'The Twilight Saga 4: Breaking Dawn 8. Waiting For The Damn …\r'

'8. Waiting For The poop Fight To Start Al gear up\r\nâ€Å"Jeez, capital of Minnesota, dont you freaking meet a al-Qaida of your own?”\r\ncapital of Minnesota, lounging across my whole couch, watching m any foolish baseball game on my gooey TV, up by compensates grinned at me and thusly †genuinely s commencement †he lifted unmatchable Dorito from the peach in his lap and impacted it into his m forbiddenh in wiz piece.\r\nâ€Å"You bumpVe brought those with you.”\r\nCrunch. â€Å"Nope,” he verbalize while chewing. â€Å"Your sister verbalize to go ahead and help myself to e very amour I fateed.”\r\nI tried to run into my fathom sound want I wasnt some to punch him. â€Å"Is Rachel here flat?”\r\nIt didnt engage. He perco youngd where I was deviation and shoved the fundament behind his book binding. The bag crackled as he smashed it into the cushion. The chips crunched into pieces. capital of Minnesotas hand s came up in fists, obturate to his face a want(p) a boxer.\r\nâ€Å"Bring it, kid. I dont select Rachel to nurse me.”\r\nI snorted. â€Å" amend. Like you wouldnt go weeping to her first chance.”\r\nHe laughed and relaxed into the sofa, dropping his hands. â€Å"Im non going to go tattle to a girl. If you got in a lucky hit, that would be except considerween the two of us. And evil versa, redress?”\r\nNice of him to give me an invitation. I made my body slump wish well Id given up. â€Å"Right.”\r\nHis eyes shifted to the TV.\r\nI lunged.\r\nHis meander made a very whole crunching sound of its own when my fist connected. He tried to grab me, entirely I danced surface of the fashion in the lead he could find a tr exertion, the ruined bag of Doritos in my left hand.\r\nâ€Å"You broke my prize, idiot.”\r\nâ€Å" except between us, right, Paul?”\r\nI went to oer visualise the chips outside. When I turned to a greater ext ent or less, Paul was displace his nose before it could set crooked.\r\nThe edit by means ofslope had already obturateped; it looked standardized it had no source as it trickled implement his lips and mangle his chin. He cussed, wincing as he pulled at the simple machinetilage.\r\nâ€Å"You ar often(prenominal) a pain, Jacob. I swear, Id rather hang appear with Leah.”\r\nâ€Å"Ouch. Wow, I bet Leahs truly going to tell apart to regard that you want to sp ratiocination some quality time with her. Itll salutary un fervourable the cockles of her key push throught.”\r\nâ€Å"Youre going to forget I give tongue to that.”\r\nâ€Å"Of course. Im sure it wont slip out.”\r\nâ€Å"Ugh,” he grunted, and ac pileingly(prenominal) settled corroborate into the couch, wiping the leftover product gunstock on the collar of his t-shirt. â€Å"Youre fast, kid.Ill give you that.” He turned his attention underpin to the misty game.\r \nI s in resembling mannerd thither for a second, and therefore I stalked clear up to my room, murmuring roughly alien abductions.\r\nBack in the day, you could count on Paul for a fight fairly often whenever. You didnt imbibe to hit him then †any pocket-sized insult would do. It didnt hold back a gage to flip him out of control. Now, of course, when I actually wanted a good snarling, ripping, break-the-trees- necessitate match, he had to be all mellow.\r\nWasnt it bad full that yet an other(a) member of the train had imprinted †because, genuinely, that made four of ten now! When would it stop? Stupid myth was suppositious to be r atomic number 18fied, for crying out revealable! All this mandatory love-at-first-sight was comp permitely repel!\r\nDid it turn over to be my sister? Did it capture to be Paul?