Jasper didn't need to to be able to feel and control emotions to know that something was bothering Bella. Alice would've picked up on it if she wasn't always in meetings with Carlisle, Jacob and Victoria, and Jared and Embry. As it was, the six representing their corresponding packs/covens were far too busy with peace talks - and war strategies - to really notice anything else. Jasper wasn't in that group though, and it was quickly and easily noticeable how Bella slowly pulled deeper and deeper into herself.
At first he'd wanted to respect her privacy and give her time to work things out herself, but time only made things worse. That was why he finally spoke up.
"You need to stop being so angry at being a human," Jasper sighed. He was seated next to Bella in the Cullen's living room, they'd been spending more and more time together just the two of them, each seeming to have unknowingly sought the other out even more than usual due to Alice's frequent and long absences. "No one thinks you're useless because you don't have fangs or claws."
Bella flinched at that as she turned her large brown eyes on him. "But I amuseless." She clenched her fists together. "I wish I was a werewolf."
That surprised him. He'd thought she wanted to be a vampire, she hadn't really come out and said anything to him, but he'd picked up on the yearning she felt. "Not a vampire?"
She shook her head rapidly, resolutely, as she pressed her fists into her thighs.
Why a wolf and not a vampire? Alice's visions might be based on decisions, and could change should a decision change, but all of his wife's visions saw future Bella as a vampire, like them, with them.
If Jasper was being honest when Alice's visions first started changing and she'd started seeing Bella less as a threat to Jacob and Edward's union and more as someone important to their own future, Jasper really hadn't believed that was possible. He'd gone along with it, mostly to humor Alice, help keep Bella away from Jacob, and because it was a challenge to his lack of control for human blood, but somewhere along the way his feelings had started to change.
Singapore had probably been the complete changing point. Alice had hated the time they'd spent with the wise man away from any sort of human comfort (she definitely would've preferred being in the city shopping), but Jasper had loved it. He'd understood what the wiseman was doing - how he mightn't have been helping them with Edward's issues but was helping them with their own. The blonde vampire had enjoyed every second of roughing it, of the time in the peace and quiet away from humans and the temptation they'd provided. He'd enjoyed it all, but had been surprised when he'd started wishing Bella was there. Not only would she have helped Alice keep from being so bored out of her mind, but Jasper had known unlike his wife, Bella would've enjoyed herself there like he was.
The time away had given him time to really think about everything, and the relief he and Alice had both felt at returning home and being able to see Bella had somewhat convinced him - but not as much as the worry that'd twisted their guts when they'd realized Bella had (understandably) misunderstood everything and was keeping an emotional distance from them. Bella hadn't pulled away for long, and the relief when she'd cried and hugged them close - Jasper and Alice had shared a look over Bella's shoulder and he knew his wife could see the acceptance in his eyes.
The plan had been to slowly earn Bella's forgiveness and work towards cementing what they'd begun before the whole Singapore trip had put things on halt, but with everything going on a wrench had been thrown in the plan.
"No." Bella took in a deep breath. "Knowing my luck the second I turned one of those werewolves will Imprint on me." She gulped, disgust on her face at the very thought. "But if I was a werewolf I might—-." She then blushed darkly, which would've really tested his self-control had she been anyone else, but she was Bella, and Jasper was surprised at how well he could control his blood-thirsty urges when it came to her. "I might—-." She pressed her fists so hard into her thighs it must hurt.
Jasper reached out and placed his hand on hers to stop her, and couldn't stop the small smile from touching his lips when she not only jumped slightly at the touch, but he could sense her emotions quickly shift from dark worry to lightheaded happiness. She was incredibly cute. "Do you want to go and see Alice at the Rez? Would that make you feel a little more at ease?"
"No!" Bella looked very conflicted though, stark worry filling her nauseatingly. "It's bad enough she's there - but if you go too - what if—-?" She then flushed crimson and lowered her gaze to her sneakers, embarrassment and guilt filling her.
