A/N – Thanks again for reading, and hope you're enjoying the story so far!

All Twilight characters belong to Stephanie Meyer.


Jacob POV

I saw streaks of sunlight snaking through the folds of the tent as I sleepily opened one eye. And then I shut it again just as quickly. Urrrghh… was it morning already? I was lying on my back, with Nessie still asleep, snuggled up against my chest. I felt her softness pressed up against me, and my heart swelled with love for her. I would never get tired of waking up next to my beautiful girl.

I absentmindedly stroked her back as my thoughts wandered back to our conversation of the night before. Nessie had voiced the very same worries that I had been unwilling to say out loud. '… this Drago character,' she had mused, 'If a sorcerer as powerful as Merlin is worried enough about him to draw down something like this so-called Veil to suppress not only his enemy's power but also his own – it sounds pretty dire.'

I didn't want to worry her, so I had bitten my tongue and stopped myself from confessing that I'd also been pondering the very same thing. What I hadn't counted on was the incapability of my mouth to follow my brain's instructions whenever I worried about my Nessie's safety. Before I knew it, the verbal diarrhoea was in full swing – 'I wondered about that' - for fuck's sake you idiot, shut up, shut up, you're just going to worry her needlessly – 'That's why I'm not exactly thrilled about us being stuck here.' I could have kicked myself. But as usual, Ness had taken it all in her stride. I really should give her more credit.

There were still so many unanswered questions, not just about Drago but also this weird – almost religious - fascination that the tribespeople seemed to have with Nessie. I had supposed they were intrigued by her because she looked so different to them and so similar to Merlin, but something was still bothering me. Why was my inner wolf ringing alarm bells again? The talk with Merlin yesterday had all been very interesting, but what guarantee did we have that he was telling us the truth? We would have to take his word for it. But he and the tribespeople had so far shown us nothing but kindness. I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt, for now anyway.

My girl started to stir. "Mmm-hmmm…" she murmured, and stretched herself out, all catlike. Her silky bronze curls were splayed out all around her. She looked so beautiful. "G'morning" she crooned into the crook of my neck.

"Morning, baby." I hummed into her skin as I breathed in her delicious strawberry scent.

She stretched herself out again, and more of her body slipped out from underneath the blanket. I forced myself to think about England, Edward, whatever, anything but how beautiful she looked and how much I loved her, otherwise we were never getting out of this bed.

Nessie rubbed her eyes and smiled at me. "I guess it's time to get up and at 'em, right Jake?"

"Yeah, I guess so," I agreed reluctantly. I could hear voices outside – jeez, these people get up early.

Nessie rolled out of the bed and had wrapped herself in the blanket. She was poking around under the cushions, looking for something. "What're you doing, honey?" I asked.

She turned around and grinned cheekily at me. She was holding a scrap of fabric. A scrap of black, lacy fabric.

"Just looking for the remnants of your handiwork from last night, wolfman." Fuck me, this woman was going to be the death of me. I rolled over onto my stomach. The memory of ripping the panties off Nessie's body last night and now the thought of her going commando were going to keep me face-down on the bed at least until I calmed down. I briefly thought about pulling her back down onto the bed with me, but somehow I didn't think the parents of the kiddies I could hear playing outside would approve of the inevitable outcome that particular invitation would lead to.

I watched Nessie as she continued wandering around the tent, picking up our various pieces of clothing. She found my sweatpants and tossed them at me. "Come on, Jakie-pooz. Rise and shine, let's see what's outside!"

So as usual, I did what I was told. I put the sweatpants on, and then poked my head outside the tent. Merlin was sitting a few metres away, reading a story to a bunch of kids who were gathered around him in a semi-circle.

"Ah good, you're awake," he said, looking up from the book he was reading from. He turned back to the children and said something to them, and they happily dispersed. He returned his attention to me. "We need to talk."

"Sure, sure" I said, "but didn't we already spend hours talking yesterday?"

"I thought it would be good to give you and Renesmee some time to digest all that has happened, before I share the rest of the story with you. Have some breakfast first," he said, handing me a plate of food that had been placed near the door of our tent, "and then we will talk."

Nessie wandered out of the tent just as Merlin disappeared around the corner. "Was that Merlin?" she asked. "What did he want?"

"Apparently there's more to the story." My wolf-sense had been spot-on. "He wants to tell us the rest of it after breakfast."

Nessie had started to go off after him, but I insisted she eat something first. We sat down just outside the tent and smiled our thank you's to the women close by. I assumed they had put out the food for us. They nodded and smiled their acknowledgement. Nessie picked at the cornbread and fruit, but I could tell her attention was elsewhere. She was fidgety because she wanted to know what else Merlin had to tell us, but was pretending to eat some of the food to keep me off her back.

