Chapter 38

Bella POV:

When I woke up the next morning, the bed was cold. I tried to scoot closer to Sam only to discover that he was no longer next to me. I frowned and pulled the blankets and sheets closer to my chilled body. I scooted over so that my head rested on his pillow to take in his scent. I found it funny that I had already mentally split the bed in halves as 'his' side and 'my' side.

I focused on the almost tangible connection that the mating mark had given us and reached out to Sam through it. Once I did this, I could tell that he was home still, he was just in the other room. I rolled over and saw on the wall clock that it was already past ten in the morning, so it really was no surprise that he had already gotten up. I warred internally, wanting to curl into the warmth that the blankets provided, but also wanting to get up and find Sam. My need to be with my mate won.

"Hmm…" I moaned quietly as I stretched out. I stood on my tiptoes and reached my hands towards the ceiling, feeling as my muscles tightened, then loosened up.

"Beautiful," Sam's deep voice came from the doorway. A shiver went down my spine, and it had very little to do with the cool morning air that now brushed against my bare skin. I turned to him as I blushed. He was relaxed against the doorframe, his arms were crossed across his chest, and his eyes were burning with desire.

"I need to take a shower real quick, then I'll be out. Did you have plans for today?" I asked him as I gathered my things to take with me to the bathroom.

"Nothing in particular," He seemed to think for a moment, then asked, "would you like to go over the journals together? We could go for a walk and take some sandwiches, make it a date."

"That sounds like a great plan." I told him, then couldn't help but smile back when his lips curled up in my favorite smile of his, the one that was reserved just for me.

"Alright, I'll get everything together. Go take your shower." He said, then kissed me on top of my head when he'd finally come over to stand beside me. I blushed again, not so much out of embarrassment, but because of the fire still burning in his eyes.

Once the door that separated the bathroom from the bedroom, and Sam's sharp eyes from my naked body, was closed and locked, I melted with my back against it. Tha man would be the death of me someday. He hadn't said anything at all suggestive, he had hardly even touched me, but those eyes…

I turned the shower on, and waited for the water to get hot. It was too cold in the house for me to just get in before it had warmed up. My mind idly wondered if Sam would be willing to turn on the heater, I didn't want him to be uncomfortable since he was supernaturally warm. At the same time, it was cold in here, and I was only human. To top it all off, I had just enough vampire venom in me to make me cold all of the time that I wasn't wrapped up in Sam's warm arms.

The water was perfectly piping hot when I stuck my hand under the spicket to test it, so I stepped in. I sighed in pleasure as soon as the water slid down over my form, heating it instantly. I soaped up with the shampoo and body wash that I had brought, then my mind continued down its thoughtful path.

My thoughts drifted towards the vampire venom in my veins. Then they drifted towards Edward as a whole, then towards the imprint, to Emily, to my relation to Paul, the pack, towards anything relevant to my life these days. I quickly became overwhelmed and decided it was time to get out of the water and find Sam. He never failed to bring my spinning mind some peace.

I turned off the water, towel dried, and brushed my teeth. I put on some loose-fitting jeans and slipped Sam's hoodie over my head. It drowned my form, but since we were going on a walk, presumably through the dense woods, I needed to be comfy. I quickly brushed out my long, unruly hair, and left the small room.

"Have I ever told you how much I love your soap?" Sam called from the kitchen, then chuckled. "The whole house smells good now."

The words I was about to respond with disappeared as I took in the sight of the kitchen. Sam, a burly, hulking figure that stood well over six feet tall, and was practically the embodiment of masculinity, was making some pb&j sandwiches. He'd made a mess. There was a stack of at least ten sandwiches leaning to the side, ready to fall at any moment, there were crumbs and smears of peanut butter and jelly everywhere. He'd even managed to get a splotch of it on his cheek. The best part was the puppy dog eyes he was giving me now, begging me to help him.

I helped him clean up the mess, still trying to get my giggles under control, and failing for the most part. It wasn't until everything else was cleaned up that I stood up on my tippy toes and tugged on him, so he'd bend down towards me. I closed in on his face, then licked the peanut butter from his cheek.

"Really? You could have just told me," Sam muttered sarcastically.

"Pay back for when your wolf licked my whole damn face," I laughed at his expense. He just picked me up so that I was eye level with him, then poked his tongue out to drag along my lips, tasting me and the peanut butter.

"Tasty,' he whispered, then kissed me lightly a few times before lowering me back down to stand on my own.

After he'd set me down, we set to work packing up the sandwiches into a lunch box and threw in some chips and water bottles too. We both put on some shoes and Sam went to put on a shirt. While he did that, I gently put all of the journals we were going to read over into my oversized duffle bag.

Once we were out the door and made our way to Sam's truck, he grabbed the hefty bag from me, not letting me carry it.

"You know I am fully capable of carrying that right?" I pouted, good naturedly.

"Just be happy I am letting you walk on your own instead of carrying you everywhere like I want to," he smirked. I just rolled my eyes, then smiled, happy with our easy banter.

We both hopped into the old truck and Sam backed out of the gravel driveway, kicking up dust as he did so. When I asked, he wouldn't tell me where we were going to walk, so I just looked out the window and enjoyed the short ride to our unknown, to me, destination.