Ah.
Bella was worried that the werewolves were going to Imprint on Alice and Jasper. That was why she wanted to become a wolf - she was worried some wolf would take one or both of them away.
That was so adorable.
"You and Alice are perfect together, you belong together," Bella whispered, her voice thick with emotion, her gaze refusing to rise to meet his. "I don't want anything to—if you guys—I just—."
Letting go of Bella's hand, Jasper eased an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close. He could hear the way her heart raced, her whole body tensed, her breath caught in her throat, her stomach rolling rapidly, nervously. Guilt mixed with extreme happiness and confusion as she relaxed against him and shyly wrapped an arm around his waist in a half-hug, accepting his comfort.
Jasper sensed them before he saw Alice and Carlisle returning, the television blaring in the background completely masking the sound of their arrival. He glanced over his shoulder as the door opened, Carlisle eyeing his phone, Alice instead meeting Jasper's gaze with a small smile that became brighter when she saw how close he and Bella were. His wife winked and gave him two thumbs up which he merely smiled at.
Bella's cheeks were so hot he could feel the heat through his shirt. "I—I really c-care about you t-two," Bella whispered into the material, apparently unable to look at him. "Just the thought of one of those werewolves t-tearing you a-apart makes me so ang—-!" Bella gasped as Jasper eased her face up and pressed a soft kiss to her lips.
Pleasure and happiness and desire radiated from her.
Jasper shifted slightly in the seat, feeling his wife drawing nearer as he slowly deepened the kiss.
Bella's arousal was strong in the air even as she whispered against his lips. "I d-don't want to get b-between you and Alice."
"But that's where we want you." Alice sat down on Bella's other side.
Bella jolted in surprise as she turned to face Alice, eyes wide, guilt back full-force. "Alice! Don't get mad at Jasp—!" And then she gasped as Alice leaned forwards and captured her lips, kissing her just as unexpectedly as Jasper had.
The blonde vampire watched Alice and Bella kissed, a smile on his face, no jealousy at all within him. While some vampiric mates weren't monogamous, he and Alice always had been, and they'd both believed it would always be just the two of them, until Bella. If anyone else touched Alice Jasper would kill them, but he only felt content as he watched the brunettes.
Alice pulled away and smiled sweetly at Bella. "We both like you, Bella. We like you a lot." She tenderly brushed a strand of hair out of the human's face. "You're very special to us."
Bella's eyes were wide, her lips parted, her breath hard. "R-really?" She glanced between them, heart skipping a beat when Jasper and Alice both nodded. "You're b-both special too—I like you b-both t-too—-so much!" Her embarrassment grew exponentially.
"That makes us both happy, doesn't it, honey?" Alice smiled at Jasper, crooking her finger at him.
"Yeah." He grinned and leaned over, kissing her, able to scent Bella's arousal strengthening as she watched him and Alice and him kiss. True to her word, Bella didn't want to break them up at all, in fact, there wasn't a bit of resentment or jealousy in her as she watched them kissing, just desire, arousal, and need.
Chuckling against Alice's lips, Jasper shared mischievous smiles with his wife as they both pounced on Bella, Jasper claiming the human's lips while Alice left lipstick stains all over Bella's neck.
Bella seemed to be overwhelmed almost immediately, her emotions going blank, and then suddenly Jasper was hit with an explosion of happiness and disbelief. And desperate need.
"Jasper!" Bella sobbed against his lips as she gripped at him and Alice both, pulling them even closer. "Alice!"
He might've been a little overwhelmed by that moment by Bella's and Alice's emotions, as well as his own. That was probably the only reason he didn't even notice that they weren't alone in the living room anymore. Then again, Alice began to rub them over their pants, and the human whimpered into Jasper's mouth, so, really, yeah, his inability to sense anything but his girls was more than understandable.
