Chapter 9 - Wanna Bet?
I do not own Twilight or its characters, Stephanie Meyer does. Ruby is from my imagination. I make no money from this.
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“For all their strength, men are sometimes like little children.” – Lawana Blackwell, The Dowry of Miss Lydia Clark
“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” - Mark Twain
Jacob and Ruby woke up hours later. Jacob felt refreshed and Ruby no longer had the feeling of vertigo. They slowly got out of bed, not yet wanting to leave the comfort of each other’s arms, and got ready to meet up with the Cullen family. Ruby exchanged her sundress for a red thermal and heather gray hoodie. She kicked off her flip flops, pulled on her socks and one of her red converse sneakers. She cursed her messy disposition as she searched for her other sneaker under the bed as Jacob was in the bathroom changing into cut-off shorts and nothing else.
Once dressed, Jacob walked her to her car, gave her a quick passionate kiss that she felt down to her toes and walked away to meet up with his pack, leaving behind a flustered Ruby to fumble with her keys. Jacob took off his shorts as soon as he had the privacy the woods gave him and tied it to his leg. A second later a russet wolf was running through the trees, enjoying the wind rushing through his long scruffy hair. Jacob wanted to drive over with Ruby but he was second in command and his pack needed to arrive as a unit. Luckily, Ruby understood completely.
Ruby arrived at the clearing before the pack did; she figured that Sam must be giving them their orders on how to behave with the vampires, seeing as how they will be to work with the vampires and not attack them. Ruby parked her car near Emmett’s Jeep, laughing when she heard him groan when she purposely got too close to his ‘baby’.
As she walked over to Emmett and his family, she heard Bella’s voice and she sounded near hysterics.
“What is she doing here? Why would Jacob let her come? This is dangerous.”
“Bella, my dear, she is quite capable of protecting herself.” Edward tried to put Bella at ease but it wasn’t working.
“I’m going to slap that overgrown dog in the head for putting her in danger. It’s bad enough you and your family are protecting me and now Jacob and his pack are involved but I don’t want her to get hurt either. She’s not made of marble like you and she doesn’t heal like Jacob. I don’t like this.”
“Bella, relax.” Ruby walked over to her and took her hand. “I’m a lot stronger now. Believe me I can take care of myself. I promise. Anyway, this isn’t just about you anymore. A couple of newborns showed up at Sam’s house.”
“What happened? Was anybody hurt?” Ruby smiled softly at Esme; she was such a caring person.
“The pack took care of them. Three newborns showed up out of the blue. They scared Kim, that’s Jared’s imprint, and Claire. She fell and hit her head on a rock. She was unconscious and bleeding for a while but I was able to heal her. She’s a strong kid.”
“They’re getting reckless. I am not sure how long Victoria will be able to control them. I think this means they will be attacking soon.” Everyone seemed to be in agreement with Carlisle’s theory.
“Um… I think you should know,” Ruby started to scratch at her forearm, a sign that she was feeling awkward, “The pack will be arriving as wolves not as humans.” She looked down and spoke to a kidney shaped rock on the ground, “I don’t think they trust you.” Then she took a deep breath and started to ramble, attempting to defend the boys she was so fond of. “Individually, there are a few, well more than a few, who trust you or at least trust you enough to believe you won’t attack them right now, but since the Alpha doesn’t trust you…”
“Then the pack doesn’t trust us.” Edward finished for her.
“Yeah. Sam believes in what he was told and what is in the legends. The legends tell him you guys are not to be trusted. Hopefully he can come around and change his mind about all of you. Sorry.”
“It is quite understandable.” Carlisle tried to set her at ease. “Sam has to do what he believes is best for the pack. We understand that.” Rosalie, who was behind him, scoffed and rolled her eyes.
“My vision just went blank,” Alice said sullenly, peering past the clearing to the edge of the woods. “Looks like they’re here.”
They watched as ten oversized wolves slowly made their way to the edge of the woods, barely stepping foot into the clearing. They formed a line and Ruby assumed they were in rank. She spotted Sam’s huge black form dead center and slightly to the front. He was stiff and very much on the alert. She spotted her russet colored wolf to the left of Sam – Sam’s right – in his position as second-in-command, or Beta if you will.
