Ancient Prophecies

Bella POV

I hoped to wake up in Jake's warm embrace, but I found the bed empty – save for a note.

Charlie came home at 6.

I'm heading back to the Rez.

Call me when you're up, baby.

Love, Jake

My boyfriend was a superhero werewolf. Correction, my boyfriend was a hot, sexy, superhero werewolf. There was clearly a lot more that he wanted to tell me, but I felt comfortable knowing he was a good person – lupine or not. There was obviously some tension with him and Edward and Alice. I couldn't believe I had vampire friends – even if one had serious boundary issues. Apparently, Forks was a haven for the supernatural. Now I just needed the Winchester brothers to show up.

I needed to speak with the Cullens, and figure out what Edward meant when he said that Alice had a "vision" that I knew about them. At the time I was more freaked out about Edward being in my room while I slept, but a good night's sleep in Jake's arms brought some clarity. Something freakier than storybook creatures was going on. I decided I'd call Alice after breakfast. A heartbeat later, my cell rang. The caller id was blank, but I answered anyways.

"Hello?"

"Bella, it's Alice." A tiny musical voice came through my phone. "Please don't hang up."

"Actually, Alice, I was going to call you after breakfast. There are some things we should ... discuss." I hoped I sounded casual. How is one supposed to sound when confronting their friend about being a vampire? I idly wondered if Amazon sold "Proper Supernatural Confrontation Etiquette."

"Thanks, Bella." She sounded unsure, and maybe a little sad. "There's a clearing just past where you can see the Sol Duc River from the 110. Can you meet us there in 1 hour? And you'll probably want to call Jacob. I'm sure he'd like to bring some, uh, friends to hear us out." She definitely sounded sad when saying the word "friends." It was surreal to hear Alice as anything but chipper and excited.

"Um, okay." I paused not really knowing what to say. "Hey, Alice. It'll be okay. I'm alright with you being, um, pulse challenged. You've always been super nice to me." Silence on the other end. Maybe my superpower was that I could make the undead feel awkward. Then Alice made a noise I'd never heard from her before. She actually snorted.

"Oh, Bella. I hope you're right. I just can't see ..." She sighed and hung up. I hit END then called Jake.

"H'lo?" he mumbled. His voice sounded so sexy when it was all gravely.

"Jake, it's Bella. I'm going to meet with some vampires in an hour, wanna come?"

"What?! What the fuck, Bells? You can't wake a guy up like that!" I heard him rub his hand over his face to wake up.

"Sorry, babe. I couldn't resist. But it's true. Alice wanted to explain her side of what happened last night, and she suggested a meeting out by where the 110 meets the Sol Duc. She thought you'd like to come and bring some friends. I think she meant furry friends." I rolled my eyes at my stupidity. Of course he would know who to bring.

"The boundary. Bells, ugh – you're going to do this regardless of if I come aren't you? Okay, please just wait for me. I'll come pick you up in thirty. I'd rather if you didn't go alone. The guys will run us in."

"Okay, I'll have breakfast burritos waiting for you!" I announced cheerily. Evidently my defense mechanism for this bizarre scenario was to be super chipper and to default to cooking.

"I'll be there in twenty."

I quickly got ready and ran downstairs to throw together the promised burritos. Then I made extra for all the wolves. They would probably be hungry and missing their breakfasts to come to this meeting. I wrote a quick note to Charlie on the off chance he got up early.

True to his word, Jake arrived twenty minutes later, gave me a peck on the lips and devoured two burritos before we even got out of the house. Jake carried the cooler full of food while I looked around for our convoy.

"Where is everyone Jake. How did you get here?" He gently tugged my arm and led me to the back of the house. He silently pointed towards the tree line and whistled. Slowly, five giant wolves of varying colour and size emerged from the brush.

A chocolate brown wolf walked right up to Jake and started nosing the cooler in his hand. He tried to paw it, but Jake snatched it back before the paw came close.

