Author's Note;
Alright, so the newborn army is defeated. I'm sure some of you noticed that one major red haired antagonist was missing from that particular battle, but don't worry. She'll show up.
Disclaimer;
Please see chapter one.
The week had passed by in a flurry of days, hours and moments that made no sense. Jacob was healthy, Gray was healthy. Demi was safe and sound though scared to be alone, but with good reason. Everyone had survived the newborn attack. Although Gray would always have the scar on the back of her neck from the newborn that had bitten her. She and Bella had something in common, though Gray had quickly found that she really did not like the girl. She liked her fiance Edward even less even if he had helped to save her. She couldn't help her feelings. Jacob, he was another story. He hadn't talked to her in a week. Once he knew she'd be okay, he had stopped talking to her. He was mad. Understandably but so was she. He turned into a wolf and she a bear.
"I mean really, what gives him the right to be such an asshole?" Gray growled over the phone to Emily who honestly had stopped paying attention. They had been having that particular conversation for the last two hours and at this point Gray was just repeating herself. But she had to get it out and since she and Leah still were not on the best of terms, Emily was who Gray turned to.
"He feels hurt and a little betrayed." She knew it was a bad answer, but she couldn't help but want to defend Jacob.
"He feels hurt and betrayed! What about me? He turns into a god damn wolf for fun to kill vampires, which by the way I did not know existed! Why not just mind fuck me twice in one shot eh? At least I was only hiding one thing from him. My secret wasn't going to get him killed!" Slinking into her seat, Emily slid a hand down her face before her head fell back to rest against the back of the couch. She would hang up and pretend her power had been cut, but Gray knew better. She knew Sam payed the bills on time like the anal retentive Alpha that he was.
"But it wasn't just his secret, it's a pack secret."
"I get that, I really do. But some hint might have been nice. And I'm still waiting on the damn explanation of why he was there in the first place." Resisting the urge to bang her head against the nearest brick wall, Emily sighed slowly and softly to regain some semblance of calm and friendliness.
"Gray, I know you're upset. But I really have to go. Sam's home. Bye!" She hung up before Gray could say anything else. For once she didn't feel bad about lying.
Gray understood, at least until she looked out her window and saw Sam walking down the street away from Jacob's. Her eye's narrowed as she stalked outside towards Sam. She effectively stopped him in his tracks by getting in his way and refusing to move. She pointed an accusing finger at him.
"You! Tell Emily she is a liar and I know it!" With that she stepped around him and began to stomp towards Jacob's house. She was beyond pissed at the entire situation. If he had even told her that something was going on, even if he hadn't told her everything, she wouldn't have had Demi out for a walk in the woods that day. Demi wouldn't have gone back to Canada for a few weeks to be with her Grandfather because the smallest bang scared her into tears. Seth was broken up about it, but he understood. So he just moped. Although Gray still did not understand his attachment to her daughter in the least. But the maternal instincts inside her of both woman and bear, told her that he was no threat. That he would actually keep her very safe when given the chance.
During her stomping towards Jacob's house, she didn't even stop to see Sam's bewildered look before he continued towards his and Emily's house. She reached the house and banged on the door. Billy was fishing and Jacob obviously wasn't paying attention or he probably wouldn't have opened the door. When he saw it was Gray he attempted to close it, but she caught the door with her hand. She was not as strong as he was in her human form, not by a long shot. But she had enough strength to hold the door open and slip inside of the house before he managed to slam the door. She now found herself sandwiched between the door and a very angry Jacob. Though he didn't scare her in the least.
"What do you want?" He was still mad at her. He'd watched her go through her sickness to get to the state she was in now. Strong and a fucking bear. She turned into a fucking bear. He still didn't know everything about it, but he knew that she had kept something really big from him and it pissed him off.