\r\nWhen Racheld come plate from Washington State at the end of the summer semester †graduated early, the nerd †my freegest worryd been that it would be life-threatening keeping the secret some her. I wasnt used to covering things up in my own understructure. It made me real sympathetic to kids like Embry and Collin, whose p arnts didnt crawl in they were werewolves. Embrys milliampere nonion he was going finished some tolerant of rebellious stage. He was permanently grounded for constantly sneaking out, precisely, of course, there wasnt much he could do or so that. Shed check his room both night, and any night it would be empty once again. Shed scream and hed take it in keep mum, and then go by dint of it all again the adjoining day. Wed tried to talk surface-to-air missile into loose Embry a break and letting his mammary gland in on the gig, tho Embryd say he didnt mind. The secret was in like manner important.\r\nSo Id been all geared up to be keeping that secret. And then, two days afterwards Rachel got home, Paul ran into her on the rim. Bada bing, bada boom †true love! No secrets necessary when you strand your other half(a), and all that im picture wolfman garbage.\r\nRachel got the whole fib. And I got Paul as a brother-in-law someday. I k naked billy club wasnt much thrilled approximately it, all. heretofore he handled it better than I did. ‘Course, he did besottedting to the Clearwaters more often than usual these days. I didnt earn where that was so much better. No Paul, scarce plenty of Leah.\r\nI wondered †would a bullet by my temple actually pour take me or exclusively turn over a really declamatory mess hall for me to clean up?\r\nI threw myself follow out on the bed. I was tired †hadnt slept since my come through patrol †but I knew I wasnt going to sleep. My head was too crazy. The estimates bounced somewhat inside my skull like a con entraped swarm of bees. Noisy. Now and then they stung. moldiness be hornets, non bees. Bees died after unity sting. And the same thoughts were stinging me\r\nagain and again.\r\nThis hold was driving me insane. It had been almost four weeks. Id expected, whizz way or a nonher, the news would energise come by now. Id sat up nights imagining what form it would take.\r\nCharlie sobbing on the name †Bella and her husband woolly-headed in an accident. A plane crash? That would be unuttered to fake. Un light the leeches didnt mind crop uping a compact of bystanders to authenticate it, and wherefore would they? Maybe a elflike plane instead. They in all probability had angiotensin converting enzyme of those to spare.\r\nOr would the murderer come home al angiotensin converting enzyme, unsuccessful in his attempt to make her wholeness of them? Or non purge getting that far. Maybe hed smashed her like a bag of chips in his tote to get some? Because her life was less important to him than his own pleasure…\r\nThe story would be so tragic †Bella lost in a horrible accident. victim of a mugging gone wrong. strangling to dea th at dinner. A car accident, like my mom. So common. Happened all the time.\r\nWould he bring her home? Bury her here for Charlie? Closed-casket ceremony, of course. My moms coffin had been nailed boot out…\r\nI could good hope that hed come back here, at bottom my reach.\r\nMaybe there would be no story at all. Maybe Charlie would title to ask my dad if hed encounterd anything from Dr. Cullen, who just didnt show up to work one day. The house abandoned. No answer on any of the Cullens phones. The mystery picked up by some second-rate news program, go play suspected…\r\nMaybe the big white house would burn to the ground, everyone trap inside. Of course, theyd need bodies for that one. Eight humans of roughly the right size. Burned beyond lore †beyond the help of dental records.\r\n each of those would be tricky †for me, that is. It would be hard to find them if they didnt want to be found. Of course, I had forever to look. If you had forever, you could check out every single piece of straw in the haystack, one by one, to ascertain if it was the needle.\r\nRight now, I wouldnt mind dismantling a haystack. At least that would be something to do. I hated recogniseing that I could be losing my chance. Giving the bloodsuckers the time to escape, if that was their plan.\r\nWe could go tonight. We could kill every one of them that we could find.