Most of the wolves were relaxed, or as relaxed as they could be with vampires a few yards away, except for a few. Paul was, well, Paul. He was tense and seemed to be holding back a snarl. Ruby knew the dark silver wolf did not want to be working with the vampires. Leah, the only female and the smallest, was trying to prove herself to the pack. She was still and sitting upright but her anger would slip through whenever her lips curled back and she bared her teeth.
On the other end of the spectrum, Seth was very relaxed his tongue hanging out of his smiling mouth and his tail lazily wagging back and forth.
Carlisle took a step forward, calm as ever, to speak to them.
“Welcome. Thank you for coming.”
“Thank you.” Edward spoke and Ruby could tell the evenness to his voice was because he was reading Sam’s thoughts. “We will stay where we are and watch.”
Carlisle nodded his head. “My son will help teach us all how they fight. The newborns, as they are called, are different than us. Jasper has knowledge in this area.” Carlisle turned and stood next to Esme as Jasper came forward.
“Victoria is producing an army of newborns. They are new vampires and have insatiable thirst and immense strength.” Jasper continued to explain how the army behaves and acts.
Bella, hearing how serious and dangerous this would be, combed a hand through her hair and let out a worried sigh. She walked to the side and sat down on the cool ground. She knew the only reason everyone was here was because of her. James attacked her. Edward killed James to protect her. Now everyone has to protect her because Victoria is out for revenge.
Bella watched as Ruby walked over to her, and bent down to talk to her. “You look stressed.”
“Am I that obvious?”
“Right now you are.”
“I just don’t want anyone to get hurt. No one should be here. The Cullens are my family now, I love them. Sam and the rest of the pack are not vampires and they will get hurt. Jacob is a great guy,” Ruby stopped breathing as she felt a stab of jealousy, “and he shouldn’t have to risk his life for this. He should be thinking of how he’s going to spend the rest of his life with you.” Ruby was trying to take her words at face value because she was too scared to examine Bella’s aura, for fear she may jealousy and resentment. “And you,” Bella continued, “should not be here. There won’t be just one vampire at that battle-”
“Bella, enough,” Ruby cut her off, feeling upset. “Do you think you have some sort of power to force people to do things against their will? Everyone is here because they want to be. They want to protect you or protect their land, their community against Victoria. Ok? And don’t you dare downplay everyone’s strength because it’s disrespectful. The Cullens are anything but weak. The pack is strong and powerful and don’t you dare think that I am not capable.” Ruby took a deep breath to calm herself and once she did, she was shocked at her behavior. “I’m sorry.” Ruby sighed. “I know you’re worried and to tell you the truth so am I. Just don’t question whether we are capable; it’s a nicer way of saying ‘you are weak’.”
“I’m sorry, Ruby. I didn’t mean to imply-”
“I know. We just both worried.” Ruby smiled at her. As she walked away she caught Edward looking at them with interest. Ruby walked closer to where the vampires were standing listening to Jasper, and sat down tailor-style.
“The newborns are like children,” Jasper said to those around him. “They will only use their strength. They have no mind for skill. Because of this I will practice with Emmett first.” Jasper’s lips curled into a smirk as Emmett said, “Hey” trying to sound offended but failing. “Remember Emmett, nothing elaborate. Just try to take me down fast.”
Emmett walked forward and stood across from Jasper. The two smiled at each other before Emmett charged. Ruby and Bella both cringed waiting for the clap of thunder that was sure to come. But nothing happened. It looked like Emmett had run completely through Jasper but after he did it again, Ruby was able to see the blur that was Jasper as he moved out of the way at the last second.
Suddenly Emmett stopped in his tracks. Ruby wondered why until she saw Jasper perched on his brother’s back, his fangs exposed and a hairs width from his brother’s neck. Emmett shook his head, slightly ashamed he let his brother get one on him, as Ruby laughed and clapped her hands.
Emmett walked over to Ruby and sat next to her, crossing her legs just like her. He bumped her softly with his shoulder and made a face at her, causing Ruby to laugh. Emmett took a liking to the petite witch from the day they first met because she was easy going and enjoyed a good joke, even at her expense. For some reason, Ruby felt very much like a kid when she was with Emmett, like it was ok to laugh at mundane and immature things.