"What do I want? How about a fucking explanation Jacob? Hmm, yeah that could be a great start." He narrowed his eyes at her dangerously, her own eyes narrowing back. A low growl rumbled through him in warning. He was angry a lot these days and it seemed to have put him a little bit more in touch with the wolf inside of him. She returned his growl with one of her own.
"Why do you get an explanation and I don't?"
"When did I ever say you wouldn't get an explanation! You just assumed you wouldn't! You stopped talking to me and shut me out before I could explain anything to you or anyone." That made him pause. Although she hadn't given him a chance to explain either. In truth they were both at fault.
"We both fucked up Gray." Once they were face to face, it was easier to forgive the other. Damn imprint working against them. It wasn't that Jacob was upset that he had imprinted on her, but he wanted to be able to be mad at her and forgive her of his own volition, not be forced to do it by some mystical force. Though it seemed to work on her too as she lost the dominant and defensive stance and leaned into his warm chest.
"You can say that again." His arms wrapped around her waist and came to rest against her back, large hands splayed against her skin. It hadn't occurred to either of them just how much they had missed each other.
"So can I have an explanation now?" She nodded against his chest and let him lead her to the living room where she sat on the couch, curling herself up against him. Neatly fitting against his side as he sat beside her.
"Well you remember the tribe legend I told at the bonfire?" She felt more than saw his nod. She remained silent for a moment, trying to explain it in a way that he would understand.
"Well the legend is a bit more complicated than that. Now depending on who you talk to in my family, there are two different ways we came about. My grandfather believed that the boy that was lost, was eaten by one of the bear cubs and began to look like him. My father believed that the mother bear begged to the creators to bless her child with the ability to survive with them and that the creator answered and turned the boy into a bear in human skin." She shrugged slowly, fingers lacing together around her knees.
"I don't know what I believe, but I do know that what the good blood sucking doctor said is true. I'm not technically human. Technically I'm a bear that turns into a human. I guarantee if Bella's leech tried to read my mind he wouldn't be able to. Not because I'm broken like Bella is, but because I'm more of an animal than anything else." Jacob nodded slowly, chin resting on the top of her head as he listened.
"Okay, the explains the origins. Now I want to know the how do you change, does it hurt, your strengths, your weaknesses, ways I can avoid turning you into a bear. Because damn you hit hard." She chuckled knowing he was joking, or at least hoping that he was joking with her.
"Changing for me is kind of like breathing. One second I'm a person and the next I'm a bear the size of a Clydesdale. Father figures that the bear and I are always in the same space, it's just a matter of which is visible. Kind of like a person with split personality. One is more dominant over the other and visible. The other only comes out when the dominant one can't handle the situation anymore. Then the second one, usually the one with the life saving skills, shows up and handles the situation. Difference is I can change at will. And no, it doesn't hurt. Like I said, it's like breathing. I inhale as a human and exhale as a bear."
"So you're telling me your crazy? Is that it?" She whacked him in the stomach with her hand.
"You already knew that before I told you that. Don't be a smart ass!" He leaned over and began to tickle her, until she cried uncle.
"Okay, strengths, weaknesses, how do I keep you from hitting me again." Anyone else asking the questions, and she would've felt like she was being interrogated. With Jacob, it felt like he just wanted to know.
"Basically I'm exactly like a bear, just kind of a super hero bear. I'm super bear! I'm strong, when I'm a bear, I can knock down a solid concrete building and bite through steel. I'm faster than a bear or a human, but no where near as fast as you. My top speed is about seventy-five miles per hour. I'm not as agile as you or the rest of the pack, but my stamina is greater. I can go for days on end." Sitting up she folded her legs and sat in a near meditation pose, looking at him. Watching his reaction to figure out what it was exactly his reaction would be.
"And as long as you don't pose any kind of threat to Demi, you're in no danger of my turning by accident and attacking you. I only attacked you then because I was delirious. Oh, that is the other thing. I do heal faster than humans, but not as fast as you do. Now it's your turn bud." He remained silent, watching her with his dark eyes that made her shiver deep down. God, she just wanted to kiss him. But she was far to interested in learning about what he was.
