Chapter 3: Wolves

My dad and mom said I had to go to sleep. They told me I would see Jacob in the morning when I woke up, but how could I get to sleep if I was so excited? Sometimes I wish my dad could hear my thoughts, and sometimes I tried to feel in my mind like my mom did, to see if I could find the boundaries of my shield. So far that had been a rather big flop. If I concentrated too hard I got headaches to go along with my tummy aches.

When going to sleep on my back didn't work, I grabbed Jack and turned over on my left side, looking at my wall. I tried to imagine what it would be like when the boys got here tomorrow. Mom said she wasn't sure how many of them would be coming, and I know how mean it is, but I hoped that Leah would stay in La Push.

Maybe if I figured out what I wanted to do when I got to see my Jacob, I could go to sleep. I shut my eyes, thinking about my favorite memory with him, well one of my favorites.

My Jacob carried me out of the big house because Aunt Rosalie wasn't being very nice. He was holding me against his chest, and I watched over his shoulder seeing Aunt Rose in the door way putting her hands to her lips and kissing them.

When Jacob sat down he turned me, and held me on his lap. "Now be very quiet," he whispered in my left ear, as he pressed his cheek against mine.

We were very quiet, and a bird landed a little in front of us. Jacob took my hand and held it out, putting something in it. "Don't eat this," he whispered.

I'm not sure why he told me that, it didn't smell good. The little bird hopped closer to us and I held my breath. It got closer, and Jacob pressed my hand down until it was resting on the soft damp grass. Our bird ate the stuff in my hand, and I reached out and touched its head before it flew away.

It wasn't working. I couldn't go to sleep, and my tummy was rumbling. "Daddy."

A moment later my door opened, and he came in. "My tummy hurts and I can't sleep at all."

I scooted over and he sat down on the edge of my bed, putting his hand where my tummy hurt the most. Dad rubbed it gently and hummed something new. It took me just a second, but when I figured out what he was humming, I smiled, closing my eyes. My dad was humming my new song.

"Dad, I remembered about when Jacob and I fed the bird at the old house."

"That was a pleasant memory," he agreed before humming more, adding tunes I didn't really know.

My eye lids were getting heavy, and I really didn't want to go to sleep. "I want to wait for Jacob."

"When he arrives, we will send him here to see you."

I wanted to tell dad that I wouldn't know, that I'd be asleep but my mind was too sleepy and my lids dropped over my eyes. "Stay till I sleep," I whispered.

His kiss on top of my head was the last thing I felt before more memories began, along with my dreams. It was cold and damp. There was darkness and somewhere water was constantly dripping.

~*~*~*~*~

It was half past four when we stepped into Edward and Bella's backyard. All of us were in our human form, and some of the guys stifled laughs when they saw the two tents not far from where we were taking in the scenery. Before I could address them, the curtain over the sliding door moved, and Bella came into view. The door slid open and she stepped out. "Hey Bells."

"Hey Jake. Hi guys."

"Hi Bella, how's it going?" Seth asked as he broke from the line my four brothers and I had created. He was the first one to her side, giving her a welcome hug.

For some reason I felt a smugness envelop me, but shook it off as I walked over to them. "Nice kid," I mumbled before giving my friend a hug. "No Nessie?"

"She needed to sleep. Her ulcer has been acting up quite a bit these past few days."

I nodded. "Leah didn't come with us," I offered, hoping to get some further information.

Bella's expression didn't change, and a second later Edward stepped out of the house, inviting us all in for breakfast. None of my pack hesitated and Bella and I followed behind.

"I thought Carlisle had some new medicine for her."

"He did, and it's been working, but there isn't anything we can do to keep her from worrying."

I was really hungry, but my instinctive need to see Nessie with my own eyes was quickly taking over. Bella smiled at me and I took my leave, knowing that the pack was in good hands.

