A/N: Hey, there were a few questions from the previous chapters, so I'm here to answer them!
First: Ephraim Black was the spirits' messenger to tell Jake that he had to keep living. You could say that they would pick him because 1)he's the first alpha, and 2)he's Jake's great-grandfather, and a relative might make things easier all around to explain. And let's face it, who wouldn't to meet a great-grandfather they never got the chance to meet, and one who just happens to be a werewolf as well? I think that'd be pretty sweet.
Second: About them coming back to life, it's obvious that Jake decided to die because he didn't want to live without Bella. But the spirits knew there was something more to Jake's life, and since (in my mind) the spirits created werewolves with mates, they understood that one mate cannot exist without the other. So by bringing back Jake, they knew they had to bring Bella back as well. Pretty much, Jake=has to live for something coming up=Bella has to live for something coming up. Does that explain it well?
Third: Don't worry, Charlie's perspective on his daughter's not-so-subtly-destroyed bedroom will come up soon, I promise!
Very, very, VERY appreciated and equally special thanks to lildv274, Skullqueencb,Twilightlover32293, snowfire81, La Mariposa3795, manda2784, pattyofurniture, and last-but definitely NOT least!-SarahxEmmettfor your wonderful reviews! Thank you SUPER much for helping me out! :D
~Okay, back to what you're here for!~
Chapter 11: Nothing Like Hot Chocolate and Death Stories
Emily was already giving the boy/men hot chocolate when Jake and a blushing Bella entered the house. It was cozy, a good sized cabin in the middle of the forest, not too far from the main town. Emily made it feel like a real home, with knick-knacks everywhere and the scent of fresh cookies in the air. Bella had to laugh when she saw Emily give one of the boys a talk-down when he refused the cocoa and demanded coffee instead. She brought that boy down a notch, smiled and gave him the mug and went back to grab the cookies that she said should be done by then.
Bella imagined that if he were a wolf right then, his tail would be tucked between his legs and the thought made her grin. The boy saw this and snarled, but she only hid it behind a hand. Jake gave him a hard look above her head and Bella watched as-for whatever reason-the boy stopped glaring. Suspicious, she looked up to see Jake with an innocent face. She trusted that look as far she could throw him—not even a chance of it.
"What did you do now?" she sighed, but had to smile.
"Bella! You're here! I won't be overrun by boys who think they're macho just because they can become flea-ridden mongrels anymore!" Several protests were made, but everyone knew that Emily practically doted on them all, so no one really argued with it. "You all resemble that remark and the I know it, so don't even think you resent it." She grinned to Bella conspiratorially and took her hand, leading her to the kitchen. "By the look on Jake's face, he wants alone time to tell the pack what he wants to say," she explained, and looked over the younger woman's shoulder to Jake. "Jake!" she shouted with another grin, "I'm stealing your mate. We're becoming lesbians and you'll never see her again! She's ditching your fleas for my cookies!"
"Unfortunately Bella doesn't know that your cookies taste worse than his fleas!" One of the boys shouted, and Emily stuck her tongue out in his general direction.
Jake bent down and kissed Bella on the lips softly before he smiled at Emily and kissed her cheek. "Thanks, Em." He looked at Bella's puzzled frown and smiled softly. "Only for a little while. I want to tell them what… what happened. I promise it'll be okay."
Bella sighed and nodded, letting Emily tug her away, into the most wonderful kitchen she'd ever seen. She'd been in several different kitchens, like the ones in the apartments and houses that she and Renée had lived in over the years, and then there was the one Charlie had, but this one… Bella decided she wanted one like this someday. It wasn't very large, but the room was filled with the scent of cookies and spices. She saw a cabinet with wavy glass holding rows and rows of spices and herbs, then another with colored glass holding dishes and cups and mugs. The drawers had carvings on them, and as she looked she saw that the entire bottom line of cabinets and drawers had incredibly detailed works that showed wolves, panthers, faeries, elves, tigers, humans, dragons… you name it, it was there. She saw dragons flying with eagles, wolves running with men, children playing with faeries while a phoenix flew overhead. The forest was perfect down to the individual leaves. Bella had to drop to the balls of her feet with her knees bent up to see everything.
