Welcome all, to the final chapter of this little story. I'd like to make reference to the Quileute people, and thank them for there tradition and language and for allowing us all to— hopefully— not decimate or insult their culture with our fictional writing. My respects.
Thanks Aretee for the quick Beta.
Hope you all like what I've done. Thanks for all the lovely reviews.
You're all terrific.
Hugs, MarinaNamaste.
.
.
Chapter 9 Epilogue.
The sharp rocks dug into the back of his legs as he hung them over the cliff face. They freely swung, his heel occasionally kicking into the sandstone ledge below.
He was south of the reservation, just on the edge of his peoples' lands. The small rocky outcrop marked the edge of the treaty lines between the protectors and the cold ones. This was a place they all could freely visit. The forest and the beach on this little mile stretch of coast land was neutral ground. He'd made it so only last week.
"She's asleep," she said quietly as she came to sit next to him, close but not touching. His wolf still couldn't tolerate her cold, hard skin. It burnt like ice and her scent was far too strong and caustic.
Bella had learnt to sit downwind of Jacob over the past few weeks. They were both trying, but the animalistic and physical disposition of their different natures were harder to overcome than they'd originally thought.
To put it bluntly, they stunk.
.
He looked over to his old friend, her hair was damp and strands were beginning to become plastered to her white skin as the mist rained down over them both. "Did you tell her that I said I loved her?"
"Yes Jake, I told her, and I gave her the letter, and the gift," she smiled, shaking her head at the boy she once knew. Now he was a man and, as of tomorrow –weirdly so— about to be her son-in-law.
"Was it a good party?" He wanted Ness to have the best of everything, and all that she wanted; and she'd wanted all the women in her life, pale and tan, mortal and immortal, to be in attendance.
Bella shrugged, lifting her shoulder, "Yeah, you know how Alice is. Over the top. Renesmee is used to all the fanfare. I just think she was missing you too much to really get into it. But the other imprints all seemed to have a great time. I think Kim is going to have a headache tomorrow. Too much Champagne and not enough orange juice in the mimosas."
Jake chuckled, nodding. Jared's imprint was well known for her free spirit when she had a night out, especially now that they had two kids and the nights out were far and few between.
.
After their adventures in California, Jake had brought Nessie back to La Push the following day. It had been no surprise to Jacob that Ness was immediately accepted into the pack fold. His family and his friends had all welcomed her warmly.
She'd fallen in love, too, with the home that Jacob had built with his own two hands a few years earlier. At the time, he'd simply thought he was building a private home on the outskirts of the reservation's township. He hadn't thought of its proximity to the boundary lines; it was only a short trip to his imprint's family home. It was ideally located. She loved the design, the colors, the hominess of the Alpha's house. Without knowing it, he'd built their home; it was not only to his taste but to his future imprint's, too.
Years before he'd laid eyes on his imprint, years before his soul was irrevocably bonded to hers, his heart had known she was out there, and he'd built her a den. They'd both taken it as a sign from the gods of fate. That, and also just how blissfully happy they were at each other's side.
.
Bella and Jacob sat in silence for a few more minutes, neither having much nor knowing what to say.
"I…" Bella paused as she decided how best to start, her fine porcelain fingers twisting together, "Jake, I just… I just want you to know that I'm really happy for you. And, putting aside that Nessie is my daughter, I'm just happy for you, my oldest friend; that you've found someone to share your life with."
Jacob sat silent on the cliff of his home lands. His eyes flicked over to hers, and then back out to the stormy sea below them. He didn't much care what she thought or how she felt these days. He didn't need to know Bella's feelings on the matter. His happiness wasn't tied to hers in any way. He was happy without his old friend's closeness. He was happy now. Happier and more content than he'd ever been in his entire life, and it was all owing to the woman apparently sleeping in his bed, in their home a mile and half back towards the township. Ness made up for the years of hurt and unrest. She'd more than made up for it, she super seceded it. She took his life to new plains of existence. She was his true equal and his other half. She made life good… No. She made it great.
He didn't need Bella's apologies or her amity, but he'd let her say her piece, for Ness, and for the sake of peace.
Bella drew in a breath through her nose, her shoulders rising before she continued. "Everything that happened— back after Victoria and the new born fight— it's haunted me, Jake," she said, turning to him and balancing, unnaturally so, on the rocks' edge. "I don't know why I was so selfish or why I strung you along like that. I used you and I tossed you aside. And I just wanted to say… I'm sorry." Her tingly, bell voice cracked at the apology, unshed tears brimmed at her eyelids.
"And I don't deserve you to let me back in to your life, but I'm glad that you have, and… I don't know if you're just putting up with us—with me— because of Renesmee, or if it's because you really are the warmest, most beautiful soul I've ever met. But I'm grateful, Jake. I've grateful for the chance to redeem myself and I'm grateful that I can have you back in my life."
Jacob leaned back, his palms pressing into the rocks with his arms locked back behind him as he turned his head, regarding his old flame. "S'okay Bells," he whispered, his jaw still a little tight. This was his old friend… but then again… in wasn't. "I figured out why I was so obsessed, why I couldn't accept you'd really gone."
