A/N: Another Jacob one, only should be happy.

I'm glad the last chapter got a warm reception, a lot of work went into it.

WaK and Lalage, the story she tells is original but borrows heavily from Latin American mythology. This abridged version is primarily a brief overview of some Tukano beliefs and just a hint of Mayan. Tukano is the language she's speaking when she translates terms.

Mindy, I'm so glad you liked her. Much of her personality was strongly influenced by some of my closest friends so I'm rather fond of her myself.

razzle, I'm glad you're enjoying the ride, I like keeping it unexpected. ;)

Bellita, I was actually trying to borrow a page from Ms. Meyer with the tone I used in the incidents with Maya and Fredrick because I'd gotten the distinct impression that she used the issue of Edward biting Bella as a metaphor for deflowering her and vice-versa; a sensuous versus innocence dichotomy of vampirism that I noticed particularly in Eclipse. But I digress.

Oh, and a heartfelt shout-out to Jutey, Medicating, and lily for sticking around and to Jenna for stopping by. :D

Jacob

Monday Night

I stumbled a lot at first and even fell once when I hit a root. But I phased without thinking about it once I was about twenty yards into the woods so his range must end about there. I still wasn't anywhere near up to full speed; I was in second gear at most but at least I didn't have anymore trouble steering.

Jake? I'm sorry, I just –

Meet me. Now. At least I wouldn't have to hunt her down.

Where have you been? Quil joined in.

What did you say to her, Leah?

Silence.

ANSWER! It was less a command than a roar.

Then I saw it. And I thought that I was mad before. I wanted to tear her apart for speaking like that to Nessie. Especially the true parts.

I was almost as mad at myself as I was at her. So much changed when Nessie was born that I'd instantly forgotten how it used to be. Until now.

The suckiest thing about seeing it was that I saw it exactly as Leah had. I saw that she thought she was protecting me from getting hurt again. That she had been hurting too.

And, being in her head like this, I could feel just how bad she felt about it.

I am so sorry.

SILENCE! I ordered.

I was still extremely pissed but not nearly as much as I wanted to be. Maybe I was still doped up.

They were at the border waiting when I crossed. Leah's tail was literally tucked between her legs and Quil was looking anywhere but at her.

I walked straight up to her and got in her face, nose to nose. Her ears went flat against her skull and her brow twitched back. I glared full force into her eyes until she looked down and tucked her head in surrender. I wished, not for the first time, that she wasn't a girl so I could wallop her a few times upside the head and knock some sense into her.

I don't know what the hell your problem is but you better lose it, quick. You're the Omega until further notice and if you ever do anything like that again you're back with Sam for good. Got it?

She nodded and whimpered pathetically.

When does Seth start Winter Break?

Silence.

You can answer.

Uh, a little over three weeks.

Damn. What happened to taking his finals early?

I'm not sure, probably two in that event.

Too long to wait. I turned to Quil. I need you two watching the Crypt for me, I've gotta leave town.

What? They asked in unison.

I showed them what I remembered of my stay at Castle Dracula.

Their anger was nothing compared to mine but they both still wanted war. Leah even offered to go get Sam and do this right now.

No, this is personal. Plus, I don't want him trying to take over while I'm gone. I've got to go get Nessie first.

How? Do you have any idea how big Argentina is? Quil demanded.

No. How big?

I don't know. But it's a whole country, not just one city or something.

Leah groaned He's an idiot but he's right. You're going to need something more than just the name of the country.

They said there's only one town you can fly into so that's where I'll start.

And then?

I can't just sit here doing nothing, Leah! I roared. The thought of innocent little Nessie alone in a strange place full of who knows what was killing me.

From a tactical point of view, she softened her tone, it makes more sense to let them get her and then grab her from them. How would you even look for her? They have a mind-reader and a fortune-teller. What do you have?

Mange? Quil volunteered and I low-kicked him so sharply that he yipped like a poodle.

You're forgetting something very important. Whatever she's looking for is bad. Real bad if Jasper thinks it could make me any madder than I am now.

Then we need to find out exactly where she is before Seth's done.

Too long. Way way waaaaaaay too long.

Well, it's not like you can go without him. He's the only advantage you have.

Don't you dare tell me what to do. I growled You're nowhere near being out of the dog house.

She is right though, Quil defended her.

Don't you start either, I bared my teeth at him.

Look, he took a submissive tone, no one said anything about not doing anything. Just not yet.

What would you do if it was Clary?

I get it, man. Believe me I do. And even if I didn't, I can still feel you. That's why I know you're not thinking straight. You don't speak Spanish, Jake. Getting pissed off at us isn't going to change that.

Damn him for saying it like that. I don't want to be effing reasonable. I don't want to sit and wait. I don't think I can take anymore of that. I've already waited two months more than I should have.

So what's two weeks more?

Everything.

But he was right, it would take me much longer than that to try and learn the damn language myself.

