The Wedding Crashers

Chapter Fourteen

Leah was frozen as Jacob charged forward, and she raised her hands in front of her, panic and fear boiling up from her gut. "Jacob-wait-I didn't-"

But she knew it was hopeless-Jacob had been issued an order from Renesmee, and she might as well have been his Alpha. His eyes were all hate and fire, and then he was on her, his hands grabbing her upper arms so tight she felt her bones creaking in protest.

"You didn't what, Leah?!" he roared in her face, shaking her until her teeth rattled. "Didn't mean to ruin everything, just like you always do?!"

"Jacob, please!" she cried, trying to twist out of his grip, but the force of his Alpha's will was too much, and he wanted her to sit still and take it, and so she did. "I swear, it was an acci-"

She was abruptly silenced by Jacob's hand-she yelped in pain when he slapped her as hard as he could, her head snapping to the side as she tasted blood. "You call this an accident?!" he bellowed, and then he hit her again, so hard she felt her skin split before knitting itself closed.

Leah heard Emmett protesting, but she knew his word was futile against Renesmee's even before she heard Carlisle sanctimoniously tell him that this was pack business and they had no right to interfere. She heard Charlie snarling, yelling that this was wrong and that someone had to stop Jacob, and if nobody else would, he would, but then she heard her mother stopping him, because there was nothing they could do, and she hated herself when furious, miserable tears started welling up in her eyes again and she was helpless to stop them.

"You come here, bring them, and screw everything up!" Jacob screamed in her face.

"I try to make you feel welcome and this is how you repay me?!" Renesmee's shrieks joined Jacob's enraged snarls, and Leah felt sick because she knew, she knew that Renesmee was egging him on, driving him forward, and that iron band in her brain tightened as Jacob pulled back again, only this time his hand wasn't open, but closed.

She had less than a second to brace herself. Jacob's fist smashed into her face, and though she hadn't wanted to, she couldn't help it-she screamed as she both heard and felt her jaw break, and then he hurled her to the ground with a howl of fury.

"Jacob!" Leah dimly heard Embry's pleading voice through the ringing in her ears and the agony of her bones struggling to repair themselves. "Jacob, stop, leave her alone! You can't do this-"

"Stay back, Embry, you sit down and stay out of this!" Jacob's voice reverberated through her head, as it did through every other wolf's, and Embry gasped as his arms flopped loosely to his sides and he fell to his knees, limp and powerless.

Leah coughed, spitting blood on the ground even as Jacob advanced again, and his hand suddenly knotted in her hair, jerking her head up. "I should've done this years ago, you ungrateful bitch!" he bellowed. He dropped roughly to his knees and she didn't see it coming this time, his fist slamming into her face with no warning. Pain bloomed white-hot where it connected, crushing her cheekbone and eye socket, and she could do nothing but wail in agony when he shook her again, and she couldn't understand what he was screaming at her because Renesmee was screaming too, and his fist was coming up again, and all she could do was raise her arm up to shield her face, knowing it would do no good because she was helpless before him and nobody was going to help her, they were all just going to watch as he beat her, because she deserved it-

SMACK.

Leah's hoarse panting was the only sound for a brief second. When she finally realized that the next blow wasn't coming, she hesitantly lowered her hand and looked up, cracking open her one good eye.

Castiel stood above them, his face a mask of cold fury. His pale fingers were wrapped tight around Jacob's bulging wrist, and Jacob was staring incredulously up at him, stunned that not only had he had the nerve to interfere, but that he'd managed to stop his hand in the first place.