Soothing Cold

Chapter 23

BPOV

"So, how was Jacob day?" Rosalie asks me as she climbs into the car and starts off toward Port Angeles.

"It had to end pretty early in the evening," I shrug. "He started not feeling well so I went home. I was going to stay for him anyway, but Billy kicked me out."

Rose does that unnatural stillness again, before reaching out and taking my hand. My heart leaps at the action, because this isn't like our normal handholding. We are on a date right now, so this is the dately kind of handholding.

Rosalie flashes a smile at me that I can't help shyly returning.

"He was excited when I told him we were going on a date, though," I offer as she focusses back on the road.

"It's still probably best that you didn't come with us yesterday. Some nomads that were passing through stopped by to play."

"Other vampires?" I ask, eyes widening.

"The not so human friendly kind," she confirms with a gentle hand squeeze. "But they left town peacefully."

"That's good," I do my best to shake off my nerves and move on to safer topics. I trust my vampires. That doesn't mean that I trust other ones. "So what movie are we going to see?"

"I was going to wait till we got there to choose. I have a few in mind that I might like, though. You get final pick."

I settle more comfortably into my seat at the familiarity of everything. We have been doing this kind of thing for months already. It really was like we were dating before ever labeling it as a date.

"You know the entire school thinks that you and Emmett are dating, right?" I tease, knowing just how ridiculous that notion really is.

Rosalie barks out an amused laugh. "I'm very much aware of that. We normally do that on purpose, because if we are dating, it usually discourages people from approaching us."

"Is it hard being around people?" I ask curiously. I've never seen them interact with anyone else at school.

"Very hard," she huffs. "They are so annoying; I might just bite them."

My lips twitch, unsure if she is joking or not. Either way, I wouldn't blame her. My school is a bunch of idiots. Except maybe Angela. She's the only one I can stand any extended period of time being around.

…..

It's been two weeks since I've last talked to Jacob, and I'm getting almost twitchy with worry. Supposedly, he's sick, but Billy won't even let me talk to him.

I scowl as I park my truck a little way away from the Black house. I don't bother with knocking on the front door, no doubt I'll just be turned away, so I round the side of the house to the window I've climbed through a million times as a kid.

But when I peek through, Jake is not in his room.

After waiting five minutes for him to appear, I sigh in frustration before making my way back to my truck, figuring that he is lounging his sickly self on the couch for Billy to watch after. If that's the case, then I am not seeing my brother today.

I drive away feeling more anxious than I have in a while. I only make it a few miles down the road when I slam on my brakes, throw it in park, and leap out of the driver's seat.

"Embry!" I yell, jogging after the giant boy I hardly recognize. His beautiful hair is all hacked off. "Embry, wait," I call again, and grab his arm when he doesn't stop.

"Oh, Bella," he grumbles, and for a second, I just look at him. He is shirtless and has no shoes on. I can see why Quil had said steroids. The boy that I used to know looks more like a man, and it makes me slightly nervous as I quickly release his hot arm and take a few steps back.

"What do you want?" He scowls at me.

"Have you seen Jacob recently?" I ask quietly, unsure why I'm asking this person when he hasn't been hanging around for months now.

"Probably with Sam," Embry shrugs, still almost glaring at me.

It makes my anxiety rise even more. I do not recognize this boy.

"Sam?" I latch onto the knowledge. "Why is he with Sam? He hates Sam."

Embry starts to quiver slightly, and I back up another step as his jaw clenches in anger.

"There was just a misunderstanding. Now you should leave. Run back to the Cullens," he hisses, and my muscles go ridged at the hidden threat in his tone.

"Fine then," I clench my fists and turn back to my idling truck in the middle of the road. Quil was right; Embry has become an ass.

I drive away without looking back on the intent of doing just what was commanded of me. Something tells me that the Cullens, or at least the ones I'm closest to, know what is going on.

…

I pull Rosalie up the stairs and into her room the minute I walk through her front door, ignoring Emmett's teasing wolf whistle the entire way.

I know it's likely that everyone in the house would be able to hear our conversation, but I want a small sense of privacy to get the information I need out of my new girlfriend.

"What is it, Bella?" Rosalie asks me, brushing a cool hand across my cheek in concern as I lean back against her door.

"What is going on with Jacob and my friends?" I ask her pleadingly. "You know, don't you?"

