A/N: Wow - almost forgot the Author's note! Thanks again to Bran and Sarita for whipping this into shape. I know it's a bit shorter than the others, but I think it ended at a good spot. Hopefully, I can keep doing updates quicker than I was.
Jake POV:
I watched Bella walk away and felt bad about how our time together had ended. She was a bit shy, but she knew her shit when it came to cars. While I could talk about cars for hours non-stop, I had never met a girl that was the same way. It sucked that Leah had to go all possessive of me in front of Bella. We're imprinted on each other for fuck's sake; surely she didn't think she had anything to worry about? I couldn't help but wish she had a bit of Bella's less aggressive nature.
The really crazy thing was, I could have sworn Bella was serious when she talked about vampires at her school. She didn't fool me trying to laugh it off; something was happening, and the Cullens were involved. I was going to need to speak to Sam and the others about this.
Running into the woods, I whipped my clothes off and quickly tied them to my leg with a piece of leather in preparation for the change. Becoming wolf was like second nature to me now and only took a small amount of concentration before my body started to shimmer and shake. In the next instant, I was a horse-sized, russet colored wolf. Immediately I was ready to run or strike—whichever was needed. It was always the same; no matter how calm I was at the time I phased, that first moment as wolf was akin to the height of an adrenaline rush.
The change was smooth and fast now that I knew to let the shift flow through my body instead of fighting it. I still remembered the first time, the feeling of being turned inside out and lit on fire. It seemed selfish to think it, but I was lucky that Sam had been the first of the pack to phase. It was horrible for him, not knowing what the fuck was going on.
Thankfully, Sam had gotten to me before I changed to let me know what was going to happen. He could tell my first phase was coming soon when suddenly I grew around five inches in a matter of weeks. He told me the whole shebang about spirit warriors and shape shifters and vampires. I thought he was on drugs at first, but I couldn't deny the fever or the growth spurt. Of course, when he turned into a gigantic fucking wolf right in front of me, I knew he was for real.
As soon as I phased, I was able to hear the thoughts of the pack members who were in wolf form. Looked like it was still just Seth, Sam and Leah. Sam was the alpha since he had been the first to shift. Supposedly, I could take over any time since my lineage was more directly connected to the previous generation of wolves. I didn't want any part of that, though. It was bad enough this whole werewolf business was taking over my life; I didn't need to be in charge on top of it. Plus, being the pack leader meant Sam was actually the real leader of the tribe. We just called my Dad the chief to those who weren't in the know. Really, my Dad and Sam led together since Sam was still young. There was no way I was up to leading the pack and the tribe.
Got that right, Jacob! I heard Sam say in my head. So annoying! It was the worst part of this whole wolf thing, having all of my thoughts up for grabs to the others. Privacy was a thing of the past.
Replaying the conversation with Bella in my head for the others, I ran out to where they waited for me. Sam agreed that we needed to meet and immediately started calling the rest of the pack by letting out the "get over here" howl he liked to use. Yeah, I just loved being a "pack" animal. Once everyone was in wolf form, Sam ordered us all to the usual spot in the woods.
Back when Sam had first phased, he'd run all over this place by himself for hours on end trying to get used to being wolf. On one of Sam's journeys, he'd come across an old cleared section of ground that had obviously been used for tribe gatherings in the past. It was a perfect circle cut out of the thick woods surrounding the spot. There was a fire pit in the middle, still without grass from all the fires lit in past meetings. It was far enough away from the rest of the reservation and any other civilization, that we could meet without being heard.
Now that the whole pack had phased, my head was filled with thoughts from all of them. That was cool, though; I concentrated on theirs to keep mine quiet. They hated when I did that since it created a weird echo. I didn't care; anything for a little privacy.
That's you, Jake! Always thinking of others.
Fuckers.
All right everyone, cool it, and phase to human so we can talk without all the inner monologues.
Yes! I straightened back up into human form so fast I swear lightning came out of my ass. I wasn't too happy with my imprint right now, and the last thing she or I needed was the whole pack knowing about it. When I was on patrol, I could keep my thoughts hidden by running songs through my mind. Or, if I was pissed at my patrol buddies, I did commercials. They liked it best when I did Seinfeld episodes. I'd watched them so many times I knew a bunch by heart. It was only a matter of time before we decided to see who could be Master of His Domain! Someday, I hoped to stay human long enough to get out to New York City...had to get rid of the blood suckers first.