Together they watched as Jasper practice with the other members of his family. The two took bets on who they thought would win and shouted out words of encouragement or booed when needed.
Ruby picked Edward and Esme to beat Jasper, Emmett put his bet on Jasper. Ruby won. Emmett picked Carlisle and Ruby thought Jasper would win. Ruby lost. When Rosalie walked towards Jasper with a determined expression on her face, Ruby placed her bet on her. Emmett chose Jasper then they sat back and watched the fight.
Rosalie attacked and Jasper moved out the way with lightening speed. By this point, Ruby was no longer shocked by their speed but she was beyond impressed that Rosalie was that fast in five inch heels. They were moving so fast that Ruby wished they would slow down some so she could enjoy what she was watching. Then suddenly, they stopped. Jasper was standing behind Rosalie, a hand closed around her throat and his face by her ear.
Rosalie was livid. She screamed out in frustration and pushed Jasper away. As she stomped back to where her family was waiting, Ruby saw her eyes quickly move to look at Bella, then at the wolves. Ruby knew she was pissed that she lost in front of them.
“You picked yourself a loser,” Emmett laughed and continued to rib her.
“Emmett, be quiet before I tell Rosie that not only did you bet against her, but you called her a loser too.” Emmett’s laugh died in his throat and he went quiet.
After Alice won the last practice and she and Jasper walked towards everyone, Emmett got up.
“What are you doing Jasper? Not everyone has had a turn yet.” After seeing Jasper’s confused look he continued, “Ruby didn’t go.”
“It’s ok,” Ruby insisted. “I don’t need to practice.”
“Why? After seeing what you’ll be up against did you got scared? Decide it’s best not to go.” He was egging her on and she knew it but she decided to take the bait anyway.
“No. I’ll be there. It’s just I don’t think I need to practice because if they all fight like you, well… it’ll just be too easy.” Everyone laughed at the shocked expression on Emmett’s face and if he would have been human it would have flushed red.
“Really? I bet you I can take you”
“I don’t like this.” Edward’s voice was flat again and Ruby knew he was speaking for Jacob because she heard his growl in the distance.
She turned to face the wolves at the edge of the clearing and spoke loud enough for them to hear. “Jacob, relax. It’s ok. I know what I’m doing and once I’m done, you’ll realize that I can take care of myself and stop being so overprotective.” She turned back to Emmett. “So what are we betting?”
“If I win, you wash my jeep for a month… by hand. If you win, I’ll do the same thing for your car.”
“Emmett, I don’t think it’s wise you do this.” This time when Edward spoke Ruby knew it was strictly him speaking.
“Don’t worry Edward. I’ll take it easy on her.” Edward smiled and shook his head. He wasn’t worried for Ruby’s well being but was actually trying to watch out for Emmett’s pride. Edward was aware of Ruby’s strength and sat back intent on watching his brother lose.
Ruby knew Emmett would never hurt her but at the same time she knew he wouldn’t treat her like a china doll, he’ll attack her like anyone else but because she was who she was, he wouldn’t actually make contact and she loved him for it.
Ruby smiled reassuringly at Bella, who looked like she was going to be sick with worry. “Don’t worry so much Bella. You’ll give yourself an ulcer. You’ll see. I’m not as fragile as I look.” Then she made her way to the middle of the clearing, opposite Emmett. She kicked off her shoes and pulled off her socks, enjoying the damp dirt and grass beneath her feet.
Ruby took a deep calming breath and closed her eyes. She smirked before saying “Bring it on, Em”
Bella and Jacob both held their breaths as Emmett charged towards Ruby in a blur. Less than three feet away, she snapped her eyes open and turned her hands palm out, still by her side. Emmett stopped dead in his tracks. With a twitch of her index finger, he was lifted ten feet into the air. Her index finger did a twirling motion and he was spun around, hanging in the air, feet over head.
Another jerk of her finger and he came falling down, only to stop, his head an inch from the ground. She took a step closer to him, bending down in an attempt to be at face level with him. “Remember,” she said, “One month. Hand washed.” She made to get up but turned back to him. “It could use a good waxing too.” She got up and quickly set him straight again, gently placing him on his feet.
