A/N: Hello all, a new chapter for your pleasure! Hope you all enjoy!

Chapter 7

It took Jacob a long moment before the shock wore off enough for him to jump off his stool and stride across the club after her, questions whirling through his brain. He heard Sam call his name as he hurried out the door, ignoring him as he looked up and down the block and hoping Bella hadn't already grabbed a taxi. To his relief he saw her about half a block away, arms crossed over her chest as she hurried down the sidewalk with her head ducked down. He ran after her, grabbing her arm and swinging her around to face him, surprised at the fury in her eyes. "What the hell Swan?!"

She yanked her arm away and crossed her arms as she glared at him, brown eyes flashing defiantly. "Me?! How dare you Jacob Black, of all the nerve!"

He saw several passersby eyeing them curiously and pulled Bella to the mouth of the alleyway, copying her crossed arms pose as she leaned back against the wall and glared at him. "I can't believe you, sitting there being so rugged and charming and…and…flirty!"

He stared at her as she huffed angrily, unsure whether he should laugh or if that would set off a new wave of anger from the spitfire in front of him. "Well thanks, I think. Look, Bella I know we haven't seen each other since we were kids…"

Bella scoffed and shook her head at him, pushing off the wall and walking up to him to poke him in the chest. "Yeah right Black, don't play ignorant it doesn't suit you."

He looked at her in bewilderment, his mind racing as he tried to think of what she could possibly be talking about. Bella rolled her eyes and crossed her arms as she glared at him. "You know exactly what I'm talking about Black. Don't try to deny it. Just sitting there like nothing happened...like I'm some kind of idiot!"

She spun away from him and he watched her take a deep breath before turning to glare at him. "After I graduated, before I went to college, Charlie asked me to visit and I said yes cause I wasn't sure when the next time I'd see him was. When I got there, I tried to call you, but Billy said you were sick and couldn't see me. I waited a few days and called again. Same answer, Billy said I couldn't even come by to give you some soup. Three weeks of that and I decided sick or not, I'd go visit you because I had to leave the next morning and I at least wanted to say goodbye. When I got there, low and behold you're not only up but outside half naked with a bunch of guys, looking like you're in perfect health I might add. So I'm guessing you didn't want to see me and just asked Billy to lie to me, since you're obviously a coward and can't do it yourself."

She was yelling by the time she was done, glaring at him angrily, and he took a deep breath to calm himself before he wolfed out in the alleyway. He hadn't felt this out of control in a long time, not since he had first phased, which was ironically the time she was talking about. As she told her story, a faint memory had crept up on him, of being outside meeting with the others for patrol schedules and seeing a strange car pull into the drive, sit for a moment, and then speed away in a spray of gravel. He had figured it was someone lost on the Rez and thought nothing else of it, until now. "Bella, I swear, I didn't ask Billy to say any of that to you, I didn't even know you were in town. I was going through...a rough patch during that time, and I guess my dad thought I didn't need to deal with anything else then, not that was his decision to make. I was a wreck when you stopped coming to visit Charlie, if I had known you were in town I would have been with you as much as possible."

She stared at him; her gaze softening slightly as she slowly dropped her arms to her side. "You...you mean it? You didn't ask Billy to lie to me?"

He shook his head vehemently as he edged closer to her, holding his hands out in a placating gesture. "I would never do that to you Bells. Listen, I really want to keep talking but I kinda smell like a brewery."

Her cheeks flared pink and he fought to hide his grin as he motioned to the street. "Come back to my hotel with me. I promise, I can be in the shower and dressed in 5 minutes, you can order something from room service, my treat. I'll be the perfect gentleman."

He watched her chew on her bottom lip for a long moment and then slowly nod as she tipped her head back to meet his gaze. "I don't have a car. Ok if we cake a cab?"

He nodded offering her his arm and led her out of the ally to hail a taxi.

Jacob unlocked the door to the suite and ushered Bella in, checking his phone as he closed the door. He had texted Sam on the cab ride over, unable to go into detail but his Beta had promised to handle everything for the night and they'd deal with it all come morning. Jacob was relieved and thankful; he knew he wouldn't be able to focus on the others until he settled things with Bella. Sam had promised to keep things together at the club to give Jacob some privacy; he was to text when they were all heading back.

"The view is beautiful." Bella's voice made him look up and he nearly dropped the phone at the sight in front of him. Bella stood in front of the plate glass window, her hair loose and curling over her shoulders as she admired the skyline, her reflection clear to his heightened eye sight. He swallowed hard, mentally reminding himself to get a grip. The last thing he wanted to do was frighten her off.

