New chapter.

I got a message from Jacob saying that he was in Cle Elum. I figured that we were maybe another hour away which meant that he must have ran hell for leather to get there or drove like a manic if he took his car.

I wanted to be with him and not sitting in the car with my mom and dad. It was just too odd. The whole scenario was surreal. If none of this shit had ever happened in our lives then this is what we would have normally driven like. And maybe I would have had some brothers and sisters as well.

But the issue at the moment was not my family situation. The issue was my so-called friends. They have either been brain-washed by Utlapa or….maybe…their bodies have been taken over by him and another spirit…..

"Say….dad?" I grimaced as I said that. I saw mom look at me through the rear view mirror.

"Yeah Sonia?"

"Can I ask you a question about the spirit? You know…Utlapa."

"I think it will be better if we leave it when we are back in La Push. Where McBride can put up some defences."

"Put up defences? We can do that shit?"

"Yeah. The guys in the Pack will figure out how to do that….shit….pretty soon."

He didn't look at me when he talked to me. Well, the bare minimum of eye contact.

"Okay…cool. The guys need all the help they can get."

When we got to Cle Elum I knew Jacob was close. The pull. I had my nose practically pressed against the window scanning the street for him or his car. I eventually spotted his Rabbit and him standing next to it about 20 feet up the street.

"Stop mom. Stop here. I´ll get out here. Its Jacob."

Mom stopped and I got out and ran up to him. Literally flinging myself into his arms. Basking in his warmth and security.

We didn't say anything. We didn't need to. We just looked at each other. Letting everything go unsaid.

"You are coming back with me right?" Jacob asked, drawing me into him by my waist before kissing me. The fear that I was going to lose him built up in me again.

"Why are you freaking out?" Jacob pulled away and made me look at him fully.

"I just missed you Jacob." I said. Which was the truth.

"Are we stopping for long here?" He spotted our little group across the street outside a small diner.

"Coffee and sustenance. Half hour tops." I reassured him.

"So…that's your dad." Jacob and my dad were staring each other down it seemed. My dad broke eye contact first and went inside the diner after mom. "You look like him a lot."

"Mom always tells me that."

"So how is he?"

"Alright I guess. Not what I was expecting. You will love Grandpa though. Come meet him."

"Okay. But….." He stopped me. "All the time you were gone, the distance…..I couldn't shake the feeling that you were in trouble. I had to fight against the urge to come after you so hard. It was like….every mile you got farther away from me I could feel it. It was hell."

"I felt it too Jacob." We smiled at each other weakly. "I don't want to fuck your game up anymore by doing all this sneaking around shit. I want you strong. Because I´m not that strong. I need your help. And I am going to start being honest. I´ll tell you everything from now on. Because….because….what I was doing before….if I didn't think it was important, and keeping you safe…"

"I understand Sonia. I really do. I love you."

"I love you too."

We went into the diner after we kissed for a second time. Mom, dad, Grandpa and McBride were sitting together a booth. Jacob put his arm protectively around my shoulders as we walked up to them.

"Hi Jacob." Mom greeted him.

"Hi Ms. Mara."

"Sit down guys. I ordered coffee. Sonia, I ordered you a BLT."

"I´m not hungry mom. I told you."

"You need to eat."

"Fine."

We sat down with them. There was an awkward silence hanging in the air. McBride, Grandpa and dad were watching Jacob closely. And he them. Like they were sizing each other up.

"Sam is going to get most of the pack and the elders together for a meeting as soon as we get back to La Push." Jacob broke the silence.

"Good." McBride simply said, nursing his coffee. Not taking his x-ray stare off Jacob. I could feel him starting to get annoyed.

"But what we want to know is why you didn't tell us about whatever is happening sooner. Why leave it this long?"

"All be will revealed Jacob." Grandpa told him, a bit more kindly than McBride.

"And Sonia isn't in trouble?"

"Do you feel something telling you she is?" McBride asked. "You should know this."

"Don't fuck around with me." Jacob snarled, totally snapping. He went to stand up but I put my hand on his arm, stopping him. The other diners looked at us curiously. I knew that if Jacob exploded again that they would call the police.

"Cool it Jacob. Come on." I told him in my quiet voice.

"Just stop this bullshit now!" Grandpa hissed. "Stop pushing him." He said to McBride, who was watching Jacob impassively.

"And you." He pointed at Jacob with his fist still on the table. "Lesson number one. Don´t ever speak to your elders that way. No matter how much they piss you off. Number two. Cool your shit. There are bigger problems than your hurt feelings at the moment." Jacob just sat there, unusually cowed. Grandpa radiated authority and it was awesome. He was a leader. And we needed direction. We all did.

"Number three?" Dad ventured quietly, smirking. Grandpa looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Never try to get yourself put in jail on some misguided sense of martyrdom."

"Fuck." I whispered to mom. She was looking at dad though.

"Okay….so….we go back to La Push. Then what?" Jacob was still annoyed, but trying to control himself. I intertwined my fingers with his. Showing him that I was on his side here.

"We need to talk with your dad Billy and Sue Clearwater." McBride told him. "Then we talk to the Pack."

"We need to find Joshua as well." Grandpa looked at dad.

"I´ve tried dad." Dad shook his head. "He is too far gone."

The table was silent for a while before Jacob broke it.

"What does that mean?" He sounded a bit hesitant.

"It means that he surrendered himself to his wolf." Dad told him. "He has been living like that for years."

"For ten years, give or take." McBride added.

"Why? How?" Jacob questioned more.

"He couldn't handle it. Was easier for him." Dad, it seemed, didn't want to elaborate. "I need to speak to his son about it before I tell you more."

"Sam won´t want to know." Jacob said.

"Then Sam is a fool." Grandpa snapped. "Like I said before, all of this goes beyond hurt feelings. We need Joshua. He was the last to see him."

"Who is ´him´". It was my turn to ask.

Silence feel upon our cramped booth again. McBride looked out the window and spoke with difficulty.

"He is Taha Aki."