He closed his eyes for a moment, smiling and snuffling a little contented chuff before opening his eyes again. The deep, dark, cocoa color of his soul was happy and content. "It was Ness. It was always Ness. Even before she was born, even before I'd first phased. When we were in the shed and I'd look up and see you biting your lip and all I'd want to do was kiss it. It wasn't you I was in love with, it was her. It was the promise of her in you that had me chasing you. But it was her."
.
He watched her face as his honest and blunt words processed over her features. He didn't think she liked his appraisal of their history, but Jake did. It made sense to him. It made all the craziness make sense and the stars align, or some shit like that.
A little frown line appeared on her brow and her lips tighten at the notion that he'd never really had any true feelings for her. That it had only been the mysterious pull of the forthcoming imprint. That hurt her deeper than she thought she had a right to feel. Bella liked to think she'd had some part in the happiness he'd seemed to have around her. She knew she'd been the cause of his unhappiness though. No one denied that.
He'd been such a happy kid before he'd phased. Bella remembered the white, bright, wide smile that she'd known all those years ago. The amount of smiling she'd seen from him after he'd joined the pack and in the weeks leading up to her wedding before he'd vanished had been all but nil. If she was being honest, even though the hazy recall of her human eyes, every time they'd seen each other back then, there'd been some strain—and a lot less smiling.
He seemed to smile a lot more these days. It seemed to Bella that he'd not stopped smiling since he'd imprinted on her daughter. She made him happier than he'd been in long, long time.
He was smiling now, it reminded her of the Jake she used to know, the boy in his father's garage as they'd built those bikes. Warm sodas and a warm, sunny smiles. Even more. Even happier. And it had nothing to do with Bella Swan-Cullen.
That sunny smile reminded the woman of the friendship that they'd built. It was a far cry from the alpha wolf who was sitting there next to her, a mien of forced tolerance in his eye when he looked at her. It saddened Bella that it had to be like this between them.
"But it wasn't always about love and that kind of stuff, Jake. You really were my best friend. Are you telling me all that time was just the future imprint?" she asked her brows high as she turned leaning in closer. "I don't buy that. You were by best friend through the toughest time in my life. You brought me back to life, Jake. Wolf and imprint, or not. That was you; that was us. That was Jake and Bells."
"I suppose," he whispered, as he flung a cool, sharp rock out and over the cliffs. The picked up another pebble, rolling it between his fingers, letting the warm, round smoothness encourage him. It reminded him of the smoothness of Nessie's skin. "But I think, maybe, the friendship got muddled up with Nessie's pull. Maybe in another life we'd still have been best of friends. But…" he shifted, pulling his legs up from the rock edge and swiveling as he brought his feet under him, making to stand up, "that's not the life we're living though, is it?" he said, raising on to the balls of his feet as he stood, sliding the smooth pebble into his pant pocket.
"Well, why can't we be still?" she asked, coming up on to her knees, the denim of her jeans sloshing in the damp soil. "Forgive me Jake," she pleaded, "not for Renesmee's sake but for ours." She reached a hand up poking him lightly in the leg, "I miss my friend."
She pulled back, with lighting speed and unnatural grace she threw herself down, lying face up along the edge of the rock face, watching each individual droplet of light rain as it fell. A loud a sorrowful sigh escaped her lips, as she looked up over the top of her head at his figure standing over her, "I know I smell like bleach and I'm cold and your mortal enemy and all, but can't we be friends again? At least be something better than this polite roundabout we've been dancing on these past few weeks."
.
Jacob stood still, looming over the vampire who was laying so vulnerably at his feet. The urge to snap down and tear his mortal enemies head off its shoulder teetered in his mind. Then she reached into her pocket and held up a little woven bracelet, a tiny carved wolf figurine attached to the loop. All the emotions of friendship, anguish and unconditional love—minus the lust, came flooding back. "You kept that?" he asked, dropping softly to his knees to take the offered token from her hands.
She dropped it into his palm, "Of course, Jake. I was wearing it when she was born—when my heart stopped beating."
.
With a long whooshing out of breath, Jacob lay himself down on the wet soil, his shirt instantly soaked and cool as he shifted so that they were head to head. His legs stretched out towards the north, in opposite to Bella's. They weren't touching as they lay in the rainy dirt; it was a completely platonic arrangement. The wolf found it difficult to be trusting enough to be somewhat venerable next to a vampire, but the man understood that the cold one was a vegetarian and friendly one. All the wolf cared about was that she was still a Vamp.
They lay there, on the edge of the cliff, head to head, their temples side by side for several minutes. His fingers rolled over the angles of the wolf he'd lovingly carved all those years ago.
Jacob looked up to the clouds above. They were swirling and shifting in the heavy wind. The rain was still only falling in a fine but constant spray that his body heat caused to evaporate within seconds after it misted across his face. None the less, both of them were beginning to get soaked through.
He stretched his neck and looked up, meeting his old friend's eyes. "I miss my friend too," he said into the silence of the storm.
His arm reached up and his finger flicked hard against her nose. The hardness of her granite nose smarted his finger, but he didn't show it.
