A/N: Thanks to everyone who read and responded to the last chapter. I know that many of you had a lot of questions, some I can answer and some I can't at the moment because you'll have to read to find out. I will however answer the burning question about Nafre and Lucian. Nafre is a pure blood shape shifter, born and not created. Lucian is a pure blood werewolf, born and not created. Nafre is related to Jacob. As for Jacob and the pack, they aren't real werewolves though they think that they are, they are shifters who have chosen the shape of a wolf. Jacob ,because of his bloodline, is the only one with the ability to change into another shape like Nafre, however he has no idea about it.
Again…a wonderful thank you to Blue Baby for once again being the Best Beta! I couldn't and wouldn't want to do it without you.
Chapter 11: Pack Business
Jacob made adjustments to the engine before he put in the calibrator as. The last two hours he and Seth had been overseeing the testing along with Newman's people. Thank god. He'd rather be running simulations and asking questions about the engine than to be held up in the business department. Leah and Paul were the ones trying to hammer out a deal Why the hell did I allow Paul to work on coming up with a deal? I should have brought Embry on this trip instead of him. But Rachel insisted that I give her husband a chance. Shit, I need to stop allowing my sister to bully me. At least I know that Leah will keep him in line. He thought with a wicked smile. Jacob was surprised when he had strolled into Newman's hangers to find that Leah had already started the day with negotiations bright and early. He had thought that she would have "slept in" after her long night. He had seen the way she looked last night and didn't need to read her thoughts to know that she had definitely been on the prowl. Good for her and fuck you Sam. You've done enough damage to her. It's good to see her finally living again.
Jacob had also found that Paul's reaction to the "new Leah" amusing that morning. Paul's eyes had fallen out of his head when he saw her. "I can't believe that's her. Damn, she looks fine." Paul had whispered to him. And she did. Maybe the spa had done something for her because she looked great in her quarter length black skirt that showed off her legs, her small black snakeskin belt and a starling sleeveless fuchsia blouse that billowed to a stylish bow at her neck. She looked sleek, sexy, and professional all at the same time. Paul had been ready to make a remark about Leah's "come fuck me heels" when Leah had turned to give him a murderous look.
"Never mind, she's still the same cantankerous bitch she always is." Paul had uttered.
"Jake what do you think? Will it run 240 amps?" Seth asked, snapping Jakes mind back to the present.
"What?" He turned around missing part of what Seth said.
Seth looked at him quizzically. What's up with you today?
"He asked about the amps?" Jennifer, the lead engineer answered. Although a little on the shy side, she had an amazing mind. From the looks of it, it seemed as though she had a crush on Seth with her change of dress, her rapid heart rate, and not to mention her scent of arousal. Not that Seth had noticed. When it came to his work, Seth was totally obsessed. She could have paraded in front of him naked and Jake wasn't sure he'd even notice.
Jake looked at Seth sheepishly. "Sorry"
"It's okay."
But it wasn't. Jake's mind wasn't where it should be. Not after what had happened last night. The situation at Pandora's Box had only been the beginning. He, Tucker and Paul had finally left the strip club around 2am, leaving Nick and Seth behind to hook up. Jake went back to the hotel suite and talked to a very groggy Bella on the phone. He went to bed an hour later after he called up room service and finished off a midnight snack of many orders of hot wings, fries and three slices French apple pie. His meal from Pandora's Box had already worn off. When he finally slept he had an erotic dream about Bella. In the dream he had been swimming in the warm water of a beach when Bella arrived looking sexy as hell wearing nothing but his shirt and the bottoms of the red bikini he had given her. She had come over to him, played with is body, tantalizing it with her touch and then had given him an incredible blow job. The dream had been so vivid and real that he had been in the process of spilling his seed on three hundred dollar sheets like a teenager.
Jacob had crawled out of bed intending to take a cold shower. What he had seen had left him staggering. His black hair was long, as long as it had been before; flowing past his shoulders. In between his shoulder blades spanned a strange looking tattoo written a language he didn't recognize and his eyes were a bizarre amber color. He hadn't understood what was happening to him. It had taken all of his will to control his emotions and not phase right there. Is this part of being an alpha? Are the others going to go through such changes? Did this have anything to do with hearing that woman's voice in my head? Or that headache and nosebleed Iknow some unknown woman must have caused? Jacob had so many questions.For a moment he even considered calling Sam. Maybe he knew what was going on. After all, he was first to phase and his grandmother, Ashayla, had been the tribe's historian. Jacob hadn't been sure what to do, therefore he had spent most of the early morning pacing and worrying. He finally forced himself to sleep for a couple of hours. Besides that, he had business to handle. When he woke up he was more than relieved to find that that his body had returned to back to normal.
Seth looked at Jake; it was clear that he was in deep heavy thoughts. Again. What's going on with everyone? Leah's been too quiet and now Jake. "Jake man, are you sure that you're okay. You've been quiet all morning."
