CHAPTER TEN

Thursday morning, Jacob runs through his mental checklist as he packs a backpack for the day. School was closed for conferences, giving the students a long weekend. Jacob was taking advantage of that long weekend and going hiking with Leah and Seth. He took the packing of his backpack very seriously, not wanting to look stupid in front of the girl he was dating and her little brother.

The very thought of Leah put a goofy little smile on Jacob's face. Their date had gone well. So well, in fact, that halfway through the movie, Leah had planted one on him, and allowed him to kiss her when he dropped her off that evening. He'd nearly crashed the car on the way back to his house, unable to stop thinking about the feel of her lips on his.

Jacob took a deep breath and pushed the date away from his mind, focusing back on his task. Just as he was zipping up his backpack, he heard a knock on the door. Jacob bounded to the door, confused as to why Leah and Seth had come over when they'd agreed to meet at the Clearwater house, but excited nonetheless.

The smile on his face fell into a glower as he opened the door and caught sight of who, exactly, was darkening his doorstep. Sam Uley.

"Hey, Sam," Jacob grumbled, polite but teetering very close to the edge of being disrespectful. He wanted nothing more than to punch Sam in his stupid mouth, but for some reason, everyone on the rez was in love with him, including his own father, which was an incredibly sore point for Jacob.

"Jacob," Sam said. "May I come in?"

"I was actually just leaving. My dad's not here right now, but he's at Old Quil's if you need him."

"I was actually looking for you," Sam clarified. "Mind if I walk with you a bit?"

Jacob imagined himself slamming the door in Sam's face, and then imagined his father's displeased reaction if he ever did such a thing to "such an important member of the community." Billy's words, not his.

"Sure!" Jacob said, forcing a smile. "Let me just grab my bag."

Jacob grabbed his bag from where he'd left it in the living room, leaning against the couch. The bag contained snacks, water, flares, and a first aid kit. He'd packed light, Leah and Seth carrying more essentials in their packs that they could share. He wanted to linger in the living room and give himself an extra moment or two to avoid whatever the hell Sam wanted to talk about, but he didn't want to risk Sam getting "concerned" about what was taking him so long and letting himself in.

Here's the thing. Jacob couldn't exactly describe why he disliked Sam. At first, he assumed that it was on Leah's behalf, but that idea was quickly dismissed, as Jacob would hate anyone who cheated on Leah and left her for her cousin. No, it was much deeper than that. The very sight of Sam's face was enough to make his blood boil. It was almost, laughably, biological, the way his body tensed for a fight whenever Sam was near.

And it was the damndest thing, because Jacob couldn't remember ever feeling so strongly towards Sam until quite recently. It wasn't until the night of the search for Bella where Jacob was truly, to his core, disturbed by Sam's existence.

He trudged out the front door and locked it before letting Sam follow him down the road.

"You going for a hike?" Sam asked, nodded at the backpack on Jacob's back.

"Yeah," Jacob replied, voice even. "Leah, Seth, and I are gonna spend the day outside, get some fresh air."

Sam hummed, and Jacob watched him closely for any reaction to Leah's name.

"Bella not going?" Sam wondered, his dark eyes piercing and locked onto Jacob's face.

For reasons he can't explain, Jake tensed. He couldn't explain it, didn't have concrete proof, but something about Sam's question just rubbed him the wrong way, just like everything about the man did.

"Bella's not a hiker," Jacob tried to laugh the comment off.

"That is a little funny," Sam gave a chuckle. "Bella's not the most athletic...but she did go hiking a few months ago when the Cullens first left. And she went for another a few days ago."

Jacob stopped walking, and Sam stopped alongside him. Jacob wasn't small by any means, but whatever the hell Sam had been taking had him towering over Jacob, a dark look on his face.

An insane amount of anger rushed through Jacob's veins, and there was a brief thought that flashed across his mind of punching Sam right in his nose.

"Bella swung by the Cullens house," Sam continued, eyes never leaving Jacob. What he was searching for, Jake didn't know. "You know why?"

