Tripping

Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to SM.

A/N-thank you for the kind reviews!

Chapter Fifty Two

"I've missed you." Angela whispered as she hugged Bella tightly. "It's not the same without you at school." She sighed. "Now I've broken up with Ben I've been kind of lonely. You know Jess and the others, they aren't exactly sympathetic. They think I'm stupid letting Ben go."

"Well more fool them." Bella replied firmly "You deserve so much better than Ben, Angela. You really do." Her voice softened. "And I've missed you, too." She linked arms with her friend and drew Angela into the house.

"I can see why you hardly ever leave the reservation." Angela said admiringly as she drank in the view from the Swan's rented home. "It's so beautiful and so peaceful."

"It sure is." Bella sounded dreamy. Life had been surreal lately. She never left La Push at all. The reservation was still on lock down. She spent her time between her father's house and the Black's. "I mean we've got everything here. Beautiful landscapes, great lakes for fishing." She laughed as Angela gave her a rueful smile. "Yeah, my dad loves that. Then we've got the beach. What more could anyone want."

"You paint it so perfectly." Angela said enviously. "And you have a great guy who absolutely adores you."

Bella's cheeks turned rosy. She smiled as she thought about Jacob and the secret she was keeping. Her fingers drifted to her abdomen and she stroked it absently. She wasn't ready to tell Angela about the pregnancy yet. There was still plenty of time for that. Instead she sat down and patted the seat next to her. "Now, I want you to tell me all the gossip. Is Jess still stalking Mike Newton?"

Angela rolled her eyes as she settled down beside Bella. "Uh huh. And it's getting more embarrassing by the day."

Bella giggled as she pulled her legs up onto the sofa and tucked them underneath her body. She had missed this, just having fun with a girlfriend and poking gentle fun at their peer group. While she was talking with Angela she didn't notice Max slip out of the house and head toward the forest.


"Take a break, son." Charlie lobbed a soda can at Jacob.

"Thanks." Jacob caught it neatly in his hand and popped it open. He bent his head back, closing his eyes as he drank greedily. He had been working hard all morning on an old Camaro. There was so much wrong with it that the list of spare parts that needed to be ordered was growing. But the owner was well aware of this and promised to pay over the odds if they could have it fixed by the end of the week. He had also promised to recommend them to some of his clients if he was satisfied with the end result.

Charlie strolled toward Jacob, wiping the grease off his hands with an old rag. He ducked under the hood and nodded. He was impressed. Jacob had literally stripped the engine back already. Charlie was continuously amazed at the extent of his knowledge. "Who's the apprentice here again?" He joked.

"That would be you." Billy called from the office. A pair of reading glasses was perched on his nose while he dealt with the paperwork. Before he could say more the phone rang and he was forced to answer it.

"Your dad thinks he's a comedian." Charlie said irritably before breaking out into a smile. "But he's right, Jake. You are talented."

"Thanks." Coming from Charlie this was high praise. The former police chief was quite skilled himself. Jacob hadn't realised how much Charlie knew, his dad had confided to him that Bella's father had once been planning to become a mechanic until his parents fell ill and he needed to stay at home and find a more secure career that paid a regular wage. "I better crack on. If I skip lunch I can have the rest of this done and dad can start ordering the parts."

"Well I can't complain about your work ethic." Charlie patted him on the back. "Don't push yourself too hard though. We all need to refuel."

"I'm a wolf. I can go for hours without a rest." Jacob winked, not bothering to hide the innuendo.

Charlie scowled. "Just like your old man." He muttered as he walked away.


It wasn't until a few hours later that Bella noticed Max was gone. She was in the midst of making some lunch for herself and Angela when she looked around, wondering where Max was. It was very unusual for him to be more than a few feet away from her, especially now that she was expecting. "Ange, have you seen Max?" She called to her friend.

"No, he's not in here." Angela's voice got louder as she drifted into the kitchen to join Bella. "Is there something wrong?"

"No…it's just odd that he's not around." Bella bit her bottom lip anxiously. It was more than odd. It was worrying. But she didn't want to overreact. Max was a big dog. He could look after himself. Maybe he had just wandered outside for a while. "I'm sure he'll come back when he's hungry."

"My dog is always hungry." Angela winced as she thought about her Great Dane. "I love him to bits but he costs us a fortune in food."

"I bet he does." Bella smiled fondly. It was Angela's dog that had prompted her to get one of her own. How lucky she was to have found Max. She glanced out of the window. There was no sign of him. She decided to finish lunch then afterward suggest a walk so she could look for him. But she was certain that by then he would have returned under his own steam.


But he didn't. Night was drawing in and there was no sign of him. Bella was beginning to fret. She and Angela had combed the immediate area, calling his name every few yards, hoping to catch sight of him. It started to rain heavily and it forced them to head back inside. Bella had ended up calling Jacob, worried that something bad had really happened to Max. She was blaming herself, wishing that she hadn't delayed and contacted Jacob earlier to search for him.

"It's going to be alright. I'm sure he's fine." Angela tried to reassure Bella, even though she was feeling far from reassured herself. Her anxious gaze kept darting to the surrounding forest. A view she had admired only a few hours earlier now looked threatening now the light was fading. What if Max had crossed paths with a bear? Angela didn't know that there were far more dangerous creatures then bears wandering through this part of the world, but Bella did. She tried to remain calm until Jacob returned from his search. She couldn't freak out; she had the baby to think of.