"Quil, she made enough for everyone. Now back off before you have to buy Bella a new cooler!" He shrugged and joined the wolves as they ran back to the tree line and emerged seconds later as a raucous group of boys dressed in cutoffs.

"Damn, Bella, these are amazing!" Embry slung his arm around my shoulder, his mouth full of egg. Jacob gave Embry a look, and his arm disappeared. Before I could blink, he was on the other side of my yard – burrito in each hand. It seemed to take less than a minute for all the food to be gone.

"So, when you said 'run us in'... you meant as wolves. So, how do we do this? Are you just going to carry me, or am I going to ride you?" The guys started chuckling and I turned beet red when I realised what I had just said. "I mean, mount you." I saw Quil actually fall down clutching his sides while I stuttered, searching for the right thing to say without sounding dirty. "Dammit!" I was a complete tomato and Jacob seemed to enjoy my being flustered. Or maybe he just liked the sexual innuendo. "It's just that you're so big, how do I get up on you?" That sent the rest of the guys over the edge laughing.

"C'mon you guys! This isn't funny. I rode horses in Arizona, but never bareback. I'm scared of falling." Apparently my chipperness had transformed into verbal diarrhea.

"Bareback...too many jokes ..." Quil gasped for breath as tears streamed down his face.

Jake shook his head and finally took pity on me. He removed his shirt and shorts and I stood mesmerized by his body. The early morning sun broke through the cloud cover and haloed Jacob against the background of the forest. He was mouthwatering and my previous embarrassment gave way to lust. He gave me a wink before dropping his boxer briefs, standing in all his naked glory. He smirked when he saw me openly oogling him and bent down to tie something on his leg. The air around him shimmered, like a mirage on a hot day, and then he was a wolf. He gently lay down next to me, ducking his head so it was easy for me throw my leg over his back. As he slowly rose up, I gripped the silky fur in his neck as I settled into spot between his shoulder blades. It wasn't exactly comfortable, but I felt secure and didn't think I was at risk of falling.

Jake loped into the tree line and soon we were joined by the other wolves. The black one, which I think was Sam, took the lead position, while the others arranged themselves in a loose circle around us. I assumed this was a defensive position around me, the human girl riding her boyfriend, the werewolf. We started off at a slow jog and gradually increased speed. I probably should have been afraid, but I knew I was safe with Jacob. I leaned forward and burrowed my head into his shaggy russet fur. I closed my eyes and let the scents and sounds of the forest surround me.

After a short time, I felt Jacob slow and I lifted my head up. We emerged from the trees to a small clearing in the woods. We were close to the highway, but well hidden from anyone driving past. I could hear the river somewhere nearby. My Jacob gently lowered me to the ground so I could stand on my own and the wolves fanned out into a semi-circle around us. I reached out to stroke his muzzle running my fingers through his soft fur. When I leaned my head in to kiss his nose, the other wolves started growling. At first, I thought I had made a human/wolf faux pas I was unaware of, but then I saw they were growling at Edward, Alice and their family. I recognized Esme and Carlisle, but there were three others there as well. I assumed they were Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper, the brothers and sister I had heard about.

Edward was tugging on his hair, looking very distressed. In fact, it appeared as though both Emmett and Jasper had an arm on him. Not quite restraining him, but definitely holding him back from something. Carlisle stepped forward.

"Hello, Bella. It's nice to see you again." He smiled genuinely at me.

"Hello, Carlisle. Hi, Alice, um ...everyone." I was still a little freaked by Edward's behaviour last night, so I awkwardly waved at the group of vampires across from us. "So, Edward tells me you're all vampires. That must be, uh, cool? Hey, how come you're not exploding into dust – it's daytime?" I could feel Jake laughing beside me. At least someone found my embarrassment funny. I elbowed his enormous, furry, ribcage, hoping he would stop. The rest of the wolves seem to relax a bit as well.

