Enchanted

“It usually isn’t this warm,” said Jacob. He glanced at me before turning back to the road. I turned my head and stared out the passenger window. I made a small noise of acknowledgment to let him know I’d heard him. “We should go to the beach later to cool off.” I gave one sharp nod in agreement. The beach would be nice. There’d definitely be people there.

“How do you like Washington?” asked Jacob.

“It’s fine,” I said dismissively. I heard Jacob sigh in frustration. I wanted to tell him, ‘Just because I agreed to go on this adventure did not mean I was going to like it.’ But I didn’t want to talk to him or show him that I was going to enjoy this in any measure so I kept quiet.

Jacob obviously caught on easily because he didn’t try to talk to me the rest of the drive. Instead we both rode in an awkward and tense silence. My jaw was clenched tightly and after awhile it started to hurt but I didn’t dare relax.



After what seemed an eternity we pulled up in front of a wooden house. I had a nice, large porch. It looked quaint with the woods surrounding it. But I couldn’t forget that wolves ran through that forest. Giant wolves with large teeth and paws probably the size of my head. I shuddered at the thought. “You okay?” asked Jacob. He looked actually concerned.

“Fine,” I said. The door was unlocked so I quickly got out of the car. The smell of the woods hit me. I took in a deep breath liking the way the earth smelled. It was misty out here almost like it was lightly raining. I turned around to see Jacob looking at me over the hood of his car. I uneasily looked back.

“Let’s get inside,” he said and walked towards the door. I followed some distance behind. He opened up the door and walked inside. I was shocked how smoothly he could move for some of his stature. I walked inside and the delicious smell of food hit me. My mouth instantly began to water.

As my eyes adjusted to the dimness of the house I realized Jacob was standing a few feet in front of me. I took a step back away from him. Suddenly the sound of laughter hit my ears. I couldn’t exactly tell how many people it was but it was a lot. And they were all male. They must be the wolves from before.

I took another step back and was almost out of the house again. “Don’t worry,” said Jacob quietly and gently. I felt sick to my stomach but I said I would give him a day to convince me. Plus I couldn’t exactly get back to my room without him. Swallowing the lump in my throat I walked forward and into the house. Jacob shut the door behind me and I froze just outside of the room where everyone was.

Nobody seemed to notice me standing there. I scrunched up my nose at the sight of them all. There was tons of food piled on the table. They guys were shoveling it into their mouth at a rate which made me wonder if they swallowed the food whole. It was disgusting and barbaric.

I felt Jacob’s presence behind me and moved away instinctively. I made sure there were a few feet separating us. Jacob cleared his throat and all the guys stopped their savage eating and looked at us. “Guys, this is Alyssa,” he said and gestured to me. I simply stood there awkwardly. I didn’t like having all their eyes on me. “Alyssa, this is Jared, Quil, Embry, Seth, Sam, Paul, Collin, and Brady.” I nodded a greeting and they all awkwardly said ‘Hello’ or ‘Hi’ back.

“Oh, Alyssa, you’re here,” came a feminine voice. I turned to see Emily coming out of the kitchen area. She quickly came over and put her arm around me gently. It was a very motherly gesture and it almost felt like she was protecting me. “Come this way,” she said and began leading me back to the kitchen. “I put aside some food for you.”

“You were holding out on us?!” shouted one of the guys towards us. Emily simply ignored him and took me into the kitchen. The kitchen was nicely lit and looked about the same as the rest of the house. It was very peaceful and felt almost like a safe haven.

“The boys would have eaten everything if I put it all out,” said Emily as she took a plate out of the microwave. There was macaroni and cheese and half a sandwich on the plate. “I hope this will be enough.”

“It’s great,” I said smiling shyly. I gently took the food from her and placed it on the island next to me. Emily handed me a fork and I sat down on one of the stools. I hesitantly took a bite of the macaroni. To say the least, it was delicious. “Thank you,” I said earnestly. “This is delicious.”

Emily gave a light laugh and hopped up to sit on the counter as I took another bite of the food. She placed another plate of the same type of food on her lap and began to eat. We ate mostly in silence. Emily told me a bit about what it was like having to deal with the ‘boys.’

According to her, as annoying, loud, and obnoxious as they could be, they could also be undeniably sweet, caring, kind, and she knew she was safe and protected. Not just by Sam but the whole ‘pack.’ She told me that Sam was her fiancé and that he was also the leader of the ‘pack.’

It was weird to hear that term used. But that’s what a group of wolves were, a pack. Suddenly a parade of guys started to walk through the kitchen. I tensed up as they passed by me on the way to the sink. They each placed some of the dishes in the sink. One of the guys stopped and kissed Emily on the lips before continuing on to the living room with the rest. I would imagine that’d be Sam.

They all looked identical as they passed. I could barely differentiate between them. It was only as they all filed out and one was left that I recognized him as Jacob. “Alyssa, would you like to go to the beach?” I glanced at Emily out of the corner of my eye. She nodded her head in encouragement. Turning back to Jake I nodded my head slowly.

“Come on,” said Jake and gestured for me to follow him. He had a smile on his face once I accepted and the way it shone I wondered if it would ever disappear. He led me towards the living room where I could hear the guys joking around and cheering on some game. I still made sure to follow some distance behind. Emily had eased my fear for a bit with the ease at which she talked to me. But Emily was left behind in the kitchen.

“Hey, guys!” said Jake loudly to get their attention. It took a couple second but then all eyes were on him. “Want to go to the beach?”

“I have to be over at Kim’s in a bit,” said Jared. “I better start heading over there now.” He got up and left the house quickly. I shied away from him as he passed me.

“Is everyone else going?” he asked. Nobody said anything otherwise. “Alright, I can drive and Paul your car is here too.” Everyone suddenly jumped up and ran at once. Sam was still sitting on the couch calmly watching the television. Emily walked in slowly holding a cup of tea and sat down next Sam.

“Have fun you two,” said Sam. Jacob turned and walked towards the door and I followed behind. As we exited a car was pulling away towards the beach. The way it drove, I was glad to not be in it. There were two guys left standing next to Jake’s car.

“I call shotgun,” said one of them. Jake quickly jogged to the car and opened up the door. The boys climbed inside and I hurried to catch up. I didn’t want to keep them waiting for me. The urgency was plainly felt in the air. I opened up the car door and froze. I was going to be stepping into a car with three wolves. What was I doing?

“Come on,” urged one of the guys in the back seat. He looked a bit younger than the others as I looked at him. He sent me a goofy smile and I fought the urge to smile back. I hesitatingly climbed into the car and closed the door.

“Buckle up,” said Jacob as he quickly started the car and put it in reverse.

“He means you,” whispered the guy that was in the backseat with me. I quickly put on my seatbelt as Jacob drove down the street ignoring speed limits. Thank god for seatbelts.