The Forever Promise

Chapter 7: No Greater Love

Song: Trapt- Headstrong

My body filled with fury as I watched the Volturi process into the clearing. Who did they think they were, royalty? I don’t care if they were the leaders of the vampire world. They obviously didn’t do a very good job if there were crazies making newborns that kill large groups of people, if people made immortal children, and if vampires drank human blood at all!

I heard whispers around me as the Cullen’s friends spoke to each other. They were murmuring about the witnesses that the Volturi brought, as well as the fact that the wives of two of the head bloodsuckers came. Evidently, this was not something that usually happened. Great. Not that I relished in decimating anyone’s wife…but if it came down to one of them or Nessie, I knew what would happen. My body rippled in anger, but her tiny hand in my fur calmed me. Had it not been for the love she was pouring into me with her tiny hand, I would have already launched myself across the field to rip all of their heads off.

Easy, Jake, I heard Sam say in my head. We’ll get our turn.

My ears perked up as I felt the tension running off of Bella who was standing next to me. Nessie took her mother’s hand and put it in between my ears, holding Bella there. I saw Edward nodding his head quickly, knowing that he was answering Nessie’s wordless pleas.

I felt her warm hand again. Stay with me, Jake. I’m scared, she showed me.

I moved my ears up and down, nodding yes to her. I heard her giggle, and Bella shushed her.

Once the procession ended, we just stood there and waited.

Join us, brothers and sister, I called to the wolves. I heard their hearts and the movement of their paws as they moved out of the forest. What a sight it was to see, and their procession made me proud! To think that a few months ago, the treaty was almost upended, and now we were standing once again, ready to fight and die for the protection of our people and our friends.

Don’t get all emotional now, oh Mighty Chief Jacob, Leah harassed me. Save it for kicking leech tail, okay?

I barked a low bark, warning my brothers and sister to be watchful as I heard a fierce, low growl. It was Bella, her anger finally breaking through. It was a wonderful sound, and I knew that Edward would be as proud of her as I was.

We waited more. Carlisle asked Edward what was going on, and Sam and I listened closely, in order to fill our packs in on any information they needed. I’m getting bored, Leah huffed. Can we attack them now? Other wolves hissed their willingness, including Seth who looked fiercer than I had ever seen.

I saw Edward slowly shake his head no. He instructed Carlisle to say some words because it was the only chance he’d get to do so. The evil leeches had come to divide and conquer. They hadn’t planned on such an army amassed to help the Cullens, so they were biding their time. Aro and Caius were plotting and planning. Marcus, the other head vamp, looked as if he were on Cloud 9, not even caring to be here. While Carlisle spoke, I became more and more angry. The slimeballs kept insisting that Renesmee had been made, that she was one of the immortal children that were so hated by these creatures. Why wouldn’t they listen to Carlisle?

Aro was at least feigning that he was reasonable. Caius was a vamp possessed and wanted the Cullens and their friends destroyed. I didn’t need Edward’s mind-reading powers to figure that out. I had my eyes on the Volturi and was listening to Renesmee’s breathing. In. Out. In. Out. Hearing that calmed me.

I focused again to find Caius and Aro interrogating the vamp that saw Nessie and me hunting in the forest many moons ago. I had wanted to hurt her for so long, but now all I felt was sorrow for her. There was no way she was coming out of this alive. I doubted the Volturi tolerated liars or those that made them look like fools, albeit unintentionally. I felt worse for the Denali coven because I actually liked them a little bit, especially Eleazar and Carmen. Carmen sang to Nessie and made her happy. Anyone who made Ness happy was okay in my book!

Irina was trying to explain that perhaps she made a mistake, but Caius wouldn’t have it. I growled lowly, just enough to make Sam whisper, Calm down, Jake, in his thoughts when I heard her talking about Nessie and how she had grown. That nasty vamp didn’t even care! He just wanted to hurt Ness, and I wasn’t going to have that. I felt tiny fingers press against my back and saw the words, Don’t you dare move, Jakey, flash through my head. I sat down on my back legs in time to hear Edward being called to Aro. I could feel the tension running off of Bella and Ness and heard a cry of pain, Esme, as she worried for her son.

Want me to come with you? I asked him. He shook his head no and continued walking. I heard Bella laugh as she watched him. She was making me nervous; I hope that she wasn’t going to flip her crap on us all. That would be a bad thing. I stared at her, but I knew she’d never do anything to hurt Renesmee.

