Chapter Summary: The pack is devastated by the recent havoc inflicted on their home, but Sam steps up to the plate and ensures his brothers that no misdeed against La Push will go unpunished or be forgiven quite so easily. Meanwhile, Edward tells the Bella the real reason he left and she grants him one last request; Jacob's discovery.
*Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, its characters or its universe but my mind, heart, & country are ruled by Taylor, Jacob Black, and his pack!
Chapter XXXII Title: 'Bat Country,' by Avenged Sevenfold
(BPOV)
"What the hell is going on Bella? What's happening?" Charlie screamed from the other side of the bathroom door and I blocked his voice out with water from the shower.
Charlie wouldn't dare walk in on me in the bathroom; not if he could help it. Of course, it hadn't stopped him from finding Jacob half kneeling on the floor while I was wrapped in nothing, but my bed sheets. There was no doubt what we were doing before Jacob's howls from his involuntary phase had awoken Charlie. I was angry that Jacob had changed as he had, in addition to falling out the window, but I was relieved when he had landed on his feet.
Well, on his paws, anyway.
My body was still sore from Jacob's hands. His skin still flamed across the various areas of my chest, my thighs, and neck. I couldn't stop thinking about how he had moved across me, with me, and against me; I wanted more, I needed more. The hot water could not imitate the heat that had burned off my best friend's body during our latest intimate moments together. The steam could not refresh or hold the memories of my bruised lips from neither our kissing nor the numbness from my tongue as I dragged it across his chin, shoulders, and part of his back. The water merely mocked the hunger I felt for Jacob to touch me again, to hold him close within me again. I begged for the battle to be over before he even got there. I wanted him safe with me. I wanted both of my families safe. I wanted Victoria and her minions far from any of the people in Forks.
My chest felt as if it had collapsed as I cried out in the shower. Tears and sobs assaulted within my throat as I fought to breathe. The skin on my fingers and toes wrinkled as my face puffed up from crying, and bile gathered somewhere in my stomach to force its way up as I continued to push it back. Anger shook where I stood as I tried to think of anything I could do to protect the ones I loved. Jacob was ripped from my bed; his pack members fighting against forces they had never been up against before. They were just babies. More than half the pack was younger than I was, including Jacob. Jacob's age and increasing responsibilities brought more despairing wails out my throat. A new thought dawned on me.
Edward was out there too. And Alice.
The entire Cullen clan was fighting for me and here I was asking the lord of war for a quick battle so that I could have Jacob returned safely to me. I didn't even want Jacob in the fight. I had made him swear to me that he wouldn't fight. I had made him promise me in a fit of passion that he would not go. How can I be so callous? How can I ask Jacob to sit out of a fight that was my fault, while his entire pack and a family of his ancestor's enemies battle to the death over me? What have I become? How can I stop this massacre from even happening?
It's already started, Bella.
I shuttered at the words as Charlie's fists hit the light wooden door. "Bella, I think you've had long enough in the shower. I need to talk to you."His voice sounded definite.
I shook my head as I reached for the shower's knobs and fingered the lukewarm metal. It would never be long enough for me; if something happened to Jacob, to Edward, or to anybody that I loved, an eternity in the scalding depths of hell for an immortal life would not be long enough to shed the guilt I would feel.
Charlie suddenly yelled, cutting my thoughts. "NOW, BELLA!"
I stifled my tears and turned the water off. I wouldn't say a thing. I would hold my ground. I would not tell Charlie what he didn't need to know. He didn't really want to know about his daughter's sexual relationship with her werewolf best friend nor did he need to know about the wolf pack, whom had been phasing and protecting the innocent pale-faces of Forks, WA for months.
Charlie didn't even need to know about my ex boyfriend and first love of my life, Edward, or about the Cullens being back, though I suspected that he would find out soon. At least he wouldn't need to know about them being vampires. That was one conversation we could file under "Never talk about."