She heard a musical little laugh from Alice and heard Edward say, “I tried to warn him”. Ruby just stood staring at Emmett, her eyebrow raised and a smirk on her face.
Emmett broke into a burst of laughter and jogged over to Ruby, slapping her gently on the shoulder once he reached her; it still stung her shoulder.
“I’m glad we have you as a friend and not as an enemy.”
Ruby smiled at him as she bent down, balled up her socks and shoved them into her sneakers. Picking up her shoes, she thought how he looked and was protective like a big brother but he behaved so much like a younger brother.
“Always.”
They walked back towards the rest of his family, Ruby looking behind her and waved to the pack of wolves.
“Will you stop worrying about me now?” Ruby asked Bella when she was near her.
“Are you kidding me?” Emmett laughed. “That’s the one thing Bella is great at,” he teased.
Bella was about to say something to wipe the smirk off his face but Jasper spoke first, “Alice. What do you see?”
Everyone turned and saw Alice’s blanks stare.
“They’re coming.” She blinked and her eyes slowly slid back into focus. “They should be here in three days time.”
The easy, joking mood vanished quickly and Ruby found the atmosphere suddenly serious. She turned and looked at the pack.
“Did you hear? They’re coming in three days.”
Edward walked over to her and spoke to her. “They heard. Jacob says to tell you that they need to have a meeting and he will not be back until morning.”
Ruby took a step towards the wolves but stopped when she saw Jacob, still as a wolf, jog over to her.
“Go strategize with the boys, I’ll be fine. Told you I could take care of myself.” She winked at him and he nudged her hip lovingly with his head as she scratched him behind the ear. “You boys behave yourselves.” She gave him a kiss on the head and the wolf smiled, his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth.
As the wolves turned and loped away Ruby walked back to the Cullens, not failing to notice the tiny portion of envy in Bella’s aura directed at her. She had a feeling that Bella had no account of these feelings.
Ruby sighed. Even though she loved Bella very much, she was her first friend since Peter in Kindergarten and Bella seemed to truly care about her, Ruby was disgusted with herself that she hated Bella too, just a little. Bella brought out something in her that Ruby never experienced before and wanted to never feel. Bella made Ruby feel insecure.
Jacob was in love with Bella. That is a fact. Ruby knows that, Jacob knows that, Bella knows that, vampires and werewolves alike, know that, even Billy and Charlie know that. He loved her up until the second he imprinted on Ruby. Ruby was glad Edward could rarely get a clear read on her thoughts because then someone besides her would know her secret. He would know how much she thinks about it, stresses about it.
She had a million questions floating around in her head, but she was embarrassed to ask and even more worried to find out the answers. Can an imprinting wear out? Can you fall out of love with your imprint? Does imprinting allow for free will? Or does it just force two people to love each other, whether they want to or not? Because if that was the case it sounds to Ruby like a souped up Love Potion and every witch knows not to mess with those. It never produces real true love, just a cheap watered down version of it.
Manufactured love isn’t even one millionth as perfect, as wonderful, as consuming, as binding as true love is.
At night when Ruby lay in Jacob’s arms, no matter how much she fought it, her mind would always wonder if what Jacob and Bella had was true love, even if it was one-sided, and if what she and Jacob share is manufactured, a werewolf version of a Love Potion.
Maybe she could ask her grandmother, but Ruby didn’t think she knew much about werewolves. Maybe she could talk to Emse or Rosalie, maybe even Emily. She sighed again. She sucked at girl talk and she hated sharing her private matters with other. It would be like pulling teeth but she would make herself talk to someone about it.
“Would you like to come over?” Esme asked, pulling Ruby from her thoughts.
“I wouldn’t want to impose. You all probably have things to do.”
“You could never be an imposition,” Carlisle assured her.
“Yeah. You should come over,” Alice agreed.
“Ok. Sure.” She was too hyped up to sleep and it would be a few hours until Jacob came home so she thought, what the heck.
Then suddenly Alice started clapping and jumping up and down. “We can have a girls night – morning – whatever.”
