Jacob Black

After Jared and Kim were declared husband and wife, the party began.

There was a reservation feast afterward where everyone could enjoy the huge buffet of food set around the house. This was the best part of the day and the most exciting moment I was looking forward.

I changed into beige chinos, a button down shirt rolled up at the sleeves and some flip flops before joining the large group of people feasting.

The ladies all prepared the food and there was a lot.

Nessie helped with the food. I was so proud of her and I haven't even eaten yet.

Food items for the feast included fry bread, piki bread, venison, lamb, pork, beef, chicken, turkey, squash, beans, corn, rice, pumpkin, corn soup, potato soup, butternut soup, vegetable soup and many other variations of food. There were a lot of desserts too from fruitcakes, cheesecakes, red velvet cupcakes with buttercream icing, caramel fondue, frozen yoghurt and fresh fruits such as blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, heart berries, plums, papaya and guava. Jared and Kim chose to forgo a huge traditional wedding cake and resorted to a chocolate fountain.

In a traditional Quileute wedding, the food is placed on a blanket on the table and served as a banquet. The food is blessed by the Elders. The Elders and officiator eat first then the bride, then the groom, then the sponsors and then the rest of us losers. None of the food is wasted. It's either you eat a whole bunch or the food gets given away to the Elders so no matter what, I'll get food because my dad is an Elder.

It's a win-win!

I stood in line after grabbing two plates and began stacking both plates, although, I made sure one of the plates had minimal food compared to the other.

When I reached the end of the table and finished, I made my way down the sandy ground of Brother Patuni's —a tribal leader and elder who blessed the marriage of Jared and Kim— backyard to one of the lengthy logs that overlooked the huge lake and moonlight where my Nessie was basking in the scenery.

Brother Patuni was probably one of if not the wealthiest tribal member in the reservation. He had developed multiple businesses and runs a construction company that Sam, Jared and Paul work at as contractors. It was because of Brother Patuni that Paul and Rachel found a house near his land and near the lake.

Brother Patuni's lakehouse was huge enough to host a wedding feast as opposed to hosting it on the beach.

"Penny for your thoughts." I said to my Nessie as I approached her, her back turned towards me.

Her head tilted to the side and I saw her beautiful curved smile lighting up.

"Hey!" She replied. "Yeah, I'm just enjoying the view."

I smiled, handing her the plate of food.

"Thanks." She replied as I took my seat next to her on her log.

"Wow!" She gasped.

"I tried to dish out as little as I could because I know you don't eat so much human food but…I'm sorry." I chuckled.

"No —that's not it. It's okay. It just smells and looks really good. I'm starving." She stated.

I laughed as I began digging into my food.

"The wedding service was amazing." Nessie as she dug into her meal.

"It truly was. Happy for them." I said as I glanced at Jared and Kim laughing as they reminisced with another couple.

"The best parts were when they exchanged vows, oh and the prayer your dad gave, I don't think I've seen or heard anything like it. Oh and another good part was when your father almost dropped the pipe and almost had Kim fainting." She laughed.

"I thought your favorite part was seeing me dressed in an animal skinned jockstrap?" I joked.

She shrugged. "Second favorite, I guess. I see you naked almost every day so it didn't do anything to me really."

"Ouch!" I replied. "Way to boost my ego."

She chuckled. "No, man! I mean, I was more focused on the wedding and the intricacy of the wedding attire including your entire outfit than your junk. At least for once in my life."

I smiled as I chewed on my food.

"This food is really good." I said with a mouthful.

She nodded her head and then placed it onto my shoulder blade, cuddling up to me to keep herself warm in the coldish air as she ate.

"What did you make?" I asked.

"So…I just made the two soups. Potato soup and butternut soup." She told me as she pointed to the various items on her plate. "But you hate butternut soup."

"Yeah, I don't know why. It doesn't sit well with me. I shit like nobody's business after having it." I told her.

She laughed and rolled her eyes.

"And I also made the red velvet cupcakes with buttercream icing." She told me.

Nessie knew how to bake even though she wasn't much of a cooker. Her cake, cupcake and cookie game is insane.

"Babe! Look at you." I said, nudging her.

She giggled.

"I tried."

"You did more than that. The soups are amazing and I bet your cupcakes are as well." I told her.

She laughed.

