They fear it, too.

But they won' t do anything about it. Protecting Bella Swan.

We can' t let that influence us.

The safety of our families, of everyone here, is more important than one human.

If they won' t kill it, we have to.

Protect the tribe.

Protect our families.

We have to kill it before it' s too late.

Another of my memories, Edward's words this time: The thing is growing. Swiftly.

I struggled to focus, to pick out individual voices.

No time to waste, Jared thought.

It will mean a fight, Embry cautioned. A bad one.

We're ready, Paul insisted.

We'll need surprise on our side, Sam thought.

If we catch them divided, we can take them down separately. It will increase our chances of victory, Jared thought, starting to strategize now.

I shook my head, rising slowly to my feet. I felt unsteady there-like the circling wolves were making me dizzy. The wolf beside me got up, too. His shoulder pushed against mine, propping me up.

Wait, I thought.

The circling paused for one beat, and then they were pacing again.

There' s little time, Sam said.

But-what are you thinking? You wouldn' t attack them for breaking the treaty this afternoon. Now you're planning an ambush, when the treaty is still intact?

This is not something our treaty antic.i.p.ated, Sam said. This is a danger to every human in the area. We don' t know what kind of creature the Cullens have bred, but we know that it is strong and fast-growing. And it will be too young to follow any treaty.

Remember the newborn vampires we fought? Wild, violent, beyond the reach of reason or restraint. Imagine one like that, but protected by the Cullens.

We don' t know- I tried to interrupt.We don't know, he agreed. And we can' t take chances with the unknown in this case. We can only allow the Cullens to exist while we're absolutely sure that they can be trusted not to cause harm. This... thing cannot be trusted.

They don' t like it any more than we do.

Sam pulled Rosalie's face, her protective crouch, from my mind and put it on display for everyone.

Some are ready to fight for it, no matter what it is.

It' s just a baby, for crying out loud.

Not for long, Leah whispered.

Jake, buddy, this is a big problem, Quil said. We can' t just ignore it.

You're making it into something bigger than it is, I argued. The only one who' s in danger here is Bella.

Again by her own choice, Sam said. But this time her choice affects us all.

I don' t think so.

We can' t take that chance. We won' t allow a blood drinker to hunt on our lands.

Then tell them to leave, the wolf who was still supporting me said. It was Seth. Of course.

And inflict the menace on others? When blood drinkers cross our land, we destroy them, no matter where they plan to hunt. We protect everyone we can.

This is crazy, I said. This afternoon you were afraid to put the pack in danger .

This afternoon I didn' t know our families were at risk.

I can' t believe this! How're you going to kill this creature without killing Bella?

There were no words, but the silence was full of meaning.

I howled. She' s human, too! Doesn' t our protection apply to her?

She' s dying anyway, Leah thought. We'll just shorten the process.

That did it. I leaped away from Seth, toward his sister, with my teeth bared. I was about to catch her left hind leg when I felt Sam's teeth cut into my flank, dragging me back.

I howled in pain and fury and turned on him.

Stop! he ordered in the double timbre of the Alpha.My legs seemed to buckle under me. I jerked to a halt, only managing to keep on my feet by sheer willpower.

He turned his gaze away from me. You will not be cruel to him, Leah, he commanded her. Bella' s sacrifice is a heavy price, and we will all recognize that. It is against everything we stand for to take a human life. Making an exception to that code is a bleak thing. We will all mourn for what we do tonight.

Tonight? Seth repeated, shocked. Sam-I think we should talk about this some more.

Consult with the Elders, at least. You can' t seriously mean for us to- We can' t afford your tolerance for the Cullens now. There is no time for debate. You will do as you are told, Seth.

Seth's front knees folded, and his head fell forward under the weight of the Alpha's command.

Sam paced in a tight circle around the two of us.

We need the whole pack for this. Jacob, you are our strongest fighter . You will fight with us tonight. I understand that this is hard for you, so you will concentrate on their fighters-Emmett and Jasper Cullen. You don' t have to be involved with the... other part. Quil and Embry will fight with you.

My knees trembled; I struggled to hold myself upright while the voice of the Alpha lashed at my will.

Paul, Jared, and I will take on Edward and Rosalie. I think, from the information Jacob has brought us, they will be the ones guarding Bella. Carlisle and Alice will also be close, possibly Esme. Brady, Collin, Seth, and Leah will concentrate on them. Whoever has a clear line on-we all heard him mentally stutter over Bella's name-the creature will take it. Destroying the creature is our first priority.

The pack rumbled in nervous agreement. The tension had everyone's fur standing on end. The pacing was quicker, and the sound of the paws against the brackish floor was sharper, toenails tearing into the soil.

Only Seth and I were still, the eye in the center of a storm of bared teeth and flattened ears. Seth's nose was almost touching the ground, bowed under Sam's commands. I felt his pain at the coming disloyalty. For him this was a betrayal-during that one day of alliance, fighting beside Edward Cullen, Seth had truly become the vampire's friend.

There was no resistance in him, however. He would obey no matter how much it hurt him. He had no other choice.

And what choice did I have? When the Alpha spoke, the pack followed.

Sam had never pushed his authority this far before; I knew he honestly hated to see Seth kneeling before him like a slave at the foot of his master. He wouldn't force this if he didn't believe that he had no other choice. He couldn't lie to us when we were linked mind to mind like this. He really believed it was our duty to destroy Bella and the monster she carried. He really believed we had no time to waste. He believed it enough to die for it.