I ran through every single obscenity I knew and a few I made up. Then I turned and elbowed right through the nearest tree, sending the top of it crashing to the forest floor. And then I roundhouse kicked through the one next to it, adding it to the pile and scaring Leah and Quil into backing up.

But I was just getting started.

I headbutted a big dent into a spruce then turned and stripped the next tree of its bare branches, flinging them to the side like a wood chipper and then thrashing the bark off with my claws until it bled sap. I wanted so badly to punch something but I couldn't make a fist with claws and was way too pissed to phase back.

I latched onto the thickest tree in sight and just kept swinging my right shin into it like a baseball bat, chopping my way through the middle of the trunk.

It hurt like hell. I could feel knots forming. But it still didn't compare to my real pain. I needed her so bad that I couldn't think of anything else.

Eff this, I'm going hunting. Leah, watch the Crypt. Get close enough to hear everything but don't let him feel you.

Ja-

NOW!

She scurried off one way and I took off in another. Maybe I could find a bear to entertain me. A big one. One that would put up a good fight and I could pretend was Emmet.

Jake?

I looked back to see Quil was tailing me. I could feel the concern pouring off of him. It just made me angrier.

No talking. And don't get in my way.

Sure, Jake. Whatever you say.

I can feel that he's a little scared of me right now. Good.

Thursday Night

Still nothing? I asked.

Not a thing. Can I leave?

No.

I promised Clary we'd get pancakes before school and I reek.

Fine. Go.

You want me to get Leah?

If I have to listen to her right now I'll end up killing one of us. Besides, there's no point in both of us missing work.

Jake

It's not a big deal, I haven't taken a single sick day in four years.

Nothing has happened for three days. Let it rest for one night.

What if she calls? What if they find her? What if they try to sneak off before sun up?

What if they catch you by yourself and take you hostage again?

Then you'll know where to come looking for me.

That shut him up. I couldn't feel him anymore by the time I crossed the border.

I had been trying to avoid taking watch duty myself but there was no way I was going to risk missing something. I was just going to have to find a way to keep my temper in check.

I snorted. Sure, that'll work. I could feel myself getting pissed just knowing that I was going. I was going to have to sit there all by myself, staring at that overgrown coffin for hours, trying not to think about all the reasons I hate them so that Feely-boy won't catch me.

And I couldn't really afford to be taking time off from the shop right now. Not when I had to come up on three grand for the cheapest seats I could find on the cheapest airline I've never heard of. I might just have to sell the Rabbit. I wanted to do that even less than vamp duty but there was no way I could sell the Thunderbird. Especially not now.

I'd run the whole damn way there if I had to. At this rate it might even be faster. I wonder if Seth would go for it, he's always got energy to spare.

All this sitting around waiting was driving me nuts. Why couldn't she have gone somewhere where they speak English?

And what the hell is she looking for? Why would it make me mad? She can't have believed all that crap Leah said about me not needing her. Could she? She had to know how much I loved her. Right?

I've never been so ashamed of myself before and I haven't been this confused since the day she was born and my world became whole. I've never been more sure of anything than needing her. She had to know that. How could she not? I was always there. Always until lately.

And who knows what they told her during that time. My vision blurs with hate.

I fall back into the woods, crossing the line where I phased last time but keeping the house in sight. I'll just have to watch from here for now. Which makes me even madder. Everything was pissing me off. I wanted to decimate everything I could see. I felt like I had caught the Rage virus from that zombie flick.

If it weren't for the fact that I was doing all this for Nessie, I would be tearing down the Crypt right now and gutting the leeches. The thought of her simultaneously stopped me from doing it while making me want to even more.

They didn't deserve her love. Nessie is without a doubt the sweetest girl to ever exist. No one deserved her, not even me. But I simply couldn't live without her.

I knew one thing for sure, I wasn't ever letting anything like this happen again.

I don't care if she wants to move to Argentina, or New Hampshire, or wherever. I'd follow her to the ends of the earth. And probably even beyond that. She'd have to pry me off with a stick when I found her, the rest of them be damned. Probably already were anyway.

The worst part was that I never saw it coming. It never even occurred to me the snake was lying through his fangs. I was so quick to believe that she was mad at me for taking it too far, that she would just cut me off without saying anything to me herself.

And now she was gone, possibly for good, over something I said back when I was a stupid kid.

She's gone and I'm sitting here in the woods watching for her to come home like some kind of stalker instead of charging down there to save her like the hero. It makes me want to clear the forest but I can't even hit anything because I have to worry about getting caught like I'm an effing second-grader or something.

This whole thing sucks, everything, especially the blood-suckers and their stupid powers.

"Good morning, Jacob."

-expletive-!

Endnote: It doesn't let me use stars or at signs or any of the other symbols. Probably precisely because people substitute them for profanity. I wish I could because it looked so much nicer before I uploaded it.