…
Your boyfriend better get used to the fact that Bella's going to be a vampire soon, the text message on Edward's phone declared, catching Jacob's attention immediately. It was from Rosalie, and even in text her annoyance was clearly plain. They're basically having a threesome in the living room right now. There's no way this doesn't end in her becoming a Cullen. Or a Hale. Or a Cullen-Hale. YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN, DAMN IT.
Jacob raised an eyebrow as he eyed the text and sighed, glad Edward was talking to Victoria in the other room and not here right now. It gave Jacob a couple of minutes to think without his mate listening into his thoughts.
This was a situation he'd known was on the horizon, he just hadn't thought they'd have to worry about this until after the whole Volturi problem was over and done with. The peace treaty between the pack and the Cullens rested on the fact that the Cullens didn't feed on, or turn, anyone. The whole Bella, Alice and Jasper thing could easily undo everything they'd managed to do up until now, and yet Jacob couldn't ask his best friend not to follow her heart. She'd never do that to him, and he couldn't do it to her.
Bella was in love with both Alice and Jasper, it'd been more than obvious for a while now, and Jacob wondered just what he could do to help her in this impossible situation. If it was really what she wanted Jacob would support Bella's desire to turn (he wouldn't be happy, he didn't want that for her, but he could understand it if she chose it) yet he knew that the Rez Pack would be a different matter all-together.
So, it was with that foreknowledge, that Jacob came up with the decision that either James or Victoria would have to change Bella. It was hard to come to terms with it, and he didn't like the idea of tempting his pack mates with human blood, but it was the only way to keep the Cullen x Rez Wolves' treaty standing.
When the time came, when Bella came to him and finally admitted that she wanted to be a vampire, he'd be prepared to not only help his friend transition, but to deal with her change as a vampire, and with any repercussions her turning might have. Thankfully she'd also have Edward, James and Victoria there to help her in the parts that Jacob, as a werewolf, couldn't.
"You're a really good Alpha, you know that?"
Jacob looked up to find his mate leaning in the doorway, a tender smile on his face. "And here I thought I'd managed to keep my thoughts off of your radar."
"Sorry, you were worried, I instinctively picked up on that," Edward apologized as he pushed away from the doorway and joined Jacob by his phone. "I almost don't want Bella to turn, I want her to be able to have her own family, children, and grow old surrounded by them, but it's not my choice to make." He sighed as he eyed the phone, Rosalie's messages still on screen. "I know it's your decision to make, but I think Victoria could do it without backsliding into human consumption. She's—-she's stronger than most of the vampires I know."
"Finally, he speaks some sense," Victoria declared, now the one in the doorway, expression somber. "And he's right, James is still recovering from his injuries, and from whatever injuries he's gotten this time around. I should be the one to do it." She raised her chin. "I'll make sure Hell's Bells' transformation is as smooth as possible - as long as you okay it, Jake." She shrugged. "It's one of your rules, after-all."
Jacob eyed the vampire acting as his Beta in James' absence and smiled sadly with a nod. "When the time comes you and I will chat."
"Good." Nodding, clearly satisfied with this, Victoria suddenly made a face. "Changing the subject, I'm relieved none of the werewolves in the Rez have been acting weird around me. The idea of one of them thinking they could get their grubby hands on me is…" She shivered. "No insult intended to you, Jake, but those wolves are gross."
"I thought you and Leah might get together," Jacob admitted now that he knew it wasn't going to happen - otherwise the girls might've never forgiven him for 'jinxing' them in case it did happen. "You're the only ones who don't seem utterly intimidated by each other."
Victoria grinned brightly. "We'd have killed each other in a fortnight. I'd do better with someone like Seth."
Jacob snickered at the idea of Seth and Victoria together. "Thankfully Seth has time before he has to deal with the issues an Imprint brings, unlike his poor friend."
"Jane." Victoria shivered in agreement.
"The Volturi will react when they realize their scouts aren't coming back," Edward reminded them of what was actually important. "We're very close to a war we can't stop. If they weren't happy with a vampire/wolf pack before, they'll definitely not be happy when they realize two high-up members of their Guard are Imprinted to werewolves."
