CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE:
IF IT BLEEDS

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LOVE WAS A GIFT; love was also a chain with a manacle at each end. It held captive even the hardest of hearts, and by no means was Maggie Sullivan's heart immune to the burdensome weight of loving someone. Love was like a tender bruise, a freshly picked scab, a bullet wound covered by a band-aid. Love was the reason she hurt so much, pushed herself into the darkest pits of Hell just to see a side of life where love wasn't quite so heavy. A reality where Maggie wasn't Atlas, her heart the weight of the world on her shoulders.

Her aunt would describe love like a lived-in home. Somewhere to return to at the end of each day, a safe haven from a hurricane, a place where memories were made and cherished. Zeke would have described it as a sense of realisation; like the rise of a new dawn, the first lung-squeezing breath of a diver's head rising above the surface of the water. It was acceptance, of yourself and the world around you. Vera Sullivan, an enigma in her own sister's life, viewed love as materialistic, something you could hold in the palms of your hands, feel like a raised scar. Every bouquet of flowers and fancy bottle of perfume was a declaration that she was worthy of someone else's attention, the true object of one's affections.

Most of all, to Maggie, love was knowing when to let go.

Paul's hand was firm against her thigh as they waited for the Council Meeting to begin. Together, they were joined by their friends, old and new, and the Elders of the Quileute tribe. Sitting in the centre of the circle just feet away from the flames was Jake's father, Billy Black. He had a paper plate propped on his lap, a burger and some salad piled onto it by Sue Clearwater, who waited to the right of him with a soft smile on her face. She whispered in Billy's ear as they watched Embry and Mae arrive, her gaze observant but not unkind.

On the other side of the fire was Maggie and the rest of the group. Quil's grandfather — whom her cousin was named after — was sitting alongside Everett, the two men laughing at something that Quil junior had said. He'd eaten most of the food off his and Maggie's 'shared' plate and was already looking for more, much to Maggie's amusement. With a mumbled 'I'll be back' he disappeared before Maggie could so much as blink at him.

On the outskirts, she watched as Mae hesitated and tugged at Embry's hand. The two exchanged words for a second, pushed together beside the food table as Zeke chased after Seth and an airborne football they were messing around with. Embry shook his head at whatever Mae said and continued to lead her towards them. It didn't take a genius to see the hesitant, nervous expression on Mae's face. Her eyes seemed to scream 'help, what am I meant to do here?' so much that Maggie pulled away from Paul to gesture to the empty space beside her. Mae smiled gratefully and, in a rather ungraceful flop, dropped down beside Maggie and crossed her legs beneath her.

"Hey," Maggie leaned in close to greet her.

At the same time, Paul roared with laughter over something Jared had said to tease Embry, whose face went red hot beneath the glow of the bonfire flames. Idiots. Mae's eyes flickered to them routinely, like she was suddenly unsure of every move she made. Was she honestly that nervous? It was only a bonfire... but then again, Maggie was used to this. This had been her life since Everett and Wren took her in. Bonfires and legends and a connection with the land that so many Quileutes had suffered for. Mae, for all intents and purposes, might as well have been meeting them for the first time all over again.

"Aw, Mae, you look so nervous."

"That's because I am nervous," the Cooper girl grumbled. Instinctively, she looked at Embry again but he didn't seem to have heard her. Which was fortunate for Mae; from the looks of it, Embry had already given her a pep talk and it had done absolutely nothing to ease her nerves. Maggie wasn't surprised. Paul also wasn't the greatest with that kind of thing. When Mae turned back to Maggie, she let out a sigh, her voice lowering into a whisper for only her ears to hear. "I don't know what I'm doing, Maggie."

Maggie found it sweet that she cared so much. She'd only found out about imprinting a few days ago — a surprise gifted to her by Lina, after a long couple of weeks where it was revealed that Lina Song was dating Rosalie Hale and Emmett Cullen; again, a long story that Maggie had struggled to keep track of — and seemed to be taking it much better than Maggie had.

"Trust me, no one does," she smiled sympathetically. "If it makes you feel any better, this is technically my first Council Meeting as Paul's imprint. We can be nervous together."

She wasn't nervous by any means but she could pretend if it meant Mae stopped picking at her nails in an anxious manner that Maggie Sullivan had come to know far too well. Besides, if it came down to it, there were plenty of other things Maggie could worry about.

All of a sudden, a soft hush fell over the group. Paul was glowering over her shoulder, forcing Maggie and Mae to follow his gaze to where Jacob was leading Bella towards them. Bella didn't seem to notice the abrupt, awkward tension but Jacob definitely did. He scowled back at Paul before forcing his gaze to where his own father was regarding the two of them. Billy was nothing if not stubborn, and he only frowned until Jacob couldn't help but look away.

There was nothing quite like the disappointment of a parent.

"I thought this was a tribe thing?" Maggie heard Mae asking Embry.

Embry muttered back, "It is. But Jacob wanted Bella to hear the stories."

Of course he did.

For someone who'd rejected the role as alpha of the pack, Jake often liked to make decisions for himself regardless of how it would impact the rest of them. Don't get her wrong, he was a good friend to Maggie when he wanted to be, but he was an annoying one too. She forced herself to ignore him for the time being and instead turned to Quil as he returned to the group with a fresh plate of food.