"How the hell would you know where Bella was?" Jacob snapped. "You following her or something?"

"A couple of the guys and I were out for a hike ourselves when we saw her. We were surprised to see her there, that's all. We figured the Cullens were gone. I mean, they are gone, right? What other reason would she have to go to their house?"

Jacob's entire body shook.

Sam was lying. He may not know why Sam got on his last nerve, but he knew this. Sam was lying, because Sam grew up on the reservation just as he did, grew up hearing the same legends. So, there was absolutely no way that Sam and his crew were just having a casual hike in the middle of the woods, especially not the woods that surrounded the Cullen territory. The very place where they were all thoroughly warned not to go.

Sam stepped closer.

"You don't look so good, Jake. Maybe you should cancel the hike."

Jacob felt like he was burning, like he was about to explode out of his skin. He didn't need Sam telling him what to do, and he sure as hell didn't appreciate Sam spying on Bella.

"I don't need to cancel anything," Jacob hissed, and Sam's eyes narrowed, his own posture mimicking Jacob's tense one.

"If you're sick, it's not safe for you to be around Leah. You two should spend some time apart. It'll be good for you."

And there it fucking was. Jacob knew it.

"You think you're so clever, huh?" Jacob snarled in a voice that wasn't his own. He surged forward, and Sam took a rapid step back, his eyes wide. "All this bullshit about how concerned you are. This isn't about Bella, or me. It's about you not being able to stand that Leah's over you and your shit."

"You're too young to understand," Sam smirked, and oh the sight of that smug expression had Jacob an inch away from losing his mind in the middle of the neighborhood. "This... thing that you have with Leah, it's temporary. I'm sorry to say this Jacob but she's just using you until she gets over me."

Jacob vividly imagines a universe where he curls his hand into a fist and punches the shit out of Sam. He imagines the older man's nose breaking, blood gushing onto his face and chest - why the hell was he always shirtless? - and the man falling flat on his ass. Although it's a pretty thought, Jacob manages to calm down quickly enough to determine the ramifications he would face if he hit Sam.

Not only would his dad be on him, but so would the rest of the community. He'd have to deal with Old Quil, Harry, and the other elders.

So, instead of breaking Sam's nose like he so desperately wants to, Jacob decides on another tactic, disturbingly calm after the spurt of anger.

"You know, you remind me so much of Joshua." The smug grin falls off Sam's face, and Jacob is instantly vindicated in the face of Sam's pain. "So quick to abandon a good life, a good family, only to try weaseling your way back in when you realize the grass isn't greener on the other side. Emily isn't looking like the best choice right now, huh, Sam?"

Jacob smiles. Sam says nothing, speechless and still where he stands.

Getting one over on Sam has wiped every ounce of anger from his body and has filled him with adrenaline. Having said his piece, Jacob turns on his heel and continues on his way to Leah's house, Sam still silent and frozen.

Two hours into the hike, Jacob finds himself lagging behind.

Leah and Seth chatter a few yards ahead of him, arguing about where to settle down for lunch. Jacob doesn't provide input, too busy trying to keep himself upright.

He felt like shit.

When he'd arrived at the Clearwater house after his smackdown with Sam, he'd still been on a high, and had felt great. But then when they started the trek on their designated trail, he pondered several times if he should turn back and go home.

His entire body felt like it was on fire, like it had when he was arguing with Sam. Only this time, it was worse. Jacob was sure that if he were to look behind him, every spot where his foot had walked would be smoking. Sweat drenched him, his body trying rapidly to cool him down to no avail. And there was this awful sickly sweet smell that kept popping up, but when he asked Seth and Leah, they couldn't smell anything, and they couldn't see any dead animals around their path.

Jacob took a deep breath and leaned against a tree. Leah and Seth continued on, oblivious, and Jacob let them, enjoying the few moments to himself to get it together.