"Sam did it for me. He's wonderful like that, knowing how I have shelves of books from when I was a kid, fairytales and silly things like that. Now that I'm older I have novels that still deal with out-of-the-norm things, but they're a bit more mature." She winked at Bella, who understood 'mature' meant romance books. "I even get ones with vampires in them just to tease him. He usually hides them someplace and then puts ones with werewolves in, but we both know it's a joke the two of us play on one another." Emily's voice was gentle and loving, as if just remembering made her feel those emotions all over again. Her laughter was contagious and Bella looked up and joined her, thinking of ways she could tease Jake like that. Oh, the fun to be had…
"I can see I've put ideas in your head. Good. Jake needs a little ribbing. He's too serious sometimes." Em shook her head in disbelief.
"Jake? Serious?" Bella grinned. "I know what you mean, though. He has moments where he's too old. He needs to learn to give himself some slack. Is Sam like that?"
Em threw her head back and laughed. "Are you kidding me? He's an old granny in a man's body sometimes. Yes, he has times when he's so… serious." She rolled her eyes as she placed the hot tray of cookies on the table. "Those two are a lot alike, which is a good thing and a horrible thing, depending on how you look at it. They're wonderful, on one hand. Sam's always trying please me and he's an absolute sweetheart, but sometimes I just want to," she made a strangling motion with her hands, shaking them back and forth, "choke him or something. Especially when it comes to my safety. Ugh, that man gets infuriating when 'precautions' come up." She took a healthy bite of the cookie and closed her eyes in minor ecstasy. When she opened her eyes she noticed that Bella wasn't eating and urged the plate towards the girl. "Eat. It's my tradition to bake whenever the boys come over. They all look like skin and bones, although Jake has gotten some serious meat on him lately. The rest, besides my Sam, you'd never guess how much muscle they have in them. And you, you look the same. Therefore you must eat, or you'll make me feel fat."
Bella laughed at the thought that Emily could ever be fat and took a bite of chocolate chip and oatmeal cookie. Oooooh, I've died… again, she sighed in content and had to savor the first, second and third cookies. "Emily, you're right."
"So I tell Sam. What is it over this time?" she laughed.
"I am throwing Jacob over for these cookies." She heard a silence and a growl and felt the urge to cackle evilly. "Joking, Jake!" she rolled her eyes at Em and the two broke into giggles. Anyone looking at them wouldn't realize that they weren't long-time family. They looked like sisters, besides the obvious fact that Emily was native and Bella was wonder bread, she was that white. "That's a precaution, I assume," she leaned in and gave Emily an insider look and Em nodded gravely. Giggles broke out again and the talk resumed in the living room.
Jake shook his head at the two girls. He was glad that Bella was bonding with Emily, but jeez, did they have to be such… girls? He laughed inwardly at this thought and got back to task. The pack had just been discussing the movement of the leeches on the other side of the border between the reservation and the 'regulars,' as they termed it. Anyone not of Quileute descent was termed 'regular,' because they really were regular in the eyes of the rest of the pack. Jake had to disagree, but that was just because he could never call Bells regular, or anything to do with normal.
Jake heard someone clear their throat and glanced up, startled. "What?"
He heard Leah mutter something like 'puppy love' before Sam spoke up once more. "I was asking if you'd like to tell us what went on last night." Paul snickered and he sent them a quelling glance; Paul quieted, but still smirked. Sam sighed and continued. "You weren't at your post, and from what I hear from Billy, Charlie seems pretty upset over something about Bella's room." This time it wasn't just Paul—Quil and Embry laughed too. Seth at least had the decency to keep it to looking like he was choking. Sam still spoke in his quiet voice, but he got them to shut up real quick. "Why is there blood splattered on the walls?"
The entire pack froze and looked over at Jake, who was staring at the floor now. Taking a deep breath, he looked up and started in. "Yesterday I went to Bella's house before her school got out. I figured I'd surprise her, probably scare the hell out of her and goof off, but things didn't work out that way. I got there and one of the leeches was there."
"One of the Cullens? Why would they be at her house?" Sam's voice was mild, but curious and worried.
