a/n: So super sorry. I have wayyy too much homework…

disclaimer: I am not Steph nor do I own anything by Steph.

Gifts

RPOV

"Jacob?" I called as I walked into the house. "Jacob, where are you?" It was then I heard the distant snores from a level up. I sighed and flew up the stairs into our gigantic bedroom. I looked at my sleeping husband and giggled to myself. Alice had killed herself trying to find a mattress large enough for Jacob but had ended up getting it custom made. Then he had a growth spurt. Now his humongous feet dangled off the edge.

I attempted to curl up next to him but he was eagle spread on the bed so I just shook his shoulder.

He grunted.

"Jake," I murmured in his ear. Nothing was working so I lovingly kissed his lips like I had all those years ago. It would have been cheesily romantic if he had woken up and it led to other things… but Jake being Jake simply swatted my hand away and rolled over onto his stomach, mumbling about cookies. So I ended up slapping him and yelling "Jacob Black! Get up this instant! I need to talk to you, mutt!"

"What Ness?" he moaned.

"What is WRONG WITH YOU?" I demanded. "Do you have mono or something else I should know about?"

"No… no… let me sleep. Please," he begged pathetically.

"Fine," I huffed. "I'm going shopping then," I yelled over my shoulder as I snagged my wallet from the nightstand.

Fourteen outfits and $1500 later, I stepped out of my closet, newly reorganized and was confronted by a glaring Jacob.

"Uh, hi, wolfman," I said halfheartedly, not liking the way his glare pierced through my skin like daggers.

"Nessie, why, for the love of God, do you need more clothing?" He snapped. Jacob never used that tone with me before.

"I always go shopping when I'm depressed. I give my old stuff to charity," I said, gesturing towards the black trash bags filled with unwanted things. "You know that. And I'm depressed because nobody will tell me what's going on and you've been acting really weird today."

"But why did you buy more stuff? You can't just go shopping when you're depressed. These things cost a lot of money!"

"Since when are you concerned with money? My family has more than enough to go around," I explained impatiently.

"Yes, your family does. Mine doesn't," he argued.

"You are part of the family. Our money is your money," I said, confused by his logic. "Jacob, please tell me what you're doing. I'll always support you. You know you can trust me."

"I know I can trust you!" he roared.

"Then tell me!" I shrieked with tears in my eyes.

"You won't like it," he growled.

"How do you know? I always, always support you!" This was too confusing. None of the dots seemed to connect. Jacob was concerned about money…. Oh no. His stupid, stupid male pride was getting in the way again! "Good Lord, Jacob. I know what this is about."

"What? How do you know?"

"You got a night job, didn't you? The time where only the man supports the family is gone, Jacob. Everyone in this family is practically rolling in money. Three more people won't change that. They don't consider it charity. They consider it giving to the family," I ranted. Stupid, stupid male pride.

"Not everyone does," he groused.

I sighed and we said "Rosalie."

"Rosalie," I called sweetly as I danced into the white house. "Rosalie, I can smell you, darling. Where are you?"

(lightning flashes in the distance.)

JayPOV

No. This could not be happening. I quickly checked the halls. They were empty. Then… footsteps! The click of heels against tile. DANGER! My new, paranoid, wolf mind screamed at me. No! No! It's okay. It's a person! I tried to reason with it. No! Danger! Bad! Kill. It growled at me while my feet propelled me towards the horrible clicking noise. I began to growl under my breath, an automatic reaction. Where was some Alpha's order when you needed it?

Ever since Dad had become the rightful Alpha all new wolves were automatically part of his pack unless they wanted to go to Sam. But Mom and Dad had been acting all tense this morning so they were probably screaming at each other for some reason. Nobody to stop me. The wolf in me exulted.

No! I commanded it. We protect the people. She is not a danger. All of this happened in one second. Just before the girl was about to turn the corner, I tore in the other direction, wedging myself in a tiny science hallway. She walked by innocently until her heels stopped and she turned to look at me, peering into my eyes suspiciously. I stared back in shock.

Then she continued on while muttering to herself, "Must be that damn pot again. I didn't know hallucinations were a part of the deal." I couldn't contain myself and let out a big barky laugh that I immediately silenced. But she kept walking thinking that her pot was messing with her.

I ran over to Brady's class. He looked bored out of his mind listening to the teach drone on about Calculus. I let out a quick, sharp bark that nobody heard but him. He looked towards the door and his eyes widened as he quickly raised his hand, asking for a pass to the bathroom.

"Holy, shit!" he exclaimed as soon as the door closed. I growled at him, the residual anger still bubbling in my gut.

"Hey, no biting," he warned, moving a few paces away from me. "Do you know how to change yourself back?"

I shook my proportionally large wolf head.

"Hey, no problem. We'll just go get Jake," he announced. I whined. I did not want to be in my Dad's pack where he could hear everything I was thinking. I shivered.

"What? What do you want?"

I spelt it out on the ground for him with one long claw.

"Oh. That would be awkward. Okay, go ahead and howl. And protect your thoughts. Jake will hear them, at least for a while," he explained.

I threw back my head like in all the werewolf movies and almost fell over. That thing was heavy!

Brady laughed. "You don't have to do that. Just howl."

I immediately complied and waited with Brady. I heard Dad's thoughts.

HA! Nessie's still wailing on Rosalie. At least I can quit that stupid job at McDonalds. It's hard to find a job with no college degree. Focus, Jake. Who is it this time? He called out, the first intentional words he had "spoken".

Hi, Dad. I reached out timidly.

Shit! Jay, is that you? Hold on, I'm coming! He mentally yelled. Howl again! I don't hear anyone else. They better get their asses over here! Are you okay? Did you kill anyone? How are you?

Dad! Calm down! I'm fine. Nobody's dead. Some pot-head walked by but she thought she was hallucinating.

Good. He mentally sighed. I'm just worried, what with you being part vampire and all you don't know what could happen.

What's there to worry about? If I had some vampirey gift or something like that it would have appear already. I told him calmly. My logic was infallible.

But, Jayward, it could possibly only happen when you're a wolf.

Dad, you're so—

Aggh! Dad screamed and howled at the same time. He had attempted to touch my shoulder with his table sized paw. I saw what happened as soon as he touched me. My increasing annoyance with him had activated some sort of something in me. A gift. Dad was right.

I don't really know if this is a cliffhanger or not but if it is I'm very sorry. *puts on sad face*. But I'm not feeling too guilty. So until the next chapter… uh. Yeah, bye.

Oh yeah. REVIEW YOU LAZY PEOPLE! IT TAKES LIKE FIVE SECONDS AND IT MAKES ME SUPER HAPPY!

Anyway...