Disclaimer: I don't own the Cullens or the Wolfpack, That all belongs to the wonderfully talented Stephenie Meyer. Although I wouldn't mind owning Jacob & Jasper. ;D
A/N: So this is my first Fanfic. I've read a lot of really great ones and it they inspired me to write my own twist on SM's world. My story takes place 8 years after Breaking Dawn. Irina never saw Nessie which means the volturi never got involved. Nessie is fully mature and sick of her parents over protective ways. She decides enough is enough and takes off on her own.
Jake Never came back after the incident at the wedding. 8 years later he's living in Maui, HA. He's doing well for himself but still theres that nagging little voice in his head that keeps reminding him of his biggest failure. Bella.
You Can't Run From Fate
Ch1. Running
JPOV
It's been eight years. Eight long years since I've left the only place that's ever felt like home. Eight years since she tore my heart out of my chest and merrily stomped on it. I'll never, as long as I live, forget that day. It's kinda hard to forget anyway when its been playing on a constant loop in my head for the past eight years.
I loved her so completely I would have done anything for her. Hell, I pretty much did. I fixed her when she was broken, when he left her. He just left her with the redhead leech still hunting her. What a man, huh? I loved her when she took him back. Shit! I even worked with them to save her life when the red head created and army just to take her out. She meant everything to me, I tried so hard to make her fall in love with me. I knew she loved me, I could see it in the way she looked at me and just that little spark, that little bit of hope was enough for me to stick around everytime she ripped apart my heart. The day of the Newborn Battle she finally admitted to loving me and she kissed me. She actually kissed me all on her own. I don't think I've ever been happier. I then went into battle like the good little soldier that I was only get the whole right side of my body broken by a newborn leech at the very end of the battle. While I'm healing Saint Bella pays me a visit to explain to me that her love for me is not enough, that she loves the leech more. I can't even explain the pain I felt when she spoke those words. It was like somone took a burning butter knife and stabbed me in the heart. Even after everything I did for her and everything she put me through, How does she repay me? Well, She finally pushes the knife all the way through my heart, that's how. She was going to fucking marry him. So I ran, I ran as far as I could go. For two months I lived as an animal. I let the most primal insticts take over and MAN! Did it feel good. Living as an animal had its perks, but being a werewolf had its pitfalls. Like the fact that my pack brothers were in my head constantly trying to convince to come home. Seth was the worst because he was friends with the Cullens. He knew the details of the wedding, when it was happening and worst of all, he kept reminding me of Bella, how much she missed me and wanted me to come back. Eventually I decided that maybe, just maybe she might change her mind if I came to the wedding. So I did and what did that leave me with? A giant steaming pile of broken heart. During our dance she so graciously let me know that she was planning on letting the reeking blood sucker take her virginity. He was going to be inside of her, that...thing. He was dead, he had no heart beat, no pulse. He was ice cold. He was a monster for fuck's sake. She chose a corpse over me. A blood sucking parasite. Isn't that an ego booster? Well that was the last straw. If it wasn't for Seth and Sam I would have torn him apart and burned the peices while happily dancing around the fire. Unfortunatly though Sam and Seth dragged me into the woods before I phased. We were all in our wolf form, Sam yelling at me about how I should have better self control.
"Look, I understand how much this hurts you, Jacob, but she made her choice, she chose a leech. Now you have to move on. Live your life and stop with the dramatics." he said with a hint of irritation.
"Are you fucking kidding me Sam? Move on? Sure, Where's Leah? Lets ask her how well that turned out."
I could feel Sam and Seth mentally flinch. Sam especially. He had always blamed himself for Leah's pain. He felt it was his fault she was the bitter shrew she was then, but leah was tough she handled the pain better than even I could ever hope for myself.
"Jacob, don't forget I am your alpha. You don't speak to me that way"
I could hear Seth examining the situation, he knew were it was going before even I did. "Guys, lets calm down, we're brothers we should be helping each other not hurting eachother." I could feel the panic in his head. Seth was the nicest kid I have ever known. He never had a bad word to say about anyone. I was sorry that he had to witness this.
"And just because your my alpha that gives you the right to dismiss what I feel like its nothing? I'm tired of this, Sam. I'm tired of being the best friend, the protector, I'm tired of not having a choice in were my life goes"
"What are you saying, Jacob?"
"I'm saying I'm leaving for a little while."
"Oh thats right, Jacob. Shit gets hard so you tuck your tail between your legs and you run. Tell me, How does it feel to be a coward constantly running from your problems?" I could feel the anger coursing through his body but what I felt when he spoke those words wasn't anger. It was something so dangerous and so...horrible I was blinded by it. It was the purest and most potent rage I have ever felt. His words were the straw that broke the perverbial wolf's back.
