Thanks to everyone who has read this and reviewed. It just makes my day to get reviews. I'm loving this story. I have a clear vision for it and I want to get chapters out faster but I also want them to be great so I don't post unless I feel like the chapter is as good as it can be. So please be patient with me.

Also, I still don't own Twilight. In case any of you were wondering.

Chapter 5

Jake's POV:

"You're a werewolf."

"Yup."

And I was drunk.

That's the only excuse I have for telling Nessie the truth so easily. After Leah carried her into our house and put her in my freaking bed, I got a little antsy, like sniffing around the door, crawling the walls, having to be held back by my wolf brothers antsy. So Seth got me wasted, hoping it would calm me down. It was a gamble. Wolves don't get drunk easily, it takes a lot of liquor, and we weren't sure how I'd act around my new imprint while intoxicated but Seth was right. I was totally relaxed and so was my brain filter.

Nessie looked around at all of us. "You're all werewolves."

I shrugged. "Sorry."

"Shit-fuck!" she screamed so suddenly that Seth actually jumped.

"Easy there." I held up my hands. "We're not going to hurt you."

"This is just so ridiculous. I finally get out of Forks and away from all the weird supernatural bullshit that comes along with my life and after exactly one day at school, I get kidnapped by a band of werewolves!"

"Pack," Embry muttered.

She rounded on him with murderous eyes. "What?"

"We're a pack not a band," Embry explained.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to offend my kidnappers."

"We didn't kidnap you," Seth said, indignantly.

"Alright, then let me leave."

"Did you say Forks?" I asked suddenly. Everyone turned to look at me.

"Umm…." Nessie hedged.

"When you were ranting earlier, did you say that you were from Forks?" My heart was pounding and I could feel sweat beading on my neck. Please say no, please say no, please say no….

She eyed me skeptically. "What difference does it make?"

"Just answer the question, please."

She blew out a huge breath and ran a hand through her hair. "Yes, I'm from Forks but the school thinks I'm from Canada so you can't tell anyone."

"Forks, Washington?" I had to be sure.

She raised her eyebrows. "You've heard of it?"

"Oh my God," Leah said.

"It can't be," Embry said.

"Unbelievable," Seth said.

"You never answered my first question." I leaned down low so I could look her dead in the eye. She actually scooted back an inch. An Alpha's stare can be overwhelming if you're not used to it. "What are you?"

She swallowed and glanced around at the others nervously. "You said before that you wouldn't hurt me. That still true?"

"Yes."

She held her pinky out to me. "Promise?"

I smirked and hooked her pinky with mine. "You can trust me."

She tipped her head back to my pack. "Do they promise, too?"

I smiled, hoping to put her at ease. "Yes, but even if they didn't, I wouldn't let anyone hurt you."

She regarded me for a moment then smiled softly and nodded. "I'm half-human…half-vampire," she whispered.

I smiled tightly. "Could you explain that a little bit?"

"My mom is human…or was human when she had me and my dad is a vampire."

Leah inhaled sharply. Seth and Embry just looked dumbfounded.

Nessie looked a little uncomfortable. "I'm somewhat rare."

"Understatement of the year," Seth mumbled.

I tugged her hand to bring her attention back to me. "Your mom, she's not human anymore?"

"She's a vampire now." Her eyes went wide. "They're not bad vampires, like they don't feed on people. Just animals. I don't drink human blood either, I swear!"

"Relax, we're not going to hurt you or your parents." I squeezed her hand and sat back. I chugged down the rest of my beer. "Seth, do we have anything stronger than this left?"

He jumped up, grabbed the empty can and went to the kitchen. He was back a minute later and handing me a tumbler of scotch. "Thank you." I tossed it back, welcoming the burning sensation at the back of my throat.

"Jake, are you-"

I held up a hand to silence Leah. My gaze never strayed from Nessie, who was becoming more anxious by the second. "I going to take a wild guess and say that if you lied to the school about where you're from, you probably lied about your name too."

She bit her lip. "Maybe."

"You're name isn't Vanessa Collins."

"No…but my nickname is Nessie. It's just short for Renesmee."

Embry snorted. From my peripheral vision, I saw Leah elbow him in the gut.

"That's an interesting name." I was trying not to laugh myself.

She giggled. "That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said about it."

I took a deep breath. I had one final question but I was ninety nine point nine percent sure that I already knew the answer. "What's your last name?"

"Cullen."

Hearing is said out loud was harder than I'd expected. She might as well have shoved a knife into my chest.

No one moved. No one spoke. I felt the eyes of my pack on my face. Nessie was staring at me too. No telling what my expression was.

"I need a drink," Leah finally said.

"Bring enough for two," I called.

"Three," Embry said.

"Make it four," Seth yelled.

It was a true testament to the drama of the moment that Leah didn't object to her younger brother drinking. She came back with two bottles. She handed me the Jack and kept the Patron. She took a slug then handed it off to Embry.

"Did I miss something?" Nessie asked.

I drank straight from the bottle, smacking my lips as my tongue sizzled. I let my vision blur slightly as I looked at my imprint. Seeing her all fuzzy like that, she could have been Bella.

"Excuse me for a second." I got up and went into my room. Nessie's scent, warm and sweet like brown sugar, was everywhere. I inhaled deeply. Then I grabbed my pillow, shoved it in my face, and screamed until my lungs felt shredded.