"Ah yes, sometimes Hollywood doesn't always get it right. It seems as though you are quite calm about learning about us. Do you mind if I ask why that is?" He seemed really interested. I half expected him to whip out a notebook and jot something down.

"Well, I guess that Alice and Edward have always been nice to me, and we're friends. So …" I paused long enough to look at the group around me. "If they had meant to harm me, they probably would have done so already. Also, I'd be a hypocrite if I could accept that my boyfriend and his friends were werewolves and then get all uppity about vampires." I shrugged my shoulders. "I haven't really thought much about why I'm okay with it. But I do have lots of questions – starting with why Edward was in my room last night talking about visions." I looked over to meet Edward's eyes, hoping to see some sign of remorse. He looked at me, then Carlisle and finally to the wolves. He sank to his knees, hands still worrying his hair.

"Bella, I truly am sorry. I had no right to enter your room without permission, or to assume I was to be your rescuer. I was ... misinformed, for lack of a better term." Rosalie snorted loudly. It was an odd sound coming from her beautiful face. "I take for granted that some things are infallible, when in truth, nothing makes sense when it comes to you. I just want to protect you, Bella. I just want you to be safe." His eyes pled with me from across the space between us.

"Edward, I think you owe me more of an explanation than that. I have so many unanswered questions. You mentioned that Alice saw me in a vision. Are you vampires or psychics?" The wolves grew restless when I mentioned the vision.

"Bella, what do you know of our history with this area?" Carlisle asked.

"I pieced together the highlights. I gather you are the same vampires that made a treaty with Jacob's great-grandfather?" I asked. Carlisle nodded his head in agreement. "So that means you don't eat people, right?"

"We maintain what we refer to as a vegetarian diet. We only hunt animals, not people." Carlisle smiled. "This lifestyle allows us to form stronger family bonds than a typical coven. There is another group in Alaska that share our lifestyle, and also feed only from animals." He stepped closer to our group and his face became somber. "Bella, we are a minority amongst our kind. There are many others who do not share our views, who believe people are nothing more than cattle to be culled. Humans are not allowed to know of our existence. If the Volturi, our ruling class, were ever to find out you knew about us, it would be death for not only all of us, but also you." Jacob growled deeply at that last admission. Apparently, he wasn't so keen about the thought of me being put to death by the vampire government. I wasn't so keen on that idea either.

"You can't protect her, Jacob. Not if the Volturi find out." Edward said. Jacob's head tilted to the side and appraised Edward. "Yes, I can read your thoughts." Edward said calmly.

"Whoa. You're psychics AND mind readers?" I asked. "If you could read my mind, why didn't you know that I didn't know about you? Wait that sounded confusing. Just read my mind to figure out what I'm trying to ask you." I closed my eyes and tried concentrating my thoughts towards Edward. I actually heard him sigh.

"Oh, Bella, if I could only know your thoughts. You are such a mystery to me; it's all part of your appeal, of why I can't control myself around you." He lifted his arm as if to touch me, but was still twenty feet away. The motion didn't go unnoticed by all my furry friends, and it didn't go over well. A chorus of growls filled the air and Carlisle moved to stand in front of Edward.

"Please give us the opportunity to explain. At the time of our change, we believe that some characteristics from our human life come with us to our vampire life. It is different for everyone, and some have spent many years researching it. Edward, Alice and Jasper are what we refer to as "gifted." The characteristics they brought into this life are extrasensory. Edward, as you know now, can read minds. Alice can see the future. Jasper is empathic." Jacob and the wolves seemed uneasy at this news. "Bella, you seem to have some gifts of your own. Edward is unable to read your thoughts. It has provided him with some peace to befriend someone who he does not have to 'hear' constantly. You are very special to him." Jacob snarled loudly at that, as did several of the other wolves. It surprised me that as I stood so close to his bared canines, I felt no fear at all. I reached out to stroke him, and he immediately stopped growling.

Edward's head shot up and stared at the spotted gray wolf.

"What do you mean she has other powers?"

