Daunt Manor, British Columbia
July, 2006
*One day before the Wakening
Franny and Nicole were growing and picking apples in the orchard, preparing their stock for the feast tomorrow.
The young witch honoree was slowly doing her tasks that her mother notices as she glances at her with the corner of her eyes.
"You're slacking there, mon amour."
The girl turns her head. "Sorry."
She lifted her hands to the branches nearest to her and apples began to bloom until they were round and ripe. Different types were grown, few for desserts and others for meals, having to cross breed a different plant was an easy task for their benefit.
Franny began to pick them and sees the obnoxious smile that was displayed on her mother's face. She sighs through the nose. "What?"
"It's just, I haven't seen you this distracted over a boy before. Not since that artist fellow in Montreal."
Her daughter bit her bottom lip. Not sure if she would continue this boy talk with her mother, but her options were low at the moment.
Maggie was busy with a meeting with the farmers and the security details of their land for the guests' visits tomorrow.
Analee was also busy trying to find any remaining crawlers that had escaped from her cages, not wanting their distant relatives to have their fun with them before she could.
And there was no way she could talk about Jacob with Valerie. She loves her aunt, but she was too engrossed by her thoughts to be bothered by Val's insistence on 'laying with him is your solution'.
No matter how tempting it was.
"Didn't Valerie tell you anything?" She tilts her head at her, leaning away from the ladder a bit.
"What she told me was that she noticed the two of you sneaking in home near dawn."
She catches her mother's smile at her when she stated it.
"I thought we've already had the talk about my virtue." Franny remembers it well when she gave her virginity to a fellow witch, right before she met Christopher.
Most human parents are not happy or comfortable with their teenagers acting on their hormonal desires, but in the witches' world it is natural and even appreciated for one to share their energy.
"We did. Now I'm asking if I should be expecting a pregnancy test shown to my face."
Franny rolls her eyes by her mother's tone. "Don't worry about it. We only went riding last night. So don't complain on the possibilities of becoming a grandmother."
She felt her cheeks being pulled and she winced once Nicole let it go.
"Better be, I wouldn't mind you being friendly with him, but on the soul of your father, you better not get pregnant right after becoming Sovereign. Your grandfather would chop that boy into pieces until he's ground meat."
She burst into giggles, imagining the look on Gramps's face if she were ever get pregnant right after the ritual.
"That should be enough." Nicole said.
They climbed down the ladders they were on and began to trek back home with their haul. Once they reached inside, they met with Analee and Maya waiting in the kitchen for them. They washed the fruit thoroughly before they began to peel and cut for the feast tomorrow.
"Analee, did you managed to get all of your pets in your room with Matthew?"
"Yup. Can't have cousin Arlo's little monster eating them again."
"I like Bartholemew the lizard." Maya said.
"Well, that little lizard better not be in my sights." Analee grumbles as she cuts the apples angrily, most likely imagining it was the reptile instead.
"Hey," Franny holds her cousin's wrist. "You'll cut a finger off."
Analee calms down a bit then continues to chop.
Once the ingredients were prepared, the real work began. Throughout the rest of the afternoon, they baked and cooked the apples, setting it aside for the catering staff that Valerie hired to deal with in the morning.
They took a lunch break outside, and the boys joined them from their work in the fields.
Franny glances secretly at Jacob, but he catches her stare and shoots her a smile. Instead of responding, she looks away, but the corners of her lips curve.
Since their 'run' together, her feelings towards the boy had shifted.
She's never felt this warmth for anyone before. Every time they've been together, she's been the happiest she's ever been.
It was weird though, sometimes, there were days when he wasn't around, and it would bother her. Not in a creepy obsessive way, it felt like a tick was gnawing on her scalp.
She needed to be careful about how to approach these newfound emotions for him.
Most covens don't involve themselves with humans, but few were exceptional based on status and species. If you were to tell that most powerful being that they could not marry or pursue a relationship with a human, knowing well that you could be cursed with an irreversible spell that would bring an unfortunate effect on your life that worse than death, what would you say?
