i cowered into jacob's side, my eyes scanning the forest for the other werewolves.
when they appeared, striding out from between the trees, they weren't what i was expecting. i'd gottenthe image of the wolves stuck in my head. these were just four really big half-naked boys.
again, they reminded me of brothers, quadruplets. something about the way they moved almost insynchronization to stand across the road from us, the way they all had the same long, round musclesunder the same red-brown skin, the same cropped black hair, and the way their expressions altered atexactly the same moment.
they started out curious and cautious. when they saw me there, half-hidden beside jacob, they allbecame furious in the same second.
sam was still the biggest, though jacob was getting close to catching up with him. sam didn't really countas a boy. his face was older—not in the sense of lines or signs of aging, but in the matunry, the patienceof his expression.
"what have you done, jacob?" he demanded.
one of the others, one i didn't recognize—jared or paul—thrust past sam and spoke before jacobcould defend himself.
"why can't you just follow the rules, jacob?" he yelled, throwing his arms in the air. "what the hell areyou thinking? is she more important than everything—than the whole tribe? than the people gettingkilled?""she can help," jacob said quietly.
"help!" the angry boy shouted. his arms begin to quiver. "oh, that's likely! i'm sure the leech-lover isjust dying to help us out!""don't talk about her like that!" jacob shouted back, stung by the boy's criticism.
a shudder rippled through the other boy, along his shoulders and down his spine.
"paul! relax!" sam commanded.
paul shook his head back and forth, not in defiance, but as though he were trying to concentrate.
"jeez, paul," one of the other boys—probably jared—muttered. "get a grip."paul twisted his head toward jared, his lips curling back in irritation. then he shifted his glare in mydirection. jacob took a step to put himself in front of me.
that did it.
"right, protect her!" paul roared in outrage. another shudder, a convulsion, heaved through his body. hethrew his head back, a real growl tearing from between his teeth.
"paul!" sam and jacob shouted together.
paul seemed to fall forward, vibrating violently. halfway to the ground, there was a loud ripping noise,and the boy exploded.
dark silver fur blew out from the boy, coalescing into a shape more than five-times his size—a massive,crouched shape, ready to spring.
the wolf's muzzle wrinkled back over his teeth, and another growl rolled through his colossal chest. hisdark, enraged eyes focused on me.
in the same second, jacob was running across the road straight for the monster.
"jacob!" i screamed.
mid-stride, a long tremor shivered down jacob's spine. he leaped forward, diving headfirst into theempty air.
with another sharp tearing sound, jacob exploded, too. he burst out of his skin—shreds of black andwhite cloth blasted up into the air. it happened so quickly that if i'd blinked, i'd have missed the entiretransformation. one second it was jacob diving into the air, and then it was the gigantic, russet brownwolf—so enormous that i couldn't make sense of its mass somehow fitting inside jacob—charging thecrouched silver beast.
jacob met the other werewolf's attack head-on. their angry snarls echoed like thunder off the trees.
the black and white scraps—the remains of jacob's clothes—fluttered to the ground where he'ddisappeared.
"jacob!" i screamed again, staggering forward.
"stay where you are, bella," sam ordered. it was hard to hear him over the roar of the fighting wolves.
they were snapping and tearing at each other, their sharp teeth flashing toward each other's throats. thejacob-wolf seemed to have the upper hand—he was visibly bigger than the other wolf, and it looked likele was stronger, too. he rammed his shoulder against the gray wolf again and again, knocking him backtoward the trees.
"take her to emily's," sam shouted toward the other boys, who were watching the conflict with raptexpressions. jacob had successfully shoved the gray wolf off the road, and they were disappearing intothe forest, though the sound of their snarls was still loud. sam ran after them, kicking off his shoes on theway. as he darted into the trees, he was quivering from head to toe.
the growling and snapping was fading into the distance. suddenly, the sound cut off and it was very quieton the road.
one of the boys started laughing.
i turned to stare at him—my wide eyes felt frozen, like i couldn't even blink them.
the boy seemed to be laughing at my expression. "well, there's something you don't see every day," he snickered. his face was vaguely familiar—thinner than the others… embry call.
"i do," the other boy, jared, grumbled. "every single day.""aw, paul doesn't lose his temper every day," embry disagreed, still grinning. "maybe two out of three."jared stopped to pick something white up off the ground. he held it up toward embry; it dangled in limpstrips from his hand.
"totally shredded," jared said. "billy said this was the last pair he could afford—guess jacob's goingbarefoot now.""this one survived," embry said, holding up a white sneaker. "jake can hop," he added with a laugh.
jared started collecting various pieces of fabric from the dirt. "get sam's shoes, will you? all the rest ofthis is headed for the trash."embry grabbed the shoes and then jogged into the trees where sam had disappeared. he was back in afew seconds with a pair of cut-off jeans draped over his arm. jared gathered the torn remnants ofjacob's and paul's clothes and wadded them into a ball. suddenly, he seemed to remember me.
he looked at me carefully, assessing.
"hey, you're not going to faint or puke or anything?" he demanded.
"i don't think so," i gasped.
"you don't look so good. maybe you should sit down.""okay," i mumbled. for the second time in one morning, i put my head between my knees.
"jake should have warned us," embry complained.
"he shouldn't have brought his girlfriend into this. what did he expect?""well, the wolf's out of the bag now." embry sighed. "way to go, jake."i raised my head to glare at the two boys who seemed to be taking this all so lightly. "aren't you worriedabout them at all?" i demanded.
embry blinked once in surprise "worried? why?""they could hurt each other!"embry and jared guffawed.
"i hope paul gets a mouthful of him," jared said. "teach him a lesson."i blanched.
"yeah, right!" embry disagreed. "did you see jake? even sam couldn't have phased on the fly like that.
he saw paul losing it, and it took him, what, half a second to attack? the boy's got a gift.""paul's been fighting longer. i'll bet you ten bucks he leaves a mark.""you're on. jake's a natural. paul doesn't have a prayer." they shook hands, grinning.
i tried to comfort myself with their lack of concern, but i couldn't drive the brutal image of the fightingwerewolves from my head. my stomach churned, sore and empty, my head ached with worry.
