Enemies In The Woods ~ Jacob Black

Stories by the fire

"Please, Lorie, come."
"I'm pretty sure that I'm not welcome there, Seth. And besides, the treaty forbids it."
"Well, we've already made an exception to allow you to go to school on the reservation. They'll understand."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because you're my friend." I sigh and look into Seth's eyes, debating his invitation. He's giving me puppy eyes for sure. I give up.
"Fine. But if anyone tries to kill me, I will fight back."
"I wouldn't ask you not to." Going to a pack campfire night doesn't sound like a very good idea at all, but I can't say no to Seth. Damn those puppy eyes.

[21:00 ~ Uley residence]

Seth leads me behind a quant cabin house and towards a large campfire. There are many tree trunks surrounding it to compensate for the many new pack members, according to Seth. It's so peaceful here. I much prefer the vibrancy of the pack's side of Forks. It actually feels like home. There are only a few people sitting at the fire for now. Most of the pack are still out surveying the land. When we reach the fire, Seth stands slightly in front of me before beginning to talk. A precaution, I presume.
"Mom, this is Lorelei. My friend from school." Seth's mum stands up and looks me up and down.
"You don't look dangerous. What's all the fuss about?"
"I'm asking myself the same question." I made her laugh. I think that's a good thing.
"It's nice to meet you, vampire girl."
"Nice to meet you too, Miss Clearwater."
"Please, just call me Sue."
"Yes, Miss Sue." She chuckles again. I hope she likes me.
"Lorelei, " Miss Sue says, "This is my husband Charlie. Or, Sheriff Swan."
"Nice to meet you, Sheriff. I met your daughter Bella a couple of weeks ago."
"Nice to know that someone's seen her. She barely has time to visit me with college, a child, and the whole being a vampire thing." Bella didn't mention that her father knew about us. I think the Sheriff notices my confused expression because he adds, "Bella doesn't know that I'm aware of her... state of body. I had a couple of questions when I noticed my grandbaby growing up so fast, and Sue eventually spilled her guts." Miss Clearwater playfully slaps his arm and turns to me.
"Don't listen to him Lorelei. He was just getting on my nerves as usual."
Seth chimes in again, "Lorie, this is Billy Black, Jacob's dad." I gulp, but hold out my hand for a handshake.
"It's nice to meet you, Mr Black. I go to school with your son, and we also work at the grill together." I wait for a minute before retracting my hand without a handshake. He doesn't look particularly pleased with my presence here.
"Why do you feel so comfortable being in a place where you don't belong?" I have to admit, this man knows how to use his words well. But ouch.
"I don't mean to step on your toes, sir, but Seth invited me here. And I'm here as a friend to him, not as a vampire. I can control my urges, I assure you."
"I think he's more worried about a vampire learning all of our trade secrets." I whip around and am greeted by a somewhat scrawny shirtless man with black spiky hair and eating a green apple.
"Name's Embry. So, you're the vamp that Seth has been talking about non-stop?"
"I assume so." He looks me up and down with a mischievous grin on his face.
"I see why." Seth moves in front of me.
"Cut it out, Embry." Embry puts his hands up sarcastically.
"Okay, no need to worry." He laughs and takes a spot around the fire.

Soon, the rest of the pack join us and I'm introduced to them one by one. Quil and Jared shake my hand politely, Leah gives me a looks of disgust that I'm becoming more accustomed to, and Paul practically huffs at me before taking his seat. Finally, Sam makes his way towards us with Jacob close behind.
"Lorelei, welcome. I hope the rest of my pack made you feel comfortable."
"Yep."
"Good. You must understand that you're the only vampire who has ever been allowed on our land. It isn't easy for us to accept you. However, for the sake of Seth, we will."
"I understand that. And I'm glad to have been invited. This side of Forks is much prettier." Sam chuckles and takes a seat next to a kind lady with a scar across her face that I met last week in the grocery store. I now know her to be Sam's wife, Emily. It can't be easy walking through these fields so often and taking care of all the young wolves of the pack whilst being seven months pregnant, but she does it all somehow.
"Lorie, come sit down," Seth pats a spot on the log next to him.
"Lorie?" Jacob peers down at me, a look of amusement and agitation on his face.
"It's a nickname," I explain before hastily sitting down to the left of Seth.
"Oh really? I thought your nickname was cupcake."
"Cupcake?" Seth questions, half yelling.
"Just ignore him, Seth." Jacob sits to my right and Seth shifts closer to me, visibly uncomfortable.
"Why don't we get started then?" Mr Black finally breaks the awkward silence and focuses everyone's attention away from us.

