Start Living Now

As Jacob softly placed me on the sofa in the living room, he took my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Don’t mention it. I couldn’t just leave to you die; that would’ve been terrible. Besides, if you weren’t hurt, you probably would be running towards Canada by now. What’s in Canada by the way?”

I froze. “What?”

“Besides talking about me, you would mumble something like ‘I have to get to Canada before it’s too late’ from time to time. So what’s in Canada?”

“Uh, just some family I haven’t seen in a long time. I was on my way to visit them when that crazy man attacked me. So I need to get there as soon as possible.”

“Oh. Well is there a way of contacting them, so they know you’re safe? What about the rest of your family? I bet they’re worried about you. Just give me their number.” Jacob made his way to the phone on the wall of the living room.

“NO! I mean, I don’t want to bother them.”

Jacob put the phone back on the receiver. “Okay… Don't buy any of that, but...Um, how ‘bout that movie? We have some time left before we gotta go.” He made his way over to the cabinet holding the movies, and picked one out.

“What did you pick?”

“It’s called ‘Taken.’ Emmett suggested I watch it a while ago, said it was pretty good.”

“I’ve heard about that one- never saw it though. Put it in!” Whew! That was too close for comfort.

As the movie progressed, Jacob stuffed his face with popcorn. He’d already eaten three bags, and now half of the fourth that was supposed to be shared between us.

The movie was actually really good. It was about a retired CIA named Bryan, who is persuaded by his seventeen-year-old daughter, Kim, to sign a parental consent form allowing her to go to Paris with her friend Amanda. When Kim arrives in Paris, she and her friend meet a guy, who tells the girls that his friend is having a party and offers to pick them up, obtaining their apartment number. While on the phone with her dad, Kim witnesses Amanda being abducted. Bryan informs her that she will be taken as well, and gives her instructions. He then goes to Paris, and tracks down his daughter.

“Jesus! Did you see that?!”

“I can’t believe he actually tortured that guy with a light bulb!”

“I hope I never get on his bad side …Ahhh… ” I wasn’t able to finish my sentence, because a big yawn came out of my mouth.

“Oh no, don’t you fall asleep on me. It’s only seven-thirty! We still have plans, remember?”

“Yeah, but the meds I took before you came make me sleepy.”

“Well then I’ll get you a Red Bull or a Monster or something. Wait, no- Paul drank them all yesterday, the bastard. How about coffee?”

“Coffee sounds really good. Three spoonfuls of sugar with just a bit of milk, if you please.”

“Eugh, that’s practically black coffee with sugar. How can you drink that?”

“Because it tastes good. Now go, before I lie down and take up the whole couch.”

After two cups of coffee, I was wide awake. I felt a little drowsy, but I doubted I would fall asleep for another couple of hours. Unfortunately for Jacob, I wanted to stretch my legs. So after a fashion, I extended myself across the couch, my head on a pillow in Jacob’s lap, my feet resting on the arm of the sofa.

“Jake, I could’ve laid in the other direction, you know.”

“And have your feet in my face? No thank you, missy.”

He flicked my shoulder, causing me to wince in pain. Without realizing it, Jacob had flicked the shoulder with the scar that was currently healing on its own after being held together with 19 stitches. Even without the stitches, my shoulder hurt.

“Oh shit, I’m so sorry Jael! I didn’t even realize-”

“Jake, don’t worry about it. It was an accident.”

As I turned to watch the movie, which was getting more interesting by the minute, a warm hand placed itself on my shoulder. I looked up at Jake; he had a comforting look on his face as he started moving his hand around in slow, firm circles on my shoulder. It felt so relaxing and…wonderful.

“How did you get that scar, anyway?”

I shrugged. “An old battle wound.”

“Yeah, I got my share of those, too. But yours is way better than mine. ”

“Oh really? Why’s that?”

“Because it only makes you hotter. I mean, you’re hot already- not body temperature- I mean in looks, er…”

“Relax Jake. I get what you mean.” I laughed. “I’ll take that as a compliment?”

Jake scratched the back of his head and gave me a goofy look. “A poor attempt at one, but yeah.”

We both shared a laugh, Jacob massaging my shoulder the entire time. I relaxed myself once more and felt my body unwind, all that frustration, hurt and fear, I just let it go. For the time being, anyway; I knew all of those emotions would come back eventually. It was quiet for a few minutes, so I looked up at Jacob. He had a pensive look on his face, his eyebrows furrowed.

“Are you alright?”

“Oh, yeah…Just thinking.”

“About what?”

“Why aren't you with your pack? And why aren’t they looking for you? Did something happen to them?’”

Oh. I sighed. “Nothing. Some things happened, that’s all…”

“Well, what is it then? Did your pack cast you out or something? What did you do?”

“They might as well have kicked me out. I didn’t do anything; the point is I don’t belong to a pack anymore. I left. I’m a rogue.”

