. Hey, lovely readers. This one is entirely in Jake's POV. I own nothing. I hope you enjoy - Please Review :)

(JPOV)

Jacob crawled out from under the truck with his face covered in oil and hollered for someone to bring him a rag.
"Geez," Quil said, dropping a shop rag directly on his face. "I guess you found the mysterious leak."
"Yeah," Jacob barked out, chuckling. "This is a three-day fix without Rose."
"Never thought I'd say I miss a leech being around," Quil said, laughing as Jacob stood up.
"I gotta go order these parts," Jacob said and headed for the office. "They'll be down here tomorrow. I'm going to see if she or Emmett would mind picking them up on the way. That should cut us a day."
"How are they liking the new place?" Quil asked him.
"You'll see them tomorrow," Jacob said, grinning. "Ask them yourself."
"They'll be here for the bonfire?" Quil said incredulously. "That will be a first, for sure."
"So will having it on land that isn't technically on the reservation," Jacob said. "But, I'm pretty sure about ten feet from the border is close enough."
"So why did the Council want to have it here?" Quil asked.
"Because even though those other two leeches haven't come back, we still don't know if they will or why they were here in the first place. They keep coming in from the ocean. I think the Council is afraid we'd be sitting ducks all piled together on the beach," Jacob explained.
"Dude, why haven't you taken over as Alpha yet?" Quil said. "You're pretty much running things these days, anyway."
He wasn't wrong. Bella and Emily shared the alpha female responsibilities, but Jacob had slowly begun taking on more of a leadership role with the pack. Sam pretty much went along with whatever Jacob thought was best these days. Jacob's main issue with taking over as alpha was the commanding part of the role. He was strong, determined, and a quick thinker, sure. He had no problem tearing into a red-eyed leech or risking his life to do it. What he didn't want to do was be the guy that commanded his will over his family. Free will was important to Jacob. He'd have to issue a formal command against Sam, a challenge, really.
It seemed awfully hard to do when you had no reason to be angry enough to fight someone, especially one you considered a brother. So far, Sam had led them well. He deserved the respect he'd earned.
"It'll happen when it's supposed to," Jacob said as he tried to dismiss the subject. "What have you been up to lately, anyway? Seeing anyone these days?"
Quil looked up at him in surprise. "No, man. Not for weeks."
"What happened with the last one?" Jacob asked him curiously.
"I told you before, it was just a fling. Wasn't meant to be," Quil said as calmly as he could manage, though he wouldn't look Jacob in the eye.
They were both surprised to look up and find a dumbstruck Leah standing in the office doorway behind them. She had begun working as a receptionist of sorts for the garage earlier that week. She preferred to stay away from the actual garage portion of the building and her hesitation suddenly made sense.
"I just wanted to let you know I'm heading home," she finally said, turning to Jacob. "Mr. Clark called back and said to put his keys under the driver's floor mat. He's running late for pickup."
"Thanks, Leah," Jacob said. "Are you coming tomorrow?"
"For Jacob Black's annual birthday gathering and Bella's lasagna? Wouldn't miss it," she said before shooting an angry glance toward Quil. He looked like a deer caught in headlights as he tried to look anywhere except at Leah. Jacob could feel the air between them growing thicker with tension, and he huffed.
"Thanks, Leah," Jacob said, smiling. She turned to leave, heading out the garage side door. As soon as it clicked shut, Jacob dropped his smile and glared at Quil.
"Fucking Leah, Quil? Really?" Jacob asked him angrily. "Is that who it was on my couch?"
Quil huffed and turned to walk out of the office. Jacob slid his computer chair across the room and blocked Quil's path with his legs.
"Nuh-uh," Jacob said and pointed to the chair Quil had just abandoned. "You sit the fuck down. We're going to chat." Quil turned and sat with his arms folded across his chest. "Are you out of your goddamned mind," Jacob asked him. "Do you have any clue what kind of fight this could start?"
"It's over, Jake. It doesn't matter," Quil yelled, though he still refused to look at Jacob. Jacob scoffed, looking over his friend. Quil wasn't pissed about Jacob being in his business or worried about what had transpired between himself and Leah.
He seems ...disappointed.
"Why'd you end it?" Jacob asked him calmly. Quil looked up at him in surprise.
Quil doesn't need a boss or an Alpha right now. He needs a friend.