After some of Aro’s grand-standing, I heard the words that I was the most afraid to hear.

“May I meet her?” I heard Aro ask Edward. My head whipped to the side as everyone’s eyes froze on Renesmee, now cradled in Bella’s arms. Nessie’s arm flew out from her new position to grab whatever part of me she could reach. She grabbed a tuft of hair on my chest.

I want to talk to him. I want to tell him all about us, she pleaded with me.

“We will meet in the middle,” Aro declared as the vamp mafia moved in behind him. He held up a hand to tell them to stand down. At least he was trying to be peaceful about all of this. Part of me started to wonder if Aro were interested in what a being like Nessie could mean for the vampires. I just hoped that they wouldn’t start mating with humans all over the world and having hybrids. What Edward and Bella had before her change was something special that I doubt happened with many other vampires and humans. The humans all ended up drained and thrown away. This thought scared me. But, I had to refocus as I saw Aro summon two of the biggest vampires I had ever seen. One was the size of Emmett. I looked over to see Em crack his knuckles. I could tell he was getting bored and wanted some action to happen. He had utter confidence in the fact that we, the vamps and wolves together, would win this. I had to admire him.

“Bella, bring Renesmee…and a few friends,” Edward called out.

I sat up tall and looked at Bella, pleading with her to allow me to go with them. I couldn’t live one second knowing that Aro was going to want to touch my Ness and I wasn’t with her. She called to Emmett and me, and I was thankful for that. We walked with Bella and Ness, flanking them on either side. I could see Emmett grinning like the Cheshire Cat, nervous energy radiating out of him. He was itching to take one swipe at someone. I had to suppress a laugh, thinking that Emmett and Paul could probably do a lot of damage to Demetri and Felix if they had a go. I thought back to almost 2 years ago when they practically attacked each other over the treaty line when Victoria was on the loose.

I think we’d all agree that taking on Victoria and the newborns was actually fun compared to this Volturi crap.

The whole time we were standing in front of Aro and his minions, my mind was completely focused on Nessie. I could tell she was listening intently to whatever Aro was saying, planning in her head what she would show him in order to keep us all safe. Nessie was used to getting what she wanted from everyone. I wonder if Aro would be just as smitten as we all were by Renesmee?

Aro surprised us all when he announced that Bella and Edward were Renesmee’s biological parents and that this development was just another added bonus to vampire history. Aro was amazed that the seemingly unchanging nature of vampire males could produce such a beautiful creature. He rambled on and on. I think he liked to hear himself talk; sadly, no one else did. His brother Caius interjected randomly, arguing over some point or another, hoping just to kill us all and get over it. All of this waiting was getting to be too much.

I was so busy looking at her, thinking about how much I loved her and wanted to make her safe that I almost missed her reaching her hand out to the decrepit Aro. I lowered my head and allowed a low growl to roll from my chest, causing a jumble of thoughts from my fellow wolves to seep in. They were all growling lowly also, not liking one bit that Ness was touching Aro. He seemed fascinated at whatever Ness showed him and promised not to hurt the ones she loved.

What a freakin’ LIAR. And that sentiment was confirmed by little Maggie who had the power to sense lies. I knew we all liked her for a reason.

I began to tune him out until I heard Edward respond, “It doesn’t work that way.”

I turned my head to look at Edward, but I felt Aro’s red eyes staring at me. I locked eyes with him, and his gaze turned to one of longing. I almost gagged until I saw his eyes sweep across the line of my wolf brothers and sister behind me. He wanted us.

“They don’t belong to us. They’re here because they want to be,” Edward instructed.

I whined at Edward, wondering what he was seeing in Aro’s thoughts. Frankly, any thoughts that dirty old vamp had scared me to bits, and I wasn’t scared of much.

“Guard dogs,” was what I heard come out of Edward’s mouth, almost a whisper. We all heard it, though, through my mind and Sam’s. The gnashing of teeth and thick, ferocious growls echoed through the night sky as the wolves prepared themselves.

“So much to discuss,” Aro reminded everyone as he brought us all back to the issue at hand. Taking on the wolves as guard dogs was an errant thought. I bared my teeth at the evil vampires until I felt a tiny hand tug on my tail. It was time to move away from the middle and to go back to our side as Ness pulled me with all the force she could muster. I had to admit that my tail was a bit sore!

