Disclaimer: This story is rated T/ M (Mature). Content may be suitable for persons aged 17 and older. It will most likely contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content, suicidal ideation, and strong language.
This chapter has been edited.
Jacob's POV
It was odd moving on my own two feet. Sam had planted some clothes behind the gas station just outside of town for me to find.
I thought I could have outrun the storm that hit, but a car clipped me on the way in.
I had to wait in the woods across the lot for my hip to pop back in place and my leg to readjust.
Now that I was here. Apologies had to be given, and I had many relationships to mend.
I agreed to meet my friends at the diner before heading home.
"Jake!" Embry and Quil stood up to greet me. I cracked a wiry smile for the first time in ages. It felt strange on my face.
The restaurant noise was quickly becoming overwhelming, giving me a headache.
As I took a step towards them, something rammed into my back with force.
My stony expression returned, and I felt a growl build up in my chest. Throwing my shoulders back, I turned around to see what the problem was.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to run into you. You see, the floor is wet, so I slipped." A soft, dulcet voice echoed in my ears.
A girl nearly two feet below me clutched her nose as she apologized. Must have fallen face-first into me.
"No problem." My voice was incredibly gruff due to lack of use, but I think she was able to make out my words.
The brunette uncovered her face, looking up at me with round, glassy dark brown eyes.
My heart lurched, and the world seemed to shift beneath my feet in a split second. Gravity moved, tying my being around her feet. I was afraid that I was shifting back into a wolf here inside the diner, but that didn't seem to happen. There was no panic coming from the customers, which meant what was happening to me was internal.
Recollection hit me. Sam's words from a year ago surfaced at the forefront of my mind.
'Imprinting. It's like this...The center of your world changes. Your life becomes her life, and vice versa. The love you experience will be like one you have never known. There are no words to describe it fully.'
My eyes locked immovably with hers. She looked just as startled as me.
Then, a new sensation latched onto me—something like a hot cord of three bounds being tied. No, it branded my heart to hers.
Once secured, an electrical heat magnetized, and it was like that magnetism circulated through my chest to every part of me.
There was something that felt like a snap, a cutting away, severing and separating all former lesser bonds. This new cord swiped across the old ones like a hot knife.
In moments, the imprinting changed everything. She broke the back of my loathing.
The chains of sorrow that weighed me down shattered. My bitterness and resentment were gone.
The grudge I was determined to keep with an iron grip slipped and dropped off my being entirely—oil to water.
Even the throbbing pain from the hole in my heart Bella created slowly began to evaporate in this girl's presence.
This was all because of her. I was so speechless my mouth hung open in shock.
It was strange. I felt bound but incredibly free. And surprisingly, I was grateful.
Sam and the pack were right. Nothing compared to this love, and I had to know her name.
But before I could ask or take in her entire appearance with true appreciation, my imprint pulled up her hood, bolting out the door.
"Layla! Where are you going? You can't leave-" The female manager hung over the counter, calling after the girl.
The diner lights flickered to a clap of thunder. "Can one of you boys go get her? Please."
"Layla." I breathed.
Her name felt right on my tongue, so I repeated it again. My feet moved on their own after her.
I could hear her footfalls splashing through puddles ahead.
When the sound stopped, I knew Layla did too.
The rain came down faster and harder, making hearing or seeing anything difficult.
"Hey!" I called out loudly. She stood there unmoving, looking for something.
I called out to Layla again, this time stepping in front of her.
My body blocked the wind, carrying the rain coming at her. She blinked, wiping her eyes. Layla stepped back, finally noticing me.
"Let's get back inside!" I raised my voice, hoping she heard.
I wasn't sure that she had. Layla's nose crinkled as her face twisted in confusion.
She looked down at my hand extended to her. Nodding hesitantly, she grasped my palm.
Layla's ice-cold fingers laced into mine, and it felt like two puzzle pieces coming together. I could feel the warm electric current under our skin, running up through my arm and into my chest, stirring my heart. It woke me up out of the emotional destitute stupor I'd been living in.
