The days passed, slower now that the school finally worked out my credits from the correspondence courses I had taken, I was all set to graduate with everyone in my year. The only catch is that I have to finish the rest of the year. Alice was highly amused.
Adding to my day's frustration, my truck was in the shop for a quality recall on the crank shaft. Since Edythe was being the passenger princess and didn't ship her car back, we were bumming a ride with Edward today.
That meant riding along as Edward took Bella home after school. It was amusing to me that Charlie had Bella on a schedule for being grounded.
If Edward was driving, she had only 13 minutes from last class bell ringing before she had to cross the threshold of the front door to home. If she missed this, Charlie would take over driving her back and forth.
Bella was taking the restrictions well enough, once she pointed out that Charlie couldn't push her too far or she would move out. Her being 18 really kept Charlie from taking things as far as he wanted to.
I was pulled out of my reflection by Edward suddenly swerving behind a parked truck a couple of houses down from Charlies. Bella was also confused and asked, "What's wrong Edward?"
He just pointed ahead, and Bella focused on where he pointed. I was a bit confused when I saw a red dirt bike parked in the driveway of Charlies house.
My confusion was deepened with Bella's reaction.
"Oh no… no, no, no, no… He didn't"
Edward sighed, "He is waiting in the woods over there. He wants to talk with us. Well, specifically me."
Bella was the first out of the car, her face was a mask of rage as she stormed toward the area Edward had indicated.
"Traitor!" She shouted. Edward was only a step behind her, but me and Edythe were a little farther back, cautiously watching in confusion.
After moving a few feet into the tree line, I saw Jacob being berated by Bella for rating her out to Charlie.
His face was drawn tight… anger, guilt, all wrapped together.
When I looked behind him, I saw the figure of Leah deeper into the woods. It took a moment to recognize her with her hair cut short. Shame, I thought she looked good with long hair. Edwards voice drew my attention back to the confrontation.
"He wasn't trying to hurt Charlie, Bella. He just wanted to get you grounded, as a way to keep us apart."
"Stay out of my mind you… freak." Jacobe bellowed.
Bella drew his attention back to herself, "Ahh, you idiot Jake. I am already grounded, why do you think I haven't been by to yell at you for ducking my calls."
Jacob's eyes went wide, and he looked even more shameful.
"He thinks it's been me keeping you from seeing him." Edward supplied.
Jacob's face went angry, and a low growl escaped his throat. "That's really irritating. I can speak for myself, Leach."
While I was watching the back and forth between the three, I didn't notice Edythe watching Leah with narrowed eyes.
Edythe watched as Leah staired intently at Thomas, her eyes looked a little pleading as if begging for a reaction she wasn't getting.
Edwards voice went tight, as if he was holding himself back. "Then say what you have come to say mutt. We are running out of time, unless you want Charlie to hear your long-prepared speech as well."
As if on cue, Charlie's voice sounded out in a yell "Bella… Don't think I didn't see his car try to hide behind the Ferguson's truck. You get in here right this minute."
Bella flinched, and Jacob blushed even more, but he finally said what he had come to say. "I am here to remind you of the treaty."
Edward interrupted him, "We know it well Jacob. We have never broken it, unlike you."
Jacob acted like he didn't hear Edward and continued. "If any of you Cullen's bite a human the treaty is broken, and we are free to hunt you as we find you. Even tell the town all about you. That was the agreement."
The last sentence was aimed at Bella.
Bella's expression hardened, the anger melting into something sharper. "Jacob…"
But Edward stepped subtly between them, his posture tense, protective, one hand braced at Bella's back.
"Your point is made," Edward said, tone dangerously calm.
"My point," Jacob snapped, "is that I'm not going to let her—"
"You don't get a say," Bella cut in, furious now. "You don't control my choices. Or my life. And you definitely don't get to threaten people I care about just because you're throwing some kind of supernatural tantrum."
Jacob flinched as if she'd slapped him. He raked a hand through his hair, frustration shuddering through him. "Bella… I'm trying to protect you."
"That's not protection," she said, voice trembling with anger. "That's you deciding you get to choose for me."
Charlie's voice blasted from the porch again:
"BELLA! I swear to God…"
Bella winced. "Coming!" she shouted back, then glared at Jacob one more time. "We'll talk more later, but on my terms."
She spun around and stormed toward the house and the waiting Charlie.