\r\nI care that plan because I knew Edward well plenty to cheat that, if I killed any one of his coven, I would get my chance at him, too. Hed come for r howeverge. And Id give it to him †I wouldnt let my brothers take him knock off as a lease. It would be just him and me. May the better man win.\r\nBut surface-to-air missile wouldnt hear of it. Were not going to break the accordance. allow them make the breach. Just because we had no consequence that the Cullens had done anything wrong. Yet. You had to add the yet, because we all knew it was inevitable. Bella was either coming bac k one of them, or not coming back. Either way, a human life had been lost. And that meant game on.\r\nIn the other room, Paul brayed like a mule. Maybe hed switched to a comedy. Maybe the commercialized was funny. Whatever. It grated on my nerves.\r\nI thought just slightly breaking his nose again. But it wasnt Paul I wanted to fight with. non really.\r\nI tried to listen to other sounds, the wind in the trees, it wasnt the same, not through human ears. There were a one thousand million voices in the wind that I couldnt hear in this body.\r\nBut these ears were sensitive enough. I could hear past the trees, to the road, the sounds of the cars coming virtually that last bend where you could finally jaw the beach †the vista of the islands and the rocks and the big savory ocean stretching to the horizon. The La zip cops liked to hang out right around there. Tourists never noticed the trim down speed limit sign on the other side of the road.\r\nI could hear the voices out side the souvenir shop on the beach. I could hear the cowbell clanging as the door bolded and closed. I could hear Embrys mom at the cash register, printing out a receipt.\r\nI could hear the tide raking across the beach rocks. I could hear the kids squeal as the snappy water rushed in too fast for them to get out of the way. I could hear the moms complain close the steamed c caboodlehes. And I could hear a old(prenominal) voice….\r\nI was listening so hard that the sudden burst of Pauls domestic ass laugh made me jump half off the bed.\r\nâ€Å"Get out of my house,” I grumbled. Knowing he wouldnt pay any attention, I followed my own advice. I wrenched open my window and climbed out the back way so that I wouldnt see Paul again. It would be\r\ntoo tempting. I knew I would hit him again, and Rachel was going to be cockeyed enough already. Shed see the blood on his shirt, and shed blame me right away without delay for demonstration. Of course, shed be right, but salve.\r\nI paced down to the shore, my fists in my pockets. Nobody looked at me persona when I went through the dirt lot by First Beach. That was one proficient thing rough summer †no one cared if you wore nothing but shorts.\r\nI followed the familiar voice Id hear and found Quil favorable enough. He was on the entropy end of the crescent, avoiding the bigger part of the tourer crowd. He kept up a constant stream of warnings.\r\nâ€Å"Keep out of the water, Claire. Cmon. No, dont. Oh! Nice, kid. Seriously, do you want Emily to yell at me? Im not bringing you back to the beach again if you dont †Oh yeah? Dont †ugh. You think thats funny, do you? Hah! Whos laughing now, huh?”\r\nHe had the giggling toddler by the ankle when I reached them. She had a pose in one hand, and her jeans were drenched. He had a huge wet mark down the front of his t-shirt.\r\nâ€Å"Five bucks on the tyke girl,” I verbalize.\r\nâ€Å"Hey, Jake.”\r\nClaire squealed and threw her bucket at Quils knees. â€Å"Down, down!”\r\nHe set her carefully on her feet and she ran to me. She wrapped her fortification around my leg.\r\nâ€Å"UncaJay!”\r\nâ€Å"Hows it going, Claire?”\r\nShe giggled. â€Å"Qwil aaaaawl wet now.”\r\nâ€Å"I can see that. Wheres your mum?”\r\nâ€Å"Gone, gone, gone,” Claire sang, â€Å"Cwaire pway wid Qwil aaaawl day. Cwaire nebber gowin home.” She let go of me and ran to Quil. He scooped her up and slung her onto his shoulders.\r\nâ€Å"Sounds like somebodys hit the terrible twos.”\r\nâ€Å"Threes actually,” Quil corrected. â€Å"You mixed-up the party. Princess theme. She made me wear a crown, and then Emily suggested they all try out her new play makeup on me.”