And the exception was that if they are not human, they are acceptable.
Franny thought of these cons way before when she dated Christopher.
It was nice though, to be focusing on a boy for a chance. Lately, the upcoming celebration is becoming less of what the word is supposed to define.
Celebratory.
She loves her coven, she loves her people, she loves her family. Her loyalty to the coven will always be there, but the responsibility weighing pressure over her shoulders was getting heavier and heavier as more members of the coven grew wary of their protection since the first day that Oswyn had announced that she would be next in line to become the Sovereign right after her father's death.
Though they could not deny the powers she was bestowed upon, they were still hesitant to be led by a child.
Based on their history, the last Sovereign that started to rein the Daunt coven in Franny's age was Solomon Daunt. And he held great power that no witch could ever match up to.
Once the Wakening passes, they will see what power Franny truly manifests.
And that's what makes her anxious the most, not knowing if she would ever be enough to lead the coven to its glorification that it once was over a millennial ago.
Her heavy thoughts were then interrupted by Nicole as the young girl poked her side.
"You okay, honey?" She asked her daughter in a hushed tone, knowing her daughter well enough that she didn't want any attention from the rest of the people at the table. "You barely touched your food."
Franny pulls a believable smile. "Sorry, got a lot on my mind."
Nicole nods, an understanding smile on her face. "I'm sure. Don't worry, amour, you will make a wonderful Sovereign."
The young witch tries and achieves a convincing smile at mother's words. "Thanks mom."
She just hoped she believed it herself.
Franny ground up the spices that she needed to add to the recipe that the potion required. The weather was nice outside, and she had her equipment with her in the garden. Most of them came from the observatory but she needed fresh air.
She looks down at her aunt Louisa's book and rereads the instructions again. This potion was something that she had never done before due to its seasonal ingredients, most of them were found in the winter, few from the fall, but the difficult part was that it needed to be prepared at a prestige time, otherwise, Kaboom!
What was her great-aunt's fascination with gunpowder? She does not know.
But it's supposed function was to help prevent their cows from gaseous bloating. Anything to rid themselves of the aftermath of the disease was something that the farmers would be glad of. Except for Val.
"Got them! Just like you said, they were near the creek."
She looked up from her book and looked down at it again, but a grin had formed on her face.
Jacob had gladly volunteered to find her some ingredients outside when her hands were full of the party planning. He's been a great help with her craft whenever he was done working with the farmers.
Last night. . . she can't explain it. They rode through the forest with such enlightenment, a feeling that she couldn't remember ever achieving whenever she rode Pepper out in the fields.
She remembered when they came back from their nightly ride and went to the kitchens to get a late-night snack. Every few minutes, she would catch him looking at her with such an attentive gaze.
He was growing on her. She never felt this happy since. . . since Christopher.
Jacob was funny and very kind. And he listens.
In fact, she never met anyone other than Christopher, who could withstand her ramblings whenever something excited her or was bothering her. Such as the preparations their family had to make for their guests' arrival.
Jacob noticed her quiet sigh. "That hard?" Implying on the potion instructions.
She sends him a look. "If anything, this is a challenge that I needed to keep myself busy, . Also, one of our farmers is coming down with a bad fever. His wife requested this tonic for a faster recovery."
After chopping a few roots, she saw the slight worry in his eyes. "Do you want to talk about it? If not, I can just sit here and stay quiet."
Shaking her head. "It's nothing major, but yeah I could use another ear or two."
He went beside her at a fair distance and sat on one of the chairs at the table working in the garden.
Franny continues to grind the spices. "Obviously, we need to be careful with these guests, but not as much as Jim anticipated. But with everything with the security detail and Simon. I think it took the last straw for me and I just need to stop thinking."
"And making potions usually tend to do that?" He speculated.
She laughs under her breath. "A little. Also, I need to relieve myself from stress, otherwise I'm gonna have to go to the alternative before or after the Wakening and I do not want to come to that."
She saw the look on his face, still uncertain of what she was hinting at and stops grinding. "What? You don't know?"
