Disclaimer: This story is rated T+/ M (Mature) Content may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. Will most likely contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content, and strong language.

Trigger warning: Implied SA

Jacob's POV

I couldn't head back to class like this. Not when I was trembling this hard.

Thanks to this morning's events, I've been trying to keep my form together all day. I couldn't stand hurting Layla. My imprint and I hurt her.

This is a minor fraction of what Sam felt when he marred Emily. Just when I had calmed down enough to have a conversation with her I find out that I could have met her at the car show in Tacoma. The same day I left to wander the wilderness to forget about Bella. The day I decided living life as a wolf would have been better than being human. Why? Why didn't I just stay there longer with everyone? I had to hurt Billie too by abandoning him there.

I ran laps around La Push to release my frustration.

"Jacob!" "Jake!" Quil and Seth called me with another mind I wasn't familiar with. I skidded to a stop atop some cliffs.

"What are you doing out here?" I asked them. "I was going to ask you the same thing," Quil stated.

"I was just helping Joseph. He's a newer member." Seth introduced a small lean black wolf with a white spot on his chest and a stripe down his snout.

I nodded to him in acknowledgment but said nothing.

"We were headed back to class when we heard you." Seth continued. "I'm fine. Just go." The intrusiveness of the one-pack mind was something I had to get used to again.

"Easy Jake. What happened? Are you having trouble staying human?" Quil asked with concern.

"We'll go. Come on Jo." Seth urged him. When they reached the woods behind the school, I spoke to Quil.

"Sort of. Not really. It was the thing with Layla this morning. Hurting her. Then this afternoon when we talked…" I ran through the last part of our conversation in my mind.

"Dang." Quil scuffed his paw in the dirt then sat back on his haunches next to me.

"If I had just stayed that day, I could have found her Quil." All those months of wandering and wondering proved to be useless to me now. I put myself through hell for what?

"There's no changing the past Jacob. What happened, happened. Who knows? Maybe it was supposed to be like this. Timing wise I mean. You weren't in the best head space Jake…who's to say that you would have been good for her then." Quil tried to reason with me.

"Of course, I wasn't! But I could have been mostly better in a matter of seconds! Seconds! Just like that when I first looked upon Layla. Nothing else mattered! All that pain snipped away! Poof. Gone. How could I be so stupid?" I ranted. Quil waited for me to be done.

"You have her now. No sense in beating yourself up anymore. It won't help." He turned to head back. He didn't want too many of us missing to alert the staff.

"We're supposed to be good hall monitors gone bad, right?" He joked with me before taking off.

He might be right. But this was a hard pill to swallow. It's been a challenge to stay in my human form for the past couple of weeks, and even harder getting back to living by human standards. Speaking with Layla this afternoon had been the longest conversation I've had in months.

It didn't take me long to return. I could see Quil shifting back. My prolonged absence away had also made me faster, and stronger, and my senses were keener. Shifting was still obtainable. But keeping form while wearing clothes and walking around in clunky shoes was the hard part. It felt like I had diver flippers on, or duck feet. We snuck into a door Seth had left propped open for us.

The last class of the day was torture. I wanted to bound out the door and find Layla. I knew I should probably stay away from her for her safety, but she was also my security and I just wanted to make things right.

I waited outside beside Embry's truck arms trembling. "Deep breaths Jake." His mother hen badgering was pissing me off.

"Calm down." Jared scowled at me. "Or do you want to give us away?" Collins lectured me.

Then I saw her ride off with her grandfather towards town.

I paced the woods listening to the others practice perimeter runs with Sam. The new numbers almost doubled our pack.

They were past the point of figuring out how to shift back and forth. It was a matter of taming the wolf inside and anticipating their emotional outbursts.

Joseph, although the newest member, was ahead of the other newbies. Like Quil, he thought this was the coolest thing ever.

