Warning

"So, you were with Jacob?"

Bella grimaced into her coffee cup at Charlie's casual inquiry, she knew it was coming the second she, also casual-like, mentioned that she went to Jacob's garage but she sure wasn't looking forward to discussing it.

"I went to his garage, yeah." The sheriff office hadn't changed at all, still worn and strangely comfortable with its multiple shades of browns and cream interior.

"Had fun?"

Had fun? Her brow wrinkled, what did that mean? She shrugged. "It was nice, seeing the guys again."

There were moments where Charlie's homely face changed into something more; when he smiled for instance and when he was sliding into sheriff mode like he was doing now. He didn't change a lot, his overall behavior and body language was still relax, oozing bon homie and good cheer…until you look at the eyes. His eyes were all cop and every time she looked at this version of Charlie, she wondered how she could have hid everything that had happened from him.

Even his voice was different; it lowered into a slow rumbling drawl, perfecting the image of small town good natured cop, lulling people into complacency until somebody slipped and told him exactly what he wanted to know. Then he'd pounced.

Bella scratched her chin to distract herself from the sudden urge to confess all when Charlie suddenly aimed those cop eyes at her; amused and disconcerted that Charlie felt the need to interrogate her.

"So you guys are talking to each other again?"

She couldn't stop the wince from passing over her face, feeling somewhat like a second grader. "Quit the act, sheriff. Just tell me what you want to know."

Charlie pursed his lips but then smiled impishly. "He's didn't show any signs that he'll be at the house by midnight to throw rotten eggs at our door, did he?"

Bella grinned. "He's not twelve, dad. And whatever for?"

"I got my ears scalded by Billy for not telling him about you. I figured Jacob would have the same reaction."

She felt a sudden twinge in her chest, if Charlie felt it was hard to keep a secret from Billy and Jacob, Embry and Quil must have had employed some mad skills to hide it from the Pack, considering they shared consciousness and all. She should think of something to show her appreciation since they definitely didn't have any obligation to guard her secret.

"So," He prodded. "You and Jacob."

Bella sighed. "There is no me and Jacob, dad. At least not in the way you mean. We're…"

"Friends?"

It was hard not to agree with the skeptical tone in her father's voice. She shook her head. "Currently, we're…in limbo. We're working on it."

She'd rather meet the black eyes of a thirsty vampire rather than her father's eyes right now, but she met his anyway.

He coughed, shifted on his chair and she just knew they were going to 'talk'. She smothered the tortured groan that rippled inside her chest and slapped an attentive but bland expression on her face.

"Bella," He started. "These last few years, I would very much like to think that you were just going through a phase, a somewhat late teenager thing that I couldn't understand… I'd like to think that it was just infatuation, something that would pass with time. You were young and you thought you were in love which is why it…ended the way it did."

It was hard not to cringe at the image that his words conjured inside her mind; my young, flighty daughter…so much like her mother.

"But no matter how hard I tried to believe that, it wasn't like that, was it?"

She stared at her father's face, spotted new lines and new streaks of grays in his hair and wondered how much of it was because of her. "No, it wasn't."

Charlie sighed. "I've said it often and I'll say it again; The Black's are family and I love Jacob like he is my own son." His lips quirked into a small smile "Nothing would make me happier if you end up together—"

"Dad—"

"I've seen how you were together. I've seen how he was when you were gone."

Bella felt her throat close when Charlie's face crumpled into helpless lines. "He handled it well but he was fooling nobody. Or at least, anybody who once saw you together." He tilted his head. "Of course, the boy had undergone a lot of change anyway and I'm not just talking about how big he is."

Bella let out a small, nervous laugh. You have no idea, dad.

"I still love your mother." He smiled. "I'm sure you know that."

Bella swallowed, surprised by the sudden change of topic. "Um, yeah."

He slowly nodded, his eyes shifting away from hers. "I'm the last person to tell you that young love doesn't last."

"I know, dad."

A small awkward silence filled Charlie's spacious but lived in office before he sighed and scratched his head. "What I want to say is, be careful, Bella. Just…be careful."

