Ch 53 - Hunt You Down

Cause when you chose to raise your hand
That's when a boy messed with a man
And I will hunt you down my friend
And I'm gonna tear you limb from limb

“Hunt You Down” – Saliva

Edward POV

The moment Bella’s breathing regulated and she fell into a deep sleep, I carefully untangled myself from her and slid out of bed. I usually lay with her for a while, sometimes all night long. I knew Bella figured I always skipped out of bed quickly when she fell asleep but I didn’t—I enjoyed laying with her, listening to her breathing and smelling her intoxicating scent and hearing her talk in her sleep.

But tonight—tonight I was gone the first second I could get away. Because tonight I had something to do.

I bounded down the stairs quickly, pausing in the living room. Emmett was sitting alone, watching some nonsense on TV. He glanced up at me when he sensed my presence, his thoughts saying he was slightly surprised to see me out of the bedroom.

“I’m going hunting,” I said, trying to sound nonchalant. He smiled.

“I can come along,” he said. I shook my head no quickly.

“Stay. Keep an eye on Bella for me, will you?” He eyed me skeptically for a moment, wondering why I wanted to go hunting alone, but his suspicion dissipated quickly and he broke out into a huge grin.

“I can do that,” he said, laughing. I turned to head out the back door but paused, groaning loudly.

“Don’t wake her up, let her sleep please,” I said, his thoughts suggesting he thought it would be fun to keep an eye on Bella but not clarifying exactly why it would be.

He threw his hands up defensively. “I swear, I won’t wake her,” he said. I nodded and departed quickly, not bothering to stay and find out what exactly he had planned. Emmett was relatively harmless and straight-forward… if he said he wouldn’t wake her up, I believed him.

I ran fast, wanting to get away from the house before the rest of the family decided to pay me any attention or suggest going with me. I ran straight for the treaty line, knowing he’d find me. And I wanted him to.

Bella and I had spent the afternoon at Charlie’s house, celebrating Christmas with him. It had gone a lot better than I thought it would, but apparently Sam had acted in advance out of precaution and forbid the wolves from confronting me at Charlie’s. It was amazing, the dynamics of the pack. It had been eating away at Jacob Black the entire time, being so close to me and watching me with Bella but being unable to act on his anger about it.

His thoughts had infuriated me, how utterly childish the dog was. I kept my anger at bay as much as I could, though, knowing goading the wolves in Charlie’s presence wouldn’t fare well for my plans. I was doing everything I could to get Charlie to warm up to me, to get him to accept me. I had a feeling he’d likely always have a spot inside of him that despised me and blamed me for leaving his daughter, but I very much wanted him to accept me as part of Bella’s future. I needed to remain respectful in his presence… stooping to the dogs level wouldn’t help my cause.

So I ignored him, ignored his attempts to provoke me. He knew he couldn’t act first out of Sam’s orders but if I started it, he’d be able to protect himself. But I refused to take the bait and that only upset him further. When Charlie called me upstairs, I nearly lost my composure. As I left Bella on the couch and headed for the stairs, Jacob started shouting at me mentally. ‘Now this is the bloodsucker I know,’ he thought. ‘The one that leaves Bella sitting there all alone and walks away from her. But don’t worry, I’ll take good care of her.’

I wanted to leap over that table and smash his skull in, but I didn’t. I held myself back… but I wasn’t letting it go, not entirely. Jacob Black needed to be taught a lesson.

I’d gathered from the wolves’ thoughts that they still kept watch out of precaution, always having a wolf run the border. And tonight just happened to be Jacob’s night.

I stopped when I hit the edge of our territory, taking a few steps out onto no-mans land. I stood there for a while, maybe twenty minutes, thinking about how utterly ridiculous it was. What good was it having someone spend all night watching the border when it was evident a vampire could easily sneak through? I could’ve run into La Push and started slaughtering half the town in their sleep in twenty minutes.

