Guest: So happy that you liked the last chapter. Jake's reaction coming up.
Cara3: I hope this came soon enough. Life threw a lot at me in the last couple weeks, so writing time was really limited.
Congrats to reviewer kids2003: you were review #400 for this story on FF.
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Jake POV
Waking up this morning sucked just as much as yesterday had. I was still stuck in a strange new body, sleeping in a too-small bed, and with a lack of clothing that still fit me.
After contorting my way through a shower, where even cracking the dial as far over to 'hot' as possible only netted me a lukewarm dousing, I headed for the kitchen and breakfast. My dad was sitting at the table, but I ignored him. I was going to do my best to try and keep the promise I'd made to both Sam and myself yesterday and keep hold of my temper, and running out like I had yesterday morning couldn't always be my solution. But if my dad started talking like he had last night…
I'd gone home for dinner as ordered. But I hadn't expected things to go well, and the evening had lived up to—or rather down to—my expectations.
(flashback)
"What's been happening?" I asked. "Has Bella tried to call me?"
"I've been doing fine. Harry and Sue have looked after me."
"Bella?" I pressed.
"Yeah, she's called. You were out with the boys." Implication being that she'd called while I was wolfed out.
"How many times?"
"I didn't keep a tally-sheet, Jake. A number of times."
I started to ask if she'd stopped by, but remembered just in time that she didn't have a way to get down here right now.
"Embry?"
"He's called, too. Came over a few times, but I sent him home."
"Why?"
"It's better this way, Jake."
"Better for whom?"
"Things are different now. You're part of something big and important; Embry isn't and won't be."
"So what, I can't be friends with him anymore?" How could Dad say something like that? Just because Embry wasn't part of the pack, did that really mean we didn't have anything in common anymore? Embry and Quil and I had been friends practically from our diaper days. Was I really supposed to ignore him completely from now on?
I pushed for details and ended up stalking to my room. It only made it worse to hear what my dad had told Embry to make him leave. I didn't like the idea of keeping secrets, but I could do it. Dad didn't need to be so mean about it. And Bella…she had to be going crazy getting brushed off by my dad so much. If she could have, I knew she'd be down here trying to get to the bottom of everything. I felt terrible that she couldn't. I just knew that if we could be together again that everything would be alright.
(end flashback)
With all of that, it probably wasn't any wonder that I didn't really want to have anything to do with Dad right now. There wasn't anything I could do about Embry right now—Sam's order saw to that. Bella…well, I couldn't go see her either, but… Just then, I thought of a way that I could hopefully fix everything. I used my window as my exit again and quickly crossed the yard to my garage. If I could get Bella's truck fixed, then I'd have the perfect excuse to see her again. I'd imprint, and we'd be just the same as ever, only better.
I stepped into the garage, and caught Embry's scent; he'd been in here sometime between That Day and now. I gritted my teeth and whispered "Sorry". Surveying the tool-bench, I tried to figure out which I should use first. Picking several, I headed for Bella's truck. I didn't know my own strength anymore; my popping of the hood made the whole front end of the truck vibrate from the force of the lift. Trying to use my tools didn't go any better. My grip caused the handles to bend and the metal on the bolts to start cracking.
"I hate this," I spat. The kick of my foot against a rock—a kick that a week ago would have had me howling in pain—didn't cause so much as a twinge. I watched through narrowed eyes as the rock flew through the air like a missile before crashing into a tree. I needed a break. Normally, I'd turn to the cabinet in the garage for a soda, but a warm can of soda would just remind me of my friends, so I opted for a chilled one from the kitchen fridge and headed to get it. I stopped up short when I heard the phone ring. Bella.
But it was her dad instead. I held my breath and listened while my dad offered some small talk before Charlie got down to his reason for calling: Bella's truck.
"Sorry. Jake's not done with it yet."
"Not done with it? From what Embry said over at Harry's place this morning, it looks like Jake hasn't even touched it yet!" Charlie Swan sounded mad; he didn't get mad.
"He's trying, Charlie, but it's a little more complicated than he thought."
"So, what? Is Jake going to be able to fix it, or should I just call Dowling's and have them tow it to the shop here?"
"Jake hasn't given up on it, I promise. And Dowling's...Charlie, you know as well as I do that they charge an arm and a leg for their work, and a premium for replacement parts. Jake may be young, but he's good-and he's determined to work on this for Bella, so I know that he'll be persistent in tracking down any parts the old beast will need-and get them at a better price than Dowling's would offer you."
"So I've got your-and his-word that the truck will be fixed-and soon?"
