Stephenie Meyer - Eclipse

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 93 Carlisle had said, “There are seven of us, Bella. And 1 with Alice on our side, I don’t think Victoria’s going to 2 catch us off guard. I think it’s important, for Charlie’s 3 sake, that we stick with the original plan.” 4 5 Esme had said, “We’d never allow anything to happen 6 to you, sweetheart. You know that. Please don’t be anx- 7 ious.” And then she’d kissed my forehead. 8 9 Emmett had said, “I’m really glad Edward didn’t kill 10 you. Everything’s so much more fun with you around.” 11 12 Rosalie had glared at him. 13 Alice had rolled her eyes and said, “I’m offended. 14 You’re not honestly worried about this, are you?” 15 “If it’s no big deal, then why did Edward drag me to 16 Florida?” I’d demanded. 17 “Haven’t you noticed yet, Bella, that Edward is just the 18 teeniest bit prone to overreaction?” 19 Jasper had silently erased all the panic and tension in 20 my body with his curious talent of controlling emotional 21 atmospheres. I’d felt reassured, and let them talk me out 22 of my desperate pleading. 23 Of course, that calm had worn off as soon as Edward 24 and I had walked out of the room. 25 So the consensus was that I was just supposed to forget 26 that a deranged vampire was stalking me, intent on my 27 death. Go about my business. 28 I did try. And surprisingly, there were other things al- 29 sh most as stressful to dwell on besides my status on the en- 30 reg dangered species list. . . . Because Edward’s response had been the most frustrat- ing of them all. 93 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 94 1 “That’s between you and Carlisle,” he’d said. “Of 2 course, you know that I’m willing to make it between you 3 and me at any time that you wish. You know my condi- 4 tion.” And he had smiled angelically. 5 6 Ugh. I did know his condition. Edward had promised 7 that he would change me himself whenever I wanted . . . 8 just as long as I was married to him first. 9 10 Sometimes I wondered if he was only pretending that 11 he couldn’t read my mind. How else had he struck upon 12 the one condition that I would have trouble accepting? 13 The one condition that would slow me down. 14 15 All in all, a very bad week. And today was the worst 16 day in it. 17 18 It was always a bad day when Edward was away. Alice 19 had foreseen nothing out of the ordinary this weekend, 20 and so I’d insisted that he take the opportunity to go 21 hunting with his brothers. I knew how it bored him to 22 hunt the easy, nearby prey. 23 24 “Go have fun,” I’d told him. “Bag a few mountain lions 25 for me.” 26 27 I would never admit to him how hard it was for me 28 when he was gone — how it brought back the abandon- sh 29 ment nightmares. If he knew that, it would make him feel reg 30 horrible and he would be afraid to ever leave me, even for the most necessary reasons. It had been like that in the be- ginning, when he’d first returned from Italy. His golden eyes had turned black and he’d suffered from his thirst more than it was already necessary that he suffer. So I put on a brave face and all but kicked him out the door when- ever Emmett and Jasper wanted to go. 94 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 95 I think he saw through me, though. A little. This 1 morning there had been a note left on my pillow: 2 3 I ’ll be back so soon you won’t have time to miss me. 4 Look after my heart — I ’ve left it with you. 5 6 So now I had a big empty Saturday with nothing but 7 my morning shift at Newton’s Olympic Outfitters to dis- 8 tract me. And, of course, the oh-so-comforting promise 9 from Alice. 10 11 “I’m staying close to home to hunt. I’ll only be fifteen 12 minutes away if you need me. I’ll keep an eye out for 13 trouble.” 14 15 Translation: don’t try anything funny just because Ed- 16 ward is gone. 17 18 Alice was certainly just as capable of crippling my 19 truck as Edward was. 20 21 I tried to look on the bright side. After work, I had 22 plans to help Angela with her announcements, so that 23 would be a distraction. And Charlie was in an excellent 24 mood due to Edward’s absence, so I might as well enjoy 25 that while it lasted. Alice would spend the night with me 26 if I was pathetic enough to ask her to. And then tomorrow, 27 Edward would be home. I would survive. 28 29 sh Not wanting to be ridiculously early for work, I ate my 30 reg breakfast slowly, one Cheerio at a time. Then, when I’d washed the dishes, I arranged the magnets on the fridge into a perfect line. Maybe I was developing obsessive- compulsive disorder. The last two magnets — round black utilitarian pieces 95 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 96 1 that were my favorites because they could hold ten sheets 2 of paper to the fridge without breaking a sweat — did not 3 want to cooperate with my fixation. Their polarities were 4 reversed; every time I tried to line the last one up, the 5 other jumped out of place. 6 7 For some reason — impending mania, perhaps — this 8 really irritated me. Why couldn’t they just play nice? Stu- 9 pid with stubbornness, I kept shoving them together as if 10 I was expecting them to suddenly give up. I could have 11 flipped one over, but that felt like losing. Finally, exasper- 12 ated at myself more than the magnets, I pulled them from 13 the fridge and held them together with two hands. It took 14 a little effort — they were strong enough to put up a 15 fight — but I forced them to coexist side-by-side. 16 17 “See,” I said out loud — talking to inanimate objects, 18 never a good sign — “That’s not so horrible, is it?” 19 20 I stood there like an idiot for a second, not quite able to 21 admit that I wasn’t having any lasting effect against scien- 22 tific principles. Then, with a sigh, I put the magnets back 23 on the fridge, a foot apart. 24 25 “There’s no need to be so inflexible,” I muttered. 26 It was still too early, but I decided I’d better get out 27 of the house before the inanimate objects started talking 28 back. sh 29 When I got to Newton’s, Mike was methodically dry reg 30 mopping the aisles while his mom arranged a new counter display. I caught them in the middle of an argument, un- aware that I had arrived. “But it’s the only time that Tyler can go,” Mike com- plained. “You said after graduation —” 96 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 97 “You’re just going to have to wait,” Mrs. Newton 1 snapped. “You and Tyler can think of something else to 2 do. You are not going to Seattle until the police stop what- 3 ever it is that is going on there. I know Beth Crowley has 4 told Tyler the same thing, so don’t act like I’m the bad 5 guy — oh, good morning, Bella,” she said when she caught 6 sight of me, brightening her tone quickly. “You’re early.” 7 8 Karen Newton was the last person I’d think to ask for 9 help in an outdoor sports equipment store. Her perfectly 10 highlighted blond hair was always smoothed into an ele- 11 gant twist on the back of her neck, her fingernails were 12 polished by professionals, as were her toenails — visible 13 through the strappy high heels that didn’t resemble any- 14 thing Newton’s offered on the long row of hiking boots. 15 16 “Light traffic,” I joked as I grabbed my hideous fluores- 17 cent orange vest out from under the counter. I was sur- 18 prised that Mrs. Newton was as worked up about this 19 Seattle thing as Charlie. I’d thought he was going to ex- 20 tremes. 21 22 “Well, er . . .” Mrs. Newton hesitated for a moment, 23 playing uncomfortably with a stack of flyers she was ar- 24 ranging by the register. 25 26 I stopped with one arm in my vest. I knew that look. 27 When I’d let the Newtons know that I wouldn’t be 28 working here this summer — abandoning them in their 29 sh busiest season, in effect — they’d started training Katie 30 reg Marshall to take my place. They couldn’t really afford both of us on the payroll at the same time, so when it looked like a slow day . . . “I was going to call,” Mrs. Newton continued. “I don’t 97 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 98 1 think we’re expecting a ton of business today. Mike and I 2 can probably handle things. I’m sorry you got up and 3 drove out. . . .” 4 5 On a normal day, I would be ecstatic with this turn of 6 events. Today . . . not so much. 7 8 “Okay,” I sighed. My shoulders slumped. What was I 9 going to do now? 10 11 “That’s not fair, Mom,” Mike said. “If Bella wants to 12 work —” 13 14 “No, it’s okay, Mrs. Newton. Really, Mike. I’ve got fi- 15 nals to study for and stuff. . . .” I didn’t want to be a source 16 of familial discord when they were already arguing. 17 18 “Thanks, Bella. Mike, you missed aisle four. Um, Bella, 19 do you mind throwing these flyers in a Dumpster on the 20 way out? I told the girl who left them here that I’d put 21 them on the counter, but I really don’t have the room.” 22 23 “Sure, no problem.” I put my vest away, and then 24 tucked the flyers under my arm and headed out into the 25 misty rain. 26 27 The Dumpster was around the side of Newton’s, next 28 to where we employees were supposed to park. I shuffled sh 29 along, kicking pebbles petulantly on my way. I was about reg 30 to fling the stack of bright yellow papers into the trash when the heading printed in bold across the top caught my eye. One word in particular seized my attention. I clutched the papers in both hands as I stared at the picture beneath the caption. A lump rose in my throat. SAVE THE OLYMPIC WOLF 98 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 99 Under the words, there was a detailed drawing of a 1 wolf in front of a fir tree, its head thrown back in the act of 2 baying at the moon. It was a disconcerting picture; some- 3 thing about the wolf’s plaintive posture made him look 4 forlorn. Like he was howling in grief. 