Haven Eldridge would be lying if she said that she hadn't seen this coming.

After the crossing of territories debacle and letting Victoria just slip through their grasps, Haven knew all too well that there was someone in particular that would have a lot to say about it.

The familiar towering figure of Jacob Black was pacing along the side of Haven's BMW. His sneakers were scuffing up dirt in his clearly agitated state, the tensing of his shoulders were another clue in to his angry mood.

Letting out a breath, Haven cautiously walked over to her car knowing that whatever conversation they were about to have wasn't going to be pretty. There were many things that the wolf could be pissed off about; the fact that Emmett crossed into his tribal lands, that Victoria ended up getting away because of it, but there was a reason in particular that Haven knew was the cause for his constant pacing and hardened expression.

At the sound of her footsteps approaching, Jacob spun his body to look at the brunette walking his way. Of course he was full of relief at the sight that she was okay, but that didn't change the slight bubble of anger that had been filling his gut after Paul gave him the run down of what had happened only about twenty minutes ago.

"You're obviously mad." Haven stated hesitantly, her hands gripping her gun tighter not knowing what to expect from Jacob.

Haven had never been scared of Jacob, she never really had reason to be. Whenever the two had fought previously, it had only been over stupid thing like what show to watch on the TV when she stayed over at his house or Haven's ability to almost always be late to whatever plans they had made which annoyed Jacob to no end. Always in the back of her mind was the fact that Jacob is a werewolf and they are unpredictable, Sam Uley and Emily Young were a prime example of the rage that could consume a wolf and make them do things to the people they love.

Haven trusted Jacob like she had never trusted anyone before, she knew that if it came down to it she would willingly and wholeheartedly put her life in his hands if need be and this only meant that the feeling of slight fright coming into her gut made the brunette feel guilty. She knew that the russet skinned boy could not help what he was, he couldn't help that some of the littlest things could make him angrier than a toddler throwing a tantrum, especially when Haven was involved. She detested that she felt a little frightened of the boy right now, but she couldn't ignore the deep breaths he was having to take or the ridged position of his shoulders squaring up.

A scoff made it past his full lips as Jacob shook his head, "I have every right to be mad at you and those filthy bloodsuckers right now."

Jacob had most definitely used this nickname before, in fact Haven had witnessed the majority of the wolves use it in day to day conversation almost like the names of the Cullen's or the term 'vampire' itself were toxic and if they said them they would perish into nothing. She wasn't sure why this time around the simple pass of the nickname felt like an insult on her herself, maybe it was because they were the very family who were doing a much better job at protecting Bella than the wolves were or maybe it was because tonight she really felt like herself and the Cullen's had made a good team, whatever it was made Haven's blood boil slightly.

"Mad at me?" Haven rose her usually smoother voice to sound more menacing, "What did I do that's so bad? I get that you are mad at Emmett for passing onto your lands, which your buddies made into a much bigger deal than it was by the way, but that has nothing to do with me."

The wolf inside of Jacob hated the tone she was using with him, the edgy tinge to her voice that usually sent good shivers down his spine, felt like it was cutting him with knives. But what made the boy even angrier was that the imprint was making it harder to be mad at the girl in front of him, especially when he thought it was the necessary emotion to feel. Jacob instantly wanted to apologize and to pull her into his arms as he felt the feelings of his deep connection with Haven sliding through his veins. The teenager tried desperately to suppress whatever commotion was going on inside his body and the lingering feeling of anger still pulsated through him, "I'm angry at you because you are working with them! You're supposed to be with me."

If there was one thing that Haven hated about boys or significant others in general, it was their supposed sense of entitlement. She didn't belong to anyone, even if she was dating them it didn't mean that Jacob got to dictate her life and who she stood beside when it came down to important things, "If you want to talk about what I am supposed to be doing, then how about you remember that I am supposed to be getting rid of your kind all together, and the vampires." Haven scoffed back at him, raising the weapon that was locked in her grip to emphasize her point.

