Disclaimer – I own nothing.

A.N – Thank You guys soo much for the love and support. Honestly, I am nothing without you. FYI—this chapter is short compared to what I usually shell out because my MA Thesis is due tomorrow (I'm doing it on the Twilight saga, if you can believe it), and I've been working nonstop on it, but I didn't want to leave you with nothing for this month. Don't worry—I'll be working like crazy to give you guys something in the next week or two, now that I'm done with my academic writing. Sooo sorry for those who were expecting something long like I usually do.

To ClumstReader, Guest (1), Crisely, kouga's older woman, teamjacob0729, PastOneonta, AHealingRenaissance, Wolf Born Woman, Guest (2), TiffaniW, TommyH, Jazybear.9, KSave, Guest (3), Holidai: If there are enough words in the world to adequately express how much it means to me that you guys take time out of your busy schedules to not just read, but review as well, I haven't found them yet. Seriously, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart, and I hope this chapter, though short, is up to scruff! Enjoy!

And as always, thanks to all who favorited, followed, or read silently— On with the show!

/Lonely water, lonely water, won't you let us wander

Let us hold each other

Hold back the river, let me look in your eyes

Hold back the river, so I can stop for a minute and be by your side

Hold back the river/

-Hold Back the River, Joshua Davis

Chapter 8 – A Moment in Time

Breathe. Just keep breathing. But it's so hard when I can still see the agony in his eyes—Quil. I can still hear the scream that pierced the air when I first arrived and saw a boy become so much more—wolf. But this wolf was unlike anything I had ever seen before—massive like a horse, legs made up of pure muscle, eyes human.

If pain had a face, the wolf would be it, and it hurts to think that Jacob is the face of pain too—or at least he once was. I'm not sure anything could truly hurt him now.

But that's not true. He was in pain when he felt Leah transform. Two wolves in one day…

"How're you holding up?" Seth lays his hand on my shoulder. Contact.

He's completely cured, which abstractly I knew was the case, but I hadn't really believed it until he had walked through Emily's door a half hour after I had arrived…after Paul had ushered Quil in wolf form away.

Breathe. Focus.

"Bella?"

"Yea, I'm good. Fine." I try to reassure Seth but I don't think it worked. I should practice my reassuring face, I decide. His kind and slightly sad youthful brown eyes bore into mine, and the words fly out of me before I can help it. "I thought you were like fourteen?"

"I am."

"So how did you phase before Quil?"

Emily's walking in as I talk and falters in her step a bit, and I can sense that I hit an awkward button. Heat flares in my face, and I want to retract the question but I don't know how. It's already out in the air. But after a beat, and some uncomfortable squirming on Seth's part, he finally sits down at the table.

"Did Jacob explain to you about the wolf? I mean, how it works?"

"He told me that the there's an imperative," I nod. Emily bustles around the kitchen, trying to keep calm but deep inside, I know she's anything but. It's a strange feeling, how second hand it is. I know because Jacob knows, and Jacob knows because Sam know through his imprint. We're all connected in the most fundamental way possible…and it's slightly creepy.

I feel like I'm invading someone else's skin. Or maybe it's my own skin being invaded.

"Right, okay," Seth nods eagerly. "Well, the same way the wolf kinda demands things of us, our blood sort of works the same way."

"Your blood?"

Don't faint, don't faint. But it suddenly feels like everything is too much. Seth must feel some residual effect of the imprint through his bond with Jacob because he lays his palm on my hand, and the panic subsides. Safe. Family. Pack.

"I know, trust me, I know," Seth comforts me.

He gives me a second to recoup and ground myself in the feeling of Jacob running through the woods. If I close my eyes I can feel the beat of his heart, no matter how far he goes. Connected. Mine. But I don't close my eyes—I can't afford to get lost in the feel of his essence in me. Instead, I take a deep breath, and smile faintly at Seth in apology and thanks simultaneously.

"Don't worry," Emily interjects. She must have felt my intention—connected. "At least you're not catching panic attacks every other hour, like I was at the beginning. Considering how you're handling the situation, you're pretty good with weird. Don't you laugh at me Seth—I wasn't the one who literally peed on himself in wolf form when he realized he had four legs," Emily gave Seth a pointed look.

Though she had just outed Seth, which would have had me sinking under the table in complete mortification, Seth just grumbled petulantly, but there's a smile in his eyes that capture the beauty of the world and family. There's a beauty to pack, and I can't help but chuckle at imagining this hulk of a child urinating on himself like a toddler because of fear.

