This story takes place during Eclipse. When Jacob forcibly kisses Bella for the first time, he locks eyes with her- and the imprint takes place. With the upcoming threat of battle from Victoria and her newborn vampire horde, this will make maintaining the feeble alliance between the Quilutes and the Cullens more arduous than ever.
Some portions are directly taken from Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer, as are the characters. Twilight, and all characters within are the property of Stephanie Meyer.
[POV Bella Swan]
Chapter 1
The garage was dimly lit and cold. Snow had fallen during the afternoon, while Jacob and I had been dosing in Billy's small living room. Our conversation had quickly turned serious, despite laughing only such a short time ago.
Had it even been five minutes? I thought. Great; in five minutes Jacob had managed to take us from good old times to hard serious truths. Truths that were only meant for me.
Okay, best left to only me.
I found myself taking a hard look at the hastily built walls of the garage. Though I could find no visible breaks in the metal, I was determined to figure out where the cold wind was blowing from. If I wasn't careful, I'd find myself seeking Jacob's ridiculously scorching body heat. Given the climate of conversation, this was not a good idea at all.
I shook my head. "You're impossible." I said to him, biting my lip. I hadn't denied what he had said was true.
He was serious. He took my chin in his hand, holding me tightly so I couldn't look away from his intent gaze. At least he couldn't force me to look directly in his eyes, my eyes were glued to the dark floor, and the light from the snow on the ground outside. I found myself thankful of the darkness in the garage, even if he could see everything that I could not. It created an illusion in my head that my true thoughts, my intentions -were still hidden.
"Until your heart stops beating, Bella," he said. "I'll be here- fighting. Don't forget that you have options."
I didn't like the way he lingered on the word, "options". How true his words were, how dangerous they would be if they came to the surface.
Since Edward had come back to Forks-and to me, I had found myself longing to be with Jacob.
At first, I merely craved my brother back. Edward hadn't allowed our old connection at first due to his fear of my safety within a pack of relatively new wolves. I had felt it was more than that, a deep jealousy that stemmed from Jacob's ability to warm me, heal me, in a way Edward never could.
But after Victoria's latest attempts to break the Quileute lines and the self-imposed boundary into Forks of the Cullens, I spent my days at Jacob's side constantly. Edward had been forced to send me into the protective (and volatile- in Edward's mind) arms of Jacob Black and the Quileute Pack.
As I spent more time with Jacob, the sensation of wanting my "brother" dissolved into something else. Something primordial-I felt his warmth, so opposite to Edward's cold and I began to feel fear. Fear for the ancient creature who watched me sleep. Fear for the venom laced fangs, that threatened to pierce my skin and drain me of my life's blood. Fear that I wanted Jacob more than I wanted Edward. Fear that anyone would ever find out.
The shaky anti-Victoria alliance that had formed between the Cullens and the Quileutes couldn't handle a shift like that when they were already struggling to maintain basic decency. I imagined that in the end, they would be able to ban together in some kind of fucked up Justice League to rid the world of Lex Luth-I mean Victoria. But I didn't want to make it any more difficult than it already was.
Aside from the personal affect it would have on me, Edward and Jacob, there were also the affects it would have on the individuals within the families. Alice would be unhappy, to put it lightly. She, Esme, Carlisle, and Emmett would miss me. Rosalie and Jasper would just be happy not to have to worry about killing me anymore. Especially Rosalie.
Sam and his pack on the other hand, I was unsure of for the most part. Quil and Embry would be happy to have me back. Perhaps Quil even more so. Seth would be happy too but he was cheerful about everything. Leah would be the most problematic outside of Sam. She would make my life hell, or at least Jacob's. I'm sure she would worry about retaliation from the Cullens, about anything that could be brought back to put danger on Seth. That thought brought me to Sam. What would he think? Paul and Jared were loyal and directly under him, so they would go with his way of thinking in the end, I'd guess. Sam himself, I couldn't picture his reaction. Would he be happy that Jacob was happy, or would he weigh the benefits and costs of having a "leech-lover" within his pack? What a headache.
These thoughts of mine, secret from even Edward's powerful psychic mind-I had forced into my stomach where I wished the acid within could melt them away. I supposed I could be officially classified as insane, because my desire for Jacob had been pushed into my stomach acid multiple times, and had yet to dissolve or even dilute. I had heard the definition of insanity was repeating a process exactly and expecting a different result each time it was repeated.