"And you were so amazing this week as well. I mean, watching you helping out with the kids, helping Rachel and Kim out with all the wedding planning and preparation, being the mediator of everything. Actually, Rach came up to me to tell me what a wonderful girl you are and I told her I knew from the moment I laid eyes on her. You were so hands on with everything. I'm proud of you, babe." I said to her.

"Aww, Jacob!" She whispered modestly as she looked into my eyes.

I held her chin up.

"I'm serious, Ness."

She smiled sheepishly at me as she looked into my eyes of pride before embarrassingly hiding her face on my shoulder, giving it a kiss.

"Thank you. It means a lot." She mentioned.

I smiled and kissed her head on my shoulder. I noticed over her head a little girl looking her way as she played with all the other kids. I think it was Nancy Talbot.

"Looks like you have a shadow." I said to Nessie.

She frowned as she followed my gaze and then waved at Nancy who waved fervently back to her before running off with her friends again.

"Nancy's a sweet girl." She told me.

"Yo, Jake!" Mike called out for me.

I turned around to see my mechanic buddy making his way over to us.

"My man!" I laughed as I shot up to greet him with a manly handshake. "You good?"

"I'm good my man. Can't complain." Mike stated, looking pretty sharp with his semi-bald head neatly trimmed and pale blue buttoned down shirt with some beige pants and loafers.

"Whad'up, the lovely and beautiful Nessie." He waved and gave my mate a little wink.

I warned with a disapproving grunt.

"Careful, dude! You're on my turf." I told him.

"Oh, sorry! Okay. Okay. Backing off." Mike said, his freehand surrendering whilst the other held his plate of food.

My mate giggled her whimsical and adorable laugh.

"Hi, Mike." Nessie replied.

Mike grinned back before he turned to me.

"Listen, dude. So where's this Leah chick you told me about. I'd like to meet her now."

"Oh yeah, of course." I told him.

That's what he's here for right?

I looked over his shoulder to skim through the grounds, in search of a hotheaded and emotionless woman probably voluntarily sitting by herself. I spotted her sitting on one of the loveseats further away from the crowd although I did notice a guy pushing his luck, trying to flirt with her but she was not having any of that as she was too engrossed in whatever that was on her phone.

Damn. I hope this doesn't backfire and blow up in my face.

And by this I mean Leah.

I did try to set her up with one guy once, although I wasn't even serious about it, I did it more as joke and she lit up on me and almost chewed my head off about it.

Who's to say her reaction won't be the same this time around?

It's worth the shot though, right?

Right?!

I turned around to smile at my Nessie.

"I'll be back," I assured her.

She nodded.

I smiled and turned back to my bro, Mike.

"Let's go man." I said to him as I engulfed my hand around the back of his neck before patting his back as we began walking over to Leah.

He released an expectant sigh. "So…what more can you tell me about her? what should I say or not say?"

I shrugged. "There's nothing I can say but just be yourself. She doesn't like a guy who's inauthentic. Just make sure you make yourself available to her."

"Make myself available. Got it."

"I can't guarantee she'll be responsive at first, though." I warned him.

I kind of was really hoping and dreading that when they finally meet Leah would imprint on him or something because I don't think she'd give him even the time of day.

Although, I do think Mike could be good for her.

Leah and I weren't the closest when we were both under Sam's leadership in the pack. In fact, I hated her attitude at first but then I got to understand her a lot better when we left Sam's pack and then ultimately formed a pack together. She was who she was because of imprinting and how that affected her relationship with Sam. She didn't want the same to happen to any random guy she meets and starts dating but deep down she knows he isn't the one.

She's been on a few dates with guys after the whole Sam/Emily fiasco but she knew none of those relationships would've went anywhere so she sort of gave up and sworn off being with any guy.

I always read in her mind on occasion when she let slip about her true feelings. It's not that she doesn't want to hurt any potential guy that comes into her life by imprint on another. It's that she felt inadequate and almost not worthy of dating anybody.

She has already concluded she would never imprint on anybody and she'll more than likely live forever alone as a spinster on some farm.

And although I try my level best to alleviate some of the worries she has with my widely acclaimed (more from Seth's opinion) Alpha pick-me-up pep talks, telling her to keep having hope of finding 'the one' and that he's coming as fast as he can but I've never seen a female shapeshifter imprint on someone before since she's the only one I can base that conclusion off of. I didn't know if it was in the cards for her.

It would really suck if she doesn't have that because it is a really amazing feeling. Imprinting.

But what would suck worse is if she feels that imprinting isn't for her and swears to never open to date anybody for the rest of her life.

