I flinched away from his hostile expression. He seemed to be waiting for an answer, so I shook my head.

"You're such a hypocrite, Bella – there you sit, terrified of me! How is that fair?" His hands shook with anger.

"She's not a hypocrite at all," Edward frowned. "She's very...very open-minded."

"Hypocrite? How does being afraid of a monster make me a hypocrite?"

"Ugh!" he groaned, pressing his trembling fists to his temples and squeezing his eyes shut.

"Would you listen to yourself?"

"What?"

He took two steps toward me, leaning over me and glaring with fury. "Well, I'm so sorry that I can't be the right kind of monster for you, Bella. I guess I'm just not as great as a bloodsucker, am I?"

"Of course not," Emmett laughed.

"At least not a vegetarian vampire," Alice added, laughing too.

I jumped to my feet and glared back. "No, you're not!" I shouted. "It's not what you are, stupid, it's what you do!"

Edward smiled broadly at that, more brightly then he did at any other part in this book.

"I like that," Carlisle smiled too.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He roared, his entire frame quivering with rage.

"Oh damn...come on pup, control yourself," Edward said.

I was taken entirely by surprise when Edward's voice cautioned me. "Be very careful, Bella," his velvet voice warned. "Don't push him too far. You need to calm him down."

Even the voice in my head was making no sense today.

"How does that voice know to warn her not to push him too far?" Jasper asked. "Isn't it just in her head."

"I think Edward's voice might be her survival instincts trying to come through," Carlisle mused. "Instinctively, she should know that he's dangerous, especially when he's mad..."

"Interesting," Edward said.

I listened to him, though. I would do anything for that voice.

"Except not riding motorcycles or walking to a potentially dangerous man," Edward grumbled.

"Yeah, but that was so she could hear you more...this is a little different," Emmett chuckled.

"Jacob," I pleaded, making my tone soft and even. "Is it really necessary to kill people, Jacob? Isn't there some other way? I mean, if vampires can find a way to survive without murdering people, couldn't you give it a try, too?"

"Aaahhh... now they're going to make up," Emmett pouted.

"Yeah, but it was fun while it lasted," Edward smiled.

He straightened up with a jerk, like my words had sent an electric shock through him. His eyebrows shot up and his eyes stared wide.

"Killing people?" he demanded.

"What did you think we were talking about?"

He wasn't trembling anymore. He looked at me with half-hopeful disbelief. "I thought we were talking about your disgust for werewolves."

"No, Jake, no. It's not that you're a…wolf. That's fine," I promised him, and I knew as I said the words that I meant them. I really didn't care if he turned into a big wolf – he was still Jacob.

"Okay, this is still fun," Emmett laughed.

"If you could just find a way not to hurt people…that's all that upsets me. These are innocent people, Jake, people like Charlie, and I can't just look the other way while you –"

"Is that all? Really?" he interrupted me, a smile breaking across his face. "You're just scared because I'm a murderer? That's the only reason?"

"Isn't that reason enough?"

He started to laugh.

"Jacob Black, this is so not funny!"

"On the contrary - this is hilarious," Emmett snorted.

"Sure, sure," he agreed, still chortling.

He took one long stride and caught me in another vice-tight bear hug.

"You really, honestly don't mind that I morph into a giant dog?" he asked, his voice joyful in my ear.

"No," I gasped. "Can't – breathe – Jake!"

He let me go, but took both my hands. "I'm not a killer, Bella."

I studied his face, and it was clear that this was the truth. Relief pulsed through me.

"Really?" I asked.

"Really," he promised solemnly.

I threw my arms around him. It reminded me of that first day with the motorcycles – he was bigger, though, and I felt even more like a child now.

Like that other time, he stroked my hair.

"Argh...that's enough mutt," Edward groaned.

"Sorry I called you a hypocrite," he apologized.

"Sorry I called you a murderer."

He laughed.

I thought of something then, and pulled away from him so that I could see his face. My eyebrows furrowed in anxiety. "What about Sam? And the others?"

He shook his head, smiling like a huge burden had been removed from his shoulders.

"Yeah, because he doesn't have to lie to his best friend anymore," Jasper said, "and she actually accepts him for who he is."

"I think that was my favorite part too," Edward smiled.

"Of course not. Don't you remember what we call ourselves?"

The memory was clear – I'd just been thinking of that very day. "Protectors?"

"Exactly."

"But I don't understand. What's happening in the woods? The missing hikers, the blood?"

His face was serious, worried at once. "We're trying to do our job, Bella. We're trying to protect them, but we're always just a little too late."

"Protect them from what? Is there really a bear out there, too?"

"Come on Bella...it's obvious," Emmett chuckled.

Edward, on the other hand, looked very angry. "I almost forgot this part."

"Bella, honey, we only protect people from one thing – our one enemy. It's the reason we exist – because they do."