Chapter Forty-Two
In the immediate aftermath of killing the leech with dreads, the pack became more vigilant during their patrols—not, Jared would like it acknowledged, that they weren't vigilant before, thank you very much, Sam. (Honestly, he would not be at all surprised to find out that, in some misguided attempt at the supernatural version of team bonding, Sam had somehow managed to lure the leech in question to the rez for them to get practice together taking one down. Because seriously. Five wolves against one leech? Piece. Of. Cake.)
But of course, now that one leech had found it's way onto their (fiercely protected) territory, the idea of another one doing the same was a very real threat. Hence the newly-found hyper-vigilance and the increase in patrols that seemed to come with it.
And so it was that a significant amount of time passed before Jared realized.
"Is it really Spring Break right now?"
Across the room, Kim looked up from where she was lounging on Jared's bed reading a book—he had been pleasantly surprised to catch a hint of her scent upon returning home just moments ago, and even more pleased by her current location. She simply stared at him for a long moment, her brow furrowed, before she finally spoke.
"You went to school today, didn't you?" She said knowingly. "That explains why your mom said you were still sleeping when she let me in as she was leaving. I thought you forgot to tell me you were patrolling when you weren't actually here. Not that you knew I was coming over in the first place. Surprise, by the way."
"I patrolled all night," He replied, before walking across his bedroom and collapsing face down on the bed. He only stayed like that for a moment, though, before flipping onto his back and wiggling until he'd maneuvered his head under Kim's arm and onto her lap. Perfect. "And then I got to school and I knew it was kind of early but I was still surprised that the doors were locked; I figured they would be opened soon so I sat down to wait and then…well the next thing I knew it was three hours later and the doors were still locked and then I remembered the date."
"You fell asleep? In the rain? Outside of school?" Kim exclaimed, closing her book and tossing it gently to the side. At the same time, Jared was pleased to note, her now-free hand came to rest on his hair. "And you didn't even realize we're on Spring Break. Sam has you guys on an insane patrol schedule."
"I know," Jared agreed, his eyes fluttering closed as Kim began running her fingers through his hair. A three-hour nap against a brick wall and barely tucked away from the near-constant drizzle did not make up for a sleepless night patrolling. He hesitated slightly before continuing, "Embry picked up a leech's scent the other day. It was barely inside our borders but we've all been on high alert after that other leech we took down. We've spotted the leech a couple times since then—a female with red hair—but we lose her before we can catch her."
Even in his sleep-deprived state, Jared didn't miss the way Kim's hand in his hair faltered for a moment before resuming it's previous stroking. There was a reason he'd put off telling her about this new leech encounter.
"You weren't patrolling alone last night, were you?" Kim questioned, the concern in her voice palpable.
"No, I was with Jake. Actually…" he continued thoughtfully, "That probably explains why I went straight to school when we were done. I spent practically all night stuck in a never ending loop of his thoughts about Bella Swan. I took the first chance I saw to escape him," Jared stated.
"Sam still won't let him anywhere near her?" Jared didn't miss the sound of the frown tingeing Kim's voice.
"She's not part of the tribe," Jared replied easily.
"I know," Kim agreed, "But with the way he fixates on her, I really do wonder if Jake is going to end up imprinting on Bella when he finally gets to see her again."
"He has seen her, actually," Jared told her, "Yesterday. She showed up on the rez looking for him and he told her they couldn't be friends anymore. Actually," He frowned now, a sudden realization hitting him, "It's weird…"
"What's weird?" Kim prompted him and Jared realized he'd gotten lost in his thoughts.
"Jake was pretty pissed about the whole situation; Sam finally Alpha-ordered him not to tell Bella he's a wolf," Jared revealed, his lips twisting into a frown. "He doesn't trust Jake not to blab everything to her, now that he's gotten a face-to-face reminder of what he's had to give up. But by the time I saw Jake for our patrol, his thoughts were on a constant loop of Bella and he was barely angry about earlier at all."
"That is weird," Kim agreed, still brushing her hand through his hair. "But maybe it's proof that there is something between them…even if it isn't as strong as an imprint."