"I was fine this morning," Jacob mumbled, closing his eyes and letting the shade provide him with minor comfort. His body shook violently, and he clutched the tree to stay upright. Another vibration, another intense flash of heat.

Jacob took his backpack off as fast as he could and snatched his water out, guzzling it. The water was cool, but his body was so hot that it didn't do much in terms of comfort. Taking another deep breathe, Jacob straightened up and replaced his pack on his back, determined to see the hike through. The last thing he wanted to do was prove that Sam was right, and that he was too sick to be on the hike.

Distantly, he wondered how Sam even knew he was going to be sick.

Jacob found his second wind and caught up with the two Clearwaters, and together they settled on a spot for lunch.

There was a huge tree overlooking a small meadow, and said meadow gave a small view of the ocean. Together, they pulled out a blanket from Seth's pack and laid it down in the shade of the tree, letting its long branches and leaves provide protection from the beaming sun.

Sandwiches, fruit salads, veggie bowls, and water was pulled out and laid on the blanket.

Seth and Jacob were about to dive in, hands already reaching for the food when Leah slapped their hands away.

Jacob yelped, clutching his hand to his chest.

Leah yanked a pack of hand wipes out of her bag and thrust one in his direction, and another in Seth's. Sheepishly, both boys dutifully took the wipes and carefully cleaned their hands, showing them to Leah for approval before she finally let them grab a sandwich.

"How much farther do you guys wanna go?" Seth asked, stuffing a bite of turkey sandwich in his mouth.

"Let's see if we can get to the cliff today," Leah said.

"Oh, that one Sam showed you, that shows the water?"

At Sam's name, Jacob's body temperature spiked, and he dropped his on turkey sandwich, no longer hungry. Seth continued to chatter on about this great cliff that Sam had discovered. It overlooked the water, close enough to the ocean that you could feel the breeze.

Jacob didn't care about any of that.

All he could think about was Sam. Did Leah still love him? Was Sam right? Was he just a placeholder?

"Jake," Leah said quietly. "We don't have to go if you don't wa - "

"Do you still love him?"

Seth fell silent and he paled, eyes darting back and forth between his sister and friend.

"What did you just say?" Leah asked, voice an octave higher than usual.

"Do you still have feelings for Sam?" Jacob snapped. "It's a yes or no question."

"How could you even ask me that?"

"Well, he came to my house to tell me about how you're not over him, and I don't think he'd do that unless he knew for a fact that you were still in love with him."

"I can't believe you," Leah snarled, getting to her feet. "Seth, get your things. We're leaving."

"Going back to Sam?" Jacob snarled, surging to his feet, swaying to the side at the heat that was pounding in his head.

Leah paused, brow furrowing. "Jake, what's going on? This isn't you. Are you okay?"

She reaches a hand out to touch his forehead and quickly recoils, gasping.

"Oh, my God!" Leah cries. "Seth, hurry up, there's something wrong with Jacob!"

"I'm fine," Jacob insists, forcing his back to straighten.

"You're burning up," Leah snapped. "God, you're delirious. Come on, we have to get back to the main road - "

"Leah," Jacob whispered. "Please. Just tell me if you still love him."

Leah opens her mouth, closes it, and that's enough.

Jacob explodes, bone and muscles twisting, morphing, expanding, flailing arms turning into vicious swipes of paws, and Leah screams. Seth reacts quickly, shoving Leah aside fast enough so that the sharp claws miss her face by mere centimeters. She stumbles back, back hitting a tree, and she reaches desperately for Seth, trying to get her little brother to safety, and the sight that her eyes meet once she finds him sends her into hysteria.

Seth hadn't been so lucky to avoid Jacob, and he's bleeding, oh, God, he's bleeding, flying back several feet from the force of Jacob's swing, and suddenly it doesn't matter that he's bleeding because, like Jacob, he's no longer human.

Leah screams, Jacob and Seth trembling wolves in front of her.

Seth whines, howls in distress, knocking over their backpacks and stumbling into trees as though he's a baby deer that's trying to learn how to walk. Jacob rapidly attempts to back away from the image of his own hands turned into russet-brown paws.

