I had dropped her off at the house, kissing her rough and sweet in the hope that she would know that her mother was watching, but wanting to say goodbye to her properly. And then I paced the line that marked the Cullen territory, waiting anxiously for her to get in the car with her mother and drive away from Hell. So I was beyond freaking out when Renee's car drove away and I didn't smell Annie with her.
I could hear her arguing with her sister in the house, but I wasn't close enough to hear the words. I could hear her heartbeat pick up a little. What was going on there? I growled and paced a little faster, seriously contemplating crossing the line and going to get her.
Don't even think about it, Sam warned in my head.
She's over there, Sam. You'd go if it were Emily.
If Paul can manage to follow the rules, I know that you can do it too.
Paul's imprint isn't the one that is sitting in a house of vampires.
You will not cross the line, Sam commanded in his deep Alpha voice. I whimpered, my four legs falling out from underneath me as I tried to catch my breath. It wasn't necessary, but I guess it kept me from breaking the treaty.
If anything happens to her, so help me God Sam, I threatened, leaving the words hanging. As if on cue, I felt a vibrating tickle against my leg. I phased out and pulled on my shorts, digging for my phone as quickly as I could. I grabbed it up and answered her.
"Where are you?" I barked.
"I'm still at the Cullens'," she whispered in return. "My mom wants me to stay here tonight. She left without me."
"You are not staying there tonight, Ryanne."
"I know; I don't want to." Good, at least her brain was still working. "I can't walk on the street, Jake. People will asks questions."
"I don't care what people ask."
"That's great, Jake. I'm only trying to protect you. What am I supposed to say when people ask my why I'm walking down the side of the road? 'My sister is marrying a vampire and my boyfriend is actually my soulmate and he doesn't want me to stay at the vampires' house. So I'm just going to walk on back. But don't you worry, one of the Spirit Warriors will find me.'"
"You know, you keep threatening to do that, but I don't think you will."
"Bella wants you to come over. She said that she'll talk to Alice and get permission for you to come down here," she said. I could tell just the way that she was sitting next to Bella just by the way that she said the words.
"You can tell Bella that I'm not coming down there if her life depended on it."
"Or I could not say that," she responded. It didn't matter whether she said it or not. The leeches around her were hissing. It was probably so low that Annie didn't hear it, but I knew that they'd heard me. And if they were honest with Bella, she'd find out sooner of later. "I don't know how to get out of here, Jake."
The world around her was quiet, so I assumed that she had walked away from the others, probably hoping that they couldn't hear her. I was pacing the line, trying to figure out just how far of a walk that it was. It couldn't be more than five miles.
"It's not a short walk, Annie."
"I don't want to be here, Jake. Bella's hoping that you'll come down here so that she can talk to you."
"Did you tell her that I wasn't going to the wedding?" I was waiting for that reaction. I was only upset that I wasn't going to be there to see her little plan fall through.
"No; I didn't tell her. And no one's asked. Now hush in case someone hears you." I sobered instantly, remembering that she was around supernaturals that I hated. I growled. "Any ideas, genius?"
She could ask one of the vamps to walk her down the way to the treaty line. But at that point, she might as well ask for a ride instead of walking. There was nothing else that I could think of. I couldn't cross the treaty line and I couldn't get to the house to get her. And the stupid fucking Cullens owned acres of land. Walking through the forest would be quicker than having her walk down to the end of their property on the street where I could grab her.
"Am I going to have to revoke your genius status?" she teased on the other line.
"I'm thinking; give me a minute." I could ask Jared to let Kim. No, Jared would never do that. Nate. Leah would let Nate come down here and get her. It just had to be a human. None of us could get to her. It had to be one of the imprints. And I knew that if the situation were reversed and one of my brothers asked me to let Annie go get their imprint, I wouldn't let her go. I couldn't ask that of them.
"I know how difficult that is for you." She was still talking about me thinking.