I took my time leaving the bathroom, to face a red-faced Charlie. My long sleep shirt and sweats made me feel hotter than usual since the air was so humid for September, but it reminded me of Jacob being there next to me as I braved myself against my father's accusing eyes, purple lips, and throbbing temples. I hadn't had the pleasure of seeing him this mad since I had moved to Forks over a year ago. Fortunately, Charlie's anger was not the wrath I feared the most for the moment.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on, Bella?" Charlie began. "What was Jacob doing in your room and why was he naked? I knew you were close, but I never dreamed that you would actually sneak that boy into my house—"
"It was the first time and it won't happen again," I interrupted. "Jacob came by to bring me my present last night for my birthday and we got carried away. I'm sorry and—"
"WHAT ABOUT HIM TURNING INTO A BIG DOG? What was that?" Charlie's entire face resembled a red beet. It reminded me of a cartoon tea kettle that was ready to blow off of the stove. I imagined the steam coming out of his ears as I started to feel good again. I felt Jacob around me, holding me up, and I pleaded with myself to keep it together.
"I don't know what you're talking about," I muttered.
Charlie looked as if I had slapped him. "Bella—" The phone rang, taking Charlie's attention off of me.
Charlie took the receiver off of the cradle roughly and was silent for a few minutes after his brief bark of "Hello?" into the other line. His eyes stayed transfixed on me and I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. When his eyes went dark and he hung up the phone, Charlie's hands shook as he placed them somewhat lightly on my shoulder. "There's a commotion down at La Push. There's some rash attack of animals. Are Jacob and his buddies doing something down there?" Charlie made me meet his eyes. "Is this what this is? Is it some kind of rebellion against his people? Because this is all getting out of hand."
"I don't know, Dad." My lying was still ineffective, but Charlie couldn't make me offer anymore information than what he had. My shoulders trembled against his hands for some seconds before I finally just stepped out his reach with a few steps backward. If he was done, I was going to leave. The Newton's sporting goods store was just not going to be opened today. Something about a battle between my two families and the forces of evil just seemed a little more important than getting to my summer job on time.
"You are not to leave this house while I go to the station to see what's going on," Charlie started, but I shook my head, dismissing whatever idea he had. "This isn't up for discussion, Bella. You are staying in this house—"
"No, I am not."
Charlie's face looked confused and then turned to resignation. "Does your mother know about you and Jacob?"
"You know Mom," I answered simply.
"I need to leave. This conversation is not finished," Charlie warned. "Do you hear me?"
I nodded and Charlie was satisfied for the moment. He shuffled a bit and walked into his room to get dressed. My back was pressed against the doorway as he pecked my forehead.
"If it's not Jacob and his friends doing this, then stay around him, alright? Not alone," Charlie quickly amended, "but stay close to him. Okay?"
My head was beginning to feel heavier as I continued my robotic nodding till Charlie almost ran out the door with his gun and coat.
As soon as I heard the door I rushed into my room and changed my clothing. My brown hooded sweater clung to my skin, and my still damp hair, blue jeans, and hiking boots covered the latest bruises of my earlier escapades. I needed to find out what was going on. I needed to see that everything was okay. I raced to the door and almost slipped down the porch steps when a small surprised scream escaped my mouth. Edward was sitting in my truck with a tiny smile on his face.
My arms closed around his unnatural frame and his smell made my eyes water from happiness. He gently stroked strands of my hair and I heard him inhale briefly before he stopped breathing entirely. Why did vampires even need to breathe anyway? Force of habit.
"Bella," Edward murmured softly. "I've come to take you some place safe. A few of the pack members will meet us later and the rest of my family has gone to help with things."
"What happened this morning? Is everyone all right?" I questioned.
Edward's mouth formed into a tight line. "Jacob is fine as far as I know," he answered, seeing right through all of my other questions. "The pack and my family are fine too." My head hit the back of the passenger seat though I had no recollection of even walking to my truck to get in it. "You'll be safe, Bella. And we'll all be fine," he continued on.
"What about everyone in La Push?"
"I don't know, Bella." Edward threw the truck in gear and his cool lips skimmed the surface of my hand. I almost couldn't feel it through my fear that something had happened. That someone had suffered. The guilt was almost crippling as I thought of nothing, but how much at fault I was for whomever and however many people had gotten hurt. A cry ripped through my chest and Edward's grip on my hand tightened as he silently watched me.
(JPOV)
At La Push...
I watched the Southern solider leech, Jasper, through careful eyes as he went over, again, how to take down the newborns and the vargulf. My pack members were quiet and all of the Cullens were present, except for Edward. I knew he had been put on "Bella-duty" and I was okay with that, surprisingly, but I was anxiously waiting to see Bella again. I hated how I had left her. I hated that I hadn't been able to control myself.
