CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
A HOTHEAD'S RAGE

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"SO WHAT ARE YOUR plans for today?" Wren asked as she sipped from a warm cup of coffee. She glanced over the glasses that were perched on her nose, catching an unsuspecting Maggie's gaze. She smiled, completely oblivious to the nerves twisting around in her niece's stomach. "Mags?"

"Oh, uh..." Confronting a boy who I believe is a supernatural creature to see whether or not my mum and best friend were murdered by vampires. "Just... hanging out, I guess. I don't know, I've got nothing planned at the moment."

Fortunately for Maggie, Wren didn't notice the tremor in her voice. But Zeke certainly did. His brows furrowed in a visible frown, foot kicking hers beneath the table to get her attention. When Maggie just shrugged at him, feigning confusion, he scoffed and turned back to his breakfast. However, the sound was loud enough for Wren to hear, and she jumped at the chance.

"What about you, Zeke?" she asked, murmuring a subconscious 'thank you' as Everett got up to take their plates to the sink. 

Now it was Zeke's turn to hesitate, clearly caught off guard. Maggie smothered a smirk, biting into her breakfast as she waited for Zeke to reply. "Not much," he eventually stammered out, stubbornly ignoring his younger sister's stare. In other words, probably seeing Connor. "I might just bug Maggie for a while."

"Whoa, I didn't agree to this," Maggie pouted, hoping deep down that it was just an excuse. How would she explain everything to him? He'd probably run for the hills. 

"Too bad," Zeke grinned, then winked once Wren moved on to bugging Dakota.

Their sister had just gotten a job at one of the local cafes, and boy was Wren excited whenever the girl came home with work stories. It was actually kind of nice. As much as she loved each of the children, it was obvious that Wren Sullivan struggled when it came to connecting with Dakota. She was closest to Maggie and Zeke for sure but Dakota had always held herself at arm's length; well, until now. 

All too soon, breakfast had ended, and Maggie and Zeke were the only ones left in the house. Wren had driven Dakota to work, then headed out to Port Angeles for a lunch date with Miss Watkin, one of her teacher friends. Everett was visiting his family for the day and Vera was off doing God only knew what, leaving Maggie to try and find a way out of the house without Zeke wanting to go with her.

At first, she'd assumed he was kidding about hanging around, but now she wasn't so sure. The second everyone left, he got comfortable on the couch and switched on the television, playing reruns of Scooby Doo while Maggie just scowled at him in disbelief. Eventually, she made her way upstairs to change clothes and grab her supernatural guide. But soon enough, she was ready and waiting, Scooby Doo blaring from the living room with no intentions of stopping any time soon.

God, Zeke could be so annoying when he wanted to be.

With a tired sigh, Maggie stomped back downstairs, clutching her book like a shield. If she moved quick enough, maybe he wouldn't have time to join her.

The second her feet reached the landing, Zeke was up and smirking at her.

"Going somewhere?"

Nevermind.

"I'm visiting a friend."

"Who?"

Maggie relayed the first name that came to mind. "Bella."

Zeke frowned, his interest lost. "Oh."

For a moment, Maggie just stared at him, obviously confused. "Alright, I'll bite," she sighed, putting her book down to give him her full attention. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

Zeke hesitated, shoulders slumping in defeat. "Fine. It's Connor," he admitted, a faint blush forming on his cheeks just at the mention of the boy. "He's been ignoring my calls."

"Have you thought about going to see him?" she suggested with evident amusement in her voice. "Instead of moping around? I really doubt he's ignoring you, Zeke. You said things went great yesterday."

"That's what I thought but I don't know," Zeke let out a sigh, averting his eyes to the ground. "I'm not good at this stuff, Maggie. I've been in relationships before but I've never liked someone this much. I don't want to mess everything up."

"Has Connor been in a relationship with a boy before?" she asked. He shook his head. "Well, maybe he's feeling the same way, Zeke. Have you thought about that?" She took his silence as a 'no.' "Look, I can't tell you what to do, but we both know annoying me isn't going to get him to text you. If you're worried, just go see him."

"Since when did you get so good at giving advice?" Well, at least he wasn't freaking out now.

Maggie rolled her eyes. "Since therapy," she deadpanned, unable to hold back her laughter when his face dropped.

"Right. Makes sense."

"Okay, I'm going now," she said, reaching for her book again. "You can come with me if you want. I'll drop you off on the way to see Pau—Bella... on the way to Bella's house."

Fortunately, Zeke didn't notice her slip-up. He was too busy dashing up the stairs to change out of his pyjamas, leaving Maggie to clean up the mess he'd made in the living room. By the time he returned, she'd straightened up the cushions on the couch and switched off the television, filling Scooby's food bowl with dog biscuits before the two of them made their way out to their beloved beetle.

The drive was painfully slow for Maggie but seemed to pass in a blink for Zeke. Soon enough, they'd parked outside Connor's house with Zeke hesitating as he stared at Connor's car in the driveway. He was home. There was no getting out of this.

"Text me if you need anything, okay?" Maggie prompted as she unlocked the door to let him out. "It'll be fine, Zeke, go on."

With a reluctant nod, he pushed open the door and stepped outside, only looking back once for reassurance after he'd reached the front porch. Maggie waited for Connor to let him in; seeing the boy smile at the sight of her brother, she knew he'd be okay. So she turned in the direction of Jacob Black's house, knowing that Zeke wouldn't notice she wasn't heading to Forks. 

Technically speaking, she hadn't lied to him when she mentioned Bella. Maggie was meeting her, but not at her house. The two girls had agreed to confront Jacob together, knowing that with Bella's close connection to him, he'd be the easiest to break. Maggie would've gone to Embry's if she'd known where he lived, seeing as he had been the one to start this in the first place, but she had a feeling he'd be on guard after already slipping up once. So this left her with Jacob. 

