I frowned. "But shouldn't Jared or Paul be second, then? They were the next to change."

"Well . . . it's hard to explain," Jacob said evasively.

"Try."

He sighed. "It's more about the lineage, you know? Sort of old-fashioned. Why should it matter who your grandpa was, right?"

"Looks like you were right, Edward," Carlisle said. "That's interesting... and it make sense, too."

"I don't know, just because you're born from a higher lineage, doesn't necessary mean you're better equipped to lead," Jasper said. He had to deal with some inept commanders in the army before he was turned. "But then again, it's different with them, isn't it? It seems that the pup was growing faster, bigger, and probably stronger than the others and his genes might have something to do with that."

I remembered something Jacob had told me a long time ago, before either of us had known anything about werewolves.

"Didn't you say that Ephraim Black was the last chief the Quileutes had?"

"Yeah, that's right. Because he was the Alpha. Did you know that, technically, Sam's the chief of the whole tribe now?" He laughed. "Crazy traditions."

"But it makes sense," Jasper said, probably about to make another military insight, but he seemed to think better of it and let Alice continue to read.

I thought about that for a second, trying to make all the pieces fit. "But you also said that people listened to your dad more than anyone else on the council, because he was Ephraim's grandson?"

"What about it?"

"Well, if it's about the lineage . . . shouldn't you be the chief, then?"

Jacob didn't answer me. He stared into the darkening forest, as if he suddenly needed to concentrate on where he was going.

"That would be a yes," Emmett chuckled.

"But it doesn't look like he wants that responsibility," Carlisle frowned.

"I don't blame him," Jasper said. "It's a lot to handle."

"Jake?"

"No. That's Sam's job." He kept his eyes on our pathless course.

"Why? His great-granddad was Levi Uley, right? Was Levi an Alpha, too?"

"Come on, there can't be two Alpha's," Emmett scoffed.

"If it's anything like real wolves, they would kill each other if that happened," Carlisle said. "No, that definitely wouldn't be a good thing."

"There's only one Alpha," he answered automatically.

"So what was Levi?"

"Sort of a Beta, I guess." He snorted at my term. "Like me."

"That doesn't make sense."

"It doesn't matter."

"I just want to understand."

Jacob finally met my confused gaze, and then sighed. "Yeah. I was supposed to be the Alpha."

My eyebrows pulled together. "Sam didn't want to step down?"

"Hardly. I didn't want to step up."

"Why not?"

He frowned, uncomfortable with my questions. Well, it was his turn to feel uncomfortable.

"I didn't want any of it, Bella. I didn't want anything to change. I didn't want to be some legendary chief. I didn't want to be part of a pack of werewolves, let alone their leader. I wouldn't take it when Sam offered."

"And you think that Sam wanted any of that either?" Edward questioned. "He seemed like he would have had a nice life... he wouldn't have broken his promise to Leah... and then he turned. He lost a lot in this too."

Carlisle was frowning, guilt in his eyes, knowing that there was nothing they could do for Sam now. He was already changed, he had already imprinted on Emily, and lost his control in front of her the one time. However, he still spoke to his son, "He has already found some kind of peace with himself as a werewolf. Jacob is still young, and though he seems capable of quite a lot, he is still impatient and jumps into things without thinking. I would think their pack would be stronger under Sam's command as long as Jacob his still so conflicted about everything."

"Whatever," Edward said, he didn't really look like he was interested in this. He was probably just trying to vent some of his anger with his last comment.

I thought about this for a long moment. Jacob didn't interrupt. He stared into the forest again.

"But I thought you were happier. That you were okay with this," I finally whispered.

Jacob smiled down at me reassuringly. "Yeah. It's really not so bad. Exciting sometimes, like with this thing tomorrow. But at first it sort of felt like being drafted into a war you didn't know existed. There was no choice, you know? And it was so final." He shrugged. "Anyway, I guess I'm glad now. It has to be done, and could I trust someone else to get it right? It's better to make sure myself."

I stared at him, feeling an unexpected kind of awe for my friend. He was more of a grown-up than I'd ever given him credit for. Like with Billy the other night at the bonfire, there was a majesty here that I'd never suspected.