Jake looked at him with secretive eyes. "Yeah I'm fine." He slapped Seth on the back. "I've got a call to make…give me a minute."
Seth watched as Jake strode away. This wasn't right. Jake was always open, communicative and easy going unless he was dealing with vamps. This Jake was different. All morning he had been acting strange; and he wasn't the only one. Leah and Jake had exchanged a strange look earlier. What had that look meant? What was going on?
Newman Corporation Conference Room
"15% is high." Dirk Lawson stated across the conference table to Leah.
Paul gave her a slight nudge under the table to tell her, I told you so. She retaliated by grinding her heel into his right foot. "No, it isn't." She responded to Dirk. "I looked at the profit margin, most of your racers placed high last year, but two are on the verge of retirement. You are going to need to replace them. Though you've been grooming Bruce Miller, he isn't ready yet. This engine however could possibly shave off 5.7 of his time. Therefore I believe that 15% is reasonable. You will receive all copy writes of this engine as well as the rewards from using it." Leah sat back in the leather chair giving Dirk a no nonsense look.
How the hell does she know that? Dirk looked down at Leah through his glasses.
Leah smirked as if she could read his mind. "You see reservation schools aren't as inferior as they'd like people to think. They taught us how to do comprehensive research."
"I wasn't suggesting that you were inferior Ms. Clearwater." He responded honestly. "I must say that Quileute Inc is very lucky to have someone like you."
"It isn't luck." She responded. "It's loyalty."
"No, I supposed it isn't." Dirk stated to the very beautiful woman driving the hard bargain. The truth was that Newman would do just about anything do get their hands on that engine and more. They wanted to create a permanent relationship with Quileute Inc, maybe be able to create a co-ownership that would allow Quileute Inc to be a sub- division under Newman. Jacob Black and Seth Clearwater had created a magnificent tool in their engine, who knew what else they could do. Dirk had pressed Nick to be very careful not to mention a potential partnership with them. Right now Newman would first start with the engine deal and move into the idea of a lucrative partnership after some time once trust had been established. He had already noted that the members of Quileute Inc were not only close knit, but they didn't trust outsiders. Newman had been slowing up deliberations in order to get a complete comprehensive background check on each of the share holders of Quileute Inc. They had received very little information on them; part of being Native American meant they didn't have the technological imprint that most left behind. They lived, worked and went to school on the reservation. They paid no taxes and owned whatever they had outright. They also had no real information about the reservation's finical records since they were sealed. The only person with any type of electronic history was Roman Hightower who attended school in Atlanta and had a stellar military record. Dirk wasn't even sure that money was a real motivator for them because they hadn't jumped at the first amount thrown their way. The only person who had a loan out currently was Jacob Black; he used that money to buy partnership in the Clearwater Garage and Detail Shop. Isabella Swan Black, Jacob's wife, had money from an inheritance of some sort from an Uncle. Why Jacob had taken out a loan to buy a partnership in a garage that his wife could afford had puzzled Dirk until he met the young man. There was something about him that let Dirk know that he was a "man's man" and wouldn't feel right taking money from his wife. Another thing that Dirk had noticed was that the few select members were equal partners. That was odd considering that Jacob and Seth worked the most on this engine. However they didn't have larger shares than the others.
"You know if you ever consider leaving, we would love to have someone with your caliber and mindset here."
Are they fucking crazy! Leah is a ball buster and they want to hire her. Paul coughed to stifle his laugh. They have no idea what they'd be getting with her.
Leah hid a smile. She had to admit that it delighted her to know that they'd consider offering her a position. "Thank you, but no thank you. I am perfectly happy to be a full partner in Quileute Incorporated. Now, if you turn your attention back to index 5 section A." She pointed with a confident smile. "I would like to discuss that."
One hour later
"Leah, you were fucking amazing today." Paul beamed when they were left alone in the conference room for a lunch break. "The way you broke down those numbers and got them to settle on the 12%. I thought that you were going to ask for 10."
"You don't know much about bargaining do you Paul." All looks and no brains. What a waste. I hope he's good in the bedroom; otherwise Rachel got the raw end of the deal being imprinted to him. She looked up from the brief she was reading. She had just gotten off the phone with Mitchell, the high priced attorney the corporation had on retainer. He would be arriving in Miami tomorrow to help them review the final paperwork before they signed the final agreement. Product testing went amazingly well. Seth and Jake were pleased, though Leah had noticed that Jake had been very quiet and not his usual jovial self. She wondered if something was wrong.
"Well, we are going to go out to lunch at this restaurant. I heard they got a great soft shell crab sandwich and these homemade fries."
"I'm not coming."
"What?" Paul looked at her surprised.
"I have something to do." She returned to the brief.
"Like what?" Paul asked.
