CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
WOLF'S OUT OF THE BAG

The next morning, Montana stood in front of the Black household, a folder full of school work held close to her chest.

Billy Black opened the door with a frown, his mouth soon curving into a smile when he realised it was Montana. "Hi, Billy," she greeted warmly, beaming down at him. "I just came by to drop off some work for Jake."

"That's very kind of you," Billy responded. "He's still asleep right now, but you're very welcome to come in." Montana went to shake her head, not wanting to intrude. "In fact, it would be nice to have some company."

She nodded, giving him a small smile. "Of course."

Billy wheeled himself out of the doorway, allowing Montana inside the house. It had been a while since she'd been in the Black's humble home, and the photographs on the wall immediately caught her eyes. They were some of her favourites; the camera beautifully capturing her, Jake, Embry, Quil and Dakota playing at the beach when they were kids. Jacob's older sisters Rebecca and Rachel featured in the background, alongside Montana's older cousin Kaia. The photographs reminded her of some of her happiest memories, and she would always take time to admire them whenever she was in the Black household.

"So, how have you been?" Billy asked, wheeling himself into the kitchen. "I haven't seen you in a while."

"Good, thanks," Montana smiled politely, pulling out one of the kitchen chairs. "Things have been a little...crazy recently."

Billy chuckled in agreement. "You could say that."

"What about you?" She asked, sitting down. "Dad said you two were planning a fishing trip with Charlie and Harry soon."

"I'm looking forward to it," Billy replied. "Getting away from all the madness for a bit."

Montana released a breath. "I know what you mean." She glanced behind her at Jacob's closed bedroom door, consciously lowering her voice. "How's Jake doing?"

"Exhausted," Billy sighed. "He's been out very late patrolling."

"Is the vampire still around?" Montana wondered. "They won't tell me much."

Billy's features hardened. "The woman, she keeps coming back."

Montana frowned at the thought. "I wonder what she wants." Billy shook his head, mostly clueless. "I worry about them."

Billy smiled sympathetically at the concerned girl sat in front of him. When he'd found out that Jacob imprinted on Montana, he was relieved that his son's soulmate was someone as warm-hearted and wonderful as her. Billy also wasn't entirely surprised that it had happened, though that seemed to be quite a common feeling from the people who knew them. It made a lot of sense, and Billy knew that his son had loved Montana for a long time. Maybe she hadn't realised it, maybe even Jacob hadn't realised it until now, but there was an undeniable connection that ran deep between the two of them.

"You should," Billy answered honestly. Montana, used to his bluntness, let a laugh pass her lips. "But they can take care of themselves. They're just doing their jobs, keeping everybody safe."

"Oh, trust me, I know," Montana said, her eyebrows raised. "They're like my personal bodyguards now."

"Jacob just wants you to be protected," Billy explained.

"Well, not that I don't appreciate the concern," Montana started. "But I'd rather he looked after himself first. He seems so exhausted."

Billy cast his heavy gaze in the direction of Jacob's room. "I really do hate waking him," he sighed. "He has patrol in a while, so I should. I just wish he could have more time to sleep in."

"He needs to go to bed for about a week straight," Montana commented, looking longingly in the direction of Jacob's room. It was unfair that they had to go through such hardships, and, frustratingly, it was down to the mere existence of vampires. They didn't deserve to have to put themselves, or their bodies, through all those difficulties.

The sound of somebody hammering their fist against the door surprised them both, making Montana flinch at the loudness. She whirled her head around, silently cursing whoever it was, wishing they could have been a little fucking quieter. The frown on Billy's face suggested it couldn't have been the boys – they probably just would have walked straight in anyway – and he didn't seem to be expecting any visitors. Montana rose from the chair as Billy wheeled himself into the doorway, opening the door to find somebody unexpected.

"Bella."

Montana locked eyes with the pale brunette, who glanced her up and down in surprise. The last that Bella knew, was that Jacob hadn't been talking to Montana at all, which really did mean he was making up excuses. Bella began to wonder why Jacob hadn't called or text her, even though he'd been back in touch with Montana.

"I need to see him," Bella blurted.

"He's not in," Billy lied. His voice was firm, suggesting for her not to push it any further – but this was Bella.

The girl's narrowed eyes flickered up at Montana again, who shifted uncomfortably on her feet. "Okay, I'm sorry," Bella muttered, looking back down at Billy. "I really need to see him."

She pushed past the older man, forcing her way inside the house. "Bella!"

Montana immediately moved to block her way, holding her hands out. "Bella, wait, please–" The girl ignored her, harshly brushing past to reach Jacob's bedroom door. "For the love of God, stop!" Montana hissed. She reached out to grab Bella, before she could interrupt the tiny amount of sleep Jake had managed to get in days, but she was too late.

Bella flung the door open, the force sending it smacking against the wall. Montana winced at the thud, drawing in a sharp breath,  anticipating Jacob waking up. Except, he didn't even stir. She breathed out a sigh of relief, her gaze softening at the sight of his peaceful features.

Bella stood awkwardly in middle of the room, peering down at Jacob, who was curled up in the bed that was entirely too small for him, the covers bunched up around him.

Montana's gentle stare hardened as it shifted towards Bella. "Seriously, don't wake him. He needs to sleep."

Bella went to turn her head to meet Montana's eyes, but paused, entire body stiffening as her stare became trained elsewhere. Montana frowned, looking past her through the window, catching sight of Embry, Jared, Paul and Sam heading towards the house.