Ruby could have sworn she heard Bella groan as they all walked towards the cars.
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“For all their strength, men are sometimes like little children.” – Lawana Blackwell, The Dowry of Miss Lydia Clark
“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” - Mark Twain
Jacob and Ruby woke up hours later. Jacob felt refreshed and Ruby no longer had the feeling of vertigo. They slowly got out of bed, not yet wanting to leave the comfort of each other’s arms, and got ready to meet up with the Cullen family. Ruby exchanged her sundress for a red thermal and heather gray hoodie. She kicked off her flip flops, pulled on her socks and one of her red converse sneakers. She cursed her messy disposition as she searched for her other sneaker under the bed as Jacob was in the bathroom changing into cut-off shorts and nothing else.
Once dressed, Jacob walked her to her car, gave her a quick passionate kiss that she felt down to her toes and walked away to meet up with his pack, leaving behind a flustered Ruby to fumble with her keys. Jacob took off his shorts as soon as he had the privacy the woods gave him and tied it to his leg. A second later a russet wolf was running through the trees, enjoying the wind rushing through his long scruffy hair. Jacob wanted to drive over with Ruby but he was second in command and his pack needed to arrive as a unit. Luckily, Ruby understood completely.
Ruby arrived at the clearing before the pack did; she figured that Sam must be giving them their orders on how to behave with the vampires, seeing as how they will be to work with the vampires and not attack them. Ruby parked her car near Emmett’s Jeep, laughing when she heard him groan when she purposely got too close to his ‘baby’.
As she walked over to Emmett and his family, she heard Bella’s voice and she sounded near hysterics.
“What is she doing here? Why would Jacob let her come? This is dangerous.”
“Bella, my dear, she is quite capable of protecting herself.” Edward tried to put Bella at ease but it wasn’t working.
“I’m going to slap that overgrown dog in the head for putting her in danger. It’s bad enough you and your family are protecting me and now Jacob and his pack are involved but I don’t want her to get hurt either. She’s not made of marble like you and she doesn’t heal like Jacob. I don’t like this.”
“Bella, relax.” Ruby walked over to her and took her hand. “I’m a lot stronger now. Believe me I can take care of myself. I promise. Anyway, this isn’t just about you anymore. A couple of newborns showed up at Sam’s house.”
“What happened? Was anybody hurt?” Ruby smiled softly at Esme; she was such a caring person.
“The pack took care of them. Three newborns showed up out of the blue. They scared Kim, that’s Jared’s imprint, and Claire. She fell and hit her head on a rock. She was unconscious and bleeding for a while but I was able to heal her. She’s a strong kid.”
“They’re getting reckless. I am not sure how long Victoria will be able to control them. I think this means they will be attacking soon.” Everyone seemed to be in agreement with Carlisle’s theory.
“Um… I think you should know,” Ruby started to scratch at her forearm, a sign that she was feeling awkward, “The pack will be arriving as wolves not as humans.” She looked down and spoke to a kidney shaped rock on the ground, “I don’t think they trust you.” Then she took a deep breath and started to ramble, attempting to defend the boys she was so fond of. “Individually, there are a few, well more than a few, who trust you or at least trust you enough to believe you won’t attack them right now, but since the Alpha doesn’t trust you…”
“Then the pack doesn’t trust us.” Edward finished for her.
“Yeah. Sam believes in what he was told and what is in the legends. The legends tell him you guys are not to be trusted. Hopefully he can come around and change his mind about all of you. Sorry.”
“It is quite understandable.” Carlisle tried to set her at ease. “Sam has to do what he believes is best for the pack. We understand that.” Rosalie, who was behind him, scoffed and rolled her eyes.
“My vision just went blank,” Alice said sullenly, peering past the clearing to the edge of the woods. “Looks like they’re here.”
They watched as ten oversized wolves slowly made their way to the edge of the woods, barely stepping foot into the clearing. They formed a line and Ruby assumed they were in rank. She spotted Sam’s huge black form dead center and slightly to the front. He was stiff and very much on the alert. She spotted her russet colored wolf to the left of Sam – Sam’s right – in his position as second-in-command, or Beta if you will.
