New Dawn

F a r e w e l l

After a few more days, I was ready to go back to school and after a week had passed I was back to normal. There was a scar on my back that hadn't completely gone away but Grandpa believed that it would fade soon. Jacob had been acting off all week, he was quite and didn't say much when he saw me. I tried to tell him how I felt but we never had time alone after the first night I woke up. Eli and I talked and fixed the tension that had built between us.

After I had healed, Dakota made plans to visit our family in Alaska. He wanted to stay with our family but the tension with the wolves had become bad and he didn't want to be the cause of the rift between the two families.

Saturday morning I woke up on the couch with Dakota passed out on Emmet's favorite lazy boy. We had spent the final night talking and laughing together while watching movies. He had given me the blood I needed to survive and because of him, I healed. Grandpa had told me his theories on the situation but I was just grateful for his wisdom and kindness.

Siting up, I stretched out and looked around the room. My family was upstairs and outside but I was surprised to see Jacob at the table pushing around some food on a plate. He looked sad and it broke my heart. As I walked towards him he continued to stare at his food, he seemed to be lost in his own thoughts to notice me.

"Morning Jake."

His eyes shot up from the plate and he plastered a fake smile across his face. "Mornin. How you feelin today?"

"Still a little sleepy."

"When does Dakota leave?"

"His flight is in a few hours. Mom, Dad, Grandpa and Grandma are gonna take him because they wanna visit the Danalies."

Jacob nodded, "Oh. Will it be a quick trip?"

"Yeah, they'll be back early Monday morning."

"Okay. What are your plans tonight?"

"Nothing. Why?"

He took a deep breath, "Brady and Eli invited us to go with them to the lodge and I was just wondering if you wanted to go? You don't have to."

"No. That sounds fun. I've missed our hang outs."

"Yeah." He looked behind me at something, "Morning Kota. How'd you sleep?"

Spinning around, I smiled at Dakota as he stumbled towards us. "Morning guys." He sat down at the table and chuckled, "Dang Ness, we didn't get like any sleep last night. You sure know how to tire a guy out."

Rolling my eyes, I laughed, "Yeah it was an amazing last night. You still better come visit me though."

He shined a sleepy smile at me, "You know I will."

Jacob stood up, "Esme has your guys' breakfast in the kitchen. I'm gonna head out." He turned to Dakota and offered his hand, "Thanks man. Have a safe trip."

Dakota stood and took his hand, "Thank you Jacob."

Jacob smiled sadly at me, "See you later Ness." And then he was gone. It killed me to watch him walk away but I would see him again soon. I could always count on that.

Dakota turned to me with a disappointed scowl, "Why haven't you talked to him yet?"

A blush filled my cheeks and I turned away from him, "We haven't had time alone."

"That's an excuses and you know it." His words were hard.

Tears weld up in my eyes, "I'm afraid I missed my chance."