Chapter 6 — Party

Jacob

We finally arrived at the reservation at 1:30. The party had already started for Seth's son, Jordan — my godson. It was Jordan's graduation party. He was going to college in the fall. Seth couldn't be more proud of him.

Originally, my idea to bring Nessie to the party seemed perfect. I got to spend more time with her, while still fulfilling my godfather obligations. However, as soon as we stepped out of my car, I felt a twist of regret. Everyone was staring at Nessie and I knew why. When had I ever brought a girl — a drop-dead gorgeous girl — to a party before? Dramatically, a hush of murmurs swept the crowd. Nessie looked confused. I just rolled my eyes, pretending the theatrics were normal.

"Jake, so glad you could make it," said Seth, coming over and giving me a one-armed hug.

"And you brought someone?" said Seth's wife following close behind. "Hi, I'm Kayla, this is my husband Seth."

"I'm Nessie," she said, shaking Seth's and Kayla's hands.

Both Seth and Kayla's eyes widened and immediately looked questioningly at me upon feeling the temperature of Nessie's hand. I didn't give anything away though. Slowly we made our way through the crowd. Each former-wolf who shook Nessie's hand gave me the same look. I wondered if Sam, now a 70 year old mortal and chief of the tribe, would have any wisdom regarding Nessie. However, if he did, he didn't say anything to me about it.

Then I saw someone who made my heart ache. A 94 year old Charlie Swan, sitting in his wheelchair, looking as old as time itself. He had married Sue and was an honorary member of the tribe. Sue had died a few years ago and since then Charlie's dementia had gotten worse. More often than not these days, he was looking for Bella and saw her in the face of every young woman he met. Luckily, Sam pulled me aside before Charlie spotted us. Charlie loved to talk to me about Bella and it was something I definitely didn't want to get into today.

"Who is your friend?" he said, looking into my eyes with knowing.

"This is Nessie," I said. "We just met yesterday and we're still getting to know each other."

I said this to make Sam understand that she didn't know anything about werewolves yet, let alone imprinting. He nodded to show he understood my meaning.

"Can I talk to you for a minute, Sam?" I said. "Give me a second, Nessie."

"No worries," she said and began making her way towards the food.

Sam and I walked into the house. He turned to me.

"So, it finally happened for you. After all these years."

"Yes," I said grinning broadly. "I'm just not ready to tell her all this stuff yet."

"I understand," said Sam gravely. "But you'll have to tell her eventually. You're the last wolf."

I shrugged and nodded, not wanting to think about that.

"But what do you think of her? She's… different."

"Yes, I noticed. The temperature of her skin—"

"And her heart rate, too," I said. "It's fast, even faster than ours. And talk about strong! I've never met a human that strong. Do you think there's a chance she could be one of us?"

"It… seems unlikely," said Sam, slowly. "But perhaps there's another explanation."

"Maybe," I said and looked out the window. "Ah crap."

Nessie was talking to Leah.

"Gotta go," I said, and bounded out the door.

"Well, well, look who finally has a girlfriend," Leah said as I approached, although there was something strange about the way she said it, as though I was missing a joke.

"Nessie, this is Leah," I said, hesitantly.

"Yes, Nessie! I was just asking, is that short for something?" said Leah, pointedly.

"Vanessa," said Nessie, looking taken aback by Leah's tone.

"Oh, Vanessa? That's not what I was expecting," she said, overly sweet. "I was expecting something a little more exotic. Tell me, where are your parents?"

"In Yukon, Canada," said Nessie, nervously.

"That makes lots of sense," she nodded wisely. "They'd like the cold, wouldn't they?"

"Um," said Nessie, looking a little alarmed.

"Excuse me, Nessie, I need to talk to my senile aunt," I growled and pulled Leah aside.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I asked in an undertone to Leah once we had reached the edge of the yard. I wanted to be well away from Nessie for this conversation. "Why are you giving Nessie the third degree?"

Leah had always been a little coarse, but she had gotten better after she met her husband Finn and had her two kids Nick and Ally. So I couldn't understand why she was suddenly turning into the snide, cruel person she had been before she mastered her anger and stopped phasing all those decades ago.

"You imprinted on her, didn't you?" said Leah.

"I— yes. I think so," I said. "So what? I finally got the lucky break you all got so long ago."

"I didn't imprint on Finn," said Leah. "We fell in love the normal way."

"Screw you," I snapped. "Can't you give me this little piece of happiness?"

"I could if it wasn't so fucked up," said Leah. "Have you looked at her, Jacob? Or is listened to her heart? Or felt her skin? Or is love deaf, blind, and dumb?"

"She's different, I know," I said. "I'm trying to figure her out."

Leah snorted. "Why don't you take a look at her eyes, her face? Who does she look like to you?"

"She…"

I found I couldn't answer. I knew who she looked like, but I didn't want to associate her with Bella.

"It makes sense that I'd imprint on someone who looks like she did, doesn't it? It's like I was waiting for Nessie all along and I was looking in the wrong place."

"Newsflash, you're still in the wrong place," said Leah.

"Screw you, Leah," I said again and stormed away back towards the party. Leah followed. When we got there, Nessie was crouched beside Charlie, who was crying.

"Christ," I grumbled under my breath. I walked towards them, gently pulling Nessie up and walking her back to the car. To my surprise, Nessie's eyes were full of tears.

"I know he's sad," I said. "But he thinks everyone is his dead daughter these days. It's not just you."

Nessie nodded, swallowing hard.

"Of course," said Nessie. "It was so nice to meet him."