The Passing Years-27Midnight Rush

Bella read somewhere that the lower an animal's growl was, the bigger in size they were.

The growl that she was hearing was so deep that she felt it vibrate in her chest. It was so low and raspy that she expected the ground to shake underneath her—well, Jacob's—feet.

At the sound she hunched her shoulders and curled her body against Jacob, presenting a smaller target of herself as was the typical behavior of small prey versus predator and did a full body shudder which Jacob detected and chuckled over.

She was tempted to smack him,but she was far too scared to let go.

Not that she had the chance, she was jerked sharply back away from Jacob's body then was pressed flushed against his back when, unbelievably, her team of werewolves moved even faster.

But it was different this time, when before he moved in an effortless, smooth gait, now he was working harder,s he felt the muscles against her thighs shifted and rolled: faster, harder. His breath was still even and deep but his skin burned hotter, the skin under her fingers grow tighter.

His movements were less smooth when he dug his feet on the ground, pushing almost propelling himself forward.

She heard Rachel and Kim breathless screams amidst a few 'woah' and 'that was close' from the three werewolves ahead of them but underneath the anxiety there was an undertone of laughter and amusement.

Bella cut off her own scream when Jacob jumped over…something then swerved sharply to the left before ducking so fast that she felt the cinnamon bun in her stomach lodged in her throat.

I will not throw up on Jacob. I will not throw up on Jacob. The prayer-like litany was stopped by an occasional almost lazy warning from the boys in front. Their voices ranged from between half hearted and nonchalant, saying things like;

"Tree."

"Log."

"Overturn tree."

"Rock."

"Log."

"Branch."

"Slimy moss covered log."

A couple of minutes later, even Quil didn't bother to yell out a warning, from the sound of it, they were following anyone who was on point by reflex alone, running after each other in that weird pack mentality thing that they did.

Atleast, they did until Quil gave a deep, mischievous chortle after they cleared probably another log. "Guys, you just jumped a foot in the air over a snail. Overkill, don't you think?"

There was a sharp slap and Leah's low smooth tone answered in kind. "You jumped over it too, doofus."

"Well yeah, I don't want to step on it, it's disgusting. Besides just because I jumped over it didn't mean you have to. What if I jumped over a bridge, are you guys going to.."

Leah and Quil bickered in the same amusing manner even as they streaked in the dark, well, it would be amusing if only Bella wasn't so focused on the WOLVES that were chasing after them and gaining fast.

"Uh, Jake?" She kept her voice level and soft, knowing that Jacob can hear her anyway.

He turned his head a little to show that he heard her.

"That's Sam and the others right? There are no other wolves or uh, other werewolves that moved in when I moved out, right?"

"I don't know. How about we stop and ask them?"

A sharp snap and another rendition of low growls made her screech and tighten her hold on him.

Bella took a deep breath and tried to slow her heartbeat but yeah, there was no chance of that. She squinted and tried to see and caught glimpses of less darker shadows and once or twice when she looked over her shoulder, she thought she could see eyes, glinting sharply.

There was something to be said about not being able to see, she felt her skin vibrate with energy and awareness, and the forest around her seemed to come alive from the sharpening of her other senses.

She could smell the damp earth, disturbed and turned over by Jacob's feet, the tiniest hint of green leaves and pine and when she lifted her head just right, the muskiness of fur and man. She stiffened when she felt something big pass her from the side, felt a brush of fur and let out a shuddering breath when a howl spilled to the night air from her left.

She could feel them around her, running beside them, letting out growls and snarls and snapping their jaws, contributing to the pump of adrenalin and fear that rushed her heart. She bit her lip when Jacob ducked down and she sensed something slid overhead and heard it thump back to the ground She felt a rush of hot breath, felt the sharp jerk on her jacket before Jacob pivoted and ran sideways.

There was the low rasp of the wolf version of a chuckle right behind them before those big presence disappeared again.

Then a few seconds after that, they appeared again, 'attacking' them before disappearing yet again. It was after a few of those feigned attacks that Bella realized that they were herding them as a pack of wolves would do.

Only, when wolves would go after the weak after they part their prey from the herd, the werewolves were going after Jacob, their Alpha…and her.

She heard Jacob cursed although his voice was laced with wry amusement and resignation, he hitched her tighter around his body, leaped up, took hold of a sturdy branch and curled his legs up in the process. She clung to him and gasped when she felt something jumped beneath them but Jacob was faster, he dropped down and ran in zig-zag motions, making the most of hiss flexibility and human agility to his advantage.

The wolves were fast and agile than their natural counterparts, but they were still a large mass of muscle over dense bone, not that they were awkward but it was harder for them to change directions, to pause once they've reached their momentum.

Not that their handicapped stopped them from getting to her. She got a dirty paw tapped her back, a snort of breath blowing her hair to her face, a cold wet nose that she just somehow knew was Seth's at the nape of her neck.

She was torn between hysterical laughter and screaming her lungs out when she realized she was playing the werewolf version of tag.