Jacob nodded as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Jared's hoping that keeping the wolves with the vampires will speed along the Imprint bond and give us an advantage in this situation, but it's another problem in its own. From what you've told us about these guys they're not going to like two useful people like Jane and Chelsea staying behind. Especially not Chelsea, she can literally make people loyal to the Volturi." He wondered which was more intimidating - Leah or her Imprint. "That's a very useful power to have."
"How sure are we that they will? Stay behind I mean." Victoria wanted to know. "They did Imprint on a kid and on Leah respectively. If I were them I'd run to the hills the first chance I got."
"They'll either stay, or be drawn back very soon after leaving," Edward responded without any question. "You don't understand what it's like to be far away from the person who has Imprinted on you. It's like torture."
"You sure stayed away long enough," Victoria huffed.
"That was before the Imprint was finalized, completed, and it was hard even then," Edward defended without any heat. "Now though? It gets literally painful if I'm away from Jacob for too long. I get depressed, moody, angsty. The only time I feel like me, like everything is right in the world, is when I'm near him, with him."
Jacob looked up in surprise. "It's like that with me too."
Victoria looked a mixture of annoyed and intrigued. "Aro definitely won't like finding that out." She folded her arms over her chest. "Imprinting sounds like a pain in the butt."
Edward smiled as he reached out for Jacob's hand and squeezed it. "There's some upsides."
"Some?" Jacob barked in amusement.
"Oh god, when does the honeymoon phase end?" Victoria groaned in utter agony. "You two are sickening."
"Thanks," Edward grinned, apparently having learnt not to take anything Victoria said personally.
She huffed, clearly upset he'd learnt that. "Whatever is going on we need a bit of a heads up. More than what Alice can give us, because, let's be honest, there's clearly blindspots when it comes to her visions otherwise we'd have known two Imprints were heading this way. If we could know more, something more concrete - like maybe more Imprints - we could be ready."
"True," Edward admitted softly. "But we don't know any vampire other than Alice who sees the future. So we're going to have to—-."
"I know someone," Victoria interrupted oddly. "When I talked to James he said he and the others fought Laurent's coven where we—-." She cleared her throat, clearly uncomfortable. "There's someone close by who could know what's going on, who could tell us more. James just needs to go and visit him on his way back."
"If they know of another vampire who can see the future—-," Edward started hopefully as he turned to Jacob.
"Not a vampire," Victoria mumbled, clearly getting more and more uneasy. "But what he sees come true, no ifs ands or buts. If there's anyone who can help us, it's Murdock."
"Murdock." Jacob could clearly see there was more than she was telling him, but chose not to push. There had to be a reason why she didn't want to say more, why she was acting so oddly, but if this Murdock person could give them an insight on what was to come they'd have to send James there. Wherever 'there' was. "You sure he's still there?"
"Yes, he never leaves, it's not safe for him otherwise," Victoria admitted uneasily. "He'll be there, and James will know where to find him."
"Okay." Jacob nodded as he shared curious looks with Edward. "I'll go call James."
…
Oh for crying out loud!
The second he'd seen Victoria's number and realized his sister was calling him out of their pre-arranged time James had known he wouldn't like what she had to tell him, and he hadn't! It wasn't so much the message itself but the complications it'd brought.
"You're not coming along," James growled, refusing to put Seth through that again. He'd honestly been doing a crappy job of taking care of the werewolf during this trip, and while at first he really hadn't cared, the longer he'd been with Seth the more the desire and need to protect had grown exponentially.
"If I'm not going, then neither are you," Seth declared, shocking James out of his annoyance. Just when had Seth decided he could order James around like that? The insolent pup! "Send Garrett and Riley."
"Murdock won't meet with us," Garrett informed the shifter immediately with a careless shrug. "I mean, sure, I'll go and have some fun, but the only one Murdock's gonna allow near him is James."
