Chapter 13: Cliff

The sun was bright today; it was wonderful, laying on the beach on this beautiful day. She was with the wolves hanging out on the beach. At least the ones who weren't on duty, Jacob, Jared and Quil were the unlucky ones. Bella decided to go for a walk, she was in one of her moods again. She couldn't understand why she got so moody on sunny days, what did she have something against the sun or something. She had made amends with her and never brought up the vampires again, they were unsteady friends again.

She couldn't be happier laying here. Sam sat a few feet away with Emily, laughing with her, whispering in her ear and kissing her. She was his calling, this was what male shifters lived for, to be with their callings. She envied male shifters, it was so simple for them, one look and they knew who they were meant to be with, but she also knew that having the choose was a gift as well.

Embry, Seth and Leah were all swimming in the ocean. Leah hanging out in the shallows playing with the sand as she looked out it the horizon, she couldn't tell what may be on her mind but she thought she was just trying to stay away from Sam and Emily, and maybe keep an eye on her brother. Embry was being more playful in the water with Seth, who was human apparently not inheriting the gene like his older sister. They swim back and forth, seeming to chase something in the deep waters. They were like young pups who loved to play. Embry was probably her favorite of the wolves.

She sits up as she sees Paul walking back over to them; he went to the truck to grab a cooler that they forgot. She watches him walk with a cooler in one hand, it wasn't a large cooler, medium just enough for a few drinks. But she can't help her eyes watching the strength of his body as he moves closer to them. He wears swim trunks low on his hips, no hair on him muscular crest.

She can't help her imagination taking her to a fantasy that preoccupied her mind after they called to the moon together. Of her kissing him again, running her hand over his skin. What would it be like to have this man/wolf as her own? She thought about biting his copper skin. She remembered how incredible his hard body felt next to hers, in Jacob's kitchen. She supposed that now that they knew what she was and accepted her, she was allowing herself to think about him as a possible partner. But this was new to all of them, she felt that the wolves were still not sure what to think of her and the differences between them. She couldn't join their pack and they seem to not understand some of the basic things about shifters.

The council meeting went well in her opinion. She liked it here, in some ways better than she did with her old pack. She felt bad about James, she felt like she lied to him is some way. She wasn't sure what to say to him next time she was at the coffee shop. Would he talk to her? She wasn't sure if she even had a job at this point.

She was treated differently from the wolves but that was because she was a different animal, she was a jaguar. Some of her old pack saw her as strange or weird just because her fur was black. It was strange that they felt that way, Paul was right, it was just a variation in color. It happens in nature, but myths can be hard to out run. But here she didn't feel like an outside any more than that she was a little different and they seemed to like her. Paul had been so kind and friendly to her since she came here, she felt a little ashamed that she originally thought that he was a bad guy. And she had to admit she saw him as a bit more than just a friend, he was a very good-looking guy, especially today in just some swim trunks.

Her pack was no stranger to letting shifters have flings and relationships if they so choose. But everyone understood that mating and callings only really happened with humans, that was just the way of things. Paul would only see her as a passing fling after he heard the calling. That thought was clear in her mind that night too, she was so upset after finding out that he was a shifter, he would hear the calling and she would be pushed aside. Her hopeful heart had almost let herself think that she might be able to call him hers but now that was something she knew she could never have. She shouldn't have lashed out at him; he couldn't help what he was. If only he was human, she could mate with him and live with him until their dying breath, just like her grandparents.

But damn her heart and her eyes, he was so strong and handsome. There were plenty of handsome jaguars in her pack that caught her eye, but Paul was a different kind of handsome. She likes how warm his body was next to hers as he takes him place next to her. She could just imagine kissing him skin, the smoothness of his hairless chest, contrasting the hard muscle underneath. Paul's soft jet-black hair, cropped short like all the other wolves, just long enough to thread her fingers through. The men of her old pack wore their hair long. She locked eyes with his, chocolate brown eyes, his eyes were not just a flat brown but had rivers in them of different colors ranging from dark chocolate to a milk chocolate. She loved all kinds of chocolate.

