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Chapter 10 – Curiosity

Not everything you see is what it appears to be, The Dancing Monkeys, Aesop

When I woke up, I felt disgusting. I hated sleeping in my clothes, especially jeans. I smelled of wood-smoke and roasted hot dogs, my hair was ratted beyond belief, and I was fairly certain that my face still reflected the shock over what had happened last night. Jacob was a werewolf. He and his friends, my friends, guys I had spent years with and loved as brothers, all turned into giant wolves at will.

From what I gathered from last night's argument, getting them angry made them more likely to make the change. For a fleeting second I giggled as Bruce Banner's line of 'Don't get me angry, you won't like me when I'm angry' flitted through my head. That passed when I realized that not only did my boys change into incredible hulks, they were incredible canine hulks. Jacob had told me to go and read more of the legends, and to keep an open mind. I guess that would be a bit easier seeing as how wide open my eyes were at the moment.

I showered quickly and ran downstairs to eat breakfast. Charlie had left a note on the table letting me know he was fishing with Billy. I sat down in my chair hard and wondered if he knew. Had Billy told him? Why had they told me? I had lived in a state of blissful ignorance, what purpose would it serve to let me in on the secret? And, I knew it was a secret. Otherwise any of the guys would have told me sooner. Also, if I needed to know now, did that mean that Billy was telling Charlie today? Charlie had never mentioned anything about Billy changing into a wolf, but I could see why he wouldn't have mentioned that.

As I sat banging my head on the table, trying to work out the riddle of what and how much Charlie might know, I realized there was another knocking, the beats offsetting the connection my own forehead was making and coming from the direction of the front door. I stilled my motion enough to be able to hear Jacob calling to me to open up. I wasn't sure if I wanted to see him again but then realized that the only thing that had changed was that I now knew. He had been a wolf yesterday, and the day before, what difference did my knowledge make to my love for my best friend? I decided the answer to that was 'none' and got up and let him in.

"Hey, Bells," he whispered to me when I opened the door and leaned against the jamb. He reached his hand out to stroke my forehead as a grin split his face, "Been banging your head on something or did you just trip again?" I knew he was just trying to get back to normal, but I wasn't ready for that so I swatted his hand away and attempted to slam the door shut. He caught it and held it open while muttering an apology. "Look, Bells, I just wanted to see if we were still friends? Now that you've had time to think about what happened?"

"Of course we are, Jake. Why wouldn't we be?" I sighed. I knew why he was asking and that he didn't know of my decision of not even a minute ago and decided to explain. "You're still Jake, aren't you? The same guy I've known for years? The one that alternately makes me laugh and annoys the hell out of me?"

"Yep, I'm still him. That hasn't changed."

"Crap, and here I was hoping the whole you-changing-into-a-giant-wolf thing might fix the last part." Then I mocked a shocked expression. "OH! That must be why you are so annoying at times!"

"Well, I have been phasing since I was sixteen, so it is a possibility," he laughed. With a sigh, he reached out and took my hand. "I'm sorry, Bella, I didn't want you to find out that way. I was hoping you would hear the story and figure it out on your own, not be confronted with a huge, snarling wolf." His shoulders sagged as he looked past my shoulder. "I do understand if you don't want to be friends anymore, though. You can be honest with me. I promise not to go all werewolf on you over it."

I tugged at his fingers that were still in my grasp. Looking up at him sideways, I whispered, "Hey, as far as I'm concerned the only thing that's changed is that I now know. It doesn't change our friendship. It's not like you're going out and murdering people or anything."

He cringed visibly at that. "Yeah, keep that last part in mind, would ya'?" he quipped, "we are protectors, not killers like some."

"Like who? Are there werewolves that are killers?" I gasped. Would my friend change? Would he become something evil?

"I don't know any other werewolves, so I guess not." His gaze drifted down and he was quiet for a moment before continuing, his face twisted as if his thoughts caused him pain. "I don't know how to say this without getting in trouble." His eyes snapped up to meet mine. "Just please realize that if one kind of mythical creature can exist, so can others."