"Okay! So she's a tough nut to crack?" Mike asked.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"That's okay. That's okay. I can handle a challenge. I like a challenge." He told me.

I chuckled. "Just don't be super cheesy. I know that's gonna be hard for you."

Mike was the Cheese King what with all his corny and frankly, embarrassing pickup lines he uses on every women he meets. Majority of the time it never quite works out like he intended them to. He's literally the worst at dating.

But then again, so is Leah.

So…I'm sure they can work out their issues together?

Dammit! This better work.

"Do you think she'll like me?" He asked.

I turned to look at him up and down.

From the few guys (which is saying it delicately more like one or two) I've seen Leah talk to weren't like poster guys for fitness. I don't think that's her type anyway. I don't even know what Leah's type is anyway but I know she found our abnormally huge muscular bodies unattractive so I guess she would have been more comfortable with someone average.

And Mike fit the bill quite well. He wasn't an unfit dude, I could tell if he worked out a lot more he could cool. He was an average (maybe slightly above average) build with a height of 5ft.12 which is only an inch taller than Leah.

I nodded. "I think so, dude." I told him.

"Do I smell good?"

"You smell fine, dude. You're not meeting The Queen. She's not going to bite." I told him.

At least I hope she won't bite.

"Yeah I know. It's just…When you showed me her picture, I immediately thought I could never land a girl that drop dead gorgeous."

I smirked. Leah would love to hear that.

"She would love to hear that." I chuckled as I voiced out my thought.

We reached Leah who was still sitting on the loveseat, fiddling with her Samsung. This is probably the second or third time I've seen Leah in a dress in a while.

"Are you Insta stalking on the Gram again or are you swiping left on every guy on Tinder, Lele?" I teased.

Mike turned to me with confusion and shock.

"What do you want, Jacob?" She said, not acknowledging me.

Figures.

"Shit. She's absolutely gorgeous." Mike whispered to himself as he wiped some sweat off his forehead.

I chuckled. "Hey, Leah. I'd like you to meet someone." I told her.

She sighed as she lifted her head up to look at me.

"This is my good friend, Mike." I said, patting his shoulder and bringing him into focus.

"Mike, this is Leah, she's most definitely not a female dog." I joked.

Mike turned to me with cocked eyebrows then he turned back to Leah who was shaking her head at me.

I guffawed.

"You know what, Jake…" She stopped.

She shook her head again before steering her focus onto Mike who was ogling at her.

When both their eyes met I felt my fingers cross together.

"Hi! It's nice to finally meet you." Mike said nervously, extending his hand out to her.

Leah eyed him up and down, ignoring his hand gesture, before turning to me.

"Jacob. Can I talk to you in private for a second?" Leah asked –more like demanded.

She shot up from her seat and walked off.

"Sure thing, Lele." I replied.

"We'll be right back." I told him.

I followed Leah until she came to a stop and spun around to glare at me, gripping my collar in her hands about ready to chomp on my head and chop my nuts.

Well damn.

Nessie will have to live with it.

"What sick game are you playing, Jake? Bringing some random dude to the wedding to prove to me what a miserable life I have? Huh? Is that what you want? To make me look more miserable?"

"What? No! Why would—No! I would never do that to you, Leah." I told her, shoving her hands off my collar.

"Am I an idiot? You did this before!" She growled.

"Relax, Leah! Damn! Calm down." I told her.

She gave me a look before rolling her eyes.

"I'm not messing with you at all. I just wanted you to meet this friend of mine from California who really wanted to meet you. This is not some devious ploy to hurt you."

"I told you I don't want to date." She said to me, pushing her dark hair behind her ear.

"Who said anything about dating?" I asked. "It's just talking to a person from the opposite sex that's not from the rez and not a member of a pack. It's not The Bachelorette."

Leah stared at the ground.

"Did you imprint on him?" I asked her.

She looked up. "You would know if I had."

I nodded.

"Look. That's okay. It probably wasn't your time. But don't write him off because you didn't have 'the moment'. Just give him a chance. Have a conversation with him. Who knows what could come out of it? It could very well be nothing but at least you'll know you've tried to reach out." I said to her.

"I don't know, Jake." She told him. "I don't think I'm ready."

"When will you ever be ready, Leah? It's been ten years since Sam."

"I'm over Sam!" She snarled.

"I know that." I replied. "Now prove it by at least talking to the guy. You think he's cute, right?"