Jacob was silent. “Did you do something wrong? Like…did you kill someone? That Niko guy?”

Now it was my turn to be silent. I’d already over-reacted once today; I couldn’t do it again. I wouldn’t let myself. But when he said “Niko,” my heart froze. It was one thing to think about him, another to hear his name spoken by someone else. It meant that everything that had happened between Niko and me- wasn’t a dream. It proved that he left me…chose another, breaking the bonds that held us together as imprints.

“How do you know about him?” I asked softly.

Jacob stopped rubbing my shoulder. He scooted up the sofa, helping me sit up. He sighed, and brought his head down.

“When I pulled you into the bushes that day, you started Shifting back into your human Form…You were in bad shape already, so I didn’t even think about it much- that you Shifted again. Only when a Shapeshifter is gravely hurt do they return to their original Form. After I Shifted back and got you to Carlisle…I thought you were dead; you weren’t breathing, and the blood just kept coming. But once he stabilized you and induced you so you’d go to sleep…well, I never left your side. You started talking, in your sleep. You talked about Canada, home, and this guy named Niko. At first, I thought he was your imprint. But then you said that you hated him, so I ruled that out, because imprints would never hate one another, right?”

“Yeah.” Boy, how wrong he was about that.

“And you would cry whenever you mumbled things about him. At least, for the first couple of days. But then you slept throughout the night, and I thought it’d be okay if I left and took care of my pack, among other things. So, what happened?”

Well, he had me. I knew I should’ve just told him everything then and there, but…I couldn’t. I wasn’t ready to share my entire past with anyone. Oh don’t get me wrong, I told Jake the truth, but that doesn’t mean I told him everything.

“Niko was the first person to Shift in my old pack. He was my Beta.”

“You mean, you’re an ALPHA?”

I nodded my head. “Yep, direct descendant from the first Alpha of my tribe.”

“Wow. I can’t believe it. No wonder I could sort of hear your thoughts that day…And all this time, I thought it was just males who became Alphas.”

I glared at him. “What do you mean, ‘just males?’?” I smacked him upside the head. “Females can be Alphas too, idiot. Haven’t you ever heard of the Alpha Female? Honestly…”

“Ouch. That hurt.” Jacob rubbed that back of his head. “Ok, I’m sorry. I think it’s pretty neat that you’re an Alpha. But why aren’t you with your pack anymore?”

I sighed. I tried to be as vague as possible with m answer. “There was a rebellion. Somebody I trusted wanted power.”

“Niko?”

I turned my head back towards the TV. “It doesn’t matter who. Anyway, in order to get it, I had to be removed from the picture.”

“What?! And your pack just let him do it?!”

“There were some stronger forces at work. Those who stood by my side fought courageously, and they were either hurt or killed. But he had help; there were some who supported him.”

“Wow. That’s insane. A pack is supposed to be a family. Brethren... And you-you just walked away.” Jacob’s tone got darker, angrier. “How could you do that?! You’re an Alpha! You’re supposed to be there for your pack!”

How could he accuse me of abandoning my pack?! He didn’t know the whole story. As a matter of fact, he didn’t know anything about me! “Hey, don’t just sit there and accuse me of leaving my pack; I would never, EVER, leave them. EVER. You have no idea what happened! Don’t jump to conclusions!”

“I would know what happened if you would just tell me! Don’t you trust me, Jael?! You’ve been here for almost three weeks- a whole month! And yet you still won’t open up to people!”

“I don’t know any of you! What do you expect?!” This nice and quiet evening was taking a bad turn. I really didn’t want this to happen; I thought Jacob and I were bonding. He actually made me feel so many things...feelings that I thought I would never experience again. I felt safe, wanted. Protected. And after not feeling that in such a long time made me never want to lose those feelings again.

Jacob calmed down. He sighed and pulled me to him, holding me close. “Alright, look; I know you’ve been through some stuff…Stuff that I probably couldn’t even imagine. But believe me when I say that you can trust me. And my pack. Let us help you. But you have to let us in, Jael…let ME in.”

I knew he was right. And so, for the second time that night, I nodded my head in defeat. “I’ll try, Jake. I don’t know how easily I can trust people, but I will definitely try, okay?

Jacob laughed. “That’s a good answer…for now.” His eyes flashed towards the TV screen. “Oh, would ya look at that; the movie’s over.”

“You’re right. That was good wasn’t it?” After his nod of approval, I asked him what we were going to do next.

“Oh, you’ll see. Let’s clean up in here, and then we’ll go.”

“Go where?”

That mischievous smile came out again. “We’re going to a barbecue…on the cliffs.”

“Why? What’s so special about that?”

“Easy,” Jake replied, tossing me my jacket. “The whole pack’s up there, Elders and imprints included. It’s time you met everybody; they’re excited to meet you.”