She looked up him. Why does he care? "Like it's any of your business."
Paul stood over her with his arms crossed in front of his chest. "Leah. What are you up to? First last night and now today with you disappearing. Not to mention the new look. What's going on here?"
Her eyes narrowed. "Why do you care all of a sudden what I'm doing with my time?" Leah looked at him with calculated eyes for a moment and then stalked toward him, annoyed by his presence in her life. "Answer me."
"Well, I promised Sam that I'd look out for yo…." Before Paul could finish his sentence, Leah turned around and decked him. She didn't pull her punch as she made contact with his face. Paul felt the bone in his nose break as the rest of his body was thrown back into the conference table. Blood poured down his face as he felt his body begin to shake with anger. Bitch! He looked up to see Leah with her hand on her on her hip. She cocked her head to the side.
"Bring it on you sniveling bastard. I'd love to kick your ass right here right now." Though she didn't start to phase, it was clear she was beyond furious.
Clearwater Garage
Roman walked into the back hanger room of the Clearwater Garage and Detail Shop to find Colin and Brady who looked to be hung-over, naked on a tarp on the floor. I'm going to kick their asses. He fumed. It wasn't that they were naked that disturbed Roman because werewolves were always naked around each other. Nor was the fact that they decided to tag team one of the local sluts; after all, Roman certainly was no prude and had his own experiences in the ménage a trois. But it was the fact that: 1) they were doing it right here in the back of the garage that was just about to open and 2) the naked female with her head resting on Colin's muscular chest and her foot resting on Brady's crotch belonged to a spoiled, bitchy regular customer of theirs, Jessica Newton.
"Get up you two." He growled kicking them and throwing them their clothes.
"What?" Brady jumped up; saw Roman and his eyes widened. "Fuck!"
"Fuck's right." He growled to the young pup. Your asses are mine. "I can't believe you'd do this shit here."
Colin got up, stretched and smiled regardless of his nudity. "Come on Roman, it's not like we could take her home."
Roman gave him a cold hard stare that meant business. "I'll deal with you two later." He stated pointing to them. He turned to Jessica who ought to be embarrassed at getting caught with two under aged boys who were not her husband. "I would think that this is too far even for you. These two are still in high school."
"They're 18 so it's legal." She pulled on her pink laced panties slowly, giving him a once over while she proudly stuck out her naked breast that her husband had given her for a birthday gift. "Don't tell me you're jealous. Come on Roman. They are only boys, where as you…" She licked her lips. "you are a real man. I bet you can go all night." Roman was amazingly handsome, just as the rest of the men from the reservation. However, instead of russet skin he had amazing chocolate skin, a strong handsome face along with a magnificent body. He stood tall at 6'5, all lean muscle, and his hair cut short while he sported a close cut beard. He looked amazing in the jeans, motorcycle boots and black wife-beater that he wore. She also knew by seeing him without a shirt that his chest was amazing. He also sported a tattoo with the words semper fie tattooed on his left pectoral. His muscles popped out of his arms and just by looking at him she knew that he was packing where it counted. "I've always wanted to try…" She reached out to touch him. Roman reached out and caught her hand flinging it away.
I don't do whores. "I wouldn't fuck you with one of their pricks" He stated with disgust. Jessica's words got lost in her mouth, the intense look he gave her spoke volumes. "Cover yourself up." He threw her bra to her and then turned his back, giving her the respect that he knew she didn't deserve. While she got dressed he turned to the boys. "Get her the hell out of here. And I'll talk to you both later; we've got work to do." He then left. Of all the stupid fucking things those two decide to do. Jacob, I can't wait for you to get back and deal with their antics. Roman headed back out to the main part of the garage when a huge black truck pulled up. He headed toward the driver and opened the door to help Bella get out.
"Hey Roman." She smiled. Bella looked more like a teenager in a simple gray shirt that sloped off one shoulder to reveal a cami underneath, black yoga pants formed against her body and flip flops. Roman liked Bella a lot. She was pretty, easy going and very sweet. She was also good to his sister Kenya.
"Bella." He smiled. "Thanks so much for sending that pot of chicken and dumplings for me and Kenya. The cookies were a real hit as well." And good. Your cooking makes me miss my mother's cooking, she could burn. Nobody made sweet potato pie like her.
"No problem. I know how much she likes those cookies."
He looked at her for a moment and noted some small circles under Bella's eyes. "Are you alright?"
She ran her fingers through her hair and pulled it up into a clip. "Yeah. I'm fine. Just missing Jake. But he'll be back soon."
Not fast enough. Roman thought.
She turned putting her hand on the truck. "I thought about leaving Jake's truck here. It was making a strange rattling noise this morning."
"No problem. We'll take a look at it. You want to use the loaner for the rest of the day? Or I could give you a ride home if you need it."
"The loner will be fine. I've got some errands to run."