Ha. I laughed darkly in my mind. That's what classified me as bona fide insane. Trying to melt personal thoughts with stomach acid, not hanging out with vampires and werewolves with alarming regularity.
Jacob was staring at me, as I had mulled over my thoughts. In the dark, I couldn't tell if he gazed at me with hope or if he was gawking at me, a voice screaming: "Ecce femina-insana!" in his head.
Look! He has no idea how mad you are, woman. Ha. My mind laughed darkly at the joke.
I began to walk outside of the garage. "I don't want options!" I called over my shoulder, stepping into the cold wind and snow. If I was going to be cold, might as well go big or go home. When the wind hit my face, I was leaning more towards the "go home" option.
The snow was already deep enough for the ground to not show a single grass blade in my tracks. The cold pierced through my jeans, and slowed me. Jacob however, caught up quickly and stepped in front of me-stopping my escape.
Like you want to leave. That dark voice in my head spoke up again. I fruitlessly attempted to push her truthful ass into the acid.
Jacob's warm arms extended to me and help me in place. The wolf fever pitch heat passed through the cotton hoodie and let my skin feel his warmth as my blood began circulating again.
His eyes narrowed at me. "All the more reason to fight-fight harder now, while I can." He whispered. He pulled me into his chest effortlessly. I had longed for him to hold me this way. Once I was secured in place, one of his hands ran across my shoulder blades pushing my chest tightly to his. His other hand slid down to the small of my back, effectively melding us into one person-at least as close as we could get with our clothes on.
I realized I had forced myself to stare at his chest, I couldn't bring myself to look him in the eyes. That, and I couldn't see anything beyond his massive frame.
His hand slid slowly, up from the side of my back-hovering on my hip. I let out a gasp, and he took it as a green light to continue. I did not dare to consider his face, I couldn't bare the idea of what expression might possibly be there.
His hand slid from my hip across to my stomach. I shuddered and let out the breath I hadn't realized I had been holding, it came out with a force and a whimper lingered behind it. I closed my eyes, and realized I was letting it happen.
My brain rushed with thoughts. They strung together in straight line that led from one thought to the next, and at some point-became a tangled web.
Edward. Betrayed. Edward. Dangerous. Edward. Cold. Edward abandoned me. Edward jealous. Charlie hates Edward. Charlie loves Jacob. I love- No, No, No, I can't- the alliance will crumble. Someone will die. Charlie not safe. Charlie. Jacob. My Jacob. My brother. My companion. My lover- when did this happen? I- I-can't.
Everything I had been fighting was dangerously close to the surface. The words felt heavy on my tongue and desperate to escape the cage my teeth had clamped them shut in.
My eyes still closed, I felt that his hand had moved up from my stomach to gently hold my chin.
"N—" I started to object, but he interrupted.
"—Bella, look me in the eye. Just this once." He breathed the words out, as if he too had been holding his breath.
I opened my eyes, and they locked with his.
Everything shifts.
I stared into his eyes. I simultaneously saw the russet wolf and the Jacob I knew he was. Back before all the vampire-werewolf territorial bullshit. Before the constant jealousy, anger, and hatred. Before the guilt. The Jacob that radiated warmth and happiness like the sun. My Sun. My Jacob.
I saw the Alpha he was meant to be. I saw the man he would become. Strong, responsible, safe, warm, funny, handsome. But that man was fluid as well. I saw him as a Council Elder, full headdress. I saw him in a suit and tie. I saw him at college, holding my hand. I saw him as a construction worker. I saw hundreds of different job attires on him, but his face, his qualities remained the same despite the changes to his attire. I saw myself in white. I saw him waiting for me at the end of an aisle in the forest. I saw him kissing a round, glowing stomach. My stomach. Round with our child.
I snapped back to reality, and felt a warm pull to the center of Jacob's chest. It made me think of Wonder Woman's golden Lasso of Truth. It wrapped around me and bound me to Jacob. I was his. My thoughts, the secret truths that had been shoved into my stomach to burn from existence repeatedly, were his if he wanted them. I was his, and I knew I wanted him to be mine.
Edward, who? The dark voice purred happily.
His eyes were mesmerizing and they threatened to drag me back in to that wonderful reverie I had been lost in.
His lips quickly found mine. They felt like they belonged there, like they always had. His warmth flooded my cold body, and I felt like I was as warm as I had been back in Phoenix on a summer day. His hands twisted in my hair, pulling me softly into place. My hands wrapped around his broad shoulders, as the warmth flowed between us.