Riley smirked at Seth, as if telling him even an idiot would have suggested them going in James' place. The fledgling was clearly acting like a brat, testing his boundaries, and if it wasn't for the fact that Seth seemed to be handling his own James would've stepped in by now.
Seth ignored both Garrett and Riley, his eyes narrowed on James. "Either I go with you, or you don't go."
Internal heckles rising, James stalked towards Seth, silently impressed when the pup held his ground even as James invaded his personal space. "Who the hell do you think you are?" James asked in a soft, emotionless voice that had Garrett's eyes widening and Riley taking an instinctive step back. They both knew the old him, knew him better than Seth, and knew what that tone meant. "You do not order me around."
Unlike Riley and Garrett, Seth merely raised his chin and met James' gaze without even a hint of nerves. "And you do not order me around." He took a step towards James, basically leaving less than a breath between them as he tilted his head further to be able to glare up at James, maintaining eye contact. "Who do you think you are?"
Garrett's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline.
Riley actually looked a little worried for Seth.
James grinned, showing teeth.
Garrett reacted instantly, reaching for Seth, with the clear intension of pulling him out of the way of imminent danger, but he was too late—because Seth had moved forwards, somehow, and grabbed James' shirt as he snarled in his face, eyes wolf-gold.
Riley's mouth was open, his scarlet eyes wide.
James had killed many for far less, he definitely didn't like the open defiance, and yet, instead of wanting to tear out Seth's throat… The vampire grabbed fistfuls of Seth's hair and yanked back roughly, arching Seth's neck and forcing his head angled into the perfect position to kiss him, roughly, which he did.
He'd expected to be kneed in the crotch, he hadn't expected Seth to use the grip on his jacket to pull him in closer, meeting that kiss just as harshly. Instead of battling with fangs and claws they were fighting in their own way. This was a new sort of technique James had never used before, wasn't quite sure if it was actually a battle technique, but they were definitely fighting each other with each kiss and nibble, with each gasp and throaty growl.
Why was Seth fighting him about this? James was just trying to protect him! Did the werewolf not trust him to get the information that they needed? Did he think James would get distracted by what was going on? Or that James would do what he said before and just leave?
All of those options pissed him off, which meant he kissed the werewolf harder, yet instead of complaining Seth bit his bottom lip and kept it captive.
James' mouth went dry and he opened his eyes to find Seth staring up at him, defiant, threatening to bite harder.
Sighing, the vampire motioned for Seth to let go, and when the werewolf allowed James' bottom lip to slip free, the vampire let go of his hold on Seth's long, silky hair. "Fine. You can come. But you're sticking to me like butter, you hear me? I don't want you out of my sight for even a split second."
Seth merely grinned and nodded.
Riley collapsed into a sitting position on the ground, eyeing them in utter shock. His scarlet gaze shifted to Seth in something that looked surprisingly enough like respect.
Garrett laughed oddly, sounding breathless, as he ran his shaky hand through his hair. "I take it back, kid, you're not adorable, you're utterly terrifying."
Seth looked just as confused as James as they glanced over at his friends in question.
"Murdock is always freaking right," James mourned as he eyed Seth, wondering why he'd even tried going against it. Murdock had said that he'd see them both again, and he'd been right, as always. It just didn't seem right for Seth to be in that kind of place, not someone like Seth. It felt like James was slowly corrupting the werewolf, and while the vampire wouldn't have cared much about that before, it was bothering him more and more lately.
It didn't even have anything to do with a healthy respect of Leah's much-deserved fury, either.
"How big is that place, anyway?" Seth asked, bad mood apparently completely gone now that the issue on who was going back had been resolved. "If I was able to sniff around normally I might be able to get an idea of how far the underground tunnels and rooms go, but all the scents in there were way too overwhelming."
"I don't think anyone but the Founder really knows," Riley admitted as he pushed up to his feet. "I've been there a couple of times, and each time I end up in different places, meeting different people. I haven't come even close to finding the end of any of the tunnels."
