A/N: Hey look an update! -le gasp- I'm off for the rest of this week! -dancity dance dance- Well, until Saturday evening anyway. D: Thanks so much for all the reviews and favorites and alerts! I really appreciate it! Please enjoy this chapter! :)
Disclaimer: I've been forgetting to do this, hopefully it's not too late. Obviously I do not own anything associated with Twilight, or else I would not be writing on fanfiction and have published novels for crying out loud. Unfortunately, Jacob is not mine, and unfortunately, he has to imprint on a mutant vampire baby thing that should not exist anyway because vampire sperm should not be alive! -fumes- Anyway, the only things that belong to me are Ina, Jathan, and their mother, along with various characters that you don't recognize from Twilight/New Moon/Eclipse/Breaking Dawn. The rest belong to Stephanie Meyer. Thank you. (U_U)
Chapter 7
It was around noon on Saturday that I got dancing fever. I danced around while making lunch, wearing a pair of pink striped underwear I had gotten from 'the box' and my favorite T-shirt. IPod in one hand and peanut butter in the other, I lifted my hands up in the air and head banged for a moment before spinning around to set the peanut butter on the counter next to the bread, then slid across the kitchen floor to get a butter knife out of the silverware drawer. I sashayed my way to the counter before scooping out a massive blob of peanut butter and whipping the knife across the bread, bobbing my head in time to the beat. I slid back across the kitchen to the sink and shook my hips vigorously while washing the knife off, then jumped up and kicked when my favorite part came on.
"Oh let's make this last forever, partyin' with you together, on and on and on and on and on, Ima be rockin' like this, WHAT?" I sang, throwing a hand out in front of me, then spun around and almost fell against the counter. There stood Paul, Embry, Quil, Jacob, Jared, Seth and Leah Clearwater, and a few other guys I didn't know. Leah rolled her eyes and snorted, walking out of the house with her arms crossed. I leaned against t the counter wide eyed.
"I thought that was locked?" I squeaked.
"It was," Paul grinned, holding up a bobby pin. The younger guys were staring at me and punching each other in the arm jokingly. I couldn't hear what they said but Embry rolled his eyes and pushed them out the door. It was then I remembered that I was in my underwear.
"GUYS DON'T LOOK! TURN AROUND TURN AROUND!" I yelled, trying to pull my shirt down over myself. Paul cocked an eyebrow and crossed his arms.
"Ina we've been sitting here watching you shake that sweet tush of yours for like five minutes," he smirked. I fought against the urge to throw the knife at him. Jake came to my rescue, standing in front of me while he pulled his shirt over his head and tied it around my waist. Sweet heavenly maker of BowFlex the boy was ripped. I stood drooling at his abs for a few seconds before a hand waved in front of my eyes.
"Oh, yeah, pants. Right," I stammered, still staring as I backed away. I ran into a corner and yipped before finally turning around and racing to my room. A few moments later I emerged fully clothed.
"Aw, I liked you better the other way," Paul whined. Jake shot him a glare and put his arm around me. I quite literally swayed in my shoes at the close proximity of those heavenly muscles.
"Don't talk about my girlfriend that way," Jake said, emphasizing the girlfriend part. Paul snapped his fingers and smiled. "Dang, I was hoping she would say no."
"Nope, I said yes, so please refrain from speaking about this incident in my presence again or Jake will beat you up," I said, smiling sweetly. Jake nodded and Paul snorted, but there was a pained look in his eyes. A rather large man walked over to me and held his rather large hand out. I took it and shook it (hey that rhymes), and although my hand was dwarfed in comparison with his, he didn't crush it like guys normally do.
"Hi," he smiled, "I'm Sam Uley."
"Aren't you their boss?" I gasped in disbelief, pointed at Paul and Jake.
"Yeah sort of," he replied.
"Well, it's nice to meet you," I said, smiling up at him. Hey if this was the guy Jathan had been talking about, I'd better kiss up to him now so I can use his authority later if needed (insert maniacal laughter here). Paul walked up beside me and snaked his arm around my waist, smiling down at me.