The sparrow twins had more trouble with the transition and accepting what they were. Then there was another brownish wolf I didn't know, but he seemed to climb the cliffs better than anyone else.

When I grew tired of watching them I circled back to Moon Ranch. The sun had far set so I would keep watch over Layla's place as she slept.

The clouds parted for the first time in days releasing the half moon above. Its light reflected down upon the dewy grass. In the middle of the long yard where I approached Layla sat on the wet grass looking up at the sky. I stopped silently watching her.

What was she doing out here? She should be asleep resting after today.

Layla sniffed wiping her cheek with the back of her palm. Was she crying? I took an unconscious step forward. A twig snapped under my paw. Layla's head jerked in my direction. I went to leave. I've done enough damage. I wasn't looking to do more.

"It's okay." She sniffed again. Was she talking to herself, or me? Layla reached out toward me and let her hand drop.

I cautiously stepped forward again keeping a good distance between us.

She shifted her weight to kneel facing me. "I interrupted you last time. I'm sorry. The woods are your home I should have known better." She apologized to me.

I nodded my head once in acknowledgment. Although she had nothing to apologize for.

"Good." She leaned away and looked back up at the clouds now covering the sky.

"Stupid clouds." Layla got up brushing off her jeans.

"I guess I should head in. Unless there's anything you'd like to say." She looked over at me. "Just kidding, Wolf bear."

"Get inside girl. There are more snakes out here than I would like." Syd stood in the entryway waiting for his granddaughter to come in.

"One scared the horse silly." Once she was safely inside I approached the spot where she once sat.

The grass moved in a disturbed manner toward me. A long copper head tracking her warmth traced the flattened spot.

Without much thought, I crushed its head with one paw and tossed its body into the bushes. Tonight I would make it a point to eliminate anymore I could find.

Jacob's Pov

"You have today and tomorrow to invite her to the bonfire." Jared reminded me. "It hasn't been easy for him." Seth took up for me.

"I know," I responded automatically. I was hypervigilant in my awareness of Layla passing us in the hall.

She looked so beautiful today, despite her tired eyes. Her long wavy chestnut brown hair was down for once swaying beneath her elbows as she walked.

I didn't know how to approach her now. Yesterday I left Layla by slamming a door in her face.

"We could help." Quil offered his assistance along with Embry.

I didn't want their help. Especially if it looked like the encouragement in front of the Call store.

"Or we could invite her." Kim nudged April, Collins' imprint. April shrugged apathetically then agreed out of obligation.

"I'll think about it." I glanced back over at Layla only to find Elu leaning against the lockers chatting with her. He leaned closer to her to say something.

Then she laughed. Actually laughed at whatever stupid thing he said. It made my blood boil. How he's been talking about her this week in the locker room I could only imagine what his intentions were.

"Cool it, Jake." Quil countered grasping my elbow. I didn't realize I was moving until he stopped me. "Just wait, okay?"

Just wait? No, I needed to figure something out before some guy tried to step in.

I was unsuccessful most of the day in trying to engage with Layla.

With countless first pop quizzes and busy work before the weekend I had to focus on getting done what I had been pushing off. My mechanic apprenticeship in Port Angeles also began this evening. That was a previous nonnegotiable my dad provided when I decided to come back.

I could hear Seth and Embry culminating some sort of plan behind me which only annoyed me more. It seemed like Seth would speak with her first in English if the girls didn't grab a hold of Layla at lunch. I doubted she would want to sit with us anyways. She was probably too intimidated by us.

I skipped lunch to hunt in the Olympic Park. Catching a few elk curbed my appetite and attitude before heading back to class.

This made me a few minutes late to Biology. A place I thought I could talk to Layla one on one. Or so I hoped.

Elu was sitting next to her in my spot as Chayton deviated to flirt with his new crush of the week at the front of the class.

Embry shrugged pulling out the seat next to him. He proceeded to interrupt Elu and Layla in front of him as much as possible.

I strode in to take the last available seat.

