A/N: Hey Guys! Hope all is well with you! Back for another update here! :-) Enjoy and please feel free to review! HAPPY READING xoxo.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

It had been nearly a week since I was released from the hospital and able to return home. I was thankful to leave and sleep back in my own bed, but trying to erase the memories of Volterra had proven difficult. Every noise made me jump these days. Anything from the stove timer going off, or Charlie's early alarm ringing, the slamming of a car door out front... they would all make my heart pound. I was uneasy around most everyone it seemed... everyone but Jacob.

When I returned to school yesterday, most everyone wanted to know what had happened? Where had I been? was I alright? They all took turns guessing and trying to assess some of the small bandages I still wore, and while it was hard to handle, I was touched by their concern.

I had received very minor injuries. Small second degree burns mostly, and scrapes that looked far worse than they actually were. It was all nothing... nothing compared to what could have happened. I was aware of more now it seemed. I stopped and "smelled the roses" as they say... took time to linger at dinner and really talk to Charlie, asking him in detail about how his day was at work. Our relationship was tense to say the least now. He would stomp angrily around the house most evenings and I knew where his temper came from. In his mind, I'd run off again and selfishly left him behind to worry. Jacob had graciously taken the heat for most of it, making up some story about how he had run away from home after he and Billy had gone rounds, claiming I had followed him in the hopes of bringing him back. He explained that the injuries were from a minor accident involving the rental car I'd used to go after him, and though Charlie looked a bit skeptical at times, he eventually accepted his explanation without further questions. Billy had played a large part in selling our story. He had called and helped cover for us further by telling Charlie that Jake had run off. Jacob caught severe hell from Charlie after, and it was painful for me to watch him take the heat for something he didn't do... something he didn't cause. I hated seeing Charlie yell at him for his careless actions, knowing that if he could somehow know the truth, he would be hugging him with astute gratitude instead. Despite the tension, I was determined to set Charlie and I on the right track again.

After nearly losing it all... I didn't want to take any moment of my once thought boring and ordinary life for granted. I had many reasons to be thankful and I planned on being more aware of them now.

Even Jacob had changed, in more ways than one, since my return home from the hospital. He ran patrols that lasted well into the evening and sometimes the dawning of the next day. He was always rigid with duty now... like a visible weight had been placed on his broad shoulders. It made me nervous at first, nervous that maybe the incident had proven too much for him, but I was slowly starting to recognize where his change had come from and concluded that my fear was unfounded.

Jacob had always been caring for me... always being sure that I was alright ... but the imprint had changed all that... intensified it somehow. He was even more aware of me, seeming to be a step ahead when I foolishly tripped, as I often did, and would somehow catch me long before I had hit the ground. He watched me with dutiful and endearing eyes, making me know his care for me was ever present without the need for any words.

It was a big change. Something I needed to adjust to for sure.

He spent most nights with me, climbing in through my window without making too much noise. Most of the time I wouldn't hear him sneak in and would awake to the feel of his arms encircling my waist. I would bask in his warmth, and take refuge in his comfort. My return home had brought with it an unwelcomed guest... my old nightmares and they were unkind with their visit.

The first night home had been the worst, my nightmares playing out in my mind with red vivid color as the blood thirsty guard from Aro's lair, hunted me down and stripped the flesh from my bones. I awoke from the piercing sound of my own screaming as it filled the room, my head spinning while I continued to try to fight off Demetri. I screamed again, entirely disoriented when Demetri's cold hands were suddenly replaced by warm ones, the feel of them jolting me out of the horrific scene unfolding in my mind. Heat enveloped me then as I stifled a cry and opened my eyes. The sheer panic in me already fading as a voice that lulled me whispered into the darkness.

"It's not real baby... It's not real-"

I sucked in a ragged breath, feeling that same warmth now whispered against my ear.

When the disorientation left me, I saw the clear worry on Jacobs face when he met my tired gaze.

"I'm gonna switch patrols with someone. You shouldn't be alone at night, honey."

It occurred to me then that he must have raced hell itself to get to me this fast.

Jacob saw my questioning stare and placed a kiss to my lips before explaining.

"I can sense when you're not okay... I can ... feel it."

I hadn't yet brought myself to ask him the many questions I wanted to, knowing he'd come to me when he was ready, but something in his tone told me he was trying to open up to me now.

"... because of the imprint." I whispered back in reply.

He nodded silently, drawing me in closer to him.

I could see he was struggling with it suddenly, as if he had opened something he wanted to seal shut again. I searched his face, recognizing the hesitant look he wore, his gaze settling on my lips.

"It's a forever kind of thing... isn't it?"

"It is, honey."

"When I was in Volterra-" I hedged, pausing when I felt Jacobs hold on me tighten and his body grow tight in response to the word. "...Something changed in you, Jacob."

He released me slowly, the look on his face pained as he moved away from me now with his answer. "Yes..."

"Talk to me... please." I sighed, wanting to know more about this shift in him.

