Jacob's POV
Damn it, Quil cursed when I appeared out of nowhere and shouldered him hard enough for him to stumble. Where the hell did you come from?
I grinned at him. You're so loud, man. I can hear you a hundred miles away.
I'm not, he protested. I dodged his muzzle that was threateningly close to my shoulder.
Yes, you are. A huge black wolf ran alongside us, its eyes patient and kind but firm. You should practice more on keeping your thoughts to yourself, Quil.
I do practice, Quil protested. A low whine appeared from deep within his chest.
Yeah, between babysitting baby Claire, the female voice infused with the other whispery voices and images in our heads.
Ha, ha. Leah, Quil panted when we cantered to a stop, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. I'm not seeing you do any better. Even Seth is better than you.
We felt Leah's irritation as if it was our own. It's certainly easier for him. Seth has much depth as—
Hey, Seth protested. Leah made a show of looking all around her before looking to her brother as if she didn't see him there before.
Oh, hey, Seth. She made little cooing noises that were specially designed to aggravate her brother, there's my little brother.
Ripples of laughter flitted along our minds.
This was the time when I didn't mind being a werewolf, when I didn't mind sharing thoughts, though that was probably because I was getting good at keeping them from getting too deep into mine. It wasn't like I was able to block them away—that was impossible—but at least, I could keep the others from skimming through the surface so I could have some privacy. So I can have a small measure of peace in my head where I can dump all of my secrets and shames and other things that I'd rather not share with anybody.
Everyone would have one or two of those.
I waited until everyone passed me—Sam taking point—so I can take the rear with the younger ones in front of me. Being a werewolf was starting to be second nature to us all. It probably helped that we all tried to not get into each other's head, or that if we did, we shut our mouths about whatever it was that we saw.
Leah was actually contributing to that unspoken rule.
Our pack was starting to function the way it should.
I listened to them talk inside my head, tuning them out until it became background noise, the same as the chirp of birds and the roar of the wind that rushed through our ears.
Our paws pushed us over the snow without any difficulty, letting pieces of white fly into our faces and bodies where they melted to dampen our fur.
It was uncommonly sunny today and the light dropped from the sky to bounce on the snow and ice that it looked as if we were running on crushed stars.
I felt a smile stretch my muzzle as a feeling of overwhelming content entered my heart. Here I was, with my family, my brothers and sister, experiencing what no normal human could ever have.
The freedom that came from shedding most of our humanity… and complications along the way.
I took a deep breath…and lost it immediately as my sensitive nose caught a cloyingly sweet scent that burned my nose and raised my hackles. My muscles bunched and a low, vicious growl erupted from my chest. The others lifted their heads when I stopped and sniffed the incoming wind. They also caught the scent and sharp snarls lashed out of each one of them, but I tensed even more when I realized there was something strange with the scent. It wasn't thick enough, sweet enough and there was something else.
Wait, I cautioned my pack. Sam.
Sam met my eyes and cantered to where I was standing. He sniffed the air for a moment and nodded, correcting my suspicion. It's human.
It can't be a victim. Leah whipped her head toward us. There's no blood.
Quil clawed at the ground. Maybe they heard us before they could feed so they just killed them.
Jared let out a low growl. There's only one, and it sounds like the person is moving.
Sam's ears flickered back. She. A girl. She's yelling something.
Seth looked at where the scent was coming strong, his head cocked to the side. She's looking for someone?
A wave of fresh wind hit my nose and I scrunched it up…then felt my heart stop as I realized what was strange about the scent.
Strawberries.
Bella.
I must've thought her name out loud because the others instantly whipped their heads toward me.
She's still human.
Jacob, wait. It could be a trap. Sam planted himself in front of me, as did Quil and Paul. Even if she is still human, the vampires might be with her.
She's alone. And this is our land. They won't pass through without permission.
You don't know that, Paul interrupted. Snarls started to slide out his razor teeth. They might be waiting, using her as bait to start a war with us.
Why the hell would they do that? Besides, Bella would never allow it.
Jared shook his head. Jake, she might not be a vampire, but she's one of them now. Who do you think she'll choose? Her family, or a bunch of mutant dogs?
She's not like that, she doesn't think of us that way. I knew there was some sense to what they were saying. I should calm down. I should think this through. I should—but my heart wasn't listening and my little human side was slowly losing control.
I was a werewolf now, mostly driven by instinct—and my instinct told me to run to her, go to her, be with her.
Move. I ordered my brothers and Jared and Paul had to heart was beating a bruise on my ribs at the thought of her so near and my ears flickered when I heard her voice.
