Hello, lovelies. I hope you enjoy this one. As always, all characters are owned by SM.

(JPOV)

Jacob tossed around uncomfortably. It was his first night trying to sleep without Bella next to him in days. Missing her sucked, but the physical ache from her absence was definitely not helping the healing process. His mind was a dark place over the last few days. The memory of ripping Mike's head off of his shoulders was haunting. Combined with having seen Bella kissing Edward back through Seth's thoughts, Jacob was in turmoil. That particular sight had ripped through the pack like a punch. Luckily, being in the heat of battle had made it impossible for Jacob to dwell at the moment. Four days of bed rest, however, had given him more than enough time to overthink.
His wolf was driving him mad, the need to phase and see Bella overwhelming. Near dawn, Jacob snuck quietly down the stairs out the back door. There was a "Pssst," behind him as he softly pulled the door shut. Jacob spun around to find his sister sitting in a lawn chair, smoking a cigarette.
"Where the hell are you going?" Rachel asked him.
"For a walk," he grumbled.
Please don't piss me off, Rachel. I'll wolf out right here.
"Dad just lets you do whatever the fuck you want to, doesn't he," she asked and scoffed.
"I guess you'd know the answer to that if you ever came home," Jacob snapped at Rachel and jogged toward the trails. Once he knew he was safely out of sight, he stripped and tied his clothes to his ankle. He fought to keep from screaming as he shifted painfully. Once in wolf form, he was surprised that the pain had eased quite a bit. He picked up speed and headed for forks. Nearly there, Jacob groaned as he felt Seth phase-in.
"Jake! What the hell are you doing, bro?" Seth asked angrily. "You're not supposed to phase yet."
"Mind your business, kiddo. I'm having a bad morning," Jacob grumbled.
"Okay," Seth warned, "But my mom's gonna kick your ass later." Seth luckily phased back out before Jacob could say anything else. He didn't particularly want to be a dick in front of Seth today.
Charlie was pulling out of the driveway as he arrived. Jacob waited until the Chief was out of sight before phasing and jogging up behind the house. He growled angrily as he picked up Edwards scent.
Right up to Bella's fucking window. He'd taken advantage of the one night they were apart to sneak into her goddamned room?
The memory of Bella kissing Edward on the mountainside swarmed him again. Betrayal seeped through Jacob, his wolf screaming at him to find the threat and tear it to shreds.
Had she invited him? Was the bastard still here? Jacob crept into the house and walked around Bella's bedroom, fuming. She was sound asleep in a white negligee, absolutely reeking of Edward Fucking Cullen.
Fearing he would phase right there, he fled the house and sat on the back steps. Eating himself alive with worry, and grateful his brothers weren't there to see it, Jacob buried his face in his hands and cried.

(BPOV)

