Disclaimer: Don't own any of it, so please don't sue. I promise to give them back when I'm done.
Jacob was twenty three when his world ended for the first time. Nessie's sixth birthday had brought a frigid stillness to her heart, and a chill to her blood. She may have grown at three times the speed of a human child, but she would never age past eighteen.
Her 'death' upon the ceasing of her heartbeat was enough to break the imprint, and him along with it.
He'd run, again, and it had taken two days for his Beta to find him, naked and curled up in the fetal position on the bank of the river. She had been so soft and warm as she held him; such a direct contrast to the pain, and he'd sought refuge in the arms of the one woman that had never left him.
He had been forceful and demanding; the pain of the breaking of the imprint too sharp and all consuming to allow him to think beyond trying to ease it. She had been much more accepting and understanding than he had deserved, but he'd still been hurting and so ashamed of himself that he'd left.
It had taken him three months to get his head together. He'd known that it was cowardly to leave behind the mess he'd made, but those weeks had given him the space he had needed to decide what he really wanted, with no mystical mumbo jumbo making his choices for him.
He'd returned calm, composed and determined to change the lives of his pack, and his people, for the better. He had finally grown up, which was a very good thing, considering the mess that had been waiting for him.
The first thing he had done was demand that Sam step aside and accept him as the true Alpha. It had been a vicious fight, but he had won and Sam had eventually been relieved to hand over the responsibility.
He had insisted on a proper education for all the members of his pack, and help attending college if they wanted to go. There was no way that he would allow this 'gift' of theirs to steal any more from them than it already had.
After the death of his father, he'd also taken over as tribal chief. He'd been thirty eight, and despite being a father of four and the owner of his own garage, the responsibility had terrified him.
He should have known that he didn't need to worry. He had never faced any challenge alone, and the weight of this new duty, like everything else, had been shared by all of his pack brothers.
From his very first days as an Alpha he had had his Beta by his side, and in this she had been no less supportive. She had fought hard for all of the help they could get to see their people into a bright, educated future, while still maintaining their traditions and tribal identity.
There had been trials and tribulations along the way, no doubt, but he'd done everything he'd set out to do all those years ago. They had achieved all he had wanted to for his people and more.
His life had been one well lived. There had been battles he had won, and some that he'd lost. He had loved and been loved. And most importantly of all, he had been the head of a family that had made him happier and prouder than any man had a right to be.
Everything he had done, every trial and triumph, had been endured or celebrated with her at his side. Their beginning had been less than spectacular, much to his shame, but every moment since had only gotten better.
Now, sixty eight years after the first time, his life was about to end again; this time for the last time. The rituals were over and the fire had been lit. Leah's body lay cradled in the canoe, the small pyre beneath her starting to lick at the cloth she was wrapped in; the fire only nearly as fierce as the woman herself.
Their family stood beside him at the edge of the water. The pack members and their families were with them too, all grieving the loss of his beautiful beta. Tonight the tribe would hold a huge bonfire and feast in honour of the woman that had worked so hard for their people, leading them into the future at his right hand.
He would stay to help them all through their grief, as she would want. In the days to come he would pass the title of chief onto his son, a child both born and conceived on the river bank upon which they now stood.
Charlie had learnt all he needed to know, and would make a fair and strong chief. He had handed the position of pack Alpha to him many moons ago, and he had proved himself as patient, persistent and passionate a leader as both of his parents.
Jacob would hold his children and grandchildren as they cried for the woman that had been the heart and fire of their people for so long. Soon, though he would follow her into the life after; as willingly he'd followed her in this one.
His life had only truly begun that twilight on the river bank when he had been grieving the loss of another, and it had ended two days ago as she finally slipped away in his arms. She had been ill for just two weeks, a short battle with a bought of pneumonia as aggressive as her, finally laying her to rest.
As the twilight faded to black, and the canoe carrying his wife drifted away on the swell of the river, Jacob wished her farewell, promising them both that he would see her again soon. He led his extended family away, steeling himself for the days to come, as his beating heart drifted away on the swell of the river, in a crackle of fire and flame.