But the laughter cuts short, because I can only imagine the fear that must have gripped his soul. I wonder the kind of fear that Jacob must have gone through. The look on my face must have given away where my thoughts were headed because Seth jumps back into the fray just as Paul walks into the kitchen. He doesn't smile at any of us but he presses a kiss to the top of my head as he passes and does the same to Emily.

The action is so swift that I could have missed it if I hadn't been aware of him.

"What's up?" Paul asks, and Emily and Seth both look slightly uncomfortable, so I answer for them and tell Paul that their trying to explain why Seth phased before Quil. I don't understand why they're so uncomfortable—my question isn't wholly left field…but then again, maybe it is. Or maybe I'm just overthinking the entire situation.

Paul simply rolls his eyes, murmurs "bunch of pussies," and then looks me in the eyes. He reminds me of Charlie in this moment—a straight shooter, no-sugar-coating kind of guy. Warmth spreads through me, and I let it seep into the pack; I push the feeling to every cord that seems to be tied to me through Jacob and will them to feel that warmth too. I'm not sure if it worked, but I had to try—the feeling is a glorious one.

Jacob sends a wave back to me, and my eyes flutter for a moment, concentrating just on Jacob. I can almost feel his breath on me. Focus. The ache and pull are throbbing a bit—a reaction to feeling Jacob through the imprint.

"The wolf is all about bloodlines," Paul brings my attention back to the matter at hand. "Jacob's alpha because his grandfather was alpha before him. The wolf in him is too dominant to submit to anyone, but the blood in his veins runs strong. The wolf doesn't know age, it just knows the blood in its veins. The spirit wolf has no age."

"Okay," I process everything he said without hesitation. "Makes sense...So what's the big deal?"

"It makes some people uncomfortable to know that some have a stronger claim to the bloodline of the Quileute people. We all like to think we're all the same, but by phasing before others it suggest that no, we're not all the same. Some are more Quileute than others—"

"That is not true Paul Lahote!" Emily burst out with a glare. "That's just one theory about why some phase first, and I for one think it's total malarkey!"

"But it makes sense, Em." Seth jumps into the fray. "Do you really think dominance forces some to phase before others? That can't be possible because Sam isn't more dominant than Paul, yet Sam phased before him."

Paul shrugs, grabs an apple from a pile on the counter, raises an eyebrow at me as if to say "see" and says with false somberness, "it's a sore subject around here."

"Yea," Jacob's teasing voice engulfs the air around me and I jump, startled. "Some people argue about politics and football. We argue about bloodlines and supernatural reasoning."—I had been so focused that I lost sense of how close he was getting to me. That or I've somehow gotten used to feeling…no. I can't go there, yet. Not yet.

His presence is overwhelming, but I love it. I don't know when he got so close, but he's hovering next to me, his hands running through my hair, and we both sigh, content. After the day we've had—first the Edward debacle, and then the new wolves—we deserve this moment. Jacob deserves this moment—I haven't done much except ride the waves of the day.

"Take a walk with me?" Jacob tugs lightly on my hair, and though I know he means for it to be playful my body is on fire. The ache is back with a force I'm not prepared for and warmth pools in between my legs.

Seth and Paul inhale sharply, and Jacob growls.

"Fuck," Paul runs a hand through his hair, and Seth is blushing so bright he could rival me.

Emily raises an eyebrow, but looks knowingly at me like this happens often around here—whatever this is. And suddenly—Werewolves. Super strength. Super healing abilities. Super hearing. Super sense of smell—oh no! Mortification tries to bury me in a coffin I'm so embarrassed, but before I can say anything, Jacob hauls me from the seat. My body, in the air, automatically seeks his, and I find myself with both legs wrapped around his waist as he takes us through the doorway and away from Emily and Sam's place.

Before I know what's happening, I'm against a tree and Jacob's mouth is burning on mine. More. But he pulls away and lets his lips trail lightly over my cheek, chin, neck, ear… I can't breathe I want him so much. The pull yanks and I know he needs me just as much.

But I also know there's a lingering sadness that hadn't been there before we arrived. What changed? But I can't ask because his body is pushing against mine so wonderfully. Please, please. I tug on his hair hard—he can take the pain. Just like I can take the pain from the tree scratching at my back. We. But it's never been so good.

