what it is."

We had finished the last of the pot and my head was swimming. Jacob had become very talkative, more so than usual and his pupils were glassy and dilated. He spent hours telling me about the other packs and the legends of their tribes and I sat and listened until he ran out of things to say. Then, my phone rang, startling both of us. I looked at the screen and it said it was Alice calling.

"Hello?" I said hesitantly.

"Bella, it's Alice, would you be able to stop by for a minute over at the house?"

"I'm kind of in the middle of something right now Alice," I said a little annoyed.

"I know, you're with the dog, he can come too if you want."

Alice was just as bad with her prejudices as Jacob was and it infuriated me to no end. Ironically, they'd probably get along quite well if given the chance. "I don't think that would be such a good idea. He wouldn't go for that."

"Okay, what if I met you guys somewhere instead, how about Forks high school?"

I knew Jacob could hear everything she was saying, his hearing was impeccable, I glanced over to him as if to find an answer or an excuse not to go. I wanted him to come with me, I loved Alice, but I wasn't at her beckoned call. His expression was warm and he nodded at me. I mouthed the words, 'come with me' and he said quietly, "Sure, sure," I smiled at him.

"Yeah, that sounds fine Alice, Jacob and I can get there in twenty minutes or so."

"Great! Thanks Bella! I'll see you soon," and with that, she hung up.

"Thank you." I said emphatically to Jacob.

"Sure, sure. What's all this about anyways, she sounded like she was up to something." He said suspiciously shifting his doped up eyes side to side.

"She usually is, are you sure you don't mind coming?"

"No, I don't mind, the witch isn't so bad anyways, I met her a few times, she seems cool enough. It's him I can't stand; he's so uppity and serious. He thinks he's better than everyone."

"He's actually a lot more self conscious than people think." I protested calmly in Edward's defense. "If you got to know him, you'd see that."

"I don't want to get to know him Bella." He said darkly, frowning. I flashed him a furious glance, but then let it soften. It would be difficult for Jacob to get to know Edward; there were too many conflicting interests. "I'm sorry if that hurts your feelings," he continued. "I said I would go with you to see the witch, like I said, I don't mind her. Besides, it just means I get to spend more time with you."

"You must be pretty baked to be associating yourself with a Cullen."

"Most likely." Jacob said standing up and grabbing a sweatshirt off the floor and sniffing it. "This smells clean enough," he confirmed, sliding his arms into the sleeves.

"You're so nasty." I said, getting up and grabbing my coat.

"What can I say, I'm an animal."

Neither one of us should have been driving in the state we were in, but I felt as if I were less likely to get pulled over if I drove, so we climbed into my truck and headed back to Forks to meet up with Alice. I parked in the abandoned parking lot and tried to think of where she would be, before I could make a coherent decision, she was tapping on my driver's side window.

I clumsily stepped out of my truck with Jacob right behind me. "Hey Alice!"

"Hi Bella! I'm sorry I interrupted your afternoon, I won't keep you long." She looked up and saw Jacob's huge form lumbering toward her, "hello dog." She said gruffly.

"How's it going witchy?" He replied nastily.

"I don't know what you see in him." She said lowly so that only I could hear.

"Alice…" I grumbled impatiently.

"Right, I'm sorry, Jacob, come closer so you can hear, I know Bella has already mentioned some of this to you." Jacob stepped closer and Alice opened her mouth to continue, and then paused again. She sniffed a little in Jacob's direction and then took a piece of my hair in her delicate hands and put her nose to it, "have you been smoking…pot?" she grinned, raising an eyebrow.

Only in Forks could I be sniffed by someone and consider it to be a normal greeting I thought to myself. "Alice, what's going on?"

She giggled her musical twinkly laugh when she noticed my foot tapping impatiently. "Ok, Jacob, I assume that Bella has told you some about Edward's recent…experience."

"Some," he replied crossing his arms across his chest.

"Has she mentioned anything about what she and I discussed prior to them leaving for Alaska?"

"All I know is that you had a vision that somewhere along the way, he might get into some trouble while in his new form." I noticed that he had conveniently left out the part about the syringe she had given me and I was grateful.

"Alice, what is all this about?" I asked cautiously.

"I had the vision again. This time, there was more to it."

"Tell me," I said intensely, grabbing Jacob's hand in fear. He seemed startled by my sudden reach for him, but squeezed my hand back gently. I watched as Alice's curious gold eyes dropped to our interlaced fingers.

"I still don't know what's going to happen to him, or when, but I have a feeling that someone is going to betray him, someone he knows, someone in Forks. This someone, is not going to be the one who physically harms him, but they are going to be the one that can set things in motion."

I didn't know why she was telling me this, I didn't know why I had to drag myself out into the cold and rain and meet her somewhere with Jacob so that she could give me a five sentence synopsis of a vision that may or may not come true. This could have been a telephone conversation easily. My thoughts started turning at lightning speed, who did Edward know out here that could play a part in harming him? He kept mostly to himself out here, unless it was someone in his family or in my family, but Charlie would never, and then I thought, Jacob. I turned and looked at him and he immediately got on the defense.

