Secrets of the Wild

Author's Note: Hello! I now have a banner made for this story by my amazing friend, urbanrose85! Links to the SOTW BANNER will be posted on my profile page! Check it out! It's freakin' awesome. Just like my readers.

Chapter Eight

JACOB

It was five degrees that night, yet Jacob felt like he was burning alive in his furs. Paul had informed him that Jarl had made an escape into the woods once word of Jacob's threats hit his ears.

And he was furious. He was so angry that he'd set fire to Jarl's tent, watching as it burned to the ground with an ugly scowl on his face. He smashed pots, and stomped upon the tent rubble. Everyone around him kept a distance and just watched as Jacob raged.

What a coward. What a pitiful excuse for a man. To beat another man's wife, and then run away from confrontation. Jacob hadn't been this angry like this in ages. When it was a younger day, he was known for his temper. He'd get hot and his body would shake like an earthquake. His enemies knew him as a raging bull; anyone or anything in his line of sight was vulnerable to attack. And Jarl was in his line of sight.

Fed up with his immeasurable heat by sitting too close to the fire, Jacob shrugged off his coat, much to the surprise of his men. The realization hit them then like a ton of bricks to the head: the bull was back. Half an hour ago, he'd sent out Brady and Collin as scouts to search the forest and follow Jarl's footsteps. They still hadn't returned from said venture, and time was ticking like a bomb. Jacob was getting even more fed up.

He was just sitting there, around the fire, waiting for his scouts to come back while that beast of a man was roaming the forest like the coward he proved himself to be. He should have already been out there, and already returned to his woman with Jarl's head mounted on the tip of sword. He should have skinned the bastard alive, carved out his eyes with a dinner knife and made him choke on his own blood.

And yet his sword was bare and his hands were unstained with blood. The air bit at him, steam floating off of his burning skin and into the night. The fire crackled around them, and the men bent forward to warm their hands and bared faces while Jacob remained coatless and steaming like a piece of burning meat on ice.

There was a rustling sound in the forest to the left of them, and they all stood and unsheathed their swords quickly. Brady and Collin emerged, looking tired from running through deep snow in their heavy clothing. Jacob walked towards the two younger men expectantly.

"We found his camp," Brady breathed, his breath like smoke in the crisp air. "But not him."

Jacob's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Were there footprints?"

"Yes," Collin said. "There were many that indicated Jarl was not alone at his camp in the forest. And we followed the footprints all the way to the border."

"Did they keep going?" Jacob asked in shock.

"Yes," said Collin again. "They kept going."

Jacob looked back at his men; they were all as shocked as he was. "Jarl went into Forksian territory?" Quil questioned.

"Not on his free will," Sam replied, looking down at the snow. "He might have been captured."

Jacob's anger was slowly beginning to fade. Jarl was dead meat in the hands of a Forksian, and those slimy bastards would be doing his dirty work for him...but a new problem arose. What were the Forksians, again, doing on his land?

"Take me to this camp," Jacob instructed. "I wish to see what you saw."

0o0o0o0o

There were still sparks in the campfire when they arrived. There was a fur strewn about the snow, as something to lay on and a few canteens of water and a pot of meat stolen from the local meat tent. And of course, there were footprints. Jacob counted four sets of footprints. There must have been three Forksian soldiers against Jarl. There were little spots of blood in the snow, from the likes of a broken nose, perhaps.

There were trails in the snow that looked like the men dragged Jarl on his knees, and then back up to his feet again when the weight became too much to sustain. Jacob began to follow the tracks, with his men close behind him.

Sure enough, the footprints led him right to the border of the forest. And they trailed on towards that great, stone castle in the distance, protected by those great, stone walls. Forks Kingdom. Jacob dared not take a step near that castle. He dared not follow Jarl's footsteps. Forks was known for having skilled archers protecting the walls of the kingdom on all cardinal points, something that was taught to the Quileute people the hard way.

Jacob wondered what they would do to Jarl. Torture him, make him tell them the secrets of La Push? Why were the Forksians entering the forest again? Were they planning another attack? Was Jarl what they needed to gain the upperhand?

"Turn back," Jacob said quietly. "We venture no further."

0o0o0o0o

BELLA

It was most likely midnight, and Bella was laying next to Emina on the bed. "Do you think they'll return soon?" she asked the older woman.

"I do," Emina replied.

Maya was sleeping on her little bed in the corner of the room near the fire. There was a thin blanket shielding Emina's room from Maya's for some privacy. Bella stared at little Maya through the sheer blanket. The girl stretched before flopping over onto the other side of her bed. "She's a very beautiful little girl," Bella whispered.

