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JACOBBLACK

"Jacob, do you think this is going to take too er?" Leah deether

Like anyone in the pack, Leah knew everything She knehy I cae of the earth and sky and sea To be alone She knew that this was all I wanted Just to be alone

But Leah was going to force her co crazy annoyed, I did feel s for a brief second Because I didn’t even have to think about controllingI just did, natural The red haze didn’t wash over my eyes The heat didn’t shiver down my spine My voice was calm when I answered

"Jump off a cliff, Leah" I pointed to the one atherself into a sprawl on the ground next to me "You have no idea how hard this is for me"

"For you?" It took me a minute to believe she was serious "You have to be the most self-absorbed person alive, Leah I’d hate to shatter the drea the place where you stand - so I won’t tell you how little I care what your problem is Go Away"

"Just look at this from my perspective for a

If she was trying to breakThe sound hurt in strange ways

"Stop snorting and pay attention," she snapped

"If I pretend to listen, will you leave?" I asked, glancing over at the permanent scowl on her face I wasn’t sure if she had any other expressions anymore

I remembered back to when I used to think that Leah was pretty, ht of her that way now Except for Saive himself Like it was his fault that she’d turned into this bitter harpy

Her scowl heated up, as if she could guess what I was thinking Probably could

"This is ine what this feels like to rieving over this leech-lover like I’ht be a little confusing? I dreaht! What the hell am I supposed to do with that?"

"Do I care?"

"I can’t stand being in your head any to e her into one of therowled

It would be wrong to strike back I knew that I was biting ue But she’d be sorry if she didn’t walk away Now

"He’ll probably just kill her anyway," Leah said Sneering "All the stories say that happens more often than not Maybe a funeral will be better closure than a wedding Ha"

This tiht the hot taste in ainst the slide of fire down ether while ain, I glowered at her She atching

Soender confusion, Leah," I said Slow, e each word "How do you think the rest of us like looking at Sah that Euys panting after hiuilty when I watched the spasm of pain shoot across her face

She scra only to spit infork

I laughed darkly "You iveain if I had the chance

Because her words were still there, scratching the that I could hardly breathe

It didn’t matter so ony was nothing at all That agony I could live with for the rest of , stretched-out life

But it did- that she was letting her heart stop and her skin ice over and her mind twist into soer

I would have thought there was nothing worse than that, nothing more painful in the whole world

But, if he killed her

Again, I had to fight the rage Maybe, if not for Leah, it would be good to let the heat change me into a creature who could deal with it better A creature with instincts so er than human emotions An animal who couldn’t feel pain in the same way A different pain So now, and I didn’t want to share her thoughts I cussed her underaway that escape, too

My hands were shaking in spite of ony? I wasn’t sure what I was fightingnow

I had to believe that Bella would survive But that required trust - a trust I didn’t want to feel, a trust in that bloodsucker’s ability to keep her alive

She would be different, and I wondered how that would affect me Would it be the sa there like a stone? Like ice? When her scent burned in ered the instinct to rip, to tearHoould that be? Could I want to kill her? Could I not want to kill one of them?

I watched the swells roll toward the beach They disappeared froainst the sand I watched the hory, and I couldn’t think of another plan

Iand grabbed my crutches If only Charlie hadn’t seen me that day and spread the word ofhungry started to look better when I walked in the house and got a look aton his mind It was easy to tell - he always overdid it Acted all casual

He also talked too et to the table He never jabbered like this unless there was sonored hi on the food The faster I choked it down

"and Sue stopped by today" My dad’s voice was loud Hard to ignore As always "Arizzlies, that one I don’t kno she deals with that daughter of hers, though Now Sue, she would have made one hell of a wolf Leah’s more of a wolverine" He chuckled at his own joke