Seth blinked, whether at Riley's sudden change in attitude, or the information on that place, was unsure.
"It's said that there are people who never leave," Garrett declared easily with a glance at James, obviously thinking about Murdock. "It's a place where you easily get lost and quickly forget about the outside world. There's many… distractions… to keep you busy."
"Talking about distractions… we never did get to see the hall of mirrors," Seth mumbled, almost as if to himself.
James imagined it, for a second, and cleared his throat. "It ended up not being in the direction of where Murdock was."
"Maybe we'll see it this time," Seth declared with a grin.
James cleared his throat and looked away, surprised. So Seth's desire to go along had nothing to do with making sure James didn't get distracted? Well, that made him feel a little better, and he even smiled, a little. "If it's on the way, sure."
"Cool." Seth smiled up at him, all teeth, mischievous anticipation in those browns.
James cleared his throat, suddenly unable to meet the wolf's eyes.
Just what the hell was happening with him?
…
"They should've returned by now." Aro stared out of the window at the city below.
"They wouldn't have been foolish enough to harm representatives of the Volturi." And yet, there was clear questioning in Caius' tone.
Aro glanced over at Marcus, who was facing the direction of Forks, a somewhat confused expression on his face. Marcus hardly ever cared about anything enough to be confused, or affected at all emotionally, so Aro was intrigued by his focus. "Marcus, what has your attention?"
Marcus tilted his head, still staring out of the window. "I sense rapid shifting." His profile revealed the way his eyebrows arched. "It's very rapid. Almost… as if it's being accelerated by something."
Considering Marcus could see the relationships, connections and bonds between people - as well as sense the strength of the bond between mates and friends - this was encouraging.
"Good." Aro smiled as he clasped his hands behind his back. "Chelsea must be working overtime and staying longer in Forks to further break the alliance before we even arrive." His doubts from before disappeared in a matter of seconds. "They should've gotten into communication to let us know the change in plan - to ask our permission - but they are no doubt working zealously in our name. And considering there are also dogs in the area it would make sense that they would remain hidden so as to effect the most damage possible while remaining undetected." He shared a smile with Caius, who also appeared more at ease with this news.
Aro didn't like Chelsea being too far away for too long (which was why Corin's ability made her so important in the Guard), but the allegiance Chelsea had engendered in the others to him should be fine and remain ingrained in them even if not reinforced for a couple of days.
"We will give them a few more days to give the bonds more time shatter," Aro decided. "Then we move on Forks."
Marcus turned to him, an ever-increasingly confused expression on his face. He opened his mouth, clearly about to tell Aro something, before intrigue crossed his features and he instead returned his attention towards the direction of Forks.
Encouraged by Marcus seeming to be interested in something for the first time since Didyme's death, Aro smiled. Things were going their way, and if it continued on this path, he'd have what he'd wanted for a very long time yet had been unable to secure: Alice and Edward Cullen.
Ever since he'd learnt of their abilities, Aro had wanted to collect them, to add them to the Guard, yet time and time again they'd graciously rejected his offers stating family allegiance - not even Chelsea had been able to break the bonds they'd had to the Olympic Coven. Carlisle being a friend of the Volturi had complicated matters even further.
Now though, this whole werewolf situation not only made things easier, but it gave Aro justifiable cause.
He glanced over at their little scout, Phoenix Jordan, who sat in the corner on the room, silent. The boy's story had been quite unbelievable, but upon touching his hand Aro had seen his memories and knew them to be true. And it had given him all the ammunition he needed.
Somehow, Edward Cullen had become involved in a romantic and sexual relationship with a wolf shifter. Aro had witnessed it all through Phoenix's eyes, as the lovesick human had stalked the wolf in human form, spying on him both at school and out of it, and thus catching many intimate moments between the wolf and the vampire. He'd even discovered the truth about werewolves and vampires because those two had been too wrapped up in each other to notice his presence.
