The Consequences {Jacob Black}

Chapter CXX

"You're sure that she can handle this?" Jake was asking Edward as we were standing outside the house. Jake had told Dad that he had to stay in the car while he talked to Edward.

"She didn't kill Ryanne yesterday. And if anyone had cause to kill someone -"

"It'd be me to kill your wife," Jake cut in. "She's done nothing but hurt my imprint. I get the right to kill her." Edward hissed at him. "But we're not here to kill Bella, unfortunately. Charlie wants to determine whether or not he can be around his daughter." I watched Edward's face contort and twist as he saw Jake's thoughts, as he saw how upset Jake was about Bella trying to reach out to Dad.

"She just wants to have her family," he stated.

"She has her family," Jake snarled. "Her vampire family. She is putting their lives in danger just by trying this. But Charlie wants to try this. So I'm asking you: can she control herself?"

"Yes," Edward said definitively. Jake looked down at me and nodded ever so slightly.

"If she comes within two feet of my imprint or her father, she dies. We clear?" Jake said menacingly. Edward nodded. Jake turned and nodded to Dad, who got out of the car and walked up to me. He took my hand in his and waited for Jake's next move.

The wolf in question, being the Alpha that he is, walked directly in front of me and my dad, his broad shoulders practically covering both of us. It wasn't the appropriate moment to be stricken with how fucking hot Jake was... But I was. I wanted to hold his hand for several reasons, the least of which was that I was scared about being back in this damn house. "Ryanne," Esme greeted. "It's good to see you again."

I didn't say anything, just smiled and nodded. Bella was sitting on the couch, her eyes a muddy brown instead of the red that had been glaring at me yesterday. She was hiding what she was, what she had become. I didn't say anything about it. Instead, I followed Jake to the sofa and took a place as far from Bella as propriety would allow. Jake sat down on the ground between my father's knee and mine. I rested my hand on his shoulder and smiled at him a little. He just gave me a tight lipped smirk in response.

"It's so good to see you, Dad," Bella said. It was the one thing that she couldn't mask: her voice. She didn't sound like Bella anymore. I jerked my chin up a notch when she glared at me. But it wan't my fault that she was upset, it was Dad's. She had spoken and his eyebrows had flown into his hairline. He realized that I hadn't been lying to him.

"You look...different Bella," Dad said safely. I licked my lips before I took my bottom one into my mouth. She nodded. "So you're what she said that you are?"

"What did you tell him?" Bella asked, her entire demeanor changing. Jake snarled and pushed himself upright, blocking Bella from even viewing me and Dad.

"He's a little over protective, huh?" Dad whispered. Edward snorted. Jake didn't care what anyone was saying. He was too focused on the threat in front of him. I turned to Dad and nodded, but I wasn't really paying attention to him. I wanted to make sure that nothing happen with Jake and Bella. Jake was just itching at the chance to hurt her. And while I wanted to watch it happen, I didn't want to see Jake hurt.

"Jake, it's fine," I said, wrapping my hand around his forearm and pulling him down again. He settled between us again, but he wasn't sitting on his butt. No, he was resting on his heels, waiting for the threat to become a reality. "Bella, it was an accident. Dad wanted to know. He knows everything."

"Everything? You told him about Italy?" she shouted at me.

"You two went to Italy?" Dad screeched.

"Okay, so not everything. I wasn't trying to get you in trouble," I muttered so quietly that Dad wouldn't hear me.

"When did you two go to Italy?" I could hear the panic, the worry that his children had been out of the country without him knowing. "How did you two go to Italy?"

"You thought it was L.A. and I'm pretty sure you don't want to know about all the illegal things we had to do in order to get out of the country," I replied. Dad's face turned a nasty shade of purple as his blood pressure sky rocketed. "Calm down, Dad. It's not a big deal. Nothing bad happened."

