Chapter 12

"I don't see why we can't just confront him now." I said as we drove up the driveway of the Black house.

"You don't want to scare them off. It's better to wait and test the water before plunging in. Just pretend that you were in the neighbourhood and decided to drop in." Total replied on the seat beside me.

We were in the car as it had started raining and we decided driving in rain would be more normal than just showing up without a vehicle. It was weird how trying to be more normal could sometimes make me feel more conspicuous. It was as if everyone knows I'm just pretending. Even now I glanced nervously at the mirrors, expecting someone to be waiting to catch me out.

My hands gripped the steering wheel tightly as we stopped the car and turned off the engine. It was late evening and the lights were on in the house. I saw shadows move quickly against closed white curtains and even caught a glimpse of Billy cautiously lifting up the curtains, seeing my car and dropping them back down again. People were certainly home and, if Sam was right, that included Jacob.

"So what we just see how friendly they are and then bring up casually that I know? This isn't exactly the best plan."

"No, but you might get to talk to Jacob alone if they think you know nothing. You can also then gauge at how friendly they are to you before you talk to them. If there's any hostility then we know there is trouble without compromising our advantage. If there isn't then..." Total gave the dog equivalent of a shrug.

"We try to make friends?" I finished, my voice was unhopeful.

We sat for a few moments more in the car. I was working up to going to the house but this nagging sensation in the back of my head kept telling me to run. They're werewolves, and in the past most people to do with wolves haven't been friendly.

"Would you tell them your secrets?" Total suddenly asked.

I had thought of this already. "No, not just yet." The thought of revealing my secret to another group of people brought a sense of unwelcome déjà vu. "I may tell Jake...later. But the rest will stay in the dark as long as possible."

"You don't know if it will be a repeat of last time." Total said quietly.

It took me a moment to respond to that. "Too many people knowing makes me uncomfortable and I don't trust them." I couldn't admit that in the back of my mind I did believe a repeat of the Cullens could happen.

We sat in silence for a few more moments, until finally I forced myself out of the car. In only a few long strides as was on the front porch, knocking on the door. I waited but there was no answer. I knocked again and called out, "Billy? Jake?" but there was still no reply.

So they wanted to play it that way. I knocked loudly on the door last time, with almost enough strength to punch a hole through the wood, and when there was once again no answer. I sat down on the steps leading up to the door and waited. They weren't getting rid of me that easily.

After a few minutes, when it was clear that I wasn't leaving, I could hear some of the voices raised in the house. "She's just sitting there?" "Why the hell should we care what she does?" "What if she really needs something?" The last voice I liked to think was Billy's or Jacob's but I couldn't be sure with everyone else talking at the same time. "Maybe she'll get bored ad leave?" That was a suggestion that I had to stop myself laughing at. After years of being on night watch for the flock, an hour or so sitting outside a house was nothing.

The wolves didn't even let me wait for the hour mark. Forty-five minutes later the door opened and I turned around to see a familiar face in the doorway.

"What are you doing here?" He had changed dramatically, no longer the Jacob I knew so well. His long hair was gone, cropped short close to his head. No longer did he have out of proportion thin, gangly limbs but had filled out with muscle. His arms were the same size as my thighs. The most dramatic change though, was his expression. Gone was the open, friendly face and replacing it was a harsh glare and dark eyes. Although there were no visible lines on his face, it seemed like Jacob had aged years within the thirty-six hours since I'd last seen him. Was it really only that short a time? It felt like weeks...

When I didn't answer him straight away, mostly because of shock, he repeated his question even louder and harsher.

I sat straight up and walked up to him, matching his glare with my own. It wasn't until our chests were almost touching that I spoke, "If you are trying to get rid of me, you are failing miserably."

That was definitely not the reply Jacob was expecting and for a second the glare in his broke with a flash of obvious sadness. "I'll have to try harder then."

I ignored the sting of his comment and asked to speak with him alone.

"We are alone, it's just me and Billy."

I snorted, "And a large group of your friends all listening in. I could see them through the window and hear them while I waited."

The surprise that I knew about the large congregation hiding in the house made Jacob suddenly unsure and less confident. His eyes flickered to behind him and suddenly Sam appeared. He greeted me, "Hello Max," before whispering to Jacob, "Go ahead, we'll be listening in anyway." It seems like I'm not the only one with super hearing, I thought.

"Are you allowed to come out to play, Jake?" I couldn't stop myself digging at the situation but regretted it when Jacob looked down and almost ashamed.

"C'mon, let's take a walk." He said, moving past me towards the forest of the house. I was aware of so many pairs of eyes on us as we walked away and wondered how long they would wait until following us into the increasing evening darkness.

I wasn't until we were quite a long way into the forest that Jacob suddenly stopped and turned to face me. His expression was hard but no longer glaring, which I was grateful for. Tiredness seemed to haunt his body and his shoulders sloped and sagged.

"You shouldn't have come here." He said.

"Why not?" I asked straight out. I wanted to give him as many chances as possible to tell me his secret himself before revealing my knowledge.

"Things have changed Max. We can't be friends anymore."

I barked a single bitter laugh, "Are you going to tell me that it's you not me next?"

