Bonded

Chapter 21

Have you ever been kicked in the chest so hard that you fly off the ground? Me either...until that day. It was an out of body moment as I saw myself flying through the air and then promptly thrown back into my body as my back crashed into a tree. Pain shot through my entire body as the wind was knocked out of me. I held a hand over my belly as I dropped to the ground, the cold, wet snow soaking the side of my body. Fuck, that hurt.

Sometime between Kaya getting thrown into a glass table and me getting roundhouse kicked into next week, we had ended up battling it out outside in broad daylight. Jacob was slowly but surely waking up; every second, I could feel his presence just a little bit more. Bella was fighting with every ounce of rage in her little body and I was matching her blow for blow. It was only when I took a second too long to get back on the offensive that she kicked the fuck out of me. Not a fan of my feet leaving the ground like that.

As shape shifters, we're always supernaturally strong even in human form. But our human forms were not even close to how strong we are when we're wolves. The wolf is designed to destroy vampires; superhuman strength was kind of a bonus. So it was a bit of a surprise at the actual difference in fighting a newborn vamp on two legs. I had to adjust. And I had to adjust fast or she could actually kill me.

"God, you're making this too easy," a velvet smooth voice came from above me. "You're weaker than I thought."

I chuckled gloomily as I rose to my feet, shaking the melting snow from my arm. Bella stood in front of me in all of her glory. Her blood red eyes were eerily playful and excited and her mouth was twitching upward in anticipation. "And you're dumber than I thought," I replied. "You could have killed me already. This could have been over."

She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, I decided that wasn't as much fun. I wanted you to at least see Jacob's new home before I kill you."

I threw my hands up in frustration, "We get it, Bella. He's a trophy. You've already made it perfectly what your endgame is here."

Just say the word, Lee. We'll take this bitch out, Paul said to me. I could feel every single one of them. They were surrounding us, hidden in the trees. Their breathing was quiet, but present. Tactful. They knew what to do if things got bad.

Stand down, I heard Kaya tell him. Let her handle this.

With all due respect, Kaya, as soon as this gets out of hand, I'm ripping her head off and I don't really care what you have to say about it, Seth commented.

No, I argued, sternly, you will wait until I say the word.

Bella took a step toward me. "Then you know why I have to kill you now. You took something away from me. Now I have to get rid of you. Simple as that."

"He was never yours, Bella."

"Beg to differ."

"So, is that why you turned him into a vegetable? Or is it because you know that if he was awake right now, he'd hate you even more than he did before?" I asked, moving in her opposite direction.

Bella shook her head, "No, I just didn't want to hear him talk about you anymore. It took a while to get him down and I know that when I let him wake up, it'll be a fight. But I think over time, he'll see things my way."

Ugh, what a bitch, Kaya commented. I kept my eyes trained on Bella; her fingers kept twitching and I could tell that at any second, she was ready to pounce. "And what's your way, Bella?"

"I just want what's rightfully mine. See, no one told me about this Bond thing. One day, he's telling me that he only sees me and the next it was like I didn't even exist to him anymore," she sneered. "'Leah's so beautiful.' 'Leah is sooo smart.' 'I miss Leah so much.' Ugh, it's disgusting."