At least you didn't hurt her, Embry's logical voice sounded through mine and his head turned toward me.
Yeah, and at least you…had some time together before it happened. Quil's thoughts tried to stray away from the images of Bella and me in the various compromising positions we had been in recently, but there were too many. And I had been thinking a lot about them myself. I felt embarrassment and admiration from half the pack, but I quickly got annoyed when Embry's thoughts changed from Bella and me to Bella and himself.
Sorry, but she is hot, Embry replied sheepishly as I growled at him. I said I was sorry. This pack mind sharing thing is tough.
Pay attention! Sam's voice boomed. Jacob, as Beta you should know better.
My focus changed back toward the bloodsucker's drawl and my ears picked up to reregister his voice. "Remember, newborns have incredible upper arm strength due to all of their feeding on human prey. They will be looking to ambush and crush you with their arms," Jasper explained. "The vargulf will be easier to take down with the more wolves and arrows we have. We hope to draw them in when they reach this clearing and we will take down the newborns first. With no hand to rein in the vargulf, since we are assuming that they are too ferocious and wild to be kept on a leash for long, we can then expect for Rover to be a little reckless, but confused." Jasper paused to look each one of us in the eyes. Even his golden bronze eyes looked as unnatural as brick-red eyes were. I held in a shudder, thinking about what they did to the animals that they fed on. "Perhaps two pack members can 'entertain' the beast briefly and keep him from focusing on one particular thing, but do not engage a fight. Keep out of his grasp and teeth for as long as you can. We are not sure what his other weapons are besides the same amount of strength and ability that you all have, but we do hope—"
"Let's get this shit started. I'm ready to kill some leeches," Paul interrupted in his human form. "This is for Harry."
My other pack members nodded in agreement, in wolf and human form, as we all hung our heads down and a sympathetic howl sounded briefly among the pack.
Harry had been found on the edge of the treaty line, drained and broken in body. Leah and Seth had been kept back on the other side of La Push, but we already knew that they would be able to see once any one of us saw the scene. Seth had to be held back by Paul and Jared and we hadn't even bothered trying to hold Leah; her roar echoed for miles. I was sure that Leah was upset that she was never able to make peace with her father nor had she fully come to terms with just how "special" she really was as the first female werewolf of La Push.
I stole a look at the two siblings and they were calmly watching the exchange of our two fronts uniting, for the first time. Seth's paws were buried underneath his squat and Leah moved a small mound of earth in between her two front legs. They weren't going to miss this fight. I could feel their anxiety and bloodlust and it helped to fuel mine. I was fighting for La Push. I was fighting for Bella.
I was fighting for me.
Sam phased back in all his glory and turned to us, with his back toward the vampires. This was big, he never turned his back on them before. "This battle is about more than getting revenge for Harry, but it's about keeping our tribe safe," Sam began, taking moments to look around our rather large group. "This morning when the newborns attacked and set the vargulf loose on our village, we were lucky; the elders had been preparing for this very thing without our knowledge, in case something like this was to happen and we were not close enough to lend a helping hand. We have been blessed to have the stories of our ancestors passed down to us so that we will know what we can do to fight, to honor, and to win against these bloodsucking ravenous monsters," he dictated.
A murmur of appreciative barks surrounded the very air that Sam Uley was breathing and I continued to watch him, not concerned at the moment for the other six leeches that were also watching in amazement. It was truly a sight to behold.
Sam had never been one to fight for glory or for the attention of the crowd, but now he commanded the very essence of our being. He wanted everything that we had to go into this fight. He wanted our hopes, fears, and determination to keep us fighting and to help us win as we faced these new adversaries and Sam knew that we were going to win. There was no question. We were going to make the redheaded leech and her army pay for what had been done on our lands, on our watch, and during our time here on this earth.
I put one paw forward to give my unwavering support and Sam looked momentarily appreciative at me.
