Disclaimer: Twilight is Stephanie Meyer's creation. I'm only borrowing what she began.
***** Chapter 3 – Me & My Shadow *****
Bella stretched her legs, eating up the miles with each lengthened stride, feeling Jake keep pace to her left as they made their way up the coast. God, she hated reliving old memories, seeing Jake's guilt threaten to consume him once again.
Waking up a lone vampire in the midst of a wolf pack brought with it a certain tension. On the one hand, Bella was the very thing they were sworn to protect their friends and family from, but on the other, she was their family and friend as well. Some of the guys had demanded her death, Paul being one of them, but Jake's sense of responsibility kept him from ending her life the second time. He thought her dead as she lay bleeding on the grass that afternoon, his grief razor-sharp and clawing at his chest, seizing his lungs so he couldn't catch his breath. He could only lay down by her side, slipping under the waves of sadness and drowning in the loss. When her ear-piercing shrieks yanked him out of the darkness, he felt helpless to comfort her twisted form that writhed in agony, but he also felt hope. There was fear that this new creature would be fueled by a blood lust that would not be assuaged, but there was also hope that some part of the girl he loved was still in there, that Bella would win the fight against the monster within and his best friend would return.
Bella had debated leaving the Pacific Coast to search out others of her kind. She had enough knowledge to try and track down the Cullens, and maybe she could go to Alaska, search out the Denalis, and get them to point her in the right direction. In those early days, she could feel the disgust some of the wolves projected having to share space with a vampire. They would flinch if she came close, turning their frames so they could always keep their eyes on her, never running ahead of her, but remaining behind so she couldn't ambush them from behind. Without Jacob's guilt over her human death and his never-ending efforts to try and make it up to her, Bella would have left the place she once called home behind, but she knew this would leave Jacob heart-broken and refused to be the source of any more of his pain. Instead, she made the most of her days, trying to be more than just a "leech" and endearing herself to the men she now considered family.
The sound of Jacob's labored panting pulled Bella out of her memories and she came to a graceful halt next to a swift-running stream.
Glancing down at the watch on her wrist, she noticed they had been running for a little over half an hour, "Ready to head back? We'll be cutting it close as is, and I really don't want to invite the wrath of Cali if you're late. You'll be sleeping on the couch and she won't be so understanding next time I need a running partner."
Jacob took a long pull from the cool water, ducking his head under the surface, shaking the water off his muzzle onto the female standing close by.
"Ew, you ass, I do not need a shower of creek water and dog drool."
Jacob only wagged his tail and bumped into her side before taking off, back the way they had come. Bella quickly followed, letting him take the lead on the return trip.
Stopping in front of Jacob's house, Bella turned her eyes towards the horizon as Jake shifted and pulled on some shorts he had stowed on the porch.
Once he was clothed, he came over to hug Bella from behind, placing his chin on her shoulder and looking out into the night.
"Jake?"
He yawned in response, weary from the speed of their run, "Hmm?"
"Promise me you'll let today go and won't be slouching around here for the next few days, feeling guilty."
"What makes you think I would do something like that?"
Bella snorted, "Because you do it every time we have to relive those first few days. And I repeat, I don't blame you and I refuse to let you blame yourself."
"Yeah, yeah."
Bella elbowed him in the stomach, causing him to bend forward, "I mean it."
"Fine, Bells, I will go forth guilt-free."
"Whatever, smart ass. Get in there before your woman locks you out of the house." Bella turned in his arms and gave the towering man a gentle hug, "Love you."
Jake froze in her embrace, smelling the air as Bella heard the sound of paws approaching their location.
"Go on in, I've got this."
Jacob looked out into the tree line around his home, "You sure?"
"Seriously? I handled myself around an entire pack of haters, I can handle this one newbie to the group."
Jacob stared intently out into the darkness, trying to convey his annoyance over this unexpected arrival before turning and going inside.
Bella didn't bother to turn around and confront her visitor. Instead she headed towards a motorcycle that was parked by Jake's garage.
"Are you planning on applying for the position of being my personal shadow?"
Mat had shifted, anticipating a confrontation from his pack leader, "Something like that. I don't know what you've done to the other guys around here, maybe used your magic to lull them into a false sense of security, but I don't trust you."
