Chapter Text
Promised
Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to SM.
Chapter One
Rosalie held her hands out, and Jacob handed Renesmee to her at once. Both of them backed away from Bella cautiously.
“Edward, I don’t want to hurt you, so please let go of me.” She told him.
Edward hesitated.
“I want you and Rosalie to take Renesmee outside away from the house.”
“What?” Edward was shocked by Bella’s demand. “I won’t leave you alone with him.”
Bella felt irritation beginning to swirl inside her. She was sick and tired of Edward thinking he knew what was best. This was between her and Jacob. No one else.
“I just want to talk to him. But I need to do it alone. So, please, do as I ask.”
Edward was about to protest again when Rosalie pulled him away. Renesmee was getting distressed, sensing the tension rising between her mother and the shapeshifter.
“Come, Edward.” Rosalie urged. “Let’s give them some privacy.”
Edward deliberated for a moment before finally caving in. He reluctantly followed Rosalie out of the room, shooting Jacob a dark look as he passed. Jacob didn’t react, just kept his nonchalant gaze directed on Bella’s infuriated face.
Bella waited for a few minutes, testing the air with her nose and her ears for any sign that Edward might be lingering somewhere nearby. She may be a newborn now, but his protective instinct still overrode the realization that she didn’t need his brand of protection anymore.
When she was finally convinced that he was gone, Bella dipped into her hunting crouch and took two slow steps forward toward Jacob.
“You didn’t,” she snarled at him.
Jacob’s whole expression had changed now that they were alone. He looked defeated, exhaustion painting a melancholy aura around his dark eyes.
“No, I didn’t,” he responded flatly.
Bella paused, straightening up immediately, caught off guard by his response. She stared at him, her crimson eyes narrowing. Her newborn brain, usually a rushing river of overwhelming thoughts, suddenly snagged on his flat, defeated tone. She didn't trust it.
"Don't lie to me, Jacob," she growled, her voice dropping an octave, vibrating with a danger she had never possessed as a human. "Edward read your mind. He saw it. He saw the way you looked at my daughter."
Jacob let out a harsh, dry laugh that sounded more like a choke. He didn't back away, even though every human survival instinct should have told him to run from the apex predator standing in front of him.
"Edward saw what I wanted him to see, Bella," Jacob said softly, his shoulders slumping. He looked up, meeting her fierce gaze with an expression of pure, heavy exhaustion. "Or rather, he saw what he expected to see because he was panicking."
Bella’s mind raced, calculating the speed of his heartbeat. It was fast, but not the erratic spike of a liar caught in a trap. It was the steady, heavy thud of someone carrying a crushing weight.
"What are you talking about?" she demanded, her hands curling into tight fists at her sides.
"Sam," Jacob said, the name tasting like poison on his tongue. "The pack. They were coming to kill her, Bella. You know the laws. An immortal child is an automatic death sentence in their eyes. They were going to tear this house apart, and they were going to kill you to get to her."
He took a slow step forward, holding his hands up in a gesture of peace, though he knew she could snap his bones in a fraction of a second.
"The only law greater than protecting the tribe from a vampire is the imprinting law," Jacob explained, his voice cracking. "It’s absolute. If a wolf imprints, that person is completely untouchable by the rest of the pack. No exceptions. No holy wars."
Bella froze, her posture stiffening as the pieces began to click together in her sharp new mind. "You... you faked it?"
"I forced myself to project it," Jacob admitted, a flash of pain crossing his face. "When I looked at Renesmee, I knew what I had to do to save her. I forced my mind to focus entirely on her; to pretend she was the canter of my universe, because I knew Edward was listening. I knew if Edward believed it, he would project that truth to everyone else. And Sam would have to stand down."
He looked away, staring at the floor between them. "I knew you'd hate me for it. I knew you'd think I was claiming your kid. But I didn't know how else to stop a war, Bella. I just wanted to keep you both alive."
Bella didn't move. Her newborn ears picked up the heavy, steady thud of Jacob's heart. He wasn't lying. A liar’s heart would spike, their breathing would hitch, but Jacob’s scent and rhythm just broadcasted pure, exhausting grief. He had sacrificed his own reputation, his relationship with her, and his standing with his pack just to put an invisible shield around her baby.
The anger that had been burning a hole in her chest suddenly evaporated, replaced by a cold, sharp clarity.