"let's go see emily. you know she'll have food waiting." embry looked down at me. "mind giving us aride?""no problem," i choked.
jared raised one eyebrow. "maybe you'd better drive, embry. she still looks like she might hurl.""good idea. where are the keys?" embry asked me.
"ignition."embry opened the passenger-side door. "in you go," he said cheerfully, hauling me up from the groundwith one hand and stuffing me into my seat. he appraised the available space. "you'll have to ride in theback," he told jared.
"that's fine. i got a weak stomach. i don't want to be in there when she blows.""i bet she's tougher than that. she runs with vampires.""five bucks?" jared asked.
"done. i feel guilty, taking your money like this."embry got in and started the engine while jared leapt agilely into the bed. as soon as his door wasclosed, embry muttered to me, "don't throw up, okay? i've only got a ten, and if paul got his teeth intojacob…""okay," i whispered.
embry drove us back toward the village.
"hey, how did jake get around the injunction anyway?""the… what?""er, the order. you know, to not spill the beans. how did he tell you about this?""oh, that," i said, remembering jacob trying to choke out the truth to me last night. "he didn't. i guessedright."embry pursed his lips, looking surprised. "hmm. s'pose that would work.""where are we going?" i asked.
"emily's house. she's sam's girlfriend… no, fiancee, now, i guess. they'll meet us back there after samgives it to them for what just happened. and after paul and jake scrounge up some new clothes, if pauleven has any left.""does emily know about… ?""yeah. and hey, don't stare at her. that bugs sam." i frowned at him. "why would i stare?"embry looked uncomfortable. "like you saw just now, hanging out around werewolves has its risks." hechanged the subject quickly. "hey, are you okay about the whole thing with the black-hairedbloodsucker in the meadow? it didn't look like he was a friend of yours, but. ." embry shrugged.
"no, he wasn't my friend.""that's good. we didn't want to start anything, break the treaty, you know.""oh, yeah, jake told me about the treaty once, a long time ago. why would killing laurent break thetreaty?""laurent," he repeated, snorting, like he was amused the vampire had had a name. "well, we weretechnically on cullen turf. we're not allowed to attack any of them, the cullens, at least, off ourland—unless they break the treaty first. we didn't know if the black-haired one was a relative of theirs orsomething. looked like you knew him.""how would they go about breaking the treaty?""if they bite a human. jake wasn't so keen on the idea of letting it go that far.""oh. um, thanks. i'm glad you didn't wait.""our pleasure." he sounded like he meant that in a literal sense.
embry drove past the easternmost house on the highway before turning off onto a narrow dirt road.
"your truck is slow," he noted.
"sorry."at the end of the lane was a tiny house that had once been gray. there was only one narrow windowbeside the weathered blue door, but the window box under it was filled with bright orange and yellowmarigolds, giving the whole place a cheerful look.
embry opened the truck door and inhaled. "mmm, emily's cooking."jared jumped out of the back of the truck and headed for the door, but embry stopped him with onehand on his chest. he looked at me meaningfully, and cleared his throat.
"i don't have my wallet on me," jared said.
"that's okay. i won't forget."they climbed up the one step and entered the house without knocking. i followed timidly after them.
the front room, like billy's house, was mostly kitchen. a young woman with satiny copper skin and long,straight, crow-black hair was standing at the counter by the sink, popping big muffins out of a tin andplacing them on a paper plate. for one second, i thought the reason embry had told me not to stare wasbecause the girl was so beautiful.
and then she asked "you guys hungry?" in a melodic voice, and she turned to face us full on, a smile onhalf of her face.
the right side of her face was scarred from hairline to chin by three thick, red lines, livid in color though they were long healed. one line pulled down the corner of her dark, almond-shaped right eye, anothertwisted the right side of her mouth into a permanent grimace.
thankful for embry's warning, i quickly turned my eyes to the muffins in her hands. they smelledwonderful—like fresh blueberries.
"oh," emily said, surprised. "who's this?"i looked up, trying to focus on the left half of her face.
"bella swan," jared told her, shrugging. apparently, i'd been a topic of conversation before. "who else?""leave it to jacob to find a way around," emily murmured. she stared at me, and neither half of heronce-beautiful face was friendly. "so, you're the vampire girl."i stiffened. "yes. are you the wolf girl?"she laughed, as did embry and jared. the left half of her face warmed. "i guess i am." she turned tojared. "where's sam?""bella, er, surprised paul this morning."emily rolled her good eye. "ah, paul," she sighed. "do you think they'll be long? i was just about to startthe eggs.""don't worry," embry told her. "if they're late, we won't let anything go to waste."emily chuckled, and then opened the refrigerator. "no doubt," she agreed. "bella, are you hungry? goahead and help yourself to a muffin.""thanks." i took one from the plate and started nibbling around the edges. it was delicious, and it feltgood in my tender stomach. embry picked up his third and shoved it into his mouth whole.
"save some for your brothers," emily chastised him, hitting him on the head with a wooden spoon. theword surprised me, but the others thought nothing of it.
"pig," jared commented.
i leaned against the counter and watched the three of them banter like a family. emily's kitchen was afriendly place, bright with white cupboards and pale wooden floorboards. on the little round table, acracked blue-and-white china pitcher was overflowing with wildflowers. embry and jared seemedentirely at ease here.
emily was mixing a humongous batch of eggs, several dozen, in a big yellow bowl. she had the sleeves ofher lavender shirt pushed up, and i could see that the scars extended all the way down her arm to theback of her right hand. hanging out with werewolves truly did have its risks, just as embry had said.
the front door opened, and sam stepped through.
