Back finally! Sorry it took so long! After a little break during the holidays, I ran into a bit of writer's block. I'm finally out of it and excited to continue this story from where we left off.
As always I am so beyond grateful for the reviews and the new followers. The last chapter was the most reviews we received on a single chapter and I loved everything you all had to share! You all are amazing and I'm so glad to have you all on this writing journey with me :) Thank you to those who sent super encouraging and kind PM's the last couple of weeks as well, the support from you all is OUT OF THIS WORLD! Hope you enjoy this chapter!
Maya tried to inconspicuously look at Jacob out of the corner of her eye. Two things were happily running through her mind currently. The fact that Jacob chose to drive her back in his truck instead of the motorcycle and her new-found knowledge that she had completely misread the Bella situation. She peeked over yet again, probably the hundredth time in the short minute they had been on the road. How the hell she was alone in a car with the most attractive person she had ever seen in her life was beyond her, something she definitely did not feel worthy of.
The sun had almost set by this point, leaving shadows casting across Jacob's face as they drove, his angular jaw more defined by the change in light. Anytime she looked at him for too long, butterflies filled her stomach, she was brought back to earlier. Jacob's fingers trailing over the bruises on her arm, she looked down and touched her arm where he had and swore she could still feel his gentle touch lingering on her skin.
Her heart quickly joined her butterflies, beating at a rapid pace, when the image of Jacob's face inching toward hers flashed in her mind. She had almost closed the gap between them before the rain rudely interrupted. It was hard to believe that Jacob would have kissed someone like her, Maya was beginning to think that she was delusional and that wasn't really what was about to happen. Just a silly wish at best.
She glanced over again only to find that he had been staring at her already. Her wide embarrassed eyes instantly shot back at the road. Jacob let out a chuckle that sent a wave of heat over her cheeks and she knew she was blushing yet again.
He was eager to break the silence, even though Jacob truly felt that he could happily spend the rest of his life just sitting by her side in silence, hearing her voice would make him that much happier. "Sorry that today went very different than I'm sure you anticipated." He kept looking over as frequently as he could, trying to read her face. More than anything just wanting to look at her.
Maya cocked her head toward him with a hint of a smile, something so simple and subtle, that she had no idea made Jacob's head spin with complete and utter satisfaction. Jacob could hardly control the look of awe on his face. That smile, no matter how slight, could make anyone in the world fall in love, he swore it.
"It was a good different." She bit her lip and looked back down, far too scared to keep looking into his intense eyes. They looked right through her, silently intimidating her.
Everything in him wished she wouldn't look away, Jacob wanted to stare into those eyes every second of every day. It did give him the incentive to look at the road more than he had been like a good driver should be doing. "How long do you think you'll stay in La Push?" Jacob asked the question without even realizing it was on his mind and ready to come out. Maya let out a soft laugh, not exactly the reaction he would have hoped for.
Maya obliviously wondered why Jacob even cared and truthfully didn't know the answer to that question. "I really don't even know how many opportunities I have here. It's probably too soon to tell. Do you think you'll stay?"
Jacob frowned as he focused on the road, considering something he never in his life thought he would need to consider before. What happens if Maya eventually did want to leave? What happens if by some miracle she wanted Jacob, but also wanted him to go with her? Everyone's imprints had no reason to leave. They all grew up here. Knew about the birthright. Maya was living in a bubble, one that didn't involve any sort of legend or being stuck in a town where she probably wouldn't have much opportunity to progress or grow.
Jacob felt himself begin to panic. He had responsibility and obligation. To the pack, to his family, the people of La Push. If someone would have asked him right now if he would choose the pack or Maya, he would say Maya without even thinking. But the reality of it all was that he was born into a life he couldn't pick and choose between. Suddenly the fear of the pain he might feel without Maya became overwhelming.
Instead, he tried to focus on the one thing he knew for sure right now, Maya had quit her job, thanks to that piece of shit Logan. No work was just one thing that could potentially cause her to feel like she should leave. In an ideal world, he would just tell her to live off of him, but even he knew it was an insane idea to suggest. If he could just have more time with her to convince her that staying here was right. Jacob's lips twisted into a smirk when he came up with what he would consider one of his greatest ideas thus far.
So he dodged her question about staying entirely and shared his idea proudly. "Come work with me and Embry." He turned to grin at her.