"Jake! Ja…"
It was when I realized that she was calling out to me that a loud, deep growl ripped from my chest.
My eyes glinted sharply toward Sam. Sam, move out of the way.
Sam didn't move though he didn't act like he considered me as a threat, but his eyes were focused on me like he was reading my mind.
Which he probably was.
He'll order me to stay. To not see her, the thought escaped me and joined the hushed thoughts of the others. They were busily thinking of other things, trying not to add up to the tension. Their eyes watched Sam and I stare at each other—hardly breathing—as if they were afraid what would happen if they moved so much as an inch.
I heard that she was getting closer, her footsteps echoing in my head, her voice weaving through my thoughts and gripping at my throat to flow down my heart. I tried to think of something else but my thoughts were on just one thing.
One word.
.
Her name repeated inside my mind to the beat of my quickening heart, and they all knew it and shared in the distressing mixture of hope, trepidation and pain.
Mostly pain.
Sam, please, I begged him.
I saw Embry and Quil stare at me, feeling what I was feeling, thinking what I was thinking.
The memories of our long walks, the feel of our hands against each other's, the weight of her head on my shoulder…
How torturous these six months had been without her.
If I had'nt been so concentrated on her voice, I wouldn't have been surprised when Leah stepped up. Sam, let him go. She really is alone.
Sam looked at Leah for a long moment, long enough for her to step back from where she stood between us, then, finally, he stepped to the side.
Sam hadn't fully cleared the way before I shot off like a bullet that came out of a gun. As I got closer, I noticed the tension in her voice and it made me run even faster. I still had the presence of mind to phase back—not that I thought she'd mind seeing my wolf form but I'd rather meet with her again with my human side—put on the black cutoffs that I pulled off its place from my left calf, a matter that took only seconds, and rushed off again.
It was as if I could sense her grief as it was my own and I smelled the tears on her skin.
The desperation in her voice pushed my feet faster and I propelled myself harder against the ground as I loped on the treacherous snow, through the tangles of vines and tree branches. Something gashed at my cheekbone, but that was something that happened so often now that I hardly registered the stinging pain.
"JACOB!"
I burst through a tangle of shrubs—my heart beating fast inside my chest because of the urgency and prospect of seeing her again, rather than because of the exertion—my eyes already searching for her silhouette even before my feet hit the ground.
When they did, time skidded to a stop. Earth missed a revolution.
I watched her as the seconds lengthened, watched each separate tendril of her long brown hair—longer now—whip around her slim body as she turned, an action that should have taken seconds seemed like a lifetime to me.
Like all the corny lines in all the corny movies, my heart did stop. So did time—before it rushed in with a roaring sound not unlike that of a waterfall in my ears.
Air was sucked out of my lungs because the sight of her—still human—standing before me as real as the sunlight that highlighted her—non-glowing—face hit me like a punch to the stomach.
I stared at her until I was able to find my voice. "Bella?"
Her brown eyes—blurred by tears—lightened when they met mine. "Jake! Jacob! You're alright." Usually, I instigated any kind of touching between us, but she launched herself upon me, her arms like iron bands around my neck, gripping me to her as if she was afraid I'd disappear, mumbling my name over and over again against my neck.
It wasn't until I noticed she was trembling that her strange greeting registered in my mind.
"Bella, what's wrong?"
I tugged her arms away from my neck and held her face in my hands; her brown eyes were red and swimming with tears. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"
A suspicion niggled at the back of my head, a suspicion that didn't need any facts to make it rise to the surface. "Is it the bloodsuckers? Did they hurt you?"
She shook her head vehemently. Fire burst in her eyes at my accusation and she opened her mouth—probably to chastise me—but she was sobbing so hard.
"Did the Cullens come with you?"
She nodded and I turned to look over my shoulder at the two bear-size wolves that shoved out of the bushes. The silver one nodded and turned to where it came from and retreated with the younger ones; they needed to warn Sam about the Cullens' arrival, to make sure no one crossed our lands.
"Is something else coming?"
She nodded, still trying to rein in her emotions. Her face was red and blotchy, and her shoulders shook. I couldn't decipher the cascade of emotions that stormed inside of me at that moment, and although the arrival of the Cullens meant danger was imminent, I couldn't help the smile that spread across my lips.
As if in answer, the panicked look in her eyes faded, to be replaced by relief. I lifted a hand to cup her cheeks gently—she looked so tiny in her thick jacket—and simply stood there, staring into her brown eyes. My heart expanded until it felt like it would burst when a small smile broke over her trembling lips.