He went over to Jake and Seth's office, found the keys, and then returned to Bella who looked flustered with a blush on her cheeks. He touched her gently. "Are you sure you are okay?"
She nodded. "Yeah…uhm…Brady and Colin just walked out of the back room without a stitch of clothing on."
Roman nodded. Yet didn't respond. However the tightness on the side of his face betrayed his annoyance.
"What's going on?"
"He and Colin decided they wanted to tag team Jessica Norton in the back of the shop."
"Tag team?OH. Like a threesome?" It's a good thing that they can't get an STD. "This is not going to go down well with Jake." Bella ought to be surprised by Jessica's behavior but deep down she wasn't. But I hadn't expected it with Brady or Colin. Bella felt her blood start to boil. It's one thing for Jessica to have affairs with grown men, but Brady and Colin were young. Hell, they were still in high school. They were like Bella's younger brothers. She planned to protect them from predators like Jessica.
Bella marched past Roman to the locker room where Brady had disappeared. She opened it up to find Brady naked and standing under the showerhead. "What the hell were you thinking?"
"Bella!" He tried to cover himself up with a washcloth.
"Oh please!" She rolled her eyes. "Like I haven't seen one before… and believe me Jake's is much bigger than yours."
What? Hell, I know that I'm packing. He looked down at his cock trying to see what's missing.
"That woman is a slut! She'll sleep with anything. I thought that you had better sense Brady. I know that you and Colin are at age in which you'll bang just about anything that you look at. But even I thought you had standards." She fumed. "Jessica's married and Mike can cause trouble. Do you want that for yourself, the tribe or for the pack?"
He looked around as if he needed help from Jake's tiny wife. "No…okay. Let's discuss this later."
"No, we are going to discuss this now." She stepped forward.
He didn't like the idea of standing there with his Johnson hanging out in front of Bella so he cupped himself looking stupid. "Look, I don't know what the big deal is."
"It shouldn't have happened." Roman stated.
"My god…are you serious! I've seen inside your mind Roman and we know that you've had threesomes and a done a lot more kinky shit than that."
Roman's mouth quirked. "There are rules that you follow if you are going to do that sort of thing."
Both Bella and Brady looked at Roman. " Really?" Bella whispered. The taciturn man just gave her a look. Oh God… She blushed. No…I really don't want to know about it or how you know about it. Jacob had stated to Bella more than once that there was more to Roman than what met the eye. Bella turned her attention back to Brady who covered himself with a towel. "At least Roman has the decency to be discrete, which is more than I can say for you." She turned her head. "You to Colin." She called to him while he was trying to sneak out the door he had just come in from. "Both of you are looked up to by the boys of the tribe. They want to be like you and the rest of the pack. They emulate you. Is that what you want for them? To be man whores."
"Man whores?"
"That's right." Bella stated in a no nonsense tone.
"Come on Bells, are you saying that you and that leech didn't have sex when you were our age." Colin asked smugly.
Bella heard a low growl that no doubt came from Roman. You little prick, Jacob is going to fuck you up royally when he hears you disrespected his wife; let alone mentioned Edward. That's a real no no. Nobody mentions him around Bella.
"Not that it's any of your business, but no. I wasn't sleeping with Edward."
"Then what about Jake? We know that you gave it up to him." Brady responded.
Roman moved so fast that he had Brady up against the shower wall hanging by his neck. "You will respect the lady." He stated dangerously as he applied the right amount of pressure on Brady's esophagus. He wasn't going to hurt him seriously, just teach him a lesson about manners.
"Roman put Brady down." Bella demanded
Roman eyed Brady. "Behave, because she won't be around to protect you later." A growl rumbled from his chest.
"Jake and I were in love." She spoke to the boys. "We developed a relationship with each other long before we were intimate. I'm not stupid enough to think that you and Colin are going to wait for that, but I want you to be mature about it. Respect the woman you are with. And doing her in the back room of the garage shows no respect to her or to this business. Think about what the kind of message you are sending out. You might meet the right girl one day and ruin it because she's heard about your whorish behavior." Bella stated. "I'd hate to think about you losing out because you can't keep it in your pants. So whatever you've got going on with Jessica ends today. Understand."
Brady looked at Colin who nodded. Then they looked at Bella. They loved her; she was like a big sister to them. She cooked for them, looked out for them and helped them with their grades from time to time. She also had a way of calming Jake down when they did something stupid. The last thing they wanted was for their big sis to be mad at them. Jessica wasn't worth Bella being pissed at them.
"Okay."
"Yeah. We promise Bella, we aren't going to mess with Jessica anymore."
Bella nodded satisfied and walked out of the locker room past Colin and gave him look. A breeze from the swinging door hit her as her scent waffled off her and hit him squarely in the nose. He inhaled; his werewolf sense of smell went into overdrive. His pupils dilated as he smelled something that made his eyes go wide.
