Again, we apologize for the formatting errors! Thanks for all the patience everyone has shown us, and we hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well as the last one. Reviews are always welcomed and encouraged!
After the doorbell rang out for the fourth time without a response, Beau figured his grandma probably wasn't home. He checked the sides of the house, wandering around to the small potted garden of herbs she kept by the side entrance. He dared not venture into the backyard. It was too close to the ocean cliffs for his comfort. He'd always had a vague queasiness when it came to heights.
Instead, he wandered off towards the path that lead into the woods that would bring him to his grandmother's smoke hut, where she and the other elders of the clan liked to have a cigarette in privacy, where their children wouldn't call them out on their hypocrisy. He almost tripped over a couple of roots growing over the winding dirt trail, and wondered how his 67 year old grandmother always made the walk so gracefully.
Upon approaching the small cottage, Beau realized that his grandmother definitely had company. Distorted voices drifted over the soft breeze. The overcast sky made spotting the smoke plumes rising from the open chimney a bit difficult without squinting, but he picked out the familiar herbal scent of one of Alaqua's fires easily.
He was here for a reason. After Edward's unexpected apology that Thursday, Beau was even more determined to see Jacob. He was so confused over the situation with Edward, and without Jacob to talk to, he felt lost. He was adamant that he wouldn't lose both of his closest friends. So he threw an overnight bag into the back of his truck that Saturday morning and headed out to La Push to see Alaqua.
If anyone knew what was up with Jacob, it was his grandmother. It seemed she always had her nose in everyone's business. Hell she could probably tell him what was up with Edward.
Beau shook his head resentfully. Now was not the time to think about Edward. He was here for Jacob. One thing at a time Beau, or you'll make yourself crazier than you already are.
The wind chimes hanging on the cottage porch rang out as he stepped up the creaking front steps. The soft voices emanating from inside paused as he knocked, and the door swung open. Beau caught a glimpse of some of the tribal men sitting around the fire in the center of the room. A thick wall of heat smacked him in the face, smelling of nicotine and spices.
"Beau? You didn't call to tell me you were coming!" His grandma picked up her glasses from where they hung on a chain around her neck. She placed them precariously on the tip of her nose, precarious because one of the rubber feet that balanced the lenses on her face was missing. It had been like that since before Beau could remember. Usually a sensible lady, Alaqua refused to get a new pair. She couldn't stand the long ride to the eye doctor's office in Olympia.
"I need to talk to you about Jacob." Beau didn't feel like beating around the bush. He'd had enough of playing games.
His grandmother's lips tilted up at the sides in acknowledgment before glancing behind her. "We're having a council meeting at the moment." Alaqua pursed her lips. "You'll have to wait out here for a bit I'm afraid."
Harry Clearwater took that moment to amble up behind her, a genial smile gracing his lips. "Beau, my boy." The crow-feet around his eyes deepened happily as he shook Beau's hand vigorously. "I've been looking to talk to you for a while now!"
Beau smiled, bemused. "Well, I'm here now."
"That you are!" Harry agreed jovially. "Alaqua, I need some fresh air. Why don't you go inside and finish up while I sit outside with your grandson for a bit?"
Alaqua nodded, looking both relieved and exasperated. "Take your time, boys. Beau, don't go getting Harry into any trouble. And make sure he doesn't sneak any of that beef jerky he likes to buy when Sue isn't looking."
Harry scoffed. "If the secondhand smoke doesn't kill me, I doubt the jerky will."
Alaqua's eyes narrowed, and she shook her finger at him before disappearing into the nicotine-stinking hut, skirts sweeping the floor, screen door banging shut behind her.
Harry turned and smiled at Beau once they settled on the creaking porch swing, a rusted old thing Alaqua had gotten at a yard sale back in the late '90s. Beau had always liked Harry. He was a nice, friendly-looking man with a kind face, but he had dark eyes, wary eyes. Though Beau had never really been close with him despite being friends with Leah and Seth, his children, he'd always thought Harry to be a good dad. Charlie had grown up knowing him, after all. They still shared a beer every other weekend or so, chatting about work, and went on fishing trips during the long, heat-swamped summers.
"It still surprises me, you know," Harry Clearwater said suddenly, "How fast time's passed. I swear, yesterday you, Leah and Jacob were splashing in the shore, gettin' into all kinds of trouble." The night creaked.
Beau smiled faintly. "I remember." His sneaker-toe scuffed the wood boards of the porch. "Lots of things have changed."