Nessie's room hadn't changed much since my last visit. There were fewer toys on her book shelves, and more books. Most of her figurines were still there as well. Across from the shelves was her bed, and I silently made my way there, looking down at Nessie as she slept soundly. As I moved closer I stepped on something, and looking down finding Jack. In a moment I was holding the floppy stuffed wolf, taking note to his bedraggled appearance. It looked like Nessie still loved him, and that always made me feel better.

"No," Nessie said once, remaining still.

Her face twisted like she was seeing something unpleasant in her dreams, and I leaned forward placing a kiss on her cheek. "Shh," I whispered, stroking where I kissed with the back of my hand.

Even in her sleep, it seemed Nessie knew that someone was with her. I wasn't sure if she was aware of whom, but after a moment her face was once again peaceful. "Jack, you watch over her." When I placed him in her arms, Nessie smiled briefly before rolling away from me, taking Jack with her.

Assured she was safe, I made my way downstairs and found a huge plate of food waiting for me on the table. Feeling right at home I sat down and began digging in.

"She wanted to wait for you," Edward informed, as he sat down across from me.

"Bella said her ulcers been bugging her."

He nodded, looking worried. For the first time in my life I wished there was something I could do or say that would make him feel better.

My memories took me back to this summer when I had gotten home from patrol, and found Billy waiting. I had never felt more helpless in my life when I called Bella and heard Renesmee was in the hospital.

I had argued the risk in doing such a thing, and she assured me that Carlisle and Edward were making certain no one was treating her, except for the Doc. Still it had bugged me.

"That was a terrible time for all of us."

I shouldn't have been surprised that he was reading my thoughts, but then again I really wasn't working to keep him out of my head either.

I took another bite of bacon. "Any ideas on how to keep her from worrying?"

"We've been doing all we can," Edward answered, rubbing his hands over his face.

When I found myself reaching out to touch the back of his hand, I was shocked but at the same time it felt right. We all needed to stick together, and if it had been Quil worried about Claire, or Sam about Emily, I would have done what I was doing now, offering some form of comfort. "I'll see what I can do to help."

"Thank you Jacob."

~*~*~*~*~

The moment my eyes opened, I knew my Jacob was here. When I didn't find him in my room, I hopped out of my bed and ran down the stairs. "Jake!" He was sitting on the sofa and I launched myself into his arms.

Everything felt right when he was here, and he held me pretty tight, but
I didn't care. "Jake, I want you to come and meet Gracie." I lifted my head and looked at him, expecting him to do what I needed.

That was when his eyes left my face, and that was when I knew I'd have to eat breakfast first. I rested my head against his chest as my dad told me that. Dad also reminded me that I needed to hunt, something I hadn't done in a few days.

"Hey, where is everyone else?" Usually the guys were with Jake and that was puzzling.

"Well, we had a long trip and the guys are asleep in the tents your mom left out in the backyard." Jake answered

We had lots of things for camping, but hadn't used any of them in a long time, not since that one time. "Hey, we should camp out." I slid from his lap and ran to my dad who picked me up and took me into the kitchen. "Do you think we can do that Dad?"

"I don't see why not. We have plenty of places we could go."

Already my mind was working to figure out all the details. My birthday would be soon, and it would be lots of fun to go camping then. All of us could go, only Aunt Rose and Uncle Emmett could stay in another place, so she and Jacob wouldn't get cross with each other like the usually did. I'm not sure why, but Jacob always tells these jokes about blondes, and most of the time they are mean.

My bowl of cereal was in front of me, and I was sitting on the chair not really wanting to eat. Food made my stomach hurt, and animal blood did too. The only thing that worked was my other blood.

"Renesmee, eat before it gets soggy," my mom reminded.

"It smells funny." It really didn't but I felt funny, kind of grumpy, kind of hungry, and a bit tired.

"Hey Bells, will you fix me a bowl of cereal too?" Jacob asked as he sat down next to me. One of many good things about him being here is that I had someone who could really eat with me. My mom brought him a bowl and Jacob looked at me, winking before he dipped his spoon in and got a big bite of Cheerios. With one huge bite, he got it all in.

"Why are you laughing?" he asked when he swallowed it.