"Harry was a great friend and father. It does nothing to say that he will be missed or that his death was anything less than tragic and horrific that he had been taken from us so soon." Sam's eyes watered as he pressed himself on. "His other council responsibilities paled to the legacy he left behind in Leah and Seth, who will be fighting with us, but we will make sure that Harry did not die in vain. We will not tolerate this sadistic red headed leech's game for wars that were started long before another dared to sink their worthless teeth into her, making her the walking abomination that she is on this day," he bellowed. "She is not a person. She is not our ally as these lee—excuse me, vampires that stand by our side with us, for us, to fight. This isn't about only Bella and keeping her safe for Jacob, as you all well know, but our family is sacred and our friendship knows no bounds. Together we fight and together we win! Everyone is to come back and everyone is to fight! Everyone is to help each other, regardless of previous issues," Sam looked swiftly from Paul to me, "and small feuds that erupted before this day—it doesn't matter. We were made to fight and to honor our ancestors. We were made to persevere through all our trivial bullshit that means nothing right here and right now! We were made to win! And that's exactly what we'll do."
Paul phased to his magnificent, silver wolf form at once and gave a ground shaking roar at Sam's feet. Leah and I followed in a close second and the rest of the pack howled in approval for the small speech. Sam turned toward our new allies and regarded them as one friend would another and they looked respectively back.
"Well said, Alpha. Well said," Carlisle, the vampire doctor replied. It didn't seem right to call him Dr. Fang to his face anymore. We were all lucky that he and his family wanted to help like they did. I was lucky they loved Bella like they had. Like they do. As I do as well.
Sam's eyes met mine. "Fulfill your promise to her," was his one simple order and my paws turned to race back toward my imprint.
Time could neither destroy nor aide itself in the amount of energy I was now spending to search for Bella and I never expected it too. I could smell her fresh scent from miles away since I was so in-tuned to her body, and I knew that if her smell ever wavered, I could just smell out the leech, Edward. My mind was racing with a thousand thoughts and daydreams of what last night and early this morning meant for our relationship; Bella wants me, Bella needs me. She wasn't thinking about the Cullen. She wasn't thinking entirely about her hold onto the past for a life that was no longer befitting for her. She was ready to start anew. She was ready to finally love me.
She asked me to stay. She wants me with her. I was proud that she was being selfish. I was happy that she seemed finally ready to accept everything that I could be for her…and I gloated that the Cullen had heard the whole thing. I didn't like the fact that he had been listening since I wasn't much of a thrill seeker with an audience, but this was one time I would make an exception; he needed to know about everything that went on last night. He needed to know that I was here to stay in Bella's life and that I wasn't going anywhere. He was not going to steal her again from me. She was mine and I didn't need to mark her to prove it.
My legs seized as I heard small particles of dirt shift from the path I was taking toward finding Bella. My nose had done its job and found its intended target.
Fear gripped my heart and senses as my mind continued to replay to just seconds ago when I had been happy, when I had felt whole, when I had finally thought that things would be all right even though they had changed so drastically within the last few hours. My mouth was open in my wolf form, but even if I had been human, my vision would not have been any clearer and the realization would have hit me in the same way. The birds stopped chirping and the leaves stopped rustling on this September morning, the 14th, the day after Bella's birthday. The day after my Bella's birthday. I was possessive over the very idea for her, but there was no reason to be anymore. She was clearly not mine at the moment. Her mind was no longer preoccupied with me, the admission of feelings she had recently declared, nor even the threat against of her life as she stood before me.
I doubt if she had a coherent thought in her head at this time.
Bella looked completely stunning as she stood just a few yards in front of me next to the Cullen. The way her brown sweater caught the light as my wolf eyes adjusted to the very sight of her very human body and that of her unnatural wonder. I could smell the shampoo that she had put in her hair this morning after I had left. I was sure it had been after I left. I never should have left. Time turned into my opponent, no longer a nonparticipating character in this story. I had been wrong when I said that things had changed for the better. Things had been lifted and then my fragile heart had been dropped like glass, cracking into a thousand pieces that could never be pieced back together. I had already tried too many times before.
"He's here, Bella."
The silk voice of my opponent was the one thing I recognized and he was standing merely a few feet away, but my mind was more than a hundred miles from where my four legs held me up. Lord knows how my hind and fore legs kept me upright when I felt like crashing down to drown myself in the agony I was in. In the doom and harsh reality I was facing, it was a bitter end to an already less than sweet beginning. My mind blanked upon seeing Bella's realization of me there. I loved her and she loved me, but that didn't matter now. I started to whine but a snarl fell out of my mouth instead as I put myself into an attack position. This was it. This was one battle I would win.
