Rising Shine
Chapter One: Birthday Hunt
I ran like I always do. Not thinking, not seeing, just sensing. Sensing everything around me. The forest air seemed to shimmer with the excitement around me. In the air, birds chirruped at my passing, through the trees I felt a doe and her fawn rush as far away as possible, and in the distance ahead, I could smell the large elk that drew me to the hunt. As I ran, my feet fell noiselessly, even though the late autumn cast a heavy blanket of leaves on the forest floor.
The elk was not the only thing I could sense in the distance. As I ran, my best friend, Jacob Black ran along side me. Or he had been running along side me. Until I had let the human part of my mind take over for just a moment, and been captivated at the beauty of the deer who had passed me. Cocky as always, he had taken advantage of the moment and passed me up.
"Aw, come on Jake," I said in my best pleading voice, "Aren't you going to let me win again?"
It wasn't fair, really. I knew all I had to do was ask and Jacob would run back to the house and let me have to Elk all to myself. Shamelessly I took the lead that I needed, shoving all of my weight forward, I leapt. The Elk was down in less time than it took Jake to catch back up to me.
"That's disgusting, Nessie." He looked away as my strong teeth severed into the animals femoral artery. The hot blood washed over my tongue and down my throat with a cooling sensation. Thanks to my father, the slight burn in my throat that reminded me of who I was, remained ever present.
Soon as I was finished, I let Jake take care of the carcass. Even though I gave him the courtesy of looking away, my sharp ears could still hear the sound as wolf teeth stripped flesh from bone. When I turned back around the tall russet wolf had transformed back into the beautiful native man that I had grown up with. He was grinning at me, light in his warm amber eyes. I was used to this look.
"You cheated." He said simply, crossing his arms over his bare chest. His dark tanned skin gleamed in the relative sunlight.
I tried my best to look outraged, "Jacob Black! How dare you suggest I cheated." I crouched low into my pouncing pose, my backside waving back and forth like a feral cat on the prowl. The slightest growl escaped my throat as I rushed forward. He tried to swerve, but he never tried hard enough. Hitting him low, I tackled him to the ground, straddling his hips, and keeping my hands placed above his head.
"Are you sure your accusing me of cheating?" I asked again, my mouth impossibly close to his ear. He nodded in response. When I sat up to look into his eyes, his strong hand gripped my chin and pulled me close to his face again. For a fleeting second I felt our already abnormal heart beats quicken in unison.
"Jake?" I whispered.
"You ….cheated….." He answered through his teeth, emphasizing each word. Then, to my surprise, he thrust up from his hips, pushing himself onto his feet. I flew backwards from the force. Thankful for my vampire half as a I landed quite gracefully on my heels.
"You're such a freak show, Ness." My best friend teased me.
"Like mother like daughter." I quipped, adding the sly grin that I knew Jacob could never resist. I never understood why, but ever since I had been a child Jake had a way of catering to my every whim. If I so much as pouted, he was there trying to find the reason and the remedy. He joked with me when I used that line on him.
"Yeah, your own personal shrink, Ness. Lay it all on me kid."
"Speaking of which." His warm voice cut through my thoughts but the minute he spoke I noticed the change in the atmosphere. Another vampire coming up on us quickly. Barley audible even to my strong ears. The wind blew the scent of jasmine and orange ahead of her. "Mom." I groaned. This hunting trip was over.
She did not look pleased. Of course, she never looked pleased these days. Her beautiful face had begun to carry a tense tight look, as if she was waiting for something to snap at any moment. For some reason it worsened when she found me and Jacob together. Like that was something new.
"Alice will kill you if you are late for your party." She stated when she was close enough for me to hear. Oh, crap! I had somehow managed to forget all about that part. Seven years old today, although I was already full grown and physically as old as my mother. "You had better get going. You know how she is if you don't get the full Alice treatment." She rolled her eyes when she said that.
As different as my mother and I were, we were alike in the respect that we held fashion as one of our lesser priorities. Still, as today was my birthday I supposed it would be best to just grin and bear the torture I was about to be subjected to.