"Nice of you to join us, Mr. Black."Mr. Moore sounded. Layla's dark brown eyes lifted to mine and followed me to the seat behind her.

"Layla, did you hear me?" Elu caught a piece of her hair between his fingers. A low growl threatened to reach my throat. Embry hit my side under the table hearing it.

"Hm? No, I didn't." She glanced back at me then half turned to entertain his lame story. There was little to no window of opportunity to speak after the lab began.

"Hey, why don't I walk you to your next class?" Elu was about to strike out my next plan of action.

"That's okay. I need to stop by the bathroom." Layla dismissed him at the door waiting for him to leave first.

Then she turned down the wrong corridor. When she didn't come back around I walked after her. "Jake?" Embry called.

"I got it." I waved him on. Layla leaned against the cement block wall catching her breath.

"Hey, you okay?" These were the first words to fly out of my mouth. She stood up straight attentively. "Yes, why?"

"You turned the wrong way." I shared my observation clumsily. "Oh, yeah. Elu's a chatterer. Not that he's bad... I just needed a break." She stepped off the wall.

"To Geometry?" She asked me to join her. "Sure." I smiled down at her.

"So, did you ever find your wallet?" Layla asked me. "Oh, yeah. I did." How was it that much harder to speak today?

"That's good." We were almost to class. My opportunity closing. I stopped her outside the door. She glanced down at the hand I pulled her aside with.

"Are you going to the bonfire this Saturday?" "The village bonfire on the beach? I think Seth said something about that..." Good boy Seth.

"I don't know." "Why not?" Layla looked down at her shoes and then back up at me.

"I don't think Syd and I are welcome." "Are you worried about what Syd did?" I asked thoughtlessly. Her eyes widened exponentially when I hit the mark.

"How did you?" "Moon. Black. Would you so kindly join us in the classroom?" Mrs. Fowler peered into the hall where we were.

"Yes ma'am." Layla ducked inside ending our conversation.

We took our seats. "You can still come," I whispered behind her. Layla tilted her head like she heard me but didn't reply.

Layla's Pov

I rushed out of the school looking to evade my recent admirer. Dodging between someone's minivan and Toyota I picked up my pace only to run into Jacob.

"Sorry Jake." I moved around him beelining to my car in the back of the lot. He followed.

"Can I help you?" I stopped at my front bumper crossing my arms. "I just wanted to help you." Jacob pointed at the dent in the bumper.

"I can buff it out for you." He insisted. "I don't really think now is the best time." I peered around him to see Elu looking for me. That and I didn't want to get held up in the car chain exiting the lot.

"It will only take a sec." Jacob bent down and pulled out the dent with one hand. My eyes widened into saucers.

"I can get the rest out with some tools from the shop. If you want."

"What?" "I have an apprenticeship to a mechanic in Port Angeles. This evening, tomorrow same time, and Saturday mornings until noon."

"Oh, yeah. Maybe later then." He waved and jogged back over to his friends after his offer. He might be awkward, but at least he seemed kind.

I hesitantly waved back with his back turned before climbing into my vehicle.

I didn't feel compelled to do any homework. I tried bringing my dinner up to my room so I could begin to decorate it the way I liked, but Syd called me back down to eat with him. I think he wanted the company, and I was happy to oblige.

In LA my mom was always on the go. A laptop in her lap, a phone in her hand, and music playing in the kitchen. After we set out the takeout of the night Bethany always dropped by to have a glass of wine with my mom. Sometimes when they were taking too long I'd steal a sip of chardonnay. Not that she would have cared if I had a glass, but she didn't have the weakness of native roots.

It was nice to have some quality time with Syd. He told me about his day in preparing the habitat up North for fall. They had just taken in a wounded bobcat too.

"The kids I sit with at lunch are having a bonfire on the beach tomorrow night." I started out. "Ah, someone called about that."

