Bella's Little Sister

Chapter 27

Embry pulled the truck to a stop in front of what I assumed was Emily's house. As he and the other boy-Jared, as he had told us his name was-emerged from the truck, Bella rolled down her window.

"Hey," she called out. "I think we should go back and see if Jacob's okay."

Jared only snickered in response to her words. "I hope Paul sinks some teeth in him. Serves him right."

"No way," Embry fired back. "Jacob's a natural. You see him phase on the fly? I got five says Paul doesn't touch him."

Shaking her head, my sister stepped from the truck, shutting the door behind her. At my hesitance to step from the vehicle as well, Embry, Jared and Bella all turned to look at me.

"Come on in, Jess." Embry called out to me. "We won't bite."

"Speak for yourself," was Jared's response to that.

Bella turned and gave them both a dirty look, before stepping closer so she could snap at them quietly enough that I would not have to hear it. When they glanced back at me, Jared and Embry's expressions were apologetic. My sister turned her gaze on me, her eyes also apologetic. With a sigh, I stepped from the vehicle and moved to stand next to my sister on the porch.

"Oh, hey, about Emily, Sam's fiancee?" Embry looked between us. "Don't stare. It bugs Sam."

Bella frowned at his words as she gave me a confused glance before turning back. "Why would we stare?"

We stepped through the threshold of the door into Emily's kitchen. Embry and Jared had already taken a seat at the table, and they each held a muffin in their hands. A woman with long brown hair-this was most likely Emily-was at the counter, moving plates of food to the table. Bella leaned up against the doorframe, though I stayed just a step behind her. Emily turned and I quickly averted my gaze at seeing three long, jagged scars running down one side of her face.

"Who're they?" Emily's gaze turned briefly to where Embry and Jared sat.

Jared snickered before responding. "That's Bella and Jess Swan. Who else?"

Emily turned her eyes to me. "So," she started, setting the plate of muffins she was holding onto the table. "You're the vampire girl."

My sister stepped closer to me as I ducked my head. "You're the wolf girl."

Emily smiled now, and her eyes were friendly. "Guess so. Well, I'm engaged to one." She quickly reached down to slap at Jared's hand as he eagerly grabbed for another muffin. "Save some for your brothers. And ladies first," she scolded. Emily glanced at the both of us, asking if we wanted a muffin. Bella accepted while I declined. "Leave it to Jacob to find a way around Sam's gag order," Emily sighed as she turned back to the counter.

"Actually," Bella said as she looked up at her. "Jacob didn't tell us anything. We figured it out."

Emily, Jared and Embry only stared at us, their expressions surprised. "That's a wolf thing," Embry quickly rushed on when he sensed my discomfort. "Alpha's orders get obeyed whether we want them to or not." He grinned at me now. "And check it out. We can hear each other's thoughts."

"Would you shut up?" Jared exclaimed, though he was smiling, too. "These are trade secrets." He gestured to me as he spoke again. "That chick runs with vampires!"

I pressed my lips together as I averted my gaze from his face, wrapping my arms around me tightly. Jared then asked if I was freaked out yet, but when I did not respond to his question, my sister stated that it took a lot to freak me out nowadays.

"Jake's right," Sam's voice filled the room as he entered the house, his eyes on me as he made a beeline for Emily. "You both are good with weird."

I could only watch blankly as Sam smiled down at Emily, kissing each one of her scars lightly before moving to kiss her lips. Bella was studying me, her eyes worried. I soon looked away. Jacob and Paul made their way up the porch, shoving the other as they laughed.

Paul met my gaze as he sat down at the table. He wore a faint smile as he apologized, his gaze flickering over to my sister before he finally turned around. Jacob was leaning up against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest. When both my sister and I had met his gaze, he silently gestured for us to follow him.

I stayed a bit behind Bella and Jacob as we walked along the beach. My hands were shoved deep into my jacket pockets, and my eyes were cast down at the debris-ridden sand. The sound of Bella speaking made me look up. She was further ahead now, and I noticed that Jacob had stopped walking.

"So you're a werewolf."

"Yeah," Jacob's tone carried a prominent hint of annoyance. "Last time I checked. A few lucky members of the tribe have the gene. A bloodsucker moves into town and the fever sets in."

My sister met my gaze for a moment, her eyes searching my blank expression. "It's wrong," she continued as she returned her eyes to Jacob's face.

Jacob's eyes narrowed in anger. "It's not a lifestyle choice, Bella. I was born this way, I can't help it." Bella shook her head as she insisted that she was only translating my thoughts. "I don't care if you're a werewolf."

Jacob's eyes were blazing with fury as he spun quickly to face me. I turned away from him as he stated that I was such a hypocrite, and that he was sorry that he wasn't the right kind of monster for me.

"Jacob!" Bella's tone was furious. "Don't you think you've already hurt her enough?"

But Jacob ignored her question and pressed on, stalking towards me. He gripped my arm tightly as he spun me back to face him. "We're not killing anyone, Jess. The only ones we do kill are what we're trying to protect you people from." Just below the surface, I could see the anger and frustration swirling in his eyes as he watched me. "The only thing we kill are vampires."

I pulled away from him, my eyes narrowed as I took a few steps back. Bella explained that's why I thought it was wrong. That his reasoning was why I did not like the fact that he was a werewolf.

Jacob scoffed once in annoyance before speaking again. "Don't worry, we can't touch your precious Cullen's... unless they violate the treaty." He shook his head, turning his eyes towards the crashing waves. "I mean, we took out the ones with dreads easy enough."

"Laurent?" Bella questioned.

"Yeah," Jacob confirmed. "And his red-headed girlfriend is next. She keeps coming back and forth over the boundary, but we don't know what she wants."

A sudden chill ran down the length of my spine as my gaze slowly met my sister's. Her eyes were wide, panicked and scared as she told Jacob exactly what it was that Victoria wanted.

"She wants Jess dead."

I got absolutely no sleep that night, too worried about Victoria being so close by. And though Jacob had assured Bella and I that we would be safe, I was still worried. The only thing that would really make me feel safe is... I took a deep breath as I quickly blocked that thought from my mind.

After school let out the next day, I quickly went home to ditch my backpack and cellphone. I knew I was taking a very big risk in following through with what I had planned out, but I did not have much of a choice. I needed to see him again. Bella was not home and dad was out hunting for Victoria, so it would be some time before either of them realized that I was gone. It took forever to get to the cliffs where I had seen Sam and his friends cliff diving, but when I did, I began to mentally prepare myself.

Peering over the edge at the sharp rocks below, I took a deep breath and slowly released it. The water was choppy, the white-capped waves crashing against the steep face of the cliff I now stood on. As I turned my gaze up to the rapidly darkening clouds, my resolve wavered slightly. Do I really want to go through with this? But I did not know when I would see him again, or even if I would see him again. And with Victoria around, this was probably the very last chance I would get. I took another breath, steeling my resolve.

"Don't do this."

Edward's voice brought a wave of pain, nearly crippling me at the memory of him. I kept my gaze carefully away from where I knew I would see him if I looked. "You wanted me to be human," I told him, clenching my fists. There was a quick, cold rush of air that surrounded me before I jumped, as though he were trying to hold me back. "So watch me."