The Outcome

Jake and I decided to walk though the woods to get back to his bike at his house. It was time for me to get back to my pack, before they started looking for me. The two of us hadn’t progressed any further on the truth reveling path and, as much as it pained me to say it, I was happy. The longer he thought to keep me in ignorance of his nature and in real ignorance of mine, the longer we could continue this relationship of ours. I knew the only fate waiting for me was of being Eric’s eternal baby maker.

But for the moment I was happy to have Jacob’s arm wrapped around me as we walked though the forest of La Push. His heat was reassuring and I leaned further into his body, enjoying how I fit so well there. I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings as well as I should have been, I was too high on a lover’s wish. So when Jacob stopped abruptly, smelling the air, it took a second for me to understand what was going on.

The vampire’s stench was overwhelming close now that I was tuned to it and I instantly wanted to go into defense mode, but with Jacob so close, he was bound to notice the difference in me.

“Macie, I want you to stand close behind me, okay?”

I almost scoffed at him. I wasn’t strong enough to kill a vampire, but I could injure him long enough to get away. I was more than capable of handling myself, but I did as Jake asked; feigning ignorance.

“What’s going on Jacob? What’s wrong?” It took all I had to not laugh at my mock ignorance.

He didn’t get a chance to answer me before the vampire stepped out of the green of the forest. His paleness was shocking against the lush greenness of the forest and the setting sun cast a brilliant shimmer across one side of his face. He was indeed dazzling. Dazzling and dangerous.

Still, he looked different from any other vampire I had seen before. His clothes weren’t fancy or clean, in fact they didn’t look like they had been in fashion for over a century. From the way he stood I knew he could smell the werewolf in Jake, but I wondered if he could smell anything different in me. The leech took on step towards us.

My defenses went up at almost as fast as Jacob’s; I wanted to protect him against this leech. Calculating our chances of getting out of this stopped my reflexes from jacking into action however. I knew that Jacob wouldn’t want to phase in front of me, but we couldn’t outrun him on foot and I had no way to communicate with Erick and the rest of my pack.

Jacob had me pushed into his back where I had a tight grip on his shirt, like I was the one trying to hold him back. The gravity of the situation wasn’t lost on me, but when I felt the muscles coiling in his back, I just wanted to wrap my arms around his and press my face into his skin. I needed to get a grip on the situation.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here, something fun to play with before dinner? You might want to give your friend a head start now. It won’t take long to deal with you.” The vampire’s words caused my breath to hitch in my throat and Jake began to shake in anger. I was afraid now. My abilities weren’t strong enough to sense if this was the only leech on this side of the river and I couldn’t just leave Jacob here alone.

But our secrets were making this situation even more impossible than it already was. Jacob didn’t want me to know that he was a werewolf and I didn’t want him to know that I was…whatever the hell I was. He didn’t give me anymore time to ponder what was going to happen because very suddenly everything was thrust into action.

The vampire made a leap towards us; lowering down into an animalistic crouch and flying a mind-blowing distance. Jacob’s eyes never left the leech and he pushed me back towards the opposite edge of the clearing.

“Run Macie! Turn your back and run!”

Despite my every fiber telling me to stay and end the ruse we were giving each other, I heard the panic in Jacob’s voice. His words have me no choice. Maybe I could get to the house in time to warn the La Push Pack and they could rip this leech to pieces. I took off into a sprint and was almost to the thicket of the woods when I heard a terrible sound, like bone against concrete.

I spun around to see that the vampire had gotten to Jacob mid-transformation.

“Oh God, JACOB!” My voice sounded so damsel in distress and shrill. It reminded me that no matter how much a part of the pack I was, I would never be a wolf.

With Jacob coiled into himself in pain, trying to protect what he could, the leech turned his gaze to me. His icy smile shook away my logic, propelling me to turn and run, knowing I would never get away.