The gray wolf, who I thought was Embry, looked surprised to be singled out. His tail shot between his legs, and he tried to back up behind us.

"Bella, you can control the wolves?" Edward stood up and moved in front of Carlisle to address me.

"What? No! Well, maybe a little when I'm mad. Jake just told me about this Alpha female thing last night after I learned about spirit walkers. I haven't like, given orders or anything." I added. I looked nervously to the wolves wondering how much I was allowed to say.

"Alpha...the Alpha is the first. Spirit walkers ... Oh my God. All of you, why did Jacob transform? Why, when there were so many wolves already?" He was like a man possessed. Carlisle held an arm in front of him to prevent him from charging into the group of wolves to get answers. The wolves all looked at each other, but it's hard not to think of something when someone asks you.

"To claim her. His wolf wanted to claim her. Oh my God, do you know what this means?" Edward turned his back on us as if we didn't exist. "Hecate's Cure."

The other vampires all gasped, which I found amusing because I assumed none of them actually breathed.

Jacob must have been irritated because he shifted from wolf to human so he could speak. He quickly pulled on his shorts, which I thought was a shame. It's not like the Cullens were paying attention to us anyways, and I thought it was a crime when Jake wore clothes.

"Hey, I thought you guys were going to give Bella an explanation about your lack of boundaries and super vamp powers. What is between me and Bella has nothing to do with your vampire bullshit. And what about your Volchoori? Why can't I protect her from them?" At a very muscular 6'7" I couldn't imagine that Jacob was ignored very often. But there were seven vampires not twenty feet away, so totally engrossed in their own conversation, that none of them seemed to care that there were six giant werewolves and a tiny, irritated human girl waiting for their response.

"Hello? Are you going to explain or just talk amongst yourselves while we stand here?" My patience was waning fast. "I thought you were going to give us answers, not ask more questions." I stamped my foot. Jacob gave me a look and started chuckling. He always seemed to find my temper amusing.

The group turned towards us in eerie unison. Rosalie looked haunted and was leaning heavily on Emmett. Carlisle stepped forward again.

"My apologies again, Bella. You are quite right. This explanation has not been fair to you or your protectors. Perhaps I can answer some of your questions while providing you with an explanation for our rude behaviour. Would you be willing to hear us out?"

I looked to the wolves, but they were all looking to Jacob. Jacob caught my eye and nodded. Storytime was a go.

"Okay, Carlisle. Please begin." I sat down cross legged and settled in. I figured I should at least be comfortable. Jacob sat behind me and cocooned me in his arms and legs so that my back was flush with his chest as he rested his chin on the top of my head.

"To answer Jacob's question. The Volturi are a council of three ancient vampires residing in Italy. They enforce our laws, and while there are not many, the number one edict is to not reveal ourselves to humans. We maintain a life of secrecy. While my family's lifestyle allows us to co-exist with humans, we must move every few years or so, or risk that people will notice we do not age, we do not change. We are living stone."

"What about the sun?" Jake asked.

"What about the moon?" Carlisle replied. "I see very large werewolves in front of me, but it's not a full moon, it's the middle of the day. You, more than anyone should know that myths are often wrong." Edward walked to a patch of sunlight shining through the trees and stuck his hand into the light. The prismatic effect of the light bouncing everywhere reminded me of diamonds.

"This is why we live in the Pacific Northwest. The sun is not deadly, but it shows we are different."

"Fucking disco ball." Jake mumbled to himself. I squeezed his hand and smiled.

"Holy water, crosses, wooden stakes, silver, they all do nothing to us. You wolves know exactly what it takes to destroy our kind. We are told by others that when humans eat garlic, they don't taste as good, but it does not harm us."

"But the Volturi can harm you?" I asked.

"Yes, they are quite proficient at doling out punishment to vampires, including death. Trials are short and enforcement is immediate. Their leader is a mind reader named Aro. Unlike Edward, he needs to be touching you, but reads every thought you ever had – not just the one passing through at the time. While the leaders, Aro, Marcus and Caius appear to be fair and just, there are vampires among the guard that are sadistic and enjoy their positions of power."

