Jacob Moves In

Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to SM.

A/N-thank you for the kind reviews!

Chapter Eighty Nine

Bella was calmer now. She stayed enfolded in Jacob's strong arms, comforted by his warm embrace. It allowed her to breathe and to begin to think logically about the new set of revelations. "So, it comes down to Carlisle and Alice. They are the common denominators in everything."

"It seems so." Jacob kissed the side of her head gently.

"Carlisle's actions are driven by his quest to find a cure for vampirism. Even though he enjoys taking the moral high ground, the fact that he is willing to risk the lives of innocent people who have the golden blood, goes against everything he is meant to stand for. Lives have been lost already-Alice, Anne, and maybe others we don't know about. Carlisle turned them into vampires as if this somehow absolved him of any guilt in them losing their lives in the first place."

"He seems to think that having a semblance of a life is better than having no life at all." Jacob mused as he played with the fingers of her left hand.

"Yes." Bella intertwined their fingers and pulled his arm tighter around her body. "It's Alice's intentions that remain a mystery. Rosalie painted a totally different picture to what we had assumed about her."

"Yeah." Jacob frowned. "I can't figure her out yet. Is she friend or foe? Or perhaps both."

"Right now I'm thinking both." Bella sighed. It hurt thinking about her former friend. Alice had been driven from the outset, determined for the two of them to be close when she started a relationship with Edward. Her friendship had felt so genuine to Bella. Heavens, she had even trusted Alice enough to run off with her to Italy to try and save Edward from himself. But Bella now knew for certain that wouldn't have happened if Rosalie had kept her mouth shut and not told Edward she was potentially dead.

"What intrigues me the most is the relationship she has built up between two potential mates." Jacob pointed out.

"Jasper and Demetri." Bella turned around in his embrace and looked up at his handsome face. Despite the seriousness of the situation it felt good to be able to talk to Jacob, instead of a mixed jumble of voices confusing everything. She was always grateful for everyone's opinion but sometimes it could be overwhelming. "They are such different personalities. Carlisle recruited Jasper to lure Alice out into the open and back to the family he had created. Jas is an empath, a good fit for a newly turned vampire who had no memories of her former life, and would also prove a good guardian when she did find out that she had suffered appalling abuse in that asylum and about Carlisle's role in it. His gift would be very soothing for her."

"Yeah, it kinda makes you feel sorry for the little pixie, doesn't it." Jacob smiled wryly. "But only a bit."

Bella nodded absently. She was still brooding over Demetri and how he was tied into everything. His gift was very much like James' but so much more powerful. The Volturi considered him the best tracker in the world. The leaders never settled for anything but the best. While James had to be relatively close to his victim, Demetri could track people all across the world. "Oh, god, maybe that's it!" Bella exclaimed loudly as a startling revelation suddenly occurred to her.

"What?"

"I think the reason that Alice has chosen to pull Demetri into her web is because he is useful. He's an amazing tracker. He can literally find anyone, anywhere in the world if he needs to."

Jacob looked at her curiously. "So she's using him to track someone or something..."

"I think she may be utilising his gift to subtly track other people who carry the same blood as I do." Bella's eyes were shining eagerly as the cogs in her brain continued to turn.

"For what purpose?" Jacob asked eagerly. Bella was glowing. There was no sign of her former hysteria. She was in control again. Her last plan may have come to naught, but she was already trying to come up with another. Nothing could keep her down. He was so proud of her and loved her so much.

"To save them." Bella suggested. "I know it sounds crazy, but you heard what Rosalie said about Alice's reaction when she found out the truth. She was the one who forced them all to clear out of Forks and leave me alone. It was my stupid decision to jump off the cliff and Edward's reaction to it that created so much mess. I think it upset Alice greatly when she had that vision of me plummeting into the sea. Her vision was cut off because you came and rescued me. She genuinely thought I was dead, Jake. All her hard work to get them to leave me alone was for nothing. She came back to Forks to check if it was really true and when she found out I was alive she called Rosalie..."