"You idiot," Bella whispered, but the snarl was entirely gone from her voice. She shook her head in disbelief. "You absolute idiot. If Edward found out..."
"He won't," Jacob said, looking up, surprised by the sudden drop in her hostility. "As long as I keep my mind focused on the lie when he's around, he'll just see what he expects to see. It’s exhausting, but I can do it."
"No, you can't," Bella countered sharply. She took a step closer, her perfect face tight with focus. "Edward is too smart, Jacob. Eventually, you’ll slip up. You’ll be tired, or angry, or you’ll think about how absurd this whole thing is, and he’ll catch it. And if he catches it, Sam will find out, and the truce is over."
Jacob slumped his shoulders. "Then what am I supposed to do, Bella? It’s the only play we have."
Bella closed her eyes for a brief second, feeling the strange, elastic energy of her mind. When she had been human, Edward couldn't read her thoughts. Now, as a vampire, she could feel that barrier like a physical structure inside her brain. She remembered what Eleanor and the others had said about shields—that they could be extended if the vampire learned how.
She opened her eyes, staring intently at Jacob. "I’m going to help you."
"Help me how? You can't change how my brain works."
"No, but I can hide it," Bella said. She took a deep breath, focusing on the invisible, protective fabric of her mind. She pictured it lifting, stretching away from her own skull, and expanding across the room. It felt heavy and stubborn, but with a sharp pull of her will, she forced it to push outward until it enveloped Jacob like a warm, thick blanket.
Jacob blinked, rubbing the back of his neck as if he felt a sudden change in the air pressure. "What did you just do?"
"I put my shield around you," Bella explained, her voice humming with a dangerous new confidence. "When Edward is near, I will wrap my mind around yours. He won't be able to hear a single thing you think. We will tell him that my shield is just naturally reacting to you because you're a constant presence around Renesmee, or that it's expanding out of my own instinct to protect the people near the baby."
A faint, relieved smile broke through Jacob's exhaustion. "So... I don't have to pretend to be in love with a diaper-wearing tracker anymore when we're alone?"
"Don't push your luck, Jake." Bella warned, though a small, vampire-fast smirk touched her lips. "Edward is going to be suspicious if he suddenly hits a wall every time he looks at you. We have to make it look accidental. But for now, your secret is safe."
Outside, the faint sound of footsteps crunching on the dirt warned them that Edward and Rosalie were returning. Bella looked at Jacob, her crimson eyes dead serious.
"Get ready," she whispered. "The lie starts now."
The front door clicked open, and the quiet harmony of the house was replaced by the tense aura Edward brought into the room. He walked in first, his golden eyes scanning Bella with intense worry before darting suspiciously to Jacob. Rosalie followed close behind, holding a now-calm Renesmee securely against her chest.
Bella immediately went to work. She reached deep into her mind, seized the invisible, elastic edge of her shield, and threw it outward. It blanketed Jacob completely, sealing his thoughts away in absolute silence.
Edward took a step toward Jacob, his brow furrowing. He tilted his head, his eyes narrowing in utter confusion. He looked like a man trying to tune a radio, only to hit nothing but static.
"What is this?" Edward murmured, his voice tight. He stepped closer to Jacob, staring intently at the shapeshifter. "Jacob... what are you thinking right now? Why can't I hear you?"
Jacob played his part perfectly. He crossed his arms and offered a smirk, though his heart gave a slight, nervous thud. "Maybe I'm just finally boring you, Cullen."
"No," Edward snapped, turning his gaze sharply to Bella. "It's not him. It’s you. Bella, your shield—it’s covering him."
Bella let out a soft, carefully practiced sigh, mimicking the human exhaustion she no longer felt. She stepped closer to Jacob, making sure her posture looked protective of the space around her.
"I can't completely control it yet, Edward," Bella lied smoothly, keeping her voice calm and even. "When you left, my instincts were screaming. All I could think about was protecting the baby and keeping the peace. Jacob is part of that peace now. My mind must be stretching out to cover him because my instincts recognize that he's a protector for Renesmee."
Edward looked torn between awe at his wife's growing power and deep frustration at being locked out. "Bella, it’s dangerous to leave yourself open like this. If you are shielding him, you might drop your guard around yourself."
"I'm fine," Bella insisted, stepping between Edward and Jacob. "It feels natural. Besides, maybe it’s a good thing. Jacob deserves some privacy from your eavesdropping, especially now."