"It wasn't for the pack's sake," Jacob said. "If you two cared about that, it wouldn't have started in the first place. You were getting away with it without it interfering for months. So, why did you end it?"
"She's not my imprint, Jake. Besides, she still loves Sam," Quil admitted, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees.
Jacob asked, "But, you love her now, don't you?" Quil nodded slowly, staring at the floor.
"I know, it's fucking stupid," Quil said and scoffed.
"It's not stupid, man," Jacob said. "I'm sorry you're going through it, though. If Sam finds out, it's going to be one hell of a fight. You know that, right?"
"Yeah, I do. And it's bullshit," Quil spat out angrily, finally looked up at his friend. "It's none of his damn business who she's fucking around with. It's not anyone's business. No one had a fucking word to say about Paul fucking half the reservation before he met Rachel."
"Paul wasn't fucking his packmate's ex-fiancee," Jacob said.
"Nope, he just imprinted on his Alpha's sister," Quil said bitterly.
"The situation between Sam and Leah is awkward enough. That rule was put into place to keep from causing more romantic issues between pack members. You know that, Quil."
"It's still bullshit," Quil argued. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. It's over. I'm gonna clean up my station and head home. At least give me a heads up if you decide to tell Sam, so I know when my ass whooping is coming," he said bitterly. Quil got up and walked out of the office, more depressed than Jacob had ever seen him.
Maybe it's time someone did have a talk with Sam about the Leah situation.
Quil believed she still loved Sam, but Jacob had noticed a change in Leah over the last few months. Jacob knew that she had gotten over her feelings for Sam. She was even being nice to Emily these days.
Maybe Quil helped her to heal the way I somehow helped Bella. After all, they had seen each other for months without causing any problems. They both knew the risks they were taking when either one could possibly imprint on someone eventually. No one knew that risk more than Leah. Now they were both walking around miserable again.
I bet Bells has known for months, Jacob thought and smirked.
There was no point in being mad about it. Free will was important to them both, and Jacob wasn't surprised that he agreed with Quil.
It is bullshit. If Quil and Leah wanted to be together, why shouldn't they?
There was no proof that all of the wolves would imprint. It was supposed to be rare. Jacob continued to ponder the situation as he cleaned up the office, locked up, and went home. When he walked into his kitchen, Leah was sitting at the table with Angela and Bella. It didn't take much to figure out that the three of them had been in the middle of a serious discussion. Leah looked like she'd already shed a tear or twenty. Her eyes were bloodshot, her lashes wet.
"Come here, Leah," Jacob said. She stood slowly, straightening her back proudly as she stepped toward him.
She thinks I'm going to jump her ass.
Jacob smirked and held his arms out as Leah gaped at him in surprise. He stepped forward and yanked Leah into a hug. She hugged him back, buried her face into his shoulder, and cried. Jacob's heart ached for Leah. She'd come so far over the last year, and no one was in any hurry for the return of bitter Leah.
She deserves a little fucking peace. Quil does, too.
"Hey," Jacob said, pulling away from Leah. He reached up to wipe her tears away, and she chuckled awkwardly, glancing toward Angela and Bella. "Leah, I know."
Leah looked back at him in surprise. No, he thought. Not surprise. She's terrified.
The heartbroken expression on Bella's face gave Jacob all the validation he needed.
"It's okay," Jacob said softly and pulled Leah into another hug.
"Sam is going to stomp both of our asses if he finds out, Jake, and you know it," Leah said bitterly.
Jacob sighed, pulling away from her again. "You know what? He can come through me." Jacob nodded to himself decidedly.
"Are you serious?" Leah asked incredulously. "You know this will put you against him if he ever finds out, right?"
"You have every right to love who you love," Jacob said firmly.
"I said the same thing," Bella chuckled.
"She did," Leah admitted and winked at her future sister.
"I should have told Quil the same thing today," Jacob admitted.
Leah scoffed. "Not like it matters," she muttered.
"It matters, Lee," Jacob said. "He's hurting. He thinks you still love Sam. Go show him you don't."
Leah gasped and then chuckled. "You're full of surprises, baby Alpha."
"What the fuck are you waiting for? He's still in the garage," Jacob said and sat down at the table, grinning. Leah hesitated for a minute before she walked out the door without so much as a backward glance.
"Good for Leah," Angela said, laughing.
"Have I told you how proud of you I am lately?" Bella asked Jacob, absolutely beaming at him. She began to stand, and Angela nudged her back into her seat.