"Work on cars?" She raised a suspicious eyebrow at him, wondering what on earth he was getting at. Jacob and Embry owned their own auto repair shop and she was sure she couldn't contribute much to that area of expertise, so the suggestion sounded nothing short of ridiculous.
Jacob let out a booming laugh. Maya bit her lip, trying to hide her smile that was an instant response to that contagious laugh. She loved Jacob's laugh more and more each time she heard it. "Working the front desk for us. Will you do it?"
Inevitably, she felt like a complete charity case. Which was never a great feeling, instead of seeing that Jacob was trying to help, she felt like an inconvenience to him. Maya had always been that type. She began to wonder if maybe she didn't have much control over her life as she thought she did moving out here. When she looked at Jacob, he tensed up, seeing the frustration on her face. He still hadn't figured out exactly what made her upset earlier in the day and he was beginning to wonder if he had triggered that again.
"I can keep looking for a job Jacob, you don't have to worry about me." Maya meant what she said, as much as she wasn't above accepting help when things were at their lowest, she came to La Push to begin again. In which way that was supposed to be, she had absolutely no idea. But she was starting to notice a pattern since living here, one which involved Jacob righting every wrong she stumbled upon. Even though it was the prince charming scenario every girl secretly wished for, she couldn't help but feel off. Something here had to be fishy. She sincerely believed it all couldn't be that simple. It was too good to be true in her eyes.
Jacob went silent for a moment, trying to figure things out in his head, trying to read Maya in any way that he could. He had absolutely no idea what she was thinking, if only he could read her mind. Of this much Jacob was certain. Maya was unconventional, more so than any other woman he had ever met. Which meant he needed to work ten times harder to appeal to her.
Maya told Jacob not to worry about her, but at this point, she was all he could worry or think about. If she were to go looking for another job, he knew without a doubt it would end up being in Forks. That was something Jacob was not at all willing to accept. "The only jobs you'll find are in Forks. I don't want him - Maya, that piece of shit will never come into my shop."
Maya knew exactly who he was talking about. It wasn't necessary to hear his name to know. She felt her fingers tremble, the fact that she had seen him at the beach was devastating because somehow in her mind she truly felt that she wouldn't ever have to see him again. Quitting her job would have been enough, but it wasn't. Seeing Logan was like seeing a ghost, absolutely terrifying, but almost impossible to look away at the same time. How naive she was to think she wouldn't see him in La Push again, it was clear that he had ties here. A frightening thought crossed her mind for a moment, what if Jacob wasn't with her the next time she saw him? What if no one was with her?
Jacob regretted even bringing Logan up when silence took over again, he looked over to see Maya lost in thought. Her body language was completely closed off, she looked smaller than she ever had. She shook her right leg mindlessly, her hands gripped together, going white. He was sure at this point they were numb and she didn't even realize it.
With a clenched jaw, Jacob turned his sight back to the road, his face painted with a pained expression. Deep down he hated himself. He still felt that he was the one who could have stopped this. If he would have just told Logan to stay away from her at the party, just kept Maya by his side all night, she would have been safe from Logan. Now Jacob was the one with numb hands, with his tight grip on the steering wheel, forcing himself not to crush it in frustration.
It wasn't difficult with his heightened senses to hear Maya's stifled sniffles, trying to hide her tears no doubt. Jacob looked back over to find Maya with her head turned to look out the window, hugging herself, still looking so very small. He wished she didn't have anything to cry about. Jacob obviously wasn't experienced in healthy romantic relationships, so part of him had no idea what he was even supposed to do right now. Everything he ever tried to do to make Bella happy resulted in failure.
But ultimately any sort of uncertainty could never stop Jacob from trying to make Maya smile again. He reached out to her, putting his massive hand easily over both of hers. Feeling just how cold they were with the lack of blood flow from being so tightly gripped together for so long. She let out a gasp, not expecting his touch or how hot his skin would feel against hers.
Jacob did the only thing that most seemed most normal to do in this situation, not allowing himself to overstep the boundaries to the point that he might push her away. So he used humor. "Damn, I didn't know you thought Embry was that annoying. So much so that you won't even come work for us?"
Maya let out a chuckle before inconspicuously wiping a stray tear from her chin, keeping one of her hands tucked under the comforting warmth from his own. "No I don't, speak for yourself!"
