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The White Knight
Jacob had seen the accident through Embry's eyes. Fear like he had never felt before, shot through him like a flaming arrow right through the heart, as he watched the speeding Volvo swerve off the road to avoid the terrified gray wolf. It hit the trees opposite, its front end crumpled from the force of the impact.
It was like a scene out of a movie, all happening in slow motion. It kept replaying in his mind as he raced desperately to the crash site: Bella's horrified face through the windshield, the sheer wild panic in her chocolate brown eyes, knowing what was coming. Edward Cullen at the wheel, his white face frozen like that of a marble statue as he fought to control the vehicle, followed by the sickening crunch of the impact.
Embry was in such a state of frenzy, he was literally uncontrollable. His panicked thoughts were like a bullet in Jacob's brain, his hysteria infecting his ability to think rationally, to listen, as Jacob tried to calm him down.
With his own growing panic for Bella's safety messing with his mind, Jacob was forced to use his Alpha voice, ordering Embry to quieten down, to head toward his house and wait for him there. Embry had no choice but to obey.
A stray branch whipped Jacob across the face, the sting making his eyes water, as he launched his powerful wolf body through the trees, twisting and turning, his paws drumming into the earth, sending clods of wet mud flying in all directions. The fiery wrenching pull toward Bella seemed to increase tenfold, an equally powerful emotion rising to join it, increasing his pain.
That emotion was guilt. Sick, stomach-churning guilt.
How? How had he let this happen? How could he have been so stupid, so blind, so consumed with his duties, that he had left Bella unprotected? In trying to be everywhere all at once, Bella was the one who ended up suffering. He was to blame. He had let her down. Failed her in the worst possible way.
He'd be damned if he failed her again.
Disgust washed over Jacob in a great wave the closer he got to the scene of the accident. The stench of rotting sugar was enough to make him feel nauseous, but the disgust he felt was mainly at himself. If he had kept a closer eye on Cullen's movements, he wouldn't have been able to get to Bella, but he had let things slide, relying on the other members of the coven to keep the obsessive creep under control.
Growling, Jacob turned his nose to the wind. Cullen's scent was so strong that it made his nostrils quiver in revulsion. Finally, he saw a break in the trees ahead. The dense fog was slowly beginning to dissipate. He could hear the steady drip, drip of moisture from the overhanging branches. The same droplets beaded his fur, making it sparkle like burnished gold.
Jacob felt like the cord in his chest that tied him to Bella had looped right around his heart, strangling him, each beat only making it tighter. The white-hot flame of his anger made his strides lengthen, increased his pace, blotted out all rationality, all common sense.
Without conscience thought Jacob burst out of the trees, right onto the road, still in wolf form, there for all eyes to see. All his human thought processes were completely taken over by the wolf, he was a wild animal, ready to strike, ready to kill the perpetrator who had harmed his loved one.
And there was Edward Cullen, without a scratch on him, standing calmly in the road, waiting for him. Before Jacob knew what happened, he was standing over Edward, front paws planted on his stone chest, sharp claws digging pitiless grooves in his undead flesh.
A police cruiser came screeching down the road, Charlie was behind the wheel, like a knight in his white charger, black tires squealing on the grey as he skidded to a halt a few meters away. He didn't know it yet, but this was about to be a defining moment in his life. In seconds he was behind his vehicle, ducked down, weapon drawn. His radio crackled a warning, his eyes grim, his bloodless lips pressed together firmly as he took careful aim at the humongous creature which was about to impale Edward Cullen.
Then Bella came stumbling onto the verge of the road, her hand holding a piece of cloth over a bloody gash on her forehead. Charlie gasped, his aim wavering when he saw his daughter. What was she doing here? With him? With Edward Cullen?
Charlie had abandoned his search for Embry as soon as he heard the sickening crunch of grating metal. He had attended enough fatal car accidents throughout his career to recognize what that sound meant. Racing to the cruiser, he had persuaded a still hysterical Tiffany to wait for him on the side of the road, while he drove off to investigate. In all his wild imaginings he had never for one moment suspected anything like this.
"Bella, keep still. Don't move." Charlie called out, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible. "You don't want to alarm the beast."