"Where the hell are you, wolf?" Jacob was doing his best to follow the dog's trail. It didn't help that the heavy rain had washed away any trace of scent or paw prints that might have proved useful to track him. After Bella's frantic phone call Jacob had sent Charlie and Billy home to keep an eye on her and Angela, while he looked for Max. So far he hadn't involved any of the others. The pack was exhausted enough with the punishing patrol schedule and trying to fit in work and family, without being forced to search for a missing dog.

Jacob circumnavigated the outer edge of the forest. There was no sign. The wind was picking up. It ruffled his thick fur; stinging his eyes and making them water. He was glad of his thick pelt. He headed under the shelter of the trees. Rain droplets dripped off the leaves and down onto his muscled body. He loped easily between the tall tree trunks, pausing every now and then to investigate a particularly thick patch of undergrowth. He shied when he poked his head into a bush and a bird shot out cawing angrily at being disturbed. Jacob whined irritably as he continued his lonely search.


He found his lifeless body on the beach. Jacob could hardly see through the driving rain. He had been intending to head home and wait out the bad weather, then go back out again and continue the search. But his instinct drove him toward the cliffs overlooking First beach. He was so certain that wolf wouldn't be there. There was no reason for him to travel this far out. Then again there was no good reason why he had left Bella in the first place. Although Jacob had to admit that the dog had been acting erratically over the past few weeks. As soon as he spotted wolf Jacob tore down the winding path leading to the sandy beach below. His heart was thumping painfully in his chest. This couldn't be happening. Not now. They had already lost so much. They couldn't lose wolf too.

Jacob phased into his human form and fell to his knees onto the wet sand. He called wolf's name, his hands shaking as he began to examine the dog for any sign of injury. He couldn't find any. There was no blood, cuts or animal bites. His fur was soaked by the rain. Any sane animal would have sought shelter. Jacob didn't understand what wolf was doing here. He could have developed hypothermia being exposed like this.

Jacob was close to tears. "Why, wolf? Why?" He cried in anguish. He couldn't hear a heartbeat. When he lifted the dog's eyelids his pupils were glazed. He was gone. "No." A shudder rippled through Jacob as he bent his head and sobbed. This was just one tragedy too many. He dreaded telling Bella. How could he find the words? It wasn't fair. Life was cruel, inexplicable. Why had wolf come here? There were so many questions and once again no answers.

The rain lashed Jacob's hot skin. The water droplets sizzled, drying on impact. His hair was slick to his head. Jacob ran his fingers through the wet strands as he breathed deeply, trying to compose himself. He couldn't fall apart. Bella needed him to be strong, even more so now that wolf was lost to them. He leaned down, the muscles flexing in his arms as he hefted wolf's motionless form against his body. He was going to carry the dog home. Thunder crashed, rolling off the cliffs, hurting Jacob's ears with its intensity. Lightening lit up the sky, illuminating his surroundings for a brief instant. Jacob's gaze was fixated on top of the cliffs. His keen eyes spotted a tall shadowy figure melting in and out of the trees swirling violently in the strong wind.

"Son of a bitch." Jacob roared. His feet pounded in the soft sand, gaining friction as he raced up the cliff path, determined to vent his fury on the creature that dared to spy on his grief from the top of the cliff.


Jacob placed wolf gently on the ground. He kept motionless as he stared at the tormented trees writhing in the wind. He held his breath, waiting, waiting. The interloper would break cover soon. Five minutes passed and nothing happened. Jacob was beginning to lose patience. He reluctantly left wolf's body and loped toward the trees, ready to phase on the fly if he was ambushed. His feet made no sound on the springy grass. His toes sank into the mud as he made it to the first row of trees. The wind was making it difficult to detect any scent. The intruder could be anywhere. He could be right in front of him for all he knew. Jacob was certain that the spy was a supernatural creature. But what kind he wasn't sure. It could be a cold one but it would be hard for a vampire to break through their defences without being detected.

He melted into the trees, his eyes searching, sniffing the air keenly for any strange odour. There was nothing, simply nothing. Jacob was beginning to think he had imagined it. Perhaps his grief was affecting him more than he thought. He scouted around some more but came across nothing untoward. Time was getting on. He needed to get back to wolf. Jacob gave up the hunt and retraced his steps. His grief returned like a punch to the gut when he saw wolf's motionless body in the distance. How was he supposed to tell Bella? The rain hit him in the face as soon as he broke cover from the trees. His jaw flexed as he rubbed his eyes furiously with the heels of his hands to clear them. When he could focus again he looked in wolf's direction and gasped. The shadow figure was swirling around wolf, hovering above him like a noxious black cloud. For an instant the black mist took human form but then dissipated when Jacob came charging toward it. He phased on the fly, landing on four paws, as he closed the gap between him and wolf's attacker.

Jacob got ready to defend himself but when he skidded to a halt the black shadow was gone. Wolf's brown eyes were open. He whimpered as he struggled onto his feet, his legs shaking with the effort. "What the fuck?" Jacob cussed in his head. He circled wolf, his nose quivering as he smelt him. The dog had been lifeless before but was now fully recovered. Dark brown eyes met black ones as Jacob and wolf stared at each other. "What are you? Who are you?" He demanded.

A quiver ran through wolf's body. His ears perked forward, his dark brown eyes seemed to beg for understanding. "You know who I am, Jacob." A deep, husky voice boomed inside his head. "You've always known deep down inside. I am a sprit warrior. You can feel the connection from one Alpha to another. You just had to let yourself believe."

"Ephraim." Jacob breathed as he sank down onto the hard ground in reverence.

A/N-thanks for reading! Kudo's to those who already guessed. More to come….