"She's friends with a couple of them, the thin boy, Edward, and the small one, Alice. Edward was waiting for her in her bedroom, and I smelled it even from the car. Needless to say I didn't wait and think, I ran up to her room and confronted him." He sighed. "Bella got there a few minutes later, and I was slipping on my control. The leech started saying things just to hurt her-hurt me-and… it worked. Bella probably noticed how bad I was shaking, and she stepped close. She put her hand on my arm, and the leech… he said something along the lines of keeping away because dogs don't mate well with humans, and for whatever reason, this got to me. Maybe because I'd been worrying about that exact thing before, but… I lost it." He looked straight at Sam and knew the words would mean something with him. "She was right next to me, and I exploded."
A heavy silence had fell upon the group, and everyone stared. A haunted look came into Sam's eyes, and Jake could tell he was reliving his own encounter with losing control. "I heard her scream, and when I came to again, the leech was on the floor next to her, but there wasn't… there wasn't anyplace left undamaged. The force of the blast shredded the bookshelf, the wall, ripped the part of the floor that'd been under my feet, and… Bella was dead." He had to stop there and clench his eyes and jaw shut in an effort to fight the guilt and terror that ripped through his veins as the memories surged to the front of his mind. Jake took a deep breath and let it out raggedly. "You can't imagine what it's like, knowing you've killed your own mate like that. Her eyes were wide open and… there was so much pain… Not long after that it was like something was trying to rip my heart out of my chest. I mean, physically, not just emotionally. The pain is worse than anything I've ever felt, even worse than when that rogue vamp came and shredded me up pretty bad. It took me a couple seconds to figure out that it was the part of me that was Bella that was ripping away. I couldn't stop it—every time I tried, I just got sucked under more and the pain was so bad. So…I told Edward to kill me."
"You what?" Sam stood up, knocking the large chair back. The padded leather hit the floor with a boom and the rest of the pack stood up, ready to contain him. Emily and Bella rushed out of the kitchen, but one look at everyone had them staying clear. "Jacob, you told him what?" his voice was lower, but it still vibrated with tension and filled the room.
Jake looked him head on, unafraid. "I told him to kill me. I wasn't going to live when I had killed—" he broke off as Bella walked over to him and the look in her eyes stopped him dead.
"You. What?" She asked, her voice soft but deadly.
Jake's gaze flickered slightly, more than a little worried at that tone, but he knew that his choice had been right. He felt it. "I told the le—Edward," he amended quickly, "to kill me. I wasn't going to live knowing that you were dead. I wouldn't be alive, not fully. I'd go through the motions, but Bells, I wouldn't enjoy anything ever again. There is no me without you. Lifemates, got it? Lifemates." He drew her close and felt the anger seep out of her. He looked at the rest of them, saw Paul's jaw clenching and unclenching, Seth and Embry's stunned looks, Emily's eyes shining with tears, and Sam's dwindling anger, which Jake knew had been stirred by fear of losing a member of the pack. Jake sat down again and brought Bella down with him to curl on his lap. One arm wrapped around her while the other toyed with the ends of her hair.
"Yeah, I died. Cullen didn't seem to pleased, but when I started to seize again he probably figured to put the mutt out of its misery, and he…" the wolf/man had to stop and think about it for a second. "He listened, I think, for my heartbeats."
"He measured them, and hit in between. It stops the heart from beating." Emily's voice was shaking with unshed tears. Ever since the pack had formed she'd acted as mom, and she genuinely saw herself as a mother-figure to Jacob.
Jake nodded, smiling comfortingly at her. "Yeah. It wasn't that bad, actually. One minute I was alive, and then… nothing. It was like one of those vacuum things the teacher's always talk about in science, those suck-everything-up things, had cleared everything and the pressure was horrible. There wasn't any light, any sound, but the nothingness pressed until I didn't think I'd last any longer." He felt Bella nodding in agreement and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Poor Bells. If it'd been hard on him, how the hell had she managed to come back to life like nothing had happened? She was so tiny, so fragile. His arm wrapped tighter around her. "It was really strange, but the pressure lightened until there was nothing, like I was standing on solid air, and out of the blue comes my great-grandfather."
