SM owns it.

The wolf looked across the old beat up table. The empty chair reeked of leech. The scent was burning in his nose.

What could the leech possibly want? He knew who it was by the scent. They had given this one a special name, Speaker. He was a telepath. He made it so the werewolves did not have to shift to communicate with the vampire coven. When the pack had to speak to the coven, it was usually him and the head of the Coven that they would meet with. He was not as bad as the others were, most of the time. This was saying a lot.

Blondie was a bitch. Technical she was a blond bombshell, but her attitude got in the way. Her mate was a big hulk of a vampire that made no bones about his wishes to see the wolves cross the boundary line. After a few visits, the pack noticed that the couple did not come with them anymore.

Sam, who was the alpha, was asked once why and Speaker would only tell them that he did not enjoy the headaches of dealing with the two of them.

There was another couple, strangely matched, but perfect for each other. She was 4'9" with short spiky black hair and he was 6'3" and covered in scares. His hair with shoulder length and blond with loose curls. The male always put him on edge. The little female never said anything one way or another. Jake never knew why they stopped coming to the boundary line, but they were usually somewhere upwind and nearby.

That left the patriarch and matriarch of the coven. The matriarch was rarely seen. The one time he saw her, it was brief. She looked like a walking, breathing, character from an old silent movie. She had long caramel colored hair and big bright eyes and she was very shy.

Carlisle was the Coven's leader, the father, the sire, and the town's doctor. That was another book for another time. Carlisle was a calm leader. He was also a pacifist. That was something was unheard of in tribal lore. Another sign of the times. That thought caused him to snort.

Another sign of the times was happening now. Speaker had asked him to meet him here.

Why? He hadn't figured that one out, yet. He was asked to come and meet the vamp here. Here, was in a town named Olympia. It wasn't too far from Forks. Only about 30 minutes or so, by how fast a wolf could run. It took much longer to travel by car.

When Jacob first entered the building, it appeared to be a rundown old warehouse of some kind. The floors were covered in rubbish. There was one lonely table in the center of the room with two chairs an a bottle of liquor. There were some papers laid out on it.

Even now, he did not like this. It was too out of place.

Picking the bottle up he noticed it was Scotch. It would be rude to pour a shot uninvited. Then he realized there were no shot glasses. He smiled a little. No leech and no shot glasses, but the burning bleach smell was thick, the leech must nearby.

"I am," Speaker's voice floated down from the rickety stairs in the corner. "I do have a name," he said. The vampire was walking at a human's pace as he came up to the table. It was unsettling when one of them moved quickly. A faint blur would be all you would see. "I know, and that's why I do things like that." The vampire said as he set down two double size shot glasses on the table by the bottle. "For the sake of this meeting, please, call me Edward." Then the vampire sat down.

The vampire had a peculiar coppery shade of hair and his boyish face made him look like a kid. He dressed like an older man and spoke with a bit of an accent that Jacob could not place. The clothing and the way he talked made him seem about 21 or 22.

"Chicago, turn of the century," that's why he sounded older. "That's the whole point." The wolf hated it when the vampire did that. "Sorry, I do this with everyone I know." The wolf sighed and sat back in the chair. It wasn't worth the energy to get mad about it. It was like dealing with the pack on one level, but a little one-sided. Get on with it Jake thought. Edward nodded his head and cleared his throat.

"I asked you here today, to make a bargain." He uncorked the bottle of clear liquor and started to pour a double for both of them. "Careful, I've had this bottle a few decades. It is very dry. I keep a few in the cellar with the wine." Edward slid the glass over to him.

"What kind of bargain," the wolf asked eyeing the shot glass with mistrust. He had gotten the letter in the mail this morning asking him to meet the vamp here this evening and it asked him not to tell his pack mates. That made him uneasy about the situation to start with. The letter said there was a good reason.

"I have a business proposal for you Mr. Black," Jacobs's eyes turned toward the paperwork in front of him.

"Yeah, I need that shot now," Jake said. Making a deal with a white devil never turned out well for his people. The vampire, in turn, gave him a half-smile and a small nod of understanding. "I understand your quandary, and I find irony that it is not because I am a vampire. But the white devil is a good description either way."

