Jacob ran his fingers through his hair as he sighed. His father had called and ordered him to return from wherever he was. His father didn't explain and Jacob didn't question. His father was an elder and still the chief until the end of the week, so when he called you came running. So much for peace and quiet with his mate. With his fiancée . The very thought had his wolf rumble in peace and content. Knowing that the fear of imprinting no longer lingered over either of their heads. He couldn't imagine the pain either of them would have felt if he had imprinted. The devastation and yet his own will, taken from him. Forced to be someone he wasn't, forced to love someone he had no connection with. It was sick. The way the imprint warped a person. He had seen it firsthand. The way Quill jr. had been happy go lucky and joyful and then bam, his eyes met Claire's and he was done for. What made it worse is that she was Emily's seventeen- year-old niece. So now Quill jr. was being watched even more than before. But also, a part of him, a human part of him was just a tad bit annoyed.

Without the supernatural mojo, without the vampires, without the wolves, He and Bella… they could have… darn it, they could have lived. Yeah, he was in a weird spot in life, things were going good and rough at the same time and yet he yearned to be the guy before the wolf.

The kid who didn't have a clue in the world what lie in the darkness. The only thing he had to worry about at the time was his father and what his father would do once he got old enough to live his own life.

But instead, overnight things had changed.

He had struck a fever and had been told his destiny. As soon as he phased, everything had shifted. The whole pack, the whole freaking tribe, had look towards him. He was going to be their new alpha.

The Tribes new chief. Sam had only been temporary and didn't hold half the authority that Jacob did.

With Jacob everyone listened to him. They respected him and yet Jacob had been angry. He didn't want the responsibility. He hadn't asked for it and yet, her he was. Taking care of his father, his newborn nephews, a pack, and a tribe. The he was trying to run his business on top of that. Tattooing celebrities was a plus because their schedules were just as crazy as his.

The only good thing that came out of this was Bella. But was he really being fair to her? Could he really ask her to stay with him? Yes, he had offered her freedom, more than once. Had even told her that they she could go to college wherever the heck she wanted. And it was the truth. But sometimes the truth hurt. The truth was Jacob felt like the only thing he could offer Bella was her freedom. If she said right now, she wanted to leave… he would let her. He would just because he loved her that he-

" Stop it, Jacob ."

Jacob kept his eyes on the road as he nodded at Bella. Letting her know he was listening.

"I was holding your hand… I could hear and see everything…" she snapped.

Jacob's eyebrows shot up. Man was she sexy when she was yelling at him.

"you are not doing this alone. I am not going anywhere. Whatever college I do chose will be close by. I am going to commute. And don't you dare try to stop me, Jacob! You are making sacrifices and so am I.I love you… and yes… you are right, if we lived normal, non- supernatural lives then yes, maybe we could have taken this slower and gone through all the teenage cliches, but our lives didn't turn out that way. You and I are going to go through some crazy stuff, but we will get through it together."

Jacob was quick to squeeze's Bella's hand as he projected an image of him kissing her.

"well, if you hurry up, we can do that!" she laughed. "yeah, yeah, im getting there."

Before Jacob knew it, they were pulling into his father crowded driveway.

"what the heck?" he murmured as he made sure not hit the horribly parked cars. From the cars alone, he could tell the whole freaking council was there, plus some of the pack and Charlie.

"is there some kind of party?" Bella asked.

"I don't know but its going to be dramatic. How do you think your dad will respond to my changes, I mean last time he saw me, I didn't have facial hair or waist long hair… which my wolf senses I wont have to cut again."

Bella ran a hand through it. Causing Jacob to rumble.

"yeah, he will probably notice but he might not say anything. Here let me braid it and we can go in. Are… are your nephews in? I haven't had a chance to see them…" she asked nervously.

It wasn't so much the babies she was nervous about, but Jacob's underlying anger. And he had a right to be angry. Rebecca had shown up not to long ago, twin sons in hand. She stayed a few days and then disappeared in the middle of the night. Papers of guardianship left on the table. They had tried to call but to no avail and Rachel hadn't been any help. Completely ignoring there phone calls. Jacob wasn't too anger with the latter. She had left on

scholarship to college, he wanted her to succeed, even if it meant he couldn't.

"… yeah… Sue was watching them for a while… ohGod, we have to get another crib. They can't keep sleeping in that mobile one. It's not safe." Jacob groaned.

"don't worry, we will figure it out. I have my old one and im fairly sure one of the mothers on the res wouldn't mind donating one."

"yeah, but I don't want donations, I have more then enough to buy one… I just… - "

"jake… let me handle it ok. I can go today, while you guys have your little meeting thing. Besides, it will give me the chance to call and suck up to the crew."

"it's called a squad Bella. Our human group of friends have named themselves The Squad…" Jacob chuckled.

"whatever. Tomato, tomato Jake… lets go…"

…

Jacob wrapped a strong arm around Bella's waist as they entered his father's home. From the scent, he knew that Quill jr, Leah and Seth were here and by his estimate half the pack would be here in the Hour. It was another wolf thing, the pack gravitating towards there alpha. While he hadn't had the ceremony yet, the pack basically looked towards him now. In their eyes it was official.

"Dad? Im home?" he called pretending to be confused for Charlie's sake.

Jacob was quick to duck as he entered the doorway, conversation pausing as the house full of people took sight of him.

"Jacob?!" he father responded in shock.

Jacob let go of Bella and walked towards his father, out of the corner of his eye, he could see Leah, Seth, and Quill jr, subtly bow their heads in submission.