Leah tries to speak, tries to force sound from her throat.

Seth stumbles closer to her, whining again, and Leah knows that even though the fear is threatening to overwhelm her and shut her down, that this is her baby brother in front of her. She sobs, throwing herself at him, crushing his head to her chest. Seth whines against her skin, yipping and moving his mouth, no doubt trying to communicate with her despite the barrier.

"Seth," Leah sobs. "Seth, are you okay?"

Seth pulls away from her to nod, and then shrieks, spinning to look at Jacob, who'd been pawing at himself, trying to get out of his own skin.

Jacob pauses, and he and Seth stare at each other for a moment. Jacob's jaw drops, and Leah sees that he's gotten a mouth full of sharp, glistening teeth.

"Okay." Leah takes a deep breath; it does nothing to stop her body from trembling. She forces herself to look Jacob and Seth head on, refuses to be scared, tells herself that, logically, there's nothing to be scared of when she knows that inside these wolves are her boyfriend and little brother. "Okay. Let's just."

Leah breaths, and it comes out a little less shaky this time. "Let's just take a second and try to regroup."

Jacob somehow manages to express hysteria through his furry face, and Seth, too, looks unimpressed with her suggestion. Leah doesn't care. Right now, she's the only one with opposable thumbs and two legs, and that's enough to qualify her as the leader.

"Can you, maybe, remember how you...changed?" Leah asks, pushing herself up on her knees. Seth is pressed against her side, and it's only because he's her little brother that just turned into an animal that she allows the close contact. He's a furnace, his body a mini sun sitting right next to her and having his large form pressed against her own makes her feel like the Wicked Witch of the West, on the verge of melting.

Jacob shakes his head, and Leah huffs.

"You have to remember something! How did you feel when you changed?"

She feels quite stupid after she says it because she knows exactly what Jacob was feeling. He was angry, hurt, because she couldn't say outright that she didn't have feelings for Sam anymore. She sighed. She hadn't wanted to have this conversation like this, but the universe has given her no choice.

"Jake," Leah said, and she waits until he ambles closer to her. Even though she's on her knees, she's certain that he'd tower over her in this form even if she were standing on her feet. He's enormous, a looming mass over her, and Leah takes a second to gather herself.

"I'm not in love with Sam anymore."

Jacob finally allows his eyes to meet hers, feels himself become immediately grounded, then narrow, and he takes a step back.

Leah sighs, shakes her head. "I know it seems like that because I didn't answer right away, but it's the truth. Jake, I don't love him anymore but that doesn't mean that I've healed from all the hurt he's caused me. Of course I think about Sam; I thought I was gonna marry him and then he runs off with my cousins. That hurt. He and Emily were the two people on this planet aside from Seth that I thought I could trust to never hurt me.

"I loved them both so much. And they hurt me. Without hesitation. And that's not something I can get over right away, Jacob. I'm not in love Sam anymore, I have no desire to be with him or chase after him, but I'm hurt because I gave so much of myself to him and he threw me away. I loved him, Jake, and that's something I'm still getting over. But please, don't think that I don't love you, too. You mean so much to me, and I want this. I want us. I just need time. Can we do that? Can we take our time?"

Jacob's body trembles, twists, and the fur recedes, the claws disappear.

Leah throws herself at him, and he wraps his arms around her.

Behind her, Seth whines.

"Gross," he says, and Leah whips around in surprise only to shriek and quickly turn away.

"Why are you both naked?!"

Once the two get back on their feet, Leah ushers them further up the path. She knows they should turn back and go home but she needs a change of scenery to forget about almost losing an eye, so she hands them the picnic blanket, tells them to figure it out, and pointedly ignores the fact that the two of them have started to smell some imaginary bag of extra-strength sugar in the woods.

"It's tied to our emotions," Seth insists from the edge of the cliff. He swings his legs, half eaten apple spinning in his hand. "That's why you could only change back when you calmed down, Jake, because you phased when you were angry."