"What is it, Cullen?" Whatever it was, it had his curiosity.

"Officially we are both 21 or older now. Legal to drink, Legal to be in a bar, and Legal to own a bar." With that last remark, the vamp raised his glass and waited for Jacob to do the same. The wolf stared for a moment. He didn't even know that vampires could drink. "Yes, we can. We have to keep to a liquid diet. Nevertheless, we still have to be careful. More than a cup of water will make us sick to our stomachs but alcohol is different. We just need to feed more often."

Taking the bottle this time, Jacob poured a healthy set of shots for both. He could drink like a fish and had put many hard nose bikers under the table because they thought he was just a kid. His body's metabolism ran extremely high and his body temperature stayed a constant 108 degrees.

"Scotch…thank you. Never tried it before. The burn is slow. Why a bar?"

"Why not?" and the vampire poured another for both of them. "The alcohol burn, it helps the venom burning in the back of my throat. The smell of humans makes my throat burn constantly." Edward nursed his shot. Jacob could tell there was something on his mind. It was a few minutes before the vampire seemed to become aware of the wolf. "I need a cover story. I need a reason to have the money that is in this name." This name? Edward shot him a queasy look for a second and set his unfinished drink back on the ratty old table.

"As a wolf, have you given any thought about the rest of your life?" Edward waited a minute, but Jacob only shook his head to say no. "I was afraid of that," he mumbled to himself. "How long does one of your kind live?"

"Hmmm…As long I keep shifting, I guess forever. Why? Why would you care Leech?" Jacob threw back another shot. Edward in a more courteous manner finished his drink and poured another round.

"I care, because, for the first time in damn near a century, I have neighbors that I don't have to hide from." Edward looked at the wolf and gave him a toothy grin. He enjoyed watching the huge Indian squirm for a moment. "The bonus is you're not a vampire."

"Why is that a good thing?"

"Because I don't normally get along with my kind. Vampire and werewolves have more in common than you think, Jacob."

The only thing Edward heard in response was a sputter as Jacob tried to drink his shot at the same time he told him this. Slowly (for him), he refilled his drink and sat back down.

"One," Edward said while holding up a finger. "Vampires are extremely territorial. We do not like others hunting in our area. If you are an animal drinker, it is because you do not want the announcement. If you're not, it's because you don't want to share." He watched as another shiver ran down Jacob's spin.

"Two, we are both prone to out living a normal human." The wolf nodded in agreement. "Do you know how to do that?" There was an uncomfortable silence. He was truly stunned. Even his mind had quieted down. "I was afraid of that. The thought had never crossed your mind, did it? Maybe it did and you put it out of your mind…You knew it would happen, but not…how."

"You see, the modern world has made life difficult for folks like you and me. I am more than willing to help. I can show you a few cheats and shortcuts along the way."

"I guess this is the part where I ask what the catch is." He asked eyeing the vamp.

"I need to make a paper trail." Jacob frowned and set his unfinished shot back on the table.

"Go on," he said.

"The easiest way to do that is to have a job or start a business. Seeing as I can play the part of spoil rich kid with money burning a hole in my pocket: that means I can have some fun with this." Edward paused for a moment to let what he said sink in. He liked the way Jacob could guard his thoughts so well. His tribe, when they shifted, was telepathic in wolf form. A fringe benefit was starting to show.

"You want me to work for you?"

"No."

"Then what do you want."

"To be business partners. I will be the bankroll. You run it. I will help you at first. I will work out on the floor with you or whatever you need. In a few years, I will leave town, you can run as you see fit. All I ask is that the loft is mine and I can come and go as I please. Don't worry about staying in the black. I really don't care." He paused to see if he had lost the kid.

Jacob was not saying anything. His thoughts were swirling around. He could feel how close he was to give in. Schooling was not working for him. He had tried college twice now. It would not take much to push him over the edge.

"And in a few years, before anyone can notice that you're not aging, you leave for a few years. You have fun, travel the world for a while, and you come back in a couple of years pretending to be family of some kind and take over the family business." Edward hoped he had sweetened the pot enough that the wolf took the bait.

"Deal"

"Hmmm…." That was quicker than he thought it would take. "Well, as it stands, we have some paperwork," Edward said with a small half-smile.