Jacob unwillingly pulled his hand back to the steering wheel to make a proper turn into Maya's driveway. Hating how small La Push was, Jacob wished they could've spent hours stuck in that car driving, whatever kept Maya with him longer. The time they had together never felt like enough and deep down he knew he probably needed a lot more time with Maya if he was going to have any chance at finding a way to get her to accept the imprint.
"Listen, just give it at least five days. Come in tomorrow and work the week at the shop so you can get some extra money, don't look at it as anything more than that. If you want to stay on after the end of the week, then by all means. If not, at least I'll know that I was able to help somehow." Jacob looked to her with almost pleading eyes.
He almost made it near impossible to say no with the way he looked at her. Not like it was the worst idea she could've thought up. What with being around Jacob more, glistening with sweat, muscles defined and pulsing as he worked on cars. An abrupt knock on the passenger window of the truck jolted Maya from her wandering imagination. She glanced out the window only to meet eyes with her brother, Tate.
"Of course." Jacob said under his breath before silently cursing Tate for being such an overly protective brother to Maya.
Maya stifled her grin that fought to come out over the utterly thrilling idea of Jacob being annoyed that Tate was cutting their time together short. She unwillingly opened the passenger door, before giving her brother a wicked grin that she was sure would get under his skin.
Wishing he could just reach out to grab her and never let go, Jacob watched Maya turn back with a smile. "I'll come in tomorrow. Thanks, Jake." Maya left him with a little wave. Tate didn't give Jacob a chance to respond with even a smile, let alone a proper goodbye before slamming the door shut and gesturing for Maya to follow him inside.
Jacob rolled his eyes and contemplated for the millionth time how on earth he would be able to break this to Tate without ruining his chances entirely. But he didn't let himself dwell on that longer than what was necessary because what he felt with Maya today was the most thrilling thing he had felt in so long. Whatever Jacob was doing - which with his inexperience he wasn't even sure if it was much anything - it was working.
Tate specifically waited until he had closed the front door to give his sister a piece of his mind. "What the hell was that?" He gestured to the door with a glare fixed on his face.
Maya let out a scoff in response. "What? A harmless ride home? You're the one who summoned me back." Rolling her eyes, she dropped onto one of the dining chairs and rested her chin onto her fist, preparing herself for a potentially long scolding from Tate.
"Don't be smart with me, Maya. You know exactly what I'm talking about. That stupid grin you sent my way, the whole, I'll come in tomorrow." He mocked her in the most unconvincing and ridiculous manner that she couldn't help but let out a laugh.
"You're so paranoid! What for anyway? Jacob's single now." Maya retorted with another mischievous grin, enjoying this all too much.
Tate's eyebrows shot up in surprise at the very words that came out of his sister's mouth. "I don't care if he was the last fucking person on this planet, Jacob Black is off-limits."
The idea that Tate was still hung up on this was more humorous to Maya than anything else. Obviously, way back when she first noticed Jacob, Tate was right. Maya was treading into territory with someone who wasn't available to be claimed, so Tate was right to tell her to back off and leave it alone. But unless there was some underlying thing that Tate wasn't telling Maya about Jacob, she couldn't justify his objections now. Protective or not, Tate couldn't just tell her that all his friends were off-limits. As if Jacob and Tate were even all that close, which Maya quickly realized wasn't the case.
"Oh calm down, we're just friends anyway." As she spoke, Maya truly didn't know if she was trying to convince herself or her brother of that fact. After today she hadn't even been able to sit with herself and decide what on earth she was really feeling.
Tate rolled his eyes at his sister's remark, wondering if she actually did stop drooling over Jacob the way she was working so hard to make him believe. "Right, just friends spending half of the day together? I'm not buying it, Maya."
"No way! I'm not going to sit around and let you pin all your paranoid crap on me. Let's talk about you." Maya pointed an accusing finger his way. The only reason she let herself listen to Tate's demand to get back home is that one butt naked woman floated around at the back of her mind. "What the hell was that today, huh?"
"You showed up like 30 minutes after you left! That's what the hell it was." Tate brushed it off as nothing, but for whatever reason Maya suspected more. She had that mind of a sibling that Tate also had, where she knew he was trying to hide something. If anyone knew Tate, he loved to brag and if she couldn't get him to brag about getting laid with the next question or two then something was definitely up.
