Solstice

EXPLANATIONS

Persephone took command of the situation. 'I see,' she said, looking Jacob over with a not-unkind expression on her face. 'When I undid the imprint,' she told me as she turned to me, 'I undid the memory of his obsession. He has no recollection of what has happened over the past seven years.' How convenient, I thought sourly, but stayed silent. Persephone's eyes, however, widened briefly and I remembered – too late – that she somehow had access to my thoughts. 'Jacob Black, I am Persephone Grey. I was welcomed into Bella and Edward's family just this afternoon.' Her eyes, which were rapidly fading to the shade of old gold, surveyed him candidly. 'A lot has happened here that I need to explain to you. Would you like to come with me, and I can tell you –'

'No. I want to hear about it here, and now. I want to know why Bella seems to have lost her mind,' Jacob spat, and I was unable to control the snarl that slipped out of my throat. 'How could you, Bella? How could you become one of them? A bloodsucker? What the hell were you even thinking?'

'You seem to have overshot a bit, timewise,' I said sarcastically to Persephone. 'He doesn't even remember the wedding, does he?'

'Wedding?' Jacob shouted, and veins stood out on his neck. His eyes were bulging with fury. 'You mean to tell me you married him after he left you – and left me to pick up the pieces?'

Edward was suddenly at Jacob's side, and Embry and Seth was right behind him. Sam had gone home to be with his Emily and his babies, and Jared and Quil back to Kim and Claire, but Embry and Seth, the only two who hadn't imprinted, had decided to hang out with us for the next week or so. They'd been staying at the cabin in the woods – they'd made it very homey, and were playing at camping out. 'Don't speak to my wife like that, Jacob. Not now, not ever. Do you understand me?' His voice was like ice, and Jake, despite himself, flinched. 'You've done enough damage, Jacob Black, and I will not allow you to do any more –'

'Damage? What the hell are you talking about?' Jacob roared, and Embry and Seth restrained him as he lunged at Edward.

He won't imprint on another of my eggs, will he? I asked Persephone through our mental connection, and her eyes widened. She shook her head, and I huffed out a sigh of relief. Thank God. The way he's looking at me, it's like he's still got a crush on me, and as he imprinted on Ness the last time... I don't want to risk that happening again. Not that I can get pregnant. Can I?

'Jacob, sit,' Persephone said firmly, and I tried to control my panic. He responded to the power in her voice, sinking to the ground, his legs folded. His eyes, black and irate, glared beneath their shaggy brows at me. 'I will tell you this as simply as possible, so you can understand what happened to you,' she informed him as the rest of my family gathered around me. Edward sat at my side, half-shielding me with his body. It was high school all over again. 'For the past seven years, Jacob, you were imprinted on Bella and Edward's daughter, Ness. Unfortunately for you, Ness decided that she did not see a romantic future with you, and you were heartbroken. This heartbreak turned to madness.' Jacob's eyes, crazed with pain, widened. 'Several days ago, you came to kill – no, to murder – Ness and Bella. Ness, because she had rejected you; Bella, because she had carried Ness's message of rejection to you. And because Bella was the reason Ness was born in the first place.

I stood alongside Bella in the garden as you lunged at them both. I broke the imprint to save Bella and Ness's lives – and yours. Edward would have killed you himself if you had murdered his wife and child.'

'That I would.' Edward's voice was calm, but there was an undercurrent of anger in it so deep that I took his hand and held it as tightly as I could.

'I imprinted? I tried to kill you? C'mon, Bella,' Jake scoffed, shaking his head impatiently. 'I don't believe it.'