"We were wondering if you wanted to go play football with us," he said, a command more than a question.
"Well I was going to do some homework and stuff," I mumbled, rubbing my chin.
"Bring it with you," Jake said.
"Yeah do that! Pleaaassseee?" Paul whined. They both got on their knees in front of me and gave me puppy dog eyes. Aw blast it, who could resist that? Soon I was being whisked out the door, peanut butter sandwich forgotten. Once we got outside I felt like some kind of freak, which was odd considering that they were the abnormal ones. All of them were extremely tall, beautiful, and buff, and I was just this short chubby kid next to them. I mean, I don't think I'm fat but it's hard not to feel a little insignificant next to these guys. Even Leah was pretty well built, and sure did show it off with her tank top and short cut-off jean shorts in this cold weather. I think I'd pretty much kill to have those legs.
"Well, this is the rest of the gang," Jake said, motioning to the others. "That's Seth and Leah, I think you know them, Collin is the one on the left of Jared, and that's Brady."
They all waved when pointed to, except for Leah. She seemed to have a bit of an attitude problem, but I wasn't going to hold anything against her. She probably has a reason to be that way. I blushed and waved back, and tried to give Leah my best smile. She just walked to Quil's truck and got in, slamming the door behind her.
"Don't mind her, she can be a downer sometimes," Paul whispered. Her head snapped in our direction as if she had heard what Paul said and I gulped.
"Be nice," Sam growled, glaring at Paul. Paul nodded and looked away, embarrassed. I liked this Uley guy already!
"So you totally have to teach us those sick dance moves sometime, kay?"
Three figures towered in front of me, all of their faces grinning and barely holding back their laughter.
"Sure thing," I smiled. They looked a little shocked and walked away to huddle in a corner and giggle amongst themselves. Jake rolled his eyes and looked at me, smirking. "Seems you've gathered yourself a little fan club," he said, nodding in the direction of Seth, Collin, and Brady.
"You guys ready to go yet?" Jared yelled from his jeep. We all piled into various vehicles and took off down the highway. I held on to the bar above my head as Jared pulled off the road into the forest, the jeep bouncing us around like popping popcorn. Soon he swerved to a stop, barely avoiding hitting a tree as we skidded along the ground and rose up a cloud of dusk. The other cars parked around us. Jake took my hand as I got out of the jeep. "Are we playing here?" I asked, looking around. The area was completely covered by trees except for a small clearing where we had parked.
"No silly, we have to walk the rest of the way," Jake laughed, putting his arm around my shoulders. Once everyone was out we began picking our way through the undergrowth, after about ten minutes we finally reached a huge open space in the middle of the woods. I pulled my sweater tighter around me as the wind gusted, missing the protection of the trees. No one else seemed bothered by the cold even though they were all wearing shorts and T-shirts. Must be a side effect of steroids or something.
"Shirts versus skins?" Paul questioned. Everyone else nodded and Jake and Sam got picked to be team captains. Jake picked me first, although I was probably going to be a liability. Sam picked Paul, Collin, Jared, and Brady while Jake picked Leah, Quil, Seth, and Embry.
"Everyone remember to be gentle, we have a lady on the field," Sam warned, smiling at me. I glanced at Leah but she was just glaring at the other team. "Leah's a beast, you'll see," Jared joked. Her jaw tightened and she said, "You're going out first Jared." He actually looked a little intimidated.
Each team huddled into position and started making plans, and I tried to listen to Jake even though I had no clue what was going on. He saw my confusion and smiled.
"Can you run very fast?" he asked. I shrugged.
"I suppose."
He grinned and the others rolled their eyes. "You'll be runningback then." I was still confused.
"Basically we throw the ball to you and you run to the other side like you've got hungry wolves chasing you. We'll protect you and keep you from getting tackled," Embry explained. The other guys snickered and punched him playfully while Leah shook her head.
Oh. Crap. This was going to be hard.
We got into position and Sam and Jake walked up to each other and flipped a coin.