My theory is confirmed by the expression that crosses her face. I catch her hand as it falls, holding it to my chest. I know that she loves my heartbeat, even though she's never said it.

"Please tell me?" I ask. "I don't have a lot of people I care about, and Jake is like my brother."

Rosalie sighs deeply, her entire stone body softening against me, and I know that I'm going to get what I want. I've found these past few weeks, that I have a kind of power over the female that the others in this family don't.

I really enjoy it.

"You figured out what we are because of the Quileute stories, right?" I nod, unquestioning of how she could possibly know that. I'd never told her. We don't talk much about what she is; it just doesn't come up in conversation. "Think about those stories, about the Quileute's part in them."

The answer comes to me in an instant, and my eyes widen.

"Wolves?" I gasp. "Jake has turned into a wolf?"

"I believe they like to be called shifters," she offers apologetically.

I bark out a sudden laugh. "I've been calling him Wolf for years because of those stories. We wished, but we never actually believed…" I suddenly scowl. "Oh, I'm so going to throttle him for not telling me!"

"Down girl," Rose teases me gently, pushing my hair out of my face with affectionate fingers.

"Thank you for telling me," I sigh, leaning forward to place a lingering kiss on her cool lips. Everything about her calms my nerves, and it's with reluctance that I pull away. Every time we kiss, it's getting harder and harder to pull away, to keep it just a few seconds.

"You're going to go confront him now, aren't you?" She asks wryly, a bit of anxiety creeping into her tone.

"Yeah," I admit, reaching blindly behind me for the door handle.

"Please be careful," she begs. "A new shifter's emotions are very volatile and hard to control."

"Jake would never hurt me," I tell her softly, and seeing the look on her face, quickly add, "But I promise I will be careful."

"Alright," she reluctantly releases me, and I like that, no matter how worried she is, she still lets me be my own person, make my own decisions.

…

I sit on his porch, in the rain, for hours. I could just wait in the truck, but it wouldn't be as dramatic. Besides, I like the rain. The cool drops are soothing, like my angel's touch.

From the corner of my eye, I can see Billy peeking through the window a few times, but he doesn't offer me to come in.

Maybe he'll call Jacob here sooner, or it's possible that he'll even call Charlie.

I'm not surprised at all when I see movement from the woods we used to frequent all the time when we were little. I immediately stand and slosh through the puddles to meet the boys. There are three of them.

"Jacob Black, how dare you avoid me," I call through the heavy rain, and I feel a pang of horror when I see that his beautiful hair is sheared off like the rest of them. "I know you turn into a wolf now, so there's no need for you to continue shutting me out."

I squint through the rain at his approaching figure, and I note the surprise all of them exude.

"How'd you know?!" I'm relieved to recognize my brother's disbelieving voice.

"I've heard the same myths you have, Wolf," I remind him. When I finally get close enough to see his familiar eyes, his entire body goes absolutely ridged and the whites of his eyes expands outward.

"Jake?" I ask, concerned, when he just stands there staring at me for several heartbeats. He blinks blankly at me before his face explodes into expression.

"Shit, Bella, I just imprinted on you," he gasps, and as I place the term in my memory, my own eyes widen.

An imprint. A soul mate for a wolf. A wolf who will do anything, be anything for their imprint.

"Brothers, Jacob," I squeak in a panic, thrusting my hand out for the familiar hand clasp that we do. It's a reminder of the pact we made when we were eight. We had cut out palms and clasped hands to bind our brotherhood in blood. I'm still surprised neither of us got Hepatitis or HIV, or an infection at the very least.

I watch as his anxious, panicked expression, softens completely. I see my Jacob in his expression, and I'm comforted that being wolf hasn't changed him. Who he is, I mean, because obviously he has changed. He's even bigger now than he was before.

"Brothers," he agrees and clasps my hand with a smile. In the back of my mind, I notice how hot his skin is now.

He seems almost reluctant to drag his eyes away form me.

"Guys, this is Bella," he introduces sheepishly. "Bella, this is Sam and Jared. They've been helping me with being a shifter."

"Hi," I blush under the curious gazes of the half-naked boys. "Sorry about thinking you were evil incarnate coercing innocent boys to join your gang," I shrug sheepishly at the man I've heard so much negativity about. Sam.

Sam barks out a laugh.

A/N: Just the Epilogue now. Wow.

So, Jacob imprinted on Bella. Surprise? Bet no one saw that coming.

Review, please!

~Silver~