Maya raised an eyebrow and stared straight through him with everything she had, trying to read everything he was trying to hide. "Who is she?" She grinned obnoxiously as she waited for the answer.
"No one," Tate looked down as he said it, a dead giveaway Maya thought to herself and let out a laugh. "No one!" He yelled back, embarrassed by her finding any humor out of the situation.
"You little fucking liar." Maya continued to laugh at his expense, this was too good and she intended to dig up every little thing her brother was trying to hide.
"Why the hell would I want to talk about this with you? I have nothing to lie about, you're just too damn nosy for your own good." He walked toward his room, fully aware that Maya would stop him, which is exactly what she did.
Running to block his way down the hall, she threw both her hands up against either wall and continued to grin the stupid grin that Tate wanted to rip off her face. "Then tell me who she is."
"Not a chance, mind your own fucking business." Tate pushed past Maya and continued to walk as she held onto him for dear life, hoping she could stop him from walking.
"Hiding your relationship, huh? This girl must be off-limits. Naughty, naughty." Tate shoved her off and glared as she laughed. "Now it'll be my mission to find out who she is. You know that, right?"
Tate let out a groan, he knew very well that she wasn't lying.
The butterflies in Maya's stomach settled almost instantly when she realized that Jacob hadn't shown up to work yet. The night before had been spent thinking about Jacob, this was nothing new, except this time around she was allowed to think about him. What a difference that fact made. The thrilling idea that just maybe Jacob could be more than just an acquaintance or friend made her all too excited to wake up this morning and get to work bright and early.
Spending today with Jacob was more than she could've asked for back when she had first set eyes on him and now here she was, living out the fantasy of spending more time with this gorgeous man. Not that it was under the most ideal circumstances as she knew very well she probably shouldn't spend her time distracting Jacob while he worked on expensive and heavy machinery. Then there was Embry who Maya really wasn't certain would relay all of the flirtations back to Tate or not. Part of her hated being new to all the friendships in La Push, wishing she could just know who to avoid and not avoid.
She walked into the open garage of the small secluded shop, not a home in sight, just trees up until the turn at the road. Just like Tate's lack of work in La Push, she wondered how often they really got a decent amount of business or not. If the people here were anything like Maya she was too cheap and lazy to keep up with her car the way she probably should. Looking around she spotted a silver car on a lift, with an already greased up looking Embry fine-tuning underneath. Maya wondered how early he must have shown up to already look so disheveled and dirty this soon in the morning.
Embry glanced over with an inviting but somewhat confused grin. "Hey Maya, crash into a tree again?" He teased, grabbing the blackened cloth from his back pocket and just barely making a difference to his hands with a quick wipe before making his way over to Maya.
"Very funny," Maya said in a sarcastic tone. "Where's Jacob?"
"Jacob, huh?" Embry wiggled his eyebrows at her and laughed when she slapped his arm. Too quickly, redness took over her face. "He'll be here soon enough. So what's up with your car?"
Maya rolled her eyes at Embry, who leaned casually on the front desk. "You never stop with the jokes, do you? I'm here for my first day." She made her way around to the side of the desk she would be working for the rest of the day and grinned at Embry.
"I'm sorry, what?" Embry raised an eyebrow at Maya. Whatever reason she was working today, all Embry knew was that he had not been informed in any way, shape, or form.
"Did Jacob not tell you?" Maya scoffed, almost in embarrassment. She knew very well this was just as much Embry's shop as it was Jacob's, so the idea that Jacob just decided for her to work the week here without consulting with him was frustrating to say the least. The last thing she wanted to do was overstep and make Embry feel like his opinion didn't matter. "I'm so sorry Embry! Look, I can tell him that this is not a good idea. He should've talked to you first. I can go home-"
Embry laughed before cutting off Maya's ramblings. "You're good, Doll. I can just sit here and look pretty while you handle the desk." He grinned and joined her on the other side of the desk. "I'm sure you don't even need much direction, it's not complicated. Answer the phone if anyone calls obviously. This is our logbook," He pulled out a worn black book from under the desk. "Write down the name, number, and what they need done. Cash in the till when they pick up the car. Simple."