"emily," he said, and so much love saturated his voice that i felt embarrassed, intrusive, as i watched himcross the room in one stride and take her face in his wide hands. he leaned down and kissed the darkscars on her right cheek before he kissed her lips.
"hey, none of that," jared complained. "i'm eating." "then shut up and eat," sam suggested, kissing emily's ruined mouth again.
"ugh," embry groaned.
this was worse than any romantic movie; this was so real that it sang out loud with joy and life and truelove. i put my muffin down and folded my arms across my empty chest. i stared at the flowers, trying toignore the utter peace of their moment, and the wretched throbbing of my wounds.
i was grateful for the distraction when jacob and paul came through the door, and then shocked when isaw that they were laughing. while i watched, paul punched jacob on the shoulder and jacob went for akidney jab in return. they laughed again. they both appeared to be in one piece.
jacob scanned the room, his eyes stopping when he found me leaning, awkward and out of place, againstthe counter in the far corner of the kitchen.
"hey, bells," he greeted me cheerfully. he grabbed two muffins as he passed the table and came to standbeside me. "sorry about before," he muttered under his breath. "how are you holding up.'""don't worry, i'm okay. good muffins." i picked mine back up and started nibbhrg again. my chest feltbetter as soon as jacob was beside me.
"oh, man!" jared wailed, interrupting us.
i looked up, and he and embry were examining a fading pink line on paul's forearm. embry was grinning,exultant.
"fifteen dollars," he crowed.
"did you do that?" i whispered to jacob, remembering the bet.
"i barely touched him. he'll be perfect by sundown.""by sundown?" i looked at the line on paul's arm. odd, but it looked weeks old.
"wolf thing," jacob whispered.
i nodded, trying to not look weirded out.
"you okay?" i asked him under my breath.
"not a scratch on me." his expression was smug.
"hey, guys," sam said in a loud voice, interrupting all the conversations going on in the small room. emilywas at the stove, scraping the egg mixture around a big skillet, but sam still had one hand touching thesmall of her back, an unconscious gesture. "jacob has information for us."paul looked unsurprised. jacob must have explained this to him and sam already. or… they'd just heardhis thoughts.
"i know what the redhead wants." jacob directed his words toward jared and embry. "that's what iwas trying to tell you before." he kicked the leg of the chair paul had settled into.
"and?" jared asked.
jacob's face got serious. "she is trying to avenge her mate—only it wasn't the black-haired leech we killed. the cullens got her mate last year, and she's after bella now."this wasn't news to me, but i still shivered.
jared, embry, and emily stared at me with open-mouthed surprise.
"she's just a girl," embry protested.
"i didn't say it made sense. but that's why the bloodsucker's been trying to get past us. she's beenheading for forks."they continued to stare at me, mouths still hanging open, for a long moment. i ducked my head.
"excellent," jared finally said, a smile beginning to pull up the corners of his mouth. "we've got bait."with stunning speed, jacob yanked a can opener from the counter and launched it at jared's head.
jared's hand flicked up faster than i would have thought possible, and he snagged the tool just before ithit his face.
"bellais not bait.""you know what i mean," jared said, unabashed.
"so we'll be changing oar patterns," sam said, ignoring their squabble. "we'll try leaving a few holes, andsee if she falls for it. we'll have to split up, and i don't like that. but if she's really after bella, sheprobably won't try to take advantage of our divided numbers.""quit's got to be close to joining us," embry murmured. "then we'll be able to split evenly."everyone looked down. i glanced at jacob's face, and it was hopeless, like it had been yesterdayafternoon, outside his house. no matter how comfortable they seemed to be with their fate, here in thishappy kitchen, none of these werewolves wanted the same fate for their friend.
"well, we won't count on that," sam said in a low voice, and then continued at his regular volume. "paul,jared, and embry will take the outer perimeter, and jacob and i will take the inner. we'll collapse inwhen we've got her trapped."i noticed that emily didn't particularly like that sam would be in the smaller grouping. her worry had meglancing up at jacob, worrying, too.
sam caught my eye. "jacob thinks it would be best if you spent as much time as possible here in la push.
she won't know where to find you so easily, just in case.""what about charlie?" i demanded.
"march madness is still going," jacob said. "i think billy and harry can manage to keep charlie downhere when he's not at work.""wait," sam said, holding one hand up. his glance flickered to emily and then back to me. "that's whatjacob thinks is best, but you need to decide for yourself. you should weigh the risks of both options veryseriously. you saw this morning how easily things can get dangerous here, how quickly they get out ofhand. if you choose to stay with us, i can't make any guarantees about your safety.""i won't hurt her," jacob mumbled, looking down.
sam acted as if he hadn't heard him speak. "if there was somewhere else you felt safe…"i bit my lip. where could i go that wouldn't put someone else in danger? i recoiled again from the idea ofbringing renee into this—pulling her into the circle of the target i wore… "i don't want to lead victoriaanywhere else," i whispered.
sam nodded. "that's true. it's better to have her here, where we can end this."i flinched. i didn't want jacob or any of the rest of them trying to end victoria. i glanced at jake's face; itwas relaxed, almost the same as i remembered it from before the onset of the wolf thing, and utterlyunconcerned by the idea of hunting vampires.
"you'll be careful, right?" i asked, an audible lump in my throat.
the boys burst into loud hoots of amusement. everyone laughed at me—except emily. she met my eyes,and i could suddenly see the symmetry underlying her deformity. her face was still beautiful, and alivewith a concern even more fierce than mine. i had to look away, before the love behind that concerncould start me aching again.
