The Consequences {Jacob Black}

Chapter CXVIII

Shouting at him obviously didn't stop him from phasing. His clothes shredded as he snarled. He immediately turned to face me. I gave him what I hoped was a furious face as he looked apologetically at me. And then his eyes fell to my father. They went wide as he realized that he'd lost his temper and revealed the secret. "Jake, go run," I sighed. "I've got this." He hesitated as between me and the pale face of my father. "Just go. We'll talk about this." I hoped he heard the warning in my voice. Jake took a step closer, clearly afraid of how much trouble he would be in when he got home. If he only knew.

"Ryanne, get back!" Dad shouted at me. His hand wrapped around my arm and pulled me back behind him. He pulled his gun from its holster, pointing it at Jake.

"No, Dad! It's Jake. He won't hurt us," I assured him. Dad didn't put the pistol down. "Dad," I implored. I stepped out of his shadow and in front of Jake. My wolf's wet nose touched the back of my neck, telling me to back to my father, but I wouldn't budge. His rough tongue scraped along the same spot, but I still wouldn't move. "Go, Jake. I'll talk to my dad." He whined, sounding so much like a dog that I normally would have teased him. But there was a gun being pointed at our faces and this was no time to be laughing. "Jake, go. I'm not going to tell you again."

A puff of warm air blew past my neck as Jake huffed at me. He licked me again and turned, sprinting towards the trees at top speed. Dad swiveled his gun to shoot him, but Jake was too fast. "What the hell is going on, Ryanne?" he spat. "Jake just turned... Jake is a monster!"

"He's not, Dad. He's not a monster. He's a protector," I said.

"We're going home. I'm getting you away from him," he screamed, replacing his gun and tugging on my arm.

"No, Dad you have to listen to me," I said, trying to explain. He didn't seem to care about what I was saying. He was muttering underneath his breath about Jake being a murderer, about the hunters that were found dead in the woods, about Harry. "Dad, they didn't do any of that. I promise you. The guys aren't here to hurt anyone."

"Guys?" he snapped, stopping suddenly and forcing me to collide with his back. "There are more of them?"

"Dad, please, you have to let me explain," I begged.

"I've been letting you live with him. Oh my God, Ryanne, what did he do to you? Did he hurt you?" Dad continued.

"Dad, you have to listen to me. Jake hasn't done anything to me. He protects me. You don't know what's going on. You just have to give me a chance to explain," I begged.

"You are never going to see that thing again," he spat, pulling me towards his car again.

I used all the power in my body, which was more than people realized after all my years of MMA, and pulled us to a stop. Dad lost his balance and went toppling to the ground. I reached out, feeling immediately bad about pulling him, but Dad didn't take my hand. He just stared at it. I gave up and used his weak moment to start telling him. I kneeled down in the grass beside him. "Dad, Jake isn't doing anything wrong. The legends that Sarah and Billy used to tell all the time, the bonfires that I attend, it's all real like the legends say. The bonfires are the tribal meetings, they're not just excuses for the kids to get drunk." He looked over at me startled. "We don't drink," I assured him. Forever the dad.

"Jake and his friends are Spirit Warriors. They are the protectors of the Quileute people," I said. "I can tell you everything, all the shit -"

"Language," he reprimanded. I had to avoid laughing. Leave it to Dad to correct me even now. I think it was his way of making things normal again. He couldn't understand what had happened or what I was telling him, but he could still be my father.

"I can tell you all the stuff that Bella has done Dad and how she got to be so sick. But I don't think that you want to know about that. You're a little freaked out right now, Dad. And that's okay," I was quick to assure him. "Some people get a little freaked out at first." At least he had someone who told him about it. I figured it out on my own and was then attacked by one of them. "Dad, I promise you that there is nothing to be scared about. I've never lied to you before and I have no reason to lie to you about this.."

He was breathing deeply like he didn't know if he could take this all. "Is there anything else that I should know about?" he asked.

I had a momentary debate about whether or not to tell him about Bella. I wasn't going to because I felt like I was ratting out my sister in some weird way. But after I thought the words, my next thought was the time that Bella had told Dad about my sneaking out. Yeah, fuck her. "Bella is really sick because she isn't human anymore, Dad."

"The boy, Edward; he isn't human either, is he?" I bit my upper lip and pulled it down so that my cupid's bow was almost in a straight line. Finally, I just shook my head. "So he's turned her into something? Are you going to tell me what he turned her into?"

"Do you really want to know?" I whispered. He was debating internally about whether or not he wanted me to tell him. It seemed like an eternity when he finally nodded. "A vampire, Dad. Bella and Edward and the Cullens are vampires."

"Like Dracula?"

I chuckled a little, wishing that I had ever thought of that vampires as being anything like Dracula. "Yeah, Dad; like Dracula," I said. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, his knees apart as he tried to gain control of himself.

"Did Bella know about this before she was um... changed?" he asked then.

"Yeah, Dad. She's known since they started dating," I replied. He looked at me and then at the spot that Jake had disappeared to. "I've known about Jake for a while, Dad. Since after I came home from the hospital when Mr. Murphy assault me," I answered, hoping that's what he was concerned about.

"So my girls just have a thing for the supernatural?" he asked, trying to lighten to situation.

"I guess you could say that," I replied, watching him carefully to gauge his reaction.

"What was Jake talking about when he said Bella could kill us?" he asked, looking over at me.

"Bella is a vampire Dad. She's a leech, a parasite. She feeds on blood to survive. And she's still young. There's a chance that she might kill you because she won't be able to control herself. For Edward to call you... It was reckless and dangerous Dad. She could kill either one of us if we were around her," I explained.

"So I can't see my daughter anymore?" This was the hard part. I wasn't sure how to tell him that his daughter had died. The person that Bella used to be was gone and she wasn't coming back anytime soon. She wasn't natural; she was a killer.

"That's for you to decide, Dad. I mean, hanging out with Bella, there is always the chance that something will happen and that she will hurt you. It might not be intentional," Knowing Bella it would be for her own personal gain, "but there is always a chance that something might harm you there."

"And with you and Jake? I mean, he did just turn into a huge ass dog," he said. I fought the urge to correct him on his language. "That seems to hold some kind of danger to it, don't you think?"

"Dad, what happened just now... It doesn't usually happen like that. Jake usually controls his temper better. It's just that...when it comes to Bella, it's a little harder for Jake to stay calm. She's done so much that has hurt us, hurt you and you don't even know it. It's hard for him to keep his temper in check when he knows that Bella isn't thinking of anyone but herself, you know?" He nodded. "I can promise you that he will never hurt you. He was just upset. In fact, Jake can probably come back right now if you want to talk to him," I said, hoping that he would take that offer and take the pressure off of me.

"I think we should, uh, hold off on that one for a while," he replied. There was a long, uncomfortable silence while Dad thought things over. "Could I maybe see what your sister has become? If she's still the Bella I remember, maybe something could work?" I didn't want to crush his dreams, so I just shrugged. He wasn't going over there without me and Jake. Dad stood and pulled me into a hug. "Don't think I've forgotten about you and Jake. I saw you two."

I just groaned.