Moving Forward - J. Black

xiii

EDITED

"Are you sure this is okay? I hate being a party crasher." Bella worried as the three walked across the dark yard. "Technically, you're a council meeting crasher." Eliza gave a small glare at Jacob for not warning her. "The council leaders, my dad, Quil's grandpa, and Sue Clearwater." Jacob pointed out the elders as the three neared the fire ahead of them. "She took over for Harry when he died." Jacob explained Sue's presence to Bella. "Okay, I should not be here." Bella stopped walking and shook her head.

"Neither should I, honestly." Eliza scoffed, agreeing with Bella's statement. "You're both okay. I thought-they thought it would be good for you to hear the histories." Jacob justified his invitation to the bonfire. Eliza bit her lip at Jacob's statement, despite their previous conversation, Eliza wasn't quite sure that she was going to be accepted by the tribe like other imprints would be. Eliza wasn't even sure what being Jacob's imprint entailed at the moment, sure they had their moments where they felt connected, but there was a hesitancy on both sides.

"The histories?" Bella pulled Eliza out of her thoughts. "Yeah, you know, the stories about how vampires are awful and we all deserve to die." Eliza made a joke out of the situation, causing Jacob to send her a warning look. "El." Jacob struggled with knowing that most of Eliza's jokes weren't as carefree as she wanted them to come out as. "Relax, I'm kidding." Eliza rolled her eyes, but didn't look back at the shifter and human. "The tribe's histories? Aren't they secret?" Bella furrowed her eyebrows at the concept. "We've all got a role to play, and you're both part of this." Jacob emphasized on the word 'both'.

"I mean it's the first time Seth, Leah, and Quill will hear them too." Jacob offered a supportive statement. "But you are the first outsiders, ever." Jacob then added jokingly. "If I had known that, I would have, like..." Bella began to trail off as she suddenly felt awkward. "Stayed home." Eliza finished Bella's sentence, knowing their feelings were mutual. "Jake! Eliza!" a voice pulled the three from their conversation. Eliza felt lighter seeing Seth Clearwater ran up to them, a wide smile on his face. "Hey." Jacob greeted the youngest pack member with a pat on the back.

"It's about time you got here. Paul's been hoovering the grub, but I saved you some burgers." Seth offered to Jacob and Bella, his smile widening as he glanced at Eliza. "Good looking out, bro." Jacob smiled at the young shifter, ignoring the look he was giving Eliza. "Bella this is Seth Clearwater; Leah's little brother, newest member of the pack." Jacob introduced Seth to Bella. "Hi." Bella greeted the small teenager with a handshake.

"Newest. Bestest. Brightest." Seth grinned as he bragged about his shift. "And slowest." Jacob grabbed ahold of the boy and tucked him under his arm, rubbing his fist against Seth's head jokingly as he wrestled around with him. "Come on, your dad's about to start." Seth wiggled out of Jacob's grip and grabbed onto Eliza's arm eagerly. "Okay." Jacob laughed as Eliza looked at Jacob alarmed, Seth pulling her away from him. "I think Seth has a crush." Bella smiled as the blonde got pulled away. "He's harmless." Jacob laughed at the shifter's interest in Eliza.

"The Quileutes have been a small tribe from the beginning, but we have always had magic in our blood." Eliza sat between Seth and Jacob, Bella to the left of Jacob. "We were great spirit warriors, shape-shifters that transformed to the powerful wolf. This enabled us to scare off our enemies and protect our tribe." Billy Black's voice carried as the fire lit up the faces around it. "One day, our warriors came across a creature. It looked like a man, but it was hard like stone and cold as ice." Billy began to venture further into the tale.

