Disclaimer: I don't own the Twilight Saga or any of the characters in the story.
Thank you so much to all of the people who commented on the last chapter! You guys astound me with all the nice things you have to say about this story! Some ends are being tied up in this chapter, so I'll let you get right to it! Happy reading!
Chapter Thirty Eight
They ran to Emily's rather than taking the car which Bella had noticed both cars had been returned to their spaces right outside of hers and Jake's home. Jake said that it had been Embry and Quil to take them back, and Bella made the mental note to thank them.
Jake didn't phase into his wolf form, and instead had scooped Bella up into his arms and carried her. With her arms wrapped around his neck she pressed herself close to the naked skin of his chest, letting his comforting heat signature seep into her clothes. His scent almost burned her nose, and she noticed that it had gained an even earthier tone to it.
"What're you thinking about, Bells?" Jake asked as he stepped over a large branch that had fallen.
"You smell weird," she blurted out and was met with Jake's loud laugh.
"Thanks, that really makes me feel confident in myself," Jake shot back at her, a smile in his voice.
Bella smirked at him, "I only meant that you smell more… Earthy? Does that make sense? It's like you smell more like the wolf now, but still it's way stronger than it has before."
"Maybe it has to do with the growth spurt? Who knows… Maybe my dad or Old Quil will know something about it," he replied and she nodded, laying her head back down onto his broad shoulder.
For the rest of the walk they were quiet, but not out of awkwardness. If anything, they both took comfort in the simple fact that they were so near to one another. The forest was quiet around them, and while the sky was gray, it didn't seem to be threatening any rain. However in Forks, you could never count on the rain staying away for very long.
When Jake finally emerged from the tree line and Bella could see Emily and Sam's back porch, he let her down onto her feet once again. Bella unconsciously held out her hand for him to take, which he enveloped in his intense heat. Together they walked towards the house, but before they could get halfway there, the door on the back porch burst open and an army of giant native boys came rushing out.
Bella felt Jake move in a completely quick and fluid movement that had stopped her from walking and had placed her body behind his, with one of his large hands wrapped around her hip as he stood in front of her. Bella heard the boys all stop, seemingly understanding Jake's change in position from a calm one to something more on edge. Reaching up with her hand she stroked down the hot skin along his spine.
"It's alright, Jake. No one here is going to hurt me. I trust them," she spoke in just a whisper to give herself and maybe even him that no one else could hear her reassurance. A small shiver went through his body before he turned his head slightly and gave her a sheepish look. She smiled back at him and nodded letting him know that she understood. Then she looked back at the pack standing before them.
"Hi guys," she said simply and the immediately came forward all speaking at once.
Jake did not pull her behind him again, but he did wrap an arm over her shoulder, his palm stretching across her rib cage, signaling to them subtly that she was under his protection.
"Boys! Boys! Let them come inside and sit down at least! Don't bombard them right off the bat!" Emily's motherly voice called loudly over the pack's frantic questions. The boys quieted down and Bella started walking towards the porch where her friend stood, pregnant belly and all watching her with a smile.
Bella walked up the stairs, letting Jake's arm fall away from her as Emily enveloped her into as much of a hug as was possible with her protruding belly. When Bella pulled back she saw the tears in Emily's eyes and felt herself have to swallow a lump in her throat.
"We were so afraid, Bella. You're truly part of this family, never doubt that," Emily said to her in a slightly quivering voice. Bella nodded, not trusting herself to not break down in tears at the display of affection from her friend. "Would you like to come in and have something to eat?"
Bella turned to see Jake watching her intently although he seemed to be saying something to Paul quietly. He gave her a small nod and started towards the porch with the other boys in tow. Taking Emily's offered hand she followed her into the clean kitchen.
Standing at the end of the table was Leah, her arms crossed over her chest and her dark eyes set in a glare. Bella felt unsure for a moment as to why Leah could be so upset until she suddenly found herself in a tight hug from the tall she wolf.
"You scared the shit out of us, Swan. Don't do that again," she hissed, but Bella could swear that she heard tears in her voice. Although she knew if she ever called Leah out on it then she'd seriously have to watch her back, even with Jake watching it for her all the time.
"I'll try not to let anymore psychopathic vampires kidnap me again. I promise," Bella said, trying to lighten the atmosphere, although it didn't seem to have the effect she was looking for. As Leah let Bella go, she found that Jake's arms had wrapped around her once again and pulled her body in close to his.
"We have a lot of things to talk about," Jake's deep voice rumbled against Bella's back.