"Well, you aren't that much taller than you were then," Harry said teasingly, dodging Beau's playful punch. "You didn't know about the meeting tonight," Harry said, and even though it wasn't a question, Beau still nodded. "But a couple of us were wondering when you'd show up."
Beau smiled, confused. "What d'you mean?"
"We're all very proud of you, of course," continued Harry, confusing Beau further. "We're glad to see you coming around more often, picking up responsibilities we weren't sure you'd be able to handle." He glanced around, checking they were really alone, before leaning in real close, saying lowly, "We were a bit concerned that you'd never really accept your heritage. You always seemed more comfortable in Forks than in the Rez."
Beau said nothing, unsure how to respond.
"You'll have a role in this tribe, if your grandmother has anything to say about it. A destiny, she says, something she'll hand down to you soon enough, just as I'll hand down my own piece to Seth one day." Beau raised an eyebrow but didn't interrupt Harry's ramblings. "Anyways, we're glad you're here for it. You couldn't well learn the ways of the Quileute all the way out in Arizona, could you?"
"I guess not." Beau agreed, amused.
"I'm glad that you're here for Jacob as well. That boy, my daughter and you were always thick as thieves." He smiled wistfully, dark eyes lost in memory. "You three used to make such a ruckus. I hope that you'll be close once again. It's been a hard time for her you know? What with what happened with Sam and all..."
"Yeah, I heard." Beau had heard from Jacob about Leah's boyfriend. If he had any respect for Sam Uley before, it had vanished once he'd heard about how he'd broken her heart and left her for her cousin, Emily, who had been more like her best friend.
"Well, it seems that Leah's been needing some new friends for a while now. Ever since the break-up it seems she's only talked to Jacob." Harry's brows pinched together with the deep concern only a parent could muster.
"And now Jacob isn't talking to anyone." Beau finished for him with a frustrated huff.
Harry side-eyed him and grunted. They sat quietly for a few minutes before Harry changed the subject.
"We ought to go on a fishing trip soon. The chinook salmon will be jumping about now, if your dad is willing to take a trip down to the Columbia, but if not we can just head up to the lake up north. We can bring everybody—the kids and Sue haven't been off Rez in a while, and I'm sure Billy and Jake would love to come along. We can get everything together by next weekend." he smiled brightly at Beau. He could hear the soft chirrups of grasshoppers and the flutter of bird wings in the distance. It felt like any other Thursday, but it wasn't.
Beau smiled back tightly. He wasn't so sure that Jacob could be persuaded but he nodded along anyways. "I'll tell my dad to call you."
"It'll surely get Sue off my back about my blood pressure for a week if all we have to eat is fish and rice." He winked at Beau conspiratorially.
Harry smiled to himself and folded his arms in front of him to protect him from the chilly sea breeze blowing in from the west. Beau sat quietly, thinking over what had been said.
"About what you said, that I have... responsibilities, a 'destiny' to fulfill, what does that exactly, uh, mean?" Beau squinted at Harry in the half-light of the overcast sky, shadowed by the porch's overhang and the tall conifers that surrounded them. His thick brows were usually very expressive and friendly, but for the first time Beau seemed to notice a heavy weight to them. Age changed people.
Harry was silent for a moment, contemplating the swaying branches of the large pine that guarded the cottage. "Tell you what. They ought to have nearly finished up in there. Why don't we go in for a mo'? I'm sure Bill will be up for some storytelling." With that he heaved himself off of the swing and swung inside.
Beau huffed. It seemed like straightforwardness wasn't really a prized virtue in this town. All the same he followed, although at a less enthusiastic pace.
...
"You need to talk to him, Beau."
"Like I didn't try that already." Beau harrumphed. Seriously, he'd been counting on Alaqua having actually helpful advice.
"You have to know what's going on with him," Beau continued. "Leah is just so angry about everything. She refuses to pick up when I call, and I was just talking to her dad. He says she hasn't talked to Jake either. If anyone knows what's going on it's you."
The tribe elders, among them Harry, Billy and Quil's father, had just vacated Alaqua's tent. Billy had told a story about the hero Yut's daughter and how she had taken away the gift of the wolf spirit from one of Taki Ahi's children when he proved unworthy of it. Beau had only been half-listening, distracted by thoughts of Jacob.
Alaqua was sweeping up the remaining ashes from the extinguished fire.
"I do in fact know what's going on." She didn't look up from her task, her voice seemingly unperturbed. Beau waited, but she didn't offer anything else besides a raised eyebrow.