Newman Enterprises
"What the hell is going on with you too?" Jake asked clearly pissed off. "We are in the middle of a serious negotiation and Seth and I find you getting ready to phase."
"That crazy bitch hit me." Paul stated as he wiped the blood off his nose.
"You better be glad that's all that I did." Leah spat around Seth's body as he held her.
Jake looked at Paul. "Clean up. Leah I want to talk to you."
"I'm not…"
"Now!" Jake demanded. Leah looked at Paul and gave him a hard glare before she moved out of the conference room. Jacob looked around the halls. "What the hell is going on? This isn't like you. You've always been the cool one when it came down to business. Paul's the hot head remember? You broke his nose."
"It'll heal." She started to pace. "Men, they are so fucking stupid. They don't want you. They push you away. Break your heart and move on. But God forbid that you do the same. Their fucking egos can't handle it."
Jacob had no idea what she was talking about. God, what I wouldn't give to be home with my Bells right now. "What did he do?"
"He wanted to know what I was up too. Wanted to know where I was last night so he could run back and tell Sam." I could just kill him. Why can't he be happy with what he has? Why does he think that he owns me. He doesn't. Nobody owns me.
Jacob let out a breath of air. "Alright…I can understand why you're upset and slugged him."
Leah paused in her rant and looked at Jacob suspiciously. "What?"
"Paul was out of line."
"You're siding with me?"
"Yeah…I know. Bizarro land right." He smiled. He stepped closer to her. "I've wanted to do the same thing plenty of times."
She smiled "Why haven't you?"
"Rachel. God bless my sister, she's loves him. And like it or not, he makes her happy."
"Gotta love family right." Leah's smile faded. "How badly did I mess up?"
"Don't worry, the Newman people don't know. Lots of them are gone for lunch."
"Good. This deal is important. But Paul was out of line."
"He was bound to ask you know." Jacob stated. "You have a new look about you." He looked around sheepishly. "How…uh… how did it go last night?"
She looked at him with pure amusement. "Wouldn't you like to know?" However she smiled a smile that he never had seen before.
Interesting. "That good?" Good for you Leah.
Let's just say that last night was not what I expected. Not at all. "It's not what you think. I mean…it's...nothing."
"It doesn't seem like nothing to me." He watched the color rise on her cheeks. He reached out to touch her face "Hey are you blushing?"
"No…" She forced herself to look stoic. I'm not going to stand here gushing like a girl in front of Jake. "Maybe a little. But if you tell anyone."
"I know the drill."
"Good, well, do you think that you could possibly do without me this afternoon?"
"Why? Do you have a hot date?"
Leah gave him an amused look but didn't answer.
They were so caught up in their conversation that they didn't realize that someone was watching them and was unhappy about what they saw.
Forks
Bella pulled up to the large house that Jessica shared with her husband, Mike Newton. She and Jessica had never been able to make amends after their "friendship" went awry in high school. The truth was that Jessica was a very selfish spoiled insecure woman. She knew that Jessica had been one of the people to make comments about her suicide attempt. Jess and Lauren had delighted in tormenting Bella as much as they could about everything, including Edward's abandonment. Jessica had gone away to college but returned afterward when she and Mike rekindled their relationship. They were married in a quickie wedding three months later. Bella was sure that Mike regretted it for Jessica wasn't the person he thought her to be. She had earned a reputation as the town whore. Jessica would sleep with about anyone and made it clear that she had a thing for some of the men on the reservation, including Bella's husband. Basically, Jess was the town bicycle, everyone got a ride.
Bella rang the doorbell. Jessica answered it in a very tight form fitting pink velour sweat suit. Bella Swan. What the hell do you want? You fucking psycho.
"We need to talk." Bella pushed her way into the front foyer of Jessica's large home.
What does she think she's doing? She's insane. Jessica was appalled by Bella's intrusion. Bella turned to face her. "I've come to give you a message. Stay the HELL away from Colin and Brady."
Jessica smirked. "What I do with them and how often I do it, is none of your business."
Bella stepped in front of Jessica. "Yes, it is. They are my brothers through Jake. You had no business sleeping with them. If you want to whore yourself around to every other man in Forks, that's fine. But stay from them." God I just want to slap her! Can't she keep her legs closed and to herself? Must she screw anything with a pulse? Bella thought.
"Oh, please. What are they five? You have no say in who I screw. Besides, you're just jealous."
Bella looked stunned. Is she delusional? "Jealous of what?" Yea, like I would be jealous of a STD infected whore.
"I have everything. A wonderful husband, my parents, a lavish lifestyle. I sit on important social committees while you are nothing but a stupid teacher married to that dirty common Indian." Jessica spat smugly.