I saw that he would face Edward himself; Edward's ability to read our thoughts made him the greatest threat in Sam's mind. Sam would not let someone else take on that danger.

He saw Jasper as the second-greatest opponent, which is why he'd given him to me. He knew that I had the best chance of any of the pack to win that fight. He'd left the easiest targets for the younger wolves and Leah. Little Alice was no danger without her future vision to guide her, and we knew from our time of alliance that Esme was not a fighter.

Carlisle would be more of a challenge, but his hatred of violence would hinder him.

I felt sicker than Seth as I watched Sam plan it out, trying to work the angles to give each member of the pack the best chance of survival.

Everything was inside out. This afternoon, I'd been chomping at the bit to attack them.

But Seth had been right-it wasn't a fight I'd been ready for. I'd blinded myself with that hate. I hadn't let myself look at it carefully, because I must have known what I would see if I did.

Carlisle Cullen. Looking at him without that hate clouding my eyes, I couldn't deny that killing him was murder. He was good. Good as any human we protected. Maybe better.

The others, too, I supposed, but I didn't feel as strongly about them. I didn't know them as well. It was Carlisle who would hate fighting back, even to save his own life. That's why we would be able to kill him-because he wouldn't want us, his enemies, to die.

This was wrong.

And it wasn't just because killing Bella felt like killing me, like suicide.

Pull it together , Jacob, Sam ordered. The tribe comes first.

I was wrong today, Sam.

Your reasons were wrong then. But now we have a duty to fulfill.

I braced myself. No.

Sam snarled and stopped pacing in front of me. He stared into my eyes and a deep growl slid between his teeth.

Yes, the Alpha decreed, his double voice blistering with the heat of his authority. There are no loopholes tonight. You, Jacob, are going to fight the Cullens with us. You, with Quil and Embry, will take care of Jasper and Emmett. You are obligated to protect the tribe. That is why you exist. You will perform this obligation.

My shoulders hunched as the edict crushed me. My legs collapsed, and I was on my belly under him.No member of the pack could refuse the Alpha.

11. THE TWO THINGS AT THE VERY TOP OF MY THINGS-I-NEVER-WANT-TO-DO LIST.

Sam started moving the others into formation while I was still on the ground. Embry and Quil were at my sides, waiting for me to recover and take the point.

I could feel the drive, the need, to get on my feet and lead them. The compulsion grew, and I fought it uselessly, cringing on the ground where I was.

Embry whined quietly in my ear. He didn't want to think the words, afraid that he would bring me to Sam's attention again. I felt his wordless plea for me to get up, for me to get this over with and be done with it.

There was fear in the pack, not so much for self but for the whole. We couldn't imagine that we would all make it out alive tonight. Which brothers would we lose? Which minds would leave us forever? Which grieving families would we be consoling in the morning?

My mind began to work with theirs, to think in unison, as we dealt with these fears.

Automatically, I pushed up from the ground and shook out my coat.

Embry and Quil huffed in relief. Quil touched his nose to my side once.

Their minds were filled with our challenge, our a.s.signment. We remembered together the nights we'd watched the Cullens practicing for the fight with the newborns. Emmett Cullen was strongest, but Jasper would be the bigger problem. He moved like a lightning strike-power and speed and death rolled into one. How many centuries'

experience did he have? Enough that all the other Cullens looked to him for guidance.

I'll take point, if you want flank, Quil offered. There was more excitement in his mind than most of the others. When Quil had watched Jasper's instruction those nights, he'd been dying to test his skill against the vampire's. For him, this would be a contest. Even knowing it was his life on the line, he saw it that way. Paul was like that, too, and the kids who had never been in battle, Collin and Brady. Seth probably would've been the same-if the opponents were not his friends.

Jake? Quil nudged me. How do you want to roll?

I just shook my head. I couldn't concentrate-the compulsion to follow orders felt like puppet strings hooked into all of my muscles. One foot forward, now another.

Seth was dragging behind Collin and Brady-Leah had a.s.sumed point there. She ignored Seth while planning with the others, and I could see that she'd rather leave him out of the fight. There was a maternal edge to her feelings for her younger brother. She wished Sam would send him home. Seth didn't register Leah's doubts. He was adjusting to the puppet strings, too.Maybe if you stopped resisting..., Embry whispered.

Just focus on our part. The big ones. We can take them down. We own them! Quil was working himself up-like a pep talk before a big game.

I could see how easy it would be-to think about nothing more than my part. It wasn't hard to imaging attacking Jasper and Emmett. We'd been close to that before. I'd thought of them as enemies for a very long time. I could do that now again.

I just had to forget that they were protecting the same thing I would protect. I had to forget the reason why I might want them to win....

Jake, Embry warned. Keep your head in the game.

My feet moved sluggishly, pulling against the drag of the strings.

There' s no point fighting it, Embry whispered again.

He was right. I would end up doing what Sam wanted, if he was willing to push it. And he was. Obviously.

There was a good reason for the Alpha's authority. Even a pack as strong as ours wasn't much of a force without a leader. We had to move together, to think together, in order to be effective. And that required the body to have a head.

So what if Sam was wrong now? There was nothing anyone could do. No one could dispute his decision.

Except.