"Why does everything have to be such a mystery in this town? Is being unnecessarily dramatic a new fashion trend no one filled me in on? Harry Clearwater just told me I have a destiny. What is that all about?" Beau had never once shouted at his grandma. But he couldn't help his pitch from rising, incredulous.
"All in time, Beau."
Beau deflated. "This was a waste of time."
"I agree. Now go find Jacob. He's at home, sulking if Billy Black can be believed."
...
"Don't be an idiot, Jake, I can hear your heavy breathing," Beau snapped loudly. "Stop fucking avoiding me, I've had enough of that from Edward. Speaking of Edward, boy, do I have crap to tell you about him."
Jacob refused to rise to the bait. Jacob loved talking crap about Edward. Beau slumped sideways on Jacob's bedroom door, sighing loudly and dramatically when there was no answer other than a barely audible huff. It was really easy to tell when there was something wrong with Jacob. There was no disgusting pile of unwashed laundry sitting outside his door. The fridge was practically empty. Jacob did two things when upset: he cleaned and he ate.
"I want to talk to you, Jacob," Beau admitted tiredly. He was so done. Edward stressed him out beyond belief, and now this little hissy-fit Jake was throwing wasn't helping. He could feel a headache beginning to pound at the base of his skull. "Please, just talk to me. At least let me know you're not dying in there."
"Just go away, Beau," was said finally. "I don't have anything to say."
"You do, you're just being a constipated butthead about it," Beau retorted, straightening up and crossing his arms. He felt like an idiot, talking to a door. "What is it?"
The door cracked open, a slow creak and then a thud as the knob knocked against the wall. Beau stared as Jacob stepped into the hallway.
Jacob had shaved. The thick, messy mane that had fallen to his shoulders, that had plastered his jaw and cheeks when wet, that curled wildly with humidity, was gone. Beau's fingers shook as he remembered that evening when he fell sick. They'd been sitting in front of the bonfire, and then Jacob had gestured at Embry and Sam Uley. Embry's hair was cut short, his eyes dark with secrets.
It wasn't just the hair, as shocking as Jacob's groomed scalp was. He was bigger too. His shoulders broader than before, he was thick with hard, heavy muscle. He had a barrel chest, the type you'd seen on swimsuit models, not teenage boys. His old Metallica t-shirt strained at the edges, the seams creaking, and Beau leapt to the worst conclusions.
Beau's stomach iced over and he breathed sharply through his nose. "So it's Sam Uley then?" he said sharply. "Is that it?"
Jacob's jaw, easily seen with the absence of hair, tightened hard. He didn't answer.
"What the fuck is this, Jacob?" Beau burst out, uncaring of how nagging or whiny he sounded. He didn't care anymore. All he could see was his friend, a friend he couldn't recognize because he'd shaved his head and somehow put on ten pounds of muscle in a week. "What? Are you in the La Push mafia now? Are you pushing steroids?" He flicked Jacob's bulgy bicep with his index finger.
"No!" Jacob said, alarm leaping to his face. "No, nothing like that!"
"Then explain this to me: how in the ever loving hell did you put on this much weight and muscle in the last week, Jake? Because it sure as hell looks like drugs to me, buddy."
Jacob shrugged, a smooth kind of movement that would've been awkward five days ago. But now it was graceful, it was elegant, and it freaked Beau the hell out. "Growth spurt?" Jacob offered.
"Do you smell that?" Beau said. "Smells like bullshit."
"What do you want me to say, Beau?" Jacob said, raking his fingers over his scalp. A leftover habit from the days when he had hair, holy shit.
"How about the truth?" Beau prompted. "Can you just talk to me without lying for five minutes?"
Jacob looked him in the eye, apologetic and regretful, and said through gritted teeth: "No."
"What?"
"No, I physically cannot tell you the truth, Beau," Jacob admitted, painfully. "I'm—I'm not allowed." At this point in the conversation, Jacob turned and headed back into his room, and Beau's feet followed, an automatic reaction.
"You're not allowed to?" he said, teeth snapping so loudly after every word that Jacob winced. "Who's not allowing you, Jake?"
Jacob scratched the back of his neck, uncomfortable, embarrassed.
"It's Sam Uley, right?" Beau pressed, venom curling under his tongue. "And now you're gonna tell me and Quil and Leah we can't hang out anymore, right? That's how this is gonna go down?"
"Yes," Jacob admitted, neck shrinking into his huge shoulders.
"I knew it!" Beau yelled, throwing up his arms, exasperated, angry as fuck. "Where's Sam."
