A/N: If there were no such things as word limits, this is how you would have experienced this story in The Canon Tour. Thanks to everybody for reading!
Many thanks and blessings to katmom, for her ninja beta skills! Go read her entry to TheCanonTour: New Moon – "Letters from Esme", which I think is a dang sight better than mine! Or check out her Canon Tour: Pre-Twilight Winner: "EAC – The Journal of Edward Cullen". It's gooooood!
Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight and all the characters, I'm just playing with them. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter 2 – Hiking
Saturday morning, when Jacob picked me up for our hike, he was rather subdued, and a little more solicitous of me as we started out on our trek. I reassured him that I wasn't mad at him for upsetting me last night. When he didn't perk up, I asked him what was wrong. After some time, he sighed loudly.
"Just some crap going on down at the Rez."
"I guess it's not good crap?" I ventured.
"No." Jake continued walking, then spoke over his shoulder. "Do you remember my buddy, Embry?"
"Sure, the tall, skinny one?"
"Yeah, but he's not so skinny now." Jacob rubbed the back of his neck. When he spoke, it was in a very dejected tone and I wished I could see his face. "He doesn't hang out with me anymore."
His distress made my chest squeeze in sympathy for him. "I'm sorry, Jake. Did he say why?"
"Not really. He just said, 'It's not safe. Sorry.'" Jake threw his hands up and started shouting, his words getting absorbed by the surrounding greenery. "I mean what the hell is that supposed to mean? It's not safe to hang with me, but it's safe to hang out with Sam College-boy Uley?" He swung angrily at some low-hanging branches, and I had to duck as they snapped back.
I hadn't heard about this before, so wasn't sure what I could tell him. "Is something wrong with Sam? Are they doing anything bad?" I asked.
Jake snorted. "Not according to the elders. My sister got all sorts of crap for not going to college when she had a partial scholarship. But when Sam skips college? Nothing. It's like he's God's gift, but all I see is him, Paul and Jared hanging out on the Rez. I don't think he has a job, so why isn't he in school? And now Embry's hanging with them, too."
"Have you talked to Billy about them?"
A short bark of derisive laughter rang out. "He's on the Sam Uley band wagon too! For a while when I turned sixteen, it was creepy. Billy, Sam and Harry started checking up on me, asking how I felt. It was like they were expecting me to sprout another head or something. But they stopped bugging me a little while ago. Shortly after Embry joined Sam's little gang, in fact."
"I'm sorry, Jacob." I didn't know what to make of their behavior. It didn't make sense for the tribal elders to discourage higher education, and allow their young men to loiter around on the Reservation. I was even more bewildered by their surveillance. Jacob was a good kid. Why would they need to keep an eye on him?
"Yeah, so am I." He stopped next to a large rock and pulled the water out of his backpack. "Hang on, water break."
Not knowing what else to do, I chucked him on the shoulder. "At least you've still got Quil."
Jake nodded and handed the bottle to me.
After the break, we continued forward. He seemed to be better after getting his troubles off his chest and started chatting a little more.
We had ruled out six of the eight vectors he had mapped out on his search pattern. The thought must have been on his mind as well, because he asked the question I was thinking.
"If we don't find your meadow, what do you want to do?"
And just like that, intentional or not, he brought back the questions of the night before, and made me face the truth of my situation. What should I do from now on? No matter what I expected to find at the end of our current route, would that even bring them back? Would it bring him back? I could keep chasing after him forever, in whatever form that took, whether in memories or hallucinations. But if he never came back, I would be trapped in this purgatory. One day, I would have to put this behind me. One day, if I could find the strength, maybe I could try.
I stopped walking for a moment, closed my eyes and just let myself feel – the gentle touch of the misty air, the damp forest smells, the bird sounds, all suffused my senses…as well as the empty yearning in my heart and the drive to find him still pushing me onward. No, today would not be the day.
I opened my eyes and Jake was waiting, a curious eyebrow raised. I made an attempt at a reassuring smile. "I have faith in you. I'm sure we'll find it; but if not, at least we tried our best."
"There's always the bikes."
That fallback plan cheered me somewhat, since it had been proven to work. "That's true," I agreed. "You still have to teach me to shift gears and stay on top of the bike."