Bella's nostrils flared, lips pressing together firmly. She turned on her heel, pushing past Montana and out of the door again.

"For fucks sake," Montana muttered under her breath, beginning to grow irritated with her friend. She followed after her, intending to make sure she didn't get into any trouble.

The boys had been hollering and whistling in attempt to catch Jacob's attention, but the four of them soon slowed the moment they caught sight of a very furious Bella Swan storming towards them.

"What did you do?!" She shouted across the open grass. Montana's eyes widened, sensing the dangerous level of conflict already rising. "What did you do to him?!" Bella demanded, walking right up to Sam and shoving his chest.

"Shit, shit, shit," Montana mumbled, taking off after her. Embry caught sight of his best friend in the distance, but Jared and Paul were firmly focused on defending their alpha, who Bella had just completely disrespected.

Sam quickly held up a hand, in an attempt to calm his betas down, but Paul had already taken a confrontational step forwards. "What did we do?" Paul repeated, the muscles in his jaw clenched tightly. "What did he do? What'd he tell you?"

"Both of you calm down," Sam warned, grabbing Paul's arm to pull him back.

"Hey!" Montana called out as she neared them, moving to Bella's side. She reached for her friend's arm in an attempt to coax her back from the boys. "Bella, just stop. Come on, let's–"

Bella jerked her arm out of Montana's grip, glaring harshly at Paul. "Nothing," she snapped at him. "He tells me nothing because he's scared of you!"

Paul's expression shifted, a snicker leaving his mouth. Jared released a sarcastic laugh alongside him, both of them earning a scowl from Bella. Without warning, girl reached her hand up, smacking Paul across the face.

Montana flinched, blinking in disbelief at what she'd just done. "Bella..." she trailed, already taking a step backwards in preparation.

Eyes widening, Sam and Jared turned their attention to Paul, whose heavy breaths were becoming shallow and ragged. Montana had seen this before, she knew what was coming, and when it came to Paul, there was absolutely no stopping it.

"Bella," Montana found herself snapping in irritation. "Bella, you need to leave right now."

Bella whipped her head around, giving her an icy stare. "Why are you sticking up for them?!" She bit back, pointing an accusatory finger at her. "If you really cared about Jake–"

"Hey, you don't know what you're talking about," Montana's voice lowered with firmness. "Now get the hell out of here before someone gets hurt."

She reached for Bella's arm, attempting to pull her out of harms way, but was met with resistance. "Get off me," Bella snapped, yanking roughly out of her grip, the sheer force sending Montana stumbling backwards.

Montana regained her balance quickly, staring at the girl with a dumbfounded expression. She opened her mouth to retort something back to her, losing patience entirely, but the sight of an unbelievably rage filled Paul stopped her words from flowing. He'd already been practically seething with rage at Bella's confrontation, unable to calm down after the hard smack against his face, but seeing her not only disrespect his pack, but also Montana, sent him teetering over the edge.

"Too late now," Jared mumbled.

Paul's entire body began to tremble. Embry glanced warily over at Montana, noticing how close she was standing.

"Montana, Bella, get back," Sam cautioned.

Montana did exact as she was told, too furious to even bother trying to pull Bella out the way.

Jacob had left the house upon first hearing the commotion, spotting them across the grass. The second he caught sight of Bella pushing Montana backwards, he had jumped down from the porch, gritting his teeth together. His heart thudded heavily in his chest, quickly realising that Paul was about to shift, and Montana was entirely too close to him. All that Jacob needed was to feel his imprint in imminent danger before he was sprinting unbelievably fast towards her.

Paul's clothes tore in the air, tattered pieces of material landing around them. His former stance replaced by a gigantic wolf, bared teeth gnashing together as he towered over Bella.

Montana finally lunged forwards, dragging the stunned girl completely out of harms way before Paul could do any unwanted damage.

"Montana!" Jacob called worriedly, his pulse racing uncontrollably fast. "Montana! Bella!"

"Run!" Bella screamed, bursting out of Montana's grip. "Jake, run!"

The girl tripped as she ran, toppling to the ground as Jacob took off, jumping over her and phasing effortlessly into his wolf. He landed protectively in front of Montana, a low growl leaving him. Within seconds, Jacob had snapped at Paul, diving forwards to sink his teeth into him, furious that he'd put his imprint in danger again.

Paul clashed into Jacob, the pair of them grappling at each other, claws slicing across one another's fur. They tumbled down the hill, fighting all the way to the tree line before they disappeared completely into the forest.

"Take Bella back to Emily's place." Sam's voice broke the silence that had fallen around the rest of them.

Jared suppressed a sigh, making his way over to Bella, who was still sprawled across the ground, her wide eyes trained on the forest. Embry scrambled to Montana's side instead, his worried eyes checking her over, ensuring that she was completely okay. It was only the second time that Montana had seen the boys shift, and both of those had involved Jacob getting into a fight with Paul.

Anger simmered in the teenage girl's eyes as she met Embry's concerned gaze, completely furious at the situation Bella had caused. Embry placed an assuring hand on her shoulder, carefully guiding her over to Jared and Bella, who was undoubtedly shell-shocked.

"Guess the wolf's out of the bag, huh?"

A/N

I won't lie, this was definitely not one of Bella's finest moments.