"Okay," Sam started, "some of us just phased, so I'll bring you all up to date. Jake had a conversation with the new girl living in Forks: Bella. Her father is Chief Swan, who we all know is a friend of the tribe. Bella was here on a visit with her father and mentioned the vampires in her school to Jake. She said she was only joking, but Jake thinks there's a chance she knows. This makes her a danger to the Cullens which means we have to be on the lookout for a treaty violation. We're going to start including the Swan house in our patrols so we know the instant a leach starts to take an interest in her."
"Great, Sam," Leah said, "how are we going to manage that while keeping the reservation safe, too? We gotta go all the way into town to get to the Swan's."
"Can it, Leah," Sam replied. "We're going to have to run double shifts."
The look on Leah's face would have put the fear of God into most anyone. "Too bad you weren't this much of an asshole when we were dating, Sam, could have saved us both a whole bunch of grief. My shift is done; I'm going to bed. You're fucked in the head if you think I'm starting a double on no sleep."
I watched Leah stalk off towards her house. She didn't even look back at me. Some imprint...Paul, Sam and Quil's mates looked at them like they hung the moon. Mine acted like I was a piece of shit. Apparently, the whole imprint thing got fucked up when two wolves imprinted on each other instead of one imprinting on a full human. We felt the bond, we felt the attraction, we felt a need to be near each other, but...it just wasn't the same as what the rest of the guys got. I couldn't describe it...it's like we could feel that it was forced on us instead of being our choice. There was no real love. None of the others felt that way, even Quil, and he had imprinted on a toddler!
The rest of the guys kind of stood around looking at their dirty feet or the fucking trees, anything but me.
"Jake, do you and Leah need a little while later on? I can keep everyone human for around a half hour before you and Leah are up to run again."
"Yeah, Sam, that'd be great...I guess."
"That bad, Jake?"
"Yep, that bad..."
"All right, Jake. Why don't you go get some rest, too, then. I'll talk to you later after you and Leah...well, you know..."
"Sure, sure."
I jogged off towards home. The whole imprint thing just fucking sucked already. First, Sam and Leah were a couple. Then, Sam turns wolf. He can't tell Leah, so they are constantly fighting about why he's all of a sudden never around and spending crazy amounts of time with the tribal elders. Leah's cousin, Emily, comes for a visit and—BAM—Sam imprints on Emily. He didn't even know what the fuck imprinting was. One second he's in love with Leah and the next, it's as if Leah never existed and Emily is his whole world. The tribal elders find out and are all of a sudden like, "Oh yeah, sorry we didn't tell you, but werewolves find mates by something called imprinting, and it happens when you see the person who is meant to be your mate." Thanks for the warning! Asswipes. Of course the worst was when Emily was still trying to talk Sam into going back to Leah before they knew about imprinting. In an instant of anger, he lost control and turned wolf too close to Emily. It was awful, his claws had moved through her flesh before he had even fully phased. We've all seen the memory in his mind over and over. Now, she was scarred practically from head to toe, on top of losing her best friend, Leah. But that was imprinting. All the awfulness Sam and Emily had been through, yet when you looked at the two of them, it was like nothing bad had ever happened. They were so fucking happy.
Enter...Jake...new wolf and pissed off as hell about it, too. Was quite happy being human, thank you very much. I'm just going about my business, learning the ropes, planning to get the fuck away from La Push as soon as possible and leave all this werewolf and vampire shit behind, when...low and behold...Leah joins the pack. What a cluster fuck that was! First female wolf and all that. And her thoughts! She was just one pissed off spurned chick who now had claws of her own and a linked mind with her ex. You can't make this shit up! I'd seen her around plenty since I had first phased. No hint of an imprint then. But the first time I laid eyes on her after she phased..BAM...we both imprint on each other. It was like chains had wrapped around us both, binding us together, too tight for either of us to ever get free.
The worst...or best...was the sex. Or...mating? I still didn't know what the fuck to call it. Neither of us was willing to do it as humans. But we felt the need all the time. So, we did it as wolves. Fucked up! It was like we were trying to kill each other but screw at the same time. Not to mention the embarrassment of having to schedule it with Sam, so he could keep everyone else human, preventing them from getting a ringside seat in their heads for the whole thing. Of course, with all the vamps around, we couldn't go for very long without patrolling; as soon as we were done, some of the others always needed to phase, and since Leah and I couldn't always exactly wipe our minds clean of what had just occurred right away...well, that meant the rest of the pack just got the YouTube version anyway. That's what I had to look forward to tonight.
Shit, all this thinking was making me tired. I missed the good old days when the most complicated thing I had to worry about was finding parts for my project cars.
