Chapter 20
Jacob
I think Max fell asleep on my back at some point, because even through the wind rushing by me, I could hear her breathe deep and even. I surged forward, moving as fast as I could. I wanted to get home, if only to get Carlisle to look at her. I didn't like the discoloring of her skin around her face and her ribs. I know it's a little sketchy, but while she slept, I took a quick peek at her ribs. Those kicks looked like they hurt and I was concerned.
When night fell again, we took shelter in the crevices between cliff sides. It was surprisingly warm in there, but I guess the heat from the sun had warmed the rocks enough for them to hold onto that warmth for at least a few more hours. As soon as Max slid from my back, she slumped to the ground and fell right asleep. I decided to stay a wolf and curled myself around her, making a furry cocoon.
"Can we get some food? I'm starving," Max admitted the next morning. I nodded and lay down, letting her scramble onto my back again. When I felt her hands gripping my fur tightly, I ran for the nearest town. I reached it quickly and shifted behind a cluster of cacti a few miles away.
"What would you like?" I asked, taking her hand in mine. She looked at our hands and slowly pulled hers from mine. I contented myself with just knowing she was beside me as we walked the two miles to the town. Turns out, when we found a diner, we found that we had made it to Sacramento.
"How did we get here so fast?" she whispered as we waited for our food. I shrugged.
"I don't know, honestly. I didn't think I could cover so much ground like that." I had surprised even myself with our progress so far. We didn't get a chance to talk anymore because the waitresses arrived with out multiple orders of food.
"How are we paying for this?" I asked between mouthfuls. Max took a card out of her pocket and tossed it on the table in front of me. "Where did you get a credit card?" She shrugged and continued eating. "You don't know? Is it usable?" She nodded, her mouth full of eggs.
"Stop worrying and just eat," she suggested wisely. I smirked and shoved a piece of toast in my mouth.
"Good thing we snagged a booth at the back, huh?" I joked, watching our food disappear. Max snorted, almost choked, and continued eating.
"Did you enjoy your—meal?" the waitress asked as we ate. Max swallowed and told her politely that everything was delicious. "Are you sure you can pay for all this?"
"My parents own a large company," Max said, smiling, and handed the woman the credit card. "We have it covered, thanks for your concern." The woman took a last look at Max's bruised face before turning to stare at me.
"Sir, do you—do you have a shirt? We don't usually allow customers without shoes or shirts," she stuttered, her eyes flicking between my body and my face.
"Sorry, I left my house in a rush and didn't have time to change," I said apologetically. In my peripheral vision, I saw Max scowling at the waitress. I smirked inside and smiled brightly at the woman. She blinked and nodded.
"That—that's fine, just try to remember next time," she said. She walked away, almost tripping on her way back to the kitchen.
"You're an ass," Max commented quietly before chugging half her glass of orange juice. I smirked at her and sipped my water more slowly, my eyes on her.
"But you love it," I pointed out when she didn't say anything else. She scowled and stuck her tongue out at me.
"In your dreams wolf-boy," she muttered, pushing her plate away. I noticed with surprise that she had finished her food already. "What are you, stunned that someone besides Paul can out-eat you?" She looked smug.
"Hey, you got less than me," I retorted weakly, knowing that we had gotten the exact same thing. She smirked and leaned back, relaxing momentarily against her seat. I sighed and let it go.
When we left the diner, Max was smiling. "What're you so happy about?" I asked, still a little grumpy from being beat like that.
Without warning, she spun in a circle, her arms held out at her sides. She laughed and grinned at me, her eyes sparkling with a sudden happiness that left me stunned. She stopped spinning and looked at me.
"I'm finally free," she said breathlessly. I cocked my head, not getting what she was saying. "Those guys back there? At the School? Those are the last ones in America." She laughed joyfully. "I don't have to worry about them anymore!"
I grinned, understanding her joy and slung my arm around her shoulders. She let me, slipping her right arm around my waist. We walked through town like that, carefree, and relaxed. It felt good, and I knew she felt the same.
As the sun started it's descent, I sighed and led us away from the city. As we left Sacramento behind, Max's good mood vanished. By the time I had shifted, she was frowning, no doubt contemplating her return to Forks. I was worried about how the others would receive her. I wasn't sure if that's all she was concerned about.