When we arrived, Sam pulled over to the side of the road and helped me out of the passenger's seat. I took a look around, but couldn't figure out what was particularly special about this patch of woods. With that thought, I took Sam's free hand, and allowed him to lead me through the dense forest.

Eventually my clumsy stumbling got so bad that I admitted defeat and let Sam carry me through the woods. He set me down shortly after when we emerged from the trees and onto a breathtaking cliff. We could see miles and miles of ocean from where we were and there was plenty of room on the cliff that Sam wouldn't have to worry about me tripping and taking a nosedive towards the rough waters below.

"Wow," I gasped at the sight. The sun peeked out from between fluffy clouds in bright beams, so I had to use my hand as a visor of sorts. My other hand reached back to grab Sam's much larger hand, I couldn't stand to have him so close without touching him. He ended up directly behind me and brought his arms around my body. I fit into him perfectly, despite our major height difference. He placed light kisses along the column of my neck, growling when I tilted my head to give him more space to work with.

"We have to get to work…" I muttered regretfully. Sam simply sighed, but pulled away from me after a moment to spread out the blanket that we had brought with us. Once that was settled, he sat and pulled me down into his lap. I gasped at the motion since I hadn't been expecting it, but I made myself comfortable where I'd landed.

I felt around the large duffle bag until I felt the journal I wanted us to read first. I let instinct guide me for which one to start with, but we weren't disappointed when, inside the leather cover, it was labeled, 'Marking and the Mating Rituals.' I read it aloud as Sam followed along from over my shoulder, getting distracted rather frequently, he would place soft kisses on the back of my neck and on my shoulders.

"Once the imprint is marked, the imprint must then be accepted by the remainder of the pack before the mark will last permanently. In the instance of the alpha, the imprint must also be accepted as the pack's alpha female by each member of the pack, fellow imprints included," I read aloud. "Okay, well all of that is done, but it keeps saying imprint and I'm not…"

"Then we are the first," Sam whispered, then kissed the hollow behind my ear where my neck and jaw met. Goosebumps spread across my skin and I moaned quietly at his attentions.

"Uhm... yes. Um, anyways… Once the imprint is accepted by all members of the pack, the couple is officially marked. If the marking is blessed by the spirits, the imprint will be enabled to mark her mate as well." I continued, trying to focus through the sensations Sam was causing me. He just smiled against my skin and I read on, "Then, the two marked mates are to travel to A-Ka-Lat, the journey is to be made by canoe, as is tradition of the Quileute people. They are to stay on these sacred grounds for seven days and seven nights. Mix these ingredients to drink the elixir of our ancestors."I silently read the ingredients and took a mental note to get a hold of them before we went.

"We will go as soon as possible. The weather is only going to get colder the longer we wait, and you don't need to catch a cold." Sam told me. I just nodded my agreement and set the journal down beside us, then I twisted around in his arms so that I was straddling him and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"You are so distracting," I whispered, then took his lips in mine, just enjoying the warmth of him pressed against me. We cozied up for a few minutes, but then his stomach announced his hunger, so we set to work getting out the sandwiches and chips that we had brought with us.

In the time it took me to eat my one sandwich, Sam had already finished off the rest of them. I rolled my eyes and asked him to pass the chips. We finished our meal quietly, just looking out at the ocean and enjoying each other's presence. We spent the rest of the day there, laying in the sun, talking, laughing, just relaxing and spending time together.

Once the sun had set and it was starting to get dark we packed up our things and made our way to leave. It was colder out now that the sun was not providing any warmth and Sam just picked me back up and carried me all the way to the truck as if I weighed nothing more than a feather.

"Thanks," I muttered and leaned into the warmth his body provided. It didn't take long at all, but listening to his heart beat, I fell asleep as he carried me. The next thing I knew he was stirring me awake. It was completely dark now and we were parked outside his house.

"Come on, Bella, it's time to go in." He hopped out of the driver's side and then came around to help me climb out of the truck too.

Sam led me straight to bed, and as I was still drowsy, hardly awake, he helped me to strip down and pull a fresh t-shirt on. I was asleep again just as soon as my head hit the pillows.

Author's Note:

I'm sorry that this took a little longer than expected, I'm also sorry that it is a bit short. I'm officially furloughed from work, before it was just that I was "working from home," which was basically me doing what I could from home, which really isn't much, while getting paid for the last two weeks. Unfortunately they pulled the plug on that, so once all this madness is over, I will still have a job, which is good, but I won't have an income for the time being. It's tough. I know that there are people who've got much worse going on, but my fiance also was laid-off from his job so we are in a rough spot financially. I am trying to stay positive and continue to provide a good outlet for those of you who need it, and for myself as well, but I needed a couple days to get myself together.

I want you all to know that all of your positive feedback and community brings me so much joy and validation for my fic and especially during this time. Thank you SO SO much, I appreciate all of you and my thoughts and the best vibes are being sent out to each of you!

Anyways, I hope that while short, that this chapter was still enjoyable! Next time Sam and Bella will be headed to James Island (A-Ka-Lat) to go through the rest of the mating ritual! This will give us a bit of a break from Emily drama, but you know she'll be back lol

Happy Reading,

Dahlia