⌜ chapter three ⌟

Jay's standing in the woods with Stefan, Damon, and the Cullens, looking around at their darkening surroundings. Alice had a vision at lunch after they were talking about the party that she's going to throw, and she saw the vampire that wants to kill Bella.

"What's this chick look like again?" Damon asks, and Jay grinds her teeth as his brother looks over at him.

"Shut up, Damon." Stefan tells him, all of them knowing full-well that he hasn't forgotten any of what Alice told them.

"This is the woman who sent the guy with the dreads that tried to kill me?" Jay's voice is quiet as she looks up at Emmett, and he nods.

"Victoria."

"And she wants to kill Bella because you, Jasper, and Alice killed her boyfriend?"

"She seems to think that it was Edward who did it." He explains, and she nods.

"Are you sure this is where you saw her?" Carlisle asks as he looks over at his daughter.

"She's almost here." Alice tells them, and they all continue to look around the thick covering of trees. "On your left!" She says, and everyone turns.

Jay and Emmett are leading the group as they all race through the woods; they were standing on the far left. She sees a flash of bright red hair, and tries to push her legs to carry her faster as she chases after her. She reaches out and manages to grab the red-haired woman, but then she flips them before flinging the little brunette into Emmett.

He grunts as they fly back and hit a tree before landing on the ground, and another pained noise escapes Emmett after he lands on the teenager. She feels something warm on her side and looks down to find thick, red blood coating her sweater as he rolls to the side.

"Sorry." She barely mutters as she reaches over and pulls the small piece of branch out of his side. "Come on, let's go."

They're both back on their feet and gaining on the others as quickly as they possibly can. They all then skid to stop on the edge of a cliff, and Carlisle throws his hand back to make them stay in their places as they look at the redhead on the other side of the river.

"Wait. She's in their territory." He tells them.

"My territory." Jay backs up, along with both Salvatores, and the three of them jump over the running water and land easily on the other side.

"She'll get away!" Esme yells when she sees the gap between Victoria and the others, but then Jasper sees the wolves running up behind them.

"No, she won't!" He picks up his own speed, anticipating that she'll have to cross again to get away from the pack.

Paul and Jared pass the Salvatore brothers, ending up on either side of Jay as she runs as fast as she can possibly push herself. Victoria jumps again just as Paul snaps his jaws to try and grab her arm, and now she has Jasper and Emmett on her tail.

"I hate this bitch." Jay mutters as she keeps her pace and crosses the river again as well.

The redhead uses the trees to propel herself upward, and Jasper jumps, trying to get his arms around her. He ends up higher than she is, and she slips away with ease, causing him to roll when he hits the dirt empty-handed. And then she crosses the river again.

"Emmett, no!" Rosalie yells, and Jay turns her head to see that the wolves aren't too far back, and he's about to leap across the river as well.

Emmett jumps, but Paul cuts him off before he can hit Quileute land and knocks him back, forcing him into the water. The rest of the Cullens stop on the cliff's edge, and Carlisle watches the little brunette as she flies over the water to get between Emmett and Paul.

"Hey, hey." Jay holds her hand up to stop the other wolves from advancing, never taking her brown eyes off the gray wolf. "Paul." She's balancing on the edge of the rock, looking up at him.

"Maybe you should—" Emmett's cut off by a loud growl, and Jay stills as she watches Paul.

"Shut up." She says as she glances back at the soaked vampire behind her.

"Jay?" Damon's standing with Stefan and the rest of the pack, none of them really knowing what to expect here. Sam seems to be leaving it to Jay, thinking that Paul will likely listen to his imprint quicker than he'll listen to his alpha considering the situation and his level of anger.

"Paul." The little brunette slowly moves forward, and the action causes his gaze to shift in her direction. "Hey."

He backs up a few steps, allowing her more room to move up the large rock, and she reaches her hand out toward him. Her hand is tiny compared to his head as she rests her palm on the side of his face, and her fingers curl under his chin.

"Emmett, go." Jay tells him, and Paul lowers his head as his stomach moves closer to the ground. He starts whimpering when he sees the blood on her sweater. "It's not mine. I'm okay, I promise." She lifts the left side of her sweater so that he can see that there's no wound. "It's not my blood, see?"

His dark eyes turn to the Cullens again, up on the cliff's edge, and he sees the bright red stain that's on Emmett's soaked white shirt. He lets out a low growl, and she rolls her eyes.

"She threw me into him." She says, and the gray wolf looks back at her. "You know you let her get away." The brunette says, and he lets out a frustrated huff. "Because you got sidetracked by another vampire...who isn't even like the rest of the Cullens. He's like me."