"Then what about you?" Jake asks. "You weren't angry when you phased."

"I was scared," Seth admits, and Jacob looks away. "I thought Leah and I were gonna die. But then I wasn't scared anymore, so I changed back. It was hard, though. It took me a second to get there."

"It's great that you guys figured out why you turned into giant wolves but can we please focus on the fact that you two are naked and your alter-egos destroyed your clothes? It's a miracle your phones survived."

"We're not completely naked," Seth argues, motioning to the half of the picnic blanket that he'd wrapped around his waist, and points to Jacob, who was wearing the other half.

Leah glares, and Seth quickly turns back to his apple. He wisely keeps his growing hunger to himself.

"We didn't actually figure out why we turned into wolves," Jacob says. "Emotions can't be the only thing. I've been angry before and I've never grown two extra legs."

"We can ask - "

"I don't feel comfortable telling people that you two turn into wolves until we know more about what we're dealing with," Leah states, cutting Seth off. "We can't just go around talking about magical wolves. Everyone would think we were crazy!"

"Everyone except the Elders," Seth laughs. "They'd probably start rambling about the leg-"

He falls silent, spins around, and he, Jake, and Leah gape at each other, jaws dropped.

"Oh, my God," Leah breathes.

"No." Jacob said. "It can't be."

"Dude!" Seth cheers, rolling away from the cliff and tugging Jake to his feet.

"No!" Jacob snaps, although there's not much heat behind his words.

"Think about what you're saying," Leah begs Seth. "You think that you and Jake are spirit warriors?!"

"It's the only explanation!" Seth grins, tugging her close. "Leah, think about it! They turned into wolves to protect their lands, and we just turned into wolves!"

"Vampires."

Jacob's voice is quiet.

"Vampires?" Leah and Seth repeat.

"The danger the spirit warriors fought against. Vampires."

They all fell silent.

Leah tries to rationalize the events of today, tries to think of a way to justify why they turned into wolves without legitimatizing the legends and the existence of the supernatural. She came up short.

If the spirit warriors turned into wolves to protect their people against vampires, and Jacob and Seth turned into wolves...well, there was only one logical conclusion to answer the question of who they were protecting their people from.

But...vampires?!

Leah could excuse the existence of giant wolves; she'd seen the two of them turn in front of her face. Vampires, however, was a different level of crazy, one she didn't think she could handle.

The truth, though, was staring her in the face. The legends of her people were proving themselves to be true, Jacob and Seth Exhibit A and B. And the legends of their enemies...

"What's the rest of the legend?" Leah asks Jacob, although they all know. Their parents were all involved members on the council, and even more involved in the history. If there were any children in La Push that were taught the history of the Quileutes, it was the Blacks and Clearwaters.

"We fight against the Cold Ones."

"Maybe...maybe it's a mistake?" Seth whispers. "I mean, there aren't any vampires around here, are there?"

Jacob looks at Leah, and she suddenly understands.

There weren't any vampires around them in that moment, but there used to be a whole group of them in the town over.

Leah slowly lowers herself to the ground, trying to wrap her head around the mess that was now her life. Her boyfriend and little brother were wolf warriors destined to protect La Push from vampires. And said vampires used to live right next door.

"We would've known," Leah insists. "Without meeting one I can tell you that vampires are too other. They'd never fit in, we would've known."

"Dad knew," Jacob's face screws up, as if he's on the verge of tears. "He always knew. Harry, Quill, Sue. We were the ones that didn't believe them. That's why they refused to go to the hospital in Forks. It's why dad fought so much with Charlie, because Bella was da - "

Jacob stops, breaths, and lets it sink in. Bella dated one of them. He wants to argue that she couldn't have known, she would've been as clueless as the rest of them. Except...

Except.

Except she came around La Push and flirted for legends on the Cold Ones.

She disappeared, and then came back with mysterious injuries.