"Loser is shirts?" Sam questioned. Jake smirked. "You know it."
Sam tossed the coin in the air and Jake called out heads. It landed on tails, which I was thankful for. They couldn't remove my shirt if they tried, I'd bite their hands off. I glanced at Leah and gave her a thumbs up since she was the only other girl besides me playing. She didn't seem to notice and just kept glaring at the other side, so I whispered, "Let's kick their butts!"
I could have sworn I saw one side of her mouth turn up a little.
It gave me a little courage as I turned and faced the other team just in time to see them take their shirts off. Hot damn, I thought, stealing Paul's favorite phrase for the moment. Though none of them looked as good as Jake. I remembered how he looked without his shirt and spaced out again, coming back to my senses when Sam yelled, "Hut hut!" Why was he talking about huts? The rest of my team scattered as the ball was thrown to Jared, who charged in our direction. I realized he was coming my way and tried to run, but he kept following me, a grin on his face. A blur flew by and suddenly he was on the ground moaning. Leah stood up and dusted her hands off, then spat in the grass beside Jared's face.
"Told you I'd take you out first," she stated simply, then walked back to her position. I just stared at her, awestruck. She noticed me watching and gave me a wink before assuming her angry playing face once again. Jake picked up the ball and soon everyone was running around like chickens with their heads cut off, especially me. I was trying not to get killed.
"Ina, go long!" Seth yelled, panting as he charged to the other side. "Go what?" I yelled back, running parallel to him. "Run that way as fast as you can!" Embry yelled from behind me, pointing in the direction we were going. He jumped and narrowly avoided getting tackled by Brady, so I just did what he said and took off running as fast as my little legs could carry me. Seth called out my name and I turned around in time for him to toss me the ball before he got tackled by Sam.
I dropped it.
"Sorry!" I moaned, hiding my face with my hands in embarrassment. Quil groaned while Collin and Brady burst into a fit of laughter. Jake patted me on the head.
"It's okay don't worry about it. I'm proud of you for trying," he said, smiling one of his sweet heartbreaking smiles.
"A for effort!" Seth called out. I nodded and got back into position, which was wherever Jake told me to go. Sam took the ball and tossed it to Paul, who gave me one of his so called 'sexy' faces and ran right by me, blowing kisses as he went. He soon regretted that, because Jake plowed him into the ground right away.
"Pay attention, Paul!" Sam yelled.
We started once again, Jake throwing the ball to Lea. She dashed to the other side and I tried to mirror her as she bounded over Brady and Collin and continued racing to the other side. Sam got in her way and she smirked, tossing the ball to me before purposefully running his head into the dirt, a smirk on her face. I actually caught the ball and panicked for a moment before Embry yelled at me, and I started running like my life depended on it. Which it did, considering it was either run or get pummeled by guys twice my size.
I heard footsteps behind me and I pushed myself to go faster. Whoever it was got slammed into the ground, but someone else was hot on their heels. I saw Paul racing in my direction out of the corner of my eye, teaming up against me with whoever was behind me. He jumped at my legs but missed as I jumped over him, breathing heavily. The end was in site. I just needed to figure out what to do with the large body standing a few yards in front of me. Jared was in my way, smirking with his arms crossed and feet planted far apart in the ground. I panicked and darted to the right, but he jogged leisurely in that direction, still smirking. I veered to the left and he merely changed direction. I was about to run right into his waiting arms when out of nowhere Embry's body was flying through the air and tackling Jared to the ground. I jumped over their tangled bodies and slid to the tree a few feet in front of me and touched it with the ball, a slow smile spreading across my face.
"I made a touchdown! I think!" I yelled, jumping up and holding the ball over my head. Everyone clapped, including those on Sam's team. A disappointing thought crossed my mind and I frowned.
"You guys let me didn't you?" I asked sadly, arms flopping to my sides. Jared struggled to get up, holding his rib cage and panting heavily.
