Chapter 8: Devil in the Blue Dress

Disclaimer: S. Meyer owns Twilight


It might sound a bit strange, but Jacob was actually enjoying this little trek with Leah all nestled against his torso. He liked the feel of her slender fingers curled at the nape of his neck, and the sensation of bare skin, as her legs settled neatly on the cushion of his arms.

He'd been out with a few girls, but none of them held any attraction for him. There was no history, nothing to build on, whereas he and Leah had a lot in common. They knew each other inside and out, or did they? He wondered what it would be like to be alone with her. The more he thought about, the more the idea appealed to him.

Then he thought back to the moment he heard her howl. His heart seized, and he was in a panic to get to her. Jacob was relieved when he was able to phase to human, because even as he was barking out orders, seemingly in control, his nerves were quivering in anxiety. He couldn't let the pack know of his fear for her, and especially not Leah herself. She had to think he was in Alpha mode, and have absolute trust in him.

God—what would he have done if she'd gotten her head caught in the trap? Finding her limp body absent of life … he shook that thought off quickly. It was too terrifying to consider.

He returned to the present, clinging to her more tightly. They were nearly to the bottom of the mountain area now, and he had this irresistible urge to bury his nose in her hair. His brain and his heart battled over that one, unfortunately his brain won out. Maybe next time, his heart whispered. Something else occurred to him.

"Hey, Lee, what would you say if I appointed you as my beta? Would you accept the position?"

"Do I have a choice?"

No—just kiddin'. You know you always have a choice. Anyway, Sam's ready to hang it up."

"What about Jared, or Embry? Won't they object?"

"I didn't ask them. I'm asking you."

"I'm honored, but can I think about it first?"

"Sure, sure."

In another ten minutes, they heard Seth honking the horn, signaling his whereabouts.


Seth had the passenger door open, and the front seat pushed forward, lying flat. Gently lowering Leah onto the seat, Jacob held her leg, as she scooted backward. He then got in the backseat himself, resting her foot on his lap. Leah's brother had brought along some pillows, which Jacob placed under her ankle to elevate it.

They arrived at the Clearwaters', and Jacob once again gathered Leah into his arms and carried her into the house where Sue was waiting in the kitchen with medicinal supplies, and his old crutches that she borrowed from Billy. Her mother was methodical in her cleaning and dressing of the wounds. The swelling had gone down, and from the looks of things, the break was healing fast.

"How does that feel?" Sue asked, as she finished wrapping the ankle.

"It doesn't hurt as bad anymore."

"I'm still taking you over to the clinic. The radiologist said he'd meet us there. I need to make sure, that the bones set right." Sue went into the other room to get her car keys.

Leah smiled up at her hero. "Bye, Jake. Thanks for taking me home."

Jake stepped back, a wounded expression on his face. "Whaddya mean? I'm not goin' anywhere."

"You don't need to stay. Mom and Seth can take care of me now."

"Forget it. I came this far. I'm carrying you into the clinic. And you're gonna let me. That's an order."

Leah clicked her tongue. "You sure have pulled that Alpha card a lot lately."

He leaned down, pulling her toward him. "It comes in handy. Now up ya go …"


The XRAYs looked good according to the radiologist, but Jacob still insisted on carrying Leah back to the car, and into her house. Sue set out some food for them, and she and Seth called it a night.

Jacob and Leah sat together on the couch. He wasn't ready to leave yet. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good. How 'bout you?"

He lowered his eyes, taking her hand in his. "I'm better now. Don't tell the guys, but back there when I heard you howling, I about came unglued. I don't ever wanna feel that way again. Then I thought about all the girls I've been out with lately."

His dark eyes held hers, and in a quiet voice, he said, "The thing is, none of them compare with you, Lee. I couldn't take it if you were gone. So, I was thinking, would you maybe wanna hang out with me this Friday? Oh, jeez .. I mean … If you don't want to, that's fine …"

"You mean like a date?"

Why was he having such trouble getting his words out? He cleared his throat. "It doesn't havta be. It can be whatever you want it to be."

Her eyes seemed to come alive, or was it just his imagination? "No, no, that's great. I'd like that."

"You would?"

"Do I need to repeat myself?"

"All right then, this Friday; I'll make plans.

He made a half-hearted attempt to get up from the couch. "Hey, it's getting late. I better go."

"I don't know how you can still stand up. You must be exhausted."

"Oh, wait—do you need help to get in bed?"

Pointing to the other side of the room, Lead said, "Nah … just hand me those crutches."

Jacob grabbed the crutches from the corner of the room and lay them down next to her. "I knew these'd come in handy again."

She chuckled with him as he helped lift her to a standing position. They were so close he could feel her breath waft across his lips, and their eyes connected and locked. Oh, man, he wanted to kiss her so badly, but he thought better of it. Bella hitting him was one thing, but Leah. Oh god, Bella … he'd almost forgotten her. Whenever he was with Leah, it was as if Bella was just a dream that was rapidly fading away, bit by bit. Did he ever really love her?

His opportunity was lost, and he drew away from her, watching Leah walk slowly to her room. "Bye, Lee," he said in a whisper. "See you tomorrow."


