g to legend, my own great-grandfather knew some of them. He was the one who made 
the treaty that kept them off our land." Jacob rolled his eyes. 

" Your great-grandfather?" 

"He was a tribal elder, like my father. You see, the cold ones are the natural enemies of the wolf? 
well, not the wolf really, but the wolves that turn into men, like our ancestors. You would call 
them werewolves." 

"Werewolves have enemies?" 

"Only one." 

There was something stuck in my throat, choking me. I tried to swallow it down, but it was lodged there,
un-moving. I tried to spit it out.
"Werewolf," I gasped.
Yes, that was the word that I was choking on.


The whole world lurched, tilting the wrong way on its axis.
What kind of a place was this? Could a world really exist where ancient legends went wandering around
the borders of tiny, insignificant towns, facing down mythical monsters? Did this mean every impossible
fairy tale was grounded somewhere in absolute truth? Was there anything sane or normal at all, or was
everything just magic and ghost stories?


I clutched my head in my hands, trying to keep it from exploding.


A small, dry voice in the back of my mind asked me what the big deal was. Hadn't I already accepted
the existence of vampires long ago?and without all the hysterics that time?
Exactly, I wanted to scream back at the voice. Wasn't one myth enough for anyone, enough for 
a


lifetime?
Besides, there'd never been one moment that I wasn't completely aware that Edward Cullen was above


and beyond the ordinary. It wasn't such a surprise to find out what he was?because he so obviously
was something.
But Jacob? Jacob, who was just Jacob, and nothing more than that? Jacob, my friend? Jacob, the only


human I'd ever been able to relate to?
And he wasn't even human.
I fought the urge to scream again.
What did this say about me?
I knew the answer to that one. It said that there was something deeply wrong with me. Why else would


my life be filled with characters from horror movies? Why else would I care so much about them that it


would tear big chunks right out of my chest when they went off along their mythical ways?
In my head, everything spun and shifted, rearranging so that things that had meant one thing before, now
meant something else.



There was no cult. There had never been a cult, never been a gang. No, it was much worse than that. It


was a pack.
A pack of five mind-blowingly gigantic, multihued werewolves that had stalked right past me in Edward's
meadow?


Suddenly, I was in a frantic hurry. I glanced at the clock?it was way too early and I didn't care. I had to


go to La Push now. I had to see Jacob so he could tell me that I hadn't lost my mind altogether.
I pulled on the first clean clothes I could find, not bothering to be sure they matched, and took the stairs
two at a time. I almost ran into Charlie as I skidded into the hallway, headed for the door.


"Where are you going?" he asked, as surprised to see me as I was to see him. "Do you know what time it
is?
"
"Yeah. I have to go see Jacob.
"
"I thought the thing with Sam?
"
"That doesn't matter, I have to talk to him right now.
"


"It's pretty early." He frowned when my expression didn't change. "Don't you want breakfast?
"
"Not hungry." The words flew through my lips. He was blocking my path to the exit. I considered
ducking around him and making a run for it, but I knew I would have to explain that to him later. "I'll be
back soon, okay?
"


Charlie frowned. "Straight to Jacob's house, right? No stops on the way?
"
"Of course not, where would I stop?" My words were running together in my hurry.
"I don't know," he admitted. "It's just? well, there's been another attack?the wolves again. It was real


close to the resort by the hot springs?there's a witness this time. The victim was only a dozen yards
from the road when he disappeared. His wife saw a huge gray wolf just a few minutes later, while she
was searching for him, and ran for help.
"


My stomach dropped like I'd hit a corkscrew on a roller coaster. "A wolf attacked him?
"
"There's no sign of him?just a little blood again." Charlie's face was pained. "The rangers are going out
armed, taking armed volunteers. There're a lot of hunters who are eager to be involved?there's 
a


reward being offered for wolf carcasses. That's going to mean a lot of firepower out there in the forest,
and it worries me." He shook his head. "When people get too excited, accidents happen?
"
"They're going to shoot the wolves?" My voice shot through three octaves.
"What else can we do? What's wrong?" he asked, his tense eyes studying my face. I felt faint; I must be


whiter than usual. "You aren't turning into a tree-hugger on me, are you?
"
I couldn't answer. If he hadn't been watching me, I would have put my head between my knees. I'd


forgotten about the missing hikers, the bloody paw prints? I hadn't connected those facts to my first
realization.
"Look, honey, don't let this scare you. Just stay in town or on the highway?no stops?okay?
"
"Okay," I repeated in a weak voice.