I heard his frantic thoughts finally, him detecting my scent as the breeze carried it in his direction. He was running, knowing it was me, his thoughts indicating he was hoping I’d stepped foot past the line.

I crossed my arms and stood still in no-mans land as he slowed to a walk, creeping out of the tree line. He was crouched low, his fur bristled slightly.

What are you doing here, bloodsucker?

I smirked. “Nice to see you too, dog.”

Go home, you’re not allowed here.

“I’m not on you’re property mongrel, so don’t tell me where I can or can not be. I am a bit concerned though as you don’t appear to be very good at protecting your border. I’ve been out here for nearly half an hour,” I said nonchalantly. He grew angry immediately and started growling. “Relax, I’m not here to fight you.”

Why the hell are you here?

“To talk,” I said with a shrug, smirking.

Then talk, because I don’t have time for this leech. Shouldn’t you be off sucking the life out of Bella again?

“If you know what’s good for you Jacob Black, you’ll back off. I’m getting a little tired of your immaturity; I’m only going to take so much. So I’m telling you right now, lay off or else,” I said sharply, my casualness wearing off quickly and my anger shining through. My change in demeanor caught him a bit of guard. His posture was defensive, his growling louder.

Or else what? You don’t scare me.

I smirked menacingly, crouching slightly. I narrowed my eyes and pulled my lips back, exposing my teeth. He was eyeing me intently, his pulse quickening.

“Tell me, mutt, if you’re not scared then why is your heart racing so fast?” He growled defensively.

Because you’re repulsive, you filthy fucker.

“I beg to differ. You’re the with fleas, after all.”

He growled and took a few steps forward but paused as soon as he hit no mans land, retreating again quickly. “Yeah, thought so. All bark no bite.” I chuckled and shook my head, stepping back over onto our territory and turning around. The moment my back was to him he snapped, reaching his breaking point.

He took off sprinting toward me and I leapt out of the way, knowing what he was going to do before he could do it. He landed a few feet into my territory and swung around quickly, crouching down and growling at me. I instinctively went into defensive mode, showing my teeth and snarling. He lunged again and I leapt out of the way once more.

Quit being such a pussy, leech, fight me like a fucking man.

He ran toward me again but this time I didn’t run. I crouched and ran for him and we collided. He flew backwards a bit, unprepared and not expecting me to push back.

I didn’t want to kill Jacob, had no intention of actually seriously harming him. I just wanted to teach him a lesson, let him know that I wasn’t going to tolerate his antics. He was a bit smug and took me for a pushover—he needed to be put in his place. I tried to remain civil and respectful at all times, but at the end of the day I was still a predator. I may play the game and clutch onto my humanity not wanting to be a monster but nothing would change the fact that one did live inside of me, and when it came down to it I wasn’t afraid to unleash that side of me if needed be.

He recovered quickly and came at me, snapping his teeth. I evaded his bite and pushed him, making him stumble a bit. He crouched and sprung at me, snapping his teeth again, aiming for my neck. I ducked out of the way but his teeth got my arm, grazing the skin. It caught me a bit of guard, as I hadn’t expected him to actually make contact with me. I wasn’t actually fighting with Jacob; I wasn’t putting my all into it. I was being a bit blasé about it, taunting him more than anything, letting him get close on purpose. But his teeth got me, sending pain radiating through my arm. I knew he was designed to destroy my kind, had seen him do it when we fought Victoria and her army, but feeling him break the skin made it sink in, set something off inside of me, the natural instinct to defend myself.

Jacob was my enemy. Jacob wanted to kill me. And that pissed me off.

He ran toward me again and I crouched, snarling. I sprung, leaping and grapping a hold of him. I wrapped my hands around his leg and twisted, pulling him down. I heard the sickening crunch and felt the bone shatter under my force. He yelped loudly, stumbling away back into his territory when I let go. He growled again, his thoughts furious as pain shot through him. I crouched and started running for him again, but before I could make contact another form collided with me from the side, sending me flying to the ground into a snowdrift. I snarled loudly, jumping up and swinging around defensively and bearing my teeth, ready to attack.