'Wasn't chocolate poisonous to dogs?' she thinks, she looks down eyes wide with insecurity at her thoughts. Shit he would probably take offense to being called a dog. She hated being compared to a cat, she was a jaguar not a common house cat.

"Tell us more about your people, Daiane," Emily asks.

"Huh?" she asks, thankful for the detraction.

"Are they nice," Emily says. "Well, I mean what are jaguars like? Do you guys act like these guys." She explains, pointing at Sam.

"Oh, my people are very direct," she says. "I grow up with them so I guess I don't see the weirdness like an outsider would. We are very focused on family and keeping the old ways alive. At least my pack was, some of the others were more progressive. And it really depends on the pack and the alpha if a pack is welcoming to others, my grandmother was very warm and kind so the pack was too. An alpha makes the pack what it is and the pack will imitate the alpha so it is up to them to make it a good one or a bad one."

"I understand," Sam says, bowing his head. He was a good alpha and the fact that he would welcome her, a completely other shifter, says a lot about him and his leadership.

She takes the can of coke, Paul gives her and opens it, "As for the animal nature, we are known to growl and roar at each other. And after thinking about you guys having a pack mind that you can speak to each other with, quite frankly I'm a little jealous. We have to learn a totally different langrage in our shifted form."

"What do you mean?" Paul asks.

"Well, we communicate was growls and roar and sounds in our jaguar form, it's a lot of body language too." She explains. "A Jaguar's roar can be heard for miles if you do it right."

"So, we must have woke the whole county a few nights ago," Paul says with a wink.

She blushes as Sam makes a howling sound behind them, the boys in the water copy the sound. Emily slaps at Sam and says, "Stop that," she looks at her with an apologetic look, "Wolves what can I say."

"We all have our things," she says back. "Jaguar's purr when we are truly happy."

"You do? What else?" Leah says, walking over to them and wrapping herself in a towel.

"Daiane was telling us about her people," Emily says. They seemed like they were friends before but their relationship was strained by something now. She wasn't close to Leah yet, but she hoped to be, after the council meeting Daiane had a feeling that Leah felt like an outsider. Daiane was more than willing to ease Leah's feelings of discontentment in her pack, her knew firsthand how it felt to feel like that in one's own pack.

"You should just start with… well, everything and anything," Leah says sitting down. The way Leah said it was so similar to how Emily said it at the picnic, Daiane just silently stares at her and then turns to Emily. She had a feeling that these two were close as younger girls, to have similar ways of saying things.

"Ask me anything then," Daiane says. "But I have one question of my own before you bombard me. How is it that you don't have your own teachings on these things?"

"The fever set in when the Cullen's moved back into town a few years ago," Sam says, he looked upset about this.

"What fever?" she asks.

"You know, you get a high fever and then you going wolf the next day," Paul says.

"No," she says. "There is no fever in Jaguars. We sometimes can feel our first shift coming on but it's not a fever."

"No," Paul asks. "What was it like for you?"

She pulls her legs up to her chest, "My first shift happened when my mother died. Stress can make us shift but normally we start shifting around 10 years old but no later than 14. Some don't start shifting until they encounter a vampire for the first time."

"How old were you?" Emily asks, touching her shoulder gently.

"I was 8 years old," she answers.

"Sorry," Emily says.

"Don't worry about it, it was a long time ago." Her family couldn't find her for almost a week afterwards. Faron was the one who found her, he was one of the old ones and skilled at tracking.

"We don't start going wolf until a vampire is around," Leah says, changing the subject.

"That's not uncommon, some of the young ones go looking for vampires when they turn 14 and don't shift, but everyone stops them," she says. "Some want to be shifter so bad that they would put their lives on the line. There's no guarantee that they will start shifting after encountering a vampire, so my grandmother made sure anyone who didn't start shifting on their own, were watched so they didn't do something stupid."

"Being a wolf isn't all it's cracked up to be," Leah says, annoyed. "Lucky bastards don't know how good they have it."

"You don't like being a wolf," she asks.

"It's not that," Paul answers, "It more that we wish we didn't have to be wolves because a vampire came into town."

"Oh," she starts, but she wasn't sure what to say to that. She didn't know any other way to be.

