New Beginnings

(a Twilight fan-fiction work)

** The following work is set in the years after the Twilight saga ends. Jacob is struggling with his imprinting on Renesmee and is trying **
** to find a way to counter the effects of it. One of the characters he meets during his journey is Zachary, who Jacob strikes up an unlikely **
** friendship with. This friendship has the potential to blossom into a romantic interest forcing Jacob to balance his feelings for both his new **
** friend and Renesmee. **

** This work would be considered 'slash', -JacobXZachary-; with Zachary being a newly introduced character. **
** Some of the characters used in this adapted fiction are the property of of their respective copyright holders. This work is provided as-is **
** for non-comercial use. Please feel free to leave me any comments/suggestions/typos, etc. **
** The story, when finalized, should run about 12 chapters at roughly 7,000 - 10,000 words per chapter; plus the introduction. **

Introduction

The moon hung low over the horizon, bathing the ocean in a bright but pale light. The waves were especially harsh, powerfully crashing into the jetties that littered the shore. Jacob ignored the spray that splattered across his previously dry jean shorts. He howled at the moon in frustration. He wasn't shifted at the moment, although part of him wished he was. His thoughts, however, were not private when he was in wolf from. He was frustrated and wanted to work through his pain without the prying ears of the rest of his pack.

Renesmee had spurned his advances. Very quickly she had grown into a young woman. This was expected after seeing what had happened with another just like her who lived in South America. It was now just a few years after her birth, in fact, and she put any sixteen year old girl to shame.

They had first met under strained circumstances. Jacob had arrived at the Cullen house, shortly after her birth, to destroy the young child. This attempted act was born out of a desperation to protect his tribe. Renesmee was a half vampire, half human mix - something that was unheard of throughout most of the vampire world and something unimaginable in the shapeshifter world.

He had entered the front door to the Cullen's house with a determined and hardened look on his face. He maneuvered himself through the entryway into the living room where Rose was dotted over the young child with a motherly affection. Since he had allied with the Cullens, despite losing Bella forever, the vampires didn't try to stop him. They had no idea of his intentions. Something unexpected happened, however.

When he entered through the arch into the living room, he saw Renesmee for the first time meeting the gaze of the child. Though she was just a newborn baby, Jacob felt a rush of feelings fill the empty void that had just minutes ago been carved out of his soul upon watching Bella die (or so he believed at the time) from the birth of the child. This emptiness had been building for a long time; this longing he felt for the awkward but endearing woman. But in a moment, in this moment, the emptiness vanished and the immediate hold of imprinting caused him to fall unequivocally in love with Renesmee.

Imprinting is a strange phenomenon unique to Quileute shape-shifters. There is a lot of mystery surrounding the development of an imprint, but it is widely assumed within the tribe that it takes hold when the shifter finds their soulmate. No one knows if it is a developed trait meant to help propagate the shapeshifter blood to ensure the tribe is protected through the rest of time, but one thing is for sure, the first moment the shape-shifter locks gazes with the individual they feel the effects. It is at this point they become whatever it is the person needs, whether it is as a protector or guardian, brother, or lover.

When Jacob initially imprinted on Renesmee her mother Bella was livid. In some ways imprinting is like a preordained marriage, although the target of the imprinting is not forced to have any such feelings. It is believed, however, that the imprintee would never decline the love of the shape-shifter, since by definition they are a perfect match and the shape-shifter would have a level of love, affection, and obedience that surpassed that which could be offered by mundane feelings of love.

Of course that is what Jacob had thought. Until now. Renesmee had declined his advances once she became old enough for the feelings to blossom into romantic ones, and had referred to Jacob as an older brother figure - the touch of death for a romantic relationship. He understood what she wanted and even though it pained him greatly he was more concerned with what would make her happy. So, internally depressed and wracked with pain, he put forth a happy charade and pretended all was well in the world.

Edward knew, of course, since Jacob's mind was susceptible to his mind reading ability. He knew the pain Jacob was feeling but wisely stayed quiet, even to Bella. Bella, on the other hand, almost seemed happy. She didn't display this out right, of course, but Jacob could tell from the slight smile - barely even noticeable - and by the tone in her voice. She was happy to have Jacob in the family and couldn't think of a better match for her daughter but Jacob always had the feeling that there was some lingering sense of jealousy there. He laughed thinking about this. "She turned me down, not the other way around," he thought.

Jacob had left. Only for a short trip, of course. The imprinting made him into what Renesmee needed. Even though she was only interested in a platonic love with him, he still desired having that, even if it couldn't be more. He had decided to travel north of Forks. He had been told that a Quileute wise woman, named Carol, lived north outside of the reservation alone in a wooded glen. She generally spurned the tribal community, preferring to live on her own. Jacob's father, Billy, recounted her leaving the tribe, heading north after the death of her husband from a tragic hunting accident. Harry Clearwater was responsible for the accident, or so he claimed upon returning from the trip with the woman's husband. She grieved for weeks and months, and then left.

Members of the tribe still occasionally happened upon her. She was good with tinctures and other herbal medicine. The Quileute wasn't a rich tribe and when modern medicine was outside of their means they sought more traditional cures. Results were mixed but there is something to be said about not waiting around to be claimed by a sickness without doing a thing.

Jacob had told Billy about what happened with Renesmee. His father seemed to think that it wouldn't be the final answer and that she just needed more time - technically only being a few years old. This didn't satisfy Jacob, however, and so Billy mentioned Carol.

"Some of the tribal elders believed that Carol had imprinted on her husband, the love was so strong," he told Jacob. "It's kind of silly since she isn't known to have phased and there was no threat to prompt it. Still, her grief was so strong and her love for him unbendable, there were whispers that it could only be the work of imprinting. I don't give it a lot of thought, but maybe she does know something about it. Or even just how to cope with the loss."

Jacob agreed since he had really no other choices. The few days away would be good for him, even though it is painful for an imprinted member of the tribe to be away from their loved one.

And so he found himself traveling the twenty or so miles or so north toward where she lives, heading up the coast of the Olympic Peninsula. Desperation can do funny things to a person and he was feeling his share of desperation.