This time Billy came with Charlie to pick Jacob and I up from the airport. It was nearly nine at night when we landed and jet lag was already catching up with both of us. Still, we managed to stay awake by telling our dads all about our trip to Florida and the time we spent with Renee. Jacob’s enthusiasm and animated talk about the things he had seen kept all of us entertained during the long ride back to La Push where we would be dropping off Billy and Jacob before going home.
As Charlie pulled into the gravel driveway of the Black’s house, we all saw Sam and Embry waiting on the porch for our arrival. I could tell they were trying to look nonchalant so as not to make Charlie suspicious, but even I knew Sam wasn’t there just to welcome Jacob home at this late hour. Embry probably would have done it, but not Sam.
Jacob had gone silent the moment he saw them and I could feel the way his fingers seemed to hold mine a little bit tighter. As Charlie parked the car, Embry pushed away from the pole he had been leaning against and waved at us.
“Wow, Jacob, your friends really missed you didn’t they?” remarked Charlie.
Jacob glanced at me with a worried look as he replied, “Yeah, I guess they did.”
As we got out, Embry and Sam approached us. Sam gave a nod of respect to Billy and Charlie before looking at Jacob.
“Hey Jacob, sorry for bugging you so late, but I need to borrow a couple of tools from you to fix Emily’s car. She needs it ready for work tomorrow morning.”
“Yeah, sure,” he glanced at Billy, “just let me get my dad…”
“That’s okay, Jacob,” interrupted Charlie with a wave of his hand. “You go help Sam. Bella and I can get Billy inside.”
Jacob looked at Charlie. “You sure?”
“Yeah, no problem.”
“Thanks Charlie,” replied Jacob as he walked towards the garage with Sam and Embry following him.
I watched their retreat for a few moments, knowing full and well that Sam’s excuse to borrow some of Jacob’s tools was just a cover-up for what they were really going to talk about. I wondered what could Sam have to say this late, but was jarred out of my musings by Charlie’s voice.
“Bella, can you get Jake’s bag out of the trunk for me while I take Billy inside?”
I nodded. “Sure, dad.”
As I got Jacob’s bag out of the trunk, I realized Charlie had gotten the wheelchair out and Billy into it all while I’d stood there watching the three wolves walk into the garage. It was a testament to Charlie’s minding his own business that he hadn’t remarked on that.
I shut the trunk then hoisted Jacob’s bag higher on my shoulder before following Charlie inside the Black’s house. As Charlie and Billy settled in the living room, I walked to Jacob’s room to drop off his bag. Pushing his bedroom door open, I stood there and looked around before walking over to his bed to drop the bag on it.
In the month and a half that Jacob and I had been dating, I had been in Jacob’s room all of three times, and then it was only ever for a few minutes. Since his room was so tiny, we tended to spend most of our time in the living room or out in the garage. The garage was our preference, but if we were just doing homework then it was in the living room.
Still, I stood there looking around his room, taking in all the things that were a part of his life. The things that made him, my Jacob. The bed itself was an old twin-sized bed, much too small for his bulk and height these days. Then again, Jacob was just too big for the entire room because when he was in it, he dwarfed everything.
Despite that, the room seemed to suit him.
It smelled like him. As messy and cramped as it was, it smelled like the clean, outdoorsy scent that he exuded when he was near me. There was even that hint of the other smell that I never had a name for. It was always very faint, but very earthy and warm, which often led me to calling it his wolf scent for the simple fact that it somehow made me feel safe and relaxed. It smelled like home to me, the place I went to when I needed to feel whole…loved.
Like the earthy scents, his room boasted the same warm colors of the earth itself. Full of browns, tans and greens with a splash of red ocher or sky blue here and there. Other than the simple bed, he had a wooden chair in a corner with clothes thrown over it and a dresser drawer next to the door. That was all of the furniture in that tiny room, but the plain tan walls were cluttered with all sorts of paintings, photos and other memorabilia he had collected over the course of his life.
I smiled to see several photos in handmade wooden frames scattered over the top of the dresser. Most of them were of his parents and sisters, but I saw a couple of pictures of he and I in there also. One such picture seemed to sit as a centerpiece to the others around it. It was a recent picture of us at First Beach, sitting side-by-side on our driftwood tree, a place we often liked to go just to chill and talk.
I remembered the day that picture was taken very well. It was barely a week after we had started dating and some of my friends from school had wanted to hang out at the beach. Angela had specifically told me to invite Jacob so that everyone could finally meet him. Jacob had easily made friends with everyone, even Mike, who was still rather put out that I had once again passed him over as boyfriend material.
