Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, items, products etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original character and plot are mine. I am in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise, products or locations. No copyright infringement is intended.

CAUTION NOTE: I dredge up a dark subject from Cassie past in the beginning of this chapter! If dark/angsty themes such as abuse, rape, kidnapping, etc… bother you DO NOT read any further! You have been warned!

Chapter Eight

Four days had passed since I'd first phased, and let me be the first to tell you it had been the longest four days of my life. My body ached and muscles were sore in places I'm sure hadn't existed before.

As I stretched, a small groan escaped my lips, causing Jacob to chuckle next to me.

"Laugh it up, fur ball. You've been doing this werewolf gig a lot longer than I have." I winked at him. "Though, Mr. Black, I must say you're much better looking than Chewbacca."

Jacob's gorgeous smile flashed across his face before morphing in to a mischievous grin. My heart beat sped up as he began to slowly inch toward me, like a predator stalking their prey. Two could play that game. Batting my eyelashes, I dragged my tongue along my bottom lip. I clicked my tongue ring against the back of my teeth, and his fluid movement faltered for a split second.

"Are you planning on getting over here before I die and rigor sets in?" I asked, pretending to stifle a yawn.

Jacob pounced and had me pinned beneath him before I could blink; I hadn't even had time to draw a full breath before his lips crashed into mine. My requirement for air was once again replaced by my need for all things Jake.

Jacob was the Alpha; his connection to his imprint was more intense and stronger than the others. Because I too had now phased, the connection between us was essentially a double imprint. Our bond was twice as potent as the other imprinted pairs, hence the almost overwhelming need we seemed to have for one another. The elders seemed to think the intensity would lessen the longer we were together, but a part of me hoped it never would.

Wrapping my legs around Jacob's and digging my fingers into his bare, muscled back earned me a growl from him that reverberated in my own chest. My lips parted and his tongue wasted no time in plunging into my mouth. Our tongues continued to dance together as Jacob's hands roamed down the sides of my chest and around my hips before coming to standstill. His thumbs ghosted circles over my hipbones sending fiery jolts of pleasure curling down to my toes.

His assault on my mouth began to gradually migrate down along my jaw to my ear, allowing me to gasp air into my lungs. It was my turn to growl as he began to suck and nibble on my earlobe. My hands buried themselves into his soft black hair, and I hitched my leg up around his hip. I moved against him forcing him to roll over so I could straddle his waist. My fingers mapped his perfectly defined pecks before I inched them downward to his chiseled abdominal muscles.

Jacob's right hand moved up along the top of my shorts, as his left inched away from my hip in order to establish a solid hold on my ass.

His warm fingers faltered as they traced over the jagged scar that shadowed the length of my bottom rib. I felt his eyes searching my face, but I didn't look up; my fingers kept up their mindless tracing as I focused on keeping my breathing even.

There was still so much about me that Jacob didn't know. Granted, I knew in my heart he couldn't just up leave me once he found out, but still…I didn't want my stupid past to be a hurdle for us, for him. He did have a right to know everything, and I knew that. It had just been so much easier to put it off. Maybe my subconscious had set me up for this; when you're only wearing shorts and a sports bra it becomes a lot harder to hide all of your physical scars.

"What's this from, Cassie?" Jacob asked, his thumb continuing to outline my scar, as our dark eyes met.

He's not going to think any different of me, I repeated silently to myself. I'm his imprint, and nothing will change that. I know I'm stronger and better because of everything that's happened. Jacob won't see me as being damaged goods. He won't.

Yeah, freaking right, even though it's different for us, he's still a guy. Ugh. Why do I always have to be the messed up and broken one? I took a dragging breath in a vain attempt to keep my voice from shaking.

"When I was about fourteen I lived in a group home, and there were a lot of us kids, so we weren't always supervised…one of my older foster brothers had some issues… and I got into a bit of a …ummm…altercation with him one day over a… ah…conflict of interest, I guess, and…umm…he got really pissed and stabbed me." There I said it. Jacob didn't look away, but I saw the anger flash in his eyes before his grip around my body tightened as he pulled me closer against him

"A conflict of interest, huh?" His eyes narrowed marginally; he wasn't buying my vague explanation. Damn; so much for being able to dance around and avoid the complete truth.

