Hey everybody! So, I'm, kinda, back. I'm, kinda, sorry that I haven't written in a while, but come on, there are a lot of other Jacob fics on here, and I'm sure most of them are better too, so it's not like you had nothing to do ;D I've been playing Skyrim, yes. It is AWESOME. Nuff said. And I've been having job-problems, so a lot of reasons why inspiration has failed me lately.

But I hope this will satify you, if only a little. Cheers!

Chapter Nine

Jacob hadn't been kidding when he said that the following day was going to be twice as bad. Jared had apparently brought an airhorn with him and at precisely 7' o clock it sounded repeatedly throughout the forest. Talae woke with a small scream, jerking awake and into an instant upright position, making her head spin. She swore as she realised what had happened and fell back against her makeshift pillow. She heard similar rude awakenings and complaints all around her. Streching and cracking her spine and neck, she dazily looked around, trying to wake up before beginning to dress. Black sweats and a loose tank seemed appropriate for now. She shuffled around in her tent for a bit before finally stepping out of it, toothbrush, toothpaste and water bottle in hand.

Putting toothpaste and a little water on the brush, she threw the tube into her tent and stuck the bottle under her arm, and walked towards the clearing while brushing her teeth.

Sam and Jared stood talking, waving to her when she entered the clearing. She waved back and continued to look around the clearing, curling her toes in the wet grass. A mumbling Leah came up behind her, coming to rest her head on Talae's shoulder.

"Not a morning person Lee?", Talae asked quietly, not being much of one herself.

"Coffee, I need coffee", Leah groaned, leaning heavily against her.

Talae snorted, "good luck with that". She spit out the toothpaste at the base of a nearby tree, gurgled a mouthfull of water and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Then she leaned on Leah, so they supported each others weight, and sighed.

"Here sis, take one of these!", came the forever cheery voice of Seth Clearwater as he came bouncing towards them. Of course he'd be A-type person. He tossed a pill-bottle towards Leah and she went to lift her hand and catch it, but even her hightened reflexes and motor skills, the early awakening and coffeine deprivation dominated her body, and the plastic canister hit her smack in the forehead instead.

No reaction. Seth looked a little shocked. She didn't even get angry, just closed her eyes a couple of long seconds. Finally she murmured a quiet 'ow' and bent down to pick it up. Talae looked over her shoulder. Big red letters read 'CAFFEINE' on the front.

"Is this what I think it is?", she asked her brother as he stood in front of them, grinning.

"Caffeine pills, yeah. I thought of you when I saw them in the store, figuring it'd be difficult making coffee in these surroundings", he grinned proudly, standing tall.

"Aw, come here you", Leah mustered up enough strength to nookie him and he let her, laughing when she fell into his side from the effort. She wripped the lid off and took two in her mouth and swallowed them dry. "I'm keeping these", she said and stuffed the bottle in her pants' pocket.

Leah woke up after that and the day could go on. And it did. They had a similar schedule as the day before, but today seemed to focus on fight-training more that tracking and catching your prey.

The Cullens had agreed to help out, and they met Carlisle, Jasper and Emmett in another, bigger clearing a few miles away from camp. So most of the day went by with the pups learning how to fight real vampires, which was much better than Jared or Leah in one of the leeches shirts.

Jasper tought them strategies on how to fight newborns, since some of the wolves, including Talae, hadn't been around the first time they had that lesson. He also went a bit into how to try and fight vampires with special abilities, but told them that if they'd ever come across one, to work together and play it smart.

When they finally, tired and exchausted but wiser nonetheless, finished for the day, they had to catch their own dinner. Again.

Talae and Leah had worked together, repeating last nights success and had caught a big, fat wild turkey, and on their treck back had uncovered a patch of eatable mushrooms. Their night couldn't get any better. They even had leftovers, which they gave to Seth, feeling sorry for him that he'd only caught a lousy rabbit again.

Only when she finally laid herself to rest for the night, did she have the time to think about her and Jacob. She was a bit disappointed that he wasn't in her tent when she entered, but what can you do.

She got warm all over thinking about him, thinking about the imprint. She was happy, to say the least, that they were soulmates. First because, let's face it, she was never going to find anyone like him, which would make sense seeing as they were theoretically made for just each other. Second because, well, she'd never have to worry about 'the one' anymore. No more failed relationships, no more broken hearts. She'd found the place she belonged, and couldn't ask for more.

But she wasn't going to let the imprint rule her lovelife. She got that they were inseperable, and she was already on the way to falling deeply and madly in love with him. But just because they had the rest of eternity together didn't mean he'd get all the cake right away. Oh no. They'd do it the right way. If she was going to fall in love with him it'd be on her own terms and because of who he was, not because of some universal power watching them from on high... or something.