It had been that day that Angela had snapped pictures of us with her newest digital camera that her parents had given to her for her birthday. When Jacob realized she had been taking pictures of us, he’d asked if he could have some to keep for himself. Angela had agreed to print out some copies for him, but that had been the last I had remembered hearing about it. Since one of the photos was now on his dresser, I guessed Angela had found a way to get the copies to Jacob.
I couldn’t help the warmth that flooded me at the sight of the photograph. You could clearly see the closeness Jacob and I shared in it. He had his left arm around me as I leaned into his side. My left hand was on his chest as we seemed to be laughing about something. The joy evident in our smiles and eyes, even as his head leaned down towards my upturned one.
It was clearly one of our more carefree moments that Angela had managed to capture and it made me make a mental note to ask Angela for a copy of my own. It would be nice to have current pictures of Jacob and I in my own room since all I had were a couple of faded photos from when we were little.
“Bella? You ready to go?” came Charlie’s voice from the living room.
I made my way back to them to see that Jacob wasn’t back yet. Charlie was looking up at me expectantly, so I nodded as I made my way to the front door.
“Just let me go say bye to Jacob and I’ll meet you in the car.”
Charlie waved me out as Billy quirked an eyebrow at me, but said nothing. I grinned at him.
“See ya later, Billy.”
His chuckle followed me out of the door as I made my way towards the garage. As I got closer, I could hear voices, Jacob’s husky one and Sam’s deeper timbre. Although they got quiet the closer I got to the garage door, I didn’t hesitate to walk inside.
All three of them stood there facing the door, obviously waiting for me. I knew they had either heard or smelled my approach with their wolf senses, but I ignored the silence and stares as I smiled at Jacob.
“Charlie’s ready to go, so I thought I would come say goodbye.”
Jacob held out his hand to me and I took it, letting him pull me into his side where he wrapped both arms around me and buried his face into my hair. I knew something was up by the way he held me so close to him. It wasn’t his normal bear hug, even if it still made it hard to breathe.
Instead of my usual response, I frowned against his chest.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, voice muffled in his shirt.
He sighed as he pulled slightly away to look into my eyes. “Victoria’s back.”
I stiffened at that as Jacob began rubbing my arms trying to reassure me while Sam scowled and Embry tried to hide a smile.
“It’s going to be okay Bells, we won’t let anything happen to you. Trust me, we have it covered,” Jacob assured me as Sam whispered a harsh warning.
“Jacob!”
I had been shaking my head at Jacob’s words. “It’s not that Jake. I’m not worried about myself and…and I know the pack can take care of Victoria, I just hate that you even have to deal with her at all.”
Embry tsked as he smiled at me. “Told you she trusted us, Sam! And she’s not as dense as you think she is! Jake’s right, she needs to know everything.”
Sam bared his teeth at Embry in a very wolf-like manner making the latter lower his head and eyes to the ground in a submissive gesture. Jacob just looked at Sam with narrowed eyes before turning back to me.
“Jared’s at your house keeping watch. Embry’s going to shadow you and Charlie to your house then resume patrolling while Jared stays and watches over your house. Sam and Paul will be relieving them for the usual overnight shift.”
I nodded. “Okay.” Looking from Sam, Embry and back to Jacob I added, “That’s not different. I don’t understand what’s the problem.”
Again Sam scowled, but Jacob ignored him. “With Victoria back, we’re resuming the twenty-four hour patrols we had before.”
My eyes went wide. “What? Does that mean you’re missing school again?”
Jacob gave me a sad shake of his head. “No Bells, we have enough pack members to avoid that.”
I gasped at that announcement. I now understood why there was a pained look on Jacob’s face.
“Someone else has phased.” It wasn’t a question.
He nodded as Sam took a step towards us. “Jacob, that’s enough.”
Jacob growled at Sam. “Don’t you dare Alpha order me, Sam! She has a right to know everything! It’s her the redhead wants!”
This time even I scowled at Sam. He, like Jared and Paul, wasn’t keen on my dating Jacob and I was getting fed up with all of this bickering and posturing between them all.
“Look Sam,” I snapped, “I get that you’re not happy about my being here, but Jake’s right! I not only have a right to know what’s going on, but I want to know! Really, what do you think I’m going to do with all this information? Sell it to the newspapers? As if I want to run the risk of being put in a straightjacket! Besides that, do you really think I’d do anything to hurt Jake? Or the rest of you? Whether you like it or not, I consider you guys my friends, so get over yourself already!”
