The Consequences {Jacob Black}

Chapter XVI

That would be the only explanation. I sat and replayed the legends again and again in my head. "You can blame your reeking bloodsucker for this," Jake had shouted at Bella. Oh God; the Cullens, that's who supposedly made the treaty with Ephraim Black. So Bella was dating a vampire and she was okay with this. My sister was dating a creature without a beating heart that's greatest desire was to suck her dry.

Bella didn't know about Jake. At least, I didn't think she did. He had told her about the legends once before, when she had been asking about the Cullens. So she knew the legends but my sister wouldn't figure this out. And Jake was right; it was to dangerous for her to figure it out. The legends said that Taha Aki's anger was what turned him into the wolf. Well, I guess I couldn't call them legends anymore. Oh my God this shit was real.

That would explain how Jake had heard me. What I had once written off as adrenaline was the strength of his wolf. That's how he'd kicked in the door. That's why he was so angry at Bella when he'd gone to her room. And Sam—Sam must be the Alpha. Sam had told him that he couldn't tell me about the wolves. That's why Jake was being so quiet. "You okay?" Bella asked with a light knock on the door.

"Yeah; fine. I convinced Jake to give me real food and it kind of backfired on me," I said by means of excuse. "I'm just starting to feel better."

"That's good," Bella said. "Hey, so maybe in a few days we can head down and talk to Jake," she suggested. I just spent the afternoon with him; what was she talking about? "When you were in the hospital, he was really quiet. He didn't want to talk to anyone unless they were going to tell us about you," she explained. Jacob Black had ignored my sister? No; something was definitely wrong.

"Bella, I don't think we should go down there." I mean, let's forget the fact that my back was riddled with stitches and scabs. Let's forget the back that all I wanted to do was sleep for the rest of my life.

"I'll call Billy and get permission," she said simply. "You should get some rest; you don't look very good," she added. Had she not been listening when I said that I had just thrown up? Probably not, actually.

I was working on my English essay when Bella burst back in to the room. "There is the crazy little thing called knocking? I mean, even Jake knocks." That's a lie.

"Billy said not to call the house and that Jake can't talk to us," she groaned. "What is going on with him? One day, he wants to be my best friend and the next, he won't talk to me," she whined. Welcome to my life. Wait until you have to share him with some whiner you call a sister.

"Bella, Billy wouldn't say something like that if he didn't mean it," I replied, looking up from my computer screen. All I could think about was Jake. This was real. And Jake was gone for a few days. He couldn't be chasing something, could he? God, please let him be okay. I couldn't focus on my essay and I sure as hell couldn't hold my tongue around my sister. "Bella, I'm really tired. Just leave Jake alone, okay? Billy knows what's best for his son," I whispered.

She scoffed, like I had insulted her. She stopped with her hand on my doorframe. "Do you know something that I don't?" she asked. She just had to ask a stupid question.

"I know a lot of things you don't, Bella," I said. She glared at me and exhaled sharply, like something had stabbed her and walked away. I closed my computer and sank down in my bed. The moon was shining down, casting an eerie glow over the forest. "Please stay safe, Jacob," I begged.

•••

"Bella, I don't think that this is a good idea," I said from the passenger. She turned and glared at me. A week had gone by and there was still no sign of Jake. I understood why, or at least I think I did. I was just starting to feel like and idiot. I actually believed that my sister had been willingly dating a vampire, that my best friend was an ancient shape shifting spirit warrior, and that his deceased mother could talk to me through a dreamcatcher that she'd made me when I was four. Maybe a shard of glass had wiggled itself into my brain because I was going insane.