We waited more.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

We heard the Volturi whispering back and forth, obviously deliberating something. Caius hissed, Aro explained, and Marcus…didn’t care.

Once again, Aro admitted what everyone on our side had been saying all along, that Ness was a real child with vampire as well as human attributes. He positively beamed with pride at the idea that those like him could also possible produce a child, a hybrid of human and vampire. I had to throw my head back in glee when I noticed the completely frightened look on Caius’ face as he scanned the crowd of Cullen witnesses and the wolves, knowing full well that we were ready for anything. As I regained my composure, I felt something, a strange bubble of light all around me. It was peaceful and, well, good. I still felt Ness’ small hand running through my thick fur, so I turned around to catch a quick glimpse. I saw Bella clutching Nessie while focusing her attention. The bubble I felt was part of her freaky power that she had been working on over the past month or so. She had been so worried about not being able to help. I guess we’d see what she could do with this thing now. I looked down the line at the other wolves to see them bathed in a similar light. I could hear from their thoughts that they all felt it, and I made sure to let Sam and my pack know that what they were feeling was Bella. They all relaxed and waited once more.

This time, Aro and Caius began arguing about something that definitely perked the wolves’ interest. They were fighting about us, comparing us to the Children of the Moon. My dad and Old Quil had talked about them a bit at tribal meetings before, but they made sure to tell us that we were not anything like them. Now I understood why Caius was so afraid of us; he had encounters all across Europe with werewolves who were made while we were born. This whole situation was confusing for me, too, but I never really thought about it before. Edward tried to explain to Caius, since Caius was trying to implicate the Cullens with another false accusation, and I listened intently. When Edward exclaimed that we weren’t even real werewolves but were shapeshifters who chose to shift into wolf form, I just shrugged my shoulders at Bella. I realized that it didn’t matter what we were called; we had a gift passed down from generation to generation. Our job was to protect our people and those who fought for the same protection and goodness around us. I couldn’t wait to get back to the rez to talk to Dad and Old Quil to see what they had to say.

Back to the rez…as that thought echoed through the minds of my friends, a sense of longing filled the atmosphere. Home. We all wanted to go home, but I knew that I had no home anymore without Nessie. She was my heart, and I had to protect her.

More waiting. The battle of the century was turning into more of a battle of wits. As Caius called for Irina again and interrogated her more about her actions, I kept wondering how on earth he was going to find the excuse to kill us and the Cullens. I soon got my answer.

In a puff of smoke and ashes, Irina was gone, and Kate and Tanya sprang into action. Their fury from the loss of their sister permeated the air and reminded us once more why we were here. Caius had hoped that the killing of Irina would cause mass chaos and give them an easier in to wear us down. Fat chance of that happening…we’re too smart! Once the girls were calmed down, our group began to whisper amongst itself, waiting (more and more waiting!) for the next disaster.

Even Aro’s witnesses became restless, causing more tension for the Big 3. Aro wanted to speak to some of the Cullen’s witnesses. I told Sam and my pack to relax but remain alert. Sam conveyed that to the other wolves as we sat back onto our legs, ears perked and teeth bared.

Witnesses came forward and attested that Nessie was most certainly growing and that she was intelligent and not dangerous. Aro tried to put words in the vamps’ mouths with his suggestions, but they all stood their ground. Some of them were allowed to flee once they witnessed. Speeches were made, loyalties were upheld, and Aro turned to “counsel” as he called it with his brothers.

Something just didn’t feel right. During all of this, I kept glancing at Bella, strong and powerful as she was, and saw more than just a marked look of concentration on her face from keeping the shield in place. She was sad. I stayed focused on her as she looked at Renesmee and began speaking softly to her with a tremble in her voice.

“Remember what I told you?” she asked her daughter.

Nessie nodded, and I wanted to cry at the look on her face as the tears came pouring down her sweet face. Mother and daughter spoke words of love to each other and turned to share that love with me. I whined, wanting to be in on the secret.

“Wait until they’re totally distracted and run with her,” Bella instructed me. I knew she was still talking, but I couldn’t hear anything else. My dream, it was coming true. She was telling us we had no hope, that I had to save Ness. I couldn’t move, my terror and despair washing over me. I blinked frantically in confusion before hearing Edward’s voice through my fog.