The rest of the pack all took seats around the kitchen, filling up the table and some counter space. Emily was putting on a pot of tea and making a small plate of something for Bella. There was a silence amongst the pack, something that was unsure of where they were at the current moment, but also a relieved air that circulated. Their alpha's mate was safe, and the pack was still intact.
"What happened to the vampires?" Jake asked, straight to the point.
"After you killed Cullen and we found all the pieces to the leech with dreads," Sam started and Bella felt Jake's hands hold Bella tighter. Quickly she started to rub soothing patterns with her fingers on the exposed skin on his arm, "The Cullens were obviously distraught about their son, but the understood that he had successfully ended the treaty in a sort of ways. While they helped us to burn the bodies we kept tabs on you, although all of your thoughts were extremely fuzzy. I managed to come to new terms with them that state that if there are no more breaches of the treaty, including them, as well as their companions throughout the world, hunting in the town of Forks, and on La Push grounds. If that rule is broken then the treaty will officially dissolve and they will not be welcomed back."
"What about the other two? Victoria and James? The ones that came back for me," Bella asked as Emily handed her a steaming mug of tea and a small plate with a blueberry muffin on it. Sam's gaze swiveled down to Bella's and he eyed her curiously. Meanwhile Jake had begun to shiver against her back. She knew it wasn't enough for him to phase, yet.
"Despite the fact we weren't really able to get close enough to you to make sure you were okay, we had one of us two of the pack phased at all times. That way if something happened one could signal to us, and the other could start on ahead to try and get to Jake. Like I said before though, Jake's thoughts were very hazy because of how deeply embedded he was in his wolf's subconscious. By the time we figured out he was fighting against them, Paul and Leah were on their way to try and help him fight. It happened that he managed to finish them off before we got there. Although once you and him had left the scene we were able to collect the pieces and burn the bodies."
Bella nodded and sipped her tea, trying to appear as calm as possible so that Jake, in turn, would calm down. She was relieved to know that the vampires had been dealt with in the appropriate way and that none of them would be coming back for her.
Another silence stretched out over the pack, as if they all wanted to ask a question, but were afraid of the reaction. Finally it was Seth that caved.
"Did they… I mean. We smelled a lot of your blood on that mountain Bella. Did they bite you? Are you going to change into one of them?" Seth asked and immediately Jake let out an impressive snarl. Bella watched as the younger boy flinched away from his alpha and slunk down in his seat. Although all the others seemed to be just as intrigued.
To be honest Bella hadn't even considered it a fact that they could change her into one of them. She had been so concerned with getting back to Jake alive that she hadn't thought about what would happen if they'd turned her. Would they have abandoned her? In fairness she would have been considered their sworn enemy… But would Jake so easily leave her? Would the imprint have stayed intact?
"I remember hearing Edward say that," another growl from Jake made Bella falter, but his hands quickly soothed her, rubbing gently on her hip, "I remember that he told Victoria and James that they could have their share of me. It was never in his plan to change me into a vampire I don't think. He called me his singer… Whatever that means. But he planned to keep me alive so that he could take blood from me until I died. He didn't want it to go to waste in one sitting," Bella finished and several things happened at once.
Jake left his spot from behind her in a movement so quick she would have imagined he was there if she hadn't heard the back door slam closed after him. However it was not only Jake that'd had a reaction. Leah and Paul had both followed Jakes path towards the back door, Sam had taken Emily into his arms tightly and the other wolves all seemed to be snarling and shaking. Trying desperately to get themselves under control.
Bella didn't hesitate to go outside onto the back porch, ignoring Sam's warning call to her.
She could see the two different shaded gray wolves laying on the grass panting heavily. And standing at full height was her magnificent russet wolf, watching her walk towards him confidently. When she had finally reached him she didn't hesitate to thread her fingers through the long fur on his face. Stroking his muzzle and behind his ears. Whispering to him that everything was alright. He had killed them and the pack had made sure they would never come back. She was alive, she was human, and there was nothing that could take her away from him again.
It seemed like hours before Jake had finally stopped snarling under his breath. His breathing evened out from the heavy panting and his body melted back into it's human shape. Jake shifted so he was sitting on the ground and he pulled Bella down to sit in his lap. His hands stroked through her hair and over her skin, touching and snuffling against her as if reassuring himself that she was truly alright.
"I don't know what I'd do if I'd lost you," Jake finally spoke in a crackling voice.