"Ephraim?" Sam looked puzzled.
Jake nodded. "Yeah. He told me it wasn't my time-no, it wasn't our time," he said, looking at his Bells and smiling a little, "and that the… what did he say?" he had to shake his head to clear it. It was like just thinking about it made the memory fuzzy and distorted. It bugged the hell out of him, and he pressed his will down until he could see things somewhat clearly. "He said the spirits had more in store for us, and that he didn't envy the task set before the pack."
Embry looked confused. "I don't understand. Why would the spirits have something in store for Bella? I mean, no offense," he added, holding his hands up to Bella and looking sheepish, "you're great for a human and all, but you're not pack. You're not even from the rez. Why would the spirits involve you?"
Sam shook his head, a contemplative expression settling over his features. "Either it's because of her being his mate, or they actually do have something in store for her. It's not impossible, just out of the norm."
"But when has anything this pack has done qualify as 'normal?'" Emily smiled a little, and held out her hand for Sam's. He smiled and took it, running his thumb over the back of her palm.
"She has a point," Seth said, and everyone looked to him. He turned a slight pink and scooted father back at his spot by the fire, as if that would hide him more from curious eyes. "I mean, think about it. Bella isn't from the rez, but she's still his mate, and that's never happened before. It's always been someone from the tribe. And Leah's a wolf, that should count as something odd!"
"Thanks, squirt," she growled, but Jared and Paul laughed at this. Sam flicked his sight to them and they brought it down to sporadic chuckles.
"No, seriously! If you've read anything about the original pack then you'd know how totally different his one is from it." The pink was flushing into a darker red now.
Sam chuckled at the youngster and then turned his eyes back to Jake. "So I'm assuming after that, you woke up?" Jake nodded. "After being dead." Another nod. "You are one lucky dog, Jacob Black. And if you ever do something like that again, I'll beat your hide until there's no fur on it. Understand?" His voice was still warm, but Jake knew he would if he scared Sam like that again. Smiling a little, Jake nodded. "Good." His black eyes traveled around the pack, looking over all of the faces. "Questions, comments, smart remarks?"
Paul started to say something, but Jared groaned and clamped a hand over his mouth. "Can it, tail-chaser. You've always got something pissy to say. Don't be a dick."
"At least I have one!" everyone heard him say against the other wolf's hand. Emily raised her eyebrow at the two and made a noise. Both boys shut up.
"Okay, pups, I think it's safe to say that crisis was averted and you can go home. Bella, I'll talk to Billy and the two of us will figure out some bullshit to tell Charlie and that you'll be home sooner or later. You want to talk to him?"
Bella shook her head furiously. "I love Charlie, but… no. At least not until he's cooled down enough to talk without freaking, like he usually does. So thanks, but… I'll just let you and Billy take off the rough edges." She smiled sweetly and the pack laughed.
The pack leader sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "It's going to be a long night. Okay, go home, everyone. Out of my house."
"Take cookies before you leave!" Em smiled at Sam and he just shook his head at her, grinning back. Everyone-but Leah, of course-ran for the kitchen door and Emily laughed.
Jake stood up, grinning, and bent down to kiss Emily's cheek again. "Thanks, Em. And make worry-wart here stop worrying for a while, okay?" She nodded and ruffled his hair, then got up to hug him and then Bella.
"Take care you two. And Bella, please come over if you have any questions or just want to have a girl chat!" She went into the kitchen to see whether or not her beloved room was demolished by raging werewolves.
"Sam, don't stress over it. It's fine now." Jake held out his hand and the two clasps forearms, and Sam patted Bella's shoulder.
"Alright, I'll try. Now seriously, out so I can have my way with my woman. If I have to deal with an upset parent, I want to at least get some 'home comfort.'" He winked and Jake hooted, took Bella's hand, and lead her out of the cabin.
"Trust me, Bells, we want to be gone by the time everyone else is." Jake mock-shuddered and made her laugh. "You'd think they'd have dozens of puppies by now, the way they act like bunnies." Bella laughed harder and pulled him close, kissing the tip of his nose.
"Okay, dog-boy. Let's go home and be bunnies ourselves, so you don't feel left out."
"Yes ma'am."