Jacob's eyes blew wide open.
"Jacob Black, don't play with me," Beau loomed, steaming. "Where. Is. Sam?"
Jacob swallowed, heavily.
...
It was well known that Sam and his friends liked the lurk at the cliffs, daring each other to take a dive into the deeper water of the small cove north of his grandma's house. Beau and Jacob had always made fun of their little testosterone-driven competitions. Beau could already see a small gaggle of them, their wet, half-naked bodies gleaming in the afternoon sun.
Ostensibly, Jacob was tagging along to make sure Beau didn't commit a felony, but Beau wasn't blind. He could see the smirk teasing the corner of Jacob's mouth as Beau stomped his way towards the cliffsides.
"At least try and have some decency," Beau growled low in his throat, but Jacob only smirked wider. "You manipulative little—"
Beau was rudely interrupted in the form of a half-naked Sam Uley striding up to them and glaring. Sam was a mean, two-timing fucker, Beau already knew this. He looked real sweet when he was smiling, but he was at least two heads taller than Beau and filled up a door effortlessly with the thickness of his shoulders. He could easily break Beau's neck without thinking twice, but he didn't have the anger steaming in Beau's belly, boiling up his blood.
"You bitch," Beau said eloquently as soon as Sam got close enough.
Sam looked from Beau to Jacob, and then arched an eyebrow. "Pissed off your little girlfriend, Black?"
"Oh, so you're misogynistic as well as an asshole, good to know," Beau spat, stepping close so Sam's eyes were forced back onto him.
Sam's lip curled high. "What'd I do to you, Swan?" He gathered himself, straightened his back so he was a good six inches taller, glowering down at Beau with the whole force of his height and weight.
"You know, me and you never really had a personal issue, Uley," Beau growled, jabbing a finger hard into Sam's unfairly large pec. Ew, he was sweaty, fuck, gross. "We never really talked or whatever, but here's the thing. You've been messing with my friends. So, you know, I just thought I'd drop by to tell you to fuck off."
Beau wasn't a big guy. He wasn't, he'd accepted that. He was little, his height negligible, his weight even more so. When people saw Beau coming, angry-eyed and low-browed, they laughed. They thought it was hilarious that a little shrimp even dared to think he could take them on. But then he opened his mouth and. Well. Beau hit hard, but it wasn't with his fists.
"Jacob, get your friend out of here before I decide to end this myself," Sam said stiffly, controlled, but Jacob didn't look worried in the least.
"Don't look at him," Beau said loudly, and the boys in the background stopped and stared. "Don't look at him, don't talk to him, don't even breathe around him. It was enough when you couldn't control your dick and broke Leah's heart. But now you're threatening my boy here. Got him to shave his head and everything. Maybe even got him to swallow a couple roids."
Sam looked someone had come up to him, took his own hand, and slapped him in the face with it. "That's—that's not—"
"And don't give me bull," Beau hissed, anger warping his face. "I don't care what the hell is going on with you and your army of underage boys, Sam, but whatever it is, leave Jacob out of it."
Someone snickered softly in the background, probably Embry.
"Shut your mouth, Beau," Sam whispered, face flushing deep red in his fury.
Beau shook his head, smiling. "No, I don't think I will. Because I dunno if you know this, but you can't control people, Uley. Or at least you can't control Jacob. You can't tell him what to do or who to hang out with like he's some dog. He's not going to piss where you want him to. He's not just gonna stop seeing his friends because you're on some alpha man power-trip."
"Beau, I think that's enough," said Jacob, eyes flickering with alarm, but it was too late because Beau was on a roll.
"You're pathetic," he said, "All of you! What the hell is your problem?"
Finally, someone broke away from the group of boys clustered near the edge of the cliffs—fucking Paul Lahote. "You're our problem, Swan," he said, growling, face twisted, and Beau rolled his eyes hard.
"Yeah, just me?" he scoffed. "Nah, I don't think it's just me your little gang has an issue with." He suddenly glared at Embry, who hadn't said anything at all so far. "When was the last time you spoke to Quil, Call?"
Embry balked, eyes wide. "Who, me?"
"Yeah, you," Beau insisted.
"It's none of your business," Paul bucked up, about to take a step, but Sam threw out an arm across Paul's barrel chest, which heaved with rage.
"Ohohoho," Beau laughed, sarcasm dripping, "But it is. Because you guys made it my business when you told Jake he wasn't 'allowed' to talk to me anymore."
