The Flower Moon

Year Eight, Chapter Twenty-Seven

Well… That Was Unexpected

Jacob's Point of View

Any other version of the story wouldn't result in the same

No wait. That's not right. Delete, delete, delete.

Another version of

Oh, damn-it, I did it again. Delete, delete, delete.

No other version of the events that took place would lead to

Argh, why am I having such a problem finishing this? It's my last paper I have to write before I graduate, and I'm stuck. I should have been able to write it in three to four hours. And here I was going on six.

"Hi there handsome," Nessie called from the doorway. I guess she was back from her latest shopping trip. "How's the paper coming?" she asked, before coming over and giving me a kiss.

"Awful," I whined. "I just can't seem to get past this part right here," I said, indicating the section on my laptop, now that she was standing over my shoulder.

"Why don't you take a break? I need to go hunting and could use a partner," her sweet voice cooed in my ear.

That was all she needed to say. I closed my laptop and bolted out the door after her. A distraction would be exactly what I needed. After a few hours of hunting, I could go back and finish my paper. No problem. This would be perfect.

Oh what I wouldn't do for a Vampire brain right now. I just had to write this one small thirty-five page paper. Okay, so it wasn't exactly small, but I only had thirteen pages done and now seem to have writers block. I can't even remember what the theme of the paper was currently. Of course that might have something to do with the fact that I was running after Nessie and might have gotten a little too distracted by the way her butt looked in her jeans. Yum!

It's amazing how over the years it no longer bothered me to see her sucking up blood. I mean I know it wasn't human blood she was drinking, but it still used to gross me out, not that I ever did or said anything to let Nessie know that. She needed to hunt and I was her go to hunting partner. And those thoughts quickly faded anyway; it was what she needed to survive, simple as that.

I loved watching Nessie hunt now, especially since she was back to feeding from elk, and deer, and even the occasional black bear or cougar; whatever we could find in the area that wasn't a Wolf. It made me so happy to see her move. She was so graceful and strong man. I could watch my Angel for hours.

Not wanting to be wasteful, I would often eat some of the meat after she'd drained whatever animal she had caught, today's meal was deer. There wasn't any point in killing two animals when we both could feed from different parts of the same one. So while I gnarled away she got to watch me. I didn't really like eating raw that much but it was only once a week and judging by the smirk currently plastered on her face, I think she found watching me equally as entertaining as I did her. Man, we truly a were the perfect pair.

I kept eating, loving the smile it brought to Nessie's face. Eventually I was full, which was hard to achieve with my high Wolf metabolism. No wonder. Looking down I realized that the deer was little more than a pile of bones now.

Raising my head, my eyes naturally rested on Nessie. She was still smiling. A bird chirped and my gaze shifted. Animal normally didn't come out around Nessie, or any of the Cullens, naturally recognizing Vampires inherent danger. I couldn't locate the bird which meant it probably just flew by, perhaps even sending out a warning call to others about the danger below. Then I noticed the area of the forest we were in - it was really pretty. Maybe before Nessie and I run back to the house, we could hang out here for awhile. It would be nice to just be with her, alone, instead of being in a house full of other people, or Vampires.

Nessie and I missed so many months together. And now that her family was back I just missed being alone with her. Also it would mean I could procrastinating a little longer, before I had to go back to work on my paper. I still hadn't thought of anything else to write about to make my paper the required length.

Quickly I pulled the heat into me, like I'd a thousand times before, to phase back onto two legs.

Woe. This wasn't right. What happened? I felt like I was flying. It actually felt like I was disconnected from my body. I hadn't phased back to my human form. What was going on? Did I somehow get stuck mid-phase? But I felt light as a feather, like I was being carried by the wind. Wait. I was! I was floating... I think. Whatever was happening, I was definitely not on the ground anymore.

What was going on? I was supposed to be standing on two legs right now, but that wasn't what happened. This was really discombobulating. I couldn't tell exactly what was going on.

I wasn't on two legs, or four. I didn't even feel like I was standing at all. I didn't feel the ground beneath my feet.

I once described Imprinting as redefining... no, more like re-finding your gravity. Your soulmate was your new gravity, holding you down, keeping you connected to the earth. When I, and every other Wolf who had Imprinted first laid eyes on their soulmate, it was like your ties to the earth were broken and retied to her. Once I Imprinted I was no longer being held to the earth by gravity, but by Nessie.

Had something happened to Nessie, while I was phasing back?

Where is Nessie, where is my gravity?

I started panicking. Not for me, but for her.

"Jake!" I heard her scream. Thank goodness, she was alive, but where was she?

Looking around the panic rose again. I couldn't see her, not until I looked down. Down? She was huddled over something. Me. She was crouched over my Wolf, which was currently laying on the ground – unmoving.

What was going on? Was I dead? A ghost? But what had killed me? No, I didn't feel dead.

Somehow I needed to get back to her. And me.

