Chapter 15 - Promised Land
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, New Moon, or Eclipse. I just like having fun with the characters and world the wonderful Stephenie Meyer created.
A/N: Since Bella has admitted her love for both Edward and Jacob (something she doesn't do in the Twilight series), her actions might very well be considered OOC. However, this is how I think she'd act if she DID admit to those feelings. Poetic license, OK? And please remember that this is all in fun!
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Jacob POV:
"You'll be moving to the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation, which is usually called the U & O Reservation. The tribe that has had the smaller tribes mixed into it is the Utes. So you'll be living in Northeast Utah." Sam replied.
I blinked. "Utah?"
"Yes. There's a large reservation, plus a National Forest nearby. You'll be going to Fort Duchesne, Utah, and meeting with the Tribe Elder, Parker Sawok. You'll need to work out details about the werewolves and the new problem they have with Cold Ones with him." Sam replied.
"They have a problem with Cold Ones?" I asked, startled.
"Yes. Apparently a coven of red-eyed Cold Ones has settled near the National Forest, which triggered the werewolf resurrection."
"How soon do you need me to leave?"
"As soon as possible. Within the next few days - it is quite urgent that the new werewolves get control. The cattle ranchers are Not Happy." Sam answered.
"OK. I'll pack up and say my goodbyes. I need to get some sleep first, though," I replied, saluting Sam. We said our goodbyes, and I walked toward my house.
Wow. Utah. That's far away. But if the red eyed vampires could live in that area, maybe Bella could, too? I needed to call her to tell her about this change, but at this point it was 3 AM, and I needed sleep more than anything else.
Edward POV:
My time with Bella that night was so special. We still kept some boundaries intact, relishing each moment, each bit of skin. I loved everything about her, and it felt so special to be able to touch her more, not worrying about hungering for her or breaking her. After a long while, I gently broke away.
"I think we missed the rest of the movie." I said, smiling down at her beautiful face.
"We've seen it a few times, I think we'll be OK. What we were doing was far more entertaining." Bella smiled, and looked as if she was going to bush. It's too bad that vampires can't blush - that was always so cute.
"We need to think about where we're going to move." I said. "Let's grab the atlas, I can show you were we already have houses."
"But I know where we should live!" Bella replied, a mischievous grin on her face.
"Really? Where?" I asked, confused. How did she know where she wanted to live already?
"Well, if we're going to live together, all 3 of us as a polygamist family, we clearly need to move to Utah." Bella grinned, and we both started laughing.
My cell phone rang, and I tried to stamp down the giggling when I answered, not looking at the Caller ID. "Hello?"
"Hi Edward, it's Jake. Listen, I just got transferred - another tribe needs me to take over as Alpha and teach them how to be in-control. There's a group of young werewolves on a reservation with cattle ranchers." Jake said.
"Young werewolves and cattle ranchers? Could you get a worse combination? If you're moving, that will help me and Bella decide where to live, too - we need to live close to you." I managed to say it all without sounding snide or jealous. I felt Bella's hand on my arm as I worked to keep calm - I would make this work for her sake, no matter what. "So, where is it?"
"It's the U & O Reservation, in Northeast Utah."
"Utah?"
"Yep, Utah." Jake confirmed.
With that, Bella and I collapsed into a fit of giggles. Jake hung up on us, but we couldn't stop laughing to call him back.
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Emmett interrupted our laugh-fest to ask if he could take Mystic out for some "exercise". I looked at his thoughts to make sure the dog would be safe, but he was thinking only of taking a run. I nodded discretely to Bella, and she OK'd it.
"Now that we've calmed down a bit, we should play with poor Stripes! He keeps getting ignored while Mystic gets all the attention." Bella said.
"Now that I'm not worried about you getting bitten by him, that does sound like a good idea." I replied, and we took Stripes down from his box. Tarantulas feel funny on your skin!
Jacob POV:
What the heck were they playing at? Why were they laughing at me? All I did was tell them where I had to move, and they started laughing at me! This was not fair. I thought we were going to spend time together.
Annoyed, I sent a text message to Edward's phone - Bella always lost hers. Meadow 8 2nite.
I didn't get an instant reply, but after a while I got: Will tell joke there. Sorry.
That was better. I didn't like how jealous I was feeling about simply being on the outside of an inside joke. This whole sharing-Bella thing would work better if she wasn't living with the mosquito.
I called Parker Sawok to get directions and more information.
"Hello?" a voice answered.
"Hello, my name is Jacob Black. I'm looking for Parker Sawok?"
"This is he. I spoke to Sam about you - I expected you to sound younger."
I smiled, "Sometimes you end up looking and feeling older than you are. I wanted to talk to you about ..."
Parker cut me off. "About the situation out here? Why yes, when will you be able to come into the office? Some talks are better handled in person."
I was surprised, but recovered quickly. "I'll be leaving tonight. I have a meeting here that I can't miss, and then I'll be on my way. Can you give me directions?"