"Thankfully we'll never have to find out," Bella replied quickly and firmly. The look she gave him left no room for doubt. She was never leaving him. She would always fight for him. For her life.
"Here are some of Sam's shorts, Jake. Just come back inside when you're ready," came Emily's soft voice. Bella turned slightly to see her throw some shorts onto the ground next to Bella.
"Thank you, Emily," Bella said and received a soft smile in return. Emily walked back towards the house and Bella realized Paul and Leah must have calmed down enough to phase back also. Bella still couldn't believe their reactions to her words.
"They care about you," Jake said, as if he'd read her mind. Bella gazed into his eyes and smiled.
"Of course they do! I'm your mate, and their my family!" Bella said as though it was completely obvious. Jake laughed lightly at her and then shifted her off of him so he could pull on the pair of Sam's shorts. Helping Bella to stand he led her back towards the house, ready to return their family to normal.
-8-
It was almost nine at night when Jake had finally carried Bella back to their house and she was already asleep in his arms.
They had spent the entire day at Sam and Emily's. Talking with the pack and reassuring each and every one of them that both Bella, and their alpha were okay. In many ways Bella had seen how much they looked up to both Jake and her for guidance and signals that everything was going to be okay. Once they had made everyone feel more comfortable, the lightness in the air had returned.
Quil and Embry were constantly making jokes while Paul and Leah argued with each other of meaningless things. Sam doted over Emily while Emily doted over Bella. Jared and Seth had minded their own business watching reruns of Friends on the television and Jake? Well, Jake had stayed glued to Bella's side, all while keeping an eye on his pack.
He'd asked Sam about his growth spurt and he'd gotten his answer almost straight away. Before Jake had phased and Sam was the pseudo-alpha, he'd read all of the books that the council had on the previous spirit warriors. It just so happened that in one of those books, written by Ephraim Black himself, that it had described the wolf's natural response to the danger it's imprint was put into.
Usually it happened on a much smaller scale, such as when the imprint was afraid or hurt. The wolf would increase in size, although much less than Jake had in order to protect the imprint from whatever was making it nervous. Since most incidences where this was observed had happened when the imprints weren't truly in danger, the wolf had gone back down to it's original size much faster.
Although, Sam explained to Bella and Jake as well as the nosey boys, since the danger Bella had been put into was life threatening as well as stretched over a long period of time, it seemed that Jake had grown much larger, much faster because of the situation. Not to mention the fact that as an alpha he was already much larger than most of the pack. However, Sam was unable to say when it would wear off because it mainly depended on when Jake would finally feel as though his mate was completely entirely safe.
As dinner passed, everyone had piled into the living room and put on a few episodes of Family Feud. Each of them yelling out answers over the other and Bella couldn't help but be amused from her spot, nestled on Jake's lap. It had been the combination of the warmth of his body, and the feeling of his bare skin against her. As well as the sure sound of his beating heart under her ear, letting her know that she was entirely safe. She had been lulled to sleep at eight thirty, but Jake hadn't wanted to disturb her with his movement when she was still in a light state of sleep.
At nine he'd said his quiet good byes and had promised Emily that she would see his mate again very soon before taking his leave and walking back towards their small home.
Bella had nestled into his warmth, away from the chilly night air and Jake had just smiled contentedly. While he might still be on a very sharp edge from all that had happened, he was still just happy that she was safe in his arms. His mate had returned to him. His beautiful, strong mate who he was so lucky to have found.
Walking up onto their porch and pushing open the door, Jake walked through the house in the darkness and into the bedroom. Holding his mate securely with one arm he leaned down and brought back the sheet so he could lay her down. After settling her head on the pillow he leaned down and gently stripped her leggings off of her so that she wouldn't get too hot next to his body.
Standing next to the bed, he paused as he looked down at her body. Laying in one of his t-shirts, her creamy skin calling out for his touch. Her face completely relaxed with a much needed sleep and her hair a wild mess on the pillow around her head. She was exactly where she needed to be.
However at that moment she stirred in her sleep, a crease forming between her eyebrows and a frown forming on her face as she whimpered and her arm stretched out across the bed, searching for something. Quickly, Jake lay himself down next to her on the sheets, laying on his side so that he could look at her.
Bella's hand met with his hot skin and the frown instantly disappeared as she unconsciously scooted her body closer towards his own. Smiling slightly, Jake's arm moved under her neck to and over her waist, pulling her in as tight as possible.
It was a fact that she would always belong in his bed, but without a doubt he belonged right next to her.
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