Thanks everyone who reviewed! 'nayali'- means I love you in Quileute by the way! I find the werewolf parts hard so bare with me! Anyway...ENJOYYY...please.
7. "Finally, you're here man! Boy do we have news for you" Embry shouted as soon as I walked through Emily's front door, he dragged a hand through his hair in stress and his eyes went wide in amazement, she shook his head in disbelief as he followed me through to the kitchen curiously, where the voices were coming from. "Jared" a shocked voice choked, I was met with the dark, tired eyes of Jacob Black.
"There's a lot to explain" Sam's deep voice said calmly, his arms crossed over his chest as he glared down at Jacob. Jacob looked uncertainly back at him then snorted- causing everyone's heads to snap round at him.
"Basically, I've joined the gang" he said sarcastically. Sam growled and Jacob winced slightly- feeling the force of the leader's orders no doubt.
"Quit doing that" Jacob moaned, peeking up at Sam's hard face.
"Start respecting your brothers" Sam demanded, Jacob looked once around all of us and sighed. I knew how he felt, the unconvienient connection you automatically felt for these boys as soon as you phased, but wanting it to be anger.
"So what do we do all day? Aside from keeping the secret" he knew a lot for a beginner, I could give him that much.
"Sam filled me in the first time I...changed" he said in response to my impressed expression, he shuddered at the memory.
"Can we really hear each other's thoughts when we're in wolf form?" he asked, we all nodded, He nodded in understanding and looked thoughtful.
"And we heal really fast, and I guess you already know the being warm all the time bit" Quil said, knowing everybody knew excactly what Jacob was going through, everyone except Emily, who peeked out from behind Sam and looked warily at Jacob.
"Anyone want food?" she said quietly, and the table immediately cried 'hell yeah's' and requests for meals. Emily laughed as Sam glared at each of us, he slowly turned to Emily and gazed at her lovingly "Please" he re-expressed for us. I knew what he meant, I would do the same if it were Kim. The silence fell into an eruption of chatter and laughter, except Jake who looked away with his arms crossed, a scowl on his face.
"Oh come on Jake! You can understand why we ignored you for so long...it wasn't our fault!" Embry reasoned with him, leaning towards him.
Jacob couldnt help the smile that played at the edges of his lips, finally he surrendered and pulled Embry into a headlock, probably trying to test his newly found strength. After that he fit right in, like he'd been in the pack the whole time.
Jacob joining the pack had been an asset, because he held so much information that proved to be useful for the pack. We'd recently discovered a nomadic female vampire on a mission to avenge her partner's death by killing local girl(and Jacob's best friend) Bella Swan. The dangerous predator was loose in forks and our duty to protect our town kicked in- causing us to be on patrol mostly every night, my werewolf senses were going wild daily. Many hikers were reported missing and people near the area had sworn to seeing giant wolves roaming the forest late at night. Harry Clearwater did his best to cover tracks and tried to talk his bestfriend- the chief of police- out of the 'insane' idea. The chief of police just happened to have a daughter, Bella Swan; who I'd met once, when she first found out about Jake. Apparentely Bella's bloodsucker boyfriend left town and she got pretty depressed- according to Sam and Jake- who shuddered at the memory, little did the leech know he was leaving Bella unprotected by any unwanted visitors who wanted revenge. Jacob had us outside Bella's every night, guarding her front door in two's and running the circumference of forks- in case we should pick up any vampire scents. I savoured any moment's I had with Kim, which seemed to be mainly in class or when I wasn't patrolling-which was a very rare occasion.
We were lying on her bed one wednesday night, quite unknown to her family. Victoria had been coming to the town much less frequentely these past few weeks. "Jared?" Kim murmered, her body tucked against mine as she slowly drifted to sleep.
"Mmmm" was my response.
"Please tell me what you're chasing out there, I hate worrying" I hadn't told Kim about vampires, I didnt want to scare her. Maybe I should, I hated to think she was worrying.