She always got defensive and upset whenever his dad tried to warn her.

She was never, in all her time in Forks, seen with the Cullens in direct sunlight.

She was in the woods when they'd left.

Sam had seen her go to their house just a few days ago.

"Jake?" Leah whispered. "Jake, did Bella know?"

Bella knew about the Cold Ones. She'd dated one of them. Jacob may have cracked open the door but the Cullens had let her in. Jacob had told her an ounce of information; there was no telling what the Cullens had fed her, no telling how deep they'd gotten their hooks.

Seth and Leah look at him, questioning and yet resigned, for they already know the answer.

Jacob nods.

Jacob drops Leah and Seth off first, and takes the pair of pants and shirt that Leah throws at him. Leah glares at him as he walks away, making an aggressive "call me" gesture with her hand, and he knows that he's gonna have to sit by the phone all day unless he wants to face her wrath.

The walk home seems to last forever, and it, unfortunately, gives him time to think.

Bella's face circles his mind, and he feels sick to his stomach. When he said that Bella knew, he had say so with certainty and reluctance. He wants to believe that Bella didn't know what the Cullens were. He wants to believe that she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. But he just can't accept that she was that gullible.

He remembers when word got out that Edward and Bella were dating. The last time his dad had been that pissed was when Rebecca had married that surfer and left town. Billy and Charlie had fought for weeks over Bella's choice in dating partner. Jacob hadn't seen the issue at the time; he was a little hurt because of his small crush on her, but he'd gotten over that quick and was indifferent. He'd only gone to spy on Bella and Edward because his dad promised him the parts for his car.

Thinking about it more, Jacob had to admit that he always felt a little uncomfortable around Edward. The sight of his pale body looming a few feet away, eyes an unnatural shade, had been enough to make Jacob beat a quick retreat the second he passed the message along, but he'd refused to believe his dad too much about the legends and had laughed it off. Now, he wished he'd listened.

Jacob shook his head, pushed Bella from his mind. He couldn't focus on her right now. Focusing on her meant facing the possibility of her being on the enemy's side, and he couldn't deal with that right now.

"Jake!" Jacob started and turned to see Leah and Seth running toward him. Seth shot Leah a smirk over his shoulder, no doubt feeling quite good about himself now that he was finally faster than her, and she responded with a sweet smile and rude hand gesture.

Jacob grinned. "Couldn't get enough of me, huh?"

"Please," Leah said, though she smiled at him. Seth gagged. "After you dropped us off, I realized that you can't be alone right now."

"Why not?"

"Dude, when you get angry you turn into a giant wolf," Seth said. "What happens if you cross paths with, like, Paul or something on the way home?"

Jacob had to admit they had a point. "Well, what am I supposed to do? I don't know how to control the - my - wolf, and I can't just not go home. My dad's going to wonder where I am eventually."

"Lie?" Seth suggested, although he didn't sound too sure of his plan.

"Billy's a fucking bloodhound," Leah mutters, ushering Seth and Jacob back in the direction of the Clearwater household. "And Jacob can't lie worth a damn. With such a killer combination, I'd say we had until five o-clock today until all of our parents knew about your four-legged problem."

"I can lie!" Jacob says defensively.

Leah doesn't dignify that with a response, just laces her fingers through his and pulls him close to her side. Jacob feels a goofy grin spread across his face, his cheeks darken. Her fingers are soft in his, the fingers slim. She smells like the forest, and there's even a little green leaf still in her head; he tries too hard not to think that she got that leaf in her hair from when she'd been trying to stumble back from him when he changed.

"What's next?" Seth beams, almost jumping up and down with excitement. "A fun night out on the town? I'm down, but you guys have to promise not to be gross."

"Fuck off," Leah laughs at the same time Jacob protests, "We are not gross!"

Jacob lets go of Leah's hand to tug Seth into a headlock, and the two grapple, Leah jumping out of the way to avoid being trampled. She isn't so lucky for long; Seth grabs her wrist and tugs her into the fight, and the three of them stumble and snicker, falling to the grass.