Bella was surprised to find an angry Jacob waiting on her front porch the next morning. She'd been absently eating cereal when he knocked on the door.
"Hey," she said happily, stepping out onto the porch. "How did you get here?" The Rabbit wasn't in the drive.
"I ran," he said and rolled his eyes.
"Jake you're not completely healed," she chastised.
"I'm fine, Bella," he snapped.
Bella looked at him uneasily. "You wanna tell me what's wrong with you?" She stepped back inside and gestured for him to come in. Jacob remained still, glaring.
"Are you coming into the house?" She asked.
"I already did. You were still sleeping. Is there anything you want to tell me about?" Jacob snapped at her.
"What is your problem?" She snapped back. "I don't understand what you're pissy about," Her stomach knotted with dread as he glared at her. "Are we not okay?
"Why was Cullen in your room?" He asked.
"He came by to talk. I would have told you if you'd given me a chance," Bella said. "Is that what you're pissy about?"
"No, I'm pissy that you're in fucking lingerie covered in his scent. I could smell him when I got here. I see he still thinks the window is his personal fucking doorway," Jacob said.
"I had a robe on when he was here. I hugged him before he left…" Bella explained as calmly as she could manage. She'd never witness Jacob angry like this. Not at me, anyway.
"You hugged him?" Jacob asked calmly, though his eyes were shining with anger. "Did you do anything else?"
Shocked by the insinuation, she took a step backward. He may as well have slapped her. It would have fucking hurt less.
"No!" Bella yelled. "How could you even ask me that?"
"You're seriously getting pissed at me?" Jacob said. "If you walked into my room and found my ex-girlfriend's scent all over me, what the hell would you think?" Jacob glared at her. He was trembling, barely keeping it together.
Angry tears spilled down her cheeks as she tried to control her anger.
He had a point, but her pride wouldn't let her admit it.
"I wouldn't cheat on you, Jake, and fuck you if you don't know me better than that," Bella said and slammed her front door in his face. She stomped up the stairs, ripping off the negligee and tossing it into the trash can. After a few minutes of angry sobbing cross-legged on her bedroom floor, she turned and jumped to find Jacob leaning in the door frame. "Get the fuck out, Jake," she yelled at him.
"We need to talk about this shit," he grumbled.
"I spend one night away from you. One, Jacob, and you accuse me of cheating? What the hell is that about?"
"Do you honestly think that I don't remember what happened?" Jacob asked her accusingly. "How am I supposed to know that the next time he kisses you that you won't kiss him back?"
Bella was silent. She had no clue what to say. It was true, wasn't it? She'd kissed him back. Bella snagged the robe from her bed where she'd left it, adding it to the trash can.
"Now you have nothing to say?" Jacob rubbed his face furiously and huffed. "I've waited five days for you to just come out and tell me what happened, Bella. Now I'm directly asking you and you still have nothing to say?"
"I don't know what to say, Jacob," Bella admitted. She sat back on the floor, pulling her knees up to her chest. "Do you want me to say that I'm sorry? That it's been eating me alive for days? That I regret it? Of course, I do. I don't know why I reacted the way that I did. I could try to give you a million excuses, but I don't have one. Everything was a giant emotional mess, and… It just happened,' she finished lamely.
Jacob nodded angrily, attempting to not stare at the sad and almost naked display that Bella was in front of him. Even in the heat of an argument, the wolf wanted his mate. Hell, Jacob wanted his mate. The longer he stared at her, the calmer he seemed to become.
"If we're going to continue this conversation, you're going to need a shirt." He snickered. Bella bit her lip and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Finding his scent here... My wolf just went nuts," Jacob said. "Now, I know this is shit we need to talk about, but…"
"Don't blame the wolf, Jacob. This was just you being an ass." She scoffed, shaking her head. "I fucked up, okay? I made a really big mistake. You coming here and accusing me of cheating, though? You had made up your mind that I fucked around with him before you even asked me what happened, didn't you?" She didn't need his confirmation. The guilt on his face answered her question.
"This fucking day is already trash. I'm going back to bed," she said.
Jacob reached out for her as she stood, pulling her against his chest. Bella sobbed. They stood together until she calmed down.
"I'm going to go shower. Again," she grumbled, finally pulling away from him. Jacob followed her solemnly to the bathroom, leaning in the door frame as she climbed into the shower.
"I am sorry that I jumped to conclusions, even if I had a reason," Jacob said. "Honestly, if it were anyone else in the world aside from him, I don't think I'd have even considered that you'd do something like that. I just couldn't understand why you hadn't talked to me about it if you weren't trying to hide it."
"We had more pressing things to worry about than a goodbye kiss in the middle of that chaos," Bella said.
"Do you understand at all why I feel suspicious," Jacob asked her.
"Jacob, that entire day was fucking traumatizing. Can you understand why maybe I didn't want to talk about it?"
Jacob sighed heavily, closed the toilet lid, and sat down.
"I feel like I'm losing my mind, Bells," he admitted. "Or worse, that I'm going to lose you. I hate being away from you at night now. I've been going stir crazy since you left my house. I can't fucking sleep. I keep seeing myself rip Newton's fucking head off."
Bella peeked out from the shower at him. "Why haven't you talked to me about it," she asked with concern.
"Gee, I dunno," he said sarcastically. "It was a pretty traumatizing day." She glared at him and leaned back into the shower.
"I missed you last night," he continued.
"I missed you last night too," she admitted. "When Edward knocked on my window last night, I was half asleep. I unlocked the window assuming it was you," Bella said as she turned off the water and reached for a towel.
"You did?" he asked, standing and moving out of the way as she stepped out of the shower.
"Of course," she said and stood on her toes to kiss his cheek. "I always miss you when we're apart." Jacob grinned.
"If you'd given me a chance to tell you about it earlier, there were some things we talked about that I wanted to tell you," Bella said. Jacob sighed.
"Does the pack know you ran here," she asked, making her way back to her bedroom to dress.
"Oh, I'm sure. Seth cussed me for phasing already. He said his mom will kick my ass." Jacob said and laughed.
"But you're going to wait a while before you do it again and take it easy, right?" Bella asked him.
"Probably," he said and grinned. "I'm not going to lie, it felt pretty good to phase."
"Jake…" she gave him a warning look and sighed. "I'm just going to have to keep an eye on you, aren't I?"
"Think Charlie will let me stay for a few days?" Jacob snickered.
"Don't press your luck, buddy," Bella laughed. As she finished dressing, she filled Jacob in on her conversation with Edward, emphasizing the fact that he'd left town. Afterward, Jacob pulled her into a hug. She finally began to fully relax as she stood with her head against his chest, enveloped in his warmth. Their issues certainly weren't resolved, but they'd seemed to have made a silent truce for the time being. She pulled away when the phone began to ring and Jacob darted down the stairs to answer it. Bella gathered her sheets and blankets from her bed, dragging them downstairs to the washing machine.
Jacob was having an animated conversation when she reached the kitchen. Eyeing him suspiciously, she loaded the washer and dumped the rest of her breakfast down the disposal. Jacob hung up the phone still chuckling.
"Who was that?" she asked.
"Emmett," Jacob said. "Blondie called but Emmett took the phone from her."
Bella laughed. "So what did they want?"
"To know if we could meet them in an hour or so. They want to talk to us about something," Jacob said and shrugged.
"Suspicious," she laughed. "Did they sound serious? Nothing is wrong, right?"
"Nah, he was joking too much for something to be wrong," Jacob said.
"Oh, Jake," Bella laughed. "You don't even know."