Most of the wolves were relaxed, or as relaxed as they could be with vampires a few yards away, except for a few. Paul was, well, Paul. He was tense and seemed to be holding back a snarl. Ruby knew the dark silver wolf did not want to be working with the vampires. Leah, the only female and the smallest, was trying to prove herself to the pack. She was still and sitting upright but her anger would slip through whenever her lips curled back and she bared her teeth.
On the other end of the spectrum, Seth was very relaxed his tongue hanging out of his smiling mouth and his tail lazily wagging back and forth.
Carlisle took a step forward, calm as ever, to speak to them.
“Welcome. Thank you for coming.”
“Thank you.” Edward spoke and Ruby could tell the evenness to his voice was because he was reading Sam’s thoughts. “We will stay where we are and watch.”
Carlisle nodded his head. “My son will help teach us all how they fight. The newborns, as they are called, are different than us. Jasper has knowledge in this area.” Carlisle turned and stood next to Esme as Jasper came forward.
“Victoria is producing an army of newborns. They are new vampires and have insatiable thirst and immense strength.” Jasper continued to explain how the army behaves and acts.
Bella, hearing how serious and dangerous this would be, combed a hand through her hair and let out a worried sigh. She walked to the side and sat down on the cool ground. She knew the only reason everyone was here was because of her. James attacked her. Edward killed James to protect her. Now everyone has to protect her because Victoria is out for revenge.
Bella watched as Ruby walked over to her, and bent down to talk to her. “You look stressed.”
“Am I that obvious?”
“Right now you are.”
“I just don’t want anyone to get hurt. No one should be here. The Cullens are my family now, I love them. Sam and the rest of the pack are not vampires and they will get hurt. Jacob is a great guy,” Ruby stopped breathing as she felt a stab of jealousy, “and he shouldn’t have to risk his life for this. He should be thinking of how he’s going to spend the rest of his life with you.” Ruby was trying to take her words at face value because she was too scared to examine Bella’s aura, for fear she may jealousy and resentment. “And you,” Bella continued, “should not be here. There won’t be just one vampire at that battle-”
“Bella, enough,” Ruby cut her off, feeling upset. “Do you think you have some sort of power to force people to do things against their will? Everyone is here because they want to be. They want to protect you or protect their land, their community against Victoria. Ok? And don’t you dare downplay everyone’s strength because it’s disrespectful. The Cullens are anything but weak. The pack is strong and powerful and don’t you dare think that I am not capable.” Ruby took a deep breath to calm herself and once she did, she was shocked at her behavior. “I’m sorry.” Ruby sighed. “I know you’re worried and to tell you the truth so am I. Just don’t question whether we are capable; it’s a nicer way of saying ‘you are weak’.”
“I’m sorry, Ruby. I didn’t mean to imply-”
“I know. We just both worried.” Ruby smiled at her. As she walked away she caught Edward looking at them with interest. Ruby walked closer to where the vampires were standing listening to Jasper, and sat down tailor-style.
“The newborns are like children,” Jasper said to those around him. “They will only use their strength. They have no mind for skill. Because of this I will practice with Emmett first.” Jasper’s lips curled into a smirk as Emmett said, “Hey” trying to sound offended but failing. “Remember Emmett, nothing elaborate. Just try to take me down fast.”
Emmett walked forward and stood across from Jasper. The two smiled at each other before Emmett charged. Ruby and Bella both cringed waiting for the clap of thunder that was sure to come. But nothing happened. It looked like Emmett had run completely through Jasper but after he did it again, Ruby was able to see the blur that was Jasper as he moved out of the way at the last second.
Suddenly Emmett stopped in his tracks. Ruby wondered why until she saw Jasper perched on his brother’s back, his fangs exposed and a hairs width from his brother’s neck. Emmett shook his head, slightly ashamed he let his brother get one on him, as Ruby laughed and clapped her hands.
Emmett walked over to Ruby and sat next to her, crossing her legs just like her. He bumped her softly with his shoulder and made a face at her, causing Ruby to laugh. Emmett took a liking to the petite witch from the day they first met because she was easy going and enjoyed a good joke, even at her expense. For some reason, Ruby felt very much like a kid when she was with Emmett, like it was ok to laugh at mundane and immature things.