Eliza could feel eyes on her and did her best to focus on the fire in front of her, not to look nervous in front of the shifters. "Our warriors' sharp teeth finally tore it apart, but only fire could completely destroy it." Billy looked into the blaze in front of them. "They lived in fear that the cold man was not alone. And they were right." Billy did his best to avoid looking over at Eliza, but Leah Clearwater's glare was enough on its own. "She took her vengeance out on the village. Our elder chief, Taha Aki, was the only spirit warrior left to save the tribe after his son was killed." Eliza listened to the story intently, her emotions all over the place as she thought about how she explained the mating bond of vampires to Jacob.

The shifter sensed the nerves of Eliza as she began to tap repeatedly on the material of her jeans. Jacob slowly moved his hand toward Eliza's, trying not to draw more attention to the blonde by startling her. "Taha Aki's third wife could see that he would lose. The third wife was no magical being, no special powers but one, courage. The third wife's sacrifice distracted the cold woman long enough for Taha Aki to destroy her. She saved the tribe. Over time, our enemies have disappeared. But one remains, the cold ones." Billy Black finally looked over at his son when he noticed Jacob's hand slide over Eliza's.

"Our magic awakens when they're near, and we sense it now. We feel the threat in our blood." Eliza looked at Jacob just as surprised at his gesture to hold her hand comfortingly. "Something terrible is coming and we must all be ready, all of us." Billy's previous statement still rang in her head. If Eliza and her family's presence was such a threat that it was the sole purpose for their shift, why didn't Jacob hate her like the rest of the tribe? It was no secret that the wolves would always crave the freedom that their shift had taken away.

"Eliza." Jacob's soft tone pulled the girl out of her thoughts. Eliza looked over at the shifter to see his hand turning white and immediately dropped her grip. "I'm sorry if this is too much, we can leave." Jacob offered as he kept his hand wrapped around hers. "I'm fine." Eliza shook her head, her voice low and soft. "Leah looked like she wants to rip me to shreds." Eliza just played the situation off. "Ignore Leah, she hates everyone. She looks at me like that." Jacob glanced over to see Leah glaring at the two. "That's not reassuring." Eliza shook her head softly, but a small smile made its way to her face at Jacob's confession.

Eliza sat in the living room after the weekend was over, the TV reporting on the current situation in Seattle. "Seattle is in a state of terror. Police are baffled by the escalating murders and disappearances." the humans had no idea just how bad their situation was. "Theories range from a vicious new gang to a widely active serial killer. Reporting live-" Carlisle muted the TV, unable to bare hearing more. "It's getting worse. We are going to have to do something." Carlisle sighed as he still watched the images flashing on the screen.

"It takes more than one of our kind to cause the damage they're reporting." Jasper analyzed the destruction on display. "Quite a few more. And they're undisciplined, conspicuous." Jasper continued in more detail. "It's newborns." Edward walked in with Bella at his side. "What, like new vampires?" Bella looked at the family confused. "In the first few months after the change." Edward confirmed with a nod. "That's when we're at our most uncontrollable; vicious, insane with thirst." Jasper thought back to his own haunting past.

"Something to look forward to." Emmett smirked at Bella, joking despite the lingering tension. "No one's trained these newborns, but this isn't random. " Jasper looked to Carlisle for his own input. "Someone's creating an army." Carlisle understood the knowing look in Jasper's eyes. "Well, now we're definitely going to Seattle." Emmett jumped off the couch, eager to get in a fight. Eliza rolled her eyes at Emmett's attitude, an army of newborns isn't something to take lightly.

"An army of vampires?" Bella was even more surprised at the possibility. "And they've been created to fight someone." Jasper didn't take his eyes off the TV. "We're the only clan close to Seattle." Eliza worried as she too looked back at the screen. "Regardless of why they were made, if we don't put a stop to them, the Volturi will. I'm surprised they let it go on this long." Carlisle thought about all the damage that had been done. "Well, maybe they're behind it." Edward tried to make sense of the situation. "In Italy, I read Aro's mind. He wants me and Alice to join him, but he knows we'll never choose him as long as our family's alive." Edward explained the reasoning behind his theory. "An army could solve that for him." Jasper remained emotionless as he saw thought of the possibility.