Chapter 8

I wanted to smack dad for embarrassing Bella. I was finally getting somewhere and he was threatening to run her off. But as usual, Bella surprised me.

"I'll be there, Billy. But you may have to put up with me kissing your son while I'm there." She looked up at me, still pink faced, but holding her own with my dad. I had to give her credit, some people would have crawled under a rock.

"Dad's going to put up with it, all right," I shot him a 'shut up now' look. He just grabbed the tv remote and started flipping through channels, clearly done with his comedy routine.

Bella wanted to go home and get ready for the bonfire, so I walked her out to her car. As I watched her pull down the lane I thought of all the changes that had happened today. Before today I thought I knew Bella pretty well. I thought I understood the pain she went through when he left, but I didn't. I felt like I didn't know her at all. Now she was finally opening up to me, explaining just how hard it had been. It wasn't all easy for me to hear, but very important. I wanted to know everything there was to know about her.

I took off toward the line of trees closest to the house. I'd spent the last few hours will Bella, so I needed to check in with the pack. Earlier in the day we were chasing after a bloodsucker by the name of Victoria, but she took off into the water, dodging us again. She was fast, very fast, and seemed to have a knack for evasion. We were taking turns running patrols, checking for new scents. Embry had offered to run my patrols when he saw Bella on the cliff through my visions. The wave of terror that swept over me had worried the whole pack, and I was sure they would want to know what happened. Just under the dark canopy of the trees I slipped out of my jeans and transformed in one fluid motion. I left the pants there, knowing that would be where I ended my route.

I was glad to sense that Embry was the only other one in wolf-form. He and I had always been close friends, so It was easier sharing my thoughts with him. He judged less and offered a ear to vent to when I was upset. Most of the guys tried to understand how I felt about Bella, but still held thoughts of disgust deep inside their minds. They didn't understand how I could be head over heels about someone who had loved a bloodsucker.

"Jacob, man, what's going on? We were worried! You didn't change back. Is everything okay?"

"Yea… everything's great." My mind slipped off to the events of the day. I felt Embry soaking up everything that flashed through my memory.

"That's great, Jake. I'm glad it's finally working out for you!" I could tell Embry honestly didn't hold any of Bella's past against her. "Do you think she'll get completely over him eventually? Do you think you could be the one for her?"

I saw where his head was going, but I tried to ignore it. He was referring to imprinting, something our legends say happened rarely but was life altering. None of us knew exactly how it worked, because the only one to have imprinted was Sam, and he wasn't offering any advice. It had something to do with intense connections that brought two people together, sometimes even before they know each other. The first time Sam saw Emily he knew she was 'the one'. It wasn't a choice for him. And she didn't need to make the choice. Sam was perfect for Emily. They would life happily ever after. But Sam had been with someone before Emily, and she ended up broken hearted. Leah, Harry and Sue's daughter, was Sam's high school girlfriend, and they were madly in love. But when Sam changed into a wolf he couldn't tell Leah anything about it. She started to worry that there was something wrong and brought her cousin into town for support. Leah's cousin, Emily, met Sam, and nothing else in the world matter, including Leah.

I answered Embry's unasked question, "I don't know, Em. I don't know why I haven't imprinted. I love her, I do. She's the only girl I've ever wanted. I wish there was some way to make it happen."

"Maybe it will…" I knew he doubted it, even as he said it. From what all our legends said, it was a love-at-first-site kind of thing. And I'd seen Bella a thousand times. But there was no way I could love someone more than I loved Bella.

"She's coming to the bonfire tonight, to hear all the old stories."

"Cool! Maybe she will understand why we do what we do."

"I hope so…" My thoughts trailed off. I was thinking about the vampires that our ancestors hunted and killed. Many of the early wolves had died in the attempt. I couldn't deny that the Cullen's were a different kind of vampire. Over the years they never hunted humans on our land, and from what I hear they never hunted them anywhere. 'Vegetarians' they called themselves. It went against their nature. Vampires went against nature. How Bella could ever love something dead and inhuman…

"Jake, give it up. What matters now is she wants to move on. And she wants to be with you!"

"I know, I know" I grumbled. We finished our route and headed back home. I grabbed my jeans set just in the tree line and headed into my house.

I had about two hours before sunset and the bonfire would begin. I took a quick shower and got dressed in my nicest clothes, a pair of barely ripped jeans and a button up shirt. I had insisted that I pick Bella up, even though we were coming back to the reservation. "A date!" I had said. And to be honest, it was my first date. Sure, I checked girls out before. I'd even flirted with several of the girls at school. But I wasn't interested enough in any of them to distract me from my car projects or hanging out with the guys. And girls weren't that interested in me until I started growing at an unbelievable rate. Now that I was tall and my muscles had filled out, I noticed girls checking me out all the time. But none of them held a light to Bella.

I jumped in my Rabbit and took off to Bella's house. Her dad's cruiser was sitting in the driveway when I pulled up. I wonder if she told him we're dating? Charlie wasn't the emotional type, anyways. He wouldn't care. But he was important to me. Charlie and Billy were best friends and I spent a lot of time hanging out with them growing up. When Billy was in his car accident and wound up in his wheel chair Charlie was there every day helping him, and helping me adjust to our new life. He was like a second dad to me. But now I was dating his daughter, and I wondered how he would feel about that.

"Hey Jake," Charlie said when I walked in the door. "I hear Bella's going with you to a bonfire?"

"Yea, all of us are getting together down by the shore." I said. "Is that okay?"

"Yea, yea it's fine," he said, impassively.

Bella came bouncing down the stairs, tripping on the last few steps. I reached out just in time for her to fall into my arms. It had only been a few hours since I'd seen her, but It was too long. I touched my lips to hers, soaking in her beauty. She was still wearing my flannel button up shirt, only she'd put another shirt underneath. "What? It's warm," she said, catching me admiring.

"Bella, Jake, what's going on?" Uh oh, I forgot about Charlie.

"Oh, uh… well Dad, Jake and I are, well," she looked at me for backup.

"Charlie, Bella and I are dating now. Is that okay with you?" I asked, suddenly terrified that he was going to say no.

"Jake, it's okay, but can I talk to you for a second? Alone. In the kitchen. Bella, how about you finish getting ready. We'll only be a minute."

Bella looked at her dad like he had grown a second head. "Dad!"

"I just need to talk to the boy, Bella."

Bella rolled her eyes and took off up the stairs. My hands were starting to sweat as I realized I was no longer talking to Charlie, my dads best friend, my second dad. Now I was talking to my new girlfriends father; Chief Swan. The distinction was crystal clear.