"You think we wanted to get hit just so you could win? Don't kid yourself," he snapped, walking in the other direction. Embry came and put his arm around me for support, and I had to keep my knees from buckling under his weight. "Don't mind him. He's just mad he lost to a girl," he said, yelling the last part. Jared flipped him off and kept walking. I laughed and wiped a smudge of dirt from Embry's nose.
"Thanks Em!" I said excitedly. He smiled as the rest of my team disentangled themselves from whoever they had taken down and trotted over. Jake picked me up and swung me around, smacking a kiss on my cheek before setting me down. "That was great!" he said with a huge grin on his face. Seth stole me away and hugged me tightly while Quil mussed my hair with an amused look on his face.
"Let's take a break!" I heard Collin groan. The guys from my team called him various derogatory terms and went over to tease him. Soon they were all tangled in a dog pile with Seth laughing hysterically on top. I chuckled and shook my head, then jumped when I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. I looked over to see a smiling Leah. She was beautiful when she smiled, I didn't see how all the guys she knew weren't in love with her. "You did well," she said quietly. "It's only thanks to you. You were awesome out there! You're the toughest out of all of them!" I gushed. She waved me away, one corner of her mouth turning up in a smirk. "You kind of have to be with this bunch of mutts," she mused, looking down at me. Her face softened, but there was pain in her eyes as she said, "Thank you, Ina. This is the happiest I've seen Jacob in a long time. You're all he talks about."
I blushed and looked at the grass. "Does he really?" I murmured.
"Oh yeah," she groaned, rolling her eyes.
"'Ina is the most beautiful creature I've ever seen, Ina smiled at me today, Ina sounds beautiful when she laughs, Ina, Ina, Ina.' Almost makes me sick sometimes." She smirked as my blush deepened and patted me on the shoulder. "He's a good guy, he'll take care of you. Just trust him, okay?"
I wasn't really sure what she meant by that but I nodded anyway, and we jogged over to where the guys were. My heart felt like it was going to explode if I ran anymore, so I plopped down on the ground beside Jake and crossed my legs.
"What, tired already?" he said, looking down at me with a smile.
"Excuse me if I'm not steroid poppers like you are," I panted. They all laughed and Jake gave me a quick kiss before heading back onto the field. I leaned back, using my hands to prop me up and considered the pile of homework beside me. All thoughts of homework vanished when I looked back at the field and gasped. Now they were playing for real. It was dizzying trying to keep up with where the ball went as it was passed and recovered from team to team. Seth seemed to have taken over my position since he was the second smallest after Leah, but it was easy to see why she stayed where she was. I winced as her elbow connected with Brady's nose and blood started pouring out, and without missing a beat she turned around and shoved Paul to the ground, then threw the ball to Jake. The girl is vicious, and I like it! I cheered her on, but a part of me was quite relieved that she was on the same team as Jake and Embry, and not against them. Jake looked cool as ever as he tossed the ball to Seth before taking a shoulder in the chest from Sam, using his hands to stop Sam from hitting him full on. I could see the tension in his muscles, and nearly started drooling all over again.
"Amazing isn't it?" a cool voice said from behind me. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end and I whipped my head around to see an extremely beautiful, extremely pale girl standing behind me. Before I had time to think I was being crushed to Jake's chest and Paul, Sam, and Leah were standing in front of me while Embry and the others were positioned close around us. Their faces were all lined with emotion, and the tension made the air feel thick.
"Bella what are you doing here?" Jake's voice growled deeply from above me. Wait, Bella, THE Bella? I stared at her in shock, and she was staring right back, her eyes a strange mix between gold and crimson and looking none too pleased. She stood with her arms crossed, her dark hair whipping around her from the wind, but the rest of her was as still and cold as solid marble. Something inside me told me to run for my life, to get as far as possible from this strange, still woman with eyes like molten rock. She stared at me for a bit longer before snapping her head up to look at Jake.
"I came to see you of course," she said, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. His arms tightened around me and I could hear his heart pounding in his chest.
"Bella we told you to leave him alone," Sam said, his voice laced with anger.
"And I told you I didn't care," she answered simply, molten eyes glaring at Sam for a moment before returning to Jake. They softened, the colors in her irises turning to a darker golden color.