"food's ready," she announced then, and the strategic conversation was history. the guys hurried tosurround the table—which looked tiny and in danger of being crushed by them—and devoured thebuffet-sized pan of eggs emily placed in their midst in record time. emily ate leaning against the counterlike me—avoiding the bedlam at the table—and watched them with affectionate eyes. her expressionclearly stated that this was her family.
all in all, it wasn't exactly what i'd been expecting from a pack of werewolves.
i spent the day in la push, the majority of it in billy's house. he left a message on charlie's phone and atthe station, and charlie showed up around dinnertime with two pizzas. it was good he brought twolarges; jacob ate one all by himself.
i saw charlie eyeing the two of us suspiciously all night, especially the much-changed jacob. he askedabout the hair; jacob shrugged and told him it was just more convenient.
i knew that as soon as charlie and i were headed home, jacob would take off—off to run around as awolf, as he had done intermittently through the entire day. he and his brothers of sorts kept up a constantwatch, looking for some sign of victoria's return. but since they'd chased her away from the hot springslast night—chased her halfway to canada, according to jacob—she'd yet to make another foray.
i had no hope at all that she might just give up. i didn't have that kind of luck.
jacob walked me to my truck after dinner and lingered by the window, waiting for charlie to drive awayfirst.
"don't be afraid tonight," jacob said, while charlie pretended to be having trouble with his seat belt.
"we'll be out there, watching.""i won't worry about myself," i promised.
"you're silly. hunting vampires is fun. it's the best part of this whole mess."i shook my head. "if i'm silly, then you're dangerously unbalanced."he chuckled. "get some rest, bella, honey. you look exhausted." "i'lltry."charlie honked his horn impatiently.
"see you tomorrow," jacob said. "come down first thing.""iwill."charlie followed me home. i paid scant attention to the lights in my rearview mirror. instead, i wonderedwhere sam and jared and embry and paul were, out running in the night. i wondered if jacob had joinedthem yet.
when we got home, i hurried for the stairs, but charlie was right behind me.
"what's going on, bella?" he demanded before i could escape. "i thought jacob was part of a gang andyou two were fighting.""we made up.""and the gang?""i don't know—who can understand teenage boys? they're a mystery. but i met sam uley and hisfiancee, emily. the seemed pretty nice to me." i shrugged. "must have all been a misunderstanding."his face changed. "i hadn't heard that he and emily had made it official. that's nice. poor girl.""do you know what happened to her?""mauled by a bear, up north, during salmon spawning season—horrible accident it was more than a yearago now. i heard sam was really messed up over it.""that's horrible," i echoed. more than a year ago. i'd bet that meant it had happened when there was justone werewolf in la push. i shuddered at the thought of how sam must have felt every time he looked atemily's face.
that night, i lay awake for a long time trying to sort through the day. i worked my way backwardthrough dinner with billy, jacob, and c harlie, to the long afternoon in the blacks' house, waitinganxiously to hear something from jacob, to emily's kitchen, to the horror of the werewolf fight, to talkingwith jacob on the beach.
i thought about what jacob had said early this morning, about hypocrisy. i thought about that for a longtime. i didn't like to think that i was a hypocrite, only what was the point of lying to myself?
i curled into a tight ball. no, edward wasn't a killer. even in his darker past, he'd never been a murdererof innocents, at least.
but what if he had been? what if, during the time i that i'd known him, he'd been just like any othervampire? what if people had been disappearing from the woods, just like now? would that have keptme away from him?
i shook my head sadly. love is irrational, i reminded myself. the more you loved someone, the lesssense anything made.
i rolled over and tried to think of something else—and i thought of jacob and his brothers, out running inthe darkness. i fell asleep imagining the wolves, invisible in the night, guarding me from danger. when i dreamed, i stood in the forest again, but i didn't wander. i was holding emily's scarred hand as we facedinto the shadows and waited anxiously for our werewolves to come home.
14 家庭
我缩在雅各布身后，目不转睛地盯着森林，等待其他狼人出现。
当他们从树丛中大步走出来的时候，并不是我想象中的样子。巨狼的形象深深刻在我的脑海中，而眼前只是四个身材高大，上身赤裸的男孩儿。
我又一次联想的四胞胎兄弟。他们步伐整齐地走出森林，站在路的另一边。清一色的红棕色皮肤下是一块块结实的肌肉，黑色的头发剪得短短的，就连脸上的表情也如出一辙。
他们行动时小心翼翼，一看到躲在雅各布身后的我，他们一下子全都变的怒气冲冲。
山姆仍是他们中最魁梧的一个，尽管雅各布就快要和他差不多了。山姆其实不算是男孩儿，他看上去更成熟——倒不是指他脸上刻有岁月的痕迹，而是他的神色中带有几分稳重和镇静。
“你都做了什么，雅各布？”他质问道。
其中一个人我没认出是谁——杰瑞德或者保罗——从山姆身边冒出来，没等雅各布开口解释就嚷了起来。
“你为什么不守规矩，雅各布？”他喊道，抬起双臂举到空中，“你到底怎么想的？难道她比一切都重要——比整个部族都重要吗？
比那些无辜的死者更重要吗？”
“她能帮助我们。”雅各布平静地说。
“帮助我们！”愤慨的男孩儿叫道，他的臂膀有些颤抖，“噢，太对了！我相信吸血鬼的情人宁死都要帮助我们！”
“不许你这样说他！”雅各布被他的话激怒，也大声叫了起来。
那男孩儿像被电击中了一样，从肩膀顺着脊柱浑身抖动。
“保罗！放松！”山姆命令道。
保罗不停地摇着头，不是反抗山姆的命令，而是在努力使自己集中精神。
“天哪，保罗，”另一个男孩儿——好像是杰瑞德——嘟哝道，“管好你自己。”
保罗朝杰瑞德扭过头去，愤怒地咬着嘴唇，接着，他又把视线转回到我这边。雅各布向前走了一步，挡在我身前。
战争终于爆发了。
“好啊，你护着她！！”保罗狂吼道，身子跟着一颤，像痉挛一样抽搐着。他仰着头，对着天空一声长啸。
“保罗！”山姆和雅各布同时叫道。
保罗像是要扑倒在地，身体剧烈地颤动，快要着地的时候，传来响亮的爆裂声，他变身了。
银灰色的软毛从他的身上冒出来，他的体形一下子比刚才增大了五倍多——变成了一个巨大的蹲伏着的形状，似乎正准备一跃而起。
他的牙齿外面长出了狼的嘴鼻，又一声长啸从宽大的胸膛里咆哮而出，那双黑色的杀气腾腾的眼睛死死地盯着我。
就在这时，雅各布向道路另一边的怪兽狂奔过去。
“雅各布！”我尖叫出来。
雅各布浑身颤抖，他迅速地朝前跃起，头朝下俯冲过去。
又传来了一声刺耳的爆裂，雅各布也变身了。他的皮肤一寸寸裂开——黑色和白色的衣服碎片散落在空中。他的转变太快了，似乎我眨眨眼就会错过这一切。前一秒钟他还是奔跑着的雅各布，现在却变成了一匹巨大的红棕色的狼——我实在搞不清雅各布的身体里怎么可能容下这样一个庞然大物——他和那匹蹲伏着的灰狼相互对峙。
雅各布正面迎击另一个狼人的进攻，他们凶狠的嚎叫似雷鸣一样在森林里回荡。
黑色和白色的碎片——雅各布的撑破的衣服——飘落在他变身时的那块地上。
“雅各布！“我又尖声叫着，琅琅牡?白呷ァ?