My eyes widened, my growling dissipating as my eyes fell upon Carlisle, his stance defensive, his teeth bared at me instinctively. It was startling and I stood up immediately, all anger disappearing as shock took over. Carlisle stood up, his calm façade returning, but he mentally was scolding me.

What is wrong with you Edward?! You almost crossed the line! he nearly yelled.

I blinked rapidly in surprise, realizing Carlisle had forced me back mere inches from the wolves property. Jacob had crossed over onto my side but I’d yet to enter his.

I opened my mouth to speak when Jacob’s thoughts came to me. I glanced over quickly and saw him charging in our direction. I grabbed a hold of Carlisle and pulled him out of the way, Jacob barely missing colliding with Carlisle and instead landing in a drift of snow, sending the white stuff flying. He growled and turned around, facing us. I heard frantic thoughts in the woods, running in our direction. Jacob heard them to, being connected to his pack, and glanced in the direction they were coming from. He was torn, knowing what he was doing was wrong, but desperately wanting me. He considered his options, deliberating briefly, before crouching low and growling. He charged me and I considered fighting back, knowing I had the right to since he was on my side and it would be self-defense. Before I had the chance to, however, Sam ran from the tree line screaming for Jacob to stop.

I don’t know whether Jacob didn’t hear him or simply ignored him, but he didn’t stop. I stood still as he ran right into me, both of us flying backward and into the snow. I snarled and bared my teeth, lunging up to bite him. My teeth scraped his fur-clad skin but before they could break through Jacob he was yanked off of me. He yelped and whimpered.

I jumped up and looked around, noticing Sam had phased and had a hold of Jacob. He was railing into him for attacking me and Jacob was claiming it was all my fault, but because of the way the pack worked Sam could see everything that happened through Jacobs mind. He saw Jacob lunge at me first, saw Jacob cross the line.

Carlisle grabbed a hold of my arm, surveying the damage Jacob’s teeth had done. My sweater was ripped, shredded, but it was a superficial wound and would heal up quickly with no problem. I had some claw marks on my chest from our last impact but besides hurting slightly, they weren’t a big deal. He shook his head disapprovingly, letting go of me.

He glanced over at the wolves, noticing Jacob was hobbling and holding up one of his legs. He groaned and started walking in their direction. Jacob turned to look at Carlisle, growling as he approached. Carlisle froze at the line, looking between Jacob and Sam.

“He has a hurt leg, I’d like to look at it,” Carlisle said to Sam, who was watching him, wondering what he was doing. Sam nodded but Jacob growled, trying to back away as Carlisle took another step forward, crossing over into Quileute territory.

Sam growled back at Jacob, conveying to him to phase back into human form so Carlisle could look at his injury. Sam phased back, not concerned with modesty, and stared at Jacob expectantly. “Phase,” he said sternly after a moment.

Jacob whimpered, phasing. The moment he returned to his human form he screamed, grabbing at his arm, which hung limp. Carlisle approached him and Jacob narrowed his eyes but didn’t protest as Carlisle gently touched his arm.

“Dislocated shoulder,” he said. He felt along the bone and sighed loudly. “It’s broken in a few places.”

How could you do this Edward? he thought, exasperated.

“I’m sorry,” I said. I truly was. I wasn’t sorry for confronting Jacob but I was apologetic that it had played out as it did.

“Sorry?! You’re fucking sorry leech?! You tried to kill me!” Jacob spat. I rolled my eyes.

“You wanted me dead first, dog.”

“Enough!!” Carlisle and Sam yelled at the same time. They glanced at each other, slightly surprised.

“This is completely out of control. There’s no reason for any of this. We have a treaty for a reason, to keep the peace. But for some reason the two of you can’t seem to stop meeting like this. This is the second time now we’ve had to step in and stop you guys,” Sam said. “What’s the point? What the hell is going on?”