"You'll freak out for sure" I said quietly, she yawned and pawed at my chest.
"I think I can handle it. I didnt faint or anything when you phased in front of me" she laughed, the memory of her jaw dropping as I phased popped up in my mind. The only source of light in her room was the dim glow from her bedroom lamp, outside the rain fell lightly, I heard it patter on her windowsill."Um..." where should I start.
"Spit it out" she said, her eyes closing slowly.
"I promise I'll believe you"
"Vampires" her body froze in my arms, then relaxed.
"Are they dangerous?" she asked,
"There's only one at the minute...so not to all of us" I said uncertainly, she seemed strangely calm. She was extremely tough, was my Kim. She could handle anything and not bad an eyelid, so strong.
"Good" was all she said, nuzzling closer to me. I clutched her protectively against me.
"What are they like? Cloaks and fangs?" she asked, and I laughed once
"Not quite. They're pale, fast and pretty indestructable" I explained
"Oh..and they dont age" I remembered, giving her all the details. I loved not hiding anything from her.
"Like you then" she said, did I imagine the crack in her voice at the end? She yawned again and held my neck with both her hands tightly, clingng to me. I hugged back but couldn't push away the worry that clouded my mind, was I just being overprotective?
I heard Kim's baby brother shift his weight in the next room, gurgling softly in his sleep. Georgio stuttered a snore then it cut off, followed by his wife's low moan. Kim's breathing deepened and lapped into a gentle rhythm, I watched her shoulders rise then fall gracefully for what seemed like hours, she murmured inaudible words and I gazed at her indescribible beauty for some while; smiling in amusement as her eyeballs flickerered behind her dark eyelids, and her mouth twitched into a slow spreading smile, she was dreaming. I'd been sleeping all day, so I wasnt tired; but listening to the sounds of the night I couldnt help but start to feel more and more exhausted, my eyelids drooped slowly as my mind slowed down and I felt myself slipping..."Stay" Kim ordered, my eyes burst open to find her's closed, she was talking in her sleep; I listened closely to hear more.
"Stay with me Jared" her voice was clear and loud, I wondered if she was really asleep. I wondered what she was dreaming about, why she thought I was going anywhere. She mumbled something else but I missed it, it was drowned out by the sharp cry of a wolf far in the distance.
I was fully alert now, slipping out the bed slowly and covering Kim's bare arms with the covers.
I knew that cry, pain, loss, agony. I whispered her a goobye and jumped out the window onto the hard ground below, running into the woods and phasing as fast as I could. I felt the familiar flashed of heat ripple through my tense body and relaxed as I let my form shift, the forest floor was suddenly farther down and I could feel the wind blow through my fur. Finally Embry sighed, Come to the Clearwater's Sam ordered, I couldnt understand the pain in his voice, but I obeyed. As I ran through the mossy trees, and more of us phased; It became clear that something terrible had happened, images of Sue Clearwater weeping and her two kids standing helplessly by her side were stuck in Sam's mind. Harry was dead. I felt the feelings around me slowly fall and a sad, grief filled atmosphere set in our shared minds. I saw through Sam's head that Leah ran out the room and left Seth stranded, his expression agonisied and concerned. He hugged his mom and looked hopelessly at Sam, it made me wince.
I phased back outside the Clearwater's, quickly pulling on my shorts and trainers and jogging inside to find the scene that was in my head a moment ago, only now it was joined by Embry, Quil, Paul and I. "Where's Jake?" Paul demanded, everyone shrugged except Sam, who was rubbing Sue's back soothingly and sharing a concerned look with Seth. "With Bella, she jumped off a cliff" Sam said, not looking up from his duties. The shock subsided as Sam explained that it was not in fact, a suicide attempt; just some recreational fun.
"That chick sure sounds wierd" Seth chuckled, but in his eyes was a deep loss, an agony I could not yet begin to imagine.