"Tee, are you awake?", Leah's voice questioned and when she looked up she could skim the outline of her sister wolf's shadow on the tent's front.

"Yeah, barely. What's up?", she murmured, sitting up and stifling a yawn as Leah unzipped the tent-flap and let herself in. She was carrying her sleeping-bag in one hand and a plastic net of candybars in the other.

"Thought you could use some girl talk", Leah zipped the tent back up and unfolded the sleeping-bag besides Talae's before throwing herself on it with a tired sigh. "You don't mind me crashing here tonight, do you?".

Talae snorted, grabbing the candybars from her, "Nah, these will pay for your stay quite nicely".

"Awesome. I was dying, sleeping next to Seth. I know he's young, but damn he snores as loud as a freaking buffalo, and then he kicks too, god", she groaned, taking the candybar Talae was holding out for her. She took half of it off in one bite, chewing loudly before continuing, "so, Jake finally told you about imprinting huh?".

The younger she-wolf chewed thoughtfully on her own chocolate treat, "yeah. Kind of life-changing, isn't it?".

Leah let out a short, sarcastic laugh, "kind of?".

She smiled, "okay, entirely life-changing then. Have you imprinted?".

"No. And I kind of don't want to either, the whole taking-your-free-will-away thing not big in my book", Leah shrugged her shoulders before taking another bite.

"What? You don't want to find true love?", Talae frowned slightly, drawing her legs up to her chest so she could rest her chin on her knees.

Leah gave her a wierd smile before chomping down the last bits of chocolate. She tucked her legs under her butt and unwrapped another candybar, "Sure. Some day. But I want to do it on my own terms, not being thrown in with whatever guy 'the universe' thinks is best for me. I'm fully capable of making my own decisions, thank you very much".

"I get your point", Talae nodded, taking first bite of the Snickers in her hand. "I know you've been in love before, but I don't know what happended. I take it it didn't end well for you to have such strong opinions about love now?", she spoke softly, knowing a broken heart could take forever to heal.

"Yeah, it did", Leah sighed and for a second looked like she wasn't going to elaborate. There was a moment of silence before she continued, "It was Sam".

Talae choked on her chocolate, "I'm sorry?".

Leah snorted, half amused, "Yeah, that Sam, the Alpha Sam. I know, making bad worse, but in my defense it happended way before any of us first phased". It wasn't as horrible to talk about after all Leah discovered, the words came easy and no anger or regret pooled in her gut. She was relieved, encouraged, maybe she had finally put it behind her for good.

"But... Oh my god, so he... imprinted on Em when you were together? That's what happened, right?", Talae was baffled, how awful must Leah have felt when that happened, she couldn't imagine.

Leah cringed, knowing it sounded as bad as it had been, "Yeah. But I've moved on from that, though I still don't feel comfortable being alone with Sam. Reminds me of what I lost ya know?". She started picking at the candywrapper in her hand instead of eating it's contents. Opening up had never been her strong side.

"I get it", Talae smiled gently, lightly punching her shoulder, trying to signal that sharing was okay.

Leah threw her a lopsided smile, "Yeah, I guess you do. And I'm glad you and Jacob found each other, lord knows he's one to deserve a little happiness".

"Yeah.. Wait, what?", she tried making sense of Leah's words, "Deserve?".

Leah cringed, again, knowing Jacob probably wouldn't want her revealing his rather up-and-down past with certain individuals. She knew he'd tell her eventually, but if he hadn't already, she could end up giving him a shit-storm if Talae took things the wrong way.

She took another bite off chocolate, chewing slowly, trying to think of the right thing to deflate the question. Talae's eyes narrowed more and more, as if she could stare Leah into answering. Finally she spoke, "Let's just say, recent years haven't been kind on him, but things are definently looking up".

The only reason she wasn't preparing to interrogate Leah right that instance was the cloud of fatigue that fogged her mind. She lifted one eyebrow, giving the older girl one last stare, "Mkay".

Leah exhaled quietly, mentally wiping her forehead in relief.

Talae finished her candybar and dropped the bag off to the side, before falling back against her sweater-pillow with a sigh, "I'm glad we had this boot-camp thing, but man, I'm so happy it's over tomorrow".

Chucking the now empty wrapper to the other side, Leah also fell back, with an 'oomph' as her back hit the floor. She sighed as she laid her arms behind her head, "Yeah, I know what you mean. I love the guys to death and all, but they can be a bit... much".

