CHAPTER 33

*****BELLA POV*****

PAIN ROUSED ME FROM sleep, though my mind was slow to comprehend it. After a bit, I started making an effort to wake enough to get some pain medicine, when I became aware of the lack of a heated body next to me. Of course he wasn't there, we'd agreed he'd only stay until I was asleep.

Blinking my eyes opened, the early light of a dreary, gray dawn greeted me. Glancing toward the window, my heart fluttered in my chest at the sight of a large form silhouetted there. Jake was still here, slipping on his shoes. I made a little noise of sleepy happiness at the sight of him. His head swiveled toward me at the sound and, noticing that I was awake, he sat down next to me, the pain leaving again.

"Hi baby," he whispered as he smoothed a hand over my hair.

"You're still here," I mumbled, not fully awake.

"Here, take this." He handed me a glass of water and a pill then helped me sit up so I could take a drink. "I tried to leave several times during the night, but you were still in too much pain, I couldn't bring myself to do it."

I swallowed the pill and set the glass on my nightstand, then wrapped my arms around his waist and pressed my face into his chest. His hand skimmed gently down my back, the other lightly pressed against the back of my head.

I breathed him in deeply then slowly let out a contented humming sigh. "I love you, Jake. You're so good to me."

"Love you too, baby," he whispered, stroking the side of my face. "I should really get going though. I don't want to push it too close to when Charlie could wake up." Charlie's snoring droned on from the other room and I nodded in acknowledgement. "You still have over an hour before you need to get up, so that medicine will have time to start working by then."

"Okay," I murmured, the sound muffled against his shirt. Reluctantly I let go of him and laid back down.

Pulling the covers up over me, he pressed a lingering kiss to my forehead, and then left through the window.

.

*****JACOB POV*****

I STUCK MY SHOES in the tub of clothes near Bella's house, tied my shirt and shorts to my ankle and took off toward home. It was a nice surprise to find no one else was in wolf form. Since we had taken down the red head, we'd been able to back off on the patrols a lot and it was a nice break for everyone.

It was so quiet and peaceful… I really enjoyed running like this with just the sounds of the forest around me and no one jabbering in my head. Able to have private thoughts.

We had actually managed to have a mostly normal day with a great evening of shopping and dinner. It had been a lot of fun. I still couldn't believe we'd managed to convince Bella to go to prom so quickly. Angela had done a good job of wearing her down, but apparently, Bella couldn't resist me when I smiled. The thought made me smile internally.

The house was quiet when I got home, so I quietly headed to the bathroom to shower. When I came out of my room after getting dressed, my dad was sitting at the kitchen table, eating some breakfast. I grabbed a bowl and sat down to join him.

"Did you have a nice night?" he asked.

"Yep."

"You stayed a lot longer than you had planned." He had known I was going back over to help Bella get to sleep. He also knew it wasn't my intention to stay all night. "I assume Charlie didn't find you since you're not recovering from a gunshot wound."

I rolled my eyes at him. "No, he was still sawing logs when I left. I tried to leave a few times during the night, but she was still in too much pain, and I just couldn't leave her like that. Her body still has lots of healing to do and she needs the sleep more than I do."

"You still need some sleep, Jake."

"I slept plenty. I didn't just lay there awake all night."

He was quiet for a bit, seemingly reading an article in the newspaper, but I could tell he had something else he wanted to say. I looked absently at the sports section of the paper laying on the table and just kept eating, pouring my second then third bowl of cereal while I waited for him to get around to it. Maybe I should just start eating out of a bigger bowl.

He finally cleared his throat and spoke again. "You're still honoring your promise to Charlie, I assume."

There it was, the question he'd probably been wanting to ask from the start. My dad and I had a very open relationship, and I was thankful for it. He had never pushed me into waiting until marriage, but we'd talked about it. Between some stories he had told me and a few people I knew from school, sex could very easily complicate, or even ruin a relationship… even if you took pregnancy out of the equation. I didn't think that would happen for me and Bella, but I wasn't willing to risk it either. Not to mention all the other complications we had to deal with in our lives that normal 18-year-olds couldn't even fathom.

I set my spoon down and met his gaze. "Yes Dad, I have no intention of breaking that promise. I have so many reasons to keep that promise, and most of them have nothing to do with Charlie. I love her and I don't want that to become what our relationship is all about or risk it messing anything up… not to mention she's still healing. Plus, we talked about it in the very beginning, and decided together to wait, so we're in agreement."