I brought my thumb to my mouth so I could chew on it as I tried to work out the best way to phrase my response. Jacob's body shifted beneath me as he sat up, pulling me with him. He hadn't let go of me; I was still firmly held in his arms, but now I was just sitting up straddling his waist. He reached up so he could tug my hand away from my mouth, before he moved to cradle my face in his hands. He was going to make me to look him in the eye. Ugh. Why did I have to be so easy to read?

I stared evenly at a strand of his hair that was hanging down across his forehead. There was no way, even as close as we had gotten, that I could be looking at him when I answered. After I managed to worm my face out of his grasp, I laid my head on his shoulder and tightly shut my eyes.

If I couldn't see his face, I could protect myself from his reaction. Jake probably saw through my plan, but he didn't force me; he just held my body with his strong arms and kept gently stroking my now short hair as he waited for my answer. Why did he have to be so perfect? It was making me feel filthy and undeserving. God. My shaky breathing was doing nothing to calm my nerves. My whole damn body was betraying me. I needed to hurry up and just get it over with.

"Well…I…it's…" Forcing another breath in and out of my lungs, I started over. "The conflict of interest was…umm…well, he wanted to have sex and…I didn't...so he just forced himself on me..." I paused to give myself a mental shake. I couldn't afford to allow myself get completely drawn into the memory. Not today, and definitely not in front of Jake. My eyes stared unseeing at the tree behind Jacob, and I soldiered on, "I didn't understand. At first, I didn't really fight back...because I was scared and he was really strong, but that wasn't how I wanted it to be...you know. It shouldn't be like that. I didn't want him to hurt me anymore. When I did start to struggle, I think, he liked that better…but…then he told me Alisa was next. She was only ten...That's when I really started fighting him. I couldn't let him hurt anyone else…so I kept scratching and biting, and eventually I bit a chuck out of his neck. He grabbed his pocket knife and stabbed me then…" Forcing in a dragging breath, I ended my memory and blinked my eyes back in focus. "When the cops showed up I was afraid they wouldn't believe me, that they would say it was my fault. But they didn't. They took him away —and I never saw him again." As I finished, my voice sounded so detached, as it echoed in my ears, it was barely recognizable as my own. I took another few breaths trying to force my body to relax, but Jacob's whole body had stiffened.

Jacob's hand which had been stroking my hair paused. His body started to shake underneath me so I pulled back so I could see his face. His hard and impassive mask was firmly in place; I called it his alpha face. It was his tough façade, and the shield he used to hide his own emotions. I moved my hands up to his shoulders, forcing him to meet my eyes. This wasn't just about me anymore; I needed to be strong to be the support my imprint needed me to be.

"It happened a long time ago, Jake. Everything happens for a reason, you know..." I trailed off as his jaw painfully clinched and unclenched, "if it hadn't of happened, who knows where I would have ended up in my life." My fingers stroked his creased forehead trying to smooth the lines away. "I'm here with you now; all of my past drama is just that, in the past. It's over and done with."

His body had stopped vibrating, but his grip around me had painfully tightened.

"I'm so sorry, Cassie; I wasn't there to protect you."

"It wasn't your job to protect me then. Even you were human back then, what could you have done?"

Jacob's teeth ground loudly together. "I could have killed him, very slowly, and then kidnapped you to come live with me here."

"That's a nice fantasy." I smiled at him. "However, I don't think it's considered kidnapping if you have a willing victim."

Several minutes passed before his face finally softened. I watched as his focus fell to my mouth. Parting my lips, I slowly dragged my barbell across my bottom lip; Jacob's eyes followed its path. I couldn't help but smile; men were so easily distracted. Maybe now we could finish what we had started earlier.

Lunging forward, I toppled both of us backward onto the forest floor. Once he had air back in his lungs and his surprise wore off, we picked up right where we had left off.