The disagreement was escalating quickly, it was obvious the two who were usually so in-tuned with one another held very different viewpoints of the situation.

"You know what I mean, since when have you wanted to work with leeches?"

"Since they care about keeping my best friend safe!"

Jacob frowned at that, his usual wide smile was no where to be seen in this conversation, "You don't think I care about Bella's safety?" His voice which had once matched her feminine one in shouts had been bought back down to a low tone. If there was one person that Jacob cared about as much as Haven it was Bella - well maybe not as much but he cared about her a lot. She was one of his best friends, someone who he has so many early memories with from when they were so much smaller and thought they could take on the world. As of late, he had been trying to avoid her and he had been succeeding, but only because of her involvement with vampires - the people who everyone around him described as monsters, killers even.

"You have a funny way of showing it, Jake," Haven kept her voice louder. As much as the brunette felt desperately like she wanted to run into his arms once his calm tone came back into her ears, the voice she knew all too well and appreciated, Haven refused to let this go. Whether she knew it or not, this disagreement had been brewing inside of her for a while now, "You haven't talked to her in weeks, you ignore her calls and any advancements she makes. You need to get over it, Jacob! The Cullen's are apart of Bella's life and that means they're apart of mine, there is nothing you can do about that."

The brunette hated that there were tears starting to brew in her eyes, she refused to look up at the boy in front of her because she feared one sparing glance in his direction would make them cascade down her porcelain skin. Haven wasn't sad, she was simply frustrated and that alone was making her emotions go out of wack.

Jacob didn't need to look at her, it was almost as if he could feel the raw emotion dripping from her voice. He knew how she felt about Bella, the two were practically attached at the hip - wherever Bella went, Haven went and vice versa but he didn't realize how much his ignorance of Bella was hurting her. The immediate feeling of guilt began to coarse through his veins, the anger he once felt only a few seconds earlier seemed to disperse into nothing around him.

He instinctively reached for her hand, an action he had become so accustomed to doing. But as soon as his russet skin brushed her daintier hands, Haven took a quick step back in retaliation. Jacob couldn't help the sadness that skimmed through his mind so swiftly, the small act of rejection from the person who made him feel completely whole, making him immediately doubt everything.

When Haven recoiled from his touch, her face snapped up and she watched through blurry eyes as Jacob's entire face etched into a frown. Keeping a stern, hard look to her, Haven proceeded to push down all of her heart's ploys to get her to stop resisting and move forward to him. The imprint was strong, she had always known that but right now it felt like it never had before. She had never been in a situation where her mind was spinning with anger and wanted her away from Jacob, while her heart pleaded her to stay as close to him as possible.

"I have to go, talk to me when you are willing to realize that the Cullen's aren't the enemy here." Haven could barely whisper, her voice coming out as a low hum which she knew Jacob would have no trouble hearing.

"Haven, wai-"

"Just let me go, Jacob," Haven grasped her gun tighter as if it was the only thing that could keep her grounded right now so she didn't spin out of control in sobs, "I'll talk to you later."

Jacob had an inner fight at that point, he knew that he should let her go, after all he was still angry at the situation as a whole himself but the imprint was as strong as ever at this point, the wolf inside him pleaded and begged him not to let her slip out of his fingers.

In the end he didn't have to decide between the two opposing forces in his head, Haven made that choice for him as she hastily slid into her leather seated car before the engine started and she was off, heading in the direction of her house. The boy watched as the familiar maroon vehicle tore up dirt as it drove away from him, the feeling of regret and anger at himself already setting themselves up in his chest.

He knew what he had to do, it was one way for him to escape and let go of the anger and worry that plagued his mind at this point. Already dressed in suitable clothing of only jean shorts, the change ripped through Jacob's buff body and it barely took him anytime at all to be fully phased into his slim wolf form. His paws took him in the direction of the forest, he tried desperately to ignore the various voices filling his brain from his concerned pack members. Jacob found himself ripping into a great speed, barely noticing how quickly he began to pass the assortment of trees and bushes in the familiar woods.