"I'm rather busy now dealing with some local issues. Get a map and head southeast. Quickly. When you get closer, call and I'll tell you where we can meet. I look forward to meeting you."
"Thank you for your time, sir. I'll be there as soon as I can." I answered, and hung up. I couldn't quite believe I was changing my life for a man who could be that short-tempered with someone he didn't even know. Well, it was my job as an Alpha to do what was best for the pack. It didn't matter that the elder was a twit.
I spent the day packing and saying goodbye to the Pack and my friends on the reservation. It was really hard to say goodbye to Billy, but I promised I'd call him a lot. Charlie came over to say goodbye, and said that he'd keep an eye out for Billy, just like Billy was keeping an eye on him. That made me feel a lot better.
I drove the Rabbit to the road that dead ended a few miles from the meadow, and left my bag there. I phased and carried a pair of shorts in my mouth, running to the meadow, excited and anxious at the same time.
Bella POV:
"Edward! It's almost time to meet Jake! We need to get going!" I called. Edward was pacing around the house, and I was starting to get annoyed.
"We can't leave yet, Bella. He isn't back yet." Edward replied, cryptically.
"Hunh? I don't understand. Who isn't back yet?"
"Emmett. He isn't back yet with Mystic. If he was only going for a run, he should've been back a long time ago. I'm worried for her."
I walked up to him and grabbed him by the collar to kiss him, hard. "You are so sweet to be so protective of my dog. I love you. I wish you could be a father, you would be wonderful."
I saw a smile escaping from Edward's lips. "Thank you, love. OK, we can go to the meadow now. I'm sure Mystic and Emmett are fine. I am probably over-reacting."
"Hey, I didn't say you were over-reacting! This is Emmett we're talking about. But we still need to get to the meadow soon. We can catch up to Emmett and Mystic after we've talked to Jacob." I grabbed his hand, and pulled him out of the house.
We ran together, fast even for vampires, to the meadow, making it just in time.
I saw Jacob there, lounging against a tree, dressed only in a pear of cut-off sweats. Mmmmmm... He looked wonderful, but worried, too. I let go of Edward's hand and walked over to Jake.
"I'm so sorry we laughed, Jake! We weren't laughing at you, I promise." Jake looked up at me, and I crouched down. "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings." I said softly, and kissed him gently. The worry started to fade from his face.
"So, what was so funny about me saying I needed to help out at the Ute reservation in Utah?" Jake asked, as I sat down and Edward sat on my other side.
"Bella and I had just been talking about where we could move. I was ready to bring out an atlas, and Bella said no, she knew where we should live if we were going to live as polygamists - Utah! We had started laughing about that stereotype when you called saying we were going to move to Utah!" Edward explained, his crooked smile on his face.
I elbowed Jake, "I told you, we weren't laughing at you, we were laughing near you."
Jacob laughed, then caught his breath. "So, you guys are willing to move to Fort Duchesne, Utah? I did check it out, and there's a big National Park nearby. I don't know about sunny days versus overcast, but with the forest nearby it might be easier."
I nodded. "Of course we'll move with you. We needed to move anyhow. This just gives us a location. A nearby National Park is fabulous - we'll figure everything else out when we get there."
"We won't be doing the high school thing for now," Edward said. "We need to figure out more about how Bella can handle herself around humans. I'd like to have us stay under the radar, but if there are werewolves nearby, they might very well smell us."
"We're also dealing with a few non-"vegetarian" vampires out there, so I might need your help dealing with that. A new pack is no match for a seasoned vampire."
"Well, that is bigger than the cattle. If Emmett hasn't permanently scarred Mystic with whatever he's doing with her, she'd be great with herds of cattle..." Edward's voice trailed off. "Sorry, I lost my train of thought. Anyhow, I know we can't stay under the radar of the local Pack, but if we stay under the radar of the humans, that would be good."
"Well, lets see how well that can work. We'll need to live somewhere, and unless they're going to pay me for being Alpha, I'll need a job so I can buy food for myself." I could hear as Jake started to worry about the details.
"No worrying now!" I interrupted. "Tonight is for fun. Tomorrow we will deal with reality. But tonight we should have fun."
"But I need to leave for Utah tonight!" Jake protested.
"Nah. We can get an SUV tomorrow, and if I'm driving it will take a fraction of the time." Edward said. "I vote for a last night of relaxing."
"I second the motion!" I answered.
"I'll agree if you two insist." Jake caved.
"Yay! motion carried! I win!" I ran laps around them, intermittently kissing them both. I was filled with joy - this was going to be a very good life!
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A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review if you have a minute! Ideally, please don't flame me or anything. Remember, poetic license.
additional disclaimer: some of my good friends are polyamorists, and some of my good friends live in Utah. There's no overlap there, though. I know no actual polygamists or polyamorists in Utah - I'm having fun with a stereotype. The reservation and everything are real, though.