"You have milk going down your chin."

After he took another bite I decided maybe it wasn't so bad, and had my own. "Jake, did Leah come?"

Before he could answer, he had to swallow more cereal. "Nope, she stayed behind with Quil."

It was sad that Quil wasn't here, but I knew why. He has Claire and it would be very hard for him to go away. It's not easy for me or Jake, but we have to be responsible.

"Bet I can finish before you can," he whispered.

I looked at him, and started scooping in as much cereal as my mouth could hold. My cheeks puffed out a bit, and I chewed as fast as I could. I swallowed and shoveled more in, doing the same thing over and over as the milk and cereal slowly began to disappear.

"You two quit," Mom said as she walked in with an arm full of clothes.

"I win," I said proudly looking at Jake's semi full bowl, not really paying attention to my mom.

"I thought you weren't hungry."

He had me there. "Okay you win."

We took our bowls to the sink, and he helped me rinse and put them in the dishwasher. "So, what now?" Jake asked.

"Medicine time," my dad answered, interrupting our fun. I wanted to growl at him, but the last time I did that, he made me sit in my room and think about being respectful of others.

"But if I take it I'll throw up my cereal." Whining usually didn't get anywhere with mom or dad, but having to take my medicine twice a day was getting really old really fast.

When Jacob knelt beside me I hugged him. "It tastes really bad," I told him.

"Just try and think of it like a secret potion that only you can take," he tried.

I lifted my head away from his chest and frowned, not sure how that would make it better. I was the only one who had to take it and it was nasty business. My dad handed us the medicine cap, and Jake held it for me while I shut my eyes, getting myself ready for it. "Okay ready." He held it to my lips, and I tilted my head back shaking as it hit my tongue. Before it could get any worse, I gulped it down and felt my body shake before my other cup was at my lips.

Breathing in I smelled the salty tang of what was in that cup, and gulped down every last drop. "Jake, do you think Leah doesn't like me because I have to take human blood now?"

I was looking at the tiled floor but he put his finger under my chin and lifted so that I would look at him. "Leah's thoughts are her own, and nothing you have done in the past or now matters. What matters is that we have to go hunting, and I'll bet you ten bucks I'll catch the biggest Deer."

"Jake, you don't have ten bucks."

Somewhere in our house, I heard mom and dad laughing. After giving Jake a hug I ran upstairs to get dressed for the day.

~*~*~*~*~*~

If Jacob had ten dollars, he would owe me. After draining the buck I took down, I twirled around until I got to Jake. He was in his wolf form and was eating his deer. I'm not sure how it would be to eat them, but Nahuel and his aunt said they lived off the animals of the forest, so maybe that meant they ate them. "Jake, do shape shifting wolves get fleas?" Aunt Rose said that we shouldn't let him in the house because he has fleas, but I don't think that is true.

The way Jake lifted his head and rolled his eyes, I figured I was right. "Aunt Rose was complaining, but you can't tell any more of those blond jokes, I think you hurt her feelings." Sometimes I wished they would just get along like everyone else did. "Okay, you need to finish up. Gracie and Harvey are in the clearing, and I have to make sure she's feeing him."

Jake tilted his big head to one side.

"Grandma told me to show her how I hunt for him to see if she will figure it out. You will like her." Maybe she wouldn't like him. "Do you mind saving some of that for her? If we take her some, or you do, she might not get afraid."

There was a crunching sound as Jake snapped off a portion of his deer, and for some reason my stomach began to hurt, only I decided not to let him know.

He looked toward the woods and back at me, and I knew what Jake was saying. "I won't be afraid, just be fast please."

Before he left he pressed his nose against my forehead, then headed off to change back to his human self. "Somewhere there is a place that's special to me. A place I like to be," I sang softly, trying not to feel scared.

"Ready?" Jake came over to me and grabbed the part of the deer he had torn away, and I led the way singing my song in my head. Maybe before Jake left I'd let him hear the words.