She frowned and looked over my shoulder to see Mike looking oblivious, observing the crowds with both his hands in his pockets.

Leah sighed.

I smiled.

She totally found him cute.

"He's a bit too alternative for me." She said.

I cocked an eyebrow.

"Alternative?" I probed.

She shook her head. Of course he was her type. She couldn't even try to deny it.

"No. I just…I don't know. Did Seth put you up to this? Did my mom put you up to this? I bet it's my mom!"

"No, Leah. Nobody put me up to this."

"Isn't he a little too young?"

"Leah…" I warned him.

"Fine! I'll talk to him." She rolled her eyes as she gave in. "But I can't promise he'll like me by the end of the night."

"By the simple fact that you're planning to talk to him for the whole night is all I need."

She scoffed. "Why are you doing this?"

I stared at her with a befuddled expression.

"'Coz I care about you, Leah. You're my beta. And I want you to be happy." I had to say with a straight face.

She looked into my eyes for a while, probably searching for any type of contempt or dishonesty about my intentions, before sighing and shaking her head.

"You're ridiculous! You just don't want to have to deal with my mess of a head."

I chuckled. "Go talk to him."

She obliged to my request and began sauntering her way over to him.

I inhaled a breath as I watched Leah pat his shoulder and him turning around in surprise before they began talking to each other.

I curved my lips into a confident smile afore I made my way back to my mate.

… …

Leah Clearwater

I couldn't believe Jacob right now.

I couldn't believe he would think setting me up with his human work friend from California would solve my depressing dating life –or lack thereof.

I've hit a dry spell ever since Sam and although I was completely over him. Like…Way over him already. He had his life with Emily and their little spawn and I was actually happy for them. They made a lot of sense.

So yeah, Sam was so 2005.

But how it all happened has left a mark on me that will never fully go away. I can never trust a guy with my heart unless I, for somehow, imprint on somebody.

It's not like I've stopped noticing guys ever since Sam and my change. There were of course many guys who had compelling personalities that I thoroughly enjoyed to be around. Jacob included.

However it was different with Jacob. Only after being in his pack for eight plus years did I grow to tolerate and actually genuinely like to be around him. He had such a presence about him, he had so much charisma and was confident without being arrogant or cocky and he'll stop at nothing to protect the people dearest to him. He was definitely one of the good ones. Even though I would never admit this to him.

I saw him as my brother now. But he had character traits that any girl would be crazy not to love and although he annoys me half of the time, I knew he would make the perfect boyfriend. And I guess Nessie was that lucky girl.

Anyway, so what I'm trying to say is. Jacob is one of those guys that fall under the 1 in 10 million guys out of 7 billion people in the world that are actually one of the good ones. The rest of the so called 'men' of this world are giant tools. Let's take Embry for example. He was a man whore and was absolutely unashamed and unapologetic about it.

Douche!

So imagine my struggle in trying to find my imprint in a pool of douchebags.

That's why I came to the conclusion that imprinting was not for me.

I was a rarity.

I had a rare personality that nobody could ever like.

I was the first and only female shapeshifter to ever live.

I was also a rare kind of girl due to my werewolf genes. I wasn't the typical beauty. I was freakishly tallish for a woman. I couldn't have children. I was dangerously single.

Thanks dad.

Thanks ancestors.

Thanks filthy bloodsuckers.

Thanks The Cullen Family.

I may have gotten the title of being the ultimate 'Debbie Downer' because of the way I think about myself and my situation.

But who could blame me? I didn't ask to be a wolf?

I bet anyone would wonder why I didn't stop phasing with the rest of the OG shapeshifters.

Well…it's simple.

I still had that nagging hope at the pit of my stomach. The hope that maybe, just maybe, I would find what the rest of the guys have. What Jacob has with Nessie. What my little brother Seth has with his girlfriend Alex. What Paul has with Rachel. What Jared just had with Kim. What Quil has with the kid Claire.

What Sam has with Emily.

But after almost a decade as a wolf, I felt and still feel like it wasn't on the cards for me.

So what was holding me back from taking on a different take on finding love?

Why couldn't I take the old and harder route to finding it?

Why couldn't I give love a try one more time?

These were the questions I had been contemplating even more after Jake introduced me to this new guy Mike.

"So how do you know Jacob?" Mike had asked me as we talked for almost thirty minutes.

I pulled myself out of my train of thought to look into his light brown eyes.

