Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.
A/N: It's been a long day, today, guys, so no cute little intro or description for the chapter form me. Sorry that it's a shorter one, but I hope it's still decent to read. Enjoy. Sorry the fight scene's crappy and abrupt, I never got a good chance to go back and divulge into it. (You gotta remember I wrote this almost two years ago.) Feel free to favorite or follow. xxxxx
CHAPTER EIGHT: FOUND
I woke up in the morning with my wrist throbbing. It was ripped up from the vampire's teeth, and still not healing.
I sat up, rubbing my eyes.
Bella was sitting quietly in the corner of the tent, looking at a locket that held a picture of Nessie and her in the meadow from the year before. Even last year, Nessie had appeared fourteen or fifteen versus appearing eighteen now.
Bella heard me sit up and quickly tucked the locket inside her shirt, smiling at me. "Are you ready to go?" she asked.
I nodded, yawning. I couldn't wait to find my girl.
I stood up; keeping bent over as I gathered the blankets and put my shoes on. My wrist ached as I peeled the bandage off. There was no use in leaving it on; it would only burst off when I turned into a wolf. The crescent shaped cut on my wrist burned, and I moaned.
"You okay?" Bella asked cautiously, pulling her hair back and tying it.
"Never better," I said.
Bella rolled her eyes and climbed out of the tent. I followed, bumping my head on the low canvas ceiling as I did.
Once everything was packed up, we set out. Neither of us mentioned what had happened the night before. I think we were still too mortified by it. The last time we'd kissed, we'd both liked it. Now, neither of us had liked it. And Bella had kissed like a vampire. It had pretty freaking scary, and really rough.
The bad news was that I couldn't run nearly as fast with my hand the way it was; I limped with one paw. The good news was that Nessie's scent was stronger than ever, and it smelled like they were doubling back this way. Doubling back meant less time Jacob had to spend on his hurt paw. Doubling back meant we'd get Nessie sooner. Doubling back was good.
Bella stopped. "Since it smells like they're close, I need to hunt. We can fight better with all of our strength."
I nodded, wincing inwardly. I'd rather not eat an animal, but I had promised I'd hunt. Stupid promises.
Bella dropped the doe carcass on the ground, wiping her mouth. I nosed mine, pulling off a chunk of meat in defeat. I'd played with it long enough; now that Bella was done, she was looking at me, waiting for me to finish. The raw meat slid down my throat, making me want to shudder. I hadn't hunted in almost eight years, not since I'd had to if I wanted Nessie to hunt. Nessie…The thought of her name made me eat faster.
Finally, I wiped my muzzle on the damp grass and looked up at Bella, our cue to leave. She nodded, retying the bags to my back and patting my head.
Jeesh, Bells, I'm not an overgrown puppy…
She took off running without warning. I caught up after about forty five seconds; the limp would've made Emmett laugh, so I was glad he wasn't around.
I whined at her questioningly.
"They're a mile ahead," she said, trying to contain her excitement and fear at the same time. She pulled all the bags off my back and set them under a tree. "We won't be needing these anymore," she said breathlessly.
I let out a little yip of joy.
Bella laughed, but shushed me. "They'll hear," she whispered.
We took off running again.
"Here's the plan. You stay close to me at first. I'll shield you. Don't immediately dive for Nessie. Go after Simon. I'll take Hannah. Once you rip Simon apart, knock Nessie out of it and go dump her at the edge of the trees, out of sight. I have matches in my pocket. Then come back and help me. Okay?"
I dipped my head.
"Good. Because they're right ahead. You're shielded."
We stopped, not even daring to breath.
Now, she mouthed.
We charged.
The first thing I saw when I entered the clearing was Nessie. She looked absolutely thrilled, totally jazzed, though her curly bronze hair which looked so much like her father's was knotted, her clothes were torn, and she was barefoot. Simon had his arm slung carelessly around her shoulders, and Hannah was seated on the ground at their feet.
No one saw Bella and me until I was on top of Simon, ripping his throat out. Hannah screamed and jumped up, but saw Bella and thought better of it. Simon's life ended quickly, and I was none for the worse except for a scratch in my left ear where he'd grabbed me.
Nessie screamed at me and hit my sides with her fists, yelling curse words that I had never heard around the Cullens, except from Emmett's dirty mouth. As gently as I could while still snapping her out of it, I tackled her to the ground.
Nessie blinked, and then burst into tears at the sight of me. There was no time to comfort; I grabbed her shirt in my teeth and dragged her to the darkest shadow I could find, then dropped her and raced back to help Bella. It wasn't like she needed it; she was kicking ass pretty well anyway.
Bella grabbed a handful of Hannah's hair, ripping it out. Hannah hissed at her, rubbing her head, and Bella grabbed the free arm and yanked. It came flying off, and I caught it in a rather spectacular catch if I do say so myself.
Hannah screamed in rage and pain and flew at Bella, tackling her to the ground. Bella kicked and squirmed, but Hannah had her pinned.
I jumped over and grabbed Hannah by the back of her neck and threw her off, and Bella jumped up. I kept a hold of Hannah's neck as Bella ripped off her other arm. I finished the job, biting through Hannah's neck in a clean sweep.
Nessie squealed and came scrambling out of the shadows, straight into her mother's arms. Bella stroked her hair and bawled as I carried the bodies of the vampires into a pile. After kissing Nessie's face at least fifty times in rapid succession, Bella released her to burn Simon and Hannah.
She threw the match onto the pile, and the thick sweet incense of burning vampire filled the air.
Nessie threw herself at me, kissing my fur over and over, stroking me and crying. I nuzzled her, whining. "I-I'm so…sorry!" she cried.
I looked at her questioningly.
"I called you a mongrel, I stood by while Hannah hurt you, I left you, I…"
I silenced her, licking her from chin to hairline.
Bella came running, hugging Nessie tightly. "You're…never…leaving my…side...again!" she sobbed.
Nessie sniffled, and it was only then that I realized how human she really looked. She was wiping tears out of her chocolate fudge brown eyes, and her cheeks were flushed. Blood pulsed through her veins, she had a heartbeat. She could still get sick. She did slightly sparkle in the sunlight, but not enough to keep her inside on a sunny day. She was warm. Though she was a little faster and stronger then a human, she was no where near as fast or strong as a vampire. She did drink blood, but, if she chose, she could live and be healthy entirely off of human food. She could still bleed, get cut…I realized just how fragile the amazing life clutching me was.
Nessie saw the gash on my paw and gasped. "Were you bitten, Jake?" she whispered.
I sheepishly nodded, the bite bringing back…other memories.
"How are you alive?!"
"I had to suck the venom out," Bella said grimly.
Nessie made a face. "Gross," she said, making Bella laugh.
"Ness, two major things have happened since you've been gone," Bella said abruptly, as Nessie scrambled onto my back for the long ride back.
"Yeah?" Nessie prompted cautiously.
"Well…Billy's a vampire, first of all."
Nessie's heels dug into my sides unconsciously. "A vampire?" she whispered.
"Yeah. Jared attacked him."
I winced, and Nessie felt the muscles bunch. She patted me, burying her face in my fur. "What's the second thing?"
"Charlie knows about everything," Bella said.
"Everything?!"
"Honey, must you repeat everything I say? Yes, he knows everything. He knows there's vampires, and that we are ones."
"Wow."
"Yeah."
"Guys, I've missed you so much."
I reached my head back and licked her, narrowly missing a large spruce tree.
Bella grinned. "We've missed you too, hon. We've missed you too."