"Nessie," I called. She didn't hear me. I tried again. "NESSIE," I screamed as loud as I could. Still nothing. She couldn't hear me. I didn't currently have a body, so sans a mouth, or lungs, or anything to technically make an auditable sound. Screaming wasn't going to work. But I couldn't think of anything else to do so I tried again. I had to try and let her know where I was and that I was okay... sort of.

"Nessie!" She didn't make any motion to acknowledge that she'd heard me.

Jake, is that you? I heard someone's voice in my head say. Wait, was that Embry? What was he doing in New Hampshire? He moved back to Washington.

I am in Washington, he answered me. You're in New Hampshire? How is it that we're speaking to each other? You're three thousand miles away. What's going on?

Hey Jake, what are you doing back here? We... wait, you're not in Jared's Pack. How come I can hear you?

Whose voice was that? Was is Collin? I hadn't heard his voice in my head in years, not since I was part of Sam's Pack eight or nine years ago.

So you're still in Washington too, I take it?

Yeah Jake, of course I am. La Push is my home. I never left it.

Okay, what's going on? And then I realized I was hearing all of the voices from Jared's Pack, all that were currently phased anyway, in addition to Embry's, who was still in my Pack. But how was this possible?

Jake, dude, it's like those old legends Billy tells around the bonfire, about the Spirit Warriors, leaving their bodies. Except you left your Wolf, Embry offered.

No way. Not possible. There hasn't been a Spirit Warrior in what? Hundreds or a thousand years? Not since before there was writing, that part of our history was just stories that were passed down from generation to generation. Who knew how much of it was even true.

Oh crap! As I looked down, I knew that this one was. You'd think turning into a giant Wolf would make me believe in the old legends more. I remembered them, all of them, especially now that my memory was crystallizing. But none of them mentioned how to reenter a body. Crap! How was I going to go back in there? Back into my Wolf and then phase back to my human form?

They say enough Jake, just float back down and jump in, Embry suggested like it was no big deal.

Yeah, easy for him to say, he wasn't the one who actually had to do it.

Stop whining and just try.

Okay, here I go, but if this works, I'm not going to be able to communicate with you anymore. This is pretty cool though. "I'll give you a call if it does, and let you know everything's okay. Here goes nothing, I said, as I attempted to float back down.

It worked and a few seconds later I was back in my Wolf body, much to my relief, as my body remobilized.

"Jake, oh thank goodness you're alive," Nessie screamed, wrapping her arms around my Wolf neck. I gave her cheek a quick lick to let her know I was okay then bobbed my head to let her know to back up a bit so I could phase back. Man I hoped this worked. I didn't want to have a repeat of a few minutes ago and turn into a Spirit Warrior again. Not knowing exactly how I did it the first time I wasn't sure how to not repeat it, again, as strange as that was to think of.

I pictured myself standing on two legs, locked it into my head, before attempting to phase back to my human form.

It worked. I was back on two feet.

"Jake, I was so worried. What happened?" Nessie screamed and hugged me again. She was squeezing me so hard it actually hurt.

"Ow, Nessie, darling. I love you, and am fine, but I won't be for much longer," panic struck her eyes, before I spoke again, "if you don't loosen your grip a bit."

Realization dawned on her and she let up a bit, but didn't completely let me go. I could see why she wouldn't want to. From my viewpoint it had looked like I was dead, she'd probably thought the same thing.

Not breaking out of our embrace I quickly took out my cell phone and texted Embry that everything was okay. I know I'd promised to call, but Nessie was verging on becoming hysterical and I needed to calm her down and assure her I was okay.

I let her cry it out, and after the tears stopped and she took a few deep breaths, Nessie looked a lot better. Once I'd re-reassured my sweetheart of my non-death, we made our way back to the house. Not surprisingly Edward was there to greet us. Of course he was. He probably heard the whole thing; we'd been within his five mile range.

"You heard," I simply acknowledged.

"Yes," the shock was still evident on his face. I knew the feeling. I was still in more than a bit of shock, myself. "Are you all right, Jacob?"

"I think so. How much could you hear?" Was he able to hear just me or...

"I could hear everything, you and Embry, and all of the Wolves, back in Washington. It was remarkable, being connected to everyone so far away. How is this possible?"

He was asking me? How am I supposed to know? No one in the Tribe had been a Spirit Warrior in at least a thousand years. I don't even know how I did it. I didn't know how it worked.

"I think I needed to call Billy." Maybe there's some part of the Tribes legends about this that he'd neglected to tell us over the years. Or something that was written down in a book somewhere, or I don't know... something.

"Sounds good. Come on, it's still early there. I'll make you some cookies while you call him," Nessie offered as she led me into the house. More cookies? She must have been looking for a distraction.

While she baked I called and by the time I got off the phone the cookies were cooling on the counter. Chocolate chip… my favorite. Perfect! I needed some comfort food right about now.

Billy didn't have any more answers than I did. Embry had gone straight to him after I'd sent the text, so my father already had a chance to start going through the Tribes logs when I called, but he hadn't turned anything up. He assured me he would keep looking, but no one knew the Tribes histories better than him. It seems that what happened to me was a first, or at least a first in a very long time.