“站在那儿别动，贝拉。”山姆命令道。在两只狼的搏斗下，我几乎听不清他在说什么。他们互相咬扯，锋利的牙齿直冲对方的颈项咬去。雅各布变成的那只狼似乎占了上风——他比起另一只狼来更高大，看上去也更壮实。他不断用肩胛猛撞那只灰狼，想把对手撞进森林里。
“带她去艾米丽那儿。”山姆朝另两个男孩儿叫道，他们正出神地看着眼前的搏斗。雅各布成功地将灰狼推进森林，他们消失在树丛之中，但愤怒的咆哮声依然清晰。山姆踢掉脚上的鞋，跟着他们跑了进去。奔入树林的那一刻，他从头到脚都在颤抖。
咆哮和咬扯的声音逐渐远去，突然，所有杂声戛然而止，路上又恢复了平静。
一个男孩儿笑了起来。
我回过头盯着他——我的眼睛瞪得圆圆的，一下都不敢眨。
他好像是因为我脸上的表情发笑。“瞧瞧，这可不是你每天都能看到的好戏。”他傻笑着。他的脸有些熟悉——比其他人更瘦削.....恩布里·卡勒。
“我能，”另一个男孩儿杰瑞德说道，“每天都能看到。”
“哦，保罗可不是每天都会发脾气，”恩布里笑着表示反对，“也许隔三差五吧。”
杰瑞德从地上捡起一块白色的东西，递到恩布里面前，那东西从他手上软塌塌地悬吊下来。
“完全撑破了，”杰瑞德说，“比利说过他再也买不起新鞋——看来雅各布从此要光着脚了。”
“这里还幸存一只，”恩布里说道，捡起一只白色帆布运动鞋，“杰克可以单脚跳着走路。”他边笑边补充道。
杰瑞德收拾着散落在地上的碎布：“拿上山姆的鞋，好吗？剩下的这些都扔进垃圾箱。”
恩布里抓起鞋子，一路小跑进了森林，山姆刚才就是在那一带消失的。过了一会儿，他跑了出来，手臂上搭着一条运动牛仔裤。杰瑞德拾起雅各布和保罗的碎衣服，把它们揉成了团。突然间，他似乎意识到我还站在一旁。
他仔细打量着我。
“嘿，你不会昏倒或者呕吐吧？”他问道。
“我想不会。”我喘着粗气。
“你好像不大舒服，也许你应该坐下来。”
“好的。”我有气无力地说道。这是我今天上午第二次把头放在两个膝盖之间。
“杰克应该提前跟我们说一声。”恩布里抱怨道。
“他不应该把女朋友牵扯进来，他想做什么呢？”
“咳，狼人的秘密被泄露了，”恩布里叹了口气，“你干的好事，杰克。”
我抬起头盯着这两个男孩儿，他们似乎对刚才发生的一切漠不关心，“你们难道不担心他们吗？”我问道。
恩布里惊奇地眨了眨眼：“担心？为什么？”
“他们会伤害到对方！”
恩布里和杰瑞德哄然大笑。
“我希望恩布里咬他一口，”杰瑞德说，“给他点教训。”
我吓得脸色发白。
“那可不一定！”恩布里反对道，“你刚才没看见吗？就连山姆那不可能像杰克那样飞跃起来。他看出保罗必败无疑，还击不过是一瞬间的事情，不是吗？他有天赋。”
“可是保罗经验更丰富，我和你赌十美元，保罗赢。”
“就这么定了。杰克是个天才，保罗一点希望也没有。”
他们握了握手，怪笑着。
我想借他们轻松的谈话安慰自己，但是狼人搏斗时的残忍场面始终缠绕在我心头，空荡荡的胃和昏沉沉的脑袋都疼得厉害。
“我们去艾米丽那儿吧，她肯定做了好吃的东西。”恩布里低头看着我，“不介意开车过去吧？”
“没问题。”我慢吞吞地说。
杰瑞德翘起一边的眉毛，“还是你来开车吧，恩布里。她看上去像是要吐的样子。”
“好主意，钥匙在哪里？”恩布里问我。
“在点火开关上。”
恩布里拉开靠近副驾驶座位的车门。“进去吧。”他愉快地说道，一只手把我从地上拉起来，塞进车里。他看了看车里剩下的空间，“你得坐在后面的拖车板上了。”他对杰瑞德说道。
“没关系。我可不想坐在前面看着她吐，我会受不了的。”
“我赌她不会吐，她可是和吸血鬼待在一起的人。”
“五美元？”杰瑞德问道。
“一言为定。就要拿走你的钱了，我深感惭愧。”
恩布里上了车，发动引擎，杰瑞德也敏捷地跳上拖车板。刚关上车门，恩布里就悄声对我说：“别吐，好吗？我刚赌了十美金，如果保罗真的咬了雅各布.....”