"Like what?" I whispered. Fear clenched my heart as I considered all the creatures I had read about in fiction. Tales of sprites, imps, trolls, vampires, leprechauns, mermaids, the Loch Ness monster, griffins, nymphs and sphinxes all ran quickly through my mind. All cultures had legends of creatures who wreaked havoc amongst humans.

"I can't tell you," he whispered. "I don't know all that exist, only our enemies, the reason we exist at all. But, I can't tell you what that is either because there's a treaty to protect us both. So far, they are sticking to their side, so we can't break ours. It would mean war if we did." His voice had grown more frustrated as he spoke, and I knew this was really bothering him. I also knew whom he was talking about. The Cullens. There was always something different about them, and it explained his antagonism towards them. But I was confused as to why they would be enemies. The Cullens were good.

I knew I was right, but I wanted confirmation. "It's the Cullens, isn't it?"

"Don't go digging for information, Bells. Like I said last night, I'm not telling you. I can't. Just please stay away from their cousin. I don't trust him. He's after something, something to do with you, and I don't think it's just sex or –" he paused. I could tell this was really eating at him by the way he was kicking at the door jamb. He always kicked at objects when something was on his mind. He took in a deep breath. "Look, you're surrounded by books. Why don't you read some local history or something when you've got some time like I asked last night, okay?" His eyes were so intense as he said this to me that I couldn't do anything but nod.

"Great," he sighed as if a great weight had been removed from his shoulders. "Do you have any questions?"

"Only about a million! What can you tell me?"

"About us? Anything you want to know." I smiled and tugged on the hand I was still holding. We walked into the kitchen and he sat down at the table as I began preparing something for us to eat. Well, something for him, I hoped to catch a couple bites.

He told me about the change, how he had phased for the first time and thought he was losing his mind. He had been so glad to have others there in his head. I had quirked my brow at that, and he quickly explained how they could hear each other's thoughts. "It's really annoying, but also very helpful. There are no secrets in the wolf pack."

The strangest thing, hands down, was imprinting. Apparently, the imprinting wolf's entire world shifted. Everything but the imprint lost meaning and importance. Everything the wolf did from then on was in some way connected to the welfare of the imprintee, no matter what was needed. When he told me about Sam and Emily, I thought it was sweet, until he got to the part about how it had hurt Leah. I guess that explained why Leah was so angry all the time. I never understood that before. When he got around to telling me about Quil and Claire, I freaked. There was simply no other word for it. He quickly rushed to explain how it was different, and that the imprinting wolf was whatever the imprintee needed, be it big brother, best friend, boyfriend or lover.

I looked at him and could see wistfulness in his eyes. "It hasn't happened for you yet, has it?"

"Nope, not yet." He held his hands up, "Not that I mind! I'm only twenty-two, I can wait." He looked at me and started to laugh. "A few years ago I wished it was you, ya' know. I would look at you and look at you, but no imprinting. That's why I gave up chasing you. I saw what it did to Leah when Sam left her for his imprint. I kept thinking, 'what if I convinced Bella to be with me, and my imprint came along? Would I want to hurt her like that?'" He shook his head. "I cared too much for you; I couldn't do that to you. That's why I accepted it when you said you wanted to be friends." Another chuckle came out, "You can thank Sam for that one. He's the one that pointed that out to me."

"I think I'll bake him a cake!" I laughed. "I do love you, Jake, just not that way. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You're not my imprint, therefore it's not meant to be. I'm old enough to accept that now." He rose from his seat and I was surprised to see that a couple of hours had passed. "Look, I've got to get back, tribe stuff. Sometimes it really sucks to be the chief, alpha, whatever. I'm just glad I have Sam and Billy around to help me out."

"Thanks for talking to me about all this, Jake." I grinned up at him, "I still think it's cool that you're the chief, and that Sam was willing to offer to step aside again once you had grown up." I wrapped my arms around his waist in a hug. "Chief Jacob. Sounds nice."