"Hmm?" I asked.

"Where do you know Jacob from?"

"Oh! Um…well we practically grew up together I guess. He is a family friend. His parents and mine were very close friends back in the day." I told him.

"Have you always lived here?" He asked, rubbing his leg.

I nodded. "Born and raised here on the Quileute reservation since I popped out of my momma's cherry." I laughed.

He smiled at me.

"I don't think I've ever seen anything else outside Washington." I told him.

"Well you need to travel more, lady!" He told me.

I giggled. "I'm working on it."

He smiled as he reached out to remove some debris from the ashy wood of the bonfire that landed on my dress.

I felt my breathing hitch for a split second but I didn't flinch. It was actually a nice feeling.

"Thanks," I said, looking into his light brown eyes that glistened under the moonlight.

He had this unique smile because his lips were so thin that with each smile he gave it curved so beautifully.

"What about you? Where are you from originally?" I asked.

"Originally from Salt Lake City, Utah." He told me. "Then I moved to Cleveland, Ohio when I was little. Then I lived in Houston, Texas for most of my kid years and lived in Idaho for a while. And now I'm in Oakland Woods, California."

"Well travelled man, I see." I smiled. "Looks like you moved around a lot."

He didn't smile. "Yeah but it wasn't really a great experience. My family didn't move around because of the thrill of it, circumstances change a life of a person. It would have been nice to have some place I can call home."

I stared at him as he relived his past.

I mustered a small smile as I reluctantly patted his hand that was dangling over the head of the chair.

"I'm sorry." I said.

The semi-bald headed man nodded and smiled.

I never had any thoughts about bald men but he oddly looks really good, even though he is not full on bald. His neatly cut yet protruding mouth and chin beard elevated the look.

"What's up with the buzzcut?" I asked.

He smiled and touched his head. "Um...I had it when I joined the army at 18 and when I left the army after my deployment at 22, I guess I sort of kept it." He told me.

Wow. He was in the army. He went on to tell me that his army base was located in Fort Benning, Georgia and that he did a lot of the work on the vehicles, fixing or riding the tanks rather than standing in the firing line and all this talk allowed me ask an important.

"How old are you by the way?" I asked bluntly.

"I just turned 25 three weeks ago." He told me. "I'm a Halloween baby."

Hmm. He was three years younger than me.

"October 31st? Well that's unfortunate." I chuckled.

He shrugged. "It had its perks. I could have more candy than any boy alive."

I mustered a smile but dropped it and stared at my phone again.

"What about you?"

I turned to him. "Didn't your mom ever tell you it's impolite to ask a woman her age?"

He started getting flustered. "Oh, am I not supposed to do that?"

I shook my head. "Nope."

He chuckled nervously as he sat more comfortably, turning on his chair to face me, giving me his undivided attention.

"So what's your deal, hey? Are you one of those girls who's all dark and mysterious when you first meet her and then she takes off her glasses and those gritty little metal things she calls braces and then you realize she was beautiful the whole entire time?"

"I don't wear glasses or braces."

"Well then I guess you're halfway there." He said smoothly.

I looked at him, his eyes so genuine.

"So, what do you do?" He asked me.

"I'm a paralegal at a law firm in Seattle." I told him.

He widened his eyes. "A paralegal?"

I nodded.

"I would have never put you in that category."

"I'm basically the secretary to the lawyers. It's not super great but it pays the bills." I told him.

Becoming a paralegal didn't require any kind of formal education but I did go to college for it.

"What does a paralegal do anyway?"

"Well…we mostly deal with subsidiary legal matters, basically we deal with the scraps that lawyers won't do because they're small cases." I told him.

He nodded. "Wow. I have an issue with my landlord so I'll definitely be calling you up from now on."

I chuckled. Did he already believe our connection through Jacob would go further into the future already?

"But you're based in California." I humored him.

"Then move there. It's where the cool kids play nowadays." He joked.

At least I hope he was joking.

I just had to snigger.

He was smiling as he leaned on his arm with his head on the palm of his hand.

"What's the social scene like here?" He asked. "Any nightclubs?"

I shrugged. "I wouldn't know, although, there is a local bar five miles south from here. Seattle has a lot more to offer."

"Hmm. Interesting. So you don't party?" He asked.

I nodded my head.

"Never appealed to me." I told him as I covered my knees with my multi-colored pleated dress by Club Monaco.

My mom really wanted me in a dress for today.