Emmett and Rose were waiting outside when Bella and Jake pulled into Cullen's drive. Both laughed and rushed the truck. Emmett jumped into the back as Rose hopped in next to Bella and shut the door.
"Are we going somewhere?" Bella asked.
"Yes," Rose said. "I'll tell you where to turn."
"Mind rolling your window down, Blondie?" Jacob asked, scrunching up his nose.
"Mush, Fido," she laughed and cranked the window lever.
Within a few minutes, they were approaching the Rez border. Jacob shifted in the seat nervously.
"Eh, Blondie, you know I can't just take you guys on the Rez, right?" Jacob said. Rose smiled at him.
"Just pull over a little way up here. We can show you without crossing the boundary line and I can stop holding my breath." Rose said. She pointed out a gravel drive a little further up the road for them to pull into and they all climbed out of the truck.
Bella and Jacob glanced around at the overgrown, derelict lot in front of them.
"So what do you think?" Rose asked. Emmett gave them a wide grin.
"I think it's been a long time since anyone has lived here," Jacob said, chuckling.
"What do you think of the location?" Rose asked, rolling her eyes. "Do you think it would be a good spot for a business?"
Jacob's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Uh, yeah, I suppose," he said, "It's a busy stretch here. I guess it could be a good place."
"What are you two up to?" Bella asked, confused.
"We have a business proposition for you and Jacob, actually," Rose said, unable to hold back her grin.
"Ern… what is it?" Bella asked hesitantly.
"Well… we were wondering if you would be interested in building and running your own auto repair," Rose said to Jacob. He stared at her for a moment, dumbfounded.
Emmett chuckled. "He's speechless, babe." Rose rolled her eyes again.
"I…" Jacob stammered, "That's my goal. Embry and I hoped to open our own shop eventually."
"Well, Emmett and I were talking about it and we'd like to build you a garage. Maybe build a house further back or a soundproof apartment above the garage?" Rose offered.
"Woah, guys," Jacob said nervously, holding his hands up, "That's kind of a big deal. I'm not even 18 yet."
Rose and Emmett glanced at each other and chuckled. "It would be more like a loan," she explained. "We could help create the place - you two could basically claim to rent it until you're ready to take over ownership.."
"But… why?" Jacob asked anxiously. "Why do you want to do this?"
"A lot of reasons," Emmett said seriously.
"Well, for one, we already promised Bella that we won't abandon her again," Rosalie said.
"Yep. She's family. That means you're family, dude." Emmett said and lightly slapped Jacob on the back.
"We know you want a shop and starting off on your own can be difficult," Rose explained. "We could even help you pay for schooling. Whatever you need.."
Jacob released a deep breath. "Guys, I need to think about this," he said, threading his fingers anxiously through Bella's. I hope you understand, but this is something I would need to discuss with the pack and the tribal elders first. My ties are to the reservation…"
"We understand," Rose said quickly. "We discussed that, actually. I hope you don't get mad, but we already ran the idea by Sam to ask if there were...foreseeable issues."
"We talked about the possibility of strengthening our alliances with the pack. We would move out of the area once everything is up and running, but we'd be available to stand with you guys and help protect any of you as long as You or Sam are Alpha." Emmett said.
"Or me?" Jacob laughed.
"It's your birthright, isn't it?" Rose asked. "You're Ephriam's direct descendant."

Jacob laughed and shook his head. "I forgot you knew my great-grandfather. That fucking floors me."
"I'm an old woman, okay," Rose chuckled before pointing at Emmett seriously. "Don't you dare repeat that."
Emmett held his hands up, feigning fear. "Okay, woman. Shit."
"So, what did Sam have to say, anyway," Jacob asked, laughing.
"He suggested the location," Rose said, grinning.
"Wow," Jacob said and sighed again heavily.
"You two check out the spot a little bit. Take a few days, talk to whoever you need to, and let us know what you decide," Rosalie said. "I know it's a big decision and things would happen pretty quickly. However, the sooner we leave the area, the better. We wanted to keep that in mind. You'd be able to supply jobs for the pack, too. We'd like to help all of you, Jacob. My family has directly affected four generations of yours. I can't take that away, but we'd like to do whatever you'll allow us to do to help."
"Hey, bro," Emmett said, "If you decide you want to say no, that's okay, too. No pressure. It's totally up to you."
"Absolutely," Rose agreed. Jacob let out a deep breath and, speechless, nodded. Rose and Emmett grinned at each other happily and sped away on foot. The location was less than a mile from Sam and Emily's house. Jacob refused to consider any more decisions until he talked to his brothers about the offer, especially with Embry. Bella readily agreed that he should. After all, it had never been just Jacob's dream. Embry was as much a part of it as Jacob was.