He kissed the top of my head. "You are definitely one crazy woman, Bells. Probably why we're friends."

"Probably," I agreed. I saw him to the door and decided now was as good a time as any to get to reading. I knew I had many books on Quileute legends, and right where they were. I grabbed my keys off the hook by the door, right under my coat and headed for my car. Charlie wouldn't be home for hours and I knew he would call the store to look for me if I was missing.

When I got there, I pulled out one copy of every book I had. All three of them. At least it wouldn't take much time. I opened the first one and scanned the table of contents, looking for the legend I had heard last night. I thought if that was where the elders would start, it made sense I should start there as well.

I read the whole book through in about an hour. It was fascinating. Spirit warriors being able to control the minds of animals around them. Taha Aki becoming the first wolf by asking to share the body of an animal that was accompanying him. Battles with neighboring tribes, with the warriors leaving their bodies to scare off their enemies. All of these things made me realize just how ancient and honorable Jacob's tribe actually was.

When I finished with the first book, I picked up the second and scanned its table of contents. It didn't seem to have anything different, but it was possible that the stories could have been told differently, yielding new information the first book might have missed. I scanned it quickly, not really learning anything new before setting it aside.

The third book was a bit longer, which is why I saved it for last. This one had a couple extra chapters in it at the end; the first one was labeled 'The Cold Ones' and the second called 'The Treaty.' If that didn't fit the Cullens and Edward, I didn't know what did. Still, I wasn't one to skip in books, and thinking I might glean even more if I read the earlier chapters, I started in. Small bits of information were included in this book that weren't in the prior two. This one discussed imprinting, as well as how the phasing happened the first time. Apparently, the gene had to be triggered by some outside force, and then they grew, and grew, and grew until they were massive. One day, something would make them angry and the phasing would take place. It was like a huge dose of testosterone, only it wasn't. It was another steroid that was formed naturally in their bodies, causing the rapid growth to immense size, and allowing them to make the change. It made them unpredictable. You had to be careful around immature wolves.

I was getting close to the Cold Ones chapter when I heard a knock on my door. I knew it was probably Jacob again, since Edward wasn't due back until tomorrow. He had said he would walk me home tonight, but I wasn't ready to go. "If this is him, I'll swear I'll find something to hit him with," I muttered as I walked to the door. I had been comfortable! "I don't know how he expects me to get all this reading done if he doesn't give me time," I continued to grouse under my breath until I got to the door. I reached out to flip the lock on the door and swing it open, and looked out the window, expecting to see Jacob. But it wasn't Jacob. It was Edward. A cold one, I was sure, but I still didn't know what a cold one was.

"Knock, knock," he called from the other side of the door. My breathing hitched when I saw him and I swore my heart would hammer out of my chest. My growing addiction to him both frightened me and drove me on. The man was simply too beautiful for words and never failed to take my breath away whenever I saw him again. My memory of him never did him justice. I rushed to get the door open, excited and terrified to see him again. "I," I breathed out, "I thought you wouldn't be back until tomorrow." Yep, I was great at stating the obvious. Apparently it wasn't possible for me to do much more than that.

He reached out his hand and brushed the back of his fingers down my cheek. "I was thinking about you and so rushed back." His eyes trailed around the store before returning to mine. "Do you mind if I disturb you?"

Oh, he most definitely disturbed me, just not in the way he was thinking. I couldn't seem to gather any coherent thoughts and began stuttering whatever came out of my mouth. "No, no, that would be fine." I realized how that could be taken and quickly added, "I, I mean, it wouldn't be disturbing me." I took in a deep breath and squared my shoulders, hoping to calm the butterflies that had seemed to take residence in my stomach before stating in a much calmer tone, "Please, why don't you come in?"

He slipped inside the door fluidly, his eyes never leaving mine. Then he smiled, looked down, and then back up through his lashes, "Did you miss me?"

