A/N: I dont own Twilight
Chapter Fifty-Five: Jacob
He could hear Edward and Alice and a few others entering the room their voices hushed as they walked closer to the bed. He strained hoping to hear Charli's familiar voice. Esme had told him earlier that they had located her on the side of the mountain and that she was safe. He knew that she thought he was dead and by all accounts he should be. That feral bloodsucker had taken a big chunk out of his neck and punctured his jugular.
"No! No, I can't. Let me go!"
Jacob felt his heart stammer as he recognized Charli's panicked scream. He turned his head to the side ignoring the tearing pain in his neck trying to catch a glimpse of her. She was struggling in Edwards arms pounding his chest with her fists as he fought to keep her still, trying to prevent her from hurting herself.
"Charli, stop!" Edward demanded crushing her to his body.
"You have to stop her Edward, she is going to phase." Sam warned not moving from his watchful spot beside the bed. Jacob was grateful to his friend, who had swallowed his pride, and come into the Cullen's home to keep vigil while Carlisle worked with feverish determination to close the wound in Jacob's neck.
"I see that. But there isn't much I can do now is there?" Edward said through gritted teeth. Jacob felt the corner of his mouth pull upwards into a barely detectable grin as he watched Charli pound on Edward's chest with her tightly clenched fists.
He tilted his head to the right and his eyes quickly found the one person he knew could help get Charli under control. Bella's golden eyes stared from Jacob's face to the scene unfolding before her and then back to Jacob and he raised his eyebrows in a silent question. With difficulty, Jacob lifted his arm and patted the empty space beside him in the bed. She nodded and took a step forward tentatively.
"Put her next to him." Bella suggested quietly.
"What?" Edward asked concentrating on keeping Charli contained and only half listening to Bella.
"Pick her up, and lay her beside him. Don't you see Edward, she doesn't know he's alive."
"For the love of all things sacred." Emmett grumbled impatiently from where he was standing beside the bed watching with his arms crossed over his chest. He shook his head and took three large strides forward and wrapped his arms around Charli plucking her from Edwards grip like she was a small child throwing a tantrum.
She twisted around in his arms and scowled when she recognized her captor. Jacob could tell that Emmett was not his normal smiling self and the sadness and compassion in his expression was very much out of character for him.
"Stop being an idiot." He commanded gruffly and to Jacob's amazement she immediately stopped flailing and collapsed against him. Emmett's cloudy expression softened at her instant and obedient surrender, and he leaned down and whispered quietly in her ear as he carried her to the bed.
Emmett gently lowered her onto the mattress and Jacob could hear her sigh sadly. She lay completely motionless staring up at the ceiling her chest rising and falling with the steady rhythm of her breathing. Her hair pooled out from her head and spilled onto the pillow like shiny black silk. Jacob ached to lean over and press his lips to her forehead and tangle his fingers in her hair, but he was still too weak to move.
He bit his lip when he heard her whimper softly, the painful sound cutting straight into his heart. She turned away from him onto her side and pulled her knees up to her chest her eyes squeezed shut tightly, tears making a trail down her cheeks and soaking into the pillow.
"I am so sorry Jacob. I hope you can forgive me." Her whispered voice was laced with pain and Jacob struggled to open his mouth and call out to her, but his vocal cords were too damaged to make more than a raspy croak.
He watched her hand fall from its resting place on her hip and onto the bed behind her. She began to slide it towards him over the crisp white sheets, reflexively reaching for him; her fingers lightly grazing his upturned palm. He winced as white hot pain shot up his arm as he wrapped his hand around hers. He squeezed gently and nearly smiled as the pull in his chest hummed contentedly.
Another sad whimper rushed past her lips and her body began trembling. Her eyes were still squeezed shut tightly and her long eyelashes were wet with tears.
"She is going to phase Jake." Sam warned taking a careful step towards the bed. Before he could even get close, Alice pushed him aside and leaned over Charli, pressing her hands on her cheeks and whispering softly to her.
