✓ | PRIMAL, jacob black ²

chapter thirty one

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

"Wait, so the leech wasn't lying?" Paul asked, his tone quieter than usual as he scanned the room for confirmation.

Maya, determined to uncover more, walked over to Jared, who held Aniya's bag. "Well, we have the rest of her drawings," she said, taking the bag from him. "While Serena and I piece them together, what else did they say?"

Quil shrugged, his expression clouded with unease. "That's all he told us," he admitted. "The real question is why she was near the treaty line in the first place."

At the table, Maya and Serena began spreading out Aniya's drawings, their brows furrowed with concentration. Juliet stayed by Aniya's side, gently running a hand through her hair, her worry palpable. Seth, sitting nearby, broke the silence. "Why did she scream like that?" he asked, his voice tinged with uncertainty.

Juliet looked up briefly, her voice soft as she offered a theory. "What if she screamed to alert the Cullens on purpose? Maybe she knew one of them could read her mind?" She hesitated, knowing her suggestion might not sit well with everyone. "I mean, Bella's... boyfriend has that ability, right?"

The group exchanged uneasy glances, the idea settling over them like a heavy fog. Maya, however, focused on the drawings, her gaze flicking across the scattered papers. "Guys, you might want to see this," she said, her voice urgent.

Jacob didn't move at first. He remained where he was, leaning on the armrest of the couch, unwilling to leave Aniya's side. The sound of her scream still echoed in his mind, raw and haunting. It had shaken him to his core, igniting a fierce, protective instinct he could barely understand. Being near her—whether in human form or phased—intensified that primal pull, one he couldn't deny anymore.

Though he'd spent so long caught up in his feelings for Bella, Jacob now felt the weight of his mistakes. Deep down, he knew he had pushed away someone who might truly be the missing piece in his life.

Juliet's voice broke his thoughts. She was reading aloud from the drawings Maya had pieced together. "I am still dreaming," she said, her tone filled with realization. "It keeps repeating throughout the rest of the drawings."

Her eyes widened as she looked up from the table. "Aniya is stuck in her dream."

Embry leaned closer to the scattered papers. "That makes sense," he said, his voice thoughtful. "Earlier, when she and Jacob were arguing—"

"She said, 'You have no idea how much I wanted this to all be a dream within a dream,'" Jacob interrupted, his voice quieter than usual. He finally stood and moved toward the group, the pull to be near Aniya overridden only by his need to understand what was happening to her.

"You think she unconsciously said that to warn us?" Leah asked, her fingers pulling away from the habit of biting her nails. "If you think about it, she's been saying over and over how she can't go back to her normal life. Maybe this is why—not just because she knows about the supernatural world, but because she's literally trapped in some kind of dream state."

Sam crossed his arms, his expression grim. "So, what we've gathered is this: Aniya is still dreaming—even when she's awake?" His voice was steady but laced with concern.

"It's possible," Zahra said softly, her fingers tracing a sketch of herself and Quil. Though she had never met Aniya, she felt the weight of the girl's situation pressing on her, just as the others did.

Serena, unable to contain her frustration, spoke up. "That Cullen..." She stopped, trying to rein in her bitterness. "Do you think it's possible he can keep reading her mind? Maybe figure out what she's trying to tell us?"

Jacob stiffened, his tone sharp as he snapped, "We're not asking that leech for help."

Rachel, standing nearby, let out an exasperated sigh. "Would you just shut up for a moment, Jake?" she snapped, her eyes blazing as she turned to face him. "If we're right—and Aniya is truly trapped in some kind of dream—then she needs us. No matter how much you hate the idea of working with them, we don't have a choice. Right now, it's about her, not your pride."