The Consequences {Jacob Black}

Chapter LVIII: Jacob's Point of View

I hated that the girl was right... again. Everything she was saying made perfect sense. The leech had taken the things that smelled more like her than anything else. She slept with that blanket that my mother had made her, so it would literally be swimming in her scent. Her workout clothing smelled more like her than anything else she owned, covered in her sweat.

Oh holy mother of God! For whatever reason, this thing was hunting her. She kicked me out of the house more for her own safety than anything else. My fear was overcoming me, forcing my bones into a different position until I was in my wolf form, my ears swiveling to listen to the forest around me.

I didn't go very far, just ran circles around my father's property. This thing couldn't get her, not again. I wouldn't lose her to this monstrosity. I wouldn't let her be taken from me because her sister pissed some vamp off. No; I wouldn't lose her. I didn't give a flying fuck why this thing was after her. It wasn't going to get her.

I couldn't hear anyone else in my head, but that might be because I was only able to hear my heart beating in my ears. This couldn't be happening. Why to Annie? Why did she have to be the target of all this?

And as my imprint crossed my brain again, I knew I had to get back to the house. If I was freaking out about this, I couldn't imagine what Annie was thinking about. How had I been so selfish as to walk out on her? She was probably scared out of her mind and swallowing it all so that I could feel better. That would be my girl. I found her staring at the water that was close to overflowing in the sink.

"You okay?" She dropped her plate back into the murky depths of sink, her hands shaking a little as she moved to smooth the front of her shirt.

"I don't think so," she said in a quiet voice. "I'm scared, Jake." Who could blame her?

"I won't let it get you," I promised her, turning her towards me. Nothing bad would ever touch her again. I would walk through fire to make sure that didn't happen. "I won't let it hurt you."

"I'm not worried about me." Of course she wasn't. That wouldn't be at all like my Annie. "I'm worried about everyone else. What if it hurts the guys?" Unlikely; any one of them would tear that damn bloodsucker apart. "Or Leah or Kim or Nate or my dad?"

"It won't," I vowed.

"How do you know?" she suddenly screamed at me, her fears bubbling over. "We keep saying that it won't hurt us, that everything will be fine, but clearly it's not. Because I am constantly attacked. I am always in fear of losing my friends and family. Nothing about my life is the same anymore. And I can't do it right now, Jake. I can't pretend that I'm okay right now." Clearly I would have to come up with some kind of plan before she would calm herself.

I bowled her cheeks in my hands and pulled her nose up to my chin, but her eyes remained fixed downward.

"Look at me," I whispered. "You don't have to pretend that you're okay, Annie. No one expects you to just be okay with the way that things are." I sure as hell didn't expect her to. She was too strong for her own good. "We get it; it's not easy. I don't want you to feel like you can't tell me something. I don't want you to feel like you have to hide it. I know that it's hard. I know that I keep saying that everything will be okay and it's not really getting any better, but there's only so much that we can do with the leeches back in town." She just nodded, still looking unconvinced.

I sighed. She wanted more. No; she needed more than just words. She needed plans that she thought she could put into action.

"I'm going to talk to my dad about getting Charlie down here as much as possible so that we can keep him safe, okay?" She nodded again. "The imprints will stay on the Rez or with a wolf. I'll talk to Leah and see if she's willing to introduce Nate." I pulled her tight against my chest, her cheek resting against my heart. "As for you, you are never leaving my sight again. You will go to school, to the gym, and back home. I will take patrol while you and Leah are at the gym or I will go with you.