"So were friends again?" she asked, still lying in the mud, looking up at him through her lashes.
"Yeah Bells," he nodded his tone somewhat patronizing at her apparent desperation, "friends."
.
Her perfect smile broke though and her razor like teeth flashed in the dark and cloudy moonlight. She reached her hand up, brushing it along the ground they were lying on and silently asking to hold his.
"Friends don't hold hands Bells," he said, his hands still lightly draped over his stomach and chest as he fondled the miniature carving. His fingers moved down the leather band and smoothing over the cool, clear diamond on the opposite side.
"We used to," she reminded him.
"That was the promise of the imprint muddling it up. And before… everything."
"Oh. Right." Her hand crept back to her side.
.
They were silent for a little longer. The winds began to buffet over the cliff, hitting them with the promise of the storm that was approaching.
"It's not just the smell, you know," he said out of the blue, responding to her heartfelt address from earlier. "It's more, Bella. It's the fact that no matter who you are to Ness, or who you were to me, you chose them over your humanity."
Jacob stared up at the sky above him, his sharper eyesight allowing him to see the tiny droplets of rain as they began to fall. As he stared at the clouds above though, all he saw was the memory of the council meeting he'd had with the elders the day after he'd returned with Ness. The pleas from his pack brothers—the ones with children— begging him to consider their sons and the life they all wanted –and didn't want— for them. And then, centered in his mind's eye as the droplets of rain fell down from the sky, was the image of his cousin, Isaac as he'd phased only three days earlier. His Aunt Nora's pleas for him let her son be the last. He'd promised to the council, to his brothers and to his family that even though Isaac Yazzie was the first in almost seven years, he was also going to be the last for many, many more.
"You can't stay in Forks indefinitely, Bella. You can visit. But you can't live in the area forever. The council is worried what your presence is gunna keep the gene active and I think their right. I've accepted what I've become, and I've even embraced it now that I have Nessie. But I don't want this life for the kids here. They deserve the childhood my pack and I never had the opportunity to have."
"But you promised Edward we'd be welcomed," an uneasy sadness to her tone.
He cut her off, "I promised Edward that the pack would abide by any treaty I put in place. And that I won't stop you if you move back. I never said you'd be welcomed. And I never said forever."
.
"Only till my heart stops beating, hey Jake?"
"Something like that," a mix of bitterness and mirth in his tone.
The rain started to fall heavier, large crystal blobs falling onto his face and pooling in his closed eyes.
"I mean it Bells, I have to look after my pack, my tribe, my family; you can't stay here."
"I thought Renesmee was your family now."
"She is." His statement was flat and final.
"But—"
"No buts. She is. The pack and the tribe are just a very close second. And I'm sorry Bells, but you and your kind are bad news for my tribe and the kids with the gene."
Bella was quiet for a moment, the fingers of each hand crossed together as she pressed her joined fist against her mouth. "When do you want us gone by?"
"A few more months. Maybe you could come and go. We'll come visit you," he relented. He knew how much Ness would want to see her mother, and her father.
Bella laughed, "I somehow doubt you could stand the smell of—how do you say it? Bloodsucker stench—inside our collective home."
"We'll stay in a hotel," he answered dryly.
She turned onto her side, twisting her neck so to look into her friend's eyes in earnest. "Don't worry Jake, we'll figure something out."
He nodded a little, pressing his lips together in a straight line. The Alpha was trying hard to remain aloof and cool, but the man; the friend, and the boy he'd once been, he was happy to see the compromise from his old friend… his imprint's mother.
Ness.
.
Just the thought of her lifted his spirit, the bond between them pulsing in serenity.
"She's pregnant," he said, unable to hide the delight from his tone.
Bella rolled back onto her posterior. Then she paused, lying statue still along the cliff's edge as she processed the news. Jake wished he could see her face to gauge her reaction, not that her opinion mattered anymore, but Ness would want to know.
"I thought as much," she answered eventually, an impartiality in her voice. "She looks rounder already. You're not worried that she's going to cause more phasing too? She's half cold one too, you know." There was an inflection to her voice that Jacob didn't appreciate. As understanding and apparently condoning of his new relationship with her daughter Bella had been, every now and then he'd noticed a slightly different glint to her voice. He couldn't figure out if it was a jealous, passive aggressiveness from his old friend or a worried maternal protectiveness.
"I know her breeding Bella, and I'm confident that it won't cause new kids to phase," he answered firmly.
"But what if it does? Will the council make her leave?" her voice had risen an octave, the pitch was sharp and painful to his ears, Vamp octave. "That would kill her, Jake. They couldn't send her away from you could they? She's so happy here."
Worried maternal protectiveness.
"It won't. But if it does, like you said, we'll figure something out. We'll both leave. Nothing will separate me from her, Bella. Nothing." He looked up to the top of her head, a cheeky smirk forming on his lips. "If Edward couldn't do it, what chance do the old farts on the tribal council have?"
She chuckled with a sense of nostalgia, somethings never change. "And apparently the old farts have got nothing on our bloodsucker stench."