"Got it!" Maya smiled up at him, glad that it looked like she couldn't do much to mess this job up. Embry gave her a pat on the head, fully expecting Maya to smack his hand away, which she did.
"Hey, guys." Jacob walked in with a lopsided grin, speaking as clearly as he could to hide the grogginess in his voice after a long night on patrol.
Maya looked at him with a huge smile on her face, which dropped to a frown as soon as she saw how sunken his eyes looked. "Did you get any sleep last night?" Jacob's grin widened when he heard the concern in Maya's tone.
He playfully walked over to the desk, laying his monstrous hands on either side of the wood, leaning his weight into them before glancing down at his imprint. "You worried about me, Maya?" That all too familiar heat fell across her face and she looked down in embarrassment. Jacob's booming laugh, like music to her ears.
"Okay, stop teasing the poor girl more than I already have this morning," Embry said, grabbing Jacob by the shirt and tugging him toward the back of the shop. "Back in a second Maya, just need to ask Jake something." Jacob followed along unwillingly, out the back door of the shop, wishing they could just stay where Maya could be in view.
Rubbing at his tired eyes, Jacob looked to Embry with annoyance. "What do you want?"
Embry's eyes went wide and he let out a dry laugh. "Oh I don't know, maybe you could tell me what the hell is going on? Maya shows up and tells me it's her first day. Last I checked I own this place too, you didn't think even once to mention it to me?"
"Yesterday was complicated." Embry rolled his eyes, unimpressed with Jacob's response, looking for more of an explanation. Jacob could tell and continued. "I don't know what went right with Maya yesterday, but I swear things are progressing. She needs work and I don't want her out there in Forks, so I didn't think twice before offering."
"Did you think about the fact that we don't need someone to work the front desk when we are literally not even 10 steps away working on cars? On a good day maybe getting two people to add to the logbook? Yeah sure, maybe we have just enough to pay her, but we'd be cutting it really close that way, Jake."
"I'm not leaving her to fend for herself out there," Jacob spoke harshly. Under different circumstances, he wouldn't expect a member of the pack to object to anything he wanted to do, especially when it involved his imprint. But of course, this was Embry and he was his own special sort of defiant.
Embry pushed his grease-filled hands through his hair, feeling just as annoyed with Jacob as Jacob was with him, which was never anything new. It wasn't that Embry had anything against Maya, he just worried about his financial situation just as much as the next person, especially living in a small town like La Push. "You act like you're throwing her out to sharks." Embry said with a roll of his eyes.
Leaning up against the wall of the shop, Jacob rubbed his calloused hands over his face and let out a long sigh. "Listen, the patrol was a lot last night."
With the look on Jacob's face, Embry realized that he must have missed something big if Jacob had to bring it up. "What's going on?"
The last few weeks, reports of missing women from Forks were coming up. Usually, the pack tried not to overthink that kind of stuff, the real world was a dark place as it was. But when that sickeningly familiar scent started to show up around the border of La Push, Jacob got that gut feeling. He knew something wasn't right with those disappearances.
Last night, when that scent was so fresh he swore that leech had just been on the outskirts of their land, he made a choice to send the pack a few miles out into Forks which was something they usually avoided because it was Cullen territory. Jacob couldn't shake the feeling to go beyond the border and they followed that scent to a disgustingly horrendous sight. Three women sucked completely dry and left lifeless in a pile as if they were nothing of importance. The scent of the bloodsucker was so strong at that point it practically burned to breathe it in. It didn't take long for them to identify them as three of the ten women who had been reported missing from Forks. What scared Jacob the most was knowing the scent had started to show up on the reservation. Jacob couldn't possibly accept that one of his people could be the next victim. Maya, the thought alone made his stomach turn.
"We found three of the girls last night. It was one of them who did it." Jacob spoke the words with pure hatred in his tone, which is exactly what he felt for those senseless monsters. Absolute hatred. "You know the scent was already showing up on the borders of La Push, but last night we found it closer to town. We need to end this."
Embry looked at the alpha with a dumbfounded look on his face. As much as the whole pack was becoming well aware of the fact that one or many bloodsuckers were testing their limits around the border, he never imagined that they'd try to break in like this. What sick twisted minds to want to challenge them, he knew damn well they could smell the wolves. Whatever the fuck they wanted, Embry wasn't about to let them have it. His wide eyes shifted into a glare and he spit the words at Jacob. "We'll fucking kill them."