"Our pack only comes out when there's a vampire around," Sam says. "It sounds like your pack never goes dormant. And well, it can be hard for those of us that have the gene and have to give up everything we once knew to protect our tribe from the bloodsuckers."

"Sorry, I've never heard of a pack going dormant," she says.

"Tell, me more about mating," Leah changes the subject again.

"Male or female side of things," she asks.

Leah looks over at her rising a brow, "Female."

She smiles but says, "I thought so. Well unlike males we have the choose to mate or not. Some never form such a bond, instead choosing to just stop shifting and living with the human of their choosing. Some humans are a little squeamish about mating and forming this kind of bond with a shifter anyways."

"Why?"

"While, the bond it unbreakable after it's formed," she explains. "And it binds two souls together. If one of the pair dies the other will follow. You will die if your mate dies and they will too if you die. So, some humans don't like the idea that their lives literally depend on someone else's. Plus, you have to bite them."

"What, bite them," Emily asks.

"Oh yeah, and a mean bite at that," she says, opening her mouth and chomping down. "Its no joke, and it's a hard bite that will leave a mark on them. Most bite on the neck or shoulders."

"Really?" Leah asks. "That sounds painful."

"Mmmm," she affirms. "Well, my grandfather said he didn't mind. My people believe that it goes further though. That the mated pair are connected forever, that they will find each other in the afterlife and in any life that comes after they die. They will never be alone and remain forever bound to each other. That why it can never be forced, it can only be freely given on both sides. You can't force a mating on someone either, you may try too, bite them I mean, but if they don't accept it, it's just a bite."

Paul's hand touches her shoulder, his fingertip trailing down her back quickly. She turns to him thinking that he wanted her attention. But his eyes are on her back with a thoughtful expression, "Paul do you have a question?" she asks.

"What did your dad think?" He says quickly, almost unthinking.

"I don't know. I never got the chance to ask and I was too young to think about that stuff," she says, shrugging her shoulders. "But he wasn't my biological dad either. He treated me like his daughter but I always knew he wasn't."

"Wait," Emily says, holding her hand out. "Who is your father then?"

"Some other shifter," she answers.

"Do you not know," Leah asks.

She looks at her, "Nope. I'm a child of Inti Jiwana."

"I'm sorry what is that," Emily asks. Paul and Sam are surprisingly silent but she can tell they are listening.

"Inti Jiwana is a solar eclipse," she says, the more she talked and thought about this, she started to feel a bit awkward. Even she could see that this was weird. "It just a solar eclipse," she continues quickly.

"How does that explain anything," Sam says. "How does a solar eclipse make it so you don't know who your father is?"

"Daiane," Leah reaches her hand out at her and says in the same cadence as Dark Vader, "Who is your father." She knew she liked Star Wars.

Paul comes closer and wraps his arm around her waist, as he sits next to her on the sand. She was feeling very caged in now. "Ummm… It's complicated."

"Uncomplicate it," Sam commands.

"Jeez, could you sound a little less like a—" Leah says flipping around. "I don't know—a bear."

She could feel the others eyes on her, suddenly she jumps out of Paul's arm and kneels in front of all of them with both hands out to them pleading with them to understand, "Please don't judge." She stops taking a deep breath and continues saying, "Ok Inti Jiwana is a festival that happens wherever there's a solar eclipse. I, my people, Jaguars, the Sun is very important to us," she points up at the Sun in the sky, awkwardness in her stance, "That is Jaguar Godfather, who is the protector of my people. Paul you've heard this story, Jaguar Godfather shines down on us to reveal the vampire for what they are."

"Yeah, I remember your story," Paul says.

"Ok, so my ancestor saw a solar eclipse as, 'oh no Godfather is under attack,' right?" She stops and hold her hand over her mouth unsure how to go on, and feeling uncontrollable giggles coming as she feels her embarrassment and discomfort growing.

"I can see that you are getting more and more uncomfortable by this," Emily smiles. Did she have to look so excited by her discomfort?