“好的。”我轻声地回答。
恩布里带着我们朝村庄开去。
“嘿，杰克为什么会违背禁令呢？”
“什么.....令？”
“恩，禁令，就是，不能散播我们的秘密。他怎么会对你说起呢？”
“哦，原来是这件事，”我说道，想起来雅各布昨晚欲言又止，吞吞吐吐地模样，“他没有泄密，是我自己猜到的。”
恩布里撅起嘴，看上去有点儿吃惊：“恩，似乎有道理。”
“我们现在去哪儿？”我问道。
“艾米丽家，他是山姆的女朋友....不，现在应该是未婚妻了。等山姆解决好那两个小子的问题，等保罗和杰克找到新衣服穿上，如果保罗那家伙还有新衣服的话，他们会到艾米丽家同我们会合。”
“艾米丽知不知道.....”
“知道，对了，别盯着她看，山姆会不高兴的。”
我朝他皱了皱眉：“我为什么要盯着她看？”
恩布里显得有些心神不宁：“你刚才也看到了，和狼人待在一起是非常危险的。”他很快转换了话题，“嘿，你不会在意我们把草地上那个黑发吸血鬼除掉吧？他看上去不像是你的朋友，但是.....”恩布里耸了耸肩。
“不是，他不是我的朋友。”
“那太好了。我们不想惹任何麻烦，不想违反条约。”
“哦，是的，杰克很早以前向我提起过条约这回事，为什么杀死劳伦特就违反了条约呢？”
“劳伦特，”他哼着鼻子重复道，好像觉得吸血鬼也有名字是件好玩的事，“我们杀死他的时候其实是在卡伦家的地盘上。我们不可以在不属于自己的地盘上攻击别人，至少不能攻击卡伦一家——除非是他们首先违反条约。我们不知道那个黑发吸血鬼是不是他们家的亲戚或者别的什么。你好像认识他。”
“那他们怎么做算是违反了条约呢？”
“如果他们伤害了人类，就违反了条约，杰克可没那份耐心等着他先违约。”
“哦。谢谢，幸亏你们没有多等。”
“不用谢。”他略带自豪地说道。
恩布里开过大陆最东面的房子，转弯绕进一条狭窄的泥路。“你的卡车真慢。”他说道。
“抱歉。”
泥路的尽头是一所小房子，房屋上灰色的油漆几乎脱落殆尽。褪了色的蓝色大门旁有一扇窄窄的窗户，窗台下种了一排鲜艳的橘黄色金盏花，花给这个地方添了些明亮的色彩。
恩布里推开车门，深深吸了口气：“恩，艾米丽在做饭。”
杰瑞德跳下车，朝大门走去。恩布里用一只手拦在他胸前，意味深长地看着我，清了清嗓子。
“我没带钱包。”杰瑞德说道。
“没关系，我不会忘记的。”
他们跨上门口的一层台阶，没有敲门就走了进去，我怯生生地跟在他们后面。
这房子和比利家的差不多，客厅几乎是当厨房用。一个年轻女子站在水槽旁的餐桌边，取出罐子里松饼，把它们一个个摆在纸盘子上。她的铜色的皮肤光滑细腻，乌黑的长发柔顺自然。我顿时明白了恩布里为什么不让我盯着她看，因为这个女孩儿实在太漂亮了。
“你们饿了吗？”她的声音温柔动人。她转过身正对着我们，只有左边的脸蛋上挂着笑容。
右边的脸蛋上，从前额到下巴，有三道深深的红色疤痕。尽管伤口早已愈合，印记看上去还是很刺眼。其中一道伤痕从她那杏仁般的黑色眼睛边划下来，另一道扯住右边的嘴角，使她的右脸永远都是一副苦相。
好在有恩布里事先的警告，我赶紧把目光转移到她手中的松饼上。松饼的问道闻上去棒极了——就像是新鲜草莓的香味。
“噢，”艾米丽吃惊地问，“这位是谁？”
我看着她，尽量把视线集中在她左边脸蛋上。
“贝拉·斯旺，”杰瑞德告诉她，耸了耸肩。很显然，他们曾经谈论过我，“还能有谁？”
“一定是雅各布泄露了秘密。”艾米丽自言自语道。她盯着我，曾经楚楚动人的脸上没有丝毫友善，“那么，你是那个吸血鬼女孩儿。”
我直起身子：“是的，你是巨狼女孩儿吗？”
她笑了起来，恩布里和杰瑞德也笑了。她的左脸蛋看上去友好了许多。“我想我是的。”她转过身对着杰瑞德，“山姆呢？”
“贝拉，恩，刚才让保罗受惊了。”
艾米丽转了转她那双漂亮的眼睛。“啊，保罗，”她叹了口气，“你觉得他们还要都久才回来？我真准备煎鸡蛋。”
“别担心，”恩布里安慰她，“如果他们赶不上吃饭，我们也不会浪费任何粮食。”
艾米丽咯咯笑着，打开了冰箱。“毫无疑问,”她赞同道，“贝拉，你饿了吗？去吃点松饼吧。”
“谢谢。”我从纸盘子上拿起一块松饼，一点点地吃起来。松饼的味道好极了，我那虚弱的胃立马恢复了元气。恩布里一口气吃掉了两个松饼，他又拿起了一个，整个吞了下去。
“给你的兄弟们留一些。”艾米丽责怪道，她用木勺把儿敲了一下他的脑袋。她的话让我有些惊讶，但其他人都不以为然。
"真是头猪。”杰德瑞责骂道。
我靠在餐桌边，看着他们三个人像一家人一样互相逗弄。艾米丽的厨房很温馨，白色的橱柜和浅色的地板将这个地方映衬得亮堂堂。
小小的圆桌上摆着一个带裂纹的蓝白相间的的瓷水罐，罐子里插满了五颜六色的野花，恩布里和杰瑞德在这里显得特别自在。
艾米丽将好几打鸡蛋在一个黄色的大碗里捣碎。她卷起淡紫色衬衣的袖子，我这才看到那几道伤痕一直从她的胳膊延伸到她的右手手背上。和狼人待在一起是非常危险的，恩布里说的太对了。