Jacob snorted his laughter, glanced at his compass and commenced hiking again.
We continued for a while under the cover of the trees, much of the greenery looking the same to me. Suddenly Jacob pushed through some overhanging branches and the sky opened up again.
I recognized the perfectly circular clearing in an instant, and the shock evaporated all the strength from my legs. I stumbled and fell to my hands and knees, but didn't feel the sting. It was all there. The purple and white wildflowers nodded against a brilliant carpet of emerald green grasses across the expanse, shimmering in the light. The majestic trees surrounded the meadow like an amphitheatre. Looking about, I found the spot where we had sat side by side, basking in the rare sunshine. I peered into the trees, and located the one with the missing branch that he had torn off in his display of strength. The broken stub had darkened, and sap had dripped down the trunk like blood. The trunk of the tree he had explosively hurled the branch at was also marked, but the damage had weathered with the passage of time. Some boyfriends carved their initials and those of their sweetheart into the bark of a tree. Mine destroyed trees.
Sitting back, I automatically wrapped my arms around my chest, and felt my face contract with the pain. This was a bad idea, I realized too late. I had hoped I might feel his presence here, some sign that he had existed, in spite of his taking my photos and the gifts from his family. Yet even with the evidence in front of me, proof that there had truly been a you and me, it wasn't a happy experience. The stark absence of him, as well as the reminder of what had been, sucked me down like the gravity well of a thousand earths. The hole in my chest had blown wide open, and I had no idea how long I sat there, rocking myself, tears silently coursing down my cheeks.
I gradually became aware of Jacob's hand on my back, his frantic voice asking me what was wrong, and if I was hurt. I couldn't answer him, lost in my silent suffering. Of course, something was wrong, what did you expect? That's what you get for breaking the rules. It will be as if I never existed he had said. So of course, I had to try to prove him wrong, to find proof that he existed. If I had been a good girl and stayed at home I wouldn't be sitting here paralyzed while the agony ripped through me. Even so, part of me still wanted to get up, to run my fingers over the broken tree. It was the closest that I could get to him now.
Suddenly, Jacob stood up straight.
"Hey, Bella, we've got company," he announced, nervously.
I sniffed and ran the back of my sleeve across my eyes before following Jacob's gaze. As my eyes cleared, I saw a male figure. A sudden surge of hope filled me when I saw the disturbing grace with which he moved, and the unearthly beauty of his face. But then I focused more carefully, only to feel my hopes fall to earth as I recognized that face.
"Laurent!" I called, a mixture of disappointment and relief in my voice. Here, at least, was more proof that other world did exist. There was still magic, just not the right kind of magic.
He smiled and spoke in his accented voice. "I thought I recognized you."
Jacob gave me a bewildered look. "You know this guy?"
Too late, I realized that Jacob should not be here. He couldn't know about Laurent and his kind. That sort of disclosure was not allowed, and I had originally intended to take the secret with me to my grave.
"Yeah, sort of," I muttered in an aside to Jacob, then addressed the vampire. "What are you doing here? I thought you went to Alaska."
"Yes, I was there for a time. It was very pleasant."
"Are you looking for…the Cullens?" I managed not to wince outwardly at the mention of their name.
"In a way, yes. But why are you here without them? Weren't they your keepers?"
A velvet smooth voice spoke behind my ear. Be careful what you tell him.
The surprise of hearing his voice momentarily stunned me. What was reckless or dangerous about this situation? But I obeyed him and faked a laugh as I got to my feet. "Oh, well, they're just off hunting, you know how that is."
Jake looked at me like I was crazy. "Hunting? But they–"
I elbowed him, but didn't think for a second that Laurent wouldn't see my movement. "They'll be back shortly. If you'll just come back, later, you can talk to them yourself."
Laurent grinned wider. "Actually, I was hunting also."
"It's not hunting season," Jacob said with a confused frown.
I ignored Jake's comment for now. "So are you a vegetarian, too?"
The immortal threw his head back as he laughed. "I did try the Cullens' way of life. Irina and her sister Tanya were very…persuasive."
"How did you like it?"
