Chapter One
It was in Jake's garage that I heard the low roar of a motorcycle, the squealing sound of tires trying to stop on wet pavement, and then the cacophony of metal hitting asphalt. I run behind Jake and we stop at the scene of a slender young woman getting up from the wreckage.
"Ah, fuck," I can hear her cry.
"Hey! You okay?" Jake calls out as we get closer to her.
I can see her shoulders moving up and down with big sobs. Her hands are shaking as she runs them through her long layered black hair. She drops to the ground in front of the bike and is crying in earnest now, unashamed of her large breathy sobs.
Jake gets on his knees and I stand behind him, hand on her shoulder he asks, "Are you hurt?"
She looks up at us threw a black curtain of hair and nods a silent yes.
Gravity shifts and I look into the face of girl that I know as my soul mate.
-SC-
Getting her in the garage was easier said than done. She didn't want to leave the bike, sobbing that it was the only thing she owned, and I could tell by her body posture that she didn't trust us. I pushed the bike, a 2009 Chief Dark Horse Indian, into the garage as Jake carried her and set her down on the beat up couch that he kept in the garage for customers.
I didn't want to overwhelm her, I loved her, and I didn't want to scare her. So I kept my distance, shaking in anticipation when I could greet her.
"What's your name?" Jake asked softly pushing away her hair that she was using to hide her face.
"Dante Yearling," was her raspy murmur as Jake pushed away her hair on the right side of her face.
A big black eye marred her light copper skin, bruising her skin from the eyebrow to her high cheekbone.
"Where are you from, Dante?" Jake asks, not portraying the shock of seeing such a bruise.
"Star School, Montana," Dante replies quietly.
"That's a long trip, any reason why you are in La Push?" Jake asks.
"My grandfather lives here," she replies slowly opening up to us.
"What's his name?" I blurt out, a lot less tactile than Jake.
"Thomas White, he's a tribal elder," Dante answers.
Both Jake and I grin; Tom was an elder that called how it was and didn't give "a rat's ass" whose feelings he hurt. He was vulgar and crass.
"We can take you there," Jake smiles and helps her up.
"May I get my things?" she asks nodding towards her bike and its side bags.
"Of course," Jake smiles, "By the way, I'm Jacob Black and this is Seth Clearwater."
Dante nods and faintly smiles, but it doesn't reach her eyes. She limps over to the bike and opens one of the side bags. She pulls out small picture, a beaded necklace, and a hand gun. She puts the necklace on and slides the gun down in front of her pants next to her left hip bone. She looks back up at us defiantly, her full lips grimly pushed together.
Jake laughs to break the silence, "Come on let's pile into the truck."
-SC-
Knocking on Tom's door, I asses Dante's condition; she's got some road rash along her left leg and her clothes are torn on the left side. She looks gritty, exhausted, and her posture is stiff as a board despite all the pain she's in.
"What the hell do you-" Tom barks wiping open the door, we've interrupted their poker game, "I knew you'd be here sooner or later, Little Mutt."
His expression went from aggravated to solemn is a couple seconds, "And you got quite a shiner, come on in."
Billy Black, Officer Swan, and a couple of other guys sit around the table drinking beer and playing cards look on with surprise as we enter the kitchen.
"Boys, this is my granddaughter Dante Yearling, from the Blackfoot Rez in Montana," Tom introduces Dante with a wave of his hand and heads to the freezer.
He pulls out some sort of bagged frozen steak and slaps it onto Dante's face, "You might as well sit down, Little Mutt. I don't see you going anywhere until the police get here." Tom laughs at his own joke as Dante sits gingerly down on the chair at the table.
"Let me guess, your step dad gave you a shiner for coming home late, and you booked it," Tom frowned at her as she nodded in agreement, "Bastard, you should of pulled your knife on him, did you forget all that self-defense your Dad taught you?"
"He was drunk and I didn't want him taking the knife from me," Dante responded resentfully.
"Stupid son-of-a-bitch, you should of slit his throat for marrying my daughter. Give me your gun and your knife, you don't need them here," Tom growled and waited patiently, hand outstretched.
Dante easily handed over the gun, "I am not giving you my knife."
"You are giving me the knife, Little Mutt, I don't care if it was your Daddy's or not. You are in my house, my rules. If not, I'll ship you back to Montana and let your step-dad beat on you a little more," he snapped gruffly.
Dante growled low in her throat before reaching down and taking the knife from underneath her pant leg. I can see a flash of ink on her left inner wrist; it's a small paw print.
"Use it or lose it, Little Mutt, that's my philosophy. You should have used the damn knife on the brute when you had the chance, but you didn't and so you lose the knife. Your Dad would have been disappointed that you came running to me instead of sticking up for yourself," Tom said nonchalantly.
At this, my poor Dante burst into tears, "I'm sorry! I was scared! Ok! I was scared out of my mind!"
My heart pangs slightly and I want to smooth her tears, but I keep myself behind Jake.
"Why didn't you go to James house?" Tom questions opening up a beer and giving it to her.
Dante quiets her crying and rubs away the tears from face and replies, "Jazz was over at some girl's house, so I couldn't find him. I knew the directions here because Dad and I planned on driving over and surprising you. So, I figured I'd stick with the plan."