Together they watched as Jasper practice with the other members of his family. The two took bets on who they thought would win and shouted out words of encouragement or booed when needed.
Ruby picked Edward and Esme to beat Jasper, Emmett put his bet on Jasper. Ruby won. Emmett picked Carlisle and Ruby thought Jasper would win. Ruby lost. When Rosalie walked towards Jasper with a determined expression on her face, Ruby placed her bet on her. Emmett chose Jasper then they sat back and watched the fight.
Rosalie attacked and Jasper moved out the way with lightening speed. By this point, Ruby was no longer shocked by their speed but she was beyond impressed that Rosalie was that fast in five inch heels. They were moving so fast that Ruby wished they would slow down some so she could enjoy what she was watching. Then suddenly, they stopped. Jasper was standing behind Rosalie, a hand closed around her throat and his face by her ear.
Rosalie was livid. She screamed out in frustration and pushed Jasper away. As she stomped back to where her family was waiting, Ruby saw her eyes quickly move to look at Bella, then at the wolves. Ruby knew she was pissed that she lost in front of them.
“You picked yourself a loser,” Emmett laughed and continued to rib her.
“Emmett, be quiet before I tell Rosie that not only did you bet against her, but you called her a loser too.” Emmett’s laugh died in his throat and he went quiet.
After Alice won the last practice and she and Jasper walked towards everyone, Emmett got up.
“What are you doing Jasper? Not everyone has had a turn yet.” After seeing Jasper’s confused look he continued, “Ruby didn’t go.”
“It’s ok,” Ruby insisted. “I don’t need to practice.”
“Why? After seeing what you’ll be up against did you got scared? Decide it’s best not to go.” He was egging her on and she knew it but she decided to take the bait anyway.
“No. I’ll be there. It’s just I don’t think I need to practice because if they all fight like you, well… it’ll just be too easy.” Everyone laughed at the shocked expression on Emmett’s face and if he would have been human it would have flushed red.
“Really? I bet you I can take you”
“I don’t like this.” Edward’s voice was flat again and Ruby knew he was speaking for Jacob because she heard his growl in the distance.
She turned to face the wolves at the edge of the clearing and spoke loud enough for them to hear. “Jacob, relax. It’s ok. I know what I’m doing and once I’m done, you’ll realize that I can take care of myself and stop being so overprotective.” She turned back to Emmett. “So what are we betting?”
“If I win, you wash my jeep for a month… by hand. If you win, I’ll do the same thing for your car.”
“Emmett, I don’t think it’s wise you do this.” This time when Edward spoke Ruby knew it was strictly him speaking.
“Don’t worry Edward. I’ll take it easy on her.” Edward smiled and shook his head. He wasn’t worried for Ruby’s well being but was actually trying to watch out for Emmett’s pride. Edward was aware of Ruby’s strength and sat back intent on watching his brother lose.
Ruby knew Emmett would never hurt her but at the same time she knew he wouldn’t treat her like a china doll, he’ll attack her like anyone else but because she was who she was, he wouldn’t actually make contact and she loved him for it.
Ruby smiled reassuringly at Bella, who looked like she was going to be sick with worry. “Don’t worry so much Bella. You’ll give yourself an ulcer. You’ll see. I’m not as fragile as I look.” Then she made her way to the middle of the clearing, opposite Emmett. She kicked off her shoes and pulled off her socks, enjoying the damp dirt and grass beneath her feet.
Ruby took a deep calming breath and closed her eyes. She smirked before saying “Bring it on, Em”
Bella and Jacob both held their breaths as Emmett charged towards Ruby in a blur. Less than three feet away, she snapped her eyes open and turned her hands palm out, still by her side. Emmett stopped dead in his tracks. With a twitch of her index finger, he was lifted ten feet into the air. Her index finger did a twirling motion and he was spun around, hanging in the air, feet over head.
Another jerk of her finger and he came falling down, only to stop, his head an inch from the ground. She took a step closer to him, bending down in an attempt to be at face level with him. “Remember,” she said, “One month. Hand washed.” She made to get up but turned back to him. “It could use a good waxing too.” She got up and quickly set him straight again, gently placing him on his feet.