"Who called Cullen and set things in motion with the Volturi. Fuck." Jacob swore as he shook his head in disbelief.

"So in the end it comes back to me. One stupid decision I made upset everything." Bella's elation died as the guilt set in and began to eat away at her again. "I think Alice has been secretly trying to track the other people in the world who have golden blood before Carlisle has a chance to find them and start the whole process again. She thought she had managed to save me but instead I managed to put myself in the firing line again, thus upsetting all her carefully laid plans."

Charlie listened quietly as Jacob told him about his conversation with Bella. She was sleeping in his room, emotionally exhausted after such a long and trying day. "It certainly makes things a lot clearer."

"Yes, it does." Charlie gazed at the setting sun. He had spent the whole day with Tori after calling Jacob and Bella, letting them know the outcome of his confrontation with her. "How is Bells?" He asked in concern.

"Blaming herself again." Jacob sighed heavily. "Nothing I say will convince her otherwise. This is down to Carlisle Cullen and the rest of them." His eyes turned hard.

"I wish I could make this all go away, son." Charlie said huskily as he watched the sun drown in its own blood. "Not just for Bella. For everyone. We've all suffered."

"I'm sorry we kept you in the dark for so long, Charlie." Jacob apologised earnestly. "Bella is blaming herself for her bad decision but we've all made them. And that is one of my biggest regrets. Dad's, too."

"I know, kid." Charlie rubbed a hand over his face tiredly. "But I can see now why you did. I reacted badly when I found out. I made things a lot more difficult then they needed to be. And to be honest I deliberately had blinders on. I didn't want to see because I didn't want to deal with it. You're not the only one with regrets. I have a lifetime of them. But we all need to move forward, the past can't be changed, we can only learn from it."

"Yeah." Jacob agreed. It felt good to bond with Charlie. The constant drama and unwelcome revelations had made their relationship fractious in recent weeks.

"I want to thank you." Charlie continued gruffly. "I never say it enough but I appreciate what you've done for Bells. I'm so glad she has you. I'm proud of you son, alright." He cleared his throat awkwardly, forever uncomfortable with graphic displays of emotion.

"Thanks, Charlie. That means a lot." Jacob felt tears prick at his eyes. He hadn't realised until that moment how much having Charlie's approval meant to him.

Tori was hunting. She ran through the forest, skilfully avoiding anything in her path that tried to trip her. She was chasing a deer. The young buck bounded in front of her, occasionally getting entangled in undergrowth. Tori was slow to kill it, for some reason her mind was unfocused. Her interaction with Charlie had shaken her greatly. She could still feel the lingering warmth from his arms as he embraced her, the rough cadence of his voice as he tried to comfort her. This was the closest they had physically gotten and the surprising intensity of the feelings it had invoked inside had frozen her to the spot. She had spent many hours afterwards trying to analyse her feelings, while she longed for him to embrace her again. But even though she had spent the rest of the day in his company, Charlie kept his distance and Tori was confused as to why.

Suddenly the young buck stopped as if it had hit an invisible brick wall. Tori slowed down, keeping a few feet between them. She could see the animal's ears quivering, its sensitive nose trembling as it tested the air for a faint scent of another predator. Tori tensed, her whole body becoming taut as she did the same, trying to detect what the young buck had already sensed. There was nothing. She swallowed thickly, the fine hairs on her neck beginning to rise. The hunter was becoming the hunted. Someone was watching her. She could sense it, even if she couldn't see or smell them. Backing away slowly, Tori began to retreat, ready to take flight at a seconds notice. The air was vibrating with tension. The young buck was backing away too, every muscle in his body quivering with the effort to not make a sound.

Then there it was, the faintest rustle of grass. Tori turned around and bolted for her life. But it was too little, too late. She was grabbed from behind and pulled backwards. The sheer weight of her enemy pulled her down, sending her tumbling to the ground at their feet. There was only one person who could capture her so easily, especially with her gift for evasion. Tori gazed miserably up at Demetri as he towered menacingly above her.

A/N-thanks for reading!