If Phoenix hadn't been turned he would've had to have been killed for just how much he'd discovered as a human!
But this fledgling was incredibly useful to Aro. He'd given him something he'd wanted, he now knew what Edward and Alice's weaknesses were: Jacob Black and Bella Swan. Aro was no above using those weaknesses against them, already he was devising how to best use the knowledge to his advantage.
Bella Swan was easy. She was a human who knew things she shouldn't know, and the Cullens knew that that was against the laws. Either she'd have to be killed or turned, and Aro would insist on the latter, and on her being taken back to Volterra for 'a proper induction into vampire life'. The Cullens couldn't be trusted to raise her correctly, not when they'd already failed so spectacularly. Alice would follow them back to Volterra to 'protect' Bella, and thus end up in his clutches as well.
Jacob Black was a different matter all-together. Not only was a werewolf, but he'd already been made a part of a different deal.
Aro once more eyed Phoenix Jordan. Why the boy wanted the werewolf enough to make his condition Chelsea breaking Edward and Jacob's ties and instead tying the werewolf to him wasn't something Aro would ever understand. Sure, the idea of a puppy to play with might have some appeal, but Jacob was no puppy, he was all wolf, a danger which Aro wanted to do away with. And yet there were two vampires important to his plans (for different reasons) who would not do as he needed them to if he harmed the mutt.
Marcus rested his palm against the glass.
Caius eyed him curiously, lips pursed.
Aro merely smiled at the two of them and returned his attention out his own window. He'd figure out how to handle Edward when it came to Jacob. It was a good thing he was giving Chelsea a couple of more days to break the bonds there. Maybe, by the time they got there, she would've done his job for him.
…
"You do remember that that vampire messed with your bond, right?" Jacob asked, eyebrow raised. He'd sensed Embry and Quil's arrival long before the two wolves had finally made their presence known, he'd been waiting outside for them, and while he'd known something was going on he hadn't expected his former best friends to say this.
"That isn't it," Embry countered softly as he stood there awkwardly, gripping his arm. "Even before that, before Emily, Quil and I have been thinking about it."
"Sam ordered us to stop talking to you, to stand by and let those vamps hurt those humans so he could watch your new pack in action, and then he ordered us to beat up Seth! You know we literally can't disobey our Alpha's orders no matter how much we want to!" Quil interrupted angrily as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Sure, the brat was spying on us, but Seth was also doing something we all wanted to do - he was actually doing something to help. Sam's been a mess for a while now, and he's only getting worse."
"So just because Sam is out of commission you want to jump ship?" Jacob made a face.
"No." Embry shook his head, voice low. "We want to do it while he's still out of commission so he can't use his Alpha Voice to stop us."
Quil nodded, clearly very pissed.
Jacob stared between his two ex best friends, seeing the truth on their faces, and that made this even harder. "My pack had vampires in it, my Imprint, my soulmate, is a vampire."
Embry nodded. "We know."
Quil shrugged. "Look, how we see it, we'll probably get some too. So this whole old grudges things has got to change anyway."
"And we know we did wrong by Seth," Embry said before Jacob could even bring that up. "We deserve his and Leah's hatred, we get that, but if we can do anything to make it up to them, to him—."
"We want to a part of your pack, Jake," Quil interrupted once more, this time tiredly. "And we're more than willing to let them beat us up if that helps them forgive us."
Jacob stared between them the two of them, the situation truly hitting him. "I will discuss this with my pack."
Quil nodded. "Just let them know they can hit anywhere but the face," he chuckled. "It's too pretty to have bruises."
Embry rolled his eyes. "Let's get back, idiot."
"So jealous," Quil snickered before turning back and racing back.
"Won't the others hear your desire to leave?" Jacob asked in confusion as he watched Quil race away.
"Not with how things are," Embry muttered sadly before turning and running off as well.
Jacob sighed heavily as he watched his two ex-best friends until they were both out of sight.
Just what the hell was he supposed to do now?