Chapter 13: Quickening

"Jake," I shook him gently, "wake up, handsome." His lips curled into a dreamy smile. The mask of sleep lifted as his eyes fluttered open. I sat up on an elbow staring at him intently.

"What's up, Ness?" he said belting out an enormous yawn. He pulled me close to him and shut his eyes again. His sweltering skin pressed against me. I fought with the right words, nothing really seemed good enough.

"I love you," I said softly letting my head fall back to his chest.

"Mmm... I love you too," he exclaimed with a satisfied grin. "I guess we better get up." He pulled me gingerly to my feet. I could feel his eyes lingering on me as I slowly managed to get my clothes back on. I turned to see him pulling a plain white t-shirt over his head. His stomach muscles flexed in ripples as the nearly sheer fabric fell lightly over them. "Beach?" He took my hand in his and we walked at human pace through the meadow and into the foliage.

The moon had passed far overhead and now pressed on from behind us. A surge of salty air burst onto my lips and in through my nose. The familiar sound of lapping waves filled the quiet around us. We scampered over the edgy rocks and made our way to my favorite spot. I nestled in to the contour of the boulder and stared out to sea. Jacob's arm fell, heavy over my shoulder and his head settled tilted, resting on mine. The black water shimmered with dancing moonbeams. Stars littered the night sky shivering in desolation and casting their glow millions of miles across the universe. Their light traveled just like waves, back and forth through space and time, one end of existence and then back to the other. Nature's wonders that superseded the passing of time gave me comfort; without these, the passing of eternity seemed unbearable.

Despite the serenity, my worries began to trickle like water dripping from a leaky faucet, overflowing in my mind. "What do you think about Alice's vision?" I whispered without moving. I felt him sigh.

"Which part?" he seemed equally concerned, "About us? Or about the other creature? Or about why she can suddenly see me in her visions?" His questions mirrored mine.

"All of it, I guess. Have any brilliant ideas?" I felt his cheek tighten and looked up to his smile. I chuckled a little under my breath, "Well, out with it."

His face flushed a little as he looked down at the waves breaking below us. His brow furrowed, "Well, I guess she was right about us, but something is bothering me..." his voice sailed out to sea.

"And what's that?" I pressed.

"She said, 'Too late,' What is that supposed to mean, and what the hell was she screaming about that something horrible was going to happen the night that I... that I tried to attack her?" he said unable to hide his shame. I sat without reacting to his questions. I was busy trying to work through some of my own.

"What about my mom? What was her deal? Did you see how she looked at me?" I shuddered with the memory of her piercingly dark and obviously disapproving eyes. I reached for his hand instinctively, sending him the image. "Jake, do you still love her?" His eyes widened for a second and then his eyebrows clamped down on them. He looked stunned.

"Ah, Ness, not like that," he said seriously, "I'll always love Bella in a way." His brow remained clenched. I felt the sting a little as the words left his mouth. "But mostly because she gave me you." His face brightened delivering a wink, "And I can't hate Edward for loving her anymore because if he hadn't come back... Well, you know. And besides, I never really had your mom's heart anyway." I felt a tiny stab of pain.

"Did you want to? Have her heart I mean?" I was searching his expression for what, I didn't know, a change maybe. But he remained steady.

"Yeah, I did," he stated matter-of-factly. "There was a time when that was all I could think about. It seems like forever ago now." His thoughts obviously drifted into the past as his eyes glazed over. He recovered quickly, "Nessie, there will never be anyone else for me, you know that. It turns out that loving and protecting Bella was really just a means of loving and protecting you, in a way." I smiled at this.

Feeling a little brave, "Jake, are you really okay with me, you know, feeding on you?" I had clearly caught him off guard. His lovely cheeks turned a delicious shade of scarlet.

"Well, um... " he stammered, "It's sorta, hot, you know, in the moment." A deviant glow cast on his face, "You know, I tore you to shreds, too. And I have to admit, your flesh isn't exactly easy to resist." His eyes now looked down.

"What?" I didn't really know what to say. I mean, I knew that I had received some scratches in the process, but I had realized that he had actually bit me. He seemed a little humiliated. That hadn't been my intent. "Jake, I don't really know what to say. I mean, is this normal? Its kind of embarrassing."

He huffed at my question, "Normal, Nessie? Do you think that half-vampires and shape shifting wolves shacking up together is normal?" I laughed, apparently the reaction that he had been hoping for. "No, I don't think that its normal and honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way." He said a little smugly. I giggled and turned my gaze back out on the ocean. He snuggled in next to me. His lips felt like silk on my forehead. "What about me?" he said, "How do you think I feel phasing every time?" he whispered, "talk about embarrassing. The whole pack can hear my thoughts you know." The idea of the rest of the wolves knowing about our little trysts did make me nervous, but not as nervous as the thought of Alice knowing about us and my parents getting the gory details.

"I talked to Sam, he says that eventually I will learn to control it. I'm just lucky enough to have imprinted on someone a little more durable." he said warily.

My thoughts immediately turned to Emily, "You don't mean..."

"Yeah, I do. That's how it happened. Poor Sam, I would never be able to forgive myself." he looked shamefully at me. It gave the chills imagining Sam phasing and tearing into Emily. I was suddenly very grateful for my vampiric side. "Its weird, huh?" he said with a nudge.

"Yeah, totally weird," I gave him a sideways glare, "I suck your blood and you turn into a wolf and tear up my flesh. That would make one hell of a horror flick wouldn't it?" He laughed.

"What are we going to do with each other, Ness?" I nuzzled against his cheek finding his lips and pressing against them.

"I don't know Jake, love each other forever or kill each other trying," I shrugged.

"Come here, you," his arms wrapped tightly around me in a bone crunching grip. "Well, now that we have that all sorted out, what are we going to do about the fam?"
I shrugged, "Ah, let them fuss if they want, they all knew this was coming," I said with fake confidence, "I'm the only one that's allowed to be upset, no one told me, remember?" I said jabbing him in the ribs. He flinched and pulled me in closer.

"They didn't have to, you always knew. Besides, I do recall that you were the one that attacked me on this one, little miss 'I wanted to know'," he teased, mocking my voice. I felt my face blush with the heat of the truth. I chewed on my lip knowing that I couldn't deny that I was the one that I had set the ball rolling in this direction.

"We should get back to the house. I'm sure that Alice has my mom calmed down by now... I hope." I jumped to my feet.

"Not so fast," he growled, "I need one more kiss before we go."

"How can I resist that?" I smiled as our lips crushed together. I ran my tongue over his lips, moaning as one of his hands cupped my breast and the other found its was to my ass pulling me against him. He tasted so good. The intoxicating smell of his blood lapped at my thirst. I pulled away, "Come on, lets go, or we'll never leave." I smiled at him devilishly.

"Race ya!" I yelled behind me as I took off, bolting into the forest. The wind rushed over my face and through my hair. Images of Jake sprinted through my mind. I smiled. Despite the chaos of everything else, I was happy, truly happy. The tingle of love flamed within me. I sped up, hearing the approach of four pattering feet and one heavily beating heart. But then, I heard something else-- something that froze my limbs in terror. Fluttering. I collapsed.

The stars faded into the white light of dawn.