I trudged into the house and flopped onto the couch. Next thing I know, its four hours later, and Leah's not-so-gently kicking me awake. Good thing I'm a lot more fucking sturdy now that I'm a werewolf.
"What the fuck, Leah? Couldn't you be a bit gentler?"
"Don't be such a baby. Sam told me we've got another one of our "happy halves" tonight. We gonna do this thing or what? I wanna get this over with so I can stop walking around like I've got itching power in my pants."
That's Leah, such a lady. Oh, well, at least I never had to worry about my swearing pissing her off. I used to be so nice...now I was just bitter and mean. Just like Leah. Yeah, being a werewolf was great.
We ran out of the house together and down to one of the beaches that was inaccessible to tourists. At this time of night it was officially closed, allowing us to do our thing without unexpected company. Sam had let the elders know we needed a spot we could use without worrying about people coming across us.
This beach used to be one of my favorite places. I'd come in the evening and watch the sun set over the water while the waves turned silvery, breaking on the cliffs in the moonlight. Now that the only time I came here was to be with Leah, it wasn't the same. I felt like a fucking pansy thinking it, but my innocence had been lost here. It wasn't the sex; it was the loss of what my life would have been had I never turned wolf. Somehow, the mating here with Leah seemed to put the final nail in that particular coffin.
I gave myself a quick shake to get my head back in the game and focus on the here and now. We had a routine down; I would look out at the water while Leah stripped and phased. Then it was my turn. Yep, we still hadn't seen each other naked. Once we were phased, it was like...fur flying, jaws chomping, claws grabbing...just a rolling mass of two wolves turning over and around each other, getting out every single aggression they had.
I got my front legs wrapped around her and clamped my mouth down on one of her ears. She twisted and used her hind legs to kick me away. Then she swiped at my face with one of her front paws and left a long scratch along my face. That shit hurt! I let out a deep snarl and then grabbed one of her back legs in my teeth and started dragging her around the beach. She whipped around, biting down on one of my front legs, forcing me to let go of hers. But now she was upside down beneath me, and I was on top of her. I could smell her arousal and instinctively started to tongue between her hind legs. Her jaws let loose, and she started panting from the pleasure. We always had to get a certain amount of fighting out of the way before we could get down to the nitty gritty. I usually caved first. Sometimes I thought Leah liked the fighting more than the mating.
Once I knew she was ready, I grabbed her again in my front legs and flipped her over and then rammed myself into her as hard and deep as possible. There was no being gentle with us. We were wolves, not humans. It was rough, and neither of us wanted it any other way. I grabbed onto her neck with my teeth as I continued to jam myself into her over and over. I had no idea what sex as a human felt like, but I had to admit, this was fucking awesome! She was hot and wet inside; it was like putting myself into a liquid fire that didn't burn. I could feel pressure mounting and growing; I wasn't going to last much longer. We were both snarling and growling as our climaxes came closer and closer. It always hit us at exactly the same time. We had no idea if that was normal for wolves or it was the imprint or what, but right at the exact same fucking time, every time, it was like we had both been shocked on every nerve ending of our bodies. But the shock felt good—like heat and pressure relief and incredible sensation all in one. It was fucking intense. And with the whole mind meld thing? It was as if everything was doubled.
I pulled myself away from her and collapsed on the beach like an old ratty wolf pelt. Leah could never relax afterwards; she always phased back to human right away and ran into the water. I knew better than to sneak a peek. She'd told me once that she had to rinse off immediately because what we did made her feel dirty. It killed her how much she loved the sex…and how much she needed it. The loss of control, choice, anything, really, and yet enjoyment to an extreme greater than she'd ever felt before. Even though the whole imprint thing was forced on me every bit as much as it was on her, I still felt like she blamed me, and that sucked. Still, I was glad for the honesty. We had enough going against us; adding lies into the mix would have been too much.
I got up and loped over to my clothes before phasing back to human. A quick check of my phone confirmed we had a few minutes left before patrol. I decided to follow Leah's lead and take a quick dip in the water, too. At least it was Seth with us tonight. He was Leah's younger brother and a super cool kid. Too young for this shit, but then we all were. He definitely helped to calm us both down, especially on one of our mating nights. He would simply think random thoughts about this and that, and Leah and I could talk to him and ignore each other. It was good.
A/N: If you liked this chapter - or are into the wolves in general - be on the look out for the Phases of Life contest. Here's a link to the deets: .net/u/2455894/ I'll have an entry - see if you can pick it out!
Reviews are always appreciated and replied to - but I thank everyone who had made it this far ;-)