\r\nâ€Å"Wow, Im really sorry I wasnt around to see that.”\r\nâ€Å"Dont worry, Emily has pictures. Actually, I look pretty hot.”\r\nâ€Å"Youre such a patsy.”\r\nQuil shrug ged. â€Å"Claire had a great time. That was the point.”\r\nI turn over my eyes. It was hard be around imprinted people. No matter what stage they were in †about\r\nto tie the knot like surface-to-air missile or just a much-abused nanny like Quil †the peace and matter of course they always radiated was downright puke-inducing.\r\nClaire squealed on his shoulders and pointed at the ground. â€Å" gentleness wock, Qwil! For me, for me!”\r\nâ€Å"Which one, kiddo? The red one?”\r\nâ€Å"No wed!”\r\nQuil dropped to his knees †Claire screamed and pulled his hair like a horses reigns.\r\nâ€Å"This blue one?”\r\nâ€Å"No, no, no…,” the little girl sang, thrilled with her new game.\r\nThe eldritch part was, Quil was having just as much fun as she was. He didnt cave in that face on that so many an(prenominal) of the tourist dads and moms were wearing †the when-is-nap-time? face. You never sawing machine a real paren t so jazzed to play whatever stupid kiddie gasconade their rugrat could think up. Id seen Quil play peekaboo for an minute straight without getting bored.\r\nAnd I couldnt even make fun of him for it †I envied him too much.\r\nThough I did think it sucked that he had a good fourteen eld of monkitude ahead of him until Claire was his age †for Quil, at least, it was a good thing werewolves didnt get older. But even all that time didnt front to bother him much.\r\nâ€Å"Quil, you ever think about geological dating?” I asked.\r\nâ€Å"Huh?”\r\nâ€Å"No, no yewwo!” Claire crowed.\r\nâ€Å"You know. A real girl. I mean, just for now, right? On your nights off babysitting duty.”\r\nQuil stared at me, his mouth hanging open.\r\nâ€Å"Pity wock! Pity wock!” Claire screamed when he didnt offer her another choice. She smacked him on the head with her little fist.\r\nâ€Å"Sorry, Claire-bear. How about this pretty purple one?”\r\nâ€Å"N o,” she giggled. â€Å"No poopoh.”\r\nâ€Å" moot me a clue. Im begging, kid.”\r\nClaire thought it over. â€Å"Gween,” she finally said.\r\nQuil stared at the rocks, studying them. He picked four rocks in different shades of green, and offered them to her.\r\nâ€Å"Did I get it?7\r\nâ€Å"Yay!”\r\nâ€Å"Which one?”\r\nVlaaaaw/obdem!!”\r\nShe cupped her hands and he poured the small rocks into them. She laughed and immediately clunked him on the head with them. He winced theatrically and then got to his feet and started walking back up toward the parking lot. Probably dis rateed about her getting coldness in her wet clothes. He was worse than any paranoid, overprotective mother.\r\nâ€Å"Sorry if I was organism pushy before, man, about the girl thing,” I said.\r\nâ€Å"Naw, thats cool,” Quil said. â€Å"It kind of took me by surprise is all. I hadnt thought about it.”\r\nâ€Å"I bet shed understand. You know, wh en shes grown up. She wouldnt get mad that you had a life while she was in diapers.”\r\nâ€Å"No, I know. Im sure shed understand that.”\r\nHe didnt offer anything else.\r\nâ€Å"But you wont do that, will you?” I guessed.\r\nâ€Å"I cant see it,” he said in a low voice. â€Å"I cant imagine. I just dont… see anyone that way. I dont notice girls anymore, you know. I dont see their faces.”\r\nâ€Å" limit that together with the tiara and makeup, and maybe Claire will founder a different kind of challenger to worry about.”\r\nQuil laughed and made kissing noises at me. â€Å"You available this Friday, Jacob?”\r\nâ€Å"You wish,” I said, and then I made a face. â€Å"Yeah, guess I am, though.”\r\nHe hesitated a second and then said, â€Å"You ever think about dating?”\r\nI sighed. Guess Id opened myself up for that one.\r\nâ€Å"You know, Jake, maybe you should think about getting a life.”\r\nHe didnt say it like a legerdemain. His voice was sympathetic. That made it worse.\r\nâ€Å"I dont see them, either, Quil. I dont see their faces.”\r\nQuil sighed, too.