"Oh, you mean the same Native American that you throw yourself at constantly?" She informed Jess. "I know all about your pathetic attempts to seduce my husband. All your little car emergencies. How about the time you stranded yourself so Jake could take you home and you tried to put his head in your crotch?" Jessica's mouth flew open with surprise at her remark. "Or the time you came into the shop with no panties on?" Bella looked at Jessica with distain. "Poor Mike, he loves you and all you can do is cheat on him and humiliate him. I feel sorry for him."
You bitch! Jessica couldn't believe that a freak like Bella Swan would talk to her in such a manner. She moved toward Bella with hatred in her eyes. "Since the gloves are apparently off, let's be candid. I hate you. I've always hated you. The way that you came here and had all the guys fawning over you like you were something special. You thought that you were hot shit, didn't you? You thought you were better than the rest of us, especially when you started going out with Edward Cullen. I bet you thought that you were going to marry him. That you were going to live in that fancy house and be the richest girl in town." Jessica had a crazed look in her eye. "But he got rid of you. He never even called once he left you sick freak; and who could blame him? I was so glad when he left you broken. You must have been obsessed with you the way that you acted. It was like you'd never got dumped before. We all had. Yet you wanted all this attention, especially from Mike. He went on and on about how Cullen must have treated you. Where was MY attention when he dumped me. You didn't talk and you didn't eat. You expected the rest of us to feel sorry for you. I only felt glee that you were finally knocked down off that pedestal. You were so pathetic. No one could stand to be around you except Angela and that Jacob Black. It's no wonder your dad had a heart attack; anything to get away from the likes of your pathetic ass!"
Bella hauled off and slapped Jessica as hard as she could sending her reeling into the wall of the foyer where Jessica stumbled and fell. Glass slipped out of Jessica's hand and cut her as it broke leaving a blood stain on the "Don't you dare mention his name! I don't care what you say about me, but you will never speak of my father again. Do you understand me? Do us a favor, end whatever thing you've got going with Brady and Colin or so help me god, I will go and tell Mike just what it is you are up to if he doesn't know already."
Jessica's hand went to the place that Bella slapped her. She hadn't expected that reaction from her. "You bitch." Tears stung her eyes as she scrambled to get off the ground, her arm dripping. "He doesn't love you. Edward doesn't and neither does your precious Jacob. He just feels sorry for you." She spat. "After all, who would have you?" Jessica spat angrily as Bella walked out and down the front walk ignoring her rant. "Who wants a woman whose damaged goods! At least I can give Mike children; you can't give Jacob a thing because you're barren." She cried.
Jessica slammed the front door pissed off and angry. That bitch! Just who in the hell does she think she is coming here telling me to stay away from Colin and Brady? Jessica fumed as she wiped the blood off her hand with a tissue. The night before had been a blast. Mike was out of town and she had time on her hands. She had left her car at the shop and stopped by under the guise of checking out the work. She had brought an expensive bottle of tequila and her and boys had a drink; later they had her. Jess shuttered just thinking about what it felt to be taken by them, both at the same time. If only I could find a way to hurt her. To get her precious Jacob to sleep with me. He's so fine and built like a stallion. What in the hell does he see in her anyway? She can't possibly satisfy him, not the way that I could. Jessica was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice the shadow that slipped through the open French doors on the first landing. She turned, her eyes became wide. "Oh my god…what are you doing?" A scream came out of her mouth for only a second before cold hand covered it.
Bella and Jake's House
Bella's insides were still shaking. I can't believe that I actually hit Jessica. She had been stunned by her own actions. Physical violence never solved anything and it wasn't her style. She had always been a more cerebral person. Bella had planned to go over there to give Jessica a piece of her mind, not her fist, but something inside her snapped. When she had confronted Jess her body temperature had heated up. It had actually felt as if her blood was boiling. Her anger was palpable; however it was like she couldn't control her emotions or her body anymore. Right now she had a killer headache. The doorbell rang in the distance. Oh god…what now? She hadn't gotten much done for that day. She had a mountain of work to do; outlining and researching for her next book. She pulled herself off the couch to the front door to find Kim standing there looking like a model with her long legs and curves. Kim was dressed in a tight light weight cami sweater and very short kacki shorts.
"Bella…" Kim looked at Bella noticing the drawn look upon her face. "Honey are you alright?"
Bella winced. "Yes…uh…no". Kim followed Bella into the house. "I'm not feeling good."
"That's clear. You've got circles under your eyes."
"What…oh...that's because I'm not sleeping too well. I've been experiencing a lot of headaches, night terrors, and hot flashes. Not to mention other things." She sighed as she sat on the couch. "I've been doing some erratic things."
"Like what?"
Bella was embarrassed. "Well, like slapping Jessica."
"What? You?" Kim started to laugh until she noticed the look of mortification on Bella's face. "Oh my god…you're serious aren't you? I wish I could have been a fly on the wall for that. I've been wanting to nail that slut for a long time. After all, she made a pass at my husband."