She takes a sip of the beer and makes a face giving it back to Tom, "It just seemed the most logical thing to do. Garrett would have to sober up to come find me."
Tom snorts and takes a swig of the beer staring down on Dante with a quizzical look, "What the hell am I going to do with you?"
"I don't know, put me in the backyard on a chain," Dante retorts.
"Don't tempt me Little Mutt, I'll have Charlie here lock you up for being a runaway. I have to clothe and feed you now, huh?"
"I can steal some clothes from Rachel that don't fit her anymore," Jake supplies with a friendly smile.
"Leah also has some clothes that don't fit her," I mention, "And I'm sure Kim wouldn't mind donating seeing that she can't fit into anything besides maternity clothes."
"That sounds agreeable," Billy comments shuffling his poker chips.
"I guess I'll keep you," Tom sighs and takes the steak from Dante, "go wash your grimy ass."
Dante limps towards the stairs but turns around and looks directly at Jake and I, "What about my bike?"
"We'll fix it," I blurt out again.
Jake looks at me like I've grown a second head but nods in agreement, "We'll fix it."
My loves smiles a full smile, this one reaching to her honey colored eyes, "Thanks."
-SC-
After raiding Leah's closet, much to her chagrin, I head over to Dante's house with a lighter than air feeling. I feel like phasing, but I don't want to ruin the clothes that I've scored for her. It runs down my spine like a soft caress, taunting my skin.
I knock softly and Tom answers with a scowl, "Clearwater, you better be glad that I like your mother so much; any other person and they'd would have been shot for knocking on my door before ten."
"Of course," I smile ruefully and let myself into the living room.
Dante is curled up on the couch with an oversized shirt on and a ratty pair of sweatpants, watching TV. She sees me and smiles slightly, "Hey, it's Seth, right?"
"Yea, Seth, I stole some clothes from my sister for you. They should fit you, she was about your size before she shot up," I knew I was blushing when I said this.
"Thanks," she smiles and takes the clothes from me, "Would you like to sit down?"
"Sure," I smile and sit down next to her.
We sit in quiet for a couple minutes before I turn to her and ask her my burning question, "Why does Tom call you Little Mutt?"
She laughs softly, she has soft raspy voice; "I'm half Blackfoot and Quileute. So my family thought it would be cute to call me Little Mutt. Mostly my friend Jazz and Pop call me that, everyone else calls me Danny or Dante."
"Oh," I respond and I suddenly feel of jealous whoever this Jazz person is. He brings a smile to her face that I wish I could achieve.
"Who is Jazz?" I can hear myself question before I can stop myself.
"He was my Dad's friend. He's a bit younger than my dad was. But, they looked out for each other at High school, and he's my god father. Why?"
I blush, "Just wondering."
Dante smiles slightly and we stumble back into silence. I clear my throat and stand up, "So, I, um, just wanted to bring you those clothes."
"Thanks Seth, I appreciate it," she responds and follows me as I head out the door.
"I'll see you around," I blush and I mentally kick myself in the behind for being so stupid.
Dante bites her bottom lip from grinning at me and responds with husky, "See you around, Seth."
-SC-
I stumble my way back to Jake's garage, berating myself for being so uncouth. Why I couldn't manage to a smooth like Jared or Sam? Even Quil has better skill than I do! In my spiral of self criticism, I throw myself onto the empty couch and scream into its overstuffed seat.
"What's a matter Seth Clearwater?" a sing-song voice of Renesmee Cullen asks me.
I forgot that she always visited on Sunday mornings, when business was slow. I turn over and look up at the girl with big innocent eyes, "I imprinted, Nessie, and I made a fool out of myself."
Nessie squeals and hugs me until I'm sure I only left with so much oxygen, "That's so great, Seth! How did it progress?"
"Badly," I sigh into my hands and she pops my head softly and laughs.
"You just think it went atrocious, I am assured it didn't!" Nessie giggles.
"What went bad?" Jake answers coming from the bathroom with a confused look twisting his features.
"Seth imprinted! Isn't that wonderful, my Jacob?" Nessie runs up and kisses his cheek.
"You imprinted, on whom?" Jake asks, his eyes growing bigger the second.
I smile slightly, "Dante Yearling."
"WHAT?" Jake's voice thunders through the garage, bouncing off the cars and ringing in my ears.
"Jake, I don't want to hear it," I growl against my Alpha of fifteen some odd years.
"You didn't even act like it!" Jake gasps.
"I didn't want to scare her, she's been through so much, I want to let her get to know me," I reply sheepishly.
"But…" Jake starts and then shakes his head, "You are so screwed."
"I know," I reply softly.
"Jacob, I wish to meet her. You would allow it, won't you Seth?" Nessie asks and pulls on my hand with a huge smile.
"Of course," Jacob responds and kisses her head and I nod.
I feel a wave of self-pity and I can no longer fit the urge to phase, "I'm going to go run around awhile."
"Yea, you can have today off," Jake mumbles as I wander out the door.
I look back at Dante's bike and sigh before running into the forest, not even bothering removing my clothes before I phase.
-SC-
-SC-
-SC-
AN: Hey guys! I noticed that FF has been deleting my little stars indicating a change of time in the story. So, I am going through all the chapters and replacing my stars with SC, Seth Clearwater's initial. Hopefully, the time progression of the story will make more sense now. Much love!
-IOAS