Jake scoffed, the ridiculously lame humor of his old friend apparently unchanged over her transformation. The transformation that killed her, after she had a baby. A baby, like his Ness was having.
.
"Ness says you died fighting for her?" he asked, licking his lips which were suddenly very dry.
Bella nodded quietly answering, "My human body was too weak for what she needed. She just needed too much, too quickly. I couldn't keep up."
Jacob felt himself filled with anxiety. He couldn't lose her. All at once his breath felt like sharp stabbing knives of air beginning to heave in and out of his chest. What if carrying his baby killed her?
"Jake don't get worked up," Bella said, hearing his heart and breathing accelerate. "Ness is immortal. She might have a heartbeat but it's stronger than any mere humans. Certainly much stronger than mine was."
He nodded to himself, "She's growing fast but, from what Nessie says, it's way slower than yours was," he added, using his sense of reasoning to try and calm himself.
.
"Carlisle learned a lot with my pregnancy. We'll know how to preempt certain issues. She'll have your strength… and your support," she added quietly." Jake looked at her curiously.
"Of course she's got my support, I love Ness unconditionally and any child we have is a representation of that love."
Bella smiled at her old friend, at his purity and his loyalty too. "She's lucky to have you Jake, to have your support, unconditionally."
Jake half turned in the dirt, lifting his head to look closer at her, "What are you saying Bells?"
She looked up at him, a regretful sadness in her eye, "Edward and I didn't always see eye to eye when we first found out I was pregnant. He wanted it out of me. I wanted her life."
Jacob found himself start to shake. He was incensed at the mere suggestion of his imprint not existing. Edward and he had come to an amicable truce over the past several weeks. But there was too much bad blood between them, there would never be a friendship between the would-be father and son. It was stories like this that set Jake's teeth on edge. It made him angry all over again. It made him forget for a moment what had turned his life the right way round and brought light and sunshine and love to his heart again.
Ness.
"Be calm, Jake," Bella soothed, instinctively knowing the rage building in her friend. "We didn't see eye to eye, but only at first. I fought for her, and eventually, when Edward could begin to read her mind and see how warm and caring she was, he fell in love with her too." The smile and floating look on Bella's face reminded Jake of his own these past few weeks. Ness did that to people, there was no resisting her perfection.
"He's been in love with her from that moment on. Now you won't find a better champion for her life than Edward… accept maybe for me," she smirked her shoulder lifting.
"And me." Jake added. He knew there was no one who loved Ness more than him. He'd win that title, hands down, any day of the week. His love was unparalleled.
"Yeah," she replied, a small snuff of incredulity at the tangled web her life had now become, "and you."
.
He sat, leaning to one side as he looked over Bella as she still lay on the rock face, "Did you really have to die to have her?" he asked, the real fear rising back to the surface.
She bit into her lip, a memory of that time flashing through her now much sharper and much sturdier mind. "I did," she said softly, "but I was human Jake, remember that. I didn't have enough blood, enough protein in my diet, that's what she needed. And we waited too long, too. My body simply wasn't robust enough, my human heart couldn't take it any longer." She said, tapping over the spot where her human heart once beat; she taped over the spot her heart beat its last beat to bring her child into this world. His Ness.
"But Renesmee is different," Bella continued, "she's strong, she can hunt for herself, her heart is so much more resilient, and anyway, this baby won't be as demanding. Don't forget this puppy will only be one quarter vampire," she smirked, raising an eye brow and lifting their potentially macabre conversation.
Jake plonked himself back down on to the muddy dirt as he laughed out loud, a full bellied laugh that echoed down the cliff face. "That's right, I don't know why I didn't think of that before," he chuckled. "My children are going to be one quarter vampire." He smirked at the absurdity of it all as his hands found his face and rubbed the water from his eyes.
"And half dog," Bella arched her eyebrow.
"Hey," he feigned insult, tugging on a lock of her hair that was wet and muddied and just happened to be lying by his hand, "the wolf is only a part of me. Only like… half."
"Then your kids will be like… a quarter wolf," she mocked back, taking the dirty lock and tucking it behind her ear.
"Damn right they will be." He nodded to himself, the notion of one day being able to teach his own sons to control their wolf was an appealing one. He knew there'd be no chance of his cubs avoiding the phase.
.
Bella sat up, her leather jacket and most of her hair caked with the silty mud she's been lying on. "I'm going to be a grandmother… to your kids."
Jacob sat up then too. Both of them laughing, a healthy release to the pent up strain they'd both been holding on to. "If you told that long haired kid who was trying to impress you with stupid scary stories all those years ago…." he snorted quietly, his head down as he drew Nessie's name in the dirt with his finger. "When they look back on the family tree, our kids', kids', kids are gunna be so freaked out."
"Especially if you're still there to explain it all and you still look the same as you do today," she reminded.
He folded his hands in his lap and leaned to the side, nudging Bella lightly, "we're one fucked up family, hey mom?"
"Don't you dare," she pointed a playfully threating finger at him.
"Why not? In just a few hours, you're gunna be my mother, by law at least." His smile was light and easy and lopsided. It hinted of the boy that was still there under all the bulk and muscle and responsibility.