Emina smiled softly. "Kea leboha," she whispered. "Thank you." She then rolled onto her side and placed her hand on Bella's stomach. "And you? Has your stomach ever swelled with the blessing of life?"

Bella swallowed thickly before slowly shaking her head. "No."

"Not even in Forks?"

"No. Never."

"Do not lose heart," she told her Alpha Prima. "The gods work in mysterious ways. And your blessing will come. I promise you, it will."

Bella's god never answered her prayers. Perhaps if the wildmen gods could do so, she'd begin to believe in religious faith once more. She laid a hand over her flat stomach. She hoped Emina was right; her time would come.

Emina ran her fingertips over Bella's bruised cheek and she winced. "Sarboro hurt you bad," she murmured softly. "But it won't happen again. We will protect you. La Push has her duty to her Alpha Prima."

"Thank you," Bella whispered, sitting up in the bed. She sighed and pushed her hair out of her eyes. "I think about what Jarl said a lot."

Emina sat up then as well, staring at Bella in wonder. "You've never told me what he said to you."

Bella's face felt red beneath the flickering firelight. "He said that I was planning something and that he didn't trust me at all," she explained to Emina. "It just makes me think. I keep wondering if the others feel the same way."

Emina placed a hand on Bella's shoulder. "I'm sure the people have their opinions about you," she murmured. "But I would not let it bother you. They just do not know who you are, yet."

Bella looked down at her hands in her lap. She wasn't sure she ever wanted the people to know who she really was. But she nodded her head anyways, accepting the woman's answer.

0o0o0o0o

JACOB

He'd returned home a half hour later, unsuccessful in his capture of Jarl. "How did he escape?" she asked him. "Where did he go?" She was scared, he noticed, and he invited her into his arms.

"You need not worry. That bastard will freeze to death in the forest before he dares come back here to La Push," he assured Bella, stroking her chestnut hair. She smelled of sweetness; of the cinnamon spice the woman liked to enhance their drinks with. He inhaled her, closing his eyes and placing his chin on the top of her head.

He knew how she got those terrible nightmares whenever her homeland was brought up, so he dared not tell her about the footprints leading back to Forks. It would be better if she didn't know, he decided. She didn't need to worry. The Forksians would do away with him, anyways.

"What if he does come back?" she asked him, her voice muffled from where her face was buried in his chest. "What then?"

"I'll flay him alive," Jacob replied confidently. "I'd make leather boots for you with his skin if he even dared to show his face around here again."

She grimaced. "I would never wear them," she said in disgust.

He laughed at this. "I don't suppose I would either."

Bella pulled away from him this time, fanning herself. She shed her furs as he watched with hungry eyes. He was still burning up like his skin was on fire, but he was willing to endure the heat for her comfort. After he'd grabbed her from Sam and Emina's tent, he'd lit all the fires in the tent to warm it. It had remained unoccupied for some time, and the heat inevitably escaped.

"It's hot in here," she commented, nodding at him. "But your body trembles like an earthquake. Are you cold? Should I light a few candles by the end table?" He shed his coat quickly, which he only put on to keep Bella's suspicions at bay, and shook his head.

"You need not worry about me," he told her. "I'm fine." She reached out to touch him, but he avoided her fingertips reluctantly. He was still burning up, and he was afraid that she'd worry herself even more by thinking he had a fever when it was really just his anger.

He didn't want to frighten her by telling her that he had a rage like a bull when it was set off. Last thing he needed was for her to be afraid of him. He didn't even realize she'd completely stripped down until she laid on the bed before him, her long chestnut waves hanging around her face, her doe-like eyes staring back at him innocently.

He could see the gentle curves of her feminine figure through the sheer nightgown dress and he felt his heart pound in his chest. She looked at him through the curtain of her hair and smiled. "You look but you do not touch," she commented, her voice sweet and airy.

This caught him off-guard. He was completely and utterly amazed by her beauty and it froze him where he stood. "I…" he began, his mouth feeling dry. "I am only savoring this moment. Seeing you splayed out on the bed like that, looking so...so…"

"So ready?" she supplied. He nodded quickly. "Well, I am."

He gulped, shrugging off his fur vest and letting it fall slowly to the ground. She raked her eyes over his muscled torso and the sweat clinging to the ripples in his stomach. And then he stepped out of his trousers, standing in only his breech cloth. She watched him eagerly as his hands went around his hips to unattach the breech cloth, before letting that fall to the ground too. His member sprang to full length and girth and she gasped, biting her lip.

