CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

(JPOV)

I stilled my run when I came within a few hundred feet of Charlie's back yard, keeping my thoughts guarded until the pack mind was no longer a concern and I was in human form. My wolf gaze scanned over my surroundings and I waited there until I saw Charlie return with Billy in tow. The two of them were in good spirits as they headed back into the house with bags from the bakery in their hands.

I phased back and hurriedly picked up my discarded clothing that still laid abandoned in the snow, my hesitancy coming from the sound of Bella's happy tone just inside.

"Good, you're back! I was wondering what was taking you two so long. I'm starving! Let me see that quiche." She lightheartedly chuckled to them, her heart beating wildly within her chest and the sound of it alone enough to draw me forward without thought. It was like a current that would pull you wherever it damn well pleased and right now, I didn't have it in me to fight against it's hold. Truthfully, I didn't even know if I wanted to. Having her here was a comfort for me I couldn't put words to.

"Where's Jacob?" Charlie asked, as I pulled down my t-shirt and regretfully looked toward the house.

"He went for a walk a little while ago. Should be back soon." Bella smoothly covered.

I jogged up over the steps and reached for the door when it suddenly opened and her doe eyes met mine.

"Sorry about before." I began, noticing the plate she held out to me in return.

She didn't say anything, instead she hugged me and I stilled there in her embrace, the plate of food all but forgotten when she didn't let go.

Charlie came to the door all too soon and I couldn't ignore his concerned look when I raised my head and saw him standing idly there in the doorway behind us, his sigh of frustration loud enough for Bella to hear and release me.

"Come inside and have some breakfast with us?" Bella asked, tucking a lock of her mahogany hair behind her ear with a glaring look to Charlie. He merely grumbled something I couldn't make out and stormed off into the kitchen ahead of us. I glanced to Billy and he stopped eating from the torment I knew he could see plainly written on my face.

He put down his half eaten blueberry muffin and pushed his second cup of coffee aside, as Bella sat down next to him with a sincere smile, gesturing for Charlie and I to join them.

Clarissa beamed up at Charlie when Bella handed her to him, her arms eagerly stretching to take hold of his car keys.

"That used to be your favorite thing to play with, too. I remember those days like they were just yesterday. Renee would buy you all the toys in the world and you'd always want my keys instead. It was hilarious and almost drove your mom half crazy." Charlie bemused, taking a bite of his third chocolate glazed donut as he handed the keys over to Clarissa. She shook them with excitement and looked to Bella with a giggle. Bella pushed away her plate and bent down so their faces were mere inches apart as she nestled her nose against hers with a returning laugh. The sound of it broke something open inside me and I couldn't take my eyes from them. She placed a kiss to her cheek and rattled the keys again, sending Clarissa into another fit of laughter that made us all chuckle. She was the light in a really dark place for me right now.

"Look at that smile." Billy sighed. "You have your grandpa Billy wrapped around your little finger. Do you know that?"

Bella smiled at the two of them and held out the plate of quiche to me.

"There's plenty more here, Jake. Take all you want. I've had my fill."

I saw the beautiful rose color in her cheeks return then and I found it hard to form a response to her simple offer. She looked so much better than she did just a day ago and I silently wondered if our closeness had anything to do with it.

I took the plate from her as she poured Billy another cup of coffee and played with Clarissa, the two of them lost in their own little world at the table while Charlie started up another conversation.

"I have some things to do in town today and I was thinking I'd take Bella ice fishing this Sunday. You two feel up for joining us on the adventure? Haven't been all season. Sure would be nice to have you come with us."

Billy glanced my way with a half a grin in place and I noticed the hope there in his gaze when it met mine.

"Sounds good." I hesitantly replied, finishing the last few bites of the quiche as Bella cleared the table.

"Great! We'll be over to pick you two up long before dawn. Want to get out there bright and early." Charlie huffed.

"You better have a big thermos of hot coffee with you for that. I barely function before seven you know!" Billy chuckled.

"Oh, trust me. There will be coffee. Lots of it." Bella added in from the sink, her hands now busy with cleanup from breakfast.

I took my plate over to her and saw her smile at me and it wasn't a forced kind of smile I'd seen her put on dozens of times before. This was her genuine smile. The kind that reached her doe eyes and made me forget what the hell I was even doing or where we were.

Damn, had I missed that smile. There was something about the way it lit up her whole face.

"What are your plans for today?" She softly questioned, her hands covered in suds while she continued to scrub the dishes.

"I need to take Billy home. We have some things to take care of and I have the rest of Lillians things to pack up and donate."

Bella stopped at this, letting the dish in her hands fall back into the sink when she turned her head my way.

"I-... I-I'm sorry. I didn't know you were-"

"It's alright, Bells. Something I have to get done. Lilly would have wanted her things to go to those in need. It was who she was. Always giving and never taking. I wanna be sure to honor her wishes that way. The best way I still can."

"Do you need someone to watch Clarissa?" She kindly offered then, her face losing some of it's beautiful color from before.

"No, that's okay. Thank you though. I really appreciate that. I'll take her with me."

Bella nodded and dried her hands as Billy wheeled himself over to us.