Bella simply shook her head, a nasally chuckle escaping her closed lips.
.
"Speaking of a few hours' time," she said suddenly, sucking in a re-setting breath, "I'd better be getting home. I'm sure Alice has some kind of last minute thing I have to help with." Bella rose, gracefully unfolding as she stood on the edge of the cliff face.
She leaned down, brushing Jake's short hair back before pressing a cold yet motherly kiss to his forehead.
"See you at the wedding… son," she winked. Then she straightened with a snigger before stepping off the ledge and diving head first into the turbulent waters below. The creature who had just leaped off the rocks was strong and confident, cheeky even… and nothing more than a friend. It was a new Bella. One who he was going to have to get to know all over again. Jacob didn't mind the prospect, this new Bella had more sass, more gumption and gallons more grace.
Jake watched as she disappeared into the dark ocean, barely a splash to indicate the site of impact. He was reminded of a very different, very human girl who'd once jumped off the same cliff face only a few miles up the coast, years and years ago. That Bella had broken his heart that very day, and that dive had painted the beginning of the end.
Or so he'd thought.
It had taken him years, and what had seemed like a life time of hurt, but finally he'd found his light, his salvation. His Ness.
.
He felt his chest ache and pull a little as he thought of their enforced separation.
Twelve hours. They were meant to spend twelve measly hours apart, it had already been three, but he couldn't do it. He need her touch and her presence.
He ached without her.
Damn tradition, he needed to see her; hold her; feel her.
Stuffing the leather braided bracelet in his pocket, next to the pebble, he turned, setting into a trot towards his house.
He was gunna go see his mate.
.
.
On two feet, he jogged back up the trail head, cutting though the forest at speeds only non-humans could attain with such ease.
The house came into view and his eyes searched over the familiar home. His heart pulsed at the sense of calm being here gave him. His eyes traced over the walls. They were wooded, made from the cedars that dotted the surrounding forest. He looked up to the soft light coming from the main bedroom window and his chest pulsed again.
There was a balcony wrapping around two sides of the house, with small pots of flowers she's added recently to the sills. His bare feet strode up the two steps to the porch, the warmth of the smooth planed wood settled up his body, so too did the sound of her heartbeat as he listened thought the walls. He wiped his feet quickly on the welcome mat she bought for them last week, every home needed one she'd said. His placed his hand on the door handle, quietly turning it and letting himself in.
The house was dark, but he could see his way with ease. Silently he peeled his shirt and then his shorts off at the bottom of the stairs. He used the dry part of the cloth to wipe his arms and then his shins clean before, with a light foot, he climbed the steps naked, pausing in the hallway just outside their room. He rested his forehead lightly on the door frame as his eyes searched through the half ajar door of their bedroom.
She'd left the dresser lamp on. His eyes traveled over to the bed in the center of the room, it was large and sturdy and built with his own two hands. He looked over the covers to where she was bundled up under the thick feather downed bedspread. She always complained of being cold without him by her side. All he could see was her outline under the white and lace embroidered quilt and her mass of brown-red curls spilling across the pillow.
.
He closed his eyes, and for a moment, listened. He listened to the sound of her shifting in her sleep, the sound of her breathing, the steady flutter of her heart and the faint yet strong and distinct quiver of the heart growing inside her.
He stood from the door frame, his skin tacky against the oiled timber. Closing the few short feet into the room, he slipped into the warm bed and pressed himself next to his mate sleeping soundly on her side.
He shuffled closer, wrapping a strong arm over her waist, spooning behind her. His hand splayed over her stomach, marveling at the hard little ball already growing within her. His face buried into the curls spiraling over her shoulder.
He inhaled and his lungs filled with her intoxicating sweet sent. She was even sweeter now; a creamy, milky sent mixed with her natural honeyed one. Like the luscious sweetened syrup of condensed milk—the scent of his mate with child. His chest pulsed, their bond palpitating and warming.
Her shoulders rose, brushing the soft silk of her nightie against his chin. "Jake," she whispered, her voice thick with sleep but with a hint of smile. She breathed deeply as she pressed her back into him. "Your sister's going to be annoyed you've snuck in," she yawned.
"Don't care. I needed to be near you," he said as he scooped her hair off her shoulder. His lips gently kissed along the skin of her throat as he nuzzled the strap of her chemise back and his tongue poked out to lap at the her crescent shaped scar on her shoulder.
The touch of her skin on his lips, the pulse of harmony he felt with her in his arms; it all settled on him like a warm, feathered quilt, much like the one they were lying under now. It encompassed their love. He didn't know why he even tried to stand being away from her loving embrace—even for twelve hours.
.
"I spoke to her for you," he whispered, his hand making circles over their child.
"I can smell her. Thank you, sweetheart"
"We're friends again. Apparently."
She turned, shuffling so that she was in his arms. She bent her knees up and tucked herself up into a ball, like a chrysalis that was held dear in his cocooning arms. Her hands rubbed gently against his chest as she lent her head on his shoulder and his arms held her closer.