Edward spared Jacob one last cool, unreadable look before following her. Edythe brushed her fingers against my hand, a wordless come on, but her eyes lingered on Leah a moment longer, unreadable.
Jacob stared after Bella like the world was slipping out from under him.
Leah finally spoke, her voice low and sharp enough to cut through the mist.
"Come on, Jake," she said. "This wasn't worth it."
Jacob didn't answer, his body started to shudder and suddenly his clothes burst as he shifted into a large brown wolf and raced into the trees.
I shouldn't have been surprised, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little. I just didn't put any thought into it in my defense.
I glanced at Leah and saw a pained and curiously furious look in her eyes before she too exploded through her clothes and shifted into a light gray wolf with a narrower muzzle compared to the other wolves I had seen.
Again, surprise cost me a few moments. "Leah, wait…" Before my words could reach her though, she was gone. I sighed in frustration.
Edythe placed a hand on my shoulder, "You, okay?"
"Yeah, she just surprised me. I need to get the books written by Elaraim to her."
Edythe's fingers tightened gently on my shoulder.
"You're worried about her," she said quietly.
"Of course I am." I scrubbed a hand over my face, still staring into the trees where Leah had vanished. "She's the first female wolf since Elaraim. The Elders didn't handle it well back then. If they treat her the same way…"
My jaw clenched. I didn't finish the thought.
Edythe didn't need me to. "They won't," she said, her voice a low promise. "Not if you're there."
I huffed out a grim laugh. "They don't even want to look at me, let alone listen."
Her expression softened. "They will. They know what you did for Sam. For Emily. And they know you didn't hurt Paul the other night, even though you could have."
"That won't matter if they panic," I muttered. "Fear makes people stupid." We made it to the street before Edythe stopped me and pulled me into an embrace.
She then pulled back and placed her hand on the side of my face. "Then we deal with it when it comes."
Before I could respond, the front door slammed, and Charlie's voice rose again inside the house.
Bella's answering shout followed a moment later. Edward remained on the porch, caught between amusement and guilt, and offered me a tired look before retreating to his car. He knew his presence would only make things worse.
Knowing I wouldn't make anything better by lingering, I took Edythe's hand and followed Edward back to the car. As he pulled away from the curb, I exhaled. "Well… that could've gone worse."
Edward's answering sigh was heavy. "All I saw was another reason for Charlie to hate me — and another week added to Bella's sentence."
"I wouldn't worry about Charlie hating you," I said.
Edward didn't look convinced. "He has every reason. I made a disaster of things in more ways than I can count."
I gave a low chuckle. "You're not young — but you are new to some things. Mistakes come with the territory. Time will fix more than you think, if you let it."
He was quiet for several seconds, the streetlights carving thin lines of gold across his face. Finally, he murmured, "You make it sound simple."
"It is simple," I said. "Just not easy."
That pulled the faintest smile from him — reluctant, but real. Edythe caught it too; her posture eased beside me.
"You tried to protect her," she said softly. "You chose wrong, but you chose out of love. Humans do far worse for far pettier reasons."
Edward's jaw tightened once before he admitted, "I don't deserve how quickly she forgives."
"Probably not," I said honestly. "But she's forgiving you anyway. That says more about who she is than what you did."
"And," Edythe added, "Bella isn't forgiving the pain. She's forgiving the motive behind it. There's a difference."
Something in Edward's expression shifted, the hardness easing, the guilt pulling back from the edge.
The wipers dragged lazily across the windshield as the mist thickened. Quiet settled in the car again, gentler this time.
"Charlie doesn't hate you," I added.
"That's still up for debate."
"No," I countered. "What he hates is losing his daughter — to adulthood, to danger, to things he can't control. You just happen to be the nearest target."
Edythe nodded. "He's blaming what's easiest to blame. That usually means you."
Edward huffed, not quite a laugh, but close. "Wonderful."
"You'll win him back," I said. "Slowly. One steady step at a time. Bella's worth the effort."
This time, he didn't argue. He just nodded, eyes fixed on the road, something steadier settling into his expression.
Edythe squeezed my hand, not for reassurance, but gratitude. For grounding things. For helping her brother. For being the calm when the world kept tipping sideways.
"I love you," she whispered as the turnoff to the Cullen house appeared.
"And I love you," I said, meaning every word.
Things were settling.
At least for now.