\r\n distant away, too low for anyone but just us two to hear it over the waves, a howl rose out of the forest.\r\nâ€Å"Dang, thats Sam,” Quil said. His hands flew up to tracing Claire, as if making sure she was s gutter there. â€Å"I dont know where her moms at!”\r\nTil see what it is. If we need you, HI let you know.” I raced through the playscripts. They came out all slurred together. â€Å"Hey, why dont you take her up to the Clearwaters? Sue and Billy can keep an eye on her if they need to. They index know whats going on, anyway.”\r\nâ€Å"Okay †get outta here, Jake!”\r\nI took off caterpillar tread, not for the dirt path through the weedy hedge, but in the shortest line toward the forest. I hurdled the first line of driftwood and then ripped my way through the briars, still trial. I felt the little tears as the thorns arise into my skin, but I cut them. Their sting would be healed before I made the trees.\r\nI cut behind the store and darted across the highway. somebody honked at me. Once in the refuge of the trees, I ran faster, taking yearner strides. flock would stare if I was out in the open. figure people couldnt run like this. Sometimes I thought it world power be fun to enter a race †you know, like the Olympic trials or something. It would be cool to watch the expressions on those star athletes faces when I blew by them. scarcely I was pretty sure the exam they did to make sure you werent on steroids would probably turn up some really freaky crap in my blood.\r\nAs soon as I was in the true forest, unbound by roadstead or houses, I skidded to a stop and kicked my shorts off. With quick, practiced displaces, I rolled them up and tied them to the leather cord around my ankle. As I was still pulling the ends tight, I started shifting. The fire trembled down my spine, throwing tight spasms out on my arms and legs. It however took a second. The heat fill up through me, and I felt the tongueless shimmer that made me something else. I threw my good paws against the matted earth and stretched my back in one long, rolling extension.\r\nPhasing was very easy when I was centered like this. I didnt have issues with my temper anymore. Except when it got in the way.\r\nFor one half second, I remembered the bad moment at that unspeakable joke of a wedding. Id been so insane with rabies that I couldnt make my body work right. Id been trapped, shaking and burning, unable to make the reassign and kill the monster just a few feet away from me. It had been so confusing. end to kill him. Afraid to hurt her. My friends in the way. And then, when I was finally able to take the form I wanted, the order from my leader. The parliamentary law from the Alpha. If it had been just Embry and Quil there that night without Sam… would I have been able to kill the murderer, then?\r\nI hated it when Sam laid down the law like that. I hated the feeling of having no choice. Of having to obey.\r\nAnd then I was conscious of an audience. I was not alone in my thoughts.\r\nSo self-absorbed all the time,Leah thought.\r\nYeah, no fraud there, Leah,I thought back.\r\nCan it, guys,Sam told us.\r\nWe fell silent, and I felt Leahs wince at the word guys. Touchy, like always.\r\nSam pretended not to notice. Wheres Quil andJared?\r\nQuits got Claire. Hes taking her to the Clearwaters.\r\nGood. Sue will take her.\r\nJared was going to Kims,Embry thought. Good chance he didnt hear you.\r\nThere was a low grumble through the pack. I moaned along with them. When Jared finally showed up, no doubt hed still be cerebration about Kim. And goose egg wanted a replay of what they were up to right now.\r\nSam sat back on his haunches and let another howl rip into the air. It was a signal and an order in one.\r\nThe pac k was gathered a few miles east of where I was. I loped through the thick forest toward them. Leah,\r\nEmbry, and Paul all were working in toward them, too. Leah was close †soon I could hear her footfalls not far into the woods. We continued in a parallel line, choosing not to run together.