"I know you had your reservations, Jake but everything will be so much easier now. She needed time to process and plan what they're going to do. Besides, it was killing me seeing you two tip toe around one another."
"We weren't tip toeing," he defended.
She lifted her head, kissing the base of his throat. "Yes you were," she chuckled, "I could see it in her eyes and I could feel it beating out of you sweetie. You wanted to reconnect, you both just didn't know where to start."
.
He leaned back, looking down so that his eyes could meet Renesmee's. "You know that any relationship I have with your mother is strictly platonic, right? There is no re-connecting." The mere mention of any kind of physical relationship with Bella was a repulsive one. "There never was and there never will be."
She chuckled into the soft darkness. "I know, that's not what I meant. I meant friendship."
"Good. Because you have to believe me when I say there's nothing there, Ness. Nothing." He shifted further back, bringing both his palms to capture her face, making sure she could see the conviction in his eyes. "I know it was the imprint that brought us together, but I swear to the gods Nessie, even without the imprint I'd still be in love with you, and only you. It just made me stand up and take immediate notice."
She unwound from her quiescent ball. Her long legs slid down the length of his as her feet wrapped around his shins. Her hands splayed over his chest as the tips of her index fingers flicked his nipples back and forth. "And then the imprinted wolf made you take me home and ravish me over and over until we had our first pup growing," her tiny, firm ball of tummy pressed into his, for emphasis.
His hand slipped over the curve of her side, the heel of his hand slid back and forth along her stomach before his palm slipped behind, circling the soft roundness of her bottom. The satin of her nightie glided along her already perfect skin.
Perfection, he thought to himself.
.
"Yeah," he rumbled, his hard erection pressing into the soft curls behind her cotton panties. "But I mean it; you're prefect baby. You're smart and you're kind, and you're beautiful." His hips jerked into hers as he pulled her closer with a firm hand on her ass, "and hot; so, sooo fucking hot."
She sniggered as her hand reached between them and found his length. Her hand wrapped around it and gently, she pushed back on the tight skin, "you ain't too bad yourself, for a horn dog."
Her innocent yet flirty words brought him back to their original conversation. Bella.
"Mmm," Jake moaned as Ness stroked him. His hands found the edges of her panties as he spoke, "We can't ever have the kind of friendship that we used to have; your mom and me. Both those kids are long gone."
Her free hand came up and wrapped around the side of his jaw, pulling him down for a kiss. She nodded, lifting her side so he could get her panties over her hips and down her tights.
But you can find a new friendship, hopefully, she offered. Her fingers traced lines over his clavicles, following the dip and swell of his edges, the other hand still keeping a steady beat on his aroused flesh.
"I suppose."
He pushed her panties as low as he could reach before lifting his foot and using a toe to push them all the way down. He shifted, a jerking motion as he lifted himself on top of her. The hard muscles of his arms tensed as he held himself above. He dipped his head, his lips lowering to press hard against Nessie's.
With an open mouth, they kissed, molding and pressing the softness of lips against the others. His tongue entered her mouth, searching and playing with the lines and ridges of her palate. Her tongue flicked against his and their teeth clicked gently as her lips lifted in a happy and contented smile.
He traveled down her face, kissing the line of her jaw and down the soft scented skin of her throat, "It'll be good to not be so awkward when she visits."
A breathy sigh escaped her lips as his fingers curled over the silk of her nightie and slid it down, off her shoulder.
"And anything that makes you happy, makes me happy," he added as his tongue licked a hot swipe over the crescent mark on her shoulder.
Renesmee felt the cool and passionate chill run over her skin, the touch of the wolf's mark igniting her. His hands found her breast and pulled and squeezed at the hard bud that had arisen. He felt her pleasure as his own, their bond volleying back and forth between their chests.
Her hands curled around his back and pulled him down for more kisses. Her hands explored over his muscles, along the broad muscles of his back and the firm roundness of his buttocks. You don't need to do anything special to make me happy, she said, her lips too occupied to speak with. You make me happy Jake, just being you.
.
She pulled back from their kiss, her eyes soft and hooded, "I love you," she smiled, just the corner of her lips rising up before she pulled the bottom of her lip between her teeth and blinked slowly.
He's not seen anything quite so beautiful and sensual in his entire life. He took a deep, life affirming breath, nodding slightly and a little overcome at the stunning woman beneath him. "I love you too, Ness."
His hand left her breast and slid down, over the silk, to the satin of her skin. He felt his way up her body. He made a long, smooth, open handed caress up the length of the thigh and over the small rise of her tummy. He lifted and moved the cover of her nightie as he went. It bunched, crumpling and gathering just over the tips of her lovely breasts.
She sat, raising her arms so that he could lift it off completely. His eyes met hers, the heat and want smoldering as he took in the attractive curves of her body. She was beautiful.
"I love you so, so much," Jacob said, his voice was deep and catching in the back of his throat with emotion as he kneeled before her.
"Show me," she said, lying back on the pillows, her naked, creamy, luminescent skin glowing in the dim lamp light.
.
.
