Jacob released Edward and stepped back. There was nothing he wanted more than to stay in the man's embrace for the rest of time, but he had to know what had happened. He'd become so used to the destruction of everything they touched, he found it difficult to believe that things could actually be okay. Edward's smile reassured him, but he still needed the details.

Edward seemed to know what he wanted without him asking.

"Things didn't go according to plan."

"There wasn't really a plan in the first place."

Edward nodded, no longer smiling. Jacob could see how hard it had been for the vampire. He felt guilty. It had been his fault, his request that had forced that pain onto the man he loved. But he waited for the rest. Edward didn't want his apology.

"You changed so slowly, we couldn't tell whether it had actually worked. Harley was distraught. He thought he'd gotten it wrong."

"How long was I unconscious for?"

"A little over a month."

"A month?" Jacob exclaimed. The memory of the cruel darkness rushed back to him and he flinched. He remembered the searing heat and unbearable cold. It had felt like forever, but he hadn't expected it to translate into more than a couple of days back in the real world.

Over a month.

"I'm so sorry. You all must have been so worried."

"We were." Edward chuckled softly. "It was terrifying."

"Then why are you smiling?"

"Because it's finally over." Jacob knew how worried Edward had been for him. He was suddenly reminded of how Edward had been when he had returned to Forks. The broken man intent on ending his own existence. What would have happened if Jacob hadn't come through this? Jacob shuddered at the thought. He set it aside. If everything was truly okay, he didn't have to worry about that.

"What happened when I was out of it? With everyone else?"

"Sam didn't come back. He took your suggestion and decided to have nothing to do with us. The pack was staying here. The moment you were first bitten-I think we should have known then that what we did would…suppress the wolf, because the moment my teeth broke your skin, you were no longer their alpha."

Jacob's eyebrows rose. He hadn't been thinking about that, but if he wasn't a wolf anymore, he clearly wouldn't be the alpha. That was okay with him. The boys were strong enough to figure things out without him.

"Who's the new alpha?"

"Well, that's the strange thing. There is no new alpha. I expected Sam to be the alpha, if only because of his bloodline. But I was in their heads when it happened, and…it was shocking. There was no new alpha, just some sort of shared power between them. From what I could tell that's never happened before."

Jacob just nodded, shocked. There had never been a pack without an alpha. It screwed with pack dynamics, if they had no one to lead them.

But his pack had always been different. And so far, they'd proven their differences to be improvements. Jacob trusted them to make the most of this new development. He knew that they would be fantastic.

Maybe it had been him all along. Maybe it had been his impact, his choices that had causes this divergence from their legends. If it was, Jacob couldn't be more proud of the group he had helped shape.

Jacob's mind fluttered back to the most important question.

"What happened to me? Am I…?"

"Dead? A vampire? I don't think so. You don't feel thirsty, do you?"

Jacob thought for a minute, trying to pinpoint a feeling of hunger, or thirst. There was nothing. Not just was he not tempted by the idea of blood, but he didn't feel any desire to eat food. He supposed they must have found some way to feed him over the month he'd been out of it, but surely he'd want some food now?

Apparently not.

"No. I feel like I don't need anything."

"It's definitely different. You're not a vampire, or a werewolf. But you're not human anymore. Is that okay?"

"I haven't been human for a long time, Edward. I wouldn't know how it felt even if I was one. I chose this. Whatever I am, I'll get used to it. Will I age?"

Edward looked at him, brow furrowed a little.

"I don't think so. I think you're still immortal. And you're still strong. You're like some mixture between all three things. Human, vampire and shape-shifter."

"That's what we thought would happen, right? Didn't Harley say I would have both ice and fire in my veins?"

"Is that how it feels."

"Yeah. But it's not as bad as we thought. It's not bad at all, actually."

Jacob smiled to himself at the memory of exactly how it felt.

"There's something else." Edward began cautiously. Jacob grew instantly on edge. He had never wanted to hear that tine in Edward's voice again. But he had to hear, so he gestured for Edward to continue.

"It didn't happen right away. About a month in, something happened." Edward seemed to be reluctant to put what it was into words. Was it something bad, or just something he didn't know how Jacob would react to?

"The imprint broke. We didn't recognise that it had happened exactly, until…one of the wolves…"

Jacob suddenly realised what Edward was getting at. One of the younger wolves had imprinted on Renemsee. Jacob struggled with a mixture of emotions. Confusion seemed to be the easiest to deal with, so he focused on that.

His imprint had been broken, and he could only assume that Renesmee's had been as well. It just seemed odd that she would be imprinted on a second time. By another wolf from the same pack.

"Who?"

"Kallem."

Jacob smiled, through emotions still spun tumultuously in his chest. It made sense. A lot more sense than Jacob and Renesmee would have made.

Jacob didn't think he felt jealousy. It wasn't that. Maybe he was just grieving the loss of his own imprint. It was something that would fade, indeed it did fade anytime he looked at the man who stood in front of him now. He had everything that he wanted, and he was glad that it had worked out for Renesmee as well.

Jacob quieted the emotions he'd felt upon first hearing the news. Happiness was the only thing that settled in their place.

Edward sighed in relief. Jacob knew that he'd been worried about how the news would affect Jacob. Perhaps Edward had been concerned that an echo of the imprint still existed in Jacob. But it was gone, they had successfully broken it.

"So the imprint is completely broken, and it worked out for everyone. To echo your brother's words 'that's pretty convenient'."

"Yes. It is. But I'm not about to look a gift horse in the mouth."

Jacob grinned back at Edward's lopsided smile. He wouldn't trade this unlikely set of circumstances for anything.

A thought suddenly popped into his head.

"If I'm not a wolf anymore, can you hear my thoughts?"

Edward shook his head. "I wasn't sure whether I would be able to or not, but I still can't. It's possible that you still have enough of the wolf left to evade me, or that it was never a wolf thing. Either way, your head is still safe."

Jacob sifted through the questions still buzzing around in his head. Most of them were not important, could wait until another time.

"How did your family take the news? I wasn't really paying attention, everything happened so fast."

Edward grimaced. "They took it okay. We're all a bit old fashioned, and it was a bit of an ask for them to just accept it straight away. But they love me, and they care for you. I think that once they realised how far you were willing to go for me, it made it real for them. They're okay with it. They're happy that we're happy."

"Where is everyone?"

Edward looked down at his feet. "They're not here."

"I realised that. But they must be somewhere. I thought I heard something, but that may have been a dream."

"It's just us here…" Edward trailed off. Before Jacob could say anything, Edward began again.

"I was so worried Jacob. I didn't that that you would make it. I thought you were dead."

Edward looked so vulnerable, so small that Jacob went to him, pulling him close. They stood together, Jacob's long arms wrapped tightly around Edward's frame.

"I'm here. I'm okay. We're okay." Jacob reassured softly. He felt Edward's clenched shoulders soften in his arms. Edward reached around to hold Jacob to him.

Jacob relaxed. Everything was alright. Finally.

There was nothing left to worry about. No more dangers, or threats, or unwanted plot twists.

There had been a time when they had tried to destroy themselves. A time when they'd come close to destroying each other. But that time was over now, far behind them.

They'd moved on.