Chapter 11
I'm not sure why, but as I stood there hugging Jake I had a strong sense wash over me. I wanted to be close to him, as close as possible.
I leaned back and snaked my arm around his neck and pulled him close. Without thinking, his lips touched mine and I immediately started kissing him back. I wrapped my other arm around his neck and he hugged my hips, pulling me closer into him. Then a thought crossed my mind….im kissing Jake…..
Wait.
I'm kissing Jake….?
I pulled away quickly, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to-"
He cut me off with another kiss.
"Don't be sorry." He said with a smile that illuminated his face. He passed his finger over my cheek, but I brushed away his hand to avoid talking about my scratches. Instead I pulled his hand into me and leaned against his chest.
"Goodnight Jake," I mumbled into his chest.
"Goodnight Brooke," he replied, kissing my head and smoothing back my hair to look at me.
When his eyes met mine I felt the same heart-stopping sensation I got when I had looked at him hours before. It was weird to think that when I woke up this morning, he was the last person I wanted to be around. But now with him I felt at ease and centered, that he was the only thing that mattered anymore. I had never felt happier.
I heard a low, deep growl from off the side of the porch that made both Jake and I jump, snapping me out of my euphoria. I looked over and saw two yellow eyes staring out through the darkness. My stomach dropped. This must have been what Sam had meant about there being others. My first instinct was to protect Jake.
"Jake, get back!" I pushed him away from the railing to get between him and the wolf.
"Brooke, what are you talking about? Go inside, it's not safe." Jake forcibly, and quite quickly, grabbed my shoulders and turned me to face the door.
I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. I couldn't let him try to play the hero. He didn't know what he was going up against. I tried to keep myself in check to not phase right before his eyes as I ran towards him, but the wolf was starting to get closer, "Jake look out!"
He turned around to look back at me in alarm, not knowing of the massive creature behind him, being only concerned for me. The wolf lunged to leap towards him, and I let the fear I had been trying to control overtake me. I phased in mid-air.
My instincts kicked in instantaneously, no one was going to hurt my Jake. I pinned the wolf down and snarled down into its face,
Stay away from him.
The wolf whined and tried to wiggle out from underneath of me, so I pushed harder into its neck.
Let him go Brooke.
Jake's voice flowed through my mind. My head snapped up and I released my attacker. I looked behind me to see the russet colored wolf staring at me, the same one from the forest. Only this time I saw it has Jacob's dark brown eyes.
It was you…
A memory flashed through my mind of me, in my wolf form, sitting on a rock in the moonlight, except from another's eyes. Jacob's eyes. I was in shock.
Trust me, so am I, His voice rang through my head again.
Jeez, Brooke, I know not to go creepin' up on you from now on.
I looked over at the other wolf and recognized his voice. I looked back over at Jake,
Collin?
Jake nodded, This idiot thought it would be a great idea to get us for the pack meeting by surprising us.
Yeah, but I never thought Brooke would attack me like that, Collin defended.
Me attack you? I growled, You could have killed him for all I knew! I could feel my fur standing from how angry I was. My tail swished agitatedly back and forth.
Calm down Brooke, I'm fine, Jake nuzzled my head to soothe me.
Well I didn't know that. I didn't even know you were a shape-shifter or anyone else was for that matter until earlier today when I ran into Sam! And all I got from him was that there are "others". I didn't know by "others" that meant like people I know! Are all our friends like us?
Jake's mind ran through a list of people: Seth, Paul, Quil, Embry, Brady, Jared, Leah… there were so many. Their faces ran through my mind along with their wolf forms. I sat down, wrapping my tail around my legs. It had finally truly hit me,
I'm not alone anymore…