The sunlight was beaming through the open windows as they woke in the morning. The pre-wedding couple woke to trill, alarm like song of the Junco in the trees, the distant crash of waves sounding in the distance and the rough drumming of the grouse in the wild undergrowth in the forest outside. The coarse hammering never stopped though, it kept on vibrating, rumbling closer and closer until it transitioned to the deep roar of Paul Lahote's 1964 cherry red Impala coming up the drive.
Jake made a disgruntled moan, squeezing his mate around the middle as he realized who was in it. Rachel. The Chevrolet sports coupe was a special car that Rachel had agreed to let her mate keep, if he promised no to impregnate her with a fourth child. Three was her limit. That had been over a year ago. Paul had agreed, knowing full well that she loved the car and would let him keep it even if they did have a fourth.
Jacob and Ness both heard her groan as she hauled herself out of the low slung bucket seats, her six month's worth of heavy belly explanation for her effort.
Ness curled into Jacob's hard body, resting against him and savoring the last few seconds before they'd be, once again, ripped from each other's arms. They knew the reasons for their separation this time— they welcomed the reasons, but neither really felt the need to follow the ancient tradition of being apart before the big event. They could feel each other's soul from across the county anyway.
"She's going be very annoyed when she realizes you're here," Ness whispered, pressing her cheek back and against Jacob's face that had been leaning on hers. The sharp scratch of his stubble awaking the sleeping animal inside her. She concentrated and pushed the wild she-thing down.
"She's gunna be more shitty when she sees the muddy clothes I dumped at the bottom of the stairs," he chuckled.
She chuckled back with him, happy to be in the moment for ten more seconds. With eyes closed, Ness listened to the steady thud of her mate's heartbeat as it thumped against her back, and the slow and steady rush of his breath as it passed by his lips. She listened as, down stairs her pack sister opened the front door.
"Jacob!" she yelled out. The sound of his wet and soiled clothing from last night being picked up off the floor and thrown into the tub in the laundry out back. "You better not still be here!" she called, her voice echoing to the second floor.
.
They both giggled as they heard the clump up the wooden staircase. "You had to stay away for one measly night," she said, stopping by the door of their bedroom. "I can hear you laughing. It's no laughing matter. You want her to have bags under her eyes because you've kept her up all night bonking?"
"It's never bonking," he called out, his voice gravely from sleep, "and anyway," he sat on the side of the bed, reaching over to fetch a fresh pair of boxer shorts from his side of the drawer, "she's too perfect to ever get bags."
"Oh well fine then," Rachel pouted, pushing open the bedroom door. Her hand was on her hips and her pregnant stomach leading the way, "sorry, but the rest of us mere mortals look like shit if we don't get enough sleep."
Ness sat up then too, the heavy quilt pulled high on her naked chest. "Don't be cross with him Rachel, he could feel me. I needed him with me."
Rachel shook her head in disbelief. "He was horny and lonely, don't bullshit it Ness," she smiled back, a single brow raised. Jake's sister understood, she'd been newly imprinted once too. She still felt her lovers pull. And he still felt hers.
Rachel Lahote turned on her brother then, pointing at his semi-clothed form. "You have exactly five minutes to be gone from this house Jacob Black, or I'm calling the boys to come get you." The Indian princess pulled out her phone, setting the timer for five minutes, no more, no less and she turned to make her way back out.
At the door she pivoted, looking back at Renesmee over her shoulder, "He's right though, you are too perfect. You look beautiful already." With a wink and a smile she left, the door clicking shut with an echoing tick.
.
With a good humored sigh, Renesmee sat up further, searching through the bed sheets for last night's discarded panties. She stood, throwing them in the hamper and making her way to the master bathroom.
"What are you doing?" Jacob asked, striding over to her as she stood naked in the doorway just on the cool tiles.
"Taking a shower," she offered, her eyebrows coming together in question; it seemed obvious to her, "we only have five minutes."
"That's right," he said, his large tanned hands flowing down, over her sides before settling on the feminine swell of her hips. Then with a fast hitch, he lifted her up, wrapping her legs around him as he stepped further into the bathroom, "we have five whole minutes, that's like… a thousand seconds."
"It's three hundred seconds," she giggled as he carried her to the shower stall.
"See," he smiled, reaching one handed to the water mixer, the other holding her by her milky white, soft, round ass. "You are perfect."
.
.
He knew it was time.
He knew it was time because he could feel it. He could feel her. He could feel her nervousness, her excitement. He could feel her love.
They were gathered on the mossy rocked lined bank of the Sol Cuc River. In a clearing that had been made by logger's decades, possibly even centuries ago just as the river took a sharp pin curve around on itself. It was just within the true reservation boundary. Within the neutral ground he'd created with this very circumstance in mind.
Wolves and vampires all in in the one place at the one time, without trying to kill each other.
His wedding day.
.
Rachel had been true to her word, at five minutes and two seconds, she had been at the door of their private bathroom insisting he get the hell out so Ness could get ready.
With a smug smirk to his lips, he'd opened the bathroom door, the steam billowing out as he proceeded to zip his fly and saunter past, fully dressed. "See what you can do with that post-coital glow," he smirked, ducking the clip behind the ear his sibling tried to bestow.