"Alright, well that's good son. I know that is important to you, but I also know that in the moment sometimes it can be hard to remember those reasons."

I swallowed several mouthfuls of water before responding quietly. "I know, and I'm not saying it's always easy, especially being together so much and with the way her scent effects me." A shiver ran through me at the memory of the way she smelled, like strawberries and honey and summer rain… and something uniquely Bella that couldn't be described. "I'm thankful that I'm not dealing with 18-year-old hormones… that might make the situation impossible. I truly am committed to waiting and I really think she is too. Or she's at least committed to respecting that it's what I want."

He gave me a nod, a small smile creasing his cheeks. "I realize you're not really a kid anymore, Jake, but you're still my son and nothing will ever change that. I just want you to know that I'm proud of you. You've turned into a great young man, especially considering everything you've been through in your life." He paused and a strange look crossed his face. When he spoke again his tone was soft and almost tender. "Your mom would be very proud of the man you've become Jake. I'm sorry I haven't been able to bring myself to talk about her for all these years. I know you have been able to share with Bella about her, and I'm glad for that. I want to… I truly do. Maybe someday soon I can find the strength within me to do that again."

I placed my hand on his shoulder and squeezed it firmly. "I understand, Dad. It's okay."

He nodded then cleared his throat and started rolling his chair toward his room. "I have something I want to give you."

I put the cereal away and washed both of our dishes while I waited for him. I looked at the paper again and noticed the front page headline this time: Murders and Disappearances Still on the Rise

The paper was the Seattle Times, dated yesterday.

I had read a few lines of the body of the article when he came back out of his room and held a small, soft, brown leather pouch out to me. Giving him a curious look, I took it from him and dumped the contents out into my hand. My eyes went wide, and I forgot all about the newspaper as I took in the two rings in my hand—platinum, turquoise, and diamonds.

"Those were your mothers. I'm not saying you and Bella are to that point yet, but I know there's something special happening between the two of you. You're both older than the years you've actually been alive, and you've each lived through more trials than some people face in their entire lifetime.

"You have a different kind of magic in you, I think. Something that has never been seen before… or at the very least has been forgotten. It may call for you to go against what society says is normal. I wanted you to know that I'm aware of that and will support you if you need to do something that will seem ridiculous to people outside of the magic."

I had been standing there in stunned silence, staring at the rings while he talked. Without moving my eyes, I groped around until I found the chair next to me and sat down heavily, still shocked at what rested in my palm.

"I remember these on Mom's hand," I said quietly. I looked up at my father and there was silver lining his eyes. "I have thought about what the future might hold for me and Bella and how long we might have to wait to officially start our lives together. Under normal circumstances, waiting wouldn't be a big deal, but you're right, we're not operating under normal circumstances. As much as I'm trying to bring some normal into our lives, and will continue to do so, we'll never have completely normal lives, I think."

Something occurred to me then that gave me pause. "What about the girls? Are they going to be okay with you giving these to me?"

He nodded. "Yes, I've spoken with both of them, and they each immediately agreed that you should have them. A way to show your future wife that she is a part of our family. They were both excited to hear about your relationship with Bella, by the way. They both remembered her and said how they always liked her growing up… and each of them commented on how cute you two were together back then." His entire face crinkled with the smile that spread across it as he spoke.

I drew in a deep breath then let it out slowly. This is definitely not how I expected to start my day! "Thanks for this Dad… for being willing to support me, support us, in whatever fate may have in store for us." After a few moments of silence, I asked about the girls. We didn't hear from them all that often.

"They're both doing well. Solomon's surfing competition tour is in full swing and Rebecca said they may actually be coming to California for a competition this year, so they may be able to make a visit in June. Then Rachel has decided to come stay for the summer. She's got a job lined up already in Forks and she said she'd be back the last weekend in May."

"Wow, that'll be something… to have them both be here!" I glanced at the clock then and realized I needed to get going or I was going to be late picking up Bella. I quickly found a safe place to keep the rings in my room, gave my father a hug, then headed out the door.

My head was still reeling a little as I phased, hoping I would be alone again… I needed a little more time to process this. No such luck, but at least it was just Sam and Embry. They immediately saw the images of the rings that were still swimming around in my head and heard what my dad had said.