By noon the next day, we'd reached Portland. I had run all night, wanting to get as close to home as quickly as possible. In the high of seeing Max safe, I'd forgotten about the visiting vampire. Sam would need me home when he arrived. I didn't want to get there with a weak Max and find him already there.
"I'm flying this time," she said stubbornly as I came back from shifting. I frowned at her.
"Are you sure you feel well enough that you won't fall from the sky?" She scowled at me.
"Yes," she snapped. I mussed her hair and we went into Portland. For a few hours, we just walked around, seeing what there was to see. It wasn't too much, but it relaxed Max enough that she didn't fight me the next time I asked if she was sure she could handle flying.
When I joined her in wolf form, I could tell that all my worrying had gotten to her. She was staring, uncertain, at the sky. I nudged her shoulder with my head and produced a toothy grin. Max smiled and absently ran her fingers through the fur on top of my head. I licked her arm playfully and she jumped, screwing her face up.
"You're gross," she complained. I laughed, a husky sound coming from the wolf snout. Snapping her wings out, Max ran a few yards and leapt into the air. She rose on the currents until she was about twenty feet above me. "Ready?" I nodded and we set off.
Max kept pace with me for three hours. When we had pushed three-and-a-half hours, she fell a bit behind. Whenever I glanced up, I saw the scowl set firmly on her face. She was not happy that her strength had yet to return. I watched her carefully, waiting for a sign that would tell me she was falling. Luckily, it never came.
"This sucks," Max complained, landing beside me. I had seen her slowing and I'd stopped, waiting for her to finish her descent.
I nodded my head at her and lay down. She frowned but climbed onto my back, gripping the fur at the base of my neck. I rose and we continued our journey home. I ran as swiftly as I could without Max sliding off. I really wanted to get home.
When the scenery changed, becoming more green and practically no brown, I knew we were close. Jerking to a sudden stop, and almost flipping Max over my head in the process, I stuck my nose to the ground.
"What the hell?" she snapped, batting my left ear lightly. I huffed at her to be quiet. She must have understood because she fumed in silence.
I could smell vampires, but it didn't feel like the Cullens. I couldn't quite place the scent, but I knew I had smelled it before. I followed the trail all the way back into Forks. Max must have noticed where we were because she hunched closer to me, hiding in my fur.
I reached the Cullen's porch and stopped, letting Max slide off my back. She looked extremely nervous as she stared at the door. Surprisingly, none of the bloodsuckers had come out to meet us yet. Usually they were at the door, just waiting to tell me to get lost.
I turned and started for the trees to shift when I noticed Max was walking beside me, constantly looking over her shoulder at the white house. I cocked my head at her. She did know that I wasn't leaving, I was just shifting, didn't she?
"Don't leave me alone," she pleaded quietly. My heart dropped slightly as I heard the fear in her voice. I grew angry suddenly; she was afraid of our friends. That just wasn't cool.
I nodded at her and she put her hand on my side and walked with me until I was no longer visible from the house full of vampires. When I stopped, Max spun around and waited. I shifted quickly, pulling my pants on in a rush. Max's back was rigid as she looked in the general direction of the house.
"Hey," I said softly, putting my hand on the small of her back as I stood at her side. "I won't let anything happen to you, alright?"
Max leaned against me and sighed. "I know you won't," she said just as softly. She took my hand and twined her fingers with mine. I gave her hand a quick squeeze and smiled at her. She smiled weakly back and we made our way back to the front porch. This time, the vampires were waiting.
Max cringed noticeably when she saw Bella standing front and center, a small frown on her face. She held Nessie in her arms, Edward at her side, one of his pale hands on her waist. She was flanked by the big one, Emmett, who had his arm around vampire Barbie. Jasper and Alice were beside those two, Alice leaning against Jasper, relaxed. I noticed that Esme and Carlisle stayed at the back, away from confrontation.
"Max," Bella acknowledged, her voice slightly acidic. I raised a brow at her, part in warning and part in confusion. Bella was never angry. Surely she couldn't still be mad at Max. It was an accident, obviously.
Max raised her hand in a slight wave, the one not clutching mine for dear life. Good thing it was my hand she was holding; she would have crushed a human's hand with the grip she had. Edward flicked his eyes to his wife, concerned about her tone.
"Why don't you two come in," Carlisle suggested after a few more seconds of awkward silence. "I should take a look at those bruises Max." Max held my hand, only slightly looser, as we stepped up the porch steps and walked cautiously into the Cullen's home.
