Moving Forward - J. Black

xi.

EDITED

"Whoever it was, he left his stink behind." Jacob walked out of Bella's house the next day in ripped shorts and a muscle shirt. "It'll be hard to miss when we cross it again. We'll handle it from here." Jacob stopped in front of Edward. "We don't need you to handle anything." Edward glared at the phrasing of Jacob's words. Eliza leaned against the Volvo with a bored expression on her face. "Or anyone." Edward added to his statement when Jacob glanced over at the blonde. "I could care less what you need." Jacob matched Edward's tone. "All right, we're done here." Edward shook his head at the shifter. 

"No, you're done here." Jacob snapped as Edward took a step toward Bella. "Stop!" Bella's raised voice piqued Eliza's interest and the blonde straightened, pushing her sunglasses onto her head. "I'm tired of this. From now on, I'm Switzerland, okay?" Bella shoved herself between the two supernaturals glaring at each other. Eliza wasn't sure why Bella wanted her at her house again, but watching the two men fight like cats sure was entertaining. Neither supernatural backed down when Bella asked them to, but they did stop fighting.

"Hey, Blondie." Jacob finally moved his gaze away from Edward. Eliza hummed as she looked over at the shifter. "I think we should talk." Jacob motioned over to his motorcycle. Eliza looked between the shifter and his motorcycle for a second before shrugging her shoulders. Eliza pushed off the Volvo to walk over to the smaller vehicle when Edward grabbed her wrist. Eliza looked at the vampire with an annoyed expression, wasting no time to push his hand off.

"Want to go for a ride?" Jacob held his helmet out to Eliza when she met him beside the motorcycle. "I thought we were talking." Eliza narrowed her eyes at the shifter. "We can do both." Jacob shrugged as he looked back at Edward and Bella. "Fine, but I'm not using the helmet." Eliza wrinkled her nose at the item. Jacob grinned as he hopped on the motorcycle, kicking the stand-up. Eliza hesitantly swung her leg over the seat, carefully not to hit any sharp edges.

"Hold on." Jacob gave little warning as he took off, Eliza quickly latching onto the shifter in order to not fall off. Eliza's body was stiff against Jacob's as she rode on the foreign machine, only relaxing slightly when she moved her gaze to the greenery around her. Sensing that Eliza had begun to relax, Jacob increased his speed. The motorcycle zipped down the roads of Forks, only slowing slightly when the pair turned onto a familiar road. "Where are we going?" Eliza yelled over the wind with worry when she realized how far they had traveled. "Jacob." Eliza's arms tightened around his waist as they neared the treaty line. 

Eliza panicked when she heard leaves ruffle from the other side of the road. A single howl broke out as two shifters ran the perimeter of the road. "They can't hurt you, just trust me." Jacob took his hand off the bike handle and reached back to secure Eliza as she debated just jumping off the moving vehicle. "Trust you?" Eliza scoffed, the wolves suddenly retreating and disappearing deeper into the forest. Soon, Jacob turned onto an old dirt road and an open dirt path surrounded a rustic-looking home that stuck out between two trees.

"Where are we?" Eliza looked around as Jacob's bike slowed to a stop. "Emily Young's, our pack house." Jacob flipped the kickstand down as he waited for Eliza to hop off. "You brought me to your pack house?" Eliza looked around the area cautiously as she got off the bike. "Don't worry, Sam said it was okay." Jacob let a small grin slip when he saw the look of disbelief on her face. "This was such a mistake." Eliza ran her hand down her face in frustration, but Jacob already began his walk forward.

"Wait!" Eliza immediately began walking after Jacob. "Why did you bring me here?" Eliza caught up to the shifter, still staying a couple of feet back. "It's a good place to talk." Jacob shrugged his shoulders as he neared the rather quiet home. "Oh, about Emily, just don't stare, it bothers Sam." Jacob paused slightly as he neared the step up to the door. A soft humming greeted Eliza as Jacob opened the door to a rather large dining area. There was a woman, Eliza assumed to be Emily in the kitchen on the left. Emily turned around at the sound of Jacob's footsteps.

"Hi." Eliza immediately took notice of the scar that ran through Emily's large grin. "Jacob didn't tell us he was bringing company, you must be Eliza." Emily dried her hands off with a towel. "Uh, yeah, Emily?" Eliza guessed softly as she felt attacked by just how bright the woman's smile was. "The boys were right, you are gorgeous." Emily walked right over and pulled Eliza in for a hug. "Oh, uh thanks." Eliza's eyes widened as she lightly hugged the woman back. "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't even think." Emily scolded herself when she realized how her hug surprised Eliza. "Oh, no it's not that." Eliza quickly dismissed, worried that her hesitance also offended the woman.

"Well the pack isn't back yet, Sam has them running the perimeter again looking for that redhead. Seth should be here soon, but feel free to use the living room." Emily gave an open invitation as the oven timer pulled her away. "Who's Seth?" Eliza followed Jacob into a smaller room that had a large sofa pushed to one wall. "Seth Clearwater, only 15, one of the youngest we've had." Jacob answered the question as he made himself comfortable.

"Is that normal?" Eliza realized she knew very little about the shifter's history. "No, very few have shifted up until Sam about a year ago, then the redhead started showing up." Jacob answered Eliza's question as the blonde sat on the couch a couple of feet away. "Oh, so Sam was the first, so he's the alpha?" Eliza assumed as she glanced back to where Emily was in the kitchen. "Sort of, it's more of a lineage thing. I was supposed to take over after I phased, but Sam does pretty good." Jacob shrugged, not minding his place in the pack.

Eliza let out a noise of acknowledgment as she struggled to find a way to change the topic. The blonde was saved from the awkward silence when the door was slammed open and small footprints hit the ground heavily. A shorter Quileute came running in the room, stopping when he noticed Eliza. "Woah, you're like a real vampire." a grin stretched across the face of who Eliza could only assume was Seth.

"Dude." Jacob looked at Seth with feigned disappointment, slightly amused by the younger boy's reaction. "Sorry, they don't let me out much." Seth plopped down between the two supernaturals. "I'm Seth Clearwater." the small teenager stuck his hand out to the vampire. "Eliza." The blonde let a small smile slip onto her face. "I thought vampires were supposed to smell bad, she smells like flowers." Seth looked at the vampire in awe.

"Alright, get out." Jacob ruffled the younger boy's hair, giving him a light shove. "Aww, okay." Seth pouted as he got up off the couch. The teenager sulked as he moved on toward another room, but paused to look back at the pair. "I think it's pretty cool that Jacob imprinted on you." Seth sent another grin Eliza's way before he disappeared again. Eliza couldn't stop the smile that formed on her face at the young Clearwater's energy. "He's..." Eliza failed to find a way to explain the interaction. "Yeah." Jacob just laughed at Eliza's struggle to find a word.