"Yes," she says but continues, "so now the packs gather where a solar eclipse happens and," she waves her hands in circles, "and do things … to help Jaguar Godfather fight the evil forces attacking Godfather." Even she can't keep a straight face as she explains this, she could feel blood rushing to her face. God, was she making any sense at all really, she felt like she wasn't? "It's a lot of shifters in one location and we do a lot of traditional dances and singing and roaring it the evil eclipse." She signs, but smiles at her own embarrassment.

"Shifters are the only ones allow to go… I've never been to one," she says trying the gather her composure for the last part. "Anyways, getting back to your question, one of the things they do at these festivals is Siqikana," she looks up, her head as far back as it will go and sighs, "Remember don't judge, the Siqikana is something only adult shifter can participate in, 25 or older. So, Jaguar Godfather is under attack and the only way to stop the future vampire hoards from taking over is if there are …. More Shifters." She pauses looks at them wishing that she didn't have to continues as she says, "So it's completely voluntary, females stand on the side line, if they wish to take part in the siqikana they have to prepare by not shifting for at least a mouth to start their cycles."

"Start… their… cycles," Leah asks.

"A female shifter can't get pregnant unless they start their cycles," she says very quickly.

"Oh," Leah says dumbly.

"So, the males shifters come out and … do their thing," she says turning a brighter shade of red and waving her hands like a dancer, jazz hands. Emily is openly laughing at that point.

"I think I know where this is going," Emily laughs. Leah's eyes light up with undisguised glee weather because of Daiane's discomfort or the idea of a shifter orgy she couldn't tell.

"So, the female choose which male has impressed her and they pair off and go … do what is … necessary."

"What's necessary," Paul smiles.

"Yes," she says falling to the sand from her knelling position, now that she was done. Paul moves over her, laughing harder than ever, as everyone is laughing at her embarrassment. She was only 20 so she never saw or took part in a Siqikana but still all the thoughts the Siqikana brought to her mind she couldn't help her bodies response to Paul leaning over her with his arms holding him up on either side of her. She nipple harden, they feel too sensitive against the fabric of her shirt, she wanted to moan but held herself back. She feels her cheeks tingling as she blushes harder.

As the others still laugh and joke about what kinds of things the guys do to attract the girls' attention. Paul leans down and whispers in her ear, "So would you pick me if we were at this Siqakine thing?" He really butchered the word but she knew her answer would be yes if she wasn't trying so hard to hold herself together.

Thankfully Embry and Seth come running over, breaking the mood. They shake water droplet on them as they shake their head and bodies like dogs. Leah and Emily yell at them as Paul and Sam growl, Paul growling up at them as his moves off her, helping her up at the same time, his body shielding her from their bombardment. All Embry says is "Oops, didn't see you there." The two young pups laugh and slam Paul and Sam as they come to join the group.

"So, what were you guys talking about," Embry says, laughing, "Looked serious." He takes a bag of chips out of a bag next to Emily and opening it and starts stuffing his face. Sam takes the bag the next second but Embry just take another one out and start in on that one instead, maybe Sam had a favorite because he doesn't take that one from Embry.

"How everyone here wants to choke you, Embry," Leah says with fake seriousness.

"Wha?! Y mee," he says with a mouth full of chips. Everyone laughs continuing the good vibes.

"Wow, that's a low blow Leah," she says.

Leah's eyes dart to her, a look of uncertainty and concern that she unknowingly offended her. She takes the bag from Embry and takes a few before giving it back saying, "Don't worry Leah, I knew you were joking. But choking a shifter really is a low blow—At least kick him in the nuts first."

Embry motions to himself with his hands and says, upset, "Woah Woah, I'm getting very uncomfortable here and the way you are discussing my body. This is a master piece of man meat here." They all laugh, leave it to Embry to unknowingly continue their earlier discussion.

"But really it is a low blow to hit a shifter in the neck," she says laughing with the others, and hoping to steer the conversation away from the Siqikana now that there was a minor here, Seth was human and only 13 not to mention Embry was only 16.

"What? You mean I can't just karate chop him," Embry says, he does a quick move with his hand to Sam's neck, who just laughs.

"Yeah, it's one of our few weaknesses," she explains.

"Weaknesses? We have weaknesses," Embry questions the group.