While Edward brooded over his sudden mental blindness, Rosalie stepped forward. For the first time since the baby's birth, the icy, defensive glare on Rosalie’s face had completely melted away. She looked at Jacob, her eyes gleaming with something resembling genuine respect.
"If Bella's shield is protecting him, then it's exactly what needs to happen," Rosalie stated firmly, her voice carrying a rare warmth. She looked down at Renesmee, then back up at the werewolf. "The mutt did the right thing. The pack can’t touch her now."
Edward looked at his sister, startled. "Rosalie, you can't be serious. You're defending this?"
"I am defending my niece's life, Edward," Rosalie countered sharply, her protective grip tightening slightly around the baby. She looked directly at Jacob, giving him a firm, decisive nod. "The pack operates on sacred laws. By imprinting on her, Jacob has guaranteed that the Quileutes will protect Renesmee with their lives instead of hunting her. I don't care about his reasons, and I don't care how strange it is. He kept her safe from Sam. For that, he has a place in this house."
Jacob blinked, genuinely caught off guard by the blonde vampire's sudden alliance. "Wow. Thanks, Rose. I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."
"Don't get used to it, dog," Rosalie shot back, though the usual venom was missing from her tone.
Behind them, Edward remained silent, his golden eyes darting between Bella and the empty air around Jacob. He knew something was different, but wrapped securely inside Bella's unbreakable shield, the secret remained perfectly safe.
A few days later, Bella managed to slip away into the dense woods behind the Cullen house. She had told Edward she needed to practice controlling her newborn thirst in the wilderness. In reality, she was meeting Jacob.
She found him sitting on a fallen mossy log, tossing small pebbles into a creek. As she approached with silent vampire speed, he didn’t even look up until her scent hit him.
"You're late," Jacob said, a faint grin tugging at his lips.
"Edward wanted to come with me," Bella explained, sitting on the opposite end of the log. "I had to convince him that I needed to learn how to hunt completely alone. We don't have much time. If we keep the shield over you 100% of the time, Edward is going to realize it isn't an accident."
"Right," Jacob sighed, standing up and dusting off his jeans. "So we need a system. I need to know what it feels like when the shield is on me, and what it feels like when you pull it back. That way, if Edward suddenly walks into a room, I know exactly when to start thinking about the fake imprint."
Bella nodded, her expression turning serious. "Okay. Close your eyes. I'm going to take it off you now."
She reached into her mind. The shield felt like a warm, elastic membrane stretched far out from her core. With a sharp mental tug, she snapped it back, pulling it tightly around her own mind.
Jacob winced, rubbing his temples. "Whoa. It’s like the air gets suddenly cold when you pull it away. The pressure shifts."
"Good. That means you can feel the boundary," Bella said. "Now, I'm going to push it back over you. Tell me the exact second you feel it touch you."
She focused entirely on Jacob. She visualised the invisible barrier expanding, stretching like a massive bubble through the trees until it enveloped him.
"Now," Jacob muttered, his eyes snapping open. "It feels like... a quiet room. Like all the background noise in the world just got muffled."
"Perfect," Bella said, a spark of excitement hitting her crimson eyes. "We need to practice doing this fast. If Edward catches even a split second of your real thoughts—about how this is all a lie—the whole plan falls apart."
"Let's try a drill," Jacob suggested, stepping closer. "Take it off. Then, I'll count to three, and you throw it back over me as fast as you can. I'll try to think about something completely unrelated, and you tell me if you can feel the tension."
Bella snapped the shield back to herself. "Go."
"One... two... three," Jacob counted.
Bella slammed the shield forward. It was clumsy, hitting Jacob with a heavy mental thud that made him stumble back a step.
"Ouch," Jacob laughed, shaking his head. "A little less force next time, vampire girl. You almost gave me a phantom concussion."
"Sorry!" Bella smiled, her vampire-fast reflexes adjusting. "But it worked. You were completely cut off."
They practiced for another hour, moving the shield back and forth, turning it into a fluid, seamless motion. Bella learned how to feather the edges of her shield so it didn't feel like a sudden wall, making it look much more natural and accidental. Jacob practiced shifting his thoughts instantly to an overwhelming focus on Renesmee the second he felt the shield drop, just in case Edward was nearby.
By the time they finished, Bella’s mind was exhausted, a strange sensation for a vampire. But looking at Jacob, she felt a profound sense of relief. They were finally ready to fool the world's most dangerous mind-reader.
