As she stood at the edge of the cliff, mesmerized by the way the large snowflakes made their descent, graciously floating until they hit the choppy ocean water below, becoming a part of it, Izzy sent silent prayers of gratitude to the sunset skies above.
The storm was over, and all that was left was serenity. Her loved ones had united, their friendship, their accord, and the help of others willing to be a part of that, conquered the enemy. The Volturi knew there was no element of surprise, they found out the fear and intimidation they had counted on ended up being useless, and they learned going against friends who were ready to die and kill for one another, was going into a battle they had already lost. They had no choice but to back off. Swallowing their pride and arrogance, they left knowing they had finally met their match.
Tying her caramel-brown coat a little tighter, she laughed to herself, her loose curls twirling in the breeze as the winter winds hit her. Who would've guessed the Cullens and the pack would become friends? That they would be having New Year's dinner together? Who would've guessed Bella and Izzy would become like sisters? That her daughter, Nessie, would be calling her Aunt Izzy? Not Izzy, that's for sure. How things could change in 4 months. Bonding over similarities could do that to people.
The sound of rapid footsteps made her roll her eyes. If she hadn't known by then which one of them it was, the little girly squeal narrowed it down.
"What are you doing here?" Seth remarked. Nessie was smiling away as she sat on his shoulders, her chubby little hands full of his hair, from which she was holding on to. Izzy smiled at them. Everyone had been shocked when Seth imprinted on Nessie, but Edward claimed the kid had the purest mind he'd ever heard, and he'd be happy to call him a son some day. Bella wasn't as calm and accepting about it. Lets say a wicked vampire-werewolf fight between Bella and Leah nearly destroyed Esme's living room. But eventually, and luckily for Seth, everything worked out. But at the moment, the usually happy-go-lucky Seth was frowning. He'd been given the job of babysitter, and he had obviously failed "If they find out you're out here, Imma…"
It was too late. You would've thought a stampede was coming through the way a mob of wolves, and a vampire, rushed over. If it was up to them, Izzy would be locked away at home, carried everywhere if she had to move. She was so not having that.
Embry and Emmett were the ones who rushed up the cliff, Sam, Paul, Jared, Quil, Leah, and the pups stayed behind, giving her 'you are in so much trouble' glares. D and Leah would be getting married in February, a triple wedding along with Sam and Emily, and Paul and Rachel, yeah, Jake's sister, go figure. Of course Sam and Paul would continue to wolf it, but Leah was gonna give it up, in efforts of hopefully starting a family.
It was so hard to look at her beloved wolves and not think of the missing link. She missed him so much.
As soon as Jake had made the decision to leave, breaking away from the pack, his thoughts became silent to everyone else but Sam. Becoming his own pack, Jake became an alpha. Alpha's from different packs can hear each other's thoughts, but only when they want, same way a normal conversation is held. No one had seen Jake since the wedding in August, as far as hearing from him, last time Sam got an update was in October, only telling him he was fine and to let his dad know. Sam tried to talk to him, but only got silence in return.
Izzy's hopes of his return had faded away. Did she wish he would return? With all her heart. But she knew that was not gonna happen. Still hurt to think about it though. Jake left taking her heart with him. She never got it back.
"What the hell!" Emmett scolded as he ran up
"Its cold, its snowing, and you decided to climb up slippery rocks?" Embry added
"Seriously, Izz!" Emmett threw his arms in the air.
If she would've had something to throw at them, she would've. It was bad enough they had her wearing all terrain shoes from the moment the first hint of snow rolled around, they had gotten her the most expensive winter coat available, and they made the decision, without consulting her, that she needed a babysitter, now they wanted to treat her like she was 5.
"She was gone when I got there" Seth explained.
Embry rolled his eyes, Emmett looked from Nessie to him and cocked his brow. Seth was not getting the picture.
"Don't you think she needs to be inside?" Embry clued the kid in.
"Oh, right" Seth nodded "Laters" grabbing a good hold on Nessie's little legs, he began to run off "Sorry, Izz"
"Bye, Aunt Izzy!" Nessie giggled.
Though Seth was as protective as the rest, he was a lot more lenient when it came to letting her do things. He was cool with going out on walks, or hanging out at the cliff, or going for a drive to Port Angeles, or even Seattle. As long as Nessie was with them. The rest, not so much. And that was just the guys, Rosalie, Alice and Esme, they were ten times worse. It was nice to be loved and worried over, but lord, couldn't they love her just a little less?
