Lunar Dusk

Chapter Three: Jacob.

It had been weeks since we learned anything new about Bree Tanner. Last I heard she was still away from Forks, working on her new "lifestyle." As long as she came nowhere near Bella and my people, I was fine with that. I assumed she adjusted well with Tanya and her sisters and decided to stay with them. That was until I got a call from a very... uncomfortable-sounding Edward. They got me this stupid flip phone about a month before the battle to make plans with our pack so they wouldn't have to call my house every time, but I ignored almost every call. My pack didn't carry cell phones, with the mind telepathy and all. This was Edward's fourth call. In a row. I decided he wasn't going to leave me alone, so I flipped up the phone and put it to my ear.
"What is it?" I didn't try to hide the annoyance in my voice.
"I'm sorry, Jacob, but I need to ask a favor of you."
"Ask away."
"Can Bella come over this afternoon while we welcome Bree Tanner back to Forks? Is there something you can think of to do while she settles in?"
The irritation immediately evaporated, but against my better judgement, I asked, "why?"
"This would be her first time being around humans since she left. She has successfully adopted our diet, but being around Bella... her thirst could be unbearable for a while. I don't want her to be in pain."
I couldn't stop the thoughts coming. Edward responded.
"She's not going anywhere near the reservation or the rest of the city. As much as it hurts me to be apart from her, I just need Bella to be elsewhere for the day so there is no temptation."
I rolled my eyes at that last sentence.
"Yes, go ahead and bring her over. I'll probably just take her to the beach, hang out with Seth and Embry for a few hours."
"And you'll make sure she's fed?" Weird. He didn't usually seem to care if Bella ate.
"Yeah, obviously." I tried not to think about how empty our kitchen cabinet was. Looks like a trip to Emily's was added to the itinerary.
"I'll have her over in one hour." Click.
You're welcome, I thought bitterly. The bitterness didn't come from seeing Bella. I was pretty stoked about that, but I'm not a freaking dog that'll just do whatever the leeches tell me. This was purely a selfish act. I wanted to see her. It'd been too long.
I tried not to get too excited at the thought of having Bella all to myself for an entire day, but in all honesty, I was too pleased. I walked to Sue's house with a skip in my step, stopping briefly to check out her rose bushes. They had begun to wilt after Harry died, but that was almost a year ago, and she had since started tending to them again. They were almost in full bloom, the lush green stems tangled in a painted white lattice panel against the side of her house with their thorns poking through the little holes. I thought I might pick one for Bella, but I didn't want to face the wrath of Sue Clearwater for tampering with her garden. I left it alone and walked inside without knocking.
"Who's up for a trip to La Push?" I asked with a grin at Sue. She was in the kitchen, spraying water on an herbal plant in a hanging vase in front of the window. From the smell of it, I guessed it was chervil or cilantro. I'm not familiar with the different cooking herbs. She'd always been into gardening, but it seemed like she'd taken it up as a very serious hobby after the loss of her husband. There were indoor plants everywhere, hanging in front of every window. Seth piped up from the couch, barely looking up from his beat-up Gameboy.
"Should I bring my board?"
"Absolutely not," Sue chastised. "You almost lost it in the tide last time. That surfboard is a family heirloom."
"Maybe if I had my own board, you wouldn't be so scared of losing Dad's."
"You won't need a board at all," I said, before this discussion could get very depressing. "Bella's coming over."
Seth's face lit up. "I'll get dressed!" And he was gone, bolted to his room presumably to put something on besides ill-fitting boxer shorts. Just then, Leah turned up from her own room with a grimace. I gave her a nod of greeting, and she returned it with a deeper frown.
"What, the Cullens aren't enough? She has to find a way to infiltrate every creature's inner circle so she can learn everyone's secrets?"
"She's been to the beach before, Leah." I rolled my eyes.
"You know what I'm talking about." I did. I had allowed Bella to sit in on a grand council meeting about three months ago, much to Leah's agitation. It had been a completely secluded meeting and I had let in an outsider.
"Did you forget that Bella honoring the Third Wife's sacrifice is what helped us take down Victoria?" Seth spoke up as he walked back into view, wearing a pair of cargo shorts and a gray hoodie. Leah sniffed at him.
"Her safety shouldn't have been our concern to begin with."
I suppressed a sigh of agitation. Leah could be prickly at times, but it particularly irritated me when she brought Bella into her little world of misery. I chose not to fuel the fire, though. After what happened in the clearing I had decided I'd try to be a bit kinder to Leah because of her depressing situation. If I had to constantly hear Edward think about how much he loves Bella without being able to block him out, I'd be an asshole, too.
"It wasn't just her safety, Leah," I said, in an effort not to snarl. "If we hadn't taken care of the army, they would have killed our people, and if Seth and Cullen hadn't killed Victoria, she would've raised another army. It was a Quileute responsibility to protect our own." I was sounding a lot like Sam now.
"Ah, the circle of life." Seth sighed contentedly as memories-his, not mine- filled my thoughts. He was reliving the glory of Riley Biers, his first (and only) vampire kill.
Leah sat on the couch without a word and picked up a book, clearly no longer engaging in the argument because she believed herself to be right. Seth looked back to me, his eyes bright and energetic. "Are we off, then?" I nodded and said bye to Sue on our way out the door to greet Bella and Edward at the edge of our territory.