The test came much sooner than either of them expected. The very next evening, Edward was waiting in the Cullen living room, pacing the polished hardwood floor with a restless, elegant grace. He was still deeply unsettled by his sudden inability to read Jacob’s mind, and Bella could feel the tight coil of suspicion radiating from him.
When Jacob walked through the front door, the atmosphere in the room instantly turned to ice.
Bella was sitting on the sofa, her hands resting calmly in her lap. Underneath her serene vampire exterior, her mind was working at lightning speed. She held her shield tight around herself, leaving Jacob’s mind completely open and exposed.
Now, she thought. Show him the lie.
Jacob took a breath, stepped into the room, and deliberately let his mind flood with intense, overwhelming thoughts of baby Renesmee. He pictured her tiny hands, her unique scent, and the fiercely protective instinct he was forcing himself to project.
Edward froze. His golden eyes locked onto Jacob, his expression softening just a fraction as he caught the rushing torrent of Jacob's thoughts. To Edward, it looked exactly like the helpless, consuming devotion of a werewolf who had just imprinted.
"You're back," Edward said quietly, his voice lacking its usual sharp edge. "I... I can hear you again."
"Yeah, well, I don't exactly have a choice, Cullen," Jacob grumbled, playing his part perfectly. He crossed his arms, leaning against the doorframe with a practiced slouch. "I can't stay away from the cottage for too long. It feels like my chest is being ripped open if I'm too far from her."
Edward nodded slowly, a look of profound, tragic understanding crossing his face. "I know the feeling. The pull of the bond is absolute."
Bella watched Edward closely. The second she saw her husband lower his guard, convinced that the imprint was genuine, she went to work. She smoothly, delicately slid the edge of her shield outward. She didn't slam it down this time; she let it glide forward like a rolling fog, feathering the edges until it gently blanketed Jacob's mind once more.
Edward blinked, his brow furrowing as Jacob's thoughts suddenly went completely silent again. He shook his head, looking frustrated but no longer suspicious.
"And it's gone again," Edward sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He looked at Bella with a mixture of pride and exasperation. "Bella, love, your shield is doing it again. The moment Jacob talks about his bond with Renesmee, your subconscious mind must view him as part of her protective circle. It’s completely locking me out."
"I'm sorry, Edward," Bella said softly, offering him a reassuring, beautiful smile as she stood up to join him. "I'm trying to control it, but it just seems to happen on its own whenever he's around."
Edward wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close. "It's alright. It proves how strong your instincts are as a mother. I just wish I could help you manage it."
Later that night, while Edward was away hunting with Carlisle, Bella stood on the balcony of their cottage, staring out into the dark, whispering woods. The relief of pulling off the trick was immense, but it was quickly followed by a heavy, complicated knot of emotion in her chest.
She was keeping a massive secret from her husband.
Edward was her soulmate. He could read the mind of every living thing around him, yet she was actively building a wall to deceive him. A part of her felt a sharp pang of guilt. She hated lying to him, and she hated knowing that if he ever discovered the truth, he would feel deeply betrayed—not just by Jacob, but by her. They were supposed to be partners in everything, yet here she was, standing on the other side of a mental divide.
But as she tracked the distant, super-heated heartbeat of Jacob Black moving through the perimeter of the forest, another realization began to dawn on her. It was a thought so quiet and honest that she had barely acknowledged it until now.
She was incredibly relieved that the imprint was a lie—but she was equally happy that the lie existed.
During her pregnancy, Bella had faced the terrifying reality that choosing Edward and her baby meant losing Jacob forever. She had broken his heart, and his pack duties should have turned him into her enemy. By all accounts, Jacob should have walked away, leaving a gaping, painful void in her life.
But this lie changed everything. Because the world believed Jacob had imprinted, he had a permanent, unquestionable reason to stay by her side. He could still be her best friend. He could still be a part of her new world without the messy, painful complications of his old feelings for her. The fake imprint gave them a safe haven. It protected her daughter from Sam, it protected Jacob from his pack, and selfishly, it protected Bella from having to say goodbye to the boy who had kept her alive when Edward was gone.
For the first time since her transformation, Bella smiled a genuine, peaceful smile. The secret was dangerous, and the guilt was real, but as she looked out into the dark, she knew she would protect this lie with everything she had.
A/N-thanks for reading!