"Is any of that for me?" she grinned, since Quil had eaten most of the previous lot.

Quil frowned. "I don't know... I'm pretty hungry..."

Maggie rolled her eyes and snatched a fry from his plate. Quil laughed and pushed it between them but started to grumble when Paul took it upon himself to take a handful of fries himself, then Jared, then Embry. It went on until the plate was wiped clean.

"My food..." Quil trailed off woefully.

Maggie patted him on the arm, not all that sympathetic considering the smirk that tugged at her lips.

Before he could think to grab more, the group went quiet again, but this time with a sense of anticipation. Everett was looking towards Billy with a clear sense of admiration in his eyes. Instinctively, the younger boys did the same. It was time for the meeting to begin properly now that Jake had decided to make an appearance. He and Bella were sitting opposite his father and Sue, somewhat isolated from the majority of those in attendance.

"The Quileutes have been a small tribe since the beginning but we've always had magic in our blood," Billy began with an evident tone of pride. Maggie had always believed Billy Black's voice was laced with some kind of magic. He was... compelling. He knew how to tell a good story, to spin words into fairy tales or — on the opposite end of the spectrum — dark warnings of what was to come. "We were great spirit warriors, shape-shifters that transformed into the powerful wolf. This enabled us to scare off our enemies, to protect our tribe."

Maggie swore that, for a second, Billy's eyes had drifted towards her. If there was anyone there who knew their enemies, it was Maggie Sullivan. The only other person would be Bella, who ran with the crowd that created the need for the tribe in the first place. Bella shrunk with the same realisation; unlike Maggie, her cheeks flushed red from the attention.

"One day," Billy continued. "Our warriors came across a creature that looked like a man, but was hard like stone and cold as ice."

Vampire.

Paul's expression soured bitterly. Just the thought of them seemed to provoke the urge to phase. Maggie watched him while the fire's reflection flickered in bronze shadows across his skin. He was so beautiful. It made Maggie's heart ache.

What was love if not a wound?

"Our warrior's sharp teeth finally tore it apart but only fire can completely destroy it."

It took Maggie a full second to realise she'd missed part of Billy's recount of history. She wasn't all that disappointed. By then, she could see the scene as clear as day in her mind. The red-eyed monster tearing into soft flesh. The terror that struck La Push, helpless innocent humans who feared for themselves, for the loved ones who would make their hearts ache like Maggie's. Even now, after hundreds and hundreds of years, generations of pain had been passed down to have an earth-shattering impact. The very same monster was yet to be defeated.

"They lived in fear that the cold man was not alone, and they were right."

Vampires, despite not being able to reproduce, bred like a deadly disease. They lived in Maggie Sullivan's own backyard. Others knew no boundaries, and took, tore, taunted.

"She sought her vengeance on the village. Our Elder Chief, Taha Aki, was the only spirit warrior who was left to save the tribe after his son was killed. He fought hard but Taka Aki's spirit wife could see that he would lose." With Billy's voice as a backing track, Maggie caught Paul's gaze. He squeezed her thigh, hard eyes glinting in the darkness with determination. "Now, the Third Wife was no magical being, with no special powers but one. Courage."

Nothing had changed for Maggie in the weeks since Mae learned the truth. Her days, numbered or not, would eventually dwindle down into a crescendo of do or die. Maggie would not be scared of Victoria and long-dead ghosts any longer. She would not be a muted version of herself.

"Over time, our enemies have disappeared." Not quite. There was always another one who took their place. And Billy knew that. Grimly, he warned, "But one remains. The Cold Ones. Our magic weakens whenever they're near and we can sense it now. We feel the threat in our blood. Something terrible is coming. We must all be ready."

Rooted in place, Maggie knew he was looking at her once again.

"All of us."

As the story came to an end, Jake guided Bella over to the snack table and a few others followed. Quil was not one of them. In a surprising turn of events, he seemed to have lost his appetite as he watched Maggie sit beside Paul, the two pricked by tension and half-hearted promises. Maggie stared back at her cousin and saw one more person to fear for. Her list had grown so long, extending beyond the dead and buried, until Maggie saw no end in sight.

Love, she had decided, was most certainly a chain of its own making, a sense of captivity that the brain and heart often warred over. The heart, no matter what the brain had to say, what arguments it had to give — even the reasonable ones — always found a way to win. And now, Maggie's heart had splintered and collapsed from the pressure; like a decaying rose, its roots had been ripped from the earth and pricked by the rose's very own thorns. Deadly and unforgiving. 

Maggie was quiet as she and Paul left the bonfire early. Leaning her head against the window of his truck, Maggie listened to the world flying by, watched the trees fade into brick and stone. She said next to nothing as the two got ready for bed, then slipped in beside each other, backs turned in Paul's quiet and empty home.

As the two of them drifted off, with Billy's tale of the Third Wife waiting in the shadows of their dreams, Maggie whispered an I love you and fell asleep to silence.

One more crucial day was gone.

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A/N: Just look at my babies in this gif I made. I love them so much <333