"Lies," Jake snapped in front of me. I smacked his arm lightly, warning him to cool it. Dad wasn't any younger than Harry Clearwater had been and Dad was a much bigger worrier than Harry had been. "Never mind. Forget that I said anything," he grumbled. He never moved his eyes from Bella. She made a move, he followed her.

"He wouldn't have known about Italy if you hadn't said something," I muttered again. Edward hissed. Jake's eyes shifted for just a brief second to make contact with my sister's husband. "Bella, Dad is here because he's trying to see if he can be around you still," I said loud enough that Dad would hear now.

"Of course he can still be around me. I'm his daughter, Ryanne. Don't be ridiculous," Bella said with a wave of her hand. I didn't say anything in response.

"But you're a, uh, a vampire now right? You want blood?" She looked like she was in pain or sick to her stomach. Maybe both. Edward jumped to her side quickly. He was murmuring lowly into her ear. Jake was snarling and snapping like a dog on a chain, fighting the desire to rip my sister apart. "I just... I can't. Can we go?" he asked.

Jake was eager enough to do so. He jumped up to his feet, pulling me into his side with a loud growl. He maneuvered Dad in front of us and walked behind, keeping his eyes on Bella and Edward the entire time. "Dad wait! I'm still the same Bella," she claimed loudly. Dad just kept walking. He was still shaking a little, holding himself stiffly as he marched towards the door. "Please Dad; just talk to me. I want you to meet my daughter."

Dad stopped and turned around to stare at Bella. She was holding out a hand back behind her. Renesmee stepped forward and wrapped her little hand around her mother's. "Dad, this is Renesmee. She's our daughter." I was floored. I didn't think that Bella would actually do that to Dad. I mean, he'd always wanted grandkids. But he'd made it clear that he didn't want to be around Bella. It was wrong of her to do that to him. "Renesmee, this is your grandpa."

She waved shyly at him. Dad looked like he didn't believe what they were saying. And then he caught sight of her eyes. It was hard to say that Renesmee wasn't related to us when her eyes were the same color as my dad and Bella's. "Dad," I whispered. He looked back at me. "She is their daughter. She's a hybrid, part human, part vampire." Renesmee's long curls bobbed with her nod, like she was agreeing with what I was saying.

"I don't want to be here. I don't want to deal with this right now," he muttered. He didn't know that everyone around his could hear him. I nodded and tugged on Jake's arm. He shoved me in front of him, his hands on my shoulders as he steered me and dad out of the house. He was staring at the vampires behind us, making sure that there was no surprise attack.

I glanced back over my shoulder and noticed the little spawn's crestfallen face. I kind of felt bad. She didn't ask to be what she was and it wasn't fair that she was being hated on because of it. Dad practically ran over to the passenger side of the truck, forgetting like usual that it didn't open. "Dad," I reminded him, pointing to the driver's side. He pushed off the car and almost sprinted to the driver's side, sliding all the way to the passenger side. I sandwhiched myself between the two men that I loved most in the world. I rested my hand on Jake's knees and looked up at him. He was still tense, still upset.

"Is he going to be okay?" Dad asked as he noticed the hard line of Jake's Jaw.

"He'll be fine. He just needs a little time. Once we're back on La Push, he'll calm down," I promised. Jake's knuckles were white as he gripped the steering wheel. "Don't break the car," I whispered to the wolf.

"She's not Bella anymore. Your sister never used to flip out on you like that," Dad said. Yeah she did. But I wasn't going to say anything to him. "And her kid?"

"I don't know what to tell you about Renesmee, Dad. I kind of separate her from the Cullens. She isn't this by choice. Bella is a vampire because she wanted to be a vampire. Renesmee wasn't born because she wasn't to be," I said. "I'm not saying tat you have to want to be around her all the time. I'm just tell you how I felt about it."

He nodded. "You think you two could just drop me off at the house?" he asked. Jake nodded stiffly. I couldn't wait for this to be over, for it to be me and Jake and fun... No vampires.