Bella POV
I shuddered as Edward ran his finger up my bare arm and my mind screamed at me to pull away.
"Sorry love, are you cold?"
He was already pulling more blankets over me and tucking me in tight, like a burrito. I just nodded, shocked at my body's reaction. Edwards touch should send electricity through my body, not chills. I'm probably tired and it's just some way of my body protesting at me still being awake. I shifted deeper into my pillow and closed my eyes, slowly. I didn't feel tired, maybe I'm overtired. Edwards lips pressed against my forehead, trailed kisses down my cheek, kissed each eyelid before kissing my lips softly. Somewhere deep in my mind, it screamed in protest, I was confused by the reaction and tried to take my mind off the present.
My mind wandered to the events of my day earlier, in La Push. Jake had gone to see what was taking Sam so long with Leah. When he had come back he looked upset. I guess Leah was in a really sour mood. He's told me in the past about what a drag Leah could be. I thought this was a bit unfair to her, she's been through a lot of heartbreak. Let alone now she was apart of the pack, she has to follow Sam around. That had to be rough. Jake told me he had to cancel our plans for the day because he had to do something for Sam. I protested and asked why someone else couldn't do it. I stopped as soon as I saw the look of hurt and anger on his face. I guess he doesn't really have a choice and he must be as bummed as me. I hung out at Emily's all day with her and the pack, the boys came and went. As they came back, however, I noticed each of them sneaking looks at me. At first, I thought I had something on my face, maybe something in my teeth. I excused myself to the bathroom I didn't see anything wrong. When I came back Emily was smiling at me wide. I smiled back sheepishly and blushed a little. Her smile was so admiring I didn't understand what had happened when I went to the bathroom.
The rest of the day Emily stuck close to me, her mood seemed to shift in the time I was in the bathroom. She was suddenly my best friend, gossiping with me about all the drama in La Push. Excitedly talking about when we hang out next time we should go check out a small clothing store on the res. Still confused I nodded along, only half paying attention to the conversation as she puttered around the house. I helped her cook for the pack, and was still shocked at the amount of food we made. All of the pack rotated through at some point to get food and to hang out, except Jake and Leah. The boys were still sneaking glances at me with varying degrees of smiles that they were trying to hide. I had never felt so welcomed in La Push, I was the vampire chick after all. Maybe it just took me spending time with them to gain their friendship. I suddenly felt guilty for not properly spending time with Jake's pack, this was essentially his family.
As I thought about my day I did slowly drift off and the reality of the day slowly gave out to the fantasy of dreams. I was in the woods, alone but I wasn't scared. And then I wasn't alone. Edward stood a little ways away from me and something in my subconscious screamed at me to run. My heart started racing and Edward smiled an eerily wild smirk at me. That's when I noticed his eyes, they were blazing red. Once I saw his eyes I noticed his posture, he was slightly crouched, lip pulled up exposing his teeth on one side of his mouth. My mind screamed for me to run but I couldn't move, my feet were rooted in place. Edward took a step closer to me. There was a low rumbling growl from behind me. I should have been scared but I didn't turn to look, the growl somehow meant safety to me. This was all wrong, I should run to Edward for safety from the growling darkness. Edward's wild smirk faltered for a second but then his eyes shifted back to me. He took another step towards me, my heartbeat speeding up again, the blood draining from my hands and feet, making them cold and clammy. A loud snarl erupted from behind me and if I hadn't been frozen in fear I would have covered my ears. But I didn't flinch from the noise, it somehow felt safe and the sound encouraged my heart to slow and some warmth return to my hands and feet. I heard movement behind me but I never took my eyes off of Edward's blood red eyes. Then I felt soft fur rub against my bare arm, warmth, and safety radiated from it. I took a deep breath out of relief, my heart slowing to a normal pace again. I finally took my eyes from Edward to look at the small grey wolf beside me. I leaned into the wolf, half my body disappearing into the soft fur.
My dream suddenly shifted and I was no longer in the dark woods with Edward and the wolf. I was in a brightly lit meadow that had a little river running through it. I closed my eyes and smiled up at the sun, enjoying the sounds of the meadow. The birds sang off in the woods, the river ran gently over the rocks. I heard the soft approach of feet, two pairs, but didn't open my eyes until I felt soft fur brush my shoulder. When I slowly opened my eyes and tilted my head down to look I already knew it would be my little grey wolf. I reached my hand up and slowly ran it from the head of the wolf, down its front shoulder letting my hand stop on the side of its shoulder. I pushed my hand a little and sunk it into the soft fur, bringing my other hand up. Before I could bury my second hand into the beautiful fur the wolf bowed its head towards my upraised hand. I ran it through the fur on the top of its head and it closed its eyes, contently. I ran my hand along the side of its snout and then ran my hand over its incredibly soft ears. The wolf slowly opened its eyes, its head lowered to my eye level. The wolf looked directly into my soul and I needed to be closer to it, everything in my being screamed to be closer.
I woke startled by the blaring of my alarm clock. Edward smiled at me and murmured reassurances, turning off my alarm. I smiled shakily back at him, still trying to process my dream. I had dreamt of Leah, well Leah's wolf form. Her wolf was quite beautiful, and I couldn't help but remember how graceful she had been yesterday.