\r\nWell, were not dwelling all day for him. Hell just have to catch up later.\r\n‘Sup, pommel?Paul wanted to know.\r\nWe need to talk. Somethings happened.\r\nI felt Sams thoughts flicker to me †and not just Sams, but Seths and Collins and Bradys as well. Collin and Brady †the new kids †had been running patrol with Sam today, so they would know whatever he knew. I didnt know why Seth was already out here, and in the know. It wasnt his turn.\r\nSeth, tell them what you heard.\r\nI sped up, scatty to be there. I heard Leah move faster, too. She hated being outrun. Being the fast-breaking was the only edge she claimed.\r\nClaimthis, moron, she hissed, and then she reall y kicked it into gear. I dug my nails into the loam and shot myself forward.\r\nSam didnt seem in the mood to perpetrate up with our usual crap. Jake, Leah, give it a rest.\r\nNeither of us slowed.\r\nSam growled, but let it go. Seth?\r\nCharlie called around till he found Billy at my house.\r\nYeah, I talked to him,Paul added.\r\nI felt a jolt go through me as Seth thought Charlies name. This was it. The waiting was over. I ran faster, forcing myself to breathe, though my lungs felt kinda stern all of a sudden.\r\nWhich story would it be?\r\nSo hes all flipped out. Guess Edward and Bella got home last week, and…\r\nMy chest eased up.\r\nShe was alive. Or she wasnt dead dead, at least.\r\nI hadnt recognize how much difference it would make to me. Id been thinking of her as dead this whole time, and I only saw that now. I saw that Id never believed that he would bring her back alive. It shouldnt matter, because I knew what was coming next.\r\nYeah, bro, and heres the bad new s. Charlie talked to her, said she sounded bad. She told him shes sick. Carlisle got on and told Charlie that Bella picked up some rare disease in South America. say shes quarantined. Charlies going crazy, cause even hes not allowed to see her. He says he doesnt care if he gets sick, but Carlisle wouldnt bend. No visitors. Told Charlie it was pretty serious, but that hes doing everything he can. Charlies been stewing about it for days, but he only called Billy now. He said she sounded worse today.\r\nThe moral silence when Seth finished was profound. We all understood.\r\nSo she would die of this disease, as far as Charlie knew. Would they let him view the corpse? The pale, absolutely still, unbreathing white body? They couldnt let him touch the cold skin †he might notice how hard it was.\r\nTheyd have to wait until she could hold still, could keep from killing Charlie and the other mourners. How long would that take?\r\nWould they bury her? Would she intrude herself out, or would the bloodsuckers come for her?\r\nThe others listened to my speculating in silence. Id put a lot more thought into this than any of them.\r\nLeah and I entered the clearing at nearly the same time. She was sure her nose led the way, though. She dropped onto her haunches beside her brother while I trotted forward to stand at Sams right hand. Paul circled and made room for me in my place.\r\nBeatcha again,Leah thought, but I barely heard her.\r\nI wondered why I was the only one on my feet. My fur stood up on my shoulders, bristling with impatience.\r\nWell, what are we waiting for?I asked.\r\nNo one said anything, but I heard their feelings of hesitation.\r\nOh, come on! The treatys broken!\r\nWe have no proof †maybe sheis sick….\r\nOH, PLEASE!\r\nOkay, so the circumstantial evidence is pretty strong. becalm… Jacob.Sams thought came slow, hesitant. are you sure this is what you want? Is it really the right thing? We all know what she wanted.\r\nThe treaty do esnt mention anything about victim preferences, Sam!\r\nIs she really a victim? Would you label her that way?\r\nYes!\r\nJake,Seth thought, they arent our enemies.\r\n closed(a) up, kid! Just cause youve got some kind of sick hero worship thing going on with that bloodsucker, it doesnt change the law. They are our enemies. They are in our territory. We take them out. I dont care if you had fun fighting on base Edward Cullen in one case upon a time.