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"Come in!" A deep voice answered Bella's knocking.
"Bella, I don't think we should be here," I whispered to her. After yesterday's events, La Push was the last place I wanted to be.
"I'm going in." She told me. "If you want to stay here, then do it. I'll just be a few minutes." She walked inside the house and left me standing on the doorstep. I turned around and walked back to the truck to wait for her. I leaned against the door and fiddled with the sleeves of my pink zip-up hoodie. When Bella said a few minutes, she wasn't lying. She walked out of the house with a skip in her step and I assumed she had seen Jacob.
"We're meeting him at the beach." That was the only thing she said to me. I hopped in the truck and barely had time to buckle myself in when she sped away from the small red house.
"Why are you rushing?" I asked her.
Instead of answering my question, she asked one herself. "Clary, how much do you know about the legends?"
"I know them all."
"So you know why Sam is so important to the reservation?" She eyed me cautiously.
"Yeah, I do." I looked away from her and climbed out of the truck after she parked. She followed behind me as I walked toward the water.
"How long have you known?" She turned to face me. She was confused, it was obvious. Her eyes darted around my face as she tried to guess my answer.
"I've always had my suspicions. You know, Billy told the legends to me so often I have them implanted in my brain. But what confirmed everything was when Rose referred to them as mutts." I saw her wince as I said Rosalie's name. I sent her an apologetic smile but she dismissed it. "I thought the legends were just that, legends. But I put two and two together, and I figured it out."
"So you've kind of always known." She stated.
"Yeah, i guess have." I nodded.
"So you've both figured it out." A deep voice interrupted us. Jake strode towards us and like yesterday, his shirt was missing.
"Seems that way," I mumbled. I couldn't look at him. Not without seeing the people I was avoiding.
"So since we know, does that mean we can be friends again?" Bella was hopeful and if it had been anyone else, the answer would've been no. But Jake was practically in love with Bella, he wouldn't be able to avoid her for much longer.
"Kind of." He confessed. Bella seemed content with his answer so I asked the question I knew she had forgotten about.
"So that was you the other day, in the meadow?" He nodded. "Did you kill him?" He nodded again. "That's both good and bad."
"How?"
"Because now it means that someone else is killing people." Bella pointed out.
"Yeah, that's not good." Jake rubbed the back of his neck.
"It also means that Victoria will be checking in soon," I added. I shoved my hands in my sweater pockets and looked out at the water.
"Is she the red-headed leech?" Jake asked me.
"Yes," I confirmed.
"She's caused some sort of trouble for us. We can't seem to catch her. Her scent is all over the place. But it comes and goes like she's looking for something." Jake tried to explain.
"She's already here?" I turned to him.
"Not anymore." He looked confused. I turned to Bella and she turned pale. "But we can't figure out why she keeps coming back. We don't know what she wants."
"We do." Bella gulped.
"Us." I looked Jake in the eye. He tensed up and stepped closer to us.
"We need to tell the others." He glanced around. "Come on." He guided us away from the water and over to the truck.
"Where are we going?" Bella asked him.
"Just wait here." He ran off to the forest and disappeared into the trees. Bella and I huddled close together in a poor attempt to keep warm and waited for Jake to return. Not too long after, he came back. "Let's go." He climbed into the truck and started the engine. Bella and I clambered in and silently observed the scenery we passed.
"Won't they be mad that we're with you?" Bella asked.
"Probably only at one of you." He admitted. I could feel them staring at me but I just continued to stare out the window. The drive was short and quiet - which I was grateful for. Jake had parked on the side of a deserted road and killed the engine. "They're here." He hopped out and Bella and I followed after him. He stood in the middle of the road with Bella and me flanking him on either side. As a twig snapped, Bella cowered into Jake's side and if we weren't being hunted by a raging redheaded vampire, I would've rolled my eyes.
The way they appeared was similar to a flock of birds. They were all shirtless and barefoot but it didn't seem to bother them. Sam stood in the middle with the other three standing behind him. They seemed to notice Bella first as they all became furious. I let out a small sigh and that caused them to snap their heads in my direction. The fury in their eyes softened but it blazed again when Jake opened his mouth and began to talk.
"Before you get angry," Jake started but Sam cut him off.
"What have you done Jacob?" Sam's anger was radiating off of him in waves and I almost expected steam to come out of his ears.
"They know." Jared looked at me but I kept my gaze on Jacob.
"You broke the rules for a leech-lover?" Paul hissed. Bella flinched but I didn't. Despite how messed up our friendship is now, I knew that his comment wasn't directed toward me.
"Don't talk about her like that!" Jake snapped. He tried to calm himself before he spoke again. "And no, I didn't tell her. She figured it out on her own. And Clary, she always knew." Sam turned to me and I nodded.
"How?" Sam asked me.
"Billy used to tell me the legends as a bedtime story." I shrugged. Sam shook his head and turned back to Jake. I zoned out after that. Paul was yelling, Sam was yelling, Jake was yelling, it was all too much. I sighed and began to walk away from everyone. I climbed into the truck and was thankful for the silence. My headache was thankful for it.
Suddenly I heard Bella scream. I looked out the window and saw two large wolves attacking each other while Bella tried to intervene. I saw Sam say something and then Jared and Embry were dragging a frantic Bella to the truck. I scooted into the middle and made room for Bella. She clung tightly to the door handle as Jared ignited the engine and floored it. Embry sat comfortably in the bed of the truck and smiled slightly at me. It was quiet until Jared started to laugh. Bella eyed him warily and grimaced.
"Well, that's something you don't see every day." He smirked.