Laurent tilted his head slightly as he answered. "I must say it is an interesting way to live, but…not completely satisfactory. While it's enjoyable not to be on the move all the time, I can't see being able to maintain it for long."
My eyes widened as the import sank in. "You mean…"
Laurent shrugged, not at all repentant. "I cheated from time to time."
Keep him talking, my angel's voice commanded me.
It then dawned on me what felt so wrong. Laurent's eyes were red, as from the traditional vampire diet. That was the danger of this situation. I felt my throat tighten in response to the fear, something I had never felt with him or his family. I tried to keep him talking. Hopefully he was too polite to leap in mid-sentence.
"Is that what brought you out here?" Somehow I kept from squeaking.
"Actually, no." His left eyebrow rose. "Do you remember Victoria?"
I nodded silently, recalling the image of that wild-looking, female immortal with the flame-colored hair, standing next to James.
Laurent shook his head, his tone disgusted. "I'm sorry to say, she was rather put out with your Edward."
Managing to hide the wince that his name brought, I asked the obvious question. "What are you talking about?"
"Her mate was killed hunting you, so she feels honor bound to finish the job. She asked me to see how well protected you were by the Cullens. I do hope she is not disappointed."
I was momentarily confused. "Disappointed…in what?"
RUN BELLA! the voice roared in my head.
Perfect lips peeled back, exposing gleaming, razor-sharp teeth. "My killing you…" he chuckled.
Jacob pushed me back and crouched, whipping a knife out of a sheath on his belt. "Get out of here, Bells!" he shouted.
Laurent's grin twisted into an evil smirk and he flashed forward, grabbed the front of Jake's jacket and lifted him off the ground before Jake could blink. As awkward as his position was, Jake's knife thrust was like the strike of a snake, but Laurent easily caught the gleaming blade in his hand, inches from his face.
"You are fortunate you do not smell as good as she, but I'll be back for you." Laurent negligently flung Jacob to the side, where he landed in some bushes. I started to scramble frantically backwards from where I had fallen as Laurent turned towards me.
"You should thank me, you know," he observed.
"What for?" My voice was shaky.
"Victoria had some rather…extensive entertainments intended for you." Again his nose wrinkled in disgust. "Positively barbaric. Me…well… let's just say I was taught not to play with my food. Nothing personal, you see. You just caught me at a bad time." He leaned forward and delicately sniffed.
"I can see why the Cullens kept you around. You smell simply divine." Leisurely, fluidly, he crouched, getting ready to spring. I wondered if I should even bother screaming, and hoped it wouldn't hurt too badly.
At the end of my life, what did it matter anymore? I closed my eyes and pried open the lid I had kept on my memories. Pulling the image of his face front and center, I cried out in the silence of my mind. I love you, Edward! Don't forget me!
A sudden growl resonated, but from the side, not from in front of me. My eyes snapped open to see Laurent glaring to my left, across the clearing. His crimson eyes narrowed as he located the source of the sound, then they flew wide.
"Mère de Dieu," he muttered.
Four dark, hulking shapes pushed through the trees into the meadow. As they stepped into the light, I thought I was seeing things. I was already petrified with fear from Laurent, and didn't think it could get any worse, but the shock of seeing them made the meadow seem to tilt. They were wolves, without a doubt. Nothing else had that sharp muzzle, the alert ears, the rangy body and the ruff of a tail. But I had seen wolves in the zoo and no wolf ever got that big; these were the size of a bear or a small horse. All had different color pelts – one was black, one dark silver, another deep gray, and the last was brown.
The lips of the black one, which stood slightly in the lead, parted and a hideous snarl ripped through the misty air. As one, the pack lunged forward, a gigantic wave of fangs and fur.
My eyes turned back towards Laurent, expecting him to blur with speed, charge forward and tear the monster wolves limb from limb. Part of me hoped that would happen, to save us from the howling beasts, but that would leave us at Laurent's mercy. The best that could happen was for them all to kill each other.
Instead, to my surprise, Laurent turned and ran, leaving a slight disturbance of the leaves where he passed. The wolf pack crashed into the woods where Laurent had disappeared, and I could hear their progress grow fainter and fainter as they chased him further away.