Despite the way the day had begun, Rose and Emmett's offer had Bella and Jacob excited. Bella started talking about tutoring Jacob for a high school equivalency exam and the possibility of his going to college after all. While he wasn't as excited about the "schooling" part of the deal, the prospect of having exactly what he and Embry had dreamed of was very tempting. Bella drug Jacob back to her truck and the local grocery store. Multiple packages of steaks and side items later, they made their way to Billy's house. Jacob started making calls to round everyone up while Bella began putting side dishes together and cleaning. Billy arrived home with Sue, Leah, and Seth in tow. It wasn't long before the rest of the pack, Emily, Kim, and Old Quil arrived. It was a miraculously clear day and everyone piled around outside as Jacob fired up his BBQ grill.
"Bro, it's going to take forever to cook all those steaks on that little ass grill," Paul chuckled.
"That's fine. We've got a lot to talk about," Jacob said. Emily shoved Jake playfully aside and took over.
"I know what you wanna talk about. You talk, I'll cook the steaks," she chuckled. Jacob dropped a quick kiss to her cheek and sat with the elders and his pack. He carefully explained the offer that had been made by the Cullens. When he was finished, Sam filled everyone in on the proposed amendments to the treaty, sealing the Cullens as allies for the tribe in times of need. Sam explained that once everything had been set into place as needed, they had agreed to leave the area unless needed. They would still not be allowed entry onto the reservation without a wolf to escort them as Sam had with Carlisle and Edward after the battle. The location of the proposed garage was just outside of the reservation, allowing them access if needed without crossing the territory.
Emily and Bella watched dumbfounded as plates were made and the food doled out. Instead of rowdy boys joking with their mouths full as they would normally be doing, everyone contemplated to themselves in silence. The Elders, of course, remained much more hesitant about the plan than the pack mates were. In the end, the official decision landed on Billy as Chief and Sam as the alpha. Trusting Sam entirely, Billy reluctantly agreed.
Rachel arrived home earlier than expected, walking curiously out into the backyard. Everyone looked up at her in surprise.
"What the hell is going on out here," she asked.
Bella looked up at Emily as she grabbed Bella's hand, squeezing it hard.
"Ouch," Bella whispered and Emily nudged her, staring in Paul's direction. He was staring up at Rachel, mouth hanging open and eyes wide. The packmates glanced at each other, confused.
"Not another one," Leah said and stood up quickly. She trotted off towards the woods, laughing bitterly to herself.
"Paul, are you alright?" Sam teased and shoved his shoulder, pulling him from his daze.
"Uh… yeah," Paul said and did something that none of them had ever seen him do before. Paul Lahote blushed bright red and became a blithering idiot before their very eyes.
"Oh, you have to be shitting me," Jacob yelled. "No. Hell no, Paul. No way!" Rachel looked around, her confusion plain to see.
"You guys are fucking weird," she said and walked back into the house mumbling about, "why did I move back here" along the way. As soon as the screen door slammed behind her, Jacob and Paul were instantly in each other's faces.
"Would someone like to tell me what the hell is going on?" Billy roared, silencing them.
Emily grinned watching the display. "This is better than a soap opera," she mumbled to Bella and laughed.
"Can someone imprint when they aren't phased?" Jacob asked the elders.
"Were the rest of you phased when you imprinted?" asked Sue.
"All of us," Sam said. "But…" he hesitated, unable to stop himself from chuckling. "Billy, I'm sorry," he said as all but Paul and the Elders joined in.
"For?" Billy asked before he realized what was happening. "Sonofabitch," he yelled. Paul just smiled in disbelief as the others laughed.
"So, eh, should I start calling you Dad now?" Paul asked Billy playfully.
Billy gave Paul a stern look. "No." Paul swallowed loudly before Billy erupted with laughter. "Well, Jake, maybe we'll get your sister to stick around after all," Billy mumbled to his son happily.
"How about we see if he can manage to get her interested, first," Quil laughed.
"Good luck," Jared teased and slapped Paul on the shoulder.
Eventually, everyone left. Jacob decided to stay home and talk with Billy about the garage idea some more. Bella gave him a lingering kiss next to her truck and promised to see him the next day before heading home.

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