My hand clamped around hers tighter as I led her back to the diner.
The ripping rain and wind slammed the door behind us. We stood, dripping all over the floor once again.
"What on earth were you thinking?!" Cheryl, the manager, shrieked.
She had fetched more towels. Tossing one over my shoulder and the other, she wrapped around Layla.
"I-I was going back for my p-purse so I could p-pay you." She stammered out.
The owner was right. No one had any business going back out there.
"Too late now, honey. The tow truck must have taken it. I called your grandfather. He knows you arrived safely, but I think it's best you get a ride to somewhere to warm up soon."
"Oh, okay." Layla looked down at her feet.
"I can't drive you home until the storm passes and everyone leaves. Maybe someone else here can." Cheryl persisted with concern.
"We could drive you guys home." Embry swooped in for the rescue. Clearly, I was still out of it.
"Hi there! I'm Embry Call, and that's our friend Quil Ateara." My cousin waved from the table with a mouth full of cheeseburger.
"Let them take you home, Hun," Cheryl assured her. "They're good boys." "B-But-"
"Don't worry. It's a small town. I know where you're staying." Cheryl winked at her.
Layla nodded reluctantly, agreeing to Embry's offer. He ran out to bring his truck around.
The guys and I greeted each other briefly. They welcomed my return with open arms and congratulated me on what had just happened.
"Come on, guys! Let's get you home." Embry called to my imprint, standing on the steps, watching us.
Quil called shotgun, forcing the two of us in the back seat.
Layla climbed first. Her wet clothes weighing her down made it hard for her to move. I slid in next, keeping a seat open between us.
I accidentally slammed the door with a little too much force. It made her jolt in surprise, and Embry snapped his head back protectively over his vehicle.
"Sorry," I mumbled, ignoring Embry's brief glare. I was too focused on Layla.
"Where to Miss?" Embry asked enthusiastically. That's right; this must be his new truck. The last time we spoke, he was talking about buying a used car.
"La Push." Her answer surprised us.
"Our lands? Are you trying to come home with us?" Quil teased her.
I kneed the back of his seat. I knew he was trying to be funny, but I didn't like the flirtatious tone.
Embry shot another stern look through the rearview mirror at me.
"My grandfather lives there, on Moon Ranch." She explained.
"Old man Syd, huh?" Embry muttered. "We know where he lives." Quil's face looked amused as if recalling something.
"Yeah, we used to get in trouble for trespassing when we were kids." Embry didn't find the memory as funny as Quil, probably because he would be the one to get caught.
"Oh, really?" Layla's full lips lifted into a slight smile.
"He's just mad Syd's cock chased him up a tree." Quil chuckled ruthlessly.
"That rooster was mean, and the hens were huge. I swear one could fly." Embry grumbled.
She laughed at that. The sound was melodic and mesmerizing to me.
"So, where are yah from Layla?" Quil decided to take the lead on questions since I was unable to snap out of this starstruck state.
"Idiot," Embry whispered so low only us guys could hear.
"Los Angeles." Layla's teeth chattered less now that the car was heating up.
"California girl. Did you move here for the rain, or what?" Quil continued.
"Something like that." I wanted her to keep speaking just so I could hear her voice, but Layla's demeanor was shy.
I owed it to the guys for their help. I wish I were capable of interactions right now, but I wasn't in my current condition. Learning to become man again would be my top priority.
I tried to say something, but the sound that came out of me resembled a growl. I cleared my throat instead.
Layla looked at me as if I was coming down with something, or maybe she thought I was insane. Great.
Embry looked back at me, shaking his head this time. "Did you move here? Or are you just visiting good old Grandpa?"
"I guess I'm moving in with Syd for now. My dad has a house out in Forks, but that's in the process of being renovated." Layla's eyes desperately followed a car being towed in the opposite direction. It must have been hers.
"Do you think you'll be going to school on the rez then?" Embry asked for me.
"I'm not sure. I think it will be whatever they decide." Layla shrugged, not invested.
Embry turned off the main road and onto the bumpy reservation back roads. We headed towards the rear Quileute lands. He jerked the car to weave around potential potholes.