"FUCK YOU, SAM! You dont know anything about how I'm feeling. You think that just because your in my head and you see what I do that you know? You don;t know shit. I'm done. I'm leaving this place, the farther the better." I didnt ever get to put one paw down before Sam barked the order.
"I command you to stay in La Push."
"SAM! Stop, common man, let him go he'll come back when he's ready." Poor Seth that kid had a bigger heart then he knew what to do with.
I felt my legs give out at the command, I could hear myself whimper under my alpha's snout.I felt the shackles holding me to the ground insuring that I stay ! This won't happen. He is not my alpha.I am Jacob Black, heir to Ephraim Black. I am the true alpha and no one commands me. With this realization I felt my ancestors power flow into my veins, it was almost like their spirits were there with me. I felt the shackles crumble and I was able to stand. With two letters I told Sam exactly what I thought of his command.
"No."
I heard Seth and Sam gasp in my head.
"What did you say to me?" Sam snarled.
"I said NO!" I roared.
" As your alpha, Jacob I command you to stay" he screamed.
For once I didnt feel the familiar shackles tying me to the forest floor. What I felt was unadulterated freedom. Freedom to do what I wanted without obligations hanging over my head. It was a beautiful feeling. Empowering. It was almost as if that single admission of my true self had unleashed a power I never knew I had. I could almost feel myself getting bigger...If that was even possible.
"Whoa, Jake. Your huge! How did that just happen?" Hmm. I guess I actually did grow.
"So what does this mean, Jacob? Are you claiming your place as alpha?"
"No, Sam. Your still alpha. What I'm claiming is my freedom. I'm leaving."
With that I turned and took off and for the first time I noticed that my head was completely quiet. There were no voices, no opinions. Just beautiful silence.
For nine gloreous months I was alone. Living off of wild game. The rush of just letting the wolf take over and do what the insticts told him was like nothing I'd ever felt. Sure, I ran for those Two months but it wasn't the same because the pack was in my head constantly. This was a different level all together. This was me living and breathing mother nature. Feeling my claws dig into the dirt under my paws was intoxicating, I could almost feel the trees breathing, I heard the fluttering heart beats of the animals I shared this utopia with. It was almost as if mother nature herself was telling me everything would be all right. There were no luxeries here no toilets or showers, no phones or computers. Just hunting, drinking crystal clear water out the river and freedom.
The one day I was feeling particularly energized just running through forests enjoying my canine senses. I picked up a sent and now that I thought about it I was pretty hungry. It was a moose. Huge one maybe half a ton and wow he looked delicious. I was just about to start the hunt when all of the sudden three voices were shouting in my head.
"WHAT THE FUCK?"
"Jake! Man Wow I can't believe it where are you?"
"Oh, Thank God it worked"
"Jake, man were the hell are you?"
How the fuck did Seth, Leah, and Embry just do that? I snarled so loud I scared the moose away. So much for a nice juicy meal.
"What the fuck are you guys doing here?"
They all started talking at once and I didnt hear anything but a jumbled mess of words.
"One at a time!"
Leah spoke first. "Well, Jake. We left Sam's pack and we turned our loyalty to you."
"No! Why would you do that? I'm not coming back to La Push. I can't"
"So what? Your gonna live the rest of your existance as a wolf? You'll never grow old just spending everyday hunting, sleeping, and shitting. Is that what you really want Jake?" She sighed. "Look Jake, we're not asking you to come back, we're asking to join you. All three of us have our own reasons for leaving. We don't want to go back there either. We want to go with you."
"What reason would you guys have to leave? That is your home, your land."
"Are you serious Jake? Do you know what kind of torture it was to see Sam's thoughts? To see him imprinting on my cousin through his eyes and feel what he felt for her and seeing what he feels for me. I don't even hold a candle to her, I had to watch them having sex, I had to endure their passion and know that it should have been mine. I should have been pregnant with my second child. He should have been looking at me like that." I could feel her heart crushing with the memories. She had a flash back of when Sam proposed to her on the cliffs of La Push.
" Leah, you have been the only girl I have ever loved, your the only woman I will ever love. I can't imagine my life without you. I wouldn't bear it." He pulled something out of his pocket, got down on his knee and opened the box. " Leah, I love you with all my heart, will you do me the honor of being my wife?" I couldn't even deny the pure adoration in his eyes as Sam spoke those words.
She had tears in her eyes, elation written clear all across her face.
"YES! Sam, Yes yes yes."
With that he slid the ring on her finger and they kissed passionatly.
"Had it not been for the genetic "fuck you" that we all seem to have aquired, Sam would have been mine."
I didn't ever feel this kind of pain from her. I guess she was really good at blocking it but now that she was trying to get me to understand why she so badly needed to get away from Sam she unleashed it all on me. It it had the rest of us realing from it.