All he could think about was one thing and that was the same person that seemed to always fill his thoughts; Haven.

Haven insistingly tried to keep her glazed eyes on the road in front of her but her thoughts were blazing at a mile a minute. She wasn't sure what she was mad about really, whether it was that Jacob expected her to stand beside him all of the time no matter if he wasn't doing the right thing or whether it was because she was sick of the attitude he possessed about the Cullen's and vampires in general.

She understood that he had people telling him what to think, Haven was sure that Sam Uley and the rest of his pack were extremely anti-vampire which meant these beliefs were being placed onto Jacob's shoulders. Haven simply wished that the boy she held so close to her heart might happen to consider his opinions might be wrong when it meant that it was putting Bella in more danger. If only he agreed to help and work with the vampires, they might finally be able to catch Victoria for good.

The more Haven proceeded to think about it, the more she saw the fight to be trivial and stupid. But she had always been stubborn, it was simply a trait that she had acquired since she came into this world and it wasn't going to go away anytime soon. The brunette refused to be the one to go back and apologize, Haven really didn't think she was at fault anyway.

The huntress tapped her pink polished nails on the leather steering wheel. No matter that she felt the argument may have been exaggerated more than it should have been, this didn't stop the tears pooling at her eyes then proceeding to fall across her red tinted cheeks.

---

"This weather sucks, book me another ticket to Phoenix where the sun shines more than once a year." Bella groaned, her head laying back against her seat in defeat. The rain pattered against the windows which wasn't an unusual sight for anyone who took up residence in this town.

Haven laughed lightly at her best friend from beside her, the two were seated in the backseat of Edward's sleek Volvo on the way to another day of their senior year. In comparison to everything that has happened since the huntress arrived in Forks, school really does seem like the least of her worries. Although, finals were coming up and the brunette hated to admit that she hadn't allocated a lot of time for studying. The assortment of highlighters and pens that her mother had bought were really going to be of no use if she didn't sit down and at least try to be interested.

Edward had offered to take Haven to school this morning so that she could catch up with Bella, who just got back from her time away with her mom in Arizona. She would usually have declined the offer, knowing that she would be able to talk to her in the many classes the two seniors shared but since everything that happened with Jacob, Paul and Emmett last night, Haven was in desperate need of a distraction and it just so happened that came in the form of an eighteen year old girl with doe eyes.

"Did you enjoy it then?" Haven asked hesitantly, not sure of how Bella was feeling, "Did you like seeing her?" It was probably going to be the final time that the teenager would see her mother ever. She was going to be turned after graduation and this meant that there would be no more trips to visit Renee.

Bella nodded and Haven could tell just by the glint in her eyes that the entirety of her situation was dawning on her, "Yeah, I'm just going to miss her that's all."

Edward, who had been blatantly eavesdropping into their conversation, spoke up after hearing this, "It doesn't have to be that way you know."

Haven cringed slightly, knowing all too well what strain the changing was bringing on both Bella and Edward. The huntress couldn't say she was too happy at her best friend's decision to become a vampire, but she would never admit that. Anyone watching them can see how happy both Bella and Edward made each other, and if they had the opportunity to love each other until the end of time then Haven didn't believe it was her place to intervene.

"You still hoping I will change my mind?" Bella asked, a tone of disappointment coating her voice as she rested her head on her knees which were curled up underneath her.

Edward nodded, seeing the youthful glow and tint to his girlfriend's face, "I'm always hoping that."

It wasn't that Edward didn't want to spend the rest of his life with Bella, that was not the case for his hesitance at all. He wished that he had been given a choice, a choice to keep his soul and he still hopes to this day that Bella will change her mind so that he doesn't have to make a monster out of her.

The three fell silent after that, luckily they were already pulling up to a park in the lot of Forks High. Haven began to retrieve her leather bag which was resting at her feet, tucking a brown lock of hair that had fallen from her ponytail behind her ear. With her bulky biology textbooks in her hands, the girl was ready to open her door when she felt like she could cut the tension that had suddenly filled the interior of the flash vehicle.

