The Consequences {Jacob Black}

Chapter XXXVI: Jacob's Point of View

There was something that she wasn't tell me, I could see it in her eyes. Every time she talked about Italy, there was a little glint of terror that flecked her blue eyes. 

"We're not finished talking, Annie. Something happened that you're not telling me about." I saw her mash on the inside of her lip, looking unsure. She wanted to tell me, to get it off her chest. I wanted to know, to keep her safe from whatever she thought could get her. Nothing could ever get to her again. 

"Not today, Annie. We can talk about it in a few days," I finally said. She didn't need me sitting her and pressuring her into this.

Charlie kindly booted me out of the house within minutes of our arrival. But that leech had been here and whatever Annie was afraid of was his fault. The smell was old, at least a few hours. But if he had already been sneaking into the house, he could be back and I wouldn't have that around Ryanne. I wasn't really paying attention as Annie tried to shove me out the door. Finally, she sighed and said, 

"Go wait in my room or something."

The wolf part of my brain snarled, refusing to leave her in a house that smelled like vampire. But Charlie was there and the bloodsucker couldn't threaten her without exposing himself to her father...right? Either way, I dropped the car off in the off road for hunters and sprinted back to her house, getting into her room with ease.

I listened as Charlie put her on half grounding and banished her to my house after school. My father certainly was a miracle worker. When he said he would talk to Charlie, I hardly expected him to get her grounded on the Rez, where I could keep her safe. Sneaky old man. My ears perked as I heard the steps creak. I silently opened her door to find her hand on Bella's knob. What was she doing? Her sister had caused her nothing but pain and she still couldn't help herself. I sighed; and she thinks she's mean.

"You're not going in there," I informed her, pulling her away from the door.

"I was just going to check on my sister," she whispered back.

"Bella chose the parasite, Annie; he can take care of her. Your sister is not our concern." It was true; Bella was so in love with him that she had endangered the person that mattered more to me than air itself. Annie didn't believe that I loved her. There was a part of me that didn't care; I was pretty sure that I could kiss her into oblivion and she was figure out that I wasn't kidding. But she had said that slow would convince her and at this point, I didn't care how long I had to wait if she would just love me.

"You don't mean that," she said quietly.

"Why don't I mean that?" I said, barely holding my laughter. She was the smartest person I know and she couldn't figure this out. I love her. It's not hard. Aren't girls supposed to leap into the guy's arms when he says it?

"Because Bella's a human. Even if you do love me as much as you say you do, you'll still protect her." I tried not to growl. It wasn't a question of whether or not I loved as much as I said I did, it was whether or not she would believe me. This wasn't imprint magic; this was what I had always wanted.

"Okay, so I'll protect her because that's my job, but I don't care about her," I said. Annie had a point, Bella was still human and I was here to protect humans. I could see her mind whirling to make sense of my words. I forced her to look at me. "I don't care about her," I repeated. She squirmed, trying to get away, but I wasn't going to let that happen. "I care about you. I love you." She didn't respond, but I saw the dismiss flash in her eyes. "Someday you're going to believe me," I sighed.

We talked then, Annie explaining what had happened in Italy. How she had been so stubborn about not touching the king leech that they had tortured her. I soaked up the information like a sponge, assessing threats and storing information to tell Sam. Finally her quiet voice broke through my organizational process.