Jacob silently agreed with Embry, wishing nothing more than to rip every last one he could find to shreds. Part of him wished that he could add the Cullen's to his kill list because he swore these fucking leeches were here because of them. "Everyone needs to be at Sam's tonight. I need everyone who didn't patrol last night to be filled in and we need more on patrol at night, I know it's a lot to ask for everyone to lose out on more sleep than they already do, but something just doesn't feel right about what's going on."
Embry gave a silent nod to Jacob, beginning to feel the slightest bit of fear growing within him. Perhaps it was because it had been so long since they had dealt with a vampire face to face or maybe it was because Jacob, the alpha, seemed just as worried. Nonetheless, he mentally prepared himself for a potentially long week ahead of him.
A lean woman, with russet skin and a disheveled bob cut, walked casually into the shop, not for a moment taking any time to look at Maya. Instead, examining the silver car that was still at the top of the lift. Maya assumed the vehicle belonged to her and decided to strike up a conversation. "Hey, how can I help today?"
The woman's head snapped in the direction of Maya's voice as if she hadn't even realized someone else was there and stared with wide harshly black eyes. Maya recognized the face instantly because she had seen the exact same one yesterday afternoon, in her home, with Tate. Holy shit, it's her! Was the first thought that crossed Maya's mind, close second was that she desperately wanted to get out of here. The secondhand embarrassment she felt for this woman yesterday came back with full force. What were the odds that she would come face to face with her not even twenty-four hours later? She had wanted this, to discover who this mystery girl was. But now that they silently stared at each other with equally wide eyes she didn't even know what might be the right or wrong thing to say.
The staring had to end sometime and Maya knew this very well, so she took the business as usual route. "Are you here to pick up?"
"No," The woman's angled face fell into a scowl and the way she spoke cut like a knife. "I'm fine, I'll come back some other time."
Maya watched her walk away with a glare, on heavy feet. She felt the pure hatred that came off every step until she was out of sight. Maya couldn't blame her, though finding it a bit overdramatic, she walked in on something that could have very well been the last thing this girl wanted anyone to know about.
When Embry and Jacob made their way back into the shop, a mischievous smile took over Maya's face. She was a nosy sister after all and one of the two of them was bound to know who that girl was. "Come here!" She waved them over and tried to keep the level of her voice somewhat quiet, underneath all her enthusiasm, as if someone might hear their conversation even though just the three of them remained in the shop.
Both Embry and Jacob smirked in response, unsure of what she could possibly be so eager to tell them. Maya made her way around the desk to hop up on top of it and Jacob took that opportunity to lean in beside her, nearly touching shoulder to shoulder, looking down at her with that lopsided grin that nearly made her forget what she even wanted to say. "This is confidential, okay?"
Embry chuckled before saying, "Scout's honor."
"Yesterday, I walked in on Tate with someone but when I had the chance to talk to him about it, he was suspicious as hell." As much as Jacob wasn't much for gossip, he listened intently anyway. While Embry was always more than willing to listen to anything anyone might feel inclined to share. "I literally just saw her though, while you two were outback. She came in and left as soon as she saw me."
"Wait, who was it?" Embry made it overly obvious how curious he currently was.
"I don't know! She was looking at that car before she noticed me." Maya gestured toward the car on the lift and both Embry and Jacob's eyes shot wide.
"No." They said in unison. Maya could have sworn they sounded amused beneath the shock they both shared. She watched them with wide curious eyes, awaiting their next response.
"Did she have short black hair and-"
"The face of a bitch?" Embry added in the silly remark that although it was true, Jacob wouldn't have used those words specifically.
"Yes!" Maya gained an instant thrill knowing that she was just one step closer to finding out who this mystery woman was.
There was only one woman in La Push who had any reason to keep her hair that short, only one woman who more often than not looked like she was ready to cut someone if they even said hello. Most importantly, there was only one woman who owned the car that was supposed to be picked up today. Leah Clearwater.
Who guessed that it was Leah? I'd love to know if you suspected it or not, there was one review left a couple of weeks ago who knew it was Leah, and here I thought I was being sneaky! Leave a review and let me know what you would love to see in the next couple of chapters, your input is always important to me.