5 6 And then I was running to my truck, the flyers still 7 locked in my grip. 8 9 Fifteen minutes — that’s all I had. But it should be 10 long enough. It was only fifteen minutes to La Push, and 11 surely I would cross the boundary line a few minutes be- 12 fore I hit the town. 13 14 My truck roared to life without any difficulty. 15 Alice couldn’t have seen me doing this, because I 16 hadn’t been planning it. A snap decision, that was the key! 17 And as long as I moved fast enough, I should be able to 18 capitalize on it. 19 I’d thrown the damp flyers in my haste and they were 20 scattered in a bright mess across the passenger seat — a 21 hundred bolded captions, a hundred dark howling wolves 22 outlined against the yellow background. 23 I barreled down the wet highway, turning the wind- 24 shield wipers on high and ignoring the groan of the an- 25 cient engine. Fifty-five was the most I could coax out of 26 my truck, and I prayed it would be enough. 27 I had no clue where the boundary line was, but I began 28 to feel safer as I passed the first houses outside La Push. 29 sh This must be beyond where Alice was allowed to follow. 30 reg I’d call her when I got to Angela’s this afternoon, I rea- soned, so that she’d know I was fine. There was no reason 99 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 100 1 for her to get worked up. She didn’t need to be mad at 2 me — Edward would be angry enough for two when he 3 got back. 4 5 My truck was positively wheezing by the time it grated 6 to a stop in front of the familiar faded red house. The lump 7 came back to my throat as I stared at the little place that 8 had once been my refuge. It had been so long since I’d 9 been here. 10 11 Before I could cut the engine, Jacob was standing in 12 the door, his face blank with shock. 13 14 In the sudden silence when the truck-roar died, I heard 15 him gasp. 16 17 “Bella?” 18 “Hey, Jake!” 19 “Bella!” he yelled back, and the smile I’d been waiting 20 for stretched across his face like the sun breaking free of 21 the clouds. His teeth gleamed bright against his russet 22 skin. “I can’t believe it!” 23 He ran to the truck and half-yanked me through the 24 open door, and then we were both jumping up and down 25 like kids. 26 “How did you get here?” 27 “I snuck out!” 28 “Awesome!” sh 29 “Hey, Bella!” Billy had rolled himself into the doorway reg 30 to see what all the commotion was about. “Hey, Bil —!” Just then my air choked off — Jacob grabbed me up in a bear hug too tight to breathe and swung me around in a circle. 100 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 101 “Wow, it’s good to see you here!” 1 “Can’t . . . breathe,” I gasped. 2 He laughed and put me down. 3 “Welcome back, Bella,” he said, grinning. And the way 4 he said the words made it sound like welcome home. 5 6 We started walking, too keyed up to sit still in the house. 7 Jacob was practically bouncing as he moved, and I had to 8 remind him a few times that my legs weren’t ten feet long. 9 10 As we walked, I felt myself settling into another ver- 11 sion of myself, the self I had been with Jacob. A little 12 younger, a little less responsible. Someone who might, on 13 occasion, do something really stupid for no good reason. 14 15 Our exuberance lasted through the first few topics of 16 conversation: how we were doing, what we were up to, how 17 long I had, and what had brought me here. When I hesi- 18 tantly told him about the wolf flyer, his bellowing laugh 19 echoed back from the trees. 20 21 But then, as we ambled past the back of the store and 22 shoved through the thick scrub that ringed the far edge of 23 First Beach, we got to the hard parts. All too soon we had 24 to talk about the reasons behind our long separation, and 25 I watched as the face of my friend hardened into the bitter 26 mask that was already too familiar. 27 28 “So what’s the story, anyway?” Jacob asked me, kicking 29 sh a piece of driftwood out of his way with too much force. It 30 reg sailed over the sand and then clattered against the rocks. “I mean, since the last time we . . . well, before, you know . . .” He struggled for the words. He took a deep breath and tried again. “What I’m asking is . . . everything 101 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 102 1 is just back to the way it was before he left? You forgave 2 him for all of that?” 3 4 I took a deep breath. “There was nothing to forgive.” 5 I wanted to skip past this part, the betrayals, the accu- 6 sations, but I knew that we had to talk it through before 7 we’d be able to move on to anything else. 8 Jacob’s face puckered up like he’d just licked a lemon. 9 “I wish Sam had taken a picture when he found you that 10 night last September. It would be exhibit A.” 11 “Nobody’s on trial.” 12 “Maybe somebody should be.” 13 “Not even you would blame him for leaving, if you 14 knew the reason why.” 15 He glared at me for a few seconds. “Okay,” he chal- 16 lenged acidly. “Amaze me.” 17 His hostility was wearing on me — chafing against the 18 raw; it hurt to have him angry with me. It reminded me of 19 the bleak afternoon, long ago, when — under orders from 20 Sam — he’d told me we couldn’t be friends. I took a sec- 21 ond to compose myself. 22 “Edward left me last fall because he didn’t think I 23 should be hanging out with vampires. He thought it 24 would be healthier for me if he left.” 25 Jacob did a double take. He had to scramble for a 26 minute. Whatever he’d been planning to say, it clearly no 27 longer applied. I was glad he didn’t know the catalyst be- 28 hind Edward’s decision. I could only imagine what he’d sh 29 think if he knew Jasper had tried to kill me. reg 30 “He came back, though, didn’t he?” Jacob muttered. “Too bad he can’t stick to a decision.” 102 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 103 “If you remember, I went and got him.” 1 Jacob stared at me for a moment, and then he backed 2 off. His face relaxed, and his voice was calmer when he 3 spoke. 4 “That’s true. So I never did get the story. What hap- 5 pened?” 6 I hesitated, biting my lip. 7 “Is it a secret?” His voice took on a taunting edge. “Are 8 you not allowed to tell me?” 9 “No,” I snapped. “It’s just a really long story.” 10 Jacob smiled, arrogant, and turned to walk up the 11 beach, expecting me to follow. 12 It was no fun being with Jacob if he was going to act 13 like this. I trailed behind him automatically, not sure if I 14 shouldn’t turn around and leave. I was going to have to 15 face Alice, though, when I got home. . . . I supposed I 16 wasn’t in any rush. 17 Jacob walked to a huge, familiar piece of driftwood — 18 an entire tree, roots and all, bleached white and beached 19 deep in the sand; it was our tree, in a way. 20 Jacob sat down on the natural bench, and patted the 21 space next to him. 22 “I don’t mind long stories. Is there any action?” 23 I rolled my eyes as I sat next to him. “There’s some ac- 24 tion,” I allowed. 25 “It wouldn’t be real horror without action.” 26 “Horror!” I scoffed. “Can you listen, or will you be in- 27 terrupting me with rude comments about my friends?” 28 He pretended to lock his lips and then threw the invis- 29 sh ible key over his shoulder. I tried not to smile, and failed. 30 reg 103 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 104 1 “I’ll have to start with the stuff you were already there 2 for,” I decided, working to organize the stories in my head 3 before I began. 4 5 Jacob raised his hand. 6 “Go ahead.” 7 “That’s good,” he said. “I didn’t understand much that 8 was going on at the time.” 9 “Yeah, well, it gets complicated, so pay attention. You 10 know how Alice sees things?” 11 I took his scowl — the wolves weren’t thrilled that the 12 legends of vampires possessing supernatural gifts were 13 true — for a yes, and proceeded with the account of my 14 race through Italy to rescue Edward. 15 I kept it as succinct as possible — leaving out anything 16 that wasn’t essential. I tried to read Jacob’s reactions, but 17 his face was enigmatic as I explained how Alice had seen 18 Edward plan to kill himself when he’d heard that I 19 was dead. Sometimes Jacob seemed so deep in thought, I 20 wasn’t sure if he was listening. He only interrupted one 21 time. 22 “The fortune-telling bloodsucker can’t see us?” he 23 echoed, his face both fierce and gleeful. “Seriously? That’s 24 excellent!” 25 I clenched my teeth together, and we sat in silence, his 26 face expectant as he waited for me to continue. I glared at 27 him until he realized his mistake. 