Chapter 8 - La Push - Revised
We left the house and began our walk down the dirt road to La Push. We walked for several minutes until I decided to break the silence.
"So, when exactly will I get 'filled in' on all the pack stuff?" I asked.
"Haha, well I'm not Alpha so I'm not supposed to; that's Sam's job. But it's not like there is much, he'll basically just tell you the history of the wolf pack and, well, why we are here in the first place," said Jacob looking down at me.
"I figured as much," I said, "When Sam was telling the others to leave I could hear the power behind his command."
"Yeah, we basically can't go against him. Well, we could but he would be pissed and you don't want to see Sam pissed," said Jacob.
"I'll be sure to be careful then!" I said with a laugh.
There was a short pause and then Jacob said, "Maybe I can't fill you in completely, but I can tell you a little bit about the rest of the pack members."
"Ok, start with Paul, I'm pretty sure he is the one I heard call me hot when you guys were still in wolf form," I said with a smile.
"You heard that did you?" he said slightly surprised.
"Yeah," I said, "No clue how or why but it seems I can hear you when you are in wolf form, and I can talk to you when I am in wolf form."
"Wow," said Jacob scratching his head, "I guess we all have stuff to learn about each other. Well, as you know Paul and Emma are a couple. Paul imprinted on Emma, but it seems their imprinting was different than usual. Usually, the male will do anything to please the female, basically, whatever she needs him to be he will become. With Paul and Emma, however, even though it drives Emma crazy, Paul still flirts and hits on every hot girl he lays eyes on. Paul has always been a player and a bit of an ass too."
I smiled, "An ass? I would have never guessed," I said sarcastically.
Jacob laughed, "Yeah, he just doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut, but he is another one you don't want to piss off. If he gets really pissed he'll phase and go for you. I guess that's an occupational hazard of being and living with wolves."
"I almost did that once," I said quietly.
Jacob turned to look at me with a worried expression on his face, "You didn't phase did you?" "No," I said, "But it was a close shave. I was arguing with a friend of mine, Tyler, and he just got me so angry. I was shivering all over and I could feel the wolf in me wanting to attack him. He stormed out and left me standing there and I got myself under control. I couldn't believe what I had come so close to doing. Maybe he hadn't known I was about to literally kill him but I knew. I've never lost control like that again since but I'm always worrying I'll hurt someone I love next time."
I fell silent.
"Don't worry about it, we've all done it. Sam, he did when he got in an argument with Emily once" said Jacob looking grave.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Let's just say Sam has regretted it ever since. Here we are," he said as we walked onto a short patch of grass and stopped at the top of an embankment.
We were standing on the edge of a steep embankment looking over a sandy beach littered with large pieces of driftwood and pebbles. Boulders stood sentinel between the face of a cliff and the water. I didn't even know what I was doing until I was diving headfirst into the surf. Even in summer, the water could be very cold, but it wasn't cold, not to me. I surfaced and took a deep breath then dove back under. I opened my eyes this time, my vision was clear, the salt in the water didn't bother my eyes. I swam directly to the bottom and lay down on the soft sand; feeling the seashells underneath my hands. The water was tinged with the most vibrant shades of pink and orange from the setting sun and the scene viewed from where I lay was the most beautiful…. I needed to come up for breath soon but I delayed it for as long as I could; it was so peaceful. Finally, feeling the burning start in my lungs I kicked off, shooting out of the water like a bullet. Oxygen filled my lungs and I looked around. Jacob was swimming towards me.
I beamed at him, "This is wonderful, you're so lucky to have lived here all your life!" I exclaimed in delight.
I pulled my feet up from the water and floated on my back. Jacob swam on and then dived. I felt his arm brush my back as he swam right under me. He surfaced and took a deep breath.
"Yeah, we all love coming down here, it's usually pretty safe for us to transform on the beach if we want to," he said, "You see that cliff?"
High above us on the other side of the beach was a steep cliff that stretched above us for about 50 or 60 feet. On the ledge, there was a mossy mound perfect for jumping off of.
"We go up there and dive off it. It's loads of fun but you have to be a good swimmer to deal with the currents. I'll take you up there some time," he said staring up at the cliff.
"That sounds great. You must feel like you're flying before you hit the water," I said.
"You do, it's the most amazing feeling," he said.
He turned to look at me, the gleam back in his eye,
"Race you to the shore," he said and he took off swimming like a pro, cutting through the water with amazing speed.
I laughed and took off after him.