The scene where Jacob finds Marly after Bella's wedding. (Jacob's POV)
Jacob ran easily through the forest, branches flashing by. It would have been completely relaxing except for one thing.
"Paul, shut up!" Jacob snarled through the mind link.
All he had heard for the past half hour was Paul gushing over his sister Rachel. If he heard one more thought about how good a kisser Rachel was, he would vomit.
Paul chuckled. "Sorry."
Jacob snorted. Patrolling at the moment was quiet. Since the spring there had been very little vampire activity in the area. One or two rouges had passed through and been killed, but no large groups. Jacob was content, except for that Liana was distressed about Bella.
Jacob wasn't overly thrilled about Bella's decisions, but he wasn't as devastated as Liana. Ever since the wedding she had been really down.
Jacob sighed. He wished he could do something to make her happy. Nothing seemed to work right now.
"Hey, listen to this." Paul thought.
"Shut up."
"No, seriously. I hear something."
They slowed their run and listened. Paul sniffed the air.
"It's over here, whatever it is. Sounds in pain."
"Probably a mouse."
Paul swung to his left. "What the? A puppy? Jake, come here."
"Where are you?"
Paul sent a flash of trees and ground and Jacob recognized the location.
"Be there in a minute."
He loped toward where Paul was and came upon him sitting in front of a fallen log.
"Bout time you showed up. It's a puppy."
"I got that."
And then Jacob phased. He crouched down and peered under the log. A small black puppy lay staring at them, whimpering. Jacob reached down and gently snagged the puppy in his large hands.
"Come on, it's okay. We're friends." Jacob whispered soothingly.
He gently cradled the trembling pup in his arms and noticed a long cut running along its side.
Paul shoved his nose right up close to the puppy and sniffed. He snorted and then licked the puppy on the head.
The lick woke the little black dog into action. It wriggled in Jacobs arms and licked the underside of Paul's furry chin.
"Hey, you're cute. Paul, I think I'll take it to Liana. Maybe Emily can help me wash it."
Jacob started walking in the direction of Emily's house, intent of bathing and doctoring up the dog before taking it to Liana. Paul barked sharply.
"What?"
Paul shifted human. "Dude, you're still naked. Sam won't like you showing up in the middle of the night like that."
Jacob glanced down. "Right. Umm, take the puppy a second."
He passed the pup to Paul and untied his shorts from his ankle and tugged them on.
"It's a girl." Paul announced and handed the wiggly puppy back to Jacob. Paul grabbed his own shorts and tugged they on.
"Nice. I wonder what Liana will name her." Jacob thought out loud.
Paul rubbed the little thing's head. "Hey, I found her. What if I want to give her to Rachel?"
How was he supposed to get out of this one? He desperately wanted to cheer Liana up and this was the perfect way. But since Paul has found the puppy first, he could pull choosing rights. "Awe no. Think about it Paul. Rachel loves baby animals. If you give this one to her than she will spend all her time taking care of the puppy and won't have time for you."
"Right. But she would be happy." Paul said, sounding torn.
Jacob stared down at the little puppy in his arms. The next sentence made him gag as he spoke it. "Yeah, but she's happy now, with you. Do you really want to change that? Anyway think how miserable Liana is."
Paul frowned. "Fine. You can take her. But don't think I don't know that you were trying to manipulate me."
Jacob rolled his eyes. "Sure sure. I'm going to get this one cleaned up and fed."
"If I were you, I wouldn't go anywhere near Sam's tonight. He might just rip your head off if you wake them up." Paul warned.
The two fell in step. "Right. I guess I'll take her home then. You gonna keep patrolling?"
Paul sighed. "I guess. Can't I come and see Rachel first?"
Jacob growled. "No. If you do you won't leave so stay here."
Paul tickled the puppy under the chin and laughed. "You're right. See you then."
Jacob continued walking alone to his house. His Dad and Rachel would be sleeping but he could take care of the pup in the garage. As he walked, the puppy snuggled in the safety of his arms and dozed off.
She was probably about eight or nine weeks old, and was about fifteen pounds. She looked like a German Shepherd, but there might be a little of something else in her as well.
The long scratch along her flank looked about a week old. There was dried blood, dirt, and leaves stuck in her fur on and around the wound. She also looked half starved and Jacob was determined to fix her up.