"So where was she?" Edward muttered from beside me. I glanced at Max. She was sitting on the dining room table, her t-shirt lifted so Carlisle could take a look at her ribs. They already looked better than when I'd checked them.
"California," I murmured back. He raised his brows, confused. "The School." His face twisted in recognition at the name. I knew she'd told Edward, Bella, and Alice last year all about that place.
"Why would she go there?" he whispered almost silently. I shrugged, a tiny movement that even Max wouldn't catch. But Edward did.
"She didn't have anywhere else to go. The guy there was her father, and he drugged her and locker her in a cage." Edward's amber eyes went cold at this. He was just as upset as I was. I felt like he knew more about Max than I did.
"Why?" I guess Max had heard our entire conversation, because she turned her head towards us, tears starting to form.
"Because he was evil," she said quietly.
"No one is truly evil," Esme commented from the couch. Max frowned and shook her head. Carlisle reached a hand up and stopped the movement, his eyes focused on her many bruises and cuts.
"Esme, he was my dad. He lied to me and the flock our entire lives, pretending to care for us, pretending to like us. He said that the whole thing was a way to study us. That it wasn't real. We were just experiments. He's the one that gave the order to ki—." She stopped suddenly, her eyes locked on something behind me. I turned and saw that another vampire had joined us.
"Hello Tanya," Carlisle said politely, standing. Max pulled her shirt down, her eyes not leaving the strawberry-blonde's face.
"Hello," Tanya replied. She looked around the room, her eyes only stopping quickly on each vampire's face. She looked at me and nodded, acknowledging my presence. I vaguely remembered seeing her at Bella's wedding and then again when we met the Volturi.
Tanya looked longest at Max, her eyes softening considerably. I wondered what that was about when I remembered what Max had said back in California. He killed Fang. That would explain why Goth-boy hasn't been around lately. I saw Edward's lip twitch down at my thought.
"How are you Max," she asked, her voice soft. Max just shrugged, suddenly looking five years older and like she hadn't slept in days.
"As best as I can be I guess," was the soft reply. I glanced at her and really saw the pain that she had been feeling for months now. I didn't like it, not one bit.
"Can I talk to Bella?" Max whispered, her eyes on the floor. "Alone?" Edward stiffened as if he hadn't known she would ask that.
"I can't read her mind," he whispered. Max pretended like she couldn't hear him. Either that, or he really had said it softly enough. I wonder why he can't hear her… "I'll tell you later." I nodded and watched Bella rise fluidly from the couch.
"We can go outside," Bella suggested. She didn't seem too angry right now, but I didn't relish the thought of leaving Max alone with her. Wait a second, this is Bella we're talking about here! She wouldn't hurt Max! Would she…? Edward shrugged slightly.
I watched Max slide onto the floor, her feet barely making a sound as she landed. She walked outside, following Bella. Her gait was only slightly less graceful than Bella's, but clearly more hostile and used to action. Not surprising, from what I've seen and heard so far.
When the two disappeared into the night, I turned and looked at the vampires before me. They were all watching me, some hostile, some curious, some completely vacant of emotion. I turned and loped out, springing over the water easily. I was careful to stay away from the path Max and Bella had gone down. Max wouldn't forgive me if I eavesdropped.
Max
"So what's on your mind?" Bella asked once we were far enough from the house. I sighed and climbed a tree, sitting comfortably on the lowest branch. Bella followed suit and sat gracefully on the branch beside me. I felt better once off the ground.
"I want to… you know it was an accident, don't you?" I watched her face. She showed no signs of anger, but then again, she wasn't being openly friendly either.
"Was it?" she murmured. I blinked, surprised. I thought she would have understood…
"Of course it was! Why would I shoot Jacob?" I didn't see how it could not be an accident.
"Because you don't like what he is? Oh, I don't know!" she said, throwing her hands in the air, a completely human action. It was strange seeing her as a vampire still, but I noticed that she still did things like that sometimes.
"I guess I've gotten used to the pack," I admitted. "There might always be a part of me that despises them, but that's understandable, isn't it? I don't have any reason to hate them now. Not when Jacob and Billy have let me crash at their place for days; and the others act like I'm one of them."
"You say that like it's something new," she said quietly. I looked at her.
