Jacob was finishing his rounds when Embry crashed into his consciousness.

She recast! I think she went to the Cullen's place.

Jacob's heart dropped and he snapped to attention.

Did you tail her to Ti'Hal's?!

Yes! And she definitely went there, but when she saw me she freaked! And then she was leaving and I tried to tell her to stop, but she just disappeared.

Jacob let out a snapping noise and turned his body to hurdle towards the Cullen's place. He was right to have Embry tail her after all. But he didn't want to be right. Grace was the most infuriating woman he'd ever met. Every time he tried to pull her in a direction, she'd push in the opposite. She'd tell them to go and then they'd stop. He literally had to order her to stay put just to keep her away from her sister now turned potentially bloodthirsty newborn. She careened toward danger like it was an amusement park. And when he'd catch her around the waist as she tried to jump off a cliff into the arms of yet another conflict, she'd kick and scream as he pulled her back from the edge.

Do you want me to check and see if she's there Jake? I'm close! Seth offered after listening to Jacob's raging thoughts about Grace.

No, stay put, I don't want you near the Cullen's place right now in case Bella's awake.

Edward had only somewhat been keeping Jacob in the loop as it seemed like things were touch and go for Bella. She was definitely transitioning into a vampire but it was taking longer than they had anticipated. Carlisle thought it might be the fact that they pulled her back from the brink of death at the last minute. But still, there were no definitive answers. He knew Grace had been having nightmares about it and he knew half the time she wasn't sleeping anyway. He'd find her awake sometimes, downstairs, on the couch, arms threaded through her legs as she stared out the door over the moonlit cove.

It broke him to see her so torn up but he kept the words Ti'Hal had told him at the forefront of his mind:

"She is the protector. And as her alpha, let her lead with her heart. She will know how to guide you….but as her imprint you must keep her safe. She is the Spirit Bird, strong-willed and connected to the sky and sea. But she is also just Grace Alo, a woman finding her way into love and life with you. You must find the balance."

Balance wasn't easy. Ti'Hal had a knack for providing answers but never actually giving you the clear way forward. As Jacob crashed through the clearing of the Cullen's property, he scanned his eyes quickly over the quiet facade of the home. No movement. He sniffed the air tentatively. No trace of her. That was odd. He knew her scent anywhere, but it was nowhere to be found here. Could Embry have been mistaken?

Grace? He called out to her. No response. Weird.

Did you find her? Leah broke through.

No, not yet. Embry, you're sure she came here?

I don't know man. One minute she was going to the truck and the next she's walking past me toward the woods. Where else would she go?

Is the truck still at Ti'Hal's?

Yeah, she left the keys in the driver seat.

Jake backed into the trees, but not before he saw Rosalie step out onto the front porch with the swaddled Renesmee in her arms. Jake tensed. This was the reason Bella was gone from them forever, never to be her true human self again. He had mixed feelings to say the least, but mostly, he just wanted to get the hell away from here. It frustrated him that Grace was so adamant about wanting to be here. They were supposed to be totally in sync as imprints, right?

So then why did he feel like they were on opposite sides of the field?

Jake turned and bolted back through the trees toward the house.

Maybe she went to Charlie's. Seth go swing by and see if you can pick up a scent. I'm going back to the house real quick.

You think she went home? Embry said skeptically.

Maybe… Jacob wasn't too sure, but it didn't hurt to check.

As he came to the treeline just outside of the cove, he quickly phased and pulled on his shorts jogging up to the front door. He heard the sound of movement in the house, a clattering of dishes as if someone was pulling out pots and pans. He strode through the front door.

"Grace?" he called out. A head peeked up from behind the kitchen island. Jake let out a sigh of relief. "Jesus, I've been looking for you."

"Hey." Grace said nonchalantly.

"Embry said you recast outside of Ti'Hal's and left the truck there. I thought you….went to see Bella," he said.

Grace paused, setting a pan on the stovetop and deciding her next words carefully.

"Yeah, I was going to. But then...I thought about what you said," she paused, looking at him, "And I realized that what you were asking for was as much for me as it was for you. And…" Grace looked down at her hands, "And I'm sorry. I can be patient."

Jake's face had broken into a smile, "You? Be patient?" he joked. Grace laughed as she rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, well, only for you, I guess," she replied, still wary that he might be upset with her.

"Come here," he said confidently from his place across the living room. Grace walked out from behind the counter and then sprinted toward him, crashing her body into his. He caught her easily and planted a kiss on her. "Thank you."

"That's how this works, right? Compromise? Listening...Trust." Grace offered in between his peppered kisses across her lips, down her cheek and neck. Jacob made a soft noise of agreement as he continued to press his lips to her. "I need to apologize to Embry, I was kind of a jerk." she murmured.