"Magic? I'm a vampire not a witch." Bella pulled a pack off the back of the bike, swinging it up onto her shoulders.
"I already know you have special powers. Witch or not, who's to say you don't have some way of hypnotizing the others to believe you're something you're not?"
"Touché. So, you're just going to follow me around? Make sure I don't run off into the night with some sleeping children, cook them into a stew?"
"I'll do what I need to do to make sure the others are safe."
Bella turned to face him, "Fine. Have it your way. I can handle one measly mutt on my tail. Since you're so interested in my dinner, you can come share snack time with me. I won't slow my pace for you, and if you scare off my food, I'm using your ass as my meal replacement. Understood?"
"Lead on, leach."
Bella returned to the woods she had abandoned, her shadow close behind.
Stopping at the edge of a clearing, Bella came to a halt and silently placed her pack onto the ground. In the full moon's light she could see the small herd of deer grazing peacefully, not having caught her scent or sound. She placed her hand up into the air, indicating that Mat should halt his steps before pointing to a fallen tree to her right.
Mat turned his gaze, his lupine eyes falling onto the image of a mountain lion who was also watching the herd of deer, completely unaware of Bella's presence. Without warning, the lion leapt from his perch taking after the herd and jumping onto the back of a young female. Bella stood still as the lion embedded his teeth into the fawn's neck, waiting for the right moment.
Once the animal was distracted, Bella broke through the edge of the clearing, ripping the lion off of the deer's hide. With the disconnection of teeth, the pierced artery of the fallen animal sprayed blood into the air and onto Bella and her new sparring partner. Bella ignored the deer dying on the ground, eyes focused on the lion that was her prey all along.
Mat watched with fascination the action unfolding in front of him. The mountain lion at first was just trying to defend its kill, unaware that his enemy wasn't trying to steal his catch, but was intent on catching him. Hackles raised he swiped at the figure in front of him, as Bella just grinned wickedly at his feeble attempt. Several pieces of hair had come loose from her braid, framing her face. Blood spatter had dried on her skin, and her black tank had several tears just under the shoulder line from the over-sized feline's claws. She radiated a deep dark energy that conveyed death would come soon.
In one graceful leap, Bella jumped over the creature in front of her, twisting around and placing the animal in a deadly hold and latching her mouth onto the animal's jugular. Dragging the animal down to the ground, her eyes closed and her throat worked to swallow the life flooding out her captive's veins. The animal's struggles slowed down before coming to a stop and Mat could see the life leave the animal's eyes. Once drained, Bella let the animal fall to the ground, inhaling the night air before turning her gaze toward Mat's hiding place. Her eyes appeared to have had a flame lit from within, their golden gaze bright and shining.
She quickly made her way over to her pack and returned to the side of the bleeding deer that had been left behind by the rest of the herd. The animal was panting and in pain before Bella quickly snapped its neck and began to remove things from her bag.
"What, you don't need a second course after a big cat?"
"Actually, I don't" Without looking up at Mat, Bella removed a knife and some butcher paper. She inserted the blade into the animal, making quick work of breaking it down into cuts of meat that she would then wrap.
"I'm sorry, I didn't realize vampires cooked venison for their meals. I thought you were on a strict liquids-only diet."
Bella could hear the snarky tone color his voice as it traveled through the air, even if the man remained hidden in the trees. Rolling her eyes, she thought, as if I've never seen a naked man before.
"Are you always so delightful to be around? With that attitude of yours, I can't imagine making friends is difficult. They must just flock to your charm."
"Are you always such a sarcastic bitch?"
Bella locked gazes, revealing a razor sharp grin, "Absolutely."
Finishing the task at hand, Bella packed the cuts of meat into her bag before standing up, "The mountain lion was enough, so to answer your question, I don't need any more food at the moment. However, I won't let this go to waste. There's a deep freezer behind the reservation's community center that the tribe installed for me. If there's a kill I don't need, I take the meat and place it into the freezer. Emily and Cali use it for the feeding program they run that takes meals to elderly tribe members. I try to keep them stocked as well as I can. Helps reduce the cost of running the program."
Mat couldn't release the chip he was carrying on his shoulder, "Aren't you right in line for sainthood."