This bloodsucker was here to steal my Bella, after all. I would put up a fight.
(EPOV)
…a ½ hour earlier
Bella's tears in the Chevy continued to plague my heart and ears, but I couldn't run the risk of us veering off the road if I stopped to console her. I was a vampire; not a miracle worker. Bella's tears were destroying what little composure I had left. She was still so beautiful to me. Though she was no longer mine to love entirely, I could not get past how much she had remained the same but matured so much. She had always been one to sacrifice herself unselfishly, but she also rendered herself as completely normal and unremarkable when she was anything but those two very things. My mind reveled in all the things she had accomplished without me being by her side and the best part was that she was still alive for me to see it.
No thanks to you, I thought about myself harshly.
If she wanted me to say goodbye to her again, then I would do it. I would leave. But not before I would tell her what she had a right to know. I could die in battle, as I fully planned to, but not before I would admit to what I had always been afraid of. I never wanted her to go on thinking that I hadn't loved her, despite being what I was.
I would tell her. I would tell her the reason I had left. I was sure that was what she had wanted. She had to be made to understand that I was still very much in love with her, but I had left to keep her as she was. I wanted to keep her soul and humanity in tact despite her willingness to throw her life away so easily. Of course I could have argued with myself that she had continued to put herself in danger by consorting with a young werewolf, but he had done her no harm so far. He was a minor inconvenience for me, personally, but I had nothing against him. If he hadn't been a werewolf, we might have been friends…or at least if I hadn't been a vegetarian, he would have been lunch. It all depended on how one viewed it.
I slowed the Chevy down to a crawl up a nearby wooded path and walked (as only I could) over to Bella's side of the truck. She blinked a few times before allowing me to retake her hand and help her step out. I wasn't sure if she had even realized that we had stopped and I chuckled at her human eyes struggling to play catch up. Her look was sullen and again I wished that I was able to read her mind. She looked so sad and lost, but I couldn't help her anymore than what I had been asked to do. It wasn't my place anymore. And it never would be until she asked it of me again. I prayed for that day to come and to come soon. I wasn't sure if there was a God, since I believed that I was soulless, but there would have had to been if something created Bella for me. And she was for me.
"Edward, stop. How far do we have to go?" She stated after a few minutes of walking. Her cheeks reddened a little from the wind and light perspiration, making her even more irresistible. Her heartbeat was steady and calm. That was good that she wasn't afraid of me. She was still okay with being alone with me. My unbeating heart continued to soar.
"Bella," I started. "I intend to keep you safe. Those were my orders. Alice has foreseen the battle starting soon and with this morning—"
"What happened this morning?"
My mouth curled into an easy smile and a lie. "Just a few mishaps. Nothing to worry about."
"Did something happen in La Push, Edward? What happened in La Push? Tell me!" She pressed.
I struggled to protect her. I stared into her eyes and continued to lie as I had practiced and done for the past over 100 years. Well, 109. "Nothing. We're all safe. You're safe now and you will stay that way. Alright?"
She looked at me and took her hand back. My body was deprived of the warmth of her skin and blood as she looked at me in slight defiance and anger. "Jacob will tell me when he gets here. I'll ask him," she replied boldly.
The muscles in my face twitched. It was a delayed reaction. I had no use for muscles really, but a force of habit to act human and react on human emotions had left a somewhat crippling effect on the real emotions I had as a vampire. "Jacob? Jacob has never lied to you?"
"No, he hasn't," she shot back. "He's always been there for me," Bella added softly.
My smile became painted on. "Well let's thank him for that later, shall we? And I do suppose that I deserve that last sentence. I should explain to you why I left."
"Yeah, maybe you should." Bella's arms crossed and I continued to smile. Her expression softened, but she kept her arms across her waist. I had seen in Jacob's mind what she had done just after I left. The way her arms covered her caved-in chest and the way her eyes had looked more than half dead. She had been like a zombie and Jacob had been the one to revive her. His warmth combated the very cold, dead, and lonely existence that I had left her in to protect her. By trying to save her, I had nearly destroyed her. I couldn't be forgiven so easily for that, but I would spend the rest of our time together making up for it if she allowed it.