"Bella! Let's go!" Jacob's voice brought me back to the present situation. He had some scratches on his face and arms, and he favored his right hand.
"Are you okay?" I asked as he pulled me to my feet.
"Fine! Let's get out of here!"
Jacob started running the way we had come. I couldn't feel my legs, but somehow the adrenaline kept me moving, blindly following Jake's back. I sincerely hoped he knew where he was going, because in my panic I had absolutely no clue. At any moment, I expected to hear Laurent's voice and feel his iron fingers after he had ambushed and disposed of the giant wolves.
Running, tripping, falling, getting up again, the forest seemed endless, just like in my frequent nightmares. My breath burned in my throat as we ran, but the fear kept me going, keeping in sight of Jacob's back and his bouncing backpack.
After an eternity of fighting through the woods, we broke through the trees and brush and stumbled into the trailhead parking lot. With a surge of relief, we threw ourselves into the truck. Jacob took the wheel without asking and started it with a roar. He winced as he worked the gear shift with his right hand.
"Are you okay?" I looked at his hand, and it seemed to be starting to swell.
"He squeezed my hand pretty hard when he stopped my knife. Might be broken."
Jacob's voice was tight with pain, his eyes rather wild as he drove frantically. I didn't say anything about the crazy driving because I knew we needed to get back to where there were more people in a hurry. I just hoped that Laurent was still under the same edict as the Cullens not to draw attention while killing.
Finally when we reached the highway and were barreling down it, Jacob broke his silence. "You knew that guy. You knew him by name."
I thought over a few responses, but he had seen us interact. "Yeah," I said cautiously.
"So you know what he is?" Jacob glanced over at me, his voice rising.
I made one last attempt at dissembling. "What do you mean by 'what'?"
"I just– " Jacob pressed his lips together for a moment. "You're gonna think I'm crazy," he muttered.
"Try me."
"You remember the legends I told you about last year?"
"Yeah, I remember."
Jacob began babbling in his agitation. "I wasn't supposed to tell you, because it's a tribal secret. But I didn't think they were real, that's why I told you. But you saw them as well as I did; they're real. Werewolves and vampires are real!"
The hairs stood up on the back of my neck as his comment sank in. I didn't know what to say as I went through my memories of the stories he told me. They had been enough of a hint to help me figure out the Cullens' identity, and I'd accepted their secret without too much trouble. Why couldn't the other side of the equation be real, too?
On a dispassionate, intellectual level it made a certain amount of sense. But on an emotional level, the entire identity of the Quileute Nation had just been stood on its head; this small tribe of Native Americans was also a part of the supernatural world.
Jake threw an accusing look at me. "But you knew him! That means you've known about them for all this time!"
I gave up on keeping the secret from him. We had both seen too much to put the cat back in the bag now. "Yeah, I've known. But I didn't know about the wolves."
Jacob shook his head and shuddered. "And you've got one after you. Geez, how do we stop one of them?" He seemed to say that mostly to himself as he stared at the passing highway. After a while, Jacob made a decision.
"Let's go talk to my dad. Maybe Harry Clearwater, too."
"Sounds like a good idea," I said in a shaky voice. "Then we'll see if there's anything I can tell Charlie after that."
= = O = o = P = =
Jake pulled the truck to a stop in front of his house and we tumbled out in our haste. We found Billy in the living room watching a basketball game on TV. He looked up as we entered, and the smile froze on his face when he saw our agitated expressions.
Without preamble, Jacob jumped in. "Dad! You know those old legends you told me about?"
Billy looked at me over Jake's shoulder, and he composed his face into a neutral mask. "Yeah, what about them?" he asked, cautiously.
"We saw some big wolves in the forest today!"
Considering he was the one telling the superstitious stories, Billy seemed to be trying too hard for nonchalance as he turned his eyes back to the game. "Really? How big would you say?"
"Huge. Big as horses, huge."
Billy scoffed. "C'mon, you're joking, right? Horse-sized? Maybe you saw a bear."
Jake made an impatient noise. "Cut the crap, Dad, I know what a wolf looks like. But that's not all." Jacob sat heavily on the sofa next to Billy and locked glances with him. "I want you to level with me. The legends of the spirit warriors and the Cold Ones are true, aren't they?"