"Time to get back home, son?"

"Yeah, it is. I have a lot to do today. We should get headed back to the Res."

Charlie was nice enough to let me leave the rabbit parked in his driveway and give us a ride back home and I thanked him twice over when he dropped us off.

"I appreciate all you've done. Thank you, Charlie." I sighed to him, wheeling dad toward the front door, his reply stopping me before I reached his wheelchair ramp.

"Hey, Jake, hold on a second. Can we talk? For a minute? It won't take long, son?"

Billy gave us a nod and I handed Clarissa over to him while he wheeled himself the rest of the way into the house, his silence letting me know that he already had a clue what this talk with Charlie was gonna be about.

I squared my shoulders and stood in front of him as he shut the cruisers door and met my inquisitive stare.

"I think I know what you're about to say and-..." I tensely hedged.

"No, I don't think you do and the last thing I want is for you to ever feel unwelcome at my house. You're like a son to me, Jake. I just worry. You're grieving and I know you and Bella have a complicated history."

I looked away from him, unable to hold his gaze with my reply.

"Don't worry, Charlie. You've never made me feel anything but welcome at your home and I'm thankful for all you and Bella have done. You don't know what it means to me that you've been here like you have."

"You're family to us. Always have been. Always will be."

"Likewise." I sincerely replied.

"I just know that with things being messy from before and-..." He continued to vent, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"It's alright, really. I know you're coming from a good place and I respect you for it, but your worry is unfounded. There's no mess. Bella and I aren't teenagers anymore. She has her life back in Maine that's waiting for her when she returns to it next week."

Charlie shook his head then, dropping his hand from my shoulder and running it over his face as he leaned against the cruisers hood.

"Yeah, about that. I may have read a few of her texts from Callie this morning. She was dishing out breakfast and I saw a message come through on her cell. Something about not going back to Maine. I wasn't snooping. Anyway, listen, just be careful right now. You know I'm here for you if you need anything. See you tomorrow, son."

I cleared my throat and couldn't form a response as he waved to Billy from the window and left with those unfinished parting words. I tried to refocus, but it was hard to do after hearing this from him.

She wasn't going back?

I shook my head and headed inside, mindful to keep my voice as low and as even as I could so not to startle Clarissa, but I as barely able to do it.

Billy held her in his arms while she drifted off to sleep and when I was sure she was comfortable in the carrier on the floor in the living room, I turned and met my fathers guilt ridden gaze.

"You know what I'm going to say, don't you?" I hedged, my tone biting but better controlled than I had anticipated it to be.

"I do and I'm ready for it." He replied.

"Ready for it?"

"I've known this was coming, son. From the moment I found out what hospital you were at after that accident. So, ask me. I'll answer any damn question you have and then some. You have my word."

"Did Sam call you?"

"He left me a message." Billy replied. "But I know there's far more he left out."

I hunkered down in the empty chair beside him and placed my head in my hands as I tried to collect my thoughts and cool my temper before speaking again.

"Did you know? Do you know? Tell me you didn't keep this shit from me all this time for my own good?!"

Billy turned his chair my way and drew in a shaky breath with his response then and it made my heat thread up my spine.

"The loophole we found with the elders and the council was a risky one but it worked."

"At the cost of Bella's health!?" I nearly yelled, looking to Clarissa and reigning my temper in the best I could. "What the hell were you thinking not to tell me!?"

"Jake, there were risks. Some of them we knew about and others we didn't, but the pros outweighed the cons! You know how much I love and care for that girl! I would never-"

"...but you did!" I snapped, pushing up out of my chair and glaring down at him as he desperately tried to explain his actions back then.

"She was leaving! She wasn't coming back and we had to find a way to protect you from that pain when she went!"

"Protect me! Do you have any idea what she's been dealing with? Huh? Cause I've seen it!"

"We knew there was a chance that the process of the separation from the imprint could be worse for her than for yourself! Why do you think I've kept close tabs on her all this time! I've always asked how she is! Every time I see the chief! I didn't know she was hurting, Jake!"

I turned my back on him, my jaw flexing as I bit down on my tongue hard enough to taste the rustic tinge that pooled in my mouth from the force.

"She's been through hell, dad. She's lost things-"

Billy reached for my arm and I flinched away from him in anger.

"What kinds of things!? Damn it, Jake! Talk to me! Maybe I can help fix this!"

"If you want to fix this, then go to the elders and convince them to reverse it or-"

"You can't reverse it! When she goes back to Maine-..." Billy angrily hedged.

"I don't care! Do you hear me? I don't care what it will do to me, dad. That doesn't matter. She matters! Her happiness matters! Do whatever it is you have to do to make this right. I mean it! Whatever it fucking takes."

I walked away from him then, not stopping as he called out after me. My blood was boiling and if I didn't get the hell out of that house, I knew I would live to regret it.

"Jacob!"

"I'll be back. Stay here with Clarissa!"

I sprinted for the forest and phased the second I reached the tree line.

A/N: Thank you for reading. Please leave a review! ;-) There will be TWO updates posted tomorrow, who knows, maybe even THREE! Till then!