I took a deep breath as my heart pounded in my ears and my body seemed to vibrate with frustration. I could feel my hands curled into fists at my sides as Jacob curled an arm around my waist and pulled me back into his side. I blinked up at him as I realized what I’d just done.
I’d almost yelled at Sam! The wolf pack’s Alpha! Was I suicidal?
Yet, looking at Jacob’s face, I could see the pride and amusement mixed in his eyes as he glanced at me before turning to glare at Sam. Next to Sam, Embry wore a shit-eating grin, clearly thrilled that I had stood up to Sam. Sam himself looked at Embry, then Jacob.
As Jacob raised an eyebrow in question, Sam finally gave a sigh of resignation and nodded.
“Fine!” Then he turned to me as his face softened. “You’re right. You do have a right to know what’s going on.”
Again he sighed. “And for the record, I trust you Bella. I know you’ll keep our secrets. Both Jacob and Billy have vouched for you, so I can’t argue with that. Plus, Emily likes having you around, so what Emily wants, Emily gets.”
He glanced at Jacob as he said that last part, but then went on. “But Jacob’s right, we have enough wolves now to resume the twenty-four hour shifts without interfering with schooling too much.”
I looked at Jacob, “So, who phased?”
I knew the answer before Jacob said it. “Quil, while we were in Florida. That’s why my dad couldn’t take me to Charlie’s. Old Quil had called him to say Quil seemed to be more upset and hot than usual, so they went to see him just in case.”
Sam nodded. “He finally phased Saturday morning, so we’ve been working with him all weekend. Since he’s new at this, I’m keeping him out of school until he’s under control. In the meantime, he’ll be patrolling with me during school hours. Since Jared is pretty much finished with his senior year, he and Paul will be taking the overnight shift and Jacob and Embry will take the after school evening hours until further notice.”
I nodded, knowing that until Victoria was caught, my time with Jacob would be extremely limited. If he wasn’t in school, he would be patrolling or catching up on homework and sleep. It looked like we’d get to see each other only during the weekends, if we were lucky. I knew I was going to have to keep on top of him to make sure he was getting enough sleep and doing his homework or he’d let it fall to the side in favor of spending time with me.
“Okay, well at least Jake can still go to school,” I said as Jacob rolled his eyes.
“Bella! Time to go!” shouted Charlie from the house.
Sam nodded to Jacob as he picked up the tools he was taking with him as cover. “Get some sleep Jacob, I’ll expect you on patrol with Embry after school tomorrow.”
With that he headed out of the garage with Embry trailing behind him. Just before he walked outside, Embry gave Jacob and I a friendly wave then joined Sam outside where he was talking to Billy and Charlie.
Jacob turned me to face him. “You okay, Bells?”
I smiled up at him. “I’ll be fine. I trust you guys. I know you’ll keep me safe.”
He sighed as he hugged me to him. “I hope we catch her soon. I hate living like this.”
“I know Jake,” I replied as I hugged him back.
He pulled away slightly to cup my cheek in his large, warm hand. “Once she’s gone, maybe we can finally have our lives back.”
I sighed. “Yeah.”
“Bella! We’re leaving. Now!” shouted Charlie.
“Coming!” I shouted back as Jacob chuckled.
He leaned in and kissed me goodbye, taking his time to sweep my tongue with his until oxygen became necessary again. Slowly, reluctantly, he pulled away.
“Night, Bells. Call me when you get home okay?”
“What? I’m sure Embry will tell you if I made it home okay,” I teased with a smile.
He narrowed his eyes. “Bella!”
I chuckled. “Okay. Just kidding.”
I rose to my toes and planted a quick kiss on his lips. “Bye Jake! I’ll call you in a bit,” I finished as I made my way out of the garage.
Charlie was sitting in his cruiser looking like he was about to start honking the horn in annoyance. I waved to Billy who was on the porch, then climbed in besides Charlie as Jacob joined Billy. The Blacks continued to wave to us as Charlie pulled onto the road and headed to Forks.
“Geez Bella, it’s not like you didn’t just spend the entire weekend with Jacob! What was taking so long?” groused Charlie.
I chuckled. “We were talking to Embry, that’s all.”
He shook his head and grumbled under his breath, “Teenagers.”
***************************************************
As soon as we got home and got inside with my belongings, I wasted no time in checking to make sure we were locked up good and tight. I knew Embry had followed us home in wolf form and he and Jared were out there keeping their senses sharp just in case, but now that I was home, my façade was quickly crumbling.
I said goodnight to Charlie, unpacked then took a quick shower before calling Jacob to let him know I was home. We talked for a little while before getting off of the phone because I knew Jacob had some homework to do before he went to bed.