Jacob paced back and forth in front of my window, his hands on his hips as he peered out toward the darkened forest. His tone was so low when he spoke, I could barely hear him when he began.

"What I am... I can't ever leave it, Bells. I was born into it and I'm bound by it... forever... and now... after last week... when I found out he took you-"

I got to my feet, seeing his hands shake as a wave of tremors tried to consume him. He cautioned me not to, but I took his hands in mine anyway, and within moments, he had visibly calmed.

"... you were nearly killed-... I was furious... enraged... and I had to get you back... had to get to you before they-"

My fingers tentatively brushed the top of his hand, feeling him struggle to keep his anger reigned in.

"I did what I had to do. What needed to be done."

He saw my confusion and pulled me closer his eyes on mine as he continued.

"I never wanted to be in a pack... let alone run one but it's in my blood and it's who I am now. Sam's no longer Alpha. I am."

I saw the bitterness in his gaze as he finished, felt the tension coil in his body with the words. They were laced with resentment and remorse.

My hands left his while my eyes wandered over his shirtless frame in front of me, seeing how his physique had changed in just a week and marveling at it. I reached out and gently touched his bare chest, my hand coming to rest above his heart.

"You're still you." I breathed to him. "Still... My Jacob."

His hand caught mine before I could let it fall, his skin so warm to the touch.

"I wanna tell you everything, honey... about the imprint."

I nodded, feeling my head whirl when his breath ghosted my lips, my mind filling with his naked form.

The mood shifted between us with a palpable tension then, my eyes meeting his with both surprise and yearning.

"Charlie's not home..." I sighed, trying to calm the ache that had begun to settle between my legs from how close he was.

"I know." He breathed, barely touching his lips to mine.

His kiss sent electricity through me, making me crave him more than my next breath.

Jacobs eyes were now lit with a lust that made my knees weak.

Before I could speak another word, I was being lifted as his tongue met mine, a throaty moan leaving us both from the contact.

My hands worked quickly to remove the flimsy camisole I had on as I pressed my bare breasts to his firm chest. He carried me to the bed like I were weightless, his kiss fevered and his erection prominently straining against the confines of his cut offs. He laid me down beneath him and my back arched when his warm tongue languidly circled my nipple. His hands moved down to my silk shorts, his eyes dark with need as he stripped them from me. The way he looked at me made me feel as if I would combust.

His gaze was a mix of things... alluring... lustful... adoring... and possessive... something I hadn't seen before and it made me wet for him.

The feel of his warm hands on my bare skin made it hum.

His tongue left a blazing heat trail down the center of my stomach, pausing as he reached the hem of my lace panties.

I could hear the need in his tone as he whispered my name.

"Bells-"

Shivers ran up my spine as his hands began pulling the lace panties down over my naked thighs, leaving me laid bare before him and near tingling with anticipation.

"I wanna taste you, honey."

His tone was deep and husky with his request and I couldn't refuse him.

My breath felt stolen when he slowly parted my legs, his warm mouth hovering a mere breath away from my sex. My back arched when his tongue began to caress my slick folds, making me wreath and moan. I couldn't contain the carnal cries that left me, for no one had ever made me feel this way. My legs trembled and my heart raced as a flush of heated color soon spread from my cheeks to my chest, while Jacobs tongue dipped further. His hands gripping my hips and inching me closer to him in almost a possessive way, as if he were branding me... claiming me... in a way no one else had... in a way no one else ever would.

The heavy ache between my legs continued to grow with every stroke of his skilled tongue, leaving me panting and begging him not to stop. My muscles drawn tight and quivering... my hands curled into fists around the sheets.

I felt as if I would implode... turn to ash even... when his tongue was replaced by his fingers, sliding them in with a throaty groan and making me near plead with him for release.

"Jacob... please... please."

It was almost too much... almost.

I wasn't above begging him for it now... wasn't ashamed to admit that I ached for him to be inside me.

His fingers left me at my plea and I whimpered audibly from the absence as he hurriedly stood and removed his cut offs. I crawled to him, taking his length in my hand and stroking him from base to tip, feeling the salty serum slide under my thumb now.

"Fuck." He groaned, deep in the back of his throat.

I stroked him till he hovered over me, backing me up slowly and capturing my lips. He slid his strong hand up my outer thigh, firmly cupping my ass when he settled himself between my naked thighs, his body trembling with effort,

He entered me without reprieve, sheathing himself to the hilt. I nearly came from the fullness... from feeling him buried so deep inside me.

He slid in and out, building a pace that made me unable to stifle my cries.

My fingers dug into his shoulders as his pace grew pounding, his length going deeper than before.

I came hard, groaning into his shoulder and feeling his own body tense with a release that left his every muscle taut. Sweat covered us as we lay together, our breathing ragged.

I was startled when he suddenly picked me up, my breath catching as he secured me to him and headed for my bathroom with a devilish grin on his lips.

"Who says I'm done with you, honey?"

I grinned wide in return, feeling my skin heat again as he shut the door behind us.