All Bark, No Bite [Jacob & Edward]

15

Jacob doesn't remember why he was so confident before. Why was he so sure that "betraying " Bella would be fine? All of these years of chasing after her and he thought that he knew everything. Yes, she was weak. She had two people willing to fight her battles for her. He knew that. So, why was he sitting here with his heart in his throat as Alice tried to calmly explain her last vision? 

"The Volturi?" Edward tries to ask casually, but his fear is clear in his lack of expression. He looks stunned.

"Yes, she's gathering the Volturi." Alice confirms, looking between the two of them. She's expecting something. Jacob continues in silence, trying to stuff the rest of the t-shirts between the headboard and mattress like he liked them.

Edward continues staring blankly at the bedroom door.

Maybe it wasn't confidence, maybe it was foolishness. He just sort of fell into a situation and got caught up in it before he could think to dig himself out. No one could have told him a couple of months ago that he'd cooped up in Edward's bedroom fixing their nest and carrying his baby. He would have probably mauled them. Was it even a betrayal? He didn't ask to be this way. 

"A newborn vampire birthed by a human would've been enough to get their attention," Alice continues looking more frantic as she whips her head from side to side in frustration, "Potentially, a werewolf mixed with a vampire?"

She looks hysterical.

Jacob feels faint. 

He plops down onto the bed and leans back against the pillows, hoping that Leah was right about the whole nesting thing. He shifted a shirt around, moved a stuffed animal to a better spot. 

He felt like he was going to be sick.

"We just need back up, more vampires willing to defend us." Edward finally spoke up, voice coming out as almost a whisper.

"No outside vampire is looking to go up against the Volturi." Rosalie spoke up, leaning against the doorframe. Her eyes flicked between the two of them. Any more ideas?

"Werewolves, we can look for werewolves." Edward started, looking for some form of agreement before he could even get the sentence out.

"Even more stubborn," Jacob pushes out around the lump in his throat, "packs are a thing for a reason."

The thought of asking Sam, of all people, to help him with his problem brought on a new wave of nausea. He's not sure if word has gotten out, but he didn't need some other alpha knowing he was vulnerable. Especially not one that he took members from.

He must look rough because Rosalie's rounding the bed to stand next to him, eyes on his stomach as if she could see something they couldn't. She's looking like she wants to comfort him in some way, but she's hesitant to touch him. She goes back to watching Edward.

"We'll figure it out." Emmett helpfully supplied, head barely peeking into the room. He looks over at Rosalie and there must be something in his eyes because she moves towards him like it's urgent. 

Alice gives Jacob a weak smile and a pat on the shoulder before scurrying out after them.  

It'd been a week since the nightmare. 

He'd thought it was some weird stress thing. He rarely had any real nightmares after his first shift. He thought maybe that's just what happens when some witch in the forest meddles with your insides. 

Jacob can feel the bed dip as Edward climbs up and carefully scoots over to his side. His left arm comes out and loosely drapes itself across Jacob's hips.

He doesn't say anything, he just lays there quietly.

After about half an hour, Edward finally seems to have found his words.

"Why call them?" He finally says. 

Jacob thinks it's a rhetorical question. Why does Bella do anything that she does?

"If she wants the baby, why them?" The questions barely do anything to bring Jacob out of the state of numb that he's found himself in.

 He can't think about her logic, he can only think about the fact that she may have just signed his death certificate. 

He feels a light flutter on his left side.

Right. Their death certificates.

"She probably hasn't even told them yet. You're not far enough along for her to get what she wants. It'd be too risky." Edward rambles and with each passing word, he can see whatever life he has coming back into his eyes.

"We just have to stop her before she does anything stupid." He finally reaches his conclusion, turning to Jacob who hasn't taken his eyes off of the hole in his own sock.

"How?" Quil is standing in the doorway, arms crossed while Seth and Embry try to squeeze in next to him.

"We track her down. It'll be harder without the ability to read her mind, but I'm sure her scent is somewhere." He provides and Quil just nods.

"We use force, if necessary," Edward provides, his tone shifting again into one of indifference, "Kill if need be." 

Something about that declaration finally wakes Jacob up to the world around him.

"Kill?" He mumbles in confusion.

"Yes." Edward says it as if it's obvious.

 He glances over at Leah, who has pushed Seth and Embry out of the way to stand next to Quil.

"Sounds good to me," she declares looking over at the other three who don't seem bothered in the slightest by the command. 

"But you'll try to reason with her first, right?" Jacob asks, but by the look on Leah's face, he knows that nothing he says matters currently.

"Sure, anyway, we're supposed to be helping put the vamp repellent on the gate." Embry mutters, and they all clamber out of the doorway. 

By his tone, Jacob would be lucky if they even thought about keeping her alive for a few minutes upon seeing her.

Jacob glances over at Edward who is staring back at him like he's the ridiculous one. 

"Your plan is to murder her?" Jacob asks incredulously.

"She's threatening my family." He says it as if it's obvious, ignoring the scoff Jacob aims his way.

"What does a pack do when it feels threatened?" Edward asks, and Jacob feels very aware that Edward has been spending way too much time with Seth.

"We protect each other-," Edward looks like he wants to interject, "-but that doesn't necessarily mean killing someone!"

"Why do you care if she dies, anyway? You still have a thing for her?" Edward's just mocking him at this point, he can literally see the hint of a smile at the edge of his lips.

"She's the daughter of my dad's friend." He reminds Edward, who doesn't seem to necessarily care as he rolls his eyes. 

"Charlie should be grateful, she's a walking train wreck." Edward grumbles, sliding further into the pile of things around him.

"Find her and bring her back." Jacob demands, watching as Edward almost disappears into the pile of stuffed animals.

"Yes, Dear."