He shrugs a little, clearly not knowing what she was talking about.
A small, yet wicked smile appeared on her face. "Wow, I guess Gramps really is letting me be the guide."
She leans her hip on the table and crossed her arms as she thinks for a second before she begins to explain. "I guess you can really say that witches are. . . willing to explore after and before rituals, ceremonies, celebrations and festivities. Such as the activities that are encouraged by the young to not only feel close to our auras or energy, but to the environment around us."
"That are . . .?" Jacob draws, trying to get a direct answer.
"Sex." She said in a calm tone.
He blinks. "What now?"
She bit her lip and let out a quick sigh. "Witches tend to be. . . active as well as any normal hormonal being. But we, however, don't see it as an act of emotional attachment or stress relief, only appreciation one's natural design that nature has bestowed us and drawing each other's power to create something pure."
Another moment of silence had passed.
"What now?"
Franny sighs again. "It means what it means."
She takes the spices and spreads it into the mixture of hers that was boiling in the cauldron in front of her. Meanwhile, she could clearly see the mixture of emotions that were dancing in Jacob's eyes.
He flutters his eyes and opens his mouth, closing it and opens again until a hesitant question came pass through his lips.
"Have you ever. . .?" He leans his head forward down, obviously trying to avoid the last wording of his question.
She pursed her lips.
"I am to be the next Sovereign of my coven, it was expected for me to participate in the gatherings."
She stirs the potion gently, not taking her eyes off it, waiting for the spices to clear.
"So, you're not a . . ." Jacob really didn't want to say it, but he didn't have to.
She shakes her head. Not bothering to hide it since it was not a private topic amongst her kin. Seeing as everyone was very comfortable with their body that some would even walk in their birthday suit on the nights of certain celebrations.
Especially Beltane and Lupercalia.
What can she say? Her grandmother was half-Greek.
"Okay." Jacob said
Franny could see the battle within himself.
Maybe she shouldn't have said something.
"You good there?" She asked as she bottles up the mixture and sets it in front of him.
He blinked again and gave her a reassuring smile, but it wasn't convincing from her end.
"All good."
She gave him an 'alright' look before continuing with her project.
For a short while, she brewed her potion and would occasionally blow the strands of her hair from her face and poured the power into the pot.
"Mind if I . . ." He points at her hair, with a gesturing offer.
At first, she thought he meant the potion, but he walked over to her side of the table, and she realized he meant her hair. She had barely noticed that it was a mess.
She shrugs, seeing no harm. "Go for it."
He went behind her and pulled the hair tie that once held her dark hair together. She almost flutters her eyes close when he carefully brushes her hair with his fingers. Suddenly, she understood what he was doing when he began to braid her hair expertly. Her spine shivered slightly when the back of his fingers brushed against the surface of her nape.
Jacob finishes the ends of her hair and ties it with her hair tie and pulls over her shoulder. "Done."
She looked down at it and smiled.
He made a fishtail.
She looks at him over her shoulder. "Thanks."
Jacob pulled a grin and spoke. "You're welcome."
After a short silence, mostly because she was remembering that one conversation they had when they went out to town.
"Why did you cut your hair?"
His smile was gone, and it answered her question before he could answer.
He didn't want to.
She looked away, knowing it was insensitive of her to even ask. Hoping that her silence would hopefully make them forget she ever asked.
But Jacob takes a breath. "When I phased for the first time, my fur was longer and shaggier that I couldn't see properly. It's. . . one of my least favorite things being a protector."
His hair wasn't just a style. It was a part of him. It represents his background and tribal culture. Cutting must've broken him, and she could tell by the solemn emotion reflecting in his eyes.
He manages to pull a smile. ''I got used to it though. And, in a weird way, I'm not sad about it anymore. I had my pack to help me cope with it.''
"You think highly of them."
He shrugs carelessly, but a fond smile was on his face. "They're chaotic. But they're brothers."
Relieved that she didn't overstep about his hair, s he picked a small object that was lying beside her cauldron. Hoping this would distract him from whatever dilemma was going on inside his head about tomorrow.