大门打开了，山姆走了进来。
“艾米丽，”她唤道，声音里满是浓浓的爱意我看着他大步穿过客厅，用宽厚的手掌捧起了她的脸，我感到有些尴尬，觉得自己似乎打扰到他们的二人世界。他弯下身子，亲吻了她右脸上的伤痕，又吻了吻她的唇。
“嘿，别这样，”杰瑞德抱怨道，“我在吃东西呢。”
“那就闭上嘴好好吃。”山姆回应道，又吻了吻艾米丽受伤的嘴唇。
“诶哟。”恩布里叫道。
这一切比任何爱情电影里的情节都完美，它是如此真实，充满了快乐、生命和真爱。我放下手中的松饼，在胸前抱着双臂。我盯着桌子上的野花，不去在意他们正在享受的安宁，也不去理会胸口难忍的疼痛。
我很庆幸雅各布和保罗走了进来分散了我的注意力，让我震惊的是他们俩竟然有说有笑。我看到保罗朝雅各布的肩上打了一拳，雅各布朝他腰上回击了一拳，两人开心的笑起来，好像什么事也没发生过。
雅各布将屋里扫视了一番，他的视线停在我身上。我笨拙地靠在厨房一角的餐桌边，同周围的气氛格格不入。
“嘿，贝尔，”他很高兴地向我打招呼，从桌上抓起两个松饼，走到我的身边，“刚才真抱歉，”他轻声地说，“你还好吧？”
“别担心，我很好，这松饼的味道不错。”我拿起我的那块松饼，又一点点地咬起来。有雅各布在身边，我的胸口不再那么痛。
“噢，天哪！”杰瑞德喊了起来，打断了我们的谈话。
我朝他那边看去，他和恩布里正在察看保罗前臂上的一道红印。恩布里得意扬扬地笑了起来。
“十五美元。”他欢叫道。
“是你干的吗？”我低声地问雅各布，记起了恩布里和杰瑞德的赌注。
“只是轻轻地碰了他一下，日落时伤口就会愈合。”
“日落时？”我看着保罗的手臂。奇怪的是，这伤口似乎已经好得差不多了。
“这也是狼群的特性。”雅各布低语道。
我点点头，尽量不让自己显出大惊小怪的样子。
“你没事吧？”我轻声地问他。
“一点上也没有。”他得意地答道。
“嘿，小伙子们，”山姆高声喊道，打断了屋子里所有人的谈话。
艾米丽站在炉子旁，将捣碎的鸡蛋倒在平底锅里，山姆的一只手自然地抚摸着她的后背，“雅各布有事情对我们说。”
保罗看上去一点儿也不吃惊。雅各布肯定已经对他和山姆解释过了，或者.....他们听到了雅各布内心的想法。
“我知道那个红头发的家伙想要什么。”雅各布冲着杰瑞德和恩布里说道，“这正是我刚才想要告诉你们的事情。”他踢了踢保罗坐着的椅子。
“什么事？”杰瑞德问道。
雅各布的脸色变得十分严肃：“她正想法设法替他的爱人报仇——但不是我们杀死的那个黑发吸血鬼。去年，卡伦一家除掉了她的爱人，所以他现在想要的是贝拉。”
这对我来的说已经不是什么新鲜事了，但我还是忍不住一阵颤抖。
杰瑞德、恩布里和艾米丽张大了嘴巴，惊讶地盯着我。
“她只是个小女孩儿。”恩布里抗议道。
“我知道有些不可理喻，但这正是那个吸血鬼不断避开我们的原因，她的目的是福克斯。”
他们张大嘴巴盯着我看了好久，我低下了头。
“太好了，”杰瑞德终于开口说话，嘴角渐渐露出一丝笑容，“我们现在有诱饵了。”
雅各布极其迅速地拿起餐桌上的开罐器，朝杰瑞德扔过去。杰瑞德的反应速度简直超乎我的想象，他抬起手，在开罐器快要打到他脸上的那一刻一把抓住了它。
“贝拉不是诱饵。”
“你知道我是什么意思。”杰瑞德镇定地说。
“所以我们得改变方式，”山姆没有理睬他们的争吵，“我们可以在地上挖些陷阱，也许她会掉进去。我们不得不分头行动，虽然我不太喜欢这个主意。但是，如果她的真正目标是贝拉，她也许不会趁机袭击我们。”
“奎尔就快要加入我们了，”恩布里低声说，“这样我们就能均分成两队。”
所有人都低下了头。我憋了一眼雅各布，他的脸上露出绝望的神情，就跟昨天在他家门口时一个样。在幸福、融洽的厨房里，这群狼人乐观、豁达地接受命运的安排，但是无论如何，他们都不希望自己的朋友也变成狼人。
“算了，我们先不要这样想。”山姆压低嗓门说道，接着，他又恢复了平常的声音，“保罗、杰瑞德的恩布里负责外围防守，雅各布和我负责内线。如果她落入陷阱，我们就马上回合。”
我注意到艾米丽不太愿意山姆待在更加危险的内线，她担心的样子让我也着急地朝雅各布看了一眼。
山姆发现了我的不安：“雅各布认为你最好大部分时间都待在拉普西。虽然她不会这么容易就找到你，但我们得做好防范，以防万一。”
“查理怎么办？”我问道。
“森林里的疯狂搜捕仍在继续，”雅各布说道，“我想比利和哈利有办法让查理下班后待在我们这里。”
“等待？”山姆抬起一只手，他看了看艾米丽又看看我，“这是雅各布认为最好的办法，但是你必须自己做决定，你应该认真地衡量两种选择的危险性。你上午也看到了，待在这里也很危险，他们很容易就失去控制。如果你选择和我们在一起，我不能保证你百分之百安全。”
“我不会伤害她。”雅各布嘟哝道，他埋下脑袋。
山姆就好像没听见他说的话：“如果你觉得有其他更安全的地方.....”