I was startled by this question. I found that I had. Yes, he continued to pursue me with abandon, but although that was annoying, I couldn't help enjoying the feeling of being found desirable. Before I knew what happened a quiet 'yes' had slipped from my lips. It was obvious that he heard it because his face split into a huge grin. I decided it would be more comfortable to go to the chairs so I invited him to where I had been reading. My book was still lying open on the small table in the center and he reached down and started going through it.

"Interesting reading," he commented before fixing his gaze on me with a knowing look. "How much do you believe?"

Did he know the truth? The look on his face seemed to indicate he did, but I certainly wasn't going to be the one who gave away their secret. "Um, they could be true, I guess," I stammered out, hoping I didn't give anything away, but I was always a terrible liar. My heart was pounding and I couldn't look him in the eye, so I focused on the dust I could see around hoping that distraction would calm me.

"Fascinating to see, isn't it? The way the fur literally grows from their bodies? How their entire mass swells as they take the form of a wolf?" I couldn't believe it. Shock coursed through my system as he revealed that not only did he know but he had seen them change! I wondered why. I knew Jacob hated the Cullens; they had to be the enemy he was referring to. I wondered if any of the boys had made the change in front of one of the Cullens.

"How? How did you know? How long have you known?" I sputtered, but then I thought of something else, the derogatory term Edward always used for Jacob. "Is this why you're always calling him a dog?" I was pissed! He knew Jacob became a wolf and then taunted him about the secret?

"I've know all along," he said while laying the book down behind him. "So, yes, that is why I'm always calling him a dog," he added with a smirk. I glared at him, angry that he was so cavalier in regards to my friend. Since I couldn't seem to form a response he continued. "As for how long I've known, since before I got here. They have a, pact, for lack of a better word, with the Cullens. Carlisle found out a number of years ago and promised to keep their secret."

"But you know and have seen them?" Why would Carlisle have told Edward? Then again, Jacob never denied that the Cullens weren't something other than human. I remembered what the next chapter of the book was titled: The Cold Ones. Just that was enough to get me thinking. When he left, I would jump to that chapter and read what they were.

"I'm not really interested in talking about them, Bella," he crooned as he stepped closer to me, "I'm far more interested in talking about us. I've only been here a couple minutes and I've already upset you." Taking both of my hands, he wrapped them behind me, effectively pinning me to his body as he lowered his lips down so that they ghosted over my face, his sweet breath intoxicating me as he spoke. "You say you missed me, yet you haven't welcomed me home properly."

"Properly?" I breathed out. My mind was already turning to mush, my resolve to withstand him diminishing with every second that passed with me in his arms.

"Mmm, I was hoping for something more than just a discussion regarding the local wild life," he murmured as he trailed kisses across my jaw and under my ear. I sighed loudly as he continued his journey, finding sensitive places on my neck I never knew about. My skin was on fire and my hands were gripping his tightly as his assault on my neck led him down to my shoulders. He nosed aside the collar of my shirt as he rained down kisses, trailing lower and lower down my chest until he reached the lace of my bra.

My breathing was frantic and black spots were forming in my eyes from the lack of oxygen. I realized I was grateful he was holding me up or I would be on the floor. When he began pushing the lace aside with his nose I knew I needed to act and fast. If I allowed this to continue, I wouldn't be able to resist him. Every time we met, he pushed me just a little bit further, one more step to giving myself to him completely. I gathered my strength and pulled back from his lips. I could feel my body betraying me and knew I had to hold strong against his quite impressive ability to overpower my senses. "Edward," I barely breathed, "please –"

He thought I was giving him permission for more. With a groan, he kissed along the lace, teasing me with his lips. As they sucked on the tender flesh, a loud moan escaped me and my legs lost all their strength. Fully lifting me, he carried me over to the chair and set me gently in it, his lips never losing the suction they held on my skin. The change in location also brought about a change in position and I found myself sitting on the very edge of the seat, pushed back so that he was hovering over me while kneeling between my legs.