"Jake will do everything he can as fast as he can. Give him a chance."
"Okayyyy," Charlie drew the word out. "But I'm going to start thinking of a Plan B. I don't want my girl getting stranded somewhere because her truck went bad again. Might need something better when she goes off to college, anyway."
"Probably not a bad idea. That old truck has lasted a really long time, but I guess nothing lasts forever."
"Guess not."
"I'll tell Jake we talked and get back to you."
"Some reason Jake can't just tell Bella directly? They're about to be seniors in high school-we shouldn't have to play the piece of string in their game of Telephone."
"He will if he can."
"And why can't he? I may be butting into my daughter's business here-but after all the stuff that's happened this year, I think I'm entitled to-so why has Jake been missing in action all this week? He been so busy staring at the guts of that truck, or looking for parts that he couldn't bother to stop by and see her or even return one of her messages?"
"It takes time, Charlie-"
"Time? How much time does it really take to figure out if it can be fixed at all, or if he knows how, or if the parts are even out there to be bought? And don't think I didn't notice how you avoided answering about Jake and Bella."
"He'll call her."
"When? Not like he's been burning up the phone lines this week like he used to do. But she isn't exactly sitting by the phone waiting for him to call anymore, either. She's got her friends to help her out if Jake can't or won't."
"Jake is still her friend, Charlie, and he always will be."
"Not acting much like it right now. What kind of friend ignores a person for a week?"
"He's just had stuff to deal with the last few days. Tribal business-"
"Don't give me that tribal business crap, Billy. We've known each other too long for that. Okay, maybe you were right in the end about the Cullen's not being the best sort of people. But how in the world can you sit there and tell me that after I just watched my daughter claw her way out of that hole she was in-and doing it with your son's help-that I should somehow be okay with Jake abandoning her just that Cullen boy did?"
"This is nothing like that!"
"You're right: Cullen at least moved out-of-state. Just forget it," Charlie kept talking without giving Billy the chance to say anything. "I don't really want to hear your excuse again; I'm not the one who should be hearing it, anyway. I've got to get back to work. Just have Jake call Bella about her truck soon, okay?"
Later, I wouldn't be able to say how I'd held it together to the end of that conversation. But listening to my dad feed one of his best friends the same bullcrap he'd offered me…I tore out of the yard at a dead run, pounding down the road until I could cut over and make for a break in the forest. I stopped long enough to flip off my shoes and strip off my shorts, hiding it all in a convenient hollow spot in a tree.
You okay? Paul asked; obviously, he was the wolf on duty at the moment.
Just peachy.
Yeah, I can tell.
Without meaning to, I ended up giving him a replay of what I'd overheard. For once, he didn't say anything; if he had, I probably would have tried to pound him for it.
Instead, all he said was, Let's run it off, okay?
I didn't say anything, just started weaving my way through the trees.
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Embry POV
It was beyond hot, the way Bella had so fiercely defended herself against that crap Quil had been spewing, and I had definitely noticed it.
"What was his deal?" Bella grimaced.
"No idea," I admitted. "Maybe he was on a trip, courtesy of some of his grandfather's herbs."
I was glad when Bella smiled. "Well, it's not going to ruin our day."
"Absolutely not," I grinned back at her. Keeping hold of Bella's hand, I started asking what she wanted to have for lunch. As usual, she said that anything I had on hand would be fine. It was great that she was fine with anything, but sometimes a guy really wanted a little bit of a hint. Lucky for me, Mom had just gone shopping, so I had plenty of options to pick from.
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Bella POV
Embry was clearly as comfortable in his kitchen as I was in mine. In short order, he pulled together a simple lunch of sandwiches, chips, leftover potato salad, and raw vegetables. Simple in terms of content if not quantity: he had several sandwiches to my one, and more of everything else, too.
We camped out in front of the TV and laughed ourselves silly at some of the people on a daytime house-hunting show.
"How shallow can you get?" I wondered. "Complaining because a house doesn't look like you want? You can always change the colors and flooring.
"Some people just aren't happy. Those places seem unbelievable compared to what's around here. And the prices…ridiculous."
I fully agreed, but it wasn't really relevant—not like either of us would be planning on becoming homeowners anytime soon. But there was something really nice in us being on the same wavelength on this, when the Cullens and I hadn't even been on the same planet.
After taking care of the dishes, Embry flopped down next to me. "So…what do you want to do?"
"Get to know each other better."
So that's what we did. Talking was so comfortable, which might have seemed strange given how reserved we both were—but it wasn't.
