The Beauty is the Beast

-5

    "Jade," a murky voice breaks through her subconscious as something rocks her back and forth. Jade raises her hand to her face, blocking the light from her eyes as she squints at the person in front of her.
    "Your dads been calling all morning, I gotta get you home," Bella says and Jade sits up, rubbing her face tiredly.
    "Okay," she mumbles and swings her legs over the edge of the bed. She thanked Charlie as the two exited the house and pulled herself groggily into the cab of Bella's old pickup.
    "Your brother stopped by last night," Bella speaks up, breaking the deafening silence between them.
    Jades head snaps to her left, looking at Bella wide eyed.
    "What? How?" She exclaims, leaning forward in her seat.
    "He climbed the tree outside my window," she mutters, her eyes locked on the road.
    Jade shakes her head, trying to imagine Jacob's large figure climbing that slim tree.
    "Why didn't you wake me?" She asks, somewhat upset that Bella got to have a serious conversation with her brother and she didn't. It was her family, she thought she deserved to know what was going on more than anyone.
    "We didn't want to risk you getting upset again and waking Charlie," Bella answers slowly, shooting the girl an apologetic glance.
    Jade begins to protest but stops, knowing getting angry wouldn't fix anything now. "Well, what did he say?" She asks instead.
    "He told me that Sam was helping him, but whatever it is that's going on he's bound to not say anything. Like he physically can't say it," Bella says with a confused shake of her head.   
    "That's ridiculous," Jade scoffs, slumping back in her seat angrily.
    "He also said something about the tribe's stories, that I needed to remember what he had told me about 'the cold ones,'" Bella says, almost choking on the last few words.
    Jade remembered those stories. The rumors and jokes that the cullen family was a group of vampires. It was why Billy didn't like them, although, Jade always tied it to superstition. But what if it wasn't superstition? What if all the legends of the tribe were true? And if that was the case, and the stories about the cold ones were true, that would mean...
    "There's no way," Jade suddenly gasps, her breath getting caught in her throat. Her heart began beating rapidly in her chest as the stories her mother used to tell her spun through her mind.
    The stories of Ephram Black who could shapeshift into an enormous beast to protect the tribe from the evil blood sucking demons. The demons who were driven by hunger and greed. Jade had never considered any of it to be real, they were just bedtime stories. But, if Jacob was telling Bella the truth, Jade didn't know what else it could possibly be.
    Jade jumps out of the truck before it rolls to a complete stop. Yet again, there stood Sam, Jared, Embry, and Paul on the edge of the woods. But Jade ignores them, instead running straight for her father.
    "Dad!" She cries, pushing open the front door so hard it slams the wall behind it.
    "Jay?" He calls back, and Jade finds him in the living room, the house phone in his hand.
    "Dad please tell me it's not true, tell me they're stories, tell me Jacob is okay," Jade begs, her eyes gleaming with tears.
    "Jay..." Billy starts but yelling from outside stops him short. Jade looks at him and at the door before running out back, ignore her father's calls.
    "Bella?" She calls as she sprints out of the house, only to find the girl face to face with Paul and Sam, vicious words leaving her lips.
    "He didn't tell me anything because he's scared of you! He doesn't want this stop controlling him!" Bella yells, anger and fear in her voice. She had balls, standing up to the pack of enormous six foot boys.
    "Sam..." Jade calls out and the boys turn their attention to her. "Please tell me it's not true," she says, sadness laced through her voice. Sam looks at her, pity clear in his eyes. He knew she had figured it out, Jade was a lot of things but she wasn't stupid. Sam never told Jake to keep the secret from his sister, but they all agreed to respect Billy's wishes.
    But it was too late now.
"Tell her what isn't true?" Bella huffs.
    "Yeah wouldn't you like to know," Paul begins to lip but he's quickly cut off with a swing of Bella's hand.
    It lands square on his cheek, knocking his head to the side with a loud smack.
    Paul swings his head back towards her, a dark look in his eyes as his entire body seemed to vibrate. Jade can practically see steam rising from his body as the rest of the boys yell for him to calm down.
    But their attempts are futile. Paul seems to grow taller as his chest expands, and in the blink of an eye and an explosion of clothing, there stands a humongous greyish brown wolf, snarling viciously at Bella.
    Jade flinched, her eyes widening at the creature. Her brain kept telling her what her eyes were seeing wasn't real. It couldn't be. Things like this didn't exist.
    "Bella!" A voice calls, and Jake appears in Jade's peripheral, her brother running as fast as he could towards the girl.
    Bella starts to run towards Jacob, screaming at him to run the other way, but he ignores her, instead running straight for the grey wolf.
    Jade knows what is going to happen, and she forces herself to stand her ground as her brother leaps over Bella's head and explodes into a mass of fur.
    Bella is terrified, but Jade can't find it in herself to feel anything but sorrow. She studies her russet brown wolf of a brother and can't help but think how he doesn't belong to himself anymore. He'd never have a normal life.
    "Jacob stop!" Sam yells, but it's much too late, the brown and grey wolves are locked around each other in a frenzy of spit and barred teeth.