"If I asked you two to stay in the car, would you?" Edward spoke hopefully before swiftly making his way out of the drivers seat.

Bella and Haven stole a glance at one another, a knowing look on their faces. Ignoring his request entirely, the two curious brunette's hopped out of their respective doors and followed to see what was going on. Bella pulled her hood over her head, the usual drizzle of Forks raining down on everyone. Haven wished she had been smart enough to bring an umbrella or something, apparently she would never learn about the towns weather patterns as long as she lived there. Her denim jacket was doing nothing for weather protection, but at least it went with her outfit well.

"Of course not." Edward mumbled as the two females came to stand beside him, seeing that they had completely ignored his suggestion.

It was then that both Haven and Bella landed their eyes on what was causing Edward so much grief. Jacob Black was standing with his back to them all, his muscly arms crossed over his chest. Almost as if he knew they were looking his way, the russet skinned boy turned to meet their gaze with an expression that in no way resembled the boy that Haven knew all too well.

With water messing up his jet black hair, it was obvious to Haven that he had been waiting a while at the school entrance. Her heart warmed at seeing his familiar form but at the same time she noticed just how tense he was, it didn't seem like he was going to be very welcoming to anyone at this point.

The three began to make their way over to the boy, although Haven was tempted to run back into the car to avoid whatever this conversation was going to be about - maybe she should have listened to Edward after all. Jacob stalked over to meet them halfway, all of the students moving around them looked to stare intently at the teenager they had never seen before, marveling at the sight of fresh meat that most of them deemed as rather attractive.

When they were standing opposite each other, Jacob's brown eyes wandered over to Haven and she could see his tough exterior soften slightly before he moved his eyes to harden at seeing Bella, "I thought you left town."

Bella had moved forward at this point and Haven had remained at Edward's side, trying to stay as far away from the wolf as possible after what went down yesterday, "To see my mom, why?" Bella questioned not seeing where the boy who had been ignoring her for weeks was going with the line of conversation.

Feeling movement from her left, Haven glanced at Edward to see that his body was moving in chuckles, "He's checking to see if you're still human." It was clear that he had read into the teenagers mind, the idea of making Jacob squirm obviously brought the old vampire a lot of joy.

Jacob's chocolate colored eyes came to rest on Edward, they were instantly darker at the sight of him. He wasn't sure what he was more angry about at this point; Edward planning on changing Bella, the ordeal that happened the night before where one of those vampires broke the treaty or that he was standing extremely close to Haven.

"I actually came to give you a message." Jacob stated, his entire body focused on Edward at this point, "If your kind come on our land again..."

Haven's eyes fluttered closed at this, knowing that Bella would have heard. Haven and the Cullen's had made an agreement that it would be better not to tell the human about Victoria's return in the area and their escapades trying desperately to catch her. As much as Haven hated lying to the girl, she knew it was probably best. She hated seeing her scared and upset, which is exactly how she would feel if she knew about the red head vampire roaming the town, they hoped to get the threat under control before it became a massive issue that Bella had to worry about.

"What?" Bella interrupted in confusion, looking between all three of the people near her as they all looked guilty about knowing something she didn't.

Sneaking a quick glance at Edward, Haven knew that they were going to have to tell her because if it didn't come from their mouth then Jacob was certainly going to let lose and thrive in the opportunity to one up the vampire, he liked proving that Edward wasn't a good guy for Bella.

Jacob looked expectedly at the huntress and vampire, astonished that either one of them hadn't told the girl not only about what went down last night, but also about the rogue vampires return, "Neither of you told her?"

"Just leave it alone, Jacob." Edward said quickly, his amber eyes staring darkly at the boy in front of him.

"Maybe," Haven turned to face the vampire on her left, her chocolate eyes meeting his topaz ones, "you should tell her." The brunette emphasized the point that Edward should tell Bella, knowing all too well that it would be much better and less hard for her to hear it from him, if he hurried up and did it now then it would even be before Jacob had the chance.