"You like what you see," he murmured breathlessly, grinning at the flustered expression on her face. She moaned softly, looking up at him through her long brown lashes. He decided that he didn't have the time for teasing. He wanted her too badly. She propped herself up on her forearms, welcoming him into her arms. He embraced her, feeling her soft, warm skin against his and savoring every touch. "Gods, it feels like I've not touched you in so long," he mumbled into her ear, dragging his lips across her cheek sloppily.

"You know what they say," she whispered, moaning gently when he touched his lips to a certain place on her neck. "Absence makes the heart grow stronger."

He thrusted his hips forward and she clung to him as he slid her body up the bed slightly. He was hungry for her, and her body was aching for him. He slid his hands up her nightdress, the one that had teased him so, and pushed it up to her stomach, grinding his pelvis into her. She moaned, the sound of it exciting him. She was wet for him, she was ready, and he was more than ready to claim her.

Fed up with the garment that still clung to her body, Jacob sat up quickly, tugging at the end of the material. "Take this thing off," he growled. She obliged and helped it off before hurling it halfway across the room. And he laid, skin to skin with her, savoring each moment that she held him in her arms.

He pushed into her, sheathing himself deep inside of her body. She cried out in pleasure and closed her eyes tightly at the sensation that shot up and down her spine. He thrust up into her slowly at first, pushing and pulling fire through his body until he couldn't take it anymore. She wrapped her legs round his hips and her arms round his neck as he inevitably quickened his pace.

She moaned and writhed and squirmed beneath him, from her lips whispering his name. "Jacob...Jacob."

He looked down at her, momentarily halting in his movement. "Bella?"

And she stared up at him through eyes heavily lidded with pleasure, a smile breaking out on her lips. "I want to give you a child," she whispered. These words shocked him immensely. He leaned down and captured her lips tenderly, plunging his tongue between them and tasting her. Their lips molded together like they were made to kiss each other. She pulled away from him only to speak. She placed her lips by his ear and whispered again to him. "I want to give you a boy. A strong, healthy boy."

Jacob felt a surge of emotion shoot through him. He'd wanted children so badly for so long, but he never wanted to pressure her after all of the trauma she'd gone through. He felt teary-eyed, remembering the life he once had with Melitta. He felt teary-eyed, thinking about the future with Bella. He would be a father again, husband to another beautiful wife. He would be happy.

He leaned down and peppered her face with kisses. "Oh, I'd give you many strong boys. And sweet little girls to run to you and kiss your cheeks. Lots of children to fill the holes in your heart." She whispered it breathily into his ear, her eyes fluttering shut as he drove himself into her.

He felt his release coming. Sweat was rolling down his body and face like he'd been doused with a bucket of water. It clung to the end of his hair and formed above his upper lip. She too, was heated. "Oh, Bella," he moaned. She whimpered and clutched at his forearms, lifting her own hips to meet his.

And then she came, hard. Her muscles clenched around him like a vice grip and he couldn't hold it back any longer. Ejaculation shot from him in white ribbons, painting her insides. He threw his head back, sweaty hair flinging back and smacking his shoulders. He held her firmly by the waist, riding out the waves of the aftershock with her, his eyes clenched tight.

When he looked back down at her, she laid staring back at him with a certain look in her eye. "I promise you, Jacob," she whispered. "I promise."

He shook his head. "Lerato la ka," he murmured. "Even if you did not give me a child, I would be happy. You...you make me happy. Kea u rata."

Jacob laid next to her in the bed, cradling her in his sweaty arms, his heart pounding against his chest. He said it. She didn't seem to notice and he was mostly glad for it. He pulled her up to the pillows with him and threw blankets over their naked bodies, legs and arms intertwining. He swore he'd never let go of her. He could live off of her cinnamon scent, the taste of her lips.

He blew out the candles on their end table quickly, the only light left in the room being the fire, which roared all through the night. They laid on their backs for a while. Jacob stared at the ceiling, thoughts still on his mind about Jarl and the footprints in the forest. It was all very troubling to him, and he thought and thought about it until Bella's sweet voice echoed in the room. "Jacob?"

"Mhm?"

"Le 'na kea u rata."

Jacob's eyes widened. He looked over at her to study her expression, but he couldn't see her in the dark. He could only see the whites of her teeth when she smiled as big as the moon before rolling away from him onto her side to sleep. He let out a breath and closed his eyes.

Le 'na kea u rata.

I love you, too.

0o0o0o0o

End Note: Gah, so many questions. When is Bella getting pregnant? What happened to Jarl? Is he dead, or are the Forksians going to keep him alive? Who knows. Not me ;) Review!

Courtney xx