"Well my origins are explained right in the legends. Catch is, I'm a direct descendant of the chief. He was the first and I would've been had Sam, Paul, Jared and Quil not been older than me. It hits around sixteen or seventeen. It hit Seth at fifteen. It's the reason I'm bigger than everyone else, as a human and a wolf. It's also the reason I'm stronger too. Technically I am the Alpha of the pack and Sam is my beta, even though we're revered right now. Sam was the first to change so he just naturally became Alpha. But when I changed, he offered me the position. I said no, I don't want to be Alpha right now, if ever. We run at a solid one hundred eight degrees all the time, so we can withstand heat and cold easier. You already saw what we look like as wolves. We just kind of explode I guess. We're strong and fast and made specifically for killing vampires. Whenever they are around those with the pack blood transform. Oh and we've got an annoying and helpful mental mind link up when we're in our wolf forms. And the Alpha can give an Alpha command that cannot be disobeyed by anyone." She listened quietly, taking it all in. He didn't know why he left out the imprinting, but he couldn't bring himself to tell her about it just yet. Just not yet, but he promised himself and her silently that he would tell her.
"Huh. That explains a lot."
"And as for your strength – your a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for. It takes two of us to do to a vampire what you did to those newborns. The first one you hit, he didn't have a head when you were done." She shrugged, a blush tinting her features slightly as she looked at him.
"When I'm protecting Demi, I don't even think. I just do."
"So, I have one more question for you."
"Hmm?"
"What was that whole thing the day you got sick? I've been dying to know ever since I found out about you."
"That? Me coming out of hibernation. The first official day of spring is when bears come out of hibernation. You can't tell because of how warm you run, but I'm not to far below you in temperature now. My body heats up and usually I keep better tabs on when it's coming and I keep my internal temperature lower so that it doesn't have such adverse affects on me. The same thing happens in winter, except my body temperature lowers. Mid-winter, I'm about as cold as a vampire. I'm weaker, slower...basically my bear goes into hibernation and it's harder for me to change at will. Though if I'm protecting someone I love, it will burst out of me still." Jacob snorted his laughter.
"Good to know, well in winter I'll be your blanket. I'll keep you warm." She smiled over at him and against her better judgement she leaned towards him and pressed her lips to his ever so gently.
"I just might take you up on that." His hand held the back of her neck, his thumb across her jaw line as he pulled her back to him to return the kiss. It was just a kiss, it lead to nothing and after a moment they pulled away. They remained there, his hand on her cheek and her's on his arm. Their noses were almost touching. After a few more moments she bounced up, turning to stare at him.
"Wanna go for a run?" She spotted his movement and ran out the door before he was fully off the couch. She ran towards the trees, changing once she was in cover of the trees. Jacob leapt over the old boat in the backyard and landed as a wolf. Slinking into the trees, he spotted his prey. The bear that was as big as he was. Until she stood that was. They couldn't talk verbally or even mentally, but it was an unspoken communication as they looked at each other before taking off. He gave her a head start since she wasn't as fast as him. But he didn't give her much of one. He was able to weave through the trees, but she had the momentum and the power to jump larger obstacles. They ran until they reached the cliffs.
He was tired when they finally stopped, his legs were sore from running, but she looked like she could've kept going. She would've run across the ocean if she could've. Laying on the ground with a sigh he yipped at her with a dirty look. She grumbled back, batting at his ear with a smile before sitting down beside him. Getting up, he walked behind a tree to change back. He pulled on a pair of jeans before returning to find her sitting there as a human. Except she was naked and she had neglected to bring any clothes with her. And he had nothing to offer her. But she didn't seem bothered.
"I love sunsets." She motioned towards the sunset, even if he couldn't take his eyes off her skin. The sunset painted her skin beautiful glowing colours, accentuating all of her features but not overshadowing them. Perfect.
"Me too."