"Please." I motioned her toward a big boulder and she carefully sat. My knees went into the ground as I kneeled in front of her and grabbed her slightly trembling hands. I wanted to be as close to her as I could. Her blood incited the venom in my mouth and my teeth descended without my help. I had already fed previously the day before, but her blood sang such a sweet tune that I could have been satiated from just a few drops. The only thing I imagined that would have tasted as sweet as her blood would have been the very skin she wore. My fingertips trailed the inside of her palms as my eyes met hers. There was neither alarm nor fear in her eyes, but her awe of me seemed to have vanished overnight. Was I no longer dazzling for her? I wasn't yet sure. "Bella, you have to understand that I left because I wanted to protect you," I began. "When I said that you did not belong in my world, I meant it. When I said that I didn't want you to be like me, I meant that too. When I said—"
"That you didn't love me, you meant that too, right?" Her bitter voice cut through me the same as her cries in the truck and her moans of pleasure from earlier this morning had. Her eyes questioned mine as I struggled to keep my face the same.
"No, Bella, I didn't mean that at all. Have I become such a good liar that you can not tell the truth from me?" I asked, feeling genuinely hurt. "Have you really not seen how much you have meant to me? How much you continue to mean to me? I couldn't have lived with myself if something had happened to you and I was not there. It drives me crazy with guilt to know that I am partially to blame for this very dilemma that you, my family, and the pack are in. I am ashamed to say that I made a mistake when I left you," I admitted. "The memory of that day haunts me and I only beg of your forgiveness now though I do not deserve it. I wanted the very best for you and I thought that by leaving you, you would be forced to live a normal life. The one you would have had if our kind had not existed."
Bella chuckled. "Screwed that up, didn't I? I love a vampire and a werewolf, two natural enemies." My smile remained through her admission to loving Jacob, but I had already heard as much from her lips anyway. I nodded appreciatively. "But you came back," she continued. "You must have known that I was in trouble even if it was through Alice. You must still care for me in some way…even if it is in sort of like a pet way."
"A pet?" My brow lifted. "You are more than a pet, my love. And your feelings for Jacob and myself should not leave you ashamed. I put you in this situation. I made you love him—"
"You didn't make me do anything." Her tone told cold. "I chose to love him and I am not ashamed of it."
"Of course not," I corrected myself. "Forgive me."
Bella's finger touched the collar of my shirt. "I've already forgiven you for leaving, Edward, and I am glad that you came back. I am glad that Alice had the gift to see me and to know that I was in trouble—"
"Alice couldn't see you at all," I confessed. "That was just it; she can't see you when the wolves are near you or if you plan on doing something with the pack. We were flying blind on this."
Bella's skin paled. "You mean you can't see me nor Jacob? Anyone from the pack?" Her voice started to raise its pitch. "Anyone at all? What about the battle? Can she see that? Can she see the outcome? Will Jacob be alright?"
"We assume that he will be. She sees you in the future and she sees that you are content enough so that might suggest that he's fine—"
"But you don't know? You don't know, do you? Not for sure. Why didn't Alice say anything?"
I struggled not to lie. "She did not want to cause a panic for you or for the pack."
"Of course," she responded bitterly. "They might not fight if they knew that she couldn't see the outcome."
"The pack would have fought regardless," I interjected. "The newborns and vargulf were on their land and they are in Forks. They felt it was their duty to protect their land."
Her breathing started to become heavier and she wobbled as she stood up. I reached for her and she allowed me to grab her and pull her close. She sighed contently as she hummed against the empty cavity of my chest and her hair invaded my nose. Her blood was becoming too enticing and I made a mental note to stop breathing.
"I told Jacob I didn't want him to fight," Bella suddenly said. "Last night we were together, Edward. I am sorry I didn't listen, but we needed that time for ourselves. I know you don't approve—"
"I do not think it is I who needs convincing. Charlie was pretty upset this morning. You did not want to hear the thoughts inside of his head when you wouldn't tell him what you knew."
"It's not my secret to share. I never told Jacob about you being vampires either. I guess it became kind of like common knowledge when he changed to a werewolf the first time."