She hadn't even realized Jacob was steering her toward the couch until the back of her knees collided with the arm of the sofa. She sat down on the arm as Jacob brought his hands to either side of her face to kiss her softly. Grace placed her hands on either side of his scorching torso and tried to keep her head clear. This was the danger with Jake—it was always easy to slip into this euphoria with him, one where if she just let herself go, she could get lost. And she so desperately wanted to get lost with him.

She brought her hands up to circle his wrists and gently tugged at his hands so she could pull her face away from his.

"Are you hungry?" Grace asked in a quiet voice her eyes were heavy with desire and he looked across her face.

"Starving," he breathed. Her breath hitched in her throat and Jacob took it upon himself to lean his head down again to hers pressing harder against her. Grace's body responded of its own accord this time as she arched her back into him and pressed her hips to meet his. Jake's arm instinctively wrapped down around her back pulling her closer as their mouths became more frenzied moving over one another. Everything in Grace pulled her toward Jacob and inside she was rejoicing. But, annoyingly for Grace, something made her stop.

"Wait," she said, as his hands pushed up under her shirt spreading wide across her bare back.

"You okay?" He said, perturbed. Jake couldn't put his finger on why she always made him stop. It couldn't be that she wanted to move slow, that had backfired per their last go at a relationship. And they lived together, they were in a clearly defined relationship. He was ready to take the next step but she always stopped him.

"Yes, I—" Grace hesitated, a blush clearly forming on her cheeks. He placed a hand under her chin and pulled her face up to look at him.

"What's wrong?" He said, concern clear in his eyes. Grace shook her head.

"Nothing it's...it's me. I just...Oh god this is kind of embarrassing," Grace said closing her eyes tightly. The right side of Jake's mouth pulled up in a lopsided grin that made Grace weak.

"Tell me," he said easily. Grace let out an exasperated huff and a laugh.

"It's dumb, it's so dumb, you're gonna laugh."

"Good thing I like it when you make me laugh," he said, bringing the hand that was cupping her chin to her jaw and stroking his thumb across her cheek. Grace's blush deepened. "I like that too," he said softly as he let his thumb glide across her reddened cheek.

"How do you do that?"

"Don't change the subject now," he laughed. "Tell me what's wrong. Why do you always stop me?"

"I just—" Grace shook with frustration, "I just want it to be perfect!" she blurted out. She turned her head into his wide hand and cringed.

"What?" Jacob said not connecting yet.

"With you, I mean. I want it to be perfect. Everything." She looked up at him, standing up and placing her hands on his chest. "I want it to be...special," she cringed again, "God it sounds so lame but I do. I messed everything up so bad the first time and I don't want us to be bogged down with all this….stuff." She locked eyes with his and she saw the laughter twinkling in his eyes as he tried to take her seriously.

"You don't want to have sex yet because you want it to be perfect when our lives aren't a tangled mess fit with other people's problems?" Jake said to sum it up. Grace looked at him, mouth agape.

"Uhh, yeah." She said feeling stupid. "When you put it like that though," Grace shifted uncomfortably and he placed both of his hands on either of her arms holding her in place.

"I get it. We don't have to take it to the next level right now. But Grace, I gotta be honest with you," he paused running a hand through his shaggy hair. Grace couldn't help but adore it. She missed his long hair and hoped he never cut it again. Still, she braced for the worst of what he was about to say next and bit her lower lip in anticipation, "I don't know if there will ever be a time where we're not 'bogged down' by all this 'stuff'," he used air quotes around her words and Grace looked at the ground dejectedly.

"I know it's stupid, but...I just want our first time to not be on the couch, or in the back of the Rabbit, or in our bed after you've had an exhausting night of running rounds, while I'm worried that my sister is lost forever, and yo're worrying about everyone else. I want it to be...World Series Level stuff," she concluded as she looked back up at him. He had an eyebrow raised and sarcastically said:

"Have you and Embry been binging 90's movies again?"

"Jake, come on," she groaned, but she couldn't help a smile playing on her face, "Just a couple.." He laughed and took her hands in his.

"Okay. We'll shoot for perfect," he pushed a piece of hair behind her ear, "But I'm telling you right now, it's not going to be easy."

"Why? Cos you wanna jump my bones so bad?" she joked. He shrugged.

"Basically, yeah. Even if it's not just the imprint, everything in me wants you all of the time." He said a little lick of desire hung on the edge of his words. Grace watched him carefully, as her heart fluttered uncontrollably. Everything in her wanted him all the time too.

"So...no more seeing me naked for awhile then?"

"Probably for the best, just for now until we find our moment." He brought his hand up and rubbed his thumb across her lower lip.