I was faster than a normal human, but couldn’t match the speed of a vampire. He caught me as I made it halfway though the clearing. Upon catching me, he held me up by my collar like a bully in the schoolyard demanding my lunch money. He put his nose to my neck and ran it along the skin there, smelling me. The touch left me feeling like I was developing freezer burn wherever he made contact.

I struggled like it would make a difference, but he just stood there; all made of shining diamond and stone.

“You smell different. Good, but different. Hmm, not human for sure.” He said, his accent surprisingly American. I had no words for him, but Jacob was recovering faster than I expected.

“Leave her alone!” he called, “Pick on tougher prey.”

The Vamp’s eyes lit up at this and I saw some kind of realization click in his brain.

“I know exactly what you are, Pretty. Tell me, what ending does your vision give you about this situation? We have big plans for you.” His smirk sent me into shock. How did he know?

Shock soon turned into anger and we all know that I can’t control my temper.

“My vision tells me that you should shut the hell up and prepare to die.”

“Unladylike.”

With one word he flung me backwards, at least 25 feet, to the trees at the edge of the clearing.

“MACIE!!!” I heard Jacob yell as I flew mid-air. I sucked in a breath for what was to come: the pain and the end of my secret.

My body gave an unnatural snap against the massive trunk of one the trees and I fell to the ground with a deafening thud. The last thing I saw before blacking out was a beautiful russet wolf making its way toward the leech.

This situation was a big reminder of how I was different from the rest of the pack, how I was alone in my condition. Yet, at the same time it was the perfect example of how being in my condition was so much better than being human. If I was a normal girl, I would have died when my body hit the tree, dead way before I hit the ground.

But fate had different plans for me. Instead of hitting the ground dead, I hit the ground healing. It was extremely painful; it was like going though surgery with no anesthesia. The feeling of the bones in my spine splitting in half down the middle then, realigning itself was something I could feel even if I was unconscious. I always supposed that the blacking out was just the human part of me trying to deal with the trauma.

I was only out for about two minutes, but it took me a few seconds to open my eyes and get my bearings. I was just beginning to be able to pick myself up when everything I’d worked for came to ruin.

The huge russet wolf stood on top of the vampire, pinning him to the ground, with his neck between his jaws ready to rip it off his shoulders. The leeches eyes were trained on me and he smiled, despite the fact his life was about to end.

But hell, so was mine.

“Wolfy upset because I killed his pretty girlfriend. Take a look at her now.”

Jacob didn’t turn his head or pause any further after the words were spoken. The sound of granite being ripped apart sounded and the vampire was no more. It continued for bit longer, and then Jake gathered the pieces in his mouth and carried them into the green brush of the forest. He still hadn’t glanced to where my corpse was supposed to lay.

I considered running away, running to Erick and the rest of the pack at getting the hell out of La Push. Who cared if this pack was working with the vampires, I didn’t want Jacob to find out about me like this. I childishly still wanted him to like me, but my ending was still the same. It didn’t matter what I wanted though, because a fire made its way up though the trees and Jacob made his way back into the clearing.

It was now or never. I stood up, brushing myself off and feeling my back, just to make sure everything had healed the way it should. Jacob had halted his tracks and just stared at me. I took a step forward and he jumped a step back away from me. It was almost funny, a boy as huge and strong as he was stood afraid of me.

“How are you alive?”

“How are you a werewolf?” I internally smacked myself in the head; I didn’t want to take the defensive. “Look, I can explain everything, about me being alive and about knowing you were a wolf...”

“A vampire just threw you across the clearing into the trees. I heard your spine break…y-you fell so hard to the ground. And you knew I was a werewolf?”

“Yeah, please just let me explain before you get mad-” But Jake wasn’t listening anymore. His head was in his heads and he kept taking steps away from me. He paused for a second, looking back to where I stood.

“So, you know about Erick and them too, I take it? Did they tell you to get close to me? Was that the plan?” his voice held disgust.

“No, Jacob, wait!”

“I just can’t. I’m glad you’re alive, but you can find your own way home from here. I have to go.”

Then he was gone. And I was sure my chance at happiness went with him.