"It is, sort of. I guess I just haven't been used to being part of something, not for a while. Not since they… died." I swallowed and took a deep breath. Jacob was right, they really do work. "I haven't felt like I belonged anywhere in months."
Bella's face softened and she relaxed her previously stiff posture. Smiling sadly, she whispered, "Max, you were always welcome at our place."
"I know that," I mumbled. I looked at my hands, examining the different colors on my palms. "I just… it wasn't like I belonged, you know? I felt more like a guest this time. But in La Push? It felt like a home. I miss having a home."
"I think I understand now." Bella put her arm around me and hugged me close, careful not to squeeze too tight. She was getting good at controlling her strength. "We reminded you of what happened, didn't we?" I nodded and she continued. "I'm sorry that we can't change that. But I am glad that you found a place with the pack." She smiled wryly. "You're like me. When Edward left, I went out and became best friends with the next monster I could find."
I grinned and the mood lightened from depressing to goofy and understanding. "So you're not mad anymore?" I asked softly. I was hoping she would say 'no.' I breathed a sigh of relief when Bella shook her head, her brown hair moving around her face in soft waves.
"I never should have been mad at you. I'm sorry. I guess I was just so upset that Jake was hurt that I never thought to see your side of it. I didn't look at how it happened, just at what happened. You were scared, I get that. It's a natural instinct for you, survival?"
"Yeah. From the time I was three, survival was their favorite game. The scientists, I mean. It's all I've ever known; how to survive. It's been so long since I've had to really use those skills, that I forgot the most important thing: not everyone is your enemy, unless proven otherwise."
"So it was pure instinct that you shot Jake. I'm just trying to clear things up," she said quickly, holding her hands up defensively. I nodded mutely. "C'mon, let's go back and explain to everyone."
"Are you sure?" I whispered, jumping down from my branch. Bella joined me and nodded.
"To be honest, none of the others were angry at all. It was basically just me. Rose, Emmett, Alice, and Jasper don't care about Jacob. Esme and Carlisle weren't mad, just worried. And Edward was completely calm about the entire thing for some reason." She frowned slightly and we ran back to the house.
The others were waiting just as we had left them, except for a change that I noticed right away. Jacob wasn't there. I looked around furtively, hoping to see him on the couch or somewhere else, but he just wasn't here. My stomach dropped. I missed my puppy dog.
"Are you ok?" Bella murmured in my ear. I nodded and controlled my emotions better.
"So are you two better?" Edward asked, coming between us and slinging his arms around us both. We both smiled and nodded. "Good. I don't like you two fighting."
"It wasn't fighting," Emmett muttered. "There was no screeching and hair pulling."
"Babe, girls don't fight like that when they're over fourteen," Rosalie said, rapping Emmett on the head with her knuckles. "Besides, those kinds of fights only happen over boys. Bella and Max weren't fighting over a boy… it was just Jacob."
"You're funny Rose," Bella commented dryly. Rosalie smiled brightly at her and got up, sashaying her way up the stairs, Emmett chuckling on her heels. I glanced around Edward to see Bella shaking her head. If she were human, she would have been blushing.
"So…" Alice said, trying to get us to talk. Edward steered us to sit on the couch, keeping his cold arms around both of us. I think he was trying to protect both Bella and I, but he was making me cold. I said as much and he laughed and removed his arm.
"Sorry, I forgot that you're not one of us." Somehow, I knew he was lying.
"Uh-huh," I muttered skeptically. Alice and Bella laughed. Jasper just smirked knowingly at his brother.
"You can't even fool Max," Jasper teased. "How are you gonna keep our secret for the next few decades?"
"Oh hush," Esme chastised, a smile on her heart-shaped face. "Edward is perfectly capable of staying in secret. He just can't lie to Max anymore. She picks out the truth just as easily as one of us."
"That is true," Tanya agreed. I jumped. I had completely forgotten she was here! I looked over my shoulder and saw her leaning against the wall in the corner, hidden behind Esme and Carlisle.
I watched her warily. Her face reminded me too much of Denali and what had gone on there. I didn't like how her presence made me feel weak and vulnerable. I felt bad as well; Tanya wasn't a bad person—vampire—she just brought back bad memories.
Edward seemed to sense my pain because he gently squeezed my shoulders comfortingly. I bumped him in thanks. He chuckled and tried to start up a conversation again.