"Don't you see, Bella? This is why I couldn't tell you. I had to protect you." Edward interrupted. Jake tried to jump to his feet, but I held his hands firmly. He could have easily let go, but chose to follow my lead. I calmly looked to Edward, hoping I could make him realise his bedroom crashing actions were not welcome.

"Edward, while I understand that you and Alice were looking out for my best interests, YOU need to understand that I'm not yours to protect." He flinched at my words, but nodded his ascent. "Carlisle, please continue."

"Thank you, Bella. I'd like to tell you some of our history now, and how it ties into Edward's discovery. Is that acceptable?"

"Yes, please go on."

"Bella, what do you know of Lilith?" he asked.

"Like the Sarah McLachlan music tour, Lilith Fair?" Carlisle chuckled at my comparison.

"Yes, like Lilith Fair."

"That's all I know. There was a music tour. Something about her being Adam's first wife and not being subservient and leaving Eden, right?" I didn't realise there would be a quiz at the meeting today. Apparently when dealing with supernatural creatures, I needed to be up on my theology.

"Yes, that is a popular reference to her. She is also often depicted as being a blood drinker. Amongst our kind, it is generally accepted that she was the first vampire. She's often referred to as the "Mother of Vampires."

"Whoa," Jake said. "The mitochondrial Eve of vampires. This is weird shit." I turned and looked at him, wondering where he had heard that term before. "What? It was on Battlestar Galactica. I Googled it."

"While most references to her are Babylonian, there are also implications in Greek Mythology that she was Lamia, daughter of Hecate." Carlisle looked at us expectantly as if that should have 'clicked' everything for us. If I wasn't up to speed on Christian theology, I don't know why he thought I'd know Ancient Greek.

"Hecate was known as the 'tender-hearted' goddess, but also known as the 'Mistress of Animals.' In art and in literature Hecate is constantly represented as dog-shaped or as accompanied by a dog. Actually, we refer to them as dogs today, but at the time, they were likely wolves. Vampire historians believe that Hecate created werewolves to counter the vampires her daughter had set loose on the world." Jacob looked skeptical. The other wolves pawed the ground indignantly.

"No," Edward answered someone's mind question. "We don't expect you to believe that she created you. We are only telling you what we know of our history." Carlisle continued his lesson.

"Hecate was also closely associated with plant lore and the concoction of medicines and poisons. It is believed that she passed on garlic to humans advising them it would protect against vampires. Like we said before, it makes them less appealing, but posed no threat to vampires. There have been whispers among many ancient vampires that Hecate created a cure for those who no longer wished to feed on the living. It has been passed down throughout the ages, either through writings or stories. Some parts were easy to figure out, while others were shrouded in mystery. It is something our family has looked into over the years, as none of us chose this life." With that admission, Rosalie sank into the ground sobbing. Emmett sat behind her and pulled her into his lap, comforting her.

"We have found directions of sorts, referenced in several languages.

Golden eyes that seek rebirth

A giving under the cypress, yew and moon

From the blood of my line,

who is protected and charges my spirits

From the blood of the First,

who was changed and belongs to her

From the blood drinker,

who has killed but abstained from drinking

Drink of this and live again.

We believe that it is instructions for a cure from vampirism." Carlisle tented his fingers together to give us an opportunity to let what he had told us sink in.

"Don't you see?" Edward jumped in. "Some parts were always clear, like 'Golden eyes' or the 'blood drinker who has killed but not drank', but other parts could have meant anything." He looked wild while he was explaining it to us. "Bella, what we're working off us is a poor translation, but don't you see? Your mind is shielded from my powers. You are protected by your mind and your wolves, which you can command. And Jacob is the Alpha! It's all so clear now!" He fell into maniacal laughter that set everyone on edge. Even his family looked concerned.

