Chapter 3:

Jacob POV:

Sue Clearwater came through the front door pushing my dad's chair, as Seth followed behind carrying bags of groceries. "Hey, bro!" he hollered at me when he saw me sitting on the couch. I tried to catch my breath before he came into the room. Be cool, dude. Don't let him see how freaked out you are right now from making out with Bella. I pulled a pillow onto my lap so he wouldn't see how much I had enjoyed it.

Seth put the bags down in the kitchen, came over and plopped down in the chair next to me. "How ya doin?" Seth was dressed in a black t-shirt that had "Star Wars" on the front of it and a pair of jean cut-offs. It reminded me of how young he still is, even though now, he looked years older.

"Not bad, better. I hear you were the big hero of the night?" I reached over and mussed his hair.

He pulled his head back and smirked, "Yeah, someone had to do it."

I snorted then said, "Should have been me. But seriously, Seth, thanks. I'm glad you were there." That was tough for me to say. I always wanted to be Bella's hero. Damnit, Leah! If I hadn't had to rescue Leah from the leech she picked to fight alone, I could have been there to protect Bella.

He looked back at me a little shyly and said, "It's OK. No worries."

Bella came back into the room looking a little better. She had put some water on her face, and tied her hair back. She noticed Seth sitting with me. "Hey, Seth," she said as she moved to him and gave him a big hug. Seth looked over her shoulder at me and gave me a grin. "I'm so glad you're OK."

I scowled at him before she turned around.

She was dressed in her own clothes now. Too bad, I thought. "I'll go help put the groceries away," Bella said as turned and headed for the kitchen.

I heard Sue ask Bella about me, who reported I was doing better, and then Sue walked into the room announcing she needed to see for herself. Since my mom died when I was young, Sue had kind of taken the role of surrogate mother with me. I didn't really mind . . .she was a really good-hearted person, and a great mom. "Jacob! You do look better. Do you mind if I take a look at you?" Sue was a nurse at the hospital in Forks, and Embry told me that she was here with the leech doctor when he patched me up.

"Sure, sure," I nodded. She picked up my wrist, looked down at her watch and took my pulse. Satisfied at that, she felt around my ribs. "Does that hurt?"

"Not really," I answered.

"How about your arm? Can you pick it up and move it?" I raised my arm and moved it around.

"It's a little stiff, especially in the wrist," I told her.

"Wow, you do heal quickly! You had three fractures in your arm." Sue took my hand, and said, "Squeeze my hand." I squeezed and she jumped. "OK, not so hard, sweetie!"

I grinned and let go. "Sorry."

"That's OK, Jacob. I'm glad! How about the leg?" Sue asked.

"I still can't move it – it hurts like hell," I answered.

"Well, your leg was a mess. It took Dr. Cullen quite a while to put it back together. He thought that even with your body's natural healing process it would probably take at least 2 or 3 days to heal. You need to take it easy on that leg until then."

"Yeah, whatever," I grunted. I still hated the thought that the leech doctor was the one to put me back together.

"Look, Jacob. I know you don't care for Dr. Cullen, and I understand why. But I don't think you would be sitting here if it weren't for him." Sue gave me that "Mom" look.

"Yeah, I know."

Sue stood up and patted me on the shoulder. "Alright, you look pretty good to me. Are you hungry? Wait, that was a stupid question," she laughed. "I'll bring you two some sandwiches." She touched Seth's shoulder as she walked away.

"Thanks, Sue," I called. Bella made her way back into the room and asked Seth, "Where's Leah?"

Seth grunted, "Home, I guess. She's still pretty pissed that Jake got hurt trying to 'protect' her. I guess she's not ready to face him yet."

Bella turned to me to ask, "That's how you got hurt? Protecting Leah? Why didn't you tell me that? Looks like we have two heroes here," Bella exclaimed. I looked over at her and rolled my eyes.

Seth chuckled. "Yeah, that's how Leah sees it," he said sarcastically.

Just then the phone rang. Bella looked up to see Billy head over to answer it then she turned her attention back to Jake and Seth. "You're all too hard on Leah. Give her a break," Bella said. "I can't imagine being the only girl wolf running with you guys."

"Bella?" Billy had wheeled into the room. That was Charlie on the phone. "He's coming out for supper. I guess he wants to check up on our boy, Jake, here." Billy grinned.

"You know he thinks you were in a motorcycle accident," Bella told me with a smile. "You are in for a lecture!"

I groaned. I loved Charlie, but I really wasn't in the mood for a lecture on motorcycle safety. But I did love seeing that smile on Bella's face.

