o Jacob. 

"Nope." 

"Three hundred miles?" Edward asked. "That's impressive." 

Jacob was the good guy again. "That's the farthest we've ever gone to experiment," he told 
me. "Still clear as a bell." 

I nodded absently; I was reeling from the idea that little Seth Clearwater was already a 
werewolf, too, and that made it difficult to concentrate. I could see his bright smile, so much 
like a younger Jacob, in my head; he couldn't be more than fifteen, if he was that. His 
enthusiasm at the council meeting bonfire suddenly took on new meaning. . . . 

"It's a good idea." Edward seemed reluctant to admit this. "I'll feel better with Seth there, 
even without the instantaneous communication. I don't know if I'd be able to leave Bella 
there alone. To think it's come to this, though! Trusting werewolves!" 

"Fightingwith vampires instead of against them!" Jacob mirrored Edward's tone of disgust. 

"Well, you still get to fight against some of them," Edward said. 

Jacob smiled. "That's the reason we're here." 

 

19. SELFISH 

EDWARD CARRIED ME HOME IN HIS ARMS, EXPECTINGthat I wouldn't be able to 
hang on. I must have fallen asleep on the way. 

When I woke up, I was in my bed and the dull light coming through my windows slanted in 
from a strange angle. Almost like it was afternoon. 

I yawned and stretched, my fingers searching for him and coming up empty. 

"Edward?" I mumbled. 

My seeking fingers encountered something cool and smooth. His hand. 

"Are you really awake this time?" he murmured. 

"Mmm," I sighed in assent. "Have there been a lot of false alarms?" 

"You've been very restless - talking all day." 

"Allday ?" I blinked and looked at the windows again. 

"You had a long night," he said reassuringly. "You'd earned a day in bed." 

I sat up, and my head spun. The lightwas coming in my window from the west. "Wow." 

"Hungry?" he guessed. "Do you want breakfast in bed?" 

"I'll get it," I groaned, stretching again. "I need to get up and move around." 

He held my hand on the way to the kitchen, eyeing me carefully, like I might fall over. Or 
maybe he thought I was sleepwalking. 

I kept it simple, throwing a couple of Pop-Tarts in the toaster. I caught a glimpse of myself in 
the reflective chrome. 

"Ugh, I'm a mess." 

"It was a long night," he said again. "You should have stayed here and slept." 

"Right! And missedeverything . You know, you need to start accepting the fact that I'm part 
of the family now." 

He smiled. "I could probably get used to that idea." 

I sat down with my breakfast, and he sat next to me. When I lifted the Pop-Tart to take the 
first bite, I noticed him staring at my hand. I looked down, and saw that I was still wearing 
the gift that Jacob had given me at the party. 

 

"May I?" he asked, reaching for the tiny wooden wolf. 

I swallowed noisily. "Um, sure." 

He moved his hand under the charm bracelet and balanced the little figurine in his snowy 
palm. For a fleeting moment, I was afraid. Just the slightest twist of his fingers could crush it 
into splinters. 

But of course Edward wouldn't do that. I was embarrassed I'd even had the thought. He only 
weighed the wolf in his palm for a moment, and then let it fall. It swung lightly from my 
wrist. 

I tried to read the expression in his eyes. All I could see was thoughtfulness; he kept 
everything else hidden, if therewas anything else. 

"Jacob Black can give you presents." 

It wasn't a question, or an accusation. Just a statement of fact. But I knew he was referring 
to my last birthday and the fit I'd thrown over gifts; I hadn't wanted any. Especially not from 
Edward. It wasn't entirely logical, and, of course, everyone had ignored me anyway. . . . 

"You've given me presents," I reminded him. "You know I like the homemade kind." 

He pursed his lips for a second. "How about hand-me-downs? Are those acceptable?" 

"What do you mean?" 

"This bracelet." His finger traced a circle around my wrist. "You'll be wearing this a lot?" 

I shrugged. 

"Because you wouldn't want to hurt his feelings," he suggested shrewdly. 

"Sure, I guess so." 

"Don't you think it's fair, then," he asked, looking down at my hand as he spoke. He turned it 
palm up, and ran his finger along the veins in my wrist. "If I have a little representation?" 

"Representation?" 

"A charm - something to keepme on your mind." 

"You're in every thought I have. I don't need reminders." 

"If I gave you something, would you wear it?" he pressed. 

"A hand-me-down?" I checked. 

 

"Yes, something I've had for a while." He smiled his angel's smile. 

If this was the only reaction to Jacob's gift, I would take it gladly. "Whatever makes you 
happy." 

