Chapter 31 - Jacob

I couldn't believe this. As I stormed out of Sam's house, I started pacing in front of it. Bella, the Omega? I was having a hard time wrapping my head around it. Ephraim had married their Omega. Granted, I wasn't in love with Bella anymore because of her imprint with Jared but it didn't stop me from wondering…was I destined to be alone? And if I remember the stories correctly, the ceremony wasn't going to be easy. It wouldn't be easy on Jared, Bella…hell the entire pack. Everyone loved Bella. But I had no clue how anyone was going to react if I was right about what the ceremony entailed.

I turned around to see Old Quil getting out of his car. He looked at me. "You alright, Young Wolf?" He asked me.

I shrugged. "Is she?" I asked. He gave me a brief nod. "If I remember the legends correctly, the ceremony won't be easy will it?" I asked, shaking slightly.

"Emotionally no. Physically, it will hurt." Old Quil told me. I nodded, sadly. I didn't want this for her. "Come, help me inside so I can tell the others. We must prepare." He said and I walked over to him. I helped him inside. When we crossed the threshold, everyone was looking at us. Old Quil was the only one to speak. "She is the Omega." He said.

We all turned to look at Bella and she fainted. Jared caught her and everyone that was sitting on the couch moved so that Jared could lay her down. Then Jared turned to look at Old Quil who had sat in a recliner. "So what does the ceremony entail?" Jared asked.

"Emotionally it will hurt everyone. But physically? Every wolf will need to mark her in some way." Old Quil told us.

Every wolf had a look of shock. "Mark her? But how? Isn't there only the mating mark?" Sam asked.

"That is partially true. This doesn't necessarily have to be a physical mark, like the mating mark. It can be a mark on the soul. A vow of protection, so to speak." Old Quil informed us. Jared looked relieved at that. "But the ceremony needs to take place soon." He said as he looked over at Bella. "It won't be long until her symptoms will start to progress and become permanent."

"Progress?" Emily asked.

"Permanent?" Jared asked.

Old Quil nodded. "Yes. I'm assuming that she's already experiencing the exhaustion, not sleeping…she's probably already started having intense dreams." Old Quil said, looking over at Jared.

Jared nodded. "I'm not sure about the dreams. She hasn't said." Jared told us.

Old Quil nodded, before turning to Emily. "You might want to make Bella a cup of your calming tea." He said to Emily. "She'll be waking soon."

Emily nodded and headed to the kitchen. Jared turned and sat on the coffee table watching Bella, waiting for her to wake up. I leaned against the doorframe while the others were spread across the room. No one said anything for a while. It was silent until Leah spoke. "How will any of this affect me?" She asked Old Quil.

He sighed before looking at her. "You haven't figured it out yet?" He asked her. She shook her head looking confused. "You my dear are the Alpha Female. Have you never wondered why you and Bella have the connection that you do?" He asked her.

She thought for a minute. "I used to think that Bella and I were friends because of our Dad's, but then I realized that she also had Rachel and Rebecca too. Then when she came back after she broke up with Cullen, we talked about things and I realized that in some crazy way that she and I were always meant to be friends." Leah said.

"And that is true. According to the spirits, the Alpha Female will be the first protector of the Omega. Can you think of a time in your life where you protected Bella before anyone else could?" Old Quil asked Leah, tilting his head to the side a little.

Leah looked down at the floor. "When we were little. There was a guy, he was a little smartass kid. Thought that he was big and bad just because he was a boy." Leah said and I snorted. I was big and bad. "Bella said something to him and he pushed her in the sand, down at First Beach. I got mad as did Rachel and I pushed him into the water, making him fall." Leah told everyone. I looked at my sister, who had a big grin on her face; thinking about the memory.

Rachel turned her head to look at me. "You really were a smartass kid." She said.

I smirked at Rachel and Leah. "I still am." This caused everyone but Jared to start laughing. I could tell that he was worried about Bella.

"The point is…" Old Quil started, "You protected her first. According to the spirits, once the ceremony is complete… it shouldn't take long for you to find your imprint." He told her and we looked at Leah who gasped.

"Can you tell me anything else?" She asked him.

He shook his head, "Only that it couldn't happen until the pack recognized her." Old Quil said. Leah nodded.

"She's waking." Jared said.

We all turned our attention back to Bella. I didn't think that she was gonna handle all of this well, but what did I know…she'd handled everything else like a pro.

"Ugh…what happened?" Bella asked, as she started to wake up.

A/N: Okay so I hope that this chapter cleared up a few things about why Jacob seemed so pissed about Bella being the Omega. As with any of my stories, I don't exactly plan things out. That being said, if there is ever something that you don't like please PM and tell me. I'm willing to change things. Or add from it. Don't ever hesitate to PM and ask me questions. I'm happy to answer them.