The Bonds Between Us • E.Cullen x Fem oc x B. Swan

Chapter 88

"Leah! Leah please!" Cori yelled into the forest, but the she-wolf was gone. She knew that the tribe knew the lands around here better than she did, especially the pack, yet here she was trying to find her way back to any type of recognizable place.

Soon she could hear motors of cars, and could see the glow of light poles and head lights. Stepping out of the tree line, she recognized the red of the house off to the side of her. The Blacks. Of course she would somehow find her way back here.

Walking up the side of the tree line, Cori would flinch when she would hear howls in the distance, not knowing if they were the pack, or if they were coyotes.

"Cordelia?" A voice asked from the house, and with her advanced eyesight she could see the outline of Billy's wheelchair shimmer off the front porch light. "Billy." "You're okay?" He asked, seemingly looking her over as she got closer. "I'm okay. She didn't hurt me." Cori said and Billy seemed to be relived, then it turned still between the two.

"I'm sorry to hear about your mother." Billy said, Charlie pulling him aside and telling him as he knew Cori spent quite a bit of time down at the Rez.

"I wish people would stop bringing her up." Cori mumbled. "I'm sorry. Have you heard from your father?" "No, I don't even know if he knows. He wasn't answering my calls, and he still hasn't called me back. Three days. I haven't heard from him in three days." Cori said, her voice far off as the chief looked at her, sympathy in his eyes.

He knew what she was doing. Deflecting, pretending her emotions weren't there, or didn't matter. But he could see right through her. He could see right through her drifting thoughts, her circle rimmed eyes, her quiet voice that just wanted to scream. That had been him all those years ago when he had lost Sarah, but he told himself, he had three children to raise, and he could grieve later. Later still hadn't come, and he still put things in front of his grief, even all these years later.

"Cori. Go home." Billy told the girl softly as he saw her staring into space. "What?" "Go home. Get some rest." "I don't have a ride." She told him. "Jacob will take you." "I don't want to trouble-" "Look, I know you two have had your past, but one drive home isn't going to kill either of you." Billy protested softly and Cori gave in, frankly too tired to care. "Fine." "Good. Just a minute." Billy said as he wheeled himself inside the house, and a few seconds later the teen boy stepped out.

"You ready?" He asked gruffly and she just nodded. It was awkward between the two. Bella was always there to try to make the two get along, or even make them tolerate each other.

Jake felt bad. Of course he did. Glancing over he could see where her eyes would be staring out the window at nothing while her fingers seemed to trace over the scares. The scares he gave her.

"I'm sorry about your mom." "For Christ sake! Can people stop bringing her up! She's dead! Being sorry isn't going to bring her back!" Cori shouted, making the wolf flinch, his sensible hearing taking a beating.

"I know." "Jacob-" "No Cordelia. I know. I know what it feels like to lose a mom. I lost mine too. It's not fun, and it's not just gonna go away either." Jacob told her as he pulled up along side of the house, the wolf noticing lights on, but not the girl beside him.

"She was never a mom to be Jacob. She was a mother. She was an incubator who never wanted a child. He had me to make my father happy. That's the difference between you and me. You had a mom. I didn't. Thanks for the ride." She said as she climbed out, taking note of the car in the drive and the lights on inside.

"Dad?" She whispered as she looked at the lights. "DAD?" She yelled as she took off towards the house throwing open the unlocked door as she ran into the awaiting arms of her father. "Daddy?" She asked as she clung to him, and he just held her tight, kissing her hair. "Hi carrot." He whispered.

Seeing the pair reunited reminder Jacob of something that Bella had told him when he had first shifted, and now was even more true.

Jacob Black and Cordelia Austin were similar. Both had a loving heart, both had an unimaginable temper, both loved dearly, both had people around them that cared for them deeply, both had fathers that cared for them above all else, both were a part of the supernatural world, both lost a bit of themselves when they found themselves in it, and they both now have experienced the loss of a parent. The two were very similar, yet completely different.

Jacob drove back to the reservation with these thoughts in his mind.

"Why didn't you tell me you were back?" Cori asked her father, looking up at him. "I didn't know where you were. I dropped my phone a few days ago, and it fell into a storm drain. I haven't had time to replace it.

I got home and was about to call you from the house phone, but I saw your note and knew I had to call. My mind when blank after that sweetheart. I'm sorry. I should have called to make sure you were alright. Sam was over, and he didn't say anything about you being missing, so i figured you were over there, or with Bella." Jonas told his daughter and at the brunette's names, Cori froze.

She hadn't thought of Bella for nearly two days. The occasional flicker of "is she okay" would wonder past, but she didn't live rent free in her head. Not since Sam told her about leaving with Alice.

Even thinking about the vampire's name left a sour taste on her tongue.

"Carrot, I have something I need to talk with you about." Jonas pulled the girl out of her own thoughts. "Yeah?" "I know you never really liked living here by yourself. The whole ordeal with your mother, the Cullen's moving, and your rocky relationship with Bella, would you like to start fresh your senior year?" Jonas asked. "Fresh?" Cori asked.

"We could move. I've got my place in Seattle. That could work until we get something more permanent. You could enroll in school there, and get away from Forks." Jonas proposed. "I don't- I don't know dad." Cori asked, completely blown away by this out of the blue question. "Let me know kiddo. It's up to you." He told her as he kissed her forehead. "I'm turning in for the night. Night carrot." "Night dad." Cori said as the girl spied the picture of her family, the one of all three of them, turned face down. She knew it was her father's doing, and for his sake, she left it that way, heading up to bed herself, his question on her mind.

A/N: What do you think Cori is going to do? Take the chance and leave, or stay?

I hope everyone had a great and safe thanksgiving!