Jacob was still unconscious when I was back in the forest. Carlisle and Edward were having a conversation but they stopped abruptly when they saw me. It made me think it was about me.
“Billy’s calling Sam,” I told them. “He should be here soon.”
I sat down next to Jacob and stroked his head again. I didn’t know what else to do.
“We should go,” Edward said. I wasn’t looking at him so I didn’t know who he was speaking to.
“Kayla,” he said. “We should go.”
“Why?” I looked up at Edward. I wasn’t leaving Jacob.
“I don’t want to be here when Sam comes.”
“What’s wrong with Sam?” I asked. “It’s not like he’ll start a fight with you.”
Edward looked at Carlisle, clearly searching for an answer from him.
Carlisle stepped forward.
“There’s this treaty between us and the wolves,” Carlisle spoke carefully. “We’re not allowed on their land, they’re not allowed on ours. We can’t attack them and they can’t attack us. We’re not allowed to bite humans either but we don’t anyway. If we break the treaty they can attack and kill us. They could possibly ban us from Forks.”
“What are you saying?” I asked.
“With us being here, it looks like we may have attacked Jacob.”
“But you didn’t. I did.”
Edward sighed. “We know you did but Sam doesn’t. If he sees us here then he might think that I did it. All the wolves know that Carlisle wouldn’t hurt anyone. He hates violence.”
“I will tell Sam that I did it.”
“He could think that you’re protecting me.”
I looked down at Jacob. I didn’t want to leave him but I didn’t want Edward to leave me. Edward didn’t want to leave me either. He was scared that Charlie might hurt me or lock me up in the house until the Cullens left.
“Kayla,” Edward said. “I have to go.”
“I know,” I sighed. “I don’t want to leave Jacob.”
He was beside me and he was stroking my hair.
“If I leave you now I don’t know when I’ll see you again.”
“What do you mean?” I snapped my head round to look at him.
“I don’t know if we can ever see each other,” he said, slowly. “Now that Charlie knows, he’ll watch you constantly. He’ll have the wolves watch your every move when he can’t see you. If you come with me now, we can leave and no one will ever find us. I swear.”
“I’m sixteen,” I said quietly. “I can’t run away. I have no money.”
“I’ll take care of you.” Edward took my hand and squeezed it gently.
The prospect of running away with Edward sounded wonderful. We could be together all the time. It was like a dream come true. But I couldn’t. There was something that would stop us. Charlie.
I shook my head.
“I can’t, Edward, I can’t.”
His golden eyes looked hurt but his face didn’t change expression.
“Charlie will have the police, the FBI, even the CIA, looking for us. You’ll get arrested for kidnapping and be locked up. How will you explain to the guards when you don’t get any older? How can you survive jail when you won’t be able to hunt? I don’t want you to risk your life for me.”
“You tell him you’re leaving,” Edward spoke fast. “You don’t say that you’re leaving with me you just leave. You come to my house and stay. I’ll stay here a few days so it looks like we haven’t left together and then I’ll think of an excuse so I can leave. Then we can leave together.”
“Charlie isn’t stupid,” I said. “It’s a great plan but he ain’t stupid. He will see through it.”
Edward looked back at Carlisle. He was desperate. He wanted a way for us to be together and he would do anything to see me. But it looked like we wouldn’t be together if Charlie was still here.
Edward stiffened. I looked at him, worried that Charlie was here, but then he relaxed.
“Sam’s here,” he told Carlisle. “There goes my plan to leave.”
“You’d rather stay here with me,” I assured him. “All the fun is where I am.”
“Don’t I know it,” Edward murmured.
I smiled at him but he didn’t smile back. He was trying to come up with a plan for us to escape.
A tall dark man was making his way towards us. This was Sam Uley and I now knew why he was the Alpha. He had this powerful look about him. He looked immensely strong and he also looked slightly mysterious. His black eyes were wary as he looked at Carlisle and Edward.
“Billy didn’t say there would be vampires.” His voice was deep.
“I didn’t tell Billy there were vampires,” I said, looking at Sam. “I didn’t tell him all the details as I was trying to get you here fast. I was worried about Jacob.”
At Jacob’s name, Sam looked down at the wolf. He stared at Jacob for long time before he turned to Carlisle.
“What happened?”
Carlisle quickly explained everything that had happened. He told Sam that he had bandaged Jacob up as best that he could and should remain in his wolf form so he would heal quicker and better. Sam nodded and looked at me.
“You must be a strong fighter to take down one of us.”
I shrugged.
“It wasn’t all me,” I said. “The branch did most of the work.”
Sam didn’t smile but I heard Edward suppress a laugh.
“I’ll need some help getting Jacob to my car,” Sam spoke only to Carlisle. It seemed Carlisle was the only one the wolves could trust.
Carlisle nodded.
“I’ll be glad to help,” he said.
They both walked over to Jacob and lifted him carefully. I still hand my hand on Jacob and I let them lift it but they lifted Jacob up too high for my arm to reach.
“Get Jacob to call me when he wakes up,” I said to Sam. “I want to apologise.”
Sam nodded and he and Carlisle walked away carrying Jacob.
“Thought of anything yet?” I asked Edward.
Edward shook his head.
“Anytime I think of something brilliant Charlie ruins it.”
I moved closer to him and rested my head on his shoulder.
“You’ll think of something.” I said. “You always do.”
“If only there was some way that he would have no control over you.”
“He’ll have no control over me when I’m eighteen.”
“Something a bit sooner would help.”
I tried to think of a situation where Charlie wouldn’t have a say in what I did. There was the option of waiting til I was eighteen but could I stay that long with Charlie when he was like this? If only my mum was here. She would be able to overrule anything Charlie said. If Charlie told my mum that Edward was a vampire she’d think he’d gone senile. All Edward would do is lie and Charlie would be shipped off to a mental asylum.
Edward chuckled at the idea of Charlie being carted off by men in white coats.
That was when I had an idea, a plan, a brilliant plan. Edward could see the plan forming in my mind.
He turned to me.
“That is brilliant,” he said. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of it.”
“I am a genius in my spare time.”