I was sitting there munching away on the last of the cornbread, when something occurred to me. Even though I couldn't phase here, my wolfish appetite didn't seem to have vanished. Great, all I needed now was to get fat. Looks like I'd have to get some physical activity under my belt – well, maybe not literally 'under my belt' – heh he... there wouldn't be any danger of not getting a good dose of that kind of 'under the belt' activity if Ness had anything to do with it. I chuckled to myself, and was met with an arched eyebrow from my Ness.

"What's so amusing?" she asked.

"Nothing," I grinned. Maybe I'd volunteer to help out the tribe with the hunting or something. Had to keep myself looking hot for my Ness. I chuckled again.

"Jake, seriously, what's so funny?"

"Nothing," I grinned again. Nessie poked me in the ribs. "Hey," I laughed, "that tickles! Don't start what you can't finish!" I reached over to tickle her, but she ducked me.

I moved for her again but she jumped back, further this time, and I missed. "Getting old, are we?" she teased. Oh, now she was asking for it. With her half-vampire speed and reflexes suppressed, I caught her easily. I picked her up, tickling her belly with my free hand. She was wriggling mercilessly, and we collapsed in a laughing heap on the ground. I noticed that people had stopped what they were doing and were watching us with amused looks on their faces. We got up and brushed the dust off our clothes, smiling sheepishly.

"Jay-kob," I turned around to see Honiahaka standing behind us. "Come…this..way," he spoke slowly, enunciating each word. Hmmm … Merlin must have been teaching him some basic English. Not bad for a first go. I decided I would have to try and learn some of their language. From what I could tell, some of it sounded very similar to Quileute, so if I was right it shouldn't be too hard to make the connections. Honiahaka continued, "Merlin...want..talk…you," and gestured for us to follow him.

As we walked through the village, the whispers were audible as we passed by. The stares continued, and some of the children even followed us at a distance. Nessie stopped and motioned to them to come closer. At first they were hesitant, but then they timidly inched in. One of the girls shyly handed Nessie a flower. Ness smiled and hugged her a 'thank you'. Then the rest of the kids took this as their cue to flock in. They gathered around Ness, touching her long bronze tresses and admiring her pale alabaster skin. They were so excited when she smiled indulgently at them and held out her hands inviting them to touch her. Ness had made some new friends. That's my girl!

When we eventually arrived at Merlin's tent, he motioned for us to come in. Ness and I sat down on some of the cushions that were scattered near the now smouldering fire. Honiahaka remained close by, observing the conversation as he had done the previous day.

"Is he your bodyguard or something?" I asked Merlin.

"Of sorts," he responded. "Honiahaka's ancestor was my beloved, so his clan are the closest thing I have to family here. As I have protected the people of this tribe, Honiahaka's clan have protected me. The boy worries about leaving me alone with the both of you. He senses there is something different about you, Jacob. And of Renesmee, he is anxious because of the prophecy."

The what? What the fuck? What fucking prophecy? And what did any of that have to do with Ness? And why would that cause anyone anxiety? Was this prophecy the reason for the lingering unease I had felt? My thoughts were going at a thousand miles a minute. The wolf-sense wasn't just tingling, it was practically going nuts.

"What prophecy?" I barked, standing up and taking a defensive stance in front of my Ness. I felt Honiahaka tense up from his position not far away, his eyes darting from me to Merlin. "And what does Ness have to do with it?" My eyes narrowed as I looked at the centuries-old being in front of me. Was this the bombshell he had been holding off on dropping?

Merlin shuffled off and took out an old-looking scroll from the large wooden chest in the corner. Great, another musty old book-like thing. Isn't that what got me and Nessie into this mess in the first place? He unrolled the parchment, and the picture on it stunned me into silence. It was a picture of Ness. No, wait, not of Ness, but of a girl who looked just like Ness. Around the picture was writing of some kind, which I couldn't read.

I looked at the picture, and then at Nessie, and back at the picture again. The likeness was confounding. If I hadn't been fairly certain that the scroll had been in existence at least a few hundred years before Ness was born, I would have sworn the picture on it was of her.

"So now you understand the reaction of the tribespeople when they set eyes on Renesmee," Merlin stated. Duh, I thought - No shit, Sherlock.

Nessie recovered before I did. "What does the writing say?" she asked.

Merlin took a deep breath, and read it out - "He who possesses the hybrid shall win the war."