Nessie was sniffing at a small measure of Patron when I went back into the living room. "I don't think I'm going to like this."

"Probably not, but you're going to need it," Leah said.

"Why's that?" Nessie asked.

Leah looked to me, letting the decision to tell Nessie about my history with her family fall on my shoulders. I shook my head just once and whispered, "Not right now."

Leah nodded and Embry and Seth looked relieved.

"Let's get you back to campus," I said.

"Seriously, you're not going to tell me why you went cray-cray over my last name?" She frowned at me, her lips pursing out as if in a kiss. I had to snap my knees into place to keep from jumping on her. I had a feeling that look was going to cause me a lot of trouble in the future.

"I'll tell you while we walk." I held my hand out to her and when she placed her small one into mine, a pulse shot between us. I pulled her up to her full height. She looked so perfect in front of me, taller than Bella was, just the right height to kiss me. She shivered as my fingers closed around hers.

"Good luck!" Embry said, his voice full of false cheerfulness. He tipped the bottle to his lips and chugged for a second.

"Let's go," I said, pulling her toward the door.

"One second." She downed the liquor and handed the cup to Leah. "Thanks." We walked to the door, still hand in hand. I wondered if she even noticed that I hadn't let go, if she minded. She paused and turned back to my pack. "Bye, I guess."

"Oh, we'll be seeing you again. I can guarantee that," Seth said.

Nessie snorted. "If you say so."

The night was misty, blurred at the edges with a faint breeze rustling the tree branches, creating a music only nature can manage. It reminded me of La Push and the steady beat of the ocean waves against the rock face. Of life that had been easy. I squeezed Nessie's hand on instinct and I she gasped.

"Why do I trust you?"

I weighed my answer carefully. It's impossible to ignore the pull of the imprint and she had obviously picked up on something. I couldn't, I wouldn't lie to her.

"I mean," she continued after a few awkward beats of silence, "I'm holding your hand. You're my mortal enemy and yet we're holding hands but I'm not scared. How is that possible?"

"There's a reason but I'm not sure you're ready to hear it."

She accepted that with a little headshake and a huff. "This night has been very strange."

"It's about to get stranger."

The wind had shifted, blowing the stench of rancid animal carcass to us. I could already smell it but Nessie had noticed yet. It gave me some idea of what her supernatural skills were compared to mine.

We took a few more steps and she scrunched up her nose. "Oh my god, I totally forgot."

"Me too." In all the half-vampire, werewolf talk, I'd forgotten how Nessie had ended up in my house in the first place.

We stepped into a clearing and saw the deer, it's neck stained black with dried blood. I dropped her hand and walked to it. "Stay there." I didn't know why she'd had such a negative reaction to the animal's blood but I certainly wasn't going to let her get near it again. I sank to my knees and dipped my fingers into the gaping wound, dispelling the flies that were already hovering. I sniffed at the blood coating my fingers but couldn't detect anything odd. "It smells fine to me."

"Well, you're not a vampire." Before I could argue, she was by my side, crouching low next to me. "It smells rotten, like it's been dead for a million years."

I held my arm out. "That's close enough."

Nessie scoffed. "Relax professor. I already survived this deer once."

"Jake."

"Huh?"

I turned toward her, so close our noses nearly grazed. "You can call me Jake."

"Jake." My name sounded better coming off her tongue. She held my eyes and smiled. "Even in the classroom?"

I leaned in closer, and she gasped. I gulped down her breath. Did the imprint have the same effect on her body and mind as it did on mine? Did she feel as off-balance and grounded at the same time as I did? I filed those questions away, vowing to ask her all of them one day. "Maybe just in private moments like this."

She grinned again, a new kind of confidence stealing over her. "You see a lot of private moments like this in our future?"

I smiled back, inching closer, intoxicated by the heat wafting off her skin and the humid night. The planes of her face were illuminated in a warm glow from the moon. She had freckles on her nose.

"You're warm."

She nodded, her eyes fluttering as my breath ghosted over her skin. "I have some human traits. My blood is hot, my skin can flush." Without breaking eye contact with me, she ran her fingers down the inside of my forearm into my hand. She drew small circles against my palm with her fingertips. "I get goose-bumps."

Time stilled as we gazed at each other. The air sparked between us, my hands started sweating. We were both panting. "Apparently, I do too."

"Whoa." She sat back in a flash, rocking on her heels. "So what the hell is wrong with this deer?"

I jumped on her train of thought, eager to change the subject. "I've never smelled anything like it before." I held my hand out to her.

She sniffed at my fingers and shook her head. "I don't recognize the scent."

We stood there for a few seconds, stumped. "Maybe I'm allergic to it."

"Can vampires be allergic to stuff?"

She scrunched up her forehead. "I have no idea."

"We'll figure this out but until we do," I met her eyes, "stick to blood bags." She nodded with a shy smile. I reached for her hand, which she gave to me willingly. "Let's get out of here."

I led her back to campus while we traded different ideas about what might have caused her dangerous reaction to the deer's blood. By the time we reached her dorm, we still didn't have any clue.

We lingered for a moment as we said goodnight, both of us anxious about breaking our contact. "Sleep well."

"You too," she whispered. She entered the code onto the keypad and slipped inside. My chest ached when she disappeared from my view.

I hesitated for only a second when I came across the deer again. Then I hauled it over my shoulder and carried it home.