"hey dad. Welcome back how was fishing?"

While Jacob conversed with his father, Bella went to find her own. He however wasn't extremely far. As soon as he saw her, he jerked his head towards the front door.

With a sigh Bella followed him. Without words, her father continued to walk leading them to the edge of the woods.

"Isabella sawn, do you want to explain to me why Dr. Cullen called me, looking for you? He said you had been gone for three days and that you had ditched Alice. Not that I mind, they haven't been good for you but the fact that you were missing. What happened?"

Her father voice had been laced with concern and anger. She knew that ever since her little disappearing stunt he hadn't trusted her. He had watched her like a hawk for months and then the moment he gave her some freedom she disappeared.

"Dad. Im sorry I worried you. I was supposed to go to the Cullen's, but I changed my mind. I decided I needed to be away from them, so spent some time… to… myself. I should have called Dr. Cullen or Alice and canceled."

It was a half-truth… what was she supposed to say? Yeah dad, Jacob and I had awesome Sex and he freed me from my vampire obligations while I agreed to marry him? Yeah, that would go well.

To her surprised, her father wasn't as angry as she thought.

"well, jeeze kiddo, yes you should have called. Bella, I won't tell you what to do but if you're going to live under my house, I need you to respect my rules. I need you to communicate and those Cullen's… I won't tell you what to do but… I don't think they are good for you. you do have other friends Bella, and I am sure they miss you. Other than that, im glad you're ok… you look different? You do something to your hair?" he asked.

Bella gave a shy smile and shook her head.

"nope. So, what's going on here?" she asked as they began to walk back.

"just a fish fry. Its been a minute since we've all been together. It should be ready in an hour or two."

"I see. Well, I am going to head home and change and then I will be back." She told him as she gave him an awkward side hug.

"alright kiddo be careful…"

"I will dad. I'm going to go say my goodbyes."

With that said Bella beat her father back to the house and was quick to search for Jacob. She found him at the head of the dinner table, surrounded by the elders all of them whispering harshly to another and Jacob.

Not wanting to interrupt Bella was going to leave. But hot hands caught her. Oh, how she loved his heat.

Before she could blink, she was Back outside next to her truck.

" were you really going to leave and not say anything?" he growled playfully.

Bella ground her butt into his growing erection. A moan eliciting from both.

"maybe. I just didn't know when you were going to be available. Do they suspect anything?"

"no. I told them I took a spirit walk and connected with the spirts. With the power radiating off me, they wouldn't know the difference. Where are you off too?"

"im going to go shower, change clothes and pick up some stuff. And I must talk to the Cullen's eventually. I go back to school tomorrow… what do we do?"

"we act like everything is ok. We must wait until Friday and as soon as they declare me chief and alpha. All things will be settled. They cant fight us. You are my chosen mate, marked, mated, and claimed. Now… would you mind if I sent Seth with you? I just. The bond is still new, and my senses are on high alert."

"of course, no problem, is it weird I feel anxious leaving you?" she questioned. "no, it's the bond. Once again, it's still new… were both anxious. It will die down soon. Alright babe. I got to walk away or im going to take you right here against the truck… Ill see you in a few."

Bella hummed in anticipation. She was quick to hop in her truck, Seth's sandy colored wolf dashing through the trees after her.

As soon as she got home, she called out to the young wolf.

"Seth! Come inside, you can make a sandwich while I am in the shower!"

...

Seth couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Jacob. Apparently, he and Embry had switched patrol shifts over the weekend and his alpha had all but disappeared. It wasn't until Sam had called to check in if anyone knew where Jacob had been. He had apparently gone off on a mini spirit walk to help prepare for his transition to chief.

If Seth thought, Jacob was big before, he was even bigger now. He had to duck as he entered the house, not to mention the power that radiated off him. As soon as he entered, Seth felt himself practically bow in submission.

Yeah, you could tell who the true alpha was. The power that Jacob had beat Sam's every time.

A wave of Sadness hit Seth as he listened to Bella hum in the shower. Today would probably be the last day, they would see each other. As soon as Bella had left with the leeches, her fate had been set. The elders decided she could no longer be trusted, and they didn't want Jacob distracted. They protect her from the dread lock leech and chased the redhead away temporarily and yet she had left with the pixie in the dead of night, causing everyone to worry.

Besides Bella was not Jacobs imprint and as much Seth liked her the elders had a point. They didn't want to see another Emily, Leah, Sam fiasco. Besides, unbeknownst to Jacob, Seth was going be his new brother-in-law. Wanting to keep the bloodline pure and strong, and having stronger wolves Leah and Jacob were going to be engaged. Seth only found out because he heard his parents muttering about it the other night.

Leah was the best option. She came from a prominent family. She was the only female wolf and technically the alpha female in her own right. She was Jacob's perfect match and when his mother whispered about imprinting, his father had assured they had a way to stop it. This of course made Seth beyond furious. The elders had a way of blocking or stopping an imprint entirely and they hadn't told anyone. It hurt.

He knew Leah wouldn't be too happy, but she would accept the opportunity a thousand times over. Marrying Jacob would give her the chance to get away from Sam, and it would give her power.

Power over Sam, power over Emily and power over the pack. Deep down that's what Leah wanted. She wanted the power. She wanted the attention and being Jacob's wife would give her that.

Man, jakes not going to be happy. He thought. But he would probably accept it . I mean… with the way he has been serving the tribe, he'd probably be bitter but accepting.

And maybe it for the best, the Cullen's seem to take care of Bella and it seemed that Edward loved her, so everything would be ok…

He hoped.