Jake gave me a skeptical look, clearly echoing what I was thinking.

"I dunno, Edward. It seems like you're just trying to make it fit. Like you said, it could mean anything." I fidgeted with the hem of my shirt, not really knowing where this left us. We had come to get answers, and instead we got a myth that Edward believed we were the center of. Being told I was at the center of two myths in twenty-four hours was a little much, even for me.

"I mean, are there any vampires that have never drank but killed? That seems pretty far fetched."

"I'm one." Rosalie said quietly. I had to strain to hear her. "I've killed but never tasted human blood." That comment made the wolves uneasy. After all they were here to protect people and we were so casually discussing her murdering people. "They deserved it." She muttered to herself and that haunted look came back to her lovely face.

"So what, you want us to donate blood or something?" Jake asked. "Because, no offense, I don't want mine or Bella's blood anywhere near hungry vampires. It's kinda like offering booze to a recovering alcoholic, isn't it? Especially since one of you can't seem to control himself to stay away from her already." Jake pointedly looked at Edward who was still gleeful at his supposed discovery.

"Of course not, Jacob." Carlisle interjected, aware that Edward seemed to be teetering on the edge of control. "We were just trying to enlighten you as to why we got so distracted. Perhaps this is a good opportunity for us to stop and let everything settle in. You've been bombarded with a lot of information in a short time. Thank you all for hearing us out." He slowly and deliberately guided his family back to what I assumed what their half of the boundary. Alice turned over her shoulder and mouthed goodbye. The guys quickly changed into their cutoffs and joined Jake and I on the ground.

"What the fuck? Right?" Paul laughed. "That was messed up."

"Bella, you're like a tiny, white, danger magnet!" Quil guffawed. "Man, that Edward has got it BAD for you!" Jake punched Quil in the shoulder.

"Not helping."

"So, where does this leave us with the treaty, Jake?" Sam asked. "I mean, you gave them warnings before about Edward, and then he was in her room last night."

"I don't know, Sam. There's seven of them, and six of us. I don't want it to come to a fight, because as awesome as we are, I don't want anyone to get hurt if we could have prevented it. I get the impression that the rest of the leeches will be keeping a closer eye on him." I nodded my agreement. I didn't want anyone fighting on account of me, and Edward did seem to understand that he and I had different interpretations of our relationship.

"Do you think there's a cure?" Embry asked. "Do you think it's real?"

"I think that they think it's real." I answered. "But it didn't sound like it had much of an instruction manual. In fact, it sounded pretty vague."

"I do think we need to step up patrols, at least around your house, Bells." I wrinkled my nose, hating the thought of putting anyone out. Jake took my hand and held my gaze.

"Please, Bells. I couldn't bear it if anything happened to you." I looked at his puppy dog eyes, and I couldn't refuse.

"Okay, I'm sorry guys." Jake nuzzled his face to my ear and kissed my temple.

"No need to be sorry, chica. Things are way more interesting with you around." Paul wagged his eyebrows at me, and stood up. The other wolves followed suit. As they disappeared into the forest, I realized that it was just Jake and I left in the clearing. I turned in his lap and stared up at the dark brown eyes I had grown to love.

"I love you so much, Bella. You know that right? I love you and I would do anything for you? Even without all this wolf/vampire crap? That I love YOU?" His hands framed my face as he looked deep into my eyes, trying to convey everything he was saying with a look.