28 “Oops!” he said. “Sorry.” He locked his lips again. sh 29 His response was easier to read when I got to the part reg 30 about the Volturi. His teeth clenched together, goose bumps rose on his arms, and his nostrils flared. I didn’t go 104 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 105 into specifics, I just told him that Edward had talked us 1 out of trouble, without revealing the promise we’d had to 2 make, or the visit we were anticipating. Jacob didn’t need 3 to have my nightmares. 4 5 “Now you know the whole story,” I concluded. “So it’s 6 your turn to talk. What happened while I was with my 7 mom this weekend?” I knew Jacob would give me more 8 details than Edward had. He wasn’t afraid of scaring me. 9 10 Jacob leaned forward, instantly animated. “So Embry 11 and Quil and I were running patrol on Saturday night, 12 just routine stuff, when out of nowhere — bam!” He 13 threw his arms out, impersonating an explosion. “There it 14 is — a fresh trail, not fifteen minutes old. Sam wanted us 15 to wait for him, but I didn’t know you were gone, and I 16 didn’t know if your bloodsuckers were keeping an eye on 17 you or not. So we took off after her at full speed, but she’d 18 crossed the treaty line before we caught up. We spread out 19 along the line, hoping she’d cross back over. It was frus- 20 trating, let me tell you.” He wagged his head and his 21 hair — growing out from the short crop he’d adopted 22 when he’d joined the pack — flopped into his eyes. “We 23 ended up too far south. The Cullens chased her back to our 24 side just a few miles north of us. Would have been the per- 25 fect ambush if we’d known where to wait.” 26 27 He shook his head, grimacing now. “That’s when it got 28 dicey. Sam and the others caught up to her before we did, 29 sh but she was dancing right along the line, and the whole 30 reg coven was right there on the other side. The big one, what’s-his-name —” “Emmett.” 105 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 106 1 “Yeah, him. He made a lunge for her, but that redhead 2 is fast! He flew right behind her and almost rammed into 3 Paul. So, Paul . . . well, you know Paul.” 4 5 “Yeah.” 6 “Lost his focus. Can’t say that I blame him — the big 7 bloodsucker was right on top of him. He sprang — hey, 8 don’t give me that look. The vampire was on our land.” 9 I tried to compose my face so that he would go on. My 10 nails were digging into my palms with the stress of the 11 story, even though I knew it had turned out fine. 12 “Anyway, Paul missed, and the big one got back on his 13 side. But by then the, er, well the, uh, blonde . . .” Jacob’s 14 expression was a comical mix of disgust and unwilling ad- 15 miration as he tried to come up with a word to describe 16 Edward’s sister. 17 “Rosalie.” 18 “Whatever. She got real territorial, so Sam and I fell 19 back to get Paul’s flanks. Then their leader and the other 20 blond male —” 21 “Carlisle and Jasper.” 22 He gave me an exasperated look. “You know I don’t 23 really care. Anyway, so Carlisle spoke to Sam, trying to 24 calm things down. Then it was weird, because everyone 25 got really calm really fast. It was that other one you told 26 me about, messing with our heads. But even though we 27 knew what he was doing, we couldn’t not be calm.” 28 “Yeah, I know how it feels.” sh 29 “Really annoying, that’s how it feels. Only you can’t be reg 30 annoyed until afterwards.” He shook his head angrily. “So Sam and the head vamp agreed that Victoria was the pri- 106 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 107 ority, and we started after her again. Carlisle gave us the 1 line, so that we could follow the scent properly, but then 2 she hit the cliffs just north of Makah country, right where 3 the line hugs the coast for a few miles. She took off into 4 the water again. The big one and the calm one wanted per- 5 mission to cross the line to go after her, but of course we 6 said no.” 7 8 “Good. I mean, you were being stupid, but I’m glad. 9 Emmett’s never cautious enough. He could have gotten 10 hurt.” 11 12 Jacob snorted. “So did your vampire tell you we at- 13 tacked for no reason and his totally innocent coven —” 14 15 “No,” I interrupted. “Edward told me the same story, 16 just without quite as many details.” 17 18 “Huh,” Jacob said under his breath, and he bent over to 19 pick up a rock from among the millions of pebbles at our 20 feet. With a casual flick, he sent it flying a good hundred 21 meters out into the bay. “Well, she’ll be back, I guess. 22 We’ll get another shot at her.” 23 24 I shuddered; of course she would be back. Would Ed- 25 ward really tell me next time? I wasn’t sure. I’d have to 26 keep an eye on Alice, to look for the signs that the pattern 27 was about to repeat. . . . 28 29 sh Jacob didn’t seem to notice my reaction. He was star- 30 reg ing across the waves with a thoughtful expression on his face, his broad lips pursed. “What are you thinking about?” I asked after a long, quiet time. “I’m thinking about what you told me. About when the fortune-teller saw you cliff jumping and thought you’d 107 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 108 1 committed suicide, and how it all got out of control. . . . 2 Do you realize that if you had just waited for me like you 3 were supposed to, then the bl — Alice wouldn’t have been 4 able to see you jump? Nothing would have changed. We’d 5 probably be in my garage right now, like any other Satur- 6 day. There wouldn’t be any vampires in Forks, and you and 7 me . . .” He trailed off, deep in thought. 8 9 It was disconcerting the way he said this, like it would 10 be a good thing to have no vampires in Forks. My heart 11 thumped unevenly at the emptiness of the picture he 12 painted. 13 14 “Edward would have come back anyway.” 15 “Are you sure about that?” he asked, belligerent again 16 as soon as I spoke Edward’s name. 17 “Being apart . . . It didn’t work out so well for either 18 of us.” 19 He started to say something, something angry from his 20 expression, but he stopped himself, took a breath, and be- 21 gan again. 22 “Did you know Sam is mad at you?” 23 “Me?” It took me a second. “Oh. I see. He thinks they 24 would have stayed away if I wasn’t here.” 25 “No. That’s not it.” 26 “What’s his problem then?” 27 Jacob leaned down to scoop up another rock. He turned 28 it over and over in his fingers; his eyes were riveted on the sh 29 black stone while he spoke in a low voice. reg 30 “When Sam saw . . . how you were in the beginning, when Billy told them how Charlie worried when you didn’t 108 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 109 get better, and then when you started jumping off 1 cliffs . . .” 2 3 I made a face. No one was ever going to let me forget 4 that. 5 6 Jacob’s eyes flashed up to mine. “He thought you were 7 the one person in the world with as much reason to hate 8 the Cullens as he does. Sam feels sort of . . . betrayed that 9 you would just let them back into your life like they never 10 hurt you.” 11 12 I didn’t believe for a second that Sam was the only one 13 who felt that way. And the acid in my voice now was for 14 both of them. 15 16 “You can tell Sam to go right to —” 17 “Look at that,” Jacob interrupted me, pointing to an 18 eagle in the act of plummeting down toward the ocean 19 from an incredible height. It checked itself at the last 20 minute, only its talons breaking the surface of the waves, 21 just for an instant. Then it flapped away, its wings strain- 22 ing against the load of the huge fish it had snagged. 23 “You see it everywhere,” Jacob said, his voice suddenly 24 distant. “Nature taking its course — hunter and prey, the 25 endless cycle of life and death.” 26 I didn’t understand the point of the nature lecture; I 27 guessed that he was just trying to change the subject. But 28 then he looked down at me with dark humor in his eyes. 29 sh “And yet, you don’t see the fish trying to plant a kiss on 30 reg the eagle. You never see that.” He grinned a mocking grin. I grinned back tightly, though the acid taste was still in my mouth. “Maybe the fish was trying,” I suggested. 109 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 110 1 “It’s hard to tell what a fish is thinking. Eagles are good- 2 looking birds, you know.” 3 4 “Is that what it comes down to?” His voice was 5 abruptly sharper. “Good looks?” 6 7 “Don’t be stupid, Jacob.” 8 “Is it the money, then?” he persisted. 9 “That’s nice,” I muttered, getting up from the tree. 10 “I’m flattered that you think so much of me.” I turned my 11 back on him and paced away. 12 “Aw, don’t get mad.” He was right behind me; he 13 caught my wrist and spun me around. “I’m serious! I’m 14 trying to understand here, and I’m coming up blank.” 15 His eyebrows pushed together angrily, and his eyes 16 were black in their deep shadow. 17 “I love him. Not because he’s beautiful or because he’s 18 rich!” I spat the word at Jacob. “I’d much rather he weren’t 19 either one. It would even out the gap between us just a lit- 20 tle bit — because he’d still be the most loving and un- 21 selfish and brilliant and decent person I’ve ever met. Of 22 course I love him. How hard is that to understand?” 23 “It’s impossible to understand.” 24 “Please enlighten me, then, Jacob.” I let the sarcasm 25 flow thick. “What is a valid reason for someone to love 26 someone else? Since apparently I’m doing it wrong.” 