The Call of the Wolf

Chapter 25: The Call of the Wolf

Three weeks before Ethan's first test.

Jacob was in his garage, immersed in the soft noise of the engine he was trying to fix. The creak of a truck stopping broke his concentration. He looked up and smiled as he saw Bella getting out of her old truck. He wiped his greasy hands on her shirt and walked towards her

"Hello, Bella!" "He," he greeted her with a warm smile. What brings you here?

Bella smiled, but there was a different glint in her eyes, one that Jacob noticed immediately.

"I brought you something that I think you'll be interested in," she said, heading toward to the back of his truck. He lifted the tarp covering the box and revealed two motorcycles in poor condition

"Did you get them at a junkyard?" —Jacob asked, raising an eyebrow, impressed and amused at the same time.

Bella nodded.

—Yes, but I thought you could help me fix them. What do you say?

Jacob couldn't help but smile widely. Working on something with Bella, sharing that time together, sounded perfect.

—Of course, let's get them ready to roll.

A week later, after many hours of effort in the garage, the motorcycles were finally ready. For Jacob, those days had been a kind of oasis. Working side by side with Bella made him feel that everything was okay, that there was still room for normal moments among so much internal chaos. However, not everything was so simple.

Ethan, his older brother, was acting strangely lately. He saw him in the company of his "gang," as he called them: Sam and the other kids from the reservation, but there was something different. Sometimes they looked at him intensely, as if they were waiting for something from him. Jacob tried to talk to Ethan about what was going on, but he always received evasive answers or awkward silences. As the days passed, Ethan began to spend more time away from home, disappearing for long hours without saying where he was going. There were even whole nights when he didn't come back.

One afternoon, Jacob confronted him.

—What's going on with you? —He asked her, crossing his arms in front of the garage door—. You disappear, you join Sam and his group... You're not the same as before, Ethan.

Ethan looked at him with a mixture of tiredness and something else that Jacob couldn't identify

—You wouldn't understand. , Jake. There are things that… I just can't tell you. Not now," Ethan replied, and walked away without another word, leaving Jacob even more frustrated.

A few days later, Jacob and Bella decided to try motorcycles. As they drove toward the chosen location, Bella suddenly braked, pointing at something in the distance. Jacob followed her gaze and saw a group of people throwing someone off a cliff. Bella paled.

—What is that? She asked, her voice shaking.

Jacob looked closer before answering

"It's Ethan's gang." They do it all the time, it's a kind of... sport for them. But I don't see Ethan, he hasn't been with them lately.

Bella frowned

—Where is he? "She," she asked, more to herself than to him.

Jacob simply shrugged, unable to give her an answer. Something was going on with her brother, but not even he knew what.

Later, while they were testing the motorcycles, Bella lost control of hers and was thrown into the air, landing abruptly and hitting her head. against the ground. Her blood was pouring from a small wound on her forehead. Jacob ran towards her, her heart pounding in her chest. He helped her up, her mind filled with worry and anger at not having protected her better

The next few days passed in a blur. Jacob was torn between her growing frustration and the strange changes he was noticing in his own body. Then one day, Bella called him, inviting him to the movies. Jacob, excited at the prospect of spending more time with her, immediately agreed

When he arrived at the movie theater, Jacob was slightly disappointed since it wouldn't just be him and Bella; His friends from school would also be there, but the only one to show up was Mike. They bought tickets to an action movie. However, they couldn't finish it because Mike couldn't stand the violent scenes. While Mike was recovering in the bathroom from what he saw in the movie, Jacob and Bella had a conversation in which he confesses his feelings for her, but Bella rejects him because she still loves Edward. Hearing Edward's name from Bella's mouth, an irrational anger surged within him

Jacob could no longer contain the rage bubbling up inside of him. Something inside him awakened, something he couldn't control.

He ran to his house, his body burning with anger and confusion. When he arrived, he found his father, Billy, talking to Sam in a low voice about Ethan's disappearance. Noticing his state, Billy approached his son with a calm that contrasted with the chaos Jacob felt.

"Son," Billy said, "don't be afraid." He just flows with what you feel.

Jacob didn't understand what he meant, but the pain and confusion in his body didn't stop. He ran out of the house and into the forest, his heart pounding as his body began to transform. He felt every muscle tense, his skin burning as if something inside him was exploding

Suddenly, he was no longer human. He was a wolf, a big one, with brown fur. He felt free, but also terrified. He didn't understand what had happened.

Sam then appeared, calm and collected, explaining what they were: wolves, destined to protect their land from vampires. He mentioned that Ethan was the alpha of the pack, but that he was now missing, and that made him the interim leader until Ethan's return. He also revealed that the Cullens, the family Bella was spending so much time with, were vampires. The thought of Bella being so close to that threat filled Jacob with fury, but at the same time, there was something in him that refused to hate her.

The next few days were hard. Bella called him non-stop, but Jacob ignored her, immersed in her training with the pack. Despite everything, he couldn't stop thinking about her

Finally, one day, Bella confronted him. She arrived at the reservation, her eyes full of fury and pain.

—Why are you ignoring me, Jacob? "She," she yelled at him.

Jacob looked at her, but all he told her was for her to get away from her. Seeing Jacob's new appearance, Bella was surprised. Jacob had cut his long hair, and since he was shirtless, he realized that he had gotten a tattoo. He was now dressing like Ethan and his group.

—Did Ethan and his group convince you to join them? —Bella asked.

Jacob just shook his head.

—No, they're just trying to help me, but if you want to blame someone, how about those disgusting vampires you love so much, the Cullens? You've fooled us all, but enough is enough, Bella. "Grow up and stop acting like that," she told him, her voice firm.

Bella, upon hearing that, was surprised, but she immediately denied it. Jacob just told her to get away from her. After that, Jacob headed to meet Sam.

As Jacob and the pack patrolled, they smelled a vampire. Then the whole herd immediately went to the place. What they found when they arrived was Laurent about to kill Bella. Then, the pack made itself noticed, and Laurent, seeing the wolves, ran away, forgetting about Bella. The pack chased after the vampire and it wasn't long before they caught up with him and tore him to pieces with her sharp fangs

That night, Jacob was worried about Bella and her near death. of her when that vampire almost killed her. So, he decided. He went to Bella's house, climbing through her window. When he entered her room, she was there, standing, arms crossed. They both remained silent; The first to speak was Jacob.

"I'm sorry," Jacob said, sincerely. I didn't mean what I said. It's just... I can't explain it to you. There are things I can't tell you, even if I wanted to.

Bella looked at him sadly.

—Let's run away together, Jacob. "We can leave all this behind, start over," she proposed, her voice broken by desperation.

Jacob looked at her with pain in her eyes, but shook his head

"No." I can, Bella. I'm sorry.

—Remember what I told you about the Quileute legends. What I told you at La Push...Think about it.

And with that, Jacob disappeared into the night, leaving Bella with more questions than answers.