“This is what you kept from me?” Edward whispered painfully.

“From Aro,” Bella whimpered.

“Alice…” Edward trailed off as Bella nodded. I had never felt more indebted to Shorty. Wherever she was and whatever she was doing, she gave Bella the means to save Renesmee. I would find her someday and thank her. Once Ness was safe.

But wait…how could I leave Bella here? How could I take Nessie away from Edward and Bella, knowing that they might not be here when we returned? Could I leave my father? My pack? Our home? All of these thoughts bombarded me, and I was overwhelmed. Leah and Seth were in my head now, as were Quil and Embry.

We’ve got your back, Jake. You make her safe, they all chanted.

I growled quietly and kicked the dirt under me, preparing to run. Edward put Nessie on my shoulders, kissing her as if he’d never see her again.

I can’t watch, I heard Seth whine, and I saw him turn away from the scene in front of him. The other wolves lowered their heads as I nodded my silent goodbye to them all. I turned my head to Bella, my best friend in the entire world, and took a deep breath. This was going to suck.

“You are the only one we could ever trust her with,” she said slowly, trying to keep her composure. “You’ll always be my best man.” She looked at the ground, tearlessly weeping. I had watched this woman cry tears over me for the past 2 years…I thought it was all over, but the Volturi had to come and ruin it all. I couldn’t handle all of this anymore and began to cry the tears that she couldn’t as she put her head on my shoulder, arm around Renesmee at the same time. Edward put his head alongside hers and joined our sobbing.

“Goodbye, Jacob. My brother…my son,” he whispered to me.

It was just too much. The shock of this day, the feelings from the initial imprint, all of the animosity between Edward and me all this time just faded away with those words. At the risk of feeling girly, I wished that I could hug him, tell him that everything would be okay somehow. That I could protect her forever and keep her safe. I could give her a good life and would try as hard as I could to give her anything she wanted, to make her happy. That I would love her forever, more than MY own life, just as he and Bella loved her.

“I know you will, Jake…we know,” he answered my thoughts.

I clicked back into reality as we stood in the middle of our group of friends, suddenly cognizant that something was happening here. We were saying goodbye, goodbye to life as we knew it before today, before The Volturi. Esme touched each of her children, as well as myself and Ness, as she made her way over to Carlisle, both of them looking more somber than ever. Emmett kissed Rosalie quickly as they made their way closer to us. Rose reached out to pull on my ear and caught her breath as she caressed Nessie’s cheek. Emmett blew a kiss to Nessie, which she caught and put into her pocket. Rose whirled around and buried her face into Emmett’s shirt, Esme reaching around to rub Rose’s back. It was a good thing Jasper wasn’t here because the poor guy would have combusted from all of this emotional overload by now.

I inched back to the edge of the crowd, hoping to get a head start once I got the go-ahead. Bella began making us all aware that the attack was beginning since she could feel the powers of the guards moving against her shield. I watched in amazement as my best friend pushed back the evil powers of that sadistic witch Jane and her warlock of a brother. I smiled as Jane became frustrated and bared her teeth at us. No one was backing down. Bella started to give instructions on what to do if violence began. The good vamps were staking their claims, vowing to destroy the guards who hurt their families and friends most directly. To be honest, I’d have loved to be a part of that, but I had precious cargo on my back and couldn’t be bothered with it. I’d leave the leftovers for my wolves since I’m sure that once the Cullens were done with them all, there would be nothing but scraps!

Aro spoke again and declared it was time for the Big 3 to vote. We all knew what Caius’ vote would be, the creepoid. Marcus’ surprised everyone, when he said that he saw no threat to the vampire world where Nessie was concerned. I felt a rush of affection for him in that moment…until I remembered who he was and went right back to despising him again.

Aro got what he wanted…to be the tie-breaker. This losebag really relished in this, being the center of attention, the one whose decisions mattered most. It was honestly pathetic. I couldn’t wait to hear what he had to say.

Before he could open his mouth, Edward hissed, “Yes!” almost inaudibly. My head whipped around, wondering what he was excited about, until I heard footsteps. A bunch of them. My eyes were peeled over my shoulder, around Nessie’s small body. And then, I saw her. She was smiling, and I knew that she had come through. She hadn’t left to save herself; she had left to save Nessie. Edward nodded once more as he heard my thoughts. We were going to win this yet.