" I have nothing left for me in La Push. Mom has Charlie and Seth...Well we know were Seth is. That place is full of bad memories. I need a fresh start and Jake your the key since I don't want to give up my wolf." she said with a slight smirk.
"I understand Leah, If your sure about this then okay."
"Thank you so much Jake."
"What about you two?" I said to Seth and Embry.
"Common Jake, you really think I want to stay in La Push, with everybody whispering about me. "Oh that poor Embry, never found out who his father is and will probably never know. Renata will never tell him. She's so drunk all the time that she probably doesn;t even remember who it is. He's going to be a bastard forthe rest of his life" I always knew people talked about him. We had our suspicions as well when it came to Embry's father. Seeing as how he had the wolf gene which is passed through the men. Embry's father couldonly have been one of three people. Quils father John who died when Quil was 12, Sams father Michael,and none other then my dad, Billy. None of us ever mention it because we dont want to know.
"Jake, Theres nothing in La Push for me. Its not my home. I don't know were home is but thats not it."
"But Embry, Your mom, what about her?"
"She kicked me out, said that she never wanted to see me again that I was nothing but a dissapointment and that I would end up like my father had. Dead before he had a chance to live because quote: "he was out covorting with the devil and summoning demons" shes been a drunk since my dad died andI'm sick of taking care of her. It's timefor me to live my life and take of myself for once."
"Wow Embry I had no idea things were that bad, why had you never told me? You know my house was always open to you."
" I didn't need hand outs, Jake. I needed to be a man and take care of my mother when she needed me but theres only so much you can do to try and help someone before you realize they dont really want to be helped."
"Okay, Embry. It would be awesome to have you on bored."
"Seth?"
"I just listened to my heart and it told me that my path in life starts with you." Wow. Seth really was one of a kind. Who could refuse a reason as simple and heart felt as that? He never failed to blow my mind
I chuckled. "So I guess I have to appoint a beta."
"YES!"
"Really?"
And the only noise Leah made was the sound of a sigh of immense relief.
"So Leah, would you dothe honor?"
"Honor of what, Jake?" She didn't believe that I would actually offer her the position of being my beta. I don;t know why though. She was a genius when it came to plotting anything not to mention she could out race any of us. She was the obvious choice.
" The honor of being my beta."
" Jake!" she gasped "Are you sure?"
"Yes. Leah,I've never been more sure of anything."
"I would love to be beta."
" So its official? we're a pack?" Seth was bouncing with excitement.
"Yes, I guess it is. I gotta say though I was nice having my head be silent for once, but I missed you guys. I'm glad you did what you did. I'm sure Sam had a lot to say about it though."
Embry snorted. "You'd think so wouldn't you, but he didn't even object. He said he knew it was coming and that we made the right choice for us."
"No way. Seriously?"
"Yeah, Quil wanted to come too, but he has Claire and he can't leave her."
"I wouldn;t have wanted him to leave her anyway so it's good he didnt"
"Yeah. Now umm...Jake?" Seth said with a sense of urgancy behind his tone.
"Yeah?" I gotta say I was scared of what he was going to say.
"WERE THE HELL ARE YOU?"
I laughed at his exasperated tone. "I'm up by Toronto, you should pick up my sent near the border I'll wait for you here."
We never spoke of why I ran or any thing that has to do with the past. That was one thing we were all trying desprately to escape. Well except for Seth. The only person I kept in touch with from home is my dad. He doesn't know were I am but he knows I'm alive and doing good for myself and he's happy for me. One of the reasons I love my dad so much is because he truely understands me, he never once in the past 8 years asked me to come home. After we met up in Toronto I phased back to human for the first time in nine months. We got some odd jobs here and there for a year to save up all our money and spend it all to get to Maui. It's paradise here. No bad memories and no reminders of the peice of me I left in Washington. Once we got there we each got jobs and saved again only to have a garage up and running within a year. Embry and I were always good at fixing cars so we were the main mechanics. Seth got a degree from the University of Maui in engeneering so he built custom bikes for our more wealthy clients. Leah was in charge of custom paint jobs. I started drawing again when we first got to Maui and in the seven years that we had been living here my drawing has turned into another aspect of our business. I drew the custom bikes the clients wanted so that way there were no mistakes and nothing that the client could complain about later. About a year after we opened people started flocking to our garage for anything and everything having to do with cars or bikes. It got so crazy that we had to hire three more mechanics and another engineer to help Seth out with the crazy amout of custom orders coming in. Bella was still there in my heart and it still hurt to remember her and everything I went through but it wasn't the crippling heart shattering pain anymore. It was the pain of mourning what my life could have been.
Now five years later here I am with the greatest friends in the world running our own successful business and yet I'm not happy, don't get me wrong I'm happy in the general sense but I cant help the nagging feeling that my heart is missing some huge vital peice.