This time everything was slow and deliberate. Every caress and touch of Jacob's made me feel beautiful, loved and worshiped. I didn't deserve this man.

I shook my fur out; now that my hair had been cropped, I wasn't snagging myself on every damn branch. Thankfully, it was just Leah in my head today; I wasn't in the mood to keep my thoughts guarded. Being she-wolves did come with some special abilities the guys didn't automatically get. It was much easier for us to guard our thoughts while were phased, and in the scheme of things it was a huge advantage, especially when your imprint is your Alpha.

What's up, my sister wolf?

Eh, hashed out some past drama with Jake.

Oh? Don't relationships just suck? Leah was loping gracefully through the underbrush, and her long strides didn't falter as she easily cleared a dry creek bed.

The thing I loved most about being in wolf form was the speed, far better than even riding a motorcycle. I pulled my thoughts back into my own head and the path in front of me. My paws barely tore into the earth as I ran, and the trees blurred by me as I raced to catch up with Leah.

Another bonus of being a late phaser, I didn't have much I had to learn first-hand. Any learning curve my other pack mates had, I essentially had it too, except instantly with no trial and error. It had been like watching an instructional video in 3D plus taste and smell features to go with the surround sound. Within just a few hours of phasing, my brain had been filled with the borrowed memories and thoughts of all my pack mates. My body tingled with the physical echoes of hunting, shredding and burning various bloodsuckers I had never actually seen. Running, jumping, tracking, and everything essential for destroying a vampire had come practically pre-programmed into my wolf psyche.

Being a werewolf was nothing like learning to ride a bike, though. The whole first phase experience was a lot like having migraine fuel directly injecting into your cerebral cortex while you studied for a bar exam and competed in a triathlon. Intense.

The hardest part had been the phasing back and forth between forms. Luckily Leah had come home early from her family reunion in order to help me during my transition. She had been so ecstatic to have another female wolf; she had worked with me for a solid two days, practicing phasing over and over. Without her it would have taken me forever to get the hang of everything. Obviously, I wasn't as smooth as Jake –no one was– but it wasn't hit or miss like it had been for me several days ago.

You're welcome for that by the way. I think you owe me dinner or something. Leah's wolf grinned at me as we both exited the trees across from each other.

I still can't get used to seeing myself like this. It's so bizarre.

I stared at my wolf form though Leah's eyes. My fur was white, but just like Embry, I had some dark 'beauty spots' as Leah called them. Everywhere I had a piercing or a tattoo my fur became flecked with black. So along my spine, ears, underbelly, and along my muzzle my white fur was marbled with black.

I'm just jealous you got to be white. I wish I could have been white! Leah's wolf stuck her tongue out between her canine teeth.

Lolling my tongue out at her, I rolled my eyes. We're wolves Leah. Gray is a far more practical color anyway. If you showered me with a bit more black paint, I'd be a glorified Dalmatian!

Whatever, SnowWhite. We're running the perimeter, then calling it. I have a date tonight, and God knows Jake wants to see you sooner rather than later.

Yeah. He's stopping by later this evening after he gets off work. If I hadn't been covered in fur I would have blushed. I knew Leah caught a brief glimpse of my all too short escapade with Jacob this morning; the memory jumped to the forefront of my brain before I could lock it down.

Eww. He's not my imprint, Cas! Though seriously, maybe once you two actually do the deed it'll keep your lust in check. It's all about the mating imperative you know. It sure doesn't look like y'all hashed out too much this morning, either! Mid stride, Leah turned her head and winked at me.

After nearly avoiding a collision with a tree, I forced my thoughts back to my run and the scent of the forest. If I was going to do anything productive today I needed to keep mating and Jake as two separate thoughts in my head for the remainder of the day. Leah chuckled in my head.

So, Leah, tell me about your date? It was Leah's turn to almost hit a tree.

I was just stepping out of the shower when Embry's house phone rang. Wrapping the towel around my body, I jogged into the kitchen. Maybe it was the hospital finally calling to set up a job interview.