Charli's body convulsed so roughly the bed shook beneath her and Jacob took a deep breath and heaved himself around her shuddering body trying to use himself as a human shield. As soon as his body was wrapped tightly around hers the shuddering stopped, however he could tell she was still not fully out of danger. He tentatively cleared his throat hoping that he could make some kind of noise that would sound familiar to her, however the simple contraction of his neck muscles burned like he was swallowing flaming sandpaper rather than trying to speak.
"Careful Jake, you are still healing." Carlisle warned under his breath and Jacob narrowed his eyes the expression on his face cloudy with irritation. He already knew he wasn't healed enough to talk, and he didn't need Dr. Cullen reminding him. The constant surges of pain were reminder enough. He could feel the heat rising in his cheeks as he felt his frustration bubbling carelessly under the surface of his forced calm.
Jacob saw Sam move from his detached but watchful position in the corner of the room to more of a protective hovering right beside the bed. Jacob knew that he was anticipating one or both of them to explode in a fury of feathers and fur at any moment.
"She won't snap out of it." Alice said worriedly, her hands still cradling Charli's face gently. Her eyes lifted and found Jacobs. "You have to get her to snap out of it."
Jacob scowled. I would if I could you idiots.
Jacob could feel her body tensing under his indicating that she was getting closer and closer to losing control and he knew it was now or never. With a deep breath he parted his dry and cracked lips and croaked, "Charli."
With a gasp Charli's body twisted in his arms so that she was facing him. His heart was singing as he took in the sight of her beautiful face resting on the pillow inches from his own. His breath came fast as her eyes fluttered open and she stared dreamily at her hands as they pressed into his bare chest. It appeared as though she was debating with herself whether or not this moment was actually happening or if she were dreaming.
As his chest rose and fell with the steady rhythm of his breath and his heart thumped under her pressing palm; he watched her face change from the dreamy unfocused stare to one of attentive disbelief. With a gasp she threw herself into him with astonishing strength. Jacob grunted as she vaulted herself into his chest, blindsided by the pain of the forceful contact. She slithered as close to him as possible tucking her face into the crook of his neck just like he knew she loved to do. She breathed deeply and then pushed back just enough to look up at him from beneath her thick lashes.
The second their eyes met Jacob felt like he had stuck his finger in a light socket. The surge of electricity that slammed through his body knocked the wind out of his lungs and left him gasping for air. He recognized the sensation, it was the same sensation he always got anytime he looked at Charli, only now it was multiplied tenfold and he had a feeling he knew why.
He had heard his friends describe imprinting before, and he had always half-listened not really paying attention to their experiences positive it would never happen to him. Now, like being caught in a flash flood, all of their descriptions came flooding back into his memory running over and over like a broken record until there was no doubt in Jacob's mind; he had imprinted.
As he stared into her eyes he knew that he would never have any desire to ever look at anyone else ever again. The adoration mirrored in her eyes told him that she felt exactly the same way.
"Are you ok Edward?" Jacob heard Bella ask.
"I'm fine. I'm trying to block them both. Can't you feel that?" Edward asked.
"Yes, I can. I'm shielding." Bella answered with a soft laugh.
"She's quite powerful." Jasper added from across the room.
"You got that right." Emmett grunted.
"Jake, you should just try talking to her like you talk to Sam." Edward suggested, "She could hear me in her head earlier, that's how we found her. Trust me, she's changed in more ways than just the shift."
"What shift?" Charli asked lazily still staring at Jacob like it was the first time she had ever laid eyes on him. Jacob stared back loving every second.
"Holy shit! She has no idea." Emmett hooted clapping his hands together in disbelief. Everyone, including Rosalie scowled at him.
"I have no idea about what?" Charli asked, her tone indicating that the fog had been lifted from her head and she had snapped out of her dreamy state quite abruptly. She turned slightly so she could see Emmett's face and repeated more firmly this time, "No idea about what?"
Emmett shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down at the floor avoiding Charli's eyes. "It's nothing."