"Wait a second," he said dropping my hand and throwing his arms up in front of him, "Bella, I have my differences with him, but I would never, I could never do that to you!" He threw a nasty look at Alice, "Do you see what you started?!"

"Jacob, you said yourself earlier 'he's fair game now'." I said in an accusatory tone.

"Bella, I was joking! I hate the son of a bitch but if it ever came down to it, I could never k..."

"It's not Jacob." Alice said firmly, clenching her fists at her sides.

"Of course it's not me!" He growled.

"I'm sorry." I said shaking my head, "I'm just…I've been having dreams about this." I said turning to Alice.

"What did you say?" She whispered, her voice shaking a little.

"I've been having dreams about Edward getting…" I didn't want to say what I was really seeing; him getting killed, so I conveniently left that out. "hurt." I said finishing my thought. "I just had one last night." I said sadly, "they're becoming clearer and more detailed each time I have them."

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" Alice asked, hugging me against her. Jacob rolled his eyes and started pacing around the truck.

"I didn't think anything of it."

"What do you see?" She asked.

"I don't know, a long hallway, a plate glass window, shadowy figures, his head falling back," my voice cracked a little as I said it.

"You need to keep an eye on him." She told me, trying to keep herself calm.

"Why?! Why is that Bella's responsibility?!" Jacob asked angrily as he stalked back over to us. "He decided to do this to himself; Bella didn't ask him, it's not fair to make her his babysitter."

"That's not what I'm saying, mongrel." She growled.

"Then what exactly are you saying?" I asked suddenly, furious with her. "He's not a child Alice, he's a grown man, he's probably more mature and aware of himself than I am and honestly, nobody is giving him any credit. I wasn't put on this earth to chase around after him like everyone says I should. Edward doesn't even want me treating him like that and as far as I'm concerned everyone is overreacting to this."

"Who's everyone?" She asked aggressively, stepping toward me, Jacob stood protectively nearby. I wished Edward was there so he could squash the issue and get her to back off of me.

"You, Eleazar, even Juno for cripes sake and she doesn't even give a damn about him!"

"Who's Juno?" Jacob asked suddenly confused.

"She's the one who transformed him," I explained offhandedly.

"Juno." Alice said breathlessly.

"What?" I asked.

"Juno. You're right, she doesn't give a damn about him, but she knows him, she was hesitant to change him, what if…oh no Bella, no, no. I can't believe she would, unless somebody," her voice trailed off.

"You think Juno is going to cause a problem?" I snorted.

"Is she a bloodsucker too?" Jacob said, Alice gave him a dirty look, but I knew he was creating a thought process.

"Yes." I replied, exasperated.

"Doesn't your kind have a check and balances system?" He asked turning to Alice, "the pack does, if someone fucks up, we have to answer to someone, what about you all?"

"We have the volturi to answer to." She shuddered.

"Then maybe, they find out about your little arrangement, and it pisses them off."

"That would certainly be a possibility. I can't believe that Edward didn't consider that when he went through with this." Alice said, folding her arms over her chest crossly.

I suddenly remembered the conversation Edward had had with Eleazar in the fall about the same subject. "He did though." I said slowly, "He thought of a plan if the volturi caught wind of this."

"Could you enlighten us please?" She sung.

I looked over at Jacob pleadingly for his understanding, "Go ahead, we're listening." He said hotly.

"Jacob, last year, Edward and I got into some trouble with the volturi, the only way they let us go was if he promised to change me." Jacob shut his eyes tightly and looked nauseated at the thought of it. "His plan was to hide out for awhile at school and if the volturi came to check up on his promise, which he has no way of fulfilling now, would be to lead them to believe that when he did try to change me, he went too far and killed me. Then, grief stricken he went to the pack and told them what he had done and you destroyed him. That was his plan as to how to keep everyone safe and to keep himself human."

"That's a very lucid and well thought out plan." Alice said, sounding impressed, "I just wished he had mentioned something to us about it."

"He probably would have eventually." I replied.

"So where does this leave everyone now?" Jacob asked trying to stay calm.

"I guess we need to watch out for Juno," Alice said sadly. "I still can't believe that she would do something like this."

"We don't know for sure if that's what's going to happen." I said trying to reassure her.

"This is true, but it's a possibility."

"Where is this Juno person?" Jacob asked.

"She owns a veterinary practice the next few towns over. I think she may live near La Push, but I can't be certain."

"What does she look like?" Jacob asked.

"She looks like an Eskimo. Dark hair, angular features, she doesn't hunt people; she practices the same feeding habits as we do. I think she lives alone." Alice explained.

"I'll have the pack keep an eye on her and on the borders in case she has any unexpected visitors." Jacob said, defeated.

"I'll keep an eye on her at work." Alice confirmed.

"Jacob, you don't have to say that." I said sadly.

"Bella, the pack's duty is to protect the humans from the bloodsuckers," Alice scowled, and he shot her a glance, "with the exception of a few. Anyways, it's our job to know what's going on, and with Edward…," he choked saying his name, "he's a human now too, so I legitimately have to watch out for him and the fact that he's with you, if he's safe, that means you are too."

