"Silver bullets kill them?" Bella turned teasingly to Jacob. "Did you know about that one?"

"No," he said with mock seriousness. "How people come up with this stuff!"

I shot mystified glances toward them, and Jacob, noticing this, poked Bella. "Lay off the wolf stuff, 'kay? We don't want to scare your dad. He might think one of us is one."

Bella bit her lip to stop the laughter. 

Finally, the show drew to a close. The host was interviewing a werewolf expert, and asked, "And what of the myth that werewolves are the mortal enemies of vampires? Could there be any truth in that?"

Bella got very quiet, and Jacob put a hand on her arm comfortingly. 

"Absolutely not," the expert said confidently. "Yes, they are both at the top of the food chain – humans being their prey – but it is much the same with the leopard and the lion. One is stronger than the other, and it is my firm belief that a werewolf would back down to a vampire."

"Wha'?" Jacob sounded utterly disbelieving. Bella chuckled quietly. 

"They don't get much right, do they Jake?"

He shook his head emphatically. "There is no way any self-respecting werewolf would back down from a fight with a bloodsucking leech."

There was too much of a derogatory tone to his voice for such a casual conversation. Something was up.

Bella looked like that wasn't what she meant, then she noticed me noticing, and she punched Jacob's arm. "Save it, Jacob. You can argue with me later."

He looked at her incredulously. "You think the wolf would lose?"

"I think," she said calmly, "that you need to chill. You can argue with me later."

He rolled his eyes. "There's not much argument," he muttered. Then his face brightened. "Hey, Bells, do you believe in werewolves?"

She thought for a moment. "Hmm… Maybe. I can't imagine that any would live here, though. What werewolf would come to the boring old Olympic Peninsula?" She shot me an amused look, and I knew she was teasing me. I smiled.

"How about you, Charlie? Would you pick the wolves or the vamps?"

"Jacob," Bella warned. "Watch it."

I was watching Bella, fearing the same reaction I'd gotten when I'd last mentioned vampires. Speaking of which…

"I'd have to go with the vampires," I said thoughtfully, ignoring Jacob's look of protest. "I don't think anything could stand against their fangs."

Bella and Jacob caught each other's eyes, and burst into laughter again.