"I seems that he does have some of his chiefly qualities...whether he wants them or not," Emmett chuckled.

"Chief Jacob," I whispered, smiling at the way the words sounded together.

He rolled his eyes.

Just then, the wind shook more fiercely through the trees around us, and it felt like it was blowing straight off a glacier. The sharp sound of wood cracking echoed off the mountain.

Though the light was vanishing as the grisly cloud covered the sky, I could still see the little white specks that fluttered past us.

Jacob stepped up the pace, keeping his eyes on the ground now as he flat out sprinted. I curled more willingly against his chest, recoiling from the unwelcome snow.

"Stupid snow," Edward muttered.

It was only minutes later that he dashed around to the lee side of the stony peak and we could see the little tent nestled up against the sheltering face. More flurries were falling around us, but the wind was too fierce to let them settle anywhere.

"Bella!" Edward called out in acute relief. We'd caught him in the middle of pacing back and forth across the little open space.

He flashed to my side, sort of blurring as he moved so swiftly. Jacob cringed, and then set me on my feet. Edward ignored his reaction and caught me in a tight hug.

"Thank you," Edward said over my head. His tone was unmistakably sincere. "That was quicker than I expected, and I truly appreciate it."

I twisted to see Jacob's response.

Jacob merely shrugged, all the friendliness wiped clean from his face. "Get her inside. This is going to be bad - my hair's standing up on my scalp. Is that tent secure?"

"I all but welded it to the rock."

"Good."

Jacob looked up at the sky - now black with the storm, sprinkled with the swirling bits of snow. His nostrils flared.

"I'm going to change," he said. "I want to know what's going on back home."

He hung his jacket on a low, stubby branch, and walked into the murky forest without a backward glance.

"That's the end of the chapter," Alice said, handing the book to Edward.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Fire and Ice

"Fire and Ice," Edward read.

"Hmmm...do you think that might be a metaphor for the pup and you?" Emmett chuckled.

Everyone else just rolled their eyes at his question.

The wind shook the tent again, and I shook with it.

The temperature was dropping. I could feel it through the down bag, through my jacket. I was fully dressed, my hiking boots still laced into place. It didn't make any difference. How could it be so cold? How could it keep getting colder? It had to bottom out sometime, didn't it?

"W-w-w-w-w-what t-t-t-t-time is it?" I forced the words through my rattling teeth.

Edward groaned at that.

"What is it, Eddy?" Emmett asked.

"It had to be cold," Edward muttered. "The storm had to come tonight. Everything just has to go wrong."

"What's so bad about all those things?" Emmett asked.

"Because the mutt is going to have to help!" Edward growled. "And I'm just making it worse."

"Oh," Emmett said; although it was obvious that he was trying hard not to laugh at this, he sort of managed it.

"Two," Edward answered.

Edward sat as far from me as possible in the cramped space, afraid to even breathe on me when I was already so cold. It was too dark to see his face, but his voice was wild with worry, indecision, and frustration.

"Maybe . . ."

"No, I'm f-f-f-f-f-fine, r-r-r-really. I don't w-w-w-want to g-go outside."

He'd tried to talk me into making a run for it a dozen times already, but I was terrified of leaving my shelter.

"That wouldn't really help her, unless you're going to make her run," Carlisle said.

"Plus it might make all the work that we went through worthless... if your scent was too close," Jasper said.

If it was this cold in here, protected from the raging wind, I could imagine how bad it would be if we were running through it.

And it would waste all our efforts this afternoon. Would we have enough time to reset ourselves when the storm was over? What if it didn't end? It made no sense to move now. I could shiver my way through one night.

I was worried that the trail I had laid would be lost, but he promised that it would still be plain to the coming monsters.

"It is a big storm," Jasper muttered. "It would have been better if this didn't happen."

"Besides, I'm not sure the weather is so bad at the clearing," Alice said. "I said the area they would be in was going to be bad," Alice said.

"What can I do?" he almost begged.

I just shook my head.

Out in the snow, Jacob whined unhappily.

"G-g-g-get out of h-h-h-ere," I ordered, again.

"He's just worried about you," Edward translated. "His body is equipped to deal with this."

"Ah, the plus side to bursting into a wolf," Emmett chuckled. "You never get cold."