"Mmh, hear hear", Talae mumbled as her eyes got heavier and she snuggled further into the sleepingbag.

There was a quite moment, the laughter outside had died down and the sound of tent-zippers and yawning boys shuffling about meddled with the wind in the trees and a lonely owl hooting not too far away.

"Hey Tee?", Leah whispered, turning sluggishly to her side to look at Talae, struggling to keep but one eye open.

"Mmh?".

"Take care of Jacob, will ya?".

"Couldn't dream of doing otherwise, sister".

"Ah! Victor! At last you return", called a slightly amused voice through the extravagant hall and chamber, meeting the blonde vampires ear before he actually saw the man.

"Yes, it is me Aro", Victor kneeled briefly as he came to stand before the three thrones, all of which were currently occupied.

"I hope you bring news, good ones preferably", Aro smiled, "Ah, I see you are one appendage shorter. Such a shame".

Victor snarled quietly and tucked the remaining half of his arm further behind his back, "Yes, I bring news, however, it is for you to decide wether you deem them good or bad".

He stepped forward and extended his remaining hand to Aro, who gently grasped it in his. Over a few minutes Victor mentally relayed his journey to him, a silence filling the throne-room as Caius and Markus grew both anxious and intrigued at his sides.

"Hm, most troubling", Aro said as he released Victor and sat back in his seat. He waved a hand in the blonde vampires direction, "you are dismissed". Victor stood stunned for a moment before gathering himself, bowing curtly and striding out of the chamber.

"Problems, Aro?", Markus spoke lazily, though he was eager to hear the details.

Aro glanced in his direction, "Nothing we can't overcome, don't worry Markus". He brought his hand up under his jaw and rested his elbow against the arm of the chair as he stared out into empty space before him, thinking.

"Aro?" Caius tried, leaning slightly out of his seat, looking questining into the side of Aro's face.

After a moment, he spoke again, "They have grown stronger. And their numbers are steadily increasing it seems. We will have to deviate from our original plans". He reviewed the scenes in his mind once more, taking in every piece and detail, "Very strong indeed".

Wham!

"Ow!", Talae jerked upright as a hand smacked against her cheek with some force.

She was preparing to give the attacker a piece of her mind, but as she glanced around the tent with sleep-crusted eyes, no one was there.

"The hell?", confusion set in. Maybe it was a dream...? she thought, starting to lay back down.

Thunk!

A rockhard knee connected with her hip.

"Ow! Goddammit, Leah!", she'd found the source of the unmotivated abuse. Like brother, like sister, she guessed. Leah mumbled something incoherent in her sleep and turned over, occasionally beating the side of the tent instead. Talae huffed and rubbed her sore hip.

She thought for a brief moment about falling back into the snuggly warmth of the sleeping-bag, but decided against it when she saw the beating the tent took from Leah, not wanting to be in that position. She glanced at her phone. 8 am. Damn. It was like sleeping in had been overruled by abrupt and absurdly early awakenings that weekend. Might as well start packing up and get ready for going home.

She shuffled quietly around the tent, putting things back in their cases, pockets or bags, careful not to go near Leah, in fear of being kicked again, or you know, waking the poor girl. She pulled on a black tanktop and her sweats, bypassing the socks and shoes again in favor of the cold, brisk debris of forest floor. She stepped outside of the tent when she was satisfied with her reorganising of the interior and took a deep breath of chilly morning air. It was still dark out and she could hear most of her brothers snoring loudly all around her. Her ear twitched as she caught sound of a twig snapping a few hundred yards away. Probably a deer, she thought, and heard the husky breath of a nearby bear, most likely scouring for food. A few birds were starting their day chirping away above her, and the wind blew lazily through the trees and into her hair.

If she hadn't been such a B-type person, she might have enjoyed the beauty of that particular morning, but alas. She rubbed her eyes until they were crust-free and yawned loudly and stretched her limbs.

After fetching her tootbrush and speedily brushing her teeth, getting rid of the awful taste on her tongue and tucking it back in a random pocket on her duffel bag, she started towards the clearing. There was a light freshly fallen layer of snow on the ground and she was happy again that the weekend was over. A small fire was lighting up the dark a bit away and she could see Seth's boyish face staring into the flames from the log he was sitting on.

"Hey Seth", she greeted as she reached the fire and plopped down beside him with a sigh.

"'Morning Tee", he smiled, "Poptart?".

Her eyes widened at the packet of Hot Fudge Sunday Poptarts he was holding out for her.

"What? Poptarts? How the hell did you keep these to yourself in a camp full of super-sensitive noses?", she gasped, taking a silver pocket out of the box. She stripped the foil off and took a slow bite of the filled pastry, "Oh god, that's good".