"I've been meaning to give this to you." She hands it to him, and he looks at it.
It was a stuffed-yarned potato like character, crocheted with small buttons on it as a pair of eyes. It was so small that it could be fit to be a keychain.
"What is this?" He snorts. I was so weird looking but simple.
"That is what will help you survive through the days of the festivities." She leaned back on her hands on the table as she gave him a serious look, but her smile was still there. Proudly looking at her work in Jacob's hands.
"It's a charm. To protect ourselves from unwanted hexes and inflected curses from our enemies, we make charms to ward them off."
"I thought they were allies?" Jacob asks.
"They are, but there are a few who like to play games."
"What kind of games?"
She steps forward as she gives a coy smile, he doesn't budge. She could feel his breath on her face, even the warmth of his skin that was only a touch away.
"The kind that could lead you do. . . unwanted things."
He squinted his eyes at her. "And how do I know it was them. For all I know, you could be a potential culprit."
Her smirk widens. "We'll see. Besides, I wouldn't want my friend to get in trouble with the ghouls."
His grin widens. "So you admit, I'm your friend?"
She rolled her eyes and careful takes his hand that was holding the charm and closes his hand around it, her smile then turned genuine and she looks up at him.
"Just promise me you'll keep it with you always."
Gazing at their hands for a short moment, he nods and places his free hand on top of hers. "I will."
She sees it again. That longing look, eyes filled with love and devotion, nothing like what Valerie had described. Lately, she's been seeing it more often since she rode Pepper and followed Jacob through the woods. The feeling she gets when he looks at her that way wasn't hostile nor concerning, only a sense of the familiar warmth that was sparking within her.
They stood at a small distance between them, so little that she could just close the gap and lean her head up to kiss him.
Instead, she released a small sigh, let's go of his hands and step away from him to continue her project. Not knowing that her scent would engulf the charm, soothing the wolf inside her new friend.
Up in his room, Jacob was making a bracelet on his bed with strings that he bought from a stationary store when he went out to do errands in town. He had barely started because the real work can only be done in La Push.
He pauses to admire the little charm that sat on top of his bedside. It was so corny, but he finds that it represents Franny perfectly, caring and strength.
Tomorrow, the guests will arrive, and Franny was called away by Hank to set the final arrangements for their stay. For two days and one night, if Jacob was not mistaken. They are to stay and acknowledge Franny's recognition in the day, then in the night will come the ritual.
The Wakening.
Franny told him that they were numerous records and events that would follow if a witch had the unfortunate path and could not perform their Wakening.
Mudslides.
Earthquakes.
Hurricanes.
Tsunamis.
Hailstorms.
Every natural disaster was made by a witch's power when it gets overwhelmed until their magic would erupt. Once it does, nature would head to their call of distress and react drastically. What comes after, they are drained and only a shell of a body was replaced as the witch's soul vanished.
After knowing how important it was for Franny to go through it, he's been on edge. Every chance he gets, he would be by her side until she is whisked away by one of her family or friends from the farm.
He put away his project after feeling hungry. He went down the stairs and into the kitchen, smiled at the sight of Franny's apple fritters sitting on top of the kitchen counter with a note beside it that had his name on it.
'Help Yourself' was written next to his name.
He looked at it with a fond look and took the plate.
After devouring it, he washes his plate and places it on the drying rack before went to the back door that leads to the backyard.
The sun was gone from the sky, Jacob took his walk to the orchards down the path.
He sat himself at his and Franny's tree, something he would call in secret. He lets the quiet night and admires the charm again before he looks out at the field. He found himself outside and walked to the orchard.
He thought of the conversation at the diner, when Franny told him of the possibilities of dying if she didn't proceed with the Wakening ritual.
That fear alone was eating him alive.
What she could tell him was that the honoree of the Wakening would go through a mental trial that their elder, Oswyn, would send them into a limbo-like state.
It is all for the good of their life.