I'm hanging on every word as Mr Black tells the story of how Taha Aki's third wife saved their village against the Cold Ones. It's actually a very inspirational story, teaching selflessness and the true value of humanity. It's easy to ignore the stares coming from the younger pack members when the Cold Ones are mentioned because of how engrossed I am in the story. Seth gently nudges my arm.
"Want some?" He gestures to the large stick of chicken that he's holding.
"Vampires don't eat human food, remember?" Jacob scoffs. I give him a side eye.
"Of course. It looks delicious." I take a bite, and it is exactly that. Rich flavour oozes out of every pore as I bite down into it. The spiciness is perfectly balanced by the tangy lemon flavour that coats its outside.
"Mmm!"
"Okay, give me that." Jacob tries to reach over my lap to grab the chicken, but I move my arm away before he even gets close.
"Hey, get your own. This is mine."
"Come on, just one bite?" He looks at me with pleading eyes. Gosh, why does that work so well?
"Fine, but only one." I hold the stick out in front of him and watch him lean down and struggle to bite a piece off of the tip. Suddenly, he puts his hand over mine on the stick to steady it whilst he uses his teeth to remove three pieces of chicken. I really hope he can't feel how clammy my hands are right now. He looks up at me with a piece of chicken still in between his teeth while smiling. I could melt.
"I said only one."
"Oops. I got a bit carried away. Sorry cupcake." I desperately hope the glow from the fire is hiding how hard I'm blushing right now. I look to my left and see Seth watching me, worried.
"Are you okay Seth?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." He turns away quickly. Did I do something?

Eventually, all of the water that I chugged earlier catches up to me and I'm searching Sam and Emily's cabin for a bathroom. I see Paul leave a room and decide to sort things out between us.
"Paul, can I talk to you please?" He rolls his eyes.
"What do you want?"
"Now, I know why you don't like me. And I don't blame you. But can we please just let bygones be bygones? I promise you that I'm not the enemy."
"You're a vampire, you'll always be the enemy." Whilst that stung, it knocked me out of the delusion that I've been living in. I am a vampire. These people will never accept me because of what I am. But they might just accept me for who I am.
"I know that, Paul, but I pose no threat to you and your family. I just want to live my life here in peace? What good would it do me to make enemies of the locals and then have to deal with the consequences for all of eternity?" He stands there, considering what I said, before responding, "I still don't like you."
"You don't have to like me. You just have to tolerate me. Can we start over?" He smirks.
"Sure." We shake hands, and he seems much more at ease around me now. I'm quite pleased with myself for being so mature, honestly.
"Is everything okay here?" It's Jacob. He must've heard us talking and come to see what was going on.
"Yep. I was just looking for the bathroom."
"And I just finished using it." Paul slips away before I get to say anything else.
"Was he giving you any trouble?"
"No, actually. We settled things between us. We're cool now."
"You're cool huh." He's leaning on the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest. The hallway is only dimly lit by a single candle, and the light is dancing across Jacob's face like a feather in the wind. He licks his lips briefly before looking down at me again. God.
"Are we cool?"
"What?"
"I said," he leans in really close to the point where it looks like he's going to kiss me, but then moves to the side of my head to whisper into my ear, "are we cool?" I freeze at the sensation of his breath on my neck. I can practically feel the warmth radiating from his body. The air is electric with intensity. He leans back after a couple of seconds and waits expectantly for my response.
"Uh- we're cool."
"Good. I'm glad. So, does that mean I can ask you something?"
"Go ahead."
"What are your intentions with Seth?"
"What do you mean?"
"Because, I mean, he likes you and I was wondering if you felt the same way."
"W- why would you wanna know?" He takes a step back, and I almost feel sad that he's not so close to me anymore.
"Just curious. I don't care either way. As long as Seth is happy." That has to be a lie. I can feel how hard it is to stay away from him, and now that I know that he also imprinted on me, I know he's feeling the same way. I can't tell him that, though. Like I said before, it's better to pretend that it never happened. No matter how painful it is.
"Seth is a good friend to me. He's a wonderful person."
"And?"
"And I really care about him... but I don't think it's in the way that he wants me to." He takes a deep breath.
"I see. Is there any specific reason for that? Is there anyone else you're more interested in."
"No." I'm lying.

𝐀/𝐍: 𝐈'𝐦 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐰𝐤𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐭. 𝐈 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 <𝟑𝟑𝟑 𝐛𝐭𝐰 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲 :)))