"What did you say?" he asked me, staring at me like I had lost my mind. I shook my head.
"I didn't say anything," I said. I hadn't even heard anything.
Bella was stumbling towards us, zipping her parka up as she staggered worse than any drunk person I had ever been around.
"Jacob, please. You don't have to go."
Of course she was sitting here begging him to stay. I wanted him to, I really did. Actually, no. I didn't want him to stay here with me. I wanted this whole thing to be over. This wasn't what I wanted for my life. I didn't want to be afraid of things that were beyond my control. But Jake was doing what he felt was right and I wasn't going to ask him to compromise on that. It wasn't fair to him.
I wouldn't beg him to stay. He wouldn't feel like everything was okay until he was there and he was the one fighting. I didn't need him to come back to me in one piece. I didn't need him to come back to me without harm. I wasn't going to ask him for those things. What I needed was for him to come home to me alive. Bones could heal, bruises would fade; but I needed him to be alive and in my arms at the end of this night.
"How can you just let him leave like this Ryanne? Don't you care about him at all?" I sighed and pushed myself off of the tent that I was sitting on. Jake's warm hand wrapped about my wrist and pulled me back to him.
"Why are you stopping her? She doesn't care about you, Jacob. She's letting you leave. I can't bare it if something were to happen to you."
"And you care? You have manipulated him and used him for anything that could make your life better," I shouted at her.
"And at the end of the night, he still wanted me, didn't he, Ryanne?" I frowned at her in confusion. "He woke up with me in his arms, didn't he?"
Vaguely, I could remember cold hands against my rib cage, prying me away from my warm cage. But I was so tired, so afraid of what would happen if I opened my eyes that I just let it happen.
"You've lied so much to everyone, you've begun to believe it yourself Bella. I don't know how you convinced Edward to let you do that, but I know what you did."
"What are you talking about Annie?"
"That's how I ended up away from you. Bella pushed me out of the way when you and I were sleeping. Jake was such a heavy sleeper, it probably wasn't a problem. Especially if Bella replaced my body with hers. Jake would've woken if his arms had suddenly been empty, but it he had Bella he would've gone right bak to bed."
"She was cold," Edward said. I turned and stared at him. "There was no malicious intent."
"Is that what she tells you?" Jake shouted, pushing me completely behind and keeping his arm there so that I couldn't move.
"She tells you that she's cold and that Ryanne is hogging the warmth. You can see inside of our heads; you know that Annie has given up everything she could for your mate but that doesn't matter, does it?" Edward hissed. "Can I just ask you this? When your heart stopped beating, did you lose your balls too? Or is that a recent thing?"
"Don't you have somewhere to go, Jacob?"
"He's not going."
"You're not the Alpha in charge of me, Bella. And you're not my imprint." He growled at her menacingly. "Let's face it, Bella; you're not even someone that's important to me anymore."
"You're just saying that because she's here," Bella countered. "I know that you love me Jake," she said.
"I wish that you knowing was enough for me, Bella. But it's not. I love your sister. You have the leech. Be happy with what you have," he said.
Seth's sandy brown wolf came through the forest and into sight, trotting up to us. I stepped towards him and away from the drama that had become my life. Jake was right; we were like an episode of Jerry Springer. There was to much drama, too much so. I wanted to live my life in peace, like I used to when I was a kid. I missed the part of me and Jake that was stupid and corny and rude and violent and sweet.
"Hey Seth," I said, scratching at his ears. He growled and rushed towards my sister, who was being held away from Jake stiffly.
"What do you think you're doing?" I snapped, wrapping my hand in her hand and pulled her away. "Haven't you learned anything yet? He doesn't want you, Bella."
"He doesn't want you either," she said. "It's the imprint magic." I knew better than that. If he hadn't proven that a million times over, he had proven it a few nights ago.
"Fine then," I said, stepping in front of Jake so that Bella was forced to look at me. "If he doesn't care about me then fine." Jake snarled behind me. "But he doesn't care about you either. And if you love Jake as much as you say that you do, then you'll understand that Jake deserves someone that he loves. So if that's me, you, or Mary Jane Patterson down the street, I don't care. Because that's what you do when you love someone."
Jake pulled me back against his chest. Seth growled when Bella took a step forward. The imprint bond was something that was sacred and every wolf knew that. Seth was protecting me and his brother in the only way that he knew how. Edward appeared out of no where and pulled Bella back.
"I think that is enough," he said.
Bella's eyes were filled with tears that I didn't believe; tears that I didn't think she ever felt. She pulled against him, but he didn't relent, towing her back towards the tent that they were sleeping in. Seth stepped away from us.
"Thanks, Seth," I whispered as he trotted away. Jake's arms wrapped tight around my waist and hauled me away from Bella.
"Please tell me that you didn't mean that," he begged, running his fingers over the mark on my neck. "Please, I will literally go down on my knees and beg you in every way that is humanly possible. Don't tell you really think that I don't care about you."
I wrapped my fingers around his chin, taking time to appreciate the contrast in our skin tones. "I know that you love me, Jake. I know that you care about me more than you care about her."
"I don't care about her," he growled.
"I know, I know," I said, still holding his chin in my hands. "But I was trying to say whatever I could to make her go away." He leaned down pressed his lips to mine.
"So you really didn't ask me to stay?"
"I want this to be over, Jake, and it won't end if I don't let you go. I'm not stupid. Besides, you've never listened to me before, why would you start now?" He pulled away from my mouth, but I refused to let go of his chin. I pulled him back to me and kissed him again. He knew that I was saying goodbye again. I couldn't help it. I was afraid of losing him. His hands wrapped around my waist and pulled me off my feet. I, in turn, wrapped my legs around his waist and exchanged my hold on his chin for a death grip around his neck.
"This isn't goodbye, baby girl," he whispered, kissing me again. "This is just see you later, okay?" I nodded and brought our mouths back together.
"I've been dreaming of the things that we did for a while Ryanne; I'm not ready to give them up just yet," he said, his lips brushing against my ear as he talked. I blushed deep red and looked down at the ground. "I think I'll just keep dreaming about them," he chuckled.
"Do me a favor and don't think about them once you've phased," I whispered. "I don't need any of the guys to see that."
"They won't," he promised. He leaned in again and kissed me hard and deep. "I'll be back as soon as I can," he said. But he didn't promise it. Which was a good thing. Jake never made promises that he couldn't keep and that was probably something good. I wouldn't be able to live if he was constantly going to breaking his promises. He was the only person that I could count on most days.
"You stay here with Seth, okay? You stay safe?" I nodded. "Promise me, Annie. Promise me that you're going to be right here with Seth the entire battle."
"I promise," I conceded.
"That?" he prompted.
"That I will stay right here with Seth."
"For?"
"For the entire battle. There, are you happy now?"
He lowered his lips to my mark and kissed it. I felt his tongue brush of the wounds and tried not to cry.
"I have been happier," he said.
"Don't start with me," I said, trying to diffuse the situation before it could start. I didn't need him to walk away from me leaving me feeling like this.
"You should get going," I said, pushing against his chest. "The guys will be waiting for you." He smiled down at me. He started walking away then. I waited until he'd hit to tree line before I said anything else.
"Hey Jake!" I shouted. He turned and looked at me. "Do me a favor and keep your mind out of the gutter."
He smiled and nodded before bounding off into the forest. I found Seth sitting with his side leaning against the wall of rock that was shielding us from the wind. I sat in front of him and leaned my back against his side, brushing my fingers through his fur.
"Thanks for sticking up for us back there," I said. His rough tongue licked at the side of my cheek. "You'll let me know if anyone gets hurt, right Seth? I can't lose them, okay?" He nodded, licking my cheek again.
A loud howl sounded through the still morning. Bella screamed fearfully. "It's beginning," Edward said.
No; it's ending.