Chapter 2

Rated M

Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer. Thank yaleacebella12 for this update. I'm kind of undecided on this story at the moment. ;) Enjoy!

"Jake?" she asked, looking at me expectantly.

I was supposed to respond but the words were stuck in my throat.

"What do you want me to say to that, Ness? Where is this coming from all of the sudden?" I choked out. I had given up on eating the food on my plate. My stomach felt like I had swallowed a brick.

"I want you to say what you feel, Jake. I don't know where this is coming from. It's been building up for a while now. I've been thinking about wanting a relationship. Yet, I don't see you as my future husband," her eyes flicked to the side. Obviously, she didn't want to hurt my feelings.

"Wow. Don't worry, I'm not upset about that. I was actually worried you were going to say you wanted to start dating me," I said. Then I got to watch her choke on her drink.

Ness spluttered, "Well, I don't know whether or not I should be offended by that. But really I'm relieved."

"Ness, you are my best friend. Because of you I have come to accept myself, as well as better myself as a human being. I love you. You mean the world to me. But, I'd be lying if I said I was in love with you."

"I feel the same way, Jake. Now, I have been emailing with someone and I'd like to go on a date with them. I want to have your blessing first. Your opinion means a lot to me."

"I don't think my opinion should matter on who you love, but I definitely want to meet this person, whoever it is, before they take you out. They need to know that you should be treated right," I sat up straighter, thinking about how I will have to protect Ness from getting her heart broken by some mediocre teenager. "Of course, you've got to be careful not to reveal anything about who we are to this person."

"Well, that's the thing Jake. He already knows about what we all are," she blushed lightly. Then she looked down at the table and wouldn't make eye contact with me. Who the hell did she want to date that she would be so shy about?

"So come out with it then," I said, looking at her with my eyes wide open, waiting for the name.

"Ugh. I knew you were going to be like this," she huffed.

"Like this? What am I being like? I am curious who knows about us that you would like to date. I'm not being like anything," I said, confused by her response.

She let out a big sigh. Her already fast heartbeat made a funny pit-patter before she finally spit it out. "Embry."

"Say what?" I laughed. Embry? What the heck? The guy was repulsed by Ness when she was born. Now he was emailing her?

Ness stood and walked to the large glass doors overlooking the Olympic Forest. She wrapped her arms around her body in a familiar fashion and stayed there, silent.

Damn it. I didn't want her to feel bad. I got up and walked over beside her. I looked down at her pretty face and saw her expression. I saw doubt on her face, as well as insecurity. It wasn't something I saw often with her. She knew she was beautiful. Men, and women, told her that all of the time, everywhere we went.

"Has Embry already asked you out?" I asked, not sure how to go about this whole conversation.

"No, not yet. Why would he? The entire pack thinks we're bound to each other. Of course, after last night, they all know we haven't…" she looked at me, her eyes widening with meaning, "you know, mated." She turned away embarrassed at what she said.

"We've been emailing for a few years now. For the first 2 years, it wasn't very often. I sent him pictures from our tours around the world, so he could see how you were doing. We started talking about books and things he was doing here. It just started to develop from there," she finished quietly.

"Wow, Ness. I don't know what to say," I replied. It was the utmost truth. I never understood why I imprinted on a half vampire. I was a shape-shifting wolf, built to destroy vampires. Would a relationship between Embry and Ness work?

Ness turned and walked out of the kitchen, leaving me to clean up after breakfast. I didn't mind really, as I was completely lost in the morning's discussion.

I had a lot of decisions to make. Should I let Ness break our bond? Would I still be a part of her life if I did? How much did I want to be around her and the vampires if I did? I knew I couldn't let her leave me completely. We'd still have to talk and see each other every now and then. You can't ditch your family all of the sudden.

My hand stilled at the realization. She was my family, well a part of it. Another sister, a close one. A sister, I adored and wasn't an annoying pain in my ass when I was a kid, but a sister nonetheless.

With that realization in place, I knew I would tell Ness I wanted to be released. We could both start living our lives without the other right there to interfere. Having a younger sister was something I could explain to a girlfriend. Having a very protective older brother was something Ness could explain to any potential dates she brought home. Edward looked too young to be her father, so that wouldn't fly. They needed someone to keep some young punk in his place.

It was then the last realization hit me. I rinsed the last plate and dried my hands. I walked out on the deck and sat on the wooden bench, staring out into the forest. The beautiful, green forest. The only place I had ever called home in my entire life. I wouldn't live with the Cullen's anymore.

I wouldn't have any reason to live with them. I could pack my sparse belongings at my cabin in Tennessee and move back home. Wow, that felt good to say.

