Sam frowned again, his eyes full of stern-disapproval.
Quill and Embry gasped in shock as Jacob punched Edward playfully, stunned as Edward smiled, pushing him back gently, pinning him to a tree.
They relaxed slightly when Jacob pushed him back away from him, but they tensed again when he took his hand in his, their eyes laughing as they walked closer, finally coming to a stop in front of him.
"Sam," Jake began.
"You have to come back, Jacob," Sam said, cutting him off.
"We need you. Your father needs you."
"I can't do it, Sam. He's my imprint. I don't know why this happened, but I can't change it. There must be a reason. If I leave him now, I'll be a broken-shadow of the man that I could have been."
He sighed as he saw no sigh of relenting in Sam's dark eyes.
"Could you leave Emily?"
Sam actually flinched, pain flickering in his eyes at Jacob's question.
"It's not the same. Emily isn't my enemy."
"Edward isn't mine either. I've barely been a wolf for two weeks. Maybe he would have been eventually, but not now, and I can't be a part of your pack when I love your enemy. It just won't work. I'm sorry…"
Jacob shuddered, relaxing as Edward put an arm around his waist comfortingly.
"It's alright, Jake," he whispered in his ear soothingly. "I'm here for you."
"I know. I don't know if I could survive this otherwise."
All three of them spun around, stunned as a large wolf ran toward them from the edge of the small clearing.
"Paul, stop!" Sam ordered in a loud voice.
He kept running, his eyes focused on Edward with a dangerous intent.
"No!" Jacob screamed in desperation, throwing himself in front of his vampire, his brown eyes determined.
Paul tried to stop, but it was to late.
He slammed into Jake, knocking him back into Edward, and they both hit the ground hard, Paul flying over them with his momentum, turning back to his human self and watching them with anger in his eyes, frowning as the leech sat up, pulling Jacob into his arms tenderly.
The other members of the pack watched them incredulously, anger and concern both burning in their eyes as they did so.