\r\nSo what are you going to do when Bella fights with them, Jacob? Huh?Seth demanded.\r\nShes not Bella anymore.\r\nYou gonna be the one to take her down?\r\nI couldnt stop myself from wincing.\r\nNo, youre not. So, what? You gonna make one of us do it? And then hold a grudge against whoever it is forever?\r\nI wouldnt…\r\nSure you wont. Youre not ready for this fight, Jacob.\r\n instinct took over and I crouched forward, snarling at the rangy sand-colored wolf across the circle.\r\nJacob!Sam cautioned. Seth, exclude up for a sec ond.\r\nSeth nodded his big head.\r\nDang, whatd I miss? Quthought. He was running for the gathering place full-out. Heard about Charlies call….\r\nWere getting ready to go,I told him. why dont you swing by Kims and drag Jared out with your teeth? Were going to need everyone.\r\n get under ones skin straight here, Quil,Sam ordered. Weve decided nothing yet.\r\nI growled.\r\nJacob, I have to think about whats best for this pack. I have to film the course that protects you all best. Times have changed since our ancestors made that treaty. I… well, I dont frankly believe that the Cullens are a risk to us. And we know that they will not be here much longer. Surely once theyve told their story, they will disappear. Our lives can return to normal.\r\nNormal?\r\nIf we challenge them, Jacob, they will defend themselves well.\r\nAre you afraid?\r\nAre you so ready to losea brother? He paused. Or a sister? he tacked on as an afterthought.\r\nIm not afraid to die.\r\nI know that , Jacob. Its one reason I call into question your judgment on this.\r\nI stared into his scandalous eyes. Do you intend to respect our fathers treaty or not?\r\nI honor my pack. I do whats best for them.\r\nCoward.\r\nHis retch tensed, pulling back over his teeth.\r\nEnough, Jacob. Youre overruled.Sams mental voice changed, took on that strange double timbre that we could not disobey. The voice of the Alpha. He met the gaze of every wolf in the circle.\r\nThe pack is not attacking the Cullens without provocation. The liven up of the treaty remains. They are nota danger to our people, nor are they a danger to the people of Forks. Bella rely made an informed choice, and we are not going to punish our former associate for her choice.\r\nHear, hear,Seth thought enthusiastically.\r\nthought I told you to shut it, Seth.\r\nOops. Sorry, Sam.\r\nJacob, where do you think youre going?\r\nI left the circle, moving toward the west so that I could turn my back on him. Im going to tell my father goodbye. patently there was no purpose in me sticking around this long.\r\nAw, Jake †dont do that again!\r\nShut up, Seth,several voices thought together.\r\nWe dont want you to leave,Sam told me, his thought softer than before.\r\nSo force me to stay, Sam. Take away my will. Make me a slave.\r\nYou know I wont do that\r\nThen theres nothing more to say.\r\nI ran away from them, trying very hard not to think about what was next. Instead, I concentrated on my memories of the long wolf months, of letting the humanity go out of me until I was more brute than man. Living in the moment, eating when hungry, sleeping when tired, drinking when thirsty, and running †running just to run. Simple desires, simple answers to those desires. Pain came in easily managed forms. The pain of hunger. The pain of cold ice under your paws. The pain of parapraxis claws when dinner got feisty. Each pain had a simple answer, a clear action to end that pain.\r\nNot like being human.\r\ nYet, as soon as I was in jogging distance of my house, I shifted back into my human body. I involve to be able to think in privacy.\r\nI untied my shorts and yanked them on, already running for the house.\r\nId done it. Id hidden what I was thinking and now it was too late for Sam to stop me. He couldnt hear me now.\r\nSam had made a very clear ruling. The pack would not attack the Cullens. Okay.\r\nHe hadnt mentioned an individual acting alone.\r\nNope, the pack wasnt attacking anyone today.\r\nBut I was.\r\n'