Jacob knew something was wrong as he suddenly paused in his shouting at Lear, staring blankly at the visibly shaken female in front of him. He knew his inner alpha had been the reason why she was practically cowering away from him, especially since Lear wasn't the type of female to just take being roared at without fighting back, but she had been extremely foolish and needed to be punished for that fact.
He scowled as he recalled how close he had come to being crushed by the last remaining newborn, how if he hadn't of moved at the last split second he would be in so much agony he doubted he would have been able to remember his own name let alone be able to heal quick enough to get back to his angel and make sure she was safe.
Leah had gotten big headed and he knew she was aware of just how stupid she had been, not having alerted the pack and gone straight for the kill herself. What was she thinking? Was she really that insecure that she felt the need to prove herself? He had thought she was smarter than that.
He didn't say anything for a few moments, his whole entire form frozen on the spot as he tried desperately to scan for his mates emotions only to feel a light pain thrash through his head. He knew it was him being a werewolf that dumbed down the agony his mate must have been feeling for it to have transferred through their bond.
As soon as that thought hit him he had shifted, ignoring the rest of the startled pack as he let his wolf take control over the situation and allowed his instincts to consume him. All he knew was that he needed to get to his mate, that he needed to protect his Brooke and he was not about to let anyone get in the way of that.
That Battle had gone well which had been a relief, and while there were a couple of close cases none of their side had been killed in the attack. The newborns however didn't have any survivors, and while Carlisle had wished to save a few of them Sam had drawn the line at that and to be honest he agreed completely. It had been Jasper who had made the final call, telling Carlisle that it would be pointless to try and save them when it was obvious to everyone present that they could neither be trusted nor trained to act like the vegetarian vampires who didn't believe in the murder and killing of innocent people.
Why would a newborn who had been brought up on human blood wish to change to something less tasteful and appealing when there was another option?
They wouldn't.
"What's wrong, Jacob?"
He didn't know why but Jacob couldn't help but snarl instinctively when the thoughts of Jared hit his inner communication, especially since he hadn't actually picked up on the fact all the pack except Lear and Seth were following him, clearly concerned.
He didn't reply, rather sharing what he had felt from his mate making the rest of the pack instinctively growl as well as they quickened their pace. The short relief they had felt that everyone had survived was over now that there was a risk that the girl who had helped protect them all wasn't as safe as they had all assumed, as they had all hoped.
Knowing that he wouldn't be able to get anything from Jacob, Sam simply gave the command to follow him but to keep their distance. Jacob was clearly feeling extremely territorial right now and he knew even as the current alpha he wouldn't have the strength to take the younger wolf if it came to him turning on everyone, especially due to the fact it was concerning his imprint, his Brooke.
"Why isn't she at Billy's?" Embry questioned as he voiced what everyone else was thinking.
Sam shook his massive head, not having a clue why she wasn't. "Perhaps she saw something" he suggested which made a lot of sense to the rest of the pack.
It was only a few minutes later that shock and surprize seemed to hit the pack, taking note of which direction Jacob seemed to be leading them into. One thought seemed to hit them all at once.
Why were they going to the Cullen's?
Jacob didn't bother to listen to what was going on in the back of his mind, ignoring the rest of the pack even though a part of him was glad to have them close. They supported each other, helped each other out and it was a calm feeling to know that the rest of your pack would always be there when you needed them.
Even so, he didn't vocalise this outwardly, not when he needed to keep his mind clear to protect his fragile little mate.
He needed to get to her, and quickly.
It was when the girl on the receiving end of her harsh kicks suddenly stopped reacting to her assault that Bella froze in horror at her actions, her throat dry as she simply stood limply while staring at the blood soaked clothes of the much smaller female.
What the hell had she just done?
Surprisingly, it wasn't the whole attacking Brooke that had her feeling as bad. To be honest, she didn't actually feel that much concerning her actions. So what if she put the girl in her place? Who would really care that she had? No, it was the fact that she knew she had gone too far to actually knock the girl unconscious and the consequences that would come because of it wouldn't be good in the slightest.
She had never hit anyone before.
Her mind whirled as she tried to think up a way to explain how she had gotten into this situation, since while she personally didn't believe that she was in the wrong she knew the pack wouldn't be exactly happy with the fact she turned out to be stronger than she had originally thought. She was being truthful when she said she had never hit anyone before, but what she hadn't expected was that it felt so god damn good not to feel weak for once in her life.
Huffing she paced, letting her ideas swirl around in her head. It was when she heard several sharp intakes of breath that she knew she had to speed up her thinking process.
"Bella," Carlisle asked slowly as he tried to process the scene in front of him. "What-what have you done?"
Ignoring him as he ran over to Brooke she pursed her lips, why did he feel the need to help out the runt? She was clearly more important and yet she didn't see him flashing over to her. Her head hurt after all, the bitch had pulled at her hair!
