Chapter 43 - Vow
Jacob stopped at the edge of the woods, the lighted windows of the house calling him home. Time felt fleeting somehow, the world full of unrest and sorrow. There was a time in his childhood when he'd wandered out alone after dark. The foolish notion of a six-year-old that the baby squirrel he'd spied earlier was lost without its mommy. When he'd reached the spot where it should have been, there was nothing. Not a single scrap of fur or a stray acorn to stuff its cheeks. His small brown eyes looked up into the tree just in time to see the mother hauling it by the scruff of its neck into a hollow knot. Mommy tucking her baby in, safe for the night.
The forest was dark and wide. To a boy who spent most of his time barefoot running through the woods, it was a wonderland of natural amusements. But tonight, the trees seemed to have a life of their own, thick solid trunks breathing with the wind and craggy branches like arms ready to snatch him to their breast.
Tears of frustration and fear when he couldn't find the winding path home welled up in his eyes. In the back of his mind he could hear his little friends laughing and his sisters teasing voices shouting 'Only babies cry!'
Desperately searching for the worn path in between the bracken and underbrush, he stumbled, scraping the skin off his knee. The tears that threatened to spill over in his eyes faded while he counted to three then blew out a long breath, just like Bella had taught him. Then, he stood up on wobbly legs, starting all over.
In the end it had been the winking lights of home which guided the way. Jacob followed his feet, slipping quietly through the screen door. His mother was fast asleep at the table, a plate of cookies and a glass of milk in front of his empty chair. Bella Swan, dressed in a pair of yellow pajamas scattered with pink posies, jumped up from her spot on the couch, a well loved stuffed bunny clutched in her arms.
"Jake! Where have you been? Daddy brought me out here with the sirens on cause your daddy said he couldn't find you!"
"I had to check on the baby squirrel and make sure he wasn't missin' his mommy. What if he was cold, Bells? I had to. I just had to!"
Jacob smiled to himself, turning over the memory in his mind. That night Billy should have tanned the hide off of him. Instead, his mom fed him milk and cookies, Bella pretended to be a nurse by bandaging his scraped knee and then the two of them fell asleep under a warm blanket watching The Fox and The Hound.
It seemed only fitting that she should be waiting for him again, somewhere behind those twinkling lights of home. So when he edged closer to the house expecting to hear the butterfly wings of her beating heart, he was surprised to hear the muted sound of softly falling tears coming from the workshop instead.
The door creaked as it opened, its rusty hinges protesting loudly. The thin light of a single lamp cast a glowing halo of shadow across the tumbling locks of Bella's hair where they lay across a wooden table, face buried against her arms, weeping softly.
Hearing his footsteps, she didn't bother to look up. Seeking some small piece of normalcy, she'd snuck inside, hoping the artfully carved lines of oak and cedar along with the musky scent of oiled leather would calm her frazzled nerves. In a moment of weakness, Bella collapsed, the overwhelming revelations of the past month finally catching up with her.
It felt as though the rug had been pulled right out from under her feet. The illusion of being safe was only that. Nothing more than a dream. More than that, she was angry. It was the total finality of the situation. As though she did not get any say so of her own life. That was the part that pissed her off. She'd been made a fool once, a stupid teenage girl caught up in a world in which she didn't belong. Now it was haunting her, no matter if it was her fault or theirs. The Cullens would never let her rest. There would never be peace until they were wiped from the earth.
Jacob stroked her back lovingly, a gentle caress of warmth to let her know he was there. A quiet reassurance that she was never alone. Gazing up at him with watery eyes and choking back the last sob of self pity, she laughed loudly, if not hysterically. "How in the hell am I going to explain Máire to Charlie?"
It was such an absurd thing to blurt out, completely irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. Just one more of the screwed up supernatural pieces they had to contend with.
Jacob hooked his thumbs into the belt loops of her jeans, pulling her close. "A six pack and a copy of Doppelganger," he replied solemnly, kissing her nose. "Just think what an awesome Christmas present classic '90's horror would make," pleased when she laughed through the tears. "I mean, can't you see all of us? Instead of cooking some huge Christmas dinner and watching Rudolph, we can order a bunch of pizza's and watch halloween flicks. It'll be awesome."
"You're ridiculous." Leaning up on tiptoe, Bella wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his mouth down to hers for a kiss.
"Yep, you bet. Tomorrow we'll go get a bunch of candy corn off the clearance rack instead of a tree. But, tonight..." Jacob scooped her into his arms, smiling mischievously, "you're playing Mrs. Claus and I'm the naughty kid who needs a spanking."
"Jake!" Bella's peals of laughter rang out into the night while Jacob held her tightly in his arms and raced out the door, crossing the snow-covered grass. A shiver ran down her spine when ducking his head, he whispered seductively in her ear. "Come on baby, let's get dirty and earn some lumps of coal."
ooo000ooo
Long after she'd fallen asleep, Jacob lay awake ruminating on the stories both Old Quil and Máire had shared that night. It was almost unnerving the way she described the visions she'd had of the future. Yet, the words she spoke had lit a fire of hope in his heart. 'Destined for her since birth...' It was confirmation of the one thing he had always been certain of. He and Bella belonged together.
