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The First Cut is the Deepest	By : TheBlindQueen Category: Twilight Series > Het > Bella/Edward Views: 6929 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or make any money from this story.

Chapter List
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*****Chapter 7: Overtures ******

Alice was staring out the window, scowling. Her thoughts were a snarl, confusing and chaotic. I put my hands on her shoulders and leaned my chin on the top of her head. Out of all my siblings, it was Alice to whom I was drawn. We understood each other, empathized with each other, connected on a level that was deeper than our bonds with the others. Jasper was the exception for Alice, of course. What they shared was beyond my comprehension, and my only chance for a similar bond had been lost.

“What’s the matter?” I asked. It was usually easy to be patient with Alice, and I was feeling contemplative and quiet.

“I think we need to call Carlisle and the rest of them,” she replied softly. She turned to look at me. “I’m not seeing things as clearly as I should.”

“That’s probably because of the wolves,” I said.

She shrugged, obviously annoyed. “I’m grateful for their help,” Alice muttered. “But really, is it too much to ask that they don’t make things disappear?” She sounded thoroughly disgruntled and I smiled.

“They’re protecting Bella,” I reminded her. “And for that, they have my undying gratitude.”

“I know, I know,” Alice grumbled. “I just hate feeling…blind.”

Jasper came up behind us and grasped Alice’s hand. “You’ve seen enough to warn us. And enough to keep Bella safe,” Jasper murmured. “No one can ask more than that.”

I moved away from them, feeling a pang as I watched them. What they shared was so effortless and complete, and I knew a moment of sharp envy and dull regret. I wondered, as I watched them, if it really would have been so bad to make Bella immortal – to make her like me so that we might share an eternity together.

Then I thought of her as she was now, her cheeks pink with happiness, her body rounded with life. I knew that to take that future away from her would have been a tragedy, the most selfish act of my existence. And though I suffered and grieved, I knew that I had done what was best – what was RIGHT. I would try to find some comfort in that fact.

“I’m going hunting,” I muttered, already moving out the door.

/I’m worried about you./ It was Alice. I did not answer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By some unspoken agreement, the boundary lines of the treaty between us and the wolves seemed to be more fluid. We had a common enemy now, a goal that united us. In our efforts to protect Bella and the baby, both sides were willing to ignore previous restrictions. So I was not surprised to catch a whiff of wolf as I hunted.

I knew Jacob’s scent by now, of course. I didn’t even have to ask him if one of his brothers was watching over Bella. He would not leave her – or their child – unprotected. Once more, I felt a moment of reluctant gratitude for Jacob’s care and caution. It was getting harder to hate him.

/Wait up!/ Jacob called out.

A huge reddish wolf loped into a small clearing where I waited. /Just a minute./

Then the wolf disappeared into a small copse of trees and a few moments later, Jake appeared, adjusting a pair of shorts around his hips. “Thanks for thinking of that,” I said dryly, pointing to the shorts.

“Yeah,” he shrugged. “I had to train my brothers. They kept phasing in front of Bella and forgetting.” He laughed softly, shaking his head. “She got tired of it and threatened to put us all in pink spandex if we didn’t cut it out.”

I tried very hard to ignore the pain that rippled through me at the mere mention of her name.

“Anyway,” Jacob continued, perhaps sensing my discomfort. “Seth caught the bl…caught the vamp’s scent on this side of Seattle. It was fresh. And she wasn’t alone.”

I frowned as I considered this new information. “She’s getting bolder.”

Jacob nodded. “He was able to clearly identify at least four others besides the redhead.”

“I’ll tell Alice to keep an eye out,” I said. “She’s also contacting Carlisle and the others.”

“There are more of you moving in?” Jacob asked with a snort. I could detect no anger in his voice, rather the rueful regret for the situation which made our presence necessary. He sighed and put his hands on his hips. “I hate owing you leeches.”

Our eyes met and a strange moment of camaraderie passed between us. For this brief space of time, we were soldiers in the same army, united by our cause – and by our love for the woman we were protecting.

“I’m not crazy about working with dogs either,” I reminded him dryly. I wrinkled my nose.

He grinned. “I promise you, I showered today.”

“So that’s why you smell like a WET dog,” I muttered.

“Bella doesn’t seem to mind,” he noted and I grit my teeth. Then he sighed. “Sorry, that was below the belt.”

I nodded, accepting his apology. It was strange not to feel animosity toward him. I was not sure I liked it. The anger was easier to accept, less painful than this realization that Jacob was – as much as I hated to admit it – a good person. Jacob Black was a man who was worthy of Bella. When I had left Bella, THIS was what I had wanted for her – a good man, a happy life, a measure of years that would mean something. I had wanted a life for her, and she had found it with Jacob.

Jacob looked down at the ground. “Listen, for what it’s worth…she didn’t get over you easy.”

“I know.” My words were not a boast, they were an apology.

Jake looked up at the sky then, scowling at the clouds as if to determine if they would turn into the storm that Alice had seen in her visions. “We still have time,” I told him. “Alice will warn us.”

He nodded, still studying the sky with skeptical, suspicious eyes. His thoughts returned to Bella. Mine had never left her. “You know, she wouldn’t even listen to music for two years,” he murmured quietly and then he turned to meet my eyes, his still wary. “Then one day, we’re in her truck and she turns on the radio I installed for her.” What had happened to the radio Emmett had installed for her? Then a glimpse of the mangled electronics flashed through Jacob’s thoughts. I was not curious enough to care how that had happened. “ And that’s when I knew… I knew I had a chance.” He shrugged. “It wasn’t long after that…” His voice trailed off, but I knew that the dream he had had the other night was once again in his thoughts. He was thinking of that first time they had made love, the gift she had given him. Jake shook his head. “I don’t know why I told you that. Maybe I just…maybe I just know that if it had been me in your shoes, I’d want to know that I’d meant something to her, that I’d been important.”

“Thank you.” The words burned because I meant them.

“We’re a pair, aren’t we?” There was a note of dark amusement in his voice. “Sometimes I wonder how Bella put up with either of us.”

“Because she’s…Bella,” I replied. “She loves unconditionally.”

“Yes,” Jake agreed. He paused, but I heard what he was thinking before he said the words. “She cried that night, the day she went over to see you.”

“I’m sorry.” The words were not quite a lie.

“Don’t be,” Jacob said. “She said she was saying good-bye…inside…” He swallowed hard. “She’s still hurting over that, over hurting you.”

“She’s always been too tender-hearted for her own good.” I felt angry now. Angry at Jacob for being good for her. Angry at Bella for being Bella. But most of all, I was angry at myself. The old rage came back with comforting heat. I took a deep, shaky breath and pushed it down deep inside where it could hurt no one but me.

“I’ll be gone soon, and Bella will come to realize that everything has worked out as it is supposed to,” I murmured. “And the threat from Victoria will be gone. You two can raise your son in peace.”

“I hope that’s what happens,” Jacob whispered. “Sometimes…sometimes I feel like something is coming. Something bad. I thought it might be you when you showed up, but…” He shook his head. “That’s not it.”

“We’ll protect Bella, all of us,” I promised him. “I swear to you, I won’t let anything happen to Bella – or your son.”

He studied me for a long moment. “I believe you.”

“Between us, we’ll keep her safe.”

“And then you’ll leave,” Jacob said.

“I’ll be gone,” I promised.

Jacob looked up at the sky yet again, still uneasy. Then he gave me a nod and disappeared into the trees again. I felt the air shimmer and warm around me and then I heard the soft sound of paws padding off into the forest.
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The First Cut is the Deepest