"Could you please spare me the sermon" Izzy smirked sarcastically before the guys had a chance to get snapping "I just needed a moment alone, ok, you know, without a babysitter. I'm ok so no need to fret. No foul no harm"
"For real?" Embry snapped
"I don't know if you remember that far back, but there was a mob of asshole vampires wanting to kill us around here not so long ago. Ring a bell?" Emmett added with the same sarcastic tone she had given them.
"Just cause they backed off, don't mean they've given up and left" Embry shook his head, like he couldn't believe she hadn't thought of that "Not for certain, not yet anyway"
"Izz, you're a human…"
"No? Really?"
Emmett ignored her smart-ass remark and went on "…your scent is the mixture of sweet blood, vampire, and werewolf. That's like a giant neon sign for vampires that reads 'drink me!' Especially right now!"
She could tell they were prepared to get on one of their frenzies. She was so not in the mood to here it. And as Embry had pointed out earlier, it was cold and snowing. A nice, toasty fire and hot chocolate sounded like heaven at the moment.
"Ok, ok" she waved her hands in surrender "I'm sorry. Won't happen again" she smiled giving them her best puppy dog eyes "Can we go home, now. I'm hungry, and I believe we have a massive new year's dinner to devour"
"That we do" Embry smiled, placing one arm around her back, and the other under her knees, carrying her bridal style.
"I'll run ahead" Emmett smiled "Let'em know you're coming" Due to space, the dinner was gonna be held at the Cullen house. Crazy, right? Kissing her forehead, he zoomed off before stopping and zooming back "Not a word to Rose about this, ok?" he warned them, locking his eye son her "She'd kick my ass if she knew you were out here and I didn't know"
Embry and Izzy let out loud laughs as Emmett became a blur, rushing away. The thought of bigger than life, tough as nails, vampire Emmett, getting his ass kicked by his girl, well it was down right hilarious.
"I got her!" Embry yelled out to the pack "Vamp central in thirty"
"Vamp central" she snickered. Of course she knew it was their nickname for the Cullen house, but it always made her laugh to hear them say it.
With a sharp nod from Sam, off they went, leaving Izzy and Embry alone. Everyone else avoided the subject of their missing wolf. Embry did not. Like her, he missed his boy and wasn't ashamed to admit it. He was the only one Izzy could break down to, knowing he totally understood.
"Almost five months" he stated, slowly making his way down the cliff. Though he had the grace of a ballerina, he always behaved that way when she was with him. She'd swear they thought she was made outta papier-mâché.
"Yeah" she sighed "I know"
"Why don't you let Sam talk to him" He'd asked him that a million times already. He'd always gotten the same answer, but he still asked. Embry would truly be Jake's best friend to the very end "He can hear him. If Sam…"
"No" she shook her head "If he comes back, it should be because this is where he wants to be, not because he is guilted into coming back"
The long sigh was of defeat. He knew what the answer was gonna be, but he wouldn't be Embry if he didn't go up to bat for his bro. Same way he would continue to try again, probably several times.
"Any new year's resolutions?" he asked, clearly changing the subject to something a little lighter
"To keep my name outta people's mouths" she chuckled.
"Yeah" he half-smiled "That'd be nice" After a thoughtful moment, he smirked. "So much changed this year. I can't possibly imagine what the new year's gonna bring us"
"Its gonna change my life, that's for sure"
They laughed so hard, her sides hurt. When they got to the Cullen house, everyone was already there. Her mom, her brothers, the pack, the Cullens, Charlie, Sue, Billy. Everyone she cared about was under one roof, happy and smiling.
Everyone minus one. Embry, Billy, Bella, and Izzy looked at each other and shared the same sad smile, feeling the same little pang. Tears filled her eyes, but she'd done enough crying recently. With a deep breath, she blinked the tears away.
Destiny had taken her there, where she needed to be, where she was meant to be. She looked around the room and smiled. She didn't know what destiny had in store for her next, but with all those lovely souls by her side, she knew everything was gonna be just fine.
"LETS EAT!" the pack howled, causing the house to erupt in laughter and hollering.
Yeah, this was exactly where she was destined to be…
… ***** … ***** … ***** … ***** … ***** … ***** … ***** …***** … ***** …
Yes, Destiny is over…notice there was no "THE END"? Those of you who've read my stories before, you know how I do it lol…the sequel FATE is just around the corner…