"We won't have to wait long...promise," Grace said as she turned her head and bit at his thumb playfully. Jake laughed at that.

"Deal. Thank you for not going rogue today. Now if you'll excuse me, I still have rounds to do," he leaned down and kissed the top of her forehead. "I love you."

"And I love you," she nodded. She turned toward the kitchen and Jake took the opportunity to swat at her butt with the back of his hand before jogging out the front door before he could be volleyed with too many protests.

Later that night, Grace was startled awake by the same nightmare—the hand that reached for her was just skin and bones now, and Bella didn't even look like Bella anymore, she was just skeletal remains and decayed dripping skin. Jake had become used to the nightmares at this point and squeezed her gently into his body before falling back asleep. Grace laid there for a second, getting her bearings as she bit the tip of her thumb. When Grace heard her phone buzz on the nightstand, she carefully pulled out of Jacob's arms and rolled to her side of the bed, that she rarely slept on when Jake was home, and flipped it open.

Carlisle.

Grace sucked in a sharp breath and answered.

"Hello?" she said quietly. Jake was awake again, now rubbing his hand sleepily across his face.

"Grace. I'm sorry for calling so late, did I wake you?" Carlisle's smooth tone was comforting but that didn't stop Grace from searching for any kind of worry there.

"No, no. How's Bella? Is she—" Grace didn't know how to continue. Jake had pulled himself up at the mention of Bella's name and rolled over to be behind Grace, putting a hand on her lower back.

"That's why I was calling," Carlisle continued. "I thought you'd want to know as soon as possible, since we knew how worried you've been. The transformation was successful. She woke up a few days ago and is still getting the lay of the land, but…" Carlisle stopped.

"But?" Three days ago!? They couldn't call and tell her that Bella had made it three days ago?

"She's asking for you, and she seems to have some cadence of control. If you feel comfortable, you should come by tomorrow." Carlisle said, "When you're ready, of course." he tacked on quickly at the end.

"Yes! Thank you!" the excitement filled Grace to the brim, "I'll be there in the morning." Grace glanced at the clock: 4 a.m. She could make it to 7. Vampires don't really keep time anyway, this was just a formality.

"See you then," Carlisle said confidently before hanging up. Grace clutched the phone to her chest.

"Grace," Jacob said slowly, the concern clear in his voice.

"He said she was okay. She's okay. Oh god," the flood of emotions was coming now. She had missed her so much, and while she hadn't realized it, Grace had started to resign herself to Bella's death. The relief at her just being...alive was overwhelming. Jake was off the bed and kneeling in front of her, his hands on either side of her thighs as Grace let tears of joy fall from her face. "Jake," she said through a smile, "She's okay." Jake watched her carefully and Grace suddenly realized that he didn't look happy. "What?" she said, almost annoyed. Jake's grip on her thighs tightened.

"I'm happy she's okay...but Grace," he paused.

"Jacob, no. No 'But Grace!' Carlisle said she was fine and that she's been asking for me!"

"I know, I just...need you to be careful. She's still a newborn and I think if we just gave her some more time to ...even out," he said softly.

"This is bullshit," Grace huffed, the tears of joy evaporated and now all she was was frustrated.

"You said you were going to be patient," Jake said.

"Carlisle said it was okay!" Grace held the phone up as proof and then faltered. "But you don't?"

"I just...need you to be safe. And I don't think this is the best idea right now. Why don't we start with calling her tomorrow morning and then we can go from there? That way we don't walk into the lion's den unprepared."

Grace's eyes darted around his face, he was calm, his voice filled with concern, and his eyes were pleading. She closed her eyes tightly and heard the echo of words from teacher's long ago that she had had as a child describing her to her mother: Impulsive, bratty, hot-headed, doesn't think things through.

Grace let out a hard breath and narrowed her eyes while looking at Jacob. A twitch of a smile was itching at his lips as he watched her. "Okay...we'll call her first." She said, her hands gripping the phone tightly.

"Thank you," he said leaning up to plant a kiss on her nearly pouted lips. "Let's go back to sleep." He said, the exhaustion returning to his eyes as he moved around her and collapsed on the bed again.

"I'm not tired."

"Of course not," he yawned.

"I'm going to take a shower, you sleep," she said as she crawled over him, making sure to press a knee into his abdomen as she made her way over his side of the bed to the bathroom instead of getting up and walking around. He humored her and made a loud groaning noise as she did this, but she knew it didn't actually faze him.

Grace shook out the pain in her hands as she tried to quell her frustration. He was right, she knew he was right, but she just wanted to see Bella...and Renesmee again. She needed to know they were alright.

She'd stay put for now, but Jacob couldn't hold her in place too long. She felt like she might burst apart at any moment.