"What weaknesses," Sam asks, a strong Alpha in his tone.

"Yeah, we all do," she says, trying to hide her fear at Sam's tone. Paul puts his arm around her and she feels his warm body press against her, offering her comfort. "If you hold a shifter by the neck, they will be unable to shift into animal form," she explains holding her own neck in one hand. "It not something we let a lot of people know, it a secret only a trusted few know."

"Go on," Sam says, listening closely.

"Ummm, no shifter here is wearing a necklace right. The only one is you Emily," she says looking at her. Emily looks around realizing that it was true. "We don't like anything around our necks, especially metal."

"My mom was kind of upset that I didn't like wearing the arrowhead she made for me anymore," Embry says, curious.

"It made you skin itch? No shifter like a collar around their neck, it's because we can't shift if someone holds our neck. A lot of times this weakness is used to teach young shifter how the control themselves. My mom and Faron would do this with me," she continues. "An older shifter watches over a younger shifter as they tell the younger one to shift and then they grab their neck stopping them. It sucks… It's like telling someone whose sitting in a chair to get up and then pushing them back down every time they try to stand." She moves her arms like she is pushing someone down, explaining the technique. "Faron was the worst he would try to make me angry as he did it. But I see why he did it, he wanted to teach me how to bring my animal back, in any situation. This exercise helps you learn all the stages of your shift from human to animal."

She looks at Paul, remembering how she touched his neck at the picnic, as she looks in his eyes, she can see that he remembers too. "You never want to grab a shifter by the neck unless you have too. You are liable to get a broken arm if you grab a shifter's neck. Emily you should know these things because you are with him," she says nodding at Sam. "If he every loses control you can help him by tapping his neck, it can act like a shock to his system helping him mention control and bring his animal back down. He probably won't hurt you for grabbing his neck because of the calling but it will help him know that he needs to bring it back." She taps her neck and then taps Emily's too to show her a little presser can go a long way, "You don't have to wrap your hand around his neck, a little tap can go a long way."

"Wow I never thought about that," Embry says, he may be the playful one of the wolves but he was a strong shifter who knows when to not to be silly.

She nods, "Can you imagine if a vampire knew this weakness. They could stop us in our tracks. That's why…" she brings her finger to her lips, telling them to keep this secret.

"No telling anyone outside the pack," Sam says to Embry and Paul.

"What else do you Jaguars do?" Emily asks, from her position laying over Sam's legs.

"Well, one of my favorite things was samba," Daiane says.

"Samba?" Leah asks, "What's that?"

"It's a dance," She says standing up, "Come on I'll show you." She waves her arms to Leah, asking her to stand up.

"Is with a shifter only thing," Emily asks.

"No, you can do it too. Come on," she says waving them over. The boys stay seated in the sand and on the beach towels. "Men can do it too. But they not had the proper equipment to make it look good," she laughs.

Leah raises an eyebrow at the boys sitting nearby then looks at Emily, "They don't have the equipment?" she says with a knowing look.

"Yeah, I wonder what 'equipment' that is," Emily laughs, making air quotes.

"This is really basic," Daiane shows them the first basic step, a double bounce on their back leg, switching feet with every double bounce. The girls form a little line, the sand makes it a little harder to show them. But the girls pick it up quickly and have fun doing it, laughing when one of the boys' cat call at them, playfully. It was so much fun to dance again with a group, Emily and Leah laugh and joke with each other like old friends. She was happy to see Leah and Emily joke and have fun together, they seemed just as happy about it too. Daiane could tell that they had been friends before whatever pulled them apart. But now you would never know that they had any kind of rough patch.

"Once you get the basics down. You can move faster and put more moves into your dance," Daiane says and starts to show them faster moves, shaking her hips and swinging her middle around and adding in her arms. Samba was a very passionate dance with a lot of hips and all your movements came from your core and legs. She loved to samba; it was in her blood. She moves faster and shakes her hips, kicking her legs out a few times and turning around. She loved dances and samba, closing her eyes she moves with her own music.