"I got it," she said.
"If you're talking bout dinner, I can get it myself," Jacob said, laughing as he stood. He walked over to the stove and began filling a plate.
Angela asked him, "Are you ready for tomorrow?"
"I am, yeah," Jacob said, chuckling. "Eighteen going on forty-five."
"Twenty-five, maybe," Angela teased.
"I'm going to go take a bath, I think," Bella said.
"I will definitely need a hot shower after I eat," Jacob said. "I got oil all over me earlier. It's in my hair."
"I can see that," Bella said, chuckling. She winked at him before leaving the room, and he chuckled.
"You two are serious relationship goals," Angela said, chuckling. "I hope Embry and I can get our shit together half as well as you two already have."
"Bells and I had a whole lifetime of memories to build on, Angie. You guys will get there," Jacob said, between bites. Angela smiled at him sadly, her doubt plain to see.
"Where is Embry?" Jacob asked.
"Tiffany's. He'll be back in a little while," she said, glancing at her watch. "I was kind of hoping I could maybe talk to you about some stuff," Angela admitted softly. "If you're okay with it."
"What's going on?" Jacob asked her.
"Why won't anyone around here talk about Mike or Ben?" Angela asked flatly. "Embry won't tell me. Just says it's hard for everyone. Bella won't answer anything I say about Mike at all. It just made me wonder."
"Wonder what?" Jacob asked hesitantly. He already knew the answer.
"What really happened. If a vampire took him," Angela admitted. "No one ever found him. Maybe he is living as a vampire out there somewhere."
"He's not, Angie," Jacob admitted sadly. "And honestly, I'm not sure you really want to know the answers."
Angela glared at him suspiciously. "Tell me. I want the truth, Jacob. I want to know if someone killed Ben on purpose. He didn't deserve to die."
"No, he didn't," Jacob agreed. "Neither did Mike, the first time."
"The first time?" Angela asked, confused. "You're telling me you know that Mike's dead?"
"Yes," Jacob admitted and sighed. He got up to scrape his plate into the trash. There was no way he would be able to choke it down now. The acid taste of vampire flesh flooded his memory, and he had to physically choke back the urge to gag. Jacob leaned against the kitchen counter, waiting for his stomach to settle. When he looked up at Angela again, she was shedding silent tears.
"Did a vampire make them crash?" she whispered. Jacob slowly walked over to sit back at the table.
"Yeah," he admitted, "And, the reason Embry hasn't filled you in on what happened is probably that I have a really hard time with it all."
"I can see that," Angela said, "But, why? What happened?"
"You won't see me the same," Jacob said and sighed, "But if you want the truth, I'll tell you."
Angela listened, wide-eyed and silent as Jacob told her everything from Edward creating Victoria until the day of the battle when everything had changed forever. The day that Jacob literally ripped the head off of a man he knew, snuffing out his life without consequence. Jacob told Angie about how it had nearly destroyed him inside, nearly fueled the fire that could have destroyed his relationship with Bella. How the guilt had eaten at him without mercy, along with the nightmares of ripping a bloody human head from Mike Newton instead of the frozen chunk of animated concrete that he had become. By the end of his tale, Angela was sobbing silently, holding Jacob's hands across the table.
"No wonder no one wants to talk about this shit," she said, shaking her head. "I'm sorry I even asked."
"Don't be," Jacob told her. "He was your friend. You have the right to know what really happened to him."
"You did him a favor, you know?" Angela said. Jacob looked up at her in surprise.
"What do you mean by that?" he asked.
"Listen to me here, Jacob. I knew Mike Newton since we were five years old. Five, okay? Human Mike could be an asshole, yes. But he actively tried to be a good person. He wanted to be a good person. Human Mike would never have wanted to be like Vampire Mike, Jake," Angela said firmly. "He would never have hurt Bella like that. He would never have even wanted to. You know it, and I know it. You saved him from an eternity of misery. You set him free."
With those words, Jacob wept. Somehow, they were exactly what he had needed to let go of the guilt he had harbored for seven months. All of his talks with Emmett and Sam had helped over time, but none had allowed him to feel the kind of resolve that Angela's simple words had. Jacob stood and pulled her out of her chair to hug her. Angela hugged him back tightly.
"Thank you, Angie."