"So what is the reason for this unexpected visit Tanya?" He was trying to be polite, but even I could pick up the subtle threat. He really wanted to know why she was here, causing me more pain.
"I just had the feeling that I would be needed," was her calm reply. She ignored the threat and looked coolly at me. I looked right back at her, both our eyes unblinking. It was only after I remembered that vampires didn't have to blink at all that I relented and broke contact.
"A feeling?" Alice questioned softly. She didn't seem to like the prospect that Tanya was here so close to the strange visitor's arrival.
Tanya just shrugged her off. "Yes. I was sitting with Carmen and Kate yesterday, and I just got this sensation that I should come here." She frowned. "Is something wrong?"
Alice sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Another vampire is coming into town tomorrow night, and we don't know why. He seems to know us, or at least of us, but I don't know who he is." Tanya frowned harder.
"That's strange indeed," she murmured, thinking. "And you're sure you've never seen him before?" Alice looked annoyed.
"Yes," she replied, sounding a little ticked off. Edward shot her a warning glance, but she ignored him. "So is that your only reason for coming?"
"Alice!" Esme exclaimed, surprised that Alice would be so rude to her guest. Alice waved her off.
"Am I not allowed here?" Tanya asked, becoming a tad hostile in return. I looked between the two beautiful vampires and shivered. I would hate to be in the middle of that.
"No, you are," Bella put in quickly before Alice could say something rude. "It's just… Alice is worried about what you being here will do to Max… so are the rest of us." I blinked and looked around the room, surprised. I hadn't thought they cared so much about me… I really have it good here.
Tanya nodded in understanding. She turned her gaze to me and nodded once more in simple recognition. "I apologize Max if my presence has upset you."
"S'okay," I mumbled, embarrassed. "It's not your fault or anything." She smiled warmly at me and glided to sit at the dining room table beside Carlisle and Esme.
"So let's get down to business," Edward said suddenly. Bella and I turned to him, equally confused. He chuckled. "We should probably help you straighten out the mutts."
I think he was surprised to see both Bella and I give him the 'look' for calling them mutts. He shrunk back in an apology and rose from the couch. He held his hand out to Bella, who ignored it and stood on her own. Frowning fractionally like he used to in school, Edward offered me his hand. I grinned and took it, letting him pull me to my feet.
"Are you guys allowed in La Push? Won't it break the treaty?" I asked, a little nervous as we made our way outside. I had thought it was just Bella and Edward, but the rest of the Cullens, minus Rose and Emmett, along with Tanya, glided gracefully out of the house.
Carlisle smiled and shook his head. "We've come to an agreement. For this week at least. I am allowed over the line, as long as whoever is with me is there for assistance."
"Which we are," Alice pointed out with a grin. I smiled sadly and shook my head. The wolves would not like that the vampires were twisting their words for their own purposes. It seemed wrong somehow, but I knew I would need their help. I couldn't dare to go against the pack, Emily, and Billy alone.
I thanked them for doing just that. They all smiled. "You wouldn't be alone," Bella said quietly once we were in the car. She had opted to drive me, just the two of us. No one had disagreed. I looked at her, confused. She met my eyes, the car not swerving even a millimeter from the center of the lane, even though her eyes were on me and not the road.
"Jacob would never let you stand alone against the pack," she said softly. "He's just not the kind of guy to let a girl be ganged up on like that. Trust me, I know. When I learned his secret, the pack was furious with both of us. He fought Paul just to keep the pack from tearing me apart verbally or physically."
"Jacob loved you, you know," I said quietly. Bella turned her head to look back at the road as she contemplated an answer.
"I know," she whispered. "I thought I loved him too. But it turns out that what I thought was love, was really a strong connection that we'd made when he helped me get through those long months when Edward was away. I once thought that my life would be perfect if Jake was my biological brother, then I could have some claim on him and a reason to love him and Edward at the same time.
"I wanted badly to believe that Jacob didn't love me like that. But time after time, he proved me wrong. It just made it that much harder for me to keep seeing him, even after Nessie was born. He just had this… urge to make me happy, just like when we became close. But it was harder this time, knowing that I was not only married and had a daughter, but I was a vampire, his sworn enemy. It used to hurt me every time I saw Jake."
"What changed?" I asked softly. She looked over at me again and smiled.