We were joined soon by Chief Swan and Billy Black, who just nodded respectably our way. Charlie took Sam's place and knelt down beside Sue, handing her tissues and looking slightly lost, Billy breathed deeply through his nose with his eyes closed; his hand balled into a fist over his heart. We all did the same, I knew there had been a great loss for our town and I was saddened that the chief, the story teller; was gone.
We stayed at Sue's for hours with Charlie and Billy, I chatted to Seth about unimportant things and then placed my hand on his shoulder when he cried, letting it all out. Jacob never arrived. "Shit" muttered Sam, we all looked at him with confusion but he just shook his head and bolted out the door, as if another big thing could occur. I thought it might have something to do with Emily, the way he ran off so urgently. A while later Jacob came, greeted by his father who had a quiet discussion with him at the door. Jake looked utterly defeated, I didnt know if it was because of Harry or something else...but his face was completely lost and the corners of his mouth were pulled down for the rest of the evening.
Sam returned flanked by Leah about an hour later, she looked shaken as she ran upstair; she did not return. "What the hell was that?" Paul asked, a bewildered expression on his face as he saw Sam with his heartbroken ex girlfriend. Sam shook his head and returned to the scene of the house, he would tell us later.
After a while I started feeling a little usuless, Billy and Charlie were sharing the lose of their bestfriend with his wife, and Sam was talking quietly to Seth by the window. I could hear Leah sobbing upstair, probably from something Sam had said; it was horrible what he did to her...but he really couldnt have helped it even if he tried-not that he'd want to-. When Sam imprinted on Emily and left a broken Leah behind; he couldnt have been more guilty. For weeks he thought he wasnt worthy of Emily, he sort of exiled himself and lost touch with everyone after accidentally phasing in front of her and causing her everlasting scars, but then she asked for him and he came flying back like a shot, desperate for a second chance. I felt like a loser whimpering in the corner of the room, missing Kim. I realised I hadnt turned up at school today, would Kim be worried? I was completely exhausted after being up since midnight, it was now one in the afternoon. A few of the others eventually started drifting off home, and Sue assured us she would be okay, she had Seth and Leah! Jake wheeled Billy out to their car and Charlie,Sam and I walked slowly to behind them. "Hey Jacob?" Charlie called, Jacob turned around as Charlie caught up with him. Nice way to get out an awkward situation Charlie, very clever.
"Get home Jared, get some sleep. I'll let Kim know where you are" Sam said, my head was drooping and I was pretty sure I looked like a zombie. I thanked him and stumbled home, feeling a little out of it. When I swung through the door my mom was waiting, hands on hips with an impatient look on her face. "Where have you been all night? Do you know how worried I wa-"
"Relax mom, I was at Sue Clearwater's." I told her, clearly she hadnt heard the news yet.
"What? Why on earth were you there?" panic flew through her eyes at the mention of her mortal enemy- Sue. My mom did not like Sue, maybe that was putting it lightly. Ever since Sue 'stole' my mom's boyfriend way back in high school, she's held her responsible for everything else that went wrong in her life. She swears Sue's out to get her, personally I do not understand it at all.
"Harry died mom" I said solomely, bowing my head. Her face went very serious, and for once in her life she was speechless.
"How are Seth and Leah?" She asked, her expression was almost guilty.
I shrugged and struggled for words "Broken" I mumbled. She nodded in understanding and frowned, but it was a sad frown.
"Anyway- I'm gonna sleep" I said, breaking the eerie silence that surrounded us. She nodded and drifted back to the kitchen, busying herself with cleaning and cooking. I ran upstair and collapsed on my bed, sinking into sleep faster than ever.
My eyes fluttered open to the smell of rising bread and lemons; I realised Kim was laying next to me on my bed.
"My mom let you in?" I asked, Kim nodded. My mom and Kim got on like a house on fire, mom adored Kim. How couldnt she? Kim was perfect.
"So pretty, such a good influence" was mom's description of her thoughts on Kim. My mom would invite Kim round all the time, for dinner or just to hang out. She was overjoyed I was with her, Kim was everything my mom wanted me to have and luckily she was everything I ever wanted too. I got lucky with that one, my mom's picky over people.