Bella POV:

I was on salad duty in the kitchen helping Sue with dinner and was just about finished when I saw Charlie's cruiser pull up. "Dad's here," I told Sue. I put the salad bowl on the table, wiped my hands, and went to meet him.

"Hey Dad." I met Charlie as he came in the door. He was still dressed in his uniform so he must have come straight here from work. He surprised me by grabbing me in a fierce hug. "What's that for?" I asked as he let go.

After I pulled back, I realized what it was for. I could see the worry for me in his eyes. "I just missed you I guess," he answered gruffly. "Where's that idiotic boy that rides motorcycles?" he asked loudly.

"Dad, come on. Jake's been through enough. Do you really think he needs a lecture about motorcycles right now?"

"Bella, I'm just glad you weren't stupid enough to be riding with him. You know I hate those things." He paused, then looked at me and asked, "You weren't riding with him, were you?"

"No, Dad, I wasn't." No, I was too busy watching my boyfriend tear apart and burn another vampire. I pushed that thought from my mind.

"It's OK, Bells. I'll be nice." I let him past me, and he walked into the living room, with me right behind him. "Hey Jake! How ya doin?"

I smiled at Jacob behind Dad then stuck my tongue out at him. He put his head down so Dad wouldn't see him laugh. Seth snorted behind the car magazine he was pretending to look at.

Jacob cleared his throat then looked up at Charlie and answered, "Good Charlie. I'm doing better."

"Well, it's good to see you sitting here instead of in the hospital. You know those things are dangerous. I hope you were at least wearing a helmet?" Charlie lectured.

"Dad, come on," I started when Sue saved the day by announcing that dinner was ready.

Charlie grinned and looked at Jake. "Saved by the dinner bell. Good thing I'm hungry, kid." Then he winked and turned to head to the kitchen.

Sue Clearwater lived up to her reputation as the best cook on the reservation. We all filled our plates, and the adults sat at the small kitchen table, while Jake, Seth and I sat in the living room in front of the TV. The boys, of course, inhaled two plates of food in the time it took me to eat one. While we were eating, Sam came by and brought four pies that Emily had made. I was lucky to grab a piece of blueberry before it was completely gone. That's one thing I had learned about eating with werewolves - you had to grab food as it tended to disappear quickly.

After we finished our pie, Sam asked Seth and Jacob to step out back for a minute to talk. I followed them as they made their way outside through the back door. They walked out to the fire pit, where there were several logs around the pit to sit on. Each one sat down, with Seth helping Jake, then Sam looked up at me and said gruffly, "Bella, this is business."

"Well, Sam, I'm sure it has to do with what happened yesterday, and since it was my fault it happened, I'm staying," I replied, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Bella, this was not your fault," Jacob started. "I'm sick of you taking the blame!"

"Look, Jacob, . . ."

"Alright you two, knock it off!" Sam said in his 'Alpha' voice. "You can stay, Bella. Sit down." Sam cleared his throat and began talking. "I already talked to the rest of the pack this afternoon, but I wanted to fill you in, Jake. After the head bloodsu . . . sorry, Bella, the doc, finished patching you up last night, he called me aside to talk. He told me about the visit they had last night from the Vul . . . something . . . these vampires from Italy . . "

"The Volturi," I supplied quietly.

"Yeah, the Volturi. Well, Bella probably told you already, but I guess they may be coming back at some point and Cullen thought it fair that we know what was going on."

Jacob shot me a look. "What the hell is talking about, Bella?" All heads turned to look at me.

Before I could answer, Sam said "I guess she didn't tell you. Sorry, Jake." Sam gave me a look and shrugged his shoulders. "I thought maybe you guys had had a chance to talk by now."

"We did talk, but maybe you left something out?" Jacob looked at me angrily.

Sam interjected, again. "Look, maybe you two need to talk again. I just wanted you to know that everyone in the wolf pack is OK from the fight. Jake, you took the worst. I told Cullen that we would be ready to fight if needed. Bella, you need to know that you are safe here in La Push. We will protect you as long as you . . . well, you know . . . stay human."

"Thanks, Sam," I said sincerely. I didn't deserve their protection, but I certainly appreciated it.

Sam looked at Seth. "Hey, come on. Let's go and let them fight it out."

"I don't know," Seth grinned. "I might want to stay and see who wins. My bet is on Bella."

Jacob looked at Seth with a look meant to kill, and a growl to go with it.

Seth threw his hands up in front of him. "OK, OK, I'm going!" I watched as he followed Sam out into the woods then I turned to Jake and prepared for his wrath.

Jacob POV:

I pushed myself up off of the log to stand up with my back to Bella and ran my hands through my hair. Calm down, Jake. Take it easy.

I turned around with my hands on my hips and looked at her. "Bella, what the hell is going on? Why didn't you tell me everything?"