I hesitated to respond. "Do you want to go? It would be a great way to meet kids your age." Syd followed up when I didn't say anything.

"Maybe. According to Seth Clearwater, it's supposed to be some sort of potluck bbq thing."

"Sue's kid huh? What about the other ones." Syd questioned. "They'll be there too." I lifted our finished plates and carried them over to the sink to wash.

"You should go." "We were both invited." I proceeded to load everything into the dishwasher.

"Your friends. Your party." These were his final words before retreating over to his favorite leather chair in the sunken living room.

I knew he might've acted like this. I didn't want him to be excluded or exempt himself.

"Then again, maybe it's not a big deal. I can just make plans with my friend in Forks. Maybe we'll see the sights and hike around." I headed off to my room to ruminate.

I lay on my bed staring up at the ceiling. I lost my desire to decorate. My limited supply of items from my old room made me sad. I'd have to go thrifting when I could or go shopping the next time I saw my dad in Seattle. I could wait a week.

Then my old phone buzzed in the top drawer of my desk/nightstand. To my delight, it was my best friend Ashely.

Her familiar voice was what I needed after this week. I listened as she explained in detail the first week of school. From what our friends were up to, to schedules and fresh gossip. Apparently, our group had polarized into groups at lunch as well.

Those few who thought the ambiguous night of my birthday was a bust made one group that she called the wishy-washy neutrals. Then there were the wolves in sheep's clothing who sided with Logan King, the residential fuck boy at our high school. And then there was our core group of four girls who remained loyal and knew the actual truth. None of this surprised me. But it was one more reminder that the aftermath was real. Why I was here and not there.

"Yeah, I thought things would have settled by now. It's still a little tense according to Brianna and Alexis." Ashely continued. Brianna was our other close friend who also had the misfortune of being Logan's cousin.

"What do you mean?" "I guess the Kings have had it with their son screwing up."

"I've heard that before. Which slap on the wrist is he getting this time?" I sat up crossing my legs.

"No, it's serious." She insisted. This piqued my interest. "It's not because of me, or my mom is it?" Surely the incident couldn't have been the final straw to bring down the hammer.

"No. But I'm sure that was a part of it." "Right, so are you going to tell me or what?"

"Okay, so get this. You remember when Logan was bragging about messing around with some Dubai models on the new set?"

"Sure. He wouldn't shut up about it at the party." Logan was all over social media with that one too.

"Turns out he slipped them a Mickey and got one pregnant."

"What?" My voice raised in pitch. "Yep. Turns out she comes from an important family over there and is threatening charges for assault."

This was a miracle in the making. Not for the poor girl doomed to possibly carry this psycho's spawn, but the sweet karma catching up with that pig. We've witnessed enough of Logan's behavior to know most of his conquests weren't always consensual. The most prized experiences that he had were with girls he's deemed unreachable. An irresistible challenge. We've done our best to avoid him, and his enabling friend group, but our social circles crossed over so much because of our family's business ties.

That's why he'd never seem to leave me alone. Because his father worked with my mom I was off-limits for his shenanigans. That was the appeal to him.

Logan also enjoys dangling his good looks and wealth amongst desperate girls. Especially those who were drawn to his charisma, or wanted his connections to the modeling industry he and his mom worked for. He'd promise these girls the world, shower them with gifts, paraded around together, and when he lost interest he'd find a creative way to tear them down. The kings must be tired of what he's costing them socially. Financially, I'm sure they've already paid some of these girls off to keep quiet, or to 'take care of things.' But now that Logan's messed up on a costly international business scale...

"His parents sold the Corvette and are making him get clean. Drug tests every week. No parties. He's being suspended as a model overseas, and the money he's earned this summer is going towards the possible future settlement." Ashely informed me excitedly. I was speechless.

"Layla, Layla? Are you still there?" "Yes. I am." I sat down on the edge of my bed again.

"What's up? This is great news!"

