tongue twister • paul lahote

xiv

T H U N D E R  B O O M E D  B U T not quite as loud as Jacob's thoughts. Paul heard them from a mile away, his stomach clenching in disgust at the thought of what had been created. He raced out the door of his new home, phasing mid-air. When he reached the clearing, the wolves were already assembled. The shared emotions that could only be summed up as anger. The rain pounded the damp dirt and clung to it like static. As if a chain reaction, the mud coated their fur. The musty smell of the forest filled the lumber yard, surrounding their snouts like a cartoon aroma. They were dripping with water, snarling like unmannered wolves that lived outside. Teeth were bared, snapping.

"Is it true?"

"It's unnatural!"

"A monstrosity!"

"An abomination."

"On our land." The questions and statements bounded around as if Jacob was telling a lie, like he just made it up. The situation was real, and inescapable.

"We can't allow it." Paul thought. Many others agreed. Jacob snarled and Sam took front of the pack.

"What they've bred wont be able to control its thirst. Every human will be in danger." Sam announced.

"Kill it! How?"

"We must destroy it before it is born!" Sam thought angrily.

"You mean kill Bella?" Seth seemed weary of the idea.

"Her choice affects us all."

"Bella is human, our protection applies to her." Jacob spoke up.

"She dying anyway!" Leah snapped at his neck. The two began fighting, but Sam was not having it.

"We have real enemies to fight tonight." Sam quipped

"Tonight?" Jacob asked.

"You will fight with us, Jake." Sam approached Jacob, making him cower. Sam got close enough that Jacob was nearly lying on the ground, whimpering. Then, in a split second, Jake rose above Sam as if the word alpha meant nothing to him.

"I will not!" He growled. "I am the grandson of Ephraim Black. I am the grandson of a chief! I wasn't born to follow you, or anyone else!" Sam was the one shying away now. He ran into Sam as he jumped over the piled logs, leaving the group to think about what happened and make plans on how to approach the problem.

*

In the Cullen home, Santana was sat alongside Bella on the couch, a hand on her back. She wasn't fully sure if she supported the birth of the child, whatever it may be, but she knew she had to support Bella. They didn't know how much longer she had, and Santana wanted her to be happy while she was alive. That, and if Bella had a fighting chance, she needed support from Edward. Bella grunted, shifting in her position. She took a sharp intake of breath, and Santana was unsure if it was from pain or nausea. Either way, she reached for the trash bin and held it out to Bella. She grabbed it, and Tana moved to her hair. She held it back while Bella dry heaved into the basket.

When she sat back, Santana grabbed a towel from the arm of the couch and dabbed the sweat beads from her pale forehead. Bella leaned back on the cushion and closed her eyes. "Did you want to try more food? Anything? Even water?" The pregnant girl shook her head. Santana sighed, unsure of what to do. She stood, tucking Bella further into the blanket. She walked to the kitchen, seeing Carlisle with his head in his hands.

"She can't keep anything down. I don't know what to do to help her." He sighed, looking over at his newest daughter. She sighed and sat beside him.

"Me either." She let her hands run over the granite countertop. She drummed her fingers against the cool finish and shifted in her chair. Footsteps outside the house alerted them, but Santana could recognize Jacob before he appeared. Her smile came back to her face a moment. For some reason, despite their many disagreements, in her new state she found that Jacob gave her a comfort sometimes. A childhood comfort that she didn't understand because she couldn't remember. He stormed into the house, breathing heavily with a grimace on his face.