I stared at his face, waiting for his eyes to open.

"You know what this will mean?" He demanded suddenly. "You do understand that, don't you? What will happen if they break the treaty?"

"We'll leave first," I said in a small voice.

"You should leave," Edward said. "Leave the garage now."

"He's right, all this is doing is testing the wolf control..." Jasper said. "And it doesn't look like he has much left."

His eyes flashed open, their black depths full of anger and pain. "There wasn't a geographic limit to the treaty, Bella. Our great-grandfathers only agreed to keep the peace because the Cullens swore that they were different, that humans weren't in danger from them. They promised they would never kill or change anyone ever again. If they go back on their word, the treaty is meaningless, and they are no different than any other vampires. Once that's established, when we find them again -"

Carlisle eyes were calculating, and he was frowning.

"I don't think that he speaks for the whole pack," Edward said. "He would want revenge for this and he would be willing to go to greater lengths to achieve that than the others... they would want to keep the pack and town safe."

"But if Jacob comes after us... they would go with him," Carlisle said.

"I'd have to agree with Carlisle with that one, Eddy," Emmett said. "There's no way they would let the pup handle this on his own."

"But, Jake, didn't you break the treaty already?" I asked, grasping at straws. "Wasn't part of it that you not tell people about the vampires? And you told me. So isn't the treaty sort of moot, anyhow?"

"Nice try, but that's not going to work," Emmett chuckled.

Jacob didn't like the reminder; the pain in his eyes hardened into animosity. "Yeah, I broke the treaty - back before I believed any of it. And I'm sure they were informed of that." He glared sourly at my forehead, not meeting my shamed gaze. "But it's not like that gives them a freebie or anything. There's no fault for a fault. They have only one option if they object to what I did. The same option we'll have when they break the treaty: to attack. To start the war."

"I wonder if they have picked up that we wouldn't do anything if they broke the treaty," Jasper frowned.

"What does it matter?" Edward said.

"Nothing... it would just give them an upper hand," Jasper shrugged.

He made it sound so inevitable. I shuddered.

"Jake, it doesn't have to be that way."

His teeth ground together. "It is that way."

"I wish that she was right," Carlisle said. "I would be nice to actually get to know the wolves... they seem to be interesting characters."

The silence after his declaration felt very loud.

"Will you never forgive me, Jacob?" I whispered. As soon as I said the words, I wished I hadn't. I didn't want to hear his answer.

"You won't be Bella anymore," he told me. "My friend won't exist. There'll be no one to forgive."

Edward growled at this, and everyone else narrowed their eyes.

"That's not true!" Alice growled too.

"That sounds like a no, " I whispered.

We faced each other for an endless moment.

"Is this goodbye then, Jake?"

He blinked rapidly, his fierce expression melting in surprise. "Why? We still have a few years. Can't we be friends until we're out of time?"

Edward stiffened again at this and it looked like he wished that Bella wouldn't answer that question.

"Looks like you have one person on your side, Eddy," Emmett chuckled, not noticing the state that his brother was in right now.

"Years? No, Jake, not years." I shook my head, and laughed once without humor. "Weeks is more accurate."

I was not expecting his reaction.

He was suddenly on his feet, and there was a loud pop as the soda can exploded in his hand.

"Not good," Edward hissed, the hand not holding the book as clenched into a fist. "Get out of there."

Soda flew everywhere, soaking me, like it was spraying from a hose.

"Jake!" I started to complain, but I fell silent when I realized that his whole body was quivering with anger. He glared at me wildly, a growling sound building in his chest.

I froze in place, too shocked to remember how to move.

"Damn," Edward hissed and then said. "Control yourself pup... don't do anything rash."

The shaking rolled through him, getting faster, until it looked like he was vibrating. His shape blurred. . . .

Everyone was tense and quiet for this and Edward's voice was strained while he read, but he forced the words to come out.

And then Jacob gritted his teeth together, and the growling stopped. He squeezed his eyes tight in concentration; the quivering slowed until only his hands were shaking.

Edward let out a breath, but he didn't really loosen up.

"Weeks," Jacob said in a flat monotone.