"I will, dad." She promised. At least, I'll try.

***

Jacob rolled his shoulders and watched as his pack spread and chase each other through the darken trees, melding with shadows that lengthen and dance across the green earth. He watched them in human form as he did for the last few days from the small hill he was sitting on. The pack was too curious and too intrusive for his current state of mind. and he was too restless and distracted to guard his mind. He didn't need to phase to know what they were thinking, the questions were all there in the slide of their eyes.

And he wasn't up to answering them.

He'd stopped dividing personal business and pack business long ago, it was clear to all of them that what influence one will influence all. There was no denying it, and although some of them are quicker to accept it than others, Jacob had to admit that they were a pragmatic lot.

He once thought that being Alpha meant that he was allowed more privacy and could butt his head in any of the pack's private matters because of all the 'one for all and all for one' mentality, now he knew that he was just being naïve. Being Alpha meant that you could do whatever the hell you wanted but it also meant that your actions and your words decided the whole outcome of the pack. Even his state of mind determined their whole vibe and mood so he was dead press on restraining his temper and recklessness while focusing on happy, harmless thoughts. So instead of him nosing in on any of his pack member's business, it was the pack that kept nosing in on his which he knew they would do now since Bella's returnella's return.

Now he understood why Sam always tried so very hard on maintaining his calm and peaceful demeanor. Once, he figured that it was just how Sam was and that it was the result of being the one and only werewolf in the area, but now that Sam was no longer Alpha, he was freer, more outgoing and fiercer than Paul and Quil combined, and that was saying something.

Jacob saw Leah twist when Embry swept a claw at her feet then ram her shoulder into his muzzle, knocking him off his feet. He could almost hear the dutiful ribbing and smiled when Embry snapped his jaws at Seth who jumped over him in a way that was designed to annoy and insult the older pack member.

They were certainly more in tune with each other, worked better with each other, and knew who worked better with whom and in who would do better in what situation, they've been doing this for almost five years, after all.

Everybody felt the change in the pack as soon as he was Alpha, the pack was…not stronger but…more ferocious, yeah, that was the word. Some of the changes were subtler when others were hard to miss. His wolf body grew, as if overnight, his haunches were wider, his shoulders tighter and broader. His paws were huge. He was way bigger than Sam now but along with him, several of them grew too. Seth, Colin and Brady also grew. So did Leah, she was longer, leaner. Quil and Embry were not as huge as he and Sam, but was broader as if they packed in more muscle, as did Jared and Paul.

And man, were they faster.

Jacob marveled at how his brothers and sister ran along and around the tight growth of trees as if it was nothing but air at break neck speed.

Their concentration was greater, their reflexes were quicker and to his great surprise, the first time they hunted since he was made Alpha, he didn't even need to think of what to order them. They passed through his mind like a ruffling wind and did what they should without a word exchanged between them. It was as if they had a wordless discussion inside his head and immediately agreed on the same strategy than took off to do it; a process that took a mere second.

He couldn't help but think that the hive mentality could come in handy in dealing with one particular vampire.

They listened more to their wolf instincts and their instincts were sharp. They were mechanical, methodical and certainly more efficient.

They were meaner, too.

When he was in a pissy mood, the pack would stalk their vampire prey with a single minded purpose that was as scary as it was awe-inspiring. The last vampire coven that dared to enter their land was sniffed out, hunted, and turned into a bonfire in a matter of hours.

It bothered him a bit that it seems that the pack had grown a little blood thirsty but hey, it works.

Their human bodies didn't change much, thank God, he didn't need to be any bigger, but their skins were hotter and they healed faster.

Jacob sighed as his pack set off in a set of howls that shivered in the wispy moonlight.

"Alpha."

"I know you call me that just to annoy me.'

Sam smiled his enigmatic smile and stepped out from the shadowing rocks at Jacob's back. "The pack is in a good mood tonight."