"Anytime," she answered. "If this bothers you anymore, come talk to me about it. I understand now why Bella doesn't want to, and I'm sorry I kept trying to get her to. I, however, knew him well, Jake. Well enough to tell you that you don't need to hold onto that guilt anymore. His life ended when Victoria made him wreck his bronco. No one is to blame here but her."
"Everything okay in here," Bella asked from the doorway. Jacob looked over at his barefoot, wild-haired fiancee and grinned.
"Couldn't be better," he said. "Night Angie."
"Night guys," Angela said as Jacob followed Bella back to their bedroom.

Jacob's birthday gathering the following evening went well. The Cullen family attendance had been a surprise for Bella, who had been more than happy to see them. They stayed through the bonfire, watching with amusement as the wolves ate their weight in food and listened attentively to Billy's telling of the tribal histories. Jacob had managed to convince the Tribal Council to let them hear these stories, as they were now the allies of the tribe. It made sense for them to know exactly what they were standing for when the Cullens stood at their side, even if their main reason was Bella's safety. Near the end of the evening, Emmett pulled Jacob aside to ask him about the locket. Jacob led him into his workshop to show him the finished piece. The outside of the locket was carved with a delicate rose in the center bordered by vines. There was a surprise inside that Jacob had hoped to show Rose in private, one he had worked on painstakingly for her to keep private if she wished to.
"I think you should give it to her," Emmett said, grinning. "She'll know you made it anyway. You might as well."
"Well don't tell her she has something coming. Send her in here by herself," Jacob said, grinning. Emmett chuckled and left to find his wife. Jacob waited patiently, uncovering the finished cradle so she could see the final product before he gave it to Bella.
"Oh, wow," she said as she entered the workshop and walked straight to the cradle. "You finished it. Its exquisite, Jacob." She leaned down to trace around Sam's wolf, grinning.
"Think she'll like it?" Jacob asked.
"She'll love it," Rose said.
"Come here for a second," Jacob beckoned and pulled the box with her locket back out of his workbench drawer.
"What's this?" she asked, grinning.
"Just open it," Jacob said, chuckling.
Rose opened the box and gasped. Her whole face seemed to light up as she fingered the locket front.
"Is this for me?" she asked.
"Yeah. Actually, Emmett asked me to make it, I won't lie. There's something in it that I haven't told him, though. I'll leave that up to you," Jacob admitted. Rose opened the locket to find it empty. She chuckled.
"Um, Jake?" she held it out to him. He grinned and took it from her hands, pointing out a very tiny latch next to the center hinge. A third piece to the locket folded out, revealing Jacob's hidden gift.
"Ephriam," Rose said sadly.
"That's a copy of the picture I told you about," Jacob said. "You said you wanted one, and I thought …"
Jacob's words were cut off as Rose threw her arms around him, hugging him. Jacob laughed and hugged her back.
"Thank you. This is perfect," Rose said. "I know Emmett wouldn't mind. He knows Ephriam meant a lot to me. It's kind of nice, though, to be able to keep it private. It's something that can stay just mine." She grinned up at Jacob appreciatively.
"Well, then it's our little secret," Jacob chuckled. "I'm glad you like it. I would like to ask one thing, though. You don't have to answer if you don't want to."
Rose said, "For you, I'll answer. What's the question?"
"Just how close were you and Ephriam?" Jacob asked her curiously.
"Closer than our natures would ever have allowed us to be," she whispered softly. "I met him before meeting Emmett. Ephriam hadn't imprinted on Martha yet. I had so much trauma after what Royce did to me, but he picked up the pieces. Helped put me back together a little bit," Rose admitted. "Kind of like you and Bella, but we weren't meant to be together. We couldn't be."
"I sort of figured as much," Jacob admitted, nodding. "I'm glad I've gotten to know you. If he loved you, you're definitely someone worth knowing." Rose grinned and hugged Jacob again.
"Y'all are always hugging when I walk in here," Emmett teased from the doorway. "Everything okay?" Emmett's train of thought was derailed as he noticed the finished cradle. "Dude, you didn't show me it was done," he said.
They visited for a few more minutes before it was time for the Cullens to head back home. Emmett put the ordered truck parts in the garage before they left, promising to visit again when Sarah was born. The pack and imprints stuck around until the cold was too bitter for the humans to bear any longer. Jacob snuffed out what was left of the fire, and, as usual, crawled into bed to hold his love as he slept

So, what do you guys think of Jacob's surprise? Had you guessed what it would be? Please Review XO