I need to be closer. Even though he's flush against me, there's still so much space in between us. I reach in between us, thoughtlessly, and unbutton my jeans. Jacob freezes, and I freeze too. Maybe my action were too much. Maybe he doesn't want me.

"Stop, Bells," Jacob shakes his head. "I want you. You know I want you. I want you so fucking bad that I feel like an animal, but we can't—not here."

"I know, I just—" I cut off, afraid of my own feelings and honesty. Since I met Jacob Truth has been the scariest thing out there, despite monsters that apparently lurk in the dark and hang around my house. I take a deep breath. My insecurities itch a bit like a scabbed over wound, and I wish for Wuthering Heights or Romeo and Juliet or any Jane Austen novel, but I'm stronger than that. Jacob makes me stronger than that, so I hold on to the imprint inside of me. I hold on to our souls, and I plow forward. "I just want to be close to you. As close as two people can get."

He knows exactly what I mean, and I'm grateful that I don't have to explain it. I probably wouldn't survive the embarrassment or so much blood rushing to my head from such a conversation.

There's a softness in his eyes that contrast against the fire that's always there.

"I know," he says and a reckless anger consumes me. I want him to consume me, but he holds back. He's always holding back.

"Then why won't you do something, if you know?" I lash out. He wants an equal, I remind myself. He doesn't want me to submit, and I don't want to submit either. So I let the words come unchecked. "Why do you hold back so much with everything? I want to be with you, but it's like I'm fighting you every step of the way! You're mine, so why can't you be mine? Why won't you let me be yours?"

I'm talking in circles about everything and nothing, too high off the feeling of being so close to him and not close enough. But it's like we're having two separate conversations-: the one we're saying, and the one we're alluding to. If only he would just consume me like I want him to.

Edward would consume me if I let him—if I want him to. I gasp at the traitorous thought. The fire flares inside of me, disgusted, and frankly, so am I.

Jacob must have felt something through the pull because his eyes burn amber suddenly my jeans are pulled down to my knees and we're even more separated than we were before, but it doesn't matter because his hand grabs my very core possessively. Oh my

"This is mine," he growls, and I can't help my body's response to the sound of his voice. My body, even in this odd and foreign angle, tries to grind into his hand. I throw my head back and moan at the friction, but Jacob doesn't stop talking. "I will take what's mine, when its time—but not against a tree or in a car. You're worth more."

"When?" I ask almost desperately. When did I become this hungry person? Doesn't matter, because now that I am, I know with complete certainty that I'll never go back to before Jacob's touch.

"Soon," Jacob promises as he smoothly slides a finger past my panties and into my body—the same body that feels so brand new right now.

I moan his name, and perspiration collects on my forehead and in the crevices of my body, but he doesn't stop. He doesn't stop, and I never want him to.

He lifts my body so that my legs are straight against his stomach, chest and bent over his shoulder slightly, all the while the pull contracts and spasms, until—so close, so close, please, please—I can't even think. The pull and ache and fire have taken over, and I smash my mouth against his lips.

His mouth devours me, and I—the wallflower of life—devour him right back as my howl of unimaginable pleasure is drowned out by his growl. He feels with me, everything I feel, through the imprint.

Suddenly, the sky opens up and starts to drown us in its cool love, as a satisfaction so intense grips me, blinds me, and all I can see is black for a moment.

We don't speak for a few moments, letting the rain wash away the fever that had consumed us. I don't need words. Not ever again if he would do that again for the rest of forever.

But I'm not that lucky, and Jacob breaks the silence and asks teasingly, "Did you faint?"

There's a volcano erupting in my face, that's how horrified I am, but…it's Jacob. Mine. Yea, yea I did faint because this had been that good, but there is no way this side of damnation that I'll ever admit that to him. His ego wouldn't be able to fit through the door.

But he doesn't need words, because he knows, the pull and fire whispering to him without words. And there are so many words to be said between us, too many words, but we ignore them in favor of extending this moment a bit longer.

This moment is unique and wonderful, full and honest, fire and all us as for the first time Jacob kisses me while laughing.

Shoulders shaking as he chuckles, lips pressing and moving along mine sloppily as he tries to get his laughter under control—and I wouldn't trade this moment for all the diamonds and gold in the world.


So, what do you guys think? This is me trying my hand at soft-core smut. Note: I probably will never write anything more explicit than this. Yes, they will eventually have sex, but I won't go into sexual details when it happens…I think. Anyhow, did you hate it? Like it? Let me know and Review! :)