"So?" He bit his tongue when his tone turned petulant and defensive. The amused silence that followed didn't help. Jacob kept his eyes on the pack members below when Sam plopped beside him.

"Bella's back."

The steady and bland tone in Sam's voice didn't grate on his nerves, however the implications of his words did. Rather than a harmless statement, it was more of a question and wasn't necessarily about Bella's existence in Forks but more of in his life and through association, their life.

"Yes, she is."

Jacob stared straight into the forest below and so did Sam.

"Do you think that's wise?"

He could lie, or he could tell Sam to mind his own business but he owed the man more than that. "No." He paused, but it rankled so he snapped. "But do you think I have a choice?"

"There is always a choice."

The smile on Jacob's face was grimly amused. "Really?"

Sam's dark eyes whipped to him before they snapped back to that imaginary spot that they were staring at before. Jacob could smell the rush of blood that flared up Sam's face, and instantly felt guilty. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend, brother."

Sam maintained his straightforward gaze, as if holding himself in check. Something that Alpha Sam wouldn't have to worry about. Finally, after a heart beat of silence, Sam eased out a long, cleansing breath. "There is always a choice, Jacob. Even…even with imprinting."

Jacob closed his eyes, he really didn't want to hear this, not wanting to add to the pile of secrets that he'd felt bound to keep.

"Imprinting is a force of nature, sure. It's impossible to resist but…" Sam struggled with the words but finally sighed. "I couldn't fight the imprinting and the wolf at the same time. It was…easier." Jacob huffed out a breath, and placed this little tid-bit into the pile in his mind and slammed the vault-like door he put to guard it from the others. He opened his mouth opened then snapped it close with a click of his teeth. His lips pressed into a tight line.

"You disapprove." Sam finally shifted his eyes to him. "You think that I should have fought."

Jacob stayed silent, not really knowing why he was so mad, no, that was a lie. He was angry at the whole destiny, fate crap, he rebelled against the lack of choice, the limitation in their lives. Although he'd learned to accept the wolf, and was always open to his duty toward the tribe, the lines that bordered their freedom were a never ending battle for him. He couldn't understand why Sam couldn't save them the heart break and pain when he actually could fight.

"Do you wonder what would happen if you had?"

"Of course I do." The fierce tone in Sam's voice made Jacob looked at him. "Every time I look at her, every time I feel her look at me. Every time my feelings for her come alive inside of me."

Jacob didn't need to ask who 'her' was, and he didn't need to ask whether loving Emily made Sam stop loving Leah.

It didn't and everybody knew it. Leah knew, Emily knew.

"I can't do that." Jacob shook his head. "I would have fought. I have to. Need to."

Sam was quiet then out of the blue, he finally let out a chuckle. "You would." He patted a hand on Jacob's shoulder. "But then again, you are stronger than me."

Their attention returned to the wolves when they let out a continuous bay.

"Only remember what you are." Sam's eyes were dark and inscrutable; they burned in the darkness, his wolf swimming to the surface in answer to the pack's call. "You are Alpha. You are the strength of our people. And we live and die with you."

Jacob watched as Sam launched himself off the hill, phasing in mid-step and the black mountain of his body bounded across the land to join their brothers and sister.

Jacob stayed in place, refusing the invisible pull of his blood that demanded him to phase. He felt the ripples of shock across his spine and ignored the way his blood raged in his veins and the way his stomach twisted and turned. It was with satisfaction that he noted that none of these showed on his body.

Not even the tips of his fingers trembled.

It wasn't until a sufficient length of time passed and his insides quieted that he finally stood and jumped off the hill, phasing seconds before he landed and pounded the ground with great, long, bounding steps, his powerful body lengthening and coiling with each step.

He cantered to a stop before throwing his head back and let out a nerve chilling howl that ripped the still air. It didn't take long for his pack to answer him; he heard the shuffle of their paws, the growl and snap of their jaws and through their eyes, he saw the woods, alive and awake, as they reached to him with their minds in the liquid cadence of the language of their blood.

You are Alpha. You are the strength of our people. And we live and die with you.