Great.

By the time she pulled up outside the Black Residence, Bella was already there. Her red truck sat dormant in the long driveway with the girl in question standing on the front porch. Opposite her was Billy Black, who wore a frown as the two exchanged somewhat heated words. The sound of Maggie's door closing had Billy's eyes drifting towards her, giving Bella her opportunity. Before he could stop her, she muttered an apology and stormed past him into the house, shouting Jacob's name. Quickly, Maggie rushed across the lawn and over to where Billy had decided to wait for her.

"Uh, hey, Mr Black," she stammered, smiling uncomfortably. "Sorry for showing up unannounced. Bella and I wanted to speak to Jacob. Do you mind if I come in?"

Billy let out a sigh of defeat. If she'd shown up minutes before, he would've said no, but he didn't see a point with Bella already storming around inside. At least Maggie was nice enough to ask first.

"Sure," he glowered. "Just follow the sounds of the screeching teenage girl."

Maggie merely laughed, feeling painfully awkward as she shuffled past the man's wheelchair. If she'd just gotten there earlier, maybe she could've stopped Bella from acting on her emotions. But it was too late now. The girl in question was hovering outside Jacob's bedroom door when Maggie found her, brows tugged into a deep frown. Peering inside, Maggie spotted Jacob asleep on his bed, rings of exhaustion scarring the skin beneath his eyes. Maggie sighed, slowly reaching for Bella's clenched fist.

"Bella, come on," she whispered. "We'll come back another time."

As much as she wanted answers herself, she wouldn't wake him up. There'd be other opportunities, she was sure of it. Bella seemed to agree with her, but just as they turned to leave the house, the sound of hollering teenage boys reached their ears. Bella immediately tensed, shrugging Maggie's touch away.

"Hey, let's just leave it, yeah?" Maggie insisted, spying Paul and the others through Jacob's open curtains. Bella and Paul would not be a good combination but Bella didn't seem to care through the anger. "Bella, I mean it—"

She was out the door and racing across the front yard before Maggie could even finish her sentence. With a panicked sigh, Maggie rushed after her, muttering a quick apology to Billy as she went. The man in question watched Bella Swan shouting at Paul Lahote with wary eyes. Quickly, he retreated into the house, knowing things were about to erupt.

"What did you do?" Maggie heard Bella demanding just as she reached the girl's side.

It was obvious that Paul was pissed off to see her there. She knew it. His jaw was visibly clenched, glowering eyes locked purposefully with hers. But Maggie refused to falter so quickly. She simply stared back, waiting cautiously to see how he responded. 

Suddenly, in a moment of pure frustration, Bella lurched forward and shoved at Sam's chest, "What did you do?" she repeated, on the brink of desperation. "He didn't want this!"

Almost immediately, the three boys behind Sam tensed up, though Sam was quick to try and calm them with a look of warning. It seemed to work for Jared and Embry but Paul was beginning to shake as he demanded, "What did we do? What did he do? What did he tell you?"

"Hey!" Sam exclaimed, grabbing his arm to tug him back from the girls. "Both of you need to calm down."

Instead, Paul set his sights on Maggie. "What do you know, huh? Why are you here?"

"Paul—"

"What did Jacob say?"

Maggie was stunned into silence. Heart hammering in her chest, she inched closer to Bella's side, an action that caused Paul to freeze before his anger returned tenfold. His gaze switched to Bella Swan, mocking as she exclaimed, "Nothing! He told us nothing because he's scared of you."

Even Sam couldn't hold back his laughter at that. Maggie knew what Bella had just said wasn't the case. It might've been what she wanted to believe, but Jacob was a wolf and so were the boys. He didn't have a reason to fear them. Bella wasn't aware of that, though, and she took their laughter as an insult. Before Maggie could even think to stop her, she let out a huff of rage and slapped Paul across the face.

And so came the domino effect.

Maggie gasped, feeling frozen as Paul started to shake again. Sam was yelling for her and Bella to back away, and for once, Bella listened. But not Maggie. She couldn't look away as Paul leant forward, body twisting and bones snapping. Right before her eyes, Paul Lahote transformed into one of the wolves she'd seen in the clearing, the one that tore after Laurent at the sight of him so close to her.

Now, he was snarling at her and Bella Swan, teeth bared in a way that sent a shiver down Maggie's spine. Finally, she stumbled back, letting out a small cry that went unnoticed as her foot caught on an exposed root and she collapsed to her knees. 

Everything was real.

Everything was fucking real.

Maggie had known all along. Vampires, wolves, the creatures of fairy tales... The things that were so easy to deny until one had a giant monster roaring in their faces.

Vaguely, Maggie recalled a pair of hands pulling her to her feet. It was Embry. He tried his best to smile at her but Maggie couldn't bring herself to return the look. Instead, she clung to him for dear life, struggling to balance with her ankle twinging painfully.

The next few minutes passed in a blur. Jacob came sprinting out to protect Bella, shifting mid-jump to confront Paul. Both wolves were eager for a fight, clawing at each other as they tumbled into the woods with Sam hot on their heels.

"Take them to Emily's," Maggie heard the man order before he disappeared.

And then there were two. Two werewolves, two monsters. Monsters and men. Was there a real difference between them? Maggie's head was spinning. She wanted to lash out, to push Embry away from her as he guided her into the passenger seat of Bella's truck, promising to return for her car later. But she remained frozen in shock, even when they reached Emily Young's place and left Paul and Jacob behind for Sam to break apart.

Maybe, it would've been better if she stayed at home with Zeke.