"I've missed you, Jake. Edward wouldn't let me see you because I was," she paused for a moment, "indisposed." She stepped forward but Sam didn't move. He crouched in front of her, shoulders shaking slightly. "Bella, if you take another step," he warned.
"Oh shut up," she hissed, slapping Sam in the face. To my surprise and horror, Sam flew through the air and landed a few feet away with a loud thump. Paul literally growled, something I had never heard before from a human being. He was shaking so badly that his form was almost blurred and Jake and the others quickly stepped back. A warm hand closed over my eyes, leaving me in darkness. I panicked and fought against it, not wanting to be blind in the presence of the ice girl but Jake's voice whispered in my ear quietly.
"Ina, I want you to close your eyes and not look no matter how much you want to. You might hear some disturbing things, but I want you to promise me that you won't look. Promise me," he said, sheer agony in his voice. I nodded and buried my head against his chest, hands clenching his shirt. His scent enveloped my like a warm blanket, and immediately I felt a drop in my panic level. I jumped as I heard shredding sounds and a deep, guttural growl that ended in a loud bark.
"Aw look, a puppy," I heard Bella coo. The growl ripped through the air again, making the very air itself seem to vibrate. Jake's arms were wrapped so tight around me I almost couldn't breathe, so I placed a kiss against his chest above where his heart was in an attempt to calm him. Although his grip didn't loosen any, he stopped shaking so much. Pain shot through me like an arrow as I thought about his love for Bella. Was he acting this way because he still loved her? I remembered Paul's words a few weeks ago, about how she had basically ripped his heart out and stomped on it before running away with her precious Edward. The pain was soon replaced by anger, a raging violent anger at the thought that this girl had hurt Jake so much. I don't know where it came from, but I seriously hated the girl at that moment and envisioned myself tearing her pretty face into bloody shreds.
"Do you hate me Jacob Black?" she asked, her voice as smooth as honey.
"No," he grunted, his voice shaky, "but I don't particularly like you."
She laughed, a musical sound that was similar to bells.
"That's too bad. I really have missed you, but I can see that you haven't really missed me much. Who is that?"
Jake's arms tightened even more and I squeaked. "Jake you're hurting me," I whispered, almost low enough that even I couldn't hear it. His grip immediately slackened enough to where I could breathe, but not much.
"It's none of your business," he hissed, his body beginning to tremble uncontrollably once more.
"Jake, be careful," I heard Leah say.
"I'm fine," he grunted, still shaking.
"Why should he be careful? It's just some girl right?" Bella's voice was dripping with sarcasm.
"Bella, I'm warning you," Jake said, his trembling increasing. "If you don't leave I will hurt you."
Bella laughed again. "You can't hurt me, Jake. I'm like you now, a freak of nature. Besides, she doesn't know does she? Wouldn't want to phase in front of her right? Don't want to let your imprint know that you're a monster, do you? Or are you trying to protect her from knowing about monsters like me?"
"Bella," Jake warned. I was beginning to worry about his health. His body was shaking so much and putting forth so much heat that the feel of his bare hands made my skin feel like it was going to burn away. His heart was beating much faster than in should have been, faster than if he had just run a straight marathon without a break.
"Jake, give her to me before you hurt her," Leah said softly.
"Aww, poor Jakey can't control himself. You'd better learn how or your imprint will find out that you're a were—"
Suddenly I was flung against Leah with such force that it knocked the breath out of me. I gasped for air as she threw me over her shoulder and took off for the woods, Seth, Collin, and Brady close behind. But they couldn't get me away fast enough. I heard the sound of shredding fabric and looked up to see that where Jake had been now stood an immense, angry wolf.
A/N: THANK YOU ichigoxxkurosaki! I am a retard when it comes to American football and any other sport that does not involve cleats, keepers, and only being able to touch the ball with your feet/head/chest/anywhere but your hands (soccer). Apparently what Ina is doing while they're playing football is called a 'running back' not a quarterback. I am dumb. Do forgive my ignorance. -bow-