27 “I think the best place to start would be to look within 28 your own species. That usually works.” sh 29 “Well, that just sucks!” I snapped. “I guess I’m stuck reg 30 with Mike Newton after all.” Jacob flinched back and bit his lip. I could see that my words had hurt him, but I was too mad to feel bad about 110 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 111 that yet. He dropped my wrist and folded his arms across 1 his chest, turning from me to glare toward the ocean. 2 3 “I’m human,” he muttered, his voice almost inaudible. 4 “You’re not as human as Mike,” I continued ruthlessly. 5 “Do you still think that’s the most important consider- 6 ation?” 7 “It’s not the same thing.” Jacob didn’t look away from 8 the gray waves. “I didn’t choose this.” 9 I laughed once in disbelief. “Do you think Edward did? 10 He didn’t know what was happening to him any more 11 than you did. He didn’t exactly sign up for this.” 12 Jacob was shaking his head back and forth with a small, 13 quick movement. 14 “You know, Jacob, you’re awfully self-righteous — 15 considering that you’re a werewolf and all.” 16 “It’s not the same,” Jacob repeated, glowering at me. 17 “I don’t see why not. You could be a bit more under- 18 standing about the Cullens. You have no idea how truly 19 good they are — to the core, Jacob.” 20 He frowned more deeply. “They shouldn’t exist. Their 21 existence goes against nature.” 22 I stared at him for a long moment with one eyebrow 23 raised incredulously. It was a while before he noticed. 24 “What?” 25 “Speaking of unnatural . . . ,” I hinted. 26 “Bella,” he said, his voice slow and different. Aged. I 27 realized that he sounded suddenly older than me — like a 28 parent or a teacher. “What I am was born in me. It’s a part 29 sh of who I am, who my family is, who we all are as a tribe — 30 reg it’s the reason why we’re still here. 111 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 112 1 “Besides that” — he looked down at me, his black eyes 2 unreadable — “I am still human.” 3 4 He picked up my hand and pressed it to his fever-warm 5 chest. Through his t-shirt, I could feel the steady beating 6 of his heart under my palm. 7 8 “Normal humans can’t throw motorcycles around the 9 way you can.” 10 11 He smiled a faint, half-smile. “Normal humans run 12 away from monsters, Bella. And I never claimed to be nor- 13 mal. Just human.” 14 15 Staying angry with Jacob was too much work. I started 16 to smile as I pulled my hand away from his chest. 17 18 “You look plenty human to me,” I allowed. “At the 19 moment.” 20 21 “I feel human.” He stared past me, his face far away. 22 His lower lip trembled, and he bit down on it hard. 23 24 “Oh, Jake,” I whispered, reaching for his hand. 25 This was why I was here. This was why I would take 26 whatever reception waited for me when I got back. Be- 27 cause, underneath all the anger and the sarcasm, Jacob was 28 in pain. Right now, it was very clear in his eyes. I didn’t sh 29 know how to help him, but I knew I had to try. It was reg 30 more than that I owed him. It was because his pain hurt me, too. Jacob had become a part of me, and there was no changing that now. 112 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 113 5. IMPRINT 1 2 “Are you okay, Jake? Charlie said you were having 3 a hard time. . . . Isn’t it getting any better?” 4 5 His warm hand curled around mine. “’S not so bad,” he 6 said, but he wouldn’t meet my eyes. 7 8 He walked slowly back to the driftwood bench, staring 9 at the rainbow-colored pebbles, and pulling me along at 10 his side. I sat back down on our tree, but he sat on the wet, 11 rocky ground rather than next to me. I wondered if it was 12 so that he could hide his face more easily. He kept my 13 hand. 14 15 I started babbling to fill the silence. “It’s been so long 16 since I was here. I’ve probably missed a ton of things. How 17 are Sam and Emily? And Embry? Did Quil —?” 18 19 113 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 sh 30 reg 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 114 1 I broke off mid-sentence, remembering that Jacob’s 2 friend Quil had been a sensitive subject. 3 4 “Ah, Quil,” Jacob sighed. 5 So then it must have happened — Quil must have 6 joined the pack. 7 “I’m sorry,” I mumbled. 8 To my surprise, Jacob snorted. “Don’t say that to him.” 9 “What do you mean?” 10 “Quil’s not looking for pity. Just the opposite — he’s 11 jazzed. Totally thrilled.” 12 This made no sense to me. All the other wolves had 13 been so depressed at the idea of their friend sharing their 14 fate. “Huh?” 15 Jacob tilted his head back to look at me. He smiled and 16 rolled his eyes. 17 “Quil thinks it’s the coolest thing that’s ever happened 18 to him. Part of it is finally knowing what’s going on. And 19 he’s excited to have his friends back — to be part of the ‘in 20 crowd.’” Jacob snorted again. “Shouldn’t be surprised, I 21 guess. It’s so Quil.” 22 “He likes it?” 23 “Honestly . . . most of them do,” Jacob admitted 24 slowly. “There are definitely good sides to this — the 25 speed, the freedom, the strength . . . the sense of — of 26 family. . . . Sam and I are the only ones who ever felt really 27 bitter. And Sam got past that a long time ago. So I’m the 28 crybaby now.” Jacob laughed at himself. sh 29 There were so many things I wanted to know. “Why reg 30 are you and Sam different? What happened to Sam 114 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 115 anyway? What’s his problem?” The questions tumbled 1 out without room to answer them, and Jacob laughed 2 again. 3 4 “That’s a long story.” 5 “I told you a long story. Besides, I’m not in any hurry 6 to get back,” I said, and then I grimaced as I thought of 7 the trouble I would be in. 8 He looked up at me swiftly, hearing the double edge in 9 my words. “Will he be mad at you?” 10 “Yes,” I admitted. “He really hates it when I do things 11 he considers . . . risky.” 12 “Like hanging out with werewolves.” 13 “Yeah.” 14 Jacob shrugged. “So don’t go back. I’ll sleep on the 15 couch.” 16 “That’s a great idea,” I grumbled. “Because then he 17 would come looking for me.” 18 Jacob stiffened, and then smiled bleakly. “Would he?” 19 “If he was afraid I was hurt or something — probably.” 20 “My idea’s sounding better all the time.” 21 “Please, Jake. That really bugs me.” 22 “What does?” 23 “That you two are so ready to kill each other!” I com- 24 plained. “It makes me crazy. Why can’t you both just be 25 civilized?” 26 “Is he ready to kill me?” Jacob asked with a grim smile, 27 unconcerned by my anger. 28 “Not like you seem to be!” I realized I was yelling. “At 29 sh least he can be a grown-up about this. He knows that 30 reg 115 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 116 1 hurting you would hurt me — and so he never would. 2 You don’t seem to care about that at all!” 3 4 “Yeah, right,” Jacob muttered. “I’m sure he’s quite the 5 pacifist.” 6 7 “Ugh!” I ripped my hand out of his and shoved his 8 head away. Then I pulled my knees up to my chest and 9 wrapped my arms tightly around them. 10 11 I glared out toward the horizon, fuming. 12 Jacob was quiet for a few minutes. Finally, he got up off 13 the ground and sat beside me, putting his arm around my 14 shoulders. I shook it off. 15 “Sorry,” he said quietly. “I’ll try to behave myself.” 16 I didn’t answer. 17 “Do you still want to hear about Sam?” he offered. 18 I shrugged. 19 “Like I said, it’s a long story. And very . . . strange. 20 There’re so many strange things about this new life. I 21 haven’t had time to tell you the half of it. And this thing 22 with Sam — well, I don’t know if I’ll even be able to ex- 23 plain it right.” 24 His words pricked my curiosity in spite of my irritation. 25 “I’m listening,” I said stiffly. 26 Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the side of his face 27 pull up in a smile. 28 “Sam had it so much harder than the rest of us. Because sh 29 he was the first, and he was alone, and he didn’t have any- reg 30 one to tell him what was happening. Sam’s grandfather died before he was born, and his father has never been around. There was no one there to recognize the signs. The first time it happened — the first time he phased — he 116 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 117 thought he’d gone insane. It took him two weeks to calm 1 down enough to change back. 2 3 “This was before you came to Forks, so you wouldn’t 4 remember. Sam’s mother and Leah Clearwater had the for- 5 est rangers searching for him, the police. People thought 6 there had been an accident or something. . . .” 7 8 “Leah?” I asked, surprised. Leah was Harry’s daughter. 9 Hearing her name sent an automatic surge of pity through 10 me. Harry Clearwater, Charlie’s life-long friend, had died 11 of a heart attack this past spring. 12 13 His voice changed, became heavier. “Yeah. Leah and 14 Sam were high school sweethearts. They started dating 15 when she was just a freshman. She was frantic when he dis- 16 appeared.” 