All characters except for Annabelle Causley and a few others belong to Stephenie Meyer…and, of course, the writer is not receiving any profit for this story whatsoever.

This is an AU out of Stephenie Meyers' Twilight series. This story starts after Eclipse, two weeks before Edward and Bella's wedding.

Chapter Thirty

Edward moved swiftly and silently through the trees, wishing he could find a way to release his anger. He had left a quiet Bella behind to run off his anger after he eavesdropped on Annabelle's musings concerning her night with Jacob. The pain his words had elicited seemed to be her only thoughts and Edward couldn't help but feel anger rise at the callousness of Jacob's words.

Having run to Alaska and back, Edward couldn't help but admit that the one sure-fire way to release his anger would be by plowing his fist into Jacob Black's face. As if having ownership over a small part of Bella's heart wasn't enough, he was now using Annabelle for his own pleasure, despite her insistence to herself that she wanted the same. Edward couldn't believe she was actually attempting to lie at herself, especially since she was the one person able to see through that lie.

Edward slowed down as he reached Forks, wondering how he could go about finding the damn mutt without crossing the treaty line. He had to talk to him, make him see that Annabelle did not deserve to be treated like a whore, which is exactly what Jacob was doing. Even though he did his best to stay out of Annabelle's head due to her irrational obsession over the dog, he still caught enough thoughts and pictures of their sexual interactions to draw his own conclusions over Jacob's treatment of Annabelle.

"What are you doing here," Edward looked up to find Jacob standing near a tree, wearing cut off jeans, arms crossed in a gesture of displeasure at coming face to face with Edward.

"Hoping to run into you," Edward crossed his arms to keep himself from reaching for Jacob's throat but unable to keep his anger from bleeding into his words.

Jacob cocked an eyebrow, a smirk on his face as he wondered over Edward's anger, knowing they were more than likely over his interactions with Annabelle. If that were the case, he couldn't understand what it would matter to this bloodsucker –then again, he knew nothing about the connection between Annabelle and Edward.

"How's Bella," he asked, cocking his head to the side, enjoying the look of irritation on Edward's face. His ability to keep his thoughts to himself was a definite plus.

"Still human, if that's what you're getting at," Edward's voice was void of emotion as he leaned against a tree, his jaw tightening in irritation…it was frustrating not being able to look into Jacob's thoughts.

"That's pretty much all I think about," Jacob shrugged as he mirrored Edward's attempt at casual relaxation, the tree bark imprinting on his skin.

"Really," even though detecting lies was not his talent, he was able to see right through Jacob's comment, "So you don't think about Annabelle at all?"

"Not until she comes around," Jacob sneered, having an insane urge to punch Edward in response to the possessive tone in his voice when he said Annabelle's name.

"She's not a whore, Jacob," Edward arched an eyebrow, holding himself rigid so he wouldn't attack him; "I don't appreciate you treating her like one."

Jacob's eyes narrowed as he glared at Edward, "She's a big girl, Edward. She knows what she got into."

Edward opened his mouth with a retort but stopped. Without realizing it, Jacob had dropped his mind barriers, giving Edward a glimpse of his muddled thoughts and feelings. Edward couldn't help but start laughing at the irony of the situation.

"Oh man," Edward bent over in half, actually finding himself out of breath as he continued to laugh, "You imprinted on Annabelle? You actually imprinted on a vampire?"

Jacob glowered at him, his dark eyes filled with loathing directed at himself. This was the one secret he hadn't wanted anyone to know about and it ended up being the one thing he slipped on when coming face to face with the bloodsucking mind reader.

Edward leaned back, still chuckling with amusement, "So you haven't phased since you got back…too ashamed to let your pack brothers know you couldn't control yourself? That a vampire has become the center of who you are?"

Jacob shifted his weight, wanting to lunge at Edward, to release all the self-anger he had been holding in since he first saw Annabelle by breaking the leech in half.

Edward moved away from the tree, shifting into attack mode, "Bring it, dog."

