Chapter 3

The wolves howled as we approached. It felt to me that the guys howled almost as loudly as their wolves did. I could hear them clearly even over the thunderous roar of Jake's bike and couldn't help but roll my eyes. They could always be counted on when it came to making a big deal out of nothing.

Jake slowed down and parked his bike next to a pile of driftwood logs in First Beach. He jumped off, in a single swift, graceful movement, and I imitated him. The uneven layer of multi hued rocks made me stumble a bit and I reached out for his black cotton tee to avoid a humiliating fall in front of the wolves and everyone else. I landed on Jake's solid, hot chest. Hmm. He grabbed my waist, and I looked up to see his face with a sheepish expression.

"Nessie, baby, are you okay?" Jake asked, the crease between his eyebrows deepening, worry tainting his face.

"I'm fine, sorry!" I laughed.

"It's scary how much you remind me of someone, right this moment," Jake commented looking away with a weird expression. I felt a wave of something that made my insides twist and made my blood feel like it was boiling.

"Who?" I wished my voice hadn't sounded high pitched and demanding.

"Your mother."

That wasn't the answer I was expecting.

"Mom?"

"Yeah. She wasn't always so, er… perfectly coordinated," Jacob explained with a smile.

"Oooh." The uncomfortable feeling inside me disappeared almost as fast as it had come. "Really?" I managed to ask after I realized he wasn't talking about some random girl.

"Yeah. I miss making fun of her because of it. She was very capable of falling on her face on a flat surface," Jacob laughed.

Having him so close, I couldn't help sniffing Jake when his eyes briefly flickered towards the bonfire. He smelled so good. Familiar, woodsy, masculine. Very masculine. I heard him laugh quietly, as he pulled me to a hug. I loved his laugh. It was a deep, throaty sound I had grown up with and that'd I'd easily make out from a million laughs. And I was specially loving the way his strong arms wrapped around me.

"Hey, are you guys planning on spending all night there…?" Embry called, killing my introspection.

"Yeah, stop hogging her, Jake!" Quil complained from his place.

"I don't think Edward would be too happy if he—"

"Can everyone just shut up?" Jake groaned, placing both hands on his face. "C'mon, Nessie," Jacob said, taking my hand and tugging gently me towards the bonfire. "I don't really feel like beating someone up."

We laughed. As we approached the campfire, I observed captivated as the flames licked blue, then green, changing colors from the salty driftwood that served as its fuel. I looked around at all the people that were reunited, sitting around the mesmerizing, ever-changing fire or wandering about. Quil, Embry and his girlfriend Susie—a slight, yet fragile looking beauty from the Makah reservation, like his own mother—were all sitting together on one of the bleached logs, looking at us with wide grins on their copper-colored faces. Rachel stood with Emily outside the circle, watching as Paul raced along the feisty, moonlit shoreline with Emily and Sam's little Levi. Sam was chatting lively with Billy and Sue nearby. Jared and Kim whispered to each other on a shorter log, loving looks on their faces. I watched Jared take Kim's hand and kiss each and every one of her fingers softly, her face darkening as she laughed contentedly at his side.

"Hey, Jake, Nessie!" Colin, Brady and the rest of Sam's pack waved at us. They were roasting sausages and eating as they cracked jokes boisterously on the longest log, from where their laughs rumbled.

"Hey guys!" I waved back at them, feeling the corners of my mouth twitch high up. I grinned as I glanced at the all-too familiar pack of wolves. I recognized another face that emerged from the crowd—Seth Clearwater.

"Come sit with us!" Colin invited, flashing his cheeky grin. I noticed his usually long, black hair wasn't pulled back in a ponytail, but that it was now shorter and untidy. I had to admit it suited him pretty well.

"Uh, in a while, 'kay?" I answered him, my tone apologetic. I was on my first date with Jake. I'd rather wait until we decided what to do. He shrugged, still smiling. I felt a pair of eyes stare attentively my way. Curious, I turned my gaze to that direction, but only found Seth reaching for another box of pizza that apparently he was going to be sharing with John.

"Hi there, little freak!" Paul said, grinning wickedly at me, as he ran past us. Little Levi was laughing ecstatically, trying to catch up to him.

Jake growled beside me.

"Oh, get used to it already," I snorted. "You know he's just teasing."

I heard him snort, but felt him ease up a bit. Of course we both knew I was right. He would never really stay mad at his friends anyway. They were brothers more than they were friends.

"Stupid Paul," he muttered. Yeah right, I thought rolling my eyes.

"Hello, Nessie," Emily and Rachel greeted, hugging me.

"Why haven't you come to visit me?" Rachel pouted, one hand on the big bump in her mid section. She was adorably seven months pregnant, and frankly Paul didn't exaggerate when he claimed she looked more beautiful than ever. Unlike some women, motherhood suited her wonderfully, I had decided observing her glowing beauty one memorable afternoon at her small, cozy home. I also remember perfectly how she had indulged me that day with dozens of her crispy, heavenly, caramel almond cookies.