With another, "I love you," shouted adoringly out to his imprint still in the bathroom, Jacob had opened the large bay window on the far side of the room and stood on the sill. "See you soon, wisatsu'upat, kw'opḳalawó∙li," he sung out as Ness ducked her head out the bathroom door, a deep maroon floor length silk robe crisscrossed over her body.
"Xw pá ti'iyahl qahla," she winked back.
The last thing he saw before he'd turned and jumped out the second story window was the grin of pure unadulterated happiness that was splitting across his imprints face.
The last thing he'd heard, was his sister's, "what the hell?" confused and slightly envious query of their private conversation. Then Nessie's, "Jake's been teaching me… I kind of have an eidetic memory." Her sweet laughter at Rachel's bemused expression drifting through the forest as he jogged towards his father's home to get ready himself.
.
That pretty voice and sweet laughter was still echoing around his brain, so too was the way that maroon silk fell in soft folds against her body. But mostly it was her face, that beautiful smile and those eyes that lit up her soul and melted his heart when she looked at him. That was all he'd been able to think about for the past few hours.
It had been three hours, to be exact. It was coming up very quickly to that three-hundredth minute.
Jacob was jostled out of his memories with a harsh unexpected slap on the back. "Come on dude," Quill sniggered. "I can practically smell your anxiety from across the field, and that's with all the vampire stink in the air."
The congregation was divided in to two distinct camps, the ones with a heartbeat and the ones with out...and Charlie Swan in the middle. The chief was a changed man these last few weeks. He'd gotten his daughter back and discovered a granddaughter. And as icing on the cake, the son he'd never had, had found his soul mate. The worry that he, his wife, and his beast friend had all carried for Jake had evaporated overnight. It had been a good few weeks for Charlie.
He was standing in the middle isle, Leah on one side of him, and Bella, who had just arrived signaling the bride's imminent arrival, on the other. All three in a short but friendly and amicable conversation as blondie vamp played gently on the keyboard they somehow hiked to the location, along with all the chairs and ribbons and flowers and stuff.
It was beautiful though. Ness was going to be so happy. Jake really didn't mind how the whole wedding thing all happened, so long as Ness was the one he was promising himself to. She'd admitted to wanting a fancy white wedding with the dress, the aisle, and the bouquet. She was getting it.
.
It all smelt a little like that, too sweet, vamp bleach to Jacob, but the more natural floral aroma of the flowers all over the area were balancing it for his and his pack's nose. And then it hit him. That sweet, creamy, milky condensed milk smell. Brought in on the breeze coming up-tide of the river.
His chest pulsed again, and his eyes were drawn up stream, to the goddess sitting in a dugout canoe, traveling with the waters flow, her father skillfully steering them to the shore.
Jacob's heart pounded in his chest as he took her in. The sound of the wood as it split up the smooth, river washed stones crunched and echoed over the forest as the gentle flow of the river brought them ashore. The water as it lapped against the bank kept time to his building eagerness and the ricocheting feeling of excitement that was coursing through him.
.
Across the clearing, Nessie looked up, searching out her mate, her lover, her best friend. Her face lit in striking smile, her eyes glassy with excitement as she found his gaze.
Jacob felt their bond pulse, it vibrated with their nervous energy, and the perfection of her and what they had; it encompassed him, completely.
She took her father's hand, gently standing and stepping over the edge of the boat onto the rocky riverbank. The melody of some arbitrary tune that neither had chosen floated in the air, but it didn't matter, she walked to the beat of his heart.
Ness continued between the gathering of their combined family and friends, the entire time her eyes locked and focused on Jacob and Jacob alone.
With each step she took, Jake cold feel the pull of their bond reeling her in. The rightness and contentment of them, filling him.
.
She was beautiful, her long hair was loose apart from a sparking clip that held her ringlets off her veil covered face. A lace overlay covered her shoulders, the curve of her tiny waist accentuated with the fold of the fabric. The dress was full and flowing, not too much, but just enough that she fulfilled every mental idea of what his bride might look like walking down the aisle to him.
His bride.
She was beautiful, in every conceivable way.
She held a delicate posy of white and green as she walked, her arm hooked around her father's and her eyes still trained on Jake.
With three final steps, Ness approached the front of the clearing. Her eyes left Jacob's, only for a moment as she smiled and nodded to her father as he lifted her veil and placed her hand in his. Warm and dry. Right.
Their skin prickled and zapped as their fingers touched. A live wire of electrifying love surging through the couple as they stood side by side. Their chests were full and pulsing. Alive with the destined bond they shared as it hummed with the love they possessed.
Ness turned to look up at Jacob's face, his eyes meeting hers. Deep and dark, and shining bright.
.
He squeezed her hand, guiding her a single step closer to the parson, his lips beamed that soul lifting, heavenly transforming smile as he mouthed "I love you," to her.
She wound her fingers between his, giving them a gentle squeeze in return. Her pretty smile transforming the fundamental beauty of his mate to a face of Delphic perfection. I love you too.
.
~ The End ~
For my loyal readers who wanted to know more of this Jake and Ness — and for those of you who've just joined us. Thanks for reading.