Bella screeched out in surprise when she was suddenly facing a pair of furious black eyes, fear rising in her since she had never seen Jasper look so animalistic before. He always looked so calm, relaxed.
"J-Jasper-"
His nostrils flared. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" he snarled. "Do you want us to all die, is that it? Is this your pathetic attempt at payback for us leaving you behind?"
"Urm…"
"You know what, Bella?" Jasper snapped as he stepped into her personal space. He was seconds away from snapping at her, ripping into the bitch's throat for daring to lay a hand on the girl who was doing so much for him.
He had yet to read what she had wrote, and while the battle was over it didn't seem right to do it when she was laying on the ground bleeding to death because of what, jealously? It was disgusting and childish. "I am done protecting you! I told you once that you were worth it, but after seeing this side of you I want nothing more to do with the selfish and spoilt brat you have become!"
Bella hid behind her fear by snorting, trying to appear unbothered by his words but even she knew the empath could sense the tremors which were running through her form. For some reason she didn't seem to feel so proud of her actions anymore, no she was definitely regretting them that was for sure.
"Please calm yourself, Jasper" Carlisle spoke soothingly, though his attention remained on the head wound of the unconscious female. It wasn't as bad as it looked he had assessed, but it was definitely more than a flesh wound and he wouldn't feel safe with not keeping himself available encase she had a severe concussion. "When Jacob gets here we will have enough on our plates."
The reminder that the entire pack would be at their throats was enough to have each and every Cullen stiffening, Carlisle's carefully sweeping Brooke up into his arms as he flashed her inside the house. He knew he would have to answer to Jacob but her being outside in the freezing cold was not doing her any good whatsoever. He would simply have to deal with her mate when the time came, and by the sound of it he wouldn't have to wait long.
Jasper followed the unconscious Brooke with his eyes until she disappeared from his view, his calm exterior no longer existing the exact moment he snapped his attention back to Bella. He smirked when he saw her flinch.
"You need to watch yourself, Miss Swan" he narrowed his eyes, his lack of saying her name cluing Bella in on the fact any progress she had made trying to get him onside for the past year was now crumbling away before her eyes. Had she really made this much of a mess of things? "When the pack gets here I will not be supporting you, rather their decision to rip you to pieces for daring to assault the soon-to-be-alphas mate. Not even I would be that stupid."
Bella swallowed as she licked her suddenly dry lips. "Jacob won't hurt me," she spoke confidently.
She didn't feel so confident when a smirk appeared on Jaspers lips however, making a shiver of fear run down her spine. Jacob loved her right? He wouldn't hurt her, would he? For some reason she really didn't seem as confident as she should be.
As if sensing her thoughts Jaspers lips twitched. "I won't be here to protect you Bella; you're on your own."
And at that moment, as she stood in wet and cold, she did feel very much alone.
She was broken out of her own self-pity when the thundering sound of paws approaching soon caught her attention, cluing her in on the reason why the Cullen's had stiffen as much as they had only moments ago. It was times like that where she envied that fact they couldn't be surprised easily, unlike herself.
Knowing that she had to play the perfect part she sniffed, allowing her eyes to fill with tears as she curled into herself as if she was the one who had been beaten only minutes ago. She knew the only way she could get away with what she had done and still keep the view of her innocence in the mind of the pack was to come across as upset as she was portraying.
They wouldn't know what hit them.
Not prepared for the view of the massive animal like wolfs appearing through the wooded area she shunned back at the sheer size of the wolf in front. Was that Sam? She wasn't quite sure, only having seen Paul in his wolf form and she was pretty sure he was the one on the right who was baring his deadly teeth in her direction with pure hate in his eyes.
She swallowed. Shit.
"Your Brooke is inside resting, Jacob. Her head wound is while more than a mere flesh wound isn't life threatening but I am concerned that she may have concussion. I know that we are not in a position to ask for your trust, but I do not feel safe allowing her to leave my care."
While Carlisle's tone was calm and even it was clear Jacob was having none of it, his jaws snapping dangerously.
"You might want to step away from door, Carlisle" Edward spoke softly. "He is more wolf than man at the moment and you are standing in the way of him reaching his mate."
Understanding filled the coven leader and he had moved in the next instant, nodding in gratefulness to his son as he saw the effect his actions had had on the wolf. The tremors had calmed somewhat and Jacobs large head was tilted to the side, ears twitching and it was clear to everyone that he was reminding himself that his mate was safe, that her heart was beating and the lack of venom present made it into his thoughts. They hadn't caused his mate to be like this; their strength would have killed her and not put her into the state that she was.
No, a human had done this to his angel! And his wolf wanted vengeance, right the fuck now!