She smiles at the others after she was done. Seth and Embry look excited and cat call like two rowdy teens that they are. Sam only has eyes for Emily who jokes with Leah about dancing. But Paul stares at her with an intensity that she wasn't sure how to react too, his gaze in incensed and hungry. He looks like he would jump up at any second and carry her away.

She sits back down, a little breathless after her quick and fast samba, energized from the exercise. She couldn't be happier to dance again. "I can teach you guys if you want," she says, "I love to dance. Samba is just in my blood; we samba at every celebration and party. I use to samba with my sister in the backyard and it other pack members houses."

"Sounds fun," Emily says, "But I'm not sure I could move like you."

"Yes, you can, everyone can," she says laying down on a beach towel next to Paul.

She sits up and looks around for Bella, "You know, I think I should go find Bella." Daiane gets up and starts walking to the cars, scenting the air to find Bella's path, but it was hard with the ocean breeze and the sand.

She reaches the cars and looks at Bella's old beat-up truck, Bella is not here. She takes a moment to compose herself, as she thinks about the way Paul looked at her just a minute ago. He eyes, they would haunt her later. She feels a burning inside herself for him, aroused by his eyes. Oh, his look could burn her, and she wouldn't be forgetting it anytime some. How was she going to stay just his friend, with eyes like that? Did he have feeling for her?

"Hey," Paul's voice says behind her. She was so distracted by her thought that she didn't notice him walking up behind her.

"Oh," she says, spinning around to meet him, "Hey." Her cheeks turn bright red as her eyes are drawn to his muscular chest and arm. Her legs feel weak as she feels wetness gathering between them, her nipples harden under her shirt and she crosses her arms to cover them. Oh, how she prayed that he couldn't see her excitement at seeing him without a shirt on.

She dares to look up into his eyes, and she is surprised to see the same desire reflected back at her. Or was it just her wishful thinking, wanting it to be true. Her lip's part and as she looks into his eyes, her jaguar leaps forward and she jumps at him. She would have thought that he would push her away but he pulls her close as she sends his back into the frame of the truck. Her lips found his quickly, growling as he opens for her. She feels something pressing into her bully; she takes his face in her hands drawing him closer, as his arm wrap around her doing the same.

His snarls, excite her animal and make her deepen the kiss. She hears a howl, she thought for a minute that it came from him but it sounded far away. He never breaks from her lips as he shifts them, flipping them around so her back is pressed into the truck, his hard body demanding her attention. Hands seeking bare skin as she moves down to his neck then his shoulders, his hands biting into the skin at her hips as his fingers toy with the hem of her tank top. She moans with each gentle push of his hips up against hers. What howl, again?

She breaks the kiss to look at him, breathlessly. She really shouldn't be doing this with him, he was a male shifter and he would hear the calling for a human one day, but that wasn't today. There was some kind of hidden thread that pull her to him, she wanted him so bad. Her inner muscle clenching on nothing, feeling empty. His eyes reflect the same passion back at her as he moves to her neck, kissing and biting there, his hand move with earnest under her top to her breast.

He feels so good, his warm smooth skin under her hands moving over his back and chest. His fingers trace over her nipple and she can't hold back her moan as she arcs her back off the truck, pressing into him. He takes the opportunely to put a hand under her thigh and effortlessly lifting her so he can rub his hips in the place that aches for his attention most, his lips find hers again kissing her with animalistic hunger.

"PAUL," Sam's voice booms on the other side of the cars. They break away, Paul still holding her against the truck, as they pant for breath. Oh shit, they've been caught. Would Sam be mad at them? She tries the banish the thought but Sam still scared her, he was nice and kind to her but still he was an alpha. She doesn't see Sam as she looks around them.

Paul shakes with angry as he yells, "WHAT?" behind him and she realizes that Sam is on the other side of the cars, unable to see them. She gently strokes his neck to being Paul's shift down, he eyes go heavy as she does so. He liked it; she never knew a shifter to like their neck touched but his hip press up into her as she strokes his neck.

"I need you run the perimeter now," Sam shouts. "Bella jumped from a cliff and Jake says the redhead is back with others."

Paul curses as he put her feet on the ground and yells back, "FINE."

"I can run perimeter," she says looking up at him.