Paul lets out a whine when his imprint takes a step away from him, and he stands up straight again. She shakes her head before running and jumping back over the river, then she disappears into the trees. She can hear his whines behind her as she walks away from them.

—

"I can't believe that I didn't know that Victoria's back in Forks again." Bella says, and Jay scoffs as she stares at her ceiling.

"I can." The younger girl says, holding her phone to her ear.

"Why do you hate Edward so much?"

"He hasn't given me any reason to like him." She says, and Bella sighs.

"What happened exactly — between Paul and Emmett, I mean?"

"Nothing really." Jay pauses. "Victoria used their obvious hatred for each other to her advantage, and she was able to get away while I calmed Paul down so that he wouldn't maul Emmett in the river."

"Are you alright, Jay?" Bella asks, and she sighs as she closes her eyes.

"I just... How am I supposed to believe that the imprint isn't the only reason that he doesn't hate me when he obviously hates all other vampires so much?" She asks.

"He liked you before you turned."

"Because he imprinted." She argues, and the older girl shakes her head.

"I don't think so. You didn't see him after what Kol did to you. I didn't know that a wolf could look so..." She trails off, not knowing how to describe what she saw. "He didn't even want to let anyone near you. He was standing over you so that not even Damon could get close. It took Jake a long time to get him to listen so that he could explain that you were gonna wake up."

"Yeah, well... I didn't see that wolf when Emmett crossed the river for the sole purpose of killing the bitch who's trying to kill you." She tells her. "All I saw in his eyes was anger and hatred."

"I really think that you should just talk to him. You guys have to figure this out together."

Jay takes a deep breath as she closes her eyes. "How's Jacksonville?" She changes the subject.

"Sunny."

"Oh, so terrible weather for flammable me?" She asks, and Bella laughs.

"You're disturbed." She shakes her head.

"Have you seen any alligators?" She asks. "Does Jacksonville have alligators?"

"No, and I don't know." Bella says. "I have to go. We're gonna be leaving for the airport soon."

"Okay." She sighs. "Have a safe flight. And yell at Edward a little, will you? He shouldn't be keeping secrets from you, especially about the vampire that wants to kill you."

"You got it. Bye."

The next day, Jay's at school with Stefan and she sees Jacob pull up outside of the high school on his motorcycle. "Ooh, drama." Jay mutters as she watches the Quileute boy.

"That's childish." Stefan says, and she simply shrugs.

Jake gets off the bike and looks up at where the two vampires are sitting on the top step of the cement stairs that lead up to the school. "Hi, Jay." He greets, and she offers him a small smile as she waves. "We miss you on the reservation. Kim asks about you all the time."

Her smile turns sad and then she takes a deep breath through her mouth. "I miss all of you guys too." She tells him. "It's been tough not hanging out like we used to."

"Paul never shuts up about you." He tells her, and tears fill her eyes as her gaze drops from his.

Stefan nudges her, and she looks up to see Bella and Edward walking toward them. He looks annoyed, and Bella seems mildly confused as she looks at the Quileute boy, her hood pulled over her head. Jake turns when he sees the other two staring past him.

"Hey." The brunette greets.

"Charlie said you left town." Jake says as he looks at the Swan girl.

"Yeah. To visit my mom." She tells him. "Why?"

"He's checking to see if you're still human." Edward says, and she looks over at him. Jay shakes her head, irritated by the smile on his face.

"Look, I'm here to warn you." Jake says, looking at the golden-eyed vampire. "If your kind come on our land again—" He stops when he hears an angry huff behind him.

"Emmett is my kind...you overgrown wolf-boy." Jay says as she gets to her feet, her voice low.

"Stop." Bella says when Stefan grabs Jay's hand to keep her at his side. She then tries to leave with Jacob because she wants to talk to him, but Edward grabs her arm.

Jay breaks Stefan's hand so that she can get away from him, and then she makes her way down the steps. He groans as he sets his fingers properly, watching her place herself between her best friend and the controlling vampire.

"Do you understand the concept of free will?" The little brunette questions as she forces Edward back a step. "Do you know the hell that it causes inside of a person's mind when you're stripped of it?"

"Jay..." Bella's watching her, not entirely understanding her reaction.

"Bell, you should go with Jacob. Kim and the others miss us." She tells her. "Maybe I'll even meet you over there."

The older girl nods and then walks over to Jake, and he hands her a helmet for the ride. "Hey, lose the grin, Jacob. We're just going for a ride." She tells him as she gets on the motorcycle behind him.

"What can I say? I've always found her funny." He says as he starts the engine. "We're going over to Emily's, Jay." He tells her, and the youngest nods as she keeps her dark eyes on Edward.