My heart was breaking. The look on my father's face as they lowered the body of one of his oldest friends into the ground, told of a pain I couldn't fathom. I squeezed his hand as people began scattering away to give the family time to grieve.
"I can't believe they missed this." Charlie choked out through his tears. I, of course, knew he was talking about Leah and Seth Clearwater. Upon hearing the news they both shifted for the first time, and in their grief have been unable to shift back. I also knew that they were watching from the woods.
"Dad…" I said quietly. "Everyone grieves in their own way. They will say goodbye in their own time."
"You're right, Kiddo," He said as he squeezed my hand back. "When did you get so wise?"
"I have my moments," I said with a week smile. As we left my dad stopped to hug Sue.
"If you need anything, you call me, okay?" My dad said to her. Sue only nodded and continued to cry. We were the last to leave her. Billy was waiting by the truck, we were his ride. He was quiet on the way back. Just before he left the car he looked at me and spoke,
"Bella would you mind coming over later. Jacob is with Seth and I'm going to need a little help later." I nodded as my Dad helped Billy into his chair. I followed my dad to his side of the car and hugged him tightly.
"Please take care of yourself, Dad," I said trying to hold back the tears. I knew how much red meat he consumed.
"No problem there, Kiddo. This has been a real wake up call. I'll see you later."
The walk back to my house was quiet. It had been a rough couple of days. After Harry was rushed to the hospital, I saw Paul for about ten minutes. We were sitting in the waiting room with Billy, Matthew, Sue, her kids, and the pack. He had come as soon as he heard what happened. When the doctor came out with a solemn expression and told Sue that the damage was too extensive. Leah began shaking. Sam and Paul were quick to take her outside. Then Jacob and Jared followed behind with Seth. While I was at the hospital Carlisle was on duty and made time to see me, so I wouldn't have to make another trip. Thankfully he took me off of bed rest, making sure I knew to take it easy. I needed a nap. As I entered my house, I took a moment to center myself and took a deep breath. After a moment I went to the kitchen fixed myself a sandwich. As I ate I thought I heard something outside. When I looked there was nothing there. As I was finishing my last bite. I washed my plate and set it in the strainer, and went to lay down. It didn't take long for me to go to sleep.
Later as I walked up to Billy's I could hear shouting. It was a woman…and Jacob. What? Jacob was one of the most even-tempered wolves. If he was yelling he was really riled up. I knocked on the door and Billy opened it almost immediately.
"Thank the spirits you're here." He said ushering me inside. Leah and Jacob were facing off in the living room. The air was thick with tension. Leah was seething and Jacob…well, Jacob looked defeated. "Bella, thank you for coming over. I asked you here to help us understand something. Jacob and Leah Have imprinted on each other." Billy motioned for me to sit down. I nodded,
"It makes sense," I said. Immediately Leah shouted,
"What? What about this makes sense? I lost my father two days ago. I lost my life to this curse, and now you're telling me it makes sense that the 'wolfy' gods want me to be this fuckers mate."
"Leah," I said calmly. "Jacob is the true Alpha you are the first female ever to shift. Do the words Alpha pair mean anything to you."
"Fuck this," Leah said as she stormed out. Jacob went to follow her, but I stopped him.
"Let her go. She needs time to cool off, some distance." He visually wilted before my eyes.
"Why doesn't anyone want me?" Jacob whispered as the tears began to fall. I felt like I had been slapped.
"Now you listen here, Jacob Black. I love you but I won't tolerate this 'woe is me' attitude. You're a bad-ass spirit warrior. Any girl would be lucky to have you. Give Leah some time, she just lost her father and shifted in the same night. You can't expect her to take imprinting lightly. As Alpha, you of all people should understand her situation, and help her through this time, instead of yelling at her. What did you say anyways, I couldn't hear."
"You don't want to know," Jacob said as he wiped his nose on his arm. I just gave him a 'try me' look. "She was going on an on about how she was going to fight this, and that she wasn't going to shift again, break the imprint." Jacob shuddered. "I told her if I had to, I would order her to shift." I inhaled as I looked at him horribly. "I didn't mean it, okay. I was just frustrated and I snapped."
"You can never and I mean never abuse your position that way. Its a one-way ticket to losing your pack."
"I know that," Jacob said as an idea came to me.
"Jacob come take a walk with me. Billy we'll be gone a while let Paul know?" I asked as I stood to leave, Jacob following behind me.
When we were outside. I told Jacob I wanted him to shift and carry me to a clearing within the woods. Any clearing so long as he could start a fire I was already getting chilly and I would need the heat. Once we settled down by the fire, facing each other. I took hold of Jacob's hands.
"Now I want you to close your eyes. Breathe slowly and deeply. Find your center." Jacob did as I asked, and as I closed my eyes I was thrust into a vision.
Jacob and Leah were running as wolves, playfully nipping at each other and pouncing. Then they reached the edge of the woods. They dressed then kissed as a couple of much smaller wolves came bounding out around them. Leah scolded them and they immediately shifted back to two small children around six years old. I searched for a reason for wolves shifting so young. The view shifted and the younger wolves were now teenagers. There was a group of them and they were happy. I could tell they shifted so young to ease their burden. They weren't left in the dark until they shifted out of the blue. Then Jacob came into the group and began drilling them. The wolves now were a force to be reckoned with, but these wolves were absolutely lethal. We could tell they were faster, stronger, better in every way. One of the wolves was hit hard and when he phased back he was bleeding from his head. A girl shifted back and placed her hand on his chest. Her hand against his skin glowed a golden light and the cut on his head healed. I sensed that she didn't heal him out of necessity, but out of love.
Jacob was panting as we came out of the vision. I was used to it by now and just smiled as I said, "there, how's that for an answer." Jacob was still trying to get his bearings. Once he was settled down, I told him it was time to get going. When Jacob dropped me off at the house, I could tell Paul was home and sighed. Finally, we would get to spend some time together. He was off work tomorrow and didn't have patrol. I found Paul in bed asleep. So I changed, joined him, and slept a dreamless sleep.