With one swift glance Bella took in the scene before her. She was still feeling shaky, still not able to believe she had managed to walk away with just a minor cut on her forehead, from a car wreck that should have killed her. Vague images of Edward Cullen-throwing his arms around her, shielding her from the worst of the impact with his own body-floated around her throbbing skull.
Bella's gaze drifted from her stricken parent, to Edward lying flat on his back on the road, to the humongous wolf towering above him. His reddish-brown fur, shaggy and thick, glinted in the weak light breaking through the clouds.
In her haze all Bella could think was – he's so beautiful – to oh, no, Jacob, you've been seen.
The enormous russet-colored wolf felt her gaze on him, and he looked at her with familiar black eyes. She stared back at him, wonder and fascination taking over her face, as well as panic that he was out in the open for the whole world and Charlie to see.
The wolf's muzzle fell open, pulling back over his teeth in an approximation of a smile, his black eyes glowing with relief at the sight of her. Bella motioned toward Charlie, her expression pleading, warning him that he needed to leave.
But Jacob was beyond thinking straight. His wolfy grin widened over his sharp teeth. He left Edward Cullen, ignoring Charlie as he trotted over to Bella. He stopped about two feet away, his gaze trained on her worried face.
While all this was going on, Edward had risen to his feet. He stood motionless, his eyes assessing Bella's reaction, then Charlie's.
Charlie, still hunkered down behind his vehicle, slowly straightened up, his eyes staring in disbelief as he watched his little girl, his daughter, walk up to the wolf without care for her own safety. He watched as the wolf crouched down on his front legs and dropped his head so that his face was no higher than Bella's, gazing at her with an air of gentleness he had not seen before in a wild predator.
Charlie saw his daughter's lips move, but was too far away to hear what she was saying. There was an answering rumble deep in the wolf's chest. Bella reached out her hand, her fingers trembling slightly, and touched the red brown fur on the side of the wolf's face.
The black eyes closed, and the ginormous beast leaned his huge head into her hand. A thrumming hum resonating deep in his throat.
"She's like the wolf whisperer." Charlie thought in awe as he carefully put his gun back in its holster and cautiously made his way over to them. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. A part of him wondered if this was all a dream, and that at any moment he would wake up in his own bed.
Out of the corner of his eye Charlie saw Edward, on edge and clearly disappointed. He couldn't fathom why. Maybe the little shit hoped that Bella would run away screaming in terror from the imposing beast, not stroking the wolf like it was her pet dog or something. Maybe he hoped to wade in and rescue Bella and claim himself as her hero.
But Bella had thwarted him again. She always did the unexpected. Charlie had learned that over the years. Of course, she wouldn't run away screaming, no, not his little girl, her insane courage outweighed her fear. Perhaps the wolf sensed it and that's why it was being so docile. Still, he couldn't hope that would last.
"Bella, honey, you need to be very careful." Charlie warned her in a low voice. "Back away very slowly. We don't want to alarm it."
Bella glanced his way. "He won't hurt me, Dad."
"You don't know that." Charlie cautioned as he edged a little closer. "I've never seen a wolf this big before. Its – "He shook his head, marveling at the beast's huge girth, taking in the powerful hindquarters, the strength in its limbs and jaws. It was certainly a formidable beast.
"Listen to your father, Bella." Edward's tone was patronizing. "You must be careful. It may be passive now, but these rabid beasts can turn in an instant."
The russet wolf's large head whipped round at the sound of Edward's voice. Animal instinct took over, and his body lunged with a powerful push of his hind legs, aiming to take off the bloodsucker's head. Edward quickly spun out of range, still managing to keep to a human pace with Charlie right there watching.
"Chief Swan!" He cried breathlessly. "Its going to attack."
"Dad, no!" Bella screamed. "He provoked him!"
Charlie came to life, grabbing his gun from its holster, he fired it, not at the wolf like Edward had hoped, but in the air.
The part of the wolf that was still Jacob came back to the fore at the echoing sound of the bullet being released from the gun's chamber. He cast one last glance back at Bella, his senses returning, knowing he needed to flee. Charlie was there, she was safe from Edward's clutches, for now.
Taking off in one graceful bound for the forest, he flew amongst the trees, and disappeared out of sight.
A/N-thanks for reading!
