No Good Deed
by Ase Coffer 

            You can’t have a real honeymoon with your vampire…

            Later I would look back and be haunted by those words. If I had just kept my mouth shut she would not have made her revelation and I would have been able to actually sleep that night. I could have held her in my arms and danced with her until her…husband came to retrieve her, but the idea of them doing that while she was still human was ludicrous and impossible. 

            “I’m not putting anything off.” Bella snapped. “And yes I can have a real honeymoon! I can do anything I want! Butt Out!”

            I stopped moving at this. Her words hammered through me as a black hatred consumed my entire being. Quickly I looked for a way to rationalize what she had said. She can’t possibly be suicidal; she had what she wanted. ‘She can’t really mean it…but then why did she say it.’ I asked myself.

            I felt my eyes go wide with horror as I realized that she was serious. “What?” I strangled out almost pleading with her to have been lying. “What did you say?”

            “About what…? Jake, what’s wrong?” She asked. After today’s events could anything possibly be right? She married a vampire. Nothing would be right ever again.

            “What do you mean? Have a real honeymoon? While you’re still human? Are you kidding? That’s a sick joke, Bella!”

            And that’s exactly what it was. For me at least. Something sick and wildly painful. Infinitely more painful than the fact that he had married her. More painful than the fact that soon he was going to turn her into a something soulless. Beautiful for all eternity, but all the more grotesque for it.

            No, the fact that soon he would own her soft human body as well as her blind heart was simply agony. And he would probably really kill her to top it all.

            She glared and stuttered. “I said butt out, Jake. This is so not your business. I shouldn’t have…we shouldn’t even be talking about this. It’s private.”

            My hands closed around her arms of their own accord. My control had finally snapped and I began to tremble even as I tried to reign in the beast. She was shaking right along with me. ‘Good maybe it will shake some sense loose in that head of hers.’

            “Ow Jake let go.” The fear in her voice allowed me to gain another centimeter of control, but that was all. I heard what she said, but I could not obey. I was battling with what I wanted to do and what the beast wanted to do. He wanted to fight, I wanted to take Bella and run. I could take her. Take her anywhere.

            I knew she didn’t love me. Not like she loved Edward, but she could learn. Our happiness could be complete. There could be a honeymoon, there could be kids, there could be an us.

            “Bella have you lost your mind? You can’t be that stupid! Tell me you’re joking!”

            “Jake-Stop.” She pleaded as my grip tightened.

            I knew I was hurting her. I didn’t want to, but I had to make her see. It was bad enough that he wanted to take her away from me by making her into my enemy, but he could very well take her away from me forever. He could kill her tonight.

            “Take your hands off her!” And there he was. The beast inside was fighting for control even harder now and he was looking at me like I was the dangerous one. Like I was the one who was going to hurt Bella.

            My brothers were there now as well. I could not hear what they said over the pounding of blood in my ears. The only thing that was important was that I keep Bella with me. That she stay by my side, so that I could keep her safe. She struggled against me and my brothers tried to make me let her loose and it was too much.

            My hands lost there grip and in a flash she was away from me in her bloodsuckers arms.

            The wolves were trying to make me leave. I didn’t want to leave. I needed to stay and save Bella from the vampires. From herself. “I’ll kill you.” I snarled, but it came out too low. “I’ll kill you myself! I’ll do it right now!”

            Before I could stop them the wolves pushed me into the forest. They were trying to save me from my nightmare, but who would save Bella from the object of my darkest hatred. Nobody but me. I finally let the wolf out.

            I wanted to fight. It was just my brothers’ bad luck that they got in the way.

            I prepared to launch at the big, black wolf that was my alpha. The remorse that poured out of all of them brought me to my senses and sickened me at the same time.

            I ran, the only thing left for me to do, deeper into the forest. The others phased back, giving me the space I needed and the only comfort they could offer at this point.

            I couldn’t let myself feel gratitude toward them. I couldn’t let myself feel hatred for the leech. I just couldn’t let myself feel. I just ran. Not far and not fast. It was all I could manage to keep moving.

            When I stopped, finally collapsing in a clearing far enough away from the party that I could barely hear it, everything came back.

            Pain of my own making overtook me and I let out a whimper. It sounded like a high pitched yelp and normally would have embarrassed the hell out of me. Now, I couldn’t care less. I wanted to wallow.

            Thoughts of that leech being with human Bella, lying with her, loving her, burned my mind.

            It was a stupid thought, a thought I had to comfort me, but I had thought that this Bella was still partly mine. Human Bella still belonged to me, if only a little.

            It was stupid. She was giving him all of human Bella too.

            And comfort was quickly turning into poison. Only this poison wouldn’t just kill me outright. If only it were that simple.

            The amount of time I had laid there was a mystery. I didn’t care if I stayed here forever, but sooner or later my pack would come for me. Unsteadily, I got to my feet. I felt a million years too old and hurt more than anyone person had a right to. The pain had to go.

            My head tilted and I let loose a howl that held every ounce of heartache in me. It wouldn’t stay gone, but the relief was momentary.

            ‘Goodbye Bella. I loved you.’