"It's obviously not 'nothing'. Now spill it." She demanded forcefully. Jacob put his hand on her shoulder trying to draw her back into him but she held steady and strong refusing to budge.
"Charli, do you remember anything about the fight in the woods?" Alice asked sweetly sitting at the foot of the bed and curling her legs underneath her comfortably.
"No, not really." Charli admitted. "I remember Lyra kicked me and I fell on the ground. Then Jacob jumped out of the woods to save me and she attacked him. I remember her ripping his throat out with her teeth, and I remember him crawling to me and – " Charli choked on the last part of her sentence unable to say the worlds aloud. She turned to Jacob wide eyed. "I thought you died." She whispered, a single tear rolling down her cheek.
"That's all you remember?" Alice prompted.
"I remember someone was screaming. I thought it was the other vampires dying but I don't know for sure, I didn't care at the time all I cared about was Jacob. Did you kill Lyra?" Charli asked now looking directly at Edward. He raked his hand through is hair and looked up at her smiling sheepishly.
"Hell yeah he did!" Emmett interrupted loudly before Edward could answer. "He saved Jake's ass! Bros before ho's right man? And that ho was gonna frickin' kill Jake! She took a huge chunk out of his neck - you should've seen it - and then Edward just came flying out of nowhere and WHAM! Right into that crazy bitch –"
"Emmett, please." Carlisle begged.
"Sorry."
Alice leaned forward and put a hand on Charli's leg. Her dark eyes were very serious. "Promise me you won't freak out when I tell you what happened."
Charli tilted her head and studied Alice's face skeptically. "Why would I freak out?"
"I don't think you will. I'm just covering my ass here."
Charli nodded for Alice to continue and Jacob squeezed her hand.
"So - as Emmett so colorfully explained - Lyra attacked Jacob and she injured him very badly. He lost a lot of blood and he somehow managed to crawl to you before he passed out. You thought he had died in your arms and I can understand why. A human would not have been able to detect his pulse, it was so weak." Alice paused leaned forward speaking very quietly. "Charli, the screaming you heard was you. You screamed like you were being burned alive. I think I speak for all of us when I say that the sound ripped our souls to shreds. It was so. . . broken.
And. . . That was when you phased. I have never seen anything like it and that is saying a lot coming from me because I've seen some pretty crazy stuff. You just folded your body into itself and when you unfolded you were the biggest and most beautiful bird I have ever seen."
"I – I – changed into a bird?" Charli stammered breathlessly.
"A magnificent bird." Bella added softly.
"You really don't remember any of this?" Edward asked skeptically.
"I remember waking up and feeling like I was flying. I remember looking down at the mountain side and seeing the trees below me but I thought I was dreaming."
"You gave us a fright." Esme laughed softly. "You just flew off, up and up and so far above the trees we couldn't see you anymore. Some of us went searching for you, others stayed behind to take care of the Egyptian vampires and the rest of us rushed Jacob to the house. We weren't sure we would ever be able to find you."
"And that was where the other little surprise came in pretty handy." Edward said smiling. "Now that you are no longer human, your gifts are easier to control and far more advanced. You haven't had a chance to figure that out yet, but I can tell and so can Jasper."
All eyes in the room turned to Jasper who was sitting quietly on the loveseat at the end of the room. He had his hands in his lap and his ankle resting on his knee comfortably. He nodded once and smiled a crooked smile.
"I'm not the only one who can project emotions anymore." His simple reply did not match the enormity of the statement itself. Charli bit down on her lip and furrowed her eyebrows.
"This also explains why I couldn't see you anymore." Alice said tapping Charli's knee excitedly. "It wasn't because you died, it was because you shifted and I can't see half breeds."
"I'm a half breed?" Charli asked disbelievingly.
"Sort of." Carlisle jumped in. "You have a different genetic makeup than humans. You are very much like Jacob and Sam here. I wouldn't be surprised if you had the same number of chromosomes and had similar extraordinary abilities. Have you noticed anything different other than the obvious?"