    The beasts disappear into the trees as they attempt to tear at each other. Their howls and ear ripping growls echoing through the trees, growing farther and farther away.
    "Take her to Emily's," Sam orders with a nod in Bella's direction before disappearing after the two.
    Jade seems almost frozen in place, her eyes locked on the woods. Jared and Bella pass her to get into the truck but Embry stops, crouching in front of the girl.
    "Hey Jay, you wanna come with?" He says softly and she nods, taking his outstretched hand and following him to the truck. Embry practically throws her in like a ragdoll and she situates herself in the far right corner, tucking her knees to her chest.
    As the truck pulls out of the driveway she looks towards her home. Billy was waiting there, giving her a small wave as the truck rolls away. But she didn't return the gesture, a pang of anger radiating through her chest.
    She was quite angry with her father for keeping this from her, especially since it was right under her nose. She knew he was trying to protect her, but he also promised to never lie to her, and he did, straight to her face.
    The ride to Emily's was not a silent one, Jared and Embry wagering the entire way there on who would win the fight.
    "Paul has way more experience, he's been at it longer, my money's on him," Jared called over the wind.
    "No way, did you see Jake shift on the fly like that, he's a natural," Embry argued. The two placing a bet on who would walk away unscathed. Jade found herself wishing she could feel so carefree about the situation. But something about the entire thing scared her, and she couldn't quite place her finger on what exactly was the cause of her anxiety.
    Embry slid out the back of the truck as Jared slowed in front of Emily's house. Jade had been there once or twice growing up, and the rundown but quaint and cozy home had remained relatively unchanged. The only noticeable difference was the perfectly manicured flower boxes hanging from every window.
    Jade hoped to have a life like this one day, with whoever she was bound to end up with. She didn't want anything glamorous, just a cabin with a fireplace and a maybe a grill. Someone warm who would laugh and mess around with her. Simplicity. 
"Jay? You coming?" Embry calls and Jay shakes her head clear, following after her surrogate brothers.
"Jade!" Emily says brightly, as the girl enters the home, a splash of heat warming her face.
Jade turned her attention to Emily, only glancing over her scars for a split second before easily focusing on Emily's gorgeous golden eyes.
"Hi Emily, it's been too long," she says with a light smile, returning her warm embrace.
Jade holds on to Emily a second longer than a normal hug of greeting, tightening her arms around the woman's waist.
Emily kisses the girls hair motherly, feeling Jades hurt. She remembered her shock and sadness when she first found out about the boys, she couldn't imagine what Jade was feeling for her brother.
"Come on, I made muffins," Emily says kindly and Jade's ears perk up, her eyes scanning the room.
"Save some for your brothers," Emily scoffs at Jared who was reaching for his fourth muffin.
Jade walks around behind him and plucks it from his hands, taking a bite out of the still warm blueberry muffin.
Emily's cooking was legendary.
"I've heard a lot about you Bella, it's about time we met," Emily says to the quiet girl in the corner.
"You too," Bella says and glances at Jade who is completely absorbed with the muffin in her hands.
"Jade? Are you alright?" Bella asks and Jade shrugs.
"I just want to talk to my brother," Jade says, and almost as if she manifested it, the sound of Jake and Paul's laughs ring from outside.
Sam was the first to enter the kitchen, heading straight for Emily and kissing her lovingly. Jake and Paul enter together, jokingly roughing each other around.
"Damnit!" Jared scoffed as he grabbed Paul's arm, a light pink mark running down his bicep while Jacob didn't have a scratch on him.
"Pay up," Embry laughs and Jared slams his fist on the table, earning a warning look from Emily and a chuckle from Sam.
Jade's eyes were on her brother as he approached her, a look of sorrow on his face.
"Jay listen-" he says but she cuts him off, standing and leaping into his arms, her arms locking around his neck.
Jade was in no way tall enough to even touch the top of her brothers head, but she could jump high enough for him to catch her in a hug, leaving her feet dangling almost a foot from the ground.
Jake holds his sister tightly around her waist, his head on her shoulder as they silently comfort each other.
A few of the boys left the house, but Sam Bella and Emily stay, watching the siblings in pity.
"Don't be mad at dad," is the first this Jake says to break the silence, earning a grumble from Jade.
"He lied to me," she says indignantly as Jake sets her down.
"He wanted to keep you away from it incase-" he stopped, glancing at Sam.
"Incase what?" She presses, looking between Sam and her brother. "Incase what Sam?"
"Incase there's a chance you phase too," sam says, shocking Jade.
That's what it was, the cause of her anxiety. As soon as she made the connection there was a piece of her that worried she was next.
"What if I don't want it?" Jade snaps and Jake shakes his head.
"It doesn't work like that jay bird," he says, using the nickname her mother used to when she was a little girl.
It struck a chord in her heart, hearing him say that. Her mother loved wolves, but Jade didn't think her mother would ever want this for her.
"I want to go home," she says and Jake nods.
"Can you take her Sam? I want to take Bella down to the beach so I can talk to her," Jake says with a nod towards Bella who agrees quickly.
"Yah, you want to take some muffins back with you Jay?" Sam asks, a nod of approval coming from Emily.
"Is that even a question?"