Blood Moon

9

Secrets Exposed

"Get up." Bella demanded, slamming into my room early Sunday morning.

"What?"I asked blearily, watching her blurry figure race around my room. "What's going on? Is dad okay?"

"Dad's fine." Bella said, throwing one of Paul's sweaters and a pair of jeans at me. "Come on, we're going to see Jacob."

"Jake has mono." I whined, pulling myself out of bed. "We shouldn't bother him."

"Get dressed or I'm going alone." Bella demanded. I got out of bed and got dressed, grabbing my phone from the charger and following Bella out to her truck. I laid my head against the window and tried to wake up before we showed up at Billy's.

Bella parked beside Billy's truck and hopped out of the cab. I followed after her, eyes widening as she pushed past Billy.

"Sorry." I muttered to Billy.

"Go." Billy sighed, moving out of my way so I could chase after Bella. She pushed open Jake's door, catching sight of him snoring on his bed.

"Bella, that was so ru-"

"Come on." Bella cut me off, her eyes focused on something in the backyard. I tried to see what she saw, but didn't have time before she tugged me outside and into the field beside Billy's house.

"Oh, no." I muttered, catching sight of the pack heading for Jakes. Bella tugged me across the field, hurting my bruised wrist even further. "Bella, let me go."

"What did you do?" Bella snapped at Sam, dropping my wrist. I stood behind her and rubbed my wrist as she shoved Sam. "What did you do to him?"

"Hey!" Jared protested.

"Easy." Sam commanded.

"He didn't want this." Bella continued.

"What did we do?" Paul retorted, glaring down at my sister. "What did he do? What did he tell you?"

"Both of you, calm down." Sam commanded, trying to push Paul back.

"Nothing!" Bella cried. "He tells me nothing because he's scared of you."

The pack snickered at Bella's comment, and I bit back a laugh because I saw how frustrated she was getting. I wasn't expecting her to rear back and slap Paul, but the second I heard her palm collide with his face, I shoved her aside and grabbed Paul's chin.

"Hey!" I called, trying to get his eyes off of Bella. "Hey, Paul, look at me."

"Lena!" Bella hissed.

"Bella, get back." Sam told my sister, turning and placing a hand on Paul's shoulder. "Paul! Calm down, now."

"Paul, please." I begged. His eyes snapped down to mine, and he stopped shaking. "Hey, it's alright. That probably didn't even hurt, huh?"

"No." Paul shook his head, calming down and nuzzling into my touch. "No, it didn't hurt."

"Alright, so we're calm now." I nodded. "Right?"

"Calm." Paul nodded. Suddenly, Bella gripped onto my bruised wrist and tugged me away from Paul, making me whimper at the pain.

"Ow, Bella!" I hissed, tugging my wrist from her tight hold. "What is wrong with you?"

"Oh, you've done it now." Jared mused over Paul's growls. I shook my head, knowing he wouldn't be able to calm down now, and shoved Bella backwards towards Billy's house.

"If you're going to be an idiot, be an idiot further away." I hissed, turning to face Paul. He was irate, shaking and growling while staring right at my bruised wrist. I tugged my sweater sleeve down to cover the bruise, but as soon as Bella grabbed onto my arm in shock, Paul lost it. His clothes ripped to shreds as he shifted, and he growled right at Bella before she turned and ran. I stayed between Paul and Bella, hoping to communicate that I was okay and that he didn't need to go after Bella, but that didn't happen.