I could tell that it broke his heart to say those words, but I knew he meant them, and I loved him for it. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him so hard that I thought I was going to strangle him. He hugged me back and I whispered in his ear, "thank you Jacob.'

"I'd do anything for you Bells, you know that." He whispered back, his voice shaking.

"We can't tell Edward about this." I said pulling away from him.

"I agree." Alice nodded. "Besides, if any of this comes to fruition he'll figure it out, he has impeccable instincts." Her eyes suddenly got wide, "Bella, do you still have that syringe I gave you?" She asked breathlessly.

"Yes," I replied, shuddering at the thought of it.

"Is it hidden well?"

"I think so."

"Good. Keep it handy, just in case."

"Alice, what is in that thing? It's creeping me out."

"You don't need to know what's in it, but you don't need to be afraid of it either, just be careful and keep it hidden."

"I don't understand." I said shaking my head and looking at the ground.

"You don't need to."

Alice didn't linger long after the crux of the discussion had been addressed, she knew I was spending the day with Jacob and was trying not to interfere. She said goodbye happily and pranced off into the woods, her spiky black hair bouncing behind her. She would probably get home faster on foot than Jacob and I would in my truck.

"I get pulled into some of the weirdest conversations when I hang around with you." Jacob grumbled as he climbed into the truck.

"Right, cuz the conversations you've had with me about all your crazy wolf sex and phasing and all that is normal." I said gruffly sliding in next to him.

"It's normal for me." He said with a wide grin.

"Are you hungry?"

"Always."

"Do you want to come over for dinner?" I asked, "I'm sure Charlie would love to see you."

"Bells, I'm going to have to change my shirt or something, in case you haven't noticed, we both reek. Having dinner with the police chief stinking of pot may not be the best idea."

"Come home with me anyway, I probably have one of Edward's t-shirts stuffed in my luggage somewhere."

A look of disgust crossed Jacob's dark face, "I'd rather take my chances with the police chief."

"You're such an ass." I said angrily, turning my key in the ignition. "I'll give you one of Charlie's shirts, he won't even notice."

"Fine, then yes, I'll have dinner with you," he said smiling triumphantly.

We got back to Charlie's a few minutes before he got home, enough time for me to get Jacob into a different shirt and for him to tie back his long hair and stuff it under a baseball cap. I changed clothes and washed my hair in the sink to get the smell out and just as I was towel drying it, Charlie walked in.

"Bells, you home?" he called as he walked in, I heard him hanging his gun up by the door.

"Yeah dad, in here." I called back from the kitchen. Jacob was sitting in Charlie's recliner watching TV and I heard him say hello. I walked in to the living room and saw Charlie's face light up when he saw Jacob. It was like the prodigal son had returned, and I couldn't help but scowl a little at my over enthusiastic father.

"I invited Jacob over for dinner. I hope you don't mind."

"No that's great Bella, you're always welcome here Jake." He said turning to my pot smoking, pre marital sex having, werewolf buddy that he accepted more than my chaste, responsible, ex-vampire boyfriend.

I cleared my throat loudly and asked Jacob to come help me in the kitchen. He quickly popped up from the chair and ran to help me. The three of us ate dinner together and then watched a movie, by eleven, I could barely keep my eyes open and I still had to drive Jacob back home to La Push. Charlie seemed like he didn't want to see Jacob go, but if I didn't get a move on soon I was going to fall asleep on the drive back and possibly hit something.

"Well, we'll see you later Jake, don't be a stranger now." Charlie said walking us to the door. "Bella, drive carefully okay?"

"Okay dad. I'll be back soon."

"Bye Charlie, thanks for dinner!" Jacob said in his deep, friendly tone.

"Anytime son."

I cleared my throat loudly once more and Jacob and I headed out into the night. As we drove, I noticed Jacob checking the clock radio in my truck frequently, he looked antsy.

"Do you need to be somewhere or something?" I asked, a little irritated.

"No, not officially. Some of the guys were planning on having a fire tonight, and I was going to join them if it wasn't too late when I got back. It looks like I have plenty of time."

"Jacob, it's after eleven and it's like, four degrees outside."

"Bella, please." I looked over at him and remembered that the cold really didn't seem to bother Jacob; he was like a space heater in and of himself. He barely put anything on other than a thermal and jeans during the winter and in the summer; he was practically naked all the time.

I dropped him off and made plans to see him again in a couple of days. I only had a little over a week before I had to fly back to Alaska so my days in Forks were numbered. I wanted to have more time with Jacob and Charlie and I planned on calling Angela as well. By the time I got home, it was almost midnight and I nearly had to drag myself upstairs. I skipped the evening routine and threw on a pair of shorts and crawled into bed. Topaz was curled up on my pillow and waiting for me, as soon as he saw me, he hopped up and did his cat stretch and head butted me as I pulled my blanket up. He purred into my hair and kneaded my shoulder with his paw as I fell into a dreamless sleep, thankfully.