It wasn't until hours later, after Nessie and I had settled into bed that I remembered that I still had to finish my paper. Argh! Jolting up into a sitting position Ness instantly guessed what had preventing me from falling asleep.

"Do you mind?" I asked, knowing she'd be able to figure out what I was referring to.

She shook her head. "Need any help?"

"Naw, it's not hard, I can do it. Just don't want to," I admitted. Then as to not disturb her, so she could get some sleep, I grabbed my laptop and headed into the living room.

It wasn't until the sun started coming up in the morning that I finally finished.

Renesmee's Point of View

The cookies I baked this morning were now cool enough that I could pack them up to ship to Washington for David. Oatmeal raisin was his favorite, and since I was overnighting him that ugly necklace, with everything else I'd gathered, I thought this would be nice to include as well.

"Hey sweetheart," Jake said after coming into the kitchen, kissing my cheek, and (his real goal) distracting me as he stole one of the cookies.

I slapped his hands away before he took another. "Those are for David," I reminded him.

"You're sending all of them to David? Felicity and I don't even get a few?" Jake tried his best to emulate puppy dog eyes. Even though he was a Wolf he didn't quite get the look down. He still looked cute though and I was almost tempted to let him have another one but I needed to mail these now. He'd have to wait.

"Don't worry, there's more in the oven for you." Like I would really only make one batch of cookies. Silly Wolf.

"Honey... um..." Jake hesitated, "why are you sending David another care package? Didn't you just mail one last week? I thought you were trying to cut down to once a month?"

He was right. After seeing my son during Embry's wedding, I started overcompensating for not being there to take care of my son and started sending David boxes and boxes of care packages every week. I would make batches of cookies, buy clothes, comic books, and include pictures of all of his family still in New Hampshire. It got to be so much that soon I was sending a box every day and would freak out when I didn't have enough time to shop and bake to fill a new box each day.

It finally all boiled over when I put a batch of cookies in the oven, then left to run to the store to buy a few more things to send David. I thought I would be back in time, but the Comic book store had just unpacked a new shipment, just as I arrived, and I got carried away looking through the selection. The cookies, still in the oven, were the last thing on my mind, and as I shopped they baked, and baked, and over-baked, and dried out, until they were burnt to a crisp. But I was still at the store, so they continued baking, then at some point, they caught on fire.

No one was home but Emmett heard the smoke detector go off from his house, raced over, and managed to put out the oven fire before it spread. Thankfully it was contained to the stove and hadn't spread to the entire kitchen. Fire is never good, especially for Vampires. It being the only thing that can kill us. After that incident my family sat me down for a talk and made me realize I was taking things too far.

I could see why Jake was concerned now.

"You're right. I did just mail something to David last week, but I thought I'd put these in the box with the rest of the stuff being shipped."

"What stuff?"

"David called yesterday. Janet is in the school play this year and apparently the school's wardrobe department isn't that great so they needed a little help. I gathered a few things no one was using here. I thought it would be nice if all of the families fancy clothes got put to good use instead of sitting in closets forever," I chuckled.

"What are you sending?" He skeptically eyed the large box sitting on the table for the first time.

"Some old hats and jewelry, a few gowns from my aunt's closets, and some old suits from my father's and uncle's that they already wore. Alice would ever let them wear them again anyway. You know she only lets people in this family were things once, normally. You being the only exception because you put up such a fit."

"Sure, sure." He looked relieved. "What play are they doing?"

Oh, he was going to love it. "Beauty and the Beast," I grinned over to him.

"Ha, ha, ha, that's interesting," he chuckled. "So what part is Janet's?"

"I think David said she's Bells understudy."

He found it as amusing as I did, but I could still see a hint of concern in his eyes.

"Don't worry, honey. I'm not going to get carried away again. I promise I won't even send him a box next week, just think of this as next week's box being shipped a few days early."

"You're sure?"

"Of course. Totally fine." I still miss my son, but going overboard again wouldn't bring him home. "How are you doing?" I thought a change of subject was needed. "Has Billy found anything?" David never mentioned any new theories or legends when he called, but that was twenty hours ago. Something could have turned up in the meantime.

"Still nothing," he huffed. "But I'm getting better at controlling it."

That was something, at least. He scared me so much the first time he phased out of his body, or I guess more accurately that he became a Spirit Warrior, as he called it. But Jake had been practicing, with me, Bella, and Edward, over the past few weeks and had gotten to the point where he was at least able to control when it happened.

It still scared me a little every time I would see his Wolf body slump down on the ground. My grandfather assured me it was no more dangerous for him than when Jake would go to sleep each night, but it still looked like he was dead. Sure his heart was pumping and he was breathing, but other than that Jake would never move while his mind (or spirit or consciousness or whatever it was) was away.

A.N. Okay, what do you think? Was the Spirit Warrior thing too weird?

Thanks for reading and Please, Please Please review.