"Because Paul's a freaking idiot," Jake answered automatically, his black eyes dangerously following Paul.

"Jake!" I groaned. "You're stealing my lines here."

Actually, I really liked Paul. Though he was reckless, blunt and rowdy—which irritated me beyond measure most of the time—we both had quite a temper. Therefore, we bickered half of the time. It might sound crazy, but that's why I liked him; picking on each other was fun. That did annoy Jake, though, but frankly amused Rachel, which was fine with me.

"Oh, well… But don't mind him," Rachel offered with muffled giggle.

"Hey, I resent that!" Paul yelled. Jacob's beautiful sister laughed openly, her half open chocolate eyes shining brightly .

"No, but seriously, come on over this week. I'm in desperate need of female company," she grimaced, staring in Paul's direction.

"He's getting impossible," Emily nodded solemnly.

"The whole 'soon-to-be-father-werewolf-gone-ridiculously-overprotective' madness," Rachel elaborated. "He thinks I'm made of glass! I swear I'll lose it one of these days."

"Aren't you guys going to say hi to me?" Seth asked as he trudged over. "Been away for months and this is how you welcome me home?" he asked, his expression warped with feigned pain.

"Goodbye peace and quiet," Jake muttered with a dramatic sigh.

"Missed you too, chief," Seth stuck his tongue out, jokingly. Jake smirked and punched him playfully on the shoulder. "Hey, Nessie!"

I turned to face him. I noticed he hadn't changed much since the last time I'd seen him. Absurdly tall, as the rest of the shapeshifters, his satiny, russet-colored skin stretching all across his lean yet muscular, built body, his shoulder length, shiny, black hair pulled back in a ponytail. Attractive as ever, especially when he smiled how he was smiling now. In my brief scrutiny, I did notice a slight change; a simple, small silver stud shining on his left ear. He and his friend John had won a scholarship to the Washington State University. He was obviously majoring in Mechanical Engineering, like Jake, and had just got back to La Push that same day.

As I pondered, his deep, hazel gaze had fixated on mine. His expression was innocently playful, but I sensed something else in his eyes. They were… different. There was something different from what I had seen the last time I gazed in those vivacious, hazel eyes.

"Hey, Seth," I greeted, smiling at him, though I was still wondering about his expression. "How have you been?"

"Okay, I guess. But don't you look stunning!" he complimented, taking my hand and kissing my knuckles. He looked at me with a wide grin that reached his eyes entirely. Before I got to answer, he proceeded, "How's the family?"

"Everyone's doing great, thanks for asking. You should come by soon, now that you're back."

"Yes, ma'am! Would you mind telling Edward I'll pay him a visit once I settle down?" He asked, his eyes wide with excitement.

"Not at all, I'll tell him," I promised.

"Great!" he answered cheerfully. I grinned back. His good mood was too contagious not to respond to it. Jacob placed one of his strong arms across my shoulder.

"Hey, Ness, want to go say hi to Dad and the others?" he suggested, smiling. I blinked.

"Oh, sure. See you later, Seth," I waved at him.

"Sure."

I turned to Jacob as we walked away. His expression was a bit secluded, making me feel a little anxious.

"Everything okay, Jake?" I asked him. He smiled at me.

"Of course. Did I upset you?" he inquired, carefully studying my face with a slight frown.

"Not at all, I'm fine. Just felt like something worried you."

He shook his head, as he steered me towards where Sam, Billy, Sue now laughed about something. After greeting the elders and holding a brief conversation with them, Rachel and Emily joined us, and Jacob excused us so we could go sit with Quil, Embry and Susie. Seth had replaced Paul on the task of babysitting Levi. I watched him teaching the boy some of the constellations that were visible in the summer sky. A smile played on my lips.

"So?" Quil asked, wiggling his eyebrows at Jake and me. Embry and Susie rolled their eyes.

"So what, Quil?" Jake sighed.

"First date, huh?" he elbowed Jake in the ribs, grinning madly.

"I guess, yeah," I answered, shyly smiling up at Jacob. His shiny black eyes found mine before my gaze wandered from his kind eyes to the rest of his familiar, russet-colored face. To his large, straight nose and his full lips, his high cheekbones and his strong jaw. He had such a very handsome face. How come I never really noticed how overly attractive he was? Quil cleared his throat.

"Guys—"

"Hey, where's Claire? How come she's not here?" Jacob asked him, slowly looking away from my face. I heard Quil laugh, and I quickly turned to face him, feeling shy and self-conscious all of a sudden.

"Her mother said it's too late for her to be outside," he sighed. Embry chuckled.