"You came along. From the first moment he saw you, Jacob knew that our tie was no longer anything more than a sister-brother relationship, just like I'd wished for. I learned later that that's why he came over one day, stared at me for a few seconds, grinned, and ran off. I didn't understand that he'd been checking, testing his emotions to see if something had changed. I guess it did, because now he doesn't look at me like that anymore. He doesn't look at me with those dark eyes as if he were still begging me to come back to him. Now he looks at you like that. He has you now Max. And it's made him happier than I've seen him in a long time."
I blushed and looked out my window. "He told me that he'd Imprinted on me, that time at the beach." I glanced over at Bella. "Why'd it happen this time and not when we first met, when I moved here?"
"I don't know," she whispered. "I've been asking myself that for some time now. No one has an answer for that. You should ask Billy though, he probably has some answer for this." I nodded. She was right, Billy probably had some inclination as to what was up with our Imprint.
We arrived at La Push just behind Edward's silver Volvo. I sighed as I got out of Alice's insanely nice car. It was yellow and fast. I loved it. I said so when Alice came over to stand beside me and she laughed.
"Edward bought it for me when we got back from Italy last year," she said happily. Edward smiled and shook his head, one arm already around Bella's shoulders. "I was very happy to acquire one legally." She said that as if legally hadn't been the only option… Not that I was one to judge… ahem, a stolen van or two…
My stomach clenched when I looked up and saw the pack already congregated outside. They sat in a half circle facing us. Sam sat dead center, staring at me with no emotions that I could see on his face. I didn't see Jacob at first, but when I did, my heart literally soared. I had never felt so glad to see him.
We walked as a unit behind the Black's house. They were situated on the edge of the trees, watching us intently. Edward kept himself slightly in front of both Bella and me. I didn't want to talk to the pack with Edward as a bodyguard, but secretly, I was glad he was here. I didn't know how I would do this without the knowledge that if all went to Hell, I could count on the vamps to have my back.
Edward reached the crescent first and stopped, eying each of the Quiletes sitting before him. Bella gripped my hand softly for a second, giving it a small squeeze of reassurance. I gave her a small smile quickly before stepping up.
The firelight cast an odd shadow over Sam's placid face. I was more intimidated than ever by the way he looked calmly at me. He didn't seem happy to see me, or angry. It was as if he felt nothing.
"Hi," I said meekly. Jacob's lips pulled up slightly. I took some courage from him, trying to stay strong as the pack continued to assess me.
"What do you want," Sam asked in a monotone. I gulped, already nervous.
"I want you to understand some things."
"What things?"
"Can I sit?" I asked, gesturing to the ground beside me. Sam hesitated then nodded shortly. I sat on the ground and gazed at Jacob over the flames. He kept my eyes and smiled encouragingly. I took a deep breath and began my story.
"When I left, it was for a good reason. Originally, the flock and I 'belonged' to an institute, the School. They created us as their experiments. They made our wings, they made Iggy blind, and they unintentionally gave us these… powers."
"Powers?" Quil asked, surprising me. I hadn't thought they would believe me, nonetheless care about the small things.
"I can fly very fast. We all have fast healing. Angel could read minds—."
"'Could?'" Embry asked, catching the key word immediately. I nodded.
"I'm getting to that. Let me finish please." Sam nodded respectfully and motioned for me to go on.
"Anyways, we did things humans didn't think possible. My dad, Jeb, kidnapped us and brought us to a safe house. We lived there for four years, but Jeb disappeared after two. We all assumed he was dead. He wasn't. He'd gone back to the School." I paused and took a breath. "I'm going to skip a lot. It isn't important. My point was, the School wanted us back. They sent Erasers—psycho attractive people who could shift into wolf-men—and Flyboys—robotic Erasers—after us. I thought we were safe, finally. They hadn't come for us in years, and none of us expected them.
"I got a call from Jeb a few months ago. He told me that the School was sending every single one of it's attack force to come and get us. He told us to go to Canada. The Voice told me to go to Denali."
"The what?" I blushed and looked down. This was the most embarrassing thing to tell people.
"Uhm, I have a voice in my head that tells me things," I mumbled, still not looking at anyone.
"That's called your conscious," Jared said snidely. I scowled at him.
"Yes, thank you, I know what a conscious is. That's not what I'm talking about though. Your 'voice' tells you right from wrong. My Voice tells me what to do, where to go, prophecies, and a bunch of other useful crap.