Jacob got to his house a while later and was then faced with a dilemma. He didn't want to put the puppy down in case she ran away, but he couldn't take her in the house and risk waking his family.
In the end he placed her in the garage and shut the door while he snuck into the house and looked for food. Obviously there was no dog food in the house so he grabbed what he thought the little creature would eat.
He jogged back to the garage with half a loaf of bread, a jug of milk, a couple sausages, a slice of cake for himself, and a bowl, glass, and plate.
Jacob eased the side door to the garage open and gently shut it. When he flicked on the light he saw the pup sniffing his stack of shorts in the corner.
He placed the contents of his arms on his work table and poured some milk into the bowl. He edged his way to the little one and set the bowl down.
After a moment of hesitation and sniffing she licked the milk and then lapped it eagerly. It was gone in short order so Jacob poured a little more for her and then tore a small bit of bread from the loaf. The puppy took it and chewed it with no problem so Jacob broke the bread into a few more pieces and then broke the sausage up.
The puppy slowed her eating and Jacob sat back and watched her sniff around the building. While he watched, he ate the cake, and the sausage and bread that was left over. He washed it down with a glass of milk and watched as the puppy curled up on his emergency pile of clothes.
They smelled not only of him, but of most of the rest of his brothers as they all ended up needing clothes at random times. The puppy seemed to be content with all the scents of the pack and settled down to sleep. Jacob left the bowl and poured a bit more milk in case she woke up and got hungry.
He slept for about an hour in his own bed before he was woken by yips coming from the garage. He dragged himself out and opened the door where the pup was whining at. She dashed out and wiggled around his feet, then shot off to into the yard where she promptly did her business and then came running back to Jacob.
He picked her up and carried her back into the garage. Every time he tried to leave she followed him and yipped. It was almost morning, but he desperately wanted to sleep, so he set the pup down again, shut the garage door, pulled off his shorts and phased.
The puppy froze for a second and then boldly walked up to him and sniffed. He lowered his head and carefully maneuvered her out of the way and laid down. He took up most of the spare room in the garage in this form and he didn't want to hurt her or break anything.
He shut his eyes and waited as the puppy stared at him. Soon he felt a little nose bumping along his side until she curled up right behind his front leg. He let out a breath and after telling Paul to shut up one more time, he fell asleep.
Jacob was rudely awoken by a sharp tooth puncturing his tender ear. He leapt to his feet and yowled. He shook his head and heard a thump and yip.
Right, the puppy. Oops.
He shifted human and pulled his shorts on. He scratched his head and yawned.
"Okay girl. Let's get you washed."
Jacob picked the puppy up and took her into the house. His dad and sister were still sleeping and he quietly slipped into the bathroom. He set the squirming dog in the shower and grabbed the shower head.
Carefully, so as not to injure her further, Jacob got the puppy wet and rinsed the blood, dirt, and forest debris off the puppy.
She shook slightly, but stayed still under his gentle hands. Once she was clean Jacob wrapped her in a large clean towel and rubbed her dry.
"What on earth? Jacob!" Rachel exclaimed.
Jacob looked up at his older yet smaller sister. "Shh. Paul and I found her last night. I think she was abandoned."
Rachel reached out and stroked the small head. "She's so cute. Why would anyone do that?"
Jacob shrugged. "I don't know. But I want to give her to Liana."
Rachel smiled and continued petting the puppy. "She'll love her! Oh you're so cute, yes you are."
"Can you help me for a second? She has a deep scratch on her side and it needs to be looked at."
Together the siblings doctored the poor dog and then fed her again. They placed a bandage on her cut and gently wrapped a tensor around her torso. When they were done she wiggled around and licked at their hands.
Rachel played with the puppy while Jacob ate breakfast and then Paul showed up.
To Jacob's disgust Paul began kissing Rachel in front of him.
"Stop it." He growled.
Paul broke the kiss and ignored Jacob. He crouched down and petted the puppy who greeted him enthusiastically.
"Hey there. You're not so bad when you smell clean." He joked.
Jacob rolled his eyes and kept eating.
"There any food for me?" Paul asked.
Rachel raised her eyebrows. "What makes you think you get free food?"
The two of them joked around as Rachel got some breakfast for Paul and Jacob made his escape. He scooped up the puppy, walked to the garage and placed himself and the puppy in the Rabbit and drove to the Swans house.