I gave a hint of a small smile at the memory of Jacob's pain during his first transformation. To be a werewolf and to endure its transformation each time was a very interesting thing. My family often thought that I was tempting fate by continuing to see Bella willingly when we had first started dating since her blood had caused such a reaction for me, but to be a werewolf was entirely different. I made a choice not to hurt Bella. Being a werewolf was pretty involuntary. "It was a very different experience for him. He was a pretty happy, pure-hearted kid when he first met you. And then he started dreaming of you two together; his fantasies were nothing compared to what you two do now." My tongue slipped and I immediately felt out of my element. It was not my place to talk to her like this. "Forgive me—my manners—" I began sheepishly.
She laughed, to my surprise. "I've never heard you speak like that before. Jacob must be rubbing off on you. He's the one that's always so brazen."
"On the contrary; Jacob does not have that effect on me." Her smiled mocked me. "You do. You are the one who has the effect on me. This hold that we have over each other is something that I have never experienced. Not with another like myself or with any other human. There is something that keeps us together. There is something that won't let us be apart from one another."
"Like love," she replied into my chest.
"Yes, love." My fingers pulled her face to my own and I let my eyes gaze over her. Her wonder was returning to its rightful place and I again felt a connection that hadn't been broken during our separation. I was living in her world though I was technically dead. I was alive in her memories though I had no beating heart. My venom and hunger yearned to drink from her, but my love for her would not let me hurt her. I wanted her as she was, living, breathing, and flawed. That was the Bella for me. She was Bella to me. "I do love you, Bella. I always have. That didn't change when I left and it won't change if you ask me to leave."
"I won't ever ask you to leave me, Edward. You will never hear those words from me," she replied.
My smile could hardly be ruined by vastly approaching footsteps. It could be the wind. It could be a deer. What did it matter to me now? The arms around my true love were wrapped around me and I wasn't going to let her go. Her skin shivered on the contact we made as I watched her slowly close her eyes. Her cheeks flooded with blood and I was the one suddenly in awe of her.
"Kiss me, Edward."
My lips wanted nothing more than to feel every exposed surface of her skin but I was content to make due with just her mouth. The venom made its presence known as the burning in my throat throbbed and dulled the rest of my senses to the point of useless. Her tongue danced and took the lead with me and I was struck by her boldness. I had forgotten how she had been, what curiosity had done to her and what her sexual urges had done to me. My eyes closed and my mouth released a sigh, sending a tickling vibration through her body. Her heartbeats were refreshing and her skin glowed against my sparkling exterior as the sun baited us with luminous intensity of its own. Everything felt right. Everything was right again. Bella was in my arms and a heart that I no longer had a use for felt complete within its meaningless existence.
Nothing could have gone wrong. The smell of her excitement awakened my feelings of lust and I imagined the sweet taste of her blood and skin in my mouth. My fingers pressed into her back and my thoughts prayed that I was not hurting her. I imagined ripping her jeans off and seeing what she looked like under her hooded sweater for myself. I would not rely on a werewolf's memory. How could a werewolf have even appreciated what a special human being like Bella actually was? He couldn't. He wouldn't even know how. I felt her nipples harden as my tongue flicked against the beginning of her throat. She tilted her head back more to allow me in deeper. Bella had many hidden talents that I had yet to explore. I had to always be so careful. I had to always keep restraint…and it had almost cost me her love. Her kissing turned more vicious and became full of longing. That was what I wanted to feel as our bodies collided. That's how we were meant to feel with each other.
A sudden stillness hung in the air after a few seconds and it almost escaped my notice. Hurt of thought and anguish entered my mind and I winced slightly at the change. My lips stopped moving and I cautiously pulled back. My arms dropped lower to Bella's waist and concern filled me as I deliberated quickly and internally on what to do next. I was at a clear advantage, but hadn't things changed? Hadn't Bella wanted this? My earlier thoughts of ending my life halted as I tried desperately to think faster. This could not be the only way. What was my existence without my love? What would become of her if I left her again, this time not by choice? I had made a decision to say goodbye to her and now I had ruined it with a kiss. Our kiss. Our last kiss.
I started to turn slowly when movement finally caught my ears. The time had persecuted me so quickly when it had never bothered me before. What was time to an immortal? All we had was time. Bella's worried glance alerted me to the here and now. This could prove difficult. Someone was with us, watching us, and very upset with us as well.
"He's here, Bella," I muttered simply.
*A/N: I haven't asked for reviews in awhile, so I am asking for them now. Depending on the numbers, I can figure out when to post the battle.