"Do you know much of the Makah language?" I wondered.
"Some. Mom wanted me to be proud of her—our—heritage even if we don't live there."
"Teach me how to say some things," I wasn't above wheedling.
"Alright."
Over the next few hours, Embry taught me how to say a number of things from his native language.
"?uqubisal lax?ukwy"; meant 'It's a good day today.'
"ba qi daxa nik" was 'How are you now?'
"?uy?oyksi cux dac?ol" meant 'See you later'.
"And this is my favorite: 'su?ukwanha?uksin.".
"Which means?" I asked.
"Come and eat," he laughed.
But there was one phrase he wouldn't translate for me: "ya bisapsi cux".
"Embry…"
"I'll tell you one day, I promise."
"I'll hold you to that." And I would, I promised myself. Strangely, though, it didn't really bother me that Embry wasn't sharing this detail. Normally, I hated knowing that something was being kept from me. This time, however…it just gave me something to look forward to, some new layer of Embry that I'd get to discover.
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Quil POV
I managed to avoid the rest of the pack until dinnertime by dint of plowing through the posted—though often ignored—running to-do list in the Ateara home. But I could only put off the inevitable reckoning for a few hours, since a mandatory pack meeting/dinner was set for Jared's house.
Wonder if I can plead forgetfulness and skip it? I wondered. A nice thought, but one he knew wouldn't work. Someone would only track him down—literally—if he tried it. I jerked when the phone rang, still not accustomed to how much more sensitive his ears were now.
"Ateara residence," I said after answering.
"This is Sam. Change of plans: pack meeting is at Jake's instead."
"Um. Okay. Why?"
"Kim's sick, so we're moving the meeting. Can you go by Jared's place and help move the food?"
"Sure."
When he got there, Paul was waiting. "C'mon, food'll get cold."
"Is Kim okay?" I glanced back over his shoulder to the tiny house.
"She will be—eventually. Jared…we'll see."
"Huh?"
Paul looked over at me; probably to make some smartass comment, but the look of honest confusion on my face deterred him. "You don't know? Well, I guess maybe no one has thought about it," he stopped, obviously thinking. "And I've gotten enough flak for opening my mouth lately, so I'm not saying anything more. You want to know, you go ask. But trust me, you don't want to ask."
"Oh. Okay." I wasn't going to pull a Jake, and ask questions I didn't really need to. If I really needed to know, I'd find out sooner or later—and later was just fine with me.
Over at the Black's house, it was like winter had arrived months early: ice cold. Jake sat as far away from his dad as he could and didn't look that way if he could help it, either. The meeting was mostly about how the patrol schedule would work once Paul, Jake, and Quil were back in school.
"Jared and I will split the day shifts and work our tribal jobs when we aren't running. The afternoon, evening, and overnight shifts will go to the three of you on a rotating basis. I expect you to get as much sleep as you can when you aren't patrolling. Attendance at school is still expected of all of you," Sam decreed.
"Yeah, can't have everyone thinking we're a gang or a cult of dropouts, now can we?" Jake asked sarcastically.
"No," Sam wasn't fazed by Jake's snideness.
"We won't let your futures be destroyed by a temporary threat," added Billy.
"Sure, sure. I mean, no more destroyed than they already are, right?"
In an obvious move to dispel the rising tension, Jared turned to me. "So what did you do today?"
Crap, just what I didn't want to talk about. "Stuff around the house for my mom," was my answer. "Took a walk, too."
"Good of you to help her out, especially now," judged Jared.
"I figured that."
"So where'd you go walking?"
"Beach."
"Any hot babes?" Paul smirked. "That's one of the best things about this, my man: the ladies can't stop watching us."
"Um, not really. It was raining a little, so they might have stayed home."
"True. Girls can be funny about that."
"Most of them," and I thought about the girl who hadn't stayed home. I guess I must have given off some kind of vibe, because everyone looked at me.
"Something happen at the beach?" Sam wanted to know.
"No." I wasn't lying. It hadn't been on the beach, and where I was most directly concerned nothing had happened.
"Why are you all twitchy now, then?" Paul wondered.
I gave up the fight to its inevitable conclusion. "I saw Bella leaving just as I got close to the beach." Okay, it was out there now.
"And…?" Jake was ramrod straight—so was everyone else.
"Nothing. Nothing happened. I didn't imprint."
Jake's sigh of relief would have made the Big Bad Wolf envious. And he wasn't the only one—everyone looked relieved.
"How did she look? Was she okay? What did she say? Did you talk to her?" The questions gushed out of Jake in a flood.