17 18 “But he and Emily —” 19 “I’ll get to that — it’s part of the story,” he said. He in- 20 haled slowly, and then exhaled in a gust. 21 I supposed it was silly for me to imagine that Sam had 22 never loved anyone before Emily. Most people fall in and 23 out of love many times in their lives. It was just that I’d 24 seen Sam with Emily, and I couldn’t imagine him with 25 someone else. The way he looked at her . . . well, it re- 26 minded me of a look I’d seen sometimes in Edward’s 27 eyes — when he was looking at me. 28 “Sam came back,” Jacob said, “but he wouldn’t talk to 29 sh anyone about where he’d been. Rumors flew — that he 30 reg was up to no good, mostly. And then Sam happened to run in to Quil’s grandfather one afternoon when Old Quil Ateara came to visit Mrs. Uley. Sam shook his hand. Old Quil just about had a stroke.” Jacob paused to laugh. 117 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 118 1 “Why?” 2 Jacob put his hand on my cheek and pulled my face 3 around to look at him — he was leaning toward me, his 4 face was just a few inches away. His palm burned my skin, 5 like he had a fever. 6 “Oh, right,” I said. It was uncomfortable, having my 7 face so close to his with his hand hot against my skin. 8 “Sam was running a temperature.” 9 Jacob laughed again. “Sam’s hand felt like he’d left it 10 sitting on a hot stovetop.” 11 He was so close, I could feel his warm breath. I reached 12 up casually, to take his hand away and free my face, but 13 wound my fingers through his so that I wouldn’t hurt his 14 feelings. He smiled and leaned back, undeceived by my at- 15 tempt at nonchalance. 16 “So Mr. Ateara went straight to the other elders,” Jacob 17 went on. “They were the only ones left who still knew, 18 who remembered. Mr. Ateara, Billy, and Harry had actu- 19 ally seen their grandfathers make the change. When Old 20 Quil told them, they met with Sam secretly and explained. 21 “It was easier when he understood — when he wasn’t 22 alone anymore. They knew he wouldn’t be the only one af- 23 fected by the Cullens’ return” — he pronounced the name 24 with unconscious bitterness — “but no one else was old 25 enough. So Sam waited for the rest of us to join him. . . .” 26 “The Cullens had no idea,” I said in a whisper. “They 27 didn’t think that werewolves still existed here. They didn’t 28 know that coming here would change you.” sh 29 “It doesn’t change the fact that it did.” reg 30 “Remind me not to get on your bad side.” 118 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 119 “You think I should be as forgiving as you are? We 1 can’t all be saints and martyrs.” 2 3 “Grow up, Jacob.” 4 “I wish I could,” he murmured quietly. 5 I stared at him, trying to make sense of his response. 6 “What?” 7 Jacob chuckled. “One of those many strange things I 8 mentioned.” 9 “You . . . can’t . . . grow up?” I said blankly. “You’re 10 what? Not . . . aging? Is that a joke?” 11 “Nope.” He popped his lips on the P. 12 I felt blood flood my face. Tears — tears of rage — 13 filled my eyes. My teeth mashed together with an audible 14 grinding sound. 15 “Bella? What did I say?” 16 I was on my feet again, my hands balled up into fists, 17 my whole frame shaking. 18 “You. Are. Not. Aging,” I growled through my teeth. 19 Jacob tugged my arm gently, trying to make me sit. 20 “None of us are. What’s wrong with you?” 21 “Am I the only one who has to get old? I get older every 22 stinking day!” I nearly shrieked, throwing my hands in 23 the air. Some little part of me recognized that I was throw- 24 ing a Charlie-esque fit, but that rational part was greatly 25 overshadowed by the irrational part. “Damn it! What kind 26 of world is this? Where’s the justice?” 27 “Take it easy, Bella.” 28 “Shut up, Jacob. Just shut up! This is so unfair!” 29 sh “Did you seriously just stamp your foot? I thought 30 reg girls only did that on TV.” 119 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 120 1 I growled unimpressively. 2 “It’s not as bad as you seem to think it is. Sit down and 3 I’ll explain.” 4 “I’ll stand.” 5 He rolled his eyes. “Okay. Whatever you want. But lis- 6 ten, I will get older . . . someday.” 7 “Explain.” 8 He patted the tree. I glowered for a second, but then 9 sat; my temper had burned out as suddenly as it had flared 10 and I’d calmed down enough to realize that I was making 11 a fool of myself. 12 “When we get enough control to quit . . . ,” Jacob said. 13 “When we stop phasing for a solid length of time, we age 14 again. It’s not easy.” He shook his head, abruptly doubtful. 15 “It’s gonna take a really long time to learn that kind of 16 restraint, I think. Even Sam’s not there yet. ’Course it 17 doesn’t help that there’s a huge coven of vampires right 18 down the road. We can’t even think about quitting when 19 the tribe needs protectors. But you shouldn’t get all bent 20 out of shape about it, anyway, because I’m already older 21 than you, physically at least.” 22 “What are you talking about?” 23 “Look at me, Bells. Do I look sixteen?” 24 I glanced up and down his mammoth frame, trying to 25 be unbiased. “Not exactly, I guess.” 26 “Not at all. Because we reach full growth inside of a 27 few months when the werewolf gene gets triggered. It’s 28 one hell of a growth spurt.” He made a face. “Physically, sh 29 I’m probably twenty-five or something. So there’s no need reg 30 120 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 121 for you to freak out about being too old for me for at least 1 another seven years.” 2 3 Twenty-five or something. The idea messed with my head. 4 But I remembered that growth spurt — I remembered 5 watching him shoot up and fill out right before my eyes. I 6 remembered how he would look different from one day to 7 the next. . . . I shook my head, feeling dizzy. 8 9 “So, did you want to hear about Sam, or did you want 10 to scream at me some more for things that are out of my 11 control?” 12 13 I took a deep breath. “Sorry. Age is a touchy subject for 14 me. That hit a nerve.” 15 16 Jacob’s eyes tightened, and he looked as if he were try- 17 ing to decide how to word something. 18 19 Since I didn’t want to talk about the truly touchy 20 stuff — my plans for the future, or treaties that might be 21 broken by said plans, I prompted him. “So once Sam un- 22 derstood what was going on, once he had Billy and Harry 23 and Mr. Ateara, you said it wasn’t so hard anymore. And, 24 like you also said, there are the cool parts. . . .” I hesitated 25 briefly. “Why does Sam hate them so much? Why does he 26 wish I would hate them?” 27 28 Jacob sighed. “This is the really weird part.” 29 sh “I’m a pro at weird.” 30 reg “Yeah, I know.” He grinned before he continued. “So, you’re right. Sam knew what was going on, and every- thing was almost okay. In most ways, his life was back to, well, not normal. But better.” Then Jacob’s expres- sion tightened, like something painful was coming. “Sam 121 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 122 1 couldn’t tell Leah. We aren’t supposed to tell anyone who 2 doesn’t have to know. And it wasn’t really safe for him to 3 be around her — but he cheated, just like I did with you. 4 Leah was furious that he wouldn’t tell her what was going 5 on — where he’d been, where he went at night, why he 6 was always so exhausted — but they were working it out. 7 They were trying. They really loved each other.” 8 9 “Did she find out? Is that what happened?” 10 He shook his head. “No, that wasn’t the problem. Her 11 cousin, Emily Young, came down from the Makah reserva- 12 tion to visit her one weekend.” 13 I gasped. “Emily is Leah’s cousin?” 14 “Second cousins. They’re close, though. They were like 15 sisters when they were kids.” 16 “That’s . . . horrible. How could Sam . . . ?” I trailed 17 off, shaking my head. 18 “Don’t judge him just yet. Did anyone ever tell you . . . 19 Have you ever heard of imprinting?” 20 “Imprinting?” I repeated the unfamiliar word. “No. 21 What’s that mean?” 22 “It’s one of those bizarre things we have to deal with. It 23 doesn’t happen to everyone. In fact, it’s the rare exception, 24 not the rule. Sam had heard all the stories by then, the sto- 25 ries we all used to think were legends. He’d heard of im- 26 printing, but he never dreamed . . .” 27 “What is it?” I prodded. 28 Jacob’s eyes strayed to the ocean. “Sam did love Leah. sh 29 But when he saw Emily, that didn’t matter anymore. reg 30 Sometimes . . . we don’t exactly know why . . . we find 122 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 123 our mates that way.” His eyes flashed back to me, his face 1 reddening. “I mean . . . our soul mates.” 2 3 “What way? Love at first sight?” I snickered. 4 Jacob wasn’t smiling. His dark eyes were critical of my 5 reaction. “It’s a little bit more powerful than that. More 6 absolute.” 7 “Sorry,” I muttered. “You’re serious, aren’t you?” 8 “Yeah, I am.” 9 “Love at first sight? But more powerful?” My voice still 10 sounded dubious, and he could hear that. 11 “It’s not easy to explain. It doesn’t matter, anyway.” He 12 shrugged indifferently. “You wanted to know what hap- 13 pened to Sam to make him hate the vampires for changing 14 him, to make him hate himself. And that’s what hap- 15 pened. He broke Leah’s heart. He went back on every 16 promise he’d ever made her. Every day he has to see the ac- 17 cusation in her eyes, and know that she’s right.” 18 He stopped talking abruptly, as if he’d said something 19 he hadn’t meant to. 20 “How did Emily deal with this? If she was so close to 21 Leah . . . ?” Sam and Emily were utterly right together, 22 two puzzle pieces, shaped for each other exactly. Still . . . 