"Sure it is. I can't believe it. But Brianna has to live in that house with him. I can only imagine the fallout she's going to deal with."

He'd pretend to be repentant until the reality of the repercussions fell into place.

"Better get your spare room ready for B just in case," I suggested to Ashely.

"This was supposed to be good news." She groaned. Brianna was a good friend but she could also be a lot to handle.

"I know. It's just a lot to process." I sighed.

"Have you heard anything about my mom?" I changed topics. "Is she still not answering you?" Ashely asked concerned.

"No, I haven't seen or heard anything after I packed up." "I'll let you know if I do. Hey, why don't you call Bethany?"

I frowned at the suggestion. "She won't tell me anything important."

"Have you even tried?" She paused. "Do you think Lily's in rehab?" Ashely asked cautiously. "What?"

"I know, I know. Alexis suggested it. Forget I said anything." "No. What do you mean?" I raised my voice in disbelief.

Sure my mom always had booze around, a bottle every other night, but she was never mean or belligerent.

"It was just a thought as to why you've had like zero contact, and with what they found at the party...Maybe she hasn't told you everything."

My silence on the phone was deafening. I knew she meant well, but my frustration and fear were getting the best of me every day I didn't hear from her. The fact I had to rely on other people's encounters of the mysterious circumstances of that night after a certain point was equally maddening.

Ashely switched gears to alleviate my distress.

"Has Liam reached out to you at all?" The way she spoke his name conveyed her indifference towards my on-again, off-again boyfriend.

"Not really. I mean there was one text. Kind of generic. One like most of the group sent me."

"Oh, well I'm sure you'll hear from him soon." Her voice held empty reassurance. When I left I wasn't sure where Liam and I stood. He was so hot and cold. In more ways than one. I never knew what he was thinking or why he wanted me around more times than others.

I sighed deeply. "I don't know if he will, or if it even matters anymore. I thought we were in a good place before the party but during, and after, ugh! He didn't believe me when I told him..." It was Ashely's turn to get upset.

Brianna was the first to find me out of it in my room with Logan. Ashely had come up behind her a few minutes later with a male friend to remove him. Ashely harbored us at her house that night. I'm forever grateful to them both for helping me out of that.

Then after the party bust my goody two shoes reputation was tainted with hearsay about my mother, and what I experienced was swept under the rug. The neighborhood had been locked down for the remainder of the summer. Apparently, the lack of phone calls and the silence in the group chat meant I was getting partial blame.

Even with what I almost went through at Logan's hands. I felt worse for Brianna. She couldn't escape the unshakable connection to her cousin. Almost always hit by the debris of his chaos, and somehow stuck with all the drama too. His monstrous grip in LA was something I was elated to escape.

"You should officially break up with Liam. For good, ya know? He's not good for you and it's not like you guys were serious." I opened my mouth to defend Liam, but Ashely went on.

"I know things were complicated. I'm not denying that. But you deserve something uncomplicated. Someone who will put you first, is kind, and way hotter-" "Ash."

"Whatever. You know what I'm saying." Ashely pleaded.

I knew she was right. I had held on too long for my own good, but I couldn't help but be a little upset. Wasn't she and Alexis the ones who pushed us together in the first place? Whatever.

Change was evitable at this point. A lot of it proving to be painful. She heard me suck in a short breath.

"Do you need me to stay on the phone? You can call him and I'll stay on mute." Ashely asked me trying to be supportive.

If she were here, we would have called or typed the message out together.

"No, that's okay. I'll just send you a copy of the text."

Once I gave my word I meant it. She could trust that I was really cutting him off this time.

It was tacky to break up through text, but after a relationship just as if not more tacky, I thought it was merited.

"I'm proud of you girl. I got to go, but I love yah. We'll plan a trip for next break if they line up, or I'll come to visit you." Ashely tried to comfort me.

"Right. Have a good night. Thanks for calling." With that I hung up to prepare for the inevitable text.