Bella stared at them all expectedly, growing impatient as both Haven and Edward acted as if she was not even there, "Tell me what?" She demanded, her brows furrowing in confusion at what was happening.

Edward let out a lingering sigh, sending a glare at the wolf in front of him before facing his mate, "Emmett and Paul had a misunderstanding, it's nothing to worry about."

Her doe eyes widened at this, not sure if this was really what went down or whether her boyfriend was sugar coating it for her, luckily she didn't have to contemplate the thought longer as Jacob eagerly interrupted back into the conversation.

"Listen to you," Jacob scoffed moving his body upwards, making him seem taller than his large frame already was, "Did you lie to get her out of town too?"

"You should leave, now." Edward said simply, his pale body inching closer to the this opposite boy's contrasting tan one, both of them taking on intimidating stances both trying to out look the other.

Not taking notice of the growing amount of challenging testosterone from the two boys, Haven's eyes locked on Bella's and the girl looked pleadingly at her best friend. Haven had always wanted to tell the human about Victoria's return and she knew as soon as she was going to hear the news - which was now for sure secured to be blurted out within the next few minutes the rate this intimidating conversation was going - the brunette would freak out and then blame Edward and Haven for keeping it a secret.

Haven kept her stare fixated on Bella's eyes and sent her a message with her gaze that hopefully Bella received as an apology for keeping everything a secret. This didn't change the fact that Haven knew she was going to be angry once she found out.

"She has a right to know, she's the one the red head wants." Jacob spoke, not even flinching at the bomb he had just dropped upon the brunette standing near him.

Haven watched Bella intently as her eyebrows rose and mouth gaped open in shock upon hearing the name she thought might never be heard again. She always knew that there as a chance of her return, but that didn't change the fact the mere mention of her made Bella's hairs stand up at the back of her neck.

"You couldn't have shut your mouth for five seconds?" Haven quipped, her voice low and hoarse due to the rustiness of her voice considering her silence during this whole ordeal of a conversation.

Regaining herself slightly, Bella stepped forward so she was nearly in the middle of the two boys, "Victoria?" She questioned in shock, Edward's eyes finally snapped shut in defeat as he could already see the shit storm coming for him from his girlfriend now that she knows what he wasn't telling her, "Alice's vision." The girl murmured quietly as she thought back to the other day in the cafeteria, everything starting to jig together in her mind like a puzzle.

"I was trying to protect you." Edward stated in defense, his bright eyes falling to rest upon the girl he loved who he could see was steaming in anger.

"We both were." Haven said, her voice quiet as she suspected that the huntress and vampire would be where the human directed her rage of being kept out of the loop. She wasn't lying, she had gone along with the Cullen's plan to keep Bella in the dark simply because it was a way to keep her out of danger for as long as possible.

Bella shook her head, the hood of her jacket falling further back on her head, "By lying to me?" Her tone was full of disappointment and betrayal from the two people she had always thought would be upfront with her, she had always been honest with them so it hurt for that treatment to get thrown back in her face.

Haven's chocolate eyes cast down to avoid her heavy gaze, her stare now seemed entranced by the curves and edges of her manicured fingers.

"We're going to talk about this," Bella stated to the two of them before her eyes came back to rest on the russet skinned boy who seemed to be looking chuffed at the prospect of Edward being wrong about something, "but you, why haven't you answered any of my calls?"

Jacob barely spared a glance in her direction, "I had nothing to say." His eyes casting back to Haven, who he could tell was looking solemn at the displeasing mood radiating off of Bella. His instant reaction when finding out that Edward was hiding things from the brunette was to throw him under the bus, but he didn't realize it meant it would hurt her. Guilt and regret lingered in his stomach at the sight of her being upset, instantly wanting to retract what he had done to make her feel better.

Simply looking between the two, Edward could tell that the huntress and wolf were off beat. He didn't want to delve into Jacob's mind but he didn't have to be a mind reader to make the observation of the tension he felt like he could cut with a knife. It just made the already awkward situation about a million times more awkward, if that was even possible.