"How are you making jokes at a time like this?" I asked her. She was in a house of vampires and she was joking about my IQ. She could be drained of all her blood at any moment. This was not the appropriate time to be making cracks about my intelligence. This was a serious moment. While she was cracking jokes, I was thinking about ways to get her out of there.
"They haven't done anything, Jake. And they're all vegetarian as far as I know," she said as if that gave her an excuse to make jokes. "Now, I know that you're really good at logistical shit. So do me a favor and figure out how I'm getting out of here." Oh the faith that she had in me. "Ryanne, we're heading off to bed!" Bella called. "Is that Jake?"
"No Bella, it's Dad. I'll be up in a minute." She sighed and I heard Bella pound her way up the stairs. She must've tripped or something because there was a loud bang. "I can barely sleep in my house without you, Jake. I don't know what I'm going to do if I have to sleep in a house of vampires."
"You're not sleeping there," I snapped. I scratched at the corner of my mouth and ran a hand through my freshly cut hair. "Okay, you remember when we used to do those treasure hunts when we kids?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you remember when you used to have to figure out which way was north in order to find the treasure?"
"Yes, Jake. What are you on about?"
"The treaty line is about five miles north of the Cullens, dead shot, Annie. If you think you can walk that far -"
"Please, I run farther than that for training," she said with a scoff. It was the truth. She could run it if she needed to. It would probably get her closer to me faster.
"Okay, it's a dead shot; a straight line. You do the five miles and I'll get to you as soon as you cross. But you do not hang up this phone, you understand?"
"Yeah Jake; I understand." I heard the rolling of a sliding door and Annie sucking in her breath as the cold night hit her skin.
"Find north," I begged.
"I'm not stupid Jake," she barked at me, clearly on edge. I could practically hear her shaking. Her breath was hot in my ear as she began her jog.
"I don't like this," she whispered. I knew she didn't, but I know that she didn't want to stay at the house either.
"You want to tell me about the party?" I asked after about ten minutes of listening to her run.
"Not if you don't want me to throw up," she said breathlessly. "If you want me to get to you any time soon, you might want to shut the hell up."
I laughed and fell silent, sitting back against a tree. I had never wanted Annie to be a wolf. Hell I had never wanted anyone of my pack brothers to become what I am. But I was sitting here, wishing that she could be a fucking wolf or superhero or something. Because I knew that I was going to have to wait at least a half hour before she got to me. So I sat there, praying that she would get here safe and sound.
Almost twenty minutes later, I was sitting still listening to her heartbeat. I loved that sound. When she'd been attacked by Murphy, when she'd had that seizure, when Victoria had attacked her, when she'd almost died on the cliff, when she'd been attacked in that clearing, it was the only thing that let me know that she was still alive. And here I was, listening to her faint heartbeat grow closer and closer to me as she ran.
"I hope you know that I am really angry at you," she panted.
"Me? What did I do?"
"I am running in skinny jeans in a cardigan. I hate you right now." I knew that she was kidding, that she didn't actually hate me. But the words still stung. The wolf in me wanted to roll over on my back and submit, crawl across the ground until she knew that I was sorry. She was right; I was a bad imprint. I let her come within inches of her life multiple times and worse than that, I was asking her to run five miles to get to me.
Her scent was getting closer, mixed with the sound of her heartbeat and the smell of her sweat. God she smelled great. Her covered in sweat, all natural and smelling like the Annie that I had always known was better than anything I could ever imagine. And then the sickly sweet smell, like cough syrup hit my nose. Mixed with blood.
"Annie, how close are you?"
"How the hell am I supposed to know?"
"What do you see around you?"
"What's wrong, Jake?" She could probably feel me getting more and more anxious.
"What do you see Ryanne?" I snapped.
"Trees Jake. I see trees."
"Anything distinct?"
"There's a tree with all the branches missing off the left side," she said. I grinned. She was within reach. I sprinted down the line, running parallel to where she would appear. She let out a little squeal.
"What's wrong? Annie talk to me?"
"Vampire."
Shit.