"H-h-h-h-h-h." I wanted to say that he should still leave, but I couldn't get it past my teeth. I nearly bit my tongue off trying. At least Jacob did seem to be well equipped for the snow, better even than the others in his pack with his thicker, longer, shaggy russet fur. I wondered why that was.

Jacob whimpered, a high-pitched, grating sound of complaint.

"What do you want me to do?" Edward growled, too anxious to bother with politeness anymore. "Carry her through that? I don't see you making yourself useful. Why don't you go fetch a space heater or something?"

Edward shook his head at that, looking a little angry.

"I'm ok-k-k-k-k-k-kay," I protested. Judging from Edward's groan and the muted growl outside the tent, I hadn't convinced anyone. The wind rocked the tent roughly, and I shuddered in harmony with it.

A sudden howl ripped through the roar of the wind, and I covered my ears against the noise.

Edward scowled.

"That was hardly necessary," he muttered. "And that's the worst idea I've ever heard," he called more loudly.

"Better than anything you've come up with," Jacob answered, his human voice startling me."Go fetch a space heater," he grumbled. "I'm not a St. Bernard."

"Oh... I think I know what you're so upset about now," Emmett smiled broadly.

"Who wouldn't be upset about this?" Rosalie grumbled. "And he must smell atrociously."

I heard the sound of the zipper around the tent door pulling swiftly down.

Jacob slid through the smallest opening he could manage, while the arctic air flowed in around him, a few flecks of snow falling to the floor of the tent. I shivered so hard it was a convulsion.

"I don't like this," Edward hissed as Jake zipped the tent door shut. "Just give her the coat and get out."

My eyes were adjusted enough to see shapes - Jacob was carrying the parka that had been hanging on a tree next to the tent.

I tried to ask what they were talking about, but all that came out of my mouth was, "W-w-w-w-w-w," as the shivering made me stutter uncontrollably.

"Maybe she wishes I could read her mind now," Edward smiled, though it looked strained.

"The parka's for tomorrow - she's too cold to warm it up by herself. It's frozen." He dropped it by the door. "You said she needed a space heater, and here I am." Jacob held his arms as wide as the tent allowed.

"You did ask for it, Eddy," Emmett laughed. "I told you, you should be careful what you wish for."

Edward glared at him.

As usual, when he'd been running around as a wolf, he'd only thrown on the bare essentials - just a pair of sweats, no shirt, no shoes.

"J-J-J-J-Jake, you'll f-f-f-freez-z-z-ze," I tried to complain.

"Not me," he said cheerfully. "I run at a toasty one-oh-eight point nine these days. I'll have you sweating in no time."

Edward growled loudly at that.

"Er... maybe I should take the book from you again," Emmett said, trying not to laugh. He looked seriously concerned for the book's safety.

"I'm fine," Edward hissed.

"It looks like Edward's getting the hard chapters in this book," Jasper said. "Which really isn't a good thing..." he added with a smile, but he too was concerned.

"Just keep an eye on him, Jazz," Alice muttered and Edward looked annoyed at all of them.

Edward snarled, but Jacob didn't even look at him. Instead, he crawled to my side and started unzipping my sleeping bag.

Edward's hand was suddenly hard on his shoulder, restraining, snow white against the dark skin. Jacob's jaw clenched, his nostrils flaring, his body recoiling from the cold touch. The long muscles in his arms flexed automatically.

"Edward... don't fight," Esme said, she was looked sad when she said this. "I know it's difficult... but...well, he is right. She might freeze in this weather."

"I know," Edward said through gritted teeth. "I just can't stand this."

"I know," Esme sighed.

"Get your hand off of me," he growled through his teeth.

"Keep your hands off of her," Edward answered blackly.

"D-d-d-don't f-f-f-f-fight," I pleaded. Another tremor rocked through me. It felt like my teeth were going to shatter, they were slamming together so hard.

"I'm sure she'll thank you for this when her toes turn black and drop off," Jacob snapped.

Edward hesitated, then his hand fell away and he slid back to his position in the corner.

His voice was flat and frightening. "Watch yourself."

Jacob chuckled.

"Scoot over, Bella," he said, zipping the sleeping bag open farther.