He got up to head back inside, too much in a good mood by the charm to be drowned in bad thoughts. But as he got closer to the back door, he saw Hank standing there.
Waiting for him.
"We need to talk."
Jacob was pulled into Oswyn's study by Hank and sat across from the Daunt patriarch of his desk. His hands were on the desk, staring calmingly at the boy.
"I remember the first time Franny took down her first vampire." He starts out. "No older than Matthew when she was his age. 11, pigtails." The older man chuckles to himself by the memory. "I know in normal terms, taking your niece to a hunting party is not ideal. But by heritage, it was right. My father said it was vital that she learns about what lurks around us. When she burned that mosquito to ashes, I saw the truth. That she would lead us to a fruitful future."
He leans back into his chair, staring intensely at the boy. "So, tell me, Jacob. If I were to let you continue this infatuation you have with my niece. What then?"
If Jacob was surprised, he would've shown it, but it was no secret from the family that he had shown interest in Franny. And I was also not a secret that a few, well Hank anyways, was clearly not amused.
Hank sighed, giving Jacob no more chances to explain himself, and leaned back on his chair.
"Let me remind you of something that must've slipped your mind, you won't be here for long." Hank shakes his head. "Sooner or later, you will rejoin your family back in Washington. Franny's place is here, with her family, just as much as your place is with yours. Whatever it is you think you two can have, it cannot happen."
If he could, Jacob would've stand up and punch the man, but he sits put out of respect for Franny and how much her uncle means to her. He already knew of the possible outcome when Franny discovers about the imprint. He was still grateful that Hank hadn't found out about it, otherwise, it would have been an ugly standoff between them.
He's seen how Hank doted on his niece, like he did with his children. How couldn't he? From the way Jacob sees it, Hank must've seen a lot of his big brother in Franny. If Franny was just as mischievous and daring as her father, he would understand why Hank would be threatened if Jacob would in some way, by a landslide, would take away Hank's great reminder of Hugh Daunt. His daughter.
"You're right." He spoke.
Hank's shoulders relaxed.
Jacob slanted his head, a slight unwavering look was formed by the frown of his brows. "But that doesn't mean I'll stop being her friend. And one day, she'll have to make a decision."
Hank glares slightly. "To what?"
Jacob looks at him, showing that he won't be intimidated, not even by Franny's uncle. "Whether she wants me, or not."
"And if she doesn't? If she asks you to leave." Hank urges him for an answer.
But luckily for Jacob, he thought of it the minute he met Franny.
"Then I'll leave," Without hesitation. "And it'll be like I never existed. But it's Franny's decision. Not Oswyn's, not her mother and especially not yours."
Hank was about to snark up a response to him, a knock was heard at the door before it opened.
Maya's face pokes out from behind the opened door. "Dad, can you tuck me in?"
Hank brushes away any anger from his system so that his daughter wouldn't see it. She was a gifted empathizer.
Everyone in the family had a special power they are just prone to be gifted with. Maya could read and even feel people's feelings. A power that Jacob has seen in one of the vampires of the Cullens. Jasper was his name, he thinks.
Suddenly, he blinks his eyes as he felt a sense nausea wave through him.
Weird.
"I'll be there in a minute, sweetie." His tone was clean of its early malice.
She frowns at her father, wondering why he was feeling so frustrated. But she sets it aside, feeling too tired to deal with whatever grown up stuff he was speaking about with Jacob.
She left the door and Hank stood up.
He looks back at Jacob. "I recommend that you think carefully about this. You don't know the kind of danger you put yourself into if this continues on."
"No. I don't. But I could learn." Jacob says bravely.
They both held their ground, daring each other to make a move until Hank moved.
"You know, our apples are the crown jewel of our business." He walked to stand by Oswyn's desk, his hand only touching the top while his other hand resides inside the pocket of his pants. "People around the world would spend good money for just a crate."
Jacob didn't know where he was going with this.
Suddenly, a stinging pain was formed within the bottom of his stomach. He hunched over a bit as he held in a cough.