"Look," Bella ignored his jab, "I realize what it takes for people around here to accept me, and I will be forever grateful for every moment they choose to include me. So, whether you approve of my activities or think I'm secretly poisoning their food matters little to me. You inquired what I was doing, I answered. Screw you if you don't like the explanation."
Returning the bag to her shoulder, Bella turned in the direction of the center, not stopping to see if Mat would follow.
Mat remained in wolf form, watching as Bella unloaded her kill into the freezer. He didn't want to continue the back and forth snapping at each other, but simply waited for her to finish. He mulled over her actions, knowing the tribe was lucky to have a provider who demanded nothing in return, but resisting the way her actions tried to sand down some of the barrier that kept him from warming up to her.
That's exactly what she'd want, for me to join the rest and let down my guard. Well I'm not so easily fooled, it's gonna take more than one nice act to convince me.
As if sensing that she wasn't going to get anywhere trying to plea her case to the stubborn male watching her, Bella finished her task without bothering to speak to Mat and once again ran off into the night. This time she made her way to the edge of the river that wound inland from the nearby ocean, dropping her pack at the shore.
Mat didn't bother to hide, but rested his haunches on the pebbled beach. Rolling his eyes, he thought, what's next, fishing?
Hearing the shift of fabric, Mat realized he hadn't been paying attention, and turned to see Bella throw her clothing onto the ground before walking nude into the water. She let her body be carried under the moving current and Matt waited as the minutes passed for her to resurface.
I suppose that can take a little longer when you don't need oxygen.
He glanced across the river, perusing the shore line to see if she'd tried ditching him by exiting on the other side, but he saw no movement in any direction. Finally he caught her body breaking through the surface, watching as the water slid down the sides of her body, the full moon leaving nothing to shadow.
Mat took in her long dark hair that almost reached her waist, taking note that she'd freed it from the braid she had twisted it into earlier. His eyes skimmed over full breasts with deep rose colored nipples and tapered waist, continuing its path down to the supple curves of her ass and the folds between her thighs. Bella inspected her skin, searching for any trace of the deer's blood that had fallen on it during the evening's hunt. She gathered her hair in her hands, squeezing most of the water out of it, releasing it back to its freefall over her shoulders.
Mat had gotten lost in watching the woman in front of him, for his body saw her as a woman and nothing more. Fur gave way to skin and he found himself standing on the shore, exposed with his cock thickening from the rush of blood that had picked up speed along with his breath.
Bella could hear the change in his heart rate and she took time to run her hand along her breasts and along her stomach, pretending to rub away dirt that wasn't there. Mat caught on to what she was doing too late and having closed his eyes to cut away the image in front of him, he didn't react fast enough to Bella closing the gap between their bodies.
"Mmm, nice manscaping. I know how you wolf boys love to keep everything neat and trim." Bella didn't hide the way her eyes were taking in his hardened length, and she moved her hand as if to touch his body.
"Don't. Fucking. Touch. Me." Mat ground out.
"Oooh, would you prefer to touch yourself? Isn't that naughty?" Bella leaned forward just enough that he could feel her whispered words brush across his skin. In response, his cock only hardened further, aching for attention.
"Go ahead and touch yourself, Mat. Show me how you like it. Do you prefer long slow strokes or are you more into a rough firm grip that picks up speed. Give in to your body, teach me how you find your release." Bella ran her tongue across her lips as she looked into Mat's dark brown eyes. His body trembled under her gaze.
He closed his eyes again, pulling in all the anger he felt at his body's betrayal and Bella swiftly moved backwards as he shifted in a burst of heat and took off into the darkness. She let him go; moving back to her bag to remove a fresh set of clothes and dressed in the moonlight.
She could admit that she was turned on by the exchange. If he had given her the chance, she would have dropped to her knees and let him fuck her mouth slowly, taking in every inch until he found the release his body had wanted. Sure, he harbored this unfounded hatred of her, but that only freed her from having to worry about an emotional attachment. Love wasn't what she was looking for, anyhow. But a well built man who was good in and out of bed? That certainly helped her pass the never ending stretch of days she now lived.
A/N: So…..a little bit of heat is always enjoyable, no? I love to give her free reign to torment our poor confused boy. Till next time! R&R!
XOXO