With that last thought, I stripped off my clothes and jumped off the deck onto the wet grass. I shifted and sped off into the woods, leaping through the brush and trees. I stretched over the river and ran up the mountain, feeling joy in my heart for the first time in more than a decade. It was a wonderful feeling. As I reached the mountaintop, I shifted back to my human form, and looked down at the world below me. The sun was high in the sky, shining down on my body. It felt like a warm hug, like the Spirits had finally blessed me for once.

I looked around and found a smooth rock face where I could sit and not have sand or grass up my ass and package. I sat, looking out at the world, thinking about what I would do next. I'd have to find a place to live. I'm sure there was some old dump on the res that needed fixing up. I didn't want to move back into my dad's house. I loved the guy, but I needed my own space now.

Somehow, I was so lost in my thoughts, I didn't notice the sweet smell indicating a vampire's arrival behind me.

A cold finger lightly dusted down my spine from the back of my neck down between my butt cheeks. The feeling startled me and I spun around snarling.

Bella jumped back, hands up as if she were under arrest, frozen in shock.

"God damn it, Bella! You scared the shit out of me! How about you say something when you realize I don't know you're there?" I snapped at her. Damn it.

She made a puzzled face and looked at both hands before flipping them over and checking the other side. "Sorry, Jake. But I can say without a doubt, I didn't scare any shit out of you." She smiled widely at me, then winked, holding both hands out.

"Oh my gosh! That was bad, even for you, Bells," I laughed. I turned around and sat back down on my rock.

She walked up and sat beside me, glancing sideways out of her eyes.

"See something you like?" I jibed her with the old line.

"Mmm. Maybe," she said.

WTF?

I turned and looked at her. She didn't look back at me, just stared out into the land below.

"What are you doing here anyway?" I asked.

"I smelled you, so I followed you," she answered vaguely.

"No, I mean, what are you doing in Washington? Why aren't you home in Tennessee with Edward?"

"Well, yesterday, Alice saw Renesmee coming home alone at the end of your week here. I came to stop that from happening. I don't know if you guys get in a fight or what. Of course, she can't see you, so I don't know much else," she told me.

"Do you think you could stop us from 'breaking up' Bells?" I asked her. She knew that Ness and I had not crossed that line. She and Edward told each other absolutely everything, so of course she would know that we hadn't.

"Do you think breaking up is the right description?" she countered.

I sighed. What the hell was going on? Only a few hours ago, Ness tells me she wants to break the imprint and now Bella is here trying to make sure—what? That it didn't happen? Obviously, Ness had made her mind up with enough time for Bella to travel out here to Washington. I had only decided that I would let her an hour or so ago.

Bella turned toward me, sitting with her legs folded in front of her. She gave my body a complete look over. I could feel her eyes on every inch of me. Every inch. In fact, at that moment, there were a few more inches appearing that weren't there before-all because of her scrutiny.

I tried to adjust my body to hide my current situation from her, but as much as I tried, it didn't really help. I was standing at complete attention now and her eyes were giving it her complete attention.

"Ness wants to release me from the imprint and start dating other guys," I said. Her shock instantly killed my hard on. Thank goodness.

Her jaw opened and closed a few times before she finally able to get some words out. "What did you say?"

"I didn't tell her anything yet. But apparently, her decision to tell me, solidified mine and you seem to already know. I've been thinking about where I'm going to live, where I'm going to work," I shrugged. "I'd rather be the one to tell her though. So please don't talk to her about anything."

"No, no. I won't tell her anything. What do you mean, where you're going to live? You need to come back to Tennessee and live with us. What would we do without you, Jake? You're a part of our family."

"Bells," I started. This wasn't going to be easy. "I'm not a part of the family. Not really. I need to start living my life."

"You are living your life," she interrupted. "You're living your life with us. That's where you belong, Jake. You are a part of my life. You have been since I moved back to Forks." Her voice started getting higher and more hysterical as she went on.

"Honey, I don't belong there. Not really. You know that," I whispered, looking at her. Her face down, though I could tell by her forehead that her eyes were all scrunched up. I reached out and put my fingers under her chin. I gently nudged her to get her to look at me.

"I don't want you to go, Jake," she frowned, and I could tell that if she could cry-she would.

It was at that moment, I knew deep down in my heart that the thing that had kept me around all of this time, wasn't Ness, although I loved her dearly-it was Bella.

My hand fell away from her and I discreetly covered myself while looking back at the cliff below me.

We'd come full circle all these years later. Now, Bella didn't want me to go. All I wanted was to go off on my own.

Again, I was left unsure, undecided.