"Maybe," Jared hedged, "But I think it's just a typical teenage crush. Not to mention, completely wishful thinking on Jake's part, from what I've seen of his memories."
"I don't know," Kim commented idly, "I think my hopeless teenage crush turned out pretty well."
A split second after her words processed through Jared's mind, he was on his knees hovering over Kim, his hands pushing into the bed on either side of her and their faces mere inches apart. The hand that she'd had in his hair was now hovering in midair, a look of surprise across her face.
"Pretty well?" Jared repeated. "More like amazingly well. Fantastically well. Perfectly!"
Kim recovered quickly from her surprise and smirked up at Jared.
"Nearly perfect," She corrected, lifting her hand higher now to rest on the back of his neck and tug him even closer to her. "But I know a great way to make it definitely perfect."
"What a coincidence," Jared smirked right back at her, "So do I."
Much to Jared's dismay, he couldn't spend the rest of the day locked away in his room with Kim.
"I'm supposed to meet the guys soon," Jared murmured into Kim's hair, his arms automatically tightening his embrace around her at the thought of their impending separation.
Kim wiggled in his embrace until he loosened his hold just enough for her to turn onto her other side so that they were now pressed to each other chest-to-chest.
"I have to go, too," She grimaced. "Paul has had Kylie all morning, so I get the hyperactive child this afternoon."
Jared couldn't help the snort of laughter that escaped in reaction to her words. "You know…if I didn't know better, I'd think you and Paul were sharing custody of your kid together."
"Me and Paul?" Kim wrinkled her nose (adorably, in Jared's opinion). "Ew. No." Then a small smile crossed her face, "In all seriousness, though, I think Kylie has been really good for Paul. He takes having a little sister way more seriously than I ever did."
"Yeah…if only he had that much control over himself when she isn't around," Jared stated.
"He wouldn't be Paul if he didn't lose it over someone taking the last roll," Kim replied.
"That was the worst," Jared lamented. "Sam wouldn't let us anywhere near Emily for days. I got so hungry."
"Hey!" Kim protested, shoving him in the chest—well, Jared assumed that's what she'd been attempting to do, anyway. "Don't you complain to me about going hungry; I was the one who had to feed you instead. Because you're useless and probably would die of starvation if you didn't have people take pity on you and make food for you."
"Um…" Jared quickly back-tracked, "I mean, I love you and you're my absolute favorite?"
"That's what I thought," Kim smiled up at him and then leaned in for, again, what Jared could only assume she meant to be a quick kiss. Naturally, Jared easily turned it into something more drawn-out than that. But when Kim finally took the initiative to break the kiss, she leaned as far back as Jared's embrace would allow and poked him in the chest. "We really do need to go now. Paul told me what time he's supposed to meet you guys and I'm certainly not going to be the reason anyone shows up late and makes Sam cranky."
Jared sighed deeply. Sam. "I was totally all set to convince you that we should blow them all off until you just had to bring up Sam. He's already pissy enough lately because of Jake; I'm not taking the brunt of that."
And so, five minutes later found them exiting Jared's house hand-in-hand—Kim bundled up against the early Spring chill and Jared sans shoes and shirt. They were almost to Paul's house when Kim suddenly spoke up.
"I just realized," she began, "If you forgot it was Spring Break right now, that means you probably forgot Kylie and I are going to visit our grandma tomorrow, didn't you?"
"Ugh, really?" Jared frowned. "How long will you be gone?"
"Just until Sunday," Kim said, in what Jared could only assume she meant to be a reassuring voice.
"But it's Monday," Jared pointed out. "That's basically an entire week. I don't want to be separated from you for an entire week."
"I know," Kim agreed. "I think we're going for that long because my mom wants to get us out of the house so she can bring her latest 'friend' home. I guess…I can try to call you from my grandma's?" She offered. "Her phone service is pretty sketchy at best, though."
"I'm coming over tonight," Jared informed her as they came to a stop in front of the Lahote house, which Paul and Kylie were just exiting.
"I look forward to it," Kim replied. She had just enough time to go up on her toes for one last quick kiss before Kylie was bounding in their direction, Paul not far behind her.