"What makes you say that?"
"Because we met one of the Cold Ones." He held up his right hand, of which his thumb and index finger were definitely starting to swell. "He picked me up like I was a baby and damn near crushed my hand. For some reason he wanted to kill Bella first, otherwise I'd be dead."
Shock finally registered and the color drained out of Billy's face as he looked from Jacob's hand, to me and back. "Let me see!" Jake gingerly held out his hand, and Billy gently supported it. Purple bruising was starting to form where Laurent's fingers had gripped.
"Geezus, you're lucky you're alive! How'd you get away?" Billy cried.
"Those wolves we saw chased him away."
Relief and concern washed over Billy's face, but when his eyes returned to me, he remembered that an outsider was present. He opened his mouth and hesitated.
"It's too late to keep it from Bella, either," Jake interjected. "She was with me, and she saw the whole thing."
Billy sighed and rubbed the back of his neck for a while. "What a mess," he muttered. "Go put some ice on it."
Jacob got up and went to the kitchen, while Billy's eyes narrowed as he pinned me with a gimlet stare. "You've known about the Cold Ones, haven't you?"
I gave him a solemn nod.
"Do you realize now, how much your life has been in danger?"
"I was never in any danger from them," I disagreed. I looked at the floor while I hugged myself. "It's a moot point, anyway. They're gone."
"No, you just saw one today, and he would have killed you. That should tell you something. Just because the doctor and his family have left town, that doesn't mean you're safe."
The thought that Laurent might come here to find me left me feeling exposed and vulnerable, and set my heartbeat racing. The only thing that had come between me and James' teeth had been him and his family. Vampires who preyed on humans were still out there, but with the good ones gone, what chance did we have against the bad ones?
Billy nodded, satisfied as he watched the play of emotions on my face. "Do you understand you can't tell anyone? Not even your father?"
"He'd never believe me," I muttered, then raised my head and addressed him squarely. "I haven't said anything to anybody, all this time."
"You too, Jake. And this time I mean it."
Jacob returned with a plastic bag of ice on his hand. He shrugged. "Hey, I didn't know the stories were real. I thought you and the elders were being crazy, superstitious, old women."
Billy snorted and picked up the phone.
"Who're you calling?" Jacob asked.
"Sam and Harry. We need to take you to the hospital, and I need to find out what happened."
At Billy's mention of Sam, Jacob scowled. "Sam? Why Sam?"
"Because he's the leader of the pack."
= = O = o = P = =
When Harry answered the phone, Billy started talking in what I supposed was the Quileute language. I brought a chair in from the kitchen and set it next to the couch. Holding the ice pack to his hand, Jake sat down in the chair and offered me the couch. After a few minutes, Billy hung up.
"He's on his way," he announced.
Still rather numb, Jake and I sat with Billy but not really paying attention to the game. Billy asked what we were doing out in the forest, and I managed to convince him we were simply out for a hike. Ten minutes after Billy called, Harry knocked on the door and entered.
"You two are lucky to be alive," Harry said, as he closed the door behind him. I hadn't seen him in a while, and his medium-length black hair was shot with silver. He wore the same heavy coat I saw when he went fishing with Charlie.
"Yeah, we know." Jake's reply was subdued.
"Do you think you two can stay out of the woods for a while?" Harry asked.
Jacob bristled. "How were we supposed to know? Considering it's a matter of life-and-death, don't you think we should tell more people about it? Tell people to stay out of the woods?"
Billy grimaced in exasperation. "We did, Jake. But we're 'superstitious, old women', remember?"
Color flooded Jake's face at the rebuke. "Sorry, Dad," he mumbled.
Harry dismissed the issue with a wave. "So now you know. I suppose you might have a few questions."
"Yeah, like, are the rest of the legends true?" Jacob asked.
Harry pulled up a chair and thought for a moment. "I don't know if we're still able to spirit walk. But you know the wolves that walk as men are real. When the Cold Ones come, the young men with the ability can change. Sam is the current leader, but Billy would have been if they had come when he was young."
I looked at Jake intently. "Does that mean Jacob will change too?"