Seth manages to let go of Jacob in time so that the two of them don't crush Leah under their weight.

"You two are the worst," Leah giggles, letting Jacob pull her to her feet and continue on their path. The clean clothes they had on were now ruined, marked with dirt and grass stains. Leah doesn't seem too upset about it though, Jacob notices, as she curls into his side.

"Seriously, though, Seth's right." Jacob sighed. "We need to figure out a game plan. We can't avoid my parents forever. And I don't know how this whole...wolf thing works."

"Just stop getting angry." Seth says. "I mean, how much is there to get angry at in La Push?"

Speak of the devil, and the devil shall appear.

Leah, Seth, and Jacob were just passing Embry's house, a shortcut to get to Leah's house faster. It was the preferred way to go in this situation because, typically, this was the way that they could avoid too much contact with others. Embry's mother was a bit of an outcast, something that couldn't be rectified even with the acceptance of Billy and the other members of the council. Jacob honestly didn't know what the big deal was; so what if Embry didn't know who his dad was? Surely that wasn't enough for people to think poorly of his mother? But, it was, as he was constantly told, grown folks business.

Anyways, cutting through the Embry's street was the preferred way to go in this situation because, usually, they'd be able to avoid the general public.

Today was not that day.

There was something that the three of them had forgotten in their haste to get to Leah's house.

Jared and Embry lived on the same street.

And, as luck would have it, Jared was home. And he had company.

On Jared's front porch, he, Sam, Billy, and Old Quil were sitting around the table.

From the expressions on their faces, they had been expecting them.

For a brief moment, Jacob entertained the idea of running. Seth was fast, and Jacob could toss Leah over his shoulder.

"Oh, shit," Leah muttered, her hold on Jacob's hand tight. Her other hand reached for Seth and he allowed her to tug him behind her.

Every step that they took towards Sam felt like it was tearing Jacob apart. He wasn't worried about himself. It was Leah.

The way Sam stood up and was walking toward them, the way he looked at Leah, it made Jacob's blood boil. Because Leah wasn't Sam's. She wasn't Jacob's either, because Jacob was smart enough to know that she belonged to no one. But it still wasn't a welcome sight, Sam's eyes on Leah as if he still had any sort of claim.

"Jacob," Sam said. "We've been looking for you. Let's go for a walk."

"He's not going anywhere with you," Leah said.

"Jake," Billy said. "I know you're confused, but please - "

"Fuck off!" Jacob snarled, suddenly furious with his father for always, always taking Sam's side.

Sam surged forward, a growl rumbling in his chest, and oh. Suddenly, the dots connect in Jacob's head. And from the look of it, Leah and Seth have had the same realization. They were so busy trying to make sense of the legends and Bella's relationship with a vampire that they hadn't realized that they weren't the first legends to come to life.

It all made sense now, and Jacob was more angry than never. His father knew. His father knew what Sam was, probably knew that the same would happen to Jacob, and he'd said nothing. He'd done nothing. Jacob could recall every single time he opened up to his dad about how unsettled Sam made him feel, just to get reprimanded and shut down at every turn. God, Jacob had felt so alone.

And here his dad was still, hoisting Sam up as some grand member of the community.

Jacob had had enough.

"Jake, look at me," Leah pleaded, pressing against his chest, trying in vain to stop the way his body was shaking. "Breathe."

The tremors stopped, and everyone stared in shock as the young wolf stopped the phase.

"Impossible," Old Quil murmured.

"So glad we caught you," Seth said, an uncharacteristic frown on his face. "Seems like we have a lot to talk about."

They gathered at Sam's place.

Harry and Sue Clearwater sat the kitchen table with Billy and Old Quil. Behind them, Jared stood. To his left, Paul, leaning against the wall, and to his right, Sam and Emily.

Jacob, Leah, and Seth were at the kitchen counters, Jacob gently hoisting his girlfriend up so she could take a seat.