Sometime Later
Bella took her hair out of the clip. She pulled the gray shirt off her body and removed her yoga sweats and put them on the chair. Kim had left. It had been good talking to her. She had mentioned not sleeping so Kim kindly offered her one of her mild sleeping pills. Bella was so tempted. She had never taken a sleeping pill; not after she had tried to kill herself. She knew that fear that Jacob had gone through and promised never to have him to go through such a thing again. But this was different. This time she had so much work to do and was so tired. Maybe she would try to take a nap and see how well her sleeping was before she'd resort to taking a pill. Bella shut the blinds and closed the windows. She even clicked the button that allowed a covering over top of the skylight in an effort to create the darkness she needed. Last night she had been up, but not for the reasons she stated. It hadn't been nightmares or headaches; instead it had been an ache of a different sort. Her body ached and it wouldn't stop. She actually had to resort to masturbating two more times until her body had enough orgasms for her to sleep. She had never gone through such a thing before and it had scared her. Something was certainly wrong with her. Bella took a Tylenol for her headache, pulled back the covers, put on a lavender eye pillow and lay down.
Bella walked down the cold dark forest wearing nothing but a very thin white nightgown."Bella" She heard her name being whispered in the wind when suddenly a figure was standing on the top of the bluff near Bella's home. It looked like a vision in white. She was surprised to see Sara, Jacob's mother. "Hello Bella." The woman smiled, it was Jacob's smile. "My goodness you've grown into a beautiful young woman. No wonder my Jacob loves you so."
Bella smiled at the mention of Jacob's name. "Ilove him very much."
"I know you do." She looked down at Bella's wrist. "He gave you my bracelet. Good. It's very special."
Bella nodded. "He told me that it's been passed down in your family throughout generations."
"Correct. It belonged to my great, great, great, grandmother. She was a beautiful woman. Not of this tribe but a different one. There were stories of her remarkable beauty, her ability to hunt like man and of her power."
"Power?" Bella asked.
"Yes. I have a very tiny part of it in me. She is where I got the gift of foresight. It has protected me and my family in difficult times." Sara's hair blew in the wind. "I made certain decisions based on it. Those decisions have affected so many, but most of all you."
"Me?" Bella was confused.
"Yes Bella. You" Sara's melodic voice stated. "I made a decision about you and Jacob a long time ago when you were children. It was one that pulled heavy on my heart. It was one that I needed to make for my son's sanity. However, it is one that needs to be reversed and very soon. Please Bella, you must go to the tribal historian. She'll send you in the right direction. Everything you need is in my journals. Your life and the lives of your children will depend on it." She whispered frantically.
"Children…I don't understand. I can't have children." Tears of pain streamed down Bella's face. Shame filled her. Jessica was right about one thing today and it was her inability to give Jacob his deepest desire. "I can't give Jacob the children he wants."
She reached out and touched Bella's face. "Of course you can, my dear. You are wearing my ancestor's bracelet. It has much power, but that power won't help unless what I've done is reversed." Pain crossed Sara's face. "I did what I did for Jacob; he was too young to deal with such intense feelings. I had to protect him. I meant him no harm. I only wanted to protect my son." A tear fell from her eyes. "Please Bella, you must find my journals. The truth lays there within them. They will tell you what you need to know." The wind blew harder, Sara looked fearful. "I must go."
"No. Wait! Please" Sara disappeared. Bella ran after her. "Wait… please you've got to tell me more. I need to know. What do you mean?" She cried out. However Sara was gone. Bella came to a path. She went down it and it led her to the house she once shared with Charlie. She hadn't been in it for a very long time. Lights lit up the house. She went to the front door and turned the knob. She opened it to feel the warmth inside.
"Bells is that you?" She heard her father's voice.
"Dad?" Tears filled her eyes. Her father, her wonderful father was there. She ran into the kitchen looking for him. "Charlie" she cried.
"Up here" He called back. Joy and elation filled her as she ran up the stairs. "In here." She ran into her bedroom to find it empty.
Perplexed she looked around. "Charlie? Where are you?"
"Right here" Bella turned as a figure stepped out of the bathroom. Horror and fear crept up her spine as Adam stepped out the bathroom naked. "Sweetheart" he uttered with her father's voice. "I'm so glad you made it." He stepped toward her and reached out to touch the side of her face in a false sense of gentleness. "There are so many things that I've been dying to do to you." He sneered. Bella ran to the door.But she couldn't get there fast enough. A hand snaked out and caught her foot; she slipped hard and hit her head on the floor while a laugh cackled in the background as she was dragged back toward him.
Bella woke to find herself tied to the post of her bed wearing her nightgown that was bunched up against her thighs. Lying above her was Adam. He smiled leaning forward to inhale softly nuzzling her with his nose. "Mmm, you smell so delicious. I can't wait to sample you." He leaned down and licked her neck. The blood raced through her veins. Fear and pain sliced through her.