His expression noncommittal, Harry shrugged. "We thought he might, but he hasn't shown the signs. All the members of the pack hit a huge growth spurt before they phased for the first time. Embry is about the same age as Jacob, so we think if it were going to happen, it would have done so by now."
Jake briefly screwed up his face in thought. "So…Paul, Jared and Embry. They're all part of Sam's gang because they're…wolves?"
"Mm-hmm," Harry nodded.
For selfish reasons, I was relieved that Jacob wouldn't have to go through this supernatural transformation, since it had taken his friend away from him. "So why does Embry have to stay away from Jacob? They were friends before this thing happened."
"It's for Jake's protection," Harry explained. "Young werewolves don't have a lot of control over the change. If normal people are too close, they can be hurt. At least it's temporary; once they have better control, they'll be safe."
Billy coughed. "Do you know Emily Young?"
"Yeah, Sam's girlfriend who got mauled by a bear." Jake looked puzzled.
"It wasn't a bear." Billy shook his head. "It was Sam. Emily was standing too close to him when he changed. That's how she got hurt."
Jake's eyes grew wide. "Oh, crap." He turned to me and explained. "Emily's face was clawed really badly. She was really pretty, too." Jake returned his attention to Harry. "But the legends say the wolves are here to protect us from vampires, not hurt our people."
"What happened with Emily was an accident. The wolves have to be fast and strong enough to kill the leeches, so are much stronger than normal humans. That's why we have to be careful."
"What about the vampire we saw?" I said, still not believing that an indestructible vampire could be killed by flesh and blood animals. "Are they strong enough to stop him?"
"Four wolves against one bloodsucker?" A tight smile played across Billy's face. "I think they'll be fine."
"But there's more than one, Dad," Jacob insisted.
Before Billy could respond, there was a knock at the door. It opened and the looming form of Sam Uley stepped through.
"Any problems, Sam?" Harry asked.
"Nope. Not bad for our first one. But we really need to figure a way to carry a lighter with us. It's a pain to send somebody to find something to start a fire so we can finish them off." Sam's calm, rumbling voice filled the room.
Billy smirked. "Carry a butt pack."
Sam rolled his eyes at the ceiling. "And wear it on what?" He looked at Jake and me. "You guys okay?"
Jacob had stiffened the moment Sam had stepped into the room, and kept glaring at him to this point. The difference between them was like a beagle confronting a mastiff, as Jacob scowled up at the man-mountain that was Sam. After a brief stare-down, Jacob turned away, flushing. "Yeah. Thanks for saving our asses."
Sam shrugged. "We're protectors. It's what we do."
"So, he's not going to be coming after us?" I still felt the need for reassurance.
Sam shook his head. "He's ashes now."
Jake blew out an audible breath. "Good. He was going to kill Bella, then me. I guess I'm lucky I just got a busted hand."
"It's too bad we didn't get that leech's mate, though," Sam said. "If so we could relax."
"Wait, what mate?" I asked, feeling the dread rise up again.
Sam jerked his thumb backwards over his shoulder. "There's a female still lurking in the hills. The male led us on a chase up north, and near where we caught him, we scented her. Our legends tell us once you kill one mate, the other usually comes for revenge. We followed the trail and thought she'd try to come for us, but when we spotted her, she just took off."
I felt the room spin as I fully processed his words, and I couldn't seem to catch a full breath. When Laurent had mentioned Victoria, I thought maybe she had talked to him in Alaska. I didn't realize she was this close, plotting and scheming for my demise. "Oh, God," I moaned, when I could get enough air. "That's gotta be Victoria. She's not his mate."
"How do you know?" they all asked at once.
Squeezing my ribs tightly, I answered shakily. "Ed– the Cullens killed her mate last year. This one was just a friend she had scouting how hard it would be to get to me. Looks like not very hard, either."
Silence fell over the men. Billy picked up the remote and turned off the TV that had gone ignored all this time.
Sam broke the silence. "Now it makes sense that she ran." He fell back into thought and rubbed at his chin. "Do you think Charlie would let you stay here?"
I considered it, but after the threadbare story we had used to explain my run from James, we would need a good reason. "How would you explain it? Sleepovers every night at Jake's house? That'd be sure to raise questions. And I can't run away from home. That'd just kill him."