23 how had Emily gotten past the fact that he’d belonged to 24 someone else? Her sister, almost. 25 “She was real angry, in the beginning. But it’s hard to 26 resist that level of commitment and adoration.” Jacob 27 sighed. “And then, Sam could tell her everything. There 28 are no rules that can bind you when you find your other 29 sh half. You know how she got hurt?” 30 reg 123 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 124 1 “Yeah.” The story in Forks was that she was mauled by 2 a bear, but I was in on the secret. 3 4 Werewolves are unstable, Edward had said. The people near 5 them get hurt. 6 7 “Well, weirdly enough, that was sort of how they re- 8 solved things. Sam was so horrified, so sickened by him- 9 self, so full of hate for what he’d done. . . . He would have 10 thrown himself under a bus if it would have made her feel 11 better. He might have anyway, just to escape what he’d 12 done. He was shattered. . . . Then, somehow, she was the 13 one comforting him, and after that. . . .” 14 15 Jacob didn’t finish his thought, and I sensed the story 16 had gotten too personal to share. 17 18 “Poor Emily,” I whispered. “Poor Sam. Poor Leah. . . .” 19 “Yeah, Leah got the worst end of the stick,” he agreed. 20 “She puts on a brave face. She’s going to be a bridesmaid.” 21 I gazed away, toward the jagged rocks that rose from 22 the ocean like stubby broken-off fingers on the south rim 23 of the harbor, while I tried to make sense of it all. I could 24 feel his eyes on my face, waiting for me to say something. 25 “Did it happen to you?” I finally asked, still looking 26 away. “This love-at-first-sight thing?” 27 “No,” he answered briskly. “Sam and Jared are the only 28 ones.” sh 29 “Hmm,” I said, trying to sound only politely interested. reg 30 I was relieved, and I tried to explain my reaction to myself. I decided I was just glad he didn’t claim there was some mystical, wolfy connection between the two of us. Our re- lationship was confusing enough as it was. I didn’t need any more of the supernatural than I already had to deal with. 124 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 125 He was quiet, too, and the silence felt a little awkward. 1 My intuition told me that I didn’t want to hear what he 2 was thinking. 3 4 “How did that work out for Jared?” I asked to break 5 the silence. 6 7 “No drama there. It was just a girl he’d sat next to in 8 school every day for a year and never looked at twice. And 9 then, after he changed, he saw her again and never looked 10 away. Kim was thrilled. She’d had a huge crush on him. 11 She’d had his last name tacked on to the end of hers all 12 over in her diary.” He laughed mockingly. 13 14 I frowned. “Did Jared tell you that? He shouldn’t 15 have.” 16 17 Jacob bit his lip. “I guess I shouldn’t laugh. It was 18 funny, though.” 19 20 “Some soul mate.” 21 He sighed. “Jared didn’t tell us anything on purpose. I 22 already told you this part, remember?” 23 “Oh, yeah. You can hear each other’s thoughts, but only 24 when you’re wolves, right?” 25 “Right. Just like your bloodsucker.” He glowered. 26 “Edward,” I corrected. 27 “Sure, sure. That’s how come I know so much about 28 how Sam felt. It’s not like he would have told us all that if 29 sh he’d had a choice. Actually, that’s something we all hate.” 30 reg The bitterness was abruptly harsh in his voice. “It’s awful. No privacy, no secrets. Everything you’re ashamed of, laid out for everyone to see.” He shuddered. “It sounds horrible,” I whispered. “It is sometimes helpful when we need to coordinate,” 125 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 126 1 he said grudgingly. “Once in a blue moon, when some 2 bloodsucker crosses into our territory. Laurent was fun. 3 And if the Cullens hadn’t gotten in our way last Satur- 4 day . . . ugh!” he groaned. “We could have had her!” His 5 fists clenched into angry balls. 6 7 I flinched. As much as I worried about Jasper or Em- 8 mett getting hurt, it was nothing like the panic I felt at the 9 idea of Jacob going up against Victoria. Emmett and Jasper 10 were the closest thing to indestructible I could imagine. 11 Jacob was still warm, still comparatively human. Mortal. I 12 thought of Jacob facing Victoria, her brilliant hair blowing 13 around her oddly feline face . . . and shuddered. 14 15 Jacob looked up at me with a curious expression. “But 16 isn’t it like that for you all the time? Having him in your 17 head?” 18 19 “Oh, no. Edward’s never in my head. He only wishes.” 20 Jacob’s expression became confused. 21 “He can’t hear me,” I explained, my voice a tiny bit 22 smug from old habit. “I’m the only one like that, for him. 23 We don’t know why he can’t.” 24 “Weird,” Jacob said. 25 “Yeah.” The smugness faded. “It probably means there’s 26 something wrong with my brain,” I admitted. 27 “I already knew there was something wrong with your 28 brain,” Jacob muttered. sh 29 “Thanks.” reg 30 The sun broke through the clouds suddenly, a sur- prise I hadn’t been expecting, and I had to narrow my eyes against the glare off the water. Everything changed 126 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 127 color — the waves turned from gray to blue, the trees 1 from dull olive to brilliant jade, and the rainbow-hued 2 pebbles glittered like jewels. 3 4 We squinted for a moment, letting our eyes adjust. 5 There were no sounds besides the hollow roar of the waves 6 that echoed from every side of the sheltered harbor, the 7 soft grinding of the stones against each other under the 8 water’s movement, and the cry of gulls high overhead. It 9 was very peaceful. 10 11 Jacob settled closer to me, so that he was leaning 12 against my arm. He was so warm. After a minute of this, I 13 shrugged out of my rain jacket. He made a little sound of 14 contentment in the back of his throat, and rested his cheek 15 on the top of my head. I could feel the sun heat my skin — 16 thought it was not quite as warm as Jacob — and I won- 17 dered idly how long it would take me to burn. 18 19 Absentmindedly, I twisted my right hand to the side, 20 and watched the sunlight glitter subtly off the scar James 21 had left there. 22 23 “What are you thinking about?” he murmured. 24 “The sun.” 25 “Mmm. It’s nice.” 26 “What are you thinking about?” I asked. 27 He chuckled to himself. “I was remembering that mo- 28 ronic movie you took me to. And Mike Newton puking all 29 sh over everything.” 30 reg I laughed, too, surprised by how time had changed the memory. It used to be one of stress, of confusion. So much had changed that night. . . . And now I could laugh. It 127 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 128 1 was the last night Jacob and I had had before he’d learned 2 the truth about his heritage. The last human memory. An 3 oddly pleasant memory now. 4 5 “I miss that,” Jacob said. “The way it used to be so 6 easy . . . uncomplicated. I’m glad I’ve got a good mem- 7 ory.” He sighed. 8 9 He felt the sudden tension in my body as his words 10 triggered a memory of my own. 11 12 “What is it?” he asked. 13 “About that good memory of yours . . .” I pulled away 14 from him so that I could read his face. At the moment, it 15 was confused. “Do you mind telling me what you were do- 16 ing Monday morning? You were thinking something that 17 bothered Edward.” Bothered wasn’t quite the word for it, 18 but I wanted an answer, so I thought it was best not to 19 start out too severely. 20 Jacob’s face brightened with understanding, and he 21 laughed. “I was just thinking about you. Didn’t like that 22 much, did he?” 23 “Me? What about me?” 24 Jacob laughed, with a harder edge this time. “I was re- 25 membering the way you looked that night Sam found 26 you — I’ve seen it in his head, and it’s like I was there; that 27 memory has always haunted Sam, you know. And then I re- 28 membered how you looked the first time you came to my sh 29 place. I bet you don’t even realize what a mess you were reg 30 then, Bella. It was weeks before you started to look human again. And I remembered how you always used to have your arms wrapped around yourself, trying to hold yourself together. . . .” Jacob winced, and then shook his head. “It’s 128 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 129 hard for me to remember how sad you were, and it wasn’t 1 my fault. So I figured it would be harder for him. And I 2 thought he ought to get a look at what he’d done.” 3 4 I smacked his shoulder. It hurt my hand. “Jacob Black, 5 don’t you ever do that again! Promise me you won’t.” 6 7 “No way. I haven’t had that much fun in months.” 8 “So help me, Jake —” 9 “Oh, get a grip, Bella. When am I ever going to see 10 him again? Don’t worry about it.” 11 I got to my feet, and he caught my hand as I started to 12 walk away. I tried to tug free. 13 “I’m leaving, Jacob.” 14 “No, don’t go yet,” he protested, his hand tightening 15 around mine. “I’m sorry. And . . . okay, I won’t do it again. 16 Promise.” 17 I sighed. “Thanks, Jake.” 18 “Come on, we’ll go back to my house,” he said eagerly. 