"What are you thinking, Love?" Edward asked with an admiring tone.
"Err, just thinking about my dream." I blushed slightly, almost feeling guilty to share such a special dream with someone else.
Edward looked like he wanted to press for further details but sighed.
"I'll be back to pick you up for school." He smiled and kissed me quickly before taking his leave out the window.
I could hear Charlie coming up the stairs, he knocked on my door.
"Hey, Bells. Are you awake?"
Normally I would have been annoyed at Charlie for causing Edward to leave but today I felt different.
"Yeah, what's up?"
Charlie came into my room and nodded.
"After work, I'm going down to the Clearwater's…" He trailed off not wanting to state the obvious as to why. "So you'll be alone for dinner unless you want to tag along."
Charlie always asked if I wanted to go with him to the Clearwater's, maybe hoping Leah and I would hang out as we used to when we were young kids. I always turn him down but today, after my dream, I hesitated before answering and I saw a glimmer of hope in Charlie's eyes. My own hesitation caught me off guard too and I just barely managed to get out a "no thank you." Charlie nodded and left, closing my door behind him.
I got ready for school and my mind kept drifting to my dream of Leah's beautiful wolf. And my mind started to wander and ask itself questions. Is her fur really that soft? Would she smell that good in real life? Every time I caught myself thinking about Leah I couldn't help blush lightly. I don't understand why I kept thinking about Leah, we haven't spoken in years. She hated me so why did I keep thinking about that beautiful wolf? At lunch, Edward asked me why I was so quiet today and I shrugged. He raised an eyebrow as a question. I looked away from him, still feeling his gaze on me. His piercing gaze was starting to make me uncomfortable, I would have killed for him to be this interested in me last week. Something just felt wrong about the way he looked at me now.
A week passed and I couldn't help but feel distanced from Edward. He wrote it off as nerves towards the newborn army in Seatle. I couldn't help but want to get away from Edward. I felt like something was pulling me to La Push. I hadn't seen or heard from Jake in a little over a week. I kept trying to call Jake but he never called back or Billy said he was out patrolling. It felt like Deja Vu from when he first joined the pack. Panic quickly rose and I knew I needed to go see Jacob soon. Edward and his family were hunting this Saturday and I decided I was going to go down to La Push. My heart sang when I decided on that so it had to be the right choice. If Jake was mad at me for something he would have to tell me, I wouldn't leave until I knew why he won't talk to me.
I was looking up at the tops of the trees but my head was moving up and down lightly. I realized my head was resting on the side of my grey wolf's chest. My head moved with every breath she took. We were laying in the forest, her furry body wrapped around me, protectively. I felt so warm and safe, despite the chill I could feel in the air. I turned my head to look at the big head of the wolf. I was met with beautiful big eyes looking back at me. I swear I could see a smile just in her eyes. I smiled at the wolf and she curled a little tighter against me, her tail coming up to wrap around me as well. It was so furry and soft it was like a blanket, I sighed contently.
When I woke I couldn't help feel a little sad and desperate to go back to sleep. I quickly pushed that away, a little disturbed by how much I wanted to be with my little wolf again. I mentally corrected myself, not my wolf...just Leah's wolf form. Slightly disturbed by my possessive feeling towards Leah's wolf form I hopped in the shower, my mood switching to excitement about going to La Push. A nagging pulling feeling in my chest eased the closer I got to La Push. I hadn't realized it was there until it started to ease up, my shoulders relaxed and I could feel the tension release from them.
I was expecting Jake to come out and great me, but he seemed to be in his garage. Maybe he had his hands full. I hopped out of my truck and headed back to the garage, where the lights were on. As soon as I crossed the threshold he barked "What do you want?". I froze, taken aback by the harshness in his voice.
"You haven't talked to me in a week, I just came to see what's up."
He still hadn't turned to look at me, but I saw his shoulders slump.
"I can't win." He mumbled
"What are you talking about?"
He suddenly whirled around, his face a mix of heartbreak and anger.
"I can't compete with this, I had a chance against Edward but not this."
"What the hell are you going on about Jake?" I took a few steps towards him.
"Bella," He sighed, the anger leaving his face to be replaced with sorrow. "Why did you come here?"
"I already told you I came to see you." I was getting a little annoyed now.
"And you didn't feel anything? The drive here was completely the same as any other time you've come to visit?" His eyes showed a little glimmer of hope.
I thought back to the drive and remembered the tension in my shoulders and the pulling in my chest. But when I thought about the pulling feeling it was still there. It wasn't as bad as earlier but it was still there.
"I can see it all over your face. Your heart is calling out to your other half."
I just looked at him a little surprised. Was it obvious that I felt some weird pulling in my chest? How do you even see that? What does my face look like right now?
"What?" I asked brilliantly.
"Come on Bella, you're not that stupid." He was suddenly agitated again. "Something pulled you to La Push, something you can't explain. It all started last week when you saw Leah."
"What?" I repeated my brilliant question, again.
"Jesus Bella," He was yelling now, his body shaking a bit at the emotion "Leah imprinted on you!" He hissed out between clenched teeth.
"What?..." I whispered, not really sure what to say.