Jacob moved towards Edward then stopped, realizing that Bella would be in pain if he caused any damage to her husband. Snarling at Edward, he moved away, wanting to forget about hurting Bella, not wanting to care about the results of his actions.

"Next time you want a pounding," Edward relaxed his stance, a smile spreading across his face, "Don't let Bella's feelings stop you."

"She's the only reason why I haven't torn you into pieces," Jacob sneered at him, moving further back. Edward chuckled over that, knowing full well that he was a little more skilled, a little faster than Jacob for that to happen.

"Sure she is," Edward moved back, wanting to share his discovery with Annabelle. If anyone deserved knowing about Jacob's situation, it was her. His imprinting on her could be the ace in the hole she would need if ever she cared too much for the mutt.

"You have no right to tell her," Jacob snapped, seeing Edward's intentions to tell Annabelle in the smirk he was sporting.

"True," Edward nodded slowly as his sense of fair play came to the forefront, "But nothing's stopping me from telling her about the imprinting as a whole…without mentioning you, of course. Tell me something…how are you doing with the whole not falling in love with her?"

"Quite well, actually," Jacob cocked his head to the side, not able to stop himself from goading Edward, "I don't know anything about her…except for the basic things for when we're having sex. Other than that, I have no interest to know anything else."

Edward stood still, his topaz colored eyes trained on Jacob, once again seeing the lie in what he said. He may not know anything about Annabelle, but Edward could clearly see that he wanted nothing more than to know her inside and out. A small smile spread across his lips as he realized how simple it would be to push Jacob into actually asking Annabelle about herself and her life.

"Well," Edward started walking backwards slowly, wanting to see the look on Jacob's face when this revelation hit, "I must say…it never crossed my mind that my ex-fiancée would end up with the man in love with my wife."

Edward couldn't help but laugh at the look of shock on Jacob's face as he turned his back to walk away, but not before calling out over his shoulder, "You know, if everything works out and you end up with Annabelle…you'll be, like, my brother-in-law."


"Did you have to be a bitch about it?"

Annabelle looked up from the music on her desk, cradling her violin under her chin, the bow frozen in mid-arc. She watched as Edward closed the door, his eyes filled with anger on behalf of his wife. Closing her eyes, she put the violin on her desk, laying the bow on its side.

"So she told you about our argument," Annabelle moved out of the chair to stand beside the window, her arms automatically closing around her midsection.

"No," Edward hissed through clenched teeth, "Alice saw everything in one of her visions, which she was thinking about when I walked into the house. Tell me something…of all the things to throw in her face, did you have to pick the one she obsesses over the most?"

"Of all insults for her to throw at me, did she have to pick the one that would hurt the most?" Annabelle ground out, her jaw tense in self-defense, not able to keep her hurt to herself at Bella's insinuation over Annabelle's worthiness.

"She didn't mean it that way, Annie," Edward leaned against the door, unlocking his muscles, "Bella does not think of you as being worthless…she's just having a hard time with the idea of Jacob being with you, a vampire."

"Kind of hypocritical, don't you think," Annabelle arched an eyebrow as she dropped her arms, tension bleeding from her posture.

"I'll talk to her…share some things that I wasn't aware of until now. I'm sure once she sees the whole picture, she may be a little more willing to take a step back," Edward rolled his shoulders, not looking forward to that conversation with his wife.

"What things," Annabelle's eyes filled with suspicion as she realized that Edward was hiding something from her, "You know something that would be of interest to me, don't you?"

"Yes," he couldn't help smiling as he remembered the jumbled feelings that were now a constant companion of Jacob's, "But it's not my place to tell you."

"But you have information you can tell me," Annabelle's eyes widened as she wondered if what Edward had to share would give her some insight to the enigma that was Jacob.

"Yes, I do and I will tell you…in time," Edward grinned as Annabelle groaned with impatience, "But first, I was wondering if I could interest you on a field trip?"

Annabelle's eyebrows rose with interest as she watched Edward's face, intrigued by the grin he was sporting. He had something interesting up his sleeve and she wasn't one to pass up on discovering what he was plotting.