He pressed the full length of his body against mine and I could feel where he was planning on taking this. This needed to stop, now. "Edward, no, please stop," I sighed, hoping he would hear me over my panting breaths. I tried to pull my hands from the manacles his hands had become behind my back. I knew he heard me because he let out a low groan, the vibrations from it sending shock waves of desire through my body. A sob of frustration ripped from my throat; I wanted him so badly and yet I knew I wasn't ready for this.

Once again, he misunderstood. He let go of me and sat up so quickly it was as if he was moving in fast forward. One second he held me in his grasp and the other he was standing a couple feet away from me. "Bella, I'm sorry, I thought you were enjoying it!" he exclaimed, "I thought you were fine with what I was doing!"

I pulled myself to an upright position with one hand while the other moved to put my shirt back in place and close the buttons he had opened, waves of heat alighting my face in my embarrassment. "You misunderstood me, Edward, I know that."

In a flash, he was on his knees in front of me, sliding his body between my legs, "Then why did you cry?"

"I was frustrated."

His hands were back on my thighs in a flash, trailing up lightly, causing an ache to form in the pit of my stomach as he leaned his face closer to mine. "Why were you frustrated? What is it you want?"

I gathered my will together into a tight ball in my mind, steeling myself against his allure as I placed tight fists against his chest to push him away. "I want to get to know you first, Edward. We've had this discussion before, you might remember," I grated out. I couldn't understand why he kept pushing this when I so often told him to stop.

"Again, Bella, I never have, and I never will, force you. I am going off your own reactions. I will only go as far as you allow. You have my word on this. But," he hesitated, making sure he had my full attention, his golden eyes boring into mine, "I will never apologize for wanting you, or responding to you." He took my wrist in his hand, his fingers above my pulse point, "I can hear your heart beat faster when I'm near." Lifting my fingers to his lips he continued as he began placing kisses on them, his eyes closing as they approached his mouth, "I can feel it race as I kiss you and hear your breathing hitch when I touch you." His eyes opened again and held me in a trance. Leaning in closer so that his lips were barely above my own, he continued in a husky whisper, "I know you want me as much as I do you." Very lightly, his lips ghosted above mine. "I don't know why you fight it. Put away your fears and give in to me."

With the last, his lips claimed mine once again. I was powerless to resist him and languished in the smell, feel and taste of his lips on mine. One of my hands remained locked in his vice-like grip and the other went to stop the rising of his fingers up my thigh, thrilled that he actually stopped its movement at my insistence. Perhaps I could give this much of myself. He was pushing, but as soon as I stilled him, he stopped. This gave me hope.

After a few moments, when I felt my lungs would burst with the need for air, he pulled away and let me breathe. His eyes were alight with victory and mirth as he took in my flushed skin and deep breaths, his fingers keeping time with my heart on my wrist. I realized what he was saying without words and yanked my hand from his. "If you kept it to kissing I would probably be fine."

He chuckled as he pulled me upright in the chair, "Since you are so intent on getting to know me," laughter filled his eyes, "and not Biblically, why don't we spend more time together. It's Saturday, you aren't required to be here. Let's go and do something fun."

"Fun as in outside, in public, behaving yourself? Or fun as in more of this?" I asked while pointing at the hickey I could see forming on my chest.

His laughter was like church bells, deep and resonating through me as he drew me close. "Outside, depends on the weather. In public, I suppose some of the time. Behaving, I will only go as far as you allow." He pulled my shirt open further and traced his cold fingers over the bruising he had caused then raised his eyes to mine, heat and desire burning in them, "More of this? I certainly do hope so." He placed a quick kiss over the darkening skin and then rose to his feet, carrying me with him as if I weighed nothing.

"Why don't we start outside?" he suggested. "It's a cloudy day, but not too cool. I know a place I would love to take you." I agreed and he steadied me on my feet before letting go enough to slide his hand down my arm to take my hand in his own.

I followed him to the front and turned to lock the store. When I looked in the window, I noticed my book was gone.

I've had quite a few new readers put me on alert. Welcome to you all! I would love to hear from you. What do you think he did with the book? Tell me your theories, ladies!