Seth chuckled and put the package by his feet, "I wrapped them in a used t-shirt sprayed with cologne".

"That's genius", she admitted, chewing slowly to preserve the taste, "these are my favorite, thank you Seth".

"Don't mention it", he smiled, and took another bite of the Poptart already in his hand.

A comfortable silence settled over them as they masticated their food, staring at the flames licking at the, suprisingly, dry firewood. She heard the rusling of a tent-flap behind her and a familiar yawn.

She was starting on her second Poptart as a pair of strong arms landed softly on her shoulders. They loosly encircled her neck and a warm breath fanned close to her ear, "G'morning sunshine".

A smile tucked the corners of her mouth up as a pair of lips kissed her temple, "Good morning to you too".

Jacob sat down beside her on the log and soon spotted the pastry in her hand. "Where did you get that?", he demanded, pointing to the frosted goodness as she brought it up to her mouth and took a big bite.

"It fell out of a tree". She looked away, trying to stop herself from smiling and revealing her lie. He obviously didn't believe her though; when she had suppressed the giggles and turned back to give him a serious stare he was still looking at her with one raised eyebrow.

"Oh really?", he asked, crossing his arms. She nodded, pressing her lips tightly together. She saw his eyes flicker over to Seth and the 'tart he was trying to hide behind his leg.

"Seth?", he playfully glared, "You have anything to add?".

The young wolf tried to unnoticably scoot away, "I-I don't know what you're talking about Jake". But as he shifted on the log, he accidently nudged the packet on the ground and it fell over, spilling it's contents in plane view.

"Ha-HA! I knew it, you sneaky little bastard!", before Seth could protest, Jacob snagged a pocket off the ground and ripped the packing, taking half of the pastry off in one bite, "Aw yeah".

"Tell me why I'm just sitting here quietly when my food's being stolen?" Seth asked, frowning as he looked questionably at Talae.

As she shrugged, finishing her last Poptart, Jake gulped down with an 'Aahh', "Because I'm the boss of you, that's why".

"I thought so", Seth shook his head sadly, crushing the now empty cardboard box under his foot, "good thing we're going home today".

"Whatever do you mean, this has been a most informing and educational weekend", Talae rolled her eyes and wiped the back of her hand over her mouth, getting rid of stray crumbs.

A corner of the sky that they could see was slowly getting lighter, indicating that the sun was indeed going to show up that day. The sounds of teens waking up increased and soon the clearing was buzzing with talking and the taking down of tents.

"I can still ride with you home, right?", Talae asked looking up at Jacob after they'd been sitting at the fire for a while and the conversation had come to a slow stop.

"Of course", he smiled, putting an arm around her shoulders and tucking her into his side, "you think I'd let you walk all the way home?".

"Well, I'm sure one of the others would've giving me a ride if that was the case", she shrugged before resting her head against his shoulder, enjoying the warmth he eminated on her skin. He kissed the top of her head and she couldn't help but smile.

"Well, maybe, but you are driving with me, so end of discussion", he stated, chucking fingernips of snow into the fire, watching it melt as she snuggled against his side.

"Waaaaait... are you two, like.. an item?", Seth leaned forward and eyed them suspiciously.

Talae found her cheeks reddening slightly and looked questinably up at Jacob. Were they? They'd agree to.. what had they agreed to exactly? She understood the imprint part, at least she thought she did, but were they dating or...?

Jacob meet her gaze with his own, and she felt her insides going gooey. She knew what she felt for him, that was for sure.

"Yeah, I... I guess we kinda are", he said with a smirk, not taking his eyes away from hers. She smiled and pressed her lips against his briefly, "I fairly sure she's my imprint".

That didn't exactly ease the confusion off of Seth's face, if fact, it got him even more confused, "Wait, what? You're 'fairly sure'? How can you not be sure, I mean, all the guys talk about it like it's a pretty sure thing, like... as sure as bears shit in the woods! How can you not be sure?".

"Well, thing is.. I think I kinda imprinted on him too", Talae said, throwing him a sheepish grin, shrugging.

He blinked a couple of times before his face took on another 'what the hell?'-grimace, "A... double imprint? Is that even possible?".

"How should I know, it just feels right", Jacob said, mimicing her shrugging, "now drop it Seth, or you'll be on patrol tonight".

The younger wolf shot him another skeptical look, but didn't say another word. Talae smiled apologetically at him, and tried not to fall asleep again as Jacob's warmth enveloped her and a gentle quietness settled.

Not the longest chapter, I know. Just thought I'd put whatever I had out here. R&R!