"You've been asleep for hours" Kim said, she was sat on my bed now, stroking my hair.
"Sorry" I said, I wondered how long, had I kept her waiting too long? Was she bored?
"It's nice, watching you sleep" she murmured
"That way you cant annoy me" she said playfully, thankfully I could tell when she was teasing. I nudged her arm playfully and smiled up at her face in the darkness.
"What happened Jared? Tell me everything" slowly I told her about last night's events and her face fell when she heard about Harry; causing me to reach out and comfort her.
"How?" she gasped, her eyes wide with shock.
"Heart Attack" I said softly, I was never very close to Harry; but he'd helped me when I'd phased for the first time and he told me all the legends and stories that led me to believe was I was...what I am.
We'd recieved two new members to the pack; Seth and Leah Clearwater. Turns out Leah phased when we were all at Sue in the forest, Sam ran off to explain, this was going to be awkward with Leah and Sam in each other's heads. She was constantly bitter and bitchy towards us, it was something we'd all expected when we first found out she'd phased; something we'd have to get used to. Seth was the complete opposite, he was kind and warm hearted; he was estatic about becoming a werewolf, that wasnt a secret. The atmosphere in the Pack mind wasnt great, Leah's depressing mood brought everyone down, and Jacob was constantly thinking about bella and how she'd ran off to rescue to her vampire from Italy. I know he didnt want to think about, but it was so hard for him not to; he was in love with her. Sam's guilt added to all this, everyone time he thought about Emily Leah would wince and everybody else would feel her pain, including Sam. On the other hand, the happier hand; Quil had imprinted. Emily's niece had just moved down from the Makah reservation, and as soon as Quil saw her his life changed, maybe imprinting was a lot more common than we'd first expected. One problem, Claire was two. We didnt judge him, we saw through his mind what it really was; he didnt find it romantic, he just loved and cared for her as much as any over-protective big brother at the moment...give it a couple of decades they'd be as happy as Sam and Emily.
The Cullen's were back, much to our dismay. It seemed whenever the Cullen's were near, trouble would come along shortly after. Jacob fell into a pit of depression, he missed Bella all the time. He also felt extremely guilty, in an attempt to get Bella out the clutches from Edward Cullen, he'd ratted her out to Charlie about the motorbike, Jake knew Bella would resent him now, his mind was the least happy of all places.
For me, life was good. With kim, it was fantastic. It felt like we had forever to be together, but I wanted it all now. We'd never actually slept together,but according to Sam it was pretty phenomonal. I never pushed her to do anything, I let her lead the way in our physical relationship and the rest was so natural; we understood each other completely, I couldnt believe how amazing she was.I fell asleep with her every night, I could stay awake until she drifted off; then I'd slip out her window and sleep in my own bed. Mom wasnt worried, she knew where I was.
"Thinking about Kim?" it was saturday morning, the mouth watering smell of frying sausages and bacon filled the room as mom stood over the cooker, poking at the pan now and then, her eyebrows were raised at my expression; I was daydreaming about Kim...again.
"Yeah" I told her, smiling just at the mention of her name. Mom sighed.
"I feel like I should be excpecting an engagement announcement anyday now" Mom said, she was laughing but her brow was ever so slightly creased.
"I don't know about that, but you can sure get used to her...I love her" I said, sighing just as mom smiled warmly at me.
"I know, I can tell. Your father used to look at me like that...I miss him so much Jared" I never knew my dad, he died before I was born. All I knew was that his great grandfather was a werewolf, and that's where I got it from. A single tear rolled down my mom's face and her eyes glazed over, she was somewhere in the past now; thinking about dad.
"Hey, don't cry. You have me" I told her reassuringly, though I didnt know if it actually sounded convincing.
She smiled down lovingly at me, her palm rested against my cheek.
"I know, I know" she sighed shakily and forced a smile, getting back to her cooking and flustering around the stove.
I really did love my mother.