"I've got to go.
"


I looked at him closely for the first time, and saw that he had his gun strapped to his waist and hiking
boots on.
"You aren't going out there after the wolves, are you, Dad?
"
"I've got to help, Bells. People are disappearing.
"
My voice shot up again, almost hysterical now. "No! No, don't go. It's too dangerous!
"
"I've got to do my job, kid. Don't be such a pessimist?I'll be fine." He turned for the door, and held it


open. "You leaving?
"


I hesitated, my stomach still spinning in uncomfortable loops. What could I say to stop him? I was too
dizzy to think of a solution.
"Bells?
"
"Maybe it's too early to go to La Push," I whispered.
"I agree," he said, and he stepped out into the rain, shutting the door behind him.
As soon as he was out of sight, I dropped to the floor and put my head between my knees.
Should I go after Charlie? What would I say?
And what about Jacob? Jacob was my best friend; I needed to warn him. If he really was a?I cringed


and forced myself to think the word?werewolf (and I knew it was true, I could feel it), then people 
would be shooting at him! I needed to tell him and his friends that people would try to kill them if they 
went running around like gigantic wolves. I needed to tell them to stop. 

They had to stop! Charlie was out there in the woods. Would they care about that? I wondered? Up
until now, only strangers had disappeared. Did that mean anything, or was it just chance?
I needed to believe that Jacob, at least, would care about that.
Either way, I had to warn him.


Or? did I?
Jacob was my best friend, but was he a monster, too? A real one? A bad one? Should I warn him, if he
and his friends were? were murderers! If they were out slaughtering innocent hikers in cold blood? If
they were truly creatures from a horror movie in every sense, would it be wrong to protect them?


It was inevitable that I would have to compare Jacob and his friends to the Cullens. I wrapped my arms


around my chest, fighting the hole, while I thought of them.
I didn't know anything about werewolves, clearly. I would have expected something closer to the
movies?big hairy half-men creatures or something?if I'd expected anything at all. So I didn't know
what made them hunt, whether hunger or thirst or just a desire to kill. It was hard to judge, not knowing
that.


But it couldn't be worse than what the Cullens endured in their quest to be good. I thought of Esme?the 
tears started when I pictured her kind, lovely face?and how, as motherly and loving as she was, she'd 


had to hold her nose, all ashamed, and run from me when I was bleeding. It couldn't be harder than that. 
I thought of Carlisle, the centuries upon centuries that he had struggled to teach himself to ignore blood, 
so that he could save lives as a doctor. Nothing could be harder than that. 

The werewolves had chosen a different path. 

Now, what should I choose? 

1 3 . KILLER 
IF IT WAS ANYONE BUT JACOB, I THOUGHT TO MYSELF, shaking my head as I drove down 
the forest-lined highway to La Push. 

I still wasn't sure if I was domg the right thing, but I'd made a compromise with myself. 
I couldn't condone what Jacob and his friends, his pack, were doing. I understood now what he'd said 
last night?that I might not want to see him again?and I could have called him as he'd suggested, but 
that felt cowardly. I owed him a face-to-face conversation, at least. I would tell him to his face that I 
couldn't just overlook what was going on. I couldn't be friends with a killer and say nothing, let the killing 
continue? That would make me a monster, too. 

But I couldn't not warn him, either. I had to do what I could to protect him. 

I pulled up to the Blacks' house with my lips pressed together into a hard line. It was bad enough that my
best friend was a werewolf. Did he have to be a monster, too?
The house was dark, no lights in the windows, but I didn't care if I woke them. My fist thudded against


the front door with angry energy; the sound reverberated through the walls.
"Come in," I heard Billy call after a minute, and a light flicked on.
I twisted the knob; it was unlocked. Billy was leaning around an open doorway just off the little kitchen, 
a


bathrobe around his shoulders, not in his chair yet. When he saw who it was, his eyes widened briefly,
and then his face turned stoic.
"Well, good morning, Bella. What are you doing up so early?
"
"Hey, Billy. I need to talk to Jake?where is he?
"
"Um? I don't really know," he lied, straight-faced.
"Do you know what Charlie is doing this morning?" I demanded, sick of the stalling.
"Should I?
"
"He and half the other men in town are all out in t