19 “Actually, I think I really do need to go. Angela Weber 20 is expecting me, and I know Alice is worried. I don’t want 21 to upset her too much.” 22 “But you just got here!” 23 “It feels that way,” I agreed. I glared up at the sun, 24 somehow already directly overhead. How had the time 25 passed so quickly? 26 His eyebrows pulled down over his eyes. “I don’t know 27 when I’ll see you again,” he said in a hurt voice. 28 “I’ll come back the next time he’s away,” I promised 29 sh impulsively. 30 reg “Away?” Jacob rolled his eyes. “That’s a nice way to de- scribe what he’s doing. Disgusting parasites.” 129 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 130 1 “If you can’t be nice, I won’t come back at all!” I threat- 2 ened, trying to pull my hand free. He refused to let go. 3 4 “Aw, don’t be mad,” he said, grinning. “Knee-jerk re- 5 action.” 6 7 “If I’m going to try to come back again, you’re going to 8 have to get something straight, okay?” 9 10 He waited. 11 “See,” I explained. “I don’t care who’s a vampire and 12 who’s a werewolf. That’s irrelevant. You are Jacob, and he 13 is Edward, and I am Bella. And nothing else matters.” 14 His eyes narrowed slightly. “But I am a werewolf,” he 15 said unwillingly. “And he is a vampire,” he added with ob- 16 vious revulsion. 17 “And I’m a Virgo!” I shouted, exasperated. 18 He raised his eyebrows, measuring my expression with 19 curious eyes. Finally, he shrugged. 20 “If you can really see it that way . . .” 21 “I can. I do.” 22 “Okay. Just Bella and Jacob. None of those freaky Vir- 23 gos here.” He smiled at me, the warm, familiar smile that 24 I had missed so much. I felt the answering smile spread 25 across my face. 26 “I’ve really missed you, Jake,” I admitted impulsively. 27 “Me, too,” his smile widened. His eyes were happy and 28 clear, free for once of the angry bitterness. “More than you sh 29 know. Will you come back soon?” reg 30 “As soon as I can,” I promised. 130 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 131 6. SWITZERLAND 1 2 As I drove home, I wasn’t paying much attention to 3 the road that shimmered wetly in the sun. I was thinking 4 about the flood of information Jacob had shared with me, 5 trying to sort it out, to force it all to make sense. Despite 6 the overload, I felt lighter. Seeing Jacob smile, having all 7 the secrets thrashed out . . . it didn’t make things perfect, 8 but it made them better. I was right to have gone. Jacob 9 needed me. And obviously, I thought as I squinted into 10 the glare, there was no danger. 11 12 It came out of nowhere. One minute there was nothing 13 but bright highway in my rearview mirror. The next min- 14 ute, the sun was glinting off a silver Volvo right on my tail. 15 16 131 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 sh 30 reg 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 132 1 “Aw, crap,” I whimpered. 2 I considered pulling over. But I was too much of a cow- 3 ard to face him right away. I’d been counting on some prep 4 time . . . and having Charlie nearby as a buffer. At least 5 that would force him to keep his voice down. 6 The Volvo followed inches behind me. I kept my eyes 7 on the road ahead. 8 Chicken through and through, I drove straight to An- 9 gela’s without once meeting the gaze I could feel burning 10 a hole in my mirror. 11 He followed me until I pulled to the curb in front of 12 the Webers’ house. He didn’t stop, and I didn’t look up as 13 he passed. I didn’t want to see the expression on his face. I 14 ran up the short concrete walk to Angela’s door as soon as 15 he was out of sight. 16 Ben answered the door before I could finish knocking, 17 like he’d been standing right behind it. 18 “Hey, Bella!” he said, surprised. 19 “Hi, Ben. Er, is Angela here?” I wondered if Angela 20 had forgotten our plans, and cringed at the thought of go- 21 ing home early. 22 “Sure,” Ben said just as Angela called, “Bella!” and ap- 23 peared at the top of the stairs. 24 Ben peered around me as we both heard the sound of a 25 car on the road; the sound didn’t scare me — this engine 26 stuttered to a stop, followed by the loud pop of a backfire. 27 Nothing like the purr of the Volvo. This must be the vis- 28 itor Ben had been waiting for. sh 29 “Austin’s here,” Ben said as Angela reached his side. reg 30 A horn honked on the street. 132 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 133 “I’ll see you later,” Ben promised. “Miss you already.” 1 He threw his arm around Angela’s neck and pulled her 2 face down to his height so that he could kiss her enthusi- 3 astically. After a second of this, Austin honked again. 4 “’Bye, Ang! Love you!” Ben shouted as he dashed 5 past me. 6 Angela swayed, her face slightly pink, then recovered 7 herself and waved until Ben and Austin were out of sight. 8 Then she turned to me and grinned ruefully. 9 “Thank you for doing this, Bella,” she said. “From the 10 bottom of my heart. Not only are you saving my hands 11 from permanent injury, you also just spared me two long 12 hours of a plot-less, badly dubbed martial arts film.” She 13 sighed in relief. 14 “Happy to be of service.” I was feeling a bit less pan- 15 icked, able to breathe a little more evenly. It felt so or- 16 dinary here. Angela’s easy human dramas were oddly 17 reassuring. It was nice to know that life was normal some- 18 where. 19 I followed Angela up the stairs to her room. She kicked 20 toys out of the way as she went. The house was unusually 21 quiet. 22 “Where’s your family?” 23 “My parents took the twins to a birthday party in Port 24 Angeles. I can’t believe you’re really going to help me 25 with this. Ben’s pretending he has tendonitis.” She made a 26 face. 27 “I don’t mind at all,” I said, and then I walked into An- 28 gela’s room and saw the stacks of waiting envelopes. 29 sh “Oh!” I gasped. Angela turned to look at me, apologies 30 reg 133 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 134 1 in her eyes. I could see why she’d been putting this off, 2 and why Ben had weaseled out. 3 4 “I thought you were exaggerating,” I admitted. 5 “I wish. Are you sure you want to do this?” 6 “Put me to work. I’ve got all day.” 7 Angela divided a pile in half and put her mother’s ad- 8 dress book between us on her desk. For a while we concen- 9 trated, and there was just the sound of our pens scratching 10 quietly across the paper. 11 “What’s Edward doing tonight?” she asked after a few 12 minutes. 13 My pen dug into the envelope I was working on. “Em- 14 met’s home for the weekend. They’re supposed to be hiking.” 15 “You say that like you’re not sure.” 16 I shrugged. 17 “You’re lucky Edward has his brothers for all the hik- 18 ing and camping. I don’t know what I’d do if Ben didn’t 19 have Austin for the guy stuff.” 20 “Yeah, the outdoors thing is not really for me. And 21 there’s no way I’d ever be able to keep up.” 22 Angela laughed. “I prefer the indoors myself.” 23 She focused on her pile for a minute. I wrote out four 24 more addresses. There was never any pressure to fill a pause 25 with meaningless chatter around Angela. Like Charlie, she 26 was comfortable with silence. 27 But, like Charlie, she was also too observant sometimes. 28 “Is something wrong?” she asked in a low voice now. sh 29 “You seem . . . anxious.” reg 30 I smiled sheepishly. “Is it that obvious?” “Not really.” 134 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 135 She was probably lying to make me feel better. 1 “You don’t have to talk about it unless you want to,” 2 she assured me. “I’ll listen if you think it will help.” 3 I was about to say thanks, but no thanks. After all, there 4 were just too many secrets I was bound to keep. I really 5 couldn’t discuss my problems with someone human. That 6 was against the rules. 7 And yet, with a strange, sudden intensity, that’s exactly 8 what I wanted. I wanted to talk to a normal human girl- 9 friend. I wanted to moan a little bit, like any other teenage 10 girl. I wanted my problems to be that simple. It would 11 also be nice to have someone outside the whole vampire- 12 werewolf mess to put things in perspective. Someone un- 13 biased. 14 “I’ll mind my own business,” Angela promised, smil- 15 ing down at the address she was working on. 16 “No,” I said. “You’re right. I am anxious. It’s . . . it’s 17 Edward.” 18 “What’s wrong?” 19 It was so easy to talk to Angela. When she asked a 20 question like that, I could tell that she wasn’t just mor- 21 bidly curious or looking for gossip, like Jessica would have 22 been. She cared that I was upset. 23 “Oh, he’s mad at me.” 24 “That’s hard to imagine,” she said. “What’s he mad 25 about?” 26 I sighed. “Do you remember Jacob Black?” 27 “Ah,” she said. 28 “Yeah.” 29 sh “He’s jealous.” 30 reg 135 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 136 1 “No, not jealous . . .” I should have kept my mouth 2 shut. There was no way to explain this right. But I wanted 3 to keep talking anyway. I hadn’t realized I was so starved 4 for human conversation. “Edward thinks Jacob is . . . a 5 bad influence, I guess. Sort of . . . dangerous. You know 6 how much trouble I got in a few months back. . . . It’s all 7 ridiculous, though.” 8 9 I was surprised to see Angela shaking her head. 10 “What?” I asked. 11 “Bella, I’ve seen how Jacob Black looks at you. I’d bet 12 the real problem is jealousy.” 13 “It’s not like that with Jacob.” 14 “For you, maybe. But for Jacob . . .” 