"Of course I know that Jacob, I love you too." I shifted my weight so I could move from sitting to kneeling in front of him. I leaned in to kiss him and my hands trailed up his arms to rest on his neck. He pulled me even closer to him and shifted his legs so I was now straddling his lap. As I felt him harden underneath me, I knew there was something I couldn't get out of my head since I saw him naked in my yard this morning. "Lie back, Jake" I whispered into the shell of his ear as I started licking my way down his body. He leaned back on his elbows and watched me intently as I laved my way down, outlining each of his muscles with my tongue. I could spend an eternity admiring his body. As I reached his shorts and started to pull them down, he immediately lifted his hips and slid them down his massive legs. He leaned back again and kept his eyes trained on me. I couldn't think of anything else other than tasting him and licked my lips. I lowered my head and started kissing that deep V that had caught my eye so many months ago. As I worked my way lower and lower, I peeked behind my lashes to look up at Jacob and our eyes locked. Despite my position, he looked like the one about to devour me. I whimpered into his thigh and used my hand to hold his cock steady and then proceeded to lick from the base to the tip. Jacob's eyes rolled into the back of head and he moaned into the forest. I had no idea what I was doing, so I tried different things to gauge Jake's reaction. First, I slowly licked right below the head and he started to pant heavily. Okay, he seemed to like that. Then I placed my two small hands on him and started pumping up and down while licking the very tip. His hands dug into the earth and he started chanting my name. I took that as a sign to put his entire head into my mouth and started sucking gently, causing his hips to buck up. I hummed in appreciation and he went wild. I kept up a steady rhythm of pumping my hands and alternated sucking and humming as his hips kept thrusting up into me.

"Oh God, Bella. Bella, I'm gonna come, oh my God." Jake tried to pull out of my grasp but I held on tighter and kept sucking until he convulsed and I could feel him shooting into my mouth. He tasted like heaven. Some part of me realized that wasn't normal, and certainly not what I'd heard from other girls in Arizona, but Jacob tasted like the perfect mix of salty and sweet and I swallowed it all down. I slowly licked along his length as his body settled.

As his breathing came back under control, he lifted his head to look and me and I felt him start to harden again in my hand. That wasn't normal either was it?

"Bella, you are a goddess." Faster than I could see he had flipped himself over and was prowling towards me on all fours. Somewhere in the back of my mind I sensed I should be scared to have a predator hunting me, but I was just incredibly aroused. He pounced from his position and before I could blink, I was lying on the forest floor with Jake's hand behind my head, his other arm supporting his weight, and his body flush with mine. "Prepare to be worshipped, Bella." His deep, sexy voice sent shivers along my skin and I felt electrified at every point we touched. I closed my eyes, waiting for him to kiss me and suddenly there was nothing. He was no longer over me, and when I opened my eyes, a large russet wolf stood facing away from me with its hackles up.

"I mean no harm and no disrespect." A voice called out. I stood up so I could see around Jake, looking towards the other side of the "boundary" where the Cullens had been not long ago. Rosalie slowly stepped towards us with her hands in the air. "I know this is a lot to take in, I do. But please, I never wanted this life. Carlisle thought he was rescuing me after he found me near death, but I never thought this would be the salvation he offered me. Please." She slumped to her knees and started sobbing. "Edward says you like to fix up cars, yes? I will buy you anything you want, a whole garage of tools. Please just try." She looked up at us pleadingly and my heart broke.

"Try what? We don't understand." Jake huffed his agreement with me, and his hackles came down.

"Please just let us try to find the cure. I'll do anything." Her voice caught and then we heard crashing through the forest. Emmet blurred into view, but completely ignored Jacob and I. He crouched down next to her and scooped her up into his arms.

"Oh, Rosie." He held her ever so gently to him as she cried into his shirt. He looked across to us with sad eyes. "I love her more than anything. She is my angel and my salvation. I just want her to be happy." He easily held her in one arm, and caressed her face with his other hand. "I know you don't know us, and that Edward has royally fucked up. But Jacob," He addressed the wolf in front of him. "If you love Bella a fraction as much as I love Rosie, you'll understand. I would do anything, give anything, to keep her from hurting."

Jacob nodded his massive wolf head towards Emmet, and the turned to lay in front of me so I could climb on his back again. Emmet turned towards the forest carrying Rosalie, and Jacob slowly backed us further onto our 'side' of the treaty line. I had so many thoughts going through my head I was surprised when we broke through the treeline into my yard.