"Welcome home, Bella."
Finally, the tears spilled over, and she wrapped her arms around my waist in a gesture that was as familiar as it was welcomed. And so we stood amidst the golden sunlight and melting snow, immersed in each other's presence as we always were when we were together.
It took a while but after I made a few duty-bound comments about the sickeningly sweet smell and made a great show of trying to clear the air with turning the air conditioner up, I finally feigned reluctance on entering the Mercedes—vampire or not, I have to admit they have good taste in cars. I cranked up the heat when Bella started to shiver and we just sat there, looking at each other, noting the difference that time had marked on us. I noted that her hair was longer, but other than that, she didn't look any different. Her soft brown eyes were on my face and I smiled at the total concentration I saw there.
I didn't really want to break the feeling of contentment that I felt, but I know that Sam would want a clear and concise story of what was coming. "You look tired, Bella."
She swiped her hair from her face, blinked her eyes a few times before answering. "It's been a long couple of days."
I raised an eyebrow. "A couple of days?"
My heart beat strongly when a flush rose up her throat and bloomed in her cheeks. I twisted and leaned back against the door so I could face her and apparently my stare made her discomfiture even worse.
"How long have you known?"
Her fingers were doing a nervous dance along her bracelet and her face tilted down as she mumbled. "A couple of days."
"Hm," I waited until she took a peek at my face in curiosity. "How long..?"
The flush that resulted from that question looked painful. "Longer than I did."
"When is he ever going to start telling you the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"
She pinned a glare at me, her mouth settled to a pout. "He meant well."
"Sure," I agreed. "He was merely protecting you. As if anyone of us had ever hurt you." I couldn't help the bitterness that seeped through my act of nonchalance. "We're still 0 to 1 there."
Her eyes turned dark. "Jacob."
I waved a hand in the air. "Never mind. Sorry, my bad. Forget about that." I smiled into her eyes, putting all of my joy and happiness in seeing her into it and as always—I noticed she was a sucker for that smile—she smiled back. "It's good to see you, Bella."
Unexpectedly, her smile shrunk and she started to fiddle with her bracelet. "Really?"
I was surprised by her disbelief. "Yeah, of course."
Her eyes searched for something in my face, as if she doubted my sincerity.
"What is it?"
"You're not angry with me?"
My brows wrinkled, my confused expression stared back at me from the tinted window behind her. "Why should I be?"
Her shoulders hunched and her expression turned darker—not in anger but with shame before she mumbled under her breath. "I didn't call."
My fingers tapped on my knee before I brought it up to my newly cut hair—winter was over—and shrugged. "I sort of figured you were angry with me."
She lifted her face at that to stare at me with surprise.
I looked at her face for a while. "You were, weren't you?"
Her shoulders hunched again. "Yes."
"Don't sweat it, Bella." My eyes slid away from hers. "It's not like I waited around for you to call."
She winced and I chuckled as I reached for her hand—the one with my bracelet on it. "Really, don't sweat it. You're here, that's the only thing that matters."
"You're easily pleased."
I made a sound at the back of my throat and kept my voice light. "Not really. I just take what I can get."
Her eyes peeked at me but didn't comment when she saw that my eyes were on her.
"So, you're still human."
She glared at me obviously telling me to leave it alone.
I grinned and she sighed, knowing that I wouldn't leave it alone.
"Yes, I am. Obviously."
"Feel old, yet?"
Her hand smacked my shoulder but I shifted in my seat and she lost her balance, falling right into my arms. I laughed when she groused at me, trying to struggle out of my playful embrace. "Did you miss me, Bella?"
I tried, really I did, to make the question as casual as possible, but instead my voice deepened and cracked. My arms tightened around her, as if I was trying to entangle her forever in them. I felt my heart tatter when she tensed and pulled away like she always did when I pushed too hard, too fast.
I kept my head down, certain that my face was far from casual, far from controlled. My hands fell away from her as if they could crumble away with my heart.
When her small hands touched my face, I looked up in surprise.
Her eyes were vulnerable but strong as was the hold she had on my face. "Jacob Black, I will always miss you. No matter what kind of idiocy I had inside my head, even when I was so mad at you, I still did."
When she smiled at me, I smiled back, accepting the surge of aching pleasure and bittersweet pain that filled a heart that was left empty these last six months.
"I missed you, too."
My heart overflowed when I saw the pleasure bloom slowly in her eyes. "Anyway, back to business. What's coming? Is it like last time?"
Bella shook her head, her expression turned worried and anxious. "No, Jacob. This is nothing like last time. It's much, much worse."
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