15 I frowned. “Jacob knows how I feel. I’ve told him every- 16 thing.” 17 “Edward’s only human, Bella. He’s going to react like 18 any other boy.” 19 I grimaced. I didn’t have a response to that. 20 She patted my hand. “He’ll get over it.” 21 “I hope so. Jake’s going through kind of a tough time. 22 He needs me.” 23 “You and Jacob are pretty close, aren’t you?” 24 “Like family,” I agreed. 25 “And Edward doesn’t like him. . . . That must be hard. 26 I wonder how Ben would handle that?” she mused. 27 I half-smiled. “Probably just like any other boy.” 28 She grinned. “Probably.” sh 29 Then she changed the subject. Angela wasn’t one to reg 30 pry, and she seemed to sense I wouldn’t — couldn’t — say any more. 136 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 137 “I got my dorm assignment yesterday. The farthest 1 building from campus, naturally.” 2 3 “Does Ben know where he’s staying yet?” 4 “The closest dorm to campus. He’s got all the luck. 5 How about you? Did you decide where you’re going?” 6 I stared down, concentrating on the clumsy scrawl of 7 my handwriting. For a second I was distracted by the 8 thought of Angela and Ben at the University of Washing- 9 ton. They would be off to Seattle in just a few months. 10 Would it be safe then? Would the wild young vampire 11 menace have moved elsewhere? Would there be a new 12 place by then, some other city flinching from horror- 13 movie headlines? 14 Would those new headlines be my fault? 15 I tried to shake it off and answered her question a beat 16 late. “Alaska, I think. The university there in Juneau.” 17 I could hear the surprise in her voice. “Alaska? Oh. 18 Really? I mean, that’s great. I just figured you’d go some- 19 where . . . warmer.” 20 I laughed a little, still staring at the envelope. “Yeah. 21 Forks has really changed my perspective on life.” 22 “And Edward?” 23 Though his name set butterflies fluttering in my stom- 24 ach, I looked up and grinned at her. “Alaska’s not too cold 25 for Edward, either.” 26 She grinned back. “Of course not.” And then she 27 sighed. “It’s so far. You won’t be able to come home very 28 often. I’ll miss you. Will you e-mail me?” 29 sh A swell of quiet sadness crashed over me; maybe it was 30 reg a mistake to get closer to Angela now. But wouldn’t it be 137 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 138 1 sadder still to miss out on these last chances? I shook off the 2 unhappy thoughts, so that I could answer her teasingly. 3 4 “If I can type again after this.” I nodded toward the 5 stack of envelopes I’d done. 6 7 We laughed, and it was easy then to chat cheerfully 8 about classes and majors while we finished the rest — all I 9 had to do was not think about it. Anyway, there were more 10 urgent things to worry about today. 11 12 I helped her put the stamps on, too. I was afraid to leave. 13 “How’s your hand?” she asked. 14 I flexed my fingers. “I think I’ll recover the full use of 15 it . . . someday.” 16 The door banged downstairs, and we both looked up. 17 “Ang?” Ben called. 18 I tried to smile, but my lips trembled. “I guess that’s 19 my cue to leave.” 20 “You don’t have to go. Though he’s probably going to 21 describe the movie for me . . . in detail.” 22 “Charlie will be wondering where I am anyway.” 23 “Thanks for helping me.” 24 “I had a good time, actually. We should do something 25 like this again. It was nice to have some girl time.” 26 “Definitely.” 27 There was a light knock on the bedroom door. 28 “Come in, Ben,” Angela said. sh 29 I got up and stretched. reg 30 “Hey, Bella! You survived,” Ben greeted me quickly before going to take my place by Angela. He eyed our work. “Nice job. Too bad there’s nothing left to do, I 138 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 139 would have . . .” He let the thought trail off, and then 1 restarted excitedly. “Ang, I can’t believe you missed this 2 one! It was awesome. There was this final fight sequence — 3 the choreography was unbelievable! This one guy — well, 4 you’re going to have to see it to know what I’m talking 5 about —” 6 7 Angela rolled her eyes at me. 8 “See you at school,” I said with a nervous laugh. 9 She sighed. “See you.” 10 I was jumpy on the way out to my truck, but the street 11 was empty. I spent the whole drive glancing anxiously in 12 all my mirrors, but there was never any sign of the silver car. 13 His car was not in front of the house, either, though 14 that meant little. 15 “Bella?” Charlie called when I opened the front door. 16 “Hey, Dad.” 17 I found him in the living room, in front of the TV. 18 “So, how was your day?” 19 “Good,” I said. Might as well tell him everything — 20 he’d hear it from Billy soon enough. Besides, it would 21 make him happy. “They didn’t need me at work, so I went 22 down to La Push.” 23 There wasn’t enough surprise in his face. Billy had al- 24 ready talked to him. 25 “How’s Jacob?” Charlie asked, attempting to sound in- 26 different. 27 “Good,” I said, just as casual. 28 “You get over to the Webers’?” 29 sh “Yep. We got all her announcements addressed.” 30 reg 139 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 140 1 “That’s nice.” Charlie smiled a wide smile. He was 2 strangely focused, considering that there was a game on. 3 “I’m glad you spent some time with your friends today.” 4 5 “Me, too.” 6 I ambled toward the kitchen, looking for busy work. 7 Unfortunately, Charlie had already cleaned up his lunch. I 8 stood there for a few minutes, staring at the bright patch 9 of light the sun made on the floor. But I knew I couldn’t 10 delay this forever. 11 “I’m going to go study,” I announced glumly as I 12 headed up the stairs. 13 “See you later,” Charlie called after me. 14 If I survive, I thought to myself. 15 I shut my bedroom door carefully before I turned to 16 face my room. 17 Of course he was there. He stood against the wall across 18 from me, in the shadow beside the open window. His face 19 was hard and his posture tense. He glared at me word- 20 lessly. 21 I cringed, waiting for the torrent, but it didn’t come. 22 He just continued to glare, possibly too angry to speak. 23 “Hi,” I finally said. 24 His face could have been carved from stone. I counted 25 to a hundred in my head, but there was no change. 26 “Er . . . so, I’m still alive,” I began. 27 A growl rumbled low in his chest, but his expression 28 didn’t change. sh 29 “No harm done,” I insisted with a shrug. reg 30 He moved. His eyes closed, and he pinched the bridge of his nose between the fingers of his right hand. 140 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 141 “Bella,” he whispered. “Do you have any idea how close 1 I came to crossing the line today? To breaking the treaty 2 and coming after you? Do you know what that would have 3 meant?” 4 5 I gasped and his eyes opened. They were as cold and 6 hard as night. 7 8 “You can’t!” I said too loudly. I worked to modulate the 9 volume of my voice so Charlie wouldn’t hear, but I wanted 10 to shout the words. “Edward, they’d use any excuse for a 11 fight. They’d love that. You can’t ever break the rules!” 12 13 “Maybe they aren’t the only ones who would enjoy a 14 fight.” 15 16 “Don’t you start,” I snapped. “You made the treaty — 17 you stick to it.” 18 19 “If he’d hurt you —” 20 “Enough!” I cut him off. “There’s nothing to worry 21 about. Jacob isn’t dangerous.” 22 “Bella.” He rolled his eyes. “You aren’t exactly the best 23 judge of what is or isn’t dangerous.” 24 “I know I don’t have to worry about Jake. And neither 25 do you.” 26 He ground his teeth together. His hands were balled 27 up in fists at his sides. He was still standing against the 28 wall, and I hated the space between us. 29 sh I took a deep breath, and crossed the room. He didn’t 30 reg move when I wrapped my arms around him. Next to the warmth of the last of the afternoon sun streaming through the window, his skin felt especially icy. He seemed like ice, too, frozen the way he was. “I’m sorry I made you anxious,” I muttered. 141 3rd Pass Pages

Eclipse_HCtext3p.qxp 5/4/07 3:03 PM Page 142 1 He sighed, and relaxed a little. His arms wound around 2 my waist. 3 4 “Anxious is a bit of an understatement,” he murmured. 5 “It was a very long day.” 6 7 “You weren’t supposed to know about it,” I reminded 8 him. “I thought you’d be hunting longer.” 9 10 I looked up at his face, at his defensive eyes; I hadn’t 11 noticed in the stress of the moment, but they were too 12 dark. The rings under them were deep purple. I frowned 13 in disapproval. 14 15 “When Alice saw you disappear, I came back,” he ex- 16 plained. 17 18 “You shouldn’t have done that. Now you’ll have to go 19 away again.” My frown intensified. 20 21 “I can wait.” 22 “That’s ridiculous. I mean, I know she couldn’t see me 23 with Jacob, but you should have known —” 24 “But I didn’t,” he broke in. “And you can’t expect me 25 to let you —” 26 “Oh, yes, I can,” I interrupted him. “That’s exactly 27 what I expect —” 28 “This won’t happen again.” sh 29 “That’s right! Because you’re not going to overreact reg 30 next time.” “Because there isn’t going to be a next time.” “I understand when you have to leave, even if I don’t like it —” “That’s not the same. I’m not risking my life.” “Neither am I.” “Werewolves constitute a risk.” 142 3rd Pass Pages