After I hung up, I began getting my things ready for school. It was while I was setting my backpack on my desk chair that I noticed the curtains to my windows were open. Normally it didn’t bother me, since I had been used to first Edward, then Jacob using my window as an entrance, but now that I knew Victoria was somewhere out there, my view changed. I stumbled to the windows and shut them, making sure they were locked before pulling the curtains tight over them.
Wrapping my arms around myself, I plopped down on my bed and stared at the curtains as the last of my bravado faded away. Unable to stop the shivering, I allowed it to consume my body until my jaw hurt from clenching it so hard. I wasn’t really cold at all.
I was terrified.
Deep down inside, I knew the wolf pack could handle Victoria. They would succeed in catching her…eventually. In the meantime, she was still out there, watching and waiting for the right time to strike. She was much more devious than any of us seemed to be giving her credit for. I wasn’t afraid for the pack because I knew they could handle her once they got her. What made me afraid was the fact that she was so elusive in the first place.
I worried that she would somehow find a way to get to me before the pack could deal with her. I knew she was that good since she was still on the loose. Time and time again, she kept evading the pack, a sign to all of us that she was obviously thinking this all out. She wasn’t being random at all. She was striking at times we all seemed to be in our most relaxed state.
She was feeling all of us out. And she could be watching the house right now without Jared or Embry ever being aware of it. That thought sent me to shaking all over again. I swallowed and tightened my arms around myself some more.
Yet no matter how fearful I was about her, I knew I didn’t have to worry about Jacob or even Charlie. She would come for me first, so that would give the pack enough time to protect Charlie. As for Jacob, the pack always worked together in groups of two or more, so he would never be alone. He would never have to face her on his own.
The only thing that bothered me, almost as much as her finding me, was the pain those I loved would experience if Victoria succeeded in ending me. I didn’t want to think about what Jacob would do if he felt like he’d failed in protecting me. I would never blame him for that. Even in death, I would know he did what he could to protect me, but I knew he would never forgive himself. The same would be true for Charlie. Even if he didn’t know how I had died, he still would blame himself for not protecting me.
Then there was Renee.
I had no idea how she would react other than mourning my passing. I just hoped she wouldn’t blame Charlie for it…or Jacob. And I hoped she wouldn’t stop living her life with Phil just because I was no longer around.
There were others I thought of. The rest of the wolf pack…. Emily… Billy… Angela. All of them a part of my life and all of them becoming so dear to me as I lived my life. I couldn’t bear to be the cause of grief for any of them.
The more I thought of everyone, the more I realized I had to keep myself as safe as possible. I had to be smart and help the pack to keep me out of Victoria’s clutches. That meant I had to make sure I was within reach of at least one of the wolf pack members at all times and I had to always be aware of my surroundings.
I began to chew on my lip as I thought of my daily life and the things I did. Was there anything I did that could possibly take me away from the patrolling wolves reach?
If I wasn’t at my house, I was usually in La Push with Jacob so there wasn’t really much except school and work. Everything else could be easily omitted or avoided. Still, I had told Angela that I was thinking of quitting at Newton’s to find a better job that could not only pay me a little more, but allow me to get some experience in whatever I wanted a career in. That being the case, I decided to put my notice in at Newton’s now and wait until it was safer before looking for a new job.
That way, the only time I would be away from the wolves protection would be while I was in school. However, I couldn’t see Victoria coming after me in a crowded place like school and I knew once I set foot outside of the school grounds, I would have a wolf shadowing me all the way home.
Once I made up my mind to do this, I tried to relax in bed so I could get some sleep and be kind of rested for school the following morning. I crawled under the covers, thinking that sleep would be impossible since I kept flinching at every little noise I heard. I couldn’t even turn off all of the lights, leaving the lamp next to my bed on as a flimsy reassurance. As if that could prevent a vampire from getting to me.
Imagine my surprise when the next thing I knew, my alarm was blaring, letting me know I had indeed fallen asleep quickly after all. It had to be the jet lag catching up with me because I dragged my tired body from the bed feeling like I hadn’t gotten any sleep at all.
With a sigh, I stumbled into the bathroom and mentally prepared myself for the beginning of yet another milestone in my life. Today would be the day I would start facing whatever obstacles came my way. Today I would start being smarter and more aware of what I was doing at every moment of the day. I would become more aware of my own safety, not only for myself but for those I loved.
It was time that I took part in protecting myself instead of letting everyone else do it for me. Time to prove not only to others, but to myself, that I was not as fragile as we all thought I was.
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