"Sheesh, it has to suck to imprint on—"

"RIGHT!" Jake cut in sharply. "It's too bad Claire couldn't come. She and Levi could've played together."

"Yeah, uh…" Embry interrupted himself, looking away from us.

For a minute no one said more, and all we heard was the fire cackling, sending sparks into the night, and the other group's laughing. What were these stupid wolves hiding from me? I narrowed my eyes, as they shifted from Quil, to Embry, to Jake. And for the expression on Susie's delicate face, she was in on it with them.

"So what's that?" I asked them, casually. "Imprint?"

I turned to see Jake again and caught him glaring at Embry. He turned to me when he felt my eyes, and smiled.

"It's nothing. You don't have to worry about it, Ness."

I frowned. That answer didn't do it for me. His expression turned wary when he realized I was going to be a nuisance about it.

"Hey, why the long faces?" Colin asked, him and Brady plopping down to my left.

"Colin, what's 'imprint'?" I turned to ask him. "What does it mean?"

I saw the grin leave his face, and his expression became slightly anxious.

"Uh… Well, imprint, er… That's when, uh… You know… Nessie, why don't you ask Jake? He's the best one to explain that to you!" he exclaimed, grinning.

"How come?" I pressed, my frown deepening. Jacob didn't seem like was going to say a word about it. My eyes widened. "Is it bad?" I asked, looking directly to Jacob's eyes. Panic flashed in his eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared.

"No, Ness, not at all," he sighed. "Look, I'll explain later, ok? I promise. Do you think you can try to drop it for now? Please. Promise me."

I sighed deeply and pouted, crossing my arms. He smiled soothingly and slowly placed one of his big, warm hands on my face. I closed my eyes when I felt his thumb gently stroke my cheek. My heart started beating even faster than usual, so fast is was just a faint hum as I helplessly felt heat creeping up to the place where Jacob's hand trailed.

"You promise you will tell me later, right?" I breathed out.

"When have I ever broken a promise?" he grinned mischievously. We looked at each other for a moment, before my expression matched his. It tended to happen with Jacob. There was something inexplicable about him that melted away the gloom, the uneasiness, and the worries. It surrounded him like an aura, and no matter how I'm feeling, it always relieved me when he was with me.

"Let's enjoy the night," I settled.

"Let's enjoy our first date," he whispered in my ear. I opened my eyes and his shined like polished onyx. The heat on my face extended and stayed there. His hand found mine, and he then brought it to his lips and kissed it gently. We smiled at each other.

After a while of catching up and teasing—the usual jokes about our natural scents always had to come up—our group went to grab a bite. Well, kinda. Not even after seven years was I all that into eating human food—except for sweets (any kind and in any form) and spicy food. Something kinda like the Jalapeño Doritos Jake had gotten for me. I picked on a couple of chips, as me and Susie amused ourselves trying to keep track of the amount of food the guys swallowed non-stop. It was a habit I developed since I could remember, and that went way back. Dozens of large hamburgers, hot dogs with quarter pound sausages and all the fixings, slices, no, boxes of pizza, bags of chips and liters of soda were all disappearing in a matter of less than an hour.

"You know, Nessie, the resemblance with stray, wild, hungry wolves is quite remarkable, don't you think?" Susie commented in her sweet, soft voice, a smirk playing on her full lips.

"Are you a mind reader?" I asked looking at her with false suspicion.

"No, but maybe the awe in your face is giving you away." She giggled, and I joined her. My laugh broke off suddenly as my eyes met with Seth's intense gaze. He smiled at me, offering me the hot dog he was about to eat. My smile tuned apologetic as I shook my head vehemently. He laughed and shrugged; eyes still on me. I turned as I heard Jacob's laugh approaching. He sat cross-legged in front of me, and was smiling affectionately.

"Are you having a good time?" he asked me, his warm eyes wandering over every inch of my face.

"Sure, sure," he smirked at my use of his catch phrase. "As a matter of fact, Susie and I were discussing how you all really look like a pack hungry wolves. Wolves that were probably locked up for the past decade or so. Do you think you're done eating, by the way? White flag?"

Susie and I started laughing again, as Jake's face became a mask of pain.

"How can you possibly say that, Ness? Don't you know that I, at the very least, am a growing child? I need to eat and…"

"And then you'll be confused with a sequoia?" Susie suggested.

"A walking sequoia." I added. We chortled as Jake's jaw hung open, and he turned his face away, a haughty expression on his face.

"Just kidding, Jake," I said between giggles, opening my arms and wrapping them around his neck. He rested his head on my shoulder, leisurely breathing in the scent in my arms. It was so pleasant to have him in my arms like that. It felt so natural, I thought as I ran my fingers slowly through his silky black tresses.

"Have you eaten anything at all?" he asked then, in a quiet voice.

