Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Notes: Not much to say, so I'll just prefer if you have a good time reading this chapter of College With the Wolves!

~*~ College With the Wolves ~*~

Chapter Four: Encounter

The four occupants of the round lunch table immediately stood, all flashing brilliant grins that revealed glittering teeth from across the room.

I was frantically flapping my hand in front of Alice's face, trying to stop her sudden ministrations. But she only stood higher up, perched precariously on the edge of her heeled stilletos. She waved harder. Her tiny fingers were stretched high, wriggling like little worms atop her hands.

The bronze-haired man was the first to reach us. He stooped down low in a gentlemanly bow. I smiled and blushed, suddenly feeling drained of my earlier worry.

When the man spoke in a deep, honey-sweet voice, I nearly melted. "Hello," he murmured, standing back up again and pulling the white hoodie he was wearing further down his slim stomach. "I'm Edward Cullen."

I wriggled my hand in a little wave, feeling small under Edward's unbearably smoldering emerald eyes. "Hi. I'm Bella Swan." I grimaced inwardly at the squeak in my voice. But it was hard not to feel slightly nervous when staring at four definitions of the word 'angel.'

The shorter, younger blonde stepped up to me, smiling sweetly. "Hello," he drawled, and I detected a hint of Southern accent in his melodic voice. "Name's Jasper Hale."

I smirked. "Are you Rosalie's relative?" I asked Jasper.

He grinned down at me. "I'm her twin. I'm guessing she's already unleashed her wrath on you?"

I giggled. "Sure has," I replied. Jasper laughed, his bass tone ringing through the crowded lunch room.

Next to greet me was the pretty older woman. She was much more intimate than the others, wrapping her slender arms around me in a tight hug. I blushed.

"Hello!" she chirped brightly. Her voice was a soothingly high soprano. "I'm Edward's mother, Esme Cullen."

My eyes widened. This gorgeous woman looked no older than twenty! She laughed lightly at my stunned expression. "Don't worry. I'm thirty-seven," she said.

I relaxed a little, but still had my thoughts of that . . . Esme stepped back, revealing the pale man with slicked-back golden hair. He smiled at me.

The beautiful man extended his hand, and I immediately gripped it. His blinding smile grew, revealing gleaming teeth that accomponied his twinkling sapphire eyes. "I am Carlisle Cullen; Edward's father, and Esme's husband." His voice was light and kind, flowing through my ears like honey-sweet music.

I grinned. The small group of angels smiled right back.

Looking back, a few feet behind the glowing Cullens, I found a rather interesting sight.

Alice was pressed against the checkered wall, held there by Jasper Hale, who had his hands positioned on either side of Alice's head. Their lips were locked tightly, lost in moment I felt like I was intruding on.

I turned quickly away, blushing, but cheering on the inside for Alice. Jasper was a very gorgeous man. . . . I shook my head, snapping the thoughts away, and saw the Cullens staring at something across the room. They all held expressions that made my heart flutter in my chest and knots twist in my stomach. Carlisle was hiding an unidentifiable emotion behind a falsely cheerful smile. Esme was blank, her expression slightly wondering behind the plain look as she clung fiercely to Carlise's arm. Edward didn't try to hide his emotions; he was practically shaking with rage, his teeth bared in a snarl of fury. His nostrils flared, emerald eyes narrowing until they were just glaring slits.

Feeling panicked, I gaped at them. The tension between the three of them sizzled and popped in the air, pulling down on me with suffocating force. My eyes widened as I spun around to face the problem that caused the Cullens' distress, expecting to come face-to-face with an unearthly monster.

But, standing not three feet away, was the gorgeous man I had met earlier in the morning, Jacob Black. He was glowering at Edward, their eyes locked in a heated, silent conversation. I felt nervous as I stared at the two of them. My gaze flickered to the side, and I saw Jasper snarling at Jacob also, his teeth bared as he growled, hunched protectively over a quizzical-looking Alice.

Alice and I must have been feeling the same emotion, because she looked horrified as her eyes flipped from Edward to Jacob and back again in an unsynchronized pattern. She was clutching Jasper's chest as he leaned over her, long blond hair hiding the look of utter fury in his eyes as he spun back to face her. His lips moved in soothing words of comfort. Alice visibly relaxed, collapsing against Jasper's chest as she sighed in relief.

I wished I didn't have to feel the binding tension in the air that coiled around me like a hissing snake. For some reason, the dun-dun-dun music from the suspenseful pauses in old horror movies filled my mind. I shook it away and focused on the two growling men in front of me.

Carlisle and Esme were making no move to distract their enraged son, and the stony-looking men behind Jacob didn't really seem to care much for his health. They just looked eager for the empending fight.

And then, just as Edward and Jacob tensed to lunge, the cafeteria doors flew violently open, crashing against the walls with an echoing crack! Emmett sauntered in, Rosalie at his hip, both laughing and glowing.

Every person in the room leaped forward in shock. Jacob fell back into a relaxed position, sighing as though relieved. Edward was still tensed, coiled and ready to spring, but he walked back to his parents and Jasper, muttering profanities under his breath.

As the four of them turned and exited through the door, Carlise and Esme scolding Edward, my knees trembled and buckled. I fell forward, shock bringing me into a state of immobility. But before I hit the welcoming ground, two strong arms wrapped around my waist, hauling me effortlessly against a broad chest. I gazed up to see Jacob's worried face peering back at me, concern flashing in his dark eyes.

"Are you alright, Bella?" he questioned, bringing me closer to his chest as I slumped. I grinned lazily up at him, letting my head loll forward to meet his burning flesh.

A shudder rippled through Jacob, but he tightened his comforting grip. Alice was biting her lip a few feet away, holding in a squeal, all thoughts of the previous almost-fight gone. Shaking my head, I grinned at her.

The horror and shock that thickened the air around me dissipated quickly, leaving only warmth as I curled tightly in Jacob's arms. The muscles of his broad chest rippled beneath me, and I surpressed a sigh of mixed pleasure and contentment. He was so . . . warm. Jacob practically radiated heat, his whole body burning and boiling with a fire that hightened my temperature. But it felt wonderful.

A sudden thought hit me rather forcefully, and I grimaced. Here I was, lying in Jacob's arms, and this was only my second time meeting him.

But from somewhere deep in the folds of my swelling heart, I felt the fluttery sensation gnawing at me. It was comfortably hot, mixing perfectly with Jacob's unnatural heat. The feelings swirling vividly throughout my entire being could only be explained one way -

I was falling in love with Jacob Black.

Well? I think that was a good way to end it. If you're wondering why Edward and Jacob seemed eager to rip each other to shreds, that will all be explained in the next chapter.

Thanks for reading, everybody!

Love,
~Unseen Shadow of the Mind