"Are we going to talk about this or just sit in silence?" Seth demanded. "Some of us have things to do."

"This shouldn't be possible," Old Quil said.

"He's so young," Sue cried, staring at her son who had already shot up two inches.

"I think we've already established that nothing's impossible." Jacob sighed, rubbing a hand down his face.

"I don't understand how this happened," Harry frowned. "There were no signs, especially not with Seth."

"Oh, I'm sure there were," Leah said, a cruel grin on her face. "You were just too far up Sam's ass to notice."

"Leah!" Sue reprimanded, and was promptly ignored.

"I almost got my face torn off because you assholes like to keep secrets." Leah's eyes flicked to Emily, and found that she still did not feel sympathy for her cousin. The other woman flinched, and Sam drew her closer, shooting a glare at Leah. "I think I'm allowed to disrespect my elders."

"We had no idea that Seth would - "

"You all knew that something like this could happen," Leah cut her dad off. "If not to Seth, then for sure with Jacob. But you all said nothing. You did nothing. What, were you just not going to address the fact that Jacob can turn into a wolf until he actually did it? Does that not strike you as a terrible game plan? What if Jacob had phased at the fucking mall or something? In the middle of the grocery store?"

"We were keeping an eye on Jacob," Sam said.

"And fat lot of good that was doing," Jacob snapped. "How was I supposed to feel safe by your presence when all you and your friends do is lurk in the shadows and stare at me? Do you have any idea what that felt like, to be a child and having to look over your shoulder, worried that someone's out to get you? I had no support. It's a miracle I didn't phase sooner."

"And the audacity of you," Leah says, recalling the scuffle that had almost ensued between her and her ex when he, on the walk her, had suggested she go home, "to even suggest that I stay out of this and let you get my little brother killed running after vampires. Have you lost your mind?!"

"I could do it," Seth mutters. Leah waves him off.

"We wouldn't let anything happen to him." Sam assures her, and Leah scoffs.

"You swore we'd be together forever and then I caught you in bed with my cousin, so excuse me for not believing a single word out of your mouth."

Emily begins to cry, curling into Sam's side. Leah arches an unimpressed eyebrow.

"This is ridiculous," Jacob groaned. "I can't do this right now. I need to call Bella back and - "

"No!" Jacob, Leah, and Seth gape at the others in the room, stunned by the synchronous rejection of that plan.

"Jacob," Billy urged, wheeling himself closer to his son. "You cannot tell Bella any of this."

"We're taking advice from the king of secrets right now?" Seth mumbles into Leah's ear, and she huffs in agreement.

"Jake," Billy pressed. "Think about it. She can't know."

"She already knows about the vampires, right? What's one more supernatural creature?"

"She doesn't need the stress," Billy insists. "Think about what happened when the Cullens left. She was damn near catonic, who knows what will happen if she's sucked back into this world. Besides, she's an outsider. She can't know anyway."

"It's that easy?" Leah sneers. "Any other day of the week you and Dad would be claiming her and Charlie as family, and now she's an outsider? Love how you change the rules to fit you. Really loving that."

"Jacob," Sam said, something about his tone digging deep into the grooves of Jacob's brain and making him listen. "Seth. You are not to tell Bella about any of this. In fact, the less contact you have with her, the better. You will protect this tribe and its secrets."

Jacob attempted to ignore the command, tried to reach into his pocket for his phone to call Bella, and found that he couldn't make his fingers grip the electronic device. A devastated look crossed his face, and soon Seth mirrored it.

"What the hell did you just do?" Leah demanded.

"I gave an order," Sam said, the hint of a smirk on his lips. "You may not have to listen to me, but they do."

"Leah," Harry finally spoke. "Please, don't fight us on this. This is for the best."

Leah said nothing more, allowed the men to think they've won. She nodded, accepting their fate for now, making plans for a rebellion later. She closed her eyes briefly, sent a thought out into the universe that she hoped Bella would be able to hear.

I'm so sorry, Bella.