~

I hopped out of Harry's truck and closed the door behind me, remembering to partially unroll the drivers' side window before getting out. The key gets stuck in the door occasionally, and I wanted to make sure I could get inside without the key just in case. The Rabbit would've been a better choice for this trip, but it was in my shop with its engine separate from its body, waiting on a turbo to show up at the junkyard. Its RPM was pitiful so I had decided a while ago I wanted to add some meaner features. I had to ask Sue to let me borrow Harry Clearwater's old Chevy C-10, and she'd agreed as long as I promised to bring Bella by today so she could say hello. I had asked Seth to stay in the truck, but I felt it shudder as the passenger side door slammed shut on the other side. I forget he actually doesn't hate the Cullens. Likes them, even. He'd want to say hi to Edward.
"Didn't he say he'd be here in an hour?" It must've been about 15 minutes past 10am.
"Yeah, but vampires aren't exactly known for their punctuality." Or respect, I added to myself. Seth leaned against the side of the truck, putting his hands in the pockets of his shorts. A white sedan passed on the road, the driver raising their eyebrows at us as they went by, probably wondering if we were having car trouble. We were parked on the side of the highway, after all. Seth waved them by. I was just glad it wasn't a cop. We had some sway with the Forks Police Department, but not even Charlie Swan could stop an officer from giving a fifteen year old a ticket for driving without a license. Moments later I heard the angry engine and tires screeching of Edward's Volvo as he raced into view. The car halted to a stop in the ditch behind the truck, and he appeared, zipping around the back of the car to get Bella's door for her.
"Hey, Bella!" Seth jumped up, waving enthusiastically as they approached. Bella's cheeks flushed slightly, and she smiled. Seth pulled her in for a hug, nearly knocking the breath from her. Edward tensed slightly, his hand tightening around hers, and he didn't let go as Seth wrapped his arms around her. He was quite literally jealous of a kid, happy to regard her as a friend. I felt familiar rage bubbling up my throat, but I kept my wolf down and forced myself to make eye contact with him.
"Guys, it was really unnecessary to bring me all the way out here. I'm excited to hang out, but I'd be fine seeing Bree again."
"Not up for discussion," Edward muttered darkly, pulling Bella to him and crushed his face to hers. Seth and I looked away while they kissed, him because he was uncomfortable, I was swallowing back anger, myself. A few seconds passed.
"Are we going to the beach, or are you going to unhinge your jaw like a snake and eat my friend?" Bella immediately pulled back, only slightly, a deep red filling her cheeks.
"Butt out, Jake," she said irritably, and brought her face up to Edward's once more, this time for a small peck, and then stepped away from him, still holding his hand. She squeezed it.
"I'll be fine." Bella reassured him. "We're just going to grab a bite and then hang out by the water all day."
"Maybe Bella will catch a 10-footer," Seth said, grinning. Edward tore his gaze from Bella's and gaped at him.
"Uh- I'm not surfing. Or cliff diving," she added quickly. Seth stepped forward to shake Edward's hand, the smile still spread across his face, though a bit softer now after Bella's comment.
"You have my word." His tone was genuine. Edward took his hand and shook it once, and climbed back into his Volvo. Looking up at Bella through the tinted windshield, he tore out of the ditch, scattering pebbles and dirt across the road and drove away, never breaking eye contact with her until his back was turned. The usually-quiet engine roared in protest to his acceleration.
Once the silver car disappeared over the hills, I turned to Bella, taking in her still-blushing face and beautiful brown eyes and felt myself really smile for the first time in weeks.
"Looks like you're finally back for a wolf party." She grinned, slipping her small arms around my waist in a soft hug. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders, careful not to damage her petite frame, and breathed in the scent of her. Her hair and skin smelled the same as always; vanilla-scented perfume and fruity shampoo. My heightened senses picked up on the sweet decay of vampire as well, but I ignored it.
"It's nice to see you, Jake," she whispered against the collar of my t-shirt.
"You too, Bells."
I released her and turned to hop back into Harry's truck as Seth opened the passenger side door for Bella.