A/N: Wow... has it been forever or what? I really don't have an excuse... just life and never being in the mood to write anymore. I changed the rating of this story, wanting it to grow as our characters did. I hope you guys like it. And thanks to all of you that favorite/review/follow my stories. It means a lot and is why I got back to writing this story that I had abandoned... so i hope I do it justice.

The meeting consisted of the usual. Our perimeter runs had been upped which meant more wolves per run which meant more shifts for us. When we had all settled on a schedule that fit all of us, Collin, Kody, and Brady still in school and the other's work schedules, Jake and I went home.

We had left Collin, Brady, Kody, Sam, and Jared on patrol. It seemed a little overboard to me, like the leech would come back again today… But Jake is the Alpha and whatever he says goes.

I immediately ran inside and grabbed the phone, quickly dialing the number to the police station in Forks. After a quick conversation to Charlie about if there had been any disappearances that could be related to the vampire, I was relieved to hear the answer was no.

I walked into the living room; Jake was sitting on the couch with the tv muted. He had his head leaned back, his right hand over his eyes; he appeared to be deep in thought. I contemplated telling him what I had seen earlier… I know that he needed to know, but I didn't want to stress him out further.

"What is it Bells?" he asked, not moving an inch. "I know there's something you want to say… I can feel the stress coming off you."

I crossed my arms where I stood silently. He moved his hand and looked over at me with concern written on his face.

I uncrossed my arms and walked over to him and sat on his lap. "I saw him." I simply said and put my face to the side of neck. I couldn't repress the shiver at the memory.

He stiffened. "Saw who, Bells?"

"The vampire." As I confirmed his fears, he cradled me even closer. "Seconds before the howl, I saw him."

"Did you recognize him?" he asked, remaining calm. These past few years had done wonders on this man; his patience and understanding were remarkable. I moved so I could look at him. My Jacob, he had grown and matured into an amazing man; one that I was so proud of.

"No" I replied. "I have never seen him before." I touched his cheek and he seemed to melt at the touch.

"I don't want to know why he was here… at our house." He replied. "I don't want this peace to end… I'm not ready for this again."

"We'll take care of it, Jake." I said as I kissed him gently. "We always do."

The moments seemed to pass slowly. We just sat there, holding each other. We both knew what this meant. Our time of peace was over, this could possibly be the threat the elders had warned us about so many years ago.

"So, a surprise party, huh?" He laughed attempting to change the subject that neither of us wanted to talk about yet.

"So much for the secret" I laughed. "You still have to act surprised tomorrow. Leah was supposed to take the cake home with her."

"Smells good" He commented. "I could smell it as soon as we got to the back yard." He joked as I playfully hit him in the shoulder.

"You need to relax. There's nothing you can do about this right now." I chided as I sighed and got off his lap. He smiled as I kissed him on the forehead and turned the tv sound on for him.

I heard him changing channels as I walked into the kitchen and attempted to re-frost the cake that had been left abandoned on the counter. I heard Jake's breathing even out and knew he had fallen asleep as I was cleaning up the mess that was our kitchen.

We had been under a lot of stress lately. Jake has been picking up so many patrols so the kids could be kids. He wanted so badly for them to have as normal of a life that they could. When he wasn't at work, he now has his own car mechanics business; he was out covering their shifts.

I on the other hand, had started college last year. I wanted to do something other than be a housewife. I helped Jake with his appointments and bookkeeping and was currently attending a community college on my off days in a nearby town; my goal is to one day get a job at the high school on the reservation as a teacher.

With our busy schedules, it seems like we never really get the chance to spend time together. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, I love my life, and my family.

I was startled out of my reverie by Jake starting to snore. I laughed to myself as I finished washing the last pan and set it out to dry.

I didn't want to wake Jake. He never gets enough sleep as it is. So I walked the house. It is a nice place; we bought it as a fixer upper and we had done a great job so far. All we had left to do was our den area and the guest bathroom. We were doing the work ourselves, so it was a slow process.

I ended up in the den. We weren't too sure what to do with the extra room. So we decided to make it a multipurpose area. I looked over to the pile of painting supplies we had bought a month ago. We never did get around to painting it, so I grabbed a brush and opened a can.

I laughed seeing the slate blue color as I opened the paint. We had argued for days over what color to get. We finally met in the middle with this; though I had to admit, it was perfect. I got to work and started painting the walls.

It had been a few hours when I heard him as he entered the room and leaned up against the doorframe.

"Are you just going to just stand there or come help me?" I asked laughing, but not turning around.

"I'm good over here." He laughed back. "Just admiring the view"

My cheeks flushed some, but I turned around and grinned at him as he grabbed a brush and came over to help. We worked together in silent company for a while.

I turned to say something to him and it happened in slow motion. A few specks of paint flew off my brush and hit him on his bare chest. He looked down and looked back up at me with a feral gleam in his eyes.

I gulped as I watched him carefully; knowing what I had just started on accident. His mouth turned into an outrageous grin as his took his brush and wiped it down the front of my shirt.

It was an all-out paint war. Somehow Jake managed to win; I finally called a truce as I was covered in the blue grey paint. He laughed as he took my brush and kissed me on the cheek.

I let him clean up as I went to our room to take a shower. I grabbed a pair of sweat pants and a tank top, set them on the bed for later and walked into the bathroom. I heard him in there as I showered. Somehow I had managed to get more paint on myself then him; so little that he could just wash it off in the sink.

"So what are you doing for my party?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes, glad he couldn't see me. "I can't ruin the whole surprise" I replied.

"Bells…" he whined.

I laughed at him as I turned the shower off and grabbed my towel and wrapped it around me. He watched me as I got out of the shower.

"What?" I asked at him. He was staring at me intently. His gaze darkened and I got my answer. I smiled at him and pointedly ignored him as I brushed past him and into the bedroom.

I heard him follow me. He walked up behind me and put his arms around me, laying his head on my shoulder.

I gave up the game I was attempting at ignoring him and turned around in his arms. I put my arms around his broad shoulders and pulled him down to kiss me.

It was a tender kiss, filled with love, passion, and devotion. Right now though, I needed more. I deepened the kiss; he responded immediately, picking me up and throwing me onto the bed.

He crawled slowly, looking more like the predator he was, up the bed. He ripped the towel off of me and threw it on the floor, never taking his eyes off me. His lips returned to mine as my hands roamed up and down his muscular back and shoulders.

His lips moved from mine to trail hot kisses from my chin down to the crook of my neck and back up again. His hand came up to tease my breasts.

I arched my back to feel him more, and could feel he was ready. He needed this just as bad as I did right now. I slid my hands down to his cuts offs and pulled them off of him, stroking him after they were off.

His breath hitched at that, and he moved his hands to my center. I moaned as I brought his mouth back to mine. I swatted his hand away and guided him into me.

I moaned loudly at the feeling as he started to rock his hips back and forth. My hands were all over his back, trying to pull him closer as his mouth found my neck, biting and sucking as he moved over it.

I felt the sensation of my muscles clenching, welcomed the release I needed so desperately. I moaned loudly as it came, and with a few more thrusts, he joined me.

We lay there, entwined with each other. I was running my hand lightly over his back.

"I love you" he whispered softly to me as we both drifted off to sleep.

A/N: A little Bella-Jake relationship time. I hope you guys like the new direction I have taken in writing their relationship. Honestly, it has been so long that I am not even sure how to write this story anymore... haha. So I hope you all enjoyed, let me know what you think with reviews please so I can attempt to work on this story more. As always thank you guys!