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. My arm was still throbbing a bit, the pain annoying me. “He’s immature, needs to learn some boundaries and respect.”

“Respect? You expect me to respect you? You’re a bloodsucker, a monster! You’ve done nothing but…” Jacob screamed, being cut off mid sentence as Carlisle grabbed his arm and shoved it upwards, putting his shoulder back in its socket.

“We’ll need to set the bones as soon as possible. You’re already starting to heal, we don’t want any irrevocable damage,” Carlisle said calmly, ignoring the hostile look Jacob was giving him.

“What do you need to do it?” Sam asked. Jacob started to protest but was cut off by Sam holding his hand up to silence him.

“I can run to the hospital and get the supplies and meet you somewhere,” Carlisle offered. Sam nodded.

“We can meet at Billy’s.”

“On the Reservation?” Jacob asked incredulously. “You’re inviting them to my fathers house? What’s wrong with you?”

Sam shook his head, frustrated and annoyed. “Do you want to be able to use your arm?” he asked sharply. Jacob nodded after a moment. “Then quit complaining and try being grateful. We can’t take you to a hospital, you know that. Cullen’s the only choice.”

Jacob groaned but didn’t comment. I smirked but Carlisle swung his head around, glaring at me.

There’s nothing funny about this Edward, you could’ve killed the boy.

My smile left quickly and I sighed, knowing Carlisle was right. Had my teeth broken through, there would’ve been no saving Jacob. He would’ve died.

The Quileute’s set off into La Push and Carlisle started toward the hospital. I hesitated briefly, unsure of what to do, but followed after Carlisle after a moment.

“What were you thinking Edward?” he asked softly as we neared the hospital. I sighed, running my fingers through my hair.

“I guess I really hadn’t been thinking. He was taunting me all day long, Carlisle. I didn’t mean to hurt him, I just wanted to put him in his place.”

Carlisle sighed. He stopped in front of the hospital, turning around and gazing at me for a moment. His thoughts told me he was disappointed in my behavior and I didn’t blame him one bit for it. I messed up.

“How’d you know where I was anyway?” I asked after a moment. Carlisle smiled lightly.

“Alice figured you out.” I nodded, not entirely surprised. Alice was always too perceptive for her own good.

I waited while he slipped inside to gather up supplies. I considered heading home, but Carlisle insisted I go along with him considering I caused the mess in the first place. When he came back out, we headed for the reservation.

We made it there as fast as possible, heading straight to Billy’s. Billy frowned at me, not entirely happy about my presence since I’d hurt his son, but he didn’t object to my being there. He knew his son was irrational and held a grudge against me, so he placed a bit of the blame on Jacob’s shoulders also.

We hung around all night long, Carlisle having to rebreak Jacobs arm several times because he was healing too fast. I thought I’d be happy about Jacob’s suffering but I wasn’t. I frankly felt bad.

The next morning Jacob’s bones were set in the correct shape and we headed back out. Sam and Carlisle came to an agreement that the blame fell upon both sides and decided to let it go with stern words that nothing of the sort was to happen again. I assured them I had no intention of ever coming near Jacob Black again, much less harm him. Jacob said the same, but his thoughts screamed otherwise.

He was still itching to fight me.

We made it back to the house and Carlisle stopped me before I could go inside.

“You know son, for someone so protective over Bella, you sure are reckless with your own life.”

I nodded in understanding, knowing he was right. He clasped me on the shoulder, shaking his head lightly. “I really am sorry Carlisle,” I said/

“Let’s just put it behind us. It’s Christmas and we’ve got a family waiting on us.”

I smiled, nodding. I could hear Bella’s heartbeat shifting, hear her waking up. I zeroed in on the sound and groaned when I realized where Emmett was. I headed inside and pulled my shirt off, not wanting Bella to see it torn up. My chest was already completely healed from his claws, the teeth marks on my arm fading slightly but I imagined it would be a day or so until it left completely.

I headed upstairs, shaking my head as I heard Bella scream.