Whoa dude! That's pretty intense. Embry thought quietly.

Sam didn't say anything, but I could sense the wondering in his thoughts as he was thinking over the words my dad had said to me and he silently agreed.

For what it's worth, I'll support you in whatever way I can Jake, he finally replied.

Thanks, was all I said, but I knew he could feel my appreciation. You guys can't say anything to the girls! I have no idea when we might go down that road, but it's definitely not right now.

They both quickly promised to keep quiet.

I was running later than I had realized and Charlie was already gone when I got to the house and Bella opened the door as I walked up the porch steps. She must have been watching for me.

"I was starting to get worried." She wrapped her arms around my waist and squeezed tight.

"I'm sorry," I said, rubbing her arms and kissing the top of her head. "My dad had some things he needed to talk to me about." I grabbed her bag and we headed to the truck.

"Everything okay?" Concern lined her brow as she looked up at me.

"Oh yeah, totally fine! We just haven't had a lot of time to talk lately. You feeling better?" I asked as I steered the truck down the road.

"Yes, much. Thanks for staying so I could sleep. I think it made a big difference.

"You're welcome… it was my pleasure." I wiggled my eyebrows at her, and she laughed. "If you don't mind me taking your truck today, I can stop back by your house to get the stereo and start working on that. I might have Quil take a look at it. He's a little more familiar with electronic stuff than I am."

"Sure!" Excitement was evident in her voice. "I'm just happy you're willing to give it a try."

"I'm not promising anything, but there's a good chance we can get it working."

Once I had dropped Bella off and picked up the stereo, I headed home again. I called Quil to see if he could come by to take a look at the stereo with me and he said he'd be over in about 30 minutes. While I was on the phone with him, I noticed the paper again and when we'd hung up, I finished reading the article I'd started earlier, before heading out to the garage. It mentioned the possibility of a serial killer, but something about it didn't set well with me, I just couldn't put my finger on it.

Quil agreed with my assessment of the stereo. He spent the morning helping me work on it, with a trip to Forks to get some replacement wiring and a couple other small parts to make sure it was securely mounted.

We went over to Emily's for lunch with everyone to discuss a new patrol schedule and plan. Afterwards I asked Sam if he had heard about the things going on in Seattle.

"Yeah, it's been happening for a while, but you've had other things to focus on."

"Something is bugging me about it. You said that you were tracking the red head over the past couple of weeks, to see where she was going? Didn't you say it looked like she was going to the Seattle area?"

"Yeah, why? She's dead… what are you thinking Jake?"

"I don't know for sure. It's the combination of it all. Deaths and disappearances… and Victoria going there." I shook my head. "I can't quite put it together, but I have an uneasy feeling, even if Victoria is gone. If you don't mind, I'd like to take a couple of the guys and head over there to see if we can find anything. I know it's way out of our area, but I just need to check it out."

"That's a long way to go on a gut feeling Jake. But I trust your instincts, so I don't have a problem with it. Just make sure whoever goes with you knows why and is okay with it… and let me know who you're taking."

Embry had already left so I called him and asked him to meet me and Quil over at my garage. When we were all there, I filled them in on the situation.

"I have nothing to go off of except this feeling that I have, so it may turn out to be nothing"

"Your gut feelings very rarely turn out to be nothing," Embry said, "so I'm in."

"I'm in too," Quil agreed.

"Alright then. Meet me in the forest by the school in the morning and we can leave as soon as I drop Bella off."

The three of us spent the afternoon together in my garage and it felt so much like old times… it was really nice. We were able to finish getting the stereo put back in Bella's truck and I got work done on two cars that were brought over while we were there. It was actually a really nice stereo and it worked great. I was really glad I'd had Quil's help though… engines were more my thing.

Bella was sufficiently impressed at our handiwork. She spent the ride home playing with the buttons and setting the radio presets. We needed to replenish her music collection though, since she destroyed pretty much all of it after Edward left.

We spent a quiet evening with Charlie, watching the game that was on while Bella did her homework. I did my best not to think about the situation in Seattle, but I just couldn't get it out of my head all night.

When we were saying good night, I kissed her extra long and held her extra tight. If there was something going on and that red headed leech had anything to do with it, then Bella could still be in danger. I hoped I was wrong and it turned out to be nothing, but I wasn't counting on it.