Patients

Sam had wanted to meet as a sign of good faith. And I had agreed, for my own reasons, to accept his offer.

Sam didn't have any idea how my mind reading worked. His attempts at blocking me, where what I would expect from someone so arrogant.

He believed that if he thought around something, left his private thoughts lingering behind everything, that I couldn't see them.

Bella had insisted on being there. I hadn't fought her on it.

We had met with Sam and Paul at Carlisle's house, sitting around the dining room table. On opposite sides. Face to face with them.

Bella holding my hand tightly under the table.

Sam had thanked us for not starting a war and I had made sure to remain indifferent to his words.

He had explained that Jacob had left the pack, but he expected his return soon.

What he didn't voice, was why.

From what I could see in his mind. Leah had left because there had been no consequences for what Jacob had done. He hadn't even so much as had his Beta status removed.

With Leah and Seth leaving, Sam had noticed a shift in his pack. He could see sides being formed.

A line being drawn.

He had tried to explain to Jacob, that he would remove his status, for the good of the pack.

But Jacob had not accepted it.

And why would he?

Sam had done the same thing, but he himself was still their Alpha. An argument had broken out and ultimately, Jacob had cut the tie between them.

I had felt Bella's eyes on me throughout the meeting. Watching me closely, knowing I was hearing more than what was being said.

Emmett had voiced his concerns. Worried about the fact that Jacob was no longer under Sam's control.

Sam of-course had shrugged it off. He promised that Jacob was still under his watchful eye.

I had tightened my hold on Bella's hand, struggled to keep all the anger burning in my chest from erupting.

And I had done it.

I kept in control of my emotions.

Because control isn't something that slips from your grasp, it's something you relinquish.

The meeting had been short. It had been simple. And yet, it had changed everything. It had had set the wheels in motion.

It wasn't until I shook Sam's hand that I saw the recognition in Bella's eyes.

I'd heard the thoughts of relief in relief in Esme and Carlisle's minds. Anger and rage, matching my own, in Emmett and Rosalie. Wondering how I could possibly make any kind of agreement with them.

We drove home in silence. But this was nothing out of the ordinary. Even so, I could still feel her watching me as I drove.

I pulled into the driveway of our home and sat staring straight ahead. Sam's thoughts still consuming my own.

"Edward".

I turned to look at her.

It was then that I knew that no one knew me as well as she did. And with certainty I knew that no one ever would.

"I hope you know what you're doing." She told me quietly, her eyes seeing beyond the mask, through to everything I tried to keep buried.

"I do." I promised her quietly.


It was always at its strongest at night. As though it fed on darkness in the room. Growing. Expanding. Forming into something that I craved to release.

Sitting in the armchair by her bed, watching her sleep, remembering those brief flashes I'd seen in Jacob's mind.

Blood pooling in his hands.

Her screams.

I'd never felt anything like this before in my life. It was different to just be angry or vengeful. Because it was heartbreaking.

I'd walked into a room and saw the love of my existence bound in white cloth, tubes and wires. Her blood thick in the air, suffocating me in fear.

How could they ever possibly think that I could let this go.

They thought, just because my heart was no longer beating, that it was no longer any use to me. That my love for her couldn't possibly compare to what they felt for their mates.

Even with what they'd done to the people they claimed to care about.

They had no idea.

There was no agreement with the wolves. There hadn't been since that day.

It was laughable that they believed there was.

Sam was stupid enough to believe his own stories. Trusting he had the upper hand. Thinking this would all just blow over, simply because it had before.

He'd walked away unscathed for his actions, and he believed that Jacob could to.

But Bella wasn't Emily, and I wasn't some reckless wolf who couldn't control himself.

She'd set her conditions for me, without truly knowing she'd done it.

No one else could get hurt.

Except Jacob.

I had to respect that. Because I knew Bella. She'd carry that with her forever, if someone where to die because of this, she'd blame herself. I couldn't bare to put anything else on her shoulders. She had enough there.

I had time.

I had patience.