"Oh, jeez. This is your tradition?" She mumbled tightly into Jacob's neck.

"Tradition. Initiation. Hazing, whatever." Jacob shrugged, she could almost hear the smirk in his voice.

Her heart clambered in her chest, her blood roared in her ears and her skin tingled with goosebumps even as they broke through the lines of trees into a clearing that was adorned with hills and cliffs made of solid rock, her eyes were so used to the dark that the lack of dense shadows were almost blinding. The open air hit her almost like a solid object and she sucked in a sharp breath at the impact.

She shivered when an array of howls erupted from the wolves that she could finally see and man, it was like seeing them again for the first time. They looked even larger than she remembered and they were an impressive sight to begin with. The air simply crackled with raw, wild energy.

But she recognized Sam, Paul, Embry, Seth, Colin and Brady, their pelts and teeth glistening in starlight. From her team, Quil was the first to stop and both he and Rachel let out a whoop, dropped and rolled on the damp grass, free and unfettered.

When Jacob skidded to a stop, she thought that both Quil and Rachel had a good idea so when he released her she slid off Jacob's back, right to the ground.

"Whoa. You're all right?" Jacob, an amused smile on his face, stood over her while she laid on her back sucking in air and trying to hear anything against the fast thud and roar of heart and blood. She glanced to her left where Seth planted his rump beside her hip, his tail thumping hard on the ground beside her head and cocked his head at her, his tongue lolling out in a wolfish grin.

Out of breath, paper thin close to a coronary, surrounded by the dark and werewolves, Bella couldn't help it. She tried to press her lips together to hold it in but she just couldn't. She whimpered, the sound, small and helpless and soft.

But it didn't stay that way, the sound made way to a giggle the grew to a chuckle that rapidly evolved into a gut busting-full out-laugh out loud laughter.

Her throat burned and her inside's clenched in stitches as if she was the one doing all the running but damn, it's been a long, long time since she just let loose and for the very first time in years, she just went with it.

She laughed and laughed and laughed until it seemed her laughter echoed in the night sky. Tears pricked the corner of her eyes but she still laughed herself silly as a combination of knee-weakening relief and heart pumping adrenalin urged her to laugh even harder.

She turned to her side and giggled, guffawed, wheezed with her arms around her stomach, letting out incoherently words between laughs. "God—that was—crazy—awesome—insane—I cannot believe—Oh MY God."

When she caught Jacob threw a smug look toward Jared she laughed again, especially after he heard him say, "Told you she could take it."

She wheezed when Embry pushed his cold nose to Quil's back who squeaked in surprise and added a sullen. "Yeah, yeah. I'll pay you later."

Her laughter was so wild, so loud and so contagious that even Rachel gave a grudging smile.

"Please," Colin—after phasing back—scoffed. "After being chased after by an army of newborn leeches, this was a cakewalk."

"You know, I never understood what that means. Cakewalk. Cake walk. Cake. Walk. That never made any sense to me." Brady followed his brother to complete the loose circle made with their bodies around the crackling warm fire while Kim passed out food. Rachel was sipping hot coffee and scuffling over a cinnamon bun with Paul. Bella wanted to help but she was still too weak from her extreme bout of hilarity so she stayed on her back, enjoying the warmth glow of fire when Jacob dropped beside her, the sunset shade of fire highlighting the grin on his face.

"You okay?"

Bella nodded, wondering about the weird glow of satisfaction that was pulsing within her, not to mention the sudden sharp awareness of her body and her surroundings. When she tried to speak, she was surprised by the fact that she was slurring her words, as if she was drunk.

"That good, huh?" Jacob laughed. "Take your time." He reached for her shoulders and tugged her up so she sat propped up against his chest, sighing deeply when he put his arms around her, rubbing his cheek on the top of her head. Bella struggled with herself for a moment, before finally relaxing, curving her back against his chest, settling herself onto one of his arms so she could see his face from the corner of her eyes.

She watched him as he bickered with Embry and Quil, his face as relax, his expression as happy as she ever saw him. And it made her happy, even when she caught the pleased smile on Kim's face when she looked at them.

She sipped on her hot coffee and as usual was happy to watch and laugh at the werewolves' antiques, exchanged cooking horror stories with Kim and tried not too hard to interpret Rachel's silent, watchful looks.

She blinked when Seth looked at her with a wide smirk. "What?"

He grinned. "Does your jacket have a hood, Bella?"

She frowned at the question but answered with reaching back and putting the hood over her head.

She heard Jacob snort before the others joined Seth in laughter. She frowned even deeper and felt the deep mortification of every person that has ever been laughed at. "What?"

Jacob's laughter rumbled up her spine when he squeezed her closer. "Oh, Bells, honey."

She turned sideways and scowled despite the heat in her cheeks. "What?"

His dark eyes glittered down at her, his smile changing the angles and dips of his face and deepening his eyes. "You're jacket is red. With a hood." He twirled a finger, indicating his friends. "Wolves."

Bella's groan and rolling eyes only made them laugh even longer while they passed marshmallows and sausages on sticks.