Hank tisks. "But the are other uses as well that are beneficial to certain aspects in a natural and non-manufactured way. Such as getting rid of rodents in the fields without chemically harming the crops."
Jacob couldn't hold it. He coughed down as the dizziness worsened that he lost his balance.
So many scenes of the day ran through his head as he tried to figured out how this happened until the most obvious flashed through his head.
The fritters.
"Did you know that if you consumed just the right amount of apple seeds it could lead you to cyanide poisoning?"
Jacob continued to cough down and suddenly fell off his chair so hard that it clattered to the floor as he plopped down on the carpet.
He continued to cough so much that it began to burn and his heart beat was beating rapidly. It was beginning hard to breathe.
Hank crouches down and looks down at him with little empathy.
"This is only a taste of the real danger that will lead to if you continue this, son." He says with an impassive voice. Not caring if the boy was practically dying in front him in his father's study. "Still want to rethink your answer, now?"
Jacob gazes up at him as his breathing begins to regress. He could feel himself almost sleeping in an unconscious state.
But no matter how painful it was to breathe, to move, his lips managed to curve into a demure but tired smirk.
"That all you got?"
Hank's brow raised then sighs before standing up. Jacob began to worry when Hank reached the door. But when he opens it, a fearful looking Franny was behind it with a bottle in her hand. She looked down at Jacob and didn't waste a second as she rushed to him and lifted his head. Oswyn was there and entered, glancing at his son with a disappointed look.
"You said you would only use a small dose of the poison." He hisses at him.
Jacob could feel Franny lifting the bottle to his lips. Ushering him to drink it, her eyes glazed with tears.
"He heals quickly." Hank subsides without a care in the world. He looks back down at wolf.
Was it a test of sorts?
Franny glares up at her uncle. "I'll never forgive you for this."
"I don't expect you to. I only want you and Jacob to understand."
"Understand what?" She bites.
He didn't answer her. Instead, his eyes moved to Jacob, and he gave his final speech.
"This family has lost so much. Don't make us go through it again with Franny."
Without another word he left the room, leaving Jacob to be healed by Franny and Oswyn.
La Push, Washington
August, 2006
Jacob's eyes widened in shock as her right hand moved slowly to her left shoulder. When she pulled her hand away, he could see the crimson liquid dribbling down her fingers.
She looked down at it then looked up to where he was standing, her mouth then moved. Her voice echoed as she called out his name.
Jacob?
He suddenly found his upper body towering over her body on a pedestal, crying.
She was losing so much blood.
Stay with me!
Flashes of men and women, dressed in dark and white colors were watching them in both fear and remorse.
He felt his heart beating so loudly that it burst through his ear canal.
Her eyes then closed.
And he screamed in agony as he held her body against his.
Jacob woke up with a loud gasp and started panting loudly. He looks around the room, his room.
His loud beating heart coincided with his loud breathing in response to his fear. Sweat dripping down his back and head. He looks around his room again and tries to control his breathing.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath again, his hand went to cover his face.
After a while, his breathing went back to normal.
He could feel his eyes glazed as the horrifying images of the dream, of the nightmare, rummaging through his mind like a migraine. He looked outside and saw that it was still dark outside.
Sam caught him by surprise when he went easy on him on patrols, partially because he found Franny.
Suddenly, his door opened, and he looked up. The haunting thoughts were then gone when he sees Franny poking her headfirst before she fully steps into his room.
During her stay, Billy had her rooming with Rachel since Rebecca was gone.
"Hey. I could hear you from down the hall." Franny said and sat on the bed, placing herself next to him. "You okay?"
He blinks, his adam's apple bounced as he swallowed. "Yeah."
Her eyes laced with worry and her hand cups his face. He took this moment to study her face. The length of her natural lashes, shadowing her brilliant blue eyes. Sometimes, they would change color. It could be the trick of the light, but they would turn grey at some point if they were in a room with ambient lighting, green when natural lighting. Her full pink lips moved as she asked him a question, her thumb stroked his cheek. "Was it the dream again?"
Jacob closed his eyes. The images came back for a second as he took a deep breath.