She closed her eyes as tears slipped down her eyes. "This isn't real."
A hand gently caressed her face. "Oh…it's real." He slowly ripped at her gown tearing it off her body leaving her naked to his lust filled eyes. "My my…" He fingered a globe of her right breast. "You are beautiful…pale…and fragile. Just my type."
"This isn't real. It's only your fear manifesting itself…"
"What's this? Psycho babble." He looked amused. "No sweetheart, this is very real."
Adam slid down her body and parted her legs. Bella tensed. This isn't real. She thought to herself. He leaned down and kissed her inner thigh, scoring it with his teeth.
"Jacob will be here soon." Bella whispered.
"Jacob…is that who you are depending on. That wolf?"
"He got here." Her eyes snapped open. "He stopped you. This is just my mind."
"Really?" Adam found the pulse on her inner thigh. "Do you want me to tell you a secret?"Adam opened his mouth and slowly bit her inner thigh. Bella's pain filled scream echoed throughout the room as he drew blood from her and his venom infected her body. Her body began to shake with burning pain that felt like acid ran up her thigh and into her core. He shuttered as the blood filled his mouth, slowly licking his lips at the mere taste of her intoxicating blood. "It's about your Jacob that you seem not to know." He grinned a sadistic smile as he crawled over to her. "It's something that he doesn't want you to know." He fingered the pulse of her neck. "Jacob…didn't…get….here…on…time." With that, he pushed her bloody thighs apart with his knees and painfully forced himself inside her.
Jacob's Suite
Jacob's inside ached. He felt as if he were being sliced up. The pain cut across his abdomen and then it seared his thigh on the inside. It felt like he was being torn apart. Panic, fear, frustration, and shock hit him at once. He doubled over with pain. It scorched and burned as if he had been bitten. Jacob closed his eyes and concentrated by meditating until finally the pain subsided. It took him a moment to realize his surroundings. What's wrong with me? He struggled for a moment before opening the door that lead out to his private balcony. He inhaled deeply to allow the salty air to fill his nostrils. Still something was there. Fear and panic…it hadn't really faded though the pain did. His mind regained some of its clarity. These weren't his feelings. He wasn't feeling these things but, there was a chance that it was….Bella! My God! He rushed to his phone and dialed home. The phone rang once, twice and a third time. Come on Bella…please pick up the phone. Where was she? What if something happened to her? Please no.
"Hello." A tense voice answered the phone.
"Bella" Thank god. "Are you alright?"
"Jacob…" She sounded confused.
"Sweetheart. What's wrong?" Did something happen?
Bella licked her lips and wiped the tears that were streaming down her face. "I had a nightmare." She whispered. Her hands were still shaking.
"What kind of nightmare?"
"I dreamt about my old house. I thought that Charlie was there…instead it was Adam."
"Adam" Jacob's fist clenched. His mind went flashing back to a naked man standing over Bella's naked broken bloodied body. What she had gone through no one should ever have to live through. "What happened in the dream?"
Bella shook her head. "I can't remember all of it. All I know is that he was hurting me…and he had his hands on me. He bit me I think. All I knew was the burning pain inside of me. " Thank god it was just a dream. Thank god you saved me from being violated by that monster.
No. It was her dream. I felt her pain. It had been so real. She can't go through this again. "I'm coming home."
"No! Jake, don't."
"You need me." I need to be there to protect you.
"I'm upset. Okay. But it's just a nightmare that's all. This deal is important to you and to the tribe. I don't want you to put it in jeopardy because your wife had a nightmare. So many people are counting on you. I'll do my breathing exercises and go talk to Dr. Ruthledge okay." Especially after what I thought I saw when I woke up. I'm so tired that my mind must be playing ticks on me. I could have sworn that I saw Edward standing in my room. What's happening to me? I'm really losing it. "But don't come home, not because of this. I can handle this." She strengthened her resolve. "I'm strong and I'm not going to let a little nightmare get in the way. And I don't need you to rescue me, not this time."
God, I need to be with you. You shouldn't have to go through this alone. Jacob was torn. "Bells..."
"Jake. Please. I'm alright. I'm going to have a cup of tea. I've got some errands to run. I'll be okay. I'm strong. I'm not that young frightened girl anymore. I can handle this. Promise me you won't come running home because of this."
Jake paused. He sighed heavily. God, he loved her. "I promise okay. I love you."
"I love you too."
He hung up the phone, closed his eyes, hit a button and scrolled down to a number on the phone. He hit the dial button.
"Hello." A voice sounded on the other end.
"It's me, Jacob." He ran his fingers through his hair. "Listen…I know that I'm not supposed to call you, but we've got a problem. I'm afraid that Bella's starting to remember the truth about that night. I need to see you as soon as possible."
