Jacob POV
I found myself on the beach, my feet having automatically carried me to the massive driftwood that I'd come to consider Bella's and my spot. But there's no 'our spot' anymore, because there's no 'us', I reminded myself. Well, this had been 'my' spot before, so it would just become that again. Back resting against the wind- and water-smoothed side of the outcropping, I stared out at the waves. How the hell had everything turned upside-down, inside-out, and whatever else?
I couldn’t answer that right now, but I wanted—needed—to. With a fatalistic shrug, I twisted off the cap on the bottle that Old Quil had given me.
“Here goes nothing,” and I tipped the contents into my mouth. As soon as the foul-smelling liquid hit my tongue, my stomach wanted to hurl. Somehow, though, I choked the contents down. Instantly, I was in the middle of some psychedelic swirl of colors as the world twisted away from me.
“Jacob Ephraim Black.” The resounding voice made my head twist around in an attempt to find its source.
“Who are you?” I called out.
“Can you not guess?”
“Taha Aki?”
“Yes. You are troubled, my son,”
“I am. I don’t know what to do. I don’t understand what’s happened to me or what I’ve turned into.”
“Do you wish to understand?”
“Yes! Please, Taha Aki. Help me. Guide me.”
“If you wish my help, it is yours, my son. Let us begin.”
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Bella POV
I couldn't decide if my movie idea had been a good one or a bad one. It was good in the sense that Embry couldn't put the couch to a use that would horrify my dad, but bad in the sense that Embry couldn't put the couch to use the way part of me wanted him to. My mind might know that I needed time to recover from our sexual explorations of the past couple days, but my body was trying to convince me that it wasn't that important after all. Well, my body…and Embry. If I hadn't heard this morning about the enhanced senses that the wolf gave him, I would have thought that Embry didn't know what his seemingly unconscious touches were doing to me--however, I knew that he did know just how much I was being affected. Fortunately for me, Jessica and Angela weren't so gifted and weren't picking up on it.
My eyes were fixed on the TV screen, but my mind was paying no attention at all to whatever movie the others had chosen. I used the time to get lost inside my head and think through everything I'd learned in the last day. The supernatural stuff I quickly dismissed. It didn't matter to me one bit that Embry could now turn into a wolf, anymore than I'd objected to Edward and his family being vegetarian vampires. I wasn't thrilled that Embry and I were going to be forced to spend time around Jake again. Everyone else seemed to have managed the transition from just human to werewolf without turning into a bitter jerk, everyone but Jake. It was hard to believe that he'd been so bad off right after phasing that just the idea that I was meant to be his had kept him from going crazy. I nearly shuddered at the thought that I could have been forced to shift from Embry to Jake by some mystical sh--stuff whether or not I would have wanted that. Embry mistook my shiver for being cold, and settled me closer against him. Well, Embry had imprinted on me, so I didn’t have to worry about Jake in that sense now. But there was plenty else about him that I was still concerned over. The things Jake had been saying to me and to Embry…it was like a complete stranger had taken over our friend’s body. How in the world could either Embry or I be expected to spend time around him with how he was acting?
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Embry POV
It was probably a good thing that Bella had invited her friends over to watch a movie with us. If she hadn't...we'd probably have spent the afternoon in her bedroom, in her bed. And while that idea completely appealed to me, I couldn't forget what she had said about needing recovery time. The last thing I wanted was to hurt her in any way, and so I'd just have to keep my libido in check. Yet despite my vow, my hands kept wandering where they shouldn't. Sneaky though I tried to be, I couldn't keep from getting spotted forever. Bella's involuntary twitches finally caught Jessica's attention. I got a knowing look, raised eyebrow, and a smirk from her--but she didn't say anything out loud. She didn't have to, though--I had a pretty good idea what it would be: something along the lines of the "Bella sure as hell better be taking advantage of that," that she'd said back in the store. I delivered a sly glance and my own smirk then returned my attention to the movie.
The girls left after the movie, and Bella headed to the kitchen to start fixing dinner. "We'll have time to eat before the council meeting, right?"
Checking the clock, I nodded in agreement. "Yeah."
As always, Bella's cooking was amazing. With my new appetite, I had to really force myself to leave enough food in the pan so that there would be something left for Charlie's dinner.
On our way back to La Push, Bella asked, "What is the meeting going to be about?"
"No idea. All that the message said was where to go and when. Guess we'll find out when we get there." A glance over at my imprint showed that her fingers were twisting together from nerves. "Hey, don't worry. I mean, it can't be too bad, right?" Even though I'd said that, Bella wasn't the only one to take a deep breath once we arrived at our destination.
"I'm here, no matter what," she told me. I had to lean over and kiss her after that declaration. I meant it to be a light one, but the best of intentions... A thump on the roof of Bella's car broke us apart.