"Oh, come on," Paul huffed. "Get over yourself, Swan. He was gonna drop your fairy butt with or without us."
Beau slapped him, so hard Paul's thick, brutish neck snapped to the side with a loud crack, and Beau said, "Shut up, Lahote—"
He couldn't finish the sentence, because there was a sound. The most terrifying, electrifying noise Beau had ever heard in his life—it spoke to something deep in his skull, and the lizard brain of old seized control as a deep, guttural roar broke through the air and bounced around them, down the cliffs and off the waves.
Sam grabbed his shoulder and only just managed to pull Beau back before Paul exploded. Literally. Shreds of what used to be blue jeans fluttered around them, and Beau gave a yell.
The largest, meanest looking wolf with drooling jowls and a puffed, silver-stained coat stood before Beau, growled lowly at him. He was the size of a small horse, paws scratching irritably at the ground, shark-stone teeth gleaming white in a peeled muzzle, and if Beau had been a lesser man, he might've pissed his pants. As it was, Beau still screamed softly when Jacob leapt forward, pushing Sam aside, and melted, clothes ripping at the seams, into a larger, meaner wolf still.
"What tHE—" Beau's jaw went slack as the two titans slammed into each other, the thud of hard bone and snarling growls lighting the air on fire. Sam grabbed Beau's shoulder, yanked him away further, poised like the minute the creatures got too close he'd join the fray. Beau could barely see the wolves, they were going so fast, a blur of silver and russet fur, flashing claws, snapping fangs.
"What the fuck," said Beau, falling onto his bum in shock. "What the actual fuck."
His heart burned with fear, his lungs heaved, and he stared. It wasn't over quickly. Every so often, one of the creatures would pin the other, teeth locked over a straining neck, but the underling would always squirm away, and it would start all over again. It was like watching two monsters grapple, and Beau wondered with increasing terror if they would kill each other. He could hear the crunch of bone and loud thick screams of pain, and it was only when it began to escalate that Sam stepped up.
"ENOUGH!" he roared over the growls and snarls of the wolves—Paul and Jacob?—and the air went still. It felt like even the wind froze at Sam's rage. Beau could hear his pulse throbbing in his eardrums.
And it was over.
And instead of two wolves slavering at the mouths, there were two naked boy-men scrambling away from each other in favor of jeans tossed at them by a smirking Jared Cameron. Their bare backs were spattered with sand and dirt and long, red scratches already closing up, so quickly that Beau blinked twice and they were gone. It was only Jacob's sheepish smile that let Beau know he wasn't going insane.
"I can explain," said Jacob, which prompted long-drawn groans from the rest of the boys.
"Of course Black gets to tell Swan, but I can't tell Andrew!" Jared complained loudly.
"He was gonna find out anyways," Sam shot back, though he also glared at Beau. "Though I didn't plan for it to happen so soon."
"Why him though?" Jared insisted, but Sam just looked at him sharpish, seemingly communicating something sternly. No one said anything for a few strained moments, but Jared backed down gruffly.
Paul stepped up to where Beau was still collapsed on the ground, disgruntled, his brow crunched.
"Sorry," he muttered at Beau softly, boring holes into his own bare toes. He glanced up for only a second before he turned away towards the trees, shoulders bunched up in embarrassment. Embry and Jared looked at each other and then the rest of them nervously, before following, shooting looks over their shoulders.
"Paul's the least controlled of us," Sam said once they were out of sight. "He's a bit sensitive about it."
Beau was too busy gaping at them to answer.
"The change affects us all differently," Sam said shortly, glancing at his group. "He was aggressive before it hit. Now, it's a struggle to even go through the day without attacking at least one of us."
"Beau, I'm sorry," said Jacob earnestly, "I had no idea this would happen. I just didn't know how else to tell you." He dropped onto his haunches next to Beau, who still panted with adrenaline, a faint roar in his ears.
"With your mouth?" Beau said, voice high. "'Hey Beau, I'm a werewolf, sorry, can't hang out this weekend'!"
"No, I mean it," Jacob admitted, crossing his legs underneath his butt. Even sitting, he towered over Beau, and Beau glared at the sky. "I physically was unable to tell you, Beau—Sam forbid it."
Sam cut Beau off before he was able to start screaming. "As alpha of the pack, my word's law. It goes beyond individual will. Jacob was never able to disobey."
"That's horrifying," Beau said, more disgusted by this revelation than the scene of horror that had only just occurred. "So you just tell them what to do, and they have to do it?"