Charli shifted in the bed and thought for a moment silently. Her eyes popped open and she gasped. "I can hear everything . . . and smell everything . . . and everything is so bright!"
"You also heal incredibly fast like Jacob and the wolves. As you can see, all of your injuries are completely healed." Carlisle pointed out.
"Why is it that I can remember Lyra?" Charli suddenly asked. "I thought part of being an unseen was the ability to disappear from people's memories."
"Not after you are torn up into little tiny pieces and burned in a vamptastic bonfire!" Emmett said happily.
"What Emmett is trying to say is that once Lyra was destroyed, her gift no longer affected any of us." Carlisle said giving Emmett a tone-it-down look.
Jacob watched as Charli sat quietly, processing the information she had just learned. He knew how confusing it was the first time he phased he could only imagine what she was going through considering the circumstances.
Charli sat silently for several seconds staring at nothing. Jacob was sure her mind was racing a mile a minute. After a while she turned to look at Jacob.
"Are you ok?" her voice was so full of love and the surge of emotion that she sent out hit him square in his chest and warmed his entire body. The feeling made him want to wrap his arms around her and never let her go.
"Holy crap." Alice laughed holding her hand over her chest. "That one felt like a punch in the chest."
"Yes. I can see that she benefit from spending some time practicing that particular gift with you Jasper." Carlisle smiled.
"Her projections are much stronger than mine." Jasper chuckled. "It's gonna take some time and lots of work."
Charli leaned backwards into Jacob and yawned, her eyes drooping heavily. Jacob nuzzled his face into her hair and wished everyone would just leave them alone even if it were just for a few hours. He could tell that she needed to rest, and he desperately wanted some time to hold her and enjoy her. Not to mention the fact that when she finally woke up he was going to have to explain the whole imprinting thing and he really didn't want an audience for that.
"Um...I think maybe we should step outside for a bit. I think Charli would probably appreciate the time to rest." Edward said suddenly, his gaze fixated on the sleepy girl wrapped in Jacob's arms. Jacob looked up at his friend gratefully.
Thank you. He thought, and Edward winked in response.
"Are you feeling ok Charli? Do you need anything? How about you Jacob?" Carlisle asked peering into Charli's eyes and then doing a quick exam of Jacob's neck. Jacob shook his head no and Charli mumbled something unintelligible and closed her eyes. She turned over so that her head was resting on Jacob's shoulder and she promptly fell asleep.
"I will take that as a no." Carlisle chuckled softly. "You are sure you are ok Jake?"
"Fine." Jacob rasped. "Hey doc?"
"What's up?"
Jacob smiled and pointed at the sleeping Charli. "Imprinted."
Carlisle looked confused for a second and then his eyes grew wide. "You did? Are you sure?"
He nodded and gently pressed his lips to the top of her head.
"Well, isn't that something?" Carlisle patted Jacob's shoulder and stood up. "Alright, everybody out! These two need to rest."
"Wait!" Alice cried out pulling something out of her pocket. She fumbled with a small piece of fabric until she found a tag which she snapped off quickly. She held the fabric up so Jacob could see. "The girl is naked from the waist down, let me at least dress her."
Jacob laughed as Alice dove under the covers and slipped the underwear on the sleeping Charli.
"I didn't mind." Jacob rasped trying not to laugh out loud.
"Yeah, you wouldn't. I know if I were her I would not want to wake up with no pants on next to a half naked you."
One by one each of the vampires filed out of the room muttering quiet goodbyes as they left. Sam was the last to leave.
"I heard what you said to the doctor." He said quietly as he leaned over Jacob staring him in the eye intensely.
"I thought you might have." Jacob whispered.
"So you are absolutely sure?"
"Beyond a doubt."
"Congratulations then." Sam said finally breaking eye contact. "Emily will be pleased."
"Thank you Sam."
"Take care of that one. I kind of like her." Sam said jokingly as made his way to the door. With one last wave he stepped into the hall closing the door behind him.