"Oh, puppy." Franny muttered.
"Stay with me." His voice faltered with plea, his eyes opened to see her face again, the consuming dread he had felt when he remembered the way her face was pale cold and lifeless. It was a memory that shook him to his core.
She smiled and placed her other hand on the other side of his face to cup it softly. Nodding his request.
He moves over to the side where his bed was touching the wall as Franny lifts the duvet. Despite his large and solidly built physique, they manage to fit in his twin bed by laying her head on his chest like a pillow. His arm wrapped around her back and the hand of his other arm held on to hers that lay on his left peck.
His mouth touching the top of her head, he lets her aroma of honeysuckles and oranges lull him back to sleep.
"I hate seeing you like this." Franny asked in a hush whisper. "I wish I could do something."
"You are." He rasps out.
"How?"
He held her tighter. "By being here."
Billy smiled, watching his son beaming at the sound of his imprint laughing as they set up to go to the grocery store to prepare for their date.
It almost felt like none of it was real. After son being gone for so long, he was almost sure that this moment felt like another cruel dream that frightened him from waking up.
He's seen the way Jacob was, broken and obsessed over a girl who wasn't his. She was not at fault, no one was. Jacob's feelings were not something to be controlled by. It just happened. It still hasn't changed the fact that it caused a lot of harm to not just to Jacob but to the people who cared about him.
Heck, Billy was even shocked when Embry told him that Leah had once, in her cold way, tried and comforted the poor boy.
And when he was gone, he thought that was it. That one push due to a piece of paper was the last straw of Jacob's anger.
For weeks, Billy had nothing to do but wait and wait until Charlie couldn't handle it and took the manner to himself by setting up search. He called every station from neighboring states and made flyers as well. Fearing that it could be another missing person case like in the multiple ones in Portland.
What made the secret so hard to live with was to lie to one of the many close friends that didn't know about it. Lying to Charlie was something he had to get developed since the night when Sam first shifted when Cullens moved back to Forks.
"Ooh, so this is what you looked like with long hair!"
He looks up from his newspaper when Franny gasped.
"Grow it back!" She demanded with a pout.
Jacob snorted. "And be blinded and shaggy like my first night? Forget it."
"Meanie." Franny bites.
Billy shakes his head at their mocked bickering.
When he got the call. He got over his shock before he spoke, asking where he was. After explaining shortly that he was in British Columbia, Billy asked if he was okay. After a short silence, Jacob answered, saying he was staying with a family of farmers.
He remembered the way his son spoke when he told him the news.
"I found her dad. I've imprinted."
He was baffled, never expecting that a wolf from the pack, his son, would imprint someone outside of their tribe. But that shock would slowly turn to joy. No more of the depression Jacob would struggle to handle. No more would Jacob suffer from a heart ache as Bella would transition into a cold one.
He's finally found the person who would complete him.
When she arrived, she was everything that he had not expected, in the best way possible.
And then there was the other part.
Franny was a witch.
If it weren't for their stories, their history, Billy would've been skeptical. But then again, their ancestors had magical powers of their own that would soon result in the Quileute gaining their warriors.
And the flowers she grew from midair certainly sets the deal.
They have a witch now.
After meeting up with Sam and the pack, then revealing the fact that she was a witch, their world of monsters expanded.
Franny had to explain that the only reason why they know now was because of the imprinting. She explained that during the last few days of Jacob's stay with her family, something had happened that made her coven and the rest of the few covens around the world to go with her encouragement to find allies outside of their kin. Believing that it would benefit all of them in knowledge and friendship.
"You need anything while were out Dad?" Jacob asked as he took the keys to the truck and Franny put on her jacket.
"Just the usual." Billy says and turns a page of his paper.
They bid their byes and left, he smiles at the door, and he hears Rachel coming inside the living room from her shower.
"He's looks really happy." She said as she fiddled with the towel.
Billy's smile was then gone. "Four hours."
She looks at him, frowns. "What?"
"Paul can stay over for four hours and no more." He turns another page.