我咬着嘴唇。我去哪里才不会是任何人卷入危险之中呢？一想到蕾妮会牵扯进来，我就打了个冷战——把她拽进我所在的目标圈内.....“我不想把维多利亚引到其他任何地方。”我轻声说。
山姆点点头：“的确如此，最好让她待在这里，我们就地了结。”
我又被吓得一阵颤抖。我不希望雅各布或者他们中的任何一个去同维多利亚作了结！我看了一眼杰克，他一脸轻松的样子，似乎又回到了那个变成狼人之前的雅各布，他对于追捕吸血鬼一点也不担心、不害怕。
“你会小心的，对吗？”我声音哽咽地问道。
这群男孩儿哄堂大笑，每个人都在笑我——除了艾米丽。她和我四目相对，我突然看到她毁容的那半儿脸的真实面貌。她的脸是那么美，脸上流露出的不安和焦虑甚至比我更强烈。我逼自己移开视线，因为那种不安和焦虑所掩盖的爱意已经让我的伤口隐隐作痛。
“开饭啦。”她叫了一声，关于作战方案的讨论就此打住。男孩儿们都快速地围坐在餐桌边——餐桌显得太小了，似乎要被他们压垮——大口地吃着艾米丽放在他们中间的一大锅煎蛋。艾米丽和我靠在炉台边上吃——避开餐桌上的混战——她神情地看着他们，那表情分明在说这些男孩儿就是她的家人。
总的说来，我从没料想过狼人的生活是这个样子的。
我在拉普西待了一天，大部分时间是在比利家。他给查理的电话和警局留言，查理在晚饭时间带来了两个比萨饼，幸好他买的是尺寸最大的比萨饼，雅各布一个人就吃下了一个。
查理整晚都在用怀疑的眼光看着我们俩，特别是变化明显的雅各布。他问了问头发的事，雅各布耸了耸肩，告诉他这种发型更易于打理。
我知道我和查理一回家，雅各布就会开始行动——变成一匹狼，在周围奔跑，他在白天偶尔也会这样。他和他的兄弟们毫不松懈的监视四周的动静，寻找维多利亚的蛛丝马迹。昨天晚上，他们已经把她赶出了温泉区——雅各布说把她赶往了加拿大——她还没开始新一轮的突然袭击。
我根本就不指望她打消进攻的念头，我没这么好运。
晚饭后，雅各布送我上了我那辆小卡车，他在车窗边迟迟不肯离去，等查理把车开走。
“今晚别害怕。”雅各布说道，查理还没发动他的车，假装安全带出了问题，“我们会在那儿守卫。”
“我不会为我自己担心的。”我承诺道。
“你真傻。追捕吸血鬼是件乐事，这可是一顿乱摊子中最顺人心意的一部分了。”
我摇了摇头：“如果我傻，那你就头脑不正常。”
他咯咯笑了起来：“好好休息，贝拉，亲爱的，你看上去精疲力竭。”
“我会的。”
查理不耐烦地按了按喇叭。
“明天见，”雅各布说，“明天一大早就过来。”
“知道了。”
查理开车跟在我后面，他的车灯照在我的后视镜上，我却没留意到。我心里想的是山姆、杰瑞德、恩布里、保罗他们晚上会在哪里，雅各布会不会同他们在一起。
一回到家里，我就匆匆朝楼梯走去，但查理紧跟在我身后。
“发生了什么事，贝拉？”他在我逃开之前问道，“我以为雅各布参加了什么帮派，你们两个为此吵的很凶。”
“我们和好了。”
“那个小团体是怎么回事？”
“我不知道——谁能了解这些小男孩儿呢？他们总是神秘兮兮的。我今天见到山姆·乌利和他的未婚妻艾米丽，他们对我很好，”我耸耸肩，“以前的事也许都是些误会吧。”
他变了脸色：“我倒没听说他和艾米丽订婚的事，真是件喜事，那女孩儿太可怜了。”
“你知道发生了什么事吗？”
“她被一头熊抓伤，在靠北面的地方，那时正是马哈鱼产卵的季节——恐怖的意外事故。到现在差不多一年多了，我听说山姆为了这事心情一团糟。”
“太恐怖了。”我重复道。一年多以前，我敢说那时候拉普西只有一个狼人。一想到山姆每次看到艾米丽的心情，我就不寒而栗。
那天夜里，我躺在床上久久不能入睡。我想着白天发生的事情：和比利、雅各布、查理共进晚餐，在布莱克家焦急等待雅各布的漫长午后，艾米丽家的厨房，可怕的狼人之战，与雅各布在海滩边的谈话。
我想起了雅各布早上所说的话，关于伪君子的那部分，我想了好久，我不愿意把自己认作伪君子，可是，对自己说谎又有什么意义呢？
我蜷缩成一团。不，爱德华不是杀人凶手，即使他有着灰暗的过去，他至少从不伤及无辜。
但是，如果他曾经伤及无辜，我会怎么办？如果我和他一起的那段时间里，他和其他吸血鬼一样杀人不眨眼，我会怎么办？我会因为这些原因离他而去吗？
我伤心地摇摇头。爱是没有理智的，我提醒自己。你越爱一个人，你就越缺乏理智。
我翻了个身，试着想想其他事情——我想到雅各布和他的兄弟们正在黑暗中奔跑，我想象隐匿在夜色中的狼群正在守护着我，我渐渐入睡。梦里，我又一次来到了森林中，但这一次我没有走动，而是静静地站在那里。我牵着艾米丽那只伤痕累累的手，我们眼望着面前阴郁的森林。焦急地等待着我们的狼人归家。