I had quit on the chips long ago, and I confessed myself to Jake. He sighed, but looked behind my shoulder as the most delectable scent hit us at the same time. That was chocolate, lots of it. Confirmed, once I saw Rachel approaching us with a large, round, mouthwatering death by chocolate cake.

"You do know I love you, right Rachel?" I asked, jumping up to give her a huge hug.

"I do believe you've mentioned it before… Normally after I show up with a sweet treat just for you," she laughed. "Maybe now you won't mind visiting."

I gave her a kiss in the cheek before I untangled myself from her, stealing the platter away. All the boys all turned to look at me. I retreated with the booty.

"Don't even think about it!" I menaced, holding a fork in an offensive position, willing to poke someone with it if necessary. Brady advanced in my direction. "Do not come any further! Any of you."

"Sheesh, I just want a slice," Brady mumbled, walking back to his place, shoulders slouched. "C'mooon, Nesseeeh," he whined.

"You're not going to eat all that anyway," Quil complained.

"Oh, you'd be surprised," Sam commented nonchalantly, taking a swig of ginger ale.

"She's not normal, remember?" Paul added, smiling evilly. "The sea serpent, Loch Nessie Monster!"

"Shut up, you ridiculous, short-tempered joke of a dog!" I lashed back at him.

"Short-tempered, she says," Paul cackled. I bared my teeth at him making everyone laugh.

The cake was as glorious as it smelled, of course. Jake, Rachel and the others had stared fascinated as usual as I devoured the luscious, moist dessert. I know they always wondered how such a small person as me could wolf down so much food. I didn't have the answer to that and in that moment I was honestly too ecstatic relishing the creamy fudge to feel embarrassed. To my defense, I was considered enough to share some cake with Quil and Colin.

When we all were done eating—that took a good part of the evening—we lounged for a while, too full to move. John started playing his guitar at some point, and the gentle chords gave the night a charming touch. Jake and I were laying side by side on a plaid blanket he had stored in the compartment beneath the seat of his bike. In our proximity, he had started to idly fidget with the bracelet on my wrist. The movement brushed my skin so softly it gave me tingles. Not that it was a bad sensation. After some quiet, mindless chatter with the other guys and their mates, Jacob leaned over and whispered in my ear,

"The stories are going to start, Nessie."

"What stories?" I whispered back.

"The legends of the Quileute tribe. You know, of how we came to be who we are today."

I nodded, and Jake pulled me towards his body.

It wasn't hard to pay attention. Jacob's father's narrative was passionate, vivid and easy to follow. It was like he owned the enthralling stories. The crackling fire sent red sparks in the air now and then that only added more emotion to the moment. Billy's deep, majestic voice transported me to the tribe's primitive village. I felt as I if could almost fly the spirit warriors; I could almost extend my hand to the third wife as she sacrificed herself to save her husband, to save the tribe from the unearthly beautiful and blood-thirsty cold one.

I was amazed Jacob had shared an experience like this with me. Overall, I was very grateful that I was able to discover the very essence of the Quileute tribe.

"You're awfully quiet," Jacob observed, looking at me intently.

We were drifting towards the glowing shoreline, barefoot. I smiled at him.

"It's nothing," I replied, kicking a little pebble with my toes. "Well, on second thought, I do have something to say."

"Shoot."

"Thanks for inviting me down here tonight," I said sincerely, looking into his eyes. "It's been a magical night. In every sense of the word, Jake."

He smiled and held my hand. Our fingers spontaneously entwined. Our touch was the only thing that made me believe it was real. That I wasn't just was dreaming it all. The moment was perfect: the soft sound of the waves, the crescent moon high above us, its pale reflection over the dark waters, the laughter of our friends and family in the background. Well, it was almost perfect. I shyly shifted closer to his body. He laughed quietly and held my waist. I hugged his, or as much as I could. He made me feel so tiny, and so feminine. How was it that I had never felt this way around him before? I looked up and he was smiling brightly at me at me. I blushed and wished I knew what he was thinking. I wondered if he thought I was pretty. I wondered if he was starting to feel the same things I was feeling towards him.

"Renesmee." he said in his deep, husky voice. He had stopped walking and placed one of his large hands on my left cheek. "You're incredible—so beautiful, so smart, so gentle… Just so perfect, so amazing…" he whispered, looking at me intensely, smoothly sliding his hand to my neck.

Well, there you go, Renesmee. I shivered at his words and his passionate gaze and the gentleness of his touch. I just kept looking up at him like an idiot without a clue of what I should say. I tried to smile, but I wasn't sure if I had succeeded. It seemed like my brain was disconnected from my body. That must've happened, because next thing I know, my arms were around his neck and I heard myself whimper, feeling incomplete,

"Please kiss me, Jacob."

Talk about subtlety.