"Harry, does the treaty say we have to stay off their land?"
"We set the boundaries, but we didn't say anything about staying off if they're gone."
The look on Sam's face was more resolved. "Okay, then that's what we'll do. We can still make the female come to us, if she wants Bella."
"We can't use Bella as bait!" Jacob objected.
Sam's calm demeanor didn't change, as he spoke sternly. "I have to think about how best to handle the situation, Jacob. We don't have enough members to guard all of the reservation and Forks too. At least now we know what her goal is. We can guard Bella, and when the leech tries again, we'll get her."
Jake looked from Sam, to Billy and then back at me. "I want to help. Are you sure I can't…join you?"
That surprised me, after all of his complaints about Sam. I looked at Jacob and he gave me a little shrug.
Billy sighed. "Sorry, son. I thought you might be able to, but it seems to have passed you by, just like me. Maybe the Black line isn't good enough to defend our people."
Harry practically growled. "Don't say that! Your grandpa Ephraim made the treaty with the bloodsuckers to defend our people, and he was one of the most powerful wolves the tribe had. Who knows how or why the power flows? There's no ceremony to make it happen, no spirit quest. It just happens when the Cold Ones are near."
Jacob nudged me with his elbow. "Do you think Charlie would object if I sit on your porch with a shotgun?"
In spite of my anxiety, I smiled at a mental image of him sitting in a rocking chair with a shotgun across his lap. "First off, you'd have to explain why you're doing it, and second, if you did he'd probably sit there himself. Also, I don't think a shotgun would do any good. You saw what happened when you tried to stab him."
"Don't worry, Jake," Sam rumbled. "We'll make sure she's safe. When you don't have a lot of guards, it's better to know what to guard."
Billy spoke up. "The woods end close to your house, which is good and bad. Good, because we can guard you without being seen. Bad, because she can get to the house without being seen either."
I knew that the vampire world had laws, but wasn't sure how much I could tell them without betraying their secrets. Then I remembered that they both had secrets, and the tribe had just let me in on a number of theirs. "Um, if it helps, they have to keep from attracting attention when they kill. They have, like, vampire cops if somebody goes nuts and gets out of control."
Sam gave a grim chuckle. "Interesting. Okay, just stick with your routine, and stay in public areas when not at home with Charlie. I'll have someone shadow you whenever we can."
Billy pursed his lips. "Maybe we need someone to be your wing man when you need to do things in public, and are by yourself."
"How do you think that would stop her?" Sam scoffed.
Billy raised his shoulders. "At least it would make her pause. A lone killing wouldn't be too hard to hide. Multiple? Not as easy."
Jacob nodded emphatically. "I could do that."
"Jake, you still have school."
"Don't you think her life is worth it?" Jacob's voice rose. "It's not 24-7, and this should be temporary until we get the bloodsucker, right? It's just when Bella has to run errands or go to work and stuff."
"Jacob, if the female decides to attack, what are you going to be able to do?" Billy said, pointedly. "Especially since it looks like you're going to have one hand for a while."
"You can't have one of the wolves ride in the car with her," Jake retorted. "Even if I'm just a warm body to make the bloodsucker think twice, I'm the best choice. If you're worried about school, I can work at home and catch up since Bella's been helping me. C'mon, this is important, Dad!"
Billy shared a glance with the other men in the room, and they didn't deny him. "All right, Jake, you're on. Now, I think you should get to the emergency room. Too bad you can't phase. You'd be healed by now." Billy looked up. "Harry? Sam? Could one of you take him?"
"No, I'll take him," I volunteered.
"You should get home and get some rest, Bella. You've had quite a day."
"It's the least I can do," I insisted.
With a sigh, Sam acquiesced. "All right. After you bring him back, somebody will shadow you home."
Jake and I stood up and collected our coats, leaving the elders behind, still talking strategy. As we walked through the front door, I glanced back to see Billy staring at Jacob's retreating back. Whether he was disappointed, sad or merely thoughtful, I couldn't tell before the door closed between us. Jacob was already halfway to my truck, so I shrugged and hurried to catch up with him.
To be continued…
He may be just a normal kid, but he's a good kid, eh? Please review, I'd love to hear what you think!