Collide ➳Jacob Black [Book 3]

1.0

Katherine Swan lay on her bed as she did every afternoon not even thinking of the world around her. She lay there under the rare rays of sunshine that would sometimes creep through the blinds now that summer was approaching. Her pen flew over the page as she copied down various physics formulas not really bothering to pay attention. Her eyes flickered to her locked door before looking back down at her paper.

Her door was locked for one very good reason: Bella. It had been months since Bella had returned from Italy to save her boyfriend from his suicidal tendencies but the tension has only grown. After the night when she voted away her mortality, Bella tried to speak to her sister but no no avail. Kate shut herself in her room when she was forced to be in the house near her but otherwise fled the house the moment she had the opportunity. More often than not she could hear Bella shuffling right outside her doorway but Kate never opened the door.

Things were no better outside of the Swan residence. The vampire clan and the werewolf pack were at each other's throats just waiting for a war to break out. Stepping outside the house, she could feel the tenseness in the air even when she was the only supernatural creature around.

The only time she really had to deal with the vampires was at school. Much to Kate's chagrin, Edward, Alice, Jasper, and Bella all joined Kate and her friends at lunch time. There was an awkwardness about it but mostly it was played off with ignoring each other and glares across the table so the mortals would stay oblivious to the world around them. Jasper tried to quell her anger when they first approached the table but Kate had threatened him within an inch of his life and since then he has sat there absorbing her anger throughout those terrible twenty minutes.

Those twenty minutes seemed like days when she knew that just two hours she could go home to Jacob and her pack. She spent nearly all her time there. Whether it was doing homework with the pack laughing around her or simply lounging around with Jacob, she never felt more at home than she did there.

Jacob was feeling the strain of Bella's choice almost as much as Kate was. That day he lost one of his best friends and while they didn't talk about it much, she knew it was hurting him. Despite this, Kate and Jacob had never been closer. Even with the imprint the boys said they were sickening together, almost as bad as Sam and Emily. Paul had earned a smack to the head for that one.

Over the past few weeks the pack had grown in size. Quil Ateara, Leah Clearwater, and Seth Clearwater all phased. It was difficult, so close to Harry's death, but his children were handing the changing well. Seth was an overexcited puppy who Sam and Kate had to send him home and keep him in school.

Leah was a different story. She was small for a wolf but strong and even though Kate couldn't hear what was going on in the pack's shared mind reading thing, she knew how much Leah was hurting. Kate tried to reach out to her but wasn't making much progress though she was closer than anyone else. She was there for Leah right after her dad died which probably helped and the fact that she was an outsider helped too but Leah just didn't completely trust Kate. She didn't really trust anyone for that matter. It was difficult when she was around but it was even more painful for Kate when Leah left to go be by herself.

Kate threw down her pencil and rested her head on her notebook. She closed her eyes before making her decision. She rolled over and texted Jacob that she was on her way and that she would see him soon. Without waiting for his response, she rolled off her bed and threw on her shoes before crossing to the door. She put in her headphones and played some loud music to avoid having to listen to her sister if she was here.

She thundered down the stairs and tried to make her way out of the house with nothing more than shouting "I'm going to the Rez," to Charlie, but the undertone of his reply came through her headphones causing her to stop by the living room. She pulled out one earbud and stared at her father completely ignoring Bella sitting right next to him.

"What, dad?" she asked him.

"Why don't you take your sister with you," came his reply.

Kate scathingly scoffed and put her earbud back in, "No."

Turning on her heel, she bounded out of the house and into her Jeep. She quickly pulled out of the driveway and began to drive to the reservation. The feeling of anger was washed away as the trees seemed to become thicker and bigger.

When she pulled up to Jacob's house she saw Billy sitting out on the porch watching the sun's rays hit the dew on the grass. She smiled as she got out of the car and walked over to him.

"Never took you for a nature lover," she told him as she leaned against the railing facing him.

Billy chuckled, "Nature is in all of us, we must love it." He paused. "Jacob's inside." Kate patted him on the shoulder and began to walk into the house but before she could get too far inside Billy's voice reached out to her. "Don't get too rowdy, I'm right out here."

Kate turned around with a hand on her chest and a look of mock offense on her face, "Billy, I would never..."

She smiled as she walked into the house going straight to the back where she knew Jacob would be. Without knocking on the door she walked in to see him laying on his back reading a car magazine. He looked up at her and smiled. His smile took her breath away.

Kate quickly crossed the room and grabbed the magazine out of his hands throwing it across the room somewhere. She got onto the bed and straddled him kissing him gently on the lips. His hands dug into her thighs as he pulled her closer. After a few seconds she pulled back. Kate's face flushed with heat and embarrassment. She didn't really know what possessed her to do that but seeing Jacob underneath her wasn't a bad sight. It wasn't that she hadn't thought about it. In fact she thought about it a lot, not that she would ever admit that.

"Hi," she said with a small smile.

Jacob threaded their hands together, "That bad, huh?"

She knew he was talking about Bella but she really didn't want to think about any of that right now. She knew that she would have to deal with it tomorrow at school but right now, all she wanted to do was be here with Jacob.

"You have no idea."

"I think I can distract you," Jacob smirked at her.

"I'm sure you can," she laughed.

He laughed with her and before she could process what was going on, his arms curled around her and pulled her into his chest. She lay there enveloped in his heat and closed her eyes contentedly. He kissed the top of her head as they just lay there.

"Embry and Quil are coming over once they're off of patrol. They said they wanted to see you," he mumbled against her hair.

"They can see me later, right now I'm yours," Kate whispered back tiredly.

She felt Jacob's chest rumble beneath her, "Yes you are."

He kissed the top of her head again and the two of them just lay there until they heard Billy yell something about food to them. The second they heard this, they quickly untangled themselves and ran toward the kitchen.