The Consequences {Jacob Black}

Chapter LXXI

"What did you say?" he asked me, staring at me like I had lost my mind. I shook my head.

"I didn't say anything," I said. I hadn't even heard anything.

Bella was stumbling towards us, zipping her parka up as she staggered worse than any drunk person I had ever been around.

"Jacob, please. You don't have to go."

Of course she was sitting here begging him to stay. I wanted him to, I really did. Actually, no. I didn't want him to stay here with me. I wanted this whole thing to be over. This wasn't what I wanted for my life. I didn't want to be afraid of things that were beyond my control. But Jake was doing what he felt was right and I wasn't going to ask him to compromise on that. It wasn't fair to him.

I wouldn't beg him to stay. He wouldn't feel like everything was okay until he was there and he was the one fighting. I didn't need him to come back to me in one piece. I didn't need him to come back to me without harm. I wasn't going to ask him for those things. What I needed was for him to come home to me alive. Bones could heal, bruises would fade; but I needed him to be alive and in my arms at the end of this night.

"How can you just let him leave like this Ryanne? Don't you care about him at all?" I sighed and pushed myself off of the tent that I was sitting on. Jake's warm hand wrapped about my wrist and pulled me back to him.

"Why are you stopping her? She doesn't care about you, Jacob. She's letting you leave. I can't bare it if something were to happen to you."

"And you care? You have manipulated him and used him for anything that could make your life better," I shouted at her.

"And at the end of the night, he still wanted me, didn't he, Ryanne?" I frowned at her in confusion. "He woke up with me in his arms, didn't he?"

Vaguely, I could remember cold hands against my rib cage, prying me away from my warm cage. But I was so tired, so afraid of what would happen if I opened my eyes that I just let it happen.

"You've lied so much to everyone, you've begun to believe it yourself Bella. I don't know how you convinced Edward to let you do that, but I know what you did."

"What are you talking about Annie?"

"That's how I ended up away from you. Bella pushed me out of the way when you and I were sleeping. Jake was such a heavy sleeper, it probably wasn't a problem. Especially if Bella replaced my body with hers. Jake would've woken if his arms had suddenly been empty, but it he had Bella he would've gone right bak to bed."

"She was cold," Edward said. I turned and stared at him. "There was no malicious intent."

"Is that what she tells you?" Jake shouted, pushing me completely behind and keeping his arm there so that I couldn't move.

"She tells you that she's cold and that Ryanne is hogging the warmth. You can see inside of our heads; you know that Annie has given up everything she could for your mate but that doesn't matter, does it?" Edward hissed. "Can I just ask you this? When your heart stopped beating, did you lose your balls too? Or is that a recent thing?"

"Don't you have somewhere to go, Jacob?"

"He's not going."

"You're not the Alpha in charge of me, Bella. And you're not my imprint." He growled at her menacingly. "Let's face it, Bella; you're not even someone that's important to me anymore."

"You're just saying that because she's here," Bella countered. "I know that you love me Jake," she said.

"I wish that you knowing was enough for me, Bella. But it's not. I love your sister. You have the leech. Be happy with what you have," he said.