Sam and Jacob looked at each other, and then at Beau, and then said, at the same time, "Yeah, pretty much."
"And you don't think that's at all fucked up?" Beau grimaced.
Sam quieted, the humor gone from his face, and Jacob glared at his hands. "Fucked up or not, that's the way we work," Sam said, trying to be dismissive about it. "That's how a pack works."
"So all those stories—about Taka Ahi and Yut and Utlapa—the animal spirits and the spirit world," said Beau, disbelieving, "They're all true."
Jacob shrugged, even as Sam nodded his head. Glaring, Jacob said, "Kind of. We dunno for sure. Taka Ahi and his tribe existed, yeah, and had the powers the legends said they did, but he's still a legend. We don't know how much of it's the truth and how much of it's been exaggerated."
"Holy shit."
Suddenly, Beau realized something. "Wait, if werewolves are real, what about the Cold-Ones in the stories? Vampires. Are they real too?"
Sam looked even more uncomfortable, if that were even possible. "Technically, we're shapeshifters, not werewolves."
"But—"
"Yes, they exist." Jacob glared at Sam, aggravated.
"And my grandmother? The things the kids at school used to say about her? That she's a witch?"
"A medicine woman, technically." Sam shot a look back at Jacob, his mouth pursing into a permanent frown.
"What does that mean, though?" Beau's head was whirling. How had he not seen? How had he not known? Why had she not told him?
"Look Beau," Jacob was concerned. "I think this has been a bit shocking to you. Maybe we should go home."
"What? No!" Beau was just getting started. "I need to go see my grandmother. She has some explaining to do." He remembered their conversation from that morning with new eyes. Had she known he would find out all of this simply by visiting Jacob? She couldn't have known, could she? Either way, he felt lied to. His own grandmother, looking him in the eye, lying to his face. Not telling him anything.
"Does your father know about all this?" Beau realized it was a stupid question even as it left his lips. Jacob nodded.
"My dad?" Beau suddenly went cold. Had his father been lying to him as well?
Jacob, to his relief, shook his head. "Technically, only wolves, their imprinted and tribe officials know about the pack. My sisters don't even know."
"But they don't live in La Push. Would they know if they moved back?
Jacob pursed his lips. "Probably not."
Beau was shocked. He hadn't seen Rebecca or Rachel since he came back, Rebecca having married and moved to Hawaii, Rachel having gone away to college. Yet the idea that Jacob would have to keep such a huge secret from them was... well.
"But they're your family."
Jacob looked away. Beau thought about having to keep such a secret from Charlie. He felt sick.
"It's the way it has to be," Sam insisted, but Beau's rage, which had quieted in the face of shock and disbelief, came roaring back.
"No," he snapped. "It's the way you want it to be. Where do you get off, controlling them like this? When you know they don't have a choice? If anyone's Jacob family, it's me. You've known him for two weeks, Uley. What gives you the right to rule his life?"
"I'm his Alph—"
"I don't give a fuck what you are, Uley. I really don't. Jacob's my friend. Not your bitch." He snorted, disgusted. "No one deserves to be separated from their family and friends just because you're afraid they might say something or do something to give away that game."
Sam stared at him silently, before shaking his head. "You don't understand," he said, like Beau hadn't even spoken.
"I don't have to," Beau said, refusing to back down. "I don't have to understand to know that taking away anyone's free will, whether you're their leader or not, is disgusting."
Sam's jaw clenched, and his eyes swept from Beau to Jacob and back. "You're not a wolf," but his voice wasn't as hard. "I—I think it's time you left, Swan." He glanced at Jacob like he was seeing him clearly for the first time. With that he turned and headed towards the woods, disappearing into the flickering shadows soaking in between the trees.
Beau stared after him, heart pounding, face still flushed with righteous anger. He felt off-center, like the world had suddenly twisted upside down without warning or notice. Like it'd become a world where boys who turned into wolves were normal.
He felt Jacob's hand touch his shoulder.
"Thanks for standing up for me," Beau heard him say from a distance. "I don't think even my dad would've done that."
"Don't worry about it," Beau said faintly, still in shock.
Jacob easily turned him around, and Beau started, surprised at the strength and ease of the motion. Jacob, he realized, could probably pick him up and carry him to New York if he wanted to. They locked eyes, and Beau remembered this was Jacob, his friend, even if he could turn into a wolf. They were still friends.
"Earlier, you said something about Edward," said Jacob. "What did he do this time?"
Beau sighed.
Suis-Moi by Camille (Translation: "Follow Me").