The issue of imprinting always floated on the fringes of their relationship. Never fully present but taunting them from the shadows in the corner. Just when he thought that maybe they'd get away from it, the specter rose up and slapped them in the face. Embry and Máire had come as a shock to them all. The sudden look of absolute completion that fell across his friend's face had knocked Jacob off his feet.
Whether it was the near death that caused it or his soul connecting itself to another supernatural creature, the second it happened Embry was no longer a part of the pack. Jacob had felt it as surely as his right arm being cut off at the shoulder.
Embry Call now had a choice, just as he did once. To cut himself off completely at will. The alpha inside of him shouldn't like it, but somehow it seemed right. Much as it bothered him to admit it, Embry had never been fully one of them. Whoever the bastard was that never claimed him as a son, right along with a mother who turned her back on him the second things got tough, had seen to that. It was only fair that at some point in his life, Embry would be given the freedom to turn from the pain he'd felt since childhood. Separation was now his choice, his power, his healing.
Bella shifted in her sleep, the tumble of her curls fanning over the pillows. Barely visible, the spiderweb of puckered scars across her wrist seemed to glow faintly in the moonlight. Shuddering, Jacob closed his eyes, remembering the way she looked that day, so lost and alone, cold and bleeding on the bathroom floor. The sound of her cries echoed in his memory. The gut wrenching fear that gripped his heart, cutting his feet right out from under him. Even now, the burning stench of leech burned his nostrils. He'd never forget the smell venom left in her frail, broken body, a sadistic parting gift from Edward Cullen.
Just a dream, nothing more than a memory, he reminded himself, recalling the puff of purple smoke that rose in the air at the touch of a match.
Edward Cullen was gone and not coming back. If he did, there'd be hell to pay. This time, Jacob would destroy him.
No longer a little boy with a crush, he was a man, a warrior sworn to protect the tribe. Crafted by the spirits to destroy the cold ones who sought to feast on the blood of man, woman and child. If Bella was harmed, there would be no forgiveness, no pity of heart. Only retribution. Absolution by fire. Death by his own hand.
Jacob held her tighter, fingers pressing into the soft flesh of her hips at the thought.
They had an entire life spread before them, one that was only just beginning. In his mind's eye he could see the span of years across time. Days full of laughter, dark-haired children with their mother's eyes and father's smile. Campfires out in the woods and the sticky sweetness of marshmallows. Their children would have an entire tribe of doting aunts and uncles, grandfathers who taught them to fish and stories about a family rich with history. Stories about parents who'd loved and laughed together as babies. He and Bella would watch them grow strong and brave. Grandkids would beckon them from their rocking chairs on the porch. In old age they'd watch the sun sink over the Pacific horizon.
Quietly, he slipped from the bed, tiptoeing over to the dresser. Maybe this wasn't how he'd planned it, but Jacob's heart told him it was the right time.
Kneeling beside the bed, he brushed away the lock of hair falling across her face. "Bells, honey, wake up," he whispered, lightly kissing her lips. Slowly her lashes fluttered open, warm and sleepy. "Jake? What's wrong?" she asked, looking at the clock flashing three. "Do you have to leave?"
"No baby," he soothed. "Everything's alright."
Bella yawned widely, exhausted beyond belief. "Come back to bed and keep me warm." But Jacob didn't move. "I can't. Not yet."
"I don't understand," she said confused.
Jacob held her hand tightly, surprised at how calm he felt at this moment. Surely it was a sign. This was the time. "I haven't been able to sleep," he confessed. "I've been lying awake, thinking about what Máire said she saw in that vision all those years ago. It's the same thing I've always seen, what I've always known." Brushing the back of her hand with a tender kiss, his warm brown eyes gazed at her with a heart full of affection. "I love you, Bella Swan. I've loved you for as long as I can remember."
"I love you too," she whispered dreamily. "I've never stopped."
"Bells, I know we don't have normal lives, and that maybe things are a bit crazy right now, but one thing I am sure of is that I don't want to spend another second without you in my life. It doesn't matter if it's today, tomorrow, next week or ten years from now, you'll always be the only one I see. Whenever I close my eyes, it's only you. It's always been you."
For weeks he'd been coming up with and rejecting ideas of ways to ask her. Nothing seemed worthy enough. Maybe this wasn't a story they could exactly tell their grandkids. Both of them buck naked without a stitch of clothing in sight. Yet, now as the cool band of metal slipped easily over her finger, he knew this was right. "Marry me, honey. Let me love you for the rest of our lives."
Bella looked into his eyes, so earnest, his heart laid bare for all the world to see. So she responded with a smile, the best way she knew how. "I'm not busy tomorrow."
The corners of his mouth tugged upward, an excited grin breaking across his face. "Is that a yes?"
"With all my heart, that's a yes." Jacob kissed her, arms wrapped around her waist, hers about his neck, the cotton sheet twisting around them when he stood up taking her with him. "You make me so happy, Bells," he murmured against her lips. "How did we get so lucky?"
"Fate," she responded, pulling him back to the bed. "and maybe a little magic."
I'd like to take a minute to congratulate Sabrina Michaels on her nomination in the Energize WIP Awards. Nancy has reviewed my stories since I started writing. While she looks forward to new chapters, I look forward to her reviews! Thank you so much Nancy for being a wonderful friend and reviewer. Those reviews make me want to write more, to write better. They remind me that there are people who read every single word. You are a source of inspiration and a dear friend who reminds me to continue on this journey.