Layla forgot about her seatbelt, sliding into my side.
"Sorry." She squeaked, grabbing my knee for support. My arm instinctively wrapped around her so that she wouldn't fly forward on the next bump. The gravel road was always bumpier when heavy rains came to loosen the ground.
"You guys good?" Embry suppressed a laugh, watching us. I shot him a glare for driving recklessly. "Yeah," Layla answered.
"You don't get to decide?" I asked her. She blinked, surprised I said anything at all.
"I suppose I could weigh in." She pushed off me gently. "I was thinking about going to Forks High, though."
"Boo." The guys chimed from the front. Their carefree nature was making her more comfortable.
"I just didn't think a new face like mine would be welcome." She glanced at me. Our eyes held with another unexplained moment of magnetism.
"You'd be safe with us," I assured her. Safe with me.
"You're more than welcome." Embry rolled up the U-shaped drive mixture of the sand and gravel lane leading up to Syd's front steps.
The house was a typical wide ranch house made of stone and wood; the second story was an add-on. Some small barns stood off to the side of the property.
The porch light flickered on, and a man stood in tall stature.
"Mean as always," Quil whispered to Embry. Syd approached us, signaling them to roll down the window.
"What are you kids doing? Do I need to call your parents?" Syd threatened in his deep, raspy voice.
"You know you didn't have to bring that out." Embry referred to the shotgun.
"Relax, Syd, we have your granddaughter," Quil assured him, gesturing to the backseat.
"Thanks, guys. Hi, Grandpa." Layla hopped out onto the muddy ground.
Syd squinted at all of us as if memorizing our faces with his grey hawk-like eyes. "You boys stay out of trouble." He grunted.
"See you around!" Quil waved at Layla, ignoring Syd's threat. "Don't be a stranger." Embry winked.
"See ya." Layla's smile faded when looking at me one last time.
Embry drove off too quickly.
"Could you be any more lame?!" Quil groaned, twisting his body to look at me.
"I did all the work for you! I might as well ask her out," I cut him off by snarling and with a swift kick to the back of his seat again.
My protective instincts were growing, if not taking over, when it came to her.
"Cut it out! No beating up the truck! Got it?!" Embry raised his voice. Quil muttered incoherently to himself.
"Cut Jacob some slack, Quil. He just got back, and none of us could have guessed that was going to happen tonight." Embry defended me.
"Yeah, he's so used to running around in wolf form he's forgotten how to talk," Quil grumbled again.
I rolled my eyes. He wasn't wrong. Being human would take some getting used to.
I tuned out their banter as they drove me home a couple of miles up the road. In the meantime, I kept replaying my first encounter with Layla in my mind.
"Alright. We're kicking you out." Embry unlocked the truck doors.
"Take a shower; why don't yah? You dirty mutt." Quill laughed at his own joke that he only found funny. "Thanks, guys."
They drove off, and I looked at the familiar single-story brick red house.
My dad wheeled out on the front porch under the overhang I built him. He was up this late, waiting for me.
A lump of emotion rose in my throat. There was so much I wanted to say, but I wasn't sure where to start.
Was there anything I could say or do to counteract the damage I did by leaving?
Author's Notes:
This story takes place after Bella leaves Forks and marries Edward. It is not an alternate universe (or AU).
The timeline in past tense will be shoddy for writer/plot convenience. (For the reader's imagination's sake, Eclipse Chapter 26 Ethics and 27 Epilogue did take place.)
In this story, Jacob had run around in wolf form since his recovery from the newborn battle. He did show up to Bella's wedding in human form, like in Breaking Dawn, but then he directly reverted to wolf form until friends and family coaxed him to return home.
At this point, Bella and Edward have not returned to Forks.
Important Notice: Plot points of the story
This is a slow-burn romance that turns into a love triangle later on.
There are drawn-out miscommunications between the main couple for the plot point's sake. If that bothers you, this story may not be for you.
Also, subplots and details may seem excessive or frivolous right now, but I promise they do tie together eventually.