"What do you do for fun, Leah?" He asked me.

I thought. "I don't do fun."

"Oh, come on. I'm sure you do something. I bet you work out a lot to keep that beautiful figure intact and snatched." He told me.

I laughed. "Oh, wow!"

He laughed with me. "What hobbies do you particularly enjoy?"

"I do a lot of yoga." I told him.

I wasn't lying. Yoga kept me sane. And I've been told about my bad temperament and that I was on a constant rollercoaster of emotions so yoga seemed to be my calming board.

"Awesome! Awesome!" He said with enthusiasm. "I tried yoga once. Epically bad idea."

I laughed. "Why's that?"

"I have absolute no hand and eye coordination and my level of flexibility would be likened to a panda bear." He joked.

I guffawed. "I can teach you."

I surprised myself as well as the man sitting before me. I had never even given the slightest hint of furthering this conversation or even the chance of having a sort of relationship with him.

But he seemed so nice. Nicer than almost any guy I've ever met in my life.

"I promise I won't be a success but I'll definitely take your offer on." He told me with a bright and welcoming grin.

I smiled back, moving my hair behind my ear.

"So tell me, why the hell are you single? I mean, I don't mean to sound like I'm picking you up or anything but a drop dead gorgeous girl like you can't be single." He told me.

"Really? It sure sounds like you're trying to pick me up."

He guffawed and blushed, not even trying to hide it.

"My last relationship was the worst. We planned to have a real future together. What I thought we had was true love and then he took one good look at my closest cousin and any feelings he had for me, any plans we had together completely went away and he completely forgot about me, ditching me to the curb for my prettier cousin." I told him truthfully.

"Damn," He replied. "I bet they broke up two years later right?"

I shook my head. "Nope. They're happily married and are currently raising a little family together. And I have to watch them regularly so, yeah…"

"Wow." He replied. "That must totally suck."

I shrugged. "It did for a while, but I always tried to make sure I stayed away and I guess because of the distance I managed to get over it."

He smiled. "Well, I'll be considered to be a serial dating loser. None of my relationships worked out. It was either I got cheated on with some big Hollywood hotshot or she breaks up with me because I'm too serious."

"Too serious?"

"When I date somebody, I commit to dating them. And it seemed like all the girls I've been with hated the fact that I was a loyal boyfriend."

So when he's in a relationship he's loyal.

Interesting.

"Loyalty is like the fundamental foundation for a relationship. At least it is for me." I said to him.

"Exactly!" He said. "My last girlfriend I thought was the one for me before she gave me a call one morning to tell me she was going to pursue her dreams as an actress in LA after being discovered by some male talent agent and she thought I was too much baggage for her."

I smiled. "I guess we both suck at dating. Both our last relationships ended up in our exes chasing after the other person. There's always the other person."

He thought for a moment and widened his eyes in realization.

"Hey! You're right." He laughed. "There's always 'the other person' in the relationship."

I nodded, chuckling.

He shook his head. "We absolutely suck at dating."

You got that right.

"We should form a support group. Or prayer circle."

I laughed. "Would you consider yourself spiritual?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I wouldn't consider myself religious in any sense. I grew up in a Catholic household but never actually practiced it. But I would consider myself spiritual in the sense that I believe there is some mystical power out there looking out for you. I believe that there is more than just one person for you and I have faith that she is somewhere out there waiting for me. I just have to find her."

I stared into his eyes.

He was the real deal wasn't he?

He was looking for that partner.

He looked like he was ready to settle down or at least be on the road to settling down with someone.

"I totally get it. I think the same…sometimes. I sometimes feel he's out there for me and then sometimes I feel he doesn't even exist. I always wonder if there is someone out there for me then why is he taking forever to get here?"

"Well maybe that's the problem." He said.

I frowned.

"Instead of worrying about why he isn't running to you fast enough, why don't you search for him yourself? It is the 21st century after all." He told me.

What he said got me thinking. Why was I doing that? Waiting for someone to randomly come to me? Why couldn't I search for them?

"I don't know." I replied. "Maybe I just feel scared."

The dating pool had limited options on the reservation.

But I guess I was intentionally limiting myself to men only around my area who are all tools.

But I see now that not all men are giant tools.

"And maybe I thought that if I look for him it would be more detrimental than waiting on him." I said. "If that makes any sense."

Taking my little brother for example. He already found his true love, his soul mate, his imprint without even looking for her. Maybe I thought I'd experience the same when or if I met mine.

