Blood Moon

8

Reckless Endangerment

Bella had been walking on eggshells around me since I came home, and at school, I sat by myself outside soaking up whatever weather we were having that day. It'd been two weeks since Bella had seen Jake, and only a few days for me. I knew that the pack was working hard to keep Jake in line, but Jake's temper wasn't something he could easily control, especially after he found out Sam took the alpha position before he turned.

Jake was the rightful alpha, but the second he heard this, he turned the position down. It was already overwhelming to him that he could turn into a wolf, he didn't want to be in charge of the whole pack. But, he was still slightly bitter about the alpha being Sam, considering what had happened with Sam, Emily, and Leah.

I learned about what happened between the three, and while I truly felt for Leah Clearwater, I knew that Sam couldn't help his imprinting. I could understand the betrayal she must still feel, seeing her ex with her cousin, and I didn't blame her for her anger towards them both. Even if she'd known about the imprinting bond the pair shared, I was almost positive that Leah would still despise Sam and Emily for what they'd done.

Jake was fully on Leah's side, so his temper flared up when he and Sam so much as disagreed about something. I knew it was safe to keep Jake away from Bella because of this, but Bella had started to get even more restless. She kept ranting to me and dad about how Sam must've recruited him or something, and that she was worried about him.

On Saturday morning, dad and Harry Clearwater were gearing up for a fishing trip while Bella worried about Jake some more. Dad offered to stay, telling Bella that he didn't have to go on the fishing trip, but Harry and I both told him that he most certainly did.

"If you don't come home with enough fish for Harry and I to fry at the next council meeting, I'll actually scream." I deadpanned, watching Harry smirk. "Bella and I will be just fine, dad."

"If you say so." Dad sighed, picking up his tackle box. "Stay inside, both of you. Unless you're with Paul, Lena, stay home today."

"Paul's busy today." I shrugged. "I plan on sitting right here and studying for my history test on Monday."

"Alright." Dad laughed. I turned back around on the couch and focused on my textbook.

"I'm going to go out." Bella decided, only half an hour after dad and Harry left.

"And where are you going?" I asked, peering at her from over my textbook.

"I'm going to check on Jake." Bella nodded.

"He's been sleeping all morning." I told her with a sigh. "I called Billy earlier to ask."

"I'm going to check anyway." Bella sighed. "I'll be back."

I nodded, knowing there was nothing I could do to stop her from doing what she wanted. I waited in silence for twenty minutes before shutting my textbook and tucking my school stuff away. It was only quiet for another minute before Bella stormed into the house.

"He's not sick!" Bella erupted. "He cut his hair, and got a tattoo, and he's hanging around Sam and Paul!"

"Paul hasn't said anything." I muttered, trying to act surprised. "That's weird. Billy even told me he was sick."

"They're lying to you." Bella snapped. She turned and grabbed her backpack, dumping her school stuff out of it and filling it with bottled water and granola bars. "I'm going for a hike."

"Bella, we should stay out of the woods." I panicked slightly, knowing there was a vampire out near us.

"Well, I'm going." Bella hissed.