"Uh, menu is by the phone, go ahead and I'm gonna get in the shower." He practically fled the room before she could reply, his mind so torn between man and wolf he wasn't aware of his actions until he found himself under the spray of water, taking deep shuddering breaths to try and calm himself down. His reaction to Bella was almost frighteningly strong, he had never felt this way before. He had nearly succeeded when there was a timid knock at the bathroom door and then it slowly opened.

"Uh, Jacob? Sorry to bother you while you're...anyway, I just wanted to check if you wanted anything before I call down?"

He took a deep breath, quickly realizing that was a mistake as Bella's tantalizing scent was strengthened by the steaminess of the bathroom. "Uh, I'll have to look, do you mind waiting till I get out?" He winced at how husky his voice sounded and held his breath as he waited for her reply.

"No, that's fine. I'll just wait out here."

The door shut softly and he let out his breath slowly, mechanically going through the motions of washing his hair and body as he tried to get a grip. If he was to have any conversation with Bella he needed to be rational and in control of everything. His wolf snorted in amusement and he mentally glared at him. "Like you're helping. Get a hold of yourself, she hasn't seen us in years, the last thing she wants is us trying to bed her an hour after we met."

His wolf grumbled, he preferred instinct over logic especially in Bella's presence but Jake was firm. He wanted to explore this connection and he wasn't about to let the wolf screw that up by being uncooperative. Having a better grip on himself, he climbed out of the shower and snatched up his towel, then groaned in exasperation. In his hurry to get some space between him and Bella, he had forgotten to grab a change of clothes. He didn't want to put on his beer scented ones and steeled himself as he wrapped the towel around his waist and gingerly pulled the door open. "Hey, Bells?"

She looked up from her phone, and he noticed the unhappy look and slight fear in her eyes as she tucked it away before she masked it with a smile. "Yeah?"

He filed away his curiosity for later and gestured to his suitcase. "I uh, forgot some clothes. Do you mind if I...?"

He watched a blush coat her cheeks and she looked away as she shook her head, glancing at him from the corner of her eye as he quickly dug out some clothes and hurried back to the bathroom. "I'll be right out."

He quickly tugged on the jeans and t-shirt he had grabbed, deciding not to worry about shoes for now and ran a his fingers through his wet hair before taking a deep breath and walking back into the bedroom. Bella was still on the sofa, her head bent over the menu while she leaned her head on her hand, looking so adorable he wished he could take a picture. Instead he cleared his throat softly as he leaned over the back of the sofa to peruse the menu with her. "See anything that you want?"

He almost missed the flush of color and her eyes dart to him and back to the menu before she nodded and pointed to her choice. "A bacon cheeseburger huh? And here I thought you were a typical salad girl."

She grinned softly at his teasing and shrugged as she handed the booklet to him and leaned back against the couch arm. "Sometimes, but I'm hungry tonight. And someone else is buying so why not make him pay?"

She winked at him and he laughed as he picked up the phone and called down their orders. Once he hung up he took a seat on the opposite corner of the couch, leaning an arm over the back and studying her for a long moment. "I'm sorry about what happened those years back. I swear, I never would have asked Billy to tell you that stuff, I didn't know you were in town. I really missed you when you stopped visiting and always hoped you'd come back."

She studied him for a long moment, pursing her lips slightly and then tilted her head as she asked, "What was going on with you then? I mean, it had to be something important if Billy didn't tell either of us what was going on."

Jacob rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, avoiding her eyes as he tried to come up with an answer. "Bella, I don't want to lie to you. But what I was going through…it isn't fully mine to tell. Tribal stuff that we don't share with everyone. I know that isn't an answer, but it's all I can tell you, for now."

He waited for the blow up, sure that she would yell at him again and storm out of the room, but she surprised him by nodding and leaning back against the sofa again. "Okay, I can respect that. I know tribes don't like to share everything with us palefaces."

He raised an eyebrow at her, making her laugh as she explained, "I majored in history and English, but minored in tribal studies. I've always loved the stories and thought that they deserved to be shared as much as the rest of history. I thought about writing a book, legends from different tribes one day."

She blushed when he continued to stare dumbstruck at her and shrugged slightly as she looked down at her lap. Jacob dared to test his control by scooting closer and resting his hand on her knee, causing her to look up and peer through her hair. "That's great Bells; I never knew you were that interested in tribal stuff. I'm sure Billy would love to help if you needed it if you wanted to know anything about the Quileute stories."

She smiled at him, raising her head further and he realized their faces were now only inches from each other. He swallowed hard and watched as her eyes dropped to his lips and back up again, licking her lips nervously as she leaned forward…

A knock at the door made them both jump, a voice from the hallway informing them it was room service, and Jacob both thanked and cursed the spirits for the timing as he pushed off the couch and walked to the door to get their food. This was going to be a long night.

A/N: Well what did you all think? Things are starting to sizzle between our favorite couple, not to mention all the drama that awaits the Pack. Let me know your thoughts, thanks for reading!