She stood up. "I'm sorry, Jake," Bella started. "I didn't tell you about their visit because I didn't want you to worry."

"Worry? Worry? Damnit, Bella, I have a right to know what is going on!" I put my hands on her shoulders. "Why won't you trust me? How can I protect you if I don't know what is going on?" I yelled at her.

She shrugged my hands off of her. "I'm not asking you to protect me, Jacob," Bella yelled back.

"Well, I love you, and I am sure as hell not going to let anything happen to you!" I roared back. "Now, start talking, and this time don't leave ANYTHING out."

She glared at me and spit out, "Fine. But sit down and shut up and don't say anything until I'm done." She closed her eyes for a second and sighed as she rubbed her forehead. I plopped back down onto the log then watched as she slowly sunk down across from me, took a deep breath and looked at me. "Edward sent Seth home then told me we had to go back to the clearing. The Volturi had heard about the newborns, and had come to see what kind of trouble they were causing. The Volturi's biggest rule is that humans do not know of the vampire's existence. The newborns were making that difficult, so they came to put a stop to it. Then they heard what was happening here. "

She took a breath and continued. "There was one newborn, she said her name was Bree. She stopped fighting and surrendered to Esme and Carlisle, so they let her live. She was so young . . . maybe Seth's age. They brought her to the clearing and asked Jasper to keep an eye on her. Carlisle told the Voluturi they would teach her the rules of being a vampire, since no one did this when she was changed. Carlisle hates injustice. But, Jane was not happy about this."

"Jane?" I asked.

"Jane is this nasty little girl, a part of the Volturi , that causes intense physical pain without even touching you," Bella explained. "She tortured Bree to make her tell her story about how Riley had changed them all to build an army to come here and kill the Cullens. Edward filled in the rest about killing Victoria and Riley. Then Jane, satisfied that everything was taken care of, told Felix, another Volturi, to take care of 'that' as she pointed at Bree. Carlisle tried to change her mind, but Jane told him coldly 'the Volturi don't give second chances.'" Bella stopped and was quiet. She had a very strange look on her face, and when she spoke again, it was very quietly. "Edward told me not to watch. I didn't have to – I knew too well what was going to happen. The horrible high-pitched screech, and the cracking and snapping of bones." Bella closed her eyes, and wrapped her arms around herself. "Sounds I will never forget."

I stood up and pulled her to me, wrapping my arms around her. "God, Bella, I'm so sorry," I whispered.

"They are going to come back, Jacob. Because of me," Bella said into my chest.

I pulled her back and looked at her, "What? Why?" I asked her.

She looked up at me. "Because, either I become a vampire, or they will kill me," she whispered.

I felt the rage building as I stood there and stared at her. I was shaking pretty hard and doing my best not to phase out. "That will NOT happen, Bella. I will kill each and every one of them!" I growled.

"Jake! Stop it! Calm down!" She yelled at me. Her eyes begged me to stay calm, to just talk to her. I panted, trying to breathe.

"Are you fucking serious? They want to kill you and you tell me to 'calm down?'" I turned away for a moment to try and do just that. I took a few deep breathes and reminded myself that she really need me to be calm right now. I am so fucking sick and tired of bloodsuckers trying to kill the girl I loved! When I felt I could handle it, I turned back and rested my hands on her shoulders. "Why, Bella, would they kill you if you don't become a vampire?" When she didn't answer right away, I shook her gently. "Talk to me, Bella. Why?"

Then we heard Charlie call from the back door, "Bella? You out there?"

I hung my head as Bella stepped back and called out, "Yeah, Dad. We'll be right in." She looked up at me and said softly, "We better go."

I glared at her then took her hand. As we were walking, I said quietly, but angrily, "We are NOT done talking yet."

We walked into the living room and Charlie said, "Bells, it's time to head home."

I tightened the grip on her hand. I couldn't let her go, not now. I still had to find out what the hell was going on.

"Would it be OK if I stayed one more night? I know Jake is doing better, but we have some things to talk about, and I would really like to stay." She looked at her dad, pleading with her eyes. "Please? You know I wouldn't ask if wasn't important."

Charlie didn't look too happy about it, but finally he looked away from Bella to my dad. "That OK with you?"

Billy answered, "Sure, Charlie. I have a cot that we use when we go camping. We'll set that up for Bella."

Charlie grunted, "Alright, I guess. Then he looked at me. "You might have a bum leg, but no funny business, got it?"

I noticed Bella huff and roll her eyes as I chuckled. Funny business, huh? Believe me, if I had a chance at that, a bum leg would not stop me. As he walked out the door, I realized that I never really gave him an answer.