"It's true. I'm not...the same as I was. I'm not..." He broke off with a frustrated sigh. "Look it's complicated, but we can't see each other anymore. It isn't safe."

It wasn't quite a Cullen repeat but close enough to make me heart ache a little. I'm losing someone else now.

"It doesn't have to be that way."

"Yes it does!" Jacob replied angrily. "That's just how it is, so just get the hell out of here and don't come back."

"Just tell me what is wrong and I can help you!" I shouted back.

His expression twisted into a bitter, cruel smile. "You want to know what's wrong, ask your bloodsucker friends, the Cullens."

My eyes widened, that was the last thing I expected him to say. "The Cullens left months ago, what have they got to do with anything?"

"Forget it," He spat and then mumbled quieter, more to himself than to me, "You obviously have your loyalties and I have mine."

"What loyalties? What are you talking about?" He really had lost me at this point. I felt like hitting some sense into him and my fists clenched.

"Just leave Max, I don't want you here and you aren't welcome anymore. I'm sorry."

We stood in silence for what seemed like hours. He seemed to wait for me to make the first move, to leave, but he wasn't getting anything from me. Everything he said whirled around in my head as I tried to make sense of it.

Eventually Jacob made a move to leave, walking past me in silence with his eyes glued to the forest floor. That was it, I couldn't let him leave. I grabbed his arm and despite his efforts to shake me off, I held on tightly. I think the strength surprised him because he stopped and turned to face me again.

"I know what you are Jake. That's what I came here to tell you. The legends...they're true aren't they?"

Jacob's mouth hung open and his eyes widened. I couldn't tell if he was shocked or horrified or a mixture of both.

"I know you're a werewolf Jake," I then looked around the forest and called out louder, "and I know your pack is listening so there's no point in hiding."

Slowly, the large group of tanned, muscled, half naked boys came into view with Sam at the head. They reminded me of brothers, not only in the way they looked with the same inky black hair and dark skin, but in movement. It seemed to be almost synchronised with their expressions moving from suspicion and anger to caution and curiosity at almost the same time. Only of the group was different. Beside Sam stood a boy who was shaking almost uncontrollably, with flared nostrils and dark, hostile eyes.

On the other hand, all hostility had left Jacob's face and a small smile flickered on his mouth. "How did you know?"

"I have my ways." I answered but that wasn't enough for some people.

"Isn't it obvious? The bloodsuckers must have told her!" The shaking man yelled out.

"Paul, cool it," Sam put a hand on Paul's chest and he seemed to calm a little but his eyes never left me.

"Max," Sam said, "How much do you know?" He spoke with authority but with a hint of caution.

"I know you can transform into wolves and that you were the ones in the forest, the ones who killed Laurent last night."

"You disappeared before I could find you,"

"You didn't look hard enough," I replied and paused before continuing. "I watched you after you killed him. I saw everything."

I think everyone's jaws dropped in horror except for Jacob's whose smile now became more pronounced.

"Don't worry; you aren't that careless really, I'm just very good at hiding." I continued. I started to feel overconfident and my voice sounded blasé about it. I wanted them to know that I wasn't a threat, that I didn't care what they were.

Jacob then finally spoke, "I can't believe this, how...when..." It took him a moment to form a coherent sentence, "I wanted to tell you but it was too dangerous."

I gave a small laugh, "I seem to attract danger; it's one of my many faults."

Suddenly, Paul shouted, "Can't you see? She's a fucking spy for them!" he had started to shake even more violent, his face contorted in a snarl.

My relaxed pretence dropped and I tensed, ready for a fight. I started to draw energy from my surroundings, forming an invisible electrical shield. Jacob, seeing Paul, suddenly stepped in front of me and blocked me from his view. That tipped him over the edge.

"Right, protect her!" He roared in outrage. Another shudder heaved through his body almost forcing him to fall forward. Halfway to the ground there was a loud growl and the boy exploded with dark fur. As it burst out, he grew to almost five times his size and within seconds a massive, crouched wolf was before my eyes. His muzzle pulled back, showing rows of sharp shining teeth.

Then without warning he leaped from his place, snarling and roaring towards me. Before any of the other pack could move, I pushed Jacob out of the way and ran towards Paul. Around me, I could hear people shout my name in panic.

At the last moment, before we made contact, I turned and struck a roundhouse kick to the wolf's jaw, forcing a huge bolt of energy out with it. The wolf flew back through the air, smashing into a tree with a large crack. The tree plummeted to the ground as the wolf rolled over in shock.

It only took me a second to be on him again and before Paul could get up, I gripped the back his neck and held it to the ground while twisting his paw around, making him yelp.

"You do that again and I promise I'm gonna cause a whole lot more pain for you," I said through gritted teeth. He simply snarled in response.

"Paul! Stand down!" Sam shouted and instantly Paul stopped struggling against my grip and went limp. Hmm, seems Sam has the pack right under his thumb, I thought and slowly got off of him.

The rest of the pack was rooted to the ground with shock and confusion, even Jacob looked like he didn't even recognise me. I gulped and turned away from his stare.

"It seems we aren't the only ones with secrets, are we Max?" Sam said.

He couldn't have been more right.