At this rate, my baby brother would be married before I do.

"It makes total sense." He replied. "But maybe you could try it differently now. Go on the prowl and you'll find him."

I laughed. Go on the prowl. It sounded like something Embry would say.

"Or maybe you've already met him." He whispered.

Although I could hear him perfectly.

I looked at him.

Have I met him already?

… …

Jacob Black

"How do you think the potential couple are doing?" Nessie asked me.

I turned my head around in search of Leah and Mike.

I found them seated by one of the table booths close to Jared and Kim who were laughing it up with Sam and Emily. Sam noticed Leah and Mike laughing together and had a weird look on his face about it before engaging in conversation with the newlyweds.

"So far. So good." I replied. "They seem to be enjoying each other's company." I told her.

Everyone was dancing, enjoying the music being played in the background.

Then suddenly, one of the few romantic slow songs came up and I took that as an opportunity to steal a dance with my mate.

"Care to dance with me, my beloved?" I asked my Nessie as I stood up and extended my hand out to her.

She giggled. "I don't dance, Jacob."

"Come on. It's a slow song." I told her.

She sighed and giggled.

"Fine. I shall." She told me before taking my hand.

I escorted her to the non-existent dancefloor and pulled her to my chest, imbedding my hands on either side of her hips whilst she draped her arms around my neck as we began swaying to Amy Winehouse's Best Friends.

Kim sure does love her Amy Winehouse.

I can't wait to get away from you

Unsurprisingly you hate me too

We only need to communicate when we need to fight

But we're best friends,

Right

You too good at pretending you don't care

There isn't enough resentment in the air

"I love this song."

"Really?" I asked.

She nodded. "Amy was gone way too soon."

I nodded. "She was good."

She smiled as she looked into my eyes, threading her fingers through the hairs on the back of my head.

"So…I'm thinking of going to New York next week."

"Awesome." I replied.

Must be nice to be out of town with my mate.

"On a solo trip." She told me.

"Okay?" I frowned. "What's happening in New York?"

"Well, Columbia University is having an open day on Saturday. And there's this art gallery I've been meaning to go to for a very long time. I'll only be gone for a few days." She told me.

I smiled. "It's okay. As long as you enjoy and get your cute little ass back to me." I laughed.

She smiled as she stared down at our feet before lifting her head up and looking over my shoulder.

"They look so happy." She stated as she watched Jared and Kim slow dance.

"Yeah, they do." I replied although my eyes were firmly set on Nessie and Nessie only.

"She looks so beautiful. This wedding was so beautiful." Nessie said.

My Nessie looking so radiant in her flowy, floral maxi dress and her gorgeous bronze locks braided to one side with her big chocolate brown eyes meshing with her perfect porcelain skin the glowed in the moonlight. She was beautiful. She was everything.

"Maybe it could be us next." I blurted out in a whisper as I leaned into her ear.

She took it in and registered it before having her mouth a gape in shock as she looked at me with wide eyes.

"W-what?" She asked nervously.

I shrugged. "This could be us next. Isn't that what you want?"

She scoffed in disbelief. "Of course. I want that more than anything."

I smiled. "Me too,"

Her cheeks flushed and she sheepishly hid her face against my chest before locking eyes with me again.

I am well aware of why she would be shocked at my revelation. When we talked about marriage it was often talked about with uncertainty and conflicting views on it.

I tried not to entertain the talk too much because remembering what Edward told me about how Nessie feels pressured to start that life with me and I didn't want her to feel that. But I can't help the way I feel and what I feel is I have to make her my wife, at least in the future.

There was nothing wrong with assuring her that we would have our time. We would have our Jared and Kim moment.

The marriage could happen whenever but I had this nagging feeling within me telling me I needed to let her know of my intentions to marry her. I wanted to.

… …

A/N: I promised I'd update it on the weekend but I couldn't but at least I wasn't super delayed. It was so nice to see new reviewers for my previous chapter. Please don't run away, I loved reading your reviews. They were so encouraging.

So yep. This was one of my favorite chapters because I got to peak into Leah's mind. She's going to be a major character in this story from now on. What do you think of her with Mike? I kind of hoped she imprinted on him. Curse the author for not letting that happen.

Next chapter will focus more on Nessie's trip to New York with…Nahuel and I really want to get back to Seth and Alex as well as Jennifer and Embry but I can't choose between the two couples.