"Have you noticed the inequality?" he asked, and his voice turned accusing. "Because I 
certainly have." 

"What inequality?" 

His eyes narrowed. "Everyone else is able to get away with giving you things. Everyone but 
me. I would have loved to get you a graduation present, but I didn't. I knew it would have 
upset you more than if anyone else did. That's utterly unfair. How do you explain yourself?" 

"Easy." I shrugged. "You're more important than everyone else. And you've given meyou . 
That's already more than I deserve, and anything else you give me just throws us more out of 
balance." 

He processed that for a moment, and then rolled his eyes. "The way you regard me is 
ludicrous." 

I chewed my breakfast calmly. I knew he wouldn't listen if I told him that he had that 
backward. 

Edward's phone buzzed. 

He looked at the number before he opened it. "What is it, Alice?" 

He listened, and I waited for his reaction, suddenly nervous. But whatever she said didn't 
surprise him. He sighed a few times. 

"I sort of guessed as much," he told her, staring into my eyes, a disapproving arch to his 
brow. "She was talking in her sleep." 

I flushed. What had I said now? 

"I'll take care of it," he promised. 

He glared at me as he shut his phone. "Is there something you'd like to talk to me about?" 

I deliberated for a moment. Given Alice's warning last night, I could guess why she'd called. 
And then remembering the troubled dreams I'd had as I'd slept through the day - dreams 
where I chased after Jasper, trying to follow him and find the clearing in the maze-like 
woods, knowing I would find Edward there . . . Edward, and the monsters who wanted to 
kill me, but not caring about them because I'd already made my decision - I could also guess 
what Edward had overheard while I'd slept. 

 

I pursed my lips for a moment, not quite able to meet his gaze. He waited. 

"I like Jasper's idea," I finally said. 

He groaned. 

"I want to help. I have to dosomething, " I insisted. 

"It wouldn't help to have you in danger." 

"Jasper thinks it would. This ishis area of expertise." 

Edward glowered at me. 

"You can't keep me away," I threatened. "I'm not going to hide out in the forest while you all 
take risks for me." 

Suddenly, he was fighting a smile. "Alice doesn't see youin the clearing, Bella. She sees you 
stumbling around lost in the woods. You won't be able to find us; you'll just make it more 
time consuming for me to find you afterward." 

I tried to keep as cool as he was. "That's because Alice didn't factor in Seth Clearwater," I 
said politely. "If she had, of course, she wouldn't have been able to see anything at all. But it 
sounds like Seth wants to be there as much as I do. It shouldn't be too hard to persuade him 
to show me the way." 

Anger flickered across his face, and then he took a deep breath and composed himself. "That 
might have worked . . . if you hadn't told me. Now I'll just ask Sam to give Seth certain 
orders. Much as he might want to, Seth won't be able to ignore that kind of injunction." 

I kept my smile pleasant. "But why would Sam give those orders? If I tell him how it would 
help for me to be there? I'll bet Sam would rather do me a favor than you." 

He had to compose himself again. "Maybe you're right. But I'm sure Jacob would be only too 
eager to give those same orders." 

I frowned. "Jacob?" 

"Jacob is second in command. Did he never tell you that? His orders have to be followed, 
too." 

He had me, and by his smile, he knew it. My forehead crumpled. Jacob would be on his side - 
in this one instance - I was sure. And Jacob neverhad told me that. 

Edward took advantage of the fact that I was momentarily stumped, continuing in a 
suspiciously smooth and soothing voice. 

"I got a fascinating look into the pack's mind last night. It was better than a soap opera. I had 

 

no idea how complex the dynamic is with such a large pack. The pull of the individual 
against the plural psyche . . . Absolutely fascinating." 

He was obviously trying to distract me. I glared at him. 

"Jacob's been keeping a lot of secrets," he said with a grin. 

I didn't answer, I just kept glaring, holding on to my argument and waiting for an opening. 

"For instance, did you note the smaller gray wolf there last night?" 

I nodded one stiff nod. 

He chuckled. "They take all of their legends so seriously. It turns out there are things that 
none of their stories prepared them for." 

I sighed. "Okay, I'll bite. What are you talking about?" 

"They always accepted without question that it was only the direct grandsons of the original 
wolf who had the power to transform." 

"So someone changed who wasn't a direct descendant?" 

"No. She's a direct descendant, all right." 

I blinked, and my eyes widened."She?" 

He nodded. "She knows you. Her name is Leah Clearwater." 

"Leah's a werewolf!" I shrieked. "What? For how long? Why didn't Jacob tell me?" 

"There are things he wasn't allowed to share - their numbers, for instance.