With one last look at the girl who had her eyes caste down to seem as if she wasn't in the altercation at all, Jacob felt like he had said all that he needed to say - if not much more than what was needed - and began to walk back over to where his motorcycle was resting.

"Well I have tons! Hold on," Bella was quick to want to trail behind him but a pale hand wrapped around her wrist to top her. Edward had a desperate look in his eyes, he didn't trust Jacob with one inch of his being and the thought her being anywhere near him alone made his blood boil.

"Edward, you have to trust me."

"I do," The vampire began, his body moving to show the agitation the boy had already put in his mood, "It's him I don't trust."

This did nothing to stop the human however as she simply shrugged her shoulders in explanation, her hands shoved into her pockets. Both Haven and Edward watched as her sneakers made their way over to the motorcycle.

The huntress honestly had tried to zone out of the majority of what went down, she hated the fact she was now technically fighting with Jacob and Bella. Her head felt like it was burning, her gaze turning to see that the vampire beside her was looking at her expectedly, "What?" She asked, not exactly knowing what he wanted her to do.

"Go with them, please." Edward pleaded, knowing how much more at ease he would feel if it wasn't just his mate and Jacob alone. It was the only way for him to be okay about this, he didn't want to have to make Bella stay. This seemed to be the only solution.

Haven sighed, "I think it's obvious to see that I am fighting with him so, no. Bella is a big girl, she can handle herself."

The pale man let a groan escape his lips, the stubbornness of the girl coming through easily in the way she held herself. It reminded him so much of Bella that it was uncanny, he suddenly could see how alike the two were - the best friend thing made a bit more sense at this point.

He continued to look down at the shorter girl hopefully, wishing he could see into that brain of hers to see whether she was at least considering going with the two people he knew she loved.

She swore she could feel Edward's eyes burning into her as she tried her hardest inside her head to deny that it wouldn't be good idea to go with Bella and Jacob. She was in no way worried for Bella's safety, no matter how she felt about the wolf right now, Haven trusted him more than she has ever trusted anyone before.

The brunette sighed in defeat, knowing that she was going to have to go, for Edward's sake and hopefully she might be able to clear the air between all three of them, "Bella!" She called as the petite girl's frame was halfway over to the shiny motorcycle.

Bella whipped her hooded head around, not sure why she was getting called back. Her best friend waved her over with the flick of her hand, signalling that she should come closer.

The huntress looked up at Edward with a look of smugness, knowing exactly what she needed and wanted if she was to go with two people who she was currently fighting with.

"What?" The vampire questioned, hating that he couldn't dive into her head and get the answer his normal way.

Haven smirked in his direction, she could feel all of the eyes on her as Bella was waiting and so was Jacob, "Give me your keys."

Haven had never once seen Edward look as surprised as he did right then. She knew that the boy was so used to being able to know a person inside out because of his abilities, he was never usually caught off guard but it seemed like Haven was swiftly making a habit of keeping him on his toes.

"Why would I do that?"

"How do you expect three of us to get on that motorcycle?" The brunette gestured over to the rather tiny looking bike in comparison to the larger Volvo they had just parked earlier, "And besides, you want me to be your little watch dog then this is my price. Your choice." Haven had never been much of a car person, but Edward's car however was on another level. Just thinking about driving the sleek car made her instantly excited.

Edward let out a deep breath, knowing that the girl wasn't going to back down. He took one fleeting glance towards his beloved vehicle then focused back on Haven, "Be careful." He reached his hand in her direction, his car keys placed delicately in his palm.

Haven wasn't sure if he meant this about the car, Bella or even herself but either way she grabbed the keys out of his reluctant icy hands and turned to see that her best friend was already by her side. She sent a quick nod Jacob's way, showing that she would take Bella and keep on his trail so he could show them where he wanted to go.

As the two girls walked over to the dark vehicle, Haven couldn't help but think that the drive to their location might be a long one - if she could even get Bella to talk to her that is.

---