"She seemed alright." I really, really hoped I wouldn't have to answer the other questions he'd asked, but I should have known better.
"Did either of you say anything? What happened?"
Heavy sigh. It didn't look like I had any option now but to say it; I just wish I didn't feel like I was throwing my friends under the bus. "Bella's really pissed about you avoiding her like you have been. I tried telling her you'd explain when you could, but she didn't like that. She didn't buy the idea you liking her, either. She—I don't think she'll accept the imprint, at least not willingly. Said she didn't believe in soul mates anymore—not since Cullen left her and broke her heart," my last words were spoken in a whisper, but everyone heard them anyway.
"She compared me to that—that—"
I nodded miserably.
"Anything else?" Sam caught my eyes. It wasn't an Alpha command, but it might as well have been.
"Embry was there, too. He didn't really say much, but he's mad, too. They didn't stick around long."
"And that was it? Just a few glares?"
I didn't want to say anything, and the boulder in my throat made it feel like I couldn't. Part of me hated playing dumb, but if my cowardice could spare all of us what would come…
"Quil?"
"Emedtgblah."
"Try it again, and slower. We may have exceptional hearing, but no one could understand that gibberish."
Man up, Quil. "Embry's dating Bella," I repeated, more intelligibly.
"What?"
"You're kidding!"
"Are you sure?"
"They were holding hands, he called her his girlfriend, and he kissed her. And I mean kissed her."
"No!" Jake growled. His rise to his feet sent both table and chair skidding. "She's mine!"
"Jake," Sam said as my friend started moving. "Jacob. You need to calm down."
"She's mine," he repeated.
"But she doesn't know that, Jake. Neither of them does," Billy spoke quietly.
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Narrator POV
Jake didn't seem to hear him, though. He shook violently, in the manner that everyone knew presaged a phase. Sam and Paul pushed and shoved him to the door—just in time, as Jake's wild swing tore the screen door from its hinges when he went through. He threw himself forward, phasing on the fly as he reached the end of the wheelchair ramp.
For Jake's part, anything said or done after Quil had spoken the words "Embry's dating Bella" didn't register. The phrase kept repeating itself in him mind on an endless cycle, fueling his dash across the yard. With a flying leap, he bounded onto first the hood and then the roof of the truck, then leaped down without hesitation and disappeared into the trees. The rest of the pack had poured out of the house after him and phased in a similar shower of fabric remnants, putting on speed to try and catch up. Howls were already echoing through the forest.
Billy's head dropped into his hands. This was yet another blow to Jacob—and he wouldn't be alone this time. While the Quileute chief rejoiced that his friend's daughter now seemed fully recovered from her vampire exposure, he also mourned her inevitable heartbreak if she came to care deeply for Embry before she and Jacob could be reunited. Young Quil's opinion of her receptivity to the imprint was also worrying. And the boys…Billy could only hope that Sam and the others could head Jacob off before he attacked Embry in a blind rage. He had to wonder what the other teen was thinking, as it seemed he was deliberate stealing away his best friend's dream girl. And when the day came that Jacob returned the favor…
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Jacob!
Damn you, Sam! How could this happen?
She doesn't know. Her choices aren't influenced by the imprint pull.
And Embry's? Jacob was clearly bitter.
I don't know. Neither do you. And you can't ask him, Jake. You need to stay away from him. He can't know about us.
So, what? I give him free reign with my imprint? How the hell am I supposed to imprint on her if I'm never allowed to be near her?
Control, Jake. Remember from yesterday?
I know! But what about them?
I know you don't want them to be hurt, Jake—none of us do. We'll try…
But both men knew that such a wish might well be futile. If Bella Swan had been unwilling to give up her vampire when Billy had urged it, would she be any more likely to listen now?
We'll try to figure something out, Sam finally said. Why don't you go get some sleep?
Sleep? How the hell do you think I can sleep now? I'll run.
Fine. But remember what I said: stay away from both of them.
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Those left at the Black house sat or stood in a nearly frozen state. When muscles finally let them move again, there was plenty to look at: the screen door leaning drunkenly against the ramp railing, the battered truck, and the scattered fragments of Jake's and Sam's clothes. But it was the truck that got the most attention.
"How the hell is this going to get explained?"
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AN: Sorry for the delay in getting this one out. The recent Thanksgiving holiday and past/present craziness in life and work, and Jake giving me fits… Anyway, I hope the Jake bits came out alright. And…if anyone is curious about what, exactly, Embry didn't tell Bella: send me a review, and I'll send you the translation.