LPOV:

For the next few days, Jacob picked up Leah at her house and drove her to his home. Quil and Embry were always there livening up the place. She'd stay for awhile, and when they got ready to patrol, he'd drop her off, and lead his pack. Leah wanted to go with them, but he wouldn't allow her to patrol in all that time.

Friday afternoon arrived, and she was so excited. She showered, shampooed, fixed her hair, and even did up her nails. Right when she took out the clothes she was going to wear to the movie, the phone rang.

"Lee? I'm sorry, I'm gonna havta take a rain check for tonight. Three nomads were just spotted. I gotta go."

"Just go, Jake. I understand."

"Thanks, Lee. Some other time, huh?"

"Yeah, some other time …" She ended the call, and sunk down on her bed. Crap! Would some other time ever come?


JPOV:

Every day, he said to himself, I should ask Leah to a movie. It was too late to see the one he had planned on, but so what? And every day, something always came up, until so much time passed that he'd be embarrassed to ask her now. Christmas was already on the way.

The wolves had a party at the tribal complex. There were streamers, and mistletoe, and food, and music, and lots of dancing. Jacob sat in the corner, amused, as he watched the boys one by one, kiss the girls that came through the front door where the mistletoe was hanging.

Leah finally made her entrance, and she nearly put his eyes out. She was a knockout tonight, in a midnight blue lace dress that hugged her in all the right places. Her hair was swept back and held with rhinestone studded combs; her eyes were smoky discs, peeking out under long black lashes, and those lips were luster bright, covered in a burgundy gloss. Holey … he could barely close his mouth.

Not one of the boys got up the nerve to kiss her. Jacob couldn't believe it. What the hell were they waiting for? They should pay just to even look at her. Cowards, that's what they were—well, he wasn't.

She stood there for a moment; her eyes darting about the room. Jacob made a beeline toward her, and in a New York minute, his arms were around her shoulders, and his mouth busy tasting her lips.

Hoooleeeey … the room suddenly seemed warmer, and he felt dizzy from the scent of her perfume. God, she smelled so good.

Leah wasn't shy at all about kissing him back. In fact her fingers instinctively clamped onto the roots of his hair, holding him captive—not that he wanted to bug out anytime soon. He wondered why he hadn't kissed her before this. Man, his pulse was about to make the jump into hyper space.

They grinned at each other as the kiss ended. Actually, it was Quil who broke it up by tapping on Jacob's shoulder. "Hey, buddy, come up for air, eh. You're giving us all a complex here."

Some guy, probably from the Makeh rez, walked through the door behind them. Jacob didn't recognize him.

"I'll take it from here," he said.

Leah turned to Jacob, and smiling said, "Bye, Jake."

The man took Leah's hand and led her to a table at the far wall.

Inexplicably, Jacob was miffed. Who was that guy? Did Leah invite him? Wait a minute … he had no right to feel that way, did he? Leah was a big girl. She could invite anyone she wanted to. She was a free agent. Jacob had no hold on her. Anyway, it couldn't be anything serious or he would've heard about it by now. Yeah, that was it—nothing to panic about.

Still, he couldn't control his wandering eyes as they kept glancing over at the table the couple was sitting at for the rest of the evening.

Leah looked like she was enjoying the man's company. Who was that guy?

Jacob left the party early. He was feeling restless and deprived. Leah should have been sitting at his table, with him, not that other jerk. Okay, so maybe the guy was good looking, and tall and muscular, and maybe he could make Leah smile, but he was still—a jerk. Case closed!

Jeez, that night, every time he drifted off, there was Leah in that blue lace dress. Then he would begin thinking about her in the arms of that man. Who was that guy? He made it his business to find out.


His buds came by the next day to work on a scooter Embry had won on a bet. Quil wasted no time to grill his Alpha. "So … you and Leah?"

Jacob's head swiveled to look at Quil. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't mess with us, Black. We got eyes. And we saw what we saw when we saw it. You two were smoldering so hotly, I thought the place was gonna go up like kindling."

"Wait a minute, guys."

Stopping him with one hand raised, Quil remarked, "No, it's okay. I approve. She's a looker. I see the attraction. But seems like that hunk from the Makah rez was pretty attracted too."

Jacob reached for a rag to wipe the grease from his hands. "Who was that guy, anyway?"

"I think his name's Dan something or other."

Quil took a sparkplug out of its box and threw the empty container at Embry. "Embry—what's that guy's name? You know, his dad owns the bait and tackle shop on the north coast, over at Sekiu."

Catching the box one-handed, Embry answered, "Oh you mean, Dan Neah?"

"Yeah, that's the one."

Embry pitched the box into the waste basket in the corner. "Can you just imagine if they got hitched? She'd be Leah Neah."

The two idiots guffawed over that one.

"Yeah … well … not likely."

Quil tapped a finger on the side of his head. "Oh, I get it. You're gonna put a stop to it, huh?"

Jacob shrugged. "Maybe … So how long have they been seeing each other?"

"I don't know. A couple of months or so, I guess."

A couple of months? Where the hell had he been, and why didn't he see it? Oh well, it was sure to run its course quickly—he hoped. He bent his head back down over the scooter, tightening another washer with a new bolt.