"Anyways, we went to Denali, Fang got mauled by Zane and his group of Erasers, and we ended up staying in a hospital." I looked closely at all of them. "You cannot even begin to understand how much I hate hospitals.
"While Fang was recovering, Jeb shows up and he's surprised when I tell him that Zane was in Alaska, so I believe him when he tells me that there's low security on the School branch in Denali. We got to the Denali reserve and ran into Tanya and her family. She led us to the labs and let us in. We went in and—let's just say, no one's going to be telling anyone about us any time soon…" Jacob flinched. Didn't realize you liked a stone-cold killer, did you?
"What happened next?" Sam asked quietly. I looked at him and noticed a difference in the way he and the rest of the pack were looking at me. It was with respect that these boys and men watched me.
"We were ambushed," I whispered, my voice cracking slightly. Edward put his cold hand on my back. I looked up at him and smiled gratefully. "There were a lot of Erasers there, waiting for us. Probably the most we'd ever fought at once. They caught us. While I watched, helpless, Zane killed my family, one by one."
I stopped and took a deep breath. Tears were beginning to slide down my cheeks. I put my head in my hands and held back a broken sob. No one said anything. They all waited for me to collect myself. When I had managed to get myself together, I raised my head and looked at Jacob, willing him to understand what I was about to say.
"Zane was cocky," I whispered, looking into the fire. "He thought he could beat me. He lost. I took him out, but not in time to save even one of the flock. I lost my baby. I lost Nudge, Iggy, and Gazzy. I lost my best friend and the only love I had ever known." Jacob looked away from me, staring into the orange flames between us.
"But you survived," Seth said. Leah smacked the back of his head. I didn't get why until I remembered that, of all those present, Leah and Bella knew what I was talking about the best.
"Yeah, I did," I said spitefully. Jacob frowned at me. He clearly didn't like that my thoughts were straying towards suicidal again. I really should get that checked out…
"I was empty," I said slowly. "I didn't have anything to live for. I didn't talk to anyone; I barely ate; I wasn't alive."
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but what does this have to do with shooting Jake?" Sam asked. Emily chastised him softly, her face set in a frown.
"It's alright Emily, he wants answers. So would I. When Jacob found me, I had just finished killing twenty people—Erasers and Flyboys really—sent to kill me. They fight dirty, so I have to fight dirty right back. I had one of their machine guns and I had just shot the last Eraser when Jacob came up behind me.
"You have to understand; my first instincts are act first, ask questions later. When I'm fighting, I live by those instincts. Jacob surprised me. Why would I expect a giant wolf to sneak up behind me if not to kill me? I didn't think about it. I just pulled the trigger."
I was done talking. There was nothing more to say. I assumed Jacob had already told Sam everything about California, so there was no point in me repeating it. I looked only at Sam. He was the one that mattered most. Jacob forgave me, and the others followed Sam's orders. But then there was Billy… I could only hope that he would obey his son's wishes.
"I accept," Sam said suddenly.
"What?" I was a little confused. I don't recall saying anything that required his acceptance.
Sam smiled at me. "Your apology. I accept it. You can come back, if you want of course." I smiled back.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," I said softly. Jacob looked up at me and I saw the pain in his eyes. I winced mentally. I was going to have more explaining to do.
"Alice?" Jasper sounded worried. Every pair of eyes was suddenly on the pixie-like girl.
"He—he's here," she whispered. Edward stiffened. What were they talking about? Who's here? "He's at the house." Her eyes glazed over for a few seconds. Her expression now was confused. "He left."
"What?" Jasper didn't understand. "What did he want?"
"I don't know," Alice replied. "Should we go find out?"
"Yes," Carlisle said. The vampires rose and went swiftly to their cars.
"We'll let you know as soon as possible what's going on," Edward promised Sam. The Alpha nodded and rose.
"It's time to go," Sam said when the vampires had disappeared. "Quil, Embry, and Jared, you're with me. The rest of you, be ready." The pack nodded and the chosen four ran into the forest. The rest got up and went their separate ways. Jacob, Billy, and I were the last to stand. Well, Billy didn't stand, but he didn't leave when the others did.
"I'll let you sort things out," Billy mumbled, heading for the house. Neither Jacob nor I responded.