Both of the bears were at the clearing, and I had Jake wait at the edge while I went to them. Harvey was napping and Grace was sitting on her bottom with her legs in front of her, looking at a peace of wood. I shut my eyes and focused on Jacob, showing her the memory of us and our bird. After a few other fun memories of Jake and me hunting, I opened my eyes.

Gracie got on all fours and walked over to me, nudging my side. "Okay Jake."

We watched him approach slowly, and I really hoped Grace would trust him.

When she growled, Jacob stopped and put his gift down.

"Grace, he's my best friend."

Again I shut my eyes showing her more memories.

"Nessie, she's not comfortable," Jake said softly.

Grace had backed up and it was clear Jake was right. Why was I the only one who could get close to them, maybe it had to do with how we could share thoughts?

My mind showed me images in shadow colors, Graces thoughts. She was scared and didn't want the present Jake brought her, but she had been hunting for Harvey, so that was at least something.

After that I felt a little sad. I walked in front of Jake wishing that there was a way I could teach him this ability, but maybe it was just my gift alone. Before I could think about anything else, I was up in the air. Jake lifted me over his head and put me on his shoulders. "Wow, you really are tall. Jake do you like the idea of us going camping, because I think it should just be me and you and the guys."

"Are you sure?"

My Jacob knew me well, but with him and his pack around, I felt safe. If it got bad then mom and dad could come out to where we were. "Very sure."

"Alright, let's head back and see what your parents think."

"Then we need to wake up all the lazies."

"I think that is a great idea," Jake said as he began to walk a little bit faster.

~*~*~*~*~

Our downstairs smelled like popcorn, soda pop, and wolves. The rest of my family had been by to say hi to everyone, and only Aunt Rose had stayed away. We were watching a movie, and I was in my pajamas sitting on Jake's lap. The rest of the pack had wanted to watch something they considered scary. Dad said no to something called SAW, which was silly because what could be scary after everything I'd seen and done. The movie we ended up with was still one my parents weren't all that happy about me seeing, but Jake swore he would stay with me if I needed him too.

"What is this one again," I whispered as I looked up at Jake. He had just stuffed another handful of popcorn in his mouth.

"Haunting in Connecticut."

It wasn't too bad, so far. The only sad part was that a boy was sick with a disease, and I was going to ask Grandpa about it tomorrow.

"This is lame," Seth muttered from our left.

Jacob leaned over and knocked him in the arm.

"Hey I was only being truthful." Seth threw a peace of popcorn and Jake caught it in his mouth.

"No food fights," mom called out from the kitchen. Sometimes, I think my mom has eyes in the back of her head.

The movie started to get interesting when they moved into the house, and as the boy started to see things, or things started to happen, I began to wonder if spirits were real. If we were, maybe they were too.

"How you doing?" Jacob whispered after I jumped when a shadow passed by the boy.

"Okay," I answered, scrubbing at my eyes. It was past time for me to go to bed, even past the new bed time, but I had to stay awake.

It was getting harder and harder, so I made a compromise with my mind. I would close my eyes and listen, and if it got good I would open them again. When I decided on that, Jacob leaned back making it harder for me to want to open my eyes.

"I think she's crashing," Seth said.

"Just resting my eyes," I mumbled feeling pretty comfortable. There was something in the movie that was breaking, and a lot of people were screaming but my mind and body didn't want to move.

Colder hands slipped under me, and I wanted to shake my head but when dad cradled me in his arms it was too comfortable. Jacob was a little hotter than me, and I was used to the cooler touch of my parents.

"Dad, are there ghosts?" I mumbled too much and he kissed the top of my head.

"Don't you worry about that."

That was the last thing I remembered before sleep took over.

~*~*~*~*~

AN: Another chapter. I promise to get it edited on the next one, but there was urgency to post now. I am moving closer to work, but can't get internet hook up for a few weeks, so no updates. I am hopeful it won't take that long, but who knows. Nessies thoughts are still random, still like her being a kid in that way. Thanks for all the reviews. I'm glad you guys are liking this. There is much more to come.