She heard a musical little laugh from Alice and heard Edward say, “I tried to warn him”. Ruby just stood staring at Emmett, her eyebrow raised and a smirk on her face.
Emmett broke into a burst of laughter and jogged over to Ruby, slapping her gently on the shoulder once he reached her; it still stung her shoulder.
“I’m glad we have you as a friend and not as an enemy.”
Ruby smiled at him as she bent down, balled up her socks and shoved them into her sneakers. Picking up her shoes, she thought how he looked and was protective like a big brother but he behaved so much like a younger brother.
“Always.”
They walked back towards the rest of his family, Ruby looking behind her and waved to the pack of wolves.
“Will you stop worrying about me now?” Ruby asked Bella when she was near her.
“Are you kidding me?” Emmett laughed. “That’s the one thing Bella is great at,” he teased.
Bella was about to say something to wipe the smirk off his face but Jasper spoke first, “Alice. What do you see?”
Everyone turned and saw Alice’s blanks stare.
“They’re coming.” She blinked and her eyes slowly slid back into focus. “They should be here in three days time.”
The easy, joking mood vanished quickly and Ruby found the atmosphere suddenly serious. She turned and looked at the pack.
“Did you hear? They’re coming in three days.”
Edward walked over to her and spoke to her. “They heard. Jacob says to tell you that they need to have a meeting and he will not be back until morning.”
Ruby took a step towards the wolves but stopped when she saw Jacob, still as a wolf, jog over to her.
“Go strategize with the boys, I’ll be fine. Told you I could take care of myself.” She winked at him and he nudged her hip lovingly with his head as she scratched him behind the ear. “You boys behave yourselves.” She gave him a kiss on the head and the wolf smiled, his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth.
As the wolves turned and loped away Ruby walked back to the Cullens, not failing to notice the tiny portion of envy in Bella’s aura directed at her. She had a feeling that Bella had no account of these feelings.
Ruby sighed. Even though she loved Bella very much, she was her first friend since Peter in Kindergarten and Bella seemed to truly care about her, Ruby was disgusted with herself that she hated Bella too, just a little. Bella brought out something in her that Ruby never experienced before and wanted to never feel. Bella made Ruby feel insecure.
Jacob was in love with Bella. That is a fact. Ruby knows that, Jacob knows that, Bella knows that, vampires and werewolves alike, know that, even Billy and Charlie know that. He loved her up until the second he imprinted on Ruby. Ruby was glad Edward could rarely get a clear read on her thoughts because then someone besides her would know her secret. He would know how much she thinks about it, stresses about it.
She had a million questions floating around in her head, but she was embarrassed to ask and even more worried to find out the answers. Can an imprinting wear out? Can you fall out of love with your imprint? Does imprinting allow for free will? Or does it just force two people to love each other, whether they want to or not? Because if that was the case it sounds to Ruby like a souped up Love Potion and every witch knows not to mess with those. It never produces real true love, just a cheap watered down version of it.
Manufactured love isn’t even one millionth as perfect, as wonderful, as consuming, as binding as true love is.
At night when Ruby lay in Jacob’s arms, no matter how much she fought it, her mind would always wonder if what Jacob and Bella had was true love, even if it was one-sided, and if what she and Jacob share is manufactured, a werewolf version of a Love Potion.
Maybe she could ask her grandmother, but Ruby didn’t think she knew much about werewolves. Maybe she could talk to Emse or Rosalie, maybe even Emily. She sighed again. She sucked at girl talk and she hated sharing her private matters with other. It would be like pulling teeth but she would make herself talk to someone about it.
“Would you like to come over?” Esme asked, pulling Ruby from her thoughts.
“I wouldn’t want to impose. You all probably have things to do.”
“You could never be an imposition,” Carlisle assured her.
“Yeah. You should come over,” Alice agreed.
“Ok. Sure.” She was too hyped up to sleep and it would be a few hours until Jacob came home so she thought, what the heck.
Then suddenly Alice started clapping and jumping up and down. “We can have a girls night – morning – whatever.”
Ruby could have sworn she heard Bella groan as they all walked towards the cars.
