Chapter Five

Garage Grease and Red Eyes

It wasn't the best hotel that she had ever stayed in, but it was the best one in a hundred mile radius. She couldn't venture too far from home when her and Jacob needed to be in the woods tomorrow night.

She was dreading it. She was only slightly worried at not being able to see the army that was approaching. No, her greater worry lied with the desire to keep Jacob and Jasper both alive. Where the vampire army was to kill them, they would kill each other first. Hell, putting past their innate nature to off the other, Jasper still loved her, and he would protect her. She knew that better than she did before. It was clearer when she wasn't sinking in her depression. It was clear that Jasper protecting her would get in the way of Jacob protecting her. She would spend her time trying to stop a fight between allies than fighting the enemy, and who knew - more than she should - who would die. A battle in the battle. Would the three of them survive?

She waited inside the hotel on a stool at the bar. She held her glass, pretending to sip daintily from it. The attendant was attempting to gain her attention, bending over frequently to arrange the glasses, flexing his muscles to clean out one in his hand, but her attention was directed to the noise of the cars outside. She listened for one particular junky old Rabbit.

The action brought her back decades ago when she was sitting at a bar in a diner, awaiting for what would be her lover.

She heard the said junky old Rabbit, and without looking up, heard and smelled Jacob coming through the door. She then hopped down, and ran and jumped into his arms. Her feet swung from the floor as he spun her around.

The attendant grumbled.

"I missed you, Ali."

"I've missed you too, Jake."

"Hotel, huh?" He looked around at the elegant paintings and the tuxes the employees were wearing, and he looked down at his t-shirt stained with grease from the garage.

On her tip toes she stretched up and wiped a black smear on his cheek with her thumb. "I think you look great." For once, Alice didn't see the clothes, she saw her mate. He stood there strong and handsome, and he was pure sunshine.

"Who cares. Where's our room?"

She giggled, appreciative that he was going along with her.

"I love your laugh. It's like fairy's bells or something."

She took his hand, and led him to the elevator. "This will be fun."

"I'm sure it will," he mumbled into her hair as the doors closed.

When they opened again, this time to their suite, Alice and Jacob were entangled, his hands at the side of her head, kissing her full on the mouth. She wrapped her legs around his waist as she undid the numerous buttons she had on her blouse. She would have let him tear it off, because Alice didn't wear anything more than once.

Jacob growled and groaned into her mouth, and she scratched his shoulders and chest, knowing that any damage would quickly repair itself without a trace of a scar (something she was never able to do with Jasper). She loved his wolf blood.

They fell into the bed, Jacob hovering over her. She wasn't going to have that, and with determination and domination she flipped them over, her bearing down over him, her teeth at his ear, but he didn't so much as flinch. He trusted her completely, and it warmed her dead heart.

Carefully, she licked the lobe, tracing it, her hands moving down over his well-defined chest and stomach. She pushed herself into him, his scalding arms moving over her back.

"Alice..."

She looked into his eyes.

"I love you."

"I know." She kissed his lips. "I love you, too."

They enjoyed themselves. Over, and over, and over again.

Hours later Jacob was in a fit of sleep. His snoring reduced to moans and growls. His feet kicked, tangling the thin sheet around them. Alice wished for one second that she had her brother's talent. She would have loved to know what he was dreaming about. It would be nice, to partake in something that her lover experienced and one that she never would.

There was a great snort, and Jacob sat straight, and glared at her. He was glowering, as if she had done the most despicable thing.

"What's wrong, Jake?" Alice pranced over, despite the threat that was in his demeanor.

He inspected her cheek, his fists relaxing at his sides. He relaxed and fell back against the pillows. "Terrible dream," he muttered.

"You were kicking a lot." She sat next to his hip on the bed. "Tell me about it?"

He didn't give an answer right away, debating on whether or not to tell her. "We were married."

Alice laughed. "That's a nightmare? I see how you see me then, Jacob Black."

"No," he said seriously, taking her hand. "You came home with red eyes."

She nodded, understanding. "What if I did, Jacob?"

He stiffened, his hand crushing hers. "You wouldn't do that."

"Oh, Jacob. You chastened Bella over and over for trusting us the way she does, and you're doing it too. You said it yourself, we're monsters. We can slip up at any time. And I have slipped, I'm not perfect. Six years ago I did. There was a woman -"

"I don't want to hear it," he snarled. "You are perfect."

"Jacob -"

"I'm a werewolf, Alice. My duty is to protect humans..."

"From creatures like me," she finished for him. She felt sadness creep inside of her rib cage, a sadness that he wouldn't understand. He may have imprinted, but they were what they were. They were enemies. "I think we have more problems than we thought, Jacob."

"We don't have problems, I've imprinted on you."

"That doesn't solve what we are. We are opposites. You're a werewolf, I'm a vampire. You're hot, I'm cold. You protect, I kill. We have nothing in common, Jacob. You work on cars, I work on clothes."

"We both love our families. We both love Bella. We both protect in our own way. We both see the glass half full. Only mine is orange juice and yours is blood."

She leaned into him.

"We have to learn to get through our differences."

She beamed, happy that someone shared her hopefulness for the future. "Yes."

"If you come home with blood on your face and in your eyes, then we will get through it. I can't protect every human and you can't stop being who you are. But we'll try to protect every one we can." His eyes gleamed. "Especially Bella."

"Then we must go. They'll be meeting at the woods soon."

He glanced at the clock on the nightstand, it's red numbers reflecting in his eyes. It gave the strange illusion that for one second, he was a vampire, too. A dark one. "We'll be late."

She dangled her clinking keys in front of his face. "We won't be. I'm driving."