"Call residence. This is Cassie," I said, as I doodled on the note pad under the phone the silence on the other ended stretched forward. "Hello?"

"Hey, beautiful, I wasn't expecting you to answer." My heart lurched in my chest. Surely it wasn't him.

"…Brent? How did you get this number?" I whispered into the receiver, hoping I was wrong, but knowing I wasn't. The voice on the other end chuckled, confirming my suspicion.

"Cassie, I had to talk to you again. You have to give me another chance..."

"Well, talk. I'll give you five minutes…starting now." I glanced at the clock on the microwave planning on literally counting down the minutes until I could hang up.

He paused briefly probably to gather his thoughts. Idiot. Hopefully, he paid someone a lot of money to track me down. He probably just bribed Sarah, or maybe he slept with her to get it. I shuddered at the thought.

"I've changed, love. I promise. I've got everything in order, and I'll sign with RedBull next month. You know that'll be huge, and we could buy another house…Plus, I heard you found your long lost brother, or something? I'd let him could come visit, no problem..."

"What about her?" My eyes narrowed, as the image of the two of them going at it on the kitchen counter was brought to the forefront of my memory. I cringed, snapping the pen in half between my fingers.

"Who? Oh, Crystal? She's long gone! I swear. She didn't mean anything to me. You know you're everything to me!" I rolled my eyes, yeah all your checking account, maybe. My ex's voice oozed with confidence as he continued, "plus, I just got this new car. You'd love it. It could be my turn to take care of you. You'd be happy, anything you'd ever want I could give you. I'd let you go to school if you wanted, or travel. Anything you want, just come back."

His time was about up. "Brent, why did you really call?"

"You need to know you can come back to me anytime. No hard feelings. All your stuff is still here anyway, it would be so easy to go back to the way things were…"

I interrupted him; he wasn't getting it, "Brent, I'm happy here. My family's here and I'm building a future here. I don't care about my stuff, sell it. We're not supposed to be together. What we had was in the past, and I don't want any of it back."

"Now wait just one second, love. I know you don't mean that. Let me come see you, and we'll talk…I have the money to pay you back…"

I cut him off again, time was definitely up. "Brent, don't ever come here. I don't want to see you. Keep the money; it was a gift. Please don't call here again." I inched the phone back toward the receiver, but not before he spoke up again.

"But...in two days I'll be in Seat..." I hit the end button before he could finish. Ass.

How dare he call now, and try to butt back into my life when everything was finally getting better. Jerk. I stormed back into the bathroom to finish getting ready. Jake was going to be showing up soon.

Just thinking of Jacob put a smile back on my face. How had I ever lived without him?

I glanced in the mirror, missing my long hair. Even with everything the last few days had held I couldn't regret my decision. Just like I had told Brent, my future was here. My everything was here, nothing would change that.

Every second I was away from Jacob it felt like an eternity. My being ached for him; I couldn't live without him. Maybe I shouldn't get a job, I'd just hover around him all the time like the lovesick puppy I am. I grinned at myself, Jake would love that.

My face fell as my train of thought flashed back to my phone conversation. Jacob and I were going to have to talk, and soon. The chances of my past popping up were slim, but he needed to know. My family had a right to know. It just wasn't going to be simple. I didn't want anything to change. Everything was perfect right now, and they wouldn't look at me the same. No one does when they know.

The sharp knock at the door ripped me out of my thoughts, and a smile was back on my face. I could deal with the past another day. My future was at the door, and I practically skipped to go open it.

AN:

Thanks to halobabe22 for voting on white as Cassie's fur color – I hope you don't mind I tweaked it a bit ;)

I've noticed a slight drop in reviews as of late…I don't think I'm doing anything different, but … holler if I'm majorly sucking or something, okay? Your input gives me ideas and keeps me motivated to keep writing! Sorry to dump another OC in here, he has a brief role to play.

I have been pondering an outtake or two…thoughts or ideas on what you'd like to see covered that I haven't so far?

Thanks to PTB DreaC and Robotprospektor for wading through the grammar of my chapter. Some days I swear I'm more competent than others, really!