She was trying not to be distracted from her conversation with Kim by Jacob's fingers sliding in and out of the chain on her wrists, playing absent-mindedly with the charms when she noticed that Paul was talking to Leah in deep urgent tones.

Then she noticed that she wasn't the only one who noticed.

"I'm fine." Leah gritted her teeth and batted Paul's reaching hand but even Bella could tell that she was flat out lying. Sweat glistened on her throat and her hair was damp with it. Her face was tense as was her body language, she sat with her arms around her knees, holding herself tightly. She ground her teeth and hunched her shoulders when a shudder escaped her control.

Paul stood up and held out a hand. "You're not fine. Come on. Let's go for a run."

Leah merely curled herself even tighter and ignored him, her eyes looking into the fire as if it held all the answers to the universe.

Bella saw Sam, who she realized sat as far as he could from Leah, shifted subtly to keep Leah in his line of sight, both of his hands clenched on his knees. The skin over his cheekbones stretched tight.

When she felt Jacob tensed, she knew that he was also paying attention to whatever that was playing out in front of their eyes. They watched as Seth dropped down beside his sister and whispered softly to her but Leah stubbornly ignored him.

"Leah, don't—"

"Sam." Jacob called out to the older man who snapped his mouth close and glared at Jacob. Bella was taken aback by the shimmering resentment in Sam's eyes before he blanked them and turned back to the fire he was gazing into. From the livid expression on Leah's face when Sam spoke to her, Bella guessed Jacob was right in stopping Sam from saying whatever he wanted to say.

Jacob's voice was gentle but firm as he spoke to Leah from where they were saying. "Go, Leah."

Leah finally tilted her head to look at Jacob and Bella could see the hurt in her face. "But, I—"

"Leah." Jacob's voice was no longer gentle but not unkind. "You know what's at risk. Go."

She looked away but jerked a nod and stood up in one smooth motion but her walk was stiff, whether with anger or annoyance, Bella didn't know. But she saw the looks of concern that were aimed at her back and she also saw the way Jacob nodded to Seth and Paul who followed Leah a second after. Something was going on underneath the usual awkward hostility between Leah and Sam, something that Jacob was hiding from her.

Something that she knew she had to earn in order to know. So she stayed silent and didn't ask, but she relaxed her body against Jacob's and was rewarded with the easing of his muscles a few seconds later.

His fingers started to play with her bracelet again and she let him. She resumed talking to Kim, entertaining her with Brian's latest debacle of trying to mix mochi with spaghetti and Jacob resumed talking to Embry about who was suppose to be working what around the rez.

She couldn't help but noticed that she haven't exchanged a lot of words with Jacob but she guessed, it couldn't be helped with the many, many unresolved matters between them. But Bella knew that it would be resolved this week though she still was at lost on the how.

She was busy answering Kim's questions and pondering on what would happen when she and Jacob finally talk edthat she started when Jake started sharply. Then, just then, did she hear the cascading sharp howls from a distance.

Everybody was immediately on their feet, including her but that was due to Jacob who lifted her up with him.

Without any explanation, Embry kicked sand over the fire, raking it with a stick to make sure the fire was dead before joining Sam, Jared and Quil in a rip of fur and snarls. With a nod from Jacob, Sam streaked into the dark with Jared while Embry and Quil prowled and scuffed their enormous claws on the ground, their eyes and ears flickering to where Sam disappeared.

Bella blinked until her eyes got used to the dark and was relieved when Kim flicked on a flashlight but Embry jerked the flashlight from her hands and tossed it down to the ground, he snapped his jaws and growled out a warning.

"No flashlights." Jacob admonished Kim who fisted her hands together and nodded. Colin and Brady dipped down and let Kim and Rachel climb onto their backs.

The remaining werewolves turned as one to the tree lines and Leah burst out in human form toward them, her golden eyes flickered to Jacob and without further ado hitched Bella onto her back.

"Vampires? Now?" Bella whispered, her arms holding tight onto Leah's shoulders.

"They are four of them as much as we can tell. Maybe more." Leah wasn't answering Bella's question but was notifying her Alpha. Bella knew that the wolves were already mentally sharing information.

Leah eyed Jacob, Quil and Embry, Bella felt the sizzle of connection between them, something that went further, deeper than whatever she came to know. "Speed and safety, brothers."

Bella felt a ripple in the air at the words and again when they repeated them back to her and Colin and Brady. When Jacob's eyes shifted and held on to hers before turning away she had to bit her lip before she called out his name.

She had learned the hard way that no one could stop Jacob from ever doing what he had to do, and even though it's only been a couple of months, Bella knew that being a Protector was already so much a part of what he was, that his sense of duty and obligation had intertwined so deeply with his sense of self that asking him to stay with her, and oh, how she wanted to, was the same as asking him not to be himself.

And that she would never do.

And that she refused to do.

She knew better. Now.

As if Leah knew what she was thinking, she hitched her higher on her back, more effortless that she could have if she was a normal girl, then with a sharp word in Quileute, led the twins back into the forest.