"You guys are going straight home, right?" Paul demanded without preamble once he was beside them.
"Yes," Kim stated. "I heard about Embry's…sighting, and I think we're due for a Disney marathon this afternoon."
Jared didn't miss the way Kylie's eyes lit up immediately. Well, that distraction was definitely successful; she wasn't going to want to be wandering anywhere outside any time soon. And Kim thought she didn't take being a big sister seriously enough…
"I'm picking first this time!" Kylie declared, latching onto Kim's hand and beginning to tug her in the general direction of their house.
"Bye!" Kim called over her shoulder as she allowed her sister to drag her away.
"I'll see you later!" Jared called out.
Within a few minutes, Jared and Paul were in the nearby woods and phased, running to meet up with the rest of the pack.
Has anyone heard from Jake? Sam asked. He's late.
He told me he was going home to sleep when I took over for him this morning, Embry replied.
Dibs on being the one to wake Sleeping Beauty up! Paul called out immediately.
I think you missed an important part of that movie, Jared nudged his pack brother's flank as they ran. But if that's what you're into…
Shut up, asshole, came Paul's snappy retort, complete with actual snapping—Jared barely reacted fast enough to avoid Paul's teeth, instead putting on a burst of speed to outrun him. That is not how I would wake him up.
Who are you waking up? Jake's voice suddenly invaded the pack mind.
Where are you, Jake? Sam questioned just as Jared and Paul entered the clearing where he and Embry were waiting.
I need you guys to come meet me, Jake replied immediately, the image of a small, dirt back road filling their minds. Jared recognized it right away. I found out something important about that red-headed leech.
Before Sam could demand more information, though, Jake was gone just as quickly as he'd appeared, much to the pack's combined annoyance.
I can beat him up, right? Paul demanded as they all started in the direction of the road where they were meeting Jake. He was late and he left us hanging like that.
Get in line, Jared retorted. You weren't stuck in his head for an entire patrol last night.
No one is beating anyone up, Sam declared, though not, Jared didn't miss, in the double-timbre of the Alpha-voice.
When all four wolves phased back to human and exited the forest, though, Jared quickly recognized that things were probably not going to end quite as peacefully as Sam would like them to. And why was that? Oh, just because Jake was standing a little ways down the road with none other than Bella Swan hanging on his arm and half-hidden behind him. Jared scowled at the sight. There were a lot of reasons Jake was supposed to be keeping away from the Swan girl, but apparently he didn't care enough to follow his Alpha's instructions.
"What have you done, Jacob?" Sam demanded. Nothing more could be said, however, because Paul chose that moment to let his anger get the best of him and thrust his way past Sam.
"Why can't you just follow the rules, Jacob?" Paul yelled, throwing his arms in the air in frustration. He continued yelling, barely letting up enough for Jake to get a word in edgewise. And of course, typical Paul, soon enough he began vibrating slightly, his fists clenching as he fought the urge to phase. Clearly it had been tempting fate earlier with Kim to mention Paul's lack of control.
"Jeez, Paul," Jared muttered to his friend, "Get a grip."
Paul turned back just long enough to curl his lips back in irritation at Jared before turning back to Jake and Bella—Jake, who took a step in front of Bella protectively at whatever he saw on Paul's face.
"Right, protect her!" Paul roared in outrage.
Jared realized what was going to happen just a second too late.
Because Paul, being Paul, barely had control of his temper on the best of days. And he'd phased with much less provocation (See: aforementioned dinner roll) after all.
It was over quickly enough, much to Jared's surprise. Then again, he definitely hadn't been expecting Jake to phase on the fly like he had done. Honestly, if he stopped being so hung up on the Swan girl all the time, Jared might actually start encouraging him to take his rightful place as Alpha over Sam. That kid was impressive as a wolf.
"Take her to Emily's."
Sam's order broke through Jared's rapt attention to Jake and Paul's fight, only to take in the sight of their shredded clothes littering the ground. Jared sighed.
Time to clean up after Paul again.
a/n—Those last few lines of dialogue were taken from New Moon, pg. 324-325, they do not belong to me.